If you observed, during Thomas Cup, or Olympic, the Malaysians Mats and the Chinese would always support their badminton national team.. I still remember when I was in Malaysia years ago, saw a Thomas Cup game being screened live at this Ramli burger stall.. The Malays were glued to their chairs rooting for Lee Chong Wei.. The Malays also produced brilliant badminton players like the Sidek brothers..
I also remember players like Cheah Soon Kit, Ong Ewe Hock.. Malaysian badminton have always produced a multi racial line up.. If there's a sport that unites the Malaysians, it has to be badminton and not football..
The Mat Govt there takes good care of the badminton players who brought honour and glory to their country.. They will throw in a car, state land, Datukships, coaching jobs after the player's playing career is over.. Thats why their local players give their best in every major competitions.. With these incentives, the locals would be spurred to perform well for the country.. And thats one of the reasons why Malaysian don't have to import PRCs to their badminton team..