ASEAN sportsmanship

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.