Malay Mail articles from February 2002, page 5

Malay Mail archives from February 2002

Victory assured in Australian squad.
February 22, 2002... CRAIG VICTORY could just turn out to be Australia's ace in the pack at the World Cup. The 22-year-old, who was a member of the squad that reached the Olympic semifinals two years ago, has only just returned from injury but his pace and skill...

An uphill task ahead.
February 22, 2002... HOCKEY is not one of those things that Belgium are renowned for unlike neighbours Holland. Instead, they are famous for diamond, chocolates and beers with well over 300 brands in all. Belgium are also the land where saxophone was invented by...

Willems the heartbeat of his squad.
February 22, 2002... THE return of skipper Jean Willems will add some bite for Belgium in their tough task in the World Cup which begins this Sunday. Willems, for the record, was not in the team for the Champions Challenge held at Bukit Jalil last November. His...

We will run ourselves to the ground.
February 22, 2002... THE lack of international matches has meant that Cuba's captain, Alain Bardaji Lopez has only played 24 times for his country in the past 10 years. Just 28-years-old, Lopez who plays in defence, has played in only two major tournaments before...

First-timers with high target.
February 22, 2002... CUBA are famous for their Havana cigars and rum and Fidel Castro rather than their hockey prowess. But this does not mean that they will just make up the numbers in the 10th edition of the World Cup. For the record, Malaysia's German coach...

Tradition means nothing.
February 22, 2002... THEY may be the founding fathers of hockey but tradition counts for nothing as England have yet to win the World Cup. The closest they came to winning the coveted title was when the hosted the tournament in 1986 only to be beaten by Australia...

Parnham - Captain courageous.
February 22, 2002... ENGLAND coach Malcolm Wood announced that Craig Parnham will lead his team mates into the same stadium where, last July, his career looked like it might be cruelly cut short. Captaining England in his first major tournament, Parnham underwent...

Kunz pursuing the elusive trophy.
February 22, 2002... THE initial impression one gets when faced with Florian Kunz is that the German defender is a tough customer off the pitch as he is on it. However the 29-year-old, who is a real estate manager, is a gentle giant. He made his debut in 1994...

The hot favourites.
February 22, 2002... GERMANY are the favourites for the title but this is one tag that they rather do without. For so often in major competitions the Germans have fumbled at the last hurdle and they know too well that early form counts for nothing. The Germans...

Chicken pox almost put Baljit out.
February 22, 2002... BALJIT SINGH SAINI is the unsung hero of the Indian side that is boosted with some big names of the sport. But he never allows this to affect him and goes about his responsibilities in a business like approach. Saini almost did not make the...

Will history repeat itself?
February 22, 2002... KUALA LUMPUR holds fond memories for the masters of the game. It was here that India registered their sole World Cup victory. And if history repeats itself, then India should win the cup again. Though there are many skeptics to this...

Beware the rising sun.
February 22, 2002... UNKNOWN to many, Japan were the first country to take up hockey in the East Asian region in 1906. And they have a silver medal from the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics to show for the prowess in the early years. But after the Second World War,...

Golden boy Tobita an instant hero.
February 22, 2002... NAOHIKO TOBITA is already a hero in Japan thanks to golden goal against New Zealand in the qualifier in Edinburgh that ensured Japan their first ever appearance in the World Cup. Tobita, 24, may have scored seven goals in the qualifiers but...

In a pressure cooker.
February 22, 2002... MALAYSIANS are known to be great lovers of sports. And hockey is one which has attracted much following. There is a big number of fans around.... with many of them highly emotional at times. This is understandable as Malaysia are...

Kuhan holds the key for a decent outing.
February 22, 2002... BESIDES skipper and skilful forward Mirnawan Nawawi, the performance of S. Kuhan may well hold the key for Malaysia in their bid for a decent outing in the World Cup. Team officials are hoping that Kuhan, who plays as central midfielder and...

Archibald - The game is in my blood.
February 22, 2002... BY now hockey fans here may be sick and tired of hearing the name Ryan Archibald. It was Archibald who orchestrated New Zealand's moves at the Junior World Cup last October, including masterminding two wins over Malaysia - one in the group...

Burden as a one-hit wonder.
February 22, 2002... FORMER Olympic champions New Zealand have been stuck with the one-hit wonder tag ever since they edged Australia in the 1976 Montreal final. Going by their recent records, they are unlikely to add the World Cup to their trophy cabinet but you...

All hail Sohail the conqueror.
February 22, 2002... HE came, he saw and he conquered. That is what exactly Pakistan's hockey wonder boy Sohail Abbas did. He came at a time when Pakistan hockey was almost on the brink of disaster and the national side had conceded all their international...

Green shirts are glowing.
February 22, 2002... PAKISTAN are a delight to watch and hence it is no surprise that they have a large following in Malaysia. So confident are the Pakistanis that they have gone on record to say that they will be the best Asian hope for the World Cup. With silky...

Grzeszczak not ready to quit just yet.
February 22, 2002... AS hard to believe as it is, there is actually a town in Poland where hockey is more popular than soccer. The town is Gniezno and its most famous son is none other than Robert Grzeszczak. Robert who? Well, Grzeszczak is Poland's skipper for...

Poles axed by $ woes.
February 22, 2002... POLAND'S World Cup preparation has been hit by cash shortage and the walkout of three key players. Piotr Mikula, the forward who is best remembered for scoring five goals against Britain in the Olympic qualifiers 23 months ago and then ending...

Nicol opts to hit the bush trail for relaxation.
February 22, 2002... ASK Greg Nicol who he looks up to in terms of sporting excellence and without batting an eyelid his answer would be Tiger Woods. The South African striker regards Woods as a legend in his own lifetime and his affection for the golfer is an...

Out to silence their critics.
February 22, 2002... THEY are the poor cousins of rugby and cricket in their country. So much so that they even were deemed not good enough to play in the Sydney Olympics though they qualified on merit. But the South Africans are here to prove that they too...

Seung-tae has a thing to prove.
February 22, 2002... A STRIKER with a thing to prove could well propel South Korea to great heights in the next two weeks. Song Seung-tae has long been recognised as the best forward that South Korea has ever produced but it was the 30-year-old who missed the...

Sang-ryul adds his touch.
February 22, 2002... THE man known as the coach with the magic touch has returned to help guide South Korea's fortunes at the World Cup - albeit in a different capacity. Kim Sang-ryul, who presided over the nation's rise to the top of the hockey world during his...

Point man for the Spanish army.
February 22, 2002... HOW well Spain perform at the World Cup could well be down to how well Juan Escarre plays. Escarre is one of the best players in the world, a fact which was recognised by the World Hockey Magazine who voted him the main man of the 1996...

Time for redemption.
February 22, 2002... CAN Spain bounce back? That is the question that all hockey fans will be asking themselves as they gear up for the World Cup. The Spaniards, runners-up at the 1996 Olympics and 1998 World Cup were a dismal ninth at the Sydney Olympic Games...

Roaring end to a knife-edge fight.
February 22, 2002... Byline: Ian Pereira IT was the late morning of March 11, 1975. The last preliminary round match of the the Third World Cup hockey tournament was all square at one- all at the Kilat Club ground in Jalan Pantai, Kuala Lumpur. Defending...

Gripped by general euphoria.
February 22, 2002... IS Kuala Lumpur in particular and Malaysia in general about to be gripped by the same euphoria that followed our historic staging of the third World Cup hockey tournament in 1975? With the 10th tournament just hours away, there does not seem...

Nada - still at it at 83.
February 22, 2002... THEIR legs are old and tired now and the years have made their balance uncertain. Everyone of them know that the coming World Cup hockey tournament will most certainly be the Last Post. The yesteryears for many go back to as early as when...

Kiwis coming with a bagful of hope.
February 22, 2002... Byline: Ian Pereira NEW ZEALAND are a nation, like South Africa, who take all sports seriously, but some more than the others. If form is any guide the country could, within the space of a month, be crowned world champions at the men's...

Vijayanathan's finest hour.
February 22, 2002... Byline: Ian Pereira HE organised the 1975 men's World Cup hockey tournament in Kuala Lumpur with distinction. That was from the tournament's secretariat office in Jalan Ampang. He then set aside the organising secretary's pencil for an...

Lomans promises to keep his stick sharp.
February 22, 2002... DUTCHMAN Bram Lomans is considered as one of the best three penalty corner specialists in the world at this moment. The others are Argentine Jorge Lombi and Pakistani Sohail Abbas. With this reputation, Lomans is poised to have Holland's...

Keepers of the prized crown.
February 22, 2002... WORLD AND OLYMPICS champions Holland have all the stars, qualities, experience and that never ending fire in them for the battle which begins on Feb 24 in Bukit Jalil. It will not be easy for anyone to dislodge them from the crown they won in...

Burning passion.
February 22, 2002... Byline: Ian Pereira THE date: Friday, Nov. 23, 1956. The venue Melbourne Oval. The time: 11.42am. The setting: Malaya's first Olympic Games match against Britain. The score was 1-1 with eight minutes left for play. ...

Gory discovery.
February 21, 2002... Byline: Lionel Morais ON Tuesday night, a woman lodged a report, alleging that her husband was abducted by a group of men. Yesterday, she was arrested when a charred body was found in the boot of a completely burnt car in Hulu Yam Baru....

Theft in hotel: Manager held.
February 21, 2002... A MANAGER with a leading hotel in Shah Alam was arrested on suspicion of stealing cash and valuables from rooms occupied mostly by foreigners. The 40-year-old suspect, who has been with the hotel for several years, was picked up by police on...

State athlete nabbed.
February 21, 2002... Byline: Lionel Morais A STATE athlete has been arrested in connection with the rape of a 23-year-old woman in Shah Alam on Tuesday. The 25-year-old suspect, who is also a Petaling Jaya Municipal Council (MPPJ) employee, was arrested at...

1,348 vehicles checked in joint op.
February 21, 2002... Byline: Azman Abdul Ghani AT least 1,348 vehicles were stopped in the first day of Ops Bersepadu held at the Bukit Raja Toll Plaza on Wednesday, where nine government agencies worked together to educate and discipline Klang Valley road...

Programmer caught filming housemates with hidden camera.
February 21, 2002... Byline: Parveen Gill HE looked decent enough. A computer programmer married with two children who spent most of his time making furniture or writing programmes. But the man, a Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) graduate, not only turned...

Two bodies in 24 hours: Cops looking for links.
February 21, 2002... TWO bodies were found in the same forest reserve in Damansara Damai in the past 24 hours - raising suspicions that they could be linked. The body of a newborn baby was found buried in the Bukit Lanjan forest at about 4pm on Tuesday. Some 24...

Operation against squatters intensifies.
February 21, 2002... THE Selangor Government has intensified its efforts to tear down squatter houses occupied by illegal immigrants. They have ordered the frequency to be increased to three times weekly. "We will demolish the squatter houses occupied by the...

Peat fires out in two weeks.
February 21, 2002... THE peat fires in Selangor in the past two weeks will be put out within the next two weeks. This was what the State Fire and Rescue Department told the Selangor Government. "The firemen will flood the affected areas and carry out a direct...

Gems shop worker faces RM500,000 CBT charge.
February 21, 2002... A HABIB JEWELS sales assistant was charged in court with criminal breach of trust involving two diamond necklaces and three diamond bracelets worth RM522,870. Razlan Md Ramlan, 22, from Taman Selayang was brought before the Kuala Lumpur...

Indon maid gets 9 months' jail for molesting girl.
February 21, 2002... Byline: Shahrul Hafeez "BIBI korek dengan jari." (Bibi used her fingers on me). The graphic description came from a three-year-old girl who complains of pain in her private parts. The incident was a nightmare come true for a family in...

Couple charged with woman's murder.
February 21, 2002... NO plea was recorded from a married couple who was charged with murder at the Klang magistrate's court yesterday. Rusman Sulaiman, 36, and wife, Faridah Mujib, 40, both of Klang, were jointly charged with causing the death of Shereen Liau...

Gotz gone to Singapore.
February 21, 2002... Byline: Badrolhisham Bidin RALPH Manfred Gotz - the German link in the RM1 billion Malaysia Airlines scandal - has left the country for Singapore early yesterday. The former MASKargo Sdn Bhd vice-president until his resignation two years...

S.C.raids another firm.
February 21, 2002... Byline: Muzli Mohd Zin ANOTHER illegal spot commodity trading firm in the city was raided by the Securities Commission (SC) yesterday. Acting on public complaints, a team of 16 SC personnel went to the firm's office at Wisma Genting in...

Blessing in disguise for trainee.
February 21, 2002... FOR Abdul Rahman (not his real name), 21, the raid conducted by the Securities Commission at the illegal spot commodity trading firm in Wisma Genting yesterday was a blessing. Had it not happened, he would have invested RM20,000 as his...

How to spot illegal futures trading firms.
February 21, 2002... WHAT is the difference between a registered futures commodity trading firm and a spot commodity (or spot cash) firm? You wouldn't really be able to tell, unless you check with the Securities Commission (SC) on their status. As of Dec 31,...

Still waiting for exam results.
February 21, 2002... Byline: Sushma Veera; Sangeetha Nair SEVERAL medical students who sat for a qualifying examination last October want to know when they will get their results. "We are a group of medical students from unrecognised medical universities...

Tax refund takes a long time to arrive.
February 21, 2002... Byline: Sushma Veera; Sangeetha Nair YIM CHEE KEONG says he overpaid RM536.69 to the Income Tax Department and was promised a refund. "Eight months have passed and I am still waiting for my refund," he says. "When I went to the income...

Worried about water disruptions.
February 21, 2002... Byline: Sushma Veera; Sangeetha Nair RESIDENTS in Petaling Jaya are worried about the quality of tap water and supply problems. TAN of Section 14 says: "The water from the taps are also brownish and the pressure is really low." Another...

Abandoned house next door gives her the creeps.
February 21, 2002... Byline: Sushma Veera; Sangeetha Nair AN abandoned house in Jalan 22/38, Petaling Jaya is giving WATI the creeps. "The house has been abandoned for four years now and the grass and weeds have grown so much that it looks like a jungle,"...

Water-bomber to the rescue?
February 21, 2002... Byline: Marhalim Abas A WATER-BOMBING plane may soon join the inventory of the Fire and Rescue Department, if the Government decides to buy the Canadian-made Bombardier Cl-415 amphibian Besides water-bombing, the CL-415 can also be...

`Kuan Yew should step in on tudung issue'.
February 21, 2002... Byline: T.Thant JELUTONG Member of Parliament Lee Kah Choon yesterday took Singapore's Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew to task for his "continued silence" over the republic's ban on Muslim schoolgirls wearing the tudung (headscarf). He...

Waterworks to tighten valves at dams.
February 21, 2002... Byline: Eddie Chua THE Selangor Waterworks Department has introduced a form of "rationing" in the State as water levels in five dams dipped during the current dry spell. Despite the State Government's assurance that the dams have four...

KL NUBE to take on incumbents.
February 21, 2002... Byline: Shamsul Yunos THE dissatisfaction among members of the Kuala Lumpur branch of the National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) is fast growing into a challenge for the leadership as it draws a line-up of candidates to do battle with...

Union puts off industrial action pending bank's decision to study claims.
February 21, 2002... BUMIPUTRA Commerce Bank managed to avert industrial action by the National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) on Tuesday after their meeting with union officials at the Industrial Relations Department. In a Press release signed by union's...

86 illegals nabbed in `Ops Sapu Bina'.
February 21, 2002... A TOTAL of 86 foreign workers, seven of them women, were rounded up in an early morning operation at a construction site in Jalan Ipoh yesterday. The five-hour long operation, codenamed Ops Sapu Bina was led by Federal Territory Immigration...

`We'll listen to all woes'.
February 21, 2002... Byline: Sharen Kaur CITY HALL will continue to monitor and make changes on the weekend closure of Jalan Bukit Bintang. There are bound to be teething problems when a new idea or project is implemented, said its deputy director-general,...

Good concept but poor infrastructure, say traders.
February 21, 2002... Byline: Hasnita Shaari SOME of the major business operators in Jalan Bukit Bintang have come out in the open to call on City Hall to reconsider the road's weekend closure. Yesterday, three of them approached The Malay Mail to air their...

TNB celebrates festival.
February 21, 2002... TENAGA Nasional Berhad (TNB) ushered in the Year of the Horse with its first Chinese New Year celebration at Kompleks Sukan TNB recently. TNB's president cum chief executive officer Pian Sukro, Energy, Telecommunications and Multimedia...

Factory sealed off.
February 21, 2002... Byline: Harny Abu Khair SOMETHING smelt fishy, but it had nothing to do with the swimming kind. The pungent smell of fertilisers processed from chicken feathers at a factory in Kuang was more than enough to catch the attention of the...

Calling American grads.
February 21, 2002... THE American University Alumni Malaysia (AUAM) is hosting its Chinese New Year celebration on March 2 at 7.30pm. It invites all American and foreign graduates and their friends to join the celebration at Dewan Wawasan, Menara PGRM. AUAM...

Still `cracking' despite the ban.
February 21, 2002... Byline: Badrolhisham Bidin; Eddie Chua FIRECRACKERS, though long banned, are to the surprise of many people being played daily, not just during the major festive seasons. But the Royal Customs and Excise Department is working extra hard...

Huge profits the prime motive for smugglers.
February 21, 2002... CONTRABAND firecrackers, with profits of 10 to 15 times the original price when it wasn't banned has become a big incentive for smugglers. The firecrackers are usually brought in from China under the guise of legal items, and would be placed...

`No problem with Volvos'.
February 21, 2002... THERE is no evidence of risks related to electromagnetic fields in cars. In a faxed statement, Volvo Cars Malaysia said as such, there was no need to take any technical measures to address the alleged problem. It was responding to a foreign...

MASkargo offers clients info on two websites.
February 21, 2002... MASKARGO is offering customers online shipment tracking and flight schedule information accessible through two websites. They are www.maskargo.com and www.maskargo.com.my. Customers of MASKargo can track shipments by keying in the applicable...

Training the `comfort' providers.
February 21, 2002... Byline: Habsah Marjuni A HOME away from home. How many times do we come across such a slogan being used by hotels and resorts in their advertisements? Indeed, providing comfort to the travellers is the ultimate aim of the hospitality...

Mentari aims to meet needs of IT sector.
February 21, 2002... INSTITUT Mentari has the mission of meeting the demand of the ICT sector to ensure its graduates have a better edge over others in the job market. The institute has designed its programme in line with current needs so that its students will...

Right balance at ITJ.
February 21, 2002... Byline: R.V.Veera ITJ, established in 1975 as a private technical institution of higher learning, not only conducts engineering and other technical courses but also guides, motivates and inculcates civic awareness and cultural values...

A fishy tale.
February 21, 2002... Byline: Fidah Ruzki WHEN I was a little kid, my grandma used to keep an "ikan puyu" as a pet. She was superstitious and she thought that if we had this kind of fish in our house, robbers wouldn't break in. Whether it was true or not,...

Testing one's patience.
February 21, 2002... Byline: Ben Adam IF there is one single recurring theme in land matters, it is the seemingly endless waiting period a Malaysian citizen has to undergo when he applies for state land. And yet, when that waiting period finally comes to...

The impressive Impreza Sports Wagon.
February 21, 2002... Byline: K E Ravinderen THE "baby" of the Subaru Impreza range, the 1.6TS Sports Wagon AWD, was recently launched by Auto Dunia Sdn Bhd (the franchise holder and importer of Subaru vehicles) and their dealer Motor Image Sdn Bhd. The...

(Dean's helpdesk).
February 21, 2002... HOW deep can a ball be in a water hazard so that you can still get out? One inch, two inches? Wan Dear Wan, I think you will find that most professionals will just take the penalty stroke and move on. If you want to try it, here are some...

The low shot.
February 21, 2002... HITTING the ball low is an art that needs practicing. It is a very helpful art to have when you're behind trees or playing in windy conditions. The real key is tempo, its very important that you concentrate on an intermediate target...

Hang in there, girls.
February 21, 2002... CAN the Malaysian girls build on their 4-1 victory over Taiwan or will their Uber Cup dreams fade today? That question will be answered when they face both third seeds Hong Kong and second seeds Japan in the qualifiers at the Melbourne Sports...

Beng Hee on mission to recover lost ground.
February 21, 2002... Byline: Graig Nunis ASIAN champion Ong Beng Hee has confirmed his participation for next month's Pakistan Open despite earlier doubts over security in the region. World No 7 Beng Hee said since the Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) have...

Shalin keeps in stride.
February 21, 2002... Byline: Tony Mariadass SHALIN ZULKIFLI gets to defend her title and repeat history when she competes in the 5th World Tenpin Masters Invitational championship at the Goresbrook Leisure Centre, Dagenham, East London on April 12-14. Shalin...

Come in, Vietnam.
February 21, 2002... GOING by the current trend, there is this terrible risk that the Malaysian Under-17 outfit could be in for a crushing anti-climax in the Asean championship. But Zainal Abidin Hassan's boys spent the past two days defying expectations and one...

Another foreign coach could assist Vieira.
February 21, 2002... Byline: Fariq Rahman; Rizal Hashim AOTHER foreigner could assist Malaysian youth team coach Jorvan Vieira soon. With a limited number of local coaches to choose from, the FA of Malaysia (FAM) may well plump for a foreign tactician to help...

FAM push for a broader base.
February 21, 2002... SLOWLY but surely, the FA of Malaysia (FAM) are beginning to open their eyes on the many weaknesses of their development system. But it appears only Jorvan Vieira is forthright enough to tell them straight to their faces. Vieira who was...

Relating to others.
February 21, 2002... Byline: Dr Lee Fui Tong ONE of the single greatest factors of succeeding in the workplace is relating effectively to others; this requires good communication skills by knowing what to say, when to say it, and how it should be said. ...