Shouldering Malaysia's expectations, the new Lee just wants to be himself

Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia returning to Singapore's Joel Koh during their last-16 match in Manila on Thursday. He won 21-17, 21-10.
Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia returning to Singapore's Joel Koh during their last-16 match in Manila on Thursday. He won 21-17, 21-10. ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG
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Lee Zii Jia's Instagram captions (his handle is leeziijia) read like a self-help book that offer its readers a glimpse of the writer's feelings.

"Sometimes, things don't always go as planned but that doesn't mean we don't need to plan any more," wrote the Malaysian shuttler in a Sept 5 post. "It just means we need to be flexible and be able to adapt to things beyond our control."

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on December 07, 2019, with the headline Shouldering Malaysia's expectations, the new Lee just wants to be himself. Subscribe