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As I promised last week, Rozaidi got his bicycle today!

Just in case some of you are wondering what I’m on about, here’s a quick recap: I took a pledge with AIESEC and TLC to fulfill a little boy’s wish to ride a bicycle. We went out last week to get him a bicycle (you can’t learn to ride on air, right?) but due to some bad customer service, it didn’t happen.

So, back to the future (pun intended)… I arrived at Rumah Aman today with a 20 inch silver/blue bicycle to the immense delight of a bright faced Rozaidi, who, even as I left, was still cycling. But I’m getting ahead of myself again.

So this is how the story goes….

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Prologue: The Pledge

In June, I made the pledge, thinking how hard is it to teach a little boy how to ride a bike? Of course, in my excitement, I failed to see the minor detail of acquiring a bike. Oops. The moment I realized this however, I immediately jumped into action (after getting proper documents, that is) to raise funds to acquire said bike.

Chapter 1: Money, Money, Money (it’s so funny, in a rich man’s world…but i’m a student, so.)

I leveraged some contacts and send out donation requests, detailing my pledge. Due to time constraints, I only managed to target a set group of people, and for this, I would like to publicly thank Mr. Roshan Thiran, CEO of Leaderonomics and his merry band of Leaderonomers for their generous personal contributions to this cause. Thank you guys, couldn’t have done this without you!

Chapter 2: Shopping (it’s not as easy as it seems)

In my previous blog, I have already detailed the shenanigans that happened when I went shopping the first time. I got second time lucky, though. Since I already knew the type of bicycle Rozaidi wanted, and height and color, I was able to go out on my own and get it.

Following my mother’s advice (mum always knows best, guys) I visited the bicycle shop from my childhood neighborhood, a place where I had bought my first ~adult bicycle. It’s amazing to see how some little shops have not changed, how they have not been swept away in a fit of commercialization. (Support small businesses, they deserve love too. =)

The uncle there was very willing to help, even more so when he asked me what it was for. I told him, and he seemed very enthusiastic to contribute as well. He threw in a free helmet, and gave me a discount on the bicycle. He also asked for Rumah Aman’s address, saying that he would like to visit with his son and see what he could do. I would like to thank CMS Bike & Accessories Trading in Section 25, Sri Muda for showing me that people are always willing to help if you give them a chance.

With a bicycle, helmet, and the pump and lock, I was all set.

Chapter 3: The Lesson (finally!)

Wing Onn and I got to Rumah Aman around noon, and were greeted by our two boys. Wing Onn and Firdan left to go build their robot, while Rozaidi and I headed to the front to begin our lesson. He was incredibly unstable, and couldn’t hold the bicycle up straight for more than a few seconds. After a little coaching about ‘keseimbangan‘ (balance) and posture, he got a little better. It was a lot of hard work, on both our parts, because he was fighting gravity (dang you, gravity) and I was trying to keep the bike straight so he could push start, and the sun was blazing down with the same tenacity Rozaidi was showing in his learning.

The break came when, after he got the hang of pedaling, I slowly and sneakily let go of the hold I had on the bike, letting him cycle a few meters before he realized I wasn’t keeping him up. That’s about when he panicked and lost balance. But with those few meters came leap and bounds of confidence, and after a little pep talk he was eager to try it on his own. And he got it, folks! It took a while, but he got it.

Then I taught him how to brake properly, and how to turn, and then after that, he was zooming off, and I have to say, you know how a bird teaches a little bird how to fly and the little bird leaves the nest the moment it learns to fly? Yeah. I felt like that bird for a second. PROUD and PRIDE and just, HOORAY, MY LITTLE BIRDIE CAN FLY!!! (Apologies for the analogy.)

I’d also like to note that Rozaidi was at it for THREE HOURS, in the hot afternoon sun, and he was fasting. He wouldn’t give up until he got it. Now that’s a lesson we can all learn from, folks.

Epilogue: Bye Bye Birdie

When Wing Onn and I left, Firdan had joined Rozaidi outside, and the two were happily on the bike, riding. It was amazing to see how fast Rozaidi had picked up cycling, as Wing Onn shared that it took him 3 days (sorry Onn, was that classified? =p) and here was Rozaidi, just whizzing around, like Hercules or something; zero (not being able to sit straight on a bike) to hero (zooming around like he’d been doing it for years). Well done, Rozaidi, you’re awesome!

There is nothing more this girl can teach him, as very soon the student will become the master, as such is the circle of life.

Appendix: Accountabilty

I would just like to briefly state, for the benefit of all stakeholders, that all funds received have been used exclusively for the purchase of the bicycle, the bicycle lock, and the tyre pump. No funds whatsoever has been used for any other purpose than that mentioned above. Should there be any clarification needed, please do not hesitate to contact me.

With that, I sign out of this rather prolix story.

Peace out.

I took a pledge back in June, during the AIESEC NATCON Conference to teach 10 year old Rozaidi how to ride a bike. However, due to his availability only on weekends, I only met him today. He is a cute little boy, quiet and shy. When Wing Onn (my friend, who also took up his own pledge) and I arrived at Rumah Aman this morning, we were met by the friendly Mr. Shah, and the two boys dressed smartly in red caps, tucked in shirts and khaki’s. Firdan, Wing Onn’s pledge, was older, more talkative and struck me as a protective-older-brother type. It was very cute.

We were accompanied by a chaperone, Miss Rufa (my apologies if I got the spelling wrong, Miss!). Firdan desired to build a robot, so our first stop was Subang’s Empire Gallery, where Toys R’ Us is located. It was the first time all of them had come to Subang, so they were wide eyed in taking in the sights of the many shopping malls. Naturally, when the kids got to Toys R’ Us, their wonderment increased, and it was cute to see them looking at the different things there. Firdan found a robotic set he would be happy to build, a trucker Lego set with motors and battery operated hydraulics. Pretty impressive! I certainly don’t remember those things during my time with Lego as a kid, so it was great to see how the times have changed. Now if they had a *Harry Potter* *Hogwarts* castle with moving staircases and motors and battery operated hydraulics for *Quidditch*, I’d be the first one there, but I digress. =)

We made our purchase, then headed towards Carrefour to check out the ranges of bicycles. While we did manage to find a bike, it was sadly not available for delivery in the timing that we needed it. Undeterred, we made our way back to Shah Alam, to the nearest Tesco. And we found it! *The* bike, and the bicycle accessories. And you’d think that from here on out it will be all smooth sailing and a happy ending, right?

How I wish it was so, how I wish. After waiting for 10 minutes for customer service that did not serve it’s customer properly, we decided to just head to check out. However, the bicycle did not have any air in its tyres, and the boys were dying to ride it. Rozaidi had already tried riding the bike, though he was still learning, so I begun our ‘bike riding lesson’ right in the Carrefour store itself! I could see that he was eager to start learning, and being as apt as Firdan, who demonstrated his ability to ride a bicycle.

The Tesco staff were not interested to help, so after speaking to the manager, we waited for another 15 minutes before someone came to pump the tyres and fix the seat height, only to be told that the back tyre was ‘bocor’ and that no, they wouldn’t change it, and if we took it back, it would be, in simple words, our problem. Oh my gosh, how bad I felt, to disappoint Rozaidi! After refunding the bicycle, the manager said they’d get new stock in the next week, and we could come back.

I felt horrible, but Rozaidi, being calm and more level headed than most 10 year olds I know, said it was okay and that he would wait for next week. Firdan also cheerfully pointed out that if there was new stock next week, it would mean newer shinier bikes. He had a point. It was ironic, Rozaidi had all the accessories, but not the bike itself.

With nothing left to do, we headed back home, with some cakes for their *buka puasa*, and the purchased items.

I will be seeing Rozaidi next week, to continue our un-started bike riding lesson, and to bring a happy ending to this tale. And I think, time permitting, I will definitely love to engage more with him, especially since he is interested in being a scientist (even if kids to change their minds a mile a minute), a field very familiar to me.

So, I’ll sign this out as, to be continued………

Much like his good friend, Rizal, but a bit calmer, Rozaidi can be an outspoken 10 year old boy and talks with his mind. His wish to learn to ride a bicycle.