From Rehabilitation to The Biggest Multi Sport Event Ever: The Story of the Paralympic Games

                  If you were asked, "what is the biggest multi-sport event in the world?", most of you would straight-up answer what we've all been thinking: The Olympic Games, the biggest athletic spectacle featuring the best athletes in each corresponding sports, from aquatics, track and field, football, basketball, cycling, combat sports like boxing, wrestling and judo, these athletes dreamt of representing their respective countries at this event. Held every two years alternating between the summer and winter games (between every summer and winter games, each event is held four years apart), the Olympics is considered as the creme de la creme of the sporting world. The downside is, there are not many disabled athletes competing at these events, that's because they already have their own games, the Paralympic Games. Supposedly a portmanteau of the word "paraplegic" and "Olympics", the Paralympic Games celebrates the pinnacle of sports for athletes with varying degrees of disabilities. This year, the Summer Paralympic Games open its doors in Paris 2024, three years after the last games in Tokyo, which was suspended 1 year due to the pandemic, and as per the tradition, is held mere weeks after The Olympic Games closed.  

                  The history of the Paralympic Games itself can be traced back to the Games of the XIV Olympiad in London, 1948. At the time, there are some athletic events organized specifically for those with spinal cord injuries at the very day of the opening of the games, hosted at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital, and organized by Ludwig Guttmann, a German-Jewish doctor who worked at the hospital as a means of rehabilitation for the soldiers being treated at the facility. Although it's the first international games with disabled athletes ever organized, it wasn't the first Paralympic Games. That distinction instead went to Rome, Italy, coincided with the 1960 Summer Olympic Games. The next events after Rome 1960 until 1984, save from Tokyo 1964 were held in a different location from their Olympic counterparts. The same also occurred with the winter Paralympic Games from their inception in 1976 and continued until 1988. The first times these games were held in the same exact location as the Olympic games were in Seoul 1988 and Tignes-Albertville 1992. And since then, thanks to the joint cooperation between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), the Olympic and Paralympic Games, both summer and winter are held in the same location with a time window of usually two weeks between each event. The first games were intended only for wheelchair user and those with spinal cord injuries. Nowadays, any disabilities, ranging from physical, visual or intellectual disability are eligible to enter the games.

 

                  Speaking of disabled athletes, the Paralympic Games have a certain system imposed in each sport depending on the athlete's degree of impairment and limitation of competing in their corresponding sports. There are several types of impairment, like loss of limb due to amputation or birth defects, loss of muscle power in the lower limbs that necessitate the use of wheelchairs, visual impairments, intellectual disabilities, coordination impairments as a result of several neurological condition and short-statured athletes (dwarfism). Some sports were adapted using these classification systems. For example, in athletics, a Paralympic sprinter competing in the T11 and T12 classes are athletes with severe and moderate-to-severe visual impairments and required to compete with a sighted guide while wearing a blindfold mask, while T13 sprinters are the least-impaired athletes visually, usually with partial blindness. Other classes include T51 to T54 for wheelchair racing and T61 to T64 for athletes with lower limb prosthetics. Using this classification, higher number indicates less severe impairment. 

 

                  Other sports are also adapted for wheelchair users, like badminton, tennis, basketball, and rugby. Other sports can be performed in a sitting position, like volleyball. Cycling events are adapted to athletes with either physical, visual or coordination impairments, with hand bikes, specifically modified bicycles and tandem bikes with sighted pilot (for visual impairments) commonly used to compete. Some sports are adapted for visual impairments only. Blind football, judo and goalball (a Paralympics-exclusive sport) are the only sports with this distinction. Specifically for blind football, there are 5 players, four visually impaired outfield players and one sighted goalkeeper that would double as a guide in the defensive area, along with the coach in the midfield and an offensive guide stationed in the back of the opponent's goal. Goalball almost took the same principles, but with only three players, all with visual impairments, goals with the size of the field of play and no guides. Both sports use a special ball with bells placed inside it, so the players could locate the ball using their ears. Others are adapted to suit those who has lower limb impairments. If the Olympics have weightlifting, the Paralympic Games has Powerlifting, which is adapted by requiring the athletes to perform a single lift of the weight in a chest bench press position. Physical and visual impairments in swimming events are also allowed, but with an exception for prosthetic users, that being prosthesis is outlawed inside the pool itself.

 

                  As a result, there are some sports that would be exclusive to either the Olympic or the Paralympic Games. We are usually tuning in to the Olympic Gymnastics and the wrestling event, but somehow, these sports are not at the Paralympic games. Same as the aforementioned goalball and boccia, both are paralympic-exclusive sports. Unlike gymnastics that's not included in the paralympic program in the first place, wrestling was included during 1980 until 1984 summer games, all for visually impaired athletes. Since then, wrestling was never included in the program, including the Paris 2024 games. Some disciplines inside the program are omitted from the Paralympic games. In the aquatics discipline, there are no diving, synchronized swimming, water polo or marathon swimming. As for the paralympic games that has no Olympic counterpart, boccia is the most interesting one. Take it like curling, but replace the slippery ice with hardwood floors, curling stones with tiny balls, and are exclusive for athletes with wheelchairs with coordination and neurological impairments. The classifications are divided from BC1 to BC4. Again, higher numbers indicate the less severity of their impairments. And depending on their disability, boccia players may call for an assistant to adjust their chairs and/or the throwing position. Guides and assistants are also eligible for medal.

 

                  This could also extend to the winter sports program. Adapted sports included alpine skiing, biathlon and cross-country skiing, wheelchair curling, ice hockey using ice sledges and bisected hockey sticks instead of a wheelchair, and para snowboarding. Most of these events are timed events, with all events are mostly for physical impairments. There are no paralympic-exclusive sports in this program, while the Olympics have more sports in their program like bobsleigh, luge and skeleton racing, artistic events like figure skating and even some speed-based events like speed skating. 

 

                  But hear me out, whether if it's the Olympic or the Paralympic Games, there are no shortages of controversy and tragedies plaguing the games itself. With the classification system, there have been calls of inclusion involving athletes with Down syndrome. This is because most classification used in the games are for single impairment only, either physical or intellectual disability, whereas Down syndrome possesses both characteristics. This means that although some athletes can participate in the intellectual impairment class, they would be severely benefitted with their physical advantages. Doping is also a major problem at the games. Everybody reading this must be remembering the Russian doping scandal first revealed after the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games. It turns out, not only the Olympians that were juiced up for the games, but the Paralympians as well. Those were huge, but the biggest controversy of them all occurred in Sydney 2000, where the Spanish men's Intellectual Disability Basketball team snatched the gold medal by the largest margins, prompting suspicions that not all members of the winning roster were intellectually disabled. The smoking gun emerged by the form of an investigative journalist Carlos Ribagolda, who went undercover to expose the cheating by revealing that most of his teammates were not medically tested for intellectual disabilities whatsoever, revealing all but two athletes of the winning squad who are actually able-bodied. For reference, in order for someone to be diagnosed with an intellectual disability, a person must have the IQ score of no more than 75. In the aftermath, Spain was stripped of the gold medals, and is still in the possession of the IPC to this day. All intellectual disability events were discontinued until 2008 games in Beijing, after a massive reform of the testing procedures.

 

                  The Paralympic Games is said to be that one exciting multi-sport event that often overshadowed by its Olympic counterpart, but still exciting nonetheless, as well as a medium to celebrating the determination and hardworking athletes to perform at their peak despite their disabilities. This year's Paralympic Games in Paris is set to be the first games back with spectators in the premises after the Tokyo 2020 games that somehow manage to be staged in the midst of the pandemic. To close this piece, Bienvenue aux jeux Paralympiques de Paris 2024, and may the best athlete win.

Attention: You Are Not Allowed to Laugh in this Game Show!

 (Warning: Spoilers ahead. Please watch the shows first before opening this piece)

 

                  Comedy, that one thing that can arguably cure depression, albeit not really a well-suited measure. In this type of entertainment, hilarity is the name of the game. Every comedian has their specific comedy routine across many platforms, be it stand-ups, sketch comedy, situational comedy, improvisational comedy, hell, even dark comedy, comedy roasts and insults, toilet humor or even some filled with endless sexual innuendos. In short, comedy is a vast open land, and comedians are open and encouraged to explore it. Naturally, whenever a group of comedians gather around in one place, a burst explosion of laughter ensues. But what if for some twisted reason, that one natural response to something funny is not only frowned upon, but also outright banned? 

 

                  That is the one exact premise of this new, unorthodox comedy show that I recently found not that long ago, when the Indonesian version of this show aired on Amazon Prime Video last July. This show, titled LOL: Last One Laughing is like a comedy battle royale, where 10 comedians are locked up in a room at the same time and must survive the next 6 hours try to crack one another without getting cracked themselves with their comedic arsenal. The history of this show can be traced to one Japanese comedian Hitoshi Matsumoto, who did this experiment first in 2016 with his show Documental, putting 10 of the best Japanese comedians and pitted them against each other. Since then, the show's been adapted into several versions, with the first one being broadcasted in Mexico, followed by other versions in Italy, Argentina, Australia, South Africa, Ireland, Thailand, Spain, Norway, The Philippines, and more recently, Indonesia.

 

                  As like many other game shows, Last One Laughing also comes with its own set of rules. First of all, (obviously) you need 10 of the country's best and funniest comedians being strategically placed apart from each other in separate quarantines first, before being sent to the room that they will spend the next 6 hours in. Once all the comedians have entered the room, the host will inform them about the rules of the game. And honestly, there is only one rule: don't laugh, ever. During the next 6 hours comedians are free to strategize and target several people with their jokes, quips, even props in order to elicit a laughing response from their peers. There can also be outside interventions in the form of special guests or the eliminated contestants themselves who might be out for revenge. There are only two chances for each comedian to smile, smirk, cover their faces, and most importantly, laugh. And when they get caught, a punishment system similar to football (traditional football, the one the Americans like to call "soccer) is used, with the offending party being issued a yellow card, which means one more slip-up, then they will be seeing red (card), which means they are out of the game and must exit the room and join the host inside the control room. The only silver lining is that they are no longer forbidden to laugh as hard as they please. There is a plot twist though, comedians are expected to be actively involved to the game, which means passive play is also a violation.

 

                  And how can you spot someone laughing though? the room itself is rigged with roughly 30 to 60 cameras that can cover multiple angles, leaving absolutely zero blind spot for them to exploit. The cameras are being controlled by the show's camera staff, and the feed is presented to the host who oversees the proceedings inside a specially made control room. In addition, each comedian is assigned one off-camera spotter that will oversee their every movement, and a logger who keeps their movement records. This way, if that comedian cracks up, they will be the first to know. Combining this environment with these feral animals who are out for blood and hilarity, and that will result in insanity of comedic proportions. 

 

                  There are endless creative ways comedians did to elicit laughs from their competitors, and some of them can be outright outrageous. During the Australian version of this show, sexual innuendos and toilet humor dominated during the first 4 hours of the game, one of them even stripped down buck naked and proceeded to be drenched in soda inside an inflatable bathtub. In Canada, the English version of the show, hosted by Jay Baruchel, saw the improv genius Colin Mochrie, from Whose Line is It Anyway? fame won it all by improved his way into victory at the very last second. During the Indonesian version of the show, former singer-turned-comedic genius Andre Taulani is infamously dubbed "The Menacing Red Cap" due to his rapid-fire strategy of disrupting others' attempt of a joke with his own disruptive comedy style, often involving dramatic quips and one-liners. Some of the younger ones contributed their elimination to Andre's comedic timing, even one of them cracked with a "cursed salon" quip. Sadly though, he got eliminated during the final 3 phase. One other comedian, Denny Cagur once performed a skit involving a "dead father", which is both hilarious and insane, due to the fact that Indonesian funerals can be used as a base to a comedy skit of this caliber. In the end, he won it all after forcing Cak Lontong, another comedian in the final two to smile at his own gag. There is, however, few instances where inactivity can result in someone's winning chances instantly disappear, often times during the late stages of the game. Some of these instances happened in the Australian and Italian version. Both hosts, Rebel Wilson and Fedez repeatedly stopped the game to warn and expel those who are inactive during it. Some can even set their own downfall with their own gag, like what Marshel Widianto in the Indonesian show and Moonchild Sanelly from South Africa demonstrated in their respective runs. Both participants were the first to be axed, and both fell to their own gags.

 

                  After watching few versions of Last One Laughing, I wonder if the USA and the rest of the UK will ever get a version of this show, considering that the concept is heavily praised and widely adapted. If the ever be a US version of Last One Laughing, please let Steve Harvey host the damn show, I bet he can bring all those infectious laughter to the LOL landscape. As for the UK version, I'm hoping either Rowan Atkinson or Monty Python's John Cleese would host it. But one thing's for sure, Last One Laughing might be unorthodox, but the viewers can benefit from this new comedy show format, often at the expense of the comedians participating themselves. If you want to check these shows out, make sure you have an active Prime Video subscription.

From Arranged Marriage to Deteriorating Health: The Story of The Last Princess of Korea

(Warning: Mental illness and suicide references ahead)

                    Many of you fine people who read this have no idea of how many royal families and monarchs that have existed since the advent of human history. Nowadays you probably only known several European constitutional monarchy royals like The British Royal Family and King Charles III, The Dutch Royals with King Willem-Alexander as the current monarch, or even the still-ruling Japanese empire with Emperor Naruhito at the helm. Others might include the likes of those in the Middle East, few of them practice Absolute Monarchy like Saudi Arabia, or even our neighbors in Southeast Asia, like Malaysia with their unique rotating sultanate policy and Brunei. In short, this form of government has existed as long and as historic as the human civilization itself. I often thought what if Indonesia adopted this form of government, but given our national history and its turbulence, it seems very unlikely. But one can only hope, am I right? 

                  Now, there are several instances where a country changed their government model from a monarchy to a republic. One can look at the history of the French Republic, who attained their independence by the way of blood during the French revolution, often involving imprisonment of several member of the French royal family and subsequent execution by guillotine. The most famous story of those is the execution of King Louis XVI and his wife Queen Marie-Antoinette. Others, unfortunately ended via occupation by another country, like the Joseon Empire, which is the precursor of modern-day Korea. Once known as one of the great Empires in East Asia, the Korean Empire was occupied and annexed by the Japanese, effectively ending the Joseon Dynasty and setting up a series of events that lead to the Korean war and the subsequent separation of both Korean territories, one in the south with parliamentary republic system, and those of the north which operates with the communism and socialism ideology governed by a dynasty with a dead guy as eternal president (The Democratic People's Republic of Korea, or North Korea is a necrocracy, which means a country that is governed by a dead man, Kim Il-sung as eternal president). 

 

                  The story of the former Joseon Empire is one big piece on itself, but I want to focus on one specific figure, who was known during her lifetime as the last princess of the Korean Empire, one who was exiled to Japan and finally returned to her homeland, which is now a republic. Princess Yi Deokhye was born on the 25th of May 1912 in Deoksu Palace in Keijo (modern-day Seoul), Korea during the Japanese Imperial times after the region was annexed by Japan two years prior. She was the daughter of Emperor Gojong of Joseon and Imperial Consort Boknyeong. There are some interesting facts about the royal princess. One of them was she was not formally considered as a royal princess by the Japanese just because her mother wasn't the Queen, but rather an imperial concubine to the emperor. This too, was obviously pointed out by her nickname, which was Deokhye-ongju (the royal staff refers to her as Ongju-nim), rather than Gongju (the latter title is given to the daughters of the queen, while the former was assigned to the daughter of the concubines). But in 1917, after his father persuaded the Then Governor-General of Korea Masatake Terauchi, she was finally recognized as the royal princess and was integrated to the royal family registry. 

 

                  Like those of the royal families in the past, arranged marriages between the royals were also common in Joseon, as the emperor once tried to set up a marriage between Deokhye-ongju with a court chamberlain's nephew, named Kim Jang-han in 1919, but went bust after the Japanese intervened, and barred Kim Hwang-jin, the chamberlain to enter the Deoksu Palace. It was also on this year that the emperor died suddenly, allegedly by poison from the Japanese. In 1925, Deokhye-ongju was sent to Japan with the pretense of continuing her studies (in reality, she was exiled), and known by the Japanese as Princess Tokue. She was known as that one student who was untalkative and struggled with exercising. She was allowed to return to Korea temporarily to attend her mother's funeral in 1929 but denied permission to wear proper clothing for the occasion. 

 

                  Princess Deokhye was also known for her battle with mental illness. This condition first manifested in spring 1930, during the period where she often forgot to eat and drink. Subsequent examination revealed that the princess had developed schizophrenia, partly due to her upbringing. Over time, her condition improved, but in 1933, her condition worsened, leading to many trips to various mental clinics. The condition was further exacerbated by the grief of losing her daughter, Masae (Korean name: Jeonghye) who was reported missing in 1956 and allegedly committed suicide due to the stress of her parents' divorce. Speaking of divorce, she once married to Count Takeyuki Sō of Tsushima, after being matched by Empress Consort Teimei, the wife of Emperor Yoshihito (Later Emperor Taishō). Their marriage lasted from 1930 until their divorce in 1955, and Masae was their only daughter. It was reported that the marriage was an unhappy one, and by the time she finally arrived and resided in Korea, Takeyuki attempted to visit his ex-wife, but was denied by her remaining relatives, fearing her worsening mental state if she contacted him. After the divorce, Takeyuki Sō then moved to Kashiwa and subsequently remarried to a woman named Yoshie Katsumura, fathering 3 more children. During this time, Deokhye-ongju spent most of her time in Japan.

 

                  Then, the monumental occasion came. After 38 years, the government of the Republic of Korea invited the princess to return to her homeland, after being discovered by Kim Jang-han, now a reporter inside a mental institution. Initially, South Korean authorities refused the return of the last royal blood, due to the president at the time, Lee Seung-man wanting to avoid political chaos. After some persuasion by Kim, Princess Deokhye finally stepped foot in her homeland after arriving at Kimpo International Airport in Seoul on the 26th of January 1967, and was greeted by few figures of her childhood, including her kindergarten classmate, her nurse, and her remaining family members. She was also able to restore her Korean citizenship, despite being born there, now as Yi Deok-hye. The princess spent her last years in-and-out of hospitals, and in 1983, she once admitted to Hallym University Hangang Sacred Heart Hospital due to old age. And on the 21st of April 1989, Princess Yi Deokhye, the last royal princess of the Korean Empire passed away at the age of 76 at the Sugang Hall, Changdeok Palace in Seoul, and was laid to rest near her father and her half-brother in Hongryureung, Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province.

 

                  The story of Princess Deokhye is nothing sort of a tragic one across any royal history. Once the princess of her homeland, she was exiled by the occupation government and was forced to an unhappy, arranged marriage to a Japanese count, developed a mental illness which had worsened over time. There are few literatures that can be used to study the princess, but the 2016 movie The Last Princess directed by Hur Jin-ho is by far the best way to help those who studied Korean history to examine the life of the princess, from her upbringing, her marriage, her mental struggles, all the way to her return and passing. Yes, her life might be a tragic one, but remember, she was a member of the Korean royal family, those who governed the region as Joseon, and her life is to be celebrated as the last ever princess of Korea who finally returned home after a lengthy exile.