2001 Southeast Asian Games

21st Southeast Asian Games

Host city	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Nations participating	10
Events	391 in 32 sports
Opening ceremony	8 September 2001
Closing ceremony	17 September 2001
Officially opened by	King Salahuddin Yang di-Pertuan Agong
Officially closed by	Mahathir Mohamad
Athlete's Oath	Noraseela Mohd Khalid
Torch lighter	Daud Ibrahim
Ceremony venue	Bukit Jalil National Stadium
Website	2001 Southeast Asian Games
<  1999 2003  >

The 2001 Southeast Asian Games (Malay: Sukan Asia Tenggara 2001), officially known as the 21st Southeast Asian Games, was a multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 8 to 17 September 2001 with 391 events in 32 sports and disciplines featured in the games. The games were opened by Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah Al-Haj (Malaysian King Sultan Salahuddin) in the Bukit Jalil National Stadium and were closed by Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad.

It was the fifth time Malaysia host the games, and the first time since 1989. Malaysia is the third country to host the games after Thailand and Myanmar and before Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and Brunei.

The final medal tally was led by host Malaysia, followed by Thailand and Indonesia. Several games, Asian and national records were broken during the games. With little or no controversies at all, the games were deemed generally successful with the rising standard of competition amongst the Southeast Asian nations.

Organisation

Kuala Lumpur

Selangor

Johor

Negeri Sembilan

Penang

2001 Southeast Asian Games host states

Venues

The 21st Southeast Asian Games had 38 venues for the games. 18 in Kuala Lumpur, 10 in Selangor, 4 in Johor and 3 each in Negeri Sembilan and Penang respectively.

Torch relay

The 21st SEA Games torch relay ran from 10 March 2001 to 8 September 2001, covering a distance of 7,884 km. The run began in Labuan followed by Sabah and Sarawak. In the peninsular, it started in Langkawi and passed through 12 states before it ended in Kuala Lumpur. The last leg of the run covered approximately 15 km, from Merdeka Square to Bukit Jalil National Stadium.^[1]

Marketing

Logo and mascot

Si Tumas, the squirrel, the official mascot

The logo of the 2001 Southeast Asian Games is an image of a flame, a universal symbol of passion and excellence. It is frequently used in most international sports. In stylising the "Flame" for the logo, usage of the tongues of flame have been individually separated and simplified. This "ribbon" effect allows flexibility in manipulation. The weaving formation conveys unity, a coming together of Southeast Asia's best athletes. The weaving also gives an opportunity to form the Roman numeral XXI to represent the 21st SEA Games. Colours of the national flag are used to establish national identity. The flame tip is the logo of the Southeast Asian Games Federation.^[2]

The official mascot of the 2001 Southeast Asian Games is a squirrel named Si Tumas, short form for Tupai Emas (Golden squirrel). It is said the Squirrel is a lovable creature found almost everywhere in the world. In folk tales of many countries, the squirrel is depicted as a friendly and fun animal known for its high energy and speed of motion. The adoption of the squirrel as the games mascot is to borrow its pleasant, friendly fun characteristics to add life to the event. The gold colouring on the squirrel enhances the winning aspect. The SI is phonetically similar to Sea as in SEA GAMES. The SI is also a friendly form of address in Malay. TU is the first part of Tupai which means squirrel in Malay and MAS comes from the word EMAS which is Malay for gold.^[3]

Songs

The theme song of the games is "In Glory We Celebrate (The SEA Games - 2001)", composed by Helen Yap from Magic Nova Productions with lyrics written in English by Tom Leng and lyrics written in Malay by Loloq, and was sung by Lynn Ali.^[4][5][6] A campaign song of the games was composed by Jaafar Abdul Rahman Idris with lyrics written by Dato Mokhzani Ismail and was sung by Adibah Noor.^[7]

The games

Opening ceremony

Opening ceremony.

More than 15,000 volunteers which include 7,000 school children involved in the opening ceremonies, and to create history by organizing the first SEA Games in three cities. Parallel ceremonies at the Larkin Stadium in Johor Baru and the Penang International Sports Arena made the first SEA Games of the new millennium a most memorable event.

As the fireworks lit the sky at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium, more than 50,000 people cheered and rejoiced in celebration of the day’s golden achievements and to usher in the two-week friendly Games among the 10 competing nations. The enthusiastic crowd and over 5,000 athletes broke into a deafening roar the moment the Yang di Pertuan Agong King Salahuddin proclaimed: “Let the Games begin”, giving the cue for a 10-gun salute. There was an almost endless round of cheers and applause at the National Stadium throughout the four-hour Games opening extravaganza. Excitement took all forms, such as paratroopers sailing in from the clear sky, carrying the national flags of the 10 countries of the SEA Games fraternity.^[8]

Malaysia's fourth Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and his wife Dr. Siti Hasmah, riding in an open top army 4WD, waving to the crowd and were given a rousing and enthusiastic reception by the spectators. The choir, which rendered the patriotic songs, kicked off a chain of performances including formations, songs and dances. The highlight of the event was the marching-in of the national contingents comprising some 5,000 sportsmen and sportswomen from all over Southeast Asia. They were led by Games mascot Si Tumas.

As each contingent entered the stadium, the giant electronic scoreboard flashed welcome greetings in their national language, such as Minga la bar (for the Myanmar team) and Mabuhay (for the team from the Philippines). The Singapore contingent marched in with two banners which read 'Team Singapore mengucapkan tahniah kepada Malaysia atas kejayaan menganjurkan Sukan SEA ke-21' (Team Singapore congratulated Malaysia on the success of hosting the 21st SEA Games).^[9] The loudest cheers were for the home team, with flag bearer Nur Herman Majid leading the nation’s 558 athletes amid the ecstatic welcome by fans waving the Malaysia's flag, Jalur Gemilang. The Games torch was brought into the stadium by former national soccer star Soh Chin Aun and former Philippines track queen Maria Lydia D’Vega Mercado, who then passed it to 19 other runners before the final lap was taken by former cycling ace Daud Ibrahim. From the stage, he held the flaming torch to light a wire leading to the main cauldron at the opposite end of the stadium. As it lit up, thousands of balloons and confetti poured over the spectators amid more cheers and applause. This signaled a jubilant start to the biggest biennial sports meet in the culturally-rich Southeast Asian region.^[10]

Participating nations

Sports

Calendar

OC

Opening ceremony

●

Event competitions

1

Gold medals

CC

Closing ceremony

September	1 Sat	2 Sun	3 Mon	4 Tue	5 Wed	6 Thu	7 Fri	8 Sat	9 Sun	10 Mon	11 Tue	12 Wed	13 Thu	14 Fri	15 Sat	16 Sun	17 Mon	Gold medals
Ceremonies								OC									CC
Archery											●	●		2	2			4
Athletics												10	12	12	12			46
Badminton									●	●	2	●	●	●	5			7
Basketball									●	●	●	●	●	●	●	2		2
Billiards & snooker									2	1	1	2	1	1	1	1		10
Bowling										2	2	2	2	●	4			12
Boxing									●	●	●		●	●		11		11
Cycling									2	4	6	2	●	2	2	2		20
Diving														4	4			8
Equestrian								1	●	1	1	1		1	●	●	2	7
Fencing										2	2	1						5
Field hockey										●	●	●	●	●	1	1		2
Football	●	●	●	●	●	●	●		●	●	●	●	●	1	1			2
Golf										●	●	●	2		●	2		4
Gymnastics								2	2	●		10		●	●	6		20
Judo													5	5	4			14
Karate									6	7	6							19
Lawn bowls												●	●	●	2	4		6
Netball										●	●	●		1				1
Pencak silat											●	3	8	10				21
Pétanque												2	●	2	2			6
Rowing										●	4	●	4					8
Sailing									1	4	●	4		●	4			13
Sepaktakraw									●	●	●	1	●	●	2			3
Shooting								10	4	4	4	4	4	6				36
Squash										●	●	2	●	●	2			4
Swimming									6	7	6	6	7					32
Synchronised swimming																1	1	2
Table tennis									●	●	2		●	2	1	2		7
Taekwondo									7	5	4							16
Tennis									●	●	●	2		●	2	3		7
Volleyball									●	●	●	●	●	●	●	2		2
Water polo											●	●	●	●	1			1
Weightlifting											3	3	3	4				13
Wushu									●	●	20							20
Total gold medals	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	13	30	37	63	55	48	53	52	37	3	391
Cumulative total	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	13	43	80	143	198	246	299	351	388	391
September	1 Sat	2 Sun	3 Mon	4 Tue	5 Wed	6 Thu	7 Fri	8 Sat	9 Sun	10 Mon	11 Tue	12 Wed	13 Thu	14 Fri	15 Sat	16 Sun	17 Mon	Gold medals

Medal table

A total of 1280 medals comprising 392 gold medals, 390 silver medals and 498 bronze medals were awarded to athletes. The Host Malaysia's performance was their best ever yet in Southeast Asian Games History and emerged as overall champion of the games.^[11]

Key

  *   Host nation (Malaysia)

2001 Southeast Asian Games medal table

Rank	NOC	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Malaysia (MAS)*	111	75	85	271
2	Thailand (THA)	103	86	89	278
3	Indonesia (INA)	72	74	80	226
4	Vietnam (VIE)	33	35	64	132
5	Philippines (PHI)	30	66	67	163
6	Singapore (SIN)	22	31	42	95
7	Myanmar (MYA)	19	14	53	86
8	Laos (LAO)	1	3	7	11
9	Cambodia (CAM)	1	1	5	7
10	Brunei (BRU)	0	5	6	11
Total (10 NOCs)		392	390	498	1280

See also

• 2001 ASEAN Para Games

References

External links

• "2001 Southeast Asian Games Official Website". Archived from the original on 7 December 2001. 
• Unofficial games site