Roti john is an omelette sandwich founded by a Malay who lived in Singapore during the British colonial times before being widely popular throughout the Malay Peninsula in present-day Malaysia. Roti is the Hindi, Urdu and Malay word for bread, and more generally for any bread-based or bread-like food, including sandwiches and pancakes. The origin of john in the name is allegedly due to the Western origin of the baguette and British colonial rule in British Malaya and Singapore island. The ingredients include minced meat (chicken or mutton), onion, egg, tomato-chilli sauce and a baguette-type loaf. ~Wikipedia~
Ministry: Eateries nationwide to be smoke-free from next year
Smoking in all restaurants, coffee shops and hawker centres nationwide will be banned starting next year, even in open-air eateries.
Apart from the existing smoke-free zones in public places and government buildings, the new ruling under the Health Ministry will encompass all restaurants and eateries, including open-air hawker centres and street stalls, according to Deputy Health Minister Dr Lee Boon Chye.
Those caught smoking at prohibited areas will be fined up to RM10,000 or face two years’ jail.
Eateries found to allow their patrons to light up will be fined up to RM2,500.
“This time, all restaurants regardless whether they are an enclosed area, air-conditioned or open-air will need to comply with the ruling from next year,” he said after opening a conference at the Asian Institute of Medicine, Science and Technology yesterday.
Dr Lee said smokers or restaurant owners who violated the ruling would face action under the Control of Tobacco Product Regulations 2004 under the Food Act.
He added that the ruling was not only to encourage smokers to kick the habit, but also to protect non-smokers from the effects of secondhand smoke.
“We are ready to face objections from smokers and restaurant owners, but we will not compromise when it comes to looking after the health of the people.
“No doubt smokers will say they have the right to smoke, but non-smokers also have the right to enjoy their food without being harmed by cigarette smoke.
“Business operators and traders need not worry about getting fewer customers as we are confident that more non-smoking customers will eat at places without the presence of cigarette smoke,” said Dr Lee.
He also said imposing the ban on roadside and illegal eateries was still a challenge and that the ministry had yet to decide on the details.
~News courtesy of The Star~
AirAsia announces direct flights between KL and Tianjin from Dec 2
AirAsia is expanding its footprint in China with an exclusive direct service between Kuala Lumpur and Tianjin, a coastal city in China.
Beginning Dec 2, the new route will connect more than 15 million people in Tianjin with South-East Asia and beyond.
AirAsia’s long haul affiliate, AirAsia X, will not only provide direct services between the two cities, but also stimulate regional demand through great value airfares, enabling more people to travel.
AirAsia will also beef up its direct route between Kuala Lumpur and Changsha, doubling the current number of seats on the popular route in response to demand, by operating its fleet of larger wide-body Airbus A330 aircraft commencing Oct 29. He said this will significantly boost tourism, trade and economic growth while paving the way towards China’s Year of Tourism and Culture 2020, envisioned by the leaders of both Malaysia and China.
“Together with our existing routes into China, today’s announcement means we are further strengthening our foothold in Northern China and increasing our overall capacity to China - one of our fastest growing markets.
“We will continue to look for expansion opportunities that not only maintain AirAsia Group’s dominance as the largest foreign carrier to China by capacity, but also enable us to remain committed in our quest to making air travel affordable for everyone,” said Benyamin.
With the launch of Tianjin as its latest destination, AirAsia will fly to 20 cities in China with 550 weekly direct flights from hubs in Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.
~News courtesy of The Star~
Mandarin-speaking officials start duty at KLIA/KLIA2 to woo China tourists
Ready to assist: A MAHB officer attending to enquiries from a couple from Hong Kong at KLIA2.
Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) has deployed Mandarin-speaking officials at the KL International Airport and KLIA2.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke said two fluent and four basic Mandarin-speaking officials had been placed at strategic spots such as the satellite building, contact pier, immigration arrival and baggage reclaim areas, effective from yesterday.
The daily morning shift starts from 8am to 3pm with the late shift lasting till 10pm, which is the peak hours for arrival flights from China and Hong Kong.
Loke also said MAHB was also communicating with the Han Cultural Centre Malaysia, Inti College and Linton University College to recruit more part-timers to work as such officials in both KLIA and KLIA2.
He said other airport managements in the region were also spending a lot to woo the Chinese.
MAHB acting group CEO Raja Azmi Raja Nazuddin said besides the Mandarin-speaking personnel, a special guidebook in that language would also be published.
Malaysia and China have set 2020 as the Year of Culture and Tourism between the two countries to promote greater people-to-people contact and sustainable socio-economic growth.
China tourist arrivals in Malaysia is booming with a 10.2% growth rate over the past year.
It was revealed that there were 1.009 million tourists from China to Malaysia from January to April 2018, which was a 37.2% increase compared to the same period last year.
~News courtesy of The Star~
Malaysia eyes 30 million tourist arrivals by 2020 The Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry is targeting 30 million tourist arrivals by 2020. Deputy Minister Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik said this would increase the contribution of tourism to the Gross Domestic Product from 14.9 per cent last year, when there were 26.1 million tourist arrivals, to 15.1 per cent. He said the increase in tourist arrivals proved that tourism promotions had been successful. “We are now asking for a bigger budget for tourism promotion because it is key to the sustainability of the tourism industry,” he told reporters after flagging off the 2018 Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride Penang, here, today. He said there was a need to go all out to promote the country’s tourism industry as there was stiff competition from neighbouring countries. He urged tourism organisations to use the tagline, Malaysia Truly Asia, in their promotions as it had proved to be effective in wooing tourists. Bakhtiar said the ministry was working with the Education Ministry to introduce staggered school holiday breaks according to states to distribute the domestic tourist load. ~News courtesy of New Straits Times~
