Tuesday, January 12, 2010
How about some money for MSSM Sir?
RM10 million was given by the Government to set up a national soccer development fund a short while ago.
The fund was kicked off by none other than the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, himself.
Well and good for soccer. Finally, the powers to be are taking a serious view of soccer development in the country.
But would it not have been better if RM5 million was given to the Malaysian Schools Sports Council (MSSM), whose annual budget has been slashed from RM6 million to RM1.5 million?
The Youth and Sports Minister, Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek, was the primer mover of setting up this national fund for soccer development after the national Under-23's Sea Games gold medal winning effort.
Now would the Datuk Ahmad Shabery and his Ministry look magnanimous, if they had only considered the financial woes of the Ministry of Education and decided to give RM 5 million to them.
Is schools sports not development?
Would assisting 24 sports, look more fair, than just soccer?
Is not the Ministry of Youth and Sports and Ministry of Education, suppose to work hand in hand for the development of sports?
MSSM's annual budget cut this year has resulted from the annual 24 sports organised at national level for the Under-12, Under-15 and Under-18, to 11 sports being dropped.
The 13 sports which will be organised are artistic gymnastics, gymrama, golf, swimming, athletics, badminton, netball, basketball, volleyball, sepak takraw, football, tennis and hockey. On top of that, all the sports, except for artistic gymnastics, gimrama, swimming and athletics, will not have the Under-15 age group.
The eleven sports given the axe include key sports in Malaysia -bowling, squash and archery.
The others axed are table tennis, rugby, cricket, sailing, softball, handball, cross country and chess.
The problem does not just mean that many national schools meets are not organised because funding to the State Sports Councils, will also be effected.
If the State Sports Councils suffer, so will the districts organisers in each States and the schools themselves.
All of which will result is sports in schools nationwide merely being suffocated.
It is a sad situation and unless something is done urgently to rectify the situation, we might as well forget about sports in this country!
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1 comment:
Indeed it is a sad thing to happen and it come at a time when our TPM said that sport will be a mandatory 'koku' in the school.
The people at the Jabatan is just plain simple you cut the budget and I cut the no. of sports....no initiative at all...work without passion, and I just wonder how many of them had scored at their annual appraisal.
Just wonder what was the criteria used in deciding which sports to cut as I am making a comparison on the inclusion of golf in the calendar.
I love the speech of the Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports during the opening of the recent National Closed...well, he is just a plain politician who talk to please the audience.
Wonder whether can MSSM franchise the organizing of the various sports. They just endorsed/sanctioned it and let the private sector organizing it?
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