30% DROP IN HOTEL ROOM OCCUPANCY

30% drop in hotel room occupancy

by Jenne Lajiun

Chan (left) speaking to reporters yesterday.

KOTA KINABALU 15/03/2013: Many hotels in Sabah are already feeling the negative impact following the foreign armed intrusion in Lahad Datu.

According to Christopher Chan, president of the Sabah Hotel Association (SHA), some hotels have experienced a drop of 30 per cent in their room occupancy beginning early this month.

Many also experienced a drop of between 30 per cent and 40 per cent in their income as government departments were cancelling events that were supposed to take place at the respective hotels, Chan told a press conference at a hotel here yesterday,.

The drop in income due to the drop of foreign arrivals was between 15 per cent and 20 per cent, he said.

Website hotel and tour booking portals have also indicated a drop of more than 20 per cent in online bookings for hotels and tours offered in Sabah, he said.

“It is a worrying figure…The situation is not good despite the claim made by the relevant authorities that tourism is business as usual in Sabah,”

BABI MAKAN ORANG?

Babi makan petani

OREGON (Amerika Syarikat) 3/10/2012: Satu siasatan dilancarkan selepas seorang petani dipercayai mati dimakan oleh babi peliharaannya.

LOCAL’S DOCUMENT APPLICATION VIA PAKISTANI MAN BAFFLING

Local’s document application via foreigner baffling – NGO chief

Wan Limbisah showing a clipping of the news article that was published in a local newspaper.

KOTA KINABALU September 9, 2012: An association chief has expressed puzzle as to why the locals have to apply for birth certificates and MyKads through a foreigner and not through the relevant departments.

Chairperson of Persatuan Pekedai Pekan Baru Koidupan, Wan Limbisah Wan Mohammad, asked why a local man had to apply for birth certificates and MyKads for his children through a foreigner if he could get them done through the government departments.

JANGKA MAMPU CAPAI HASIL KUTIPAN RM1 BILION BERDASARKAN JUMLAH TERKUMPUL SEPANJANG LIMA TAHUN LALU – PENGARAH IMIGRESEN SABAH

Imigresen anggar kutipan hasil RM200 juta tahun ini

KOTA KINABALU July 15, 2012: Jabatan Imigresen menganggarkan kutipan hasil sehingga RM200 juta menerusi pelbagai aktiviti pada tahun ini.

Menurut Pengarahnya, Mohammad Mentek, menerusi kutipan-kutipan berkenaan, ianya mampu membantu kerajaan dari segenap segi khususnya aktiviti pembikinan pasport, visa, levi, proses Pas Lawatan Kerja Sementara (PLKS) dan denda serta hukuman.

Berdasarkan statistik pada tahun lepas, pihaknya telah berjaya mengutip lebih RM177 juta hasil daripada pelbagai punca dan kutipan berbanding tahun sebelumnya iaitu sekitar RM120 juta sahaja.

“Kutipan yang paling tinggi pula berpunca daripada hasil levi iaitu lebih RM100 juta untuk tahun lalu,” katanya.

ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE?

Zombie Apocalypse?

A scene from the movie Dawn of the Dead. Is this the future?

A string of recent flesh-eating events have prompted some to believe that this is the beginning of a "Zombie Apocalypse."

Here are the facts and it doesn't help that it's 2012, either!

ABANG KAHWIN ADIK SENDIRI

Abang kahwin adik sendiri

TERPENCIL... rumah panjang di kawasan Tinja, Long Baram yang dikatakan mengamalkan perkahwinan sesama mahram.

ULU BARAM 13 Mei 2012: Mungkin pelik bagi kita, tetapi satu kumpulan suku kaum Penan di sebuah perkampungan di sini masih mengamalkan perkahwinan sesama ahli keluarga, termasuk anak dengan ibu, bapa atau sesama saudara kandung.

DON’T COMPARE US TO WESTERN DEMOCRACIES – SPEAKER

Don’t compare us to western democracies – Speaker

TUARAN May 8, 2012: Malaysia is a relatively new democracy and could not be compared to other more developed western democracies in relation to media transparency, according to the Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat, Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia.

He said to make any direct comparison to advanced countries like the United States and the United Kingdom would be unfair, as the country still is at a lower maturity level and trying to chart its future.

PITY SABAH LOSING ON EVERY ENDS

PITY SABAH LOSING ON EVERY ENDS

RANAU : A State Reform Party (Star) leader claimed that Sabah had lost every opportunities to Malaya and is losing even more as greed entrenched itself in the ruling elites who could easily find a matching capitalists.

Star's division head for Ranau, Jalibin Paidi, in a statement here said if one reflects long enough on this point, he or she would agree with his finding that Sabah had always been at the receiving end of Malayan mannouvres in the state, both politically and economically.

Take FELDA as example, he said, the Federal agency now has 300,000 acres of land in Lahad Datu and Kinabatangan. FELDA reaps around RM3 billion profits annually from its Sabah palm oil plantation. How many have we lost here for the last decades? he asked.

KETAM GERGASI TERSELAMAT DARIPADA DIMASAK

Ketam gergasi terselamat daripada dimasak

WEYMOUTH: Ketam gergasi ini terselamat daripada dijadikan bahan makanan.

TAMBANG TEKSI RM459 UNTUK 3KM & TILAM HARGA RM90 RIBU?

Tambang teksi RM459 untuk perjalanan 3km

Sekitar Jalan Imbi di Kuala Lumpur. – Gambar hiasan

KUALA LUMPUR – Dua pemandu teksi didenda antara RM400 hingga RM1,000 oleh Mahkamah Majistret di sini selepas mengaku bersalah menuntut bayaran tambang melebihi kadar yang ditetapkan semalam.

J. Elanggo, 30, pemandu teksi eksekutif, didenda RM1,000 atau sebulan penjara jika gagal membayar denda itu kerana menuntut kadar tambang melebihi yang ditetapkan iaitu sebanyak RM459.20 daripada dua pelancong Britain berbanding kadar yang ditunjukkan di meter teksi sebanyak RM8 iaitu lebihan RM451.20.

BATANG POKOK BETIK BERWAJAH ANGRY BIRDS?

Batang pokok betik berwajah manusia

PONTIAN 23 April 2012 - Ladang betik di Kampung Parit Hassan, Simpang Renggam di sini yang bakal dikunjungi oleh Sultan Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar bulan depan memiliki keistimewaan tersendiri apabila sebatang daripada pokok berkenaan berwajah manusia.

Lebih menarik, wajah manusia pada pangkal batang pokok betik itu menunjukkan emosi marah.

HARAMKAN BAWAKU PERGI

Haramkan Bawaku Pergi

KUALA LUMPUR 28 Mac - Kerajaan digesa mengharamkan lagu Bawaku Pergi nyanyian Kaka dan Zizan yang disifatkan membawa unsur negatif yang boleh mendorong remaja melarikan diri dari rumah.

MINTA PANDANGAN KU LI UNTUK RAMPAS KELANTAN

UMNO akan minta pandangan Ku Li untuk rampas Kelantan

PASIR PUTEH 2012/02/04: UMNO Kelantan akan meminta pandangan Ahli Parlimen Gua Musang, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah dalam usaha memastikan Barisan Nasional (BN) kembali memerintah Kelantan pada pilihan raya umum ke-13 nanti.

GURU YANG PALING JUJUR & AMANAH DI DUNIA?

Guru terkejut akaun bank ada RM30.59 bilion

KOLKATA, India - Seorang guru sebuah sekolah tinggi di sini yang mempunyai gaji bulanan sebanyak AS$700 (RM2,170) terkejut apabila dalam pemeriksaan rutin dalam online yang dibuatnya mendapati akaun banknya mempunyai baki hampir AS$10 bilion (RM31 bilion).

Guru itu, Parijat Saha (gambar), 42, dari bandar Balurghat, negeri Bengal Barat berkata, dia memeriksa akaun Bank Negara India menerusi online pada Ahad lalu untuk mengesahkan penerimaan bayaran faedah sebanyak AS$200 (RM620).

"Saya terkejut melihat jumlah yang terlalu banyak," katanya.

Akaun itu menunjukkan baki sebanyak AS$9.87 bilion (RM30.59 bilion).

THIS GUY GOT BALLS LITERALLY!

Man with gigantic testicles

It’s no laughing matter! A Las Vegas man needs a US$1mil (RM3.1mil) surgery to correct his unfortunate condition-  having 45kg testicles.

JERUNG BERMATA SATU

Jerung bermata satu ditemui di Teluk California

CALIFORNIA 19 Okt 2011: Seorang nelayan menemui seekor jerung bermata satu di tengah-tengah muka haiwan itu.

KINABATANGAN VOTER-TO-POPULATION RATIO OF 68% ABNORMALLY HIGH

Increase in Kinabatangan voters raising eyebrows

KOTA KINABALU October 2, 2011: The unexpected high voter-to-population ratio in the Kinabatangan region on the east of Sabah has raised concerns that non-citizens have made it into the new electoral rolls.

Sabah DAP which sounded the alarm said the ratio had risen to as high as 68% and was abnormal.

MP for Kota Kinabalu Hiew King Cheu noted that a check on the electoral roll revealed that registered voters in Kinabatangan is around 22,000 from a total local population of 32,638, which which makes the population-to-voter ratio at 68%.

“This is very high when compared with many other areas in Sabah. The normal voters-to-population ratio is between 20% to 35% only.

WANITA DIHANTAR TERLALU CEPAT KE RUMAH MAYAT HIDUP SEMULA

Hidup semula selepas dimasukkan dalam beg mayat

RIO DE JANEIRO 27 September 2011 - Seorang wanita yang berusia 60-an yang dirawat kerana sakit pneumonia dihantar terlalu cepat ke rumah mayat selepas diisytiharkan mati oleh seorang doktor, lapor akhbar Globo kelmarin.

Doktor tidak dapat mengesan sebarang tanda-tanda penting, melakukan ujian dan mengesahkan dia mati.

Dia kemudian dihantar ke bilik mayat dan berada selama dua jam di dalam beg plastik.

LIDAH BAYI BARU LAHIR SEMAKIN BESAR DAN MEMANJANG

Lahir dengan lidah terjulur

PADANG: Seorang bayi lelaki dilahirkan di Kampung Pampangan di sini dengan lidahnya terjulur.

Bayi pasangan suami isteri, Sartika (23) dan Anton (27, lahir secara normal pada pada 5 September lalu.

Sehingga semalam, bayi itu yang diberi nama Fakri Arrahman sudah dimasukkan ke Hospital Dr M Djamil untuk menjalani rawatan. Pengarah hospital berkenaan, Gustafianof berkata, pihaknya tetap menerima Fakri meskipun dia berasal dari keluarga miskin. Fakri berdepan dengan masalah untuk menghisap susu kerana sebagaian besar rongga mulutnya ditutupi lidahnya yang menjulur.

KANAK-KANAK TUMBUH TANDUK

Kanak-kanak lelaki tumbuh tanduk

LONDON 22 Sept. - Seorang kanak-kanak lelaki terpaksa berdepan dengan hari-hari sukar selama empat bulan apabila kepalanya ditumbuhi 'tanduk'.