Just scrap the sports minister’s post, veteran tells govt

[superadmin]

GEORGE TOWN: The government should have just done away with the sports minister’s post given the lack of concrete policies and long-term targets in elevating the standard of sport and its performance on the world stage over the years.

Former Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) secretary-general Sieh Kok Chi said it was also impossible to evaluate the successes of sports ministers over the years, as performance indicators are often shifted in their favour.

He was asked about the future of the country’s sports given that the country has seen four sports ministers since 2017 — Khairy Jamaluddin, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, Reezal Merican Naina Merican and the incoming minister Ahmad Faizal Azumu.

Sieh, a veteran sports administrator and critic, said it was tough to rate ministers when their own KPIs are often evaluated based on medal targets set by the National Sports Council (MSN), which was under the auspices of the sports ministry.

He said that based on MSN’s efforts and targets, the ministers could claim themselves to be successful. He said this made it impossible to evaluate the successes or failures of the sports ministers themselves.


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