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
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