PETALING JAYA: The fact that the traditional media are giving more space and time to Facebook and Twitter is an indication that these social networks have gone mainstream. What is the lure of the social media? Is Twitter, the wildly successful messaging service, just another flash in the pan that does nothing more but eat up more of our time and productivity? How can social media help businesses?
Lure of social media to be examined at presentation
Such questions might be answered at the forthcoming presentation, Adventures with Social Media Lessons from Asias Internet, on Sept 4 at Menara Star, Phileo Damansara II, Petaling Jaya. The main speaker is Dr Michael Netzley, associate professor of corporate communications practice at the Singapore Management Univer-
sity. He is an active speaker in the
area of social media and has been invited to speak at various public relations and social media conferences around the Asia-Pacific region. Sharing the stage will be Niki Cheong, a journalist with The Star. An avid blogger and Twitterer, Cheong was one of two Malaysians
who made it to the Top 20 of the
Ultimate World Mr Twitter online voting competition. His topic, Confessions of a Twitter addict, will have him detailing his personal experiences with using Twitter and other social media tools as a form of interaction and communication. The half-day talk is organised by
PRCA Malaysia in collaboration
with The Stars New Media department. Entrance fee is RM30 for PRCA Malaysia members and RM50 for non-members. Corporate members may register 10 consultants and/or guests at members rate. For more information, please contact Ong Gaik Hong or Ida Zarina Faiz of Maverick Communications at 036207 1558 or e-mail to secretariat@ prcamalaysia.org.
Police bust cut and join
ring, seize 25 vehicles BAHAU: Police have crippled the activities of a syndicate involved in the selling of cut and join cars following the seizure of 25 vehicles at a used car yard near here. The raid, named Ops Lejang, was jointly conducted by Bukit Aman and the Jempol district police following information received by the authorities. Among the vehicles seized in the operation were Honda, Toyota Estima, Nissan, Kia, Chevrolet, Perodua Myvi and four-wheel-drive models. Police also arrested the operator of the used car yard to assist in investigations. Jempol OCPD Supt Mohd Sabri Mohamad said the cars were sold for an average of RM50,000 based on
the type of vehicle and the syndicate
must have made huge profits from this. These cars were previously involved in accidents and were declared to be total losses. The syndicate members found parts of same-car models and welded them together, he told reporters at the Rompin police station. Supt Mohd Sabri said the syndicate members would remove the badly damaged front section of a car straight down from the front windscreen. The front section of a same model which had been badly damaged at the back would then be welded together with the earlier car, he added.
Added risk: Supt Mohd Sabri (left) and Chief Insp Md Azhar Md Naim from Bukit Aman showing reporters the front section of a car which had been illegally welded.
PSD: Nurses get better
incentive pay than others KUALA LUMPUR: The Public Service Department (PSD) has denied Cuepacs claim that it had not been giving adequate attention to the nursing scheme of service. On the contrary, nurses are enjoying better critical service incentive payments than other professions, the PSD said in a statement yesterday. The scheme of service provided promotion opportunities for nurses at every level to reach Grade U54, the highest point in the management and professional group salary scale, since 2006, it added. Cuepacs secretary-general Ahmad Shah Mohd Zin was reported as saying about 40,000 staff nurses in government hospitals and clinics were frustrated that their grouses for
upgrading their scheme of service had fallen
on deaf ears. He said at present nurses were emplaced in the support group together with other SPM holders on Grade 29 (RM1,239-RM2,744). Ahmad Shah said although they were SPM holders, they had to undergo a three-year diploma course to become staff nurses and therefore should be emplaced in the professional and managerial category on Grade 41 (RM1,471-RM5,222). The PSD said nursing was an integrated scheme of service that harmonised the salary scale of the support group (for diploma holders) on Grade U29 and that of the management and professional group on Grade U41. Bernama
Two armed robbers
hit bank for RM750,000 PETALING JAYA: Two gun-toting robbers fired a shot at the ceiling of a bank in Taman Puchong Prima here before getting away with about RM750,000. They also shot at a passing car before escaping. The two entered the bank brandishing revolvers at about 1.50pm yesterday. Selangor deputy CID chief Asst Comm Khaw Kok Chin said one of the robbers forced an employee into the customer service room and asked him to open the safe, while his accomplice waited outside the room and kept watch over the bank staff and customers. After placing all the money in a bag, the robbers left the bank, taking with them the security guards pump-gun, which was found about
50m from the bank.
When they were about to get into their vehicle, they fired a shot at a car, suspecting the driver was about to knock them down, ACP Khaw added. However, the bullet did not hit the 60-yearold driver, who wanted to be identified only as Lim. The robbers fled the scene in a Proton Iswara. Lim, when met at the scene, said he was on his way back home when the incident occurred. He said he saw the men pointing a gun at his car and he immediately ducked under the dashboard. Otherwise, the bullet would have hit me, he said.
Foundational Theories and Techniques for Risk Management, A Guide for Professional Risk Managers in Financial Services - Part II - Financial Instruments