Farhanah strikes gold at Commonwealth Games …

Photo by Rajes Paul

Bernama sports chief reporter Farhanah Azmi fought her “missing home” Hari Raya longing by getting into the thick of the action at the on-going Commonwealth Games in Scotland.

On Thursday, she was already out of her rented apartment at Alexandra Parade at 5am (12pm Malaysian time) to take a taxi to the Glasgow bus station.

She had to be early to catch the first express bus to Edinburgh at 6.20am to cover the diving event.

The journey along the toll-free highway took about an hour,  passing through wheat and cattle fields.

Farhanah was among the first reporters to arrive at the Royal Commonwealth Pool, getting ready for another day of arduous reporting.

It was a day of jubilation for Malaysia when national diver Ooi Tze Liang delivered  an unexpected gold medal after winning the men's 3m Springboard final.

By the time the 20 year-old diver from Penang secured the fourth gold for the country,  it was already early morning in Malaysia.

"I am both happy and satisfied with my performance and the gold medal feat. I must admit that I was very tense at the start but I managed to maintain my focus at the later stages.

"I am glad that I was able to prove to everyone that all my hard work and efforts has resulted in a gold medal for the country at the Commonwealth Games," he was quoted as saying by Farhanah in her news report.

She had been writing about Tze Liang since he represented Penang in the SUKMA games.

After the event, Farhanah had to rush to the bus station to take the last bus to Glasgow at 10.15pm.

She arrived at Glasgow at about midnight and took another 45 minutes to reach the apartment.

While Tze Liang cherished his splashing feat, Farhanah too had her unexpected share of golden moments.   

Fellow journalist Rajes Paul of The Star had uploaded on Facebook a photo of a smiling, victorious  Tze Liang with Farhanah at the Royal Commonwealth Pool with the following comment;

“This is specially for Bernama's Farhanah Azmi - This is what diver Ooi Tze Liang said to this reporter friend of mine after winning a gold "Thank you Kak for your support since the Youth Olympic Games days (2008). I was sad to see you sad when I did not win a medal on the opening day. Now, finally, I am happy to see you happy Kak." ....so sweet of him. — with Farhanah Azmi at Royal Commonwealth Pool in Edinburgh.”

To this, Farhanah responded:  “I'm speechless and at the same time feel proud of Davis Ooi Tze Liang achievement.”