Faisal Halim and the courage to begin again

Free Malaysia Today

In his first start for Harimau Malaya since the acid attack last year, the forward reminded us what survival and purpose truly mean.   Read More:  https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2025/10/17/faisal-halim-and-the-courage-to-begin-again   Free Malaysia Today is an independent, bi-lingual news portal with a focus on Malaysian current affairs.    Subscribe to our channel - http://bit.ly/2Qo08ry   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Check us out at https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com  Follow FMT on Facebook: https://bit.ly/49JJoo5  Follow FMT on Dailymotion: https://bit.ly/2WGITHM  Follow FMT on X: https://bit.ly/48zARSW  Follow FMT on Instagram: https://bit.ly/48Cq76h  Follow FMT on TikTok : https://bit.ly/3uKuQFp  Follow FMT Berita on TikTok: https://bit.ly/48vpnQG  Follow FMT Telegram - https://bit.ly/42VyzMX  Follow FMT LinkedIn - https://bit.ly/42YytEb  Follow FMT Lifestyle on Instagram: https://bit.ly/42WrsUj  Follow FMT on WhatsApp: https://bit.ly/49GMbxW  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Download FMT News App:  Google Play – http://bit.ly/2YSuV46  App Store – https://apple.co/2HNH7gZ  Huawei AppGallery - https://bit.ly/2D2OpNP   #FMTNews

Transcript

00:00Faisal Halim stood over the ball, his breath steady, the noise of Bukit Jalil folding into silence.

00:07Then came the curl, precise and effortless, the ball kissing the top corner. The goal was

00:14reclamation, a man insisting that survival too can be beautiful. At the end of the night,

00:20the scoreboard read, Malaysia 5, Laos 1. But everyone knew that wasn't the story.

00:27A year earlier, he had the Malaysian football's brightest spark, the winger who stunned South

00:32Korea with a goal from an impossible angle. Then came the acid attack, a moment of senseless

00:38cruelty that changed everything. He spent weeks in intensive care, endured multiple surgeries,

00:45and retreated from the world. His life grew smaller, quieter. Yet within that stillness,

00:52something deepened. An understanding of what truly matters. His return spoke less of sport

00:58than of conviction, a gesture of quiet moral clarity. He played not to be adored, but to affirm

01:05that meaning can survive pain, and that the will to begin again can outlast almost anything.

01:12All this as the game itself was losing its compass. Accusations of forged documents and borrowed roots

01:19had shaken Malaysian football, revealing a sport too eager for shortcuts and too forgetful of integrity.

01:26And yet against that backdrop, Faisal's goal felt like rebellion, a quiet act of honesty in a climate

01:33of pretense. While others sought advantage, he sought truth. In his defiance, the game briefly remembered its

01:41soul. When the ball hit the net, he didn't rip his shirt or thump his chest. He bowed, displaying

01:48gratitude without theater. This story will fade as all do, but for those who watched, it will remain

01:56proof that courage can outshine talent, that beauty can live inside brokenness, and that even in a sport

02:02adrift, a single act of sincerity can bring it home again. Because on that humid October night, Faisal won

02:10the only match that truly matters. The one against despair. To read full column, visit FMT.

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