obama's second visit

                               

US president Barack Obama said he would raise democracy and free-speech concerns with Malaysia's leader Friday as he seeks to strike a balance with a country Washington is courting as a regional ally. Obama went to Kuala Lumpur for a weekend summit Asia-Pacific leaders, and was to meet in the evening with Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Do you think his presence can bring advantages?

RON95 reduce 10 sen

The price of RON95 fuel in December saw a reduction of 10 sen to RM1.95 per liter, according to the Petrol Dealers Association of Malaysia on Monday.

Deputy president Datuk Zulkifli Mokti, however, said the price of RON97, diesel and diesel Euro 5 each flat at RM2.45, RM1.90 and RM2.00 per liter.

Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism set prices on gasoline and diesel float from December 1 last year.

GST

to understand how gst works

GST means government service and tax. GST was scheduled to be implemented by the government during the third quarter of 2011, but the implementation was delayed until 1 April 2015. Its purpose is to replace the sales and service tax which has been used in the country for several decades. The government is seeking additional revenue to offset its budget deficit and reduce its dependence on revenue from Petronas, Malaysia's state-owned oil company. The 6% tax will replace a sales-and-service tax of between 5–10%.

Why the Government wants to implement GST? Why now?

Many countries have adopted GST / VAT because they were unhappy with the structure of their consumption tax. Dissatisfaction is widespread fall into one and possibly all of the following categories:

(I) sales of existing application does not satisfy

(Ii) Reduction in tax rates and other sought

(Ii) the existing tax system is not in line with economic development

n the case of Malaysia, the introduction of the GST is part of the Government's overall tax reform program towards making tax systems more efficient, effective, transparent, business-friendly and capable of generating a stable source of revenue. GST is to replace the current consumption tax consists SST. According to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Finance, the GST can overcome the inherent weaknesses in the SST namely:

(I) Cascading tax and compounding tax

(Ii) The issue of transfer pricing and the switch

(Iii) There is no full tax relief on goods exported 

(Iv) Promote vertical integration

(V) The bureaucratic red tape

Why now? Today there is a wealth of experience to capitalize. In other words, the chances of success in implementing the GST is high because there is a lot of experience for Malaysia to attract them around the world in designing the system. Over the years, GST / VAT was adopted as one of the main forms of taxation. At present, more than 160 countries have implemented GST / VAT.

Paris Attacks : What happen????

   On the evening of 13 November 2015, a series of coordinated terrorist attacks—consisting of mass shootings, suicide bombings, andhostage-taking—occurred in Paris, the capital of France, and its northern suburb, Saint-Denis. Beginning at 21:20 CET, there were three suicide bombings outside the Stade de France, along with mass shootings and another suicide bombing at four locations near central Paris. The deadliest attack was at the Bataclan theatre, where the attackers took hostages before engaging in a stand-off with police until 00:58 on 14 November.

     The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed responsibility for the attacks, and French President François Hollande stated that he considered the attack to be "an act of war" carried out by ISIL, "planned in Syria, organized in Belgium, perpetrated on our soil with French complicity". France had been bombing various targets in the Middle East, including Syria, since October 2015. ISIL's stated motive was retaliation for French involvement in the Syrian Civil War and the Iraqi Civil War.

     The attacks killed 129 people, 89 of whom were at the Bataclan theatre. 433 people were admitted to hospital with injuries sustained in the attacks, including 80 described as being critically injured. In addition to the victims, seven attackers died, and the authorities continued to search for any accomplices still at large. The attacks were the deadliest in France since World War II and the deadliest in Europe since the Madrid train bombings in 2004.

     In response, a state of emergency was declared, the first since the 2005 riots, and temporary controls were placed on the country's borders.^[26] People and organisations expressed solidarity, some through social media. On 15 November, France launched its largest single airstrike of Opération Chammal, its contribution to the anti-ISIL bombing campaign, by striking targets in Al-Raqqah, in retaliation for the attacks.

     In the weeks leading up to the attacks, ISIL had claimed responsibility for several attacks, such as twin suicide bombings in Beiruttwo days earlier, and the crashing of Metrojet Flight 9268 on 31 October. France had been on high alert since the January 2015 attacks in Paris that killed 17 people, including civilians and police officers.

 On the evening of 13 November 2015, a series of coordinated terrorist attacks—consisting of mass shootings, suicide bombings, andhostage-taking—occurred in Paris, the capital of France, and its northern suburb, Saint-Denis. Beginning at 21:20 CET, there were three suicide bombings outside the Stade de France, along with mass shootings and another suicide bombing at four locations near central Paris. The deadliest attack was at the Bataclan theatre, where the attackers took hostages before engaging in a stand-off with police until 00:58 on 14 November.

     The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed responsibility for the attacks, and French President François Hollande stated that he considered the attack to be "an act of war" carried out by ISIL, "planned in Syria, organized in Belgium, perpetrated on our soil with French complicity". France had been bombing various targets in the Middle East, including Syria, since October 2015. ISIL's stated motive was retaliation for French involvement in the Syrian Civil War and the Iraqi Civil War.

     The attacks killed 129 people, 89 of whom were at the Bataclan theatre. 433 people were admitted to hospital with injuries sustained in the attacks, including 80 described as being critically injured. In addition to the victims, seven attackers died, and the authorities continued to search for any accomplices still at large. The attacks were the deadliest in France since World War II and the deadliest in Europe since the Madrid train bombings in 2004.

     In response, a state of emergency was declared, the first since the 2005 riots, and temporary controls were placed on the country's borders.^[26] People and organisations expressed solidarity, some through social media. On 15 November, France launched its largest single airstrike of Opération Chammal, its contribution to the anti-ISIL bombing campaign, by striking targets in Al-Raqqah, in retaliation for the attacks.

     In the weeks leading up to the attacks, ISIL had claimed responsibility for several attacks, such as twin suicide bombings in Beiruttwo days earlier, and the crashing of Metrojet Flight 9268 on 31 October. France had been on high alert since the January 2015 attacks in Paris that killed 17 people, including civilians and police officers.

 lets pray for them to stay tough and strong. and dont forget to pray for syria,palestin in gaza also.

#pray4gaza #pray4palestin #prayforsyria #pray4paris

Toll hike – are we over-reacting?

  Twelve major highway concessionaires in the Klang Valley today announced an increase in toll rates, ranging from between 10 sen and RM6 beginning Thursday. The new rates affect the Kuala Lumpur-Karak (KLK) Expressway, Maju Expressway (MEX), Kajang Highway-SILK, Duta-Ulu Kelang Expressway (DUKE), Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel (SMART), KL-Kuala Selangor Expressway (LATAR), Sungai Besi Highway (BESRAYA), New Pantai Expressway (NPE), Kajang Seremban Highway (LEKAS), Damansara Puchong Highway (LDP), Western Kuala Lumpur Traffic Dispersal Scheme (SPRINT) and Cheras-Kajang Highway (GRAND SAGA). However, PLUS Malaysia Berhad in a statement said toll rates at its eight expressways remained the same as of now.

ANIH Berhad said the new KLK toll rate at the Gombak Toll Plaza is RM6 (class 1), RM12 (class 2), RM18 (class 3) and RM3 (class 4), while RM5 is maintained for class 5. "For the Bentong toll plaza, the rate for class 1 is RM3.50; class 2, RM7; class 3, RM10.50; class 4, RM1.80; and class 5, maintained at RM3," a spokesman said when contacted today. Class 1 is for cars; class 2 for less than one-tonne lorries; class 3 for heavy duty lorries and trailers; class 4 for taxis; and class 5 for buses. Meanwhile, Maju Expressway Sdn Bhd in a statement said the new toll rates for Salak Selatan are RM2 (class 1), RM4 (class 2), RM6 (class 3), RM1 (class 4) and RM1.50 (class 5).

The new rates for Putrajaya toll plaza are RM3.50 (class 1), RM7 (class 2), RM10.50 (class 3), RM1.80 (class 4) and RM2.50 (class 5). SILK Holdings Berhad said its new toll rates for Kajang highway-Silk are RM1.80 (class 1), RM3.60 (class 2), RM5.40 (class 3), 90 sen (class 4) and RM1 (class 5). For DUKE, North-East (KL) Highway Consortium Sdn Bhd announced that the new rates for Ayer Panas toll plaza, Sentul Pasar toll plaza and Kampung Batu toll plaza are RM2.50 (class 1), RM3.80 (class 2), RM5 (class 3), RM1.30 (class 4), while RM1.30 is maintained for class 5. Syarikat Mengurus Air Banjir dan Terowong Sdn Bhd said the new rate for SMART tunnel would be RM3. For LATAR, KL-Kuala Selangor Expressway Berhad said the new rates for Ijok toll Plaza, Kuang Timur toll plaza, Kuang Barat toll plaza and Templer toll plaza are RM2.50 for class 1, RM5 for class 2, RM7 for class 3 and RM1.30 for class 4, while RM2 is maintained for class 5. Meanwhile, BESRAYA (M) Sdn BHD said its rates for the Mines toll plaza (North and South) would be RM2 for class 1, RM4 for class 2, RM4 for class 3 and RM2 for class 4, while RM1.30 is maintained for class 5.

The New Pantai Expressway Sdn Bhd (NPE) in a statement said the new rates for Pantai Dalam toll plaza and PJS5 toll plaza are RM2.30 (class 1), RM4.60 (class 2), RM6.90 (class 3), RM1.20 (class 4) and RM1.60 (class 5). For the PJS2 toll plaza, the rate for class 1 is maintained at RM1, while the new rate for class 2 is RM4.60, class 3 is RM6.90, class 4 is RM1.20 and class 5 remains unchanged. Kajang Seremban Sdn Bhd (LEKAS) announced a toll increase of between 10 sen and RM2 for its Kajang Selatan, Semenyih, Pajam, Mantin, Setul and Jelebu toll plazas. There is no toll increase for eight highways managed by PLUS, which are the the North-South Expressway (PLUS), New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE), Federal Highway Route 2 (FHR2), Seremban-Port Dickson Highway (SPDH), North-South Expressway central Link (ELITE), Malaysia-Singapore Second Link (Linkedua), Butterworth-Kulim Expressway (BKE) and Penang Bridge.

Meanwhile, the holder of the Cheras-Kajang concession, GRAND SAGA Sdn Bhd also announced a toll rate hike for all classes of vehicles except for class 5, that is buses. The new toll structure at GRAND SAGA encompassed RM1.30 for class 1, RM2.60 for class 2, RM2.60 for class 3 and RM0.70 for class 4. The new rate involves toll collection system for consumers using the Ninth and 11th Mile Toll Plazas. For class 5, buses, the toll rate for the Ninth and 11th Mile Toll Plazas are each retained at RM1 and 90 sen respectively.

A question was asked as to whether Malaysians are over-reacting to highway toll rate hikes. Here are some of the realities of the situation.

1. The BN GE13 manifesto which promised a gradual reduction of intra-city tolls has not been fulfilled.

In reality, not only has the BN Government failed to keep its promise but the burden which was previously shared between motorists and the Government has now shifted solely to the motorists. Additionally, the increase in the rates of between 20 sen and RM3 exceeds what was proposed in August, 20 sen to RM1 increases.

2. Highway concessionaires seem to be getting sweet deals

One concessionaire, which expected a toll increase only in 2016 is actually getting it now. This occurs even as concessionaires are raking in higher collections than they were a few years ago on account of increased traffic, newly opened toll plazas (Loke Yew Toll Plaza) and maturing developments along the highway corridor e.g. Setia Eco Hill, Eco Majestic and Temiang Resort City.

3. The already burdened rakyat can expect to see their burdens increase even more

The new rates represent a hike of between 18% and 100% for car owners. Those who use public transportation have not been spared either since this comes hot on the heels of the announcement by the Land Transport Commission that LRT fares will increase next month.

The rate increases add to other burdens the rakyat has to contend with. The introduction of a 6% GST in April has put pressure on domestic prices while import costs keep rising on account of the ringgit’s slump. Add to that the fact that inflation has shot up (the inflation rate in Malaysia was recorded at 3.3% year-on-year in July and 3.1% in August from 1% in February 2015) and the rakyat’s problems seem almost unbearable.

Additionally, the timing of the rate hikes leaves much to be desired. It comes during a period of road closures and traffic jams due to MRT construction. Those who are tired of jams or don’t want to pay the toll have no recourse as alternative non-tolled routes are generally not available or not practical to use.

What makes all of this even worse is the lack of consequences for concessionaires who don’t keep up their end of the bargain and the lack of transparency in the management of tolled highway development.

The government must compel concessionaires to improve carrying capacities and ensure free flowing traffic to justify any toll collection and toll reviews. Bad congestion is experienced especially during festive seasons, but the concessionaires have not been penalised or requested to expand their capacity despite increases in toll collection. This has to change.

Tolled highway development in Malaysia is still considered classified and shrouded in secrecy. Why? If the Income Tax information, (which involves more money collected from the public through taxes) is in the public domain, why the secrecy for tolled highway development?

The PM noted that those who disclosed details of the meeting that discussed toll issues were betraying the trust of the Cabinet and the government.

Here’s the issue with that. Since the toll hikes pass the burden solely to the public, how could passing relevant information to the public be deemed a betrayal? Is it not the rakyat’s trust that is being betrayed instead, since it is the rakyat who voted the government into power?

The rakyat applauds the PM for his call for accountability and transparency in political funding. Likewise, there should also be accountability and transparency in the case of concessionaires.

Since the government is of the view that the money spent on compensation would be better used for development projects with multiplier effects on the economy, it is only fair that a detailed plan on how the money saved would be used be provided to the rakyat.

Given all this, do you still consider the rakyat’s response an overreaction?

WHAT'S WRONG WITH TPPA???

What do you think if the TPPA implemented in Malaysia?.

Do you know what is TPPA?

While ostensibly it is about trade, the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) goes far beyond the trade of goods and services. It will affect the health, social, economic, political, civic, educational and cultural future of Malaysia’s 28 million people.

Malaysia is currently negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) with the US and nine other countries to open up the economies of the Asia-Pacific and changing the way trade and investments are regulated in the region. The TPPA countries currently participating in the negotiations are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States, and Viet Nam.

They seek to conclude and sign the agreement by October 2013! So what’s wrong with the TPPA?

Keeping Citizens in the Dark

The negotiations and the negotiating texts (the documents that are used during the negotiations process) are secret, and all TPPA governments have agreed to continue the secrecy on the negotiating texts until four years after the deal has signed.

This means that if they sign the deal by end-2013, the earliest that the citizens of the eleven countries whose government leaders are signing in their names can see how the negotiations were carried out is late 2017 or early 2018 (or if negotiations break down permanently).

So they’re telling Malaysians, “We’ve written up this agreement for you. Don’t worry, we’ve drafted it with your interests and welfare in mind. But you cannot know what we’ve written until AFTER we’ve finished the negotiations on your behalf, and you cannot know how we negotiated its contents and how it will be interpreted, until four years AFTER it’s been in force.”

Would you allow such a document to be signed on your behalf? Wouldn’t you want to exercise your right to see the draft? To object to provisions you believe are objectionable? Or to reject the agreement altogether for being against your interests and welfare?

While ostensibly it is about trade, the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) goes far beyond the trade of goods and services. It will affect the health, social, economic, political, civic, educational and cultural future of Malaysia’s 28 million people.

Malaysia is currently negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) with the US and nine other countries to open up the economies of the Asia-Pacific and changing the way trade and investments are regulated in the region. The TPPA countries currently participating in the negotiations are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States, and Viet Nam.

They seek to conclude and sign the agreement by October 2013! So what’s wrong with the TPPA?

Keeping Citizens in the Dark

The negotiations and the negotiating texts (the documents that are used during the negotiations process) are secret, and all TPPA governments have agreed to continue the secrecy on the negotiating texts until four years after the deal has signed.

This means that if they sign the deal by end-2013, the earliest that the citizens of the eleven countries whose government leaders are signing in their names can see how the negotiations were carried out is late 2017 or early 2018 (or if negotiations break down permanently).

So they’re telling Malaysians, “We’ve written up this agreement for you. Don’t worry, we’ve drafted it with your interests and welfare in mind. But you cannot know what we’ve written until AFTER we’ve finished the negotiations on your behalf, and you cannot know how we negotiated its contents and how it will be interpreted, until four years AFTER it’s been in force.”

Would you allow such a document to be signed on your behalf? Wouldn’t you want to exercise your right to see the draft? To object to provisions you believe are objectionable? Or to reject the agreement altogether for being against your interests and welfare?

Foreign Investors Can Sue

There are proposals on the table to impose the Investor-to-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) system, which will allow foreign investors to sue TPPA governments for any action—even action done to protect or promote public health, education, or the environment—if such action is seen as harming the investor’s rights.

Many cases prove that this can—and has—happened: After Canada banned methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl (MMT) because of concerns about its dangers to public health, for example, the government was sued by the MMT manufacturer—Ethyl Corporation—at an international tribunal, and subsequently had to pay compensation to the company and reverse the ban. The largest award to date that is publicly known is against Ecuador for USD 2.4 billion!

Furthermore, the investment chapter effectively empowers foreign corporations to ignore and override Malaysia’s domestic judicial, legal and parliamentary systems, its Federal Constitution and the unique and historical federal-state division of powers that Malaysia has developed over the decades. Other provisions could greatly restrict governments’ ability to balance the public interest and human rights against the private interests of corporations.

More Expensive Medicines

About 80% of the medicines that Malaysians consume are generic medicines, which are generally much cheaper and thus more affordable than ‘original’, patented medicines. For example, in Malaysia, patented medicines can be 1,044% more expensive than their generic equivalents. Malaysia already provides adequate protection for pharmaceutical companies’ research and products, which it seeks to balance against the need for affordable access to medicine and medical treatment.

With the TPPA, access to affordable, life-saving medicines for millions of people is under threat as it provides higher protections for the patents and clinical data of big pharmaceutical companies, makes it harder for generic companies to produce affordable generic medicines, and delays and restricts the access to generic medicines. This can happen through the proposals for:

-- EXPANSIVE PATENT PROTECTION for new forms, uses and methods of using known substances. These low patenting standards can extend pharmaceutical monopolies for minor variations on old products, including those that contribute nothing to efficacy.

-- PATENT TERM EXTENSIONS that stretch the duration of a patent beyond 20 years.

-- PATENT LINKAGE that prevents registration of generic medicines and facilitates abuse.

-- ELIMINATING SAFEGUARDS against patent abuse, such as pre-grant opposition.

-- BIASED PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENTS that presume challenged patents valid and measure damages by the patent holder’s assessment of value.

-- DATA EXCLUSIVITY that prevents health authorities from relying on clinical trial data to register generic versions of medicines.

-- BORDER MEASURES that could lead to unjustified seizures of generic medicines.

This is the example of social network that they do this page to know how many did not agree with TPPA

unhealthy air

Haze is traditionally an atmospheric phenomenon where dust, smoke and other dry particles obscure the clarity of the sky. The World Meteorological Organization manual of codes includes a classification of horizontal obscuration into categories of fog, ice fog, mist, haze , smoke, volcanic ash, dust, sand and snow. Sources for haze particles include farming (sloughing in dry weather), traffic, industry and wildfires.

The term "haze", in meteorological literature, generally is used to denote visibility-reducing aerosols of the wet type. Such aerosols commonly arise from complex chemical reactions that occur as sulfur dioxide gases emitted during combustion are converted into small droplets of sulphuric acid. The reactions are enhanced in the presence of sunlight, high relative humidity, and stagnant air flow. A small component of wet haze aerosols appear to be derived from compounds released by trees, such as terpenes. For all these reasons, wet haze tends to be primarily a warm-season phenomenon. Large areas of haze covering many thousands of kilometers may be produced under favorable conditions each summer.

 Why do the outbreaks happen and when did they start?

The main cause is illegal fires started in peatland and forest on Indonesia's Sumatra island and the Indonesian part of Borneo to quickly and cheaply clear land for palm oil and pulp and paper plantations.

They increased in number as the plantations expanded, in particular due to rising global demand for palm oil, a key ingredient in everyday goods such as shampoo and biscuits.

The outbreaks started in 1997, with what is still regarded as the most serious haze on record.

It followed rapid expansion of plantations in the preceding years, and coincided with an El Nino weather system that made conditions drier than usual in Indonesia.

Who is affected by the haze?

The haze has a devasting impact on daily life every year on Sumatra and the Indonesian part of Borneo

This year, air quality has hit hazardous levels, tens of thousands have contracted respiratory illnesses, many flights have been cancelled and schools closed.

From Indonesia, the smog is blown over Southeast Asia, and fouls the air in neighboring Singapore and Malaysia.

Schools were closed in the Malaysia capital Kuala Lumpur and neighboring states on Tuesday, while dense clouds have shrouded the skyline of financial hub Singapore

How bad is it this year?

More than 2,000 fire “hotspots”, either areas already on fire or very hot and likely to soon go up in flames, were detected by satellites on Sumatra and Indonesian Borneoon Tuesday.

The situation is being exacerbated by an El Nino weather system that has made conditions tinder-dry.

The crisis eased in the past two days, with the haze having been much worse in the past. The most serious recent outbreak was in 2013, when air quality deteriorated to the worst level for years in Singapore and Malaysia.

How Haze Can Affect Your Health

In the 1997 Southeast Asian haze which affected a number of countries in the region, an increase in air pollutants from 50 to 150 μg/m³ is significantly associated with increases of 12% of upper respiratory tract illness, 19% asthma and 26% nasal inflammation.

Depending on how sensitive you are, the severity of the haze and the time of exposure, you may experience the following short-term adverse effects:

• Irritated eyes, watering eyes, and/or conjunctivitis (a type of eye inflammation);
• Running nose, stuffy nose, sneezing, and/or post-nasal drip;
• Throat irritation, dry throat, sore throat and/or coughing;
• Headache, dizziness and/or fatigue;
• Decreased lung function, depressed respiratory immune defenses, chest pain, and/or bronchitis (lung inflammation);
• Diarrhea and/or stomach upset, if drinking water sources are contaminated by dense haze and the water is consumed without further treatment;
• Anxiety, stress and/or depression-like symptoms such as insomnia, feelings of helplessness, loss of interest in daily activities and irritability.

These symptoms are usually mild and will subside when you stay indoor and limit your exposure to haze.

However, in susceptible individuals and those suffering from chronic disease, especially respiratory and heart disease (e.g. coronary artery disease, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), their condition may be worsened by haze. They are more likely to experience more severe haze-related effects than healthy people.