Birds Nest Soup - Thailand

Birds Nest Soup - Thailand

Swiftlet Industry Exposed

Terminal may be ready by middle of this year

By YENG AI CHUN
aichun@thestar.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: The Southern Integrated Transportation Terminal in Bandar Tasik Selatan could be ready by July, said Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat. He said the developer hinted that there could be an early completion for the project by middle this year. The project was originally scheduled to be completed in November this year.

“The terminal will cater to all types of transportation. We will have the bus services, taxi and rail services including the light rail transit, Keretapi Tanah Melayu’s commuter train service and Express Rail Link under one roof.

“This terminal is also connected to the Sungai Besi Highway, Kuala Lumpur Seremban Highway, and the Middle Ring Road II,” he told newsmen after visiting the project site in Bandar Tasik Selatan here Monday.

The RM570mil terminal is located on 19.8ha site adjacent to the Tasik Selatan’s LRT station and the Tasik Selatan KTM Komuter station. It has a handling capacity of about 40,000 passengers a day.

It will handle all express buses serving the southern part of Peninsula Malaysia. Ong said the terminal would help divert express buses from the city and ease traffic congestion in the process.

“The southern sector receives nearly 550 departures and arrivals in a day. There are more than 170 movements in an hour during peak hours,” he said.

Ong said the comfort level for passengers was similar to an airport terminal.

“There is 2.8 square metre per person in the terminal whereas in an airport, there is 2.3 square metre per person,” he explained.

Ong added he was optimistic the terminal and other measures such as the streamlining of bus stops, increasing the number of carriages for the LRTs as well as the impending introduction of new rail services would increase the use of public transport in the city from 16% to 25% by 2012.

When asked if the terminal would eventually take over the south bound express buses in Puduraya, Ong replied that it would be under the jurisdiction of the Federal Territories Minister to redesignate the movement of the buses.

However, he said all south bound public transport services would be centred at the new terminal.

The terminal is equipped with ICT facilities and is disabled friendly. There will be 100 bus waiting bays, 21 departure bays and 18 arrival bays which has the capacity of 130 departures and arrivals in an hour.

It will also have 16 bus platforms for city routes, 100 bus parking bays, 150 taxi bays and 1,000 public parking bays.

Pakatan accuses BN of exploiting " brute majority "

Lim questioned the severity of the reaction towards Anwar’s claims. — file pic

themalaysianinsider
By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani

KUALA LUMPUR, April 22 — Lim Kit Siang attacked Barisan Nasional (BN) today for using what he called its “brute majority” in Parliament to persecute Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Together with his Pakatan Rakyat (PR) colleagues, he urged BN lawmakers to look into their conscience when deciding whether to refer the opposition leader to powerful Parliament’s Rights and Privileges Committee.

The DAP parliamentary leader also asked Parliament why Anwar’s claim that 1 Malaysia was linked to One Israel, was so “heinous.”

“This is dark day in Parliament. I am very saddened. What is so heinous about the accusation that 1 Malaysia is a carbon copy of One Israel? What is so big [about it]?

“If I say 1 Malaysia is [a] carbon copy of Malaysian Malaysia, then will I be referred to the committee? This is politically motivated through their brute majority” he said.

He was speaking during today’s special debate on whether Anwar should face disciplinary action under Standing Orders 18 (2) over his claim that the prime minister’s 1 Malaysia concept was linked to former Israeli prime minister, Ehud Barak’s One Israel campaign.

Lim claimed that the House was no longer a court of justice but gladiatorial arena.

“Parliament is like [the] Roman Coliseum and not a court of justice. They do not want to hear what is right but only the brute majority will decide. There has been an utter [and] complete interference in the separation of power because the Cabinet made their decision and everyone just follows.

“That is why we cannot allow brute majority [to decide]. Barisan Nasional must not be allowed brute majority. They are a rude majority, blind majority, stupid majority,” his attacks continued.

Lim then said that BN was being hypocritical, citing the case of Pasir Salak MP Datuk Tajuddin Abdul Rahman, who was not reprimanded by the House when he accused the DAP of allegedly selling state secrets to Hong Kong and Singapore.

He asked if the House was willing to take action against Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, who had back-tracked from an earlier statement that APCO Worldwide had arranged Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s meeting with US President Barack Obama.

“There is hypocrisy in Barisan Nasional on what they say outside and inside the House. Outside the prime minister talks about 1 Malaysia but I have not yet heard any ministers say that they are Malaysian first.

“Outside, they attack Datuk Zaid Ibrahim over his drinking habit but in Parliament, none of the ministers are brave [enough] to say that they had drunk before.

“I know the prime minister drinks, the minister of information drinks, and the home minister drinks. I am saying that it is wrong to drink, but why make a big deal out of it?” he said.

He added if the allegation that 1 Malaysia was related to One Israel did indeed affect national security, then Parliament should approve a royal commission on the issue instead of going after Anwar.

Raising the stakes further, Lim then challenged the prime minister to face the disciplinary committee on the matter.

“Is the PM willing to face the Parliamentary Rights and Privileges Committee and explain the origins of 1 Malaysia? Is he willing to provide detailed explanations?” he said.

Gombak MP Azmin Ali said that the points in contention went beyond whether 1 Malaysia was the same as One Israel and, more importantly, involved national security.

“This is not only an issue of 1 Malaysia/One Isreal, but the serious question is the national security that has been breached by APCO representing the Zionist leaders. The government has limited the debate to 1 Malaysia. These are efforts by Umno to discard the allegations by the Permatang Pauh MP (Anwar) regarding the security of the country,” he said.

The PKR vice president added that Anwar had challenged the prime minister to provide an explanation to the House and along with reassurance that no individual from APCO was involved with 1 Malaysia.

“The prime minister is more interested in the Hulu Selangor by-election. Where is he [now]? This shows that the government does not care that national security is being breached by Zionists.

Azmin further charged that Umno were unable to separate the two issues and instead, chose to react by “using its sheer majority to punish the opposition.”

“They must make decisions with their conscience. Don’t become the prime minister’s stooges. Umno should not become slaves to APCO and Zionist Israel. They are broken and slaves to the foreigners,” he said.

" Whiskey " Zaid photo doctored , PKR show proof

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 18:08

freemalaysiatoday
By FMT staff

KUALA LUMPUR: In a startling new development, "evidence" has emerged to suggest that the photo of PKR's Hulu Selangor by-election candidate Zaid Ibrahim clutching a bottle of Jack Daniel's whiskey could have been doctored.

In an e-mail to FMT, PKR communications director Jonson Chong attached another photo of Zaid wearing the same shirt with the same background, but without the bottle.

FMT learnt that the photo was taken during an interview with a news portal.

Earlier, FMT reported that a photo of Zaid holding the whiskey bottle had been posted on the Gerakan Anti-PKR blog this afternoon.

The photo was in response to PKR vice-president Azmin Ali's challenge to prove that Zaid was an alcoholic, which has become one of the central themes of the Barisan Nasional campaign for the by-election.

Azmin had accused BN of deliberately raising the issue to character asassinate Zaid, who has since revealed that his drinking days are over and that he has repented.

'Clear case of gutter politics'

Commenting on the "doctored" photo, Chong dismissed it as a "clear case of gutter politics" employed by BN and the people aligned to the coalition.

“We should not dignify such attacks with a response. Zaid has explained this issue to the voters and we believe they are in a better position to judge him,” he said.

Chong said the voters should look at the capability of the PKR candidate and what he can do for this constituency as a result of his working relationship with Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim and the state government.

According to the "Gerakan Anti-PKR blog", the photo was provided by a source from the opposition party.

“Just as promised, I have exposed a photograph of Zaid and (a bottle of) whiskey. Whether it is beer or whiskey, it is still considered the urine of the Devil, and it is haram (forbidden by Islam) just like sodomy. The prophet (Muhammad) will never consider a sodomite as one of his followers,” said its webmaster.

The reference to sodomy was an obvious attack on PKR supremo and Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, who is currently on trial for allegedly sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

Anwar, who was charged with a similar offence in 1998, has claimed, like before, that it is a political conspiracy masterminded by his rivals.

Eight-minute video clip

Meanwhile, the webmaster said his "PKR source" has revealed that there are eight photographs and an eight-minute video clip involving three PKR leaders in an "embarrassing" situation.

“They are just waiting to hand them (the photos and videos) over to GAP (Gerakan-Anti PKR). One of them (in the video) flew to Taiwan during the Sept 16 lie,” he added.

Following Pakatan Rakyat's sterling performance in the March 2008 general election, Anwar had threatened to take over the federal government on Sept 16 that year with the help of defections.

During this episode, 49 BN MPs were flown to Taiwan on Sept 7 for a purported study tour, which some claimed was an attempt to thwart the defections.

Five PKR leaders -- Selangor exco Elizabeth Wong, PKR director of strategies Tian Chua, secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, supreme council member Low Chee Cheong and elections director Fuziah Salleh -- had trailed them.

Meanwhile, Zaid told FMT earlier that he was not perturbed by the incident.

“I have already responded to this matter, and publicly said that I have repented. I have already explained the matter to the voters, so I will let them decide.

“I am more interested in focusing my efforts on developing Hulu Selangor if elected as MP,” he told FMT.

Also read:

'Whiskey' Zaid photo appears on anti-PKR blog

Kuala Lumpur named rising global city

The sun rises behind the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur. — Reuters pic

themalaysianinsider
By Lee Wei Lian

KUALA LUMPUR, April 16 — Malaysia’s capital city was one of the 10 cities identified in a report by international property consultancy, Frank Knight, as a rising global city with growing economic power, but lacking in terms of knowledge and quality of life.

Kuala Lumpur had the eight biggest gain in aggregate scores in the 2010 survey of the world’s top cities, tied with Sydney, Shanghai and Mumbai but behind Singapore, Beijing, Tel Aviv and Berlin.

The Frank Knight annual survey ranks world cities according to their influence in economic activity, political power, knowledge, and quality of life.

While it experienced a jump in aggregate scores last year, Kuala Lumpur was still ranked only 34th overall, and trails far behind other key Asian cities such as Tokyo (4), Singapore (7), Beijing (9), Seoul (13), Hong Kong (14), Bangkok (18), Shanghai (19) and Taipei (23).

“Unsurprisingly, one of the key themes this year is the strengthening power of the emerging centres, with big gains experienced by the likes of Beijing, Singapore, Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur and Mumbai,” said the report.

It noted, however, that while emerging centres like Kuala Lumpur and Beijing are gaining ground in economic and political power, they still fall short on the softer issues such as quality of life and knowledge and intellectual influence, which were the strong points of cities in developed countries such as Berlin, Paris and Zurich.

“For the rising cities of Asia, economic growth and greater political clout on their own will not succeed in propelling them to the top of the table in terms of locations where the world’s most influential citizens want to have a first or even a second home,” said the report.

The report added “contenders” should take note of top cities such as New York, London, Paris and Tokyo.

“They needed a broad base of appeal — something clearly demonstrated by both Paris and Tokyo. World cities are connected, in terms of transport and communications, but, more importantly, in terms of ideas,” said the report.

“These are the locations where the world’s most influential people want to congregate because these are the locations where the ideas and values that define the global agenda and shape the world are settled.”

It noted that even Shanghai, which experienced phenomenal economic expansion, is struggling to move rapidly up the world cities table.

“To be successful, cites must attract the best and the brightest and influence the world. The ability to react to changing circumstances is also critical.”

The world’s top five most influential cities according to the survey are New York, London, Paris, Tokyo and Los Angeles — with New York overtaking London last year due to the troubles faced by the latter’s financial sector.

The survey of the world’s top cities was part of Frank Knight’s Wealth Report 2010, which was developed together with Citi Private Bank and published in March.