STARVING FOR KNOWLEDGE

What happen when graduates and yuppies from various fields that ranges from Engineers, Auditors, Economics to Fine Arts and Hotel Management became an instructor having shared the same passion & vision? Whom then passionately delivers the 24 years old military-inspired program to train and transformed thousands of civilians in unleashing their best health, physique and fitness potential?

Yes.. first, they learn from the founder of the world oldest running military-inspired program Chief Brabon, to obtained the Military Fitness specialist level 1 Certificate, attended various short courses and being hungry or more like starving for more knowledge, they all registered and gathered every weekend for a scheduled training at the Fitness Innovations (M) Sdn Bhd (Commercially known as FIT), a member of Fitness Innovations (Thailand, India, Indonesia and Singapore) read more about FIT at HERE. After almost a year of talking and discussing, COBC finally collaborated with FIT to feed our every instructor's hunger for more knowledge.

There is one common trait that is shared by all trainers at the Chief's Original Bootcamp (COBC), they are all University graduates from various fields (including but not limited to Sports Science and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (cscs)). They were all once a recruit (at COBC) and an avid athlete but not necessarily born an athlete (for more information of COBC instructor, read HERE which is still being updated). This combination of mix background is important to understand the needs and fancies of COBC's recruits. No one can understand the pain of 'commoners' (which we refers to those couch potatoes whom had never, rarely or seldom exercise) better than those instructors whom can relate to the pain or the transformation process of getting fit and healthy (first hand experience from ground zero to their best potential).

Most professional athletes are born an athlete, polished and train to be the best but they do not undergo the same processes or pain of those commoners  to be able to experience and relate themselves of the 'transformation agony' having being born with the stamina and physically fit gene, except of course.. in theory.

The first class that we had yesterday was fun, havoc and very hyper-active mimicking the scenario while training especially when the Reds are now akin of a recruit.. a student starving for knowledge, progress and improvement. They are all salivating impatiently to learn and absorb the knowledge in class and improve themselves. We met the tall, huge (with his arm bigger than my thigh) friendly and funny, the first lecturer, Jerrican Tan whom is also the man responsible for the birth of Malaysia's first international standard educational fitness centre, the FIT.

PROTON NETWORK CONVENTION 2013/14

Left: Liew Vee Lee, Lee Lik Sai, Taha, Rashid Musa, Armin Baniaz Pahamin, Hisham Othman, Datuk Yahya Jaafar, Siaw Siew Bee, Jeff Lim, Dato Isa Indot

7 June 2013, Istana Hotel Kuala Lumpur. Except for 3 dealers, PROTON Network which comprised of all authorized Sales dealers, After-Sales dealers, branch showroom, branch service centres, management and senior management of Proton Edar and Proton Holdings Berhad gathered for the first time at the Hotel Istana in Kuala Lumpur since DRB-Hicom took over from Khazanah Nasional. The gathering was graced by Yg Bhg Tan Sri Mohd Khamil bin Jamil himself as the Executive Chairman of Proton Holdings Berhad accompanied by Datuk Lokman, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Proton Holdings Berhad, Hisham Othman, Chief Executive Officer Proton Edar Sdn Bhd as well as other senior Management.This was my 4th Convention that I attended as the President for Proton Edar Dealers Association Malaysia.

The session that saw almost a 100% attendance with only 2 days notice given, began as early as 8am and was a much needed gathering given the disappointing overall sales in May. When the network expected Tan Sri Khamil to throw some if not many punches for the dismay sales, he remained calm and cool and seemed to understand the predicament we faced. In fact, he addresses various critical issues that is pertinent to the survivability of the network.

AN ASPIRING JUNE

The June-Intake started with a Bomb at the Chief's Original Bootcamp, Malaysia again... More than half of returning recruits achieved their Personal Best in their Benchmark Assessments. Read more about the Benchmark Assessment at HERE. The latest benchmark assessment saw more recruits completing their benchmark assessment below 7 minutes which was an extraordinary achievements considering there were only three recruits in the "6-Minutes ++" category the same time last year.

What was even more inspiring, was the testimony from our recruits on Facebook (keep it coming folks). At COBC, it is always a positive inspiring energy that flows through our every recruit. That is the spirit of bootcamp. Rarely will do we see our recruit demoralizing other comrades or other recruit from other bootcamp or even instructors from other bootcamp. Mutual respect and common courtesy is COBC build-in traits & belief that is the first rule of being a bootcamper, preached by the platoon commander during every month's opening speech. For June what will be the target?

Whether your target was to trim down your waist line from size 36 to size 30 like Poh Ow Ee...

or to run faster like Chee Yee Law whom never seriously ran before but started collecting Prizes after a few months with COBC...

MALAYSIA MINISTRY OF AUTOMOTIVE?

Back in 2009 and on various other platform, as the President for the Proton Edar Dealers Association Malaysia, I issued statements and called for the government to established a custodian to the automotive industry (See the copy of Bernama at HERE and media picture at HERE). Automotive sales have been affected by various statutory policies that had hampered and hindered the growth of the sector but automotive industry is a Key Driver that can help Malaysia to meet its vision to be a develop nation. It is common for a Ministry to be set up to promote the growth of an important sector in Malaysia, for example Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Agriculture etc. Why not a Ministry of Automotive?

Naturally, we support Datuk Syed Mohamad Syed Murtaza, DRB-HICOM Berhad Chairman proposal for the government to establish a new Ministry for the Automotive Sector. See below, extract from Business Times dated 31 May 2013. The actual article is available at HERE. 

Call for automotive sector ministry

MALAYSIA should consider establishing a new ministry for the automotive sector, DRB-HICOM Bhd chairman Datuk Syed Mohamad Syed Murtaza said.

Syed Mohamad said automotive is one of the few industries that can help Malaysia meet its vision to be a developed nation by 2020.

"We have a ministry to take charge of tourism. There is one for education and health," Syed Mohamad, who was former managing director of Armstrong Auto Parts Sdn Bhd and Armstrong Cycle Parts Sdn Bhd said.

"Should we not seriously consider having a ministry of automotive industry?" he asked.

Syed Mohamad was speaking at the Business Times Insight forum on how the National Automotive Policy (NAP) will reshape the industry, here on Wednesday.

COBC & NEW BALANCE COLLABORATION

We are pleased to announced the arrival of the Chief's Original Bootcamp & New Balance Membership Card (WIP)!! The card is given complimentary to all WIP members and 3M recruit. Except for 3M recruit, the bearer of the card is entitled for a monthly fee of only RM199 per month for a Military Corps 12 sessions a month program (codename MC12). The card-holder is also entitled for a 20% discount at all participating New Balance Outlets, spa & massage (TBA), restaurant & Dining (TBA) and discounts at various other locations. Simply flash your card to get the discount. We welcome all recruit with businesses/products/services to be COBC partners. Share your passion.

The card is valid for 12 months from 1 June 2013 and is applicable to all WIP subscribers from January 2013 and to all 3M recruits from June 2013.

NOTE for WIP members whom had registered between January to May 2014. Since you will only receive the COBC/NB card in June, members can continue to pay RM199 per month (exceeding 12 months) until June 2014 and off-set the last 2 months payment against the deposit.

For details for COBC fees and all promotions, please click HERE. The card will be distributed to all recruit by your platoon commander at your registered location.

TRIBUTE TO A LOYAL, TRUSTED FRIEND & COLLEAGUE: P. SARASWATHY

I am truly out of words. I starred blank at the computer screen and could not comprehend or digest the news that I had just received from Chitra Muniandy. Sara is gone.... My heart sank. My whole body shivers and shaken. I felt so weak. Sara has work faithfully with me for more than 13 years and had never taken a single Medical Leaves. She took care of me and my office akin of a mother to a child though she was only 50 years old.

Losing Sara to an unknown sickness was as painful as losing a relative to a cancer. Half of my life was spend battling cancer and that is one battle that I am very familiar with but to lose a friend battling sickness was beyond comprehension.

It was only a few weeks ago that Sara confided in me of her unbeknown sickness. She felt weak and could not even climb the stairs up to our office. Her ankle and various body parts were swollen and she could not breath. I told her to go home and rest. Focus in getting better and do not worry about the office but Sara is a workoholic. At home, she continued to manage the office ensuring all work was well coodinated and done.

She was later admitted at the Assunta Hospital where the Specialist insisted for her to remove both her womb and ovaries but luckily she obtained a second opinion from University Hospital whom adviced her against Assunta Hospital's advice. She was discharged from the University Hospital on thursday last week to spend the public holiday at home before undergoing MRI and other checks for diagnosis.

Over the weekend she was admitted at the Columbia Hospital again for some complication and passed away shortwhile ago.

THE LONGEST DAY

When we talk about a bootcamp fitness program, nothing can rival Chief Brabon and Gunny Brabon 23 years old program at the Chief's Original Bootcamp, Malaysia (COBC) or commercially known as the Original Bootcamp (OBC) in Australia. The duo founded the OBC in 1999 from what was first a camp to slim down the wives (at their request) of the goddess looking Royal Australian Army. Chief customized the army training program for those wives and it became so popular their friends began to take part and today, from just a platoon of wives, it has expanded across 50 locations in Australia and 6 locations in Malaysia.

The program was further researched and various events were organized to keep recruits motivated while maintaining their training momentum. In Malaysia, the Military-Corporation aka Military Corp (pronounced as Military Kor) codenamed MC12 (Military Corp12 session) had trained more than 5,000 recruits since its establishment less than 3 years ago and the next most successful program launched under OBC/COBC stable was the 8 Week Challenge where a challenge was thrown to all recruits to transform their health and physique into their dream body in just 8 weeks. Those challengers with the best transformation, will receive a reward RM15,000 as the grand prize for the the Grand Champion. In addition to the overall champion, Malaysia Champion received a New Balance Voucher worth RM3,000.

Beside the Military Corp and the 8 Week Challenge, in Australia, there are three (3) other programs that became the talk of town every time it was organized namely, the Longest Day, the Hell's Week and Spec Ops (aka Special Operations). What is the Longest Day? This is the subject for this blog, specially request by 8WC Summer-2013 Subang Jaya Champion Sui Lynn.

The Longest Day was first introduced in 2011 and it was limited to only 52 participants-by-invitation per event . This was intentionally done to maintain the quality of the event and to make it exclusive. Only the best 52 applicants will be approved to participate. Thusfar, there is no recruit from Malaysia that had successfully participated and complete the Longest Day challenge. In 2012, one of our former instructor Daing was invited and had completed the challenge making him the first Malaysia instructor to have completed the challenge but that is expected of Chief's instructor. At the point of writing, there is still no one recruit that was invited to participate. The participation is by invitation only. Rumours have it, COBC instructors are currently grooming a few Deltas to take part in the challenge. Recruits will be nominated by their local lead instructor, having met all physical and motivational standards that are required. Recruits were not only judge on their physical ability but also on their mental fortitude.

The Longest Day event is a continuous 25 hours of bootcamp'ing!! Non-stop?!! ...almost!! The Longest Day was created to give civilians an insight into the level of physical and mental fortitude required to be a Special Forces soldier without having to commit to military service.

It began immediately the moment the bus transporting the participant arrived at the destination. They were greeted by instructors whom were either formerly infantry soldiers and/or some still serving soldiers. They were greeted with endless knocked on the bus door, followed by screaming and cursing army-style for all participants to get off the bus. Once everybody were off the bus, they were given a last call to retreat but if they are determine to proceed, they all must cross a line drawn which by then, there will be no turning back. 

COBC 2013 QUARTER 1: RETRO PARTY PART 2 (JANUARY TO MARCH SPIRIT OF BOOTCAMP AND ACERS)

COBC had our quarterly party in April at the Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club with the theme "Retro Party" (See: HERE) and part of the night's program was the certificate presentation for the achievers namely the voted Spirit of Bootcamp and those that was committed to discipline and sheer consistent workout- the Acers (100% Attendance, Commitment and Effort).

For the newbies, the Spirit of Bootcamp award is given to the recruit that motivates you to push that extra harder, somebody that makes your session more enjoyable, it does not even have to somebody that you know. It can be somebody that you have never even spoken to but you notice him/her to be encouraging, humorous and helpful. You determine who motivates you the most and you vote for him to be the Spirit of Bootcamp for your platoon. The recruit that was voted the most, will be the Spirit of Bootcamp for the platoon and will receive a certificate.

The ACERS... are those recruit that attended all the 12 sessions at his/her registered platoon including the Benchmark Assessment. Being military-inspired, it is important that we are always discipline and consistent with our training. Yes, you can attend as many sessions as you want, at any location (but must seek approval first before attending by SMS'ing Admin) under the Bootcamp-Buffet but you will only be awarded with the ACERS certificate only if you have attended the 12 sessions (including Benchmark Assessment) at your registered platoon.

NOW BACK WITH MAXIS

Last year, I courted Celcom, Digi and Tunetalk then ended an almost 20 years of relationship with
Maxis when Maxis became seriously ridiculous with the unlimited roaming Data charges imposed.

During the courtship, Digi stands out the best amongst all others in term of call rate (cheapest especially international calls) and with Digi, there is no additional charges if you have used up your internet data credit limit. Your internet browsing would just go slower. So there will be no eye popping, heart breaking, earth shattering exorbitant month-end bill. You pay maximum what you set as your credit limit for both data and call charges.
 
All mobile network have a credit limit sort of facility that you can set a maximum ceiling for phone and data usage per month and having set mine, I was confident my MAXIS line would be barred the soonest it reaches the limit but unbeknown to me, it did not and I received a whoppingly ridiculous high bill. Feeling cheated and not being satisfied with the answer from customer service especially since I had fix the credit limit (but my bill came out a few times higher than the credit limit - on roaming data), I terminated the almost 20 years of loyalty with Maxis last year and signed up with Digi.

All is well with Digi except the NO reception in Sungai Penchala where my home is and along the PLUS highway, KL to Johor.

HARLEM SHAKE.. THE COBC WAY

At the Chief's Original Bootcamp, we Workout, Play and Party!!

First draft!!
 Edited by Mayurdeep Baruah, broadcasted by Sheikh Hisham.
.

VERIFY YOUR TAEKWONDO ACADEMY/ INSTRUCTORS BEFORE ENROLMENT

If you are planning or have enrolled and/or sent your children to a Taekwondo centre, please make sure that you sent your children to a Taekwondo Malaysia (TM) approved training centres. Taekwondo Malaysia (TM) is the only taekwondo association in Malaysia that is recognized by the Olympic Council of Malaysia, the National Sports Council and the World Taekwondo Federation. To know the history of Taekwondo in Malaysia, read HERE.

While searching for the best instructor for Aaraf to master the martial art Taekwondo late last year, I did abit of research and discovered... #The list of recognized Taekwondo centre in Malaysia is available at HERE. There are two (2) very important factors to consider and for re-consideration before an enrollment. With the advancement of technology, information is more easily accessible and obtained.

1. Recognized, qualified and accredited instructors (To check and verify your instructor, click HERE)

The list of recognized and accredited taekwondo instructors, head-instructors, referees and examiners are available at the link HERE. 

(Very proud to see Aaraf's Master, Elaine Teo Shuen Fhern on page 2, no 10). Pick a recognized and accredited instructor with integrity to train your children. Please check & VERIFY that your instructors are listed at the above link! 

2. Your children is registered as a member of Taekwondo Malaysia (To check, click HERE).

Please also check that you or your child is registered as a member of Taekwondo Malaysia (they should be registered if they are learning taekwondo!!). Aaraf and all his cousins, my nieces and nephews name are listed there except for Kasih Leia Ixora Azhar (what happen?).

COBC 2013 QUARTER-1: RETRO PARTY PART I

 Its a Retro party at the Chief's Original Bootcamp's 1st quarter 2013 partayyy.. but what is actually the COBC party? For the benefits of the many new recruits, COBC organized a get together amongst all recruits from all platoons at all battalions and all instructors closed ranks and socialize with the recruits. Yes.. It is perhaps the only opportunity for you to get to know your platoon commander without any fear of being 'grunt'ed'. It is also the period for you to dress-to-kill or show off your new physique. The party used to be a monthly event but we feel the party is better appreciated when it is not too frequent.. unless of course, it was requested (for earlier).

Today's party marked our 29th party that we had organised since our establishment. Each party bears different theme and although today's party theme was Retro... but I think its more like an aphro-party. Below are the list of previous party we had:

1) June 2010 - World Cup Fever - The Ecoba, Damansara Perdana
2) July 2010 - White & Denim (The Duke, Taman Tun Dr Ismail
3 & 4) August & September 2010 - Aidil Fitri  (Bustanu Pahamin, Sungai Penchala
5) October 2010 - Nerd and Geek - The Library, e-Curve
6) November 2010 - Hats Off - TGI Fridays, Curve
7) December 2010 - Ho Ho Ho # OBC International 20th Anniversary Celebration - The Modestos, Curve
8) January 2011 - Balik Kampung - Raja Affandi Jamaludin's Residence, Kampung Penchala
9) February 2011 - Pajamas - Viki Lim's Residence
10) March 2011 - Stripey Dotty - The Ecoba, Damansara Perdana
11) April 2012 -  Cowboy and Cowgirl - Chef & Brew, Damansara Heights
12 & 13) May & June 2011 - Superheroes - The Soul'ed Out, Desa Sri Hartamas
14) July 2011 - Green and Yellow - Bustanu Pahamin, Sungai Penchala
15 & 16) September 2011 - Halloween - Tony Romas, Mt Kiara 
17) October 2011 - Wear your Old Cloth before COBC - Bustanu Pahamin, Sungai Penchala
18) November 2011 - Luau Hawaian Hotbods party - Bustanu Pahamin, Sungai Penchala
19) December 2011 - Smoking Jazzy Roaring Twenties - The Taps, Jalan Tanglin
20) January 2012 - Gennaio Italian Bootcamp Festo - The Italianes, The Empire, Subang Jaya
21) February 2012 - Ay Yariba yariba MExicano - Las Caritas, Damansara Heights
22) March 2012 - Checkered and Funky Glass High Tea - The Library, First Subang.
23) April 2012 - Rubic Cube Colour - Chef & Brew, Damansara Heights
24) May &June 2013 - 2 Years Anniversary Party
25) July 2013 - Uniform Party
26)  August -
27) September -
28) 4th Quarter 2012 (Oct, Nov, Dec) - Christmas Party
29) 1st Qtr 2012 (Jan, Feb, Mar) - Retro Party

The retro party had brought back to fame John Trabotak, Bob Marley, Al Capone, Elton John and even Alleycats, Spice Girls Guys!! Click on Picture to enlarge.

CROUCH SQUAT!

New methods and techniques are always being introduced at the Chief's Original Bootcamp (COBC) to ensure our progress and performance is never plateaued. While being plateau is not a question at COBC, workout boredom too is never heard of. Infact, the longer you stay with COBC, the more cravings ala addicted you become.

The Chief's Original Bootcamp became the best and have been around for more than 2 decades because of the innovative program that guarantees result while we are having fun.

Recruits.. see the videos below for the perfect form of Crouch Squat (Adoiiiii.. sakit) introduced in April Session Day-4, demonstrated by the founder of our program Chief Brabon.

PICTURE WORTH THOUSANDS OF VOTES: THE LOCAL CHAMPION

You are all a Champion!!! Yes!!!  8 Week Challenge had made everyone a winner!! A champ in their own right because they have achieved what others can only dream of having. When others were critical at their effort, they persevered. When others were tempting them with saliva drooling desserts and food (Oh god!!), they said NO. When others were belittling their hard work (Damn..), it ignite a stronger aspiration. Now, they have achieved their dream physique and health!! Every challengers deserves to be called a winner for that commitment, dedications and passion. Hats off and please give every 8WC participants a big huge bear hug the next moment you see them. 

Voting for a winner has never been easy!! Not for the licensees, franchisees and not for the instructors. Worst for Chief Brabon and Gunny Brabon whom were having sleepless nights sorting out all administrative matters, replying to the thousands of inquiries and attending to the dozens of licensees and franchisees. It is almost impossible to vote and select a winner but a recruit must be crown at each location as a Local Champion!! To crown a winner for each of Malaysia participating platoons, the local Franchisee, their Instructors and
a Franchisee from another state (In Australia) will vote from the list of all 8WC participants in the platoon and that took longer than expected, when they too (like us) saw too many great bodies and great aspiration (susah mau vote wor!) but everyone finally cast their votes without any riot.

"Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim; In the name of God, most Gracious, most Compassionate", on behalf of my partner Dr Malek Aziz, the founders of our program Chief Brabon & Gunny Brabon and all franchisees/licensees, we are pleased to list down Malaysia local champions as follows. Please note that Australia have not announced the prizes for the local champion for Summer 2013 but let us hope for the best. 

The local Champion for 8 Week Challenge summer 2013 are:

PEOPLE

My short stint in Industrial Relation at the Kumpulan Guthrie Berhad in the mid 90s did taught me a thing or two about people and human resource. The most prominent issue being, it is damn difficult to head-hunt for good people to work and equally difficult to maintain them in employment. For the same reason, on a bigger scale, I reckon our government launched and revised the Returning Expert Programme (REP) to entice and lure the countless experts & professionals abroad back to Malaysia. Understandably, it is almost a necessity to have all the brains in Malaysia to achieve Malaysia vision for a high income nation by 2020.

However, what is more difficult to digest is when we already have the best of brain in our administration and to lose them alas, to a competing country or to an opposition. I read with regret the recent turn of event when Hassan Merican was appointed by Singapore Temasek (Malaysia equivalent to Khazanah) at HERE. Previously, the current government lost Tengku Mahaleel whose business acumen had accumulated RM4billion in cash reserves for Proton when Proton was a Government Link Company (GLC). Then the government lost Syed Zainal Abidin whom had turned around Proton from having 40,000 ex-stocks with a rejected brand & worsening quality to a competitive brand and publicly-accepted quality.  Please note the damage was done during the transition from Tengku Mahaleel to Syed Zainal when PROTON was under a Joint-MD).

IT IS ALL A CHOICE

"The secret of success is learning how to use pain and pleasure instead of having pain and pleasure use you. If you do that, you're in control of your life. If you don't, life controls you." ~ Anthony Robbins.
 

ITS THE FINAL COUNTDOWN

The best give to life, is a perfect bill of health!! and the bonus of earning one, is a head turning physique... or vice-versa, a head-turning physique with a bonus of a perfect health... Whichever.. it does not matter but its a two in one kinda deal. For the past 8 weeks, slightly less than 100 recruits (from a total of more than 700 participants worldwide) had enrolled and registered in the fourth 8-Week Challenge, Summer 2013 edition that challenges recruit to get the best health and bodies in a short span of 8 Weeks!!

The 8 weeks had ended on 31 March 2013 and the next turn of event will be the announcement of the winners!! Many participants had fell off the bandwagon before the end of the challenge but there are many more Malaysian that was so committed to getting their goals. 

To recognize their hardwork, we ask for all Malaysian to vote for our fellow Malaysians to be in the world's most talked about health and fitness challenge semi-finals. Every vote count and unlike the forthcoming Malaysia 13th General Election, everyone from Barisan Nasional and Pakatan can vote for Malaysian to win against Australia. 

   The next turn of event is as follows:

Wednesday 3rd April:
Voting for Local Champions by Franchisees & Instructors
Public voting for Overall Semi-Finalists will open through Facebook (DONE!! Pending announcement)

THE JUDGEMENT DAY!!

The fourth 8 Week Challenge was launched on 3 February 2013 and ended on 31 March 2013. What is the next step...

Judging
LOCAL CHAMPIONS
Local Champions will be voted on by the local Franchisee, their Instructors and
a Franchisee from another state.

SEMI-FINALISTSVoting for ‘Overall Semi-Finalists’ (Australia & Malaysia) will be open to the general public as well as Recruits and Instructors . Votes from non-bootcampers will be worth one point. Votes from current Recruits will be worth four points. Votes from Instructors will be worth Six points. All ‘Local Champions’ will automatically qualify as a Semi-Finalist. A total of 60 Semi-Finalists will be chosen by the public voting process. Voting for these titles will open on Wednesday 3rd April 2013 and close at 11:59pm (AEST) Sunday 7th April 2013.

All local Champions will automatically advance to the Semi-Finals. The remaining Semi-Finalist will be selected through an online voting process open to Franchisees, Instructors, Recruits and the general public.

FINALISTS
Voting for ‘Overall Finalists’ will the responsibility of Franchisees, Licensees and Instructors of ORIGINAL BOOTCAMP™ and CHIEF’s ORIGINAL BOOTCAMP™ (Malaysia). Votes from Support Instructors will be worth one point, Votes from Lead Instructors will be worth two points, votes from Franchisees/ Licensees will be worth three points, votes from the Franchisors will be worth four points. Voting for these titles will be completed on Monday 8th April 2013.
 
GRAND CHAMPION & RUNNERS-UPThe ‘Overall Champion’ and ‘Overall Runner-up’ will be chosen by a panel of independent judges appointed by the Promoters. The best entry as determined by the judges will win AUD$5,000 cash as well as additional prizes from our sponsors. The second best entry will win AUD$1,000 cash as well as additional prizes from our sponsors. Voting for these titles will be completed on Tuesday 9th April 2013. Both the Winner and the Runner-up will be notified by telephone and email using contact details provided in their entry by 12noon (AEST) on Wednesday 10th April 2013. This competition is a game of skill and chance plays no part in determining the winners.  
The Judges' decision will be final, and not open to contention.

THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED.. PART 1: ISRAEL/PALESTINE

Our traveling date were moved more than a month forward to 27 February 2013 in anticipation of the 13th general election that could be called anytime soon. It has been 24 years since I last traveled only with my parent. In the past, it will always be a mesmerizing trip with the whole battalion of at least 6 siblings (now almost triple with the in-laws and the next generation) but this trip encompasses of only me, my elder sister Chempaka Emalin and my parent for a spiritual journey to Mecca but we took a longer route via Jordan and a stop in Jerusalem, Palestine (Israel).

27 February 2013. We left Malaysia via Royal Jordanian Airlines on 27 February 2013 and arrived in Queen Alia International Airport on 28th February 2013 at 6am to be greeted by De Mawardah Travel Agent officer whom brought us for breakfast. Amman was cold!

Our first stop was for breakfast.

We had the Jordanian "Roti Canai?"... with eggs and humus. Nice? you damn right but the size of one roti is enought to feed us whole family!!

After breakfast, we continued our journey to the King Hussein bridge which was the border to Paletistine. I was fascinated with the architecture of houses and buildings in Amman.  There were all 'square' without any roof? Jordan is a country with 70% dessert but the Jordanian Dinar is a stronger currency than US Dollar.

40th DAY PRAYERS/TAHLIL FOR GREAT GRANDMOTHER AND ALLAHYARHAM(AH) RELATIVES

Me & Cousins.. and a young uncle, Zamir Daud

Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un(إِنَّا لِلّهِ وَإِنَّـا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعونَ); We belong to ALLAH swt and to him we shall return.

Recent years have taken some of our senior relatives with the most recent being my great grandmother aka Moyang. Before her, was my father's only sister Hajjah Bidah Abdul Razak whom left us in August 2011 at the aged of 84. 40 days ago we lost my great grandmother at the age of 107 years old and on the 40th day, her only son and living child, Lt Gen (R) Dato Seri Daud Abu Bakar or better known as Tok Su by my generation, organised a tahlil and prayer in conjunction with the 40th Day of her passing. Tok Su whom is now 78 years old is still strong and is able to move around without a third leg (err.. Tongkat) or any assistant. His wife, also known as Tok Su is as hyper as always... but Tok Su said, he do not think he can live as long as his mother exceeding 100 years of age. 

That statement was hard for me to swallow. Losing someone close can never be easy although Islam forbids intemperate grieve for the dead and instead should and must always enjoined to say: In-naa lil-laa-hi wa in-naa I-lay-hi raa ji-`oon(We are Allah's and to Him we shall return). These words are a source of unlimited solace and comfort in bereavement. Hence it is forbidden that one should indulge in regular mourning or ostentatious grief... but I think I would just breakdown beyond words and control. I can never be prepared for the lost of any of our family members. Our family and relatives were brought up being very close and even though we are bogged down with our individual errands and career, especially with relatives whom we rarely met but we picked up where we left almost instantly the moment we meet. Such were the strong bond we all have.