Old story, new cover

Tony, I take exception to your comments that there will be more officials than athletes. This is a fact take cycling alone you not only have the coaches and his assistant, you have your team of support staff including the physiotherapist. However Tony what is your beef? If you were to ask OCM , they will tell you that they have 2 classes of people. The medal prospect will travel free and the rest who goes for the games will have to go at their own expenses. I am not referring to the Olympics but the SEA Games. If they go on their own expenses, OCM is prepared and willing to issue the accreditation card to them. Ask Kok Chi he will tell you that OCM encourages the development of sports in Malaysia, so long as the team is not an embarrassment to Malaysia. By Hang Tuah on EMBROILED IN CONTROVERSIES on 4/19/12 This comment was posted on my blog on 19th April, 2012. I had choose not to respond then, because it was only a matter of time, what I had mentioned in EMBROILED IN CONTROVERSIES, was eventually going to happen. To Hang Tuah, I am sure is a high ranking official in the cycling fraternity, who had taken exception to my posting and questioned what was my beef, really Hang Tuah, if you have been in sports long enough, you would not have been blinded by all that is happening around you. I am not saying all sport associations have not done well or are not transparent, but there are still many amateurish associations and sportsmen and women in Malaysian sports. Just look at the development leading up to the London Olympics and you will know what I mean. From an athlete wanting her husband to be beside her instead of her coach, a prominent Media personnel coming out to say they are going to set up a fund for the athlete's husband to travel to London and no less than his honorable PM himself pledging to assist the athlete. What are taking about here, Is it compassionate feelings or seriously about winning a medal at the Olympics. Let us get our act right. This would not have happened in China, Korea or Japan! Many may say that I am sounding cruel, but in Malaysian sport one has to be cruel to be kind, because our Malaysian sportsmen and women are a pampered lot. Just ask a Korean national athlete, no matter what sport, what does it to take to be one and maintain his or her place! With the all facilities and money readily available in our country, we are still trying to win our first gold medal at the Olympics? We are even dangling millions of ringgit to win the gold medal. Will it happen? I do not know. But I will bank on the poor cousins of some sports who get abundance of funding, in saying that I will not be surprised if we get our elusive gold from the divers or archers And to Hang Tuah, there is no need for me to ask OCM on the criteria of selection and athletes going to SEA Games because I am fully aware of it having covered 13 Sea Games since 1983. And if I was to start on the circus that goes on in the Sea Games, it will be a blockbuster comedy movie. Let us not get there. Just clean up you own respective houses and be serious of your sports, act professionally and there will be hope to produce results. To those who have been producing results, kudos to you and continue your good work and maybe the other associations should emulate them. Then again, do not get satisfied with mediocre results or being Jaguh Kampungs! Aim high to be the best in Asia not at Asean or SEA levels. Yes, we all have to take baby steps before realising our dreams and goals. But for how long are we still trying to walk! We have to move onto the fast track and take drastic measures to bring the best of our athletes. We should not be wasting time with athletes who do not have dreams or the heart to make sacrifices. But then again, this is Malaysia. We have a big heart and are accommodating lot. We will continue to believe in athletes who have failed time and again, look at short cuts to success, don't pay enough emphasis on development or schools sports and their facilities If we want more Malaysian champions take a hard look at Datuk Nicol David. Look at the sacrifices she has made, the determination she has each time she takes to the court and the discipline in her. Or look at Datuk Lee Chong Wei on what he has to do to remain the top badminton player in the world. Checkout out what he had to go through to become the best. So till we have athletes who hardcore sportsmen and women, we will continue to hope to win medals and reach the top, only to be let down each time.