Nasib Ong Kim Swee & K Rajagobal

Dalam tempoh dua hari, dua jurulatih negara, Ong Kim Swee dan Datuk K Rajagobal, diuji dan dinilai menerusi persembahan skuad bimbingan masing-masing di pentas aksi antarabangsa.

Ketika Rajagobal kian memperkukuh reputasi menerusi persembahan bersemangat anak buahnya ketika membenam Myanmar 2-0 di Kota Bharu, Kim Swee sebaliknya jadi objek penilaian lebih kritis selepas barisan Olimpik negara kendaliannya sekadar seri 0-0 dengan Lubnan di Beirut.

Ada yang mempersoalkan pendekatan terlalu bertahan skuad Kim Swee di babak pertama. Kerana apabila mereka mengubah pendekatan di separuh masa kedua, ternyata pemain-pemain mampu menandingi dan kerap kali mengancam kubu lawan.

Memang boleh difahami betapa Kim Swee mungkin lebih mahu mengejar seri di gelanggang lawan dan mengharapkan prestasi hebat untuk membenam Lubnan di Stadium Nasional, Khamis nanti.

Namun pada masa sama, bila ada peluang, persoalannya ialah mengapa ia tidak dimanfaatkan? Ada juga yang lebih kritis dan mula menganggap 'skuad Olimpik memiliki barisan pemain bagus tetapi ditunjangi jurulatih yang salah.'

Aku belum mahu membuat penilaian terburu-buru. Aku masih mahu memberi peluang kepada Kim Swee.

Kerana Rajagobal juga kini menyerlah bersama anak-anak buahnya setelah diberikan masa untuk 'meningkat.' Jika Rajagobal mampu melakukannya, tidak mustahil Kim Swee juga berupaya menuruti jejak sebegitu.

Cuma, Kim Swee perlu akur betapa dia tidak mampu lari daripada jadi tumpuan. Kerana itu, aksi di gelanggang sendiri nanti, amat penting untuk dia mengukuhkan lagi reputasi. Jangan sekadar nanti, kita tenggelam kerana hanya syok sendiri.

Aku percaya, ramai yang kini menanti untuk melihat apa yang bakal ditukar jadi realiti.

Happy Father's Day, Ayah!

Tomorrow is Father's day.

Today, two years ago, my beloved father passed away.

I would like to always remember all the good memories I shared with him.

He was, directly or indirectly, responsible in shaping me to become who I am today.

For that, I am forever indebted and grateful to him.

Thank you Ayah!.

Al-fatihah..,

Conflicting stands - Shabery vs Rais Yatim

Youth & Sports Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek is passionately advocating for the 'Sports Industry'. He believes that it can become one of the major revenue sources for the country and offer job opportunities for many Malaysians.

However, Information, Communication and Culture Minister, Dato' Seri Utama Dr Rais Yatim, seems to have different ideas.

Whilst Shabery embraces the idea of 'open competition' to bring the best out of all stakeholders in the sports industry - be it athletes, officials, sponsors, companies, media etc - Rais apparently is clinging to different ideology.

This assumptions were based on Rais latest statement to 'curb the monopoly of broadcaster to popular sports (coverage).'

I am puzzled with Rais latest announcement. Everyone knows that broadcasters have to pay rights fees in order to broadcast sports events in their respective channels. RTM also does that. They spent huge amount of money to buy last year's World Cup fees and many other events.

Is Rais serious with this latest statements? That all broadcast should be shared between all tv stations? Are there 'hidden hands' behind all this? People who will benefits without paying a single sen?

If coverage of the Sukan Malaysia (SUKMA) is the main point, I do hope people in RTM briefed their big boss properly. Tell Rais the real reason why there's no live coverage of events. It was quoted as the reasons why Rais wants to end this so-called 'monopolization by certain parties'.

Tell Rais that for SUKMA, there's no rights fees involved. That any TV stations are free to show live coverage of events, free of charge. Its up to the 'powers-that be' in various stations to decide whether to air the events live or just cover it in the news or highlights programs. Tell Rais that the decision was made by RTM, not other people, to only cover SUKMA in the news and highlights programs.

I would not want to comment on why RTM, this time around, decided not to show any SUKMA events 'live'. They did a good job with the coverage of SUKMA in Melaka, last year.

But to shift the blame to others - who give wider coverage of the events - and try to use that to 'justify' policy changes? I do believe its not a very solid arguments, right Dear Sir?

I understand that there's a need to balance the need of the public. But at the same time, it should not come at the expense of 'open competition', or denying the rights of others who have the means to compete.

Seriously, I do hope this latest hiccups does not come out from the mindset of 'since I didn't have it, no one can have it, too!'.

The full story on Rais' announcements:

No more monopoly For TV broadcast for popular sports, said Rais.

Kota Kinabalu, June 11 (Bernama) - The Ministry of Information, Communication and Culture will implement a new policy to ensure that popular television programmes, especially popular sports, are no longer monopolised by a particular broadcasting or media corporation.

Its minister, Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim, said the matter had been conveyed to the parties concerned, including Astro.

"We want Astro, for example, to create a productive and fair cooperation network with Media Prima and especially the RTM.

"Those without Astro facilities don't get (TV sports programmes) whereas the RTM is a government broadcasting body, and in this matter, I apologise on behalf of the ministry," he told reporters after the simultaneous launching of the 1Malaysia Community at the Sabah state level and Mobile Post as well as appreciating the election workers for the Batu Sapi (Sandakan) parliamentary by-election, here.

Rais said this to reporters when asked to comment on the complaints, especially from those who don't subscribe to Astro, who could not watch the Malaysia Games (SUKMA) held in Kuala Lumpur this year.

"We want to implement the new policy and under the licence issued by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), we will change this situation." - BERNAMA.

Final FA penuh debar, Terengganu berhak muncul juara

Penantian Terengganu untuk muncul juara Piala FA buat kali kedua dalam tempoh 11 tahun, akhirnya dinoktahkan di Stadium Nasional Bukit Jalil, malam Sabtu lalu.

Wajah penuh riak kepuasan yang terpancar itu jelas satu bukti rasa gembira ibarat di puncak dunia. Apa tidaknya, ia dilakukan menerusi cara kebangkitan terhebat, menerusi gol penyamaan di minit-minit terakhir masa permainan, disusul gol kemenangan cantik di masa tambahan, ke atas Kelantan yang diperakui kini sebagai kuasa utama bola sepak negara.

Skuad kendalian Irfan Bakti jelas berhak merasai gembira, berhak diulit bangga, kerana mereka memang wajar dinobat selaku juara.

Gol Ahmad Nordin Alias pada minit ke-110 memastikan piala kembali ke Kuala Terengganu, dengan kemungkinan piala itu mampu terus kekal dalam koleksi Sang Penyu ketika ada ura-ura piala baru akan diperagakan untuk kancah saingan sama, musim depan.

Namun pada masa sama, tahniah juga kepada Kelantan yang telah memberikan tentangan hebat. Juga, tahniah buat penyokong-penyokong The Red Warriors yang membuktikan betapa ghairah mereka terhadap pasukan sanjungan, tiada tolok bandingnya ketika ini.

Cuma, masih ada segelintir yang mencipta onar. Balingan mercun yang jelas bertujuan menjejas kelancaran perlawanan, adalah tindakan yang bukan 'anak jantan,' bukan sesuatu yang boleh dijadikan teladan. Perlakuan itu bagaimanapun tidak harus diibarat 'akibat nila setitik, rosak susu sebelanga,' kerana majoriti peminat Kelantan jelas bukan daripada 'acuan sama.'

Tahniah Terengganu. Jangan kecewa keterlaluan barisan Kelantan.

Apa yang penting, ia final menarik. Ia wajah cerminan terbaik bola sepak Malaysia!

The EPL clubs are coming!

I would like to apologize for my failure to update this blog for a very long time. Many things happened, many issues surfaced and many other commitments emerged and need to be prioritised.

The main thing is that I am back and will try to update this blog as often I as can.

The time has come once again for the arrival of English Premier League clubs to our shore. Malaysian fans could consider ourselves lucky because every year, there's at least one club who will make Malaysia their destination.

This year, we are lucky times three. Three EPL giants - Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal, have confirmed their trips to Malaysia. And all thanks to event promoter, ProEvents.
All this to coincide with Proevents 10 years anniversary in Malaysia. The first team they brought in when ProEvents first made their mark in Malaysia? Manchester United. I just joined FAM at that time and had the 'pleasure' of directing Sir Alex Ferguson to leave the field after the warm up sessions just before the game started.


Got the pix to prove it too! :-)
This time, I am even more excited because my team, Liverpool, is also coming. So stay tuned.
And the bestest of all, I do believe that our National Team will - this time - give a good account of themselves. Because we are the champions of Southeast Asia!

SAM-100Plus 'Athlete of the Year' race too close to call

KUALA LUMPUR (March 5, 2011): The race to be crowned the SAM-100PLUS 'Athlete of the Year' Awards 2010 winner is too close to call.

Sportswriters Association of Malaysia (SAM) president Ahmad Khawari Isa said the award, which will be presented tomorrow, has seen all five nominees - five-time world squash champion Datuk Nicol David, world No. 1 shuttler Datuk Lee Chong Wei and Kierin king Mohd Azizulhasni Awang (cycling), diver Pandalela Rinong and shooter Nur Suryani Taibi - each receiving their fair share of votes.

"Like last year, the voting is done by SAM members instead of a panel. We felt this is fairer as the writers are the ones who cover the athletes all the time," said Khawari.

"The members are delighted to be part of the process and have come out in force to name the best athlete and this has resulted in a close race."

The ‘Athlete of the Year’ will take home RM10,000 in prize money and a trophy while a special ‘Outdo Yourself’ award will also be announced during the SAM-100PLUS Award ceremony.

Pandelela created history when she won Malaysia’s first ever diving gold medal at the Commonwealth Games after defeating several top divers to win the women’s 10-metre platform event.

Going into her last dive, the Sarawak athlete needed a high score of 80.05 points to secure the gold. Pandelela did not crack under pressure but instead rose to the occasion and scored 81.60 points to deliver the historic gold medal.

She also won two silver medals at the inaugural Youth Olympics in Singapore.

Suryani delivered a gold and a bronze in the Commonwealth Games. She scored 496.9 in the women's 10m air rifle individual event to finish third. Team mate Nur Ayuni Halim (497.5) was second. Suryani and Ayuni then teamed up to beat Jasmine Ser and Cheng Jian Huan 793-790 to take the gold medal in the 10m rifle women's pairs event.

It was only the second time in the history of the Games that Malaysia struck gold in the shooting event. The first was at the 1998 KL Games when Nurul Huda Bahrain won the 10m air rifle individual event.

To cap off a wonderful year, Suryani then won a bronze medal in the women's 10m air rifle event to become the first-ever Malaysian female shooter to win a shooting medal in the Asian Games.

Azizulhasni, who won this prestigious award last year, ended a 40-year drought when he won the gold medal in the Asian Games keirin cycling event.

The Terengganu lad was also crowned overall winner 2010 Keirin World Cup. He had also finished first in his pet event at the Commonwealth Games but was unfairly disqualified

Chong Wei, meanwhile, continued his dominance of the badminton world, winning 10 titles after taking part in 12 Open tournaments in 2010.

Besides retaining the Commonwealth Games team and individual gold medals, Chong Wei also triumphed in eight international tournaments, including six Super Series titles in Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia, Switzerland, Indonesia and Japan.

He also bagged GP Gold titles in Malaysia and Macau and was a silver medallist at the Asian Games.

Nicol ruled supreme in squash, and was unbeaten in 12 tournaments last year. The Penangite also won all her nine Women’s International Squash Players Association (Wispa) titles last year en route to winning a record equalling fifth world title and was crowned WISPA player of the year for the sixth consecutive time.

She was also the only Malaysian to win gold medals at the Commonwealth and Asian Games.

Meanwhile, there are two additional awards with the introduction of the inaugural 'Anugerah SAM Atlit Remaja Terbaik' (Young Athlete) and also an 'Anugerah Khas' (Special Award) for a National Sports Association (NSA) to recognise their most promising athlete at the awards ceremony.

The 'Atlit Remaja' award is the brainchild of SAM in their bid to recognise and motivate the future stars of Malaysia. The SAM Exco decided that the recipient of this award should be 18 and below. The winning recipient picked by SAM will receive an incentive of RM3,000 and a trophy.

Kami berbangga denganmu, Azizulhasni Awang!

Inilah kecederaan yang dialami Azizulhasni Awang. Serpihan kayu yang menusuk terus menembusi betis kirinya ketika final acara keirin di Kejohanan Trek Berbasikal Siri Piala Dunia di Manchester.

Apa yang amat membanggakan ialah kegigihan dan kekentalan semangat anak muda kelahiran Terengganu ini, yang tetap gagah bangkit selepas perlanggaran untuk menamatkan perlumbaan di tempat ketiga, sekali gus membolehkannya dinobatkan sebagai juara keseluruhan selepas empat sirkit Piala Dunia itu.

Azizul sememangnya bukti ahli sukan negara yang amat berdedikasi, bersemangat tinggi dan mempunyai kecekalan hebat untuk menangani dan menongkah segala rintangan yang mendatang.

Alhamdulillah juga diucapkan kerana selepas menjalani pembedahan hampir empat jam, serpihan kayu itu berjaya dikeluarkan tanpa ada langsung merosakkan sebarang arteri darah ataupun otot yang mampu meyingkirkannya daripada medan saingan untuk tempoh panjang.

Syabas buat Azizulhasni Awang, kami warga Malaysia sememangnya berbangga dengan kegigihan dan kejaguhan anda! Semoga Azizul cepat sembuh dan dapat meneruskan impian peribadi - dan juga jutaan rakyat Malaysia - untuk dikalungkan pingat emas pada temasya Sukan Olimpik 2012 di London nanti.