Here are six of the best photos that readers added to the Consumerist Flickr Pool in the last week, picked for usability in a Consumerist post or for just plain neatness.
Our Flickr pool is where we find images to use in future Consumerist posts. Just be a registered Flickr user, go here, and click “Join Group?” up on the top right. Choose your best photos, then click “send to group” on the individual images you want to add to the pool.
Jim PaullHow fitting.
Jim PaullLookie look.
Somewhere along the line, the sandwich got defined as lunch food. That's a shame because if you stuff good bread with enough hearty, flavorful things, a dinner sandwich can be the best meal of all. Maybe it's something as simple and satisfying as a grilled cheese stuffed with juicy slices of tomato, a hot and indulgent French dip, or a cold sandwich piled high with deli meats and cheeses. We rounded up our 25 most favorite sandwiches that fit the bill for the evening meal — utensils not required, but you may definitely need a napkin or two.
Jim PaullNoooooooooooooooooooooooo
First of all, nobody panic: The soft cheese you know as Camembert won’t be vanishing from grocery cases anytime soon. But its more authentic, raw milk, French cousin is facing extinction as the result of a cheese war that took place a decade ago.
Yes, there was a cheese war, reports Bloomberg, between the farms that wanted to stick to the historically accurate process for making traditionally unpasteurized Camembert, and those that wanted to cut corners and produce pasteurized cheese.
The smaller cheesemakers won: In order to earn the French label “PDO” — which signifies provenance from a specific region in France — and thus, be a true Camembert de Normandie, the French government said that cheese must be made with unfiltered raw milk with a fat content of at least 38% that comes from cows from Normandy, which are fed only grass and hay from local pastures, among a slew of other restrictions.
Those strict limitations prompted several of the larger cheesemakers to drop out of the authentic Camembert game, and turn to producing a pasteurized version that results in a harder rind with a more rubbery texture inside, notes Bloomberg. It’s known as Camembert fabrique en Normandie.
Of the 360 million wheels of Camembert produced each year, only about 1.1% (4 million) are the authentic unpasteurized cheese, with many of the smaller companies losing out to larger operations that favor pasteurization.
But even if you wanted to get the real deal in the U.S., you can’t, as the federal government doesn’t allow unpasteruized cheeses aged less than 60 days into the country. True Camembert is only aged for 30 days or so.
So if you’d like to pay homage to this special fromage, you may want to consider a cheese pilgrimage to France in the near future.
Jim PaullThere's something here screaming idolatry.
ISTANBUL: A long queue of men and women standing in separate lines extends from an Istanbul mosque to see a centuries-old garment pressed down flat inside an glass exhibition case: the Prophet Mohammed’s sacred cloak made of linen, cotton and silk.
The Hirka-i Serif (the Noble Cloak) was brought to Istanbul in the seventeenth century, at a time when the Ottoman Empire controlled much of the Islamic world deep into today’s Saudi Arabia.
Every year, during the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, the cloak is put on special display at the Hirka-i Serif mosque in Istanbul, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors.
“I was here last year. God willing, I will be here next year as long as I am alive,” 78-year-old Nimet Sahin said, as caretakers warned visitors selfies were not appropriate.
Neziha Polat, 76, said she felt as if she was in Mecca, the holy Islamic city to which all Muslims are required to make a pilgrimage in their lifetimes.
“I come here every year and have the same feeling. Let God not diminish this feeling in our heart,” she said in tears.
From Yemen to Istanbul
The garment had been entrusted to Uwais Al-Qarni, who went in the seventh century to Medina to see Prophet Mohammed but had to return to Yemen due to his mother’s illness without seeing the prophet.
Impressed by the story, Mohammed gave his cloak via companions to Al-Qarni as a present and he received the garment in Yemen.
Al-Qarni had no children and the relic was then preserved by his relatives, Istanbul mufti Hasan Kamil Yilmaz said.
In 1611 Ottoman Sultan Ahmed I brought the holy cloak to Istanbul from Kuasadasi in western Turkey where al-Qarni’s relatives had preserved it.
“Since then Hirka-i Serif has been in Istanbul,” Yilmaz told AFP.
And in 1851, Sultan Abdul Majid built the Hirka-i Serif mosque in the Fatih district with the goal of preserving and exhibiting the cloak.
“There are two keys to the cloak — one held by the foundation and the other by the family,” he said.
The sacred garment has passed on from one generation to another and its current head keeper is Baris Samir — the 59th generation grandson of the al-Qarni who was first given the garment.
“It’s a very honourable duty. We are very happy to perform it, and have such a responsibility,” Samir told AFP. “It’s also a tough job, it is a tough responsibility, morally and financially.”
‘Spread the goodness’
An old man, wearing an Islamic skullcap and waiting his turn in the queue to see the garment, said he was at peace.
“What can be more precious than this in life?” he asked. “I have seen this before I die.”
Zehra, 48, said it was a great happiness for the Muslims even to lay eyes on the Prophet’s cloak. “I believe that brings us closer to him.”
Every year, over one million believers come to see the sacred garment from all over the world.
“People from Siberia to Africa, from America to Far East come and see the Prophet’s cloak,” Samir said.
“The number of visitors usually exceeds one million. We receive many visitors especially on the Laylat al-Qadr (Night of Destiny marking when the Koran was revealed) because the cloak can be seen till the morning.”
Loukman Hakim, 49, a businessman from Malaysia, was among the visitors, along with a group of around 20 Malaysians.
“Of course it makes us closer to Prophet Mohammed,” Hakim told AFP outside the mosque after seeing the sacred cloak.
“It makes us happy, it makes us feel that we have to do something to be with him meaning to say that we have to spread the love, spread the teaching, spread all the goodness that Prophet Mohammed had brought into this humankind,” he added.
Samir said the cloak’s display was a meeting point between the Prophet and the believers. “We are happy to bring them together.”
When we find a product we love (whether it's a new grilling tool, a sponge, or a travel mug that actually works), we like to talk about it amongst our staff. A lot. We tell each other how great it is, what we love about it, where we got it, how much it cost ... all the things. And we almost always try to write a post about it to tell you guys the same things.
Our Managing Editor, Geraldine Campbell, has been talking about these Rubbermaid Brilliance containers for quite a while. A post about them has been on the calendar several times, but it keeps getting bumped for various reasons. And I'm glad — because they're now on sale on Amazon, and we love writing about a good deal!
Jim PaullThis falls squarely into the "doing your damn job" category. We're not talking about some squat toilet at a rural train depot in the Indian wilderness. It's KLIA/KLIA2, and it's 2017, and if conditions were so deplorable as to now get praise then there are a lot worse things not being commented on.
KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Najib Razak praised Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) for stepping up its efforts to ensure cleanliness of toilets at the two main gateways into the country, namely KLIA and klia2.
“Congratulations to @MY_Airports for the improvement efforts on the cleanliness of toilets at KLIA and klia2. Image and comfort is vital for tourism,” he said in a Twitter posting last night.
The prime minister also uploaded three pictures of tidy and clean toilets at KLIA.
Earlier today, MAHB in its Twitter account announced that its newly-refurbished washrooms under Phase 1 of its Washroom Project at KLIA were now open.
MAHB manages five international airports, 16 domestic airports and 18 airstrips that serve rural and remote areas in Malaysia.
Jim PaullBwahahahaha think some peoples assholes are puckering.
PETALING JAYA: The Kuala Lumpur High Court today ordered the government to provide lawyer Siti Kasim with the names of Federal Territories Islamic Religious Department (Jawi) officers, involved in a raid at a transgender event.
Siti’s lawyer Surendra Ananth said that Judicial Commissioner Faizah Jamaludin today allowed her lawsuit that sought to compel the government to provide the names of the Jawi enforcement officers.
“The court ordered the government to give Siti the Jawi’s officers’ names within 14 days,” he added.
Surendra added the court might have allowed Siti’s bid to get the names because tortfeasors must be named in a lawsuit.
Besides Surendra, Siti was also represented by Malik Imtiaz Sarwar while senior federal counsel Ruzaimi Baharom appeared for the government.
Siti, who is also a human rights activist, was arrested on April 3 last year at Renaissance Hotel here, after Jawi raided the transgender beauty pageant.
A video of Siti shouting at Jawi officers, asking if they had a warrant to raid a closed-door event, went viral on social media.
In her affidavit filed to support her lawsuit, Siti alleged that the sudden appearance of Jawi officers at the event caused chaos.
“They raided the event. They did not explain the reason for the raid.”
She added that no arrest warrant was produced and that the Jawi officers were not accompanied by police.
One religious officer allegedly told Siti it was an “offence” to organise the transgender beauty contest.
“The officer could not cite the law the event had violated,” she said.
She told the Jawi officers the event was a closed-door affair but, “they started shouting at me and at others in the crowd”.
She was then taken to the Dang Wangi police station.
“They did not tell me why I was being arrested,” said Siti. “They forced me into a van and took me to the police station.”
It was reported that Siti said she was investigated for alleged obstruction of a public officer and criminal intimidation.
Surendra said they will contemplate the next course of action in filing the lawsuit against Jawi after the enforcement officers’ names are given to them.
Allow me to paint a picture for you: It's dinnertime, and you have a table of hungry people waiting with anticipation. You open the oven door, pull out a skillet filled with perfectly cooked chicken thighs and rice, and set it on the table. Everyone digs in and proclaims how good it is. You smile and pat yourself on the back for another successful weeknight meal. And when it's time to clean up, you only have one pan to wash. Sound too good to be true? It's not!
Jim PaullFlight updates via the Star. Guess they have to write about something.
Jim PaullSounds like a tissue company.
Jim PaullHmm it's the in look for IS this spring..
PETALING JAYA: Another Malaysian militant linked to the Islamic State has been killed in clashes with security forces in Iraq, bringing the total number of Malaysians killed in Iraq and Syria to 31.
According to intelligence sources, Mohd Nizam Ariffin, 38, was killed in the city of Mosul on Friday but no other details were available.
Ipoh-born Nizam, also known as Abu Afghan, and fellow militant Abdul Halid Dari appeared in an IS propaganda video in January last year, reported The Star today.
Identifying themselves as members of Katibah Nusantara (the Malay-speaking wing of IS), the group called on Somalia’s al-Shabaab members to join them in the “real frontline in Syria”.
“The Katibah militants also warned the Malaysian government against thwarting IS terror plots,” a source said.
Nizam travelled to Syria on March 6, 2014, and joined the Ajnad al-Sham militant group.
According to sources, Nizam joined the IS after the death of former Kedah PAS Youth information chief Lotfi Ariffin in September 2014.
“Nizam teamed up with other militants from Malaysia and Indonesia in Katibah Nusantara,” the source said.
According to intelligence sources, some 56 other Malaysians are believed to be still at large fighting for the IS militant group.
PETALING JAYA: Datuk Mahfuz Omar, satu-satunya pemimpin yang lantang mengkritik kepimpinan PAS, mempunyai mesej khusus untuk partinya: Jangan berharap orang bukan Islam akan mengundi anda kerana sentimen takut.
“Orang bukan Islam hanya akan mengundi parti yang benar-benar mahu menggantikan pentadbiran sekarang,” kata Mahfuz, Ahli Parlimen Pokok Sena dan bekas naib presiden PAS.
Beliau mengulas laporan akhbar yang memetik Ketua Pemuda PAS, Muhammad Khalil Abdul Hadi sebagai berkata, parti itu percaya ia boleh memenangi undi di kawasan bandar kerana orang bukan Islam akan menyokongnya kerana takut akan dilihat sebagai anti-Islam.
Dipetik Malay Mail, Khalil berkata, sesetengah orang Cina dan India dilihat bimbang dengan serangan DAP terhadap Presiden PAS, Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang berhubung usaha beliau membawa hukuman yang lebih berat di bawah undang-undang syariah.
Beliau percaya mereka berpendirian sedemikian akan mengundi PAS supaya akan dilihat sebagai tidak bertentangan dengan Islam.
Mahfuz berkata, beliau menghormati hak Khalil untuk melahirkan pendapatnya, tetapi menambah, PAS akan terjejas peluang pada pilihan raya umum akan datang jika ia bergerak dengan kepercayaan ketua pemuda itu.
Mahfuz memberitahu FMT, bukan Islam akan menjadi tidak bersedia untuk mengundi PAS kerana parti itu sebelum ada memaklumkan yang ia akan bersaing di 80 kerusi parlimen dan menyasarkan untuk menang 40 daripadanya.
Kini terdapat 222 kerusi Parlimen.
Jim PaullNot halal and good to see that those two having fun before being killed.
TOKYO: A group of 19 plucky pigs caused a five-kilometre (three mile) traffic jam on a Japanese motorway after making a bold dash for freedom while on the way to market.
Police near Osaka, western Japan, scrambled to round up the porky rebels as they trotted cheerfully along the hard shoulder of the Hanshin Expressway on Thursday after the truck carrying them collided with another vehicle.
It was a case of little piggies not going to the market — at least on schedule — as 19 of the 37 creatures on board executed a daring breakout, according to local media.
Traffic was halted as the defiant pigs opted for a more scenic route to the slaughter house and frolicked on the side of the highway, oblivious to the commotion they were causing motorists.
Local police, who chased the perky swine for five hours, said the farm truck hit another car while the 61-year-old driver was overtaking, resulting in damage to the cage holding the animals.
Last year, an ostrich made a similar attempt to live life in the fast lane by breaking out of a cage atop a speeding truck while being transported to a zoo and led Japanese police on a frantic chase along the highway.
PUTRAJAYA: Today experts confirmed the new Tourist Tax imposed on hotel stays is essential if the government wants to boost the travel industry which may suffer a setback from its introduction. “The Tourist Tax revenue collected will be spent on a special international advertising campaign to entice holidaymakers headed elsewhere to reconsider and pay […]
The post Tourist Tax Needed To Boost Industry Hit By Tourist Tax appeared first on FMN.
Here are nine of the best photos that readers added to the Consumerist Flickr Pool in the last week, picked for usability in a Consumerist post or for just plain neatness.
Want to see your pictures on our site? Our Flickr pool is the place where Consumerist readers upload photos for possible use in future Consumerist posts. Just be a registered Flickr user, go here, and click “Join Group?” up on the top right. Choose your best photos, then click “send to group” on the individual images you want to add to the pool.
In an effort to expand its online efforts beyond the confines of its own websites, IKEA is planning to test selling its furniture and other home goods through third-party sites starting next year for the first time.
Of course, IKEA Has its own website, but it’s a new world out there, and the company is willing to try new things in order to adapt.
“On digital platforms, we only sell our products through our own website, and there we also see that the competitive landscape is changing,” Inter IKEA Group Chief Executive Torbjorn Loof told Reuters.
He’s staying mum for now on which companies IKEA would be willing to work with — Amazon has made some noise about getting into furnishings, including making deals to sell retail brands like Ashley Furniture and Jonathan Adler — but did say the retailer will “test and pilot” so it can learn what digital shopping looks like in the future.
Though IKEA’s sales jumped 30% in the last fiscal year to $1.6 billion, that’s just a small slice of the company’s total sales of $34.2 billion.
“There is a rapid change in the market where much of what we have learned and what we know of is changing radically,” Loof said, while remaining optimistic that IKEA can stay ahead of the pack with its big advantage — the company designs, produces, and distributes its own products.
KUALA LUMPUR: The underground Pantai 2 Sewage Treatment Plant (STP 2), the first of its kind in Malaysia, is not a general election ploy, says Federal Territory Umno liaison deputy chief Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin.
On the other hand, he said, the project, the biggest of its kind in the Asia-Pacific region, was carefully planned by the government to ensure the well-being of the people and the environment, specifically in the Klang Valley.
“It is far from being a political objective. It is more a public facility. We definitely cannot run away from being divided politically, but this is a project which makes use of sophisticated technology from China for the public regardless of their political ideology.
“So, talk that the project is related to the upcoming general election is not correct. We need to differentiate between political games and fulfilling our responsibility and trust of the people,” he told Bernama.
STP2, located in Pantai Eco Park was launched by Prime Minister Najib Razak last month and has the capacity to accommodate the needs of 1.42 million residents until 2035.
The STP2 project was developed in 2011 at a cost of RM983 million before being upgraded and completed in stages last year.
According to Najib, the plant’s high capacity could help meet the government’s target to increase sewerage services to major towns nationwide by 2020.
Commenting further on the project, Raja Nong Chik, who is also Lembah Pantai Umno division chief, said the project, which used world-class green technology, would benefit 30,000 residents in Lembah Pantai.
He said the construction of the STP2 also changed the perception that a sewage treatment plant was dirty, smelly and uncomfortable as was apparent with STP1, which was developed in 1958 and was upgraded several times.
“Indeed, there was a strong smell in the past which riled squatters who were relocated to public housing projects and people’s housing projects in the area. But, now there is no smell and the plant is surrounded by greenery.
“The angry residents are now thankful after being given surroundings that are far better. In fact, we also received requests from others to move there,” he added.
Other than the plant, the 12ha Pantai Eco Park, which also includes a community centre, jogging track, futsal court, football field and courts for other games, is expected to be opened soon.
PETALING JAYA: DAP assistant national publicity secretary Teo Nie Ching has called on the government to immediately simplify the process of granting citizenship to stateless children.
She said according to a parliamentary written reply by the home minister, between 2012 and January 2017, 15,394 children born in Malaysia were denied citizenship even though their fathers were Malaysian citizens.
“This translates into eight children born without citizenship every day,” Teo said in a statement today.
The Kulai MP said Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi revealed last year that there were 290,437 stateless children who were below the age of 18.
She said Part II of the Second Schedule of the Federal Constitution states that, “every person born within the Federation of whose parents one at least is at the time of the birth either a citizen or permanent resident in the Federation are citizens by operation of law”.
“So clearly, there is no provision in the Federal Constitution that expressly states that the marriage of a child’s parents must be officially registered to qualify for citizenship.
“The government must realise that stateless children endure a lot of hardship and inconvenience,” Teo said.
She cited the case of eight-year-old Tan Yao Chun, who was unable to attend school early this year because he was not considered a citizen.
Although the boy eventually was able to enrol in a primary school after his plight was highlighted by the media, Tan lost a year of schooling due to the shortcomings of the system, said Teo.
She also highlighted the plight of 14-year-old Pang Jun Hao from Kuala Lumpur, who was suddenly notified that he could not start his Form Two studies due to problems with his citizenship.
“Even if these children are taken in by the school, they cannot enjoy free education like other Malaysian students as they are not entitled to the Textbook Loan Scheme,” she said.
“Only a handful has the opportunity to go to public universities, as they need to pay foreign student rates and cannot apply for the PTPTN education loan,” she added.
Teo said these stateless children had to suffer a lot of hardship as the government imposed full medical charges on non-citizens. She also said stateless children were unable to apply for a passport and driving licence.
“With all these challenges, these children will have great difficulty to excel in life and will also have problems getting a decent job.”
She said these children should not be made victims due to their parents’ carelessness and mistakes, and reiterated her call for the government to simplify the process of granting citizenship to them.
Jim PaullIdiots
HYDERABAD: More than 5,000 Indians have lined up in the country’s south, pinching their noses and sticking their tongues out to swallow live fish in an unusual traditional treatment for asthma.
Every year in June asthma patients gather in the southern city of Hyderabad to gulp down the fish stuffed with a yellow herbal paste, hoping it will help them breathe more easily.
The wriggling five-centimetre (two-inch) murrel fish are slipped into the throats of patients in a bizarre treatment that leaves them gagging.
The Bathini Goud family, which administers the treatment, says the fish clear the throat on their way down and permanently cure asthma along with other respiratory problems.
But the family has declined to reveal the secret formula which they say they got from a Hindu saint in 1845.
Parents are often forced to pry open the mouths of reluctant children who cry at the site of squirming fish, while others pinch their noses, tip their heads back and close their eyes.
Thousands of people travel from across India for the free medicine during a two-day period, the specific dates of which are determined by the onset of the monsoon every June.
Rights groups and doctors have complained that the medicine is “unscientific”, a violation of human rights and unhygienic, claims rejected by the family.
The Indian government arranges special trains for the “fish medicine” festival every year and extra police are on duty to control crowds.
After digesting the treatment, patients are told to go on a strict diet for 45 days.
This 30-minute one-pan meal comes together with minimal ingredients but packs big flavor. It's wholesome and filling and everyone in your family is sure to love it. If that doesn't check all your weeknight dinner boxes, I don't know what will!
Jim PaullThat's crazy.
CHONGQING: Five suspended levels and cars going in all directions: a new highway interchange is driving motorists to tears, as they find themselves lost in a concrete maze resembling a plate of spaghetti.
After eight years of construction, the Huangjuewan interchange was completed last week on the outskirts of Chongqing, a sprawling metropolis in southwest China.
The structure balances five layers of traffic with the highest 37 metres above ground. No less than 15 ramps have been built to allow vehicles to move from one level to another, in eight directions, according to the municipality’s website.
An official on Chongqing’s urban and rural construction committee told Xinhua news agency that the complex design was necessary to link the city’s core, airport, and expressway, with each ramp leading to a different zone.
This navigational nightmare has set the internet ablaze.
“If you miss a ramp, you will reach Chongqing one day later,” warned one user on the social network Weibo.
“My GPS told me: go where you want and leave me alone!”, a commenter joked, while another christened the city “Chongqing, the city that you’ll never leave.”
One driver was more reassuring: “Huangjuewan, a legendary bridge in eight directions and five stories: I took it without a GPS and without getting lost!”
Jim PaullBastards
The Ministry of Finance and The Royal Malaysian Customs Department yesterday issued new tourism tax newsletter No 1, 2017, that will take effect on August 1, 2017.
This means that all hotel accommodations in Malaysia will have new tourism tax instituted on August 1, 2017, in addition to service charge (usually 10%) and GST (6%).
You can access the bulletin here.
Here are the tax levels mostly affecting LoyaltyLobby readers:
– 5 star 20 MYR per night ($4.68)
– 4 star 10 MYR per night ($2.34)
The goals of this tax are:
Conclusion
Seems that this is just a money grab by the Malaysian government that is supposedly used to promote tourism to the country (wouldn’t hold my breath).
Not a huge amount but hotel rates in Malaysia are rather reasonable and thus even such a small amount does add up.
Here is the bulletin released by the Malaysian government:
TOURISM TAX NEWSLETTER NO. 1/2017
05/06/2017
When is the start date?
The start date for the imposition of tourism tax will be 1 August 2017. However, registration of operators of accommodation premises will begin effective 1 July 2017.
Who is the regulator of Tourism Tax?
The Ministry of Finance and the Royal Malaysian Customs Department.
What is Tourism Tax (TTx)?
A tax charged at a specific rate on a tourist staying at any accommodation premises provided by an operator of the said accommodation premises.
Why is Tourism Tax implemented?
- It is a mechanism of cooperation between the Government and the industry to enhance tourism experience for tourists.
- The returns will be used to develop the tourism industry, namely the enhancement of tourism infrastructure and facilities, as well as tourism promotional activities and campaigns for the country.
- To be used to protect, preserve and conserve Mother Nature, culture and heritage for the benefit of not just the present generation but also the future generation.
What is the tourism tax rate?
The tourism tax rate is fixed according to the ratings below:
- five star: RM20/room/night
- four star: RM10/room/night
- one, two and three star: RM5/room/night
- one, two and three Orchid: RM2.50/room/night
- non-rated accommodation premises: RM2.50/room/night
Who is the tourist?
“Tourist” means any person, whether he is a Malaysian national or otherwise, visiting any place in Malaysia for any of the following purposes, namely–
- pleasure, recreation or holiday;
- culture;
- religion;
- visiting friends or relatives;
- sports;
- business;
- meetings, conferences, seminars or conventions;
- studies or research;
- any other purpose which is not related to an occupation that is remunerated from the place visited.
What is an accommodation premise?
- “Accommodation premises” means any building, including hostels, hotels, inns, boarding-houses, rest houses and lodging houses, held out by the proprietor, owner or manager, either wholly or partly, as offering lodging or sleeping accommodation to tourists for hire or any other form of reward, whether or not food or drink is also offered.
- “Tourist accommodation premises” means any accommodation premises which have been registered by the Commissioner under subsection 31C(1) Tourism Industry Act 1992.
Who is the operator?
Any person who operates accommodation premises which may include:
- the proprietor; or
- owner or manager of hostels, hotels, inns, boarding-houses, rest houses and lodging houses
Who is liable to pay tourism tax?
The tourist is liable to pay tourism tax to the operator.
Who is liable to collect tourism tax and pay to RMCD?
The registered operator is liable to collect tourism tax from the tourist upon departure of the tourist and pay the tourism tax collected or liable to be collected to Royal Malaysian Customs Department (RMCD) in respect of his taxable period.
What is the duration of a taxable period?
- a period of 3 months that ends on the last day of any month of any calendar year; or
- for an operator who is a registered for GST, his taxable period will concur with the period assigned to him for the purpose of GST.
How is tourism tax calculated?
Tourism tax is calculated on room nights based on the rating of the accommodation premises.
Example:
Occupancy of 1 room night and the room charge is RM 160.00 per room/night in a 3 star hotel.
Room charge/room/night RM 160 x 1 room/night RM 160.00 Service charge (10%) RM 160 x 10% RM 16.00 GST (6%) RM 176 x 6% RM 10.56 TTx (3 star) RM 5 x 1 room/nigh RM 5.00 TOTAL RM 191.56 Who is exempted from registration of tourism tax?
Any person who provides the following accommodation premises is exempted from registration and shall not impose tourism tax to tourists staying at such premises:
- ‘homestay’ registered with Ministry Of Tourism and Culture (MOTAC);
- ‘kampungstay’ registered with MOTAC;
- accommodation premises established and maintained by religious institutions not for commercial purpose; or
- accommodation premises with less than 10 rooms.
- accommodation premises operated by the Federal Government, State Government or statutory body for training, educational or accommodation not for commercial purposes
How to register as an operator?
- apply for registration within 30 days from the date he operates the accommodation premises to RMCD.
- for existing operators, apply for registration within 30 days from 1 July 2017.
- application has to be made and submitted by electronic services to RMCD using the TTx-01 form.
- the commencement date for registration will take effect from the first day of the following month after the application is submitted.
How to account for tourism tax to RMCD?
- Operator to account for tourism tax collected in the form TTx-03 for each taxable period;
- Form TTx-03 to be furnished to RMCD not later than the last day of the month following after the end of his taxable period;
- Form TTx-03 may be retrieved from RMCD website or at any Customs offices nearest to the operator.
How long records should be retained?
- records must be kept for seven (7) years in Malaysia unless otherwise approved by RMCD; and
- in English language or national language.
- The required records are :
i. books of account; and
ii. other records relating to Tourism Tax.
Prepared by:
Royal Malaysian Customs Department
7th Floor, Block A, Menara Tulus,
No. 22 Persiaran Perdana, Presint 3,
61200 Putrajaya
For enquiries, please contact:
General : 1-300-888-500
Email : enquiry.tourismtax@customs.gov.my
Jim PaullBwahahahaha item #4.
Amsterdam often evokes thoughts of a red light district, coffee houses famous for substances other than coffee and a sea of blue uniforms passing through Schiphol Airport (AMS). Yet there’s so much more to this fascinating city. Here are nine of my favorite things — and the top nine reasons I’m itching to move back! — along with one thing to be careful with if you’re planning a trip to this vibrant European capital.
While Heineken, Amstel and Grolsch are synonymous with Amsterdam — and I’d highly recommend the Heineken Experience to anyone visiting the city — beer lovers would be remiss to forgo a visit to some of the city’s smaller craft brewers and microbreweries. Brouwerij ‘t IJ and Brouwerij de Prael both offer tours, tastings and great food to boot. I particularly enjoy the tastings at de Prael and the views over the canals from ‘t IJ pair perfectly with their organic brews. A 15-minute train trip from Amsterdam will take you to Haarlem, where you’ll find two more of my favorites. Jopen Beer is brewed at Jopenkerk, which is well worth a visit just to see the architecture of this former church that has found new life as a brewery and café. Brouwerij ‘t Uiltje (“the Little Owl”) is also in Haarlem and at only five years old, it’s very much a newcomer on the craft beer scene but is quickly making a name for itself with tasty seasonal brews and one-offs.
These little pieces of fried goodness perfectly complement any beer you happen to be enjoying in Amsterdam. Tourists often overlook them or even purposely steer clear and they’re often mistranslated on menus as “bitter balls,” so it’s easy to understand why one might hesitate to order them. But fear not: Bitterballen are essentially croquette-like balls of chunky beef or veal roux that have been rolled in flour and fried. They’re almost always served with mustard and are, in my humble opinion, the pinnacle of Dutch cuisine. Make sure you order a plate next time you’re in town — you’ll find them in pretty much any bar or restaurant.
Getting around Amsterdam (and indeed the Netherlands) is easy as pie. When you get to Schiphol, pick up an OV Chipkaart, or chip card. You can load it up with cash and use it for all of your public transportation in the Netherlands, including buses, trams, subways and trains. It works in every city across the country and is one of the most seamless payment systems you’ll find anywhere in the world. You can also buy individual tickets, which tourists usually do without realizing there’s a much more efficient and cheaper alternative. (Fares are lower when you use a Chipkaart.) Pick a Chipkaart up when you arrive or even order one before you go.
When you think of food in Amsterdam, you probably conjure up images of beer and space cakes. Dutch cuisine is in fact far more varied, and thanks to the Netherlands’ colonial history in Southeast Asia, Indonesian food is an integral part of the Dutch culinary scene. Rijstaffel (“rice table”) is the most common way to go about it, and my personal favorite. This is a meal where the price is fixed per head, and it involves lots of little plates being spread out on the table along with a heaping, steaming bowl of rice. It’s a great way to try a little bit of everything and perfect for sharing with a group of friends. Kantjil & de Tijger (Spuistraat 291-293) and Puri Mas (Lange Leidsedwaarstraat 37-41) are my go-to places.
This is the national holiday in the Netherlands, and it’s a party like no other. If you’re planning a trip to Amsterdam, make it late-April. King’s Day is typically celebrated on April 27 (or the 26th if the 27th falls on a Sunday), so you’ll not only bear witness to a national holiday but also be there during peak tulip season — two for one! Parades of boats come down the canals with happy revelers all decked in orange, the national color; vrijmarkten (literally “free markets” but meaning flea markets) pop up all over the country, where people sell the goods that they’ve cleaned out during their spring cleaning. Of course, there are outdoor concerts and parties throughout Amsterdam; the largest concert is held on Museumplein in the city center, which is closed to automobile traffic for the day, making it easier to walk around and enjoy the festivities. It’s a great day to be in Amsterdam, and a unique, orange spectacle that you won’t see anywhere else.
As a tourist, one tends to stick to public transportation, walking and awkwardly trying to decipher maps on street corners. Leave all that behind you in Amsterdam and jump on a bike, the most popular form of transportation in the city: According to official figures, there are more than one million bikes in this city of under 800,000 people, and close to 13,000 of them have to be retrieved from the canals every year. (So be careful where you park!) Many hotels have their own fleet of bikes that they’re happy to rent to visitors, and if yours isn’t one of them, note that there are both public bike-share programs (also accessible with the OV Chipkaart), and private agencies to rent from. I’ve had friends visiting rent from Discount Bike Rental, and they always had good experiences with them.
This little-known courtyard right in the middle of the city is a respite from the relative hustle and bustle of the city that surrounds it. The Begijnhof was originally a kind of nunnery — the Begijntjes lived like nuns but took no official vows — and today the houses within the Begijnhof are still set aside as homes for young, single women. It’s a great place to marvel at archetypal Dutch architecture and take in a little history.
SAIL Amsterdam is an event that only occurs once every five years (the next will be in 2020), and it is unlike anything you’ll see anywhere else in the world. In 2015, more 8,000 ships sailed through Amsterdam’s harbor, continuing a tradition that began in 1975 to celebrate the city’s 700th birthday. The weeklong event is a must for sailing aficionados and history buffs alike — the oldest ship in the flotilla in 2015 dated back to 1881, and there were replicas of ships that dated back as far as the 16th century.
Amsterdam is home to more than 75 museums — some of which are globally famous, like the Rijksmuseum and the Anne Frank Haus — and a ton of others that are lesser-known but no less interesting, like the National Maritime Museum (or NEMO), a science-and-technology museum that’s almost entirely hands-on and a crowd-pleaser for kids and adults alike. There are museums for those who like to drink — the Heineken Experience that I mentioned above is very popular but also very crowded. Instead, I highly recommend the Bols Experience, at the House of Bols, a genever distillery. The tour is informative and interactive (you can mix your own cocktail) and the groups tend to be small, making for a more intimate experience than you’d have at Heineken. There are also museums geared toward specific interests, like the Houseboat Museum. For those who are in town to enjoy Amsterdam’s more adult offerings, there’s the Erotic Museum and even a Hemp, Hash & Marijuana Museum. You’ll be spoiled for choice when it comes to museums in Amsterdam, so do a little homework before you go to avoid being overwhelmed on arrival.
Thanks to Amsterdam Centraal’s unique design, there are three tracks among the platforms instead of the usual two, and they’re all linked. This means that there can be two trains leaving from Track 10 going to completely different places. Make sure you pay close attention to what track and section your train is leaving from, e.g., Track 10a, or Track 9b. All too often, visitors (or even residents in a hurry, like yours truly) fail to pay attention to this small but vital detail, and end up at the opposite end of the country in no time.
What are your favorite things to do in Amsterdam? Let us know!
Featured image courtesy of Stanley Chen Xi via Getty Images.
Here are six of the best photos that readers added to the Consumerist Flickr Pool in the last week, picked for usability in a Consumerist post or for just plain neatness.
Want to see your pictures on our site? Our Flickr pool is the place where Consumerist readers upload photos for possible use in future Consumerist posts. Just be a registered Flickr user, go here, and click “Join Group?” up on the top right. Choose your best photos, then click “send to group” on the individual images you want to add to the pool.
One question has been prevalent over the last few days and many emails with reader questions reached us regarding How To Claim Compensation From British Airways For IT Outage related Travel Disruptions.
While British Airways currently doesn’t acknowledge any liability for EU regulation mandated compensation it could be useful to clock in your compensation requests early.
Passengers affected by British Airways IT outage ended up being stranded, delayed, cancelled and/or incurred high expenses to arrange their own replacement travel since BA was unable to serve customers in any capacity.
There are a few things to consider when it comes to decide if you’re due compensation.
What does British Airways have to compensate me for?
Thanks to the EC261/2004 regulation, the guidelines when compensation from an airline is due are pretty clear and there isn’t really a grey area, yet some carriers (including BA) often try and sit the situation out hoping the claimant will just go away.
Escalating the issue to British Airways Customer Relations often brings no result except them either stonewalling or ‘investigating’ the case without reply.
It is however imperative that you open a case with Customer Relations regardless before you go for the nuclear option and complain to the regular and have the compensation request mediated the the Dispute Resolution Center or sue the airline.
BA is currently scrambling to find a legal loophole (likely claiming extroordinary circumstances [force majeure]) to avoid paying EU Compensation to each of the approximately 75,000 affected passengers.
The EC261/2004 says the following:
(14) As under the Montreal Convention, obligations on operating air carriers should be limited or excluded in cases where an event has been caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. Such circumstances may, in particular, occur in cases of political instability, meteorological conditions incompatible with the operation of the flight concerned, security risks, unexpected flight safety shortcomings and strikes that affect the operation of an operating air carrier.
Refusing to pay out the compensation might be hard for them to justify and uphold legally. Their IT systems aren’t covered by force majeure as it’s within the carriers realm to ensure a safe operation of their internal systems. I therefore suggest to lodge your complaint as early as possible as all complaints are processed in sequence.
Under any circumstances BA is liable for the care of passengers which includes
I Incurred expenses or want to claim EU compensation, how do I do it?
British Airways Customer Relations online form is available here.
You can upload receipts there as well if you incurred hotel, transfer or other expenses you wish to claim.
It is also possible to enter your request for a flat EU Compensation and to enter your bank details.
How much compensation am I due?
Here is the EC 261/2004 guideline for compensation the passenger will receive:
Article 7
Right to compensation [for delays & cancellations]
1. Where reference is made to this Article, passengers shall receive compensation amounting to:
(a) EUR 250 for all flights of 1500 kilometres or less; [delay of 2 hours]
(b) EUR 400 for all intra-Community flights of more than 1500 kilometres, and for all other flights between 1500 and 3500 kilometres; [delay of 3 hours]
(c) EUR 600 for all flights not falling under (a) or (b). [delay of 4 hours]
In determining the distance, the basis shall be the last destination at which the denial of boarding or cancellation will delay the passenger’s arrival after the scheduled time. …
The compensation referred to in paragraph 1 shall be paid in cash, by electronic bank transfer, bank orders or bank cheques or, with the signed agreement of the passenger, in travel vouchers and/or other services.
The distances given in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be measured by the great circle route method.
Expenses can be claimed in full and you should keep all receipts and documentation for such.
What if British Airways refuses my claim for EU Compensation?
I’d actually expect them to refuse it at the moment. They likely take the risk of a few people suing them or initiate a dispute rather than paying out many millions voluntarily. Imagine they would pay 75,000 x amounts between 250-600 EUR. That’s a fortune. Even for a big company such as IAG/BA.
In the UK the civil aviation authority has stopped mediating passenger complaints. Those are all being handled by the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR).
Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR), International Dispute Resolution Centre
70 Fleet Street, London EC4Y 1EU
Website: www.cedr.com/aviation
Their website has a form to initiate a binding dispute resolution process. I had one such case earlier this year and British Airways finally settled the case by paying the full 600 EUR due after they refused to pay up for months.
The website allows you to create a very practical case file with communication windows for all parties involved as well as a dropbox to upload supporting documents for your claim (I submitted flightstats screenshots showing the delay, boarding passes and the new passenger receipt showing INVOL (Involuntary) for the rebooking as well as the hotel voucher for Hong Kong.
Basically after you file a case and it is accepted (not all claims are accepted, they have to fall under the CEDR’s actual authority) the airline has 2 weeks to respond, in this case BA responded on the very last day they need a brief extension of time (a total of 5 business days was granted to them).
Note: If your case is totally unsuccessful you are liable to pay CEDR a 25 GBP fee which is probably to avoid people making frivolous claims. Not sure how they would enforce that payment from complainants abroad but anyway people should only claim a specific amount if it has a solid basis of being a successful claim. It’s still much cheaper and simpler than hiring an attorney.
British Airways then took 3 days to upload a settlement offer, confirming they are liable to pay me 600 EUR per EC261/2004 regulation – something they have denied on multiple occasions before.
Bottom line: BA totally dropped the ball here and it will be hard for them to get out of their responsibility to compensate passengers adequately as mandated by law. Their cost cutting finally caught up with them!
Conclusion
Airlines lie and cheat all the time, even when it comes to cases where compensation to the passenger is clearly due based on the EU regulation in place. They do it because there are no consequences for them doing so and it’s cheaper to sit complaints out and have 95% of the passengers/complainants go away. The 5% that are left over and go through the hassle of taking the airline to court or the regulating agencies are nothing more than calculated cost in a big financial chess game for the airlines.
Sure you could give the case to one of the known agencies who complain and sue on your behalf but why taking a large cut of the compensation (~25%) when you’re due the entire amount. It’s likely that BA will also have to pay a processing fee to the CEDR which is probably still cheaper for them than court costs and attorney fees should they lose a case.
PETALING JAYA: Pressure is mounting on the head of the Vivekananda Tamil school here to stop implementing the Dual Language Programme (DLP) or risk legal action.
The DLP allows Science and Mathematics to be taught in English and is aimed at boosting English proficiency and enhance students’ future employability opportunities.
The Vivekananda school’s board of governors and parent-teacher association, together with a body called Child Information, Learning and Develpment Centre (CHILD), have jointly issued a letter of demand to the school to scrap the DLP.
K Arumugam, a trustee of CHILD, said the school had earlier been served a letter on March 31 to suspend the DLP as its implementation was defective and did not comply with the guidelines issued by the education ministry.
“However, the school continued with the programme,” he said.
Today, members of the board of governors, PTA and CHILD went to the school to serve a legal notice on the school headmistress.
“Should the school fail to respond to the notice within seven days, we will file a judicial review in the High Court,” Arumugam told FMT.
DLP was allowed to be implemented in Chinese and Tamil schools in the peninsula last year after the government abolished the Teaching of Science and Mathematics in English programme.
Arumugam said the ministry’s guidelines specifically stated that the DLP must satisfy certain criteria, which included consent from parents in that school.
He said the school must also have competent teachers, adequate resources and the Bahasa Malaysia standard of that school must be higher or equal to the national average.
“In the case of Vivekananda Tamil school, the headmistress selectively implemented DLP despite objections from the board of governors and the PTA.”
Arumugam said he became an interested party as CHILD had conducted studies that showed Science and Mathematics were best taught in the mother language of the pupil instead of in English.
There are 525 Tamil schools and the government has authorised 46 such schools to implement the DLP but six later opted out.
Jim PaullWee
I have a radical idea that will shake things up, turns some heads, and wow tastebuds all around at your next cookout: Pass on the pasta salad in favor of this sesame noodle number. It's inspired by the noodle bowls I love for make-ahead lunches and easy dinners, but it goes bigger. Chewy rice noodles are right at home in this cold summer salad for a crowd, bolstered by fresh veggies, tender strips of chicken, and a creamy sesame-ginger dressing that clings to every last bite. It's quick and easy to pull together and totally satisfying without being too heavy.
Sure, it’s always nice to get a great deal on beauty products, and what’s a better deal than 100% off? “Dumpster Diving” — the art of sourcing still-usable items from the trash — is nothing new, but there are growing reports from beauty bloggers and YouTubers claiming to score free lipsticks, nail polishes, eye shadows, and other items by sorting through the items that Ulta, Sephora, and others throw out. Is this legal, and if so, is it safe?
While you might not think twice about salvaging a bookshelf or rocking chair from the curb, you might raise an eyebrow at the idea of using a bottle of foundation or palate of blush plucked from the trash.
Yet that’s exactly what some beauty lovers are doing after seeing videos of makeup “experts” dumpster diving behind beauty retailers:
Over the holiday weekend, two teenage girls were stopped by police for rummaging through the dumpster of a Texas Ulta, WFAA reports.
The girls told police that they had watched videos on Facebook in which people claimed to have found stashes of perfectly good makeup in Ulta’s dumpsters.
While the two teens only found garbage, police tell WFAA that they could have come home with something entirely different: a ticket for trespassing.
Additionally, if they had found cosmetics, they could have walked away with a bottle full of infection causing product.
With the lure of scoring free products enticing beauty lovers, here are three things you should know before you hop in the dumpster and bring home last season’s must-have lipstick.
•Is Dumpster Diving Legal? While the Supreme Court has said you have no expectation of privacy for trash left out for pick-up, dumpster diving on private property could get you in a little bit of trouble for trespassing.
•Dumpster Diving For Beauty Products: You might be able to find beauty products in a store’s dumpster, but the FDA advises against using expired or shared cosmetics.
•Pre-Destroyed Trash: Some stores try to discourage dumpster diving by damaging their discarded products before they get put into the trash.
The legality of dumpster diving isn’t quite as clear-cut as “yes, you can” and “no, you can’t,” it’s more of a gray area.
The general idea of dumpster diving received an indirect stamp of approval in 1988 when the United States Supreme Court ruled in California v. Greenwood that police didn’t need a warrant to search someone’s trash that had been left on the curb.
While this doesn’t explicitly declare that dumpster diving is allowed, it does establish that you have no reasonable expectation of privacy for trash that’s left out on the curb.
“It is common knowledge that plastic garbage bags left along a public street are readily accessible to animals, children, scavengers, snoops, and other members of the public,” the court ruled. “Moreover, respondents placed their refuse at the curb for the express purpose of conveying it to a third-party, the trash collector, who might himself have sorted through it or permitted others, such as the police, to do so.”
However, the SCOTUS ruling only clearly applies to trash that’s effectively left out in public. For instance, police would still need a warrant to search the trash cans inside your house.
Trespassing is still illegal, so if a company’s dumpster is on private, restricted property, you could be in violation of local trespassing laws. In this case, the person could be ticketed or arrested by police if they’re caught rummaging through a dumpster that is on private property, against the side of a building, or in an area marked with a “no trespassing” sign.
“A person could be committing a minor trespass offense by reaching into a privately owned dumpster, especially if the dumpster is on private property,” explains Darryl Brown, O.M. Vicars Professor of Law at the University of Virginia.
Brown notes that dumpster divers may not face theft charges for anything they do take from a dumpster, as “Stuff that people have thrown away in dumpsters and other trash bins is usually considered to be legally ‘abandoned” by them.”
One exception, says the professor, are waste receptacles where the property owner is getting paid for whatever is in that container. For example, we recently noted the uptick in thefts of restaurant grease from locked dumpsters. Eateries with these grease bins typically receive money when the old cooking oil is sold to a refiner.
“That kind of material would not be abandoned, and taking it could be a theft,” says Brown. “But that’s pretty rare.”
LOCAL BANS
There are some areas of the country where dumpster diving is expressly forbidden. Some cities have enacted ordinances outlawing the practice, most often in the name of protecting residents from identity theft.
For instance, in 2005, the Layton, UT, city council passed an ordinance outlawing dumpster diving. The Associated Press reported at the time that the measure was taken into consideration as a way to help prevent identity theft.
KEEP IT NEAT
Even if you’re not trespassing and you can’t be charged with the items you salvage, you want to be careful to not get messy. While it might be easier for scrounging purposes to throw all things you don’t want off to the side of a dumpster, leaving that trash there could get you in trouble for littering or possibly vandalism.
Putting aside the legal issues for a moment, the mere act of dumpster diving raises several health concerns: You could hurt yourself while jumping into the garbage receptacle, you could bring home a pest (like bedbugs) when you retrieve a chair, clothing, blanket or other items, or you could contract an infection from tainted beauty products.
In the case of those looking for high-end cosmetics or other beauty products, the items have been thrown out for a reason — they may have been returned or they might be expired.
The Food and Drug Administration has warns that using shared or expired products is not a good idea.
“It’s important to use cosmetic products safely,” a rep for the FDA tells Consumerist. “Cosmetics should be stored properly, in clean and tightly closed containers, to avoid potential contamination with harmful microorganisms. Sharing cosmetics or using potentially contaminated products can cause infections or other serious health concerns.”
For instance, the shelf life for eye-area cosmetics — like mascara, eyeliner, or eyeshadow — and “all natural” products are more limited than for other items. Both of these types of products are more conducive to microbial growth, which could lead to infections.
The FDA also warns against sharing cosmetic products as it can increase the risk of contamination. In the case of dumpster diving, these shared products could come in the form of discarded “tester” items or products returned by other customers. You might feel comfortable sharing makeup with your best friends, but do you trust every person that’s ever shopped at Sephora or Ulta?
Additionally, the improper storage of cosmetics could cause premature expiration and growth of bacteria. So if that tube of mascara has been sitting in the hot dumpster for a few days, it could contain infection-causing bacteria.
With regard to the two teenagers found dumpster diving at the Texas Ulta, the retailer tells WFAA it discourages the practice for health and safety reasons.
“Health and safety is a top priority for Ulta Beauty and we strongly discourage the unsafe, and sometimes illegal practice of ‘dumpster diving.’ We are aware that individuals sometimes assume the risks associated with this practice and retrieve discarded products. Ulta Beauty, like other retailers, disposes of products for a reason. All products that are damaged, used, expired or otherwise unsaleable or unsuitable for donation are disposed of in accordance with applicable laws, rules and regulations. These products should never be retrieved or used.”
Much like most good businesses shred documents before they go out in the trash to discourage snoops, some retailers like to do things to their trashed products before they hit the dumpster, so as to make them even more worthless.
We’ve told you before about stores, like Eddie Bauer and H&M cutting up their clothing before throwing it in the trash.
Just recently, and directly related to this article, the CBS Jacksonville reported that a local Ulta store was accused of bleaching discarded cosmetics to deter dumpster divers.
A post on social media purportedly showed an Ulta employee during bleach on the discarded products and warning dumpster divers: “Here’s a new recipe for you. A collection of smashed products covered entirely in bleach. Enjoy your finds.”
A man claiming to be a former worker at the store tells CBS that the while he was unaware of the bleaching of products, employees were previously tasked with using box cutters to damage discarded goods before throwing them away.
A spokesperson for Ulta reiterated to CBS that it discourages the act of dumpster diving, but that the tactic used at the Florida store does not meet its policies.
