Politicians Killing Our Sports

by INVISIBLEWRITER001

Politics and sports are what P.Ramlee described as ‘lagu dan irama’, song and melody. They can’t be separated. And this is what you see here in Malaysia.

Majorities of sports associations in Malaysia are led by politicians. If they’re not leading, you’ll either see them sitting in the exco or AJKs. Cast a stone at any sports association and you’ll definitely hit a politician. If you’re lucky you’ll hit them in the head and bring them back to reality that ‘politicians are not needed in sports administrations.’

I don’t see politicians as being anything special besides than their oratory, kiss ass and perhaps leadership skill. Some take their leadership skill a bit overboard. They have the notion that a leader can lead almost anything be it the rakyat, the nation or sports association. They think that they’re God’s gift to the rakyat, to lead them out of obscurity, and same goes with sports associations. They are to lead them out of oblivion. Yeah, right. Look at how far Malaysians have progressed in sports?

I don’t see them as bringing much benefits to the sports and the nation in general. Their politicking act is slowly killing the sports. Some politicians have too much on their plate that I find it hard to fathom how can they manage all these responsibilities?

First they’re ADUNS or Member of Parliament. Secondly, some of them are Ministers or Chief Ministers. Next, they’re also ‘Ketua Bahagian’ and also sit in the party supreme council. Lastly, they’re President of PENGULUM (Persatuan Guli Ulung Malaysia). And not forgetting their responsibility towards their wife and children, and their other wives too.

How can they give equal attention to all these responsibilities? Their argument is that they have assistants to help with all the responsibilities (I hope they didn’t ask the assistants to help with the wife). They need to be reminded that they were the one who was elected to the post, not their assistants. Might as well vote the assistants instead to lead, rite?

Lack of serious attention by the leadership caused many sports associations to suffer. Development programs weren’t implemented according what’ve agreed upon. Management in total chaos. Squabbles within the rank. Athletes being neglected. These are syndromes that are currently inflicted most of our sports associations. And this lead to our downfall. We can claim to be the 2nd best nation at SEA Games. But please, for how long SEA Games gonna be our benchmark? We should at least aim to be among the best in Asia.

There’s also another syndrome that being inflicted by politicians. Whenever a sports association led by passionate individuals managed to produce successful athletes, in short notice you’ll see politicians homing in on them (sports association). They’ll start throwing money or flexing their influence trying to convince members of the said association that they can do better once elected into the board or presidency. Sometimes these leaders are also shameless parasites. They failed at fulfilling their promises but try to hang on to their position for as long as possible despite many in the association opposing them. This is a prime example of shameless act of selfishness.

I heard Shahidan Kassim is offering his service to lead Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM). He’s leading Malaysian Amateur Athletic Association (MAAU), Amateur Swimming Union of Malaysia (ASUM), Kabaddi Association of Malaysia (KAM), Perlis Football Association and now he plan to add OCM into his collection of presidencies. I suggest he should also try the presidency for Persatuan Guli Ulung Malaysia (PENGULUM). He got better chances there.

We were once number one in athletics in South East Asia. Where are we now? Have our swimmers progressed beyond SEA Games? I’m not sure about Kabbadi, but firstly he should at least make effort to popularize it before anything else. So, what plan he has for OCM?

I think he and other politicians should stop this at once. Let passionate individuals or former athletes handle their respective associations. They should know what’s best for the sports.

As for Shahidan Kassim, he should do something else to occupy his time. Maybe he should take up knitting or flower arrangement to kill time. He’s not bringing any good to any of these sports associations; there are others who can do much better. For the betterment of our sports, other politicians should also consider this frank advice. Leave sports associations alone. Concentrate on your constituents. The rakyats are the ones who need your tender loving care.