On chinese language

So you have to pack in 40,000 words into 400 possibles sounds. It makes it so that certain sounds have 50 different characters to write them. It also has a hard time absorbing loan words compared to languages like French or Japanese.

a, ai, an, ang, ao
ba, bai, ban, bang, bao, bei, ben, beng, bi, bian, biao, bie, bin, bing, bo, bu
ca, cai, can, cang, cao, ce, cei, cen, ceng, cha, chai, chan, chang, chao, che, chen, cheng, chi, chong, chou, chu, chua, chuai, chuan, chuang, chui, chun, chuo, ci, cong, cou, cu, cuan, cui, cun, cuo
da, dai, dan, dang, dao, de, dei, den, deng, di, dian, diao, die, ding, diu, dong, dou, du, duan, dui, dun, duo
e, ê, ei, en, er
fa, fan, fang, fei, fen, feng, fo, fou, fu
ga, gai, gan, gang, gao, ge, gei, gen, geng, gong, gou, gu, gua, guai, guan, guang, gui, gun, guo
ha, hai, han, hang, hao, he, hei, hen, heng, hm, hng, hong, hou, hu, hua, huai, huan, huang, hui, hun, huo
ji, jia, jian, jiang, jiao, jie, jin, jing, jiong, jiu, ju, juan, jue, jun
ka, kai, kan, kang, kao, ke, kei, ken, keng, kong, kou, ku, kua, kuai, kuan, kuang, kui, kun, kuo
la, lai, lan, lang, lao, le, lei, leng, li, lia, lian, liang, liao, lie, lin, ling, liu, long, lou, lu, luo, luan, lun, lü, lüe
m, ma, mai, man, mang, mao, mei, men, meng, mi, mian, miao, mie, min, ming, miu, mo, mou, mu
n, na, nai, nan, nang, nao, ne, nei, nen, neng, ng, ni, nian, niang, niao, nie, nin, ning, niu, nong, nou, nu, nuo, nuan, nü, nüe
o, ou
pa, pai, pan, pang, pao, pei, pen, peng, pi, pian, piao, pie, pin, ping, po, pou, pu
qi, qia, qian, qiang, qiao, qie, qin, qing, qiong, qiu, qu, quan, que, qun
ran, rang, rao, re, ren, reng, ri, rong, rou, ru, rua, ruan, rui, run, ruo
sa, sai, san, sang, sao, se, sei, sen, seng, sha, shai, shan, shang, shao, she, shei, shen, sheng, shi, shou, shu, shua, shuai, shuan, shuang, shui, shun, shuo, si, song, sou, su, suan, sui, sun, suo
ta, tai, tan, tang, tao, te, teng, ti, tian, tiao, tie, ting, tong, tou, tu, tuan, tui, tun, tuo
wa, wai, wan, wang, wei, wen, weng, wo, wu
xi, xia, xian, xiang, xiao, xie, xin, xing, xiong, xiu, xu, xuan, xue, xun
ya, yan, yang, yao, ye, yi, yin, ying, yong, you, yu, yuan, yue, yun
za, zai, zan, zang, zao, ze, zei, zen, zeng, zha, zhai, zhan, zhang, zhao, zhe, zhei, zhen, zheng, zhi, zhong, zhou, zhu, zhua, zhuai, zhuan, zhuang, zhui, zhun, zhuo, zi, zong, zou, zu, zuan, zui, zun, zuo

Syllables spelled with "u", but pronounced with "ü":

ju, juan, jue, jun
qu, quan, que, qun
xu, xuan, xue, xun
yu, yuan, yue, yun

Syllables where "u" and "ü" must not be mixed up:

lu, lü, lüe
nu, nü, nüe

Those are every possible Chinese spoken sound.

Notice, no "th" "tr" "sl" "sk" .... consonant clusters are rare ans other languages use them a lot.

http://www.economist.com/comment/1168102#comment-1168102

Bina Puri receives letter on highway

ETALING JAYA: Bina Puri Holdings Bhd has confirmed that it has received a letter of intent dated Nov 11, 2011 from the National Highway Authority in Islamabad, Pakistan with regard to the conversion of the existing four-lane Karachi-Hyderabad super highway into a six-lane motorway on a build, operate and transfer basis.

“We are currently negotiating the financial and legal aspects of the concession agreement with them. We will make further announcements on the progress of the concession,” it said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia.

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/1/13/business/10254865&sec=business

Gamuda confirms CRCC offer for Gemas-JB rail job

KUALA LUMPUR: Gamuda Bhd said it had been invited by China Railway Construction Co (CRCC) earlier on to be one of its local construction partners for the upgrading of the Gemas-Johor Baru railway line to an electrified double-tracking track.

Confirming a StarBiz report yesterday, a Gamuda spokesperson toldStarBiz that it believed it had been chosen to be part of the consortium as it had a proven track record and expertise from the Ipoh-Padang Besar electrified double-tracking project.

StarBiz had reported on Tuesday that Gamuda had been roped in to be part of a group which is the front-runner for the construction of the Gemas-Johor Baru line.

A source had told StarBiz that the Malaysian construction company was in a consortium with CRCC and another local party linked to the Johor royal family and that this group was presently the front-runner for the RM8bil rail upgrading project.

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/1/11/business/10239226&sec=business

2012

Property – Bad news priced in but outlook remains challenging                         

Sector Update

-          Fundamentals are still wobbly as property sales are largely driven by GDP growth. Given our GDP growth forecast of 3.6% for 2012, we expect property sales to slow to 5% after a 20% growth in 2011 (annualised).

-          We prefer larger caps with sufficient liquidity such as UEM Land, Sunway and Mah Sing for trading opportunities if their share price weakens.

(source RHBInvest)

KUALA LUMPUR: With many of Malaysia's economic sectors having performed solidly over the past 12 months, the country is poised for another strong performance this year, says Oxford Business Group (OBG), a global publishing and consultancy company.

Though final figures have yet to be issued, OBG said it was expected that the Malaysian economy would have expanded by more than 5% in 2011...

At the end of November, the Organisation for Economic and Cooperative Development (OECD) forecast that this solid rate of growth would continue for at least the next five years, predicting that Malaysia's gross domestic product (GDP) would expand by 5.3% in each of the next few years and hit 5.6% by 2016.

OBG said the OECD's forecast was somewhat more optimistic than theAsian Development Bank or the World Bank, which was looking at a growth for Malaysia's GDP rising by 4.7% and 4.9% respectively, in 2012 although it was roughly in line with the International Monetary Fund's projection of 5.1%...

Along with the GDP, Malaysia's balance of payments figures were also positive in 2011, with the current account surplus standing at US$23.8bil for the nine months ended Sept 30, an 18% increase on the US$20.2bil posted in the same period last year.

However, OBG said there were some concerns that Malaysia's export trade could suffer in 2012, as major segments of the global economy could flirt with recession.

While Malaysia's exports rose by a healthy 15.8% in October, this rate of increase was lower than that of the previous month, though still above the 9.1% rise spread over the first 10 months of the year, it said...

The latest figures released in November by the Statistics Department showed inflation had remained fairly steady, with consumer prices rising by 3.4% year-on-year in October.

Inflation could ease further in 2012, dipping to between 2.5% and 2.8%, OBG said.

This would be a result of a slowing of demand, and a slight deceleration of growth, with commodity prices moderating, it said...

The report, released in mid-December, said the outlook for Malaysian lenders was stable though household debts, currently running at 76% of 2010 GDP, remained high.

OBG said another sign of the stability and appeal of the Malaysian economy came in the form of inflows of FDIs, which rose by 43% to US$8.3bil during the first nine months of the year in comparison to the same period in 2010.

Indeed, the year-end total for 2011 was likely to meet or exceed the US$10bil forecast by the government, it said...

“Though there were still positive FDI inflows in the third quarter, the US$1.6bil between July and September 2011 was some 50% less than in the previous quarter, reflecting uncertainties and growing caution among international investors. This unease could well continue into 2012,” it added. Bernama

Gemas-JB rail job winner to emerge in March

Three Chinese companies were earlier shortlisted for the RM8 billion project known as the Gemas-Johor Baru Electrified Double Tracking Project (EDTP).


They are China Railway Engineering Co (CREC), China Railway Construction Co (CRCC) and China Communication Construction Co (CCCC). The three are subsidiaries of China’s Ministry of Railway.


The Ministry of Transport said recently the rail link was still in the design process and its minister, Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha said he was not aware of any contract being awarded yet despite unconfirmed news saying the government has decided winner of the tender.


The Gemas-Johor Baru project includes the building of 197km of parallel railway tracks, stations, depots, halts, yards and bridges and covers systems such as electrification, signalling and communications.

Read more: Gemas-JB rail job winner to emerge in March http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/20120103232153/Article/index_html#ixzz1iRUTj9uZ

KL Metropolis

KLORR - Seven days left to view report on expressway

PETALING JAYA: 

The public has seven days left to review the detailed Environmental Impact Assessment (DEIA) report on the proposed 35.5km East Klang Valley Expressway (EKVE).

EKVE, which is the eastern and final uncompleted route of the Kuala Lumpur Outer Ring Road, would link the Kajang Silk Ex­­pressway and the Karak Ex­­pressway.

The EKVE would provide a by-pass route and enable motorists from the southern part of the Klang Valley such as from Cheras, Bangi and Subang to travel to Selayang and Gombak and vice versa without having to go through the city centre.

It would also serve as a bypass route around Kuala Lumpur for inter-regional traffic from the Karak Highway, according to the executive summary of the DEIA.

There would be six interchanges – Sungai Long, Bukit Mah­kota Cheras, Hulu Langat, Am­pang, Ukay Perdana and IIUM (Inter­national Islamic University Malaysia).

The report said 214.7ha of forest reserves would be affected along the corridor of the project, namely the Hulu Gombak, Ampang and Hulu Langat Forest Reserve.

The report noted that wildlife movement and roaming habitat could be affected and outlined measures to minimise the impact.

The report, prepared by EKVE Sdn Bhd’s consultant, can be viewed at the National Library, the Department of Envi­ronment’s (DOE) office in Putrajaya, state offices and the Ampang Jaya, Kajang and Selayang municipal councils.

The public should forward their written comments to DOE by Jan 23.

http://www.starproperty.my/PropertyScene/PropertyNews/17964/0/0