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...

The world swimming body has taken a bold decision to restrict transgender athletes in elite women's swimming. The decision was made after Fina revealed it had sufficient evidence to back its decision, adding male swimmers as young as 14 were posting times that would win the Olympic gold medal in the women's events.  Fina will instead create an 'open category' for transgender swimmers to compete in. The president of the world body, Husain Al-Musallam was quoted as saying in his address at the Budapest congress : "I do not want any athlete to be told they cannot compete at the highest level. I understand why transgender athletes want to compete in the gender of their choice ... but we should not favour one athlete over another." “We will be the first international federation to start this work.”  Caitlyn Jenner, a transgender who was once known as Olympic gold medallist Bruce Jenner, supported the move .  "I think it's very good. I have been on this is...

Lee Hup Wei had recently retired as a national athlete. As he turns 35 today, he decided to be the voice of athletes in the national athletics scene, as he takes issue with the debacle involving the Selangor Athletics Association and the Sports Commissioner's Office. Here's his plea , as posted on his Facebook account, minutes ago: "Lebih kurang satu minggu lagi, Sukan Sea Hanoi akan bermula. Sukan Sea amat bermakna untuk saya kerana saya sudah mewakili negara di dalam kejohanan itu sejak 2005 di Manila dan membawa pulang 4 pingat emas. Tahun ini saya tidak mengambil bahagian. Banyak rakan-rakan atlet dan jurulatih yang menghubungi saya. Mereka kecewa kerana tidak dapat mewakili negara dalam Sukan Sea Hanoi. Mereka tidak dipilih bukan kerana tidak layak tetapi atas faktor-faktor dalaman persatuan sukan. Sebagai senior dalam bidang olahraga, saya perlu bersuara bagi pihak semua atlet. Sepanjang 18 tahun sebagai atlet olahraga, konflik dalaman persatuan sukan selalu berlaku....

Klang residents want to explore the possibility of a law suit against the Malaysian government for dereliction of duty during the December floods.  This is one of the calls at the seminar 'The Impact of Climate Change on Coastal Areas Like Klang' held at Wyndham Acmar Klang hotel yesterday. Klang MP Charles Santiago said Selangor has a responsibility to protect and promote the rights and interests of its citizens.  "However, during the floods, there was hardly an early warning system or efficient flood relief efforts to help vulnerable individuals and communities," said Santiago. "In fact, government officials were missing in the first three to four days, and people took it upon themselves to organise food distributions and rescue missions." The participants, during floor discussions, also raised the possibility of the formulation of a new drainage and irrigation system for Klang.  This would involve interphasing the movement of water through rivers.  "...

Datuk Seri Anifah Aman ( pic ) weighs in on the recent claims regarding by the heir of the so-called Sulu Sultanate on Sabah. In his statement tonight, the former Malaysian Foreign Minister, shares the historical background of the episode.  He goes on to blame the Sabah Caretaker Chief Minister’s at the time as being "lack of experience" in handling the matter and adds that ex-Attorney General Tan Sri Tommy Thomas should "learn the language of diplomatic relations and how to handle international relations to avoid further blunders in future with regards to Malaysia's sovereignty".  Here is Anifah's statement, in full: Historical background • Sabah, which was known as North Borneo, before it joined the Malaysian Federation in 1963, was part of the Sultanate of Brunei in the 15th century. In 1704, the Sultan of Brunei ceded the lands east of Marudu Bay to the Sultan of Sulu, while the west coast remained under his rule. • On Jan 22, 1878, the Paduca Majasa...