Famous Celebrities in Malaysia (Jimmy Choo)

Life’s Background

Jimmy Choo is a Malaysian citizen of Hakka Chinese descent, who was born in Penang in 1961 into a family of shoemakers. He made his first shoe when he was 11 years old. He is perhaps the most famous of students of Cordwainers’ Technical College in London, from which he graduated in 1983. The college is now part of the London College of Fashion. Choo has divulged that he worked part-time at restaurants and as a cleaner at a shoe factory to help fund his college education.

Jimmy Choo's beginnings can be traced back to his workshop in Hackney, East London, which he opened in 1986 by renting an old hospital building. His craftsmanship and designs were soon noticed and he came to the verge of international fame when his creations were featured in a record eight pages in a 1988 issue of Vogue magazine. Patronage from Diana, Princess of Wales from 1990 onwards further boosted his image.

Career History

Jimmy Choo himself has concentrated his work on the exclusive Jimmy Choo Couture line produced under license from Jimmy Choo Ltd. This is available, by appointment only, at Connaught Street in London. The Jimmy Choo London line, also known as Jimmy Choo ready-to-wear or simply, Jimmy Choo, is now under the purview of Tamara Mellon and Sandra Choi. Choi, who was an apprentice under Choo, is the Creative Director at the company. She is the niece of Choo's wife Rebecca. The ready-to-wear line has expanded to include accessories such as handbags. The Jimmy Choo International flagship store is in Connaught Street in London.

In the United States Jimmy Choo boutiques are found in Atlanta, Beverly Hills, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, New York, Orlando, Palm Beach, Washington D.C., Phoenix, and more stores are scheduled to open.

In 1996, he co-founded Jimmy Choo Ltd with British Vogue accessories editor Tamara Mellon. In April 2001, Choo sold his 50% stake in the company for £10 million. He has since been concentrating his work on the exclusive Jimmy Choo Couture line produced under license from Jimmy Choo Ltd. The Jimmy Choo London line, also known as Jimmy Choo Ready-To-Wear or simply, Jimmy Choo, is under the purview of Tamara Mellon. The ready-to-wear line has expanded to include accessories such as handbags. In 2009 his nephew Simon Choo-Deren currently residing in Rotterdam and London, will take over his position as the company's assistant head designer as announced at a board meeting in 2006.

Choo currently resides in London. He is currently involved in a project to set up a shoemaking institute in Malaysia, where his iconic status is often evoked to inspire budding shoemakers and fashion designers.

Famous Celebrities in Malaysia (Nicol Ann David)

Life’s Background

Nicol Ann David was born on August 26, 1983 in Penang, Malaysia, is a Malaysian professional squash player. She is currently the World No. 1 in women's squash (she is the first Asian woman to be ranked World No. 1 in the sport). She captured the World Open title in 2005, 2006 and 2008, and the British Open title in 2005, 2006 and 2008.

Nicol is a Chindian daughter of Ann Marie David and Desmond David. Her father is an Indian Malaysian engineer, and her mother is a retired Chinese Malaysian school teacher. She has two sisters named Lianne Marie and Cheryl Therese, both of whom are accomplished squash players at the national level. As a youngster, Nicol enjoys reading and Mathematics was her best subject in school. Nicol scored a striking 9 A's in her Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (the equivalent to O-levels), for which she studied at Convent Green Lane Secondary School in Green Lane, Penang.

Junior squash

Nicol David first encounter with squash began at a tender age of 5, at that time she was very small that even her racquets were bigger than her. At that time she did not even have the strength to lift them. But through the years, with proper guidance and regimented exercise and training, she managed to build herself up and at the age of 8 she started to take squash seriously with regular training and by being involved in competitive games.

One day while training at the Bukit Dumbar Squash Centre, Nicol was talent-spotted by Miss Ee Phoeh Hoon, who led her to representing her home state of Penang with her sisters. Her squash career began in 1992 when she first won a silver in the Under 14 category of the Penang State Junior Championship. Nicol’s first national level win was also in 1992 at the Milo-Dunlop National Junior Interstate Championship where she won the silver for the Under 16 category. In 1994, Nicol was chosen to join the Penang state squash team for the Sukan Malaysia Games (SUKMA) tournament where she helps Penang to win the gold medal in the team event. In the same year, she won her first international title by capturing the Scottish Junior Open Under-12 title. She then continued her striking performance by winning four more titles in 1995 and 1996 respectively.

Then, Nicol began dominating the squash scene by winning the Asian championship as well as becoming the youngest player to become the world’s woman junior champion. She was merely 15 years old and in the process of becoming the junior champion, she beat 3 players who were ranked in the world’s top 20. She won the junior championship twice and became the only 2 players in the history of squash to have achieved the feat. She is also the only women's squash player to have won all the age categories in the British Junior Open.

World Career

Nicol David is the first squash player to have won the World Junior title twice (1999 and 2000) under the tutelage of Richard Glanfield. She remained the only female squash player to have achieved this, until Raneem El Weleily emulated David's feat by winning her second World Junior Championship in 2007. Nicol moved inexorably up the senior rankings to become a fixture in the top flight. At a very young age, she has been invited to carry the Olympic torch for Malaysia during the build up to the Athens Olympics in 2004 and being appointed a UN goodwill ambassador.

On December 4, 2005, Nicol beat Rachael Grinham in the final of the Hong Kong World Open to become the youngest world champion. She then defended her title on November 25, 2006, at the historic Ulster Hall in Belfast by beating Natalie Grinham in the final. She became the first Malaysian athlete to win a world championship title for the 2nd consecutive time, and the fourth person in history to retain the World Open Squash Championship.

Nicol David's other notable achievements include the Asian squash championship, which she won with a record of six times (in 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008). She also held a 13-month, 51-match winning streak, from March 2006 to April 2007 when she finally lost to Natalie Grinham in the final of the 2007 Seoul Open. In today's standard of professional squash, which is regarded by many as being much more competitive than what it was decades ago, having a winning streak comparable to this is an achievement not easily obtainable.

Nicol has risen in name after her near total dominance of the game in recent years. The Current Malaysian Prime Minister Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, a fellow Penangite, quipped once that David is "now more famous than me". Considering her young age, she is expected to remain the top female player in the game for a while to come.

Silat

It is not known exactly how old silat is but it can be traced back to the kingdom of Srivijaya. Indian martial arts had an impact on Southeast Asian styles, evident from the use of silambam staffs and the thigh-slapping found in many forms of silat which is reminiscent of Hindu wrestling for example. Bas-reliefs in Srivijaya which clearly illustrate warriors wielding weapons such as the Chinese double-edged sword also suggest Chinese influence.

There are a number of legends of how silat was created but only one has any historical significance. The story tells of a Sumatran woman who witnessed a fight between a tiger and a very large bird while fetching water from a well.

Both animals, unfortunately, died in the fight. The woman's angry husband came to scold her for her tardiness but she blocked all of his attacks, remembering the movements of the fighting animals that she saw earlier. The couple later formulized the art and founded the first style of silat (sometimes said to have been Silat Harimau). However true this story is, archeological evidence shows that silat was indeed created in Sumatra and flourished after it spread to Java.

By the 15th century, silat was already highly refined. Besides the similarities to martial arts from China, India and other Southeast Asian nations, silat also bears a resemblance to karate and Japanese weapon arts, such as tessenjutsu and bojutsu.

This is not surprising since Okinawa traded with both Java and Melaka. Some Okinawans still have South-East Asian facial features which indicates that silat also must have influenced karate. After Dutch colonization, silat spread to Holland from Indonesian immigrants. It still remains one of the most popular Asian martial arts in the Netherlands.

Malaysian Famous Sight(K.L.I.A)

Kuala Lumpur International Airport commonly known as KLIA is one of Asia's major aviation hubs. It is also Malaysia’s main international airport. It is situated in the Sepang district, in the south of the state of Selangor, about 50 kilometers (31 mi) from the capital city, Kuala Lumpur. KLIA was built at a cost of some US$3.5 billion.The planning of KLIA began in 1990 when the government decided that the existing Subang International Airport (now Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport) could not handle future demand. Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad was a prime driver behind the project, which was seen as an important component of the Multimedia Super Corridor. With the airport site spanning 100 km2, it is one of the largest airport sites in the world. It is built on a piece of agricultural land and required no demolition of private property. The master plan of Kuala Lumpur International Airport involves constructing five runways, and two terminals accompanied by two satellite terminals for each terminal over three phases.

Malaysian Famous Sight(Petronas Twin Tower)

The Petronas Twin Towers (also known as the Petronas Towers or just Twin Towers), in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia are twin towers and were the world's tallest buildings, before being surpassed by Taipei 101. However, the towers are still the tallest twin buildings in the world. They were the world's tallest buildings from 1998 to 2004 if measured from the level of the main entrance to the structural top, the original height reference used by the US-based Council Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat from 1969 (three additional height categories were introduced as the tower neared completion in 1996).



Designed by Argentine-American architect Cesar Pelli, the Petronas Towers were completed in 1998 and became the tallest buildings in the world on the date of completion. They were built on the site of Kuala Lumpur's race track. It was built under administration of Malaysia’s forth Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Malaysian Famous Sight(Sultan Abdul Samd Building)

The Sultan Abdul Samad Building is located in front of the Dataran Merdeka- literally the Independence Square - and the Royal Selangor Club, by Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The structure takes its name from Sultan Abdul Samad, the reigning sultan of Selangor at the time when construction began.





It was designed by A.C. Norman and built in 1894-1897 to house several important government departments during the British Administration. A.C. Norman spent time in Africa and saw Muslim mosques in India which led him to use Moorish architecture in the building's design. In 1945, when World War 2 ended, Britain resumed control again, but Malaya's independence movement had matured and organized itself in an alliance under Tunku Abdul Rahman. When the British flag was finally lowered in Kuala Lumpur's Merdeka Square in 1957, Tunku became the first prime minister of Malaya.In front of the building is the Dataran Merdeka (or Merdeka Square). It was here, the Union Jack flag was lowered and the Malayan flag hoisted for the first time at midnight on August 31, 1957.

Malaysian Famous Sight (A Famosa)

A Famosa or ‘The Famous’, in Portugese, is a fortress located at Malacca, Malaysia. Built by the Portugese, it is among the oldest surviving European architecture remains in Asia. Only a tiny gate called Porta De Santiago is all that is left of a once mighty fortress.



In 1511 Portuguesse fleet arrived under the command of Alfonso De Albuquerque. His forces attackes and succesfully defeated the armies of the Melaka Sultanate. Moving quickly to consolidate his gains, Albuquerque had the fortress buit around a natural hill near the sea. Albuquerque believed that Melaka would become an important port linking Portugal to the spice trade from China. At this time other Portugese were establishing outposts in such places as Macau, China and Goa, India in order to creata to string of friendly ports for ships headins to China and returning home to Portugal.