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Hmmmmmm........ we are at the top again in Asia ... Yahoo news: Only 14% of Malaysian hotels disabled friendly, study finds Only 14% of hotels in Malaysia are accessible for disabled people, while neighbouring Singapore has the most disabled-friendly hotels in Asia at 40%, says a study by hotel booking site Agoda.com. The study, which looked at information provided by more than 600,000 hotels available on the site, found that hotels in the United States are by far the most friendly in the world. “The United States has the highest percentage of accessible hotels for disabled people at 77%, while Laos has the lowest at 1%. The study also found that only 14% of Malaysian hotels were friendly towards them,” said Agoda.com in a press release. Tied at second place were the United Arab Emirates, Ireland, and Portugal, with 55% of hotels in each of the country offering facilities for guests with disabilities, followed by New Zealand (54%), Mauritius (53%), Italy (52%), Puerto Rico (51%) and France (47%) While no Asian country made the top 10 list, Singapore was the highest ranking country in the region, coming in 18th place overall with 50% disabled-friendly hotels. “Many factors influence whether hotels will have accessible facilities, including local laws and regulations, the type of visitors who come to the destination, and the age of most accommodations,” said Agoda.com. “United Arab Emirates, for example, has seen a more than decade-long building boom resulting in many newly-built hotels, which are more likely to be accessible. In the capital, Abu Dhabi, 90% of the hotels have facilities for disabled people.” Meanwhile, five of the 10 destinations at the bottom of the list came from the Asian region, the website said. The 10 countries with the lowest number of accessible accommodations were Uruguay (10%), Vietnam (9%), Nepal (8%), Thailand (8%), Azerbaijan (8%), Cambodia (8%), Bolivia (8%), Georgia (8%), Montenagro (7%), and Laos (1%). Agoda.com said the study included only countries with more than 100 hotels listed on its site, with the data self-reported by hotels. – April 1, 2015. Link: https://sg.news.yahoo.com/only-14-malaysian-hotels-disabled-friendly-study-finds-051347089.html errrrrr............ report dated April 1, 2015 ............. April Fool Jokes...

In USA, the car loan company is able to disable the car if the car instalment is not paid on time. Coming here soon? I think not likely . . . http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2024625051_carpaymentsxml.html The thermometer showed a 103.5-degree fever, and her 10-year-old’s asthma was flaring up. Mary Bolender, who lives in Las Vegas, needed to get her daughter to an emergency room, but her 2005 Chrysler van would not start. The cause was not a mechanical problem — it was her lender. Bolender was three days behind on her monthly car payment. Her lender, C.A.G. Acceptance of Mesa, Arizona, remotely activated a device in her car’s dashboard that prevented her car from starting. Before she could get back on the road, she had to pay more than $389, money she did not have that morning in March. “I felt absolutely helpless,” said Bolender, a single mother who stopped working to care for her daughter. It was not the only time this happened: Her car was shut down that March, once in April and again in June. This new technology is bringing auto loans — and Wall Street’s version of Big Brother — into the lives of people with credit scores battered by the financial downturn. Auto loans to borrowers considered subprime, those with credit scores at or below 640, have spiked in the last five years. The jump has been driven in large part by the demand among investors for securities backed by the loans, which offer high returns at a time of low interest rates. Roughly 25 percent of all new auto loans made last year were subprime, and the volume of subprime auto loans reached more than $145 billion in the first three months of this year. But before they can drive off the lot, many subprime borrowers like Bolender must have their car outfitted with a so-called starter interrupt device, which allows lenders to remotely disable the ignition. Using the GPS technology on the devices, the lenders can also track the cars’ location and movements. The devices, which have been installed in about 2 million vehicles, are helping feed the subprime boom by enabling more high-risk borrowers to get loans. But there is a big catch. By simply clicking a mouse or tapping a smartphone, lenders retain the ultimate control. Borrowers must stay current with their payments, or lose access to their vehicle. “I have disabled a car while I was shopping at Wal-Mart,” said Lionel M. Vead Jr., the head of collections at First Castle Federal Credit Union in Covington, Louisiana. Roughly 30 percent of customers with an auto loan at the credit union have starter interrupt devices. Now used in about one-quarter of subprime auto loans nationwide, the devices are reshaping the dynamics of auto lending by making timely payments as vital to driving a car as gasoline. Seizing on such technological advances, lenders are reaching deeper and deeper into the ranks of Americans on the financial margins, with interest rates on some of the loans exceeding 29 percent. Concerns raised by regulators and some rating firms about loose lending standards have disturbing echoes of the subprime-mortgage crisis. As the ignition devices proliferate, so have complaints from troubled borrowers, many of whom are finding that credit comes at a steep price to their privacy and, at times, their dignity, according to interviews with state and federal regulators, borrowers and consumer lawyers. Some borrowers say their cars were disabled when they were only a few days behind on their payments, leaving them stranded in dangerous neighborhoods. Others said their cars were shut down while idling at stoplights. Some described how they could not take their children to school or to doctor’s appointments. One woman in Nevada said her car was shut down while she was driving on the freeway. Beyond the ability to disable a vehicle, the devices have tracking capabilities that allow lenders and others to know the movements of borrowers, a major concern for privacy advocates. And the warnings the devices emit — beeps that become more persistent as the due date for the loan payment approaches — are seen by some borrowers as more degrading than helpful. “No middle-class person would ever be hounded for being a day late,” said Robert Swearingen, a lawyer with Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, in St. Louis. “But for poor people, there is a debt collector right there in the car with them.” Lenders and manufacturers of the technology say borrowers consent to having these devices installed in their cars. And without them, they say, millions of Americans might not qualify for a car loan at all. A virtual repo man From his office outside New Orleans, Vead can monitor the movements of about 880 subprime borrowers on a computerized map that shows the location of their cars with a red marker. Vead can spot drivers who have fallen behind on their payments and remotely disable their vehicles on his computer or mobile phone. The devices are reshaping how people like Vead collect on debts. He can quickly locate the collateral without relying on a repo man to hunt down delinquent borrowers. Vead says that first, he tries reaching a delinquent borrower on the phone or in person. Then, only after at least 30 days of missed payments, he typically shuts down cars when they are parked at the borrower’s house or workplace. If there is an emergency, he says, he will turn a car back on. None of the borrowers or consumer lawyers interviewed by The New York Times raised concerns about the way Vead’s credit union uses the devices. But other lenders, they said, were not as considerate, marooning drivers in far-flung places and often giving no advance notice of a shut-off. Lenders say that they exercise caution when disabling vehicles and that the devices enable them to extend more credit. Without the use of such devices, said John Pena, general manager of C.A.G. Acceptance, “we would be unable to extend loans because of the high-risk nature of the loans.” A leading device maker, PassTime of Littleton, Colorado, says its technology has reduced late payments to roughly 7 percent from nearly 29 percent. Spireon, which offers a GPS device called the Talon, has a tool on its website where lenders can calculate their return on capital.

Hi folks, Anyone ever install a switch to disable front passenger airbag? Is there such thing in the first place? The reason I ask is I feel like putting child seat in front so my kid can enjoy the full view of travelling in the car and see me driving at the same time. I think it's a good thing cause the kid will learn the mechanics of driving and may even remember directions to places. Good for the kids mental development. I say that is cos I grew up in the 80s and I remember seeing my dad driving when I'm sitting on my mom's lap and also remembered the direction to my grandma's house from home, even though I dunno the road names. I think I was only 3 to 4 years old then. I now see my kid strapped behind the child seat and can only peek out the window at her side, and she don't even know how I make the car move or turn cos she is strapped behind me and can't see me drive. Kinda sad in a way for the sake of safety. So thinking of putting a switch instead of buying a new car that comes with the switch by default.

recently installed this remote and alarm system. no manual given. 4 stupid buttons which i don't really understand top button is to LOCK doors without sound. left button is LOCK doors with beep beep sound. right button is UNLOCK doors with beep beep sound. bottom button also LOCK doors without sound. can't understand y the top and bottom button is the same. i can't silent unlock my doors if i didn't silent lock my doors but anyway once i on engine, step on brakes, it will lock the doors. i asked the shop how to disable. he only know how to tell me it's a safety feature, very good. didn't even answer my question. Anyone knows if there's any button combination i can press to disable locking of doors upon stepping on brakes? Don't need it at all cos no kids in car.

Love the car but hate the start/stop function. Have to press a button to deactivate it every time I start the car. Is there a permanent solution to off it unless I activate?

I need to disable it temp as my baby car seat will be placed in front. I know it should be placed behind , but baby keep crying if she is sitting alone behind

I was reading our Toyota Wish club forum recently and found out one of the owners there got his Wish stolen at Sunway Lagoon despite the usual precautions taken. Kinda sad to read such incident, if it can happen to him, it can happened to anyone of us driving to Malaysia. My question is, is there any other ways to prevent this? Is there a fuse or connection where I can unplug to disable the car so nobody can even start the car? Maybe disconnet a host? Take out steering wheel? Take out spark plug??

why? Ah? Yahoo scared if sIngapore? I realize the comments always against establishment and sibei aggressive one ...

As per title... I have no probs with auto connection in sg due to 50GB data plan.... But I am concerned to chalk high bills accidentally coz going bolehland tmr.... I am using HTC Touch Pro 2.... thanks

Anyone here has disable their car clutch interlock switch before? Can recommend me how to DIY or a shop that can do it? Quite irritating leh. Thanks.

Any of you guys driving the Mit Lancer..... everytime you use the remote to open/close door, as the alarm is link to the car honk... it is farking noisy.... anyway of programming to just get the head light flash without the noise... still want the car alram to be activated lar, so removing car alarm in no no... TIA....

Hi all, Looking for some advise here. The HU in the front will not display any image unless the hand brake is on. My wife is yelling at me to get the function disable as during the long trip to malaysia that we are making regularly, every other members of my family is having fun watching TV serial but my wife to acompany me can only listen....Is it wise for me to disable this interlock and who will be able to do this slight modifications..Thanks..Does this modification break any Gov regulation?

Came across a online video post of how to disable TRC/VSC on the IS 250 using a series of pedal steps. But I was wondering why the heck people would want to do that? Certainly disabling traction and vehicle stability controls will help a car get out of deep snow, but I don't understand why people would want to disable this safety feature in normal driving. Anyone care to enlighten me?

Hi all, I'm contemplating purchasing a Mazda 5. Would anyone have any idea if there are any workshops which would be able to disable the front passenger airbag? I've checked thoroughly with Mazda and they claim not to be able to do this in-house. This seems odd to me cos I had no problem at all getting the Ford guys to do the same thing to my current Focus II. Warranty was not voided either. The background to this is that I'm intending to get an MPV for my growing family (third child on the way). Yes, I understand that there is always the option of leaving all child seats in the rear and centre rows, but I think I will at times be placing my eldest (4.5 years old) in front with me. Other than the Mazda 5, there are others (Renault G Scenic, Citroen G Picasso) which will allow me to disable the airbag manually, but these cost significantly more than the 5. Any help on this would be much appreciated.