Malaysiaku, keluargaku
“Chong Wei! Pi depan naikkan bendera!” Selalu jgak I kena tegur cikgu disiplin, kantoi borak dgn member time perhimpunan sekolah. Sengaja I main naik bendera laju-laju sebelum tamat lagu Negaraku. Kawan-kawan gelak sambil nyanyi. Cikgu disiplin nak marah tapi tak boleh lagu Negaraku masih jalan. Kenangan nakal Chong Wei. Ha!
Dua puluh tahun kemudian, kami tengah warm-up di stadium Rio centro Pavilion, dalam persiapan menghadapi sukan Olimpik. Motivasi masa itu memang setinggi Gunung Kinabalu. Diminta training yang lagi insensif. Malang sungguh tak berbau, dalam satu pukulan lift, raket terpukul tangan kiri. Tergemam semua. I ingat mungkin fracture patah tangan kiri aku. Nasib baik selepas diperiksa doktor, tulang selamat tapi perlu dibalut ais untuk meredakan bengkak.
Petang tu, kami team Malaysia semua beransur ke Stadium Maracana. Perempuan pakai baju kebaya oren. Lelaki pakai songkok dan baju Melayu oren. Memang team paling ensem paling lawa malam tu. Pihak penganjur datang membawa bendera Malaysia. CDM Tan Sri Mohamed Al Amin Abd Majid mengajukan jari kepada saya. Budak nakal yg suka main bendera inilah pembawa bendera khas negara temasya itu.
Baru ingat nak main kibar bendera mcm wayang perang Samurai, terus jam. Amboi! Berat juga si Jalur Gemilang ni! Sakit sangat tangan kiri I nak angkat. Diperhatikan kesukaran saya oleh rakan sepasukan, ada yang suruh saya rehat, biar orang lain yang bawa bendera.
“Chong Wei, anak saya tengah tunggu depan tv, nak tengok you bawa kita masuk stadium”, kata pula Muhaimin pegawai rasmi pasukan. Tidak mungkin saya menghampakan jutaan rakyat Malaysia di rumah. Game memang penting, tanggung jawab terhadap Jalur Gemilang dan Negara lagilah penting. Saya pun minta Sue Bock dapatkan pita selofan dan balutkan tiang bendera dengan tangan I. Biar tambah sekongan dan supaya tidak terlepas bendera kita nanti.
Beberapa minit sebelum perarakan masuk ke dalam stadium, sempat juga saya berborak ngan kontijen Madagasgar yang beratur di depan kami.
“Cantik bendera kamu, tapi rumit. Tak seperti bendera kita, simple je”. Entah dari mana datangnya semangat, pandai pula saya jawab. “Brother, ini bukan sekadar bendera. Ia lambang perpaduan satu keluarga besar. Ia Negara saya. Ia satu tempat di mana keharmonian dan kebahagian dihargai and dikecapi. Ia keluarga saya, rumah syurga saya.”
Kemudian, mulalah perakaran team Malaysia ke dalam Stadium Maracana. Terbasah sikit jugak di mata. Bukanlah kerana sakit di tangan, tetapi kebanggaan menjulang bendera Malaysia, menjulang harapan jutaan rakyat Malaysia, menjulang nama negaraku, rumahku, Malaysiaku.
Selamat Hari Jadi ke-63, Malaysiaku. 🇲🇾
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My Malaysia, my Home
“Chong Wei! Stop being so naughty! Go raise the flag!” That’s the punishment I always got from my disciplinarian teacher during my early secondary school days, when we were caught laughing during the severely boring daily school assembly. While some of my cohorts were laughing sheepishly in their line, I would have to tie the flag correctly to the pole, and slowly raised it up during the anthem. Sometimes I admit, I used to raise it up even before the first half of the anthem ended, to see the crowd burst into laughter and to see the veins of the head of my angry headmistress!
Fast forward twenty years . On a sunny morning in Rio de Janiero. 5th August 2016. We went to the Riocentro Pavilion to have our venue familiarization. I was pretty hyped up. I knew I have to beat Lin Dan and Chen Long to win gold. I requested Hendrawan to increase the intensity that morning. Seu Bock was serving the shuttle to Hendrawan and another sparring partner for them to rain smashes at me. Defending one of the shots, I lost my grip and my racquet hit my left hand.
Team doctor came and luckily it was not broken. But it was pretty sore and I couldn’t lift my left hand. Doctor advised to wrap in ice bags the whole night and hopefully the sore will be gone the next day.
Evening came. The whole Malaysian Olympic went into the Maracana stadium, dressed sharply in our national costumes. We lined up behind the Madagascar team. Someone then brought in our Jalur Gemilang. Our CDM Tan Sri Mohamed Al Amin Abd Majid then pointed to my direction, for me being the flagbearer. I grabbed the pole. “Oh my God !” I let go a silent shout! Little did I knew it was that heavy! I felt so ashamed. My left hand really felt a sharp pain.
Some of my teammates saw my grimace. “Chong Wei, just rest! Let others hold the flag”, one teammate advised. I was fighting in my mind. My upcoming tournament is important, but so is my flag. My teammates all went silent. I could see into their eyes. They wanted me to carry the flag. Then one official Muhaimin came to me and woke me up “Chong Wei, my son is waiting to see you to carry the flag in.” I knew I couldn’t disappoint them. I asked Seu Bock to bring me an invisible tape and tied the pole to my hands, providing extra support during the march-in.
Holding the pole in front of the line waiting to march in, a Madagascar athlete from the group in front had a small chat with me. He asked “You have a nice flag there, Mr Lee. Ours is more simple. Why is the complexity?”
My pride burst out suddenly. “This is no normal flag, my friend. This a symbol of unity of a great family. This is my country. This is a place where smiles and happiness happen for the simplest reason. This is my family. This is my home.”
The rest is history. You might notice the watery eyes in the photo. No more due to the pain in the left hand. Only tears of pride. I carried the flag proudly in the march in. Carrying in the flag. Carrying in the hope of my Malaysia. Carrying in the smiles of my 31 million big family. Carrying in … my home.
Happy 63rd Birthday, Malaysia.
我的国，我的家
四年前里约奥运，是第四次出战奥运会的我第一次成为马来西亚代表团旗手，当时候的我左手是受伤的，不过，当手握辉煌条纹那一刹那却忘了痛，取而代之的是无限的骄傲与使命感。
对我来说，辉煌条纹是马来西亚三千万人一条心的象征，而那一刻我手中握着的是全马三千万人的期盼与希望，双手撑起的是我的国我的家，此生有幸担任大马奥运旗手，是国家给我的荣耀，是我一生中最光荣的时刻。
马来西亚独立63年了，今年大家都不容易，希望疫情尽快过去，我相信只要全民团结一致，明天一定会更好，祝马来西亚国庆日快乐。🇲🇾
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