Friday, July 9, 2010

Run Malaysia RUN

Tey’s latest FB post did not sit well with my Friday lunch!

Tey EngTiong Now more local races going to limit foreigners join road races in Malaysia....cinya ! To prevent Kenyan runners ? To help promote local runners win prize money ? To promote running ?? Although PR (Permanent Residents) still allow to join, but for foreigners who work in Malaysia, can't join race already, but they really interest to join cause they love running.”

Our favorite Pix Man Tey is always on the ball with running races keeping us all informed of what’s on and where. Boy oh boy, has Tey thrown me a carrot to chew, chomp, and tear apart with his latest post. I could say thank you for the blog material. But to be honest, I would rather NOT have to write this. Writing this as a ‘visitor’ in Malaysia does not make me happy. Anyway here we go…

Run Malaysia run, run away from those who train harder. Run from those who achieve sporting success more than you. Hide your head in the sand and ignore those with a foreign passport yet are proud to call Malaysia home. Ignore those who love to take part in a healthy lifestyle. Retreat to your bubble Malaysia, that bubble where all is safe and protected. Where you can have some small glory and not lose face or have to come up with Picasso style excuses. But beware. EVERY TIME you step out side your bubble, you may as well throw your money down the toilet. If you cannot compete at home how can you ever expect to compete at an international level? This is not right. This is NOT ONE MALAYSIA. The politics between organizers of many sports events and people who think they know best for the future of sports in Malaysia should put their cigar and VSOP down right now and pass the baton to someone that knows how it should be done!

There, that’s my piece said. And…breathe…ahhhh.

On a final note, I went to the link in the Star online to read the organizers note. How on EARTH can a race be Tourism friendly when TOURISTS are not even eligible to race!! Someone get this GUY A BRAIN…or at least half of one! Then again we would need someone to teach the Neanderthal to use it. Bahhh!

9 comments:

plee said...

Tsk! I am seething too! because I immediately remembered Orange Run 2008 where the winner was DSQ because he was a foreigner.

At the end of the day these "sports promoters" are doing damage mostly to themselves and their local community with their self delusional visions of grandeur...

mel said...

this falls into the category of "don't get me started"... have you got a link to the article Em?

Fong Mei said...

That is why I am a great advocate of "get rid of PRIZE $$ and let EVERYONE who wants to, RUN". This way, you avoid the ones who run for money, be they local or foreign runners but still allow and encourage running and participation of all.

Rashid said...

I don't know what's the point of killing the competition. What I see is that there's no fun/challenge by killing the competition. Where's is the motivation to train hard if the competition is gone? I pitied the organizers or anybody who have this kind of thinking.

John said...

Your comment: "The politics between organizers of many sports events and people who think they know best for the future of sports in Malaysia should ...pass the baton to someone that knows how it should be done!"

Glad you agree...but I've given up hope of it ever changing for the better. Been there & seen the deterioration over umpteen years & its still on-going. So long as the majority of participants continue to support such organisors, they will survive & the deterioration will continue.

E.g. When BHP DSQ the French runner (my great respect for him) from his 1st placing, he gave his story & asked for support from some running blogs. Well, there was a lot of talk on the blogs about not supporting the run in the future...Well, its just ends there...TALK....Like it or not BHP Orange Run is still going strong (without the foreign runners).

This year BHP Orange run even demand local veteran runners to attached a photocopy of their MyKad (Identity cards) to register. I am sure you know what criminals can do with a copy of an Identity card if it falls on the wrong hands. You will not see me supporting such organisors.

John said...

By the way, even this physically blind runner, Henry Wanyoike that does a full marathon in 2hr 31min 31sec, (link http://thestar.com.my/services/printerfriendly.asp?file=/2010/7/10/central/6552470.asp&sec=central).....can be closely competitive with (if not outrun) the most able Malaysian runners that are not physically blind. (see SCKLM recent results) No wonder la they have to resort to such practices la.

Emma said...

HI John, thanks for your comments. Things move slowly here we all know that. And yes everyone is quick to punch out their frustrations with the 'powers' over FB and blogs and then it ends there, and then is forgotten until the next time.
I am not sure what the answer is. As a triathlete I am saddened we no longer have WTC events in Malaysia. It is by no means the end of Ironman in Malaysia but if people want it to continue we have to start getting some heads together and take it on ourselves. And that is coming from me - an expat with no rights and no PR! But I do have ideas, so if you could be one of those people then let me know. As for the running races, if locals think this is wrong then support us the visitors in your home country and DO NOT SIGN UP FOR THE RACE! They will think twice about introducing such rules if come race day they only have a handful of runners on the start line. It comes down to the bottom line...how FAR are you willing to go to make a change?

c h i a t said...

The locals will never know and understand the politics and the discrimination of the organisers. People will still join runs for the heck of joining and just running for fun, collect goodie bags, free Tshirt.

As for them not allowing foreigners to compete or join the local runs, guess you all could form a group that boycotts these events and soon they will realise why there is less and less foreigners joining their runs.

Hopefully other organisers for Runs eg. Pacesetters, Mizuno, Adidas can handle this matter and even more so promote the competitive spirit.

For me, when i see a foreigner, whether its caucasian Australian, British, Dutch, or Asian Hong Kong, Japan, Singaporean, i am just amazed by their performance and competitive spirit and that drives me to train harder.

If you want to compare with the best, compare with the rest of the world, and not compare with those that are just local.

1st world technology, 3rd world mentality..

Chiat

plee said...

John! Emma!

I personally stay away from these events....But yeah its time to come together and brainstorm. By the way there is an article by the former president of Pacesetters from 2007 as well. http://www.runnersmalaysia.com.my/resource/articles/wc08262007.htm