The 23-year-old from Shah Alam began her martial arts career when she was 12, taking up the sport after being brought to a class by a friend. A little over a decade later, she’s picked up a host of accolades having won four national championships and winning medals in a host of regional and international events.
Despite her busy training regime and competition schedule, she’s worked hard to earn her chops as a brainy person too, recently completing her degree in actuarial science and moving on to teaching mathemathics to secondary and university students.
“I think 24 hours is still enough to balance education and sports, and I’m still working on improving my time management, to make sure my time the whole day is well used,” she told FMT from the dojo where she trains in Taman Sri Muda.
If that wasn’t enough, she also takes part in mentoring at her alma mater Taylor’s College, and even wrote a textbook in the lead up to the just-finished SPM exams as part of their ambassadorship programme.
“When I started my actuarial course, there was a system called PALs in Taylors, a Peer Assisted Learning system, where we were appointed to guide our juniors,” she said, describing her first taste of being an educator.
“I was teaching accounting, the mathematics of finance and a lot of other maths-related subjects, and I found my passion.”
The book outlines the essential techniques that SPM students need to get through their mathematics paper, laid out in an easy to understand language and visuals to make concepts easier to grasp.
She said that without a good foundation, mathematics can seem intimidating and off-putting to many. She encourages young students to embrace numbers so that achieving an understanding in advanced equations and formulae is less daunting as they progress in school.
Shahmalarani also extolled the virtues of sports, with her karate upbringing playing an important role in her success.
“They say karate is a lifestyle. We don’t only learn about fighting and our competitions, we also learn skills, we learn about values,” she said, with the sport instilling in her the discipline and time management skills she has used to her advantage outside of the dojo.
“All sports teach values, so that is quite a good commitment a student or an athlete should go for, because it’s not only about keeping fit but also about learning some life lessons.”
This year, she’s looking forward to finally meeting many of the students she mentored over the last year in person, as she was restrained to the confines of video calls for most of 2020.
“In terms of sports there will be some selections, there are going to be some national meets, so we are still waiting for the announcement. If there is any, then I will be there for the selection.”
Regardless of what gets thrown her way this year or next, she’s confident she’ll be able to find the time.
“I want to pursue my master’s, my PhD, and continue with my teaching in terms of mathematics. As for karate, I would like to train more and represent the country and there is a long way for me to go,” said Shahmalarani, who gave up on a chance to feature in the 2017 SEA Games when she decided to concentrate on her studies.
Now that the degree is in her grasp, she would like to get on the national team and put her hands on a SEA Games medal in Hanoi at the end of this year.