THE suggestion by the National Sports Council that Malaysia should adopt foreign athletes for the 2012 Olympics is an insult to home-grown talent ("Foreign 'help' should be studied" -- NST, Aug 27).

The problem lies in the indifference and lack of action on the part of the Youth and Sports Ministry. Not enough is being done to discover and develop local talent.

There is also a lack of public sports facilities in housing areas. How does the government expect the rakyat to maintain a healthy lifestyle if we have to pay club membership fees just to play a game of badminton or basketball? Where is our taxpayers' money going to?

Because of this lack of facilities, youths drift into undesirable activities like "hanging out" in shopping malls and some even resort to crime.

In Australia, scouting programmes advertised on radio stations call on children as young as 4 to come forward to showcase their talent in sports such as tennis (especially during the Australian Open season).
In Malaysia, there is no such thing. There are not enough competitions for our children to take part in. There isn't enough emphasis on sports as a part of everyday life.

What about students in private schools?

The ministry is wrong if it thinks the National School Sports Council is doing enough. I think the reason why it seems like our country has little in the way of sports talent and why our medal tally was so low at the Beijing Olympics is this -- much of our talent is undiscovered.

The government needs to make sports facilities more accessible to the public and hold more competitions and tournaments. Taking part in sports shouldn't be the hassle that it is now.