By Wilfred Pilo
KUCHING, Feb 27: A daring climb up a 30-foot vertical wall at a shopping mall’s climbing facilities in the city seven years ago sparked a fatal attraction to the sport, transforming 15-year-old Valerie into a formidable force to be reckoned with in the country’s climbing community.
The next four months will be crucial for Valerie, who fell in love with climbing at age nine, as she prepares to compete against the best at the 2025 World Youth Championship in Helsinki, Finland, from July 28 to August 3.
She told the DayakDaily that she earned the spot after winning a second runner-up during the National Climbing Boulders Series 1/2025 held at Kompleks Sukan Mendaki Putra Jaya from Feb 22 to 23.
“Earning myself the spot to compete in Finland was unexpected, but it brought me confidence and further optimism in sports I loved. From now on, it is all about discipline and self-belief in myself.
“My aim in Finland is to be in the final and among the best. In hindsight, in the sport of climbing, every athlete had the opportunity of winning. It’s about who is the best athlete on the day.
“It’s your day or not your day. Score is the element of luck in the sport of climbing. So every athlete had a chance to stay at the highest at the podium,” she added.
Valerie, a student at SMK Sungai Maong said she still can’t believe she earned the spot and wishes to thank her father, Law Kiat Min, for his relentless support.
“I remembered how I dragged him and my mother to let me near the climbing facilities at the shopping mall. I had never seen anything like that (the climbing activities and facilities) and sought permission from my parent to have a go at it.
“In my head, what is there to be worried about as you would be secured to a rope and harness up the vertical wall? From that first day on the vertical wall, climbing had become my routine sport in the last seven years these days,” she chuckled.
She shared that she trains three to four hours daily and spends time visualising potential routes so she can map out each hold and foothold to precisely execute her moves on the wall.
“That made the sport challenging, it’s about endurance to stay on the wall with your hands and imagine what to do next. To build on her stamina she did about five kilometre run once a week,” she revealed.
Valerie explained that she would compete in bouldering in Helsinki, a climbing discipline where she excelled in and had made her coach, Mohammad Azmi Zahari or fondly known as Jemi, of the Sarawak Climbing Association, proud.
Jemi said Valerie has all the right ingredients to excel in the sport, and the teenager does not fear anyone in the climbing community.
“She is enthusiastic, full of confidence in what she does and one the best now in the country,” he opined.
Jemi elaborated to prepare Valerie for the world championships in Finland, he had set a customised programme for her to be mentally prepared.
“In March, she is going to Singapore to enhance her skills and train with the best. And hopefully to Indonesia at the end of April. We hoped this helped her to build that winning edge,” he added.
Jemi elaborated that Valerie is young and has a bright future in the sport of climbing and will put Sarawak on the world map for her remarkable feat in the future.
“As a testimony to the teenager’s talents, she had won many achievements, which made me proud. We had four months, and we are optimistic we will be prepared for Finland,” he enthused.
Valerie’s father Law who has always supported her ever since she fell in love with climbing, never imagined her teenage daughter will go so far as to represent Malaysia.
“I thought she would go to ballerina classes, swimming, or some racquet sports to stay fit and healthy, but she chose to scale walls.
“Initially, as parents, we had mixed feelings about what she was doing but her bold attraction to sports of climbing proved us wrong,” he shared.
Like any doting father, Law said he would always be supportive of his daughter and take pride in her achievements.
“She has made her family and Sarawak proud, too. She had become a competitive athlete and feared no one in her climbing community.
“I am optimistic that the Sarawak government and sports authority will help her as she could excel in what she could do in climbing.
“We hoped my daughter could contribute to bringing sporting glory to the State and the country,” he said. – DayakDaily
