IT is rare to find a sold-out sporting venue these days in Malaysia but basketball has been able to do what football or hockey can't -- bring in the crowd.

The Asean Basketball League's (ABL) regular season has just ended with the playoffs due to take place tomorrow but already the inaugural season has been hailed as a resounding success.

Fans have responded well to the six-team league with the KL Dragons enjoying capacity backing, albeit at the Maba Stadium which can hold no more than 2,000 people.

Before any snickers, bear in mind that even the mighty Selangor football team can't attract more than that at the Shah Alam Stadium these days and they've got all the stars and lead the Super League!

The fans flocking to the Dragons home games have ensured an electric atmosphere and throw in a few cheerleaders and half-time prize giveaways and you've got a winning formula.

Compare that with the mundane surroundings of football's M-League, with the exception of Kota Baru's Sultan Mohamed IV Stadium, and you get a contrast in the extremes.

The ABL was launched with the main idea of raising the standard of basketball in the region but it can't hurt if fans are attracted as well.

It is hoped the ABL will have a spillover effect, leading to stronger national teams and domestic leagues.

The Dragons struggled in the initial stage of the league but improvement in the later stages among the local players helped the Dragons snatch a playoff berth at the death.

Although Dragons have five foreigners in the squad, the likes of Chee Li Wei, Loh Shee Fai and B. Guganeswaran have not been shy to show their stuff.

To have to compete with skilled imports can only make the locals better players and therein lies an example for football to follow.

The M-League has eschewed foreign players to its own detriment but ABL has shown that having imports is not all bad.

Another factor behind the success of the ABL has to be down to corporate backing of the league from day one.

To have none other than AirAsia founder Datuk Tony Fernandes as the ABL president has not only attracted attention of sponsors and the media alike, but also goes someway to ensure that the ABL has a reasonable chance of success.

Yet one more lesson for football, dominated by politicians as long as anyone can remember, to learn.

KL Dragons and the ABL have shown that with a proper plan, the right people and enough resources, a sport can prosper.

Football has squandered so much money, probably more than RM500 million over the last 30 years, but what do they have to show for it?

A run-down and star-less league, less than convincing plans to send senior players on foreign attachment and the virtual absence of a crowd at matches.

I Remember When...
The all-Malay basketball team was a crowd favourite

2010/01/03

Liew Yong Choon is the first Chinese to be inducted into the Malay College Old Boys Association (MCOBA) and with it, the privilege to wear the college tie. Why? The police officer spent a lifetime training the MCKK boys play basketball. ARMAN AHMAD finds out what drove him MY story begins back in 1974 when I met a boy in Kuala Kangsar. He was desperately trying to make a phone call to his hometown. His name was Abdul Aziz Salleh. He was a first former at the Malay College Kuala Kangsar.

I was waiting to use the phone as well. But Aziz was in a bit of a hurry. He told me that he needed to be back at school before 4pm.

Since he was running late, I told him that I would send him over on my Vespa.

On the way to the college, we chatted a bit. I knew some of his teachers, who were my friends. I asked him what sports he played. He mentioned basketball.

At the time, I was 26, and teaching economics and accounting at a school in Taiping. I had graduated from University of Malaya with a degree in economics a few years earlier.

Liew Yong Choon reading his letter of acceptance into MCOBA

My friend Tan Chan Thaing, a physics teacher, was in charge of the basketball team. He knew I was a state player. When I asked him for permission to train the boys, he readily agreed.

Together with Tan, I selected a team and put them on a regimented training programme. The boys in the 1974 Cagers included Riza Amarullah Beg, Aznir Malek, Raja Azman Shah, Samsuri Sawari, Hasnol, Halim Hussain, Hasman Yusri, Ikmal Hakimi, Ramlan Aziz, Rozlan, Md Johari, Wahid Tahir and Burhanuddin.

I started training the first formers but as time went on, the senior team joined in.

I soon realised that many of them had talent. They picked up the game fast, even though they were at a disadvantage compared with their Chinese counterparts who began playing from primary school. In those days, basketball was rarely played by Malay boys .

Despite their lack of experience, the MCKK boys were disciplined, dedicated and outstandingly committed. They were obedient and willing to learn.

I was intrigued. At first, I taught them on a voluntary basis, but later I became deeply involved with the team.

In 1975, I joined the police force, as an ASP cadet officer.

Although I was stationed in Kuala Lumpur, I still coached the team, returning to Kuala Kangsar during my days off .

Almost all of my holidays were spent training the boys. I was a familiar sight at the east wing basketball court in those days, although I was not a teacher or officially engaged by anybody to coach the Cagers.

It took me three years to get them up to mark, but they finally became champions -- winning the Tun Hamdan Tahir Cup in 1977.

The MCKK Cagers in action during a match in Kluang in 1988.

From then on, the MCKK Cagers became a formidable force. They were respected and feared by the teams not only from boarding schools but also from other schools in Perak.

The boys were a crowd favourite as well. We organised a lot of friendly matches with the locals to get them well prepared.

I would bring the boys into Chinese areas in Perak. Places like Liman Kati and Kampung Station in Kuala Kangsar, Jelapang, Menglembu, Setiawan, Bercham, Pulau Pangkor, Pokok Asam and Manjung.

Wherever they went, the team attracted crowds. The Chinese residents would wonder whether the Malay boys could play good basketball. There were a lot of Malay boys playing football those days. But basketball?

Through basketball, the MCKK players started to interact with other races. There were days when local Chinese players would visit our players in their apartments after matches. They would talk about basketball, and soon enough they became friends.

You know, it is true what they say about sports being one way to make friends.

From my own experience, I saw how this game promoted racial integration and harmony.

This was what sustained me all these years -- watching how the game built ties between the races.

I took pride in bringing an all-Malay basketball team to play in predominantly Chinese areas, and watch the team become a crowd favourite.

In 1988, I was the vice-president of the Malaysia Basketball Association (MABA) and was selected as the team manager of the national team.

During this time, I had to focus all my time on training the team for the 1989 Sea Games but was rewarded when Malaysia won the gold medal. (The team won its first and only gold medal at the Sea Games.)

But when it was over, I went back to my hometown and the east wing where the basketball court was, and continued to train players.

We won again in 1992.

The MCKK Cagers have won the Tun Hamdan Tahir Cup 13 times -- in 1977, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1992, 1993, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and last year.

Last month, I was inducted as an honorary member of the Malay College Old Boys Association (MCOBA). (He is the second honorary member, and the first Chinese to be honoured and given the right to wear the college tie.)

I have a high regard for these boys, having spent three decades with them.

While their names and faces change each year, one thing doesn't change. And that is their spirit.

All the boys who have been trained by me thus far are well disciplined, committed and obedient. These qualities have given me the strength to continue coaching them for the last 30 years. They not only performed well on the court, but also excelled in their studies. I am truly proud of these budak Koleq.

Liew Yong Choon (far left) with the 1978 Cagers.

KUALA LUMPUR: A new primary school curriculum will be introduced in 2011, with fewer subjects and a more interactive teaching approach.

The new curriculum, called Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Rendah or KSSR, will see some subjects combined, and new ones created with themes on nationhood and patriotism.

It will apply to national and vernacular schools.

It is learnt that modules will be used to teach pupils in place of textbooks.

KSSR will be introduced in Year One next year, and advance through primary school together with the pupils as they go up to the next level of education.

At the same time, KIA2M or the Early Intervention Programme for Reading andWriting — introduced in 2006 to ensure all pupils can read and write by the end of their primary school years — will be abolished.

Education director-general Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom told the New Sunday Times that the KSSR would represent a “transformation in education”.

It will not replace the present New Primary School Curriculum or KBSR but exist alongside it.

“KSSR’s main aimis to strengthen the command of Bahasa Malaysia and English among primary school pupils.

“The teaching and learning approach will be more interactive and interesting, especially for the teaching of the two languages in line with the Education Ministry’s policy to strengthen both languages as the teaching of Science and Mathematics in English comes to an end that year. ” Alimuddin said teachers were being prepared for the KSSR.

On the scrapping of the KIA2M, Alimuddin said it was not because it was unsuccessful.

“It is more because of situational circumstances. With the onset of the KSSR in 2011, the need for an intervention programme such as the one offered through KIA2M is no longer relevant.

“This is because the learning and content standards that are outlined in KSSR are specifically aimed towards ensuring pupils acquire basic literacy skills by the end of Year 3.” This is also in line with the second National Key Result Areas (NKRA) for the ministry —to ensure all primary school pupils have basic literacy skills after three years of formal schooling.

Also to be introduced next year, said Alimuddin, is the National Standard-Based Preschool Curriculum (KSPK) for five and six-year-olds.

“This curriculum will be used by all preschools in the country, whether they are government pre-schools, those operated by agencies such as the Community Development Department (Kemas), Tadika Perpaduan, or privately- run.

“This is to ensure the aspirations, principles and aims inherent in the curriculum are captured by all pupils through the education they receive at that level.” He said this would also help the ministry realise its first NKRA, which is to ensure 87 per cent pre-school enrolment by 2012.

The KSPK, said Alimuddin, would also involve a new approach in teaching and learning.

“More music and singing would be incorporated into the syllabus.

“More time would also be allocated for English.”