2020 is a year that many will reflect on. It does not matter if you’re religious or not, in many ways it has been a year of reckoning. It is time for you to stand up and affirm your beliefs.
I started the year in the United Kingdom and returned to Malaysia towards the end of May. Quarantine did help me have a daily dose of all the foods I missed. The inability to exercise and access to an abundance of calories ensured that my wardrobe needed some drastic expansion (pun intended).
Returning home meant I could see for myself how Malaysians united, followed the rules and our successes in keeping COVID-19 at bay. Our togetherness and discipline ensured that our country was able to return quicker than most of the Western countries with lesser fatalities.
Whilst every single soul who was lost will long be missed and grieved over, as a country we stayed the course.
Pic courtesy of Junior Football League
As one who has been involved in sports broadcasting and management the better part of 20 years, I’d like to look at the positives. And those are: - Malaysians regardless of race, religion, gender, age, colour and financial standing, stood together daily, one street at a time, each neighbourhood, town and city.
Every single day our wonderful hero of a DG of Health came on tv, looking fatigued from his daily duties, to tell us the hard truth, to remind and encourage us to follow the SOP’s.
We banded together and those of us who could go out and became heroes to others in need, helping our fellow man, the immigrants, who came here seeking a better life. We gave them a leg up when we could and that, my fellow Malaysians is what we are about.
So, how does this help us improve our sports? Ask any sportsperson, and you will see, hear and feel that their success is only possible with hard work, perseverance, discipline, dedication and the support and guidance of some. Many people came together to make these champions.
Pic courtesy of Junior Football League
And so here at The Vibes, we the privileged few will share those journeys with you. From an array of sports and fitness enthusiasts to the champions of the nation, we will strive to bring you something that will make you:
1. Proud to be Malaysian
2. Get up and move
3. Experience these journeys like you’ve never had before
4. Look at our children and believe that it can happen again
In the past month since we have been live, our great Sports team has broken stories and shared exclusives, which is expected of us. However, with the help of some of our columnists, we have brought a smile and hope to others who yearn to just improve their knowledge and fitness as well.
Pic courtesy of Junior Football League
Joanna Koleth’s Made to Move, Vibin with Atilia Haron, Ben Ibrahim’s Sunday Learnings, the Boss Beat with Mirnawan Nawawi and Vijhay Vick’s The J Side, are merely the beginnings of this wonderful journey into educating and moving the Malaysian sports scene to greater heights.
Each one of these columnists and many of the additions you will see in the next few weeks bring a fresh new perspective to Sports & Fitness.
From your neighbourhood gym to the best facilities in the land, we will continue to push the boundaries to help raise this nation we all love to improve, day by day, just like we did earlier this year. God Bless. – The Vibes, October 19, 2020.
