Athletes warn against hasty drug suspicions
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.