KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Norza Zakaria believes there is no need to jump the gun despite Malaysia's unrealistic chance of defending their overall title at the Philippines Sea Games on Nov 30-Dec 11.
The Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) president said it was important to understand that the Sea Games is a multi-sports event that promotes development and friendship among Asean countries.
It was announced on Tuesday that the Philippines will host 56 sports comprising 523 events this year.
At the 2017 KL Sea Games, a total of 38 sports consisting of 404 events were contested.
The increase of events in the Philippines, however, does not excite the Malaysian contingent as nearly half of the 144 events in which the national athletes had won gold medals will not be contested.
For instance, track cycling has been axed while several key events in aquatics have been dropped which see Malaysia already losing a combined of 24 gold.
Former world champions Azizulhasni Awang (cycling) and Cheong Jun Hoong (diving) are some of the big names who will not feature in this year’s Games.
"First of all, we must understand that the Sea Games is about friendship among Asean countries and for development. There is really no need in having this obsession over targets," said Norza on Wednesday.
"Having said that, let us (OCM) first sit down and discuss with the NSC (National Sports Council) before coming up with any targets for the contingent.
"As you know, the tier system programme is new, so is the working committee. Let's wait to get some feedback from the NSAs (National Sports Associations) before finalising anything.
"We were all about the targets the last time because we were hosting it," added Norza.
Malaysia emerged overall champions im 2017 with 144 gold, followed by Thailand (72) and Vietnam (58).