OUR journey enters its 100th day and perhaps a little reflection would be apt to mark this minor milestone. 

When I took on the walk from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Baru in 2015, I remember thinking to myself how nice it would have been to be on a bicycle or motorcycle instead, especially when seeing them ride past. I could get to my destination a lot quicker rather than toiling under the blazing sun and moving at a snail’s pace.

Then one day, I walked past a car which had a puncture near Gua Musang in Kelantan. The driver had pulled over and was getting the tools out of his boot.

I stopped to offer a hand but the driver politely declined as there were others with him. So, I continued with my walk, only now wearing a smile on the face instead of a tired grimace. 

It dawned on me then that while a car was always going to be faster than walking, it can only be as fast if it was moving. Even a super car wasn’t going to go anywhere if it couldn’t move.

So here I was, walking, and inching closer to my destination while the car with the puncture stayed behind. It was a simple yet profound lesson on perspectives. 

For the record, it took 25 days to reach Kota Baru from KL by foot. A car would have taken about eight hours. Without a puncture, of course. 

Let me also take this opportunity to introduce my travelling partner to illustrate another example. Ving Lee is a young urban lad more at home playing rock music with his band and enjoying the trappings of a young adult’s life in the city.

When he first approached me to join the ride, I hesitated because I didn’t think he had given it enough thought.

I told him it wasn’t going to be at all easy and laid him all the lowdowns and suggested that he gave it another thought. Ving had probably never ventured anywhere further than a ride to the local tuck shop for groceries then.

He came back a month later, convinced that it was still what he wanted. Well, I thought, if he were crazy enough to want to inflict so much hardship on himself, who was I to deny him?

Our ride from KL to the Thai/Myanmar border served as a good warm up and to test how we would get along as riding partners. Seven Wunders was originally meant to be a solo ride but now I have to contend with Ving’s presence 24/7 for the next two years or so, and vice versa.

Can we survive each other’s company or even enjoy it? On the one hand, here’s a hardened and older anglophile while on the other, a much less travelled younger man who is more comfortable with the Chinese language.

There were adjustment issues naturally, mostly to do with old habits and getting into a routine. The “honeymoon” period was also helped by the lack of strenuous rides as the roads leading up to the Myanmar border were generally flat throughout.

And before you know it, Ving’s baptism of fire occurred when least expected during the ride to the Thai border town of Mae Sot. 

It was our first hilly challenge and what a way to introduce Ving to it. The roads were mostly in poor condition (due to construction), dusty and the climbs long and steep. We both struggled but I had the benefit of experience while Ving didn’t.

We got to a stage where pushing our bikes made more sense than riding them. It was a painfully slow process and extremely punishing. At this point, I was wondering if Ving would break this early on in the journey. 

But no, there wasn’t a squeak from him. No grumbles or moans and certainly no look of regret. He just got on with the job no matter how difficult it was.

Sometimes we could only push all of 100m before stopping for a breather. It was that steep, and we are no iron men. We spent 17 hours on the road that day trying to cross the hilly range. 

I suppose Ving accepted that there will be many obstacles that we will come across before getting anywhere near the finish line.

Understanding that from the onset is key to finishing this journey although that alone does not guarantee that the mind won’t crumble at some point in the future. Let’s hope the day doesn’t come. 

In choosing to undertake this ride in the hope of raising both awareness of and funds for childhood cancer, we are both acutely aware that any hardship we will face is nothing when compared with the young who battle this dreaded disease and that’s putting things into perspective once again.

We aren’t the ones fighting for our lives like they do on a daily basis. Where we are able to overcome the various hurdles no matter how difficult, the same cannot be said of the children and their parents who live with uncertainty every single day.

What more when they come from less-privileged backgrounds. It is in the realisation of this that we will draw our strength from. 

Our campaign slogan “A Ringgit A Malaysian” is again about putting things into perspective. A ringgit which we can all spare, surely. A ringgit we can all contribute together towards the better care of cancer-stricken children from lower-income families without any consequence to our financial positions whatsoever.

A ringgit which won’t buy us much but collectively goes a long way towards giving the young a better chance at life. 

There won’t be too many more compelling charities to give your loose change to. We seek to raise RM5 million for the cause on behalf of the National Cancer Society of Malaysia (NCSM) and hope to persuade Malaysians to simply pledge that one ringgit towards the children.

In return, we will share our journey and adventures with you through our FB page and Instagram (SevenWunders) should you like to follow it.

Please find donation details below should you also choose to play your part:

Public Bank Account: 3988587622

The National Cancer Society of Malaysia 

Ref: Ride for Gold 

Or online, Peoplegiving.org http://bit.ly/7Wunders

Let us come together as a society to help our young fellow Malaysians. Thank you. – December 11, 2017.

* David Wu is riding a bicycle around the world with Ving Lee to raise awareness of children with cancer. The Malaysian Insight is the media partner for the Seven Wunders initiative.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.