KUALA LUMPUR – The Youth and Sports Ministry has come under fire from netizens over the national contigent’s official Paris Olympic attire launched yesterday.
Netizens took to X to criticise Minister Hannah Yeoh for the design of outfit that Malaysian athletes and officials will wear for the games in France.
This comes after the apparel, which includes shirts and tracksuits, were launched at TRX Exchange in conjunction with Olympic Day Malaysia on Sunday.
One user, @Hdin Hafizuddin, tagged Hannah Yeoh and remarked that her legacy as sports minister for this 2024 Summer Olympics edition is exceedingly embarrassing.
“Please do better. This is the Olympic Games, not some primary-level sports day. The attire is our image of the world’s eye. The world knew us by our (tiger) stripe designs. There’s one more month to go to change this,” said the user on X.
Netizens also mocked the Olympic Council of Malaysia for the manner in which the attire was unveiled, with photos of the mannequin draped in a black cloth circulating on social media platforms.
X user Ree Zha, in comparing Malaysia’s contingent attire to Thailand’s, said that we have ‘lost’ even before the Olympics began.
“We can’t even compare to neighbouring countries such as Thailand when it comes to just unveiling our official attire. They were ready, they did a photoshoot and used their athletes who will participate in the Olympics as models.
“While we, only using mannequins that don’t even look good, as models. And the designs too… hmm….”
Meanwhile, another user, @cixtones, quipped that even the mannequin used to model the clothes seems dissatisfied with the designs.
Netizen Kei (@KeiBasar) suggested that the 2024 Malaysian Olympic attire is a creative marketing campaign aimed at raising awareness about the dwindling tiger population and emphasising the importance of tiger conservation worldwide.
X users also targeted Olympic council’s president, Tan Sri Norza Zakaria, demanding answers for the horrendous design.
In response to the public outrage, Hannah Yeoh said that the responsibility for the Malaysian contingent’s official clothing for the Olympics lies with the council.
“This is the result of cooperation between Yonex and the Olympic Council of Malaysia. It is outside the Sports Ministry’s jurisdiction.” – June 24, 2024