The greatest multi-sports show on earth is here. The Olympic Games, delayed for a year by the Covid-19 pandemic, has got off to a great start.
Even without the crowds, Tokyo managed a wonderful opening ceremony, paying tribute to its past legends, the Fukushima nuclear disaster victims, its Paralympians and its part-Haitian tennis queen Naomi Osaka who was given the honour of lighting the torch, within a beautiful “ball of flame”.
Team Malaysia appeared in colourful, traditional Malay outfits complete with the chequered tanjak for the men and shawls for the women, the outfits winning praise from most Malaysians, and many around the world, too.
But that was just the opening ceremony. Let’s wait as the various events get under way – and the moral police crawl out of the woodwork.
In fact, they may already have. A local news portal has just run a picture of Rio Olympics silver medal-winning diver Cheong Jun Hoong, and chose to pixelate half her body.
The portal must have thought that its viewers would be offended at the sight of her glutes, thighs and legs.
It was a strange decision because the photo was not about her in action. The portal could have just chosen to use a picture of Jun Hoong in a tracksuit. Why choose a picture of a high-achiever in a swimsuit and then pixelate it?
It’s a great Malaysian malady, this phobia of pictures of sportswomen in leotards and bikinis.
It’s sports, for god’s sake. And these girls are fighting for the honour of the country. Why dishonour them by seeing them as sex objects?
Women athletes have been at the receiving end of such abuse for far too long now.
Ask rhythmic gymnasts Farah Hani Imran and Faiznur Miskin or swimmer Nurul Huda Abdullah. They all have come under scrutiny by shortsighted people who cannot see past a woman’s legs. These jerks must look further up, and look at what the women have in the upper half.
By that, I mean the bravery and guts in their hearts and brains, and the brilliance of their minds.
These women brought glory to the country but they are far more than just athletes.
Farah Hani is a medical whiz. She graduated from the Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland, completed her master’s in plastic surgery from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and is the first national athlete to become a surgical associate professor at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM).
Faiznur Miskin, who won all five gold medals at stake in rhythmic gymnastics at the 1989 SEA Games, earned a place at Harvard University to do a master’s degree in financial business.
The last time I checked, Heidi (as she is called) was senior vice-president of GIC Special Investments Pte Ltd of New York.
Nurul Huda Abdullah graduated from the University of Queensland with a BSc in psychology while Jun Hoong has a bachelor’s degree in communications from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM).
While Jun Hoong has already fallen victim to the moral police (or a fear of the moral police), I believe at least two others will be closely watched – gymnast Farah Ann Hadi and diver Nur Dhabitah.
Both are medal hopefuls for Malaysia. And both are brilliant girls.
Farah Ann scored 8As in the Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) exam and 5As in her SPM. She has a bachelor of arts degree in international studies from Monash University.
Dhabitah, who is just 22, is doing a diploma in safety and health studies at the University of Cyberjaya. She too passed exams with flying colours while, at the same time, bringing glory to the country at various international Games.
The younger Farah, who even has a Barbie doll fashioned after her, has already had a taste of the haters at the last SEA Games. She performed brilliantly, and then turned the tables on the sexist bullies, saying “empty cans make the most noise”.
The two should be allowed to get on with their tasks at hand and the overly moral types should just go into quarantine until after the games’ closing ceremony on Aug 8.
The fact is that it’s not the athletes who want to deliberately show off skin, the sport often demands it.
Every split second – every bit of aerodynamics counts – and could make a difference between glory and disappointment.
In swimming and even in gymnastics, many now compete in full body suits, completely covered while remaining aerodynamic. But even that will not stop those wearing “horny-rimmed” glasses who will, instead, complain about women showing their curves in tight body-hugging suits.
Women who take part in diving, gymnastics and rhythmic gymnastics are required to dress accordingly. There are no two ways about it.
Norway’s women’s beach handball team were fined €150 (RM750) each at the European championships, because they chose to wear shorts instead of bikinis.
They felt “naked” in those bikinis but the sport apparently comes with dress codes.
They went ahead, donned shorts and paid the fine. One thing I can tell you, though – those shorts, modest by European standards, would still not pacify the local moral police.
Handball is also an Olympic sport. And it should get interesting in Tokyo.
By the way, it’s not just the religious types that have me worried.
With the Covid-19 pandemic taking its toll on the world, the Olympics motto this year has been tweaked.
It used to be faster, higher, stronger (Citius, Altius, Fortius). It’s now faster, higher, stronger – together. That’s Citius, Altius, Fortius – Communis.
I wonder how many are going to be crying foul over that last Latin word.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.
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