The Star Online: Metro: South & East
The Star Online: Metro: South & East |
- Artistes gather to express historic venue
- Parit Bakar villagers gather for Hari Raya Haji
- Failure to complete housing project cause heavy losses
| Artistes gather to express historic venue Posted: 29 Oct 2012 06:58 PM PDT THE fourth Malacca Art and Performance Festival (MAPFest) ended recently on a high note after it showcased a myriad of interesting and independent arts with some 50 renowned local and international artistes giving a soulful finale to the annual event. The contemporary festival featured dances, performance art, visual art, film, music and other activities portrayed the many shades of the historic city, attracted some 20,000 spectators domestic and foreign. This year's three-day show featured artistes from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, France, Ghana, South Korea, Ireland, Brazil, Italy, The Netherlands, Morocco, Canada, Poland and the United States. Site-specific performances that refer to shows and artwork inspired by a venue, such as art installations, film festival, artistes' performances, dance performances, short stories and workshops were held at 11 heritage locations and were all free for the public. The locations, among others, included St Paul's Hill, A'Famosa Fort, Zheng He Tea House at Jalan Kampung Kuli, Baboon House Cafe at Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock and Heeren Street Heritage Centre. The festival culminated in the gathering of all artistes as they performed, "Eulogy for The Living" in a large-scale performance that provided a spectacular and soulful finale to the festival. It was directed by the festival's creative director Tony Yap, accompanied by live music and projections by Khaled Sabsabi. Being the first site-specific art festival in South-East Asia, MAPFest has gained much international recognition since its inception in 2009 by Andrew Ching, a Malaccan who has achieved good international accolades for continuously keeping the festival alive. Admitting it was not cheap to organise such an event, Ching, 39, who is a professional event organiser and concert promoter, noted that the festival gets no governmental support or funding despite luring thousands of international tourists every year. "We have been self-funded throughout the years. "Overseas artists come here at their own travelling expense. There is no performance fee and we only provide each of them budget hotel room stay with RM50 daily allowance," he said. The festival, he said, usually costs about RM500,000 in operational and equipment costs, and it would not have been possible without his great team and supporters who struggled to keep the cost low by doing most of the works on their own throughout the years. "It has not been easy and there were times when I feel like giving up. "But the passion and determination among the artists who travelled here all the way without asking anything in return kept me going," he said, adding a future collaboration with and possible funding from the state or federal government are highly expected to keep the festival bloom and grow. Another important figure behind the festival was Yap, another son of Malacca, who mooted the idea with Ching over a glass of teh tarik. The art presentation, he said, revolved around the legends of Malacca's foundation, its colourful and enduring heritage sites, including the multicultural ancestral custom and tradition. "Appreciation for art is in everybody. People feel, interpret and are inspired by art in its very own way. "That is why MAPFest remains free and accessible to everyone," he said, adding it also aspires to preserve Malacca's rich history and cultural exchange, while providing a platform for artists and art lovers to share their work and perspectives. The 55-year-old Yap, who now focuses on his art career in Australia and several other countries, said coming back to his hometown for the festival every year was a nostalgic journey. "Malacca is beautiful and abundant with her many shades. I love this place and I make it a point to come back here every year without fail for the festival. "It is about contributing to my birthplace through what I do best, which is art." |
| Parit Bakar villagers gather for Hari Raya Haji Posted: 29 Oct 2012 06:49 PM PDT MUAR: A group of villagers in the Maharani constituency here decided to pool resources and slaughtered three cows for sacrifice during the Hari Raya Haji celebration. The group, headed by Abu Bakar Ismail, then distributed the meat among some 200 needy families, who had gathered at a stall near Parit Bakar recently. According to Abu Bakar, the group then invited Maharani assemblyman Dr Mohamad Taslim to distribute the meat to all the recipients. "Besides giving them the sacrificed meat, we also treated the villages to a lunch of nasi kukus or steamed rice and beef curry. "We decided to cook some of the meat along with the ribs and other bones in a big pot for the recipients," Dr Mohamad said. Meanwhile, Dr Mohamad, a Muar PAS leader, said it was good for the villagers to gather and slaughter cows for sacrifice before distributing the meat to those who could not afford it. He said in the spirit of Hari Raya Haji, Muslims should be willing to help one another regardless of their political differences and celebrate the festive together. Dr Mohamad said because of Hari Raya Haji celebration, a caring individual had decided to also donate some 200 bags of 10kg rice to the villagers. Each recipient received one bag of rice and I also want to thank the donor as well as all those who have contributed in the korban programme here, he added. |
| Failure to complete housing project cause heavy losses Posted: 29 Oct 2012 04:13 PM PDT KUANTAN: Malaysia Building Society Bhd's (MBSB) failure to complete a housing project in Indera Mahkota here has cost the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) up to RM33.25mil in losses. According to the Auditor-General's Report 2011, MBSB, through its subsidiary company, had only managed to complete 720 units out of 1,151 planned houses from 1995 to 2001 in the joint venture with EPF. Besides that, up to 97 units in phase two of the project, consisting 19 shophouses and 78 double-storey terrace houses worth RM17.58mil could not be sold. The audit found EPF had terminated the joint venture with MBSB on June 2002 because the contractor had failed to fulfil its responsibilities, defaulted in the agreement and failed to pay the cost of the land in 90 days. At the end of the venture, MBSB claimed from EPF for the development costs spent on February 2003. EPF's investment panel had then agreed with the demand and paid out RM8.46mil on June 2004 with the reason that pre-development under phase 3 and 4 of the project had to be done due to the road extension to phase 1 and 2. However, the Legal Affairs Division felt that EPF was not tied to phase 3 and 4 because the agreement was based on success basis and claims could only be made based on the completion of the project. EPF also had to pay work commencement costs totalling RM2.51mil for phase 1B, which was not completed according to plan due to the termination of the agreement. The audit also found EPF did not include late delivery damages terms in the agreement. MBSB was late in submitting the claim even though the agreement ended on June 2002 while EPF was also late in approving the contractor's claim on January 2004 causing a RM4.70mil interest to be levied against it. In response, EPF said MBSB could not complete the project due to the economic crisis, a weak property market and high loan interest rate. It said the investment panel approved the claim because it involved road connections from phase 3 and 4 to phase 1 and 2. As for the lateness in approving the claim, it was due to the need for legal advice and the investment panel's consent. EPF expects to obtain an estimated profit of RM8.3mil after taking into account the sale of the land and the remaining value under market prices. On the late delivery damages terms, EPF said the agreement with MBSB was a development agreement and not a construction contract. It added that EPF had made sure the terms were included in new agreements according to needs. |
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