The Shameful PSSI

(published by The Jakarta Post on 3 Apr 2010. Click here)


Try and mention one achievement by our national soccer team that we can be proud of. The team's performance just keeps getting worse. It has happened most drastically within the last decade. The public's growing apathy and distaste for Indonesian soccer is not just because of the national team's poor performance, but also the brutality of soccer fans who always engage in brawls and vandalism in every match. It's ironic, though, that even with soccer as the most popular sport in Indonesian, the game has become something we avoid talk about.

We're willing to stay up from midnight to dawn to watch UEFA Champions League games or the English Premier League, and don't care about our bleary-eyed appearance in the office a few hours later. But we avoid like the plague going anywhere near local stadiums hosting local league games. Last week I was forwarded an email warning of fan violence and suggesting I steer clear of Senayan, where Persija Jakarta hosted Persib Bandung. Ridiculous! Why has soccer become something ominous today?

Are we any less patriotic if we don't tune in to broadcasts of local matches? Or if we're crazier about the Italian Serie A and Spanish Primera Liga than the Indonesian league? Or if we're prouder of wearing the jerseys of Liverpool, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Bayern Munchen, Internazionale and AC Milan more than those of Persebaya, Persija or Persib?

We have a population of more than 200 million, yet no one here can kick a ball correctly. Look how we were embarrassed 2-0 by Laos at the Southeast Asian Games last year. And we failed to qualify for the 2011 Asian Cup for the first time since 1996. Our bid to host the 2022 World Cup was dropped by FIFA because we came up short on the requirements and government backing. And because we were dithering over whether we could really invest billions of dollars to build new stadiums and upgrade existing ones to provide the minimum 10 venues to host the 32-team World Cup.

Indonesia should be ashamed that its national team is ranked 138th worldwide, according to the FIFA list released on March 31, 2010 - far below prominent soccer teams from Africa such as Cameroon (20), Nigeria (22) and the Ivory Coast (25). We're lower than below Bosnia-Herzegovina (47) and Iraq (ranked 81) - war-torn countries that have somehow managed to build up successful teams from the ashes of conflict.

It's so easy for us to name a high-profile scandal, but so hard to name even one soccer player or achievement of which we can be proud. And those bloated officials over at the Indonesian Soccer Association (PSSI) never see it as a failure on their parts. See how it works?

In a radio interview Thursday morning, Sinyo Aliandoe, a former soccer player and national team coach, said the root cause of the decline in our performance was the PSSI itself. Therefore, chairman Nurdin Halid must resign from the PSSI. Only in Indonesia can you find a top sports administrator running things from jail. The man is a convicted criminal, and his presence in the PSSI violates FIFA regulations. When asked if our soccer team still had any hope of retaking past glory, Sinyo said that could only happen if Nurdin was kicked the hell out.

Perhaps the PSSI should have a chairman like Hendri Mulyadi. Remember him? He was the fan that ran out onto the pitch in a game against Qatar and tried to score, frustrated at the team's complete uselessness. I believe our diehard soccer supporters know him better than they do that criminal Nurdin.

***

Serpong, 31 March 2010

Titus J.

Sorry Seems (Not) to be The Hardest Word

I was in discomfort feeling when last week queued at a cashier counter at a prominent bread store in a mall. I just want to pay my order of some pieces of breads for my daughter. A woman who was standing up in front of me scolded the cashier complaining something. Behind me were several people lining up in the queue awaiting their turn to pay.

I was not sure what the problem exactly, but my ears tried to catch some words that being squawked by the disgruntling woman. On the other hand, I heard the cashier said sorry to the woman but she kept grumbling. I predicted it was about an order that not delivered to the woman as it had to be.

“That’s not professional at all,” the woman said. “I have asked you to ensure numbers of cakes that I order: was it twenty? You said, yes, correct.”
The cashier said sorry again.
“But it was only eighteen, you know? Eighteen!”
“Yes, mom, I am sorry,” the cashier replied softly, “Actually I know nothing, mom, because I just on in my shift couple minutes ago,” the cashier continued.
“You can say sorry, but it did not solve my problem.”
The cashier, still young in her twenty’s, looked abashed after learned many eyes looked at her standing nervously.

“I was ashamed, you know? The cakes were for my best colleague,” the woman continued, “Imagine what would happen if the cakes inside the box only eighteen. That’s supposedly twenty as I promised. You should think about it!” she pointed her finger to the cashier. The woman didn’t care of me (or might be other people standing behind me) who were watching over her and expecting to finish payment soon. I didn’t know what the grumbling woman thought, but she really didn’t care at all and kept scolding the young cashier.

I wanted to mediate between them, but in fact I kept silent. I wanted to suggest the woman that it would have been better if she could come to the store manager – not to the cashier, and conveyed her complaints, but in fact I remained shut my mouth up. I just wanted to help the young cashier explaining to the woman that she was not the one who served her and prepared the order, but in fact I let it go in front of my nose.

After poured her emotional remarks, the woman then left.

A moment later, I handed over the breads in my hand to the cashier who still tried to greet me genially although her face was still blushing. I smiled at her but said nothing as I had no idea how to console her. I thought it was really not her mistake but she got something she’s not deserved. I regretted for my inattentiveness. Am I affected by egocentric style as commonly prevails in the metropolitan city? May be I have right to say that was not my business, but approaching such woman while she lost a temper was not a simple thing.

While driving for my home, I tried to understand why the woman got angry just because of two pieces of cakes. Did she feel being cheated by the bread store? I am not sure. Perhaps that’s only a matter of carelessness of the bread store’s crew, or might be it lost on the way to her colleague as she didn’t recheck the box prior to the delivery. Supposed that’s the fact, it was so sad to look at the incident, not because of the complaints, but the way she complained.

Another scene I found when I had a dinner at a pizza store. Suddenly I heard a loud of voice from a man who was scolding a waiter. The man pointed towards the waiter and scolded him in high tone. After learned the incident for awhile, I then understood that the waiter un-intentionally spilled water on the man’s cloth. The waiter was bent over in shame, or might be also afraid of punishment from his boss. He said sorry to the angry visitor (customer) but only got a loud bang on the table next to him.

I learned something from the scenes. How many times we, as customers, feel disappointed upon the services, or perhaps of mistakes committed by shop keepers, cashiers, waiters, cleaning services, etc. We may demand to get best services because we have paid for it. However, how we express our dissatisfaction reflects ourselves. Sometimes, we even have to be more tolerant in situation that discomforts us, in particular towards such levels of ordinary people who serves us. Let’s pour peace on the already hot earth to make our world cooling off. “Sorry” seems not to be the hardest word to make us smile.

***
Serpong, 10 March 2010

Titus J.