Yesterday (Aug 7), Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh was flooded with a barrage of negative comments after she openly praised Thai player Kunlavut Vitidsarn and said that she was a “fan” of his.
This comes after she was labelled as “insensitive” and “unpatriotic” towards national athletes by heaping praise on a foreign player who defeated Lee Zii Jia to move on to the finals before eventually winning silver.
Hannah Yeoh: ‘It’s all about sportsmanship’
Following the overwhelmingly bitter reception towards her Instagram post, Yeoh responded in a series of Instagram stories addressing the criticism levied against her.
In the first story, she shared a list of values that are considered to be the cornerstones of the Olympics: excellence, respect and friendship, with special emphasis given to the last two and adding that it was a “very basic starting point”.
In the second story, she highlighted a point talking about setting aside rivalries and giving credit where it’s due when the competition’s over.
When the competition has ended, after receiving your medals, you celebrate the winners. Sportsmanship is about accepting loss when all is fair and being able to acknowledge your rivals in a respectful manner,” she wrote.
As for the third story, Yeoh wrote that aside from being Sports Minister, she was also Youth Minister and had the responsibility to instill “a healthy sporting culture” among Malaysian youths.
“I’m not all about winning medals at all costs. We are not sore losers. There is nothing insensitive about acknowledging our rival’s strength after the competition.
“Sports teaches us invaluable lessons about life and this is why parents must encourage children to do sports. They become stronger when they practice good sportsmanship.”
Yeoh then moved on to address accusations that she was biased towards foreign athletes by posting a photo of her congratulating the Malaysian coaches after Japan’s world No. 3 Matsuyama Nami and Shida Chiharu defeated Pearly-Thinaah in the semi-finals.
She also reiterated that she was “consistent” when it came to practicing good sportsmanship and called on everyone to “be honourable” when they are beaten in a match.
What do you think of Hannah’s response? Let us know in the comments!
Read about the incident which sparked the uproar here:
