Foreign fans wave flags for their athletes

By Emmy Fitri

JAKARTA (JP): Crowd support can make all the difference in a tense game, but who is cheering on the foreign contingents in these Games in their quest for gold?

A familiar face at the event is Lydia de Vega, formerly the queen of the 100 meters dash (her decade-old record still stands). Now a sports broadcaster for a private television station in Manila, she took time out to support the Philippine athletics squad yesterday.

"I love being here because, at the same time, I can encourage my juniors to run faster and to jump higher."

No group of Philippine fans has come over specially for the Games, she said. "Our supporters are the fellow athletes, they give support to each other."

Lydia mentioned David Yos Bunevacz, who enlisted the support of his family.

"David brought his parents, his aunts and his girlfriend, who is a Filipina actress," she said.

There may not be any organized fan groups from the different countries, but expatriates residing in Jakarta and journalists working during the Games have come out in force for their teams.

Suchela Phacaiyapoom, a Thai TV reporter, said she made time for her compatriots. "I don't care whether we win or lose, the thing is I like to give them support."

Team officials are not just her to hobnob during the events. The president of the Malaysian amateur sport association, Datuk Khalid Yunus, said he came to Jakarta to lend the athletes his personal encouragement.

There had not been organization of a special fan trip, he said, because "our country can's afford that, we're not a rich country.

"I know some Malaysians came to Jakarta to support our team, but of their own willingness because nobody financed them".

Vietnamese sports officer Ting Nguyen Ba said about 30 to 40 people accompanied him to the Senayan Complex for the women's soccer team against Indonesia. Nearly all were athletes on their time off.

Myanmar's volleyball player Tin Win Aung also came with 20 people yesterday to wave the flag for his country's soccer team. They handed out flags to other spectators and sounded their support with traditional musical instruments.