Say NO to Passive Smoking 6

My father used to be a heavy smoker. He does not like to be passive smoker even though he was a smoker. That's why he never smoke at non-smoking areas. I am glad that he managed to quit smoking for health sake recently.

Today afternoon, we have visited to one of the Pappa Rich cafe in Klang Valley. We were seated at the air-conditioned area which is also an area that smoking is prohibited. The smoking area will be at the tables along the open air walkway).

While we were sipping our cup of tea and coffee, the annoying cigarette smoke irritated me. It was puffed out from a selfish culprit that smoked in the non-smoking area.

Selfish smoker

"I need air-cond, but wanted to smoke also, syiok!"

"Don't worry buddy, nobody will come after me smoking at prohibited area, this is Malaysia."

6th Google Adsense Pay Cheque Received

The sixth Google Adsense pay check (cheque) arrived last week. It has been quite a while since I received the fifth pay check from Google Inc 6 months ago.

Marco's 6th Google Adsense Pay Check

I have been very quiet for a while, and have very less posting in 2011. But, the Google Adsense earning does perform consistently with slight increment in term of earning per month.

Maybe I shall set some goals to transform Google Adsense earning as one of the main income streams.

Current Performance
2011:  2 pay checks per year (half yearly)

Target
2012:  4 pay checks per year (quarterly)
2013:  6 pay checks per year (bi-monthly)
2014:  8 pay checks per year
2015: 12 pay checks per year (monthly) 

I believe the above target is realistic and achievable. Don't you think so?

Taiping Mali Cafe at Bandar Puteri Puchong is Closing Down

About a year ago,  I have expressed my frustration towards the price and the quality of the foods & beverages served at Taiping Mali Cafe via the post titled Taiping Mali Cafe at Bandar Puteri Puchong.

The post has received quite a number of comments from readers that shared the same experience like me.

Taiping Mali Cafe at Bandar Puteri Puchong is closing down. Good location and trendy renovation is not helping the Taiping Mali Cafe, to be a survivor in restaurant or F&B business, foods quality comes first, and the business sustainability will need to be supported by reasonable price. Location and renovation will only be able to add value to the business if the two main criteria which is foods quality & reasonable price are fulfilled.

Recently, the lifestyle restaurants are mushrooming the Klang Valley cities like Bandar Puteri Puchong and Sri Petaling. I have tried some of them, half of them served awful factories processed foods and yet asking for premium price.　Just wonder how many of them can survive the business for more than 12-month.  　　　

Toyota Hilux PGV2825 - What a selfish road user!

Parking space is limited in most of the commercial areas in Klang Valley. Yet, there are still selfish drivers that double park, triple park, illegal park and occupy multiple parking space for own convenience.

What do you think of the personalities of the driver of Toyata Hilux with car plate number PGV2825? What a selfish road user with no consideration to others.

Is the EPF (KWSP) being looted?

On the 23rd of June 2011, the EPF (KWSP) tabled its annual report to the parliament, declaring a 5.8% dividend and explained that 27% of its investments were in Malaysian Government Securities (MGS) and 32% were in loans and bonds to government agencies. A simple chart below summarized the report. At RM 440.52 billion, the EPF is one of the largest funds in the world and represents the life time savings of 12 million private sector employees.

The question is why is it that over 60% of EPF funds are in loans to the government and government bodies? Is the Malaysian Government a good borrower?

Let’s look at the BN Government’s financial record. Below is a summary of the government annual deficits. The 2012 budget will mark the 15th year of budget deficit with no signal of financial prudence. And as you can see below, there have been supplementary budgets on top of the annual budgets every single year.

Government debt as at Dec 2010 stands at 407 Billion Ringgit Malaysia (MYR). 60% of this or 240 Billion is owed to the EPF. This means the BN Government of Malaysia has already spent 60% of all your savings in the EPF!

After running deficit budgets for 14 consecutive years, and funding those deficits by borrowing, Malaysian Government Securities (MGS) are rated at CC(-)ve. At CC minus, what is the annual yield? Folks, it’s an unbelievable 3%and below! Why? Because MGS are not auctioned!! There is a ready buyer for MGS and apart from the endless new PNB funds like the 1Malaysia bond, the main buyer of Malaysian debt papers is the EPF.

“Fair Value” rate for lower grade papers of single A and below is an annual yield of 5% and above. Greek Government bonds for example are being traded at yields exceeding 21% per annum.

The constitution of Malaysia caps Government debt at 55% of GDP. As at 30th June 2011, Government debt stands at 433 billion, which is 53% of GDP. At 55% the Government will be officially in crisis and the constitution will need to be changed to increase borrowing and possibly even require a bail out.

Recently the EU central bank agreed to extend financial aid to the Government of Greece on the condition they adopt massive austerity measures and that the lenders take a haircut of 50% of all outstanding loans. After all, they continually lent to a borrower who showed absolutely NO commitment to cut expenses and begin to service their debts. Just imagine if the EPF is asked to take a 50% haircut of their debts from the Malaysian Government!

An even worse scenario was painted recently by Pakatan Rakyat when they reported that much of government debt was unreported as it is largely hidden from public eye in the form of debt owing by Government agencies.

 

As you can see above, the 433 billion owed by the Government is represented by the red and Orange bars. On top of official figures, an additional 184 billion is owed by various Government agencies.

Take a look here at another explanation.

So…. Is the EPF being looted? I say yes it is. Let me explain how.

A summary on the 2012 budget is below,

Of the total 233 billion, total operating expenses is at 162 billion and over 64 billion is allocated for the civil service in pensions and wages. Of the massive 233 billion, only 51 billion is going to development, of which over 80% is to construction projects, designed to specifically benefit a few lucky fellows. And talking about lucky fellows, over 10 billion in subsidies paid for by us, are being paid directly to corporate bodies!

And how pray tell will they pay for all this? By borrowing of course! Do they even bother that it is we who will be paying for the debt servicing including interests? Najib even announced that employee’s contribution to the EPF will increase to 12% of salary. Which means even more will be tied up in the EPF in order to enable more borrowing! And if you earn less than RM 5,000, your contribution will increase to 13%.

These are indeed hard times for us, the people. And the Government has done fabulously well to recognise this by granting pay increments of 7 to 13% to all Government employees while carefully avoiding the minimum wage issue for private sector employees.

The Government currently collects about 4 billion from the GST already in place. A one time payment of RM 500 to civil sector employees will cost the Government over 2.6 billion.

Civil service remuneration cost 20 billion in 2004. This year it will cost 64 billion.

So the bottom line conclusion, again and again is the same. They are looting the EPF to please their vote bank of 1.3 million civil servants.

Hard times indeed… And yet DRB-Hicom is buying 237 armoured personnel carriers from Turkey for RM 1.7 billion and selling it to the ministry of defence for RM 7.55 billion. The Malaysian Government is buying 6 Littoral Combatant Vessels to enhance our Navy. These are the most advanced naval vessels in the world, able to shoot aircraft, ships and submarines… The ONLY other country that has such ships is the US navy. They have 2. We are buying 6 at a cost of 10 billion ringgit. The MRT can be built for 19 billion. But Idris Jala recently indicated that MMC Gamuda may incur more that the originally estimated cost of 54 billion to build it.

The Government can reduce its subsidies for rice and sugar by opening up the market for other players, but no, both commodities are controlled by the same Government crony. Syed Mokhtar Al Bukhary is the owner of all the companies mentioned above. Since this person took over the exclusive supply of these commodities in 2008, prices have doubled. This is despite the Government’s subsidy of 60 cents per kilo of rice and 20 cents per kilo of sugar.

The Government can easily buy the LDP highway for 1.5 billion ringgit, but no, it’s probably better that they continue to collect toll from us and receive 1.5 billion in subsidy from the government. Our IPPs buy gas at 10 Ringgit cheaper than companies in Thailand and 15 Ringgit cheaper than Singapore (Per CuM) but the Government still needs to feed them billions in subsidy.

Year after year after year, the Auditor General’s annual report details all the financial mismanagement in Government depts. But nothing is done. Take this year’s AGs report for example. The MACC went into high gear and opened 36 investigation files to investigate all the rubbish. And the cases are now closed. They found no element of corruption or deceit. Another thing the AG highlighted is the treasury’s contingency fund of 1.5 billion is now only 79 million Ringgit. 1.4 billion is missing…

The tolled highways were built at a cost of 26.4 billion and the operators have already raked in 37.7 billion and received another 2.1 billion in subsidies from the Government. And they are planning to raise the rates again soon.

The Government machinery of Barisan National is a system that benefits and enriches cronies with massively one sided contracts. It also ensures loyalty from a vote bank of 1.3 million civil servants who enjoy all kinds of benefits at the expense of the tax payer. The tax system is designed to exclude the majority of civil servants from actually paying any tax. And Government debt is going through the roof. In 2004, the total Government debt was 217. As at 30th June 2011, it stands at 433 billion. Najib’s administration is milking us dry. And they are using our funds in the EPF to run all these excesses, to enrich themselves, and to bribe the civil service into loyalty.

We EPF investors are 12 million in population. Vote against corruption, vote against poverty, and vote against the looting of your EPF savings. -Anonymous

Why fund the Barisan Nasional government if you are against their policies?

Since August 2011, I have started to move out part of my savings in Malaysia and invest in Singapore.

This is because I see no reason for me to fund the government that I do not trust. And, if the Lynas Rare Earth Processing Plant in Kuantan is approved for operation, I will dispose all of the Amanah Saham Unit Trust and withdraw all the available fund in account2 (KWSP) and park them in Singapore.

You do not need to wait for a general election to express your unhapiness on the existing ruling government. On top of the vote, one can pressure the government by withdrawing your money from all the funds that buying the Government Bonds.

Main Malaysia Government Bonds Buyers:

1. KWSP (EPF)

2. Unit Trust managed by Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB)

3. Fixed deposits under GLC banks (Maybank, CIMB, BSN, Agro Bank)

It is too easy for Malaysia government to issue bonds (debts) because there are ready government bonds buyer like KWSP and PNB.

It is not a good sign when PNB is launching a new unit trust (like Amanah Saham 1 Malaysia). The owner of PNB is the government. When the government need money, bonds will be printed. PNB will then raise fund by introducing new unit trust product or expand the fund size of existing unit trusts in order to buy the bonds.

Citizens who invest in the PNB unit trusts is paying real money to PNB in exchange of a booklet. PNB will then used the money to buy the government bonds (debts).

Why fund the Barisan Nasional government if you are against their policies?

Not convinced? Read below post:
Is the EPF (KWSP) being looted?

Say NO to Passive Smoking 5

Citta Mall management has gone one step further in anti-smoking initiative by prohibiting smoking in open air area as well (Please see picture below).

Clean air zone- We share the same air, thank you for not smoking.

 But, the enforcement of Citta Mall management is questionable as smokers are seen at the open air area.

The smoker who was facing the no smoking sign is smoking openly without hesitation.

LevelOne Wireless Router - Lifetime Warranty

About 3 year ago, when I was looking for a wireless router at Digital Mall, section14, Petaling Jaya, LevelOne brand was introduced to me. Actually I was looking for Cisco router at that time, but the retailer insisted me to give LevelOne a try because of the lifetime warranty policy.

Furthermore, Cisco router was out of stock at time. Without much option, I brought back the LevelOne wireless router.

Last Saturday, the wireless router failed to power on. I first thought of getting a new router, but undernealth my memory, I sort of remembering that this LevelOne wireless router has comes with a extended warranty.

Instead of going back to the retailer at Digital Mall, I brought the router to LevelOne distributor in Malaysia, Ivenue Soltions Sdn Bhd  for inspection. To my surprise, after approximately 10 minutes of inspection, the technician handed me a new LevelOne wireless router without any attached condition.

The LevelOne warranty claim experience is really exceptional good. The claim process is so simple, no complicated forms to fill up, need not wait for days or weeks for inspection and approval.

Contact details of LevelOne Malaysia Authorized Service Centre:

Ivenue Solutions Sdn Bhd

2nd Floor

37-2 Jalan PJS 11/2

Subang Indah

46000 Petaling Jaya

Selangor

Tel: +603-5632 5211

Mobile lifestyle

Mobility is always the way of my lifestyle. As a consultant, my job is to educate and provide relevant information to my clients at on-demand basis. A part from serving clients, the guy who sign my pay cheque is also expecting me to feed him with business update information as and when it is needed. 

Hence, to fulfil the on-demand requirements from the clients and bosses, many of my peers are opting to standby in the office with all the office facilities ready and materials in hand. But, this is not a productive way of work because times will be wasted if there is no urgent enquiries and adhoc business reports. Being idle at the office standby for such adhoc tasks is just not productive.

Leverage mobile technologies will be the answer to improve productivity. Below are some key devices that are essential for people on the move.

1. Mobile phone

2. Laptop with mobile broadband

3. Personal or company website that serve the FAQs. (I used blogspot for this purpose, visit my blog)

4. External storages- working documents in digital formats.

It is time for me to enhance the item 3 & 4 to improve the productivity yield while being mobile.

Nobody owes you a living!

"You got to be responsible to yourself. Nobody owes you a living!"

The above statement was my advise to my sub-ordinates when I was still running the industrial inkjet printer business in Malaysia. At that period of time, I wanted all the sales engineers under my leadership to be productive and professional. I wanted them to be on par with me in time to come. And I believe by awakening their sub-conscious mind is one of the ways that give them the ultimate motivation to strive for greater achievements.

I left the less glamor industry and joined a European based Fortune 500 company to pursue my dream to work in a corporate world.  As a principle man, I do not agree with the marketing direction of this European company because I found it is misleading.

I have then joined another Asia based Fortune 500 company. After about 2-year working in this corporate, I have started to settle down, built my comfort zone. But, I still constantly remind myself that I shall not take things for granted, things might change in the not too distant future.

The corporate exercises such as change of immediate superior, change of corporate structure, change of work environment or place of work, change of pay scheme and etc that may disfavor or shortchange you. While we are doing well now, it is important for us to live a prudent and frugal lifestyle to ensure the household expenses are taken care off when things do not work out as you thought.

Better still if we are able to generate steady passive income that enables us to maintain current lifestyle even thought we decided to quit the job or being retrenched.

Last but not least, never leave your fate to the corporate or someone else as they do not owes you a living. Be responsible to yourself and your family!

Heading for another recession

The world is possibly heading for another recession due to sluggish growth, euro-zone dysfunction, and financial market volatility.

 

"You may not get a negative type of contraction in the US, but you may get growth like that in 1Q2011, when the US economy grew only 0.3%. When I talk about a sharp economic slowdown, it could be a recession or very slow growth. The dividing line between negative and positive growth is very fine and is actually not critical. More importantly, instead of 3% to 4% growth, we could see 0% to 0.5% growth in the US. We will have a very severe slowdown in the US that will feel like a recession," Tan Teng Boo, founder and managing director of Capital Dynamics warns during an recent interview with The Edge Singapore.

To weather the recession or major economy slowdown, we will need to plan for the worst scenario that could happen to us. During economy slowdown, corporates will tend to lay-off employees to ensure the company balance sheet is positive. Retrenchment will be one of the most common tools used by corporates during bad times.

Hence, the worst scenario would be losing job. Ask yourself, can you afford to lose your monthly pay check? Your savings can last your family for how many months as getting a job during recession is even tougher?

It is vital to save at least 6-month of your family expenses, and if possible, expand the amounts to be able to survive your household expenses for 12-month. Cutting down unnecessary expenses is the only way to build up your savings fast. 

In my view, the 2008-2009 recession was just a teaser as world governments spent trillions in stimulus packages. To me, it was just an action to buy time and hope. Now, the US and the Euro-zone governments probably have already running out of tools to stop the recession from happening.

We can't estimate the future, but it is wise to get prepared for another recession.

Annoying Neigbor - Inconsiderate selfish smoker

My kids love holidays.The main reason is they love their mom so much, they like to be with their mom whole day long.

As usual, while my wife is preparing lunch at the kitchen, I will do some out door activities with both of them at the garden like playing badminton, cycling, watching insects, gardening or just hang around the garden.

During holiday time, one of my neighbor will have many relatives visiting them and some may stay with them for a while. None of the family member of my neighbor is smoking, but most of their visiting relatives are smokers. I strongly against  passive smoking, and to me if anyone is smoking at the public area, I will conclude one as an extremely selfish person; because passive smoking kills.

I was playing badminton with my elder kid while the younger one is cycling around the garden. The visitor of the neighbor came out from the house. He is a middle age man, and I am betting on his common courtesy that might stop him from smoking while kids next-door are having fun at the garden. I was wrong, this selfish guy just  light on the hazardous cigarette stick without further thought.

The morning activities was ruined by the selfish smoker. An inconsiderate selfish man.

Shame on him!

MYR400,000 Annual Income

I was having a coffee break with my colleague. He asked, "What will you do if you are earning MYR400k annual income?"

MYR400,000 is a big amount. I did not answered right away. I asked him, "Is such income sustainable in the coming years? If yes, will it need alot of hard work to sustain it?".

The answers were as expected. The MYR400k income will be sustainable and not much scarification is needed to earn such active income in coming years.

The key word here is sustainability. I suggested that the excess money (Annual Income of MYR400k minus all the annual living expenses) shall be spent on settling the long term debt such as mortgage loan and car loan. The next step would be going parallel with investment to generate passive income and spend on upgrading of the lifestyle such as  getting a bigger house at a more strategic location that provides better conveniences  or rewarding yourself with a better car that provides excellent driving experience and safety.

If one living on prudent lifestyle, he or she will takes less than 3-year time to become a millionaire with the annual income of  MYR400k. Frankly speaking,  I have never dream of earning so much in a year.

I wish my colleague will achieve his MYR400k annual income goal soon. 

EQ四段曲

請照主旨之順序讀 :
1.誤會； 2.釘子； 3.且慢下手； 4.寬大



1.誤會 :

早年在美國阿拉斯加地方，有一對年輕人結婚，婚後生育，
他的太太因難產而死，遺下一孩子。
他忙生活，又忙於看家，因沒有人幫忙看孩子，就訓練一隻狗，
那狗聰明聽話，能照顧小孩，咬著奶瓶餵奶給孩子喝，撫養孩子。

有一天，主人出門去了，叫牠照顧孩子。
他到了別的鄉村，因遇大雪，當日不能回來。 
第二天才趕回家，狗立即聞聲出來迎接主人。他把房門開一看，到處是血，
抬頭一望，床上也是血，孩子不見了，狗在身邊，滿口也是血，
主人發現這種情形，以為狗性發作，把孩子吃掉了，
大怒之下，拿起刀來向著狗頭一劈，把狗殺死了。

之後，忽然聽到孩子的聲音，又見他從床下爬了出來，
於是抱起孩子；雖然身上有血，但並未受傷。
他很奇怪，不知究竟是怎麼一回事，再看看狗身，
腿上的肉沒有了，旁邊有一隻狼，口裡還咬著狗的肉；
狗救了小主人，卻被主人誤殺了，這真是天下最令人驚奇的誤會。

註：誤會的事，是人往往在不瞭解、 無理智、無耐心、缺少思考、
未能多方體諒對方，反省自己，感情極為衝動的情況之下所發生。
誤會一開始，即一直只想到對方的千錯萬錯；因此，會使誤會越陷越深，
弄到不可收拾的地步，人對無知的動物小狗發生誤會，
尚且會有如此可怕嚴重的後果，這樣人與人之間的誤會，則其後果更是難以想像。


2.釘子 :

有一個男孩有著很壞的脾氣，於是他的父親就給了他一袋釘子；
並且告訴他，每當他發脾氣的時候就釘一根釘子在後院的圍籬上。

第一天，這個男孩釘下了37根釘子。慢慢地每天釘下的數量減少了。
他發現控制自己的脾氣要比釘下那些釘子來得容易些。
終於有一天這個男孩再也不會失去耐性亂發脾氣，他告訴他的父親這件事，
父親告訴他，現在開始每當他能控制自己的脾氣的時候，就拔出一根釘子。

一天天地過去了，最後男孩告訴他的父親，他終於把所有釘子都拔出來了。
父親握著他的手來到後院說：你做得很好，我的好孩子。
但是看看那些圍籬上的洞，這些圍籬將永遠不能回覆成從前。

你生氣的時候說的話將像這些釘子一樣留下疤痕。
如果你拿刀子捅別人一刀，不管你說了多少次對不起，那個傷口將永遠存在。
話語的傷痛就像真實的傷痛一樣令人無法承受。

註：人與人之間常常因為一些彼此無 法釋懷的堅持? 而造成永遠的傷害。
如果我們都能從自己做起，開始寬容地看待他人，
相信你（妳）一定能收到許多意想不到的結果....幫別人開啟一扇窗，
也就是讓自己看到更完整的天空 ....



3.且慢下手

大多數的同仁都很興奮，因為單位裡調來一位新主管，據說是個能人，
專門被派來整頓業務；可是日一天天過去，新主管卻毫無作為，每天彬彬有禮進辦公室，
便躲在裡面難得出門，那些本來緊張得要死的壞份子，現在反而更猖獗了。
「他那裡是個能人嘛！根本是個老好人，比以前的主管更容易唬！」

四個月過去，就在真正努力為新主管感到失望時，
新主管卻發威了－－壞份子一律開革，能人則獲得晉昇。
下手之快，斷事之準，與四月表現保守的他，簡直像是全然換個人。

年終聚餐時，新主管在酒過三巡之後致詞：
「相信大家對我新到任期間的表現，和後來的大刀闊斧，一定感到不解，
現在聽我說個故事，各位就明白了：「我有位朋友，買了棟帶著大院的房子，
他一搬進去，就將那院子全面整頓，雜草樹一律清除，改種自己新買的花卉，
某日原先的屋主往訪，進門大吃一驚的問：『那最名貴的牡丹哪裡去了？』
我這位朋友才發現，他竟然把牡丹當草給剷了。

後來他又買了一棟房子，雖然院子更是雜亂，他卻是按兵不動，
果然冬天以為是雜樹的植物，春天裡開了繁花；
春天以為是野草的，夏天裡成了錦蔟；半年都沒有動靜的小樹，秋天居然紅了葉。
直到暮秋，它才真正認清哪些是無用的植物，
而大力剷除，並使所有珍貴的草木得以保存。」說到這兒，主管舉起杯來：
「讓我敬在座的每一位，因為如果這辦公室是個花園，你們就都是其間的珍木，
珍木不可能一年到頭開花結果，只有經過長期的觀察才得出啊！



4.寬大 :

這是一個甫自越戰歸來的士兵的故事。
他從舊金山打電話給他的父母，告訴他們：「爸媽，我回來了，可是我有個不情之請。
我想帶一個朋友同我一起回家。」「當然好啊！」他們回答「我們會很高興見到的。」
不過兒子又繼續下去「可是有件事我想先告訴你們，他在越戰裡受了重傷，
少了一條胳臂和一隻腳，他現在走投無路，我想請他回來和我們一起生活。」

「兒子，我很遺憾，不過或許我們可以幫他找個安身之處。」
父親又接著說「兒子，你不知道自己在說些什麼。
像他這樣殘障的人會對我們的生活造成很大的負擔。
我們還有自己的生活要過，不能就讓他這樣破壞了。
我建議你先回家然後忘了他，他會找到自己的一片天空的。」
就在此時卻l掛上了電話，他的父母再也沒有他的消息了。

幾天後，這對父母接到了來自舊金山警局的電話，
告訴他們親愛的兒子已經墜樓身亡了。警方相信這只是單純的自殺案件。
於是他們傷心欲絕地飛往舊金山，並在警方帶領之下辨認兒子的遺體。
那的確是他們的兒子沒錯，但驚訝的是兒子居然，只有一條胳臂和一條腿。

故事中的父母就和我們大多數人一樣。
要去喜愛面貌姣好或談吐風趣的人很容易，
但是要喜歡那些造成我們不便和不快的人卻太難了。
我們總是寧願和那些不如我們健康，美麗或聰明的人保持距離。
然而有些人卻不會對我們如此殘酷。
他們會無怨無悔地愛我們，不論我們多麼糟總是願意接納我們。

今晚在你入睡之前，請試著去接納他人，
不論他們是怎麼樣的人；請用心去瞭解那些不同於我們的人。
每個人的心裡都藏著一種神奇的東西稱為「友情」，
你不知道它究竟是如何發生何時發生，但你卻知道它總會帶給我們特殊的禮物。
朋友就像是稀奇的寶物。他們帶來歡笑，激勵我們成功。
他們傾聽我們內心的話，與我們分享每一句讚美。
他們的心房永遠為我們而敞開。現在就告訴你的朋友你有多在乎他們。



把這篇文章轉寄給所有你認為是朋友的人。
如果這篇文章又回來了，你將知道你擁有了一輩子的朋友。
試想：朋友，您一路看下來之後；一定有很深的感觸吧。


那麼，在對別人有所決定與判斷之前，首先，請想想這是否是一個「 誤會 」，
然後，請考慮您是否一定要釘下這個「 釘子 」，
如果可以的話，請「 且慢下手 」。
因為，當您對別人「 寬大 」之時，即是對您自己寬大。

Singapore Dollar (SGD) vs. Malaysia Ringgit (MYR)

In life, it is always good for one to benchmark ourselves with peers, seniors and the outperform juniors to gauge where we are. It tells if we are competitive or losing ground.

MYR convert to SGD calculation chit from money changer

How can we judge if a country is well managed? A part from GDP, income per capita, and the balance sheet, the exchange rate of the currency will also be able to tell the strength of the financial elements of a country.

In June 2010, I have posted an articled named “Malaysia vs. Singapore”. During that time, the exchange rate between MYR to SGD is at 2.2 to 2.3. Yesterday, I have just exchanged MYR1000 with SGD400 and balance of MYR8.00. The exchange rate between MYR to SGD has already gone up to 2.48. Singapore Dollar has appreciated by approximately 10% in a year time.

Let’s do an extrapolation from here; if SGD vs. MYR is appreciating at the pace of 10% every year, the exchange rate between MYR to SGD will be as below:

2012- MYR2.72 to SGD1.00

2013- MYR2.99 to SGD1.00

2014- MYR3.29 to SGD1.00

2015- MYR3.62 to SGD1.00

The public were informed by the main stream media that the Malaysia Ringgit is gaining ground as MYR vs. USD has gone historical high at MYR3.00 to USD1.00. Most of us is believing that Malaysia is progressing towards the right track, but the real story is reverse. The USD is weakened due to the QE1 and QE2. Hence, the USD shall not be taken into the currency benchmarking consideration.

As part of the Asia region, MYR shall be benchmark against major currency like Singapore Dollar (SGD), Australian Dollar (AUD), Japanese Yen (JPY), Chinese Renminbi (RMB), etc.

At a glance, Malaysia Ringgit has weakened against all the 4 major Asia currency listed above since the financial crisis in September 2008.

The impact of the devaluation of Ringgit Malaysia would be inflation, larger deficit in the national budget (you need to spend more MYR in exchange of same quantity of goods, and the sad thing is Malaysia is running on deficit budget for more than 10 years already), and followed by brain drain.

I just can't imagine the financial standing of Malaysia in another 10 years time.


Related posts:
1. Malaysia vs. Singapore
2. Singapore vs. Malaysia 2

Klang Valley Property Bubble?

The property price across Malaysia especially Klang Valley has doubled since 2009. Yes, in my view, it is definitely a bubble. The question is when this bubble is going to burst?

What causes this bubble? Based on my observation, the phenomenon happens this way:

During the economy crisis, the banks in Malaysia were skeptical on corporates or enterprises borrowings. While the Bank Negara monetary policy has reduced the interest rate and SRR from nominal 4% to 1%, the focus has been switched to consumers borrowings. Hence, easy credit on property loans has taken place. The banks are aggressively looking for consumers loans, and the loan package has been never that attractive before, i.e. BLR - 2.3%, 3-year or shorter period of locking period, etc. 

  

In 2008, the property market has hit its rock bottom. Developers started to introduce 'developer interest-bearing scheme'. Under this scheme, all the interest during construction will be absorbed by the developers. Believe it or not, the interest has already factor in the selling price of the properties. Such practice does not benefits the home buyers, but has caused the price hike in properties.

With easy credit and developer interest bearing scheme, developers are selling hope to the buyers with the myth of properties price will only goes up, and buyers will make profit upon completion. Yes, the story has convinced many of us.

To ensure good take up rate, the property is launched by several phases, and the price is increased by 5-10% with the launches of new phases. For example, phase 1 is taken up by only 50%, to improve the sales of phase 1, phase 2 price is indicated to be 5-10% higher than phase 1 with same specifications, and instead of launching the phase 2 right away, there will be many round of so-called pre-lanch and soft launch. The same trick apply to all the subsequent phases as well. With this method, the developers are also testing the limit of price acceptance of the home buyers. I am not sure if you still be able to make profit in buying new property now, but surely the developers are enjoying fat profit margin out of us.

Come back to the major concern. Is the Klang Valley property market a bubble?

If the answer is YES, the market shall crash between 2014-2016 because most of the properties will be completed with CF ready then.

Annoying Neigbor

The quality of  neighborhood is one of the most important criteria to decide where we are going to live. Due to this reason, many of us is willing to pay some premium to stay at higher class residential areas that normally perceived to be safer and less annoyed.

6 years ago, I have bought my family a house in a upper middle class community. It was a new development at that time. The neighborhood are close to perfect, most of them are polite and considerate.

About a year ago, one of the house owner has moved out and come the new neighbor. This new comer has one very annoyed habit. He is a car lover, he will turn on his car engine twice a day during weekends, and each time will be at around 30 minutes. The worst part is it is an old car (Proton Lancer- Proton car but make up like a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution), the exhaust smile is terrible.

It is very annoying that when comes to weekend, most of us will need to close up the sliding door and windows twice a day, each time 30 minutes to prevent the hazardous exhaust gas from coming in to our house.

I'm not a car lover. can anyone tell me what is the purpose of turning on the engine and let it idle twice a day? The car is not idle during weekday, the bugger is driving it to work daily.

Car is just a machine that suppose to bring us from point A to point B. Definitely it has defeat the purpose if much attention is needed to keep the car in good condition (Anyhow I don't think the car is in good condition).

Sales Consultant - The right approach

Today, I was enlightened by a speech from a very experience leader. He mentioned that all the sales executives shall have the objective to either improve the profitability or reduce the operating costs of the clients from the offering.

I still remember that when I was in Videojet business (industrial marking & coding), someone asked me about my career objective. The answer from me is as below:

"I would like to improve the productivity of the clients by offering the right solution that meets or exceeds industrial safety standards."

Be it industrial selling, corporates selling or retail business, sell only when there is a real requirements or needs. Do not push the items to the clients, especially in consumers business as it is sinful. And for buyers, you are sinful as well if you bought something that you do not need it.

When the item reached a person who does not need it, it will ended up as a rubbish. And, it takes a lot of resources to manufacture the rubbish and along the supply chain, it creates huge amount of carbon footprints.

Is there an end to rising house prices?

Found this article, My Say by Azam Aris from The Edge Malaysia's forum dated 23, May 2011.

I shared the same view as per Azam Aris mentioned in his article "No end yet to rising house prices" that the rise in house prices is not commensurate with the rise in income for many (Malaysian).

Below are 2 paragraphs that are worth to share with you, especially if you are puzzling if you shall get yourself a house now which is far beyond your means or wait.

Brad Jones, an investment strategist with Deutsche Bank, says the framework created by Kindleberger and Minsky defines finanacial market bubbles as occuring in seven cycles:

1. displacement (the birth of a boom)
2. expansion (growth of the boom)
3. easy credit (which fuels asset price inflation)
4. euphoria (over-optimism and overconfidence)
5. insider profit-taking (the liquidation of positions by lead investors)
6. panic (chaos as investors try to sell but are hindered by illiquidity and leverage)
7. revulsion (investors stop participating in the market)

All major financial market bubbles in the 20th and 21st centuries, Jones notes, have followed the seven stages of the Kindelberger-Minsky framework. "Notably today, it appears some Asian assets are in the third (stocks) and fourth (property, credit, loans and small caps) stages of the the cycles," he says.

To me, I have already own a decent house. If  I were to buy another house, it will be for my family and myself, sort of upgrade of existing lifestyle and definitely not speculation.

Carjacking - New way of car hijacking

Just last weekend on Friday night we parked in a public car park. As we drove away I noticed a sticker on the rear window of the car. When I took it off after I got home, it was a receipt for petrol. Luckily my friend told me not to stop as it could be someone waiting for me to get out of the car. Then we received this email yesterday.

WARNING FROM POLICE:  NEW WAY TO DO CARJACKINGS (NOT A JOKE)

This applies to both women and men beware of paper on the back window of your vehicle.

Heads up everyone! Please, keep this circulating.. You walk across the car park, unlock your car and get inside. You start the engine put it into Reverse. When you look into the rearview mirror to back out of your
space, you notice a piece of paper stuck to the middle of the rear window. So, you stop and jump out of your car to remove that paper (or whatever it is) that is obstructing your view.

When you reach the back of your car, that is when the carjackers appear out of nowhere, jump into your car and take off. They practically run you over as they speed off in your car.

And guess what, ladies? I bet your purse is still in the car. So now the carjacker has your car, your home address, your money, and your keys. Your home and your whole identity are now compromised!

BEWARE OF THIS NEW SCHEME THAT IS NOW BEING USED.

If you see a piece of paper stuck to your back window, lock your doors and just drive away.
Remove the paper later. And be thankful that you read this blog.

I hope you will forward this to friends and family, especially to women.

A purse contains all kinds of personal information and identification documents, and you certainly DO NOT want this to fall into the wrong hands.

Google Adsense for Blogger – My 5th Google Adsense Pay Check

I have received my 5th Google Adsense pay check few days ago. The payout is around USD100 (MYR 305), not much but it is earned effortless, it is sort of passive income.

Google Adsense Pay Cheque

There are 500+ posts under the Macro’s blogs. The traffic is increasing gradually, mainly directed from the search engine and shared across facebook via readers. Even with minimal new postings, the Google Adsense income is just getting better with the higher traffic.

I hope the quantum of payout of my Google Adsense earning could improve to twice a year, subsequently shorten the period of payout to once every quarter and finally once a month.

活取熊胆汁全过程

二十年穿鐵衣取膽，母熊含淚殺子並自殺！

人類在野外下陷阱捉熊，熊落入陷阱，導致熊掌或四肢撕裂。

熊被捉到後，要被人類殘害近二十五年，熊痛得掏肚自殺。

但人類魔高一丈，給熊穿上防止自殺的鐵衣，使熊無法移動分毫，連自殺也不能。

熊肚子被人類挖一個洞，插入鐵管到膽 ，每天活取膽汁數次，鮮血淋漓，劇痛無比，
熊痛苦的吼聲像打雷，可是穿了鐵衣，無法動彈。（節省成本，沒有麻藥）

有的熊無法忍受每日取膽的痛苦，曾掏肚腸自殺。為了防止它們自戕，就特製了這種鐵馬甲，日夜穿在它們身上。

有只母熊痛苦不堪，在人類要對她孩子小熊開腸破肚之際，搬開鐵籠子，把自己的孩子小熊撕碎——不願意讓小熊受一輩 子的地獄。

受朋友之托，替他管理幾天“熊莊”，那是位於**市西北部山腳下一所隱蔽的別墅，也是朋友養熊的莊園。

是夜，五更時分，我在小樓裏輾轉難寐。

山風不斷送入一陣陣KB的叫聲，像一聲聲悲泣，既痛苦又絕望。

恰在此時，我仿佛聽到門上有輕輕的動靜，“咯吱，咯吱”，同時還伴著粗重的呼吸。

我猛一翻身坐了起來，隨手拉開了燈“誰？”沒有任何回答，沉寂得煞是怕人。

我伸手抓起一把掃帚，輕輕走到門邊，猛地拉開了房門。

哈，門外蜷縮著一隻小熊，它胖胖的身軀 蜷作一團，毛烘烘的鬢髮柔軟地蓬鬆著。

它怯怯地望著我，發出近乎諂媚的喏喏叫聲，“熊熊，來，來啊，”我張開手，小熊搖搖擺擺地爬到我面前，小掌搭在我身上，用那溫暖的舌頭舔著我的手，柔軟極了。

突然，一陣喧嘩聲從外面傳來，小熊眼神一怔，敏捷地鑽到了床下面。

很快，傳來敲門聲，我拉開門問道：“什麼事啊？”

“熊房剛跑了只小熊，沒來打擾先生吧？”“哦，有啊，在這呢。” 我指著小熊躲藏的地方。

他們俯下身，一把就抓住了它，粗暴地從裏面用裏地往外拖著他們把四隻熊腿對足綁定，用一隻粗長的棍子穿起來抬走了。

小熊在離開房門時，那仰著的頭顱彎過來無助地望了我一眼 那是企求可憐目光。

天亮後，帶班的老張說領我去熊房看看。

來到一個有幾千平方米的高大建築裏，裏面很空曠，平放著六個籠子 每個籠子裏都有一隻萎靡的黑熊。

奇怪的是它們身上都箍著一個明晃晃的像兜肚的東西。

老張告訴我，“這是取膽汁用的，現在的熊膽汁價格是每克３００元。

”他帶我來到第一個籠子跟前，打手勢告訴我：“采膽汁開始了。”

我看見兩個彪悍的工人麻利地左右綁好熊軀，在那剛兜肚兩側各拉起一條粗大的繩子，經過一個特製的滑輪，齊喊了聲“嗨！”只見熊身上的鋼兜肚漸漸地收縮著收縮著。

突然，熊發出了歇斯底里的吼喊：“嗚……！”

那簡直不是吼叫啊，那是變了形狀的淒哭，之間他拼命仰著頭痛苦地瞪圓了眼睛，四個粗大的掌子在有限的空間蹬抓著地面，發出“滋拉，滋拉”地刺耳聲響，瞬間，那腹下的鋼管裏“滴答，滴答”地流出了碧綠色的液體。

操作工人又慢慢鬆開繩子，接著拉起下一個回合，又是一個聲嘶力竭的泣叫 。

我看到熊的眼淚暫態淌下來，它竟然也像人一樣咬緊了牙齒，躬起了身體去承受著無休止的痛苦。

好悲慘的一幕啊，我不忍再看，扭頭走開了此時，我才明白，夜裏那些悲叫是這些帶著傷痛的熊，在難挨的暮色裏發出的呻吟啊。

老張跟我到門口，我聲音顫抖的質問他：

“你們還有人性麼？它們可都是生命啊！”

老張淡淡地說道：“沒辦法，我們幹的就是這樣的活啊。

”情緒稍定，我無奈地問他：“多長時間采一次膽汁？”

他回答道：“那要看情況了，膽汁多的一天兩次，少的最遲兩天要一次，一般一個熊年產膽粉２０００克，可以采１０年。

”我的心戰慄了，一天兩次，１０年，這是個什麼樣的魔鬼數字啊，也就是說，這樣欲死的折磨每天都要進行兩次，要在這樣欲生不能的刑法裏忍受10年，7200次剜心剔骨啊。

要日復一日，年復一年的熬啊，縱是人的堅強生命力，也肯定難以堅持下來，我的心痛痛的。

我提出要回去。

老張說：“一會要對小熊手術，這個關鍵時刻你可不能走你代表劉總，你走了，出了事誰能負得去這個責任！

”我只好跟他又回到了熊房。

在他招呼下，四個彪悍的工人圍攏到了小熊跟前，用鐵鏈子緊緊地捆綁起那只小熊。

小熊驚恐地望著大家，當它的眼神看到我時，頓時一亮，渴求地望著我。

我的眼睛濕潤了，此時，它竟然“撲通”一聲向我跪了下來，是四個蹄子同時跪下...老張擺擺手，命令開始手術，小熊失望地朝著屋頂，放聲大哭。

“嗚……”那聲音慘極了 失望極了，是我在這個世界上從未聽過的震撼心靈的呼喊，它簡直就是用人類的語言呼喊出來的一個“媽”字，就連那些劊子手般的工人也為之一震。

就在此時，一個異常震撼的情景出現了，只見籠子裏的一隻大熊嘶叫了一聲，竟然用那巨掌一點點地撐開了拇指般粗的鐵籠子，蹦了出來。

嚇得那些工人四下逃竄，我頓時呆住了，腳下像生了鉛，一步也移動不得。

可大熊沒有理會我的存在，飛快地蹦到了小熊的跟前，用那笨拙的巨掌去解那粗粗的鏈子，可怎麼也解不開，它只好親吻著小熊 ，勉強地把它依偎在自己的懷裏，用舌頭慈愛地舔去小熊嚴重的淚水，

哼哼叫著去撫慰自己親愛的孩子。

小熊也像在連連叫著媽媽，“嗚嗚……”地嗚咽著，求媽媽救救自己。

突然，大熊狂叫著，用自己的巨掌狠狠地掐住小熊的脖子，吼叫著用盡力氣掐著，掐著......直到小熊的身體軟綿綿地倒下來，它才鬆開了自己的巨掌，它看著已經死去的孩子，它嗚咽著。

哀鳴著，仿佛在喊：“孩子啊，媽媽救不了你，但你再不會去受罪了，媽媽對不起你啊！

”它先是撕咬著自己的毛髮，接著一把拽下了身上的鋼兜肚，那鋼管帶著半個膽囊飛了出來，肚子上的毛皮頓時被鮮血染紅了，汩汩的流淌著殷紅的赤丹。

只見它大叫一聲，瘋了似的向牆壁撞去，“砰！”牆壁 轟然倒塌了。

我麻木了，根本不知道自己是如何走出這個殘酷的熊房的。

整整一天，我腦海裏都是那些悲慘的一幕。

我在心中自問：熊媽媽的舉動是母愛？我想是的，是一種無奈的母愛。

在此時此地，它沒有能力幫助孩子解脫那20年地獄般的痛苦，無奈之下，只有把創造了的愛毀掉，再去冥冥之中陪伴它，尋覓它 ，惟有如此啊！

由於抽擔的傷口從來不閉合,從來沒痊癒；由於長年累月地受盡折磨,很多熊都患上腫瘤,得了癌症, 這個熊得的就是肝癌。穿著鐵馬甲被抽膽的熊，鐵馬甲都腐爛了，不知道已經抽了多少年。

一些人認為熊掌是人間美味，而活體砍掌據說味道最佳。這個被救助出來的可憐的熊之前被人砍掉兩個掌，而且還每天要被抽膽幾次。

中國黑熊的洋媽媽—亞洲動物保護協會創始人謝羅便臣。謝羅便臣在自己的右肩紋上了“月熊”兩個中文字。五年來她始終為黑熊在奔走，想建立一個較大的救護中心，可是這家基金始終認為沒有準備好。

這個熊已經被關在籠子裏長達22年之久！“不能轉身，不能站直，不能轉身，只有痛！沒有樹林 沒有陽光只有黑暗 ！沒有自由 沒有止境 只有受苦 ！

黑熊取膽時非常痛苦。怕膽汁亂流，穿著鋼背心的黑熊大多只能一個姿勢站在鐵籠裏。除了頭能自由擺動外，身子已不能活動。每頭被取膽的黑熊，都瘦骨嶙峋，它們唯一的動作是拼命搖頭。

編後語：
熊膽不是什麼名貴中藥,完全可以用草藥或人工合成代替。
請大家告訴大家，請大家盡全部可能的力量, 廣泛宣傳！
堅決不買、不用這些熊膽製品！
讓我們大家再為熊做點事吧，救救它們吧！

A story of a 6-year-old kid with HIV in China

A six-year-old HIV carrier, has been living alone since his parents died of AIDS.

The boy, known as Ah Long, does his own washing, cooking, studying and he also rears some chicken.

He lives in his parents' house at the foothill village of Malu Mountain in Liuzhou, Guangxi Province of China.

Ah Long has an 84-year-old grandmother, who visits him quite frequently and cooks for him.

The granny has also planted some vegetables near the house for Ah Long.

Ah Long does not know what AIDS is all about.

All he knew was that his friends never want to be near him, doctors did not want to treat his wounds and his only family member, his granny, refused to live with him.

He was also rejected by the nearby primary school. The only companion the boy has is a dog called Lao Hei.

Due to his complicated family background, the Welfare Department has declined to take care of the boy.

He receives 70 yuan (RM33) monthly subsistence allowance from the civil bureau but it is not enough.

After Ah Long's story was published in Chinese newspapers, a couple announced that they would adopt the boy. However, it has yet to materialize.

Ah Long story is indeed a sad story. As a victim of HIV, and without sufficient support, he is just passing his time until the AIDS completely wipe down his immune system.

A part from being sympathy to what happened to Ah Long, perhaps we shall take this as a lesson to ensure similar tragedy will not occur in us.

Are you practicing protected sex?
Do you have more than 1 sex partner?
Are you addicted to drug? (Do not share syringe anyway)
Do you check your HIV status after high risk activities like one night stand, unprotected sex or unprotected oral sex?

To those who think that they cannot live with only 1 sex partner in a time, please do not engage or get married. You will not want to replicate another tragedy like Ah Long for your kids.

Ah Long, be strong and live life meaningful. God bless you!