THE feeling of nationalism is indispensable to the idea of nation building. Sports is a common thread that binds people from all walks of lives.
We recently witnessed the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, with 206 nations participating comprising more than 11,000 athletes.
Each of our 30 national Olympic athletes who participated helped in developing a feeling of patriotism and unity among Malaysians.
Sports can counter extremism and racial divide at a time when there is so much doom in our country’s health and political leadership.
Malaysia must embrace sports as a significant part of our culture and a tool for nation building.
There has been so much “talk” of creating a sporting culture like the Australians with swimming, Indians with cricket and Brazilians with football.
Creating a sporting culture begins in our schools. A review of our physical education and K-curriculum must be taken seriously otherwise we can never go far as a sporting nation, despite having a National Sports Day in October where nearly five million students, teachers and public participate.
The 2019 Malaysian sports challenge, a month-long sports and fitness programme aimed at transforming Malaysia into a sporting nation, was never enough .
A new government with a supportive prime minister can create awareness on the importance of health, fitness and sports, enhancing unity among the people and contributing to the national economy through the development of the sports industry, which can also create employment and revenue for our country.
We have seen this emotional connect during the time our national football team qualified twice for the 1972 Olympics Games in Munich and Moscow in 1980.
We saw it during the 1975 Hockey World Cup in Kuala Lumpur where as host nation we finished fourth, the best ever, and in the 1992 Thomas Cup in Kuala Lumpur where the nation stayed up late cheering their victory over the Indonesians.
All these victories helped to build national sentiment, where Malaysians felt connected to a common sense of purpose and pride, all other differences of race, religion or colour took a back seat.
Sport has a huge role to play when it comes to nation building. It elevates the qualities of discipline, determination, teamwork and a passion for fitness in the psyche of a nation.
Once one becomes involved in sports certain virtues like teamwork, ethics and sportsmanship become lifelong qualities.
Sports is an exciting individual and community activity. It has the power to change the world as former South African president Nelson Mandela said: “Sports has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else can create hope where once there was despair. It is more powerful than government in breaking down racial barriers.”
Any major international sporting event like the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, though spectatorless, or a World Cup promotes brotherhood as we witnessed in the men’s high jump event.
Both the jumpers were friends, one from Qatar and the other from Italy, and both jumped the same height at 2.37m and shared the gold medal. It gives one a sense of belonging to a larger global community.
C. Sathasivam Sitheravellu
Seremban
