The Star Online: Metro: Central
The Star Online: Metro: Central |
| Teen fencer slogs to defeat team-mate Imran Posted: 14 Jan 2013 04:53 AM PST LANKY fencer Megat Zuhril Megat Zariman nailed his first victory of the season in the boys' junior foil contest at the Prince of Wales International School fencing meet in Penang recently. The 16-year-old student of Alice Smith School was forced to slog for a hard-earned victory over his Touche Fencing Club teammate Imran Seth before he prevailed with a slim 6-5 win in the final. It was a low-scoring confrontation as both finalists produced a total of 11 hits in three periods of two-minute each. And the southpaw Zuhril said he felt the fatigue taking part in two tournaments, including the recent Malaysian Fencing Federation (MFF) President's Cup championships at the National Sports Council (NSC) in Bukit Jalil. "Both of us took part in the boys' cadet (Under-17) foil category at the President's Cup earlier before we went up to Penang. "Imran also felt the exhaustion. He had a tougher semi-final bout before he came through with a narrow 14-13 win over his opponent. It was a very taxing exercise to compete in three events over three days. Although it was not a major competition, it was great to secure a win to complete the season on a high note. I am looking forward to doing better in the new season," he added. Following the fruitful outing in Penang, Zuhril, representing Penang, returned to compete in the junior (Under-20) category of the President's Cup. After settling for second in the cadet section, Zuhril was the losing semi-finalist in the junior category. On both occasions, he went down to a more experienced southpaw contender Andrew Mok of Kuala Lumpur. Zuhril said he still lacks the endurance in matching Andrew in the 15-point scoring system of the full regulation duration of three periods of two-minute each. "I created an upset edging Andrew with a narrow 5-4 win in the pool match-up to top the group standings and advanced to the elimination round as the second seed of the cadet. But, I lost tamely (4-15) to Andrew in the final of the cadet section followed by another defeat (6-15) in the semi-final of the junior category. I will need to put in the extra effort in narrowing the gap. I am fortunate because Andrew is willing to share and spar during training sessions at the club," he added. The Klang Valley-based Touche training camp had a strong representation on the podium with Imran, who is also representing Penang, finishing third in the boys' cadet foil section. The eventual cadet champion Andrew ended the top ranked Imran's campaign at the top half of the draw with an untroubled 15-4 win. However, Andrew failed in his bid to clinch a double when he went down 6-15 to Perak's Izzul Shawal Shamsudin in the boys' junior foil final. Meanwhile, Kuala Lumpur's Tyanne Fong also provided the joy for the club with her victory in bagging the top spot in the girls' cadet foil and finished joint third in the junior section. In addition, Daevina Summugam from Kuala Lumpur complemented her runner-up finish in the girls' junior foil by finishing in joint third position of the cadet section. Besides Danton Prem Weil emerging as the runner-up in the boys' cadet epee, another of the club's trainee Athirah Che Azizuddin also picked up a bronze in the girls' junior epee. |
| Philips and NCSM raise awareness about breast cancer Posted: 14 Jan 2013 04:53 AM PST AS PART of the Philips global breast cancer awareness campaign, Royal Philips Electronics is collaborating with the National Cancer Society Malaysia (NCSM) to raise awareness and educate communities about breast cancer. The Best Breast Cancer Screening and Awareness Competition also aims to focus on prevention through lifestyle modifications and will involve the underprivileged. Breast cancer, one of the four most prominent non-communicable diseases (NCDs), continues to be the most common type of ailment among women. The latest Health Ministry report, with statistics until 2007, said 29 out of every 100,000 Malaysian women had breast cancer, making it the leading cause of mortality among them. Over 3,700 women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year, with the Chinese community being the worst affected followed by Malays and Indians. In addition, one in every 20 women is at risk of suffering breast cancer in her lifetime. Non-communicable diseases are the biggest cause of death worldwide, with more than 36 million deaths in 2008 . In effect, two of every three deaths in the world are due to NCDs, rightly described by the World Health Organisation (WHO) director-general as a slow motion disaster. South-East Asia also faces an NCD epidemic, with 2.5 million deaths annually and is responsible for 60% of deaths in the region. As the impact of NCDs increases, annual NCD deaths are projected to continue to rise worldwide. As observed in many advanced developing countries, Malaysia is beginning to observe an epidemiological shift from communicable diseases to those related to lifestyle, particularly cancers and cardiovascular diseases (commonly known as non-communicable diseases). Over the past two decades, Malaysia has seen a steady increase in the number of deaths attributed to cancer, and approximately 30,000 new cancer cases occur each year. Encouraged by the global push for prevention and control of NCD, the Health Ministry has taken aggressive measures to further develop and increase the capacity of NGOs to play a more pro-active role, particularly in community-based NCD risk factor interventions. The ministry has also looked into both primary and secondary prevention of breast cancer in the planning for breast cancer prevention programmes. The primary prevention includes increasing breast health awareness and promoting healthy lifestyle and lifestyle modification while secondary prevention includes early diagnosis and early treatment to prevent from complications. Philips and NSCM recognise the scale of the challenge as Malaysia prepares to meet the new reality of a rapidly increasing number of breast cancer patients. Most recently, Philips' inaugural Asean Healthcare Consultation brought together policy makers, patient groups, academics and healthcare providers in Malaysia to collaborate and find answers to key modern-day healthcare challenges in an aligned, international and sustained approach and take a holistic view of the challenges posed by NCD. The session also considered the diverse drivers of their continued growth in the region and the challenges this growth poses to national health systems. To find out more about the Best Breast Cancer Screening and Awareness Competition, contact coordinating agency Fleishman-Hilllard at 03-2094 0760. All submissions must reach Fleishman-Hilllard by March 13. |
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