ACTRESS and Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh is now an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member, her fellow actor Hans Isaac is now the Malaysian Stadium Board chairman.
It’s a bit puzzling why showbiz stars are getting elected – or appointed – to these positions instead of those that have excelled, or contributed to, sports.
Neither Michelle nor Isaac were prominent figures in the sports scene prior to that. They are however stars in their own rights on the silver screen, having won awards and accolades for their years of dedication and hard work.
But they pale in comparison to Malaysia’s previous IOC member from 2006-2018.
Tunku Tan Sri Imran Tuanku Ja’afar was Olympic Council of Malaysia president from 1998 to 2018. He was a man who had held various top posts in squash, cricket, had won titles as an athlete and played important roles as Malaysia’s voice at the SEA Games and Commonwealth Games.
The credentials are worlds apart, but let’s not rush to rule Michelle and Isaac out as unsuitable candidates. It’s only fair to give them a chance and time to lead.
Who knows, they probably can do a better job than some of the current sports officials who are in a position to make decisions but are only full of drama.
Take the recent incident in Terengganu when gymnasts were barred from taking part in the Malaysia Games (Sukma) in Sarawak next year. It was not because they were not good enough, but because of the attire. Apparently leotards are a no-no for the Terengganu officials.
The officials are within their rights to make the rules, but shouldn’t they have done it earlier, so these young gymnasts would not even have bothered to waste years time preparing for Sukma?
Asking them to take up wushu just months before the Games in August next year is a mockery.
The Youth and Sports Ministry are reportedly looking into the matter. Hopefully, the gymnasts will get to compete, maybe as independents or under the National Sports Council (NSC) banner.
Then there was this play-acting by the Sports Section and Strategic Planning Division of the Higher Education Ministry.
As soon as the athletes completed their medal haul of 6-8-18 at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, they jumped to take the credit.
They beat their collective chests and acknowledged their “role” in the success of these athletes.
What role one may ask?
In reality, these student-athletes were nurtured by associations and trained under the NSC elite training programmes. The only part the higher institutions of learning (IPT) did was in giving these athletes a chance to study. In fact, some universities have even made it difficult for athletes to skip classes to train.
Asian Games chef de mission Datuk Chong Kim Fatt, who is also the Wushu Federation of Malaysia (WFM) have decided to put them in their place.
In fact, wushu has announced that they will no longer work in partnership with the sports division of the higher learning institutes.
“Although wushu athletes have often won medals in various multi-Games managed by the IPT section, including winning Malaysia’s first gold medal in the World University Games since 1985, they did not send any letter of appreciation to us,” said Kim Fatt.
Tammy Tan made history when she won the women’s qiangshu event in Chengdu, China.
“It’s as if the success was the result of their efforts alone. Such attitudes and actions are completely disrespectful to WFM. They have never supplied clothes or equipment for athletes’ training.”
Kim Fatt’s frustration is understandable. Many like to piggy-ride on the success of athletes.
Just look at the numbers of top officials or politicians who clamour for attention when an athlete does well.
It’s okay if they had played their part in contributing to their path to glory.
But the real “actors” on the sports stage are the athletes. It’s only right that they get due recognition.
We applaud them when they succeed. We encourage them to fight all the way despite all kinds of obstacles.
When they fail or make wrong calls, we don’t mollycoddle them but give them constructive criticism, so they can pick themselves up and try again to get to the pinnacle.
It’s the athletes who deserve the Oscars in sports.
