Diving champ Pandelala speaks out in support of Ain

 

Diving queen Pandelela Rinong has told student Ain Husniza Saiful Nizam to ‘keep speaking up for our future’, supporting Ain’s hashtag #MakeSchoolASaferPlace.

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s diving queen Pandelela Rinong has come out in support of schoolgirl Ain Husniza Saiful Nizam, whose TikTok video detailing inappropriate rape jokes made by a teacher went viral recently.

Ain was allegedly described as a “child of the devil wearing a headscarf” (“anak setan pakai tudung”) on Facebook yesterday, sparking more uproar among netizens as they called for the education ministry to take action.

Former youth and sports minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman urged for action to be taken against the person, believed to be a headmistress, for her comments. However, some individuals reportedly claimed that these remarks were posted by the principal’s autistic son.

Among those who spoke in support of the Form 5 student was Pandelela, who recently won the gold medal in the women’s 10m platform at the Fina Diving World Cup – the first-ever won by the country in this competition.

In a Twitter post, Pandelela said she had been called a “diva” previously when she set off on her own endeavour to make sports a safer place, adding that this came with a “double meaning”.

“Dear Ain, I strongly advise you to stay alert as you might get sabotaged if you are not careful.

“However, keep speaking up for our future!” she said, ending her post with the #MakeSchoolASaferPlace hashtag started by Ain.

Ain was also served a warning letter recently for skipping school for a few days despite the father, Saiful Nizam Ab Wahab, meeting the school authorities to explain his daughter did not feel safe in school.

Malaysiakini reported that the 17-year-old could be expelled if she continues to be absent from school without notifying the management of her reasons.

Meanwhile, in a Twitter post past midnight, Ain said no action had been taken by the school against the teacher who made the lewd jokes and her classmate who had made a rape threat against her.

“I can’t even begin to describe what I feel right now. I’m beyond heartbroken.

“All I did was try to set things right, to do the right thing,” she lamented.

The claim made by Ain on TikTok involves a physical fitness and health education teacher at her school, who was alleged to have made a joke, purportedly encouraging his students to commit rape.

Her claim then led to other students and former pupils speaking out over similar experiences in school, with the hashtag #MakeSchoolASaferPlace trending on social media.

It was later reported that Ain received a rape threat from a male classmate, which her father reported to the police. The student later apologised for making the threat, and Ain’s father was said to have accepted this apology. - FMT