Leave Approved

The jolly Malaysian team at Everest Base Camp - the gentleman on the left in the yellow jacket is a former Minister and the “oldest Malaysian to summit Everest”

CJ and Marina, our national heroine - the first Malaysian woman to summit Everest (and possibly the smallest?!)

This was definitely a highlight of our trip - meeting the Malaysian team who had come to summit Everest! They were housed in a large collection of yellow North Face tents at Everest Base camp, with a Malaysian flag flying proudly above. When we visited them on May 24 the team was in a celebratory mood, as six of their members had returned safely the day before after reaching the summit on May 21. The six summitters included a very energetic Datuk, given the honour of “The oldest Malaysian to climb Everest”, and the first Malaysian woman, Marina.

We poked our heads into the main tent and said “Selamat Pagi” and introduced ourselves as Malaysians from KL and Melaka, and there was a rousing cheer from inside the tent. They welcomed us so enthusiastically that one would have thought WE had just summitted Everest! We were invited inside for breakfast and Milo, and spent a wonderful hour with the jubilant team celebrating. They were incredibly laid back and friendly people, and of course Malaysians being Malaysians we mostly talked about what food we missed eating, and what we planned to have as our first meals when off the plane from Nepal! (One of the team members told me that once they talked about Malaysian food for more than five hours!)

After a delightful morning, they sent us away with ten packets of Kari flavour Maggi noodles, a flag of “Melaka”, and a warm sense of national pride. We were extremely blessed in being able to celebrate this triumphant moment in our mother country’s history - I believe that this is the third, and the largest Malaysian expedition to date, and of course there is no doubt that Marina, a tiny fragile-looking girl smaller than myself, will be a national heroine forever.

And Malaysians being Malaysians, they gave us a tip about where to find good mamak food in Kathmandu. We made a beeline for this restaurant as soon as we got off the plane in Kathmandu, and guess who we found there?? - the Malaysian team, having eaten up the restaurant’s supply of tandoori chicken, and leaving none for us!?!