"We are claiming aid money"

By: Muhammad Zaidi

"WE want to claim back money for RM16, 000 per year as promised KOM (Athletics Union Malaysia) before this as soon as possible because do not want to be abusedagain."

Tone is quite hard so Honorary Secretary of Johor Amateur Athletics Association(POAJ), S Rajasegram who want aid money this year after a similar claim last year,failed to satisfy the KOM.


Rajasegram said, consideration POAJ claim the money this year after he received word from the treasurer of the main body of athletics KOM that it recently received a sum of RM200, 000 from the sponsors.

"Under the agreement, KOM will channel financial assistance amounting to RM16, 000 annually to each member of the coalition after receiving sponsorship money.


"But last year, and nearly POAJ many other state associations do not receive the money for the sponsorship money received is understood KOM, used for anything else. I myself have raised this matter last year.

"Now, after getting news from legitimate sources, including KOM treasurer who admitted the cash was already included in the KOM account, I would like to claim the money as soon as possible because I want to repeat the same thing as last year," he said.


Rajasegram clear, the claim is not trivial because he said, without the help of the money, POAJ and other state associations difficult to organize and mobilize the state championships development programs.

"We're not fun to claim this money, but all reason. Later when we did not make a program or event, they (KOM) said we did not make the work as well.


"That's why we want to make a claim as soon as possible, but I have taken the initiative to send a letter via email to the KOM on this claim," he said.

Last year, Rajasegram had demanded the money, but KOM response through the Deputy President, Datuk Karim Ibrahim said POAJ not given full support in 2009 for not preparing reports and organizing tournaments.


While for the year 2010, only RM5, 000 to be distributed because of the sponsorship money is used to cover the costs of training and sending athletes but to pay the debt to the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM).

For the last year, the government does not give Karim acknowledges that the provisions did not get the sponsorship money, but he insisted, the payment depends on the extent to which state associations run the program.

FA Cup fever with Chelsea and Liverpool

by: Izwan Zukhi

THE Tiger FC viewing party is back. Football fans can get ready for an exciting night at Souled Out, Sri Hartamas on Saturday when Chelsea plays against Liverpool for the coveted English FA Cup.

Tiger marketing manager Sean Koh is certain that Chelsea and Liverpool will be geared up for the final.

“Both teams are said to have been reserving the best performance for the Cup. This will be a great spectacle to catch with a Tiger Beer in hand,” said Sean.

Just purr-fect : Two fans signing up as Tiger FC members.

Chelsea, who had qualified for the Champions League final, is in prime shape with Fernando Torres’s return to form. The stomping Spaniard netted a hat trick against Queen’s Park Rangers in a league encounter recently.

The Blues will go head-to-head with Liverpool as they attempt to land the trophy for the third time in four years.

A disappointing Premier League campaign has seen Kenny Dalglish’s charges fall short of the pre-season aim of Champions League qualification. However, victory at Wembley over Championship side Cardiff City in February saw the Reds lift their first piece of silverware in six years.

The Reds are hoping to claim the domestic cup double to end the season on a bright note.

Roll out the goal s: Football fans are expected to come in full force for the Tiger FC viewing party

The FA Cup is not the only prize on the line. Tiger FC will be giving away over 20 prizes to the public including 40” flat-screen TVs, RM1,000 Tiger FC prepaid cards and autographed club jerseys.

Off-field, Tiger FC will be running the Tiger FC Fans Cup contest, where fans can participate in a series of challenges on the Tiger Beer Facebook page, with offers on another trip to the UK to catch the EPL live. Other monthly Tiger FC Fans Cup prizes include Nintendo Wiis, Sony PSPs, official football club merchandise and more.

Andy Murray to headline Queens

By: Marwan Hashim

The AEGON Championships at Queen's Club next month will feature six of the top 12 players in the world rankings, led by number four Andy Murray.

Murray, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Juan Martin Del Potro had already confirmed their places at the Wimbledon warm-up tournament, which begins on June 17, and the entry list revealed they will be joined by Janko Tipsarevic, Mardy Fish and Gilles Simon.

Serbian Tipsarevic is at a career-high ranking of eighth, one ahead of Fish, who will be hoping to at least match his performance from his last appearance in 2010, when he reached the final before losing to fellow American Sam Querrey.

World number 11 Simon will hope to take his clay form onto the grass having never made it past the last 16 at Queen's, while other notable names include Richard Gasquet, Marcos Baghdatis, David Nalbandian and four-time winner Andy Roddick.

Tournament director Chris Kermode said: "We are delighted that so many of world's leading players have chosen to compete at the AEGON Championships. We are looking forward to a fantastic week of tennis."

Starz and Michael Bay Developing Pirate Series Black Sails

By: Khairul Zhafri


Starz Chief Executive Officer Chris Albrecht today announced the straight-to-series greenlight of "Black Sails" (working title) from executive producer Michael Bay. The new Starz Original series is expected to air in 2014. The eight-episode first season of the pirate adventure centers on the tales of Captain Flint and his men, and takes place twenty years prior to Robert Louis Stevenson's classic "Treasure Island."

Flint, the most brilliant and most feared pirate captain of his day, takes on a fast-talking young addition to his crew who goes by the name John Silver. Threatened with extinction on all sides, they fight for the survival of New Providence Island, the most notorious criminal haven of its day – a debauched paradise teeming with pirates, prostitutes, thieves and fortune seekers, a place defined by both its enlightened ideals and its stunning brutality.

"Starz is excited to be working with a visionary like Michael,'" said Albrecht. "Along with the high-octane action that is a hallmark of a Michael Bay production, it has the elements that Starz originals are striving to bring to the premium landscape: epic, larger than life, cinematic storytelling. The series is also a property we believe will appeal to the global content marketplace with broadcasters around the world."

"I'm excited to branch out into television," says Michael Bay, the record-breaking director/producer of such big screen hits as "Transformers" and Bad Boys, "especially doing a long-form series for Starz, a network known for supporting cutting edge programming."

Following the model of the "Spartacus" franchise and "Magic City," Starz will retain all domestic and international rights to the dramatic series, including television, home video, and digital.

"Black Sails" will be executive produced by Michael Bay and his Platinum Dunes partners Brad Fuller and Andrew Form. The series is created by showrunner and executive producer Jon Steinberg (creator "Jericho," "Human Target") and co-executive producer Robert Levine ("Touch").

The production is set to shoot at Cape Town Studios in Cape Town, South Africa later this y

A Baby Girl get an Electric Shocked

By: Muhammad Zaidi

POKOK SENA: A 6-month-old baby girl, Shamina Zulaikha, died of electric shock. Her 3-year-old sister, who realized that her little sister did not move, then called her aunt who is near there.

In the incident at 10 am that morning, in Kampung Lanchut Tok Leed, Shamina crawl while playing around the living room before reaching the wire connector on the back of the cupboard and electric shock which caused his death.

After hearing the screams Sofina wife, aunt, Nor Aina Rosli, 14, who was busy preparing breakfast in the kitchen, rushed to the living room and was surprised to see the Fire and the victim is unconscious while his left hand gripping the wire.

Another victim of aunt, Siti Hajar Idris, 26, said only three people in the victim's housewith her sister and they cared Nor Aina. He said the victim's grandparents out there in the house as rubber tapping, while his father, Azim Mohd Akmal, 23, out to work as anelectrical wireman.

Reds in the red

By: Marwan Hashim

UNCOMFORTABLE VIEWING ... the Stanley Park stadium plan cost club £35m

LIVERPOOL have recorded a £50million loss for the last financial year.

The Reds saw their balance sheets hammered by the doomed Stanley Park project under previous owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett, which cost the club £35m.

There were also pay-offs for boss Roy Hodgson, managing director Christian Purslow and other staff totalling £4.8m.

But current MD Ian Ayre insists it was essential for the club to clean up their accounts so they could move forward under the new Fenway Sports Group regime.

He said: “There was much talk and conjecture around the debt that the club was with under previous ownership.

“There has been over £200m of that debt paid down and that’s very important for the club moving forward.

“It creates a very stable platform for us to move forward from, it creates a situation where most of those things are now off the books and we move forward in a positive sense in a sustainable business and with the ability to grow on that basis.

“Finance director Philip Nash and the finance team and the FSG finance team have created a great foundation in terms of bank facilities that give us a long-term view in that area.

“There has been a clearing out of debt, a clearing out of money that’s been expended on stadium that just isn’t going to achieve much going forward.

“We’ve made a significant investment in the playing squad and will continue to do so.

“It’s a new start in many ways.”

Federal Court dismisses Saudi Arabian columnist's appeal

By:Izwan Zukhi

PUTRAJAYA: Saudi Arabian columnist Hamza Kashgari, who claimed he was unlawfully arrested and deported from Malaysia, failed in his appeal Thursday at the Federal Court here for reinstatement of his habeas corpus application.

A five-man panel led by Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Richard Malajun unanimously dismissed his appeal against a Kuala Lumpur High Court decision, which struck out his writ of habeas corpus seeking that he be brought to the court and released.

In his habeas corpus application, Hamza, whose original name is Mohamad Najeeb A. Kashgari, alternatively sought a declaration that his arrest and deportation were unlawful.

Federal Court judges DAtuk Hashim Yusoff, DAtuk Suraydi Halim Omar,Datuk Ahmad Maarop and Datuk Jeffrey Tan Kok Wha were the other four judges on the panel.

Hamza, 23, was wanted by the Saudi Arabian authorities for allegedly insulting Islam and Prophet Muhammad, an offence, which carries the death sentence in that country, upon conviction.

Hamza had arrived in Malaysia on Feb 7, this year and was detained by the immigration authorities, two days later, at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport while enroute to Auckland, New Zealand.

He was deported on Feb 12, on a private flight at the request of the Saudi government.

The following day, lawyers Murnie Hidayah Anuar and Mohd Afiq Mohamad Noor filed the writ of habeas corpus on Hamza's behalf, naming the inspector-general of police, immigration director-general, home minister and the Malaysian Government as respondents.

On Feb 22, the Kuala Lumpur High Court allowed the respondents' preliminary objection to strike out Hamza's application on grounds that the issue of habeas corpus had become academic because Hamza was no longer in Malaysia as he had since been deported.

He then filed an appeal to the Federal Court.

Hamza, who writes for the Jeddah-based Al Bilad newspaper, allegedly posted blasphemous tweets on Prophet Muhammad's birthday but they were deleted the following day, from his Twitter account.

In Thursday's court proceedings, the panel heard submissions from Hamza's counsel, Amer Hamzah Arshad, and Senior Federal Counsel Amir Nasaruddin for the respondents.

Amer Hamzah argued that although Hamza was deported, there was still a live issue for the court to determine.

He said the High Court had the power and jurisdiction to proceed and hear the matter to decide whether his arrest and deportation was lawful or not, and subsequently, make an order of compensation for depriving him of his fundamental rights.

Amir, meanwhile, argued that the law stated that the only remedy available to a person who filed a habeas corpus application was to secure his release.

He said the person could not seek relief, other than his release in a habeas corpus application.

Mohd Afiq told reporters that Hamza was still in detention in Saudi Arabia but he had not been charged.

He said he would seek instruction from Hamza's family whether or not to file a civil suit for declaration that his (Hamza's) arrest and deportation was unlawful, and seek damages.