Our Gem of Life

"Sir, tolong buat sikit untuk aku ni, ni gambaqnya, hang scan bubuh buat satu page, lepaih tu headingnya Gem of Life. Caption semua aku dah bubuh," my simple request to Nasir Ahmad.

The huge letter was naturally designed to impress Intan, marooned somewhere and adapting to life as an English teacher in Cameron Highlands.

We got to know each other in 1999 and in less than a year, we were engaged. On May 28, 2001, the akad nikah ceremony was conducted in Kulim. She was only transferred from SMK Kampung Raja, Cameron Highlands to the Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) in January 2002.

We were blessed with our first-born in June 2002, his birth coming at a time when the world was focused on the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan. Intan went through hours of agonising labour, I should know because she almost crushed my hand in coping with the pain before the doctors decided to conduct an emergency C-section.

The second major operation came along a few years later. But it was not the C-section. It was in fact due to the Big C.

At the age of 29, she was diagnosed with colon cancer Stage 2. It was on Eidul Adha that Intan felt a sharp and terrible pain on her stomach. Immediately I took her to Ampang Puteri. She underwent an ultrasound scan, MRI and the whole works.

Less than a week had gone by when the doctor broke the news to me, one-to-one. A tumour was detected on Intan's colon. And it was malignant. It took time for the news to sink in. How would I tell the family?

So began a journey and a humbling experience for the whole family.

I requested for the doctor to refer Intan to the HUKM after seeking advice from a few close friends and the then National Sports Institute director, Dr Ramlan Abdul Aziz.

Intan was referred to colorectal specialist Dr Ismail Sagap and Dr Azli. They kept asking me, during the check-ups, Intan's age and they seemed perplexed as to why someone under 30 could be diagnosed with cancer. Again Intan was required to undergo the screening process. Everybody was hoping that this second opinion would provide a different diagnose - Crohn's disease or perhaps simply appendicitis.

The tumour on Intan's colon was confirmed as invasive colorectal carcinoma. Decisions had to be made. The date of the surgery was confirmed. The day came and Kak Lin and Man both came over during lunch as I waited outside the surgery room - from 8.0am to 4pm. As she was warded at the female ward, I was not allowed to sleep overnight. Kak Lin spent a few nights sleeping on a toto.

'Akif was only two at that time. We were mentally preparing ourselves for chemotherapy or radiotherapy, supported by Kak Lin, Man, Mak and Abah, Kak Ja, a doctor and Mak Anjang, a nurse. We sought opinions and advice from those who had gone through it before. Adjustments had to be made.

We were lucky. One fine day, Dr Azli gave me a call, telling me the malignant cells were localised and had not metastasised. Intan did not have to go for chemo. I literally jumped for joy and as if a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders.

Once the doctors confirmed the cancer had gone into remission, we sought their advice if we could have a bigger family. They said OK and we had two more, through the C-section.

From those moments onwards, we began to appreciate each other more and savour each and every single day. We learn to count our blessings. We pray that the Big C never makes a return. I learn that nothing comes greater and bigger than the family.

We learn a lot from each other. We share the same values.

Never one to be seduced by material wealth and the allure of precious gem stones, Intan is God's gift to me.

Happy birthday Intan, our precious gem of life.

EPLx 10 Oktober

Takziah kepada Awi sekeluarga

Aku menghulurkan salam takziah kepada keluarga Ahmad Shapawi Ismail, timbalan Ketua Pengarah Majlis Sukan Negara (MSN) yang kini melanjutkan pelajaran di Bristol, atas pemergian ibu tercinta. Jenazahnya akan dikebumikan di Seremban selepas Zohor. Jenazah berada di 53, Taman Rashidah Utama, Jalan Paroi-Senawang, Seremban. Hubungi 06-6770987. Semoga Allah SWT mencucuri rahmat ke atas rohnya. Al-Fatihah.

KBS raya do

Loose cannon bumped into a number of personalities during the Sports Ministry's Raya Open House on Thursday.

Have you been to his Cheng Ho restaurant? Nice

Makan time...former TV3 and RTM sports presenter Jasni Shafie, Adlan Zabri and Iqbal Maricar on a feeding frenzy, with Datuk Taufik Omar playing host

YB Deputy Minister rendering his version of Awie's Terima Kasih

Recalling the good old days under Hajjah? One Sekolah Alam Shah old boy, the other from the school near Merdeka Stadium

Jorg Teichmann, Datuk Dr Ramlan Abdul Aziz and Kamarudizaman Bakar have doubts on loose cannon's picture-snapping skills

YB Minister playing host

MAAU president Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim

Malek Noor and Razif Sidek reminiscing the old days when they were 20kg lighter on the scale. That's loose cannon's fellow Johannian on the right, Datuk James Selvaraj

Ah, two of loose cannon's favourite personalities - Karim Ibrahim (second from left) and Tan Sri Darshan Singh, who loves to "enter frame"

Loose cannon loves covering athletics. It's all about statistics, comparative study, brute strength, technique, tactics and sometimes finesse. Loose cannon had the good fortune of covering two Asian Athletics Championships or widely known as the Asian Track and Field meet or ATF, in Jakarta in 2000 and Manila three years later.

The 2009 edition will be held in Guangzhou next month. So far only five athletes have earned a ticket to board the plane to China - high jumper Lee Hup Wei (picture), pole vaulter Roslinda Samsu, hurdler Noraseela Mohd Khalid, hammer thrower Tan Song Hwa and Melinder Kaur (3,000m steeplechase) .

The MAAU are expected to add a few more names after this weekend's national championship.

Melinder is a shining star. She has lowered the women's steeplechase national record three times in a matter of six weeks this year.

The national championship has lost its lustre, no doubt. But for the elite few who continue to toil and persevere in pursuit of their dreams, it remains the platform for recognition.

Fifth floor raya do at NSC

Loose cannon dropped by uninvited at the National Sports Council's fifth floor raya do before noon just now. The fifth floor houses the director-general's office and the international preparations division, which is basically the hub of the government agency.

Liverpool fan-cum-ex hockey international, Arrifin Ghani, entertains Olympic Council of Malaysia's Chua Hong Tam

Without them, the raya do would be nothing

The VIP table

NSC director-general Datuk Zolkples Embong queuing up for food?

NSC's longest-serving DG, Datuk Wira Mazlan Ahmad, being greeted by the staff

Michelle Lau and Zawawi discussing the issues of the day

Nestle's Ng Ping Loong, Michelle and Izwan of NSC

Tuan Haji Nordin and Ping Loong

Zolkples discusses the gastronomical delights on offer

Former Bernama, Berita Harian and Harian Metro journo, Fahmi Omar, with loose cannon, with the NSC paddy fields as the backdrop. The two covered the 1998 Thomas Cup in Hong Kong, where loose cannon usually made life difficult for the Malay Mail sub-editors by sending his stories at 5.0am after a good sleep. Fahmi would wake him up around 4.0am.

At one time, NSC's annual raya do was a highly anticipated event, with the Sports Minister dropping by as the guest of honour. Loose cannon would make it a point to wear the traditional baju Melayu. The NSC raya do was strictly for the sports fraternity until it was hijacked, put under the same package at the Youth and Sports Ministry and held at the Putra Stadium, where businessmen, celebrities and others took turns to shake hands with the Minister. Loose cannon skipped a few!

Loose cannon, Latiff Endot, Mazlan and Zolkples in 2001

loose cannon and Noraseela Mohd Khalid

Eight years on, Noraseela remains fit as a fiddle, whereas loose cannon has given up on his weighing scale

A tale of two Dungun stars

The Pocketrocketman continues to soar

The forgotten hero

This is the tale of two lads from Dungun. One a world-beater, the other struggling to rediscover the form that catapulted him to regional stardom half a decade ago.

For cycling enthusiasts, Azizulhasni Awang needs little introduction. He is an icon. His feat in Colombia, where he prevailed against a top class field to bag the men's 200m sprint gold medal two days ago, confirms his world-beating status. The Pocketrocketman is rocketing to greater heights, no doubt, with the London Olympics in 2012 firmly on his sights.

Sprinter Nazmizan Muhammad has gone through that route before. Loose cannon stood as a witness to the historic occasion when Nazmizan bagged the 100m and 200m sprint double before a packed crowd at the My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi in December 2003.

Nazmizan was not even supposed to make the journey to Hanoi. He came short of one hundredth of a second to qualify on merit. He boarded the plane to Hanoi after an appeal by the Malaysian Amateur Athletics Union (MAAU).

But he was focused on the task. Smacked in the middle of his last lap of preparation was the holy month of Ramadhan but it did not distract him from his duties.

"I often broke fast with a piece of kurma," he told loose cannon.

It took him just 10.47s to end Malaysia's 36-year wait for the coveted men's 100 metres title. At the exact moment when he surged to the finish line in the 100m on Dec 7 and later the 200m on Dec 10, Nazmizan accomplished what many of his more illustrious predecessors could not.

While Watson Nyambek, Azmi Ibrahim, Rabuan Pit and Abdul Rahman Koyakutty were labelled nearly men, it was left to Nazmizan to become the third Malaysian to complete the unique double after M. Jegathesan in 1965 and G. Rajalingam two years later.

The late Ramli Ahmad from Sabah was left chasing shadows when Thai duo Anat Ratanapol and Suchart Jaesuraparp amassed six titles between them from 1971 to 1983.

Malaccan-born Rabuan snatched the Asian Games gold medal in 1982 but never climbed the podium in the SEA Games century dash (his solitary gold came from the 400m in 1979).

The Flying Iban Watson emerged as the 1998 Asian Championship silver medallist in Fukuoka but could only manage a SEA Games bronze in 1997 and 1999.

Watson's contemporary, Azmi, picked up a silver in Chiangmai 1995 which marked Reanchai Seehawong's coming of age.

So it was left to Nazmizan - who once had declined the offer to train and study at the University of Idaho because of his poor command of the English language - to celebrate the gold medal, certainly the jewel in the crown of track and field.

So great was the prestige attached to the double victory that Nazmizan was handed the chance to train overseas. He came under Michael Johnson’s wings in Texas ahead of the Athens Olympics in 2004.

Clyde Hart, Nazmizan, Johnson and Datuk Khalid Yunus in Athens

Based at Baylor University, Nazmizan was monitored by Johnson's personal coach, Clyde Hart, who along with the multiple Olympic champ, believed Nazmizan's physique was more suited to the longer dash. He ran a poor race in Athens, though, in the same heats as Jamaica's Asafa Powell who days earlier had finished fifth in the century dash.

Injury and other factors came into play between 2005 and 2006. Uncertain about his future, Nazmizan quit the track scene and uproot himself to Perlis. The heady days of climbing the podium and rubbing shoulders with the who's who in track and field have gone.

But Nazmizan is drawing strength from the past for one final hurrah as he seeks to qualify for the Laos SEA Games.