6, December 2017
Veteran French pop singer Johnny Hallyday dies aged 74 after cancer battle 0
Veteran French rocker Johnny Hallyday has died after a battle with lung cancer. He was 74.
The death of Hallyday, a rock and roll giant in France with a career that lasted more than 50 years, was announced by the office of the French president. “He brought a part of America into our national pantheon,” French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said early on Wednesday.
Macron, who spoke with Hallyday’s family after the news, said “we all have something of Johnny Hallyday in us.” Hallyday had announced in March that he was being treated for cancer but had played down the severity of his condition.
“Johnny Hallyday has left us,” the singer’s wife, Laeticia, said in a statement to Agence France Presse. “I write these words without believing them. But yet, it’s true. My man is no longer with us.”
Known simply as “Johnny” to his fans, Hallyday was the closest France got to Elvis and was once dubbed “the biggest star you’ve never heard of” by USA Today. Hallyday enjoyed a huge following in France, having sold more than 100 million records in his decades-long career.
In a sign of his standing in the country, Former President Nicolas Sarkozy, as mayor of the rich enclave of Neuilly-sur-Seine on the western edge of Paris, presided in 1996 over the entertainer’s marriage to his fourth wife, Laeticia.
His health had been the subject of media speculation since he was hospitalised in 2009 in the United States for complications following a hernia operation, and was put in an artificial coma.
“For each of us, he means something personal. Memories, happy moments, songs and music,” Sarkozy said at the time. Hallyday was a colourful character loved for hits such as “Allumez le Feu”, but also home-grown versions of rock standards such as Elvis Presley’s Hound Dog and Bebop a Lula by Gene Vincent.
But he had also sparked considerable controversy, in particular for choosing to dodge French taxes by taking up residence in Switzerland, saying he had had enough of being “fleeced” back home.
Part of the “Ye Ye” generation, Hallyday’s career took off in 1960, where he prompted the same scenes of hysteria in France as the Beatles or the Rolling Stones.
With his square-jawed good looks and piercing blue eyes, Hallyday was often sought-out for the cinema, playing in French director Jean-Luc Godard’s “Detective” (1984) and with other illustrious directors including Costa-Gavras.
More recently, Hallyday appeared in Johnnie To’s “Vengeance” (2009) and had talked about giving film a bigger role in his life.
However, it was the rocker’s sentimental life, and his marriage to Laeticia that gave him a mellow edge. He spoke lovingly of daughters Jade and Joy, who were adopted from Vietnam. “I’m not a star. I’m just a simple man,” he said in a 2006 interview on France 3.
Hallyday is also survived by two other children, Dave, a singer fathered with Vartan, and Laura Smet, whom he had with noted French actress Nathalie Baye.
Source: Telegraph.Co.UK
12, December 2017
SOBA:UK 2017 Annual Residential Convention: The Rock Stars gathered in Rugby 0
Another year and yet again another great Convention of pure style and class has been staged by SOBA:UK, unparalleled to any other Cameroonian event in the UK diaspora.
Within the Cameroonian Communities abroad, we are noticing some transformations in their life styles and preferences. As the matured wisdom sets in and push them towards making efforts to assist in the building of the brand name, so that they eventually can give back to members as well as to the institution that initiated their career goals in life. This is what SOBA:UK is all about and this was the message the SOBA:UK 2017 Annual Convention that was held in Rugby sent out to the world, indicating that SOBA:UK is a very unique, inclusive, non-ethnic, non-sectional association that brings together its membership and guests from across the UK, Ireland, USA, Europe and Africa.
What a novelty by the ex-students of Saint Joseph’s College, Sasse. What a smart move of getting support from Sobans and the whole community in the UK to be involved with this great SOBA:UK event, and it’s a family affair too. The Sasse Old Boys Rock Stars, their acronym SOBA:UK, residing in the United Kingdom and Ireland were appraising their responsibilities to the community in their theme of “Building a Stronger Community”.
The 2017 SOBA:UK Annual Convention in Rugby had a huge focus on the welfare of the SOBAN membership and how to restructure, assert and sustain the future of the associations. Headed by SOBA: UK’s “Frugal and Servant Leader”, Mr Ayuk Akoh-Arrey, SOBA:UK has joined the chains of reputable African associations that could be reckon with. In a good footing, the 2017 SOBA:UK Annual Residential Convention in Rugby has gone a long way towards internationising their Alma Mater.
We of the Cameroon Concord News Group observed that the SOBA:UK Convention was a huge success with a sellout crowd of circa 300 guests, including high-powered Sobans delegations from the Irish Republic, USA, Europe and Africa. The main sponsors namely Options International, Tamangwa Shipping and Sellam Quick who delivered excellent presentations of their companies were all accorded a VIP service. There was also strong support from the OPSA UK alumni represented by Dr Jacqui Lottin-Nfor and her team who presented the awards in the gala night for best supporter of SOBA:UK that was won by Ms Evelyne Aguen Dia, and the most dedicated Soban that was won by Soban Eko Ngwashi.
AWARD WINNER SMILES FOR THE CAMERA AT THE SOBA:UK CONVENTION GALA NIGHT
http://optionsinternational.net/cameroon
Why Rugby?
There are reasons why Rugby hosted the three day’s event, from Friday 10th to Sunday 12th November:
The Dunchurch Park Hotel in Rugby, Warwickshire was chosen because of the exclusive availability of all facilities only to SOBA:UK and the convenience of the location in a county that is known for its history as the birth place of the world renowned poet William Shakespeare.
It all started on Friday evening with a welcome buffet dinner for younger Sobans and a management board meeting with a champagne toast. Sobans went to work on Saturday during the AGM delibrations which lasted for five hours, before the well attended main Gala night event. The Sunday BBQ and Falconry display events concluded the historic 2017 come together.
The AGM deliberations where very frank, candid and cordial. To be sure, it offered a thoughtful key to some big decisions that were taken to strengthen the association’s structures and brand name for the future. The plans to continue to make the SOBA:UK financially strong are very much on track which in turn will bring about great benefits to members, as well as the alma mater. The 2017 SOBA:UK Convention was indeed to build a stronger community
The SOBA:UK president has already sent a thank you message to all guests, along with a collection of the most amazing pictures of the event as a class act to finalise the 2017 year with SOBA in the UK and shared with Cameroon Concord News.
THE TAMANGWA SHIPPING COMMERCIAL, TAMANGWA SHIPPING TEAM AND REPRESENTATIVES AFTER THEIR PRESENTATION
SOBA:UK PRESIDENT AND A REPRESENTATIVE OF OPTIONS INTERNATIONAL
Merry Christmas and Happy New year to all the SOBA:UK members and their supporters.
By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai
Cameroon Concord News Group