"IF ONLY" OUR ATTITUDE IS NOT MALAYSIAN

Athens Failure

The Malaysian slide show – it’s down...down...down
Malaysians bound to look back with too many ‘if only’
FROM SUNDAY STAR SPORT, AUGUST 29, 2004.

If you need hear much more excuses, please wait for the next sports event. Malaysians are bad losers. Sports officials are worst losers. Malaysians are always Exceptionally Good to provide the reasons ...the giving of excuses, when they fail; when they don't deliver. Before any games start, we hear the officials and players predicting high confidence and exceptionally hopeful of medals and trophies, then .... after the game, we read reasons, many reasons, that we need to swallow ... Read the report on Sunday Star today. Here's the abstract:

WHEN the dust settles on Athens - no, not on Athens, it’s an incredibly dusty city - when it settles on the Malaysian campaign in Athens, Malaysians will look back with many “if only”.

If only Lee Wan Wah had not been rattled by the service judge. If only he and Choong Tan Fook had kept their domination over the Korean silver-medal winning pair of Lee Dong-soo and Yoo Yong-sang. If only Wong Choong Hann had not switched his game while having the upper hand over eventual champion Taufik Hidayat. If only we had more Josiah Ngs.

The country’s badminton hopes, meanwhile, went crashing out early in the competition. And they claimed they had tried their best, some even blaming the draught in the hall. Wan Wah was disappointed because he was rattled by a judge who faulted his service. Choong Hann blamed the draught. “The other day it blew this way and today, it blew the other way. My plans wents awry.” It was a lame excuse.

“He was the first Malaysian to qualify for swimming on merit. And he was the first to swim in the semis. So, that’s an achievement,” said Edwin Chong, secretary of the Amateur Swimming Union of Malaysia.

Olympic Council of Malaysia president Tunku Imran Tuanku Jaafar: “Medals aren’t everything. It’s not the end of the world.”

D. Raj, the Star Journalist covering the Athens Game had this to say: "It was classic Malaysian mentality: Mediocrity is all right, so long as you are better than the average Malaysian."

Who cares for continental supremacy or world supremacy?

Well, we know one guy who cares. Josiah Ng came back from one the ugliest scenes the Malaysians had seen in the Olympics to finish among the best. His coach left him in a lurch, alone and in tears after a defeat. The very next day, he bounced back to finish sixth best in the world. And he refused to accept that as good enough.

If only more Malaysians could have that mentality, maybe things will be different in Beijing. And journalists could write happy stories. And, sad to say, maybe it helps that Josiah was born in the Philippines and grew up in the US, not tainted by the Malaysian mentality.

CHEF-de-mission Datuk Dr M. Jegathesan could finally come out and say it:

Malaysia have failed miserably in the Athens Olympics. Dr Jega says our athletes’ performance in Athens far worse that that in Sydney

Dr Jega admitted that the performance in Athens was worse than that of Sydney four years ago when Malaysia also came back empty-handed. The teams to Athens were better prepared and had more potential and that was why we had targeted four medals.

“So, this is a big failure. Countries with far less infrastructure, lower GNP and poorer per capita income have managed medals but we could not. We should have performed better,” he said.

So, where do we go from here?

According to Dr. Jegathesan:

“We need to have a broader base of athletes. And from this base, we need to pick a few and send them abroad, not for a few months but for a long, long time,” he said, describing what he calls his “total immersion” theory.

“The athletes should practically become Americans or French or wherever they are training. They must imbibe the cultures, the aggressive attitude and the competitiveness of these people. That’s the only way to go.

“And if the athletes are in Malaysia, they must have discipline. They must be willing to get up at 4am and train even if the body says no. “They must be able to tear themselves away at 10pm even if they are at a party and thoroughly enjoying themselves. The discipline must come in every aspect of their lives, not just in training.”

And, he said, the National Sports Council should stop taking over the role of the sports associations. “They just have to be the financing body. They can set regular targets for the sports associations. If the targets are not met according to schedule, they can cut the funding. “But the associations know best about their sports. They should be allowed to do their jobs.”

In one sense, though, the Olympic debacle is almost a blessing in disguise. “We have a new minister, we have this failure. Now, let’s start anew. Let’s get together with a national summit on sports and really decide on what we want to do and how we want to do it. “And let’s decide on how much sports matters to us.

How essential is it to us? Or is it just a frivolous pastime?” For now, he said, there were many majlis pelancaran (launchings)” and majlis makan (receptions).

“And then, all is forgotten.” Yes, Malaysians do forget – and even forgive – easily.

But Athens will be remembered for a long time. And the Malaysian team will be coming home without a thing to show.

Have we ever learn the lesson? Does the Sports Minister needs more post-mortem?

It's pointless! Like what Dr. Jegathesan says, "We must imbibe the cultures, the aggressive attitude and the competitiveness of the Americans, the Europeans, the African, the Chinese, and nearer home, the Thais. That’s the only way to go. They (the sportsmen & sportswomen) must have discipline. They must be willing to get up at 4am and train even if the body says no. “They must be able to tear themselves away at 10pm even if they are at a party and thoroughly enjoying themselves. The discipline must come in every aspect of their lives, not just in training.”

But Dr. jega, what about the officials, the team managers, the coaches, the sports associations and the sport ministry officials - is it that they are not part of the contributory bodies to our continuous decline in standards and quality? Are they not to be blamed? Are they not part of the system that had malfunction or shall I call it ISO 9000 certified, i.e CONSISTENCY, consistently producing results that we achieve today, and the last 30 years?

Dear Minister, PONDER, PONDER HARD, AND PONDER DEEP, MOST OF ALL - BE HONEST AND BE COURAGEOUS TO ADMIT OUR SYSTEMIC FAILURE!