An abbreviation (from Latin brevis , meaning "short" ) is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method including shortening, contraction , initialism (which includes acronym) or crasis .
117-523: The Tun Abdul Razak Complex ( abbrev. Komtar ) is a civic complex of five buildings within the central business district of George Town , Penang . It first opened on 2 December 1976. At the time of its completion in 1985, the central skyscraper of the complex, Komtar Tower, at 231.7 metres (760 ft), was the tallest skyscraper in Southeast Asia . The complex contains 1,420,000 square feet (132,000 m) of office and retail space on
234-867: A customs area , often called a bonded store , until processed. Authorized ports are usually recognized customs areas. A more recent objective of customs has been trade facilitation , which is the streamlining of processing of import and export of goods to reduce trade transaction costs. The contemporary understanding of the “trade facilitation” concept is based on the Recommendation No. 4 of UN/CEFACT “National Trade Facilitation Bodies”. According to its provisions (para. 14), facilitation covers formalities, procedures, documents and operations related to international trade transactions. Its goals are simplification, harmonization and standardization, so that transactions become easier, faster and more economical than before. The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in
351-463: A 27-acre (11 ha) superblock . It is a major bus terminal for Rapid Penang , and the seat of the Penang state government and the chief minister of Penang . The modernist complex was built between 1974 and 1986 at an initial cost of RM279.5 million (equivalent to RM642.5 million in 2023). The complex was proposed by chief minister Lim Chong Eu in 1969, while his brother Chong Keat designed
468-441: A Western-style shopping mall for middle-class residents from the city's outer suburbs. The shopping mall contained 460,000 square feet (43,000 m) of retail space. Elsewhere, the podium houses a bus terminal , a public theater, a national archives , a police and fire station, and a rooftop indoor orchid garden with a reflective pool . A hotel for travelers was planned at the third floor. Six pairs of escalators are installed in
585-442: A bid to mitigate corruption, many countries have partly privatised their customs. This has occurred by way of contracting pre-shipment inspection agencies, which examine the cargo and verify the declared value before importation occurs. The country's customs is obliged to accept the agency's report for the purpose of assessing duties and taxes at the port of entry. While engaging a pre-shipment inspection agency may appear justified in
702-441: A country with an inexperienced or inadequate customs establishment, the measure has not been able to plug the loophole and protect revenue. It has been found that evasion of customs duty escalated when pre-shipment agencies took over. It has also been alleged that involvement of such agencies has caused shipping delays. Privatization of customs has been viewed as a fatal remedy. In many countries, import and export data are issued on
819-465: A country. Those who breach the law will be detained by customs and likely returned to their original location. The movement of people into and out of a country is normally monitored by migration authorities, under a variety of names and arrangements. Border control authorities normally check for appropriate documentation, verify that a person is entitled to enter the country, apprehend people wanted by domestic or international arrest warrants , and deny
936-433: A few examples, there is Aldi , from Theo Albrecht , the name of its founder, followed by discount ; Haribo , from Hans Riegel , the name of its founder, followed by Bonn , the town of its head office; and Adidas , from Adolf "Adi" Dassler , the nickname of its founder followed by his surname. Customs Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling
1053-424: A geodesic dome (phase 2D) and an 11-acre (480,000 sq ft) rooftop garden above the podium (phase 2E). The total cost of the second phase was estimated at RM110 million in 1983. A further RM7 million was allocated for the geodesic dome. However, work was abruptly halted when a major fire broke out on the tower between 23 and 24 January, which gutted the 41st to 47th floors. The fire was reportedly visible across
1170-803: A package arrive prior to registration the package must pay the 60% tax and no less than US$ 10. Any personal package worth more than US$ 200 or after the 3 free packages, must pay a 60% tax. This severely limits the public's ability to buy products online. Due to Uruguay's small population and market, many popular and specialty products are unavailable in the regular marketplace, forcing Uruguayans to strategically pool several purchases together and max each one of their free slots. Customs may be very strict. Goods valued up to US$ 500 brought in by plane and up to US$ 300 by sea or land are free of duties and taxes, cellphones and laptop computers are duty free regardless of their value only one per passenger, clothing and other personal use items are free of taxes. Above those values, tax
1287-480: A person's name, such as Migjeni —an abbreviation from his original name ( Millosh Gjergj Nikolla ) a famous Albanian poet and writer—or ASDRENI ( Aleksander Stavre Drenova ), another famous Albanian poet. Other such names which are used commonly in recent decades are GETOAR, composed from Gegeria + Tosks (representing the two main dialects of the Albanian language, Gegë and Toskë), and Arbanon —which
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#17327795196691404-555: A plural of an initialization without an apostrophe can also be used for a number, or a letter. Examples: For units of measure, the same form is used for both singular and plural. Examples: When an abbreviation contains more than one period, Hart's Rules recommends putting the s after the final one. Examples: However, the same plurals may be rendered less formally as: According to Hart's Rules , an apostrophe may be used in rare cases where clarity calls for it, for example when letters or symbols are referred to as objects. However,
1521-494: A proposed light rail transit line running along Penang Island . In anticipation of future construction, Sia Boey Market closed in 2004, even though the site remained abandoned for years, due to uncertainties in the light rail transit project. In 2012, a proposal intended to rebrand phase five into an arts district known as the "Penang Heritage Square". It featured the construction of a five-storey cultural centre with complete restoration of heritage shophouses nearby. This project
1638-613: A red point phone which serves the same purpose. The basic customs law is harmonized across Europe within the European Union Customs Union . This includes customs duties and restrictions. Customs tax typically applies from €22 to €150. For more information, see regulations of each member state. For customs declarations in the EU and in Switzerland, Norway and Iceland, the " Single Administrative Document " (SAD)
1755-636: A single hotel building. The hotel opened as the Shangri-La Inn in 1986. The main framework for the geodesic dome was completed and inaugurated in July by Tunku Abdul Rahman . In mid-1990, a pedestrian mall was constructed as the final adjoining part of phase two, occupying half of Maxwell Road and the Prangin Canal, forcing the remnants of the adjacent Prangin Road to merge into a one road. By 1990,
1872-557: A single letter and was originally spelled with lower case letters then there is no need for capitalization. However, when abbreviating a phrase where only the first letter of each word is taken, then all letters should be capitalized, as in YTD for year-to-date , PCB for printed circuit board and FYI for for your information . However, see the following section regarding abbreviations that have become common vocabulary: these are no longer written with capital letters. A period (a.k.a. full stop)
1989-517: A symbol such as "km" for " kilometre ". In the International System of Units (SI) manual the word "symbol" is used consistently to define the shorthand used to represent the various SI units of measure. The manual also defines the way in which units should be written , the principal rules being: A syllabic abbreviation is usually formed from the initial syllables of several words, such as Interpol = International + police . It
2106-535: A vehicles' office, a post station and a fire station. The process evicted 3,175 residents to the city's outer suburbs, including Jelutong , Bayan Baru and the PDC-funded Macallum Street Ghaut . The Magazine Circus and most of Gladstone Road was removed. By 1973, the state government projected the total cost of the entire complex at RM200 million (RM1.04 billion in 2023 value); phase one at RM77.6 million, with RM40.8 million allocated for
2223-738: A word to a single letter was common in both Greek and Roman writing. In Roman inscriptions, "Words were commonly abbreviated by using the initial letter or letters of words, and most inscriptions have at least one abbreviation". However, "some could have more than one meaning, depending on their context. (For example, ⟨A⟩ can be an abbreviation for many words, such as ager , amicus , annus , as , Aulus , Aurelius , aurum , and avus .)" Many frequent abbreviations consisted of more than one letter: for example COS for consul and COSS for its nominative etc. plural consules . Abbreviations were frequently used in early English . Manuscripts of copies of
2340-767: Is 50% of the value of all acquired goods summed up. Main article: Directorate General of Customs and Excise Direktorat Jenderal Bea dan Cukai (abbreviated Bea Cukai or DJBC), works under the Ministry of Finance (Indonesia) and performs various duties relating to the traffic of goods entering or leaving the Customs Area such as the collection of import/export duties, monitoring prohibition and restriction of certain goods, collecting excise and other state levies based on legislation apply. DJBC envisions itself as "The leading customs and excise institution globally" and has three missions: International Customs Day recognizes
2457-544: Is a point of no return, once a passenger has entered a particular channel, they cannot go back. Australia , Canada , New Zealand , and the United States do not officially operate a red and green channel system; however, some airports have adopted this layout. Airports in EU countries also have a blue channel. As the EU is a customs union , travellers between EU countries do not have to pay customs duties. Value-added tax (VAT) and excise duties may be applicable if
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#17327795196692574-568: Is a syllabic abbreviation of Commonwealth and (Thomas) Edison . Sections of California are also often colloquially syllabically abbreviated, as in NorCal (Northern California), CenCal (Central California), and SoCal (Southern California). Additionally, in the context of Los Angeles, the syllabic abbreviation SoHo (Southern Hollywood) refers to the southern portion of the Hollywood neighborhood. Partially syllabic abbreviations are preferred by
2691-533: Is a variant of the acronym. Syllabic abbreviations are usually written using lower case , sometimes starting with a capital letter , and are always pronounced as words rather than letter by letter. Syllabic abbreviations should be distinguished from portmanteaus , which combine two words without necessarily taking whole syllables from each. Syllabic abbreviations are not widely used in English. Some UK government agencies such as Ofcom (Office of Communications) and
2808-404: Is an abbreviation formed by replacing letters with an apostrophe. Examples include I'm for I am and li'l for little . An initialism or acronym is an abbreviation consisting of the initial letter of a sequence of words without other punctuation. For example, FBI ( /ˌɛf.biːˈaɪ/ ), USA ( /ˌjuː.ɛsˈeɪ/ ), IBM ( /ˌaɪ.biːˈɛm/ ), BBC ( /ˌbiː.biːˈsiː/ ). When initialism is used as
2925-777: Is an alternative way used to describe all Albanian lands. Syllabic abbreviations were and are common in German ; much like acronyms in English, they have a distinctly modern connotation, although contrary to popular belief, many date back to before 1933 , if not the end of the Great War . Kriminalpolizei , literally criminal police but idiomatically the Criminal Investigation Department of any German police force, begat KriPo (variously capitalised), and likewise Schutzpolizei ( protection police or uniform department ) begat SchuPo . Along
3042-418: Is controversy as to which should be used. One generally accepted rule is to be consistent in a body of work. To this end, publishers may express their preferences in a style guide . Some controversies that arise are described below. If the original word was capitalized then the first letter of its abbreviation should retain the capital, for example Lev. for Leviticus . When a word is abbreviated to more than
3159-454: Is designed as a "controlled social programme" planned and sold for selected families of mixed races. In total, the three apartment blocks can house 800 households, with an emphasis on accommodating lower-income groups. These communities would link to a clubhouse , a library, communal swimming pools, and several cafes, where access corridors between them are thought of as "streets". All three residential blocks are connected with enclosed bridges on
3276-879: Is levied at the time of import and is paid by the importer of record . Individuals arriving in the United States may be exempt from duty on a limited amount of purchases, and on goods temporarily imported (such as laptop computers) under the ATA Carnet system. Customs duties vary by country of origin and product, with duties ranging from zero to 81% of the value of the goods. Goods from many countries are exempt from duty under various trade agreements. Certain types of goods are exempt from duty regardless of source. Customs rules differ from other import restrictions. Failure to comply with customs rules can result in seizure of goods and civil and criminal penalties against involved parties. The CBP enforces customs rules. All goods entering
3393-695: Is sometimes used to signify abbreviation, but opinion is divided as to when and if this convention is best practice. According to Hart's Rules , a word shortened by dropping letters from the end terminates with a period, whereas a word shorted by dropping letters from the middle does not. Fowler's Modern English Usage says a period is used for both of these shortened forms, but recommends against this practice: advising it only for end-shortened words and lower-case initialisms; not for middle-shortened words and upper-case initialisms. Some British style guides, such as for The Guardian and The Economist , disallow periods for all abbreviations. In American English ,
3510-584: Is typically US . There are multiple ways to pluralize an abbreviation. Sometimes this accomplished by adding an apostrophe and an s ( 's ), as in "two PC's have broken screens". But, some find this confusing since the notation can indicate possessive case . And, this style is deprecated by many style guides. For instance, Kate Turabian , writing about style in academic writings, allows for an apostrophe to form plural acronyms "only when an abbreviation contains internal periods or both capital and lowercase letters". For example, "DVDs" and "URLs" and "Ph.D.'s", while
3627-528: Is used as a basis. Up to €22, there are no taxes. From €22 up to €150, it is necessary to pay VAT (EUSt in Germany), which is 7% or 19% depending on the goods. From €150 it is necessary to pay VAT and customs. Customs may be very strict, especially for goods shipped from anywhere outside the EU. Up to €10 goods/package. Customs in Italy takes additional 22% VAT (Value-added tax) for goods imported from outside
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3744-632: The Malayan campaign , killing hundreds. George Town was established as a free port in 1786 and served as a major entrepôt in British Malaya , trading spices and tin . It was also the first port of call east of the Indian subcontinent . After Malayan independence , the federal government shifted commercial and trading activities to Kuala Lumpur , intending to focus on the development of Port Klang . In 1966, federal amendments to customs made
3861-576: The Modern Language Association explicitly says, "do not use an apostrophe to form the plural of an abbreviation". Also, the American Psychological Association specifically says, "without an apostrophe". However, the 1999 style guide for The New York Times states that the addition of an apostrophe is necessary when pluralizing all abbreviations, preferring "PC's, TV's and VCR's". Forming
3978-690: The Old English poem Beowulf used many abbreviations, for example the Tironian et ( ⁊ ) or & for and , and y for since , so that "not much space is wasted". The standardisation of English in the 15th through 17th centuries included a growth in the use of such abbreviations. At first, abbreviations were sometimes represented with various suspension signs, not only periods. For example, sequences like ⟨er⟩ were replaced with ⟨ɔ⟩ , as in mastɔ for master and exacɔbate for exacerbate . While this may seem trivial, it
4095-481: The Penang Strait at Perai , and required the mobilisation of fire fighting units as far as Nibong Tebal . Later investigations determined that the fire was likely started by welding sparks. Construction resumed by mid-1983, reaching the 60th floor by 1984. The skyscraper structurally topped out at the 65th floor on 1 January 1985. In May 1985, plans for the apartment blocks were scrapped and replaced with
4212-616: The State Customs Service . The reform attempt seeks to digitize customs procedures, get market-level wages, innovate customs checkpoints, integrate into EU customs community, open reference database of customs inspections. In 2003, Canada replaced the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency with the current Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). The CBSA performs searches at Canadian ports of entry and detains illegal immigrants, along with preventing contraband from entering
4329-479: The Tower Palace . Other attractions include a video room and an amphitheatre for cultural shows. Abbreviation An abbreviation may be a shortened form of a word with a trailing period. For example: etcetera is usually abbreviated etc. and abbreviation is sometimes abbreviated abbr. , abbrv. , or abbrev. . But sometimes the trailing period is not used for such shortened forms. A contraction
4446-522: The United States has become the cardinal factor in prompting a significant strengthening of the security component of modern customs operations, after which security-oriented control measures for supply chains have been widely implemented for the aims of preventing risk identification. At airports today, customs functions as the point of no return for all passengers; once passengers have cleared customs, they cannot go back. Anyone arriving at an airport must also clear customs before they can officially enter
4563-551: The University of Penang and a traffic consultant provided additional input for the project. Lim Chong Keat designed the entire complex in five phases, where the main structure occupies the first two. Location-wise, it was designed to link with a then-proposed coastal highway system that leads southwards to a cross-strait linkage and the Penang International Airport . Construction of the first phase
4680-832: The mayor of George Town (level 17). Other office tenants include the Penang Island City Council , Public Services Commission , the Immigration Department of Malaysia , the Malaysian Inland Revenue Board , Tenaga Nasional , Maybank , Pos Malaysia , and the National Higher Education Fund Corporation . In July 1980, Komtar's first major office sale occurred when the federal government bought 91,000 square feet (8,500 m) of office space. Between December 1982 and January 1984,
4797-545: The 12th and 17th floors. In 1984, chief minister Lim Chong Eu moved his offices into the 28th floor. By February 1985, occupancy reached the 33rd floor. In 1986, the offices of the Penang state government, which had been located at the Tuanku Syed Putra Building since 1962, moved to Komtar permanently. By 1990, RM162.7 million worth of office space were sold. In July 1992, an indoor golf club, reportedly
Komtar - Misplaced Pages Continue
4914-459: The 1990s led to a marked rise in colloquial abbreviation. This was due largely to increasing popularity of textual communication services such as instant and text messaging. The original SMS supported message lengths of 160 characters at most (using the GSM 03.38 character set), for instance. This brevity gave rise to an informal abbreviation scheme sometimes called Textese , with which 10% or more of
5031-661: The 20th century. The contractions in Newspeak are supposed to have a political function by virtue of their abbreviated structure itself: nice sounding and easily pronounceable, their purpose is to mask all ideological content from the speaker. A more recent syllabic abbreviation has emerged with the disease COVID-19 (Corona Virus Disease 2019) caused by the Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (itself frequently abbreviated to SARS-CoV-2 , partly an initialism). In Albanian, syllabic acronyms are sometimes used for composing
5148-530: The 65th, was a helipad . Instead, the first publicly accessible observatory decks in the skyscraper were between the 57th to 60th floors. On 15 November 1989, the main observatory deck, the Tower Tourist Centre , was inaugurated at the 58th floor. A duty-free shop , the Metropolitan , opened at the 57th floor in mid-February 1990. The 59th and 60th floors housed a Chinese restaurant known as
5265-512: The CAPU including AT3 amounted to RM4.8 million in 1974, a figure disputed by opposition politicians who alleged that RM10 million was paid to AT3 alone. Throughout 1971, the CAPU conducted extensive planning studies for the project. A report dated August 1972 noted that the project should be located on a 22.4 acres (9.1 ha) site bounded by Penang Road , Prangin Road, Magazine Road and Beach Street , with parking for 3,000 vehicles. Academics from
5382-620: The European Union even if the VAT is already paid to the origin country sender. Up to €22, there are no taxes. From €22 up to €150, it is necessary to pay VAT (DPH in Czech/Slovak), which is 21%. From €150, it is necessary to pay VAT and customs. Customs may range from zero to 10% depending on the type of imported goods. Ukraine has had 5 reforms of its customs authorities. The recent one, in 2019, reorganized State Fiscal Service into
5499-728: The Penang Urban Centre. The state government selected Singaporean architectural firm Architects Team Three (AT3) for the CAPU, with Lim Chong Eu's brother Chong Keat as its lead architect. Ove Arup was selected as the civil and structural engineer . Although Lim Chong Keat established his reputation in Singapore through the Jurong Town Hall and the DBS Building , the selection was accused of being nepotistic . Consultation fees for all development firms in
5616-546: The Penang state government spent RM45 million buying 210,600 square feet (19,570 m) of office space, occupying 17 storeys of the skyscraper. In 1983, the Penang Municipal Council was forced to move to Komtar by the state government even though its offices at City Hall were sufficient, leading to opposition within the council. This decision, costing RM20 million, relocated the council's offices to 100,000 square feet (9,300 m) of office space between
5733-548: The Schengen Area member states of the EU and the remainder of EU member states, while flights which cross the border of neither the customs union nor the Schengen Area are in practice treated as domestic, and therefore, the people travelling on them do not go through customs channels at all. All airports in the United Kingdom operate a channel system; however, some airports do not have a red channel, instead having
5850-768: The US Navy, as they increase readability amidst the large number of initialisms that would otherwise have to fit into the same acronyms. Hence DESRON 6 is used (in the full capital form) to mean "Destroyer Squadron 6", while COMNAVAIRLANT would be "Commander, Naval Air Force (in the) Atlantic". Syllabic abbreviations are a prominent feature of Newspeak , the fictional language of George Orwell 's dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four . The political contractions of Newspeak— Ingsoc (English Socialism), Minitrue (Ministry of Truth), Miniplenty ( Ministry of Plenty )—are described by Orwell as similar to real examples of German ( see below ) and Russian ( see below ) contractions in
5967-560: The United States are subject to inspection by CBP prior to legal entry. Uruguayan Customs place a cap on the importation of personal packages to up to 3 packages of a nominal value of no more than US$ 200 which can be entered into the country without extra charge. For a package to be included in the 3 free slots, the addressee must register the package with the Uruguayan Postal Service linking the tracking code, their address, national ID number phone and email address. Should
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#17327795196696084-460: The apostrophe can be dispensed with if the items are set in italics or quotes: In Latin, and continuing to the derivative forms in European languages as well as English, single-letter abbreviations had the plural being a doubling of the letter for note-taking. Most of these deal with writing and publishing. A few longer abbreviations use this as well. Publications based in the U.S. tend to follow
6201-416: The basis of national laws (Transparency Laws / Freedom of Information Act ). There has, however, been some speed bumps when transitioning customs over from the public to private sector . Factors such as an incompetent private sector, government's reluctance to change the traditional roles of customs, neglecting priority-setting and lack of transparency in the transition process have slowed the rate at which
6318-414: The central skyscraper was delayed, as stage one (up to the 29th storey) was scheduled for completion by September 1981, and stage two (29th–47th storey) by February 1983. In January 1983, construction moved to phase two. It was carried out in five stages (phases 2A–E), including an electric substation (phase 2A), a department complex (phase 2B), an 11-storey car park with 750 parking spaces (phase 2C),
6435-514: The city, which redesignated the 1962 hawker centre proposal into a civic centre known as the Central Area Redevelopment Plan, the precursor project of Komtar. Komtar was conceived to be a step in 1970s "progressive" urban planning of the Penang state government. It was expected to ease congestion and remove urban slums from George Town's city centre which appeared after the 1960s recession. According to Lim Chong Eu,
6552-440: The complex began on 1 January 1974 in a ceremony officiated by Abdul Razak Hussein. It took place on a 0.4 hectares (1 acre) site, which involves 70 units of retail and office space, where 34 per cent of the total area was reserved to bumiputeras . A two-week exhibition regarding the urban scheme was held near the construction site from 10 to 24 January 1974. In May 1974, work progressed to the skyscraper. Construction of phase one
6669-420: The complex daily, including 1,800 workers from state departments. It was projected that 600,000 to a million visitors visit the skyscraper's observation deck annually. Komtar Tower, which topped out on 1 January 1985, is 248.9 metres (817 ft) tall with 68 storeys. Currently, the skyscraper houses the offices of the Penang state government (level 3, 7–58, and 61–64), the chief minister of Penang (level 28) and
6786-551: The complex had closed down. With reduced local presence, Komtar received an influx of migrant workers, primarily from Nepal , Myanmar , the Philippines , and Indonesia . The atmosphere within the complex drew similarities with Lucky Plaza in Singapore and Victoria Park in Hong Kong. Different floors of the complex housed individually segmented groups of immigrants of different nationalities, functioning as an agora for
6903-512: The complex was a "sign of collaboration" between the federal government and Penang. It was given priority in the New Economic Policy championed under the administration of Abdul Razak Hussein , who said that this project "will change the outlook of George Town from a colonial heritage to a city reflecting a Malaysian society". Plans for a civic centre in central George Town were announced publicly as early as 18 November 1970 as
7020-620: The complex was neglected due to insufficient maintenance. Despite these circumstances, Komtar is Penang's most famous landmark and is seen as a symbol of the state's post-industrialisation prosperity. The site Komtar now occupies was a stretch of the Prangin River, which ran through a swamp. In 1804, the construction of the Prangin Canal began under directions from the British East India Company . The canal
7137-461: The complex was radical and utopian for its time, and was the largest urban regeneration project in Malaysian history. However, it ultimately failed to achieve its objective of rejuvenating George Town's city centre . The construction of the complex was also criticised for demolishing a portion of the city's heritage quarters which displaced thousands of residents. Starting from the late-1990s,
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#17327795196697254-431: The complex, including 24 in the skyscraper, each capable of travelling at 1,200 feet (370 m) per minute. Phase two involves the extension of phase one's retail podium with 2,000,000 square feet (190,000 m) of retail space and several civic amenities. To accommodate the displaced residents from the construction site, three 17-storey apartment blocks were allocated for the two phases. The first block, with 194 flats,
7371-550: The complex. It was planned to be built in five phases, although only two were completed in their original form. The remaining three phases were repurposed as Prangin Mall , 1st Avenue , and the Sia Boey Urban Archaeological Park and were built between 1996 and 2019. Renovations in 2015 extended the height of Komtar Tower to 249 metres (817 ft). Described as a "city within a city", the design of
7488-451: The construction site, leading to subsidence. As a response, the Penang state government requested a geotechnical report from Prangin Mall's developers, although it did not reach state officials until February 1997. On 30 January, citing the developers' failure of compliance, Ikram issued a stop work order on Prangin Mall. The order was expanded to phase three, noting similar circumstances. At its worst, three hundred houses were affected, while
7605-607: The country. Every person arriving in the US is subject to inspection by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers for compliance with immigration, customs and agriculture regulations. This public service is administered on almost a million visitors who enter the US daily. Travelers are screened for a number of prohibited items including; gold, alcoholic beverages, firearms and soil. A wide range of penalties face those non-compliers. The United States imposes tariffs or " customs duties " on imports of goods, being 3% on average. The duty
7722-550: The demolition of the Capitol Theatre and ten other businesses which sat at the site, while construction was projected to complete within three years. The site remained dormant by 1995 and it was only in 1996 that talks of construction resumed. However, it was cancelled after the Asian financial crisis in late-1997. Phase three was a nine-storey RM129 million department complex proposed by Japanese retail group Yaohan , which
7839-416: The diaspora. The complex is also host to homeless vagabonds, drug users, and vandals. Other developments such as Komtar Walk, launched in 2009 as a pedestrian mall, was plagued by legal disputes and was demolished and rebuilt in 2019. In 2001, the Penang state government initiated a programme to shift all government functions at Komtar to Mini Putrajaya , a new administrative capital at Seberang Perai . It
7956-467: The dome is covered with K-13 spray foam for better indoor acoustics. Initial plans for the skyscraper involved a 12-sided cylinder column 45 or 47 stories tall in two stages. It contained 640,000 square feet (59,000 m) of office space. The foundations of the skyscraper are designed to support 60 storeys for potential extensions, which became the actual height reported in promotional materials as early as 1975. Thirty-two high speed lifts are fitted in
8073-440: The empty land becoming parking space until December 1996. In November 1996, the state government issued a construction ban of all structures beyond five storeys within the city-centre, threatening phase three's cancellation. An updated proposal submitted in 1997 featured a RM170 million 10-storey shopping complex named Mutiara Parade. Construction was scheduled for late-1996 and expected to finish in 1999. However, all construction
8190-592: The entry of people deemed dangerous to the country. The most complete guidelines for customs security functions implementation is provided in the World Customs Organization Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade (SAFE), which has had five editions in 2005, 2007, 2010, 2012, and 2018, respectively. Customs is part of one of the three basic functions of a government, namely: administration; maintenance of law, order, and justice; and collection of revenue. However, in
8307-410: The extension was replaced with Prangin Mall , a 1,500,000 square feet (140,000 m) shopping complex at a cost of RM200 million. The complex contained 73 escalators, two "bubble" lifts, an international food centre, six Parisian cafés , a garden mall, and four cinemas with a total of 1,800 seats. Excavation works for Prangin Mall began in 1996. During piling works, ground subsidence was sighted at
8424-527: The federal government rebranded the Bayan Lepas line as the Mutiara line , which includes a terminal at Komtar as the receiving end of an elevated rail bridge across the Penang Strait towards Seberang Perai . Construction of the station was originally planned for early-2024, but was delayed to September or October 2024, with an expected completion date of 2030. In the late 1980s to early 1990s, Komtar
8541-584: The first in Malaysia, opened at the 56th floor. In 2008, Telekom Malaysia occupied the 58th floor as a call centre . Similarly, before 2015 the 64th floor had been rented by telecommunication companies to install their equipment. In 2020, nine federal agencies moved into Komtar under the Urban Transformation Centre at the second and third floors, occupying 42,000 square feet (3,900 m) of office space. The top floor of Komtar Tower,
8658-496: The flow of goods , including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, customs has been considered as the fiscal subject that charges customs duties (i.e. tariffs ) and other taxes on import and export . In recent decades, the views on the functions of customs have considerably expanded and now covers three basic issues: taxation , security , and trade facilitation . Each country has its own laws and regulations for
8775-428: The former Oftel (Office of Telecommunications) use this style. New York City has various neighborhoods named by syllabic abbreviation, such as Tribeca (Triangle below Canal Street) and SoHo (South of Houston Street). This usage has spread into other American cities, giving SoMa , San Francisco (South of Market) and LoDo, Denver (Lower Downtown), amongst others. Chicago -based electric service provider ComEd
8892-413: The free port status redundant, and in 1969 the status was formally revoked. These policy changes led to massive unemployment and brain drain within the city, creating a period of recession and urban decay in Penang throughout the 1960s. Amidst rising discontent, during the 1969 general elections , the ruling Alliance Party led by chief minister Wong Pow Nee was voted out in Penang and replaced by
9009-456: The globally popular term OK generally credited as a remnant of its influence. Over the years, however, the lack of convention in some style guides has made it difficult to determine which two-word abbreviations should be abbreviated with periods and which should not. This question is considered below. Widespread use of electronic communication through mobile phones and the Internet during
9126-450: The goods are subsequently sold, but these are collected when the goods are sold, not at the border. Passengers arriving from other EU countries go through the blue channel, where they may still be subject to checks for prohibited or restricted goods. Luggage tickets for checked luggage travelling within the EU are green-edged so they may be identified. In the recent years usage of the blue channel has become limited mostly to flights between
9243-492: The import and export of goods into and out of a country, enforced by their respective customs authorities; the import/export of some goods may be restricted or forbidden entirely. A wide range of penalties are faced by those who break these laws. The traditional function of customs has been the assessment and collection of customs duties , which is a tariff or tax on the importation or, at times, exportation of goods. Commercial goods not yet cleared through customs are held in
9360-508: The incident has since been described as a "crisis" or a "disaster". In March 1997, the developers submitted three mitigation measures to the state government. Mitigation works began in April and lasted for 53 days, costing the developers RM6 million. After mitigation works were complete, the state government lifted the stop work order for Prangin Mall in June under a 20-point agreement. Construction
9477-535: The mid-2000s, including one in October 2007 which cost RM10 million, and an RM15 million renovation project in April 2008 which refurbished the podium. In 2010, the Penang state government launched plans to renovate the upper sections of the skyscraper. The revitalisation effort, known as The Top , was launched in December 2012, costing RM180 million. As part of the effort, three new floors were constructed, increasing
9594-632: The ninth floor. In 1972, PDC began preparations for phase one. The City Council and state government owned 182,516 square feet (16,956.3 m) of land for its construction. Between 1972 and 1973, the state government acquired the necessary land available, predominantly from inherited landlords of the Straits Chinese elite. The total cost of land and property acquisitions was estimated at RM26.2 million in 1977 (RM100.6 million in 2023 value). Demolition works at acquired sites involved 769 houses, 304 shops, 14 factories, four cinemas, three schools,
9711-581: The opposition Malaysian People's Movement Party (Gerakan), with Lim Chong Eu sworn in as chief minister. To address these challenges, Lim established the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) in November 1969 as a development arm of the state government. As early as 1962, the Penang state government proposed to develop a hawker centre in an area around Prangin Road . Malayan architecture firm Malayan Architects Co-Partnership
9828-487: The period is usually included regardless of whether or not it is a contraction, e.g. Dr. or Mrs. . In some cases, periods are optional, as in either US or U.S. for United States , EU or E.U. for European Union , and UN or U.N. for United Nations . There are some house styles, however—American ones included—that remove the periods from almost all abbreviations. For example: Acronyms that were originally capitalized (with or without periods) but have since entered
9945-443: The permitted customs limits and not carrying prohibited items) go through the green channel. However, entry into a particular channel constitutes a legal declaration, so if a passenger goes through a green channel and is found to be in possession of a prohibited item, or failure to declare such items the passenger can be subject to a fine, the item being seized, and in some cases result in an arrest and criminal prosecution. Each channel
10062-405: The podium. The geodesic dome, influenced by the designs of Buckminster Fuller , a special consultant of the CAPU, is positioned above the podium directly adjacent to the reflective pool. The dome is 48 metres (157 ft) in diameter, and contains a multipurpose hall with 1,875 seats. It was designed as a column-free structure made from aluminum prefabricated from computer designs. The interior of
10179-511: The preferred term, acronym refers more specifically to when the abbreviation is pronounced as a word rather than as separate letters; examples include SWAT and NASA . Initialisms, contractions and crasis share some semantic and phonetic functions, and are connected by the term abbreviation in loose parlance. In early times, abbreviations may have been common due to the effort involved in writing (many inscriptions were carved in stone) or to provide secrecy via obfuscation . Reduction of
10296-432: The public to private transition has taken place. In most countries, customs procedures for arriving passengers at major international airports, ports and some road crossings are separated into red and green channels. Passengers with goods to declare (carrying goods above the permitted customs limits and/or carrying prohibited items) go through the red channel, while passengers with nothing to declare (carrying goods within
10413-425: The role of agencies and customs officials in maintaining border security around the world. It focuses on the workers and their working conditions as well as the challenges that some customs officers face in their job. Custom agencies hold employee appreciation events where custom officers are recognized for their work. Several agencies also hold events for the public where they explain their jobs and responsibilities in
10530-835: The same lines, the Swiss Federal Railways' Transit Police—the Transportpolizei —are abbreviated as the TraPo . With the National Socialist German Workers' Party gaining power came a frenzy of government reorganisation, and with it a series of entirely new syllabic abbreviations. The single national police force amalgamated from the Schutzpolizeien of the various states became the OrPo ( Ordnungspolizei , "order police");
10647-401: The secret police) and VoPo for Volkspolizei . The phrase politisches Büro , which may be rendered literally as "office of politics" or idiomatically as "political party steering committee", became Politbüro . Syllabic abbreviations are not only used in politics, however. Many business names, trademarks, and service marks from across Germany are created on the same pattern: for
10764-505: The site, leading to cracks appearing on over a hundred houses nearby. Komtar reported similar occurrences, even though officials denied the complex was in danger. In January 1997, nearby residents filed a police report on this issue, leading to investigations by the Malaysian Public Works Institute (Ikram). They concluded that the structure's foundations were flawed, causing underground water to migrate away from
10881-436: The skyscraper topping out in 1981. However, the complex suffered repeated delays, with phase 1B delayed to July 1979 and again to June 1980. Starting from late-1975, hampered by delays, building costs inflated dramatically, with costs rising almost 15 per cent annually as delays progressed. The initial budget for phase one had risen to RM136.2 million by May 1975, and to RM151.8 million by September 1979. Similarly, construction of
10998-629: The skyscraper's height to 248.9 m (817 ft). A 16 metres (52 ft) skywalk , three bubble lifts, and a 90-metre-long (300 ft) rope course were added in 2018. After its completion in late-1985, Komtar stood at 231.7 metres (760 ft) tall, and became the second-tallest skyscraper in Asia , behind Sunshine 60 . It was also the tallest skyscraper in Southeast Asia until 10 November 1986, and in Malaysia until 10 June 1988, when it
11115-477: The skyscraper. The call of tender for the project's construction concluded in December 1973. Komtar is supported by a three-metre thick reinforced concrete raft foundation , with 860 composite piles up to 54 metres (177 ft) deep. These enabled the complex to be resistant to tremors up to four on the Modified Mercalli scale . Piling works of the complex concluded at the end of 1973. Construction of
11232-556: The state KriPos together formed the "SiPo" ( Sicherheitspolizei , "security police"); and there was also the Gestapo ( Geheime Staatspolizei , "secret state police"). The new order of the German Democratic Republic in the east brought about a conscious denazification , but also a repudiation of earlier turns of phrase in favour of neologisms such as Stasi for Staatssicherheit ("state security",
11349-417: The state government only owned one-third of all retail units in the complex. The remaining tenants were purchased and owned by private businesses, leading to serious disagreements on rental rates and occupancies. In 2005, the two largest anchor tenants of the complex, Super Komtar and Parkson , ceased operations in rapid succession, decimating foot traffic in the complex. By 2008, 40 per cent of retailers in
11466-546: The style guides of The Chicago Manual of Style and the Associated Press . The U.S. government follows a style guide published by the U.S. Government Printing Office . The National Institute of Standards and Technology sets the style for abbreviations of units. Many British publications follow some of these guidelines in abbreviation: Writers often use shorthand to denote units of measure. Such shorthand can be an abbreviation, such as "in" for " inch " or can be
11583-400: The total cost reached RM279.5 million (RM642.5 million in 2023 value). Plans for phases 2E, three, four, and five were first proposed in 1990–1991. These projects would remain in development until the 2010s as 1st Avenue Mall , Prangin Mall , and the Sia Boey Urban Archaeological Park . In 1989, a parcel of land situated at the junction of Prangin Road and Penang Road, designated phase 2E,
11700-453: The vocabulary as generic words are no longer written with capital letters nor with any periods. Examples are sonar , radar , lidar , laser , snafu , and scuba . When an abbreviation appears at the end of a sentence, only one period is used: The capital of the United States is Washington, D.C. In the past, some initialisms were styled with a period after each letter and a space between each pair. For example, U. S. , but today this
11817-464: The words in a typical SMS message are abbreviated. More recently Twitter, a popular social networking service , began driving abbreviation use with 140 character message limits. In HTML , abbreviations can be annotated using < abbr title = "Meaning of the abbreviation." > abbreviation </ abbr > to reveal its meaning by hovering the cursor . In modern English, there are multiple conventions for abbreviation, and there
11934-455: Was Magazine Circus , a roundabout converging on a junction of six major roads. The Malays named it Simpang Enam ("the six-way junction"), while the Chinese called it Go Pha Teng ("the five lamps"), referencing street lamps set up at the junction. In 1928, the first traffic lights in Penang were set up at the roundabout. Sia Boey was severely bombed during Japanese raids during the start of
12051-649: Was built for agricultural and commercial uses, and marked the furthest boundaries of George Town at the time. Due to its location, the Malays referred to it as Ujong Pasir, while the Chinese called it Sia Boey, both carrying the same meaning of the "end of the village". In 1806, a marketplace was set up at Sia Boey, which evolved into the Sia Boey Market. Since the 1880s, the market centered around an iron market hall, which operated until 2004. Adjacent to Sia Boey
12168-409: Was carried out in four stages (phases 1A–D). Phase 1A, the four-storey retail podium, was planned to be completed by October 1976. It received a soft opening on 2 December 1976. Piling works for phase 1B, an extension of the podium and the central skyscraper began in November 1975. It was initially expected that the next three stages would be completed by September 1978, 1979, and 1980 respectively, with
12285-460: Was contracted for the project, but it stalled within months. PDC designated four sites within George Town in late-1969 as "comprehensive development areas" for urban redevelopment, which included the construction of low-cost flats on reclaimed land and urban renewal programmes. It then created a "central area planning unit" (CAPU) for monitoring residential and highway infrastructural projects in
12402-459: Was finally complete in mid-2000 and opened in 2001. Phase five, which occupied Sia Boey Market, was planned in 1991 as a mixed retail, office, and residential development. The land was sold in July 1991 for RM31 million to a private developer for potential development scheduled for 1995 or 1996, but stalled. In 2002, phase five was planned as an interchange terminal of the Bayan Lepas line ,
12519-411: Was however unsuccessful, being relocated to Macallum Street Ghaut in 2016 due to a revival of the Bayan Lepas line. Eventually, a 2.53 acres (1.02 ha) park known as the Sia Boey Urban Archaeological Park began construction in 2015 and was completed in 2019, costing RM29.1 million. The park, which occupied a disused section of the Prangin Canal, opened for public use on 9 November 2019. In May 2023,
12636-512: Was modeled after Raffles City Singapore . Construction was completed in June 2010 and inaugurated on 25 November 2010. Phase four was originally designed as an extension of Komtar's pedestrian mall, stretching 100 metres (330 ft) along Prangin Road, beyond Carnavon Street, while covering remnants of Maxwell Road. In 1990, 155 traders along Prangin Road were relocated to within Komtar and Chowrasta Market in preparation for phase four. However,
12753-512: Was planned for the complex to convert into a hotel or commercial centre once the relocation was complete. However, the project stalled and was put on hold indefinitely in May 2003, before being canceled in 2008 by Lim Guan Eng due to cost issues. The stalemate over Komtar's redevelopment led to state assemblyman Lim Gim Soon to sarcastically propose in 2007 to convert the complex into a Chinese secondary school. Several renovations were undertaken during
12870-456: Was projected to raise the total revenue in the region from RM114,000 in 1974 to RM3 million in 1984, which was planned as funds for maintenance and upkeep for the complex's amenities. Phase one involves the construction of a four-storey podium, a geodesic dome , and a 60-storey central skyscraper covering an area of 301,000 square feet (28,000 m). The complex's podium was designed to rejuvenate George Town's declining inner-city economy with
12987-582: Was put up for sale. In 1991, Malaysian retail chain Metrojaya submitted plans for Metro Plaza, a six-storey department complex for phase 2E. The complex was to cost RM47 million with 340,000 square feet (32,000 m) of retail space. Metrojaya would acquire necessary parcels of land throughout 1991. In early-1992, the project was scaled down to a five-storey department complex with 312,000 square feet (29,000 m) of built-up area, 240 parking spaces and 650 staff. Preparation of Metro Plaza began in 1992 with
13104-576: Was surpassed by One Raffles Place and Maybank Tower respectively. With 65 floors, it had the highest floor count of any building in Asia until the completion of the Bank of China Tower in January 1990. Upon its opening, it was advertised as the premier commercial district of George Town. It was among the most popular places of congregation for teenagers in the city in the 1980s. Typically, 5,000 people work in
13221-572: Was suspended in February 1997 due to concerns of unstable soil influenced by flaws in foundational works for Prangin Mall nearby. Construction never resumed and was cancelled amidst the Asian financial crisis in late-1997. The cancellation of Mutiara Parade suspended any construction at the site until October 2007, when construction began on 1st Avenue , an 11-storey 430,000 square feet (40,000 m) shopping mall. The development, costing RM300 million,
13338-478: Was symptomatic of an attempt by people manually reproducing academic texts to reduce the copy time. Mastɔ subwardenɔ y ɔmēde me to you. And wherɔ y wrot to you the last wyke that y trouyde itt good to differrɔ thelectionɔ ovɔ to quīdenaɔ tinitatis y have be thougħt me synɔ that itt woll be thenɔ a bowte mydsomɔ. In the Early Modern English period, between the 15th and 17th centuries, the thorn Þ
13455-474: Was the premier retail hub in Penang. A combination of economic decline after the 1997 Asian financial crisis and rising competition from newer and upscale shopping complexes in the outer suburbs such as Gurney Plaza and Penang Times Square caused a significant decline in commercial traffic. The complex was also poorly maintained and disliked by tenants due to its cramped, outdated, and confusing interior layouts. Attempts of renovation in Komtar were difficult as
13572-437: Was to be completed by 1993. The project sat on an 84,000 square feet (7,800 m) plot of land running largely parallel to the Prangin Canal and was to be built by Kumagai Gumi . In 1992, citing its inability to allow majority local participation of the project as required, Yaohan rescinded the 1990 agreement, which led to a private takeover by Lion Group . Demolition works for the site began in 1992 with twelve shophouses, with
13689-451: Was used for th , as in Þ ('the'). In modern times, ⟨Þ⟩ was often used (in the form ⟨y⟩ ) for promotional reasons, as in Y Olde Tea Shoppe . During the growth of philological linguistic theory in academic Britain, abbreviating became very fashionable. Likewise, a century earlier in Boston , a fad of abbreviation started that swept the United States, with
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