A total of 150,000 seats are available for purchase online for two days only — tomorrow and Sunday — for travel from March 2 till Aug 31.

Malaysia Airlines’ Weekend Specials kicked off two weeks ago for the first time and has returned due to overwhelming customer response.

MAS senior general manager Dr Amin Khan said: “The Weekend Specials was very well-received and demonstrated to us that people will continue to travel when the right product is offered at the right price.”

He added: “Now that we have removed the domestic fuel surcharge, customers will be able to enjoy really low fares with no hidden charges. This is in addition to the premium services offered including refreshments on board, convenient schedules, on time departures, 20kg baggage allowance and allocated seats.”

Seats must be purchased online at least 30 days before departure at the MAS website (www.malaysiaairlines.com). Flight dates cannot be changed and tickets are non-refundable. The promotional fares are not available during peak travel periods.

Instead, fish, mixed seafood and beef will be served, depending on sectors. However, chicken will remain on the menu for flights out of Malaysia as the meat here is sourced from local farms.

MAS general manager for inflight services Hayati Ali said: “The safety of our passengers is top priority for us at Malaysia Airlines. This move is aimed at ensuring the comfort and well-being of our passengers.”

I think it’s worth for me to keep this copy of Obama’s acceptance speech here. The speech is so inspired and giving me the believe not to be afraid of CHANGE. We need to change for the better and we have to believe that we can do it.

Here’s the prepared transcript of his acceptance speech from the Yahoo News Room:

Remarks of President-Elect Barack Obama-as prepared for delivery
Election Night
Tuesday, November 4th, 2008
Chicago, Illinois

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

It’s the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference.

It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled – Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.

It’s the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.

It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.

I just received a very gracious call from Senator McCain. He fought long and hard in this campaign, and he’s fought even longer and harder for the country he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine, and we are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader. I congratulate him and Governor Palin for all they have achieved, and I look forward to working with them to renew this nation’s promise in the months ahead.

I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on that train home to Delaware, the Vice President-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.

I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last sixteen years, the rock of our family and the love of my life, our nation’s next First Lady, Michelle Obama. Sasha and Malia, I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy that’s coming with us to the White House. And while she’s no longer with us, I know my grandmother is watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight, and know that my debt to them is beyond measure.

To my campaign manager David Plouffe, my chief strategist David Axelrod, and the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics – you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you’ve sacrificed to get it done.

But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to – it belongs to you.

I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn’t start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington – it began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston.

It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give five dollars and ten dollars and twenty dollars to this cause. It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation’s apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who volunteered, and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this Earth. This is your victory.

I know you didn’t do this just to win an election and I know you didn’t do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime – two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century. Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how they’ll make the mortgage, or pay their doctor’s bills, or save enough for college. There is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats to meet and alliances to repair.

The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America – I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you – we as a people will get there.

There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won’t agree with every decision or policy I make as President, and we know that government can’t solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it’s been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years – block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.

What began twenty-one months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek – it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you.

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it’s that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers – in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people.

Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House – a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, “We are not enemies, but friends…though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection.” And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn – I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too.

And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world – our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear this world down – we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security – we support you. And to all those who have wondered if America’s beacon still burns as bright – tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.

For that is the true genius of America – that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that’s on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She’s a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing – Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.

She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons – because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.

And tonight, I think about all that she’s seen throughout her century in America – the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can’t, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.

At a time when women’s voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.

When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.

When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.

She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that “We Shall Overcome.” Yes we can.

A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves – if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time – to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth – that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:

Yes We Can. Thank you, God bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.

Tickets for the route went on sale on the airline’s website on midnight Wednesday with the free seats available for booking between now and Oct 19.

AirAsia chief executive Datuk Tony Fernandes said the Kuching-Singapore route would be a huge boost to tourism in Sarawak.

“We’re currently doing a very aggressive marketing campaign in Singapore and our first flight will be on Nov 1.

“We will start with one flight a day and from March onwards we will increase the frequency,” he said at a media briefing here yesterday.

On the Kuching-Macau flight, which will be suspended on Oct 26 due to low passenger load, Fernandes said AirAsia would look into reinstating it in three months’ time.

“We will work closely with the Sarawak Tourism Board to promote the state to Macau and south China and we hope to reinstate this route within the next two to three months,” he said.

He also announced that AirAsia will increase the frequency of its Kuala Lumpur-Bintulu route from seven to 11 flights a week and Kuching-Bintulu from seven to 14 flights weekly beginning Oct 26.

Meanwhile, state Urban Development and Tourism Minister Datuk Michael Manyin welcomed the new route to Singapore, saying it would boost connectivity and help bring in more tourists to the state.

To further develop the tourism industry, he said Sarawak’s tourism authorities would work with their Sabah counterparts to jointly promote the two states.

“For example, we will promote Mulu and Mount Kinabalu together as both have been listed as Unesco World Heritage Sites.

“We will also promote our indigenous festivals together, with plans for tourists to go to Sabah, first for Kaamatan, before continuing on to Sarawak for Gawai Dayak,” he said. – TheStar

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (CNN) — Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday outside a large gathering of her supporters where a suicide bomber also killed at least 14, doctors and a spokesman for her party said.

Benazir Bhutto greets her supporters at the rally that was hit by a suicide attack.

While Bhutto appeared to have died from bullet wounds, it was not immediately clear if she was shot or if her wounds were caused by bomb shrapnel.

President Pervez Musharraf held an emergency meeting in the hours after the death, according to state media.

Police warned citizens to stay home as they expected rioting to break out in city streets in reaction to the death.

Police sources told CNN the bomber, who was riding a motorcycle, blew himself up near Bhutto’s vehicle.

Bhutto was rushed to Rawalpindi General Hospital — less than two miles from the bombing scene — where doctors pronounced her dead.

Former Pakistan government spokesman Tariq Azim Khan said while it appeared Bhutto was shot, it was unclear if the bullet wounds to her head and neck were caused by a shooting or if it was shrapnel from the bomb. Video Watch Benazir Bhutto obituary. »

Bhutto’s husband issued a statement from his home in Dubai saying, “All I can say is we’re devastated, it’s a total shock.”

President Bush, vacationing at his Texas ranch, has been “informed about the situation in Pakistan,” said the White House. “We condemn the acts of violence which took place today in Pakistan,” said a spokesman.

The number of wounded was not immediately known. However, video of the scene showed ambulances lined up to take many to hospitals.

The attack came just hours after four supporters of former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif died when members of another political party opened fire on them at a rally near the Islamabad airport Thursday, Pakistan police said.

Several other members of Sharif’s party were wounded, police said.

Bhutto, who led Paksitan from 1988 to 1990 and was the first female prime minister of any Islamic nation, was participating in the parliamentary election set for January 8, hoping for a third term.

A terror attack targeting her motorcade in Karachi killed 136 people on the day she returned to Pakistan after eight years of self-imposed exile. View timeline. »

CNN’s Mohsin Naqvi, who was at the scene of both bombings, said Thursday’s blast was not as powerful as that October attack.

Thursday’s attacks come less than two weeks after Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf lifted an emergency declaration he said was necessary to secure his country from terrorists.

Bhutto had been critical of what she believed was a lack of effort by Musharraf’s government to protect her.
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Two weeks after the October assassination attempt, she wrote a commentary for CNN.com in which she questioned why Pakistan investigators refused international offers of help in finding the attackers.

“The sham investigation of the October 19 massacre and the attempt by the ruling party to politically capitalize on this catastrophe are discomforting, but do not suggest any direct involvement by General Pervez Musharraf,” Bhutto wrote.

Thank god, I am living in a country where the people are not as extreme as in Pakistan. Ministers can still walking around freely without being accompanied by bodyguards. I hate exteremists!

[tags]Benazir Bhutto[/tags]

State-owned Etisalat – the country’s only fixed line operator –claims it did not ban Skype, but that the decision was made instead by the Dubai government.”

“It’s illegal to use voice over IP in the UAE and it is left to the regulatory authorities to allow or disallow such things,” Ahmed Bin Ali, public relations manager at Etisalat, told ITP Business. However, Bin Ali went on to admit that he didn’t know why a technology that is legal across most of the world had been banned in the UAE. “I don’t have the answer. Up ‘til now the technology itself has not been standardised,” he added.

Coincidentally, the Skype block comes as Etisalat itself prepares to launch its own VoIP service later this year. However, when quizzed on whether Etisalat might have been using its UAE government connections to ban VoIP competitors in advance, Bin Ali claimed this wasn’t the case. “That’s not a fair [accusation],” he said. “It (Skype) has been blocked because it is illegal to operate.”
May 2005, ITP.NET

The question here is who own Etisalat? Off course, the Dubai government. So, if the government wants  to squeeze more money from the huge number of expats in UAE, any attempt to use other services apart from the services provided by the government will be stopped at all costs. Ermmm..This is what you can expect from the income tax free country. You earn some and you will loose some. You can’t win everything.

The government has approved a total of 1183 applications during the first nine months of this year. The total amount is still considered very-very low comparing to country like Spain and Thailand. Recently the government has announced another initiative to attract more foreigners to participate in the MM2H program. The initiative is to fast track approval for those who bought properties worth RM1 millions (approx. USD290K) and above in Malaysia.

Fast track for ‘My 2nd Home’ apps

By CHOI TUCK WO

LONDON: Applications for the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme will be fast-tracked for those who had bought properties worth RM1 million and above in Malaysia.

Tourism Ministry secretary-general Datuk Dr Victor Wee said they must show proof such as the sale & purchase agreement and other documents when submitting their applications.

He said although purchase of property was not a prerequisite for the programme, it showed the applicants’ financial capabilities.

Click here to read the whole article from TheStar online.

However, the standard basic requirement is still have to be fulfilled before applications being approved. So, below is the requirement for foreigners to participate in this MM2H program:

If applicants age are above 50 years old:

• May either choose to
  • Open a fixed deposit account of RM 150,000
    OR
  • Show proof of monthly off-shore income of RM 10,000 such as a pension scheme.
• Participants who fulfill the fixed deposit criteria may redraw up to RM 90,000 for approved expenses relating to house purchase, education for children in Malaysia and medical purposes after a period of one ( 1 ) year.
• Must maintain a minimum balance of RM 60,000 from the second year onwards and throughout their stay in Malaysia under this programme.

if applicants age are below 50 years old :

• Must open a fixed deposit account of RM 300,000
• After a period of one ( 1 ) year, the participants may redraw up to RM 240,000 for approved expenses relating to house purchase, education for children in Malaysia and medical purposes.
• Must maintain a minimum balance of RM 60,000 from the second year onwards and throughout their stay in Malaysia under this programme.

Other general requirements for all applications :

• All applicants and their dependants ( spouse and children ) are required to submit a medical report from any private hospital in Malaysia.
• Approved participants and their dependants ( spouse and children ) must possess a valid medical insurance coverage from any insurance company that is applicable in Malaysia. In case the insurance coverage by an insurance company is rejected or refused because of age factor, this requirement can be waived but proof of refusal is required.
• Successful applicant and spouse issued the Visit Passes under the Malaysia, My Second Home Program will not be allowed to take up any form of employment in Malaysia. However, taking part in voluntary organization that is in accordance with the government rules and regulations is permitted.
• All applications must be completed by a local sponsor that has been appointed by the Immigration Department of Malaysia. The sponsor shall submit the application directly to the Immigration Department.

There you are!!..The requirements seem not too high but still not being able to attract more foreign citizens to retire in Malaysia. Maybe the Government needs to do more promotions abroad to introduce Malaysia.

Errr..Where is Malaysia? A country located above Singapore and below Thailand.

The new rail link will be crucial for Saudi Arabia economy because it will help to connect Jeddah which is a major transshipment hub on the Red Sea to Dammam which allows further shipment to Iran , Iraq , Kuwait , Qatar , and Bahrain. Shipments by sea will have to go around the Arabian peninsula which can take 5 to 7 days. With rail link, it will offer significant time savings compared to shipping by sea. With this reduced transit times, it will allow shipping companies to realize cost & service gains.

The other project which is being planned is Makkah and Madinah rail project. This railway project will primarily cover passenger service to accommodate annual pilgrimage.Approximately 2.5 million pilgrims during the Hajj period and 7.5 million Umrah visitors during the year and approximately 2 million Umrah visitors during the Ramadan season alone.High speed mass transit system is being planned to handle this heavy commuter traffic situation between Makkah & Jeddah.

Back to tsunami in 2004, a total of 52 people died because of tsunami. Among the badly hit areas including Gurney Drive, northern beaches from Teluk Bahang to Tanjung Tokong and Balik Pulau.

Psshhhhh…The person who took the picture also has this terrible mindset. I took the picture from TheStar online..