Runners' special moment

Runners' special moment

The Olympic Torch arrived in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. It was brought by Beijing Olympic Games organising committee president Jiang Xiaoyu (second from left). With him are (from left) Olympic Council of Malaysia deputy president Datuk Dr M. Jegathesan, China’s ambassador to Malaysia Cheng Yonghua and OCM honorary secretary Datuk Sieh Kok Chi.

KUALA LUMPUR: She has conquered Mount Kinabalu and Gunung Tahan, the highest mountains Malaysia has to offer. But today will be the highest point in Ang Shiao Chin's life.

Six of the 80 torch bearers who will take part in today’s Olympic relay. They are (from left) Johnson Tan, Faridah Abdul Rahman, Mohan Gurusamy, Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir, Ang Shiao Chin, and Nick Lazaridis

Ang, 27, is one of the 80 who will be carrying the Olympic torch in the Malaysian leg of the Olympic Torch Run.

So proud is she and her family that her parents, Ang Kim Chong and Tan Ah Mui, came down from Teluk Intan to watch her run.

"We are very proud of her. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance. I did not have the chance in the last Olympic torch relay here in 1964," said the senior Ang.

Shiao Chin is one of two chosen from 100 applicants who took part in a writing competition organised by Lenovo to be selected for the relay.



"I feel very honoured to play my part and I am glad I have made my parents proud," said the electrical engineer.

Yesterday. Shiao Chin, her parents and extended family members had dinner to celebrate her success.

Shiao Chin will be running along the route near Berjaya Times Square.

Today's torch relay will be the first to be held in Malaysia in 44 years. The other competition winner is Mohan Gurusamy, 21.

Mohan and Shiao Chin will be joined by 78 others in the Malaysian leg of the relay.

The rest are either national athletes or chosen by the Olympic Games sponsors, including Lenovo, a global IT company, which designed the torch.

Lenovo's director of communications (Asia-Pacific) Geraldine Kan said the company invited four to take part as "they embodied the Olympic spirit by motivating their peers and communities".

They are Nick Lazaridis, 37, Johnson Tan Soo Lin, 41, Faridah Abdul Rahman, 48, and Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir, 50. They, Shiao Chin and Mohan have been named "New Thinkers" by Lenovo.

Australian Lazaridis said the torch is meaningful to him as he is of Greek ancestry. Greece is the birth country of the modern Olympics.

"I will be thinking of my family during the run and I believe the relay symbolises unity and peace in the world," said Lazaridis, Lenovo's leader of the Asia Pacific Centre of Excellence.

Marina said she would be thinking of her father Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who is overseas, during the relay.

"I think the torch symbolises unity and diversity."

NST