Hi-tech Bib Number

Take a closer look at the design of these sample bib numbers. They are very different compared to the conventional bib numbers where letters and numbers are painted on a piece of cheap white cloth.

As for the Putrajaya Breakfast Run organized by Pacesetters Club, the sample bib number even bear the photo of the starting area, the organizer and the sponsors.
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Mr. Chang Yoong Yeh is the man behind this innovative printing of bib numbers on cloth. Being a runner, he wants the runners to keep the bib numbers (other than the medals and certificates) as a rememberance for the participation.

For those who would like to take up the business venture and opportunity, please email Mr. Chang Yoong Yeh. Note: he is from China !!
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And for those event organizers who would like to explore using this hi-tech bib number, you can contact Mr. Chang Yoong Yeh also.

Email:

escher2008@163.com

Local Contact Number - Mr Tan Chein Sin - 019-777 9128

This is a flag of A5 (half of A4) size, printed on cloth with imprint of a runners' photo

Posted by KC

Trekking at Gunung Apek

Please click here to view photos taken by yours truly (KC) while trekking at Gunung Apek.

Back: Derick, Chiew Hong, Cynthia, Carol, Mak, Hamdan, Lim
Front: Ann, Chee Sum, Josie, Chooi Lin, Sharifah, Shirley, RosePhoto taken by yours truly (KC).

The group went trekking at Gunung Apek in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur on Sunday 2 March. The Team Lead was Derick who is very familiar with the terrain and trail of Gunung Apek.

That was my first time going beyond Level 3. From base to Level 3, it was uphill most of the time. But beyond Level 3, the terrain was flat; possibly, one can even run there.
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L-R: Cynthia, Sharifah, Hamdan, Rose, Chee Sum

Total trekking time was about 2 hours 30 minutes. For our fitness level, it is considered a little short.

Back at the base, the group ordered fruit juice, 'tong sui' and cocktail of fruits for refreshment. The group later went in a convoy to Cheras via short-cuts (lead by Derick) for brunch. The coffee shop offered unique and 'kaw' (strong) teh and coffee.

Next trekking is scheduled on this Saturday 15 March at Gunung Datuk.
.L-R: ChongYF, Chooi Lin, Shirley, Mak, Carol

Note: The name Gunung Apek gave me a wrong impression after seeing many elderly folks walking up and down the hill. “Apek” in Cantonese mean ‘old man’.

However, according to Chiew Hong (one of the trekking members), the original name is called Bukit Putih. The equivalent in Hockien is called Apek Sua. Somehow the Hockien pronunciation for white (Pek) was further transformed to become Gunung Apek, that gave different meaning from its original name.

Posted by KC

The Waves of Change

“This is shocking news indeed!” said the beautiful event coordinator of NTV7 in her fluent English and pleasant voice that can rival the newscasters of CNN. “Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon, Datuk Seri Samy Vellu and Datuk Seri Shahrizat were all defeated in the election.” Well, that was really shocking news to me! I too, was stunned to hear the defeat of the big guns at 10:30 p.m. yesterday, Saturday 8 March 2008.

It was a night of double excitement waiting eagerly in front of the TV for the results of the 12th General Election of Malaysia. To make matters even more exciting, the BWF Badminton Super Series All England 2008 was telecasted live simultaneously at RTM2.
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Night of the Underdogs - Hannah Yeoh

I have to switch channels just like the election coverage tossing from command centre to the various counting centres. Lee Chong Wei and veterans Chong Tan Fook – Lee Wan Wah were all crashed out in the semi-finals of the All-England badminton championship: just like the big guns in the election.

At 11:05 p.m. Datuk s. Kayveas (BN Taiping) lost
At 1:20 a.m. Jeff Ooi, the Blogger, won the Jelutong Parliamentary seat with a 16,246 votes majority.

From the huge turn-up in those ceramah conducted by the opposition parties during the 13 days of campaigning, we know the waves of change were strong. But mere turnouts can not transform into votes, the opposition candidates were wary of the repeat of past elections. However, one indication of strong support was that the donation received from the ceramah was very encouraging. As ChinYH (a pacesetters runner) said when I met him at the ceramah at USJ 12, he donated RM50 in the earlier ceramah, and that put my donation into shame.

In my constituency (Subang Jaya), as predicted based on the strength of the waves of change, the two new and young electorates won.

P104 – Loh Gwo Burne http://lohgwoburne.blogspot.com/
N31 – Hannah Yeoh http://hannahyeoh.blogspot.com/

Election ceramah - unfazed by the rain

Saturday 8 March afternoon (Election Day)

When I pumped petrol at one of the Shell stations, even the Bangladeshi attendance said, “Good afternoon Sir, you vote already?” Well, that was an excellent ice-breaker used once in every four years.

When I went to service my car at one of the Goodyear outlets in USJ, the boss just came back from voting. When we struck a conversation, he automatically and excitedly made known his full support for the opposition parties.

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Source of photos: http://www.mycen.com.my/malaysia/election2008.html

The Lesser of the Shocking News:
Extracted from Wong Chun Wai’s column in today’s Star newspaper (Sunday 9 March, page N12):

As at press time, PKR secretary-general Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim is expected to be made the new Selangor Mentri Besar and almost likely, his predecessor, the outgoing Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo, the opposition leader.

By now, most results would have been known. With the rakyat’s endorsement, the waves of change have evolved into a tsunami. After discharging our duty to vote, we must continue to be vigilant, and ensure that our elected representatives account for their actions, and make good their promises on good governance – accountability, transparency and integrity.

Okay, election fever and euphoria is almost over, we shall return to running and trekking... :-)

Posted by KC

Trekking at Gunung Datuk

The group is going for trekking this time to Gunung Datuk (Rembau, Negeri Sembilan) on Saturday 15 March 2008. If you are interested to come, please contact TonyQ or KC Leong latest by Wedn 12 March to confirm your participation.

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Tony: 016-274-2213 email: klpenguin3@gmail.com
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KC: 012- 266 8166 email: kcle3@streamyx.com
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Gunung Datuk - 2007 file photo taken by yours truly

Itinerary

7:30 a.m. - Meet at Senawang Toll (travelling time from Kuala Lumpur is one hour)

7:45 a.m. - Proceed to Gunung Datuk in a convoy

9:00 a.m. - Start ascend Gunung Datuk (one way is about 1.5 hour)

2:00 p.m. - Lunch at Rembau (delicious food with reasonable price. Speciality: BBQ eel, Pai kuat wong, etc)

Important:

Fairly good fitness level is required.

Note: Gate fee of RM 3 is imposed by Local Authority to climb Gunung Datuk; parking is RM2.

Panorama view at the peak of Gunung Datuk

DURIAN Feast

Come June 2008, we shall have another trekking trip to Gunung Datuk during durian season. WENG will invite us to his father-in-law's durian orchard in Tampin for all-you-can-eat durian feast for FREE. The orchard is only 7 km from Gunung Datuk. Sound good, right?

Posted by KC

So Close, Yet so Far

It was a cool evening after the late afternoon rain on Monday 3 March. Standing at the USJ 12 padang listening to Gobin Singh Deo’s serious yet humorous speech; watching the huge ‘pine’ tree behind the stage swaying gently in response to the breeze; hearing the unique remarks from the huge crowds in cheering the speaker, it was an incredible moment in attending the DAP ceramah before we cast our votes on 8 March 2008.

Unfortunately, while we enjoyed ourselves in Gobin’s speech, it started to drizzle at around 10 p.m. And the rain, slowly but surely, became heavy. I did not bring umbrella, so were Chin YH, Rose and her sister. Desperately, we went near to those spectators that were well prepared with their umbrellas. Despite the rain, Gobin proceeded with his speech and the number of audience did not dwindle. After a while, the whole area was covered with umbrella.

That evening, I was there early 20 minutes before the scheduled start of the ceramah. At that moment, all the seats were taken up and there were thousands of people already standing there waiting for the ceramah to start at 9 p.m. I walked around surveying the area. There were a few mobile stalls operating at the inner side of the field. There was one van that was loaded with iced can drinks. That would be a good idea to have a cold drink when the speeches were too heated up.

While walking around, Chin YH, a Pacesetter runner, spotted me. He actually came all the way from Kelana Jaya. Just like me, he also wanted to listen to Lim Kit Siang’s speech, and I believed most audience shared the same objective too. We later spotted Rose (another Pacesetters runner who live 500 meters away) and his sister.

The other main speakers in that evening were Tan Kok Wai (P123 Cheras) , Jeff Ooi (P50 Jelutong), Hanah Yeoh (Subang State Assembly) and Loh Gwo Burne (Kelana Jaya Parliamentary).

Lim Kit Siang and Jeff Ooi. Photo is from http://www.jeffooi.com/

When the rain intensified, I managed to seek partial shelter under a small umbrella meant for two persons – I was the fourth person. After a while, part of my shirt was wet. When the rain was picking up intensity, Gobin’s speech was eventually halted.

I have heard of DAP’s President, Mr. Lim Kit Siang since I was young but I have never heard his speeches before. So, it was a hard decision for me whether to stay on – to get wet – or go home.

After a while and when the situation was not getting any better, we decided to go home. With the wet shirt and when the wind blew, it was cold. I could never imagine that I actually shivered while walking to my car.

According to Rose, she and her sister went to the ceramah again when the rain had stopped at around 11 p.m. She managed to hear Mr. Lim’s speech. He explained with assurance that the opposition parties, even with the maximum seats, could only deny BN’s two-third majority.

While I communicated with a runner about the recent Ironman race in Langkawi and my repeatable visits to the election ceramah, I was labeled as Ironman also - Election Attendance Ironman. After all, being an Ironman means carrying out tasks repeatedly in order to improve the performance.

Note: Gobin Singh Deo is contesting for Parliamentary Seat P103 Puchong. Part of USJ constituency is aligned into Puchong.

Written by KC

Le Tour de Langkawi 2008

This is the final posting on Le Tour de Langkawi 2008 (ltdl) with photos taken by WENG on Sunday 17 February 2008 at Dataran Merdeka.

Please click here to view 201 photos.

To view complete photo albums of Tour de Langkawi, please click here to take you to Pacesetters Photo Albums, maintains by yours truly.
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Jason Lee and your truly (KC... in blue)

Posted by KC

More Punches at the DAP Ceramah

Note: According to announcement, Lim Kit Siang will be delivering his speech on Monday 9:00 p.m., 3 March at USJ 12 (the same location below). Click here for more details.
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It was a night of interesting and delightful (and at times, fiery) speeches delivered by the opposition candidates, much to the amazement and amusement of the audience (rakyat). According to the schedule, MCA and the DAP were having their election ceramah same time on Saturday 1 March, both at Subang Jaya but at different location.

Unlike what I read in the newspaper (by Wong Chun Wai in Star newspaper, Friday 29 Feb) that two ceramah in Penang were separated only by a street where the rakyat can shuffle around and exchange notes. Possibly, if they were to stand in-between, they may even hear from both sides.

The MCA was having their ceramah at USJ 11 whereas the opposition party was having their ceramah at USJ 12, about 1 km away – No! Not likely that they can hear each other’s manifestation.

After hearing MCA’s ceramah once last Wednesday (27 Feb), I decided to go to the opposition party’s, which is more interesting. When I arrived at the scene at 9:10 p.m., as usual, I could only find car parking very far away. Walking towards the padang (which is a football field), I could see other rakyat were walking swiftly in the same direction. The ceramah has already started, presumably, started on time at 9:00 p.m.

The crowds there were even bigger this time, possibly about 5,000 people; I believe it doubled the size of the ceramah at SS 18 on Wedn 27 Feb.

According to the Master of Ceremony, there were seven speakers that evening, much to the satisfaction of the rakyat who wanted to listen more of the “korek, korek, korek” (correct) speeches.

The main speakers were Nurul Izah binti Anwar (Anwar Ibrahim’s daughter), Tony Pua, Hannah Yeoh, Haris Ibrahim, Loh Gwo Burne (PKR Kelana Jaya Parlimentary candidate), Teng Chang Khim (N44 Sungai Pinang State seat), Teresa Kok (N30 Kinrara State seat).

As usual, there was much applause and cheers. The speakers engaged the rakyat very well and the responses from rakyat were amusing too.

During Tony Pua’s speech, we could hear the honk and loud sound of motorbikes. When the attention of the crowd was focused at the motorcyclists, one guy shouted, “BN Mat Rempit!” much to the amusement of others. It turned out that it was the arrival of Nurul Izah binti Anwar.

Loh Gwo Burne (the person who filmed Lingam’s video) gave a rather interesting opening of his speech: he started to introduce his father and two brothers. Then he called out the name of his brother, Gwo Pong. So he quipped, “If you see one that look like him, and sound like him, that is my brother!” much to the cheers of the audience.

Of all the speakers that evening, Mr. Teng Chang Khim’s speech really captivated the audience with his polished and humorous speeches, and witty remarks. Being the state assembly man for two terms, he could relate to us his experiences, where other speakers could not touch on.

He said when Pak Lah took over the helm of the Administration, he would be catching 18 big fishes. So far, he managed to catch two of them (of which one is Perwaja Steel chief, Tan Sri Eric Chia who could walk only with the help of wheelchair). However, the other 16 big fishes were still not able to catch. Over time, the small fishes have also grown up to become big fishes. The analogy was funny and the rakyat gave a resounding cheers.

He quoted Chinese Premier Deng Xiao Ping’s famous quotes: Whether or not it is a white cat or a black cat, as long as it can catch rats, then it is a good cat. He added on by saying that (his version): Whether or not it is a male cat or a female cat (referring to Hanah Yeoh), as long as it can catch rats, then it is a good cat. That extended quotes really draw much applauses.

The rakyat were standing there for three hours, wanted to listen to more interesting stories. Since it was 12 mid-night, the ceramah ended abruptly, much like the Cinderella story.
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Note: the photos are extracted from http://www.usj.com.my/

Written by KC