By Mass Communication Department, FBC, IIU
Malaysia Book of Records holder, World Senior Champion Swimmer, Southeast Asia Games champion, mom and athlete Cindy Ong, participated in the Guest Speaker Series organised by the Department of Mass Communication of Faculty of Business and Communications from INTI International University in March, in line with the International Women’s Month 2022 #breakthebiass.
Cindy shared with the attendees her experience of sexual harassment by one of her coaches while in her teen years and how she managed to overcome adversity to become an advocate against sexual harassment in Malaysia, more specifically in sports.
During her presentation, she also highlighted the need for more female representation and reporting in Malaysian media, as the lack of reporting about female sports creates a vacuum that only makes coming into sports in Malaysia as women, even more difficult.
During the questions and answers session, participants prized Cindy for her courage and determination and asked her for advise on how to deal with those kind of situations, to what Cindy said that trust in parents is crucial to recover from the trauma suffered all those years.
About how to become a champion, Cindy highlighted the need to have a very clear focus on what one wants to achieve and that training and constant challenging of oneself are the key to success.