WHAT DIRECTION ARE WE HEADING?

We are a nation of sports fans and sports players. Interest in watching sports continues at a high level and recreational participation in sports continues to grow.

Some of those who participate in amateur sports dream of becoming paid professional athletes, coaches, or sports officials but very few beat the long and daunting odds of making a full-time living from professional athletics. Those athletes who do make it to professional levels find that careers are short and jobs are insecure.
 

Even though the chances of employment as a professional athlete are slim, there are many opportunities for at least a part-time job related to athletics as a coach, instructor, referee, or umpire in amateur athletics and in high schools, colleges, and universities.
 

Expanding opportunities are expected for coaches and instructors, as a higher value is being placed upon physical fitness in our society and this was further emphasized in the recent 2006 budget unveiled by the Prime Minister.
 

Malaysian’s of all ages are engaging in more physical fitness activities, such as participating in competition and joining clubs, and are being encouraged to participate in physical education.
 

Employment of coaches and instructors also will increase with expansion of school and college programs and growing demand for private sports instruction.
 

Sports-related job growth within education also will be driven by the decisions of Ministry of Education.
 

Population growth dictates the construction of additional schools, particularly in the expanding suburbs.
 

However, funding for sports programs is often one of the first areas to be cut when budgets become tight.
 

But the popularity of team sports often enables shortfalls to be offset somewhat by patronage of the fans as is the case for football in the country.
 

The need to replace many high school coaches also will provide some coaching opportunities.
Competition for professional sports jobs will continue to be extremely intense.
 

However we could well do without the government at times over relying on foreign expertise when the locals are quite capable of doing the same jobs.
 

If the locals are not been given a chance to prove their worth, then we will continue to be in the backwaters when it comes to administrative skills.
 

Though some might disagree, the words of wisdom from OCM Hon. Secretary Datuk Sieh Kok Chi is something worth pondering upon.
 

For Kok Chi had lamented that if we pay peanuts we get monkeys and if we pay bigger peanuts we tend to get bigger monkeys.
 

How true, for there is a tendency to overpay the foreigners whereas when the locals apply for the same position, they tend to be given a lower salary thus there is no fair play or justice.
 

Sometimes it tends to make these capable administrators feel that it is sin to be Malaysian.
The authorities must change their perception and start relying on the locals to head the committees or special projects that have been earmarked towards gaining international excellence.
 

A friend once said that the prophet is often not believed on his own land and that is no longer a myth but a reality in the Malaysian sports fraternity.
 

As for the athletes, the opportunities to make a living as a professional in individual sports may grow as new tournaments are established and prize money distributed to participants increases.
 

Most professional athletes’ careers last only several years due to debilitating injuries and age, so a large proportion of the athletes in these jobs is replaced every year, creating some job opportunities.
 

However, a far greater number of talented young men and women dream of becoming a sports superstar and will be competing for a very limited number of job openings.
 

Education and training requirements for athletes, coaches, umpires, and related workers vary greatly by the level and type of sport.
 

Regardless of the sport or occupation, jobs require immense overall knowledge of the game, usually acquired through years of experience at lower levels.
 

Athletes usually begin competing in their sports while in primary school and continue through high school and at times college or universities.
 

They play in tournaments and on high school and college teams, where the best attract the attention of professional scouts.
 

Most schools require that participating athletes maintain specific academic standards to remain eligible to play.
 

Becoming a professional athlete is the culmination of years of effort. Athletes who seek to compete professionally must have extraordinary talent, desire, and dedication to training.
 

But all of these will count for nothing if we continue to sidelines the locals in the decision making process.

Many fallen sports icons not getting assistance

Read this YAKEB, for its clear that you only go for those with pubicity......

From: Borneo Post:

ON Thursday, one of the headlines in the sports page of this publication caught my eye and it reminded me of something that a mate of mine spoke to me sometime last year. And what my mate told me was quite a sad tale regarding a mutual friend of ours who has passed on, bless his soul.

The headline that caught my eye was the one about the monetary assistance rendered to Bujang Taha, a former body builder and two-time Mr. Asia, whose house burned down earlier during the week. It (monetary assistance) was from the government through the Ministry of Social Development and Urbanisation. Certainly it was a kind gesture on the part of the government to help Bujang Taha in his hour of need. But I believe Bujang is not the only former athlete who has represented the state and country and brought honours to them, who have fallen on hard times.

There are many more out there who have not been rendered any assistance in alleviating their hardships. This brings me to the crux of today’s story.

It is about James Yakub who was a multi sportsman who represented his employers, the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM), Sarawak contingent in a few disciplines of sports like football, rugby and I believe hockey too. He also represented the state in rugby and football, and was a squad member of the national football side in his heydays.

When James retired from the police, there wasn’t any fanfare to mark his retirement and I believe, did not receive any kind of token or recognition for his many years of service to his employers and state in sports.

He joined a local firm as a farm manager after his retirement but sadly, he passed on and did not get to enjoy his retirement years with his family.

My friend told me that James’ family are in some financial difficulties after his passing and he and a few friends have passed the hat around to help alleviate James’ family’s hardship and suffering. The family need more to alleviate their hardship now that James is gone but this is something that nobody out there in the world knows about. And James’ is not the only case to have slipped under the radar of the government and the sports bodies. Unfortunately in James’ case, he was involved in team sports rather than individual sports, so he was just one of the numbers.

I personally know of a number of ex police players in rugby who have, upon their retirement from the police, gone through difficult times but they never once complained or whined about their lot in life after retirement. It is a case of when you are active, everyone worships you but once you stop, you become just another brick in the wall, anonymous amongst the sea of humanity.

The union has tried to help these souls but as the union does not generate any income, depending on grants from the state, and minimal sponsorship from a few individuals or firms, it can’t do much. Most of the funds that are in the union’s coffers are spent on the various activities of the union during the calendar year and in these times of high inflation, a few hundred ringgit does not go far. The union has tried in other ways to help by assisting these former players to get jobs with slightly better pay but not many firms are willing to take a chance on them. And with them being away from the office or their posts during their years of active involvement in sports, their chances and prospects of career advancement are very much diminished, and so when they retire, their pensions are soon gone.

These are former players from the game of rugby over the years, what about sportsmen and women from other sports in the state?

There must be hundreds of them, if not thousands, and their plights are very often not known at all.

Maybe the state and the sports bodies can set up a trust fund for assisting these former sportsmen and women who had sacrificed so much in efforts, sweat and tears, to bring honours and glory to the state, and country, to get them started in life after sports and retirement.

And also, a certain body should properly register them and this could become a safety net for them when times are hard. By doing so they could be kept tracked of and given assistance easily during hard times.

Sports in Malaysia is still mostly amateurish and any prize money that these sportsmen and women win when representing the state and nation does not go into their pockets but to the sports associations.

So these sportsmen and women do not get paid for playing sports except for badminton, squash and football that get allowances for training and during sporting events.

In Bujang Taha’s case, he was lucky that his misfortune was highlighted in the news but what about those who never received any kind of publicity? There are so many of them out there, and any little bit of help extended to them is, I’m sure, very much appreciated but unfortunately nobody really bothers with it.

There will be a game today for all who turn up at the field before 4.00 pm. For those new to the city, the field is located behind the Everise supermarket along Padungan Road. All that is needed for playing is a pair of boots, stockings and sturdy shorts, as jumpers will be provided.

Look out for a certain orang putih who will sort you out, if you are new to the city and ground. Cheers.

AGEN SAFEE CURANG

Manajer Persib Bandung, Umuh Muchtar, merasa sangat kecewa dengan sikap agen Safee Sali yang menjual pemainnya tersebut ke Pelita Jaya. Menurut Umuh, agen tersebut telah memanfaatkan Persib untuk menaikkan nilai jual Safee.

"Agen Safee jahat! Ini sangat perlu diketahui oleh semuanya. Nama besar yang dimiliki Persib sudah dimanfaatkan untuk menjual Safee dengan harga tinggi. Mereka bisa menjual Safee dengan harga tinggi karena Persib juga berminat pada dia," ungkap Umuh.

Bau kecurangan sudah dicium oleh Umuh ketika pihak Malaysia mengumumkan bahwa Safee secara resmi telah dikontrak Persib. Padahal seharusnya pihak Persiblah yang mengumumkan transfer tersebut.

"Curangnya yang memberi pengumuman bukan dari pihak Persib tetapi dari pihak Malaysia, kalau Safee telah dikontrak klub kami. Itu trik curang mereka untuk menaikkan harga Safee. Itu teknik berdagang," tegas Umuh.

Sementara Safee sendiri mengungkapkan bahwa dirinya memilih Pelita karena klub tersebut tidak banyak dihuni oleh striker, sementara kubu Persib telah memiliki banyak striker asing maupun lokal yang berkualitas.

OF WEBSITES AND PR COMPANIES

The Malaysian Hockey Federation has finally put up a website and the Football Association of Malaysia are said to be looking into revamping their current website or even taking over an existing site while shutting down their current site.

While the effort of the MHF is commendable, it is pointless having a site that is not updated daily and lacks even basic info.

For starters a site of a national body should not have grammar mistakes as it reflects the poor command of English within it's administration. Next we have the copy and paste syndrome adopted by MHF where the President's speech is on the front page of the site, clearly an amateurish attempt to please the royalty.

The fact that MHF has linked two of my sites, the Malaysian Junior Hockey League 2010 and the Sultan Azlan Shah 2010 sites as links on their sites shows clearly their lack of understanding on ethics of the cyber world. You just cannot take someone else's work and lay claim on it as your own. Notice has been given to MHF to remove the links.

Now while the site is up, I wonder where is the MHL site that the Deputy President and Secretary hijacked from me? It was to debut on December 29 but will we get a Valentines Day present? Sure hope so as could do with some competition to the UNOFFICIAL site www.tnbmhl.com.my.

Back to websites, any IT savvy kid can construct a website my dear friends at MHF and FAM. But it is the content that is vital and in the case of these two bodies providing info on their respective competitions is what is vital.

So no point putting up something that you are unable to maintain right? Unless you are just having a site because people like me and the main stream media belittled you on your inability to do simple things a kid could have done.

On the issue of PR Consultants, just take a look at the media releases sent out for the upcoming tennis event. Another case of copy and paste, lacks imagination and just akin to an essay a kid will write in Form One.

But then again these PR gurus are paid mega bucks just to send out releases and when we bid for jobs, then its the Sports Minister who has the say.

Wonder if these so-called friends ask the sports ministry or NSC on the choice of gifts they buy for their wives for the upcoming Valentines.

And yes before I forget, the NSC and OCM sites are no better.

As for you MHF, please remove my link as I am asking nicely, no need to take credit for my work lest I remove the sites for hood and hockey fans lose out!

BOTTOM PLACED TEAM SIGNS SAFEE

Pelita Jaya’s floundering Indonesian Super League campaign was injected with new life following the club’s signing of top Malaysian striker Mohd Safee Sali.

The West Java club currently sits bottom of the 15-team league with 10 points. But there are expectations that its fortunes will change drastically with the arrival of Asean Football Federation Cup star Sali.

Pelita manager Lalu Mara Satriawangsa said Sali had been signed to a half-season contract, which will pay him $50,000.

Sali is expected to arrive in Jakarta next Monday and make his debut on March 7, when Pelita hosts Persib Bandung to kick off the second half of its season.

The 27-year-old had been pursued by a number of Indonesian clubs following his stellar performance during the recent AFF Cup, where he led Malaysia to its maiden title.

He finished the tournament as the top scorer with five goals, three of them against Indonesia during the two-legged final.

Pelita’s offense has been anemic and its 13 goals are the third fewest in the ISL, ahead of Persib (12) and Persela Lamongan (eight). Lalu said he was confident Sali would improve his team’s attack.

“His presence will definitely improve the team,” he said.

MAAU & NSC

This has been the subject of discussion in many main stream media as well as selected blogs, mostly running down MAAU for the decision to train at Ranau.

Unlike some self proclaimed experts, I will not discuss the merits or cons with regards to train at Ranau.

What I am more keen to discuss is the usurping of powers of the National Sports Council by the Ministry of Youth & Sports with regards to holding direct discussions with MAAU.

And despite NSC making it clear that they were not supportive of such a plan, the Ministry went ahead and gave the nod to MAAU.

Now why is there a need for the Sports Minister to interfere with regards to the day to day running of the NSC? What difference is there between him and Dato Azalina Othman Said who was at that time accused of running NSC directly? Why is there profound silence on the actions of this Minister?

Coming back to NSC, all I can suggest is that the entire NSC Board and the management resign enbloc so as to tell the Minister that he has no right to make decisions of which he has no expertise.

But in this country where sports personalities cling on to power by whatever means possible, resignations and accountability are just phrases and never practiced.