Sunday, November 30, 2008

Terry Fox Race

About 6,000 people joined the Terry Fox race this morning. Together with a few friends/colleagues, we entered the race. Since it was a charity run, I wasn’t expecting a competitive atmosphere, but to honour Terry Fox, total perseverance was my only motto. I guess it was fairly easy and I managed to cross the finish line in first place, about 15 seconds ahead of the second guy. I’ve been taking it easy over the past few weeks, so I can feel I’m getting a bit out of shape. Time to start getting my act together again.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Malaysia outlaws yoga for Muslims

Malaysia outlaws yoga for Muslims
By Robin Brant BBC News, Kuala Lumpur

Millions of people in Malaysia have been banned from doing yoga because of fears it could corrupt Muslims.

The Islamic authorities have issued a ruling, known as a fatwa, instructing the country's Muslims to avoid yoga because of its Hindu roots.
To most people yoga is simply a sport - a stress-busting start to the day.
Malaysia's National Fatwa Council said it goes further than that and that elements of the Indian religion are inherent in yoga.
Announcing the decision, the council chairman Abdul Shukor Husin said practices like chanting and what he called worshipping were inappropriate and they could "destroy the faith of a Muslim".
The ruling is not legally binding but many of Malaysia's Muslims abide by fatwas.
Yoga classes here are filled with mostly non-Muslim Malaysians of Chinese or Indian descent, but in the major cities it is not uncommon to see several Muslim women at classes.
Prayers and gym
For Muslims across Malaysia the day starts at 5.30 in the morning, as the call to prayer goes out.
A handful of the most devout arrive at a mosque in the western outskirts of Kuala Lumpur.
Over the other side of the road, in the shadow of the Mosque's golden dome, a few others start arriving to start their day - at the gym.
Each is carrying a yoga mat, slung over their shoulder.
Adam Junid is a Muslim Malaysian who does both - prayers and gym, specifically yoga.
An engineer in his 30s, he goes to a weekly class for about 30 people.
"I don't think it interferes with the religion at all," he says.
"In fact it helps you, makes you healthy and more aligned and it helps you become self aware," he adds.
Adam is a rarity because it is mostly women and not many Muslims who do this.
"The yoga masters repeat that it actually can be quite compatible with religion," he said. "It makes you a better person."
Yoga comes in many forms. For some it is a stress-busting sport. For others a serious bit of soul searching.
What Adam does once a week is the serious stuff. The class I sat in on was two hours long.
Spiritual experience
It included breathing exercises, with the help of the tick-tock of a metronome.
There was meditation, then half an hour of darkness for intense relaxation.
Before that some of the class managed a very stable headstand. Others could touch the back of their head with their foot.
"It can go with any religion," instructor Mani Sekaran told me.
"Or it can go with those who don't believe in any religion, because it's purely sports," he added.
He is also founder of the Malaysian Yoga Society. A bald and very fit man, he once did martial arts.
"If I want to train for an Olympic gold medal... whether I believe in a religion or not doesn't matter. I just keep on training."
"Based on that we can use yoga to enhance whatever we are doing, whether it is religion or whether it's spirituality... but it [yoga] is stand alone."
During the class I sat in on, yoga's Hindu roots were mentioned, albeit briefly. A spiritual experience was on offer for those who wanted it.
This is the point where some Muslims in Malaysia worry about yoga. They think it is encroaching on their way of life.
One Muslim student told me that she combined yoga techniques with prayers. That concerns some Islamic experts.
"If people want to practice yoga, the physical exercise, I think that is no problem," Professor Osman Bakar, from Malaysia's Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies, told me.
"Many Muslims would say fine. But they would object to the mixing of the two things."
"Islam is a complete way of life. Islam is able to cater to the needs of Muslims; spiritual needs, intellectual needs and other needs, material needs. So there is no need to bring in elements from outside," he added.
Adam's yoga class ended with a quick discussion about self-awareness, concentration and why people do yoga. I was not sure if this was a weekly occurrence or for my benefit.
He told me that yoga has made him a better person. He has no plans to stop.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Diego Maradona

Diego Armando Maradona was recently appointed as the new manager of the Argentinean national football team. He took his huge ego to Scotland for his first game in charge, and obviously the British press had a field day.

Terry Butcher added to the sports headlines by refusing to give a hand to the Argentinean football legend. He was still angry for the infamous “hand of God” goal at the 1986 World Cup. Maradona’s reply? “Terry Butcher who? I’m getting criticized by a nation which won its only World Cup by a goal that didn’t even cross the goal line. How ridiculous is that?” Touché if you ask me.


He came, he saw and he conquered.

Terry Fox Race Ho Chi Minh City

For the past two weeks, I have done everything in my power to be as lazy as possible. A year of full on training definitely deserves some downtime. Although I have no races planned for 2009, I’ve already been in touch with my coach and we are going to maintain my fitness level with a support program over the next few months. It will be tricky to see how I’ll combine it with my studies early next year, but it should be manageable.


I have registered for the Terry Fox run on November 30 in Ho Chi Minh City. This is a race that is organized all around the world to raise money for cancer research. Terry Fox was a young Canadian athlete/cancer activist who I admire immensely. He is/was simply a true hero. The race itself does not have a competitive character as the main focus is on raising funds for cancer research. Nonetheless, I will go full out in the 5 km run. I thoroughly enjoy running races and I don’t have to worry about impacts on training schedules at the moment. It’ll be fun.

Lizi and Hintong's Wedding

One week after Powerman, I returned to Malaysia, this time for my good friends Lizi and Hintong’s wedding. I had the honour of being one of the best men. I had been looking forward to the event for quite some time now and I knew how much effort both the bride and groom had put into the organization of their marriage.

The best men needed to help the groom reach his bride by assisting him in some activities set by the bridesmaids and family members of the bride. As we reached the bride’s home on the back of a 4x4 pickup truck, the gate was closed and we weren’t allowed to enter. We were greeted by one of the bride’s sisters who gave us some garters to wear. One on our head, three on both wrists, and two around each ankle! I was already wondering what I had gotten myself into. The next moment though would scar me for life. We were asked to dance and sing, while holding carrots and cucumbers as microphones, to Dancing Queen sung by Abba. This was rapidly turning into a nightmare, but luckily one of the best men is an aerobics instructor who sort of guided us through this painful ordeal. Finally, we were allowed to enter the gate.

Next step was entering the house. We had to answer some questions about the bride and the groom. This went without too many hiccups, and before we knew it we were in the house. We had to do a few more dance routines and come up with a catchy phrase to “seduce” the bride. Unfortunately, Abba music continued dominating in the background and I felt like voluntarily admitting myself to the nearest mental institute. Eventually, we were allowed to go up the stairs where we faced a locked door. The bribing had begun: some ampows for the cousins, some cans of Tiger beer for the sisters and at last we managed to get the groom to his bride.

To seal the marriage, a traditional Chinese tea ceremony was held at both parties’ homes. It meant sharing tea with both the elders of the family and the younger ones. Once completed, the food was ready to be served.

The wedding party was held at the Equatorial hotel. Before the big bash, both the bridesmaids and best men joined a photo shoot with the newlywed couple. After showing off our lovely pink shirts, doing serious and silly poses, carrying bridesmaids up the stairs, being mistaken for being the actual groom, having Nicole David (World #1 squash player) pass by, we had a short break before the guests would arrive.

In the mean time, I had been told that I could stay in the bridal suite, in the room adjacent to Lizi and Hintong’s. The party was fantastic. The food in combination with the red wine was to die for. Plenty of rounds of both were great excuses for me not to enter the dance floor, all to the great frustration of some of the bridesmaids and the bride herself. Sorry ladies, I’m just not that big on dancing, plus I was still getting over my Abba experience. The scars were too fresh.

At the end of the night, some of us decided to go up to the bridal suite for some more partying and drinking. One by one though, most of us started passing out. It had been a long day and for me personally the fatigue in combination with French Chardonnay was taking its toll. I slept on a couch which was incredibly comfortable. Nobody had bothered to turn off the lights and that made a deep sleep quite difficult. After a while, I started hearing some pretty passionate noises next to my couch. Less than five meters from where I was sleeping, two friends of the couple started getting it on. I don’t need to draw any pictures, do I? I was so exhausted and disinterested that I just turned around and continued counting my sheep in dreamland. I must admit I was very tempted in telling them to get a room, but for some reason I was just knocked out, I didn’t have the energy. Finally, the naughty couple moved to the bathroom where she was certainly enjoying her climax and disturbing my sleep.

The next morning, I met up with everyone again and evidently we had a few things to talk about. The newly-wed couple was so exhausted they weren’t able to enjoy their wedding night in a way you might expect. But that’s where the irony starts kicking in! Guess who the naughty gentleman was? The bride’s ex-boyfriend! At least someone had some action.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Powerman Malaysia 2008

(Pictures are courtesy of Master Photographer Tey)
Powerman Malaysia 2008 = 11 km run – 64 km bike – 10 km run

For the fourth straight year, Powerman Malaysia was the apotheosis of my season. This grueling long distance Duathlon attracts some of the best athletes in the world and enough age-groupers to make most European race organizers drool. Even though I have a somewhat love/hate relationship with the event, politics and my ego were quickly shoved aside to make place for the sporting challenge.

Thanks to Emma, I was able to get a ride to Lumut. It must be said, if it wasn’t for my excellent navigational and co-piloting skills, we might have ended up in Penang. A couple of Emma’s legendary flapjacks kept my concentration level at full alert and we managed to narrowly escape some wandering encounters with the Kampong cows.

Race tactics were pretty simple. Maximize my run and control the damage on the bike. I tend to take some time to really warm up properly. I guess I should become a spokesman for Diesel engines. The main protagonists quickly took the lead of the race. Jason Spong and Anthony Le Duey took off and their pace was too high for me to follow. I decided to stick to my race plan and follow my instincts. Four kilometers into the race, I could feel the extra pistons going off and my running rhythm simultaneously took off. I entered transition feeling extremely comfortable just behind former winner Chrispine Osmondi and just ahead of Danish top duathlete Aksel Nielsen in fifth position (Time: 36:16).

I didn’t try to fool myself on the bike. My confidence has/had been rock bottom for months. Yes, I have improved my efficiency on the bike, but on the other hand my speed has not shown any significant improvement over the past two years. I managed to stay in a good position until the second part of the first lap. I am not able to push the necessary gears at this level. I’ve stopped beating my head in over this fact. Training conditions aren’t ideal where I live, I have no cyclists to train with, and I could use a technical overhaul of my current bike. Although, I must admit the technical aspect is a lousy excuse, it’s the still the engine that matters.

During the first lap, I lost one of my water bottles at a bumpy stretch. I decided to go back and retrieve it. The race was still long and I wasn’t willing to take any additional risks, especially when it comes to hydration and nutrition. Aksel Nielsen told me after the race he had also lost his bottles, but he left them. He totally bonked on the second run. I kept my rhythm and I was very much looking forward to the end of the bike section and start the second run (Time: 1:47:09).

The psychology of running off the bike is if you really think about pretty simple. No matter how bad you might feel, at the end of the day everybody suffers immensely. That thought has always comforted me and I can’t resist a game of Pac-man whenever I can. I have a naturally high running pace, even if I am ready to drop dead. I never felt I was running fast, but Jason Spong told me he had the exact same feeling, still I managed to catch quite a few of the other elites. The moment you pass another athlete on the run, you can see the mirror breaking into many pieces. Mentally it’s a home run in your advantage and I have met very few athletes who have the strength to keep all the pieces glued together. Overall, I managed the fourth fastest time off the bike (Time: 40:41). If you only take the run into account, my cumulative time was fourth fastest of the field. That in itself is a huge achievement considering unlike all the other elites, I am not a full-time professional athlete.

Before Powerman, I had set two goals: Finish in the top ten and be the first “real amateur” to complete the race. I achieved both! My final time was 3:05:45. That was exactly ten minutes behind Andy Sutz, the winner of Powerman Zoffingen 2008. I was able to talk to him after the race, and he quickly noted Powerman Malaysia was tougher than Zoffingen. The heat and humidity can be excruciating in Lumut.

Jason Spong reclaimed his title from 2005. In an awesome 2:43:13, he blew away the competition. A deserved winner who is a class act as a person.

Overall, I’m very pleased with my season. I set certain realistic but challenging goals and I reached all of them. That in itself shows I gave it my best and in the end there’s not much more you can do. Now, I’m looking forward to a break from training. Play some football on the beach with friends, go kayaking and anything that doesn’t resemble Duathlon or triathlon. Oddly though, in two weeks’ time, I will probably miss my training schedules already.
And last but not least, congratulations to everyone who competed as age-groupers and finished in the top three. Well done Emma and Simon!

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Final Preparations

High time I wrote something again. Don’t want to see my blog turn into a fossilized artifact.

In less than a week, Powerman Malaysia will take place. For the past week or so, I have been tapering and religiously following my coach’s schedule. My hamstring is fine and I’m obviously pleased about that. Thank goodness I let common sense prevail and handled the situation well. Ego sometimes needs to take a backseat if you want to move forward or achieve your goals. There’s just no point in continuing when one is down, but it doesn’t mean it should have negative effects. Cross training rocks!

Thanks to Emma, I’m able to get a ride to the race site in Lumut. Although I’m very much looking forward to the race itself and the accompanying challenge, I know I’m not particularly welcome at the race site. To simplify matters, let’s keep it at “politics”. Mentally, it’s not ideal. Hopefully by catching up with my Malaysian friends, I’ll be able to distract myself from the negative vibes.

Over the next few weeks, I will have to make some major decisions. As it turns out, there are some issues with my work permit in Vietnam. Even though, I turned in my original Flemish documents and English translations, the Vietnamese government needs to have the paperwork in Vietnamese. The only way for me to do this officially is by once again validating my degree at my university, go to the ministry of foreign affairs, then go to the Vietnamese Embassy in Brussels and finally to the Belgian Embassy in Hanoi. To me, that just sounds like an administrative headache, not to mention the financial implications.

My company has suggested that I could stay on until the end of my contract, change my visa status to a student visa from January to March while I study my course, but it would mean (unless I get the documents), I can’t resign a new contract. The main question though is why should I do all this administrative mumbo-jumbo? I have no ambition to stay in Vietnam. Both in Thailand and Malaysia, the documents I already have were more than adequate.

It’s far from ideal to prepare for my June 2009 exam, but I might have to move earlier than anticipated. Oddly enough, I could stay in Vietnam if I decided to work for a Vietnamese owned school, but I will happily pass on that possibility. Furthermore, I feel it is time to go and perhaps leave South East Asia. I’ve enjoyed the past 6 years, but the newness or the challenge has slowly disappeared.

Next Monday, I am going to meet my former boss from CfBT in Kuala Lumpur. I might as well kill two birds with one stone: race and apply for a new job. CfBT has various projects running in the Middle East, more specifically Oman and the UAE. Some of them involve teacher training and ultimately those are the kind of projects I’m interested in the most.

Financially, the Middle East is an attractive option and the region around Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Muscat is getting good reviews. There’s a whole load going on out there, and I wouldn’t be me before having done some research. Muscat has a running and triathlon club. Sounds like my kind of place. I like the geographic diversity of Oman’s landscape as it is not only Desert. Its political policies are quite progressive for the Middle East and most of all, it’s politically stable. Who knows, I might be in the land of the flying carpets and genie bottles in the not so distant future.