Pushing on from Rio

The Rio Olympics ended more than a month ago, but celebrations continue.

Malaysia performed worthily, but their celebrants must not go giddy over it.

The Southeast Asian (SEA) Games is the first step forward, but it is the lowest barometer of excellence.

At the 35th Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) General Assembly held on Sept 25 at Da Nang, Vietnam during the 5^th Asian Beach Games, the Rio Olympics performance analysis of OCA member countries was done by the OCA information and statistics committee headed by Zagdsuren Demchigjav (the president of the Mongolian Olympic Committee).

It was well researched and gave a realistic picture of sporting standards in Asia.

The report structured around the following areas: 1. Medal standings and general information; 2. Medal comparisons; 3. Sport by sport analysis and it reviews and key achievements; 4. Region by region analysis and its best sports events; 5. other key milestones and facts.

The committee used historical data sets to compare its improvement and other noticeable changes on the last 10 Olympics by its regions, gender and sports events.

The key findings included:

·        21 Asian nations won at least one medal at the Rio Games and 15 of them won gold medal.

·        Although Asian nations won one more gold medals than four years ago in London, it was still short of Beijing and Athens. Total of 68 gold medals accumulated 22.15% of available gold medal at Rio.

·        Asia captured 21.36% of total medals at Rio, around 2% better than London 2012.It lacks 5 medals from record breaking Beijing 2008.

·        In terms of medal quality, Asia won the highest number of bronze medals in their history at Rio with 86. 54 silver medals saw Asia at joint second highest results at the Olympics. Gold medal accounts for 22.15% of total medals won by Asian nations.

·        In archery, badminton, table tennis and weightlifting, Asian athletes won more medals than other continents.

·        Asia did not win any medals from 8 disciplines including triathlon, modern pentathlon and football.

·        Asia is leading continent in 10 disciplines, which won more than 30% medals or at least more than one gold medal.

·        Asian women has the best performance of the history, collecting 98 medals at Rio.

·        Total of 16 Olympic records and six world records were broken by Asian athlete in Rio.

Asian domination was manifested in sports like archery where six gold medals were won where Korean won five and Taiwan one, accounting for 50% of entire available medals.

In athletics, Asian won 13 medals including four gold but are still placed behind America, Europe and Africa and accounting to 4% of medals won in this sport.

In aquatics, Asian captured 30 medals including 12 gold to be ranked behind America and Europe. It accounts for 21 percent of medals available. Asia was most successful in diving and synchronised swimming. In diving China dominated winning seven gold medals from an available of eight. Singapore won their first ever gold medal in swimming.

In badminton, Asia is totally dominating since the sport was introduced at the Los Angeles. Asian athletes won 86% of medals available so far and captured 73% of total medals in Rio.

Three different countries – China, Indonesia and Japan – captured four of the five gold medal. In women’s singles, India won its first ever silver medal in any women’s category, while Malaysia secured three medals – but all silver.

In boxing, Asia secured 33 percent of available medals and ranked only behind Europe. In terms of gold medals, America captured one more gold medal than both Asia and Europe. Uzbekistan was the best team after winning three gold out of seven available.

In judo although Asia is the leading country in Olympics history, this year Europe won an impressive eight gold medals and total of 25 medals. Asia won 23 medals with 3 gold medals and accounts for 42% of total medals.

Other Asian dominating sports included table tennis, taekwondo and weightlifting.

In terms of region, East Asian countries dominated and captured 69% of total medals with an impressive 50 gold medals. Central Asia won 8 gold medals and a total of 31 medals and South East Asian countries secured 5 gold and a total of 18 medals. West Asia won five gold and a total of 13 medals while South Asia won only one silver medal.

Among the Asian nations who won their first ever gold medal at the Olympic Games include Vietnam, Singapore, Bahrain, Jordan and Tajikistan.

Malaysia won four silver medals (three badminton and one in diving) and a bronze from cycling for their best ever performance in the Games.

It is now time to concentrate on sports where Asians have a realistic chance to win medals and above all to double if not triple our efforts on development of these sports and expose our athletes to high level competition and training with countries who have already made a mark in them.

It’s time for long term planning and stop basking in reflected glory.

It is going to be a tall order for Malaysia to match our collection or better at the next Olympics in Japan in 2020 and unless, we start working today, all our overdone rejoicing would come to nought.

TONY is a sports

Journalist close to
four decades of experience
and is passionate about
local sports.
He can be reached at
tmariadass@gmail.com

Level Field columns

Level Field

 Commentary

When voluntarism is dying art in sports, people like Datuk Dr Harjit Singh and DSP Balwant Singh, gave it a fresh breath in keeping it alive with their works, dedication and passion for sports.

Both based in Johor, through their Johor Sikh Sports Club (JSSC) and the Royal Malaysia Police Sikh Sports Association, Johor branch (RMPSSA) respectively, jointly organised ‘The Johor Sikh Sports Fellowship Night dinner 2016’ last Friday at the Millisime hotel at Iskandar Puteri.

The dinner was held to honour Johor born national Olympic high jumper Nauraj Singh Randhawa for doing the nation proud.

Bu what was even more meaningful of the dinner was that it was self-funded – dinner tables bought by supporters – a raffles draw was held to collect funds for the development of sports through the JSSC of which Harjit is the president – which he has been serving for almost 20 years with a break in between for a few years.

Dr Harjit’s name is synonymous in sports in Johor, especially cricket where he is the president of the Johor Cricket Sports Council.

His passion for sports is always overflowing, and his love for cricket is something he acquired from his father Meva Singh, who was an ex-Selangor and renowned Kilat Club cricketer.

A former student of English College Johor Baru (now known as Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar), the good doctor learnt to score at the age of five, earned his personal bat at the age of six and came under the watchful eye of the famous late Mike Shepherdson at the Kilat nets.

Until today, Dr Harjit, whose trademark is his humility, is a firm believer of grassroots development and schools being the foundation of sports.

“Today the lack of sporting facilities and the neglect of schools sports is the bane for national sports development,” said Harjt boldly in his address at the dinner.

“People like Nauraj surfaced through the dedication of his parents and some private support. Imagine if he was discovered much earlier and nurtured, he would be miles ahead in his performance.

“It is sad that support and recognition only comes when one achieves something, when these athletes should have been guided the moment their talent is identified.”

The fact that Harjit and Balwant decided to join forces, not only to honour Nauraj, but to raise funds for further development in the sports of football, hockey and cricket in the state of Johor, speaks volumes of their heart for sports.

That people who rallied around to support this cause is indeed applaudable.

About 230 guests graced dinner occasion which was filled with entertainment of music and songs.

While Nauraj was presented with a memento by Balwant, the vice president of the RMPSSA, he also received a personal donation of RM 1,000 from Harjit.

But the surprise of the evening was when a supporter of Nauraj who attended the dinner, Joanne Joseph with her husband Shashi Raman, made a personal contribution to Nauraj for his training expenses.

“My late father was a teacher in the English College, and he would have been elated that a student of his college (Nauraj) had done the nation proud by qualifying for the Olympics. In memory of him, I want to make this personal contribution to Nauraj to assist him in a small way to further his aspirations to bring more honours to the nation,” said Joanne when making the cash presentation to Nauraj at the dinner where his parents Amarjit Singh and Manjit Kaur were present.

It may be a small contribution, but it was the big heart of Joanne and Shashi that mattered and went to show that Malaysia has many sports loving fans, who in their small way will stand up to assist.

From the dinner, Harjit and Balwant with their committee, raised RM15,000 to be used for development, which is another effort which needs to be lauded, as here is a sports body who does not depend on hand outs or sponsorships, but raised funds through their own effort and support of a sports loving community.

Harjit is also the man responsible for Amarjit to be in Rio to watch his son jump at the Maracanã Stadium.

It was Malay Malay’s Emeritus Editor, Frankie D’Cruz, when he heard that Amarjit, who largely responsible for the rise of Nauraj, hoping to see his son jump in Rio, that he threw the idea to Harjit to try and raise some funds.

In that meeting in Johor in June, where this conversation took place, Harjit sprang into action immediately and with a few phones calls to his friend had raised RM5,000 in less than half an hour.

The idea was then taken up by the Johor Sikhs Golf Association, whose president Datuk Manjit Majid Abdullah, organised a golf tournament and raised RM10,000. This amount was matched by Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang, while Harjit raised another RM3,500 for a total of RM8,500.

Without doubt Harjit, the former deputy president of the Malaysian Cricket Association (MCA) from 1990 to 2003 and chairman of the development, has been very passionate of sports and has his wife, Datin Kaldip, stands behind him strongly in support of his charitable works and passion for sports. She is always seen with Harjit running all the errands and is the organiser from behind the scene.

Both Harjit and Kaldip are down-to-earth, jovial and delight to have for company anytime of the day.

Harjit is so passionate about cricket that he has even brought the game to even schools in Felda schemes and ‘kampungs’ in Johor.

Ex-hockey star recalls close shave in Nice attack

By Tony Mariadass

tonym@mmail.com.my

Former women’s national hockey team captain, K. Maheswari and her two children were counting their lucky stars as they escaped unscathed at the recent tragedy where a truck ploughed into a crowd watching the Bastile Day fireworks display on the Promenade des Anglias in Nice, France.

Maheswari and her two children Sheela 28 and Gautam, 24, were holidaying France and it was the last day of their four-day stop in Nice when they were encountered the mayhem following the harrowing incident occurred.

“We had gone to the Promenade to watch the fireworks and were at the beach which is a walk down the staircase from the Promenade proper,” recalled Maheswari, the Group Chief Regulatory Officer with K & N Kenanga Holding Berhad.

“We had some food and drinks and were watching the fireworks in the crowded beach which lasted 15 minutes and ended about 10pm. We then walked up the stairs to head to the Promenade where there were a sea of people. We found our way to the other side of the Promenade which was just about five minutes’ walk and suddenly everyone started running helter-skelter and screaming.

“We did not know what was happening but imagined the worst and started to run too. I had to pull my son who was getting lost in the confusion and grabbed the hands of both my children as I did not want to lose them in the mayhem.

“We followed some people who were running into an alley and someone knocked on the kitchen doors of a restaurant begging to let us in. Someone opened the door and let us in. About 15 of rushed into the kitchen and hide wherever we could in the small and narrow area.’

Maheswari said they were afraid and not knowing what was happening outside made it even more frightening.

“We just prayed for our safety and getting out of the place. We were holed up in the kitchen for a good 45 minutes.

“The one of the staff said people were walking back from wherever they had sought shelter and asked us if we wanted to leave.

“At first we were reluctant but as we looked out and some many people walking away, all of us decided to do the same.

“We walked briskly back to our hotel which was just ten minutes away still not knowing what was happening.”

Maheswari said when they were back at the hotel, they switched on the television and there was no news of the mayhem at the Promenade.

“We then started to surf the internet and it was then that dawned upon us what had happened.

“We were shocked but relieved that we were safe.

“Images were horrifying and we just thanked our lucky stars that nothing happened to us. We were so close to the incident and anything could have happened to us.”

Maheswari said she immediately decided to cut short the family’s annual holiday and return home.

“We still had another four days and were supposed to continue tour and we supposed to head to Cannes and Montpellier but we returned the very next day. We just wanted to get out of there and return home.”

It was the second time Maheswari had to cut short their holiday trip.

Earlier, Maheswari and her children were in France for the Euro 2016 and had to cut short her trip as her mother-in-law had passed away in Klang.

“We watched the quarterfinals match in Saint-Denis between France and Iceland and were to watch the Portugal versus Wales in Lyons, but had to skip the game and returned home for the funeral.”

Maheswari said it was the first time that the family had planned to go to several places in France and somehow it did not work out well.

“I have been to Paris and always wanted to see the rest of France. But after what had happened – having to cut short my trip twice – I have vowed never to go back to France because it is full of bad memories.

“I am just glad that we are back home safe and sound and feel blessed that we are alive.”

Let's just move on

Level Field

 Commentary

 (H) Let’s just move on

 So much has been said about the current predicament of the national football team and the FA of Malaysia.

Indeed, football in the country is at its lowest ebb. And many questions remain unanswered as FAM struggle to stay on track.

Several issues have surfaced in the most surprising manner and one cannot help but wonder what the real agenda is behind all these controversies.

Yes, if something is not right with Malaysian football, it must be addressed and corrected. But there is a proper channel to deal with such things.

What is the point of going on a witch hunt or looking for scapegoats?

If there are signs of wrongdoing, change the present administration or do something to better the state of football in the country. But let it be done through the right processes.

Washing dirty linen in public, especially when it is unverified, is of no help to anyone or the game.

In this context, there is still no clarity about the retirement of national players Safiq Rahim (captain), Aidil Zafuan Radzak, S. Kunalan and Amirulhadi Zainal.

True, it is the prerogative of these players to retire but the manner in which their retirement was announced does not portray them as true professionals.

These are questions that football fans want answers to:

·        Why didn't the players send their official resignation letters to FAM through their respective clubs, and why did they choose to make their decisions known through social media?

·        Why did they decide to retire after the Oceania tour and not decline the national call-up for the tour and make their retirement plan known then?

·        Why did they waste public funds by going on the tour and then announce their retirement?

·        Since when did players become such experts in training methods that they dared to question national coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee's credibility?

·        Were the players sincere about serving the nation or did they just take it for a ride?

As mentioned earlier, it is the players’ right to retire but the national coach should not even think of taking them back if they changed their minds.

Former international Santokh Singh was spot on when he asked: “Why all the big fuss about the retirement of the four players?”

Is Malaysia so deprived of talent that it cannot go forward without the infamous four?

Maybe the departure of the four players is actually a blessing in disguise for FAM. Now, it can finally decide on long-term plans and start working with a young team.

On too many occasions, the national body has come up with short-gap measures or has been in denial mode, still believing that the national team can perform a miracle when they are scrapping the barrel and Malaysian football is in the pits.

I can understand Santokh’s sentiment that Malaysian football should just forget about the four players and move on because he comes from an era (1970s and 1980s) when Malaysia had an abundance of talent.

Malaysia had a national team and a ‘B’ team in place and any time a player decided to retire or was forced out because of injuries, there were ‘ready-made’ replacements.

In fact, the competition for a place on the national team was so intense that the coaches had a hard time naming their final squad. In fact, very little separated the players in training, normally about 30 of them at any one time.

At state level, it was not uncommon to see national players sitting on the bench as there were so many quality players available and battling for a place in the first XI.

But those days are long gone.

Seated second from left: Ex-internationals Datuk Soh Chin and N. Thanabalan and Datuk Santokh Singh (behind Thanabalan)

Another household name, Datuk Soh Chin Aun, said: “Players must have the desire to play for the nation. The moment they say they want to quit, it is pointless to try and change their mind or hope that they will return.

“It is an honour to don national colours and players would want to be on the team for as long as they can contribute. The moment they say they want to quit for whatever reason, we just have to forget about them.”

As far as FAM are concerned, the sooner they make way for new faces, the better for Malaysian football.

But it must said that managing FAM is not as easy as managing a club or state FA. The national body has 16 affiliates, which actually are the governors of the game because all their decisions are collective and consensual.

They have to take part of the blame for the ills of Malaysian football.

Take their decision to have foreign players in the league and increase the number of them from year to year. Like it or not, there is a dearth of quality players in the national team because the foreigners occupy key positions in the state teams, like defenders, midfielders and strikers.

So come Sept 15, when FAM hold their congress meeting, everyone who is passionate about Malaysian football should speak up without fear or favour and state the changes they are clamouring for. They should make themselves heard and strive to make a difference.

On their part, FAM members should be prepared to listen and be corrected if they are wrong.

Let’s move forward for the sake of Malaysian football, which is still alive and well among the fans!

TONY is a sports

journalist with more than
three decades of experience
and is passionate about
local sports.
He can be reached at
tmariadass@gmail.com

Twitter: @tmariadass​

Strong plea for joint Games fails

Commentary

  

PASSION, compassion, commitment, ability, reducing costs, leaving a legacy, giving Para athletes a platform to be equals and all other reasoning failed to convince the SEA Games Federation (SEAGF) Council to agree to Malaysian Sea Games Organising Committee’s (MASOC) proposal to organise the 29th Sea Games and the 9th Asean Para Games jointly next year.

Even Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin’s passionate and sincere plea with all his well-presented reasoning in a final attempt yesterday morning at the SEAGF Council meeting, failed to reverse an earlier decision on Wednesday afternoon by the SEAGF executive committee meeting decision of a 10-1 vote against the joint hosting of the Games.

To Khairy’s credit, he was very passionate in his presentation and his plea drew admiration from the delegates but when it came to voting again for a final decision, the SEAGF Council voted 9-2 to see the SEA Games hosted separately.

It was indeed a noble idea to have both Games hosted simultaneously for the first time ever, but the SEAGF members were united in their stand that they were not prepared to share their identity with the Para Games.

Afterall, the SEAGF is 58 years old and after 28 Games, they were not prepared to share their platform with Asean Para Games who will be hosting their ninth edition.

The Para Games has been traditionally held after the SEA Games and besides both Games are governed by separate bodies.

There was no formal discussions held between Asean Para Sports Federation (APSF) with SEAGF and even a consensus within the APSF was not unanimous to host a joint Games, as eight agreed and three did not according to the MASOC presentation.

The Malaysian Paralympic Council (MPC) also did not engage the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) and it was no surprise that the SEAGF executive committee were caught off guard when MASOC made a presentation for a joint Games.

Some SEAGF members even complained that their respective Paralympic Councils in their country too had too not made any mention of their interest of a joint Games.

But in the end, it boiled down to SEAGF Exco questioning whether the interest of the athletes of both Games was sought.

The members expressed their apprehension that while the idea of joint Games was noble, the chances were that the Para Games athletes will be overshadowed by athletes of the SEA Games and would that augur well for the promotion of the latter.

Some members even had said that they gave their vote for Malaysia to host the Sea Games and if they had known then that Malaysia wanted to host the Paralympics together, they would not have given the nod.

Many said that it was not just about Malaysia but also the other nations who had several constraints over a joint Games.

In a nutshell, the SEAGF were concerned on impact of the joint Games and they stood together as a family to uphold their identity.

OCM president, Tunku Tan Sri Imran Tuanku Ja'afar’ who chaired the SEAGF Council said Khairy did very well to present the case but the SEAGF family as much as they were impressed and noted his passion, they had to make a decision with the SEA Games at heart.

Kudos for Khairy for making every effort to have the joint Games and standing in front of the SEAGF Council to make the plea, but a decision has been made and it is time to move on.

There were even news surfacing that Malaysia will go ahead to host the Games jointly with or without the blessing of the SEAGF, but it is heartening that common sense prevailed.

Probably the SEAGF decision is a blessing in disguise as Malaysia now host both the Games separately and make not one Game a huge success but both.

With just a year before Malaysia host sixth Games (after 1965, 1971, 1977, 1989 and 2001), after 16 years, it is hoped that all quarters now join hands and work hard to make a memorable affair for both Games.

TONY is a sports

journalist with more than
three decades of experience
and is passionate about
local sports.
He can be reached at
tmariadass@gmail.com

Twitter: @tmariadass​

Heart and voice of gold

ENTERTAINMENT ICON: Datuk Dahlan Zainuddin

By Tony Mariadass

tonym@mmail.com.my

Pictures by: Azneal Ishak and Abdul Razak Ghazali

EVERGREEN singer Datuk Dahlan Zainuddin is still helping to promote musicians even being in the industry 40 years.

The 76-year-old Dahlan has always been known to be down-to-earth artiste who is not only friendly with his fans, but has always went out of his way to keep the musicians as a family.

Dahlan a good footballer, has used the sport to bring the musicians together on numerous occasions by organising football friendlies with artistes from neighbouring countries and has worked very closely with musicians associations like Papita, Seniman and Karyawan for many events.

Dahlan who continues to perform at functions, is currently helping a veteran group of buskers, Melody Buskers – where he sings with them once or twice a week at the Nasi Lemak Tanglin at the Tanglin Community Food court near Lake Gardens.

“These buskers are an experienced lot, but have resorted to busking because they are no longer in demand. The guitarist, Hamron Kasim (Ayom) was my band member when I used the Kilat band 30 years ago,” said Dahlan who looks much younger than his age.

The other member of the Melody Buskers are Jalil Zain (bassist), Basharuddin (vocalist), Amri Ismail (guitar), Amir Ikhwan (cajon) and the rose among the thorns, vocalist Reny Kamalisa.

“My presence with them is to endorse the band and that to tell music lovers that we have good buskers who are experienced.

“But above all, I miss playing with a full band because most of the time when I perform these days I am asked to use ‘minus one’ to cut cost in hiring a band. Thus, singing with Melody Buskers allows me to continue to enjoy the joy of playing with a band.”

When asked if he was degrading himself by playing at a food court, Dahlan simply said:” I did not become a star overnight. I had to go through the mill and start from the bottom. I will never forget my roots and will always support any kind of music and played anywhere. Music is supposed to be played anywhere and without the support of the masses, we will not be popular.

“Besides, playing at a food court allows me to meet and mingle with my fans freely and also an opportunity to meet old friends in a relaxed and informal surrounding.”

Dahlan said many veteran musicians drop by to jam with the band and the venue also serves as a meeting point for his friends.

Dahlan paid tribute to Nasi Lemak Tanglin owner Zainal Abidin Hassan who is also the manager of Melody Buskers who accommodated the band to play at his stall and has created an atmosphere for the food court as patrons are entertained as they enjoy their food.

The band plays from 8am to 12 noon daily unless on nights when they perform at functions, when they take the next morning off.

Dahlan still commands a strong following where he has is ardent fans without fail having their Nasi Lemak and listening to him croon his evergreen songs.

He has indeed come a long way since starting to sing as a lounge and pub singer in the early 70s.

Dahlan, who is married to fellow singer Effa Rizan – his wife for 40 years – made his mark after competing in the Bintang RTM and won the Best Performer Award in 1975.

Effa sometimes joins Dahlan at the Tanglin Food court and while she sings occasionally, but in rare occasions one can catch Dahlan doing a duet with his wife.

“I rarely do duets with Effa because our voice tones do not match.Even when we do shows, we sing individually. But on rare occasions by demand of the audience, we may sing one song,” said Dahlan who has four children – Natasha, Danial, Akasya Iman (passed away at the age of 12 because of leukemia) and Anthenic Ines.

In 1975 Dahlan also released his debut EP (extended play) album titled ‘Kisah Seorang BIduan’ which was an instant hit and went on to record two EPs, nine LPs (long Play), five CDs.

Dahlan also created history by becoming the first local singer who had the opportunity to hold a concert at the Stadium Negara in 1978 and also performed at the National Stadium in Singapore.

Dahlan also had performed at the Malaysian Hall in London in 1976.

Dahlan, Ipoh born spent his early days in Singapore where he had his primary education at the Telok Kurau English School, before returning to Kuala Lumpur as a teenager.

The multi-talented Dahlan also was an actor acting in the movie as his debut album ‘Biduan’ and acted in television dramas too.

Football was in Dahlan’s blood and was responsible of putting the New Straits Times football team in the limelight as captain and coach of the team in the late 70s and early 80s, when he was working as a marketing executive with the newspaper.

The scribe had the honour of playing under Dahlan when the team competed in the Petaling Jaya District Business House League, Inter-Press Games in Singapore, Hong Kong and Thailand.

Dahlan’s who plays as a forward or midfield, first played for Selangor Indian Association (SIA) in the Selangor league before turning out for teams like Starlight Club, Chui Lok, Belia Sinaran and Mara and even when he was older, he continued to play in the veteran’s team of Ulu Kelang Recreation Club (UKRC).

He only stopped playing three years ago when he was not well and even laid off from singing for two years.

But he returned to singing last year with a performance in the KTM railway event coach to Hadyai where he performed together with Melody Buskers throughout the journey from Kuala Lumpur to Hadyai.

“Singing is in my blood. I cannot stay away from it. Although I may have slowed down a little and do not perform as many shows, I am happy that my services are still sought and invited to perform for functions.

“Right now, I enjoy very much singing with Melody Buskers where there is no formalities and I can just have a good time.”

Dahlan may have aged but he still stays relevant and continues to thrill his fans with his golden voice.