Take 5: 29th June 2015 by Mr John Yim

Good morning Mdm Tan, Mr Lee, Mr Tan, Fellow Colleagues and Gessians,

Welcome back to school! I hope all of you had many good experiences over the school holidays. As we all know the SEA games was hosted by Singapore over the June Holidays and Singapore did exceptionally well with a record medal haul of 84 gold medals, our best ever showing at the games. Quite rightfully there were many reported stories of gold medal triumphs by Singapore Athletes which I am sure was a culmination of their tremendous hard work and sacrifice. They are all deserving champions who exemplify high standards of excellence. But they are not the only champions during these games because sport is not only about winning. In competition we always aim to win not simply for the sake of position but because we aspire to be the best we can be. And being the best that we can be is judged not only on our performance but also our actions. The school value of focus this term is respect and this also happens to be one of the Olympic values because this can be seen in sports.

During the SEA games this story was not widely reported among the many gold medal victories by Singapore athletes but it is just as worthy if not more deserving of praise. Singapore won the gold medal in the men’s marathon courtesy of the excellent performance of Soh Rui Yong. However there was another Singaporean who also represented Singapore in the men’s marathon and his name is Ashley Liew. Ashley did not win any medals but during the course of the race his competitors took a wrong turn and ended up having to turn back. Ashley instead of pressing on with his advantage chose to wait for his fellow competitors to catch up before continuing his race. His act of sportsmanship demonstrated great respect not only for his competitors but also for his sport. Ashley may not have won a medal but he was definitely a champion and a class act.

Another excellent example of respect for another is that of that German long jump athlete Luz Long who competed in the 1936 Olympics held in Germany. Luz a German gave his rival Jesse Owens an African American competition tips and even congratulated Jesse when he won in full view of Hitler. This was unthinkable given the political climate between Germany and America in addition to Hitler’s preaching of Aryan (White) Supremacy at its peak. Jesse Owens was so moved that he is quoted saying this: “You can melt down all the medals and cups I have and they wouldn’t be a plating on the twenty-four karat friendship that I felt for Luz Long at that moment”. This remains one of the greatest gestures of respect for the Olympic movement.

Closer to home we have right in our very school a student who has demonstrated our value of respect. During the recent cross-country he did not win a medal however on that day he gained something even greater. Through his actions he gained the respect of his fellow competitors. During the race he was running in the lead pack when one of the runners suddenly had a serious case of hyperventilation and stopped running. This student instead of running ahead with the lead pack chose to stay back and assist the hyperventilating runner showing concern for an ailing competitor. His actions that day were not publicly recognized won the respect of his friends, competitors and the people who were around to witness it. This student is none other than Sharizan from 4B let us all give him a round of applause.

As our school Sports Fiesta approaches I urge all of you to show respect for the game. Treat the equipment with respect, the referees with respect and your opponents with respect. You may be a competitor or spectator but I assure you the games are more enjoyable when there is mutual respect and positive energy. There will be triumphs and losses but when you are able to show respect in all situations you will always emerge a winner. Similarly sports parallels life and often times we will encounter situations or people which we do not agree with but if we are able to demonstrate respect regardless of our differing views the outcome will always be constructive and positive.

With this, I end my Take-Five for the day. Remember to practice respect in all your undertakings and your life will be more rewarding. Onwards Gessians.

Thank you.