Digest on Malaysian News

Lee Chong Wei claimed that his failure to advance to the men badminton single at the Japan Open was due to the celebrations and special functions (after his silver medal in Beijing) that disrupted his preparations.

I understand if he is celebrating for wining the Olympic gold medal. But he is celebrating the winning of the silver medal. A loser, yet he is rewarded for being a loser. And the Japan Open further proved that he is still not good enough for his Datukship title.

From TheStar

World No. 1 Chong Wei, women’s pair fall at Japan Open

By RAJES PAUL

KUALA LUMPUR: It was a double disappointment for Malaysia at the Japan Open in Tokyo yesterday when Lee Chong Wei was dethroned in the men’s singles while Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty’s chase to become the queens of the day remained elusive yet again.

After a brilliant start, top seed Chong Wei simply could not keep up with the blistering pace set by Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia and crashed to a 17-21, 11-21 defeat in a 40-minute battle.

Many would agree that it was certainly not the same Chong Wei who did the country proud a few weeks ago by beating Sony en route to winning a silver medal at the Beijing Olympic Games.

His attacks were way off the mark. There were too many unforced errors and he was even slower than usual especially in the second game.

With the tame defeat yesterday, Chong Wei failed in his bid to justify his current world number one ranking status. He has yet to win a title during his tenure as the world’s top ranked player.

“Sony was just too fast and I could not keep up with his speed. I was tired and was struggling to give that extra push,” said Chong Wei in a telephone interview.

“It is quite normal to experience a draught in the stadium but I failed to adjust to it. There were silly mistakes and that frustrated me even more. Sony was so determined today.

“But I am looking forward to a break from competition next week. (Chong Wei is skipping next week’s China Masters). I hope to get a good rest at home. Hopefully, I will bounce back,” he added.

Women’s world No.11 ranked pair Eei Hui-Pei Tty could not hide their disappointments after letting slip a golden chance to nail their first Open title.

The duo, who have played the bridesmaids’ role three times since teaming up in 2002, went down 19-21, 21-5, 18-21 to China’s youngsters Cheng Shu-Zhao Yunlei in a 54-minute encounter.

Eei Hui was dejected over their defeat to the Chinese pair who are not even ranked in the top 300.

“We have never played them before and it took us a while to get used to their style of play in the first game. We finally got a better grip of the game but it was too late.

“Our standard was about the same and we were so close to beating them. This is so disappointing,” said Eei Hui.

“This Chinese pair hardly go out. But by winning the Japan Open today, they have proved they are the pair to watch in the future.”

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From NST

LEE Chong Wei surrendered his Japan Open crown tamely to Indonesian Sony Dwi Kuncoro while women's doubles Wong Pei Tty-Chin Eei Hui also stumbled at the final hurdle in Tokyo yesterday.
An off-colour Chong Wei turned in a disappointing performance to allow Sony to clinch a 21-17, 21-11 win in 40 minutes.

Sony thus avenged his 21-9, 21-11 loss to the World No 1 in the quarter-finals of last month's Beijing Olympics. Pei Tty-Eei Hui, who have never won a grand prix or a Super Series title, let slip their best opportunity yesterday against China's back-up pair of Cheng Shu-Zhao Yunlei losing 21-19, 5-21, 21-18 in 54 minutes.

It was Cheng Shu-Yunlei's first appearance in a major final while it was Pei Tty-Eei Hui's fourth defeat in a final having lost in the 2005 Indonesia and Dutch Opens as well as this year's Thailand Open.

However, it was Chong Wei's defeat which was really disappointing although the Malaysian was struggling throughout the tournament.

Chong Wei did have chances of putting Sony under pressure when leading 16-12 in the first game but allowed the Indonesian to earn five points on the trot to 17-16.

Sony conceded one more point before wrapping up the first game and was never threatened after that.

Chong Wei, in a telephone interview from Tokyo, said his preparations for the tournament wasn't good enough and that he was not fully fit. "The amount of training I had for the tournament was not sufficient. Also, the celebrations and special functions (after his silver medal in Beijing) disrupted my preparations," said Chong Wei, who added that he also lost a few days of training as he was down with a fever.

"I was struggling in this tournament and today (yesterday) Sony pushed me against the wall. I was tired and couldn't recover after several long rallies.

"I will return to Kuala Lumpur tomorrow (today) and start training. I haven't withdrawn from the Macau Open (beginning on Sept 30) and I have to see how the training goes in the next week."

Chong Wei has skipped the Chinas Masters which begins in Changzhou tomorrow and the only reason he is competing in the Macau Open is to safeguard his World No 1 status.

However, Chong Wei may opt to withdraw from the Macau Open as well as it's tough to improve on one's fitness in just a week.

Meanwhile, Danish veterans Lars Paaske-Jonas Rasmussen captured their second title in as many weeks when they beat rising Indonesian pair Muhammad Ahsan-Bona Septano 21-17, 15-21, 21-13 in 52 minutes.

Paaske-Rasmussen, who reached the semi-finals of the Olympics, won the Taiwan Open last week.

China's back-up player Wang Yihan clinched her first Super Series crown when she beat Hong Kong's Zhou Mi 21-19, 17-21, 21-15 in the women's singles final.

The mixed doubles crown went to Indonesia's Muhammad Rijal-Vita Marissa who upset top-seeded compatriots Nova Widianto-Lilyana Natsir 14-21, 21-15, 21-19.

RESULTS -- (All Finals) Men's Singles: Sony Dwi Kuncoro (Ina) bt Lee Chong Wei (Mas) 21-17, 21-11; Doubles: Lars Paaske-Jonas Rasmussen (Den) bt Muhammad Ahsan-Bona Septano (Ina) 21-17, 15-21, 21-13.

Women's singles: Wang Yihan (Chn) bt Zhou Mi (HK) 21-19, 17-21, 21-15; Doubles: Cheng Shu-Zhao Yunlei (Chn) bt Wong Pei Tty-Chin Eei Hui (Mas) 21-19, 5-21, 21-18.

Mixed Doubles: Muhammad Rijal-Vita Marissa (Ina) bt Nova Widianto-Lilyana Natsir (Ina) 14-21, 21-15, 21-19.

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Everyone who followed the progress of our Malaysian athletes in Beijing 2009 Olympic are not surprised when our Badminton ace, Lee Chong Wei lost to China's Lin Dan in the Badminton Men's Final. Lin Dan is simply too good for Lee Chong Wei.

A good effort from Lee but a Silver is not a Gold. A Silver is to acknowledge a finalist who lose to the champion.

And most Malaysians are shocked when it was announced that Lee will be conferred a Datukship, RM300,000 cash and RM3,000 monthly pension for life. And Lee is not the Champion.

That is how the government award our citizen. Even loser get rewarded.

This is not healthy as it will cultivate the spirit of laziness among Malaysian who now will think that no need to achieve so much will also earn them rewards.

On the other hand, BN is politicizing this to impress voters in the coming Permatang Pauh by-election that the government is generous. A cheap publicity.

Rewards should only be given to the best to breed competitiveness not to lame losers.

Related posts:
* Najib wasted millions for the Kenot program (Datukship given to a space tourist)



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TheStar

GEORGE TOWN:Olympic silver medallist Lee Chong Wei is to be made a Datuk by the Penang Government.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said Yang di-Pertua Negri Tun Abdul Rahman Abbas would confer the Darjah Setia Pangkuan Negeri (DSPN) on Lee on Aug 30.

“The state will award the DSPN to Penang’s first Olympic silver medallist, Bukit Mertajam home-grown talent Lee Chong Wei,” he told a press conference yesterday.

He said Chong Wei had done Penang proud with his achievement.

“Even though Malaysians were disappointed that he failed to win the gold medal, we are proud of his achievement, which has brought joy to both state and country,” Lim added.

“The state government hopes that this recognition will spur him on to break more records and achieve greater success.”

The CM said the DSPN, instituted in 1976, was limited to 800 living persons, and was conferred on individuals of high position who had contributed unique and valuable services to the state.

Chong Wei’s eldest brother Chong Hoon, who attended the press conference, contacted the player on his mobile phone on loudspeaker mode.

Chong Wei, 26, said he was very happy and did not at all expect to get a Datukship for being a silver medallist.

“I thought that maybe, if I win the gold medal, I might be given a Datukship. But no, I never expected it for the silver and was very surprised,” he said.

In Butterworth, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Chong Wei’s success is testimony that Malaysia is a country with fair policies. He said anyone who has potential in this country will be given the opportunity to shine and achieve the highest success in sports or any other field, may it be education or business.

“If Lee Chong Wei can succeed, there will be many more Lee Chong Wei in the future because we give everyone equal chance.

“In other countries, the assimilation policy is adopted, but in Malaysia we integrate. This is our policy from the very beginning until today.

“Lee Chong Wei will remain Lee Chong Wei. He does not have to adopt a different name. And we also have Malays who can speak Chinese,” Najib said at a function where he handed Lee a cheque for RM300,000 for winning the silver medal at the Olympic Games and a mock cheque for RM3,000 being the pension reward the Government had promised for the feat. The pension payments begin from next month and is for life.


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Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), the gateway icon of Malaysia has been winning multiple awards for various category, The next award that they are going to win is the inferior security award.

Azmi Murad, the GM of Malaysia Airport Holdings Bhd dismissed police statement saying that the CCTVs that monitor the driveway at the departure hall where the recent armed robbery occurred was switch off. Azmi claimed that those CCTVs was never switch off but he revealed that the CCTVs does not have recording functions.

For an international class airport like KLIA, a major entry point for foreigners, the icon of Barisan Nasional and winning various international awards, KLIA security must be level with international standard. Security equipment must be first class. The security staffs mentality must also be of first class.

I am beginning to speculate that there could be a scandal involving the tender to supply and install those CCTVs. The original tender could call for all CCTVs to have recording functions but when it come to actual delivery, "some" of the CCTVs is just for normal surveillance without record capability. Mmmm ... possible covered corruption.

Related post:
* Incompetency of Malaysia Airport Bhd security team

Extracted from: nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Saturday/National/2211405/Article/index_html (Apr 11, 2008)

Not all cameras at KLIA have recording mode

KUALA LUMPUR: Only 30 per cent of closed-circuit television cameras (CCTV) at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) have recording functions.
The rest are only for surveillance purposes, said Malaysia Airport Holdings Bhd (MAHB) senior general manager Datuk Azmi Murad.

He said CCTVs with recording functions were only installed at high security areas within the terminal.

Public areas or low-risk areas, such as the driveway outside the departure hall where the shoot-out took place, were only equipped with surveillance cameras without recording functions.

Azmi stressed that all cameras are switched on for 24 hours.
"Since the shoot-out occurred outside the terminal, the surveillance CCTVs at the area did not have any recordings," he said.

He said all these details were also explained to police.

Azmi said all the CCTVs were in working order and none were switched off on the day of the incident.

He was responding to Federal Criminal Investigation Department director Datuk Mohd Bakri Zinin's claim that the CCTVs were switched off and were only turned on after the incident.

Asked whether MAHB plans to upgrade its surveillance cameras in view of the incident, Azmi declined comment.

Meanwhile, Transport Minister Datuk Ong Tee Keat said he would meet Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan to discuss security at the airport.