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Team Lotus eye step up as Caterham F1 Posted: 27 Nov 2011 07:50 AM PST SAO PAULO, Nov 27 — Re-named Team Lotus can look forward to real progress as Caterham in Formula One next season now that a row over the use of the Lotus brand has been resolved, team boss Tony Fernandes said today. This year has had the confusion of Renault-powered Team Lotus and Group Lotus-backed Renault competing as rivals, with an agreement finally reached that will see both change their names in 2012. Team Lotus will become Caterham F1, a British-based niche sportscar marque now owned by Fernandes which has plans to market three new lightweight models from 2014, while Renault will be renamed as Lotus. Fernandes told reporters today that 2012 could be a defining year for Caterham F1. — Reuters file pic "I think next year could be a defining year for us, and it will be great that it will be in our own name," Fernandes told reporters in a Brazilian Grand Prix briefing to detail the Caterham Group reorganisation. "I am quite amazed how we have been able to make progress and get sponsors with all that's been happening behind us," added the Malaysian entrepreneur. "That's cleared now, so many sponsors who held back are now coming in. They like the story, they like the strategy, they like the fact that we have a presence in Asia so hopefully we'll have the right financial resources to be able to move up the grid." Team Lotus started out last year as Lotus Racing, changing their original name after a falling out with Malaysian-owned Group Lotus, who had become Renault's title sponsor. The two sides went to court, with a decision allowing Team Lotus to keep using that name in F1, but Fernandes has since sold the rights to Group Lotus. "I've always thought a Formula One team should be associated with a car company," he said. "Of course my plan was Lotus. That went spectacularly wrong in many ways. "At least I know the English legal system," he joked. "I don't need to go and do a law degree any more thanks to Group Lotus. But I always say there is a silver lining everywhere." Team Lotus, like Lotus Racing, have yet to win a point in Formula One and Fernandes said that was the main aim for 2012. Finnish driver Heikki Kovalainen will definitely be one of the drivers, with Fernandes saying, "I'll hold on to him whatever." Italian Jarno Trulli also has a contract but his position appears less certain with some sources suggesting that Red Bull could be seeking to place highly-rated Australian Daniel Ricciardo with the team. "Right now we have a contract and he (Trulli) will race," was all Fernandes would say. The team are also planning a move from Hingham in the east of England to the former Arrows and Super Aguri factory at Leafield, not far from Silverstone, although they are waiting for planning permission first. Fernandes said he would remain as team principal and the cars would continue to be painted yellow and green. "We'll stick with it. Caterham have a history of green and yellow as well," he said. "Look around the paddock, it's hard to be red, it's hard to be blue. "Part of the agreement with Group (Lotus) was that we would remain green and yellow and they would be black and gold." — Reuters Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

Barca take long view on title race after first defeat Posted: 27 Nov 2011 07:08 AM PST Barcelona's Messi reacts during their match at Getafe last night. — Reuters pic MADRID, Nov 27 — Barcelona preferred to take a long view on the La Liga title race today the day after losing their first game of the season 1-0 at Getafe to slip six points behind in-form leaders Real Madrid. The European and Spanish champions, who have won three consecutive league crowns, are in the unfamiliar position of trailing their archrivals with two weeks to go until the first league 'clasico' of the campaign at the Bernabeu. The Madrid-based sports press made much of Real's advantage with Marca and AS both trumpeting the new six-point gap on their Sunday front pages. "Many people would hand out the league trophy now and are setting off rockets," Barca's Brazilian defender Dani Alves told a news conference today. "They don't hand out the cup now. Luckily for us there is still a long way to go and one of the keys to this team is that they never give up." Real swept aside city rivals Atletico Madrid 4-1 yesterday for their 13th consecutive victory in all competitions, and Jose Mourinho's team opened up a gap which could prove difficult to bridge, especially if they were to be victorious on December 10. Real and Barca, the world's two richest clubs by income, have dominated La Liga the last couple of seasons with both sides racking up over 90 points, leaving third-placed Valencia more than 20 points behind in third. With draws being called 'the new defeats' by local media, Real, who have only lost once at surprise early pacesetters Levante earlier in the campaign, would appear to hold a psychological edge in the run up to the first 'clasico'. "There is still a long way to go," Guardiola said yesterday. "We all know we are competing against a great rival and have less room for more slip ups, but we will lift ourselves and move forward again." Barca's 27-game unbeaten run in competitive matches stretched over six months, and they last suffered a defeat in April last season, when they fell 2-1 at Real Sociedad in La Liga. They have a midweek league clash at home to promoted Rayo Vallecano on Tuesday, a game rearranged because of their participation in next month's Club World Cup, and then host Levante next weekend, before returning to face their title rivals. — Reuters Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

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Yangon: From stately city to crumbling symbol of isolation Posted: 27 Nov 2011 01:10 AM PST Vehicles are seen travelling at the Shwe Gon Tai junction in central Yangon in this September 11, 2010 file photo. Myanmar's former capital and biggest city is a crumbling monument to almost half a century of isolation and mismanagement at the hands of generals who took power in a 1962 coup. – Reuters pic YANGON, Nov 27 – There are no skyscrapers in Yangon. No gleaming shopping malls. Certainly no subway system. Its rutted sidewalks are laced with treacherous holes and broken slabs of concrete. Myanmar's former capital and biggest city is a crumbling monument to almost half a century of isolation and mismanagement at the hands of generals who took power in a 1962 coup and ruled with an iron first until a nominally civilian parliament opened in March this year. The city that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will visit this week wasn't always that way. In the early 20th century, the country then known as Burma was one of Asia's richest nations and a shining part of the British empire. Imposing Victorian buildings rose on the waterfront of the capital. Department stores sold goods imported from Europe. Crowds packed into majestic cinemas with grand names such as the Palladium and Excelsior. After seizing Yangon in 1852 and anglicising its name to Rangoon, Britain developed the area into its administration base, building law courts, parliament buildings, shady parks and botanical gardens. Rangoon University, founded in 1878, became one of Asia's premier universities. The city was laid out by many of the same British urban planners who helped to design another strategic British colony, Singapore. Its public services and infrastructure rivaled London's. Rangoon was ravaged during the Japanese occupation in World War Two, but still retained much of its imperial grandeur when it was granted independence by Britain in 1948. But independent Burma was plagued by insurgencies and the military took over in a 1962 coup. A disastrous "Burmese Way to Socialism" adopted by the then-leader, General Ne Win, led to sweeping nationalisation and global isolation. Today, chronic power outages and deteriorating buildings are constant reminders of decades of troubles. Yellow and orange diesel generators, some as big as buses, are ubiquitous, symbols of a failing power grid behind the city of about 5 million people that accounts for a quarter of Myanmar's economic activity. "Sometimes the power is cut and sometimes it's regular. We're used to it," said 71-year-old Abdullah Mingala, an ethnic Indian Burmese who was born and raised in Yangon and who makes a living renting out a pickup truck and a sedan as a taxi. "The best thing about the city is its weather and people. The weather is not too hot and everyone is simple and friendly and open." PARIAH Myanmar has not had a record of being simple or friendly. The United States and Europe imposed sanctions in the years after the junta refused to hand power to the winners of a 1990 election and threw hundreds of democracy activists in jail. Thousands of activists were killed. Continued human rights abuses over the years sealed the country's pariah status. Aid from organisations such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund ended. Investment from the West dried up. The government moved the capital to the interior, a new city called Naypyitaw, in 2006. Signs of Myanmar's isolation include a dearth of major international brands, save a few Asian consumer goods and computer manufacturers such as Hitachi and Samsung. There are no Coca-Cola or Heineken signs in Yangon. Instead, billboards proudly advertise made-in-Myanmar goods such as "Sunday Coffee Mix and Tea Mix", "Wellman Vitabiotics Supplements", "Fresh Up" toothpaste and "Denim" men's care products. "Beer stations", Yangon's humble answer to the pub, sell cold Myanmar beer on tap for 600 kyat (RM2.43) a glass. On the streets, booksellers throw plastic tarpaulin over sidewalks stained with rust-red betel nut spittle and offer used titles such as Frederick T. Wood's 1961 book "Current English Usage". One even had the March 30, 1992, issue of Newsweek for sale, a youthful Bill Clinton on the cover with the headline "Can He Beat Bush?" At Cherry Mann, a restaurant in Yangon's Chinatown that's been serving the community for 42 years, customers sit at fold-out tables in the street on a cool night and tuck into curried meat and fried 'pratha' flat bread. "It's hard to say if business conditions now are good or bad or improving. They're okay. They could be better," said Htat Kyo, a restaurant employee, as he prepares cheques. U Thu Myint, a 77-year-old former professor of Burmese history, said he was forced to retire from his job at a state university at the age of 64, a year before he would have been eligible to collect his pension. Life is a struggle, he says. He spends his days shuffling around Myanmar's holiest of shrines, the dazzling, gold-domed Shwedagon Pagoda, where he offers visitors facts about the stupa, its history as the anchor of Yangon and the principles of Buddhism. He asks for cash donations. "The cost of living is very high now. One kg of rice went from 1,000 kyat a few months ago to 1,500 kyat now," he said. "I may move back to my place of birth and become a monk next year." WRECKING BALL But Myanmar's economic stunting has one silver lining: it may have saved once-stunning landmark colonial-era buildings in Yangon from the wrecking ball. A riverside grid of streets that forms the downtown area, a colonial vestige in and of itself, is full of buildings constructed when the country was one of Britain's most-prized colonial crown jewels from the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s. The US$300 (RM959.22)-a-night Strand Hotel, opened in 1901 and refurbished in 1995, is an example of what many buildings could be, with marble floors, lazy ceiling fans and dark wood paneling. Some locals fear the new government's recent eagerness to end its isolation could threaten stately but time-worn structures that are reminders of Yangon's former glory. A sense of urgency to protect the architectural heritage appears to be growing. There has been outcry in recent weeks, for instance, in Myanmar's flourishing private newspapers over comments by a well-heeled businessman and member of parliament that the derelict, red-brick former colonial government complex known as the Secretariat might be turned into a hotel. The complex that occupies an entire city block is abandoned, overgrown with weeds and surrounded by a fence to keep the public out. Some consider it beyond repair, yet it holds a place in history as the site where revered General Aung San, the father of Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, was assassinated in 1947. In recent weeks a feeling of cautious optimism has begun to infect the slow-moving city as the nominally civilian government that took office eight months ago shows signs of embracing reforms and engaging with the world, as illustrated by Clinton's three-day visit from Wednesday, the most prominent by an American since before the 1962 coup. "We are all talking about it," said Abdullah Mingala. "We are all hopeful." – Reuters Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

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George Michael postpones tour due to pneumonia Posted: 27 Nov 2011 02:58 AM PST Singer George Michael performing at the Albert Hall in London in this file photo of October 25, 2011. His spokeswoman said Michael has been forced to postpone the rest of his European tour due to ongoing treatment for pneumonia. – Reuters pic LONDON, Nov 27 – British singer George Michael has been forced to postpone the rest of his European tour due to ongoing treatment for "severe" pneumonia, his spokeswoman said on Friday. But she denied reports that the former Wham! frontman was suffering from serious heart problems and was "slowly improving" in hospital in Vienna. "George Michael is ill with pneumonia and any other speculation regarding his illness is unfounded and untrue," she said in a statement. "He is receiving excellent medical care; he is responding to treatment and slowly improving." His doctors advised that the chart-topping artist behind such solo hits as "Careless Whisper" and "Faith" should postpone the rest of his Symphonica tour. He is being treated by Christoph Zielinski and Thomas Staudinger, who said in a joint statement: "George Michael has severe community acquired pneumonia and is being treated as an inpatient. His condition has stabilised and he is responding to treatment. "From the current point of view, the time until recovery cannot be estimated, but he will not be able to perform the rest of the tour. Besides medical treatment, complete rest and peace and quiet are mandatory." All British dates of his Symphonica European tour have been called off, including three this month and 11 in December. Further announcements will be made once the gigs can be rescheduled, and ticket holders were asked to retain their tickets. – Reuters Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

Venezuela youth orchestras flood Caracas metro Posted: 26 Nov 2011 03:12 PM PST Children joke around before playing music inside a subway station in Caracas November 26, 2011. — Reuters pic CARACAS, Nov 27 — Two thousand children in 23 bands played brass instruments and sang in choirs at metro stations across Caracas yesterday in the latest endeavour by Venezuela's lauded youth orchestra programme. The simultaneous concerts were organized by the subway authorities and the programme, known locally as "The System", which teaches classical music to kids from poor families. "Today I got up early and my brother was left playing at home ... I'm so proud to be here," said 10-year-old Jose Cuevas, clutching a trumpet and dressed in black trousers and white shirt like the rest of his group at Miranda station. Venezuela's programme has drawn worldwide praise for tempting youths away from crime in tough neighbourhoods by teaching them the work of composers like Mahler and Stravinsky. Working with more than 300,000 children, it shot to prominence a few years ago when a young alumnus, Gustavo Dudamel, gained rock star-like fame leading the Los Angeles Philharmonic. President Hugo Chavez has often taken credit for the achievements of "The System", which was created by a previous government in 1975. He aims to win another six-year term at an election in the politically-polarised nation next October. For some of the two million people who use the Caracas metro on average each day, yesterday's concerts were welcome respite from the cacophony of the politicians' campaigns. "Here there are no party colours. This is art," said the mother of one young child performing at the station. — Reuters Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

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Anwar: Pakatan mantap banding 2008, PRU-13 peluang terbaik tukar BN Posted: 27 Nov 2011 04:07 AM PST JOHOR BARU, 27 Nov – Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim mengakui Pakatan Rakyat lebih bersedia kali ini untuk membentuk kerajaan pusat sambil menegaskan, pilihan raya umum ke-13 peluang terbaik untuk mengubah kerajaan Barisan Nasional (BN). "Ini adalah peluang terbaik sejak 1957. Ini adalah peluang terbaik bagi rakyat untuk bangkit dan mengubah sistem (semasa di bawah BN)," kata Ketua Umum Pakatan Rakyat ini (gambar) ketika berucap menutup Kongres Nasional PKR Kelapan di sini hari ini. Katanya, jika pilihan raya umum diadakan dengan adil dan demokratik, sudah pasti BN akan kalah dengan mudah. Pakatan Rakyat sebelum ini menekankan pilihan raya umum hanya patut diadakan selepas jawatankuasa pilihan khas Parlimen selepas menyediakan senarai pembaharuan sistem pilihan raya. Kata Ketua Pembangkang itu, perikatan tersebut tidak bersedia untuk membentuk kerajaan persekutuan pada  2008 apabila ia menafikan majoriti tradisi  dua pertiga BN di Parlimen. Pakatan Rakyat juga memperoleh kejayaan di lima negeri termasuk Kelantan dan menguasai majoriti kerusi Parlimen di Wilayah Persekutuan. MENYUSUL LAGI Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

Ibu 75 tahun mati dikelar anak perempuan Posted: 27 Nov 2011 02:07 AM PST KUALA LUMPUR, 27 Nov – Seorang ibu berusia 75 tahun mati selepas lehernya dikelar dengan pisau oleh anak perempuannya yang dipercayai mengidap penyakit mental di rumah mereka di Taman Bukit Serdang, dekat sini hari ini. Ketua Polis Daerah Serdang Supt Abdul Razak Elias berkata dalam kejadian kira-kira 10.45 pagi tadi, warga emas itu yang namanya tidak dikeluarkan, mati di tempat kejadian manakala anaknya berusia 35 tahun itu pula cedera parah di leher akibat cubaan untuk menyembelih dirinya sendiri. "Kejadian disedari seorang lagi anak perempuan mangsa yang kebetulan datang ke rumah itu dan menemui ibunya terbaring di tilamnya di ruang tamu rumah tiga tingkat itu. "Suspek pula sempat menyambut kakaknya yang hadir itu sebelum terjatuh akibat pendarahan di leher. Kakak suspek kemudian segera membawanya ke Hospital Serdang untuk menerima rawatan lanjut dan kami difahamkan suspek kini tenat," katanya di tempat kejadian di sini. Dipetik Bernama Online, beliau berkata tiada kesan pergelutan di rumah itu dan pihak forensik  menemui pisau dengan kesan darah, yang dipercaya digunakan suspek, di atas meja kopi di ruang tamu rumah. Razak berkata polis percaya mangsa dikelar sekali sebelum suspek cuba menyembelih dirinya sendiri lebih dari satu percubaan. Menurutnya mangsa, yang sakit tua, dijaga suspek yang merupakan anak keenam dari lapan beradik. "Kami juga diberitahu bahawa suspek sudah lama mengidap penyakit mental dan pernah cuba membunuh diri sendiri dua bulan lepas dengan kelar tangannya," katanya. Beliau berkata mayat warga emas itu dihantar ke Hospital Serdang untuk dibedah siasat. Kes itu disiasat mengikut Seksyen 302 Kanun Keseksaan. Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

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Scent of a city Posted: 26 Nov 2011 04:08 PM PST NOV 27 — Are you one of those people who link a smell to a particular place? Strange as this may sound, Europe has always had a "smell" to me, like a scent that can be bottled up and released whenever I step out into a European airport. I don't know why this is the case, but my memory seems to have archived this smell from my first trip abroad 22 years ago. Lately, for me, it's been about buses and the places they take me to. The public light bus (much like the minibus that used to terrorise the streets of Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya) I take to nearby Aberdeen (Hong Kong, not Scotland) where I do my weekly shop reeks of fish. This is to be expected as the Aberdeen wet market is known for its cheap and fresh seafood (but really, if it is all that fresh, surely it should not smell?). Yet, the bright yellow double decker Citybus that plies the same route does not suffer the same fishy predicament. I have deduced that this could be because the Citybus stop is farther away from the market and perhaps by the time our wet soles step into the bus all fishy aroma would have transferred onto the streets of Aberdeen. On Friday, however, I encountered another odour, one I was certain should never be on a bus in the first place. I had ventured to the Eastern tip of Hong Kong Island to attend a birthday party. This was not my usual stomping ground so my senses were more alert than usual. I was in Kornhill, a densely populated private housing estate packed with shopping malls and towering apartment blocks built above the Tai Koo MTR station. Shortly after boarding the bus back to my little southern tip of the island, a stench began to waft around. I tried to figure out who the culprit was. But first, what was this smell? It was bad, for sure. It was somewhere between stinky-taufu bad and body-odour bad. Could it be from the man who had just sat down in front of me, who seemed to have a scalp problem? Snowy white flakes hung precariously from the tips of his short, permed hair. Smart move on his part though, wearing a white windbreaker. Or could the funk be coming from the lady who had just rolled her cabin-sized luggage to the rear of the bus? My son, in his sleepy state, mumbled about the "chow-chow" smell. By this time I realised why it was familiar. I had come across it many times while walking my dog. Usually it would involve a rotting carcass of a bird or rat. I hoped the lady with the suitcase wasn't harbouring any dead animals. So that will now be our Kornhill scent. "Chow-chow" rotting corpse in a suitcase. There is also the Central stink, which, if you find yourself waiting for a bus at the Exchange Square bus terminus, will be that of burnt rubber and gas fumes. A short distance away along Des Veoux Road in Sheung Wan, even while ensconced in an air-conditioned bus, you will not be able to escape the overpowering dried seafood smell from the dozens of shops specialising in exotic marine delicacies, some of which line the pavements as they bake under the scorching sun. Anyone living in Hong Kong will be able to tell you about the non-stop pounding and grinding that takes place everywhere. It seems we can't travel more than a few hundred metres without encountering some kind of road work or building construction work. Accompanying these sounds are the smells — burning metal, choking dust, wet concrete. It is no wonder some folks choose to walk around with surgical masks even when they are not ill. And strangely enough, even though we are surrounded by the sea, all I smell when walking past the sampan docked along the Aberdeen Typhoon Shelter is... diesel. While this is about the smells of Hong Kong, let us not forget what else goes up our nasal passages: The annual mean roadside reading of fine particles in Central is 35 micrograms per cubic metre. Only seven cities of 565 surveyed by the World Health Organisation around the world exceed this reading. My favourite bus journey smell though has to be when I alight at Stanley Market on a quiet Sunday morning. This is before tour buses arrive, before cars and buses choke the narrow winding coastal road. I can pick up the faintest hint of salty sea air. For me that will be Stanley, fresh with a hint of salt and greasy French toast fried up at the "dai pai dong." * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

On breaking wind, Kenyans and smelly socks Posted: 26 Nov 2011 04:03 PM PST NOV 27 — Two Saturdays ago, I took the express bus up north to participate in the 2011 Penang Bridge International Marathon. Having seen pictures of the masses of people running on the bridge from previous years, I was quite excited to participate in this prestigious race for the first time. Truth be told, I was also racing to get the finisher's T-shirt. Yeah, I am a sucker for that sort of thing. Oh, and also the bragging rights: "I ran the length of Penang Bridge last night." Of course, there would be no mention of whether I actually made it back on foot or was slumped at the back of a truck or ambulance. Hush, we don't talk about that sort of thing here. Beginning and ending at Queensbay Mall, the marathon involved running down the coastal road and the length of Penang Bridge and back. Despite the full marathon only flagging off at 2am, everyone was in high spirits and excited to get it on. It also helped that most of the marathoners were pumped with adrenaline, caffeine and power gels (quite a few had bright eyes and darted around looking like nervous squirrels hunting for the potty). It really was a carnival. There were lion dancers amidst an ocean of pink, blue and yellow. The numerous volunteers and runners from a telco wore their trademark yellow. Women runners were given pink singlets and men wore blue. We really should stop gender stereotyping and assigning colours this way. Maybe some of the guys wanted to wear the pink one or the girls the blue? Apparently 27,500 people had signed up to do a spot of morning running. There were runners from Singapore, Kenya, Canada, Nigeria, Thailand, Philippines and Japan. Young and old, there appeared to be quite a few who had obviously been running for years. One guy in his 60s was wearing a finisher's T-shirt of a 100km ultra-marathon! Gila ka? There was even a runner who wore a prosthetic limb or "blade" similar to that worn by Oscar Pistorius, the South African "Blade Runner." Another guy was running the race barefooted! This being only my second marathon, it was quite inspiring to be among a community of people brought together by their love of running. Suddenly, it was time. The Penang chief minister fired the starter's pistol, and we were off! In the excitement, somebody broke wind loudly, laughter broke out and a few hundred mad women and men lurched forward. An interesting start. It was certainly a beautiful night. There had been a thunderstorm earlier but the downpour stopped leaving a cool, night breeze (no, not the earlier kind of wind). Running towards the brightly lit bridge in the distance, it was great to see a bunch of people running together to raise civic consciousness on various causes and issues. There were several who ran to raise awareness on diabetes and obesity; a guy in a cape and partially blindfolded (he was tethered to a running buddy) ran for the blind; I wore a red ribbon for HIV and AIDS awareness; and a pair of sisters ran with a sign to highlight the issue of cancer. I noticed that running fashion has also evolved. Why wear a boring singlet and a pair of shorts to run when you can run in style and make a statement at the same time? One guy wore a sarong while another, a bear's head. There were a few fairies in white frilly skirts and little tiaras. A woman dressed as a school girl in a short skirt and pigtails breezed past. Admirers of the male and female forms would have had a great day looking at the large number of fit athletic bodies on exhibit. Seeing several well-toned and muscled midriffs and abdomens, I had earlier quickly looked at my own imagined six-pack and saw nothing to show or shout about. More like a packet of crumbled cookies. Let me be honest. I would be lying if I didn't admit that running behind a few spandex-clad well-toned derrieres provided much needed motivation on some of the more difficult stretches of the route. Of course, when they start pulling away from you and leaving you in the dust, it can also be quite distressing. Speaking of being left in the dust, police sirens instructing runners to clear the way signalled the arrival of the lead Kenyans and Nigerians from the half marathon! We were barely a third through the full marathon course. Already the lead Africans from the half marathon were at our level despite an hour of lead time between the start of the full and half marathons! Looking at these superhumans, we cheered, clapped, cursed, and groaned. These guys run super-fast, achieve fantastic finishing times and often go home with the prize money at the end of international meets. They truly are jaw-dropping athletes and a sight to see on the road (that is when we are able to see them long enough). Who knew that going to the loo would become such an issue when running? Quite a few people went into bushes and behind trees. There were queues to use the porta-loos available on the bridge. Some were forced to huddle near bridge pillars and do their number one over the side. When you got to go, you got to go. I just hope nobody was down below (hmmm... that rhymed). I spied some of the pacer balloons far up front and tried to keep up (being colour blind I wasn't sure what balloon I was chasing). There didn't seem to be that many cheerleaders or moral support teams. They were probably in their nice warm beds. The Chinese drums were also mostly silent when we passed them at 4am. Some of the water stations were also empty; their volunteers slumped at the roadside sleeping. As the sun broke over the horizon, I ran across the finishing line along with many others. Who knew that the scent of success would smell quite bad? Everybody who arrived after completing the full and half marathon were not only extremely exhausted and probably incoherent, quite a few smelled strongly of sweat and smelly running attire and socks. No longer needing to run, a few of us also started to walk funny. I never thought I would find myself completing a marathon on the Penang Bridge. It was an amazing feeling. By the way, the winner of the full marathon completed the entire course in 2 hours 22 minutes and 56 seconds. He must have bathed, taken a nap, gotten a massage and had breakfast by the time we got to the finish line. And had another nap. Yup, he was Kenyan. A couple of hours later, while boarding (more like crawling onto) the express bus back to Kuala Lumpur, I realised with a start that in my haste to go back, I had not eaten a plate of char keow teow. Instead I now have blackened toes, and a tired and sore body. But I do have my finisher T-shirt and a nice medal. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

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