The Hiroshima debacle
Frankly, it is with considerable reluctance that we now talk about Indonesia's repeated failures in the contemporary international sports arena. After all, we have no doubt that the greatest efforts have been made by both our athletes and sports officials to represent their country to the best of their capabilities.
We believe, however, that last week's debacle at Hiroshima could serve us all well as a reminder that surely something needs correction in the management of sports in this country.
The failure at the 12th Asian Games, which closed on Sunday has raised many eyebrows. After all, Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest country and one that is not without a proud history of sports achievements, failed to place itself among the "big 10" once the final medal tally was completed. We really suffered in terms of both, quality and quantity.
It may not be at all surprising that China, with a population of one billion, came out the overall winner with 137 gold medals. The same may be said of South Korea, which placed itself in second place, beating out Japan. Although South Korea has a smaller population, it is well known for the drive and the high sense of discipline of its people.
Indonesia -- with only three gold medals -- came out 11th, just below Qatar, a tiny Middle East country of half a million people. Two grades above Indonesia, is Malaysia, the frequent champion of the Southeast Asia Games, which, up to last week, had never overtaken us in sports.
The National Sports Committee, which was responsible for the preparation and the sending of the Indonesian contingent to Hiroshima, was apparently not very optimistic even before the departure of the teams last month. The officials said they would not set any specific targets, but promised to fight as best as they could.
The two-week struggle there resulted in gold for Indonesia only in badminton. And even so, Susi Susanti, our badminton women's singles world champion, lost and had to settle for bronze. Badminton seemed to have been the only branch we felt we could rely on. And now, even in that sport, we have had to see our position stolen out from under us by other nations.
Aside from all of that, a decades-old question seems to remain relevant: What is wrong with the development of sports in our country? Besides having a minister who is in charge of sports, we have many high-ranking officials and wealthy businessmen who are involved in the management and development of sports. Yet our achievements remain insignificant. Is it that our people are so difficult to manage, or are we simply unable to properly develop our sporting activities?
It its high time for this nation to determine where the real hurdles are. Perhaps the nearest truth is that fewer and fewer people can afford to spend time on sports, while those who can lack proper training.
It seems to us that in the 1950s, for example, a whole lot more students regularly took part in national sports activities. Little wonder, perhaps, that Indonesia managed to place itself in the No. 2 spot with 11 gold medals, after Japan in first place, in the third Asian Games in Jakarta in 1962.
It certainly wouldn't hurt us to look more seriously into the question of why, during the 1950s and 1960s, when "guidance" was practically an unknown word, we seemed to do so much better in the sports arena on a national, as well as an international scale.
As for the present, no simple solution for our problem seems to be in sight. But, in light of the fact that other countries are said to have progressed because of their high sense of discipline, we might perhaps begin by pondering the possibility of asking our highly disciplined military officers to help manage the training programs? This could be regarded as part of their social function. And, who knows, our performance in the world of sports might take a turn for the better.