Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by timetravelller

pre-raya pichar

timetravelller — Tue, 06 Aug 2013 10:24:33 +0800

World biggest construction company

timetravelller — Tue, 09 Jul 2013 21:35:19 +0800

Vinci is the contractor that are doing berjaya central park next to bukit nanas monorail.

QUOTE

NOT so long ago Japanese construction firms were the competitors that Western ones feared the most. But in less than a decade the Japanese have disappeared from International Construction magazine’s annual top ten, with their places taken—inevitably—by the Chinese (see table). China’s unprecedented construction boom has coincided with stagnation in Japan. Japanese firms have retreated just as the Chinese challengers have begun to explore the world.

Many of the Chinese firms’ earliest foreign forays were linked to their government’s quest for minerals in sub-Saharan Africa—for instance, building railways from mines to ports. But now they are popping up all over the place. China State Construction & Engineering Corporation (CSCEC), reckoned by International Construction to be the world’s biggest builder, is renovating the Alexander Hamilton Bridge in New York, helping erect a huge tower block in Moscow and creating a massive tourist resort in the Bahamas. China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC), the second-biggest, is building Mecca’s new metro system.

The Chinese challengers are all government-controlled and supported by the country’s state banks, though they have also raised money through stockmarket listings in Hong Kong and Shanghai. Having hitherto had plenty to keep them busy at home, they will now be under more pressure to seek foreign work. Analysts at HSBC, a bank, reckon that China’s spending on transport infrastructure, having grown at double-digit annual rates for the past decade, may fall during the current, 2011-15, five-year plan.

China’s construction firms have become good at finishing big projects on time. But analysts doubt whether they are ready for rich countries. Julian Bu of Jefferies, an investment bank, says their main advantage—low labour costs—is little help in places where they cannot bring lots of Chinese workers over. Furthermore, they have been mollycoddled by the government back home, with “cost-plus” contracts in which margins are guaranteed. In rich countries, construction firms usually bear much of the risk of cost overruns, something the Chinese have little experience in managing. Already, notes Mr Bu, some of them have hit trouble in Saudi Arabia, Australia and Poland.

As the Chinese firms seek to expand globally, they can learn from the decline of the Japanese and the survival of some big Western firms. One reason the Japanese dropped down the world league, says Jordi Roca of Accenture, a consultancy, was their reluctance to grow through acquisition. In contrast, the biggest European firms have been enthusiastic buyers. Vinci, a French giant, has absorbed several of Britain’s biggest builders, such as Taylor Woodrow and Norwest Holst. In the past year it has acquired companies in Canada, India, Turkey and New Zealand.

In some cases Vinci bought firms for their understanding of their home market. In others it has followed a trend among big Western builders of buying specialist consultancies, in areas such as soil mechanics and electrical engineering, to have their expertise on tap. To be capable of bidding for the most sophisticated projects, the Chinese builders may also have to make such acquisitions and integrate them well.

Another thing Vinci and some Western peers have done is become operators as well as builders of infrastructure. In France, Vinci runs bridges, tunnels, airports and the national sports stadium. Xavier Huillard, its boss, says the world has a huge demand for public works that governments cannot afford to finance, so such public-private partnerships will be ever more common. In July, in one of the first such deals involving a Chinese firm, China Communications Construction (CCC) signed a deal to build a highway in Jamaica and run it for 50 years.

The world’s biggest builders are getting a growing share of the work: Accenture reckons that between 2002 and 2010, global construction spending rose by 19% but the revenues of the top 20 firms almost trebled. Lower down the league, though, firms from Brazil, India and Turkey are also venturing beyond their home turf, especially to places like the Gulf, where oil and gas money is fuelling a building boom.

So customers are spoiled for choice. A recent power-station project in Namibia got 47 bidders. The 13 firms shortlisted included eight from China plus others from Japan, South Korea, Spain and Italy. In such a crowded market, says Vinci’s Mr Huillard, the important thing is not to chase market share: it is better to be fifth or sixth in a particular market but make money. That is a lesson many rich-world construction firms learned the hard way; their Chinese rivals will have to do so too.

http://www.economist.com/news/business/215...t-wall-builders

how to pronounce...

timetravelller — Tue, 09 Jul 2013 08:46:54 +0800

how to phrase carrefour? I used to be confronted by my lecturer that "car four" is wrong. how French pronounce that?

how to pronounce...

timetravelller — Mon, 08 Jul 2013 07:35:43 +0800

what is the correct pronunciation of Peugeot? how French phrase it?

how to pronounce...

timetravelller — Sun, 07 Jul 2013 20:28:26 +0800

recently i heard on radio advertisement and also youtube advertisement of ikea, and i find that those pronunciation is different. so what is the correct 1? radio "my fm" pronounce as yi kay ya, while youtube advertisement pronounce ai ki ya. what is the correct 1? how swedish pronounce it?

fast forward to 3:07
[YOUTUBE]BNUufoSMnHA[/YOUTUBE]

[Wimbledon 2013]women single final

timetravelller — Sat, 06 Jul 2013 21:01:10 +0800

most probably sabine lisicki will win, young plus marion bartoli using 2-handed forehand shorten her hitting range. anyone watching?

sabine lisicki, 24 years old

marion bartoli, 29 years old

Inspira 20% discount, 62k only

timetravelller — Sat, 29 Jun 2013 22:48:48 +0800

somebody join me for drink now here?

timetravelller — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 00:59:22 +0800

hi /k/, it's me again at sports bar, genting. same bar, same sitting stool, same beer. drinking alone. need to reserve weekly wages for worker on coming week thus come here la. what to do? poorfag life haizzzz

inb4 poorfag
inb4 foreveralone

chilling alone at sports bar.

timetravelller — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 18:38:32 +0800

chilling alone at sports bar, genting. watching badminton double live. anybody come and join me? the tidbit here sux and no chips, ayam sad. though it's free flow.

inb4 foreveralone

first pint

2nd pint

3rd pint

3.5th pint

latte

how to convince ur gf/wife on ridiculous thing?

timetravelller — Thu, 30 May 2013 21:21:28 +0800

[YOUTUBE]nf1u6s-LQq4[/YOUTUBE]

terrorist invaded bukit bintang.

timetravelller — Sat, 25 May 2013 19:15:05 +0800

sorry if slow.
[YOUTUBE]HtdCzDmTVXQ[/YOUTUBE]

RM900 rental for a bungalow at

timetravelller — Fri, 24 May 2013 10:49:59 +0800

taman bukit desa, kepong

sos
Monthly Rent: RM 900 Type: Houses, For rent Area: Kepong
Size: 1200 sq.ft. Bedrooms: 3 Bathroom: 2
Furnished: Not furnished

Within short driving distances to bank, Jusco Metro Prima Shopping centre, Carefour Shopping centre and Tesco Kepong

The closest school would be SRK Kepong Baru, followed by SK Taman Kepong, SRK La Salle Jinjang 1 & 2 and SMK Kepong Baru â€“ all of which are no more than 1.5km away. Apart from that, there are still more options such as SJK Â© Desa Jaya, SK Taman Ehsan, SMK Taman Ehsan and SMK Kepng Ulu.

Acer P3 Ultrabook pawn microsoft surface pro?

timetravelller — Wed, 22 May 2013 21:45:06 +0800

as topic
[youtube]sUagk4Kl8hc[/youtube]

Victoria Azarenka lose her temper and

timetravelller — Fri, 10 May 2013 09:40:59 +0800

[YOUTUBE]24it-P5BjQQ[/YOUTUBE]

true disney ending - after ever after

timetravelller — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 22:18:24 +0800

[YOUTUBE]diU70KshcjA[/YOUTUBE]

worth it to drink beer buffet? variety of..

timetravelller — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 20:09:41 +0800

Free-flow Imported Beers, Premium Liquors, and Cocktails at Saloon Bar, SohoKL @ Solaris Mont Kiara for RM54 per person.
sos

[WTB] COFFEE MILK STEAMER

timetravelller — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 19:28:16 +0800

as attached. I wanna get a coffee milk steamer. any recommendation where and which 1 should I get?

wanna do renovation but....

timetravelller — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 11:59:09 +0800

*le so 1 of my friend had purchase a unit +new property) at PV (platinum victory) and today is the day they schedule to hand over the key to my friend. so I just accompany her to collect the key. so after taken the key and generally check the unit, it was ok. definitely there are plenty of those minor defect like a little stain on wall, cleanliness good enough but then I just told my friend that it was not a big deal as she renovate the unit later also will create the same thing so that 1 just leave it.

so while sign off the clearance letter, I help my friend asking abt the renovation thing and procedure and regulation. and I was told that no water and electric for a month. then I tell them since got cf (certificate of fitness) already how come no electric and water? then they say unless u engage their in house contractor to renovate else u have to bring ur own gen set to do ur own renovation work. unfair? no?

someone sabotage me (drill updated)

timetravelller — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 10:50:11 +0800

*le so someone put my my tyre air to flat at a residential building. at first i thought my tyre punctured due to bump into some nail or sharp thing, but then after i change the spare tyre and drive to workshop, the foreman told me that my tyre was ok, as he put my tyre into water and found no leakage! so now i suspect this was sabotaged by the security guard. was thinking to install a hidden camera to catch the person who sabotage me as i'll park my car there. any recommendation of the video camera? and if i can caught him in action again, can i report to pulis?

this is the drill b4 i jack up my car to change the spare tyre.

nice song produce by local song writer

timetravelller — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 17:13:48 +0800

our local also can produce a nice song like this. good song writing in deed.

[YOUTUBE]bFMFxcDF2Bs[/YOUTUBE]