National diver Pandelela Rinong said she had shared her experience of sexual harassment involving her former coach in order to offer support and embolden other victims to speak up.
She said she wanted to encourage future victims to “be brave when I wasn’t”.
“I shared my ‘not so nice’ experience to give awareness to the public, and support for victims out there, who are always in dilemma, whether to speak up or stay silent.
“Most importantly, enablers and their backups shouldn’t be glamourised. Others may forget, but not the victim,” the two-time Olympic medallist said through her Twitter account last night.
While she did not address her tweets to anyone directly, it came just hours after Youth and Sports Minister Ahmad Faizal Azumu reportedly questioned her motives for bringing up an “old story” about her former coach.
“I am trying to understand why after a long time, Lela (Pandelela) wants to put this out on social media,” he was quoted as saying.
Last Thursday, Pandelela shared on social media that she had a coach who liked to make lewd jokes, but athletes could not do anything about him because he had the backing of the head coach.
When she eventually did speak up, she said she was bullied as a consequence.
She claimed the coach committed rape seven years later.
According to Faizal’s deputy Ti Lian Ker last Friday, the coach’s services had since been terminated with immediate effect, while the head coach’s contact was not extended.
Pandelela's revelation came amid national outrage against actor Mohd Fauzi Mohd Nawawi who was chastised online for joking on a talk show about how he enjoyed filming rape scenes. Fauzi has since apologised.
In May, swimmer Cindy Ong told Malaysiakini how she had encountered sexual harassment and assault over the years, including from a national coach when she was a teenager. - Mkini
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