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> Young champion

Congratulations, Sivasangari. You have made Malaysia proud! Keep cool and calm and more victories will come. - Malaysian

I really praise S. Sivasangari for her courage and sacrifice as she was willing to forgo her Deepavali celebrations to play squash. This shows that she will go far and might even take over our squash queen Datuk Nicol David’s place in the squash arena. Keep it up, Sivasangari. – Devan, Batu Caves

> Prevent trouble

The Attorney-General has deemed an article by a Malaysian blogger based in Manchester to be highly defamatory of him and has threatened to sue him. This blogger has also written a highly incendiary article capable of inciting racial hatred in this country. We can do without such histrionics. The authorities much take immediate action to block the writings of this blogger lest some trouble is occasioned thereby. – Beatle No.5

> When tragedy strikes

As fingers point this way and that after the landslide in Tanjung Bungah, Penang, let us keep in our prayers the families of the three dead and the 11 still unaccounted for, including Malaysian site supervisor Yuan Kuok Wern. – MAM The tragic landslide in Tanjung Bungah would have happened sooner or later because of the typical Malaysian psyche of not believing that “prevention is better than cure”. We always have floods at the end of the year but usually no effort is made by the relevant authorities to unclog the drains and clear the silted rivers before the rains come. Our well-known adage: “Apa boleh buat”. If the relevant authorities had exercised their responsibilities against indiscriminate hillslope developments, this tragedy could have been avoided. It is sheer failure of planning and development. – PJ Gomes

The relevant authorities must be strict on safety issues in construction sites. Without pointing fingers and pending the investigations, development projects that involve tree felling and quarrying in hilly areas can cause instability to slopes especially in wet weather. These hazards plus soil erosion must be evaluated for all unsafe areas to prevent a tragedy like this from happening again. – CT Tan

> Aiming high

Congratulations once again to our team and their record-breaking performance at the recent KL SEA Games. With the Queens Baton Relay having just visited Malaysia, it is a good time to think about the Commonwealth Games 2018 at the Gold Coast, Australia. Our aim must be to springboard from the KL SEA Games to beat our previous best in Delhi in 2010. This is the only way we can improve our results at the higher levels of international competition. – JC