ARE YOU READY FOR THE WEEKEND?!!

Yes... I know its Monday, but this weekend is gonna be an exciting weekend for the Royal 8th..

Reason number 1:
BIG gathering at Mat Kong's wedding reception.. As it's G Coy's last man(bachelor) standing, let's get G Coy to head the 'Rombongan Rebellica ke Jemputan Kenduri".. Ahmad Kengkang, Achot, Joejo.. Jalankan Tugas!!

Reason Number 2:
Royal 8ths in Langkawi! Yessir.. Ala Usat, Bean and Kam will be doing the IronMan this weekend.. FYI this is the MOTHER of all endurance sports.. these guys will start with a 4km swim at kuah jetty (translated 1.5 to 2 hours of swimming) .. they'll then hop on their bikes for a 180km ride (that's over 7 hrs of cycling).. and by the end of the day, a 42 km run! they start at 7am, and they should cross the finishing line between 10 to 11 pm!

This is Kam's first IronMan.. This is Bean's 3rd(beat that!!).. and the last I heard, Ala Usat is suffering from a shoulder injury!..

We'd also like to wish OPs(OP AJ, OP Sofiyan, OP Ee-Van) and Kawan OPs (the guys from leTuang, Ish, Arif, Senn, Rashid Robo etc..etc..) a safe and smooth IronMan..

let's wish all our MACHO MEN the best for this weekend:
1) Mat Kong- you can do itttttttt!
2) G Coy guys(to organize the convoy)- you can do itttt tooo!
3) IronMan hopefuls- you can do itttttt! you can do itttt alll night longggggg!

Will report more upon my return from Langkawi- Bandit going as supporter! wooohooooooo!!

Jemputan Kahwin

Dear all,

But this time, you may have realized that there are a handful of kenduris left for us to attend, unless (ahem) if some of us decided to 'add' another one.. yup, after these handful gets married, the next time we meet will be at the weddings of our children..

Back to the subject, please be informed that all Royal 8th and family are invited to attend the reception on Mat Kong's side..

Date:: 28 Feb 2009 2:00 petang

Venue: Dewan Seri Perkasa, Masjid Al-Imam Ash-Shafie, Taman Maluri

RV point: Kat masjid pukul 1.50pm..

Kam, Ala and Bandit have already attended the Akad Nikah.. and it's confirmed- PERKAHWINAN SAH!! (don't tell me you don't trust an SUO (Kam), a Doctor (Ala) and the most handsome guy in the batch (aku-lah!!)).. we were invited for the Akad Nikah because we won't be joining you on 28 Feb- will be in Langkawi for IronMan (Kam, Ala and Bean taking part)..

Wasalam..

Selamat Pengantin Baru Mat Kong!

Congratulations to Mat Kong & his bride Pn. Farah! Semoga berkekalan hingga ke akhir hayat.

For full WRITTEN report, please go to: http://opdochisyam.blogspot.com/

If you are too lazy to click above link, below is the report taken from Ala's blog:

Dear all,

Hope you are doing well.

Last Sunday me, Bandit, Kam, OP Stupes and wife Aileen attended Mat Kong’s ‘nikah’ ceremony. The reason why we went for this event and not the reception next week is that we would be away in Langkawi during that weekend. Anyway, let us just say that another one of us has bitten the dust.

The nikah ceremony was held at the bride’s family home at a posh part of PJ. I can imagine why Kong did not want it to be held in a mosque as I would imagine the ‘heat’ would be too much to handle. I also think that he wanted people like Bandit and I to feel comfortable enough to attend it.

I am proud to admit that since I came back from India in 1998, I have never missed on any of our batch mates wedding when I’m invited, except for Bean’s. Sorry Bean. I’m sad to say that some of our batch mates doesn’t seem to make the effort to attend our batch mates wedding or other family events when invited. As far as I know only doctors and pilots like Bean work during weekends. If you are living in Terengganu or Sarikei Sarawak then perhaps it is excusable. But if you are residing in Damansara or Keramat and you can’t make it in the Klang Valley for your own batch mates, then bloody shameful on you mate!

We were a little bit late and by the time we arrived the ceremony was already in progress but we could not come in as it was already full of people inside the house.

Luckily they had a PA system put on so that we could listen to what’s going on inside.

The Imam was giving the taqliq, reminding Mat Kong to treat the mrs with respect, not to leave her for 4 months at a stretch without giving the nafkah, etc etc.. I was listening to the sermon with great intent outside, just in case you know.

Since we could not come in, we had to peek inside the house via the window to take a picture of Mat kong. I think the weather was warm and they forgot to switch on the fan as I could make out Mat Kong sweating inside. The strange thing was, all the other people looked cool and comfortable inside.

Anyway, it was one of the few times that I can honestly say Mat Kong as being dashing and handsome. In fact this may be the last time I’m going to say it. The bride, Farah look beautiful in her wedding dress. Mat Kong sure is a lucky guy.

We wish them all the best for the future.

Having said this, we were wondering outside why his shoes were facing outwards when other people were facing inwards towards the house? Was it just in case a quick getaway was needed ? Just in case Farah’s dad ‘tidak merestui’ the marriage? Or worse still was it just in case Kong got cold feet? Need not worry as I was properly attired to take over if needed.

In the end, my services were not required. Mat Kong did not run away. The bride’s dad did not change his mind.

The Nikah went smoothly. Even Mat kong did the ‘Lafaz’ at one go!

Bandit, Stupes and I almost cheered outside the house.

Lunch was served and they played some Alleycats songs. Songs that Mat kong would chose at the Karaoke like Sekuntum Mawar Merah and songs that I would chose like Seribu Bintang.

I asked Farah after the reception if I could still take Kong out for a late night’s out now that he is married. With a forced smile on her face, she said yes.

I suppose someone got his first tongue lashing from the wife that night.

Or I could be wrong.

Anyway, here’s to a long and happy life together!

Congaratulations once again!

Warm Regards

Doc Ala Usat

PS: Pending for biting the dust: Ilam, Jason, Yusmal, abeng, Roland, Katun, amin and mat jaid

Pending list (special category): Mat yep, Kam and Ala usat

Dear all,

After 11 days of being away, finally news from Boot himself:

"All of the team members have been evacuated safely and now back in Cairo. Inside Gaza, we have passed the acute phase of the emergency medical need and we are now going for rehabilitation phase on the primary health care centre (PHC). The focus is on reconstructing the damaged infrastructure of the PHCs and to come up with some programmes on capacity building for the local medical personnel.

You have heard about the latest military escalation there and yes we experienced some missiles and drone bomb detonations that rattled our base. But the emotional and mental state of the team members are still very very strong. We will wait and see whats gonna happen after the 5th of February. Should calm arise.. we will go in again to continue our job.

Other than that all of us are very much happy working here. We even celebrated the Gong Xi Fa Chai with our Chinese colleagues.. but no firecrackers only real explosions.. and had a good time...

Thank you very much for all of the kinds words and encouragements. Believe me all these are the only strength that we have to keep our working mojo up and to uphold our mental state steady..

Till then take care and be strong!!!!

Regards,

Boot"

So.. it seems that the mission is going well.. stage one DONE!

We really hope that with the current aggression, the team won't go back to stage one again. Ashame to have the Israelis "Un-Do" the brilliant job that the team has done! However, the local news report states minimum human casualties. We hope it stays that way..

For those interested, there'll be a FORUM ON PALESTINE at Crown Plaza Mutiara Hotel on Thursday 5/2/09- it's a whole day event.. please go to www.criminalisewar.com

Entrance Fee (at the door) is rm50- all proceeds go to the War Victims in Gaza..

God be with you, to protect and guide..

Royal 8th in Gazza update

Dear all,

after almost 10 days of no news, here's an update from NST:

KUALA LUMPUR, Mon:

The Mercy Malaysia medical team in Gaza has been evacuated from the war-torn city amidst fears of renewed attacks by Israel. The non-governmental organisation (NGO) said its team of six doctors safely crossed the Rafah border into Egypt at 8pm.

“The call to evacuate came at the behest of the Malaysian Embassy in Cairo,” Mercy said in a statement.

Executive council member Norazam Abu Samah said they will standby in Egypt to await further instructions from Mercy’s headquarters in Malaysia and will go back into Gaza to continue their work when the situation improves.

“In the course of our work, we do not wish to put our volunteers and staff in harm’s way,” he said.

The team, which had been stationed in Gaza since Jan 27, was tasked with implementing sustainable primary, reproductive and mental health programmes.
Norazam said he and Mercy volunteer Razi Pahlavi Abdul Aziz would be heading to Egypt to plan the organisation’s next move.

“We are monitoring the situation very closely and should be able to come up with a concrete plan of action soon,” he said.

So, bottom line- he's safe! And though the team is facing some hurdles, they are now re-strategizing their next move!