Tony Hawk To Fatin: "You Can Be An Inspiration To A New Generation Of Malaysian Skaters"
The 16-year-old has been getting a lot of flak online for her performance.
By Sadho Ram — 01 Sep 2018, 03:59 PM
Malaysian skateboarder Fatin Syahirah Roszizi, who has been getting a lot of online abuse for her poor performance at the 2018 Asian Games earlier this week, found a supporter in Tony Hawk
The legendary skateboarding figure took to Fatin Syahirah's Instagram account to show his support for the 16-year-old, who had wiped out all her Instagram posts in the face of the backlash she received from netizens due to her team's extremely poor performance at the women's street event at the 2018 Asian Games on Wednesday, 29 August.
Fatin also received support from high profile people including Sports Minister Syed Saddiq, Malaysian singer Yuna and national skateboarding icon Joe Ipoh, all telling her to not give up. Fatin then returned to Instagram, thanking everyone for their support.
It is under this post that Tony Hawk commented to lift Fatin, telling her not to give up and that she can be an inspiration to a new generation of Malaysian skaters.
"Don't give up! If I had listened to the haters throughout my life, I would have stopped skating way too soon. They are simply projecting their insecurities on you because they wish they had the courage to follow their dreams," Tony wrote.
Previously, Sports Minister Syed Saddiq came to Fatin's defence, asking netizens to direct their criticism at him instead of her
The Youth and Sports Minister argued that the criticism should be directed towards him, as the minister, and the association, who bear responsibility for choosing the 16-year-old Fatin to compete at the Games.
"I will continue to defend Fatin on her patriotic spirit for taking the challenge to represent the country at a young age," Syed was quoted as saying by NST Online.
Meanwhile, Yuna took to her Instagram to convey her message of support to Fatin, telling her to "never stop doing what you love"
"Dearest Fatin,
Nothing makes me prouder to see a 16-year-old Malaysian girl representing the country in sports. In the recent games, we understand that your nerves got the best of you, (I get nervous too, even forgetting lyrics on ‘live’ TV, etc), but it’s okay, there will be other chances where you will perform better. I believe in you.
"Yes, there are a lot of trolls out there but they are not the captain of your ship. They will never know what it's like to be you, to go through this, and to get back up on your feet. They will never experience this - and that is why this moment is so important to you because you will learn so much from it. Like conquering your fears.
"Challenges happen in your life so that you can rise up, come back stronger and do better. Not a lot of girls can do what you do, nor have the opportunity to represent the country doing something they love at 16. You have the chance to be someone inspiring — take it!
"Take your time, regroup, refresh, and go back into training. Never stop doing what you love and I am so proud of you," read Yuna's Instagram story.
