SEA Games continue to fascinate with dramatic and inspiring stories

THE biennial SEA Games has always been headline grabbing, with massive media coverage to celebrate the human potential.

Even if it has descended into a regional circus due to the latitude granted to the host nation to list disciplines to their advantage, the Games has never been short of positive and inspiring stories – from athletes overcoming the odds, fighting injuries, relentless training to shedding tears in public on the road to the podium.

The Games no doubt offers a huge sentimental value to Malaysians.

Generations past and present see sports as both an individual and social endeavour to realise the maximum potential of the human mind, body and will.

Despite the pursuit of national interests being a persistent characteristic of Asean’s regional sporting culture, the performance on the arena matters for Malaysia, especially for sports that come under the Olympic ambit.

For the ongoing 32nd edition in Cambodia, almost 57% of the 676 athletes who formed the contingent are under the age of 23.

More than half, or 440 athletes to be exact, are debutants in Cambodia, including day sixth gold medallists – diver Lee Yiat Qing and golf sensation, Ng Jing Xuen – both barely 15.

My colleagues in The Star have been delivering diligently stories of victories laced with emotions, as quartermilers Umar Osman and Shereen Samson Vallabuoy delivered the men’s and women’s 400m titles after a long time, while silat’s Nor Farah Mazlan won the gold in the under 50kg category with a broken hand sustained a day earlier.

Surely there is no straight line to success. It takes perseverance, will power and resilience, and the results do not come overnight.

That is why the silver and bronze medallists deserve honourable mentions too. The 4x100m quartet comprising Zaidatul Husniah Zulkifli, Azreen Nabila Alias, Nur Afrina Batrisyia Mohd Rizal and Nur Aishah Rofina Aling broke the six-year old national record en route to the bronze while pole vaulter, Nor Sarah Adi, set a personal best but still played second fiddle to Thailand’s Chonthicha Khabut on countback.

Table tennis’ Tee Ai Xin could not hold back her tears after losing to Jinnipa Sawettabut 11-2, 11-8, 11-7 in the deciding third tie of the women’s team final.

It was a station too far for a group of players who were not even born the last time Phua Bee Sim and Chong Choi Ting bagged the silver at the Toa Payoh Sports Complex 30 years ago.

Obviously hours of intense training, regimented diet, and the physical and mental sacrifices do not necessarily translate into gold.

I have been lucky enough to cover the SEA Games in various capacities – as a reporter in the print media on four editions in 1995, 1997, 2001 and 2003 and later as a TV anchor-cum-presenter at the studio for the 2013 edition together with former squash player and SEA Games gold medallist, Sharon Wee, at present in Cambodia as the deputy chef-de-mission.

When Kuala Lumpur hosted the Games in 2017, I was a broadcast journalist tasked to perform field reporting and live cross to the studio.

Nothing beats the thrill and satisfaction as a print journalist. We enjoyed the luxury of time and were able to give column inches to those deserving.

I did so for the undoubted queen of the 1997 edition, G. Shanti, as she proved the ageing and pregnancy process did not affect her devastating sprint powers.

Six years later, I was again a witness to another great story. The most prestigious gold medal of the track event in Hanoi 2003 went to Nazmizan Muhamad, who was not even supposed to set foot in Vietnam for failing to qualify on merit.

But today’s journalists would approach the stories in a different manner altogether. They are pressed for deadline for real-time reporting and for mainstream audience.

They have taken multi-tasking to a different level, perhaps foreign to my generation. These days, it is customary for them to submit a story in various forms, namely text and visuals, complete with captions and lower thirds for TV.

Although the SEA Games remains a key indicator of our sporting achievements, times have changed off the field.

The way sports stories is being narrated has evolved. Content consumption is disrupted by the social media as the established mainstream players bid to converge the power of traditional and new media.

Amidst the chaos, the media juggernaut deserves a gold medal as well!