Maybank Championship spotlight falls on elite LPGA stars

Liyana Durisic knocks her ball onto the 18th green in the first round of the Maybank Championship on Thursday to finish the day in a tie for fourth and as the top Malaysian on the leaderboard. — Bernama

AS one of Malaysia’s premier sporting events, the Maybank Championship has rapidly established itself as a standout fixture on the LPGA Tour calendar, attracting the world’s best players while providing a valuable platform for the nation’s top golfing talent to compete against the game’s elite.

Returning to the West Course at Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club this week, the US$3mil tournament brings together an exceptional international field featuring some of the highest-ranked players in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings.

The championship has become one of South-East Asia’s most prestigious golf events, combining world-class competition with fan engagement, entertainment, hospitality experiences and unique opportunities for Malaysian golfers to measure themselves against the very best in the sport.

This year, local interest is stronger than ever, with five Malaysian players earning places in the field. 

Included in the line-up is Mirabel Ting, currently Malaysia’s highest-ranked player at No. 239 in the Rolex Ranking.s

She is joined by LPGA rookie Natasha Oon, in-form Liyana Durisic, who was tied for fourth place after the first round on Thursday, former LPGA Tour regular Kelly Tan, and Genevieve Ling, giving home fans plenty to cheer throughout the week.

For many, the greater interest will centre on Mirabel and how she fares. Her rise has been one of Malaysian golf’s biggest success stories in 2026.

The Sarawakian secured LPGA Tour status for next season after a breakthrough campaign on the Epson Tour, where she won twice and consistently featured among the circuit’s top performers.

Her achievements culminated in finishing atop the Epson Tour season standings, a feat that earned promotion to the LPGA Tour while cementing her reputation as one of Asia’s brightest emerging talents.

The Maybank Championship therefore serves as something of a dress rehearsal for the 21-year-old as she prepares to take on the world’s best full-time next season.

Competing against a field packed with LPGA winners and major champions offers an ideal opportunity to test her game ahead of golf’s biggest stage.

Natasha also gained valuable LPGA Tour experience this year, including a tied-31st finish at the CPKC Women’s Open.

Meanwhile, Liyana, who arrive with momentum following several domestic victories and a win in Australia, and Kelly and Genevieve add further depth to a strong Malaysian contingent.

Beyond the local storylines, fans will be enjoying a festival atmosphere around one of the LPGA Tour’s showcase events. With global stars competing for one of the largest purses in women’s golf, championship hospitality, family-friendly activities and entertainment throughout tournament week, the Maybank Championship continues to elevate Malaysia’s standing as a destination for world-class sporting events.

For one week in the year, Kuala Lumpur becomes the focal point of women’s golf, showcasing not only the sport’s biggest names but also the next generation of Malaysian players hoping to leave their mark on the international stage.

SOURCE LINK: https://www.thestar.com.my/sport/golf/2026/11/01/maybank-championship-spotlight-falls-on-elite-lpga-stars

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Maybank Championship KLGCC - Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club, Bukit Kiara

AI-assisted stroke survivor storyteller

Road to recovery: Foo with his caregiver Hasmah, who became an important pillar of support, helping him on his journey towards independence. — LEONG WAI YEE/The Star

AI-assisted content helps entrepreneur inspire others with his recovery journey

PETALING JAYA: When entrepreneur Allan Foo Kit Seng suddenly found the words on his mobile phone becoming blurry back in May 2021, he thought there was something wrong with the screen.

Moments later, the then 49-year-old Bandar Sri Daman­sara resident realised the problem was not his phone but himself. He had suffered a stroke.

Today, at 54, Foo has transformed that life-changing ordeal into a mission to inspire others, becoming an online sensation through artificial intelligence-assisted content and his abc123podcast on a popular online video platform while proving that stroke survivors can still embrace new opportunities.

“I don’t want people to see stroke survivors as limited. Physically, I may not be what I used to be, but I can still create, entertain, teach and inspire,” he said in an interview.

His latest AI-assisted comedy videos have attracted millions of views, with one Instagram reel from his account, abc123makeitsimple, garnering 1.8 million views in just four days.

By learning how to use AI to script and edit videos, Foo has discovered a new way to connect with audiences while showing that physical limitations should not stop anyone from acquiring new skills. Yet behind the humour lies a deeper purpose.

“I’ve already gone through the worst. Now I ask myself, what’s next? If I can’t work like before, what else can I do? I can show people they don’t have to stay inside the box,” he said.

Foo said his family was his greatest motivation during recovery – especially his son, Alex Randall Sy, who was still in primary school when the stroke struck and is now 16.

His elder son, Anthony Renzo Sy Foo, 19, also stood by him throughout his recovery while caregiver Hasmah Hassan, 53, became an important pillar of support, helping him through daily routines, rehabilitation and his journey towards independence.

“I told myself I had to be strong and face it head on because my children were still growing up.

“As a father, I couldn’t give up,” he said.

Foo recalled experiencing blurred vision and weakness before collapsing during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Friends rushed him to hospital, where doctors stressed the importance of receiving treatment within the “golden hour”, saying the quick response likely saved his life.

Recovery, however, was a long and difficult journey.

He spent more than two years in a wheelchair and underwent intensive physiotherapy, acupuncture and stem cell treatment before his mind gradually became clearer.

The former student of Victoria Institution and the school’s Cadet Corps Band drum major likened surviving a stroke to returning home after a robbery.

“A stroke is like someone breaking into your house and making a mess of everything. You can sit there crying over what happened, or you can start cleaning up your house.

“Nobody else can clean it for you. You have to rebuild your life, one step at a time,” he said.

That mindset inspired Foo to document his recovery.

Encouraged by friends, he began sharing his journey online in September 2023, initially to help fellow stroke survivors and their caregivers navigate the physical, emotional and mental challenges after a stroke.

Today, his content blends humour with practical advice while his podcast simplifies stroke recovery through three principles – Awareness, Balance and Control – to help survivors and caregivers better understand the recovery journey.

Beyond entertaining audiences, Foo hopes his story will encourage stroke survivors to keep moving forward, no matter how long recovery takes.

“Nothing is easy, but you have to keep going. Recovery is a lifelong journey. I don’t want to be remembered as a stroke victim. I want people to see that I’m a stroke survivor.

“If my journey gives even one person hope and the courage to keep fighting, then everything I’ve gone through has been worth it,” he added.

Source link: https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2026/10/28/from-stroke-survivor-to-storyteller

Maybank Championship KLGCC - Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club, Bukit Kiara

 

China issues guidelines to boost AI-driven job creation, mitigate employment displacement risks

Staff members conduct data collection for various scenarios at a company’s embodied?AI robot data collection and training center in Suqian, East China’s Jiangsu Province on September 3, 2026. Through real-robot simulation, on-site operations, and human-robot collaboration, the center precisely captures multi-dimensional core data such as vision, motion, and environment data, laying a solid data foundation for the optimization and iteration of embodied-AI models. Photo: VCG
 

China has rolled out a set of policy measures to create more jobs through artificial intelligence (AI), improve employment quality and mitigate the impact of job displacement resulting from AI applications, helping build an employment-friendly development model, amid the rapid development and growing use of the technology.

The guidelines, issued by the General Office of the State Council and made public on Friday, outline 18 major tasks across six areas, covering AI-driven job creation, employment-friendly AI adoption, workforce training, employment services, labor rights and social security protections, and employment risk monitoring and response.

The document aims to strengthen AI's positive role in creating job opportunities, enhancing traditional jobs through AI, improving employment quality and stimulating entrepreneurship, while mitigating the impact of AI-related job displacement, according to the guidelines.

It also seeks to promote inclusive development by ensuring that technological progress and industrial upgrading go hand in hand with employment growth and improvements in people's livelihoods.

To strengthen AI's job creation potential, the guidelines call for expanding employment opportunities in emerging sectors, helping micro, small and medium-sized enterprises retain and expand their workforce, developing new AI-related employment and entrepreneurship models, and accelerating the development of new AI-related occupations.

The document also calls for building an employment-friendly pathway for AI adoption, including tapping the employment potential of AI in traditional industries, easing job displacement pressures arising from AI applications and establishing mechanisms to assess employment risks associated with the technology.

To improve workers' digital literacy and employability, the guidelines call for coordinated efforts to develop innovative AI talent and the implementation of dedicated AI training programs.

In terms of employment services, the document calls for using AI to facilitate the implementation of employment policies, improve the intelligence and efficiency of employment services, and strengthen support for workers transitioning to new jobs or occupations.

The guidelines also emphasize improving labor rights and social security systems to keep pace with technological changes. Measures include improving labor rights protections to accommodate human-AI collaboration, improving social security arrangements for flexible workers and those in new forms of employment, and refining income distribution mechanisms to adapt to AI development.

To address potential employment risks arising from AI applications, the document proposes strengthening employment risk monitoring and early-warning systems related to AI applications, stepping up research into AI's impact on employment, and improving mechanisms to respond to emerging employment risks.

The guidelines call on local governments and relevant departments to implement the measures in accordance with local conditions. Human resources and social security authorities and development and reform departments at all levels are also urged to strengthen coordination to ensure the measures are effectively implemented.

The latest guidelines are in line with a five-year plan for implementing the employment-firs initiative, fostering more entrepreneurial projects involving innovative AI applications andt strategy released by the State Council in June, which called for advancing the "AI Plus" the commercialization of technological achievements, exploring new forms of work involving human-AI collaboration, and strengthening AI's role in job creation.

Source link : https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202610/1372863.shtml 

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Ninety years on, the great Long March spirit is a light shining on the world

 

Marching toward prosperity.

The great Long March spirit has been deeply etched into the DNA of Chinese society. It is the determination to rise to challenges and to persist for the long haul; it is the courage to fear no sacrifice and to dare to try; it is the clarity to face reality and actively seek change; and above all, it is the original aspiration of standing with the people through life and death, sharing weal and woe, and striving arduously.

The 90th anniversary of the victory of the Long March of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army was commemorated at a grand gathering in Beijing on Thursday morning. General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Xi Jinping, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, attended the gathering and delivered an important speech.

Xi stressed that the great spirit of the Long March demonstrates the power of loyalty, truth, justice and unity. As an important part of the spiritual lineage of the CPC, it transcends time and space and remains evergreen. It will always be a precious treasure and a powerful driving force inspiring us to overcome difficulties and forge ahead courageously. 

The Long March was a beam of light that burst forth from the Chinese nation at its darkest hour. It showed the world clearly that, even in an old China mired in darkness with no visible way out, there was a group of people striving with all their might to build a new China. In the book The Life Millennium: The 100 Most Important Events and People of the Past 1000 Years, published by the American Time-Life Books, scholars from around the world jointly selected 100 events that shaped the world from 1000 to 2000 AD. The Long March of the Red Army was one of three historical events from China to make the list. It profoundly inspires people that as long as one remains firm in will and unyielding in the face of setbacks, a way out can always be found through continuous exploration, and an entirely new path can be opened.

From Edgar Snow to Henry Kissinger, from Nelson Mandela to Fidel Castro, many observers and strategists have pondered why this Long March in the East was able to succeed. To this day, whenever China astonishes the world with technological breakthroughs or reshapes perceptions with development miracles, the world still asks: "How do the Chinese do it?" These questions all point to the same answer: We have found the right path - a path of never yielding, always moving forward, and never retreating. The Long March is both a spiritual treasure that inspires the Chinese people and a display of the Chinese nation's resilient character to the world.

Today, the term "Long March" has become a shared name for any arduous journey that ultimately reaches its destination. In this sense, the value of the Long March lies not only in the arrival itself, but in the act of continuing to set forth, again and again. After the victory of the Long March, the nation did not stop: It kept marching through the flames of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, kept advancing on the tide of reform and opening-up, and continues to advance under the call of the new era, all the way toward the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. 

Today, the great Long March spirit has been deeply etched into the DNA of Chinese society. It is the determination to rise to challenges and to persist for the long haul; it is the courage to fear no sacrifice and to dare to try; it is the clarity to face reality and actively seek change; and above all, it is the original aspiration of standing with the people through life and death, sharing weal and woe, and striving arduously.

Ninety years on, the great Long March spirit no longer belongs only to history; it is a light that grows ever brighter and shines upon the world. Currently, global governance is experiencing a "darkest hour": climate change, the North-South divide, geopolitical conflicts, and the undercurrents of deglobalization. 

Old paradigms are failing, and new rules have yet to take shape. Solving many major issues requires long-term planning and sustained effort that transcend political cycles and short-term gains and losses. 

The spirit of firm conviction, unity and cooperation, and unyielding struggle transcends national borders and ideologies. It inspires humanity to overcome adversity and pursue a brighter future. This both suggests that global governance needs to blaze new trails toward common development, common security, and common prosperity, and helps the world better understand the spiritual bedrock of the Chinese nation, enabling outsiders to better grasp where this "enabling great power" is heading. 

"Where the spirit lies, there lies the strength." The great Long March spirit resonates with the Chinese nation's cultural tradition of constant self-improvement and has gained new contemporary meaning in the process of Chinese modernization. While it is no longer possible for China today to replicate the march back then, this spirit will always remain, proving to the world that the Chinese nation possesses extraordinary resilience. 

After decades of struggle, China has long since become the world's second-largest economy and is comprehensively advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese modernization. 

The enduring national resilience behind the great Long March spirit has been a key factor in creating this development miracle. It is the confidence that allows China to navigate storms and seize the historical initiative, and it also provides a stabilizing expectation for a world full of uncertainty.

In the 1980s, Zbigniew Brzezinski, who once served as US national security advisor, walked with his family along the route once taken by the Red Army. He later reflected: "The Long March is more than an epic of almost unmatched heroism." Today, more and more foreigners are coming to China to retrace the Long March route, and places like Loushan Pass have once again become a popular destination for visitors. This is one indication that the great Long March spirit is increasingly needed by the world. As a spiritual monument that the Chinese nation has offered to the world, its importance will become even more prominent in the future. As military writer Wang Shuzeng once described: "The Long March belongs to that category of events in human history which, even after the passage of long years, continue to be sought after by people." 

"The history of the Long March has never faded; the road of the Long March continues to extend." For China, on the new journey, the Long March has no endpoint. 

To carry forward the great Long March spirit is to always maintain a high-spirited posture of storming passes and seizing fortresses, to continue the arduous trek on the journey of Chinese modernization, and to respond to all risks and challenges with an unstoppable fighting spirit. It is to both successfully navigate the Long March of our own generation and infuse a world marked by turbulence and transformation with confidence and strength from the East.

Source link: https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202610/1372832.shtml

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