A real story

After I graduated in Optics, my first job was with a fast growing Optical chain that eventually became the first Optical chain to achieve public listing in the UK. The boss then sold his shares and retired to a big house with a heated indoor swimming pool. I was told that this was also his first success in business. All his other attempts had failed. He was nearly 50yo by then.

I remember my first week there. Some of the Opticians and other staff were sacked on the first day, some after 20 minutes. He paid the highest wages in the industry and he only wanted the best.

One day I was working at a branch and there was an underground strike for 4 days. The business was down in that branch and the manager was called up and given a shelling. I thought that was unfair then but now I understand better. The point was not the strike. The point was the manager did nothing to try and improve the situation. He could have picked up the phone and call the customers. Anything to compensate for what he could not change.

This is the lesson our kids can learn from chess. The world is not "fair". But dont get bitter. It only hurts you. There are many things you can do within the rules to change things. If you continue to try, to learn, to improve, you cannot be stopped. But dont sit down and whine.

Then we will have global Malaysians.