Rejoice in victory
Rejoice in victory
Indonesia's victory in the Thomas Cup in Kuala Lumpur on
Sunday provided a welcome celebration for the nation that has
been mired in a seemingly endless crisis for the past three
years. Retaining the prestigious men's badminton team event for
the fourth consecutive time since 1994 could not have come at a
better moment to shore up our sagging confidence as a nation.
Nothing seems to be going right for Indonesia this year.
Politically, the country remains fragile and divided, with ethnic
and sectarian violence flaring in Maluku, North Maluku and Aceh
and our political elite bickering among themselves over
trivialities. The economy remains firmly in the doldrums, without
a real prospect of recovery in the near future. The Thomas Cup
victory and the players' expected gold medal haul at the Sydney
Olympics will probably be the only bright spots for Indonesia
this year. Reflecting on how we managed to win the cup at a
difficult time like this could probably shed some light on we
should approach some of the country's problems.
Indonesia can be justly proud of winning the coveted cup for
the 12th time and the reaffirmation of the country's stature as
one of the sport's powerhouses. Badminton, a major national
pastime, may be the only sport where Indonesia excels
internationally. Yet the Thomas Cup, which Indonesia first won in
1958 as a fledgling independent nation, shows the country can
succeed when it focuses on a goal. All it takes is to apply that
principle to other sports and we should become a major sporting
nation, in the region if not the world, in keeping with our
status as the world's fourth largest nation.
As our Thomas Cup players will testify, they took nothing for
granted although they went to Kuala Lumpur as the favorite. Much
hard work went into preparations, not only in the rigorous
training of recent months, but also the many years of talent
scouting and grooming of players by the coaches. On the day it
counted most, Hendrawan, Rexy Mainaky, Tony Gunawan and Taufik
Hidayat never buckled in facing the Chinese players.
They and the rest of the Thomas Cup team have done the nation
proud, both in bringing the trophy home and in showing that we
can be a great nation when we aspire to be.
Unlike the year-round grand prix tournaments, the Thomas Cup
is not an individual event in which a player fights for
individual glory and riches. A team event calls for a concerted
effort by all players in the spirit of achieving a shared goal.
Although the Indonesian team was made up of athletes from
divergent backgrounds, they held a common purpose: To win the
trophy. Each of the players did their bit as expected.
The team in its way is a microcosm of what the nation-building
process in a diverse country like Indonesia is all about. Coming
a day after Indonesia marked National Awakening Day, the victory
is a reminder that national unity and nation-building can only be
achieved through hard work, and not in the endless, tiring
rhetoric our leaders seem to enjoy.
As we welcome home our Thomas Cup heroes, we must reflect on
what the win means for our nation at one of the low points in its
history. We should take stock of the great things we can achieve
if united and if each of us is willing to do our share, as the
Thomas Cup players did for their country.