No News Is Bad News
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Sports discrimination in Malaysia no surprise
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6, 2023: Not only sports have been discrimainated, sportsmen and women have also been discriminated in Malaysia since Merdeka (Independence) 1957.
Worst still, sports excellence and sportsmen and women have been discriminated by their skin colour.
If their skin colour is not right, they would either be discarded or receive no aid from federal governments. Potential talent and skill are secondary to racial and religious bigoted politicians whose only concern is to remain in power.
It is still the same today albeit a relax in extending help to really skilful athletes, sportsmen and women.
No News Is Bad News reproduces below an opinion piece published by Free Malaysia Today:
WINNERS! … The victorious Malaysian Women Squash Team at the ongoing Asian Games in China.
Squash, biggest winners at Asiad, stepchild of Malaysian sports
After Asian Games euphoria, Malaysian squash confronts harsh reality.
Frankie D'Cruz - 06 Oct 2023, 10:00am
Before we climb aboard the hype train, it’s worth considering: is it time to worry about Malaysian squash that is ironically on the up?
Are we really measuring the astonishing triumph of our men and women players at the Asian Games?
Or will it be a case of nothing else matters than the three gold medals squash contributed to Malaysia’s five top finishes so far at the Games?
It’s time to face up to the reality that our squash is at a critical crossroads.
Let’s face it: squash, a non-Olympic sport, is the stepchild of Malaysian sports.
I fear we’re going to blow this golden opportunity and, yet again, fail to do justice to the talent and commitment of both established and budding players.
There are serious fundamental issues with the whole structure of Malaysian sports, and the frustratingly common story is the limited funding from the national sports council (NSC).
Strangely, squash continues to bear the brunt of funding despite the country’s good showing in the global arena, while the underperforming sports profit.
When the Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia (SRAM) got going on its own, it got smashed.
For one, the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) refused a tax rebate to CIMB Foundation that underpinned junior development for over 15 years. Every member of the team at Hangzhou is a CIMB baby.
Squash was thought to be an elitist sport, and that silly view has now put the CIMB programme in jeopardy.
Nothing like ignorance to demolish years of social and sporting progress. Nothing like stupidity to foil a corporate endeavour to build champions.
When CIMB Foundation was informed by LHDN that they could not claim a tax break for the junior development programme, they appealed to then finance minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz.
The former CIMB CEO, who is an avid squash player, turned it down. Blind football, tennis and basketball were also affected by that decision.
Junior development suffered another blow when an initiative under the higher education ministry and SRAM did not take off.
Universiti Malaya (UM) was to be the centre of excellence under the programme, but its sports directorate did nothing for three years. That was almost RM200,000 per annum gone.
Doing it on their own
There was a time when a SRAM head coach and general manager used to drop players from top squads if they decided to further their education.
That changed when past SRAM presidents Huang Ying How and Nik Razeen Adam Daud made it a core initiative to ensure as many of the young players received some form of tertiary education.
CIMB Foundation gave Hangzhou Asian Games gold medallists S Sivasangari and Ng Eain Yow overseas university scholarships so that they could get both the best training possible and a university degree.
A quick mind is as essential as the physical attributes, and at least 50 Malaysian players, past and present, have benefitted from full scholarships from US universities. As students, many have played squash for universities such as Yale, Cornell, Harvard, George Washington and Trinity.
With every new challenge they have faced, they learned and adapted well, unlocking new qualities against some of the best squash players in the world.
The Malaysian team at Hangzhou was brilliant, justly reaping the rewards for years of sacrifice. Their craving for honours runs so deep that even bureaucracy and flagrant insensitivity to the importance of sports as a nation-builder cannot stand in their path.
When you compare the amount of time they dedicate to representing the nation – and the subsequent benefits they receive – with that of politicians, who serve for three or four years and do nothing to bring glory to Malaysia, it is shameful.
Those pensions for politicians should be diverted to sportspeople like the victorious Asian Games squash players in their later years.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.
Sivasangari clinches squash gold in Asian Games
It is the Kedah-born player’s second gold medal at the Asian Games after winning the women’s team event last Saturday.
PETALING JAYA: National squash player S Sivasangari won Malaysia’s fourth gold medal at the Asian Games after beating Hong Kong’s Chan Sin Yuk for the women’s singles title.
Sivasangari defeated Chan 8-11, 15-13, 10-12, 11-9, 12-10 in a 64-minute title decider at the Hangzhou Olympic Squash Centre, according to a report in Harian Metro.
The Kedah-born player stunned top seed Satomi Watanabe of Japan 11-8, 11-8, 11-4 in yesterday’s semi-finals.
Sivasangari also won gold in the women’s team event with Rachel Arnold, Aira Azman and Aifa Azman last Saturday.
Nur Shazrin Latif won Malaysia first gold in the ILCA 6 sailing event on Sept 27, with equestrian ace Qabil Ambak Fathi bagging the country’s second gold medal in the individual dressage competition on Sept 28.
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