We had the opportunity to catch up with Mr. Sidney Tung, the Secretary General of Malaysian TenPin Bowling Congress (MTBC) - one of the longest serving and dedicated officials in Malaysian Sports today. Hear what he has to say...
JY : How did you first get involved in bowling?ST: I started bowling as a social bowler with a group of friends. After a few months, I got hooked to the game as I saw improvement week after week. Since then, became a crazy bowler bowling 6 times a week ! I started taking part in some local tournaments and had myself involved in organizing events with some bowling centers.
In 1976, together with my team-mates who bowled almost every night together, founded the Kuala Lumpur Tenpin Bowling Federation. We did very well as the best state association for Tenpin Bowling those days as we became the first state affiliate of MTBC to circulate a monthly news letter, and sending bowlers to represent the state in nearby Asean tournaments (ie Thai Open, Singapore Open and Indonesia Open etc.) I was called up by MTBC to become Assistant Secretary in 1978, and took on the post as Secretary General since 1980 till today.
JY : You've contributed a lot to the sports particularly with your involvement with MTBC . What's your motivation/inspiration for doing so till today?
ST : The love in the sport of Tenpin Bowling is the major motivation and inspiration of my involvement with the sport until today. The satisfaction of seeing the success of our national bowlers in international events is ever rewarding for all the work and effort put in. It is beyond words when you see how our bowlers fight for honours in major tournaments, the celebration with tears after winnings and hearing the Negara Ku being played.
JY : There's been criticism that sports officials hold on to their position for too long. What's your view on that? Do you agree that there should be a fixed term for sports officials?
ST : A sport official serving an association is to ensure the particular sport is well regulated, well managed and well promoted with good results and money well spent. If an official is capable of fulfilling all these, and the sport is gaining in popularity and achievements, is there a need to change the official? Do we need to change an official just for the sake of change. On the other hand, if an official is not performing and the association is not managed well, then there needs to be change to see better things.
JY : MTBC is one of the most successfully run association in the country, in your opinion why is it so?
ST : In my opinion, again it is the love in the sport. The fully committed officials/volunteers are all heavily involved in a sport that they love wholeheartedly without any political or personal agendas. The leadership of Dato Dr. PS Nathan who himself was a great bowler, has great knowledge of the game and a great administrator, is the main key to the successful running of MTBC.
JY : MTBC has consistently produced world-class bowlers, why / how is it so?
ST : Any sport must have a sound and solid development program to lead to success. MTBC put in place an 8-years nationwide development program in early 90s with the support of NSC to bring Tenpin Bowling in Malaysia to world standards. We achieved our target in 2003 when we won both the Men and Women’s Titles in the World Tenpin Team Cup in Odense, Denmark, and in the same year won the Women’s Team Gold in the World Championship. All members in the winning teams came from the development program which is still in existence and our source of new talent surfacing.
JY : Lately the NSC has decided to cut budget to sports associations across the board, how will this affect MTBC?
ST : The decision to cut the budget for all sports associations by NSC will definitely affect the development of the sports. Bowling is no different. But MTBC is in a process of finalizing our program, and getting back to NSC to seek the best possible funding to carry on with our development programme to our best. Failing which we are hoping to get other sponsors to come in to help to continue the development programs.
JY : When you're not involve in bowling, how do you like to spend your time?
ST : Reading, surfing internet and spending time with my family, especially my grand- daughter.
JY : Your outlook for the future of bowling in Malaysia?
ST : With the Professional bowlers eligible to bowl in all tournaments, and the improvement from many other countries, it will be difficult for Malaysia to repeat their achievements as we did in the past. The cutting of fund by NSC will make it more difficult to repeat our performance. We need to work very hard to ensure the best we can achieve with the limited resources.
JY : Your advise on aspiring bowlers?
ST : Put more effort in strengthening oneself physically and technically, and to give nothing short of their best in every tournament they participate
JY : Any last words?
ST :
Tenpin Bowling is one of the very few Sports that already reached world level. The government should work together with OCM to try and lobby for Tenpin Bowling to be included in the Olympic Games
Tenpin Bowling is one of the top Sports in the country, it is a family game and is recognized by the government. All bowling equipments and bowling balls imported are tax free. But sadly the state governments are still demanding an entertainment fee to be paid annually for all bowling centers in the country. I brought this up with the previous few Sport Ministers, who promised to look into that, but no action has been done. This has to be looked into and the entertainment tax removed so that bowling centre owners can assist the game progress further.
- interviewed by Jerome Yan
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