Sivasangari Subramaniam Wins Asian Games Gold & Qualifies for LA28 Olympics!

Sivasangari Subramaniam is the very first female squash player to qualify for the Olympics after successfully defending her women's singles title at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games today. 💖💖💖

The Malaysian put on a dominant, flawless performance to defeat India's world No. 17 Anahat Singh, in straight games 11-4, 11-4, 11-7 in a time of twenty-four minutes.

In badminton, Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan have secured at least a bronze by beating India's Gayatri Gopichand–Treesa Jolly 21-18, 21-9 in 42 minutes in the quarter-finals. 

They are the first Malaysian women's doubles pair to step onto an Asian Games podium since Vivian Hoo and Woon Khe Wei claimed bronze at the 2014 Incheon Games in South Korea. 

A tougher test awaits Pearly–Thinaah in tomorrow's semi-finals against China's world No. 1 Liu Sheng Shu–Tan Ning, but the Malaysian pair has proven time and again that they can pull off thrilling upsets when they are in sync.

Public Speaking and Fish & Chips 🎤🐟🍟

Yesterday marked my fourth Toastmasters club meeting across three consecutive days.

This time around, it was a joint meeting of the ITF and Kajang Toastmasters Clubs. The venue was much nearer for me – at the Blue Reef Fish & Chips @ TTDI Kuala Lumpur. I was grateful to secure a speaking slot, where I delivered my project assignment, "The Sprint". 🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️This was speech #953.

The title refers to my decision to actively continue making speeches – a commitment that has evolved into a 1,000-speech marathon. To reach this goal is, I reckon, an incredible milestone. 

To put it into perspective, delivering one speech every single week without fail means it takes nearly 19 years to cross the finish line. It truly is a lifelong marathon made up of many intense sprints! 🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️

What was supposed to be a standard meeting quickly transformed into a rigorous test of my focus and adaptability. I came mentally prepared for just one major task: to deliver my prepared project speech. However, due to a last-minute change, I was pulled in to serve as the Table Topics Evaluator as well. 

In the end, it was a high-stakes, fast-paced mental workout – especially since I flew completely without notes for both my own speech and the evaluations. The unique sequence of the meeting kept my brain running in overdrive from start to finish. 

Definitely, a dynamic yet demanding discipline.

To wrap up Saturday's meeting, my co-author who is from the Kajang club – the irrepressible Ahmad Fakhri – predictably did an amazing job as General Evaluator, and we were stoked to send three of our books (one Diamond, two Pearls) home with new readers! 🥳📖✨

80% of New DRC Ebola Cases Untracked

Health authorities battling the Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo have identified only about 30,000 people who may have been exposed to the virus, a fraction of the more ‌than 400,000 expected through contact tracing. 

Dr. Jean Kaseya, director-general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said the shortfall showed the outbreak remained entrenched in communities despite signs of progress. More than 80% of new confirmed cases were being detected among people who were not already on contact lists, suggesting transmission is still occurring beyond the reach of surveillance efforts. 

For every confirmed Ebola case, health authorities would expect to identify about 60 people who had direct or indirect ⁠contact with the infected person, Kaseya told Reuters on Friday.  With roughly 7,000 confirmed cases, that would translate into about 420,000 contacts. 

"But currently, we have just 30,000 people in the contact list", Kaseya said. 

"When the outbreak is at community level, we cannot talk about control", he added. 

The Ebola outbreak was detected in May and is already the second largest on record, behind one in West Africa from 2014 to 2016.

Sivasangari Subramaniam is one match away from defending her Asian Games gold medal and earning a spot at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics after advancing to the women's final in Nagoya, Japan yesterday. 

The world No. 5 had defeated Hong Kong's world No. 21 Chan Sin Yuk 3-0 (11-6, 11-8, 11-7) in the semi-finals.

Meanwhile, in badminton, Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan made an assured start to their Asian Games individual campaign with straight-games victories on Friday. The World No. 5 Malaysian pair overcame Indonesia's ninth-ranked Febi Setianingrum-Rachel Allessya Rose 21-13, 21-11 to reach the women's doubles second round.

On Saturday, they booked their spot in the quarter-finals when they prevailed over Thailand's Napapakorn Tungkasatan and Hathaithip Mijad 21-8, 21-12 in just 29 minutes.

Frightened, Fearful, Fragile: The Architecture of Connection

On Friday, I attended another Toastmasters meeting – this time at YMCA Kuala Lumpur – where I presented a prepared speech. 

I am indebted to NAWEM's Catherine Paul who connected me to Ranjina Jacob of YMCA KL Toastmasters Club, who kindly gave me a speaking slot. It means a lot to me because the speech "Frightened, Fearful and Fragile" represents my #952 speech! 

My speech reframes public speaking anxiety not as a sign of weakness, but as a metric of deep respect for the audience and the cost of achieving excellence. By openly weaving the raw realities of being "frightened, fearful, and fragile" throughout the narrative, I served as a living example of the message. 

When all is said and done, this reveals a speaker who views the stage not as a comfort zone, but as a crucible for constant self-challenge.

This is my personal opinion 👉. I felt that the whole meeting ambience was low-key and reserved. I wouldn't say that the members were rigid, and yet, the environment felt restrained. This is likely because most of the members present are relatively new and naturally finding their footing. 

However, the deeper issue seems to be that they haven't properly understood why things were done the way they were done, possibly because the foundation passed down by the club's seniors wasn't entirely clear, coherent or even complete to begin with. 

Having said this, of course, the club is free to choose how they wish to run their meetings. I note that my views may not be agreeable to others – and I accept that.

Yay-y-y! I'm delighted to have pushed out 3 more sets of my public speaking books (6 copies total across both titles).

Gucci’s ‘Made in China’ Gamble

Gucci have begun selling new luxury sneaker models called Drip and labelled ‘Made in China’, a break with their Italian manufacturing tradition that some industry watchers say could undermine the brand’s high-end image as they race to win back middle-class shoppers. 

The move highlights the challenge facing Gucci designer Demna, who must create innovative products while keeping costs under control to attract so-called aspirational shoppers, the bulk of luxury consumers who are more price-sensitive than the super-rich. 

The Drip sneaker, made from nylon, canvas or suede, and described on Gucci’s website as “Demna’s first sneaker for Gucci”, went on sale last month as part of the designer’s ‘Primavera’ collection. Retailing at around €800 in Europe and $1,000 in the United States, it is cheaper than many other Gucci shoes, though still firmly in the luxury category. 

The Drip is a break from Gucci’s more traditional white leather laced Ace sneakers, and its sock-like shape is reminiscent of Demna’s chunky sneaker designs at Balenciaga which were a streetwear hit in the late 2010s. 

All other Gucci shoes carrying a country-of-origin label on the website are made in Italy.

On Thursday, Malaysia's Sivasangari Subramaniam began her defence of the Asian Games individual crown with a dominant 3-0 (11-3, 11-5, 11-3) win over Sri Lanka's Chanithma Sinaly in 17 minutes to cruise into the last eight. 

Yesterday, the world No. 5 stayed on course after defeating Hong Kong’s Ho Tze Lok. She only needed 25 minutes to knock out the world No. 39, 3-0 (11-8, 11-7, 11-8).

Two Toastmasters Meetings in One Day

On Thursday, I attended two back-to-back Toastmasters meetings, one in PJ and the other in KL.

For both occasions, I was the General Evaluator. And at both clubs, I participated in Table Topics and was thrilled to be voted Best TT Speaker. Going two for two feels wonderful! 😁😁

At the IJM Toastmasters meeting, I was floored because it was not the IJM meetings I was familiar with during those days when I frequented them. 

This time, the enthusiasm, the exuberance, and the energy was palpable, penetrating, and purposeful.

There were four project speeches and three impromptu speeches on the lineup. And the speeches and evaluations were presented with great aplomb. 

I can't quite describe it, but the environment was ebulliently effusive. I felt it – I absolutely did – and I loved it. 

I really hope they keep this up because I'll be so glad to come back. 

Great meeting, IJM Toastmasters! 

Later in the evening, I was at the Metro Toastmasters meeting. Right in the pulsating heart of Kuala Lumpur. 

At Ramada Suites By Wyndham KLCC, No. 1, Lorong Ceylon in Bukit Ceylon.

Two project speeches and five impromptu speeches. It was a "quieter" meeting, but I was especially intrigued by the second assignment speech: Kwong Kang Choon with his presentation titled "Treachery of Love". It was deep, dense, and deliberative – the kind of multi-layered speech that you can't just listen to once, but really need time to sit with and digest. 

Overall, it was still an enjoyable meeting. And so grateful for the warm vibes!

I am thankful to be given the opportunity to promote my books and, altogether, from the two meetings, I sold six sets of The Diamond and The Pearls books.