Chan Peng Soon, national badminton player

       IT has been more than a year since the Covid-19 pandemic began and the world is still grappling with it.Like everyone else, I wonder when it will end.

       Despite the difficulties we are facing, life has to go on, doesn’t it? It’s up to us to make things better.

       As a national elite athlete, I have been through many ups and downs in my career. If there is one thing I have learned from my experiences, it is the value of resilience.

       There is a saying that after every storm comes a rainbow. I truly believe that.

       While this pandemic has brought suffering to many people in this country, I’m still able to put food on the table for my family and I count my blessings for that.

       But I wanted to be a blessing to others during this pandemic too, so I decided to make a change in my life by setting up a face mask business with a close friend of mine named it Changer.

       Yes, the brand name is inspired by my surname, but it’s more than a name. We wanted to be a “Changer” in the community by lifting other people’s spirits in these tough times.This friend of mine runs an event management company which has been badly affected by the pandemic. His involvement in this business reflects his decision to change his life for the better.

       It really pained me to see the large number of people who had lost their jobs and were struggling to make ends meet as a result of the prolonged movement control order imposed by the government to curb the spread of the virus.

       We pledged to make a difference for others, no matter how small our contribution may be to some.

       Although our company is not quite established yet, we have been able to donate face masks to orphanages and old folks’ homes through our corporate social responsibility efforts.

       Recently, we also channelled our assistance to homeless people.

       The more I helped, the more I learned of people who were struggling to make ends meet and didn’t even have a place to live. They are the group hardest hit by the pandemic, in my opinion.

       A friend of mine, local arrtist Tong Bing Yu, did her part by distributing food to the needy. I was inspired to do something similar by giving face masks to those in need.

       I teamed up with several groups of people who were distributing food to the needy by getting them to hand out our face masks as well.

       Food and face masks are essential items these days. It saddens me to read about people who can’t afford to buy proper face masks.

       Some have no choice but to wash and reuse them, even though health authorities have said that face masks should not be reused.

       Our aim is to provide these people with certified medical grade face masks. We have been distributing three-ply face masks with bacteria filtration efficiency of more than 95%.

       We have handed out more than 1,000 boxes worth RM30,000 of face masks to date, which is equivalent to 50,000 pieces. We aim to continue this effort.

       I’ve also tried to help my fellow independent players who have been affected by the pandemic.

       Last year, my company set up a fund to cover training expenses for a group of shuttlers during the pandemic.

       Changer channels 20% of profits from the total sales through our website as training subsidies.

       Due to the absence of competitions and difficulty in securing sponsorships, many players, especially the younger ones, are struggling financially. Fortunately, we have managed to raise tens of thousands of ringgit for them.

       I urge all Malaysians to look after each other. We have already gotten off to a good start with the #BenderaPutih campaign and it’s wonderful to see #kitajagakita trending on social media. Let’s keep up this spirit of positivity.

       I would also like to wish everyone Selamat Hari Merdeka. Hopefully, we will be able to free ourselves from the clutches of this pandemic soon.