Safe Sport Malaysia hopes to bring positive change to fraternity

KUALA LUMPUR – Newly formed Safe Sport Malaysia (SSM) hopes to bring positive change to the sports fraternity.

Founding president Sarina Sundara Rajah told The Vibes that the independent, non-profit body is committed to building a sports community where participants can train, compete, and thrive without fear of physical, psychological, and sexual abuse and misconduct.

The former national rhythmic gymnast, however, admitted that registering SSM was only the first of many steps in realising those visions.

“We wish to create a safe sports culture through awareness and advocacy work as well as education and training programmes.

“I’m happy that we have founding members with a strong background, but it is not without some challenges that will come our way,” she said.

The founding members of SSM include Kathini Mohan as the deputy president, Irene Wong as the treasurer, Football Association of Malaysia exco member Christopher Raj as the secretary, and criminal lawyer Shamsul Sulaiman as assistant secretary. 

Meanwhile, media personalities Freda Liu and Datuk Yasmin Yusuff are included as the committee members.

It was officially formed after registering with the Registrar of Societies last month.

Sarina also noted that the real challenge now would be to obtain continuing support from relevant government bodies, such as the Youth and Sports Ministry and National Sports Council, corporate bodies, as well as the public.

“We need to work collaboratively to find and implement solutions as well as to improve sports organisation accountability, better governance practices within the organisations, all while increasing athlete representation in the sports system.

“We look forward to partners who can participate in investment and sponsorship, collaborative engagement initiatives, networking with global expertise and authorities, and building strong partnerships and cooperation.

“At the end of the day, the only thing that we wish to come out of this is a system that works, a safe and accessible system where the wellbeing of athletes is just as important as their performance,” she added.

Sarina added that the long-term goal for SSM is to work hand-in-hand with the ministry in realising their vision and hope that the ministry would acknowledge its existence as an official body so that both parties could play a part in making a meaningful change in the industry.

The former Commonwealth gold medallist has been actively leading the safe sports campaign to have the Safe Sport Act adopted in the country.

Being a victim of harassment herself, she opined that athletes should have a safe environment to train so they could focus on competing in tournaments with strong physical and mental health. 

Earlier this year, Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu said – in an exclusive interview with The Vibes – that he intended to table the Safe Sport Act in the Dewan Rakyat before the upcoming general election.

He noted that it is time that “we take the matter of sexual harassment seriously” and it “needs to start now”. – The Vibes, July 14, 2022