Club 30's "Kill the Boredom Demon" Jive Pad 137th Edition
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morning
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For AV : - Jordanian Woman Body Builder
05 May 2010 - 08H07Jordanian woman body-builder takes on world of prejudice
AFP - Her highly muscled body is smothered in tattoos, she is constantly criticised by her fellow Jordanians and she suffers deep inner torment.
No matter what it takes, however, 26-year-old Farah Malhass is determined to become the first Arab woman to enter an international body-building competition.
"Everyone is against me. No one understands why I want to become an international star in figure body-building," she said.
Her pursuit comes at great personal cost; many Jordanian men have strict views on "correct" behaviour for women, as witnessed by the frequent so-called honour killings -- of female family members suspected of having sex before marriage.
Malhass is a sitting target for Jordan's hardliners, not least of all because her body is covered in tattoos: a bare-breasted angel is depicted on her upper thighs, angel wings cover her back, and edgy statements are branded across her arms.
"You are somebody when you stop being nobody," reads one. "Only the one who hurts you can heal your pain," reads another.
"The tattoo is vital for me. It reveals my identity and the path I want to follow," says Malhass, who travels regularly to Beirut to get her tattoos after receiving her first one at the age of 17.
"Yes, it hurts, but it is therapeutic at the same time because the pain allows me to overcome the inner suffering that eats away at me," she says.
Hailing from a well-off Jordanian family as one of two daughters, Malhass's parents are divorced. She has no contact with her businessman father and her mother is often away on travels.
"It was my grandfather who looked after us. He always spoiled me, but when I was 20 I wanted to live alone and achieve my dream."
A rebel from an early age, she has nurtured the dream since the age of 14, when she swore that one day it would be her pictures splashed out across the walls of the gym.
Malhass began training at 20, but soon came up against the disapproval of her family, who could not understand why she should chose to "deform my body and make myself look ugly."
So she enrolled at Saint Martins College in London to study fine art, but soon dropped out.
Back in Jordan, she joined the International Organisation for Migration in 2007 and worked with Iraqi immigrants, "an experience that scarred me with their stories of torture and abuse."
Malhass left the IOM last year and is now totally committed to her ambition of taking part in international body-building competitions.
Today, she is on the verge of seeing her dream come true.
She is to travel to Canada in September to take part in an amateur body-building competition in the "figure" category, for muscle men and women who do not aim to develop huge biceps.
"If I win first prize, I would then be able to participate in professional competitions," she says.
But in Amman her plans are met with scepticism and derision far more than encouragement.
The Jordanian body-building federation has difficulty accepting a woman into its ranks. "Aren't you ashamed of parading in front of the world in a bikini," she is asked.
So far only one Jordanian athlete, Zeid al-Far, has supported her. He is also competing in Toronto and they are sharing the cost of their training.
They are also seeking sponsorship together but this is proving elusive, with just one radio station manager in Amman and a nightclub owner in Beirut taking any interest.
"Preparations for the competition are expensive, with all the vitamins and other health supplements, gym membership, food ... I've even sold my car to meet the costs," she says.
She insists she wants to reach her goal by herself, without family help.
"Besides, my grandfather is ill and if he ever learned that I was taking part in this kind of competition, he would certainly never recover."
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For a body builder she is actually kinda hot >.<"
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Originally posted by elindra:
For a body builder she is actually kinda hot >.<"
that's coz she doesn't look like she's on a diet of 'roids
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Originally posted by elindra:
For a body builder she is actually kinda hot >.<"
you mean she's hot inspite of being a body builder ? ....
gym bunnies are one thing, dickless beefcakes are another .....
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Originally posted by the Bear:
that's coz she doesn't look like she's on a diet of 'roidsI mean she has like what?
Cindy Crawford’s hair
Angela Jolie’s bee stung lips
And huge Bambi eyes :O
Her bods are like so Lara Croft too :O
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Originally posted by Fatum:
you mean she's hot inspite of being a body builder ? ....
gym bunnies are one thing, dickless beefcakes are another .....
Most of the female body builders I see look like men with breasts >.<"
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I think e MIWs are really incredible in this sense.
Now I found out our public bus operator are disadvantaged out in e cross border svs. The Yellow Bus is only taxed at $25 per year by LTA for e road tax.
When our own ppl gotta cough up w/ $1200 per year.
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@elindra
she has better builds then me~~~
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err, got a question to ask : anyone knows the angpow market rate for wedding dinner ?
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Restaurant, 3 star, 4 star, 5 star or 6 star?
These days usually normal is $100
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Originally posted by zoragirl:
err, got a question to ask : anyone knows the angpow market rate for wedding dinner ?
wow... big range... but mainly depends on the the location i guess...I've seen a big range from 40-180...
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hmm.....its at Marina Bay Sand
My friend told me that the hotels there doesnt have ballroom, so all weddings will be at the convention center.
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awake again liao...*yawns loudly* ..nice weather to sleep again..
just now got rain???
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convention center, ballroom, all the same lah ....
i think if it's colleagues, then 80 is fine ....
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Originally posted by zoragirl:
err, got a question to ask : anyone knows the angpow market rate for wedding dinner ?
u and bear quickly hold one (we all waiting for a long time liao)...and u know the rate liao lor
can we help to choose the food??
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Originally posted by Fatum:
convention center, ballroom, all the same lah ....
i think if it's colleagues, then 80 is fine ....
heh? i thought $80 was 5 year ago rate??
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These days it's usually 100 - 120
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Originally posted by LOTUSfairy:
u and bear quickly hold one (we all waiting for a long time liao)...and u know the rate liao lorcan we help to choose the food??
go back to sleep -
I think i go with Elindra's suggestion $100 to $120.....
Fairy, i let you know if the food can be choosen....but you got to wait a longer more coz 'ba zhi hai mei yi pieh'
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$100 should be about right
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Originally posted by zoragirl:
I think i go with Elindra's suggestion $100 to $120.....
Fairy, i let you know if the food can be choosen....but you got to wait a longer more coz 'ba zhi hai mei yi pieh'
imagine... the earthquake attends some food tasting session and promptly bankrupts the establishment when she goes on the rampage -
that's it ! .....
I'm going to psycho fatumnette to go to okinawa for our honeymoon ! ....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7deClndzQw&feature=related
omigawd ! .... .that's a farking whale shark !!!!!
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i am sure mom wanna fatten me up again..
i got ducky mee... and yip.. it yummylicious..
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Originally posted by Fatum:
that's it ! .....
I'm going to psycho fatumnette to go to okinawa for our honeymoon ! ....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7deClndzQw&feature=related
omigawd ! .... .that's a farking whale shark !!!!!
you can also go to Osaka's Kaiyukan...that's where zora and i are going in 17 days' time