Malaysia will closely examine performance at SEA Games

Malaysia will closely examine performance at SEA Games

KUALA LUMPUR (AP): Malaysia emerged victorious from the
Southeast Asian Games for the first time in their 42-year
history, and the government is demanding to know why.

Sports Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said Thursday he wants a
report on his desk by the end of the month from every national
sporting association giving a detailed "post-mortem" of their
athletes' performance.

"All sports associations must give reasons for their success
or lack of success," Hishammuddin was reported as saying by the
Bernama national news agency.

The reports will be used to decide which sports will get
special funding to prepare for the upcoming Asian and
Commonwealth Games, he said.

While Southeast Asia has some world-class athletes in a few
sports such as badminton and boxing, the region has generally
lagged behind the rest of the world at major international meets.

Top Malaysian officials complained during the SEA Games that
they had failed to produce top-level athletes because member
countries insisted on including obscure sports - played by few
countries but which their athletes were good at - to increase
their chances of winning medals.

In addition to conventional sports such as athletics, swimming
and gymnastics, the SEA Games program included billiards, four
kinds of martial arts and three kinds of bowling.

Numerous regional records were set at the games, but none were
even close to Asian or world records.

When the Games ended Monday, Malaysia finished with 111 gold
medals, ahead of Thailand (103) and Indonesia (72) - the two
countries which have previously dominated the competition.

Malaysia flopped in track and field, but did well in
gymnastics, diving and synchronized swimming, and martial arts.

Hishammuddin said sports associations which did well at the
SEA Games would receive special payments on top of the 5,000
ringgit (US$1,315) paid to each athlete for winning gold. The
government expects to hand out more than 500,000 ringgit ($
131,000).

He also announced Cabinet approval for a new sports program
aimed at developing more Asian- and world-class athletes from
Malaysia.