KUALA LUMPUR: After a sad Lee Zii Jia uploaded a self-composed rap song about his feelings following a spat of poor performances, his fans have told his critics to back off.
Zii Jia, who was knocked out in the
Badminton Asia Championships first round last week, has also dropped four rungs to eighth in the world.
Though many on Facebook have criticised the 25-year-old Kedahan for making excuses, others on Twitter have urged Zii Jia to brave on.
Fans who are concerned about Zii Jia's mental health, have appealed for the shuttler to be given the space and time to recover.
"Zii Jia, please never doubt yourself, you have come this far, keep going cap tain.
"It's okay to take a break and focus on yourself. Just ignore the negativity, we always got your back. If you need help, go get help," a fan tweeted.
Since leaving BAM last year, the former All England champion has come under criticism for his controversial decisions.
This includes snubbing the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games and dropping his former coach, Indra Wijaya, from his professional team.
In spite of all this, Zii Jia is still given strong support, including from Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh who believes the player shouldn't be pressured, but instead protected by the media.
Despite the challenges on and off the court, Zii Jia is still considered a medal prospect at next year's Paris Olympics, and is included in the Road to Gold (RTG) programme.
Some fans have also taken the media to task over its reports on Zii Jia.
"Why is there a report on him even when he composes a song? Why not write about Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi (independent men's doubles)?" said one Twitterer.
A translated part of Zii Jia's melancholic song on his Douyin account, read: "I'm starting to wonder whether I still need to move forward? I ask myself everyday, do I regret making those decisions? I have to pretend that I'm ambitious, otherwise what do you want me to do?
"I'm becoming less and less of myself, I have to be careful when I speak, try not to respond, thinking it would give me peace. When I see the news everyday, only then I realised that I was naive, I'm just a so-called 'viral traffic'."
Zii Jia is currently outside Kuala Lumpur with the Malaysian team training for the Sudirman Cup in Suzhou, China, on May 14-21.