25th SEA Games, Laos

Eleven Miss SEA Games took part in an event held at That Luang yesterday to celebrate Olympic Day and the 50th anniversary of the SEA Games Federation (SEAGF).

The ladies were joined by officials and local people.

The eleven women were selected from a field of 100 last Saturday by the Lao National Sports Committee (LNSC) and the SEA Games organising committee.

They have been charged with the responsibility of parading placards bearing the names of the 11 competing nations around the main stadium during the 25th SEA Games, to be held in Vientiane in December.

The road to the SEA Games has begun and these young ladies are already in the thick of the action.

The young Miss SEA Games representatives were the highlight of the event, as the crowd of onlookers was joined by equally entranced reporters.

They joined with students from schools to play games that included nhang kheekhep (a four-legged race), tug-of-war and top spinning.

The event was organised by the LNSC, and began early yesterday morning.

Students and local residents were joined by officials from several ministries as well as the 25th SEA Games organising committee.

Also in attendance was Minister to the Prime Minister's Office and LNSC President Dr Phouthong Seng Akhom, who spoke at the event.

He said the day was aimed at inspiring people with the Olympic dream of friendly and peaceful competition between nations.

“We celebrate the Journee Olympique once every two years with athletic activities and traditional and general sports,” he said.

He said the same ideals were central to the SEA Games philosophy as the federation celebrated 50 years of sports.

A SEAGF council meeting held in Vientiane last year approved the activities for the 50th anniversary.

According to the website wikipedia, the Southeast Asian Games owes its origins to the Southeast Asian Peninsular Games, or SEAP Games.

On May 22, 1958, delegates from countries in the Southeast Asian peninsula attending the 3rd Asian Games in Tokyo , Japan , agreed to establish a sports organisation.

The SEAP Games was conceptualised by Luang Sukhumnaipradit, then Vice-President of Thailand's Olympic Committee.

The proposed rationale was that a regional sports event would help promote cooperation, understanding and relations among countries in the Southeast Asian region.

Thailand , Myanmar , Malaysia , Laos , Vietnam and Cambodia were founding members, and were later to be joined by Singapore .

These countries agreed to hold the Games biannually.

The SEAP Games Federation Committee was formed, with the first SEAP Games held in Bangkok from December 12-17, 1959.

Events featured more than 527 athletes and officials from Thailand , Myanmar , Malaysia , Singapore , Vietnam and Laos participating in 12 sports.

At the 8th SEAP Games in 1975, the SEAP Federation considered the inclusion of Indonesia and the Philippines .

The two countries were formally admitted in 1977, the same year the SEAP Federation changed its name to Southeast Asian Games Federation, and the games have since been known as the Southeast Asian Games.

Brunei was admitted to the 10th SEA Games in Jakarta , Indonesia , The most recent entrant, Timor-Leste, joined proceedings for the 22nd SEA Games in Hanoi , Vietnam .

By Souknilundon Southivongnorath
Vientianetimes