Compiled by C. ARUNO, SYAHMI ROSFA and R. ARAVINTHAN

       A FATHER of two will be undertaking a solo expedition across Peninsular Malaysia on a 49-year-old motorcycle as a way of promoting his home state of Perlis, reported Utusan Malaysia.

       Abdul Halim Mat, 49, is expected to take 14 days to complete the tour on his 1972 Honda C70 motorcycle.

       The tour, which began in Kedah, will end in Perlis.

       “My target is to complete the tour within 14 days, during which I will stop to rest and sleep in a mosque or tent. However, it depends on my capability as well.

       “I will use the old roads to travel. I took this initiative to do a solo tour with the sole intention of making Perlis popular. I believe this is the only way for me to do that,” he said.

       In 2019, Abdul Halim went on a roughly 4,000km solo expedition across almost all the 76 provinces in Thailand.

       > Harian Metro reported that after 25 years of acting, Datuk Hans Isaac would now operate two cinemas in Sabah, expected to be open to the public on Dec 16.

       The 50-year-old, who recently announced his retirement from acting, said the first cinema, to be known as 10Star Cinema, would be in Bintang Kubota, Tawau, while the second was tentatively slated to open by the end of this month.

       “I have always aspired to have my own cinema and the planning started almost two years ago.

       “About five months ago, my business partner and I finally joined forces to work on this dream of mine,” said Hans.

       He admitted that opening a cinema was neither cheap nor easy, adding that it was a high-risk business and investment.

       > Singer and composer Faizal Tahir said he was more comfortable composing patriotic songs that inspire and are uplifting, reported Berita Harian.

       Faizal, who recently launched his new single Jalan, said he feels satisfied when his songs motivate his audience into doing something positive, adding that money was not his main concern.

       The new single is a special project featuring a collaboration of 15 well-known artistes and newcomers from different generations, including animated characters from a children’s show, Didi & Friends.

       “I am so grateful to be given the opportunity to do this project. I am confident that when the time comes, other artistes will be motivated and compose songs that can contribute to the community and the country,” said Faizal.

       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.