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The Miri Non-International Airport visitor traffic from 2006 until July 2010. Miri Airport is still the third busiest airport after Kota Kinabalu International Airport and Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Every day, there are an average of 110 flights going in and out at the non-international airport.

Year	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010 (Jan-July)
Arrivals at Miri Airport	1,596,595	1,481,360	1,541,127	1,610,000	about 1,000,000

Source: Miri Daily

My take:

It seems that there are plans for an 'extension' of the Miri Non-International Airport terminal yet again and a budget for this is being evaluated. With such minor traffic increase (see above table) since 2006, it seems as if the 'extension' is not to ease the traffic, but rather a 'fix' to right all the design flaws brought by the terminal 'rebuild' in 2003.

MIRI, Aug 18 (Bernama) -- China's Hanshan Normal University is looking forward to sending more of its lecturers to train at the Curtin University Sarawak (Curtin Sarawak) here.

Hanshan University vice-president Yu Haoming made this remark when calling on 12 of its lecturers who underwent a three-week English training course at the Curtin Sarawak campus here recently.

More at Bernama

A blogger reminiscents about Miri City in his post, on how the city today is compared to the past how the city has basically forgotten much of its its history and some of its citizens' less than stellar attitudes towards tourists from neighboring countries, not to mention some of the somewhat mediocre infrastructures.

He puts it best here, and I quote him:

"There is so little around us to remind us of its golden glorious history and the bad past when ambitious egomaniac Japs ruled the Asian region and the many past heroes and founding fathers of the ex-town seem to be conveniently forgotten and unrecognised. Case in point: just take a walk to the oldest Mission school in the city and you will soon realise not a single street is named after its Asian founder or the many pioneers who established the first oldest educational institution."

More at link.

What're your thoughts? Please comment.

No action on ‘Wang Wang’ rice crackers in Miri as yet

Divisional Health Officer Dr Faizul Mansoor said the department would spring into action the moment the directive was received.

“This (action) is a normal procedure when it comes to food safety,” he said when contacted by The Borneo Post yesterday.

On Wednesday, authorities in China confirmed the presence of coliform and Escherichia coli (E coli) bacteria in ‘Wang Wang’ rice crackers in Shandong Province.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai issued a media statement on Thursday that his ministry was stepping up scrutiny on this product. Samples have also been collected for laboratory tests.

Liow said Malaysia had imported 334,460 boxes of the rice crackers but he was not sure how many were still in the market or whether they were contaminated.

The product is now placed at Level 5 of the Food Safety Information Malaysia (Fosim), which required the product to undergo analysis before release into the market.

At the same times, the ministry is also liaising with its Chinese counterpart to obtain more details on the matter, particularly to trace the source of the product that was exported to Malaysia.

Meanwhile, a random check by The Borneo Post at Boulevard Hypermarket & Department Store Sdn Bhd found that the management took the initiative to remove the crackers from the shelves out of concern for public safety. Its managing director Raymond Lim, however, said the removal might only be a temporary measure.

“We are not banning the product. We will start selling it again once the ministry gives the green light that the rice crackers are safe for consumption,” he explained.

Source : Borneo Post

Miri not hit by coral bleaching

MIRI: Dive sites in Miri are safe and not affected by the current worldwide coral bleaching which has seen temporary closure of a few popular dives sites in Peninsular Malaysia.

Coral bleaching occurs when the sea temperature rises above 31°C for more than two days, causing corals to revert to its original white colour.

Corals are essentially white. The colour comes from the algae living in them. Any stress on the corals, such as temperature change will cause them to expel the algae.

More at TheStar.com.my