The Shanghai Nite held at the Zinnia Bistro on Saturday 27 March was organised by the Youth Sub-Committee in collaboration with Zinnia.

The evening started off with a Mediterranean fusion dinner for about 40 connoisseurs. The main course of fish or lamb had a threestar rating.

Later, the diners and a good number of drinkers were entertained by the very popular mp3, comprising a very talented Rena Barr, the singing Blondie, and a male keyboardist. The music presentation was out of this world. Blondie Rena mesmerised the audience with her melodious singing of a very varied repertoire of songs in several languages and dialects.

The “Aberfeldy” single Highland malt, aged 12 years, was promoted on that night. The single malt “Aberfeldy” must be good as the sale was overwhelming.

The event was organised by the Youth Sub-Committee to entice the youth members of the Club to enjoy their pleasure of entertainment in their very own Club. The “Shanghai Nite” was fairly well patronised.

There shall be a “Arabian Bellywood Night” on a Saturday night in June. Youthful members are expected to bellywood their way to the Royal Lake Club that night. Bellywood here! Bellywood there! Bellywood all the way to RLC! Do dress up fully and turn up in full force to bellywood that night into an unforgettable Arabian night.

Soroptimist Representative In

Parliament Feted At RLC!

“Soroptimists will always be welcome at the Royal Lake Club (RLC) !”, declared Club President Dato’Abdullah Sani Karim , to a total of 40 members of various Soroptimist International (SI) Clubs in Malaysia. SI members had gathered at the new General Committee (GC) room on Saturday, March 27, 2010, since 9.30am to participate in a special half-day Training Programme put together by SI Region of Malaysia (SIROM) Training & Development Convenor YB Ms Doris Brodie. SIROM normally has a Training Session for its members in conjunction with its Annual General Meeting (AGM). Saturday, March 27 was no exception. The special feature, however , at this year’s Training session was the fact that most of the 15 SI Clubs in the country had recently held their bienniel Club Elections & several Club representatives present were new to SIROM matters and SI’s stated positioning on global issues. The training session was preceeded by a Briefing on the nuances of Human Trafficking and how SI Clubs can contribute towards its eradication.

Later in the day, all SI members present gathered at the Bunga Raya Restaurant to celebrate the appoIntment of YB Ms Doris Brodie, of SI Miri (seen to the Dato’ A Sani’s left) , as one of the newest Senators at the Dewan Negara. President Dato’ A. Sani made it a point to greet YB Ms Doris and to congratulate her on her new appointment. “ The Dewan is just a stone’s throw away from RLC and I’m sure YB will be invited to our Club often, by all the SI members, here, who are simultaneously RLC Members “ said President A. Sani . Club Members , seen in the pix , include YBhg Puan Sri Siew Yong Gnanalingam (SI National Representative) , YBhg Datin Indira Naidu (SIROM President), Mrs Joanne Fernandez (First Malaysian President of SI Federation of the South-West Pacific) Mdm Amuthambigai Tharmarajah (President SI Sentul) and Mrs Pushpa Mahalingam (SIROM Constitution Convenor).

It’s Never Too Old And Late

I had over the years probably because of too much of jarring whilst playing badminton, developed lower back problems and tried various forms of exercises with the objective of overcome this problem. At one stage I had to stop all physical activities and resort to swimming in the Club but because of lack of frequency of this activity and the distance from my house, back problem of mine still persisted.

I then decided to enrol as a beginner in the yoga class for 3 months in the beginning of 2008. The Club is fortunate that the instructors of yoga are from the Divine Life Society who has vast experiences in conducting proper lessons and imparting knowledge to the students.

The Chief Instructor was responsible for conducting the beginner class as it is crucial that the basics and fundamental of this yogic exercise be carried out properly by an experienced instructor.

To learn yoga one must proceed gradually and not to go to extremes. There should be no hastiness and one must be relaxed and be poised. As a beginner, one has to go through the basics and observed the instructions given. Initially, one will not be able to grasp all the postures or stretches (or what we called Asanas) but overtime this can be overcome. Initially, I found difficulties in managing the various forms of exercises even though I moved to the intermediate class after 3 months but what is interesting about yogic exercise is that eventually you will be able to achieve and get the postures correct. However, this can only be done if one is committed to this discipline and maintain sincere interest and steady enthusiasm. Attending the yoga class once a week at the Club will not take one far if one is to achieve maximum benefits from this science which is meant to help us to attain health, prevent ageing, encourages weight loss and even heal illness.

One should do daily if possible half an hour or one hour of a selected few posture exercises regularly if one is to derive the full benefits of the yoga Asanas quickly.

The Asanas initially focus on increasing and maintaining one’s flexibility of the spine, toning the rejuvenating the nervous system. I realised that the gentle stretching, twisting and bending moves brings flexibility to the other joints and muscles of the body and as well as massaging the glands and organs.

Hartha yoga (which is the type of yoga being conducted in the Club) also deals with yogic breathing exercise (pranayana) which incorporates the physical and mental benefits too. Physically, my observation is that proper breathing techniques promote sufficient oxygen for the correct efficient functioning of our body cell and also allows the body to rid the noxious gaseous especially carbon dioxide.

In conclusion, I would strongly urge members to enrol themselves in the yoga class as the benefits one will derive will be very far reaching and it is never too old or late to undertake this physical form of exercise. The benefits can be summarised as follows:

• Enhanced balance and stability.

• Improved posture and support around joint.

• Improved metabolism, body weight and energy.

• Greater enjoyment of everyday activities and sports.

• Reduced risk of injury.

I am able today to go back to badminton court since my experience of the lower back problem is resolved as a result of the strengthening of my lower back muscles. I am able to do lap swimming as the pranayana breathing techniques help me to hold my breath and hence distance swimming is enjoyable.