1. Melbourne Cup is an annual horse-racing event held in Melbourne on the first Tuesday every November. The first Melbourne Cup was held in 1861.
2. It's widely known as the race that stops a nation. It's also gazetted as a public holiday in Victoria state.
3. About 100,000 people attend the cup day every year. 100,000 dressed-up people.
4. Fashion is a main focus for the attendants at the Melbourne Cup race. Apart from their best dresses, women often wear elegant hats or fascinators (pictured above) as an accessory. It's quite a sight to behold. However, many of these people get drunk and the ground is full of rubbish after the event. It's an eyesore not to behold.
5. 80 percent of all adult Australians population are said to place a bet in any given year's race. The total bet often goes up to 100 million dollars throughout Australia. Australia's population is 20 million, so it comes up to everyone in the country placing an average of 5-dollar bet in the race.
6. The winner this year, Shocking, came first at a 11-1 odd. It means that if you bet $10 for a win, you would have earned $110 at the end of the day. One punter took home $440,000 on a $40,000 stake. If you bet one of the other 22 horses in the race you lose all your money. Apart from winner you can also bet for places (top three), quinella, trifecta, first four, big 6 and so on.
7. Melbourne Cup is one of the races where a handicap is placed on the horses based on their previous performances. The handicap is in the form of weight they are stipulated to carry during the race. For example, if a horse has recently won a race, it might be "penalised" and be required to carry an extra one kilogram. This is meant to "equalise" the winning chances of all participating horses.
8. As a result of the above, jockeys need to be extremely light. Since the stipulated handicap weight is usually around 55 to 60 kilograms, and this includes the jockey's weight, the jockeys have to weigh in at somewhere in the low 50 kilograms. As part of the job jockeys would do almost anything to keep their weight down. Some turn anorexic, restricting their diet vigorously and purging routinely to lose weight. In fact some racecourses have specific "heaving bowls" in its toilets for the purpose of purging. Amongst other drastic methods to lose weight include the use of illegal drugs, diuretics, wrapping themselves in a hot bag and sweat off the weight. All these are detrimental to health and can cause death in severe cases, and they can make jockeys look older than they are. It's an ugly scene not widely known behind the glamour of the whole industry.
9. In exchange the jockeys can earn a considerable amount of money if they are successful. A top jockey can earn more than one million dollars a year.
10. I went to the 2009 Melbourne Cup and burned my ears and nose.
Michael Jackson died.
I am not really a huge fan of his but at various points of my life I have been touched by his music and inspired by his performance. Who amongst us have never been touched by some of the works like "we are the world", "heal the world", "man in the mirror", "strangers in moscow" or "you are not alone"? Who amongst us have never been electrified by or danced to "beat it", "black or white" or "remember the time" or "thriller"?
I know I have - and for that I mourn the loss. Yes he has his eccentricities and sins, but let's leave it for another day, or for someone above if it is there.
So I went to Fiesta Malaysia, an event in Federation Square, Melbourne held in conjunction with the National Day of Malaysia.
The hymn Be Still, My Soul was played by a military band and sung by a choir. It was followed by God Save the Queen, the Australian national anthem during the two world wars of the 20th century, and the present national anthem.
Apparently no one responded to the "fake" run for the kids post. The video wasn't real, but it's true that I participated in "Run For The Kids" again, on last weekend. This time I joined it together with Wee Loon, Boon Phiaw, Thow Kong, Violet, Kheng Ying, Nooi Hoay and two other juniors from Monash Universities (sorry can't remember the names).
It's a real disappointment that I did not really manage to fare better this year, timing 1:41:54 despite not stopping along the way twice like last year (for toilet break and getting band-aids in first aid station). Last year my average speed was 8.28km/h (that's already averaged in the stoppage); this year it's 8.33km/h without any significant breaks.
Head over to Wee Loon's post for some pictures.
Last year I ran for the kids in 1:50:07. This year I ran a bit faster, but due to my mixed-up timekeeping, I don't really know the exact time. Will have to wait for the official result later.
You probably do not remember what happened the same time last year. But this year I took a video during the run to give you a better picture. Have a look! :)
[3 Apr: Follow Up]
BN snatched the simple majority, but they are not the victor - they lost five states and two thirds majority in the Parliament.
The victor is not even PKR, DAP, PAS, Anwar Ibrahim, Lim Kit Siang, Hadi Awang or Jeff Ooi.
The victor is my country and its people. The victor is us.
p/s: This is a very grossly simplified description of my (mixed) feeling. I am writing a longer (= more unsavoury) post regarding this election, but expect it to be very late due to the amount of my piled-up works. Blame it on my full-time procrastination.
It's 3am now, I just came back from a whole day's driving and fishing. But I don't want to sleep.
I couldn't be part of the history; but I want to witness the history unfold.
By the way, this is what I saw in Mornington today when I went fishing (absolutely no photoshop):
I have been a bit busier than usual, so I haven't been writing much in this blog apart from the occasional photography ramblings. However, I guess my work amount is peanuts compared to that of the 1000+ politicians and their helpers campaigning for the Malaysian General Election to be held on 8 March. They ARE the real busy people and are doing the REAL business.
At the moment, I don't really have time to write a lengthy comment about this coming election, and when I do write about it (if at all), I expect the length to be rather unsavoury for most people.
If you are interested to find out more about this election, please visit this fantastic Election 2008 Resource prepared by tvsmith. This web page links to all the information you need about this election, and it gives equal coverage for both the incumbent government and the opposition. Do pay attention to the blogs section, there are a few blogs which I read regularly.
We are not exactly devout believers of Chinese Folk Religions, but we went to the temple for prayers on the Lunar New Year.
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