Chong Wei slammed for endorsing 'bloody gold'

The newspaper pictures of top Malaysian badminton player Lee Chong Wei and his national team colleagues holding up a RM2 million gold bar with Raub Australian Gold Mining Sdn Bhd (RAGM) director Andrew Kam has angered Bukit Koman residents.

The pictures were taken at a joint press conference on Tuesday, which saw Kam challenging Chong Wei and six other national players to win a gold medal at the London Olympics in exchange for thegold bar.

However, the Bukit Koman residents questioned whether the move is merely a public relations exercise and if the national badminton team has been used to salvage the image of the gold mining company.

Residents of the Bukit Koman New Village have for a long time alleged that cyanide, which is used in the nearby mine, had led to a range of skin, eye, and respiratory ailments. 

In a response posted on its Facebook fanpage, the Bukit Koman Action Committee Against the Use of Cyanide in Mining of Gold said: “The owner of the gold mining company laughed joyfully (in the pictures)... but do you know the price of the gold bar was the health and life of the residents? His joyfulness was based on the suffering of the people.”

Contacted yesterday, committee chairperson Wong Kin Hong said the Bukit Koman villagers were very unhappy after reading the news.

According to him, many local people were condemning the move in the coffeeshops.

“Everyone was scolding. Of cause we scolded the ‘Tauke’, not Chong Wei. What is the use for scolding Chong Wei?”

However, he reminded the national team players that the Bukit Koman residents had suffered a lot for the gold bar they were holding up.

‘Not the first time’

Another committee member, Hue Shieh Lee, hit out at Chong Wei over the seeming lack of civil awareness.

“I don’t oppose public figures endorsing businesses, but you also need to take care of how others feel and be aware of community issues,” she told Malaysiakini.

She opined that Kam merely wanted to exploit the national badminton team and that Chong Wei had the right to reject the invitation from Kam or the gold mining company.

“Have you ever thought that the gold bar was exchanged for the residents’ health? It’s a bloody gold bar. You can sell the gold bar for some enjoyment but a lot of people are suffering from pain and illness.

“Chong Wei may be a hero to many Malaysians, but a hero like this chose to endorse a gold mining company, which is really ironic,” said Hue.

She also revealed that this is not the first time that Chong Wei has endorsed the gold mining company as the badminton superstar had visited the mining field last year.

“Since then, many villagers don’t like Chong Wei very much.” 

According to a report in The Star dated Jan 8, 2011, Chong Wei and other top shuttlers were invited to tour the RAGM gold mining facility in Bukit Koman before holding up a 15kg gold bar valued at over RM1.5 million.

Other who were present included Muhd Hafiz Hashim and Tan Boon Heong.