Malaysian cyclists, Corporal Abdul Khalib Zakaria and Mohd. Aswad Zainal Abidin safely crossed Greece to Bari, Italy on 28 December 2010. From Bari, they continued a 450 km journey to Rome. The cyclists reached the Embassy of Malaysia, Rome on Wednesday, 5 January 2011 at around 1430 hours where they were greeted by His Excellency Dato’ Ramli Naam, Ambassador of Malaysia to Italy and Embassy officials.
The duo is on a cycling mission around the world under a project dubbed: “Projek Berbasikal Mengelilingi Dunia Ke-2(BMD-2)”. They began their journey from Putrajaya on 1 July 2010 and aimed to cycle the world in 288 days. Malaysia’s first cycling expedition around the world was by Dato’ Hassan Nawawi who is currently the mentor of BMD-2.
The cyclists were guests at the Residence for five (5) days where they were treated to a warm Malaysian hospitality by Ambassador Dato’ Ramli Naam and family before continuing their journey to the north of Italy.
A doa recital session was held at the Embassy’s ground to bid farewell to the cyclists. Ambassador Dato’ Ramli Naam also took the opportunity to express his pride and joy at witnessing the fortitude and perseverance of Abdul Khalib and Mohd. Aswad and wished them success in completing their mission.