QD: After all the perspiration and tears, what does it leave us?

Qis and I entered into this competition with only one thing rooted in our minds – to win. Nobody can deny how hard it is to win and it requires more than just sweats and bloods. We were prepared for this since day one we were considering to contest in Peraduan Gerbang Cinta Mega Utusan. We didn’t panic nor did we get emotional to get us win. We knew strategy was the utmost important and we needed to strategise wisely.

The process
We started cooperating by collecting the copies of Utusan Malaysia’s mastheads daily. Sometimes, we missed the copies and we were scrambling for backups by asking family and friends. It was undeniably testing us and our commitment was called upon in abundance.

And after grueling 50 days or so, we were selected to be the final 25 couples who had to go through an interview with the sponsors. In our thoughts, these were the people who would help to realize our dream wedding and now we were seeing them face-to-face. And one thing that we both agreed, we had total confidence and trust after the interview session that they are one of the best groups of people in the industry. We were determined to ensure we’d win the competition.

That’s exactly what we have done.

The challenges
For the entire 2 weeks of the competition, we have come across many phases, not to mention – challenges. The slurs, the unnecessary attention, the lost sleep, the skipped meals, the tears, the dignity compromised – they are all parts and parcels of the competition. It doesn’t help when you are not used to this kind of environment. Having said that, we have learned a great deal out of it and personally made me realized a few things.

One of them is the fact that I really want to be with a woman named Qistina for the rest of my life. Throughout the competition, I managed to go this extra mile just because she always pushes us to achieve the best. I’ve seen a lot of sacrifices made by her to make sure everything is done accordingly. It’s all for the sake of everyone’s happiness including ours. We have made it clear that the main intention of us entering this competition is to avoid adding burden to the families and all of us will have a great event to mark our unison. Nothing more, nothing less. Recognition and fame are not within our sight, ever.

The background
We don’t come from a family where you can call “rich”. I was raised by a single mother without a man called husband by her side since I was supposed to be in the kindergarten. How she managed to raise all 10 children of hers without even asking for an iota of help from others is beyond imagination. Today, all of us have our own lives which are surely better than the ones that we had during our childhood days.

Since I was a kid, what I did first and foremost was to never ask anything beyond what we were capable of. I tried my utmost best to avoid asking for anything from my mother. I didn’t mind if I didn’t manage to enroll into “silat” tuition just because money wasn’t enough to buy a set of silat uniform. Because, I never wanted to ask for more than what I was supposed to get. I can only thank The Almighty for the vision of a great woman who saw that the only way out of poverty is having good education.

I could also vividly remember how Qistina told me about the difficulties that her father has in being stationed away from home. She stays with him here. From west coast to east, he has to commute weekly to take care of his family back home while working at the other side of the coast. There’s no personal driver or sponsored airfares – he uses his own strength to overcome the odds. And how is it not easy for a girl who has to be left on her own on frequent basis.

The good spirit
Having said all that, we think we have played our game wisely and competed fairly. We never treat this competition as merely to compete with other finalists but we want to share the love with others who have come in full support to make sure we get up when the burden is too much too handle. We don’t have to show the world the tears or sweat or blood exhausted during the competition. What we can show is our commitment, passion, ability and our unique love to have what it takes to be winners.

Now that almost all of our families and friends are aware of this competition. Nothing is more moving than realizing that almost all of them have given their unconditional commitment and support in contributing towards realizing our dreams. I might have choked with tears if not Qistina stay loyal by my side. She would have been deeply annoyed by me if we didn’t discuss and pat each other’s back. We need each others’ support and that’s what we have gotten.

What leaves us?
Let me wrap up this long “karangan” by acknowledging how this competition has been meaningful for me as I know more about my future wife. I have come across a quote “You learn to like someone when you find out what makes them laugh, but you can never truly love someone until you find out what makes them cry” and this holds truth for me. I’ve seen her broken into laughters again and again but only for the past 2 weeks, I’ve seen a lot of tears flowing from someone that I truly love. She has just smiles to show to the world but deep inside, she is just human.

What really leaves us is the dignity and pride that we have to take. We have entered and played competitively throughout the competition. The amount of dedication invested is  abundant. Let me also thank other finalists for the bonds and friendships blossoming. There is only one sure outcome out of this competition and that is love is being shared.

And the highest accolades to the sponsors for giving us opportunities which we never dreamed of. Having our faces published in one of the mainstream newspapers in the country is the best consolation to take. We hope to keep in touch.

Let me humbly seek for forgiveness from all of you for any shortcomings throughout the enjoyable 2 weeks or so. We pray for everlasting happiness in the world and hereafter.

Sayonara and stay QD QD Undi!

_Love_
Izuddin