My Resume

I am looking for new opportunity with my career.
As most of you that know me via this blog and in real life, i am a dedicated worker. I take my work seriously and giving 100% is usually an understatement. I treat my work as how i treat my races - i am committed to finish it and i do only my best. Many times, i guide and help others along the way. That speaks of my leadership quality.
I am not trying to oversell myself, but my four short years in the current company spoke of my commitment and achievement as i moved up from being a field engineer to a regional practice lead for Asia.
My resume could be viewed here : Ee-Van Resume as of July 2011
I look forward to receive any opportunities for a face to face meeting. I thank you in advance.

Port Dickson International Triathlon 2011

I've not done a triathlon race for a year. One complete year. The last i raced was last year PD Tri. It was a harrowing experience when you raced and not think about your own well being. That was for being hard-headed.
Last weekend race was sort of a comeback for myself. having tattooed myself with a Swim-Bike-Run tats on my right calve with "140.6" (denoting Ironman Triathlon distance), it is not just about "living up to the name" anymore but making the sports a part of my life. It has always been a part of my life since i found the joy of Tri-ing. Greater joy beckon when you are given the opportunities to help others in the sports - be it to encourage, offer advices or just by being there to see them complete.
I did exactly that yesterday.

I've raced long enough but not as long as some senior triathletes. I've paid my dues and I've did all i could with the limited time and resources i have balancing work and life. It's never easy and we all know that Work-Life balance is a myth. I've not respected myself or the distance for the race yesterday as i did not have the chance to train - i only picked my bike up from Edwin on Friday (and he asked "you training this Saturday is it for Sunday race?, in a sarcastic voice no less).

Coincidentally, I've sort of decided to stay close to Ezan for yesterday's race. She will be doing her first full Olympic Distance triathlon in PD this year. She did the Sprint last year and decided on the full monty this time around.
Game plan was that we will both swim in our own wave, i wait for her at her bike in T1 and we do the Run together. While i know she don't really need me to accompany her, but i guess i just want to be there "just in case" of that puncture or that extra push that she might need.
My total time taken yesterday was 3:37. not exactly my best but it was the only tri race i did over the past 12 months. I am happy. I raced it well and with great company. I enjoyed and managed to run in RunningSkirt. I believe i am the first triathlete that did so in Malaysia. :)
Swim : 0:34
Bike: 1:29
Run: 1:16
T1 : approx 20mins
T2: approx 2mins
I was pretty surprised with my swim. Having only swam once within the last one week. I was expecting the worse. Calm nerve and staying away from the main bunch (including swimming way outside and not next or near the buoy lines) helped. Calm water helped too. Perhaps the swim was under-distanced as well. Felt like it was a 1.2km instead of a 1.5km. I exited the water and was surprised i came in slightly less, or more than 30mins. Can't recall, perhaps it was 31mins. Took a really really slow walk back to T1.

Some said i lost weight. Some could not recognise me as i was fatter when they knew me. I felt that stress has made me lost some weight, not exercise. not happy with the still "pale" complexion. iron level in question? Photo credit to Tey.

At T1, i managed to snap a lot of friends photos of which I've uploaded in Facebook. You guys and girls know who you all are lah!

Speaking of T1, i saw a girl, in her haste, broke her Oakley M-Frame's frame. Yeap. Anxiety does stupid things to you in T1. We triathletes MUST stay cool in all situation. When you failed to stay calm, you will:

• miss your transition area/bike and start running up and down like headless chicken thinking someone took your bike;
• forget to bring along the essential gears such as gels, pumps, sunglasses etc;
• wear your helmet the wrong way;
• fall as you try to clip onto your bike;
• forgot to smile and enjoy the race.

I witnessed all the above. I've always took my time in T1. After all, the time i lose to the next person out of the water after me and beat me at T1 could be minimized if i efficiently power through the bike section. Something I've learnt in that three Ironman distance i did.

The 40km bike was alright. PD bike route is rolling. It gives a fair bit of workout for both climber and sprinter. For the stronger cyclist, PD is actually considered as flat with no climbs. Most "bumps" are taken cared off by momentum as the triathletes sort of "glide over" while maintaining the cadence. For myself, my best timing for PD biking was a cool 1:10. I did a 1:30 yesterday and there was only fun. Took the opportunity to impart some advice to Ezan to pedal on a consistent cadence on the smaller chain ring to conserve the legs for the return 20km and the run later. Many beginners made the mistakes of powering through the first 20km only to fail to keep up in the last 20km which was slightly downhill all the way.

Ezan was strong on the bike. That was not a coincident but hard work that was put in. All she need now is to learn to use the gears to her advantage. Pounding on big chain ring is good if the route is flat and if you have the strength to power them through at least 80 cadence. Else...better be efficient and spin on those rings!

Entering T2, the ever familiar jelly-leg feeling was missing. I've not pushed hard on the bike which will allow me more reserved energy for the run. Got to my 2115 on Row C and put on the skirt. Initially i wanted to just commando it but taking off my tri-shorts in public would cause Uncle Chan to ban me for life. So, with a smaller thighs under the skirt will do this time!

The run route this year was slightly changed to accommodate for better safety. This meant there are about 3 or 4km of "off road" running on softer sand and along the far fringes of the beach. It sort of gives a gist of "Xterra" feel. 

The run was alright with me taking more time running up and down taking photos of friends.

Rudy - SAC Marshall in town for a meeting and decided to check PD Tri out

Kak Jenap in her usual antics

The usual suspects. :)

If any of you ran past this stall in the next photo and wondered what the uncle was selling, it was actually fishing lure or live baits aka worms.

RM5/pack. not entirely sure of the efficiency, but i say if a stall is setup, i believe there is a market for this item.

Running in the skirt has gotten me a fair bit of attention. I believe i am the first MALE Triathlete to do this in Malaysia. Perhaps, it will be fashionable as well one day. I was nicknamed "amoi" by Ezan. Fine by me as there is no shame in running like a girl as most of the girls i know (including wifey) runs faster than me!

photo credit to Tey.

As i approach the finishing line, i told Ezan to go for it. This is her moment. Her first full Oly Tri. She deserves all the accolades and fanfare. Even without me, she would still be finishing the race in the time she wanted i.e. 3:30. Very good for a first timer.

For myself, nothing brought more joy than to run the short 80m to finish with both Ryan and Nadia. The last it ever happened was when Ryan was 2 years old that i crossed the Desaru line with him. How times fly and it was such joy to walk slowly with them to the line.

It will be my dream one day that the kids will want to Tri as well. Can you imagine the commotion, the bicycles, the running gears and the swimming gears that will be scattered around the home in a couple of years time?

It will be priceless.

Congrats to all finishers  - first time or your 10th time. I hope yesterday's race was as good as it was for me! See you all soon at the next Tri race!

Swim-Bike-Run. Repeat!

p.s - this report was written over lunch time and posted after office hour.

You Never Walk Alone with Standard Chartered Bank

A few English football teams will be (and already are) in Kuala Lumpur in July. The excitement of the fans could be felt from the Facebook wall posting to the Twitterville. They are here to play against our local Heroes, the Harimau Malaya.
Malaysians are passionate about their football. There are a good following of the major clubs. While some jump into the bandwagon to support the team of the day, there are many hardcore that I personally know whom their support to this particular football club was like a heirloom passed down from their grandfather to them. I am not talking about the wannabe club with a devil as a mascot but i am talking about LIVERPOOL!

As you all know, Standard Chartered Bank is the official sponsor for Liverpool Football Club. The synergistic partnership has been known in (the football) world over!

Image taken from Liverpool FC Website

So, how would you like to win TWO free passes to see your TEAM in action against HARIMAU MALAYA on July 16, 2011 at Stadium Bukit Jalil? Wait, you even get to see a player of your choice too!

Standard Chartered Bank will be making this possible with a few easy steps below.

Step One

Go to this Website HERE

Step Two

Write on the wall and send a message (up to 140 character) to your TEAM...

...And click SEND. Once you do that, you will be prompted to...

Step Three

...Create an AVATAR or Randomise it. I've done one for myself that looked like i am the cool (goal)keeper for Liverpool!

You then click SUBMIT and will be prompted to the next step...

Step Four

Fill up all your (legit) info, if you don't, how else will they contact you if you win?

Don't forget to correctly click on "Malaysia" (if you want to see the match on July 16,2011) and also on the "I Accept the T&C". Once you are sure your info is correct, click SUBMIT.

Step Five

And that's it! You are on your way to win TWO passes. But that's where it need some involvement from you.

Share your message and avatar on Facebook or Twitter. Get your friends to "LIKE" them on the GetBehindYourTeam page. The more "LIKE" you get, the higher your chances to be on the TOP 10. Once you are in the TOP 10, your message will be chosen to be one of the lucky winner to win the passes and see your TEAM in action against Harimau Malaya!

Thanks to Standard Chartered Bank  for making this possible!

Of Protest & Misquoting His Highness

This is a apolitical rant. Skip this if you are happier reading about race reports.
I am just an ordinary citizen. I pay my taxes. Abide by laws. Pay up my summons. Put up with bad local governance. I've voted three times since i am of legal age (1999, 2004, 2008). I've voted for the government in 1999 being the naive brainwashed (due to national school policies that i grew up with) and I have voted for the opposition in the last two election.
Yes. "Undi itu Rahsia" or "Vote is Confidential".
But are we really sure they are? I've on all three occasion noted that my ballot paper was marked. I have forgotten on the last two occasion to bring an eraser. I want my vote to be confidential - as it should be.
After 15 years since turning 21 and of legal voting age (and voted), I have slowly seen, or rather saw how things has been practiced in the country. I grew up in the "Mahathir" era. Where everything seems to be "perfect". Then it was the Abdullah years of nothing been done and now, the Najib's era. Nothing much has changed, really, except we now got our self-proclaimed "First Lady Of Malaysia", that was "perceived" to rule the country.
I would had agreed to that title if it was Tun Siti Hasmah. I bet many of you would agree with me.
Anyway, as all of us now know, the key word now is YELLOW. Anything of this color is apparently illegal. many has been mocking the decision by our own Home Minister and the Polis that "anyone wearing yellow - shoe, car, shirt etc" will be arrested as it's illegal.
Yellow is the color chosen for this movement called Bersih. It's a coalition of NGOs. Very much like Perkasa. Look, an NGO can have ONE person representing it. So, having 64 NGOs supporting you could meant there are only...well, 64 person involved.
I am not going to speak at length about Bersih. You can read it here as someone obviously has so much time to actually create a version in Wiki : Bersih in Wiki.
I am not against clean election. But that doesn't mean i support Bersih.
I love my country and what the future holds for my family and kids. But that doesn't mean i support Patriot.
No, i despise Perkasa and any racial bigots. And as a lawyer friend aptly asked me "how about those silent bigots". My opinion is that the silent bigots are not as damaging as those that threaten violence or when they open their mouth, shit actually smell better.
So, The Supreme Commander of the country. The Yang Di-Pertuan Agong, has finally spoke yesterday. he has requested that the Bersih and Government "work together". I must say His Highness has said enough to be fair to all parties.
Some might say that the speech by His Highness was scripted and prepared by the ruling government. If that is the case, that goes to show that the ruling government has acknowledged that Bersih is a force to reckon with; though i would much love that His Highness speak impromptu and warn everyone involved.
With that done, it's pretty obvious that most (if not all) media will carry the speech by His Highness. Bernama was the first to do that, followed by many others.
However, the headlines in all the media was less than desired. The word "illegal" and "haram" are used over and over again!
Now, NO WHERE in His Highness speech has His Highness mentioned ILLEGAL or HARAM!!!

Yeap, the imagine above is a bit too small for normal reading. Here is the excerpt from both the media.

Bernama text in Bahasa Malaysia - click to enlarge

NST Snapshot of the same speech - translated

No where in the text (of the official speech) in Bahasa said it was illegal. But somehow NST managed to interpret it as "illegal". It's clear misquoting. Did they use Google Translate like how the monkeys did when the China premier came to visit?

Some rakyat get caught for "waging war against the Agong". I believe the above runs along the same line. Many people get reprimanded for a lot less and will His Highness now need to call for a PC (press conference) to say he was "misquoted" by NST?

Before i go and mind my Monday business, let me leave you with our country's principles or Rukunegara

• KEPERCAYAAN KEPADA TUHAN
• KESETIAAN KEPADA RAJA DAN NEGARA
• KELUHURAN PERLEMBAGAAN
• KEDAULATAN UNDANG-UNDANG
• KESOPANAN DAN KESUSILAAN

or

• BELIEF IN GOD
• LOYALTY TO KING AND COUNTRY
• UPHOLDING THE CONSTITUTION
• SOVEREIGNTY OF THE LAW, and
• GOOD BEHAVIOUR AND MORALITY

As a citizen in Malaysia, ask yourself (first), how many have you been following? The way i sees it, the present government has breached the "upholding the constitution" part - being a democratic country, we are allowed our freedom of speech and the freedom to gather. Many of those threatening violence has obviously breached the last Rukunegara. The Principles MUST be read as a whole, not dissected to any one's whim and fancy.

Your future and your children's future is at stake. I say let Bersih, Patriot and the Government (both opposition and ruling) march down the road and demand for a clean AND safe election. This will be the perfect time to weed out those MPs that has underperformed and of suspicious character.

Come General Election #13 - vote wisely and don't be the fool that vote for the clown.