Sports in Malaysia - A General Overview
When asked about what needs to be done to encourage youths in this country to be involved in sports, ex-Olympian and International Sports Official, Datuk Dr Mani Jegathesan says it is absolutely crucial that we push for a healthy lifestyle, including physical activity, for all Malaysians, especially the youth. “They are our future, life habits and skills are best inculcated in the formative years”, he adds. “A time-tested method for encouraging physical activity is the practice of sport. Sport brings not just the exercise component, but psychological and social benefits as well. Sport is fun, exciting and engaging, and sports can teach us many good values.” It is no surprise that Dr Jegathesan.s view concurs that the schools and the community, in which the youth work and play, would be the best place to strongly advocate this by first making the programmes attractive and compelling to attract the young people. Instead of engaging themselves in some anti-social behaviours, their involvement in all kinds of sports will help develop a healthier generation of young Malaysians with a more confident, competitive and positive outlook in life. Hence, the recent decision by the Education Ministry to slash the annual allocation to the Malaysian Schools Sports Council (MSSM) from RM6 million to RM1.5 million is definitely a bane to the promotion of sports among the young people in the midst of rising anti-social behaviours. Where there used to be 24 sports, catering for the Under-12, Under-15 and Under-18, now a number of these sports have to be slashed to nearly half of the number of sports. A number of sports like handball, rugby, sailing, table tennis, cricket, softball, cross country, chess, bowling, squash and archery have been axed from the programme. Some of these are the sports such as squash, bowling and archery have put Malaysia