COMMENT | Malaysians of all backgrounds should be proud of our sporting achievements. Winning 145 gold medals in the SEA Games is an excellent feat. Not forgetting the 92 silver and 86 bronze, at total of 323 medals, the best ever achievement to date.

Naturally, it would have been fantastic if Malaysia could have clinched the gold medal against Thailand in the football final too, but the mother of all golds did not materialize, thanks to the howler of the keeper. Be that as it may, no one should take away the valiant fight that the football team gave that rainy night.

But sports and politics should never be confused. Sporting achievements represent the soft power of the country. When done well, they can exemplify the determination of the individual athletes to excel in their respective sport.

However, it would be both unfair and unethical for any politicians to bask in the glory of the accomplished sportsmen - just as sportsmen and sports women would not take credit for the feats of building the infrastructure.

Never the twain shalt meet in sports and politics. However, desperate regimes do try to take advantage of sporting glories.

In the 1930s, in order to justify the strength and power of the Aryan race, German dictator Adolf Hitler made full use of the Berlin Olympics to showcase the power of Nazi Germany. It was believed that Germans would be better and stronger than any of the other races - a myth that was punctured by Jesse Owens of the US who went on to win four Olympics gold medals.

In the 1970s, Romania was literally down in the pits. Instead of trying to reform itself, Nicolae Ceausescu’s leadership tried to milk the gymnastics achievements of Nadia Comaneci who was the first gymnast to score a perfect 10.

Yet, Nadia was sick of Romania's propaganda, and made a quick getaway to the US when she was not accompanied by her agents.

In the 1980s, towards the end of East Germany, Katarina Witt, a top figure skater in the ice ring, was lauded by Erich Honecker, the penultimate General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party who led the German Democratic Republic, as a superstar. Yet, his regime could not last too, as the Berlin Wall came crashing down in 1989.

Stealing athletes’ limelight

Malaysians have seen sporting glories before in the 1950s and 1970s. Even in polo, the sultan of Johor has noted that the Johor polo team has been in the World Cup before. In the yonder days, who would not know of the footballing talents of Ghani Minhat, Soh Chin Aun, R Arumugam, Santokh Singh, Mokhtar Dahari, Shukor Salleh, Zainal Abidin, Isa Bakar, Wong Hung Nung, Khan Hung Meng, even James Wong and Hassan Sani. They come from every state in Malaysia.

Thus, while plaudits should be given to the SEA Games contingent, one must not allow the alleged kleptocratic regime of the current administration to steal the limelight of the fans and athletes alike.

With the end of the SEA Games that acted as temporary escapism from the hardships of life that include fast escalation of costs of living, unemployment and under employment for many, it is now back to reality of making ends meet.

The SEA Games was almost engineered and choreographed to attain the feel good factor to perfection, from its grandiose opening to its grandiose closing, the choice of sports to maximize gold yield for the host nation that is done by every other hosting nation.

But it is now in the immediate past.

The feel good factor came and went. Contractors made their bucks albeit with frequent comical errors revolving around flags, athletes have had their satisfaction in doing their best in winning medals and making Malaysia a runaway leader from the start to end, while the politicians, as usual, will claim it is their vision that had made it so successful.

But for the average Malaysian, they are still facing fast escalation of costs of living, and inflation and imported inflation are pushing up prices; jobs are hard to come by, and the uncertainty continues with no solutions being offered by Prime Minister Najib Razak’s administration except frequent grandstanding on issues to amplify their work, with little or no credible results to address the bread and butter issues faced by the people.

Soon, election goodies will be dished out to ride on the current ‘feel good’ factor and elections will be called. The people will once again be lulled into voting BN in and the feudal system continues. At least this is the hope and the prayers of Najib and his administration.

Will the people be duped once again to surrender their most important power – the voting power - to BN once more to allow the current corruption, malfeasance and abuse of power to continue unabated for another five years?

Or will the people rise to protect the nation from complete annihilation into grandiose debts and economic destruction?

Only time will tell.

RAIS HUSSIN is Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) supreme council member and policy and strategy bureau head.