Khamis, 16 Jun 2011

NST Online: Sports

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NST Online: Sports


Striker crisis hits Raja's squad

Posted: 16 Jun 2011 10:38 AM PDT

2011/06/17
By Devinder Singh


Terengganu’s Abdul Hadi Yahya is the only fit out-and-out striker in the national team at the moment.

Terengganu's Abdul Hadi Yahya is the only fit out-and-out striker in the national team at the moment.

AN injury crisis has left the national team short of strikers as Malaysia continue their pre-World Cup preparation with an international friendly against Myanmar in Kota Baru tomorrow.

The latest blow to coach K. Rajagobal came after Tuesday's Super League fixtures claimed Kelantan duo Norshahrul Idlan Talaha and S. Chanturu, and Johor FC's Shahrizal Saad, who join Negri Sembilan's Ahmad Fakri Saarani on the sidelines.

Safee Sali is also unavailable due to a commitment to his Indonesian club Pelita Jaya, leaving Terengganu's Abdul Hadi Yahya as the only fit out-and-out striker in the squad.


Rajagobal, however, is unfazed by the injury problems as it affords him the chance to test various combinations against Myanmar ahead of Malaysia's World Cup qualifying first round, first leg tie with Taiwan on June 29.

"I have four players out injured -- Norshahrul, Chanturu, Shahrizal and Fakri, who was injured much earlier and was left behind by the Olympic squad.

"With Safee also unavailable, the injuries mean I only have one striker left in Hadi. Six other players are with the Olympic team (to play Lebanon in an Olympic qualifier on Sunday).


"I will try out some new combinations in their absence and I'll have to see who to play on Saturday (tomorrow). I'm not too concerned that Safee is not with us as he played against Hong Kong (on July 3) and is already familiar with the team.

"Most of the players should be fit to face Taiwan with the exception of Norshahrul (hamstring), who I don't think will recover in time," said Rajagobal at Wisma FAM yesterday after the launch of special edition tickets for Malaysia's July 13 friendly against English Premier League club Arsenal.

Some 25,000 tickets bearing the images of the national players will be made available for purchase at RM58, RM68, RM108 and RM388 for the match at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil.


"We want the focus to be on the national team unlike in the past where attention was centred on visiting teams.

"As such, we have come up with these special edition tickets in the hope that Malaysian fans will see it as a collector's item," said Julian Kam, chief executive of promoters, ProEvents International.

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Germany drop Ballack from roster

Posted: 16 Jun 2011 10:37 AM PDT

BERLIN: Michael Ballack, one of the best-known players in German football for the past decade, has played for the national side for the last time, the national football federation said yesterday.

"Michael Ballack will no longer be a part of the German national squad," the DfB said in a statement.

"I have discussed things openly with Michael Ballack, most recently in our meeting in March 2011 and in numerous phone calls," coach Joachim Loew said.


"With the Euro 2012 season about to start the time has come for me to make a clear statement," Loew added.

The former Chelsea and Bayern Munich midfielder, 34, has not played for Germany since March 2010, and in terms of performance at least, his absence has not been felt.

Injured in a brutal tackle by Portsmouth's Kevin-Prince Boateng in the FA Cup final, Ballack played no part in the World Cup last year, when Germany played some of the best football of the tournament to finish third.


And in the qualifying campaign for Euro 2012 hosted by Poland and Ukraine, Germany are sitting pretty at the top of their qualifying group with a 10-point lead, virtually assuring a berth for the Germans.

In his place Bayern Munich's Philipp Lahm has captained the side.

"Recent months have shown that lots of young players with promising futures have appeared on the scene. Since the 2010 World Cup in South Africa the development of the national team has been absolutely positive," Loew said.


"Michael Ballack was for a decade a very important leading player in the national side and contributed enormously to the great successes of the team after the 2002 World Cup," added Loew, coach since 2006.

"He shaped an era and as captain always put himself at the service of the team, as I was able to witness at close quarters at the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2008."

German media reports had hinted Ballack would play his 99th -- and final game -- for Germany against Brazil in a friendly in Stuttgart in August.

But Loew's latest comments suggest Ballack's career will finish with 98 caps and 42 goals for his country, having made his debut in 1999. -- AFP

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NST Online Business Times : latest

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Fair value for FBMKLCI cut to 1,650

Posted: 16 Jun 2011 06:15 PM PDT

AmResearch Sdn Bhd cut its end-2011 fair value for Malaysia's benchmark stock index to 1,650 from 1,700 to reflect a slowdown in earnings momentum, according to a report in Kuala Lumpur today.

"Early warning signs of an economic slowdown has resurfaced," AmResearch said.

The research house cut its gross domestic product forecast to 5 per cent from 5.5 per cent for 2011, it said. -- Bloomberg

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MAS upgraded at RHB, stock climbs

Posted: 16 Jun 2011 06:23 PM PDT

Malaysian Airline System Bhd, the national carrier, rose the most in two weeks in Kuala Lumpur trading after the stock was upgraded to "market perform" at RHB Research Institute Sdn.

Its shares climbed 1.4 per cent to RM1.41 at 9:15 a.m. local time, set for their biggest increase since June 1. -- Bloomberg

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NST Online: StreetsJohor

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CENTENNIAL JOY

Posted: 15 Jun 2011 11:25 AM PDT

CENTENNIAL JOY

2011/06/15
By Jassmine Shadiqe


One of Johor's oldest Hindu temples, the Arulmigu Rajamariamman Devasthanam, celebrated its 100th anniversary recently

The temple was officially reopened to the public and devotees on Sunday after undergoing a major renovation that cost RM2.5 million.

More than 20,000 devotees including tourists from Singapore, New Zealand, Thailand and Australia were at the temple as early as 7am.


Among the temple's main attraction is its five-tiered, 22-metre high rajagopuram (deep vertical fissures that is built on the main tower). It is the tallest rajagopuram in Johor.

The statues in the temple are sculpted from a single granite stone and they also have the Goddess Periyachi, who is an aspect of the Divine Mother known as Amman.

The Goddess, who is also known as Periyachi Amman, is the protector of children. Families offer special prayers to Periyachi Amman after the birth of a baby.


From its humble beginnings in 1911, the temple is now one of the major landmarks in the state.

The temple was built after the former Sultan of Johor Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Abu Bakar gave the temple founder, Kootha Reumal Vandayar, an acre of land in Jalan Ungku Puan and RM500 to build it.

The temple's first consecration ceremony or maha kumbabishegam took place on Dec 8, 1911. In 1949, the temple was registered under the Society Ordinance as Rajamariamman Kovil. Along the years, several refurbishments including replacing the pandaram or priests who perform the poojas and weddings.


No major renovations were made to the temple for the next 51 years.

However, in 1977 a decision was made to rebuild the temple. Renovation works started in 1979 and it took six years to rebuilt the temple and its name was changed to Arulmigu Rajamariamman Devasthanam.

Statues of deities such as Sri Rukyumani and Sri Vairan were incorporated as well as the rajagopuram and a kodi maram (flag staff).

Several kumbabishegam and maha kumbabishegam were done.

Kumbabishegam has to be performed for temples once in 12 years, where holy water is sprinkled on the tower and shrines in the temple. Kumbabishegam recharges the spiritual energy in the temple.

The benefit of witnessing a kumbabishegam is enormous. Even those who don't
THE Arulmigu Rajamariamman Devasthanam celebrated its 100th anniversary on June 12.

visit temples can derive the same spiritual merit of regular worshippers just by witnessing a consecration ceremony which is said to be powerful.

Present at the consecration ceremony were MIC president Datuk G. Palanivel, Johor Science, Technology and Innovation Committee chairman M. Asojan, Johor MIC chairman Datuk K. Balakrishnan and Kahang state assemblyman R. Vidyanadhan.

The temple committee's honorary-secretary N. Venugopal said they had appointed several renowned priests from Sri Lanka to conduct the maha kumbabishegam.

He said June 12 was an auspicious day based on the position of the stars and sun.

"Most of the priests who are here today had performed over 1,000 kumbabishegam, but this is the first time they are conducting the prayers on a temple's anniversary," said Venugopal.

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Ex-soldier shares his service memories

Posted: 15 Jun 2011 09:27 AM PDT

Ex-soldier shares his service memories

2011/06/16
by Sinnasamy Narayanasamy


I LIVE in Taman Universiti, Skudai, but I was born and grew up in Chenderiang, Perak.

My primary education began during the Japanese occupation in 1940, in a government English school in Tapah. I rode the bus to school daily.

One day, Japanese soldiers bombed the Tapah bridge and damaged the road. I was nearby when one of them on a bicycle had a tyre puncture. When he saw I had a bicycle, he took it and cycled away.


I told my father about it and he immediately took our family to hide in an estate not far from our home where we lived in a shed for a few weeks.

When the situation had calmed down, we returned home.

My father continued to run his toddy shop, but my school in Tapah had closed, so my father enrolled me into a Malay school in Chenderiang where I learned Jawi, Malay, and Japanese until 1945.


It was an explosive period in history. My family had heard stories of a famous soldier, Subash Chandra Bose, from the Indian Army, who had recruited young Indian men and women for training in Thailand to fight British soldiers.

Meanwhile, some British soldiers, who were hiding in the jungle were training the communists to aggravate the Japanese soldiers.

I was too young at the time to understand what was happening, the realisation came much later.


In 1952, after I finished my Standard 8 Junior Cambridge, an officer in my neighbourhood's resettlement scheme encouraged me to be a P.S.I. (Permanent Staff Instructor) in the Home Guard.

I was sent for training at the Ipoh headquarters of the Home Guard in the Tambun Camp.

After a month's training, I came back to Chenderiang to form a special squad for operational purposes. During my tenure there, the special squad killed three bandits.

I was later recommended to join the first Federation Regiment, a multi-racial regiment in Taiping. I went for the interview and passed the tests.

By that time, I had obtained a certificate for my services, and the assistant State Home Guard officer in Batang Padang, C. E. Parker, told me that I would have better prospects in a newly-formed army battalion.

My pay was at the time was 50 dollars a month. I enlisted into the Army on Sept 17, 1953, as a training recruit for six months.

After training, I was promoted to the rank of lance corporal and the pay was 60 dollars per month.

I went for another two months of training in jungle warfare and survivor skills.

After the training, I was posted to "C" company in Taiping.

The company's jurisdiction covered the jungles of Sungai Siput and Kroh in Perak, Kepala Batas in Penang, and Kulim, Gurun, Sungai Petani and Kuala Nerang in Kedah.

While I was in Kroh, the company was asked to escort former Communist Party of Malaya secretary-general, Chin Peng and his deputy Rashid Mydin from the jungles of Klian Intan to attend the talks with Tunku Abdul Rahman in Baling, Kedah in 1955.

I remember Chin Peng had assured Tunku Abdul Rahman that there would be a truce until the talks were over at the school in Baling.

After the historic talks, we escorted Chin Peng and Rashid back to the spot where we had fetched them earlier -- by a road beside the jungle. Later, "C" company was posted to Bukit Serampang, Tangkak, for operational duties.

It was moved to a new camp in Sungai Udang, Malacca after that.

Three years after, I served in the First Malayan Special Forces, which was sent for peacekeeping missions in the Congo and other African nations.

I left the army with the rank of warrant officer in 1971, and later worked in the Singapore civil service, before retiring in 1987.

Upon retirement, I received about S$200,000 (RM250,000 at that time) from the island republic's Central Provident Fund, which I used to buy my family house in Taman Universiti, Skudai.

Looking back, I realised that it did not matter how much the Home Guard and army were paying me.

My comrades and I served with dignity, integrity, and loyalty because it was our duty.

We shared the benefits as a team, and suffered together in the thick jungles of Kedah, Perak and Johor.

I am now 79 years old. I have difficulty walking as the result of a stroke. It is hard to make ends meet on a monthly welfare allowance of RM200. My wife is also sickly and my son has to care for his own family.

Sinnasamy Narayanasamy, 79, is a former warrant officer who served in the Home Guard during the Malayan Emergency.

Interview by Ahmad Fairuz Othman

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