30 December, 2010

New SGH Heart Centre

Sarawak International Medical Center

The new Sarawak General Hospital Heart Centre (SGH Heart Centre), previously known as Sarawak International Medical Center (SIMC)  in Kota Samarahan is a heart referral hospital. Starting on the 1st January 2011, all heart referral patients from divisional hospitals will be referred to this hospital for cardiac care.

In the future, the SGH Heart Center will also support cancer and kidney care.

Congratulations Malaysia

Pos Malaysia (1) vs Harimau Muda (1)

Congratulations to Malaysia for winning the AFF-Suzuki cup on 4-2 aggregate.

The last time the Malaysian national team became champions in a regional competition was at the 1989 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysian striker, Safee Sali, won the Golden Boot award with five goals to his name.


Best of all, our Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has declared Friday, December 31 2010, a public holiday to commemorate Malaysia's victory in the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup.

25 December, 2010

Terminal Bersepadu Selatan

Terminal Bersepadu Selatan

Newly completed Integrated Terminal namely Terminal Bersepadu Selatan-Bandar Tasik Selatan (TBS-BTS) is expected to start operating early next year. The terminal will provide services to bus and taxi passengers travelling from Kuala Lumpur to North and South of the Peninsular Malaysia. The terminal will be equipped with Customer Service Counter, e-ticket counter, etc.

According to today's news report, the terminal is a six-storey building housing 55 bus platforms, 150 taxi bays, 1000 parking facilities and air-conditioned waiting areas. The terminal is built in an area of about 19.6 hectare.

24 December, 2010

Another Approach to Reduce Traffic Jam in Megacities

Traffic jam in Beijing

Daily gridlocks in megacities such as Beijing have worsened recently. There are several measures being taken by authorities to help alleviating traffic congestion in the cities. The traffic congestion in the city causes severe air pollution. During the Summer Olympics in 2008, hosted by Beijing, vehicles with odd or even number plates were banned to drive in Beijing on alternate days in order to reduce congestion and reducing air pollution in the cities.

Now, all cars are banned on the streets one day a week, based on their license plate number. However, some drivers evade the rules by purchasing a second vehicle.

According to news report, soon Beijing will start to sharply limit new vehicle registrations in an effort to reduce traffic jam in the city. The city will allow only 240,000 vehicles (which is about one- third of the vehicle registration this year) to be registered starting next year.

According to the report, Beijing now has 4.76 million vehicles as compared to 2.6 million in 2005. With the population of 17 million, it is expected that car ownership will reach 7 million in the year 2015 in case of a do nothing scenario.

23 December, 2010

Fighting Crimes Through CCTV

CCTV Surveillance Area

Penang Integrated Public Safety System (PIPS), which used broadband wireless access 4.9GHz, was the first system installed in the country. The system integrates the camera to three control centres – the Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) traffic control, Patani Road police station and the state police headquarters. The PIPS also doubles as a public announcement system, emergency kiosk and stability system. Since February 2008, a total of 31 CCTVs were installed in Penang under the PIPS project.

 Penang will have a total of 48 CCTVs, 24 each on the island and Seberang Prai on the mainland,

The first phase of installing closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in crime hotspots nationwide will be completed by March, with 496 cameras in place at major crime prone areas in the peninsula.

According to this REPORT, the system had managed to reduce crime within the locations installed.

CCTV Surveillance Area

Another location where PIPS is being installed. Unfortunately, it seemed that the system is not being maintained properly because the line of sight of the CCTV is  blocked by tree branches.

22 December, 2010

Flying Doctor Service

Helicopter

In Sarawak, the only way for rural communities to receive health care services is through the service of flying doctors. Due to the vast area of Sarawak, the preferred mode of transportation is using helicopters. The helicopters are used to transfer emergency cases to hospital in the city center. The above picture shows the arrival of a patience transported using helicopter.

Helicopter
Sarawak Government Hospital in Kuching has a helicopter landing facilities to provide efficient services to the rural communities.



Helicopter

The helicopter service is operated by Layang-Layang Aerospace.

19 December, 2010

New INTAN Building on the Block

INTAN Sarawak

The new INTAN Sarawak's building located in Kota Semarahan is almost come to completion and the design of the building is quite unique. The dome like entrance of the building is built using steel frame.

The building is a new feature in the fast developing Kota Semarahan and it is just a matter of time that the building will be fully occupied. It is the latest building in the block.


INTAN Sarawak

Another view of the new INTAN Sarawak's building.

18 December, 2010

Hope This Finding is Statistically Untrue

IMG_4276e

Two most common reasons for not staying in a house besides a busy highway are noise and air pollution. Another reason might be an unwelcoming lost tourists using your driveways to turn around (blame it on Garmin, your trusted route navigation system, maybe).

However, there is a new finding based on a study published in Environmental Health Perspectives offers another reason for not living in a house besides a busy highway: children who lived near highways at birth had twice the risk of autism as those who live farther way.Researchers found that children whose families lived within 1,000 feet from a freeway at birth were twice as likely to have autism as those who lived farther from a highway.

Let us hope that the finding is statistically untrue since there are a lot of people staying besides a busy highway. Read more Here.

13 December, 2010

Latest Bus Stop Design

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What is so latest about the design of this bus stop? Except the bench, other aspect of the bus stop seems to be a new concept i.e. steel frame structure, roofing material and glass panel of this bus stop is so different from other bus stops that I had seen in the area. There also seem to be decent lighting for the bus stop which I haven't checked yet during the night whether the lighting is operational or only a gimmick.

The roofing and glass panel is very good design to give shelter to bus users from shearing tropical heat and also from tropical rain.

However, one important item that is still missing at the bus stop, i.e. information about bus route and bus time-table. Hopefully, one day (I am not sure when yet) the information about bus routes, arrival and departure time will be made available at all bus stops around here.

11 December, 2010

Actually, I am not Alone

EOS 7D

Apparently, I am not alone in having a missing opportunity to take good picture because of the undesirable changes in shooting mode due to inadvertent knocking of the dial mechanism of the EOS Canon camera. For example, after carefully setting the shooting mode to capture a portrait with a nice, wide aperture and released the shutter only to find that you are waiting for a 2-second exposure to finish up. Or capturing a decisive moment of street action, only to find that your Shooting Mode dial is in green-rectangle-full-Auto mode or Tv Mode (Shutter Speed Priority).

Apparently, there are a lot of users having similar problems and for EOS 5D Mark II and EOS 7D users, Canon provides a chargeable service to install a brand new, lockable, press-and-turn mode dial.

Unfortunately, the service is only available in USA, what a pity.

However, for the time being, I have to keep on double checking the dial mode before taking pictures in order to ensure the right setting is being used. 

For further detail, click HERE

07 December, 2010

Tokoh Maal Hijrah 2010

Tan Sri Dato' Sri Dr. Zeti Akhtar Aziz

This year "Tokoh Maal Hijrah" 1432H is Bank Negara Malaysia Governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz. The award was conferred at the national-level Ma'al Hijrah celebration at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre here Today.

Tan Sri Dr Zeti is the first woman ever named as the recipient of the "Tokoh Ma'al Hijrah" award in the celebration's history of 24 years. She received a cash prize of RM100,000, a medal, plaque and a certificate.

Her father, Royal Professor Ungku Abdul Aziz Ungku Abdul Hamid was also named recipient of the award 11 years ago.

Tan Sri Dr Zeti had also received numerous national and international recognition. She contributed her success to her habit of instilling curiosity in the quest for knowledge where she spent most of her time reading, especially about financial, economic, leadership development and self-improvement.

This year award was given to he due to her contributions in the development of the financial system and national economy, including the Islamic financial system.

Previous years Tokoh Maal Hijrah, read HERE.

06 December, 2010

Ancient Bridge


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Originally uploaded by wanhashim
This bridge is located in one of the Angkor Wat complexes leading to one of the ancient temple. More than 1000 years ago, they are the master of stone craftmen and their ingenuity is still becoming a mystery until now.

22 November, 2010

World Clock Keeps on Ticking

Watch this world clock information for a few seconds and imagine about the real lives that its represent.


Poodwaddle.com

21 November, 2010

The Dabbawalas

Dabbawalas Carting

Dabbawalas are about 5,000 men in Mumbai who routinely deliver home cooked lunches in lunch box or tiffin.  Dabba means lunch box or tiffin. The practice is 120 years old where lunch is cooked at home, picked up by a tiffin man between 9am and 10am, and then is passed quickly through a series of train and push cart transfer that get the tiffin to the customer's office.


Dabbawala Rail Crossing

One tiffin carrier changes hands at least four times between home and office. Each tiffin man can easily carry up to 40 tiffin carriers in a tray balanced on his head or arranged in a push cart.

Dabbawalas wearing traditional Gandhi topi usually work in groups of 40.


Dabbawala:  Essen Lieferservice in Mumbai

The tiffin boxes that arrived from the suburbs by train are divided up between the dabbawalas, each would sling 40-odd boxes onto his bicycle handlebars.

The distribution system has not changed since 120 years ago and is among the world's most efficient. It is claimed that the tiffin men make only one mistake in six million deliveries.

More information can be found HERE.

18 November, 2010

A House


IMG_3391
Originally uploaded by wanhashim
This house seemed to be has been abandoned for such a long time by judging from the growth of vegetation on top of its roof. The house was made visible due to the clearance of the adjacent land for future development. The design of the house is very simple and the entire house is made of wood.

Without the land clearance I will never know the existence of a house here. I decided to take the picture of the house because I think it is just a matter of time that the house will also being demolished to make way for development.

17 November, 2010

States to Have Highway Monitoring Systems by 2016

Taxis Parked at Yellow Line
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has issued a final rule requiring the states and U.S. territories to have real-time traffic monitoring programs operational by Nov. 8, 2016.

The rule says, under the “Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users” (SAFETEA-LU), the DOT is required to establish a “real-time system management information program” that provides the capability to monitor—in real-time—the traffic and travel conditions of the major highways of the United States and to share that data with state and local governments and with the travelling public.

The rule does not specify which type of monitoring technology to be used. According to the notices issued by the U.S. DOT, the rule establishes minimum parameters and requirements for states to make available and share traffic and travel conditions information via real-time information programs.

In addition, while the rule becomes effective Dec. 23, 2010, the establishment of the real-time information program for traffic and travel conditions reporting along Interstate system highways shall be completed by Nov. 8, 2014, while a real-time information program for traffic and travel conditions reporting along the state-designated metropolitan area routes of significance shall be completed by Nov. 8, 2016.

A system to monitor the traffic and travel conditions of the major highways of the United States and to share that information to improve the security of the surface transportation system is needed to address congestion problems; to support improved response to weather events and surface transportation incidents; and to facilitate national and regional highway traveller information, the notice says.

I think the rule is implemented to acknowledge the importance of real time information in solving traffic congestion and the importance of disseminating the information to travellers. Hope one day the importance of the real time traffic information is realised in other part of the world especially to those cities that are experiencing chronic traffic congestion during peak hours.

For further information, read States to Have Highway Monitoring Systems by 2016,

Hopefully, the congestion problem especially during major festive seasons will be the thing of the past.  Also read HERE for traffic congestion during festive season.

The system will also help in preventing this type of unnecessary traffic jam.

The system can also alleviate traffic congestion during incident on Penang Bridge.

The system can also be used in other part of the world to reduce traffic congestion.

Video - The Hajj - National Geographic

Explore the history and meaning behind the Hajj, Islam's annual pilgrimage to Mecca.
Join the Hajj, the five-day pilgrimage to the high plains of Arafat …

Eid mubarak to all muslims celebrating Eid ul Adha.
 
 

16 November, 2010

Drive Safely

PB161726

During this festive season, I would like to wish everybody a safe journey home especially to those who are travelling long distance. As seen in the picture above, I don't really know what happen to the motorcycle rider whether he is safe or not. By looking at the condition of the motorbike, hope that the rider is ok. The picture is taken somewhere in the 7th Mile town area in Kuching.

Eid Ul Adha Mubarak

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Eid mubarak to all muslims celebrating Eid ul Adha tomorrow, 17 Nov 2010 in Malaysia. It commences on the 10th day of Zul Hijjah and usually is celebrated in a similar manner to Eid Ul Fitr.



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Eid mubarak is celebrated at the end of Hajj, which is an annual pilgrimage to Mecca. The ‘Festival of Sacrifice’ is followed by a ‘Feast of Sacrifice’, which pays homage to the Prophet Ibrahim's (Peace Be Upon Him) unselfish act of sacrificing his son, Ismail, to Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala). In turn, Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala) spared the boy’s life and instead substituted a sheep. Now in remembrance, people sacrifice a lamb, goat, or other animal, and give the meat to family, friends, relatives, and most importantly, the poor.


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It starts with a special holiday prayer, performed in congregation in the Masjid (Mosque) or other suitable place. It is a time of celebration, of visiting family and friends and of thanking ALLAH (Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala), for all the blessings bestowed upon us. Fasting is prohibited during these days.

15 November, 2010

Video of Shanghai Skyscraper Inferno

A huge fire has broken out in a 30-storey Shanghai building at about 2pm local time (06000GMT), killing at least 12 people.


It was reported that more than 80 fire engines were at the scene trying to control the fire. The cause of the blaze is unclear, but construction scaffolding around the building caught fire first, and flames then spread to the main building, which has about 500 apartments.





Wheel's Clamping

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The management of the Sarawak Government Hospital or Hospital Umum Sarawak had acted accordingly to overcome the problem of vehicles parked illegally at the hospital's parking lots. It is a well known fact that there are severe shortages of parking spaces at the Sarawak Government Hospital. Most of the parking spaces had to give way for new hospital building to provide more facilities for users. In order to prevent vehicles from blocking other vehicles due to the shortages of parking spaces, the Hospital management had resorted to giving fines for those who parked illegally.

P8301571

The best ever method to enforce the parking regulation is by using wheel's clamping where users has to pay RM50 ringgit each time they wanted their vehicle to be unclamped. The measure is very effective where there is no more vehicles illegally parked everywhere as before.
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Instead of a welcoming message provided at the entrance of the Hospital, those who are in need of medical attentions are forewarned that parking is the utmost important thing to be observed whenever anybody wanted to visit the hospital. Whatever happens after that is secondary, i.e. whether you are being treated on time or not. The first thing that you need to do is to circle several time looking for empty parking spaces around the facility before you headed outside of the hospital to avoid your vehicle from being clamped. However, in case you are dealing with an emergency situation, I don't think Rm50 is really matter to you. In that case please park your vehicle at the nearest location possible and make sure that your vehicle will not block other vehicles because for sure your vehicle will be surely parked there with an additional security measure i.e. wheel clamped.



P8301573
Due to the wheel clamping measure being enforced at the hospital, a lot of business opportunities available to those land owners near the hospital vicinity. Before the wheel clamping exercise, don't ever think of parking your vehicle on the roadside on other people properties because you will be charged for trespassing. However, nowadays, everybody is welcome to park their vehicles on the specially prepared parking spaces for visitors near the hospital. For the unwary visitors, they will never know the amount of fees that they have to pay for the parking facilities because there is no information available anywhere near the parking facilities. Upon entering the parking lot, you will be stop by parking attendance requesting you to pay RM5. I don't think that you will tell the parking attendance, after spending several hours searching for empty parking spot, that you will not pay the amount because you wanted to find other parking places that is much cheaper. Thus, most likely you will just pay the RM5 and get yourself a decent parking space. With the RM5 charge also, not many vehicles are parked at the facility making it very easy for you to find an empty parking spaces.

Personally, I think the availability of the off street parking spaces really provide relieve to those who wanted find parking space to park their vehicles. The only concern is that the operators of the parking lot must provide enough information regarding the fees of using their facilities. Furthermore, I am not sure whether the operators have been given any approval for carrying out such business on their vicinity.

Read HERE for new offstreet parking.

Read HERE for parking woes.

Read HERE for solving parking problems.

Rare Pictures: Crocodile Attacks Elephant

A Spur-winged Plover picking the teeth of a Ni...Image via Wikipedia
Crocodiles are known to attack humans, buffaloes, birds, etc. but not elephant. These Rare Pictures: Crocodile Attacks Elephant quoted from the National Geographic website shows a Nile crocodile (20-foot-long or 6-meter-long) attacking a pair of African elephants. It might be a routine journey to the edge of the water when the pair of African elephants were ambushed by a Nile crocodile. The pictures were taken by tourists during a visit to Zambia's South Luangwa National Park in late September.

Kpg Goebilt

P8221560

This picture, taken using compact Olympus camera. shows the Birdseye view of Kpg Goebilt. Adjacent to the Kgg Goebilt is the Senari Port. Kpg Goebilt is a small fishing town located about several kilometers from Kuching. Read HERE for more information about Kpg Goebilt.

13 November, 2010

Superjumbo

Rolls-Royce Trent 900, Farnborough 2006

Qantas A380 Engine Failure

A new superjumbo plane owned by Qantas experienced an inflight trouble that forced the airline into an emergency landing in Singapore last week. Luckily everybody in the plane is safe and experiencing no major injuries except near traumatic experiences.

It was reported that the incident was caused by the failure in a specific part of its Trent 900 engine that causes a fire on one of the superjumbo's engine.

Hopefully, the manufacturer of the engine will quickly able to identify the specific part of the engine which causes engine failure.

Due to the complexities of a jet engine, only a small part of the engine can cause severe damage to the engine. Since the engine is new, the only defect is likely either to be a design defect or a material defect and not due to maintenance issue. As happened before, the design or material defect can only be detected after the engine experienced some kind of failure. Engineers or technicians will carry out detail study of the engine failure in order to detect the cause of the engine's malfunction. 

Authorities also had directed airlines to carry out repetitive test on the engine to find out if there are any abnormalities to the engine.

Luckily that the engine was designed in such a way that in any case of malfunction, it will not affect the fuselage of the aircraft.

I am sure that before the engine is allowed to be installed on any aircraft, a rigorous test had been carried out on the engine. But for the Trent 900 engine, it seems that the testing is not being carried out thorough enough to be able to detect the presence of any weak component in the engine. May be the testing procedure need to be reviewed to avoid future similar incidents from occurring.

06 November, 2010

Traffic Management Using Sensor Technology

City of Assen is equipped with sensors located throughout the city to guide users to use the best route, to advice on using public transport system and also to book for a parking slot. The sensors can identify when schools have finished their sessions so that travellers will not end up in the traffic jam. Also, the sensors can identify the stretch of road that is undergoing routine maintenance or construction. The sensors are integrated with traffic light system which enables the traffic lights to be responsive to real time traffic demand and to provide green-wave opportunity when necessary. Using the system can make travelling more fun and less stressful besides helping in reducing the detrimental to the environment.

Check-out the short-clip of the ease of using the technology.

05 November, 2010

Qantas Airbus A380

Qantas Airbus A380


Last Thursday, Airbus A380 operated by Qantas experiencing an in-flight engine failure which forced the jet to make an emergency landing in Singapore. It was reported that, one of the A380 jet engines blew out, shooting flames and raining large metal chunks before making an emergency landing. The incident causes frenzy of activities involving all of the Airbus A380 in service since 2007 to ensure that the plane is still safe to fly.

According to Reuters, Singapore Airlines resumed flying its Airbus A380 aircraft Friday but Qantas kept its fleet grounded until further notice. All of the A380 fleets were inspected overnight in accordance with the requirements of Airbus and Rolls-Royce. Read HERE for more news.

Rolls-Royce and Airbus engineers are working around the clock to investigate the true causes of the engine failure. A Senior Lecturer in Aerospace Engineering at the University of New South Wales as quoted by Reuters mentioned that the fact that the failed jet engine survived the damage is a credit to the design which could cause the aircraft out of the sky twenty years ago.
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29 October, 2010

Burnt


Burnt
Originally uploaded by wanhashim
Guess what is being burnt? This is the original charger come together with brand new Iphone sold at Low Yat Plaza. The voltage written on the charger is so tiny and almost invisible. Thus, I assumed that the voltage should be 240V because it is sold in Malaysia and further I cannot really verify the exact voltage as written on the charger. Once the charger is plugged in the power socket, it burnt causes the hotel room electricity supply to trip.Luckily my precious Iphone is still intact.

24 October, 2010

Fatal Secondary Road Accident and Hazard of Fixed Roadside Object


No matter how safe and careful you drive, accident can happen due to other driver's mishap. This phenomenon is described as secondary accident. For example, recently the death of a lorry driver after a gantry fell on him following another accident involving a trailer and a car at the 445th kilometre of the North-South Expressway near Rawang.

As described by The Star Newspaper above, a Proton Wira hit the rear of a trailer causing the trailer to lose control and plough into the divider. The crash uprooted the support of a heavy signboard column, located in the highway median, causing the heavy signboard to fall onto an on-coming lorry travelling on the opposite lane of the highway. The lorry driver died in the accident and the lorry dragged the signboard for about 100 metres. The drivers of the trailer and his passenger only suffered minor injuries.

Thus, the incident started with the carelessness of the proton wira driver which causes the trailer to lost control of his trailer. Unfortunately, a heavy signboard gantry located at the incident eventually causes the death of an unfortunate lorry driver that happened to travel in the opposite direction at the same time.

In traffic engineering, the first principle that should be considered when designing high speed highway facilities is to remove any fixed objects from the road side. There should be a minimum distance provided for the fixed object to be placed and the base of the fixed object should be adequately protected from the on-coming traffic. In case that the fixed object is too close to the roadside, adequate protection system such as by providing guardrail (which is actually a roadside hazard if it is not being design properly) to prevent any out-of-control vehicles from hitting the object.

20 October, 2010

World Class Traffic Jam


World Class Traffic Jam
Originally uploaded by joiseyshowaa
Typical Traffic jam on a street in Dhaka. Due to the high population density, vehicular traffic travels at a crawling speed to give ways for pedestrian. Pedestrians seem to cross the street all the way along the street and there is no specific location along the road that can be considered as pedestrian crossing.

Pasar Tamu Sri Aman


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Originally uploaded by wanhashim
Pasar Tamu Sri Aman is open everyday. The market is busy almost everyday except for certain days off due to festive season. The market is famous for its natural produce. Next time you drop by Sri Aman, don't forget to visit the Pasar Tamu Sri Aman market.

18 October, 2010

Toward Sustainable Transportation: Pedestrian Walkways

IMG_2219

Soon, there will be a number of pedestrian walkways being completed throughout Kuala Lumpur. The initiatives is under the Urban Public Transport (UPT), National Key Results Areas (NKRA) which is a a joint effort between Prasarana and Kuala Lumpur City Hall. Hope that in the future, more pedestrian walkways should be provided in order to encourage walking and thus contributing toward sustainable transportation. The selection of the location for pedestrian walkways must be carried out systematically in order to capture the areas with high pedestrian volumes.


The covered walkway projects are as follows:

From Pasar Seni LRT station to the Central Market.

From Pasar Seni LRT station to KTM Komuter station with an elevated walkway.

From Bandaraya LRT station to the City Hall building in Jalan Raja Laut.

From Hang Tuah LRT station to the Monorail station and the Masjid Al-Bukhary.

From Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) LRT station to The Mall and Hentian Putra.

From Plaza Rakyat LRT station to Pudu Raya bus terminal and the Cahaya Suria and Maybank buildings.

From Medan Tuanku Monorail station to the Maju Junction Mall and the Sultan Ismail LRT station.

Covered at-grade and elevated walkways connecting LRT and Monorail stations to key buildings and areas in the city


For further info, read HERE.

16 October, 2010

Gotthard Base Tunnel

Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM)

The new Gotthard Base Tunnel located underneath the Alps in Switzerland is now the world's longest tunnel. Before this Japan's Seikan Tunnel is the longest tunnel in the world. The tunnelling project started in the 40's by engineer Eduard Gruner and recently, Swiss engineers smashed through the last stretch of rock. Overall, it took them almost 60 years to dig through the 35.4-mile (57 - Kilometer) long tunnel.

The Gotthard Base Tunnel will add to the high-speed transportation network covering all angles of Europe. The high-speed rail will carry millions of goods cutting through the Alps thus reducing the environmental damage that heavy trucks inflicted on the Switzerland's Alpine highland.
The Gotthard Base Tunnel will create a high-speed transportation link which is economically important link between the Dutch port of Rotterdam and Italy's Mediterranean port of Genoa.

Thus, Europeans are willing to spend so much money on building a new high-speed transportation link because they know that the link is vital to their continuous growth in economy which will benefit them in the future.

Read further story HERE.

15 October, 2010

Car Crashing into Trees

Suasana Yang Amat Teduh

Planting trees beside roadway can be aesthetically pleasing to the eyes and is environmental friendly. In Malaysia, planting trees besides the road can help drivers reduce tropical heat especially during midday. Usually, speed limit is low along the road with trees planted besides the road.

However, any fix object located besides roadway can be considered as traffic hazard. Severe accident can occur if the vehicle is out of control and at the same time hitting the trees. In this case, the only solution is to drive according to the stipulated speed limit to avoid vehicles from skidding and involve in serious accident.

Yesterday, six people died when the Honda City they were travelling in crashed and collided into two trees at the Kuala Lumpur-Ipoh trunk road at Jeram, near Kampar. The incident occurs at 2 am where five of the victims, who were trapped in the car, died on the spot. The impact of the crash into the first tree causes the vehicle to collide with another tree. According to police, the vehicle was speeding before it lost control and collided with the trees.


For more news, read HERE.

14 October, 2010

Emergency Landing

Qatar Airlines A330-302 A7-AEB

A Qatar Airways Airbus A330 enroute from Manila to Doha made an emergency landing at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) after one of its pilots died of a heart attack mid-air. All 250 passengers on board landed safely, thanks to the Co-Pilot. 

Thus, for aircraft, the plane can still be piloted safely due to the presence of both pilot and co-pilot. In case there is an emergency involving the pilot, as in this case, the co-pilot will take over the control of the aircraft.

Until now, I have been wondering about the case of vehicle accidents. It might be possible that some of the accidents occurs due to the drivers having an emergency such as having a heart attack causing their vehicles to be out of control and ended up with fatal accident. In that case, the blame will usually be put on the driver for driving recklessly. It would be very difficult for the police officer to identify the root cause of such an accident (i.e. the heart attack). Thus, the only possible reason is to put the blame on the poor driver for reckless driving.

13 October, 2010

Miners finally being Rescued

Miners,  Chile, 92,

33 miners were trapped underground since the collapsed of 700,000 tons of rocks around them on the Aug 5. Seventeen days after the rock collapsed, no one knew about their fate whether they were alive.

However, since then the world is stunned by the endurance and unity waiting in anticipation for the rescue efforts. Rescue shaft were prepared since then and only several hours ago that the rescue effort were able to be carried out by pulling each one of them using the specially designed capsule.

It is an historical events in many ways: longest surviving miners trapped underground, longest rescue effort ever attempted, etc.

Read more HERE.

Main Mode of Transport


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Originally uploaded by wanhashim
This is one of the main mode of transport along Btg. Lupar river. The boat is powered by an engine which enable them to travel inland via the river.

12 October, 2010

Motorcycle Lane


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Originally uploaded by wanhashim
Motorcycle lane at toll plaza on the North-South Expressway. Motorcyclists are exempted from paying toll while using the North-South Expressway and they have to use the exclusive motorcycle lane to enter the expressway.