Runway 3 at KLIA reopens, resumes normal operations

Runway 3 at KLIA reopens, resumes normal operations

Runway 3 at the KL International Airport (KLIA) has reopened and resumed normal operations since 3.30pm Saturday.

Malaysian Airport Holdings Berhad (MAHB) said in a statement that passengers are advised to check the latest flight schedules with their respective airlines.

The runway was temporarily closed from 10.30am on Saturday to facilitate urgent maintenance work on the runway as part of safety procedures.

Air Asia had said that delays were to be expected because of the runway closure.

~News courtesy of The Star~

吉隆坡天后宫

乐圣岭天后宫即吉隆坡天后宫，位于马来西亚吉隆坡乐圣岭（Robson Height），主祭天后妈祖，由雪隆海南会馆筹建，于1987年建成，并于1989年开幕启用，是吉隆坡当地的标志性华人庙宇。

天后宫除了宗教用途之外，也成为吉隆坡的旅游景点及当地社团举办活动的地点。

The Thean Hou Temple is a 6-tiered temple to the Chinese sea goddess Mazu located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is located on 1.67 acres (6,758 m2) of land atop Robson Heights on Lorong Bellamy, overlooking Jalan Syed Putra.

It was completed in 1987 and officially opened in 1989. The temple was built by Hainanese living in Malaysia and the property belongs to and is run by the Selangor & Federal Territory Hainan Association (Malay: Hainan Selangor & Wilayah Persekutuan; Chinese: 雪隆海南会馆).

MAS resumes flights to Brisbane

MAS resumes flights to Brisbane

Direct flights between Kuala Lumpur and Brisbane will start again on June 6.

Malaysia Airlines will be using an A330-300 with up to 290 seats for the four times weekly service.

The airline will be operating every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, said Malaysia Airlines CEO Izham Ismail.

In conjunction with the reopening of this route, Malaysia Airlines will kickstart its New Year Deals campaign with promotional all-inclusive return fares on Economy Class to Brisbane from RM2,009.

The sale ends on Jan 14. The travel period is from Jan 16 to May 31, with the exception of Brisbane from June 6 to Oct 31.

To grab this promotion, customers can visit the airline’s preferred travel agents, via mobile app or its official website.

Tickets to Brisbane are now on sale at www.malaysiaairlines.com.

~News courtesy of The Star~

Easier for foreign students to get visas

Easier for foreign students to get visas

The foreign students e-Visa Approval Letters (e-VAL) system is up and running, says Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS), a wholly-owned company of the Higher Education Ministry.

In a statement, EMGS CEO Prof Datuk Dr Rujhan Mustafa said this would allow international students to obtain visas through its STARS’ portal.

“A total of 277,000 complete applications were received between 2013 and 2017,” Prof Rujhan said.

“These were processed and the VALs were issued within seven working days, thanks to the support and teamwork of the Immigration Department.

Yesterday, the company hosted the Education Malaysia Industry Townhall 2018 meeting with 180 international education heads from higher education institutions, skills centres and language schools.

It was held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

Participants were briefed on operational updates related to the visa application. An open dialogue on issues at hand was held in addition to introducing the line-up of newly appointed Education Malaysia directors for its offices in Chicago, Dubai, Jakarta and Ho Chi Minh City.

~News courtesy of Bernama~

Char Kway Teow

Char Kway Teow

‘Char Kway Teow’ or ‘stir-fried ricecake strips’ is arguably one of the most popular dishes among Malaysians of all races. The name is derived from the Hokkien term for ‘fried’ which is ‘char, while ‘kway teow’ refers to the ‘flat rice noodles’, which is the main ingredient.



The latter is stir-fried over very high heat with light or dark soy sauce, chili, while prawns, deshelled cockles, bean sprouts, chinese chives and eggs.

Among the chinese community, the char kway teow is traditionally stir-fried in pork fat with crisp croutons of pork lard and serve on a piece of banana leaf or plate. In some instances, slices of chinese sausage and fishcake are added to accentuate the taste.

Originally conceived as a poor man’s food, mostly consumed by laborers, farmers, fishermen and cockle-pickers, the dish has today evolved into one of the most-loved dishes among Malaysians – but with certain ingredients omitted to adhere to ‘halal’ guidelines of muslim community.

As the dish became more widespread, many cooks have come up with their own versions of ‘char kway teow’ but with the same essential ingredients ‘Char kway teow’ was said to have its origins in S.E.Asia (Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Brunei) but the common consensus is that ‘Penang char kway teow’ tops the list when it comes to taste and originality.

In Kampar, Perak, the dish is cooked with cockles but no prawns, unless on request. In East Malaysia, other ingredients are used in the cooking eg beef, onions, sweet soya sauce etc.

There are also so-called ‘gourmet versions’ of char kway teow, especially in Ipoh, Penang, Taiping and even the Klang Valley, where seafood, crab meat and even duck eggs are added to suit discerning tastes.

~Info courtesy of Tourism Malaysia~

AirAsia increases flights to Kunming, China

AirAsia increases flights to Kunming, China

AirAsia will be increasing flight frequencies to Kunming, through their Kuala Lumpur-Kunming and Bangkok-Kunming flights.

Daily direct flights from Kuala Lumpur to Kunming will be increased to 14 times weekly starting from December 19, 2017.

While, daily direct flights from Bangkok to Kunming will also be increased to 14 times weekly commencing from January 16, 2018.

To celebrate the occasion, AirAsia is offering all-in fares as low as RM179 from Kuala Lumpur to Kunming.

"Due to the rapid growth of China's civil aviation, we are seeing more travel demands from the Chinese. Adding flight frequencies is one of our commitment to grow the China market and we hope more people can easily access air travel with our low fares," said AirAsia head of commercial Spencer Lee.

AirAsia currently operates 14 weekly one-way flights into Kunming Changshui International Airport.

Besides flights from Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, AirAsia has recently launched daily direct flights from Phuket to Kunming that will commence on 1 February 2018.

~News courtesy of The Star~

Fanning new life into Terengganu batik craft

Fanning new life into Terengganu batik craft



Beautiful batik: Maryam showing off some of the items for sale at a pop-up booth in Publika.

It was while she was miles away from the country that Maryam Samirah Shamsuddin developed a love for one of Malaysia’s traditional crafts – batik.

Maryam, who is now in her mid-30s, said that she started collecting and learning about batik when she was studying in Britain.

“You miss home and Malaysian items are not accessible, so you start to dig around to find stuff that reminds you of home,” she said.

This love for batik led her to start Cotton and Sago, a social enterprise aimed at helping Kuala Terengganu’s batik artisans, over a year ago.

“At first I read about batik online and learnt how to differentiate the designs of each maker.

“Then I went to Kuala Tereng­ganu and found out that the number of batik producers had shrunk.

“In the 90s, they had over 300 batik artisans, but three years ago, when I visited, they had less than 10 who were still active,” she said, adding that hand-block batik manufacturing is a dying industry.

She said that the slowdown could be due to the fact that artisans were earning very low wages, which led to the younger generation’s reluctance to enter the trade.

“They were earning about 80 sen per sarong!” she added.

Seeing this situation, Maryam set about to create an enterprise that was not only focused on marketing the traditional hand-block batik, but one that will help create a sustainable future for the artisans.

She said that being a social enterprise, Cotton and Sago also tries to help raise the price of the batik products so that artisans can earn more.

“Now it is possible for them to earn a wage of RM1,000 per month, compared to about RM500 a month previously,” she said.

The profit that the enterprise earns, she said, is channelled into training and upskilling the artisans, including teaching them business skills.

Maryam said that there is a need to help revive the Terengganu traditional hand-block batik industry, as it is fast losing its skilled artisans to age.

“There is only one traditional blockmaker left in Terengganu. Now we have invested into getting a few young apprentices to learn from him,” she said.

“Otherwise there is only Pok Ya (Zakaria Ismail) and he is in his 60s.”

The tradition of producing batik needs to be preserved as batik tells the story of Malaysia, she said.

“The history of batik itself is about Malaysia. There is a theory that (the act of wearing) batik was a replacement for tattoos when Islam came into the country.

“The technique itself came from India. The (usage of) pastel colours came from the Chinese traders’ influences.

“Batik is a canvas and every culture that crosses our (country’s) path leaves a bit of its touch on it.”

~News courtesy of The Star~