Today I went to watch the hockey match between Malaysia's under 13 team and Germany's under 16 team. Mild showers did not stop the game from proceeding in which it is part of an invitational tournament by Mannheim Hockey Club and teams from 3 other countries namely Netherlands, Belgium and Malaysia.I got to know about this match from my Malaysian student friends i met about a month ago on the way to Heidelberg. Honestly speaking it was obvious that our team was no match for the German team and lost 6 - 1. However, the Malaysian team did put up a fight and managed to score a goal through a penalty stroke in the first half. The second half was totally dominated by the German team with the Malaysian team occationaly cooking up some trouble for the German defense but only managed to trouble the defense, not the goalie. Looking tired, the Malaysian team accepted the loss with an opened mind.
An interview with the team manager revealed that food problem was one of the major problems faced by the under 16 team, where the team could not adjust to the European food arranged for them by the club. This is one of many problems faced by Malaysian sports teams when they get an invitation to play in a foreign country. The MSN (Majlis Sukan Negara) should see this problem seriously as it directly impacts the performance of the athletes. Its also not that impossible to bring along a professional cook along.
Tomorrow the Malaysian team will face Belgium for their last match of the tournament before going on a trip to Heidelberg later on Tuesday.
An interview with the team manager revealed that food problem was one of the major problems faced by the under 16 team, where the team could not adjust to the European food arranged for them by the club. This is one of many problems faced by Malaysian sports teams when they get an invitation to play in a foreign country. The MSN (Majlis Sukan Negara) should see this problem seriously as it directly impacts the performance of the athletes. Its also not that impossible to bring along a professional cook along.
Tomorrow the Malaysian team will face Belgium for their last match of the tournament before going on a trip to Heidelberg later on Tuesday.
National Under 18 hockey team along with me and the Malaysian Students in GermanyHighlights : The German teams's 5th goal
(Malaysia in White, German in Red)
(Malaysia in White, German in Red)
7 comments:
Hi Aimin,
I saw this posting on the hockey team and its just something very interesting that amuses me all the time, food for Malaysian sports team when they are over seas.
I've had one of my best friends who used to play for Malaysia hocket team in all levels and also spoken to some sports coaches (whom I shall not name for some obvious reasons).
This issue with food for the team had not been a new thing. But please bear in mind that my opinion are not in any way to be discriminative in nature. Just something that I've heard.
There had been many times that Malaysian sports team travelling even with own cooks yet they still face this problem. I have heard of some Muslim player who refuses to eat anything that was prepare for them because it was deem 'non-halal'. This I can understand when it comes to meat, but have you ever heard of players rejecting bread because it was non halal? :S Yes, the coach told me that it was so bad he had to go to the local mosque to get the imam to come and convince the few boys that it was ok to eat the bread. I have even heard of some guy who didn't even dared to drink any water provided by the hotel because he was scare the water was 'dirty'. He ended up buying bottle water to drink and cook maggie mee in his room everyday. And he came home and brag about how pious and religious he is as a Muslim!:S So do you think that our boys stand any fighting chance against opponents who have proper diet when they are only eating maggie mee? I don't think there's any problems with the "European" food but more of the fear and mentality of these players who are really paranoid. The same coach told me he had trouble to try to convince the boys to eat anything proper even after the local guest had promised to serve only halal food, because most of the players comes from small towns or villages where their parents tells them from young everything "western" is bad!
And according to my friend, whenever the Msian sports team travel to any big events, Olympics, Asian games etc...there's always more than enough cooks and dietician with the team.
And if you think religion is the problem, its not. Another problem is discipline in the national sports team. In modern day competitive sports, all atheletes have specific diet they must follow with very detail advice from dietician to each person which usually means no to junk food or street food and such. Imagine the coaches dilemma when the players choose not to eat all those specially prepare food in training camp to help their body, instead going to the road side to have mee goreng, nasi lemak, rendang etc... Reason: "tak sedap lah makanan kat kem tu". And they are talking about big buffet meals prepare for them with lean meat, carbohidrate etc!
Then you compare them with our own world beaters like Nicol David, Josiah Ng, Shalin,...their discipline is top notch. Nicol is so fit, she can beat any of our senior hockey and football players in stamina and mental toughness. (and this is according to tests that are run by MSN)
From your comments, im glad to do a little explaination and give opinions of myself regarding the issue at hand. Well, as for the athlietes that dont want to folow their diet, thats pure disiplinary problems. As for not wanting to eat the foreign food, heres my opinion :
Well I guess that is a problem of most Malaysian Muslims when they first go overseas. The thing is, maybe not many know this, but Malaysia Islamic sect, the Shafie, although its not a fundementalist sect, it is one of the most conservative sects when it comes to the laws, and how we practise our prayers, eating constrainsts etc. Im not saying its bad but its kind of, one of the most "be safe" sect. But i must emphsis that the "be safe" attitude ONLY applies on how we practise our prayers, eating constrainsts etc. We are not Taliban in any sort. The most layed back sect i have seen so far are the Turksih sect (hanafi).
As a comparison I'll give u an example. In Malaysia, if a muslim touches a dog, he would have to wash the touched area 6 times with normal water and 1 time with water mixed with a little soil and the Turkish dont have to. Thats why u see Malaysian muslims dont like dogs and Turkish muslims have dogs. Having known this in Turkey, i have made my peace with dogs. Its not the dogs fault that ppl hate them, it just in our minds.
In the case of food for athlites, i think its just pure ignorance. But i dont blame them. Everybody has a different upbringing. Islam is not a static reigion. We are often told to think, think and think, not just folow what people say(well, depends on who's talking). For me as long as i have the fundementals knowladge of Islam, i can think from there. For example, i did tell u about my dine-in's here in Germany. I think its good to save som money, and be safe at the same time by cooking lunch myself and bringing it to work to eat. But i also think that without going for lunch with my colleagues, how am i going to know them better (lunch is the best time to get to chat and know each other). So, maybe 2 times a week i will go out with them for lunch. Its good that vegitarianism is officialy acknowledged in Europe, so when its a vegitarian dish, it's almost certian that there is no meat. and vegetarianism is not just about eating vege and fruits, but pasta, cheese, mushrooms are also included, so its not so boring as people expect.
Another case is usualy the AIESECers have BBQs when there is warm weather and usualy they cook pork. I know that usualy muslims will totaly avoid this situation, but with a little creativity, i think its not impossible to join them and have a good time. I can buy my own meat from the turkish shops(which are halal) and use a tin foil to isolate my BBQed meat from the others. Its quite simple if your willing to think out of the box at the same time obvserving your limits.
so the bottomline is there is always a way for muslims to achieve in a foreign environment (especialy when food is the main concern). One needs only to think out of the box while observing one's limits and try not to be too paranoid. Of course, these things needs practice so, living abroad really helps *wink*
p.s. The maggi part was absolutly true. hey maybe we should post our conversation in AIESECinUTM yahoo groups? Its kindda an interesting topic i thin everyone should know abt
Hey Aimin,
You hit it right on the spot. I can understand the 'challenges' that many of us face due to our religious/beliefs differences. Only problem is to be able to discuss this in an adult and open manner.Sad to say, most people in our country, not only Muslims but other religions as well, sometimes takes things personally when we talk about such things. And from the culture that we are brought up, never to question authority let alone GOD, has made many people quite close minded. And when people don't think and question uncertainties but just accept everything as face value, it just made them more ignorant of many things around them. I am not saying that everyone should go out there and start questioning their priest, imam, rabbi, etc...but just that if we can only open up our mind a little, we can overcome many obstacles and still be living right.
And Aimin, you have set a very good example not only to Malaysians but also a moderate and modern muslim as well. You could've chosen to not participate in many of those activities that some might deemed 'un-Islamic' and just end up being in your little room alone but you really thought out of the box to join your colleagues for lunch and also the BBQ. I am sure you had enlightened them in a positive way of what you did and they would learn as well to understand that Muslims are not only about stoning people and terrorism. I am really proud of you man! Though I know that there's a large majority of Muslims in Msia who are quite ignorant about Islam themselves and mostly just prefer to do what they "believe" is right without even taking time to think, I am glad that there's still many modern Muslim like you in our country that can adapt to such challenges that comes your way.
My best friend is also another example of someone like you. He comes over to my house and starts patting and playing with my little dog and I was like "Dude!!! Are you crazy?!?!?" He explained to me, that there's nothing really wrong as a Muslim to touch dogs, especially clean and properly taken cared dogs like mine. It's usually the nose that supposingly 'dirty' in a very normal and straightforward way because dogs use their nose to sniffs on everything and its wet most of the time. So in a way, what the Quran had thought him is common sense about hygiene of animals. In fact, dogs had been helping humans as long as history can tell and even Muslim police officers with dog units have no problem with that. The problem with most Muslims in Msia is, they are thought to hate dogs since they can remember and they don't even know why. And this friend of mine is also quite religious guy and his family too and they are really modern Muslims who read and understand the Quran and sees it as also a guide in their daily life with many teachings that actually makes sense when you think about the reasons and benefits for it. It's just sad that many people choose to just accept everything that is said and told to them without even trying to think if it's even correct or not.
ps: I still don't get it sometimes why we must bring Maggi Mee with us when we travel overseas...also not to mention Nescafe 3in1! That one is still a mystery to me sometimes...hahahahah. Yup, let's shake up the @UTM community and see what others have to say about this ;)
Hey Alan,
Your right, I noticed that we do bring maggi mee with us when we travel overseas. Its the 2nd thing we remember to bring with us apart from bringing spare underwear. Haha..just want to add on you point. I think its very good to question rather than just accept things the way they are. But just make sure u question because you WANT TO KNOW, not to tembak or intimidate the person ur asking, like a lawyer. I believe if you question with a sencere intention, you will get a sincere answer.
Im glad that I mixed around with non muslims that sometimes question about why muslims are like this and that. Its good in the sence that sometimes i myself dont question the rational of such laws. After i have been asked, if i dont know on the answer on the spot,i will try to find the answer and come back to them later...than only i will discover the rational and practicality of the law. When i really UNDERSTAND the rationality of the law than only im more confident in practising it, compared to if i only follow the law because i was told to.
PS: Are you familliar with a Finnish band "Apocalyptica"? I love their songs. Something unique...
Hello and Assalamualaikum...
Can you give me a few pic of u16 malaysian hockey team at mannheimer hockey club? I hope you can ....
thanks..from > malaysian
Waalaikummussalam...Saya ada beberapa gambar lagi, tapi macam mana nak bagi? ada email tak?
atifgazali@gmail.com
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