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The usual impression we have in our mind when we see a large
group of bikers dominating the road is that these people are “Mat Rempits” and
up to no good. Such is the perception of bikers has been formed in the ordinary
Malaysian minds. I’ll admit that I myself am guilty for thinking the same about
bikers.
On the 24th September 2017, my impression on
bikers changed for good and now I seem to have a huge amount of respect for
them. It was a Sunday morning, and I was in Petaling Jaya to feast on some
fantastic breakfast. When I was around Petaling Jaya, I saw a large group of
bikers and who caught my attention.
Nope, not because they were riding in a large group, but the
fact that these bikers were all suited up and riding. You read it right, suited up formally and riding together.
I followed them a little bit and reached to their meet up point at the Triumph
Fast Bikes PJ.
The writer in me got curious as I wanted to find out what was
happening here. So I parked my car and decided to randomly walk up to them and
ask them what is happening there. After introducing myself as a blogger and a
little asking around, I managed to catch up with Stanley Clement, president of Gear7mc,
who is one of the co-organizers for the event and this is what he had to say.
“The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride (DGR) is organized
worldwide with the goal to increase awareness on prostate cancer among man. In
Malaysia, Naked 13 is the group responsible for bringing the DGR here in 2012
and there has been a ride happening every year on the last Sunday morning of
September since then.” Said Stanley.
“Back in 2012 there was only like 20 riders who joined and
this year we have got 420 bikers officially registered for the event. While the
route changes every year, this time we are starting the ride from Triumph Fast
Bikes Pj, heading to IOI Mall Puchong and then to IOI Mall Putrajaya, which
gives us a nice riding distance.” Continued Stanley.
“As long you are a biker and want to ride for awareness of
men’s prostate cancer, you can join the DGR regardless if you are in a motorcycle
club or not. Bikers are perceived as menace on the road, but actually if you
look around, we are all professionals, well dressed and wanting to do some good
by raising prostate cancer awareness. Hopefully this initiative also helps
change the impression about bikers.” Said Stanley finally.
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| Riders of DGR Malaysia 2017 |
I also had the opportunity to meet the founder of Naked 13, Mr.
Akbar Shahari. He was one of the founders of the club back in 2012 and this is
what he had to say.
“In 2012, Azhar, one of the other founder of Naked 13 came
across Mark Hawwa who is the creator of DGR. That was when we organized the
first DGR in Malaysia which the route started in Kampung Pandan up to KL city,
Menara Kl & Dataran Merdeka and we had less than 20 riders.” Said Azhar.
“However in the following year, purely through word of mouth
sharing, we had 300 riders. This year is the biggest DGR in KL yet as we collaborated
with Gear7mc & Rascal and we are
really proud of it. This is a very unique convoy because it is not normal to
see bikers dressing up in a suit as if they are going for a meeting and more
riders should join us in the future.” Said Azhar again.
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| Tyler From Rascal Moto Club |
"It's such an honor to attend a prestigious event such as DGR. Solely because it is to increase awareness to the common public to understand about prostate cancer and also at the same time as responsible bikers, we raise funds to support the research on prostate cancer." Said Tyler
As I was just walking around Triumph Fast Bikes PJ, there was one bike which caught my attention. The main reason for it is because the bike has 3 tires. Now that’s not something you would come across every day. I managed to track down the owner and caught up with him a little bit.
“I ride a Harley Davidson Trike. It is a rare bike here in
Malaysia and the last I checked there is about 13-14 of us who has it here and
I am one of the main person riding this on the road as most of it are belonging
to collectors. So there is only about 4 of us riding it.” Said Tarquin Hashimi who
is half Dutch half Malaysian.
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| Tarquin with his Trike |
When I see bikers, the first thing that comes to mind is a
group of guys. Well that isn’t really the case here at the DGR as there were a
number of women bikers present too and I manage to speak to Teoh Xiao-e from
Penang.
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| Right: Xiao-e |
“I think women should explore the world of bikes and what
riding can bring to their life. It’s a whole new world and a totally
exhilarating feeling. I feel very free and happy when I ride and this is a good
place to make new friends too.” Said Xiao-e
I did not join them for the convey as I am no biker, but I am
really grateful to stumble across them and find out what an amazing job these
bikers are doing in terms of raising awareness towards men prostate cancer.
Big shoutout to Triump Fast Bikes PJ and Zenith Watches for
sponsoring the event & IOI Group for providing the venue for the bikers to
lay over.
To find out more about the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride,
you can visit their website at https://www.gentlemansride.com/ or check out for Gear7mc at https://www.facebook.com/groups/gear7mc/ or Naked 13 and Rascal for more information.
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| Me with some of the riders |
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