Public Bank to cut BLR by 55 basis pts

KUALA LUMPUR: Public Bank Bhd and Public Islamic Bank Bhd will reduce their Base Lending Rate (BLR) and Base Financing Rate (BFR) by 55 basis points from 6.5% to 5.95% with effect from Feb 3.
Public Bank group chairman Tan Sri Dr Teh Hong Piow said on Thursday the reduction of BLR/BFR was part of the banking group’s on-going commitment towards the creation of a more supportive monetary environment to sustain the country’s economic growth.
“Customers will enjoy immediate benefits as the interest/financing rates of all their loans and financing pegged to BLR/BFR will be reduced by 0.55%,” he said.
Teh said Public Bank Group would assist customers manage their financial obligations by providing them with the flexibility to reduce their monthly loan instalments.

Oscar voters

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP): The ballots are in the mail for the 5,810 members of Hollywood's elite who get to vote on the Academy Awards.
Wednesday's final ballots include nominees in 19 categories, among them best picture, director and the four acting prizes.
Ballots in five other categories - feature-length and short documentaries, foreign-language film, animated shorts and live-action shorts - are available only after academy members verify that they attended screenings of the nominees.
The deadline is Feb. 17 for Oscar voters to return ballots to the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. The big show itself comes five days later.

Dengue The Threatened

Damansara Heights is a dream residential area with fairytale mansions, custom-designed bungalows and luxury cars, with a community of the rich and powerful.
The serene neighbourhood is cool and pleasant, being surrounded by lush foliage. Everything looks picturesque and it seems to be the ideal place to live in style and in comfort.
But, if you take a closer look at the drains in the area, most of them are clogged, and the stagnant water is a perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes. Some drains are lined with grass and ferns.
Unhealthy: The drain clogged with mud in one of the houses under renovation
Dr Steven Chow, who is the president of the Federation of Private Medical Practitioners Association of Malaysia, took StarMetro for a walk at Damansara Heights recently to highlight the plight of the residents.
Dr Chow said the drains were unkempt and not maintained throughout the years.
“We have heard of many dengue cases here and the drains are the main cause of the problem,” he said.
Chow said the developments taking place at the area made the situation much worse.
Mud clogged the drain outside a house, which was under renovation at the moment.
“The drain outside a development site was also clogged with debris.
“This shouldn’t be the case. The waste from the development should not clog the drains,” Chow said.
Dengue danger: The larvae can be seen in the stagnant water.
Another worrying site is in the heart of the neighbourhood, with countless mosquito larvae seen floating on the stagnant water.
“Nobody wants to take responsibility for the problem. The Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) refers the complaint to the Health Ministry, which then passes it back to the DBKL,” Chow said.
“Nothing is done in the end. We have never seen the DBKL fogging the area,” he said.
A drain in the neighbourhood is not linked to any proper outlet, just ending abruptly with the water flowing into an undeveloped green area. It was also clogged with dry leaves.
“The DBKL blames the people for clogging up the drain. But the local authority is not doing its job in maintaining the drainage system,” he said.
Chow urged the local authorities to buck up in their efforts in curbing the dengue problem.
“A concerted exercise should be launched to clean up the drains,” he said.
Chow pointed out that the problem is not limited to Damansara Heights only, but also other parts of Kuala Lumpur.
When contacted, Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng said he was aware of the problem and had lodged complaints with the DBKL.
“In its reply, the DBKL said it is going to clean up the drains in Segambut from February to June,” he said.
According to Lim, the clogged drains also contributed to flash floods.
The dengue outbreak made headlines lately with Selangor leading the dengue chart in the country, with 1,717 cases and four deaths in the first two weeks of this year.
In Kuala Lumpur, the Setapak area has the most number of dengue cases so far this year and last year. Seventy-eight cases were reported this month.
The number of cases in other areas are 60 in the city centre, 49 in Kepong, 45 in Old Klang Road, 42 in Cheras and 12 in Damansara.

Water With Healing Power

ALTHOUGH there is no scientific evidence that water from a hill in Jalan Baru Selayang-Ulu Yam, about 10km from the Batu Dam in Selangor, contains minerals and has curative properties, people are making a beeline to the place with bottles and plastic containers to collect the so-called healing water.
Many people are seen almost daily squatting or sitting next to six PVC pipes on the side of the road, causing a traffic jam, especially on weekends.
Some come with bottles, plastic containers and mineral water bottles to collect what many swear is miracle water, which can cure sickness and restore health.
Fresh from the hill: Kuaishah washing fouryear- old daughter Najwa Yusseri’s face with the water while Nabila Yusseri looks on.
Regulars visitors to this natural spring claim that the water that trickles from the pipe has got more health giving nutrients and minerals and tastes better than the usual pipe water that has chlorine.
Stories of many sick people restored to health by drinking the water has spread by word of mouth.
Those who drink the water have claimed that it feels much more fresh, without the chlorine taste of the pipe water.
Some people also mentioned that many with diabetes, backaches, gout and other chronic diseases have been healed.
Housewife Nor Mazila Uzain, 32, who lives in Batang Kali, said she also collected the water after learning about the miracle liquid.
“Almost everyone I had talked to here said that this water has healing power and I want to experience it for myself. That’s why I collected all the empty mineral water bottles and containers in my house and brought it here to fill it up and will try it,’’ Mazila said.
Contractor Chai Nyuk Choo, 59, said he had been visiting the site for the last four years and stopped by to fill his water containers about three to four times a week on his way home from work.
Waiting patiently: Nor Mazila collecting the water in containers.
“I stay in Ulu Yam and have to pass this place every day. After I drank this water without boiling it, my backache is lessened. I also feel much fresher compared with four years ago.
“I think it is the nutrients and minerals in the water and it is god’s gift to the people,’’ he said.
Housewife Suhana Shariff, 33, has been taking this water for her husband for the past one year and has heard many stories of people having lesser pain and being cured after drinking the water.
“Many of us squat and sit while queuing up to collect the water. Those who are here told me of people with high blood pressure, gout and diabetes being cured.
“It seems that many people believe this is miracle water. The water is cold and fresh as well as even more clear that tap water,’’ she said.
Kuaishah Ku Aziz, 40, has been collecting the water for six years for her 60-year-old mother Mah Yahaya, who is suffering from joint pains.
“After my mother drank the water, her joints pains were gone. The water is clean, fresh and tastes better than mineral water,” she said.
“Now, my whole family cannot drink tap water and come here about twice a week to collect the water.
“I also use this water for drinking and cooking. When I drink, it goes down smoothly in the throat and there is no contamination from this water,” Kuaishah said.
“A person from a laboratory tested the water and told me that it contains a lot of minerals,’’ said Kuaishah, who stays in Bukit Beruntung.

Win a trip to Singapore

The Singapore Government has organised an online contest in which you stand to win a five day/four night trip to the Lion City.
To enter the Your Singapore Experience contest, participants must log on to www.your-singapore-experience.sg and take a virtual tour of the island nation and answer eight interactive multiple choice questions.
The virtual tour will include stops at local food centres and the downtown area where hidden clues can be found.
After that, contestants will be required to write about why they would like to visit Singapore in 100 words or less.
On top of a four-star hotel stay for two, daily breakfast and airport transfer, the winner (along with his/her partner) will be entitled to select the places to visit and meet two prominent Singaporean personalities.
The contest runs until April 5, 2009 and the winner must complete the travel between June 1 and July 15, 2009.

Calling all photographers

Show off your photography skills by participating in the KL Photoawards 2009 for contemporary portraiture.
The contest, organised by Time Out KL and its partners, is open to all photographers — professional and non-professional. Participants are invited to submit up to six images.
The main prize for the professional category is US$3,000 (RM10,500) and a trophy while for the non-professional category, the main prize is US$1,500 (RM5,250) and a trophy.
There are two runner-up prizes in each category.
Portraits submitted by the top 40 finalists will be displayed in a public exhibition at the Annexe Gallery, Kuala Lumpur in May.
The deadline for the contest is on Mar 1, 2009.
For more information, visit www.klphotoawards.com or e-mail Steven Lee at info@klphotoawards.com.

Microsoft strikes back softly

Microsoft Corp is ramping up its antipiracy campaign but this time it is taking a slightly different approach — it wants to be gentle.
The software giant calls its new non-intrusive approach Office Genuine Advantage (OGA) and claims that it’s mainly intended to protect users from becoming victims of pirated software.
“We want to help users who have inadvertently installed an illegitimate copy of Microsoft Office,” said Annabelle Co, Microsoft Malaysia senior product marketing manager.
Microsoft expects to go live with OGA on Jan 27 in 27 countries including Malaysia, Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Spain.
Its previous Windows Genuine Advantage antipiracy initiative caused users’ desktop to turn black if they were using pirated copies of Windows XP.
The OGA notification, on the other hand, will display a dialogue box prompting the user to buy a genuine copy of Office.
Microsoft said users have unknowingly purchased pirated copies of Microsoft Office because they have been fooled by the packaging and price which is similar to the original.
OGA will be rolled out through Window’s automatic update service and users will be given the option to not install it. It will verify the authenticity of Office 2003, 2007 and XP.
However, OGA will not stop the user from continuing to use Office.
“The dialogue box will pop up twice a day for a period of 30 days if the user chooses to ignore it,” Co said.
After the 30-day period is up, there will be a permanent star icon on the toolbar to remind the user that it is an illegitimate copy of Microsoft Office.
Because it doesn’t interfere with the functions of Office, some users will continue to ignore it, Co said.
“Some may even think it’s cool to have a star on their toolbar but I believe they would be embarrassed if they were to do a presentation and the audience spotted it,” Co said.
Microsoft even claims that if a customer had paid a large sum of money for a pirated copy of Office, it will replace it with a complimentary copy of Office Professional regardless of the edition of the illegitimate copy.
Users will have to fill up a form online, which they have to print and mail with the fake CD and receipt to Microsoft’s headquarters in the United States.
Also, the CD must bear the Microsoft hologram. “If you send a CD-R with the words Microsoft Office on it, you won’t qualify for the complimentary copy,” she quipped.

8 Best American Pinups Art Poster

5 Reasons Not To Sleep with A Virgin

Taking a girl’s virginity is a popular male fantasy, but if they stopped to consider the reality of the situation, the fantasy might start to look more like a nightmare. It may be an ego boost to imagine being a girl’s first and taking her precious virginity, bookmarking yourself in the annexes of her mind forever. However, there are aspects of making her a woman that could be less than pleasurable. So, before you unlock that chastity belt, get an idea of what you’re getting yourself into. Here are five reasons not to sleep with a virgin that you should consider before taking the plunge.

1- There’s extra prep work
Unlike a more experienced woman, a virgin really doesn’t know what to expect. This means that you’re going to have to put in some effort before the deed is done and plan ahead to make sure that she’s comfortable and completely willing. It may take some considerable convincing on your part to get her into bed, and while that isn't one of our five reasons not to sleep with a virgin, your seduction skills will certainly be put to the test when it comes to taking a girl’s virginity. Also, the older she is, the harder it will be. If she has managed to protect her virginity all through high school and into her 20s, it will be that much more difficult to persuade her that she should give it up to you.

2- There’s a freak-out potential
When it comes to having sex with a virgin, the potential for her to freak out before, during or after the sex act is quite high. She may decide at the last minute that she doesn’t want to go through with it or she may feel massively guilty afterward for having done it. Because so much importance is put on her virginity, her first time is bound to be an emotional experience, which means that you might have to deal with panic, sadness, guilt, and other unpleasant reactions. She has probably imagined the event for a long time and wants it to go absolutely perfectly. If even the slightest thing doesn’t go according to plan, it could result in tears and tantrums. If you don’t like watching girls cry, don’t sleep with virgins. That’s a lot of pressure and that’s why it’s among our five reasons not to sleep with a virgin.

3- She’ll likely get attached
It is fairly likely that a recently devirginized girl will expect to have a lasting relationship with the guy that bedded her. If you’re not planning on becoming her boyfriend, or at least continuing to date her, don’t sleep with her. It’s really that simple. Very few girls imagine their first time with someone who drops off the face of the earth immediately afterward, never to be heard from again. She’s going to want you to stick around, so if a relationship is not in your plan, consider this point in our list of five reasons not to sleep with a virgin and find someone else to share your bed.

4- She lacks skills
Since she’s inexperienced, she’s probably not going to be that good in bed, and that’s a big reason not to sleep with a virgin. There are exceptions to this rule, of course, since there are plenty of skills a girl can learn before she loses her actual virginity. If, however, she has little experience with sexual activity in general, the encounter is not going to be all that pleasurable for you. If all you want is the power trip that comes from taking her virginity, then you’re golden, but if you want a mutually satisfying sexual experience, you should look for someone who has had time to develop some sexual skills.

5- It could get messy
There is a possibility that having sex with a virgin could literally make a mess of your sheets. Being penetrated for the first time is likely to hurt her and it could result in some bleeding. If the sight of blood makes you squeamish, devirginizing a girl is not for you. A woman’s first sexual experience can leave a very unsexy mess to clean up.

Where no man has gone before
As you can see, taking a girl’s virginity is not all that it’s cracked up to be. There are groundwork concerns, emotional issues, commitment questions, technique problems, and other more tangible messes to deal with. So perhaps you should leave the devirginizing to the high school boys and look for a sexual encounter that isn’t quite so complicated.

Terminator Salvation (2009)

Set in 2018, the film focuses on the original war between the human race and the Terminator computer network, Skynet. After destroying almost the entire human race on Earth in a nuclear holocaust, a group of survivors led by John Connor stands up to the war and together they struggle to keep those machines at bay and from completely wiping away the human race.

Release Date: 28th May 2009
Language: English
Rating: G
Genre: Action
Starring: Sam Worthington, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Mendes, Anton Yelchin, Christian Bale

EPF conversion to pension not viable! Why??

KUALA LUMPUR: The proposal to convert the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) scheme to a monthly pension scheme for private sector employees is not viable as individual savings are too small.
Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) secretary general G. Rajasegaran said that on average, savings of the majority of the seven million private sector employees in the EPF upon retirement was less than RM50,000.
"Assuming the retiree lives for the next 20 years and if this savings was given to him in monthly installments instead of one lump sum, he would receive about RM214 monthly as pension," he told Bernama on Monday.
He said this amount was definitely insufficient for the retiree to sustain himself.
Rajasegaran was commenting on a statement by Human Resources Minister Datuk S. Subramaniam that the cabinet had given the green light to the ministry to study the possibility of converting the EPF scheme to a pension scheme for private sector employees.
Public sector employees in Malaysia are already enjoying a pension scheme, including free medical treatment at government hospitals for life.
Rajasegaran said the proposal was nothing new, as this was discussed between the MTUC and EPF Board more than 15 years ago and no viable solution had been found, so far.
Meanwhile, the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) suggested that to make it viable, the government should give the employees an option either to withdraw their savings in a lump sum or on a monthly instalment basis.
Its executive director, Shamsuddin Bardan, said savings in the EPF rightly belonged to the employees and they had a right to do what they wanted and the government could not decide for them. - Bernama