Compiled by FATIMAH ZAINAL, CHOW HOW BAN and R. ARAVINTHAN
THE Shenzhen taekwondo academy that won the gymnastics category in the World Taekwondo Hanmadang festival in South Korea with a controversial Chinese vampire formation has been suspended by the Chinese Taekwondo Association, reported China Press.
Held in Seongnam from July 21-24, the event brought together taekwondo practitioners from all over the world.
The Chinese Taekwondo Association said in a statement on Monday that the X-Taekwondo Academy had registered for the competition on its own by using a tourist visa to enter South Korea.
“The coach created the Chinese vampire dance formation based on horror movies. The performance has a bad influence, tarnished the image of Chinese culture and caused adverse effects to society,” said the association, which decided to cancel the academy’s membership and prohibit it from taking part in future exams and competitions in the country.
The association also nullified the coach’s coaching certificate and barred his participation in any competition or training programme. During the competition in South Korea, the academy’s performance actually won applause from the audience, but caused a stir on social media.
> Following an audio clip’s release by the late Hong Kong singer Coco Lee on the popular Sing! China television show, her close friend Jenny Tseng has further slammed the organiser for bad practices, reported Sin Chew Daily.Tseng said the producers and directors were trying to salvage the show but it was too late.
“You would not cry until you see the coffin. It’s too late to apologise now,” she posted on social media.
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.
