Anyway, there are some things that you can witness in a locally held badminton tournament that you can’t find anywhere else.
If you have been to Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra before, you will notice that some true-breed Malaysians who will still be late despite not being allowed entry until the interval, and MPO ain't cheap. But if you think the infamous ‘malaysian time’ is an incurable genetic disorder amongst us, you’re so damn wrong. For a mere Ringgit-Bolehland 32, can Malaysians afford to be late for the Malaysian Open? HELL NO!!! I was at the semi-finals and it was scheduled to start at 1pm. This photo was taken at 12.15pm.
If fact, if you were ‘on time’, you will probably need to stand to get a good view of the court.
If you have been hearing people talking about Malaysia tak-boleh, Malaysia mana-boleh, then you should have been at the tournament. Once a fellow boleh-mate is on court, everything boleh. There is this joker who never fails to appear in all local badminton tournament, he is like the official cheerleader of the Malaysian crowd (sorry, my phone not powerful enough to capture his photo, I need to get a cybershot perhaps). And when this joker shouted “Malaysia”, every Ahmad, Ah Kau and Arumugam shouted ‘boleh’, as if we truly mean it… err… ok la, maybe we did mean it, in the badminton sense that is.
It’s really quite a scene I tell you. And it’s also rather ironic because no matter how much you despise what is going on in this country, no matter how low your Malaysian-battery is, no matter how much you wish to leave, when it comes to national pride in sports, we will all suddenly morphed into a super patriotic being, albeit just for one badminton match.
It is also true for ‘the other side’. You can give those fellas MyKad, you can even give them bumiputera status, but when it comes to badminton, those fellas will stand up and shout… “In-do-ne-sia”.
Beyond the smashes, the game revealed what’s in us.
3 comments:
If only we can remain united like when we are cheering our badminton players, the country would be a much better place......but somehow i dont think this is possible as i witnessed my 1st real racist incident in PJ yday....and i ask myself is it the system, society, religion or govt that have made us so divided that only when a badminton match is on can we stand united together....real sad indeed
In a more introspective light, I suppose that when the occasion allows us to have something common to cheer for together, we should harvest the moment.
For an occasion that leaps our vast differences should deserve our excellence and best effort in a most noble pursuit to ravage the honour and modesty of our fellow neighbours where we are able.
Love Thy Neighbour.
From all this, I can only sum one question: What could have been if this keen spirit could be applied in all other endeavours?
Indeed, it would be wonderful if this keen spirit is applied in all other endeavors. But then again, there is an unseen hand trying to prevent that from happening.
Post a Comment