During the 3R Futsal Challenge 2009, FFM was fortunate enough to be granted a short interview with 3R’s executive producer, a lovely well-known public figure, Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir (she blogs here).

Over a series of questions relating to women’s futsal and youth, Datin Marina remained patient and managed to be very insightful with her responses.

“Very encouraging and it’s really good to see such a good response,” answered Datin Marina when asked about the reception of this year’s installment of the 3R futsal competition. Although the magnitude was not as big as previous years, a crowd of 71 teams is definitely nothing less of a success, enabling 3R to reach a wide array of youngsters, providing a first step in educating them on the social and women’s issues plaguing the generation today. Part of 3R’s strive is also to encourage young women to take up sports and it of course includes, futsal.

Many would agree that futsal is a relatively new sport in Malaysia but its growth has been exponential over only this short period. However, ladies’ futsal unfortunately, has received little attention compared to the men. This is even more evident as Datin Marina shared a short story with us where a VIP invited to attend the premiere of Gol dan Gincu quipped, “I didn’t even know girls played futsal,” when asked what he thought of the movie. Such is the lack of exposure that women’s futsal is burdened with.

We also wanted to hear her opinion regarding the current level of sports in Malaysia and why it has yet to truly take off. One significant factor highlighted by Datin Marina is that sports as a career is an idea embraced by only a minority of parents in our country. “Parents here in Malaysia are too study oriented,” she says of them. Sports as a career has yet to receive any credibility in Malaysian society and a majority of parents would rather their children excel in their studies than “risk” their future by pursuing sports as a path to making a living.

Not one to discredit the importance of education, Datin Marina also thinks that more parents should encourage their children to play sports and participate in their sports development as she feels that the best way to lead is by example.

Photography by Aris Bundchen