Swapping one love for another

Farrah-Hani Imran

Former national gymnast Farrah-Hani Imran relates why she gave up the sport at the age of 16. 

IMAGINE finding out that children have been named after you because of your achievements. To Dr Farrah-Hani Imran, this is the ultimate compliment. 

“Sometimes people would tell me they named their kids Farrah because of me. There were a couple of Hanis running about as well.  

“It’s a nice thing to be remembered,” said former rhythmic gymnast Farrah, who represented the country when the sport was in its infancy in Malaysia. 

The good-looking Farrah, who is of Punjabi-Malay parentage, was in fact the first gymnast to help popularise the sport in the country. 

She has come a long way since then. Today she is a trainee lecturer in plastic and reconstructive surgery. 

“It’s not all about boob jobs or nose jobs as shown in the popular TV shows Swan and Extreme Makeovers,” said Farrah who studied at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, Ireland. 

She also did her practical in hospitals in Paris, San Diego and New York. 

“You can sub-specialise in surgery and burns. The field is huge. It’s nice because it overlaps with other specialties. 

“It’s also a good field for women who want to have a family. While I am dedicated and passionate about my job, I need to have a life. I work hard and play hard,” she said. 

And among her passions is dancing.  

“Some people sing as an outlet. My outlet is any kind of dance. I wish I could carry on dancing.”  

Farrah also paints and draws. 

This love for dancing stems back to the days when she was a gymnast. 

“Whenever we trained, our coach told us to express ourselves according to the music. We had to be passionate. You could feel something, just like watching theatre. That started me in the sport as well,” she said. 

“In subsequent years the rules were changed and it became more technical. There is no emotion but the girls are more flexible now.” 

Farrah looks favourably upon the current situation of rhythmic gymnastics and sports in Malaysia in general. 

“There is a steady stream of athletes now. There’s quite a change with so many coaches around.  

“The structure is also different now, with our athletes getting a lot of individual attention, which is brilliant,” said Farrah who was impressed with the achievements of the Malaysian contingent at the Doha Asian Games. Malaysia finished 10th overall with eight gold, 17 silver and 17 bronze medals. 

In her time rhythmic gymnastics was not included in multi-sport events such as the Asian and Commonwealth Games.  

It was competition however that spurred Farrah to take up rhythmic gymnastics. Before that she was very much into ballet and the piano. 

“If anything, it was a chance to dance in a competitive manner. You can’t represent the country in ballet,” said Farrah. 

So under the guidance of Petrina Low, a teacher in Bukit Nenas Convent in Kuala Lumpur and national coach, Farrah learnt the fundamentals of rhythmic gymnastics at the age of 10. 

“We won and did quite okay. First it was state and then the country,” she said. 

Life as a gymnast has not been easy as Farrah was out of the country most of the time for competitions and training stints in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, then Czechoslovakia and Japan. She had to bring her books along and study on her own. 

“There was a lot of independence involved,” she said.  

Her sacrifices were not without reward, as Farrah became the first Malaysian gymnast to compete at the 1993 World Championships in Alicante, Spain. She finished a credible 60th out of 200 participants. 

Farrah never reached her peak as a gymnast. She stopped at 16 to fulfill her ambitions of becoming a doctor.  

“You have to work hard to get what you want and that is part of the reason I stopped early. I didn’t want to represent the country just for the sake of it,” she said. 

So while a part of Farrah regrets that decision, another part tells her otherwise. 

“The feeling of regret is replaced by the satisfaction in what I am doing now. It might be worse if I were in a profession I hated,” she said.  

In fact, Farrah says that gymnastics and her current medical specialisation are related. 

“I chose this field (plastic and reconstructive surgery) because it is artistic. You have to visualise what your patient is going to look like. You have to know the techniques, skills and have a soul of art,” she said.  

She however wants to be involved in the sporting line. She has to serve the Youth and Sports Ministry for sponsoring her studies in Dublin. 

“I was keen to come back (from Dublin) because of my family, and I want to serve the athletes as a woman doctor or in any other capacity,” she said. Passion for dance : Farrah expressed her love for dancing in her rhythmic gymnastic routines.