Posted: 07 Jul 2014 11:32 AM PDT

by Matthew Umpang, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on July 8, 2014, Tuesday

KUCHING: The Pehin Seri Taib Mahmud Cup Muaythai Tournament will be re-named the TYT Yang Dipertua Negeri Sarawak Cup Muaythai Tournament.

A key change will be the increase in the number of foreign fighters in the event.

Boxers from countries such as Thailand, New Zealand and Singapore are expected to show up.

This was disclosed by a spokesman for the tournament organisers yesterday.

"We see the move to change the name of this tournament as a symbolic gesture of bringing the tournament to another level. We have high hopes for this tournament as we are confident that many here in the state are enthusiastic about the sport of muaythai," he said.

Meanwhile, Kuching Muaythai Association (PMK) president Jumaat Ibrahim observed that the name change was appropriate as Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud is now the Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sarawak.

He also commented on the main objective of giving local fighters the experience of fighting against fighters from outside Sarawak.

"If we want to see quality boxers from Sarawak, we have to organise this type of event here in the state. Local boxers will definitely gain valuable experience in competing at this tournament," he said.

A delegation comprising representatives of the organisers including Jumaat himself, DBKU mayor Datuk Haji Abang Abdul Wahap Abang Julai, the Sarawak Youth and Sports Department (JBS Sarawak) director Abdul Haris Ishak and PMK Secretary Hartika Abu Hassim was at the Astana to meet Taib yesterday.

The tournament has been the collective effort of a few local muaythai associations and government bodies namely PMK, JBS Sarawak, Sarawak State Sports Council (MSNS), the Ministry of Social Development (KPS), the Kuching City North Comission (DBKU), Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM), Sarawak Health Department and other agencies.

The event will be held at Stadium Perpaduan on July 22.

Glittering future cut short - The Borneo Post Online Berita Sarawak ...

Posted: 17 Aug 2014 08:05 PM PDT

by Churchill Edward, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on August 8, 2014, Friday

Slain British medical students were set to begin work as doctors next year

KUCHING: The two British medical students Neil Dalton, 23 and Aidan Brunger, 22, from Newcastle University stabbed to death here on Wednesday morning have been described as "excellent" and "highly committed" students.

Dean of Undergraduate Studies for Newcastle University Medical School Prof Jane Calvert said, "They were doing what thousands of medical students do every year, they were on an elective to experience clinical practice in a different setting, to learn from that and enhance their practice when they come back.

"They were excellent students, they were doing really well with their studies, they were highly committed and coming back next year to work as doctors."

Calvert added that Brunger had aspirations to be an academic medic while Dalton wanted to head into clinic practice.

"Aidan was aspiring to do some medical research on his return, Neil was going straight into his final year and it's such a tragic thing to occur."

According to The Telegraph, Newcastle University released a statement that they were in "huge shock" at the students' deaths.

Acting vice-chancellor Prof Tony Stevenson said: "We were informed this morning of the very sad news that two of our fourth-year medical students working at a hospital in Kuching, Borneo, have been tragically killed.

"Neil Dalton and Aidan Brunger were on a six-week work placement, along with five other medical students, to put the skills they had learnt during their time here at the university into practice," he said.

Reliable sources yesterday said representatives from the British High Commission in Malaysia will be accompanying next-of-kin or family members of the two deceased persons to SGH mortuary for the purpose of identification around 10am today.

Dalton has been described as a bright, vibrant young man who played football.

His former headmaster Martyn Cooper in England said: "Neil was always a fully engaged and promising student, whose decision to enter the medical profession was encouraged by Belper School.

"Our memories of him are of a vibrant and interested young man, who enjoyed his studies and made contributions to many events. He was a particularly-able mathematician, winning several awards during his school years," Cooper was quoted by The Telegraph.

He said the whole community was saddened by the news of his tragic death.

Dalton's parents were said to be too upset to comment on the incident.

However, The Telegraph interviewed a family friend and neighbour who described Dalton as a "very bright and self-motivated" young man who had the world at his feet.

Dalton who has an older brother, grew up in Belper in Derbyshire where he attended the local school, achieving four A* grades at A -Level. Friends described him as a "true gentleman" who had always dreamed of becoming a doctor.

Sue Barltey, 50, said: "While other kids might be lying in bed he was always up early doing something sporty. He had always said that he wanted to be a doctor, and he studied very hard.

"He was a true gentleman. If he saw me on a night out in Belper, he would offer to walk me home. When he did that, he always saw me safely to my door. He was a big part of the local community. It is a terrible, terrible loss."

Brunger from Gillingham in Kent was a pupil at Rainham Mark Grammar School before winning a place at Newcastle University to study medicine.

Like Dalton, he was also described as a brilliant student with a glittering future ahead of him.

His mother and step-father still live in Gillingham, but his father and step-mother moved to Alnwick in Northumberland.

Both of Brunger's parents were too upset to comment last night, but a neighbour in Gillingham described him as a "lovely" young man with a close and loving family.

The pair played football together for Newcastle University Medics and were in Sarawak with five other students from their course.

Their murders came just days after staff at the teaching hospital warned all visiting students to be on their guard while socialising in an area which is popular with backpackers.

Many of those gathered were coming to the end of their placement and were preparing to return home or head off to do some travelling for the remainder of the summer.

Fellow interns at the SGH expressed their shock and distress at hearing the news of the brutal murders and they were offered counselling.

Dalton and Brunger were undertaking a placement at a hospital here. They were stabbed to death just days after being warned about the dangers of drinking in popular local bars, The Telegraph reported.

Dalton and Brunger had been out celebrating the completion of a six-week stint at Sarawak General Hospital here when they were attacked by a group of locals who stabbed them multiple times and then left them to die in the street just yards apart.

The police have arrested four suspects aged between 19 and 35 to facilitate the murder investigation.

Meanwhile in a facebook posting of a member of the group of elective students of SGH, Prof Michael Smile wrote: "To all elective medical students in Kuching, I am sure, by now, all of you would have heard about the tragic deaths of two of your colleagues/friends.

"Some of you have messaged me expressing anxiety and concern about your safety. If anyone needs counselling etc, please let me, Dr Wong Jin Shyan or one of the physicians in the hospital know and we can see about hopefully providing this.

"From the police investigations, this was not a random crime. The two students apparently got into a quarrel with four locals who had been drinking," Smile posted.

However, State acting deputy police commissioner Datuk Dr Chai Khin Chung insisted the attack was random and stressed that the city's bars were still safe for foreigners.

• Murder giving wrong image — Mayor

• Foreign tourists still think Sarawak safe

• Two British nationals believed stabbed to death in early morning fracas

• Abdul Karim dismayed at murder of British students

• Fourth suspect in British students' murder remanded for seven days

• Wan Junaidi: Talks soon on operating hours

• Public safety, long hours and police presence in the limelight

• Abang Johari: City's golden triangle night spots safe

• Sarawak still safe to visit — Lo

Write from the start - The Borneo Post Online Berita Sarawak - News ...

Posted: 15 Aug 2014 08:06 PM PDT

by Neville DCruz. Posted on June 26, 2014, Thursday

MELBOURNE: Even from the time she was a little girl, Amy Han, whose father is from Sarawak, had no doubt what she was going to be.

"I can't remember a time when I was not telling everybody I was going to grow up to be an author," the 29-year-old says.

"When I started school, I discovered how much I loved to write. I started making 'books', stapling paper together and copying out my favourite stories. I did not know it then, but that is actually an excellent way to get used to the act of writing, and also to learn how stories work".

Amy was born in Wellington, New Zealand, but moved to Australia with her parents – George, an IT project manager, and Yvonne, a lawyer.

"My dad grew up in Miri, Sarawak. His parents sent him to Wellington to finish high school and attend university, and it was at university that he met my mum.

"Mum grew up in Wellington but was born in Hong Kong. After my parents married and had their first child – me – we moved to Melbourne when I was eight months old".

Amy's artistic streak began to shine through from an early age.

"I was a very creative child," she says.

"I remember seeing toy kitchen sets being advertised on TV and, instead of asking my parents to buy me one, I went straight to my dad's study for cardboard, scissors and tape so I could make them myself. I made myself paper handbags complete with paper lipsticks and a paper mirror inside.

"I also loved to read, to watch mum read her big crime novels at night, and to listen to dad's bedtime stories, which were all about his childhood; all the mischief he got up to as a little boy growing up in Miri, Sarawak. It all seemed so foreign to me from my home in leafy, suburban, multicultural Doncaster (Melbourne) with my beloved pet cat.

"My favourite stories as a child were 'Fern Gully', the Selby series, the 'Little Princess' trilogy, and all of the fairy tales that were made into Disney films".

Amy has so far written and published two novels – 'Ru Dreaming in 2011', and 'Breaking Jumps' this year – as well as a collection of short stories and three picture books.

"Ru Dreaming is aimed at middle readers and is about a girl named Ru's first year in high school, and her sense of feeling torn between her oldest best friend and the new friends she is making, and not to mention the boy she has a crush on.

"Breaking Jumps is aimed at teenagers and young adults and follows two teenagers – Jess and Ollie – as they get to know each other over a dramatic night, escaping from a gang they become tangled up with, and saving a friend.

"The short story collection, 'A Trip to Somewhere Else', is an e-book of interlinked stories all alluding to questions about love, life, and what it means to follow your heart.

"The three picture books are out of print; they were a special project for which I collaborated with students at Doncaster Primary School – my old school.

The kids illustrated the books. It was fun to see how they interpreted each of the pages".

In 2012, Amy left a full-time job in marketing to pursue a business idea and dedicate more time to writing.

That idea has grown into Creative Write-it!, which aims to inspire and encourage young people through creative writing workshops.

"Currently I am still a one-woman show, but I hope to expand soon. I run weekly workshops, visit schools upon request and run holiday programmes.

"It has been a huge learning curve but also an incredibly rewarding experience as I continue to shape Creative Write-it! into 'that thing' I wished was around when I was a kid".

Amy says she would love to tour the world promoting her books when she becomes more well-known, and might one day consider a book launch in Miri to honour her Malaysian heritage, but for now she has plenty on her plate with Creative Write-It! and her own writing.

"I now have four ideas in the works for new novels, all aimed at kids or young adults. I think a part of me will always be young let's hope.

"They may not all make it to completion, but it's an exciting place to be".

Links:amyhan.com.au; creativewriteit.com.au — Bernama

New name, new challenge for Muaythai Boxers – BorneoPost ... Berita Sarawak - News 2 Sarawak

New name, new challenge for Muaythai Boxers – BorneoPost <b>...</b> Berita Sarawak - News 2 Sarawak

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