MORE PICS – Datuk Michelle Yeoh Getting Married in 3 Countries? –Bags the Legion of Honour - France's most prestigious & highest; –2nd M'sian Got it

For a change from the Lingam Video Clip that has gripped the nation for the past few weeks, Malaysiakini has the story of the Datuk who bags France's most prestigious and highest civilian honour; the Legion of Honour – the 2^nd Malysian to do so. All the local English press also carried the stories with appropriate pics. The story of her getting permanently hooked was first reported by SST in March 07

Bond girl Michelle Yeoh becomes French knight Oct 4, 07 11:59am

Unfortunate no Malaysiakini-tv but on that Tourism Minister Tengku Adan Mansor treasure Hunt and he evaded questions as to whether he would voluntarily give evidence to the independent panel probing the veracity of the Lingam tape.

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ABOVE: Enhanced Pic from Bernama Anwar Isman

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 3 (Bernama) -- International movie star Datuk Michelle Yeoh tonight received France's most prestigious and highest civilian honour, the Legion of Honour from the French government. The award was conferred to her by Ambassador of France to Malaysia Alain du Boispean in a private ceremony at the Embassy of France here. The Ipoh-born beauty, who had flown back with her fiancee, Ferarri chief executive officer Datuk Seri Jean Todt for the ceremony, said what made the award more meaningful was the fact that she received it in her home country and witnessed by her family and friends, some of whom had come from as far as Amsterdam.

"This is a great honour not only for me but also my family. I really share this award with all fellow Malaysians not just in France but also in Malaysia who have been working really hard for the bilateral friendship between the two countries. "It is recognition for the things we have done," she told reporters after the ceremony. On her reaction to the award, Yeoh, 45, said she was only informed about it by Todt a few months ago. "I am very happy and surprised when initially I got to know that I am going to receive this honour. Jean told me about it. He couldn't help himself and hasn't stop reminding me since that day how big this award is," she added. Meanwhile, Boispean said the award paid a special tribute to Yeoh's outstanding talents from performing arts to her philanthropic works around the world. He added that the event also marked the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Malaysia and France. "This anniversary shall also be marked by the recognition that we bear testimony of your talent and special attachment that you have, in many ways to France," he said. Yeoh is the second Malaysian woman to receive the award after Datuk Dr Norraesah Mohamed in 2003.

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ABOVE(Cut from STAR): The Datuk was all smiles after the award

October 03, 2007 23:41 PM
Wedding Bells For Michelle Yeoh Soon

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 3 (Bernama) -- Malaysian international silver screen darling Datuk Michelle Yeoh tonight hinted that she might be walking down the aisle with fiancee Ferrari chief executive officer Datuk Seri Jean Todt soon. "Soon. Very soon. Ya. You all will be the first to know," she said beaming, when asked by reporters on her rumoured upcoming marriage to Todt, 61.Yeoh, 45, was here to receive the prestigious French Legion of Honour award, which was conferred to her by Ambassador of France to Malaysia Alain du Boispean here, for her outstanding career in the film industry as well as her philantropic work globally and her campaign for a breast cancer awareness project. Earlier in her speech, she had called Todt as "my love who is my daily strength who brings up the best in me", and credited him for introducing all things French to her. His presence in the past years had been one of the pillars of my happiness, she said.

The couple was engaged in September 2005.Yeoh, who enjoys an illustrated acting career worldwide, is known among others for her role in the James Bond movie `Tomorrow Never Dies' (1997), `Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon' (2000) and `Memoirs of a Geisha' (2005) and her variety of roles from the famous kungfu master and astronaut to sorceress and nun. When asked if there was any role that she liked to explore and whether a Formula 1 racer was one of them, she quipped "No. Maybe I can play the girl friend. I am such a hopeless driver". "Generally I have been very lucky in the sense that the roles have come calling and they had been a great variety. I am very blessed and am not going to complain about it," she said. Apart from movies, Yeoh said she also hoped to film a few documentaries on environments next year, where one of the location would be in Malaysia.

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ABOVE: enhanced Pic from theSUN

Actress Michelle Yeoh gets top French award Reuters
Wednesday, October 3, 2007; 9:34 AM
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh, one of Asia's biggest film stars, received France's highest civilian honor at a glittering function in the Malaysian capital on Wednesday. Yeoh, best known to Western audiences for her roles in the 2000 film, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," and the Bond girl in the 1997 movie,
"Tomorrow Never Dies," received the medal of a Knight of the Legion of honor from Ambassador Alain du Boispean. Through her many stays and connections to France, Yeoh had contributed to the strengthening of ties and mutual friendship between France and Malaysia, Du Boispean said before pinning the medal on Yeoh.

"I guess that deep down, I am a small-town girl from Ipoh who has been living a magical dream," said Yeoh, who was dressed in an ivory Cavalli gown encrusted with crystals. Born into an ethnic Chinese lawyer's family in the northern Malaysian town of Ipoh in 1962, Yeoh studied dance and martial arts before winning a beauty pageant in 1983 that led to a commercial with action star Jackie Chan and then a film career. France's Legion of honor, established in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte, has five distinct ranks and is conferred for outstanding achievements in either military or civil life

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Michelle Yeoh began ballet dancing at the age of four. Inspired by Fame (1980), she enrolled in England's Royal Academy of Dance, where she eventually earned a BA in dancing. She also excelled in athletic events. During her teenage years, Yeoh enjoyed playing squash and was also a national competitor in swimming and diving. Yeoh was quite ambitious and was determined to gain a master's in dancing. While she was living in England, Yeoh explored contemporary, jazz and ballet dancing. Michelle's dream of being a prima ballerina was abruptly cut short by a spinal injury which she suffered during a ballet practicing session at her college years. The doctor she consulted announced that a rotated disk in her spine would not be able to stand the daily intensive ballet workout. Michelle consequently had to switch her focus away from dance to choreography and other arts. Sadly, Michelle never did get a chance to perform ballet professionally on stage. Instead, she alternately set her sights on running her own school to teach ballet. In 1983, Yeoh returned to her home country, Malaysia. It was at the age of 21 when Yeoh became the winner of the Miss Malaysia beauty pageant in 1983. From there, she appeared in a television commercial with Jackie Chan which caught the attention of a fledgling film production company called D&B Films.
Yeoh's career in Hong Kong started in modeling, where she appeared in a series of commercials for Pierre Cardin, opposite action heroes Jackie Chan and Chow Yun-Fat. The Pierre Cardin brand was handled by D&B Group in Hong Kong, and this is how Yeoh met her future husband, Dickson Poon. In 1988, she retired after marrying prominent Hong Kong tycoon, Dickson Poon of D&B Films. Three years later, the couple divorced, and Yeoh returned to acting in 1992. Her first movie after the comeback was Police Story 3, which was partly shot in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Despite having no formal martial arts training, Yeoh is best known for her roles in action and martial arts movies (notably The Heroic Trio in 1993, Tai-Chi Master and Wing Chun in 1994). She relies on her dance training and instructors, and does many of her own stunts. She is one of the few women Jackie Chan allows to do her own stunts in his movies; they first worked together on a commercial in 1984. Yeoh learned English and Malay before Chinese (Cantonese dialect), and still cannot read Chinese. In some of her early films, she recited her dialogue by rote.
In 2001, Yeoh was given the title of dato' by the Sultan of Perak, her home state. Dato' is an honorary Malaysian title somewhat like an English knighthood, and it lies below the ranks of Dato' Seri, Tan Sri and Tun.
Like many other Hong Kong stars, Yeoh has attempted to break into Hollywood. Despite starring in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) and the popular Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), which also starred Zhang Ziyi, she has not won a mainstream audience in the English-speaking world. She could have gained that audience had she accepted the role of Seraph in the two Matrix sequels, but due to a scheduling conflict she was unable to accept them, so the Matrix writers changed Seraph into a male character and cast Colin Chou in the role. In 2002, she produced her first English movie, The Touch through her own production company, Mythical Films. In December 2004, Ferrari Formula One team principal Jean Todt announced his engagement to Yeoh. A day later, Yeoh denied the engagement. They met in June 2004 in a promotional event organized by Ferrari in Shanghai, China
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UPDATE: Day 45 Trial – 4^th Oct 2007

MORE PICS & Video – Day 45 Altantuya Murder Trial; DNA results from samples confirmed Her biological daughter of Setev Shaariibuu & wife Altantsetseg Sanjaa

Malaysiakini did not mention anything on Day45 Murder Trial of Altantuya. It latest prime story focuses on the latest development -

Lingam tape: Name source or face jail Andrew Ong | Oct 4, 07 5:46pm and includes a

Malaysiakini-tv On Lingam tape: Name source or face jail

ABOVE: An artist impression of Day 45 Trial Court

It's Altantuya, says director

R. Surenthira Kumar; theSUN

SHAH ALAM (Oct 4, 2007): DNA obtained from tissue and bone specimens, blood on a pair of slippers, a Larmes watch, a pair of earrings and a ring, revealed that the source was the biological daughter of Setev Shaariibuu and Altantsetseg Sanjaa, the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder trial heard today. Chemist Department forensic division director J. Primulapathi said DNA results were successfully obtained from some of the samples of tissue, bone, hair, a pair of slippers, swabs and blood specimens handed to him by police.

Answering questions from Deputy Public Prosecutor Noorin Badaruddin, (ABOVE) Primulapathi said DNA profiles developed from tissue specimen T5 labelled ‘unknown’ and bone K5 match each other, indicating that they were from the same person.

ABOVE & BELOW: Chemist Department forensic division director J. Primulapathi said DNA results were successfully obtained from some of the samples

"This DNA profile reveals that this source was the biological daughter of the donor’s blood specimen T1 labelled Setev Shaariibuu and T2 labelled S. Altantsetseg," he said, adding that this means the probability of parentage is 99.9999% as calculated based on the Malaysian Malay, Chinese and Indian population database."Asked why the conclusiveness of his findings could not be 100%, Primulapathi said: "Nothing in science is 100%. We always have to give allowance for statistical deviations." He said the probability of parentage was calculated through a computer programme available in the Chemist Department. Asked if the conclusiveness of the percentage of the probability of parentage would be affected by the usage of the Malaysian Malay, Chinese and Indian database on a Mongolian person,

Primulapathi said: "It would be slightly affected but the conclusiveness would not be affected if the parents were to donate their blood for analysis." "There is no doubt whatsoever that this is the biological daughter. Even without the database, I can say that this source is the biological daughter," he said. Primulapathi said he had conducted nuclearautosamal DNA (N-DNA) testing on some exhibits and mitochondrial DNA (MT-DNA) testing on others as he could not obtain nuclearautosamal DNA from some of the samples. He said the MT-DNA sequences developed from the bloodstains on the slippers matched tufts of hair, a brownish black tissue and swabs obtained from a Larmes watch, a pair of earrings, a ring and a black leather jacket, thus indicating that their sources were from the same maternal lineage.

ABOVE: Abdul Razak arriving on Day 45 Trial and BELOW: Altantuya father Seteve was back in Malaysia

He said an analysis of swabs obtained from the black leather jacket showed that they matched the bloodstain found on the slippers and hair. Primulapathi said he swabbed the insides of the jacket, "the neck region, the armpits, and the inside of the sleeves". Asked by Noorin what was the significance of the findings where the donor of an unknown hair is found on the jacket, he said: "Probably I would infer that the person had worn the jacket." Primulapathi said the bloodstains were discovered at the top of both sides of the slippers. Asked if he could conclusively say that the blood on the slippers was the same as the one on the watch, earrings and rings, he said: "I can only say from the same maternal lineage as MT-DNA result, and MT-DNA is only indicative that it came from the same maternal lineage."

ABOVE: The samples cames in boxes & luggage trolley

Asked what could be the possible explanation why no results could be obtained from some of the samples, Primulapathi said: "Because N-DNA degrades much more easily as compared to MT-DNA. Degradation means breaking down of the DNA material. In most of these samples, the N-DNA had degraded until it cannot be detected anymore." Earlier in the day, the bone fragments, stored in plastic containers and which appeared charred, were viewed for the first time in open court, when Primulapathi removed the containers from sealed envelopes. Besides the pelvic and skull bone pieces, the other fragments were from the cervical spine, lumbar 3, right humerus and right femur. The other items included the tufts of human hair, watch, pair of earrings, ring, slippers, steering cover, three sets of newspapers, a smart tag and a black leather jacket. Also tested were blood specimens taken from Setev Shaariibuu and Altansetseg Sanjaa, Chief Insp Azilah Hadri, Cpl Sirul Azhar Umar, L/Cpl Rohaniza Roslan and Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda.

ABOVE: Abdul Razak Baginda spotted (with one-eye darkened spec) on Day 45 Trial and BELOW: the two hoooded accused were not far behind

The hearing continues tomorrow Friday, Oct 5 07

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Watch the Video Clip (within Clip) 1.35min - Day 45 Trial

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Najib orders Panel: Get Assistance from Government Agencies (ACA, Police) to determine Authenticity; Don’t Call witnesses; ACA drops Bombshell on 2 PKR Heros

The behind the scene moves are clearer now with the Legal Affairs Department orchestrating and directing the Probe Panel. The Panel seems to be at a loss over its "terms of reference" so much so that the Datuk Shankar had to distribute to Pressman a copy in Bahasa Malaysia and had a copy translated of their appointment letter. When he called for witnesses to come forward; he was shot down by DPM Najib that "they were not supposed to call witnesses" and use Government agencies help to determine the authenticity.

After the probe panel first meeting, they have gone into a two week recess waiting for others to do the job. And the bombshell came from ACA when they threatened the two PKR whistler blowers to reveal their source(s) or face a two-year jail term. It looks like the Panel is just a camouflage for a Government damage control initiative to get at the source. And the ACA is also trying to get details from Anwar Ibrahim who has been summoned to appear on Friday. The 3-member Independent Panel is a Powerless 3-member Stooges.

More details coming... in next post being compiled