CHINESE Olympic gold medallist Quan Hongchan sparked a debate online after she was photographed taking leftover food from a National Day dinner recently, reported China Press.
The national darling, who brought home two gold medals for diving at the recent Paris Olympics, was seen asking wait staff to pack up leftover food at a state banquet celebrating the founding of the People’s Republic of China last week.
She was later photographed leaving the function holding several plastic bags filled with the food.
Many netizens slammed Quan for her action, which they said is not befitting that of a public figure, questioning how a national athlete could behave in such a disgraceful manner.
Her fans, however, defended Quan and said frugality and wanting not to waste food is a traditional Chinese virtue everyone should practise.
“She is a role model all of us should learn from!” one netizen wrote.
It was reported that Quan grew up in a poor household where food was hard to come by.
She was earlier reported to have said that motivation for her athletic achievements came from wanting to make more money to pay for her mother’s medical bills.
It was earlier reported that Quan rose to fame in 2021 after she brought home a gold medal during the Tokyo Olympics.
She recently brought home two more gold medals from the Paris Olympics for the 10m synchronised platform and women’s 10m platform events.
> A melon farmer and his wife in Taiwan were swept away by floodwaters and drowned after the man tried to pull his wife out of the water, reported China Press.
Video footage of the harrowing incident on Oct 4 showed the 52-year-old woman, whose surname was Zhang, tripping and falling into rising waters in the wake of Typhoon Krathon.
Her 65-year-old husband, known only as Li, tried to pull her out but got swept away as well by strong currents.
Their bodies were found the next day in Taipei’s Da’an district after the floods subsided.
The couple’s daughter posted on social media the final moments of her parents before the tragedy, which were caught on video by their neighbour.
“I hope mum and dad are doing well in heaven,” she wrote.
Her post garnered sympathy from Internet users who sent her their condolences.
It was reported that Typhoon Krathon hit Taiwan last week, triggering landslides and leaving many parts of the island without electricity.
Taiwan is accustomed to frequent tropical storms from July to October, but scientists have warned that climate change is increasing their intensity, leading to heavy rains, flash floods and strong gusts.
The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a, it denotes a separate news item.
