Athletes warn against hasty drug suspicions
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Athletes have warned against hasty suggestions about rife drug abuse that threaten to create false stereotypes about the whole community, following former national diver Temmy Kusuma's drug- related death.
"I'm deeply sorry to hear about Temmy's death. I know the news from a publication," Ade Rai, one of the country's top bodybuilders, told The Jakarta Post.
Ade, who has won many international trophies, referred to drug users as part of a juvenile social disease particularly among urban people, and did not think athletes are necessarily immune to that.
"It's prone to any group of people, be they students or white- collar workers. I dare say the athletic community should be more resistant with regard to their sportsmanship.
"Using drugs, whether for fun or for performance enhancement is against sportsmanship. They should be aware of that," said Ade, who now manages a number of fitness centers.
While conceding the likelihood that some athletes had strayed from sportsmanship type values, Taufik Hidayat, a 20-year-old badminton star, expressed his confidence that the number -- should there be any -- would not be as alarming as some people are making it out to be.
"I don't think the number of athletes who are suspected to have strayed into drug use is so large that it can be called 'rife'," he said.
Taufik has molded himself into one of the world's top players, however he has had his share of non-drug related off-court problems, most recently his physical harassment against a spectator.
Temmy, who won three Southeast Asian Games gold medals for Indonesia during his heyday, reportedly died of a drug overdose on Nov. 1.
Temmy, 25, was thought to have overdosed on putaw, a kind of psychotropic drug, that caused fatal damage to his lungs, heart and liver.
Although he is believed to have delved into drugs only after he quit the national team in 1997, as confirmed by his former coach Harly Ramayani, that did not seem to deter fingers of suspicion from being pointed at the national sporting community in general.
Following Temmy's death, recent reports revealed other athletes involved in drugs. Singky Suwadji, a former equestrian athlete now with a national movement to fight against illicit narcotics, attested to the rife drug abuse among the athletes and mentioned two ill-fated names, one dead in 1982 and the other said to be a near miss in 1995.
Among those cases known to the public, the 1999 drug case, involving soccer star Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto, was considered one of the most shocking. The local media devoted a lot of space to the Kurniawan case as well.
The national team striker tested positive for amphetamines, a banned substance, which resulted in him being eliminated from the national soccer team heading to the Brunei SEA Games.
Ade labeled "a fool" any athlete -- if there should be any -- whether they are still active in the national team or not, letting themselves fall victim to narcotics.
"What a fool an athlete is if he or she allows themselves to become victims of putaw.
"Athletes are supposed to be synonymous with a healthy life. They are sporting figures who must promote a healthy lifestyle. Even if they smoke, they must not do so in public," said Ade.
Taufik, whose off-court antics earned him the nickname 'childish', allowed himself a wise word with his precaution against "making approaches with narcotics".
"Never try taking drugs, because once we get addicted we can never get away. I don't understand why we should use drugs while we are aware the vicious affect we are doomed to suffer," he said.