GAZZETTED RUNS
Mother Hash had five gazzetted runs each year which are
mini-celebration events in their own right for the benefits
of the members. There is usually a freebie,on-site makan,
extra beers and the club makes a subsidy to offset some of
the costs but the hares have to make up the rest of the
funds. Guests are always welcome but as these runs are
subsidised by members funds, we have to be fair to the
members and charge guests a little more than the normal
guest fee
The five events are:-
AGM RUN
An annual event held around March each year. Our new office
bearers are elected and the old ones, especially the On-Sec,
can take a well deserved rest. The On-Sec sets the run, and
provides some freebies from club funds if he has managed
them well and the On-Cash tells him there is enough money in
the kitty. The AGM itself is held at the runsite before the
run.
After the run, the membsr adjourn to the Guiness Anchor
Brewery, where we are hosted by the Brewery for drinks. It
is also at the Brewery that a formal handing-over ceremony
from the previous On-Sec to the newly elected On-Sec is
held. Until recently, the Brewery also hosted the dinner,
but now, the club has to pay for the dinner provided.
CHINESE NEW YEAR RUN / CHAP GOH MEI RUN
Chinese New year occurs in the early part of the year, late
January or early February and
our Chinamen want to show they can make their contribution
to our annual array of runs and so at the end of the Chinese
New Year festivities they celebrate with their fellow
runners on Chap Goh Mei. This is the fifteenth day of the
new year, a traditional ceremony when young unmentionables
throw oranges into the river and dream of the guy who will
pick up the orange and marry them. As the unmentionable sex are persona non
grata on Monday runs, the oranges at the run are given
out for eating.
In some years the Chinese delegation has surpassed
themselves with the organisation of the run. A lion dance
has been held on occassion to start the run, excellent freebies given out
and followed by good food (best Chinese food in town) and drink. This is all funded by
the Chinamen who dig deep into their pockets to cover all
the costs.
ST. GEORGE'S DAY RUN
St. George is the patron saint of England. Ask an Irishman,
Scotsman, or Welshman when their respective national day is
and you will get the correct answer. Ask an Englishman when
St. George's day is and you will be met with a blank look.
Even the Irishman, Scotsman, or Welshman will know the date
better than the Englishman. The English do not seem to have
this nationalistic attitude within them and they do not feel
any loss of nationality nor any want to prove anything.
No nation has been half so successful as England over the
past 500 years. Other countries have had good patches; in
the 16th century the Spanish were in charge, then the
French were, predominant under Louis XIV, currently the US
holds sway. But no one has been Top Nation so often, or for
as long as the English.
And even today when they have divested our empire they still
secretly believe it's best to be English. Most of them
think- and with some justification - that no other nation is
as tolerant and as civilised as they are.
Naturally, it is desperately un-English to give vent to
thoughts like these. The Englishman's superiority is so
unstated, but it's there all the same. That's why foreigners
hate them so much. In Hollywood movies - just think of the
Titanic - the English are cold and ruthless as a matter of
course.
They never boast about their achievements for the simple
reason they do not have to. Their soil has not been invaded
for 1,000 years, which is why they don't go in for absurd national
posturing like some others. They did not have to invent
their national identity, which is why they don't make our
children wave the national flag in class like the Americans.
There are no English symbols because they don't need them.
However, to show the other nations that there is a
subliminal English pride, ex-member Colin King and the late
Nick Mason set about showing the others some englishness. (
incidently, St. George's day is on the 23rd April )
The inaugural run was in 1997 and was set in Tuan Mee estate
and the On-On english style fare was provided, fish and
chips, pickled eggs and onions, all wrapped up lovingly in
newspapers. A stylish T-shirt was also given out which has
proven to be a collector's item. 1998 saw the run in Ulu Yam
with another successful event concluded. This tradition has
since been continued by other englishmen in varying ways
(but no English grub).
CAN-AM RUN
Set around early July, conveniently to July 4th ( American
Independence Day ) and July 1st( Canada Day). The American
and Canadian members join forces to set the run. Of recent
years Ted Quirk has been the backbone of the organisation
setting up the event. If there are not enough Canadians or
Americans Ted has co-opted Malaysians to be Americans for
the day, most notable in 1998 when Peter Cushion was roped
in. Usually the team has excelled with their celebration run
summoning funds from the Can-Am community in addition to the
club subsidy to provide excellent momentos. After Ted, the
runs were orgainised by Texan American Jimmy Legget and
Canadian Barry Dawe. Nowadays, the runs are set by Barry
Dawe and Dave Settergren with typical hot dogs, chili con
carne (Hispanic invasion reflecting reality?) and burgers
(best American food in town).
MERDEKA DAY RUN
National Day or Merdeka Day on 31st August marks the day
when Malaysia attained independence from English rule in the
year 1957. (The Scots and the Welsh still have not). It is a day of national pride and is celebrated
with patriotism. All Malaysians including the 'mat sallehs'
(whether Malaysianised or otherwise) will
join together to commemorate this important and joyous
occasion. The key symbol will be the Malaysian flag which
will be flying high at all important venues including the
run site. In the same spirit, Mother Hash has its own unique
way of celebrating this Mother of all Celebration Runs.
Mother Hash joins in the celebrations by organising a run on
the closest Monday. The five hares, representing the various
ethnic groups in the country , a Chinese, Indian, Malay, a
Sikh and a Kwai Loh, take great pains to set an excellent
run and dig deep into their pockets to give out goodies and
glorious food.
This run has been in existence since 1992
The initial team was the Merdeka Gang comprising:-
Rosely Ahmad ( Fuckawee ), Peter Cushion ( Chan Yoon Sooi ),
the late Charlie 'Dynamite' Chandran, PolaSingh, the late Patrick Coyle.
This Gang gave their flavour to the annual event for 5 years
until 1997 and in 1998 Muhibbah TeamTwo took over, this
comprised:-
Zaki Hamzah, ChrisTan, Big Kana, Rob Stott.
For 1999 Big Kana was changed to the late Charlie 'Dynamite' Chandran
but the run continued with its usual format.
The run site is usually bedecked with bunting and flying of
the national flags, and the hares welcome the runners after
the run in their respective national gears, or patriotic
t-shirts and shorts. The hares dip into their pockets to
provide a commemorative souvenir and the club provides
on-site food (best Malaysian food in town).
NON- GAZZETTED RUNS
JOINT MASTERS RUN
On the first day of every year, whatever the day, the two
joint masters set a run. New Year's Day is a public holiday
and as traffic is light we can venture to places a little
further than we normally go to. It is up to the hares to set
the level of celebration,but usually no expense is spared to
make the occassion a memorable one.
SINGAPORE JOINT RUN
The first joint run between these two ancient hashes was
held way back in the sixties of the last century, shortly
after the foundation of the Singapore H3 in early 1962, when
Mother invited the second Hash chapter to join her for a
weekend run in Kuala Lumpur. This run should probably rank
as the first ever 'Interhash', in the sense that it was
almost certainly the first time two hashes had ever run
together and from two different countries. After all there
were only two hashes in existence in that year!
Thereafter, the two hashes met up only occasionally and at
irregular intervals until, at the initiative of the late Uncle Looi,
the idea of an annual fixture was proposed to SH3
Jointmaster Terry Neal at the 5th Pan Asia Hash in Kuching
in 1995. Terry agreed and conveyed the idea to the SH3
Committee. The joint run proposal was later suggested at one
of Mother Hash's council meetings, where it was also
accepted. Terry was called in Singapore, but he had been
transferred to Korea. Their On Sec, Peter Kemeny was called
who said that the Singapore H3 Committee also accepted.
(All nice and legal). Since Mother Hash is the first hash in the world we should
have the privilege to host the first joint run of the series
in Kuala Lumpur. So happily, the joint runs were started.
Each year, the two chapters take turns to host the runs in
Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.
ST. PATRICK'S DAY RUN
St. Patrick is the patron Saint of Ireland, and in our midst
we had the late Patrick Coyle a devoted Irishman who wanted
to make sure that we join him in his national day
celebrations. The actual St. Patrick's Day is on 17th March
each year and the nearest convenient Monday is selected for
the run. Since the passing of Patrick Coyle in 2004, Danny
McBride, as the only other representative of Irishness on
the MotherHash took over the runs. Though he has migrated to
Australia, he returns periodically and we hope he will
coincide his visits with the St. Patrick's Day. The
highlight of the after run shenanigans is the serving of
green coloured beer and poteen, a potent brew which is made
illegally by illicit brewers in the mountains of the west of
Ireland. (No Irish food).
MOONCAKE FESTIVAL RUN
(Research courtesy of the late Guiness Khoo)
The Moon Cake Festival or the Mid-Autumn Festival occurs on
the 15th Day of the 8th Moon of the Lunar Calendar, which
occurs in September. There are several versions on how the
festival came about.
One says, it originated in the Tang Dynasty (618 to 907 AD)
but it may be as far back as the reign of Emperor Yao in
2346 BC. It mentioned a famous archer, Hao Yue, who shot
down nine of the ten suns in the sky to stop the earth from
burning. Later, the hero was given the pill of immortality
by the Royal Unmentionable Mother of the Western Paradise to
make sure the he would still be around to save the world
should history repeat itself. But Chang O, believing that
unmentrionable is the most beautiful unmentionable in the
world deserves the honour. The unmentionable swallowed it
and floated to the moon. The Royal Unmentionable Mother
punished that unmentionable by turning that unmentionable
into a toad, sitting in the Palace of the Moon, forever
pounding the medicine for another pill of immortality. (Some
of our members have obviously been looking for this elusive
pill, which is why they get lost on the runs!!)
In another Chinese mythology the Chinese believe a noble
rabbit inhabits the moon. This special rabbit sacrificed
himself by throwing himself into a blazing fire for a hungry
old man. It turned out he was Lord Buddha himself. He was so
touched that he resurrected the rabbit to the moon so that
he could be remembered.
During the Yuan Dynasty (1206 to 1341 AD) China was
suppressed by the Mongols. Leaders were placed under house
arrest, and large groups were not allowed to gather. Even at
that time moon cakes were exchanged during the mid-autumn
festival. Opportunity was taken to smuggle messages to
communicate to stage a revolt. The oppressors were
overthrown. Up to this day moon cakes were used for the
Mid-Autumn Festival to commemorate the event.
Red bean and lotus seed moon cakes stuffed with a
combination of egg yolks, melon, sesame and olive seeds, and
almonds are musts in celebrating the festival. Sometimes
they are pandan or durian flavoured. Children will be
playing with multi-coloured lanterns in various forms, and
the fairer sex will be praying to the moon.
Our early members, King Kong and the late Charlie took it upon themselves
to set a run to celebrate this event in 198 ? (Best mooncake
in town).
DEEPAVALI DAY RUN
Deepavali, the Festival of Lights is celebrated by the Hindu
community to acknowledge the triumph of good over evil,
wisdom over ignorance, and light over darkness. The Hindu
belief is steeped in mythology and one of the two legends
relate to the origin of Deepavali tells of the victory of
Lord Krishna over the demon king Narakasura. To celebrate
Lord Krishna's victory, the people decorate their homes with
tiny oil lamps.
Yet another legend has it that Hindus across the world
celebrate Deepavali in honour of the return of the Lord
Rama, his wife Sit and his brother Laksamana from exile of
14 years after Rama defeated Ravana. Their path of return
was illuminated with lamps.
Members of Mother Hash of Indian origin used
to take
this opportunity to acknowledge the goodness of hashing over
other unhealthy activities by organising a Deepavali run
with goodies and free hot spicy makan (best Indian food in
town) thrown in. The Indian connection gets together to
celebrate the Indian Festival of Lights for another of
Mother Hash runs that should not be missed.
Currently, there are only two Hindu members and the run is
not a gazetted run anymore.
