The responsibility of developing talented and determined men and women of sports in an enabling, empowering, and equitable context seems to be missing and needs to be addressed by the Government and the sport ministry in particular.
The ability to observe the spirit of competitiveness and talents and channelling funds accordingly is the hallmark of a competent Sport ministry.
On this basis I call upon the government to formally acknowledge the amazing success of the private Malaysian karate team, dubbed the “Karate Kids, who were a major success in a tournament in France, winning many medals including gold.
Each of the nine-member team brought back a medal in the tournament which was participated by 12 countries including karate heavyweights such as Japan and Italy.
Their success must be looked at as an “eye opener” where they managed this impressive feat without any sponsorship from the Sports Ministry, government agencies nor private organisations.
Ironically a Turkish airline has come out and plucked this great man and women out of hopelessness. The national flag carrier airline of Turkey, which is popular among many Malaysians, gave the team a shot by allowing them to fly on credit.
Due to this negligence, it is only fair that the government pay tribute to these sports men and women for their winning mentality, determination, and excellence while the Sports Ministry must immediately look into ways to help them reach greater heights.
The government should also look into assisting them in their dreams of competing in the US and Italy as they are still trying to raise funds for it. In fact, the government should write off their expenses for the tournament in France after their amazing success.
To ensure that no sports men and women are deprived of opportunities in the future, the sports Ministry should be proactive to identify talents in various sports endeavours. not merely on certain selected popular games. This would bring about equity in the development of sports in the country.