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Making fun of people or looking down on them for not speaking English well is not funny.
Instead of congratulating Choong Hon Jian-Haikal Nazri for winning back-to-back titles in India recently, a video showing the national men's pair struggling with their answers during an interview has gone viral.
#GuwahatiMasters2023 Post-Match Interview with the champion.
— Giarc Nibisna (@craigansibin) December 10, 2023
Men's Doubles
Choong Hon Jian / Muhammad Haikal
Dua2 malu la pulak. #BadmintonMalaysia #GuwahatiMasters2023 #ShuttleHard pic.twitter.com/ghNIF7kVKq
The one minute 14 seconds video, taken after Hon Jian-Haikal's Guwahati Masters triumph on Sunday, has drawn mixed reactions from fans and critics.
"Just watched the interview where the Indian TV host, who obviously does not know Bahasa Malaysia, interviewed them (Hon Jian and Haikal). Both players seemed lost. They are not to be blamed, but our education system has failed them," read a comment on Facebook.
Was it necessary for the video to be presented as such, or was it made for the sole purpose of embarrassing Hon Jian-Haikal, who were only paired up four-months ago?
While English is an important language, not everybody is fluent with it.
In fact, many successful athletes like Argentina's Lionel Messi, or most of China's top badminton players, never give an interview in English. Yet, nobody makes an issue.
This is not the first time a Malaysian athlete is ridiculed for not speaking English fluently.
In 2017, instead of celebrating his wonder goal, critics mocked former Penang footballer Faiz Subri for his "broken English" speech after receiving the Fifa Puskas Award in Zurich.
We should be a little more objective, or even sensitive for that matter; we should value and appreciate our athletes' efforts and achievements.
This latest episode is an eye-opener for the Badminton World Federation to be vigilant in managing post-match interviews, especially the ones that are conducted live. Chinese, South Korean and Japanese shuttlers always have a translator at hand. Perhaps it is time host broadcasters consider other athletes too.
