Economic report

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SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING & DESIGN
FOUNDATION IN NATURAL & BUILT ENVIRONMENT
July Intake 2013
Semester 2
Principles of Economics [FNBE0135]
Assignment: A Comparative Analysis of 2 Businesses of
Similar Industry in Different Geographical Locations
Lecture: Chang Jau Ho
Name Student ID No.
Yong Seen Yee 0315883
Tee Sin Yi 0315689
Leong Chee Mun 0316256

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Summary
This is a report for a Comparative Analysis of 2 Businesses of Similar Industry in
Different Geographical Locations. In this report, we will compare two seafood restaurants
that located at two different places which are Restaurant Ah Pek Lee Kou Hock in Sitiawan
and the other one is Sri Petaling seafood village in Sri Petaling. In this report, we will discuss
about how they remain the level of market profit earning. This would be depends of the
effectiveness of the firm’s strategies, size of the market, creativity of the business, nature of
product sold, quality of service, method of advertising and so on. Besides, we would also
discuss about the challenges and obstacles facing by these two restaurants. Lastly, we will
discuss the hidden future and present competitor of the two restaurants.

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Table of content
No. Title Page
1 Summary 2
2 Introduction
(a) Research location
(b) The group
(c) The topic
4
3 History of seafood 5
4 Brief bio of the business
(a) Restaurant Ah Pek Lee Kou Hock
(b) Restaurant Sri Petaling Seafood Village
6-7
5 Comparative Analysis of the Businesses’ Competitive
Traits
8-10
6 Recommendations
11
7 Meeting Minutes 12-17
8 Interview Notes 18-21
9 Appendix 22-26
10 References 27

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Introduction
Our Research Location
Our first research venue is Sitiawan. Sitiawan has an alternative name called Setiawan.
Sitiawan is a region in the Manjung district of Perak, Malaysia. It is a very small rural area
which is still undergoing development. However, the pricing over the area is counted as
cheap due to the reason that it is still not a fully developed area. Nevertheless, it is a small
town with many interesting cuisine and culture.
Our second fixed research location is Klang Valley is an area in Malaysia comprising Kuala
Lumpur and its suburban areas, and adjoining cities and towns in the state of Selangor.
However, our main research location is Sri Petaling which is a suburban area. Bandar Baru
Seri Petaling is a vibrant, self-contained suburban township with excellent infrastructure. In
fact, Sri Petaling is a place with a lot of delicious food waiting for us to explore.
Our Group
Our Group consists of three members who are Leong Chee Mun (0316256), Tee Sin Yi
(0315689), Yong Seen Yee (0315883). We are from the different slots of tutorial classes
which is Monday, 11a.m.-1p.m. (Yong Seen Yee) and Wednesday, 12p.m.-2p.m. (Tee Sin Yi
and Leong Chee Mun)
Our Topic
The main purpose of this assignment is to carry a research on two different businesses. So,
we decided to explore the food industry and we chose to investigate about seafood industry.
Our final selected seafood restaurants are Ah Pek Lee Kou Hock Seafood Restaurant and Sri
Petaling Seafood Village which are located in Sitiawan and Sri Petaling respectively.

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History of Seafood
The harvesting and consuming of seafood are ancient practices that date back to at least
the beginning of the Palaeolithic period about 40,000 years ago. Archaeology features such as
shell, discarded fish bones and cave paintings show that sea foods were important for survival
and consumed in significant quantities. During this period, most people lived a hunter-
gatherer lifestyle. Also, they moved from one place to another if there is a necessity.
However, there are early examples of permanent settlements such as those at Lepenski Vir,
they are always associated with fishing as a major source of food. The ancient river Nile was
full of fresh fish and dried fish were a staple food for much of the population. Thus, fish and
other seafood have become ingredients for business usage. Normally, seafood restaurant only
cater food for customers and they get ingredients from suppliers. Of course, there are some
seafood businesses which prey their catch on their own.

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Brief Description of the Businesses
(Sri Petaling Seafood Village Restaurant)
Tracia is the founder of Sri Petaling Seafood Village Restaurant. She was born in
1962 in Belakong, Selangor. Originally, she and her husband was golf lover so they decided
to start their golf course business. Meanwhile, they found a jungle which is the current
address is suitable to develop as a golf course so they went to apply from the owner. After
setting all things, they started their golfing business in year 1999 with her husband’s brother.
In the same year, they considered that seafood restaurant have potential in future market.
Therefore, they had decided to exploit the land beside golf course since they can look after
two businesses at the same time. Now, they have hired 16 people in restaurant and Tracia will
be there every 9am – 5pm. The most popular food in this restaurant are baked crab with salty
egg yolk, ginger friend chicken, fried vegetable with scallop and baked prawn with cheese.
Besides, this is a halal Chinese cuisine establishment, which means there will be no pork
served in this restaurant. This restaurant is located at Lot 24221, Jalan Merah Silu, Bandar
Baru Seri Petaling, 57000 Kuala Lumpur. It is actually located at an unassuming spot, on the
road running somewhat parallel to the back of Carrefour. The place was brightly lit, open air
and already nicely filled with diners.

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(Restaurant Ah Pek Lee Kou Hock)
Restaurant Ah Pek Lee Kou Hock is located at Sitiawan, perak. The outlet is just one
of the many popular restaurants located along Jalan Pasir Panjang in Kampung Cina. It is one
of the town’s most frequented open-air eatery. The founder is Ling’s family third generations
heirs named Ling Hoh Peng. The first founder of this business was Hoh Peng’s late
grandfather. Restaurant Ah Pek Lee Kou Hock established since year 1979. Initially, the land
was a coconut plantation and his late grandfather was a business man that was selling Toddy.
After that, his grandfather changed it to a seafood restaurant. Besides, Lim Hoh Peng is a
fisherman. He goes out for fishing every morning for six days in a week. The workers and
him will load up his sampan and spend a few hours fishing until their haul is big enough.
Therefore, they very emphasize on the freshness of the seafood, they don’t have specific
menu, the style it is cooked in is really what creates a scrumptious dish. However, the top five
popular dishes are steam flower crab, steam prawn, bihun soup with oyster, oyster omelette
and “Sar Jui Yee”. This is a halal Chinese cuisine establishment, which means no pork is
served. In other hand, this restaurant hired only 3 workers and helped by relatives, this means
that it is a family business. Hock Ping’s wife, Beh Ah Luan, does most of the cooking at the
restaurant and is helped by their three children. Although this is a family business and get the
support from the family, but he does not consider opening a franchise to expand their
business. In addition, Ling Hoh Peng is an open minded person to his business. He would
rather loss their customer when the restaurant cannot load too many customers to ensure the
quality of food. The opening hours of this business is from 10am-10pm.

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Comparative analysis of the businesses’
competitive traits
Brief Bio’s of their competitors
Ah Pek Lee Kou Hock Restaurant can be said as the top seafood restaurant in Sitiawan. On the other
hand, Sri Petaling Seafood Village does not have any competitor which is also operating seafood but
there are quite a number of famous restaurants. There are three competitors for each business’
analysis.
For Ah Pek Lee Kou Hock Seafood Restaurant, their competitors are Villa Seafood Restaurant,
Restaurant Hai Tien Di and Amu Coconut Villa Seafood Restaurant. These are their briefly traits.
Name of Restaurant Brief Bio About Them Famous Cuisine
Villa Seafood Restaurant There is one special
decoration of them which is
you can feast under the
shady coconut tree.
Their top 3 cuisine are
"Pak Cheok Har" – Plain,
steamed prawns with
Ginger and Scallions
Marmite Chicken, Stir-
fried "Choy Tum", Or
Chien (Oyster Omelette)
and Fresh Fruits on the
house.
Restaurant Hai Tien Di This restaurant is located
opposite a big Anglican
church.
Their most attractive
foods are steamed
prawns, fresh oyster and
steamed grouper.
Amu Coconut Villa Seafood
Restaurant
The restaurant is
conveniently located at
Lorong Satu, Kampung Cina
and about 5 minutes car ride
from Tua Pek Kong temple.
Their top 3 most wanted
food are oyster omelette
with sweet onions,
refreshing coconut juice
and deep fried squid.
Their handmade chili
sauce is real good and a
perfect combination with
the deep fried squid.

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For Sri Petaling Seafood Village, their competitors are Restaurant Soon Fatt, Kam Lun Tai Restaurant
Sri Petaling and Restaurant Ye Look. These are their briefly traits.
Name of Restaurant Brief Bio About Them Famous Cuisine
Restaurant Soon Fatt Restaurant Soon Fatt is a
popular dinner spot for
Chinese families around Sri
Petaling area.
One of their top 3 cuisines
is Herbal Chicken with
Soup. This is a precooked
dish. Huge pot of tasty
chicken and soup with
generous amount of
herbs. Highly
recommended.
The second one will be
Braised Pork Ribs with
Yam. This is another
precooked dish. Pork and
yam are well cooked and
tasty. Recommended.
Lastly, stir-fried Young
Potato Leaves will be a
good choice. Normal stir-
fried vegetable.
Kam Lun Tai Restaurant Sri
Petaling
Kam Lun Tai Restaurant was
the venue for an investment
talk thing when a couple of
us were invited for some
food session. Kam Lun Tai is
a rather big Chinese
restaurant spanning 3 lots of
double storey space.
Their most attractive
foods are salad prawns,
char siew pork and
wrapped braised pork.
Restaurant Ye Look This restaurant is a little bit
different from the other’s
restaurant. Most of their
foods are single order.
One of their top 3 most
wanted foods is pan mee,
which is a type of noodle
that is handmade from
kneaded flour. This is one
of the well-known
Malaysian foods. Bitter
gourd in yong tau foo style
also a hot sale. Their dry
pan mee is always chewy
and the chilli has its own
recipes.
In order to survive in this field, our selected businesses had their own strategies to compete with them.

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Strategies Ah Pek Lee Kou Hock
Seafood Restaurant
Sri Petaling Seafood Village
Pricing They set a reasonable price
which can be said as market
price. This restaurant has
weaker pricing power than
Sri Petaling Village. However,
their business performance
is still very stable as they
could earn enough revenue.
Their pricing are set
according to the economics’
flow as their restaurant is
located in the town so their
price would be slightly
higher.
Advertising Previously, Astro ‘Ah Xian’
show had advertised for
them for free as their brand
is so wanting. Besides, there
are some foods columns in
the newspaper will help
them to promote without
charging. Normally, they
advertise their restaurant
through internet. Of course,
word of mouth spread by old
customer is a vital approach
as well.
They did distribute flyers
before in order to promote
their restaurant. However,
this strategy had only lasted
for few months. They
stopped using this strategy
after their business
increased. Besides, their
customers are mostly their
golf club’s customers.
Product Variety Ah Pek Restaurant always
innovate new cuisine with
his own secret recipes. The
justification is that their
customers will not get bored
easily toward their foods.
As always, they do create
and invent new dishes so
that they can attract more
customers. They even
differentiated their products.
For instance, they will have
fried prawns or salad
prawns.

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Recommendations
We have some recommendations and suggestions after investigating these restaurants. It
might be helpful for them.
Ah Pek Seafood Restaurant
Having few branches
Their brand is undeniably popular among those seafood restaurants in Sitiawan. However
they do not have any intention or will to open branch. Nonetheless, I think they should have
done it as opening branch can earn extra revenue. Besides, each of his children can help him
to handle his branches when he grows older.
Executing marketing seafood business
Promoting their foods by using social media is quite a useful mean as people nowadays are
always depending internet. Besides, customers could enjoy the delivery service easily
through digital selling. Ultimately, they can increase their revenue.
Sri Petaling Seafood Restaurant
Advertising
They can advertise more as we found out that actually they did not put much effort in
advertising their business. They could advertise their restaurant through newspapers or even
creating an official website for their brand.
Creating new cuisine
They should keep updating their cuisine frequently. Of course, they invent new dishes but
they do not make them interestingly. For instance, they can promote their fresh dish of the
day or even have some value package come with the new dishes.

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Meeting Minutes
MEETING MINUTES 1
DATE / TIME 21 April 2014 – 2.00pm – 4.30pm
MEETING TITLE Discussion of the Research Project
AGENDA TOPIC Discuss and decide what kind of industry, which shops and
locations we want to interview
MEETING LOCATION Library
ATTENDED BY NAME:
Yong Seen Yee
Joanne Tee
Leong Chee Mun
INITIAL:
YSY
JT
LCM
PREPARED BY Yong Seen Yee YSY

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NO MATTERS DISCUSSED ACTION DEADLINE
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
To decide which kind of industry, shops and locations.
LCM and YSY Google search the restaurant
LCM and YSY had searched a few locations. For example, Melaka; Perak
and Pahang.
Based on majority votes, all members decided to choose Sitiawan,
Perak.
YSY is a key contact person for Restaurant Ah Pek Lee Kou Hock.
JT will in charge in preparing the interview questions.
All group member decided when to depart to Sitiawan
YSY in charge of preparing the transportation and shelter.
JT prints the interview note
YSY prepares the camera
LCM will be a note taker
INFO
LCM/YSY
LCM/YSY
INFO
YSY
JT
JT/YSY/
LCM
YSY
JT
YSY
LCM
23/4/14
23/4/14
24/4/14
27/4/14
28/4/14
28/4/14
27/4/14
28/4/14
28/4/14

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MEETING MINUTES 2
DATE / TIME 13 May 2014 – 2.00pm – 4.30pm
AGENDA TOPIC To decide another seafood restaurant and location.
ATTENDED BY NAME:
Yong Seen Yee
Joanne Tee
Leong Chee Mun
INITIAL:
YSY
JT
LCM

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1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
LCM and YSY Google search for another seafood restaurant
LCM and YSY had searched a few locations in Klang Valley. For
example, Petaling Jaya; Subng Jaya; kelana Jaya and Sri Petaling.
Based on majority votes, all members had decided to choose Sri
Petaling.
YSY is a key contact person for Restaurant Sri Petaling Seafood Village.
JT will in charge in preparing the interview questions.
All group member decided when depart to Sri Petaling
YSY in charge in preparing the transportation.
JT prints the interview note
YSY prepares the camera
LCM will be a note taker
LCM/YSY
LCM/YSY
INFO
YSY
JT
JT/YSY/
LCM
YSY
JT
YSY
LCM
15/5/14
15/5/14
17/5/14
18/5/14
19/5/14
19/5/14
18/5/14
19/5/14
19/5/14

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MEETING MINUTES 3
DATE / TIME 21 May 2014 – 1.00pm – 5.00pm
AGENDA TOPIC To divide the tasks to all the members
ATTENDED BY NAME:
Yong Seen Yee
Joanne Tee
Leong Chee Mun
INITIAL:
YSY
JT
LCM

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1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
JT list out the tasks
JT and YSY translate the Chinese conversation into English for both
restaurant
LCM in charge in video editing
JT and YSY in charge in report
All members in charge in power point slide
Divide the oral presentation part
JT presents background of Restaurant Ah Pek Lee Kou Hock; expansion
and approach of both restaurants.
YSY presents background of Restaurant Sri Petaling Seafood Village and
analysis of Restaurant Ah Pek Lee Kou Hock.
LCM presents analysis of Restaurant Sri Petaling Seafood Village and
future plans of both restaurants.
All members rehears oral presentation
JT
JT/YSY
LCM
JT/YSY
JT//YSY/
LCM
INFO
JT
YSY
LCM
JT/YSY/
LCM
20/5/14
22/5/14
26/5/14
26/5/14
28/5/14
28/5/14
28/5/14
28/5/14
28/5/14
2/6/14

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Interview Notes
1) What is your name?
-Ling Hoh Peng
2) What is the restaurant name?
- Restaurant Ah Pek Lee Kou Hock
3) Where is the current location?
- No.135, Kampung Cina, Sitiawan, 32000, Sitiawan, Perak.
4) When were the businesses started?
-1979
5) Who are the founders?
-My late grandfather
6) What prompted the founders to start this business?
Originally, this land was a coconut land. So there were actually a lot of coconut tree here.
Toddy is created from the sap of coconut palms. Therefore, my late grandfather first started
selling Toddy and seafood together because customers like to enjoy seafood with Toddy.
7) Which generation are you?
- Third generation
8) How many years have you been taking over this business?
-Since I started to take over this business, it has been 30 years and above.
9) How many branch offices/stores do you have (if applicable)?
- I don’t have any branch. One restaurant is enough for me. I think I am unable to handle too
many businesses if I planned to operate branches.
10) How many employees do you have?
- 10 included me
11) Who are your customers?
- Local people, mostly Chinese and foreign customer
12) Estimated current number of customers?
- It is very hard to estimate and tell. Normally we have many old customers. So we earn
revenue of 3 to 5 tables per day as an average.

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13) Would you have more customers during weekends or holidays?
-The amount of customers will increase for sure though it is still unstable
14) What are the popular products sold?
- “Sar Jui Yee”; Bihun soup with oyster; oyster omelette; steam prawn; steam flower crab
15) What is your business hour?
- We operate at 11am. We do not have an accurate closing hour as we would call it a day if
we sold finish our catch. It is either afternoon or evening.
16) How many competitors operate in your respective geographical markets?
- As I know, there are around 11 or 12 seafood restaurants in this area
17) Brief bios of each business’ top 3 competitors (E.g. who are they? What are their
products? etc.)?
- The top 3 competitors are Restaurant “Amu”, Restaurant “Villa” and Restaurant “Hai Tien
Di”. Their main products are crab and oyster.
18) Generally, do you feel it is easy or hard to enter this market? Why?
- It is very hard to enter this market because you will have to face a lot of pressures.
19) How do you compete with your competitors i.e. what strategies do you employ to divert
customers away from your competitors?
- No, we do not fight over each other intentionally. I do not own a lot of workers. Sometimes
I can’t even handle extra businesses when out restaurant comes to a peak hour. We would
rather suggest those unfortunate customers to visit other restaurants. No fighting remained
peaceful.
20) Do you own this land?
- Yes. It is our right. Original, it was belonged to my late grandfather. After that, he divided
equally the right of the land for my father and my uncle. Then, I saved adequate money and I
bought the whole land right.
21) Government had increased the pricing of electricity recently. Does it affect your business?
- Yes. Our expenses had increased.
22) Do you advertise your restaurant?
Normally, my customers would help me advertise through Internet or spreading the word-of-
mouth. There is once a show ‘Ah Xian’ from Astro helped us to advertise. It was totally free.
23) Did your business’ revenue increased at the time?
- There was a period when Pasir Panjang first built and became a hot tourism. It brought us a
lot of businesses as they would have meal over here right after their tourism.

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24) Are your pricing decisions strongly affected by your competitors?
No. Our product’s price is reasonable.
25) Do you have meetings to discuss plans and strategies?
-No. we do it according our will.
26) Do you distribute bonus every year end?
- Yes.

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(Restaurant Sri Petaling seafood village)
1) What is your name?
-Tracia
2) What is the restaurant name?
- Restaurant Sri Petaling seafood village
3) Where is the current location?
- Lot 24221, Jalan Merah Silu, Bandar Baru Seri Petaling, 57000 Kuala Lumpur.
4) When were the businesses started?
-1999
5) Who are the founders?
- My husband and I. It is a couple jobs
6) What prompted the founders to start this business?
- Originally I was a golf coach. Also, initially there was a café business then we expanded it
into a seafood business.
7) How many branch offices/stores do you have (if applicable)?
- I don’t have any branch.
8) How many employees do you have?
- 15 included me
9) Who are your customers?
- Most of our customers are fixed customers who are also visiting our golf court regularly
10) Estimated current number of customers?
- It is very hard to estimate. We are not contribution businesses. All are walk-in businesses.
We earned 10units out of 30units per day can be counted as good result already.
11) Would you have more customers during weekends or holidays?
- Not really, it is remain normal
12) How was your business recently?
- It is not as good as it used to be.
13) What is your biggest expense?
- Rental is the biggest expense. This is because the rental keeps on increasing year by year.

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14) How much is your rental cost per month?
- Around 10K
15) What is your annual revenue?
- Around 45K
16) What are the popular products sold?
- Baked prawn with cheese; Baked crab with salted egg yolk; Fried vegetable with scallop;
ginger fried chicken
17) How many competitors operate in your respective geographical markets?
- I am not sure about that but I know some famous restaurants around here are Restaurant
Soon Fatt; Kam Lun Tai Restaurant Sri Petaling and Restaurant Ye Look
18) Generally, do you feel it is easy or hard to enter this market? Why?
- It is very hard to enter this market. We meet difficulties every year. From the first day we
initiated this business, we meet a lot of problems. It is like a challenge for me.
19) Do you own this land?
- No, it is a rental.
20) Government had increased the pricing of electricity recently. Does it affect your business?
- Yes. Our expenses had increased.
21) Do you advertise your restaurant?
- I have distributed flyers. Besides, my customers would help me advertise through spreading
the word-of-mouth.
22) Did your business’ revenue increased at the time?
- Not really
23) Do you have meetings to discuss plans and strategies?
-No. we do it according our will.
24) Do you distribute bonus every year end?
- Yes.

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Appendix
Popular products
Steam flower crab “Sar Jui yee”
Steam prawn Bihun soup with oyster

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oysters omelette
Competitors
Restaurant seafood villa Restaurant seafood Amu
Business card

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(Sri Petaling Seafood village)
Popular products
Baked crabs with salted egg yolk Fried vegetable with scallops
Ginger chicken Baked prawn with cheese

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Competitor
Kam Lun Tai Restaurant Sri Petaling Restoran Soon Fatt
Restoran Ye Look
Advertising method (Flyers)
Business card

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Reference
https://www.google.com.my/search?q=villa+seafood+sitiawan&rlz=1W4CHBA_enMY572&source=ln
ms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=uGaIU_rsAceykAX-
xoGACQ&sqi=2&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAg&biw=1438&bih=684#facrc=_&imgrc=HNj4ieJ1K3QsUM%253A
%3Bur96kwpH7cEmqM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Ffarm4.staticflickr.com%252F3811%252F107269
08313_811eb81456_o.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.j2kfm.com%252F2013-tua-pek-kong-
temple-villa-seafood-coconut-jelly-sitiawan%252F%3B608%3B405
https://www.google.com.my/search?q=villa+seafood+sitiawan&rlz=1W4CHBA_enMY572&source=ln
ms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=uGaIU_rsAceykAX-
xoGACQ&sqi=2&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAg&biw=1438&bih=684#q=ah+mu+seafood+sitiawan&tbm=isch&f
acrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=wxK_MC7TtLXnRM%253A%3B1Rf_q0yS2Wy-
QM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252F2.bp.blogspot.com%252F--
q0ItQBIR4w%252FUPvvdpj5m5I%252FAAAAAAAAIXQ%252FBRm54zhBDG0%252Fs320%252FIMG_4
522.JPG%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fpurplesdiary.blogspot.com%252F2013%252F01%252Fyet-road-
trip-to-sitiawan-pangkor-ipoh.html%3B240%3B320
http://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/fedex-partner-zone/top-tips-on-expanding-
your-small-business
http://www.isaactan.net/2011/12/kam-lun-tai-restaurant-sri-petaling.html
http://www.eatonlylar.com/chinese-food/restoran-ye-look
http://www.slideshare.net/fullscreen/kaisintan/english-2-research-assignment-31191916/1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_seafood

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