M'sian MP rapped for chauvinistic remarks against women drivers

Petaling Jaya (The Star/ANN) - Malaysia's women's groups have slammed the sexist remarks by Bung Mokhtar Radin against women drivers, calling him a disgrace.
Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said Bung's statement against women drivers was completely uncalled for and offensive.
"We are gathering statistics on road accidents from the police to get a clearer picture about the allegation," she said in a statement.
Bung Mokhtar, who is Kinabatangan MP, had claimed that most women drivers were slow and paid little attention while on the road.
"When you honk at them, they get agitated with some even showing hand gestures to other drivers," he said in Parliament on Monday.
All Women's Action Society (AWAM) acting president Ho Yock Lin called for Bung Mokhtar to resign immediately.
"He is an utter disgrace as a parliamentarian and an embarrassment to his party," she said.
Women's Aid Organisation executive director Ivy Josiah said "Bung has driven home the point that he is truly a sexist MP who does not deserve our vote."
She added that the Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG) had rightly listed Bung as one of the many sexist MPs in 2008.
Expressing shock over the remark, Wanita Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) vice-chairman Senator Heng Seai Kie called on Bung Mokhtar to undergo a mandatory course on gender equality.
"His pathetic utterances betray his warped mentality which has no place in Malaysia," she said.
Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) vice-president Nurul Izzah described Bung's sexist remark as being devoid of factual statistics.
The statement also sparked a heated debate on Facebook with some male users agreeing with Bung while women lashed out against him.
On Twitter, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng called Bung a threat to gender equality and said: "Maybe Bung will suggest next that women drivers be banned since they are such a menace."
The report was also carried by international news agency AFP.
This is not the first time Bung had made a controversial statement.
In response to a female opposition MP during a debate about Parliament's leaking roofs in 2007, Bung said: "Where is the leak? (She) leaks every month, too." He later apologised.
A poll posted on The Star Online asking readers if they agreed with Bung's remark that women are lousy drivers revealed that almost 4,000 people had voted with respondents equally split.

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/msian-mp-rapped-chauvinistic-remarks-against-women-drivers-20110329-211002-267.html

Maxine Koo wants to become an actress in Korea

Seoul (The Korea Herald/ANN) - Despite being born to an affluent family, speaking seven languages and having a superb educational background, a 26-year-old Hong Kong woman wants to become an entertainer in South Korea, Korean media reported.
Maxine Koo, who majored in economics and English literature at Cornell University, expressed her strong desire to nurture her acting career here.
"I liked Korea ever since watching the drama 'My Name is Kim Sam-soon.' I really like Korean entertainers and therefore want to become an actress here," she said.
Koo starred in a fashion program "Launch My Life," where she serves as a translator for Yoo Ah-in, a popular Korean actor playing the program's title role.
In 2009, Koo starred in "Global Talk Show," a popular KBS program that featured a panel of foreign women talking about their experiences in Korea.
Last year, Koo played one of the main roles for the seventh season of a hugely popular "Bad Girls' Diary," a reality cable show depicting a luxurious lifestyle of girls born to the wealthy families.
Koo can speak Cantonese, Mandarin, Shanghai dialect, English, French, Japanese and Korean, partly due to her experience of living in different countries including Canada, the United States, China, France and Japan.
Koo came back to Korea after working at a firm on Wall Street in the U.S. and Lehman Brothers in Japan.
"People think I have everything but having a good background doesn't mean you have a happy life. Without my background, I am just the girl next door. I want to make my dreams come true and live in Korea for a long time," said Koo.

Comments:
Judging from some of the comments below, I am under the impression that a lot of people are prejudiced to the entertainment industry. I suppose our society thinks that people who attain good grades should become doctors, lawyers, engineers, managers and ministers.

I believe being an entertainer involves a lot of brainpower. You will need to learn effective ways to entertain people. You will need to think of ways to educate and inform through entertaining people. You need to learn how to condition yourself to gruelling schedules and manage people as an entertainer.

Entertaining people does not necessarily mean being in front of the cameras. You may be involved in backstage work which is equally if not more taxing than acting.

Look at Jiang Wen. He is an entertainer. He has directed good films, been in good films. But I will hesitate to call him a person having High IQ and Low EQ or call his job as one that does not require any brains.