WE ARE THE WORLD...

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Friday/Frontpage/20090626072623/Article/index_html (26th June 2009)

Michael Jackson dies

AFP

LOS ANGELES, Fri:
Pop icon Michael Jackson died on Thursday after suffering a cardiac arrest, multiple US media outlets reported, sending shockwaves around the entertainment world. The Los Angeles Times and TMZ.com celebrity news website reported Jackson, 50, died after suffering an arrest just after 12:00 pm (1900 GMT) local time and paramedics were unable to revive him.

The Times cited multiple city and law enforcement officials as confirming the pop icon’s death. Jackson’s manager Tohme E. Tohme was not immediately available for comment when contacted by AFP. Officials at UCLA Medical Center where Jackson was treated also could not be reached for comment.National and local television networks showed hundreds of media gathered at UCLA Medical Center for what appeared to be a briefing. CNN was unable to confirm the death, stating that Jackson was in a coma.Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Devin Gales did not confirm Jackson’s identity but said paramedics went to an address corresponding to the star’s home at 12:21 pm (1921 GMT) and the person was taken to UCLA Medical Center.

An unidentified family member earlier told TMZ — the first outlet to report that Jackson had suffered a cardiac arrest — that the star was in “really bad shape.” Michael’s father Joe Jackson told E! Online he was aware of the emergency but did not know further details.“I am in Las Vegas, but yes, people in Los Angeles called me and are with Michael and tell me he was taken to the hospital,” he said. “I am not sure what’s wrong. I am waiting to hear back from them.” The reports came as Jackson prepared to make a keenly anticipated concert comeback in London, his first series of shows in more than a decade and the first since his 2005 acquittal on child molestation charges. However those concerts — billed as the “final curtain” — had been thrown into doubt after Jackson pushed back the opening dates last month.Organizers of the concerts at the time stressed the delay was not linked to Jackson’s health. In a press conference from the United States broadcast over the Internet, AEG Live president Randy Phillips was asked about Jackson’s health and said: “I would trade my body for his tomorrow. He’s in fantastic shape.” While Jackson reigned as the “King of Pop” in the 1980s, his once-stellar career had been overshadowed by his colorful public behavior, his startling physical transformation and multiple allegations of child abuse. Jackson lived as a virtual recluse following his 2005 acquittal on charges, including child molestation and plotting to kidnap his young accuser. Despite his acquittal, the trial was a body blow from which the pop music superstar struggled to recover. Four years later, Jackson is still worshipped by fans for revolutionising music, dance and music videos at the peak of his success. The attention however paid to him in recent years has been less flattering, focusing on apparent cosmetic surgery — which he denies — his baby dangling antics and a decade of swirling child abuse allegations. Born on August 29, 1958, Jackson made his show business debut with four of his older brothers in the Jackson Five pop group, and went on to lead the stage clan with a piping soprano and dazzling dance moves.By 1969, the group had signed a contract with Motown Records, becoming one of the last great acts to emerge from the legendary label. The Jacksons produced seven platinum singles for Motown, selling over a million, and three multi-platinum albums, selling more than two million. They moved to CBS’s Epic Records in 1976.Despite the early success, Jackson was to recall those years as unhappy and lonely ones. Eventually the family act broke up, as Jackson went solo.In 1979, Quincy Jones produced Jackson’s first solo album for Epic, “Off the Wall,” a huge disco-oriented success that sold 10 million copies.They teamed up again in 1982 for what would be Jackson’s breakthrough album as a composer and co-producer, “Thriller,” which became the top-selling album of all time, with sales exceeding 41 million.

Comment:

Jermaine Jackson (Michael Jackson's elder brother) was quoted as saying "May Allah be with you always!"

Also check this out:
URLhttp://www.despardes.com/people/default.html

Attack on Indians A Random Act of Hooliganism?!

Comments:

IS it certain that Indian students are attack based on ethnicity/races hatred? OR is it a random act of hooliganism, taking into consideration that Indians usually work late till midnight and/or drink in public places till midnight. Still I believe that no one should be attacked, whether based on races, religion or hooliganism. But the thing with ‘hooliganism’ is that it happens to anyone anywhere in the world! AND it also happens to any Aussie not vigilant of their safety at night, let alone a foreigner, walking late at night.

URLhttp://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/5640381/students-want-india-pm-act-attacks/ (10th June 2009)
Students want India PM to act on attacks
AAP June 10, 2009, 10:54 am


An Indian student leader has written to India's Prime Minister to intervene with the Australian government over attacks they say are racially motivated. The letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was sent by Melbourne man Thiruvallam Bhasi, the Indian Student Magazine Australia's chief editor, representing The Indian Students Forum in Australia, Fairfax newspapers said.

"We humbly appeal to you to send a delegation of ministers and senior officials to assess the situation here so that appropriate rectification measures can be undertaken," the letter read. But Melbourne-based Federation of Indian Students secretary Gautum Gupta called for calm.

"Violence is not the solution to this, we will not be taking the law into our own hands," Mr Gupta said. Indian Foreign Minister SM Krishna has also called on Indian students to remain calm, urging them "to be patient".

The letter follows a spate of attacks on Indian students in Melbourne in recent times and assaults on others in Sydney that led to violent protests. NSW Labor and Liberal leaders and police say crime statistics fail to show a greater number of Indian victims than other ethnic groups but they say Indians are reluctant to report crimes against them. There were two reported assaults on Indian students in Sydney on Monday but no complaints were made to police.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith has called on Indian students to be calm. The Australian government was working with the Indian High Commission and state police forces to bring the attackers to justice. "It may well take some time to bring these matters entirely under control but we're working very assiduously and closely with the Indian government on it," he told ABC Television.

Indian students had made their point "generally peaceful" protests both in NSW and in Victoria.
"But I simply echo the comments of my Indian counterpart - the time has now come for restraint, the time has come for calm." Police authorities should be allowed to get on with their job.

"We know that both in Victoria and NSW those relevant authorities are working very hard on this," Mr Smith said. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has also called for calm, warning against vigilante action. Mr Rudd said Australia was one of the safest countries in the world for international students. He said while violence in all Australian cities was "a regrettable part" of urban life, vigilante action was equally unwelcome.

"This is one of the safest countries in the world for international students," Mr Rudd told Fairfax Radio on Wednesday. "It's unacceptable for anyone to commit an act of violence against any student of any ethnicity anywhere in Australia." But he said it was also unacceptable for any student group to take the law into their own hands. "I fully support hardline measures in response to any act of violence towards any student anywhere - Indian or otherwise," Mr Rudd said. "And furthermore we also need to render as completely unacceptable people taking the law into their own hands.

"Everyone needs just to draw some breath on this and we need to see a greater atmosphere of general calm." Mr Rudd said students should report any acts of violence against them to police and if their complaints were not followed through, they should go to their local members of parliament. When asked whether the student protests signalled future racial tension in Australia, Mr Rudd said the nation had an inherent culture of tolerance. "With each new wave of immigrants to this country there's been debates and concerns and they've all faded and they've have all been resolved," he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard said governments would continue to work with Indian students to make sure they felt safe, but the community should not lose sight of the fact Australia was a welcoming nation. "We want to focus on the problems, we want to rectify the problems, but we want to remind ourselves we are a welcoming country and overwhelmingly safe country and this has been a great place and will continue to be a great place for international students," she told reporters in Sydney on Wednesday.

"When they are asked, `Did they have a good time in Australia?', `Did they get a good education?', `Would they recommend it to their friends?', overwhelmingly they say yes to those questions." Ms Gillard said it was important that authorities heard about any problems. "We can respond to any problems, we can be talking to the community about safety, what would make them feel safe and what more can be done."

Credit Card Survey

URLhttp://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Wednesday/National/2572800/Article/index_html (3rd May 2009)

2009/06/03
Survey shows most have two credit cards
KUALA LUMPUR: Credit cardholders in Malaysia on average carry two cards in their wallets, with more than half of them swiping between one and three times weekly, a survey by the Nielsen Company shows.

"Their monthly credit card spending averages over RM900. This is considered relatively high when compared with the nation's average household income," said Vinod Paul, director for financial services at Nielsen Malaysia. Because of this high spending, he said, more than half the cardholders rotated their payments to the next month, and ended up paying the high interest imposed by the banks for delayed payment. More than 14 per cent of Malaysians owned credit cards, according to the findings. The survey interviewed 3,890 Malaysians, between the ages of 18 and 64, from last November to January. The area covered included semi-urban and rural areas.

The study also found that Malaysians were still reluctant to take their banking transactions online, although Internet penetration in the country had exceeded 60 per cent. Only one in 10 Malaysians uses Internet banking, the study reported. Most of them did not see the benefits of online banking, while others cited concerns about security. Those who use online banking view account balances, pay utility or credit bills and transfer funds.