KUALA LUMPUR, June 15 — Supporters of SEA Games gold medallist Farah Ann Abdul Hadi have started a Facebook page to extol the gymnast’s achievement and criticise those attacking her over the games attire.
The page has gotten over 10,000 “Likes” on the social network in just under a day, and has since been joined by Farah herself who was made a page administrator.
“Listen up #FARAHnatics! As of 1 minute ago, Farah Ann Abdul Hadi is now a page admin of this page. She’ll have something to say to you soon!” the operators of the page wrote yesterday.
The page was started on June 13, a day after Malay Mail Online reported of critics attacking the gold medallist for the gymnastics outfit at the SEA Games began surfacing.
It also prominently features the photograph that prompted Muslims to lambaste her.
The page also showed images of burqa-clad women made indistinguishable by their attire and taking group photographs “for memory”.
“Do we want things to come to this? Absolutely ridiculous!” the administrator wrote of the burqa-clad women.
On June 12, Malay Mail Online reported of Muslims who attacked her for showing her “aurat” and the “shape of her vagina” in a leotard despite winning a gold medal at the SEA Games.
Several Facebook users slammed the 21-year-old Malay woman on Buletin TV3’s Facebook page that had uploaded Wednesday a photograph of her in the gymnastics outfit, along with a caption that announced her winning gold in floor exercise in artistic gymnastics.
Both Muslim women and men are prohibited in Islam from exposing their aurat, though criticisms are more often targeted against women.
Singapore news website The New Paper reported that Farah Ann had pulled off a flawless floor routine to score 13.733, beating Indonesia and Vietnam.
The Malaysian athlete also reportedly won three bronze medals and a silver in individual events.
