KUCHING: There is sorrow behind the cheerful face of Sarawak's Puteri Durratun Zulaikha Samat who won the gold medal in the women's under-73 kilogramme category at the Malaysia Games (Sukma) today.
The 19-year-old battled on at the Sukma though her father is struggling with a heart disease and a perforated intestine, which severely limits his mobility.
An emotional Puteri Durratun said her parents are just village workers, and their family needs to be frugal in their daily expenses.
None of her family members were able to join Puteri Durratun, who hails from Subuyau, Sarawak, in celebrating her Sukma triumph in Kuching.
"When I was still a child, my father was diagnosed with leukaemia, but he gradually recovered before being struck by another illness a year ago.
"I decided to make sacrifices for my family by joining taekwondo because, in this way, I might be able to change our lives for the better," she said.
Puteri Durratun, who was making her Sukma debut in Kuching, said she is the only one from Subuyau to take up taekwondo.
"To my knowledge, I'm the only one involved in taekwondo in Subuyau. The people in Subuyau are more familiar with silat than taekwondo, and some are even unaware of this sport.
"I started taking taekwondo seriously at the age of 13. At that time, a coach came to our school to look for female students with a certain height to join the training camp.
"This was an opportunity to change my family's fortune, so I decided to join the taekwondo team, even though it required sacrificing time and energy," she said while pointing out that the journey from Subuyau to Kuching takes three hours.
Puteri Durratun, the youngest of four siblings, said she plans to use the RM15,000 incentive, that she got for winning a Sukma gold, to treat her back injury (which has been bothering her for the past six months), and to take her family for a vacation.
"My only thought is to make my family happy. Even though I'm only 19 years old, that is the responsibility I must bear," said Puteri Durratun who aspires to be a police officer.