Pay coaches what they deserve or be prepared to pay the 'ultimate price'

New Straits Times

2 days ago

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia must pay top local coaches what they are worth or be prepared to face the consequences if they move abroad.
That is the view of sports analyst Datuk Dr Pekan Ramli when asked about the departure of a number of Malaysian diving coaches and the sport's decline here in recent years.
Pekan stressed that when it comes to remuneration, there should not be any double standards between foreign and local coaches if the latter have the right calibre.
"In Malaysia currently there is a different salary scale for local (Malaysian) coaches and foreign coaches," said Pekan when contacted today (Aug 1).
"We are always willing to pay big money for a foreign coach to come here but will not do the same for local coaches.
"This should not be the case if our local coaches have strong credentials. Our divers, for example, were world class when they were competing as athletes and are sought after as coaches.
"If they are qualified and are committed to coaching, there is no reason they should not be given a similar remuneration to the foreign coaches who come to work here.
"It is okay to allow our local coaches to move abroad if they genuinely want a new challenge in their careers.
"But they should not be moving abroad because they are disheartened by the environment or the remuneration here in Malaysia."
Over the past year, Malaysia has lost former national divers Bryan Nickson Lomas and Wendy Ng to the South Korea and Singapore national teams.
Bryan had previously been working with Malaysia Aquatics as diving technical director while Wendy was coaching the Federal Territories (FT) Malaysia Games squad.
Debutante Ainslee Kwang, 14, became the first Singaporean to reach the semi-finals (women's 10m platform individual) at the ongoing world meet in Singapore after placing 13th in the preliminaries.
In contrast, Malaysia's Lee Yiat Qing, 17, placed 29th in the same event and thus, missed the top-18 cut for the semi-finals.
For a country that is used to winning world championship and Olympic medals in the past, it is a worrying development for Malaysian diving.
Pekan said this is the risk Malaysia faces if it continues to lose coaching talent.
"This is not the first time it has happened. We lost K. Dharmaraj to Indonesia and they went on to beat us at the 2023 Sea Games (indoor hockey)," said Pekan.
"Ultimately, this is the price we will pay if we do not pay our top local coaches what they deserve.
"Our coaches will end up developing talent in other countries and give them the knowledge that they have accumulated over the years.
"In the end, these countries will go on to beat us in sports we have traditionally excelled in."
The national diving squad have not given fans much to cheer about at the ongoing World Championships in Singapore, which concludes on Sunday (Aug 3).
So far, the only positive results have come from Elvis Clement and Enrique Harold who did well to finish seventh in the men's 10m platform synchronised event on Tuesday (Aug 29).
It was the best-ever performance from a Malaysian pair in the event. The duo will compete in the men's 10m platform individual event tomorrow (Aug 2).
In swimming today (Aug 1), Malaysia's Arvin Singh, Jayden Tan, Khiew Hoe Yean and Andrew Goh placed 16th from as many teams in the men's 200m freestyle relay preliminaries after clocking seven minutes and 29.30 seconds.