'Mereka kata saya wanita paling hodoh dalam dunia'

Lizzie Velasquez

KETIKA Lizzie Velasquez ingin mencari muzik di atas talian, beliau terjumpa sebuah video bertajuk, 'Wanita paling hodoh dalam dunia.'.

Velasquez tidak sangka dirinya adalah wanita hodoh tersebut.

Menurut BBC, video tersebut yang sudah ditonton lebih 4 juta pelayar di laman Youtube, Velasquez yang ketika itu berusia 17 tahun berasa sangat sedih apabila membaca komen-komen video berkenaan.

"Kenapa ibu bapanya menyimpan dia?!", "Bunuh dia dengan api" antara komen yang membuat Velasquez menangis.

"Saya menangis banyak kali. Sebagai remaja (ketika itu) saya fikir hidup saya sudah berakhir," kata Velasquez.

"Saya dibuli semenjak tadika," tambah beliau.

Wanita malang berkenaan lahir dengan dua penyakit, Marfan dan Lipodystrophy.

Kini, Velasquez, 26 mempunyai berat hanya 26 kilogram dan buta sebelah mata. Beliau sudah menjalani pelbagai pembedahan namun doktor masih tidak tahu bagaimana untuk mengubatinya.

Ibu bapa Velasquez, Rita dan Lupe tidak pernah mempersoalkan keadaan anak mereka. Rita dan lupe cuma anaknya mahu menjadi sihat.

Velasquez kemudian membuat keputusan untuk merekod videonya sendiri, memberitahu dunia siapakah perempuan disebalik video 'Wanita paling hodoh dalam dunia' tersebut dan memberi nasihat kepada mangsa buli yang lain.

Usaha Velasquez membuahkan hasil apabila hampir 240,000 pelayar melanggan videonya dan beliau sering dijemput untuk memberi ceramah berkenaan kejadian buli.

Tina Meier, seorang ibu yang anak perempuannya membunuh diri kerana dibuli, bergabung tenaga dengan Velasquez dan memulakan kempen anti buli di Amerika Syarikat (AS).

Tahun ini, kisah Velasquez dan kempen anti bulinya akan menjadi fokus kepada sebuah dokumentari.

Sara Hirsch Bordo, pengarah dokumentari berkenaan berkata, dokumentari tersebut merangkumi hidup Velasquez dan mangsa buli di seluruh dunia.

"Pengalaman lampau dan perjuangan Velasquez dalam kempen anti buli adalah menakjubkan.

"Orang ramai mahukan cerita dan pengalaman dari mangsa sebenar (Velasquez) dan mereka tidak mahu menjadi mangsa (buli), mereka mahukan perubahan," kata Bordo, lagi.

- Sumber: Sinar Harian 

Tiga buku E.L James termasuk 'Fifty Shades of Grey' dilarang terbit

Tiga buku oleh pengarang E.L James dilarang terbit kerana mengandungi unsur yang boleh memudaratkan moral masyarakat negara ini.

KUALA LUMPUR: Tiga buku oleh pengarang E.L James dilarang terbit kerana mengandungi unsur yang boleh memudaratkan moral masyarakat negara ini.

Penerbitan itu bertajuk 'Fifty Shades of Grey', 'Fifty Shades Darker' dan 'Fifty Shades Freed' yang diterbitkanVintage Books, (a division of Random House Inc), New York.

Larangan dikeluarkan Bahagian Kawalan Penerbitan dan Teks Al-Quran, Kementerian Dalam Negeri.

Setiausahanya Hashimah Nik Jaafar berkata penerbitan tersebut mengandungi unsur lucah yang bersandarkan perilaku seks antara lelaki dengan perempuan tanpa plot penceritaan positif yang jelas.

Larangan berdasarkan Seksyen 7(1) Akta Mesin Cetak dan Penerbitan 1984, katanya dalam satu kenyataan. 

- Sumber: Bernama 

'Kelahiran semula' lagenda Puteri Gunung Ledang di pentas konsert

Penyanyi utama konsert Puteri Gunung Ledang 'Rebirth of the Legend' Puan Sri Tiara Jacquelina ketika dalam satu sesi latihan di Dewan Sri Putra Bukit Jalil Kuala Lumpur. Walaupun beliau sebelum ini dilaporkan mengalami ketumbuhan nodul pada pita suara, Tiara kini kelihatan lebih sihat dari biasa. - Astro AWANI / SHAHIR OMAR

Mistikal legenda Puteri Gunung Ledang (PGL) bakal ‘dilahirkan semula’ untuk memukau peminat setianya menerusi pementasan Konsert Puteri Gunung Ledang ‘Rebirth of The Legend’ di Istana Budaya, Kuala Lumpur sempena meraikan ulang tahun ke-10 penerbitannya.

Konsert itu diadakan sempena sambutan ulang tahun ke-10 usia filem PGL sejak kali pertama ditayangkan pada tahun 2004.

Dua tahun kemudian, nashkah filem itu diterjemah ke pentas teater menerusi pementasan teater muzikal.

Bakal beraksi pada 20-24 Mac depan, konsert ini menjanjikan satu kelainan dalam satu permentasan berskala konsert yang dianggap paling gah dipentaskan pada tahun ini.

Astro AWANI sempat ke Dewan Sri Putra, Bukit Jalil baru-baru ini untuk 'mengintai' persiapan karya produksi Enfiniti Vision Media ini.

Kesihatan Puteri Gusti

Sebelum ini penggerak utama konsert ini iaitu Puan Sri Tiara Jacquelina dinasihatkan doktor untuk berehat dan tidak melibatkan diri dalam mana-mana persembahan akibat mengalami ketumbuhan nodul pada pita suara.

Namun ketika ditemui semasa sesi latihan, Tiara kelihatan sememangnya lebih cergas dari biasa.

“Doktor kata sekarang saya boleh kembali beraksi. Saya rasa suara saya berada dalam keadaan yang lebih baik dari sebelum ini. Alhamdulillah,” ujar beliau kepada Astro AWANI.

Persiapan dari Dewan Sri Putra ke Istana Budaya 

Pengarah konsert, Adlin Aman Ramlie berkata sebagai langkah memperbaiki aspek teknikal konsert ini, proses simulasi persembahan diadakan setiap hari secara insentif di Dewan Sri Putra, Bukit Jalil sebelum melangkah ke Istana Budaya.

“Ini pertama kali apabila sebuah filem dan teater muzikal digabungkan dalam bentuk konsert. Ada bahagian-bahagian yang kita akan pentaskan 100% seperti yang sebelum ini namun kebanyakan yang ada dalam konsert ini adalah serba baru,” kata Tiara.

Tiara yang membawakan watak Gusti Putri Raden Adjeng Retno Dumilah juga berkata, selaku pengarah Adlin telah membawa PGL kepada satu tahap yang sangat berlainan.

“Kali ini ada satu hadiah untuk peminat-peminat saya sendiri yang sejak dulu lagi bertanyakan kenapa lagu Asmaradana tiada dalam teater muzikal.

“Jadi kali ini, hanya untuk peminat lagu Asmaradana, versi baru dengan nafas baru lagu ini akan dipersembahkan di konsert nanti. Bagi saya, ia akan menjadi satu persembahan yang terbaik pernah saya lakukan sebelum ini, insyaAllah,” kata Tiara.

Latihan tarian untuk konsert Puteri Gunung Ledang 'Rebirth of The Legend' bakal berlangsung mulai 20 Mac depan di Istana Budaya.

Konsep reka bentuk ‘Segi Tiga’ 

“Asas kepada persembahan konsert ini bukanlah dalam bentuk penceritaan, ia lebih kepada kompilasi adegan dan lagu yang terdapat dalam muzikal dan juga filem sebelum ini dan kita cuba untuk persembahkan ia dalam masa dua jam.

“Untuk itu kita telah memilih konsep ‘Segi Tiga’ kerana kalau kita lihat secara falsafahnya ia seperti puteri terperangkap antara tiga lelaki iaitu abangnya, Adipati Handaya Ningrat, Sultan Mahmud dan Hang Tuah,” kata pengarah konsert Adlin Aman Ramlie.

Bagi membantu Adlin dalam merealisasikan konsep tersebut, pereka produksi terkenal, Raja Malek berkata ia merupakan satu cabaran besar buat dirinya.

“Konsep (reka bentuk) ‘Segi Tiga’ ini bermula dalam satu perbualan bersama Adlin, di mana ia melambangkan cinta tiga segi di Gunung Ledang. Dari situ saya mencabar diri saya, di mana setiap reka bentuk set adalah berdasarkan bentuk segi tiga. Sudah semestinya kita akan mengikut motif teater muzikal terdahulu dan ia lebih kepada corak abstrak.

Lady Gaga bertemu Puteri Gunung Ledang

“Bayangkan Lady Gaga bertemu Puteri Gunung Ledang,” kata Pat Ibrahim apabila ditanya mengenai tugas beliau sebagai pereka tari atau koreografer konsert PGL.

Pat berkata seni tarian gaya kotemporari seperti hip hop, dubstep, dan elektronika banyak digunakan untuk konsert ini memandangkan asas kepada lagu-lagu muzik ini lebih kepada Electronic Dance Music (EDM).

DVD Blu-ray Puteri Gunung Ledang Edisi Terhad 

Sempena sambutan 10 tahun filem Puteri Gunung Ledang, pihak Enfiniti Vision Media juga telah menerbitkan sebanyak 1000 pakej Blu-ray DVD edisi terhad buat peminatnya.

Bagi mereka yang ingin memilikinya, Tiara berkata ia hanya boleh didapati di Istana Budaya semasa konsert itu atau boleh menempah di laman web Enfiniti.

Bagi peminat yang mahu menonton konsert ini boleh mendapatkan tiket yang dijual pada harga RM79, RM129, RM179, RM219, RM259, RM339 dan RM439. Untuk maklumat lanjut, boleh melayari di www.Tickethotline.com.my atau www.Ticket2u.biz.

Will Mahathir be sacked from UMNO again?

LIM: When Najib was talking about "unwanted people" within UMNO, he was getting back at Mahathir.

KUALA LUMPUR: The statement made by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in Kedah on Saturday that UMNO is capable of remaining in power if there were no "unwanted people" in the party, is to get back at Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

DAP parliamentary leader, Lim Kit Siang said the names that came to mind when Najib made the speech was the party's former president Dr Mahathir, former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin and former information minister Tan Sri Zainuddin Maidin.

Lim said Najib had chose Kedah to go on the offensive, making the speech before the Kedah Mentri Besar, Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir, when everybody at the convention and outside knew that heading the "jemuan-jemuan" (bad characters) slammed by Najib is none other than Mukriz’s father, Tun Mahathir.

"Is the longest-serving UMNO Prime Minister and President leading the list of 'bad characters not wanted in UMNO' by Najib?

"Is Najib setting the stage for the expulsion of Mahathir from UMNO, which will be another history for Mahathir – out of UMNO three times, twice expelled from UMNO and quitting UMNO once on his own," he said in a statement Sunday.

He also questioned Najib’s assurance in which he said he would not condone any wrongdoings and that wrongdoers will face action under the law.

Lim cited the cases of Altantuya Shaariibuu's murder, Teoh Beng Hock's death and the recent remark by UMNO Supreme Council Member Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri on boycotting Chinese traders, which was deemed 'racist' by many.

"How can Najib explain such egregious condonation of wrongdoing and failure to ensure that wrongdoers face action under the law in these three instances?" he said.

- Source: Astro Awani 

At least 49 dead in Brazil tour bus crash

Handout picture released by Agencia RBS showing the bodies of victims of a bus accident in Campo Alegre, state of Santa Catarina, southern Brazil on March 14, 2015. - AFP PHOTO / SALMO DUARTE

RIO DE JANEIRO: At least 49 people were killed Saturday when a tour bus plunged hundreds of meters into a densely wooded ravine in southern Brazil, authorities said.

Among the dead were eight children and 24 women, regional government spokeswoman Ana Paula Keller told AFP.

The toll had initially been put at about 30 but the number rose throughout the night as rescuers continued to find bodies at the difficult-to-access crash site in Santa Catarina state, and other victims succumbed to their injuries at a nearby hospital.

The bus plunged 400 meters (1,300 feet) into a ravine and ended up on its side, snarled in thick vegetation.

Rescuers struggled to account for everyone in the failing light and difficult terrain. Fifty people were supposed to be on the bus, but authorities believed the number of passengers was higher than that.

Ten people were in the hospital. Their conditions were not immediately known.

The crash site was near a lookout point in the Dona Francisca mountains, a popular stop for tourists. The bus was operated by a tour firm and was traveling a route of about 300 kilometers (185 miles) between Uniao da Vitoria and Guaratuba, on the Santa Catarina coast.

Witnesses told local press that the driver lost control on the curvy stretch of highway, but the cause was still under investigation.

"There are people out there, on the hill, in the bus, trapped in the wreckage. But the chances of finding someone alive are pretty slim," state police Colonel Nelson Coelho said in a statement.

Several drivers stopped on the roadside to try to help victims as they waited for emergency services to arrive.

Accidents on this winding road are common. The O Estado newspaper said 66 people had been killed on the highway in the last five years.

In 2007, 27 people were killed in a single accident and another crash in 1999 left 35 dead.

Some 43,000 Brazilians are killed in road accidents annually.

And from 2002-2012, the traffic accident rate surged by over 24 percent.

With the economy growing and the population topping 200 million, an estimated 10,000 new cars are added to the roads every day.

One of the country's last major accidents was in October 2014, when a truck collided with a bus carrying high school students in Sao Paulo, killing 10 and injuring dozens more.

- Source: AFP 

Polis dan Tentera Indonesia yang menceroboh dibebas

Polis Diraja Malaysia (PDRM) dilapor telah membebaskan 14 daripada 17 warga Indonesia yang menceroboh sempadan Malaysia di Pulau Sebatik, Tawau.

KOTA KINABALU: Polis Diraja Malaysia (PDRM) dilapor telah membebaskan 14 daripada 17 warga Indonesia yang menceroboh sempadan Malaysia di Pulau Sebatik, Tawau.

Ketua Jabatan Siasatan Jenayah Polis Sabah, Datuk Salehhudin Abd Rahman yang mengesahkan perkara itu berkata mereka dibebaskan semalam di sempadan Indonesia-Malaysia.

Beliau berkata pembebasan itu dibuat ekoran permohonan maaf pihak Polis Republik Indonesia (POLRI) dan Tentera Nasional Indonesia (TNI).

"Selepas permohonan maaf, beberapa faktor turut dipertimbangkan dalam membebaskan mereka, antara lain hubungan diplomatik yang telah lama terjalin serta memorandum persefahaman sempadan kedua-dua negara," katanya.

Yang ditahan Jumaat lalu itu terdiri daripada 17 warga Indonesia termasuk 10 anggota polis dan empat anggota tenteranya kerana dipercayai menceroboh masuk sempadan di Pulau Sebatik, Tawau dengan membawa senjata api.

Salehhudin berkata tiga lagi orang awam yang turut menceroboh masih ditahan untuk siasatan lanjut mengikut Akta Imigresen.

"Mereka masih ditahan bersama seorang suspek warga Indonesia yang dikehendaki POLRI berhubung kes bunuh anggota TNI," katanya.

Pencerobohan dilapor dilakukan kerana mereka dipercayai mahu mengecam dan mengambil semula seorang suspek kes bunuh anggota tentera republik itu, yang ditangkap PDRM pada 10 Mac.

Timbalan Ketua Polis Negara, Datuk Seri Noor Rashid Ibrahim sebelum ini dilapor sebagai berkata tindakan itu menyalahi undang-undang kerana mereka memasuki Malaysia tanpa melalui prosedur imigresen yang betul selain membawa masuk senjata api.

- Sumber: Bernama

Jupiter planes not crashing at Langkawi airport a relief

Ryamizard (right) and Hishammuddin (second, right) giving words of encouragement to members of the Indonesian Air Force after visiting the pilots who were involved in the Jupiter aircraft mishap, at Langkawi Hospital on Sunday. - BERNAMApic

LANGKAWI: The Indonesian Defence Minister expressed relief that the two airplanes from Indonesia's Jupiter aerobatics team did not crash at the Langkawi International Airport.

Ryamizard Ryacudu said, if the planes had crashed at the airport, which is now busy with a variety of aircraft in conjunction with the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace (LIMA) exhibition, the accident would have been worse.

Two Jupiter planes grazed in mid-air and crashed at 2.04pm during a training practice at the 2015 LIMA exhibition Sunday. Pilots of both planes ejected from their aircraft and landed safely with their parachutes. One of the aircraft crashed outside the perimeter of the Langkawi International Airport but the other crashed just outside the airport.

"The pilot did avoid crashing on the airport and houses. Thank God, he managed to divert the plane," he told Bernama when met at Langkawi District Hospital.

Ryamizard was in Langkawi for the 9th ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting and LIMA and had earlier visited the four pilots involved along with his counterpart from Malaysia, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.

According to Ryamizard, what is important now is that all four of them are in stable condition and are being closely monitored by doctors and medical personnel at the hospital.

Asked whether the Jupiter aerobatic team will continue their performance in LIMA, Indonesia's defence minister said for now they will continue with the show.

"They will do it, no problem," he said, adding that the pilots of the Jupiter team are in high spirits and looking forward to continue with the show."

The two aircraft crashed at Permandangan Indah, Padang Mat Sirat and Kampung Gelam, Kedawang just outside the airport.

- Source: Bernama 

Selamatkan mural DBP!

Menjenguk projek pemuliharaan dan pembaharuan mural pertama di Malaysia yang terletak di dinding bangunan Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.

KUALA LUMPUR: Secara amnya, masalah yang sering disuarakan oleh para penduduk kota tentang kesinambungan seni kita adalah “masalah kita sebagai rakyat negara membangun, adalah kurangnya proses dokumentasi dan penghargaan kepada karya seni yang pernah ada”.

Sejak kebelakangan ini, wujudnya suatu perbincangan ataupun persoalan di antara para seniman dan pencinta karya seni tentang projek penambahbaikan yang berlaku di bangunan DBP (Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka) yang telah bermula pada pertengahan tahun lepas.

Mereka mulai merpersoalkan kredibiliti pihak yang melaksanakan projek tersebut dan mereka mulai bimbang tentang karya mural yang dihasilkan oleh Tuan Hj Ismail Mustam itu.

Karya yang bertemakan ‘Cara Hidup di Malaya dan Bahasa Kebangsaan’ itu memaparkan 5 sosok di sebalik buku dan buku itu melambangkan sarana utama untuk menyatukan keberagaman nilai-nilai dan prinsipal yang wujud di dalam rakyat negara.

Lukisan itu dilukis sewaktu En. Ismail berada di tingkatan 5 sewaktu belajar di Victoria Institution yang terletak di Kuala Lumpur.

Pada 11hb Mac 2015 telah berlangsung satu taklimat yang dianjurkan oleh pihak urusan DBP dan pihak yang bertanggungjawab untuk melakukan proses penambahbaikan dan pemuliharaan, iaitu Prof A. Ghafar Ahmad, En. Razak Wong dan juga En. Viveganant daripada GDP Architects.

Turut hadir adalah pihak-pihak dari Jabatan Warisan Negara, Jabatan Arkib Negara dan juga Jabatan Kerja Raya yang turut terlibat selaku pihak penyelia projek tersebut.

Mereka dengan jelas menyatakan bahawa karya ini harus dikekalkan seadanya, dan mereka menjelaskan langkah-langkah pemulihan dengan cara yang terperinci.

Prof A. Ghafar Ahmad menyatakan, “Antara sebab-sebab mereka melakukan penambahbaikan dan pemuliharaan mural yang diwujudkan melalui susunan mozek itu adalah kerana mozek itu telah rapuh pelekatnya, oleh kerana wujudnya kebocoran air tandas di sebalik dinding mural tersebut.”

Katanya lagi, “Faktor-faktor lain adalah akibat gegaran yang berterusan daripada kawasan trafik, kelembapan yang terhasil daripada lindungan pokok besar, kawasan rekahan yang memudahkan lagi kelembapan dan juga jangka usia substratum yang berperanan sebagai pelekat mozek tersebut.”

En. Razak Wong sebagai salah seorang daripada pihak konservatori GDP pula menyatakan, “Mural seluas 221 meter persegi itu bakal dipelihara dan dipasang semula melalui dua cara yang utama iaitu pengimbasan laser 3D dan pendekatan menangkap gambar. Pengimbasan laser 3D bertujuan untuk mengenal pasti kedudukan tona warna mozek manakala gambar ditangkap untuk mengesan warna yang ada. Proses penyusunan semula bakal dibimbing oleh dua grid: besar yang berukuran 900mm x 900mm dan juga kecil yang berukuran 300mm x 300mm.”

Penerangan diteruskan oleh individu ketiga iaitu En. Viveganat yang menerangkan, “Mozek yang telah rosak bakal dipesan semula dan warna yang baru akan mengikuti tona warna waktu ini, iaitu warna yang sedikit pudar daripada warna asal. Pihak konservatori projek ini menyatakan bahawa tatacara yang bakal dilakukan telah mengikut kelulusan pihak JKR dan DBP.”

Mereka dengan sukacitanya menyatakan bahawa program penambahbaikan dan pemuliharaan ini adalah yang pertama di Malaysia dan disusuli oleh projek di Muzium Negara yang masih berada di tahap merekod data dan gambar mural yang lama di sana.

Projek ini bakal dijadikan laporan dan rujukan bagi pihak yang ingin melakukan projek penambahbaikan dan pemuliharaan mural yang lama.

Mural DBP dijangka siap pada hujung tahun 2015.

- Sumber: Daily Seni

'Tak sangka berubah jadi pendiam adalah petanda dia mahu pergi'

ALOR SETAR: “Saya tak menyangka perangainya yang berubah menjadi pendiam adalah petanda dia mahu pergi.”

Itu luahan Abdul Aziz Yahya,38, sepupu kepada Ramlah Adam, 38, yang maut bersama ahli keluarganya dalam kemalangan di Langu, Satun, Thailand kira-kira jam 4 petang semalam.

Menurutnya, suami Ramlah, Abdul Rahman Abdullah, 46, dan ahli keluarga pergi ke Thailand untuk menjemput isterinya pulang selepas mendapatkan rawatan akibat demam selepas bersalin anak bongsu.

Abdul Aziz berkata ada berjumpa Abdul Rahman untuk bertanyakan bila dia akan ke Thailand seminggu sebelum kejadian.

"Dia cuma diam saja, macam fikir sesuatu. Jadi saya pun tak apalah, mungkin dia pun ada kerja. Itulah kali terakhir berbual dengan dia," kata Abdul Aziz.

Selain Abdul Rahman dan isteri Ramlah Adam, mangsa lain termasuk lima anak mereka Rofendi Abdul Rahman, 23 (cedera parah); Nur Aneesa Abdul Rahman, 21 (meninggal); Mehad Abdul Rahman, 7 (meninggal); Nazmi Abdul Rahman, 5 (cedera); dan Hajimudin, 3 bulan (meninggal), serta cucu Naumi Nasaee, 2 (cedera).

Jenazah lima mangsa terbabit telah disemadikan di tanah perkuburan Masjid Sadao, Thailand petang tadi.

Kesemua mangsa yang cedera pula dirawat di Hospital Satun.

Dalam kejadian itu Perodua Alza yang dinaiki mereka dikatakan dipandu laju ketika melalui jalan berselekoh menyebabkan ia terbabas dan merempuh tiang lampu di tepi jalan di Daerah Langu dekat Satun.

Sumber Konsulat Jeneral Malaysia di Songkhla mengesahkan kejadian.

- Sumber: Astro Awani 

Hello Kitty for men: Nendo rises to the challenge

Architecture Kitty

The iconic character Hello Kitty has gotten a masculine makeover by Japanese design studio Nendo, which has revealed its collection of T-shirts featuring the character as part of a team-up with Sanrio and Japanese magazine Pen.

Last year, Sanrio, the character's parent company, launched a project to get more Hello Kitty products made for men -- on the occasion of Hello Kitty's 40th anniversary and just a month, incidentally, after announcing that she is not actually a kitty at all, but "a cheerful and happy little girl with a heart of gold."

An event at Hankyu Men's Tokyo, produced by Pen, marked the launch and featured designs by Nendo, among other designers.

Hello Kitty's pink dress and bow cater to a mainly female crowd, but Nendo's designs, created as they were as part of a collaboration with the men's lifestyle magazine Pen, needed to attract a male audience. The solution? To counteract all of Hello Kitty's right-brain cuteness by "stimulating the left brain."

The result, which the studio has now revealed in full, is a range of Ts that tie in elements of math, science and architecture and maintain a classically masculine palette.

Among them, Radiograph Kitty features an x-ray image revealing the character's skeleton, Math Kitty use numbers and symbols to spell out "hello kitty" as a mathematical formula, Architecture Kitty is based on sketches by Le Corbusier, Biology Kitty sports a graphic using insect specimens and Art Kitty manages to evoke the character's face using Mondrian-style abstract shapes and colors.

Nendo's designs are not currently for sale, but there's hope for members of the male persuasion looking to wear their Hello Kitty fandom with pride.

Phase two of Hello Kitty Men was a three-piece collection that hit Tokyo department store Lumine Man Shibuya last month and included a Casper John hoodie (7,992 Yen, or around $66/€63), a denim jacket by Denime (31,320 Yen, or around $258/€245) and velvet-y opera shoes with an embroidered bow from Rhein by Alfred Bannister (30,240 Yen/$249/€237).

For more serious moments, a business card case featuring the character was offered as a free gift.

Sales of those items were originally planned to last for a limited time, but there are talks of extended availability. If you're ready to start the trend now, Los Angeles shop Japan.LA has collaborated with Sanrio on a capsule collection that includes two T-shirts for men ($35 each).

Will Hello Kitty succeed in winning over the male demographic? As she is known to say, "You can never have too many friends!"

Hello Kitty by Nendo

Radiograph Kitty

Casper John hoodie

- Source: AFP Relaxnews 

Bapa trauma lihat pesawat jatuh atas rumah anak

• 
• Keadaan sebuah rumah yang musnah akibat terkena pesawat KT-1B Jupiter Aerobatik Team Indonesia yang terhempas di Kampung Gelam Mukim Kedawang, ketika latihan sempena Pameran Antarabangsa Aero Angkasa dan Maritim Langkawi (LIMA) 2015, hari ini. - Foto Bernama

LANGKAWI - Seorang warga emas dikatakan secara tiba-tiba meracau atau bercakap tidak karuan akibat trauma apabila melihat sebuah pesawat Angkatan Udara Tentera Nasional Indonesia (AU-TNI) terhempas ke atas rumah anaknya di Kampung Gelam, Mukim Kedawang, di sini.

Kejadian dikatakan berlaku hanya 10 meter di depannya. Akibat itu Abu Mutalib Said, 70, terpaksa dimasukkan ke Hospital Langkawi kerana mengalami trauma psikologi.

"Mangsa melihat sebahagian pesawat jatuh ke atas rumah dua anaknya dan meletup sebelum terbakar di depan matanya, mengakibatkannya mengalami trauma yang serius," kata Pakar Perunding dan Penasihat Perubatan Kecemasan Lima'15, Prof Datuk Seri Dr Abu Hassan Asaari Abdullah.

Beliau berkata susulan itu mangsa dikejarkan ke hospital dan diberikan rawatan 'critical insiden stress management' (CISM).

"Kami melakukan rawatan CISM termasuk terapi pernafasan bagi mengurangkan tekanan dan mangsa kini sedang tidur dengan tenang tanpa tiada kecederaan fizikal padanya," katanya.

Dua pesawat aerobatik pasukan Jupiter milik AU-TNI terhempas dalam kejadian kira-kira 2.04 petang selepas dipercayai bergesel di udara ketika melalukan latihan sebelum menyertai Pameran Udara dan Maritim Antarabangsa Langkawi (Lima) 2015 di sini.

Sebuah daripadanya dipercayai terhempas ke atas rumah anak mangsa.

Dr Abu Hassan berkata anggota keluarga mangsa yang lain turut ditenangkan serta diberi kaunseling.

"Kita akan tahan mangsa buat sementara di wad untuk mengadakan rawatan lanjut. Apa-apa pun kita bersyukur kerana tiada orang di dalam rumah-rumah tersebut ketika kejadian," katanya. 

- Sumber: Bernama

Philippine Cinderellas beat poverty, seize world stage

Former housemaid Janicel Lubina, 19, applies make up at a beauty boot camp in Manila. - AFP Photo/Noel Celis

MANILA: As a child she waded in muddy Philippine rice paddies, now teenager Janicel Lubina struts down runways for the country's top designers and is hoping to be crowned among the world's most beautiful women.

Lubina is a star recruit in one of Manila's beauty pageant boot camps, where shy, lanky teenage girls from remote farming provinces are transformed into poised Barbie dolls who can preach about world peace in six-inch heels.

Beauty pageants are hugely popular with women in the Philippines, with many taking part in the hope it will lead to luxury living, success in high fashion, and movie stardom.

"My mother was a maid. I can't be a maid forever and get stuck in the province," 19-year-old Lubina told AFP before she auditioned for this year's Binibining Pilipinas (Miss Philippines) contest.

Lubina mastered what is dubbed the "duck walk" at the Kagandahang Flores (Beauty of the Flower) training camp in Manila, where students are taught to perfect their beauty queen strut by swinging their hips from side to side like ducks.

Muscle memory

Camp director and "duck walk" inventor Rodin Gilbert Flores approaches training with the precision of a scientist. He is a licensed chemical engineer who worked for a major glass company before shifting to entertainment.

"It's is all about muscle memory. It's calculated down to the movement of the hands," he said.

"The girl should also show her personality. She can't be like a mannequin with no expression on her face."

Flores ruthlessly watches as his students, wearing two-piece bikinis and high heels "duck-walk" from one end of a dark covered basketball court to the other.

Sweat drips down their cheeks but they are not allowed to sit down until they perfect it.

"We'll take in a girl, she will be in pain because of the duck walk, but the end result is she'll be a head-turner," he said.

Towering at 1.83-metres-tall (six feet) in heels, raven-haired Lubina hopes to represent the country in the Miss Universe pageant, which has a huge following in the Philippines.

Mopping floors

But Lubina's camera-ready smile fades when she talks about her struggles back home in Palawan province, where she worked as a maid like her mother, while her father was recovering from a mild stroke.

"One time, I mopped floors for an entire day and my boss made me do it all over again because she didn't like my work," she said.

Lubina was discovered by a local make-up artist while she was out on an errand, walking on a dirt road. The beautician was amazed by her towering frame, she said.

She won 3,000 pesos ($68) in her first pageant three years ago and has never looked back -- for her the money has flowed in to the extent that she can support her family and pay for stroke treatment for her father.

Among her most memorable purchases was their family's first ever television set, which she gave to her parents as a gift after she placed second in a contest in 2013.

"It wasn't even a flat-screen TV, but it meant so much because my parents used to watch TV in our neighbour's house... Now they can watch me on TV anytime," she said.

Flores trained the Philippines' last two big global pageant winners -- Miss International 2013 Bea Rose Santiago, and Miss Earth 2014 Jamie Herrell.

In total, the country's beauties have won the Miss International competition five times, twice each at Miss Universe and Miss Earth and once at Miss World.

Local pageant fans are also among the world's most devoted. In 2010, a YouTube clip of four friends going berserk while watching Miss Universe got close to four million views, prompting fast-food chain KFC to put them in one of their TV commercials.

Escape from poverty

For 1985 Miss Philippines Joyce Burton-Titular, pageants are huge in the country because of Filipinos love to ogle and criticise glamorous women.

"It's a cultural thing that starts with the admiration of beauty... We also enjoy being mean critics, whether a girl wins or loses," Titular told AFP.

Titular said pageants could also present an opportunity to escape from poverty.

"Pageants these days are a great equaliser because you can come from the poorest of the poor and still win. In our country, pageants are empowering," she said.

Titular said winning the national pageant 30 years ago gave her the confidence to try a career in acting, and as a newsreader.

For Herrell, beating 84 other beautiful women for the Miss Earth title last year has led to guest spots in television dance shows.

Unlike Lubina, Herrell comes from a well-off family that owns a dance studio in Cebu city, a commercial centre in the central region. She said she spends her pageant winnings on clothes.

But Herrell takes her Miss Earth duties seriously, planting as many trees as she can in her home province of Cebu and other deforested areas to raise awareness about environmental issues.

"Pageants are relevant. Women can use them as channels for their advocacy," she said.

"You help the community, and be beautiful at the same time. And that's the tough part."

- Source: AFP RELAXNEWS 

Gempa bumi sederhana landa Laut Banda, Indonesia

GEMPA bumi sederhana berukuran 5.3 pada skala Richter melanda Laut Banda, Indonesia pada pukul 10.22 malam ini.

Jabatan Meteorologi Malaysia dalam satu kenyataan berkata gempa itu berpusat 345km di tenggara Ambon, Indonesia dan 1,749 km tenggara Semporna, Sabah.

Gempa bumi itu tidak membawa ancaman tsunami, katanya. 

- Sumber: Bernama | 15 Mac 2015