Wise men learn more from fools than fools from the wise

WE have often been reminded time and again, that nothing can be accepted at face value on social media.

At every nook and corner, we are reminded to take news and comments in the virtual world with a pinch of salt.

Malaysian netizens, after all, are a cheeky lot.

They are notorious for tongue-in-cheek ripostes, with no qualms whatsoever in turning public figures into meme fodder.

So it did not come as a surprise when Malaysia took on host nation Cambodia in hockey and cricket in the recently concluded SEA Games, the running joke being that we were playing Pakistan and India.

Such is the nature of the Games, the hosts are given the latitude to manipulate and rig the events in their favour, as Article 31 of the SEA Games Federation (SEAGF) allows so.

In their previous 21 appearances at the biennial Games, Cambodia totalled 69 gold medals overall, with nine of them churned out in the Vietnam edition last year.

But when the fireworks display at the Morodok Techo National Stadium signalled the end of the Games on Thursday, Cambodia had amassed a total of 81 gold medals.

For cricket, which was projected to win three gold medals, it was no laughing matter.

When skipper Ahmad Faiz Md Noor and Co were trounced by Cambodia, the host nation featured Pakistan-born first-class cricketer Luqman Butt, as well as India-born Sahaj Chadha and Lakshit Gupta.

An all-rounder, Butt was as recent as November last year, participated as a Pakistani n the MCA quadrangular in the colours of Lahore-based Ghani Institute of Cricket.

Naturally, the Malaysian Cricket Association (MCA) and chef-de-mission Datuk Mohd Nasir Ali were flummoxed.

Once the dust from the heat in Cambodia is settled, Thailand will chair the SEAGF and their Charter runs until December 2025, after the Bangkok, Chonburi and Songkhla edition comes to an end.

By then, Malaysia, scheduled to organise the SEA Games in 2027, will chair the SEAGF. So will we be taking the same route?

Malaysia, meanwhile, were proud to proclaim that home-grown talent had formed the core of the contingent, with as many as 63% of the total 674 athletes who travelled to Phnom Penh being under the age of 23.

More than half were debutants.

The only naturalised athlete was perhaps footballer Fergus Tierney, born to Scottish parents but raised in Penang. He was a member of the disappointing football team that failed to go beyond the group stages.

Malaysia have never had a lanky 400m runner since the days of M. Jegathesan, T. Krishnan and S. Sabapathy, so Umar Osman’s emergence with the gold on his debut, shattering a 22-year-old record held by Mohd Zaiful Zainal Abidin, is much needed.

Two 15-year old athletes, golf’s Ng Jin Xuen and diving’s Lee Yiat Qing, have a decade to set their sights on scaling greater heights than the SEA Games.

In comprehending the contingent’s performance that fell short of expectations, I remember vividly what was said more than 20 years ago by Datuk Wira Mazlan Ahmad.

Shortly after leading the contingent to a historic 111 gold, 75 silver and 85 bronze in the 2001 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur, the chef-de-mission and NSC director-general said it was time to train our sights on Asian excellence and beyond.

Stopping short of saying let’s forget the SEA Games, Mazlan understood the biennial Games was exposed to political manipulation.

Insisting that the SEA Games would best be left to the youth, he implored everyone to train our mindset on the Asian, Commonwealth and Olympic Games to gauge our sporting prowess.

When the bigwigs faced the media on Friday, the narratives did not reflect a common aim among the major stakeholders.

Although there have been calls for reforms, we seem to be clueless where to start. Putting the blame on the political situation is the easy way out. It is up to the politicians occupying the seats of power to effect changes.

They set the tone, for better or worse.

Alas, wise men learn more from fools than fools from the wise.