I watched the elephant for some time, he was dancing happily!

In Betong, once in a while we will find mahouts bringing their elephants to the town and try to make money from tourists by selling food for the elephant. The last time an elephant came to this town was about half a year ago. I still remember that I was shocked when I saw the elephant and mahout walking along the road on my way to Yala. I was told that they can walk extremely long distance from and back to their original home to make a living. I also learned that an elephant can walk an average of 30km per day!

The two-days 22nd Hulu Perak-Betong Border Game was successfully concluded on last Sunday afternoon. The occasion was made more auspicious with the presence of Menteri Besar (Chief Minister) of Perak State, Malaysia, to officiate the opening and closing ceremony.

The first Border Game started in 1984, which was 21 years ago. This is one of the activities by the Malaysia-Thailand Social-economic Development Exco-Committee under the Security and Development Program. Each year, Betong and Hulu Perak (border town in Perak state at the Malaysian side) takes turn to organize the event which aims at fostering closer ties between the border community through recreational and sport activities and also, strengthening the border relationship. This year, there were around 600 participants taking part in the various events including football, basketball, volleyball, badminton, tug-of-war, border marathon and so on.

O1 October 2005, the little town of Betong was overwhelmed with over 200 bikers taking part in the 1st Classic Motor Competition organized by the Classic Motor Club of Betong. Through the event, the organizer hoped to foster closer ties with the community and simultaneously stimulate tourism. The event attracted over 100 participants from Malaysia and each of them looked so excited and full of confidence. The bikers paraded through Betong town to the Hot Spring, which is 14 km away from Betong. Though it was hot and sunny, the opening ceremony still attracted a large audience. As I forgot to bring my cap, I was only worried about my black spots coming out!

Most of the motorcycles taking part were of “scooter’ type. Some of the owners had decorated and revamped their bikes and felt proud to show off their works. When the parade ride started, the whole area was full of smoke and funny sounds “kakaka....”, I was thinking whether the bikes can reach Hot Spring…