Who is Malaysia’s own “Roger Bannister”?
Have you heard the story of Roger Bannister? I’m sure not many people know it….
He was the first human in history to run one mile (1.6km) in under 4 minutes.
Today we think it’s nothing special. But back then, almost everyone believed it was impossible.
Many sports experts, coaches, even the athletes themselves believed the human body simply could not do it. As if there was a limit that could not be crossed. But in 1954, Roger Bannister proved them all wrong.
What’s more interesting is that just 46 days later, someone else broke that record. After that, more and more athletes managed to do it.
So what changed? Not the human body….
What changed was what people believed.
When one person proves something can be done, suddenly everyone else starts to believe they can do it too.
Last week I was reminded of this story when I got the chance to meet and have a long chat with Josiah Ng.
Most people know Dato’ Azizulhasni Awang as our national cycling legend.
But before Dato’ Azizul made Malaysia famous on the world stage, there was already a Malaysian who opened that path first. His name? Josiah Ng.
He won gold at the Commonwealth Games, qualified for the Olympics three times, and proved that a Malaysian can compete with the world’s big powers in track cycling.
I listened to him talk for over an hour. About the wins? Of course… But more than that, it was about the failures, the injuries, the pressure, and how a big dream almost got buried many times over.
We always see a champion when he’s standing on the podium. We see the medal. We see the applause.
But we rarely see the thousands of hours of training while everyone else was resting, the sacrifices that were never told, and the pain he had to carry before the world knew his name.
One of the things I noted down from his sharing was about “Resilience”. The ability to get back up every time life knocks us down.
On the road to chasing a dream, falling isn’t a possibility — it’s a certainty. The question isn’t whether we’ll fall, but whether we choose to get back up.
He also shared about creating big goals. A goal isn’t just written down and kept in a drawer. It’s read over and over every morning until the mind truly believes it. Once the mind believes, our actions change, our discipline changes, and every decision we make starts to line up with that dream.
Another thing I liked was the word “Resourcefulness”. Many people wait for enough capital, the right time, a complete team or the perfect opportunity before they act. But resourceful people don’t start with what they don’t have. They start with what they have. They always ask, “With what I have today, what else can I do?” That’s the difference.
Ordinary people look for excuses. Extraordinary people look for a way. That’s why resourcefulness isn’t about having more resources, but about being more creative, smarter and braver in using every opportunity right in front of you.
He also reminded me that sometimes we don’t need a million people who believe in us. We only need one. One mentor, one coach, one teacher, one mother, one father, or one friend who sees our potential when everyone else sees nothing.
Sometimes that one person is what gives us the strength to keep walking when the whole world doubts us.
And one line of his that really stuck in my mind was, “Train hard and be ready to get lucky.”
Many people look at a win and say, “He was lucky.” But they don’t see the thousands of hours of training that happened before the opportunity came. Going into the Commonwealth Games, he faced opponents ranked far higher than him. On paper, his chances were very slim. But he still trained as if the win was already his. When the opportunity finally came, he was ready to give his best. Many would call it “lucky”. I see it as preparation meeting opportunity.
Another thing I feel is very important is not to entertain those who always focus on the negative, who like to put us down, or who are too excited to see us fall. The truth is, people like that will always be around. But they don’t decide our future. What decides our life is the choices we make every day. Keep learning. Keep training. Keep preparing.
Because the truth is, no one can bring us down. What brings us down is when we choose to “play” without preparation.
When our preparation is extraordinary, we may still be tested and stumble, but we won’t fall easily.
Maybe that’s what Roger Bannister and Josiah Ng have in common. They didn’t just break records. They broke the limits of belief in other people’s minds.
And when one person dares to be the first, the whole generation after them starts to believe that what was once thought impossible can actually be achieved.
— Datuk Wira Dr Azizan Osman