Women of New Generation

When Dee Boys was in Malaysia, I had the privilege of cycling with her on a few occasions. A privilege because she has competed in Australian National Championships in cycling and World Championships in triathlon! As I was always cycling with the boys (who never turn to men!), I was beginning to really enjoy a challenge from another fellow female cyclist when she had to leave the country to follow her husband to Dubai. We decided to stay connected via Facebook. 

When she turned 50, she was curious as to what health advice was available for female athletes going through menopause and was shocked to find that most of the materials do not address this segment of the population. Since there is a whole new generation who are still competing, she decided to create an environment where these women can connect with like minded people and share their tips on health, fitness and wellness. 

And that was how "Women of New Generation" was born.    

https://www.womenofthenewgeneration.com

https://www.facebook.com/groups/womenofthenewgeneration

In my short life as a coach, I specialise in coaching kids as they are the future of the country. When I saw what Dee was doing, I spoke to her about my plan to contribute to this platform. My first point of contact was the Associate Professor Clare Monahan from Griffith University, whom I met during the Commonwealth Games 2018 in Gold Coast and had the opportunity to sit in some of her lectures in between races. She specialises in the advancement of human performance with a key focus on the determinants of performance in female athletes! 

However, instead of focusing on senior female athletes, I decided to contribute to the larger segment of the society and that was how Women of New Generation Malaysian Chapter started. 

The target is to build strength and improve the quality of movements. 

1. Strength Training 

• As we age, we lose about 1kg of muscle a year. It is therefore important that we continue to rebuild muscles to maintain a healthy mass.  
• Metabolism also drops about 3% per decade which adds up to the weight gain very quickly unless we reduce the food consumption (very unlikely!). The best way to overcome this is by building muscles as they keep the metabolism high and are great at burning calories at rest. 

2. Quality Movements

These can be achieved through exercises focusing on the following:

• Flexibility - to increase the range of motion for the joints
• Mobility - to allow a person to perform movements without restrictions
• Stability - to maintain control of the joint movement or position 

Combined, they can unlock quality human movements. 

NOTE: Good flexibility does not always denote good mobility as the person with good flexibility may not have the strength, coordination or balance to execute the same movement. Mobility relates to movement while stability relates to control. 

And of course, nothing beats a great stretch to finish off the session! 

The best part is that all sessions are free of charge! You just need to have an internet connection and dial in with a great attitude! 

(Un)Conscious Bias

My Toastmasters mentor, Kaarthi has not given a speech for a long time (well..long for my standard!😄) and finally he delivered one this week - a mind-blowing speech entitled "Unconscious Bias". 

As soon as I heard the title I was excited for three reasons. 

(1) It was a topic Tasha wrote for her IB project 5 years ago, so it was a very familiar subject to the Rende family as she read, researched and presented to us over and over (AND OVER AND OVER) until she "nailed" it. 

My Pride and Joy

(2) It resonated well with the conversation I had with her just a few weeks ago about my reading habit. (More on this later.)

(3) Given my familiarity with the topic, I couldn't wait to hear Kaarthi's perspective. (Post speech: he certainly did NOT disappoint! 😎)

The meaning of the term "Unconscious Bias" is rather straightforward in that, more often than not, we, without realising, are swayed by some factors when making a decision - factors such as our background, personal, cultural and religious values, life experience, education and the list goes on. 

Back to the conversation I had with Tasha a few weeks ago which took place while we were golfing. It started when Tiggy innocently asked Tasha about the kind of books she reads. 

Tasha: Mom and I read everything! Even the label on the newly bought shirt! (ha! ha! But it is true!) Even when I was in the UK, we would spend hours on the phone discussing a current case that we were following or talk about a book that she wants me to read.  BUT BUT listen to this Auntie Tiggy...

And this was when she dropped the bomb! 

Tasha: Even though we read the same book, sometimes I wonder whether we actually read the same book because she would only remember and talk about the parts that validate her already-formed opinion and would NOT accept any other point of views! 

Woe is Me! I was astonished to hear that from her because we always talk about the books we read and she had never said such a thing. However, I was too flabbergasted to immediately retort, so I composed myself and took a deep breathe. 

Me: First of all, that was a total exaggeration! I am a very open minded person who will consider other points of views. However, through 51 years of life, I am pretty confident of what works and what doesn't, what's real and what's a fantasy and what's to be taken seriously and what's to be read with a pinch of salt. 

Tasha: See....that's what I meant! Unconscious Bias has taken over you! 

Me: No, sweetie. You can't accuse me of Unconscious Bias. I am very aware of the points that I made and the reasons behind them. If it is a bias, it is a conscious one. 

We were interrupted by the Marshall giving signal to continue play. (Thank God!) But it got me thinking. Is there such a thing as Conscious Bias?! Is it just me being conscious of my Unconscious Bias? Or are they the same thing? 

I guess I will have to write another post when I find the answer. So stay tuned!

Women of Substance

Citi-ZEN January 2021 Issue

Truly honoured to be sharing the front cover of Citi-ZEN with Cindy Ong, the swimming gold medalist at the 2019 World Masters Championship and Michele Low, the Malaysian golfer who has made our country proud on the LPGA circuit. 

I am even more honoured to be receiving hundreds of congratulatory messages from family and friends via Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp. And yet the ONLY person I would have truly loved to share this piece of news is my late father. 

I hardly speak about him because we never really had a chance to do or share a lot of things. Growing up, I was home only until I was 12 years old. Right after, I was shipped to a boarding school in Seremban for my secondary school and for my A-Levels in Oxford before attending university in Nottingham. Daddy passed away just a few months after my university graduation. I had just started work in the UK then and was planning to visit him once I am entitled to take some leave. 

I remember him cutting my nails every Friday, I remember him teaching us math crossed legged on the floor, using the parquet tiles as our calculator, I remember his favourite "ikan singgang" which he ate almost daily. I also remember him waiting for me in front of the gate with a belt in his hand! They are little things but even after all these years, still very vivid in my mind for some reason. 

Most of all, I remember him as someone who loved sports. We ran together as a family, when he was the President of KAFA, he would bring us to watch football matches at the stadium. Of all the sports, he loved badminton the most. He played every evening after work and in fact spent his last breath doing what he loved when he had his heart attack while playing against our cousin. 

We grew up loving sports because of him. Thank you daddy for this awesome gift. 

Inna lillahi wa'inna ila hira ji'un

  
 

To Jab or Not to Jab?

Now that the COVID19 vaccines are becoming more available for the masses, the burning question in everyone's mind is, of course, to jab or not to jab. 

Being someone who is not fond of having to make life's decision based on what is reported in the media, social or otherwise, I decided to attend a webinar organised by the TKC Old Girls' Association, to find a definitive answer to this very question. More so because the speakers are eminent experts in this field. They are: 

• Dato Dr. Professor Adeeba, our very own specialist in the field of internal medicine and infectious diseases, well-known for her work and publication not just in Malaysia but internationally. 

• Dato' Dr. Musa, a paediatrician and neonatologist, whose phone number I had on my speed dial for good 10 years of Tasha's early life! He is the champion for global equity in child health, rooting for immunisation as a strategy for child's survival.     

The take aways from the webinar are as follows: 

ARE THE VACCINES SAFE?

There are more than 10 different types of Covid 19 vaccines developed worldwide, using different technologies. The much talk about is the mRNA technology that has been in the vaccine pipe dream for the last 30 years (due to Ebola, AIDS, SARS and MERS). It is only now that Pfizer and Moderna are able to bring the vaccines to its full development due to an influx of funding as well as circumstances that allow for large scale testing. 

Most of the vaccines that are being talked about have gone through human trials and have been declared safe for respective applications by different relevant authorities.

SIDE EFFECTS

The side effects of COVID19 vaccine are similar to other vaccines and that it will affect different people differently. I can attest to the latter part of the statement based on personal experience in preparation for the SEA Games Manila in 2019, when all athletes and coaches were required by the Philippines Government and the Malaysian Olympics Council to have the following vaccines: 

• Polio since Philippines declared an outbreak of polio in September 2019, two months before the Games
• Flu which is commonly administered when we attend major Games that require for us stay in the Games Village with athletes and coaches from other countries. 
• Typhoid for when we travel to countries with "suspect" food and water sanitisation!  

I remember vividly the concerns I had when Serena missed her swim sessions for days because she couldn't lift her arm, Aimi had a fever so high that she had to put on drips and Ziq had itchiness at the jab locations! The remaining of the team just had a bruised ego when they flinched at the sight of the needle! 😃

The point is flu vaccines have been around since 1940s and polio vaccines, the mid 50s. Yet there are still people who experience side effects from them. It will be no different with COVID19 vaccine, now or in years to come. 

Even for a person who always get affected by vaccines, the risk due to the side effects has to be weighed against its protective benefit. As numbers don't lie, here are some based on the current statistics. 

1. The risk of experiencing serious side effects from covid19 vaccines = 1 in every 400,000 (0.0003%)
2. The chance of being infected by COVID19 in Malaysia = 1 in every 250 (0.4%)

0.0003% versus 0.4% risk. It is a no-brainer.

EFFICACY AND EFFECTIVENESS

The efficacy of the vaccines is pretty high, with close to 95% for some brands. However, it is not the only factor in choosing the best one as they vary in cost and logistics requirement with some of them needing to be stored in -70C, which is colder than winter in Antartica!  

 

As to how long the vaccine will remain effective? There is no data yet to determine whether you need to vaccinate annually (like a flu jab) or it will be good for a lifetime! 

STAGES OF ROLLOUT

Malaysia is expecting the first arrival of vaccines for mass distribution in February 2021 and the priorities have been determined as follows: 

1. The front liners
2. The elderly, the handicapped and those who have high risks 
3. General population (18 years and above)

Based on the above plan, it could be another year before we as a nation can be considered "safe" from the virus!  

WHY JAB? 

Same reason as any other vaccines - Prevention Is Better Than Cure. 

For some, science and religion don't mix but I always believe that our health and well being are the blessings bestowed by God upon us and therefore it is our obligation to strive to preserve it. 

But it is not just about us. Since we live in a society, public health is paramount and the onus is also upon us to ensure the health of the people around us through herd immunity. 

To achieve this in Malaysia based on the current dermographics, it is estimated that 70% of the population must be vaccinated. Since COVID19 vaccine excludes application to the minor, this means that almost everyone in Malaysia who is of legal age (18+) has to take on the responsibility to be vaccinated! More so, if you are suffering from diseases that put you in the high risk category. 

Hopefully with this information, when you are asked whether to be vaccinated or not, you will do the right thing and say YES to the JAB. 

SPECIAL MESSAGE

Apart from being the first neonatologist in Malaysia, Dr. Musa is also a man of religious authority, being the President of the Federation of Islamic Medical Associations (FIMA), the parent body of Islamic Medical Associations in 41 countries. It was very impressive to hear him use scientific terms and recite words from the Quran all in the same sentence, in order to win the hearts and minds of the Muslim anti-vaxxers to accept and adopt vaccination as the simplest form of protection. 

"For indeed a dirham weight (6g) of protection is better than a qintars weight (150kg) of treatment." 

 

Mister Bombastic

During our Toastmasters meeting this week, Tatee texted me after I had just delivered a speech "2 Steps Forward and 1 Step Back."

Tatee: "I need to bunga-bungakan my sentences! I tend to use very straight forward simple English. Was told to use a few bombastic, descriptive words".

Me: "Oh! Kena baca lots of fiction".

------------------------------------------------------------------------

The day after, I started reading a book "Mister God, This is Anna". It is an account of a 4 year old who seemed to understand with uncanny certainty the purpose of being, the essence of feeling and the beauty of love. The following is the extract from the book. 

"The whole business of adults going to church filled Anna with suspicion. The idea of collective worship went against her sense of private conversations with Mister God. As for going to church to meet Mister God, that was preposterous. After all, if Mister God wasn't everywhere, he wasn't anywhere. For her, the churchgoing and Mister God talks had no necessary connection. 

For her, the whole thing was transparently simple. You went to church to get the message when you were very little. Once you had got it, you went out and did something about it. Religion was for doing things, not for reading about things. Once you got the message there wasn't much point in going over the same old ground. Keeping on going to church was because you hadn't got the message or didn't understand it or it was just for swank!"

And the message:

"I know to love Mister God and to love people and cats and dogs and spiders and flowers and trees - and the catalog went on - with all of me." 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anna's thoughts were expressed in straight forward simple English but the message has since, entrenched in my medial temporal lobes forming part of my semantic memory. I just couldn't stop thinking about it. 

Which brought me back to my advice for Tatee. 

Perhaps, in retrospect, I should have told her that it is not the bombastic words that she should be concerned about. It is far more important to focus on the usage of vocabulary that can help express ourselves and connect with others. Just what Anna had done. She and I are now connected at so many different levels with just the above passage. She had managed to get into my head and when it comes to storytelling, that is the ultimate goal!  

Fruits - Fab, Fad or Fat?

My dining table centrepiece this morning

A friend once told me that she went through 50 to 60 oranges a week and she is a family of 3! When I asked "why" instead of exclaimed "wow", she was a tad upset with me and started on a "rampage" about juicing. 

Personally, if there is a dirty word associated with fruits and vegetables, it would be JUICING.  I cannot for the life of me understand why people would waste a bag of kale or a perfectly good fruit to a blender or extractor or a juicer. More so when there are a lot of scientific researches that concluded the benefits of eating whole fruits and vegetables and none (up until September 2020) that supports juicing as better than eating them whole.  

And even when you, like most people do NOT read scientific researches, common sense should prevail. It takes at least 3-4 oranges to make a glass of juice. Imagine the amount of fructose in that! I am not just talking about the spike in the glucose level that could lead to insulin resistance and a host of diseases that come with it, but these extra calories, if not careful can easily lead to weight gain! 

Fruits - fad or fab? Well, if you are into juicing, you can certainly add fat to that burning question too! 

Serendipity Indeed!

I was at 1U looking for some books recommended by Dr. Pui San when Gim Kim texted me. 

Told her I was heading to the book store  to which she replied, "Maybe you could have a look at some of the books I have too!" 

I was already excited at the prospect of receiving and reading a book that she co-authored. Now she is offering me even more books! Of course I dropped all my other errands and rushed to her house before my afternoon training session! 

Typical of an addict who can't get enough with just one hit, I left her place with 6 additional books! A book for every 2 days of MCO 2.0! How awesome is that! 

Speaking of MCO 2.0, on the day that the government announced it, (being the optimist that I am), I told Kaarthi that the good thing about this MCO is that it will give me a chance to redeem myself at making my own bread! 

Honestly, I had no intention of doing that because now I know someone who makes fabulous sour dough! I know if I flutter my eyelashes long enough, she will bake me one! And the best part is that she lives within 10km radius from my house!  

I told Gim Kim exactly that. How Gina would text me and told me that she had sour bread in the oven and how I would shamelessly rush to her place to pick up my supply! Gim Kim just smiled at my story! 

It was only this morning that I managed to read Gim Kim's story. Turned out Gina is Gim Kim's half-sister! 

SERENDIPITY Indeed! 

   

A Perfect Run

The plan was to ride Broga loop with my darling dearest, Ronnie and use the saddle time to rekindle my love/hate relationship with Doc Alwi, the IJN poster boy who is also a renowned Cardiothoracic Surgeon. At my age, who knows when I might be needing a heart specialist. 

Then rain happened. The phone went abuzz at 6am and we decided to abort the plan. 4 hours, 2 shots of caffeine and a book later, it was still drizzling and I was getting restless. So I put on my running shoes and went downstairs. The guards shook their head, disapproved of my decision to run in the rain. 

“Easy run only” I told them. 

I kept my heart rate low, as promised, but the cool air and the drizzle certainly made it easier for me to run faster with less effort. Entertaining the same line of thoughts, my mind started to wander to the phenomenal running event in October 2019 when Eluid Kipchoge broke the 2 hour marathon barrier. 

1:59:40 to be exact. 

Even though it was not recognized as a world record, it was definitely an athletic spectacle of historic proportion. He shaved off 2 minutes from his own world marathon record time of 2:01:39. 

As a coach, I was curious to find out where the 2 minutes came from and the levers that I could think of are as follows: 

Race Environment 

• The race was so staged that the time of the race was not confirmed until a few hours before to make sure the weather was the most perfect. 
•  The course chosen was flat and fast with no sharp turns to ensure that the pace could be kept constant throughout. 
• He had a group of pacers who kept him shielded from any wind. (We all know with drafting this could minimize the energy utilisation by between 1-6%). 
•  There was also a car with the timing clock ahead of the pacers which could possibly provide drafting benefit as well.    

Training

• Based on an interview, Eluid Kipchoge trained for the 1:59 Challenge in the small town of Kaptagat, in the Kenyan Highlands. This is his camp for the past 17 years with his life-long coach Patrick Sang. Nothing extraordinary was done in preparing him for this challenge, so I will discount this out. 

Nutrition and Hydration

• A Norwegian company had been playing around with the fueling required and finally put together a cocktail with 14% carbohydrate! Those who know a bit of nutrition would know that, that is a lot of carbohydrate to ingest! A lot of research and technology had gone into this fuel to ensure that it would provide quick absoption and not upset the digestive system. 
• As for the hydration, Kipchoge had cyclists feeding him water while on the run so that he did not have to slow down at the water stations to pick up the bottle by himself. 

Equipment

• And then of course there were the NIKE Vaporfly shoes that had reviews saying that “it felt like running on trampolines!” NOTE: To treat myself to a pair or two of these! 
• Since then, 31 of 36 top 3 finishes in major marathons in 2019 were to found wearing these shoes when they claimed their podium positions!  NOTE: To treat myself to a pair or two of these! 

If I have to divide the 2 minutes, my best guess would be as follows: 

What are your thoughts? 

Food For The Soul

Crow Pose By Lini Kazim

The craze at the time was Hot Yoga. I was a member at Fitness First. They brought in the youngest handsomest yoga instructors from India and the fact that I could be sweating buckets while holding a few poses truly appealed to my sense of adventure! 

And that was how my yoga journey started, exactly 10 years ago.

I loved that I was able to balance on single legs doing natarajasana (dancer pose) or Virabhadrasana (warrior 3) or on my arms doing bakasana (crow pose). These were BIG wins for me because stability was not really my strong physical points. I was ecstatic when I could touch my toes doing uttasana (forward bend) or when I was able to reach the floor with my toes in halasana (plow pose). These were all indications that my flexibility has improved! 

It was only years later that I began to look at yoga in a different light. I learnt that the forward bend is not just about having flexibility. In this pose, when my head is lower than my heart, this allows for an unusual occasion for blood to rush to the head, giving the brain cells a rejuvenating boost of oxygen! I learnt that simple poses such as balasana (child's pose) comes packed with tons of health benefits for the body, the mind and the soul.     

These days when I do yoga, it is no longer about how long I can stay in a particular pose. The intention has shifted to deepen my concentration, elevate my level of consciousness and feed my soul. 

NAMASTE!

 

When Sports Meet Science

Over the last few days, I have been reading Facebook posts of my friends who couldn't wait for 2020 to finish. As if with the New Year the virus would just miraculously disappear! It prompted me to think about what I have achieved in this year that everyone wanted to forget, the year that crippled the entire world. 

As an endurance sports aficionado, the achievements are always measured by the distance and elevation covered by swimming, cycling and running, and my trusted go-to app is always the Strava. I can't quite remember the stats for 2019 but the 2020 Report Card was really nothing to shout about. However, in comparison to the general population, it is still quite an outstanding achievement! 😆

With the pools closed most of the year and cycling restricted to within the district, I found myself having time on my hand! Whilst some indulged in Netflix or trying new recipe on their Thermomix, I couldn't think of a better way to use the time than to quench my thirst for the science required to pursue my passion even more deeply!! 

At the National Sports Institute of Malaysia @ L1 Sports Science Course for Coaches 2020

I attended webinar after webinar, some at god-forsaken hours but I toughed it out through it all. Each offers unique perspective that combines the science and the sports which gave me completely new insights into my favourite sports. 

So, thank you COVID19 for giving me the most valuable gift of all - TIME!  

Breaking 90

Started 2020 with a resolution to break 90 which I shared with just my daughter, because for an occasional golfer, such as I, this is a tall order. 

As with every goal that I had previously, I concocted the best laid out plan and figured, if I work the plan and pray for a bit of luck, I might just be able to make it. 

But for those who golf, would know that it is easy for a plan to go awry and 9 out of 10 times, they do! In a game where hundreds of decisions have to be made to overcome the varying complexities and adversities, it takes a lot of experience to arrive to the most informed decision for each shot. Sometimes the totally unexpected befall on you just to add to the mounting stress of the game! 😜

Stuck in the mud at Selesa Hillhomes Resort

To help sharpen the saw, I decided to play more games on different courses to expose myself to different environment, green speed and terrain. Once my game became more stable, I even went on to accept invitations to play with different groups of golfers to help strengthen my mental game.

With the usual suspect on Merdeka Day at Awana Genting Golf Club

September-baby golfers at Kelab Golf Seri Selangor

As with all sports, nothing beats a good round of competition to put your skills to test. I started participating to see how well I play under pressure. Thankfully, previous experience racing and competing gave me the edge to win the 2020 Order of Merit within the Ladies Expat-Golfers  Society (LEGS) and 3rd place in the senior division within Malaysian Ladies Golfers Association (MALGA). 

But I never broke 90 in the process. 

MALGA Series Competition at Royal Seri Menanti Golf Club

Piala DYMM Tunku Ampuan at Seremban International Golf 

By the last week of 2020, I was getting desperate as my lowest score was 92! I needed to shave off 3 strokes to get to my goal. I played on 29/12 with Tropicana midweek group and then again on 30/12 with my good friend, Cindy at our local club, to no avail.

With just one more day to the new year, I scrambled through Deemples app to find one last game. I finally found one at Kinrara (a course I have not played for over 5 years) with 2 other golfers I have never met. 

On 31/12/2020 8 am, we teed off on Hole no. 10. My only weapon was my desire to achieve my goal for 2020. 18 holes - 7 pars, 6 boogies, 3 double boogies and 2 triple boogies later....

  

And that was how I ended my 2020 - with a Big Bang! 

_________________________

Inspired by Abraham Lincoln:

"I do the very best I know how, the very best I can, and I mean to keep doing so until the end"