Jakarta, Jan. 8 -- President Prabowo Subianto has signaled that bonuses for Indonesian athletes who win medals at the upcoming Asian Games could be higher than those awarded to medalists at the 2025 SEA Games in Thailand.

Speaking at the SEA Games athlete awards ceremony at the State Palace in Jakarta on Thursday, Prabowo said the Asian Games would be the next major challenge for national athletes, with a significantly higher level of competition than the SEA Games.

"Our next challenge is the Asian Games. The higher the reward, the tougher the competition will be, both for the athletes and for us," Prabowo said. "We have already set a firm benchmark, a SEA Games gold medal is rewarded with Rp1 billion. So for an Asian Games gold medal, ...