KUALA LUMPUR: Khairy Jamaluddin has advised Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh to be proactive in her role rather than shifting blame following Malaysia's performance at the Paris Olympics.
The former youth and sports minister said that given the involvement of numerous stakeholders in Malaysian sports, the minister must confront influential figures leading sports associations to ensure success rather than making excuses.
He said that she needed to be a proactive minister, not someone who shifted responsibility.
"If you're doing 'taichi' – saying 'not me, I didn't appoint them, someone else chose them, (or) I can't do anything' – that's not going to cut it because you are the minister," Khairy said on the Keluar Sekejap podcast.
He said that if the youth and sports minister did not assert herself and was not brave enough to face the powerful figures in sports, people would walk all over her.
"Sports associations are led by influential 'taikos', including former or failed politicians and businesspeople, who are not easy to control," he said, adding that if one was not prepared to confront them and assert one's authority, one would not achieve success.
Yesterday, Yeoh apologised for the national contingent's failure to secure a gold medal at the Paris Olympics.
She also said that the multi-million ringgit Road To Gold (RTG) programme should not be deemed a failure as it included preparations for both the 2024 Paris and 2028 Los Angeles Games.
Yeoh faced criticism for a post where she was seen with Thailand's world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn, deemed "insensitive" and "unpatriotic" by some, as Kunlavut had defeated Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia in the men's singles semi-final at the Paris Olympics.
Additionally, she aims to empower Malaysia's sporting community by placing former athletes in key positions within the nation's sports bodies before her term ends.
She also said that she had no authority to remove individuals from sports associations who were elected democratically by their members.