That Naughty Mug

Yes, NicoleKiss has been going around the world these past few days and picking novel items. This, cheeky mug, she just picked and posted on her blog. I though I will re-post it here. Maybe we can all look at the cheeky wordings and reflect?


How would you read it?

Prospects 2010: Almost Zero Tariff for China-ASEAN

The 1st of January 2010 is a significant date. On this day, ASEAN businessmen will have virtually unfettered access to almost two billion consumers from China. This historically signals the opening of the world's largest free trade area.

The Asean-China FTA, which has been in the pipeline since 2002, is set to be worth about as much as the European Union or the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta), and will be bigger than both combined in terms of population.

Under the new accord, China and the six founding Asean countries — Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand — are to remove tariffs on 90 per cent of imported goods, covering 7,000 product categories.

The other four Asean members, including Vietnam and Cambodia, will follow suit in 2015.

Officials hope the agreement will accelerate inter-regional trade — already expanding at 20 per cent a year — and reduce Asia's reliance on developed economies weakened by the economic downturn.

Trade volume in the China-Asean free trade zone, which has a combined gross domestic product of more than US$2 trillion (RM6.85 trillion), will “jump” by an annual rate of 40 per cent to 50 per cent, according to Thai embassy official Warawudh Chuwiruch, who was speaking at a press conference in Beijing two days ago.

Over the past 10 years, Asean-China trade has rocketed from US$39.5 billion in 2000 to US$192.5 billion last year, according to news agency AFP.

And China recently leapfrogged the United States to become Asean's third largest trading partner.

It is poised to overtake Japan and the EU to emerge as the single largest trading partner within the first few years of the FTA, Pushpanathan Sundram, Asean's deputy secretary-general, told AFP.

Economist David Cohen, of Action Economics, said that as China becomes an increasingly important export market for the world, the FTA will be a welcome additional boost for Singapore.

“I don't know how much material difference it is going to make, but the important thing is that China's growth is on track. And, whatever help the FTA can give to Asean economies will be beneficial,” he said.

Some Singapore economists, however, do not expect the FTA to have an immediate impact on the Republic's economy.

“In the initial stage, I think the political implication of the FTA overwhelms the economic significance,' said Nanyang Technological University economist Tan Khee Giap.

“If you talk about Singapore, even without this Asean-China FTA, we are already doing very well: We have been exporting more than we import from China over the last three or four years.”

From next year, the average tariff China charges on Asean goods will be cut from 9.8 per cent to 0.1 per cent, according to AFP.

Average tariffs imposed on Chinese goods by Asean states will fall from 12.8 per cent to 0.6 per cent.

So, are we going to have a upward shift beginning in 2010 that can see Malaysia expediting its return to better times before 2007?

Or it only on paper?

Pictures Paint a Zillion Words!

Look at these pictures. Don't they paint a zillion words?

Have fun!

Your Tax dollars Fast Asleep!

"I am Truly Sorry!"

Helping Hands and Helping Paws

Good Grief!

This is Courage!

Goodbye 2009, Welcome and God's Grace for 2010

Saying Good-bye for 2009

After a turbulent year of trials, tribulation and tragedies, have we become better as an individual? Has the country improved or has it sunk further into the murky depths of injustice?

Welcoming 2010!

All of us have seen successes,failures and personal tragedies of one sort of another. We all hope that 2010 will be a kinder year to all of us. That God will be on our side ever forgiving us,protecting us with his Grace and leading us henceforth to a better life.

The Grace of God

Amen.

The Four Cars LRT on the Putra Line

Yes, it is certainly good news for those going from both directions on the Putra Line. Today,an additional two coaches has been added to the LRT. This will not be a real great decision but nonetheless, it will ease the severe congestion for commuters during office hours. Anyway, they will only be in service at rush hour.

The new coaches can carry 800 passengers, twice the number of the existing two-car trains.

The four-car trains will be used during peak hours, in the morning and evening, and the two-car trains during the off-peak periods.

The two-car train carries about 400 people and the four-car train,some 800 people. During peak or rush hours, the 4-car train should be able to carry a maximum of 950 people.

The new train has wheelchair-friendly features and door alarm lights to help the hearing-impaired.

“We have ordered 35 sets of the four-car train and three sets went into operation today. Some have not arrived yet while some are still being tested,” said a spokesman for Prasarana,the owner and operator of the Putra Line. Prasarana is also the operator of the other public transportation network that includes the Ampang and Kelana Jaya LRT lines, KL monorail and bus service in the Klang Valley.

The four-car train sets are the latest version of the Bombardier advanced rapid transit driverless train designed in Canada, 65 per cent of which is assembled in Mexico and 35 per cent in Malaysia.

The remaining sets would be delivered in stages by the local partner, Bombardier-Hartasuma, until 2012.

All in all, Prasarana expects total delivery as early as April 2011.

"We’ll have 70 sets, that is, 35 sets of the current two-set trains which will be refurbished and 35 sets of four-car trains,” added the spokesman.

I think this is a good gesture of PM Najib. We are seeing some tangibility and visibility to his still uncertain 1Malaysia concept.

China: Potential to be a Superpower in 30 years

So predicts Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore.

The Singapore Business Times reported on 30 December that it has just been over 30 years since China first adopted an open-door policy which puts it on its way to becoming the world's second largest economy soon. To Lee, becoming a world superpower will take more time.

Why? Making this point was Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, who said that it would take more than another 30 years to “train and educate a whole generation” in a wide spectrum of specialties.

“Yes, China will have a big gross domestic product, but the GDP per capita is still about a third of that in America. China has got very poor provinces,' said Mr Lee at a dinner dialogue yesterday held in conjunction with Business China's second anniversary celebrations. “For the coastal areas, they will be as good if not better than Singapore. There will be big infrastructures and investments, good education. Some of the Chinese are already very confident and assertive.”

Business China, launched in November 2007 by Lee and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, is an initiative by the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry. The organisation helps encourage businessmen to better understand the language, culture, and social and economic conditions of modern-day China.

Singapore's relationship with China was one that came about 'by accident', said Lee. “If Deng Xiaoping had not come here that year, the relationship would not have developed. He saw what we were doing in Singapore and he was taken up by our society — clean, safe, everyone owns their own homes,” he said. “He visited some of the flats, and saw how we made use of capitalism to build a fair society. That set into his mind that he could do the same (for China).”

The Chinese has once again proven,with will of steel,they can take all the odds to move forward. Their vision is laser-sharp!

Do our leaders in Malaysia have such awill? Sadly we can't even focus!

Seoul: A 5% Growth Rate in 2010

South Korea's economy is geared for positive advance in 2010. so says a Reuters report released today(30 December 2009.

It will probably grow by more than 5 per cent next year on the back of the successful effect of the government’s stimulus spending, says President Lee Myung-bak.

This is above the Ministry of Strategy and Finance’s official target of 5 per cent gross domestic product growth next year announced this month, and far higher than the central bank’s forecast of a 4.6 percent gain.

South Korea apparently has overcome the crisis ahead of other countries and international organizations' forecast that the economy would grow by about 4 per cent next year.

A statement from the presidential office, the Blue House, quoted Lee as making the remarks during a meeting to review public construction work projects due for next year.

The central bank estimated this month Asia’s fourth-largest economy would grow by 0.2 per cent this year, far better than earlier expectations for a steep decline, given the positive effects of a massive stimulus spending and monetary easing by the authorities.

Underlining the optimism, the central bank said early on Wednesday a key index measuring how local manufacturers assess their business outlook for January 2010 hit a two-year high of a seasonally adjusted 93, up from 86 in December.

South Korea’s economy derives more than half of its annual output from domestic service industries but exports of manufactured goods, ranging from cars and mobile phones to chips and ships, still play a critical role.

The upbeat economic prospects have prompted investors to bet the country’s central bank would start to raise interest rates early next year to prevent extra-low credit costs from fanning asset price bubbles and broader inflation.

The Bank of Korea held the benchmark 7-day repurchase agreement rate steady at record-low 2.0 per cent for the past 10 consecutive months after six cuts totalling 3.25 percentage points. It will next review the rate on Jan. 8.

Bond investors shrugged off the central bank data and Lee’s remarks, while awaiting more important industrial production data due to be released later in the day.

Analysts surveyed by Reuters this week forecast South Korea’s industrial output index would rebound by a seasonally adjusted 2.3 per cent in November over a month earlier after an unexpected 3.8 percent fall in October.