The heaviest thing he has ever lifted was a 380kg axle.
Yesterday, strongman Ahmad Taufiq Muhammad, 34, came close to breaking his personal record when he lifted a van with five crew members of ONE FM’s #1 Breakfast Show.
He started out comfortably – lifting up the van each time one member got into the van.
After the fourth lift, he had to kneel on the ground and catch his breath as the final member, DJ Glenn Ong, climbed into the van.
With his muscles strained, Mr Taufiq clenched his teeth and lifted the van one last time to cheers from the crew.
Estimating that he had lifted about 370kg, he said afterwards: “The weight increase was ridiculous.”
The freelance youth workerhopes to raise money to take part in the Arnold Classic Africa, an annual global strength competition.
He was invited to this year’s event, which will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, on May 27.
Mr Taufiq, who weighs 145kg and is 1.77m tall, told The New Paper: “One of my friends suggested crowdfunding since it’s costly to travel to South Africa. I’m targeting to raise US$3,500 (S$4,800), which covers my airfare and lodging.”
From his own pocket, he will be spending about $5,000 more on a nutritionist, sports supplements, customised equipment and a protein-rich diet for 14 weeks.
“I spend a lot on food, as I have eight to 10 meals a day,” said Mr Taufiq, who prepares his own meals.
He took part in his first strength competition, Singapore Strongest Man, which was organised by HomeTeamNS, in 2005 and won.
He then progressed to regional and international events such as the Orang Kuat Sabah (Strongman Sabah) and World Natural Strongman Federation 3rd Laszlo Classic 2012 in Hungary.
HEART
When asked about the weights he will be carrying in the Amateur Strongman category, he quoted a saying in the strongman circle: “A strongman never asks the weight of the implements. A strongman just picks it up and does his best.”
And don’t think he’s all brawn. This muscleman has brains, and heart too.
The psychology graduate from the University of Wyoming in the US is taking a break from pursuing his PhD in family ecology at Universiti Putra Malaysia to start a boys’ shelter and concentrate on the competition.
He hopes people will fund him in his endeavour as he is the first Singaporean to take part.
“It’s an experience. The Arnold’s is much bigger than the Olympics in the strength community. Strength sports don’t receive as much recognition as compared to swimming and table tennis in Singapore.
“Everyone deserves a chance and people should have a little faith in me. I’ll put in a really good fight like I always do in competitions and aim to finish within the Top 10.” he said.
DJ Andre Hoeden, co-host on the ONE FM’s #1 Breakfast Show, said: “I’m proud to see him taking on the strongman series to represent Singapore. I support him.”
Danish sportswear brand Hummel has designed for Afghanistan’s women’s football team a kit which comes with an attached hijab.
It also includes an underlayer which covers the entire body.
It is reportedly the first football kit to fit in with the Islamic beliefs of women footballers.
Khalida Popal, the team’s former captain, told AP: “This jersey is the Afghani team uniform and I am proud to be a role model for thousands of young girls and women back home in Afghanistan.
“It is very special to me. It is our identity.”
Hummel owner Christian Stadil added: “Our core value is to change the world through sports.”
The Danish sportswear brand also makes national team jerseys for other countries, including Denmark and Lithuania.
SEWAKTU kecil Encik Indrasyah Putera Kudsi Dulkifli sering tertanya-tanya bagaimana alat-alat di sekelilingnya berfungsi.
Apabila ada sebarang alat yang rosak baik kipas, radio mahupun televisyen, beliau akan membukanya dan mengesan masalah yang ada serta cuba membetulkannya.
Tidak hairanlah pada usia yang muda, beliau berjaya membuat alat yang direkanya sendiri.
“Saya mendapat ilham membina gegelung tesla ketika menonton filem The Sorcerer’s Apprentice lantas mengaplikasikan apa yang saya pelajari dalam kelas fizik setelah memahami asas-asas bagaimana gegelung tesla berfungsi,” jelas beliau yang mencipta alat tersebut selepas tamat peperiksaan GCE Peringkat ‘O’.
Gegelung tesla ialah sejenis mesin yang boleh menghasilkan voltan tinggi dan mencipta arka elektrik atau petir.
Beliau memilih mengejar Diploma Kejuruteraan Marin di Politeknik Singapura (SP) meskipun keputusan GCE ‘O’ beliau melayakkannya ke maktab rendah kerana pentingnya industri kelautan kepada ekonomi negara.
Ternyata pilihannya tepat selepas Encik Indrasyah, 20 tahun, muncul sebagai salah seorang penerima Anugerah Pelajar Contoh SP. Beliau satu-satunya pelajar Melayu daripada 22 pelajar tahun akhir yang menerima anugerah itu.
Beliau dipilih berdasarkan pencapaiannya yang menyerlah dengan mendapat Gred Purata Mata (GPA) terkini 3.907. Encik Indrasyah juga dalam kegiatan kokurikular di samping berusaha menyumbang kembali kepada masyarakat.
Namun, Encik Indrasyah akur terpaksa mengimbangi cabaran menyiapkan projek tahun akhirnya, menganjurkan pertandingan memanjat tembok kebangsaan, Rock Master, dan menjaga datuknya yang mengalami sakit pinggang akibat terjatuh.
Beliau tidak teragak-agak mengorbankan masa bersama rakan dan bergegas pulang sejurus tamat kelas bagi menjaga datuknya, Encik Kudsi Mohamed Zain, 84 tahun, ketika ayahnya, Encik Dulkifli Kudsi, 58 tahun, dan kakaknya, Cik Istifarah Puteri Kudsi, 24 tahun, sibuk bekerja.
Datuk dan neneknya, Cik Sahra Abu Bakar, 82 tahun, tinggal bersama mereka.
Ditanya mengenai rahsia mendapat GPA yang cemerlang, Encik Indrasyah berkata:
“Saya fokus di dalam kelas, bertanya macam-macam soalan, dengan itu saya faham 90 peratus mengenai sesuatu subjek.”
Beliau, yang mendapat tawaran dalam program kembar peringkat ijazah sarjana muda dalam pengajian kejuruteraan dan pengurusan perniagaan di universiti tempatan, bercadang menangguh pengajian dan kemasukannya dalam Perkhidmatan Negara.
Ini kerana Encik Indrasyah ingin merebut peluang menimba pengalaman belayar selama enam bulan yang ditawarkan oleh SP.
A DAD of three has been left languishing in prison after being beaten by police following a misunderstanding during a religious pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.
Kausar Uddin, 47, from Sighthill, travelled to Mecca last month with his wife, three children and a group from Blackhall Mosque to take part in Umrah – a Muslim pilgrimage.
Kausar Uddin. Picture: Ian Rutherford
But during the final prayer of the day on Monday, February 22, Mr Uddin was caught up in the pushing and shoving of the crowd within Islam’s most sacred mosque, Al-Masjid al-Haram.
Family and eyewitnesses say Mr Uddin, who owns the Eastern Masala takeaway in Leith and drives a taxi, tripped and reached out to grab the nearest person in order to steady himself – which happened to be a police officer.
Misinterpreting what had happened, the officer began beating the dad with a baton. As Mr Uddin raised his hands to defend himself, a swarm of police arrived “within seconds”, dragged him off and allegedly beat him up.
Family say he was taken to hospital and later to a local police station, before being moved to a nearby prison. During the ordeal, his passport was seized.
Stuck in a foreign country they knew little about, his wife Alaya and three children Kaulsom, 17, Al-Ebrahim, 17, and Al-Esmail, eight, found themselves unable to contact their husband and dad and unable to secure his release.
As the days passed and their desperation mounted, Alaya contacted family friend Rizwan Raza back in Edinburgh to tell him what had happened.
Mr Raza, an accountant from Craiglockhart, immediately got on the phone to the Foreign Office and local MP Joanna Cherry in an attempt to get help.
Helpless and alone, Mr Uddin’s family were advised by the Foreign Office and British Embassy to fly home on Sunday, February 28, before their visas expired.
With the help of a friend of a friend who spoke Arabic, they were able to see Mr Uddin in prison for just five minutes that night before travelling to the airport to board a plane back to Scotland.
It was an emotional farewell – Kaulsom said her dad looked underfed, tired and ill.
To make matters worse, while still in Saudi Arabia the family had been told by relatives that their home on Broomhouse Road had been broken into and Mr Uddin’s taxi stolen.
They arrived back in Edinburgh to find their door smashed in. Police Scotland later found the missing taxi on nearby Stenhouse Street West, abandoned and with its lights on, but thankfully undamaged.
Towards the end of last week, Mr Uddin was able to make two phone calls home to his wife and children from jail – allegedly by bribing guards.
His frightened calls revealed things were not improving. He had been put on trial on Monday, February 29, without proper legal representation and sentenced to 35 days behind bars for assaulting a policeman – despite the officer in question apparently retracting the charge.
Audibly shaken, he described the prison’s conditions. He was stuck in a room with 500 other prisoners, he said. There was no room to sleep. His complaints of feeling unwell went ignored. To top it all off, he had been told he could face a re-trial and up to two years in prison – a move his outraged family insist is simply a naked attempt to scare him into paying a hefty bribe to get out.
Friend Rizwan Raza said: “He phoned to say, ‘Guys I need you to get me out of here. I’m really not well. They’re not interested in anything I say. If it costs money, just get me out of here. Because I know what they’re after – it’s money.
“‘Whatever it costs, just pay it and get me out of here. Get a loan, do whatever you need to do. Sell my taxi’. That’s what his own words were: ‘Sell my taxi. Just get me out of here’.”
Speaking to the News, daughter Kaulsom, a sixth-year pupil at Forrester High School, told how she came home from school on Wednesday last week to find her mum in tears.
She said: “Mum was crying and I came home from school at lunch. I told my teacher what was going on, so she gave me the rest of the week off to look after mum.
“[My mum is] a mess. She keeps getting phone calls from family and they are like, ‘Why aren’t you doing anything?’ She feels helpless.”
She said the atmosphere at home over the past couple of weeks had been “tense”, adding: “You hear the phone ringing almost every ten minutes because someone wants an update.
“But if we don’t have an update we can’t really tell them anything – and if we did have an update, we would have called them. It just feels frustrating.
“Our dad’s our only source of income. Without him we have no income at the moment. That’s been quite difficult as well.”
Friends and family describe Mr Uddin as a religious and easy-going family man. They insist there is “no chance” he assaulted anyone. Mr Raza, who has known him for almost 30 years, said: “He’s a very simple person. He’s not big on the entrapments of life. He lives a very simple life. He’s religious. He has never been in trouble.
“He has his taxi. He’s done very well for himself. He’s got the takeaway. He’s the last person you would expect to assault a policeman. No chance. He doesn’t even swear – that’s how religious he is. He’s a regular mosque-goer. He prays five times a day. This is so uncharacteristic.”
Along with Mr Uddin’s family, he is now calling on the Foreign Office and politicians to take urgent action and bring the dad home to Edinburgh.
“He’s got a wife whose sister has just had a heart op,” he said. “He’s got three children who are worried stiff. His daughter can’t concentrate in school – she’s said, ‘look, this is too much for me’.
“And he’s got an eight-year-old kid who can’t sleep at night. And when they got back, the house had been broken into. What sort of mental state are you in? And my concern is that nobody is doing anything about this.
“I’ve known Kausar for 26 years. He pays his taxes, he’s lived here – what’s he done wrong? He’s got a British passport. For God’s sake, somebody must be able to help him.” Ms Cherry’s office said Mr Uddin’s detention in Saudi Arabia was “deeply concerning” and her team had been “in contact with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on a daily basis”.
A Foreign Office spokeswoman declined to go into the details of the case, but said: “Our staff are providing assistance to a British national in Saudi Arabia following their arrest in February.
“We will remain in contact with their family and local authorities.” Source: www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com
