Thread by @imokman

Going to start a thread on the Youth and Sports Ministry / Kementerian Belia & Sukan. This is NOT an attempt to lobby publicly for a position. At the end of the thread, I will give my views on who I think is the most suitable replacement for @Khairykj as the Minister of Y&S.

First of all, I don't think you need to be a sportsman / woman to be an effective Minister for Y&S. But you have to be interested in sports (or at least some sports) for you to understand what it would take to develop & grow sports in Msia.

For example, if you like playing basketball, u would be able to understand better how the game progresses from the school to the district to the state and finally to the national level. U would also be aware of the various semi-professional 'leagues' around the country.

Through the lens of one sport, u would be able to see the challenges at the various levels in terms of facilities, growing the interest, nurturing the talent, finding the funding, developing the competition etc...

One of the biggest challenges facing the new sports ministers will be from the various sports associations especially at the national level. What many people don't realize is that the Minister has little to no control over the internal governance of these sports associations.

Many of the top officials of these sports associations at the national level are politically connected usually with the BN. For eg, the chairman of the Malaysian Basketball Association (MABA) is usually an MCA person. Some of them may not take too kindly to a new PH minister.

Most of these sports associations have funding challenges. KBS is not able to fill these funding gaps so these politically connected individuals have to look elsewhere including from corporates to get sponsorship for their own associations.

Some of this funding may be indirectly via govt contracts (awarded to companies which belong to or are associated with these politically connected individuals) and then channelled to the respective sports association.

When PH introduces open tendering for all govt contracts, some of these individuals may see their incomes cut and this may directly or indirectly cut the funding for many sports association. The new PH Minister will have to deal with this reality.

There are a total of 39 sports which are recognized under the Sports Development Act 1997. All of them have their own sports associations which are recognized by the Ministry of Youth & Sports. Some have state level associates. Office bearers are elected into office by members.

One of the few levers of power which the Minister can use 'against' some of these sports associations is via funding from the National Sports Council (NSC) & through recognition of these sports in national competitions.

For example, @Khairykj dropped takraw, weightlifting & TKD from SUKMA 2018 as a 'punishment' against the associations for not managing themselves well. Decision made by the NSC. nst.com.my/sports/others/…

The funding of KBS is another major challenge. Its allocation in the 2018 budget was only RM451m for opex and RM401m for devex. With a relatively small devex, it is hard for KBS to build new sports facilities, unless the budget comes from the PMO. Most devex limited to upgrading.

Out of the opex of RM451, roughly half goes to funding the operations of the Institut Latihan Kementerian Belia & Sukan (ILKBS). There are 13 Institut Kemahiran Belia Negara (IKBNs) & 8 Institut Kemahiran Tinggi Belia Negara (IKTBNs) in the country mostly providing TVET education

Ideally, the IKBNs should go under MOE or the Ministry of Human Resources (MOHR) which is the coordinating agency for skills training and also has its own Institut Latihan Perindustrian (ILP). A lot of duplication when it comes to TVET education in Msia.

That leaves approximately RM250m for KBS for actual sports development which is a pittance. This is why KBS often has to partner with other govt agencies or the private sector when it comes to organizing large scale sports events. It simply does not have a big enough budget.

Given these budget limitations, the Y&S Minister has got be very creative in coming up with ways to promote sports and a sporting lifestyle in Msia. Credit must be given to @Khairykj for his efforts in promoting #FitMalaysia & the various activities under this initiative.

The new Minister must find similarly creative means to garner public support and attention to sporting activities at the individual and community levels. Including enhancing the #FitMalaysia concept to not just healthy activities but also healthy eating, for example.

I'll leave aside the issue of running events in Malaysia esp on the issue of safety since I've touched on this in my parliament debate on the amendment to the Sports Development Act. ongkianming.com/2018/04/03/uca…

Like all other Ministries, the Minister of Youth & Sports must know his / her area of jurisdiction very well & this is governed by statutes such as the Sports Development Act 1997 & the National Sports Council of Malaysia Act 1971.

These are just some of the challenges facing the new Minister of Y&S. As you can see, being the Minister is far more than just being someone who is sporty. It requires creativity, good administrative skills & the ability to know when to punish & when to reward (the sports assoc)

I think @SyedSaddiq has the qualities to be a good Y&S minister. He is charismatic, energetic, full of ideas and can relate very well to the youth. But perhaps it may be better for him to assume the Deputy Minister position for now and learn from someone more experienced.

I think it would be great if @n_izzah would be named as the Y&S Minister. She would be an inspiration to many young women including those in the sporting world. We've had a woman Y&S Minister b4 but I can't recall any legacy of note during her term.

But since @n_izzah was reported to have said that she doesn't want a cabinet position (todayonline.com/world/nurul-iz…), that leaves me with another equally qualified candidate who is @niknazmi.

Nik has administrative experience as the Sgor exco in charge of education, human capital, science, technology & innovation. He was also the former deputy speaker in the Selangor DUN. As two term member of the Sgor DUN, he brings a wealth of experience to the table.

At age 36, he is also young and capable. For these reasons, I think he's the most suitable choice for Minister of Y&S. Of course, the final decision is up to the Prime Minister @chedetofficial. I will support & work with whoever is chosen.

The good thing about having a larger number of young MPs in PH is that we have an abundance of young talent. This is a good problem to have, imho. So I hope this thread gives you a more holistic understanding of the challenges facing the Y&S Minister.

I'm sure that I've left out many challenges. Some of @khairykj's former special officers may want to chime in & correct me where I've made some factual errors. I hope whoever is appointed will improve on KJ's legacy and set new milestones for himself / herself #endthread.