A friend chatted with me on google last night and said that I have made a lot of enemies. (In comments that has nothing to with the posting.) Begins here. Read here. Actually I dont think so. It's just a very small handful but they make alot of noise making them seem like many.
I wonder what their intention really is. One asked me why I use my credentials and then say he doesnt use his. Hmmmm, I guess I use my credentials because if I am writing on Counselling, I'll state what my experience in it is. Pretty normal isnt it? Then he argues that he doesnt flaunt his. Hmmmmm again. How can you flaunt your credentials if you are using a pseudonym? So thats not it.
Ah, I'm a trouble causer. Hmmmm
What is this blog about? I am arguing a case for what I feel are the neglected components in chess training. So you are either convinced or you are not. Simple. Nothing controversial there. Right?
Ah, but then I bring up cases of the kids spirit and healthy competition. Hmmmm, I feel there may be something here.
Lets imagine a scenario. Lets say we are all in one big hall. You, me, chess ninja, anonymous etc. etc. Say I was up on the podium and I ask a question. The question is, who in this room supports unhealthy competition and destroying the kids spirit? Do you think anyone will put up their hand? I dont think so.
Then I ask another question, how many of you will do something about it if you see this happening? What do you think will happen? I'm guessing here but I think a few will put up their hands. And more often than not they will be the guilty ones. Why would I say that?
You see the vast majority will hesitate. They will think, "hey I dont want this responsibility". That is normal. Heck, I didnt want this responsibility. All I wanted was to take care of my kid. And so for the first few years in Perak, I tried everything to get them to leave us alone. But they wouldnt. They kept attacking. And finally I couldnt take the nonsense anymore and shot back.
So, what have we learned so far? Can we narrow down these people to Perak? I havent been to a fixed tournament in KL, Selangor or anywhere else. So no issues there. So can I safely deduce that these people are Perakians. I'll go one step further and say that they are close to or in PICA. And they are angry. Why? Because what I say must be true. Can that explain the anger?
If not, then show us the cross tables. Kampar just did a leg on the 26th. Where is the result? Expose me as a fraud. Hmmmm but then again, if you only do this after I have said it on this blog......
So why are you so angry? Afterall this blog is our co-creation. You did your part and I did mine. And didnt you put up your hand? Arent we in agreement?
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Very sorry to disappoint you. I have informed you right from the start that this is nothing personal. I started out contributing to your blog with the selection criteria for the Olympiad team. I do admit that I have strong opinions, but nothing was ever personal. Like you, I wish for the betterment of the chess scene in Malaysia. If you doubt this, you can read my blog post about the Stonemaster. I only serve to expose self-glorifying pretenders.
ReplyDeleteI do admit I am a "new" contributor to the chess scene in Malaysia. I have been away for a long, long time, out of the country. Definitely at least 7 years ago. That is why I have not heard about you and your qualifications, Raymond. Do not feel offended. In fact, I had recently (a few days ago) associated your kind self with Mark Siew. I finally realized that you two were related.
I only returned recently and saw that nothing has changed in the chess scene. Hamid is still very much present. Why is that guy still here? Which is why I decided to participate as a renegade devil's advocate. My "pseudonym" is not random. It was carefully selected for this purpose. Like you, I am what you may call a trouble causer. This is not about emotion or anger. Perhaps at best, I applied some rhetorical sarcasm.
Plus, I doubt there are any people from PICA who are free enough or rather, care about you enough to disrupt your blog. I proudly declare that I am not from PICA. I think I've only played chess in Perak maybe once or twice in my life, no more than five times, definitely.
Nonetheless, returning to your point about credentials. You may be in the field of Counselling, but your credentials do not prove your ability at it. That was what I was trying to point out. Which is why I see it being pointless. I see no point in telling you that I have been playing competitive chess for more than 20 years and most of that at the international level. I could have also shared that I have worked with several national juniors from more than one country. It does not prove to you that I know what I am talking about, or more importantly, it does not show you that what I say makes more sense than what you say, just because I have more extensive experience.
I am not here to compete against you. Perhaps in your earnestness to "join the dots", you have missed out quite a number of dots. Perhaps, the next closest dot to you, should not be your "next dot". Take a step back and try to see the bigger picture. How about that for some perspective?
OK. I accept that I am not totally rid of the spectre of those horrible few years in association with PICA. I may have jumped the gun.
ReplyDeleteI will connect the dots of my writing to chess. Everything I say has a chess basis although I use outside examples. It will become more apparent shortly. But I do that for a purpose. It's to show that what we can learn from chess can be applied to our lives and the outside world to get wider appeal. In fact I spend alot of time cross-referencing with Mark about his learning in chess to exchange ideas. You can say we talk chess everyday, discuss openings (where I learn)etc apart from the mind coaching bit which is still experimental since my only real coachee is Mark and it took years to develop since the mind is so complex and to integrate the relevance of my other experience specifically to chess. I am however still gratified that he made National despite a severe lacking in technical then. That is the only evidence I have now and I am very curious how he would fare when his technical is on the same level as the rest. He has made this distance mainly on mind coaching.
This blog is in the main exploratory.
I have more experience with corporate negotiations where I spent 20 years doing and in business online. I am trying to draw parallels here. Your contribution towards this end would be welcome. But I need you to say, hey Ray, this is what XYZ says. In my opinion this is where you went wrong or you need to consider this etc. And this is why.....
I dont think appointing yourself as a vigilante serves any good end. I use real life examples to raise awareness on the damage done rather than exposing them. That is not my intent.
What is needed is to explore solutions. So I hope you can work in synergy with this blog. It would also be good if you can also read the other parts of this blog as well. It does seem to me that you get fixated on one point and negate everything else thats been written.
As you have correctly pointed out we are not going anywhere. Particularly in development. I think Hamid is a good tournament director but not in other posts. Thank you for writing to clarify. No apologies needed. In negotiations the fight over ideas can be much more heated. That is normal when people believe strongly.
But I think you are wrong about anonymous. He speaks in a very PICAish language.
It is not that you made enemies. Some which includes Jimmy and John, i think just do not agree that mental strenght and maind coaching is more important than technique and experience. In fact, confidence in your technique increases your mental strength.
ReplyDeleteThere is no doubt that mental strenght is vital but technique and experience come first, we all think.
I am sure you heard of the Charge of the Light Brigade. Mental strength and courage alone cannot win a fight.
Read my latest post. I think the major struggle here is the relative importance of technical vs mental coaching. We all agree that both are important but we differ on the percentage. Also we are having some problems with definitions and also hearing each other. From the comments, I see some have thrown out the baby with the bath water. Selective reading. I believe the inability to look at difficult issues is also reflected on the chess board.
ReplyDelete