Isnin, 24 Mac 2014

The Star Online: Metro: Sunday Metro

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The Star Online: Metro: Sunday Metro

Malaysian papers turn black in tribute to crashed jet
At least 27 dead in north Thailand bus accident
Tourism fest revitalises Haw Par Villa

Malaysian papers turn black in tribute to crashed jet

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 08:05 PM PDT

Kuala Lumpur (AFP) - Malaysian newspapers ran striking black front pages Tuesday in tribute to the victims of Flight MH370, which crashed in the southern Indian Ocean with 239 people aboard.

Malaysia's biggest English-language daily, The Star, ran a stark wrap-around cover emblazoned with the words "MH370 R.I.P." The names of the victims, rendered in small print, made up the letters of the headline.

The New Straits Times' darkened front page showed an aircraft above the words "Goodnight, MH370" -- a reference to the last message from the cockpit, "All right, good night", before the Malaysia Airlines jet lost contact on March 8.

Malay- and Chinese-language papers also ran front pages with black backgrounds, while The Sun, an English-language daily, changed its masthead to black.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced Monday that latest analysis of satellite data showed that the flight, which went missing en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, had ended in the southern Indian Ocean.

Bad weather hampered the search for debris off the coast of Australia on Tuesday, and it remains a mystery why the plane diverted from its original route.

The Star said in an editorial that the relatives' "long wait for some form of closure has finally arrived".

But it called for unsparing efforts to establish the reasons for the crash.

On social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook, many Malaysians turned their profile backgrounds black or displayed a plane icon in tribute to the victims.

Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein used his Twitter page to call for all citizens of the multi-ethnic country to pray for the victims and their families.

"Our search for #MH370 continues," he said.

Veteran opposition politician Lim Kit Siang wrote on his Twitter page: "Saddest 4 families relatives friends of 239 on board MH370 - that they have perished in South Indian Ocean. Not just them but a crying world."

At least 27 dead in north Thailand bus accident

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 04:21 PM PDT

Bangkok (AFP) - At least 27 people died and more than 20 others were injured late Monday when a bus careered off a hillside road and into a ravine in northern Thailand, police told AFP.

Thailand's roads are among the world's deadliest and accidents are common, especially on buses travelling late at night.

"The toll is now at 27 dead and 24 injured -- they are severely injured from what I can see," police captain Sittichai Panyasong of Mae Tho district in Tak province said, revising up an earlier toll.

The accident took place at around 8:40 pm local time (1340 GMT) in Tak, which borders Myanmar, as several buses ferried Thai local government workers to neighbouring provinces for a field trip.

"The brakes failed as the bus came downhill on a hilly road and it crashed through the concrete barrier and fell into 150 metre-deep ravine," Sittichai added.

The victims are mainly believed to be local government officials, but a child was also among the injured, he said.

A spokeswoman at a local hospital, declining to be named, confirmed the death toll at 27 adding more than 20 were injured and that she too believed there were children on board, but could not say if any were among the dead.

Thailand's roads are among the most dangerous in the world.

A recent report by the World Health Organization said Thailand saw 38.1 road deaths per 100,000 people in 2010 -- behind only the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean and the South Pacific island of Niue.

That compares with an average of 18.5 per 100,000 in Southeast Asia as a whole.

At least 13 school children died last month when their bus collided with a lorry on trip to the seaside south of Bangkok.

The students, aged around 10 to 14 years old, were heading to the resort city of Pattaya from the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima.

Officials say roughly 60 percent of traffic accidents in Thailand are caused by human error, with poor road and vehicle conditions posing additional hazards.

Alcohol also plays a significant role, particularly around national holidays including the Thai new year holiday of Songkran in mid-April, when millions of revellers return to their homes across the country.

Those who cannot afford to fly have little choice but to use the roads in country where the rail infrastructure remains weak.

Hundreds die on the roads every Songkran, despite nationwide campaigns to prevent drink driving.

Bus operators are required to provide seat belts but passengers are not legally obliged to use them.

In December dozens of people were killed when a bus carrying New Year travellers plunged off one of Thailand's highest bridges in the kingdom's northeast.

At least 20 people were killed in October when a tour bus carrying elderly Buddhist devotees fell into a ravine, also in the northeast.

Tourism fest revitalises Haw Par Villa

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 09:00 AM PDT

A TOURISM festival has breathed new life into Haw Par Villa, drawing more than 12,000 people over the last two weekends to the iconic but faded attraction.

Visitors joined free guided tours, enjoyed puppet shows and ate snacks such as Ramly Burgers and kueh pie tee at an event called Reliving Haw Par Villa, held as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations for the Singapore Tourism Board (STB).

The response was so good that more tours of the attraction are being planned, along with more arts activities, as well as a "more extensive restoration" by the STB.

Tour organiser Journeys said it will hold longer weekly tours on Fridays at S$35 (RM90) per person.

It had been encouraged by how the free tours had drawn about 2,500 people over two weekends.

It had to add four slots to the original eight a day, to meet demand.

From next month, the STB is also opening up the grounds to arts groups for exhibitions and workshops.

The first exhibition to open on April 5 will feature a mosaic and asphalt installation, which mimics the original chequered floor of the Jade House, where the Aw brothers exhibited their jade collection.

Haw Par Villa, replete with figurines from Chinese stories such as Journey To The West, was built in 1937 and named after Aw Boon Haw and Aw Boon Par – the brothers who created medical ointment Tiger Balm.

The Pasir Panjang attraction, which the Aw family opened to the public, is famous for its 10 Courts of Hell. Here, for example, statues of demons are shown throwing unfair moneylenders onto a hill of knives.

The nostalgic attraction had been popular with families in the 1970s and early 1980s, but is now a pale shadow of its former self.

In 2012, the Hua Song museum housed within closed down as a result of losses.

STB estimates Haw Par Villa attracts about 200,000 visitors a year – not a lot compared with the millions who go to Orchard Road each year.

But the good turnout has raised hopes of greater interest in the attraction.

"This has exceeded our expectations, and we are very happy and encouraged that many locals are still very interested in Haw Par Villa," said STB.

Several visitors who took the tour praised it for revealing some less well known corners of Haw Par Villa. For instance, a secret cave near its entrance contains five tigers.

"'Wu hu', or five tigers, in Chinese sounds like five fortunes, or 'wu fu'," explained tour guide Carol Joy Dragon.

This was a reference to the Chinese proverb "Wu Fu Ling Men", which means "five fortunes arriving at your doorstep".

"The tour was interesting and well-explained," said Sou Souad, 58, a manager from Algeria, on her first visit to Haw Par Villa. Others said the tour helped bring back fond memories. — The Straits Times/ Asia News Network

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: World Updates

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The Star Online: World Updates

New-style Indonesian leader takes on world's oldest profession
Washington state mudslide death toll climbs to 14 with up to 176 missing
Xi tells Obama to adopt 'fair' attitude on China's maritime disputes

New-style Indonesian leader takes on world's oldest profession

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 08:30 PM PDT

SURABAYA, Indonesia (Reuters) - She has revamped its parks, kickstarted its port development and given free health and education to its poor. But for Tri Rismaharini, the celebrated mayor of Indonesia's second-largest city of Surabaya, one big challenge remains: shutting down Dolly.

That's the name of a brothel complex established in the 1970s in what is now central Surabaya. Each of Dolly's 60 or so brothels hosts up to 100 sex workers, according to Yayasan Abdi Asih, a local NGO. A thousand more women work at hundreds of smaller brothels in neighbouring Jarak.

The two areas combined are often described as Southeast Asia's largest red-light district. Most of the women hail from impoverished rural areas of East Java, a region of Muslim-majority Indonesia famous for its Islamic boarding schools.

Previous mayors have vowed but failed to close the area.

Rismaharini, 52, who was elected in 2010, has not only revived the fortunes of a once-struggling city. She has also joined the pantheon of new Indonesian leaders known for clean, can-do governance. Their apogee is Jakarta's popular governor, Joko Widodo, better known as "Jokowi", who recently announced he will run for president in July.

But can even a new-style leader prevail against the world's oldest profession? Rismaharini believes so. She has already closed down three of Surabaya's smaller red-light areas, and has set a deadline of June 19 to close Dolly.

"I knew Dolly would be hardest and that's why I've tackled it last," Rismaharini told Reuters.

Surabaya city government provided training in cooking, hairdressing and other skills to 650 sex workers in 2010-13, said its public relations department. Some were given 3 million rupiah (160 pounds) to encourage them to return home and start small businesses.

The scheme, which aims to reach 900 sex workers in 2014, allows women to escape exploitation and "choose the life they want", said Rismaharini, Surabaya's first female mayor.

LIFE IN DOLLY

Gang Dolly ("Dolly Alley"), as it's known locally, occupies a residential area. At dusk, the call to prayer from a neighbourhood mosque is drowned out by music booming from competing brothels.

Its narrow streets are grim but bustling. Pimps wave down passing men into smoky rooms where young woman sit in glassed-off areas, playing with their cellphones until chosen by a customer.

Meme, 27, started working at Dolly three years ago after her husband died in a traffic accident. She takes her customers to a dimly lit room just big enough for a grubby mattress. A tap and plastic bucket serve as a bathroom.

She has seven to 10 customers a night, who each pay the equivalent of $11 (7 pounds). Of this, she gets less than half; the brothel owner gets the rest.

Meme uses her share to pay for the education of her six-year-old daughter, who lives with her parents in Madiun, a four-hour drive south of Surabaya.

She rejected the mayor's offer of 3 million rupiah, which couldn't match her current earnings, although she longed for a change of profession.

"What I want to do is open a grocery store and for that I need at least 100 million rupiah," she said.

Like Meme, many women are reluctant to give up sex work because they have children to support, said Lilik Sulistyowati, 56, the director of Yayasan Abdi Asih, which counsels Dolly's women and trains them to find alternative jobs.

It was not only sex workers who opposed the mayor, she said. Dolly has a thriving ancillary economy of food and drink stalls, minimarts, parking lots and laundries.

"A lot of people depend on the sex trade, and they're the ones who are mainly protesting the closure," Sulistyowati said.

Some women who worked at Surabaya's other red-light areas were now plying their trade in guesthouses or vehicles. This took them away from localized outreach programmes designed to tackle the spread of HIV and sexually transmitted diseases, she said.

"When the commercial sex workers are all in one place, they have a routine of getting tested once a month at the local clinic," said Sulistyowati. "Now many of them have ended up on the street or in hotels with no support system."

LEARNING TO WALK

Residents claim Surabaya's religious leaders are pressuring the mayor to shut Dolly. But Rismaharini says it is not a "heaven or hell" issue.

"As a leader, I have to show (sex workers) there is nothing contemptible about what they do," she said. "It's a matter of securing their children's future."

Children were the "biggest victims", said Rismaharini, who wept during a recent television interview while talking about Dolly. Girls were sucked into underage sex work and boys into pimping, she said.

She rejected reports that sex workers from brothels she had closed were moving to towns and cities elsewhere in East Java.

To prevent HIV cases from rising, city hall planned to increase surveillance of workers selling sex in cars and guest houses, and boost free contraception and public awareness programmes, said its public relation department.

Rismaharini, who has two grown-up children, still keeps a motherly eye on former sex workers who have undergone retraining.

"It's not possible to just let them go," she said. "They're like babies learning to walk."

(Editing by Nick Macfie)

Washington state mudslide death toll climbs to 14 with up to 176 missing

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 08:30 PM PDT

ARLINGTON, Washington (Reuters) - The death toll from a devastating weekend mudslide in Washington state climbed to 14 people on Monday as six more bodies were found, while the number reported missing continued to swell two days after the tragedy, authorities said.

As many as 176 people were reported missing in the massive landslide, and local emergency management officials expressed doubt anyone else would be plucked alive from the muck that engulfed dozens of homes when a rain-soaked hillside near Oso, Washington, collapsed on Saturday morning.

Meanwhile, concern lingered about flooding from water backing up behind a crude dam of mud and rubble dumped into the North Fork of the Stillaguamish River by the slide in an area along State Route 530, about 55 miles (90 km) northeast of Seattle.

"The situation is very grim," said Travis Hots, the local fire chief. "We're still holding out hope that we're going to be able to find people that may still be alive. But keep in mind we haven't found anybody alive on this pile since Saturday in the initial stages of our operation."

President Barack Obama, who was in Europe on Monday for a meeting with world leaders, signed an emergency declaration ordering U.S. government assistance to supplement state and local relief efforts in the aftermath of the mudslide and flooding, the White House said.

Several dozen homes were believed to have sustained some damage from the slide, John Pennington, director of the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management, told reporters at a command post in the nearby town of Arlington.

More than 100 properties were hit by the cascading mud, 49 of which had a house, cabin or mobile home on them, Pennington said. At least 25 of those homes were believed to have been occupied year round.

"I'm pissed off I'm losing my house. I mean I hate to lose it. I've been working on it for 15 years," said 73-year-old Dennis Hargrave, who drove up from Kirkland, near Seattle, to learn what he could of his vacation home.

"But that's not my concern. My concern is, are my neighbours still alive? Is anybody surviving this?" he said.

TANGLED DEBRIS

The search for victims resumed under partly cloudy skies on Monday after treacherous quicksand-like conditions forced rescue workers to suspend their efforts at dusk on Sunday. Some workers, mired in mud up to their armpits, had to be dragged to safety.

Members of a search team were forced to retreat again from the western edge of the slide area after movement was detected along a 1,500-foot (460-meter) stretch of earth, said Rebecca Hover, a spokeswoman for the county executive's office.

Authorities on Monday also reported a sharp jump in the number of people listed as unaccounted for in the chaos after the disaster, heightening fears the casualty toll could climb even higher. Eight people were injured in the landslide.

The number of people missing had been listed at 18 or more on Sunday, before jumping on Monday first to as many as 108 and then as high as 176, although Pennington said some reports were vague and could involve overlap.

"The 176 I believe very strongly is not going to be a number that we're going to see in fatalities. I think it's going to drop dramatically," Pennington told an evening news conference.

One retired lumber mill worker, Reed Miller, told Seattle television station KOMO-TV that his riverfront house was demolished by the slide, and that his 47-year-old son, with whom he shared the home, was probably swept away with it.

"Well, he was at home. As far as I know he's gone," said Miller, who was at a grocery store in town at the time. "There's no official (word) that he's been found yet, but he could be buried. I just don't know."

HOPE FOR THE MISSING

The potential number of victims in harm's way was higher on a Saturday, with many people at home, than on a weekday when more residents would have been at work or school, Pennington said. He said search teams were also trying to account for an unspecified number of construction workers who were in the area and motorists who were driving by at the time.

But authorities were hoping many of those reported as missing would turn out to be survivors who were either double-counted or slow in alerting loved ones and local officials as to their whereabouts.

The slide in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains along the Stillaguamish River piled mud, boulders and rubble up to 15 feet (5 meters) deep in some places. It blocked the flow of the river, backing up water behind a natural dam that caused flooding of seven homes upstream of the slide, Pennington said.

"The bad news is that the water continues to rise and homes are inundated up to the eaves in many cases," he said. "If there is a silver lining in that event ... it is that it is a slow, methodical rise. You can see the danger."

Authorities said as the volume and pressure of water behind the dam continued to build, there was a chance that additional downstream flooding and mud flows could be unleashed.

(Additional reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis, Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Cynthia Johnston, Cynthia Osterman, Richard Chang and Lisa Shumaker)

Xi tells Obama to adopt 'fair' attitude on China's maritime disputes

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 07:56 PM PDT

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping told U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday that the United States should adopt a "fair" attitude on the East and South China Seas, where China is involved in a series of increasingly bitter territorial disputes.

"On the issues of the East and South China Sea, the U.S. side ought to adopt an objective and fair attitude, distinguish right from wrong, and do more to push for an appropriate resolution and improve the situation," state news agency Xinhua cited Xi as saying. It provided no other details.

The two leaders met on the sidelines of a nuclear security summit in the Netherlands, where their talks also took in the situation in Ukraine, North Korea and military-to-military cooperation.

China is in an often angry dispute with some of its neighbours, especially Vietnam and the Philippines, over claims to parts of the potentially oil and gas-rich South China Sea. China lays claim to almost the whole of the sea, which is criss-crossed by crucial shipping lanes.

China has a separate dispute with Japan in the East China Sea over a group of uninhabited islets.

China has repeatedly urged the United States not to take sides in any of these disputes, and has watched warily as Washington moves to strengthen its military alliances in the region, especially with Tokyo and Manila.

Xi added that he hoped China and the United States deepened their military cooperation and carried out more joint exercises, to help "prevent misunderstandings and miscalculations".

China's Foreign Ministry said the two leaders reached 10 agreements, including one to form rules for safe maritime and airspace military actions in international waters, the official China Daily newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The risks of a mishap in the region were highlighted in December when the guided missile cruiser USS Cowpens had to take evasive action in the South China Sea to avoid hitting a Chinese warship operating in support of Beijing's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard, additional reporting by Megha Rajagopalan; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Business

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The Star Online: Business

MISC rated an 'underperform'
Asia Forex: Taiwan dollar Singapore dollar, ringgit rupiah Rise
SEC probes banks and companies in loan securities dealings

MISC rated an 'underperform'

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 09:00 AM PDT

MISC BHD

By Kenanga Research

Target price: RM6.87

Underperform

ON March 21, MISC Bhd entered into an agreement for the sale and purchase of shares to dispose of its unit MISC Integrated Logistics Sdn Bhd (MILS) to Golden Age Logistics Sdn Bhd, a special purpose vehicle wholly owned by Utusan Printcorp Sdn Bhd for RM250mil.

As at Dec 31, 2013, the net assets of MILS stood at RM246.5mil, which implies a price-to-book value of 1.0x based on selling price.

This disposal, said Kenanga Research, was not surprising as MISC had been looking to divest their non-core businesses and focus on their core shipping business.

Kenanga Research said it believed that MISC had exited the integrated logistics business at a favourable price.

Based on the offer price of RM250mil, the research house said the implied trailing price earnings ratio was 21.8x based on estimated earnings of RM11.5mil on the assumptions of US dollar versus ringgit exchange rate of 3.12 and an effective tax rate of 25%.

It said the implied valuation was at a premium compared with MILS' industry peers, which were trading at a price earnings ratio range of between 10.0x and 16.0x.

Kenanga Research said it was positive on this disposal, as it allowed MISC to cash out from their logistics business at a favourable price which also freed up more cash for investments in energy and petroleum-related shipping business in, which the operating conditions may improve in the medium-term.

It said the completion date of this disposal was still uncertain at the moment as the finalisation of the deal was conditional upon approvals from relevant authorities, letter of consent from MILS financiers, and letter of confirmation from Petroliam Nasional Berhad.

Kenanga Research said the management expected the delivery of vessels for the global petroleum market in 2014 to be similar with 2013, but the overall outlook had improved as the demand for vessels had actually improved.

It said the chemical tanker segment was expected to be fairly stable in 2014 but the removal of sanctions on Iran was positive for longer-term chemical exports.

With one of the Puteri class LNG vessels going out of charter and coupled with significantly higher vessel deliveries expected in 2014, Kenanga Research said it anticipated the LNG segment to remain flattish or even slightly worse off in 2014 due to its relatively old fleet age and oversupply of vessels.

As a result of the disposal, it has its core earnings forecast for financial year 2014 (FY14) and FY15 by 0.5% and 0.6%, respectively, to account for the loss of income from the logistics business.

It increased price-to-book ratio-derived target price to RM6.87 from RM6.34 previously, pegged at 1.2x to FY14 book value of equity per share due to some housekeeping adjustments.

MALAYSIA AICA BHD

By PublicInvest Research

Fair value: RM1.30

MALAYSIA Aica, with the emergence of new controlling shareholder Datuk Ter Leong Yap, who now holds 50.1% post general offer, is expected to transform the company into a property developer from a wood-based manufacturer currently.

PublicInvest Research said three major developments – 300 acres in Salak Tinggi within Xiamen University, 82 acres in Medini and 21 acres in Setia Alam with estimated GDV of RM10bil (effective GDV of RM5.9bil) had been identified to be injected and likely to be financed by a combination of equity and debt.

It said the land costs appeared to be fair, averaging 10% of the estimated gross development value in its estimates.

It believed with proper execution, the land could provide consistent growth and wealth creation for Malaysia Aica for the next few years.

The company is 50.12%-owned by Datuk Ter (after the new block of shares sold to him prior to the general offer that raised his stake from 17.7%) after acquiring 39.3mil shares for RM33.4mil or 85 sen per share.

It said the stock price had since risen by 56% from 96 sen, in anticipation of assets injection which was seen to transform the wood-based manufacturing company into a property developer.

PublicInvest Research said the three developments were strategically located within up-and- coming areas such as Medini, Johor, Salak Tinggi (South of Putrajaya) and Setia Alam. The combined gross development value for these projects are estimated to be circa RM10bil.

Hence, it added the estimated land cost of RM1bil at about 10% of total gross development value appeared to be attractive. It said total investment by Datuk Ter (50.12% stake) were totalling RM47mil after the general offer (completed in Jan 14).

Assuming three-for-one rights issuance needed to fund the land injection, it said a further RM167mil is required to maintain the stake.

Nonetheless, it said the total investments could be partially offset by land sale gains.

Coincidentally, PublicInvest Research estimated Datuk Ter's gain from land sale was about RM 218mil, roughly equivalent to the total of his investments in Malaysia Aica.

It estimated the three plots of land which has gross development value of about RM10bil with development period ranging from five to eight years, will generate circa RM700mil (or RM1.10 per share) in net surplus value to the group.

Accordingly, PublicInvest Research said earnings should also improve as property sales started to kick in. It said it understood that the group had plans to accelerate its launches to sell at least RM1bil per annum in the next one to two years.

With that, it estimated the group's net earnings could potentially hit RM150mil (implying circa 4x price earnings ratio of PublicInvest Research's ex-all last price) in the next two to three years from average of more than RM2mil per annum currently.

It added that if the asset injection was partly funded by a three-for-one rights issuance at 70 sen per share, the ex-all fair value was RM1.30, based on 40% discount to PublicInvest Research realized net asset value estimates, providing circa 46% upside to the ex-all last price of 90 sen.

Key risks according to PublicInvest Research include slower than expected launches, delay of Xiamen University and more punitive property cooling measures.

NTPM HOLDINGS BHD

By PublicInvest Research

Fair value: RM1.04

Outperform

NTPM's third quarter of financial year 2014 (Q3FY14) revenue grew 4.2% year-on-year to RM132.9mil while earnings increased 2.6% year-on-year to RM14.2mil, adding up to a cumulative revenue and net profit of RM384.5mil (+6.5% year-on-year) and RM42.2mil (+16.2% year-on-year) respectively.

The growth is supported by the increase in tissue sales and baby diapers in the domestic market, with bottom-line margins enhanced from higher margin for tissue products and higher sales contribution from the personal care segment.

PublicInvest Research said it was maintaining its "outperform" call with an unchanged target price of RM1.04 premised on 16x price earnings multiple valuation on FY15F earnings, supported by its 55% Malaysian tissue market share position, emergence as a promising diaper and personal care manufacturer, regional expansion of operations into Indochina, and earnings boost from capacity and higher margins through product diversification including new paper products such as wet tissue and packaging wraps.

A first interim dividend of 1.45 sen was declared, which was in line with PublicInvest Research's full year dividend per share estimate of 2.9 sen.

Revenue recorded RM277.4mil (+3.9% year-to-date year-on-year), from higher domestic tissue products demand. Profit before tax increased 6.3% from higher sales margin for tissue products.

Asia Forex: Taiwan dollar Singapore dollar, ringgit rupiah Rise

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 06:49 PM PDT

March 25: The following table shows rates for Asian currencies against the dollar at 0130 GMT Tuesday.

CURRENCIES VS U.S. DOLLAR
Change on the day at 0130 GMT
Currency Latest bid Previous day Pct Move
Japan yen 102.24 102.24 +0.00
Sing dlr 1.2676 1.2713 +0.29
Taiwan dlr 30.508 30.622 +0.37
Korean won 1076.40 1077.80 +0.13
Baht 32.42 32.44 +0.06
Peso 45.02 45.11 +0.20
Rupiah 11345.00 11375.00 +0.26
Rupee 60.78 60.77 -0.01
Ringgit 3.2910 3.3000 +0.27
Yuan 6.1800 6.1888 +0.14

Change so far in 2014
Currency Latest bid End prev year Pct Move
Japan yen 102.24 105.28 +2.97
Sing dlr 1.2676 1.2632 -0.35
Taiwan dlr 30.508 29.950 -1.83
Korean won 1076.40 1055.40 -1.95
Baht 32.42 32.86 +1.36
Peso 45.02 44.40 -1.39
Rupiah 11345.00 12160.00 +7.18
Rupee 60.78 61.80 +1.69
Ringgit 3.2910 3.2755 -0.47

Yuan 6.1800 6.0539 -2.04- Reuters

SEC probes banks and companies in loan securities dealings

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 06:44 PM PDT

NEW YORK: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has launched an investigation into the increasing number of complex bond deals on Wall Street that may create new opportunities for fraud, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

Investigators with the SEC are examining if banks and companies are using the bond deals to hide risks illegally, the newspaper reported, citing sources close to the matter.

The securities are packages of corporate loans and debts that are assembled and sold by Wall Street Banks to investors. They have gained in popularity after the financial crisis as investors chase riskier investment products. (WSJ story: http://link.reuters.com/vuj87v)

The SEC is also investigating whether a number of banks including Barclays , Citigroup , Deutsche Bank AG, Goldman Sachs Group, Morgan Stanley, Royal Bank of Scotland and UBS AG have been cheating their clients by mispricing certain bond deals.

The SEC was not immediately available for comment outside of normal business hours.- Reuters

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

The Star Online: Nation

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Families reduce Qing Ming burning due to haze
Clouded leopard found dead in Tawau
With no closure, loved ones are pushed to point of exasperation

Families reduce Qing Ming burning due to haze

Posted: 23 Mar 2014 09:00 AM PDT

JOHOR BARU: The haze and long dry spell will have an effect on the upcoming Qing Ming Festival (Chinese All Souls Day) as well – families observing the festival this year are choosing to burn fewer joss sticks and less paper in an effort not to worsen the air quality.

Mechanic Choong Chee Leng, 35, said his family chose to be more environmentally friendly as the past two months had been very dry and hot in Johor and other parts of the country.

"We will keep the burning to a minimum this year and will only burn necessary items like hell notes, paper clothing, paper houses and cars for my grandparents," he said when met at the cemetery in Tebrau here yesterday.

Factory supervisor Giam Yee Wei, 46, said her family usually spent about RM500 on prayer items to burn for her ancestors but they cut this down by half this year.

"Our country just had rain a week ago, so we do not want to do much open burning and contribute to any bush fires," she said.

She said her family arrived at the cemetery from Gelang Patah at 7.30am yesterday and noticed that other families were also burning fewer items this time round.

Singaporean Joseph Phua, 55, also encouraged his family to cut down on the items they burned so that they would not harm the environment.

"Burning fewer items can help save the environment and money. I am sure our ancestors will understand," added the father of three.

The festival, where families will clean their ancestors' tombs, give offerings and burn prayer paraphernalia which replicates dollar notes, cars, clothes and houses, falls on April 5 this year.

Clouded leopard found dead in Tawau

Posted: 23 Mar 2014 09:00 AM PDT

KOTA KINABALU: A protected clouded leopard was found dead in Sabah's east coast town of Tawau.

The Bornean leopard is believed to have been hit by a vehicle while crossing the Kuhara road after it came out from a secondary forest about 2km from the town in search of food.

A Tawau resident, who uploaded a picture of the dead cat on Facebook, said that it was spotted dead on the road at about 9am on Saturday.

Conservationist estimated that there are about 5,000 to 11,000 of the leopards within the forests of Borneo island and they believe that their numbers are fast dwindling.

The Sabah government has placed the leopards in its protection list under the Sabah Wildlife Conservation Enactment.

Sabah Wildlife Department assistant director Dr Sen Nathan said that the leopards were found in most forest areas around Sabah and it was not surprising to find them close to secondary forests near urban centres.

"They usually search for preys like rats. It is a pity that the cat was knocked down," he said, urging motorist to drive slow in areas frequently used by the animals.

"We also hope that people will just leave the animals alone and let them roam freely within their habitats," he said, adding that the cats were also seen in oil palm estates, as well as secondary forests close to human settlements.

With no closure, loved ones are pushed to point of exasperation

Posted: 23 Mar 2014 09:00 AM PDT

CYBERJAYA: While the world remains stumped by the mystery of flight MH370, no sorrow can be greater than the grief of the families and friends of those who disappeared with the plane.

A total of 239 passengers and crew vanished with the plane about an hour after take-off from the KL International Airport (KLIA) on March 8, leaving no clear indication of where it had deviated to.

About two-thirds of those on board were Chinese nationals and some two dozen of their relatives had travelled from Beijing to Kuala Lumpur since March 11 with hopes of finding their missing loved ones.

Their accommodation and most other expenses in Kuala Lumpur had been shouldered by Malaysia Airlines (MAS), just so the next-of-kin could be closer to the source of information on the search and rescue mission for the Boeing 777 aircraft.

But two weeks have passed since the incident and the Chinese relatives in Kuala Lumpur have experienced nothing less than a roller-coaster ride of emotions.

A few of them retaliated with great irritation as soon as they had arrived in Kuala Lumpur as they fended off news-hungry journalists.

Left alone to themselves, they talk to each other in soft conversations, with a sombre expression.

Their daily activity include countless hours with their electronic gadgets as they diligently studied every theory and conspiracy spun by the world in relation to MH370.

At other times, they would engage in light conversation with volunteers from the Tzu Chi Buddhist Foundation.

When news came that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak would make a special announcement on the Saturday afternoon of March 15, there was a tinge of excitement on their faces.

Their chatter in thick accents became more quick-paced, each wondering if "this would be it".

"Will we finally get to bring our families home?" After the live telecast in which Najib confirmed that the MH370 was deliberately deviated from its original flight path to Beijing, the excitement on the faces of the families was no longer there.

The families were fed with updates on the search and rescue mission by embassy officials and selected Malaysian authorities in person daily but that sign of hope has yet to reappear on their faces.

Like their counterparts who had chosen to remain in Beijing, their biggest gripe was about being bogged down by many questions and possibilities but having few answers to confirm them.

Not knowing what had happened to their loved ones on board the MH370 has rendered them helpless, pushing them to the point of exasperation.

Several even staged a commotion in the KLIA Sama-Sama Hotel on Wednesday just before Acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein was to deliver his daily press briefing.

Even when Australia revealed the next day of its discovery of two objects possibly related to the search of the missing flight, the families had little emotions left to show.

A meeting between the families and high-level Malaysian government officials was held in the hotel the same night but as one next-of-kin of a Malaysian passenger, Hamid Amran, put it: "We are not satisfied with the answers."

Until and unless some form of closure is delivered to them, they know that no expert speculation in the world will ever patch up the void in their hearts.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

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Taiwan police use water cannon to retake government HQ

Posted: 23 Mar 2014 10:32 PM PDT

TAIPEI: Taiwan riot police unleashed water cannon Monday to dislodge hundreds of demonstrators who had stormed government headquarters in violent scenes that dramatically escalated a days-old protest against a trade pact with China.

After nearly a week-long occupation of Taiwan's parliament, the protesters late Sunday also infiltrated the Executive Yuan where the cabinet is located, pulling down barbed-wire barricades outside and using ladders to break into offices on the second floor.

The assault came after President Ma Ying-jeou refused to back down on the trade pact, which he argues is vital for Taiwan's economic future, rejecting opposition claims that he is effectively handing the island over to Chinese control after six decades of political separation.

About 1,000 officers were deployed overnight to forcibly remove the protesters from the Executive Yuan. Premier Jiang Yi-huah, whose office is located in the building, said at least 110 people were injured, including 52 police officers, while police arrested 61 people.

"Suddenly water was spraying at us and it was very powerful. My glasses flew off and I was very dizzy," protester Frank Hsieh, a former premier from the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), told reporters.

One injured male protester lay on the ground receiving medical care, while another was led away with blood streaming down his face, AFP journalists saw.

After taking over the building, many protesters had lain on the ground with their arms linked to defy efforts to shift them.

Police used riot shields to push the crowds back while some of the demonstrators tried to grab their batons and pelted them with plastic bottles. Two water cannon trucks were then deployed early Monday, eventually subduing the crowd and clearing the building.

"The government denounces violence and dispersed the crowd according to the law. We will not tolerate actions designed to paralyse the government," the presidential office said in a statement.

'Let us calm down'

But the DPP, which historically has favoured formal independence for Taiwan, called on Ma to respond to the protesters' demands and scrap the pact.

"Forcible dispersals will only cause more students and police to get hurt and are likely to trigger more outrage and protests," the party said in a statement.

Ma has overseen a marked thaw in relations with Beijing since he came to power in 2008 pledging to strengthen trade and tourism links.

But China still considers Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting reunification - by force if necessary - while Taipei still styles itself the legitimate "Republic of China".

The president warns that trade-reliant Taiwan could be marginalised without the China agreement - which is designed to further open up trade in services - and similar pacts with other countries, as regional economic blocs emerge.

"I must say that (the pact) is completely for the sake of Taiwan's economic future," Ma told a news conference on Sunday, denouncing the parliamentary sit-in before the protests spread to the Executive Yuan.

"Let us calm down and think carefully. Is this the democracy we want? Do we have to do in this way, risking the rule of law?"

Some 200 protesters - mainly college students - stormed the parliament last Tuesday and took over its main chamber to stop Ma's ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party from ratifying the agreement with China.

Hundreds of police attempted to end the occupation hours after it began, but failed to push their way through piles of armchairs barricading the doorways.

After the unruly scenes at the Executive Yuan, hundreds of police remained deployed outside the parliament complex a short walk away on Monday.

But they showed no sign of intervening to retake control of the chamber inside, where the protesters remain holed up.

Parliamentary speaker Wang Jin-pyng, who is from the KMT party, has ruled out force to retake the chamber and called for a peaceful resolution. -AFP

Missing plane fuels security rethink

Posted: 23 Mar 2014 09:00 AM PDT

KUALA LUMPUR: As the hunt for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 enters a third week, the piecemeal returns from one of the most intense, international searches in living memory have delivered a public and institutional shock that could force a major rethink about aviation security.

The fact that a Boeing-777 equipped with state-of-the-art location tracking technology could vanish for so long, is in itself, aviation experts say, shocking enough to compel changes in the way commercial aircraft are electronically monitored.

One priority would be to enhance tracking coverage for a plane in an emergency situation that forces it beyond the reach of conventional radar systems.

It was modern satellite imagery that pointed MH370 investigators to a remote part of the Indian Ocean 2,500km southwest of Perth, but the physical search for debris in the area had to rely on less sophisticated methods – binoculars held to the windows of spotter planes.

If a crash site is finally located, investigators will have to rush to find the plane's crucial "black box" before it stops emitting its tracking signals.

"There's no doubt that what has gone on is one of the greatest mysteries of modern aviation and it will have an impact on the global aviation and airline industry," Jonathan Galaviz, partner at the US-based travel and aviation consultancy firm Global Market Advisors, said.

"I expect there will be a real examination of the kind of recording technology we have right now in airplanes, a debate on how they are designed and how long they can last," Galaviz said.

"There will also be discussion about live satellite streaming of such data so that it can constantly be monitored," he added.

The separate flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder currently send pings for about 30 days – a timespan that could well be reconsidered given the unprecedented length of the search for the Malaysian airliner.

The mystery of MH370 owes much to the abrupt nature of its "disappearance".

Nearly one hour into its flight, both its automated signalling systems ceased to function and the plane dropped off civilian radar.

The immediate assumption was of a catastrophic event that plunged the plane into the South China Sea before any distress call could be made.

But sketchy satellite and military radar showed that, in fact, the aircraft had veered sharply off course, backtracked across the Malaysian peninsula, and then flown on – possibly for hours – in a northerly or southerly direction.

Technology already exists for passenger jets to immediately relay the black box data via satellite, but most commercial airlines have baulked at the prospect of investing millions in such systems, as bottom lines come under pressure due to rising fuel costs and increasing competition.

Major airlines, including Malaysia Airlines, have access to the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (Acars), a digital datalink via satellite or VHS radio, for brief text messages from aircraft, but they do not compare with the parameters that the flight data recorder monitors.

In the case of flight MH370, the Acars, which was supposed to transmit data every 30 minutes, failed to send messages after the aircraft fell off civilian radar.

Andrew Herdman, director-general of the Asia Pacific Airlines Association, said costs for satellite-linked black boxes could be minimised by programming them to transmit data to ground controllers only when an in-flight abnormality is detected.

Such abnormalities might include the disabling of communications systems or a sudden deviation from the flight plan.

"The idea of live streaming the black boxes would also entail an enormous amount of data being transmitted on any given day and that in itself would also be a huge logistical challenge," he said.

Greg Waldron, the Asia managing editor for aviation industry magazine Flightglobal, said the uptake of such technology by airlines would be a "slow and gradual process".

Airlines may move faster if leading civil aviation regulators including the US Federal Aviation Administration and the European Aviation Safety Agency decide to make such systems mandatory for their respective jurisdictions within a set deadline, he said. — AFP

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

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Taiwan police use water cannon to retake government HQ
Missing plane fuels security rethink
Kim Jong-Un lookalike sizzles in China