As they're the host of this 31st SEA games, they're also showing that they're not just a host but the top to take a lot of medals. What I'm always looking on this event is Timor Leste.
There's really a need for them to invest more to their athletes and trainers. But I know someday that they'll be up from the bottom.
If that's the only focus of their administration, they can certainly ramp up the budget for their athletes. But Timor-Leste is one of the poorest countries in the world right now, and they cannot afford to spend on making their athletes better more than they can do with their economy. Athletes from Timor-Leste are very dedicated, no doubt, but they could be even better if they have the budget to train with better equipment and better training program.
That will be a game changing for them if they allocate a little bit higher budget for their athletes to have better trainings and program to achieve medals. Because it's also their economy that will benefit from it if they bag medals home.