Before Facebook, I Was Writing About Mankind

 

I stumbled across this recently and, honestly, what a throwback!

This was a story I wrote 26 years ago, in July 2000, for ZingAsia — right in the middle of the dotcom boom, when everyone was convinced the Internet was going to change the world.

Well… they were right. 😂

The story was about WWF superstar Mick Foley, better known then as Mankind and Cactus Jack, who had arrived in Kuala Lumpur as part of his Southeast Asian tour.

And yes, yours truly was there.

The crowd was fantastic — kids, teenagers, adults and even senior citizens, all turning up to see the wrestling superstar they had only known from their TV screens. There was even a Mankind impersonation contest!

But looking at this old article today, what makes me smile isn't just the story.

It's the website. Look at it! The blue navigation bars. The tiny advertising boxes. “Quick Poll”. “Select a Channel”. And my favourite: “You are here: SportZing > Sports Spectator.”

This was the Internet before Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and smartphones. “Going online” was something you actually did.

And look at that photograph of Mick Foley and me. The caption says: “I managed to get a shot with him!” 

Today we'd probably take 20 selfies, post them immediately, tag him, upload a Reel and do a TikTok. Back then, one photograph was enough.

And I suddenly realised something while looking at this: I was already doing digital journalism before we even called it digital journalism.

26 years later, I'm still writing. And I still have these old articles tucked away.

What a treasure trove.

A little piece of my younger self... and a little time capsule of the Internet.

Remembering Tun Mohamed Eusoff Chin

 

Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un.

Former Chief Justice of Malaysia, Tun Mohamed Eusoff Chin, passed away early Friday morning at the age of 91.

The first time I met Allahyarham Tun personally was when he came to Miri in 1997 (pic above), where I was posted when I first joined the judiciary. It was a historic visit, and you can imagine how hard everyone worked to make sure everything went smoothly and the visit would be a memorable one.

My encounters with Allahyarham Tun became more frequent after I was transferred back to KL in 1998. And here's one story I often tell...

It was the 1999 Judges' Conference in Lumut. I was then the special officer to the Chief Registrar, Datuk Ramly Ali. One evening, during some downtime, we were told that the Chief Justice wanted to visit a place he had heard about. I think it was Teluk Rubiah Resort.

The problem was, nobody seemed to know exactly where it was.

We met at the car park and Datuk Ramly suddenly said, "Zul, you drive."

Alamak.

This was pre-GPS days.

So I got into his Perdana and started driving, with Allahyarham Tun's car and a couple of other judges following behind. Funnily enough, I don't remember there being any police escorts then.

Terketar kaki.

I just followed the signboards and hoped for the best. Eventually, we turned into what seemed like a rather jungly area. And throughout the drive, one thought kept going through my head:

"Where the heck am I taking the Chief Justice of Malaysia?"

Somehow, we found the place.

My boss just laughed.

But honestly, throughout that drive I really thought my head was on the chopping block — or, at the very least, I was going to get transferred somewhere like Kuala Krai or something. 

Looking back, it's one of those little memories from my days in the judiciary that has stayed with me all these years.

Al-Fatihah buat Allahyarham Tun Mohamed Eusoff Chin. May Allah place him among the righteous.

Mo Salah Is Back!

 

After months of speculation, I have to admit this was quite a surprise. Mohamed Salah has officially chosen Trabzonspor as the next destination in his remarkable career. Mabruk! 

It'll certainly be strange seeing him in different colours after everything he achieved at Anfield, but football moves on, and so do its greatest players. I sincerely hope this new adventure brings him happiness, success, and the appreciation he truly deserves. 

And FYI... my birthday is in December, and that Trabzonspor jersey would look soooo good on me. 😊😊

31 Years On

Thirty-one years have passed since the Srebrenica Genocide, where more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were systematically murdered simply because of their faith.

For many people, Srebrenica is a chapter in a history book.

For me, it has faces.

During my years at IIUM in the 1990s, I had the privilege of studying, playing basketball and sharing countless conversations with Bosnian students. They prayed, studied for exams, played sports and dreamed of better days, even as their hearts remained with families caught in the horrors of war back home.

I still remember seeing some of them clutching shortwave radios, desperately searching for news from Bosnia, hoping to hear that their loved ones were safe.

Those memories have never left me.

As we commemorate the victims of Srebrenica today, let us honour not only those whose lives were cruelly taken, but also the resilience of those who survived and rebuilt their lives.

May Allah grant the martyrs of Srebrenica the highest ranks in Jannah, bring comfort to their families, and establish justice for every innocent soul who suffered.

"And never think of those who have been killed in the cause of Allah as dead. Rather, they are alive with their Lord, receiving provision." (Surah Ali 'Imran, 3:169)

My Stadium Merdeka Memories

 

I never expected a simple Sunday morning visit to Stadium Merdeka to hit me right in the feels. But the moment I walked through the corridor and emerged onto the stands, it was as though four decades of memories came rushing back all at once.

The stadium was closed in 2016 and reopened in August 2024 after an extensive restoration that brought it remarkably close to how it looked when Malaysia’s independence was declared here in 1957. The second tier was removed, thousands of seats disappeared, and many original design features were painstakingly brought back. Walking around the place genuinely felt like travelling back in time.

My first visit was in 1986 when my late father and I squeezed into a packed van from JB to KL to watch the Malaysia Cup final. It was also my first time seeing Tugu Negara and Pertama Complex. Johor, the defending champions, were hammered 6-1 by Selangor. We got booed by the home crowd, I was absolutely gutted, and I honestly don't remember much of the journey home.

When I entered university in 1989, I became good friends with a bunch of Selangor boys. From then on, I regularly tagged along with them to Stadium Merdeka for league and Malaysia Cup matches. It was with this same gang that I watched Gary Lineker score four goals as England beat Malaysia 4-2. I can still picture so many moments from that evening.

I also stood in these very stands countless times, proudly singing Negaraku with thousands of fellow Malaysians before international matches.

Then came what is still, for me, the greatest Malaysia Cup final ever.

Johor versus Selangor. 1991.

I went alone, wearing a bootleg Johor jersey and hoping for the best. It poured before kickoff, leaving the pitch completely waterlogged. Selangor scored first and my heart sank.

Then Michael Urukalo showed exactly why he was such a brilliant coach. Johor cleverly played the drier parts of the pitch, seized the momentum, and our Croatian striker Ervin Boban did the rest. A hat-trick. At Stadium Merdeka. I screamed, hugged complete strangers and celebrated like there was no tomorrow. Soaked to the bone and somehow shirtless by the end of it, I happily took the minibus back to campus. To this day, it's still the greatest Malaysia Cup final I've ever witnessed.

Stadium Merdeka also hosted some incredible concerts over the years. The last one I attended was Bon Jovi in 2015, just months before the stadium closed for restoration.

Standing there again on Sunday, I found myself showing my wife exactly where I used to sit for some of those unforgettable matches. Everything around the stadium has changed, but for a little while, I felt frozen in time.

And yes... I almost broke into Negaraku.