Through his tough childhood and back-breaking training, Chong Wei has never lost sight of what matters most – self-discipline.

HE is truly an incredible man. And his journey is simply amazing. Badminton legend Datuk Lee Chong Wei is where he is today because of sheer determination and consistent discipline.

We watch his dazzling displays on the courts but are not aware of the long and strenuous hours he has to put in to be our Malaysian hero today.

He sleeps by 10 every night and is up by five. After he finishes his breakfast at seven, it is a whole day of non-stop regimented exercises.

This has been his pattern since he was 16 years old when he was admitted into the National Sports College in Kuala Lumpur.

At college, his day began at 5am and he was taken through various training programmes until 6.45am. After his shower and breakfast, normal school class would begin. Training would resume at 3pm and last until 6.30pm.

This is the man who not only has to lift weights and go through other forms of exercises, but often runs up and down the 272 steps of the Batu Caves temple to keep fit. For Lee, a run up and down is regarded as one set, not two.

The only day off for Lee, like for most ordinary Malaysians, is on Sunday when he spends time with his family. He is extremely careful with what he eats. He stays away completely from oily food and that is reflected on his body. There is almost not an ounce of fat, as we can see.

Tough has been the word he learnt from an early age, where he spent his childhood in Jelutong and Teluk Bahang before moving to Bukit Mertajam.

On Thursday, a group of Penangites, who live and work in Kuala Lumpur, hosted Lee to a dinner at a restaurant at the Bangsar Shopping Centre.

They were his hardcore fans, mostly businessmen, who wanted to pay tribute to this man who has shown them the meaning of patience, determination, perseverance and discipline.

It was just on Wednesday that Lee had arrived to a VVIP welcome, together with the other Rio Games medallists, at the KL International Airport where he was greeted by hundreds of fans after a gruelling journey.

The team had flown from Rio de Janeiro to Sao Paulo for a seven-hour wait before flying to Dubai on a 14-hour journey. There was more waiting time before the last leg of the flight home.

But the experienced traveller appeared fresh and well-rested when we had our fusion Japanese dinner. Naturally, when Penangites get together, much of the conversation was in Penang Hokkien and the subject of Penang food obviously cropped up.

As the evening progressed, we could see in Lee the qualities of a winner and it is something that even the Harvard Business School would not be able to teach.

Coming from a poor family, Lee spent most of his childhood days playing basketball, which was his favourite sport. But his mother and friends wanted him to play badminton instead, complaining of the many hours under the scorching sun if he had remained in basketball.

In his book Dare To Be A Champion, Lee recalled that his arrival into the family was difficult and that he was regarded as a burden to the family.

“Friends and relatives were concerned about us and they suggested mum and dad to consider giving me away,” he wrote. “But my mum disagreed and said she would never do that no matter how hard life was going to be.”

Drawing comparison to his mother, he wrote that “every time mum talked about it, I saw her persistence, her firm belief in family values and as a mother, her natural instinct to protect her own children. I think I bear some resemblance to my mum.

“The way I fight for things that I want, how I spare no effort to get them, and my perseverance. That’s exactly how my mum is.”

Recalling his early badminton days as a student champion, Lee said he did not start off well but he didn’t quit.

He was also regarded as too short and that is also obvious, even now, when he competes against his taller Chinese opponents. But that did not deter Lee.

In college, to prove himself and to catch up with his older mates, he decided to spend twice as much time practising to reach their level.

He would stay on to practise alone. Lee wrote, “even when my hands were blistered” and the “blisters turned into calluses”.

“My hands were sore but I bore with it, as I knew eventually I would reach the fruitful end.”

But while his badminton records are well recorded, many people should also understand how he keeps himself mentally prepared. This is especially important in the international arena where he has to make last-minute changes in strategy to catch the opponent off-guard.

Malaysian politicians are fond of using the term “world class” because they sound good and they want to be remembered for setting lofty targets, but we know most of the time the projects end miserably.

But Lee is surely world class and all that is possible because he has worked hard.

He added that “these records were the outcome of my perseverance in challenging my body and mind continuously to the limit.

“I can never loosen my self-discipline. It is how I have managed to set those records, by working hard, by training every day. Although sometimes I have failed, but inside my mind, I clearly understand that failure actually makes me stronger.

“Losing is winning. People claim that I fear my opponents. In fact, a winner always fears being defeated or to be overtaken. As long as we face our failure with a right mindset and attitude, we will still be on the right course to success,” he wrote.

If Lee has accumulated wealth for his many years of playing as a full time player, whether via sponsorship or prize earnings, he deserves it all.

For Lee, as we celebrate the National Day, he has been a true Malaysian champion. At a time when some politicians fail miserably in their duties, preferring to use race and religion to cling on desperately, he and his team-mates have brought Malaysians together.

He provides hope to Malaysians and has shown us that perseverance and hard work can make us world class, not mere rhetoric.

Thank you Datuk Lee Chong Wei! Respect!

We are certainly proud of our athletes, our Anak-Anak Malaysia who did what politicians could not do – unite Malaysians with their grit and determination.

DATUK Lee Chong Wei played his heart out but it was not enough to bring home the elusive gold medal for Malaysia.

After that pulsating win against Lin Dan in the semi-finals, Chong Wei had to settle for silver, losing to China’s Chen Long 18-21, 18-21.

But we are rejoicing. And we have every reason to.

The whole nation has practically come to a standstill with all the action going on in Rio de Janeiro in these past weeks.

Whether in the comfort of our living rooms or in the bustling environment of the neighbourhood mamak shops, we have stayed glued to the television sets to watch our Malaysian athletes perform in true Olympian spirit.

What this Rio Olympics has shown us is that our athletes in all the sports that they took part in have risen to the occasion. It is not just about badminton. We have the talent and the potential to do well in many other sports.

Our total haul of 4 silver and 1 bronze is a record. What is even more commendable are some of the heart-wrenching stories our athletes shared.

On our TV screens, we could see the Malaysians in Rio cheering these athletes on, waving the Jalur Gemilang and holding up banners proclaiming “Malaysia Boleh!”.

The athletes also knew that the whole nation was behind them. In the wee hours of the morning, we put aside our political differences. We forgot about our racial and religious backgrounds and we just cheered for our heroes, our Anak-Anak Malaysia.

It was a grand showcase to remind us that sports unites and our diversity is truly our strength. And, for a change, Malaysia was getting the attention of the world press, for all the right reasons.

Watching the badminton matches was heart-stopping for all of us. For most of us, including this writer, our blood pressure must have shot up, especially in those matches when our Malaysians were in action. Some of us might have been worried that we could end up in hospital but I was quite certain that ambulance drivers were too busy for me and were probably watching the game as well.

The badminton players brought Malaysians as truly One Malaysia and not Once Malaysians.

They did what our politicians could not do – unite Malaysians with their grit and determination. Malaysia Boleh was not just a political slogan, in their case.

Chong Wei’s victory over his nemesis Lin Dan in the semi-finals on Friday is a match that will go down in the annals of the sport’s history. I would say it was even more exciting than the final.

The men’s doubles final which followed was just as exciting. Goh V Sham and Tan Wee Kiong had to settle for a silver medal. It was so close but we must not forget that based on their current world ranking, they were not expected to get into the final in the first place.

We didn’t expect anything from them although they have had impressive records at the Commonwealth and Asia levels. But they surprised us all and captured the imagination of all Malaysians. What an incredible fight they put on against their more experienced and higher ranking opponents.

We were just a whisker away from the gold medal. The Malaysian pair put their heart and soul into the fight against fourth seeded Fu Haifeng and Zhang Nan from China.

The two Chinese had also won the gold medal in the London games four years ago, although not as a pair. Fu won the doubles with Cai Yun while Zhang won the mixed doubles title with Zhao Yunlei.

In short, while Goh and Tan are currently ranked 12th in the world, they are certainly newbies to the scene.

So, we need to be realistic although we did not hide our feelings that we wanted them to get that elusive gold medal so badly.

Goh and Tan are 27 years old and from now on, their remarkable rise will be under the watchful eyes of China and Indonesia. They have a good future ahead.

It’s the same with the mixed doubles team. Most of us are still celebrating the achievement of Goh Liu Ying and Chan Peng Soon who clinched the silver medal.

Overnight they have become household names. They are surely our heroes. Considering that most of us did not give them much thought in the first place, their appearance in the final is already an achievement in itself.

No, they did not let us down, as some news reports chose to report. No wonder many Malaysians were offended with the headlines. And what about the heart-wrenching posting by Liu Ying on Facebook?

“The moment I was standing on the podium and watching our (Malaysian) flag raised, tears were in my eyes. This kind of picture I have only been dreaming about, but dared not hope… there are too many competitors above us,” she wrote.

And we also learnt how she had to undergo knee surgery just two years ago. That she is able to play at such a competitive level so soon after speaks volumes of her tenacity.

However we may look at it, it has been an incredible experience for Malaysians. We salute our other Malaysian Olympians who got medals – cyclist Azizulhasni Awang got a bronze and divers Cheong Jun Hoong and Pandelela Rinong got a silver in the women’s 10m platform synchronised event.

Pandelela had her hopes on the individual 10m event but it was not to be. But we could see how hard she tried, despite emerging 11th in the final of 12 divers. And what is interesting is that team mate Nur Dhabitah Sabri came out 9th, showing that there is much potential for Malaysia in the diving scene.

Nur Dhabitah is only 17 and she captured our hearts with her beaming smiles after each dive.

It is a feat for anyone to get medals at the Olympics. This Rio Olympics has shown us that there can be hope in everyone selected to be part of the contingent. They are not there just to make up the numbers. They are there to be among the best in the world.

Chong Wei, in a live telecast after the match, said sorry to Malaysia, that although he tried his best, he could not bring home that elusive gold. He looked the saddest of us all.

Well, Chong Wei, you need not say sorry at all – for you have already done so much for us.

Ahead of National Day, we are certainly proud of our Anak-Anak Malaysia who have done us proud. We are mighty proud as Malaysians.

They have been truly inspirational to everyone in Malaysia and for all their sacrifices that they have made for their sports and for Malaysia, we surely want to say THANK YOU to them for bringing glory to our country.

Barisan will not call for an early general election unless it is sure of winning. The harsh reality is that it is the rural bumiputeras who will decide and not the ‘Wall Street Journal’.

THE word in Putrajaya these days is that the next general election will be held as early as next year although the term of the present administration will only end in May 2018.

All indications point to the possibility of an early poll and the order has been given to heads of the Barisan Nasional component parties to activate their campaign machinery soon.

One component party has already notified its chosen candidates to enable them to get down to work in the respective parliamentary constituencies and to work with the respective division heads to get operations started.

Last week, former Deputy Prime Minister Tun Musa Hitam predicted that the Barisan will hold the next general election “very soon,” saying this had to be done before Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s new party, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, gained a foothold.

But Musa was reportedly rebuked by Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar who said elections should not be called merely because a new party had been formed.

Instead, the government of the day should take into account every other factor, including its performance thus far, he was quoted as saying.

“The government must assess whether the ministries have completed their roles and tasks as we have various agenda to look into,” he said.

“So, let the Government do its job, complete its work, perform for the good of the nation and people. That is the most important matter the Government should look into, rather than worrying about snap polls.”

But I believe the most important factor that the Barisan should consider, if not the most important, is how it would perform if elections were called early.

It has to be sure it can win. The 1MDB issue has surely put the Barisan in a spot but the reality is that Umno, the main component party of Barisan led by Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, is still in a strong position.

Within Umno and Barisan Nasional, Najib continues to remain very much in control against the barrage of negative reports surrounding the 1MDB issue against him.

One must also understand the psyche and hearts of the Malay heartland to understand the voting behaviour.

The reality is that rural voters in the peninsula will determine who forms the government and not urbanites. Besides the rural Malay voters, Sabahans and Sarawakians will also play a crucial role in delivering the votes.

If national issues such as 1MDB and the economy are determinants in the urban seats, it is the opposite in rural seats where issues are more needs-based.

It is hard to tell a voter in rural Sarawak, who has to travel by boat and foot to a grocery shop to buy a bag of fertilisers and a tin of cooking oil, about the US Department of Justice. Such travels, sometimes, take a few days. In Sabah’s Banggi, near the tip of the Philippines, you will face the same difficulties. It is pointless talking about complex financial systems when all the voters want is piped water.

Urban voters will never be able to fathom the needs of these voters unless they have travelled deep into these constituencies.

There is no point scolding them for their purported lack of political knowledge because their concerns are entirely different. Unfortunately, these factors are not taken into consideration when discussions on elections are made.

You can see there is plenty of wishful thinking and assumptions, based on WhatsApp chats among common-minded friends, when they analyse the outcome of the next general election.

It is to the Barisan’s advantage to call for polls now because again, the reality is that the opposition is in disarray.

The entry of Dr Mahathir’s new party – Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia – has, in effect, even made the opposition market more crowded.

It remains to be seen whether Parti Pribumi can even be registered on time, and even if it is, it is hard to imagine how Parti Keadilan Rakyat president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail will support the idea of a grand coalition headed by Dr Mahathir, the person who put her husband in jail.

So far, Dr Wan Azizah has stayed away from meetings or press conferences called by Dr Mahathir, with the exception of those called by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is leading the new party. Anwar, however, has asked Muhyiddin to get the party going.

Despite the criticism hurled at Parti Pribumi for keeping its membership to only Malays and bumiputeras, it also re-emphasises the point that Muhyiddin understands the country’s political pulse well – the kingmakers are the Malays.

It is determined to be another Umno party. The challenge is whether it can succeed when others before it have failed. Veteran Umno leader Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah’s Parti Semangat 46 died a natural death.

But the more difficult part will be to carve out the seat allocation – will PKR and Parti Amanah Negara, a splinter group of PAS, want to give up what they feel is theirs to Parti Pribumi? And of course, don’t forget that there is still PAS, whose organisation structure in the rural Malay areas is strong.

If the Opposition cannot get things right, we can expect to see many three or four-corner fights and this can only benefit the Barisan, in particular Umno.

Out of the 222 parliamentary seats, only about 30 are predominantly Chinese seats. So, even if planeloads of overseas Chinese were to return to vote, as in the 2013 general election, there is little the anti-establishment voters can do to overthrow the Government.

And unlike 2013 when Chinese voters threw their votes for PAS, this time around, they won’t do the same. PAS can forget about getting the Chinese votes and the appeal of Parti Pribumi remains to be seen.

It is here that the Chinese voters in Malay areas, if it is a two or three-way fight, can be the deciders. In the recent by-elections for the Kuala Kangsar and Kuala Selangor parliamentary seats, Chinese voters returned to the Barisan because the community is aghast with PAS and its hardline Islamist stand.

Although PKR has remained strong in the Klang Valley, especially Selangor, with Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali enjoying the support of urbanites, PKR’s base outside remains weak.

That was the fundamental reason PKR was reluctant to contest in a snap polls in Penang, so badly sought by Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

While the DAP is confident of making a sweep in Penang, its partner is worried that it may even lose some seats to Umno – a scenario openly shared by certain DAP leaders which irked PKR, resulting in a social media tiff. Worse, relations between DAP and PKR leaders in Penang are not exactly “BFF status”.

The absence of PAS in the opposition front has been glaring. When Bersih called for its series of protests around this time in 2015, the absence of the Malays, was obvious. Although several face-saving reasons were given, the bottom line was that it was predominantly Chinese and the PAS factor in refusing to galvanise the Malays was obvious. The irony is that the Chinese should not rejoice if the Malays in rural areas vote for PAS and kick Umno out in the next election.

As the saying goes, be careful with what you wish for, as having more PAS MPs, or even Amanah MPs, may just mean making Malaysia closer to being a puritanical Islamic state with strict religious laws.

In short, PKR is not able to mobilise the Malay protestors into the streets, unlike PAS in previous Bersih protests. If there is Bersih 5, the test will be on PKR, Amanah and Parti Pribumi – three Malay-based parties – to get the Malays into the streets.

If these opposition parties are able to do so, then Umno will have plenty of reasons to be worried and that would be a factor to consider.

In 2013, 108 out of 133 seats won by Barisan came from rural seats. A total of 72 out of 89 seats won by Pakatan Rakyat came from urban and semi-urban seats.

While it is true that Pakatan won every Chinese-majority seat, there are a little over 30 Chinese-majority seats in the country. That leaves at least 59 seats won with the support of voters of other races.

In Malay-majority areas, Pakatan won more seats than the Barisan in both semi-urban and urban categories. A Malay-majority seat cannot be seen as a guaranteed victory for the Barisan.

As one commentator wrote, the political urban-rural divide in Malaysia is clear. The Barisan represents rural majority and can still retain power with rural and semi-urban seats alone.

The 2013 election highlighted the Opposition’s weak areas which are rural seats, especially in the bumiputera Sabah and bumiputera Sarawak majority seats, the article said.

It is a no brainer. The Barisan will not call for an early general election unless it is sure of winning and it has to look at the existing windows of opportunities.

The harsh reality is that it is the rural Malays and bumiputeras who will decide and not the Wall Street Journal, as much as many angry urbanites would not want to hear it.

Malaysians have had enough of politics and religion being used to divide the country. Surely, the arts should and must remain a platform for keeping Malaysia and Malaysians together still.

IT’S totally absurd – to put it bluntly. It is a no-brainer that the best picture of the year has to be the Malaysian favourite OlaBola but we are now told that the movie has been disqualified because it is not entirely in Bahasa Malaysia.

This has taken place because organisers of the annual Film Festival Malaysia (FFM) have tied themselves up with inflexible rules.

The rule has always been there – the movie dialogue must always be 70% in Bahasa Malaysia – to be eligible for nominations and subsequently for awards.

The local film industry has been a mono ethnic one and no one thought that local movies, in Chinese or Tamil, would emerge, and in the case of OlaBola – a mix of Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese, Tamil and English, which is certainly Malaysian.

In short, Malaysia has changed but FFM hasn’t. Suddenly, a superb movie like OlaBola, emerged, winning accolades, breaking box office and getting the support of all races.

The FFM, stuck with its archaic rules and inability to adapt efficiently, has now found itself caught in a controversy and worse, accused of being racist which is a little harsh as the issue in contention is language. To be fair, non-Malay directors have won previously.

But the arguments put forth have been flimsy. Does it mean that if someone were to make a movie about the Tang Dynasty in China or geishas of Japan with a script fully in Bahasa Malaysia, the movie would be acceptable even though it has nothing to do with Malaysia?

A movie about Malaysia and Malaysians, produced and directed by Malaysians, and acted by Malaysians isn’t “Malaysian enough” because it has a mixture of languages and dialects spoken by Malaysians?

No one wants to say it straight but essentially, OlaBola may not be Malay enough. No one cares if it is Malaysian enough.

The Malaysian Film Producers Association (PFM) said the segregation of award categories in FFM is based on language, saying it was to uphold Bahasa Malaysia in local films.

According to a news report, FFM and PFM led by SKOP Production chief Datuk Yusof Haslam, made the decision due to the use of mixed languages in OlaBola and another movie, Jagat.

Director Chiu Keng Guan’s movie OlaBola, which is more well-known, was inspired by the multiracial Malaysian football team that qualified for the 1980 Moscow Olympics and it certainly stirred the hearts of most Malaysians.

According to press reports, within just 18 days of its release in cinemas nationwide as well as in Brunei, the football-themed movie made more than RM12mil.

Previously, the Astro Shaw-produced movie crossed the RM2.5mil mark in just four days before growing to RM8mil after 13 days of showing.

Jagat is about the plight of Malaysian Indians during the post-estate era, set in the early 1990s. The film directed by Shanjhey Kumar Perumal is about a mischievous 12-year-old boy named Appoy and his relationships with his father, Maniam, and uncle, who is a former drug addict and local gangster.

This film is said to be the first Tamil language Malaysian movie to screen in cinemas for eight weeks running although it did not make the kind of money as OlaBola did.

But here’s the real sad part. The movie was called a Malaysian movie at the New York Asian Film Festival, and in India, where it was sent for a Digital Cinema Package (DCP) process, it was classified as a Malaysian film.

And here, we learnt that these two films are not Malaysian enough and that these films have to be categorised according to language. Those behind the decision to change rules midway should just listen to how Malaysians speak in real life.

That’s how Malaysians speak, like the characters in OlaBola, and in the estates, where many of the Indians lived. And yes, they are Malaysians too. Yes, they speak Tamil. Surely, we wouldn’t expect them to speak in Bahasa Malaysia, which would have been unreal.

Last week, prominent banker Datuk Seri Nazir Razak openly supported the call by comedian Afdlin Shauki to boycott the FFM.

In a post on his Instagram account, the CIMB chairman questioned the language division for the Best Picture category in the national film awards ceremony and congratulated Afdlin Shauki for taking a stand.

“Respect. I was aghast to hear that my favourite, OlaBola, and others can’t compete for best Malaysian movie. Why the segregation?

“Change will only happen because individuals like Afdlin make a principled stand, well done!” he said, captioning an image of a news headline which read “Actor Afdlin Shauki boycotts Festival Filem over racial segregation”.

AirAsia Group CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes has joined in to support the move, saying the racial diversity portrayed in local movies like OlaBola and Jagat was a strength that shouldn’t be penalised.

“When will we realise our strength against the world is our diversity? Come on Malaysia. The world is changing,” he said in a comment on Nazir’s Instagram post.

There may be a perfectly logical and fair rationale for the rules being interpreted in this manner, but the explanation so far hasn’t been convincing.

The organisers may perhaps want to encourage non-Malay movie producers to enter the local film industry by creating more ca­tegories.

As in any contest, there are always other contenders, which included Munafik, a horror movie, directed by Syamsul Yusof, about Adam, a Muslim medical practitioner, who is unable to accept the fact that his wife is no longer in this world.

The movie is produced by Yusuf Haslam and has grossed RM19mil in the box office.

The movie is now competing in the Bahasa Malaysia best movie category – along with Mat Moto – Kami Mat Moto Bukan Mat Rempit and action-packed Polis Evo.

Director Saw Teong Him’s Jejak Warriors is said to be another front runner in this category. The movie is about a teenager, Wan Raja, whose father was a fanatical fan of the Kelantan football team and how he fulfilled his late dad’s dream to get the autographs of every player.

One should also point out that in Polis Evo and Jejak Warriors, the use of the Terengganu and Kelantanese dialects are so heavy that standard Bahasa Malaysia is almost non-existent.

The decision of the FFM, even with the best of intentions, is perhaps not well thought of, because arts, like sports, is about bridging people and surely not dividing and sub-dividing them into categories.

Malaysians have had enough of politics and religion being used to divide Malaysia, with unnecessary suspicions, and surely, the arts should and must remain a platform for keeping Malaysia and Malaysians together still. Of course, fair play, too.

I am reminded of the final scene in OlaBola when Soh Chin Aun, who played the role of the older Chow Kwok Keong (the character based on himself), was interviewed.

Asked how the team was so united, he said: “We speak diffe­rent languages, but we all sing the same song.”