MCA sponsors Palestinian Community Project in Lebanon (2012)

蔡细历：张秋明辞职为行为负责

On February 4, 2012, in 放眼大马

蔡细历（左2）代表马华移交3万令吉的模拟支票给即将前往巴勒斯坦的马来西亚青年志愿团队（MyCorps）的3名代表，右2起为蔡锦莉、尤斯慕尼拉及莫哈末路菲。左为青体部青年之友发展组副主任圭茜达。

（吉隆坡3日讯）马华总会长拿督斯里蔡细历感谢马华士布爹区会当然委员兼大马大爱脑伤症儿童基金协会（雪隆）主席张秋明为自己的行为负责，辞去马华所有的党职。

蔡细历说，张秋明这位年轻人只是为慈善工作，不是代表马华出席土权组织的这场新春团拜。

“这也证明了反对党只要有负面的东西，就希望把马华扯进来。”

也是马华斯里帝沙支会主席的张秋明是於年初七安排一些老人出席土权举办的新春团拜，结果引起网民议论纷纷，並且迁怒於马华，直指马华协助安排老人出席这项活动。

询及这起事件之后，马华是否会发出指示下令所有党员不能出席土权的活动时，他说，马华不会这么做。

“马华不会如一些政党，限定某些报章不能採访他们的活动。”

虽受委选区国阵主席非当然候选人

蔡细历强调，马华前总会长兼班登区国会议员拿督斯里翁诗杰接获委任状出任班登区国阵主席，不意味著对方自动成为来届大选的马华候选人。

他说，要在马华与国阵的旗帜下竞选，这个人一定不能贬低与批评自己的政党与国阵，这是一个非常基本的游戏规则。

蔡细历今日在马华总部移交3万令吉的活动经费给马来西亚青年志愿团队（MyCorps）后说，马华要派出有胜算的候选人迎战，而该党至今仍未全面评估翁诗杰是否属於有胜算的候选人；这还要和首相拿督斯里纳吉商量后才能决定。

“但我恭喜他成为班登区国阵主席。”

候选人须获党內外支持

他说，不管喜欢与否，一个有胜算的候选人一定要获得党內与党外的支持，这是一个很基本的要求。

询及马华有无推荐翁诗杰出任此职时，他说，自己是一个很开明的人，任何人要被委任，他从不干预；传统上，国会议员或区会主席就是该议席的国阵主席，所以翁诗杰受委不是大事，没有所谓的推不推荐。

难确定华人票回流

另一方面，针对前首相敦马哈迪在接受彭博社访问时，指来届大选华裔选民不会支持国阵一事，蔡细历说，这是马哈迪的看法。

他认为，华人是策略性的选民，只要一天还没宣佈大选，都无法确定华人是否会回流。

赞同海外公民缴税才能投票

对於净选盟2.0驳斥选举委员会指旅居海外的大马公民须缴付税务才可以投票的声明，並指选委会及附和的政治人物，如蔡细历並不瞭解联邦宪法、选举法令及所得税法令一事，蔡细历回应说，这是一个民主的国家，自然会有人反对与支持。

他重申，他赞同选委会日前建议旅居海外的大马公民，需缴清税务才能在全国大选投票，並形容这是一项有建设性的好建议。

他说，在其他国家或地区，旅居海外的公民须符合特定条件才能回国投票，以確保旅居海外的公民瞭解国家局势。

青年志愿团派3人赴巴勒斯坦

马来西亚青年志愿团队將派出3名年轻人於2月杪到巴勒斯坦进行人道救援活动，该活动共耗资约9万令吉。

以莫哈末路菲为首的志愿团队，成员包括了尤斯慕尼拉及一名华裔女子蔡锦莉。3人將在当地逗留两个星期。

来源：星洲日报

Strive for a Better World

為地球美好的明天打拼

• 心靈充氧
 
• 生命看板
 

 2013-03-24 13:30

• 
  長得甜美可人的蔡錦莉，正處於任意揮霍青春的年紀，但她卻把握時機，抓緊機會追夢及圓夢。（圖：光明日報）
• 
  蔡錦莉（後排右3）於參加巴西青年大會時，和三名同伴展示自己國家的國旗。（圖：受訪者提供）
• 
  蔡錦莉（右2）與巴西小朋友在街頭合攝。（圖：光明日報）
• 
  因為不滿意會議結果而走上街頭示威，這是蔡錦莉的第一次寶貴經驗。（圖：光明日報）

馬大碩士班學生蔡錦莉與許多同齡女子的生活相比，明顯的很不一樣：當別的女子在逛街血拚時，她或許身處柬埔寨落後地區教導孩子們正確的刷牙方式；當其他同學還沉醉於網絡世界時，她或許在為綠色運動吶喊；當同伴在咖啡廳嚐著香濃咖啡時，她或許正在為夢想趕寫企劃書……

蔡錦莉只有25歲，處於可以任意揮霍青春的年紀，但她卻把握時機，抓緊機會參加世界青年大會、加入馬來西亞微笑運動、關注My Corps活動、投身綠藍環保協會……這麼一個認真追夢圓夢的女子，的確有其獨特之處。

蔡錦莉長得甜美可人，屬於學術、氣質型女性，但今天要談的不是這些，而是要分享她的圓夢人生。

在她居住的公寓游泳池旁的圓桌上，她把4張名片攤開在我面前，笑著說：“這些都是我的名片，不曉得要用哪一張才好……”其實，這些名片都掛上特殊組織的標誌，包括“巴西世界青年大會馬來西亞聯合國協會”、“馬來西亞微笑行動”、“My Corps”、“綠藍環保協會”，都是屬於推廣環保、人文活動的組織。

去年6月，蔡錦莉成功圓了一個精彩亮麗的夢――她夥同3名年輕人，代表馬來西亞到巴西參加世界青年大會，與來自世界各國不同角落的年輕人一起就學術、人文、環保等課題進行交流與探討。

在大會結束之後，她告別了3名飛回大馬的同伴，獨自一人留下參加同樣在巴西舉辦的聯合國永續發展峰會的周邊會議，更在大街上與其他青年高喊口號，針對峰會某些政策之不認同提出訴求。這情況，越看就是更酷更炫了。

重新認識自己‧重新定位

在世界青年大會上，每一位青年都必須就自己的專業提出分享和意見，蔡錦莉以地球永續發展為主軸，分享了她在馬大有份參與研究的THM（Takakura Home Method）廚餘堆肥法，並將它推介出去，“那是一種適合大型種植的堆肥方法，相信對落後但又亟需良好土質的國家有一定的幫助。”

是次大會給了蔡錦莉很大的衝擊，讓她發現到自己的渺小，也聽見許多來自世界各地不同的聲音，雖不至於讓她一夜長大，但卻讓她重新認識自己，給自己重新定位，並確定了自己日後要走的方向。

“我最大的意外收穫是在世界青年大會之後，恰好碰上聯合國永續發展峰會，來自世界各國的首腦雲集在里約熱內盧開會，我當然也抓緊機會參加其周邊活動，更有幸站在聯合國秘書長潘基文身後拍照呢！”她興奮地說。

而那一次，她與一群對地球永續發展甚為關注的同伴，因為不滿會議結果而走上街頭抗議以示不滿，“我們要求設立一個監督單位，以確保世界各國所做的一切都不會影響到地球的健康，但看來該次會議忽略了這一點，於是，我們群起拉布條抗議。”

那一次由200人組成的抗議行動，只有她一人來自馬來西亞，“說實在，這也是我第一次參加抗議活動。”

回憶起在巴西23天的生活，心緒的起伏不定令眼前的蔡錦莉表情極為豐富，想必這23天的衝擊，影響了她一輩子，且成為她這一生中最美麗且最具價值的片段。

光明日報／副刊‧文：高寶麗／圖：黃安健、受訪者提供‧編輯：鄒慧欣‧2013.03.13

Crowdfunding, Dream Comes True

网络集资　圆梦驿站

•专题 •生活资讯 •2013-12-18 22:11 •点击数：121 •新闻由东方日报提供

刘思敏 报导

「一个人有梦想，全宇宙都会倾力帮忙！」，台湾作家九把刀说过，他买过最贵的东西，是梦想，直接言明，要圆梦，足够的资金不可少。吴文彬启动圆梦工厂丶mystartr和mymakers，一连3个平台，分别进行分享，集资和销售，助人圆梦，也圆自己一个创业梦。

网络集资（Crowdfunding）平台在欧美国家风行已久，台湾和香港也在早两年率先把概念引入亚洲，表面意义上是助人圆梦，但实则隐藏更深远的使命。旨在聚拢具有创意及创造力的文化人丶创造更友善的文创环境，大马首个网络集资平台mystartr，如今也在路上。

「许多呈交上来的案子即便集资数额不达标，却也仍是继续执行，有的在放上mystartr前，就已经在进行中。」由此可见，资金不足并非阻断梦想的主因。

mystartr发起人兼首席执行员吴文彬，不敢分享及拒绝相信自己的梦想可实践才是问题所在。「有各式各样的方法来完成一件事，但大部分人在一条路被阻断後便宣判计划不可行，决断划下句点，但重点往往在於过程中是否有尝试寻找其他的出路丶是不是已经用尽办法？」

吴文彬直指，大部分募资者面对的最大问题在於「要钱，又爱面子」，「他们不敢分享，怕别人嘲笑；另一方面，即便有相应的产品作为回馈，他们也仍是对向人伸手要钱有所保留。」当然，不可忽略的其中一项因素是，本地的电子商务环境尚未成熟，大部分人仍不习惯在网上进行交易及处理事情。

有鉴於此，mystartr明年起会尝试与企业合作，试图将圆梦计划和企业社会责任（CSR）挂钩，填补民间筹资仍未普及的空白。

梦想因实践而伟大

经济掉到谷底後，会反弹，但经济回弹後，失业率却不会因此减少，因为工厂也讲究竞争力，机器远远比人力更具生产效率，正如之前的工业大革命，人力会逐渐被淘汰。因此，想创业的人愈发增多也是无可避免的大势所趋，吴文彬认为，创意产业百花齐放绝对是好事，毕竟真正的创意往往在竞争下产生。

「欧美国家物资便宜，人工高昂，无形造就了他们的高创造力，D.I.Y的概念深入各家各户，但，大马的情况恰恰相反，大部分中小型企业都用代工，且不注重研发，因此在创造力上明显较不具竞争力。然而，多元文化是大马的优势，我们也相对地拥有杰出的文创人才，尤其在表演艺术上，而这方面的强项能产生出别具一格，拥有一定价值的产品。」

毕业自台湾大学电脑系，吴文彬在2000年曾与朋友共同创立科技公司，但稍後结束经营，mystartr是他第二次创业。「在台湾念书时，被当地的文创环境影响颇深，当时一心想当电影导演。後来，开设科技公司时，便梦想拥有自己的科技大楼，但後来努力了也仍是没有抵达终点。」

有人问吴文彬，「你的梦想是什麽时候确定的？」，他答：「从来都没有那个时候。」他说，很多人都把自己没有梦想挂在嘴边，但其实不是没有，而是太多了，而我们选择不去正视。

「当下想做什麽就去做，偶尔闪过脑海的其实也都是梦想。」

他强调：「梦想没有大小，愿意去实践的都是伟大的，梦想本身并不伟大，伟大的是因为有了动力而勇往直前的我们呀！

一盒彩色笔换一个故事

「Colour Malaysia彩绘马来西亚计划」是以一盒彩色笔，交换一个故事的旅行方式去发现马来西亚。25岁的刘理顺通过mystartr集资平台圆了一个充满色彩的梦。大学刚毕业的他早前独自骑脚车到各个小村落，和当地的小朋友们一起作画。从当地人的画作里，他发现了许多美丽的人事物。

「我是马来西亚人，但我对这一片土地认识不深，於是构思了『一盒彩色笔换一个故事』的旅行方式。」因为儿时收到的一盒彩色笔，刘理顺从此爱上绘画，从单纯的美术到後来攻读建筑系，全因为那盒彩色笔给他带来了希望，设定了目标。「直到现在，我都从未曾停止过画画，也到处教小朋友们画画。我心里一直有那麽一个小心愿，希望能给小朋友们送去彩色笔，带给他们欢乐与希望。」

透过朋友的介绍，他认识了mystartr，但向公众募款圆梦，心里并不是没有挣扎。「刚开始觉得怪怪的，毕竟在国内，集资平台不盛行，分享时，难免会受质疑，需要去说明和讲解。但在这过程中，也让我学会了如何更有自信地去分享计划，让大家愿意支持你的梦想。」

他认为，在圆梦的过程里，失败者都有一个共同点，即是不够坚持。「我个人觉得，梦想是一件可以完成的计划。只要好好地去规划，按部就班地完成每一件小事，然持续进行，坚持不放弃。目标就肯定离得不远了，梦想也变得更靠近。」

刘理顺希望「Colour Malaysia彩绘马来西亚计划」能够不断地深入全马各个角落，让更多原住民小朋友有机会与外界交流，也让外界有机会了解他们。他坦言：「要走得快，就一个人走；但要走得远，需要一个团队一起走。接下来我需要志同道合的人，与我一同把这个计划延续下去。」

25岁的青年还有梦，他希望为马来西亚上色，在各个角落留下自己的作品，比如到学校去画壁画，让学校的景观不再单调，美化环境的同时鼓励小学生绘画，希望他们可以继续作画，美化我们的国家丶改变我们国家。

确定目标　想法就会源源不绝

同样是25岁的蔡锦莉，公共健康（Medical Sciencein Public Health）硕士毕业，目前担任马大医药中心研究及私人助理的她在去年6月22日到巴西参与了里约+20世界永续发展高峰会，该届的两大讨论主题为永续发展及消除贫穷之脉络下的绿色经济及永续发展体制架构。

蔡锦莉的本科为生物医药，但向来对环境课题感兴趣，也活跃于环境及人文课题相关的活动如联合国模拟会议及义务项目等，呈交了参与世界青年峰会的申请后，成功在4000份申请中脱颖而出，成为300位参与者的其中之一。

然而，收到录取信件的兴奋很快便被「必须自费」这件事所带来的忧虑给盖过。她透露：「经费对我来说是一个大问题，主办单位给我一个期限确保自己能参与，否则就要把机会让给在等候名单的参与者，但当时筹款仍未达标，我的确很焦虑。」

蔡锦莉把自制短片放上mystartr.com的网页，说明希望到里约参与峰会，成了mystartr的圆梦计划之一。「我也很努力地在面子书上宣传，恳请朋友支持，还动用了手机里的所有联络。朋友们踊跃的支持超乎我想像，让我很感动。因为他们对我的信任，才让我有机会飞踏足巴西圆一个梦！」

对她而言，梦想是很个人的事，「如果我们的日常生活和自己想做的事没有关联，梦想就会变得很遥远。梦想应该是我们喜欢做的事，它是件大事，因为关系到人生是否快乐丶充实丶有意义；另一方面，它是一件又一件的小事，且能够永续经营。

圆梦在于执行力

「圆梦在於计划及执行力，光说不练是不行的。」蔡锦莉相信，当心中有一件极渴望完成的事情时，一定会愿意付出时间与精神，尽全力圆梦。「唯有确认了自己想要做的事，有了目标，各种各样的想法才会源源不绝地涌出，一再地勇敢尝试。」

圆了一个到巴西参与峰会的梦，蔡锦莉还有很多想要达成的梦想。她笑说：「好多包裹着想法的云朵在我脑海里漂浮着。」

她希望家乡双溪古月变得更有人文艺术气息，人才不要外流；希望推动当地的生态旅游，建筑艺术天桥，连接被火车轨道一分为二的小镇，带动当地经济；建一个个公共图书馆推动阅读。也许很老套，但蔡锦莉的为自己下的总结是，想做一个对社会有贡献的人。很实在，不是吗？

Choy Kim Lee stands up for her planet

BY NATALIE HENG
star2green@thestar.com

One youth stands up for her planet.

AN APPRECIATION of nature comes easily for Choy Kim Lee, who grew up on cold showers straight from the well in the town of Malim Nawar, Perak. Life just seemed more integrated with the outdoors there, where people were green without even trying to be. Louvre windows and traditional skylight hatches allowed natural wind and sunlight into homes, while motorbikes and bicycles were common modes of transport in a landscape shaded by an abundance of greenery.

Choy left this idyllic life behind when she moved to the city in 2007, to pursue a degree in Biomedical Science. It was during her years at Universiti Malaya, a green enclave amidst the rush and traffic of Kuala Lumpur, that she came across a documentary that changed her life –Home by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, the 2009 feature movie which captured the Earth’s beauty and degradation, from the air.

Doing more: Choy Kim Lee wants youths to be more vocal about conservation.

It convinced Choy that she should be part of something bigger. That is why attending the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in June was a big deal for her. From tree planting to hosting workshops on composting for local residents in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, the 24-year-old has been taking baby steps to care for the planet. But at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where the conference was held, she got to see how her efforts are amplified amidst similar initiatives by youths from all over, each trying to make a difference in their respective corner and all collectively making a difference across the world.

The sea of voices present at the World Youth Congress which she attended at Rio was in her words, “Huge”. Hearing how outspoken and certain of their position these youths were has inspired her to continue being involved in raising Malaysia’s environmental consciousness.

Lending a hand

Choy is a busy bee. She spends most of her time working as a part-time research assistant in the Department of Social and Preventive Health at Universiti Malaya’s Faculty of Medicine. In between, she sources for funds to do volunteer work. The list of affiliations on her name card include the Smile Action Team, a non-governmental organisation she helped establish, which offers free dental health care to orphans. Over the Hari Raya break last month, she flew to Cambodia to offer such help to children in need.

Then there is MyCorps, a platform for youths to participate in community welfare and humanitarian activities. She went to Lebanon with the group in March to work on a community development project for Palestinian refugees. Aside from her interest in humanitarian issues, what drives her is protection of the environment, which was why she joined the Malaysian Green and Blue Environment Protection Society back in 2010.

The group, which only has about 20 members, organises screenings of environmental films, exhibitions and other green-related events in an effort to increase green-literacy amongst city folk.

In addition to being active at the grassroots level, Choy feels that pushing for change at the policy level is equally important. Hence, she has been a participant of the Global Model United Nations Conference for the last couple of years. Last year, at the South Korea gathering, she learnt about negotiation policies on the topic of “How to advance human progress in harmony with nature”. Since then, she has joined the United Nations Association Malaysia (UNAM) Youth Circle. Later this year, she will be going to the United States for a workshop that will equip her and other Youth Circle members with the knowledge and training on how to host a Model United Nations Conference in Malaysia next year. It was also through UNAM’s sponsorship that she and a fellow active member of the group, Eng Khim Sheng, managed to make it to Rio.

Learning from Rio

Certain things struck Choy whilst she was in Rio. Aside from the assault on her senses from a bustling landscape filled with shanty towns, the human warmth – a local at a bus stop offered her a bed in their family home when all the hotels in town were fully booked – and the outspokenness of youths from around the world took some getting used to. Her experience at the World Youth Congress, which took place from June 4 to 13 was inspirational.

“Many of the youths have had more exposure in this kind of stuff (environmental issues). I was really impressed because they were so outspoken. They had opinions about things. The Asian participants were a lot quieter and didn’t seem to have their own stand.”

This is something Choy wants to change, about herself and other Malaysians. She thinks the lack of interest in green issues among youths here has to do with a lack of exposure, and she believes that teachers should encourage students to read about current global issues and be involved in extra-curricular activities and volunteerism.

Since returning from Rio, Choy has been busy leveraging on her contacts and affiliations to change things. Firstly, she has proposed to the Economic Planning Unit, which is running a post Rio+20 workshop next month, to include a youth representative.

She is also doing coordinating work for a post-Rio+20 stakeholders’ forum to be held in November, organised by UM Care, a loose volunteer group of like-minded individuals at Universiti Malaya, which she is a member of. At this gathering, people can voice their opinions on the country’s sustainable development programmes.

At the end of the year, UM Care will organise an environmental conference on various issues.

“People interested in water issues, for example, can run a workshop or discussion group on the subject and discuss what they want Universiti Malaya to do about it. All proposals and solutions will be compiled and submitted to the Chancellor or some other decision-making body.

“I think Malaysian youths should try to get more involved in things like this. Nowadays, it’s easy to explore the issues affecting the planet through the Internet. It doesn’t matter if you are studying or working on something unrelated to the environment. I did biomedical sciences, for example. I think there needs to be a sense of urgency (about the state of the planet) which will drive people to look up these issues and get involved in things outside of their every day lives.”

Choy Kim Lee Stands Up for Her Planet

Timeless in Brazil 2: Greatest architectures of all

Yesterday we visited several buildings in  São Paulo, today I'll show you more interesting places that you 'must-go'. 

São Paulo Se Metropolitan Cathedral
São Paulo Cathedral has a Neo-Gothic styled structure, built in 1913 and completed after four decades. Despite having a Renaissance-styled dome, the São Paulo Metropolitan Cathedral is the largest cathedral in  São Paulo and it's considered by some to be the 4th largest neo-gothic cathedral in the world. Located in
Praça da Sé (Se Square), there is a Marco Zero monument (ground zero) in front of the cathedral. Marco Zero is considered to be the center of the town. The hexagonal prism coated marble represents the geographic center of the city, where all distance measurements situated on signposts stuck to it are established. During the evening I visited this site, there were religious group of people performed mass in front of the cathedral (It was closed on Sundays). However, while admiring the building, beware of the pickpockets and street people who would come and ask you to buy toys or for money.

The Great São Paulo Cathedral 

 The São Paulo metro or rapid-transit system is the largest in the city and in Brazil. It was built in 1970s with length of 74.3km. Due to high population of this city, its traffic is terribly congested too. So, it's best to visit the city with metro.

Avenue Paulista
A famous and an important avenue in Sao Paulo metropolitan, Avenue Paulista is home to headquarters of a large number of finance and art institutions. There are banks, stock exchange, branded shops, TV and radios antennas, the landmark MASP, and of course, people. Since it's an important center of business and finance, the expenses in this area is rather high! Note that the avenue is also famous for its Gay Parade which held in May/June. According to wiki information, the city has 2.1 millions of opposite sex couples and 5,700 same-sex couples. Though it has more than 70% of Catholic Christians, Brazil is a secular state, and the LGBT people enjoy most of the same legal protections available to non-LGBT people. According to the Guiness World Records, the Sao Paulo Gay Pride Parade is the world's largest LGBT Pride celebration, with 4 million people in 2009.

The busy and famous Avenue Paulista

Oi!! I'm calling from the space!

The municipal collaborate with Telephone company 'Vivo' to run a decorate public phone booth campaign. Their creativity are shown in each phone booth along the Avenue Paulista.  In Brazil, people use colours to portrait art brilliantly. I especially enjoy seeing each piece of art that could be found everywhere in the avenue. 

A collection bin to collect recyclable items. It tells you what is recyclable and what is not. 

There's a nature urban forest right in the Sao Paulo city, it's located right next to the Avenue Paulista where a  road is dividing the forest. Not bad, they have a green lung in the city!

Sunday market where people sell many cute and nice handicrafts. Brazil is famous with their minerals, stones and gems. 

 Ibirapuera Park
Open since 1954, Ibirapuera is the city's largest and most popular park. Its buildings are designed by the famous architect Oscar Niemeyer (born in Rio de Janeiro, a Carioca, he designed Penang State Mosque in Malaysia too!) and landscaped by Roberto Burle Max (Yes, a Carioca, he's the one who designed the landscape for KLCC Park in Malaysia, and the famous Copacabana black and white promenade!!). In the midst of its eight pavilions, three lakes and many streets and lawns are the Museu de Arte Moderna (Modern Art Museum), the Pavilhao da Bienal and the Oca. Many people likes to do outdoor shows and sports mournaments (like marathon) there and the park is full of runners on weekday mornings. On Sundays, people will picnic with families, some foreign workers would also spend their off day at the park too. No wonder I have the feeling to relate it with our KLCC park when I was in the park!! I admire Brazilian artwork so much now.

Pedro Alvares Cabral, 'discoverer' of Brazil, began the age of Portugal occupation in Brazil. 

Monumento às Bandeiras, commemorating the pioneers from São Paulo who opened up the interior - a magnificent work by Victor Brecheret with imposing and heroic figures

Mercadao Municipal 

The Municipal Market, known affectionately as the Mercadao or 'Huge Market', opened in 1933. The towering roof is dotted with skylights and glass tiles that provide natural lighting. There are also 55 stain-glass windows imported from Germany. Originally, the market was supplied with fruit and vegetables that arrived by boat from local farms via the Tamanduatel river. Currently it employs about 1,600 people and some 300 stands. These sell 350 tons of produce to about 14,000 customers per day: fruits, vegetables, food and spices from all over the world, the tobacco stands, the huge variety of seafood, meat and fish, tea, drinks, and many more. The Bar do Mane, renowned for its Italian mortadella, prosciutto and roast pork sandwiches. 

friendly worker let me tried this sweet custard apple fruit -释迦果

roast pork and cheese sandwich!

 Today's content is rather random with buildings again, next post I'll write about the people.
(To be continued)

Timeless in Brazil 1

One good thing about being in a foreign country is you'll get to know about different cultures and history from that country. 

Apart from the Rio+20 and World Youth Congress report, I would like to share a bit of my journey in Rio and Sao Paulo. This time, I'll take you to Sao Paulo and have a look for its enriched history, architectures, people, art and culture. 

The  São Paulo City

São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and Americas, with more than 10.6 million people residing in the city and it's the world's seventh largest city by population.  São Paulo is also one of the ten largest metropolitan areas on the planet with its strong regional influence in commerce and finance as well as arts and entertainment. The metropolis has significant cultural, economic and political influence both nationally and internationally. Today we will go through briefly several magnificent sites that show the depth of this big city. 

Skyscrapers

The first impression about the São Paulo city is its skyscrapers. Since I'm staying in a high-rise condominium, I could view the city with its magnificent view - skyscrapers in East, West, South, North, it's everywhere! No hills or forest as seen in Rio de Janeiro, this city is really, really big! 

Sao Paulo City stretched to the far far end.

Museu do Ipiranga

This huge neo-renaissance-style palace, whose Baroque gardens take after Versailles, opened in 1890 on the site where Dom Pedro I declared Brazil independent of Portugal. The huge, 125,000-piece collection ranges from 16th to the mid-20th century. It includes sculptures, paintings, documents and weapons, and so on. The great hall features the famous painting Independencia on morte, by Pedro Americo. In front of the museum is a beautiful Baroque-style garden, with fountains where people jog, walk their pets, play skate boards and sunbathing in there. Further in front of that garden, is the monument to Independence in the Independence park. Daniel the marvelous traveller said there was once a very, very huge Brazilian flag located in the center of the park, but somebody, with some capability, stolen the flag. We have no idea how could he/she/they do that. 

Museu do Ipiranga, a huge neo-renaissance-style palace.

Museu de Arte de Sao Paulo

MASP, as it's called, contains the most valuable collection of paintings in Latin America. The current building was designed by Lina Bo Bardi and constructed in 1968 with concrete and glass. The box-like structure is supported by four pillars, creating a 74 meters span. The 5500-piece collection includes paintings by Van Gogh, Cezanne, Monet, Manet, Renoir, Valezquez, Goya, Rembrandt, as well as collection by Edgar Degas. It is also considered a landmark of the city which is located at the famous Paulista Avenue (like Bukit Bintang in Kuala Lumpur). The art museum, institutes and library in MASP played important roles in shaping and conserving the Brazilian art!

MASP, a box-shaped building

 Estadio do Pacaembu

This stadium is also known as Municipal Stadium of Sao Paulo. They have a football museum in the lower ground floor beneath the stadium where football fans can find historical photographs along with visits to the playing field, sport center, the great hall, the radio and TV broadcasting booths. It's a place for Sao Paulo football club fans to go on weekend on any matches of their favourite clubs. Basically, most of the Brazilian have their own cup of tea, since there are soooo many sport clubs in Brazil. So, Daniel the marvelous traveller said he preferred Corinthians Paulista which based in Sao Paulo, second most famous team in Brazil and have 24-26 million fans. The winning club in national championship could represent in the national team in international sport events like World Cup! 

This is the stadium! Pacaembu!

Edificio Italia

The 42-story Edificio Italia is one of the tallest buildings in Sao Paulo, at 165 meters. It is designed by the famous architect Adolf Franz Heep, and has the highest observation point in the city. Like KL Tower, it has Terraco Italia restaurant on the top two floors where we can view the Edificio Copan and sunset. However, there are charges to enter the restaurant and so we just take some photos from the 33rd floor. 


 Edificio Copan
Designed by Oscar Niemeyer, the building opened in 1966, fifteen years after the plan was first drawn. It's the greatest example of modernist architecture in Sao Paulo. Its signature features are the serpentine structure  and the horizontal lines. The Copan is one of the largest reinforced concrete structures in the country.

Teatro Municipal

Opened in 1911, this eclectically-styled 1464-seat theater was designed by Francisco Ramos de Azevedo's after the Paris Opera House. It is the home of several municipal music and dance companies, including two orchestras (a full-scale symphony orchestra and a smaller one dedicated to experimental music), a string quartet, two choral groups, and a ballet company. Note that there are many ancient buildings in Sao Paulo city center, Se, they are all well maintained. This municipal theater is still well function and maintained. Look at the sculptures on paints on this building, they are especially delicate and distinct. 

Youth dress in punk gathered in front of the theater for some activity. 

Today we have seen buildings of neo-renaissence-style, ecletic style and modern style, tomorrow I'll show you other magnificent buildings and places in this city!

To be continued. =)

International Youth Day

SECRETARY-GENERAL, IN MESSAGE FOR INTERNATIONAL YOUTH DAY, WARNS AGAINST CREATING

‘LOST GENERATION OF SQUANDERED TALENT AND DREAMS’

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message for International Youth Day, to be observed on 12 August:

Today’s generation of youth — the largest the world has ever known, and the vast majority of whom live in developing countries — has unprecedented potential to advance the well-being of the entire human family.  Yet too many young people, including those who are highly educated, suffer from low-wage, dead-end work and record levels of unemployment.

The global economic crisis has hit youth the hardest and many are understandably discouraged by rising inequalities.  A large number have no immediate prospects and are disenfranchised from the political, social and development processes in their countries.  Without urgent measures, we risk creating a “lost generation” of squandered talent and dreams.

Working with and for young people is one of my top priorities.  Youth are a transformative force; they are creative, resourceful and enthusiastic agents of change, be it in public squares or cyberspace.  From their pivotal role in efforts to achieve freedom, democracy and equality, to their global mobilization in support of the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, youth have energetically demonstrated yet again their capacity and desire to turn the tide of history and tackle global challenges.

Young men and women are not passive beneficiaries, but equal and effective partners.  Their aspirations extend far beyond jobs; youth also want a seat at the table — a real voice in shaping the policies that shape their lives.  We need to listen to and engage with young people.  We need to establish more and stronger mechanisms for youth participation.  The time has come to integrate youth voices more meaningfully into decision-making processes at all levels.

Around the world there is growing recognition of the need to strengthen policies and investments involving young people.  On International Youth Day, I call on Governments, the private sector, civil society and academia to open doors for young people and strengthen partnerships with youth-led organizations.  Youth can determine whether this era moves toward greater peril or more positive change.

Let us support the young people of our world so they grow into adults who raise yet more generations of productive and powerful leaders.

Rio+20: The Future We Don't Want

Besides protests, the civil societies have submitted a statement for governments called 'The Future We Don't Want' to express their dissatisfaction in the process. 

The Rio+20 we don’t want: 

The Future We Want is not to be found in the document that bears this name. The Future We Want is not what resulted from the Rio +20 negotiation process.

The future that we want has commitment and action, not just promises. It has the urgency needed to reverse the social, environmental and economic crisis, not postpone it. It has cooperation and is in tune with civil society and its aspirations, and not just the comfortable position of governments.

None of these can be found in the 283 paragraphs of the official document that will be the legacy of this Conference. The document entitled The Future We Want is weak and falls far short of the spirit and the advances made over the years since Rio-92. It even falls far short of the importance and urgency of the issues addressed. Fragile and generic agendas for future negotiations do not guarantee results.

Rio +20 will go into History as the UN conference that offered global society a outcome marked by serious omissions. It endangers the preservation and social and environmental resilience of the planet, as well as any guarantee of acquired human rights for present and future generations.

For all these reasons, we, as many civil society groups and individuals, register our profound disappointment with the heads of State, under whose guidance and orders the negotiators worked, and we state that we do not condone or endorse this document.

We are looking forward the necessary steps to be taken by our governments. While waiting for the change from the policymakers, why not we take the first step - get our people realised and aware of so call 'sustainable development'? I believe change is possible, but we people need to concern about it too- who will play the role? me, you, and many of you who read those articles and watched videos about Rio+20, millions of them who are affected by poverty, climate change, ... Let's begin today. 

Overview of my observation in Rio+20 (not all, but limited due to low battery for video recording)

Interview with Kjell the Plant-for-the-planet

Useful links:

http://blog.humanimpactsinstitute.org

adoptanegotiator.org

http://www.scoop.it/t/enewsletter

http://www.earthsummit2012.org

http://ideasforus.org/

Rio+20: Children and Youth Rejects Outcome Document

A moment of history! The young people wrote their history marking the failure of Rio+20 'The Future We Want' final document. 

On 21st June, hundreds from the civil society groups especially youth had joined the sit-in style protest and walk-out march from the Rio+20 conference building after the Major Group NGOs had rejected the text in the opening ceremony of the official segment of Rio+20. They rejected the final outcome document 'The Future We Want' adopted in the high level meeting.

NGOs at the Rio+20 conference complained that they were only consulted on the official document at the last minute, when they could no longer make a significant impact. The text was a failure because it did not address crucial issues such as ending support for fossil fuels and nuclear power, or taking clear steps to address high seas destruction. Many people expressed deep disappointment with the final document. The civil society did not stand with that set of declarations as there is nothing in it really that civil society has been strongly pushing for. 

Kumi Naidoo, the executive director of Greenpeace, also said that the outcome is an epic failure. He said the final result was a document with the lowest possible ambition, blaming richer nations for defending their own narrow interests. Many countries agreed the declaration does not offer solutions to the dire crises currently faced by humanity, but were unlikely to say so publicly. However, a declaration lacking specific targets will fail to halt worsening problems like climate change, loss of biodiversity and deforestation, added Naidoo. 

On the other hand, the European Union considered the Rio+20 final document as imperfect, but a good starting point for further work. 

Seeing the frustration and anger expressed by the people in Rio+20, I deeply felt that we are in a generation of change - We knew that we do not have power in hand to change the negotiation outcome, but we have tried our best, and we'll  continue doing so. As a civil society member, we are playing different roles to promote peace, demand for changes in the Rio+20 processes. Some of us have participated in direct actions to raise awareness, let our voices to be heard, ensure our voices reach our media. Me and you, have responsibility to help shape the story of Rio+20. 

What I want Malaysian youth to do with Rio+20? Engage ourselves in the sustainable development processes, participate in the policy-making processes, be curious about our living environment and the resources we are using - they will be gone very soon if we care nothing about the natural resources, be innovative and creative in raising awareness among the civil society and let our voices to be heard by the government - we should decide our future, not the government - they should listen to the people. We question ourselves: are we doing enough for our land? Is our country taking concrete actions in various areas such as water, land use, energy, oceans, sustainable production and consumption, resource efficiency? Have we covered all the three pillars of sustainable development: environmental, social, and economic? 

But then, the company Lynas remains its Rare Earth refinery plant and its operation in Malaysia, a new nuclear plant will be built soon, illegal logging in Perak/Pahang national forest reserve is still happening, water crisis is a popular word this is recent days... how many of us are paying attention to all these issue? Sad to say, our green circle is very small, yet it doesn't shape a voice heard by majority. 

I want to congratulate the effort made by the Malaysian negotiation team - though I'm not really familiar with their position due to the Secrecy Act, at least their friendliness made my access to the country's delegate office easier. Now I'm looking forward participating Rio+20 workshop held by Malaysia Economy Planning Unit in September/October. 

A dialogue session with Datuk Sudha Devi, Malaysian Ambassador  to  Brazil

Rio+20: Indigenous people rejects Green Economy

Today I witnessed 2 protests of different scales inside the UN conference compound. Earlier, there was a group of 25 indigenous people from Brazil, Philippines, United States, Guatemala, Argentina and Mexico caught the attention of participants of Rio+20. With songs and shouts, paintings and costumes, they gathered near the symbols of the event flags at RioCentro to deliver the Kari-Oca 2 Declaration.Another 400 Indians could not get in- were trapped in the barrier of soldiers, a few meters from the entrance  of main pavilion. 

Windel Bulinget from Philipplines reiterated that the green economy can not be seen as a solution, it is the cause of the problem, and REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) is the heart of the green economy. Windel Bulinget invited all civil society to protect and promote their rights in harmony with nature, solidarity, community, and values ​​such as caring and sharing. If the UN want to create a just world, they need to listen to the voice of Indians about balance and sustainability. 

In the 20 recommendations of indigenous people to the Rio+20, one of them is the inclusion of 'Culture' as the fourth pillar of sustainable development. 

Rio+20: Role of Youth in Millennium Development Goals

I've recorded several speeches delivered by UN Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Special adviser to Mr Ban, Mr. Jeff Sachs, ex-director of UN Millennium Project's Millennium Development Goals, and Nobel Peace Prize winner Professor Muhammad Yunus. It was a excellent session between the world's influential people and the young leaders. 

Congress in the Jungle: Short film says it all

Today I don't write much. I just can't wait to share with you this video. If you think it's short, tell me, I can make a longer version of each video - the details of the talks/discussion/debates. ^^