The Electric Train: Faster Ipoh-KL travel

Yes, beginning April 2010, get ready for a 140 km/h speed train to shorten the journeying time from Ipoh to Kuala Lumpur.

The first of five sets of the six-car electric train had arrived on Dec 3 from South Korea. When deployed on the tracks, this comfortable electric train will take you from Ipoh to Seremban in less than 2 hours (1 hour 55 minutes estimated time). It takes about 3 hours now. The day of drudgery on trains will be gone from this stretch from then on.

The five sets of train cost RM240 million and each train has a capacity of 350 seats.

I am looking forward for this to happen. If the schedule works for me, it means an option is now open for me to perhaps relocate to Ipoh or Seremban when rents are cheaper and cost of living lower so that I can stretch further the ever shrinking ringgit, no thanks to the government.

Gentings is Now in Cairo!

2009 is one real eventful year for Genting Berhad and its subsidiaries.

Sentosa Island Resorts in Singapore is days away from its opening. Development is on-going in Manila and Gentings Hong Kong has been incorporated.

Genting Casinos is now the new operator of casino in Cairo.

Genting Casinos Limited, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Genting UK Plc, is the new operator of the casino at The Nile Ritz Carlton Hotel, Cairo.

Genting Singapore Plc said Genting UK, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, has been awarded the casino concession for an initial period of 10 years.

According to the press release,Genting UK plans to open the new operation under the brand,"Crockfords on the Nile".

It said this step is being taken, as part of the group's strategy to expand its casino resort network as well as strengthen and develop, Genting UK's leading position in the premium market through its key high-end London casino clubs, Crockfords, Coloby and Maxims.

Genting Singapore said the Nile Hotel is owned by Misr Hotels Company, a leading, government-controlled hotel owner and operator in Egypt.

Misr Hotels will shortly be undertaking a major refurbishment of the renowned Cairo hotel on the banks of the Nile.

The hotel, considered an icon in the Egyptian capital, has contributed to the country's travel industry for the past 50 years.It first opened in 1958.

It will be re-opened as The Nile Ritz Carlton Hotel, Cairo, following an extensive renovation and refurbishment plan, expected to be completed in early 2012.

So, what do you know? Isn't Genting real busy in 2009?

2010: RPGT Kicks In

This article in the Malaysian Insider was written by Lee Wei Lian

I will abridged and highlight the salient issues.

The real property gains tax (RPGT), which takes effect in 2010, is likely to hit long-standing homeowners and foreign investors the most.

The five per cent tax, which was announced in October, is normally imposed to curb speculation but due to its flat structure does not differentiate between homeowners who have been holding a property for 20 years or those who are flipping properties within one or two years for a profit.

The property sector was also taken by surprise by the announcement and worries that it will send a message to potential investors that the government has not been consistent in its policy-making.

An exemption on the RPGT was given in 2007 and its removal two years later with little warning could heighten the feeling of uncertainty among investors.

Real Estate and Housing Developers Association of Malaysia (REHDA) president Datuk Ng Seing Liong said the RPGT should be structured so that it curbs short-term speculation and take into account interest paid on the property as well as inflation.[Such a logical proposal]

"The RPGT will hit those who hold property for more than 10 years the most," Ng told The Malaysian Insider. "It also does not ensure that the interest that was paid is tax deductible like in Australia. If you pay a housing loan over 20 years, the interest you pay is substantial and it should be deductible."

Ng said the RPGT has also introduced an element of uncertainty for foreigners looking to invest in property in Malaysia, noting that the exemption was introduced fairly recently.

"They will now feel that government policy is not consistent and the five per cent tax can be increased anytime in the future," says Ng.

One leading property developer told The Malaysian Insider that the impact will not be as bad as it originally seemed right after the announcement.

"The government has clarified some things since then," he said. "However, it would be good if they can keep their policies consistent."

This perception of "flip flopping" in policy-making could pose a challenge for the Najib administration which is trying to chart a new growth path for the country with an emphasis on private investment.

Property website thinkproperty.my says that investor confidence has fallen as a result of the RPGT.

Its Property Outlook Index dropped to 29 per cent at the end of November 2009, down from its all-time high of 68 per cent on the day before the re-introduction of RPGT was announced.

"The level of RPGT at 5 per cent is de minimis. However, people are concerned that this will make Malaysian real estate less attractive relative to other options for both local buyers and foreign investors, the latter of whom have plenty of other countries where they can invest their money. In addition many are worried that this is the first step towards further increases in RPGT, something that the government has not ruled out," said thinkproperty CEO Asim Qureshi.

It will indeed be a sad day for many potential property sellers when January 2nd dawns on the eastern horizon.

Berlusconi: Sharp Shot to the Head!

You may be loved. You may be hated.

That is the way Italian President Silvio Berlusconi felt after receiving a blow to the head from a piece of Milan Cathedral miniature hurled by a sharp thrower in the crowd who loves him not.

The result: A broken nose.

Obama: A Kodak Moment!

This is a gem of a picture. A Kodak moment at its best!

Would the London cop ever imagined that he will be meeting with his "brother" who is a President of the most powerful nation in the world?

You bet, he didn't and yet the magic moment came!

And that, my friend is life............

Nevada, USA: First Male brothel

This is news indeed!

For those with “closeted” sex preferences for male prostitutes,look no further.

Now that the health authorities have approved a method to test men for infectious diseases, a brothel mum will start hiring its first brood of male prostitutes. Since the world in the good old USA is now ready to sell sex legally, both male and female customers can now avail themselves of male prostitution services. The brothel is just two hours’ drive from sin city Las Vegas

Currently there are many male revues being staged in Vegas. So it is only natural,as a follow-up, for interested clients to come to satisfy their inner cravings in this brothel.

Interestingly, what has barred males from legally plying the world's oldest profession in Nevada was the specificity of a state health law requiring prostitutes to undergo frequent cervical testing for sexually transmitted diseases. The health board has now approved a regulation to allow urethral testing for men - a crucial rule change by the state agency with ultimate powers over whether prostitutes can or can't work. Now the coast is clear for the legal advent of male prostitutes in Nevada.

For your information, for more than 25 years, no licensed female prostitute in Nevada has contracted HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, said a Reno wedding chapel owner and longtime lobbyist for the Nevada Brothel Owners Association.

However, Davis, Flint and Nye County Sheriff Tony DeMeo all acknowledged that county approval is still necessary before any of the state's 24 legal brothels offer a lineup of men.

Prostitution has been legal in rural Nevada counties since 1971 under strict state health board oversight but is against the law in the Las Vegas and Reno areas.

Isn’t this an interesting bit of news?

Singapore: Medical Tourism on the Mend

The Straits Times today (13 December 2009) reported that thehe medical tourism industry looks to be in the pink of health again.

Things are looking up after the recession — which hit last year and continued for much of this year — caused some pain.

As many countries’ economies have stabilised, industry folk like Dr Wong Seng Weng are more upbeat.

Wong, medical director at The Cancer Centre, said the end of last year was “a quiet period but there’s been a return of confidence”.

Over at Parkway Health, its spokesman said it has seen a “steady recovery” since the middle of this year.

“Generally, in a downturn, patients tend to postpone non-critical surgery,” noted the spokesman.

In the fourth quarter of last year, Parkway’s three hospitals saw a 7 to 8 per cent drop in the number of Indonesian patients.

At Pacific Healthcare Holdings, which runs specialist centres and clinics, things are also looking up. It suffered a 10 per cent fall in medical tourists last year.

“Indonesians form the largest group of medical tourists. The financial crisis last year weakened the rupiah, and there were also uncertainties about the economy and when it would rebound,” said Dr William Chong, chief executive of Pacific Healthcare.

Those in the industry noted that while treatments in Singapore are not cheap, our reputation as a hub of medical excellence continues to be a draw.

Comparing prices, Nanyang Technological University’s Professor David Reisman said a procedure for cardiac bypass costs US$18,500 (RM62,909) here, versus US$9,000 at a reputable hospital in Malacca or Penang.

“The same procedure would cost US$130,000 in the United States, so Asia is still a good buy,” he added.

Medical groups are targeting patients from places as far away as Russia, Germany and Sweden. They are also attracting patients from the US who are covered by their companies, or personal health insurance.

“The medical travel sector is fairly resilient, given that health-care treatments are often a matter of necessity, and we continue to work towards the 2012 target,” said a spokesman for the Singapore Tourism Board.

It aims to attract one million patients by 2012.

Figures from SingaporeMedicine show that last year, 646,000 visitors were associated with the nation’s health-care services, up from 571,000 in 2007.

This number counts both patients and those who accompanied them here, as well as tourists who received incidental health care.

SingaporeMedicine is a government-industry partnership to promote the country as a world-class health-care destination.

Efforts include that of Dr Wei Siang Yu, who founded medical tourism portal Fly Free For Health. Users can get opinions from doctors and nurses online so that they feel reassured about travelling here, said Wei, who has also seen heavier traffic over the last four months.

Certainly, while many people may still be careful about spending, even as the global economy is mending, they take health — a matter of life and death — seriously.

Take the case of Dzung Nguyen, 30, who took his father Nguyen Van Hung, 53, to The Cancer Centre when the latter was diagnosed with gastro-intestinal cancer three months ago.

So far, Dzung, a letter carrier in Vietnam, has spent about $10,000 on chemotherapy, lodging and airfare.

“We’ve been tightening our budget because of the recession, but we decided to come to Singapore. While it’s the most expensive place in South-east Asia, it’s also one of the best and one of the closest to us,” he said.

Is it so as well for Malaysia?