Some have been missing the point. Just to underline the points, see below:
It is official, athletes representing the nation can wear whatever is comfortable to them.
It is official, athletes representing the nation can wear whatever is comfortable to them.
The Youth and Sports Minister, Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek, himself, has come in defence on issues of attire at the New Delhi Commonwealth Games.
Maybe in time to come we will see an athlete competing in "birthday suit" because it is comfortable to him or her!
And the dear Minister, has actually missed the point. It is not about comfortable attire which was raised by observers and critics , but the Sabah flag that was on weightlifter Aricco Jumitih's attire when he competed instead of the Malaysian flag!
I had already raised about athletes' using their own attire because it is comfortable in my posting earlier and even had predicted that this will be excuse given.
But is it so difficult to sew on a Malaysian flag on that "comfortable attire" when representing MALAYSIA!
Did the officials and athletes not have all the time in the world before the Games to look into all these matters?
Will the the Sports Minister throw in his support if each athlete representing the nation displays their respective State flags?
And no one is taking the athlete to task (although he too has a responsibility too), but the many officials who are present in New Delhi, who are administrators and suppose to look into matters like these.
So much for patriotism to the nation!
Officials have goofed and they are answerable. Period.
Read the Bernama report below and see what the Honourable Sports Minister's stand is on the issue!
CWG: Don't Create Issues Out Of Athletes' Attire - Shabery
KUALA TERENGGANU, Oct 11 (Bernama) -- Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek Monday chided those who raised baseless criticism on issues like attire of athletes at the New Delhi Commonwealth Games.
He said the ministry had received negative comments and complaints related to attire of athletes in New Delhi, including the attire worn by the Malaysian contingent during the opening ceremony of the New Delhi Commonwealth Games.
Ahmad Shabery said the latest criticism was the attire worn by weightlifter Aricco Jumitih when competing and winning the gold medal in the 62kg category, since the Sabah athlete was wearing the Sabah state attire which did not reflect the country's image at an international event.
He said such criticism was negative and athletes should not be blamed or crucified based on their attire.
"I was made to understand that weightlifting is a very sensitive sport which involves various sensitive elements like food, attire and environment. Sometimes if an athlete is not comfortable with another attire, he may not be able to perform well.
"Maybe what he was wearing was the most comfortable attire for Arrico during the competition and he proved it right by winning the gold medal. What is the point of wearing the 'right' attire and losing compared with winning with an alternative attire," he told reporters here Monday.
However, the ministry would work towards rectifying any flaws during the games, if such events are deemed detrimental.
Speaking of Malaysia's 10-gold target, Ahmad Shabery said he was confident that the target would be achieved.
"It is not impossible to achieve the target and I am confident the athletes will work towards that goal," he said.
-- BERNAMA
He said the ministry had received negative comments and complaints related to attire of athletes in New Delhi, including the attire worn by the Malaysian contingent during the opening ceremony of the New Delhi Commonwealth Games.
Ahmad Shabery said the latest criticism was the attire worn by weightlifter Aricco Jumitih when competing and winning the gold medal in the 62kg category, since the Sabah athlete was wearing the Sabah state attire which did not reflect the country's image at an international event.
He said such criticism was negative and athletes should not be blamed or crucified based on their attire.
"I was made to understand that weightlifting is a very sensitive sport which involves various sensitive elements like food, attire and environment. Sometimes if an athlete is not comfortable with another attire, he may not be able to perform well.
"Maybe what he was wearing was the most comfortable attire for Arrico during the competition and he proved it right by winning the gold medal. What is the point of wearing the 'right' attire and losing compared with winning with an alternative attire," he told reporters here Monday.
However, the ministry would work towards rectifying any flaws during the games, if such events are deemed detrimental.
Speaking of Malaysia's 10-gold target, Ahmad Shabery said he was confident that the target would be achieved.
"It is not impossible to achieve the target and I am confident the athletes will work towards that goal," he said.
-- BERNAMA
8 comments:
Tony,
Yes," wear what is comfortable"can be construed slightly different by the younger immature or even the senior athletes.
It can mean"using what they think suits their body".
On the other hand certain sports need sports wear of " good quality" that will fit the athletes and make them comfortable to perform especially when most of the body part is exposed.
While some do not bother about the fit,others have their sensitivities that we must respect this especially when we have cross borders athletes in the team.
We may be 1 Malaysia in the national team but culturally we have a spectrum of differences and we need to respect these differences . That is why Malaysia remains so special to the world
Look around you now ....The younger generation thinks and acts differently....what is our role in guiding them both at home on the field and later on in life at their work place ???
Will this" wear what is comfortable" apply??
It is just food for thought Tony....
Dr.Mariam George
Tony, I normally agree with your views, however this time I felt that you are pushing the Minister's comment on wear what you feel is comfortable a bit too far. I take your point on appearing with politically correct attire, that is fair. However in weightlifting where concentration is important, the last thing you want is a shiny Joola body suit with the lable pricking on the athlete's crotch. I feel that was what the Minister meant when he says wear what you feel is comfortable.
Want to screw, screw the NSA for weightlifing not Arrico and Arrico is no poor kampung boy, he is a Sabahan and a Malaysian.
on a lighter note:
Please no "wardrobe malfunction" on stage
Firstly, Sabah is more than a state for a indigenous person of Borneo/Sabah like Arrico and many others are. Sabah IS their country. It's even more than their country, it is their motherland the land that Dusun people originated from long before Malays even made it to Malaya from Indonesia. You cannot compare, say, an Indian Malaysian feeling the same about Johor as a Dusun/Kadazan/Murut feels about Sabah.
Secondly, West Malaysian should be aware that Sabahans generally don't even like Malaysia. Why you ask? Well think about it, Sabah was filled with a predominantly a Christian majority population until the Malaysian government openly admitted to deliberately letting in 10's of thousands of muslim illegal immigrants from Indonesia and Philippines just to fill the state up with an Islamic population to vote for the Islamic political powers. Malaysia is also detroying/raping our motherland of it's natural resource and letting us have a meager 5% of the revenue. Destroying our forests killing off Orang-utans in less than 20 years just to plant palm oil to send the revenue back to Malaya. You refuse to allow the 20 point plan agreement which promises Sabah's autonomy, to be translated to Bahasa Malaysia because you fear that when the huge population of poor natives realise how MAlaysia has been ignoring and violating it for all these years.
You build grand beautiful mosques in the middle of our cities and major towns to stamp Islam on us, yet you make it hard for the HUGE population of Christians to build a church anywhere that isn't rural.
HOW CAN ANYONE WHO KNOWS WHAT MALAYSIA HAS DONE TO THE ORIGINAL PEOPLE OF SABAH, BE SURPRISED THAT ARRICO JUMITIH WOULD RATHER REPRESENT HIS PEOPLE, HIS REAL COUNTRY RATHER THAN THE COUNTRY THAT OPPRESSED US AND CONTINUES TO OPRESS US.
ARRICO I AND MANY HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF SABAHANS ARE PROUD OF YOU FOR WEARING THE SABAHAN ATTIRE. DON'T EVER CHANGE OK.
i'm from selangor and i'm pure malaysian.however i have nothing against arrico as he had deliverd what he shud do
ask footballers in Malaysia where they have all the fancy stuffs, rm 1000++ of football boot but still cant perform on the field.
i'm sorry but i'm not with you.
and it's not like that it's a rule of the game (like olympic)
Whoa! Anon 11.44 am, this sounds political in a Blog for sports. I suppose politics and sports are so intertwined that they are like a pea in a pod.
You have made you point very clearly and you took a dig at the West Malaysian and the 20 point agreement bla bla bla. I am with you on this and I am also proud of people like Pandalela, Daniel Bego, Brian Nikson Lomas and all those talented athletes from East Malaysia. I suppose if you do not like the present government make sure you exercise your rights at the ballot box and I wish especially the Sabahan all the best in their future.
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