Malaysia Boleh: Redux

I have been discontented with Malaysia for a while now, losing hope and faith in my country of origin until the 2012 Olympic Games kicked in. Having witnessed Lee Chong Wei and Pandelela Rinong's recent performances in the Games, I was completely blown away by their spirit of sportsmanship and loyalty to our nation. The thing that impressed me most about these two athletes, notwithstanding the fact that they won medals, is their humility, attitude and courage. Diving into 16 feet deep pool while doing acrobatic stunts mid air is something I could never possibly do in this life, and at 19 years old, Pandelela from small town Bau, Sarawak did just that and has a medal to show for it as well. She defeated worthy opponents from developed nations such as Australia, Germany and Canada to win a bronze medal at the Olympics, the biggest sporting event in the world. How is that for awesome and respect?

And Chong Wei, from sleepy town Bukit Mertajam, with the pressure of the nation on his shoulders to deliver the nation's first gold demonstrating grace in the face of defeat at the hands of arch nemesis Lin Dan. For that one moment at approximately 9.30pm Malaysian time, he successfully managed to both win and lose at the same time. He won the hearts of all Malaysians across the world but lost the gold medal he had hoped and worked so hard for.

I suppose that is the harsh reality of the sports industry. Just as there are winners, there are bound to be losers. Only of course, he was not. None of our Malaysian contingent at the Summer Olympics are losers really, despite not wining anything. Malaysia is a country of 28 million, relatively small compared to the giants like China and America. With higher budgets, better resources and infrastrcuture, I have no doubts we can do better at Rio in 4 years' time. To me, what's more important than winning medals, is playing the game to the best of your ability, never giving up, showing resilience, quiet strength and humility. God knows Malaysia has too many arrogant, talentless, pretentious hacks running around Kuala Lumpur with Nikkon around their necks and Converses on their feet pretending to be cool and accomplished when their only claim to fame is playing guitar in some pseudo indie band.