Southeast Asian Games

Southeast Asian Games

The Southeast Asian Games Federation logo
Abbreviation	SEA Games
First event	1959 SEAP Games in Bangkok, Thailand
Occur every	2 years ( Every odd years )
Last event	2015 SEA Games in Singapore
Purpose	Multi sport event for nations on the Southeast Asian continent
Headquarters	Bangkok, Thailand
President	Charouck Arirachakaran
Website	www.seagfoffice.org

The Southeast Asian Games (also known as the SEA Games), is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The games is under regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with supervision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Olympic Council of Asia.

History

Formation

On 22 May 1958, delegates from the countries in Southeast Asian Peninsula attending the Asian Games in Tokyo, Japan had a meeting and agreed to establish a sport organisation. The SEAP Games was conceptualised by Luang Sukhum Nayapradit, then Vice-President of the Thailand Olympic Committee. The proposed rationale was that a regional sports event will help promote co-operation, understanding and relations among countries in the Southeast Asian region.

There was a certain logic to the idea. The countries of the region had many similarities. Modest of population and on a comparable economic footing, they shared common sports participation as well as roughly equal standards of achievement. Such an event would serve as a stepping stone for Southeast Asian athletes to raise their standards so as to be more competitive when they met more advantaged athletes in the larger arenas of the Asian Games and Olympic Games.^[1]

The meeting resulted in the formation of the Southeast Asian Peninsula (SEAP) Games Federation in June 1959, the founder members being Burma (now Myanmar), Kampuchea (now Cambodia), Laos, Malaya (now Malaysia), Thailand and Vietnam - hence the six interlocked rings which formed the Games logo. The first president of the Federation was General Prabhas Charusatiara of Thailand and Luang Mayapradit was elected vice president with Dr Kalya Israsena taking the role of honorary secretary. Other pioneer members of the committee included Ms U Paing of Burma, His Highness Sisowath Essaro of Cambodia, Mr Nakkhla Souvannong of Laos, Mr Thong Poh Nyen of Malaysia and Mr Bguyen Phuoc Vong of Vietnam.^[2]

Early years

Thailand was given the honour of hosting the inaugural 1st SEAP Games in 1959. Formally declared open by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand in Bangkok’s National Stadium, some 800 athletes and officials took part in 12 sporting disciplines; athletics, badminton, basketball, boxing, cycling, football, tennis, shooting, swimming, table tennis, volleyball and weightlifting. The atmosphere of friendly competition added to the whole experience and the SEAP Games were definitely making a good start.

The Federation had already decided that in future "the honour of hosting the SEAP Games shall be entrusted to the member organisation of each country in rotation in alphabetical order". Thus the hosts for the 2nd SEAP Games were the Burmese, and President Win Maung of the Union of Burma inaugurated the 1961 meet at Rangoon. Cambodia did not take part in the inaugural Games but joined the fray in the second Games at Rangoon in 1961 which had a full turnout of the seven countries. Again, more than 800 athletes and officials took part and shared in the friendly ambience of athletic rivalry and social interaction.

The year 1963 saw a hiccup in planning though, as due to unsettling in-country conditions - and a disagreement with the International Amateur Athletic Federation- the designated hosts Cambodia were not able to host the event. The 3rd SEAP Games then passed to Laos as hosts, but they begged off the 1965 event citing financial difficulties. Fortunately though, Malaysia stepped into the breach which, by right, should have been held in 1963 and the eight days sporting extravaganza was held in Kuala Lumpur with around 1,300 athletes and officials taking part. By now the SEAP Games Federation had gained another member with Singapore’s independence from Malaysia in August 1965.

The incapability of Cambodia, Laos and South Vietnam to take on the job of hosting the Games in the foreseeable future raised some concern among the other member countries. Even the participation of these countries was limited to token squads. In 1967, Cambodia again declined to host the Games, but Thailand took over and some 1,200 participants gathered in Bangkok. The next scheduled hosts were Vietnam, but they too had to reluctantly inform the Federation that troubles in the country prevented them from fulfilling their obligations, and the 5th SEAP Games returned to Rangoon.

Expansion

Singapore, the youngest member of the family, made the first move to alleviate the situation. In 1969 at Rangoon the 5th SEAP Games were held, they proposed changing the SEAP Games name to Southeast Asia (SEA) Games. No names were mentioned but it was clear that Singapore thought of reinforcements from Indonesia and Philippines to help lift the sagging fortunes of the series. These two countries, which were more advanced in the affairs of international sport than the original members of the SEAP Games Federation, would not only be able to help out in the hosts job which was going abetting but also provides contestants of a higher standard in some events.

Thailand held on to their belief that the SEAP Games should be a small family affair and that going out of the peninsular would defeat the original purpose of the Games. An expanded Games would also not be in the real spirit of close neighbours. Two years later, when Kuala Lumpur’s turn to officially host the VI SEAP Games for the second time in six years, Malaysia joined hands with Singapore to resubmit the name change proposal. Again, there was no success.

The Games continued in their original framework but the serious competition was provided only by Thailand, Burma, Malaysia and Singapore. Cambodia (later Khmer Republic), Laos and South Vietnam sent competitors who were mostly full-time soldiers with little or no training in the events they were entered. The four "active" countries who had carried the burden of hosting the Games were further depleted when Burma showed no further interest in helping out after hosting the 1969 Games, due to the deteriorating economy in their country.

Singapore hosted the 7th SEAP Games for the first time with a full turnout of seven countries being held at the new and modern National Stadium in 1973. However, when Bangkok took its turn as host for the 8th SEAP Games two years later, only four members organisations turned up - political problems in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam prevented their participation and cast serious doubts on their ability to take part in upcoming events anytime soon. An idea that had flamed so boldly into life less that two decades before now seemed liable to be extinguished, crippled by regional political problems and the increasing cost burden of hosting the event so regularly - Thailand had already hosted the Games three times, and Burma and Malaysia twice apiece. A lifeline was needed.

Malaysia tendered a suggestion - extend the Federation to include other countries in the Southeast Asian region. To back up its proposal, Malaysia offered to again host the Games on the proviso that Brunei, Indonesia and Philippines be invited to take part. A solution had been found and on 5 February 1977, these three new members were officially welcomed into the Federation. Present on this occasion were Ferry Sonneville of Indonesia and Colonel Nereo Andolong of the Philippines. Still, it was not plain sailing. Behind the scenes persuasion on the eve of the meeting by Olympic Council of Malaysia President, Tan Sri Hamzah Abu Samah got Thailand to withdraw some reservations about a change in name for the Games. Thailand, with good reason, viewed the Games with some sentiment. They were instrumental in starting the series and did not wish to let their early work go to waste. With fresh life breathed into the biennial event, the only cosmetic change required was to drop the word "Peninsula" from the federation’s title - the emblem and the sequential numbering of the Games would remain to perpetuate the objectives, aspirations and contributions of the original founders.

Since 1977

The 9th SEA Games (the first to bear that title ) was held in Kuala Lumpur in 1977 with seven countries participating. Indonesia and the Philippines have been of full value to the movement since becoming members. As new members of the club, Indonesia hosted the 10th SEA Games in Jakarta in 1979, and the Philippines hosted for the first time in 1981 in Manila when over 2,000 athletes and officials took part. The 12th SEA Games were to be held in Brunei to start anew the alphabetical schedule of hosts, but Singapore took over when the tiny nation begged off because of its preparations for the celebration of its forthcoming independence from the United Kingdom.

Since that time the Games have gone from strength to strength, the 13th SEA Games being held in Bangkok, 14th SEA Games in Jakarta and the 15th SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur in 1989, which saw the return of Laos and Vietnam for the first time under the new title. Manila hosted the next SEA Games, followed by Singapore when 4,6ll athletes and officials were on hand. The 18th SEA Games in Chiang Mai broke new ground in that it was the first time the Games had been held outside the capital city of the host nation; it was also the first time that all 10 member nations - the last re-entry being Cambodia - turned up to compete. The 19th SEA Games was held at Jakarta with a record number of 6007 athletes and officials participated. A total of 34 sporting disciplines with 1,432 medals were offered in this Game. It was a far cry from the first Games held in Thailand 38 years ago, when 800 pioneers turned up to contest 12 sporting events.

After much coaxing from the Southeast Asia Games Federation Council, Brunei Darussalam accepted to host the 20th SEA Games for the first time. In view of the facilities available, a total of 21 sporting disciplines were offered. East Timor's (now Timor Leste) independence from Indonesia saw them becoming the eleventh member in 2001 and participate the Games for the first time during 22nd SEA Games in Vietnam. The 25th SEA Games was the first time Laos has ever hosted a Southeast Asian Games (Laos had previously declined hosting the 1965 Southeast Asian Peninsular Games citing financial difficulties) and also commemorated the 50 years of the Southeast Asian Games, held in Vientiane, Laos.

Participating countries

Nation / IOC Designation	Debuted	IOC-Code	Notes
Brunei (IOC designation: Brunei Darussalam)	1977	BRU	—
Cambodia	1959	CAM	—
Indonesia	1977	INA	IHO 1952 FIFA-code IDN
Laos (IOC designation: Lao People's Democratic Republic)	1959	LAO	—
Malaysia	1959	MAS	—
Myanmar	1959	MYA	BIR 1948–1992
Philippines	1977	PHI	ISO PHL
Singapore	1959	SIN	—
Thailand	1959	THA	—
Timor-Leste	2003	TLS	IOA 2000
Vietnam (IOC designation: Viet Nam)	1959	VIE	—

Host nations and cities

Since the Southeast Asian Games began in 1959, it has been held in 15 different cities across all Southeast Asian countries except Cambodia and Timor Leste.

1959, 1967, 1975, 1985

1961, 1969

1965, 1971, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2017

1973, 1983, 1993, 2015

1979, 1987, 1997, 2011

1981, 1991, 2005, 2019

1995

1999

2003, 2021

2003

2007

2009

2011

2013

2023

Location of the Southeast Asian Games host

Games	Year	Host Nation	Opened by	Date	Sports	Events	Nations	Competitors	Ref
Southeast Asian Peninsular Games
I	1959	Bangkok, Thailand	King Bhumibol Adulyadej	12–17 December	12	N/A	6	518
II	1961	Yangon, Burma	President Win Maung	11–16 December	13	N/A	7	623
III	1963	Awarded to Cambodia, cancelled due to domestic political situation
III	1965	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	King Ismail Nasiruddin	14–21 December	14	N/A	6	963
IV	1967	Bangkok, Thailand	King Bhumibol Adulyadej	9–6 December	16	N/A	6	984
V	1969	Yangon, Burma	President Ne Win	6–13 December	15	N/A	6	920
VI	1971	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	King Abdul Halim	6–13 December	15	N/A	7	957
VII	1973	Singapore	President Benjamin Sheares	1–8 September	16	N/A	7	1632
VIII	1975	Bangkok, Thailand	King Bhumibol Adulyadej	9–16 December	18	N/A	4	1142
Southeast Asian Games
IX	1977	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	King Yahya Petra	19–26 November	18	N/A	7	N/A
X	1979	Jakarta, Indonesia	President Suharto	21–30 September	18	N/A	7	N/A
XI	1981	Manila, Philippines	President Ferdinand Marcos	6–15 December	18	N/A	7	≈1800
XII	1983	Singapore	President Devan Nair	28 May – 6 June	18	N/A	8	N/A
XIII	1985	Bangkok, Thailand	King Bhumibol Adulyadej	8–17 December	18	N/A	8	N/A
XIV	1987	Jakarta, Indonesia	President Suharto	9–20 September	26	N/A	8	N/A
XV	1989	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	King Azlan Shah	20–31 August	24	N/A	9	≈2800
XVI	1991	Manila, Philippines	President Corazon Aquino	24 November – 3 December	28	N/A	9	N/A
XVII	1993	Singapore	President Wee Kim Wee	12–20 June	29	N/A	9	≈3000
XVIII	1995	Chiang Mai, Thailand	Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn	9–17 December	28	N/A	10	3262
XIX	1997	Jakarta, Indonesia	President Suharto	11–19 October	36	490	10	5179
XX	1999	Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam	King Hassanal Bolkiah	7–15 August	21	233	10	≈5000
XXI	2001	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	King Salahuddin	8–17 September	32	391	10	4165
XXII	2003	Hanoi & Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam	Prime Minister Phan Văn Khải	5–13 December	33	N/A	11	≈5000
XXIII	2005	Manila, Philippines	President Gloria Arroyo	27 November – 5 December	40	443	11	5336
XXIV	2007	Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand	Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn	6–15 December	43	475	11	5282
XXV	2009	Vientiane, Laos	President Choummaly Sayasone	9–18 December	29	372	11	3100
XXVI	2011	Jakarta & Palembang, Indonesia	President SB Yudhoyono	11–22 November	44	545	11	≈5000
XXVII	2013	Naypyidaw, Myanmar	Vice President Nyan Tun	11–22 December	37	460	11	4730
XXVIII	2015	Singapore	President Tony Tan	5–16 June	36	402	11	4370
XXIX	2017	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	TBA	19–31 August	Future event
XXX	2019	Davao City and Tubod, Philippines	Future event
XXXI	2021	Hanoi, Vietnam	Future event
XXXII	2023	Phnom Penh, Cambodia	Future event
XXXIII	2025	TBA, Thailand	Future event

Sports

A host nation must stage at least a minimum of 22 sports. For each sport and event, a minimum of four member-country must participate to be included in the SEA Games. Sports competed shall not offer more than 5% of total medal tally, with the exception to athletics, aquatics, and shooting. Two compulsory sports (Category 1); athletics and aquatics must be stage in every SEA Games edition, in addition to a minimum of 14 sports from Category 2 and a maximum of 8 sports from Category 3. According to SEAGF Charter and Rules, sports competed in Olympic Games and Asian Games must be given priority or preference.^[2]

Category 1: Compulsory sports^[2]

Sport	Years
Aquatics (swimming, synchronised swimming, diving, waterpolo)	All
Athletics	All

Category 2: Sports in the Olympic Games and Asian Games^[2]

Sport Years Archery 1977–1997, since 2001 Badminton All Baseball 2005–2007, 2011 Basketball 1979–2003, 2007, since 2011 Billiards and snooker Since 1991 Bowling (tenpin) 1977–1979, 1983–2001, 2005–2007, 2011, since 2015 Boxing All Canoe/Kayak 1985, 1995, 2001, 2005–2007, since 2011 Cycling 1959-1979, since 1983 Equestrian 1983, 1995, 2001, 2005–2007, since 2011 Fencing 1987–1995, 1999–2007, 2011, since 2015 Football All Golf 1985–1997, 2001, since 2005 Gymnastics 1979–1981, 1985–1997, 2001–2007, 2011, since 2015 Handball 2005–2007 Hockey 1971–1979, 1983, 1987–1989, 1993–2001, 2007, since 2013 Judo 1967–1997, 2001–2007, since 2011 Karate 1985–1991, 1995–1997, 2001–2013

Sport Years Modern pentathlon Never Polo 2007 Rowing 1989–1991, 1997, 2001–2007, since 2011 Rugby union/Rugby 7's 1969, 1977–1979, 1995, 2007, since 2015 Sailing 1961, 1969–1971, 1975–1977, 1983–1997, 2001, 2005–2007, since 2011 Sepak takraw 1967–1969, since 1973 Shooting All Softball 1981–1983, 1989, 2003–2005, 2011, since 2015 Soft tennis 2011 Squash 1991–2001, 2005–2007, since 2015 Table tennis All Taekwondo Since 1985 Tennis 1959–2011, since 2015 Triathlon 2005–2007, since 2015 Volleyball 1959–1997, since 2001 Weightlifting 1959–1997, 2001–2013 Wrestling 1987, 1997, 2003–2013 Wushu 1991–1993, 1997, since 2001

Category 3: Other sports^[2]

Sport Years Arnis 1991, 2005 Bodybuilding 1987–1993, 1997, 2003–2007, 2013 Chess 2003–2005, 2011–2013 Dancesport 2005–2009 Fin swimming 2005, 2009–2011 Lawn bowls 1997, 2001, 2005–2007 Kenpō 2011–2013 Muay 2005–2009, 2013

Sport Years Netball 2001, since 2005 Pétanque Since 2001 Pencak silat 1987–1989, 1993–1997, since 2001 Shuttle cock 2007–2009 Traditional boat race 1993, 1997–1999, since 2003 Vovinam 2011–2013 Water skiing 1987, 1997, 2011, since 2015

Uncategorized sports ^{Note 1}

Sport Years Bridge 2011 Chinlone 2013 Futsal 2007, 2011–2013

Sport Years Paragliding 2011 Roller sport 2011 Wall climbing 2011

^Note 1 Sports not listed under SEA Games Federation Charter and Rules

All-time medal table

With reference to the official data of the Olympic Council of Asia.^[3]

No.	Nation	Games	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Thailand (THA)	28	2089	1736	1736	5661
2	Indonesia (INA)	20	1714	1558	1580	4852
3	Malaysia (MAS)^1	28	1104	1123	1526	3753
4	Philippines (PHI)	20	894	1041	1295	3230
5	Singapore (SIN)	28	828	881	1191	2900
6	Vietnam (VIE)^4	21	771	730	829	2330
7	Myanmar (MYA)^5	28	545	705	909	2159
8	Laos (LAO)	19	66	87	267	420
9	Cambodia (CAM)^3	14	47	88	192	327
10	Brunei (BRU)	18	11	41	132	184
11	Timor-Leste (TLS)	5	3	5	18	26
Total

• ¹ – Competed as Malaya in the inaugural games until 1961.
• ² – The Republic of Vietnam was dissolved in July 1976 when it merged with the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) to become the Socialist Republic of Vietnam also known as Vietnam. Therefore, the medal counts for this country are considered to be as until 1975. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is not using codes for South Vietnam any more after unifying with North Vietnam.
• ³ – Competed as Cambodia, Kampuchea, and Khmer Republic.
• ⁴ – In the 1989 edition, a unified Vietnam rejoined the games with new name and new flag. Medals made by South Vietnam are already combined here. See table tally above for South Vietnam.
• ⁵ – Competed as Burma until 1987.

Criticism

The games is unique in that there are no official limits to the number of sports which may be contested, and the range may be decided by the organising host pending approval by the Southeast Asian Games Federation. Albeit for some core sports which must be featured, the host is also free to drop or introduce other sports.

This leeway has resulted in hosts maximising their medal hauls by dropping sports which are disadvantages to themselves relative to their peers, and the introduction of obscure sports, often at short notice, thus preventing most other nations from building up credible opponents. Some examples of these include:

• At the 2001 Southeast Asian Games, Malaysia introduced pétanque, lawn bowls and netball.
• At the 2003 Southeast Asian Games, Vietnam added fin swimming, shuttlecock, and added wushu event to 33 golds from 16 in 2001.
• In the 2005 Southeast Asian Games, the Philippines added arnis, a demonstration sport in 2003, with 6 sets of medals and it won 3 gold medals.
• At the 2007 Southeast Asian Games, Thailand added some new categories of sepak takraw and used a new kind of ball that had been used by their athletes for a year while other countries had never used it before. Futsal was also added. Thailand won nearly all sets of medal from that discipline.^[4]
• In the 2011 Southeast Asian Games, Indonesia dropped the team events in table tennis and shrunk the shooting events to just 14 golds from 19 in 2009 and 33 in 2007. At the same time, bridge, kenpō, paragliding, vovinam and wall climbing were introduced.
• In the 2013 Southeast Asian Games, Myanmar introduced local sports Chinlone. The host went on to win 6 out of 8 gold medals in the event. Sittuyin, a traditional Burmese chess which other competing nations were not familiar was included as a traditional chess number along with common chess competition number.^[5]
• Floorball was demonstrated by Singapore in the 2013 Southeast Asian Games and then was officially added in the 2015 Southeast Asian Games.

See also

Events of the OCA (Continental) Asian Games Asian Winter Games Asian Youth Games Asian Beach Games Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games Events of the OCA (Regional) East Asian Games Central Asian Games South Asian Games West Asian Games Southeast Asian Games

Events of the APC Asian Para Games Asian Winter Para Games Asian Youth Para Games Asian Youth Winter Para Games Events of the SEAGF Southeast Asian Games ASEAN Para Games ASEAN University Games ASEAN School Games ASEAN Civil Service Games

References

1. "South-east Asia's brightest hopes". Retrieved 2016-08-18.
2. "South East Asian Games Federation: Charter and Rules" (PDF). SEAGF. 30 May 2010. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
3. "South East Asian Games Medal Count". Retrieved 30 December 2015.
4. Sports. "VietNamNet - SEA Games or a village festival | SEA Games or a village festival". English.vietnamnet.vn. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
5. HS Manjunath (10 December 2013). "Cambodia eye record medal haul". The Phnom Penh Post. Retrieved 13 December 2013.

External links

• Olympic Council of Asia Regional Hosting List
• SEAP Games Federation