Game over: Malaysia did badly at SEA Games 2023. What happened?

By Liani MK

FORTY. That was Malaysia's gold medal target for the 32nd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. And with 674 athletes competing, it certainly looked attainable.

But when the Games concluded last month, Malaysia missed the target by six golds, amid the country's worst performance since its 31-gold haul at the 1995 Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Needless to say, an apology by those in charge was swift, with Malaysia's chef de mission Mohd Nasir Ali among the first to say sorry, even as he claimed that the 34 golds the country did win were "medals of quality".

The big question, however, remains: why did Malaysia's SEA Games contingent perform so poorly and below expectations?

Who is at fault?

According to Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh, in the immediate aftermath of the debacle, many sports where Malaysia had previously bagged golds were not contested in the recent Games.

Yeoh also attributed the contingent's failure to the political turbulence over the past five years; a situation that has resulted in five different prime ministers, with just as many sports ministers at the helm. This meant less time to prepare and follow through with budgets and strategies.

Unsurprisingly, critics — several opposition politicians among them — have been far from persuaded by the explanations.

How does politics play a part?

Former state player and squash coach Ivan Ng notes that politics and sports go hand-in-hand in Malaysia. Hence, it is true that political uncertainty could have a bearing on athletes' performances.

"There have been constant changes to the sports minister position, with each of them having different visions and ideas. That could not have helped with how things were run," he says.

And while he notes that athletes will still have to shoulder part of the blame, he questions if too much is expected of the country's sportswomen and men, adding that they are easy targets when things go wrong. This comes despite the fact that successive governments have failed to prioritise athlete welfare and well-being.

"(So many) of our promising athletes give up sports to further their education in hopes of landing a job that pays better. As for athletes who do pursue sports, meanwhile, life after that is limited."

Yet, while Malaysia bemoans its missed medal target, across the Causeway, Singapore's athletes are celebrating a successful outing in Cambodia that saw them bag 51 gold, 43 silver and 64 bronze medals.

What's happening on the other side?

For the record, Singapore has done better at the biennial Games in recent editions. In fact, as the host nation in 2015, the city-state came away with 84 golds, 73 silvers and 102 bronzes, and finished the Games in second place.

Its overall performance in Cambodia, where eight Games records were set alongside 17 national records by its athletes, suggests that the country has attained a consistent level at the regional Games.

"Singapore supports a new generation of athletes," explains hockey coach and former Malaysian athlete S. Selvaraju. "The balanced education part is very important because that helps athletes learn how to manage their careers in sports better."

In addition to various training and competition grants for Singapore athletes — such as the Sport Excellence Scholarship for elite sportspeople — Selvaraju suggests that it is the country's transparent system of feedback and selection, as well as an interest in continuously supporting positive sporting attitudes, that make all the real difference between success and failure.

What's next for Malaysia's sports?

Singapore aside, the task now for Malaysia will be in how it prepares for upcoming international and regional meets; specifically next year's Paris Olympics, and the Bangkok SEA Games in 2025.

"The outcome of the SEA Games has highlighted the need for national sports associations to re-strategise on how they can play a more effective role in developing talent in their respective sports," Youth and Sports Minister Yeoh says.

That is why, following the Games, all national sports associations must now submit post-mortems, which must also include short-term and long-term plans.

"Once we receive the post-mortems, we will assess the kind of support and funding that the associations need moving forward," she says, adding that the hope is to focus on athletics and swimming, where more medals are usually up for grabs.

Furthermore, a recently-established high-level committee, led by Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamid, aims to establish cooperation between ministries, as well as state governments and local councils.

Yeoh is also adamant that younger athletes will be prioritised. One of the complaints received prior to the Cambodia SEA Games, she claims, was that younger athletes were regularly left out and not given a chance to compete.

"One of our objectives for the SEA Games was to send first-time athletes to give them exposure ... (In Cambodia), 440 of the 677 athletes were first-time athletes. These new athletes brought back 111 medals out of the 175 that we won," Yeoh says.

The minister emphasises, however, that different sports associations have different priorities depending on sponsorship and crowd support, and thus budget and emphasis will differ.

But with financial allocations — RM399 million this year — that are substantially lower than certain other countries, the question to ask is whether Malaysia is doing all it can to achieve its sporting ambitions and also do right by its athletes.

Squash coach Ng appears unsure. "It all comes down to funding and making facilities accessible to 'lesser' athletes, and not just put everything in one basket and have expensive foreign training for a handful of elite athletes, while the rest struggle to make ends meet," he says.

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