Thaksin’s big mouth
BY THE WAY By Max V. Soliven
The Philippine Star 12/02/2005
Why all the fuss? I’ve no doubt Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said it. Certainly he sourgraped about our Filipino athletes winning so many gold medals in the 23rd Southeast Asian Games, insinuating that the officiating at these games was maliciously loaded to benefit Filipino contenders. This is nonsense, of course, but this type of outrageous statement is vintage Thaksin.
The truth is that Mr. T sounds like the average Filipino politician. In the elections, nobody loses in an election. "I wuz robbed!" the sore loser always thunders. We can now have another ringtone, aside from "Hello Garci," and this is "Hello Thaksi!"
On our side, everybody has gotten on his indignant high horse, demanding an official Thai apology. Betcha Thaksin won’t, but it’s beyond belief that he will carry out his reported threat to elevate a complaint of alleged Pinoy "cheating" to the next summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ leaders. Thaksin-Baby would only be inviting sN*ggas from his fellow ASEAN chiefs whose main concerns are terrorism, their own economies, and the rising problems and tensions afflicting the region. Look at Burma (Myanmar). The generals there have gotten away with the insolent surprise announcement that they’re arbitrarily extending the "house arrest" of Nobel Peace Laureate and heroine of the democracy struggle, Aung San Suu Kyi by another year. Why should the ASEAN presidents, prime ministers and sultan agonize over surly accusations of bum refereeing?
Thai sports officials here for the SEAG have already expressed regrets over the negative effects of the Thai newspaper report quoting Thaksin which they described as baseless. They’ve said there was nothing wrong thus far in the officiating. There is, after all a mechanism for voicing complaint. A protest can be immediately filed after every game or competition. A video film of each event can be reviewed to spot any umpire’s wrong call, or cheating in any sport.
As for Thaksin himself, why expect him to recant? The 56-year old Thai Prime Minister, a former cop whose telecommunications empire has made him one of the wealthiest men in Thailand (not from kotong surely) graduated from the Police Cadet School Class 26 in 1973 and came to power in government in January 2001.
Thaksin is known to be hot-tempered, rough on the press, and intemperate in speech. His "Thai Loves Thai" party usually loses in Bangkok, but wins in the rural areas.
He was elected Prime Minister in a landslide. Probably the landslide was helped by the fact that he had made a fortune of US $2 billion in four years. His biographers, Pasuk Phongpaichit and Chris Baker, who published a book in 2004 entitled THAKSIN: The Business of Politics in Thailand, say that "he (also) escaped conviction for corruption by a sliver. He believes he can take Thailand into the first world in eight years by running the country like a company . . . To some he is Thailand’s best premier ever, and a new leader for Asia. To others he is a threat to democracy, human rights, public morality, and the rule of law."
Don’t take this quote from me on mere faith. Read it in the book printed by Silkworm Books (Horizon Books Pte. Ltd.). Pasuk Phongpaichit is professor of economics at the most respected institution in Thailand, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok. Chris Baker is an independent writer who, together with Pasuk, has authored Thailand, Economy and Politics, Thailand’s Boom and Bust, and Thailand’s Crisis.
Thaksin has waged war on drugs by the process of the police liquidating the druglords, drug pushers – and almost all suspects, too. "Who me?" the cops would say after bloody encounters. By some earlier hamfisted tactics, Mr. T’s army and police also provoked an escalation of terrorist activities and a Muslim rebellion in Thailand’s four southern provinces bordering on Malaysia. The situation there has begun to look worse than the fanaticism of the Moro rebellion in Mindanao.
Truth to tell, I admire Thaksin in some instances and deplore his methods in others. Most deplorable of all, though, is his motor-mouth. Mr. T has the virtue, however dubious though it may sometimes seem, of being stubborn in his single-minded drive to get results.
It’s unfortunate that he insulted us. Alas, that’s his style, and it often boomerangs on him even on the home front. But why weep or rage in resentment? Our Filipino athletes have already bagged 58 golds and 38 silvers. We’re in the lead at this moment. Vietnam has 42 golds, 39 silvers. Thailand trails with 34 golds and 45 silvers. By golly, our contenders even have 48 bronze medals, bested in bronze only by Thailand which has 52. It’s a phenomenal showing. Mabuhay!
Eat your heart out, Thaksin-Sir. If you’ve got one. Win or lose in the final phase of the SEA Games, our kids have already made their mark.
Full Version: Why thaksin is whining...
Home court advantages and poor home ratings
GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc
The Philippine Star 12/02/2005
Thai Premier Thaksin Shinawatra did not mention host Philippines. But in railing at the Southeast Asian Games’ "fixation for medals" over athletic spirit, he spoiled the Philippine lead in golds. More so since he sneered that "it’s normal to win or lose, but it’s not nice if we host such games and do this to other countries." Even more so since, at the same time in Bangkok, Jaruk Areerajakaran, head of Thailand’s Olympic Committee in charge of joining events, claimed pointblank that "the hosts are cheating."
"It shouldn’t be about winning gold medals," Thaksin wailed, told of the Filipino haul as of midweek of 138 medals, 57 of them gold. Ironically Thailand had entered the games itself obsessed for golds. Jaruk cried that the Philippines had robbed Thailand of victories in taekwondo, boxing and gymnastics. Thus, his country that is striving for sport supremacy will not attain its targeted 110-118 golds from the 395 events in 41 sports. Thailand to date has 124 medals, including 29 golds. It is only third to Vietnam’s 117 medals but 40 golds.
Could this be a case of spoilsport too early in the games? The eight-day biennial tournament was but on its fourth day when Thaksin and Jaruk served sour grapes. Only 167 of 395 possible golds have been awarded. The 7,000 athletes from 11 nations were barely warming up.
"Sadly, they did not give specifics about their complained cheating," sighed Robert Aventajado, vice chairman of both the Philippine Olympic Committee and the Philippine SEAGames Organizing Committee. He had talked with his Thai counterpart Chaiyapak Siriwat, and the latter had no grievances about the conduct of the games under a SEAGames Federation in which all countries sit. The Federation and its member-states’ committees run under Olympic policies. Objections must be written in detail to sport overseers, who promptly must settle them. As a rule, referees and officials must not be compatriots of athletes in an event. In case all countries join in one event and no other foreign arbiters are available than compatriots, they are then drawn by lot.
Still, protests of bad officiating are inevitable. The Philippines in 2003 filed four in Hanoi; Thailand also ranted against host Vietnam. But it’s not as if Filipino sportsmen are cheats. Hard has been the ’80s lesson from little league softball, when Philippine officials sent to the US players in their late teens. That episode had spurred the international yarn on why the Filipino team captain was late for the game (he had to rush his pregnant wife to the hospital). Filipinos are great gagsters about themselves too. The latest text joke is that the Philippines is leading the SEAGames medal tally because "Garci" has emerged from hiding. But the sterling Filipinos’ performance is the offshoot of their thirst for victory.
National issues affect athletes, like other citizens. Far too long have Filipinos been bashed as the basket case of Asia for political squabbling and economic failures. In world Olympics, Filipinos have had thrashings. They seek vengeance at least in regional sports.
A national goal for sporting victory amidst troubled times prodded leaders to action. Businessmen, on presidential spouse Mike Arroyo’s plea for funding, donated P200 million for athlete training. Diplomacy nudged China to help in free coaching too in some sports. The POC, noting a poorly formed national basketball team, shelved the Basketball Association of the Philippines. In sympathy the regional Federation scratched the sport from the list of events. Many other activities made for splendid preparations for the 2005 SEAGames. Thousands of youths volunteered as ushers, guides or gofers just to make the games as seamless and enjoyable as possible.
Then there’s the home court advantage that Thaksin, confessedly no sport fan, must learn about. And it has nothing to do with stuffing 3,000 suspected Muslim separatists in southern Thailand into a dozen army trucks, leading to the death by suffocation of 700. Neither is it solely about athletes gaining higher morale because cheered on by entire hometowns and schoolmates.
Filipinos, as all Asians, feel a lump in the throat when their national anthem is played for a compatriot who lands a gold – even if two of every three of them, according to polls, wish to emigrate. But hosting the games gives athletes the edge of mastering the playing fields and conditions better than the visitors. This is particularly so for men’s football, played in soccer-crazy Bacolod, or boating at Subic Bay or La Mesa Dam. It doesn’t always turn out gainfully, though. The Philippine women’s football team arrived late and harassed for the opening match in Marikina because their Filipino bus driver lost his way. Hosts and visitors were about even in swimming, held at a pool only recently opened at Los Baños, Laguna.
There’s a physical plus too in hosting. Filipino players are better fed, clothed and quartered than if they were visitors with scant stipends. They are better used to equatorial humidity. They have more time before the games for practice.
Hosting thus brings more medals. Filipinos have had more reason to learn new games – petanque, lawn bowls, pilati – and thus more chances to win than if sent in usual low-budget, undermanned delegations abroad. Add to this the traditional Filipino supremacy in triathlon, sailing, archery and many other games, and the gold haul is not surprising. Still, a Filipino sportswriter who has covered 20 years of SEAGames noted, "some of our athletes are not really spectacular by Olympic standards, it’s just that most of their opponents are dull."
Thaksin’s tirade is thus strange, considering that Thailand has hosted the SEAGames and has enjoyed advantages that Filipinos now have for the third time. Truly the aim of the tourney is to cultivate sportsmanship, but any game eventually has to end with three top-placers.
Perhaps the Thai leader’s motive can be gleaned from a news item on the same day he took the luster from the Filipino run for golds. "A Muslim insurgency, a feud with a media company owner, a stalled state asset sale, slipping popularity, and a stock market at a four month-low" are but a few of the premier’s headaches, Bloomberg reported. "An Oct. survey showed his approval rating had slipped to 58.2 percent from 77.5 percent in Feb."
There’s a high degree of public distrust of Thaksin only ten months after winning the most decisive election victory since Thailand became a constitutional monarchy in 1932. He is battling a slowing economy, and accelerating inflation, trade and current accounts deficits, while deflecting criticisms of an increasingly hostile media. He’s also at odds with teachers and farmers.
And to what does Thaksin blame all this? Bad horoscope, he says, "the alignment of Mercury wasn’t auspicious." He had earlier cancelled his weekly press briefings up to yearend. After refusing for days to speak to reporters, he selectively resumed making some comments. One of those was about the Filipino gold rush.
Now, could Thaksin be using the sport-cheating issue to unite Thais behind him?
GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc
The Philippine Star 12/02/2005
Thai Premier Thaksin Shinawatra did not mention host Philippines. But in railing at the Southeast Asian Games’ "fixation for medals" over athletic spirit, he spoiled the Philippine lead in golds. More so since he sneered that "it’s normal to win or lose, but it’s not nice if we host such games and do this to other countries." Even more so since, at the same time in Bangkok, Jaruk Areerajakaran, head of Thailand’s Olympic Committee in charge of joining events, claimed pointblank that "the hosts are cheating."
"It shouldn’t be about winning gold medals," Thaksin wailed, told of the Filipino haul as of midweek of 138 medals, 57 of them gold. Ironically Thailand had entered the games itself obsessed for golds. Jaruk cried that the Philippines had robbed Thailand of victories in taekwondo, boxing and gymnastics. Thus, his country that is striving for sport supremacy will not attain its targeted 110-118 golds from the 395 events in 41 sports. Thailand to date has 124 medals, including 29 golds. It is only third to Vietnam’s 117 medals but 40 golds.
Could this be a case of spoilsport too early in the games? The eight-day biennial tournament was but on its fourth day when Thaksin and Jaruk served sour grapes. Only 167 of 395 possible golds have been awarded. The 7,000 athletes from 11 nations were barely warming up.
"Sadly, they did not give specifics about their complained cheating," sighed Robert Aventajado, vice chairman of both the Philippine Olympic Committee and the Philippine SEAGames Organizing Committee. He had talked with his Thai counterpart Chaiyapak Siriwat, and the latter had no grievances about the conduct of the games under a SEAGames Federation in which all countries sit. The Federation and its member-states’ committees run under Olympic policies. Objections must be written in detail to sport overseers, who promptly must settle them. As a rule, referees and officials must not be compatriots of athletes in an event. In case all countries join in one event and no other foreign arbiters are available than compatriots, they are then drawn by lot.
Still, protests of bad officiating are inevitable. The Philippines in 2003 filed four in Hanoi; Thailand also ranted against host Vietnam. But it’s not as if Filipino sportsmen are cheats. Hard has been the ’80s lesson from little league softball, when Philippine officials sent to the US players in their late teens. That episode had spurred the international yarn on why the Filipino team captain was late for the game (he had to rush his pregnant wife to the hospital). Filipinos are great gagsters about themselves too. The latest text joke is that the Philippines is leading the SEAGames medal tally because "Garci" has emerged from hiding. But the sterling Filipinos’ performance is the offshoot of their thirst for victory.
National issues affect athletes, like other citizens. Far too long have Filipinos been bashed as the basket case of Asia for political squabbling and economic failures. In world Olympics, Filipinos have had thrashings. They seek vengeance at least in regional sports.
A national goal for sporting victory amidst troubled times prodded leaders to action. Businessmen, on presidential spouse Mike Arroyo’s plea for funding, donated P200 million for athlete training. Diplomacy nudged China to help in free coaching too in some sports. The POC, noting a poorly formed national basketball team, shelved the Basketball Association of the Philippines. In sympathy the regional Federation scratched the sport from the list of events. Many other activities made for splendid preparations for the 2005 SEAGames. Thousands of youths volunteered as ushers, guides or gofers just to make the games as seamless and enjoyable as possible.
Then there’s the home court advantage that Thaksin, confessedly no sport fan, must learn about. And it has nothing to do with stuffing 3,000 suspected Muslim separatists in southern Thailand into a dozen army trucks, leading to the death by suffocation of 700. Neither is it solely about athletes gaining higher morale because cheered on by entire hometowns and schoolmates.
Filipinos, as all Asians, feel a lump in the throat when their national anthem is played for a compatriot who lands a gold – even if two of every three of them, according to polls, wish to emigrate. But hosting the games gives athletes the edge of mastering the playing fields and conditions better than the visitors. This is particularly so for men’s football, played in soccer-crazy Bacolod, or boating at Subic Bay or La Mesa Dam. It doesn’t always turn out gainfully, though. The Philippine women’s football team arrived late and harassed for the opening match in Marikina because their Filipino bus driver lost his way. Hosts and visitors were about even in swimming, held at a pool only recently opened at Los Baños, Laguna.
There’s a physical plus too in hosting. Filipino players are better fed, clothed and quartered than if they were visitors with scant stipends. They are better used to equatorial humidity. They have more time before the games for practice.
Hosting thus brings more medals. Filipinos have had more reason to learn new games – petanque, lawn bowls, pilati – and thus more chances to win than if sent in usual low-budget, undermanned delegations abroad. Add to this the traditional Filipino supremacy in triathlon, sailing, archery and many other games, and the gold haul is not surprising. Still, a Filipino sportswriter who has covered 20 years of SEAGames noted, "some of our athletes are not really spectacular by Olympic standards, it’s just that most of their opponents are dull."
Thaksin’s tirade is thus strange, considering that Thailand has hosted the SEAGames and has enjoyed advantages that Filipinos now have for the third time. Truly the aim of the tourney is to cultivate sportsmanship, but any game eventually has to end with three top-placers.
Perhaps the Thai leader’s motive can be gleaned from a news item on the same day he took the luster from the Filipino run for golds. "A Muslim insurgency, a feud with a media company owner, a stalled state asset sale, slipping popularity, and a stock market at a four month-low" are but a few of the premier’s headaches, Bloomberg reported. "An Oct. survey showed his approval rating had slipped to 58.2 percent from 77.5 percent in Feb."
There’s a high degree of public distrust of Thaksin only ten months after winning the most decisive election victory since Thailand became a constitutional monarchy in 1932. He is battling a slowing economy, and accelerating inflation, trade and current accounts deficits, while deflecting criticisms of an increasingly hostile media. He’s also at odds with teachers and farmers.
And to what does Thaksin blame all this? Bad horoscope, he says, "the alignment of Mercury wasn’t auspicious." He had earlier cancelled his weekly press briefings up to yearend. After refusing for days to speak to reporters, he selectively resumed making some comments. One of those was about the Filipino gold rush.
Now, could Thaksin be using the sport-cheating issue to unite Thais behind him?
Look who’s talking
SKETCHES By Ana Marie Pamintuan
The Philippine Star 12/02/2005
The common Filipino response to the accusation of cheating hurled by Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was not an outright denial of the charge but, "Look who’s talking."
The other common — and outraged — response from Philippine sports aficionados was that host countries, such as Vietnam when it hosted the Southeast Asian Games in 2003 and Greece when it hosted the Olympics last year, often try to put one over competitors.
There’s always someone protesting about hometown decisions, I was told, but heads of government don’t butt in and bellyache about cheating.
One incensed sports enthusiast demanded to know why we had to play up Thaksin’s broadside when the Thais themselves were notorious for their lopsided hometown decisions particularly in professional boxing.
In short, we all cheat, you hypocrites, so put up or shut up. * * *
Hardly an ideal response from the land of "Hello, Garci." Even before the start of the SEA Games, there were already jokes that former election commissioner Virgilio Garcillano had surfaced to tally scores in the sporting event.
The issue took on political color yesterday, with opposition members saying Thaksin was confusing the SEA Games with an administration accused of cheating, lying and stealing.
Administration allies, for their part, accused Thaksin of trying to divert Thais’ attention from his own political woes, which include corruption scandals.
Local sports enthusiasts insisted that we are not a nation of cheaters, and lamented that we should be rallying behind our athletes, who are doing their best to win honors for the nation.
It is normal for host countries, I was told, to schedule matches in sporting events like the SEAG such that the first few days will be marked by victories for the home team. This generates local interest in the games and the home team is cheered on all the way to the finish, even if the team fails to make it to the top. The Philippines has never finished first in the SEAG.
Of course we must love our own, but there is a world of difference between cheering and cheating. When boxing wins are based on the number of punches thrown rather than punches that connect, something smells fishy.
But Thailand, I am reminded again, is notorious for boxing decisions skewed in favor of its own team.
Until yesterday there was no retraction or apology from Thaksin. But Thai sports officials apologized to Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose Cojuangco Jr. and other members of the SEAG Federation Council.
Chaiyapak Siriwat, vice president of the Thailand Olympic Council, said he had not received any complaint from their athletes about the conduct of the games.
Their athletes include Thai Princess Sievannavari Nariratana, who lost to the Philippines in badminton yesterday. No complaints from her… so far. * * *
I was reminded by outraged sports fans that we felt cheated in taekwondo when our jin lost to host country Greece during the Olympics last year, but did we raise a big fuss?
And what about Vietnam, whose athletes were underwhelming until it hosted the SEAG two years ago, and the country topped the games for the first time? Did President Arroyo whine in public that something smelled of Vietnamese fish sauce?
Just because others are doing it, however, does not mean that we should do the same. If subtle cheating is the name of the game in all international athletic competitions, it only validates my lack of interest in sports. Give me the cooking channel any time. Try cheating on a recipe and your cake is bound to collapse.
What happened to sportsmanship? We often tell children that winning isn’t everything, but every country that joins an international sports meet these days sees that as a balm for losers.
What happened to fair play? I’m told that it went out the window ages ago, when athletes first learned to use performance-enhancing drugs, or whatever you call the concoctions taken by Chinese athletes.
Again I’m reminded by local sports aficionados that at least Philippine athletes don’t take anabolic steroids. And how can we be accused of cheating, they ask, when the judges in the ongoing SEAG are from countries that are not participating in the games? * * *
Okay, so Thaksin was merely sour-graping. Maybe the planets were in the wrong alignment the other day when he talked to reporters.
Between Thaksin the astrology buff and President Arroyo who claims to have a direct line to God, Thaksin has more credibility. But because his complaint was not backed by a formal protest from any member of the Thai team, and even blunted by the Thai apology, there is basis for suspicion that he was using the SEAG to divert his people’s attention from the scandals hounding him. See, we’re not the only country plagued with scandals.
Thaksin is the first elected Thai prime minister to win a second term. But he has seen his popularity fall in recent months amid soaring oil prices, Muslim unrest in southern Thailand, and accusations (hurled by a former crony) of corruption and undermining popular Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
Thaksin has blamed his troubles on the movement of the planet Mercury, which he says is inauspicious for him.
His sour-graping, however, can also bode ill for ties in the region. Sports, after all, is supposed to foster camaraderie among participants. Now Thaksin is saying he might raise the issue of SEAG cheating at the forthcoming leaders’ summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
It might actually turn out to be a good idea, if it could lead to countries in the region — Thailand included — cleaning up their act in hosting international sports events.
The rest of the world might even take notice, since most sports matches these days seem marred by complaints of some form of cheating and biased decisions.
The urge to put one over rivals, by hook or by crook, arises from a sports culture where sportsmanship has taken a backseat to winning. As an American coach famously said, winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing!
It’s a sports culture that believes nice guys finish last.
SKETCHES By Ana Marie Pamintuan
The Philippine Star 12/02/2005
The common Filipino response to the accusation of cheating hurled by Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was not an outright denial of the charge but, "Look who’s talking."
The other common — and outraged — response from Philippine sports aficionados was that host countries, such as Vietnam when it hosted the Southeast Asian Games in 2003 and Greece when it hosted the Olympics last year, often try to put one over competitors.
There’s always someone protesting about hometown decisions, I was told, but heads of government don’t butt in and bellyache about cheating.
One incensed sports enthusiast demanded to know why we had to play up Thaksin’s broadside when the Thais themselves were notorious for their lopsided hometown decisions particularly in professional boxing.
In short, we all cheat, you hypocrites, so put up or shut up. * * *
Hardly an ideal response from the land of "Hello, Garci." Even before the start of the SEA Games, there were already jokes that former election commissioner Virgilio Garcillano had surfaced to tally scores in the sporting event.
The issue took on political color yesterday, with opposition members saying Thaksin was confusing the SEA Games with an administration accused of cheating, lying and stealing.
Administration allies, for their part, accused Thaksin of trying to divert Thais’ attention from his own political woes, which include corruption scandals.
Local sports enthusiasts insisted that we are not a nation of cheaters, and lamented that we should be rallying behind our athletes, who are doing their best to win honors for the nation.
It is normal for host countries, I was told, to schedule matches in sporting events like the SEAG such that the first few days will be marked by victories for the home team. This generates local interest in the games and the home team is cheered on all the way to the finish, even if the team fails to make it to the top. The Philippines has never finished first in the SEAG.
Of course we must love our own, but there is a world of difference between cheering and cheating. When boxing wins are based on the number of punches thrown rather than punches that connect, something smells fishy.
But Thailand, I am reminded again, is notorious for boxing decisions skewed in favor of its own team.
Until yesterday there was no retraction or apology from Thaksin. But Thai sports officials apologized to Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose Cojuangco Jr. and other members of the SEAG Federation Council.
Chaiyapak Siriwat, vice president of the Thailand Olympic Council, said he had not received any complaint from their athletes about the conduct of the games.
Their athletes include Thai Princess Sievannavari Nariratana, who lost to the Philippines in badminton yesterday. No complaints from her… so far. * * *
I was reminded by outraged sports fans that we felt cheated in taekwondo when our jin lost to host country Greece during the Olympics last year, but did we raise a big fuss?
And what about Vietnam, whose athletes were underwhelming until it hosted the SEAG two years ago, and the country topped the games for the first time? Did President Arroyo whine in public that something smelled of Vietnamese fish sauce?
Just because others are doing it, however, does not mean that we should do the same. If subtle cheating is the name of the game in all international athletic competitions, it only validates my lack of interest in sports. Give me the cooking channel any time. Try cheating on a recipe and your cake is bound to collapse.
What happened to sportsmanship? We often tell children that winning isn’t everything, but every country that joins an international sports meet these days sees that as a balm for losers.
What happened to fair play? I’m told that it went out the window ages ago, when athletes first learned to use performance-enhancing drugs, or whatever you call the concoctions taken by Chinese athletes.
Again I’m reminded by local sports aficionados that at least Philippine athletes don’t take anabolic steroids. And how can we be accused of cheating, they ask, when the judges in the ongoing SEAG are from countries that are not participating in the games? * * *
Okay, so Thaksin was merely sour-graping. Maybe the planets were in the wrong alignment the other day when he talked to reporters.
Between Thaksin the astrology buff and President Arroyo who claims to have a direct line to God, Thaksin has more credibility. But because his complaint was not backed by a formal protest from any member of the Thai team, and even blunted by the Thai apology, there is basis for suspicion that he was using the SEAG to divert his people’s attention from the scandals hounding him. See, we’re not the only country plagued with scandals.
Thaksin is the first elected Thai prime minister to win a second term. But he has seen his popularity fall in recent months amid soaring oil prices, Muslim unrest in southern Thailand, and accusations (hurled by a former crony) of corruption and undermining popular Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
Thaksin has blamed his troubles on the movement of the planet Mercury, which he says is inauspicious for him.
His sour-graping, however, can also bode ill for ties in the region. Sports, after all, is supposed to foster camaraderie among participants. Now Thaksin is saying he might raise the issue of SEAG cheating at the forthcoming leaders’ summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
It might actually turn out to be a good idea, if it could lead to countries in the region — Thailand included — cleaning up their act in hosting international sports events.
The rest of the world might even take notice, since most sports matches these days seem marred by complaints of some form of cheating and biased decisions.
The urge to put one over rivals, by hook or by crook, arises from a sports culture where sportsmanship has taken a backseat to winning. As an American coach famously said, winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing!
It’s a sports culture that believes nice guys finish last.
From Abante:Hindi mandaraya ang Pinoy!
Tunay na hindi katanggap-tanggap itong reklamo ni Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra na kesyo may dayaan sa ‘medal issue’ ng 23rd Southeast Asian Games (SEAG).
Ang sabi pa niya, "It’s not nice if we host such Games and do this to other countries. We should not focus only on medals and forget about being good sports."
Sino ba ang nakapokus sa medalya? Hindi ba s’ya dahil hindi pa man tapos ang laban ay pumapalag na siya sa ‘medal issue’? Dapat pala’y maging sport tayo, eh bakit parang pikon na pikon siya?
Ni hindi nga niya matukoy nang espisipiko kung ano ang inaangal n’ya at kung saang partikular na larangan nagkaroon ng dayaan.
Isa pa, tayo lang naman ang host at hindi tayo ang tumatayong officiating body, referee o hurado sa lahat ng laban. Ang bawat kalahok na bansa sa palarong ito ay mayroong kinatawan sa officiating body at panel of judges sa iba’t ibang events. Kaya paano niya masasabing ‘niluluto’ ng Pilipinas ang 23rd SEAG?
Napaka-unfair naman nitong Thai leader na ito. Ni hindi naman yata niya alam ang kanyang sinasabi. At obvious na palpak siya dahil kinailangan agad bawiin ng kanyang mga alipores ang kanyang mga salita. Ngayon ay so-sorry-sorry sila.
Meron kaming kilalang ganyan. Magaling gumawa ng kapalpakan tapos saka magso-sorry.
Ang ganitong mga pang-iintriga ay maaaring makasira sa mataas na moral ng mga atletang Filipino. Pero hindi dapat! Bakit naman tayo magpapaapekto sa komento at ampaw na reklamo ng kalaban? Kapag natatalo ay ganito talaga, maraming gustong sisihin at iprotesta. Para namang bago ang ganitong eksena sa sports. Normal lang ‘yan.
Ang dapat gawin ngayon ng ating mga atleta ay lalo pa nilang ipamukha sa buong mundo na karapat-dapat sila sa sinusungkit na pangunguna sa SEAG. Imbes na sagutin ito sa salita, sa arena o sa playing field dapat ilatag ang sagot. Kung kinukuwestyon ang panalo dahil nakadikit ang pumapangalawa, aba’y ilayo nang milya-milya ang agwat. Palamunin talaga ng alikabok ang mga kalaban. Iyan ang dapat na maging misyon ngayon ng mga atleta natin na lumalaban pa sa iba’t ibang larangan.
At ito namang ating gobyerno, imbes na walang kurap na idepensa ang dangal ng ating mga atleta at ng Pilipinas sa kabuuan, aba’y tila yumuko pa sa akusasyon at sa mismong bibig ni Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo nagmula ang mga salitang paiimbestigahan niya ang reklamo.
Ano ito?! Paano naman gaganahan ang ating mga atleta kung hindi tatayo para sa kanila ang ating gobyerno?
Palibhasa’y mismong sarili ay hindi niya malinis sa duda ng dayaan, paano niya ito gagawin para sa kanyang mga kababayan?
Thailand? A better host country? Give us a break!
Thailand will will do anything to win by hook or by crook.They have done it in 1995 Chiangmai SEA Games, 1998 Asian Games and they will do it in 2007 again!
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