Open letter to sports minister: Khairy Jamaluddin

"Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? The opportunity to play." Mike Singletary, NFL Superbowl Champion.

Many of today's world class athletes do not come from a privileged background.  It's generally a lower/middle class income phenomenon. For them, there is usually a "fire in the belly" to make it out of the projects/status quo, provide for their families, and have multi-million dollar contracts that allows them to have material things that their parents could never dream of or afford.

They grow up watching, idolizing, and emulating on the playgrounds athletes like Tiger Woods (golf), David Beckham (football), Rafael Nadal (tennis) and Lebron James (basketball).

The chances of becoming the next "Tiger" is more difficult than winning a multi-million dollar lottery ticket, but these hungry kids have dreams that they play out on public facilities day in and day out.

Once they have made it, they become the role model to the next generation of aspiring kids, but, possibly, more importantly, they become country ambassadors. For example, David Beckham is not only an ambassador for UK football (lobbied on behalf of FIFA Cup 2022), but football globally.

Another collateral benefit is they raise the profile of the sport, and corresponding budget, in the country, be it Rafael Nadal for tennis in Spain or (my childhood idol) Bjorn Borg in Sweden.

Where are the Malaysian sports role models and ambassadors, badminton's Datuk Lee Chong Wei?

Malaysia and sports

Malaysia is one of three Muslims countries, along with Bahrain and UAE, with the Formula 1 (F1) Race, but has that captured the attention of the local populace or the settlers?

Furthermore, how many locals attend the F1 race (do they know where it takes place?) or watch it on TV? QUERY: How many Malaysian youth aspire to be next Michael Schumacher or Lewis Hamilton?

Incidentally, Malaysia has also sent a man, Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, into space, but has that generated momentum for a NASA type program? What is the point of one-off "white elephant" projects, which cost tens of millions of Ringgits without a ROC (return on country)?

There are certain sports, much like Hollywood/Bollywood action films, that not only have universal appeal, but also inspire young and old, male and female to attend, watch and emulate.  The universality linkage is that people have played the "accessible" sport in school or watched the sport in person. 

Malaysia has aspirations to be a (1) high income country based on (2) knowledge-based economy that (3) eventually results in a G20 status. I do not have anecdotal evidence and am unsure if studies have been undertaken, but is there a link between a G20 country status and producing world class athletes.

From the above examples of international athletes, only Spain, home of Rafael Nadal, is not a G20 country. Conversely, it's rather difficult to name an international athlete from Indonesia or Saudi Arabia, also G20 countries, in any of the major sports.

Thus, today, Malaysia may be "forgiven or excused" for not producing an international athlete in the major sports, but, like Spain's Rafael Nadal, there are diamonds in the rough waiting to be discovered.

Right sports minister

Many Malaysians "religiously" follow England's premier league. I know many colleagues who stay up till 2-3am to watch the matches. I believe the current Minister of Youth & Sports, Khairy Jamaluddin, is a big Manchester United fan.

As a charismatic minister with the oratory skills of Bill Clinton, Khairy has a large following on Tweeter, 331,700 (as at time of writing the article), and, undoubtedly, many of them are the younger generation.

Thus, he is rightfully positioned to (1) connect with the youth for (2) establishing a holistic and enabling sports infrastructure and environment that is (3) delinked from the political process, but with (4) key performance indicators (KPI) that can produce international athletes in the major sports (5) within several years.

But, to get to the point of establishing an infrastructure which produces such athletes, he has to overcome a number of major uphill battles. Some of it is within his control, some of it is inherited legacy luggage of predecessors, and some of it is not in his control.

The following quote by Joel A. Barker, modifying a Japanese proverb, is probably the best advice for Khairy: "Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world."

Present situation?

As a commuter to Kuala Lumpur (from New York) for the last 15 years, I have been fortunate enough to become a general "insider with an outsider" viewpoint on a number of issues in Malaysia, including sports and youth. I actually stumbled on the topic several years ago, but did not pen anything as I was (1) gathering market information and (2) did not have confidence it would be heard, until now.  

I was staying at one of the hotels with tennis courts in Kuala Lumpur, and had this urge to play tennis after a long day of meetings. The tennis pro was busy on the day, and I did not want to hit against the ball machine, as I generally lose. But, the pro's son, about 14, was on premises and he was tougher than the ball machine.

Afterwards, I asked where he learned to play so well, he could have been a ranked player in US for the age category, and he told me his story and explained the challenges from the cost of rackets, stringing, clothing, sneakers, balls, court time, lessons, etc. His father being a "pro" made it easier, but such was not the case with others, who were better players but the family could not afford an overseas "college education" kind of costs.

I suspect similar issues on golf, and probably fewer cost challenges with football and basketball. While badminton is important, it is not tennis (Wimbledon or French Open) or golf (Masters or British Open) on the international stage. For example, imagine a Malaysian being a finalist or winning Wimbledon or the Masters and the impact on the country psyche and its youth.

Non-sport attitude?

In Malaysia, is it a cultural attitude, where parents do not believe a career in athletics is viable and will not bring glory to the family like being a doctor, engineer, professor or banker or even a politician. The "sport of politics" seems to be one of the most common sport in Malaysia.

A culture of exercising does not exist amongst the local (bumi) Malaysians. For example, I have gone running with a local colleague at Bukit Kiara Hill in the morning hours, and I see many Malaysian Chinese and Malaysian Indian and expats, but very few Bumis. The same scenario at hotel health clubs.

Is it about access to nutritional food and diet at inexpensive prices? Are healthy foods, from fruits to vegetables to proteins to supplements, as easy to purchase in Malaysia like in, say, UK? It is expensive to eat healthy in Malaysia, and, if the government wants to encourage health, such foods should have a sunset subsidy.

Is it about [access to] facilities, like Golf courses, tennis courts, football fields, for the general public?  Actually, let's take a step back, are there air-conditioned public facilities that are well maintained?

What about access to equipment, from Golf clubs/balls to tennis rackets, restringing and sneakers, as it is an expensive undertaking. A great opportunity for corporate sponsorship as part of their CSR.

Tony Fernandez, CEO of Air Asia, understands the links between sports and companies. For example, it was recently reported "... Air Asia signed a three-year sponsorship deal (S$1.8M) with the Football Association of Singapore (FAS)... AirAsia has a track record of sports sponsorship, having backed the English Premiership football team Queens Park Rangers, Formula 1 outfit Caterham, the Asean Basketball League and MotoGP.

What about affordable tennis and golf camps during summer holidays outside of Clubs? I believe this is an extremely important offering to develop, and it is not meant to be "baby-sitting" services.

What about world class coaches? If Malaysia has not produced world class athletes in these areas, then importing such coaches from US, UK, Australia with short term contracts (that get rolled over) and KPIs.

Thus, awareness campaign on health and sports combined with accessible and affordable food, facilities, and equipment complimented by clinics and coaches would be a good beginning that starts to identify future international athletes in the major sports.

Incentives

There needs to be parallel efforts to complement the above with tennis, golf, and basketball leagues for player invitation and development. There is already a Malaysian "premier" football league.

Furthermore, there needs to be a dedicated sports magazine (for high schools and  universities) and cable tv station (from the likes of Astro) covering such sports for maximum enticement, exposure and impact.

Finally, as Malaysia is embarking on real estate acquisitions in the UK, it, Khazanah, PNB, EPF or even Tabung Haji, need to consider acquiring a major sports (Syariah compliant to SC screened) company, like Adidas, Reebok, Wilson, etc. This brings sponsorship to major sporting events, sporting equipment, endorsing athletes (who would appear in the camps), etc.

Conclusion

"Gold medals aren't really made of gold. They're made of sweat, determination, and a hard-to-find alloy called guts." - Dan Gable.

Malaysian youth are determined, ready to sweat, and have got guts to try to achieve gold, silver and bronze, Khairy. The ball is in your court, please don't dribble it out of bounds. - August 12, 2013.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.