KTM: The 50% Student Discount Card

I think this is great news for students.

With the increasing cost of transportation, any discounts or benefits available will be a great blessing.

KTM's introduction of the 50% Discount Student card must be applauded.Beginning 2010, all Malaysian students aged 13 and above can now obtain the Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) 50% discount card for long-distance travel from all KTMB stations.

This discount card is made available by KTMB for free since yesterday (5 January 2010).

The issuance of the discount card is subject to certain conditions and it is only for second class and economy class travel.

Secondary school students, students of public and private higher learning institutions, and part-time or long distance-learning students could apply for the discount card.

However, students of teacher training, nursing, police and armed forces colleges and health institutes will need to pay an annual fee of RM30 for the card.

The card can also be used during the festive seasons but booking for a trip must be made seven days before the journey.

It can be obtained within a day from the KTMB office at KL Sentral and within three weeks from other KTMB offices.

So if you are interested in getting a card for your children,call KTMB at 03-2279 8852 or visit www.ktmb.com.my.

This is really another benefit provided by Premier Najib. Every little bit counts.

I salute you, PM Najib!

The RWS Earlier Opening: Pros and Cons

Business Times Singapore featured this article concerning the pros and cons of the earlier opening and the potential downsides of the rules on the operation of junkets.

"Genting Singapore appears to be on a roll with its share price increasing from about S$1.17 (RM2.84) per share just before Christmas to hit almost S$1.30 per share yesterday. This despite news that its junket business may be affected by strict regulations in the future.

The increase of around 10 per cent over a two-week period can largely be attributed to the revelation that its Resorts World at Sentosa (RWS) will very likely open before Las Vegas Sands’ (LVS) Marina Bay Sands, confirmed, more or less, by LVS chairman Sheldon Adelson who said its resort will open in the second quarter of 2010.

The perceived advantage is that RWS’s casino could have a headstart in developing a base of Singaporean regulars who will likely choose to pay a S$2,000 annual entrance fee over the S$100 daily entrance fee, thus locking in their choice destination. The release of Casino Regulatory Authority’s (CRA) junket licensing regime also failed to dampen investor sentiments.

In a research note, CIMB analysts said that while stringent regulations could threaten RWS’s VIP gaming revenue, “we think that such concerns are largely long-term in nature.”

CIMB added: ‘Over the short-term, we believe that the novelty effect would naturally drive in the punters, allowing RWS to nurture its higher-margined in-house VIP market by leveraging on the Genting Group’s extensive gaming foothold and clientele base.’

After acknowledging downside risks like having to extend credit to in-house VIP clients, CIMB still retained its FY10-11 revenue projections for Genting Singapore of S$2.94 billion and S$3.57 billion respectively.

Analysts at JP Morgan say the strict junket regulations were “expected” and appear to have priced this in. Their revenue forecasts for Genting Singapore in FY10-11 are even higher at S$3.54 billion and S$4.11 billion respectively.

Even analysts at Goldman Sachs, who are the least bullish with a “sell” call on the stock, have revenue projections for FY10-11 of S$2.97 billion and S$3.68 billion respectively.

The assumption, it seems, is that there will be significant business generated by VIP casino clients with at least a couple of major junket promoters applying for licences to operate in Singapore. The consensus is that they will bring in about 40-50 per cent of total gaming revenue.

But a look at the actual application forms for junket licences which was released by CRA a few days after it released the junket regulations reveals that the probity checks on promoters are as strict as those for casino operators.

For example, applicants have to declare if they, their spouses or children, have made loans over S$25,000 in the last 10 years. Applicants also have to list all assets, bank accounts (foreign and domestic) and business activities for the last 15 years.

It seems Adelson may be right when he said recently that junket promoters will not come to Singapore.

Apart from opening the casino on time — the official date is still Q1’10 — there is another hurdle that Genting Singapore will have to contend with, and that is how rigorously the government here intends to regulate credit facilities offered by casinos and junket promoters. Should these prove to be strict as well, some high-rollers may not be able to arrange credit with either the casino or junket promoters to gamble with.

If that happens, it may then be time to review revenue projections.

Meanwhile, let us just wait and see human psychology when it is set in motion as the casino licence is approved for operation. I think it will be before Chinese New Year.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Gonbei

Well, yesterday(5 January 2010), we went to town.After locating the Relish Floor of Starhill,we approached the Gonbei Japanese Restaurant. There a Malay and Indian waiter in Japanese attire complete with Japanese clogs,smiled at us." Going to Jogoya?" That direction,they pointed us the way!

In the negative, we replied. We want to go to the Gonbei! Smiles appeared on their faces like clockwork. The said " Welcome!" in the Japanese tongue as we walked through the bridge like structure with the pitched roof of bamboo poles. Then we heard a loud boom being sounded from the banging of a traditional drum behind us. As we approached the seating area, a chorus of loud "Welcomes" came from all the waiters and waitresses. Oh! what a welcoming gesture and show they have really put on!

The name Gonbei is that of a typical farmer from ancient Japan, who has that deep-seated spirit of warm hospitality characteristic of the whole country. The bamboo structured restaurant entrance is based on a traditional farmhouse, symbolising vitality.

Food was aplenty from the few bento boxes we ordered. There was good shashimi,tempura and teppanyaki. There was pan-fried unagi and salmon. Then there was that soft wagyu beef cutlets for us to savour as well. We finished off the meal with traditional miso seaweed soup, the egg custard and fruits.

On refelction, I think Gonbei is one fine Japanese restaurant.

Genting: RWS-Earlier Opening

It looks like the Genting group has beaten Marina Bay Sands in the run up to casino resort openings.In a statement today, Genting Singapore said today it will open the first part of its US$4.4 billion (RM14.9 billion) casino-resort in the city-state on Jan 20, beginning with four hotels.

“Resorts World Sentosa (RWS)is working closely with the authorities to obtain approvals for Universal Studios Singapore, which will open next,” the company said in a statement.

Genting Singapore, a unit of Malaysia’s Genting Bhd, said it will announce the start date for the casino when it receives the licence from Singapore authorities.

Singapore legalized casino gambling in 2005 and said it will allow two casino-resorts to be built as part of ambitious plans to double visitor arrivals to 17 million by 2015.

The city-state’s other casino-resort, Las Vegas Sands’ US$5.5 billion Marina Bay Sands, is scheduled to begin its phased opening in April, although many analysts doubt if the firm can meet even that new target date.

Casino operators in Singapore will pay an effective tax of around 12 per cent on net revenue from gamblers, giving them an incentive to draw Asian high rollers away from Macau where the tax is just under 40 percent.

Genting declined to provide estimated start dates for its Singapore casino or Universal Studios theme park, Southeast Asia’s first, although a spokesman said testing and commissioning of the various rides had started in early November.

A spokeswoman for Singapore’s Casino Regulatory Authority said Genting made an initial submission for a casino licence in October 2009 and the completed application package was received in December. Singapore casino laws are based on regulations in the United States and Australia.

Such applications typically take more than three months to process as they involve vetting casino owners and managers, casino industry officials have said.

Be that as it may, I believe the Singapore authorities would not delay the approval because they would certainly like the tourist numbers to start coming as the new year rolls in.

The Judicial Milestone

On 31 December 2009, Justice Lau Bee Lan adjudged that the Christian newsletter 'The Herald' could use the word 'Allah' to denote the Christian God.


That triggered off a huge clamour from many parties; some for action against the use of the holy word whilst others insist on its usage as they are protected by the Federal Constitution to practice their religion unfettered. Most of it is sound and fury. It may go out of control if the political masters are not rational or benevolent.

But what exactly is new in 'powder-keg' Malaysia? Malaysia is as yet an unknown quantity after 52 years of fragile independence. A spirit of tolerance knits the Malaysian society ever loosely. The threads may give way, any time.

We are in such times today. Every step PM Najib takes in this matter is very important for he is indeed walking on a 'bed of eggs'.

What makes this time different from those in the past is the melding of politics into religion in a more positive manner in 2010. The very fact that PAS is willing to agree on the usage of 'Allah' by the Roman Catholics is a battle won. As PAS takes a risk, will UMNO also go on a limb too?

Is UMNO willing to go onto a middle path to appease both the fundamentalists and the liberals in the party? The hawks are screaming from the sky while the liberal moderates are fighting it out on the internet. In the end it will be Premier Najib who will have to take a calculated risk to ensure his 1Malaysia stand steadfast in the current tempest.

What is also interesting is that Bernard Dompok, a Cabinet minister from Sabah, Pakatan Rakyat,MCA and Koh Tsu Koon representing the Gerakan has also came out of the shadows for the first time to support the Herald's use of the word, "Allah" while the Barisan Nasional's elder brother,UMNO,in business as usual fashion, has seen it fit to appeal to the courts. And that is to be expected.

A court decision is no decision. Even ex-PM Mahathir said this. The man in the street all know that. We need a political solution, one that is palatable to all.

Will PM Najib walk the thin red line and behave statesman-like or will he choose to take the path of least resistance for his own political survival?

The rest of the days of 2010 should tell.

A New Ambition for the New Decade

With the kinds of happenings these days, it is easy and foreseeable to see a career in crime.

This cartoon explains it all.

To Tame a Tiger

Hell hath known no fury like a woman scorned.

The rage of Elin is equivalent to USD300 million! That is the price that Tiger Woods will pay to Elin for the imminent divorce settlement. That is equivalent to a cool billion ringgits Malaysia !

News Of The World reported that the former Swedish model also barred Woods from seeing their two kids on Christmas, and forced him to post the children’s presents instead.


Meanwhile, Woods’ commercial and charity interests have taken a hit as he has reportedly distanced himself from his closest aides, refused to discuss business dealings, and even planned to extend his break from golf until 2012.

Elin, who is reportedly on holiday in France, has now cut all ties with him, after sensational revelations linking him to 18 mistresses.[Walla!]

The Florida-based sports legend, 34, has not seen his children — daughter Sam, two, and 10-month-old son Charlie — for almost a month owing to Elin’s concerns about his mental state.She told her friends: “He’s not stable enough at the moment".


Apaprently.she is pressing ahead with the divorce plans, and intends to start a new life near their old family home in Orlando within the next six months.

The scandal involving Woods’ mistress, New York party organiser Rachel Uchitel, has also been fired up again, as she boasted to friends that the golfer wants to set her up with her own nightclub.

This week she has flown to be with friends and family in Palm Beach, Florida, just a few miles away from where Tiger has moored his yacht.

After bragging that the star planned to finance her new project Rachel, 34, told her pals: “I’m his soul-mate and we have a special connection. We will get back together — he promised.”

But Woods’ official business associates are concerned about his continued absence from work. Many top aides in his management, property, and golf design concerns have not heard from their leader in weeks.

One source said Woods is likely to release a statement in the next few days. His managers want him to show public remorse and seek help for his issues.

Oh, what a way to go! So, its humble pie for the tiger-man for now.