Court-ing human excellence

Creating impact: Prof Mushtak with Nicol.

WHAT made my recent first outing to a squash court truly special was that I had the now retired eight-time world squash champion Datuk Nicol David playing with me.

Demonstrating human excellence through sports is very important on multiple levels.

For the past two decades, I have noticed Malaysians living rare moments of true and pure unity whenever they watched their sports heroes win on the world stage. I can still remember the energy at a mamak stall when Nicol won the 2005 World Open in Hong Kong.

Named the World Games Greatest Athlete of All Time last year, Nicol had notched up a string of accomplishments over the years – she was the longest-reigning squash World No. 1, having topped the rankings for 112 months, including a record-breaking 108 consecutive months.

In July 2016, Nicol reached her 151st successive month in the World top 10, overtaking the previous record established by men’s player Peter Nicol in October 2006.

As an engineer, I am used to dealing with numbers but Nicol had had such a glittering career that I almost don’t know which numbers to focus on.

My first meeting with Nicol was just last year when I delivered her the news that our university wished to confer on her an honorary degree, which we did early this year.

Since then, I have been hugely impressed by the combination of confidence and humility that she exudes.

As we worked on different projects and initiatives, I got the opportunity to know Nicol better and learn more about her story, and even ask her directly how she was able to stay that grounded.

According to Nicol, she was kept anchored both by her firm sense of purpose and by the wonderfully supportive people with whom she surrounded herself, including her family, friends and coaches.

She said, “Even when I won, I did not think of myself as the top player, because I always thought there was room for me to improve.”

Speaking to the new graduates when she received her honorary doctorate, Nicol stressed the importance of being a good person. “No matter how successful you are, always be compassionate to others and the people around you,” she said.

After her retirement from competitive squash, Nicol continued her transformative work focusing on building the future leaders of the world.

At the Nicol David Organisation, where five of my students are volunteering, she runs programmes to develop children aged seven and eight from the B40 community into purpose-driven leaders, using a combination of squash training and English language teaching.

At Heriot-Watt University, we encourage all our students and staff to develop a statement each that describes who they are, what their purpose is, and how they plan to mobilise their purpose into positive impact on the world.

I had the honour of facilitating an impact statement workshop for Nicol and her team at her organisation.

Her impact statement read: “I am a champion of humanity. My purpose is to influence with kindness and humility to encourage others to be the best versions of themselves.”

It was after we completed the session that I played squash with Nicol. Despite the disparity in our abilities, it was a magical experience. She was patient, encouraging and gracious.

Having been coached by her, I plan to keep the momentum and start playing squash as a form of exercise.

As an educator, and a firm believer in Malaysia and its ability to produce world-class talent, I am writing this piece as a National Day tribute to Nicol, a Malaysian legend whom everyone should meet.

Her success is proof that we all have the choice to truly flourish by being kind, compassionate and grateful while we pursue success and mobilise our purpose into positive impact on the world – even if we will probably never be as good as her at playing squash.

PROF MUSHTAK AL-ATABI

Provost and chief executive officer

Heriot-Watt University Malaysia;

Chairman

Vice-Chancellors’ Council for Private Universities