CANCER SURVIVORS CONQUER PENANG CHANNEL

BUTTERWORTH (Malaysia), March 30 (Bernama) -- There certainly is life after
surviving breast cancer.

Sixteen women proved this when they took on the arduous task of paddling 4km
from Bagan Ajam here, to Tanjung City Marina at the Penang Island, using a
dragon boat.

In just 32 minutes, the women, from the Breast Cancer Welfare Association,
performed the feat which was the highlight of the Penang Channel Challenge,
which began at 10.10am.

Associationm president Ranjit Kaur said the team, known as the Pink
Challengers, had participated in many dragon boat events in the country such as
the Penang International Dragon Boat festival in Teluk Bahang last year.

"We want to spread the message that there is life after breast cancer, and
that one is not alone in battling the illness...we are all in the same boat,"
she told reporters after the flag-off of the event at Bagan Ajam by Penang Port
Commission chairman Tan Cheng Liang here.

She said the group, which was set up in 2005, was inspired by a team of
breast cancer survivors from a foreign country, which took part in the 2005
dragon boat competition in Penang.

"This event is significant to us as we take on the waves of the sea and
push through the resistance, thus, being symbolic to the breast cancer battle
that each member of our team has experienced through diagnosis, treatment
and recovery," she said.

Ranjit noted that early detection and timely treatment of breast cancer
could save one's life.

However, the association's team members were not alone today, as they were
accompanied by the Royal Australian Air Force which supported the event by
sending a team of 16 paddlers to row alongside the cancer survivors.

Earlier, upon arrival at the island, the group observed a moment's silence
as they strew flowers into the sea, in memory of those who had fought and lost
their battle against breast cancer.

-- BERNAMA