Focus Malaysia:
Despicable for pro-PAS activist to question Pearly-Thinaah’s loyalty-to-nation based on sporting attire
ONE wonders if national top women’s doubles pair of Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan who cried their hearts out yesterday (Aug 3) after faltering in the Paris 2024 Olympics bronze medal playoff deserves to be judged on the way they dress on the badminton court.
That was what exactly staunch PAS backer Asmira Hashim did to instil hatred – if not to stir racial tension – by suggesting that that aurat (parts of the body that cannot be exposed according to Islam)-covered dress code must be made mandatory for the women’s badminton squad.
In so doing, she zoomed into Pearly-Thinaah by comparing the duo’s specially-tailored Paris 2024 attire to her ideal version of a fully covered from head-to-toe attire of a Muslim badminton pair along with a stinging remark which enraged both badminton fans and apolitical Malaysians alike.
“May Malaysia make attire that covers the aurat mandatory for our national shuttlers; if they refuse, just stripe their citizenship for insulting Islam,” she lambasted in her original Facebook (FB) post prior to altering her hard stance on the citizenship part after brickbats and rotten eggs were hurled at her.
However, X user Ikaris (@IkarisCFC) managed to screenshot the thorny original version which can be summed up as representative of a “Talibanese view” based on the thousands of social media comments that the abusive post has generated.
To be fair to Asmira who had second thoughts of her original view to the extent that she was forced to turn off her FB’s comments section, she had amended her call “to stripe citizenship” to “we pray that they open their hearts to accept His instruction and guidance”.
On a brighter note, many badminton fans rallied behind teary world’s No. 12 Pearly-Thinaah by reminding the pair that “they need not apologise” for their 11-21, 11-21 defeat in 41 minutes to Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida who are ranked fourth in the world at the Adidas Arena in Port de la Chapelle.
you don't have apologize tak payah cakap maaf tak payah cakap sorry - bagmed
we all cry 
Despite the anguish of defeat, Pearly-Thinaah’s gallant run at the Olympics will go down in history as they became the first Malaysian women’s doubles pair to reach the semi-finals where they went down fighting to China’s World’s No. 1 pair of Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan. – Aug 4, 2024
Ya ya Pearly-Thinah were really inappropriately dressed... thoroughly disrespectful of Ilsam.
ReplyDeleteToo much legs. Scandalous.
ReplyDeleteIranian women's teams wear Religion-appropriate attire.
ReplyDeleteMalaysia should follow suit.