The Southeast Asian Games will open formally on Saturday, as the Philippines plays host to its neighbors in the region.
This early, the sporting event promises to be a constant source of stories. Last week, media attention zeroed in on the cauldron that is supposed to keep the Games’ torch burning. Over the weekend, the Philippine Southeast Asian Organizing Committee apologized to Timor-Leste, Myanmar and Cambodia for the “inconvenience caused to them by the confusion regarding their transportation and hotel arrangement.”
Certainly the organizers need to do a better job. It’s a good thing they have between now and Dec.11 to show that in the Philippines, logistical blunders are the exception, not the rule.
Then again, the SEA Games is ideally not about the host nation or any sporting team from any participating country. Sports is ultimately a collective undertaking, and the SEA Games promises to transcend competition.
The Games, instead, stand for cooperation and goodwill among countries in Southeast Asia. Sure, each nation and race pursues its own destiny. Part of that destiny, however, is being among neighbors, co-existing peacefully and using various means to communicate and relate to one another for mutual benefit.
The Games also celebrate the indomitable spirit of athletes. Each participant to the Games invested years in conditioning themselves to do well in their sport, with or without the support they need so badly. They endure long hours of training, rise after each failure to try again, and push their limit all the time. It’s willpower and fortitude in unadulterated form. The Philippines is fortunate to have so many of these gems here all at the same time.
We often complain that there is a dearth of good news in the society where we live. Perhaps this is true – if we make a habit of going straight to the front pages of newspapers. The sports pages, however, run the same theme all the time: Athletes doing their best, defying the odds, aiming for excellence, and using sports to reach out to others like them even if they don’t speak the same language.
That in itself is good news always worth reading about.
