Jim Paull

PETALING JAYA: The proposal to allow only air passengers into airports will turn the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) into a ghost hub, warned the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta).

Its president, Hamzah Rahmat, feared the move, touted to boost security against possible terrorist attacks, would give a poor first impression of Malaysia to foreign visitors.

“There are countless other ways of improving security.

“KLIA is the first point of entry for tourists and the first experience of Malaysia,” he told The Star.

He pointed out there were fewer people at KLIA after the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) started operating and after that klia2.

Retailers at KLIA, who pay premium rentals, he said, “will die” because there would not be enough passengers for it to be  profitable.

Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had on Friday announced a proposal to allow only air passengers inside terminals to boost security.

This followed the attack last month at Istanbul Ataturk Airport in Turkey in which 41 people were killed and many more injured by three terrorists armed with guns and explosives.

Hamzah suggested making it mandatory for all visitors to go through security checks before entering the airport.

In Indonesia, he said, it was common for people entering buildings to go through metal detectors.

“This may be inconvenient but it’s better than barring all non-passengers from entering airports.”

Hamzah added that klia2 was not conducive to passengers and many required the assistance of friends or family to help them with luggage or navigate through the airport.

“In klia2 the distance from the drop-off point at the departure level’s main door to the check-in counter is more than 500m.”

Hamzah, who returned from Bangkok on Friday, was also disturbed to see long queues at KLIA’s immigration counters.

“There was a sea of people and not all the counters were open. If I were a foreign tourist, I wouldn’t recommend others to visit Malaysia.”

Other international airports, he said, had a single queue before passengers were ushered to the immigration counters.

“That way passengers can clear immigration on a ‘first come, first served’ basis instead of getting delayed if the passengers ahead of them were held up by officers.”

Hamzah said he had received a complaint that on July 11, a passenger coming into Malaysia from the United States was held up in a queue for three-and-a-half hours and many others had missed connecting flights.

Immigration Director-General  Sakib Kusmi said the “snake queue” system, which was in accordance with international standards, had already been implemented at KLIA.

He said there was actually only one queue and passengers were directed to any available counter to clear immigration, hoping to clear passengers within half an hour.

PETALING JAYA: It is safe to assume that PAS Youth does not love Selena Gomez “like a love song”.

This came after the wing declared that the pop star’s concert, scheduled to be held at Stadium Malawati Shah Alam on July 25, would “contaminate” the month of Syawal.

In condemning the upcoming concert, PAS Islamic Propagation Bureau Chairman Hafez Sabri claimed that the American artiste was synonymous with having a “sexy image” and her appearance would tarnish the sanctity of Syawal, which follows the fasting month of Ramadan.

“The government, and the relevant authorities, should be stricter and more careful in giving the green light for such concerts,” Hafez said in a statement today.

He also urged the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais) to come out with an official stand on the matter and to push for Gomez to be barred from entering the country.

Hafez called for the government to enforce the entertainment guidelines issued by the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) and certified by the National Fatwa Committee.

“It is our priority and responsibility to ensure that there are no elements that can damage Malaysia’s younger generation.”

This is not the first time PAS has slammed planned concerts by international artistes.

Over the years, the Islamist party has called for the banning of performances by Canadian rocker Avril Lavigne, American R&B artiste Beyonce and British superstar Elton John.

Only Beyonce cancelled her performance, reportedly due to conditions on the type of costume she was allowed to wear on stage.

Selena Gomez was a star on the Disney children’s programme “The Wizards of Waverly Place” before moving on to a singing career.

What happens when you pack a bunch of people into a space and then only leave them with one way to exit? You get a big ol’ logjam, the kind that trapped many shoppers at a new IKEA location in the UK for hours while they waited to use the parking garage’s one and only exit.

The new IKEA store in Reading, England just opened on July 14, and it’s safe to say the location was pretty popular over the weekend: according to some shoppers’ reports on Sunday, the 1,000-car parking garage’s single exit ramp caused “traffic chaos,” leaving some folks stranded for hours queued up to get out, The Mirror reports.

One couple left the store at 1:15 p.m. and found total gridlock in the parking garage. So they left to grab a bite to eat nearby, and came back an hour later, only to find the car they’d seen lining up earlier had barely moved.

“It just wasn’t moving in the car park, we got back to the car and the car in front had moved about 20 feet,” the man told the Mirror. They didn’t leave their parking spot until after 4 p.m., and finally left the garage just before 5, he said.

IKEA staff were around, but didn’t seem to be helping much, the shopper said, though they did walk around offering drinks to those trapped in their cars.

Another shopper complained on Twitter that she’d been stuck for almost four hours.

A spokeswoman for IKEA confirmed that the parking garage at the store closed “for a short period this afternoon to allow customers to exit the store,” and said at the time that they were “working to keep traffic moving as quickly as possible.”

IKEA shoppers trapped in car park for FOUR hours as hundreds try to squeeze through one exit [The Mirror]

JOHOR BARU: The Government will implement the Advance Passenger Screening System (APSS) as soon as possible after evaluating several factors, including the cost of implementation, Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamad said.

He said the APSS will help provide background information of each visitor boarding a plane to come here in advance to enable the authorities to conduct screening.

“The system will apply to all airports and, currently, we are also evaluating the need to close the waiting area in the airport building to limit the public (who are not passengers) from entering the area,” he told reporters at the Pulai parliamentary constituency Aidilfitri open house here, yesterday.

Nur Jazlan said they are looking at restricting certain areas in the airport as a permanent feature.

Meanwhile, on the recent travel warning issued by the British and Canadian governments to their citizens intending to visit Malaysia, he said it was not a big issue.

“They issued the warning simply because of the Islamic State threat here.

“But we also have to understand that the violence in the West is even more pronounced. In France, which is Britain’s neighbour, three incidents of violence have occurred causing many deaths.

“Based on these circumstances, we can also issue travel warnings to our people wanting to go there, but we have not done so for the sake of maintaining diplomatic relations,” he said.

 

Few things irritate office workers more than booking a meeting right over lunch. Sure, it may be the only time most people’s calendars are open, but that’s probably because everyone’s trying to get out of the office and have a meal. The solution is simple: don’t schedule lunch meetings unless you’re buying lunch.

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RIYADH: A fire ripped through an uninhabited hotel in the Saudi holy city of Mecca on Sunday without causing casualties, the civil defence spokesman said.

Firefighters put out the blaze at the 10-floor hotel, the spokesman said in statements carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.

The fire had spread from palm trees facing a facade of the hotel and gutted all 10 floors of the building which comprises two towers.

Pictures posted by the official SPA news agency on its website showed flames and black smoke billowing from the hotel as firefighters battled to extinguish the blaze.

Mecca is Islam’s holiest site.

Every year, millions of Muslims flock to Mecca and Medina further south, Islam’s second holiest site, to carry out the annual hajj pilgrimage or the lesser pilgrimage known as the umra.

Last year, more than 2,000 worshippers performing hajj were crushed to death in Mecca, in the worst disaster to ever strike the annual ritual.

According to figures from foreign officials, at least 2,297 pilgrims died. Saudi Arabia issued a death toll of 769.

From Apartment Therapy → 5 Design Ideas to Steal from a Deliciously Dark Kitchen

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I’ll take an unagi roll, some tuna nigiri, and a side of lies, please.

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While not much to look at on the outside, a brown banana is actually a beautiful thing. It might not be good to eat on its own, but strip away its mottled skin, and its sweet and mushy innards are ideal for using in a multitude of recipes, particularly of the snacking kind.

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Yesterday was officially Pandemonium Day! All last week, every day was Pandemonium Day for me! Daughter #2 and her husband, their three cats and their rabbit stayed with us for 11 days between apartments. We are normally two adults and two Dobermans. It was...yeah. That. They left Tuesday and I was never so glad to get my house back, but I rather fancied I looked like the cat in the picture there ^ for the 11 days we were all in the same house together.

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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.

PETALING JAYA: Vehicle registration numbers with the prefix “V” will be available for road users in Kuala Lumpur soon, reported The Sun daily.

According to the the Road Transport Department (RTD), the booking for number plates with the prefix will commence from today until July 28.

The new prefix would replace the current prefix of alphabet, followed by number and another alphabet (eg W 1 A), which has been in effect since September 2013.The new numbers are expect to roll out in September, said the report.

Those interested in booking the “V” prefix can submit their applications to the Federal Territories RTD – the terms and guidelines for which are available at www.jpj.gov.my.

Deputy Transport Minister Aziz Kaprawi told the daily that the prefix “V” is to encourage car owners to bid for golden numbers, fancy numbers (two digit) and popular numbers (four digit).

Apart from “V” for KL, motorists in Putrajaya can also buy the “F” prefix for their vehicles.

A right-wing Christian pastor warned on his radio program that the Pokémon GO cell phone game undoubtedly had sinister portents. Rick Wiles, who frequently warns the apocalypse is near, called police last week after spotting a middle-aged man apparently taking pictures with his phone outside his...

Malaysia Airlines has been running Business Class promotions ex Bangkok to various destinations within Asia which are great to collect Status Miles/Credits, especially if you credit to British Airways Executive Club.

Now Malaysia Airlines offers round trips between Bangkok and Beijing via KL for as little as 9,300 THB (265 USD) which net in 360 BA Tier Points.

The booking window always varies so I felt it might be a good opportunity to once again bring this to the attention of our LoyaltyLobby readers in the region who might be able to utilize it.

For some reason these fares don’t show up on Malaysia Airlines website but only on Expedia Thailand so you have to access their site to get your booking in. Other Expedia sites work as well but with some currency fluctuations so you might want to check on that.

These killer deals ex Thailand are really over the top in terms of value for money. There are many destinations which I will list below, however for the purpose of maximizing your status credits with British Airways it is key to select flights that are over a certain threshold to jump from just 40 Tier Points for shorter flights (such as the feeder BKK-KUL) to 140 Tier Points for the connection.

Available destinations Ex Bangkok (BKK) are: Beijing (9,300 THB), Shanghai (16,250 THB), Tokyo (23,600 THB), Seoul (24,600 THB).

You can also do open jaw tickets in case you want to fly to China but avoid the Visa requirement (have to book yourself another ticket from China to the secondary country in this case) as in the following example which I booked for myself:

 

The same example of an open jaw ticket (return from a different airport) can be replicated with Seoul or Tokyo. You can buy a cheap ticket either with cash or miles out of China to any of these airports and as long as you don’t exceed 72 hours for Beijing you are allowed to stay in the city without a visa.

These fares have many advantages since the destinations are actually very nice and useful for a holiday or business trip. You can incorporate many cities in one ticket as the open jaw shows and even go as far as include an overnight (transfer up to 24h) in KUL for the same price or a longer stopover for 1500 THB extra.

As far as the service on board is concerned I actually like Malaysia Airlines and always found the crew to be very pleasant. The food is decent with the signature Malay satay and on some routes including all the A330/B777 operated ones you can actually pre-order your meal and select out of an extensive list of very nice dishes through the ‘Chef On Call’ option (see here).

Conclusion

These fares have been coming and going for the last two years but weren’t available for at least 2 months now. I was actually waiting for them to come back again and it’s finally the case as I needed to book a ticket to Tokyo and out of Taipei for August and was short before buying an award ticket.

You can collect plenty of Tier Points with these fares and for a very low price. 260 USD for a roundtrip to Beijing and in return 360 Tier points is crazy. Seoul and Tokyo ex Bangkok are great as well with 650 USD per Ticket. If you do an open jaw with Beijing and Tokyo the price goes down to 16,200 THB (420 USD).

The spectacular image of the storm was taken from the cockpit of an airplane in near darkness and during a bumpy ride The image was taken over the Pacific Ocean from around 37,000 feet above and by a pilot. The pilot named Santiago Borja was at multitasking.

Many people in the field of project management think that doing more and more as time goes on is a fact of life.

Rice Krispies treats are pretty close to perfection — a sweet, buttery, chewy, and crunchy snack that requires only three ingredients. A full batch takes very little effort to execute, so why would you ever need a recipe for a single Rice Krispies treat?

This recipe is ideal for using up that last cup of cereal, making one, but is also great for teaching your little ones how to safely use the microwave. All you need is a microwave, a mug, and a minute.

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Babysitting the grill or oven while dinner cooks is nobody’s idea of a good time, but this wireless temperature probe will alert you the moment your food has reached the desired temperature.

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PETALING JAYA: Selepas dikritik hebat dan dituduh menghina seniman agung P Ramlee, pengarah filem David Teo hari ini mendapat pembelaaan aktivis selebriti Abdul Rani Kulup.

Rani berkata Teo bukan seorang yang suka menghina atau memburuk-burukan pihak lain.

Malah, Rani menganggap Teo seorang berbangsa Cina “berjiwa Melayu” kerana sikapnya sangat mesra Melayu, dan ramai pelakon selesa dengan pendekatannya.

“Apa yang saya faham, David Teo punya kenyataan, dia bukan menghina, bukan mengata dan dia tidak berniat untuk menjatuhkan P Ramlee, tetapi maksud David Teo itu supaya penerbit dan pelakon tidak menjadi seperti P Ramlee, apabila berjaya, mencipta sejarah pemfileman negara, dikenali ramai, namun beliau diabaikan dan hidupnya dalam keadaan susah tidak ada siapa datang membantu dan dia mati pun dalam keadaan tidak berduit.

“Sepanjang saya kenal David Teo, saya tengok dia bukan jenis yang suka mengutuk, rasis, memburuk-burukkan orang, dan dia juga bukan jenis yang suka membuat cerita tak tentu pasal kalau tidak ada sebab.

“Saya tengok David Teo, inilah orang Cina yang berjiwa Melayu,” kata Rani kepada FMT.

Rani sebelum ini pernah membintangi filem “Kipidap selamatkan hari jadi” terbitan Teo.

“Saya puji David Teo bukan sebab saya pernah jadi pelakon David Teo,” tambah beliau.

Teo dikritik hebat susulan kenyataan beliau syarikatnya, MiG, tidak hanya mahu melahirkan pelakon terkenal tetapi mampu menjadi jutawan, tidak seperti yang berlaku kepada P Ramlee yang hidup merempat.

Rani sebaliknya menyerang pengkritik Teo, dan mempersoalkan hak P Ramlee dan keluarganya yang dinafikan.

“Kenapa orang tidak bising bila hak kebajikan P Ramlee dan keluarga diabaikan, hasil atau royalti karya P Ramlee tidak diberi kepada keluarga, tetapi bila David Teo keluarkan kenyataan sedemikian semua bising, sedangkang apa yang David Teo cakap itu benda yang betul sebagai pengajaran kepada semua.

“Saya tengok kebanyakan artis ini dipuji apabila mereka diperlukan, tetapi bila dah tua dan tiada kepentingan, kebajikan mereka pun tak ada, sepatutnya duit pencen kena bagi la,” tegas Rani yang terkenal kerana kekerapannya membuat laporan polis terhadap pemimpin pembangkang.

PETALING JAYA: Troubled airline RayaniAir has apologised for its inability to provide refunds to customers for their flight tickets.

h/t Nicole Belle

Open thread below....

Here’s something to light up your day. A 16-pack of lightbulbs (who needs 16 lightbulbs at once? You do, that’s who) is only $20 today. That’s basically a little over $1 per lightbulb. Just thought I’d shine some light on the subject. I’ll see myself out.

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If you’re the kind of person who’d rather get your milk from a plant than an animal, Starbucks has some news for you: the chain will be selling its first-ever espresso beverage with a coconut milk base for a limited time this summer.

The Iced Coconut Milk Mocha Macchiato — espresso, white chocolate mocha sauces, Single Origin Sumatran Coconut Milk, and ice, topped caramel and mocha drizzle — will be available in the U.S. and Canada starting July 12, Starbucks announced, for a limited time.

“Using coconut milk instead of coconut syrup provides a hint of summer — summer breeze,” Starbucks’ coffee education specialist Mackenzie Karr told Business Insider. “It’s really subtle, and nice and surprising.”

Starbucks has already seen success with coconut milk, which the chain added as a vegan alternative to dairy and soy milks in 2015.

This new drink, however, isn’t entirely dairy-free, as the white chocolate and mocha sauce include milk ingredients.

Your next TV really should have HDR support , and this 2016 Samsung 4K fits the bill for $590.

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PETALING JAYA: Muslim women working at fast-food outlets and hypermarkets in Kelantan must cover their “aurat” from next year.

According to a New Straits Times report, the new ruling would see Muslim women having to wear long-sleeved uniforms that fully cover their arms.

The report quoted state Local Government, Housing, Youth and Sports Committee chairman Abdul Fattah Mahmood as saying that non-Muslim staff would also be advised to dress decently at work.

“The committee had a discussion with several hypermarkets and business operators over the issue recently, and they have agreed in principle to our proposal,” he was quoted as saying.

Fattah also expressed hope that the ruling would not receive brickbats from “outsiders”, as Kelantan was a “state with a difference.”

“The ruling will ensure a good image for business operators and, at the same time, it can promote the tourism industry in the state,” he said, adding that the state government also encouraged food traders at night markets and food stalls to introduce long-sleeved attire for their workers to promote “hygiene.”

The report also spoke to several Kelantan folk, who welcomed the move.

Shop assistant Mohamad Hafiz Shukri, 22, said some female workers wore “tight and sexy” dresses to the office, and the ruling to cover their aurat would “stop men from gawking at the workers and committing sin.”

A WOMAN in Tamil Nadu set herself on fire after her husband refused to let her pet dog stay inside their house, Makkal Osai reported.

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.

New York and Los Angeles are notorious for traffic congestion, but a handful of other cities around the world are just as bad (or worse). Recently released data shows what traffic is like in major cities around the world. If you’re planning a big move, you’ll want to explore the tool to see what your own commute may look like.

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BREBES: Twelve people have died during a massive three-day traffic jam in Indonesia that stretched more than 20 kilometres (13 miles) and brought thousands of holidaymakers to a complete standstill, an official said Friday.

The horror traffic at a major highway junction at Brebes, a city on the main island of Java, was so bad that Indonesians dubbed the disastrous toll gate “Brexit”, from the words “Brebes exit”.

Roads across the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country are choked every year at the end of the holy month of Ramadan, as millions head to villages to celebrate Eid, which fell on Wednesday.

But the chaos at the “Brexit” junction this year was particularly acute in the three days before Eid, as tens of thousands of cars crammed the arterial highway, transport ministry spokesman Hemi Pramuraharjo told AFP.

“In terms of this Brexit case, there’s been a total of 12 victims over different days,” he said. The deaths occurred between July 3 and July 5, not a single day as earlier reported, he said.

Pramuraharjo said several of the victims were elderly while others died from fatigue and other health complications. Local media reported that a one-year-old suffering from fume poisoning was also among the deceased.

More than 400 motorists had died on Indonesia’s roads so far this holiday season, including those in the “Brexit” jam, Pramuraharjo said.

Accidents are not uncommon during the holiday odysseys, particularly on the potholed roads of overcrowded Java, home to more than half of Indonesia’s 255 million people.

At the “Brexit” snarl, frustrated motorists posted pictures to social media showing cars snaked back for miles. Aerial shots captured a sea of motionless vehicles, with some drivers seeking respite on the roadside.

Pramuraharjo said roadside vendors and crowded markets near the junction compounded the chaos, leading to traffic snarls “more than 20 kilometres” in length.

“There is a bottleneck there, where there’s a petrol station very nearby and many people queue,” he said.

“There’s no space on the road. We don’t have a solution.”

Responding to the controversy, the health ministry denied earlier reports the “Brexit” victims died in a single day, and urged motorists planning a long journey to rest and take all necessary precautions.

The ministry’s Achmad Yurianto said in a statement the heavy use of air conditioning could also lead to an increase in carbon dioxide within the cramped confines of the car.