China-Based M'sian Badminton Coach Slammed For Racist Remarks & Saying BAM Is Lazy
Former national shuttler Bong Guang Yik has since apologised for involving races and religions in the sport.
By Yap Wan Xiang — 13 Feb 2023, 05:51 PM
A Malaysian badminton coach has been slammed by Malaysians and the Ministry of Youth and Sports for racist comments he made in a video
The video was uploaded to China's TikTok equivalent, Douyin, in January, but only caught Malaysians' attention when it was brought to light on Twitter by @AhboyBadminton, a page dedicated to posting news related to badminton.
In the video that Ah Boy Badminton uploaded last week, former national shuttler Bong Guang Yik began the Douyin video by pointing out that not even a single Malaysian shuttler was qualified to contest in the final of the Malaysia Open.
"Is this the players' fault or the Badminton Association of Malaysia's (BAM) fault?" Bong asked.
"The biggest problem is BAM. I think it's because the operation is managed by Malays.
"Don't let Malays manage. Let the Chinese try to manage to see if there is any improvement. In my opinion, Malays are lazy because they have to pray five times a day.
"How would they still have the eagerness to run BAM well? How would they still be able to elevate the future of badminton in Malaysia?" he said in the video.
SAYS sighted Bong's original video on Douyin and found that it garnered over 17,000 likes before it was taken down
In the longer version of the video, Bong said the Chinese should manage BAM because people from the community come from a background of deep history and possess values from ancient China. He also added that "the Malays can never catch up".
He also criticised national singles coach Hendrawan for his failure to even produce a single high-caliber shuttler despite serving in Malaysia for over a decade.
In a separate video posted on 12 January, Bong said the loss that the world number four player, Lee Zii Jia, suffered in the Malaysia Open is an indication that his performance will only go downhill from thereon if he does not change the method of training.
In response to the videos, Ah Boy Badminton challenged Bong to return to Malaysia to train local athletes if he thinks he is so great, but Ah Boy believed that Bong is not qualified for the job anyway.
Ah Boy Badminton's video that calls out Bong's racist remarks has since gone viral with over 148,000 views and 2,200 retweets
In a Douyin video uploaded yesterday, 12 February, Bong apologised for involving races and religions in badminton, saying that he made the mistake because he was just very passionate about the sport as he also wishes to see competitive badminton in Malaysia improve.
Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh also responded to the issue today, 13 February, confirming that Bong is no longer a national athlete and was a former BAM trial linebacker nine years ago.
"I do not agree with his social media speech and strongly condemn any racist remarks even though he has apologised.
"I believe that religions have never affected athletes' performances. This has never been a problem in Malaysia.
"I repeat (my) stance: sports must be free from any racial and political elements. All national athletes are a source of inspiration to society and everyone is advised to be careful with their respective social media content," said the minister.
