Biting fish injure more than 70 bathers

Biting fish injure more than 70 bathers
FIFA World Cup trophy comes to Malaysia
Malaysia Taekwondo Association clarifies its status
Miri dominate wushu invitation championship
Parang-wielding gang breaks into house in Beribi
Thai govt asks army to secure election

Posted: 27 Dec 2013 04:57 PM PST

BUENOS AIRES: A swarm of biting fish injured more than 70 people who were bathing at a popular beach in Argentina on Christmas, a medical official said on Thursday.

A seven-year-old girl had her finger partially amputated and dozens more suffered bite wounds on their extremities from the fish, a relative of the piranha called "palometas," said Federico Cornier, the director of emergency services in the city of Rosario.

"This is not normal," Cornier said on television.

"It's normal for there to be an isolated bite or injury, but the magnitude in this case was great … this is an exceptional event." — Reuters

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FIFA World Cup trophy comes to Malaysia

Posted: 27 Dec 2013 04:56 PM PST

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian football fans will once again have a rare opportunity to view the World Cup trophy, the world's most prestigious football trophy, when it is exhibited at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) here on Jan 5.

Kuala Lumpur is one of the stopovers for the trophy during the 2014 FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour, according to the world football governing body.

The coveted trophy is scheduled to arrive at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport on Jan 3, following which there will be a series of activities organised by Coca-Cola, one of FIFA's corporate partners.

The trophy is currently in Myanmar and will be in Thailand (from Dec 28 to 30) and Vietnam (Dec 31-Jan 2) before arriving in Kuala Lumpur.

The trophy started its journey from the well-known Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Sept 12.

It will travel to 88 countries and territories, covering some 150,000km in 267 days before returning to Brazil which will host the 2014 World Cup. — Bernama

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Malaysia Taekwondo Association clarifies its status

Posted: 27 Dec 2013 04:55 PM PST

by Philip Wong reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on December 28, 2013, Saturday

SIBU: The Sarawak Taekwondo Federation is an affiliate of the Malaysian Taekwondo Association (MTA) which is a member of the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF).

This follows a recent statement by MTA secretary-general Eddie Tuan that MTA had never received any letter from WTF to say that it was no longer its affiliate.

"For the information of all concerned, in the WTF web-site, MTA (membership Malaysia) is recorded as having been its member since 1975. This is the status of the MTA with WTF.

The WTF has yet to send any letter to MTA to cancel its affiliation. So for a certain group always harping on the legality of STF is nothing but sheer lie to best serve its own agenda."

Eddie noted that STF, a loyal member of the MTA for 30 years, has never indicated that it is a member of the Taekwondo Malaysia.

The MTA, he continued, was now looking forward to Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) to return its status as an ordinary member of OCM.

"We have won our battles in the High Courts to reinstate our status. There are two decisions made by the High Court dated 4 April 2012 and the Court of Appeals May 16, 2013 in our favor. I want to stress here, everyone have to respect the court's order. No one is above the law," he stressed.

"We had a letter from the Sports Commission dated July recently to confirm that MTA is returned as a legitimate sports body under the Sport Development Act 1997. The only thing is we have not been confirmed as the main body of the sport of Taekwondo."

Eddie added the association had also received a letter from the OCM dated 4 April 2013 stating that its membership has been canceled since May 6, 2005.

"Strange to say, it took OCM's secretary Datuk Sieh Kok Chi eight years to write to tell us this for reasons best known to himself."

But, he added, on January 4, 2008 the OCM sent another letter to the Director-General of the Ministry of Education supporting the MTA to teach taekwondo in Malaysian schools.

On the oft-repeated argument that only students registered with Taekwondo Malaysia affiliates can represent the country in the sports at international and world tournaments, Eddie said MTA's focus now was more on the martial art aspect of the art rather than on its short-term sporting aspects.

"We want to represent Taekwondo as a martial art to inculcate positive morals, social values and physical fitness among its practitioners.

As pointed out by Tuan Haji Anuar Abdul Hamid, the deputy director in charge of Co-Curriculum and Art Division in the Education Ministry the ministry sees martial art training as a very important tool to teach them such values.

There are 5.4 million students in about 10,000 schools nationwide. Only the smallest number will get to represent the country at international and world events. For the bigger majority they can certainly enjoy Taekwondo as a martial art", Eddie said.

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Miri dominate wushu invitation championship

Posted: 27 Dec 2013 04:53 PM PST

by Norni Mahadi reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on December 28, 2013, Saturday

MIRI: Wushu Association of Miri Division emerged as overall champion in the 2013 Sarawak Wushu Invitation Championship held at Permy Mall here recently.

The team bagged 30 gold, 22 silver and 12 bronze medals.

Runner-up was Wushu Association of Kuching Division with a final medal tally of 18-10-9. Martial Quan Shu Association of Sibu finished third after colleting 11-6-2 followed by Wushu Federation of Brunei Darussalam (10-3-5) and Wushu Chin Woo Club of Lambir (2-3-2).

The pride of the Miri team was Phang Yii Fei who was adjudged as the most talented athlete in the championship after winning five gold medals.

The championship was jointly organised by Wushu Association of Miri Division, Ministry of Youth and Sports Sarawak and Dragon Dance and Wushu Association of Sarawak.

Wushu Association of Miri chief coach Master Tiong Ching Chiong expressed deep satisfaction with the results of his athletes.

"This is the first time for the Miri to send a big team with 120 athletes. Overall, I'm very happy that they did well in the championship.

"I'm hoping with such exposure, it will help to improve the wushu skills of the athletes."

Prizes at the championship were presented by Miri mayor Lawrence Lai.

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Parang-wielding gang breaks into house in Beribi

Posted: 27 Dec 2013 04:52 PM PST

BERIBI: The Police Brunei force is now currently hunting the three suspects involved in a robbery with a parang at a house in Beribi, Gadong yesterday. The police suspects all of them are Indonesian, two of them are about 180cm tall and the other is 160cm tall, Brudirect reported.

When the robbers broke into the house's sliding door. A Malaysian Chinese man was at home, and was forced to open the safe and take cash and valuables.

An estimated $5,000 worth of items were lost in the robbery including BND2,000, RM700, six ATM cards, three Samsung mobile phone, an iPhone 4, two iPads, a gold necklace, car, house and office keys, and important document.

Fortunately, the victim was not hurt during the incident. Anyone with any information of the robbers can call the nearest Police station or hotline 993.

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Thai govt asks army to secure election

Posted: 27 Dec 2013 04:49 PM PST

BANGKOK: The Thai government appealed to the military yesterday to provide security for February elections after violent clashes between police and opposition protesters left two people dead and more than 150 wounded.

With tensions running high in the capital, the army chief refused to rule out a coup, saying "anything can happen".

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's government has pledged to go ahead with the polls in the hope of calming weeks of mass street demonstrations seeking to curb her family's political dominance.

The protesters have vowed to block the vote, saying it will only return the Shinawatra clan to power.

A policeman and a civilian died of gunshots fired by unknown assailants while 153 people were injured after violence erupted Thursday when demonstrators tried to force their way into an election registration venue.

The security forces denied using live ammunition.

Deputy Prime Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul said he would ask the armed forces supreme commander for help with security for a second round of registration for constituency candidates due to begin around the country on Saturday.

"I will also ask the military to provide security protection for members of the public on the February 2 election date," he said in a nationally televised address.

The army chief insisted Friday that the military would remain neutral and said it was up to the election authorities whether the vote could go ahead.

"Don't bring us into the middle of the conflict," General Prayut Chan-O-Cha said when asked if the army would send soldiers to guard polling stations.

But he did not rule out another coup.

"The door is neither closed nor open. In every situation, anything can happen," he said when asked about the possibility of a coup, without elaborating.

Yingluck's government – which still enjoys strong support in the northern half of the country – has faced weeks of mass street rallies in the capital.

Thailand has been periodically convulsed by political bloodshed since Yingluck's older brother Thaksin Shinawatra was overthrown by royalist generals in a coup seven years ago.

Thaksin's Red Shirt supporters – who staged their own mass street protests against the previous government three years ago – warned yesterday that they were ready to return to the streets if elections were thwarted.

"After the New Year we are preparing for a major battle," core Red Shirt leader Jatuporn Prompan told reporters.

Supporters of Thaksin, a billionaire tycoon-turned-politician who lives in self-exile, have accused the demonstrators of trying to incite the military to seize power again, in a country which has seen 18 successful or attempted coups since 1932.

But so far the army – traditionally a staunch supporter of the anti-Thaksin establishment – has avoided any public intervention in the unrest, apart from sending a limited number of unarmed troops to guard government buildings.

The protesters, a mix of southerners, middle class and urban elite, accuse Thaksin of corruption and say he controls his sister's government from his base in Dubai.

They want an unelected "people's council" to run the country to oversee loosely-defined reforms – such as an end to alleged "vote buying" – before new elections are held in around a year to 18 months. —AFP

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