Kiara greens are here to stay

12/01/1999

WHEN the Sports Ministry proposed that a lawn bowls stadium be built for
the Commonwealth Games, many felt it was a waste of time and money.
But lawn bowls defied all odds, holding their own against Australia,
South Africa and Scotland, to land a deserved silver and two bronze medals
at the Kuala Lumpur Games to justify the greens at Bukit Kiara.
Now it looks like the sport is here to stay and they have another chance
to prove their worth at the Brunei Sea Games in August.
Lawn bowls, traditionally a Commonwealth Games sport, will make its Sea
Games debut in Brunei and Malaysia are expected to grab the bulk of the
medals at stake.
And when Malaysia host the Sea Games in 2001, the stadium will again be
put to good use.
Malaysian Lawn Bowls Federation (MLBF) vice-president Razak Hitam is
optimistic of a good showing in Brunei.
"The president (Tan Sri Ahmad Sarji) will unveil a blueprint which will
chart the future of lawn bowls right up to the year 2008," he said.
"Many felt that after spending so much on the sport for the Commonwealth
Games, the Federation have slowed down their efforts.
"For the record, we took a well deserved break after the KL Games and
will start our Sea Games preparations after the Hari Raya holidays."
The National Lawn Bowls Centre is part of the RM26 million Bukit Kiara
Sports Complex which also houses netball's Stadium Juara. The fully-lit
centre has five greens.
Maintenance of the centre amounts to RM20,000 a month and this includes
grass-cutting, manuring and curing of the greens and workers' salaries.
The public are not familiar with this sport although it was played
during British rule of Malaya and was still popular after independence
among the expatriates.
In the 50s, the Royal Australian Air Force base in Butterworth was one
of the most popular sites for lawn bowls. When a stadium was built for the
sport at Bukit Kiara, world champions Scotland and the South Africans were
caught by surprise - for even they didn't have one!
Despite the lack of awareness in Malaysia and the Malaysian Lawn Bowls
Federation being formed only in 1992 to oversee Malaysia's participation
in the KL Games, our lawn bowlers played like veterans to land the medals
and `re-introduce' the sport.
Former Sports Minister Datuk Annuar Musa mooted the idea of constructing
26 greens to popularise the sport back in 1994 after Malaysia won the bid
to host the Commonwealth Games. The estimated cost then was about RM10
million.
Greens were installed in each State and each university, and one each
for the Police, Armed Forces and another at the Kampung Pandan Sports
Centre.
But after the KL Games, interest in the sport waned and even the
contract of foreign coach Robbie Dobbins was terminated. This short-
sighted approach in planning is retrogressive for the sport.
Lawn bowlers who took part in the KL Games took a long rest and some
have left the sport to concentrate on their careers.
But it is still not too late since MLBF are ready to implement a
comprehensive programme to enable the national players to keep in touch
with the game.
Malaysia will bid to host the 2008 World Bowls championship. The World
Bowls 2000 will be held in South Africa while Scotland will host World
Bowls 2004.
Malaysia will also host the Asia-Pacific Games in September.
The plus factor in lawn bowls is that to be a world champion, you need
not have strong arms, a powerful build or be physically perfect.
It would be a shame if the lawn bowlers stop at this stage after all the
hard work and sacrifice done for the KL Games.
(END)