Business, govt must work to improve athletes' welfare

Legislators have approved a long-waited sports bill, which, among other things, requires the government to provide pensions to athletes who compete for their country. The Jakarta Post asked some Jakarta people for their views on the issue.

Hamidah, 35, is a public school teacher in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta. She lives with her husband and children in Cilandak, South Jakarta.

My husband is a former player with the national soccer team, but he just ended up working as a small trader in Pasar Minggu market. Almost nothing is left from what he earned during his 10-year involvement in soccer.

Now, I don't want my children to pursue sporting careers as I don't want them to end up like their father. I believe that many parents would agree with me.

This partly explains why our sporting prowess continues to decline. We are producing fewer and fewer champions because many talented children and young people have to opt for other careers outside sport.

Suryanto Hadikusumo, 42, is the owner of a construction consultancy firm. He lives with his family in Kemang, South Jakarta.

The business community and government should work hand in hand to improve the welfare of athletes. The government only has limited money to provide adequate benefits to athletes, while the business community needs to be encouraged by the government to invest in sport.

In this way, I think that sport could become a huge industry in Indonesia, just like in other countries. The sports industry would then automatically provide greater rewards to talented athletes as more companies would be involved in the sector.

In turn, more talented people would choose to pursue careers in sport, and thus we would produce more champions.

The Jakarta Post