Big Dreams

As all most Malaysians know, Khairul Fahmi Che Mat, or affectionately known as Apex, or even K.F.C, has the hands of god in the pitch.

Yes. He is the oh-so-loved Harimau Muda’s (Malaysian Under 23 football team) goalkeeper, under the watchful eyes and really possibly tedious training of coach, Mr. Ong Kim Swee. 

You might be asking me now, what have I to say has any relation to my title. Fret not, every story has its own history and background, ain’t it not? Well, I believe you have the answers yourselves.

The story begins on the fateful night of 29th November 2011, the night before my SPM Biology paper.

I was trying my very best to cram in LOADS some of my last minute Biology preparation, but, of course, to no avail. I was taking a break after all those mental labour, tweeting. 

Then I saw Jin of Hitz.FM tweeted about having Apex in the studio, and that he will be on air in a jiffy.

Naturally, I was overjoyed. Perhaps euphoria would be a better word to describe my excitement that I was trying to cover up with my poker face that night.

Thankfully, my parents invited me to join their little watermelon party while watching a tourism show about China.

I seized the opportunity.

I agreed instantaneously.

So, casually, I connected my earphones to my phone and tuned the radio installed in my phone to 93.2 FM and waited patiently anxiously for Apex to come on air.

Oh, the stupendous smile I was trying to suppress, was (as you can imagine) was humongous. 

Anyway, with much effort, I kept my poker face casual, as if it was one of those family late night nom-noms we always have as a tight-knit family.

I waited.

And waited.

And waited again.

Khairul Fahmi Che Mat wasn’t on air yet.

I was afraid that I might have saw the tweet wrongly, so I checked the time of the tweet. Yes, it was tweeted less than an hour ago.

Fine, so I waited.

And as the last piece of watermelon was snuck into my little brother’s mouth, as he was chewing on the fruit, as tiny droplets of watermelon juice from his stuffed cheeks threathen to escape from the tiny spaces of his pink lips…

I heard him.

OHMYGOSH.

I was so occupied with trying to hide the upward curve of the corners of my lips, with great work. My cheeks seemed to have minds of their own that night, as they had delibrately tried to disobey the strong commands of my puny little peanut brain.

Despite the effort, I still can recall that Jin had conveyed a question a fan had asked via the radio station’s Facebook page.

“Okay, ___ wanted me to ask you: who was the most famous people that you have ever met?” Jin asked with a polite tone.

“Err…. Sultan of Pahang of course. Then the Prime Minister lah.” was his reply.

Well, it mightn’t be a wonder for him to have met the Sultan of Pahang cum the President of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), who had rewarded each member of the Harimau Muda a fat cheque of RM 30,000 after their glorious victory over host Indonesia in the football event during the recent South East Asian (S.E.A.) Games, in spite of the treacherous and disturbing atmosphere that threatened their very own lives, even the reputation of the great history-changing coach Mr. Ong.

But he is the Sultan of Pahang, the Sultan of my state! That felt close enough. The silly memory of it made my laugh. But, I was truly happy, blissful even.

After one or two questions, Jin announced that Fahmi will be leaving and was “kind enough to leave a pair of autographed gloves”. 

“All you have to do is: sms JIN <your name> I love Khairul Fahmi and Harimau Muda because… , complete the slogan and send it to 32111.”

Immediately I set the playing radio to play in the background and I went to the menu for Text Messages.

Altogether, I sent in 4.

1. Jin Joyce I love Khairul Fahmi and Harimau Muda because they’ve proved their     physical and mental strength continuously and their fighting spirit is exceptionally strong, that’s why everybody loves our baby tigers!

2. JIN JOYCE I love Khairul Fahmi and Harimau Muda because the define the spirit   of the Malaysian young and they are inspiring.

3. Jin Joyce I love Khairul Fahmi and Harimau Muda because they reignite the         Malaysian football scene, spirit and unity.

4. Jin Joyce I love Khairul Fahmi and Harimau Muda because I love them, ‘nuff said.

As my parents told me to prepare for bed, so I did, and I had to abandon my earphones.

The next day passed swiftly and I claimed freedom from all of the dreaded sub sciences at 3.30 p.m. as I handed in my SPM Biology Paper 3.

The evening went by like any other evenings and soon it was time for dinner.

We had a simple dinner of rice and three dishes: two greens, one chicken.

Routine of clearing the dishes went on as usual until my cell phone rang.

I usually do not pick up calls labelled “Private Number”, but miraculously, I did.

“Hi, is this Joyce?”

“Yeah?”

“Okay, hi Joyce! This is Jin from Hitz.FM!” 

“Ohmygoshhh…”

“You do know why am I call you, right?”

“The gloveeeeeeeesssssss?” I responded in an awestruck manner, in an unusually high tone that even shocked myself. My face was flushing red hot. My ear lobes might even boil water in the matter of seconds.

“Yes! You have won the Khairul Fahmi autographed football gloves!”

For a moment I didn’t know how to respond, but just to smile stupidly. Even my little brother is inching in closer to me to find out whatever that has happened over the phone.

Oh yeah, I was holding the phone with both hands, as both of them were trembling as if I was in a -20 degrees Celsius freezer with only a piece of T-shirt. 

The rest happened in a blur. All the information taken et cetera, were just a blur.

Thankfully, I’ve given all my details accurately.

So, to cut the already long story short, after 2 weeks, 13 days to be exact, while I was in the midst of the Road Law seminar in preparation for my driving lessons, my mom texted in: “Your gloves ARRIVED!!!!!!” 

You bet I couldn’t concentrate for the rest of the seminar. Hahaha.

To cut the story even shorter, at approximately 11 p.m., I finally opened up the package:

Unopened airmail package, pregnant with the precious cargo.

My fingers tore gnawed hungrily at the plastic sheet.

My dad grew impatient and helped me.

Then it was revealed.

Can you see the unbearably huge smile my face produced? 

Khairul Fahmi “Apex” Che Mat’s signature on on of the gloves up close (and personal).

And so, my day was made, like my day was made when I received the wonderful call from Jin.

I’m a happy girl. (:

Thank You Jesus for your favours and blessings that you have showered unceasingly upon my head.

Thank You for loving me THIS much. <3