Failure must lead to success

02/11/2001

By Ho Koh Chye

THE scene: the Junior Hockey World Cup at the Tasmania Hockey Centre,Hobart. Malaysia dropped vital points when it lost its first two matches.The first to New Zealand and the second to Argentina. The media went to town on the Malaysian junior hockey team'sperformance. "Juniors' journey of shame", "Malaysia lack players, withgrey matter" and "All we got is lies, damn lies" screamed headlines in theNew Straits Times and The Malay Mail. The pieces that appeared conveyed amixture of frustration, disbelief, anger and even embarassment felt byMalaysian journalists covering the event. Some of the journalists `genuinely believed that Malaysia were goodenough for the semi-finals. Instead, they were kicked out of the elitecircle and continued to struggle among the stragglers,' said JohnsonFernandez, sports editor of the Malay Mail. `Misfits who got whipped. Theylacked the mental ability to deal with adversity,' added Timesport'sJugjet Singh. Followers of Malaysian hockey and sports were confounded by the eventsthat took place in Hobart. Some were taken aback by the media onslaught onthe team. Boo, a senior sports official commented: "The Malaysian media isharsh and merciless, perhaps unfair when it comes to reporting aboutfailures. In their efforts to improve sport, their criticisms cansometimes swing from fair to hysterical. They have a tendency to use ahammer to kill a fly." Interestingly, a member of the senior hockey team had this to say, "Ourmedia boys tend to think that you are a disaster and a failure unless youhave a medal to show for it. I focus on being the best I can be all thetime." On the flipside, a journalist friend opined that it is their sacred dutyto tell the truth even if it hurts. He attributes the reaction to mediacriticism as one of blank denial: "You hockey fellows should just acceptthe fact that our team is not good enough! Period." Meanwhile, a senior hockey official had this to say: "Criticism is finebut it must be constructive. We are meeting the six journalists who werein Hobart to get feedback from them." The climb to the top is not easy in any sport. If it is, then Britishtennis will not be left wringing their hands in despair at the status oftheir women players. The nation that invented the game has no woman playerranked in the top 100 despite the fact that for the last 20 years the AllEngland Club, the organiser of Wimbledon, have contributed millions ofpounds annually for the development of young male and female talent. Last year's contribution was STG8.9 million (RM41.2 million). Thestatistics for March 2001 revealed that there are 33 countries withplayers in the top 100 of the women's game. Louise Latimer, the BritishNo.1 is not one of them. She is ranked 126. If you think you detect a bias or private agenda in my views let meassure you that I have no axe to grind. My only objective is to presentanother perspective to the Hobart episode. There will be the occassionalfailure on the road to success. Yes,it can be painful and expensive butthe important thing is to learn from failure and come back stronger andmore resolute. Sometimes, we need to respond with compassion andencouragement when an athlete or a team's plan goes awry. That said, the fact remains that our Junior hopes in Hobart turned toashes, that the third best in Asia were found to be wanting when calledupon to face the best in the world. History only remembers the winners andnot the `if only' and `what ifs'. R. Russell once said, "Success is a public affair and failure is aprivate funeral." In these trying times, it is for hockey to rake over theembers of Hobart to make sense of the performances of its junior team andto look forward to a credible performance in the 2002 World Cup.
* The writer can be reached at kohchye@maxis.net.my (END)