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Saturday November 21, 2009

Making a name in international sports

AT YOUR SERVICE By DATUK MOHD YASIN MOHD SALLEH


Success in sports is more than medals and wins. It is about making the nation proud, carving a global place of prominence for Malaysia and about inner growth through endurance and strength.

OVER the years, sports has maintained its attraction alongside world issues such as the economic downturn and the war against terrorism.

It has been said that sports does not build character but instead reveals it. It is thus an important element in the formation of our youths as future leaders.

Malaysia has used sports as a tool to establish rapport with the various cultures, races and religions that make up our society.

In Malaysia, sports is key in the nation-building process. Thus, how we do in sports will reflect the state and health of our society.

Before independence, development in sports was mainly led by vernacular and mission schools. During this period, sports development funds were limited and sports activities were usually funded by the community, philanthropists, supporters and the athletes themselves.

The first prime minister of independent Malaya, Tunku Abdul Rahman, had a great passion and love for sports, especially football.

To spur sports development, he proposed that the Merdeka Football Tournament be held as part of the Merdeka celebrations. It soon became one of the most prestigious football tournaments in Asia.

Undoubtedly, the tournament improved Malaysian football tremendously during the 1950s to 1970s.

Since then, we seem to have lost the glory. There has been much criticism of our football team. But our focus in excelling in sports must include football and much more.

Realising this, the Government has taken a holistic approach to ensure sports continues to play a vital role — not only by regaining our past glory but making sure that it remains a part of life for all Malaysians.

The Government’s vision is to develop Malaysian youths as the prime movers to achieve Vision 2020.

The Youth and Sports Ministry is responsible for moulding an active and healthy society through sports and recreational activities. This includes developing high-performance athletes for national and international events.

The ministry has initiated some community sports-related programmes such as Rakan Muda, Community Sports Centres, Talent Identification Programmes, National Women’s Games, National Sports and Fitness Convention, and Community Sports League.

The establishment of the Cabinet Committee for Sports chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, which involves 10 ministries, underlines the Government’s seriousness in developing sports.

The current focus is in the eight core sports — football, hockey, badminton, squash, bowling, gymnastics, aquatics and athletics. We are reaching out to all bases to seek a large pool of athletes in all sports.

The Road to London 2012 programme will focus on a few selected sports namely badminton, cycling, diving and archery. Our athletes are training hard to achieve Malaysia’s first gold in the Olympics. This would be history in the making for us.

Malaysia has excelled in sports in the past. No doubt we can do better but we must acknowledge those who have trained and worked hard in making Malaysia proud.

Malaysian contingents have been participating in the Olympic Games since 1956. In Athens in 2004, Malaysia participated in 11 types of sports. In Beijing 2008, the Malaysian contingent won a silver medal in badminton through Datuk Lee Chong Wei.

Malaysia has made great strides in the Asian Games as well. In the Doha 2006 Asian Games, Malaysia achieved a total of 42 medals, surpassing its achievement in Busan in 2002. It was our best showing in the Asian Games since 1966.

In the 1994 Commonwealth Games, through weightlifting and badminton, the Malaysian team made the nation proud by winning seven medals comprising two golds, three silvers and two bronzes. Six of the medals were from badminton and one from weightlifting.

The Kuala Lumpur 1998 Commonwealth Games created history when Malaysia finished fourth out of 68 participating countries. Malaysia won 10 gold medals and 36 medals in total.

The South-East Asia Games held every two years saw Malaysia leading in 1989 with 67 gold medals. We improved further with 111 gold medals in 2001.

Datuk Nicol Ann David created history by becoming the first player to retain the gold medal in squash in the 2009 World Championship in Kaoshiung, Taiwan, on July 24 this year. She was also the winner in the CIMB Malaysia Open Championships for five consecutive years.

Athletes like Lee (badminton), Nur Suryani Taibi (shooting), Leong Mun Yee (diving), Yeoh Ken Nee (diving) and Amirul Hamizan Ibrahim (weightlifting) have succeeded in their fields as predicted.

These achievements show that we have made the cut and we can make it with the will and spirit to make our country proud each time we hit the tracks, pools and courts. That will and pride need to be instilled in the youth and in our schools.

But it is not only about the medals and the wins. It cannot be only about the glory. It is about making 27 million people proud. It is about carving a place of prominence for Malaysia globally. It is also about our own inner growth through the endurance and strength demanded by sports. This responsibility does not lie with the Government and schools alone.

It lies with all those who want to be part of Malaysia and its future.

If we have this in our minds, we will ensure that we train our children to be good sportsmen and women. Malaysia will, in that instance, regain its glory again.

● Datuk Mohd Yasin Mohd Salleh is Youth and Sports Ministry secretary-general. He can be contacted at yasin@kbs.gov.my

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