It was also the most important seaway 8 centuries back as it is now, where big trading ships used to transfer merchandize from China, Japan and other countries of the Pacific Ocean to India, Middle East, Europe and African countries. That’s why it is also known as “World’s Seaway”. One of the gates of this seaway is “Malacca”, which is also the city of Malaysia and on the other side is “Sumatra”, the important city of Indonesia.

The cool snowy breeze still blows the same way as used to in 1292, when Marco polo had to settle for five months along with his sea caravan in Sumatra waiting for the settling down of the climate. But even the worst thing that Marco polo had to face was the sea piracy, which he had to face many times. This problems is still alive, but at that time the weapons were not as sophisticated as they are now.

Marco polo writes, “Only 18 people could reach safe and sound to Venice among 600 people. My father and uncle were also among them. Though our clothes were turned into rags but diamonds were still fixed on them, which Kublai Khan had granted us at the time of our departure”.

The Malacca is situated 148 kilometers west of Kuala Lumpur. There is a never endings series of forest between these two cities. The trees in the forest are mainly rubber producing trees. A scar has been made on the tree trunk and a vessel similar to cooking pot has been attached beside that scar for collecting rubber in the shape of thick juice which afterwards turns into rubber.

Rubber is the main export of Malaysia but the arrival of artificial plastic has reduced this export to much extent because of its cheaper rates. The road from Kuala Lumpur to Malacca is not a Motor way rather it is a Highway having very low traffic. Few small cities lie between Kuala Lumpur and Malacca. Malacca in fact is the smallest city of Malaysia. It is totally an autonomous state.

After the renaissance in Europe the adventurers and tourists headed towards East. They were in the search of new worlds and also wanted to earn lot of money. Marco polo, the great traveler had already mentioned in his account of journeys that Europeans were always interested in the treasures.

That’s why the discovery of America, the discovery of the ruins of ancient town of Latin America, search for treasures in Africa and even the search of the remains of pharos are all dependent on the European’s treasure hunt obsession. These adventurers used to go out in search of treasures with the help of old decay maps and marks and saw dreams of becoming rich overnight. They started their search from Portugal and Spain due to the fact that the then Muslim Arab governments who were equipped with the then most modern shipping and sea voyaging techniques, used to teach the inhabitants about these techniques.

This is the reason that the fortune-hunters of the European renaissance spread in the world from these two countries (under the influence of Muslims sea knowledge) and not only ruled the world but also given birth to a new western culture, which is still alive. It can easily be judged now that how big civilization becomes helpful to other, if positively applied instead of mere opposition.

Alfonso de Albuquerque, the famous Portugal’s adventurer of the history, headed this way on 15th April from the newly formed Indian Portuguese colony Goa along with 1200 people and 17 boats. After reaching Malacca, he took control of it till the end of August. Before Alfonso de Albuquerque, Malacca remain under Muslim regime for long, since Arab sailors and traders reached there earlier, spread Islam and set the Muslim regime in this Far East area which was under the ruling of the local Sultans.

Arab’s Muslims were very expert in shipping techniques and thus received much popularity in Spain. They were fully aware of the sea and its passages. Their sharper eyes recognized the importance of the Strait of Malacca and its gateway. They had the sense that for trading from Far East and China through sea, it would be essential taking control of this seaway.

Therefore, Muslims continued ruling over there since 1300 when at last in 1511 Alfonso de Albuquerque took control over there. Alfonso de Albuquerque defeated the then Muslim ruler Sultan Mehmood Shah and turned Malacca into a Portuguese colony. But Portuguese could not get hold of it for long and soon in 1641 Holland captured the Strait after defeating him.

They ruled till 1741 until famous British East India Company got hold of it. Now, Britain had been the Super Power and it was fully aware of the sea secrets. The Britain was preparing to control the world and thus their hold over the strait was essential. The Indian Ocean and the nearby countries was its target. They could get the raw material from there that could run the factories of the new world and new civilization.

Malacca seaway is 805 Km long. It is today considered the most important trading and military center. You can easily guess its importance by a single oil product that around 18 million barrel oil pass through it daily. It would be worth mentioning here that now another island Singapore has gained much trading and military importance on this seaway. Its seaport lies before Singapore.

More than 10 million ships pass through Malacca Strait yearly and more than 1/3 of the trading goods of the world pass through this Strait. America, China, Russia, India, Britain, France and all the nearby countries take care of this Strait, especially American 7th and 6th Sea fleet play an important role in keeping it open, since America is Nuclear Power and have fully ammunition loaded ships and submarines, which remains underwater.

Malacca city have seen the change of ruling nations again and again in the last five centuries. Therefore, besides Muslims Mosques, you can see Churches, and other worship places of Portuguese, Dutch and Britain Style. Similarly, population also consists of many nations, but the majority is of Malay residents who are Muslims, whereas Christian and Sikhs also reside there.

The Malaysian government has taken special care in safeguarding the remains of Portugal, Dutch and Britain so as to make the city more attractive for the tourists, especially for the European tourist. That’s why European tourists are seen here and there visiting the city happily.

Perhaps the most attractive thing in the tourist industry can be that there would be something present for the foreigners that could help them bringing close to their civilization.  That’s why the Muslims countries who have kept the ancient reminiscences safe are earning pounds, dollars, Euros and Yen from them and making their countries prosperous. If the Nation has confidence, the old remains cannot harm its identity. These old remains are the gateway of the history and even if destroyed, they will remain safe in the books.

Malacca is a small city. The most interesting center of it is an old castle named “A’ Famosa”. It is a reminiscence of Portuguese age. Seemingly it depicts the Western Civilization, but people who are aware of the construction art, can see the glimpse of Spanish Muslims art in it as well. Malacca city is situated on both sides of the River Malacca. There is so wonderful panorama of old and new buildings that cannot be found elsewhere in Far East or South East Asia. That’s why UNESCO titled it as “The Great Work of Global Heritage”. Another wonderful thing is that all the people of different nations and religions are living there very peacefully. Any type of anarchy is extinct here. A’ Famosa castle might remained the center of war sometime in the past but today it is the most attractive place for the world’s tourists, because all kinds of facilities like Hotels and Theaters etc. are present here under one roof.

Turning of military castles into economic castles is common in today’s world. It is common in Europe as well. This custom has been adopted my many developed Muslim countries that has opened the gates of employment and earning foreign exchange. These castles are also a wonderful source of bringing coordination and harmony among nations. But, unfortunately, weak, frightened and nervous nations think it their great feat destroying such type of castles and others alike ancient reminiscences.

Alfonso de Albuquerque, after collecting treasures and wealth from Malacca returned back to Goa. The name of the ship he was traveling in was “Flor Do Mar”, which sank in the Indian Ocean due to heavy storm with all his wealth and treasures. The model of this ship has been kept at one of the crossings of Malacca so that every visitor must see and take advice from it.

Malacca city has a great contribution in spreading Islam in the Far East, since Muslims traders and merchants from India and other Muslim countries came there for trading purposes and also brought their civilization and religion with them. Great number of Malaya people accepted Islam in 1500.

Although it was ruled most of the time by Portuguese, Dutch and Britain but the majority is of Muslims. Islam spread to all over Malaysia from there and the ancient Mosques are witnessing about it even today.

The Malacca beach is unique in its beauty and tidiness. Blue sea is seen just in front, the bright sand and high cleanliness makes the beach captivating. Its beach has now gone farther from the sea as land has been taken to make room for the inhabitants, but the natural beauty of the beach has not been reduced even an inch.

The same strong wet winds of the age of Marco polo give visitors a new feel of freshness. These winds are blowing from America, Japan, Australia, China or Indian Ocean. Really a small city of Malacca and its Strait that joins many parts of the world is now among one of the wonders of Nature.

By Muhammad Irfan Zafar

Content Writer

Especially for this program, the women who received a course selection will get to drive a taxi. This effort is made to anticipate the robbery or harassment that often occurs in the vehicle.

“It’s very exciting,” said Fiena Nasir, 26, an office worker. Using a taxi service for women, according to him, makes him even more secure when traveling alone. Women-only taxis now has more than 50 fleet.

Taxi uses a special mark, which is conspicuous writing “Taxi for Women” on the front. The taxi service was launched by the Ministry of Development of Women, Family and Society, in cooperation with several local taxi companies.

The Ministry expects there will be 400 female taxi driver. In Malaysia, there are now 20 thousand taxis are used by six million inhabitants.

Taxi is not the first woman. Previously, the state with a majority Muslim population has had a female bus driver on the route and certain hours to reduce the density and sexual harassment. In addition, there are also special trains women so they can traveling separately from men.

Azmah Bahari, a mother of five children has been four months become a taxi driver. Her hopes, with this new policy could generate more money. Everyday, he used to produce about 150 ringgit. Third, he used to pay the rent a taxi.

Woman Murdered After Refusing Sex

A French woman named Stephanie Foray has been murdered in Kuala  Lumpur after she refused to have sex with a man.

The 30-year-old French tourist is believed to have been murdered by a 36-year-old orchard owner. According to police reports, the woman is believed to have been struck on the head with a bottle after she refused to have sex with her assailant.

Police say that after Stephanie was murdered, her body was buried in a cave.

According to police, the suspect and Stephanie had been drinking copiously and was murdered upon refusal to have sex with the man after he initiated it. Investigations are still on the way to find out if the woman was raped before she was murdered.

Sources close to the investigations revealed that police arrested the 36-year-old orchard owner after finding Stephanie Foray’s belongings on him.

Stephanie worked as a communication officer in France. She travelled to Asia alone.

Pangkor Island Beach Resort has plans to hold a preliminary stage which is scheduled contest held in Thailand later this year.

But government officials in the State of Perak launched a performance statement this week that it would “tarnish the image of the country”.

According to a spokesman for the resort, Doris Chin, they will hold a “Full Moon Beach Party” on October 7 later, but will cancel the preliminary stage of “Miss Bikini”, which became part of that program.

“Preliminary Stage will present an ice sculpture contest and announce details, but there was no parade of bikini-clad women,” said Chin, yesterday.

Two-day barbecue will be accompanied by DJ music competition, which is expected to attract 1500 delegates.

The controversy surrounding the performance was due to a number of Muslim activists in the middle of the resort are the Silver confident girl bikini contest organized in Pangkor, an island for fishing that often make the government promoted the activity of diving and sailing.

Hamidah Othman, officials who served in the field of tourism and investment, said the government would not let the performances he calls could “lead to negative impacts and embarrassing the nation” is.

The activists are also concerned that the photos on Facebook as a beach party held at the resort last year showed a bikini-clad women appear only supermini, especially from non- Muslim ethnic Chinese minority.

Toh, Chin said the resort would not deter guests from bikini- clad women.

The case of Isyoda (M) Sdn Bhd v. Mimos Bhd,( MLJ 225,2000)the plaintiff failed to complete the works under the project on the determined date. According to condition of the bond, if the plaintiff fail to exercise or breached the contract, the defendant will give guarantor the opportunity to discuss before a decision is made. Clause 2 provides that guarantor must pay damages to the defendant the bond profit within three months after receiving the notice of demand from the defendant which justified any breach by the plaintiff towards his duty under the contract. The plaintiff objected to the defendant’s action to call upon the bond on the ground that the works under the project had been completed and claimed the defendant was indebted to them. The defendant denied the allegations and insisted that due to the plaintiff’s delay in completing the works; they were entitled to claim the bond profit.

The court dismissed the plaintiff’s applicationbecause the determining issue whether the plaintiff or the defendant had breached the contract was not an issue. It was not proper if equitable consideration was used to restrain a beneficiary from claiming profit under a performance bond except where there is fraud. In this case, the issue of fraud was not raised. The plaintiff’s allegation that the defendant was indebted to them which was considered by the defendant as a serious matter should be adjudicated between them. As such, the court could not see how the balance of adaptability favoured the injunction prayed for. Furthermore, even if the judgment of the court in the originating summons or the decision of the arbitrator favours the plaintiff, damages would be an adequate remedy.

In the case of Ten Engineering Sdn Bhd v. Resort Villa Development Sdn Bhd & Anor, ( MLJU 734,2002)where the plaintiff argued that the first defendant has breach the contract by giving the possession on site not in the stipulated date. The plaintiff alleged that the first defendant’s action brought the various changes of the date of completion in informal agreement. The defendant also be contended on the late payment and terminated the subcontractor for certain works.

Referred to the both affidavit, there were serious issues to be tried. It was clearly that the project delayed in one and half years and the argument is who should responsible on this delayed. There also an allegation which contended that this delay comes from the financial difficulty by plaintiff who not affords to pay his workers and suppliers.

Another circumstances occurred in the case of Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd v. The Titular Roman Catholic Archibishop of Kuala Lumpur( MLJ 136,2004) where the plaintiff contended that there are serious issues to be tried as follows: (i) the defendant had not given the plaintiff any opportunity or adequate opportunity to agree on the existence and causation of the alleged damage and the remedial works to be done, costs of these works, and given an opportunity to carry out these works; (ii) the demand is based upon the fact that the plaintiff failed to renew the guarantee and not upon damage to the defendant’s property; (iii) the bulk of the sum claimed as damages are in fact estimates of future loss and do not take into account the possibility that any damage may have been caused by the defendant’s own substantial construction itself. These breaches of contract actions are clearly bona fide triable issues for this court to decide as enumerated above. At this interlocutory stage of the proceedings, it is not the function of the court to come to any specific findings of facts or conclusion. As long as it is not frivolous or vexatious these should be dealt with at the trial.

Image via Wikipedia

Who is Hanis Zalikha?

Hanis Zalikha becoming popular because of her blog

Image Source : Harian Metro

This is the question that must be in everybody’s mind when Google unveiled what Malaysians have been busy searching in 2010.

Hanis Zalikha isn’t a big-time celebrity like Dato’ Siti Nurhaliza who fell to number nine in the chart of most searched people in Google Malaysia in 2010. She doesn’t claim to be a celebrity with a pack of paparazzis chasing her across downtown Kuala Lumpur.

In fact, 20 year old Hanis Zalikha is just a university undergraduate majoring in Business Studies at the Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) at Segamat, Johor. However, she does model part time and was seen as an extra in the movie Momok the Movie.

She claims that her popularity may be due to her blog, inibelogsaya.blogspot.com which she started two years ago that has already had a following of close to fifteen thousand fans. She too was surprised after being informed of her sudden rise in popularity even surpassing that of Malaysia’s sweetheart, Dato’ Siti Nurhaliza.

She thinks that to find information about the number one singer in Malaysia is not difficult so people don’t rely too much on the internet but because she’s not a celebrity, people try to find information about her on the internet. And thus the sudden rise in number of searches for Hanis Zalikha.

Top ten people most searched in  Google Malaysia 2010

The top ten people that Malaysians have been searching most in Google in 2010 are :
   1. maher zain
   2. justin bieber
   3. luna maya
   4. din beramboi
   5. lady gaga
   6. hanis zalikha
   7. lee min ho
   8. adam lambert
   9. siti nurhaliza
  10. paul tan

It seems that what Malaysians people want to know most about Hanis Zalikha is news about her personal life like if she has a boyfriend and how tall she is and any scandal connecting her with any other celebrities which is not as available as the personal life of celebrities like Dato’ Siti Nurhaliza.

Whatever the reasons are for Hanis Zalikha’s sudden rise in popularity, one thing is for sure, she has beaten the number one Malaysian singer and Malaysia’s sweetheart, Dato’ Siti Nurhaliza to become one of the most searched people in Google Malaysia 2010.

You might also like to read :

Top Ten Searches on Yahoo Singapore 2010

Sure! - was the most common reply generally followed by — but why should I? I have been a good boy after all! Surely I deserve a reward? And most of them felt that way. I did too. I suppose thats the subliminal effect of all the advertising we experience.

Nothing wrong with rewarding ourselves I feel. But we have to draw the line somewhere. Which comes back to the burning question – How Much is Enough? Especially when all around us are people who are less fortunate. Some from foreign lands, here to make a living because back home, things are just too desperate. Some here because back home if they had stayed on…they may have perished. Yes, its that bad for some of them. Or should I say us? They are our brothers and sisters aren’t they, in this global village called earth?

So while we are rewarding ourselves, may I ask readers to spare a thought for them too…Christmas is the season for giving and sharing, well updating your facebook pic too….. Merry Christmas!

Image via Wikipedia

An earthquake with a richter scale of about 7.2 has hit the south of Mariana Islands in the west of the Pacific Ocean.

 The Malaysian Meteorological Department estimates that this disasterous earthquake took place at about 5:20 am in the morning.

 It is believed that the earthquake epicenter was 1484 northeast of te Dvao territory in Phillipines and 2703 km northeast of Lahad Datu in Sabah. As per the Malaysian Meteorological department, no tsunami warning was provided post the quake.

 Is 2012 prediction making its ominous presence felt? Accidents, natural disasters and other mishaps are gradually taking place more frequently over the world. Some people are already worried about the coastal islands of the world. Are we fast moving towards doom?

The country is divided into two regions –the Malay Peninsula and Borneo–by the South China Sea both west and east Malaysia feature coastal plains rising too often densely forested hills and mountains. Today, an estimated 59% of Malaysia remains forested .Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Bruneian and Philippines border the exotic, beautiful federal country.

International trade and manufacturing play a large role in Malaysia’s blooming economy. The Strait of Malacca, lying between Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia , is arguably its most imp shipping land .At one time, Malaysia was the biggest producer of tin, rubber and palm oil in the world

• A quieter place, which people tend to equate with a conducive learning environment
• A slightly lower cost of living
• Distances between travels are shorter
• A safe environment and plenty of food options (Penang is known as the food capital of Malaysia with lots of affordable, delicious food)

Probably what Penang lacks would be in terms of service variety. Even for the courses offered in private colleges, the options are less compared to Kuala Lumpur. However, if you are interested to choose this island for your studies then here are some tips:

• Do your online research first. Have an idea of what you want but do take note that some of the courses stated may not be offered yet due to reasons like – lack of students because it is a less popular course or awaiting ministry approval. Always email and ask if the course is offered already, how long it’s been running and what is the overall fee, inclusive of charges like deposits, registration and international student fee.
• The next thing would be to ask for hostels and accommodations available. They often have a list at the Student Affairs Department. Always ask how far the places are from the college because the public bus is the only available transport around. The weather here is also far too humid to walk long distances.
• When it comes to student visa, always ask the Student Affairs personnel for the procedures, needed documentation and charges.
• Ask about facilities available. Ensure they have a computer lab that is open at all times (9am to 6pm at least!) for students and that they have got printing facilities. Note that smaller private colleges still lack these facilities. All assignments require printing so do ensure they have printing facilities.

When you’re studying here:

• Asian students tend to be a little shy especially here in Penang. Therefore, do not feel awkward if no one talks to you in the beginning. As the saying goes, in Rome do as the Romans do. Be a little submissive and they will open up to you. Note too that the class sessions tend to be a one way communication as well. Students tend to participate less and only answer a question when asked.
• Once you have made some friends, they will be quite glad to show you around. So don’t worry about transportation because most of them have cars.
• Know your stomach tolerance limit. As the locals like very much their local street food, do choose the freshly cooked / prepared warm dishes on your side. European students do have a problem adjusting to the food here. Always have medicine ready just in case you have eaten something wrong.
• Stay away from trouble. Avoid confrontation in areas like night spots. Go along with your fellow classmates if you are heading out at night. They know the places better and they have got transport.

Colleges available:

• KDU College Penang
• INTI-Laureate
• Disted College
• PTPL College
• SEGI College
• Olympia College

Arts and Design

• The One Academy (opening soon)
• Equator Academy of Arts