So once again Malaysia hoped. Once again I chose to join the thousands, as I always do, in my staunch believe in Malaysia despite all odds. I resign that this sort of belief is irrational; it involves denying the statistician within and embracing the pride of Malaysian badminton simply for being Malaysian. This time it meant even more. Malaysians have little left to be proud of and little left to be united. Each day, our nation's leaders express pathological hatred for you and I simply because we are ethnically different. I wonder where our leaders fall on the bell curve as human beings. I have not met droves of people in my life, but out of the thousands even the most cruel cannot harbor that much hatred for that long with that much irrationality. Ever wondered about what stuff beautiful, great people are made of? Well, I really wonder what stuff our leaders are made of; dark, human vessels so resilient of harboring bitterness for decades, bearing no remorse for murder, lusting for the taste of genocide. How is one even capable of that? Sociopaths should only make up a very little part of the population (1-4%). It makes me shudder when such phenomenon has disproportionate representation in the bench governing you and I. It also saddens me that recently, my own ethnic group has become increasingly racist, perhaps as a reaction toward the oppression suffered to them over the decades. They are right where the government needs them in order to divide and rule.
Being in the Thomas Cup finals was an escape from this madness. Once again, I told skeptics that I have no doubt that on court today, we will perform (although rather sneakily, the statistician in me allowed 1 point to Japan). Once again, I said Malaysia can, although to be honest I don't recall a time when it could. Yet like a fool, I have doggedly stood by one side, one roti tisu, in one mamak stall every single time (okay, there were times that I live streamed...). Sure, I knew it was a 'bonus' we were in the finals. I knew what our players brought to the table and expected even clearing the group stage to be nerve-wrecking. But I was heartbroken all the same when we lost. It was like the last splutter of an old dog. No, at 27, Liew Daren is not the next Lee Chong Wei. Neither is Wei Feng at 26, Thien How at 27. Only V Shem and Wee Kiong are 24 year olds. Such is the bane of hoping. Hope, was after all the last item let out of the Pandoras Box, and the most twisted of all; for it was a false prophet.
I fully concede that the team did what it could on court and deserved all credit for that, but this match was lost off court. So I am going to be the balance among the droves of delightful commendations and commentary by friends and family alike. The dark side of the force. The Yang of your Ying. Because in another timeline where Koo Kien Kiet had not let past glories, drinking, smoking, and women get to him, the line up could have involved the lethal TBH/KKK. This is the pair that showed the world how double motion/trick shots were tactically possible in world class mens doubles. Even if it was against the fearsome Fu HaiFeng and Cai Yun. In another timeline, had Daren not let winning the French Open get to him (making him arrogant and outright disobedient to coaches in training sessions), he would not be 'playing the game of his life' against Takuma Ueda. This was not a match between an underdog World no.66 against World no.25. No. In fact, Wei Feng was always the underdog to Daren, and Daren consistently topped him in the rankings, even being no.12 for a time - but always under 20. BAM's goal this year was for them both to break into the top 10. And why not? No man has taken a set off Lin Dan in his first encounter. And no Malaysian has beaten Lee Chong Wei for some time now. Although he was eventually ousted unceremoniously, Daren did exactly that to upset the giant 21-17 with Super Dan admitting "I was in all sorts of trouble". Daren routed Chong Wei 23-21, 21-14 in last year's DJarum Cup fair and square to the delight of Mr. Rashid Sidek. Get this, Malaysia has never lacked talent. But do you see what the difference is between Chong Wei and the rest? I quote Misbun - "He is a popular figure now, there is money, big cars and other distractions, including attention from girls. But what does Chong Wei do? He trains". So there, no excuse. Not youngster, not underdog.
With that, I became a bit less Malaysian and left poor roti tisu in its wake, setting off to watch X-men in a brightly lit, shopping mall with a nice multi-storey carpark with a beautiful girl.
