Loh
12-18-2006, 09:16 PM
The Jakarta Post
December 19, 2006
Nation's flop
As the 15th Asian Games in Doha were brought to a close on Friday, some of the 13,500 athletes, coaches and officials left for home with big smiles, but many others had tears running down their cheeks.
Most of the 131-strong Indonesian team would belong to the latter, although they could try to hold their heads high, given they completed the two-week competition with a modest collection of two gold medals, three silvers and 15 bronzes.
It was Ryan Lalisang and Taufik Hidayat who came to the rescue, saving the country from embarrassment by winning a gold medal each in the ten-pin bowling and badminton competitions.
Indonesia fared far below China, which displayed its might and collected 164 golds, 88 silvers and 63 bronzes, and fellow East Asian sporting giants South Korea and Japan.
It seem unfair to compare Indonesia with the three countries, which fielded world-class athletes who are warming up for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
Nevertheless the Doha Asian Games will remain a bitter memory for Indonesia. The third most populous country in Asia, Indonesia ranked behind tiny Singapore and other Southeast Asian neighbors Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam in the medals standings.
The national team were quick to offer apologies to their fans. Badminton player Luluk Hadiyanto failed to win the men's doubles gold medal with Alvent Yulianto and tae kwon doin Juana Wangsa Putri had to end her career in defeat.
If the Asian Games results are an augur of the performance of Southeast Asian countries in the regional sporting meet in Bangkok next year, Indonesia will finish sixth, a record low.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono expressed his concern about the country's poor showing when he stopped in Doha in a show of support for the Indonesian team on his way home from a state visit to Moscow. He asked the athletes to work harder to help Indonesia restore its old dominance of the SEA Games.
Indonesia's failure at the Asian Games reflects the poor sports development, if there is any, of the country.
The country's founding fathers laid down a platform for sports development, which should begin in families and schools. Aspiring to an Indonesia that could join the world's top 10 not only in sports but also in economies, the then sports ministry gave priority to eight sports in schools -- athletics, swimming, gymnastics, soccer, badminton, basketball, table tennis and volleyball. The ministry also classified sports into recreational, achievement and professional sports.
Those national leaders fully understood sports would familiarize children with competition and fair play. Children would learn how to win and to accept defeat.
Founding president Sukarno also reminded the nation that sports would not be good for the public health, but would also help children build character and keep them away from crime and drugs.
But now, with the country still struggling to recover from the 1997 economic crisis, we seem to have forgotten about the development of our human resources. Everybody is talking about single digit inflation, wooing foreign investment, or efforts to defuse the effects of soaring fuel prices. Little has been done to improve sports development.
This lack of appreciation for sports has made parents think twice before allowing their children to nurture a career in the industry. It is true that the government is working together with the private sector to provide a token of appreciation to medal winners. State Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Adhyaksa Dault has raised money from state enterprises to provide cash bonuses to medalists, along with 100 houses to be given to gold medal winners.
The bonus is a good start, but more needs to be done.
The government must thoroughly evaluate the national sports development program as part of the education process. If it has limited ways to arrange a new program, why not turn to the methods of our old leaders. If providing sports facilities is too difficult, the ask the private sector to do the job. Why not make sports development part of the Corporate Social Responsibility program?
Indonesia needs to promote and instill a sports culture, which will help the country regain its pride in the sports world, as well as in other international fields.
December 19, 2006
Nation's flop
As the 15th Asian Games in Doha were brought to a close on Friday, some of the 13,500 athletes, coaches and officials left for home with big smiles, but many others had tears running down their cheeks.
Most of the 131-strong Indonesian team would belong to the latter, although they could try to hold their heads high, given they completed the two-week competition with a modest collection of two gold medals, three silvers and 15 bronzes.
It was Ryan Lalisang and Taufik Hidayat who came to the rescue, saving the country from embarrassment by winning a gold medal each in the ten-pin bowling and badminton competitions.
Indonesia fared far below China, which displayed its might and collected 164 golds, 88 silvers and 63 bronzes, and fellow East Asian sporting giants South Korea and Japan.
It seem unfair to compare Indonesia with the three countries, which fielded world-class athletes who are warming up for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
Nevertheless the Doha Asian Games will remain a bitter memory for Indonesia. The third most populous country in Asia, Indonesia ranked behind tiny Singapore and other Southeast Asian neighbors Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam in the medals standings.
The national team were quick to offer apologies to their fans. Badminton player Luluk Hadiyanto failed to win the men's doubles gold medal with Alvent Yulianto and tae kwon doin Juana Wangsa Putri had to end her career in defeat.
If the Asian Games results are an augur of the performance of Southeast Asian countries in the regional sporting meet in Bangkok next year, Indonesia will finish sixth, a record low.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono expressed his concern about the country's poor showing when he stopped in Doha in a show of support for the Indonesian team on his way home from a state visit to Moscow. He asked the athletes to work harder to help Indonesia restore its old dominance of the SEA Games.
Indonesia's failure at the Asian Games reflects the poor sports development, if there is any, of the country.
The country's founding fathers laid down a platform for sports development, which should begin in families and schools. Aspiring to an Indonesia that could join the world's top 10 not only in sports but also in economies, the then sports ministry gave priority to eight sports in schools -- athletics, swimming, gymnastics, soccer, badminton, basketball, table tennis and volleyball. The ministry also classified sports into recreational, achievement and professional sports.
Those national leaders fully understood sports would familiarize children with competition and fair play. Children would learn how to win and to accept defeat.
Founding president Sukarno also reminded the nation that sports would not be good for the public health, but would also help children build character and keep them away from crime and drugs.
But now, with the country still struggling to recover from the 1997 economic crisis, we seem to have forgotten about the development of our human resources. Everybody is talking about single digit inflation, wooing foreign investment, or efforts to defuse the effects of soaring fuel prices. Little has been done to improve sports development.
This lack of appreciation for sports has made parents think twice before allowing their children to nurture a career in the industry. It is true that the government is working together with the private sector to provide a token of appreciation to medal winners. State Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Adhyaksa Dault has raised money from state enterprises to provide cash bonuses to medalists, along with 100 houses to be given to gold medal winners.
The bonus is a good start, but more needs to be done.
The government must thoroughly evaluate the national sports development program as part of the education process. If it has limited ways to arrange a new program, why not turn to the methods of our old leaders. If providing sports facilities is too difficult, the ask the private sector to do the job. Why not make sports development part of the Corporate Social Responsibility program?
Indonesia needs to promote and instill a sports culture, which will help the country regain its pride in the sports world, as well as in other international fields.