YOUNG BOLEHANS
05/11/99
I met Ramli Yusof, a civil servant, at the Bon Jovi concert in Shah
Alam a few years back. Ramli is a middle aged, middle of the road rocker
from middle class Subang Jaya. He also takes an active interest in nature
photography, among other things. On some weekends, Ramli and his similarly
-inclined friends would head for the jungle in pursuit of giant earthworms
and other slimy subjects. Since I usually regain consciousness after 3.00 pm
on most Sundays, I have not been able to participate on a regular basis.
Nevertheless, Ramli invites me to his house every once in a while to view the most sleep inducing slide shows mankind has ever seen. Fortunately for me, his wonderful wife Norhayati, makes a delicious kick ass Johor laksa that snaps me out of the coma every time.
Their only child, Ali and his best friend Raja Govindasamy are sworn 'friends for life'. You know... the kind of stuff Petronas commercials are made of. Like any 12 year olds from suburbia Klang Valley, they own a pre-paid handphone, a pair of RM 400 Reebok shoes and a Pentium 500 computer with DVD drive.
When I first met the youngsters two or three years back they told me their ambition was to become the world's top badminton doubles team. Smashing I thought. Last year, they raised the pole and wanted to conquer Mount Everest. Cool. Earlier this year they impressed upon me that sailing round the world was the bravest thing to do. Bravo. Finally, last week they announced their ultimate ambition; to become Formula One drivers. Should they decide to cycle around Africa I'm going to insist on a statutory declaration...
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