Healthy mind dwells in a healthy body

A GOOD and sound education system can only achieve its goal if an individual has a healthy body. Hence, in the midst of pushing for an ideal education system in our country, we must not forget that physical activity is as important as English and Maths.

There is no denying that sport plays an integral part in the education system of a country. The lesson we looked forward to the most during our school days in Seremban not so long ago (about 35 years) was physical education (PE).We loved the teachers who let us play football for hours under the blazing sun while they read their magazines in the shade.

After school and on weekends, the

padang (field) was our playground. We played hockey, football and cricket daily and players did not even need a pair of shoes to join in.

We played in five fields which we could access easily and were in relatively good condition – the NS padang, Bland Road padang, Rahang Square padang, railway padang and hospital padang.

Players were totally committed to their teams and were strongly supported by their parents and dedicated coaches who contributed their services for free. Our hockey team produced half the players for the first 11 that emerged fourth at the junior world cup competition in Vancouver, Canada in the 1980s.

There were neither fees nor expensive hockey sticks to be paid for, and success was due to sheer determination and grit! And this was possible because we had the

padang.

Over the years, due to reasons best known by the powers that be, the padang vanished. The largest, NS padang which we called our Wembley Stadium, lost part of its grounds to the NS town hall while Bland Road padang became our bus terminal, hospital padang

became a carpark and the railway padang became the godown for trains. The Rahang Square padang

was fenced up and designated as the training ground for the state football team (pic). These days, you have to pay to play football, the coaches, field and to participate in tournaments.

Furthermore, pupils in Years 4, 5 and 6, the age where children develop interest in sport, are loaded with extra classes to prepare for the Year 6 exam.

The law stipulates that housing estates of a certain size must have a playing field. In Seremban, a large housing project was marketed as having good facilities for sport, including a tennis court and a large field for football. A few years ago, the tennis court was demolished and bungalows were built on the site.

Another housing estate was marketed with a lake and jogging track to entice potential buyers. After all the houses were sold, the lake was filled up and the jogging track was demolished and replaced by a number of terrace houses. These days, people have to jog on dusty roads riddled with potholes.

We have been cheated by the developer and people in the local authorities who approve housing projects. Files must be reopened and if there is corruption involved, the people approving these projects must be dealt with. Let’s not only concentrate on catching the big fish when the small ones are lurking in every nook and corner.

Leave the padang alone and let our children play there for free like we did not so long ago.