Isnin, 2 Disember 2013

The Star Online: Metro: Sunday Metro

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The Star Online: Metro: Sunday Metro


Thai police allow protesters through barricades at government HQ

Posted:

BANGKOK: Thai police allowed opposition protesters through barricades outside the government and metropolitan police headquarters Tuesday, sharply easing tensions after two days of violent clashes aimed at ousting Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

The reason for the sudden thaw in hostilities was not immediately clear but it came after police said they would no longer use force to defend their Bangkok headquarters from thousands of anti-government protesters who marched on the high-profile target.

Demonstrators were allowed to approach the perimeter fence of Government House with no resistance from security forces. Dozens of protesters also streamed into the police building where they were seen shaking hands with officers, AFP reporters saw.

Metropolitan Police chief Lieutenant General Kamronwit Thoopkrajang said his officers would no longer try to fend off protesters at the police base.

"The Metropolitan Police Headquarters belongs to the public," he told AFP.

"There will be no use of tear gas today," he said. "Last night a police officer was injured by a gunshot so if we resist there will be more injuries, and we are all Thais," he said.

The protests, aimed at unseating the elected government and replacing it with a "people's council", are the latest bout of unrest in the kingdom since royalist generals ousted Yingluck's brother Thaksin Shinawatra in a coup seven years ago.

The demonstrators seized upon the developments to claim they had won the battle.

"Victory is in the hands of the people's army. We are able to seize all key government facilities," one of the protest leaders, Issara Somchai, said to supporters.

On Monday police used rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannon to fend off rock-throwing demonstrators for a second day, after weekend unrest that left several dead and scores wounded.

It is the kingdom's worst political violence since a deadly military crackdown on pro-Thaksin "Red Shirts" rallies in 2010, although the recent clashes have been largely confined to certain parts of the city, away from main tourist districts.

Thailand's long-running political conflict broadly pits a Bangkok-based elite backed by the military and the palace against rural and working class voters loyal to Thaksin, a billionaire businessman turned premier.

The latest battle played out on the streets of Bangkok has pitted a shrinking band of hardcore protesters against pro-Thaksin political forces who have won every election in more than a decade, most recently in 2011 under Yingluck.

In her first televised address since the weeks-long protests descended into violence at the weekend, Yingluck said Monday that the protest leader's demands were unconstitutional.

The embattled premier said she would have considered resigning or calling an election if her opponents had not already ruled out these moves as insufficient. She insisted the government was open to "every option" to restore peace.

The violence has caused growing international alarm, with the United States voicing concern about the loss of life.

"Peaceful protest and freedom of expression are important aspects of democracy," a State Department spokeswoman said. "Violence and seizure of public or private property, however, are not acceptable means of resolving political differences."

UN chief Ban Ki-moon said he was worried about the escalating violence, calling on all parties to exercise restraint.

Clashes had continued through the night as police fought to defend barriers at the prime minister's offices and police headquarters.

Police said two of their trucks were set ablaze near Government House. Police helicopters dropped leaflets at the two rally bases giving notice of an arrest warrant issued for protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban for insurrection, urging demonstrators to leave.

The rallies were triggered by an amnesty bill, since abandoned by the ruling party, which opponents feared would have allowed Thaksin to return to his home country, which he fled in 2008 to avoid jail for a corruption conviction he contends is politically motivated.

The demonstrators are a mix of royalists, Thaksin opponents, students and supporters of the opposition Democrats, who have not won an election in 20 years.

While the numbers have fallen sharply since an estimated 180,000 people joined an opposition rally on November 24, protesters have besieged high-profile targets - including several key ministries - in what some observers believe is an attempt to provoke a military coup.

Thailand has seen 18 actual or attempted coups since 1932, most recently with Thaksin's overthrow in 2006. But the military has appeared reluctant to intervene in the current standoff.

"I will let this problem be solved by politics. The military will observe from a distance," army chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha told reporters Tuesday. -AFP

Related stories: 

UN chief Ban concerned by Thailand violence
US regrets loss of life in Thai protests

Hong Kong confirms first human case of H7N9 bird flu

Posted:

HONG KONG: Hong Kong on Monday confirmed its first human case of the deadly H7N9 bird flu, according to a report, in the latest sign of the virus spreading beyond mainland China.

A 36-year-old Indonesian domestic helper with a history of travelling to the mainland city of Shenzhen and coming into contact with live poultry has been infected and is in critical condition, Health Secretary Ko Wing-man said, according to the broadcaster RTHK.

The patient was admitted to hospital on November 27 after developing a cough and shortness of breath. She was transferred to intensive care at the city's Queen Mary Hospital last Friday, the report added.

In all, 137 human cases of H7N9 have been reported in mainland China since February with 45 deaths, according to the World Health Organisation.

In April Taiwan reported its first case, a 53-year-old man who had been working in eastern China.

The man was eventually discharged but the case prompted the island's authorities to begin research into a vaccine they hope to roll out by late 2014.

Secretary Ko said Hong Kong had suspended the import of live poultry from Shenzhen and escalated the grade of its flu contingency plan to "serious", according to the RTHK report.

People who had come into close contact with the patient recently have also been admitted to another hospital for isolation and testing.

In August, Chinese scientists reported the first likely case of direct person-to-person transmission of H7N9, but stressed that the virus, believed to jump from birds to people, was still inadept at spreading among humans.

The infection comes 10 years after the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak swept through Hong Kong, killing 299 people and infecting around 1,800. 

Avian flu viruses have been around for a very long time in wild birds. They do not generally cause disease in humans, though in rare cases they mutate and jump species.

A report by researchers published in The Lancet medical journal in October said closing live poultry markets, though a huge economic setback, is a sure-fire way of curbing H7N9.

Afghanistan, N.Korea, Somalia top world graft index

Posted:

BERLIN: Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia are seen as the world's most corrupt countries while Denmark and New Zealand are nearly squeaky-clean, graft watchdog Transparency International said in a survey Tuesday.

Worldwide, almost 70 percent of nations are thought to have a "serious problem" with public servants on the take, and none of the 177 countries surveyed this year got a perfect score, said the Berlin-based non-profit group.

Transparency International's annual list is the most widely used indicator of sleaze in political parties, police, justice systems and civil services, a scourge which undermines development and the fight against poverty.

"Corruption hurts the poor most," lead researcher Finn Heinrich told AFP.

"That's what you see when you look at the countries at the bottom. Within those countries, it's also poor people who get hurt the most. These countries will never get out of the poverty trap if they don't tackle corruption."

Among countries that have slipped the most on the group's 2013 Corruption Perceptions Index are war-torn Syria as well as Libya and Mali, which have also faced major military conflict in recent years.

"Corruption is very much linked to countries that fall apart, as you see in Libya, Syria, two of the countries that deteriorated the most," said Heinrich.

"If you look at the bottom of the list, we also have Somalia there. These are not countries where the government is functioning effectively, and people have to take all means in order to get by, to get services, to get food, to survive."

Heinrich said Afghanistan, where most NATO-led Western forces are pulling out next year after a more than decade long deployment, is "a sobering story. We have not seen tangible improvements".

"The West has not only invested in security but also in trying to establish the rule of law. But there have been surveys in the last couple of years showing the share of people paying bribes is still one of the highest in the world."

Also at the bottom of the list is North Korea, "an absolutely closed totalitarian society", said Heinrich, where defectors report that famine is worsening corruption "because you have to know someone in the party who is corrupt in order to even survive".

Among the "most improved" countries, although from a low base, was Myanmar, where a former military junta has opened the door to the democratic process and, facing an investment boom, has formally committed to transparency and accountability rules.

"That's the only way countries can avoid the 'resource curse', where the resources are only available to a very small elite," said Heinrich. "Nigeria and other oil-rich countries are obviously very good examples."

Huguette Labelle, chair of Transparency, said "all countries still face the threat of corruption at all levels of government, from the issuing of local permits to the enforcement of laws and regulations".

The group says that because corruption is illegal and secretive, it cannot be meaningfully measured.

Instead Transparency collates expert views on the problem from bodies such as the World Bank, African Development Bank, Economist Intelligence Unit, Bertelsmann Foundation, Freedom House and other groups.

It then ranks countries on a scale of 0-100, where 0 means a country's public sector is considered highly corrupt and 100 means its is regarded as very clean.

The latest survey "paints a worrying picture", said Transparency. "While a handful perform well, not one single country gets a perfect score. More than two-thirds score less than 50."

The bottom-ranked countries, scoring 10 to 19, included Iraq, Syria, Libya, Sudan and South Sudan, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Yemen.

At the top, between 80 and 89, aside from Denmark and New Zealand, were Luxembourg, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Singapore, Norway, Sweden and Finland.

"The top performers clearly reveal how transparency supports accountability and can stop corruption," said Labelle.

"Still, the better performers face issues like state capture, campaign finance and the oversight of big public contracts which remain major corruption risks." -AFP

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star eCentral: Movie Buzz

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‘Fast and Furious’ star Paul Walker killed in car accident

Posted:

Movie star was attending charity event.

MOVIE star Paul Walker, best known for his role in The Fast and The Furious franchise has been killed in a car accident in Southern California. He was a passenger in the car.

#TeamPW issued a statement saying that the accident occurred while Walker was attending a charity event for his organisation Reach Out Worldwide. 

TMZ reported that the accident took place in Santa Clarita, outside Los Angeles.

Walker was in his friend's Porsche when the driver lost control and crashed into a tree. The car burst into flames. Both were killed.

Surprising lesbian revelation

Posted:

Actress Maria Bello revealed that she is in a lesbian relationship in a New York Times essay on Sunday, making an appeal to be embraced for her own "modern family".

Bello, 46, wrote in a Modern Love column in the Sunday Styles section that she struggled with revealing to her 12-year-old son Jackson her relationship with a woman called Clare who happened to be her closest friend. But she also argued for a broader definition of sexuality and love than what currently passes for social norms.

"I have never defined myself by whom I slept with," Bello wrote, "but I know others have and would."

In the essay, the self-described actress and activist, a favourite of indie movie directors and most recently seen in the thriller Prisoners, worries aloud about her choice: "First, how would it affect my son?" she asked. "Second, how would it affect my career?"

Hollywood does not have much of a track record when it comes to casting women who have come out as gay or bisexual in the past couple of decades, as our social mores around homosexuality have radically changed. But there undoubtedly remains a perceived bias against male movie stars being gay. So Bello isn't wrong to worry. She also isn't wrong to argue for a new definition of sexuality.

Does everyone have to fit in a category, she asks? Bello says her other main relationships have been with men – not always sexual ones. Like, for example, with the former Sony chief John Calley.

"For five years I considered my partner to be a friend then in his 70s, John Calley, with whom I talked daily," she wrote. "He was the one who picked me up each time I had a breakdown about another failed romance. Because we were platonic, did that make him any less of a partner?"

She went on: "And I have never understood the distinction of 'primary' partner. Does that imply we have secondary and tertiary partners, too? Can my primary partner be my sister or child or best friend, or does it have to be someone I am having sex with? I have two friends who are sisters who have lived together for 15 years and raised a daughter. Are they not partners because they don't have sex? And many married couples I know haven't had sex for years. Are they any less partners?"

As it happened, both Bello's immediate family and her 12-year-old son accepted her relationship with Clare. And Bello pleads to avoid labels.

"I would like to consider myself a 'whatever', as Jackson said," she wrote. "Whomever I love, however I love them, whether they sleep in my bed or not, or whether I do homework with them or share a child with them, 'love is love'. And I love our modern family. Maybe, in the end, a modern family is just a more honest family."

I don't know where her career comes out on this, but I'm going to guess it's just fine. Nonetheless, bravo to Bello for her candor, and to offering us all food for thought, and tolerance for all, after our Thanksgiving binge. — Reuters

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star eCentral: Movie Reviews

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‘Fast and Furious’ star Paul Walker killed in car accident

Posted:

Movie star was attending charity event.

MOVIE star Paul Walker, best known for his role in The Fast and The Furious franchise has been killed in a car accident in Southern California. He was a passenger in the car.

#TeamPW issued a statement saying that the accident occurred while Walker was attending a charity event for his organisation Reach Out Worldwide. 

TMZ reported that the accident took place in Santa Clarita, outside Los Angeles.

Walker was in his friend's Porsche when the driver lost control and crashed into a tree. The car burst into flames. Both were killed.

Surprising lesbian revelation

Posted:

Actress Maria Bello revealed that she is in a lesbian relationship in a New York Times essay on Sunday, making an appeal to be embraced for her own "modern family".

Bello, 46, wrote in a Modern Love column in the Sunday Styles section that she struggled with revealing to her 12-year-old son Jackson her relationship with a woman called Clare who happened to be her closest friend. But she also argued for a broader definition of sexuality and love than what currently passes for social norms.

"I have never defined myself by whom I slept with," Bello wrote, "but I know others have and would."

In the essay, the self-described actress and activist, a favourite of indie movie directors and most recently seen in the thriller Prisoners, worries aloud about her choice: "First, how would it affect my son?" she asked. "Second, how would it affect my career?"

Hollywood does not have much of a track record when it comes to casting women who have come out as gay or bisexual in the past couple of decades, as our social mores around homosexuality have radically changed. But there undoubtedly remains a perceived bias against male movie stars being gay. So Bello isn't wrong to worry. She also isn't wrong to argue for a new definition of sexuality.

Does everyone have to fit in a category, she asks? Bello says her other main relationships have been with men – not always sexual ones. Like, for example, with the former Sony chief John Calley.

"For five years I considered my partner to be a friend then in his 70s, John Calley, with whom I talked daily," she wrote. "He was the one who picked me up each time I had a breakdown about another failed romance. Because we were platonic, did that make him any less of a partner?"

She went on: "And I have never understood the distinction of 'primary' partner. Does that imply we have secondary and tertiary partners, too? Can my primary partner be my sister or child or best friend, or does it have to be someone I am having sex with? I have two friends who are sisters who have lived together for 15 years and raised a daughter. Are they not partners because they don't have sex? And many married couples I know haven't had sex for years. Are they any less partners?"

As it happened, both Bello's immediate family and her 12-year-old son accepted her relationship with Clare. And Bello pleads to avoid labels.

"I would like to consider myself a 'whatever', as Jackson said," she wrote. "Whomever I love, however I love them, whether they sleep in my bed or not, or whether I do homework with them or share a child with them, 'love is love'. And I love our modern family. Maybe, in the end, a modern family is just a more honest family."

I don't know where her career comes out on this, but I'm going to guess it's just fine. Nonetheless, bravo to Bello for her candor, and to offering us all food for thought, and tolerance for all, after our Thanksgiving binge. — Reuters

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: World Updates

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Exclusive - Comrade of American held in North Korea recalls friendship, stealth mission

Posted:

(Reuters) - In early 1953, Merrill Newman and Allen Hedges were among a small group of U.S. servicemen hunkered down on a tiny, frequently shelled island off the west coast of North Korea.

They had orders to never make the dangerous journey across the narrow strait of water onto the mainland. And so, Hedges said, they never did.

Why Newman felt compelled to set foot in North Korea more than 60 years after the end of the Korean War remains a baffling question to Hedges and several other surviving members of the U.S. Army 8240th Unit.

Newman, now an 85-year-old retired business executive living in California, was detained in late October while visiting North Korea on a tourist trip. The former first lieutenant has been held ever since. The North's KCNA news agency said he was a mastermind of clandestine operations and accused him of killing civilians during the war.

"I can't believe it," Hedges said in a telephone interview from his home in Vanceburg, Kentucky. Hedges was not aware his former comrade had been detained until contacted by Reuters.

"If I know Newman, he went up there to do something good, because I know he's a good man. His philosophy was we did good up there, we shortened the war and saved lives," Hedges said on Monday.

The White House and the U.S. State Department have both called for Newman's release, although Washington and Pyongyang have no diplomatic relations. North Korea allowed Swedish diplomats to visit him on Saturday.

Hedges said he was 19 or so when he and Newman arrived in early 1953 on Cho-Do, a few miles out into the Yellow Sea off the North Korean coast. Their mission was to train and coordinate a battalion of Korean anti-communist guerrillas called the 6th Partisan Infantry Regiment, Hedges said. This was one of the main functions of the 8240th Unit, according to published histories and accounts of other former members.

Hedges, now 80 years old, said he and Newman would dispatch teams of the guerrillas by boat to try and disrupt a North Korean coastal supply line.

A U.S. Army spokeswoman said she was unable to confirm the details of personnel and missions that pre-date 1999. The State Department said their records only date back to 1970.

Official documents at the National Archives in Washington D.C., along with various historians' accounts, confirm the basics of the 8240th Unit's deployment and its missions. They do not give specific details about the roles of Newman and Hedges.

Hedges says he and Newman lived in mud houses and the Koreans in tents, filling their days and nights with leading the guerrillas in physical exercises, training them in weapons use, and advising them on strategy.

Downtime, when it unpredictably arrived, was passed with cooking army rations on portable gas stoves and, in Hedges' case, short joyrides on an army motorcycle.

"You don't sleep much in an environment like that," Hedges said, recalling frequent night bombing raids by North Korean light aircraft called "Bed Check Charlies" by the allied forces. "We had to stay way on the other side of the island." Cho-Do's eastern flank, where the allied forces had built a radar station, was just about within the range of guns from the North Korean People's Army on the mainland's coast.

Newman and Hedges helped coordinate the 6th Partisan Infantry Regiment with other forces fighting on behalf of the U.S.-backed South against the China- and Soviet-backed North.

Monthly reports by the Combined Command For Reconnaissance Activities Korea (CCRAK) show the 6th Partisan Infantry Regiment did not contribute a high proportion of enemy casualties compared to other units of the partisan division. For instance, the unit caused 150 out of 2,650 casualties - killed, wounded and captured - done by the division in April of 1953. In July, it was none out of 271.

Hedges said sometimes the boats of guerillas would return emptier than when they had departed.

"I just hated to see the kids getting killed, 17, 18 years old, all getting blown up," Hedges said. "It wasn't very nice."

Planes from a nearby British aircraft carrier also conducted aerial raids on the supply line, and the guerrillas would attempt to rescue pilots who crashed or who were shot down on the mainland. "We lost a few, we got a few," Hedges said.

Hedges recalls Newman fondly from their overlapping several months on the island. He said Newman was interested in zoology and had a habit of heading to the island's far shore to collect fish and other sea creatures, which he then preserved in alcohol in glass jars back at the camp, taking some 40 or 50 samples with him when he left the island. With little else to kill time during an idle moment on the island, Hedges recalled playing with a snake until he was approached by an alarmed Newman.

"If that bit you, you ain't going to make it to the doctor in time," Hedges recalled Newman telling him. "He probably saved my life."

Newman left Cho-Do before Hedges, who stayed behind past the signing of the armistice in July 1953 as evacuation of the islands got underway, and the pair eventually fell out of touch until a Korean War veterans' reunion in 2001. "We didn't talk much about the old days," Hedges said.

Newman worked as a manufacturing and business executive before retiring in 1984, according to a biography of him in a newsletter from Channing House, his retirement home in Palo Alto, California. Hedges worked for several decades as a factory supervisor in upstate New York.

"I put that war right out of my head," Hedges said. "I didn't talk about it, I didn't think about it. I didn't like it."

For example, Hedges says he never even thought to tell Newman that, shortly after Newman left the island, their main Korean interpreter was discovered to be a double-agent reporting back to the North Koreans. Hedges said he does not know what happened to the man after he was handed over to the partisans.

A few years ago, Newman asked Hedges if he would join him on a trip to South Korea. Hedges declined, and said the idea of visiting North Korea was never raised with him.

Others in the 8240th Unit said they were surprised one of their members would visit the north. They did not know Newman personally, but said the nature of his wartime mission meant he would never have been on the mainland before.

"I'm in touch with a lot of people," said Reuben Mooradian, a former 8240th first lieutenant. "We have an association and we have reunions every few years, and I've never heard once anybody say they'd like to go to North Korea. I don't know what in the hell he was doing," said Mooradian, who now lives in Beech Mountain, North Carolina. He was deployed to a different island, and does not recall ever meeting Newman.

On Saturday, North Korea released a video showing Newman reading a handwritten confession of his role in the war. The confession has several passages in ungrammatical or unidiomatic English, and it is unclear whether Newman was coerced into writing it.

Hedges bristled at the North Korean accusation that Newman killed civilians during the war.

"That's a damn lie, we never killed civilians, in fact we never killed anybody," Hedges said of himself and Newman, describing their mission as being restricted to training the guerrilla forces, an assertion echoed by Mooradian and two other members of the 8240th Unit. "I'll swear to that," Hedges said.

Thai police step aside, move to defuse anti-govt protests

Posted:

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai police said on Tuesday they would not stand in the way of protesters battling to seize the prime minister's office and city police headquarters, focal points of demonstrations aimed at toppling the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

A Reuters witness said police were clearing barbed-wire barricades from outside the police headquarters. Television pictures showed protesters and police officers mingling outside the building and Government House, where Yingluck's office is.

The protests have brought clouds of teargas, rubber bullets and intermittent gunfire to parts of Bangkok, the latest turmoil in the struggle between the Bangkok-based establishment and forces loyal to Yingluck and her brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban vilified the police in a speech to cheering supporters late on Monday and said the protesters would capture their city headquarters on Tuesday.

But, in a move to defuse the confrontation, city police chief Kamronvit Thoopkrachang said his men would not fight the protesters.

"In every area where there has been confrontation, we have now ordered all police to withdraw. It is government policy to avoid confrontation," Kamronvit told Reuters.

"Today, we won't use teargas, no confrontation, we will let them in if they want," he said.

Kamronvit is close to Thaksin, himself a former policeman and then a telecommunications tycoon, who became Thailand's most popular politician with policies to help the urban and rural poor.

A government spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

Yingluck had promised not to use force against the crowds trying to storm state agencies.

Early on Tuesday a helicopter dropped leaflets over the protesters reminding them that their leader, Suthep, was wanted on a charge of insurrection.

"So please, stay away from him and stay away from the unlawful gatherings," media quoted the government as saying in the leaflets.

Suthep is a former deputy prime minister of a government bitterly opposed to Thaksin that ordered the military to put down pro-Thaksin protests in 2010. About 90 people were killed.

Yingluck's government came to power with a landslide election victory in 2011.

More chaos and violence could have increased the chances of the army stepping in to restore order, but offering to let the protesters in to avoid bloodshed may make the government look magnanimous.

Thai financial markets have fallen sharply since the protests began more than a month ago but on Tuesday the baht was steadier at around 32.20 to the dollar, while the stock market rose 1 percent.

ARMY NEUTRAL, SO FAR

Thaksin was ousted by the military in a 2006 coup but while Yingluck said on Monday the army was staying neutral this time.

Army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha told reporters on Tuesday: "This is a political problem that needs to be solved by political means. However, we are monitoring from a distance."

Four people have been killed since the weekend and two protesters were shot and wounded on Monday, a hospital said, adding it was not known who shot them.

Thaksin's opponents hold considerable power and influence, among them wealthy conservatives, top generals, bureaucrats, royalists and many members of the urban middle class.

Many of them see Thaksin as a corrupt, crony capitalist who manipulates the masses with populist handouts and is a threat to the monarchy, which he denies.

He is adored by the urban and rural poor who would be outraged to see Yingluck's government removed. Yingluck said on Monday she was willing to explore every possibility for a peaceful solution. Her party would probably win any new election.

Suthep, 64, who resigned as a Democrat lawmaker to lead the protests, wants a vaguely defined "people's council" to replace the government.

Yingluck said that was unconstitutional.

(Additional reporting by Apornrath Phoonphongphiphat and Kochakorn Boonlai; Writing by Robert Birsel; Editing by Alan Raybould and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Power outage plunges most of Venezuela into darkness

Posted:

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's second massive power outage of the year plunged much of the nation into darkness on Monday night, prompting renewed talk of sabotage from President Nicolas Maduro's government and cries of incompetence from its foes.

Power went off in Caracas and other cities around the country soon after 8 p.m. local time (0030 GMT), to the intense annoyance of residents and commuters.

"I feel so frustrated, angry and impotent," said sales adviser Aneudys Acosta, 29, trudging through the rain along a street in the capital after having to leave the disrupted underground transport system.

"I live far away and here I am stuck under the rain. Something's going wrong that they're not sorting out. The government needs a Plan B. This is just not normal."

Monday's outage appeared similar to a massive September 5 blackout that was one of the worst in the South American OPEC member's history.

Maduro, a 50-year-old former bus driver who narrowly won a presidential election this year after the death of his mentor and former leader Hugo Chavez, accused the opposition then of deliberately sabotaging the power grid to discredit him.

His powerful ally and National Assembly president, Diosdado Cabello, repeated the same accusation after Monday's blackout that affected more than half of Venezuela.

"I have no doubt that today's electricity sabotage is part of the right-wing's plan," Cabello said on Twitter.

PROTESTS

In some wealthier parts of Caracas, where opposition to the socialist government is strongest, people began banging pots and pans out of their windows in a traditional form of protest.

Some shouted, "Maduro, resign!"

Venezuela has been suffering periodic electricity cuts around the country since 2009, although the capital has been spared the worst outages.

Critics say the power problems symbolize the failure of the government and its 15 years of socialist policies in resource-rich Venezuela. The country has the world's largest crude oil reserves and big rivers that feed hydroelectric facilities generating two-thirds of its power.

The blackouts, some due to planned power rationing and at other times to utility failures, have not affected the oil refineries, which are powered by separate generator plants.

State oil company PDVSA said its installations were all working normally on Monday night, with fuel supplies guaranteed.

Electricity Minister Jesse Chacon said the same major transmission line that went down in September - and carries about 60 percent of national supply - had again been affected.

Power began returning to most parts of Caracas within an hour or two, though remoter parts of the nation of 29 million people were still in the dark late into the evening.

"We ask Venezuelans for patience," Chacon said.

PRESIDENT CUT OFF LIVE ON TV

Maduro was giving a live address on state TV when he was abruptly cut off. He later Tweeted that he was continuing to work in the presidential palace despite the "strange" blackout, and appeared live on state TV surrounded by school children.

"Be strong against this electrical war that yesterday's fascists have declared against our people," Maduro said in another address to the nation at about 11 p.m. local time.

Security services were on alert, while the oil industry had been "put on emergency", the president said.

Since winning office in April, Maduro has accused political opponents of conniving with wealthy businessmen and their allies in the United States to undermine his government.

As well as accusing them of sabotaging the power grid, he has alleged plots to assassinate him and to destroy the economy through price-gouging and the hoarding of products.

Venezuelans are suffering from a 54 percent annual inflation rate, as well as scarcities of basic products from flour to toilet paper. Nationwide local municipal elections on Sunday are seen as a major test of Maduro's standing.

Opposition leader Henrique Capriles said government officials' bellicose statements were "pathetic" at a time of national disquiet. "For once in your lives, be responsible," he Tweeted.

Capriles and others say the reasons for the power failures are obvious and simple: lack of investment, incompetence and corruption within the state-run power company Corpoelec since Chavez's 2007 nationalization of the sector.

Venezuela has a maximum generation capacity of about 28,000 megawatts and normal demand of about 18,000.

The government constantly chides Venezuelans, however, for wasteful habits in a nation where the average household consumes an average of 5,878 kilowatt hours per year, about double the average in Latin America.

(Additional reporting by Deisy Buitrago and Daniel Wallis.; Editing by Philip Barbara and Christopher Wilson)

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Business

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The Star Online: Business


Malindo to fly KL-New Delhi route from Dec 30

Posted:

PETALING JAYA: Malindo Air has got the nod to fly into New Delhi and Mumbai, destinations that low-cost airline AirAsia X gave up over a year ago.

The routes are currently only served by Malaysia Airlines and the entry of Malindo is likely to intensify competition and force airfares to fall.

India will be added to the Malindo network just nine months after the airline began operations in the country. It will also add Trichy, a southern point in India on Jan 3. It wil begin flying the KL-Delhi route on Dec 30 and KL-Mumbai on Feb 15. Malindo will use the slots given up by AAX for Dehli and Mumbai.

Malindo, which calls itself a hybrid airline, is a joint venture between Malaysia's Nadi Sdn Bhd and Indonesia's Lion Grup, which also owns Lion Air.

For starters, Malindo is offering a promotional all-inclusive one-way fare of RM599 each to Mumbai and Delhi. For Trichy the fare starts at RM399 one-way all-inclusive.

"The decision to start our services to these long-awaited new routes emphasises the value and importance of tourism, trade and business links between India and Malaysia," Malindo chief executive officer Chandran Rama Muthy said.

Malindo has begun ticket sales and is said to have received numerous bookings for the flights to India.

Though it is targeting passengers from Malaysia, the airline is a vital link for Indonesia's Lion Air gateway into that part of the world.

Tenaga price surges past 1993 Super Bull Run

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KUALA LUMPUR: Tenaga Nasional's share price surged to an all-time high of RM12.60 on Tuesday, surpassing its previous high of RM12.31, nearly 20 years ago during the Super Bull Run.

Tenaga's share price had hit RM12.31 on Dec 31, 1993 during the peak of the Super Bull Run.

However, at 11am, Tenaga was off the high, up RM1.25 to RM11.14. There were 16.10 million shares done at prices ranging from RM10.80 to RM12.60.

The KLCI was up 7.34 points to 1,825.49. Turnover was 382.70 million shares valued at RM436.95mil. There were 206 gainers, 231 losers and 237 counters unchanged.

The surge in the power giant's share price also drove the FBM KLCI to an all-time high of 1,840.12 in early Tuesday trade.

Tenaga's share price jumped after the government allowed it to increase the electricity tariff with effect from Jan 1, 2014.

Supermax expects tariff hike to push up costs by RM3.5m

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KUALA LUMPUR: Glove maker Supermax Corp Bhd expects the higher power tariffs from Jan 1, 2014, to push up its costs by RM3.5mil.

Its group managing director Datuk Seri Stanley Thai said on Tuesday he expected the tariff hike to impact 2.5% of its earnings.

On Monday, the government allowed Tenaga Nasional Bhd to increase the electricity tariff.

In Peninsular Malaysia, the tariff will be increased by 4.99 sen/kWh or 14.89% from 33.54 sen per kilowatt-hour (kWh) to 38.53 sen/kWh.

Commercial consumers' electricity bills will be increased by an average of 16.85%, ranging from 1.2% to about 18% while industrial consumers will face an average increase of 16.85%, ranging from 0.9% to about 17%.

As for special industrial tariff (SIT) consumers, their bills would increase by about 19%.
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The Star Online: Nation

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AirAsia named best budget carrier

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PETALING JAYA: An international travel award has named local budget carrier AirAsia the "World's Leading Low-Cost Airline" for the year.

According to the World Travel Awards website, AirAsia beat eight other budget flight nom­inees worldwide to get to the top of the list.

The airline surpassed companies such as British-based easyJet and the US-based Southwest Airlines.

In a statement, AirAsia executive chairman Datuk Kamarudin Meranun said it was a great honour to win the award as it placed "brand Malaysia" on a great pedestal.

"As such, it could achieve its mission to develop the country into a major aviation hub like Dubai," he said.

He added that the company was going to turn 12 in a few days and expressed pride over what he called "a Malaysian-grown dream" that turned into a "world-class airline".

"As a home-grown airline, we feel responsible to propel our nation's aviation industry further. And, we would need the support of our Government and Malaysians alike to achieve that," he said.

AirAsia director Datuk Aziz Bakar received the award on behalf of the airline.

It was previously nominated under the awards' 2012 World's Leading Low-Cost Airline, 2010 World's Leading Airline to Asia and 2007 Asia's Leading Budget/No Frills Airline categories.

The World Travel Awards also saw national carrier Malaysia Airlines beating 11 other conventional airlines in Asia for the "Asia's Leading Airline 2013" award.

MAS previously won the same title in 2011, 2010 and 2009.

It was also nominated for the "World's Leading Airline 2013", but lost to the United Arab Emirates' Etihad Airways.

The awards, which saw its grand finals held in Doha, Qatar, on Nov 30, saw dozens of companies nominated and winning amongst various travel categories worldwide.

Monitor your kids, parents urged

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PETALING JAYA: Children's rights groups have called on parents to monitor their children's movements outside the home.

Suka Society executive director Anderson Selvasegaram said parents should also monitor their children's online habits.

"They should know who their children are talking to on Facebook or Twitter. It is impossible for the police to protect them outside the house at all times," he said yesterday.

It was reported that a startling average of 15 young people were reported missing daily in Malaysia in 2012. Nearly a quarter of them were Malay girls aged between 13 and 17. In 2011, 5,961 people had been reported missing.

Asked whether the authorities should be stringent in preventing child pornography, Selvasegaram said it is hard to tell if there is any link between child pornography and the rape and murder of youngsters.

He also said the mass media should highlight more cases involving prosecution of child rape offenders to send a strong message that such crimes would not be tolerated.

Yayasan Chow Kit founder Dr Hartini Zainuddin said more should be done to improve law enforcement to protect children.

She said the National Urgent Response (NUR) early alert system for missing children currently does not apply to children above 12 years old.

"This system should be extended to those under 18," she added.

She said children under 18 should not be allowed to roam freely without supervision.

"They should go out only in groups including people above 16 years old and with more than three people in a group. Anyone under 16 should be accompanied by at least one adult," she said.

All Women's Action Society Malaysia president Ho Yoke Lin said a national safety awareness campaign for children should be introduced by the Education Ministry at the kindergarten level.

"We should teach children how to respond to emergencies such as when they are sexually abused by those close to them," she said.

Engage Indian community to strengthen BN support, urges Najib

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MALACCA: The MIC must continue to engage constructively with the Indian community to raise the level of support towards the ruling coalition.

Barisan Nasional chairman and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said although the community had backed the Barisan in the GE13, the level of support was still inadequate.

"GE12 was a watershed in the Malaysian political landscape and the Barisan Government knew that it should not take the support of Indians lightly. Post GE12, the coalition overcame its shortcomings and managed to win the hearts of the community but the support has yet to reach a desirable level," he said in his keynote address at 67th MIC national convention held at a hotel here yesterday.

Najib said the MIC should be steadfast in providing services to the community to win their support, adding that the Government had taken efforts to tackle the problems faced by the community.

"The MIC should work in tandem as there is room for improvement. I am confident that the new MIC line-up will be able to take the community to greater heights," he added.

MIC president Datuk Seri G. Palanivel sought a RM3bil allocation for the community, adding that the allocation would be used for training, education and business purposes.

"The Indian community today holds only 1.3% of the country's equity. This is not proportionate to the population of Indians in the country. The Government is aware of this but has not been able to resolve the issue," he said.

Palanivel, who is the Natural Resources and Environment Minis­ter, said allocations made in the previous budgets were not enough to improve the community.

"The strengthening of the Indian community's economy is important as it will also help to eradicate issues pertaining to education, religion and crime," he said.

Meanwhile, the party passed seven resolutions including a pledge to give full support to Najib and Palanivel.

The party also pledged to work to increase the number of students in Tamil schools, as well as identify and help problematic Indian students in secondary schools.

Related story:

Sothinathan is top MIC VP

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The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies

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Movies coming soon

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Gatchaman – This Japanese sci-fi revolves around a five-member superhero team with enhanced martial arts skills. They fight a technologically advanced terrorist organisation that wants to control Earth's resources for profit and evil. Starring Tori Matsuzaka, Go Ayano, Ayame Gouriki, Tatsuomi Hamada and Ryohei Suzuki.

Firestorm In this action-packed thriller from the producers of Cold War, a criminal gang pulls off an armoured car heist in broad daylight, making the police look bad. Inspector Lui (Andy Lau) decides to shake things up by implementing extreme crimefighting measures. Co-starring Lam Ka Tung and Yao Chen

Papadom 2 Mia is now a grown-up living in the city. Her father decides to visit and learns that she is about to get married.

So he decides to find out more about his future son-in-law. Starring Afdlin Shauki and Liyana Jasmay.

The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug Old and new elves (Orlando Bloom and Evangeline Lily) are introduced in the second part of the trilogy.

The focus is on Smaug, the greedy dragon that has claimed Erebor, the dwarves' homeland. How will Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), in possession of the One Ring, fare against this ancient terror?

Leaves you hungering for more

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The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

As far as second courses go, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire actually manages to outshine its predecessor.

Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) are now hailed as champions of the Hunger Games, but have also earned the ire of President Snow (Donald Sutherland) for inspiring rebellion.

To keep her loved ones safe, Katniss must not only maintain the charade of being in love with Peeta, but also try to out-manoeuvre Snow's diabolical schemes.

Perfectly plotted and paced, Catching Fire has all the right ingredients, including stunning visuals and exciting action sequences. The highlight, however, is a delicious ensemble cast, which features – besides the excellent Lawrence – meaty performances from the likes of Philip Seymour Hoffman, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson, Stanley Tucci and Sam Claflin.

An utterly satisfying experience with plenty to sink your teeth into and leave you hungering for the next serving. – Sharmilla Ganesan (4/5 stars)

Ender's Game

I was under the impression that a film based on young adult fiction would entail the usual plotline concerning a chosen youth embarking on a world-saving mission, facing discrimination along the way but thankfully finding comfort in an equally quirky friend or lover.

Well, yes, that's the basic storyline but Ender's Game offers so much more. Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield) is a scrawny kid with a maturity (way) beyond his years and a knack for military strategy.

He sort of instinctively knows what he's doing (child prodigy much) but must overcome his insecurities to successfully lead an army against an impending alien attack.

The film skirts around the usual teen drama and delivers a deeper message that teaches the importance of ethics, discipline and taking risks.

Not having read the book – even if I hear the film doesn't do it justice – Ender's Game is still a breath of fresh air in the touchy-feely, tear-sodden world of young adult movies. – Kenneth Chaw (4/5 stars)

Kick Ass Girls

Honestly, I only went to watch this campy parody because it starred hottie Chrissie Chau, but I found toughie Hidy Yu and bubbly Dada Lo to be pretty engaging, too. As was Chui Tien You, who looks criminally underage as an otaku gamer.

And, with a title like Kick Ass Girls, who would watch this Asian version of Charlie's Angels for its plot anyway?

If you've never seen an exploitation flick by a woman filmmaker, let me tell you it's downright nasty how the girls have to take one wicked pounding after another.

It's a twisted sort of girl power demonstration from three girls who can pummel guys to a pulp but can't fight other girls to save their lives.

Vicious? Yes, but you won't blink or look away. – Seto Kit Yan (2/5 stars)

Battle Of The Year

Josh Holloway and Chris Brown are the only "names" in a cast of otherwise unknowns, in this film about the breakdancing phenomenon (a.k.a. B-Boying). Holloway is a coach with a troubled past who nonetheless steps up to teach a group to get ready for a competition in France.

There are some stereotypical characters and scenes, but they don't take away the moments when the dancers – who are actual B-boys – show off their moves. – Mumtaj Begum (3/5 stars)

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The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf

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Almost English

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If you've ever felt like a social outcast and longed to fit in, this book is for you.

IT can be argued that Almost English is author Charlotte Mendelson's take on isolation, coming of age, being a foreigner not only in a foreign land but in your own home as well, and the issues immigrants face.

Set in the 1980s, the protagonist of the novel is 16-year-old Marina, who lives in a small and cramped flat in West London with mother Laura, grandmother Rozsi and two great-aunts, Idli and Zsuzsi.

While on the surface this set up looks very ordinary, all is not as it seems in the house where Marina lives.

Her grandmother and great-aunts are Hungarian and they have brought into Marina's life all sorts of outdated Eastern European cultural practices.

The older relations frequently eclipse (in tone, volume and emotional outbursts) Laura, who is in an emotional wasteland from her lack of luck with men.

Laura is still reeling from the disappearance of her husband when Marina was three years old.

This resulted in the English Laura having to depend on her Hungarian in-laws for the past 13 years.

At the moment, Laura is in the midst of a dreary, passionless affair with her charmless, emotionally unavailable employer who sees her as nothing more than the answer his baser needs when they arise.

This leads Laura to feeling depressed, unattractive and even suicidal.

And so Marina finds herself living with an emotionally devastated mother and loud older relations with their utterly peculiar Eastern European customs and philosophies – all of which is torture for a teenager with raging hormones who is obsessed with sex and longs to escape to a life other than the one she is existing in, of course.

To that end, Marina persuades her mother and relatives to send her to a small boarding school in Dorset, where she believes she will be free to do whatever she wants, experiment with boys, and reinvent her life. However, boarding school is not what Marina thought it would be and she realises she is not going to fit in with the rest of the crowd.

As the novel opens, Marina is battling with herself about returning to the school.

Marina cannot bring herself to admit to her mother, grandmother and aunts that the school, Combe Abbey, has turned out to be a big miscalculation on her part – not after they sacrificed so much to make it possible for her to attend the boarding school.

What Marina doesn't realise is that Laura misses Marina greatly but, believing her daughter to be contented being away from home, does not dare to ask Marina if she is truly happy.

Thus begin the misunderstandings and miscommunications between generations that drive the novel along.

Though she can be a tad overbearing (and irritating at times), Rozsi is a brilliant comic creation. Mendelson early on lets her audience know that Rozsi is 80 years old, a major figure in the world of ladies' underclothing, and not someone who is easily ignored. Hence Laura's inability to voice out her frustrations to Rozsi over the years.

Idli and Zsuzsi, the two aunts, are supporting characters, as they more often than not hang behind Roszi, who has some of the funniest lines in the novel, particularly when it comes to explaining to Marina about Eastern European culture and philosophies.

While the scenes involving the older Hungarian relations are funny, Mendelson scores especially high when she describes Marina's desperate attempts to fit in with the well-to-do girls at Combe Abbey. The results are hilarious, touching and all too real for anyone who has ever tried and failed to fit into the It crowd.

Although Almost English is not billed as a comic novel, it does come across as being a dark comedy thanks mainly to how Mendelson peppers the novel with cringe-inducing misunderstandings and social confusion.

For instance, Marina's weekends with her sort-of boyfriend Guy at his wealthy family's house in the country is both funny (haven't we all been in awkward situations?) and painfully realistic (haven't we all been in awkward situations when we realise the waiters have better table knowledge and manners than you?): Marina, unable to distinguish between using the different types of cutlery on the table, feels like a lowly working class fool compared with posh Guy. At the same time, this part of the novel also drives home the point of how money does not guarantee a person a place in society, despite the school one goes to.

So where does Marina fit in? Is she completely English or is she part immigrant? Kudos to Mendelson for not providing an answer to this question and leaving it to readers to chew on.

The downside to Almost English is the way in which Mendelson concludes the novel: the ending feels anti-climactic and unfinished, with several loose ends left unsorted. But then again, it could also be argued that Mendelson is showing a slice of real life in her novel, and reality does not have proper starts or endings.

Apart from generally being a worthy read, Almost English is especially for anyone who has ever felt like a social outcast and longed to fit in.

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The Star Online: Lifestyle: Arts & Fashion

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Divine show from National Choir

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There's nothing like a choir spectacle to stir the soul.

IT was like stepping into a different time zone last Saturday at Matic's Tunku Abdul Rahman Auditorium in Kuala Lumpur as it was filled with the sound of popular songs taken from movies and plays. The show aptly titled A Musical Journey Of Theatre And Film Concert was true to its title.

With Christmas around the corner and this beautiful choral concert on stage, one could not help but be totally mesmerised by such beautiful voices.

Performed by the National Choir of Malaysia (Koir Kebangsaan Malaysia), the night started off on a high note as the 40-piece choir together with guest singer Syafinaz Selamat and Mak Yong performer Rosnan Rahman (aka Pak Yong) delivered a beautiful and mesmerising Nuance Of Rebab Fantasy.

The song was specially composed by Fairuz Zamani (who is also the pianist for the ensemble) for the concert. It featured a delightful choral piece with a new musical arrangement based on the famous traditional Mak Yong tune Mengadap Rebab.

The hall was positively glowing with Syafinaz's classically-trained vocals interwoven with Rosnan's earthy and dramatic Mak Yong delivery.

To think that Syafinaz and the conductor Mohd Amri Mohd Zin had been planning and working for the longest time just to get a Mak Yong song in the choir.

Though one couldn't really understand the lyrics (it was in Kelantanese dialect), but the tune's melody, and the vocal prowess of both Syafinaz and Rosnan were more than enough to get you under its spell.

From a Mak Yong song, the audience was then taken on a ride via musical West Side Story with Tonight, I Feel Pretty, Maria and America.

Enchanting vocal performances.. Vox Aurora members (from left)  Rabi'atul Raba'ah Baharuddin,Lilis Syafuza Mohd Yatim and Nurul Fazlina Ariff Abdullah performed Mandarin Song Chiu Kan Tang Bue Bo at A Musical Journey Of Theatre And Film Concert held at Matic last Saturday.

Vox Aurora members (from left) Rabi'atul Raba'ah Baharuddin, Nur Hidayah Jamaluddin and Nurul Fazlina Ariff Abdullah performed Mandarin song Chiu Kan Tang Bue Bo.

It was soon followed by The Impossible Dream taken from Man Of La Mancha.

If those tunes were not enough to swoon the audience over, Don't Cry for Me Argentina and On This Night Of A Thousand Stars from Evita definitely did the job. The night was just getting better when the ensemble performed the late Roy Orbison's Pretty Woman, taken from the movie of the same title. Seeing a young woman strutting stageside in thigh-high boots reminded us so much of Julia Roberts' antics in the movie. Delicious!

And who could forget Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes which came next?

For a choir concert newbie like myself, it was definitely a musical feast for the ears. It was exciting to catch the rich harmonies on tunes like Do Re Mi and Climb Every Mountain (Sound Of Music), Listen (Dreamgirls), Consider Yourself (Oliver!), Pantom of the Opera (Phantom Of The Opera).

Syafinaz Selamat, who was also the concert¿s aristic and vocal director, performed the highly-popular Anuar Zain¿s Sedetik Lebih (Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa). And the beautiful performances showcased Syafinaz classical style which drew smiles on Anuar who was among the audience that night at the A Musical Journey Of Theatre And Film Concert.

Artistic and vocal director Syafinaz Selamat.

Much to everyone's delight, Syafinaz, who was also the concert's artistic and vocal director, kept the local flavour in the spotlight.

She performed the highly-popular Anuar Zain's Sedetik Lebih (Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa), which drew smiles from Anuar who was in the audience that night.

Other Malay songs performed were the infectious Ombak Rindu (Ombak Rindu), Sandarkan Pada Kenangan (Azura) and a medley of Puncak Tertinggi and Asmaradana (from Puteri Gunung Ledang The Musical).

The haunting Pulangkan (Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam 2), popularised by Misha Omar, was performed by all-girl group Vox Aurora (Rabi'atul Raba'ah Baharuddin, Nur Hidayah Jamaluddin and Nurul Fazlina Ariff Abdullah). The girls just blew the audience away with their superb vocals and theatrical stunts (yes, white dresses amidst thick fog on stage).

Led by Vox Aurora, the choir made quite an impression when it performed the famous Mandarin song Chiu Kan Tang Bue Bo (Papa, Can You Hear Me Sing).

It was a wonderful way to end the night when Tamil song Balleilakka (taken from movie Sivaji The Boss) got the hall clapping along. Surely a spot of dancing would have made it all the more merry. A party-flavoured choir outing next? Over to you, Syafinaz.

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