Locus Standi (with addendum)

The right to speak. The weightage is not always the same.

Take the question of the Juniors taking on the Seniors. Why was the Olympiad used as the example? That is the only tournament that is fully sponsored. Or at least that was the case last Olympiad to the best of my knowledge. In almost every other tournament, it is the parent who finances or finds the financing.

That is why when the parent of a National Junior brought up this question to me, I listened. I run a blog and he doesnt. He has the locus standi to voice his opinion. Their opinion has weightage. Some have sponsored their kids for 10 years. They have paid out of their own pocket for the Malaysian players to represent the Country. They have paid their dues.

The parent who got upset in Mal/Sing has locus standi to voice his frustration even if the other parents may not agree. I returned the SMS to that parent to say forget about the outburst; there is nothing to forgive. He has paid his dues and he has the right to speak although he may have brought the issues up in the wrong forum.

I too have the locus standi to speak on this issue. While Mark may have just gotten into the National Squad, we come from Perak where almost everything including the kitchen sink were thrown at us to stop us from progressing. And Perak has not produced anyone notable in over 10 years. We too have paid our dues.

The Seniors have locus standi to argue against the suggestion. They too have paid their dues.

But out of concern for our kids who are fighting so hard this is a question we felt we needed to ask.

PS: I just remembered another parent with a National Junior child, who was present during the discussion of the play off, and he informed me that he borrowed RM25K to finance his child's trips to represent the Country last year. Does he have a say about how things are?