Looks like Malaysians are tightening their belts because of the rising cost of food prices.An indication of this is the small number of people going to the three Ramadan bazaars here and in Senawang.A spot check at the three bazaars showed that not only less people were frequenting these places but some of the tents were also empty. Because of bad business some traders have packed up and left.This is a far cry from last year when the bazaars were congested from 4pm onwards and the traders were doing a roaring business.
The two most popular spots in Seremban are in Ampangan and Paroi Stadium. Every year the traders will scramble for the lots and there were stories in the media from disgruntled traders who were not lucky enough to get a lot.
This year the situation is completely different. A visit to Ampangan, Paroi Stadium and Matahari Heights saw very few people and apparently some traders’ closed shop after the first week.
In Paroi Stadium at least two rows of tents were empty.
The situation at the Matahari Heights was even worse. This spot caters for workers from the industrial estates around Senwang . There was no congestion at all.
Basariah Samah who sells various types of food at the Paroi Stadium told FMT that her income dropped 50 percent this year compared to last year.
“I get to earn RM500 plus per day all this while I’m trading here but this year I will be lucky if I can get RM250 per day.
“The price of goods have increased tremendously and this has resulted in people being thriftier and buying less food,’’ said Basariah.
Azhar Abdul Rahman who sells Honey Chicken Wings at Matahari Heights said he is only making RM200 per day this year compared to RM400 last year.
Azhar said that a trader who sells some cookies in the next stall closed shop as business was bad.
Zarina Iskamar who sells kuih at Matahari Heights said: “Previously we sold three pieces of kuih for RM1. Now we are selling three pieces for RM1.20 and five pieces for RM2.00.”
A customer Norita Sis said she used to visit the bazaar Ramadan seven days per week in previous years but this year she only makes three visits per week. Norita said this was because the food prices at the bazaar have gone up.
Another customer Sham Abdullah said he used to spend RM20 per visit but this year the limit was RM15.
http://www.kl-today.com/2011/08/tight-budget-ramadhan-bazaar-affected/

8.35 pagi: Sekumpulan anti-Anwar yang memakai baju-T kuning


Peguamcara 11, Datuk Mohd Yusof Zainal Abidan (kiri) bertanyakan soalan tersebut kepada saksi ketiga pihak pembela, Dr David Wells - pakar patologi forensik Australia - mengenai kemungkinan tersebut.
Seorang lagi ahli kimia, Dr Nor Aidora kemudiannya mendakwa beliau membandingkan DNA tersebut dan mendapati ia milik Anwar.
Dr Asri berkata, dalam pengakuan kepadanya minggu lalu, ibu tunggal itu mengaku masih Islam walaupun tiga anaknya diterapkan ajaran Kristian dan diajar nyanyian keagamaan.
Menurut Asri, wanita itu memberitahunya, kesempitan hidup dan kesukaran mendapat bantuan zakat memulakan hubungannya dengan gereja, yang membantu dengan 'mesra dan sayang'.
Marzuki memberi jaminan akan menuduh mana-mana pihak sekiranya cukup keterangan yang menepati keperluan intipati seksyen kesalahan yang disiasat.



KUALA LUMPUR, 25 Ogos: Masyarakat Islam perlu dijelaskan mengenai murtad yang tidak hanya melibatkan pertukaran daripada agama Islam kepada agama lain semata-mata.
Beliau juga tidak berpendapat bahawa kenyataannya – berhubung konspirasi tiga orang menteri berkenaan supaya beliau dikenakan hukuman penjara atas tuduhan rasuah – akan melemahkan lagi Umno dan BN Selangor.



"Saya kata pada Najib, Datuk Seri, perpecahan Melayu sebab kerajaan ini cukup lemah, tak amanah dan rasuah," kata Harussani.
Perkara itu menurutnya, nasihat yang cuba disampaikan supaya Dr Mahathir tidak memecat timbalannya ketika itu Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Pada zaman Abdullah pula, mufti paling kanan di Malaysia itu berkata, beliau pernah tiga kali menasihatinya tetapi semuanya ditolak.
Dua lagi anggota panel dalam wacana itu Ketua Penerangan PAS Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man dan ulama muda Umno Fathul Baru Mat Jahya. Bekas mufti Perlis Prof Madya Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin bertindak sebagai moderator.
"Ia beri gambaran, bila perlu saja pakai ulama. Pandangan majlis fatwa ditolak, pandangan mufti diketepi. (Jadi ulama) nak pandu politik macam mana kalau pengiktirafan pun tak ada," katanya.


PLUS Expressways Bhd (PLUS) memperkenalkan jadual perjalanan dengan membahagikan kenderaan bernombor pendaftaran berakhir dengan nombor ganjil dan genap bagi melancarkan perjalanan di lebuh raya sempena musim cuti Aidilfitri dan Hari Kemerdekaan ini.Pengarah Urusan PLUS Datuk Noorizah Abdul Hamid berkata langkah ia bertujuan memisahkan kumpulan pengguna lebuh raya dari utara dan selatan termasuk mereka yang ingin pulang berhari raya pada saat-saat akhir menuju ke Lembah Klang dari 1 hingga 4 Sept.

