The 2010 World Cup in South Africa was a cultural exchange in football unlike other. Not only was football's biggest competition staged on African soil for the first time, but the world in return was introduced to the vuvuzela.
The plastic horn that eminates a loud buzzing sound, and has been suggested as possibly leading to permanent hearing loss, caught the world's attention at the 2009 Fifa Confederation Cup. All attempts to block the instrument from appearing at the World Cup the following year failed, while several clubs in the English Premier League quickly moved to place a ban the following season.
After the Football Association of Malaysia's (FAM's) 14th Competition Committee Meeting on September 11, 2012, the vuvuzela will no longer be heard around Malaysian stadiums.
The committee decided that the vuvuzela and other such instruments will be banned from all football matches in Malaysia for being disruptive and for being a health hazard.
This decision was made because the sound of the vuvuzela was considered to be intrusive to proceedings and could affect the concentration and focus of match officials, as well as pose a health risk for supporters at the stadium.
All state and club teams will be required to enforce the new rule and prevent the vuvuzela and other such instruments from being brought into the stadium.
Singaporean director Anthony Chen described as “surreal” the 15-minute standing ovation that followed the world premiere of his debut feature film "Ilo Ilo" at the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday. Though the ending of the premiere couldn’t have been more perfect, the 29-year-old Chen said the beginning was quite “nerve-wrecking” as it was marred by technical glitches.