Athlete who wins numerous international competitions wears with pride and dignity in the field, but they have to face the retirement someday. After the success has faded, athlete has to get back to their original life. What’s the road ahead for them: smooth or full of thorns? Our alumnus, the first Post-80s artistic cycling Wong Hang Cheong (Kehn) who has chalked up an impressive record in Macau’s artistic cycling field announced his retirement last year. The 17 years of cycling experience helps him to develop a personal philosophy of life: to enjoy every moment in life, to stay calm and relax, to work steadily and make solid progress; and a path will open to you.
To Retire: A Way to Give Back to Society
Before his first encounter with artistic cycling in Summer Activities, Kehn had been involved in martial arts training. He also represented Macau in competitions as prestigious as Busan Asian Games. At that point, he was still able to properly manage both martial arts and artistic cycling training. It was not until 2002 that practice for both sport activities required him to devote more time. He finally decided to choose artistic cycling and contributed most of his time and effort to this field. His seventeen years of artistic cycling can be considered a fruitful career. He won a number of competitions including East Asian Games and artistic cycling competitions. He also has rewarded an outstanding Macau athlete in 2011, and the Order of Merit in Sport by the Government. However, he announced his decision to retire last year when his sport career was at its peak because of a very simple reason. “Over the past 17 years, I have accumulated lots of experience and built up a sense of superiority in this field. I want to see more opportunities for young people. Meanwhile, I hope I can make use of my experience and superiority to create more opportunities to the younger generation.” Kehn’s retirement is not the end, but a way to give back to society.
During his cycling career, Kehn not only practice out a good physical, but also won himself a sense of superiority. He hopes he can lead his team moving forward in his own area of expertise, and thus to promote social progress.
Make Your Own Effort to Take Every Step
Kehn lies in the ability of “time control and management” to strike a proper balance between sport and school work. He said: “It is important to have a good time management. Some people would rather to spend 3 to 4 hours playing computer games than studying. I just dedicated my time and focus to study.” His efforts were not in vain. He obtained a UM postgraduate scholarship with excellent results in 2008 and joined the University staff in 2010. Now he is working as a lab technician in Automotive Engineering Laboratory and studying for his doctorate in the University of Macau. After the rigorous training life, Kehn adapted himself to the new life. With this career transition from athlete to an ordinary worker, he said that he now has a very fruitful life, “Although I am a retired athlete, it doesn’t mean that I am totally out of the field. I am now responsible for assisting with the general administration in Cycling General Association of Macau and the young athlete training. I still keep in touch with my high school friends and we play football together every weekend. I really enjoy it. ”
Being asked if he would get a late start on making career planning than other classmates, Kehn was open to talk: “I think I am the kind of person who makes the next step according to the situation. It is better to deal with problem ahead and then put any effort into making it reality. Then the bright future is just waiting for you. My idea of ‘step by step’ is to enjoy every moment in life, dare to take risk and fulfill the aim, work steadily and make solid progress. As long as you have a solid foundation, you can create your road. At current, I am focusing on writing my dissertation and teaching cycling. ”
The Post-80s Has Dream, But Lack of Understanding
The long-life of cycling career has helped Kehn to become a result-oriented and strict person. He said: “If you want to win, you must accept a possibility that you might fail. The reasons like low competency or little mistake in the competition can lead you to failure. But if you don’t face your fault or admit your mistakes, you would just get stuck on the failure. If only you face your fault and admit the mistake, you can learn from it and then correct it and make it better.”
Some people think that the Post-80s is so immature and beatable when it comes to the obstacles. As the Post-80s, Kehn has his opinion. “Times are changing, and the physical environment is changing as well as the living conditions, so the solutions to those issues in the present are different from those in the past. We, as the Post-80s, use our own way to deal with the problem and to fulfill the dream. It is true that every generation has its own dream, but our attitudes towards dream are just different from our parents. The society should give us more support and encouragement.”
As a UM staff and alumni, Kehn looks forward to the life in the new campus. He said that the new campus can provide more space for students who can utilize and develop their talents. He also suggested the school brothers and sisters should be more diligent and accumulate knowledge, reminding the younger generation should be responsible for their own choice. As long as you are willing to take risk and being responsible, you can explore the pathways within your chosen field of talent.
