Kicking down the race barrier
BY IDA LIM
JUNE 30, 2013
While the issue of race remains a contentious one in Malaysia — just look at the various headlines and comments in the media — civil society is ready with a raft of suggestions.
These range from community football to more inclusive government policies.
In Subang Jaya, a football league initiated and run by volunteers has been building a community that cuts across the ethnic divide, long before Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak came up with the concept of “1 Malaysia.”
Subang Jaya Community Youth Football League (SJCYFL) co-ordinator Zaini Mazlan told The Malay Mail Online that it was started 13 years ago by an American named Douglas Ladner and his friends to bring the community together through sports.
Zaini, a Shah Alam resident who has two sons playing in the league, said it is not bound by geographical location, with some parents coming from as far away as Kajang, Cheras, Mont Kiara, Klang and Damansara Heights.
“We have Americans, English, French, Malay, Chinese, Indian, Kadazan, Iban, Bidayuh… you name it; we have everything. It’s the best model of community.
“We have no politics, we have no racial barriers, we are one community, and we are purely run by volunteers and self-funded. We’ve been around for 13 years so the formula works.”
The team of the season is the team that stands united, not necessarily the champion, says SJCYFL coordinator Zaini Mazlan. The lawyer said the league saw participation by people from all walks of life and from various income brackets, saying that there were no class barriers among the parents who mingle together.
“A lot of friendships are made in the league and they go on to become friends even after the league ends,” he said, saying that such ties go beyond the league’s season that runs from January to May each year.
The league, which runs on weekends in SMK USJ 4’s football field, has 270 schoolchildren in four divisions, namely the Under-8, Under-10, Under-12 and Under-14 divisions, with each division having six teams.
The players are carefully divided after a skills assessment so that all teams are “equally represented in terms of skill, age and race”, Zaini said, later adding that those who play in the league see each other as friends without looking at race.
The government at all levels must be colour-blind… No one should feel like a second class citizen.” — Datuk Dr Denison Jayasooria
“Children, they don’t care about the results. They don’t care who their teammates are or who they play against. They just care about making friends, having fun. That’s why I love this league so much. When I see the kids, they run around, they don’t see colours, to them everyone is a friend. By seeing that, I know we’ve achieved something,” the father of five said.
Two years ago, the league introduced the Douglas Ladner Community Shield which is awarded to the team that best exemplifies the league’s six core values of discipline, unity, teamwork, service, family and sportsmanship.
“The one who wins this is the team of the season...We give it to a team that’s not necessarily the champion but has got good values.”
When asked how Malaysians can repeat SJCFYL’s success in bringing a diverse community together, he suggested that the government take a look at the league.
“I’m sure it will work better if organisations like FAM (Football Association of Malaysia) and government pays attention to this and replicate it. We’ve done it on our own.”
Parents cheer on their kids from the sidelines. Zaini says a lot of friendships are made in the league and many participants remain friends even after the league ends.
Zaini also said the Subang Jaya Community Sports Club (SJCSC), the club that runs the league, is always ready to offer their assistance to those who want to follow their lead, adding that they had helped the Bangi Football Junior League (LBJB).
The community-based football league in Bangi, which now has over 100 players, was started in 2008 and is based on the Subang Jaya model.
SJCSC president Ahmad Farouk Md Hashim said the Bangi group was the only one who had successfully adopted the Subang Jaya model, with parents in other areas such as Puchong, Ampang and Wangsa Maju unable to start a league due to the absence of a football field.
“Others have expressed a lot of interest but the biggest challenge is finding a football field,” he said, saying that not many schools were as supportive as SMK USJ 4, which had allowed the SJCYFL to use its field for 13 years.
Meanwhile, academic Datuk Dr Denison Jayasooria pinpoints the tendency to look at race in discussions as a cause in the racial outlook of most Malaysians.
“One of our major problems is in the articulation of social issues, the political discourse is quick to indicate a racial analysis without first reviewing the hard facts. One recent case is the deaths in custody,” the principal research fellow of UKM’s Institute of Ethnic Studies (KITA) said, adding that the recent elections results actually showed an urban-rural divide and the gap in information access, instead of the traditional race-based factors.
The government and sports minister can replicate the successful community football model, says Zaini.
He said the root cause for this is race- and religion-based political parties, saying that Barisan Nasional (BN), especially Umno, should move away from this, while the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) parties have to “do more to champion multiracial concerns.”
To address this problem, Jayasooria said the government should come up with a programme to enable civil servants to “have a better understanding of ethnic and religious diversity with the values of mutual respect.”
“The government at all levels must be colour-blind and must implement an inclusive development agenda. Policies and programmes must be fairly accessible based on equal opportunities using needs-based assessment for all communities including sub-communities. No one should feel like a second class citizen.”
Jayasooria also proposed a total revamp of the media, saying programmes which are ethnic-focused should give way to talk shows and drama series that better reflect the Malaysian experience.
Schools are the best place to unite everyone. Unity should begin at schools, at a very young age. — Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye
Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, a former National Service Training Council’s (NSTC) chairman, said the National Service Training Programme (NSTP) was and is intended to bring the country’s different races together.
“Basically, you have to bear in mind that National Service Training Programme (NSTP) is actually to help promote integration amongst the various ethnic groups and also to encourage the trainees who come from different races and different backgrounds and different geographical locations to meet to integrate, to make friends, to build bridges of understanding among one another,” he said of the government’s three-month programme that puts thousands of youths together in camps each year.
He said that all camps had the same objective of promoting unity, but their success will largely depend on the capability and dedication of the camp commandant.
“At the end of the day, what is most important is the trainees themselves... What is important when they leave from the camp, they must be able to implement it on the ground,” he said.
He said that the ex-trainees “must make attempts to make new friends” across the racial divide as the purpose of the programme would be defeated if they went back to their “old ways.”
When asked about those who had not been through the NS camps, he suggested sports and education to bring about unity.
“Even those who are not in NS, there are other ways. Schools are actually the best place to unite everyone. Unity should begin at schools, at a very young age,” Lee said.
- Sourced :http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/kicking-down-the-race-barrier
