Kuala Lumpur: Former national para-swimmer Koh Lee Peng was seen crying in distress while selling tissue packets outside a shopping mall in Bukit Bintang.
A video shared on Facebook on Thursday showed Koh, who uses a wheelchair due to cerebral palsy, appearing overwhelmed outside the mall while members of the public walked past.
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The man who uploaded the video said Koh had been selling tissues in the area for years to support herself and appealed to the public to “please help her”.
The video attracted more than one million views and 700 comments, while another Facebook post on May 9 noted that many people may not realise Koh had once represented Malaysia in international competition.
Koh competed for Malaysia in the Asean Para Games between 2001 and 2005, winning seven gold medals and three silver medals.
Berita Harian reported that Koh had been selling tissues since 2019, while Bernama quoted her in 2022 as saying she wanted to work independently and was not ashamed of her “honest way of living”.
National Athletes Welfare Foundation chairman Ahmad Shapawi Ismail said Koh had been receiving welfare and medical assistance since 2019, including a new electric wheelchair provided on April 20, treatment coordination at Kuala Lumpur Hospital, and a temporary RM500 monthly allowance in addition to more than RM400 she receives monthly from the Social Welfare Department.
