Sports in Malaysia has taken a drastic downturn for several years. This was highlighted by the less than stellar showing in the Athens Olympics (previous post here). For several weeks after the Olympics, the Sports Minister was seen as going from association to association trying to figure out the problem. It seems that maybe there are too many problems for her alone to try and fix. Via NSTP, 15 ministers have been added to the cabinet committe on sports.
So instead of narrowing the trail of responsibility down to one person and one person alone, we have added more. Here's a list of the who's who.
The first are ministers whose ministries are already associated with sport.
The ministers in this group are Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting (Housing and Local Government), Datuk Hishammuddin Hussein (Education), Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek (Health), Datuk Dr Shafie Mohd Salleh (Higher Learning), Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop (Finance II), Datuk Dr Leo Michael Toyad (Tourism) and Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (National Unity and Integration) Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili.The second group comprises ministers who either already hold positions in sporting bodies or those who have shown interest in contributing towards sport.
They are Home Affairs Minister Datuk Azmi Khalid, Datuk Shafie Apdal (Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs), Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad (Federal Territories), Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy (Transport), Minister in Prime Minister's Department (Legal Affairs), Datuk Radzi Sheikh Ahmad and Minister in Prime Minister's Department Datuk Nazri Aziz.
The Minister of Sports and Youth, Azalina Othman Said, does not even get to chair the committee. Instead she will be the Secretariat. Huh? First PM Badawi expands his cabinet, then we get this. Cheers to Big Government. Let's hope that through all of the politics and committee meetings that we will finally get a plan that is implementable and thorough.
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