22 April 2003

Five shortlisted for youth ambassador

KUALA LUMPUR, Mon. - Five outstanding Malaysians have been shortlisted to be the first Malaysian Youth Ambassador.

Chan Yuen-Li, 35, Aziwahija Yeop, 31, Jerry Kamit, 27, Maznah Zulklifi, 30, and Ang John Wei, 17, were selected for outstanding performance in their respective fields.

In conjunction with National Youth Day 2003, the Youth and Sports Ministry is introducing the idea to recognise achievements of Malaysian youths and youth associations.

Minister Datuk Hishammuddin Hussein announced this at the launching of the National Youth Day 2003 theme and logo here today.

Other activities include a youth showcase exhibition, annual youth convention, national youth award and youth association award.

Hishammuddin said the ambassador would be selected based on outstanding performance at both national and international levels.

"Their contribution to society will be acknowledged and they will also be the role model for Malaysian youths," he said.

The five shortlisted candidates were selected out of 28 nominations from various categories such as arts, sports, entrepreneur, information technology, innovation and career.

Ang, the youngest candidate out of 28 nominations, was selected for his contribution in the IT field. The Terengganuborn Ang has represented the country at international conferences around the world, giving talks on specific subjects.

Silat exponent Aziwahija started the art at the age of 13 and at 14, was conducting his own class of 30 students.

"I hope to further develop the art and someday introduce Malaysia as a land synonymous with silat," said Aziwahija.

Chan is an active sports competitor, while Kamit is an ethnic music player specialising in the sape. Maznah is a television personality who is also into paragliding.

The ambassador will be selected through a public SMS voting system.

The National Youth Day themed Driving the Nation's Excellence will be launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad at Putra Stadium, Bukit Jalil, on May 15.

Sourced from http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-100490680/five-shortlisted-youth-ambassador.html

19 April 2003

Malaysia go on trial run

MALAYSIA will select their exponents to the SEA Games after the Asia Pacific Championships in Manila in early July.

National Silat Association (Pesaka) secretary Megat Zulkarnain Omar Din said the exponents might also travel to Vietnam and Holland for training stints in October, two months before the SEA Games.

Vietnam will host this year's SEA Games for the first time.

The Games will be held on Dec 1-15.

"So far, 10 countries have confirmed participation in the Asia Pacific Championships and we are expecting more entries before the end of the month," said Zulkarnain.

"The tournament is important to us as it will give our exponents a chance to gauge their standards ahead of the SEA Games.

"There are also plans to travel to Indonesia and Vietnam but until today, we have yet to get a reply from the Indonesians, so that trip looks to be out.

"The trip to Vietnam depends on the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome development but I think the tour to Holland will go on as planned." The Malaysian exponents are supposed to travel to Indonesia tomorrow but that looks unlikely.

Malaysia pulled out of the Belgium Open earlier this month because of the war in Iraq and the SARS outbreak.

That prevented them from much needed exposure ahead of the SEA Games and is another reason Pesaka are hoping the Asia Pacific Games are not cancelled or postponed.

At the last SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur, the national exponents won a record five gold medals through Ismail Darus (category A), Mohd Azrin Abd Malek (I), Ahmad Faizal Omar (J), Mastura Sapuan (E) and silat seni women's duet Noorsyhidawati Abdullah Sani and Shalina Abdul Ghafar.

Their previous best performance in an international meet was four gold medals at the 1989 SEA Games.

Indonesia finished with nine gold medals and Vietnam six two years ago while Singapore with one gold was the only other country to win a title.

Pesaka are hoping to emerge champions in the silat competition this time round and have conducted various training programes to ensure the exponents deliver.

Written by GRAIG NUNIS
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15 April 2003

Veteran Ismail honoured at self-defence festival

SULTAN Ahmad Shah of Pahang placing the Selempang Guru-Guru Tua on Ismail Mat Ali, 79, at the 2003 Royal Pahang Self-Defence Festival yesterday.

The selempang (sash) was awarded to Ismail as a recognition of his contributions to silat.

Twelve teams, including those from Singapore and Thailand, took part in the four-day festival organised by the State Government, National Silat Association and its Pahang chapter.

The event was held in conjunction with the Sultan's 73rd birthday. Pahang emerged champion in the competition.

Sourced from http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-100115979/veteran-ismail-honoured-self.html

12 April 2003

PAHANG WIN NATIONAL TEAM SILAT TITLE

KUANTAN, April 12 (Bernama) -- Pahang won the second national silat olahraga team championship here today, beating Selangor 3-2.

Twenty other teams participated in the championship, including from 12 states, the Kuala Lumpur and Labuan Federal Territories, Pesaka Malaysia and Thailand, Singapore and Brunei.

In the Pahang format silat seni competition, Perguruan Seni Silat Cekak Harimau Pahang emerged first followed by Perguruan Gerak Silat Lian Malaysia and Pertubuhan Seni Silat Gayung Laksamana Malaysia Temerloh.

When closing the meet, Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang expressed satisfaction with the achievements of the Pahang contingent.

It was appropriate that Pahang, a state rich in Malay heritage, be at the forefront of efforts to promote the Malay art of self-defence, he said.

Sourced from http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-100054707/pahang-win-national-team.html