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©The Sun (Used by permission)
by Eddie Hoo

Malaysian football fans baying for blood after our team’s early exit at the Asian Cup last month came way too late. It was like loved ones shedding tears for the departed years after the funeral.

Football has been dead in the country since the mid-90s and its demise was due to misadventure, if not suicide, when the golden goose was sacrificed for short term gains by players on the take. The gravy train was derailed by self-serving individuals and never came back on track despite the public outcry then and the knee-jerk reactions.

The last nail in the coffin was hammered in by the Philippines at the SEA Games in 2001 when we went down 1-0.

So, when all and sundry took a swipe at the national team and the Football Association of Malaysia for losing to teams like China, Uzbekistan and then Iran at last month’s Asian Cup, the witch-hunt came years too late, and reflected how unaware some quarters were of the country’s standard of football. The Malaysian squad was not in the same league as other teams and we were in the Asian Cup by virtue of being co-hosts.

The love-hate relationship local fans have with the national side has long soured and turned to one of apathy.

Much debate has taken place over Malaysia’s dismal performance, some with constructive comments, some for the sake of mocking, and some bordering on being callous.

Is the standard of sports in general and football in particular a barometer of the nation’s economic, social and political health? Going by eventual Asian Cup champion Iraq’s current state of affairs, achievements in sports are no indications of how rosy things are back at home. Iraq is a country caught in a dire political quagmire while Malaysia is celebrating its 50th year of independence.

The comparison between the political and socio-economic situation in Malaysia and Iraq was, however, inevitable and questions were raised as to why a war-torn country could produce a Cup winning team while we continue to be in the doldrums despite the peace we have.

However, let’s not forget that we are a country of sporting world champions and we excel in sports like squash, badminton and bowling. Critics would claim that these are minority sports but their argument doesn’t wash as these three sports are played by a bigger number of people than tennis, golf and rugby which are considered major sports.
Granted that golf and tennis have very professional setups with lucrative competitions in their calendars but fewer people in the world play tennis than badminton, and the ability to produce a number of world beaters in badminton over the last five decades is proof that we have sports in our veins and grit in our hearts to excel and be the best in the world.

What is lacking is a sporting culture that transcends all strata of society, the recognition for sporting heroes and the encouragement for budding talents to fully immerse themselves in their field and not worry about bread and butter issues.

Instead of one Nicol David conquering the world, it would be better to have a multitude of players in the country taking to the courts. Without enough importance placed on the need to exercise, we risk becoming a country with a mall rat culture, populated by coach potatoes with poor dietary habits.

If Britain can celebrate their sports heroes and managers like Bill Shankly with his statue at Anfield, surely we can have one of Mokhtar Dahari at one of our many huge stadiums. A search for Mokhtar on YouTube will yield many footages of his feats on the field, clearly showing how dearly and fondly football fans in Malaysia think of one of our best.

If promising Malaysian sports players can be snapped up by colleges in the US and given scholarships, surely our state governments can provide those who represent the state with student grants.

If parents in Australia can place as much importance on their children’s education as on their sports involvement, surely we can stop discouraging ours from being active in sports in the pursuit of academic achievements.

The development of sports infrastructure in our country since 1957 has been significant but the performance of our athletes has not been in tandem.

One of the main causes is the myopic outlook of the relevant authorities at school, district and state levels. The decline in sports standard in schools can be attributed to the decline in physical education (PE).

With the cutback in time allocation for PE, our present day pupils lack fitness and basic skills compared to those in the 60s and 70s. Young Malaysians are deprived of basic fitness and basic development in locomotor, non-locomotor and manipulative skills.
Deprived of fitness development in cardiovascular fitness (stamina), strength, muscular endurance, speed, agility and flexibility, we have limited our reservoir of sports talents.
Gone also are the days of inter-class games and inter-house challenges which exposed primary pupils to a competitive atmosphere and basic playing skills.

Parents are not the only ones to blame for the over-emphasis on the paper chase as schools have become very competitive and that has discouraged the young from participating in sports activities.

And coming to everyone’s favourite punching bag - the national sports associations. There isn’t a chance of playing the devil’s advocate here. A major contributing factor to the poor development of sports is the poor administration of these associations.
There has been too much politics and stagnation as these associations merely rest on past achievements. Some of the administrators have been warming their seats for far too long without producing any results and it is timely that politicians are banned from holding such positions.

Armchair critics are plenty but they do have a role to play and like all whistle-blowers and bearers of bad news, they play a part in our society if we want self-analysis. If we were to seek competency instead of adequacy, the forum for debate should be kept open.

However, let’s not wait for knee-jerk reactions and biting remarks from disgruntled idealists who speak with the benefit of hindsight before we put our house straight.
With the foresight and prudence of the people in the office coupled with the blood, sweat and tears of those in the field, we can achieve what the so-called “sick man of Asia” has.

From a non-entity, China has grown to be a sporting power in the world, winning 32 gold medals at the 2004 Athens Olympics - just three short of overall champion, the US.

Let’s show that Malaysia boleh, too.

Eddie Hoo is head of sports at theSun.

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