Digital TV in Malaysia

By 2015, Malaysia's analogue TV system introduced since the first TV broadcasting will fully converted to digital system. By that time, Malaysia will have TV channel as many as 19. In the plan, RTM is expected to introduce these 19 free-to-air channels with seven would contain content from RTM such as news, dramas, sports, lifestyle and entertainment and the remainder would be offered to private companies. The current problem is how to equip each household with a decoder to receive digital signals. The cost of the decoder will decide whether we may get the decoder free or subsidy. Latest news said that it may cost around RM500. RTM has started its trials for digital terrestrial TV since September 2006. The high-definition television (HDTV) is part of the digitalization and we can see more and more HDTV set sell in the market.

Effect of global warming

Recently, the weather in Malaysia is so hot that like we are staying in the big oven. In the past 1 week, the water drop from the sky is hardly can exceed half cm in a 500ml mineral water bottle. Can you imagine the heat that reach us when there is no rain for 1 week in the hot tropical country? Not only human are feeling the heat but also the plants. You can see some of the trees at the road side are getting bald. They are so thirsty and even their deep root cannot help them to survive when the water content in the soil is drying.


I realized the weather is getting hotter as the time past. As the time past also, they are deforestation happened everywhere and so with our forest is getting smaller. I cannot imagine what will happen if this is going on without any action. Sometimes the weather outside there made me feel lazy to go out. I rather stay in the house the whole day from going out even one step from my house. Nowadays, I think we cannot survive without air conditioning in the house and some peoples will make their house full with air conditioner every corner in the house including toilet, store room? so, people, please, do something or at least plant some tree and start from a small red bean tree will do.

Malaysia very First MPV

Everyone has waited so long for this, Malaysia first multi-purpose vehicle from Proton.....Proton Exora. I can't wait to see how this model look like and how much it cost in local market. All these are finally unveiled on 15 April through live telecast on TV1. When I first look at the car, I think 'waa, not bad at all'. It is an interesting model from Proton which I expect will be selling like hot cake in the coming time. With its competitive priced at around RM69k to RM79k, It definitely can bring a positive effect in local automotive market. There are different features for the M-Line version and H-Line version. Both versions has the same basic features but the H-Line has more additional features with its higher price offered. H-Line has added cruise control, LCD screen, DVD player, leather seats, touch screen portable GPS device and different trim outside. Now everyone can afford a MPV with such a good price offered. All I can say is well done, Proton but remember to improve the quality.

My Malay timber house assignment

This assignment is my toughest assignment for this semester. We are required to form a group of two with 3 topics to choose from which are steel, timber and reinforced concrete building. At first, when I heard our lecturer want us to distribute the topic among all the groups in the class, I quickly choose the timber house because the group choosing the timber building will be given more marks. But timber house is the hardest to do among all the topic because it is hard to find a timber house to do.

I were planned to start early with this assignment but I couldn't because I still have other assignments to complete. We were given more than enough time to do this assignment but I only started to do it 3 weeks before due date. As the time past, I slowly proceed with the assignment and managed to finish it before due date.

About searching for Malay house for the assignment, my groupmate and I managed to find a few timber house about 20 minutes ride from my house here in Kampar. It is located in small town called Chenderiang. We choose only 2 different timber houses to take picture. The first timber house is a beautiful designed collapsed Malay house and another one look perfect but very simple. After we showed the pictures to our lecturer, he asked us to do the collapsed one. Then, we have to go back and do research on it for second time.

The pictures below are part of my assignment which is for presentation. I used about 1 day time to complete my drawing. I drawed 4 of them below. When I drawing these plan, it remind me of my difficult time last semester in technical drawing which I spent so much time to complete the assignment.

Madness of Dubai

In my last post, I talking about the overall development in the wealthy Dubai. In this post, I would continue the development in Dubai but more focus in only skyscrapers to be built in Dubai. In this post, you can have clearer picture of Dubai about how rich are they actually. Seems like Dubai is showing off to the world about how rich are they. The entire city skyline of Dubai is about to cover with supertall skyscrapers. When we were amazed with the beautiful Hong Kong where also to be known as concrete jungle but this time, Dubai is about to win over the eye of the world with its impossible to build city. There are many skyscraper projects that are very interesting in terms of height and design. And there are no normal height in the skyscrapers of Dubai, most of them can easily higher than Taipei 101 and Petronas Twin Towers. There are too many building to listed out in Dubai. Nevertheless, Dubai is crazy!!!

Here are some of the skyscraper projects in Dubai:
1) Burj Dubai, 162 floors
2) The Pentominium, 120 floors
3) Burj Al Alam, 108 floors
4) Marina 101, 102 floors
5) Elite Residence Dubai, 92 floors
6) Dubai Princess Tower, 101 floors
7) The Torch Dubai, 84 floors
8) Ahmed Abdul Rahim Al Attar Tower, 76 floors
9) Al Yacoub Tower, 72 floors
10) 23 Marina, 90 floors
11) The Index, 86 floors
12) Ocean Heights, 82 floors
13) D1 Tower, 80 floors
14) Infinit Dubai Dancing Towers, 52-80 floors
15) Dubai wave Tower, 92 floors
16) Marina Sky Towers, twin 100 floors
17) Hard Rock Hotel Dubai, 91 floors
18) Damac Heights, 105 floors
19) Oasis Beach Hotel Tower, 90 floors
20) Al Sharq Tower, 102 floors
21) The Lighthouse Dubai, 66-80 floors
22) proposed Al Burj, 228 floors

I wondering what is their purpose of building so many skyscrapers with so big office spaces. Do they need so many spaces? Do they take environment problem into account? Can all the building to be fully used once there completed? Let's find out all these in the next few years.

Dubai......Impossible City

Have anyone hear about Dubai? If you have, you would probably be amazed with all the unbelievable, insane facilities, structures and buildings at there. Dubai is the fastest developing city in UAE. The city is changing rapidly in a very short time. All the planned development is beyond the limit in the technologies, engineering and architecture in the history of man kind. A lot of new engineering and technologies has been introduced in there, now all the main architects, contractors and engineers in the world are working there. We can see a lot of new 'things' which we never see or expect before. The construction workers in Dubai is more than the actual citizens. Currently, more than 25% of the world's cranes is in Dubai. Not only that, Dubai also break a lot of new records like the largest, the longest and the tallest. Dubai is indeed making impossible to possible. Some of the projects in Dubai have caught the eye of the world.

Burj Dubai, it's a name of the soon to be completed tallest building in the world. The construction of this super tower has began in 2005 and expected to complete around September 2009. With an estimated height of more than 800 meters, it is already the world tallest even though it is still under construction. It is currently the tallest man made structure ever built. This supertall skyscraper will have around 160 floors for multipurpose uses. The Burj Dubai will comprises of hotel, apartment and mall. The height of this building is so scary that at the top of the building, you can see the round shape of the earth.

Dubai also build a artificial island named Palm Jumeirah. It was completed and officially opened not long ago. Palm Jumeirah is the largest artificial island in the world. Three of the these islands will be built called The Palm Islands with the last one being largest of them all. This island is so large that it can be seen from the space. The whole island is look like the palm tree and is connected to the main land with a bridge. Upon completion, the resorts will have villas, hotels, shopping centres, theaters, with population of approximately 500,000 peoples. Besides The Palm Islands, there are also The World Islands project. This huge project will have 300 artificial islands in the shape of a world map. Each of these island offered for sale at a price of 15 and 50 million USD.

The world's first underwater hotel called Hydropolis is also planned in Dubai. The design of this building enable people to see fish and sea creatures in the building. It will divided into three parts, land station to welcome the guests, connecting tunnel to transport people to the hotel and the hotel itself. It is self-acclaimed to be a 10-star hotel. However, due to some problems, the project is currently delayed.

Dubai will build an entertainment complex twice the size of the current largest amusement park collection in the world which is Walt Disney Resort in Orlando. Dubailand will be built on 3 billion square feet which include 45 mega projects and 200 smaller projects. Some of the mega projects include Legoland Dubai, Universal Studios Dubai, Dubai Sports City, Warner Bros. Movie World, Dubai Motor City and Mall of Arabia which will be the world's largest shopping mall.

There are also a place for snow activity in Dubai which is Ski Dubai. Ski Dubai is one of the largest ski resorts in the world. This mall resort is already opened and is part of the Mall of the Emirates, one of the largest shopping malls in the world.

Rotating tower is another new thing in the world. Rotating tower or rotating building is proposed in Dubai where the each floor of the building can rotate 360 degrees. The shape of the whole building can change during the day. This special designed building using solar energy and have special elevator for vehicles.

Besides all these amazing projects, there are other more crazy projects include Al Burj, a supertall skyscraper taller than 1000 meters, UAE spaceport, Dubai World Central International Airport, when it completed will become largest airport in the world and Dubai Metro system, largest fully automated rail system in the world. Dubai is making all the impossible become possible. The world is focus on Dubai now and they are making crazy and insane. I would like to go to the place to discover myself what actually is going on at there? They are like building a dream land.