Bripex - Bridal & Photography Exhibition 30th April - 2nd May 2010

Date: 30th April to 2nd May 2010

Time: 11am to 9pm

Venue: PISA (Penang International Sports Arena)

Organizer: Penang Photographers Association

BriPex, is the LARGEST Bridal & Photography Exhibition in Northern Region, Malaysia.

The exhibition is organised by Persatuan Juru-juru Gambar Pulau Pinang with the participation of famous bridal houses together with well-known photographic equipment distributors. As a visitor, you can expect to get unbelievable discounts for wedding packages and access to a wide range of lenses, cameras, studio equipments and other photographic accessories. Events during the exhibiton include a photography competition, bridal show and LUCKY DRAW for the visitors!

Nice! Worth a visit if you are free this long weekend :)

AirAsia mulls more flights from Penang

AirAsia Bhd is considering offering flights from Penang to other parts of Asia. The plan involves duplicating the low-cost carrier’s (LCC) destinations to India that are currently served via KLIA.

AirAsia’s chairman Datuk Aziz Bakar said the new routes were still under discussion with the respective countries. He declined to reveal when the plan to expand new routes from Penang would take off.

Aziz, who was at the Penang International Airport to receive AirAsia’s inaugural Chennai-Penang flight yesterday, said it was possible for AirAsia to introduce flights to other parts of India from Penang.

Also present at the airport was Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

“We have started the Chennai-Penang route, and it is up to the state government to ensure that the tourism and other sectors are served well via this route,” Aziz told reporters.

He said if the response for the daily Penang-Chennai flight was overwhelming, AirAsia would even add on more daily flights.

“I see no reason why we cannot duplicate flights to Hyderabad, New Delhi, Mumbai and also Bangalore from Penang,” he added.

Aziz believed that Indian tourists arriving in Penang will take advantage of the LCC’s extensive route network as AirAsia currently flies to 11 other domestic and international cities via the Penang International Airport, in addition to over 70 destinations across Southeast Asia, Australia, China and Europe from KLIA.

Through KLIA, AirAsia flies to Kolkata, Trivandrum and Thiruchirappalli, and has added Hyderabad, New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore this year besides the Chennai-Penang route.

MAS used to fly from Penang to Chennai but it was discontinued due to the non-profitability of the route.

The inaugural flight from Chennai had a 92% load with 165 passengers and over the next two weeks, 85% of the seats have been booked.

BTimes

HPP-MPPP Charity Walk 2010 23rd May 2010

Date : 23 May 2010 (Sunday)
Time : 7.00 am
Venue : PADANG POLO, JALAN
SEPOY LINES,
PULAU PINANG

Fee: RM15 with free tee, cert and lucky draw.

Website: hpp.moh.gov.my

Do visit the website for more information. I'm not very sure as well with the details...Cheers!

1,000 more mangrove saplings at Tanjung Tokong seafront

I agreed and gives thumbs up for the plan, but what about long term future? If the plants grow taller in the near future, it will block the seafront views. What about the rubbishes that are being stucked among the plants? It will create a very unhealthy sights for visitors...

Read the article below from the Star today:

The Penang Government’s mangrove project at the Gurney Drive seafront kicked into high gear over the weekend, with some 1,000 saplings planted off the Marina Bay condominiums near Tanjung Tokong.

Tanjung Bungah assemblyman Teh Yee Cheu, who headed the planting, said it was part of the state’s long-term effort to plant 10,000 mangrove trees at the seafront this year.

“We started our first batch last year with 300 mangrove saplings planted near the Gurney Drive roundabout. Now, those trees are about 2.1 metres tall,” Teh said.

He said with the consent from the state Forestry Department, 1,000 more mangrove saplings were planted on Saturday with up to 4,000 more planned for next month.

“We are hoping to get 3,000 more saplings from the Forestry Department and 1,000 from Pulau Tikus assemblyman Koay Teng Hai for the next planting which can hopefully be done in mid-May,” he said, adding that the trees would be planted off Gurney Drive near the end of Jalan Bagan Jermal.

State Health, Welfare, Caring Society and Environment Committee chairman Phee Boon Poh said the state planned to gazette 800ha of seafront area around Penang island and Seberang Prai for mangrove planting.

“Penang is the leading state for environmental awareness in the country. Aside from 10,000 mangrove trees on the island’s coast, we also hope to plant another 10,000 along the mainland,” he said at the ‘I Can Live Green’ environmental project launched on Sunday.

He said 54,000 trees were planted in the state last year and Penang was on track to achieve a target of 75,000 trees this year.

“This is also in line with the Federal Government’s call to plant one tree for every Malaysian. For Penang, this will mean 1.5 million trees by 2014,” Phee said.

Under the Government’s Earth Day campaign launched last Thursday, 26 million trees are set to be planted by 2014, representing the estimated 26 million population of the country.

The ‘I Can Live Green’ project, organised by JCI Tanjung Bungah and Penang Municipal Council, is a four-month long project to rehabilitate Linear Park (better known as Taman Jajar) near the Air Itam river.

The project will include the making and throwing of EM mudballs and the setting up of a recycling system in the area.

Penang Vasakhi Open House 2010

Vasakhi Open House
Date: 24th April 2010 (Saturday)

Time: 7pm to 10pm

Venue: Fort Cornwallis, Penang

Organizer: Malaysian Sikh Youth Organization Penang & Sikh Naujawan Sabha Malaysia (Penang)

A great carnival will be held this Saturday when the Sikh's in Penang celebrate the Vasakhi open house. You are invited to Fort Cornwallis to witness the colourful Vasakhi celebration.

Malaysia as a country of multiculturalism, it is important for understanding and tolerating other races and embedding the values of racial diversity and cultural diversity. The message of Vaisakhi has particular relevance today in multi-cultural and multi-faith Malaysia as it promotes cultural diversity and Muhibbah.

The first aspect to Vasakhi is to celebrate the religious Khalsa Janam Divas and the second aspect to Vasakhi is the cultural aspect to commemorate the harvest festival where the happiness of the farmers is shared in singing and dancing.

visitpenang.gov

Polystyrene Ban => More Expensive Food

Penangites may have to brace for yet another round of price increases in hawker food.

But if it’s any consolation, the price hike will only take effect in April next year once the state government bans the use of polystyrene packaging material in 103 council food courts and complexes.

A random check with hawkers revealed that many of them would pass on the higher cost of plastic food containers to customers.

So what do you think? A good move? Well, I personally feel this move has it's own pros and cons. The report was saying that each customer will be charged extra 30 cents when rule comes into effect. Let's hope that this move can bring more good than bad to us...

Clean your kidneys the EASY WAY

Hmm, this is a very good and economic way...no harm to try. Furthermore, it's better than consuming all those pills and tablets, agree?

Years pass by and our kidneys are filtering the blood by removing salt, poison and any unwanted entering our body. With time, the salt accumulates and this needs to undergo cleaning treatments.

How are we going to do this?

It is very easy, first take a bunch of parsley and wash it clean.

Then cut it in small pieces and put it in a pot and pour clean water and boil it for ten minutes and let it cool down and then filter it and pour in a clean bottle and keep it inside refrigerator to cool.

Drink one glass daily and you will notice all salt and other accumulated poison coming out of your kidney by urination. Also you will be able to notice the difference which you never felt before.

Parsley is known as best cleaning treatment for kidneys and it is natural!

Something to share : Blood Clots and Strokes

Got this from a forwarded email...very nice piece of info to share with everyone :)

Blood Clots/Stroke - They Now Have a Fourth Indicator, the Tongue

I will continue to forward this every time it comes around!
STROKE: Remember the 1st Three Letters..... S.. T. R.

STROKE IDENTIFICATION:

During a BBQ, a woman stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) ..she said she had just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes.

They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food. While she appeared a bit shaken up, Jane went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening.

Jane's husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00 pm Jane passed away.) She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Jane would be with us today. Some don't die. They end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead.

It only takes a minute to read this...

A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke...totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.

RECOGNIZING A STROKE
Thank God for the sense to remember the '3' steps, STR . Read and Learn!

Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.

Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:

S *Ask the individual to SMILE.

T *Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently) (i.e. It is sunny out today.)

R *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.

If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call emergency number immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

New Sign of a Stroke -------- Stick out Your Tongue

NOTE: Another 'sign' of a stroke is this: Ask the person to 'stick' out his tongue. If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other, that is also an indication of a stroke.

A cardiologist says if everyone who gets this e-mail sends it to 10 people; you can bet that at least one life will be saved..
I have done my part. Will you?

Picture of the Day from National Geographic 20th April 2010

Just saw the awesome picture from National Geographic site...nice shot and great angle....sharing this with everyone out there :)

Meadows Park in Edinburgh has its avenues lined with trees. This early morning shot was taken in especially thick fog as people walk through on their way to work.

MPPP logs record RM48m surplus for 2009 !!!

Bravo Penang State Government, I'm super proud and satisfied with this piece of news...keep it up and I'm sure me and many more Penangites will continue to support the current government !!!

The Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) recorded the highest ever surplus in its history with RM48.02 million in 2009, more than double the surplus of RM20.18 million achieved in 2008.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng attributed the largest and highest surplus to the no-nonsense approach by the state government towards any impropriety and abuse, based on the competency, accountability and transparency (CAT) governance principle.

"If not for the RM48.02 million surplus, due to deficits over the past 10 years, we would have had an RM34 million deficit but our surplus in 2009 now is RM14.8 million," Lim said at a press conference on Tuesday, April 20 attended by MPPP president Patahiyah Ismail and state financial officer Farizan Darus.

Lim, who earlier met MPPP department heads said he stressed on the importance of systemic approach from top to bottom and vice versa.

Besides the MPPP, the Seberang Perai Municipal Council (MPSP) which had suffered an RM230 million deficit within seven years until 2007, recorded RM3.02 million surplus in 2008 and RM14.6 million in 2009.

Describing the MPPP surplus as encouraging and important, Lim said systemic approach was crucial in running any organisation to prevent failure.

"Whenever problems arise, we always find the same excuses given, that the particular officer in charge is on leave.

"From now on, we won't accept that excuse anymore as the organisation should function even during emergencies or when a particular official is not around.

"There must be top bottom, bottom up approach from the council president to the junior officers being able to handle any issues that arise.

"There should not be dependence on any party and the entire machinery should be holistic and smooth," Lim added.

He also reiterated his earlier call for MPPP staff to work as a team, and to discard the silo mentality of only looking after one's own department.

Stressing on the state government's intentions of a healthy financial system, Lim said despite the success, there were still many areas that needed improvement.

"I am not saying that all is well, but we are on the right track and there is still room for improvement.

He said out of 7,704 complaints received by the MPPP throughout 2009, only 10 involving technical matters were unresolved.

"We are not completely perfect but we must keep identifying, finding solutions and resolving problems," he added.

Lim also announced that in order to further streamline its services, MPPP would require architects, engineers and surveyors to provide professional, world class services.

"If they want the council to provide world class services, they must also do the same, otherwise their plans would be returned to them and we would not hesitate to lodge reports with their respective professional organisations.

"It works both ways, they are also entitled to complain about our services as we are also entitled to do the same about them," he added.

TheEdgeMalaysia

First images of spotted leopard captured in Malaysia

This piece of news is very much welcomed and simply awesome. Let's hope the government can do something to protect this endangered species :)

Researchers said Sunday they have captured the first images of a spotted leopard in Malaysia, putting to rest a decades-old debate over the existence of the endangered cat in the country.

The images were taken by camera traps set up in the Endau-Rompin national park as part of a 10-year project in southern Johor state, Wildlife Conservation Society Malaysia programme director Melvin Gumal told AFP.

"Out of the 11,500 images taken on the ground, only three were of the spotted leopard and this goes to prove that the spotted leopard does exist in Malaysia," he said.

"It now gives the impetus for greater conservation in the Endau-Rompin area and greater collaboration to protect this extremely biodiverse site."

The spotted leopard has a prominent rosette pattern on its skin, unlike the black leopards, which make up the majority of such cats in Malaysia.

Gumal said the leopard was one of six species of big cats documented along with tigers and marbled cats from the 70 camera traps set up under the project.

Leopards are found in much of Africa, across the Middle East and in Asia. Several of its subspecies, like the spotted leopard, are considered endangered.

Agence France-Presse

Penang Round the House Relay 2010 Results

Fellow runners, here are the official results of the relay from yesterday's event. I just posting the final result summary of all the category. A bit lazy to post the breakdown of every running members....Sorry for that. Congrats to all the runners and participants...

Click on the pictures to enlarge...

Button wins China F1

Hmm, what can I say... Again a very lucky Button, and again it's the tyre strategy that helps him to another win after a similar effort for the Australian GP.

DEFENDING Formula One champion Jenson Button delivered a perfectly judged drive in treacherous wet conditions to win Sunday's dramatic China Grand Prix ahead of his McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

The two Britons delivered their first one-two of the season in sumptuous style to prove that though the Red Bull team may have the fastest cars for qualifying, they retain great race performance.

Button's triumph was his second in four races this season and the ninth of his career and it lifted him clear at the top of this year's embryonic drivers' championship ahead of German Nico Rosberg.

But if Button demonstrated smooth style and great management of tyres, it was Hamilton who produced the thrills in a race punctuated by rain storms, accidents and two Safety Car periods.

Rosberg came home third for the new Mercedes team ahead of two-times champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso of Ferrari. German Michael Schumacher, 41, making his comeback three seasons after retiring as a seven-times world champion, looked set to finish eighth, until the closing laps when he was passed by Webber and then Brazilian Felipe Massa, who took ninth for Ferrari. Schumacher was 10th eventually.


The two Red Bulls started from the front row of the grid, but lost their advantage almost immediately when, after Alonso had jumped the start, the first Safety Car call was followed by rain.

The leaders rushed to pit for intermediate wet-weather tyres but these were soon worn out and the changing conditions created chaos ahead of a second mid-race Safety Car period.


Button, having chosen not to rush for an early change of tyres, rose to second and then took the lead from Rosberg after 19 of the 56 laps and stayed there.

Button now leads the title race on 60 points ahead of Rosberg on 50 with Alonso and Hamilton equal third on 49.

AP

Musical Scenic Relaxing Parks in Penang ... Hooray !!!

PLANS are being worked out to introduce a musical programme at the Botanic Gardens and the Tropical Spice Garden in Penang to boost the state tourism.

Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen said they were looking into a proposal and seeking the Malaysia Chinese Cultural Society to stage the ‘Music In the Park’ either weekly or fortnightly at the two venues.

The proposal is currently at a discussion stage.

“In places overseas, there are musical nights in their parks. Here, we can have quartets or sopranos singing.”

She said Penang needed such events to boost its tourism.

“It doesn’t mean huge events but just small ones in the little nooks and corners to give Penang talents a chance to show off,” she told reporters during her visit to the Tropical Spice Garden at Batu Ferringhi on Wednesday.

She said the ministry was promoting green eco-tourism to make Malaysian parks and gardens outstanding tourism products.

She said the 1.6ha Tropical Spice Garden was one of the unique gardens in the country as it blended into the existing surroundings.

“I’m a garden lover and no where in the world can you find a garden in the jungle. I’m glad to hear that it recorded 55,000 tourist visits last year. I believe there is potential for more,” she said.

She said the ministry was currently developing Malaysian parks and gardens as eco-tourism products.

“Penang is well positioned in this with its Botanic Gardens which is more man-made compared to the Tropical Spice Garden that is closer to nature,” she said.

Ng also said the gardens should be listed in the book ‘1001 Gardens You Must See Before You Die’.

She also said Malaysia would participate in the Chelsea Flower Show in United Kingdom from May 25 to 29 and had commissioned renowned ethnobotanist James Wong to work on the garden.

TheStar

AirAsia X flying to Seoul at last :)

FINALLY !!!! Malaysian can look forward to cheaper airfare to Seoul, Korea...!!!

Luckily the constant complains by AirAsia people work, else I think we have to wait another year or so...

Long-haul budget carrier AirAsia X (5099) has received local approval to fly the Kuala Lumpur-Seoul route, AirAsia Bhd group chief executive officer Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes said.

"Just been given rights to Seoul. At last. Thank you, Prime Minister," Fernandes said on Twitter yesterday, confirming a Business Times report that the airline was tipped to receive the rights.

AirAsia X had been waiting for the approval for about a year, having submitted a request to operate daily flights.

Fernandes said the airline would now work to secure the Kuala Lumpur-Sydney rights."Not fair that people have to pay high fares," he tweeted from France.

AirAsia X has not decided yet when it will start its service to Seoul, AirAsia X chief executive officer Azran Osman-Rani, who is also in France, told Business Times in a text response.

BTimes

Income Tax payment at PostOffice or PosOnline starting today

Hmm...it's now easier than ever paying your income tax....Man, they do come up with the best possible way for us to pay them, do they?

Starting Thursday, April 15, taxpayers can settle their dues with the Inland Revenue Board at any Pos Malaysia outlet and via its transaction portal PosOnline.

In a statement on Wednesday, Pos Malaysia said cash payments could be made at any of its 696 outlets in the country, while the online transactions would be carried out by debiting the customer’s personal bank account in selected banks or via MEPS CASH.