Bernama News Channel (BNC) Chief Assignment
Editor Abdul Rahman Ahmad related how a 35-day journey by road to the Holy Land
has changed his life to be more “cool and calm” in handling situations.
Sharing his experience of the journey
entitled ‘Kembara Inspirasi Haji” on BNC’s “Hello Malaysia” programme, he
described the trip as awesome and a “blessed journey”.
It was indeed a life-changing experience
because “we travelled 14,500km, meeting so many people, saw how they lived, so
many things to see.
“It really inspired us – there were eight
of us…when we talked to the people, they told us about their life, compared them with us, not all were sweet and rosy,” he said
of the journey which began in Wisma Bernama on July 17 passing through seven
countries.
“We were travelling to some countries
which we had not been, so in our mind we were asking what next to expect…in the
end, everything went smoothly,” he said.
"The journey has been
blessed because none of us fell sick and the two four-wheel drive that we
travelled in did not break down.
Asked by host Gerard Ratnam on what
inspired Bernama to embark on the mission and him getting on board despite being
a busy man in his job capacity, Rahman explained:
“Actually I assigned three people to go
but all of them couldn’t make it because of family commitment as they will be
away for two months and the organizer kept asking me who I was sending for the
journey.
“In the end, I gave my name, what choice
do I have?,” said Rahman who did not know what to expect for the journey except
being told they were going for the Haj.
“But along the way, I was worried if we
might be ambushed going through some of the countries,” said Rahman who was
accompanied by BNC cameraman Ahmad Shahuri Mat Jaan.
He related some of the encounters such as
somewhere in the northern part of China where passengers had to get down from the
vehicles at petrol station.
“Just imagine, the petrol station is big
and the weather was quite hot…even if there is a baby, you have to get down and
walk to get to the other end of the station and wait for the vehicle.
“I think it’s a precautionary action against
terrorists…everyone had to get down from their cars even for Chinese citizens,”
he said.
He also spoke about the time when they
were taken to a police station in China.
“We were late at that time and wanted to
pray, so when we saw a mosque, we just entered it and pray.
“We didn’t know that it was not a norm
for them to enter the mosque anytime to pray.
“After we have prayed, a group of
policemen came, they were not mad at us but at the imam and those who allowed
us in.
“They took us to the nearby police
station.
“I was quite worried at that time and I
called up the office to inform them that if they did not hear from me in the
next two or three hours, they should know where I will be.
“Alhamdulillah, luckily they took down
our names and told us the reason why we were taken there.
“It’s not their norm, not their culture
to see foreigners to come and pray and just enter the mosque…the people were
upset, that’s what they say.
"They cautioned us, not warning and let us
free…we just shoot off, no more turning back.
Rahman said the journey was memorable
because everywhere they stopped, they would attract the attention of the
people.
“Every country that we travelled, people
will surround us because the vehicles were decorated with the map of our journey,
the people were intrigued to know…they were friendly, so we made many friends,”
he said.
Asked if they had faced problems
regarding language, Rahman said none of them could speak Mandarin when they
were in China.
“But with the latest Apps, you can just
say something in English and it will translate into Mandarin.
“Even the Chinese will take out their
Apps and say in mandarin to be translated into English.
“We didn’t have the language problem, we
were communicating via Apps.
“Although we have a tour guide with us,
we felt more comfortable using the Apps,” he chuckled.
Rahman said while in Iran, they stopped at
a mountainous place where a Malaysian climber went missing for over a year.
His remains had been found and flown
back to Malaysia for burial yesterday.
Rahman arrived home with the Kembara Inspirasi group on
Sept 21.
 |
| A Malaysian climber went missing in Mount Damavand in the background for over a year. His remains had been found and brought home for burial yesterday. |
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