Picture source: MediaCorp Press

What a story!

Low Wei Jie, a primary six student from Compassvale Primary School – ran for more than two hours and covering about 15km just to be near to the Youth Olympic flame torch-relay excitement around the North East Community District. He was deemed too slow to represent his school for the start of the relay team but that did not stop him from doing the next best thing – running alongside the torchbearers in his flip-flops and home-cloths, clutching his digital camera along and determined to capture the best moment – rain and shine!

When I read the news this morning, I thought there maybe a lesson or two we can learn from this…

First, the boy – he would probably be very excited when the news about the YOG (Youth Olympic Games) flame torch-relay coming to where he lives and the relay starting from his school. I am not sure he know sure well the meaning of the inaugural Youth Olympic but with the ‘education’ started in school since last year, I am sure he would have caught up with the excitement building toward the event. I supposed he would have dreamed to be an Olympic flame torchbearer since the Beijing Summer Olympic in 2008 and watching the live telecast of the flame being carried starting from the ancient city of Greece towards the capital of China. I can imagine also the disappointment he must have felt when he was not among the two torchbearer selected to represent the school. But instead of letting the disappointment dwell in him and blaming everyone including himself, he has decided to run the course with other torchbearers and supporting them along the way.

What it meant for us? – Wei Jie has epitomized the old cliche of “If there’s a WILL, there’s a WAY”.  I was heartened by his determination – for whatever reason it may be – the point is while I have seen and heard enough tirade against the GenY and younger generation of Singaporeans being ’soft’ and lack the old school iron will; with this story we should begin to understand that maybe there’s a lesson or two to learn from them after all. A conversation with the young ones to listen to their hearts and minds.

Then, the school – I am sure the school would not have expected the wide media coverage (major local newspapers) and an almost heroic storyline coming out from a flip-floppers and digi-camera clutching Primary-sixer that was deemed TOO SLOW by the school selectors. I can’t help but thought “Why do you need to be FAST to be the torchbearer?”. I have always thought that the Olympic flame torchbearer runs in a painfully slow pace for some specific purpose (media coverage perhaps), so speed should never be a criterion. Endurance? I am not sure the actual torchbearers from the school would have comfortably complete 15 KM running in flip-flops and most of the time side way facing the flame!

Then why and how? Academic results? General conducts perhaps? Physical superiority? Good looks (Wei Jie quite a JJ Lin I thought)? Whatever the reasons, I would like to hope that the selected torchbearers resembled the same determination and willingness to hold the honor just like Wei Jie; and not DOING the lapse because they NEED to…that would have doused the spirit of the Olympic flame.

What it meant for the school? – We pride ourselves being a meritocratic society and it is one of the most important foundation of our 45 years of nation building. But I am not sure should other guiding principles such as compassion, love and tolerance get equal weightage in school early on before our young’s (they are only in primary school) eventually envelope by the meritocracy-centric working world awaiting…