Niki Cheong

You know you’re not very well liked when …

Dec 15, 2008 News Breaks 2 Comments

You get a shoe hurled at you!

I’m sorry but in a totally schadenfreude (getting pleasure from the misfortune of others) manner, I thought this was really funny (President George W Bush’s response to the shoe throwing is funnier though!). Okay, okay, so it’s not the nicest thing to wish to anyone but this goes to show that security personnel would need to worry about more than just checking for arms and weapons.

Now, will there be a ban on shoes to press conferences and future events involving world leaders?

Seriously though, the couple of news report I’ve read (and here) mentioned that there was blood on the carpet (but the source of it is unknown) and that the media organisation that shoe-thrower comes from has not heard from the reporter and that his mobile phone is switched off.

I hope he is fine.

p/s Sorry I’ve been so quiet folks. Between work, the show and my flu, I’m absolutely knackered!

7.28pm Malaysian time (+8 GMT)

Opening tonight: A Christmas Carol!

Dec 12, 2008 Performing Arts 8 Comments

Today’s the day folks!

A Christmas Carol, the show that I have been spending so much of the past two months rehearsing for, opens tonight at the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre. There’s isn’t much left that I haven’t said of it, so I’ll just say - please come watch!

I’ve had this image of me in costume hidden in my mailbox for the longest time - it was a publicity photo taken (except no one wanted to publish it heh heh) - so I thought I’d share it here since it hasn’t been used before. I don’t make it a habit of publishing my own shots here, but this is me in costume so - yeah, whatever. It’s my blog. :P

Hope to see you guys there.

Run is from tonight until Dec 28 - no shows on Monday and Christmas Eve. Sunday 3pm matinee only, all other shows 8.30pm. Call 03 4047 9000 to get your tickets.

p/s I promise that I won’t write that much about the show from now on (well, maybe the odd-occasion) and get back to my regular blogging and rantings!

10.43am Malaysian time (+8 GMT)

My interview with Anderson Cooper

Dec 10, 2008 People 7 Comments

I know the subject line for this post is a dead giveaway but guess who spoke to CNN anchor Anderson Cooper yesterday?

Me, of course!

I was going to save this for when the days the article I am writing on his new show - Planet in Peril: Battlelines - but I couldn’t resist. hehe

It was a short conversation about 15-20 minutes but I managed to get all my questions through. Which basically means that he went through my questions really quickly. I suppose as someone who knows the value of airtime, he was quick and concise with every reply. Which annoyed the shits out of me.

But who am I to complain? The moment he said, “Hello Niki”, I was like - Oh my effing god. ;) But I held my composure and survived the interview.

Still, it was an honour interviewing him - I have always looked at him as a role model. I joke often that when I grow up, I want to be a journalist like Anderson Cooper.

Except that it’s not much of a joke. For real.

5.15pm Malaysian time (+8 GMT)

The gift of hope

Dec 8, 2008 Rantings 2 Comments

Apologies for being quiet over the weekend. Funnily enough, I don’t even have work or rehearsals to use as an excuse - I had the couple of days off and I, well, took it a bit too seriously.

Nonetheless, here I am and I want to talk a little bit about the spirit of giving. No, I’m not talking about the show I’m in (A Christmas Carol, opening this Friday at KLpac - quick plug heh heh), but about World VIsion’s Gifts of Hope campaign.

I suppose it is ideal as this is the season for giving, with Christmas and whatnot.

I am promoting this because I myself will be making a contribution. I have, for the past few years, sponsored a child through the World Vision programme. He is from Lebanon. I didn’t know much about WV then but it was an international organisation, and as such, I went with it on good faith that the money I donated each month would be put to good use.

Some of you may remember that in June this year, I was invited - as a journalist - to visit rural Laos to see first hand the area in which WV Malaysia is looking to go into and help develop. Not only did I personally hear the plight of parents and children alike, I also saw first hand the living conditions of these people.

I was also taken to see the areas in which WV had already gone in through other programmes (not child sponsorship) and the difference is stark. I saw healthy crops of paddy, houses renovated because of a higher level of income, and schools being built among others.

I blogged about my trip. To read about it, and see pictures, click on these links.There are six parts to this travelogue. Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

This year, as a sponsor, I received again WV’s Gifts of Hope booklet which basically lists the different things you can pledge and donate too - from the purchase of sheep and cows for the Thais, biogas units (green alternative to firewood) for China, food for the North Koreans and the rebuilding of a classroom bombed during the war in Lebanon. Closer to home, you can purchase children’s workbooks and school univerforms for those living in Sarawak.

The one that struck a cord with me was obviously the Seed Fund for Laos. WV is building a fund to start a new development programme there, and this also serves as a preparation to starting the country’s child sponsorship programme.

I have told my friends in WV that I will sponsor another child once the programme in Laos starts. In the mean time, I plan to make a donation to this fund.

Click here to find out more about the Gifts of Hope programme. This campaign will be going on until March 31, 2009.

4.08pm Malaysian time (+8 GMT)

One week to go

Dec 6, 2008 Performing Arts 2 Comments

I meant to post this a little earlier today but got busy with work and a wedding tonight that I was emceeing. I’m home now and thought, it’s a couple of minutes before midnight so I can still update it.

Well, remember how I talked about A Christmas Carol - the play I am going to be in soon - and that I said you’ll never hear the last of it?

I meant it. I won’t say much except that it’s exactly a week before we open - Dec 12 (and runs to Dec 28). So I thought I’d share the video from the press preview we did a couple of weeks ago.

I hope you enjoyed it and will come watch. You can call 03 4047 9000 to get your tickets.

See you there! And wish me luck!

11.59pm Malaysian time (+8 GMT)