EARTH HOUR 2012 on Saturday 31st March at Suria KLCC.

Earth Hour 2012 was celebrated on the 31^st of March 2012, Saturday in Malaysia and other nations of the world. One of the celebrations was held in Suria Kuala Lumpur Convention Center Park. This event was pioneered by Australia, organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature, it is held annually on the last Saturday on the month of March.

The 'STOP LYNAS' team.

This event is to encourage participants, households and business to turn off their non-essential lights for one hour, to raise awareness about the need to take action about the global climate change. Each individual has the power to change the world we live in.

Thousands of people had gathered with one aim in mind; to support this event. Their attention was focused and proved loyal for the celebration of this event, even though there was a fire in one of the restaurants, Chinoz two days prior to the event on Thursday, that week. There were no security worries or whatsoever as people’s concern for Earth proves to be more significant than any other petty issues. 

The registration for this event had started at 6.00 pm. All participants that registered received an electronic candle and a McDonald’s coupon.

The media did not miss out on this event either. One such media presence was Astro Awani and many other representations of local media. The reporters of Astro Awani had interviewed a few people from the crowd. One of our college mates, Sherilyn Goh had the opportunity to be interviewed as well. We did our own part to support Earth Hour 2012, all of us were wearing the same t-shirts to signify going green and our unity over this event. The reporters had taken group photographs of us.

Interview at Earth Hour 2012.

The most exciting part of the event was the countdown to Earth Hour 2012. Just like any other previous celebrations, Earth Hour is in between 8.30 pm to 9.30 pm according to local time. After the main lights of the KLCC Towers went off, there were celebrity performances to entertain the gathered crowd. Besides the concert and dance presentations the Earth Song was sung by local celebrities. The festivity was felt by everyone present and some of them had even participated in the performances. A few Malaysians and foreigners were interviewed by the Master of Ceremony of the day. The two main questions asked were on their thoughts on the celebration of Earth Hour 2012 in KLCC and how are they going to practice going green in the future.

Apart from that, during the one hour lights off period, the members of the public were called up on stage and took turns signing the huge backdrop of Earth Hour 2012.

Seeing this event as a golden opportunity, some of our college mates had interviewed a few foreigners on their opinions of Earth Hour 2012 when the lights had returned.

Many other groups and organizations that loved the Earth were present. One distinguished group is the people that are against Lynas was there, showed their support to protect and preserve Earth. They had even light up candles in the formation of words ‘STOP LYNAS’. They also had a huge banner placed on the ground marking their support and presence at Earth Hour 2012. Besides that, the group was wearing the same t-shirts with words of ‘STOP LYNAS’ had written all over.

The entire event for us was successful with the graced attendance of thousands of people marking the significance of Earth Hour 2012. For us, it is one of the greatest and selfless events held locally and globally with memories that will last a lifetime. We had also captured the moments of Earth Hour 2012 with photographs and videos. We look forward for Earth Hour 2013. 

We're Having a Baby!-Giuliana and Bill Rancic.

Giuliana and Bill Rancic have announced they are expecting their first child via a gestational surrogate. The child will have the Rancic gene.

The gorgeous Giuliana, who just underwent a double mastectomy after being diagnosed with breast cancer last year, and her equally handsome entrepreneur and TV presenter husband Bill will welcome their baby in late summer.

"We are so thrilled that our prayers have been answered," the E! News anchor and Fashion Police cohost exclusively tells E! Adds Bill, "We are absolutely ecstatic to be sharing this with everyone who has been following our journey”.

Giuliana and Bill Rancic.

Speaking on the The Today Show, Giuliana, 37, said: ''We are so thrilled that our prayers have been answered. It was one of the best moments of my life, if not the best moment of my life. It's incredible. We've been trying for so long, we've been through so much ... And to finally get that call from the doctor, it was just another world, another level.''

Bill, 40, added: ''It was pretty emotional because this was our last stop.''

The couple's struggles to conceive have been well documented in their reality show Giuliana & Bill, with Guiliana undergoing several rounds of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) which failed and an 8 week miscarriage. In another attempt of doing IVF, the cancer was discovered during a mammogram ordered by her fertility doctor.

Previously after announcing her Cancer on The Today Show, Giuliana said "I still want this baby...because this baby has saved my life," she said. "I truly feel God was looking out after me—if I had gotten pregnant later down the line, I could have been a lot sicker."

Bill hopes their story will inspire and bring hope to others. He said: ''One of the things we've always tried to do is help others with our story. Whether it's with the infertility issues, whether it's with the breast cancer, we said we're gonna turn these negatives into positives. And if we can help others by sharing our story, then it's worth it.''

"We received an incredible amount of love and prayers from viewers around the world," says Giuliana, "and we want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of them for their love."

Three weeks ago, the couple appeared on The Today Show and Giuliana gave an optimistic prognosis. "I'm good," she said, adding she didn't need chemotherapy. "You do what the doctors tell you to do and it's going to be OK."

Bill also announced the two planned to renew their vows this summer—"and really take life on and look at it in a new light."

In addition to Giuliana's gigs on E! News and Fashion Police, the fifth season of Giuliana & Bill is rolling along on the Style Network, and just last week the Rancics confirmed they would host the Eva Longoria-produced dating series Ready for Love, slated to debut later this year on NBC. They also have a brand new Chicago restaurant, RPM Italian.

Although they know the sex of the baby, the couple is trying to keep it a secret for as long as possible.

Giuliana said: ''We know, but we're not telling anyone yet. We're seeing how long we can keep it a secret, so we haven't told anyone yet.''

After many battles it seems only fair that this couple is rewarded with such a miracle in their lives. They totally deserve this presence of sunshine in their lives-finally!

Beware Pet Abusers.

PETALING JAYA: Under a proposed amendment to the Animal Act 1953 (Revised 2006), pet abusers now have higher chances of being confined in their own “kennel’-the jail house.

Deputy Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Chua Tee Yong said that the penalty will greet pet abusers under the proposal with a high chance of a prohibitive fine with a range of RM200 to RM 50,000.

The ministry is had also consulted relevant parties such as non-governmental organisations, industry players and the public to get their input before a final decision was made on the proposal.

Datuk Chua said that the current law regarding pet abusers is inadequate to meet the necessity of animal welfare due to the current times and lifestyles of the pet owners especially in cases of animal abuse.

The deputy minister officiated the 10th Graduation Ceremony of Canine Obedience Training at the Central Park Bandar Utama here yesterday.

The outdoor community project on dog obedience and agility training programme was organised by the Malaysian National Animal Welfare Foundation to nurture and develop human-animal bonds.

Chua said the ministry would also be coming up with few initiatives to develop a caring society towards animals, including introducing the Animal Welfare Guidelines for pets and livestock owners to assist them with the best practices on handling pets and livestock.

The ministry was also looking at developing an accreditation system in terms of animal welfare for pet shops and breeding centres, he said.

One More Scam Uncovered.

KUALA LUMPUR: Multi-million-ringgit phone scam exposed by the police involving Malaysians.

After invading into a condominium in Bukit Jalil at noon, Federal Commercial Crimes Investigations Department (CCID) officers took 5 suspects into custody. The four men and a woman believed to be aged between 23 and 33. 

One gang member, aged 27, was recently seized by the Chinese government last year for another scamming crime he committed and was put behind bars for nearly one year before being deported back to Malaysia.

This consortium has actively scrapped heaps of money-millions of ringgit from gullible Malaysians for over a month.

CCID Director Commissioner Datuk Syed Ismail Syed Azizan stated that the syndicate was also tied to an event where a person had been tricked of more than RM 3.2 million in February.

Their signature modus operandi is to impersonate as Bukit Aman ploice officers or alternatively as bank officers and notify the victims that their bank accounts were being scrutinized for suspected illegal activities where syndicate members would ask the victims to telephone the “bank” for more information.

“They would then intercept the calls via Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology and tell the victims to make payments to avoid being dragged to court and transfer the funds to a special account pending investigations,” he said.

The criminals then would withdraw the money once it was transferred by victims into another account which is actually a "mule account”.

Another tactic they used is to hire youths through advertisements in Chinese papers to become the account holder for the “mule account”.

The "mule account” holders were paid between RM1,000 and RM1,500 plus commission for every account opened and money successfully transferred.

“From 2006 to 2011 there has been a sharp increase in such cases. In 2011 alone the total loss amounted to RM20mil.”

Bashir Rejects Talks as Sudan Bombs S. Sudan Town.

SUDAN: Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir said on Monday there will be no more talks with South Sudan, as fresh Sudanese air raids drew swift condemnation from the United States and France.

"No negotiation with those people, Bashir said of the South Sudanese regime, which he earlier described as an "insect" that must be eliminated.

"Our talks with them were with guns and bullets," he told soldiers in the main oil region of Heglig, which the South occupied for 10 days. 

On Friday, Bashir and Defence Minister Abdelrahim Mohammed Hussein -- both wanted by the International Criminal 

Court for alleged war crimes in Sudan's Darfur region -- declared the army had forced Southern soldiers out of Heglig.

South Sudan said it completed the pullout on Sunday, in response to appeals from world leaders and to allow a resumption of dialogue.

Despite that, the governor of South Sudan's Unity State, Taban Deng, said Sudanese bombs fell on a key bridge and a market, killing at least two children in the state capital of Bentiu on Monday.

 An AFP correspondent was 50 metres (yards) from where the ordnance hit.

In the market, stalls were on fire and large plumes of grey smoke rose high into the air, as screaming civilians ran in panic.

The raid dashed South Sudanese hopes for an end to weeks of fighting.

"I'm fearing that even if we give them Heglig, there will still be a war," said shopkeeper Suleiman Ibrahim Ali. "I'm not alone -- everyone is fearing the Antonov (warplanes)."

Sudan denied the attack but the United States condemned it and urged an "immediate" halt to hostilities and a return to talks, the State Department said.

France's foreign affairs spokesman Bernard Valero said the "aggression" was unacceptable and ran the risk of worsening the situation.

War Torn Situation in South Sudan.

US President Barack Obama said the presidents of Sudan and South Sudan "must have the courage to negotiate" because their people deserve peace.

"We have been pressured by the international community to pull out of Heglig and this is the consequence, we have brought the war to home," Deng said.

A foreign ministry statement in Khartoum said Sudan "stresses that the government of Sudan has not, and does not intend to attack the Republic of South Sudan." But the South's deputy director of military intelligence, Mac Paul, said: "I think it is a clear provocation."

The air raid is the latest of several along the disputed border.

Foreign ministers of the European Union urged Sudan and South Sudan "to stop immediately attacks on each other's territory."

If violence continues the EU could sanction them, said France's Cooperation Minister Henri de Raincourt. UN chief Ban Ki-moon and the African Union have also urged Sudan and South Sudan to resume talks.

Southern officials said Sudanese troops had pushed across the contested border on Sunday before being repulsed after heavy fighting. Southern troops were digging into positions fearing renewed ground attacks by Sudan, said the South's Lieutenant General Obuto Mamur.

Kamal Marouf, a Sudanese army commander, claimed in Heglig on Monday that more than 1,000 South Sudan troops were killed in the clashes. "The numbers of killed from SPLM are 1,200," Marouf said in an address to thousands of his soldiers as the stench of death filled the air.

The toll is impossible to verify, but an AFP correspondent who accompanied Marouf said the putrid bodies of dead South Sudanese soldiers lay beneath trees in the area. Sudan has not said how many of its own soldiers died in the operation.

The main oil processing facility in Heglig -- providing about half of Sudan's crude -- was heavily damaged, the AFP correspondent reported. A storage tank was destroyed by fire, eight generators which provided power to the facility were also burned, and some oil was leaking onto the ground at the plant operated by Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company (GNPOC).

Both sides have accused each other of damaging the oil infrastructure.

The violence in Heglig was the worst since South Sudan won independence in July after a 1983-2005 civil war in which an estimated two million people died.

Tensions have mounted over the border and other unresolved issues, raising concerns in recent weeks about the possibility of a wider war.

Britain's Secret Files Released.

BRITIAN: Britain released thousands of classified colonial-era files Wednesday, including one that names Barack Obama's father and another that warns of "anti-white" Kenyans studying in the United States.

The papers -- the existence of which was only revealed last year -- cover controversial periods in Britain's post-imperial history including the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya and the Malayan emergency in the 1950s and 1960s.

British authorities brought the documents back to London at the time of those countries' independence due to their sensitivity, and the papers show they even planned to burn some of the other classified files.

The Foreign Office only admitted that it held the archives in January 2011 when four elderly Kenyans sued the British government over alleged abuses they suffered in British internment camps.

The cache of 8,800 files is being released in six batches starting Wednesday by Britain's National Archive and ending in November 2013.

US President Barack Obama's father appears on a list drawn up by British officials of Kenyan students in the United States as "OBAMA, Barrack H", British media reported.

Obama senior enrolled at the University of Hawaii in 1959 and married Anne Durham in 1961, with their son born later that year.

A memo from a British diplomat in Washington to London in 1959 sets out concerns about Kenyan students in the United States, the Daily Mail newspaper reported.

"I have discussed with the State Department. They are as disturbed about these developments as we are. They point out that Kenya students have a bad reputation over here for falling into the wrong hands and for becoming both anti-American and anti-white," it quoted the memo as saying.

Other papers contain bureaucratic accounts of the British policy of seizing the livestock of people suspected of aiding the 1950-1962 Mau Mau insurgency in Kenya, during which more than 10,000 people were killed.

The papers also revealed efforts to deport Chagos islanders from the British Indian Ocean territories and plans to deport a Greek Cypriot leader to the Seychelles despite launching talks with him to end an uprising in Cyprus in 1955, the BBC reported.

Edward Hampshire, diplomatic and colonial records specialist at the National Archives, said some colonial administrators interpreted "very liberally" guidelines to send back to London anything that would embarrass Britain.

Archivists say documents that appear to be missing include some referring to the alleged 1948 Batang Kali massacre in British-controlled Malaya of 24 unarmed rubber plantation workers by British troops.

Malaysian Flight Returned After Takeoff.

KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysia Airlines flight to London was forced to return due to engine trouble after takeoff but landed safely Tuesday in Kuala Lumpur, the airline spokesperson said in a statement.

The flight, which had took off around midnight from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, "experienced a technical defect" on one of its engines after being airborne.

In the interest and concern of passenger safety, the captain of the Boeing 747-400 with 351 passengers and 21cabin crew decided to turn back and had an uneventful landing.

The aircraft was grounded upon arrival, and all the passengers left to London on a replacement flight.

The wise decision of the pilot may have just avoided another air crash disaster. The incident is still under investigation.

Malaysian jailed in Australia for Drug Trafficking.

MALAYSIA: A Malaysian man was pronounced to three years behind bars in an effort of smuggling a large quantity of a cold and flu medication into Australia. The drug is sold over the counter in China.

Jackson Lee, 23, pleaded guilty in the Adelaide District Court to charges of importing five kilograms (11 pounds) of ContacNT.

The product contains high amounts of pseudoephedrine, a precursor chemical used to manufacture amphetamine-type substances such as methamphetamine.

The Australian law prohibits importing of drugs without permit. In Lee’s case, almost 1.7 kilograms of pseudoephedrine was uncovered.

Australian Customs officials said they intercepted two parcels from Malaysia in August last year which contained 85 table lamps.

The base of each lamp had a sealed battery pack filled with pink and yellow granules, which were found to be ContacNT.

Queen Elizabeth II turns 86

LONDON: Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her 86th birthday accompanied by the firing of 21-gun salute from the Royal Navy.

It was the central gun salute and it was fired at Portsmouth Harbor on the south coast of England on Saturday.

Her Royal Highness, Queen Elizabeth II.

Traditionally the Queen receives gun salutes on her birthday at military bases around the country.

Like every year, the Queen celebrates her birthday twice. One is a get-together with her family and friends in private on her actual birthday, and second is a lavish celebration at London’s Buckingham Palace on her “official” birthday, which falls on June 16^th this year.

The Queen will also commemorate her Diamond Jubilee to indicate 60 years on the throne on the first weekend of June with tours around the UK and other places.

"Touring is not very exciting, but for her that is a bit of a relief," Majesty magazine editor Ingrid Seward said, "She's 86 and Prince Philip is 90. Doing those overseas tours, with the change of climate and the actual exhaustion of flying, she just can't do it anymore. So, the family is doing it for her."

Not only did the Queen's family help with her private birthday party, they've also been chipping in when it comes to Diamond Jubilee duties.

A Great White Catch

A Monstrous Catch

MEXICO: Two fishermen pulled in an accidental catch-a 99kg weighed Great White Shark, measuring almost 20 feet in length.

The ginormous fish was an unexpected result in their net from the Sea of Cortez as they staple fish was more normal rather than sharks.

Fortunately for the fishermen, the massive shark was not alive, or else they would have been lunch for the shark, said Baltazar one of the fisherman.

Two sea lions were discovered in the belly of the shark when it was sliced open on the beach. Altogether, it was a scene never experienced by the fishermen before. The monster fish in their net had actually scared them albeit their experience fishing in the Mexico waters.

Previously there was another Great White Shark caught up in their nets about 10 to 15 years ago but was incomparable to the epic proportions of the recent one.

The monster fish being dragged onto the shore.

According to local media, the small fishing boat with the extra weight of the shark was towed to shore where bystanders helped drag the beast onto the beach.

Two MPVs Collided caused 2 deaths 10 hurt.

Both Toyota’s MPVs were in a fatal pile up state after the accident.

Monday on March 12, 2012

PARIT BUNTAR: 2 MPVs collided at KM181.5 of North South Expressway, caused 2 deaths and 10 hurt in Ipoh region on Sunday, 7.10am.

The accident caused mainly of a decision to answer a phone call by the first car driver, Tan Bee Ling, 39, who stopped his Toyota Estima on the emergency lane. Moments later, a Toyota Alphard driven by Mohsien Amran, 34, crashed into the Estima and killed two back passengers.

The Kerian police chief Supt Mat Fauzi Nayan indentified the dead as Tan Ah Tee, 63, and Tan Pei Wee, 13, who died instantly in the accident. The Kerian police chief also told reporters, the dead are Bee Ling’s father and daughter. Tan family were from Johor while Mohsien’s family were from KL and coincidently heading north at the same time.

There were total of 12 involve in this accident, 6 in Estima and another 6 in Alphard. Apart from the 2 dead, they were all suffered with light injuries, age range from a year old to 62.

All the victims and dead were sent to the same hospital, Parit Buntar. Police will conduct a further investigation as soon as they have done receiving treatments.

Eason Chan ticket sold within 20 minutes.

Eason Chan performs during his concert 2010.

 23 April 2012

LONDON — Hong Kong superstar Eason Chan’s world tour has an unofficial catch-phrase: “Who the hell is Eason Chan?”

Amazingly the ticket sold out for London’s O2 Arena in around 20 minutes and crashed the venue’s servers.

The 37-year-old has released 30 over solo albums. His passionate for music has made him one of the best-selling Mandarin and Cantonese pop singers.

Chan, the first Chinese singer to play at the prestigious arena, says he was surprised at the high demand for Monday night’s Duo World Tour concert.

But, Chan told reporters on Sunday: “It doesn’t matter what language you sing in, energy is what makes it universal.”

Chan also says that he is glad to be back to UK for a world tour concert as he was sent there to study during his younger age.

This is his second appearance on a London stage after performing at the Royal Albert Hall in 2010.

Duo are in the second place.

Pandelela Rinong (left) and Leong Mun Yee

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Pandelela Rinong and Leong Mun Yee performed extraordinary to grab Malaysia first silver medal in women’s 10m platform synchronized final of the FINA Diving World Series in Beijing.

338.46 points were scored by the duo, ahead of Australia, Croak Melissa, who scores 78.72 for the last dive to grab bronze with 331.50 points.

The winner of the series was China representative Chen Ruo Lin and Wang Hao with a total of 365.52 points, which is quite a gap from the second place.

However, this is their second achievement after taking bronze in the 2009 world championships in Rome.

YOUNG Tigers coach blasts his defenders

22 April 2012

Ong Kim Swee hit out at his defenders for being careless and caused the Malaysian side lost 2-0 to Singapore's Balestier Khalsa in the S-League on Friday.

The Tigers dominated possession but a defensive Balestier played a patient game to gain victory at home.

The teams share the best defensive record, but Tigers lost it after just two minutes.

A long diagonal pass by Balestier goalkeeper Joey Sim appeared to pose no real danger when it found its way to Tigers defender Mahalli Jasuli but the captain was caught napping, allowing Hamqammal Shah to score their opening goal past Izham Tarmizi.

Balestier relied on counter-attacks throughout the match and their patience was rewarded in the 59th minute when a slip by Tigers centre-back Shahrul Mohd Saad provided Ruhaizad Ismail a clear path for the second goal.

"Mahalli and Shahrul are the black sheep for the team yesterday (Friday).” said Kim Swee yesterday.

"We lost due to two silly mistakes and those were the only chance Balestier got! We will learn from the mistakes. We have to improve, no matter what. "

Tigers will face Hougang United on Friday without main players, Mahalli, Fadhli Shas, Wan Zack Haikal Wan Nor and Ahmad Hazwan Bakri, who have been called for the international friendly match against Sri Lanka next weekend.

"I will have to rotate those available in their absence, and of course it will be a difficult match," Kim Swee added. 

Strive for your dreams!

25 February 2012

FORMER World No 7 singled out player Barbara Schett’s goal-setting become the key points for players wanting to make a successful professional career in tennis.

"Players need to love tennis as their fulltime career in order to stay focus.

"It is important to set your own goal and push yourself but make sure you are doing it because you want it and not for other people.

"Exposure at a young age is important but training is the key for players.

"Do not take failure lightly; I will motivate myself to train and try harder whenever I did not do well.

Barbara's advice should be noted by local players, Jawairiah Noordin and 16-year-old Choo Lyn Yuen, who both will play in the BMW Malaysian Open qualifying round today.

Jawairiah's best result since becoming a professional in 2007 was reaching the semi-finals of the ITF Surakata Open four years ago.

The 22-year-old, however, has not made any impact in international events except for the team event bronze medals at the 2007 and 2009 Sea Games.

As for Lyn Yuen, who won the 2010 Brunei Junior Championships, she will be making her maiden appearance in a WTA Tour event at the Malaysian Open.

Barbara said local tennis federations must do their roles in supporting, funding, provide training and competition expenses. Most importantly, their parents must also involve themselves in giving support to their children.

"Players must learn from each failure and make adjustments to move forward.

"My advice to them is to give their best shot in the tournament," said the 36-year-old, who won 13 tour titles before retiring in 2005, is now a Eurosport presenter.