China Daily Asia Weekly joins ePaper

The China Daily Asia Weekly is the latest newspaper to be part of the CIMB-Asean ePaper collaboration just as Malaysia and China celebrate 40 years of bilateral relations.

The weekly newspaper will now be made free in digital for all The Star’s 80,000 ePaper subscribers, providing more accurate updates of the latest news in China and Asia Pacific.

The latest addition was launched by CIMB group chief executive officer Datuk Seri Nazir Tun Razak yesterday and witnessed by China’s Ambassador to Malaysia Huang Huikang. Star Publications (M) Bhd group managing director and CEO Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai said the partnership was the first in the country’s history as well as coming at a historic moment.

“Malaysia and China are celebrating a special relationship of 40 years and today, we celebrate the friendship of two media groups. The combined readership from both China Daily Asia Weekly and The Star will make up a larger audience for the ePaper,” he said.

Wong said on Wednesday, Malaysians had welcomed the arrival of pandas, Feng Yi and Fu Wa.

“And today, we welcome the arrival of China Daily into the CIMB-Asean ePaper collaboration,” he added.

 Combined forces: (from left) Star chairman Datuk Fu Ah Kiow, Nazir, Huang, Wong and Zhang during the official partnership ceremony as China Daily Asia Weekly joins the CIMB-Asean ePaper fold at Menara Star.

Zhang Haizhou, China Daily Asia Weekly assistant to publisher, said the missing plane MH370 had seen netizens from both countries attacking each other and forgetting that both Malaysia and China were partners.

“We need a strong and reliable platform to bridge this gap of understanding among people and this is why we are having this bundle with The Star. We are now messengers between the two nations, telling better stories and enhancing mutual understanding,” he said.

Last month, Nazir had launched the CIMB-Asean ePaper collaboration comprising newspapers from four South-East Asian countries – The Star, Thailand’s The Nation, Indonesia’s The Jakarta Post and the Philippines’ Daily Inquirer – the first of its kind in the Asean region.

Nazir said the initiative was fabulous and had exceeded his expectations with 80,000 subscribers.

“Malaysia is the first South-East Asian nation to connect with China and we are very happy to support this initiative, helping people to see the world in all perspectives,” he said.

Agreeing, Huang said the media was the bridge for a better understanding between two nations.

“The Internet is an important channel for exchanging information and the collaboration of The Star and China Daily Asia Weekly is like a combination of giants,” he said.

Also present were China Daily Asia Weekly editor K.S Chan, Malaysia-China Friendship Association president Datuk Abdul Majid Ahmad Khan, Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia deputy secretary-general Datuk Dr Chin Yew Sin, Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce president Datuk Bong Hon Liong and Associated Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Indust­ries Youth chief Datuk Ng Yih Pyng.

Top businessmen who joined in the celebration included Eco World Development Group director Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin, i-Berhad executive chairman Tan Sri Lim Kim Hong and Mah Sing Group group managing director and chief executive Tan Sri Leong Hoy Kum.

Contributed by  by Christine Cheah The Star/Asia News Network

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Tiger Woods to return to Malaysia in CIMB Classic

Malaysia is set to grab the golfing headlines in October – thanks to the rebranding of the CIMB Classic.

The future of the CIMB Classic looks as good as it could ever be.

DATUK Seri Nazir Razak spoke for just 10 minutes and the function was over in less than 30 minutes, not withstanding this, the quick-do was probably the most significant event for Malaysia, or even the region, in terms of golf, in the past few decades.

In the least, not since the joint-sanctioning of the Malaysian Open by the European and Asian Tours have we witnessed such an important change to the local golf landscape.

No, we’re not talking only about Tiger Woods coming in October for the CIMB Classic, but rather that in 2013 the tournament will become a full-fledged US PGA Tour event, whose winnings will count towards the money list and also carry all-important FedEx Cup points.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak told the function that it has always been his dream to one day see a full-fledged PGA Tour event staged in Malaysia and added that he was grateful to CIMB for making it possible.

The CIMB Classic, as it is now known, will definitely consolidate Malaysia’s standing in global golf and bring the country’s courses into greater focus for the millions of golf tourists around the world.

The prize money in 2013 will be increased to US$7mil (RM21.8mil) and make the CIMB Classic among the richest in the world. At the moment, the tournament with the biggest prize purse in the world is the Players Championship with US$9.5mil.

This is followed by the two WGC (World Golf Championship) events – the Cadillac and the Bridgestone – at US$8.5mil apiece. The four majors (the Masters, US Open, the Open and PGA Championship) and the three FedEx Cup play-off events (The Barclays, Deutche Bank, BMW and Tour Championship) pay out US$8mil each.

There are no PGA Tour events that have prize money of more than US$7mil. Even the WGC-HSBC at Guangzhou’s Mission Hills has an equivalent purse of US$7mil.

The CIMB Classic, a no-cut event, will have 60 PGA Tour players taking part from next year.

By design, the CIMB will precede the WGC-HSBC, event thus offering two hefty paydays for the PGA professionals at the start of the new season format of the US Tour.

Todd Rhinehart, the PGA Tour’s executive director of the CIMB Classic, revealed that the new format would see the golf season start in the fall from next year.

Rhinehart has been brought in specially to run the CIMB Classic – his last job was to organise the season-ending Tour Championship – which decides the FedEx Cup winner.

Another big change to this tournament, besides the name change (it was previously the CIMB Asia Pacific Classic) is that the bank is now dealing with the PGA Tour directly on the event.

As for Tiger’s appearance from Oct 24, it could not have come at a better time.

His last appearance in Malaysia was also at the Mines Resort & Golf Club for the 1999 World Cup.
His return visit and the rebranding of the CIMB Classic comes as we Malaysians have gotten used to the top European names coming to our shores. This year’s event should stir quite a bit of interest.

Between now and October, look out for the various ways and contests to win tickets to watch Tiger and the other PGA Tour players at the Mines.

A point to note, Nazir in his closing remarks jokingly told the audience including, the Prime Minister that he hoped there would not be “any major sporting or political event” during the Oct 24-28 week.

In his reply, Najib said he was looking forward to playing with Tiger in the Pro-Am – provided there was no important events on.

In 1999, when Tiger partnered Mark O’Meara to win the World Cup – it was right in the middle of the campaign period of the GE10.

Let’s hope this time we can watch the CIMB Classic without distraction.

Caddy Master By WONG SAI WAN

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