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Even though there was an increment recently for government servants, plus the guarantee by government to control prices, we find that cost of living has increased.  As mentioned by Statistics Dept below, CPI has increased 2% compared to last year.
Do you notice prices changed for the things you usually buy? Well, if you are not aware, do check your bills when you check out at the counter and try comparing will bills from few months back.

As for me, I'm trying to reduce eating out for both health and cost reasons. Char koay teow and wan tan mee price either increased or quantity becoming less. Same goes for malaysia's favorite roti canai and teh tarik. Rather mix my own teh tarik and enjoy it…even though not expert yet

Consumers paying more for food and transport

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PETALING JAYA: The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for January to August registered a 2% increase from the same period last year, from 103.2 to 105.3 with notable increases in transport, food and utility costs. 

According to a statement by the Statistics Department, transport costs increased 2.9%, food and non-alcoholic beverages increased 2.8% and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels increased 1.4%. 

The increase in the cost of food and non-alcoholic beverages was the result of increases in segments such as food at home (+ 2.7%), food away from home (+ 3%) and coffee, tea, cocoa and non-alcoholic beverages (+1.8%). 

The statement added that the CPI for August this year compared with the same month last year had increased by 1.9% while there was a 0.2% increase in the CPI for August when compared with July. 

Among the food items that recorded notable price increases in August compared with the previous month was spinach (+ 10.3%) and choy sum (+ 6%), while cucumber and kai lan recorded price decreases at 7.9% and 5.6% respectively. 

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Australian university honours Malaysian tycoon

BERNAMA

MELBOURNE, Wed.:

Malaysian-born Maha Sinnathamy, creator of the A$12 billion Greater Springfield residential development near Brisbane, has been awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Southern Queensland (USQ). 

Multi-millionaire Sinnathamby, who has a deep commitment to education, was instrumental in attracting the Toowoomba-based USQ to establish a campus in Springfield last year, now home to many students from Asia.

He was conferred the doctorate by the university’s chancellor, Bobbie Brazil, to the delight of his family, corporate colleagues and academic staff. Greater Springfield, Australia’s first privately-built city, 28km south-west of Brisbane, has won international acclaim for its uniqueness. Sinnathamby, a product of Seremban’s St Paul’s Institution, who grew up in Negri Sembilan, said: “I’m extremely proud of this honour because I have a lifelong passion for education.”

The university’s vice-chancellor, Professor Bill Lovegrove, said the conferral of the doctorate on Sinnathamby was in recognition of his distinguished service to the Springfield community and to USQ, while also acknowledging his strong advocacy of the ideals of the university. Apart from his business acumen, Maha possessed some unique personal characteristics, Prof Lovegrove said. “Among them are his broad vision, an entrepreneurial spirit, a tenacious nature, a willingness to take risks and think outside of the square, a community focus and commitment in the face of adversity. “These ideals align closely with those of USQ and help to explain the close ties that have formed between the university and Maha,” he said.

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if you are dissastisfied with the services provided by your local authorities (dewan bandaraya, majlis perbandaran, etc), then do your part and take part in the survey. Refer the article below. The link to the survey is:

http://www.gov.my/MyGov/Questionnaire/QuestionnaireInstruction.aspx

And yeah, do forward this to everyone. Its time to voice out your (un)happiness over the services rendered. If you felt like 3rd class citizens or met any little napoleons, this is time for payback.

Do note that the evaluation is not done by independent bodies/companies, thus the results may be biased or glossed over.

Online survey on local authorities

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PUTRAJAYA: Ratepayers and the public can now assess and provide feedback on the level of services offered by all 144 local authorities in the peninsula to the Prime Minister's Department via an online survey.  

The move, undertaken for the first time by the Government, allows individuals, non-governmental organisations and the business community to evaluate counter services and courtesy of personnel behind the counters, how telephone calls are handled and how public complaints are managed.

Results of the Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (Mampu) survey would be collated and used to further improve the public delivery system of local authorities.

Mampu director-general Datuk Normah Md Yusof said complaints, which needed urgent attention, would be directed to the respective city halls or district or municipal councils for immediate action.

"This feedback will also act as yardstick to assess how effective are the improvements made by the respective local authorities.

"We will also use the feedback to improve the weaknesses, apart from getting a clear and holistic perspective of how much of improvements local authorities have made and whether it is customer-focused."  

"The services of local authorities impact the everyday lives of the public, be it residents or those involved in commercial activities," she said.

Normah said that Mampu, which comes under the Prime Minister's Department, had made the 24 survey questions as simple as possible for the people to provide feedback on their experiences when dealing with local authorities.

She said the survey would cover the areas of office environment, counter service, services provided by the local authority, complaint management, website and telephone call management. The survey would also enable the public to provide suggestions on ways of improving the services of their respective local authorities.

The forms could be assessed via the Government's official portal myGovernment at www.gov.my, under the quick links -local authority feedback.

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