Hopes for revival pinned on new minister

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Thu, 10/29/2009 1:54 PM  |  Sports

When 46-year-old Andi Mallarangeng was appointed as the state minister for youth and sports affairs, local media, as well as the public in general, have been drawing parallels from his personal life that would ideally reflect his new title.

Before he was appointed minister, Andi was a household name, known for the controversial comments he made as a member of the national campaign team for re-elected President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

A legislator with Yudhoyono's Democratic Party said that Andi deserved the position because of his youth, interest in sports and skills on the tennis court.

"He is young, professional and a good tennis player," Jafar Hafsyah said during a discussion in Jakarta recently.

"Besides, he was once the spokesman for the President. The President trusts him wholeheartedly, and he is very smart, as evidenced by his doctorate," he added.

Andi earned a PhD in politics from Northern Illinois University, USA, in 1997. He had worked as a political commentator and a lecturer in local universities before he took the position as the presidential spokesman in 2004.

Jafar also said that besides being a good tennis player, the new youth and sports affairs minister also played many other sports as a hobby, including football and table tennis.

Born to parents who are themselves sports lovers, young Andi learned to play tennis when he was still in elementary school. He participated in local tennis competitions but never made it professionally.

"I don't have the talent to be an athlete but I probably have the talent to manage sports," he said recently.

With Andi now in office, hopes are high that the new minister will bring a breath of fresh air to the country's waning performance in sports, reflected notably in its poor performance at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

Indonesia's sporting delegations have, since 1999, failed to maintain the dominant position they held from 1977 to 1997 at the multi-event sporting showcase contested among the Southeast Asian states.

Their lackluster performance continued at the last SEA Games in Thailand two years ago when they finished in fourth place in the medal tally behind Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam.

National shuttler Taufik Hidayat attributes the miserable performance in part to the government's lack of focus on athletes' welfare and said the country would continue to slump in sports if the ministry continued to neglect the issue.

"There will be less and less people who will want to be athletes due to the uncertainties, because they have to make sacrifices to practice persistently to become professional athletes," he said as quoted by news portal kompas.com.

"If the government could involve multinational companies in providing a pension fund for one athlete each, then I believe there would be many youngsters who would take up the opportunity to be athletes," he added.

Instead of reporting on the sports achievements of the country's athletes, today's newspapers publish more stories on rifts between the ministry and the National Sports Council (KONI).

KONI and the ministry, under outgoing minister Adhyaksa Dault, have fallen out over the latter's unprecedented move to establish a national training center, the PAL, thereby usurping KONI's previously exclusive training center.

But Andi's appointment has generated renewed optimism.

KONI chairwoman Rita Subowo said recently that she expected to have better cooperation with the ministry in future.

"I know Andi is highly committed to sports, as he is a sports lover himself," Rita said when asked about her expectations of the new minister.

"I believe we will work better together," she added.

Andi also said that he preferred the path of reconciliation with KONI.

"We will focus on managing our sports affairs without unnecessary conflicts," he told the Post. (adh)

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