Winning a medal in Olympic Games is one hell of a task. But the reward can be simply awesome, just like what national shuttler Lee Chong Wei is about to get for winning a silver.

It matters little that he bottled his game and lost, perhaps embarrassingly against the world champion Lin Dan of China in the final match.

While many are drooling at the huge sum of RM300,000 instant cash award, the more significant reward is the life pension that comes together with it.

The Malaysia government has decided to accord a life pension to Chong Wei amounting to RM3,000 per month for his feat in winning the silver medal in this year’s Olympics games. Statistically, any income above RM3,000 in Malaysia will make the person to be on the upper half of the country income earners.

With the RM300,000 Chong Wei plans to buy a house for his parents.

Chong Wei, 26 is presently ranked 2nd in the world ranking after Lin Dan. He was born in Bukit Mertajam, Penang, and is a product of Bukit Jalil Sports School. His rise to prominence is attributed to the discovery made by former national and world champion, Misbun Sidek, who is now his coach.

Chong Wei’s sharp forehand cross smashes and defensive ability, coupled with incredible agility are known to be his trademark strength, although at times was seen struggling to hold his nerve in key matches and often succumb to mounting pressure.

The Malaysia government is urging small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to take full advantage of the many business loan facilities to grow their business.

More and more loans and financial assistance have been rolled out for the past few years to accommodate the growing sector of the SME industry. At present, close to 90% of the businesses operating in Malaysia are categorized under SME.

The latest facility involving RM1.2 billion financing was launched in July 2008 in the wake of recent economic downturn.

The facility offers two separate business loans – the SME Assistance Facility amounting to RM700 million, and secondly the SME Modernization Facility, offering RM500 in total assistance.

The SME Assistance Facility

The first, SME Assistance Facility will help assisting struggling entrepreneurs to overcome temporary cash flow problems due to escalated cost and prices. Each SME can take up loan up to RM1.5 million with maximum tenure of 5 years. To be eligible, the SME business must be owned by Malaysians with at least 51% ownership, and does not have any affiliation with government linked companies (GLCs). The business loan is applicable for SME in any sector or industry.

The SME Modernization Facility

The latter, SME Modernization Facility is offered for small and medium business owners planning to purchase or upgrade their equipment and machinery, which can be new, second hand or reconditioned equipment. Through the facility, each SME can apply for an aggregated loan amount of RM5 million.

For the two loan schemes, participating banks include all commercial banks and Islamic banks, Bank Perusahaan Kecil & Sederhana (SME Bank), Bank Pertanian Malaysia (Agrobank), Bank Rakyat and Export-Import Bank Berhad. Entrepreneurs interested in this scheme can approach any of the participating banks directly.

DCP Datuk Robiah Abdul Ghani created history in the Malaysian Police after being appointed as the Chief Police Officer (CPO) for the Pahang state, making it the first woman in the country to hold the portfolio.

CPO is the number one ranked position for every state’s police force. Robiah, 56, assumed the duty beginning on July 2008 and took over the helm from predecessor Datuk Ayob Mohamed.

But this is not the first for her. Almost 40 years ago, she made her mark to become the first platoon commander of the country’s first women Police Field Force (PFF) which was formed back in 1973.

Since joining the police force, she has served almost every unit and department such as CID, narcotics and management, disciplinary unit and others. She is considered as ‘one of the toughest police women’ to deal with in the country. At the moment, there are more than 9,000 women police officers in Malaysia.

Robiah was schooled in SM Convent Bukit Nenas, Kuala Lumpur, and was active in sports and co-curricular activities such as athletics, netball and hockey. While enrolling into clerical courses, she stumbled upon an advertisement recruiting for the police. Encouraged by the father, who was also in the force, she decided to give it a try.

Robiah is a mother of 3, with the husband a police retiree, whose last position was as Selangor’s Deputy Chief Officer. (Image: The Star)