Tew Nai Tong's Last Solo Exhibition - Glories Catalogue

9 Workout Myths That Might Be Holding You Back

9 Workout Myths That Might Be Holding You Back

Marisa Swanson May 15th, 2013 It's true that science and medicine have had their fair share of misjudgments. Every few years or so, a fad diet or exercise comes out that adds a new myth to our collective conscious about how to be healthy. Inevitably, some of those ideas prove to be false as we learn more about how our bodies work. There are a handful of workout myths based on former "facts" that some of us are still loyal to as we try to figure out the best way to be (and stay) healthy. Here's a rundown of what you may be getting wrong at the gym. Myth: Cool-down and Warm-ups Help Prevent Soreness Australian researchers recently gave test subjects a workout that was sure to make their muscles sore the next day, but before they did it, they had some subjects do a treadmill walk warm-up, others were told to cool-down, and still others were instructed to do both while the control group did neither. Turns out, warm-ups and cool-downs don't necessarily prevent soreness. A cool-down walk will help get your blood pumping back to normal levels, which might prevent lightheadedness, which not everyone is prone to. Welcome to shaving off your gym time by 20 minutes! Myth: Thin People Don't Need to Exercise So many of us fall prey to this belief, even if we don't like to admit it. For most, exercise is not fun so any excuse to skip it is approved of and readily believed. The truth is, exercise (and ridding yourself of excess fat) has so much to do with your overall health, not just how you look. If you don't have enough muscle tone related to fat, you can still be at risk for the same diseases as those who are obese, regardless of your jeans size. Myth: Pilates Will Give You Long, Lean Muscles Remember when this idea came about several years ago? Pilates was the way to get that gorgeous, long, thin, ballerina body. Pretty good marketing on the part of Pilates proponents. The fact is, your muscles are as long right now as they'll ever be. That's determined by genetics, not exercise. If you're looking to have a leaner look (as in more slender), try Pilates in conjunction with cardio and a healthy diet. Myth: Crunches Are the Best Way to Work Your Abs Chances are you already know this, but I thought I'd include it just in case. Studies have been conducted in which participants worked out their core with traditional crunches while others used ab exercises done with and on an exercise ball. One of the more recent studies happened in 2010 and was published in the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therap, according to MSN's fitbie site. The study showed the "best" exercise for a six pack was the roll-out and pike (you can see it demonstrated via YouTube). These moves minimized strain on other parts of the body and maximized ab muscle work. Myth: You Can Target Specific Body Parts Through Exercise Don't let the last bit of info fool you, thinking you can burn fat and tone just one part of your body is foolhardy. Your genetics and gender play a part in how your body burns fat, where, and in what order. While you can focus on strengthening a certain muscle group, don't think that alone is going to turn that part of your body into perfection while the rest of you that you've deemed good enough stays as is. If you're looking for better arms and abs, do arm and ab exercises, and legs, and cardio. Full body workouts are your best bet to getting your "lacking" area into shape the most efficiently. Myth: There is a "Fat Burning Zone" This one goes back to the 1980s when aerobics were all the rage. It's simply not true. Even machines at the gym have ideal "fat burning zone" monitors, that's how pervasive this myth has been. According to Maik Wiedenbach, a NYC-based trainer, the best way to burn fat quickly is through a mix of high and low intensity intervals. He also mentions that each individual body works differently, thus making it impossible for a machine to generically tell you when you've hit your "target zone." Myth: You Can Shed Pounds Just By Doing Cardio So many women think all they have to do to shed a few pounds is do more cardio. No. No. No. Exercise actually offers little in terms of burning calories (that is compared to the effectiveness of consuming fewer calories that comes from healthy eating). While any exercise is better for your health than none, don't expect weight to shed reasonably fast without also including a healthier diet and weight training in the mix. Working your muscles via strength training increases calorie burning between workouts and over time. A diet allows you to consume fewer calories, allowing your body to use up said calories for energy rather than fat storage. And cardio adds a little extra calorie burning action to the mix to aid in weight loss. The holy trinity of fitness (and weight loss) is cardio, strength training, and healthy eating. Myth: Every Exercise Works for Everyone If you're using how much you sweat to determine your efficiency in exercise, you could be making a mistake. Again, it goes back to the individuality of each person's metabolism, sex and genetics. Because we're all different, there's just isn't one exercise that's best for every person. Work hard, and regularly, to see results. Myth: You Should Focus on Strength Training to Tone Up Women love to talk about how they just want to "tone up." It's one of my personal mantras. But I've learned that it lends itself to misguided thinking. Your muscles are already toned, it's the fat on top of the muscle that prevents anyone from seeing it. You've got to get rid of that fat to show what you're working with. Part of that process is strength training, but without proper diet and cardio, the tone will remain hidden. http://www.thefashionspot.com/beauty/296661-9-workout-myths-that-might-be-holding-you-back/?utm_source=crowdignite.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=crowdignite.com

Raphael Scott Ahbeng's Catalogue - Art Exhibition in Pinkguy on 16-11-2012 to 26-11-2012

Winston Churchill

"Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened." Winston Churchill

How to buy genuine art - Article From The Star

How to buy genuine art

GALLERY owners and artists share advice on how to avoid being duped.

· Check ownership records
In the art world, this is called provenance – tracing the history or chain of ownership back from the current holders to the original artist.
“There must be a trail of how the work has changed hands,” says Lim Wei-Ling of Wei-Ling Gallery.
“People bring art works to place in my gallery (for sale). But if I don’t know how or where they got the work from, I will ask them to take it back to the original gallery which sold it.”
Artist Stephen Menon suggests that potential buyers take a picture of a work being offered for sale and e-mail it to the artist to confirm if it is his.
“If I’m no longer around one day, my wife or other family members will have the records.
“Should the artist say he has sold the piece to a certain collector, call up the latter to verify if he still has it. If he does, then the piece being offered for sale must be a fake.”
All established artists have sale records, Menon adds. “The problem starts when some of the younger emerging artists don’t keep their records properly. They should also remember the need to jaga their collectors’ interests from possible forgery.”
All this is linked to supporting documents and records of the art work.
“Check where and when the work was exhibited and the (relevant) gallery’s websites for records of shows,” Lim advises. “Look at the (exhibition) catalogue or books where the works are featured. And ask for certificates. Every art work from my gallery will have one signed by me and the artist.”
Artist Ivan Lam says that “with all the publications about art works nowadays, it’s even easier to trace who bought what, and when.” If a seller cannot provide you the relevant answers for a piece of work, chances are it’s a fake.”
Sim Hussein, wife of the late Ibrahim Hussein, says people should authenticate an art work first before paying money for it. “Check with the artist,” she advises.
“Some pieces of Ib’s Sports series and figurative abstract works were brought to me for authentication. I told the people who brought them that these were not Ibrahim Hussein originals. I also told them that these paintings, which had Ib’s signature, should be destroyed,” Sim adds.

A visitor examining a forged Botero painting at Geert Jan Jansen’s exhibition in the Netherlands. Self-taught Dutch painter Jansen turned to forgery when he couldn’t make a living selling his own work – but he turned out to be so good that some of the artists he copied claimed his works were their own! – Reuters

· Study the artist
“Don’t just buy blindly,” Menon cautions. “Research the artist you are interested in first. Learn about his art techniques, visit galleries where his works are displayed and look at the painting up close, from all angles.
“Then compare the piece you want to buy with other paintings done by the same artist. Painters usually have certain styles and strokes and this may be difficult to copy.”
· Buy from reputable galleries
These are galleries which will have established a relationship with the artist, Lim explains. “Or the artists themselves will have endorsed the gallery to represent them. Then you know you won’t be getting a fake.”
“Sometimes, galleries could be unwitting accomplices as they themselves are not aware of the forgery,” notes art collector Pakhruddin Sulaiman. “But they have a responsibility to collectors. If they cannot really tell you how or where they bought the art works from, then something is not quite right.”
Liew Chin Chin of Starhill Art Gallery concurs that “it’s very important to go to a reputable gallery which does not just view art just as a business, but as a responsibility.”
· Talk to people
Research alone is not enough. Lim says would-be buyers should also talk to collectors, curators, art consultants and gallery people.
“For example, if anybody walks into my gallery and I am around, I will virtually be giving free art consultations!”
· Canvas and paints
Certain artists are known to use certain canvas, Menon explains. “I know a famous one who uses cheap canvas that costs RM6 per metre! And obviously, canvas from the 1960s will be different from the new China-made ones nowadays.”
As for paints, he notes that Latiff Mohideen was known to use paints from hardware shops in the 1960s.
“After all that time, there will be signs of age. In fact, paintings often need to be restored. A brand new fake will have the smell of fresh paint.”
· Role of institutions
Pakhruddin says that the Malaysian art market still lacks fake-spotting expertise. “Very few have the expertise to decide if a work is fake.”
Hence, Liew adds, institutions have a role to play. “People at the National Art Gallery should have the authority to tell whether a work is fake. Many other national art museums have strong curatorial and research teams for this.”
· The artistic eye
While all the above checks can weed out garden variety fakes, determined, expert forgers have figured out the loopholes.
Art critic and artist Jolly Koh says that with the high-technology available nowadays, even experts in the West have been fooled, citing the case of Dutch artist Han van Meegeren, who was notorious for forging Vermeer paintings.
“The signature is the easiest to fake. Forgers can also create stains on old canvas or put paintings in ovens to simulate paint which has cracked with age.”
As for provenance, he adds, the bill of sale can be forged.
“I can always pay someone a few thousand ringgit to swear that they sold the work to me. Even if the provenance is impeccable, I will still prefer to trust my artistic sensibility and knowledge. But people who don’t have an artistic eye will have to rely on provenance.”
He underlines that the hardest thing to fake is the art work itself.
“The devil is in the details. An expert eye can tell the difference, just as an expert palate can distinguish between first- or second-rate pu-erh (Chinese) tea. It’s easier to fake the labels and packaging than the tea itself.
“You can fake provenance, but the work of art itself stands in silent majesty, or ignominy, for you to discern it’s true worth,” Koh adds.

An Article in The Star About Art Forgery.

Forgery and false claims

Stories by ANDREW SIA
starmag@thestar.com.my

Reproductions of an artist’s paintings are common. But beware of fake works that claim to be the real thing.
ON Nov 1, at the 4th Art Expo 2010 in Kuala Lumpur, a Malaysian collector paid RM2mil for a set of 10 silkscreens by American pop art icon Andy Warhol.
And on Aug 8, Ibrahim Hussein’s 1969 painting, The Dream, fetched RM500,500 at a sale held by Henry Butcher Art Auctioneers in Selangor. It was the most expensive Malaysian artwork sold in a public auction – more than double the record set in 2007 by the late artist’s Falcon (1976), which was sold by Sotheby’s in Singapore for RM236,736.
As the market value of Malaysian art grows in tandem with its popularity, reports of forgers keen to make a killing have begun to surface.
Basically, there are two types of fakes, says lawyer Pakhruddin Sulaiman, a prominent Malaysian art collector.
“One is a genuine fake, a copy of an original work by, say, Van Gogh. These are sold as reproductions but are not signed by the artist. This is quite prevalent in countries like Indonesia, Vietnam and even the West and it’s quite harmless.
“The dangerous fakes are those which claim to be originals.”
Artist Eric Quah recalls: “I travel often to Thailand and Indonesia where I see shop after shop selling copies of art. In China, works by Chen Yifei (classic painter and director; 1946-2005) sell for millions of US dollars. So they ask draftsmen or a contract artist to make reproductions from photos. Some sell for as low as RM50 and may not be well done.
“But some copies can be very good, too. Locally, I have seen fake works of Jehan Chan, who does paintings of koi fish.”
“Unless you know his work well, you can’t really tell they are fakes,” chips in Liew Chin Chin, who runs the Starhill Art Gallery in Kuala Lumpur.
Artist Stephen Menon claims he knows of a hotel in Kuala Lumpur that wanted to buy the paintings of an artist who does Malay silat paintings. “When they realised his prices were high, they asked someone to copy the work, complete with the signature!”

From left: Pakhruddin Sulaiman, Ivan Lam and Jolly Koh voice concerns about gullible people who fall for fake art works.

Serious money
Lim Wei-Ling, who runs Wei-Ling Gallery in KL, fears that local art collectors could become disillusioned if the situation in Malaysia becomes like that of Vietnam’s.
“Art forgery is rampant there. Because art prices have gone up tremendously, people are forging works left, right and centre. Some galleries in Hanoi and Saigon are in on it too. Collectors are paying six-figure US-dollar sums for fakes of artists such as Vietnam-born Le Pho (1907-2001).”
Liew adds that she has heard of a few forgeries in the country, mainly of sketches.
“These are easier to copy and difficult to find in the market. Galleries which have no integrity will demand RM50,000 to RM100,000 even for such small pieces.”
Pakhruddin says he, too, has “heard of” forgeries of works of artists such as AB Rahman, Yong Mun Sen and even Latiff Mohideen.
“And there’s suspicion in the art market that a few Dzulkilfi Buyong fakes are floating around – the strokes (of these) are not similar to that of his other works.”
Artist and art academic Jolly Koh estimates the current market value of Dzulkifli’s works at between RM80,000 and RM120,000. He says he has seen two supposed Dzulkifli works, kept by private collectors, which he is pretty sure are forgeries.
“I have seen lots of his works, both good and bad. But those two stick out like sore thumbs. They could have been done by someone from the roadside.
“Moreover, one of the works was supposedly done in 1968. But Dzulkifli was a child prodigy who was at the peak of his powers then.”
Koh adds that there are “vicious rumours” that when certain famous artists die, leaving behind inferior or unfinished works, their relatives have signed these off as originals.
Forgeries extend to other art works too, such as ceramics. Jasmine Seng, the manager of TY Gallery in Kepong, KL, recalls how her father-in-law, (gallery founder) Tan Tiau Yoke, was often cheated by middlemen in China.
“The middleman would show him the real items, but deliver the fakes. He loves ceramics but his understanding of it was not so deep then. Nowadays, he goes directly to meet the Chinese artists and does not get cheated any more,” Seng says.
The most prominent possible fakes concern Ibrahim’s works.
Quah says: “Ibrahim did a series of sports prints and now the paintings (which the prints are supposedly based on) have emerged. Luckily, the artist’s wife is around and collectors can verify with her whether the pieces are genuine.”
Ibrahim’s Sports series of eight prints was done the year he turned 50, and launched during his Retrospective exhibition in 1986 at the National Art Gallery.
Koh, who went to London to study art in 1959, the same year as Ibrahim, adds: “To fake an Ibrahim Hussein, you need to be a good, mature artist who can understand his art. You also need to be a flexible artist who can adapt yourself to fit his style.”
There is legal recourse for those who think they might have bought a fake work. Lodge a police report, he suggests. The courts have powers to confiscate such works and experts who know an artist’s work well can also be called in to testify.
Fakes are rare
However, while such cases may grab attention, the overall picture is that art forgery is still uncommon in Malaysia.
“Yes, we have the cheap labour, but our industry is not big enough – not at the level of millions of ringgit – for people to want to copy paintings,” says artist Jailani Abu Hassan, better known as Jai.
With contract artists who copy works so common in Thailand and Indonesia, what would stop them from copying Malaysian art works?
“In artistic terms, we are the youngest in South-East Asia. Indonesia’s art market is so much more developed. They have so many good artists at home, I don’t think they would bother to come to Malaysia,” explains Jai.
“Not yet anyway … But as our prices rise, who knows?”
Pakhruddin says fakes are not common in Malaysia right now because we have a primary art market – art works go direct from the artist (or galleries representing them) to the collectors. Thus, it’s easy to verify whether the pieces are authentic.
“Our secondary art market, where collectors sell off what they have, is not well developed. We had our first Henry Butcher art auction recently. This is unlike Indonesia’s buoyant secondary market, which has home-grown art auction houses. But once our secondary market develops, that may attract the forgers.”
Artist Ivan Lam notes that the Western art markets handle works from hundreds of years ago, which cost millions, “so the chances of fakes are higher. Our artists go back only about 50 years.”
Forgeries usually involve weak or minor works by artists which are not well documented, Pakhruddin says.
“Artist are human, and they have their off days. Sometimes, one of their poorer works suddenly appears in the market and it’s far below the market price. Dzulkifli Buyong’s works normally sell for about RM90,000; when someone offers it at RM20,000, that arouses suspicion.”
Lim adds: “If it’s too good to be true, then it’s probably a fake.”
However, there are lots of gullible people, Lam comments.
“We have read about things like the fake US black money scam, but people still fall for it. Art fakes are just another scheme to exploit our weakness.”
At the end of the day, it’s up to the buyer. If you are suspicious, just don’t buy, Pakhruddin advises.
And what of those who have been cheated?
Koh says: “They will never admit to making such an expensive mistake. It’s a matter of ego. So they will just say, ‘Oh never mind, I like it’.”

How People Make Millions.......

Where and How did Ridhuan Tee gets his millions?

An Interesting Article From Sakmongkol

The Coming Clash of Class

To answer the other side, as to why I continue to write about UMNO this and that, the answer is- It’s because I can. UMNO can self-destruct if it chooses to and that will not be a skin off my nose. It only bothers me when UMNO thinks it continues to speak for Malays as a whole. UMNO has no capacity and standing to do such a thing.

The majority of Malays rejected them. The fact stays that way despite all the fanciful regression and statistical analyses one can muster. UMNO remains in power simply because of gerrymandering and its success in fabricating lies and fear.

I will say this again. UMNO got 3.2 million votes. I am being charitable by saying that 85% of those came from Malay voters. That would be 2.72 million Malay votes. How many Malay voters came out on the 5^th of May? 70% of the 11.2 million because they wanted to defend UMNO and the Malay government at all cost? That would give us a figure of 7.84 million. If UMNO got 2.72 million, that means more Malays did not vote for UMNO.

We are indeed moving on beyond GE13. That is why we must continue to expose BN’s hypocrisy, deceit and outright lies to the people. Our agenda isn’t finished until this corrupt government is finished off. BN won because it is corrupt and contemptible. A corrupt regime will use anything legal and illegal to stay on in power.

Each corrupt element at each level of BN organisational structure will dig in to protect its own turf. Otherwise the whole game is given away-that BN has its every finger in the kitty and robbing Malaysia to the bone. Corruption has already become a cultural thing. Each BN politician is wired up that way. Each UMNO operative right up to their minions at the village level.

We will continue to expose the hypocrisy of UMNO which is claiming, it is the vanguard which protects, king, religion, race and country. Not in that order of course. It rearranges its priorities. UMNO was once at the forefront in the assault against the Malay monarchy. Now, it is playing the role of a pit-bull body-guarding the Malay Monarchy because such a stand is of strategic importance.

In an earlier article, I have illustrated the fallacy of UMNO’s success by using a common denominator- i.e. the total number of votes won over the number of seats each party actually won. If we had used uncommon denominators like the number of votes won over the number of seats each party contested (i.e. including seats each lost), the success claimed by UMNO will even be hollower.

So in order to disguise and hide its own shortcomings especially of the abject failure of the UMNO president, BN blamed the Chinese. BN should be asking, what have they done or not done, which made the Malaysian Chinese reject them? BN hasn’t given them a trustworthy and honest government. The Chinese fortunately recognises this. The Malays unfortunately have not.

The Chinese as a result of their economic independence have been able to exercise freedom of choice; The Malays because of their dependent mentality have been mentally enslaved. It’s easy to manufacture and fabricate the perception and fallacy that continued Malay deprivation is the result of an increasingly independent and rapacious Malaysian Chinese population.

Where is that clash that will eventually destroy UMNO coming from? It will come from the burgeoning downtrodden masses of Malays- the urban and rural poor, hemmed in and flattened by all sorts of injustices and economic deprivations.

The clash between Malays and Chinese is a myth. Such a scenario is illogical. The Chinese form 24% of Malaysia’s population. The Malays 65% of the population. The civil service is almost entirely Malay. The army and the police, legal owners of the instruments of suppression are also dominated by the Malays. The important pillars of governance, the civil service, ministerial positions and the respective ministries, the executive, the legislature and the judiciary are all dominated by Malays. Village organizations are permeated by Malay institutions. We have the various village development and welfare committees and we have the indoctrinating army of KEMAS employees programming the Malay Mind. The monarchy is of course wholly Malay.

So how can the Chinese rebel against such a formidable fortress of institutionalised controlling agents of social regimentation and conformity? They simply can’t.

The coming clash will not be between a Malay dominated government and the what else do the Chinese want community; rather the coming clash will be between the unholy partnership of the Malay pseudo aristocrats and the Malay bourgeoisie with the burgeoning class of marginalised and disillusioned Malays. It will be clash between feudalistic UMNO more interested in preserving an aristocratic way of life and the Malay ‘proletariat’ bursting at the seams with notions of every kind of imaginable social injustices. Injustices that have been inflicted on them by the feudalistic and aristocratic UMNO.

 

http://sakmongkol.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-coming-clash-of-class.html

"Before you can inspire with emotion, you must be swamped with it yourself. Before you can move their tears, your own must flow. To convince them, you must yourself believe." Winston Churchill 

"Quiet minds cannot be perplexed or frightened, but go on in fortune or misfortune at their own private pace, like a clock during a thunderstorm." Robert Louis Stevenson 

"I kept six honest serving men. They taught me all I knew. Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who." Rudyard Kipling

"He that can heroically endure adversity will bear prosperity with equal greatness of soul; for the mind that cannot be dejected by the former is not likely to be transported with the latter." Henry Fielding

"What we think or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. The only thing of consequence is what we do."
John Ruskin

"No man can always be right. So the struggle is to do one's best, to keep the brain and conscience clear, never be swayed by unworthy motives or inconsequential reasons, but to strive to unearth the basic factors involved, then do one's duty."
Dwight D. Eisenhower 

"He who reigns within himself and rules his passions, desires, and fears is more than a king." John Milton

"You grow up the day you have your first real laugh--at yourself." Ethel Barrymore 

The Nine Pieces Of Paintings In Dailogue By Suzlee Ibrahim

The Lost Horizon

The Living Soul

Traces of Memory

The Language of Reality

Activation of Sense

Time and Space

The Inner Voice

Voyage Of Discovery

Between The Words

"When you have a number of disagreeable duties to perform, always do the most disagreeable first." Josiah Quincy 

Dialogue by Suzlee Ibrahim - Solo Exhibition from 23-5-2013 to 8-62013

"Calamity is the test of integrity." Samuel Richardson

"Calamity is the test of integrity." Samuel Richardson

You can tell a lot about a fellow's character by his way of eating jelly beans." Ronald Wilson Reagan 

Charles Reade

"Sow a Thought, and you reap an Act;
Sow an Act, and you reap a Habit;
Sow a Habit, and you reap a Character;
Sow a Character, and you reap a Destiny."
Charles Reade