Into The Forest...

Did you know that we have a forest reserve right here in the middle KL city? I mean just a couple of blocks away from the Hard Rock Café? Well, I knew about this place, it’s just that I never thought that I could really feel like being in a virgin jungle. Last week I took both my kids to Menara KL (http://www.menarakl.com.my/) . At first I just wanted to show them this typical tourist spot that you can find in the city. But then I saw this entrance that leads to a jungle trail. Out of curiosity, I lead the kids through this Bukit Nenas Forest Park. It was fun and the kids enjoyed them selves. As we get further it gets a bit challenging for the kids. Zidani was not comfortable at all with the heat and humidity. After about 30 minutes we head back to the parking lot and we went back home.

I think next year Raidi might be ready for his first camping trip. I can’t wait for that moment really. That’s what I call quality time..away from the city, astro and the internet. Just the father, son and mother nature (Raidi’s biological mother is not ready for this!). Maybe I’ll take Raidi to Taman Negara Pahang…waaahh....camping gears….the rivers… the jungle…and the stars you can see during the night…aaarrghhh…. Oklah Raidi, we’ll go camping this December, before you start schooling next year!!

Here We Go!!!

It’s the time of the year again…the time when weekend means nothing else but the English Premier League. Manchester United started their 2006/2007 EPL campaign with a 5 star performance and with consistency I think this season could be very successful for the club. Last night I saw young players like Rooney and Ronaldo playing with such maturity and it is only going to get better and better between them. The movement of the players was a sight to be hold. Simply breathtaking to watch and the football was damn bloody fluid. Each of them knows exactly what they are supposed to do and they did it according to plan. MU didn’t acquire many new players this season as they trust on the breed of players that they have developed for years. I guess this is the advantage of building and molding a team from the youth side. Players will have the time and patience to learn each others movement and positioning and with this understanding it’s going to be hard for the opponent to hold possession of the ball. MU had a fantastic pre-season and this certainly helped in boosting their confidence as reflected in last night’s game.

"cayaaangg diaa.... i love u laaa"

I don’t want to be premature in my assessment here. It’s too early to judge their overall performances. I know it was against a Fulham team who didn’t really close down their opponent and allowed MU dominantly orchestrates the game. The game was far from a litmus test and I can’t wait for the nail biting, tantalizing and super crunching game against the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool or Arsenal. I think this is the best season opener for MU where traditionally they’d only pick up their game right before Christmas and make a home run for the title. It’s a different ball game today and to be competitive, teams must be able to start with the 5th gear right away from the start! Well MU certainly did started with the 5th gear…while Fulham still shifting from neutral to 1st gear…Sebab tu MU menang 5-1….tapi ada jugak team start dengan gear 3…gear satu pun ada…ada yang kena jump start…ada yang belum run in betul-betul..maklumlah banyak parts baru..mahal-mahal pulak tu..

Yup..it’s the time of the year again…for the next 6 months or so, many will be engrossed and suck in into either the world of reality or fantasy football or even both. Whichever team you are supporting, with the big names (or flop) signing and by the look of last week’s kick-off, it’s going to be another great ride on the EPL roller coaster. Just buckle up and hold on to your seat, with fingers crossed, by the end of the ride, you know I know very well which team will emerge as champions!!! So enjoyla the ride while you still can.. ok? muahahahahaa

Get Well Soon Cikgu....

Right after attending Ikmal’s wedding last Sunday, I took Ayu to UH to visit Cikgu Rezwan. Cikgu Rezwan is my old tuition teacher and he is now suffering from critical heart illness. He has been in and out of the hospital but this time his condition is bad (read Mafeitz blog). As soon as we arrived at his room, Ayu broke down in tears. Looking at his condition, I don’t think anyone who knows Cikgu Rezwan can leave the room without teary eyes.

To Ayu, Cikgu Rezwan is like her own father. In fact many of us or his ex-students treat him like a mentor, someone whom we can look up for guidance. He preaches, motivates and advises teenagers to be kind, responsible and respectful. All he wants is to see his students become successful and not forgetting our responsibility to Allah.

He told Ayu to be strong as she begged him not to leave her. His spirit is high after seeing many of his old students who visited him. He told me that he wants to open up the tuition centre again. Well, if this comes true, I think I would like to volunteer to become a part time tutor at the centre.

I had known many friends from Pusat Tuition Dimensi and more importantly, this is the place where I first met Ayu. We were in Form 4 back then but I can still remember when I and Mafeitz first enrolled for tuition there. This centre was practically opened 24 hours for students to study and prepare for the SPM exams.

I hope Cikgu Rezwan will recover from this illness. He had left many great legacies but he insisted that his perjuangan is still not finished.Doing this, he had never expected anything in return from his students. It was an honest contribution and only Allah can repay all his good deeds. We will always remember you Cikgu Rezuan….

Jakarta oohh..Jakarta...

It’s now 12.05am, Jakarta time. Yup, this is my first assignment in this city since I first worked for Telsoft. I’ve been here since Tuesday and tonight, I’m feeling exhausted. Telsoft currently has a project together with Sigma Indonesia on Costing systems and some regulatory issues for PTT Indosat. This assignment is an eye opener for me. I get to see other Telcos work culture and believe me, I felt like I was in two different countries when we met people from Telkomsel and Indosat. Although both their offices are in Jakarta but their work culture is strikingly different. All I can say is, TM is in the middle of the working cultural scale, Indosat and Telkom is on both ends of the scale.

View from my hotel room...

I’m staying at the 4 Seasons Hotel. The place and service is fantastic. I was supposed to meet my Uncle (uncle Taufik) who works in Jakarta but unfortunately both of us are busy with work. Hmm…according to the project plan, I will be in Jakarta quite often after this. The next visit would be on the 21st of August and the whole project is expected to complete early next year. Apart from this, we have an on-going project with TM and it is supposed to be completed by year end. I hope we can keep up with the workload and the project schedule.

Me and Jude by the pool side of the Hotel...

I'm flying back to KL tomorrow but I dont think I can make it to Ikmal's bersanding ceremony in the evening. But I will definetly attend his reception in TTDI on Sunday. Ok for now, I’m going to bed…ngantuk nak mampos…

Selamat Diijab Kabul...

L to R : Edrus, Me, Ikmal, Dr Mafeitz (and son), Harris

Myself and Ayu went to Ikmal's nikah ceromony today. Among the Kamcheng Brotherhood, Ikmal's the last 'Mohican' to tie the knot..hahaha. Alhamdulillah, the ceremony went smoothly and I asked him what he felt after the Akad? He told me "Rasa ringan sikit..". It must be a huge relief for him. And he asked me whether I felt the same after my Akad ceremony dulu. I told him "Rasa berat!". Hmm...I guess everybody have their own way to apreciate the ceremony. Anyway, congratulation to Ikmaluddin and Lili. I've known Ikmal since we were kids and I'm happy to see him ending his bachelor's life today. I pray both of you will live a happy life together. As for the rest of us, since everbody's now married, why don't we all 'produce' more Kamcheng offsprings?? hahahaha...I can't imagine our kids marrying each other laa...hahahaha..that's gonna be really something...very interesting story to write on the blog though!!!!

Lunch at Lili's house... more pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mafiz/

Vacancies....

This is shocking news for me! I honestly feel this is a huge gamble by the FAS. It's easy to understand this decision really. They were at the pinnacle of domestic football just one season ago, but this year Selangor fell to the bottom. So the FAS wants to take some drastic action. But this has never been done before. They could either strike gold or they could be worst off. The thing is, this is a league format that we're talking about. I dont think the FAS should risk hiring unknown players with little or no experience in the local league.

A sign of desperation? Or maybe a commercial gimmick? A copy from the My Team reality series perhaps, but doing this at the professional league level, for a start it is going to be difficult to convince the sponsors. I have no comments on the state of the local league but maybe, this new development could attract curious followers. If this doesn't work, I'm afraid that this is going to take football to a new low in this country. But with the current state of Malaysian football, I think it is a risk worth taking.

Sports
August 02, 2006 21:41 PM

S'gor Drops All Players, To Conduct Nationwide Scouting
SHAH ALAM, Aug 2 (Bernama) -- The Football Association Selangor (FAS) will drop all its current players, including the imports, and replace them with local talents below 23 years of age for next season's Malaysian League. FAS president Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo said: "We will conduct players' selection throughout Malaysia and if successful, we will see a new football perspective in the country."We will try the best, and I apologise to all old players, all of them will be dropped," the Selangor Menteri Besar told a press conference after chairing the state executive council meeting here Wednesday.

He said no imports would be absorbed into the new squad but probably, one or two experienced local players would be retained to guide the youngsters. In the previous season, Selangor won three titles -- the Premier League, the FA Cup and the Malaysia Cup. In the current season, they not only failed to defend the FA Cup and Malaysia Cup but also sank to the bottom of the Super League table.Selangor managed to remain in the Super League after a series of play-off matches following the Football Association of Malaysia's decision to increase the number of teams in the Super League from eight to 14.

Dr Khir said the selection of new players would be held anytime soon."We are scouting. So, those interested and have the ability and skills from this state or other states can contact us. We will conduct a special training session and see what they can do," he said.He said all new players would be placed in a hostel and be given special diet and comprehensive training to ensure they were constantly ready and focused to play.

"This is a big and drastic change to Selangor football but I will certainly make the shift to prove that local people too can play footbal like the Brazilians."I see that the football objective in the state is not achieved though we have import players."The objectives in taking foreign players are firstly to draw supporters and secondly to allow a change in the attitude of local players, and a transfer of skills from foreign players to the locals but these did not materialise," he said.Dr Khir said Selangor were not hoping to win any title the next season with the new players."It is just that we want to do something quite drastic because I am sure Malaysians too are capable. It is something new and I will try it," he said.-- BERNAMA