The current SEA Games (tag) has been rather entertaining so far. Diplomatically-wise, that is. Recently, Thai Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, accused that the host, the Philippines of being biased in officiating the regional biennial game. And it doesn’t end there: Thaksin plans to raise the issue at the upcoming ASEAN meeting in Kuala Lumpur.
Me – WTF?
But anyway, the Filipino President Gloria Arroyo then ordered an investigation into the allegation. The investigation, concluded 24 hours later revealed no unfair officiating has occurred.
Yes – the Philippines is accused of cheating and the Philippines conducted the investigation and the Philippines cleared themselves up. I suppose “conflict of interest” is an unheard concept. Not that I’m accussing of anything but still, it’s fishy.
However, that’s not the best part. The best thing is that some Filipinos conducted a protest – yes, a real protest – in front of the Thai embassy in Manila over Thaksin’s remark. Soon afterwards, Filipino legislators are demanding apology from Thaksin.
Folks, cool down. Take a deep breathe and think. It’s just a game. Stop acting like kids.
I mean, look at Malaysia. Vietnam cheated Malaysia but Malaysians aren’t over the top about it. At most, the Malaysian delegates lodged an official, in game, protest. What happens in a game stays in that game. Be a sportman.
Hell, look at how Malaysians deal with real diplomatic issues – while Indonesians were willing to go up in arms against Malaysia over Ambalat not too long ago, Malaysians just took it easy. Have a cup of teh tarik. Chill out. Oh, you want to ganyang Malaysia? Mari, mari. No need to gaduh-gaduhlah.
Point is, relax. Even Malaysia and Singapore aren’t at each other throat, yet. If Malaysia and Singapore don’t plan to get into a little squabbling, then nobody should be. Please, there’s no need to outdo us.
Nevertheless, Thaksin does make a bad diplomat. Still, he brought up a legitimate concern. The Philippines needs to be more professional in hosting the Games. Already, several other countries are having some misgiving about this edition of the Games. Rigging your own election might be your internal matter but the SEA Games doesn’t quite fall into that category.
2 replies on “[675] Of SEA Games: Thailand versus the Philippines”
Dear John,
#1 Yes, no one knows for sure but when several countries made the same complaint, it is hard to ignore. Indeed, several countries that filed that complaint.
#2 I don’t know about that. Sometimes, the line is too fine. For instance, the Italian Serie A! Yet, I agree with you. For a game that is supposed to foster regional integration, the argument about it does seem unnecessarily loud.
#3 As for the Philippine election, the recording is hard to ignore.
And indeed, we all have our own internal problems but I think, we need to be more critical of each other. My words may have been unnecessarily harsh I’m frustrated at ASEAN’s non-interference policy. That policy, as may be illustrated by that SEA Games and ASEAN politics in general, member states seem to enjoy moral immunity.
“Rigging your own election might be your internal matter but the SEA Games doesn’t quite fall into that category.”
Now that is uncalled for.
I have no comments about your “Point-of-Views” but saying that is crossing-the-line.
#1: No one knows the truth if there really was cheating involved in the 2005 SEA Games;
#2: Politics is different from Sports
#3: There are no proofs that there were cheating in Philippine Elections – we are still waiting for someone to get jailed for cheating the elections.
Last but not the least, we all have our shares of problems especially in the politica arena, so don’t say that “Rigging your own election might be your internal matter but the SEA Games doesn’t quite fall into that category.”
If there really was cheating, then file a formal complaint to the ASEAN. Until then, such conclussions are being hostile.
No offense fellow ASEAN Citizen.