Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by altimi

China city bans Christmas in schools

altimi — Sun, 27 Dec 2015 14:25:18 +0800

China city bans Christmas in schools, warns over 'Western' culture

By AFP

A Chinese city has banned schools from holding Christmas events, state media reported on Thursday, highlighting official suspicions about the increasingly popular festival because of its foreign origins.

China's Christian population, currently estimated at around 60 million, is rapidly growing and Christmas is increasingly marked in the country ruled by the officially atheist Communist Party.

But the government education bureau in Wenzhou, an eastern Chinese coastal city sometimes called "China's Jerusalem" because of its large Christian population, banned schools from holding "Christmas-related" events, the Global Times reported.

Young worshippers arrive for the Christmas Eve mass at a Catholic church in Beijing, on December 24, 2014 ©Fred Dufour (AFP)

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Two security guards, dressed in Santa Claus outfits, stand by the entrance to a car park in Beijing, on December 24, 2014 ©Greg Baker (AFP)

Christmas in Palestine

altimi — Fri, 25 Dec 2015 12:19:46 +0800

[YOUTUBE]C4YwBco_M6M[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]6JaPmbtnTMM[/YOUTUBE]

Matilah kau...

altimi — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 15:55:26 +0800

[YOUTUBE]Xox4f0ACXX8[/YOUTUBE]

Google's top trending cars of 2015

altimi — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 10:42:49 +0800

https://www.google.com/trends/topcharts#vm=...&date=2015&cat=

Mana Toyota?

Thailand's roads second-deadliest in world

altimi — Mon, 21 Dec 2015 15:40:03 +0800

80 lives lost every day: Why are Thailand’s roads so dangerous?

by James Austin Farrell

A Thai police officer takes photograph of the charred wreckage of a passenger van that crashed in Chanthaburi province last year, killing eight people and injuring 13 more. Pic: AP.

ANOTHER week in Thailand, and with it another spell of fatal traffic accidents: Three Chinese tourists died after a bus plunged down a hill in Phuket on March 25, and seven migrant workers from Burma (Myanmar) were killed the day before when the truck carrying them was hit by a train in Chiang Mai. These were the headline-making accidents, on average around 80 people died each day on Thailand’s roads last year. Road tragedies are something we expect to hear about in Thailand on a regular basis, shocking stories made slightly less shocking due to their certain frequency.

Thailand is ranked second in the world in terms of traffic fatalities, with 44 deaths per 100,000 people (5.1 percent of Thailand’s overall deaths), according to statistics from the World Health Organization and The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute in the United States.

Perhaps an indicator of just how dangerous Thailand’s roads are is the fact three visitors to the country, who were all attempting to cycle around the world, and were on the final leg of their journeys, were killed after being hit by vehicles in Thailand. Chilean national Juan Francisco Guillermo was killed when he was hit by a truck in north-east Thailand in February this year, and British couple Peter Root and Mary Thompson, were killed when they were hit by a truck in Chachoengsao Province, east of Bangkok, almost exactly one year before. The three cyclists had covered most of the globe before their endeavors were cut short on Thailand’s brutal roads. In the latter case the driver, Worapong Sangkhawat, told police he had been bending down looking for a hat when he hit the pair. He was given a suspended two-year prison sentence and fined around $30.

British cyclists Peter Root and Mary Thompson were killed by a pick-up truck east of Bangkok. Pic: AP.

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http://asiancorrespondent.com/2015/03/thailand-road-deaths/
http://www.bangkokpost.com/archive/thailan...cy-finds/736748

Suami-suami sila masuk....

altimi — Sun, 20 Dec 2015 23:49:22 +0800

So, how long have to wait?
100 days?

I fucukin hate this tree

altimi — Fri, 18 Dec 2015 14:26:16 +0800

It shed bucketload of tiny leaves everyday.....

Bertudung tapi seksi....

altimi — Fri, 18 Dec 2015 14:19:45 +0800

Fastest way to kill a tree (undetected)

altimi — Fri, 18 Dec 2015 12:24:22 +0800

Bagi tips please...
Tebang kenot, nanti kena fine dengan MPSJ.

Retail sector hit as Malaysians cut spending

altimi — Mon, 14 Dec 2015 18:19:52 +0800

http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia...h-rising-prices

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 14 — Retail outlets here are reporting a drop in business as Malaysians cut spending to cope with the rising cost of living.

For many of those who spoke to Malay Mail Online about their lifestyle changes, cutting out unnecessary purchases and making prudent spending choices are the order of the day.

Fadzilla Hernani, 29, a post-graduate student whose monthly household spending has gone up by around 20 per cent after the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), said she has switched to hypermarkets’ house brands to get non-food items of equal quality at a cheaper price.

“Milk has no price controls, I choose the cheapest (baby) milk powder. Last time, I chose Anmum, but now it has increased by RM5, RM6, one week one box is RM60, but because it is expensive, I am forced to find a cheaper brand... Dutch Lady at RM25, the quality is slightly lower,” said Fadzilla, who has a three-year-old toddler.

Every sen saved counts for Fadzilla who now buys paper of slightly lower quality at 70gsm just to save RM1 and purchases pens in bulk without caring for the brand.

Fadzilla, who also works as a business assistant, notes that savings have gone down, as wages remain largely stagnant.

With the GST forcing her to think twice before parting with her money, Fadzilla said she has turned to online shopping for cheaper clothes, cut down eating out at restaurants to twice a month and also trimmed her twice-a-month visits to the cinema, opting instead for free video-streaming site YouTube for entertainment.

Even her businessman husband Mohd Anar, 29, has started selling his pre-loved clothing online to generate extra income.

A manager at an investment bank, who only wished to be known as Joe, said he now has to practise smart spending and budget his expenses, instead of spending freely or shopping for his family as he wished.

The 44-year-old, who has three children, said his family’s lifestyle has changed, with holiday trips now only to local destinations with a carefully-budgeted itinerary and fewer weekend outings to malls and more home-cooked meals.

“Last time, I would say, if we go to the shopping complex, we go at the weekend, we go out maybe two or three times a month. Now quite some time already we don’t go for movies, now everything can be downloaded.

“I told them we have to just cut down. It’s not that I don’t want to bring them, I think it’s expensive,” the manager said, noting that such outings typically cost around RM250 inclusive of five movie tickets of around RM50, eating out and the purchase of toys and clothing for the children that cost around RM100 respectively.

Joe said his family would not be enticed by the year-end sales unless they are looking for a good deal for an item that they need to buy.

IT professional Revathy, 30, said she puts in extra hours at work to get additional income and wants to find part-time work for the weekends, adding that the first thing that she cut was entertainment, movies and eating out.

Her 30-year-old colleague Shantiya said she only manages to save less than RM200 per month despite tightening her belt through measures like bringing a packed lunch to work.

“I can’t even manage, that’s why I am searching for another job, part-time,” she said, noting that she has to pay RM50 more for highway tolls now and recently paid a hefty RM20 in GST to get her car tyre changed.

Retiree Halwa HS, 62, said she goes online and uses smartphone apps to check where the offers of the day are and switches between supermarkets depending on the deals offered.

She also related that she cut down on imported goods and stopped annual trips abroad to Indonesia, as the ringgit remains weak.

“Well, I have to eat humbly and spend humbly and be smart. I have been reading a lot on how to reduce expenditure, things like that we have to really read up and know how to live with this,” she said, adding that her daughter’s mother-in-law buys items in bulk before splitting it with her three daughters-in-law.

Tan Hai Hsin, the managing director of research firm Retail Group Malaysia, said the GST has affected all the retail sub-sectors since its introduction in April, with many retailers seeing a plunge of between 20 per cent and 50 per cent in business.

Weak consumer spending has hit sub-sectors like grocery, fashion and fashion accessories, electrical & electronics, food and beverage and overseas travel.

“The current political situation is affecting the consumer sentiment level and buying mood of Malaysian consumers.

“They are frustrated, they are confused and they are uncertain of their future in this country. As a result, they are less willing to buy more,” he told Malay Mail Online recently in an email interview, noting that consumers’ spending has yet to recover to levels before the GST was imposed.

Tan said the weak ringgit value has bumped up import costs and resulted in higher retail prices that have now become more apparent since the beginning of this year’s fourth quarter, predicting that living costs will go up even more.

“We expect Malaysian consumers’ purchasing power will decline further. The recent toll hikes will lead to another round of price increases in the next few months,” he said, also pointing out that Budget 2016 did not provide incentives that will spur consumers’ spending in next year’s first half.

“At this moment, the prospect for next year is still poor,” he said when confirming a downward trend this year in sales generated by shopping malls and the retail industry that is not expected to improve significantly in the first half of next year.

Retail Group Malaysia is predicting an estimated overall growth in retail sales of 3.1 per cent this year, the lowest figure when compared against the past five years’ growth rate that has been on a declining trend — with 2010 recording 8.4 per cent, 2011 (8.1 per cent), 2012 (5.5 per cent), 2013 (4.5 per cent), 2014 (3.4 per cent).

The retail growth rate for the past 10 years before that has generally fluctuated, with the research group’s data showing 2000 (10.4 per cent), 2001 (1.7 per cent), 2002 (3.0 per cent), 2003 (3.6 per cent), 2004 (8.0 per cent), 2005 (6.2 per cent), 2006 (8.4 per cent), 2007 (12.8 per cent), 2008 (5.0 per cent) and 2009 (0.8 per cent).

With Christmas shopping only starting the second week of this month, Tan said it is “still too early to tell if Malaysians will return to shop as compared to last year.” But all indicators seem to say that will not be so.

Pesan Imam Syafie...

altimi — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 12:44:53 +0800

QUOTE

Imam syafie pernah ditanya oleh muridnya..
Wahai guruku, di akhir zaman kelak terdapat banyak pemimpin Yang zalim, bagaimana pula umat Islam ingin mengenali pemimpin Yang benar..??
Jawab Imam Syafie..

"Carilah pemimpin Yang mana banyak fitnah di lemparkan kepadanya".

Democracy is coming to Singapore

altimi — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 12:36:49 +0800

US agrees to deploy spy plane in S'pore, amid China tensions

David Brunnstrom, Reuters Published Today 11:34 am Updated Today 11:50 am

The United States has agreed with Singapore on a first deployment of the US P8 Poseidon spy plane in Singapore this month, in a fresh response to China over its pursuit of territorial claims in the South China Sea.

In a joint statement after a meeting in Washington yesterday, US defence Secretary Ash Carter and Singapore Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen welcomed the inaugural deployment of the aircraft in Singapore from Dec 7 to 14.

A US defence official said further deployments in Singapore could be expected. The move comes at a time of heightened tensions in the South China Sea over China's assertive pursuit of territorial claims there.

The US deployment is likely to anger China, which is at odds with Washington over the South China Sea. China claims almost the entire energy-rich sea, through which more than US$5 trillion of maritime trade passes each year.

The United States already operates P8s from Japan and the Philippines, and has also conducted surveillance flights from Singapore's neighbor, Malaysia.

The statement said the P8 deployment in Singapore would "promote greater interoperability with regional militaries through participation in bilateral and multilateral exercises, while providing timely support for regional HADR and maritime security efforts."

HADR is an acronym for Humanitarian and Disaster Relief operations.

Defence ties

The United States and Singapore have long-standing defence ties and the announcement of the P8 deployment was part of an enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement signed by Carter and Ng, which also covers cooperation in fighting transnational terrorism and piracy.

Washington has criticised China's building of artificial islands in the South China Sea's disputed Spratly archipelago, and has conducted sea and air patrols near them recently.

Last month, US President Barack Obama urged countries to stop building artificial islands in the sea and militarising their claims. He said the United States would continue to assert its freedom-of-navigation rights.

China responded by saying it would continue to build both military and civilian facilities on the islands.

Washington has been working to build up defence relationships with South China Sea rival claimants, which include Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei.

Last month, US B-52 bombers flew near some of China's artificial islands and at the end of October a US guided-missile destroyer sailed within 12 nautical miles of one of them.

In May, the Chinese navy issued eight warnings to the crew of a US P8 that flew near the islands,according to CNN, which was aboard the US aircraft.

- Reuters

https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/322555

/k you sokong NATO or Russia?

altimi — Mon, 07 Dec 2015 12:26:03 +0800

Inb4 ghey....

altimi — Sun, 06 Dec 2015 23:30:47 +0800

Can a foreigner operate a business in Malaysia?

altimi — Sun, 06 Dec 2015 14:35:35 +0800

Nope, this is not a photo of downtown Kathmandu. It was taken in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, in the general vicinity of Leboh Pasar and Jalan Silang. Locals say shops like these started to mushroom since 2010. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Raymund Wong, December 6, 2015. - See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysi...h.imvlyFLa.dpuf

Over the past five years, central KL's oldest alleys and streets had been slowly transformed into a hub for the new migrants – foreign workers from Bangladesh, Nepal, and Myanmar, just to name a few.

Shops mushroomed to an extent that there are now signboards exclusively in Nepali and other native languages, with the individuals manning businesses in these streets speaking very little Bahasa Malaysia and more comfortable conversing in their own language.

There are very few Malaysians who have witnessed the evolution of these streets but Louis Yap, who owns a watch shop that has stood in the same location for 43 years now, is one of them.
The shop was founded by Yap's father, who is now 77 years old.

"They are foreigners. Who gave them the licence? They should not have the licence to do business," Yap told The Malaysian Insider.

"Look around. Where are the Malaysian businesses?" he said.

He said that the place was previously dominated by many Chinese and Malay businesses which somehow made way to shops now being run by the migrant communities.

"Things were normal until maybe five or six years ago. Then, all of a sudden, these guys started coming in," he said.

Louis Yap took over the watch shop business that his 77-year-old father started in Leboh Pasar 43 years ago. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Wan Asraf, December 6, 2015.

Louis Yap took over the watch shop business that his 77-year-old father started in Leboh Pasar 43 years ago. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Wan Asraf, December 6, 2015. - See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysi...h.imvlyFLa.dpuf

Yap insists it is not a matter of prejudice against the new migrants, but his concern was more economic as he believed local traders should be protected.

- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysi...h.imvlyFLa.dpuf

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Tahiland not for human live one....

altimi — Sat, 05 Dec 2015 16:57:07 +0800

/k you takut Monster?

altimi — Sat, 05 Dec 2015 14:07:26 +0800

[YOUTUBE]ocY8x7F7GnU[/YOUTUBE]

Kedah pantang kalah....

altimi — Thu, 03 Dec 2015 13:05:36 +0800

The new Honda B-RV

altimi — Wed, 02 Dec 2015 13:44:22 +0800

Toyota Rush/Avanza killer?

http://www.motorme.my/honda-br-v-in-the-flesh-at-time-2015/

Fawzia Ariff the born-again Muslim

altimi — Wed, 02 Dec 2015 12:03:24 +0800

[video]https://video-kul1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hvideo-xat1/v/l/t42.1790-2/12315958_959109940838098_1490458107_n.mp4?efg=eyJybHIiOjMwMCwicmxhIjo1MTIsInZlbmNvZGVfdGFnIjoic3ZlX3NkIn0%3D&rl=300&vabr=89&oh=3ecd1ce2906367e99444a543b936204e&oe=565E89AC[/video]

https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/3792819/all

http://khairulryezal.blogspot.my/2013/05/m...unafik-dap.html