Throughout the duration of the Paris 2024 Olympics, sports enthusiasts have kept themselves updated with the news of our national athletes through social media postings, and live broadcasts on TV. However, sometimes these postings may not be as reliable as they appear.
Just barely 2 weeks after an Astro Arena commentator received immense backlash for his unprofessional comments during Lee Zii Jia (李梓嘉)’s match, the TV station faced yet another wave of criticism due to their social media team misquoting one of our legendary athletes. Here’s what happened:
The Paris 2024 Olympics officially concluded yesterday (Monday, 12th August) with a lineup of global artists such as Billie Eilish, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Snoop Dog, and H.E.R. performing during the closing ceremony. In a lengthy post on Facebook, Malaysia’s No.1 Badminton player Datuk Lee Chong Wei ( 李宗伟) congratulated Malaysian athletes for representing the country in their respective sports and giving their best during the tournaments.
Unfortunately, the retired badminton legend was poorly misquoted in Astro Arena’s Facebook post. In the original Malay quote, the 41-year-old said, “For those who wish to comment, please give constructive criticism. How could you act all innocent but give harsh words that would diminish our athletes’ confidence and bring shame to our nation? Don’t be keyboard warriors”.
However, in Astro Arena’s headline, they quoted the 3-time Olympic Silver medallist saying, “For those who wish to comment, please look in the mirror first”. Netizens on Twitter called out the TV station for misquoting Lee Chong Wei as it could potentially damage his reputation and spark unnecessary online outrage. Many questioned how the admin behind the social media account failed to understand and properly summarise the source.
Astro Arena has yet to correct the error in their Facebook posting and it’s currently unknown if Lee Chong Wei is aware of the viral issue. Let’s hope the admin listens to netizens’ concerns or otherwise, this could lead to another defamation case.
