Of all the grand ambitions attached to achieving something in sports, the worthiest is the commitment to inspire future generations of children into sport and an indolent nation into activity.
The government says it is committed to backing this pledge, with the prime minister lending his personal weight last week when meeting the Formula Future athletes.
But what Malaysia clearly lacks is a range of policy initiatives aimed at increasing engagement in sport among the young and restoring competitive sport to schools.
Schools face a shortage of adequately trained teachers, particularly at primary level, and for many teenagers, especially girls, school sport amounts to aversion therapy. Only by changing a system that in the past has focused too closely on the able and the willing can the targets be met.
Maybe we should form another Cabinet Committee to look into what the old cabinet committee has done (read not done).
