ASEAN sportsmanship

The 19th Southeast Asian Games which officially get underway in Jakarta today could not have come at a better time. They are held as the region's spirit of neighborliness and friendship are severely tested by the currency contagion that started in Thailand, and the haze problem originating mostly from forest fires in Indonesia. And they come as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which is expanding to eventually encompass all the 10 countries in the region, is pushing ahead with its plan to establish a regional free trade zone. All have the traits or the potential of dividing countries and peoples in the region.

The SEA Games' best contribution at a time like this is in reinvigorating the spirit of community which binds nations in Southeast Asia together. We believe they can do so because they have done so in the past.

Some of the problems that have existed or developed within this region, such as the currency contagion, the haze and the stresses imposed by the move toward free trade, not to mention long-standing problems such as overlapping territorial claims, have undoubtedly created tensions between countries (although officials, in keeping with the "ASEAN spirit", have a tendency to play them down, or even dismiss them completely).

Because of their competitive nature, the SEA Games too have the potential of causing tensions or dividing peoples in the region. But tensions occur and release only on a field during a match, as athletes fight for the honor and glory of the countries they represent. As soon as a match or a game is over, athletes quickly make up with one another. This applies in every sport, even in the most bloodletting kind like boxing.

Sports are the most ideal channel for countries and peoples to let off steam, or release their frustrations at one another in a competitive but peaceful manner. The SEA Games will have their share of overzealous spectators who cannot accept defeat, but they usually represent a minority. The athletes and the majority of supporters, including those who will be watching the Games in Jakarta or through television elsewhere in the region, know that in the end, sportsmanship counts more than the final results.

Jakarta is honored to host the 19th Games, although it was not supposed to be its turn for another two years. The organizers, including the central and municipal governments, and the private consortium (as well as the public through their financial contributions), have made every effort to ensure that the Games proceed smoothly. There will be shortcomings here and there in the way the Games are organized, but let's remember that even the Atlanta Olympics last year were beset with problems.

Indonesia's decision to take over the Games from Brunei was based upon its sense of regional responsibility that the sporting show must go on. In terms of international achievements, the Games may be trivial compared to the Asian Games and the Olympics, but this makes them all the more valuable for countries in the region to keep the SEA Games' flame and the spirit of friendship alive. The Games provide a springboard for athletes in the region to test their skills before they are launched into international arenas.

When compared to other existing regional events, organizations or concepts, the SEA Games have been around the longest. Launched in 1957 as the Southeast Asia Peninsular Games, it preceded ASEAN and predated by far all thoughts of forming a regional community, or of a free trade zone. The Games have also survived some of the fiercest wars the region has seen.

Southeast Asian athletes have shown the way of what a true community should be, and of what it takes to form one. They have shown that nations can, and should, coexist peacefully even when they are in fierce competition with one another. The name of the game is sportsmanship. This is the kind of spirit that ASEAN needs as it develops into a community and turns the region into a free trade zone.

On that note, we'd like to conclude by saying may the best athletes, and the best teams, win -- wherever they come from.