Sunday, August 16, 2009
Lee Chong Wei
BACKGROUND
Datuk Lee Chong Wei (李宗伟) is a professional badminton player from Malaysia who currently resides in Bukit Mertajam. He was born on October 21 1982. He started learning how to play badminton when he was 11. Datuk Mohmed Misbun Sidek discovered him and began to train Lee Chong Wei after school.
CAREER
Lee Chong Wei was drafted into the national squad when he was 17. His first major achievement was in reaching the finals of the 2003 Malaysian Open. He also gained two titles in 2004, earning him a place in the 2004 Athens Olympics. However, he was defeated in the second round by Chen Hong. He won another two titles in 2005, and managed a bronze in the 2005 World Championships after losing to Taufik Hidayat in the semifinals. In 2006, he got 3 titles out of 6 finals. He won 2 golds for Malaysia in the 2006 Commonwealth Games, and reached the top spot twice in the Badminton World Federation’s rankings in 2006. In 2007, for the first time in five years he failed to reach the finals in Malaysia Open, and only got a title in Indonesia Open after reuniting with his former coach Misbun Sidek. He then achieved three titles, and reached the finals of China and Hong Kong Open, despite a knee injury. He then won all the matches he played in the Sudiman Cup, however Malaysia finished in 5th place. In 2008, he won his 4th Malaysia Open title. He took part in five other tournaments, and only achieved a title in Singapore Open, his 6th, and last pre-Olympics tournament. In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he won over Ronald Susilo, Kestutis Navickas, Sony Dwi Kuncoro, Lee Hyun-il to the finals, but lost to Lin Dan. He participated in many more tournaments, but failed to get a title, and pulled in the Hong Kong Open due to a knee injury. However, he got his 7th consecutive win at the National Badminton Grand Prix Final in Kedah, breaking the record set by his mentor, Misbun Sidek. He also won a title in the Super Series Master Finals, however, Lin Dan and other China top players did not compete. In 2009, he won his 5th Malaysia Open title, and won a title at the Swiss Open, defeating Lin Dan. He also helped Malaysia reach the semi-finals of the Sudirman Cup, which was unprecedented in their national history. He also won another two titles, despite losing in the Singapore Open.
AWARDS
In 2006, he was given the 2005 National Sportsman Award (Anugerah Sukan Negara), and the 2005 Penang Sportsman Award for his performance in the IBF World Championships. In 2007, he was named 2007 Penang Sportsman. In 2008, he was given Anugerah Sukan Negara for his performance during the Olympics. He was also Malaysia’s Male Olympian 2008 for being the only Malaysian to win a medal in the 2008 Summer Olympics. For this, he was also given the title of Datuk. He was the third Malaysian to be ranked first worldwide, and the first to hold it for more than two weeks. In 2009, he was the winner of the Sportswriters’ Association of Malaysia awards, and appointed as the UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
yay Cambodia!
The culture of Cambodia has had a rich and varied history dating back many centuries, and has been heavily influenced by India and China. Throughout Cambodia's long history, a major source of inspiration was from religion. Throughout nearly two millennium, Cambodians developed a unique Khmer belief from the syncreticism of indigenous animistic beliefs and the Indian religions of Buddhism and Hinduism. Indian culture and civilization, including its language and arts reached mainland Southeast Asia around the 1st century A.D. Its is generally believed that seafaring merchants brought Indian customs and culture to ports along the gulf of Thailand and the Pacific while trading with China. The first state to benefit from this was Funan.
Birth and death rituals
The birth of a child is a happy event for the family. According to traditional beliefs, however, confinement and childbirth expose the family, and especially the mother and the child to harm from the spirit world. A woman who dies in childbirth--crosses the river (chhlong tonle) in Khmer is believed to become an evil spirit. In traditional Khmer society, a pregnant woman respects a number of food taboos and avoids certain situations. These traditions remain in practice in rural Cambodia, but they have become weakened in urban areas.
Death is not viewed with the great outpouring of grief common to Western society; it is viewed as the end of one life and as the beginning of another life that one hopes will be better. Buddhist Khmer usually are cremated, and their ashes are deposited in a stupa in the temple compound. A corpse is washed, dressed, and placed in a coffin, which may be decorated with flowers and with a photograph of the deceased. White pennant-shaped flags, called "white crocodile flags," outside a house indicate that someone in that household has died. A funeral procession consisting of an achar, Buddhist monks, members of the family, and other mourners accompanies the coffin to the crematorium. The spouse and the children show mourning by shaving their heads and by wearing white clothing. Relics such as teeth or pieces of bone are prized by the survivors, and they are often worn on gold chains as amulets.
Childhood and adolescence
A Cambodian child may be nursed until he or she is between two and four years of age. Up to the age of three or four, the child is given considerable physical affection and freedom. Children around five years of age also may be expected to help look after younger siblings. Children's games emphasize socialization or skill rather than winning and losing.
Most children begin school when they are seven or eight. By the time they reach this age, they are familiar with the society's norms of politeness, obedience, and respect toward their elders and toward Buddhist monks. The father at this time begins his permanent retreat into a relatively remote, authoritarian role. By age ten, a girl is expected to help her mother in basic household tasks; a boy knows how to care for the family's livestock and can do farm work under the supervision of older males. Adolescent children usually play with members of the same sex. During his teens, a boy may become a temple servant and go on to serve a time as a novice monk, which is a great honor for the parents.
In precommunist days, parents exerted complete authority over their children until the children were married, and the parents continued to maintain some control well into the marriage. Age difference is strictly recognized with polite vocabulary and special generational terms for "you".
Courtship, marriage, and divorce
In Cambodia, premarital sex is deplored. The choice of a spouse is a complex one for the young male, and it may involve not only his parents and his friends, as well as those of the young woman, but also a matchmaker. In theory, a girl may veto the spouse her parents have chosen. Courtship patterns differ between rural and urban Khmer; romantic love is a notion that exists to a much greater extent in larger cities. A man usually marries between the ages of nineteen and twenty-five, a girl between the ages of sixteen and twenty-two. After a spouse has been selected, each family investigates the other to make sure its child is marrying into a good family. In rural areas, there is a form of bride-service; that is, the young man may take a vow to serve his prospective father-in-law for a period of time.
The traditional wedding is a long and colorful affair. Formerly it lasted three days, but in the 1980s it more commonly lasted a day and a half. Buddhist priests offer a short sermon and recite prayers of blessing. Parts of the ceremony involve ritual hair cutting, tying cotton threads soaked in holy water around the bride's and groom's wrists, and passing a candle around a circle of happily married and respected couples to bless the union. After the wedding, a banquet is held. Newlyweds traditionally move in with the wife's parents and may live with them up to a year, until they can build a new house nearby.
Divorce is legal and relatively easy to obtain, but not common. Divorced persons are viewed with some disapproval. Each spouse retains whatever property he or she brought into the marriage, and jointly-acquired property is divided equally. Divorced persons may remarry, but the woman must wait ten months. Custody of minor children is usually given to the mother, and both parents continue to have an obligation to contribute financially toward the rearing and education of the child.
Social organization
Khmer culture is very hierarchical. The greater a person's age, the greater the level of respect that must be granted to them. Cambodians are addressed with a hierarchical title corresponding to their seniority before the name. When a married couple becomes too old to support themselves, they may invite the youngest child's family to move in and to take over running the household. At this stage in their lives, they enjoy a position of high status.
The individual Khmer is surrounded by a small inner circle of family and friends who constitute his or her closest associates, those he would approach first for help. The nuclear family, consisting of a husband and a wife and their unmarried children, is the most important kin group. Within this unit are the strongest emotional ties, the assurance of aid in the event of trouble, economic cooperation in labor, sharing of produce and income, and contribution as a unit to ceremonial obligations. In rural communities, neighbors--who are often also kin--may be important, too. Fictive child-parent, sibling, and close friend relationships Cambodia transcend kinship boundaries and serve to strengthen interpersonal and interfamily ties. Beyond this close circle are more distant relatives and casual friends. In rural Cambodia, the strongest ties a Khmer may develop--besides those to the nuclear family and to close friends--are those to other members of the local community. A strong feeling of pride--for the village, for the district, and province--usually characterizes Cambodian community life.
Legally, the husband is the head of the Khmer family, but the wife has considerable authority, especially in family economics. The husband is responsible for providing shelter and food for his family; the wife is generally in charge of the family budget, and she serves as the major ethical and religious model for the children, especially the daughters. Both husbands and wives are responsible for domestic economic tasks.
Customs
Sampeah (Cambodian greeting)
In Khmer culture a person's head is believed to contain the persons soul--therefore making it taboo to touch or point your feet at it. It is also considered to be extremely disrespectful to point or sleep with your feet pointing at a person, as the feet are the lowest part of the body and are considered to be impure.
When greeting people or to show respect in Cambodia people do the "sampeah" gesture, identical to the Thai wai and similar to the Indian namaste.
Customary Cambodian teachings include: that if a person does not wake up before sunrise he is lazy; you have to tell your parents or elders where you are going and what time you are coming back home; close doors gently, otherwise you have a bad temper; sit with your legs straight down and not crossed (crossing your legs shows that you are an impolite person); and always let other people talk more than you.
Clothing
Cambodians traditionally wear a checkered scarf called a "Krama". The "krama" is what distinctly separates the Khmer (Cambodians) from their neighbors the Thai, the Vietnamese, and the Laotians. The scarf is used for many purposes including for style, protection from the sun, an aid (for your feet) when climbing trees, a hammock for infants, a towel, or as a "sarong". A "krama" can also be easily shaped into a small child's doll for play. Under the Khmer Rouge, krama of various patterns were part of the standard clothing.
Some Khmer men and women wear a Buddha pendant in a necklace fashion. There are different pendants for different uses; some are meant for protection from evil spirits, some are meant to bring good luck. However, women are only allowed to wear a Buddha pendant if she remains "pure," or a virgin. It is considered a sin for non-virgin Khmer Buddhist women to wear the pendant.
Cuisine
Amok, a popular Cambodian dish
Khmer cuisine is similar to that of its Southeast Asian neighbors. It shares many similarites with Thai cuisine, Vietnamese cuisine and Teochew cuisine. Cambodian cuisine also uses fish sauce widely in soups, stir-fried cuisine, and as dippings. Curry dishes known as kari (in Khmer, ការី) shows it's ties with Indian cuisine. Influences from Chinese cuisine can be noted in the use of many variations of rice noodles. Pork broth rice noodle soup known simply as ka tieu (គុយទាវ) is one of Cambodia's popular dish. Also, Banh Chiao is the Khmer version of the Vietnamese Bánh xèo.
Khmer cuisine is noted for the use of prahok (ប្រហុក), a type of fermented fish paste, in many dishes as a distinctive flavoring. When prahok is not used, it is likely to be kapǐ (កាពិ) instead, a kind of fermented shrimp paste. Coconut milk is the main ingredient of many Khmer curries and desserts. In Cambodia there is regular aromatic rice and glutinous or sticky rice. The latter is used more in dessert dishes with fruits such as durian. Almost every meal is eaten with a bowl of rice.
Typically, Cambodians eat their meals with at least three or four separate dishes. Each individual dish will usually be one of either sweet, sour, salty or bitter. Chili is usually left up to the individual to add themselves. In this way Cambodians ensure that they get a bit of every flavor to satisfy their palates.
Arts
Visual art
Stone carving at Banteay Srei (Angkor)
The history of visual arts in Cambodia stretches back centuries to ancient crafts; Khmer art reached its peak during the Angkor period. Traditional Cambodian arts and crafts include textiles, non-textile weaving, silversmithing, stone carving, lacquerware, ceramics, wat murals, and kite-making. Beginning in the mid-20th century, a tradition of modern art began in Cambodia, though in the later 20th century both traditional and modern arts declined for several reasons, including the killing of artists by the Khmer Rouge. The country has experienced a recent artistic revival due to increased support from governments, NGOs, and foreign tourists.
Music
The roneat has been described as a bamboo xylophone.
Especially in the 60s and 70s, the 'big two' duet of Sinn Sisamouth and Ros Sereysothea had been a large hit in the country. However after their deaths, new music stars have tried to bring back the music. Cambodian music has undergone heavy westernization.
The Cambodian pinpeat ensemble is traditionally heard on feast days in the pagodas. It is also a court ensemble used to accompany classical dance for ritual occasions or theatrical events. The pinpeat is primarily made up of percussion instruments: the roneat ek (lead xylophone), roneat thung (low bamboo xylophone), kong vong touch and kong vong thom (small and large sets of tuned gongs), sampho (two-sided drum), skor thom (two large drums), and sralai (quadruple-reed instrument).
Dance
Cambodian Dance can be divided into three main categories: classical dance, folk dances, and vernacular dances.
Khmer classical dance is a form of Cambodian dance originally performed only for royalty. The dances have many elements in common with Thai classical dance. During the mid-20th century, it was introduced to the public where it now remains a celebrated icon of Khmer culture, often being performed during public events, holidays, and for tourists visiting Cambodia.
Khmer folk dances, which are performed for audiences, are fast-paced. The movements and gestures are not as stylized as Khmer classical dance. Folk dancers wear clothes of the people they are portraying such as Chams, hill tribes, farmers, and peasants. The folk dance music is played by a mahori orchestra.
Cambodian vernacular dances (or social dances) are those danced at social gatherings. Such dances include ram vong, ram kbach, ram saravan, and lam leav. Some of these dances have much influence from the traditional dances of Laos. But rom kbach, for example, take heavily from the classical dance of the royal court. Other social dances from around the world have had an impact on Cambodian social culture include the Cha-cha, Bolero, and the Madison.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
bahasar melayu
Selamat malam!
Hari ini, saya dengan kawan-kawan saya ke aktiviti palang merah. Saya akan sangat sibuk, kerana saya ada pertandingan palang merah. Saya sangat hendak mendapat peraduan palang merah.
Selamat jalan!
Hari ini, saya dengan kawan-kawan saya ke aktiviti palang merah. Saya akan sangat sibuk, kerana saya ada pertandingan palang merah. Saya sangat hendak mendapat peraduan palang merah.
Selamat jalan!
Friday, December 26, 2008
bahasar melayu
Selamat Petang!
Sekarang, saya sangat terengah...esok ialah hari lahir saya. Esok juga ada aktiviti palang merah. Saya harapan kawan-kawan saya akan beri saya hadiah. :D
Selamat jalan!
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
bahasar melayu
Sekarang, saya sangat hendak ke tidur, hanya saya ada projek saya mesti buat. Ini projek ialah tentang Total Defence. Kami mesti buat satu penyampaian. Saya tidak tahu bagaimana buat ini penyampaian. D:
Thursday, December 11, 2008
bahasar melayu
Seminggu, keluarga saya ke Malaysia bagi cuti. Kami duduk di hotel Pyramid. Apabila kami makan makan tengah hari, kami ke rumah dua pupu ibu saya, Lily. Rumah Lily sangat besar. Dia tinggal di bunglo di sebelah tasik dan padang golf. Rumah Lily juga ada kolam mandi. Semasa cuti, kami juga ke ice skating. Sepupu saya tidak tahu bagaimana ikan pari. Dia jatuh sehingga kaki dia sangat basah.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
bahasar melayu
Sekarang, saya terpakai UMPC. Ini ialah komputer pinjam dari sekolah. Ini komputer sangat kecil dan ringan. Saya boleh bawa UMPC ke mana saja.
Hari ini saya tidak bermain dengan kawan-kawan saya. Ini kerana saya menggosok but saya. Saya hanya pakai ini but untuk ko-kurikulum saya. Ini but ialah bahagian pakaian seragam palang merah. Saya sudah menggosok but saya empat jam (/jam emapt?).
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
melayu
Selamat petang!
Semalam, saya dan kawan-kawan saya yijun dan hazel ke Kampong Glam (gelam?). Kami ke Kampong Glam kerana kami ada aktiviti palang merah, kebudayaan warisan bekas(?). Kami juga ke Little India, Chinatown dan Singapore River dengan murid di Institusi Raffles. Mereka juga ialah ada ko-kurikulum palang merah.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
rsp camp
Uh, on we had RSP camp 14-15 November, which was yesterday and yesterday's yesterday.
Yep. semalam and semalam's semalam.
Kay so on the first day we went to Pulau Ubin. Or Pulau Batu Ubin. It means Granite Stone Island, and Ubin is supposed to be a javanese term for "squared stone". When we went there, we did ketupat weaving,
During ketupat weaving, we learnt that there were 3 types of ketupat: raya;sate;bawang. bawang is the most common and is onion shaped, sate is sharp-edged and used when eating sate, and raya is squarish and only seen during hari raya.
We also learnt that you put in the rice by opening one of the corners and pouring rice in. You must only fill halfway, as the rice will expand, and cook for 2 hours.
rice-beras
husk-tadi
burnt rice-kerak
cooked rice-nasi
coconut leaf-janur
Then we learnt how to make roti kirai/jala. It's a dough mixture thing, and then using a cup? with holes at the bottom, we pour it onto the pan. At the end it sort of looks like lace. Which explains the name.
After that we went to the kampong house across the street. The kampong house is on stilts so that they can keep chickens, the place won't flood when it is raining, and so that it's cooler. :D
Then we also played games- pull people sitting on the gunny sack, walk on coconuts, shoot cans with slingshots, and congkak.
Afterwards, we went for malay dance at, uh,Chek Jawa. :D
We did Kuda Kepang, and this thing about holding plates in your hands. Yup :D and we had volunteers to go up and do it too! Oh, and people also had to go and play the instruments. *see next post about Gamelan*
Kay, then we did batik painting! I was looking forward to it the most, and everything was going while until...someone PUSHED me from behind, and I spilt wax all over it. D: But Yi Jun's one was really nice. It was some flowers and a butterfly(i think. sorry yijun) against a dark background.
Kay the second day we went to VS, and learnt about Gamelan and Wayang Kulit :D I was in ML1, and we did Gamelan first. The instruments included saron, gambang, keromong/bonang, kenong, gong and gendang. We learnt the songs Timang Burung and Sampak. The music is in numbers, like 5 5 2 3 2 3 5. There is no 4 o.0, and 3 is followed directly by 5.
When we did Wayang Kulit, we got to make our own puppet. Wayang means show, and kulit means skin. The puppet have very pronounces features, and they must have holes, or the audience can only see the outlines. Also, all puppets MUST have headgear. :D
I was wondering why malay and english share the same alphabet. I mean, english came from, I don't know, england? and malay was in malaysia right? So how come they have the same alphabet? was it trade or whut? then I thought it was the colonial thing. WW2. but didn't bahasar melayu already have a written form? or was it because they were forced to learn english? so its a fusion thing...?
For the Malay part...Maaf, Cikgu, seminggu saya tidak entri dalam blog D:
Semalam, saya ada aktiviti ko-korikulum. Saya pergi ke sekolah pada pukul lapan pagi, seniors saya teach kami. Apabila pada pukul dua belas tengah hari, saya boleh pulang ke rumah.
AHHH. My malay is not good. not at all. DDD:
Sunday, November 9, 2008
bahasar melayu
Selamat malam :D
Saya akan entri dalam blog sekarang.
Semalam, saya di sekolah kerana saya ada aktiviti ko-kurikulum.
Aktiviti ko-kurikulum saya ialah palang merah.
Saya sangat suka palang merah.
Hari ini, saya ada pelajaran piano.
Saya bangun sangat awal kerana kelas muzik bermula sembilan tiga puluh jam.
Kerana saya bangun awal,hari ini saya letih.
Sekarang, saya hendak ke tidur.
Selamat jalan!
