1.1 million cheap tickets up for grabs

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians can now look forward to more cheap air fares as the country’s two rival airlines are offering some 1.1 million cut-price seats to domestic and international destinations.

Prices as low as RM1 for domestic AirAsia flights and RM19 for domestic Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flights will make passengers spoilt for choice.

AirAsia is also offering low-price seats for international destinations with one-way flights to Macau from RM61 and Chiang Mai from RM41. Flights to holiday destinations like Phuket will cost RM21 or to Hanoi from RM51.

MAS’ cheapest flight is for a one-way ticket to Penang, Johor Baru or Kuantan whereas the most expensive tickets are at RM139 to Labuan and Kota Kinabalu.

The sales period for AirAsia is from April 23 to 29 for travel between Oct 1 and March 29 next year.

As for MAS, the sales period is from April 23 to 28 for travel between May 7 and May 22, and, June 14 and June 30. However, travel will be restricted to certain days within those periods for some destinations.

MAS’ cheap fares fall under its SuperSavers promotion with 500,000 tickets allocated over six days for domestic locations only.

AirAsia’s low fares promotion is a celebration of its recent F1 Grand Prix partnership with the AT&T Williams team, with the 600,000 low-fare seats offer going under its Fast & Furious campaign.

Both airlines are only allowing booking of seats online and prices do not include airport tax and other surcharges.

AirAsia and MAS denied they were in a price war, saying the offer had already been planned for some time.

AirAsia executive vice-president Kathleen Tan said they were “extremely flattered to observe other carriers imitating our successful marketing model.”

She added that AirAsia promises the lowest fare that no other carrier could match all year round.

“I will let the public decide who is responding to a price war. Smart consumers will vote with their own pockets,” Tan said .

MAS senior general manager for network revenue management Bernard Francis denied that the carrier was copying AirAsia.

“We have a strategic rollout plan for our promotions. In fact, from December last year, we started our monthly promotions for domestic routes to encourage travel in support of Visit Malaysia Year 2007 and to address lean travel periods,” Francis said in an interview.

When asked if MAS was reacting to a market that demanded such offers, he said MAS promotions were targeted and planned.

“In addition to attractive fares offered during the Malaysia Airlines Travel Fair and during MATTA fair, we will continue to do a series of domestic and international promotions this year to stimulate travel as part of our strategy to maximise revenue opportunities,” he added.

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IGP proposes better deal for cops?? YAU MOU GAU...CHOR!!

KUALA LUMPUR: The police want 20% more in basic salary than any government servants so that more and better-qualified people will be keen to join the force, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan said.

He said a new and better scheme of service was needed as the force was undergoing a massive restructuring exercise.

“This must be done if we want to reduce corruption and also to reach out and provide better delivery to the public.

“The restructuring exercise will also see the deployment of additional manpower and logistic support to highly populated and crime-prone districts in the country,” he told The Star in a special interview in conjunction with the 200th year celebration of the police force today.

He added that he had submitted the proposal to the Public Service Department.

The current salary of a police constable is RM690 while the starting pay for an officer with the rank of inspector is RM1,100.

Musa said the other major aspect of the restructuring, aimed at developing a competent and committed force with integrity, involved the intake of recruits, especially for the post of Inspectors and for the rank-and-file.

He said that, previously, diploma holders could apply for the post of Inspectors. Now, they would only be taken in as Sergeants.

Previously, degree holders could join as cadet Assistant Superintendents (ASP) but since the abolishment of the cadet ASP rank, degree holders would now only be eligible to apply for the post of Inspectors.

Musa said the force needed young sergeants who could keep up with the times and would get opportunities to be assistant investigation officers before moving up the ranks.

“We have also decided to do away with interview-based promotions and will replace it with performance-based promotions.

“The force needs people who can lead, people who know the job, people who have the experience and who are academically qualified. There is no point in promoting someone who is just academically qualified but has no experience and no leadership qualities,” he said.

Musa also said the Cabinet had approved the recruitment of 60,000 personnel and the intake exercise was in progress.

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EPF seeks strategic partners for RHB Capital?? YAU MOU GAU....CHOR!!!

THE Employees Provident Fund (EPF) plans to sell up to 35 per cent of RHB Capital Bhd to strategic partners as soon as this year after its last-minute sweetened deal won a takeover battle for the country's fourth largest banking group.

The pension fund has offered RM2.25 billion cash to buy Utama Banking Group's 32.8 per cent stake in Rashid Hussain Bhd (RHB), boosting its stake to 61.8 per cent. The deal is due to be wrapped up in four months.

The EPF beat an offer from EON Capital Bhd, a smaller banking group, and another one from a group led by Kuwait Finance House.

It will make an offer to buy the remaining shares in RHB and the rest of shares in RHB Cap. RHB holds 65 per cent of RHB Cap, which in turn owns 70 per cent of RHB Bank Bhd.

Then, EPF will cut its stake in RHB Cap to about 40 per cent and it will delist RHB, chief executive officer Datuk Azlan Zainol told a media conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

The fund also plans to buy Khazanah Nasional Bhd's 30 per cent stake in RHB Bank, worth about RM3.2 billion, in cash. The price is still subject to negotiations.

EPF hopes to bring in two to three strategic partners in two years to help improve RHB Cap. Azlan said a few groups have expressed interest to buy key stakes in the banking group, but he would not name them.

He said KFH could be a potential partner, although both parties have not started talking.

"We have not talked to KFH. Maybe they are keen to take a stake, we don't know. But I believe they are only interested in the Islamic assets, but at the moment no (they are not involved)," Azlan said.

"Hopefully we can invest together (with KFH) ... we don't discount that possibility," he added.

He also said EPF has no intention to turn RHB into an Islamic bank, but will instead grow the group's Islamic banking business.

It will also let professional managers run the daily operation of RHB bank, promising minimal interference from the owner.

Azlan said RHB Group will not buy another lender in the near term.

"No. We believe in consolidation. In the next two to three years we want to let things settle down. But if there are opportunities two years from now, we will like to consider overseas assets," he said. RHB Group has branches in Singapore, Thailand and Brunei, he added.

EPF is spending RM10 billion as initial investment outlay for RHB Group. The fund expects the investment to give it a return on equity of some 5 to 6 per cent at the immediate stage and even higher returns in the future.

"This is a long-term and anchor investment for EPF. It is our mandate to invest in companies that we believe can deliver good returns and has potential to grow. We see this in RHB," Azlan said. He said EPF may later sell some of its shareholdings in other banks.

The deal still needs Bank Negara Malaysia and Ministry of Finance's special approval as banking law does not allow any single company or institution to hold more than 20 per cent of a bank.

RM1,069,000,000,000 Malaysia's annual total trade breaks RM1 trillion mark for the first time

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia took a giant leap as a trading nation when its trade registered a historically unprecedented volume: breaching RM1 trillion for 2006.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who also holds the finance portfolio, said Malaysia’s trade totalled RM1.069 trillion — a 10.5 per cent growth over the previous year.

This, he said, surpassed by 50 per cent the estimated seven per cent global growth projected by the World Trade Organisation for last year.

Exports expanded by 10.3 per cent to RM588.95 billion while imports grew by 10.7 per cent to RM480.49 billion.

In a statement issued by his office, the prime minister was exultant, saying: "It is an inspiring achievement.

"Although our country has faced numerous challenges, in particular the financial crisis in 1997 and a global economic downturn in 2001 and 2002, we have successfully coped with these upheavals and continued to perform well."

The facts:

• The highest ever trade surplus registered — RM108.46 billion — making it the 110th consecutive month of trade surplus since November 1997;

• Exports grew by 10.3 per cent to RM588.95 billion in all the major sectors — manufacturing, agriculture, minerals and fuel; and

• Imports grew by 10.7 per cent to RM480.49 billion, reflecting the demand by a strong manufacturing sector.

Abdullah said a breakdown of the figures showed that the trade profile had undergone significant changes in the last two decades.

• In 1987, more than half — or 53.4 per cent — of total trade came from commodities such as crude oil, timber, palm oil and rubber and manufactured goods accounted for 14 per cent of total exports.

One decade later — in 1997 — the profile changed again.

Commodities contributed only 17 per cent while manufacturing became the mainstay, contributing to 78.5 per cent of total trade.

"This reflects Malaysia’s industrial development and emphasises the strength of the manufacturing sector in enhancing the country’s exports," Abdullah said.

The other significant profile change has been in Malaysia’s trading partners, he said.

In 1987, Malaysia’s trade was largely confined to advanced economies such as Japan, the United States and Europe.

Ten years ago, while still maintaining the important trade ties with the advanced economies, Malaysia widened its portfolio to grow trade with Asean countries, West Asia and China.

It also expanded trade with developing economies in Latin America, South Asia and Eastern Europe.

The result — sustained trade growth — averaging 10.8 per cent on an annualised basis between 1997 and 2006.

The record trade growth comes on the back of increasingly positive economic data in recent months which, coupled with more business-friendly policies and development plans, has attracted foreign investors in droves to Malaysia.

The stock market has made a significant leap since the 1998 regional economic crisis with the benchmark Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) closing at 1,245.36 points yesterday against 262.7 points on Jan 9, 1998.

Gross Domestic Product is estimated at RM277.2 billion last year against RM182.2 billion in 1998 while foreign direct investments reached RM17.88 billion in 2005 from RM13.06 billion in 1998.

Yesterday, Deutsche Bank head of equities research Teoh Su Yin briefed newsmen in Kuala Lumpur, saying although the KLCI has risen by some 27 per cent since November last year, the market still has room for expansion.

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Rising temperature in Indian Ocean may have caused Johor floods

BANGI: The warming of the Indian Ocean in the past 20 to 30 years – brought about by global warming – could have played a part in the unusual weather which caused flooding in Johor and other parts of Malaysia.

Climate expert Associate Prof Dr Fredolin Tangang said the rising temperature of the Indian Ocean, brought about by a series of events starting with the melting of ice in Greenland, could have caused the unusual and adverse weather conditions in South-East Asia.

An oceanographer based at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s School of Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences, Dr Fredolin said the Indian Ocean was cooled by a natural phenomenon which oceanographers labelled the “Great Ocean Conveyor Belt.”

The “conveyor belt” allowed warm water from the Indian Ocean to flow to the Arctic waters near Greenland, where the heat was dispersed. (Refer to graphics)

However, Dr Fredolin said melting ice caps in the Arctic region around Greenland due to global warming had caused the natural conveyor belt to slow down or even stop.

“Research shows that there is significant melting of ice in Greenland due to global warming.

“As a result, the salinity of the sea water has decreased,” he said in an interview.

As the water mass would be lighter, it was not able to sink, thus disturbing the natural progression of the conveyor belt.

“The conveyor belt would either be stopped or slowed down,” he added.

He said the present rising temperatures in the Indian Ocean could be associated with a weaker or absent “conveyor belt” while the area around Greenland would experience a drop in temperature.

“Cooling in the region near Greenland and warming in Indian Ocean is not a coincidence but a good indicator of a weaker or halted ocean conveyor belt,” he said.

He said if the cooling trend in the North Atlantic continued and grew bigger, Europe would eventually head for severe winter in the future.

“For the tropical regions, especially regions close to the Indian Ocean, more extreme and unusual weather occurrences and climate anomalies such as typhoons and cyclones will appear in the future,” he said.

He said he was currently studying recent climatic changes to explain what was happening to the country and would submit his report to the Government soon.

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