Malaysia Airlines new offer  from 7th January to 23rd January 2008.

Domestic route offer is valid for One-Way ticket only with 7 days advanced purchase applies except for flights within East Malaysia. While for other destinations, air tickets is valid for return travel between 09 Jan - 15 Mar 2008 with 3 days advanced purchase.

Travel to ‘Lion City’ has now become more easy for UAE tourists with the appointment of two new visa processing agents in Dubai.

According to the Consulate of the Republic of Singapore, the country has witnessed a steady 19 percent year-on-year growth in visitor arrivals. “The move will help accommodate the significant increase in visa requests due to the rise in travel to Singapore from the UAE.”

“Singapore has always been a very desirable and convenient destination for travellers from the Middle East, and the launch of this new service will make it even easier to travel to the Lion City from 2008,” said Dileep Nair, Singapore’s Consul General in Dubai.

The newly-appointed agencies, VSA Versatile Service Agency and Uranus Travel & Tours (LLC), will provide new service that will significantly facilitate the visa application process in Dubai.

Visitors can now submit their visa application at either of these agencies, and will benefit from a new user-friendly web-based application “Submission of Application for Visa Electronically” (SAVE) which the agencies will use to forward the applications to the Consulate.

Save will also help boost security by enabling the Consulate to issue visa stickers with security-embedded features that can pre-empt forgery and electronically link all stored information to Singapore checkpoints and Missions around the world.

“The Singapore Tourism Board is delighted by these positive developments in visa application procedures, which we believe will further drive our impressive visitor growth from the UAE,” said Jason Ong, Area Director, Middle East and Africa, Singapore Tourism Board.

The Singapore Consulate will continue to offer emergency visa processing at its new central location in Al Satwa.-TradeArabia News Service

In the latest news reported that Jetstar Asia is now allowed to fly lucrative Singapore-Kuala Lumpur route. It was a different story a few days before when Jetstar may not be allowed to ply the route because Jetstar is subjected to Malaysia-Australia aviation agreement.

(Channel NewsAsia) - SINGAPORE: Jetstar Asia is in the clear to fly the Singapore-Malaysia route.

In a tale of twists and turns, reports from Malaysia on Tuesday said it may not be allowed to fly the route because of a clause in the Malaysia-Australia aviation agreement.

The Malaysian Transport Ministry clarified on Wednesday that although it has some Australian backing, the carrier can fly the route as its majority investors are from Singapore and it is a Singaporean airline.

It also noted that the carrier is a separate entity from Jetstar Australia, which is owned by Qantas.

Singapore’s Transport Minister Raymond Lim, said: “I am not sure if the report was referring to Jetstar or Jetstar Asia. Jetstar Asia is a Singapore carrier and is entitled to air rights from Singapore. My understanding is that Jetstar Asia has received approval from the KL authorities in this matter.”

Chong Phit Lian, CEO of Jetstar Asia, said: “I can’t say for sure what is happening on the other side but we know Jetstar Asia operates under the Singapore AOC and we have been given the rights – we’ll definitely fly from 1 February.”

Happy New Year 2008!!

There still many unsettled resolutions for 2007 which I will carry into 2008. Hopefully 2008 will bring more cheers and wealth into my family.

I am quite shocked today when reading the latest news from CNN about Benazir Bhutto being assassinated by a suicide bomber. Eventhough I am not a Pakistani but I have been following the Pakistan’s political scene with great interest. Many interesting development has happened since Mr Pervez Musharaff declared emergency state and allowing Mrs Bhutto to go back to Pakistan. I am terribly..terribly shocked with the news..

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!