Started the day off later than usual, simply because I am not participating in the day's event, athletics. Still, had to wake up early to take Razif to the medical center again, for another checkup. If you read day 2, he got injured after being tackled by PETUNIA. So, me, Razif, and Iylia were off to the medical center while the others were at the rec center for athletics. We were actually late because of Iylia, and Razif had to reschedule the appointment to 40 minutes later. When we got back to the car, got a phone call from Imran, asking for help. He wanted us to get his football boots from the backapackers, because his running spikes aren't working on the grass track (another organiser doo doo,...grass athletics track? hari sukan skolah rendah ker aper?). So hustled back to the backpackers, got the boots, hustled to the medical center to drop off Razif and Iyllia so that Razif didn't miss another appointment, and to the rec center to send the boots to Imran.
When I got to the rec center, two athletics events were over and we lost both of them. I firmly believe that if we had the proper track, we would have done better. Anyways, 20 minutes later, Razif texted me, and said they were done at the medical center. Went to pick them up, and as soon as Razif got into the car, he said "Haram jadah nyer doctor, pegi second time just nak bagi surat suruh x-ray, bukan nak x-ray kan. Aku bayar 40 dollar untuk tuh jer?". Well, it's to be expected I guess.
Made for the athletics field, in time for the 4 X 200 event. It was probably our weakest line up, but our runners were up for it, and that was what we wanted, the fighting spirit. We actually did not come last in the event, which was good enough for us. The important thing no one gave up, and finished the race.
Next event was the 4 X 400 race. Runners were Imran, Amy, Jace, and Safwan as anchor. We started off great with Imran leaving the opposition behind. and when he got to the turning where MUMSA and of course Nana were sitting, he blew flying kisses and spread his arms out a'la Beckham celebrating a goal....then he turned around to see the opposition closing in, but he still smoked them, and was first to pass off the baton to Amy. Amy, who saw that what a big lead Imran made, probably was over excited, and didn't pace herself. She sprinted from the start, and by the second turning, was down to jogging pace. That dropped us back to 3rd from bottom. By the time the baton was passed to Jace, we were second from bottom. She maintained the position, but when the baton was in Safwan's hands, the leaders were too far ahead. We finished 3rd from bottom, but in front of PETUNIA.
The last event of the day came, and it was the 4 X 100 race. Runners were Jace, Is, Laili, and Imran as anchor. Jace started off the race, and was looking good despite running against mostly men on the first leg. When the baton was passed to Is, he made great ground, and took us to 3rd or fourth, This could be the first medal for MUMSA. Then it was confirmed, it was not our year. When Laili got the baton, started sprinting, but then tripped and fell, and with that trip also went our chance for a medal this year. But kudos to her, she got up, kept running, passed the baton to Imran, who finished the race off dead last. No luck at all.
So that was that for the events. Gathered our stuff and headed home and rested for the closing dinner that night.
Continued BERSATU 07 : Closing Dinner
The third day I was purely a spectator. Events for today were the continuation of Badminton, Volleyball, and the stress free bowling later that night.
Badminton was first, and we cheered the players on. We got a couple of wins, but were not enough to progress to the next level.For some reason, I have no pictures of the team playing volleyball. We started off well with a win against UMNO. Then made a good effort with eventual finalist UMSA. Lost against PETUNIA, which still had the tension from the football incident, and lost against Otago in the last match. It was a good effort tho, despite our team not having a single spiker, which made the difference. We stayed until the final of volleyball, which Otago ended up winning, in an exciting match that went to sudden death.
Went back to the backpackers, relaxed and went walking around town with the Subang Saint's, Iylia, Ezim and Safwan taking pictures along the way.
At 7.30 PM, got ready for bowling. Convoyed to the bowling alley, and relaxed and watch the bowling team bowl a couple of frames. We didn't too bad, but never expected anything much from bowling. All the contingents were having fun and that is what it is all supposed to be about really.
After bowling all of MUMSA went to a 24 hour place called Denny's, a diner type restaurant for supper. We took pictures at the waiting room while waiting for our table to be ready. Good fun, and good way to end a day, having a meal as a family.
Got back to the backpackers at around 2 AM. Everyone got to bed, to rest up for the last event, Athletics.
Continued BERSATU 07 : Day 4 & Closing
Day 2 events were Football, Badminton, and Squash. Got up, got ready. Made our way to Ilam field laced up our boots and started warming up. Football was actually our best hope for a medal. 
Our first test was the home team, CMSA. Their team had Tengkuk, the guy whose name I have heard since I came to New Zealand. He was their star player, and was said to be fast, quick, pacy. He was tall, and was the one to watch. So everyone was ready, and the game started. Right off the bat, I could feel we were controlling the game, with a sturdy defence, and a pacy attack. Tengkuk had a chance down the right, and was coming with pace towards the ball, but I slid and got to the ball before him, with him tumbling down to the ground, hard. I guess, he wasn't all that after all. They say the bigger they are, the harder they fall.
The half ended with no goals scored, and MUMSA controlling the game. In the second half, we had a problem, when Iylia had to go to the rec center for badminton. That left our defence weakened. It showed immediately, when we were the one being attacked. Still we held on, for the draw, and left the home team starting off their football tourney with a draw. We were happy with the result and optimistic for the next match.PETUNIA was up next. They were a team that we expected to beat, and after the draw in the first match against the home team, we had high hopes for a win. That didn't turn out to be the case though. A minute after the kickoff, Razif had the ball to the right of the field, with his back to the opposition goal. Then a PETUNIA player came running and tackled Razif from behind, caught his ankle, without getting the ball at all. To make matters worst, the PETUNIA player just walked away without a sorry or a hand up. That fueled Imran to confront the player when he ran from the other side of the field. Tension was now high. Razif went off for the half. A few minutes later, the PETUNIA player had the ball just outside my keeper box, and Is came in and tackled him from behind...all I could do was applaud Is for that, couldn't have done it better myself. Anyway, the player got up, and went to confront Imran, and a semi-fight broke out. Another PETUNIA player of a kells nature came running from behind and shouted at Imran "You don't touch my boy ah!" with the accent and everything. When everything cooled down, the free kick that started it all resulted in a goal. 1-0 PETUNIA. It stayed like that until the end of the half.
Despite being injured, Razif came in for the start of the second half, but after another cynical tackle by the same player, he couldn't continue. He was taken to the medical center near the Uni.The match continued, and due to the high tension created, my mind was only set on slide tackling any of the players. PETUNIA had the ball on my right, and was homing in on goal. Wanting to slide tackle him, I went out of position, but the player had a cool head, and passed across to his team mate, who had an open goal waiting for him. All that and I didn't get to slide tackle anybody. The game ended with a 2-0 loss, and also we had two players injured. Jahatnyer PETUNIA.
When Razif got back from the medical center, he was not the Razif we knew. He's the kind of guy that very rarely swears. But after that incident, it was swearing 24/7. It was "Anak Haram Jadah punyer PETUNIA", "PETUNIA memang shit","Jahatnyer PETUNIA". I know it doesn't seem like very harsh swearing, but coming from Razif, it was.
Morale was down, our star player, and probably the only player capable of scoring for us is now injured. We went through the two remaining matches with a loss and a draw. The last match was fun though, because both teams had already no chance of qualifying. So we ended the day, with 2 draws and 2 losses with no goals scored. It was a shame because, we were ranked top to challenge for a medal by the home team. They even joked, why didn't Razif get injured for the match against them. Oh well, we'll get em next year.
We made for the rec center after, and picked up the badminton players. We came up short on badminton and squash as well.
Continued BERSATU 07: Day 3
The day began early for me and Razif. as we were appointed drivers for the morning, and had to send the girls to thier netball venue Villa Maria College an hour earlier than the game time, because Elun wanted to warm up before thier match started. So at 8 AM, sent the girls to Villa Maria, wished them luck, and returned to X-Base to pick up the rest for our Takraw and Basketball at the University Rec Center. Reached the rec center, parked, got out...and just when I wanted to lock the car, Hafezz came running, "Shah ! Jom, drive aku balik X-Base, aku tertinggal tag". I obliged, and rushed back to the backpackers, he ran up, then came back down cursing himself. Turned out it was in his jacket pocket all along. I didn't know if I wanted to laugh or smack him. Haha. So, back to the rec center, parked, and went to the takraw court (which was the badminton court, with a circle in the middle made with tape).
I got ready, and kicked around the takraw ball with the boys. A few minutes later. the match started. Ezim, Hafezz and Is played first, with me and Razif as subs. I have never played takraw before, and registered because no one else wanted to. I ended up not playing takraw at all that day because we actually had a chance to win and I wasn't ready to botch that up. So first match was against PETUNIA. Cute name huh? but they ended up being one of the most trash talking, annoying contingent of all throughout the games. Anyway, MUMSA ended up winning the match in a rubber set, which was actually the first team event win for MUMSA ever. Meanwhile, our were next in line for Basketball next door in the basketball court. We were going to have clashes between the two sports starting next game.
First basketball match was against PETSOC, who were favourites coming into the games, as they had a star player from last years game, and a new star player who Hafezz says was the MVP in MCKK for basketball. So our chances was thin to none, and PETSOC didn't dissapoint. They murdered us 37-0, and later it was known that was a record score. It didn't help that Hafezz, our only hope had to leave for the takraw match. Next takraw match was against WMSO, which we lost 2-0. Then came the next basketball game, against WMSO as well. We did a wee bit better, at least scoring, and we celebrated like we won when Ezim, shot a three pointer. Hhahahah....the crowd went wild, we went wild, we lost, but at least we lost with style. Then back to takraw, for the match against Otago. It was a good match. Went into a rubber set, but lost in the end. Then back to basketball against UMSA, the team from Auckland. They meant business. We put in Elun in, because apart from Hafezz, she was our best shooter. So we were on our way to getting trashed again, when just before the half time buzzer, Safwan had the ball at half court. and Hafezz said to him "shoot jer", and he did...the ball went up, went down, and into the basket, swish.....the crowd went wiiilllldd!!.. including me. Celebrated like we won the tounament. Hahahah. MUMSA oh MUMSA, gaya mesti ader. Nearing the end of the second half, Elun scored as well, resulting in the crowd going wild as well, as the only girl to score a basket in the tournament. The match ended in a landslide win again. But we certainly will be the team people remember.
So that was the end of day 1. We lost all events, but made a record by winning our first team match, and providing entertainment on the basketball court.
Continued BERSATU 07 : Day 2
"Hello, Kia Ora and Salam Sejahtera", that was what the chairman of the 2007 BERSATU Games started off with when he gave his speech during the opening ceremony held at the University of Canterbury events center.
The BERSATU Games is an annual sporting event organised by the Malaysian Students Department in New Zealand. This year, the event was held in Christchurch, and organised by the collaborating team of Canterbury Malaysian Students Association (CMSA), Petronas Students Organisation of Canterbury (PETSOC), Lincoln Malaysian Students Society (LMSS), and UMNO Christchurch. Having prepared for the games for over a month, I was definitely looking forward to the trip, and the games.
The journey to the Bersatu Games held in Christchurch began with a 2 hour bus trip down to Wellington. The bus which was an hour late, meant we had to wait under the drizzling rain for an hour, finally came and we boarded a little annoyed for the delay despite the bus driver expressing his deepeest apologies. Arrived in Wellington at around 12 AM. Walked for 20 minutes to Nana's apartment which was where we were docking ourselves until our flight which departs at 6.50 AM. All were hungry so after storing our stuff, we set out through the streets of Wellington in search of food. Wellington is most definitely more alive than Palmy at 1 o'clock in the morning, with the streets still lit up, cafe's still operating, and clubs still alive and kicking.We walked 10 minutes in one direction, towards a restaurant called Satay Kajang, but was dissapointed when we found it closed. Walked back in the other direction and settled for a kebab place callled " Abra-KEBAB-ra". We ordered, ate, and set out for coffee. Walked in another direction for 10 minutes, and stopped at a place called "Coffee's & Tea's" or was it the other way round?. So, ordered, drank and went back to the apartment. Got maybe 2 hours of rest, when Imran turned on the light, and told us to get ready. Took a shuttle to the airport. checked in, boarded, and off we went to Christchurch.Flight lasted 40 minutes, which meant the only refreshment the flight crew gave us were fruit flavoured sweets. Touched down in Christchurch expecting it to be cold, colder than Palmy. Got our bags and had to wait at the airport fo around an hour for Imran to collect the rental car in town, and also to wait for Safwan, whose fight arrived 30 minutes after ours. Headed out of the airport and into town and towards X-Base Backpackers, which was where we would be staying for the games. Staring out the car window, I felt a sense of coziness in that city that I did not feel when I was in Wellington or Auckland. It had a certain historical feel to it. Anyways, reached X-Base round 9 AM, which meant we were early. Registration was at 10 AM, so having an hour to kill, parked the car and went into the cafe across the backpackers to get breakfast.
Registered with the organisers and got our room keys. I was in a six to a room room, and had bunk beds. I stashed my stuff on the top bunk and settled in. At round 2 PM, went out and got the other 2 rental cars. Driving in Christchurch was pleasant, unlike Wellington or Auckland. The parks in Christchurch were huge, there were even multiple netball courts on the park which I have not seen before. Usually you see multiple basketball courts, but being New Zealand, they would have to accomodate I guess. Got back to the backpackers at round 3.30 PM, and a bunch of us decided to walk round town before the opening ceremony.
After a quick stop at Starbucks, went back to the backpackers, and waited for everyone to get ready. At round 5.30 we were off to the University of Canterbury events hall. The trip took 15 minutes from the backpackers, and the venues of the games would also be around the university area. Upon arriving, we all waited in front of the hall, and went in together. We were greeted by the organizers and were allocated seats to the right of the stage. There were probably over 200 people in the hall, consisted of athletes, supporters and the organisers. Waited for 20 minutes for everyone to settle down, when the MC's started off the ceremony.
The event started with bacaan doa, then the singing of our national anthem, "Negaraku". Singing Negaraku overseas was a good feeling, and having 200 over people doing the same was even better. The chairperson of the event was next, and he started off with "Hello, Kia Ora and Salam Sejahtera". His speech was brief, and included the welcomes and thank yous and good lucks. Next was the VIP speech which was unsurprisingly boring but ended with "I now declare the BERSATU Games 2007, open". Then came the time for the "Roll Call". They put on a video, and when the contingent name came up on the screen, we were supposed to chant or have a war cry. Being the unprepared contigent that we were, we jumbled up a chant right there and then. We thought of a "300" style war cry, but then changed it to.."MUMSA !!!....FUIYOOO!!!" and Hadi was supposed to shout "Celah maneee". So the video was played, and the first contingent name came up, and a 300 style war cry was heard, then the next contingent....another 300 style war cry. Good thing we changed it. Then our name came up, "The White Masses" and we did our thing. After all the roll calls were done, The MC's announced that the ceremony had come to an end, which was a welcome thing for everyone, as it would be an early day the next day. Waited for El Presidente and our sports officer Razif to have thier meeting and while waiting, had our supper provided by the organizers. Went back to the backpackers, and went to sleep.
Continued BERSATU 07: Day 1
