A matter of relativity

I saw this news item at about one o'clock today but I didn't want to comment anything about it then. But on second thoughts, I do have a few words to say about this big upset at this year's 100th All-England Badminton championships.

Lin Dan has always been Lee Chong Wei's biggest (favourite?) bogeyman. Our kampong hero has a glass ceiling which he finds almost impossible to break through. Every time - well, almost every time but I can't remember the last time that it wasn't a "every time" - the two met, Lin Dai has always shown his little brother who is badminton's big brother.

So now, with Big Brother out of the frame, is it time for Small Brother to assert himself? Maybe. But Lee still has to get through Peter Hoeg Gade in the semi-finals. Let's see how he fares....

[An UPDATE on the Lee Chong Wei-Peter Hoeg Gade match: yup, our kampung hero won, all right, with relative ease. So now he goes on to meet surprise and unheralded finalist Kenichi Tago.]

But this is not what I want to say about Lin Dan's upset loss to his compatriot, Bao Chunlai. No, not at all. When I was reading the news reports, what struck me was Lin's still supreme optimism about his performance. Despite the loss, his analysis of the match was that "I played quite well but Bao played better."

This remark reminds me of a colleague whilst I was still working at Ban Hin Lee Bank. For the same task, he would take longer to complete it than another fellow doing the same job. And he was never perturbed about other people commenting. He used to tell me and others - always with a wide grin on his face - that "it's not that I am slow; it's that other people are faster."

Having said all that, I am still rooting for Lee to bag this title at the All-England. After all, must support my fellow Penangite, right? So, go, Chong Wei, go go go! All of us in Penang are behind you, just like we are behind Nicol David and Ong Beng Hee.