Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by Vintage

Thailand Insurer cancels Covid insurance

Vintage — Fri, 16 Jul 2021 20:22:10 +0800

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/genera...s-health-crisis

"Syn Mun Kong Insurance on Friday announced it was cancelling its Covid-19 insurance policies with customers, saying the rapidly deteriorating situation made the risk unmanageable.

In a message on its Facebook page, the SET-listed insurance firm said Covid 2-1 insurance policies for all clients would be terminated 30 days after they receive a letter from the company officially notifying them of the change.

The company would return any insurance premium insurers paid in the 15 days after the policy being cancelled, but would not give them back the money they had paid before the decision to terminate the product, the announcement said.

The Syn Mun Kong announcement said the decision to cancel the insurance was due to the worsening Covid-19 situation in Thailand. The number of new infections continued to surge and put pressure on the public health system.

The crisis made it impossible for the company to forecast an end to the problem and the pandemic affected its risk management, the company said.

Customers rapidly aired their anger at the decision, both on the company's Facebook page and other social media platforms, with the Syn Mun Kong hashtag in Thailand topping Twitter.

Many customers said they felt cheated by the company and had lost trust in the firm.

"How could you do that? Don't expect people to buy other insurance from you from now," one said.

"You are irresponsible and you should return all our money plus interest to us," another said.

Syn Mun Kong is the first insurance company to stop selling Covid-19 insurance.

The Office of Insurance Commission was reportedly holding talks with the company after the shock announcement.

Syn Mun Kong shares plunged 1.75 baht, or 4.70%, to 35.50 baht when the afternoon trading began."

Walao, did this insurance company never do a worst case scenario risk analysis when they decide to sell this COVID product? Bodoh.

KL Vaccination Rate is at 103.7% as of 11th July

Vintage — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 11:48:58 +0800

Can't wait for KL rate to go over 9000%.

MY COUNTRY IS NOT A DUMPING GROUND FOR UR GARBAGE

Vintage — Tue, 09 Jul 2019 16:54:45 +0800

https://www.newsweek.com/my-country-not-dum...opinion-1447709

I was standing before a row of containers at Port Klang, under the scorching tropical heat and glaring sun, waiting with Malaysian authorities to inspect a shipment of imported "plastic scraps." My heart beat faster as the enforcement officers unsealed the containers one after another, each one brimming with different types of contaminated plastic waste.

Never will I forget the moment when the officers released the lever off a container from Australia. The stench of rancid milk bottles filled with dead maggots was nauseating. I was disgusted by not only the sight and smell but also the fact that the plastic waste had travelled thousands of miles, crossing the ocean, to reach my country.

When China banned the import of all types of plastic waste on December 31, 2017, countries in Southeast Asia, including Malaysia, immediately became an alternative destination for disposal of garbage from developed nations. Even in the months leading up to the ban, Malaysia began seeing an unprecedented influx of plastic waste.

Not long after I was sworn in as a minister in July 2018 to a brand-new government (Malaysia had changed its government for the first time in the nation's history that May), I received complaints from residents of Jenjarom, a small town in the state of Selangor, about the foul smell of burnt plastics. The relevant authorities shut down the illegal plastic recycling factories in the area, but little did I know that what seemed like an isolated problem would soon become a war against garbage shipped from the developed nations.

Malaysia took action that very month and passed its own ban against imported plastic waste, but not before thousands of tons of contaminated mixed plastic waste had been dumped into Malaysia from across the globe. During enforcement operations, I've seen grocery bags from Sainsbury's in the United Kingdom and Lidl in Germany, as well as all kinds of packaging from popular brands in the United States, Australia, Europe and Japan.

Authorities have closed more than 150 illegal plastic recycling factories and counting. These black sheep of the recycling industry have led some communities to call on me to shut down all plastic recycling in the country. What was once known as a green industry is now seen as harmful to our environment and health.

What's more, Malaysia's import ban did not stop the exporters and importers from illegally bringing foreign trash into the country under false declaration and misuse of import permits. The government has therefore deployed more enforcement officers at all ports.

But why does the burden of controlling plastic waste movement fall on the shoulders of the receiving country? Shouldn't the exporting country bear the responsibility as well?

This is exactly the spirit of 1992 Basel Convention, which upholds equal responsibilities for both exporters and importers in controlling the transboundary movement of hazardous materials. The convention recognizes the important role of waste-exporting countries, which are usually developed nations with more resources and stronger governmental machineries, in preventing hazardous waste dumping in the developing countries.

Unfortunately, until an amendment goes into effect in January 2021, the Basel Convention does not differentiate clean, homogeneous and readily recyclable plastic from contaminated mixed plastic waste or plastic garbage.

Despite the current lack of an international framework, I strongly believe that the countries whose dirty plastic waste is found on Malaysian shores have a moral obligation to help properly dispose of it.

For example, according to the Basel Convention, exporting countries must get prior informed consent from importing countries to send their domestic waste. Malaysia did not consent to receive the massive piles of plastic I've seen. Yet the countries from which the waste came are not taking any responsibility, and we, the receiving country, are left alone to deal with the impact.

Although none of the exporting countries have helped in any tangible way yet, Malaysia will continue to engage with their governments. We firmly believe with ongoing raising of awareness, the signatories of Basel Convention will eventually honor its spirit.

China's ban on imported plastic waste opened the world's eyes to the urgent need to address the crisis of plastic recycling and the transboundary movement of plastic waste. There's a huge difference, after all, between waste separation and actual waste recycling.

The cost to recycle locally in developed countries remains higher than shipping the plastic waste halfway across the world to developing countries to "recycle." In reality, this process merely preserves an illusion of recycling and conserving the environment. Much of the waste is simply dumped or illegally recycled. We need holistic tracking of international recycling to ensure it is conducted in an environmentally sound manner.

Otherwise, recycling subsidies provided by the likes of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will only make matters worse. "International recycling" will turn out to be the biggest scam of plastic waste dumping.

This also doesn't do justice to people who diligently separate their waste to help the environment, only to find out that their waste ends up being burnt in illegal recycling factories or tossed into the sea.

The global population is expected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050. I cringe thinking how the world will be if we continue to produce, consume and "recycle" as we do today. Less than 10 percent of global plastic waste is recycled because many countries lack the regulatory framework to separate it properly and the technology to recycle contaminated mixed plastic waste.

We need global cooperation to tackle this problem. We must develop a framework to track and control the transboundary movement of plastic waste. We must increase the world's recycling rate. And we must replace hydrocarbon single-use plastic packaging with environmentally sound materials.

Yes, we are facing a crisis, but I firmly believe that through a global partnership, we will be able to not only overcome it but also create new opportunities for growth in green industries.

PAS: Islam does not allow asset declarations

Vintage — Mon, 01 Jul 2019 14:15:06 +0800

https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/201...rations/1767097

"KUALA LUMPUR, July 1 — Islam does not allow the declaration of wealth as this would raise security concerns, says PAS deputy president Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man.

The Kubang Kerian MP cited an Islamic scripture in objection against the special motion to compel all lawmakers to declare their assets, stating that the safety of the individuals who had declared their assets have to be taken into account, as the proposed motion involves family members as well.

“In Islam, there is a hadeeth that says if God has given you wealth, do not delare it to the public as there are many observers.

“Our country also has enough laws to monitor the assets [of the MPs], such as reporting our income annually to the Inland Revenue Board,” he told reporters when met at the Parliament lobby today."

can any muslim posters here confirm whether this hadith actually exist?

Stealing’s only a crime if you’re caught

Vintage — Thu, 04 Apr 2019 21:53:32 +0800

https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/201...oh-omar/1739873

KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 — A Barisan Nasional (BN) lawmaker has told the Dewan Rakyat today that stealing is only a crime when a person is caught red-handed.

Tanjong Karang MP Tan Sri Noh Omar gave that analogy when he was trying to demand equal and fair treatment for all politicians entering schools because he found out that principals who allowed him to enter their premises had been warned by the State Education Department.

“The regulation (for politicians to submit a request before entering school premises) has been around for a long time,” he said during the debate on the Supplementary Supply Bill today.

“But back then (during BN’s administration) no one raised the issue. His Honourable (Jelutong - RSN Rayer) is a lawyer, you should understand this.

“Stealing is not wrong, only when you are arrested it becomes wrong. Riding a motorcycle without a helmet is not wrong; only when the police arrest you, it becomes wrong.

“The same with this regulation,” Noh said in reply to Rayer’s claims that unlike today, no Opposition lawmaker was allowed into schools during BN’s rule.

He then informed the Lower House that he was aware that there were some government politicians who had entered schools without prior permission from the various state education departments.

The Umno strongman said he has evidence and letters to back his claim regarding principals and headmasters who had been warned, and also evidence of government leaders entering schools without permission.

During his speech, he referred to a circular dated February 2, 2008 stating that politicians must obtain permission from the Education Department before they are permitted to enter school premises.

Education Minister Maszlee Malik had also highlighted the circular in reference to the same regulation in November last year.

Lack of evidence in Najib trial?

Vintage — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 17:08:54 +0800

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019...-see-says-macc/

"KAJANG: Wait for the trial of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to begin, says Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Datuk Seri Mohd Shukri Abdull, when asked if the delay in holding the trial was due to a lack of evidence on the MACC’s part.

“Our job is to investigate and the AG has made the decision to charge.

"On Wednesday (March 27), the courts decided that there would be no more delays, so wait lah, since it will start soon.

“The question of whether there is proof or not – that will be decided by the courts,” he said after officiating the anti-corruption pledge at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia on Thursday (March 28).

Yesterday, the Federal Court lifted the stay in Najib's SRC International Case.

Najib’s trial was initially scheduled to start from Feb 12 and run until March 29, but it was put on hold twice after the Court of Appeal on Feb 11 and March 21 granted a stay of proceedings pending related appeals.

Bernama reported that ad hoc deputy public prosecutor Datuk V. Sithambaram had told reporters that the Federal Court’s decision on Wednesday meant that there was no more impediments for the trial to start."

In case you're not aware, Najib's SRC trial will commence on next Wednesday (3rd April 2019).
https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/469927

Who's excited?!

US State Senator used Jesus' Death as argument

Vintage — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 12:15:13 +0800

https://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/go...31036c4478.html

"CHEYENNE — The Wyoming Senate defeated a bill Thursday that would have repealed the state’s death penalty, ending the most successful legislative attempt to do away with capital punishment in recent memory.

Having passed the House by a safe margin, the bill was swiftly voted down by the Wyoming Senate on its first reading. The final vote was 12-18.

“The vote was different than I expected to see from talking with people beforehand,” said the bill’s sponsor in the Senate, Brian Boner, R-Converse. “There’s a lot of different factors and, at the end of the day, everyone has to make their best determination based on the information they have.”

The death penalty repeal had passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday by a unanimous vote.

Proponents of the bill argued that it would save the state money and create a more humane justice system, an argument that had gained substantial traffic in the House of Representatives. Sponsors of the bill noted that since the death penalty had been reinstated federally in 1973, approximately 165 death row inmates had been exonerated around the country and, according to research cited by the bill’s sponsor and in anecdotal testimony from members of law enforcement, the threat of death was deemed to be an ineffective deterrent to committing crime.

...

Sen. Lynn Hutchings, R-Cheyenne, argued that without the death penalty, Jesus Christ would not have been able to die to absolve the sins of mankind, and therefore capital punishment should be maintained.

“The greatest man who ever lived died via the death penalty for you and me,” she said. “I’m grateful to him for our future hope because of this. Governments were instituted to execute justice. If it wasn’t for Jesus dying via the death penalty, we would all have no hope.”

Wyoming has not executed a prisoner since 1992. According to Wyoming Department of Corrections Director Bob Lampert, the average death row inmate costs the agency 30 percent more to incarcerate than a general population prisoner, with an average stay of 17 years."

why we always compare our politicians with counterparts from first world countries? US politicians also got minum air ketum kebodohan level.

LIVE NOW! UMNO Presidential Debate

Vintage — Fri, 29 Jun 2018 21:35:50 +0800

http://www.astroawani.com/live-tv

come watch and grab some popcorn!!

Last time it was RAHMAN prophecy...

Vintage — Sat, 12 May 2018 08:21:27 +0800

R=Rahman
A=Abdul Razak
H=Hussein Onn
M=Mahathir
A=Abdullah Badawi
N=Najib

M=Mahathir
A=Anwar
L=??
A=??
Y=??
S=??
I=??
A=??

[WTS] Sealed iPhone 8 64GB

Vintage — Thu, 07 Dec 2017 21:21:14 +0800

SOLD

Look at the 'Nasi Lemak' on this Miss Universe!

Vintage — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 15:55:09 +0800

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41827337

QUOTE

Malaysia has cooked up an unusual outfit for its Miss Universe representative this year - a dress depicting its national dish, nasi lemak.

Local pageant organisers on Tuesday unveiled the gown which Samantha Katie James will wear during the national dress section of the Miss Universe finals, which will be held later this month in Las Vegas.

The dress, which has delighted and confounded Malaysians, may be a quirky choice, but it's the latest iteration of what appears to be a nasi lemak metamorphosis craze sweeping the region.

Gaming Laptop recommendation

Vintage — Wed, 04 Oct 2017 10:33:00 +0800

Hi everyone

I am looking for a new gaming laptop that doesn't have to be very high end. I am good if it can handle games that came out in the past 2 years in medium settings. My budget is RM3,500.

Please assist. Thanks!

Do you sit in front or at the back when...

Vintage — Tue, 04 Jul 2017 11:31:28 +0800

I often sit in the front but my colleague said you should seat at the back so you can feel like you're the boss of the car.

What say you?

Which shopping mall in KL/PJ got good arcade?

Vintage — Fri, 12 May 2017 23:31:30 +0800

Nowadays, very hard to find arcade in malls since they are closing down left and right. Even the current ones have boring games (eg Mid Valley). I need my pew pew craving like Time Crisis 2 and Point Blank. Anyone know where I can find arcades that have these games in KL/PJ area?

Also don't understand why new malls don't have arcades. All the newly opened malls so boring as they only have cinema or children play centre as a form of entertainment in malls. Boring leh. At least open a small one lah so people like me can play game to release stress after teman gf shopping for hours.

Movies of 2011 that sucked

Vintage — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 16:27:20 +0800

IMO, 2011 has been an alright year for movies but 2010 > 2011 nonetheless. As always, every year there will be some movies that you watched and wondered "why did they even bother making the movie?".
2011 movies that I watched this year which were terrible are:

Transformers 3
I Love Hong Kong
Melancholia (kirsten dunst's boobs made it up though)

Fuyoh, the new Cracked article talked about M'sia

Vintage — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 00:47:54 +0800

http://www.cracked.com/article_19348_the-5...ioted-over.html

Look at number 4. Man, I remembered the incident but I didn't know it was THAT serious!

Where are the Wild Things?

Vintage — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:53:27 +0800

I thought it was supposed to release last week but I checked all the cinema listings and there's nothing. What happened?

ITT, post your albums collection!

Vintage — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 23:05:02 +0800

Sigur Ros - Agaetis Byrjun
Sigur Ros - Hvarf/Heim
Modest Mouse - Good News For People Who Love Bad News
Los Campesinos! - Hold on Now, Youngster...
Efterklang - Parades
Stars - Set Yourself On Fire
Explosions in the Sky - The Earth is Not a Cold, Dead Place
Voxtrot - Raised By Wolves EP
Deerhunter - Microcastle
Arcade Fire - Funeral

Most of the stuff I bought it in Melbourne. When I get a job, I would get a Vinyl player and buy vinyls and stop getting CDs.

The indie music topic!

Vintage — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 22:58:36 +0800

Introduction
Independent music or more commonly known as indie music are music that isn't from the mainstream labels like Warners, EMI, Universal and Sony. Example of popular indie labels are Touch & Go, Domino Records, Merge Records, Sub Pop Records, Art & Craft and 4AD. There are many genres that fit in the indie music category like indie rock/pop, shoegaze, post-rock, post punk revival, electropop/electronica, emo, dance punk and the latest trend in indie music, chillwave.

Indie bands and albums reccomendation
Indie rock
Pixies - Doolittle/Surfer Rosa
Pavement - Slanted & Enchanted/Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain/Wowee Zowee/Brighten the Corners
Modest Mouse - Lonesome, Crowded West/ The Moon & Antarctica
Guided by Voices - Bee Thousand
Yo La Tengo - I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One/And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out
The National - Alligator/Boxer
Broken Social Scene - You Forget It In People/Broken Social Scene
Bloc Party - Silent Alarms
...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead - Source Tags & Codes
Arcade Fire - Funeral
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend/Contra
Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary

Indie pop
The Smiths - The Queen is Dead
The Cure - Pornography
Belle & Sebastian - Tigermilk/If You're Feeling Sinister/Dear Catastrophe Waitress/The Life Pursuit
Camera Obscura - Underachievers Please Try Harder/Let's Get Out of This Country/My Maudlin Career
Stars - Set Yourself on Fire/Heart
The Unicorns - Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?
Sufjan Stevens - Illinoise
of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You A Destroyer?/The Sunlandic Twins
Los Campesinos! - Romance is Boring/Hold on Now, Youngster.../We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed

Shoegaze - very fuzzy yet dreamy sound
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
Moscow Olympics - Cut the World (my fav. shoegaze album this millenium and they're from the philippines!)
m83 - Saturdays = Youth/Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts
Cocteau Twins - Heaven or Las Vegas
The Radio Dept. - Lesser Matters/Clinging to a Scheme

Post-rock - playing rock instruments without using rock instrumentations
Explosions in the Sky - The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place/All of A Sudden I Miss Everyone
65daysofstatic - The Fall of Math/One Time For All Time
Mogwai - Young Team
Sigur Ros - Agaetis Byrjun/ ( ) / Takk...

Post punk revival
Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not/ Favourite Worst Nightmare
Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand/You Could Have it So Much Better
Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights
The Strokes - Is This It/Room on Fire
The Horrors - Primary Colours

Electropop/Electronica
The Postal Service - Give Up
Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Delorean - Aryton Senna
Air France - No Way Down EP
The Knife - Silent Shout
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!

Dance Punk
LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem/Sound of Silver
Death From Above 1979 - You're A Woman, I'm A Machine
The Rapture - Echoes/Pieces of the People We Love
Klaxons - Myths of the Near Future
!!! - Myth Takes
Out Hud - S.T.R.E.E.T.D.A.D
The Go! Team - Thunder, Lightning, Strike

Chillwave
Memory Tapes - Seek Magic
Memory Cassette - Call & Response EP
Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms
Washed Out - Life of Leisures
Toro y Moi - Causers of This

Great place to get indie music
There's this Rock Corner outlet in Bangsar Village which sells a lot of indie albums. I think the owner of that place frequents pitchfork.com often since most of the latest albums sold there are favourited by the website. If you're a big fan of not well known bands, this is the perfect place.

Since my topic is getting more and more off topic, why not I turn this topic into an indie music discussion topic?

You guys shouldn't joke about semen

Vintage — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 22:40:42 +0800

Later the joke will be on you.