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FIRST EDITION, JUNE 2009 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 01

WRITER

Ahmad ‘MATT FREAK’ Nahri KHAIRIL ‘BROFEZ’ HAFEZ

BOLACHAT TEAM

EDITOR G J G eo f f e r y

ERIC FOO B E N Y AW

PHOTO CREDIT D e s m o nd Fo o www.residentevilchef.com S a m W a ha b

My point …... Greetings, . I would like to introduce to you guys, to BOLACHAT—(surely someone, somewhere would go, huh ?!!! BOLACHAT??? ) To those that are mystified by it. BOLACHAT translated literally would be Ball Of Paint ...hence it’s the correct connotation for Paintball. The other justification is ’ BOLA’ - Ball , ‘CHAT’— Cerita, jadi BOLACHAT is an e-zine that talks about ball, Paintball !!! BOLACHAT

is only a ‘kampung-kampung ‘ publication compared

APG and it wouldn't be a match to FACEFULL PAIINTBALL Magazine .

to the likes of or

The point is, there’s no point why I shouldn‘t do it ….

PUBLISHER TACTICAL BORNEO ADVENTURE S P O R T & H O L I D AY S

P.O. Box 508, 89208 Tuaran, Sabah, Malaysia Email

: [email protected]

The views expressed in the articles published are not necessarily those of BOLACHAT. While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the news stories and articles in BOLACHAT, BOLACHAT shall not be held liable for any omission, error and inaccuracy.

Enjoy the read and lets have some feedback so that maybe someday after all your complaints I would be able to publish a magazine at par with the above name publication( mudah-mudahan)

As always, play ball, support your fields and stay true to your mates. My best regards

GJ GEOFFERY Aka Reverand Gray # 73 gary @ sabahpaintball.com p/s This Bulletin is Free, done during my free time, and if you are free please feel free to read it and do give me your free input ……………….thanks

FRONTPAGE, courtesy of

BOLACHAT welcome articles, photographs and artwork for publication on BOLACHAT. Contribution must be sent via email to [email protected]

Team HOODLUMS, L-R Melvin, Reuben, Albert, Jason, Ariel, Ben

DISCLAIMER BOLACHAT does not condone the possession of paintball markers for illegal purposes. It is the sole responsibility of the owners to act accordingly when handling markers and markers shall never be brandished in a threatening manner in the public or in any way to cause an individual to fear for their safety.

Under the Arms Act 1960 (ACT 206) and Regulations & Firearms [Increased Penalties] Act 1971 (Act 37) markers are classified as firearm.

CONTENT / ISI KANDUNGAN

5 WHY PAINTBALL 6 HIS VIEW 8 S.P.A Vision & Mission 10 S.P.A 12 MARSHALL Pengadil-Umpire 14 LOOKING BACK 16 CAMOFLAUGE 18 HOODLUMS 20 20 Q 24 LASER COMBAT Vs Paintball 26 YOUR SHOT 28 ISSC 31 END GAME

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WHY PAINTBALL ? Before we even start jumping into the colourful world of Paintball, lets zoom out to the word 'extreme sports'. Lets face it, man/woman all around the world are pushing human limits to its edge every single day. That also includes sporting activities. Thus giving birth to a new generation of more exciting and thrilling sport. The Extreme sport. It doesn't just stop there. Today bungee jumping off a bridge is extreme enough, tomorrow, its just a child play. Whatever that will satisfy the crave of adrenaline rushing in their vein, as long as it doesn't break, it can be pushed further. Little did Charles Gaines, Hayes Noel and Bob Gurnsey knew, that their bright idea of shooting out paint filled balls out of air gun, would catch on. They didn't realise that they are indeed, inventing a new type of extreme sports which is now played and loved by more then 5 millions people around the globe today. Giving each and everyone of them their own personal experience in p a i n t b a l l i n g . Talking about personal experience, it doesn't take much to hooked someone to this sport. Just give them a marker and a mask and a bunch of people to shoot at, and it will work its magic. That's how I got dragged into this exciting addiction. Of course even extreme sport is not everyone's cup of tea, let alone paintball, but I've even seen kids as young as 12 years old, hooked, and loving the sport. Who was annoyingly better then I'm. The natural fact that how it is enormously intense to sit behind a bunker with pellets flying left and right and knowing that it won't stop until you mark your opponent, is such a remarkable rush. Even waiting in the starting point, with your guns pointing away and your eyes locked into your enemy's , waiting for that long 10 seconds count down, is a heart stopping moment. With adrenaline locked down and ready to burst into waiting veins. Or when you're crawling up the 'snake' and visualizing in you're head where the enemy is. Or when your heart made a sudden decision to burst up and do a run through even knowing how many guns will be pointing at your direction and a rain of pellets will fall upon you. Even after taking down one or two opponent, the rush doesn't stop there. It will only stop once you feel a tiny bite from a small paint filled gelatine ball, which later will unleash its true nature. Or when u finally hear the glorious "Game Over!" call by the Marshall. Its an adrenaline fuelled sport, we already know that. Might as well jump off of KLCC. Right? Wrong. See what most people don't know is that paintball is more then just shooting your buddy in their bottom side on weekends, (which was a recorded misconception of paintball). Paintball requires skill and particular qualities. Whether its woods ball or speedball, teamwork is one of the major key to success. We're not talking about petty teamwork like the ones in football or basketball. The teamwork, by standard, is beyond. We're talking about precision team movement, accurate team communication, team chemistry so on and so forth. Maybe just below the level of teamwork in special forces, such as SWAT or PASKAL. Well, practically, the concept of the game is similar to those of special forces, only you don't have to kill or die while doing it. I can write a whole new article just about team working in paintball. But basically and realistically saying, one man show in paintball is mere suicide. It will not work. Even superstars like Ollie Lang and Thomas Taylor admits that without their team, they are nothing but amateurs. Other then teamwork, thoroughly planned strategies and individual skills also play major roles in winning the game. The other misconception about paintball is that people are saying that you don't need to be an athlete to be good in paintball. Understandingly, this misconception comes from the old rule of engagement, "It takes knights and warriors to slay enemies with their sword, but any peasants can fire a rifle". What the public might not know is paintballing has its own Pro and Amateurs leagues and tournaments worldwide. Hard to imagine? well imagine football. But instead of Arsenal, we have LA INFAMOUS, IRONMEN instead of MU. Dynasty instead of Liverpool. Thus teams with great and fit athletes, like football, usually rule the field. Not to mention a thick dictionary of individual skills that includes snap shooting, jousting, diving, running while shooting, break out, loading while shooting, sliding, sprinting across line of fire, heavy covering, filling in, communication relay, partner chemistry, hi and low, right and left switching, popping up, muscle memories and heaps of other individual skills t h a t I ' m s u r e I c a n f i l l t h i s w h o l e p a g e w i t h . Equipment wise, paintball offers a lot of exciting gadgets that caters for any types of players. Plus, new inventions never stop pouring in from the manufacturers. You can choose from open bolts to spool valve markers. Carbon or aluminium tanks. Gravity or motorised loader. White or black. And the list and choices goes on and on. Even going through a paintball catalogue is fun. Caused by arrays of design and functional features in the equipments. Basically saying, choosing equipments in paintball are always a subjective question. Not adding the tonnes of aftermarket parts and upgrades to further fine tune your equipments to your specific likes and needs. To cap it all off, through what I've indulged in my short experience of time playing paintball in tournament level, I can tell you that it has been one hell of a fun ride. Winning and losing always comes second when you're playing paintball. Because your real goal is to experience the sheer thrill of being in the field, putting your mask on, diving in the bunkers and playing with your team-mates.

Full name: Khairil Hafez Bin Harith Yahya Age: 32 DOB: 18th November 1976 Place of Birth: Kota Kinabalu Occupation: Hotel Manager Tune Hotels.com 1Borneo KK

Khairil who goes by the handle Brofez or affectionately known by Fez by those close to him is the new President of the Sabah West Coast Paintball Association. He shares his view and vision with BOLACHAT. As the newly appointed President of the Sabah WC PB Association, my view on the sport of paintball is: Paintball is a positively growing sport especially in Sabah, most notably KK. It’s a team sport that is very much different from other team sports because in paintball the overall application of the word ‘team’ is put into us in every aspect of the sport. The team-building factor, the brotherhood, & the camaraderie takes center stage as it is the most vital aspect of the team & the game in order to succeed. Individual skills alone do not play a major factor a team’s success. Paintball also transcends boundaries compared to other sports in a way that it is a great sport where everyone regardless of age, race, gender, & religion could enjoy. In the leagues itself, there is no male-female category & you find teams that are mixed. Boy or girl, young or old, everyone gives as good as they get!

Academic: 2000-2002 Post Graduate Degree in International Hospiltality Mgmt (Strathclyde Uni, Glasgow UK); 1997-1999 BSc (Hons) Hotel Mgmt (UiTM); 1994-1997 Dip. Hotel Mgmt (ITM)

High School: 1989-1993 SM All Saints, Likas, KK Hobbies: Movies, Culinary Arts, Cooking, BBQs, Lepakking & Babe-watching… hahaha Sports: Paintball, Futsal, Football

My future plans… Mainly to get as many people in Sabah to play paintball as much as possible. And, we would help them to understand & play this sport properly & safely. The main thing is to get people to enjoy playing the game whether recreationally or competitively. So through this, I’m planning to do a membership drive to get members in so that have a good pool of paintballers. And also to we could possibly pos

probably have their teams ( i f they already have one ) registered under the association. 4

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From here we could help to encourage & send them to future tournaments, help them prepare for the tournaments in terms of setting up training & team management & logistics etc. Once this pool of players exist, then maybe we can look into player/marshal development, having a permanent venue, etc. But, all this would come later on in due time. The key here is to first do one thing, regardless whether it is small, and to do it well, before we proceed to bigger & better things. Once you’ve proved what you can do, the bigger stuff would come. Tackling the problem of finance Obviously paintball is an expensive sport. What makes it expensive is that at the moment there is not enough of a following that could demand the price of paintball goods & fields to give lower prices. Furthermore, paintball equipment & such at the moment are brought in from overseas, thus the conversion of prices including the cost of shipping makes it pricey. What we could do is probably work with field operators & pro-shops to have registered members play or buy at discounted prices. Hopefully this incentive would make paintball attractive enough for the public & to garner their interest to play. Another way is that we could probably organize clinics or tournaments that are subsidized or backed by either government or private sector. Maybe once these things happen, it would showcase paintball as an affordable sport. To play paintball does not mean that you have to buy your own marker & gear. Unless you’re serious & committed enough to the sport to compete at higher & bigger stages, then having these equipment would be worthwhile. And if those who do want to achieve that level but could not afford to do so, then maybe the association or its members could assist in looking for potential sponsors with the range of network that it would eventually build to enable players or teams to play the sport. What the sport would be like in 5 years… Hopefully in 5 years time, there would be a lot more awareness & participation by the public for this sport, & that it would be showcased as a significant sport worthy of a place in prime time news & media. Hopefully there would be enough pool of players & teams for us to be able to compete locally at a higher level than we do now. Hopefully by then the prices of equipment & such would be more affordable. But, most of all in 5 years time, I would like to see us (Sabah paintballers & teams) be able to assert ourselves in the Malaysian paintball scene & gain the respect from our counterparts across the South China Sea & be able to challenge them for honours in any major event. 5

Persatuan Paintball Sabah telah ditubuhkan Pada bulan November tahun lepas. Persatuan in telah mengemukakan pendaftarannya kepada Pendaftar Pertubuhan pada akhir tahun 2008 dan pihak pendaftar telah meluluskan pendaftaran persatuan ini pada 25 Mac 2009.

PRESIDENT Mohd Junaidi Mohd Tahir VICE PRESIDENT Khairil Hafez B.Harith Yahya HON. SECRETARY Muhd Zukhairi Othman TRESURER Adrian Marcel Geoffrey Joitol ASST. TRESURER Mohd. Faizal Mohd. Tahir EXCOs Mohd. Zurqarany Mohd Zahari Zailzulie Shakry Gregory Geoffery

Juen

Muhd. Khairie Nasir Zulkernaen Awg Besar Mohd. Hanafiah Mohd Kassim Audrey Melissa Masudal

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By MJ Tahir

Saudari seorang Marshall ? - Ya. Sudah berapa lama ? - Lebih kurang 3 tahun. Apakah ‘position’ anda semasa bertugas ? Tak tentu...sekiranya terdapat kejohanan paintball di negeri sendiri, saya biasanya mengambil posisi 'Ultimate'; di tempat lain biasanya sa dipilih sebagai 'Ground Marshal'. Di Sabah, adakah organisasi khusus bagi marshallmarshall ? - Setakat ni cuma satu sahaja - Malaysian Marshal (Sabah Branch) yang bergiat aktif di negeri Sabah.

acara atau kejohanan paintball (di mana saya ditugaskan), di mana setiap kali ia akan menguji sejauh manakah kemampuan saya untuk menjalankan tugas saya seperti mana seorang Marshal lelaki boleh lakukan.

Berapa ramai Marshall di Sabah ? - Setakat ini terdapat lebih kurang 30 orang yang terlatih, cuma malangnya hanya segelintir sahaja yang masih aktif.

Seronok jadi Marshall ? - Seronok! =) Mengapa seseorang wanita seperti saudari memilih untuk menjadi Marshall ? - Kerana minat. Pada asalnya saya ingin menumpukan perhatian untuk menjadi seorang pemain paintball, sehinggalah apabila saya menyertai kursus sebagai Marshall, saya mendapati bahawa sukan paintball lebih daripada setakat 'hit & out'. Ia memerlukan disiplin, tugasnya lebih mencabar kerana akan berdepan dengan pelbagai karenah pemain, memerlukan daya tumpuan yang tajam, stamina yang baik dan saya akan menghadapinya di setiap

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Bagaimankah seseorang itu mendapakan akreditasi untuk menjadi marshall ? - Menjadi seorang Marshall bukan setakat menghafal buku undang-undang atau terletak pada sijil Marshal sahaja. Seorang itu perlu mempunyai disiplin - tepati masa, menghormati pemain dan rakan marshal yang lain, beretika, tegas dan adil. Semua itu tidak ada makna sekiranya seorang Marshal tidak mempunyai ciri-ciri tersebut.

Apakah tugas Marshall dan mengapa ianya penting bagi pembangunanan sukan paintball ini di Malaysia khususnya di Sabah ? - Pada asasnya, peranan Marshall adalah untuk memastikan semua pemain mengikuti semua prosedur keselamatan sewaktu bermain paintball. Di peringkat pertandingan pula, Marshall adalah penting bagi memastikan pemain mematuhi undang-undang permainan. Sukan Paintball adalah sesuatu yang masih baru di Sabah. Terdapat ramai orang ingin mencuba sukan tersebut sebagai satu kegiatan hiburan tetapi tidak mempunyai pengetahuan tentang peraturan keselamatan yang harus diikuti sewaktu bermain paintball.

Peranan Marshall adalah penting untuk 'mendidik' dan memberi kesedaran kepada mereka yang baru atau ingin menyertai sukan paintball ini demi keselamatan diri mereka sendiri dan orang lain sebelum mengenali sukan ini dengan lebih dalam lagi.

Saya difahamkan terdapat dua organisasi Marshalling di Malaysia, Malaysian Marshall dan MPRO, saudari menganggotai ? - Malaysia Marshall.

Mengapa ? - Kerana pada waktu saya menyertai kursus tersebut, hanya kursus yang dianjurkan oleh Malaysian Marshall sahaja yang terbuka untuk pendaftaran. Secara peribadi, saya tidak kisah menyertai mana-mana organisasi pun kerana misi dan tugas dia sama sahaja.

Soalan selanjutnya, mengapa terdapat dua badan ini sedangkan sukan ini adalah universal dan tentunya peraturan ataupun undangundang adalah sama ? - Setiap badan ditubuhkan oleh operator/liga sukan paintball (cth: MPOC, MY-NPL) masing-masing supaya senang untuk mengatasi masalah kekurangan marshall di dalam padang pada masa-masa tertentu.

Pada pandangan saudari, tidakah dua badan yang berbeza ini mencerminkan seolah-olah ada yang tidak kena dengan industri sukan paintball ini ? - Tidak.

Didalam pertandingan yang saudari pernah kendalikan apakah insiden atau peristiwa/pangalaman yang tidak dapat dilupakan. - Terlalu banyak untuk disebutkan secara satu persatu - Setiap pertandingan yang saya pernah kendalikan telah mengajar saya banyak perkara - bagaimana untuk menghadapi setiap masalah yang mungkin akan timbul, kebarangkalian sesuatu perkara yang akan berlaku dan bagaimana mengatasi masalah tersebut sekiranya ia akan berulang kembali. Secara keseluruhan, kesemuanya memberi saya semangat untuk terus berkecimpung di dalam sukan paintball, dan membuatkan saya masih mahu untuk meneruskan tugas saya sebagai seorang Marshall. Pada pandangan anda, sejauh manakah sukan ini akan berkembang didalam tempoh 5 tahun akan datang ? - Malaysia sudah pun mencapai hingga ke peringkat antarabangsa di dalam sukan paintball. Sukar untuk diramalkan sejauh mana sukan ini akan berkembang di Sabah dalam tempoh tersebut...saya cuma harapkan yang terbaik dan cuba memberikan yang terbaik. Yang selebihnya, diharapkan semua pihak dapat memberikan yang terbaik di dalam mempromosikan sukan paintball bukan sahaja untuk kepentingan diri sendiri tapi untuk semua.

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My

paintball journey started somewhere in October 2007. That’s when I got hooked on this sport called paintball that I have now grown to love & enjoy. Paintball wasn’t quite such a ‘new’ sport for me. I was actually first exposed to it between 2001-2002 while studying in Glasgow, Scotland in the United Kingdom. I was first introduced to woodsball or recball, whichever you would prefer to call it. Played in some desolate wooded area, in the cold autumn/winter weather, a few hours’ drive from Glasgow city with a few friends. That was my first & only time I played the game until I returned home. At the time, it did not really catch on to me. It didn’t leave a lasting impression as I was about to find out a few years later. Maybe it was because I thought of it as just another ‘shoot-em -up’ game, or maybe because playing it for the first time in cold weather, soaked in rain, & covered in mud for almost half a day, plus having to endure hours on the road to & fro, made it kind of a turn-off for me. So, I never really pursued it.

After returning home to KK, towards the end of 2007, together with some buddies from an online community, we were contemplating what our next activity as a group would be. One guy stumbled upon a local field’s website & suggested that we try paintball. I was game for it as it had been a few years since I last played. However, we didn’t get to play there, as my friend made a booking at another field. Two paintball fields in KK…I never thought that it could happen. So, on that fateful October weekend, with my buddies, playing with Tippmann & VForce rentals, spending somewhere around RM60.00 or so, & ended up counting the welts on our bodies, I was hooked! The adrenaline rush of ducking for cover, & the excitement of getting to shoot people at will was great. We had a blast & wasted no time in deciding the next paintball outing. It began by deciding to play once a month, to twice a month, & then every weekend.

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It was around there that I first met a group of guys who called themselves The Hoodlums. They had their own equipment & gear. Cool looking goggles, harnesses, & above all…e-markers! That’s when I decided to get serious with paintball. And it began with the purchase of my first & ver y own goggle. No more rental goggles, hooray! Then came the harness & pods. Then the cool looking paintball pants. I was almost set. I wanted to get an e-marker but, realized that I had to do some research on it first. On a trip to KL at the end of 2007, af ter a close friend of mine had already bought his own set of e-marker, my mind was made up to get one too! I made my way to a paintball pro-shop in Subang that I came to know about af ter searching the net & sat down with the guy there asking as many questions as I could about e-markers. I was shown a variety of marker s but, none that I wanted until he came out with one. I could say that it was love at first sight. It looked sexy, it looked mean. It had the right feel & felt great! The name was awesome too. That was to be mine. It was a Dangerous Power Fusion F7! Af ter negotiating the price for the whole set, including the loader & tank , it came to the point of no return. I handed over RM3,500.00, & at that point, I made a promise to myself that from that point on, I would take paintball as seriously as any other team spor t that I have ventured before. I took it as a challenge to myself to reach the highest level I could in paintball. It was from there that I became not only hooked but, committed. And, that’s where & when my journey into paintball really took of f. From gathering a few ambitious & committed friends to form a team, playing in my first ‘major’ tournament with Sabah Rhinoz in the KK Open 3-on-3, then my first away tournament outside of Sabah at the Terengganu Open with Team 3Nity, all the way to the Malaysian Paintball Of ficial Circuit (MPOC), & World Cup Asia with Team Jesselton NXS in 2008. It doesn’t stop there. In 2009, it was the Labuan Open, now the upcoming International Super Seven Championship (ISSC), & later on it would be the WCA ’09. And, next year more have been lined up. This journey into paintball that I took , has not only taken me to various dif ferent places to experience various dif ferent tournaments & atmosphere. It has allowed me to meet many dif ferent people. People who I would normally see as stranger s & not even bother to talk to. Some of these stranger s have now become friends & acquaintances. But, most of them, especially the ones closer to home, have now become my brothers.

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1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11 . 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21.

Are you famous ? What’s your name ? How young are you ? What do your friend calls you ? and you play for ? position ? Why paintball ? Why with this group (team) of misfits ? Achievement ? Yo u r r i g s ? – e q u i p m e n t l a h k o n o n i How do you describe your team ? Paintball a sport ? Wipes or Play on ? When not playing paintball …. Day job ? Paintballers play paintball because they cant play real sport ….. Things to do before 2010 ? Boxer or ….. Wish list ? Where do you see the paintball industry in 5 year time ? Where do you see yourself in 5 year time?

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1.Unfortunately not yet :( 2.Reuben Peter Rajah 3.actually 16 years old in a 27 year old body 4.burn, burnie, papadam, reubs, rubina... 5.Im a proud member of Team Hoodlums! 6.I play mostly back charger. 7. cannot explain it in words. 8.We all started playing paintball together, we are all family as well. So we all know each others attitude on and off the field, i don’t see myself playing on any other team. 9. We have played in some tourneys, and we had some good results, like we got the Best perfornimg rookie award in MPOC Penang last year, We also came in 5th in the World Cup Asia, and this year we got 3rd place in Labuan which is to date our highest achievement, Hopefully this year we will do well in the WCA that is actually our main target to actually win the WCA. 10.Most of us in the team are shooting Planet Eclipse Ego's, I’m using an Ego 8 Gold on black with a Dye Rotor and a Stako. 11.Fun,Dedicated, aggressive, uncontrollable and always late 12.Of course it is- it requires skill and tactics. If you think about it, anything which involves physical activity is a sport, especially if it requires team co-ordination. I would say Paintball is actually a very good sport- lots of physical exertion needed to do it well, lots of fun etc- the very fact that you'd question whether or not it's a "legitimate" sport suggests that, despite the energy needed and so on, it seems enough like a game to be considered just "fun"- jumping rope may not be an olympic sport, but it's still physical activity, and hence still a sport. 13.All the depends if the dude in stripes is looking 14.When not playing paintball, I dream paintball!! 15.Im a diving instructor 16.Totally un-true, I feel that paintball is more tiring than a lot of other "Sports". 17.Win World Cup :P 18. COMMANDOS! 19.Planet Eclipse Ego Hoodlums edition 20.In 5 years i see Sabah being a power house in Paintball. 21.Same as above.

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