J-on: March 2013: An independent news portal for UTAR Kampar

UTAR Wushu Night for Charitable Cause

Written by: Wong Qun Ting

Photography: Loh Jing Li & Wong Qun Ting

Kampar, 30 March – Wild cheers and applauses erupted at UTAR Grand hall when Wushu Night 2 came to a successful close on the 23^th of March 2013.

UTAR Perak Campus Wushu Club successfully raised RM20, 000 for the charitable cause of upgrading the facilities of SJK (C) Kampar Girls with performances by its members.

Cheque presentation accompanied by (from third left to third right) Tan Chin Siang, Headmaster of SJK(C) Kampar Girls, Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik, Dato Dr Chuah Hein Teik.

The event aimed to present the spirit of Chinese Martial arts and popularize Chinese culture amongst the younger generations.

Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik emphasized on the importance of sharing, caring and providing financial aid to those who are in need during his speech. Besides, he also expressed his happiness to see that the UTAR Wushu Club was willing to lend a helping hand to raise funds for SJK(C) Kampar Girls.

The Guest of Honor, UTAR council chairman, Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik made a donation of RM10, 000 to Wushu Club.

According to UTAR President Professor Academician Datuk Dr Chuah Hean Teik, UTAR Wushu Club is an active club and its members frequently volunteer in charitable contributions to the society.

“I am proud of the Wushu Club’s accomplishments because the members are active in participation of competitions and had managed to win 21 medals in the Perak State Wushu Championship last year,” he added.

Tan Wai Kim, the event organizing chairperson, expressed his sincere gratitude to all the performers of Wushu Club who had put in a lot of effort for the preparation. He also thanked the sponsors and the audience for their support.

The opening act was a short drama based on the famous Chinese fable, the legend of ChangEr.

HouYi and ChangEr, the most beautiful of all goddesses, were deeply in love.

The Jade of Emperor was angry with HouYi (right) for killing his sons (9 sons) and therefore sent soliders (left) to battle with him.

A surprise Lion Dance performance was then followed by a series of fascinating explosive jump kicks and acrobatics performed by Sparring and Wushu experts.

The Wushu expert brought his amazingly vigorous style of sword playing to the stage.

The Wushu troupe who demonstrated the Wushu athletic prowess brought the house down.

Also, the gripping Luminous Dragon Dance performance was greeted with thunderous applause from the audiences.

The Dancing Dragon’s body with its colourful luminous effect awed the audiences.

Taichi enthusiasts performed with smooth but strong movements proved to be one of the highlights of the night.

Talented Taichi members gave a commendable performance with elegant movements.

Skilful fan action done by a Taichi performer. Powerful, yet graceful.

Marking the end of a event, the energetic 24 Festive Drum performance was rewarded with explosive applause.

24 drummers incorporated elegant dance steps into the explosive drum performance.

The show ended with scene of ChangEr ascending to the moon after consuming the pills of immortality.

“I had felt pressured because besides being a performer, I was also part of the committee. However, I did my best for the performance because this may be a once in a life time chance,” said Lam Hew Yuen, one of the performers for the 24 Festive Drum performance,

Accompanied by her four sons, Lew Chee Moi, 52, said that she was amazed by the live performances and especially enjoyed the 24 Festive Drum performance.

“Besides, we should spare no effort to support any kind of charity event,” she added.

The event successfully attracted more than 2500 audiences including UTAR students, staffs, lecturers and also the public.

The performers cheering for the final photo after the Wushu Night 2 show ended.

...

J-on | Sunday, March 31, 2013 |

Food Street: The Thin Line Between Paradise and Nightmare

By Yap Suan Zi, Lim Siew Tong, Leong Zu Er and Chai Jing Hsuan

“I’m hungry but I’m so lazy to cycle to new town.”

“Lazy? Don’t worry. There’s a street food paradise nearby.”

There are more and more street vendors selling foods, drinks and snacks along the way from Westlake student hostels to Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) since the beginning of this year.

According to the observation of the reporters, there are around 10 vendors along the street during the day and 5 vendors at night. Their business reaches a peak between 12noon to 1pm and between 5-7 in the evening when most of the UTAR students have finished their classes and are on their way back home.

“When I first came to UTAR in 2010, there was only 1 vendor here. But now, more keeps popping up,” said Jess Ing, UTAR Commerce Accounting Year 3 student.

“I moved to Kampar last year and I remembered there were only three vendors here. Until recently, I started to realize that it has become something like a food market,” said Tan Tai Chi, UTAR Chinese Studies Year 2 student.

Street Food Paradise: The path from Westlake student hostels to UTAR has become a place for the street vendors to start their business.

High Demands

The distance from UTAR to Kampar new town (Bandar Baru Kampar) is around 2 kilometers, which takes almost half an hour to reach by cycling. Due to this reason, many students with bicycles prefer to buy their food from the street vendors operating their business along the road for convenience.

“The sun burns and I’m so tired after classes that I don’t feel like cycling all the way to New Town to have my lunch, so I just buy my food here,” said Teh Xue Ying, a UTAR student who cycles to and from campus every day.

Reporters found out that there is actually a short-cut from UTAR to Kampar New Town. It only takes around 15 minutes to reach New Town if UTAR students are allowed to cycle through the KTAR access gate. However, according to Student Affairs Department of UTAR, cyclist and ill attired students are not allowed to pass through the KTAR access gate, effective from 15 November 2010. They commented that this was due to the inappropriate attire of UTAR students and complaints from KTAR. This rule actually created business opportunities for the street vendors.

“If I can pass through KTAR gate, I may cycle to New Town to eat rather than buy food along the way since there are more choices outside,” said Kok Poh Earn, UTAR Construction Management Year 2 student.

Prohibited Entry: A security guard ensures that cyclists and ill attired students do not cross the KTAR access gate.

Even for the students who are not cycling, many of them will buy food from the street vendors instead of going out to New Town due because of the convenience. “It is so convenient for the Westlake residents to buy food here as the street hawkers are just outside our housing area,” said Goh Soo Whei, a UTAR student who owns a car.

Many vendors see the high demands and business opportunities that appear in this area and thus decided to start their business here. It seems to have become the main reason for the increasing numbers of street vendors popping up beside the walkway and bicycle route from Westlake student hostels to UTAR.

“Students feel lazy to cycle to new town, so they just buy their lunch or dinner here. I think I might get a higher income compared to having a stall or shop at New Town,” said an Indian street vendor who started her business here since 1 year ago.

“I used to sell Chinese steamed buns and “dim sum” in Ipoh, but I decided to move and started my business here because I heard that this place has a very high demand,” said Alan, who just came to Kampar three weeks ago.

Alan: A lot of people said that this place has huge demands.

High demands: There are a lot of students buying food from the street vendors since early in the morning and late into the night.

Business License

A total of 15 vendors, with different reasons for having business here, most of them said that they have already applied the business license and permit from Kampar District Council (Majlis Daerah Kampar, MDKpr) so that they can operate their business here legally. However, the reply from MDKpr is always pending.

“I have already applied for my business license and now I’m just waiting for the reply. Since many students also support the vendors to sell food here, I think it shouldn’t be a problem to get the business license from government,” said Mrs Goh, who started her business here since 2 weeks ago.

Goh: Most of the street vendors here have already applied for the business license.

According to the Official Portal of MDKpr, it is compulsory for every hawker to apply a business license and permit before they can start a business anywhere around the Kampar district to meet the legal requirements of the law. Nevertheless, some of the street vendors are refusing to apply for the business license and permit.

“It is so difficult to get a business license from the government. Since I don’t have a license, I can only beg the officials to be more lenient so that they will not penalize me more than necessary if I’m really caught as an illegal vendor,” said one of the street vendors.

There are some procedures for the street vendors to apply for business license from MDKpr. For example, vendors are required to prepare their business registration certificates, premise assessment tax and many other documents before they can apply for the special business license. Moreover, they also need to attend food handling courses, get the agreement or permission letter from Westlake residents and pay RM54 in order to get the business license. This means that the vendors are in deficit before they can earn their profits from their business. This seems to have become the other reason for some of the vendors to run their business without licensing and permits.

Problems Arise

Street vendors bring conveniences to Westlake residents but they create a lot of problems to the local community at the same time. One of the two lane walkway has been blocked due to the operation of street vendors. Most of the vendors park their vehicles beside the road for their own convenience while many drivers will also do the same in order to buy food from the street vendors.

“It is so dangerous when the car in front of you simply stop so suddenly just to buy food from one of the sellers,” said Leong Khei Lip, a UTAR student who drives to campus. He further added, “Sometimes it also causes traffic jam.”

Illegal side parking: Most of the street vendors will park their car at the side of the road and this can easily cause accidents and minor traffic jam.

Dangerous situation: People who want to buy food from the street vendors simply park their bicycle and motorcycle beside the road.

Street vendors not only affect the drivers but the cyclists too. Students who want to buy food from the street vendors will usually park their bicycles along the two way bicycle track. “The bicycle track is already very narrow but then the parked bicycles block the way. I’m always scared that I might crash into another bicycle,” said Nga Lee Boon, who cycle from Westlake student hostel to UTAR.

Risks for cyclists: Students who stop to buy food from the street vendors cause a lot of inconveniences to other cyclists.

Are these street vendors providing a food paradise for the local community? Or is it a nightmare for some of the people? Surely, it will be safer if there are no stalls and vehicles parked at the side of the road, but bear in mind that Westlake residents will need to go a long distance to go to Kampar New Town to buy their food. If the local community wishes to have both convenience and safety at the same time, they should request the local government to make some proper arrangements so that the street vendors can continue to operate their business here without causing problems to any parties.

...

J-on | Wednesday, March 27, 2013 |

Earth Hour 2013: Your Fight Against Climate Change

Written by: Yap Siau Chin & Lim Ka Win
Photography: Yap Siau Chin

Kampar, 26March 2013 - In a show of solidarity against climate change, Community Service Society of Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) joined thousands of cities around the world in support of the Earth Hour campaign for the third time.

About 400 students of the university were gathered for the Earth Hour 2013 on 23^rd of March at Block C Cafeteria. The event started at 6.30pm and lasted for four and half hours, including a variety of performances to attract the attention of younger generations to participate in the meaningful event.

“We hope that everyone can engage in this event to increase the awareness of saving our environment and our earth,” said Lee Jia Lek, the event organiser.

Also, the vice president of UTAR, Dr Teh Chee Seng was invited to host the opening ceremony of the event. During his speech, he expressed that it is necessary for everyone to be aware of saving the environment of our planet.

UTAR Vice President, Dr Teh Chee Seng (right) officiated the opening ceremony of Earth Hour 2013

With the jokes and rumours of the emcees of the event, Roy and Melvyn, the event was started in full of joy and laugh.

The event was exciting by the duet performance by UTAR talents, Sandy Ng and Jaeme. Later on, members of SHINE Music Kampar intrigued the audience with four interesting songs, including an amended song from the famous Korean hit song “Gangnam Style”.

At around 8pm, all the committees and participants were excited for the countdown session to switch off the lights. The participants were instructed by the PR committees to light up their candles and get into position to create a ‘60’ numerical symbol in conjunction with the Earth Hour.

At 8.30pm, the electricity was completely switched off for one hour and the Cafeteria was plunged into darkness.

A candlelight formation of '60' to symbolize the start of the Earth Hour was created by the participants.

Within that one hour process, there were performances of a fire eaters, Broga Hill from Broga camp site. The amazing performance successfully earned raucous applause from the crowd. The fire eater performance reached its climax when the performers made a fire flower by turning the fire sticks around in their hands.

“Their performances are really amazing as it looks like those in the circus. The fire flower created was exactly like those fireworks on the sky,” said Kee Chun Kuang, a participant of the event.

The fire eaters from Broga Hill stunned the audience with their fearless feats.

The amazing fire show by Broga Hill fascinated the audience.

Other performances included Diabolo performance by UTAR yoyo-team, and dance performance by UTAR dance club.

Again, the atmosphere of the event was full of joy when all the committees came out to the stage with their funny dresses. They performed the Harlem Shake in front of the crowd, which is currently rising in popularity on the internet.

Harlem Shake frenzy at Earth Hour 2013.

At about 11pm, the Earth Hour event came to a successful end with a band performance by Double Cheese Burger.

...

J-on | |

UTAR Memory Trail

By Wong Qun Ting

Kampar, 25 March – Feelings change and people fade, but the memories, they last. As the saying goes, a good snapshot is always the best way to stop the moment from slipping away. A photograph taken today is a lifetime of yesterdays.

In order to provide a great platform for students to stage and develop their photography skills, UTAR Perak Campus Photography Society proudly returns to present to you the grand annual event, Trail of Memories Photo Exhibition 2013.

Five-consecutive-days of exhibition, was held at Heritage Hall (Block A) from 11a.m. to 4p.m. to students and staffs.

Ms Kavitha a/p Manickam who is the advisor of Photography Society, said “We can see how powerful the camera is nowadays as it is always the best medium to tell a story”, during the opening ceremony.

The opening ceremony was officiated by the advisor of Photography Society, (from left to right) organizing chairperson, Tan Kah Keong, assistant manager of DSA, Mr Khor, Mr Lim Jit Theam, Ms Kavitha a/p Manickam, Representative of DCCIR, Ms Jojo Wong and chairman of Photography Society, Chan Jun Chuan.

According to organizing chairperson of the event, Tan Kah Keong, he would like to thank all the committees who had put a lot of effort in the six month long preparation.

“I am really in good hands because of their efforts in turning this event into a big success,” added Tan.

The organizing chairperson of Photography Exhibition 2013, Tan Kah Keong (middle) is explaining the various categories of photos to the guests.

The main attraction of the event is the locomotive train which is made out of pieces of bamboos tied together. This mascot symbolizes the meaning of traveling through time to relive the visitors’ memories.

The locomotive train model successfully attracted a lot of attention from visitors.

The exhibition area was divided into seven zones such as architectural photography, love and family portraits, people in general, street photography, animals photography, abstract photography and high contrast photography.

UTAR Model, Gan Tsai Wee was one of the models in the Photography Exhibition 2013.

Besides having an exhibition, the Trail of Memories Photo Exhibition also featured a theater coach and photo shooting booth. Moreover, there is a corner titled Faces of UTAR as well as photo contest counter.

Visitors can have their photos taken professionally for just RM3 per photo (4R) and additional RM2 for the next photos.

Other than that, visitors have a chance to grab the limited stock of unique handmade key holders and card holders.

Members of the Photography Society are selling handmade card holders and key holders at the fund-raising booth.

Deshmuni a/p Jayaraman, a Foundation student who visited this exhibition said that the event was meaningful as he was deeply amazed by the various photography exhibited.

“I enjoyed the exhibition very much especially the pet photography zone. In my opinion, pet photography is the most difficult field to get into as the animals that you want to photograph are not that easy to get access to,” said a first year marketing student, Lim See Ying.

In conjunction with this exhibition, there will be a photography skill talk on 27^th March at 2p.m. The speaker for the talk is Steve Tan, a famous photographer who specializes in Tailor-made wedding photography. Also, there will be a workshop to provide an opportunity for students to learn basic photography skills. The entrance is free for everyone, however, there are limited seat available, so it will be on a first come first serve basis.

The event is jointly sponsored by Ayam Brand, Bubblean’s, Danish House, Miaow Miaow Food Production Sdn Bhd, L&G Lights Gallery Sdn Bhd and Happy Valley Seafood Retaurant.

...

J-on | Tuesday, March 26, 2013 |

金宝Tesco内发生经验老道预谋欺诈案

李志良叶萱姿报导

（金宝26日讯）J-ON记者于昨日傍晚接获金宝拉曼大学生的投报，指在金宝Tesco内遇上了欺诈案。

以下是受害者陈述的案发经过：

“我与三位朋友（四位都是男生）下午五时在金宝Tesco 走走逛逛，突然间有位四、五十岁的“安哥”拍了我朋友的肩膀一下，接着我们就被三位“安哥”包围了。我们看着这群围绕着我们的“安哥们”感到莫名其妙，却隐隐约约地感受到了一股来者不善的气息。

那位拍我朋友肩膀的“安哥”说，其实也没什么，只是想找我们了解一些情况。昨天他的“兄弟们”来这里送货（货物是大量的Visa 和Master Cards）时，遭人桶了两刀。于是，他的上头今天派他重回“案发现场”调查此事。他也说，Tesco里已经安排了大约有20至30多位的“自己人”。

身为学生的我们，很自然地说我们不知道发生了什么事，昨天也未曾到过这里。我们想尽办法地想摆脱他们，但是他们一直都不肯让我们走。

由于就快到下一堂课的上课时间，我赶紧说，待会我们还有课，要赶回学校，希望“安哥们”可以放过我们。听见我们想说赶回学校上课，其中一位“安哥”很不高兴地说，他只是想找我们帮忙，还语带威胁地告诉我们，要是我们是那些伤害他“兄弟们”的人，我们肯定逃不了的。

接着他们要求我们去到Food Court，让他们的“大佬”审问我们。过程中，他不断地强调他们的货物很贵重，非要找到抢他们货物的人为止。他警告我们说，他们已经抓到了一个嫌疑犯，现在他就在车上，所以一定要我们说实话。

我们听从指示走去Food Court，他们跟我们边走边讲话，还问我们从哪里来的。当我们坐下后，他要求我们把手机拿出来，并关机，却又叫我们不要担心，他们只是想了解事情的真相，因为他们需要向上头交代。我们当时基于害怕，于是全部人都关机或静音了。

接着，他们的“大佬”，一位自称是大耳窿的红衣“安哥”不断地告诉我们，他是负责收账的，他来这里是要搞清楚整件事的来龙去脉，所以希望我们可以老实回答他的问题。他还恐吓我们说，要是他发现我们是讲骗话的话，我们是会被砍手砍脚的。

之后，我与一位朋友被安排到另一张桌子，开始了一连串的审问。但是被问的重点却不是我们昨天有没有来过Tesco，而是问我们的身上有没有信用卡、有多少张信用卡和信用卡是来自什么银行的。我老实地说，我有四间银行的信用卡，但红衣“安哥”却似乎有点不是很满意我的答案。

他大声地说，他不想知道我有多少张卡，只是想知道我身上的卡是来自什么银行，里面有多少钱等。我有点害怕，于是如实地回答，我的信用卡里面有五百块；而我隔壁的朋友则表示他的卡里有一千多块。接着，那位红衣“安哥”问我隔壁的朋友是开什么车的。

问了这些问题后，我们被叫回原来的桌子去，另外两位的朋友也轮流被叫去那张桌子问话。接着，那位表示他卡里有一千多块的朋友又被单独去审问了一次。当我们四个都被审问完后，“安哥们”表示，待会他们会带三位身上都印有纹身的嫌疑犯过来，如果我们不认识他们，我们就可以走了。

他们重覆了这番话好几次后，就一并离开了；也许是真的被吓到了，我们四个乖乖坐在原位，等了大约15分钟，才开始讨论是否应该离开，却又担心他们会不会在门口埋伏。突然我朋友说，他们如果不回来怎么办，因为他们拿了他的手机，也拿了他ATM的密码，不过ATM卡在拿去后不久就被退还回来了。我们赶紧离开Tesco 回到大学，把ATM卡放进提款机里查看，才发现我朋友户口里面的一千块全都被提光了。

事后，我们去警局报案，回到案发现场才发现Tesco只有提款机的闭路电视在操作。于是我们大胆猜测，他们是在知道闭路电视不能操作的情况下，有预谋地干案。”

这起事件发生在光天化日之下人来人往的商场内，四位受害者又是男生，实在是有点匪夷所思。为什么他们不大声呐喊呢？为什么他们不向附近的人求助呢？为什么他们不挣扎、不逃跑呢？在J-ON记者一连串的问题下，受害者表示，他们是基于害怕‘有黑社会背景’的安哥们，所以尽量配合而且不想惹事，谁知在半恐吓半骗的情况下，其中一人的钱和手机就这样被骗走了。

巧合的是，被拍肩膀的那位男生，也是事件间唯一有金钱损失的受害者。是否嫌犯们一早就锁定了该名受害者？过程中的嫌犯们手法极快，经验老道，让人不禁怀疑他们似乎不是第一次犯案。无论如何，基于此案件的发生，J-ON希望金宝的民众和学生们能提高警惕、小心提防，也不忘呼吁大家如遇到类似可疑的人物，请联络J-ON记者或报案，以便能早日找到嫌犯。

金宝Tesco内发生疑似迷魂党欺诈案（照片取自网络）

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J-on | |

UTAR Wushu Night for Charitable Cause

Food Street: The Thin Line Between Paradise and Nightmare

Earth Hour 2013: Your Fight Against Climate Change

UTAR Memory Trail

金宝Tesco内发生经验老道预谋欺诈案

（金宝26日讯）J-ON记者于昨日傍晚接获金宝拉曼大学生的投报，指在金宝Tesco内遇上了欺诈案。

以下是受害者陈述的案发经过：

Latest News

Letter to the Editor

Most Viewed

Blog Archive

Labels

Followers

Pages

J-on

Categories

Blog Archive

Labels

Latest Photos

Video Of Day

Popular Posts

Join the Team

Blogger news

Toll

OUR COUNTER

UTAR Wushu Night for Charitable Cause

Food Street: The Thin Line Between Paradise and Nightmare

Earth Hour 2013: Your Fight Against Climate Change

UTAR Memory Trail

金宝Tesco内发生 经验老道预谋欺诈案

（金宝26日讯）J-ON记者于昨日傍晚接获金宝拉曼大学生的投报，指在金宝Tesco内遇上了欺诈案。

以下是受害者陈述的案发经过：

Latest News

Letter to the Editor

Most Viewed

Blog Archive

Labels

Followers

Pages

J-on

Categories

Blog Archive

Labels

Latest Photos

Video Of Day

Popular Posts

Join the Team

Blogger news

Toll

OUR COUNTER

金宝Tesco内发生经验老道预谋欺诈案