The Pursuit of No. 1

Hi Everyone,

Dato' Lee Chong Wei has lost to Lin Dan in the finals of badminton at the London 2012 Olympics for the 2nd time. 2nd consecutive silver for him. We felt sad but at the same time, we know that he has tried his very best at the London Olympics this year. In actual fact, he was the first medallist for Malaysia. Dato' Lee Chong Wei played well and we also knew that Lin Dan played extremely well too. Lin Dan is well trained all along and he can execute shots that no one could rival (maybe only Dato' LCW can). Chinese sportsmen and sportswomen were so good at the Olympics including diving and swimming. They are at the top of the class compared in some sports compared to other countries.

Roger Federer and Dato' Lee Chong Wei are two of the most well known sportsmen in the world. They know the disappointments of losing and they accepted it gracefully each time they lost. They do not lose their temper. In actual fact, Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei are good friends. Roger Federer are good friends with his opponents too.

There are still people who are not happy with result teasing and insulting Lin Dan. Is being No. 1 or winning gold medal everything? Not everyone are No. 1s. People around us are still struggling and yet we fail to acknowledge them. The thing is it is not the end of the world when we do not get number 1. At the recent Olympics, Sarah Attar is one of the female athletes that Saudi Arabia sent to participate. She ran at the Women's 800m event and was more than 1/2 minute slower than her competitor. When everyone has finished, the announcer directed the attention to her until she finished it. Everyone gave her a standing ovation when she crossed the finish line. This is how it should be.

Most students in Malaysia are under great stress and pressure to achieve top results. Some parents wanted them to be the top of the performance so that they can easily further their studies. Some wanted to beat the top student in their class out of peer pressure. To me, whether we have 2As or 5As or 11As or 8As or 9As or 17As, it is fine. We have done our best and passed the exams. The positive way to look at it is we are not getting any F or "Gagal". Our career does not depend on exam results only. It depends on our skills, not only technical but communication skills also. Soft skills are important too. 

It may include:

1. Solving problems on the job and these include problems that we have not experienced or taught before
2. Dealing with the circumstances and situations we are in
3. Time management, handling work stress and pressure
4. Planning, multi-tasking or handing 3 - 4 concurrent jobs at once
5. Dealing with difficult customers
6. Remain calm and collected during a situation / event

I am also not the smartest student in my class. I am not the top of the top achievers in university either. My skills are not perfect either. I am working as a system analyst in a bank (my 2nd job) and a programmer in the 1st job now. I do not know everything about programming. There are aspects of programming that I do not know. Those who are not No.1 can still survive in the world. We know we are not perfect but we can also make the decision to improve ourselves each time. We will have our own failures and successes. 

Therefore, it is not a "die" situation if we are not number 1. Our attitude should not be "die die also must get number 1". Getting No.1 is not wrong in itself but we should not be obsessed with it. The focus is not about No. 1 but being the person who we are meant to be. It is being ourselves. We can also achieve great things as a normal person. We don't have to tell ourselves that we must be the best, the richest, the top scorer (17As), have the most expensive gadget, possess the most expensive car, get the gold medal. We also must not insult others (someone insulted LD from China) when he got the gold medal instead of our own Dato' LCW. Dato' LCW acted rightly when he apologised to LD when he heard it. It is blown out of proportion by the secular world today.

Cheers,

Rogerkoo