8 Heartwarming Moments From The #KL2017 SEA Games That Are Worth Remembering

This is definitely a momentous occasion worth celebrating as the last time Malaysia played host to the SEA Games was 16 years ago, back in 2001.

Many Malaysians are also paying a lot of attention to this biggest multi-sports event in Southeast Asia as it coincides with the celebration of 60 years of independence on 31 August, just one day after the closing ceremony.

The creative director of the SEA Games opening and closing ceremonies, Saw Teong Hin, has received positive feedback from the public who said that they were pleased with the colourful opening ceremony that saw cultural performances of the Orang Asli, the indigenous peoples of Sabah and Sarawak, Minangkabau, Eurasians and the Baba Nyonya community, among others.

"It's the biggest production of my life and I oversaw it from the stadium’s control room. It was beautiful seeing everyone coming together," Saw, who is also a film director, told NST.

A video taken during a SEA Games football match showed how hundreds of people seen wearing the Harimau Malaysia jersey were obviously in a festive mood, as two men who stood out from the crowd drummed the dhol.

According to a report by The Star, the duo who were playing the dhol were identified as Shaunvinder Singh and Gurmesh Singh.

Muhammad Azwan Zuwairi Mat Zizi, who bears the number 10 jersey, ran towards his parents and embraced them, as soon as the team defeated Singapore 22-7 in the final at the Petaling Jaya City Council Stadium on Sunday, 20 August.

The touching scene was captured on camera by a fellow spectator and shared online. Be warned, you may find yourself crying after watching the video below. :')

In the last week, tension among Malaysia and Indonesia grew after the Indonesian flag was wrongly printed upside-down in a copy of the souvenir magazine for the SEA Games.

In the midst of that unrest, it was indeed very heartwarming to know that both Malaysia and Indonesia have placed utmost importance in maintaining a friendly and harmonious relationship.

Sinar Harian reported that a group of Indonesian supporters gathered outside Stadium Shah Alam yesterday, 24 August, bursting in songs and cries that Malaysia and Indonesia are "brothers" while they held the Malaysian and Indonesia flag side by side.

Sprinter Khairul Hafiz Jantan, nicknamed 'Speedy Jantan', made headlines for emerging as the fastest man in Southeast Asia by winning the 100m dash in 10.38 seconds, making him the first ever Malaysian to grab the gold for Malaysia since 2003.

While Khairul Hafiz ran across the track in celebration, a band of photojournalists were frantically chasing after the sprint king in their attempts to get a special snap to immortalise that historic moment.

One of the cameramen, Ahmad Iskandar Kamaruzaman from Bernama, became a a viral star as many people were amused to watch a video of him gesturing Khairul Hafiz to slow down as the athlete just kept on running. That led to many netizens applauding Ahmad Iskandar (now popularly known as as 'abang baju hijau' (brother in green) and other photojournalists for working tirelessly even when some of their efforts go without notice sometimes.

NST shared several photos on its Facebook page that depicted people clad in football jerseys picking up rubbish left by the crowd after a football match on 21 August.

The photos were taken by NSTP photographer Roslin Mat Tahir, who spotted these helpful volunteers who came well prepared with bags to ensure that no mess were left behind.

"The 2017 Sea Games match between Malaysia and Myanmar ended in a 3-1 win for the hosts, but as far as we're concerned, these fans are also winners in our eyes," NST wrote in the post.

Equestrian polo defending champions, Malaysia played against Singapore, and scored a convincing win even as Khairy played as a substitute on Thursday, 24 August.

After the match, Khairy commended the Singapore team saying, "Singapore is a good team but the score line doesn't reflect how they normally play. They play well."

Malaysia fielded a total of 874 athletes to participate in all events in contrast with Timor-Leste's 48 athletes.

Nevertheless, while Malaysians celebrate the achievements of our national athletes at the games, many have also expressed their wish to see athletes from Timor-Leste excel and bring home a medal for their country.

One Twitter user named Zahid tweeted, "Deep down in my heart I hope that Timor-Leste will be successful in bring back a medal for their country" and it has received more than 20,000 retweets at the time of writing.