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.