No more hiding! : 8 events for our nation to reflect upon

This post serves as a reflection of what our beloved nation, Malaysia have faced this past week. As an honest citizen it has been tough to see and hear all the news that has been spreading through. Some of these events may not link to country directly but it affects our nation in a different way. From education, politics, economy, none of these can show how far how our country has fallen as compared with sports. There is no hiding in terms of sports as it exposes the vulnerability general weaknesses for the whole world to see. Hence, this post will be focusing more to sports which have showed how far our nation is off the mark in a space of a week.

1)      SEA Games 2015

To those who don’t know, Singapore has just hosted a successful SEA Games in where besides being outnumbered in terms of population to us managed to notch up to 80 plus gold medals. Not only that, they achieved this by organizing and implementing first class infrastructure and creative way of introducing the athletes which even the Olympics has not seen.

2)      Closing ceremony of SEA Games 2015

As Malaysia being the next host for the games in 2017, we were given the stage for about 20 minutes to show a glimpse of what our nation’s culture is all about. To my utter shock, the whole 20 minutes was just a performance of traditional Malay dance and the Silat art. Chinese and Indian culture was nowhere to be seen and it was disappointing as this nation’s propaganda is ‘Satu Malaysia’. Can somebody explain this?

Where was the 'One Malaysia' concept?

3)      Provoking our very own gold medal winning athlete.

There were a few days of rage almost everywhere in social media as locals were constantly tormenting our very own national gold medallist Farah Ann. The reason of it was more bizarre as they were provoking her for her costume. There is a reason why gymnast women wear that costume as it custom designed for them to be more flexible for them to perform. Instead of being lauded for her dedication and hard work to achieve her feat, the incense she faced was nothing but injustice. More and more talents will be stunted in this country as they will feel that athletics has no future in this country if they are about to face this sort of treatment. Probably it will be better for athletes to represent another nation where their achievement will be more appreciated?

Unlikely victim: The Gold medal was not enough for Farah Ann to defend herself

4)      SEA Games final medal tally.

The final standings stood with our neighbouring country Thailand emerging with the most gold medals with 95 and host Singapore second with astonishing 84 despite the size of their nation. We were also behind Vietnam and drastic changes have to occur as we are the next host in 2 years’ time. The perception on Thailand has changed in the views of many Malaysians including me. Singapore has showed how much they have developed as a nation. Can we match these benchmarks in 2017?

5)      World Cup 2018 Asian qualifying (men football)

The structure and format of Asian qualifying has changed to give a more equal opportunity for all Asian teams to qualify for the most prestigious tournament that comes only once every four years. Drawn together with minnows Timor Leste and Palestine, many favoured Malaysia to finish at least third behind the much stronger opponents United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Regardless of the nation just gaining independence in 2007, Timor Leste were able to come here and snatch a draw against us in the first fixture. If that is not bad enough, a heavy 6 nil drubbing at the hands of Palestine followed also at home. This is a nation that is literally torn apart by the war they are facing. This circumstance was not a problem for them to field a team that were able to come here and give us a merciless beating. Has the immature sacking of K.Rajagopal backfired the Football Association Malaysia? Can current manager Dollah Salleh prove his worth with upcoming fixtures against UAE and Saudi Arabia? He is definitely walking on tightrope now after a string of poor results.

Amri Yahyah apologizing to fans after the loss

6)      FIFA World Cup 2018 Asian qualifying (men football) – Singapore’s success.

In this same qualifying phase, Singapore was drawn in the same group as Asian giants Japan. Nevertheless, they went to Saitama, Japan and achieved an honourable draw. This is a Japan team consisting of players playing their trade and club football in the European leagues. Shinji Okazaki, Keisuke Honda, Shinji Kagawa and Captain Makoto Hasebe were all not able to penetrate the resolute and organized Singaporean team.

Dejected looking Japanese players after the final whistle

 The question here is how is there so much difference in quality between us and them? Changes have to be made all the way to the roots with actual proper academy and polish young talents from a young age. All the corruption and biasness within the association has to leave the door immediately. Singapore might not eventually qualify for the big thing but they have shown us that achieving something is possible with the proper frame of mind and preparation.

Proud moment: Singapore players celebrating their result in the changing room

7)      FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015

Generally known for their prostitution activities as a main source of income for their nation, has not held them back from being able to have a women football team that were able to compete the World Cup against the best female footballers in the world. They also managed to beat Ivory Coast before being eliminated in the group stages. They are showing great signs of development despite their early exit. Can Malaysian women follow in their footsteps?

Thailand women in the World Cup

8)      FIFA Under 20 World Cup (men football)

To put icing on the cake or relatively for us a final nail in our coffin, Serbia has won the under 20 world cup beating the mighty Brazil in the final. That being said, African countries like Mali and Senegal were able to reach the semi finals. It is incredible of what a small nation can achieve to beat all the odds. We are a nation of 27 million and Serbia has only 7 million. Enough said.

Day of the underdogs: Serbian under 20 team won the world cup today

There is no hiding on how our nation is off the pace and sports just illustrated it so much within this week. How and why can this happen? Is it realistically possible for us to change to this? Without a doubt, there are talents in this country. I fear that it is simply being tarnished by our education system in our country as there are no proper medium and academies here for people to show what they really like to do as students here are only pressured to study for grades and enter higher institutes blindly before realising what their true passion is. If it is to follow the methods of other countries for us to develop, so be it. There is no room for us to ignore and take for granted anymore as it is only for the betterment of the nation we love.