Indonesian Students Paid to Cheer for Malaysia at SEA Games
November 15, 2011
Palembang, South Sumatra. Thousands of Indonesian students have been pulled from their school classes to do the unthinkable — cheer for bitter rivals Malaysia and other nations during the Southeast Asian Games.
State news agency Antara reported that Palembang’s Office of Education and Sport (Disdikpora) had recruited students from 28 junior and senior high schools in the provincial capital of South Sumatra to cheer for competing nations who might otherwise have been short of support.
During the sepak takraw -- a cross between football and volleyball -- match between hosts Indonesia and Malaysia, 400 students from four schools were deployed to cheer for the Malaysian team.
They were even supplied with Malaysian shirts and flags.
“Our job is to support Malaysia, therefore we shout ‘Malaysia, Malaysia!’ at each of their games,” junior high school student Ayu Napsadewi told Antara.
Disdikpora required that each of the 28 school supplied at least 100 students and 10 accompanying teachers to support the foreign teams.
Junior high school teacher Samsidar, 44, said the support was vital to boost the spirit of the athletes.
“We have to be a good host, therefore we must also support the guest teams,” Samsidar said.
Participating students were provided with transportation to and from the sport venues, meals and a small amount of cash.
Diana, another teacher, said the arrangement allowed students to witness a variety of sports.
“Most of the students only knew about football and badminton, while there are still many other interesting sports such as softball, baseball, beach volleyball and shooting,” Diana said.
(x the JG)
di 15 nov 2011 - 6:49