Dear Chan Ping Soon and Goh Liu Ying,
It’s been an unbelievable journey, right?
Sure, the match didn’t turn out the way every one expected it to. We all wanted the gold, but sometimes, the universe doesn’t bend to all our wants or needs.
That’s just how life is.
To be honest, we cannot begin to fathom how much pressure you guys had to carry on your shoulders to win Malaysia’s first ever gold medal at the Olympic Games.
Did we want you to win the gold? Definitely. Were we disappointed that you fell short? Of course. But were we angry that you failed to bring home the one thing Malaysians desperately crave for, or, for some, denied us of a public holiday?
No.
Because as much as we want you to stand on the podium with the gold medal around your necks and ‘Negaraku’ playing in the background, we know that you wanted the same thing. Heck, we know that you wanted it more.
You showed us that every time you took to the court. Every smash, every serve, every nerve-wrecking rally. The raw emotions when you win a match, we feel it too. All 30 million of us.
As a matter of fact, we would like to thank you for giving it your all. We would like to thank you for uniting the whole country, even for that 30 minutes you were on the court. Most of all, we want to thank you for showing us that when you pour your heart and soul into something, you can achieve your dreams.
But the main point is this: we want you to know that there is no shame in losing. You’ve done the best you can, and that’s all that matters.
It doesn’t matter if it’s a gold or a silver, we will stand behind you no matter what.
As the legendary Kareem Abdul Jaabar once said: ‘You can’t win unless you learn how to lose’.
So, we want you to come home with your heads held high and enjoy every single second of your hero’s welcome.
Because you guys sure as hell deserve it.
We are extremely proud of you.
Sincerely,
Malaysia.
