WORLD CLASS

The ongoing Beijing Olympics is a showcase of guts and determination.
Michael Phelps has got his target of 8 gold medals and Malaysia has lost the only hope when our Lee Chong Wei lost to Lin Dan of China in the badminton finals.
My tribute goes to Phelps and the American swimming team, the 3 Jamaican ladies who won the gold and 2 silvers for the glamorous 100 m race, and Nadal the soon to be number 1 in lawn tennis. These are world class athletes. While others aim to get the gold medals, these champions want to be legends.They must share something in common to be champions extraordinaire.Something that is still lacking in our Malaysian psyche. Perhaps the feeling of greatness is not inbuilt in us yet unlike the Americans who are ingrained in the mind from birth that they are the greatest and nothing is impossible.

We must also learn from the less fortunate Ethiopians and Iraqis who reach world class standards in sports without much help from their governments.

Our Malaysian athletes are given a lot of support and incentives.Except for Nicol David and the national squash players, and the national Bowling team, the rest are inconsistent in their performances. Physical and mental preparations must be equally important. The knowledge to build strength and stamina, physically and mentally, is something we need to acquire. We need to learn how the Americans, the Chinese and Koreans train thier sportsmen so that we can achieve world class standards like thay have.

The best place to start is in the schools especially the sports schools. As they say, shaping the bamboo must be from the shoot. The sports schools have been churning great sportsmen and women but still thay are not top world class yet.

As for you students out there, you too can excel in whatever you do. Students who are overseas on government sponsorships are already world class potentials. Prove to everyone that you are indeed world class. With globalization, the world is your oyster and you are not the village champion or the frog under the proverbial coconut shell. You can start by targeting your goals to meet world standards. Upon graduation, you should be far sighted and open-minded and ready to serve anywhere in the world.
Prove to the world that Malaysians can be respected and are indeed world class material too.