Malaysian who sold his motorcycle to travel to Doha becomes hero with ‘tears of joy’

NT Bureau

Doha: A Malaysian man has been hailed as a hero by netizens for showing his dedication to the Malaysian team at the AFC Asian Cup in Qatar by selling his motorcycle through a Facebook post to raise money to travel to Doha, Bernama news agency has reported.

He caught attention for another reason: he cried in joy when the Malaysian team scored the second goal against South Korea in their match at Al Janoub Stadium on Thursday. The match had ended in 3:3 draw.

When the (Malaysia) national team scored the second goal and took the lead in the match against South Korea, the camera lens recording the frenzy of cheering supporters at the Al Janoub Stadium in Qatar froze on only one face — a fan crying his eyes out with tears of unbridled joy, the Bernama report said.

“The tears of joy stole the hearts of many Malaysians watching the match that was telecast live, till the video went viral and netizens managed to track the man down as ‘Derrick Gan’ who advertised his motorcycle for sale to cover the cost to Qatar,” the report said.

Speaking to Bernama, Derrick, 30, who was nicknamed ‘brown haired bro’ by netizens said he scraped 4,500 Malaysian ringgit from the sale of his beloved motorbike which he advertised on Facebook in December last year.

Unknown to all other diehard fans, Derrick, who had planned his trip to Qatar to watch the matches of Malaysia, said the decision to give up his motorcycle was made since he was still short despite saving 1,500 ringgit over a year.

“That’s the only motorcycle in my life. I have a car, but my wife uses it (for city driving) in Kuala Lumpur. But I didn’t mind selling it (the bike) because I really wanted to go to Qatar to cheer Harimau Malaya in this historic round of football.

“There are no words to describe my feelings at that time (when Malaysia suddenly went into the lead at 2-1), I was happy after sacrificing and seeing Malaysia fighting with enthusiasm, it was really touching,” he said.

The happiness in tears frozen by a photograph in a split second was the outward expression of his joy, seizing the imagination of thousands of patriotic Malaysians.

“Stealing a draw with South Korea is very meaningful, it’s like a dream come true for all of us Malaysian football fans because my focus there was solely to watch football,” said Derrick, who works in a shop selling motorcycle accessories.

In the final Group E action in the Asian Cup, Malaysia created a surprise by tying two-time champions South Korea 3-3 at the Al Janoub Stadium.

The result saw South Korea remain in second place in Group E with five points while Malaysia did not go home empty-handed but with one point and who can be proud of three goals scored against the Asian giants.