A Re-encounter With 'The Flying Doctor'

His mobile phone beeps yet again, the third time in 10 minutes. He reads the message.

“I’m jealous!” I call out in jest.

“Oh, don’t be. Look… I get updates all the time, if an athlete is injured or if there’s a development to his condition...”

This latest SMS is from Singapore General Hospital, reporting the condition of an injured cyclist.

Tan Sri Dato’ Dr Mani Jegathesan is the Deputy President of the Olympic Council of Malaysia. He is part of the International Olympic Council medical team at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore, from 14 to 26 August 2010.

Jega is also an old friend; we’ve been friends for… more than a quarter of a century.

We’re in my office at Singapore Sports School, the venue for the YOG Aquatics (Swimming), Modern Pentathlon and Shooting events. (Not my office, the School!) And Jega is at Sports School to inspect the doping tests of the athletes competing in the Modern Pentathlon.

“I don’t have to do the tests, but when there are many tests to be done like in a team event, then I help out. Otherwise, I just have to check that the tests are properly carried out. There are two of us here for the 26 events, so we take 13 events each,” says Jega.

Jega, in the Singapore sports circle, is the sprinter who deprived Canagasabai Kunalan of the Gold medal at the 1966 Asian Games in Bangkok. Judges took 15 minutes – what seemed forever to Jega – to pore over photo-finish pictures before deciding that Jega, clocking 10.5s in the 100m, was the “Fastest Man In Asia”. Later, after he graduated from medical school, he was called, "The Flying Doctor".

“Did that change your life?” I ask.

Jega says it did. But looking back at his 66 years, he does not consider himself very much a success.

“How does one measure success? Through how much power one holds and how much wealth one has. I am neither powerful nor wealthy…” says the modest medical doctor who has had the title, “Tan Sri Dato’” bestowed upon him.

“But you have achieved so much!” I protest.

“There’s always a gap between one’s full potential and what one achieves. The closer the gap, the more successful one is. I have always felt that I have not achieved my full potential. I could have done so much more.”

Jega cited a Malcolm Gladwell book that he had read, “Blink: The Power Of Thinking Without Thinking”.

“It talks about building accumulative knowledge and experience which you can summon to make a decision at the blink of an eye. You don’t have to research or analyse too much at that moment because you should have it within you to make that decision. And if you hesitate, you lose that opportunity which may never come again. I have hesitated on the side of caution too many times and I have lost many chances to realise my full potential.”

Jega, who had visited Sports School once before, during the 2009 Asian Youth Games, asked me to share with our student-athletes how they can become successful in life.

“All successful athletes have to slog. To be successful in sports and studies, we have to work harder than someone who’s not involved in sports. As athletes, we can’t afford sloth in our lives. Slog and sloth – they impact our lives very differently.

Jega said many youngsters mistake “resting” with “lounging”.

“When a person is ‘resting’, he is not participating in intense physical activity but it does not mean he cannot read a book and expand his mental capacity.

“’Resting’ doesn’t mean lounging on a sofa or lying in bed watching TV and blanking out one’s mind completely.

“When a coach says ‘Take a rest,’ he means rest your body. He’s not asking you to do nothing else. So don’t waste your time. Train hard but study hard. Be a doctor, a dental surgeon or an engineer, if you have that capacity to become one. And if you’re meant to do something else in life, then work towards that and do it well.”

Jega went on: “It is only when you slog that you stay sharp – in your mind, in your sport. Then whether you’re in the classroom, the sports hall or the workplace later in life, you will have the accumulative knowledge to make decisions quickly and not waste chances.”

His mobile phone beeps again. Yes, it’s another update on an athlete’s medical condition. This time, "The Flying Doctor" had to "fly".