Hash House Harriets Penang 2,000th Run

Event : Hash House Harriets Penang 2,000th Run

Date : 25th - 27th June 2010

An estimated 600 participants from all over the world will be attending this 2,000th run.

This is a run to instill healthy lifestyle amidst a merry atmosphere during the after-run happy hour among the Hash Harriers.

This is indeed a very interesting event...On On is their motto...hehe!

Below are the event details:

Friday 25 June
2pm Registration at Fort Cornwallis

4.40pm Lion Dance

5pm Briefing from Hares re run.

5.02pm YB Danny Law flags off the Red Dress Run

6.30pm Circle for Red Dress Runners

7pm Chingay Demonstration

7.30pm Dinner

12pm Good night

Saturday 26 June
10am Registration ball breaker run11am Start ballbreaker run

12pm Registration long run1pm Start long run

2pm Registration medium run3pm Start medium run

3 pm Registration short run4pm Start short run

5.30pm Circle's

6.30pm Dinner

12pm Good night

Sunday 27 June

10am Registration long/medium run

11am Start run

1pm Lunch

2pm Good bye

For more info and details, kindly visit http://www.hashhouseharrietspenang.com/

Smoking banned in private sector offices with centralised air-con system

Smoking has been banned in private-sector offices with centralised air-conditioning systems, Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai announced.

He said the Government had gazetted work places as non-smoking zones to protect the public from inhaling second-hand smoke.

"Employees have to stay in the office for eight hours per day and some even until 12 hours if they work overtime.

"It is not good for their health if they have to inhale second-hand smoke," he told reporters after opening the national-level of World No Tobacco Day at Mid Valley Megamall here on Monday.

Currently, others non-smoking zones include government offices, universities and colleges.

Liow said those who lit up in non-smoking zones risked being fined up to RM10,000 or two years' imprisonment.

He said the ministry would act sternly against those flouting regulations.

TheStar

Hmm, I certainly support this move, but somehow still pondering whether this move will have any serious impact on the real smokers. But at least not this move is good for non-smokers like me! :)

An Evening of Music Interlude 15th June 2010

Event : An Evening of Music Interlude

Date : 15th June 2010 (Tuesday)

Time : 8:15pm

Venue : Dewan Sri Pinang

Performers : Penang Symphony Society, Penang Wind Orchestra

Cool Hamilton wins Turkish Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton took full advantage of a crash involving his two Red Bull rivals to claim victory and head Jenson Button home in a dramatic McLaren one-two in Sunday's Turkish Grand Prix.

The 25-year-old, who had started second on the grid, was third after a poor pit-stop had delayed him briefly when championship leader Mark Webber was sent spinning off the track by his hot-headed Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel.

The collision cost Webber, 33, what looked certain to be a hat-trick after wins in Spain and Monaco and left Vettel, 22, in the gravel and out of contention - but delivered a gift-wrapped 43 points to the McLaren men.

It was 2008 champion Hamilton's first win of the year, the 12th of his career and his first since last year's Singapore Grand Prix.

"I don't know what happened, but they collided and we got past them and we had a bit of a battle - a fair one, I must say - before the end," said Hamilton.

"It was a great result for the team and I am happy to dedicate it to my dad for his 50th birthday tomorrow."

Button said: "It was a great duel with Lewis towards the end - I had the run into turn 12, on the outside, and I just had to have a go.

"We were wheel to wheel for five corners -- and it was fun, but he got me back at turn one and after that it was back to 'fuel save' mode."

Hamilton had not only to beat the self-destructing Red Bulls, but also a vigorous challenge from Button.

The two McLaren men raced wheel to wheel on lap 48 and even touched before Hamilton emerged in front and led the defending world champion home in a result that lifted them to the top of the constructors' title race.

The decisive incident came when Webber was leading with Vettel second when the young German made an ill-judged passing move -- and steered right into the Australian's car, sending both off the circuit.

Webber, the drivers' championship leader, managed to recover and re-join in third place, but the impetuous Vettel's race was over.

"A big shame for the team -- and not an ideal scenario at all," said Webber.

"It can happen. He had a slight speed advantage, but he turned right into me and made contact and ... well, that was it.

"There was a long way to go and I was not guaranteed to win, but it was an interesting few metres on the track between us."

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said: "It was very disappointing. I need to talk to both drivers. We did everything right as a team, but they should never have been there, where they were.

"It is bad for the team and we have lost a lot of points. I always ask them to give each other room, but we have handed the points on a plate to McLaren now.

"We saw Lewis and Jenson racing each other and giving each other space. That's all we ask for."

It was the McLaren team's second one-two this season after the China Grand Prix when Button lead home Hamilton.

German Michael Schumacher, 41, the seven-times champion, came home fourth for Mercedes behind Webber with his team-mate and compatriot Nico Rosberg fifth and Pole Robert Kubica sixth for Renault.

Brazilian Felipe Massa finished seventh for Ferrari ahead of Alonso in a disappointing result for the Italian team as they celebrated their 800th Grand Prix.

German Adrian Sutil was ninth for Force India and Japanese Kamui Kobayashi picked up the final point and the Sauber team's first this season in 10th place.

Hamilton's win lifted him up to third in the drivers' title race behind Webber, who continued to lead on 93 points with Button second on 88. Vettel has 78. In the constructors' championship, McLaren leap-frogged to the top ahead of Red Bull on 172 points to 171.

Vettel, who failed to score, trudged back to the paddock without speaking.

Later, he said: "I'm not very happy now after something like this happens. We are all pretty much the same speed and pace and I felt I was able to go quicker. I dived down the left, I had the corner so I was trying to focus on the braking and I lost the car.

"We are a team and we have to respect that fact. It's important points for myself, and the team, that are lost and it's not the best case..."

BangkokPost

Several Main Roads To Be Closed Tomorrow And Sunday

Several main roads in George Town will be closed for Wesak Day procession Friday and Malakoff Run on Sunday, Penang public order and traffic police chief Supt Wan Aziz Wan Husin said.

The roads to be closed for Wesak on Friday starting 5am are Jalan Anson, Jalan Perak (partly), Jalan Macalister, Jalan Burma, Lorong Burma, Jalan Kelawai (partly) and Lebuhraya Peel.

He said 50 traffic policemen would be on duty to control traffic during the procession of 5,390 buddhists and 69 floats.

Motorists heading for George Town and Batu Feringghi should use Jalan Bagan Jermal, Pengkalan Weld, Jalan Datok Kramat, Jalan Scotland, Jalan Utama and Jalan Masjid Negeri.

Roads to be closed due to Malakoff Run on Sunday are Persiaran Kuari, Jalan Kebun Bunga, Jalan Gottlieb, Jalan Mount Erskine, Jalan Fettes, Jalan Lembah Permai and Jalan Tanjung Tokong.

Wan Aziz said the roads will be closed from 5.30am to 10am and will be reopened at 10.30am.

Penang upset at being left out of 10MP drafting

Is this the so-called 1Malaysia concept? A way to achieve Vision 2020? The so-called fair-policy being emphasized by our Prime Minister? Read on...

The Penang government is disappointed that the National Economic Advisory Council under the Prime Minister’s Depart­ment did not involve the state when drafting the 10th Malaysia Plan.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng in his letter to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak dated May 25, said the list of projects submitted to the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) under the PM’s Department showed that the state EPU, which was instrumental in drawing up the list, was not invited at all to give its feedback.

“The failure to involve the state is a unhealthy partisan act.

“As Penang’s share of exports was 31% of the total national export, the state should not have been left out.”

Lim added that the state hoped that the Government would take this into consideration and act fairly in approving the state government’s application for an allocation of RM12.56bil for 534 projects in the state.

He said the projects would bring positive changes to the state and increase job opportunities.

Can the Penang government refuse to contribute the 31% service tax from export if the government doesn't want to include us in the 10th Malaysia Plan? I bet that time sure the federal government will jump up and down...

USM Invents Environmental-Friendly Plastic

Kudos to USM, more kudos to those practising it after the creations :)

Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) has taken a step forward in the field of invention by producing an environmental-friendly, biodegradable plastic from fruit wastes to replace the non-degradable plastic, for packaging application.

School of Materials and Mineral Resources Engineering lecturer, Professor Dr Hanafi Ismail, who headed the three-member team for the research, said the biodegradable plastic was produced from tropical fruit wastes.

The wastes comprised banana, rambutan and jackfruit skins.

Hanafi said currently, most commercial plastic was made from natural gas and petroleum, which are non-degradable.

"Our aim is to solve the environmental problem caused by petroleum-based polymer which is inert to the micro-organism attack and non-degradable," he told reporters during the introduction of the products which they named Fruitplast, here Monday.

He said the process of producing Fruitplast took about a week to turn from a fruit waste to become a plastic film.

"We have conducted a degradation study on Fruitplast and it has proven that under the disposal condition, it would be degraded within a period of between three and six months," said Hanafi, adding that its manufacturing cost was 10 per cent cheaper than commercially available bio-degradable polymers.

"We are currently under the process of patenting Fruitplast before we commercialise the product in about a year's time," he said.

Meanwhile, Associate Prof Noor Aziah Abdul Azizi from the Food Science and Technology Division in the School of Industrial Technology, has produced noodles made from green banana.

She said noodles, commonly made from wheat flour, was nutritionally imbalanced as it was mainly a source of carbohydrate.

"We produce the noodles by replacing the wheat flour in noodles with green banana flour to make it high in dietary fibres and resistant starch with natural colour similar to that of Japanese soba noodle," she said, adding that the green banana noodles was named Greenana noodles.

She said the Greenana noodles was a dietary option for a sector of the population with particular caloric and glymic requirements -- diabetic and overweight individuals.

"We are currently in discussion with a government agency to commercialise Greenana noodles which are 10 per cent cheaper as compare to the organic noodles," she said.

She said Greenana noodles had bagged the Special Award for Best Invention and Silver Award for invention in Greenana noodles at the recent Korean International Women's Invention Exposition 2010 in Seoul.

Bernama

KWYP Penang Hill Climb 2010 : 4th July '10

Date: 4th July 2010 (Sunday)
Time: 7:30am
Venue Youth Park, Penang
Entry Fee: RM4 (Student), RM6 (Adult)

Yet another hiking event/competition. You'll be amazed by how these competitors running up the hill in such a short time :)

iFOODex 4th - 6th June 2010

Event : iFOODex 2010
Date : 4 - 5 June 2010
Time : 11am - 9pm
Location : PISA

Malaysia's Largest International Consumer Food Exhibition held annually since 1999 in Penang. More than 100 major international and local brands will make their presence felt at the 13th edition of the iFOODex.

Come and check out new products, sample great products, learn new recipes from celebrity chefs and buy home products at expo-only prices.

Definitely an event not to be missed in Penang!

I still remembered during the previous exhibition, they gave out lots of spices samples...hahahaha...

Lorenzo wins again to extend leads.

Jorge Lorenzo Win French MotoGP.Jorge Lorenzo beats Valentino Rossi who start MotoGP race from pole position.Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) MotoGP pilot won Sunday on the track of Le Mans. His team-mate Valentino Rossi, who started on pole, finished second. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) mounted on the third step of the podium while the French Randy De Puniet finished seventh.

After a good start, it is Rossi who took the lead. But shortly before the halfway point, he had to give his teammate attacks. Lorenzo has subsequently dropped the first place. Behind the fight for third position opposite to Dani Pedrosa, Dovizioso (Honda) until it leaves for the misconduct and even let go Nicky Hayden (Ducati). Casey Stoner was in the lead group but a fall in the third round ended his hopes.

The victory was the second in a row for Lorenzo, a first in the career of the Spaniard who had never managed to play other success. In the championship of the world, he now has nine points ahead of Valentino Rossi. De Puniet was sixth in this ranking. By winning at Le Mans, Lorenzo also confirms the dominance of Spain on the Grand Prix de France this year. The winners of three races Sunday are indeed Spanish.

Man, Rossi really having tough fights to retain his title this season :)

Penang keen to stop the moving of old buildings

I really do support this plan and idea, but then again, if we the people do not care about heritage, then who's going to make the effort of promoting and protecting these buildings?

The Penang Government will introduce a new law to prevent old houses in the state from being dismantled and moved to other locations.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the enactment would be tabled at the state legislative assembly at the end of the year.

“Under the previous administration, more than 10 old houses were taken away and placed in other states. We do not want to lose such structures because they are beautiful and should be preserved,” he said.

Lim, who was speaking at a press conference after visiting a heritage restoration project in Stewart Lane here yesterday, said the new enactment would encompass all structures in the state and not just within the heritage zone.

Asked what the state was doing to preserve the city’s traditional trades from dying out, he said there was not much that could be done.

“Realistically, there is nothing we can do if the younger generation do not want to take over these trades but we will try as much as possible to encourage it,” he said.

TheStar

Education Hub for Balik Pulau ?

The Penang state government has identified a 200-acre site in Balik Pulau, to be turned into a hub for excellence in education, by inviting higher learning institutions to set up their campus.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the project for the hub was in the process of land acquisition which is expected to cost about RM100 million.

"We are discussing the prospect with investors and work is expected to start in a year or two," he told reporters after handing out contributions to religious schools in the state at Permatang Nibong here Wednesday.

Lim said the state government had discussed the setting up of higher learning institutions at the hub with two renown international higher learning institutions.

"I hope world renown Islamic universities like Al-Azhar University can set up their campus here," said Lim who handed out grants totalling RM1.75 million to 21 religious schools and Maahad Tahfiz in the state.

"The grants may not be enough to overcome their total expenditure and I hope the Federal government will also support through some form of contribution to ease their burden," he said.

Bernama

Penang really running out of land...even the peaceful Balik Pulau is not spared...but hopefully this plan by the state government can bring more opportunities and better life to Penang folks :)

Malaysia in Top 10 competitive list

Malaysia has broken into the top 10 list of the world's most competitive countries, a result that will make it more attractive to foreign investors and proof that the government's transformation efforts are bearing fruit.

The country has taken the 10th spot on the Switzerland-based IMD's World Competitive Yearbook for 2010, up from 18th placing last year.

The list measures Malaysia against 58 countries this year, from 57 nations last year.

International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said that Malaysia had been steadily improving its rating since it was first included in the well-respected list in 1999.

With an index score of 87,228, Malaysia has joined the ranks of the most competitive countries in the world, sharing the Top 10 ranking with Singapore, Hong Kong, the US, Switzerland, Australia, Sweden, Canada, Taiwan and Norway.

"This unprecedented result is clearly rooted in the innovative and bold initiatives the government has undertaken this past year to drive development and economic growth and create a resilient private sector despite the recent slowdown of the global economy," Mustapa told reporters on the sidelines of the World Islamic Economic Forum in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

In both the government and business efficiency ratings, Malaysia's performance is now ahead of developed countries like Luxembourg, Switzerland, Canada, Denmark and Sweden.

Malaysia also made big leaps in government and business efficiency.

It was ranked ninth, against 19th last year, for government efficiency and fourth for business efficiency compared with 13th previously.

"The economic performance and the infrastructure factors improved to eighth, against ninth last year, and 25th, from 26th position, respectively."

BTimes

Western Digital Invests US$1.2 Billion In Malaysia

Western Digital (WD) Corporation is to further expand its research and development and manufacturing activities in Malaysia which involves US$1.2 billion investment over the next five years.

WD President and Chief Executive Officer Datuk John F. Coyne informed Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak of the company's decision in a meeting with the prime minister at the Prime Minister's Office here Tuesday.

Western Digital's decision to have the project in Malaysia was made following discussions with Najib during the prime minister's working visit to Washington last month.

WD chose Malaysia for this latest expansion following the success of its operations here over the last 38 years, said the prime minister's office in a statement Tuesday.

The new investment will involve the construction of a new 1.5 million square foot multi-storey building for research and development and manufacture of magnetic head and media components and hard disk drives.

Construction is slated for completion by the third quarter of next year and the facility will be ramped to full capacity over the following five years.

There will be up to 10,000 additional jobs which involves a substantial number of high qualification jobs, 100 PhD holders, 1,000 degree holders, 3,000 diploma and certificate holders created at the facility over time, said the statement.

This was in line with the New Economic Model goals to create high wage jobs, it said.

Western Digital is a global leader in the development and manufacture of hard drives and solid state drives for internal, external, portable and shared storage applications.

The hard drives are used in desktop, notebook computers, mobile devices, corporate networks and home entertainment equipment while its solid-state drives are used in embedded applications such as network communications, industrial, medical, military and aerospace markets.

The company, which celebrates its 49th anniversary this year, has had a presence in Malaysia since 1972, with a cumulative investment todate of US$2.5 billion and current employment in excess of 19,000 here.

So WD is expanding here in Malaysia. Are they gonna be the next HD leader soon? How will Seagate respond?

Tourism Ministry To Demolish The Unsafe Aches At Botanic Gardens

This is a BIG JOKE! A waste of taxpayers money in the first place... What happened to the money, time and effort spent? I do not see any logic with these 2 aches, just plain bricks everytime I past it weekly...sigh!


The Tourism Ministry is ready to demolish the two aches built near the entrance of the Penang Botanical Gardens if the technical report shows that they are unsafe.


Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen said that according to the non-governmental organisation (NGO) report, there was a tilt on one of the two arches.


"Public safety is paramount. If it is not safe, we will demolish it and who takes the blame is secondary," she told reporters after meeting representatives of the NGOs here on Monday.


It was reported last Saturday that work on the two arches, which are part of a RM7 million project by the ministry to expand the Botanical Gardens, was temporarily stopped following news reports that one of the arches appeared to be tilting.


Dr Ng said the ministry had instructed the contractor to provide the technical report on the arches within a week.


"At the same time, we have requested the NGO group to come back to us with very firm detailed recommendations for the project so that we can consider," she said.


She said that in future, all projects must get the recommendation and consultation from the relevant NGOs to obtain approval from the ministry.


"We want to work closely with the NGOs to avoid any protest on government projects in future," she said.