KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 8): Professor Emerita Tan Sri Dr Mazlan Othman often gets asked if there are aliens and life in outer space. A dozen years ago, a report had it that if a Martian were to land on earth and said, “Take me to your leader”, the Malaysian astrophysicist would have been it. She was subsequently in The Guardian as saying, "It sounds really cool but I have to deny it.” But there is no denying she has helped give Malaysia a voice in space exploration with her work as director general of the National Space Agency and director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs in Vienna. A conversation with Mazlan will take you from Earth to the stars and the skies, with ‘detours’ along the way as the polymath pauses to talk about things close to her heart.

Still cannot decide where to yum seng and usher in the Rabbit with the clan? Check out five places that can take you from tea to dinner, with ice cream cake shaped like a gold ingot for a welcome start to the Lunar New Year. For those taking time off and planning a Cuti-Cuti Malaysia instead of the traditional house-to-house visits, diverse treats await on opposite ends of the country. Follow Options’ suggestions for morning till night and you can be sure to have a holiday packed with hawker delights, with sun, sea, hill and history thrown in.

Art rocks, with a blast of colours that stimulates the senses. For an exciting, interactive experience, visit Art Rocks Us at Menara KEN, TTDI (until Feb 2, viewing from 10am to 5pm daily). The collaborative showcase has 150 works by students from Fugee School, an academic learning centre for refugee children in Malaysia set up in 2009 by Deborah Henry; kids and adults with ADHD and other mental issues from Angsanacare; various refugee artists; Ashleigh Cotterill; and Sharon Abdullah. Cotterill, the founder of Tea Bird Tea, and Sharon, vice-chair of Angsanacare, founded Brand Me Happy, an art-centred agency that offers solutions to businesses looking to get creative with their concepts, branding and design during the pandemic. Art Rocks Us also serves as a platform where corporates can build partnerships and discuss corporate social responsibility opportunities with the trio’s organisations.

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