Business Room. Excluding breakfast. Located along the busy streets of Chinatown in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Replica Inn provides affordable accommodation for travellers on a budget with easy access to transport links. Rooms are cosy and comfortable and come with an en-suite bathroom. They are also fitted with all the basic amenities needed for a pleasant stay that include individually controlled air-conditioning. Replica Inn also offers several guest services to make your stay more enjoyable. Laundry and dry cleaning services are available, as well as car rental. If you're looking for more information on sight-seeing and tours, just enquire with the friendly staff. The hotel also has a casual cafe for meals and internet access is available in the lobby. Replica Inn Chinatown is close to several eateries, shops and entertainment options. It is also within walking distance from Puduraya Station and Plaza Rakyat LRT station, which makes travelling easy and cost effective.

Ocean levels are rising around the globe, so rather than tethering our buildings to the sinking shoreline why not suit them for a life at sea? That’s the approach behind the Water-Scraper, a futuristic self-sufficient floating city. A special mention in this year’s eVolo Skyscraper Competition, the design expands the concept of a floating island into a full-fledged underwater skyscraper that harvests renewable energy and grows its own food.

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Cumulonimbus clouds observed 26°C

Humidity:

83%

Wind Speed:

Calm

Barometer:

1013 mb

Dewpoint:

23°C

Heat Index:

27°C

Wind Chill:

26°C

Visibility:

8 km

Michael Kooren for Reuters

With the cost (both financial and environmental) of fuel these days, everyone is trying to cut back in whatever ways they can. If you’re talking boats, you can always go solar or electric to cut emissions, but one German fishing boat called the Maartje Theadora decided to take a slightly different route – flying a giant blue and white kite from their craft to harness trade winds and help power their engine. The idea may sound elementary to some, but according to the operators of the ship, the “system” is expected to cut fuel consumption by 10% and up to 30% in the next two years of development. Since global fisheries account for about 1% of world oil consumption and emit more than 130 million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere per year, this kite system sounds like smoother and greener sailing to us!

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DiGi.Com Bhd will start selling the Apple iPhone in the second quarter of this year, Chief Executive Officer Johan Dennelind disclosed today. He said this on the sidelines of DiGi's Deep Green Challenge for Change Finale graced by Norwegian Crown Prince Haakon Magnus and Crown Princess Mette-Marit. DiGi will be the second mobile telecommunications company to sell the iPhone in the country after Maxis Communication Bhd. The iPhone entered the local market last year, when Maxis launched the smartphone on July 31. Since the response to the revolutionary iPhone in Malaysia was overwhelming, Celcom Axiata Bhd recently expressed its interest to also sell the iPhone in Malaysia's vibrant telecommunication market. On DiGi's "Deep Green" initiative, Dennelind said the company had set aside another RM60 million to achieve the target to reduce its carbon footprint by 50 per cent by 2012. To date, it has invested RM40 million to embed sustainable development into every aspect of the company. "Challenge for Change is one of many corporate responsibility programmes we have undertaken to address global issues that impact the environment. "And we are committed to spend up to RM100 million over the course of the next three years to support our Deep Green agenda," he said. Six teams from four universities were selected for the final round from a total of 15 teams to undertake projects to design renewable energy solutions for rural, underserved communities in Malaysia. -- Bernama

Petroliam Nasional Bhd's African unit, Engen Ltd., said it will consider buying some of the marketing assets rival BP Plc plans to sell on the continent. "We're on a growth program and they're selling assets," Wayne Hartmann, Engen's general manager for international business, said in an interview in Cape Town today. "We're very small in Tanzania and missing in Malawi." BP said on March 2 that it will sell its marketing operations in Tanzania, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia and Botswana after a review of its African operations. Petronas, the Malaysian national oil company, owns 80 per cent of Engen. While some of its rivals are reducing activities in Africa, Engen has a "positive outlook" on the continent and rolled out a record 30 sites last year, Hartmann said. While the company has a "healthy balance sheet," a stock exchange listing to fund acquisitions hasn't been ruled out, he said. Separately, Hartmann said the possibility of combining Engen's refinery in Durban with BP and Royal Dutch Shell Plc's Sapref plant needs to be examined further as an alternative to PetroSA building its own 400,000 barrel-a-day refinery. PetroSA, South Africa's state-owned oil company, needs to build the $9 billion refinery to ensure security of supply, Jorn Falbe, vice president of Midstream Ventures, told delegates at the African Refiners Association conference in Cape Town today. The main benefit of combining the Durban refineries "is that you don't have to start from scratch," Engen's Hartmann said. Sapref is southern Africa's biggest refinery with about 35 per cent of the region's total capacity. -- Bloomberg

The 1Malaysia InTrade Expo to be held in June will capitalise on Matrade (Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation)'s vast networking with international companies to attend the inaugural event, said International Trade and Industry Deputy Minister Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir. "We have a vast network with most of the big companies around the world and some of these companies are keen in buying Malaysian products," he told reporters after launching the event today. The expo, which will comprise 30 per cent international companies and 70 per cent local companies, will be held at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang near here from June 5 to June 11. Organised by the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry in collaboration with Inno Temasek Sdn Bhd, the expo is expected to house some 1,000 booths. Earlier, in his speech, Mukhriz said the integration of 1Malaysia concept in the business arena was vital as it encouraged local entrepreneurs, regardless of race and religion, to support each other not only in business but also in developing Malaysia in other aspects as well. He said such programmes also bode well with companies within Asean+3 as well as with the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle group, which are also the target international participants for the expo. -- Bernama

The Dubai debt crisis does not represent a permanent setback to Islamic finance eventhough the sukuk or Islamic bonds suffered a blow as potentially safer instrument than conventional. Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir said this was because of the reasonable disenchantment with the banking and financial system as practised in the West. However, a marked slowdown in business could occur, he said at the launch of the Amanah Mutual Bhd Shariah-compliant close-ended fund AMB Dana Aqeel Capital Protected today. Mukhriz said the Islamic finance players in the country must be prepared to counter the impending negative effects from the uncertainties in the global market. "We must aggressively open up new markets following the present capital-surplus countries that have been buying our Islamic products may be undergoing a slowdown from reduced revenue in commodities," he said. Mukhriz said the Islamic unit trusts in the country has emerged as a significant growth area for the overall unit trust and fund management industry. From just 17 products in 2000, the unit trust industry now offers 144 Islamic unit trusts products in both equity and bond categories, he said. "The viability of Islamic unit trusts is evident from their acceptance by investors with the total net asset value (NAV) of the products touching RM22.0 billion or 11 per cent of the entire industry's NAV of RM200 billion," he added. -- Bernama

Diversified palm oil group Kulim (Malaysia) Bhd plans to dispose its investment property, Menara Ansar, in Johor Baru for RM105 million. The divestment will be satisfied part cash with the company set to receive RM63 million, said managing director Ahamad Mohamad in statement today. The remainder will be via the issuance of 42.9 million new units of Al-Aqar KPJ Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) at an issuance price of RM0.98 per unit. Ahamad said Kulim had opted to dispose its investment in Menara Ansar as it would allow the group to unlock the value of its non-core assets as well as realise its investment in the property. "The divestment will allow us to utilise the proceeds for repayment of borrowing, which currently stands at RM1.7 billion, and lower our gearing from 0.33 times to 0.32 times," he said. On the Al-Aqar REIT, which is the world's first listed Islamic REIT and Asia's first healthcare REIT, Ahamad said it would be a good investment for the group as it has been providing stable and respectable dividends for the last two years. As at Dec 31, 2009, Al-Aqar has an existing fund size of 518.37 million units with current assets totalling RM49.81 million and a real estate portfolio of RM961.5 million. Kulim has accepted the offer to dispose Menara Ansar from AmanahRaya Trustees Bhd, which is the trustee of Al-Aqar REIT. The transaction is scheduled to be completed by the third quarter this year. Menara Ansar, built on 9,739 square metres of freehold land, is a 21-storey office space with a three-level basement car park. To date, it has an occupancy rate of 92 per cent. -- Bernama

The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) today suggested that the government consider a Retail Sales Tax (RST) as Malaysia was not ready for the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Chairman of the Task Force on GST Datuk Lee Ow Kim recommended that the GST be deferred until Malaysia was ready when average income was higher and the income disparity was smaller. The GST is supposed to replace the current Sales and Services Tax (SST) by the middle of next year. Lee said normally the GST was for more advanced and affluent countries where the income disparity was not that big and most people were paying income tax. "Hence, the government should consider the RST as an alternative which was simpler, less costly for government and businesses to administer but generates the same revenue to the government," he told a GST conference today. -- Bernama