Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by mcnoodle

A Video for Mr Trump

mcnoodle — Wed, 28 Jun 2017 19:45:54 +0800

[YOUTUBE]gMC30x2deQc[/YOUTUBE]

Just 4 laff.

Is America Great Again?

mcnoodle — Tue, 20 Jun 2017 20:36:36 +0800

[YOUTUBE]jwj8RLBHwqw[/YOUTUBE]

Fatty says NAY.

Killed eating babi!

mcnoodle — Sun, 11 Jun 2017 23:23:09 +0800

[YOUTUBE]AjdsFpiuwYg[/YOUTUBE]

MMA Angela Lee

mcnoodle — Sun, 28 May 2017 03:54:46 +0800

[YOUTUBE]QAIjIMxK5ps[/YOUTUBE]

SINGAPORE: Mixed martial arts (MMA) star Angela Lee successfully defended her atomweight (52.2kg) title a second time while Malaysia’s Agilan Thani failed to seize the welterweight (83.9kg) belt in the two headlining fights organised by Asian promotion ONE Championship on Friday (May 26).

Lee, who is of Singapore-South Korean parentage, was accompanied by Singaporean Olympic gold medallist Joseph Schooling as she walked out to the cage in the 12,000-strong sold-out Indoor Stadium.
She lapped up the crowd support en route to dominating Nunes, 24, whose record now falls to six wins and one loss.

Read more at http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singap...ing-out-8887684

Happy 15th Anniversary CHINA

mcnoodle — Sun, 11 Dec 2016 14:51:00 +0800

China's battle for recognition as a market economy that would help it avoid penalties from key trade partners has been thwarted, as a key clause in Beijing's deal to join the WTO expires Sunday.

As China marks the 15th anniversary of its accession to the WTO, the United States, European Union and Japan are maintaining tough rules that protect them from cheap Chinese products flooding their markets.

An outraged Beijing said the failure of its major trade partners to grant China market economy status on December 11 as promised was an example of "covert protectionism" and "double standard" by the West.

Beijing highly covets market economy status, which would make it more difficult for other countries to launch anti-dumping cases against it. Dumping is when a country prices its exports below what it would charge for the same product in its home market.

When China joined the WTO on December 11, 2001 it was written into the terms of the deal that member states could treat it as a non-market economy, allowing them to impose heavy anti-dumping duties on the basis that its low prices did not reflect market reality.

China was told all that would change by the end of 2016 when it would be upgraded to market economy status.

But rather than enjoying this trade advantage, Beijing continues to face a climate of mistrust towards its exports, with critics arguing the country has not done enough to qualify for the designation.

"China will take steps to defend its rights if (WTO) members continue this old practice of anti-dumping regulation against Chinese products after the expiration date" of the accession agreement clause, China's commerce ministry spokesman Shen Danyang was quoted as saying by state media on Friday.

International trade experts say China will have to start a lengthy legal battle at the WTO against its trade partners in order to get recognition of its new status.

- Protectionism in disguise -

In a vitriolic commentary, the official Xinhua news agency said that "China would automatically move to market economy status" on December 11.

"The refusal is nothing short of covert protectionism, which runs against the trend of globalization and poisons the recovery of the global economy," it said Friday, denouncing "another double-standard applied by the West against China".

But for Washington, the granting of market economy status is not automatic and other anti-dumping clauses of the accession agreement "remain intact".

"The United States remains concerned about serious imbalances in China's State-directed economy, such as widespread production overcapacity, including in the steel and aluminum industries, and significant State ownership in many industries and sectors," according to a statement by the Department of Commerce.

"China has not made the reforms necessary to operate on market principles."

SOS: https://sg.news.yahoo.com/china-faces-battl...4--finance.html

T & T trolling PRC

mcnoodle — Tue, 06 Dec 2016 14:17:24 +0800

[YOUTUBE]CKK0ErN2UQ0[/YOUTUBE]

Well Done Trump & Tsai.

Singapore Terrex

mcnoodle — Sat, 03 Dec 2016 22:19:17 +0800

[YOUTUBE]2kJ5mPRlduc[/YOUTUBE]

Serious matter, no laffing pls.

3 Kingdoms

mcnoodle — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 00:09:29 +0800

What’s behind the French ocean shipping line CMA CGM’s joint venture with PSA Singapore Terminals?

It’s an attempt by PSA Singapore’s owner, Temasek Holdings, the government of Singapore sovereign investment company, to win back Southeast Asia transshipment market share for Singapore from its Malaysian competitors.

In the joint venture company, the carrier will be taking a 49-percent ownership share to PSA’s 51 percent. The joint venture will lease and operate four container berths in the port of Singapore. So reports Alphaliner, the maritime transportation information service.

PSA’s share of the Southeast Asia container transshipment volume has fallen from 89 percent in 2000 to 62 percent in 2015. The port of Singapore’s overall container throughput has fallen by 7.8 percent in the first four months of this year, following a 8.7-percent loss last year, while its primary competitors have gained volume.

CMA CGM currently handles Southeast Asia transshipment at Port Kelang, where it is the highest-volume port customer. At Westports, the larger of Kelang’s two terminal operators, the carrier generates more than 20 percent of the volume, Alphaliner noted.

If all goes according to plan, it looks like Port Kelang’s loss will be Singapore’s gain.

http://www.globaltrademag.com/global-trade...olumes-heats-up

442033180712 call

mcnoodle — Sat, 21 Nov 2015 09:45:46 +0800

Claims he from microsoft security centre in Texas and my wife's pc has been hacked, and will guide me to set her pc right step by step.

Singapore said NO

mcnoodle — Fri, 28 Aug 2015 12:04:24 +0800

Singapore will not pay the raised land assessment tax on its Johor waterworks as a matter of principle, said Minister for Foreign Affairs and Law K. Shanmugam yesterday.

The authorities of Kota Tinggi district had sought late last year to double the tax on the Johor River Waterworks, which is owned by national water agency PUB.

The revised rate was more than double that of the next highest rate in the entire Kota Tinggi district, and this new rate was applied to a tax category created solely for the PUB.

"The water agreement doesn't allow for these sorts of treatments. If I keep quiet about doubling it, tomorrow they might quadruple it," he told media professionals at the event organised by the Singapore Press Club.

Underscoring the gravity of the issue, Mr Shanmugam said: "They've issued us further notice saying we are late in payment. If one is bloody-minded about it, I suppose they can seek to levy execution on our waterworks, and then things will get really interesting."

He said: "In a normal legal case, if you don't pay tax, somebody goes and attaches and tries to take over the property. We'll have to see whether they want to treat this as a normal case of non-payment and then we'll have to say what our response will be."

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/sing...works-shanmugam

SG leopards inkambing!

Bread Society

mcnoodle — Sun, 12 Jul 2015 00:07:21 +0800

Just heard from someone earlier.

http://www.breadsociety.com.sg/

Malaysia 'A' credit rating

mcnoodle — Thu, 14 May 2015 09:42:18 +0800

[KUALA LUMPUR] As Fitch Ratings considers downgrading Malaysia, the credit-default swap market has already delivered its verdict.

Five-year contracts insuring the nation's debt cost 136 basis points, almost double the average of 75 for the remaining four countries currently rated A- by Fitch http://www.financeasia.com/News/394393,pur...es-upgrade.aspx. That also exceeds prices for at least five of the seven issuers with BBB+ assessments. Andrew Colquhoun, the company's head of Asia- Pacific sovereign ratings, said Wednesday that Malaysia "sits more naturally in the BBB range." Concern that state investment company 1Malaysia Development Bhd. would default compounded Malaysia's woes after Fitch lowered the sovereign outlook to negative in 2013, citing public finances. The government raised the fiscal-deficit target in January as an oil slump cut earnings for the crude exporter, which provided a credit facility for 1MDB this month. Mr Colquhoun said there's more than a 50 per cent chance of a downgrade, with a second-quarter review due.

"Given the government-linked company debt, Malaysia doesn't look like a single-A country," said Edwin Gutierrez, who helps oversee US$13 billion of emerging-market bonds as a money manager at Aberdeen Asset Management Plc in London. "The underperformance of Malaysian financial assets vis-a-vis the rest of the region partially reflects that." Malaysia isn't worried about Fitch's assessment and the ratings company should consider the positive steps the government has taken, Finance Ministry Secretary General Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah told reporters in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.

Malaysia's current-account surplus shrank to US$1.6 billion in the fourth quarter, the least in more than a year, and exports contracted in January for only the second time since 2013. The ringgit has dropped 13 per cent in six months, Asia's worst performance, and foreign-exchange reserves at US$111 billion are the lowest in more than three years.

Malaysia has grappled with a fiscal deficit since 1998 and will implement a 6 percent goods and services tax on April 1 to boost its finances after bringing down the shortfall for five straight years through 2014. The 2015 target was raised to 3.2 per cent of gross domestic product from 3 per cent. The nation's debt-to-GDP ratio of 55 per cent is higher than BBB+ rated Thailand's, and more than that of the Philippines ranked BBB-.

"If the reserves and the current account continue to deteriorate, risks of a ratings downgrade are very real," Dwyfor Evans, a Hong Kong-based macro strategist at State Street Global Markets, said by e-mail Thursday.

BBB Levels 1MDB has drawn criticism from lawmakers because of its debt totaling 41.9 billion ringgit (US$11.3 billion) as of March 2014. It repaid a 2 billion ringgit overdue loan in February and got a government 950 million ringgit credit facility this month.

The yield on Malaysia's 2.991 per cent dollar Islamic debt due 2016 rose to a 14-month high of 1.47 per cent on March 9 after the anti-corruption commission said it would initiate a probe into 1MDB. It was 1.36 per cent on Friday, compared with Indonesia's similar-maturity non-Islamic yield of 1.39 per cent and the Philippines' 1.13 per cent.

Malaysia's bonds are already trading near BBB levels after Fitch's negative credit watch, said Chua Hak Bin, Singapore- based economist at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch.

A rating in the BBB range might be more suitable for Malaysia due to its level of income and development, and the nation scores weaker in terms of governance than peers, Fitch's Colquhoun said in an interview in Singapore. 1MDB is a demonstration of that, he said.

"When we say that Malaysia is potentially a BBB credit, it doesn't mean it's going to have a crisis, it doesn't mean it's a basket case," Colquhoun said. "It just means the balance of vulnerabilities, the balance of strengths, weaknesses in our view from a credit perspective are slightly against them in the last couple of years." Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's also rank Malaysia at their fourth-lowest investment grades. Both rating companies referred Bloomberg to their most recent reports when contacted for comments by e-mail on Wednesday.

Moody's affirmed its A3 rating and positive outlook in January, and said in a March 5 report its decision is backed by Malaysia's macroeconomic stability and the government's policy of reducing its fiscal deficit. S&P in February maintained its A- rank and stable view, and said the economy can withstand some weakness in the energy sector arising from lower oil prices.

Global funds hold 29 per cent of Malaysian government bonds, compared with 18 percent for Thailand, central bank data show, which could render Malaysia vulnerable to outflows when the Federal Reserve raises interest rates.

The ringgit gained as much as 1.5 per cent amid a rally in regional bonds on Thursday after the Fed said it will go slowly once policy tightening starts.

The yield on Malaysia's 2016 dollar sukuk fell eight basis points Thursday, the most since September 2013, data compiled by Bloomberg show. That augurs well for Malaysia's plan to tap the global bond market for the first time since 2011.

"The whiff of a downgrade is in the air," Nicholas Spiro, a managing director at Spiro Sovereign Strategy, a London-based investment consultancy, said by e-mail Thursday. "Malaysia's upper investment-grade status is looking a lot shakier following the collapse in oil prices. Judging by the CDS market, Malaysia has already been downgraded."

BLOOMBERG
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government...n-default-swaps

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/malaysia/rating

Can Malaysia stay at A rating after July?

RMAF new Airbus400M

mcnoodle — Sun, 10 May 2015 11:58:20 +0800

Boasting rights of being the first and only one in Asia to have them.

Airbus A400M Clash:

The U.K. Defense Ministry said it had temporarily stopped flying its two A400M transport planes as a precautionary measure until more is known about why the aircraft went down. The German air force, which has one such plane, late Saturday followed suit. France, the largest operator of A400Ms, said it wasn’t grounding the plane at this point.

Airbus has struggled with development and production of the four-engine turbo-propeller plane. The program has run over cost and behind schedule. Mr. Enders has apologized for the problems in building the plane.

The crash comes during another difficult period for the program. Airbus in January replaced the head of the military aircraft unit because of sustained technical and production problems. The company’s 2014 full-year results included a €551 million ($618 million) charge related to problems building the plane.

Airbus has sold 174 of the military cargo planes, which cost about $170 million each, with orders from eight countries. The first was delivered to the French air force in 2013, a decade after its development began. Turkey, the U.K. and Germany are among the countries to have received A400M planes.

The plane maker was starting to aggressively promote the plane in export markets around the world in the hope of securing more orders. Malaysia is the sole export customer at this point.

Airbus officials have said the company won’t make money on the plane unless it secures additional deals after the development program ran billions of dollars over cost. Airbus at one point considered abandoning the program.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/airbus-a400m-t...pain-1431177546

28th SEA Games 'Unbreakable'

mcnoodle — Tue, 14 Apr 2015 18:30:05 +0800

I like this song.

https://vimeo.com/123907536

Of Gods and Devil

mcnoodle — Sat, 10 Jan 2015 00:00:19 +0800

Taken from a post in another forum on the Charlie Hebdo killings:

For thousands of year people have been making jokes about the devil,

accusing him of things he didn't do, pictures, cartoon, words, movies, internet

but not one person has been shot or killed by the devil.

There are many wars fought by people of certain religions

but there has never been a war fought in the name of the devil.

And they call the followers of Satan evil and followers of God good.

Oil Price Plunge

mcnoodle — Fri, 28 Nov 2014 22:44:48 +0800

What is the price needed to balance your recent Budget.
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-30223721

she can't sing she can't dance

mcnoodle — Sun, 24 Aug 2014 00:01:20 +0800

Doesn't walks like Rihanna either

http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/city-...-real-chew-says