Chelsea sport Malaysia brand

PETALING JAYA: Look for the Tourism Malaysia logo whenever you watch Chelsea play at its Stamford Bridge stadium, as England's top football club has endorsed Malaysia as the Official Travel Destination.

For the current English Premier League season, Tourism Malaysia will enjoy exclusive visibility at the stadium and in Chelsea Football Club's electronic and print media for all 19 home games.

The Malaysia Truly Asia logo will also be displayed on the press conference backdrop at the venue before and after each home match.

Tourism Minister Datuk Dr Leo Michael Toyad said Chelsea has become one of the biggest football clubs in the world, with a growing worldwide fan base of some 20 million.

“Chelsea serves as an attractive platform to market the Malaysia Truly Asia brand and the potential is vast,” he said in a statement.

The collaboration serves as good news to local Blues fans, especially the Chelsea Supporters Club Malaysia.

“It's absolutely brilliant. Simply fantastic, especially with their amazing run in the English Premier League,” said Tang Suet Nei, the club's secretary.

“The club will also be able to widen its fan base as we only have 300 odd members at the moment,” she added.

Source: The Star

All set for record turnout

MULTI-RACIAL FLAVOUR: Schoolchildren from various backgrounds waving the Jalur Gemilang during the rehearsal in Putrajaya.

PUTRAJAYA: The stage is set for the administrative capital to host tomorrow's National Day parade where more than 36,000 participants will fill every inch of the 4km Putrajaya Boulevard.

It should be the biggest procession ever held in the history of the annual parade.

This is the second time that the parade is being held here. Kuantan hosted last year's parade.

A full-dress rehearsal was held yesterday watched closely by Information Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir.

Read article: All set for record turnout

Also read:
Foreign students elated at being able to take part
Special treat for Genting visitors

RM100 a month childcare centres

BY JANE RITIKOS
The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: For as little as RM100 a month, low-income parents can soon send their young children to community childcare centres while they go to work.

The Government has agreed to set up the centres via smart partnership with the private sector and local community.

The move is to make quality childcare accessible and affordable for the low-income group, said Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

The Prime Minister said the Government would provide a launching grant to set up the centres and subsidise the fees for urban families earning below RM2,000 a month and rural families earning below RM1,200.

Abdullah said this in a speech read out by his deputy Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak at the opening of the Women Summit 2005 yesterday.



As a start, a grant of RM1.19mil will go towards the setting up of 10 childcare centres, mostly in urban and semi-urban areas.

Each centre can accommodate 30 children aged four and below.

The monthly fees per child is RM280 but part of the grant will be used to subsidise RM180 for each child.

This means eligible parents need to pay only RM100 per child.

Read rest of story...The Star

Royal Selangor Pewter

Royal Selangor Pewter is well-known worldwide for its
pewterware. Tourists to Malaysia are often taken by their
hosts to the factory to pick up gifts to bring home.
An organized tour of the production process gives visitors
and idea of how the items are made.

If you happen to be in Kuala Lumpur this weekend, you may
want to drop by the Royal Selangor Pewter factory for their
warehouse sale which is from August 19 thru 21, 10am to 5pm.
Discounts of up to 80%.

The factory is located at 4, Jalan Usahawan 6, Setapak Jaya,
53300 Kuala Lumpur.

Pedu Lake drying up

CATCH OF THE DAY: Fisherman Din Ishak, using his 'serkap' to catch fish at Pedu lake recently. Several parts of the lake has dried up. The puddles of water left are
laden with fish.
NST Pix by Shahrizal Md Noor

There was the haze last week and now we're facing the possibility of a drought due to lack of rainfall. The Pedu Lake area is a tourist destination with hotel resorts circling it. The picture above does not project a welcoming sight.

Compare this picture with the one above. Pedu Lake is a 75sq km man-made lake.

Source: http://www.sawadee.com/kedah/desautara/

Security update for Touch ’n Go users

From The New Straits Times
17 August 2005

Security update for Touch ’n Go users

Touch ’n Go users are required to update their cards for better
security features and to register their details beginning Thursday.

In a statement today, Rangkaian Segar Sdn Bhd said it would launch
"The Winning Touch" campaign, which involved the mandatory Touch
’n Go security update, a user registration exercise and a contest.

The campaign will run until Dec 8.

Rangkaian Segar chief operating officer Swinder Grewal said the
update involved changing the security key of the smartcard chip
embedded in Touch ’n Go cards.

Users are required to bring their cards to any Touch ’n Go counter.

For card security updates, purchases and user registration,
customers can visit Touch ’n Go counters located at all highway
toll plazas and selected Petronas stations.

Swinder said updates could also be done at "Tambah Nilai" lanes.

The company would also open mobile counters at major shopping
complexes and highway rest areas.

Registration forms can be obtained at these counters or through
www.touchngo.com.my

Shopping in Johor Baru

Enough of news on Kuala Lumpur for now. Let's look at
other parts of Malaysia. How about Johor Baru and the
shopping there in view of this month being the month of
the Mega Sale throughout the nation.

Johor Baru is the second most developed city in Malaysia,
after Kuala Lumpur and it has the third most successful
shopping complex in Malaysia after Suria KLCC and
Mid Valley Megamall.

Read story JB City Square a pride of 2 nations
By ZAZALI MUSA IN JOHOR BARU
The Star

More on Johor, the Southern Gateway


Endau Rompin National Park


Kuda Kepang


Pulau Tinggi

Goodbye haze, welcome rain

Glad that the haze is gone. As the Beatles song goes "Here comes the sun" is so apt.


Dark Skies: Heavy rain fell in various parts of Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya on Sunday afternoon. Many Malaysians finally had the chance to breathe fresh air after putting up with the severe haze the past week.

Goodbye haze, welcome rain
By TEOH TEIK HOONG, AUDREY EDWARDS AND BEH YUEN HUI
The Star

Dark Skies: Heavy rain fell in various parts of Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya on Sunday afternoon. Many Malaysians finally had the chance to breathe fresh air after putting up with the severe haze the past week.

PETALING JAYA: Many Malaysians finally had the chance to breathe fresh air after putting up with the severe haze the past week.

Rain in several states helped wash away the smog and brought much-needed respite to the people who didn't mind setting aside their face masks for umbrellas.

Heavy rain fell in various parts of Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya in the afternoon, lasting two hours.


RAIN REVELRY: Syahmi Shaari, 7, and his younger sister Nur Sabrina Shaari, 5, having fun in the rain in Petaling Jaya at 2.30pm, yesterday.— Starpic JOEL CHAN


FLASH FLOOD: Cars moving along a section of Jalan Datuk Abu Bakar which was flooded at 3pm yesterday following a downpour in several parts of the Klang Valley. — STARpic by NG KOK LEONG

Nice and sunny in Penang

Fortunately, there are certain parts of the country that are not affected by the haze. Penang is one such place. Skies are still blue over Penang and hotels are enjoying good occupancy rates from the tourists escaping from the heat of the hot summer back home.

Penang offers many attractions. Penang hill is one not to be missed. There's also the Butterfly farm. The food is also something to rave about. Penang is also one place where trishaws are still available as a form of public transport.










Credit: Doc's blog

The Star
PENANG: Unlike the Federal capital and other areas badly affected by the haze, Penang continues to experience clear, blue skies.

The Air Pollutant Index here recorded good to moderate readings, with the visibility level at more than 9km.

A Department of Environment spokesman said the API reading at Universiti Sains Malaysia was 45, while Seberang Jaya and Prai registered readings of 61 and 80 respectively.

“We expect the air quality state-wide to remain more or less the same throughout the day.

“API levels below 50 are considered good, between 51 and 100 moderate, between 101 and 200 unhealthy and above 300 hazardous,” she explained.

A state Meteorological Department spokesman said only a slight haze was detected, but there was no reason for concern at all.

A check by The Star showed that no school on the island and mainland cancelled outdoor activity. At pharmacies and medical outlets, no one was seen buying masks.

Hotels were enjoying good business. Grand Plaza Parkroyal Penang public relations manager Karen Chee said the hotel’s occupancy rate was more than 90% with many tourists from the Middle East vacationing here to escape the summer heat back home.

“But we have not had any sudden surge in bookings from Kuala Lumpur, which is badly affected by the haze,” she added.

Chee said hotels along the Batu Feringghi belt were 90% booked for this weekend.

Essential services to carry on, says PM

KUALA LUMPUR: Haze Emergency has been declared indefinitely for the entire Kuala Selangor and Port Klang areas from yesterday, the Government announced.

All workplaces are to remain closed except for essential services, food retailers and supermarkets.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the emergency status was declared only for the two areas where the Air Pollutant Index breached the 500 mark.

Abdullah declared the emergency at 5pm, two hours after the API showed a reading of 500 in the two areas.

Read more on the haze crisis.

Below are Guidelines for haze emergency as issued by The Star

THE guidelines on actions to be taken under the Haze Emergency – issued by the Internal Security Division of the Prime Minister’s Department – compels the state disaster management and assistance committee to:

1. Order the closure of all offices, government and private, and other workplaces including factories, farms, construction sites and quarries. The order is not enforced for stores that sell food and drinks; markets and supermarkets; clinics, pharmacies and drugstores; and essential services.

2. Ensure earth works and movements are stopped.

3. Advise the people to reduce use of private transportation.

4. Close all schools.

5. Ensure information on the pollution index is given to electronic and print media as frequent as possible.

6. Urge the media to advise people to always stay indoors as well as on preventive actions they should take.

7. Ensure the Information Ministry continually broadcasts the above information.

8. Enforce the ban on open burning.

9. Ensure the order on haze emergency does not involve a declaration of curfew (except for situations under provisions of laws that require it).

The haze in Kuala Lumpur - Air pollution

More pictures from The Star:


A view of smoke-choked KLCC park. - Picture courtesy of Alex Ng


The KL Tower strikes a ghostly figure in the haze. - Picture courtesy of Deric Chong


An area of The Mines Resort City is transformed into a smokey wonderland by the haze. - Picture courtesy of Zafrul Hisham Abdul Shukor


A factory belches thick smoke into the already polluted air over a stretch of the Grand Saga highway in Cheras. - Picture courtesy of Chan Pick Shan


An empty road disapppears into the haze in Port Klang, which recorded an Air Polutant Index reading of 410 at noon Wednesday. - Picture courtesy of Alex Ng


A view of the Kuala Lumpur city centre from the 42nd floor of the Petronas Twin Towers. - Picture courtesy of Chua Kuan Yong


The thick haze reveals little from the vantage point of the Kinderland kindergarten at Villa Scott Condominium in Brickfields. - Picture courtesy of Kinderland

More places under hazy siege

The haze seems to be the topic of the day here in KL and
surrounding areas. Obviously - with the haze right at yr
door-step. We can even smell the smoke indoors, inside
the airconditioned, windowless office. That's how bad it is.

The government has released the Air Pollution Index (API)
for the people's better understanding of the situation in
order to be well-prepared.

Read article:
More places under hazy siege

Tranquil forest at the edge of Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur can get quite stifling at times. Fortunately,
there are a great number of parks and greenery to go to unwind
sort of. One such place is the Forest Research Institute of
Malaysia or FRIM for short. This is located in Kepong and is
truly a paradise for nature lovers.

Just 16km north of Kuala Lumpur, it is only a half-hour drive
from the city centre.


Even the road leading towards Frim is canopied and bordered by greenery, promising nature lovers of better things to come.

Established in 1929, Frim was initially set up as a forest reserve meant for research.

However, through the years its many attractions have drawn visitors from all over the world into its green and tranquil domain.

One of its popular attractions is the Canopy Walkway, which is often termed “A Magical Walk in the Tree Tops”.


The Sg Kroh waterfall inside Frim’s grounds is open to the public for picnics. Keruing Trail.

The Frim campsite is also popular with companies and schools. It can accommodate a maximum of 80 people and is equipped with basic facilities like toilet, an outdoor hall, kitchen, campfire and an activity area. For details, call 03-6279 7524.

Read article: Tranquicl forest at the edge of Kuala Lumpur

More on the haze

OMG! Got up this morning and was shocked that I couldn't
even see the buildings from my balcony some 500m away.
The haze is really bad today not to mention the smell of it.

The traffic was bad this morning - probably due to cars
going extra slow because of the poor visibility. Most cars
had their lights on. I had mine on too.

All we need is a really heavy downpour to clear the air.
That should shut out the hotspots too. No wonder Indonesia
had to apologise. It has been reported that more hotspots
are springing up and they're appealing for help with putting
out the fires.


Primary school pupils covering their face

Story on "No end to haze until October"

Hazy, lazy days of Summer

The haze is certainly not letting up as fires are still burning in Sumatra. On Sunday, satellite readings showed 333 hotspots in Sumatra, three in Sabah, twenty in Sarawak, fifteen in Kalimantan and one each in Pahang and Johore.

All open burning activities in the Klang Valley have been ordered suspended by the DOE Director-General, effective today following a dip in air quality over the last few days.

Unhealthy air quality readings have been recorded in Port Klang, Gombak, Petaling Jaya, Shah Alam, Kuala Selangor in Selangor; Tanjung Malim in Perak; and Putrajaya.

Fishing vessels plying the Straits of Malacca have been advised by the marine police to take extra precautions due to the low visibility level.

Read full story: Open burning in Klang Valley banned
BY TEOH TEIK HOONG

Pictures below give a good indication of the situation.


NOW AND THEN: The Prime Minister’s Department (left) and the Putra Mosque (right) used to dominate the Putrajaya skyline. But the two magnificent buildings can hardly be seen from afar these days with the thick haze. Pictures of the buildings were taken from the same place on June 27 before the haze (bottom picture) and at 12.46pm yesterday. — STARpix by RAJA FAISAL HISHAN

Below is a guide on the do's and don'ts to stay healthy and not suffer the effects of the haze and heat.


Indonesian minister says sorry over worsening haze

PETALING JAYA: “I am sorry” – these are the words of Indonesia’s Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar over the haze situation that has enveloped parts of Malaysia.

“The haze has become more acute for our neighbours in Malaysia and we are truly sorry for this. We are very concerned about the worsening situation, caused mainly by open burning in Sumatra,” he told The Star yesterday.

Read article: Indonesian minister says sorry over worsening haze


OVERVIEW: Satellite image released by the Department of Environment yesterday showing hot spots in Sumatra and peninsular Malaysia.

Home-makers financial security

The haze may be here to stay for awhile but EPF has indeed
brought some sunshine to home-makers as the Employee Provident
Fund is allowing husbands to make contributions to accounts
under their wife's name. This is in recognition of the role
of housewives as homeakers. Syabas! EPF!

Read about it...

Hazy, hazy days

HAZY, HAZY DAYS: Part of the Kuala Lumpur skyline is virtually blurred out by the haze at 8.25am Sunday. The KL Tower is just a silhouette behind Wisma Lee Rubber and the Sultan Abdul Samad Building clock tower. Also the sun looks muted in the haze. According to the Department of Environment, the haze will not be going away anytime soon due to the dry weather and South-West Monsoon winds bringing dust and smoke from Sumatra to Malaysia. — STARpic by ZUBIR HJ YAHYA

Dry weather worsening haze
PETALING JAYA: The haze is here to stay, at least for a while longer, due to dry weather made worse by monsoon winds blowing dust and smoke from Sumatra.

Department of Environment (DOE) director-general Datuk Rosnani Ibarahim, who broke the bad news yesterday, said pollutants being blown across from burning hotspots in Sumatra have caused air quality to deteriorate since Saturday afternoon.

“As many as eight areas have been identified as having unhealthy air quality, while many areas in the country have maintained moderate air quality.

Read article...

Poor Air Quality

HAZY AFTERNOON: The air quality at Jalan Sultan Ismail worsened around 2.30pm yesterday.

This is the third day of poor air quality in Kuala Lumpur
and surrounding areas.

One of the worst areas was Subang where good visibility of above 10km in the early part of the day suddenly plunged to just 800m at 3pm. Visibility improved to 6km in the evening.

In Petaling Jaya and the KL International Airport, visibility fell to 6km in the afternoon. In the evening, KLIA regained visibility of above 10km while the situation in Petaling Jaya improved only slightly.

The authorities said “This situation is hazardous to ships without navigational equipment,” adding that the condition was expected to persist today.

Satellite images showed Sumatra having 68 hotspots and Kalimantan 15. Three hotspots were also detected in peninsular Malaysia and four in Sarawak yesterday.

In Cyberjaya, the peat fires which caused thick smoke in many areas was expected to be completely put out by tomorrow.


SMOULDERING PEAT: A fireman helping to douse the peat fire at Cyberpark yesterday.

Read story...Air quality does a yo-yo

Where to eat in KL & PJ

There is never short of places to eat - be it hawker food
or fine-dining. Here's a list of eateries that will make
even Anthony Bourdain pleased.

Nation-wide Mega Sale

The nation-wide Mega Sale is now in its second week
with great bargains and discounts as much as 70%.
Malaysians and tourists alike are having a wonderful
time shopping for things they need and things they don't
need. It's amazing how the compulsion of shopping during
the Mega Sale affects rationale and judgment. That adds
to the fun in shopping, I guess.

Not only goods are going on sale, even services are too.
Take for instance the no-frills Air Asia. One can travel
to Penang, Kota Bharu, Alor Star, Johor Bahru and Terengganu
for as low as RM1.99. That's right! RM1.99. Of course it's
only for a specific period, from 1 Sep 05 to 30 Jun 06. Still...

And for international destinations, a ticket to Macau is
going for only RM99.99 from 1 Sep 05 to 25 Mar 06.

Buy online only at www.airasia.com


Source: The Star

Adopting a business look at a roadside

Petaling Jaya (PJ for short) has something different from
the norm of yester-years. Businesses are now being conducted
even in bungalows.

By K.W. MAK
The Star



BUNGALOWS along Jalan SS2/24 have slowly been converted to showrooms and shop houses that provide a personalised service to customers.

Once vehemently objected by residents for fear that such businesses bring increased traffic to their neighbourhood, the change has now been widely accepted for the convenience the showrooms provide.


Because of the traffic near them, the showrooms are advertisements in themselves.