VISITING OUR POLYNESIAN COUSINS IN AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND - October 2013

 

Meeting Polynesian representatives at Radio Watea, Mangere

 

With the Trade Commissioner and official, Michael Jones at the Consul Office of Samoa

With the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Fiji, Mr Harish Lodhia JP at Tulja Centre, Mt Roskill

 

 

1.       INTRODUCTION .

  The second trip to Auckland was planned for quite some time as follow-up, firstly,  to promote the World Melayu-Polynesian Organisation (WMPO) after its establishment, following one of the resolutions at the Ist International Conference of the Malay-Polynesian Ancestral Nations held in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia in July, 2012 (see the write-up in this blog on the retionale and objectives of the formation of WMPO and other adopted resolutions in the article entitled ‘The First International Conference of the Malay-Polynesian Ancestral Nations’ ); secondly, to facilitate the preparation and organisation of the 2^nd International Conference of WMPO scheduled to be held in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand in March 2014 and attend the fund-raising dinner; thirdly, to get acquainted and expand the WMPO network with other Polynesians; fourthly,  to seek the views of all stakeholders on the proposed Nusa-Polynesian Internatioanl University (NPIU); fifthly, to explore opportunities of collaboration in trade and business in the areas of fishery, agriculture and eco-tourism. The visit extended from October 9 to 15, 2013. 

        

        2.   FUND RAISING DINNER

               The Dinner was held on Friday Oct 9 in the main hall at Mahurehure Marae Powhiri starting at 17.45 hrs. It was attended by an estimated 150-200 participants, made up of community and business leaders of the Polynesian communities.  The programme of the night started with the opening address by the Hon. Dr Pita Sharples, Minister of Maori Affairs, who highlighted the common Austronesian ancestry of the Malay-Polynesian peoples, with the Malay stock inhabiting Brunei, Indonesia,  Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan and the Polynesians making the islands in the Pacific Oceans of Aotearoa, Samoa, Fiji, Cook Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and others, their homes.  Dr. Sharples with loud emphasis announced that ALL OF US AUSTRONESIANS  ARE COUSINS, to the applause of those present .  He indicated his support for the strengthening of the linkage among the Malay-Polynesians or Austronesians through WMPO and its programmes, activities and projects. 

    The address by Y. Bhg Col Prof Dato’ Dr Kamarudin Kachar, President of WMPO, reflected that the many commonalities and practices in culture, language and genetic make-up observed on his first visit to Maoridom in September 2011 inspired him to organise the first International Conference which resulted in the establishment of WMPO, among which, the objectives are:-

a.       To provide a platform to reestablish and revitalise socio-cultural values, customs and practices

b.       To promote cooperation among educational institutions and where appropriate, establish institutions to enhance the  professional capability and skill

c.       To explore and embark on trade and business partnerships in agricultural, fishery, ecotourism, oceanography and other sectors of the economy

among the 33 Malay-Polynesian ancestral nations.

  Dato’ Kamarudin went on to elaborate on the proposed establishment of the NPIU which is an international university to generate graduates of high achievers focussing on areas where the Malay-Polynesians are best at – oceanography and related marine sciences. He recognises that the key element in the establishment of the university is its high capital costs but hope to raise funds from the many wealthy philanthropic leaders in the Malay-Polynesian community.

  The third speaker, Dato’ Dr Hashim bin Abdul Wahab, Deputy President of WMPO, shared his thoughts on the possible areas of  technology, trade and business collaboration in agricultural, fishery and ecotourism sectors.  He illustrated how technology development through R&D has propelled oil palm, petrology and ecotourism into significant foreign exchange earners and contribution to the economy of Malaysia.  Various area of technology, management expertise and marketing strategies available among the Malay-Polynesian communities could be shared.  In his effort to encourage leaders within the  communities to leave useful experiences, wisdom and other legacies, he prodded them to write about them.

  The Dinner participants were entertained with cultural show and a band.  President Kamarudin displayed his talent with the violin with the rendition of two ‘dondang sayang’ songs.

 3.       MEETING LEADERS AND REPRESENTATIVES OF THE POLYNESIAN COMMUNITIES

  The following representatives were among those that we met during the visit, excluding the participants at the Dinner. The participants at the Dinner represented community and business leaders from 16 tribes of the Maoris and other Polynesians residing in Auckland and the neighbouring cities. The issues that were highlighted and discussed include the aim and objectives of WMPO, the establishment of NPIU and how,  through the  network, WMPO  can provide a platform for us to get acquainted with one another, build friendship and trust which are the foundation for cooperation, collaboration and partnership in many areas – education and training in capability building, research, trade and business in such economic sectors as oils&gas, livestock, agriculture, fishery, ecotourism etc.

     a.       Melino Maka – Tonga – Tongan Advisory Council

                b.      Faavae Gagamoe – Samoa

                c.        Maiti Arama Tamaabiki  -  Ngati Whatua Tai Nui – Cook Is. Tahiti

                d.       Taha Fasi -  Niue Island -  business consultant

                e.      Rereata Makiha – Te Mahurehure

                f.        Harish Lodhia JP  - Honorary Consul for the Republic of Fiji

                g.       Trade Commissioner and Michael Jones at the Consul Office of Samoa

                h.      Captain Hoturoa Kerr  -  Captain of Haunui Waka and members of the crew

                i.         John Panoho  -  Director Sales and Marketing, Navigator Tours

                j.        Prof Manuka Harare- Professor at The Univ of Auckland Business School        

                k.       Emeritus Prof Nicholas Tarling – Director, Southeast Asian Studies 

                l.         Assoc. Prof.  Dr Don Sheridan – Dept of Information Systems and Operations

                          Management, The University of Auckland 

                m.    Ockie Simmonds -  Business Advisor Health & Safety Group, Ministry of 

                       Business, Innovation and Employment, NZealand

                n.      Wesley Faleolo  - Samoa -  Training Centre for Maori Youth

                o.      Murray Bright -  one of the members of the crew of Huinui Waka

      

            4.       PREPARATION FOR THE 2^nd INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

                 4.1        Secretariate -  the Organisers have located the secretariate at the training 

                           centre for Maori youths under Ms Ann Willoughby

                  4.2       Participation -  the planning is on the basis of 200 participants. A                 participants are expected from Malaysia

                  4.3       Programme -  the Conference proper is two days on 28 and 29 March, 2014 which is to be held at  Copthorne Hotel, Bay of Islands.  The no. of papers needed will be around 15-20.  The post-conference activities are:

(a)    One- day tour around Bay of Islands and one day tour around Auckland

(b)   Six-day tour of the Polynesian Islands of Cook, Samoa and Fiji

        A two-day trade show in Auckland will also be organised. The secretariate is to work out the costs of the various packages – the    Conference proper, the tours around the Bay of Islands and around Auckland, the six-day tour of the Polynesian Islands

 

                   4.4  Papers .  To date the no of papers are still short of the target 20.  Among the papers considered important include the following topics with the respective proposed speakers to be invited to contribute:

                        (a)    Oceanography  -  Prof Redzuan Halim of UniMAP

                          (b)   Deep Sea fishing – Dato’ Dr Halim Hamat, 

                          (c)    Livestock – Dato’ Amir Kamarudin

(d)   Halal Products  -  Dato’ Dr Zamzam of MARDITECH

 

(e) Oils & Gas  -  representative from PETRONAS

               

                      4.5      Communication -  a website on the Conference will be established with background information on the Ist International Conference, WMPO,  the videos taken on the Ist Conference, details on the 2nd Conference, as a promotion tool. An IT consultant has volunteered to undertake the task of establishing the website.

4.6        Finance –  the Organisers will finance the costs of the Conference through sponsorships, donations, registration fees and through sales of stall spaces for trade show.

 5.       TOURS OF PLACES OF INTERES

Among the places of interest that have been incorporated in the itinerary are as follows:

(a)     Vegetable and Fruit Market

(b)   Auckland War Memorial Museum – sections of interest that were visited were the Maori Polynesian, Natural History, Military.  We were brought around by two guides of the Museum.  The visit was on Saturday and the museum had many visitors.  At the same time the Museum was celebrating the Military Heritage Week and many of the war veterans including those that served in Malaysia during the communist insurgency were present in their uniforms.

(c)    Sailing in Haunui Waka around the the Auckland Harbour Bridge and Waitemata.  Captain Hoturoa Kerr briefed the participants which include a few members of the Maori community, on the sailings of the Polynesian ancestors to discover and settled the many islands in the Pacific Ocean.

(d)   City tour covering both the east and west side of Auckland, the memorial of the beloved Prime Minister Savage, Queens Street in the city centre.

         7.       ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND CONCLUDING REMARKS

  We were warmly received on arrival and at all the scheduled events.  The Polynesians we met accept that we share a common ancestry and that, as Dr. Pita Sharple said, the peoples of Malay-Polynesia are cousins.  The formation of the WMPO with its aims and objectives of reestablishing and revitalising the communities in the various fields encompassing socio-cultural, education, R&D, trade and business received a positive response with its iconic project of establishing the NPIU particularly is viewed as a unifying institution, in the long term, of bringing  the Melayu-Polynesian communities together.

  This visit has certainly advanced another step in bringing about better understanding that will foster subsequent cooperation in the various areas.

  We wish to take this opportunity to extend our heartfelt gratitude to Chief Matutaera Clenden and Mrs Clenden and also Dave Fenton who have been with us throughout our stay in Auckland making sure that we have warm clothes to take care of the cool windy spring weather;  providing fruits, cereals, milk and crackers for our breakfasts; taking us to a Malaysian restaurant where Dato’ Kamarudin can have his rice and chicken curry and his younger brother, Dato’ Hashim, his varied taste of chicken briani, roti canai chicken curry and fried kueyteow.

 

Hashim bin Abdul Wahab

Email: hashim.abdulwahab@gmail.com

20/10/2013   

         

                 

  

Cycling for Peace - October 2007

CYCLING FOR PEACE

1. Introduction  
It was a unique and memorable experience when I participated with 38 other cyclists from eight countries to bike from Seoul to Beijing from October 12 to 19 of 2007 to promote peace through tourism.  The Event, officially designated ‘Peace through Tourism: 2007 Seoul Beijing Bicycle Tour’ was organized by Japan Airlines in collaboration with Korean Bicycle Association, PABLE and travel agents in China, Harijin Travel and Shanyang Overseas International  Travel Service, in conjunction with the 15^th General Assembly of the  World Tourism Organisation (WTO) held in Beijing starting from October 20. This bicycle tour is in its third year – the first being a ride from Seoul to Osaka in 2005 and the second was a ride from Beijing to HuhHot in Inner Mongolia in 2006.
  According to Kazuaki Saiga, Vice President (Industry Relations), Japan Airlines Co. Ltd and Chairman of the Organising Committee, the Event was first mooted to promote sustainable tourism, bringing people from the regions of China, Japan and Korea and other cyclists from other countries to visit the many attractive tourism destinations along the cycling routes and experience mixing together in the spirit of tourism, sports and peace. Saiga himself is a keen cyclist having picked up the sport when he was posted as a General Manager of Japan Airlines in Milan, Italy from 1981 to 1985 where he bought a Campaniolo and Guelchiotti bicycles.

2.  Participation
  The international participants represented Korea (12 participants), Japan (10), China (7), USA (5), Thailand (2), Canada (1), England (1), Malaysia (1).  The youngest amongst the cyclists was Choo Jae Ho, 16 who is a student from Korea and the oldest at 75 is Masayuki Hatano a retired civil engineer from Sacramento, California.  Many were in the 40 to 50 age group. Masayuki Hatano, known to the participants as Mas, has been riding since he was 63, largely motivated by an intense desire to keep healthy and ‘be active to keep alive’.  He rides five days a week covering 70 to 80km on each ride.  He is also active with voluntary work with the Railroad Museum in Sacramento.  Jae Ho, the baby in the group became interested in cycling through his mother who is a member of PABLE.  PABLE is the acronym for ‘Promotion Association of Bicyling for a new Life Environment’. PABLE as co-sponsor of the event sent in the largest number of participants – 12, and eight of them are middle aged ladies.  Established in 1993 to promote environmental protection, the Organisation has a membership of  8000 largely made up of  ladies.  Members have organized biking tours to Netherlands, France, United Kingdom, New Zealand’ – quipped Mrs. Yong Hye Choi a business woman with interest in restaurants and property development.  She also rode in the bicycle tour.
  Many participants are professionals - David Loutzenheiser is a transportation planner from Boston, Andrew Chandler who is 43 years old is in marketing in Sacramento California, Tachibana Mayumi,from Japan, is an art designer. A teacher, an engineer, a few in the corporate sector and some housewives were also among the participants.
   I was invited to represent Malaysia by Asian Overland Service Tours &Travel.  I was not too sure of my credentials why Anthony Wong, the Managing Director of the company has nominated my name.  He is aware that I am active in a nature conservation organization , Malaysian Nature Society, a biking enthusiast and continue to be  involved in the corporate sector serving as director on a few boards of companies. I had some difficulties in getting a visa to China as the Chinese Counsellor office insisted that I could only participated with the Event if I obtained an invitation from the Organisers from China.  The letter from Japan Airlines was inadequate for this purpose.  I was also concerned that urgent corporate matters might force me not to go. 
    It was a relief when I finally boarded the Malaysian Airlines plane, MH66, which departed  very early on Sunday morning (October 12) for Seoul. We landed at Incheon – Seoul International Airport at 0840 hr, a six and half hour flight. Monitoring  the panel in the plane which provides the record of the flight details, Incheon is only one meter above sea level, located on Geongjongdo Island which is connected to the mainland by an expressway. It appeared to have been built on reclaimed land. It was an entirely different scenery from what I experienced during my first visit to Korea in the mid 1990s.  Then  I landed at Kimpo Airport.   I made my first trip to the country when I accompanied a trade mission to market Malaysian cocoa beans to the chocolate manufacturers.

3.  Cycling and Tourism Attractions in Korea 
   In Seoul, participants from overseas were accommodated at the Olympic Parktel, a hotel located within the Olympic Park.  The Park was crowded with young people who were participating at the International Cyber Games.  I shared a room with an American and Canadian. We woke up early on Monday morning (October 13).  It was raining and the morning temperature was a chilling 17C.  After a simple brief opening ceremony we departed from Olympic Park winding ourselves through the southern part of Seoul city towards Han River.  The cyclists were led by the police escort followed by bikers carrying the flags of the host countries – China, Japan and Korea accompanied by 40 cyclists who are members of  PABLE.  The cyclists from each  country carried three small flags – the respective national flag, flag of the  WTO and  Japan Airlines flag, which were tied to a small aluminium rod fixed to the rear of the bike.  It was a colourful scene. We rode for quite some time along the Han River, ending our ride at Yeouido Park covering a distance of 25km in one and a half hours.  The second part of the biking took place at the later part of the day, covering nine km over a hilly terrain to reach Jeongdeungsa Temple.  We visited two sites on the first day of the tour – Agibong Observatory and Kangwhayun Museum.
  The Observatory at Agibong was built in 1988 and named after a youth, Agi, in a Korean legendary love story.  The Observatory is located on the southern side of the Han River overlooking a community in North Korea.  A few sites on the Demilitarized zones – Imgingak Park, Dorasan Station, Dora Observatory – are popular tourist destinations to get some glimpses of life in North Korea. The Kangwhayun Museum houses artifacts and exhibits on the early history of Korea from prehistoric time up to the Goryeo and Joseon periods.  It also exhibited pictures of the dolmens, which were tombs chieftains of the tribal society in the Bronze Age.
    We stayed for the night in several rooms, allocated to us, built as part of the Jeongdeungsa Buddhist Temple complex.  According to the chief monk who welcomed us, the temple is the second oldest in Korea founded during the reign of King Sosurin of Goguryeo period by the priest named Ado. We were awakened at 06 00 hrs on the second day (Tuesday Oct. 14) of the ride. After a vegetarian menu breakfast, we walked down the steep hill with our bicycles.  With a big group, any effort to ride down this hill would be dangerous.  We left the town of Kangwhagun for the port city of Incheon.  We were riding in the country side with paddy fields on both sides of the road, averaging around 17 km per hour.  We covered 54 km arriving at this bustling port at around 13 00 hrs.  After checking in our luggage and bicycles, the ferry departed from Huadong/Incheon Ferry Terminal for Dalian.  It was a 17 hour journey in the Yellow Sea.  We arrived at 0830 hrs Dalian time (an hour later than Incheon).  The Ferry ride provided the opportunity for the participants to be interacting and exchanging news over the whole range of topics from health, politics and economics.

4.  Cycling and Tourism Attractions in Liaoning Province, North-east China 
     Dalian is a sprawling city with a population of 5.7 million.  It was first built by the Russian thus its name which, in Russian, means a distant city.  The second phase of its development was undertaken by the Manchurians and the third phase by the Chinese.  We had a brief tour of the city stopping at the Tiger Beach Park.  Dalian’s economy is driven by heavy industries such as ship building but the planners are pushing for tourism taking advantage of its many natural attractions -  the sea, the forests, the islands and beaches.
  After a heavy lunch at the Restaurant located in the Dalian TV Tower Complex, it was difficult to get started to ride again.  From the village of Pico, we cycled in relatively flat region for 47km, passing through many farms with paddy, maize and fruit orchards.  Farmers were seen selling their fruits - persimmon, pears, apples and cherries – by the roadside. We were scheduled to bike for a distance of 76 km but as dusk set in, we had to stop. We were accommodated at a Zuanghe Hotel that night.. 
  We started early (0745 hrs) on the fourth day of the tour (Thursday Oct. 16) meandering our way through the early morning traffic of Zuanghe on the coastal road heading for Dandong.  Traffic was especially heavy and on this route I observed drivers have little regards for others using the road.  We were riding through a farming community, passing horse carts, small villages with people waving at us as we passed by.  The main agricultural activities appeared to be rice and maize farming with fruits orchards. The livestock industry is also  important.  We covered 70km of ride that day.  It was the longest distance I have cycled in a single ride – a record of some sort to me.  We arrived in Dandong at around 1330 hrs.  It was on this stretch of route that the front tyre of my bike punctured but it was repaired in a few minutes by the technical support group.  Tyre puncture was the most frequent problem among the cyclists during the tour.
  The afternoon tour took us to Yalu River and Tiger Hill, the eastern most  point  of the Great Wall of China.   The Yalu River is the border between China and North Korea.  A bridge, bombed by the Americans, remains as a reminder of the Korean War in 1950s.  Adjacent to it is another bridge, that spans the river, which serves as one of the communicating land links between China and North Korea.  The boat cruise took us close to the shores of North Korea to have a little glimpse of life there.
   I was fascinated to visit the eastern most section of the Great wall of China, one of the great wonders of the world .  I had the opportunity to see the Beijing section in my earlier visits to China.
We were hosted to dinner by the Deputy Mayor of Dandong, who, in her brief  speech, indicated that the Liaoning Provincial Government, plans to develop the golden triangle area made up of the cities of Dalian, Dandong and Shenyang, as a tourism destination.  In my view, Liaoning Province has a great potential to attract visitors as it has many attributes that will draw visitors.  The Liaoning Tourism Brochures listed many places of interest, among them are historical sites – The Great Wall, landmarks of the earlier imperial dynasties – Qin, Han, Liao, Ming – Shenyang Imperial Palace; the seas – Yellow and Bohai Seas with the many coastal islands;  mountains, caves and unique geological formations; special festival organized on an annual basis – Dalian International Fashion Festival, Dalian Acacia Festival.  Fushan Mt. Qian International Festival, Fushu Manchu Folk Customs Festival, Jinzhou Folk Culture Tourist Festival. We stayed at Yalu River Hotel.
  The ride out of Dandong towards Shenyang was at a blistering pace starting at 0800 hrs being led by a police escort vehicle through the busy streets of the city.  Just at the outskirt of Dandong 20km away was a steep hill – that was the challenging stretch of road.  The Dandong – Fencheng ride was through hilly and mountainous areas and though only 60km, it was the most energy sapping section in the entire tour.
  The afternoon tour took us to Mt. Fenghuan region in Benxi to visit the water cave. The cave  is a huge aqueous karst formation, estimated at 700 million years old, older than the oldest cave  systems in Malaysia, the geological formation of Langkawi.  The river that meanders through is large, deep and wide stretching over the length of 2.8km with the average depth of 1.5m and the deepest point reaches seven metres.  It is an awesome river course with three gorges and many sharp turns and twists, thus also called ‘Nine Zigzags of Galaxy’  On both sides of the river, there are an estimated 60 unique rock formations with such exotic names as Palace of Fairies, Heavenly Pond, Hanging Tower.
  It was dark by the time we reached Shenyang.  According to our  tour guide, the city has a population of 7.2 million made up of 26 ethnic groups.  The Chinese, Manchurians and Koreans are the dominant ones.  A river traverses through the city and from the sky, it appears like a blue dragon, a symbol of protection and prosperity for its inhabitants.  Among the Chinese, Shenyang is well-known for three things – bicycles, wide roads and many traffic lights at the intersections.  Examining the tourist brochures, Shenyang has many attractions – Imperial Palace, Botanical Garden, Doughing Park, Fuling Tomb, Zhaoling Tomb, History Museum.  However, we were in a brief transit in the city.  After a quick dinner we were transported to the railway station and hurriedly we moved through the thousand of travellers and revelers to board the rail coach to Beijing.  The train punctually left Shenyang at 2125 hrs.
  The rail appears to be an efficient and well managed transport system in China, if I could assess from this brief experience.  The passengers were courteously ushered to their respective coaches with a guard looking after each coach.  I shared with five other colleagues in a six bed compartment.  The linen is clean and the light provided at the end of the bed was functional.  The toilet and the dressing table was regularly cleaned.   Sharp at 2200 hrs the light was switched off and surprisingly inspite of the usual noise and sound of the moving train I slept well and was awake fresh.  It was at 0730 hrs we arrived at the Beijing Railway Station.  It was Saturday (Oct 18) morning.

5.  Cycling and Tourism Attractions in Beijing
     We checked in the hotel, had breakfast and after freshening up, we were again on the bus by 1100 hrs.  It was going to be a cycle free day as the day’s schedule is sightseeing and a short shopping tour.  It was bright and sunny as we headed for the Tian An Men Square.  Our first destination was the Forbidden City.  Though this tour brought me to Beijing for the third time, for some reasons, the visit to this world heritage attraction has eluded me.  I therefore looked forward to the visit.  The Square was crowded as it was a Saturday and Beijing is celebrating its 850 years of its founding.  At the same time the 15^th General Assembly of the WTO was being held in the city, with many events being organized in conjunction with the Assembly.
   The Forbidden City built over the period 1406 – 1420 is actually the palace of the emperors of the Ming and Ong dynasties in China.  The complex palatial structures are divided into the outer court made up of several halls where the emperors held important ceremonies and the inner court were the living quarters are sited. A total of 24 emperors lived in the palace.  These ancient buildings portray the intricale early Chinese architecture and are being protected as a world heritage site.
  After late lunch and shopping at the Friendship Store we headed to the next attraction – The Ming Tombs.  The Tombs are the mausoleums of thirteen emperors located at Changping – Beijing.  It was built in the Yongle Ming Dynasty in 1409.  The fascinating thing about the mausoleums is the fact that they were constructed deep underground (50m) with the paraphernalia of governance such as marble thrones and other precious possessions buried together.
  We were caught in the extremely busy traffic of Beijing heading for our hotel.  It was the traditional Beijing duck dinner that night .
  We were up early on the last day of the Bicycle tour (Sunday Oct. 19).  The Seoul Beijing Bicycle tour group was given a place of honour in the Beijing International Cultural Tourism Festival 2007 parade organized in conjunction with the 15th General Assembly of WTO to promote the 2008 Olympic game and tourism.  We were on the parade ground at around 0730 hrs preparing for the final arrangement for the parade made up of cultural performances, school bands, motor vehicle floats depicting the cultural heritage of China.  The ceremony started at 0900 hrs with speeches from the mayor of Beijing, an official of the Chinese Ministry of Tourism and the Director General of WTO.
  The 1.5km slow ride in the parade was cheered by a huge crowd lining both sides of the broad street, made up of school children in their smart track suit uniforms of various colours.  I was touched by the atmosphere at the parade, realising that, in this small world of ours, guided by a simple principle of mutual respect for each other, inspite of the cultural socio-religious differences, we could link our hands of friendship together, assist one another and living sustainably to make this planet of ours such a happy and wonderful place to live in.  The many wise words of our beloved former Prime Minister, Tun Dato’ Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, who has retired recently, advocating this approach of living, was an inspiration to my participation in this Bicycle Tour. 

6.  Concluding Remarks
    This bicycle tour was organized to facilitate, in a small way, towards achieving this dream of building a prosperous, peaceful, harmonious and happy world as we linked the hands of the various ethnic with different religion, language, cultural background to promote the 2008 Olympic Games and tourism .  I feel it has met its desired objectives.  To me it was a unique and exciting experience – unique in the sense that I have not riden this long distance before; riding in a company seven different  nationalities with a range of ages from sixteen to seventy five; traveling in different mode of transportation – bicycles, ferry, truck, bus and train; touring many exotic and beautiful destinations.
  For the opportunity to spend a very unique, exciting and happy seven days experience in Northwest Korea and Northeast China, I wish to  express my appreciation to Mr Anthony Wong and George Skadiang, The Group Managing Director and General Manger respectively, of Asian Overland Service Tours & Travel for having the confidence in my cycling power and nominated my participation of this tour to the Organisers.  Also many thanks to the national courier, MAS for substantially subsidizing the air fare from Kuala Lumpur to Seoul and the return trip from Beijing to Kuala Lumpur. 
_____________________________________

 This article was published by The Star newspaper on January 5, 2008.  The article is devoid of photos which usually accompany my writings as the picture file could not be traced. 

  Posted to this blog on June 23, 2013