My "Date" With Lee Chong Wei.

Ignore my ripped jeans

It is not easy to type this post with one hand and 4 fingers. Now I understand what it’s like to have limited fingers movement.

I accidentally sprained the carpometacarpal joint of my thumb earlier during the day and it had to be immobilize for a few days to heal it. It was swelling when I was typing this so I had to compress it with a bandage in order to reduce the pain.

My temporary remedy

Anywho, this post is not about my sprained thumb, although I must say watching Lee Chong Wei – The Movie with a sprained thumb made me chuckled a little. It’s as if I got injured by training too hard in badminton too.

Frankly I was never a fan of Malay movies, except for those of P. Ramlee’s and maybe this funny sitcom back in the 90s, called Pi Mai Pi Mai Tang Tu. Even Chinese movies, I am verrrrry selective as well. I prefer English movies mostly because I am a banana.

So when snippets of the film (initially the title was supposed to be The Rise Of The Legend) about our national (and one of the World's) badminton player, Datuk Lee Chong Wei is shown in the cinema (I was watching The Post at that time), I knew I had to find out if it’s really good. After watching another round of movie trailer and scheming through the main casts, I knew I won’t regret watching it!

With stellar casts like Datuk Rosyam Noor (as Datuk Lee’s second coach, Datuk Misbun Sidek), Mark Lee from Singapore (as Datuk Lee’s dad) and Yeo Yann Yann (as Datuk Lee’s Mom), this movie will definitely won’t go wrong!

If you have not watch it yet, please do. On my part, apart from the stellar casts, I am glad I watched it because:

1. I am a fan of the game and Datuk Lee Chong Wei.
2. I want to show my support to him, a fellow Malaysian for making our Country proud through & through (although it took him Blood, Sweat & Tears!). Malaysia Boleh!

Since it’s a movie about our nation’s pride, I do think it would be an awesome idea if the audience is asked to get up and sing our national anthem, Negaraku to showcase our patriotic and unity spirit before the movie starts!

The early scenes of Datuk Lee’s childhood reminded me some of the things from my childhood as well, from the make do with whatever your parents can provide you to having a strict father that isn’t supportive of your talents, to dealing with his first crush and working with his inner doubts, some of us can definitely relate to it.

I can’t help but feel that his inner issues (feeling inadequate) during the early days is mainly due to the lack of encouragement and support from his father, whom he truly respect.

Actors Mark Lee and Yeo Yann Yann, both acting as Datuk Lee’s parents is so believable! Not to mention new actor Tosh Chan who has the uncanny resemblance to Datuk Lee. It’s like his doppelganger! Film Director Tong Bee is undoubtedly talented with this biopic production.

I would say it’s a clever showcase of his life story, albeit a compact one. Enough to show us a glimpse of who Datuk Lee Chong Wei is before he became the World’s Champion.

Throughout the movie, I was glued to the chair, the adrenaline rush during the matches reminds me greatly of the feeling of how we used to follow them live on TV!

Nevertheless, I would like to share my takeaways after watching the film today. These are 6 things that I have learnt:

PARENTS & PEER SUPPORT IS ESSENTIAL

I couldn’t stress more on the importance of this. It doesn’t matter if one is born well to do or otherwise, without parents support (and from those who believes in you) it is pretty hard to achieve anything in life. So when you know or come across someone that is down and in need of encouragement, don’t walk away. Offer small chats and find out how you can help him or her.

CHALLENGES CAN BE ALL KINDS

People can make fun of your talents, your looks, belittle your abilities and can even try to make you look like a fool. Sometimes your circumstances may hinder you from achieving your fullest potential or reveal your inner talent, challenges can be in a form of anything or can happen anywhere or even to anyone. Learn to reflect on the these and see how best you can work around it.

TOXIC & DOUBTFUL PEOPLE ARE EVERYWHERE

Don’t be too quick to judge or make assumption of one’s shortcomings. Learn to understand their challenges and if you truly have nothing nice to say about them, just walk away and don’t even cross path. Save your energy from hate. Don’t try to be a hero of some sort if you can’t accept each other’s differences or flaws. Nobody is perfect. Likewise, you will have people talking about you, spit on you or slam the door (virtually) to your face, you either need to prove your worth (if it's really worth it!) or just walk away. Don’t waste your time or energy pleasing everyone. We are NOT everyone’s cup of tea.

DREAMS OR AMBITION IS ATTAINABLE

Yes, ONLY if you are willing to work hard at it so you can achieve them in due time. In those days people doubt on the Wright brothers about their idea of a machine that could fly or Graham Bell’s telephone invention. But did they stop working on their dreams? They didn’t. Their dreams becomes their life purpose.

GIVING UP IS AN OPTION

Yes, you can give up if you think it’s not the direction that is meant for you or no matter how hard you’ve tried, you still suck at it. But when your dream is bigger than life itself and its as important as the air that you breathe, then make sure you didn’t give up easily or listen to negative voices around you. It is okay to explore choices or options before settling because by then you will know if you were meant for it or otherwise.

YOUR INNER DOUBT IS YOUR NUMBER ONE ENEMY

You can cover your ears from negative naysayers or ignore their presence. But the number one enemy that you need to face every single day is YOURSELF! You are your own worst enemy, and battling with your lack of confidence may be seem like a mammoth task but once you overcome it, the world is your oyster.

Yes I enjoyed the movie so much that I feel energised and inspired at the end of it. Will I watch it again, DEFINITELY!

Source

Since some of you have yet to watch the movie, I rather not spoil it by narrating the story lines here. But do take the time this weekend and watch with your loved ones.

Nevertheless, it may take a few more years before we meet another Datuk Lee Chong Wei and I hope that someday someone will write or showcase biopics of other successful athletes (or even entrepreneurs!) in our country to educate and inspire our younger generation.

I also hope someday someone will make a movie about Datuk Nicol David as well. After all, she is also one of the national treasure that we should take pride on.

Last but not least, here's sharing the movie's theme song sang by local singers Nabila Razali and Priscilla Abby Chai (she's from Kuching!).

angiechin28

Something About Angiechin28

Angie Chin is a Mom with a mission and founder of WonderWomen.Asia (coming soon), the first online portal in Malaysia that connects Women to affordable online learning, community activities, shareable contents, events, jobs and go-to market opportunities. At home, she’s a mommy to a 10 year old daughter, 6 furbabies + a grown babe. She loves travelling, cooking, exploring new food, reading and watching re-runs on Youtube.

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