[VIDEO] Lee Zii Jia Raps His Blues On Douyin & Questions Why Media Keeps Bashing Him
The video was his latest upload in nine months.
By Yap Wan Xiang — 03 May 2023, 10:33 AM
Life is tough when you are at the centre of attention and your every move is scrutinised by the public
To talk about that struggle, national shuttler Lee Zii Jia posted a song on Douyin to express his tribulations through music
Rapping his blues in a one-minute-and-30-second track posted on China's equivalent of TikTok, the video shows Lee playing the song he composed on a digital audio workstation software.
The song is about his life journey as a national badminton player, which has come under heavy criticism in recent months following a spate of poor performances.
He also uses the song to question the media for the headlines they run about him, wondering whether everything he does is reduced to clicks and eyeballs.
New Straits Times reported on Monday, 1 May, that Lee's song comes after he is expected to drop from World Number 4 to World Number 8 after he suffered a first-round exit at the Asia Championships in Dubai last week.
The 25-year-old athlete was the World Number 2 shuttler in October 2022, a ranking he held for 92 days, according to the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
The full translation of the lyrics can be found below:
I am starting to wonder whether I'm still moving forward
Or have I not worked hard enough
I ask myself every day
"Do I regret making those decisions?"
Sleepless night
Life is a yawn
Heaving heavy sighs
I have to pretend that I have strong will
Otherwise, what do you want me to do?
Everyone has always been required to wear a mask in society
I am becoming less of myself every day
I have been careful with what I say
I try not to respond to issues
Thinking it would give me some peace
But when I see those news reports every day
I realise I was too naive
Maybe in their eyes
I am only the entity that brings in web traffic
"What has this young man done wrong?"
He chases his dreams
He just chose a difficult road
He doesn't say what he has gone through
He can only silently endure everything
"Man, what mistake did he make again?"
Why do you all keep saying that?
He just wants peace, man
Hopefully one day
He can prove the doubters wrong
Lee has been at the receiving end of bad press since last year, with news portals often running strongly-worded headlines about his defeats and manoeuvres
Whether it is experts, insiders, or local badminton fans commenting about his losses, it is not uncommon to read "You can't go on like this", "(You) should apologise first", "Learn from your mistakes", "Be more humble", "Be careful", "(You) may be 'smashed out' from...", and "Bungkus awal" in sports headlines.
The situation has become so brazen to the extent that Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh had to come forward to tell the media to "protect" Lee instead of bashing him all the time, reported New Straits Times.
She said the limelight has piled unnecessary pressure on the young athlete, and such news reports are "not necessarily healthy sometimes".
Left to right: Road To Gold (RTG) coordinator Stuart Ramalingam, Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh, shuttler Lee Zii Jia, and his sister-cum-manager Lee Zii Yii.
Image via Ministry of Youth and Sports via New Straits TimesAt the time of writing, Lee's rap song has garnered over 4,400 likes and 600 comments
The video was his latest upload in nine months. Some netizens joked that the shuttler finally recovered his password to the video-sharing platform.
"(Believe that you can) survive this desperate situation, believe in yourself! Being able to stand in this position proves that you have something special. There's nothing worse than a two-year ban, and didn't you get through it all? You can do it!" read a top comment.
"It sounds good! Don't be sad, Zii Jia. Feel great soon. I really want to see you smashing at the stadium again," cheered a Douyin user.
"Brother Zii Jia, don't be emo. You're awesome, okay? I like watching you play badminton," encouraged another person.
Many netizens also commented that they will always be by his side to silence the doubters.
