PENANG, 4 April 2015 - National karate exponent and 2014 Asian Games gold medallist Lim Chee Wei created history by becoming the first Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) student to be crowned the Malaysian Universities Sports Council (MASUM) Sportsman for 2014.

Chee Wei, an English Literature major at the School of Humanities, received the prestigious award from the Deputy Education Minister II, YB P. Kamalanathan, in a glittering ceremony held at the Dewan Sultan Ibrahim, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn (UTHM) in Johor, today.

​The award ended years of wait for USM, which has never had its athlete selected to receive the highest MASUM award since its inception in 1969.

When contacted, Chee Wei said he did not expect to win the award; in fact he was elated to have finally won it and he dedicated the award to USM.

"I have attended the MASUM awards ceremony four times since 2011 and had been nominated several times as finalist for the sportsman award, but have never won it before.

"This win is not mine alone, but for all who have greatly supported me and spurred me on in the challenges I faced in this sport," he said.

Chee Wei attributed his success to USM, as well as his coaches Lim Lee Lee and Ku Jin Keat, who have helped him tremendously in improving his performance over the past few years.

"My family, friends, USM, and my coaches, as well as many other quarters, have been strongly backing me all this while and if not for them, I would not have come this far," he said.

Last year, the top sportsman and sportswoman awards went to national youth hockey player Mohd Fitri Saari and diving queen Pandalela Rinong respectively.

Meanwhile, USM Vice-Chancellor Professor Dato’ Dr. Omar Osman, who also attended the ceremony, said he was very proud of Chee Wei’s achievement.

"This is an achievement the university can be proud of and I hope many more talented athletes will emerge especially from the various sports competitions organised at the varsity, state or national level," he said.

Chee Wei, 24, who hails from Penang, has won numerous competitions at the national and international level, among them a bronze medal in the 2013 Asian Karate Federation (AKF) Championships in Uzbekistan.

He also bagged the gold medal for Malaysia at the 2012 Asean University Games in Laos and another gold medal at the SEAKF Championships 2012 in Thailand.

The awards ceremony also saw winners in 11 categories, including the best teams (men and women), most promising talent (men and women), best manager, best coach, sports personality, appreciation award, special award, sports partner award as well as the best university athletes (men and women).

Translation: Tan Ewe Hoe/Text: Mohamad Abdullah, Marziana Mohamed Alias & Nor Rafizah Md. Zain/Photos: Professor Dato' Dr. Omar Osman