Compiled by LIEW JIA XIAN and C. ARUNO

       AN art teacher in China’s Henan province became an Internet sensation after his impeccable handwriting went viral online, reported Sin Chew Daily.

       Touted as a “walking printer”, 40-year-old Zhang Shifeng is proficient in the various forms of Chinese script, including the clerical script, the small seal script and the semi-cursive script.

       Photos of Zhang teaching the various scripts on the blackboard were widely shared online and garnered both praise and admiration.

       Many noted his whiteboard writings flowed as smoothly as if they were written with a calligraphy brush.

       When interviewed, Zhang said he graduated from university with a degree in art and crafts and started working as an art teacher in 2003.

       He revealed that he has always had writing as his hobby since young.

       “Back then, I would practise on paper. After becoming a teacher, I would practise writing using chalk. It’s been 10 years since,” he said.

       Zhang explained that writing on the blackboard was more difficult than using a calligraphy brush as the chalk was not designed for writing Chinese characters.

       It took him many hours of practice to get the strokes in Chinese characters right using chalk.

       However, Zhang said he enjoyed his work as it not only teaches his students about the various Chinese scripts, it also teaches them the history and evolution of Chinese characters.

       Many of Zhang’s students admire his dedication to the artform and strive to emulate his writing.

       > An octogenarian in China’s Jiangsu province miraculously survived after falling off her balcony and was left dangling only by her foot, reported China Press.

       The incident happened on Nov 20 at the 19th floor of an apartment block when the 82-year-old was drying clothes on the balcony.

       She slipped and fell over but luckily her foot got caught between the balcony railings of the apartment directly below hers, leaving her dangling around 72m in the air.

       Her neighbour called the fire department and police who arrived shortly to pull the woman safely inside.

       The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.