a fleeting stay ...

Guest blogger Jehan Mohd writes about what she thinks about the promotional stunts for the late King of Pop's DVD release of the concert that never was.   Screenshot from Dancing Inmates - Michael Jackson's This Is It GETTING a bunch of convicts serving time at a maximum security facility to promote the launch of your latest DVD may not seem to be the brightest of ideas…unless you’re a recently deceased-cum-former-King-of-Pop and the prisoners are those at Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center, a maximum security prison in the Philippines. The inmates who made waves globally in 2007 when a video of them dancing to Michael Jackson’s Thriller hit YouTube aren’t exactly unknown (collectively, anyway) – videos of them dancing to other songs have received tens of millions of hits in total. Nevertheless being visited by longtime MJ choreographer Travis Payne and dancers Daniel Celebre and Dres Reid who taught the inmates the moves to a sequence from MJ’s This Is...

A vid Facebook junkie Jehan Mohd is slightly aghast and somewhat intrigued by the notion of being able to “off” yourself virtually. She guest-blogs about this new phenomenon here: Picture by Aref Omar TIRED of countless requests to be friends with strangers or to tend to friends’ neglected farms and pets? Wish that you could spend more quality time with your friends (as you feel online interaction doesn’t count as actual interaction)? Just plain tired of Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and LinkedIn? Say hello to the Web 2.0 Suicide Machine , which touts its services with a simple slogan: “Meet your real neighbours again! Sign out forever!”. The brainchild of Walter Langelaar, Gordan Savicic, and Danya Vasiliev, the programme has helped more than 1,000 people commit virtual suicide, severing more than 85,000 friendships on Facebook and removing over 300,000 tweets from Twitter. The programme provides users an easy way out (no pun intended) from their online personas. With...

Guest blogger Jehan Mohd speaks to Perdana Global Peace Organisation manager Ram Karthigasu about the adventures he had on the Viva Palestina convoy, which recently successfully delivered humanitarian aid to the Palestinians in the besieged territory of Gaza. International peace activists shout as they stand atop a truck carrying medical supplies in Gaza City January 7, 2010. Egypt has reached a deal with members of an aid convoy to take supplies to Palestinians in Gaza after protests overnight, but Cairo barred their private cars from crossing, an Egyptian security source said. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem They hang out in cyber-cafes to play popular video game Counter-Strike, are in touch with the latest news through the Internet and complete their attire with mobile phones. If not for the seemingly requisite AK-47 slung over their shoulder, these young Gazan boys may have passed off for normal teenagers in any other country. “Everybody carries a gun – all smuggled in – in Gaza — it’...

Perdana Global Peace Organisation (PGPO) members Juana Jaafar and Ram Karthigasu were given a hero's welcome on their return home. They landed at Kuala Lumpur International Ariport slightly after 2pm today looking tired but happy to be home. The pair were given an enthusiastic welcome as they walked out of baggage clearance towards the waiting area at the airport. For the parents of Juana and Ram the wait is over: their children are safe and that is all that matters. Relief is written all over Azizah Dahlan's face -- Juana's mum. Vanaja Ramachandran says the family can rest easy: Ram is home.   Juana, 28, and Ram, 29, were part of the I nternational Humanitarian Aid convoy under Viva Palestina, a British-registered charity, to Gaza. The convoy departed London December 6, 2009 and arrived in Gaza January 6, 2010. What an accomplishment for these young Malaysian heroes! There will be stories to tell and books to write. All that can wait. They ca...

Cut down on our sugar intake. That is my response to the sugar price hike in Malaysia. The Malaysian Government raised the price of sugar by 20 sen (US6 cent) per kilogramme beginning January 1, this year. Endocrinologist and Monash Malaysia academic Professor Dato' Dr Khalid Kadir warns that one in five adults in this country will develop diabetes this year. Eating less sugar reduces the risk of obesity which is said to be a major factor behind the increase. Giving up sugar in your diet won't be easy. Still, there are useful tips on how to do so. TIPS CUT DOWN SLOWLY . Forget going cold turkey. Therein lies failure. Instead, if you normally have two candy bars a day, cut to one a day. Then next week, one every other day. The following week, one every three days, until you're down to just one a week. If you normally take two 2 of sugar in your coffee, use the same routine, cutting down to 1 1/2 teaspoons for a week, then 1, then 1/2. Eventually, g...