Kuala Lumpur: After donated 50 tablets to help underprivileged students who were struggling with getting access to online education in the new normal due to lack of materials and internet connection, Malaysia’s badminton legend Lee Chong Wei has agreed to donate another 20 laptops to students in Bukit Mertajam, Penang under the “Asal Cek Mau Pi Sekolah” campaign launched by the Member of Parliament (MP) of Bukit Mertajam, Steven Sim Chee Keong.
However, Lee’s acts of kindness have attracted criticism from a close-minded and politically motivated group called “Team Mujahid Cyber”, questioning him of supporting MP from the opposition parties, and suggested Lee should be stripped of his Datukship.
In response to the incident above, Lee told Malaysian media that he was not a politician and would always lend a helping hand to those in need regardless of political affiliation.
“I am just an athlete, not a politician. We are all friends, I just wanted to help the children in my hometown (Bukit Mertajam),” said Lee.
“I don’t think there is a need to respond to those online criticisms because I was just helping the society with my heart and not affiliated with any political parties. I just happened to notice Steven Sim was launching this campaign in my hometown, therefore, I volunteered to support those children in Bukit Mertajam through my donations,” added Lee.
Lee also joked that he couldn’t help all children across the country, so he would get this initiative started by helping the children in Bukit Mertajam for now through Steven Sim, who will distribute those tablets and laptops he donated to families in need.
Later on Monday night, Steven Sim also wrote an apology post on Facebook for causing inconvenience to Lee Chong Wei.
“Chong Wei’s actions were not because of politics but because he just wanted to help our children. My heart felt very sad,” said Sim.
“We went out of our way looking for laptops, trying to help poor families and kids who wanted to study but did not have a device. And generous people like Chong Wei has made our work much easier,” added Sim.
“When we giveaway those laptops/tablets, we do not stick the logo of our political party on those devices. The laptops and tablets only have the manufacturer’s logo,” continued Sim.
