Dr Wee honoured to host badminton legends Foo and Cheah

PETALING JAYA: Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong has congratulated two national badminton greats who have been honoured with Datukships, and thanks them for bringing glory to the country.

In a Facebook post, the MCA president and Transport Minister said he was honoured to receive Datuk Foo Kok Keong and Datuk Cheah Soon Kit at his office in Wisma MCA on Wednesday (Oct 12).

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“I presented each of them with a plaque to congratulate them on receiving their Datukships.

“Foo was conferred the Panglima Jasa Negara (PJN) by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong earlier this year.

“Cheah received his Datukship, Darjah Panglima Mahkota Wilayah (PMW), in conjunction with the Federal Territory Day celebration last year.

“Both badminton legends brought much glory to the country, especially when they won the Thomas Cup for Malaysia in 1992,” he said.

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Foo, who was part of the 1992 Thomas Cup-winning team, received the PJN, which carries the title Datuk, for his achievements in the sport.

He was the first Malaysian to reach the No. 1 spot in the world ranking system after it was implemented by the International Badminton Federation (IBF) in the 1980s.

Cheah formed one of the top men’s doubles pairs in the world in his heyday with Yap Kim Hock.

The duo earned Malaysia’s first Olympic silver medal in Atlanta in 1996 after a close match with Indonesia’s Rexy Mainaky-Ricky Subagja in the final.

Cheah was national women’s doubles coach from 2001-2007 and was responsible for grooming Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty into the country’s top pair.

He rejoined the national set-up in 2016 before heading the men’s doubles department and helped groom the current No. 1 pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik before leaving at the end of 2018.