KUALA LUMPUR: Cyclist Sofian Nabil Omar Bakri attributed his silver medal success in his first-ever Sea Games appearance to the good deeds of his mother, Nirwana Hartini, in feeding stray cats.
It is a Malay belief that if any person takes the time to feed stray cats, it would bring good luck and Sofian believes this was the contributing factor.
“Not only does my mom feed stray cats but dogs too.
“As they say, if you want to have an abundance of good things in life, you have to be generous in terms of giving, and not only to people but to animals as well. That is what my mother and I have done,” said Sofian.
Sofian bagged a silver medal in the recent Kuala Lumpur Sea Games men’s omnium category (track cycling) at the National Velodrome in Nilai.
The 24-year-old was just four points short of beating Calvin Sim Teck Kwang, who broke a 20-year gold medal drought in track cycling for Singapore.
Despite being disappointed in not being able to win gold, Sofian is grateful to have a Sea Games medal in his cupboard.
“I’m going to continue with road racing starting with Jelajah Malaysia.
“Maybe, I will stop track racing for a while to make way for road competitions.”
The Jelajah Malaysia will take place on Oct 3-7 in its 53rd edition.