Of being hurt...

An award-winning Malaysian film director once said during a year-end interview that she had learned a valuable lesson that year.
"If you have been belittled, humiliated or jilted by the person you love, you are the luckiest person on earth," she said.
"Why?" the reporter wondered.
"You know what hurt means...for someone who has gone through the experience, surely you would not want to hurt others," she said.
The people you meet who affect your life and the success and downfalls you experience help to create who you are and who you become.
Even the bad experiences can be learned from. In fact, they are probably the most poignant and important ones.
If someone hurts you, betrays you or breaks your heart, forgive them, for they have helped you learn about trust and the importance of being cautious when you open your heart.
If someone loves you, love them back unconditionally, not only because they love you, but because in a way, they are teaching you to love and how to open your heart and eyes to things.
Make every day count.
Appreciate every moment and take from those moments everything that you possibly can for you may never be able to experience it again.

Indonesia's Antara takes over OANA presidency ...

Antara, the Indonesian national news agency, formally took over from Bernama of Malaysia the presidency of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) at its 13th general assembly which ended in Jakarta today.
The three-year term to lead the 40-member organization comes at a momentous time as Antara will be celebrating its 70th anniversary tomorrow.
Antara chief executive officer Dr Ahmad Mukhlis Yusuf is the new OANA president while editor-in-chief M. Saiful Hadi has been named secretary-general.
By tradition, Bernama would fill one of the four vice-presidency slots along with Itar-Tass (Russia), IRNA (Iran) and Xinhua (China).
The assembly also re-elected Press Trust of India (PTI), Yonhap (South Korea), Vietnam News Agency (VNA), Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), Kyodo (Japan) and newcomer Azertac (Azerbaijan) as board members.
The next Executive Board Meeting will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, next year while the 14th general assembly in 2010 will be hosted by Anadolu news agency of Turkey to coincide with its 90th anniversary.
Earlier, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco), which initiated the formation of OANA in 1961, pledged to work with the organisation towards promoting a better-informed society.
Unesco South East Asia Representative Prof Hubert Gijzen said the world, more than ever, was in need of timely information, communication and mutual understanding.
"Technological advances have given communication and information professionals and practitioners like you more powerful tools, new media and wider platforms for providing timely information to the public," he said at the plenary session. The text of his speech was read out by Jakarta-based Unesco programme specialist Dr Linda Santiago Posadas.
Gijzen said rather than consider the new developments as a threat, the agencies should seize the opportunities to bring about a spirit of innovation.