{"id":47,"date":"2008-02-11T10:37:58","date_gmt":"2008-02-11T10:37:58","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2013-11-27T19:04:25","modified_gmt":"2013-11-27T19:04:25","slug":"the-sun-may-set-at-last-over-the-union-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesportjournal.org\/article\/the-sun-may-set-at-last-over-the-union-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sun May Set at Last Over the Union"},"content":{"rendered":"
Submitted by: Dr. Thomas P. Rosandich, President, USSA<\/div>\n

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA. This past week
\non campus at the United States Sports Academy we had Tan Sri Dato’ Elyas
\nOmar, the former Lord Mayor of Kuala Lumpur, the magnificent capital city
\nof Malaysia, to receive an honorary doctorate during our 26th Annual Graduation
\nCelebration.<\/p>\n

Dato’ Elyas served for more than a decade
\nas the Lord Mayor of Kuala Lumpur and was perceived to be the second most
\npowerful man in Malaysia next to the Prime Minister. He had a rather unlimited
\nbudget during the heyday of Malaysia, when they were showing a national growth
\nof nearly 20% per year. He built the very beautiful city of Kuala Lumpur,
\na mix between Asian and Western architecture, into a bustling capital city
\nwith buildings that are the highest in Asia, and a fast transit system that
\ntakes the people from one end of the city to the other, over the bustling
\nstreets of bazaars. He maintained the beauty of the traditional British railway
\nstations, except this one features Islamic architecture, which is not what
\none would see in Victoria station in London. The same is true with many of
\nthe buildings including City Hall, the Parliament and the Selangor Sports
\nClub in the heart of the city.<\/p>\n

Tan Sri Dato Elyas Omar is a great sport
\nenthusiast who built a sport complex equal to no other in the world. It is
\ncapable of hosting a major international competition, including the Commonwealth
\nGames that will commence 10 September 1998. He not only built the sport complex
\nbut, in collaboration with the United States Sports Academy, led their badminton
\nteam to the world title (The Thomas Cup) in 1995. More importantly, he led
\nthe bid for the Commonwealth Games which is a reflection of the British Empire
\nGames that was started in 1930. It was often written before the start of
\nWorld War II that the sun would never set on the Union Jack (the name for
\nthe British flag) in the British Empire. This Empire virtually disintegrated
\nwith the invasion of Asia by the Japanese Imperial Armies in the early 40’s.
\nHowever, the last of the great British Empire in the Far East came to a halt
\nwith the transfer of ownership of Hong Kong to the Peoples Republic of China
\nin July 1997.<\/p>\n

The Commonwealth Games is often called
\nthe Friendly Games because the early structure of the competition focused
\non individual performances rather than team competitions. How can anyone
\nimagine there would be an international competition developed by the British
\nwithout football (soccer) or even cricket, as that was and has been the structure
\nof the Games until this Games being hosted in Malaysia.<\/p>\n

Malaysia is the first Asian country (Third
\nWorld) that has hosted these competitions. Many people have been more than
\nconcerned. From the beginning there has been an ill wind (ghost wind called
\nungan in Malaysian) blowing hot and cold. It is made up of traditional British
\ngames with players all dressed in white suit and tie, who “out snooker” one
\nanother by bowling iron balls on a grass surface maintained to the quality
\nof a golf green one would find at Augusta, Georgia. If you wish, you can
\ntake in a friendly game of squash and, of course, tennis, given the Wimbledon
\ntradition, as well as a wide variety of traditional British sports that one
\nwould watch while enjoying afternoon tea and cucumber sandwiches on the
\nveranda.<\/p>\n

The general prediction from the Western
\nworld is that the Commonwealth Games in Malaysia is heading for dire straits
\neven though they had an unlimited budget and the Director of Games (the former
\nChief of Staff of the Army), who is the brother-in-law of Prime Minister
\nDato’ Seri Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad. Incidentally, he is as anti-American
\nas anyone can be, particularly since Malaysia has gone through an economic
\nnosedive, like all of Asia during the past year.<\/p>\n

As always in Southeast Asia, whether it
\nbe the current financial crisis or anything else, there are always confrontations
\nbetween the countries that make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
\n(ASEAN). Alarm bells are going off on many fronts even though the Malaysians
\nare doing everything in their power to muffle the problems, from facilities
\nto the difficulties they are currently facing with Indonesian immigrant workers
\nwho are being abused in Malaysia. This could well boil over into the world’s
\nhottest and stickiest capitals (where on a good day, one needs to change
\nshirts at least three times a day).<\/p>\n

There have been some concerns about the
\nathletes who oftentimes end up on the low end of the totem pole in most
\ninternational competitions, particularly as it relates to the heat and the
\nvery high and dangerous levels of smog in Malaysia – a result of the on-going
\nforest fires that have affected the region for most of this past
\nyear.<\/p>\n

The fires that continue to burn in Borneo
\nwere set by the Indonesian leadership to clear the forest for agriculture.
\nThe Australian and New Zealand doctors indicate that the athletes may have
\nto wear masks during the competitions. However, the Malaysians are promising
\nthat the smog will not reappear. This is hard to imagine since the fires
\nare burning underground in Borneo and there is no way to put them out. I
\ncancelled my last trip a year ago to the SEA Games in Jakarta because of
\nthe smog, but I will be going to Malaysia in the coming weeks as a credentialed
\nVIP to observe this competition.<\/p>\n

The Games now includes two team sports,
\nrugby but not football and, of course, at long last the friendly game of
\ncricket. New Zealand, Australia, and the Fiji Islands are among the best
\nrugby nations in the world in which they rule as king of all sports. Cricket,
\nof course, is part of the normal fare throughout the Old Empire, just like
\ntea and crumpets.<\/p>\n

We all hope that the prevailing winds
\nthat blow in September will cool the temperature, but it is clear that the
\nsuper stars of the athletic world are more than likely the ones to be cooled
\ntoward the Friendly Games where the cash prizes are not there, making these
\nGames something of an anachronism. Actually, the Friendly Games, founded
\nduring the days of the British Empire, no longer fits the image and philosophy
\nor even the world sport schedules as it did in the days of the magnificent
\nrubber plantations of Malaysia. Today’s competitors do not want to run for
\nfun, like the old school bash that they had once a year. Simply, they want
\ncash.<\/p>\n

Secondly, the Friendly Games does not
\nprovide the global platform that sponsors seek, particularly now that it
\nis being held within weeks of the World Cup in Soccer when the television
\nbudget has drained the sponsors. In fact, this Games will be held three weeks
\nafter the European Championships and in the middle of the IAAF Grand Prix
\nFinal in Moscow and the Track and Field World Cup in South Africa. The kicker
\non this whole Games format is, while one understands top track athletes running
\nfor money, it is shocking that the British are not sending either a cricket
\nor a rugby team to this competition due to a long and tiring
\nseason.<\/p>\n

The saving grace for the XVI Commonwealth
\nGames, which may lack the Superstar glamor, is that the Malaysians will no
\nquestion put on a superb spectacle. Despite the economic turmoil, this will
\nbe the largest Commonwealth Games ever held, with more than 6,000 athletes
\nfrom 67 nations utilizing 26 venues in and around Kuala
\nLumpur.<\/p>\n

The Commonwealth Games is really run like
\na small town theater production. There are those who would like to see the
\nevent reshaped and stripped of its last vestiges of Colonialism to enter
\nthe arena like the Olympic Games, with all the top level competitive sports
\nrather than adopting new programs like cricket. Meanwhile, there have been
\nsubtle political changes. Rather than having the Queen of England open the
\nGames (as she has for the last 16), they will be opened by the King of Malaysia.
\nThe Queen has been relegated to the closing ceremonies.<\/p>\n

In 1998 the Games in Malaysia is only
\nthe second time it has been held outside of the Mother Country and its dominions,
\ne.g., Canada and Australia. The next Games is scheduled to be back in the
\nUK in Manchester in 2002. It is clear that the alarm bells are going off
\na second time as Manchester has indicated they will have to scale down the
\nGames unless the British government comes forth with a subsidy of nearly
\n40 million pounds, which is not likely to happen.<\/p>\n

With the global sport picture becoming
\nso congested, it may be that the Commonwealth Games as the British Empire
\nknows and loves it has had its day in the sun with the Union Jack being hauled
\ndown maybe for the last time. The sad question is, is there anyone who really
\ncares? Meanwhile Malaysians are undaunted by all these questions. They have
\nalready put their bid in for the next Summer Olympic Games following the
\nOlympic motto — higher, further and faster. Good luck.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Submitted by: Dr. Thomas P. Rosandich, President, USSA<\/div>\n

\n KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA. This past week
\n on campus at the United States Sports Academy we had Tan Sri Dato’ Elyas
\n Omar, the former Lord Mayor of Kuala Lumpur, the magnificent capital city
\n of Malaysia, to receive an honorary doctorate during our 26th Annual Graduation
\n Celebration.\n <\/p>\n

\n Dato’ Elyas served for more than a decade
\n as the Lord Mayor of Kuala Lumpur and was perceived to be the second most
\n powerful man in Malaysia next to the Prime Minister. He had a rather unlimited
\n budget during the heyday of Malaysia, when they were showing a national growth
\n of nearly 20% per year. He built the very beautiful city of Kuala Lumpur,
\n a mix between Asian and Western architecture, into a bustling capital city
\n with buildings that are the highest in Asia, and a fast transit system that
\n takes the people from one end of the city to the other, over the bustling
\n streets of bazaars. He maintained the beauty of the traditional British railway
\n stations, except this one features Islamic architecture, which is not what
\n one would see in Victoria station in London. The same is true with many of
\n the buildings including City Hall, the Parliament and the Selangor Sports
\n Club in the heart of the city.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[290,293,299,291],"tags":[18,27,8,24],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4btio-L","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":39,"url":"https:\/\/thesportjournal.org\/article\/the-sun-may-set-at-last-over-the-union\/","url_meta":{"origin":47,"position":0},"title":"The Sun May Set at Last Over the Union","date":"February 11, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Submitted by: Dr. Thomas P. Rosandich, President, USSA KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA. 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