News : The Star ( Http://www.thestar.com.my Sunday September 19, 2004 Siti Hasmah: Joint effort needed to produce top athletes BY AFTAR SINGH KUALA LUMPUR: Giving too much incentives and monetary rewards to athletes is not the solution to producing the world class athletes. Instead, Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali, who is known as the “Mother of Malaysian Sports’’ said to produce top class athletes, there must be joint effort by all ministries like Sports, Education, Health and the Prime Minister’s Department to help improve the standard of sports in the country. “We failed to win medals in the past two Olympics because there was a lack in co-ordination,†said Tun Dr Siti Hasmah after launching the Commemorative Milo “Tribute to Champions’’ programme at the National Aquatic Centre in Bukit Jalil yesterday. “After we won the Thomas Cup title in Kuala Lumpur in 1992, we wanted to build 1,001 badminton courts in every town in Malaysia to produce more players. However, the idea did not get off due to the recession. “But we still manage to win a bronze medal in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics through Rashid (Sidek) in the men’s singles event,’’ said Dr Siti Hasmah, who is the wife of former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed. “We are only good enough to win medals at the Commonwealth, Asian and SEA Games level. “I also support the idea of the Sport Minister Datuk Azalina (Saad) to build sports academies in very state to unearth new talents. “Setting up the sports committee headed by deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib (Abdul Razak) will play an important part to further develop sports in Malaysia. “For any country to excel in sports, there are many factors that have to be seriously considered. One of them is to instil the love of sports among the young. “We have seen countries like China and those in Eastern Europe, Indonesia and South Korea training their young children and identifying those with potential for further nurturing and development. “And we can learn from these countries,’’ said Dr Hasmah, after paying tribute to the three junior athletes who were inducted into the programme yesterday. The three are swimmer Daniel Bego, artistic gymnast Nurul Fatiha Abdul Hamid and Shahriman Rusdee, the Junior X Games athlete.
Canada has neither monetary rewards nor sufficient real badminton courts, that's we suck. Calgary, home of Yonex Canada HQ and national (canada) training center, has no (as in zero) publicly available real badminton courts at all. ROFL
what is ROFL? malaysia doesnt win any medals in the olympics......... so what! badminton doesnt contribute a medal............. i couldnt care less! every one is saying that the olympics is some sort of grand sport that winning in the olympics is more important than some international tournament. what a lie. the olympics is just another world stage for athletes like any other where anything and the unexpected can happen. no country can claim stake to golds or any medal in that fact until the fat lady sings. so malaysia no medal...... boohooo :crying: grow up and get on with life! and last i remembered: the true essence of the olympics is participating and friendly competition. not about winning medals alone. this is just like the education problem. everyone is interested in grades, grades, and grades (exam oriented) until the the true objective of educating the new generation seems to have fallen between the cracks. it seems every politician, tom **** harry and sue, every ali, muthu and chan wants to share their views on whats wrong with malaysian sports. just wait for the dust to settle and lets see who actually does something constructive about it. and im not talking about some minister who comes up with a farfetched multi million project but in actual fact is just another ploy to siphon tax dollars. come on people, we know how these sleazes opperate. they fan the flames to get the mob going to fight for their personal cause. they may be smart but we aint stupid. malaysia is a developing country. add this with the just ellasped financial crisis can malaysia trully afford sports to such high expectation? the answer is obviously no. which is why sports development and sports culture within the society itself has been compromised to a certain extent over the years. he who chases two chickens catches none.
Jug8man, glad it's u that had brought up this aspect of the olympic as i too no longer see the olympic as a friendly game to promote sportmanship but rather to serve countries' and interest groups political, social, economical, etc needs. It never had since Hitler use the olympic to promote white supremacy. Although our media had projected how Canadian were disappointed of our poor olympic results, on the street level where many were interviewed, people really didn't place too much importance on our olympic pursuit. Basically, Canada doesn't has any political, social or economical agenda to push upon the international scene so it's no big deal. Given the need of funding in health care, military, education, social welfare, national security, funding some athlete's dream aren't top priorities. Of course we all like gold medals for national pride and peer (international) pressure but if we come down to its essence, yes, but not from my wallet conscience prevail.
food for thought New Straits Times » Sport SPORTCHECK: Don’t let it happen again! K. M. Boopathy September 20: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MALAYSIA’S badminton supremacy on the world stage ended after their 1967 Thomas Cup victory in Jakarta and several former greats, who were vital to that squad, believe this was due to the lack of career security and recognition. Teh Kew San, who captained the 1967 squad, said there was no security for the players' future at all during his time and this was the reason almost every player in his era called it quits by 1970. This, according to Kew San, was due to the fact that there is no financial support at all for playing at international level and the players had to fork out their own money on most occasions. Most of the players had to support their families and the only way they could do that was by quitting badminton early. This is something Kew San and his team-mates want the Cabinet Committee for Sports to give serious consideration to — the welfare of the national players, especially after they retire from international duty. "I was a clerk with Penang Municipal Council (PMC) and had to play in Thomas Cup and All-England Championships by taking unpaid leave, and I had to do that until 1962. "I only carried on when the Government came up with a ruling to grant paid leave for State and national shuttlers," said the 69-year-old Kew San. "This privilege was only for Government servants but it was a small compensation. I could not go on any longer after the 1967 Thomas Cup and retired. "The Cabinet Committee should come up with a scheme where the players can benefit after retirement. It could be either in the form of a pension or a job opportunity in a Government department or bank. "Incentives might not help as some players do not manage it well. We must have something that makes sure that the players do not suffer so much after ending their playing careers." The other players who were in the 1967 squad, who beat Indonesia 6-3, were Tan Yee Khan, Ng Boon Bee, Yew Cheng Hoe, Tan Aik Huang and Billy Ng. Cheng Hoe, who was Malaysia's first singles player in the Thomas Cup, said that the situation was so different as the players had to pay the medical bills for injuries suffered while playing for the nation. That financial burden was just too much to bear when Cheng Hoe tore his achilles tendon in 1970 and retired when he was just 28. Cheng Hoe said that the Cabinet Committee can come up with some form of support, not just in the form of money but in other benefits, to recognise players' contributions. "It can be in other forms, like free medical treatment, an insurance policy or jobs with the Government or private sector." Yee Khan, who won two All-England doubles titles with Boon Bee and also retired a couple of years after the 1967 Thomas Cup, said the welfare of the athletes and even coaches should be given more consideration. "We served the country unselfishly but we suffered when our playing careers were over. This is one of the main reasons why most former internationals do not encourage their children to take up sport seriously," he said. "There should be some sort of assurance for the athletes. If athletes are good, there should be a system where they can concentrate on both sports and studies. Billy Ng, a Malayan Bank clerk during his playing days, also retired in 1967 to concentrate on his work and, a few years later, Aik Huang and Boon Bee also retired. Thus ended the golden era of Malaysian badminton and the players of that time do not want the current batch or any other national athlete to endure similar struggles.
or just rolling on floor laughing. jug8man, you should that it (ROFLOL) sometime It cures many ailments but doctors rarely prescribe to it
