About a week ago, Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh announced that the National Sports Council (MSN) had launched an investigation into national hockey player, Hanis Onn, for a racist comment she made in regards to the recent A. R. Rahman concert held at Stadium Bukit Jalil.
And now, the verdict is in.
The Ministry of Youth and Sports took to their official Twitter page to share a statement explaining that Hanis Onn has been suspended from representing the country in the upcoming 2023 Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia.
They wrote, ” The investigation committee of the Malaysian Sports Council (MSN) and the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (KHM) met on 7 February 2023 regarding the issue of comments made by the national hockey player, Hanis Nadiah Onn, on the Kosmo Online Instagram website, which was alleged to be racist regarding concerts by artists and composers from India, AR Rahman on 28 January 2023.”
“The Investigation Committee jointly chaired by MSN Director General, Datuk Ahmad Shapawi Ismail and KHM President, Dato’ Seri Subahan Kamal, has called Hanis for an interview session to help investigate the issue.”
During their session, Hanis allegedly insisted that she did not make the comment with racial sentiments in mind and considered her comment a joke referring the state of the stadium being filled with tens of thousands of spectators. She had also later deleted the comment and issued an apology.
On top of that, they called on the national women’s hockey team coach, Mohd Nasihin Nubli Ibrahim, who insisted that Hanis has many Indian friends among the hockey community.
“The investigation committee has also called the coach of the national women’s hockey team, Mohd Nasihin Nubli Ibrahim, who stated that as the team’s main player, Hanis has a humble character and is highly disciplined throughout training and tournaments.”
“Mohd Nasihin also admitted that Hanis has many Indian friends among the hockey players and they get along without any problems due to her easy-going nature with her teammates.”
Ultimately, the committee decided that Hanis’ comment did, in fact, revolve around racial sentiments as the majority of concert goers were Indian and they have since suspended her from playing at the 2023 Southeast Asian Games as consequences for her actions.
“The committee found that Hanis was guilty as an individual for making statements or comments publicly on her social media account that tended to curse or insult other parties. Hanis was also found guilty of making comments that could be misunderstood or cause misunderstanding, annoyance or anger of another party.”
“As a national hockey player, Hanis was found guilty of having made comments that caused damage to the image of the team and KHM which clearly violated KHM’s code of ethics. Accordingly, the investigation committee decided for KHM not to consider Hanis from representing the national hockey team to any international assignments including the 2023 Cambodia SEA Games,” they wrote.
They also added that this decision can be overturned should Hanis display good behaviour throughout her suspension.
What do you think of their decision? Do feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section.
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