Wednesday

7 JANUARY
2009

TV

thestar.com.my/lifestyle

YOUTH

Bo, the rising

star >4

TV

Delightful new
shows >18

Golden Globe
nominees >17

y
a
w
e
k
Ma

Faces of 2009 (from left): Nicholas Yeap,

Michelle Gunaselan, Michelle Hee, Farah
Rani and Sean Sing.

Five young Malaysians

had an eventful 2008, and
are set to make even more
waves this year. > 2-3
Our abode is not just a source of pride and joy. Its
a nest that gives us our daily dose of sanity from the
madness of the city.

The
people's
paper

Embellishing our little castle with things that bring us

pleasure is but one of the things we do to make our
home a tad more cozy and liveable.

Direct Bookings (PJ/KL)

Peter Hoe
03-7966 8236
Kamariah
03-7966 8227

But do we all know what we want sometimes? Do you have the eye that differentiates whats good and
whats so-so?

Supplement Team
Email: supp@thestar.com.my
Chin Wei Ling
Chee Li Ern
Tee Lin Dee
Timothy Foong
Leow Yong May
Pang Hong Yee
Cindy Yeoh

03-7966
03-7966
03-7966
03-7966
03-7966
03-7966
03-7966

The HomesSunday is a complete home improvement compass that takes our readers to ultimate home
bliss, where everything ranging from flooring and vacuum cleaner to the latest food detoxifier and pest
control guides are but just a flip of the page.

8262
8261
8242
8343
8239
8241
8262

CIRCULATION NATIONAL 304,904 (ABC July 2007 June 2008)

Have an amazing product or service you would like to share with proud homeowners? Give us a call.

Edition : National

Booking / Story deadline : 29 January 2009

Publication Date : 15 February 2009

Material deadline : 11 February 2009

READERSHIP NATIONAL 1,079,000 (NMR July 2007 - June 2008)

T2

YOUTH

STARTWO, WEDNESDAY 7 JANUARY 2009

YOUTH

Mixed signals
What does it all mean when he
blows hot and cold? >6

EDITOR: IVY SOON/youth2@thestar.com.my / 03-7967 1693

Ready for 2009

HEALTH

Keeping it up
Various treatments exist to
treat erectile dysfunction. >10

PARENTING

Anti-social
behaviour
What to do when your child
refuses to join the other kids.
>12

SENIOR

The passage
of time
Having a positive outlook can
add sparkle to your golden
years. >15

TV

Young and passionate: (From left) Activist Michelle Gunaselan, fashion designer Michelle Hee, actress Farah Rani, dodgeball player
Sean Sing and entrepreneur Nicholas Yeap. SAM THAM / The Star

By NIKI CHEONG
niki@thestar.com.my

Tossing up
shows
A showdown between Gordon
Ramsey and Dr Gregory House
might be needed to shake up
the current programming. >19

StarTWO

EDITOR: LIM CHENG HOE

CONTACT
email: startwo@thestar.com.my
tel: 03-7967 1388
fax: 03-7955 4039
ADVERTISING:
Peter Hoe
peterhoe@thestar.com.my
(03) 7966-8236
Jeanie Chiew
jean@thestar.com.my
(03) 7966-8224

S WE bid farewell to another year and welcome a new one,

there is no better time to reflect and look ahead.
Each individual has his or her own criteria of what constitutes a significant or successful year some may use professional
achievements as a gauge, while others may consider personal challenges.
Sean Sing, Michelle Gunaselan, Nicholas Yeap, Michelle Hee and
Farah Rani have each achieved significant leaps last year. No doubt,
their enthusiasm, spirit and determination will spill over into 2009,
making them figures to look out for.
The youths aged between 17 and 28 talk about the work they
did in 2008 and what this year holds for them.
Log on to www.rage.com.my to view more pictures from the
photoshoot.

Sean Sing, 17
Dodgeball player
HAVING no knowledge of the game did not stop Sean Sing from throwing himself headlong into the sport. In fact, all he knew about dodgeball
was from the movie Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story starring Ben Stiller
and Vince Vaughn.
So, when the Mad About Dodgeball (MAD) Association introduced the
game to Taylors University College in Petaling Jaya, Sean embraced it
wholeheartedly.
I had never heard about it before except from the movie. But when
MAD came to my college, I wanted to get involved since it was a new
sport and they were so enthusiastic about promoting it, Sean, 17,
explains.
This enthusiasm rubbed off on Sean so much so that he even formed
a team called the Taylors Hyenas in college. He currently captains the
team, which won the first ever inter-college dodgeball tournament held
recently.
Sean is quick to credit MAD with raising the profile of the sport, but it
is individuals like him (and other players of the game in Malaysia) who
have taken the sport beyond just a game played by a group of friends.
In fact, so in love is Sean with dodgeball that he is already planning
for bigger things this year.
We are hoping to have more than just one team, something like a
first team and second team, so we can be more competitive, Sean
explains.
We want to hold our own competition in college to find better players and organise friendly tournaments with other colleges.

Prop: The dodgeball

The ball is a bit battered but it signifies my efforts and
that of my teammates and the hard work we put into
training. Also, it is in the shape of a sphere which
reflects the symbol of unity that the sport aims to
achieve. Sean Sing

STARTWO, WEDNESDAY 7 JANUARY 2009

Michelle Hee, 21
Fashion designer
MICHELLE Hees success story is evidence of what a little support and perseverance can do for
you.
In Michelles case, she ended the year with two Malaysia International Fashion Award (MIFA)
awards MIFA Most Promising Designer and MIFA Best Avant Garde Designer.
Not bad for someone who only completed her fashion design course at Centre for Advanced
Design (Cenfad) in May 2008.
Michelles journey to being an award-winner was not without obstacles. It had always been
her dream to participate in MIFA but she was unable to juggle the commitment with her studies.
In 2008, even though she was done with her studies, Michelle had to scramble to submit her
entries as she only found out about the competition too close to the deadline.
(My application) was very last minute. My lecturer told me about it and I had to go find the
forms and fill them up, says the 21-year-old Johor Baru native.
I only had two weeks to create 10
designs!
Still, the rush job got her in among the
eight designers who were short-listed for
the competition, and she had three months
to translate her sketches into fashion pieces.
There were more troubles ahead; financial difficulties, and failure to obtain the
materials she had intended for the dresses
drove her to tears. She was close to giving
up.
Then she remembered the words of
encouragement someone once gave her:
Now that youre no longer a student, dont
make a fool of yourself.
With that thought in mind, she pushed on,
created her winning masterpieces titled
Tyranny of Beauty and is now ready to take
2009 by storm.
Up first is a solo fashion show tomorrow in
Kuala Lumpur. She also has dreams of opening
a boutique, where she plans to retail her
ready-to-wear collection of clothes under her
Chella brand.

Prop: Chella headgear

Im all about individuality and eccentricity. As a
designer, I want to create something new.
Wearing a headgear like this helps you
differentiate yourself from others. The headgear
was the item I used to start off Chella. It is a
reminder of who I am as I venture deeper into
the fashion industry. Michelle Hee

Clothes: TopShop
Hair: Jessy Lee
Make-up: Mei Ling
(XpressionMaster Make-Up
Academy)

Farah Rani, 21
Actress

Prop: Book titled Six Great

Modern Plays
When I act, the script is
probably one of the most
important things for me. I spend
a lot of time reading scripts and
analysing them; I like to be
ready for my part. I see the
words as a tool, giving you clues
on who the character (you are
playing) is. Farah Rani

PASSION drives us to do the craziest

things. In Farah Ranis case, her love
for theatre saw her getting involved
in seven productions in 2008. This is
no mean feat for any performer, let
alone a 21-year-old student who was
preparing a thesis for her law degree.
In 2008, I was very busy. I did two
improvisation shows, was the stage
manager fior Aladdin and Dancing
Through Broadway, performed in
Universiti Malayas Fast Cars and Fancy
Girls, and also did two shows with the
Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centres
Theatre For Young People. I also did Oh
My God! in December, says Farah, who
studies in Universiti Malaya.
She did not expect to do so much, but
her drive to develop her craft further
and to grab at whatever opportunity
that came her way meant that she
couldnt turn down the offers.
It just happened, I didnt plan it.
Things came up and I couldnt say no. Im
an opportunist in that sense.
Still, having survived the year with
very little sleep, Farah intends to take it a
little easier this year.
I need to graduate, so I have to finish my
thesis and then complete my internship, she
explains.
Then again, she already has an improvisation
show lined up soon, as well as a potential television show.
This year is a big year for me. I will decide
on things and figure out what my path is. I
hope that this is the year I will gain clarity.

YOUTH

T3

Nicholas Yeap, 28
Entrepreneur
As a life coach, Nicholas Yeaps dream is to reach out to at least 100,000 undergraduates to help them decide what they want to do with their life.
I have always wanted to help people, like undergraduates, who are lost and
dont know what they want to do in life, he says.
He chose to reach out to college and universities students through Zeros to
Heros, a board game on entrepreneurship which he brought in from Singapore.
I am the Malaysian rights holder for this game. I decided to bring it in because
it is in line with what I want to do as a life coach, says Nicholas, who became a
certified life coach in 2008.
Using the game, Nicholas has visited several tertiary institutions to talk to the
students about entrepreneurship. Now, he says, he has earned the monicker The
Zeros to Heros Guy.
Nicholas intention is to help young people discover their potential, and show
them that they are able to be successful. Instead of opting for part-time work, he
urges youths to be more
creative and develop entrepreneurship ideas to get
income. Along the way, he
hopes that this will help
them discover what they
want to do in the future.
In 2009, I want to focus
on covering more universities so that more people can
benefit from my workshops
and coaching, he shares.

Prop: Zeros to Heros

board game
The board game reflects so
much of what my identity
is. All the things Ive done
is related to
entrepreneurship, where
you make things happen
yourself. Also, I have also
been branded as the
Zeros to Heros guy.
Nicholas Yeap

Michelle Gunaselan, 24
Activist
THE last general elections was the first in which Michelle Gunaselan was eligible to vote.
It was my first election so I was feeling rather passionate about it but we (together
with her friend Sarah Chan) realised that we didnt know much about how the voting
process works beyond going to check if our name was on the ballot.
Michelle started asking herself: What does a ballot look like? and What is a saluran
(voting stream)?
Her inability to answer these questions led her and Sarah to create the Facebook group
VotED, which aims to deliver information regarding your different political choices and
parties in an un-biased, un-boring fashion.
In the few weeks leading up to the elections, the group garnered about 1,000
members. VotED also allowed Michelle to make connections with young Malaysians
living abroad, and helped them get information on how they could participate in the
voting process.
We received a lot of complaints about absentee ballots. The Electoral Commission
said you can vote from abroad, but the embassies were not informed, Michelle, who is
currently the editor of online journal Project Malaysia, shares.
So, our biggest achievement was when one of our members in Melbourne, Australia,
got 50 young Malaysians to send in absentee votes.
Michelles nonpartisan initiative came at a time when young Malaysians found themselves having to defend against allegations of apathy.
The impact young people, and new
technologies like Facebook, for example, had on the general elections last
year is well-documented.
Encouraged by the response VotED
received, Michelle is already looking
into strategies and funding to prepare
for the 13th General Elections, and
hopes to create a platform similar to
the United States Rock the Vote, an
initiative which engages youths in
the voting process using entertainment and youth culture.

Prop: Laptop
Im a writer, photographer and
editor so Im always on my laptop.
It doesnt leave me, Im always
with it. Also, it is because all my
work is online like Project
Malaysia or through Facebook
with VotED. Michelle
Gunaselan