Winning at all costs

Mariam Mokhtar
Malaysiakini
Jul 8, 2013

The alleged rape of a 19-year old handball official at the Malaysia Games (Sukma) last week will revive unpleasant memories for the victim and family of another teenager in Malacca. Two years ago, the victim and her family were denied justice when as a 13 year old, she was raped by a Sukma champion.

Her rapist was set free so that he could represent Malaysia in future tournaments. He was allowed to bask in the glory of representing his nation, whilst the victim would spend her life in shame and regret. Court of Appeal President Raus Md Shariff had said that “public interest would not be served” if the rapist was sent to jail as “he had a bright future.”

When will the authorities do the right thing, rather than do things so that the right Malaysian image is presented for public and international consumption? Does the judiciary realise the irony of having a rapist representing the country in sport?

If the government of the country is seen to condone rape and other crimes, what does it say about Umno Baru, the major party in BN? Does winning at all costs for Umno-Baru mean compromising principles, morals and ethics? Are rape victims convenient pawns in Umno Baru’s constant lust for victory?

Last Wednesday’s alleged rape of the Sukma participant took place at the sports village at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). Our trust in the police has been eroded by its failure to serve the rakyat. For decades, Umno Baru politicians have stripped the independence of the police force and made the police serve them, as baruas, thus betraying the rakyat.

How convinced are we, when told that the police will thoroughly investigate this latest alleged rape? It was a foreign NGO which first exposed the rape of the Penan girls in Sarawak. Despite pledges by the police and politicians to bring the rapists of the Penan girls to justice, nothing has happened.

Instead, the Penan women have been branded liars and story-tellers. If the rakyat are cynical about police efforts to stem crime, Umno Baru and the police have only themselves to blame. Continue reading “Winning at all costs”

Olympics Will Close With A Thunderous Party

by The Associated Press
August 12, 2012

LONDON (AP) — Party! Party! Party!

London is preparing to close out a two-week festival of sports in Olympic style, with a thunderous celebration of British music, from the classical compositions of Elgar to the classic rock of The Who.

A star-studded closing ceremony Sunday night will be long on fun — a dancing, stomping, psychedelic exaltation of what Britain does best, exporting a head-shaking amount of talent to the world.

The spectacle, which artistic director Kim Gavin promises will be “the best after-show party that’s ever been,” will have something for everyone — the Spice Girls, George Michael, Annie Lennox, Muse and many, many other stars mixed in.

There’ll be plenty of fireworks and colored lights, acrobats, gymnasts, drummers, supermodels and other surprises to keep the crowd — and a television audience of tens of millions — entertained late into the night.

The best seats are for the 10,800 Olympic athletes, who will march in as one and form what Gavin has described as a human mosh pit on the field. Queen Elizabeth II, who made a memorable mock parachute entrance at the opening ceremony, will be on hand. Continue reading “Olympics Will Close With A Thunderous Party”

Malaysia’s Olympic Legacy: Stop Moaning, Start Planning

Mariam Mokhtar
Malaysian Mirror
08 August 2012

It’s an established fact: Sportsmen like Lee Chong Wei unite Malaysians like no politician can. Prime minister Najib Abdul Razak struggles with his ‘1Malaysia’ slogan just as Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s promises of change, fail to convince some Malaysians.

There is a disgusting predictability whenever a high-profile tournament fails to deliver the expected victorious result.

In last weekend’s Olympic badminton finals when Malaysia’s hopes of her first Gold medal were dashed, we blamed the athletes, their lack of determination, their weak fighting spirit, their ineffective coaches and the useless accompanying officials.

We praised the victors for their superiority. We blamed the presence of certain personalities for bringing bad luck to the players. A few of us even introduced the racial element, to sport.

Why are our hopes pinned on a handful of sportsmen? Why do we have so few world-class athletes? Continue reading “Malaysia’s Olympic Legacy: Stop Moaning, Start Planning”

The Malaysian dream

— Art Harun
The Malaysian Insider
Aug 07, 2012

AUG 7 — With an overhead shot from around the baseline landing outside the court, his dream, and with that a Malaysian collective dream, ended. His opponent, dark, muscular and almost brooding, leapt in the air, turned around and ran around the court, with his arm opened wide as if he was going to take off the ground.

Datuk Lee Chong Wei gave his best. The Malaysian spectators at the venue shouted and screamed in unison. But luck wasn’t with Lee.

Nothing much separated the two players, really. It was a gladiatorial match. An epic. The best badminton match I had ever had the pleasure of watching.

There were moments during the match when I saw moves which were almost non-human in nature. Impossible speed, almost Spider-man like agility, the will and power of men possessed with an ultimate dream, an ultimate hope to win the ultimate prize.

At one point of time, I wondered how is it to feel the weight of the hope and wish of 28 million people on one’s tiny shoulder. How does one man deal with that? How does one man carry himself knowing every move of his might disappoint 28 million people? What is in his head every time he raises his racquet to serve, to smash and to return a drop shot?

I have nothing but admiration and pride for Lee and all our Olympians. For all their sacrifices, their hard work, their pains, blood, sweat and tears, dispensed in the name of national glory. Continue reading “The Malaysian dream”

The battle of Lee Chong Wei have unite the people as one – Malaysians

By Dr Chen Man Hin, DAP Life advisor

Once in a while, an encouraging sign of Malaysian nationalism show up.

Lee Chong Wei is a good example of a patriotic Malaysian. In spite of the negative outbursts by Perkasa and UMNO, the ordinary people as a whole feel this is their country, and they belong here.

Lee Chong Wei fought and used up his last ounce of energy for the honour and glory of his country. He played his best for Malaysia. Literally, he lost by a hair’s breadth. He was as good as his opponent from China, Lin Dan.

He was as good as Lin Dan as shown by the ding dong battle in the third round. Unfortunately, at the end the luck of the shuttle fell to Lin Dan who won, when Chong Wei’s shot fell just off the base line.
Continue reading “The battle of Lee Chong Wei have unite the people as one – Malaysians”

Cabinet on Wednesday should honour Lee Chong Wei as Malaysian Sportsperson of the Decade for winning two Olympic silver medals for the country – a feat unequalled by any Malaysian

The Cabinet on Wednesday should honour Datuk Lee Chong Wei as the Malaysian Sportsperson of the Decade for winning two Olympic silver medals for the country – a feat unequalled by any Malaysian.

Malaysians were greatly disappointed by Chong Wei’s failure to win the Olympic gold medal in the men’s badminton singles last night, as it was truly a case of “So near and yet so far”.

However, nobody could be more disappointed than Chong Wei himself, as he had put up a valiant and mighty effort to win the first Olympic gold medal for Malaysia.

Chong Wei remains the undisputed hero for all Malaysians in the past ten years, sealed by his unequalled achievement of winning two Olympics silver medals for the country – in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and the 2012 Olympics in London.
Continue reading “Cabinet on Wednesday should honour Lee Chong Wei as Malaysian Sportsperson of the Decade for winning two Olympic silver medals for the country – a feat unequalled by any Malaysian”

Olympics Opening Ceremony: Lessons for Malaysia

blog.nikicheong.com
Posted on Jul 30, 2012

Last night, I watched the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games for the second time, in the solitude of my room. I had a great time watching it with friends at their place for the first time on the actual night, and in general really enjoyed it. That night, I posted this updated on my Facebook account:

I admit that I’m a sucker for all Olympic Opening Ceremonies but today’s was special. It was patchy as a production, didn’t necessarily like the video/live action stuff, but can Danny Boyle tell a story. The underlying narrative was genius and hats off to him for giving so much credit to those who would never usually get attention – from the NHS to the miners, construction workers who built the stadium to the seven young athletes who lit the gorgeous cauldron. Amazing.

I watched it again because I was still reeling from the show the night before. Plus, having spent the better part of the day reading commentaries and reviews about the event, I realised that there were so many little things I missed. Watching it alone again, and being able to listen to all the commentary, it really did feel like I was watching a different show.

And I still loved it. Continue reading “Olympics Opening Ceremony: Lessons for Malaysia”

MALAYSIAN SPIRIT WINS OLYMPIC BADMINTON MEDAL FOR MALAYSIA

By Dr. Chen Man Hin

The whole nation is happy and proud that Lee Chong Wei battled his way in the Beijing Olympics and won a silver medal in badminton.

He has won honour and glory for Malaysia, and though we are a small country, we have people like Lee Chong Wei to strive hard and win a medal despite intense competition from bigger countries.

We must not forget that behind every athlete’s success, there is the guiding hand of the coach. The man behind Lee Chong Wei’s success is Misbun Sidek, the national badminton coach. Continue reading “MALAYSIAN SPIRIT WINS OLYMPIC BADMINTON MEDAL FOR MALAYSIA”

Lee Chong Wei – pity to become PP by-election “fodder’

Congrats to Lee Chong Wei as Olympics badminton silver medalist.

I watched his finals match with Lin Dan and was rooting for him to win the first Olympics gold for Malaysia, but it was not to be.

He visited Parliament yesterday and would be honoured in a special ceremony in Penang tonight where he would be presented with a cheque for RM300,000 and a monthly pension of RM3,000.

Chong Wei is a national hero for all Malaysians.

It will be great pity if this national status is diminished by making him a “fodder” in the Permatang Pauh by-election – as indicated by the New Straits Times Dewan Dispatches article “Lee Chong Wei becomes Permatang Pauh fodder”.
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Umno-Pas talks – repudiation of transformational message of March 8 “political tsunami”

In the United States, Senator Barack Obama’s nomination as the Democratic Presidential nominees heralds a new milestone in American nation-building and race relations but in Malaysia, the UMNO proposal for Umno-PAS talks marks a regression in Malaysian nation-building and the Vision 2020 objective of a Bangsa Malaysia.

The latter repudiates March 8 “political tsunami” where for the first time in half-a-century of nationhood, Malaysians transcended race, religion and political affiliation to vote for change to give primacy and priority to justice, freedom, solidarity, integrity and progress.

The March 8 “political tsunami” marks a bold and visionary stride forward by Malaysians to rise above their communal selves to reach out to a common national identity. Continue reading “Umno-Pas talks – repudiation of transformational message of March 8 “political tsunami””

Teo Seng Koon – Remember him?

Very few Malaysians will know who is Teo Seng Koon. His name came up after the world’s No. 1 squash player Nicol David, 25, became the youngest Datuk when she was honoured by the Yang di Pertua Negri of Penang Tun Abdul Rahman Abbas and former men’s badminton doubles ace Ng Boon Bee, 70, was made a Datuk in conjunction with the 86th birthday of the Yang di-Pertuan Besar Negri Sembilan, Tuanku Ja’afar.

Seng Koon, 90, is the surviving member of the country’s first Thomas Cup team, which included legends Wong Peng Soon and Ong Poh Lim and created history by winning the inaugural Thomas Cup in 1948, beating Denmark 8-1.

The very fit and sprightly nonagenarian turned up at the media conference convened by DAP MP for Ipoh Barat, M. Kulasegaran as we believe that the country should give proper recognition to sportsmen and sportswomen who have made great contribution to the country, like Seng Koon.

Seng Koon, who played doubles, told reporters that it took the Thomas Cup players three weeks to make the trip to the United Kindom by sea in 1948.

Seng Koon was formerly the Ipoh bureau chief of the defunct Echo.

Public inquiry into RM70 million HPTC folly – object lesson to all Ministers and MPs on do’s and don’ts of good governance

Finally, the proposed High Performance Training Centre (HPTC) in Brickendonbury outside London, originally slated to cost RM490 million but later scaled down and projected to cost RM70 million, has been laid to rest.

The reasons given by the new Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Ismail Sabri Yaakob scrapping the HPTC project is exactly what critics and opponents of the project had said both in and out of Parliament – that it is an extravagant and unnecessary expenditure which had nothing to do with raising the standards of Malaysian sports!

A special tribute must be given to crusading journalists like R. Nadeswaran of The Sun who had persevered in their high-quality investigative journalism under the most difficult of circumstances to expose the series of lies, half-truths and misinformation which proponents of the project had been spinning in the country in support of the folly.

Although Ismail said he was checking on the amount incurred on consultants, travel and other expenses in pursuing the project, giving an undertaking that they will be made public, it is most extraordinary that the new Sports Minister has difficulty in getting the latest update of the total expenditures incurred in the project.

There is no reason why Ismail could not have got these figures as he had been appointed Sports Minister for more than four weeks, with three intervening Cabinet meetings. Furthermore, there is only a change of a Minister and no change of government with consequential disappearance of files, as happened in some of the states where the Barisan Nasional had lost state power in the March 8 politicial tsunami. Continue reading “Public inquiry into RM70 million HPTC folly – object lesson to all Ministers and MPs on do’s and don’ts of good governance”

Record 68 Golds by Malaysian sportsmen and sportswomen in SEA Games – a lesson for all of us

by Dr. Chen Man Hin

Malaysia can stand proud because it has won 68 golds to earn second place among the nations of se asia

The sports men and women had one objective in mind – to win for the honour and glory of Malaysia.

They competed as Malaysians for the country that they love. On the track there was no distinction of bumiputras or non-bumiputras, no ketuanan Melayu or second-class citizens. Because of their unity and common brotherhood they won 68 golds.

Their success holds a lesson for the leaders of our country Malaysia. Their duty is to foster unity and treat all citizens on an equal basis.

In the face of competition in a global world, to earn an honourable place it is vital that there be unity and all citizens should have the status of only one class – MALAYSIANS. Continue reading “Record 68 Golds by Malaysian sportsmen and sportswomen in SEA Games – a lesson for all of us”

RM70 m Brickendonbury Sports complex – bury idea and probe why RM2 million wasted

Now that the British East Herts Council had rejected the Malaysian government’s application to establish a RM70 million Sports High-Performance Training Centre (HPTC) at the Tun Abdul Razak Research Centre (TARRC) in Brickendonbury outside London, the siren proposal to appeal against the decision must be decisively resisted and struck down.

The Cabinet next Wednesday should just bury the idea of the RM70 million Brickendonbury Sports HPTC and establish an inquiry to ascertain who were responsible for the folly of wasting RM2 million in pursuing the project and who had really benefited.

The Council had publicly said that the Malaysian government had been consistently advised of the constraints in developing the Brickendonbury site due to the Green Belt policy, the site’s remoteness, the listed mansion and the historic park land. The Council had been doubtful about how outdoor sports facilities would assimilate satisfactorily and be accommodated within the historic garden landscape.

Why then was the Sports Minister, Datuk Azalina Othman and the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak as Chairman of the Cabinet Committee on Sports, so stubborn in ignoring these objections to the extent of throwing RM2 million of public funds down the drain, when good governance and good sense would have advised against it? Continue reading “RM70 m Brickendonbury Sports complex – bury idea and probe why RM2 million wasted”

Brickendonbury Sports Complex – British local authority says “No”

Breaking News

Malaysia’s Application To Set Up HPTC In Brickendonbury Rejected

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 15 (Bernama) — The East Herts Council Development Control Committee has rejected the Malaysian government’s application to set up a High Performance Training Centre (HPTC) at the Tun Abdul Razak Research Centre (TARRC) in Brickendonbury, Britain.

The National Sports Institute director-general, Datuk Dr Ramlan Abdul Aziz, said the decision was made at the council meeting in Bishops Startford, Herts, on Wednesday night (Thursday morning in Malaysia).

“With the decision, we now have to prepare a report to be submitted to the Cabinet Committee on Sports headed by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak for their guidance on the next course of action,” he said in a statement. Continue reading “Brickendonbury Sports Complex – British local authority says “No””

Brickendonbury the answer to end the slaughter of Malaysian football?

“Another bashing” (Sunday Star) and “ANOTHER HUMILIATION” (New Sunday Times) — screaming headlines for Malaysia’s 5-0 thrashing by Uzbekistan in the Asian Cup Group C match yesterday after the earlier 1-5 thrashing by China.

But is Brickendonbury the answer to end the slaughter of Malaysian football — with the national Under-15 football squad leaving for London tonight, according to the following Bernama report yesterday: Continue reading “Brickendonbury the answer to end the slaughter of Malaysian football?”

RM69 mil London Sports Centre – proof of shambolic Abdullah government?

The bursting of the London High Performance Sports Training Centre balloon in less than a week raises concern whether the highly-regarded Abdullah administration had in three years degenerated into a shambolic and incompetent government.

Last Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister and the Chairman of the Cabinet Committee on Sports Development, Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced a new lease of life for the controversial London Sports Centre, originally slated to cost RM490 million until it ran into quite unanimous opposition in the country including from Members of Parliament from both sides of the House.

Najib assured that “no additional costs will be incurred” in turning the Tun Abdul Razak Research Centre (TARRC) in Brickendonbury into a sports training centre as “we will be using existing facilities”.

Yet the cost for turning the TARRC into a sports training centre instead of a sports complex will be a walloping big bill of RM69 million for “refurbishments” – which will include building accommodation for athletes and upgrading the fields and equipment all to be ready by April.

However, a Sun exclusive “Sports centre plan stalled” by R. Nadeswaran reported that despite Najib’s announcement that the London training centre will be full operational by April, it is likely to be a non-starter.

This is because the East Herts Council, under whose jurisdiction the Brickendonbury centre falls, holds the position that issues covering planning and development encountered in previous applications remain relevant to new proposals to converting existing buildings to provide accommodation for athletes, installing a football pitch, and extending an existing swimming pool on the site.

The council’s communications officer Nick White told the Sun in an email response to queries that the Brickendonbury site is within the green belt, surrounded by protected woodland. Some of the buildings are listed. As all these will need to be taken into account when planning application comes in, the council expect it will be a couple of months before a planning application is submitted.

In view of the stand taken by the East Herts Council, it is unlikely even if planning permission is approved, renovations can be completed by April. Continue reading “RM69 mil London Sports Centre – proof of shambolic Abdullah government?”