KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 1 (Bernama) -- The main court at the National Squash Centre in Bukit Jalil will be named the Datuk Nicol David Court, said Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek.
He said this was the government's recognition for the excellent performance by the national squash queen in winning the World Open Championship for the fourth time in Amsterdam, last week.
He said the Cabinet yesterday accepted the ministry's proposal that the main court at the National Squash Centre be named after the national athlete who had brought glory to the country at the international level.
"The ministry believes that the move will provide inspiration and encouragement to other national athletes to continue to bring glory to Malaysia in the international arena," he said in a statement, here on Thursday.
-- BERNAMA
Friday, October 2, 2009
1Malaysia F1 Team Need Not Register With SCO
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 1 (Bernama) -- The 1Malaysia F1 Team (1MF1T), slated to join the Formula One (F1) race next year, need not register with the Sports Commissioner's Office (SCO).
Sports Commissioner Datuk Nik Mahmud Nik Yusof said this was because 1MF1T was an F1 racing team and not a sports body or organiser of motoring sports in the country.
"As such, it need not register with SCO. However, I am not sure of its status. We will study the status of 1Malaysia F1 Team and decide whether to classify it as a team or an F1 sports body," he told Bernama here Thursday.
Nik Mahmud said that if 1Malaysia F1 Team Sdn Bhd, the company behind 1MF1T was sports body responsible for organising F1 motoring programmes, then it should register with SCO.
"However, if it is classified as a team, then it must be supported by the Motoring Association of Malaysia (MAM) so that it gets a racing licence at Sepang International Circuit (SIC)," he said.
When contacted, MAM said the racing licence in Malaysia had been issued by the Automobile Association of Malaysia (AAM) which had been given the right by FIA, motorsports world governing body.
Its chief executive Mia Sharizman Ismail said 1Malaysia F1 Team Sdn Bhd was established as a company for racing and only had to register with the Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM).
She said MAM only helped in development programmes in terms of manpower or organising races at low level.
"The F1 team is not only about its hundreds of staff but is also involved in organising local races, developing drivers and technical aspects of the motoring industry."
Mia Sharizman said MAM's role was to find and polish drivers with the potential of making it as F1 drivers via go-kart and single seater races.
-- BERNAMA
Make Ops Sikap no mere rhetoric
ARKIB : 01/10/2009
“This SEPTEMBER, the whole Malaysians will unite to reduce road accidents.” That was an advertisement line by a radio station aired since last August, when Muslims were ushering the holy month of Ramadan.
Infact, seven days before Muslims celebrated idilfitri, Royal Malaysian Police (RMP) launched its 20th series annual road safety campaign “Ops Sikap 20” with a commitment to reduce deaths by five percent compared with the same safety campaign launched during the same season last year.
But unfortunately a total of 261 lives perished from various road accidents during the campaign period.
It seemed that September as the month for motorists to change their attitude while driving, continued to leave a black mark on our road safety record. Some even blame the police “for failure to bring down the death rate.”
Suggestions are aplenty. There are those who want the formula to reduce road accidents be reviewed. There are cacophony of voices and feelings at the road accident figures. Some were upset as to suggest that “road users will still flout the laws, even with death as a penalty.”
Such are the reactions from the current Ops Sikap 20. The issue will die down and will come up again in the next road safety operations.
Ops Sikap was launched since 2000 to replace the same campaign but on a different name Ops Pacak and Ops Statik, since 1996.
But the flower of road safety campaigns by any other names still smell as bad. And the last September campaign is no different with more people were carried to the graves due to road accidents. They include seven deaths in Gurun, Kedah and Sabak Benam, Selangor, two days before Aidilfitri.
For this writer, it’s the attitude of the motorists that should be changed, not the name of the road safety campaign. For as long as there are ill-mannered road users, there will continue to be fatalities on the road.
Ask our friends or relatives, they will have a lot of stories to tell about the characters and attitude of our motorists.
The question is, what are the best action be meted out against them?
The suggestion to place more police personnel on the road to book offenders doesn’t sound effective enough. Probably there are other approaches. One of them is that all road users be allowed to make police report through short messaging system (SMS) should they come across the traffic law-breakers.
For the police, they must be prepared to identify the plate numbers of the reported cars so that they can wait for them midway to issue them the summonses.
No person wants to see members or their family be victims of road accidents.
As such, something must be done to stop the road tragedy – that is through attitudinal change.
We shouldn’t turn this Ops Sikap statistic just into another rhetoric.
--- UTUSAN MALAYSIA
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
N.Sembilan to attract transit passengers
ARKIB : 28/09/2009
PORT DICKSON Sept.27 — The Negeri Sembilan state government will cooperate with the Tourism Ministry to attract more than six million transit passengers from the KL International Airport (KLIA) to the state.
Menteri Besar, Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said the figure was massive and should be exploited by the local tourism sector.
“I consider the current figure to be massive because some passengers had to wait between 12 and 24 hours. However, it needs the coordination of the various departments to be successful,” he told reporters after attending the launch of the Malaysia Holidays Fair by Tourism Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Ng Yen Yen, here today. - Bernama
PORT DICKSON Sept.27 — The Negeri Sembilan state government will cooperate with the Tourism Ministry to attract more than six million transit passengers from the KL International Airport (KLIA) to the state.
Menteri Besar, Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said the figure was massive and should be exploited by the local tourism sector.
“I consider the current figure to be massive because some passengers had to wait between 12 and 24 hours. However, it needs the coordination of the various departments to be successful,” he told reporters after attending the launch of the Malaysia Holidays Fair by Tourism Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Ng Yen Yen, here today. - Bernama
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Q&A: What is swine flu?
| Several countries, including Mexico and the United States, have reported outbreaks of swine flu, sparking fears of what some disease experts say could become a pandemic. Here are some facts about swine flu: What is swine flu? The World Health organisation says swine influenza, or "swine flu" is a highly contagious acute respiratory disease typically found in pigs. It spreads through tiny particles in the air or by direct contact. The virus tends to infect large numbers of a given pig population, killing between one and four per cent of those affected, the WHO says. Not every animal infected displays symptoms. How do humans contract the virus? Swine flu normally only infects pigs, but the virus can cross the species barrier and infect humans, the WHO says. People can catch the virus through contact with infected pigs, though there have been limited instances of human-to-human transmission. What are the symptoms of swine flu in humans? Symptoms are similar to those of human strains of the seasonal influenza virus, including fever, cough sore throat and body aches. But the symptoms can also include severe pneumonia that can result in death, the WHO says. Where do outbreaks occur? Swine flu is considered endemic in the United States, though outbreaks in pigs have also been reported elsewhere in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and in parts of eastern Asia. How high is the risk of a pandemic? If the virus establishes efficient human-to-human transmission, it can cause a pandemic, the WHO says. Health officials say the swine flu might develop into a form easily spread among humans by combining with a human flu virus or mutate on its own into a transmissible form. But Dr Laurence Gerlis, an expert on infectious diseases, told Al Jazeera it is too early to call the outbreak a pandemic. "If you have got an epidemic that affects several countries in the world then it becomes a pandemic. "But at the moment it is a problem in Mexico and people who have travelled to Mexico have carried it elsewhere. We have to assess it on an hour-by-hour basis." Is it safe to eat pork products? Properly handled and prepared pork products are safe to eat, according to the WHO. The swine flu virus is killed when cooked at temperatures of 160 F/70 C or higher. Does a vaccine exist? There are no vaccines to protect humans from the current swine flu virus. The flu virus evolves quickly, meaning that vaccines are soon obsolete. Health officials say there is no evidence to suggest that the vaccine prepared for seasonal flu will protect against swine flu. Are there any other treatments? The swine flu virus detected in Mexico and the United States appears to respond to treatment with oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza). What can be done to stop the spread of the disease? Most of the cases have been detected by chance through seasonal influenza surveillance. But Dr Gerlis told Al Jazeera that "anyone travelling out of Mexico could be potentially carrying the virus and would have no symptoms at all." Health officials say maintaining good hygiene, including regular hand-washing and staying a safe distance from those infected, may help in preventing the spread of the virus. |
Monday, September 28, 2009
No new H1N1 deaths
No new H1N1 deaths
KUALA LUMPUR Sept.27 — No new deaths from influenza A(H1N1) were recorded for the past one week and the total so far remains at 77, said Director-General of Health, Tan Sri Dr. Mohd. Ismail Merican.
He said, 45 new cases with influenza like illness (ILI) were warded in 92 hospitals nationwide while 140 were discharged, leaving the total at 761.
Laboratory tests confirmed that 14 per cent or 103 of the patients were infected with H1N1, he said in a statement today.
He said 18 per cent or 19 of the them were in the intensive care units (ICU) including two new cases while two patients were discharged today.
Dr. Mohd. Ismail said, the patients in the ICUs had risk factors — eight were children under five, obesity (four), chronic diseases (three) and chronic respiratory diseases (two).
The latest information on H1N1 infection can be obtained by calling the hotline 03-8881 0200 or 03-8881 0300 from 8am to 5pm, e-mail at cprc—h1n1@moh.gov.my and on the ministry’s website at http://www.moh.gov.my. - Bernama
--- UTUSAN MALAYSIA
Lowest recorded dengue cases (Copy From Utusan Online)
ARKIB : 03/09/2009
KUALA LUMPUR Sept. 2 — The seven-day period beginning Aug. 23, saw the lowest ever dengue fever cases recorded in the country since October 2006.
During the period, 477 cases were reported, said Director-General of Health, Tan Sri Dr. Mohd. Ismail Merican.
He said that this constituted a drop of 36 cases or seven per cent, as compared to 513 cases reported, the week before.
He said four states showed a sharp rise in cases, as compared to the week before.
They were Negeri Sembilan (up by seven cases), Sarawak (two), Johor (one) and Selangor (five).
Dr Mohd Ismail said the accumulated number of dengue cases this year was 29,700, as compared to 29,942 last year.
“Dengue fever-related deaths, so far this year, stands at 68. Last year, 71 deaths were reported,” he added.
Meanwhile, Dr. Mohd. Ismail said there was an increase in Chikungunya cases, with 33 new cases reported in the country. - Bernama
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