Challenges keep me alive: M.F. Siregar

Challenges keep me alive: M.F. Siregar

By Ivy Susanti

JAKARTA (JP): "I like sports. I like people. I like to do the
utmost because I have been given the talent by God," Mangombar
Ferdinand Siregar says of his life principle.

Young people may associate Siregar, who will turn 73 on Nov.
11, with badminton for his post as the official in charge of
athlete development at the Badminton Association of Indonesia
(PBSI). But his contribution to sports development goes much
further.

His white hair is thinning and his back is slightly hunched,
yet his voice is still loud and clear when he discusses his
passion for life. He spends 20 minutes every day working out,
another 20 minutes walking around a tennis court near his home
and 45 minutes on a stationary bicycle.

He is an opa (grandfather) not only to his eight grandchildren
but also to all the young shuttlers and journalists he works
with.

"I always go to the Indonesian Badminton Center (in Cipayung,
East Jakarta) to talk to the shuttlers and coaches but not the
PBSI officials. I feel like I live there and I'm very happy to be
there," he told The Jakarta Post in a recent interview at his
residence in Kemanggisan, West Jakarta.

"I like to talk with (the shuttlers), motivate them, so I know
what there complaints are. I don't preach to them with lots of
theories. I regard them all as my friends."

The Jakarta-born Siregar has witnessed the rise and fall of
the country's sport development, and is still willing to lend a
hand.

His love affair with sports began when he was studying at a
Hollands Inlandsche School (Dutch elementary school for
indigenous Indonesians during the Dutch colonial era) in 1941.

"I took care of everything having to do with sports in school
until I entered the junior high school in Jakarta," he recalled.
He graduated from a state-owned junior high school here in 1946
and went to high school in Bandung, West Java, graduating in
1950.

He continued his studies at the Akademi Pendidikan Jasmani
(Physical Education Academy) in Bandung, and graduated in 1954.
The following year he married Darliah Nasution, who was three
years his junior. Darliah passed away in Adelaide, Australia, on
Sept. 30, 2000. The couple had four daughters and a son.

Siregar received his master's in physical education from
Springfield College in Massachusetts, the United States, in 1964.

Coach

He began work at the Physical Educators School in Bandung in
1954 and was registered as a civil servant at the then Ministry
of Education and Culture, now the Ministry of National Education.

His coaching career began in the pool. He spent 35 years
beginning in 1952 as a swimming and water polo coach.

"I coached the swim team because I like swimming. Later, I
played tennis and was appointed as an official with the
Indonesian Tennis Association (Pelti) .... I was the youngest
Indonesian to be in any sports organization and the oldest coach
in the country."

Siregar was the secretary and the official in charge of
research and development at the Jakarta chapter of Pelti from
1994 to 1998 and is still an adviser to the association. He has
also been an adviser to the Indonesian Rowing Association since
1997.

At PBSI, he began in the athlete development division in 1989
and his first job was to head the training program for the 1992
Olympic Games in Barcelona. From 1993 to 1997, he was a member of
the association's board of advisers, before returning to his
current post.

But it was during his years as a coach that Siregar left his
mark on sports in Indonesia, though few people are aware of his
achievements. But he certainly remembers, and can point exactly
to his two favorite memories.

"The first is the ninth Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in 1977 in
Kuala Lumpur, when we took 19 golds from 14 men's events and 13
women's events in our first time participating in the regional
event. I was the coach and the chief of the technical committee
for the Indonesian Swimming Association (PRSI).

"The second is when Susi Susanti won the country's first
(Olympic) gold medal in Barcelona."

Siregar can recall every step along Susi's path to the gold,
starting with the training period with the other shuttlers,
including her husband Alan Budikusumah, who won gold in the men's
singles, men's singles silver medalist Ardy Bernardus Wiranata,
men's doubles silver medalists Eddy Hartono and Gunawan, and
men's singles bronze medalist Hermawan Susanto.

"I had to have medical treatment for two coronary arteries at
the San Francisco Heart Institute prior to the Olympics. I only
completed one. I told the doctor, 'I want to go to Barcelona.'
The doctor would not allow me at first. Then I told him, 'Who do
you think has control over my life? If it's my time to die, then
I will die.' So the doctor gave me his permission to go, with
some conditions: I had to be accompanied by a medic and I was not
allowed to watch any of the events.

"I went to Barcelona with my family doctor, Dr. Soetrisno, my
personal driver, who was my fourth child Ria Marina, and my late
wife. I promised the doctor to stay away from the competition but
he allowed me to visit the athletes village the night before the
matches began."

Siregar says that in his meeting with the team, he told them
not to rely on Susi to get the gold medal, that everybody had the
same opportunity to make history. He went home on July 26 when
the badminton event started. He said he was not allowed to watch
the TV or read the paper, but he was eager to get the badminton
results.

The chance came when he was walking at Madya Stadium in
Senayan, Central Jakarta. He asked former shuttler and now mixed
doubles coach Richard Mainaky to help him get news of the latest
developments.

"I asked Richard to go back and forth between the PBSI
Secretariat on Jl. Asia Afrika. If Richard raised one thumb it
would mean the shuttlers had gone to the semifinals, two thumbs
meant the final and if he waived both his hands that meant we won
gold. That is how I knew what we achieved on Aug. 4."

There may be no tear in his eyes, but he has nine photos of
Susi's tearful expression on the podium when she received the
medal.

"Kompas daily (on Aug. 5) quoted Susi as saying, 'I dedicate
this title to Pak Siregar.' No other paper ever wrote that."

'Panji Olahraga'

Siregar has spent half his life at the Ministry of Sports and
the Office of the State Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports,
serving as the ministry's assistant for sports affairs in 1966
and from 1983 to 1988.

He is also the formulator of the Panji Olahraga (Sports Flag),
which was introduced by former president Soeharto during the
fourth national congress of the National Sports Council (KONI) on
Jan. 19, 1981. It has for years served as a guide for sports
development and education.

"We have Panji Olahraga as the foundation of Indonesia's
sports development. Panji Olahraga is about how to involve the
community in sports development and how to popularize sports in
the community.

"The then minister of education and culture, Daoed Joesoef,
reminded us to make the community aware of the meaning of sports.

"The leader of the country, sports officials have been given
this guidance. But there is something wrong with our sports
system in 2001. Why? Because the guidance is not well
implemented, it fails to generate a system based on standard
procedures."

The most important part of the system lies in schools and
clubs where athletes are born and mature, he said.

"Students are in their productive years and they can be assets
for sports. Millions of people learn about sports during their
elementary school years."

He said there should be a new vision shared by both the
government and those involved in developing sports.

Earlier this year, former national education minister Yahya
Muhaimin named Siregar chairman of the National Committee of
Physical Education and Sports.

Siregar said the first step toward a more sports-oriented
community was to introduce sports to children as early as
kindergarten and elementary school.

"I don't care how much time is allocated for sports in
schools. I just want it to begin now."

It is difficult to stop Siregar once he starts talking about
sports development. "I don't get bored talking about this topic.
I don't get upset if people refuse to learn or to take action. I
don't regard my efforts as a job, and I have no deadline. And I
don't belittle other people if they reject my ideas."

He said he preferred to talk in informal situations. Then he
showed a photo of himself, as KONI's secretary-general, sitting
beside Soeharto in a packed Madya Stadium after the opening of a
track and field event in June 1980. He says it was at that moment
that he introduced the Panji Olahraga idea to the president.

"Whenever I have time to meet people, I talk about my ideas. I
don't want other people to feel like I'm lecturing. I think I am
whispering more to the leaders than talking."

He quipped that it was difficult to find people like him, who
were willing to share their thoughts and work without requiring
payment.

"Why do I want to do this? Because I think it's the best thing
I can do with my life. I just can't sit down and do nothing. I
like a challenge. I would die quickly if there were no
challenges."