MALAYSIANSKINI | Juggling ice hockey and art may sound like an unlikely combination to most of us, but Dhaniya Illiani Yusof took to those two disciplines naturally. 

While her father’s job as an in-flight supervisor showed her the world, her mother’s creativity in tailoring and sports shaped the 27-year-old national women’s ice hockey player into a multidisciplinary artist.

Her passion for ice hockey started when her mother brought her to the popular ice rink at Sunway Pyramid in Subang Jaya, Selangor, located an hour from their house.

“I was 12. We lived in Bagan Lalang (Sepang) and the ice rink was located in Sunway Pyramid. Our house was near the beach and my mum wanted to experience ice skating. At the time, I was already active in sports and had a background in ballet.

“The moment I stepped onto the rink, everything changed.

“I eventually spent more time at the rink than in school. Especially when we moved to Subang Jaya, which was nearer to the rink,” she told Malaysiakini.

Dhaniya said her mother had a background in gymnastics and was the one who encouraged the youngest of three siblings to do the same.

In her first few years at the rink, she learned about various ice-based sports and eventually fell in love with freestyle ice skating.

“It feels like I was breakdancing on ice.

“Unlike others around the world, we don’t have competitions and we are a very niche community. So we looked like ‘cockroaches’ on ice and were not well respected.

“I was lucky enough though to have some opportunities to follow my father while he was working. So I got to see other parts of the world,” she added.

When she turned 18, someone scouted her and asked if she would be interested in joining the Malaysian women’s ice hockey team.

“As I did ballet before everything, it would seem like a natural progression for me to want to do figure skating.

“I thought ice hockey was interesting and told myself to give it a try. During the session, I noticed that ice hockey had its own niche.

“The experience blew me away because it was just amazing. The feeling of trying to play ice hockey was honestly very tiring and you wouldn’t think that just 30 seconds could mean so much,” she said.

After a few sessions, the game and community captivated her and it wasn’t long until she became part of the team.

“When I first joined, the team was in development where there were already few national players who started earlier and then there were those who started a bit late, like me. We took some time to catch up in terms of skills.

“Now, as we get closer to a tournament, the frequency of our training has increased. We have designated local and international coaches depending on the tournament,” she added. 

Challenges despite bagging gold

With the sport still developing in the country, Dhaniya said they had to create their leagues and plan friendlies (scrimmages) of their own.

“This is considered an extreme sport and, from time to time, I have people asking me about how I can play ice hockey as a woman. 

“We also had trouble finding sponsorship. We even experimented to see if we could start crowdfunding for our initiative but it was still very hard because there were negative perceptions in the community.

“Most of the time, we had to fork out our own money,” she added.

Despite the hardship, Dhaniya and her teammates bagged the gold medal at the 2019 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Women’s Challenge Cup of Asia Division 1 (CCOA).

“We got gold and Malaysia was hosting. Winning gold at one’s home ground is like a dream for any team.

“It was great. We had all the supporters and our family came. Then the pandemic happened and that shifted a lot of things.

“It put a huge stop to our development. We couldn’t train, we couldn’t do anything. We even lost our Olympic-size ring and that affected the team’s development.

“It felt like we were going back to square one. We are waiting for somebody to step up and help put us back on track,” she added.

While considering the CCOA win in 2019 to be the team's biggest achievement, Dhaniya is now preparing hard for the 2025 SEA Games in Thailand, when ice hockey will be one of the sports featured.

She said the team has also set the lofty target of making the world championships, which will be held in Canada in 2026.

A multidisciplinary artist

Calling her upbringing unconventional, Selangor-born Dhaniya said her mother is the key person who influenced her art. 

“I remember her being artsy, dressing me up from whatever she could sew. She had a love for textiles, sewing, gardening, and spiritual books for herba care.

“On top of that, she did school gymnastics back when she was a student at Georgetown Girls School in Penang.

“She had a lot of interests and that trickled down to me and my elder sister, who worked as a fashion stylist. But my brother is working in IT,” she added.

Dhaniya said the combination of being athletic and having passion sparked her art development. 

“My mother gave me the ‘tools’. She played a role in shaping me and instead of sternly telling me to do this and that, she would show me ways and get me to think about how I feel or why I would want to do something. 

“That sort of thinking made me into a very inquisitive person,” she added.

Sadly, Dhaniya’s mother passed away in 2009 after battling breast cancer.

Dhaniya said her art comes from an intrinsic process, including the way she views the world and her interests.

“I am wired maybe. When you are just someone who has a very strong identity, your artwork will correlate with that. 

“I am a very visual person and very expressive towards myself in every element of my life.

“Whatever I do in my art formats, they all tie back to me. I am not separated from my work,” she added. 

Her unique visual art presence landed her an opportunity to be featured in Harper’s Bazaar Arabia with Chanel in Japan in 2019. 

Describing the whole experience as insane and captivating, Dhaniya was thankful for it. 

“The shoot was done in a day. All of us, the stylists, makeup artists, and the editor were in a van and we jumped from one location to another. 

“While it wasn’t the first time I was featured in a magazine, I was certainly excited to work with Harper’s Bazaar Arabia and Chanel for the first time,” she added.

Among her recent artwork is a “fun” project commissioned by Samsung at a new space called Kain located at Semuahouse in Kuala Lumpur. 

“I get to work with my two best friends while doing something fun. For the project, my friends are working in a dark room together while I got to do a photo booth exhibition,” she added. 

The photo booth had an interactive element where Dhaniya used Ramadan as her theme. 

“I wanted to capture the hot fasting month weather, the feeling of riding a motorcycle in KL, and certain other elements,” she added.

Unlike her previous show called “Niyat”, held earlier this year at the National Art Gallery, her recent artwork gives her space to play around and take a breather. 

Dhaniya said she would not turn her back on either passion.

“I have the tenacity and the passion to make it bigger, that is for sure. I am going to fight for it. I wouldn’t disappear into the unknown. 

“I truly hope that Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh will help the women’s team to continue because we love this sport and we will fight to the bone for it to continue not just for us, but for the future of women and ice hockey,” she added.

As for art, Dhaniya is exploring chances to start a brand, including making prayer veils.

“I have many aspirations for art and plan to jump back to learning Japanese. I am also looking for ideas to turn ice hockey into street art,” she added. 

 

MALAYSIANKINI is a series on Malaysians you should know

Sabah singer beats doubts to pursue mature themes in new album

For eco warrior Ili, there's no climate justice without women at the fore

Fastest one-armed woman swimmer in SEA voice for para-athletes

Mad about growing cash: Fintech outfit is changing women’s lives

Nadira Ilana tells hard truths about Sabah through films

PSM co-founder Rani tirelessly strives for the oppressed