SHAH ALAM, 9 June 2012 - DiGi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd ("DiGi") today announced Petfinder as the best of the best among the 14 category winners of the DiGi WWWoW Internet For All Awards 2012. It was announced at tonight's awards ceremony to celebrate Malaysia's most beloved and inspiring Internet innovators and content creators. Held at DiGi's headquarters here, it united some of the biggest names in the Malaysian Internet landscape today.

Petfinder is Malaysia's leading pet portal and a registered NGO that advocates responsible pet ownership and a loving home for every pet while upholding animal welfare. It emerged as the judges' favourite amongst the 14 winners of the categories open for public nomination and voting.

Since the submission of entries opened on 24 March, there were 1,705 unique entries submitted in 30 days. The public voting period of 14-27 May 2012 recorded a total of 170,629 votes cast in the 14-day period in 14 categories that were opened to voting. This year, viral interest was stronger than ever, with over 2,000 tweets carrying the #DiGiWWWOW hashtag, creating more than 3 million impressions. Meanwhile, the WWWOW.my microsite registered 1.4 million page views from 335,000 unique visitors from 24 March to 16 May 2012.

DiGi's Head of Marketing Services, Sulin Lau, said, "We have been truly touched and inspired by the Malaysian Netizens this year. For the DiGi WWWOW Internet for All Awards 2012, we wanted to find special people who were using the power of the Internet to do special things, and from what we have seen, we are more convinced than ever how talented Malaysians are. With the expanded range of categories this year, we are also fortunate to see the breadth of Malaysian life, covering everything from fashion to food, comedy to culture, and commerce to social causes," Sulin added.

Facts and figures of the DiGi WWWOW Internet For All Awards 2012:

1. Among the established categories, "Nuffnang Blogger of The Year" and "Says.my Online Shop of the Year" saw the most entries this year, similar to last year.
2. The "Google Most Inspiring Internet for Good", "Says.my Online Shop of the Year", "Astro Top Online Overachiever Under-15" and "Lowyat.net Fave Tech Head" awards saw the biggest increases in votes garnered, compared to last year. There were 8 categories with more than 10,000 votes each.
3. Of the 1,705 unique entries, apart from "Malaysiakini Photojournalist of the Year" and "Nuffnang Blogger of the Year" categories which recorded huge numbers of entries, the remaining entries were split evenly across all other categories.
4. Among the new categories in 2012, the "Malaysiakini Photojournalist of the Year", "Mudah.my Most Promising Webpreneur of the Year", and "Yahoo! Social Media Gathering of the Year" categories did very well, garnering 32% of all votes.
5. In terms of entry formats, blogs still made up the largest percentage, but both photo and video entries each more than tripled compared to last year.

In addition to public voting, entries with the most votes in each category were evaluated by the judges, based on originality, relevance, execution and impact they have made on others. From the scores, 5 finalists from each of the 16 categories were invited to attend the awards ceremony. The DiGi WWWOW People's Choice of The Year Award 2012 went to the nominee with the highest number of popular votes while the DiGi WWWOW Of The Year 2012 award was presented to the most inspirational entry of all amongst the winners of the 14 categories, based on the judges' decision.

The DiGi WWWOW Internet For All Awards Event Finale saw 16 awards presented as follows:

1. ASTRO Top Online Over-Achiever Under 15 - ImanSyippo, Vote for me :)
2. Nuffnang Fave Makan-Makan Expert 2012 - Fried Chillis
3. Nuffnang Fave Kay Poh 2012 - Rotikaya
4. Lowyat.net Fave Tech Head 2012 - keiths.blog
5. Says.my Online Shop of the Year 2012 - friendlyfashion
6. Nuffnang Blogger of The Year 2012 - Bro, Don't Like That La, Bro
7. Google Most Inspiring Internet for Good Award 2012 - PetFinder.my
8. Innity Funniest Video of The Year 2012 - My Generasi
9. InMobi Mobile Short Film of The Year 2012 - Terima Kasih Malaysia: Belacan
10. Malaysiakini PhotoJournalist of The Year 2012 - Sea Gypsies
11. MSN Breakthrough Star Performer of The Year 2012 - Talents of SMK Seafield
12. Yahoo! Social Media Gathering of The Year 2012 - Tweet-Up Kaseh
13. Mudah.my Most Promising Webpreneur of the Year 2012 - Christy Ng Shoes
14. Samsung App of the Year Award 2012 - First Words for Geeks
15. DiGi WWWOW People's Choice of The Year Award 2012 (by popular vote) - MyHazman.com
16. DiGi WWWOW Of The Year 2012 (The Best of The Best) - PetFinder.my

In addition to celebrity judges such as actresses Lisa Surihani and Sharifah Sofia, TV Chef Anis Nabillah and rapper Altimet, the expert judging panel included senior personnel from partners like Air AsiaX, Google Malaysia, Yahoo! Malaysia, Catcha Digital, Nuffnang, Malaysiakini, Says.my as well as from DiGi and prominent online media content producers. For the full list of judges, please visit www.WWWOW.my/judges.aspx.

The DiGi WWWOW Internet For All Awards 2012, held for the second year running, features returning collaborators from DiGi WWWOW Awards 2011 (ASTRO, Era.fm, Hitz.fm, Google, Exabytes Lowyat.net, MSN, Mudah.my, Nuffnang bloggers, Says.my, and Yahoo!) as well as seven (7) new partners, namely AirAsia X, Samsung Malaysia Electronics, Chartis Insurance, DiGi Simple MasterCard, InMobi, Innity and Malaysiakini.

For more information, log on to www.WWWOW.my

About the DiGi WWWOW Internet For All Awards 2012

The DiGi WWWOW Awards is Malaysia's and only Internet For All awards, celebrating the achievements of ordinary Malaysians online. The DiGi-initiated awards celebration is based on 100% user-generated entries to showcase the incredible creativity, ingenuity and entrepreneurialism of ordinary Malaysians using the Internet in extraordinary ways to inspire others. It is supported by PEMANDU along with 20 partner brands and companies who believe in the power of the Internet to transform collaboration, community and commerce.

The winner of the People's Choice of the Year Award 2012 will be determined by popular vote while the winner of The Best of the Best Award is selected by the judges from the winners of the remaining 14 awards, all of which are selected based on a combined score of popular votes and judges' decision.

（雪蘭莪‧八打靈再也）本地第一家規模齊全，專為主人與寵物配對的寵物網站，提供一個平台讓熱愛動物人士與寵物相識，想要養寵物，僅需在彈指間，就能找到合眼緣的寵物了。

這個名為http://petfinder.my/的寵物網站，專為流浪的貓狗找主人，成立兩週年已協助3458隻流浪寵物找到一個家，然而流浪的貓狗依然不減，迄今還有1433隻貓狗無家可歸。 寵物網站創辦人高振濠披露，這些流浪的動物多數是被遺棄，成立寵物網站的目地，就是想為可憐的動物找一戶好主人。 他指出，目前網站登記註冊會員人數有2萬多人，瀏覽者達10萬人次。網站上詳細列明寵物的原有主人或拯救動物的人士身份及寵物資料，包括健康狀況、年齡及大小等。 “尋找寵物的人士只要與心儀的寵物看對眼，就能直接聯絡上寵物的原有主人。”

價錢由原有主人訂下

他說，領養寵物的價錢由原有主人自訂，從數十令吉或甚至完全免費皆有，而且品種繁多，當中不乏名種狗。此外，網站也提供平台讓主人尋找失蹤寵物。 高振濠聲稱，通過網站，平均一天有5隻寵物被人領養，而名種狗兒只要一放上網，很快就被人領養。 “網站就像一個交友平台，撮合寵物及主人找對象。” 追溯成立網站的因緣，就要說起兩年前。高振濠在路邊救了一隻僅兩個月大的小狗，當時小狗被車子撞傷，他帶狗兒去看醫生，過後也協助狗兒找主人。他到處問人，可惜遍尋不到狗主，於是他便刊登了一個小小廣告尋找狗主，結果出乎意料的，約有20多個人致電查問。 他開始思考，與其領養人及小狗在人海里尋尋覓覓，一直無法相遇，不如製造一個平台，讓這些領養人去找適合他們的狗，也能給這些流浪狗找到一個家。

自費登廣告搞活動

卸下寵物網站創辦人身份之餘，高振濠是一個與科技為伍的年輕人，29歲的他跟人合伙搞網絡科技生意，而寵物網站不單沒利益可圖，而且還得自掏腰包付錢刊登廣告、搞活動。 他補充，所有在寵物網站刊登的廣告都是免收費，大家本著對動物的愛，齊力製造一個人與動物和平共存的空間。

廣場內辦領養活動

若你本週內在Tropicana City Mall廣場逛街，聽到狗吠聲時，千萬別懷疑自己的耳朵，因為從上週末（5月1日）開始，高振濠便在廣場內舉辦了一個領養動物的活動。 購物中心內一向是寵物的禁地，然而購物中心管理層卻讓這些非政府組織在廣場內部設置柜台及將動物帶入廣場，可謂突破性的創舉。 他指出，在購物廣場內舉辦領養寵物的活動是絕無僅有的，因為一般的購物商場管理層因衛生因素，都不允許動物進入廣場範圍。

突破性創舉

“以往在戶外舉辦，貓狗們都要被日曬雨淋，在廣場內舉辦的環境條件好多了，圍觀的人也比較多。 不少公眾都被這些動物所吸引，小孩們更是對可愛的動物們愛不釋手。 想要領養狗兒或貓兒的人士，不妨在5月1至9日的週六及週日，前往Tropicana City Mall廣場2樓，尋找適合的寵物吧。

注：所有領養狗兒及貓兒的費用一律是狗兒：149令吉、貓兒：99令吉。

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Kuala Lumpur, 5 August 2009-- PetFinder.my, Malaysia's pioneer in online pet adoption, has launched a new initiative to encourage the adoption of homeless animals - a voucher system that provides instant subsidy to first-time adopters.

Each new adopter would qualify for an immediate 50% subsidy of the adoption fee, up to a maximum of RM50, when they adopt an animal from PetFinder.my's certified rescuers. All they need to do is sign up as a member, locate pets of interest, then print out the corresponding rescuer's voucher to be presented during adoption. Participating rescuers include PAWS, SPCA, Save-A-Stray and independent members.

"This voucher can only be used to adopt pets that have been spayed/neutered, so we are killing two birds with one stone by reducing unwanted breeding at the same time," explained Andy Koh, founder of PetFinder.my.

Established in April 2008 by Andy Koh and Ezer Ratchaga, PetFinder.my has played a crucial role in rehoming over 1,600 animals, maturing into Malaysia's largest pet adoption portal. Uniting animal lovers from all walks of life, this service has provided individual rescuers and animal shelters alike with an effective online adoption infrastructure, and a forum for all to share their experiences and knowledge. Thousands of pets are also actively showcased by their owners, spreading the joy of having a furry companion.

"We hope that this subsidy system would help convince more people to give a try at adopting animals. We are currently in talks with potential corporate sponsors to contribute further to this programme's fund," Ezer Ratchaga said.

To take advantage of the adoption subsidy, just sign up at http://www.PetFinder.my/ and proceed to the Vouchers page. Over 800 adorable dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters and other pets are available for adoption - rest assured you can find your lifetime companion there!

"A loving home for every pet" is the tagline at PetFinder.my. Founded by technopreneurs Andy Koh and Ezer Ratchanga in April 2008, this site is rapidly emerging as Malaysia's largest and most comprehensive Pet Adoption Portal. In just one year, PetFinder has found loving homes for over 1,200 animals.

PetFinder.my works closely with SPCA and PAWS, as well as independent animal rescuers throughout the country. The site enables organised communication between animal rescuers, fosterers and adopters, allowing them to assess and pair homeless animals with the most suitable owners. Listing a pet for adoption on PetFinder takes only a matter of minutes. Complete details and pictures of each animal are immediately available to the public.

Besides facilitating pet adoption, PetFinder provides a Lost-and- Found section, discussion forums, classifieds directory, and a Central Microchip Database for effectively cataloguing microchipped pets and identifying owners of lost animals. Andy observed, "Pet adoptions have increased in effectiveness with the introduction of PetFinder, and I believe this has directly encouraged more people to participate in the efforts of rescuing and re-homing animals."

"We are very proud of this community, especially the unsung heroes - rescuers who have spent time, effort and money to save the precious lives of these animals and properly educate the public," Ezer reflected. To increase exposure among the tech-savvy crowd, PetFinder.my has developed a social networking application for Facebook and regular blogs, extending their reach to other websites and enabling visitors to see animals for adoption.

"A loving home for every pet," is their vision and mission. If you love animals, you will love PetFinder.my. It's a loving home for pet owners, too.

WWF-Malaysia thanks the PetFinder.my online community for supporting our �Egg=Life� campaign and helping to raise awareness of the importance of turtle conservation.

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In March last year, Andy Koh, 28, came across a community of people who rescue and foster homeless animals when he was looking for a suitable home for an injured puppy he had rescued.

When he learned that the most frequent problem these people faced was finding homes for the animals, Koh and his business partner in ecommerce solutions, Ezer Ratchaga, 37 , decided to create a comprehensive website for cats and dogs that brought together pet rescuers, fosterers and adopters.

On April 18, 2008, PetFinder.my was born.

The website is supported by SPCA and PAWS, and incorporates, among others, adoption p rofiles of pets, lostand- found pets, discussion forums, classifieds, information about caring for pets and microchipping, and a Hall of Shame that exposes people who are cruel to animals.

PetFinder.my has so far helped 1,139 animals find a home, with another 639 still looking. Members update the website themselves, posting information on animals up for adoption together with their own contact details.

"I've always placed ads in the paper offering puppies for free. When you list something like that, you will definitely get enquiries, so why not get all the pet rescuers to list their animals in one place?" Ratchaga explained.

"SPCA told us that many of their calls and emails are because of our website. It's a win-win situation because the animals get adopted and don't have to be put down," said Ratchaga.

Although animal adoption is what PetFinder champions, the website stresses responsible adoption.

"We want the public to be more informed about the animal they are adopting.

They must ask questions about the breed, potential diseases, maintenance and, most importantly, vaccination. Although vaccination is legally not required, owners should nevertheless vaccinate and deworm their pets. Neuter them when it is time, so that there would not be unwanted animals in the future," Ratchaga urged.

"Many countries practise TNR (Trap, Neuter & Release) Programmes where strays are caught, neutered and released to live out their lives. If our local councils can implement this programme instead of paying bounty for animals, our stray problem would be drastically reduced over time as they won't be able to breed," added Ratchaga.

"We have around 10,000 hits to our websites every day and our forums are very active," Koh chipped in.

"It is a vibrant place to ask questions and look for information. We knew we were able to make a difference when our website helped reunite an owner with her dog Mago, which she posted on our Lost & Found page. Mago was found by another member at a car wash," he added.

One project that PetFinder.my is currently pursuing is the compilation of microchip information in one central database.

"We want people to microchip their pets so that it would be easy to reunite pets with their owners. Most of the information in the microchip are outdated because different vets and organisations hold different databases.

We are working with vets, organisations and, hopefully, the local councils to compile a central database and make it easily available on-line.

"Another idea is for the local council to make it compulsory to microchip your pet. It could be given out as a package when an owner applies for a licence," said Koh.

PetFinder.my has an application which can be implemented in Facebook and blogs whereby visitors to your site can view current animals up for adoption. Simply download the application from the link at the top right of their website, and you could be saving lives.

PetFinder.my celebrates their first anniversary this month.

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It is amazing indeed how a staunch community of animal lovers has grown PetFinder.my into Malaysia's largest Pet Adoption Portal within just a short period of 6 months. Founded by technopreneurs Andy Koh and Ezer Ratchaga in late April, PetFinder has effectively united people from all walks of life, for there lies a common goal shared by them - to put a roof over the heads of homeless animals and enhance their welfare.

Within just half a year, PetFinder has successfully rehomed 400 animals, averaging over 2 pets a day. Not just dogs and cats have found their new loving families there, but even cute little rabbits, hamsters and birds as well! (Their system is now enhanced to support small furry animals, reptiles and fishes too - with a total of 500 recognized breeds!) In fact, PetFinder has become a favourite online destination for owners to showcase their beloved pets - over 700 of these animals have made their way into the portal, featuring their adorable faces to the community.

PetFinder's forum has matured into a cozy virtual home, where friendly animal lovers actively exchange views, experience and knowledge on pet issues and latest happenings in town. Interestingly, their forum also empowers participants with a mini social network, supporting blogging, photo albums, personal profiles and friend lists.

PetFinder has established tight cooperation with SPCA Selangor, PAWS, SPCA Penang, SPCA Johor and a number of independent rescue groups to rehome their pets. Their dedicated team of volunteers consistently visit the shelters to capture photos and details of the latest pets for online profiling. "Many of these shelters are pretty tight on human resources - we aim to build a sizable volunteer database which they can tap onto - whether it's for fostering pets, assisting at the shelter or volunteering at events," explained Ezer.

A testimonial from Christine Chin, the Chairperson of SPCA Selangor described, "Since we tied up with PetFinder.my, we have received many calls and e-mails regarding the cats, dogs, pups and kittens we've put up for adoption online - and many of them have gone on to great, loving homes! We are truly grateful for this wonderful service provided, as it enables us to save more homeless animals."

PetFinder has been actively involved in roadshows and events to increase public awareness on pet adoption. Their supportive members and volunteers have played a crucial role in the success of these adoption drives, and more events are to be organised in the coming months. In conjunction with Hari Raya and their 6-month-old celebration, PetFinder members have also held a fun-filled gathering at a hotel, with attractive lucky draw prizes sponsored by generous participants.

"I believe that our community has set an excellent example to the public - that we should appreciate and respect lives be it humans or animals; that it is definitely within the capabilities of us to improve the social conditions and well being of others; and that we can effectively unite the kind hearted people out there sharing similar visions, irregardless of our personal differences," Andy observed.

There is a long journey ahead, and may the hard work and perseverance of PetFinder's community inspire more people to save the lives of homeless animals. And if you haven't already done so, go join the big, happy PetFinder.my family now!

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Breaking news: Stray dogs and cats all around Malaysia were caught surfing a mysterious website in cyber cafes, posting their sweetest photos online in search of love and family!

Well, we haven't exactly masterminded such genetic breakthroughs yet, but a new website recently launched, PetFinder.my, has helped achieve a significant part of that goal. Founded by 2 veteran technopreneurs - Andy Koh and Ezer Ratchaga, this service was deeply inspired by Chanelle, a puppy that has unwittingly become a canine heroine among the homeless animals.

It all began on the fateful day of March 18th 2008, when Andy Koh and his friends stumbled across an injured stray puppy that met with an accident. Barely able to move and whining in pain, Andy quickly sent her to the vet. Diagnosed with a dislocated hind leg, her leg was bandaged in plaster cast. Together, they carefully nursed her back to health - but were unable to keep her as a family member was asthmatic.

Andy desperately approached online forums, social networks and friends to seek adopters. The lucky break came when his buddy Ezer Ratchaga, a veteran in rescuing puppies, advised him to place classified ads in local newspapers. Inundated with enquiries, Andy successfully found a perfect match for Chanelle, a loving family that adored her like a princess.

Inspired by the joy and success in saving Chanelle, and noticing the lack of reach and funds by independent rescuers, Andy and Ezer decided to develop PetFinder.my, dedicated to providing a one-stop portal for animal lovers, assisting homeless pets in seeking adopters, and providing NGOs and rescuers the necessary infrastructure to effectively reach out to the public.

Within its first month of inception, PetFinder has enjoyed over 200,000 hits, and up till now has successfully rehomed over 90 pets, with the fastest record going to Coco, a Golden Retriever - Shih Tzu cross-breed that was rehomed within 35 minutes of posting up its adoption profile.

"I'd like to thank you so much for your visionary efforts and continuous support for our cause! Response to our pets for adoption from Petfinder.my has been incredible!", remarked Farida Mazlan, PR Officer of SPCA Selangor. A dedicated PetFinder volunteer, Ai Ney, has also relentlessly assisted the NGOs by photographing the pets and managing their adoption profiles online. Personally, she has successfully rehomed 2 rescued dogs through PetFinder.

To keep up with the latest trends, PetFinder.my has newly released a Facebook application, where Facebook users can instantly feature homeless animals within their profiles and recommend specific pets to their friends. A Facebook PetFinder.my group has also been established to generate further activity and participation from pet lovers. A dynamic version for bloggers has also been made available. Further details on saving homeless pets via your Facebook account or blogs is available at http://www.petfinder.my/linktous.htm

"There is a big, dedicated community of kind-hearted animal lovers out there, spending signifcant time and effort in helping the needy animals. They are the true, unsung heroes that have saved countless lives," Andy explained, when asked on the success of PetFinder. As for the future plans, Ezer winked, "This is just the tip of the iceberg. We will be expanding PetFinder into a full-fledged portal for the pet lovers community - it's coming soon!"

Animal rescuers can publish their pets' profiles for free at http://www.PetFinder.my/. The public can browse through cute dogs, cats, hamsters, rabbits and birds listed there, as well as participate in PetFinder.my's vibrant pet lover community and forums.

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Kuala Lumpur, 30 April 2008-- Chanelle, A 2-month-old Puppy Became A Canine Heroine By Deeply Inspiring The Creation Of Malaysia's First Interactive Pet Adoption Website, PetFinder.my.

On the fateful day of March 18th, Andy Koh and his friend stumbled across an injured puppy that met with an accident. Barely able to move, the puppy was quickly chauffeured to the vet. Diagnosed with a dislocated hind leg, her leg was bandaged in plaster cast. Together, they carefully nursed her back to health - but were unable to keep her as a family member was asthmatic.

Andy desperately approached online forums, social networks and friends to seek adopters. The lucky break came when his buddy Ezer Ratchaga, a veteran in rescuing puppies, advised him to place classified ads in local newspapers. Inundated with enquiries, Andy successfully found a perfect match for Chanelle, a loving family that adored her like a princess.

Inspired by the joy and success in saving a puppy, Andy and Ezer, both technopreneurs operating an e-commerce conglomerate EzerNet Sdn. Bhd., teamed up to develop its latest web property - PetFinder.my, dedicated to helping homeless pets find loving homes. With the generous assistance of animal rescuers, PetFinder was officially launched on April 18th to mark the 1-month anniversary of Chanelle's rescue.

"PetFinder's primary goals are to better facilitate communications between rescuers and adopters; to achieve economy of scale by promoting a unified resource and bringing in targeted audience for the rescuers; and to educate the public in responsibly managing their pets," explained Andy. "It has always been our wish to help the homeless pets and fight for animal rights. We hope PetFinder can unite the kind-hearted animal lovers out there," added Ezer.

Animal rescuers can list their pets' profiles for free at http://www.PetFinder.my/. The public can seek dogs and cats for adoption there, and participate in PetFinder.my's vibrant pet lover community and forums.