During the Asian Games in Korea last year, national cyclist Fatehah Mustapa had complained of fatigue, over eyebrow-raising reasons.

Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin visited the track cyclists and asked how they were doing, only to find out that her problems were of the paranormal nature.

When he prodded her, the cyclist claimed that the apartment allocated for her was haunted.

"The moral of the story is not about whether you believe in ghosts, but what's important is that she thought there were ghosts.

"It's about addressing the problem, somebody should have done something to reduce the process loss.

"Maybe an official could have accompanied her at the apartment," he said in his speech at the launch of Malaysia's 2015 Sea Games web portal.

Fatehah's ( left ), who won a silver medal in the women's keirin event, had admitted to Khairy that she felt tired during the event.

As such, the minister said he instructed the 2015 Sea Games chef de mission Mohamad Norza Zakaria to ensure hands-on monitoring to reduce process losses among athletes.

"Nothing is too small to be a small problem. If you must, find the ghost and get rid of the ghost," he added, drawing laughter from the audience.

 

Doping issues

Meanwhile, Khairy also stressed that he was not taking doping issues lightly.

As such, he wants a 100 percent testing for athletes who compete in individual events at the 2015 Sea Games, shortly before they leave for Singapore. Random doping tests will be conducted for athletes in teams.

"There were at least three high-profile doping cases last year, one caused us a gold medal, and another caused us a world number one position.

"I don't think Malaysian sports can take another high-profile doping case. We have reached a stage that it's a crisis already. I'd rather there be doping tests earlier, than for us to be embarassed later," he said.

In a press conference later, Khairy admitted that some believed that a thorough screening should not be conducted.

"But because of high-profile doping cases, we must send a stern message to the athletes," he said.

Asked about national shuttler Lee Chong Wei who is now in London for the final stage of preparation before his doping case is heard, Khairy said everyone should pray for the best.

On whether Lee will be making a comeback after the hearing, Khairy said it was still to early to say.

Lee last year tested positive for the banned substance dexamethasone at the World Championships in Copenhagen and as a result was suspended from competition since November.