The Cabinet on Wednesday should honour Datuk Lee Chong Wei as the Malaysian Sportsperson of the Decade for winning two Olympic silver medals for the country – a feat unequalled by any Malaysian.
Malaysians were greatly disappointed by Chong Wei’s failure to win the Olympic gold medal in the men’s badminton singles last night, as it was truly a case of “So near and yet so far”.
However, nobody could be more disappointed than Chong Wei himself, as he had put up a valiant and mighty effort to win the first Olympic gold medal for Malaysia.
Chong Wei remains the undisputed hero for all Malaysians in the past ten years, sealed by his unequalled achievement of winning two Olympics silver medals for the country – in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and the 2012 Olympics in London.
For this reason, the conferment of the honour as the Malaysian Sportsperson of the Decade on Chong Wei by the Yang di Pertuan Agong on the occasion of the 55th National Day/49th Malaysia Day celebrations on August 31 and September 16 respectively will be special and unique, drawing together all Malaysians as one united people regardless of race, religion or region.
The honouring of Chong Wei will also go a long way to undo the divisive effects caused by the deplorable attempt by UMNO/Barisan Nasional to hijack the 55th National Day/49th Malaysia Day celebrations with the most insensitive decision to impose the UMNO/BN theme “Janji Ditepati” as the National Day/Malaysia Day theme this year, accompanied by a most hideous logo and cheap and vulgar theme song.
Although the hideous logo has been abandoned, the Minister for Information, Communications and Culture, Datuk Seri Dr. Rais Yatim has refused to budge on the “Janji Ditepati” theme and theme song, saying that the theme was a Cabinet decision.
If I am thinking solely in partisan terms, I would welcome this UMNO/BN stubbornness for the “Janji Ditepati” theme and its atrocious theme song, e.g. the lyrics:
“Janji sudah ditepati
Kini masa balas budi” or
“Ini janji kita, BRIM Satu Malaysia
Ini janji Satu Malaysia, terima Satu Malaysia,
Kata kita dikota, Klinik Satu Malaysia
Janji kita ditepati, Kedai Satu Malaysia.”
This is because the blatant and unashamed hijacking of the 55th National Day/49th Malaysia Day celebrations by UMNO/BN with the insensitive theme and ludicrous theme song will continue to be the butt of jokes of the majority of right-thinking and sensible Malaysians, reinforcing the increasing thinking in the country that 55 years have been too long a time and that the time has come for a new set of leaders to run the country.
This is going to cost UMNO/BN dearly in terms of votes in the 13th General Election which is going to decide whether it is going to be the end of the road for UMNO/BN federal power in Putrajaya.
However, as a Malaysian nationalist and patriot, I cringe at the very thought of the hijacking of the 55th National Day/49th Malaysia Day celebrations by UMNO/BN with their electioneering theme of “Janji Ditepati” and vulgar theme song – which is something just inconceivable for any normal democratic country which can distinguish between right and wrong or nation and government-of-the-day.
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak is doing himself and the country a great disservice if he persists in wanting to allow UMNO/BN to hijack the 55th National Day/49th Malaysia Day celebrations.
But can he at least mitigate such divisive effects if the occasions are also used to honour Chong Wei as the Malaysian Sportsperson of the Decade for his unequalled feat of winning two Olympic silver medals for the country?
#1 by sheriff singh on Monday, 6 August 2012 - 3:59 pm
Look at the lyrics. Isn’t it moronic? So cheap and low class-lah. Penned by that sycophant ‘Dr’ mood and mode-changer, no less.
As for Lee Chong Wei. He fought a good fight. For a moment at 19-18, I thought he was going to make it. But alas it was not his day again.
So what will the Penang government do for him this time?
#2 by SENGLANG on Monday, 6 August 2012 - 4:20 pm
CHONG WEI despite his fail attempt at Gold is still the best sport man in Malaysia. He has undergone great pressure but he did his best. No one can understand the pressure that he has to shoulder for this Olympic ousting. He deserve our salute.
#3 by sotong on Monday, 6 August 2012 - 4:30 pm
But under Malaysia Boleh….we have Melayu Boleh, Cina Boleh, India Boleh and Others Boleh.
And this Race first and Country second by Ministers.
We are too divided from dacades of politics of race and religion for the National Day to be meaningful to ALL…it’s just another public holiday.
#4 by monsterball on Monday, 6 August 2012 - 4:44 pm
The government will not honour Chong Wei unless they are sure Chong Wei supports BN or can pull young voters to BN side.
If Chong Wei is a Muslim, no one needs to teach UMNO b what to do.
I think Chong Wei is not bothered about titles and honours.
#5 by monsterball on Monday, 6 August 2012 - 4:50 pm
We do have past great badminton players.
Do not forget, a team paid their boat fare and went to London to compete in the Thomas Cup and won.
That’s the starting of badminton inspirations for Asians.
They are the first legends and did the government honour all of them?
Only a multi millionaire like Eddy Choong is frequently seen talking .
One by one died as a pauper.
#6 by monsterball on Monday, 6 August 2012 - 4:52 pm
And so was P.Ramlee who was honoured AFTER he was dead.
#7 by monsterball on Monday, 6 August 2012 - 4:56 pm
P.Ramlee did not behave Malay first, Malaysian second.
He is 100% Malaysian and that makes the racists UMNO b ignored him.
#8 by monsterball on Monday, 6 August 2012 - 5:05 pm
To be fair, Nicol Davids is the real Champion in sports for all times in Malaysia.
She won 8 times World Championship cup surpassing all from the world and yet…..that feat is totally forgotten.
I repeat, if Nicol Davids is a Malay, and come out like that famous “singer” to openly support UMNO b…she will be used as a tool to pull in votes.
Chong Wei and Nicol are much too smart to be bought or used.
#9 by monsterball on Monday, 6 August 2012 - 5:08 pm
To be fair…Nicol Davids is the real champion in sports for all times in Malaysia.
She and Chong Wei are too smart not to be used for fishing votes.
#10 by monsterball on Monday, 6 August 2012 - 5:18 pm
Mahathir had David Copperfield to divert attentions.
Najib will soon have Tiger Woods to do the same stunt.
It’s entertaining time…. to ease off tentions…..sock it to them…pull back…change…divert and back to sock it to them..until all Malaysians are “happily” afraid to change.
Under Najib….so many tricks….treats and threats applied.
What do that sum up to say?
He is caught between the devil and he deep blue sea.
13th GE???….wait wait and wait till he feels101% safe.
#11 by dagen wanna "ABU" on Monday, 6 August 2012 - 6:11 pm
Chong wei is a chinese. So is lin dan. And yet in the clash between the two, all malaysian chinese rooted themselves behind chong wei. How come? It is the flag stupid – that jalur gemilang thing. We want the jalur gemilang to fly and we want to see chong wei fly the jalur gemilang in london. You see, we are all jalur gemilangs first and foremost and chinese second.
Incidentally there are two special spectators in that same arena. One of them has a husband who strangely is something else first and jalur gemilang second; and the other has a husband (actually a second husband) who could not quite make up his mind whether he is jalur gemilang or something else, first.
Despite this oddity, the latter two and all those who of the same or similar feather are given special rights including the right to do anything with absolute impunity.
Anyway, their days are numbered. And chong wei, you did jalur gemilang proud!
#12 by undertaker888 on Monday, 6 August 2012 - 6:21 pm
Ya why squash is not in Olympics. If not nichol would have won many gold for us. But they do have solo synchronize swimming for 6 years before it was scrapped. Solo synchronize swimming? Come on.
#13 by cemerlang on Monday, 6 August 2012 - 8:14 pm
Congrats to Lee Chong Wei because sadly he is one of the very few Malaysians to live up to that high standard; in his case, badminton. We must not forget all the other rakan seperjuangan in history and in life. The Sidek brothers. Others. In this day and age, he is one of the living role models. To be ready, to fight, to win, to lose, to stand up again. He has fought the good fight in this summer Olympics 2012 in London. May be that bar of gold is too heavy. There are many lessons to be learned. Especially from the China giants. We can emulate them because they are as Asians as we are. For the Merdeka Day celebrations, people do ask questions. Like are they really independent ? Malaysians loyalty should be to Malaysia. Render to Caeser the things that are Caeser’s. When a Malaysian Chinese plays badminton with a China Chinese, the world will begin to think if there are Chineses all over the world, which there are.
#14 by Loh on Monday, 6 August 2012 - 8:17 pm
Actually the silver medal was not an entitlement for Chong Wei; he had to fight for it.
#15 by monsterball on Tuesday, 7 August 2012 - 6:31 am
dagan wanna “ABU” are you a Malaysian first race second?
Chong Wei is NOT a Chinese.
He is a Malaysian.
It is sad so many Malaysians thinks of their race first and as a Malaysian second.
There are much more different races in China and Japan and yet all are proud to be Chinese and Japanese.
#16 by cemerlang on Tuesday, 7 August 2012 - 7:15 am
Each time you fill in some forms, there is a space called citizenship, negara, race. Do you still need to ask for the race if there is only 1Malaysian race ? Wouldn’t that nationality Malaysian do ? Why do you need to know if so and so and so is a Malay first, a Chinese second, a Indian third, a Iban fourth, a Kadazan fifth ectera ectera ? Why do you still need to know if so and so is a Melayu race if one applies for a government job ? Shouldn’t the government service reflects the 1Malaysia thingy ? Afterall it is the first line diplomacy service whether locally or internationally; whether with the great and powerful politicians or with the rakyat biasa ?
#17 by Bigjoe on Tuesday, 7 August 2012 - 7:58 am
Honestly sir, Manoharan deserved to be dropped from the line-up of the next GE..His outburst, intentional or not, simply not good enough – he is simply disqualified..
#18 by monsterball on Tuesday, 7 August 2012 - 9:00 am
He made a mistake and twist his tongue .
We have seen enough snakes in BN..famous of all..Mahathir.
Manoharan should be left out for GE.
#19 by pulau_sibu on Tuesday, 7 August 2012 - 9:25 am
As a young player, a Dato is too heavy for him. It must be an embarrassment for himself to be known as Dato in the international arena. If a friend from another country asked him, what is that Dato in front of your name? Would he dare to answer that he has been most well known person with most significant contributions, thus he was awarded this title.
While expressing disappointment with Malaysia of not getting a gold medal, we should not insult LD of China. We should not lose emotional control and show to the outside world that we are poorly educated. They both have tried their very best. In China, LD is just one of the dozens of gold medalists, perhaps getting less attention compared to what LCW has been getting in Malaysia.
My final question or doubt is, is a silver Olympic medal (in fact silver medals) by a Chinese Malaysian acceptable by UMNx? If not, why an astronaut to the space or an explorer to the south pole has to be a Malay or a Malay has been representing the country in most important occasions?
#20 by cemerlang on Tuesday, 7 August 2012 - 10:13 am
Follow the flow maaaaa… Why not follow the Indonesian way ? Have 1name in line with the transformation process. No more Melayu names. No more Chinese names. No more Indian names. No more Dayak names. No more Kadazan names. That way you don’t have to know who is a Melayu, who is a Cina, who is an Indian, who is an Orang Asli and so on and so forth.
#21 by megaman on Tuesday, 7 August 2012 - 10:36 am
There’s nothing to do with names.
Let’s look at Americans, they are of different races, backgrounds and names. Yet, they identified themselves first foremost as Americans and damn proud of it too.
It is also common for them to filled in their ethnicities in forms BUT the BIG difference here is that it is ILLEGAL to use such information to discriminate against them in any ways possible.
What this means is that you cannot make any decisions about a person (e.g. hiring/firing, promotions etc) based on his/her gender and ethnic background. This is stamped into their constitutions and no one (not even the president) is allowed to violate this.
When the day comes that the Malaysian government and society at large only considers the achievement and capabilities of a person without even noticing his/her gender, ethnic race and age. Then we would be TRULY Malaysians.
Until then, we need to work harder to remove the barriers.
#22 by cemerlang on Tuesday, 7 August 2012 - 1:31 pm
Damn proud because it is still the superior country; like it or not. Anyway, Malaysians should have the bodies of Americans and the stamina of Americans or is it the China Chineses. Look at the scoreboard, it is neck to neck between China and USA. Look at their huge bodies. We should import more Chineses from northern China. Southern Chineses are so small in size. That was where Malaysian Chineses come from. That way we can compete with the same size bodies from America. Pick somebody of your size is the American saying. By the way, it is my way as in Malaysia way, not the American way. Dig ?
#23 by Loh on Tuesday, 7 August 2012 - 3:58 pm
When Malaysia gained independence in 1957, the constitution of Malaya provides that all Malayans are equal. At that time in certain states in USA, blacks were not allowed into buses with whites, and Martin Luther King had yet to make his speech about his dream, in 1968. Now USA outlaws racism and Malaysia has institutionalized racism. Thus, time will not help make Malaysia a true multiracial country like it does to USA. Time will make racism in Malaysia worse and eventually ripe for colonization by foreign power.