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.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Public Bank to cut BLR by 55 basis pts
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.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
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
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.
