Almost 800 swine flu cases in Malaysia and haze above Kuala Lumpur: breathing air in Malaysia becomes dangerous.

Although the Malaysian government says that they have everything under control, simple mathematics shows that there is a big problem looming: Malaysia keeps on having new H1N1 – swine flu – cases each and every day:

• imported by tourists, mainly from Australia
   
• domestic infections

The bad news however is that the swine flu is more aggressive than first said: since the many deadly cases of swine flu recorded in nearby Thailand and the Philippines, the US has stated that swine flu attacks the respiratory system more severely than the regular flu, causing pneumonia more easily than was first reported.

Add to that the haze that’s looming over Kuala Lumpur: you can smell that "somebody is burning some bushes"… Bad news for many Malaysian tourists that were expecting clear blue seas and fresh air…

Technorati Tags: breathing air, flu, flu cases, h1n1 virus, haze, kuala lumpur, swine flu

1. First time I wanted to enter, a nurse asked me whether I had just come from overseas. When I said "no", I was allowed to enter.
    
2. Next visit a Nepal guard asked something I couldn’t understand. When I said "no", I was allowed to enter.
    
3. Next visit a nurse on the entrance asked me: do you have any flu symptoms. When I said "no", I was allowed to enter.
    
4. Next visit today a nurse on the entrance took my temperature. No questions where asked and I was allowed to enter.

The latter is quite an improvement. One could have asked me again whether I came from overseas, as being an expat , it is more likely that I just flew into the country and I am at higher risk of having contracted the swine flu.

In any case, slowly but surely Malaysia is getting serious about the swine flu, or at least this 1 particular hospital is.

Technorati Tags: appointments, dentist, glen eagles hospital, h1n1 virus, kuala lumpur, swine flu

Now is the ideal time to buy property under the "normal" market price. Why would anybody want to sell his property cheap?

Because:

• maybe he or she is moving abroad and want to finalise a sale before taking off
   
• maybe he or she can no longer pay the banks and is obliged to sell.

These are so called motivated sellers and these days there are a lot of them due to the global economical crisis.

Now why don’t you see these houses advertised with their low prices? Because:

• as soon as somebody hears about a good housing deal, the house will be snapped up or
   
• motivated sellers don’t want to show their cards, so you will have meet the seller in person and ask the right questions.

The latter only works when you meet the seller in real life.

I do get a lot of calls about houses I am selling to ask for the price or why I want to sell. My answer is then: did you have a look at the house already? And if they say no, then I invite them to do so. This way I get rid of people that are not serious about doing business.

For more information about the house I have on sale at this moment in Malaysia, click the By My House button at the top of this page.

Technorati Tags: buy property, buy property now, buying property in malaysia, motivated seller, Property

There has been lots of debate whether Malaysia should keep it’s education in English or go back to pre-colonial times and conduct classes in Bahasa Malaysia.

At first site you could be in favor of your own language when it comes to studying, but when you know that the English "science" is translated into "sains", you notice that Bahasa Malaysia just has been stealing English words all along but doesn’t know how to spell then properly.

So with lots of the vocabulary stolen from English and knowing that English is a world language, why not cut the crap and try to write what you speak?

Deferring attention

The debate of the language in schools just doesn’t get solved, and now there is a new concept called 1Malaysia. Looks like yet another English word to me, or should it be written like it is pronounced : wanMalaysian?

The joke however is that 1Malaysia stands for “One for All and All for One” : a quote made famous by the French musketeers. So shouldn’t they call it: tous pour un, un pour tous.

And then you could argue that the literal translation should be: All for one, one for all… History always gets told with a twist in Malaysia, no matter in which language it is conducted.

Technorati Tags: 1malaysia, English, French, the three musketeers

"Where is the police" is one of the first questions we expats ask when we are walking in the streets of Malaysian cities.

Unlike in Europe where it’s so easy to find a policeman to ask for direction when you are lost, here in Malaysia one wonders where the police is, especially:

• when cars are double parked next to a yellow line
   
• when cars are park next to the yellow line in front of the police station
   
• when somebody’s handbag gets snatched.

The police is at 03-22627555 / 03-22626555

If you have a police emergency, try calling:

• 03-22627555 or
   
• 03-22626555.

These are the numbers for Bukit Aman’s Malaysia Control Centre (MCC) : the call centre for all police emergencies.

The Malaysian police is urging all Malaysians and Malaysian tourists to have these numbers in their mobile phone.

Everybody from any part of Malaysia can call the numbers above to report an emergency anytime. So key those numbers in your mobile phone right now!

Technorati Tags: important phone numbers Malaysia, Malaysia, malaysia 911, malaysia emergency, malaysia police