Monday, September 20, 2021

#hockeyislife Community Initiative by RSC Hockey Section

 



In this month of Merdeka, as a section, we decided to do something to help the lives of the many less fortunate people, severely affected by the Covid situation within our community. After all #hockeyislife, so we would like to make life better for those who need our help. #hockeyislife is a hashtag coined by Allan Netto, one of our Sports Member, who was also instrumental in designing our team jersey for this initiative.

A #hockeyislife team was formed to clock running/jogging/walking distances from 1st to 14th August 2021, coordinated by Sukhdev and Harvinder (co-captains). The #hockeyislife team comprised of the following members: 

1. Sukhdev Singh (Co-Captain) – Part of the team that conceptualised this initiative. A fantastic defensive player and seems to enjoy climbing hills and slopes. 

2. Harvinder Singh (Co-Captain) – One of our young stars, who occasionally has his disappearing acts, but thank fully always turn up at the end! He was our official score keeper for this initiative!

3. Simon See and Tan Chin Chin – Our convenor and his partner in crime. He is always there for our section, and she with him. Commitment is their middle name. Our favourite couple! 

4. Allan Netto – Young chap, the leader of the Kepong troop. Can create, sell and deliver anything under the sun and moon at a reasonable price. Passionate about his hockey, cars and dog! 

5. Agilan – Young chap, another member from the Kepong troop. Ever willing to help and assist wherever possible. Small in size, but big at heart! 

6. Ray Xavier – Don’t be fooled by his age. One cool and super fit dude who hardly misses any of our hockey sessions. 

7. Anand Ponnudurai – RSC’s very own Moritz Furtse (German International). His walking pace is as fast as our jogging pace (but who’s to judge, right?)! Versatile player on and off the pitch… and on and off the courts too! (Tennis court, I mean) 

8. Amrit Pal Singh – Despite his supposed “knee problems”, his daily exercise mileage is outstanding whether it is cycling or walking. His cycling distance can get him to his kampung (Seremban)! 

9. MA Sambu – Known as the ‘magician’ with his stick work regardless the surface, be it grass, Astroturf, tar, cement or hard court… and makes the goalies dance to his tune before beating them! 

10. Rohit Jassani – Our very own Forest Gump. Once he has his aloo pratha for breakfast – he sets off on his daily morning walk. He clocks in nothing less than 12km and ends the day with his favourite whiskey. 

11. KC Hooi – Our super human team mate. Our very own champion. He used to fly as an air crew for a living… and now he continues to fly with his bicycle and running! 

12. Charles Lim – A maestro who kept the hockey section busy during the MCO with his many ideas, and has taken the lead in writing up articles for our RSC blog and Berita RSC. 

13. Gagan Khosa – A man of few words, always with a smile and a heart like the size of an ocean. Very dedicated and committed in every aspect, be it sports, education, development. As role model for many. Salute El Jefe! 

14. Oommen Koshy – Although we don’t see him as much as we like on the pitch, he is always there for the section working behind the scenes, especially in the RSC 9s. Walks consistently and very much transformed to a much healthier lifestyle these days! 

15. Sanjay Saigal – A leader who is not afraid of changes. Has shown true commitment to this initiative. Our section treasurer who keep our section funds in order and a big part of this charity initiative! 

16. Saravanan – Always involved and supports any initiative by the section. Running all the way in JB and also in KL. Conceptualised and organised the auction for this initiative. Great job buddy!  

Evening walk date – Simon and Chin Chin

Pretty much the same – Agi and Allan

Rohit finished for the day!

Amrit, Sambu and Anand also finishing up as well

Morning, Afternoon, Evening, Night – The walking never stops!

Hence, the original plan of having each #hockeyislife member run just 50km was blown away… as the target was now much higher! Every member of the team stepped up and took the challenge to finally achieve 1915km (equivalent to averagely 112km per team member – more than double the original plan!). The camaraderie amongst the team members was fantastic despite having been able to only connect virtually due to the on-going MCO. Daily jibes and banter kept everyone motivated as we chased the target!

Here are some of the quotes from the #hockeyislife team members.

“It is really awesome to see many, if not all highly inspired to push the extra km to achieve what we agreed to contribute, and at the same time, improve our health… we had 2 weeks of fun and agony…”  - KC Hooi 

“We had loads of fun. Fantastic camaraderie. Going to miss our daily banter…” 
- Amrit 

“Teamwork shown in this initiative was really amazing. I really enjoyed reading all the comments…” 
- Chin Chin 

“Well done all! Am glad to have been involved”
- Oommen 

“… really happy to have an opportunity to interact and do something for our community whilst keeping fit. Am impressed by the performance of the more senior guys… big THANK YOU to the co-captains for motivating the team..” 
- Charles 

“…had a wonderful time walking and pushing myself to stay fit with all of you…” 
- Saravanan

“…I had a wonderful 2 weeks walking/jogging, pushing myself to keep fit. I am surely going to miss this…” 
- Gagan 

“…was great to have such a joint effort towards a common charitable goal… and to be part of it – well done all!” 
- Anand Ponnudurai 

“Job well done guys!” 
- Sambu 

“Well done everyone! Keep it going, good to stay fit…” 
- Allan 

“… A big thank you and really appreciate the effort taken by everyone… the seniors, you guys rock!! A clear example of commitment…” 
- Harvinder 

“.. now I understand why the shirts were a bit smaller… to make sure we fit in at the end of the challenge…” 
- Sukhdev 

“Well done guys… fantastic spirit n good team effort…” 
- Simon

The combined distance clocked by the team would have taken us from Johor Baru to Hatyai and back, with a couple of hundred kilometres to spare! Special mention to our MVP – KC Hooi, who ran 2 half-marathons and cycled enough distance to cover several round trips to Port Dickson (No, he did not actually cycle to PD!). At 63 years young, he puts many of us (OK, actually all of us) to shame! Also not forgetting our 67-year old convenor, Simon See and his wife (age not to be revealed), Tan Chin Chin who never failed to do their ‘evening walking dates’ and contributed a whopping 218km between the two of them.

859km one-way from JB to Hatyai!

Every kilometre is tracked and recorded!


The veterans (KC Hooi, Simon and Chin Chin) who outdid everyone in the team


The final result: A total collection of RM10,101 from 34 hockey section members. This was far beyond our expectation and a reflection of our section members’ compassion and generosity to those in need! … the #hockeyislife team did their best, but could not catch-up due to the last minute contributions. A HUGE Thank You to all who contributed for this initiative!

In addition, another one of our section member, Saravanan, mooted the idea, coordinated and organised an auction comprising items donated by section members, which culminated in a “live” google meet session on 15th August 2021. Fantastic job Sara! Items from liquor bottles, to running shoes, to mangosteens and even a Team India hockey tee-shirt were on the cards for bidding! A bidding frenzy would appear every now and then in our chat group, especially for the popular items…. But what a finale it was during the live bidding, with some frantic action in the last 15mins before the closing time of 5pm! Frenzied bidding in the last 15mins of the auction – great fun! 

To the successful bidders – enjoy your ‘prize’! And to the donors – a big thank you for your generosity. You guys really put the icing on the cake! Proceeds from the auction amounting to RM2,005 were also added to the total collection… bringing the total to RM12,106 – what a fantastic result for the Hockey Section! The collection was used to purchase food and sundry items for 7 selected non-profit/charitable orphanages/handicap/old folks homes that were in need of help during this pandemic due to limited funding/donations.


The collection and distribution of the food/sundry items was coordinated by Simon See and Charles Lim and all items were delivered to the respective homes with the help of NOKO -who also managed to get additional sponsorship from their suppliers, such as Dinding Burger and Bun (KJ Frozen), Hewwit Candy (Guan Xeng Marketing), Saxa Pink Himalaya Rock Salt and Sari Wangi Teh Asli (SCC Marketing), Tat Spaghetti (Yatha International) and Layang-Layang Beras Super Tempatan (Hock Ju). Thank you NOKO! We hope that these contributions will help the homes tide through the difficult times and bring some relief to the people most affected by this pandemic.

Part of the collection were also utilised to provide provisions to employees of RSC at both, Dataran and Kiara. We truly hope that our contribution will help each and every employee in our small way. In the words of our Sports Chairman, Ranjit Singh - “Charity begins at home”


Deliveries to the homes arranged by the team from NOKO

Ganeshan (Sport Department) on hand to receive the contribution to RSC employees


Thank you to all of you for making the club our home! #kitajagakita

We would like to thank the RSC Sports Department for receiving the goods and arranging for the packing and distribution at both club locations – Kiara and Dataran. “On behalf of the Club and the Management team, our sincere appreciation for this noble initiative and contribution in form of dry good supplies by RSC Hockey Section… It will certainly, to some extent, bring some comfort amongst the Staff and their immediate family members. Once again, we would like extend our gratitude and this will be remembered for many more years to come.” - Roy Jeyakumar, Head of Operations (Acting) Finally, RM3,256 from our collection was also allocated to the club for the RSC Food Bank as our contribution from the #hockeyislife initiative. Again, a big Thank You to all Hockey Section members and friends for your generosity and support, and showing that we care for our fellow Malaysians! #kitajagakita





 







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