Scaled-down SEA Games urged

While almost everybody talked about the Philippines winning the overall title, it was Malaysia’s Low Beng Choo who drove home the biggest point during yesterday’s SEA Games chefs de mission gathering at the Traders Hotel.

Except for the Indonesian delegate who missed the short and simple affair, representatives of the other member countries sang high praises on the Philippines’ readiness to host the Games and at the same time win the overall title.

But it was Choo, the charming Malaysian chef de mission, who really had everybody listening when she said the SEA Games should start drawing up a clear-cut policy regarding its calendar of events for the future.

"The SEA Games should go back to its original objective which is to develop sports in our region. We should only concentrate and focus on sports that are being played in the Olympics and the Commonwealth Games," she said.

"We should do this so we can improve and therefore go into the next level and win more medals in the Olympics. We should go for fewer events in the SEA Games, scale it down to a certain size and a certain level," said Choo, a lawyer by profession.

The different chefs de mission arrived in the country last Friday for a familiarization tour of the close to 40 venues to be used for the Games. In five days, they visited venues in Metro Manila, Subic, Bacolod and Cebu. They all left last night. Playing hosts in yesterday’s affair were RP deputy chef de mission and Philippine Sports Commission chairman Butch Ramirez, Philippine SEA Games Organizing Committee chief and Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose Cojuangco, SEA Games Task Force chief Harry Angping and Philsoc chairman Roberto Pagdanganan.

They all thanked the foreign delegates for their kind words.

The head of the Malaysian softball association and vice president of its Olympic Council, Choo said the current practice of host nations being given the right to decide on the number of events and gold medals to be disputed.

Choo, a frequent visitor in the country, noted that the Philippines has lined up 41 sports with 411 gold medals, just like the previous hosts — Malaysia in 2001 and Vietnam in 2003, both winning the overall titles.

The Philippines, therefore, is considered a strong favorite to win the overall title this year.

"And I think Thailand will match the same number of sports and events when it hosts the SEA Games in 2007. But what about in 2009 when Laos takes its turn to host the biennial event? What happens to the other sports?" she asked.

More sports and events to be disputed certainly calls for a bigger budget for the host, considering that there are more athletes, officials and VIPs to take care of.

The SEA Games, now made up of 11 countries will be hosted by the Philippines only for the third time in history after 1981 and 1991, the year it almost won the overall title and finished a close second to Indonesia.

Other countries participating in the Nov. 27 to Dec. 5 SEA Games are Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Myanmar, Brunei, Laos, East Timor and Cambodia. Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines complete the cast.