Sports in Malaysia A brief history

By Lisa J. Ariffin

Malaysia is a sporting nation.

Such is the rich history of sports in this country that on August 31, 1957, Malaysia declared its independence on sporting grounds, specifically the Selangor Padang (now known as Dataran Merdeka) and at the Merdeka Stadium the following morning.

The country has a long history with sports beginning from the colonial era when the British introduced it in the 19th century. This uniting legacy they left behind has grown in importance over the years, and is now regarded as one of key elements in nation building. In the early days, sports was managed by clubs and associations run voluntarily by sports enthusiasts. Clubs were formed to manage training and competitions were held between clubs and villages. Before independence, there was no funding for the development of sports which was sustained by vernacular and mission schools. The rest of the population relied heavily on funds contributed by the community, supporters, patrons and athletes themselves. Such in the case of the Malayan weightlifters who participated in the 1950 British Empire Games, whereby the athletes had to pay their own way to Auckland. Following victory including a gold medal, were their passage reimbursed. Despite constant criticism for not investing much in sport, the country has been headed by leaders who had great passion and love for this activity. The first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman was known to display his love for football. His devotion to football was evident as president of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and later as head of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). His deputy Tun Abdul Razak Hussein also showed his passion for sport, namely golf and hockey. In July 1959, Razak was appointed president of the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) until his death in 1976. He was also president of the Malaysian Hockey Federation. Therefore although the governments priority following Merdeka was economic and infrastructure development, it was not surprising that sport development also flourished under their leadership. The construction of the Merdeka Stadium was one of the first sports development programmes initiated by Tengku. The stadium facilitated the development of sports, especially football, and has held many celebrated football tournaments on its grounds since.

The Merdeka Football Tournament that was part of the Merdeka celebration soon became one of the most prestigious football tournaments in Asia. This motivated Malaysia to improve tremendously in football, bringing the country twice to the Olympic Games and winning the bronze medal in the 1974 Asian games following the defeat of the powerful North Korea in the playoffs. Sports in Malaysia has shown that despite having distinct ethnic and cultural diversity, it is indeed possible to create rapport through shared mutual passion and even opposing rivalry, as it hones character development and teambuilding. Sports has shaped Malaysian society even before independence. How can we forget the glorious years when the Malaysian national soccer team was feared and respected throughout Asia for having superlative dexterity and impenetrable defence skills? The fearsome football team made the nation proud by playing in the 1972 Munich Olympics and again qualified for the Moscow Games in 1980, but boycotted the Games on political grounds. It was not only in football that Malaysia excelled. The country swept world champion titles in badminton during the 40s, 50s and 60s. The All-England badminton championships from 1950-57 were dominated by the likes of Wong Peng Soon and Eddy Choong. Even before Merdeka, Malaya dominated the Thomas Cup from 1949 to win three times (1949, 1952, 1955) and again in 1967, before the last winning in 1992. And of course, the recent 2008 Beijing Olympics saw Datuk Lee Chong Wei bring home a silver medal before being ranked first worldwide on August 21, 2008. Lee is also the current reigning All England champion. Then there are Datuk Dr. M. Jegathesan and Ishtiaq Mubarak, sportsmen who have reached great heights in Olympic athletics. Also, who can forget the exhilarating 1975 World Cup hockey semifinals at the Mereka Stadium where the nation achieved its best outing in the championship. Such regional and international achievements over the years have instilled pride in the heart of the nation, who established the Youth and Sports Ministry in 1972 to implement government policy on youth and sports development.The country has also hosted many international sporting events such as five SEA Games since 1965, the 1998 Commonwealth Games (the first Asian country to act as host), three Thomas Cup finals and various international competitions in hockey, athletics, bowling, soccer, cycling and boxing, among others.

Unfortunately in recent years, the glory once associated closely to sports has since dwindled as the result of societys changing lifestyle. Having realized the situation and setbacks in sports, the government has taken approaches to ensure that sports continues to play an important role not only to regain the nations past glory but also to instil passion for all Malaysians.