KUALA LUMPUR, April 7 — Until Hannah Yeoh took office as the current sports and youth minister, most national athletes survived on a RM800 monthly allowance paid by the National Sports Council (MSN).

Some elite athletes, or what the council categorises as “podium” athletes, may earn much more with sponsorship deals. Yet the precariousness of being professional sportsmen is shared by all regardless of which category they belong to. Up until 2023, Malaysia’s cream of the crop athletes enjoyed little to no social security.

Starting this year, Yeoh offered a new deal. Under a new contract of employment, these athletes now have some retirement savings and social security contributions. Retirement savings are made through mandatory contribution to the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF). MSN contributes 13 per cent while the athletes will earmark 11 per cent from their salaries.

The baseline athletes’ allowance rate was also increased. Those in the podium programme, including para-athletes, now receive RM1,500 in monthly salaries under a two-year contract basis, nearly double the previous rate.

Yeoh said the new deal is one of the short-term urgent fixes she undertook to address legacy problems that have a direct impact on athletes’ performance.

“Even for all the podium athletes they have no contract of employment with MSN,” Yeoh told Malay Mail in an exclusive interview held at her ministry’s Parliamentary office here.

“Why is the contract of employment important? I mean to tell our athletes to do this for national service is good but at some point they have bills to pay. We have got to make sure that it’s sustainable for them, and we want to make sure when they have to make that choice between working and sports, they choose sports.”

Fair criticism?

Yeoh, only the second woman to hold the sports and youth portfolio since Independence, has faced some criticism over Malaysia’s performance at the 2023 South-east Asian Games and the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, held in September last year.

Much of the criticism was centred on the national squad’s medal count, which detractors argued was poor relative to what had been spent on the athletes. Malaysia bagged 31 medals in the 19th Asian Games, earning itself the 14th spot from the 45 countries that participated in the tournament, a decent performance according to many sports observers.

Yeoh acknowledged the criticism but said assessing her policies solely on the medal tally is premature and misplaced. Decline or improvement in sports performance is usually years in the making. Yeoh has only been sports and youth minister for just over 12 months.

The programmes that she has put in place, including raising the salary rate and providing social security, may not yield immediate tangible results in terms of performance but the minister believes they are important to address underlying defects that correlates to how athletes perform.

To her, socio-economic security is a crucial incentive for elite performance.

“Can you imagine? Your top Asian Games medallist cannot even buy a car? Why? Because they don’t have a contract of employment,” Yeoh said.

“We celebrate our gold medallists — Malaysia’s highest-level (sports) representatives — yet they don’t have basic (financial) infra like the ability to buy a house or get married. If you don’t care for things like that, they are going to retire,” she added.

“I believe just by making that transition towards a more secured contract makes a huge difference for them.”

Athletes welcome policy

Job security for athletes varies greatly from one sport to another. Sports like badminton and hockey tend to offer better pay because of how popular they are, and their athletes’ contracts are managed by the respective governing bodies even if the funding comes through MSN.

Sports that are less popular but win many medals at international tournaments like track and field, swimming and martial arts often provide much lower pay because they draw less interest domestically.

Yeoh said these three sports will be MSN’s primary focus under her ministership apart from sports that Malaysia excel at like badminton and hockey, and that she has already rolled out foundational programmes to encourage more athletes to participate.

MSN athletes that Malay Mail spoke to said they are happy with their new contract. Among them was Datuk Pandalela Rinong, Malaysia’s top springboard diver.

The 31-year-old has represented Malaysia at the highest level, winning an Olympic silver medal for the 10-metre synchronised platform alongside Cheong Jun Hoong at the Rio Games, and a bronze medal for the solo 10-metre platform at the 2012 London Games.

“I feel it really benefits us athletes who have reached adulthood in terms of welfare,” she told Malay Mail.

“Actually, there are many adults like me who want to contribute more to the sports as athletes but without EPF savings, it’s not easy to stay in sports as it’s hard to take out a loan for a car or home. And there’s athletes who have to support their family,” the athlete added.

World champion bowler Natasha Roslan said having retirement savings and higher salaries will help athletes during difficult times.

“It is something which we have been looking forward to and thank you very much (Yeoh) for making it happen,” Natasha told Malay Mail.

“As a national athlete, it is as good as a ‘full time’ job. We spend our time with full commitment for the country and therefore the increase in allowance helps especially during this difficult period.”

Before Yeoh took over the sports and youth portfolio, pension was a privilege accorded only to Olympic medallists. From the Tokyo Games in 1964 to Tokyo 2020 56 years later, just 13 Malaysian athletes have won a medal.

No Malaysian athlete has won a gold medal, but Yeoh said she aims to change that with the “Road-to-Gold” programme.

The new contract will cost Yeoh’s ministry just some RM1 million a month, low compared to what other countries are spending on their athletes. The sports and youth portfolio was allocated RM1 billion under Budget 2024, one the lowest relative to other ministries.

Up to 301 athletes and para-athletes have signed the new contract, the minister said, with more expected soon.

Attracting top coaches

Coaches have also been given new contracts with higher salaries. Under the National Coaches Employment Scheme, top trainers that have the National Coaching Certification Scheme will receive a monthly salary of RM5,900.

Former athletes who were Olympic or Paralympic medallists and are now coaching would receive an additional RM3,500, while former athletes who won medals at their respective world tournaments would receive an additional RM3,000. In total, a coach who is a former medallist can earn up to RM9,500 a month.

The last review for coaches’ emolument was nearly 10 years ago, in 2014. Yeoh said raising pay for coaches was pivotal to get the best to do the job.

The coaches’ contract revamp was among several initiatives by the minister to beef up Malaysia’s sporting ecosystem. Malaysia has sought to partner Nippon Sports Science University for high-performance sports development, with a preliminary agreement already signed.

One programme that came out of the agreement is the High Performance Coach Education Series held between March 26 and March 29 at Bukit Jalil. The course was led by two experts from the NSSU, the school that has produced 40 Olympic gold medallists for Japan.

Yeoh said NSSU’s presence here followed her working visit to Japan as part of the Road To Gold programme. The trip cost the ministry RM214,000, which Yeoh said was RM30,000 less than what was budgeted. - malaymail