Megawati bemoans Indonesia's poor sporting record<\/p>\n
Agencies, Jakarta<\/p>\n
President Megawati Soekarnoputri on Tuesday bemoaned
\nIndonesia's poor record in international sports and called on
\ncitizens to work hard to improve their performance.<\/p>\n
\"No matter how healthy our bodies and souls are, if our heads
\nhave are downcast at the end of every sports competition, this
\nwill only make empty our souls and fill it with a sense of
\nfailure,\" she said at a ceremony marking national sports day in
\nYogyakarta, Central Java.<\/p>\n
The President addressed thousands of participants at the
\nceremony, which was also attended by chairman of National Sports
\nCouncil (KONI) Agum Gumelar, Minister of National Education Malik
\nFajar and Yogyakarta Governor Sultan Hamengkubuwono X.<\/p>\n
\"We are sad and frustrated that every time a sports match
\nends, we can only watch other nations yell and sing while flying
\ntheir national flags,\" she said according to AFP.<\/p>\n
The President, as quoted by Antara news agency, said that as
\nthe world's fourth most populous nation with more than 220
\nmillion people, Indonesia had the potential to produce good
\nathletes.<\/p>\n
Aside from its international and Asian runs, the nation's
\nsports performance has been wavering in the Southeast Asian
\nregion, as was signified by Indonesia's rueful performance at the
\nlast two biennial SEA Games in Brunei Darussalam and Malaysia.<\/p>\n
At both occasions, the Indonesian team faltered in an
\nunprecedented third place in the overall standings behind rivals
\nThailand and Malaysia. The next SEA Games will be held in Vietnam
\nthis December.<\/p>\n
The recent below-par performance was also shown by the
\nIndonesian badminton team at last week's Indonesia Open in Batam,
\nRiau, where the host team only managed to win one of the five
\nevents through star player Taufik Hidayat.<\/p>\n
Megawati urged the KONI to reorganize its management and
\ncalled on the private sector to contribute to the effort.<\/p>\n
She also bestowed sporting awards to 51 sports figures who had
\ncontributed to the development of national sports.<\/p>\n
The award recipients ranged from athletes, referees, academics
\nto sports patrons.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Malik Fajar asked the participants' help in finding
\na way to increase the quality of national sports.<\/p>\n
\"The pursuit of a well-formulated, quality national sports
\nprogram should become a national goal, because this is a means of
\ndeveloping individuals both physically and mentally,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He added that sports should mold the Indonesian people into
\nbuilding a creative, civilized and appreciative nation.<\/p>\n
\"Sports should be part of our nation building efforts, because
\nit can nurture health, fitness and discipline.\"<\/p>\n
At a separate occasion, Agum Gumelar pointed out that
\nexemplary athletes were often unappreciated by the public.<\/p>\n
Instead, he said, when they flopped, they were criticized,
\nreproached and even scolded for their failure.<\/p>",
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