Celoteh Captain Shafari - Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Captain Shafari

Salam to all Famemas members.

Another 10 days.. we are into year 2012. Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. And again almost everyone of us will have a new year resolution whether the present one is yet to be achieved or not. Mine... was a failure cos Si Dia tak kahwin lagi but oopps... who knows Si Dia were to marry in the next few days... yeah.

Year 2011 was quite a difficult year for me. In April, my Abah had a stroke, was in coma and hospitalised. He later recovered and as at last Saturday, he seemed to be at his normal self. Then, during Hari Raya, I was very sick. So no raya for me in 2011. My children's house was broken into for the 2nd time. Luckily my children and my ex were not harmed. Right now, my Mak is still in the hospital... high BP with high sugar level. InsyaAllah Mak will recover soon. Just like her husband of 60 years, she is a fighter too.

Towards the end of 2011... on 20 Nov to be exact, I experienced the most frightening moments but looking back, after the match... it was the best satisfying feelings that I had of being a supporter of Malaysian sports and games. Yeah.. no amount of money could buy that... witnessing Malaysia won the football gold in the Sea Games. Malaysia Boleh!

For 2012...

MERRY CHRISTMAS & MAYBANK MALAYSIA OPEN BOOK YOUR DIARY

Salam 1Malaysia, Salam Famemas

Terima Kasih kepada ahli dan rakan Famemas yang bersama menghadiri Majlis Malam Olympian of the year anjuran Majlis Olimpik Malaysia baru-baru ini. Tahniah dan Syabas kepada Olympian of the year 2011, Nur Suryani Mohd Taibi dan Cheng Chu Sian…. teruskan perjuangan Negara…

Famemas akan bersorak pada Maybank Malaysian Open 2012 dari 13 hingga 15 Januari 2012 di Stadium Putra Bukit Jalil, luangkan masa anda untuk sama-sama bersorak untuk athlit kita terutamanya Dato’ Lee Chong Wei, Koo Kien Kiat dan Tan Boon Heong. Book diary anda.

DIKESEMPATAN INI, FAMEMAS mengucapkan Selamat Hari Krismas kepada yang merayakannya dan SELAMAT TAHUN BARU 2012, semoga tahun baru ini akan terus menggemilangkan persada sukan MALAYSIA dan MEMBUAHKAN EMAS OLIMPIK PERTAMA BUAT MALAYSIA.

MALAYSIA BOLEH

Ikhlas,

FAMEMAS

Terima Kasih

Salam Famemas

Terima Kasih yang tak terhingga kepada kesemua ahli yang turut hadir dimajlis penghargaan Sukan SEA Indonesia bersama Perdana Menteri tempohari.

Peranan Famemas amat dihargai dan termasuk dalam intipati ucapan Perdana Menteri, Syabas Famemas!

Dan juga diharapkan semua ahli Famemas dapat meluangkan masa untuk menyaksikan MAYBANK MALAYSIAN OPEN 2012 dari 13 hingga 15 Januari 2011 di Stadium Putra Bukit Jalil…. Booking time anda dan bersama kita menyorak untuk kejayaan athlit badminton Negara

Di kesempatan ini, Famemas ingin mengucapkan Selamat Bercuti, Selamat Hari Krismas dan Tahun Baru kepada semua ahli dan rakan Famemas, berhati-hati dijalanraya.

Salam Ikhlas,

Famemas

Famemas Selamat Pulang Dari Sukan SEA Indonesia

Salam Famemas 1Malaysia,

Alhamdulilah, syukur, kesemua ahli kontinjen Famemas dan Team Malaysia di Palembang dan Jakarta selamat tiba di tanah air dengan kejayaan dan pengalaman yang akan dikenang sampai bila-bila. TAHNIAH DAN SYABAS! Keseluruhan athlit, pegawai, kontinjen Malaysia dan Famemas Team Malaysia di Sukan SEA Indonesia dalam mencapai 59 emas!

Kesemua rangkuman Famemas Team Malaysia boleh dilihat di www.facebook.com/famemas.

Untuk melihat lebih banyak foto Famemas di Sukan Sea Palembang, Indonesia, sila layari http: //www. flickr.com/photos/famemas/

Celoteh Captain Shafari - continue...

continue...

Before leaving for SGBK, we had our briefing in the CDM conference room at Sultan Hotel by CDM himself. Malaysian contigent was issued with only 100 tickets but only 50 for the VIP stand and the balance were scattered. For safety measures, only 50 were allowed to go in. However there were students who had purchased their own tickets and a few of the embassy staff who had special passes and thus the number became 66. We boarded a coach which is just behind the players' coach and left for the stadium at 6.00 pm. We were escorted by the police outriders and a few plainsclothed police personnel on motorcycles. At that moment, we were looking forward to be in the stadium. Yeah.. rasa bangga dan perasaan takut belum menyerap lagi...

From the bus, we could see many Indonesian fans and mostly in red shirts all over.. as Sultan Hotel is only 2 km away from SGBK. FYI the crowd had started as early as 1 pm and one could imagine how big the crowd was by 6 pm. (I recalled the same as when Malaysia vs Singapore at Bukit Jalil Stadium for the World Cup qualifying rounds; only difference we behaved a little better but then at times we were no difference when we booed and showed nasty finger signs to the few Singaporeans fans and when some in the crowd booed during Singapore's National Anthem).

Our coach passed through the main entrance gate without much problem but as we approached the stadium, and when the red supporters knew who we were, then they started to show their middle fingers, thumb down signs, kissing their shirts, showing signs for us to go back, knocking on our bus etc. Then our bus came to a stalled, sometimes moving for a few inches...and the crowd became bigger and surrounding our coach.... they were getting more rowdy. But still we were not afraid. Some of us could still afford to joke about them. First 10-15 minutes, some of us were getting nervous...and I could see some pale faces. Outside, the crowd were getting more hostile and I could see the police were not doing anything. A few from the crowd and the cameraman standing on a pillar did tell something to the crowd and after that the knocking on the bus was stopped but only for a minute or two and then the thumping on the bus, the showing of the middle fingers, throwing of water bottles, shouting of obscene languages and condeming Malaysia started all over again. Now, we were getting anxious and I could see more than half in the bus were keeping silent; could probably praying or thinking of the loved ones back home...the feelings of fear was creeping in .... and after 30 minutes being standed...I believe most of us were really feeling afraid then... and the assumptions of "What if they torched the bus.., What if they threw stones and broke the bus windows..., What if they punctured the tyres....What if the bus had to turn back to Hotel Sultan.... and I believed all in the bus had the thought of regretting of being in that bus at that moment. Me, I just wanted to changed into a different T shirt, get down the bus and walked into the SGBK as an ordinary supporter. Yes.. I wanted so much to be in the stadium with or without others as I wanted to tell to the whole world that sports and games are to be enjoyed without fear and no racism at all . But then my other thought was- to come in a group, no matter what happens, let us all face it as a group. Yeah... we must take it as a group, no matter we were afraid or otherwise.

(to be continued)

Celoteh Captain Shafari - Palembang or Jakarta?

Salam to all Famemas members.

Still remember on our bet i.e. which team perform better? Palembang or the Jakarta team?

To me, the Palembang team won in all areas and the only consolation for the Jakarta team was that to be in Stadium Gelora Bung Karno (SGBK) to witness the Harimau Malaya won the football gold. The Palembang team were in a lot of venues, sang more negara ku, visited more historical or tourism sites/places, spent longer time in Palembang and they had snapped many photos either with athletes, VVIPs and locals. Their pictures even appeared in Malaysian papers too. So they won. Congratulations!

Though I've written on our ordeal of entering, be in it and getting out of SGBK earlier but please allow me to rewrite it as .....thats the worst nightmare that I've gone through. In my 8 years of being a supporter (Famemas) for Sea games, that moments of about 45 minutes of anxiety while entering the stadium were the most frightening moments in my life (or maybe I have to face again...the moments of akad nikah dengan Si Dia hehehe). Not only me but I believe all the 66 of us inside the coach. I dont only think about myself but being an ex army personnel, I believe that I am also responsible for the whole lot. The lives of the other 65 was also my responsibility as Lee and I had really hoped and prayed that we should be in the stadium for that historical match.

Why were we so afraid? To me, I blamed the mass media people and the politicians, on both sides, our country and so is Indonesia.They wanted so much to sell their news and to promote themselves that they had created that bad feelings between Malaysians and Indonesians. (to be continued)....