Many of the countries have a sportsman or sportswoman that created history for his country. In my home country Malaysia, there’s a sportsman who created not just history, but also our hearts. His name is Dato’ Lee Chong Wei. He is a badminton player from Malaysia. He won many trophies from the Olympics and also ranked as the world ranking number one badminton player.
Since I was a kid, my father used to talk about his story. Dato’ Lee Chong Wei is born from Perak, Malaysia. He won many trophies from badminton competitions, every game he plays, Malaysians will gather around at midnight to watch. He started his badminton history in 2000, and after much competition he won his first trophy in Olympic Games 2008. He was also the first Malaysian to the final of the men singles event. The achievement earned him as the little Dato and led to then Malaysia Prime Minister describing him as a national hero, as the Malaysians called him as the Dato Wira. It means the hero to us.
He repeated the achievement twice in 2012 and 2016, thus making him the most successful Malaysian Olympian in history. He was ranked first worldwide for 349 weeks, including a 199 week streak from August of 2008 to June of 2012. He is the fourth of the Malaysian players to achieve such a ranking and is the only Malaysian shuttler who has held the number one ranking for more than a year. He won 713 times and lost 135 games. He is a triple medalist at the Olympic Games, and the sixth Malaysian to win an Olympic medal.
Moreover, he was conferred the title of Dato by the Government of Penang, Malaysia in 2008 following his achievement in 2008 Olympic Games. In 2012, he was conferred the rank of honorary of the Royal Malaysian Navy Volunteer Reserve Unit. In 2016, he was promoted to the rank of honorary Commander of the Royal Malaysian Navy Volunteer Reserve Unit in recognition of his success at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. He received RM300,000 in 2008 as a reward for his winning in the 2008 Olympic Games. Thus, he also received RM3000 per month as a lifetime pension beginning in 2008. This reward makes him the one of the richest people in Malaysia.
In my perspective, every athlete that went to an event in the Olympics would stand a chance to win not just a medal, but our hearts. Dato Lee Chong Wei is the sportsman who created history in Malaysia. He not just created history, but our heart. In his life besides badminton, he was also a very good person who loves to share his story and also he was a father of two sons. Other than that, he was also a kind man who loves to help. He has donated over RM 10,000 to the orphans and due to the pandemic he also donated food and many other things to poor people who just lost their jobs.
In 2019, he retired from his job. The reason that he retired is because of his nose cancer. This ended his 19 years long international badminton career. The retirement came under the doctor’s advice, to avoid a relapse of his cancer. The announcement of his retirement is before his surgery for his nose cancer. His retirement spirit over the world and many of his fans were disappointed and feeling sad for this announcement.
Dato Lee Chong Wei is not just a hero for Malaysians, he was also a kind man and also a nice father to two of his sons. He is the sportsman who created history in Malaysia and also a mentor to most of the badminton players in Malaysia. His retirement makes us understand not to give up your dream and also to practice more for success.
Last but not least, many of the sportsmen who created history, would be due to many problems in his life, but never give up and never surrender to the enemy for success, and also to practice and work harder to get a big success. We should be proud of them and study hard to be successful and also to be confident at all times and also to be concentrated not just in study, but also in life.
Many countries have a sportsman and sportswoman who created history for his country. Thus, we should respect them and always support them in their success.
By Tai Howard
