Back in school, I turned my attention towards Rugby. In those days, rugby played in urban schools was no match against the boarding school teams. They have a rich history of rugby and the sense of camaraderie that only can be nurtured when you live as a unit. I went on to university and started playing more seriously that brought me to competitive club level. It is here where I learned the true beauty of the sport. Despite the rough nature of the game, it is the most gentlemanly sport, in my opinion. The winner will line up to congratulate the defeated at the end of the game. No other sport shows this respect to the opponents.

Rugby remains one of the most intellectual team sport in the world where every movement or set pieces in gameplay is thought of. It’s very strategic. You just don’t barge or bulldoze towards the opponent. There is a reason why you do so. There is discipline involved with the many laws of the game that I can’t even seem to keep up till today. The ultimate goal is to bring the ball to your opponent’s try line by always moving forward. In the process, you go through a series of obstacles being tackled by your opponent, rucking, mauling and scrumming. Passing the ball in the forward direction is an offence so you have to pass it to your side where your teammates are waiting and the process resumes. This was the essence of rugby. Teamwork. A human calculation that ensures victory.

There is a beauty in the game of rugby that translates to life itself. History showed that rugby was able to change a whole nation. In 1995, South Africa hosted the Rugby World Cup. It was a time of change when former President Nelson Mandela took the office after being released from prison. He needed to find a way to unite the much divided people of his country and called upon the Captain of the South Africa team (Springboks), the legendary Francois Pineaar to help him. Below is a trailer from the upcoming movie Invictus, directed by Clint Eastwood. Starring Morgan Freeman (as Mandela) and Matt Damon (Francois Pineear). I’ve also a included an interview clip of Francois Pineear speaking about Mandela. Be inspired.

Kharis Idris
Director
.myFuture Foundation

It’s World Aids Day today. Since I don’t have a red ribbon to wear, I have changed my Twitter photo to wear one. You can get yours too, here. http://bit.ly/5YATny. I am in solidarity w the 33.4 million people living with HIV. In Malaysia since 1986, a total of 84,630 HIV infections have been reported and 11,384 people have died from AIDS as at December 31, 2008 (http://www.mac.org.my/). I’m not going to talk on how HIV/AIDS are transmitted. There are millions of information on the Internet that you can find. If ever at all you’re interested to know. I much rather speak about another ‘disease’ that comes together with it.

Since the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic over 25 years ago, STIGMA has been a barrier to HIV prevention and care. The effect of stigma on people’s ability to access HIV testing, counseling, diagnosis, care, treatment, and prevention messages varies from setting to setting, but when present, stigma can create an environment where people may avoid HIV-related services (http://www.hivaidsstigma.org/). The general perception towards HIV positive people is that they have been promiscuous or a drug addict. It’s no secret that we live in a very judgmental society and our values are based on moral actions. Since they’re morally ‘wrong’, the HIV is God’s punishment to them? Sad, really. Ask yourself this question : “Would you disown wife/child/mother/father/siblings/friends when you find out they’re HIV positive?” Now, ask yourself this. “Would you like to be disowned if you find out you’re HIV positive?”. Because the TRUTH is, EVERYONE is vulnerable to HIV/AIDS. Although, not as vulnerable as the Influenza A H1N1 virus or Diabetes or even Heart Disease which has far more cases in Malaysia. The modern medical science has an answer today by offering effective treatments for HIV positive people to live longer and healthier.

Although, HIV test is compulsory for Muslim couples prior to their marriage, I strongly feel that this regulation has to be made voluntary. It is a responsibility for each and everyone of us to our spouses, children, family, friends and the society. Get tested and be knowledgeable. For it is the only way for us to prevent this epidemic from spreading even further.

On this day too, I would like to pay tribute to my all-time favourite band, Queen. As we all know, the legendary vocalist, Freddie Mercury died of AIDS in 1991 at the height of his career. Freddie was scheduled to sing at the Opening Ceremony of the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 with Montserrat Caballé, a Spanish opera singer. He left a string of legacy and great songs of our time (including those about humanity and politics). His death also marked an important milestone in the fight for AIDS as the remaining members of Queen founded the Mercury Phoenix Trust and organized the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness in 1992 at Wembley Stadium. The concert was reminiscent of Queen’s greatest live performance at the Live Aid Concert at the same venue in 1985.

Excerpt of Freddie’s last audio interview:

“You’re the last person I’m talking to, so you’ll probably get the best interview, darling. I don’t want to change the world. For me, happiness is the most important thing and if I’m happy then it shows in my work. In the end, all the mistakes and all the excuses are down to me. I like to feel that I’m just being my honest self and as far as I’m concerned I just want to pack in as much of life and fun, having a good time as much as I can within in the years I have. Well there you are, you have it on tape. Use it. Well that’s the nearest I’ve come to a lot of passion in terms of interviews. How much more have you got? Come on, I’m getting bored.”

(also included with one of his last written songs, “In My Defence”.

Here are clips of Queen’s performance at Live Aid, dubbed their greatest live performance of all time.

Barcelona by Freddie Mercury & Montserrat Caballe

Innuendo by Queen. Very political lyrics.

Kharis Idris
Director
.myFuture Foundation

My stint in rugby had left me with strings of injuries that forced me out of competitive events for good. With an acute back pain, there was not much to be done. My weight ballooned to 120kg and I desperately needed a hobby. I chose golf (?). Despite having 4 golfers chasing after one tiny ball throughout the entire 18-hole golf course, it’s actually an enjoyable game to play. Golfing requires a lot of skill and time. A socialite’s game. This was before social networking sites came along, of course. I probably shed 3kg from all the huffs and puffs around the course. Smoking, that is. Plus you don’t have to be an expert to know that a golf swing isn’t actually great for an ailing back too.

I can’t quite remember how I quit golf for cycling. But I do remember it feels exactly the same when you’re riding your bicycle as a child. I sold my golf set to fund the purchase of a used road bike. I couldn’t fit into a cycling jersey at that time so I put on a football jersey instead. I was conned into a 50km ride to Putrajaya one night and took 3 hours to complete the ride. I did a 3-day, 400km ride that took me through 3 states and never looked back since. I did a fair share of racing and organized races for fellow friends. At the peak of my avidness, I rode an average of 200km per week and shedding 20kg off my weight. Then it all came to a halt when I got busy with my wedding and subsequently having our first child after. It’s difficult to restart after having stopped for quite some time. I went on the bike several times only to feel a bit depressed trying to get the old form without success. I resorted to being a food-hunter on the bike. My rides would be worked around the good places to eat, off the beaten track, in and out of kampungs. I (still) have the intention to write a photo-journo book on this soon. Needless to say, the weight came creeping back.

Being around triathlete friends, I have always thought that they’re crazy to be doing the sport. And I really thought they were absolutely mindless to do the Ironman in Langkawi every year which requires them to swim 3.8km in the open water, then bike around the island 180km and to top it all off, run a full marathon of 42km before coming to the finish line. You’re given 17 hours to complete all that. I had a first hand experience to witness all of them beating every odd to finish their race by their own abilities and sheer human willpower. I was in awe of a great spectacle and quietly asked myself if I could do it? The first task is to get myself running and the problem is I hate running. Being overweight doesn’t make it easier to run, either. I enrolled myself into a 11km run event to kickstart myself. I walked mostly and came to the finish line at 2 hours, feeling absolutely destroyed. Strangely, that feeling kept me going and brought me to the KL Half-Marathon. A 3 hours ordeal through the undulating path in the city centre is no easy feat but I finished it. I also started to swim regularly again and participated in the PD Triathlon which would require me to swim 1.5km, bike 40km and run 10km. It wasn’t easy. It was painful. But I kept on going. Then you have friends back tracking the route, cheering you up to the finish line. That is priceless. Nothing beats that. And for that very reason, I will be doing my first full marathon of 42km in Singapore this Sunday.

To me, it is a measure of the human physical and mental (mostly) ability to finish what you started. It’s a journey quite closely associated to life itself. And the great thing about Triathlon, is that EVERYONE can do it. If this fat bloke can do it, why can’t you? I’m advocating this to the masses right now. Yes, a Tri4U. Would you willing to give it a try if there’s an event in much shorter distances? Would you do it if you can just walk in the pool, if you can’t swim? Use any type of bicycle and even walk instead of running? I can’t promise you it will be easy. But I can promise you that same feeling most of us feel when you reach the finish line.

If you think you can’t possibly be doing all this. Watch his clip and think again.

http://www.teamhoyt.com/

Kharis Idris
Director
.myFuture Foundation

There are far too many ‘Youth’ branded organizations and events presently which make the very word seem overrated at times. The burning question is, are they appealing to the real demographics of youth of today? Let alone engaging them successfully to make changes. The history of youth movement here is very much apparent dating back to pre-independence. They are the ‘conscience’ of society, if you may call it. Youth democracy awareness is rather closely associated with partisan politics in this country. To certain extend, this is thought as the only way to participate in the process of nation building. The truth is, there are many youths out there who would want to make a difference and need to feel their views appreciated. However, they would like to achieve this without joining any political parties. Ideally, they should be able to voice out their concerns creatively through music, film, visual art, writings, theatre, forums and many more avenues out there. How do you engage millions of youth of the world using a common space and platform today at real time? You guessed it. The social networking and media phenomenon is indeed changing the world as we speak. But most of us are very aware of how appealing it can be. But how can we use these tools effectively to actually shift the paradigm? Youths are indeed a very unpredictable lot. Their needs and appeals dynamically changes by the minute that it makes it very difficult to please. So how do we get their attention?

Here in .myFuture Foundation, we listen to youths carefully. Identify their preferences and satisfy their requests. We create projects that will be based on what will appeal to them and work to get the message out there. After all, they want to be heard and be significant in the society. Our partnership with Popfolio has brought you this fast growing social networking/media project, PopIN. Our approach is simple, effective and expandable. Engage the youths using pop culture while pushing socio-politics matters. It sounds experimental but that’s the beauty of it.

We believe that there are two types of youth in Malaysia. The obvious - Those who choose to know and they may want to participate actively or become an observer. The oblivious - Those who choose not to know but would love to express themselves in other preferred ways. It is the foundation’s role to engage both types in order for them to be heard. My previous PopMuda posts has revealed that it is possible to spread the message of life, humanity, race-relations and nation building through the avenues of music, film and sports. Not everything needs to be academically done. The society that binds us may prevent us being a democratically mature youth but believing that we will grow soon means we have got 70% of the job done. .myFuture Foundation is always on the lookout to work with youths and hear them out.

So do visit us at www.myfuturefoundation.my

Will the Youths of Malaysia get to this maturity of democracy one day? It’s entirely up to you. Make it happen.

http://www.ukyouthparliament.org.uk

Kharis Idris
Director
.myFuture Foundation

Hey PopDudes and PopChicks! Ahhh.. Hasn’t it been such an eventful year? What do you mean it just began? That’s what I meant! Just one month into the new year and we are filled chest high with controversies and events! Anyway, PopIN shall not falter too! Check out our past Twitterview with Kharis Idris of MyFutureFoundation! He shares with us his passion in sports and also in believing that young Malaysians have a lot of work to do!

Check out Kharis’ PM Posts below!

PopMuda Post 4: http://bit.ly/8QEhrT
PopMuda Post 3: http://bit.ly/8JFeai
PopMuda Post 2: http://bit.ly/6KSBvg
PopMuda Post 1: http://bit.ly/7G1vE7

As per usual modus operandi, scroll down to the bottom of the page and read upwards!

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@myPopIN thank you for having me. and keep up the good work. you guys, rock! #kitv

@myPopIN @zurairi stay tuned for interesting projects that we’re planning for next year. sports, forums & something to do with cooking #kitv

@tuansenangbesar Very very ideal. alright then thank you for being our PopMuda and thats the twitterview! Goodnight! #kitv

@myPopIN …seriously in the policy making process of the nation. i would like to see the malaysian youth parliament dream come true. #kitv

@myPopIN i hope to see a more mature youth here in m’sia which deserves a recognition by the executives. their voices will be taken.. #kitv

@tuansenangbesar @zurairi Any current/upcoming projects/expectations for myFF? #kitv

@tuansenangbesar As director of @myfuturefound what do you wish to see in Msian youth in 10 yrs? #kitv

@myPopIN proper advocacy is very crucial in this matter. there will be slippages but always wear dual protection :) #kitv

@tuansenangbesar But would that mean that individuals from a more ignorant crowd could slip through the cracks? #kitv

@myPopIN @allylic compulsory instills public stigma & violate human rights.voluntary instills responsibility without pressure. #kitv

@tuansenangbesar definitely.. more substance. @allylic: “whyddja think HIV test has to be made voluntary but not compulsory for all?” #kitv

@myPopIN ..there’s still not many who has a clear conviction and conscience. fear perhaps? we must change this and get more commitment.#kitv

@myPopIN there’s definitely an increase in socio-political awareness among m’sian youth, yes. however, look deeper and you will see..#kitv

@tuansenangbesar …aware about today’s issues either socially and politically? #kitv

@tuansenangbesar cchhyeah we are ;) Do you think that Malaysian youth nowadays are… #kitv

@myPopIN i’ll tweet you guys when i cross the finish line.@allylic PopIN’s the next best thing on social media after Facebook. Yeah. #kitv

@myPopIN @g_wky maybe to represent the fatsos and tell the skinny people that i can finish a marathon too? :) #kitv

@tuansenangbesar haha let us know whether you do. Allll the best! from @allylic: What do you think of popIN? heh #kitv

@myPopIN @g_wky good question. err not really sure. i enjoy pain? i just want to see if i’m able to finish it. what training? LOL #kitv

@tuansenangbesar eh wow. On the topic of sports @g_wky asks “so you’re running a marathon in singopo this wknd, how was training?” #kitv

@myPopIN we even had a squash complex, yo. bukit bintang boys school. @1Rahmah, you working for the pink lady? #kitv

@tuansenangbesar @1Rahmah: wah your school had squash? What school didja come from? #kitv

@myPopIN @farahscooter played a bit of squash. was in a rock band. photography club. but mostly, my favourite is eating lah #kitv

@tuansenangbesar Impressive. @farahscooter: So When u were in high school, in what co-ko activities do get involved other than rugby? #kitv

@myPopIN that’s gonna cost you guys :) my last position in rugby was Prop. played flanker and no.8 when i was younger and lighter too #kitv

@tuansenangbesar :( aw. We’re flattered! So Mark rrreally wants to know. What position didja play in rugby? #kitv

@myPopIN thanks. good so far apart from missing earth, wind & fire for this :( #kitv

@tuansenangbesar Hey welcome to the Twitterview! How’s yer day? #kitv