The Ambitious Goal

Ages ago, shortly after the Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM), I applied for numerous scholarships to pursue my studies. At the same time, I also applied to both local and foreign universities. Replies from the universities were mostly positive, but unfortunately, I couldn't even afford to study in a local university. Without a scholarship or at least a study loan, it was just impossible. Many people with a Chinese surname will tell you that university education isn't something that we can take for granted in Malaysia.

A few years later, I got a job in a property consultancy company performing simple tasks, akin to just an office clerk. I then started saving diligently for about 2 years to finance a self-study distance learning course leading to a degree in Estate Management. It took me about 4 years to finally earn that degree. When you come to think of it, sometimes it's quite amazing what one can achieve if one puts his heart and soul into taking steps to realise his ambition. Something that seems impossible may turn out to be possible after all.

A young man replies to a job advertisement for the position of "Office Boy" in a company specializing in the civil engineering field. The young man is not highly educated; he passed his Form 5 with an average score. He is called for an interview, and at the end of the interview, he is given the opportunity to raise any question regarding the company. Instead, he asks about his prospects of how long would it take for him to eventually become one of the bosses in that company. You see, that is not something that is impossible to happen. May I repeat what I said in the preceding paragraph: 

Something that seems impossible may turn out to be possible after all.

But sometimes, it is much better to keep such ambition to oneself, because it is just human nature to be ridiculed when one utters something that is too far-fetched; or at least too far-fetched for the foreseeable future. It makes more sense to be discreet about one's out-of-this-world's ambition, and to put in the time and effort into achieving that ambition, and perhaps when one is very close to achieving it, then and only then is it time to discuss his future prospects in the light of his forthcoming achievement.

Although I'm not a fan of football, it's hard to miss the glaring headlines of Malaysia losing horribly by a margin of 6 goals recently. As I'm not a fan, I have no clue on strategies or whatever formula that might be helpful to improve the strength of our team. I just know that losing by a margin of 6 goals is very one-sided in football.

That is why I couldn't help but smile when reading the news with the earth-shattering headline: "We can be a football nation". 

I'm not suggesting that it's impossible to achieve. But maybe not so soon lah, I don't know. Perhaps it's a good idea for the minister to wait till we can actually win a few regional tournaments first—never mind world stage football for the moment—before mooting the idea of becoming a "football nation"? I'm sure it won't be very funny then.