9th Asian Swimming Championship 2012 Result

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Raising an Olympian - ALEXANDRE DESPATIE

Better for Pandelela to have scholarships, says doting mum

KUCHING: Promises of incentives and awards from the Government and private organisations alike are pouring in for Olympic bronze medallist Pandelela Rinong Pamg.

For one, The Star will honour her with RM100,000, while Inti College Sarawak Campus is offering her a full scholarship if the athlete decides to continue her studies.

Adding to this, the diver will receive RM150,000 under Youth and Sports Ministry’s incentive scheme and a monthly pension of RM2,000.

Some of her supporters, even suggested that Pandelela should be conferred a datukship like national sportsmen Datuk Lee Chong Wei and Datuk Nicol David.

On cloud nine: Hartini, who still chokes up at the mere mention of her daughter’s Olympic achievement, showing the media her children’s many medals.

Pandelela’s mother Hartini Lamim, 44, said if given a choice between a datukship and scholarship, she hoped that her daughter would be awarded the latter.

“We’re very happy and grateful to the Government and those from the private sector for acknowledging her achievement.

“Tertiary education is very important for her to better secure a career in any field that interests her when she no longer competes in the sport,” she told The Star when contacted yesterday.

Hartini, a housewife, was flown to London by Dutch Lady Malaysia on Aug 5 to watch Pandelela dive on Aug 8.

“We only managed to secure one ticket for the diving event and it was very memorable to watch my daughter in action. I’m so proud of her,” she said.

Hartini said she had to miss Pandelela at the semi-finals and finals but she added that it was alright because her daughter delivered a medal for the country. “I’m so happy and surprised when my husband (Pamg Joheng) told me about the good news over the phone as I was picking up my luggage at the arrival hall moments after I arrived at Kuala Lumpur last night (Friday).

“I only reached my home this morning (yesterday) nearly 1am,” she said.

Hartini said there was a lot of excitement in the house as there were many well-wishers and journalists going to their house.

On her London trip, Hartini who travelled with the parents of other athletes, said Dutch Lady Malaysia arranged a city tour for them on Aug 6 and 7.

“Among others, we went to the London Eye and Kensington Palace. We had a very lovely trip and the organiser took very good care of us. It was my second trip overseas after Palembang, Indonesia last year,” she said.

Pandelela is just your regular girl next door

KUCHING: Indeed, Pandelela Rinong Pamg is an Olympian medallist — the first-ever female Malaysian one at that — yet she is also just like any other teenager of today.

“I love K-Pop. I’m also a big fan of Japanese anime,” Pandelela, 19, toldThe Star over the phone from London yesterday.

And when asked about her favourite anime show or character, she pondered for a while then answered: “I like so many, I can’t single out just one. That would be unfair to the other anime.”

An ardent K-Pop (short for Korean Pop), the Bidayuh girl said she had always enjoyed watching Super Junior — a boy band that at one point, comprised as many as 13 young, good-looking Korean men) and girl-power ensemble, Wonder Girls.

Right now, Pandelela is having a ball in London.

Proud father: Pamg Joheng with one of his daughter’s many trophies and medals at their modest family home.

Sports, she added, had allowed her to travel all over the world and an opportunity to learn from the best.

“After the results came in, I was all emotional. I just couldn’t help it.

“I cried. I was happy that so many others were also happy. I spoke to my father almost immediately. He congratulated me and told me that all my aunties and uncles were at our home in Kuching watching,” she said.

After her bronze night, Pandelela said she then spent another “very, very emotional day”.

“I really felt a bit sad that my parents weren’t around. My mother was only here until the quarter-finals, and I didn’t get to speak to her immediately after. She had left for the airport.”

Her mother, Hartini Lamin, 44, was on a Dutch Lady Malaysia’s sponsored trip to London between Aug 5 and 9. Her mother was actually on a return flight when Pandelela was competing in the finals.

The family, from a village near Bau, about 40km from Kuching, is not from a wealthy background.

Pandelela’s father Pamg Joheng, 46, is a daily paid labourer. She toldThe Star that the family is trying to venture into the restaurant business.

“My dad is trying it out. If it works out well, then I think the family will move back to the village.”

On what she missed about Sarawak, Pandelela said she missed her favourite dish — her mother’s fried sambal petai with shrimps.

She also mentioned of one being given the opportunity to talk with national shuttler and Olympic silver medallist, Datuk Lee Chong Wei.

“He is an inspiration to me. I watched him live on television.

“If I get to meet him, I just want to tell him this: ‘Don’t cry for your losses because I’ll cry too. It’s alright if you didn’t play a perfect game; we all have done our best.”

“Lulu” to her friends, Pandelela said she planned to continue her studies alongside her diving career. Insisting that she was far from being as good as she aimed to be, she would consider training overseas — if better opportunities hadn’t presented itself to her — using funds from her own earnings.

Following her bronze medal clinch in the women’s 10m platform diving final at the London Olympics, Pandelela has been a hit online.

On Facebook, photos of her are plastered all over the social network, with countless “likes” and “shares”. On Twitter, a fake Pandelela account has even been set up.

Across the front page of local dailies yesterday, photos of Pandelela were accompanied with headlines like “Diving Darling”, “Sarawak’s Pride” and “Sarawak hearts Pandelela!”

Over the weekend, Inti College Sarawak Campus announced that it would offer a sports scholarship to Pandelela, while Welfare, Women and Family Development Minister Datuk Fatimah Abdullah said her achievement was proof of Sarawakians being just as capable as Peninsular Malaysians when it came to sports.

Fatimah also urged the Federal Government to consider building a full-fledged sports school in Kuching, similar to the well-equipped Bukit Jalil Sports School in Kuala Lumpur, to further im-prove sports development in the state.

Meanwhile, Kuching South City Council declared that entrance to its swimming pool at Jalan Padungan would be free of charge on Sept 1 to commemorate the Pandelela’s landmark Olympic medal.

A Father’s Olympian Sacrifice

KUCHING : HIS father’s words and his own tough life.

Pamg Joheng, father of Pandelela Rinong, is all smiles as he proudly shows some of his daughter’s medals and the old Yamaha 80 which he used to send her and her elder brother for dive training 12 years ago. Pic by Ghazali Bujang

Pamg Joheng (right) and his daughter, Parcelia Renyelia, in front of their house in Kota Samarahan. Last year, Pamg’s daughter, Pandalela Rinong, bought her father a new Proton Exora to fetch her from the airport. Pic by Ghazali Bujang

Those were the things Pamg Joheng drew upon to push him to sacrifice everything for his children.

And if Malaysia’s new darling Pandelela Rinong drew even a little from her father’s drive and sacrifice, those were the things that started her journey towards Olympic bronze, a journey which by all indications, is far from over.

Pamg 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. Staying close to his father’s principles, Pamg always reminded his children to plan ahead in life.

“My father used to tell me to plan two days ahead, so that we can live today,” Pamg told the New Sunday Times. It could be said that Pamg took his father’s words and built on it. Instead of planning two days ahead, he planned years ahead.

It was 12 years ago, when Pandelela was 7, that Pamg would take her and her elder brother, Pardika Indoma, 8, for diving lessons.

Despite earning only RM45 a day, the contract worker knew he had to sacrifice for his children’s future.

So, Pamg would hop on his trusty old Yamaha 80 motorcycle to send the siblings for training at the Stampark swimming pool in town, even breaking traffic rules to ensure they didn’t miss out. “I wanted them to be somebody.

I wanted them to be better than me and I am willing to do everything for them.”

When only Pandelela was picked for the state diving team then, Pamg was devastated.

The state coach told him that only Pandelela had the physique of a diver and her brother lacked that.

"I was very sad for my boy but I am happy for her at the same time. But at that young age, she needed support. She will never go far if she is separated from her brother," said Pamg.

Again, Pamg did what he had to do for his children; he spoke to the coach to let Pardika train together with the team, so that he could be close to his sister. The coach agreed.

As his family grew bigger with the birth of his third daughter, Pici Parnia, 14 years ago, Pamg saved some money to buy a car.

At that time, he could only afford a second hand Mitsubishi Trident to transport his family.

"It was nothing to shout about. It was a bit rusty, but it ferried us. Every time I had to send Pandelela to the airport or to pick her up, I felt a little shy coming with a car like that, but that was what I could afford then."

For a man who went through hardship in life, Pamg had never once given up on his children. Instead, he stayed close to them and gave them whatever support he could.

His drive and support proved vital for Pandelela on Friday.

On the 10m platform, a poor first dive saw her starting off in 10th position. But Pandelela fought back and eventually earned the bronze.

In doing so, she became the first Malaysian woman to win an Olympic medal and also the first to win a medal other than badminton.

But before the final, Pandelela had a case of the jitters. Who could blame her, especially when she had to compete against some of the best divers in the world?

It was the thought of her father that calmed her down.

"I told her to remember my teachings and that I will pray for her every hour until she goes through her events. I also told her to shout out my name if it helps her to feel better before her jump."

Pandelela did cry out his name, as she told her father on the phone when she won the bronze medal.

That was the happiest telephone call for Pamg and his two younger daughters, Pici and Parcelia Renyelia that morning, after watching her on the podium live on television.

Pamg said the family could only talk to Pandelela through the telephone since she became a national athlete. It was, he said, the heaviest price for the family to pay -- being apart from her.

"Over the past years, we have missed celebrating Gawai Dayak and Christmas with her. It is a sad thing for us, but we understand that she has a strict training regime to follow and we do not want to disturb that."

The only time Pandelela would be home with them was when there was an official event. After that, she had to go back to Kuala Lumpur on the same day.

The sports council did sponsor flight tickets for Pamg and his wife, but he said the expenses of staying in Kuala Lumpur would be too much for him to bear.

"Let her be with her mother... I can always talk to her on the phone and drive her around when she comes back. It would be like the old days when she was home.

"I hope the sports council will give her some sort of leave so we can spend time with her as a family. That is all I ask for," said Pamg.

Pamg no longer drives his old Mitsubishi Trident to pick Pandelela from the airport.

Last year, his daughter bought him a brand new silver Proton Exora to do that.

Read more: A father’s Olympian sacrifice - General - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/nation/general/a-father-s-olympian-sacrifice-1.124071#ixzz23PAazQqf