Furniture sellers seek more space for exhibition

The Star, Saturday July 28, 2012

By LOH FOON FONG
foonfong@thestar.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: The Kuala Lumpur & Selangor Furniture Entrepreneur Association wants the Government to build bigger exhibition halls for furniture trade fair events.

Its president Edmond Chew said there was a limited number of big exhibition halls currently.
“They are not big enough for international shows,” he said after the Malaysian Furniture and Furnishings Fair 2012.

Spoilt for choice: People patronising the Malaysian Furniture and Furnishings Fair.

 

Chew said that although the Government had plans to build a big exhibition hall for Matrade, it was not known when this would be done.

He said Malaysia's furniture export from January to May this year saw a 10% increase to RM3,163.1bil as opposed to RM2,867.6bil the same period last year.

Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen said Malaysia only has four international standard exhibition centres with a total gross indoor size of 71,292 sq m compared to China with 97 centres and 4.4mil sq m.

“This clearly indicates that Malaysia needs more exhibition space to compete and attract more international standard exhibitions to be held here,” said Dr Ng whose speech was read out by the ministry's secretary-general Datuk Dr Ong Hong Peng.

“Malaysia is fast emerging as a choice destination for international conventions and exhibitions regionally and globally.

“Its growing appeal to convention and exhibition organisers is not surprising in view of the country's easy accessibility from various parts of the world,” added Dr Ng.

Dr Ng also said Malaysia recorded a 14% growth of exhibition space from an estimated annual size of 265,000 sq m in 2010 to 320,500 sq m last year.

However, Malaysia had only 57 trade fairs last year compared with China's 532, Hong Kong's 101, Singapore's 97 and Thailand's 77, she noted.

Dr Ng added that growth in exhibition space sales this year was expected to be 2.5% which would result in space sales of 16.3mil sq m in total.

Source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/7/28/nation/11745537&sec=nation

Doctors’ fees set to go up by 14%

The Star, Friday July 27, 2012

By LOH FOON FONG
foonfong@thestar.com.my

 (From URL: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/7/27/nation/11737518&sec=nation)

KUALA LUMPUR: Doctors and specialists' fees in the private sector are likely to see a 14% increase if the hike is approved by the Cabinet, said Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

He said the Health Ministry carried out the revision once every five years and was finalising dental charges before the revised fee structure is presented to the Cabinet for approval.

“We hope to bring it to the Cabinet within this year,” he said after the ANOC Neuroscience and Orthopaedic Centre launch here yesterday.

Liow said it was not known when the new fee structure would be implemented.

Sophisticated machine: Liow checking out a RM600,000 iDEXA body composition scan machine – the first of its kind in Malaysia – that serves as an objective marker for osteoporosis at the ANOC Neuroscience and Orthopaedic Centre in Bangsar. Looking on are Dr Chee (left) and the centre’s director Dr Lee Joon Kiong.

 

He said his ministry revised the fees to make it competitive because the cost here was low when compared with other countries due to Government control.

He added that while patients were not complaining about doctors' fees, the issue of exorbitant hospital charges had become a cause for concern.

The ministry, he noted, was working on resolving this matter through meetings with private hospitals as well as insurance and managed care organisations.

Liow also said there were 71 neurosurgeons in the country with half of them in the private sector.
ANOC chairman Dr Chee Chee Pin said the establishment was the first outpatient centre of its kind in the country.

“Equipped with highly sophisticated imaging facilities, ANOC is able to provide a full body MRI and detailed scan of the brain and spinal cord. muscles and nerves without radiation,” he said.

This would enable neurologists, neurosurgeons, orthopaedic surgeons and rheumatologists to carry out early detection of conditions such as stroke, brain and spinal cord tumours, spondylosis, disc prolapse and other brain, spine, bone and joint conditions, added Dr Chee.

100,000 crime fighters

Wednesday July 25, 2012

By LOH FOON FONG and ISABELLE LAI
newsdesk@thestar.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: As many as 100,000 law enforcers will be available to combat crime under the second phase of the Government Transformation Programme (GTP), with the prevention of house break-ins and vehicle thefts as two of the key focus points.

Under the GTP Roadmap 2.0, the Reducing Crime National Key Result Area laboratory has targeted 47,000 police personnel and the rest from other enforcement agencies such as Rela and the Malaysian Civil Defence Department to be deployed whenever needed.

The number of crime hotspots will be increased from four to six, with Kedah and Perak joining Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Johor and Penang, assistant lab leader Asst Supt Fatimah Abdul Hamid said at the GTP Roadmap 2.0 open day yesterday.

On preventing burglaries, she said police presence would be increased in residential areas since some 150 housing estates around the country have experienced a high rate of break-ins, including in Johor Baru, Petaling Jaya, Alor Setar and Butterworth.

According to the lab, house break-ins made up 18% of the crime index last year, and vehicle thefts over 40%.

ASP Fatimah said the people wanted the Government to focus on house break-ins because they could lead to kidnapping and rape.

“There will be specially dedicated investigation teams at the police district level to address house break-ins,” she said.

“This will increase efficiency and speed in solving the cases. Intelligence technology and networks will also be enhanced.”

According to the lab analysis, as many as 80% of break-ins were found to occur from 10pm to 3am while the rest took place between 11am and 2pm.

ASP Fatimah said the crime rate continued to decrease but public perception was still negative.

Obese children face liver and cancer danger, says foundation

Sunday Star, July 22, 2012

By LOH FOON FONG
foonfong@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: Obese children face a high risk of suffering from liver cirrhosis or cancer as they get older unless parents intercept the problem early.

Malaysian Liver Foundation president Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican, quoting Malaysian Association for the Study of Obesity, said that as many as 15% of Malaysian toddlers were overweight or obese while 30% of primary school children faced the problem.

“If the non-alcoholic fatty liver problem is not addressed, these children can end up as obese adults and prone to all kinds of diseases such as liver damage, diabetes, hypertension and getting a stroke at a younger age,” he said in an interview in conjunction with the World Hepatitis Day campaign recently.

Dr Ismail said that fatty liver would become a problem when it reaches the non-alcoholic steatohepatitis stage, where inflammation of liver occurs and can lead to scarring and subsequently cirrhosis or liver cancer.

“Fatty liver can be reversed but not liver cirrhosis,” he said.

Dr Ismail urged parents to be good role models for their children’s sake.

Many children were overweight because they ate outside food with high fat, sugar and salt content but did not expend the calories by exercising, he said.

“Parents should give their children a balanced diet and add more fruits and vegetables into their food, use less sugar and salt and complete it with physical activities,” he said.

Dr Ismail said overweight children also suffered from poor self-esteem and parents should not push them too hard. Instead, they should find activities the children like to be involved in so they would have a sense of purpose.

Parents were also encouraged to do activities with their children, he said. Obesity in Malaysia is the worst among Asean countries.

About 94% of obese persons with body mass index (BMI) more than 30 have fatty liver while 67% of those with BMI 25 to 30 also have the condition. About 25% of normal weight patients also have fatty liver.

Universiti Malaya Medical Specialist senior consultant paediatrician Prof Lee Way Seah said cases of liver damage as a result of obesity was not common among children in the past but it is in recent years.

If nothing is done for the children, their livers could fail and they could die because cadaveric donors are hard to come by here, he said.

Guidelines soon on aesthetic treatment, says Liow

Sunday July 15, 2012

(From URL: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/7/15/nation/11667960&sec=nation)

KUALA LUMPUR: Guidelines on aesthetic medical practice are being drawn up to protect the public from botched jobs.

The draft is expected to be completed this month, which would lead to the setting-up of the National Registry of Medical Practi­tioners Practising Aesthetic Medicine next month.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said a committee comprising government and private practitioners had been selected to oversee the maintenance of the registry.

He said the registry would have three different categories of medical practitioners providing aesthetic medical services – general practitioners (GPs), dermatologists and other specialists and surgical specialists and plastic surgeons.

“We welcome GPs to practise aesthetic medicine but they need to take courses and be regulated by the ministry,” he said after the 1st Malaysia-Singapore Conference of Aesthetic Medicine opening ceremony here.

The minister said GPs would have to take up a course requiring up to 56 hours of study before they could be validated by the committee to be included in the registry.

Malaysian Society of Aesthetic Medicine president Dr Louis Leh said the main aim was to promote safe aesthetic medicine and cut down on people turning to fly-by-night operators.

“Many don’t know where to go for such treatment and they end up with botched jobs,” he said, adding that beauty consultants were not supposed to handle tasks that required the use of needles or knives.

On whether beauty consultants could hire trained aesthetic doctors to do minor procedures at their centres, he said doctors were not allowed to do so because the Private Facilities and Services Act required them to practise in a proper medical set-up.

Chua won't debate with Lim again, says a waste of time

The Star

Published: Tuesday July 10, 2012 MYT 6:45:00 PM
Updated: Tuesday July 10, 2012 MYT 6:46:10 PM

By LOH FOON FONG and NICHOLAS CHENG

(From URL: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/7/10/nation/20120710190053&sec=nation)

KUALA LUMPUR: MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek says he will not debate with DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng any more.

Dr Chua said the MCA presidential council decided Tuesday that he should not debate with Lim any more because they felt it was a waste of time.

"Lim Guan Eng was just using the debate to attack other people except Anwar (Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) and does not participate in a healthy debate," he told a press conference after the MCA presidential meeting here.

Dr Chua said Lim used the platform only to rubbish other people's arguments and did not answer any questions posed to him.

"I also agree with my colleagues that I will not be accepting more debates from him," he said.

Caveat on Prima homes

The Star, Saturday July 7, 2012

By LOH FOON FONG
foonfong@thestar.com.my

(From URL: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/7/7/nation/11606657&sec=nation)

KUALA LUMPUR: The Government is unlikely to allow 1Malaysia Housing Programme (Prima) homes to be re-sold at market prices after the 10-year moratorium.

Syarikat Perumahan Negara Bhd (SPNB) managing director Prof Datuk Dr Kamarul Rashdan Salleh said the Government might buy back the units if owners decide to sell them after the tenth year.

“They (owners) cannot sell it in the open market. I think the Government will enforce that,” he said after the “Affordable Housing: A Fact or Fiction?” panel discussion during the 3rd Annual Affordable Housing Projects conference on Wednesday.

Dr Kamarul said the Government was still contemplating all options.

On Monday, Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Chor Chee Heung said that the Government was using unused federal land to build 42,078 affordable homes for families who earned less than RM5,000.

The units, which cost between RM150,000 and RM300,000, would be built in 20 locations in the Klang Valley, Rawang and Seremban.

He also said that while the owners would be given the units at a lower price, they would not enjoy the appreciation of prices as compared to those buying non-subsidised properties.

The discussion moderator, Australia's Housing Choices international adviser and former chief executive officer Michael Lennon said there was a need for a clear national policy.

In a question-and-answer session, Surbana International Consultants Pte Ltd director (Strategy and Branding) Ng Beng Eng said that governments should spearhead effective intervention efforts for affordable homes and the private sector could later be roped in.

Idle land given to private sector to build affordable homes

The Star, Tuesday July 3, 2012

By LOH FOON FONG
foonfong@thestar.com.my

(From URL: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/7/3/nation/11590378&sec=nation)

KUALA LUMPUR: Federal land is being used by the Government to develop affordable housing for middle-income households earning less than RM5,000.

Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Chor Chee Heung said 42,078 affordable housing units (costing between RM150,000 and RM300,000) would be built in 20 strategic locations in the Klang Valley, Rawang and Seremban.

“The Government still has large tracks of unused land and has handed it to the private sector to build affordable houses for the middle-income group,” he said in his speech during the 3rd Annual Housing Projects Conference yesterday.

He said the public and private partnership helped reduce the housing burden borne by the Government.

Chor said this was in view of the struggles that middle-class households which make up 76% of the population have in owning homes in cities.

Currently, 71% of the population or as many as 20 million people, reside in urban areas and the demand for housing, besides rising construction cost and shortage of land, had led to the increase of property prices, he said.

Chor said the Federal Government had also put in a lot of effort in building low-cost houses for those whose household income was less than RM2,500 a month.

The Government hoped to build more than 54,200 low-cost houses by the end of the year, he said.
Chor said state governments also played a crucial role in overcoming the problem of providing affordable housing.

They could sacrifice 20% to 30% of their land to be used for building low-cost houses, he added.

“If the state government is willing to come up with the land, the Federal Government will pump in the cost of building the units,” he said.

After building the units, they would be handed back to the state government to manage, he said.