Rudyard Kipling"
“When you're left wounded on Afganistan's plains and
the women come out to cut up what remains, Just roll to your rifle
and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldier”
General Douglas MacArthur"
“We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.”
“It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.” “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.
“The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.”
“May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .” “The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
“Nobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
The Soldier stood and faced God
Which must always come to pass
He hoped his shoes were shining
Just as bright as his brass
"Step forward you Soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?"
"No, Lord, I guess I ain't
Because those of us who carry guns
Can't always be a saint."
I've had to work on Sundays
And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny
That wasn't mine to keep.
Though I worked a lot of overtime
When the bills got just too steep,
The Soldier squared his shoulders and said
And I never passed a cry for help
Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around
Except to calm their fears.
If you've a place for me here,
Lord, It needn't be so grand,
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand."
There was silence all around the throne
Where the saints had often trod
As the Soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.
"Step forward now, you Soldier,
You've borne your burden well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."
Danish entered the SEA Games cycle with
momentum. After the national schools (MSSM) season, he joined the
centralised training camp in Bukit Jalil, a commitment his mother says
came at the expense of schooling.
“He has been living in Bukit Jalil because he believed he had a real chance,” said Noor Haslinda Mohd Zin.
His ASG results strengthened that belief. But on November 19, MA released its SEA Games shortlist.
The name on the 4x100m squad was senior
sprinter Khairul Hafiz Jantan, who clocked slower times this year.
Danish was not listed.
On November 26, while still in Brunei, his coach sent him WhatsApp instructions to write a withdrawal letter citing “back pain”.
The screenshots show the coach dictating
the format line by line — the heading, the subject line, and the injury
excuse. Danish hesitates, asking: “Write what, coach?”
Screenshots
of WhatsApp messages showing the coach’s instructions to Danish Irfan
on drafting a withdrawal letter citing a false injury.
The mother said this was the moment the family realised something was deeply wrong.
“My son was healthy. He had no back injury. He was told to write exactly what the coach wanted.
Danish complied because he feared the consequences of refusing,” she said.
Medical tests contradict coach’s claim
On December 1, Danish underwent a full
assessment at ISN. The report stated he was fit for competition,
contradicting the injury claim in the withdrawal letter.
The family brought this straight to MA,
but then, the appeal deadline to the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM)
had already passed.
Danish submitted an appeal on December 3,
attaching the ISN report and stating clearly that the withdrawal letter
was written “under instruction from the coach”.
OCM rejected it as “out of time”.
For the family, the sequence was damning:
Danish was instructed to withdraw before he had any medical assessment;
he was allegedly told to pretend to be injured at ISN; and when ISN
cleared him, the window for appeal had closed.
Noor Haslinda said: “How can a coach tell
an athlete to fake an injury? And then the MA uses the false letter as
the reason to drop him?
“It makes no sense. It is not ethical. It is not honest.”
Parents fear blacklisting for speaking up
On December 6, the parents met MA’s secretary-general. She told them the matter would be examined by the disciplinary committee.
That same night, an individual informed
the family that the coach had allegedly remarked: “Maybe after this,
Danish will be blacklisted by MA.”
This triggered the father’s formal “Letter of Concern”, sent on December 8.
In it, Tamrin Hashim asks MA to confirm whether any conversation about blacklisting his son took place.
He writes: “This information, although
unverified, is extremely worrying. It concerns the future of a young
athlete trying to build a career and reputation in national sport.”
Tamrin asks for written assurance that no
punitive action is planned, and for MA to investigate the remark if it
was indeed made.
He also warns that the family “will not
hesitate to take this to the appropriate legal channels” if no fair,
transparent resolution is reached.
A case that raises sharper questions about selection control
The dispute goes beyond one athlete’s
place in the relay. It exposes a structural weakness that many in
Malaysian athletics have long raised privately: coaches hold too much
control over selection, and the safeguards meant to protect young
athletes are weak.
Danish
Irfan with the Malaysian 4x100m relay team after winning gold at the
Asean School Games in Brunei (left) and celebrating with the Jalur
Gemilang after winning gold in the 200m at the same meet. (Noor Haslinda
pic)
The WhatsApp messages appear to show a coach directing an athlete to lie in writing.
If true, it raises issues that touch athlete welfare, administrative integrity, and the credibility of national selection.
The ISN finding — which contradicts the withdrawal letter — adds weight to the family’s claim of coercion.
It also places ISN in an uncomfortable
position: if athletes are told to “act injured”, its assessments risk
becoming performative rather than medical.
Several officials contacted by FMT said such a scenario “has no precedent” in recent Malaysian sport.
One described it as “a breach of trust at the heart of athlete management”.
MA has stated it will not tolerate
unprofessional behaviour. But it has not commented publicly on the
coach’s messages or the family’s allegation of intimidation.
An 18-year-old caught between authority and ambition
Danish did not write the withdrawal letter because he wanted to give up his SEA Games spot.
He wrote it because a coach instructed
him to. He did not claim a back injury because he was in pain. He did it
because he felt he had no choice.
His parents say he has been left confused, demoralised and anxious about his future.
“He worked hard, he delivered results,
and this is what happened,” said Noor Haslinda. “It is unfair to put any
athlete through this.”
Tamrin added: “We want MA to protect our son, not punish him for speaking the truth.”
The family is now waiting for MA’s
investigation. What the MA decides will determine not just whether
Danish is safe to continue his career, but whether the system itself can
be trusted to safeguard its athletes.
