DRAGON boat races in Egypt do not have a long tradition like in Penang. So, it’s only natural that the all-women Egyptian team currently participating in the Penang International Dragon Boat Festival is making heads turn wherever they go at the Teluk Bahang Dam.
In fact, this is the first time Egypt, according to team manager Ehab Gouda, is sending an all-women’s team for the Penang International Dragon Boat Festival as well as an overseas competition.
Gouda and his wife, Mary Lai from Hong Kong, are leading a 12-member Egyptian women’s team to Penang to compete in the 200m event today and 450m event tomorrow.
“We are unfortunate that two of our peddlers fell sick and could not race today. But we hope they can recover for the 450m race tomorrow,” said Gouda, who is also the president of the Egyptian Friendship Association Ltd.
“We had participated in the men’s and mixed events before in Hong Kong, but this is the first time, we come here with a women’s team.
“The girls are very happy to be here. Penang is such a nice place with friendly people and fantastic food.
“We spent a month preparing for the competition in Penang. Dragon boating is a relatively new sports for us, we will go step by step.
“So far, we have organised eight competitions in the last few years. In February next year, we are going to hold an international competition at the Nile River and we are going to invite a number of ambassadors to witness the event to make it popular.”
Gouda said they hoped to finish among the top three teams in the Penang races, failing which he said, they would be just delighted to be part and parcel of the festival.
The Egyptian Friendship Association that he is leading encourages mutual respect, understanding and people to people diplomacy between Egypt and other nations.
“We promote peace by offering innovative, high-quality cultural exchange activities, including sports, music, art and educational programmes. We bring together different nationalities and people who believe that cross-cultural understanding strengthens our global economy,” Gouda said.
Story by K.H. Ong
Pix by Ahmad Adil Muhamad