Kiwi teen golfer Lydia Ko is hot property

Teenage golfer Lydia Ko could be about to join Tiger Woods, Michelle Wie and New Zealand's own Danny Lee.

Management giant IMG, who also represent Roger Federer and Justin Timberlake, has confirmed to Sunday News they are tracking the supremely talented Aucklander – the world No 1 women's amateur.

David Rollo, vice-president of IMG's golf division, says while formal talks cannot begin until Ko relinquishes her amateur status, the 14-year-old is "definitely on the radar".

"I've had emails on her from our guys who look after our female athletes and LPGA players in the United States," Rollo said.

"She's very young right now but obviously someone who has got a very, very bright future in front of her.

"I've not met Lydia, or her family, yet. But her results speak for themselves.

"The rules are clear in terms of amateur golfers and professional representation, we need to be respectful of that just as we are with any recruitment.

"But the process would be similar to other instances – you build a relationship with an athlete and when the time comes to turn professional, hopefully you're well placed to secure their services."

Earlier this year, aged 13, Ko became the first female to hold both the New Zealand and Australian amateur champion titles.

Professional 2011 events have further reinforced her talent, finishing fourth in February's New Zealand Open and runner-up, by a single stroke, in the previous month's New South Wales Open – where victory would have seen her become the youngest winner of a women's professional tournament.

She is the youngest player to make the cut in a Ladies European Tour event – a feat achieved when she was 12.

This week Ko flies to the UK to compete in the British Amateur Championship before a crucial American trip in July, where she will attempt to qualify for the US Amateur Championship.

Ko's amateur status has stopped her from banking more than $50,000 in earnings this year but New Zealand Golf are looking after her. Chief executive Dean Murphy says she is vital to the development of the sport and is one of 47 amateur's benefitting from NZG trusts.

"Lydia has really shown Kiwis can get out there and be the best in the world," Murphy said.

"The top trust accounts we have wouldn't be over $20,000 but they're there to help with travel and accommodation expenses for overseas tournaments. Tournaments they otherwise might not be able to attend."

Source Stuff

Lawrence Leung's Unbelievable - Trailer (ABC1)

Lawrence Leung's trailer for his new show on ABC1.

(Thanks Emily)

Early footage of Chris Pang's dad teaching Wing Chun

Just found some newly uploaded vids of Chris Pang's dad, Barry, teaching Wing Chun at Monash Uni.  This was filmed in 1982 and the first thing I thought of was Barry's M-U-L-L-E-T.  Lol, very impressive.  Barry has been teaching Kung Fu for over thirty years now.

To see Chris reenacting a scene from a Jackie Chan movie click here.

Jayesslee Touring with David Choi

Jayesslee will be joining David Choi on the Australian-leg of his tour. They are doing shows in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney during July. More info at Monsoon Productions.

Law degree to transform lives

Educating influence ... the inspirational Ngoc Tram Nguyen.

A university is offering a scholarship to help students from poor backgrounds, writes Yuko Narushima.

A Cabramatta street kid who believed in the transformative power of education is the inspiration for a new law scholarship at the University of NSW.

Australians who have never met Ngoc Tram Nguyen may already be familiar with her words. Her forthright assessment of how young Vietnamese people in the suburb were judged opened a highly acclaimed 2003 film.

''They think we are low-lifes capable of nothing. They think we are finished people,'' Nguyen said.

The Finished People, directed by Koah Do, attributed the quote to a 19-year-old street kid. But Nguyen became much more. At the time of her sudden death at the age of 24, she was a mother, a UNSW research assistant and a friend to the academics now starting a scholarship in her name. The scholarship will pay for a socially disadvantaged person from south-western Sydney to study law.

A professor at the university's Kirby Institute, Lisa Maher, first met Nguyen in 1995 as part of her field research in south-western Sydney.

''She was exceptionally bright, very street savvy but, at the same time, vulnerable,'' Maher says. ''She was 'street frequenting', I guess is the best way to describe it, when people move in and out of home and spend a lot of time on the streets.''

The heroin epidemic of the late 1990s touched young people across the suburb. Teenagers were often caught between the old world of their parents' Vietnam and the new social attitudes of Australia, Maher says. They were socially dislocated while refugee parents worked long hours to establish their families in Australia.

It was Nguyen who steered the academic's health study on heroin use in a new direction, explaining why young people were hesitant to open up about their experiences.

''There were much more pressing priorities than catching blood-borne infections like hepatitis C or HIV,'' Maher says. ''People were just trying to stay alive, trying to keep the police off their backs and trying to avoid being arrested.''

She recruited Nguyen and began studying the relationship between young people with Asian backgrounds and police in Cabramatta.

Wendy Swift, from UNSW's national drug and alcohol research centre, and UNSW law dean David Dixon co-authored the paper.

The purpose of the Ngoc Tram Nguyen Scholarship is to tap in to the potential of people such as Nguyen, and will be awarded for the first time next year.

''She didn't have a lot of formal schooling but she was one of those people who have intellectual ability just blooming out of her,'' Dixon says.

''You could tell that if she was just given the opportunity to develop that, she could do anything that she wanted to do.''

Nguyen was set on becoming a lawyer. She was enrolled in a foundation course at the university and was blunt about her ambition.

''I'd like to get a degree so that what I have to say will be heard and listened to by important people who can't say that I haven't been there and done that or that I'm not educated,'' she said.

''My main aim is to help my friends and my community, maybe not straightaway but some day. At least now I can see that day.''

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

Kiwi Asian Wins Masterchef NZ

MasterChef winner Nadia Lim says she cannot wait to get stuck into her new life as a celebrity chef after keeping quiet about her win for six months.

Eight hundred and fifty thousand people tuned in to see Lim topple rival Jax Hamilton on TV ONE last night.

Now she is a household name and planning for a busy future.

"I'm going part time at my dietician job at the Diabetes Foundation," the 25-year old told ONE News.

"I'm doing some work with the Heart Foundation, the Nutrition Foundation and I really want to get stuck into doing the cookbook so I'm looking forward to lots of time in the kitchen."

Lim has been busy already with a string of photshoots and interviews. Last year's MasterChef winner, Brett MacGregor said she should get used to it.

"I think she should be prepared not to spend too much time at home," he said.

Poker face

Lim says she developed a "really good poker face" when the show ended so as not to reveal she was the winner.

"I just went back to normal life," Nadia told TV ONE's Breakfast.

She said despite being pushed by people, she would never have revealed she was the one.

"I would get quite a lot of questions in the beginning but once people realised they couldn't get anything out of me, they stopped asking."

That pressure was nothing compared to the palpable tension in the final, when Nadia said that despite having a six point lead over 45-year-old mum Jax Hamilton going into the " macaroon challenge" she still didn't think she had definitely won.

"I thought I could easily lose this... Jax is a really good cook and it was a dessert tower. I'm not good at towers as we saw in one of the other other episodes."

For a few seconds at the finish Nadia still wasn't 100% sure because they both had "really good towers" - but Jax's hopes were dashed in the "dessert disaster" as her tower began to disintegrate.

"It was disappointing to see that... I can't put myself in Jax's shoes," said Nadia.

It was the first occasion in which Jax became tearful, something Nadia was renowned for throughout the competition.

But Nadia told Corin Dann on Breakfast that wasn't the real her.

"The tears were really annoying," the 25-year-old said. "I just couldn't help it. My friends have said they have seen me cry more times on the show than they have since they've known me. And it's like watching a different person."

She said the tears may have come from the intense pressure over the weeks. When the cameras stopped rolling each day, the contestants couldn't just go home and take a break.

"It was three months away from friends and family and not being able to see them," Nadia said. "The big thing was we weren't allowed out of the house, not a foot outside the door. We couldn't even go for a short walk."

Jax agreed. She told Good Morning today that she wasn't "normally a crier".

"It all came to a head at the end. How could there not be tears? It's partly about it being the end of the show as well. The tears just came," she said.

Jax said she had a hard time keeping the secret of her final loss from her friends and felt quite emotional about it.

"My friends were really gutted, they thought I had it in the bag and it was hard to look them in the face and know that I hadn't," she admitted.

Low expectations

The Aucklander admits she didn't even expect to get through the first round of interviews and took the contest "challenge by challenge".

She said she was really happy to get into the top 12 and once she got to the top six she started thinking, "I really could do this and I'm going to go for it".

Lim said she liked all the invention tests but wasn't a fan of the pressure tests where they had to follow a recipe and had a strict timeframe.

"At home I'm more of a cook where you put in a little bit of this, taste a little bit of that...

"I like freestyle cooking. I follow recipes sometimes but I prefer to have lots of ingredients on the table and look at the colours and the types of food there and make something from that."

Nadia, a nutritionist, believes that cooking by colour makes a difference nutritionally. "If there's more colours there's going to be more vitamins and minerals in it too."

The new MasterChef is still revelling in the judges' praise of her pork belly, with Simon Gault saying it was the best thing he had ever eaten in MasterChef history.

"I couldn't believe it," she said.

And Nadia is full of praise for the judges, Gault, Josh Emett and Ray McVinnie, whom she describes as good guys.

"Simon said at one point 'I feel like I am everyone's dad. The three of them are so genuine. They really cared and were very supportive and encouraging."

She says her plans now are firmly focused on the food industry.

"I've kind of known that since I was young that my career could only involve food, my biggest passion."

Nadia will be writing a series of recipes for the Heart Foundation on their website.

"I realise how much of an impact what and how we eat has on our health, including our heart health," Nadia said. "Problems such as diabetes and cardio vascular disease are growing when so much of it could be prevented, which is sad."

She said her work with the Heart Foundation allows her to break stereotypes and show how 'fine food' can also have a healthy twist.

Nadia's first recipe for the Heart Foundation, Miso Glazed Salmon with Rainbow Noodles, is on their site while all the MasterChef show's recipes are here.

Nadia won a cookbook deal, cash and a new car - a black Skoda that she got the keys to on Breakfast this morning.

If you missed the epic two hour Grand Final, watch it here.

Source: TVNZ

Sixty Minutes - Top of the Class

http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8248785

"May 15, 2011: It's no secret. At our most prestigious schools and universities, the names at the top of the honour rolls are now all Asian. And the reason is just as obvious; they study far more than their western classmates. But what has now been revealed, in a best-selling book by a Chinese mum, is how that achievement is often driven by the extreme expectations of demanding mothers."

View segment and transcript here: Sixty Minutes

Siow in UK Men's Health Magazine

Here are some shots that Siow did for UK Men's Health magazine.  The mag will be out in June, only in the UK though.

View the rest of the pics at Siow's fanpage.

Frontiers of pop: Being a rock star in Sydney ain't easy

LOL @ the crowd at 6:50

HE won the inaugural Sydneyvision Song Contest with his layered, well-structured, clean sound and now Dyan Tai is using social media to reach new audiences.

Tai moved to Sydney in 2007 after being crowned King of Cool in a Malaysian talent contest and has since opened a show for Jessica Mauboy and performed live on Sydney commercial radio.

He released his first EP with a three-piece band in April.

“For other people to be aware of my music, especially my homies in Malaysia, I am releasing the EP on YouTube,” Tai said.

Tai trained in classical piano and violin from an early age and later gained a science honours degree in cell biology.

“I got so sick of classical music. Then I started singing. My music is Prince-esque, MJ (Michael Jackson), gospel R and B, occasional belting.

“Its harder being an Asian Australian in the industry, but people remember me for who I am. It makes me work harder. There’s only one guy with 7-inch hair and a sparkly keytar.”

The keytar, which features to great effect in his award-winning song Why Sydney, is a dangerous thing.

The mirrors cut Tai’s fingers when he plays.

But of course, rejection hurts more.

“People used to say no one will book you and that really hurts. It just made me work harder.”

Source

Dyan Tai on Facebook.
Dyan Tai's Webby

Boombox Tour - Checkout the local supporting acts!

So the Boombox Tour is coming up very soon featuring Yanks KevJumba, Nigahiga, D-Pryde and also local acts JayessLee and Maribelle Anes.  In addition to these acts the tour will also feature local peeps who won the online youtube competition in their respective cities.  There are far too many to list so check 'em out for your self here!

Cheltzie Lee through to 2nd stage at worlds

Australian winter Olympian Cheltzie Lee progressed to the second stage of the women's competition after a sizzling first round performance at the figure skating world championships in Moscow.

The 18-year-old from Sydney successfully landed a difficult triple toe loop jump combination to finish 18th in the short program which was won by South Korea's Yuna Kim with Miko Ando from Japan second and Russia's Ksenia Makarova third.

Lee skated a program choreographed by England's 1980 gold medallist Robin Cousins to clinch a position in the top 24 that propelled her into the final round of competition on Saturday.

Lee, who divides her training between Sydney and Colorado Springs in the US, finished 20th at the Winter Olympics last year.

She followed that with a 17th place at the 2010 World Championships in Torino, Italy, and came 10th in the Four Continents in Taipei, Taiwan in February.

Current world champion Mao Asada proved disappointing after coming seventh in the short program.


Source: The West

Masterchef Australia 2011 Asian Australians

Man I'm so over Masterchef now. From runner up in 2009 to winner in 2010, it's been quite a good run on white Australian television. It's also provided us with some very recognisable AA faces and household names like Poh Ling Yeoh, Adam Liaw and Alvin Quah. We seem to be well represented this year as well, here are the Asian Australians in the Top 50 of Masterchef 2011.

Billy Law, 34, NSW

Craig Pedrola, 42, NSW

Dai Do, 29, SA

Gemma Seeto, 26, QLD

Brother-in-law charged with murdering Lin family in North Epping

Source

The Lin family

POLICE have charged a family member with the high profile brutal killing of the Lin family in Epping in 2009. 
 
Robert Xie, 47, the brother-in-law of Min Lin was arrested at his home in North Epping just after 9am.

Detectives with Strike Force Norburn took Xie to Parramatta Police Station and charged with five counts of murder.
Robert Xie chose not to appear in Parramatta Local Court when the charges were mentioned. He did not make an application for bail and it was formally refused by the magistrate.
The charges were adjourned to Central Local Court on July 1.
Yun Li "Lilly'' Lin, 43, her newsagent husband Min Lin, 45, their sons, and the boys' aunt, Lilly's sister Irene, were bludgeoned to death as they lay in their beds.

The investigations were launched following the discovery of the bodies inside their home on Boundary Rd at North Epping on the morning of Saturday 18 July 2009.

Homicide Squad Commander, Detective Superintendent Peter Cotter said today: "This was a tragic incident and one of the largest single homicides in NSW history. 

"The investigators have never given up, and today is testimony to their dedication, and the culmination of 2 years of intense investigation.''

Police this afternoon described Xie's arrest as a "very significant day'' for the Lin family and investigators, saying they now had ``sufficient evidence'' following a two year investigation that crossed international borders.

Homicide squad commander Detective Superintendent Peter Cotter said police would allege that Xie acted alone, bludgeoning the five family members to death with a still-unidentified weapon on July 18, 2009.

"When the opportunity presented itself, the accused took it,'' Mr Cotter said.

"Not long after he entered the house, five people lay dead.''

Police also allege that other people/ family members  may have been woken by the sounds of their parents being killed, possibly interacting with their uncle before he allegedly attacked them.

Mr Cotter said there was some evidence that two family members might have woken and there might have been some interaction between them and the accused.

Police allege the case is based on circumstantial evidence,  and forensic evidence from the hundreds of exhibits that had been examined.

Investigators had been focusing on Xie for "the best part of two years'', with an extensive five day search of his North Epping home last year and extensive surveillance.
Mr Cotter said another member of the Lin family,  was "surprised'' by the arrest

Xie's wife Kathy Lin is not expected to be charged in relation to the murders.  The highly-secretive NSW Crime Commission was also involved in the investigation.

Xie and his wife, Kathy, took over the running of the Lin's newsagency after the murders.  It was the couple who discovered the bodies.

Xie, who was born in Ghuanzhou, China, ran a buffet-style Chinese restaurant in Melbourne which he opened in December 2001.

In 2004, he was knocked back by the Migration Review Tribunal when he applied to bring over three chefs from China so he upgrade to an upmarket restaurant.

He has said that as a result, his restaurant folded, when he then moved to Sydney where he was unemployed before taking over the Lin family's newsagency.

Robert Xie and wife at a press conference in 2009

Asian Australian Online Survey

Got a couple of minutes to spare?  Michael is an AA doing an Honours thesis looking at Asian-Australians and how we perceive ourselves, our identities, stereotypes, other Australian groups, society, interracial relations, etc. He needs some Asian-Australian participants to do an online survey.

If you are interested, you can access the questionnaire via the link below:
http://uqpsych.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_cNNE83uo4cHiDeQ