Rabu, 14 September 2011

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Proton goes electric

Posted: 14 Sep 2011 05:48 PM PDT

2011/09/15
Rupinder Singh
rupinder@nst.com.my

PUTRAJAYA: Proton Holdings Bhd's global compact electric and hybrid car, Emas, could enter the market in two to three years, its chairman, Datuk Seri Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh, said.

The electric vehicle, designed by Italdesign Giugiaro and developed by Proton, was first unveiled at the Geneva International Motor Show last year.

Emas, short for Eco Mobility Advance Solution, is a plug-in electric vehicle (EV) or hybrid Range Extender Electric Vehicle (REEV).

The compact car's powertrain could include a turbocharged small engine of 1.2-litre capacity, or lower.

Proton is currently fleet-testing the Exora REEV and Saga EV to assess their potential.

The national car maker yesterday handed over five Exora REEVs and three Saga EVs to the government to be test driven. This would be the first step before mass-producing them.

The vehicles were received by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in a ceremony witnessed by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who is also Proton's adviser.

Others who took delivery of the vehicles at the PM's Department were Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Peter Chin Fah Kui, Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Mohamad Hanadzlah, Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir and Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Abdul Rahim Bakri.

This is the first phase of fleet testing, a collaboration between Proton, the Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry and International Trade and Industry Ministry.

Nadzmi said 250 electric-powered cars would be handed to the government in phases for fleet-testing by the year-end or early next year.

"We want to deliver them as fast as possible."

Proton will get feedback from the testing, covering the technological aspects, design and performance of the vehicles.

Charging stations provided by Proton will be at the Prime Minister's Department and the four minis tries.

The Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry, in a statement, said that a charging system for home use would be supplied to motorists who will be identified from the PM's Department and the four ministries.

According to Dr Mahathir, Proton took three years to develop the vehicles.

"We hope that Proton will one day produce trucks and buses using this system which reduces the use of petrol by relying on batteries to power the engine."

Herbs to ward off haze effects

Posted: 14 Sep 2011 04:41 PM PDT

2011/09/15
By Punitha Kumar, Sulaiman Jaafar and Adrian Lai
news@nst.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: More people are resorting to traditional herbal treatment to counter the effects of the haze.

A traditional Chinese medicine practitioner, Ng Eng Joo, said he had his hands full dealing with customers clamouring for various herbs to deal with sore eyes and throat or chest congestion.

"Depending on the ailment, I will prescribe a combination of herbs like figwort, firmoss, bamboo green tea, licorice and arhat fruit," said Ng, who runs a traditional Chinese medicine shop in Lucky Garden, Bangsar.

One of his customers, a 43-year-old businessman who wanted to be known only as Lim, said he had stocked up on supplements and traditional medicine for his family to prevent them from falling sick.

The haze has affected asthmatics badly. A sales representative, who wanted to be known only as Muthu, said he had been going to the doctors more often to treat his asthma over the past week.

A housewife, who wanted to be known only as Rokiah, said she tried to keep her three children indoors after school.

"My youngest son is 9 years old. He has caught a bad cough and I think it has to do with the haze."

A pharmacy in Lucky Garden said the sale of face masks had been brisk.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said his ministry would alert the public should the Air Pollutant Index readings breach the 100 mark in any area.

On the Malaysia Day and Merdeka joint celebrations tomorrow, he said the event would be postponed should the API readings go beyond 300.

"My ministry would take appropriate action and, if necessary, provide face masks for the 9,950 participants."

He advised the public to drink lots of water and stay indoors if possible.
Liow said his ministry was working closely with the Meteorological Department in solving the haze situation.

The Meteorological Department yesterday said even though the visibility reading due to the haze in Kuching was a shocking "0km", the Air Pollutant Index (API) was a "moderate" 54.

Other areas with low visibility were Senai (also at 0km) and Subang (0.8km).
The highest API readings were in Alor Star (76), followed by Seberang Jaya (69).
In Kota Baru, visibility, which dropped to 2km on Tuesday, improved to 8km yesterday.

Visibility at other places, reported low on Tuesday, was also better, except for Sitiawan, where it dropped from 3km to just 1km.

A Kelantan Department of Civil Aviation spokesman said flights operating to and from the Sultan Ismail Petra Airport in Pengkalan Chepa went on as normal on Tuesday and yesterday. The airport handles 40 flights to and from here daily.

According to Singapore's Meteorological Service website, satellite images from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA-18) showed haze activities only from 20 hotspots in the south of Sumatra.

The Department of Environment has banned open burning and asked the public to put out small fires quickly.

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Douglas Uggah Embas is to meet Indonesian Environment Minister Professor Dr Gusti Muhammad Hatta this Sunday on setting up an Asean fire-fighting squad to tackle haze-related fires.

Kredit: www.nst.com.my

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Posted: 14 Mar 2011 10:28 AM PDT

2010/11/04
Joniston Bangkuai, Patrick Sennyah and Sajahan Waheed
news@nst.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: Substantive swings produced two key by-election victories for the Barisan Nasional tonight.

BN has now won three of the four of by-elections this year, losing Sibu by 398 votes.

In Kelantan, BN wrested the Galas State seat from Pas by a majority of 1,190 - improving its near-victory in the July 2009 Manik Urai by-election when the coalition lost by 65 votes.

BN shall now look to repeat the kind of performance it produced in the 2004 general election when it won 21 state seats in Kelantan. As for now, Galas brings its state seats to 7 in a 45-seat Legislative Assembly.

The Galas by-election was called following the death of Pas' Che Hashim Sulaima, 46, on Sept 27 from colon cancer. Che Sulaima had defeated BN's Mohd Saufi Deraman by a 646 vote-majority in the March 2008 general election.

In the 2004 general election, Che Hashim had lost to Mohamad Saufi, by 1,729 votes.

Significantly for Kelantan politics, the Galas battle had been billed as contest between BN's Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat, the Kelantan Menteri Besar and Pas spiritual leader.

Analysts had said that a Pas defeat would be seen as a sign of Nik Aziz losing grip. He is 79 and had been Menteri Besar since 1990.

"The face to face interaction adopted by BN has worked..this is a indicator of how BN can change," Prof Dr Sivamurugan Pandian of Universiti Sains Malaysia told the New Straits Times tonight.

Pas had during the campaigning mocked Abdul Aziz Yusoff, the BN candidate for his lack of qualification. Dr Zulkefli Mohamed of Pas now has to his name three unsuccessful attempts to win seats in the Gua Musang area.

The results of the nation's 12th by election since March 2008 were announced by returning officer Wan Mustapa Abdul Hamid at the Gua Musang Civic Centre here tonight.

Many of Chinese voters in Galas had returned to BN, according to preliminary analysis of the results.

Pas lost in Kampung Baru, which is a Chinese majority area by 41 votes. It garnered more than 200 over votes there in the general election.

The BN election machinery which was led by Tengku Razaleigh, the Gua Musang MP, had adopted a new campaign strategy this time where they focused on a more personal approach as opposed to big scale ceramah and large entourages.

Election Commission deputy chairman, Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar said voter turnout was 82.71 per cent or 9,555 of the total 11,553 voters in the constituency, compared to a 80.57 per cent turnout in 2008.

In Batu Sapi, the choice of a woman as a candidate and the joint-leadership of Datuk Seri Musa Aman and Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan of Parti Bersatu Sabah had contributed to the increase of majority from 3,708 (2008 general election) to 6,359, analysts said.

"My husband is watching me now and I think he is proud of me," said the BN candidate, Datin Linda Tsen Thau Lin.

Tsen's husband Datuk Edmund Chong was the late parliamentarian of Batu Sapi. His death on Oct 9 had led to the by-election.

UiTM student posts highest score in accounting course

Posted: 10 Mar 2011 03:55 PM PST

2010/12/23
By Hanif Miswan

SHAH ALAM: Few Malaysians can stake claim to being the best in the world, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) student Khalid Kamarulzaman is one of
them.

He was acclaimed the 'World's Best CAT Graduate' in the Certified Accounting Technician (CAT) programme. The results were announced in October.

The 19-year-old Faculty of Accountancy student scored the highest aggregate of 474 marks or an average of almost 95 per cent, for five advanced CAT papers.

CAT is an international qualification offered by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), the global body for professional accountants headquartered in the United Kingdom.

The qualification provides the graduate with the necessary knowledge and skills in Finance and Accounting to perform an accounting-support role. It is also designed to fast-track students towards a full-fledged career in accountancy.

Khalid achieved a perfect score in Drafting Financial Statements (T6) and came close in Managing People and Systems (T5) with 98 per cent.

His marks in these two papers were the highest in the world.

He also posted 97 per cent for Planning - Control and Performance Management (T7), 90 per cent for Preparing Taxation Computations (T9) and 89 per cent for Managing Finances (T10).

"It was important for me to shine in this programme as it has placed me on the right path to achieving my dreams so I can help my less fortunate family," said Khalid in an interview with Varsity Voice on Nov 21.

Although he expected to pass the CAT exams with flying colours, the outstanding results were "...a dream come true, and a tribute to my love for mathematics and numbers".

The third son in a family of nine siblings from Hulu Langat, Selangor, Khalid has now set his sights on completing another 11 courses in the ACCA programme to become a chartered certified accountant.

"CAT is only the first step. I intend to do just as well in the ACCA examination before gaining work experience and eventually opening up my own accountancy practice."

"For now, I must be careful not to get too carried away as there is still a lot to learn and a long way to go before I can fulfill my aspirations," he added.

The CAT programme was first offered by the faculty in 2002 to SPM graduates who had at least five credits, inclusive of Mathematics, Malay and English.

Khalid was recognised as a top student during the Faculty's Excellence Day on Oct 6, during which he received an award from UiTM's Vice Chancellor Datuk Professor Dr Sahol Hamid Abu Bakar.

(Ed: This article first appeared in Varsity Voice, a monthly publication jointly produced by the New Straits Times and Universiti Teknoogi MARA (UiTM) under the newspaper's Journalism on Campus project.)

Kredit: www.nst.com.my

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Proton's hybrid car may roll out in 2 years

Posted: 14 Sep 2011 06:52 PM PDT

PUTRAJAYA: Proton Holdings Bhd's global compact electric and hybrid car, Emas, could enter the market in two to three years, its chairman, Datuk Seri Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh, said.