Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Toil and sacrifice

First I would like to congratulate Nicol David on her second world squash title. For me she is really the 'example' that the rest of Malaysian athletes should emulate. That perseverance, pure hard work, the right and never-say-die attitude and the desire to excel is really the 'right' ingredients in achieving sporting greatness. Together with immense support from her sport minded parents and national squash association I believe she'll be able to put her name in The Hall of Fame of World Squash in a few years time. We Malaysians are proud of you!!!

Now let's go to Fabio Cannavaro who was named European Footballer of The Year on Monday. The World Cup winner who is now with Real Madrid played a very important part in the Azzurri's success in July. But on thing that I liked most about him is his professionalism and his simple regime in keeping himself fit. The secret? Eating well, getting plenty of sleep and having SEX!!! No wonder most of the old timer Italian defenders like Franco Baresi and Paolo Maldini can still play till their late 30's. He's 33 now and in believe he'll remain as a world class player for another 4 or 5 seasons.

These two sporting personalities proved that with hard work, the right attitude AND HAVING SEX one can achieve excellence and glory in their respective field.....

Friday, November 17, 2006

NOW THAT IS ACCOUNTABILITY!

Taken from Sports page NST, Friday, November 17 2006

TAIPEI:Taiwan's sports minister vowed yesterday to resign if Taiwanese athletes fail to snag at least 15 gold medal at the Asian Games next month in Doha. Chen Chuan-chou made the pledge to Premier Su Tseng-chang.
"I told Premier Su during the cabinet meeting that we should able to obtain 15 gold medal in the coming Asian Games," Chen, head of the cabinet-level National Council on Physical Fitness and Sports said.
"And I told him that I would like to step down if we fail to reach the target," he said.
Taiwan's national sport is baseball, but it is also competitive in soft tennis, archery, snooker, bowling, taekwondo and gymnastics. The island nation managed to win just 10 gold at the 2002 Busan Asian Games, compared to 19 in 1998. Taiwan will send 391 athletes to Doha in order to reach the 15 gold medal target.

I wonder if Datuk Azalina will do the same if our contingent to Doha fail to meet the 9 gold medal target set by the NSC. But i rather ask Datuk Ibrahim Saad to resign first because the 'hanky-panky' in the management of FAM have become from bad to worse.

For the Asian Games, Malaysia will send 231 athletes in order to reach the 9 gold medal target. It seems that Malaysia will have to send 391 athletes to get 15 gold medal like Taiwan...just a simple calculation...

For the record, Malaysia's best result for the Asian Games was in 1966 where we won 7 gold medal while in Busan 2002 we won only 6 gold medal.

1966 - 7 gold medal
2006 - 9 gold medal?

Why do we need 40 years to improve our medal haul? Any comments?

Thursday, November 16, 2006

From Bangi with love

Salam,

Last night, my wife and i had our dinner at the D'Limau Nipis Cafe in front of the PKNS Complex, Bangi. The headlines in Buletin Perdana was of course the Abdul Razak Baginda's case and the 57th UMNO General Assembly. While enjoying my 'Limau Nipis Special', (you all should try this beverage. The taste....ahhhh....) i tried to revive all my memories of this 'little old' town....

I registered at UKM on May 1998 as a 1st year student at KAMSIS Ibu Zain - now they call it KOLEJ....dengan scooter 125 (sold it), during that time we can ride around the campus without wearing helmet...berlagak la...dengan spec hitam...berangin bai...RAMP-IT....unlike now...kena pakai helmet

Having to accept the fact that this will be the place i gonna have to study for the next 3 years instead of Melbourne, Sydney or Adelaide (yela JPA taknak hantar dia suruhnye kita study local-bagus jugak, kalau tidak sape nak bayar hutang beratus ribu?) i determined to make the best out of it....

Masa 98-99, Bangi ni takde ape...WARTA baru bukak, itupun tenants dia banyak fast food outlet...sekarang hebat. Kompleks PKNS pun takde lagi bersama-sama Tasik Cempaka...Nak makan mamak? satu jela gerai mamak, maple tempat kami student UKM melepak kat Shell Fasa 1 tu. Then baru ada razak capati on d way ke Kajang...kena lalu area kubur...takut...
Nak dating? kena pegi MINES or KL la....Alamanda? Sorry, hutan lagi....
Fasa 4 Tambahan, shoplots depan PKNS ni, Taman IKS, Projet, Seksyen 15, Fasa 3 baru, kompleks sukan Bangi SEMUA HUTAN lagi masa tu.....

But that's the wonder of development....PUTRAJAYA. Our administrative capital. The growth of the surrounding towns - Serdang, Kajang, Bangi, Puchong, Nilai....should be attributed to Putrajaya. Sekarang tengok la Bangi camne....nak cari tanah lapang pun dah susah..semua dah kena tolak jadi housing area atau shoplots...betul2 berubah...manusia pun dah ramai....it's unbelievable that all these emerge in a span of 6 - 7 years.

Bila tengok roundabout kat Bangi ni seriau jugak aku...Ingat lagi masa 2nd year...accident scooter aku tayar pecah...bergesel kat jalan...nasib baik tak kena lenyek bas kilang...kalau tidak tak tau la....nasib baik Bangi ni bandar kecik..orang kenal...adala kawan-kawan yang membantu 'MAT REMPIT' yang malang ini....

Kat Bangi nila aku belajar bercinta....(alamak jiwang la pulak)...berapa kali? RAHSIA YOU...tapi takdela sampai masuk secluded places, semak ke..isyyy...Just boleh kata, kebanyakan tempat-tempat makan kat Bangi ni ada ceritanya sendiri...DAHLA lebih-lebihlak jiwang. Nevermind ...me and SYA (my wife), our love blossomed here in Bangi and.......keluarla ADRIANA SOFEA...(pendeknya cerita)

Kat Bangi ni la i revived my football career. Masa di PPP/ITM dulu tak dapat chance nak join ITM football team pun..yela diaorang semua star..lagipun budak PPP ni dia tak pandang....korang nak tahu tak...the reason why i pick UKM at the first place was because i know that team bola dia tak berapa kuat....kalau time tu uni yang kuat biasala ITM, UPM, USM..kalau masuk situ takde chance la aku nak represent uni aku....tapi Allah maha kuasa....my batch kat UKM was the best football team ever produced by UKM...Malaysian University Champion...respect to you guys UKM footballers class of 2000....

Masa bujang and baru kahwin pun still taknak keluar dari bandar ni...sampai la Dec 05...we decided nak stay kat Nilai..rumah sendiri...tapi still tak dapat lari dari Bangi...pergi keje...balik keje...mesti singgah...makan ke...pasar malam Bangi...kelas...PARAM pun sama, most of you will agree i think...

Pasal harga property...5 - 6 tahun lepas you can buy a 2 storey terrace house for 140k to 160k tapi sekarang sorryla. Paling murah pun 200k. Semi D and bungalow pun banyak yang dah dibina...

My last words for Bangi....hope you will not drown in the middle of development....hope you are still the old town that we used to live in...terutama bagi orang-orang lama di sini...tapi betul la...this town is a terrific place to live in....believe me...

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Why leftfooted?



I write with my right hand but my left is my preferred/stronger foot when i kick.
I was a late starter in football, playing the game seriously only when i was in Form 1. Gradually my passion for the game grows and i think i reached the peak of my career during the the 1999 - 2004 period. The reason?

1999-2003 SAPURA Holdings FC - KL Dunhill League
2000 - Malaysia Inter Varsity Champion (UKM football team) 2001 - Selection for Malaysian Futsal team - masa tu futsal baru nak naik. Budak-budak university yang banyak diambil.2 minggu centralized kat FAM belajar main futsal. Tapi kena dropla.
2001-2002 - Represent the Negeri Sembilan football team - Piala Emas Raja-Raja. Ingat lagi masa tu final exam. Tengah tournament ni, dari Kota Bahru naik bas balik UKM ambik exam, habis exam petang pergi KLIA naik flight ke KB untuk main quarter final lawan POLIS. Tapi flight delay. Sampai lambat warm up terus masuk utk second half.
2002 - Captained the SAPURA football team for the FAM Cup Qualifying round - lost the do or die match 7-0 to MK Land - the worst i ever experienced - we even accused of taking bribery which i think some of the players did.

Masa student/bujang dulu pantang orang ajak main (9 sebelah, liga haram, street soccer) semua aku balun. Macam-macam team aku main, sampai referee satu KL kenal. Tapi sekarang dah veteran walaupun baru 28, dah kahwin ada anak, kerja lagi, dah tak ligat macam dulu tapi i still plying my trade with the IKRAM Rovers FC in the KL League. Kalau boleh nak continue main kat KL League ni sampai allowable age limit which is 32 years.
Jangan lupa click kat why leftfooted?

First edition


Assalamuaalaikum. Once a panelist asked me during the PTD interview session in 2004. Do you blog?I replied, ‘No sir, I don’t blog. But that’s in 2004. And now here I am with the first edition of my own blog. Hope all of you will enjoy reading it and I do appreciate any comments, ideas, criticisms and whatever in this blog. Till the next update...see ya!!