The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion
The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion |
| Posted: 29 Apr 2013 05:09 PM PDT
APRIL 30 — The nation waits anxiously for May 5. It is going to be the mother of all elections. The day where support is translated into votes, winners get to be office-bearers and losers will become the opposition, providing a check and balance for the government. This will be the 13th time in the history of our nation that we all come together to celebrate a democracy fiesta. As a postal voter this time around, I cast my vote last Sunday. It is great to be able to have a say in deciding who gets to form the government. Voting in the elections for the first time gives you a different kind of excitement — the kind you wish you would feel again on your wedding day. Or maybe, that was just the case for me. Indeed, we have come a long way. There is a stronger opposition coalition now in the form of Pakatan Rakyat. Gone were the days where Barisan Nasional is guaranteed a two-thirds majority in Parliament. The main electoral issue have evolved significantly over the years, from merely development to the demand for post-material values. As we have two apparent alternatives now, it is crucial that we make an informed decision when it comes to voting. Sure, we are still behind when it comes to freedom of information, with the mainstream media controlled by the government, until we have to resort to alternative media in search of broader points of views. Both sources of information must be taken into consideration — only then will we able to vote rationally at the polls. Undeniably, there has been extensive debate over our electoral system, with issues such as phantom voters still yet to be resolved. Nevertheless, the Election Commission has acknowledged such problems and taken necessary reforms in that regard. While the system is not yet perfect, we must not lose faith in the institution and we must continue to participate in the democratic process. The biggest tragedy of democracy is when people choose not to care about the future of the country. Having said that, it is greatly important for the rakyat to go out and vote in this coming election. Voting is a guaranteed democratic right, one which can never be taken away. Our forefathers fought hard for independence for us to be granted with this grand prize — the freedom to choose. Let us thus honour their struggle by exercising this sacred right of ours. For me, perhaps the greatest news I have received so far is that my grandfather has finally registered as a voter and will be voting for the first time too. He has finally come to the realisation that it is now a tight contest and every single vote counts. It is never too late for anything. If the two-party system is what we need to make people realise that their votes matter, so be it. Ultimately, it is of utmost importance that the results of the elections reflect public opinion as a whole. I am therefore appealing to all Malaysians, regardless of your political preferences, to come out and vote in this upcoming election. Some may vote strategically or emotionally. It is up to you, for that is the beauty of this democratic process. It is about "demos" and "kratos" — the people's power. Let the voice of the majority decide on the order of the day. Regardless of the outcome of this election, there is one thing for sure — Malaysians deserve a break from politics. It has been a bit too long, don't you think? * This is the personal opinion of the columnist. | |
| Posted: 29 Apr 2013 05:03 PM PDT
APRIL 30 — This year there are only three. Last year there were five, while in 2011 it was just two. The year before that there were three, and in 2009 there were four. In fact, you have to go back all the way to find the last time there was a majority of six or more. What on earth am I talking about? I'm talking about the English Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) team of the year, which was announced in a lavish ceremony in London on Sunday night. In case you've not seen this year's team, which is annually compiled as the result of a vote involving all professional players, they lined up as follows: David De Gea; Pablo Zabaleta, Jan Vertonghen, Rio Ferdinand, Leighton Baines; Juan Mata, Eden Hazard, Michael Carrick, Gareth Bale; Robin van Persie, Luis Suarez So that's just three Englishmen, Ferdinand, Baines and Carrick, along with one Welshman, the overall player of the year winner, Gareth Bale, to make a total of just four British players included in the English Premier League's select XI. It's nothing new. As I mentioned at the start of the article, the team of the season has been dominated by overseas imports for many years now, and it's not since the mid-1990s that the best 11 was consistently composed of a majority of native players. This ongoing trend is a pretty good indication of the state of English football in terms of producing top-quality English footballers. Quite simply: it's something my country is not very good at, and hasn't been for quite a long time. The question is: does this matter? Should English football care that the majority of the best players in the top division are not English? On the face of it, the obvious immediate answer is no. In terms of popularity, both within the UK and internationally, the EPL has flourished during the years of overseas dominance. The league has never been more popular or wealthier, so the failure of clubs to develop English players can hardly be said to have affected the EPL's global appeal, both with traditional match-going fans and the new international fanbase. Spanish football, in contrast, has never been stronger in terms of producing home-grown talent. La Liga's team of the year would include an Argentine (Lionel Messi, who was developed in Spain anyway), a Portuguese (Cristiano Ronaldo) and maybe a Belgian and a Colombian (Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and striker Radamel Falcao) but otherwise would be composed entirely of Spaniards. Yet many top-flight Spanish clubs are struggling to fill their stadia — even some of the best teams regularly play in front of half-empty venues — and the global popularity of the Spanish Primera Division is a pale shadow compared to the phenomenal passion aroused by the EPL. So there doesn't seem to be any correlation between the popularity and commercial health of the two leagues and the number of domestically reared players contained within those leagues. In the long term, though, it can only be unhealthy for English football teams to contain so few English footballers. The performance of the national team is already suffering and England will continue to slide down the world rankings, and continue to make early exits from the European Championships and the World Cup (if they even get there). And that, eventually, would surely start to impact negatively on the EPL's appeal to the fans both at home and abroad. A product of increasingly diminished quality would inevitably — even if slowly — lose its previous lustre and gradually find itself commercially overtaken by stronger leagues. This is something the English game's authorities have been aware of for many years, but so far they have been unable to find any remedies despite various attempts to reshape the structure of club academies and other grassroots initiatives. I believe there are two fundamental problems. Firstly, the sport's management — or lack of it — at the highest level. This has been inevitable ever since the Premier League made an organisational breakaway from the Football Association way back in 1992. It created a situation whereby the English game is effectively led by two governing bodies, whose priorities and concerns are often very different. Although the FA and the Premier League are not exactly at war, they certainly endure an uneasy relationship which prohibits the development and implementation of a consistent and clear-sighted long-term plan for the improvement of young English players — exactly the kind of plan, in fact, that the German FA initiated a few years ago with such obviously successful results. Secondly, the English footballing mindset remains rooted firmly in the past and serves as a serious impediment for the growth of young talent suitable for the modern game. Football has changed an awful lot in the last 20 years, notably with improvements in playing surfaces and law changes to protect creative players, both of which have encouraged the development of technically adept performers who can control, pass and move rather than kick, tackle and head in the old-fashioned English style. Attending a junior football match in England is a dispiriting experience. Parents and coaches stand on the sidelines bellowing at their young charges to "get stuck in" and "get the ball forward." This leads to a frantic kick-and-rush approach which might satisfy the competitive urges of the watching adults (sounds a bit like the EPL, doesn't it?) but does nothing to enhance the technical development of the young players. Until that mentality changes, there's unlikely to be much significant improvement in the quality of players produced by English football. In the not-too-distant future, we might be lucky to have a PFA team of the year that contains even one home-grown player, never mind three or four. * This is the personal opinion of the columnist. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 ulasan:
Catat Ulasan