Judging from the frequency of Sabahans winning national-level top-rated international beauty pageants recently, the answer is obvious.

In July 2010, Julylen Liew Ei Ling, 20 won Miss Malaysia Tourism Queen International 2010. She will represent Malaysia at Miss Tourism Queen International 2010 in China in September.

[photo credit - Julylen Liew]

Also in the same month, Appey Rowenna Januin, 19 was crowned Miss Malaysia Earth 2010. She will represent Malaysia at Miss Earth 2010 in Vietnam in October.

[photo credit - Terrence Isaac Majin]

At the Miss Malaysia Universe 2009 pageant, the top 2 were Sabahans, JoannaBelle Ng and Cassandra Patrick.

Mandy Nandu won Miss Malaysia Model of the World 2009.

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As a self-professed classic movie freak, you’d normally never catch me watching Barbie movies. However, having a young family changed all that. So I was accompanying a daughter watching “Barbie as the Island Princess” (2007) one day, and was about to fall asleep when a most beautiful melody woke me up, the song “I Need To Know”, written by Megan Cavallari.

There are 2 versions of that song in the DVD, but the one sung by Cassidy Ladden during the end credits is the best:

And it was never even released as a single! So, if not for Barbie, I would’ve never even have heard of this song.

By then I was expecting other good songs from the Barbie movie franchise, and discovered another gem in “Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper” (2004) with the song “Written In Your Heart,” also written by Megan Cavallari:

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It started off with someone taking, and uploading to youtube in August 2009, a video of an intoxicated-looking middle-aged man, whose real name is reportedly Barangin Tangkis, singing Sekar Madusa’s song “Kada Tilombusai Oh Bujang“, although some insist that the real title is “Tontok Tinan”, still some others call it “Bujang Bujang”:

Location has been disputed; some say somewhere in Kota Belud, others say Tuaran.

The phrase “ulang lagi” (repeat), which the man uttered at the end of the song has become an oft-repeated catchphrase for the performance.

A video-edited version was uploaded in November 2009.

In February 2010, someone uploaded a “music video” for it, complete with Tarzan holler at the beginning.

Inevitably, in March 2010 someone latched on to the Chipmunks-version meme.

Before long, a remixed version surfaced.

In July 2010, someone uploaded a video of the guy himself singing an acapella version.

Later in the same month, someone uploaded another remixed version, and from another guy, yet another.

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Perhaps, apart from RTM’s own channels, the most popular Sabah-themed radio station is the DJ Othoe-helmed SuriaFM.

Then of course there are the independent internet-based radio stations like Sabahan.FM.

Now there’s KKFM, operating at 91.1 Mhz which was launched early July 2010 with the tagline “Bukan Sekadar Muzik” (Not Just Music).

It’s run by an educational institution, so it won’t be surprising if they sell textbooks online next.

One of its 4 permanent DJs is Felix Agus, of Akademi Fantasia 3 fame.

It can be heard at Telipok, Sepanggar, Menggatal, Inanam, Kota Kinabalu, Penampang, Kinarut and Beringgis, Papar daily between 6am and 8pm. Language used is Bahasa Malaysia and English.

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Recently, my brother pointed out that someone’s made a song about an uncle whose nickname is “Sabud.” When I checked it out, it was apparently by Russian singer Maksim [МакSим] with title “Zabud” [забудь] in 2008. Apparently the title means “forget.”

But to me, the song itself is very impressive:

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Sabahan granny flashes the universal I Love You hand sign (albeit reversed) commonly displayed by rock stars and their adherents.

[photo credit: Liza Joe]

Some would argue that this is El Diablo, a representation of Satan, but that’s a story for another day.

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The peace / V / Victory hand gesture, i.e. first and second fingers raised & parted, with the other fingers clenched is a popular hand sign to be displayed when posing for photographs, conveying a generally positive meaning. Americans and Canadians generally don’t care much about which way the palm faces, but the British, Australian, New Zealander, South African and Irish do – with palm inwards, it is an obscene insulting gesture of the same gravity as The Finger itself.

Malaysia used to be ruled by the British, but perhaps, at this moment, equally culturally heavily influenced by the USA. Hence, it’s arguable whether the precise orientation of the V sign even matters. Needless to say, to most Asians, the idea that the direction of one’s palm is important is as alien as owning Outer Banks homes.

Still, I still find it cringe-worthy everytime I see the reverse V sign being flashed, especially by Malaysian celebrities and other public figures in glossy magazines, newspapers, official publications, and such like. My attitude to it was probably cemented when I saw it being regularly used at the British school I attended, and when I saw The Queen’s photo of inadvertently displaying the gesture while holding onto her bag having been turned into a postcard.

That is why I feel compelled to remind friends and colleagues of this fact whenever I see them doing the sign in photos – especially those made available online.

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This time there was no flooding in Penampang to prevent me from arriving early – in fact there has been no major flood there since late 2008.

In the first round we were drawn with PST (a combination of 3 teams) and another team – which we easily disposed of. In my 25 years of playing table tennis, in singles or doubles, I had never blanked anybody, but this time, playing with Ornest in the officers’ category, the impossible happened.

One could argue that we had an easy draw, but our opponents in the quarterfinals, Sabah Credit Corporation (SCC), were quite a strong team, so after a bit of a struggle, we prevailed 3-1.

Then, in the semifinals, we had a surprisingly easy 4-0 win over Sabah Development Bank.

In the other semifinals, 5-times champion and perennial favourites MOF suffered yet another heartbreak when they were defeated by arch-rivals Borneo Housing (BH) 2-3. That moment when MOF’s open pair lost 2-3 to BH was the end – in the 5th and last leg, BH’s women doubles proved far too strong. To me, the MOF-BH match should’ve been the final – their matches have always been close. MOF went on to win bronze.

So, compared to 2008, we seemingly marched to the final with relative ease, until we met our nemesis of 2008 yet again in BH. They led 1-0 after Ornest and I were whitewashed 0-3 in our category, then Voo/Daniel had yet another titanic match-up with probably the same guys from 2008, losing the 5th rubber via deuce, after initially trailing 1-2 and pulling level. In the mixed doubles, Hadiran/Shirley still managed to win a set but in the end found the journey a step too far.

So, BH had already won 3-0 while our best combination, Sariwan-Arjuna were playing, and who again proved that they’re the best pair in the whole MoF fraternity when they defeated BH’s best pair in straight sets, thus remaining undefeated in the whole tournament. So final score was 4-1 to BH, identical to 2 years ago.

That means, right until the end, our women’s doubles never even needed to lift a bat, to which Chia readily agreed that it’s a case of “working smart” :-)

Looking back, I think our department’s ping pong standard is improving, since in 2006 we finished 3rd, which in living memory was the first medal we ever won for that sport. Then 2 years ago, in the semis we defeated SCC 3-2, whom we’d never beaten in previous tournaments, after trailing 1-2. This time, it was a fairly straightforward win.

Then there’s Shirley who proved to be an able paddler in her very first outing – she should’ve been in the team since years ago!

Our greatest challenge remains the same: to have the motivation to train and compete in other tournaments after this, and not wait another 2 years to do so!

And when it comes to cameras, our department’s posse of photogs is second to none – brandishing huge “weapons” dwarfing everybody else’s!

Finally, bringing gadgets, like your ipad, to sports event like this, when there are so many people around, are a no-no if you don’t have ipad insurance, the risk is just too great without it.

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Part 1, Part 2.

James Wong revealed more about his experiences after scoring that momentous goal in an interview with Berita Harian in 2005.

He said every member of the team truly felt like national heroes that night. There were many fans and supporters who gathered in front of the changing room, cheering and chanting the players’ names while waiting for the team to come out to greet and offer their congratulations.

People were asking for their jerseys, shorts, socks, boots and even their underwear as mementoes.

James recalled that he threw to the fans everything he wore during the match, including his number 9 jersey and yes, his underwear, which they scrambled to collect!

He continued that during the match, when he saw Hassan running with the ball, he rushed to the Koreans’ penalty area, with two / three defenders at his front and back. He knew that Hassan normally would not go for goal but instead pass to him, and that’s what actually happened. At that time he was surrounded by several defenders, but managed to unleash a fierce shot that evaded the keeper. When he saw that the ball had gone in, he screamed and ran back towards Hassan, before falling down flat and mobbed by teammates until he could barely breathe.

When the final whistle blew, some of the players were in disbelief and most shed tears of joy. Some kneeled. The players and officials embraced each other.

Coach Karl Weigang also embraced him and thanked him for scoring the goal. He was almost in tears.

The team then rounded off the celebrations with a victory parade around the stadium.

After the match, every player was given a bonus of RM1,000 by FAM and the Ahli Mangku Negara (AMN) medal from the King.

Even though it happened 25 years earlier, it was clearly a special moment as reflected in James’ expressions during the interview.

But when he found out that Malaysia had boycotted the 1980 Olympiad, he was terribly disappointed, as that was long held dream, and still did until the present. Every time he watched an Olympics opening ceremony, he’d feel deep sadness and sometimes shed tears.

The FAM made up for it by giving each player an all-expenses paid leisure trip to Europe.

I hear both James and Hassan are still active at sports now, so it wouldn’t come as a surprise if you find them driving a car installed with a yakima roof rack.

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Part 1

30 years later, interest in that moment was resurrected with a series of TV and billboard ads by Maxis coinciding with the 2010 World Cup. I won’t be surprised if promotional tote bags were part of the deal too.

That moment was re-enacted heartwarmingly by a group of kids, with then captain Soh Chin Aun looking on:

The following is Hassan Sani’s video segment, in which he described that moment:

The following is James Wong’s video segment, in which he told what it was like then:

Epilogue:
- as we all know, Malaysia boycotted the 1980 Olympiad, hence the famous team didn’t see action on the world stage. We were replaced by Iraq, who were drawn in Group D together with Yugoslavia, Finland & Costa Rica. Iraq finished 2nd in that group, hence advanced to the quarterfinals, where they were thrashed 0-4 by East Germany, who went on to win silver, having lost 0-1 to Czechoslovakia in the final.
- before 1980, South Korea had qualified for the Olympics on 2 occasions: 1948 and 1964, and the World Cup once: in 1954. Since 1986, they had never failed to qualify for both the World Cup and the Olympics. If I’m not mistaken, Malaysia last defeated South Korea in 1985.

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