As the SEA Games 2025 begin, we find ourselves celebrating our athletes’ winning moments with pride.
This edition serves as a crucial test bed for Malaysian national athletes as they prepare to face regional competitors once again, but this time on home soil in 2027, when Malaysia hosts the Games.
While we revel in victories, we also tend to brush aside our misses and losses. Yet in sport, sometimes we win; sometimes we learn.
If we want to build sustainable progress in sport, for both women and men, we must reflect not only on our victories but also on our defeats. Consider the following recent outcomes:
Grace Wong and Nani Sahirah Maryata struck gold in the hammer throw and shot put events respectively, breaking records along the way.
Debutants Seah Jing Ying, Wong Zin, and Yow Mei Yee claimed gold in the women’s recognised team poomsae, making headlines with their youthful energy and presence.
Tan Sin Jie, Pang Hui Pin, Foo Suet Ying, and Tan Pei Jie, long-serving stalwarts of the national set-up and domestic league, won bronze in women’s 3x3 basketball, narrowly edging out strong teams from Vietnam and the Philippines.
The Malaysian Tigresses were eliminated from the football competition without scoring a goal, suffering heavy losses to regional rivals, including Vietnam and the Philippines. Over three games, they recorded a goal difference of -16.
In women’s swimming, we are still searching for gold. Phee Jinq En remains the last Malaysian woman to top the podium, back in the 2019 SEA Games in Manila.
These are not simply results to celebrate or critique in isolation. They raise important questions — not because they are all shining examples of success or failure, but because each reflects deeper issues worth examining.
Among the winners, we wore our pride openly. Wong and Nani have long been diligent, consistent, and resilient — qualities that have brought them to where they are today.
For those who follow athletics closely, their names are familiar and respected. Their success is the result of taking it one step at a time.
Meanwhile, the taekwondo trio, all debutants, won gold in spectacular fashion. Yet they are unfamiliar faces to most of us. Their emergence highlights not only their talent but also the limited media coverage of female athletes in Malaysia, particularly in sports that rarely make headlines.
On another court, the basketball community celebrated a hard-earned victory led by the most senior women in the squad. It was the passion on Pang’s face as she secured the winning basket that told the real story. We took home the medal and won hearts, but not the long-term game of basketball development.
In football, a sport recently marred by controversy in Malaysia, we still seem to search for reasons to develop the women’s team, as if justification were needed. In doing so, we overlook a simple truth: every athlete carries the weight of the nation, regardless of gender.
In swimming, we should not compare today’s performances with past glories, but it is hard not to. Growing up, Nurul Huda Abdullah was a household name, not just among children but even among our parents, whenever the Southeast Asian or Asian Games came around. Her races brought an almost guaranteed splash of gold — a moment we all waited for.
Fast forward to 2025: unless you are a swimming enthusiast, you would probably have to check online to recall the last time a Malaysian won gold at the Southeast Asian level. Some might argue that aquatics includes diving, and that Malaysia has achieved world-class results — and that is true.
But to be realistic, we must acknowledge an uncomfortable truth: a decline is happening. Can we stop the slide before diving becomes another forgotten powerhouse?
Some may say this is just more talk about equality. But here is the truth: we need to be honest with ourselves and serious about what comes next.
Do we really want to support women in sport — not just in theory, but in practice? These are not rhetorical questions. They are the starting points for policy, planning, and funding decisions that must be made now.
Each sport has its own unique needs, strengths, and gaps. Rather than assuming that equality means giving the same time or money across the board, we must start thinking in terms of equity: how much is truly needed, and where?
This is not a one-size-fits-all approach. It requires data, tailored strategies, and leadership willing to stay the course. And it is not just about funding; consistent media coverage is part of the solution too. If women’s sports remain invisible, they will remain under-supported. We also need to stay grounded in reality: anything we begin now may take five or ten years to bear fruit, especially in sports where challenges lie deep at the grassroots level.
We have just two years before the SEA Games 2027, when our athletes will compete in front of a home crowd, and three years until LA 2028. Some female athletes are already on the Road to Gold, committed to walking that path with discipline and heart.
But Malaysian sport as a whole needs to adopt a long-term mindset — one that values development, peak performance, and transition as an ongoing cycle.
We do not just need medals. We need a system that understands what it takes to keep winning, for everyone.
Chong Yong Yee is a senior lecturer at Universiti Malaya's Faculty of Sports and Exercise Science
The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the writer and do not necessarily represent that of Twentytwo13.
