East Timor debuts at ASEAN varsity games

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Newly independent East Timor is not part of ASEAN but it will join the week-long ASEAN University Games in Surabaya starting on Sunday, while member country Myanmar will be absent.

Indonesia contingent deputy chief Eman Sumusi said on Thursday that East Timor was invited to the games to strengthen ties in the region.

"The participation of East Timor is based on our feelings of solidarity with our new neighbor," Eman told The Jakarta Post.

East Timor separated from Indonesia in 1999, but has yet to become a member of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN).

Regarding Myanmar, Eman said universities in the country had decided not to send any athlete due to "financial problems." He did not go into further details.

Myanmar has been in the new recently because of its problematic human rights record. Nobel laureate and opposition figure Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest in Myanmar on the orders of the ruling military junta.

Eman said all other ASEAN member countries would be represented at the biennial event. They included Indonesia Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, the Philippines, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.

Some 1,210 athletes and officials from 10 participating countries will compete in 10 sports -- athletics, badminton, basketball, pencak silat (a martial art), volleyball, soccer, swimming, sepak takraw, tennis and table tennis.

Defending champion Thailand will dispatch 280 athletes and officials to the event, while Indonesia will send 274.

"As the host, we want to win the event, but it will be an arduous task for us as the Thai contingent will consist of a number of national-level athletes," Eman said.

Several Indonesian national representatives will also take part, including men's 110-meter hurdles runner Edi Zakaria and women's 100 meters sprinter Deysi, both who won golds in the 2004 National Games.

"They should help us win medals in athletics," Eman said.

Indonesia has topped the medal tallies in the ASEAN University Games twice -- in 1981 and 1983. Thailand, meanwhile, has won all the rest, including the most-recent games in Manila in 2002.

The games opening ceremony is scheduled for Sunday at 2:00 p.m. at Sidoarjo Stadium, with Minister of National Education Bambang Sudibyo expected to preside.

Badminton matches, however, had already begun on Thursday.