Budget Day

In the midst of expectations by the whole nation, Dato' Seri Abdullah Badawi delivered his budget speech at 16:00. As expected, he gave out a lot of goodies to send everybody back with joys in his heart. I shall add in some comments after I have had all the details.

A national budget is simply an outline of a government's expenses and revenues for the coming year.

Budgets have an economic, political and technical basis. In short, they are not entirely designed to allocate scarce resources for the best economic use to achieve sustainable growth. They also have a political basis wherein different interests push and pull in an attempt to obtain benefits and avoid burdens. The technical element is the forcast of the likely levels of revenues and expenses.

Malaysian Budget 2008 has all the three elements in its framework. Aiming for sustainable growth in an increasingly competitive global environment, Malaysia has to upgrade its human resources and improve its product quality. This is achievable through giving incentives.

The short term growth can be sustained by expansionary fiscal policy. The continuing deficit budget for 2008 is in response to the impending global situation.

Politically, Abdullah has to fit in with the timing of the next election. This is to firm the foothold of BN. Anybody who is in his position would do the same thing.

Simply put, it is really a budget for the rakyat (people).

The above picture of Dato' Seri Abdullah Badawi is downloaded from Wikipedia.

Budget 2008

Tomorrow our Prime Minister Dato' Seri Abdullah Badawi, who doubles as the Finance Minister

, shall present the much -awaited Malaysian Budget 2008 to the Parliament. Our eyes shall be on him and all ears shall be pulled long to listen to his speech. Wow! It is going to be exciting since it has been themed, albeit unofficially, an election -motived budget. As such, Malaysians in general have much to look forward to.

Is Santa Claus going to deliver goodies? Certainly - from the budget previews I have been following up, our Prime Minister is going to excite the whole nation with wow!

Budget 2008 appears to gear towards strengthening our domestic demand as a thrust to sustain our economic growth. If the United States is going to slip into recession, Malaysia has to find an alternative to fill up the growth components left vacant by USA. And naturally, domestic consumption is the best available boost to our economy.

When I was as a student at Monash University in Australia, I was also drawn into the excitement on the Australian budget day. I witnessed long queues at newsstands waiting eagerly, but patiently, for their turns to grab the special edition on budget. I was a bit late and had to face a "sold out" notice. I was very touched by their concern for the nation's budget.

Let's see what is our budget for 2008 going to be like tomorrow!

The above picture is downloaded from the website of PWC.

Four Play Band

I got hold of them when they came down for lunch at 15:00 in Cafe Palmelia.

As artistes, their daily life is a bit upside-down - they retire to bed at extremely late hours, get up at noon time, skip breakfast and take only brunch. This is typical of artistes' life style - to enthral audience at their personal sacrifice.

But, none the less, they have satisfaction in their work by entertaining audience on stage.

Tata,Mae, Tweety and Pet came together to form Four Play Band back in the Philippines . Now they are into their sixth month of formation and this is their very first overseas assignment.

When asked about Malaysia, they said they are adaptable to this place and the life style here generally.

Musically inclined and talented in singing, they are one of the major foreign reserve earners for their nation. In short, the Philippines exports human capital to contribute to the nation-building.

Coming in to replace the out-going New Creation Band and making their debut about two weeks ago, they are going to be here for three months by contract.

The picture shows Four Play Band in full costume. From left to right : Tata, Mae, Tweety and Pet.

I took a snapshot of them in Cafe Palmelia at their lunch table. Tweety (left) and Pet (right) are sisters.

www.premierh.com.my

FHM 2007 - Part 12 (Final)

After Sungai Wang Plaza, I moved on to the adjacent Low Yat Plaza.

Commonly referred to as LYP, Low Yat is an established commercial shopping centre specialising in electronics and IT products in Malaysia.

Located at lot 7, Jalan 1/77, off Jalan Bukit Bintang, LYP stands out by offering a greater range and variety of a single product by having a collective of inter-chained stores.

The business at Low Yat also bustles with crowds comprising mostly of youngsters.

I went down to the lower ground floor where eateries are centred. There, a large variety of foods is offered for food lovers to sample and indulge in.

At Old Town Kopitiam, I ordered a cup of thick kopi-o at only RM2.50++. Served with a traditional porcelain tea set, it was not pricey, considering the high living standards in KL and the ambience of the kopitiam.

Thick and aromatic, the kopi-o was of superb taste, so much so that it made me feel like going back for another one.

The picture shows the front portion of Low Yat Plaza.

We checked out Capitol Hotel at 13:00 and proceeded straight to KL Sentral where we took a bus transfer to LCCT (Low Cost Carrier Terminal) for AirAsia's 18:25 flight back to Sibu. This ended my fruitful three-day trip to KL .

The picture shows the skyline of KL.

LCCT was crowded with waiting passengers. As I skipped my lunch, so I started surveying the only two eateries there for something to fill up. McDonald's was doing brisk business - in fact, it bustled to the extent I had a hard time to find a seat. Eventually, I was forced to ask for permission to share table with a lady. I ordered something both to satisfy my stomach and to kill the time since the boarding was still hours away.

The picture shows LCCT.

(The above pictures are downloaded from Wikipedia and LCCT website respectively.)

FHM 2007 - Part 11

Sungai Wang Plaza

Sungai Wang Plaza is by far still the hottest ptoperty in KL despite the competiting malls comimg into play.

It leaves me with a lot of memories, sweet and tender, of my college days.

During my two years at Taylor's College, Sungai Wang was our favourite mall for hanging around during weekends.

The footprints left behind seemingly have not faded with time. When I stepped in the plaza this morning (on August 24), the old-time memories flowed back . The interiors and settings there may have changed over the years, but the memories stay vividly clear.

Again, time has not diluted my sentiment for Sungai Wang. I cherish the times that I spent loitering there and the hours chit-chatting away. But gone are the good times into the sea of memories.

I stopped at Famous Amos to look for some nice cookies for my family. Located on level 1, this island counter offers a wide variety of hand-made cookies, all with very tempting looks. I grabbed some since they are unlikely to be availasble in Sibu.

The picture shows a cup of kopi-o at Old Town Kopitiam on the basement of Low Yat Plaza.

FHM 2007 - Part 10

Before I flew back to Sibu on August 24 by AirAsia's flight at 18:25, I took the morning off to the two shopping malls nearby Capitol Hotel at Jalan Bukit Bintang.

Bukit Bintang is thus far the most bustling business district in KL.

I learned from one cab driver that, after 3 pm, Jalan Bukit Bintang is so jammed with traffic that all cabs levy surcharge on passengers for cab services to this area.

A normal 20-minute drive may easily quadruple during the jam hours. The levy of surcharge is built on this basis.

Bukit Bintang is, therefore, commonly refered to as "black" area in KL for this reason.

The picture shows the main entrance of Sungai Wang Plaza.

FHM 2007 - Part 9

FHM had been recognised as the country's largest and only specialised trade event, showcasing some of the key players in the industry, from both local and international scenes.

A total of 9 international group pavilions including the most recent entry from Japan joining the likes of Austria, Belgium, Egypt, India, Sri Lanka, Singapore and Taiwan were present at the exhibition to proudly market their products and offer the best advice on the latest machinery.

It was truly an experience to expose myself to this spectacular show!

The picture shows a Korean promoter at the booth.

An Egyptian corner.
A lot of Indian products for you to view.
Taiwan foods - most eager to penetrate our market.
A crowded Japanese booth.