When a man dies ...

He would often be by himself among piles of clothes in his Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman store. At first glance, you could guess the man was no ordinary staff despite his simple look.
Talking to him, makes you humbled for he held no barrier to get into a conversation.
He would only chuckled when I told him it was a proud moment for me to meet the man behind the name.
He just smile when I joked that he would have amassed millions of ringgit from his self-name enterprise.
He was funny when tongue-in-cheek he told me he would not be able to make much if most people were of my size.
Looking back, I realised his store is among the few that could readily cater for customers whose waistline matches the number of Bernama's years of operation -- 40 and beyond.
You could easily find slacks for the big-sized guys at his outlets. They come at a reasonable price too.
So it is with a tinge of sadness to read about his death in the newspapers today.
I will cherish the memories that I had of him for I will never see him again.
Thanks to the Blackberry, I have immortalised a moment in time with M.H.Kamdar -- the founder of Kamdar. He was 81.

"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count,
it's the life in your years." -- Abraham Lincoln

'Sape' takes Ulu Baram man to Paris …

Sarawak's melodious stringed instrument, the Sape, has taken a man from remote Ulu Baram to perform at the Unesco’s headquarters in Paris -- the world city of arts and culture.
Being an accomplished sape player, Mathew Ngau Jau, 56, from Long Semiang in Ulu Baram, Sarawak is all too happy to introduce the guitar-like instrument to music lovers outside the country.
"I feel very proud to present the music of my ethnic Orang Ulu Kenyah to the world.
"In my place, this instrument is an ordinary sound but here people from all over appreciate it.
"I hope my sons will continue playing this instrument so that the world continues to know about Orang Ulu, Kenyah and Malaysia," he told me after another highly-applauded performance.
Having played the instrument since childhood, Jau became a professional musician 10 years ago.
He is among musicians brought to Paris by the Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry to showcase Malaysia’s traditional music and cultural performance.
Their presence is part of Malaysia’s attempt to get Melaka and Penang listed as Unesco’s world heritage sites.

Education key to overcome racial, religious hatred...

As the Internet broadcast of an anti-Islamic video came under attack at the Unesco executive board meeting in Paris today, Malaysia says education is crucial in inoculating people against racial and religious hatred.
Making his maiden speech at the board's 179th session, Education Minister Hishammuddin Hussein says the search for accommodation between many races, cultures and religions in the face of globalization and the free flow of information had become the world’s problem.
"Ignorance of others, causes people to fear one another and fearing one another leads to hate. Stereotyping and extremism of any kind is wrong," he said.
"Demonizing Islam, Muslims and the Holy Quran by the airing of the film Fitna through the Net in the name of freedom of speech and expression is not only unacceptable but outright dangerous," he said.
Globalization and the related ICT revolution have resulted in a "globalized telecommunications reality" where communication and knowledge flows in a global environment that is complex and unpredictable.
Hishammuddin says it is not only unacceptable but simply dangerous to have a deep divide between "information have and have nots" and "knowledge know and know nots".
"Nor it is acceptable and even dangerous that in this so-called global village, languages, religions, cultural and regional values and identities, be put at risk of being levelled out in a world dominated by the cultural norms of the powerful," he said.

Hishammuddin makes debut in Unesco executive board...

Having been re-appointed as Education Minister, Hishammuddin Hussein makes his maiden appearance in the 58-member executive board of Unesco which opens its 179th session in Paris today.
The minister had worked tirelessly to earn Malaysia a firmer place in the crucial United Nations agency.
He has struck a close working relationship with Unesco director-general Koichiro Matsuura, who made no secret about his happiness with Hishammuddin’s contribution.
Saying he was looking forward to future prospects of bilateral cooperation between Unesco and Malaysia, Matsuura thanked Malaysia for its unfailing support of the organisations various activities.
"I should like you to know how pleased I was to learn of your re-appointment as Minister of Education in the recently-formed Government of Malaysia," he said in a letter to Hishammuddin.
Matsuura was in Kuala Lumpur recently to attend the 43rd South-East Asia Ministers of Education (SEAMEO) Council Conference during which he signed an updated Memorandum of Understanding between Unesco and SEAMEO.