By Anthony Chew

National karate athlete Saw Weng Onn has made heads turn with his 21 medals in competitions in the past six years.

A Year 2, Semester 1 student doing his Diploma in Logistics Management at Han Chiang University College of Communication (HCUC), Saw however said for the present time, he would concentrate on his studies and after graduation, hoped to get into a professional or a sports field career.

Saw (third from left) holding the gold medal in the 1st Malaysia Open Karate Championship 2019 in Kuala Lumpur.

“Only then, I will move on to pursue my favourite sports or martial art, which is karate, train harder and participate in competitions at international level,’’ he said in an interview.

Recognising his talent and contribution in sporting activities, HCUC awarded Saw a Sports Scholarship.

“My father is in logistics and I want to follow his footsteps. The type of work he is doing attracted me. Logistics is becoming more important and  popular when more people are opting for online shopping such as Shopee, lazada, and taobao.’’

On choosing to study at HCUC, Saw said he was impressed with the facilities available at the campus.

A friend, who is taking a diploma programme in multimedia communication design at HCUC, had alerted him about HCUC having an Open Day at its campus in Jalan Lim Lean Teng in August 2018.

“I came, talked to the marketing people and was convinced, so I took up the logistics management programme.”

He said so far the courses of the programme are interesting and informative, adding that the lecturers are also friendly and approachable.’

Saw in action.

Saw, 20, said he picked up karate as a novice when he was eight years’ old as he was attracted by the white colour (disciplined) uniform worn by exponents of karate, taekwondo and judo as a martial art/sport.

After five years, he obtained his Black Belt certificate and four years later, Second Dan (level) in Black Belt.

He had his training lessons under the guidance of (teachers) Sensei Miss Lim Lee Lee and Sensei Mr Ku Jin Keat in Penang. Both are national coaches.

His first medal was a Silver (male team kata) in the junior championship in Kuala Lumpur in 2015, when he was 16 years old. In 2016, he won another silver medal at the same Championship held in Sarawak.

When he was 13 years old, he won a bronze in a competition in Penang. Hence, he was greatly inspired to move further, after having the confidence to compete against other better opponents.

On  April 10 – 14 April 2019, he represented Malaysia in the 8th SEAKF (South East Asia Karate Federation) Championship held in Bangkok and won a Silver medal in the male team kata event. He competed against karate exponents from Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia. 

In 2018, he represented Malaysia in the same competition in Vietnam, winning a Bronze medal.

“I am very happy to win my first silver medal at international-level. I hope to do better in the next international competition.’’

Saw also won a Silver medal in the Malaysia Karate Federation’s Senior Championship in March 23, 2019, in Kuala Lumpur.

Saw Weng Onn’s laurels so far: (Three Gold, seven Silver and 11 Bronze)

• 2019

• 2018

• 2017

• 2016

• 2015

• 2014

• 2013: