Empathy Wins Hearts and the ROAR Award
ROAR Award of the Month (March 2022)
Cyclist Muhammad Iman Zainudin stood at the starting line of the Men’s Road Criterium Juniors category event with his heart pumping with anticipation and excitement. It was his first race in 2022, and he was determined to have a good start. However, he unexpectedly crashed out within 50 seconds, suffering bruises and abrasions, putting an abrupt end to his race.
A day after the competition, Iman realised that a video had been circulating on social media suggesting that a competitor had pushed him. The video went viral and Iman felt that the online comments and judgements could be unfair to the competitor.
Iman decided to speak up for his competitor by posting a video on his social media page sharing his disapproval of the online criticisms. In his video, he urged netizens to be kind and show greater understanding. He opined that in cycling, crashes do happen and how you react to the crash is important. He felt that overreacting to the crash would not be helpful to anyone.
“I decided to do a social media post as I did not like how netizens were making judgements of my competitor. Furthermore, I saw how some people were doxing him and harassing him.” shared Iman.
Despite feeling low after the race, Iman showed empathy towards his competitor and cared for his emotional well-being. As his sportsmanship and compassion towards his competitor is admirable, Iman was presented with the ROAR Award by Principal Ong Kim Soon on 10 March 2022.
The ROAR Award is given in recognition of student-athletes who exemplify the school values of Respect, Integrity, Responsibility, Excellence, and Resilience.
Cyclist Muhammad Iman Zainudin stood at the starting line of the Men’s Road Criterium Juniors category event with his heart pumping with anticipation and excitement. It was his first race in 2022, and he was determined to have a good start. However, he unexpectedly crashed out within 50 seconds, suffering bruises and abrasions, putting an abrupt end to his race.
A day after the competition, Iman realised that a video had been circulating on social media suggesting that a competitor had pushed him. The video went viral and Iman felt that the online comments and judgements could be unfair to the competitor.
Iman decided to speak up for his competitor by posting a video on his social media page sharing his disapproval of the online criticisms. In his video, he urged netizens to be kind and show greater understanding. He opined that in cycling, crashes do happen and how you react to the crash is important. He felt that overreacting to the crash would not be helpful to anyone.
“I decided to do a social media post as I did not like how netizens were making judgements of my competitor. Furthermore, I saw how some people were doxing him and harassing him.” shared Iman.
Despite feeling low after the race, Iman showed empathy towards his competitor and cared for his emotional well-being. As his sportsmanship and compassion towards his competitor is admirable, Iman was presented with the ROAR Award by Principal Ong Kim Soon on 10 March 2022.
The ROAR Award is given in recognition of student-athletes who exemplify the school values of Respect, Integrity, Responsibility, Excellence, and Resilience.
