Who would have thought these words of wisdom would come from a girl whose hair once fell out, and whose days were filled with the smell of medicine and the sounds of hospital machines?
Diagnosed with nasopharyngeal carcinoma when she was 10, Ainnur Asyikin had to undergo intensive treatment, including 33 radiotherapy sessions and three cycles of chemotherapy that caused great physical pain and impaired her hearing by up to 58%.
Six years later, the Sabahan would stand on the podium of the SEA Deaf Games 2025 – not as a frail patient but as a champion who overcame the adversities of life to earn three gold medals for Malaysia.
“Alhamdulillah, I am grateful for everything. I really love chess because it is a game of the mind, not a physical sport,” she told Bernama.
Drawing inspiration from her idol, Malaysia’s first Grandmaster Yeoh Li Tian, Ainnur aspires to achieve success at the highest levels and make Malaysia proud on the world stage.
Behind her accomplishments stand two people who have consistently supported her, and gently but firmly pushed her to be the best she could be: her father, Jupineh @ Juppe Sikin, 51, and her mother, Erneza @ Hardiana Sah, 48.
Erneza, her caregiver throughout all her hospital treatments, will forever remember when Ainnur looked at her with sorrowful eyes and uttered three heartbreaking words: “Mama, my hair.”
There is, therefore, nothing Erneza desires more than to see her second child of five remain healthy and happy.
“Before her diagnosis, my instincts told me something was wrong. She had the flu that never stopped for half a year. Over time, it got worse. Her breathing during sleep was loud, like an elderly person’s.
“After that, Ainnur underwent treatment lasting about a year and and a half. Now, she is no longer undergoing cancer treatment but still has to attend follow-up appointments every six months,” Erneza said.
Jupineh, meanwhile, stressed that it is their responsibility to continue supporting Ainnur without hiding her “imperfections” because she deserves to be respected.
Ainnur won three gold medals for women’s standard chess, mixed rapid, and women’s blitz in the SEA Deaf Games, which ran from Aug 20-26 in Jakarta, Indonesia.