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Flood situation is still bad in Alor Setar, Kedah

If you are planning on visiting the north, you may want to note that the flood situation is still bad in Kedah.

The above is the picture on the front page of The Star today. It is an aerial view of Alor Setar in front of Bulatan Maal Hijrah, Saturday (yesterday). Although the flood situation in most parts of Kedah has improved, it is not the same in the city with many roads still closed. Read full story..Floods still bad in Alor Setar

Another picture, a rescue lorry..

Image source: The Star

Our First Skiing Adventure

Guest post written by Gale Slatus

Last night my husband and I had a very productive conversation. Since we retired, we haven’t done anything too out of the ordinary…which is a shame, since now we have all the time in the time in the world to! I sit in the easy chair and read my favorite novels, while Daniel fixes up the house, does his crafts. Something about our lifestyle really is making me feel old lately, and the truth is I never felt that way until we stopped working. Last night, I walked up to Daniel while he was looking for new hearing aids on HearingAids.Miracle-Ear.com and I told him that we really need to get out and do something special, something that’ll really take advantage of this free time.

Come to find out, Daniel felt just like I did. We sat down and thought about things we always wanted to do. Daniel always wanted to try skiing, and I decided it would be fun, as well. We spent an hour finding accommodations online, and we booked at an exciting ski resort in Vermont. Our trip should definitely put a little more excitement in our lives when we get on the slope for the first time.

Alor Setar flood - airport remains closed

The Sultan Abdul Halim Air­­­­port in Alor Setar remains closed because the runways are flooded, and for now, only helicopter services are available in Kedah. Affected passengers have the option to reschedule flights or make arrangements to fly from either Penang or Langkawi.

Water, water everywhere: The Kepala Batas Airport remains closed until further notice as the runway is flooded. But all is not lost. Look how beautiful the birds are! Food supply could be overflowing for them.

Full story: Inundated Alor Setar airport remains closed - The Star

Meanwhile Kangar is still under water and almost the entire town remains submerged with the number of evacuees continuing to rise.

Despite the rainfall having eased since Tuesday, the situation is still unmanageable with 90% of the state capital inundated.

Buyers to pay more after second house

The Star reported that Malaysians have to fork out more money from today to buy more than two houses after Bank Negara slammed the brakes on property speculation.

The central bank announced with immediate effect the implementation of a maximum loan-to-value (LTV) ratio of 70% for people buying their third or more house, meaning those wanting their third property onwards have to come out with their own cash amounting to 30% of the value of the house. Read Buyers to pay more after second house in full..

Related article:
Support for Bank Negara’s housing LVR cap move

Penang - No plastic bag from 1 January 2011

On July 1, last year, Penang became the first state to implement a “No Plastic Bag Day” ruling in shopping complexes and hypermarkets every Monday, before it was extended to Tuesdays and Wednesdays as well from Jan 2. And come Jan 1, plastic bags will be practically banned state-wide. Below is the article reproduced from The Star:

No plastic bags from January

GEORGE TOWN: Come Jan 1, plastic bags will be practically banned state-wide.

The move – an extension of the current “No Plastic Bag Day” in shopping centres and hypermarkets on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays – means that no plastic bags can be used every day by almost all business sectors.

The ruling will cover all hypermarkets, supermarkets, departmental stores, pharmacies, fast food restaurants, nasi kandar outlets, convenience stores including petrol kiosks and chain stores.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the move would reduce the state’s carbon footprint.

“Mini markets and sole proprietorship businesses will have to adhere to the ruling on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays in order to ensure the renewal of their licences.

“Previously, they only had to adhere to the ruling on Mondays,” he said when tabling the 2011 Budget at the state legislative assembly yesterday.

Lim’s two paragraph announcement on the wide-ranging plastic ban was buried inside his 27-page budget speech, apparently catching many by surprise.

To promote the “No Plastic Bag Day” ruling, the state will distribute 500,000 brochures to create public awareness besides erecting educational billboards.

On July 1, last year, Penang became the first state to implement a “No Plastic Bag Day” ruling in shopping complexes and hypermarkets every Monday, before it was extended to Tuesdays and Wednesdays as well from Jan 2.

From July 1, 2009 to Oct 28, a total of 32.5 million plastic bags were saved under this campaign.

Shoppers who did not bring their own reusable bags were charged 20 sen for each plastic bag when making purchases.

The money collected from the sale of plastic bags went to the “Partners Against Poverty” Special Fund to help the state’s hardcore poor.

Floods worsen in Perlis Kedah and Kelantan

KUALA LUMPUR: The death toll has risen to two and more than 36,000 people have been driven to relief centres by this evening as the floods in Perlis, Kedah and Kelantan worsened, forcing the closure of roads, rail services, schools and government offices.

Kedah is the worst hit of the three states, where the floods have claimed two lives, so far, and forced the evacuation of 25,088 people as at 5pm as well as washed out the plans of several Hindu families to celebrate Deepavali on Friday.

Up to 11,411 people had moved out of their homes in Perlis and 475 in Kelantan. More..

Related article:
Floods disrupt bus, train and air services to the north

Petrol RON 97 price up 5 sen to RM2.15

Here in Malaysia, there are two grades of petrol, RON 95 and RON 97. RON 95 is at RM1.85 a litre while RON 97 is at RM2.10 a litre but beginning Tuesday (today) the price of RON 97 has been increased by 5 sen and will now cost RM2.15 per litre.

RON 97 is not subsidized by the government and reflects the price of petrol in the global market. Vehicles not registered in Malaysia can only use RON 97.

It was reported on July 16 that the government had decided to withdraw the petrol subsidy for RON 97 and subject it to a managed float.

Price of RON 97 would be determined by an automatic pricing mechanism.