Our great sporting tradition<\/p>\n
To those in the know the unimpassioned reactions here at home
\nshould have come as no surprise after the initial excitement over
\nTaufik Hidayat's gold medal victory in Athens died down. As
\nwelcome as Saturday's victory over South Korean seven seed Shon
\nSeung-Mo most certainly was, it also came as a major surprise to
\nthe millions of badminton enthusiasts here in Indonesia -- and
\nparticularly to all the former Olympic badminton medal medalists
\nhere, who know the 23-year-old shuttler as a talented, but
\nemotional and unstable player.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, in the competitive world of modern-day sports,
\ngold is gold, and despite the much-proclaimed adage that, in
\nsports and the Olympics in particular, the important thing is not
\nto win, but to take part, the medal tally won by participating
\nteams never fails to make the headlines in newspapers all over
\nthe world. In modern sports, victory is equated with a nation's
\nhonor -- so much so that governments and patriotic citizens and
\nentrepreneurs are willing to shower huge amounts of cash or
\nassets on winners, even though it is true that, in the process,
\nthe original spirit of keeping the Olympic Games an arena of
\namateur sports is being eroded.<\/p>\n
It is in this context that Taufik's gold medal victory in
\nAthens -- following in the footsteps of Alan Budikusuma and Susi
\nSusanti in 1992, the doubles pairs of Ricky Subagja\/Rexy Mainaky
\nin 1996 and Tony Gunawan\/Candra Wijaya in 2000, not to mention
\nthe silver and bronze medalists over the years -- deserves to be
\nhailed. As this country's founding father President Sukarno used
\nto say, it is a great nation that can properly appreciate the
\nachievements of its athletes. And undeniably, the principle of
\nwinning in fair competition and in a spirit of good sportsmanship
\nare assets that can greatly benefit any nation in the process of
\nbuilding a healthy democracy.<\/p>\n
It is certainly disappointing to have to note that Indonesia's
\nsports achievements have considerably deteriorated over the past
\ndecade, and for reasons that are hard for the ordinary
\nman-on-the-street to explain. Many Indonesians from older
\ngenerations still remember how, in 1956, the Indonesian soccer
\neleven was able to force even the mighty Soviet Union to accept a
\ndraw in the Melbourne Olympics. Those were the years when
\nIndonesia was a power to be reckoned with in Asian soccer.<\/p>\n
Compared to the 1950s and 1960s or 1970s, Indonesia at
\npresent, with its population of more than 210 million, is a much
\nbigger nation, if only in terms of population. Unlike in those
\nyears, benefactors and the state are willing to shower millions
\nof rupiah worth in cash and assets on winning athletes. Unlike
\nthen, athletes these days have greater access to modern training
\nmethods, and the government plays a part in the development and
\n\"guidance\" of sports. And yet, our achievements remain minimal.<\/p>\n
What, then, is missing? If general impressions are anything to
\ngo by, one reason for the decline may be that during those early
\ndecades after Indonesia's independence, ordinary Indonesians,
\nfrom school children and students to government employees and
\noffice workers, actively enjoyed some form of sport -- be it
\ntrack-and-field, swimming, basketball or soccer. But then, green,
\nopen spaces and parks were easy to find, even in relatively
\nlarge, overcrowded cities such as Jakarta, and were not yet
\nsacrificed to housing complexes and shopping malls.<\/p>\n
Perhaps, if the relevant authorities are truly concerned about
\nthe state of sports in this country, one of the first steps they
\nshould take is to give real support to the development of this
\nlong neglected aspect of human development by building the
\nnecessary facilities, and -- last but not least -- try to develop
\na genuine passion for sports and for achievement, in general
\namong our young, especially students at the elementary and middle
\nschool levels. If that were to happen, hopefully, it would not
\ntake long before Indonesia would reclaim its lost position in the
\nrealm of Asian and, who knows, world sports.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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