A Talk by Azlan Iskandar

Philip Adams once said “Unless you're willing to have a go, fail miserably, and have another go, success won't happen”. In other words, this means that we should never give up if we are to achieve success in our life.

These are some of the words that can be used to describe the speaker on success, the Kuching born squash player Azlan Iskandar.

The young and talented squash player set aside time from his busy schedule to give a talk about the key to success in life. Born on the 1st of June 1982 in Kuching, Sarawak, he is a Eurasian of Scottish and Malay parentage. This young lad is only 27 years old and already has various achievements under his belt, currently ranking 11th in the world for squash. He is currently based in London for training, and has another 11 matches to finish this year.

He talked about ‘commandments’ that we should follow in order to achieve success in life. One of the main things we have to do in order to achieve success is to set a goal, may it be a long term or short term goal. The main rule is that once we have set the goal, we should pursue it and make sure it is a success, to ensure that it does not become a blind goal.

We should also be well prepared mentally as well as physically. We have to take care of our health in order to achieve success—as a famous proverb goes, “health is wealth. As for being mentally prepared, it is to face the challenges of life, to take life as it comes. We should not be afraid of challenges as life is full of them.

Another ‘commandment’ is that we should have good public relation skills, meaning we should have good relations with people from different walks of life in order to be respected and looked up by people. This can lead to success as a person with good public relations skills is easier to be recognised and stands out among peers and can achieve his or her goal, as the criteria to become successful is to stand out and be different from the rest.

After the talk there was a brief question and answer session by the students present. Below are a few of the many questions that were thrown at Azlan Iskandar.

“How many hours do you train each day?”- Ho Su Wei, Student Council

“That depends on the season, usually 8 hours a day broken into 2 sessions, but for now it’s 2 to 4 hours a day.”

“Was it difficult to make the decision to turn pro?” - Isabell Zubinsha

“There are some decisions that you need to take and some you want to take, and this was a once in a lifetime decision and I took the decision to turn pro because I love the game.”

“Did you receive any motivation from parents?” – Anonymous

“Yes I very much did receive motivation from them, they used to fly down to Peninsula Malaysia very often to visit me when I was in the sports school. Though my mother was against the idea of me becoming a pro squash player, as she had worries that I would not make enough money and fame, I was stubborn and wanted to turn pro.”

“What is your current salary?” – Mr.Preman, ECA Director

“I am lucky to have major companies sponsoring me and also other endorsement deals, but if you would want a rough estimation, it is around RM 300,000.”

“How is the world ranking for squash counted?” – Danaraj

“The super series, such as platinum is 2000 points, my current stand is 800 points.”

“Please explain to us the life you had in the sports school.” – Mr.Preman, ECA Director

“Yes no problem. Well life in the sports school was not tough, we had to wake up as early as 6 a.m. and attend school. There were 2 sessions that is 9am-12pm and 2pm-5pm, after which we had to attend training. We also had extra class in the night.”

“Do you miss your college life?” – Anonymous

“Yes indeed. I do miss college life, hanging out and chilling at mamak shops in the night .

The talk was very meaningful and helps put into perspective that that we have to have a goal in life, as only will we be successful. It also helped us understand that the road to success is not an easy path and requires perseverance in order to reach the peak of the hill.

By VISHAKAN RAVIPRAKASH