Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by chesneychez

Traffic Police To Wear Diapers

chesneychez — Thu, 08 Jan 2015 22:26:57 +0800

When Pope Francis visits the Philippines next week, traffic enforcers won’t let the capital’s streets get gridlocked if they have to answer the call of nature.

About 2,000 traffic enforcers who will be on duty during the 15-19 January papal visit will be required to wear adult diapers, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chairman, Francis Tolentino, said.

Tolentino also encouraged people who will wait for hours to see the pope to also wear diapers.

The prospect of wearing diapers while on duty was “well received” by his men, he said on Wednesday.

Tolentino said the idea will be tested on Friday by 800 traffic enforcers who work shifts during the nearly 24-hour annual procession of the Black Nazarene. It will be the first time that traffic enforcers in the Philippines will wear diapers while on duty in the streets, he said.

The Black Nazarene procession attracts hundreds of thousands of barefoot, mostly male, Filipino Roman Catholics, who parade a centuries-old black statue of Jesus Christ which devotees believe possess mystical powers that could cure ailments and answer wishes of good health and fortune.

Tolentino says there won’t be enough portable toilets for the millions of people expected to see Pope Francis hold an open-air mass at the seaside Rizal Park on 18 January.

“If you attend an event that will last for 24 hours, you cannot go around looking for a [portable toilet],” Tolentino said.

Priests, nuns, seminarians, and the elderly also should consider wearing diapers, he said.

Asked if he will also wear one, Tolentino said, “I will try, but in my case, I have less hydration.”

Flood 90000 Evacuated

chesneychez — Thu, 25 Dec 2014 12:50:24 +0800

but the country's leader Najib is enjoying playing gold with Obama in Hawaii.
Najib is indeed a very good leader.

Media Prima In Trouble ?

chesneychez — Sat, 13 Dec 2014 18:21:53 +0800

Media Prima Bhd, touted the largest media group in the country, is losing its most precious resource even as it continues to bleed red ink viz. people through a mutual separation scheme (MMS), ironically a Christmas present of sorts.

The self-imposed bloodbath, described euphemistically as a management shake-up and downsizing programme in the same breath, affects staff at all levels and is reported to involve several hundreds.

Those whose application for the group’s MMS offer has been accepted, according to a media update, will sign-out for the last time on Monday. It would be a bleak Christmas for them.

Except for those nearing retirement, the others leaving will reportedly be compensated one and a half times their years in service multiplied by their last drawn salary. Near retirement staff will get their last drawn salary multiplied by their remaining months in service. This latter group can’t complain. The group needs them more than they need it.

The list of those departing Media Prima Bhd reads like a who’s who. It seems that no one is being spared.

ntv7 and 8TV head of Mandarin News Raymond Tan Chin Tuan, Mandarin current affairs executive editor Tan Boon Kooi, and news-gathering executive editor of the two TV stations, Tham Chooi Foong are all leaving, according to the grapevine.

They are the key heads in the Mandarin news and current affairs divisions of ntv7 and 8TV.

ntv7 billingual news anchor Melissa Ong has confimed in a FaceBook posting that she’s leaving as well after the company accepted her MMS application.

ntv7 English news executive editor Adriana Aris has also applied for the MMS offer but it’s not known whether the company has decided to let her go as well.

It could not be immediately established where all these unfortunate people would go. In the past, they headed for the alternative media which they used to routinely attack as part of their work.

Media Prima, according to its website, “owns TV3, 8TV, ntv7 and TV9″ lock, stock and barrel and “has more 98 per cent equity interest in the once-flagship The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Bhd” (NSTP).

It also owns Malay dailies Berita Harian and Harian Metro, the latter beginning as what was supposed to be a temporary tabloid to give daily updates on the US-led Operation Desert Storm to oust Saddam Hussein from Kuwait but received phenomenal reception in the market to deserve “immortality:, and three radio networks viz. Fly FM, Hot FM and One FM.

No wonder TV3 recently stopped 24 hours transmission.

Petaling Street Stall Rental RM9000

chesneychez — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 13:01:00 +0800

Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor has criticised holders of business licences in Petaling Street for leasing them to foreigners to make high profit.

He said some of the licences were leased to foreigners for between RM8,000 and RM9,000 a month.

He also claimed that traders operating in Petaling Street had their own “standard operating procedures” to avoid detection of their malpractices by the authorities.

“When the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry conducts checks, the (imitation) branded products will be removed from the shelves and foreign traders flee the scene when Immigration officers arrive.

“And when the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) conducts checks, the owner of the business licence will be there,” he told a media conference after opening the 40th Malaysian Telegu Association’s bi-annual delegates meeting here yesterday.

Also present was Malaysian Telugu Association president Dr Achaiah Kumar Rao.

In a related development, he said the government would consider setting up another Petaling Street, to be Petaling Street New Generation, to encourage and provide a new venue for the young people to do business.

On a request by the Telegu community to have “Telegu” stated in the ethnic column in the birth certificates of Telugu children, Tengku Adnan said he would bring up the matter to the Home Ministry.

Indon Govt Officials Forced To Eat Street Food

chesneychez — Fri, 28 Nov 2014 19:39:05 +0800

JAKARTA: Indonesia has ordered officials to eat local street food at meetings instead of fancy foreign fare and stop holding lavish parties, the latest moves by the new government to crack down on bureaucratic excess.

Snacks such as cassava, steamed corn and yam cakes should be served at official gatherings and the number of guests invited to high-ranking bureaucrats’ parties should be limited to 400, a minister said.

President Joko Widodo, who took office last month and is known as a modest figure from a humble background, has made reining in official spending and trimming back the graft-ridden nation’s bloated democracy a key goal.

He has already slashed travel and meeting budgets for next year, and last week sought to lead by example when he flew economy class to Singapore for his son’s graduation, winning widespread praise online.

Announcing the latest moves late Thursday, Yuddy Chrisnandi, minister for bureaucratic reform, ordered officials to “stop anything that is excessive”.

He said that gluttonous officials were at risk of developing high cholesterol and high blood pressure, and that buying local snacks would help Indonesian farmers.

Chrisnandi said that the rules on food would be applied in all ministries and government offices from December 1. Those who broke them would face sanctions such as demotion or a postponement of bonus payments, he added.

The energy ministry, which is seeking to clean up its image following recent corruption scandals, has already sent out a list of permitted foods and has ordered drinks to be limited to coffee, tea and water.

The ban on lavish parties, due to come into effect early next year, is aimed at private functions held by high-ranking officials, which are often vast affairs at luxurious hotels.

Chrisnandi said such events “created an impression of inequality”.

“There are high-ranking government officials organising weddings for their children… inviting thousands, causing traffic jams.”

The moves echo an anti-corruption crackdown launched by China’s leader Xi Jinping after he came to power in late 2012, which included banning fancy fare from official banquets.

Banana Carvings

chesneychez — Sat, 25 Oct 2014 14:19:14 +0800

Asian Games Offical Website

chesneychez — Tue, 23 Sep 2014 10:04:35 +0800

Just browsed through this year Asian Games official website and discover that is is very not user friendly and lacks information.

I would have expected the Koreans to come out with much better OFFICIAL WEBSITE for such a big event.

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