Pension scheme for athletes gets the thumbs-up sign from sports fraternity

The Star Online > Sports
Tuesday February 15, 2005

PETALING JAYA: The long-awaited pension scheme for the national athletes, which was announced by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak yesterday, was greeted with delight by the Malaysian sports fraternity.
National athletes, sports officials and former Olympians all gave the thumbs up to the Government’s decision to give out monthly pension for life to the Olympic medallists when they retire from their respective sports.
Najib announced the “good news” after chairing the second Cabinet Committee on Sports Development at Parliament House in Kuala Lumpur.
Although the monthly quantum has not been decided, the move is seen as a big step towards boosting Malaysia’s chances of winning medals at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Malaysia came back empty-handed from the Sydney Games in 2000 and Athens last year.
So far, Malaysia have only four medals in the Olympics – all from badminton.
The Sidek brothers – Razif and Jalani – bagged a bronze in the men's doubles in Barcelona in 1992. Four years later in Atlanta, their younger brother Rashid bagged a bronze in the singles while Cheah Soon Kit-Yap Kim Hock captured a silver in the doubles.
Asked to comment on the pension scheme yesterday, national top singles shuttler Lee Chong Wei said he was all for it.
“This is good news not only to me but to all the other athletes who will be more spirited in training. I, for one, will be more motivated towards winning a medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics,” said the 22-year-old Chong Wei.
The pension scheme is meant for the current athletes. A decision on whether previous Olympic medallists will benefit from it will be decided later.
Nevertheless, Rashid, Kim Hock and Soon Kit were happy with the Government’s decision to provide financial security for the athletes when they retire from sports.
The 37-year-old Rashid said: “It has been a long wait to see something like this take off. I am happy. I may not get to enjoy it but the future players will benefit from it.”
Both Kim Hock and Soon Kit felt that it would motivate the current batch of national badminton players to strive harder to achieve excellence.
The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) deputy president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah feels that the pension scheme will help to re-ignite the passion of the national footballers.
Malaysian football has been in the doldrums for more than two decades although the national team did make the cut for the Olympics during their heydays in 1972 (Munich) and 1980 (Moscow).
While applauding the government’s noble move, Datuk Ho Koh Chye, who is the Malaysian Olympians Association (MOA) vice-president, voiced his concern for the non-Olympic sports.
“I would like to appeal to the committee to look at other sports that are not in the Olympics but in which we excel in. I am talking about sports like bowling and squash where our athletes have achieved world class results,” he said.
The Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) secretary Datuk Sieh Kok Chi also supported the Government’s pension scheme but warned against expecting too much from the athletes.
“Yes, it will motivate the athletes. But we have to be realistic. We can only excel in several sports in the Olympics.”
Realistically, the sport that is expected to greatly benefit from the scheme is badminton. Based on the current state of sports in Malaysia, it will take a while before the other sports turn up as serious contenders for medals at the Olympics.