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Swede robbed on seventh visit to Kelantan Tue, Feb 17, 2009 The Star/Asia News Network KOTA BARU, Malaysia: It would have been a memorable seventh visit for a Swedish visitor to Kelantan but for the ugly incident in which snatch thieves stole her bag containing RM1,500 ($628.35) in Jalan Tok Hakim last Friday, leaving her with injuries to her arm and thigh. Paula Ljunggren, 64, said she was thankful that she did not lose her passport. "I love to visit Kelantan and this is my seventh visit here and before this, my previous visits had been blissful. "It happened so fast and all I knew was that I fell to the ground after they snatched my bag containing the money which I had just changed at the moneychanger's," said Ljunggren, who is a hairdresser from Vasteras, Sweden. She said that her friend, Sven-Inguar Eriksson, 68, a former policeman, managed to grab the thieves' motorcycle but was not strong enough to unseat them. She received outpatient treatment at the Raja Perempuan Zainab II Hospital. She later lodged a police report at the Kota Baru police station. "We love the people here, especially our local friends, the food, nature, and it's a shopping paradise," said Ljunggren, who was in a wheelchair when visited at a friend's apartment here. "We will come back to Kelantan in future. This incident will not stop me and my husband and friends from coming back here. However, we hope that there will be better security in areas which are prone to snatch thefts." Kota Baru OCPD ACP Zahrudin Abdullah said police were investigating the case under Section 379 of the Penal Code. -The Star/ANN

Just detailed this Saab 93 last week. Came with plenty of scratches, watermarks and the surface was coated with a thick layer of dirt which dirtied my claybar so much I had to throw it away Oh well, part n parcel of the job Process as per follows: 1) Wash n claybar 2) Rotary with Foam wool pad with IP 3) DA with orange pad and mixture of IP and PO106FF 4) Rinse 5) Pinnacle paintwork cleansing lotion by hand 6) 2 layers of Ultima Paint Guard Plus by hand with 45mins interval Check out the defects: Scratches on the Rear Pillar: Scratches on the Bonnet: Before: After: Before and after: Other areas: Before: After: Before: After:

Saab has not had the kind of sucess that Volvo has had. In fact, over the past decade, Saab has actually faced decreasing sales. Its current products are relatively old, with a four year old 9-5 and a 9-3 that is based on the 900 introduced over a decade ago. In total, the brand only has two cars (excluding derivatives, including the convertible, hatchback, and estate versions of the cars). Saab, which once was known for its distinctivness and interesting styling, is now known for virtually nothing. The 9-5 and 9-3 have designs that suggest "I'd like to be a Saab," rather than "I am a Saab," according to Executive Director of Saab Design, Michael Mauer, in April's Motor Trend. But Saab has a brighter future ahead, with enormous investment from General Motors and two new cars - a facelifted 9-5 (below) and an all-new 9-3 - coming this year. In 1998, Saab introduced the 9-5, starting the company's new naming system and introducing the general, more bland look of future Saabs. The 9-5 replaced the 9000, a mediocre car that had so little "Saabness" that the key went into the steering column, rather than the central dashboard, as all other Saab have it. The 9-5, however, corrected this problem, with several new features that made the car more noticible as a Saab. But the 9-5 did not sell nearly as well as expected, much as Volvo's S80 never accomplished the sales goals that Volvo promised. In fact, compared to Saab's closest competitor, Volvo, all of Volvo's cars individually outsold all of Saab's cars individually. Even Jaguar's S-Type, a much more expensive car than the 9-5, outsold the latter car. But all has not been down for the company. Last year's JD Power rankings showed that the 9-5 had excellent consumer rankings. Since these results were released, sales have been slightly up. The 9-3, the older and less popular model in Saab's line, has been little unchanged from the decade-old 900 that was built off the Chevy Cavalier platform. Although the cars Saab have derived from the 9-3, including a 3- and 5-door hatchback, as well as the 9-3 convertible, are decent, Saab has not made a dent on the luxury sector in either the United States or Europe. So Saab plans an all-new 9-3 this year. It will resemble the 9-X and the 9-3X concepts, which were introduced at the Frankfurt and Detroit shows last year, which means that the car will surely have a hatchback version to compete with Audi's Europe-only A3 and Volvo's upcoming V30. The two aforementioned concepts have a brand-new look, with small, diagonal headlights and a high roofline, suggesting versitality. It is this idea that will power the look and function of Saab cars in the future, including a replacement for the 9-5 line and an SUV (9-7), both to be introduced in two years. Saabs, instead of presenting the general luxury that many cars offer (including GM's rival brand Cadillac), will offer a new way to make a car work with your life; in a way, they will become "lifestyle" vehicles. With a lot of usable space and AWD to be offered on all cars, Saab is almost ready to embark into the next century with a new look and a new way to make cars. Watch out for those Swedes!