Sports is the great unifier, the one thing that blinds everyone to the divisive silos that the politicians would want us to live in. There are those who refuse to get out of those silos. But most Malaysians know better.
ON Wednesday morning, someone uploaded a video on social media. It showed several blocks of flats by night and most of the houses had their lights on. No big deal.
But the story is in the soundtrack. As the camera panned around the area, there was an explosion of noise, there was cheering coming from every house. The whole neighbourhood was rejoicing. The man holding the camera was screaming too.
The Malaysian men’s doubles pair had made it to the final of the Rio Olympics.
The video was simple but it had a telling message. All Malaysians were together in this, no matter their race, religion, creed or state.
Sports, I have said before, is the great unifier.
A day earlier, when the Malaysians beat the World No 1 pair from South Korea, some friends were watching it live at a shop.
There was a realist there. He had his money on Koreans Lee Yong-dae and Yoon Yeon-song to beat our Tan Wee Kiong and Goh V. Shem. After all, the Koreans were the top seeds and the Malaysians only the world No 12.
It wasn’t the man’s lucky day. Throughout the match, he was berated, insulted and heckled for being an “unpatriotic” Malaysian. And the scolding came from people of every background – there were Indians, Malays, Chinese and some from the indigenous communities of Sabah and Sarawak.
As the Malaysian pair were poised to take the winning point, the man reached for his keys. The winning point came, the shop erupted in joy. And when everyone turned in unison to tell the man off, he was long gone.
He was a realist. The rest of us were crazy Malaysians, believing fervently that a 12th ranked pair would prevail over the world No 1. It was patriotism. It was blind. Like love.
On Wednesday night, the mixed double pair put up a gallant fight but lost to the Indonesians. Still, they brought us our first medal in that event, they had helped the country surpass its previous best medal haul.
And they had done it with sheer grit.
The Sports Minister put it in perspective. Goh Liu Ying was injured in 2014 and had surgery on both knees. On Wednesday, she played with her knees and her thighs heavily strapped. She doesn’t even know if she will continue playing after the Olympics.
She only came back to court after 11 months of rehabilitation. Many others would have just given up.
When Olympics qualifying began in 2015, she and her partner Chan Peng Soon were ranked 79th. They fought, won and came to the Olympics ranked 11th. And in just one year, Liu Ying went from a back-from-injury player to Olympic silver medallist. What an inspiring story.
Yet, there was one tabloid that called them a failure. It said they had left the country disappointed. Failure? No way. Disappointed? Certainly not me.
If anyone thinks the pair were a failure, they should try their hand at the game. I would applaud if they could just break into the national team, never mind the Olympics.
Then, there was the other side of the coin. Former DAP leader “Superman” Hew Kuan Yau went on Facebook to boast about how if the Chinese really “balik” China, then Malaysia would “eat banana” (go empty handed) in the Olympics.” He was referring to the fact that the badminton players who were in the final were of Chinese descent.
He really should be called Stupidman. They may be of Chinese descent but they are Malaysians. By doing what he did, he managed to stoop beneath the very people he was trying to criticise.
He forgot that the Sidek brothers have brought us medals from the Olympics, we now have Azizulhasni Awang and there’s Pandelela Rinong, a Bidayuh from Sarawak. And even when the Malaysian Chinese won, no one rejoiced more than our Youth and Sports Minister. After all, they won with the Malaysian flag on their chests.
The good thing to have come out of this is that a huge majority of Malaysians came out to slam both Hew and the tabloid that described the mixed doubles pair as failures.
It was heartwarming to see how they came together to show that we are all actually one at heart. These naysayers have to be silenced.
After their semi-final victory, the mixed doubles players shed tears, the sports presenter jubilated. The players showed up from behind and hugged the presenter.
He screamed in joy. “What else can I say?” he shouted to the audience. It was a defining moment. We all saw them celebrating as Malaysians.
Such is the uniting power of sports. Any sport.
The writer, who can be reached at raj@thestar.com.my, took part in another sporting event, the The Star’s #anakanak Malaysia walk. And was inspired by the thousands of Malaysians who walked proudly with flag in hand – even the little beaming boy in a stroller, who was not able to walk.
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