Peace plan for MCA

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR BLOOMS: A Pos Malaysia employee with a special collection of state definitive stamps featuring the Garden Flowers of Malaysia. Out on sale from Tuesday, the stamps come in 10 sen, 20 sen, 30 sen, 40 sen and 50 sen denominations. The series featuring all 14 states are aimed at educating Malaysians on flowers usually found in botanical gardens. The series, which includes the first day cover, is tagged at RM25 while the first day cover alone will cost 30 sen each.

SCHOOL’S OUT: Last day of school is a splashing time for pupils of Sekolah Kebangsaan La Salle in Petaling Jaya as the boys toss water and flour at each other. Schools nationwide will be closed for more than a month before reopening for the new school year on Jan 4. — NST picture by Sairien Nafis

HOLY CITY: Hundreds of thousands gather for the Friday noon prayer at Mecca's Grand Mosque today. Some 2.5 million Muslims from more than 160 countries converge annually on the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina in western Saudi Arabia for the haj pilgrimage. - AFP Pix

LIVING IN FEAR: Rahmah Wateh, 76, together with some children watch in despair as Sungai Jenalik slowly erodes the land near her house at Kampung Siput, Mukim Siong in Baling - NST Pix by Safuri Kamarudin

Visitors view vehicles suspended in mid-air at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum today. The museum features an exhibition of works by contemporary artist Cai Guo-qiang, entitled 'Hanging Out in the Museum'. - AFP Pix

OUTER SPACE: The magnificent galaxy NGC 4710 is tilted nearly edge-on to our view from Earth in this Hubble Space Telescope image released by Nasa yesterday. What's striking in the image is a ghostly "X" pattern of stars. This is due to the inclined orbits of the stars in the galaxy's central bar-like structure. Located 65 million light-years away, NGC 4710 is a member of the giant Virgo Cluster of galaxies. - AFP Pix

Tourists take a ride in an open pedal power taxi through the streets of Sydney during hot and humid conditions today. Hundred-year records tumbled this week as the south-east of Australia sweltered through an unprecedented heatwave which dried out vast tracts of bush and farmland already in the grips of a decade-long drought. - AFP Pix

OVERJOYED: Pupil of Sekolah Kebangsaan Sg Pusu in Gombak are clearly excited that their year-end school holidays have begun. - Picture by ABDULLAH YUSOF

SUPERSTAR BOXER: Philippine boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao arrives to attend mass with his wife Jinkee in the Quiapo district of Manila today after claiming his seventh career boxing title. The Philippines rolled out the red carpet in a rock-star reception for the pound-for-pound king and newly crowned World Boxing Organisation welterweight champion Pacquiao. Earlier this week, Pacquiao brushed off rumours his marriage was in trouble amid reports he flew a starlet to Las Vegas to watch him win. - AFP PHOTO/TED ALJIBE

FEE PROTEST: A student protester is tazered by a police officer as college staff members (centre) are escorted to their cars during a protest against an increase in student fees at the UCLA campus in Los Angeles on November 19, 2009. The University of California Board of Regents had approved a 32 per cent tuition increase. - AFP PHOTO/Mark RALSTON