Ricky’s Online Business Blog

I’m not an expert in badminton.  I played some badminton in school days before but was not any good at it.  But I’ve been an avid fan since my childhood since the days of Misbun Sidek.

To be frank, the performance of Koo Kien Kiat and Tan Boon Heong was really disappointing in the Beijing Olympics.  I thought if they could regain their previous top form, they even had better chance for a gold medal than Lee Chong Wei.

But their loss to Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan was really disheartening, especially it’s their first loss to that pair in so many encounters.

Now there is talk about splitting this talented pair who were once serial championship winners.  Yes I feel they must take a hard look on their performance, but there is no need to split them up.

Sport players, just like the rest of us at our work, do win and lose in their sports.  But as long as they had given their best and played to their conscience, they should still be given their chance, much less talking about a split.

The fact is that they are still one of the top pairs in the world and in Malaysia.  Otherwise, they are still young and very talented.  Talking about Koo, he is a doubles expert, evident from his recent performance winning in both men’s doubles and mixed doubles in the Penang open.

Yes, I feel others like Zakri and Fairuzizuan deserve more attention and exposure from now onwards.  But Koo and Tan should continue as a pair.  There are many others in the national team who have been under performing, even for years.  But why are they still given chance, but not Koo and Tan?

By the way, how come we can feel so let down by Koo and Tan, even being angry at them?  It could be because of our very high expectation out of them, due to their very good performance some time ago.  They once brought us long-lost joy and we thought we saw a new hope.

But the higher our expectation, the more disappointed we can become when things go wrong.  No wonder we can feel angry and emotional, and even want to punish them.

Yes it is unfortunately that they lost in the wrong event and to the wrong pair.  But their are still among the best in the world.  The loss should not be a death knell for them.  Please don’t lose faith on them but continue to groom them.  Please give them a chance.

As Li Ning was raised to the air by wire, “walked” along the inner wall of the Bird’s Nest stadium, and finally lighted up the Olympics flame, we who watched the opening ceremony from mamak stall were so moved.

Just 100 years ago, the semi-colonized China under the Qing dynasty was ravaged by wars and problems. They were then the “sick people in the east” (东亚病夫). But now the Chinese people have stood up (中国人站起来了)!

The opening ceremony has shown the world what China can do. I have no doubt that they will emerge as the champion this time. The country is commandeering attention from all around the world now. But how about after the Olympics?

Many think China is emerging as a superpower in this century. Economically, they can produce the cheapest products around the world at comparable quality. What the rest of the world can produce, most probably it can be made in China too, at cheaper price. May not be now, but sooner or later!

With over 1.3 billion of population, they possess all kinds of talents and skills you can imagine. I was involved in a software project years ago and knew one China young girl could pick up the PHP programming language in just 2 days! It made me wonder if we were to work in China, what can we do?

Can we say that we have an advantage over them with our English language proficiency? But never underestimate their English. They have many very good young people whose English can be better than you and me!

Talking about language, perhaps it’s time for those of us who don’t speak Mandarin to pick up their language. We can be forgiven if our parents did not send us to Chinese school. But now as adults we have a choice and we can choose to learn more about their language, people and culture. At least we should be able to communicate with them. One English-speaking corporate friend went to China for a business tour and came back to tell us he felt so out of touch with their people.

And don’t ever despise the Chinese people and their language. I know some Malaysian Chinese who refuse to learn Chinese. But when they come to learning Japanese, they are willing to learn the language including its Chinese characters! (The Japanese incorporated many Chinese characters into their language and call them kanji)

Unlike many other countries, Malaysia is smart that we don’t consider China a threat but a partner. Instead of competing, we work towards common opportunities and capitalize on China’s emerging market. With a pro-China policy and large number of Malaysian Chinese who can communicate with the Chinese in China, we as a country stand well to be benefited from the emerging China.

But how about us as individuals? Where do we stand? How do we position ourselves?

Today Malaysia will face off against the formidable defending champions China in the Thomas Cup semifinal. Hopefully we can pull an upset. And I have faith in the team that they can cruise into the final if they maintain their team spirit and focus on the task.

Recently I shared a real fun story to a congregation of people when helping to promote a sports carnival event in which I served as an organizing committee member. Well, you need to know some Malay and Cantonese to get the joke…

In the 90’s I was in Stadium Negara watching Rashid Sidek playing against an Indonesian player in the Malaysian Open that year. All spectators came in support for him, waving our national flag, singing, shouting, clapping and beating drums.

One elderly man who sat behind kept on screaming, “Rashid, do not give water!” (不要放水 in Cantonese which means do not give chance to the opponent).

Of course he was not shouting in English nor Cantonese but in Malay. But his Malay was not so fluent. He kept on shouting, “Rashid, jangan buang air!” (”Rashid, don’t pee!”)

We were so also amused throughout the match. So was Rashid too