Disclaimer: In Real Life is a platform for everyday people to share their experiences and voices. All articles are personal stories and do not necessarily echo In Real Life’s sentiments.
Malaysian athletes come from different ethnicities, cultures and backgrounds – which really demonstrates the popularity of sports for all over here.
Yet, when it comes to equality, are women equally represented in Malaysia’s sports scene?
In previous major sporting events, Malaysian teams saw an almost equal participation from women.
Source: bowling digital
But at the 18th Asian Games in 2018, the nation’s representation of women was only less than half. And among the 40 events that Malaysia took part in, women were not represented in 10 of them.
This is not to say that Malaysia is not producing outstanding female athletes, as we’ve done so in squash, karate, bowling, swimming, diving and wushu. But women’s participation in typically male-dominated sports such as football and rugby has been lackluster, which says a lot considering women’s football took root here as early as the 1960s.
Malaysian women have come a long way in the sports industry
How have sportswomen in Malaysia progressed? National artistic gymnast, Farah Ann Abdul Hadi, says that sportswomen “have progressed spectacularly,” adding that women have won “multiple medals in various levels of competition.” Farah Ann herself captivated the country with her performance at the 29th SEA Games where she took home the gold medal.
Some of the challenges faced were a lack of support and recognition of sportswomen as assets to the nation. She also spoke of how sports is sometimes viewed from a traditional gender role perspective that questions “women’s choice of participating in sports.”
Gender disparity still exists, even when female athletes are starting to bridge the gender gap. Choosing sports may not be easy in a society obsessed with policing women’s clothes. Societal expectations of valuing women’s bodies in terms of what they look like rather than what they can do is also a challenge.
Nicol David, the retired legendary professional squash player from Penang, concurs with this observation. “It’s a tough situation that a lot of girls face because they’re worried about being seen as a tomboy.” She too agrees that encouragement has to start at home.
In schools, the government of Malaysia’s Education Ministry makes it a requirement for every student to participate in one sport, one club, and one uniformed body. While the emphasis on sports development at the grassroots level has seen more girls taking up sports, there is the issue of balancing sports and academics.
Achieving sporting excellence is hard when students are too busy studying. However, responsibility should not fall on schools only – a pipeline of support systems is just as important.
Even the higherups agree
To further encourage young people to take up sports, Malaysia’s Youth and Sports Ministry is hoping to make existing sports facilities in the country available to the larger public. Malaysians are embracing healthy lifestyles, so it is only proper that existing sports facilities be made available to the public as soon as possible.
At press conferences, there has also always been many talks of Malaysia seeing significant growth of funding – especially for women – to inspire more young girls to take up sports.
Visibility matters
Stereotypes, discriminatory social norms and lack of representation remain some of the most pervasive barriers to gender equality around the world – though Malaysian women are taking strides in breaking the barriers set by traditional gender roles.
A few years ago, Malaysia saw their very first pro female MMA fighter in Ann ‘Athena’ Osman. Her eventual retirement only birthed more athletes to follow in her footsteps, among them a 17-year-old Nur Amisha Azril Rizal who already has several Muay-Thai championships under her belt.
Malaysia also has a female-wrestler known as ‘Phoenix’ who is also breaking stereotypes. Putting aside her hijab, Phoenix takes on hulking opponents while standing at only 155 centimetres and weighing just 43 kilograms, with her skills, speed and agility. The 19-year-old was an instant hit on social media, spurring interest in other hijab-wearing women. She fights professionally for the Malaysia Pro Wrestling (MyPW).
Sport knows no gender
Female athletes constantly put ideas into action towards achieving gender equality and empowerment. And in sports, visibility matters because young girls want to see female athletes that they can look up to for inspiration and in turn, lead them to believe in their own capabilities.
We believe that Malaysia should show support to its women and men in sports by celebrating their wins as much as their efforts of continuously fighting to bring pride to the country.
For more stories like this, read: Malaysian Sports Is NOT Just Football & Badminton: 5 Uncommon Sports In Malaysia That DON’T Get You A Public Holiday and The Olympics Showed The Ugly Side of Malaysians & I’m Ashamed
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