My sis got me to publish this on my blog. It's her letter to the Straits Times forum but it wan't published cos they had too many response.
"I refer to Kenny Lim Kok Hong’s letter “Why send swimmers to Games?” (ST, March 23). I am absolutely positive that Mr Lim’s letter will spark an avalanche of criticisms and condemnation from sportsmen and other fellow Singaporeans like me. I must say that I am ashamed to call you a fellow Singaporean!
Were you ever a sportsman in your life or have you ever taken part in any sporting competition? Competition to you is only about winning. Winning is not unimportant but it is not the only thing that matters. Let me quote you the Olympic creed, which you most probably have no idea of. "The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well." This applies not only to the Olympic Games or any form of sporting competitions. This applies to life and this is a lesson of life I hope to teach you.
Every athlete out there, including I, wants to win. I strongly believe all our athletes in Melbourne now will do their best. It is not easy. Do you know the huge psychological stress they are undergoing now? Try performing on stage in front of more than a million spectators without any anxiety. Our athletes need to be exposed to different environments. This is because the environment can have a huge effect on a person and his performance, be it an athlete or not. Only if you have constantly been performing under different conditions then your body will get used to it. A person can then be better adjusted psychologically. If our athletes do not expose themselves to greater competition, they will never improve. Try staying behind closed doors at home and shut yourself from the entire world for a year to earn a PhD or become a medical doctor. You will fail! The same applies to people. We meet people who are stronger and faster. We learn about their techniques, skills and in turn we build on our own strengths and strengthen our weaknesses. To further develop the cognitive, affective and social aspects of each athlete. This is how people learn. This is how Singapore can improve and improve is what we want to do.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with losing in the Commonwealth Games or the Olympic Games. Failure is the mother of success. Why can’t we give our athletes the chance to fail, learn and try again to succeed? Must we only produce champions? Were champions never failures? Similarly in life, we become better humans after we encounter obstacles and whether or not we overcome them, it is what we learn from that experience that matters. Mr Lim’s myopic view of the world is astounding. I hope that after today, your attitude will improve. It’s ok because to err is human."
Nice letter eh? Hehe... I fully agree with my sister's pt of view. To add to it before signing off, I'll like to quote this from Bruce Wayne (Batman Begins).
"Why do we fall, Alfred?", asked Bruce aka Batman.
"So that we can learn to pick ourselves up again.", replied butler Alfred.
Till the next blog, cheers!
