Fact vs Fiction: Malaysia's 19th Asian Games performance

SHAH ALAM – With six gold, eight silver and 18 bronze medals, the Youth and Sports Ministry deemed Malaysia’s medal count at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, a success but those with intimate knowledge of Malaysian sports have begged to differ.

In the latest episode of Sinar Daily’s Sports Matter Podcast, two seasoned sports journalists weighed in and offered a contrasting take over Malaysia’s 32 overall medal tally which was dyed in a celebratory hue by government officials, including Minister Hannah Yeoh.

“It was the lowest since 2002. Five years ago, we won 36 medals. In 2014, it was 33 and in 2010 it was 41. In 2006 it was 42 whereas in 2002, it was only 30. So, they are saying it was a success? Based on what?” was the rhetorical poser by sports journalist Graig Nunis.

He continued, reasoning that perhaps the ministry declared the feat was a success as they had only set an overall medal target of 27 which they managed to break with 32 medals won by Malaysian contingent.

“We only came back with 27 medals; of which six of them are gold, and we are very happy but then again, what have we been doing for the past five years? Where was the planning?” Graig argued.

The other sports journalist who came in as a guest for the podcast, Arnaz M. Khairul was also on the same page with Graig, but unlike the latter, Arnaz did not mince his words over the government’s peculiar hype on Malaysia’s performance.

“To call it a success, it’s a political narrative, not a sporting narrative. This political narrative has sort of overwhelmed even their own logic. They call it a success, when if you look back, just five years ago, in Jakarta we won seven gold, 13 silver and 16 bronze medals.

“Even the overall medal collection was more than what you got this time. So, where do you find the logic to call it a success? Not to mention that since 2002, for each cycle of the Asian Games, the budget for our sports programme has only increased,” Arnaz said.

Both Graig and Arnaz also needled on the ministry’s bid to silence critics by coming out with a statistical infographic highlighting the ratio of athletes to gold medals in a bid to paint Malaysia’s performance in a more favourable light.

“If that is the case, then you should also consider the ratio of expenditure for one gold medal. If we have spent RM300 million, so does that mean it’s RM50 million just to get one gold medal? How much did Singapore, the Philippines and Thailand spend?” asked Graig.

In driving home his point, Arnaz went on a history lesson, recounting the feat of Suriname swimmer, Anthony Nesty in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, who won gold in the then-100 metre butterfly event.

“Do you know how much the Suriname government spends on him? Nothing.

“You want to use ratios? Okay, over the past 35 years, we have not even been able to match Suriname. Over the years, we have spent at least RM100 billion for sports and we have not even managed to match Suriname’s result of the 1988 Olympics,” Arnaz claimed.