Parents and the venus fly trap.

During my recent trip to KL, I was informed by a parent that she was warned not to speak to me. That of course caught my attention. So I thought about it.

Almost certainly those people who made the warning cannot be the ones who pushed for written selection, for clean and healthy competition; who advocates proper training and preparation before competition etc.

So it must be from those few others who use the Associations for their own ends. But what can they say about me since I don't lie or make up stories, don't go around calling people dogs etc, don't rob the Associations blind, never cheated anyone, don't fix games and arrange back door deals etc etc. So what could be the reason they can use to tell parents not to talk to me?

The reason given was that I will use what they say and plaster it all over the net. That's a new one. Inventive.

Actually I very very rarely use parents names and if I do it has to be under these 2 very strict conditions. One is that I have explicit permission and two, I have a high level of trust with that parent. This is simply because I know that the moment their names are mentioned, they will immediately become targets of a very vile campaign. I learnt this the hard way when Zhuo Ren and Sumant trained at my house for SEA games selection. And all I did was to briefly mention that the training took place. And that started a firestorm.

Normally what I do is to ask the parent to stand up for themselves. Put in a written complaint or do something tangible. Only then can I lend any assistance, if at all. I hear a lot of things as I have said before but if I publish it, I am worried that the person who said it will recant. And that will put me in a spot.

So for those who have been told not to talk to me, that's not a problem if you are fearful about it. There are many other parents, mostly old timers, that will share what is really happening around you. Talk to them. Find out things. Aren't you curious why they are involving new parents in this struggle? After all most of you are not in the fray. You only get caught in all this if your child reaches the level of being strong enough to represent the State or strong enough for National representation. Once your child reaches there, you cannot avoid having to open your eyes.

Next in P2, I will tell you what happened to me from the time Mark became State Champion in 2005. This may be good information just in case your child do reach that level too or has the potential but funny things keep happening that somehow stops his/her progress. More curious now? This recent revelation has resurfaced a lot of old memories. Talk again soon.

Note: If you read this blog carefully, you will find that it's all about my experiences, observations gleaned from other blogs and public sources etc. I do not write about other people's experience.