Teach young people about the true ‘anthem’ of success
was nothing unique about the MotoGP Championship last Sunday (Nov 4). The race was rather expected. Except, of course, it was heartbreaking to watch Italian racer Valentino Rossi lose out to Marc Marquez, when the world champion surged past Rossi, who was earlier in the lead.
Marquez took to the podium with his signature grin, and stood tall when Spain’s national anthem was played. It was at this point that I noticed something remarkable in Marquez’s expression. The expression of pride that his face took on — gone was his signature grin, in its place a look of pure pride, his head held high and his posture, ramrod straight.
A national anthem is the song that we grow up with. For instance, we have to memorise Malaysia’s national anthem during our school years.
Now imagine that anthem being played at an international event in a foreign country because of what one achieved for his country.
As I watched Marquez, I had the impression that the national anthem was his ultimate reward — all his hard work had paid off.
As an educator, it got me thinking — how can we instil this value in our young? We can start by associating achievement with pride, not with reward.
The value of what has been achieved has to be counted, and not the end-performance. Performance is meaningless if youths do not see the impact of their achievement.
The long-term goal of our education system is for students to contribute to the community, but educators and parents often forget this and focus on short-term outcomes.
The other values that I picked up while watching the MotoGP Championship were loyalty, faith and support.
Rossi was in the lead, with four laps to the finish line, when he fell and Marquez, who was in seventh position raced past him.
Rossi’s disappointment was quite obvious — after he completed the race, he left the track and did not return.
When Rossi fell, the crowd moaned, but when he continued the race, his fans applauded and cheered him on until he finished the race.
Our youths often fail and make mistakes while growing up. The role educators and parents should take on is to be their loyal supp or ters, who will fe el the same disappointment when they fail, but who will also applaud them when they improve themselves.
Parents and educators need to emphasise feelings (such as loyalty, faith and support) and pride in our youths and cheer them on. When these are in the equation, they will strive to do better.