KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 18 ― Newspaper covers conveying disappointment over the Malaysian mixed doubles badminton pair winning “only” an Olympic silver medal came under criticism on the Internet today.
Selangor Speaker Hannah Yeoh posted a photograph of two newspapers with negative headlines over silver medallists Goh Liu Ying and Chan Peng Soon efforts last night, and questioned the apparent cynicism.
The papers were Kosmo! that put “Peng Soon-Liu Ying disappoint millions of Malaysians” on its cover and Berita Harian, which wrote “Mixed doubles only manage a silver”.
“Why such headlines? A silver medal in Olympics is a great feat,” the Subang Jaya assemblyman posted on her Facebook page today.
Others made similar complaints on social media, calling the headlines hurtful and dismissive of the pair's achievements.
One Facebook user named Mohd Hafiz Sukri posted on BH's page to say that the medal had surpassed the target for the sport in which Datuk Lee Chong Wei had been considered the only gold medal contender.
“Only? This is mixed doubles… not Lee Chong Wei… getting silver is already proud,” he wrote.
Others rebuked the papers' editors for their choice of phrases, saying the only disappointment was in how they decided to categorise the duo's efforts.
One user writing under the screen name DeeJay ZaiNey told the Kosmo! to apologise for the headline.
“I urge Kosmo! or the reporter that wrote this article to apologise to all Malaysians… we Malaysians are proud with the achievements of mixed doubles pair Peng Soon and Liu Ying… this is unethical!!!” his post read.
Goh-Chan have been showered with praises over their performance in the 2016 Olympics in Brazil, which ended last night with a silver medal after they lost to the Indonesian pair Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir 14-21 and 12-21 in their final.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was among the first leaders to congratulate the duo following their match.
“You have done your best Chan Peng Soon and @gohliuying. Succeeding to reach the final and winning the silver medal is a good achievement! Congratulations! #Rio2016,” he posted on Twitter.
Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin went on to share the duo's difficult journey in overcoming injuries to make it as far as the podium in Rio de Janeiro.
He revealed that Goh received surgery in 2014 to repair both badly damaged knees and underwent nearly a year of rehabilitation, but was still able to pair with Chan last year to qualify for the Olympics.
“[Not] many fancied them to get past the quarterfinals. But they did. And they beat the world number 6 Chinese pair in the semis. And here they are. Silver medallists. Number 79 a year ago. Podium today,” the screen capture of note on his official Twitter account read.
