A bumpy year ends, let’s hope a bumper year lies ahead

IT has not been a year to cherish.

For me personally, it has been quite painful. From being knocked by a vehicle in my hometown in Ipoh to getting stuck in the flood in Thailand – it has actually been a year to forget.

I’m wiser now when it comes to cars and aim to navigate the streets with a lot of caution in the coming years.

As for Malaysian sports, there have been many bumps and roadblocks too, and a flood of unhappy stories.

Still, there have been some good news.

The Malaysian Athletics Federation (MAF), for one, must be lauded for launching the successful Super Series this year. The six-leg series gave local athletes more competitions to test their abilities and push their limits.

And Zaidatul Husniah did the country proud at one of the series – Perlis Open – when she smashed the 31-year women’s 100m record held by G. Shanti when she posted 11.49s.

On Oct 12, she wiped out the old mark of 11.50s set in Kuala Lumpur in 1993.

MAF are now planning to bring in the foreigners in next year’s Super Series. That should raise the bar and make our athletes reach higher. Kudos MAF.

There have been better results from badminton, squash, wushu, and several other sports. In fact, even football and hockey did fine for brief periods.

However, the hockey team failed to qualify for the Paris Olympic Games under A. Arulselvaraj while the Harimau Malaya missed the cut for the World Cup third round qualifiers under South Korean Kim Pan-gon. Both head coaches had to go.

Of course, the disappointment was still the Paris Olympics where Malaysia’s hunt for gold remained elusive as they only managed two bronze medals through Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (men’s doubles) and Lee Zii Jia (men’s singles).

The forlorn face of cycling icon Datuk Azizulhasni Awang sitting alone – dejected after he was disqualified for an infringement – told the sad story of our Olympics outing.

He has decided to retire and focus on studies but there are those who are hoping to lure him back to ride on for Malaysia.

It will be the best news for the New Year if he does get back up on the saddle to give LA28 a shot.

And who can forget the pain that footballer Faisal Halim had to endure after being attacked with acid that saw him out of the game for three months.

Who did this heinous thing? We have seen bickering, infighting, scam, biased selections and even bribery and daylight robbery in sports, but to hurt another human being so badly – that is a new low for Malaysian sport.

And the police still haven’t found the perpetrator or the motive behind the attack. Maybe, they are still busy looking for the stray dogs at Universiti Malaya.

Faisal, however, was heroic in his reaction. He stayed focused despite his grave situation and showed he was the bigger man by getting back on the field with gusto.

Hopefully, we will continue to see a stronger Faizal roaring loud for Selangor and Harimau Malaya in 2025.

The Tigers are indeed set for big changes next year, with new leadership too.

FAM president Tan Sri Hamidin Mohd Amin is not standing for re-election next year, opening up the presidency to new faces. A new structure is also on the cards under Johor Regent and Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) owner Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim.

Will Malaysian football return to its glory days under this royal rule? Only time will tell.

Time is something that Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh wished that she had more of.

She has been hitting the ground running since assuming office in December 2022.

This year has been a test of Hannah’s leadership with the Olympic Games being the centre of it, but she did well to rise above all challenges.

Under Hannah, Malaysian sport has enjoyed big budgets and more sports have benefited instead of the usual core sports. She has also made many changes at ground level.

Like her predecessors, Hannah has faced criticism and compliments in the same breath – but it has not stopped her from going the extra mile.

She has learnt to choose her battles and knows that some are not worth fighting for but goes all out to douse the fire in some cases.

She has won the admiration of many including Datuk Lee Chong Wei, Datuk Nicol David, Datuk Shalin Zulkifli and Azizul for putting the needs of the athletes first.

In fact, Chong Wei and Nicol would not have been part of the Road to Gold programme if not for the minister.

The path will be even more challenging for Hannah this year as the expectations will be higher.

Let’s get the show on the road – hopefully without any bumps or rainy days!

*The writer wishes all readers a blessed New Year and hoping that it will be a year that we will grow stronger from hard knocks.