Cool and Committed Malaysian- Pandelela Rinong

The Merdeka Cool and Committed Malaysians stories continue with Pandelela Rinong, Malaysia’s diving queen and the winner of the bronze medal in the 10m platform diving at the 2012 London Olympic Games. Pandelela Rinong anak Pamg was born on 2 March 1993. She comes from Bau in Sarawak. She started diving at the age of seven. Her family in Bau was not well-to-do – her father Pamg Joheng was a contract labourer earning little. Pamg Joheng never went far in his studies. Knowing just how tough life was without education, he vowed his children would never have to go through what he went through during his younger days. Pamg Joheng slaved and sacrificed everything for his children. He would hop on his trusty old motorcycle to send Pandelela and her brother for training. Pamg has been quoted as saying “I wanted them to be better than me and I am willing to do everything for them” Spurred on by her parents and her coaches, Pandelela started to show signs of greatness. She was selected to represent Sarawak and continued her training at the Bukit Jalil Sports School in Kuala Lumpur. Folks, don’t for a moment think diving is an easy sport. It is tough. Divers suffer injuries all the time. Divers, especially the platform divers, are prone to neck, shoulder and back injuries. Repeated impact to their wrists, shoulders and head often leads to serious injuries. It takes a lot of guts to climb up the platform and jump over 30ft into the water, hundreds of times a day. It takes years and years of practice to be able to dive with grace and perfection. If you, like me, wonder how the divers execute such difficult dives continuously – just remember that berat mata memandang, berat lagi bahu yang memikul. If it looks difficult, it is difficult. It is actually damn bloody difficult. It requires you to sacrifice a big part of your life – training, training and training. Many Malaysians only heard about Pandelela for the first time after her feat at the London Olympics. But Pandelela has been kicking-ass all over the place long before that. After winning tonnes of titles at the local level, her first major success at the international level came at the 2007 SEA Games when she was 14 years old. She won the 10m synchro 10m platform event, partnering Cheong Jun Hoong. She subsequently won two golds medals in the 2009 SEA Games. At the 2009 World Championships in Rome, she won a bronze medal in the Women's 10 m Synchronized Platform with Mun Yee Leong and placed 5th in the Women's 10 m platform. She also competed in the Women's 10 m platform at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. She was the flag bearer for the Malaysian contingent at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore where she won the silver medals in both the 10m platform and the 3m springboard events. At the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzao, Pandelela won she won the silver medal in the 10m syncro platform and a bronze medal in the 10m platform event. At New Delhi 2010, she won Malaysia's first Commonwealth Games gold medal in an aquatic sport by winning the women's 10m platform. She also won the silver medal in the 10m syncro platform event. Last month, she became Malaysia's first female flag bearer at the Opening Ceremonies of the 2012 London Olympics where she competed in the individual 10 m platform and the 10 m platform synchronized event with her partner Leong Mun Yee. On 9 August 2012, she a bronze medal in the Women's 10m platform diving - making her the first Malaysian female athlete to win an Olympics medal, and the first Malaysian athlete to win an Olympics medal in a sport besides badminton.

Sarawak state swimming coach Hii Hieng Chiong has been quoted as saying “It all boils down to hard work, discipline and perseverance, without which no athlete can attain success in such a highly competitive international sporting event”. Hii said he had noted Pandelela’s tough training regime. “She is a very hardworking person and has been putting in six to eight hours of training each day and for the past four years, practicing all those routine diving exercises and performing the different manoeuvres. That is a huge sacrifice and her trials and tribulations have paid off and Pandelela is now reaping the fruits of dividends,” he said. Diving has been given a huge boost following Pandelela’s success and the Malaysian youth may regard it as a sport that gives them a great chance of winning medals, other than badminton which had traditionally been the only sport to deliver medals. Pandelela’s success could be the turning point for the sport. Like all great champions, Pandelela is modest about her achievements. When asked how she expect to be rewarded, all she asked was for her present coach, Yang Zhuliang, to be retained. Pandelela is only 19 now and has a long career ahead of her. Be rest assured that she will continue to make Malaysia proud in the years to come. She has shown that with perseverance and discipline – one can achieve wonders. She has demonstrated that Malaysia does not always have to depend on badmintion to get our medals. I hope those of you reading this article, are inspired by Pandelela’s dedication and accomplishments - and that you too will take up and succeed in challenges that are close to your heart.