When you are running a marathon.

There are 2 voices in your mind. One is telling you that you can do it. You have the talent. If you dont believe me measure the distance. You have done it before. And you can do it again. But you need more consistency, you need more training etc. The other voice is telling you, you cannot do it, you are not good enough. It is too far... and that voice in your mind gets louder, they shout more, the closer you get to the finish line. Which voice are you going to listen to?

In Asian youth, I was talking to some parents. They told me of the experience of a Malaysian student in a college in UK, if I remember correctly. They said the boy wrote back and said there were students there who were GM's. And they excelled in their studies too.

Think back. Stop for a while here. Think back and remember who has been telling you those stories that you are not good enough? It is not the parents of Juniors. Who are these people? What was their achievements? Are they relevant today? How many of them are even strong players? They whisper in your ears and they try to take you down. What do you think their motives are?

They attack the sponsors who can help you and then they tell you they are doing it for the good of chess. Look clearly. This is important.

I hear there is now a mini storm over the Zhuo Ren case. See here. Some people are upset. The bullies rely on your silence so they can do this again and again. Remember the case in Perak where the girl was robbed of her win? If there was no publicity, if the case was not exposed, it would have gone on. But there was change there. That PT was replaced and a better one took his place.

So I want you to talk about it. I want you to know what is happening. We are very close to losing another generation of Juniors. I want to intervene as best I can. I want to see this rot end if it is possible. And I think it is possible if we all become more aware of who is really destroying Malaysian chess. Step one.