Megawati bemoans Indonesia's poor sporting record
Megawati bemoans Indonesia's poor sporting record
Agencies, Jakarta
President Megawati Soekarnoputri on Tuesday bemoaned Indonesia's poor record in international sports and called on citizens to work hard to improve their performance.
"No matter how healthy our bodies and souls are, if our heads have are downcast at the end of every sports competition, this will only make empty our souls and fill it with a sense of failure," she said at a ceremony marking national sports day in Yogyakarta, Central Java.
The President addressed thousands of participants at the ceremony, which was also attended by chairman of National Sports Council (KONI) Agum Gumelar, Minister of National Education Malik Fajar and Yogyakarta Governor Sultan Hamengkubuwono X.
"We are sad and frustrated that every time a sports match ends, we can only watch other nations yell and sing while flying their national flags," she said according to AFP.
The President, as quoted by Antara news agency, said that as the world's fourth most populous nation with more than 220 million people, Indonesia had the potential to produce good athletes.
Aside from its international and Asian runs, the nation's sports performance has been wavering in the Southeast Asian region, as was signified by Indonesia's rueful performance at the last two biennial SEA Games in Brunei Darussalam and Malaysia.
At both occasions, the Indonesian team faltered in an unprecedented third place in the overall standings behind rivals Thailand and Malaysia. The next SEA Games will be held in Vietnam this December.
The recent below-par performance was also shown by the Indonesian badminton team at last week's Indonesia Open in Batam, Riau, where the host team only managed to win one of the five events through star player Taufik Hidayat.
Megawati urged the KONI to reorganize its management and called on the private sector to contribute to the effort.
She also bestowed sporting awards to 51 sports figures who had contributed to the development of national sports.
The award recipients ranged from athletes, referees, academics to sports patrons.
Meanwhile, Malik Fajar asked the participants' help in finding a way to increase the quality of national sports.
"The pursuit of a well-formulated, quality national sports program should become a national goal, because this is a means of developing individuals both physically and mentally," he said.
He added that sports should mold the Indonesian people into building a creative, civilized and appreciative nation.
"Sports should be part of our nation building efforts, because it can nurture health, fitness and discipline."
At a separate occasion, Agum Gumelar pointed out that exemplary athletes were often unappreciated by the public.
Instead, he said, when they flopped, they were criticized, reproached and even scolded for their failure.