others

skip to main | skip to sidebar
Enter your search terms Submit search form
Web theworldandmalaysia.blogspot.com


Monday, June 21, 2010
World Cup at Starbucks!


Posted by Eric at 10:15 AM 1 comments Monday, June 14, 2010
Sugar Shortage?

Consumers and traders in several states have voiced their frustration in getting supply of sugar, describing the shortage as the "worst so far". According to The Star, a check at several grocery shops has revealed that no sugar had been on sale for over a week.


Lamented shopkeeper, Abu Hassan Kamal, 53 told The Star that his last stock came on may 12 and his suppliers have not aasured me of any new delivery in the next few days. He called the government to resolve the problem, particularly with Ramadhan approaching. "What is the use of a licence to sell sugar when there is no supply?" Abu asked, referring to the new regulation by the Domestic Trade, Consumerism and Cooperatives Ministry to make retailers apply for a licence to sell the price-controlled item.



In Penang, state Domestic Trade, Consumer Affairs and Religious Affairs Committee chairman Abdul Malik Abdul Kassim said there was no dearth of sugar, adding that it was monitoring the situation closely. FOMCA secretary general, Muhd Sha'ani Abdullah said it had received complaints in various areas including Kuantan, Muar, Klanf and Temerloh since a month ago.


He said the issue was not due to retailers hoarding sugar but the smuggling of the item to other countries. Federation of Sundry Goods Merchant president, Lean Hing Chuan said the shortage nationwide was caused by manufacturers dividing production, adding that its members started noticing slowdown in April.


He also said the federation had decided in a meeting yesterday to clear their stock of the three controlled items; sugar, flour and palm oil based cooking oil by June 15.
Posted by Eric at 9:32 AM 2 comments Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Urbanscapes'10 Event.


Posted by Eric at 9:46 AM 1 comments Tuesday, June 1, 2010
This is so cute...

DORMITORY:
When you rearrange the letters:
DIRTY ROOM

PRESBYTERIAN:
When you rearrange the letters:
BEST IN PRAYER


ASTRONOMER:
When you rearrange the letters:
MOON STARER


DESPERATION:
When you rearrange the letters:
A ROPE ENDS IT



THE EYES:
When you rearrange the letters:
THEY SEE


GEORGE BUSH:
When you rearrange the letters:
HE BUGS GORE


THE MORSE CODE:
When you rearrange the letters:
HERE COME DOTS



SLOT MACHINES:
When you rearrange the letters:
CASH LOST IN ME


ANIMOSITY:
When you rearrange the letters:
IS NO AMITY


ELECTION RESULTS:
When you rearrange the letters:
LIES - LET’S RECOUNT


SNOOZE ALARMS:
When you rearrange the letters:
ALAS! NO MORE Z ‘S


A DECIMAL POINT:
When you rearrange the letters:
IM A DOT IN PLACE


THE EARTHQUAKES:
When you rearrange the letters:
THAT QUEER SHAKE


ELEVEN PLUS TWO:
When you rearrange the letters:
TWELVE PLUS ONE


MOTHER-IN-LAW:
When you rearrange the letters:
WOMAN HITLER
Posted by Eric at 3:38 PM 2 comments Labels: blonde jokes, dirty jokes, funny jokes
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Capello content after Mexico experiment


While the English press took the opportunity to raise more questions than answers, Capello was happy to look at what he learnt from the exercise as the team played the first of two games before they fly out to South Africa. He was quick to praise the performance of Steven Gerrard, who showed his versatility in playing in a number of positions as Capello tested formations.


"Gerrard can play in midfield with Frank Lampard but we have to wait and see which players will be fit,'' said Capello, obviously referring to the availability of Gareth Barry for the finals. Barry, who suffered ankle ligament damage at the start of the month, is due to undergo crucial medical tests on Tuesday to determine his chances of being fit for the finals.


"I changed it after half-time and put Steven in the middle, where he played very well. He is a really good player and can play in midfield, as a number 10, in lots of different positions.


"I am not concerned [with the performance]. It was really important to know where we are now, physically and mentally after a long season. We have time to recover a lot of the spirit of the team and the qualities we have. "When we play counter-attacking, we are really dangerous. But I don't just want to play on the counter. I want more.''


What Capello doesn't want is to get sidetracked by reports linking him with jobs elsewhere, this time Inter Milan, who are about to lose Champions League-winning coach Jose Mourinho. "Juventus, Inter, Real Madrid, the other teams, AC Milan,'' he smiled. "It's good for me but I am focused on the World Cup.''
Posted by Eric at 2:16 AM 0 comments Labels: football moments
Thursday, May 20, 2010
German trading restrictions compound EURO's troubles


The fallout from Germany's announcement yesterday of the ban on shorting Eurozone government debt, associated CDS and German financial stocks has continued, although the impact is now being felt more squarely in European equity markets, which are down in the 2%-3% range, while EUR/USD has thus far only marginally extended yesterday's sizeable drop. However, we do not view EUR/USD's relative stability during the Asian and early European hours as indicative of the likely price action from here, and instead we would look for the currency pair to continue to move lower in the near-term.


On the German trading restrictions, it is important to note that other European countries have not followed the ban on shorting Eurozone government bonds and associated CDS, meaning that investors can still conduct those types of transactions and highlighting the lack of unity among Eurozone policy makers. And it appears that Germany's move was designed in large part to appease domestic lawmakers and garner their support in advance of the opening of parliamentary debate on Germany's contribution to the EU/IMF EUR750 bln debt backstop agreed to earlier this month.


While such populist measures may resonate with some lawmakers, financial market participants make an entirely different assessment. Banning short selling in some securities has, in the most basic terms, encouraged traders to short a proxy for those securities, and the EUR fits that simple criteria most easily. And that is only the knee-jerk, initial response. The longer term ramifications/implications could be even more damaging to the EUR.


Among the key attributes of a 'reserve currency' are deep, liquid and transparent money and bond markets. However, these measures, banning short selling of Eurozone government debt, run directly contrary to that critical criterium which reserve managers look for in assessing where to invest their funds. And while some could argue that removing the short selling ban on Eurozone debt will alleviate such concerns (assuming it happens), the fact that it has been imposed once will be taken to mean that it could happen again, and potentially on an even broader scale (i.e. if other countries join in). Hence, these actions represent not only a short term risk to the EUR's reserve currency status, but could damage its longer term appeal as well.
Posted by Eric at 9:58 AM 0 comments Labels: EURO
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
1MDB, Malton to redevelop RMAF base.


The cabinet has agreed in principle to entrust the task of redeveloping the Sungai Besi Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) base to a consortium of companies that include 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), sources say. The other members of the consortium are Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT) and Datuk Desmond Lim of Malton Bhd, they say. It cannot be ascertained if Malton or Lim, through his private company, has a stake in the consortium.


It is learnt that the mandate of the consortium is to develop the 162-hectare site into a multi-billion-ringgit Islamic financial centre. This is in line with the government’s plans to enhance Malaysia as a regional Islamic financial centre.


The sources say the government will also ink an agreement with the Qatar government that will commit an undertaking for major investments in Malaysia. The investments will be jointly undertaken with 1MDB and may likely include the redevelopment of the Sungai Besi RMAF base. It is said that 1MDB would hold 30% interest in the consortium while Lim or Malton would hold 40%. LTAT would hold the remaining 30%.


The Sungai Besi airport, which served as the country’s first international airport from 1952 to 1965, was eyed by many parties as it is probably the last major tract of land that is located close to the city centre and has the potential for a multi-billion-ringgit redevelopment. It borders the Sungai Besi Highway at one end and Taman Seputeh and Istana Negara at the other.


“The decision to develop the base into an Islamic financial centre was made by the cabinet recently. It was with the view of promoting Malaysia as an Islamic finance hub in this region. It will ultimately create a platform for all Islamic finance-related institutions to set up base,” said a source.


It is learnt that the runway will be maintained so that private jets can fly in corporate big-wigs to do business in the financial district. There will also be a helipad. “The other areas inside the base such as the nine-hole golf course and existing quarters housing RMAF personnel will be redeveloped,” said a source.


Last month, it was reported that plans to redevelop the Sungai Besi airport had resurfaced but both Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Minister Datuk Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal claimed they were not aware of any such plans. However, it is learnt that members of the golf club and the RMAF officials have been told to look for alternative sites. The cost of relocating the base and the golf course will be borne by the consortium undertaking the redevelopment of the base.


It is not clear if the project was tendered out but according to officials in the property development industry, they were not aware of any exercise by the government calling for expression of interest in the redevelopment of the base.


One of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s plans to increase government revenue is to redevelop land held by government agencies. In this respect, he announced the development of the Rubber Research Institute land in Sungai Buloh by the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) last month. He had said that this was to pave the way for the EPF to be directly involved in the economic activities of the country.


It has been reported that apart from the RMAF, the Sungai Besi base also houses the police air wing, the air unit of the Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) and the Royal Selangor Flying Club. The RMAF units housed in the base include the 10th Squadron, which maintains the Nuri and Blackhawk helicopters for utility and other purposes. The other RMAF operations there are the Aerospace Medical Institute as well as the RMAF museum.
Posted by Eric at 1:34 AM 0 comments Thursday, May 13, 2010
Debt crisis won't lead to Asian recession.

The European debt crisis, which is a looming concern to many nations worldwide, is not expected to drag Asia into recession, according to an economist from a foreign bank. Standard Chartered Bank regional head of research for South-East Asia Tai Hui said the economic recovery in the region in the past six months was largely driven by domestic demand and intra-regional trade while the US and Europe played a limited role in the recovery.


“Although Europe is among the top three destinations for Asia, nonetheless, due to the above reason, I don't foresee it dragging the regional economies down. Asian economies, including Malaysia, are in a resilient position and the crisis will not derail the economic recovery,” he said at a press briefing. He added that the crisis at the same time would not affect European banks to reduce its lending to Asian companies as Asian banks, including Malaysian ones, had already stepped up lending and necessary liquidity to businesses.


Furthermore, he added, continental European banks were still quite slow in re-entering the Asian banking market while the Japanese and US banks were already making strong recovery which bodes well for the region. Tai said the situation in Europe may delay the recovery of European banks lending to emerging markets but would not negatively affect Asian economies.


On Asian investments in Europe, he said they were mostly in developed parts of Europe such as in Germany and France while its exposure to Greece was relatively low. In addition, he noted Asian investments in Europe was not into complex structured assets but more on plain vanila government bonds or equities and the potential mark to market loss for such investment were insignificant compared with 2008 and 2009 during the financial crisis where toxic assets were involved.


Tai said there were some countries that may be vulnerable to the European crisis, especially those with high level of fiscal deficit/debt and low level of foreign exchange like Vietnam, Pakistan and Sri Lanka but overall, Asia was in good shape and had strong fundamentals.


For Malaysia, the bank is expecting the country's gross domestic product (GDP) growth to be 6.5% for the first quarter of this year and 5% for the full year driven mainly by government spending and consumption. He said exports were gradually improving and expected it to further improve in the second half of the year.


Despite the European crisis, it gives plenty of reasons for Bank Negara to hike up the overnight policy rate (OPR) in its announcement today. Tai said he expected the OPR to increase by another 25 basis points to 2.50% and expect another 25-basis point rise to 2.75% for the full year to reflect the normalisation of rates. He said the central bank would most likely pause the rate hike after that and only start raising it next year as economic growth started to take on a firmer footing.


On the currency front, due to the risk aversion, he said the ringgit had recently weakened against the greenback but, given the attraction of the Asian markets including Malaysia, he foresaw the ringgit strengthening in the second half.


Posted by Eric at 2:25 PM 1 comments Thursday, May 6, 2010
Malaysia's proposed nuclear plant comes under fire.

Malaysian environmentalists and opposition leaders on Wednesday slammed the government's plan to build a nuclear power plant, calling it a risky venture and saying the country has sufficient energy output to meet future needs.


Energy Minister Peter Chin announced Tuesday the government has approved in principle a nuclear plant, which would start operating from 2021, as an efficient and cost-effective means to fuel economic growth. Malaysia will join neighboring Thailand and Vietnam, which have unveiled plans to operate their first nuclear power plants by 2020, while Indonesia plans to build its own on Java island by 2015.


The opposition Democratic Action Party said there was no need for nuclear power because Malaysia has a 40 percent energy reserve margin, double the government's target of 20 percent reserves. Malaysia's power usage now stands at 14,000 megawatts, out of a total capacity of 23,000 megawatts.


In addition, it said, several large hydroelectric dams are being built on Borneo island to cater to future demands. "Clearly Malaysia has more energy than it needs ... why then does Malaysia need a nuclear power plant?" the party's secretary-general, Lim Guan Eng, said in a statement.


He also expressed concerns for safety and the environment, citing the 1986 Chernobyl reactor explosion that sent a cloud of radiation over much of Europe and left some 2 million people ill. Malaysian officials maintain the plan is crucial for the country's long-term energy security in view of a growing population and future economic expansion, but say they will conduct feasibility studies before deciding whether to proceed.


Malaysia uses coal and natural gas to generate most of its electricity supply, and the government has repeatedly warned the cost of relying on both commodities is expected to spiral in the decades ahead.


The Center for Environment, Technology and Development, a local think-tank, warned that nuclear power was capital intensive and risky because it generates radioactive waste that has to be discarded. The center's chairman, Gurmit Singh, said there is a lot of energy wastage in the country because gasoline, diesel and electricity are subsidized. He urged the government to instead bolster energy efficiency and turn to other renewable sources like wind and solar power.


According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, there are more than 430 nuclear power plants operating in some 30 countries worldwide, accounting for about 15 percent of global electricity output.
Posted by Eric at 2:37 PM 1 comments Thursday, April 29, 2010
TimeOUT KL Presents...



Palate Palette Restaurant & Bar
21 Jalan Mesui, off Jalan Nagasari, 50200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
T : +603 2142 2148 F : +603 2143 2148 www.palatepalette.com
Posted by Eric at 3:36 PM 1 comments Friday, April 23, 2010
#iTalk WHOA! Launch at Borneo Rainforest!

Remember my post on iTalk WHOA! the other day?


Sorry that I forgot to mention that I was invited for the launch event too!!! It was held at Borneo Rainforest - The social media portal that we've all been looking forward to and been so excited about was officially launched the other day. iTalk Whoa! is in fact, a platform service - or I would say, a all-in-one multi purpose portal which helps you to manage your emails, social media accounts, calendars, while allowing you to place international and local calls and sms! Of course, you will need to create an account and purchase some credits either via credit card or per top up card from vendors.


I didnt bring my camera the other day - but here are some pictures that I have conveniently taken from some of my friends' blogs!



Picture courtesy of Blushberry.info.


Meet the pretty chics Blushberry, Bangsar Babe and MyHorng.



Picture courtesy of TheJessicaT.com


They had laptops all set up and iTalk ready - it was really fun to try out the portal together with my friends. In fact, I got to learn many new things that you can do with the iTalk Whoa! that I had previously didnt know about!



Picture courtesy of Wingz.


There were some games that went on - one of which was to pick up ice cubes from one glass to another using chopsticks! The winner takes home a cordless phone!!! WHOOAA!!!!



Picture courtesy of Amanda Choe.


Here's the picture of the pretty lady Jaclyn who invited me to the launch!


Wow.. I hope that I can go to more events in the future!!! I really enjoyed myself there!!


Thank you TM!!!


Anyways - there was also an article in Business Times on iTalkWhoa - for those of you who missed it, here it goes...


TELEKOM Malaysia Bhd (TM) (4863) targets to have 500,000 active iTalk calling card users by the year-end, up from 300,000 currently. The target is achievable as TM makes enhancements to the service, said TM executive vice-president of consumer Jeremy Kung.


Yesterday, TM unveiled a new social networking and communications portal called iTalk Whoa, as part of a product improvement for its iTalk users. The portal can be accessed via www.italkwhoa.com. Kung said the portal is a next-generation enhancement for iTalk users and other prepaid customers who want to communicate through other channels of popular usage.


"With the introduction of iTalk Whoa, iTalk is moving into a whole new dimension and is no longer just a prepaid calling card. "With iTalk Whoa, users will be able to use the portal as their new all-in-one site for all their communication needs," Kung said at the launch in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, yesterday.


Via iTalk Whoa, users will also be able to check emails, utilise instant messaging and make voice calls. In addition to having a portal with various elements of email, chat and other forms of communication available, iTalk Whoa also offers iTalk customers low voice call rates.
Posted by Eric at 2:57 PM 3 comments Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Weekly Set Menu at La Bodega.

This Week's Set Menu
19th - 25th April
Available from 12pm - 8pm daily



~STARTERS~

Crispy cheese balls with tomato and chili chutney
or
Cream of chicken and mushroom soup
or
Smoked butterfish salad with citrus salsa


~MAIN COURSES~

Roasted quail with orange couscous and buttered french beans
or
Beef schnitzel with potato wedges and brown sauce
or
Asian style garlic prawns with fried rice


Starters @ RM17++
Mains @ RM22++

Starter + Main
RM35++
(Inclusive of a soft drink, illy caffe or tea)

For an additional RM7.50++ choose a cake on display at the Deli




La Bodega
16, Jalan Telawi 2,
Bangsar Baru
For reservations, call +03 2287 8318

Posted by Eric at 9:52 AM 1 comments Friday, April 16, 2010
Icelandic volcano eruption intensifies!


The eruption under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier continued to spew large amounts of ash and smoke into the air and showed no signs of abating after 40 hours of activity, said Pall Einarsson, a geophysicist at the University of Iceland.


"The seismographs are showing that since this morning the intensity of the eruption seems to be growing," he said. Hot fumes had melted up to a third of the glacial ice covering the crater, causing a nearby river to burst its banks, and frequent explosions on the floor of the crater sounded like bombs going off, he said.


The floods were abating, however, and some of those living in the sparsely populated area near the volcano had returned to their homes. Another scientist said the eruption was 10 times more powerful than one which occurred last month on the flank of the volcano, though the two were part of the same event.


Posted by Eric at 1:51 AM 0 comments Wednesday, April 7, 2010
iTALK WHOA!!!!!!!


I had been playing with this new iTalk WHOA! - a brand new awesome and fun-max portal provided by Telekom Malaysia. It is a portal that will let you stay connected to all your friends without the hassles of logging in and signing to several different websites - this means you will connect all your social networks into one, simple and fast.


So far.. I've been able to use the iTalk Whoa to check emails, send emails, check a friend’s status update, chatting, send sms and even make long distance calls on this portal, fantastic. Its damn good!!! Its like - right now I can call up an ex girlfriend from far far away overseas without my girlfriend knowing cos it will not SHOW IN THE BILLS!!!!!


I found something that caught my attention here, I can now write down all my schedules, meetings and appointments on the calendar which worked very handy for my hectic schedules. I mean, having 5-6 back-to-back meetings on a daily basis can be pretty killing.. The best part is this... I can share my calendar with my other buddies too and I can synchronize to my mobile phone. Its like having a Blackberry messenger chat group!



I can carry out my twitting too! Oh the best of all I can send out SMS from my iTalk Whoa account to any mobile phones and not forgetting I can also make calls from my account. So why wait come let’s explore iTalk Whoa now! Sign up now fast and get FREE RM5 credit right away!!!!!!!



Posted by Eric at 11:56 AM 2 comments Monday, March 29, 2010
Supermodel Amber Chia weds in Bali to her ‘true love’ businessman.

PETALING JAYA: Malaysian supermodel Amber Chia has secretly gotten married on the exotic resort island. The Daily Chilli website has learned from her confidante that the 28-year-old hot lass has said “I do” to her long-time friend-turned-boyfriend.


No, he is not the married businessman that she was once maliciously accused of dating. Or the old banker Tan Sri that she was rumoured to be seeing. “Amber believes in true love,” said the source.


“She doesn’t believe that money can buy her love. “This guy - who is just a regular businessman is genuinely nice and he really loves her for who she is. “They’ve known each other for a long, long time. He’s a very shy guy.”


Their top secret union was solemnised in Bali last Thursday. “It was a romantic beach wedding,” revealed the insider. Among Amber’s most trusted celebrity friends who flew in to Bali to witness the super private wedding were TV personality Daphne Iking, violinist Dennis Lau and catwalk guru, Benjamin Toong, the website said.


The East-meet-West ceremony was also witnessed by close family members from both sides, who were flown to the Indonesian island by the couple. When contacted via SMS, a discreet Amber, who is back in Malaysia and will fly overseas for her honeymoon in an undisclosed location soon, had only got this to say:


“Sorry dear.. Don’t worry.. we’ll talk when I come back from my honeymoon.”
Posted by Eric at 9:44 AM 2 comments Labels: amber chia
Older Posts Home Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)


Blog Archive
Blog Archive June (4) May (5) April (5) March (3) February (2) January (4) December (4) November (10) October (7) August (1) July (2) June (7) May (20) April (23) March (7) February (9) January (13) December (9) November (5) October (22) September (17) August (29) July (52) June (38) May (19) April (33) March (44) February (39) January (31) December (48) November (76) October (46) September (26) August (81) July (142) June (144) May (55)
Crude Oil
$78.34 ▼0.52 0.66%
7:05 AM EDT - 2010.06.28





Eating OUT?
3 TWO SQUARE
3-meals
babeinthecitykl
charkueyteow
eatFirstthinkLater
eatinOut
friedchillies
KampungboyCitygal
kLpeoplekLfood
Malaysia Best
masak-masak
RavenousRabbit
The City That Never Sleeps.
Sexy Monday.
Sime Darby names new CEO.
Pimping.
Separate listings for 3 AirAsia affiliates
Cheap IDD rates with iTalkWHOA!

My blog is worth $139,032.64.
How much is your blog worth?


Bored?
My Corporate Blog
Malaysia Tonight
Eugene Tan
LoveHateTragedy
Puppies & Cream
Of Life & Expectations
Blackboard Avenue
Salocin.TEN
The Devil from Brisbane
Uncle & Co.
Thinking Post Meridiem


Choose a language to translate this page!

Select to languageChinese-simpChinese-tradDutchFrenchGermanGreekItalianJapaneseKoreanPortugueseRussianSpanish Recent Readers
You!

Join Our Community
bryanlyt
TianChad
Raoul D
PS Thoo
Mooney
Raymond P
master
Watie
Henry Lee
View Reader Community
Join this Community
(provided by MyBlogLog)

Reads?
Cakap Tak Serupa Bikin
Chamber of Thoughts
Clap Bang Kiss
Everibodi Lafu Rojaks
JKR & Project Management
Lim Kit Siang
Nicole Chocoa Heaven
Pink is the New Blog
Rantings by MM
Rocky's Bru
Screenshots
The Sky is the Limit
View blog top tags
AD SPACE

Malaysia Tonight
AD SPACE

Uncle & Co