I met this impressionable young, tanned and athletic gentleman last night...though honestly it was an embarrassing moment for me......see I didn't know him from Adam !He introduced himself as Joe....hmmm...so...,ok another regular and polite Joe, who spoke with an accent, I thought and left it out of my head and continued doing what I was doing and it took me a good 15 minutes after his host had told me he was a Malaysian cycling or keirin track champion preparing to represent Malaysia at the Beijing Olympics !... hmmm....still didn't stick so when they both went downstairs to have their dinner I continued browsing the net on Malaysian cyclists upstairs (here) and then it hit me......yes, this was Josiah Ng ! The Malaysian Olympian of the year 2004 in the flesh !
How could I not know of him....huh ? Well call me ignorant if you like but honestly I have heard this name vaguely but not enough to leave a lasting impression except now for his handsome smile flashing a nice set of teeth ! Maybe he was not a "house-hold name" in my books so when I had finished surfing the net, I sauntered downstairs to join him while he was having Loy's famous "mee Hailam"( less oil and no seafood, please !) and "chillified" omelette and a glass of fresh orange !
Talking to him for a few minutes over his meal made me realise, here was a young man totally committed and passionate in his discipline- track sprint cycling or keirin ! He spoke of his training in Melbourne and of the level of "world class" standards set by his trainer/coach John Beasley who single-handedly and without an entourage of fitness/physical and technical staff as others would have, due to a lack of funds, and whose methods are absolutely light years ahead, as he puts it, from the facilities in our self-acclaimed boasts ! And he confesses he is one proud Malaysian to be representing us !
Joe is a reservoir of knowledge (perhaps from the many years he spent learning, training and participating in races in countries the world over ! ) when it comes to ways and ideas to improve our standards of cycling and the suggestions totally baffled me ! Very good indeed !
Somebody out there in authority and in the related sport, LISTEN to him please and I plead cos there will come a time in the not too distant future when cycling is not going to put "food on this young man's table" and that is the time he'd be looking out for more lucrative and greener pastures....so go engage, LISTEN, tap the ideas and learn from this young man NOW before it's too late to regret !!
He left soon after dinner to rest....but Joe... you are no average Joe but Josiah Ng....a towering Malaysian and I'm proud to be of your acquaintance !
May you carry the Malaysian flag high and our hopes proudly, in Beijing, Josiah Ng............Cheers and Godspeed !
BTW this 28 year old also blogs (here) and has a website (here)
*pic-from my 3G handphone
8 comments:
Josiah Ng is a Malaysian who is a consistent world class performer. Unfortunately, he does not get the recognition he deserves
Well said! I truly agree 100%. It's a pity he's hardly in Malaysia for Malaysians to know him better. You must be a very "passionate" guy (in motivation) to learn such on Josiah in that one-meeting and to relate to us.
As a close friend, I'm really proud of Jo. Let me tell you this.
Jo just went through what is in reality his worst season ever. But he's worked really hard just to get the form that he has now, I can guarantee you that.
But he's remained superbly positive about his chances in the Olympics.
I remember being on my feet as Jo rode the keirin final in the Athens Olympics four years ago. Just moments earlier, I'd received a call from my former boss Lazarus Rokk, who was a distraughted Malaysian in Greece, telling me that Malaysians have no hope.That was when Jo was knocked out in the second round of the keirin. But he still had a chance. After listening him out amd hanging up, I sms'd Rokk back. These were my exact words: "Never lose hope. Never, ever give up on hope!". A few moments later, Jo made it through to the final via the repechage. He bloody won the repechage.
I can tell you, or rather, I can challenge any Malaysian on earth to describe a similar feeling to those that ran through me as I watched on TV in Balai Berita, the 2004 Athens Olympics keirin final with a Malaysian lining up among only six of the very best in the world in that discipline. It was like I was in heaven already. All Jo needed to do was to win a bloody medal. He didn't. But boy what a story he had. He'd sent the sport I love, the sport I fight every war for, the sport we both can spend three days talking about, into orbit.
A couple of months later, Jo came to me with a couple of sheets of paper. On it was a plan - the Malaysian World Class Track Cycling programme, which Jo had eventually initiated. He asked me what I thought of it.
After looking at it, I thought to myself what a simple thing. It was a plan to have more "Josiah Ng's". It was approved by the then NSC director general Datuk Wira Mazlan Ahmad. Oh dear God, those two sheets of paper were the best thing that ever happened to Malaysian cycling!
Less than two years down the road, we've dominated the keirin at Asian level. Rizal Tisin became Asian champion in 2006 and Azizul Hasni Awang in 2007 and 2008. Three bloody years in a row, when we've never even come close before.
Jo has been the reason behind the uprising of Malaysian cycling on the world stage. Now, I can walk into a press centre at the World Championships or the Olympics and have a few stories to share with my French, Australian, German, British or Italian colleagues instead of just listening to their tales of the top cyclists from their country. Jo has made me a Malaysian who walks with extreme pride to be Malaysian. That is all I need to say.
Hi Steven,
Since when you started using pcs? When I knew in those days, you could hardly handle a keyboard. :) Cheers and keeping blogging.
From an ex-KC Yap colleague,
Lester Chan
hi Lester. Good to hear from an old KC Yap collegue. See.... you sound like you too have been too complecent like the BN govt. huh ? Well been on PCS for a while now and am still willing to learn. Glad you still remember me and when did you get political ? Always thought you were not a shit stirrer. Good to hear from !
Me? A shit stirrer? Not really. I just provide the apparatus. Even b4 KCYap days, I was already an opp. It was after I joined KCYap, I laid low, until recently. What happened to that friend of ours, Irene? Is she blogging too?
hi there shanghaifish,
jo's our man, man!
im not into cycling but it sure made me proud the honour this young dedicated malaysian brought to malaysia for malaysians.....yes i like the spirit of arnaz 'never give up hope' just like his hope of catcing a marlin at Kelong Paradise.....cheers bro.
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