Let us not forget that we do have a number of World Champions in our backyard. At the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games, Malaysia brought home three Gold medals – sprinter Ridzuan Puzi, Long Jump athlete Abdul Latif Romly, and shot put big man Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli. Our Lawn Bowls athletes of Siti Zalina Ahmad and Emma Firyana Saroji won Gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, and our Women’s Tenpin Bowling team of Shalin Zulkifli, Siti Safiyah Amirah Abdul Rahman, Sin Li Jane, Syaidatul Afifah Badrul Hamidi, and Natasha Roslan won the Women’s Team Gold at the 2017 World Championships. 2017 was an amazing year for Malaysian sports as Track Cycling Azizulhasni Awang and Diver Cheong Jun Hoong also won 2017 World Championship Gold medals.
So based on the above athletes' achievements, I am confident we will continue to achieve more success on the global sporting stage. But how do we take the next step?
In my opinion, in order for us to achieve consistent success like our South Korean and Japanese friends – who consistently play at Football Worlds and win numerous Gold Medals at the Olympic games – citizens of Malaysia need to fall in love with sports and make it part of our culture. What I mean by “fall in love” is that we constantly love watching and playing sports, our children are always participating in fun and serious competitions not just in schools but also clubs, we will pay for tickets and merchandise rather than constantly asking for discounts and buying the illegal outfits, gossip about sports topics when we meet up with friends and family for makan-makan, and make sporting inspiration part of our digital lives with fancy photos and hashtags. Right now we are a nation that plays sports casually – once a week Futsal, weekend golf or cycling, and maybe some Badminton in the driveway where we use the gate as the net.
Sports is about activity, which needs resources AKA funding and people. A good “sporty product” to try and sell to corporates and advertisers is a Toddler League. We Malaysians are generally family people, and if all of us were to witness young toddler children playing sports in a fun way, we would all whip out our phones to share it with the whole digital universe.
Imagine if we saw a young four-year-old boy or girl break a set of wooden planks when competing in a Martial Arts contest. This would go viral in minutes and we can all say that we first witnessed it at the Malaysian Toddler Games/League. These games/events are more about fun, exposure and giving young children a platform to discover and enjoy sports.
Unfortunately, Covid is still the main challenge to make the above happen, but I am confident life will get better and safer.
So my Malaysian Sports Dream AKA “impian saya” is not about Malaysia winning more international medals, but more about our society transforming itself through our children to love and be passionate about sports. Once we create this desired sporting culture, then success - on and off the pitch - will be a process rather than an experiment.
Happy New Year everyone, please stay safe, fit, healthy, and always sporty.
Ben Ibrahim is a TV Commentator, Sports & Media Consultant. In his career, he has also worked for FIBA, FISU, Foxsports, and the Ministry of Youth & Sports.
He also set-up the Malaysia Valke Rugby Club for the 2019 & 2020 Global Rapid Rugby competition.
You can contact him on his public Facebook page Or through his Instagram @benibrahim_
