Being Frank: Bad ‘guardians’ take zing out of wonderkid’s feat
As published in Sunday Mail today
Being Frank
By Frankie D’Cruz
MALAYSIA’S
newest sporting hero, sprinter Badrul Hisyam Abdul Manap, 18, should be
a household name. Sadly, he isn’t so. Certain media don’t even get the
spelling of his name right. That’s disappointing.
Badrul who
clocked 10.29s to break Watson Nyambek’s 17-year national 100m record by
one-tenth of a second last Monday is one of the best stories this year.
Sadly, his story has not gripped the nation. That’s depressing.
The
schoolboy’s spectacular achievement is one of the defining moments of
Malaysian athletics, yet it has been virtually ignored by the
authorities including the Malaysian Athletics Federation (MAF) that has
had a series of poor stories in recent years.
The education
and youth and sports ministries also failed to make Badrul, a young
inspiring Malaysian, top news. Here’s the thing: at a time when the
authorities are struggling to encourage the young to excel in sports,
the story of a kid who chased chicken in his kampung in Malacca and
renewed Malaysia’s sprinting prowess is a motivational, feel good
narrative.
Being the heart of this sprinting
rejuvenation, Badrul was part of another golden moment at the Asean
Schools Games in Brunei last week when he led the 4x100m quartet of Mohd
Haiqal Hanafi, Asnawi Hashim and Khairul Hafiz Jantan to another gold
as Malaysia claimed their ninth title in track and field.
Remarkably,
the boys — all Tengku Mahkota Ismail Sports School (SSTMI) students —
clocked 39.86s, just off the national record of 39.67s.
While
some media missed the record-breaking 100m feat, Malay Mail sports
editor Graig Nunis was scrambling for Badrul’s picture after he had
chanced on the story. The MAF, operating without a media officer, didn’t
have one.
Nunis, with the help of Malay Mail specialist
sportswriter, Tony Mariadass, sought the help of SSTMI principal Suhaimi
Sun Abdullah who gladly passed on what he had. It made back page lead.
The
education and youth and sports ministries, as well as the MAF fluffed
the golden opportunity to capitalise on the track wonder who made
struggling athletics relevant in 10.29 seconds.
Clearly, it
was a walking public relations nightmare. You got to hand it to them:
they found a way to give the nation an encore to the disingenuous way
they left Badrul’s story by the wayside.
Perhaps, they had no
faith in him — even if this was the lad who clocked 20.88s at the
Universiti Malaysia Perlis Athletics Open five weeks ago, only for
tailwind exceeding 2.0m/s not to be recognised as breaking Tan Sri Dr M.
Jegathesan’s record of 20.92s set at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.
The
narrative for the success of athletes is often punctuated by
inspirational performances accompanied by wide publicity especially when
it involves one, like Badrul, who has all the tools to become an icon
of athletics.
It’s our love of sport and an endearing story
that bring us all together. We’re united by those little individual
passions that ignite sports — and recognise that together we can achieve
so much more.
Unless we pass that passion on to the next
generation, we’ll never know what kind of talent walks through the doors
of our schools day in and day out.
Because every child, in
every part of the country, deserves to find that one sport they are
really passionate about — and I’m convinced the government and national
sports bodies are the ones to turn that national vision into a local
reality.
When we talk about heroes, we envision those who are making a mark on the nation, the world, one act at a time.
We should think of ourselves as one big family — celebrating the exemplary behaviour of our everyday heroes.
Acts
that display motivation, perseverance and passion deserve recognition,
and these are the stories we love to uncover and share. These are the
people who arouse our spirit and we are obliged to celebrate them.
Frankie is editor emeritus of Malay Mail. He can be reached at frankie@mmail.com.my or Twitter: @dcruzfrankie
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