Saturday, August 18, 2012

大马奥运金牌梦--从李宗伟战败的那刻谈起


光榮的持票人 :D 感謝我泰國友人
 八月五日那天,我身在伦敦温布利体育馆,为了见证大马体坛历史性的一刻以及支持李宗伟在羽毛球男单决赛中赢取金牌。那据说是马来西亚最有可能实现的奥运第一金。这次的巅峰对决,是继08年北京奥运后,再次由当今羽坛最顶尖的首二号球员,大马的李宗伟对垒中国的林丹。

我非常幸运地获得这场决赛的入门票,让朋友们都眼红了。这绝对是另一场经典决赛。比赛进行时现场气氛热爆,大马和中国的球迷支持者都拼命地为各自国家的选手欢呼呐喊,激动非常。‘马来西亚/李宗伟Boleh!’与‘中国队/林丹加油!’此起彼落。第三局的比赛尤其是让人紧张到差点窒息,比分咬得很紧。分水岭是在1919的比分点上,超级丹看似吃了‘仙丹’状态神勇,一鼓作气地连取致胜的两分。李宗伟战败了,大马首金梦碎了,我也失望了。全场一片红海狂欢。说实在的,至今我还是无法忍受林丹如此狂妄地脱衣猛绕全场的庆祝胜利方式(若在足球场上,那早已被黄卡罚下了)。

人在現場(場外)
无论如何,当下现场观赛的我,必须承认双方都尽了全力为了国家荣耀而战。双方的实力如此地接近,其实最后任何结果都有可能出现,我实在不能怪李宗伟。我随行的泰国朋友就当场分析说,林丹有过人的意志力和强大的心理,尤其是在比分咬紧的最后关键时刻,这个优势就足以拼倒宗伟。听着听着,我倒觉得有点道理。这就是为何有些运动员看似骄傲嚣张,其实那是因为他们的胜利者心态(Winner's mentality)使然,让他们绝对相信自己的能力造化,所以才强大,往往最后成为胜利者。不信?去看当今世界的100米短跑飞人博尔特(Ursain Bolt)就可知其一了。

人在現場(場內)-比賽在進行當中
大马的奥运金牌梦功亏一篑,当初如此靠近现在又如此遥远。下届的里奥奥运,李宗伟已34岁了,应该已过了职业和体能的最巅峰状态。他想不想参赛是其次,能不能够再获取资格参赛也可能会是个大问题。眼见李宗伟后的男单后继无人,今后的国家羽球队该何去何从呢?如果大马羽总果真认为李宗伟不能摘金的主要原因是林丹,下届林丹退役后李宗伟就会有希望的话,那是自欺欺人,不求上进的想法。当举国上下都把希望放在一个人身上的时候,这意味着什么?大马就只有李宗伟是世界级的运动员,没有其他人了?或许该问的是,除了羽球,我们还有其他的运动项目可以发展成为强项吗?没错,由于羽球是我国的传统强项,也是人民最关注的运动项目之一,所以国家砸了很多钱投入此运动培训人才,看起来好像无可厚非。但我认为这才是问题的所在。看看这届的奥运吧,其实我们还有其他项目不知名的本土运动员代表国家竞赛,有者甚至晋级到了决赛圈(就比如说赛脚车,男子3米跳水和女子10米跳水)。但是这些选手却没有获得有如羽球赛般的全国关注。讽刺的是,直到大马跳水公主潘德莉拉勇夺奥运铜牌崭露角头的那一刻,国人才豁然发现我们有这一号人物。在这之前,她是无名氏。如今她是首位夺奥运奖牌的女选手,也是首次在羽球以外的项目有所突破的世界级运动员,意义非凡。
頒獎儀式-大馬輸了,jalur gemilang只好排旁邊,沒得聽Negaraku國歌

我认为,是时候让国家体育转型了。国家体育理事会应该更有效地管理和公平地分配所有体育资源,以确保各项目的运动员和教练团队都能获得关注并从中直接受惠。与此同时,发掘和系统化地栽培拥有巨大潜能的运动人才新秀要从现在做起。





Thursday, August 09, 2012

Commentaries from the witness (me!) at the live venue in London


On 5th August 2012, I was there at the venue Wembley Arena London, to witness the historic moment and to cheer for Lee Chong Wei, in the Badminton Men's Singles Final. That was touted to be the most realistic Gold Medal hope for Malaysia ever, for the first time in history. That was also the second showdown in Olympic game final since Beijing Olympics 2008, between the top 2 seeds – Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei and China’s Lin Dan.

I was extremely fortunate to have obtained the ticket, which drew a lot of jealousy back in my homeland. The match was itself an epic. The live atmosphere was superb, exhibiting the fierce rivalry of show of support for both players’ origin country. I was in a row of majority Malaysian supporters, and behind me was a row of Chinese supporters. As the match was going on, we exchanged the loud shouts and stomps. 'Malaysia/Lee Chong Wei BOLEH' vs 'Zhong Guo Dui/Lin Dan JIAYOU' Meanwhile, I did spot the Malaysia No.1 fan for Badminton, who else other than the famous ‘First Lady’ Prime Minister’s wife Rosmah Mansor (who traveled a great distance just the night before for this final match)? Her signature oversized hair shape was unmistakably recognised from afar, as she entered the venue belatedly, surrounding with other VIPs cladded in orange national sports team jacket. The next time when I saw her again at close distance, it was after the narrow defeat of Lee CW. She seemed not too much affected by the result, heading to the exit with an entourage of no less than 10 people. I was not in the mood at all for shaking hands or taking photos.

Despite the final score line, I must confess that both players have performed at their best, even for the case of eventual loser Lee CW. The third set was particularly an anxious nailbiting breathtaking experience to watch. The score was super tight and the rally went point by point, chasing each other right towards the end of match. The watershed was at the point of 19-19, where Super Dan gained the ‘turbo’ to kill the game decisively by taking the final 2 straight points with his outburst confidence. Lee CW succumbed and I was left immediately deeply disappointed. The stadium ran wild with loud cheers and waving of 5 star red flags. I could not bear to witness the cocky topless frenzy running celebration style of Lin Dan (in Football game, this would merit a straight yellow card!). Still I could not ask more from Dato Lee whom has given his best to the nation. My Thai friend analysed that to me, saying that Lin Dan has the stronger mental strength and sheer determination to carry him through the crucial final points, and obviously outpowered Lee. Although I believe also that Lee was out of luck, I do think my friend got some truth in his analysis.


I can't help but also ponder on these questions: Where do we go from here? If Dato Lee would not participate in the next Olympic game, then who will succeed him as the leading hope for the first Gold? Besides Badminton, what other sports could also make it happen and make us proud as a nation? Sure we have invested quite a substantial amount of money in Badminton, as this is the traditional sport we excel at. However, that is not good enough. In this Olympics, we have seen other previously unknown athletes, our homegrown unsung heroes representing our nation in the final round of other sports such as diving and track-cycling ( latest update: we have just won one bronze medal for Women’s 10m diving!)but unfortunately they drew lower attention than Badminton sport did. I guess now it is time to call for national sports 'transformation'. National Sports Council of Malaysia should manage and distribute the funding better so that all resources could be channeled directly to the benefits of athletes and coaches, meanwhile also for spotting and training the new genuine sport talents.

Saturday, August 04, 2012

土地,習俗與族群尊嚴 -- 原住民不是野蠻人

電影海報。一部十分震撼人心的電影


上周我观赏了一部由台湾制作,有关当地原住民抗日历史写实电影《赛德克.巴莱》。这部分为上下集长达四个小时半的剧情长片给我最大的震撼,并不是电影里的血腥肉搏战斗,而是高山原住民赛德克族为了保住族群的最后尊严,为了捍卫祖传习俗和猎场(土地)而不畏强权视死如归地与日本军血战到底的精神和毅力。当时的日本统治者自持拥有高度文明和先进科技,不止在意识上认为蕃人原住民是‘野蛮人’,同时也爱如此地戏谑称呼他们。也许打从一开始就自觉高高在上,日本统治者威逼原住民接受他们设计的社区制度,企图通过日本文化与教育来‘改造’原住民以让他们变得更‘文明’,不给于原住民一点尊重。赛德克族精心策划的武力造反(后来的‘雾社事件’),就是要向统治者传达强烈的讯息,那就是官逼民反的道理。这些原住民当然知道当时日本人的厉害,知道他们有机关枪有大炮有战机,明知道这是一场不可能打赢的战争,但他们宁可战死自尽,都不可以让外人践踏族群的尊严。

莫那魯道,馬赫坡社區賽德克族首領,抗日英雄。左圖是其歷史真人相,右圖是電影版的莫那魯道。
他的英勇氣概與為尊嚴而戰的真漢子精神,深深打動我的心。

与台湾一样,我国马来西亚,在东马和西马均有原住民族群分布各地。至今仍有不少原住民依然选择居住在深山野林的祖传习俗地。类似有如台湾雾社事件的大型原住民反抗的流血事件,在我国鲜少发生(除了著名的沙巴巴谣族英雄末.沙烈领导的起义对抗英军)。其中的原因可能是我国地广人稀,统治者与原住民的利益与资源冲突还不算大。而英国人的殖民管制方式也与日本人迥异,比较不干涉个别族群的生活与文化。但是在国家独立以后,由于政府的发展计划(建造水坝)和经济活动(伐木和开发园地)的关系,近数十年来就连那些住在深山内陆的原住民也倍感被逼迁的压力。不知名的本南族发言人,在1987年就曾对媒体说过这番话:“警察和士兵来到了我们的路障,威胁与命令我们必须把它拿开。我们说,我们正捍卫着属于我们的土地。你们身为警察和士兵很简单,你们受雇会有薪水入袋,然后就可以买任何东西,比如说米啊糖啊。你们可能还有钱存入银行。而对于我们,这片森林就是我们的金钱,我们的银行。这里是我们可以寻找到食物仅有的地方。”

就是要攔路保住家園
原住民是天生的猎人和森林采集者,森林土地对于他们是不可用金钱衡量的。没有了这些习俗地,不仅没有了食物,也失去了传统的打猎文化及可以采集制作各种日常生活物品的原料(例如藤与材)。如果不能建造属于他们族群特色的房子,纺织他们族群特色的衣服,那么这些原住民的文化特征还能保住吗?

連原住民土著都會抗議了

原住民不是落后也不是野蛮,他们只是选择一个让他们觉得自在的生活方式。城市人被迫成为工作狂,甘为金钱奴然后又被债务捆绑住,身心就有自由吗?难道这就是所有人都该向往的‘文明’?

其实原住民本身也不反对国家发展,但前提是政府必须尊重他们。即使发展计划势在必行,这也是政府的责任确保原住民社区有被咨询和被寻求同意过,然后再好好地安顿这些受影响的原住民,以确保他们的利益不会因此而受损和未来生活仍受保障。剥夺原住民的习俗地必定会触动当地人的神经,进而引起紧张和反弹,因为一般上没有人会很情愿离开自己的家园。设路障阻挡伐木公司的大卡车前进已算是很‘文明’的非暴力反抗了,我本身很不希望有天看到原住民被迫需要拿起武器来起义,为仅剩下的族群尊严而战。


本文原刊登在《聯合日報》自由言論版