Taiwanese athletes have done the nation proud with their outstanding achievements in the Taipei Summer Universiade, claiming a record number of gold medals.
Their success has not only aroused a positive feeling among the public, but provided a rare opportunity for the world to see a passionate Taiwan.
While the victories in the international sports arena are the results of hard work by the athletes, some politicians have been eager to latch on to their popularity by having their picture taken with the medalists for media exposure or to claim credit.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) on Sunday expounded on social media on how he, during his stint as Taipei mayor, spent a year talking with various sports organizations, which resulted in the addition of seven sports to the Universiade.
“The strategy and assessment have gone accordingly, with the seven items accounting for 80 percent of the gold and silver medals” won by Taiwanese athletes, Hau wrote.
His comments sparked mixed reactions online, with supporters lauding him for being a “visionary” and others taunting him for being the “king of befitting from others’ glory.”
In an apparent jab at politicians, a food company has aired a TV commercial with the tag line “the momentary pleasant sensation of latching on to others’ glory — together let us cheer for Team Chinese Taipei.”
Politicians should promote the nation’s excellence in sports, but where was their support before these athletes’ achievements on the international stage?
The athletes’ hard-earned victories at the Games are the result of years of training and cultivating talent, enduring pain and difficulty, and are largely self-financed. Politicians and the government alike had little, if anything, to do with it.
Yang Ho-chen (楊合貞), who has clinched five Universiade golds in roller sports, said that she would donate her prize money to her alma mater to help buy skating equipment and nurture talent.
Yang’s generosity and gratitude put many politicians to shame.
If politicians and officials genuinely care for the athletes who compete for the nation’s glory, they would not leave them to struggle financially.
Instead of offering mere words of congratulation, concrete actions by politicians and the government would improve the nation’s sporting environment and accelerate its competitiveness.
Earlier this month, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said that a proposed amendment to the National Sports Act (國民體育法) would be key in reforming the nation’s sports industry, but it sits idle in the legislature.
“We hope the nation’s sports industry will have a new image after the reforms and that people can see the government’s determination to thoroughly implement them,” she said.
If Tsai meant what she said, she should, in her capacity as Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairperson, instruct the DPP caucus to review and pass the amendment during the extraordinary legislative session.
Aside from offering better rewards for winners as an incentive to encourage athletes to pursue excellence, the government should work to create an environment that makes people want to pursue a career in sports by improving facilities and investing resources in training programs.
If politicians and the government, who played little role in creating the athletes’ success, cannot put their fair share of effort into bettering the nation’s sports industry, they should stop trying to gain credit for their fame.
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