MRCB: Hitting the Billion Mark!

Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd (MRCB) is confident of registering RM1 billion in revenue for the first time this year (2010) with significant improvement in profitability.

This will be achieved in view of its ongoing active progress works in Kuala Lumpur Sentral and its order book, said its Chief Executive Officer, Mohamed Razeek Hussain, in a statement today.

The group will continue to intensify its efforts to achieve economies of scale and innovative value engineering to improve performance in the coming years, he said.

MRCB posted a pre-tax profit of RM46.492 million for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2009 against a pre-tax loss of RM42.155 million in the previous financial year.

The positive performance was attributed to the overall improved operational results mainly from its engineering and construction division.

Revenue for the year rose to RM921.616 million from RM788.552 million previously.

MRCB has recommended a first and final dividend of 1.0 per cent or 1.0 sen per ordinary share less 25 per cent tax, amounting to approximately RM10.3 million.

So, MRCB has started paying dividends again. I do hope they will keep it that way from now on!

Flipping Fantastic: Themes, Valuesand Viewpoints

What are the messages that you got after reading this short story,"Flipping Fantastic"?

If you should look closely,these are the themes that comes to light.

• Learning to be self reliant-independence.
• The importance of  being self-assured-self confidence
• Sense of responsibility - to take care of another that may need assistance
• Telling the truth-do not hide feelings-learn to be open,to share and to be supportive

So what about the values that we can discern from the story?

• One must plan one path in life and be brave to walk it
• One must be truthful to oneself and to loved ones
• One cannot be selfish at the expense of others' happiness
• One should learn to respect the wishes of others
• One must take note that different people have different interests

Interestingly the story is told from the first person viewpoint through the pages of three persons's diaries.

Flipping Fantastic: The Mother

Those who read Jane Langford's ,"Flipping Fantastic" will certainly be enamoured by Tristan's positivism and concerned about James' introvert nature.

Let us look at the character of their mother and how she influences both of her sons.

She is not a major character in the story but she is instrumental in providing relevant information so that we can understand the twins better.

Tristan tells us that his mother is strong and determined. His statement,"...that's mum for you,very determined" attest to this fact.

She is positive minded and very optimistic. She would not want Tristan to think lowly of his disability. She wants Tristan to be brave and have a positive outlook in life despite his physical shortcomings. This can be gathered from the words," I 'm only interested in what you can do."

She is a loving and caring parent and loves both her sons very much. She knows that James was shy,nervous and lack confidence but she does not say anything about it. She uses positive words to encourage him. When James did fumble his only line , she chooses to see James' bravery on stage and eggs him on by saying that he did wonderfully on stage. Even if she senses his stuttering, she will be the last person to comment on it negatively.

She is observant and understanding. During the summer holidays, she could observe the unhappiness of both of her boys. James is normally quiet by nature but not Tristan. That both were, worries her. She felt that she could have made a wrong decision by sending them to different schools.

When things turns out alright in he end, she knew she had made the right decision. From her action and decision,Tristan s to be independent and so did James.

In conclusion we can say that the twin's mother is practical and realistic and she knew the moment of truth for the two boys had arrived when they moved on to secondary school education. It was a hard milestone decision but her wisdom ruled the day!

Genting Berhad: Still a Good Buy

Maybank IB has put out their recommendation for Genting Berhad. That is: Maintain a buy at RM6.36 targetting a price of RM8.85. Maybank also expect a re-rating to be doen to Genting Berhad as they hold Genting Signapore at the entry price of S$0.33 cents,far below that of the current S$0.95 cents.

There was a good opening buzz at Genting’s integrated resort. Sentosa Island saw a 20% year-on-year (y-o-y) surge in visitors in the first two days of Chinese New Year. Some 142,000 people visited the island. The casino, where 270 tables, about half the total, were opened, attracted 35,000 people, reported Channel News Asia. Universal Studios, open for “sneak peeks” at a nominal SG$10/head (RM24) charge, was also reportedly very busy.

RWS achieved S$40 million in gaming gross in its first 36 hours of operation, according to a report by Inside Asian Gaming. Annualised, this works out to S$9.7 billion, well above the S$2.9 billion consensus forecast. Note that this number cannot be confirmed as management is “unable to disclose any numbers”.

RWS appears set to be fully operational by May. Universal Studios will fully open in mid-March, all 500 plus casino tables in four to six weeks and all 1,300 hotel rooms by April.

Genting Singapore reported its 2009 result last Friday. For the year, it generated S$491 million of revenue, down 22%, and reported a S$278 million net loss (2008: S$124 million net loss). However, that result is going to be treated as academic history as Genting Singapore will be far different this year following the opening of RWS. Maybank IB maintains their Genting Berhad forecasts pending release of its result on Thursday.

However, they do provide some caveats.

There is upside risk to their forecasts. FY10 earnings forecast used includes S$2.6 billion revenue and S$298 million net profit at GS. Annualised, the reported S$40 million casino revenue in the first 36 hours is a massive S$9.6 billion. Of course, the first day spike is unlikely to be sustainable.

Flipping Fantastic-A Test of Chronology

Here is a test for those students who are studying ''Flipping Fantastic" as their literature component for Form One English.Put the 10 sentences in chronological order as the events unfold in the story.

 Here goes:

1. The play was 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer". (    )
2. Trista and James have completed primary schooling at Perter Hill Primary.   (    )
3. James persuades Tristan to rethink of going to Chesterlea Grange. (    )
4. James goes to Highfields and he finds it brilliant.  (    )
5. Mother attended the play and felt very proud of the boys. (    )
6. Tristan changes his mind again and ends up in Chesterlea Grange by claiming it was 'Flipping Fantastic'. (    )
7. Tristan tells mother that he does not want to go to Chesterlea Grange. (    )
8. James is very happy about that because it means that Tristan will be going to Highfields with him. (    )
9. On the last day of term, Peter Hill Primary held an end-of-year play. (    )
10. After the summer holidays,the two boys will be attending different secondary schools. (    )

So did you get it all in  correct order?

The Elements of a Short Story

There are 8 elements of a short story that we need to be aware of.

Let us go through all these 8 elements. These are:

• Setting
• Plot
• Moral Values
• Character
• Point of View
• Theme
• Tone,mood and atmosphere
• Language and Style

What is the setting?

I have discussed this in the short story, "Flipping Fantastic' which is an earlier post. Setting involves informing readers of where and when that particular story takes place. In other words, it provides the background to the story.

Who are the character or characters?

They are the people in the story. There are main actors as well as minor characters. Characters provides body to the short story.

What is a Plot?

It refers to the sequence or chain of connected events in the story. A plot must be exciting to maintain the readers' interests.

What is the Theme?

These refers to the important ideas or moral ideas about life that will emerge from the story. It is not stated directly all the time. You may have to draw it out of the story. a story can have more than one theme.

What are the Moral Values?

This refers to the good values of humankind. It may also incorporate lessons to be learnt in everyday life.

What is Point of View?

What is point of view. It refers to the one telling the story. If the one that is telling the story is a character in it, we called that a first person account. If the story is told by someone outside the character list, we call it the third person view point or omniscient point of view. The word, "Omniscient" is taken from the concept of 'God being everywhere.', and as such he can tell us the story even to the extent of the thoughts of the characters.

What are Tone,Mood and Atmosphere?

What does tone mean in a short story? Tone refers to the attitude of the writer toward the subject of his story and to his readers. It can be serious,light hearted or aimed at arousing some emotional feeling such as sympathy.

Mood refers to the general feel of the story. The mood can be pleasant, amusing, frightening, cruel, despairing or whatever depending on what type of story it is and what emotions the author is trying to arouse in you.

Atmosphere is the general sense of the story. It is the creation of a situation using sounds and sights to create a foreboding of things to come.

What are Language and Style?

These are the language tools used by the writer. They are also known as literary devices. They are used to convey the message of the story.These can range from sights and sounds employing imagery,idioms, metaphors, similes, personification, hyperbole,alliteration and others. All writers have their own style of writing.

Flipping Fantastic: The Setting

Let us re-visit the setting of the short story,"Flipping Fantastic" by  Jane Langford.

What is the setting for this story?

The  places where the story revolve around is the home of Tristan and James. The other places mentioned are Peter Hill Primary where the play was staged,Chesterlea Grange where Tristan,James and their mother visited to enroll Tristan and Highfields Secondary School where James will continue with his secondary education.

We can assume that the twins live with their mother in a comfortable home which is disabled-friendly. Nothing is mentioned of a father in the story and so it is safe to assume as well that the mother is a single parent. The twins found their home a relaxing place to pursue their own interests with the love,support  and encouragement of their mother.

Peter Hill Primary is where the twins had their primary level education. It must be somewhere  near the home of the twins.

Chesterlea Grange is a fully residential school for special children. It is fully equipped with facilities for the physically challenged to acquire knowledge and survival skills. Here, the students will have a whale of a time playing sports,acting in plays as well as to spend their time leisurely  in the indoor video and games room.The environment is refreshingly clean, healthy and cheerful to promote the well-being of its residents. It is unlikely to be near the twin's home.

Highfields is a normal day school for students to pursue secondary education.

What about the time?

It is now, in present day.