Foul!

That was a tweet by Malaysia's diving star Datuk Pandelela Rinong. As I wrote last month (June 22, 2022), Pandelela, Datuk Leong Mun Yee, and Nur Dhabitah Sabri are world-class women divers, who are Olympians and household names in Malaysia. Yet, states are struggling to field divers, especially in the women’s event, for the upcoming Malaysia Games (Sukma) The Sukma, scheduled to begin on Malaysia Day (Sept 16), will be held in various locations in the Klang Valley. It is organised by the National Sports Council (NSC). It is learnt that there is also a lack of participation in the women’s gymnastics events. It boils down to the lack of facilities, proper support system and bragging rights. Read the full article on Kuala Lumpur-based news website, Twentytwo13.

1. Saya telah berkecimpung dalam dunia kewartawanan sejak tahun 2000. Saya bermula sebagai seorang wartawan sukan.  2. Ramai yang telah saya temuramah sepanjang karier saya. Saya pernah minum kopi bersama pemandu teksi, lepak sama Pak Guard, berborak pasal PS2 dengan pemain tennis terkemuka Rafael Nadal, duduk sebelah bekas pemandu F1 Mika Hakkinen dalam Mercedes AMG SLS yang dipandunya, serta duduk semeja dengan tokoh korporat dan menteri dari dalam dan luar negara. 3. Saya juga mempunyai blog. Ada yang meninggalkan komen di blog, apa pula yang emel. Ada pula yang DM saya di laman media sosial saya. Sesetangah komen-komen tersebut agak pedas, tetapi sebagai 'Anon' atau menggunakan akaun "private". Saya hanya gelak kerana mereka ini pandai komen but tak berani nak letak nama sebenar. Tetapi saya tidak pernah tergerak untuk membuat tanda pagar (hashtag) bagi individu-individu sebegini. 4. Ada pula atlet dan pegawai yang tidak berpuas hati dengan hasil penulisan atau ko...

  I think sports facilities in the country should be graded. It's only fair to the users / consumers. I've seen poorly maintained sports facilities - both government- and privately-owned. Patrons should not pay ridiculous fees for substandard facilities. Period. So when I was informed of plans to grade sporting facilities in Malaysia, I was obviously excited. On July 5, I wrote that discussions are being held over the possibility of grading sporting facilities in Malaysia. This is similar to the evaluation and grading of food premises by local councils, nationwide. Following the article, venue operators and owners told news website Twentytwo13 that having a set of evaluation and grading criteria for sports centres in Malaysia is certainly the way forward. But they had their concerns too. “Ultimately, the elephant in the room is deciding who will be in charge of the grading process, and how it will benefit the community.” -  National Sports & Fitness Venue Owners and Oper...