FOMCA: Develop Both Urban And Rural Public Transporation

PETALING JAYA, Feb 24 (Bernama) -- The Federation of Malaysian Consumer Associations (Fomca) today called on the government to develop the urban and rural public transportation systems simultenously to achieve substantial savings on fuel subsidy.

So far, the government had only unveiled the programme to improve the urban public transportation system and had been quiet on the rural sector, said its president, Datuk N. Marimuthu.

He said that in some rural areas there was no public transportation at all and even if there was, it was with irregular timing with old buses and taxis.

He told Bernama that at present only 20 per cent of Malaysians were using public transportation because of irregular timing, insufficient buses and trains and generally poor service.

In the next 10 years or so, if 50 per cent of Malaysia could use public transportation, the country could gain tremendously by reducing carbon dioxide emmision and traffic congestion and saving in fuel subsidy, he added.

He suggested a cross-subsidy to operate public transportation, where the more profitable urban sector could subsidise the rural areas, and urged the government to study the models available in the world, especially Japan's and Singapore's systems, to come up with a suitable one for Malaysia.

-- BERNAMA

Hassles, congestion and extra costs to come with new fuel subsidy scheme

PETALING JAYA: The Petrol Dealers Asso-ciation of Malaysia has expressed concern that the new fuel subsidy system which uses MyKad for petrol purchase may create hassles for consumers.

The association is worried that the system could cause congestion apart from burdening petrol dealers with additional costs.

Association president Datuk Hashim Othman said a bank had been appointed to manage the operation of the new fuel subsidy scheme and consumers might have to register their car registration number through the bank or petrol stations using MyKad.

He anticipated that it would take a longer time to process transactions as biometrics would be used to verify the vehicle owner’s identity through thumbprint scanning and this could lead to possible congestion at the petrol stations.

“Experts in the field may say it is applicable but people on the ground are worried that the thumbprint scan, which is similar to the practice in the airport, may delay transactions and create congestion at petrol stations,” he told The Star yesterday.

• We are in the dark over new petrol pricing, says association

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How many friends can you have?

British anthropologist Robin Dunbar says human beings can have no more than 150 friends – that’s the upper limit the brain can absorb.

His conclusion comes from studying the social group size of monkeys and apes and how that size might relate to the brain.

Initially Dunbar was examining why primates groom each other. If the reason involved sexual bonding, it should correspond to “the social brain hypothesis” that the reason primates have a large brain is because of their social complexity.

In other words, you need a large brain to keep track of your relationships. Humans, he says, are no different.

Known as “Dunbar’s number,” the idea of an upper limit to friends is bound to cause some people – especially teens and young adults -- to raise their eyebrows, particularly in this era of social network sites where some people boast of having thousands of friends.

(more...)

Dua ketul enjin Sukhoi pulak "kehilangan"?

Two more RMAF jet engines 'lost'

MARHALIM ABAS

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 13:33:00

PETALING JAYA: Two more fighter jet engines were "lost" by the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) in 2007, apart from the two F5 engines that were stolen from its Sungai Besi air base.

The other two engines "lost" belonged to a newly-delivered Sukhoi Su-30MKM Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA). The aircraft suffered "foreign object damage" (FOD), as it goes in air force lingo, after its engines sucked in stones and other objects as it landed in June 2007.

Sources said the two NPO Saturn AL-31FP engines were scrapped after suffering "catastrophic damage" when the brand-new Sukhoi jet landed on the runway at the Gong Kedak air base in Kelantan.

However, RMAF chief Datuk Seri Rodzali Daud told The Malay Mail at Parliament recently that the engines were not scrapped but sent for repair.

He declined to elaborate, but did say that FOD was a normal occurrence in fighter jet operations. If the engines could be repaired, they would have been sent back to the Russian manufacturer, NPO Saturn.

Although the Sukhoi planes were equipped with titanium mesh doors that swing down over the air intake to protect the engines from FOD, the feature only worked during take-off and slow taxiing, not during landing.

Local defence industry sources who confirmed that the damaged engines were "lost" said it was difficult to estimate the cost of a brand new AL-31FP engine. The Sukhois cost the country RM155 million each and the government purchased 18 Su-30MKM from Russia in May 2003 at a cost of RM3.42 billion.

The Malay Mail learnt that the aircraft in the FOD incident was not grounded for long as the RMAF, as with other air forces, had procured spare engines for its Sukhoi fleet.

The sources said the Sukhoi was one of five fighter jets delivered in batches from May 2007.

These were transported from Russia to the Subang airbase in Antonov An-124 transport planes and re-assembled for trials before being handed over to the RMAF.

It is learnt that the damaged Sukhoi jet was flown by a Sukhoi Design Bureau test crew when the incident occurred, and that RMAF had initially demanded that the Russian company replaces the two engines.

However, Sukhoi refused on grounds that the test crew was only following the orders of RMAF officials to land at the Gong Kedak air base. The runway had been cleared for other RMAF aircraft such as the Hercules C-130 but at that point, the Sukhois had yet to be given the greenlight to land.

The Gong Kedak base had undergone massive re-development to host the new MRCA squadron.

More than RM200 million was spent to re-develop the air base, which now boasts an extended runway and new facilities, including hardened aircraft shelters for the Sukhoi squadron.

Although the incident was a clear violation of RMAF standing orders, no one has been hauled up over the loss of the two engines.

The Sukhoi made its public debut in the country at the 2007 Merdeka Day parade and the jets also took part in the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace show in December that year.