KUALA LUMPUR: Julian Yee's against all odds story, which is about him rising from obscurity to qualify for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics on Feb 9-25, profoundly epitomises Samsung's 'Do What You Can't' tagline.
Figure skater Julian and alpine ski racer Jeffrey Web are the first two Malaysians to qualify for the Winter Olympics - a feat nobody would have expected a decade ago.
The 20-year-old said it took a lot of sacrifice and determination to be where he is now, having to deal with the naysayers early on in his career.
Partnering Julian, Samsung today launched a short feature film titled “Julian and His Magical Skates” which highlights the difficulties Julian had faced coming up in the sport.
"I would say most of that (negativity) was during my early years of skating. They (people) were still close minded and not open to the concept of having a winter sport in Malaysia," said Julian, when met during the film launch.
"People would say, ‘What? skating? That’s for fun, that’s not a sport. It really took time for them to open their minds and see that outside Malaysia, there are other sports other than football, badminton, swimming and all that.
"I am very thankful that once people became more open minded, everybody is very supportive though of course some were still surprised to hear of a figure skater from Malaysia.
“I will go to Pyeongchang... give it my best and not have any regrets.”
Julian, who is hoping to qualify for the final in his event at the Winter Olympics, said he felt touched when he saw the film for the first time.
The animated film, which can be viewed on Samsung Malaysia's YouTube channel, was fully recorded and illustrated using a Samsung Note 8 phone.
"Honestly I was mind-blown when I saw it, I was about to cry, I tell you, I had to hold back the tears. The only time I have cried was when I qualified for the Winter Olympics, it came out like a waterfall," added Julian.
"Watching the film again made me relive the moment and remind me that all the hard work has paid off. The ending (which featured Julian's mother Irene Cheow) was just the icing on the cake."
Julian started figure skating at the age of four and began joining competitions a year later. In a bid to take his career to the next level, he moved to train full time in Canada in 2016 with his current coach Michael Hopfes.
He has also been given the honour of being the flag bearer for Malaysia at the Winter Olympics opening ceremony on Friday. Julian will take to the rink for his event on Feb 16.