Stephanie Liew Pei Sing of Sabah emerged as the first runner-up of the Astro Star Quest 2010 Finals at Stadium Putra Indoor, Bukit Jalil on Saturday night.
The 19-year-old Stephanie lost to the eventual champion Teo Yi Poi, 22, of Johor Bahru in the finals which was shown live on Astro Zhi Zun HD, the first Chinese HD channel in Malaysia.
It was also the first-ever local Chinese TV production broadcast in HD.
The second, third and fourth runners-up were Fyone Tan Huey Ying, 18, of Batu Pahat, Chang Yew Joe, 20, of Ipoh and Alvin Gan Wee Loon, 20, of Kuala Lumpur respectively.
Taking the Best Composer Award was Goey Ee Han, 19, of Kedah for Struggle, performed by ASQ 2009 Top 10 Justin Ooi.
The Best MV Director Award went to Shoo Jia Keng and directed MV by Fyone Tan.
Since its debut in 1997, the Astro Star Quest (formerly known as Astro Talent Quest) has become a prominent local Chinese singing reality show that fulfilled dreams of many young Malaysians to become successful singers. Prominent alumni include Nicholas Teo, Gary Cao, Eric Lim, Andrew Tan, Amy Wong, Gan Wan Chean and Choo Hou Ren.
The ASQ finals offered a total of RM365,000 including RM75,000 in cash and RM290,000 in prizes. Teo took home a Toyota Vios TRD Sportivo worth RM92,000 and other fabulous prizes.
Stephanie will join Teo and Fyone to represent Malaysia at the annual International Chinese New Talent Singing Competition in Hong Kong. They will compete against talented performers from around the globe to gain international fame.
Among the songs sang by Stephanie in the early rounds were When We're Together by Wang Ling, Love Castle by Genie Zhuo and Legend.

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"It hasn't been easy at all because all the candidates were very beautiful too. It's every girl's dream to be a beauty queen and I am very fortunate to have this opportunity," added Julylen.
"When the emcee announced my name, I really didn't know what was going on. I was shocked and didn't know how to react but I could hear Cassandra, Stella and my uncle scream in disbelief!"
The national finals was organized by Velvet Production at Berjaya Penang Hotel.
Julylen, also known as Gzell, was the second runner-up in the Sabah Model Search 2010 organized by Foxy Production a few months back. She was well groomed and guided by Cassandra Patrick and Stella Matilda in preparing her for bigger events and competition such as this.

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There are presently some 70 Belgian companies operating in Peninsular Malaysia, and the European country is now 'opening our ears' to Sarawak.

"We are opening our ears to know exactly what we can do for more Belgian companies to operate in Malaysia within the next 10 to 20 years, with Sarawak as one of the targets.

"As Sarawak focuses on renewable energy, some Belgian companies may be looking forward to working with local companies here," he told journalists after making a courtesy call on Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu Numpang here yesterday.

Stating that his country was sincere in establishing business ties with the state, Delcourt revealed that the Belgian Minister of Trade would be visiting Malaysia sometime next year.

"We will bring more political leaders to Malaysia to discuss more trade relations and investments. Belgium is one of the top 15 trading partners in the world," he said.
Delcourt said he believed Malaysia would eventually emerge as a hub for the Asean region because it is a stable country in central South East Asia.

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Hundreds of people, including Sekong assemblyman Datuk Mejar Samsudin Yahya, watched the 40-seater tourist bus with 12 persons on board being pulled 36 metres.

Alvin, who has just turned 24, said he felt an enormous pressure before the start of the event with the big crowd waiting to watch him.
"The big crowd heightened my anxiousness," he said, adding that during the attempt, he lost focus momentarily and had to break off his first stab.

"The pressure to succeed was tremendous as the crowd expected to see the bus move and not to mention the VIP who was waiting for me at the end of the track," he said.
"I felt relief washing over me as I neared the end; the crowd was supportive and their cheers helped," he said.

Alvin was among a group of "Orang Kuat Sabah" who toured Sandakan to promote the 2011 Orang Kuat Sabah competition. The others were Orang Kuat Sabah 2010 champion James Wee, Chin Ket Shin, Mr Sabah contender Mark Allan Mogindol and Mohamad Faizal.

Roger Frederick, the Orang Kuat Sabah competition director, said the Orang Kuat would be visiting other districts soon to promote next year's competition.
He said the Orang Kuat Sabah will also be conducting a Pre-Orang Kuat Sabah Competition in the coming month.
"I met up with the National Malaysia Day organising committee on Monday and they are quite receptive to the idea of holding an Orang Kuat competition during the Malaysia Day celebration," he said.

Roger hoped to feature three events in the upcoming challenge, namely Truck Pull, Grip Endurance and Car Dead Lift.

Continue reading Strong man pulls tourist bus for 36 metres

This was the sight that met Kota Kinabalu MP and Sabah DAP chairman Dr Hiew King Cheu when he paid a visit to the government's main healthcare centre in the district.

Wards that were designed for four beds and were supposed to be air-conditioned had 12 patients sweltering in the heat.

Hiew and other Sabah DAP leaders who paid a surprise visit to the hospital on Sunday were shocked to see patients being treated on the floor.

He said he could not believe what he was seeing.

He questioned the Health Ministry over its judgement in assigning a 29-year-old doctor to take charge of the hospital.

"How can the ministry appoint such a young doctor with limited experience in administrative work to run a big hospital like this?" he asked.

He said he had brought the issue to the attention of the Health Minister Liow Tiong Lai during the debate on the 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP) in Parliament recently.

He added that he was dissatisfied with the answer given by Liow who merely said the young doctor is qualified to do his job.

He said the situation at the hospital clearly showed that either the doctor cannot cope or that the government is ignoring its duty to provide healthcare in Sabah.

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