Leo Messi becomes face of Pepsi ahead of World Cup (VIDEO) |
- Leo Messi becomes face of Pepsi ahead of World Cup (VIDEO)
- Time to implement comprehensive sex education in schools — Sin Chew Daily
- 2 designers 2 collections:A fashion palette in black and white
- AFP: Leo Messi becomes face of Pepsi ahead of World Cup
- Sue Monk Kidd explores slavery, women’s rights in new book
- Brazil says to add 1,973 flights to meet World Cup demand
| Leo Messi becomes face of Pepsi ahead of World Cup (VIDEO) Posted: 16 Jan 2014 04:53 PM PST
Fans can also expect to see some of the other players from Pepsi's 19-man squad on Pepsi cans, although the brand has not revealed which ones. Pepsi's lineup in the coming campaign consists of Sergio Agüero (Argentina), Jack Wilshere (UK), David Luiz (Brazil), Robin van Persie (Netherlands), Sergio Ramos (Spain), Juan Guillermo Cuadrado (Colombia), Clint Dempsey (USA), Tarik Elyounoussi (Norway), Maynor Figueroa (Honduras), Mario Gomez (Germany), Vincent Kompany (Belgium), Kemar Lawrence (Jamaica), Victor Moses (Nigeria), Peter Osaze Odemwingie (Nigeria), Oribe Peralta (Mexico), Andriy Pyatov (Ukraine), Mohamed Salah (Egypt) and Gylfi Por Sigurosson (Iceland). All of these soccer greats will star in an international TV ad coming later this year, but that isn't the only reason Pepsi brought together this star-studded team. The brand says that it will roll out additional digital content and special products featuring the team throughout 2014. The goal, according to Kristin Patrick, Pepsi Global Chief Marketing Officer, is to "bring our fans exciting and engaging content, products and experiences - bringing fans closer to the game they love." — AFP Relaxnews  |
| Time to implement comprehensive sex education in schools — Sin Chew Daily Posted: 16 Jan 2014 04:48 PM PST
This shows that the education ministry and the women, family and community development ministry have been pretty sluggish in implementing sex education in our schools. From what we understand, the experimental program involving 2,376 students from September 18 to November 5, 2012 has been vastly successful in instilling the essential sex knowledge among participating students. In that case, what has held the education ministry back to fully implement the program in all schools? If the government is really concerned about education in sexual morality, sexual psychology and boy-girl relationship in a bid to curtail the incidence of aberrant sexual behaviours among our young people, then it should take an even more proactive stance in areas such as budgeting, training and curriculum design aspects in a bid to help effectively check the problem of premarital pregnancies among Malaysian youngsters, instead of staying put at the "experimental" stage. Notably, the courses on reproductive health will include the Reproductive Health of Adolescent Module (RHAM) for Standard Six students and Modul Cakna Diri for Form Two students on individual rights and responsibility, statutory rape, premarital sex as well as sexually transmitted diseases. These are all essential and practical information to help mould physically and mentally healthy young people. With sex-related cases on the rise in recent years, the public have come to appreciate the importance and urgency of sex education. So long as the curriculum is designed in a way to meet the needs of the society, full implementation of sex education is poised to receive undivided support from the public. Today, many youngsters and even very young children have been able to gain access to sex information. With Internet penetrating deep into our society, curious and inadequately informed youngsters would tend to fantasize about sex. It is now time they are given the proper guidance lest they fall into the trap of uncontrolled sex illusions and miscomprehension. It is imperative that the education ministry is aware of this situation; rectify the negative perception on sex into positive mainstream education. Avoidance and inappropriate, biased approach in imparting sex knowledge is long obsolete. In the past we used to have teachers attempting to criminalise those involved in extramarital affairs as abominable adulterers and adulteresses. This shows that indeed many among us, including teachers, still harbour negative views on sex education while highlighting the deficiency of our training mechanisms. It is high time we shatter the social taboo and our own religious and cultural confines to seriously and comprehensively incorporate sex education into our school curriculum, especially those parts on the core values of respect and responsibility. Sex education is a science on human beings, not something we should shy away from at all costs. * This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malay Mail Online. |
| 2 designers 2 collections:A fashion palette in black and white Posted: 16 Jan 2014 04:47 PM PST
Chia, 26, and Chew, 22, met when they were studying at Raffles College of Higher Education. They kept in touch after graduating and worked together at a design company. The pop-up store — in collaboration with coffee maven Joey Mah's Nowhereman Coffee — came about last November. "In the beginning, the idea was we wanted to set up a place for local young designers to showcase their works. We intend to draw a different crowd with Thisappear and let people know that we have a place like this and that there are designs like these in Malaysia. This is where people get to see the thought and creativity of young designers," explained Chia. "We wanted a place where people can hang out and find that it's comfortable and it's their place. So, we came up with a name and concept by ourselves and started this pop-up store which will be around for six months. We have plans to change the concept, décor, idea and design every six months," said Chia.
Thisappear allows the audience to sit next to their favourite artistes up close. Recently, singer/guitarist Meliha Faisal was invited to perform at the space. The response was very good and they have plans to have more "lively" shows like these. Being a fashion designer means having to keep up with the latest collections every season. So who are their favourite fashion designers?
Chew shares the same sentiments but he is constantly on the look out for new designers, keeping tabs on them so that he can keep himself challenged to do something more. The big question of course is, why the colour black? "Black is our favourite colour," they said. For both of them, they feel that black and white are safe colours that can match anything. "Monochromatic is always one of my pioneer choices when making a collection. I don't think we have problems with colours but I want to create pieces people can keep. Black and white is timeless and modern. I don't launch my clothes according to seasons but chapters instead and there is a story behind each collection, a process of my life as well," said Chia. Currently, you can find Chapter 3 of Joe Chia's designs at Thisappear and the next chapter will be launched before March. As a young designer, Chew is just starting his first collection, beginning with basics to test the waters. He is working on his Fall/Winter 2014 collection. So who does Thisappear design for?
"For me, it's a wide range of target audience. I create different designs for different body shapes. It doesn't matter if you're tall, short, thin or fat — you will be able to fit my clothes. Even when it comes to age, I don't think that there is a limit. You will see customers coming in who are in their twenties right up to their sixties," said Chia. Chia has been collaborating with major labels such as Uniqlo, Reebok and G-Shock to create special edition collections. "The challenge I faced while working with Uniqlo is that I had to fit my own design to their aesthetics and direction. Their direction is more geared to lifestyle and basics. I found a similarity," said Chia. As for Chew, his focus is on his first collection where he's working to create a bigger range for a wider audience. "Justin is still new where he is still experimenting with designs. A pop-up store like this is perfect to listen to comments of customers and work on his designs. The designs I have now are a result of picking up comments from previous years and working on more projects and collections," said Chia. What can we expect from Thisappear after the next six months have come and gone? "Anything can happen. It's just a matter of time. We might invite indie designers from overseas, more things will be coming soon, we're planning with Artisan and we're also talking to local artistes."
"It's getting better. More people are appreciating local designers, especially the younger generation," said Chew. "Because of social media, people get to know more and understand that sometimes locally designed fashion can be better than overseas brands. We're fortunate to have media coverage and support, as well. People are willing to understand and try to know the designers better. We hope to influence more people into supporting local products," said Chia. That being said, there are still challenges Chia and Chew face. Chew admits that the production part can be challenging because he would have an idea and a design but it's hard to find a seamstress who can produce what he wants. Also, seamstresses here prefer orders of higher quantity which makes it harder to produce because Chew does not want to compromise quality for quantity. His collection comes in limited pieces and the cost of production is high when he does not order a large amount. As for Chia, starting out as an indie designer was not a bed of roses as he had to stay overnight at the boutique he worked at to sew clothes. "I had only one piece and it was hard to sell because I put a lot of work into it. Back then, I had to buy the fabric, cut the fabric and sew it by myself till the wee hours of the morning. Last year, I decided to quit and start Thisappear with Justin," said Chia. Over here in Malaysia, it's hard to find good materials and good seamstresses. Sometimes Chia and Chew have to travel abroad to source for better fabric. "But for us, everything has been so far so good. We make use of what we have," said Chia.
Check out Joe Chia and Justin Chew's collections at: Thisappear 20 Jalan Telawi 3, (2nd floor) Bangsar Baru, 59100 KL Open daily 8am-9pm Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thisappearkl This story was first published in Crave in the print edition of The Malay Mail on January 16, 2014. |
| AFP: Leo Messi becomes face of Pepsi ahead of World Cup Posted: 16 Jan 2014 04:43 PM PST Ahead of the 2014 World Cup, taking place in Brazil from June 12, Pepsi has put together a dream team of international soccer stars for its new "Live for Now" ad campaign, featuring Leo Messi and Sergio Ramos among 17 others. — AFP Relaxnews Related Articles |
| Sue Monk Kidd explores slavery, women’s rights in new book Posted: 16 Jan 2014 04:37 PM PST
But it took a trip to the Brooklyn Museum in New York to find inspiration for her new novel, "The Invention of Wings," which commences in early 19th century Charleston, South Carolina. The book revolves around a headstrong Sarah Grimke, who is based on a real-life abolitionist, and Hetty 'Handful' Grimke, a slave given to Sarah on Sarah's 11th birthday. Kidd spoke with Reuters about the book, its characters and success. Q: How did the idea for this book come about? A: I was in the Brooklyn Museum, I think in 2007, for Judy Chicago's 'The Dinner Party' exhibit. They have this heritage panel where they list the names of 999 women who have made contributions to history, and I found on the wall the names of Sarah and Angelina Grimke. They were abolitionists, and I had not heard of them. And the ironic thing was they were from Charleston, South Carolina, where I lived at the time. I read about their lives and became completely captivated with them. Q: How did you come up with Hetty? A: As I was researching I came upon a reference to a young girl who was given to Sarah when she was a girl to be a waiting maid. This girl's name was Hetty and she was a slave in the household, and according to Sarah's journals she loved Hetty and became very close to her, and she taught her to read. When I came upon this character I knew it was the other half of the story. Q: How did you find Hetty's voice? A: Hetty was more readily accessible to me than Sarah, strangely enough. I think I drew on memories of my childhood; African-American voices in my childhood that still resonate with me. I read over and over the voices of the Gee's Bend quilters, in Alabama (female slaves who made quilts). And I read slave narratives that were written in the 19th Century. Q: Why does Sarah have a stutter? A: Sarah Grimke was not known for her public speaking. But she didn't have a speech impediment, I gave it to her, because one of the important themes in the novel is Sarah's search for a voice in the world, and she had to overcome so much. A novelist's job is to make a bad situation worse, and that's what I did here. Q: You worked for a while as a nurse. How and when did you turn to writing? A: I wanted to be a writer from the time I was a child. But when it was time to go to college, this was in the '60s, we still were pretty much following more traditional professions for women. I chose nursing. And I think it's an incredibly noble profession, but it wasn't my place of belonging. So when I was 30 I turned to writing. I had been developing my voice and writing mostly non-fiction. I didn't write fiction until I was in my 40s. Q: How has your relatively late success affected you? A: I think I felt pretty grounded with it all. It's been a wonderful experience for me, but I think I've taken it in stride and maybe a slight bit differently than if I was in my 20s. I certainly appreciate it more. It's made for a nice third act. Q: What are you working on next? A: I'm not working on a book right now. I just want to be with 'The Invention of Wings' for a little bit longer before I plunge into the next one. I usually have a fallow time where I try to let the mind and spirit rest a bit. ― Reuters |
| Brazil says to add 1,973 flights to meet World Cup demand Posted: 16 Jan 2014 04:37 PM PST
Although the expansion in flights and routes represents only 1 per cent of the existing system in Brazil, the number of requests exceeded the roughly 1,500 new flights that had previously been expected. "We will grant all the requests. The system has the capacity to handle those new flights," ANAC's head, Marcelo Guaranys, told reporters in Brasilia. The new flights should help contain the rise in air fares for which carriers have come under scrutiny recently. Airlines Azul and Avianca Brasil pledged earlier this month to cap domestic prices at 999 reais (US$420). Brazil's two biggest carriers, Gol Linhas Aereas and TAM, the local unit of Chile's Latam Airlines Group , came under fire last year when the government noticed ticket prices soaring during the World Cup. Brazil's biggest airlines have been cutting routes, giving back aircraft and firing flight staff over the past two years to restore profits amid high fuel prices and a deteriorating exchange rate. The local aviation industry is under pressure as one of the biggest potential embarrassments at the World Cup. The dozen host cities where games will be played are scattered around a country the size of the continental United States, which will force some 3.6 million fans through a series of overloaded airports. US fans, who have one of the more gruelling itineraries, will have to book at least 3,500 miles (5,600 km) in domestic flights between their team's first three matches in Brazil - to say nothing of the long international legs to arrive in the South American nation. ANAC said the legs that will receive the greatest number of new flights were Guarulhos, Sao Paulo-Fortaleza, Ceara; Santos Dumont, Rio de Janeiro-Viracopos, Sao Paulo; Galeao, Rio de Janeiro-Aeroparque, Argentina; Brasilia- Guarulhos; and Galeao-Ezeiza, Argentina. ANAC said it expected the airlines to return to their normal number of flights once the World Cup was over. — Reuters |
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