Crossing borders to reach greater heights – how high can they go ?

KIM Pan-Gon, Indra Wijaya and Rosman Razak are coaches from three different nations, serving in foreign countries – and all have one identical mission.

The South Korean has been chosen to restore the image of Malaysian football. Indonesian Indra has been handpicked by shuttler Lee Zii Jia to give a huge lift to his professional journey. And Malaysian Rosman is now in the Philippines, heading their national badminton team.

Different nationalities and personalities in nations other than their own, all aiming to take that nation to great heights. Can they turn out to be heroes and do the impossible?

Let’s start with Pan-gon.

With his hair dangling close to shoulder length, Pan-gon looks more like a K-pop artist than a coach.

But the 52-year-old newly-minted national football head coach is singing to the same tune as his predecessors – he wants to take Malaysian football to the highest level, given a little time.

He wants to take Harimau Malaya beyond South-East Asian standards and even Asian class – he has his eyes on the World Cup Finals.

It’s a hugely lofty target, but he is ready to start at the bottom, by strengthening the foundation.

With Malaysia languishing at 154th place in the world rankings and failing to reach even the final at the AFF Suzuki Cup just two months ago, it’s a monumental task. One wonders whether he will be the man who can turn Malaysia’s fortunes around – or if he will even last till the next World Cup.

The last foreign coach did not stay more than a year!

The good news is that we know that he has come from a country that went from rags to riches as far as football is concerned. Malaysia used to beat South Korea in the 1960s and 1970s but now, the Koreans are a permanent fixture in the World Cup.

Pan-gon has the credentials, fire, clear goals, and even a professional team of his own to make it work.

All he needs is some space, support, and dedicated players. What he does not need are meddlers.

Meanwhile, Indonesian Indra has also been thrown into the spotlight this week as Zii Jia’s saviour.

The All-England champion, who turned professional last month, is banking on the Indonesian to weave his magic to help him realise his 2024 Olympic Games dream in Paris after a recent slump.

But why Indra? Why not national singles head coach Hendrawan or our own Misbun Sidek?

Zii Jia has tasted Indra’s coaching style during his junior days when the Indonesian was with the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) in 2016.

The 23-year-old Zii Jia says he has a father-and-son relationship with Indra. The soft-spoken Indra has quit his high-paying job with BAM to join Zii Jia. It goes to show just how much he believes in the shuttler.

In fact, Indra understands the sentiment.

He too left Indonesia (1995-2000) to play for Singapore in 2001.

The 47-year-old Indra did not win outstanding titles like his elder brother Candra Wijaya, who won the doubles Olympic Games gold with Tony Gunawan in 2000 Sydney, but he has done well as a coach.

He was with the South Korean national team from 2013-2016 and under him, Son Wan-ho, Lee Dong-keun and Jeon Hyeok-jin shone brightly. At 20, Hyeok-jin lifted the Macau Open title.

Indra too has had a good mentor in Tang Hsienhu, better known as The Thing, and he will surely draw inspiration from his former guru to guide Zii Jia to greater heights.

While the foreigners are in Malaysia to make a difference, former BAM coach Rosman is hoping to do the same in the Philippines.

Rosman joins several other Malaysians like Jeremy Gan, Tan Kim Her, Lee Wan Wah (Japan); Wong Tat Meng (South Korea); Choong Tan Fook (Hong Kong); Yap Kim Hock, Lim Pek Siah (Singapore); and Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin (Ireland) in plying their trade abroad.

For Rosman, the challenge is great, as he is starting with a new team and a country where badminton is still in its infancy.

Winning a medal at the SEA Games will be a great thing and for Rosman, that’s a challenge that will keep him going.

Like it or not, Rosman, Indra, and Pan-gon will face many obstacles and pitfalls ahead of them.

They’ve crossed the borders and left their comfort zones and homes.

Will they get caught up in the crossfire or will they prevail with their passion and professionalism?

It does sound like a good plot for the making of a new Korean drama. Hopefully, it will be a box-office hit for each one of them.