Folks,
Today is Saturday. One of the nicest days to sleep and rest after working very hars during weekdays.
I now in my car heading to buy a "win chair". Whilst driving in this gloomy evening, one nice song was played on the radio -- The Script, Nothing.
Google and listen to it.
Just a nice afternoon/evening song :)
Folks,
I am in a restaurant having my breakfast. It is 8:08 am, and one of the hypothetic question that goes through my mind is this:- "is life easy?"
That said, I am now reminded of a Superman song. "..it's not easy.. to be, me.."
Life is certainly full of challenges and I am leaving you all to ponder on this question.
Let's do some work, now.
Folks,
It is now official: Johor will join the fraternity of Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu in 'celebrating' weekends on Friday and Saturday instead of the normal Saturday and Sunday.
I am sure that the Muslims have accepted this news with joy, while there may be disgruntles by the Christians.
I think that the head of state has the right to choose and (re)define what constitute a weekend; but on a personal note, I personally think that weekends -- whatever days it may be -- should be uniform throughout the country.
Whether it is "Friday & Saturday" vs "Saturday & Sunday", it really is not a big issue for me.
Both arguments have its own merits, and it is not for us to say this is good or that is bad.
The head of state has decided and it is his prerogative in doing so. While some may challenge his decision academically, and backed by plethoras of economic statistics; in the end, I am sure that the ruler is doing what is best for his state.
It is now a matter of acceptance, and adapting with the newly imposed rule, beginning January 2014.
Folks,
I am touched, shocked and apalled by the news that appeared in BBC today.
It is about high rate of unemployment in South Africa. Many of them..., as evident in the accompanying video.
The statistics presented is just too shocking to believe and too hard to swallow: 10 million peoples are jobless in South Africa!
Horrifying. Terrible.
These were the first two words that appeared in my mind.
When you watch the video, it just saddens you -- the jobless are advertising and marketing their skills on the streets, begging for jobs and hoping that someone will employ them.
It just saddens me. Seeing them "begging" on the streets, hoping that someone will be kind enough to offer a job, to make ends meet.
Here in Malaysia, I must say that I am thankful that the situation here is still "under control", and has not reached that stage, yet.
But I have to admit that these days, it is very difficult to find a decent job: one that pays you well and comes with tremendous fringe of benefits.
The competition is now stiff. Too many peoples graduated from the university, with too little jobs being offered by the market.
It is hard to shop around for jobs that you want.
Even if you go to a career portal such as Jobstreet, you will find that there are a minimum of 50 applicants responding for every vacancies advertised.
It is crazy, it is scary, and it blurs me.
What causes high unemplment? Why is it so difficult to find jobs these days? Who do we blame? Whom should be accountable?
God? Technology? Ourselves? Society? Companies? Universities? Or the Government?
These are not questions that can be simply answered. These are questions that must be thoroughly examined and discussed from many angles and perspectives.
There are just too many factors that need to be taken into account in examining this particular issue -- economic growth, educational background, polilitical stability etc.
With rising cost of living, I wonder how these jobless people would sustain themselves, and their dependents -- if they have one.
I wonder how they will pay house rents, electricity bills, water tariff, consumable goods, foods etc...
Jeez meez! It scaries me.
Even I -- earning a decent salary -- am finding it difficult to adjust and cope with the high cost of living in the urban of Kuala Lumpur.
It is said that those earning below RM 3,000 in Kuala Lumpur is classified as "urban poor". Sigh.
I pray to those out there having no job to be continuously blessed by God the almighty.
May God take care all of us, living in this tough time of a challenging era.
Folks,
Don't be ridiculous.
Don't be stupid.
Look at the picture below.
It is madness!
Crazy.
Or as the Aussie would say, "bloody hell!".
For this is the surest way to get your home ablazed in a fire.
Even a toilet bowl can handle one ass at a time.
So does the electric socket at your home - well, maybe an exception - it may handle up to four, but certainly no more!
And judging by the type of the extension plug used, I am sad to say that this is in Malaysia!
--
Disclaimer: I do not own this image.
Friends,
In any organization, the accounting and finance department is responsible to prepare a budget for the whole company, and that is divided into two: the capital expenditure and the operating expenditure.
Most part of the budget goes to salary and emoluments -- simply because a company js nothing with human workforce and as such they needed to be compensated fairly, what with their labour in running the organization to achieve its objectives.
Anyway, I found this cartoon on the net; and I hope you will enjoy it.
But please folks, dont ever say this kind of stupid things to your bosses, especially yhe big boss; for without him, the company would be lost in business direction.
This is also a big no-no to do, especially when the big boss is the owner of the company.
--
Disclaimer: I do not own this picture.
Peeps,
What is the value of RM 10 these days? Very little, but still, is valuable to many middle-class Malaysians.
Surviving in Malaysia is increasingly becoming difficult, but thankfully, my unscientific observation says that it is still manageable.
Anyway.
Most wage earners working at hotels earn less than RM 10 per hour, and it this RM 10 that will buy them foods and other sustenance materials.
The image shown below is clearly depicting the current situation of our currency, especially in Kuala Lumpur. The declining value of ringgit. The exploding of prices of goods in Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur in particular.
With high cost of living, RM 10 is not enough to survive in this thriving city of Kuala Lumpur.
Well, maybe you can spend less than RM 10 a day, but what can you really buy?
Our famous Nasi Lemak that is sold every morning is snow "socially standardized" at RM 2, and even then the portion is not as much as you would get in those days.
If you want a "sunny egg", then the price would increase by RM 0.50. And rest assured that the egg would be of the lowest quality and may not even be cooked properly.
Very soon too, a can of Coca Cola sold at 7-Eleven might be RM 10, if no immediate economic measures are taken to strengthen the value of ringgit.
And there must be some sort of mechanisms to control and stabilize the price of everything in Malaysia.
I dont know how the government would do it; but I really urge them to do so quick for prices of goods in Kuala Lumpur are uncontrollably soaring high and higher everyday!
The increase in price must be gradual and ideally, it should be in line with the country's economic growth.
And it (price increase) should also ideallu be in tandem and in proportion with our salary increment! Which to some is just peanut!
--
Disclaimer: I do not own the image below.
Peeps,
And this year's shoes of the year award is shown in the image below.
I bet you that Jimmy Choo would be thrilled by this latest design of trendy foot fashion! :)
--
Image source: was sent to me by someone. I do not own this image.
Hey peeps,
This is a sign of forever being alone.
But sometimes, being alone is not bad too.
It gives you freedom to do whatever you want and however you like.
But one thing strikes the most when being forever alone is ... that time of the night before you close your eyes that makes you feel the most loneliest person in the world..
Folks,
I had this for dinner on Monday night at Delicious -- one of Malaysia's best place to eat.
The club sandwich tasted good and the potato wedges are quite awesome as well!
Go there peeps for some nice local delicacies or western menus. You will be delighted!
Folks,
On this hot afternoon of Sunday, I leave you with this very thoughtful words of my friend, Bonavian Hasiholan.
Indeed, I am intrigued by it!
Folks,
On this hot afternoon, I leave you with a very thoughtfuk words of my friend, Bonavian Hasiholan.
Indeed, I am intrigued by it!
Folks,
Recently Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd., a public listed newspaper company in Malaysia was in the limelight - the management intend to raise up to RM 40 mil via a two-call rights issue.
Let's take a look at brief financial performance - Utusan has been making losses quite a number of times (as evidenced in the image shown below).
However, for 2Q2013, it make a profit of RM 1.92 mil, a good signal to shareholders. But Utusan needs to do more to strengthen its financial position.
Also, as evidenced from the Nielsen research, Utusan's readership gradually declines. Its market share has also dropped to 11.06%.
From my unscientific personal observation, Utusan seems to be the only paper that is least popular and less appealing to the general public.
This can be seen in many 7-Eleven stored by midnight where papers other than Utusan are almost completely sold-off but when it comes to Utusan, there are still many balance to be returned to the news vendor in the next morning.
This clearly signifies that its sales has dropped tremendously.
For it to survive in the competitive era of making news headlines in the country, Utusan needs to revamp its business completely and start a new transformation program which will bring it back to its glorious days.
--
Image source: "Rights issue a lifeline for Utusan Melayu" in The Edge Weekly, Issue #989, Nov. 18th, 2013; page 36.
Friends,
There is a very interesting article in the paper today, written by one Mr Yap Ming Hui, a local financial planner.
The article is about his personal commentary on the recent Budget 2014 announcement made by the Prime Minister, Dato' Sri Najib Razak some weeks ago.
The length of the article is about a page long and in it contain a very interesting story of a man (presumably) not being thankful to the God in all the helps that the God had sent to him.
Mr Yap aptly said that while the budget has its own benefits and advantages, we -- the people of Malaysia -- should not be too engrossed and impacted by all the negatives in the budget.
We should also at the same time be optimistic in seeing the benefits that the budget may have.
Mr Yap further went on to rant how we should adapt with situation that was announced by PM Najib, and he also described the loser and the winner of Budget 2014.
The loser, according to Mr Yap, is one who "choose to ignore the good measures in the budget that they can benefit from"; while the real winner has the "attitude [that] makes them win no matter how tough the environment is" -- emphasis in bracket is mine.
How so true, Mr Yap!
The story presented by Mr Yap is one that is timely as it reminds all of us to be positive when in the negatives.
I am sure that Mr Yap's parable in justifying the budget as announced by the Prime Minister will be heavily criticized by the detractors; but let the man be entitled to his own view.
I personally find the allegory to be rather interesting even though I have my own views on the budget announced by the PM weeks ago.
--
Image source: Yap Ming Hui, "Benefits in Budget 2014", The Star (StarBiz - page 22), Saturday, 16 Nov 2013.
Hey there buddy,
Today I am going to introduce you one of Malaysia's leading conglomerates - MMC Corp, a company said to be controlled by one of Malaysia's richest Malay man, Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary.
Legend has it that the man has three business vehicles, and MMC Corp is one of them.
Its main businesses are mainly in a the engineering, energy and utilities.
And what is more interesting is that I never knew they own the Senai Airport in Johor!
--
Image source: The Star, (StarBiz), Saturday, 16 Nov 2013.
Friends,
I found this image in my facebook.
It is a graphical representation of the value of something. A very simple presentation to quantify how much something (or someone?) means to you pre, during and post having it.
Before you have something, you will crave for it - day and night, and sometimes you might even dream of it.
Once you have it, then you may take it for granted, often too far sighted a realization of its value.
And once you have lost it, then that is where the grief part comes in.
So peeps, please value whatever it is that you have..
Friends,
This is such a powerful image. The shots are cleverly taken.
A tapestry of life, one that is often ignored until it is too late to realize.
I adore this image so much.
Indeed, it is an apt description of the cycle of life!
Friends,
A picture speaks a thousand word. Especially the image shown below. It speaks volume of an education system - and how this poor boy cried for not being able to join the so-called "elitist" to go to the school. At least, that is how I interpreted it.
Which brings me to the educational issue in Malaysia.
The issue of education is so close to my heart that though I am trying different things in life (read: changing careers and job-hopping), I still follow closely the educational issue as it is very dear in my heart.
Last year (2012), the government abolished the PPSMI policy - that of teaching maths and science in English.
In replacement of the now-defunct policy, introduced the MBMBI -- a rather mouthful acronym, but suffice to say at this juncture that everything in schools will be taught in Bahasa Melayu while at the same time, trying to strengthen English language proficiency for school-going students in Malaysia.
By switching the language (medium of instruction policy) from English to Bahasa, it is like saying that English is only for the so-called "elitists", while the non-elitists are only worthy of learning and educated in Bahasa Malaysia ("Bahasa").
I am not saying that it is a bad thing, but it seems to me that acquiring knowledge via the English language seems to be exclusive only to the elitist.
While my argument is subject to further debate and may be somewhat hypothetically incorrect to some; however, let me pause arguing this argument for a short while and bring you an example of what happened in the yester-years ago, to back my claim.
In the past (say in the 1970s), a number of Malaysian students were sent away to be educated in Britain - of course everything taught there was in the English language. And many notary individuals and public figures were educated in institutions where the medium of instruction is only in English, be it locally in Malaysia or abroad.
Fast forward to now, I dont think that those students sent abroad were meant to have their education taught in English, but more of learning new technology from other countries.
That said, I feel that English should be for all. It should not be for the elitists and the rich. And it should not be exclusive to those going abroad for their studies.
Take for example, students in the national schools (government-funded, where the fee is affordable); the medium of instruction used is mainly in Bahasa.
And compare to those private schools - where the fees are exorbitantly high - the students enrolled there are taught in English.
The point that I am to drive here in my piece is that English should not be for the elitists, but inclusive and for all. No child should be left behind in getting equal opportunity of being educated in English.
Fight all you like about this language policy thing, but the fact of the matter remains - as depicted and clearly palpable in the image drawn below: where the elitists are going to the school, all jolly and merrily having conversation in English; while the ordinary child is crying behind for being left out in an opportunity to learn in English -- so that he can have a better future.
And with this, I leave it to you all to ponder.
--
Disclaimer: I do not own the picture, and I found it in my Facebook.
Folks,
Today, I want to share my personal opinion and thought about ridiculous comparison of "Nasi Lemak" around the world.
I am not a big fan of converting our currency to other currencies for comparison purpose - especially in the case of our famous local delicacy, "Nasi Lemak".
Why in the world would you want to compare it with another world? I mean, of course the price of nasi lemak varies from country to country.
For example, the price of nasi lemak in Malaysia probably be, say, RM 5 a plate. Of course you can't get RM 5 in London, for the price of nasi lemak sold in London must be in the local and common currency used in London.
While it is "very much clever" to convert the currency in London to ringgit, I truly see no point in doing so, especially in this particular case of nasi lemak.
To me, the measure of how pricey "a thing" is, should be in the local currency where "the thing" is sold. Of course, there are few exceptions to this theory of mine.
And above all, it must have some economic justifications when determining and studying the price of things.
Drawing a blind economic conclusion based on currency conversion is surely a simplistic, but somewhat incorrect comparison and benchmark.
I think it would definitely be misleading to unnecesarily convert form our currency to another currency just to show price difference of nasi lemak.
And it certainly will not help if we want to say that our nasi lemak here is cheaper than any other country, because I believe that whatever measure that has been taken to benchmark the price of nasi lemak sbould be in the local currency where the nasi lemak in shown.
And for those thinking that we should be grateful that the price of nasi lemak is the lowest in the region, well, that argument is certainly flawed!
It is not about being grateful (syukur) or being thankful that the price of nasi lemak is cheaper here; but it is about being logical that we cannot certainly and unnecessarily convert the price of things here in Malaysia with those in other parts of the world.
While there may be some other things that we can draw comparison with other nations (such as the price of cars etc.), I certainly think that comparing the price of nasi lemak is one that makes no sensible sense to my mind.
Hardly one that I can fathom!
Of course, this is my unqualified economic opinion for you to dwell and absorb.
Friends,
This photo was taken yesterday at YCM Annual Summit 2013 at InterContinental Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.
The picture here (below) showed the Convenors of YCM (Young Corporate Malaysians).
To know more about YCM, do visit www.ycm.org.my.
Sitting in the center is the Chairman, Dimishtra Sittampalam along with others.
It was a good summit despite all of us being tired and extremely overworked.
It was definitely a fun summit! ;)
Peeps,
I have this one special mug that has this phrase engraved on it "no coffee, no work".
And I love this particular mug of mine so much that I will carry it with me to wherever I go when I job-hop.
True enough though, for if there is no coffee for me, then my will not be stimulated or excited to do any work.
When I am tired, I look for coffee and when I am sad, I look for coffee too.
Coffee of course, comes in two forms - black or white. And there are many variations of coffee - espresso, latte, mocha etc.
If you go to normal eateries in Malaysia and order a cup of coffee, you will be automatically directed to a cup of coffee made from a coffee powder of the brand "kapal api".
And its taste is usually fit for those aged 50 and above. It is a particular kind of coffee made especially for villagers - and no, it is not discriminatory in nature, but its coffee formulation was targeted to that segment of age.
Which is why, in Malaysia, you wouldn't find many of us ordering "coffee" at usual eateries - we would instead order "nescafe", a special type of coffee made my the famous FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) house: Nestlè.
Nescafe is so close to Malaysian hearts that if ever, any eateries were to replace the usual nescafe-branded coffee with any other unknown brand, then the eatery owner should be ready to get an earful from its customers for "a lack of coffee sense".
Anyway, my point is, if I dont get a good dose of coffee (which means nescafe-branded coffee), then don't even think of me being energetic to do any work especially in the sleepy time of 8:00 am!
And yes folks, "no coffee, no work".
Friends,
Being a man, I have my own ego (which I think I should rid it off me) of not showing physical affection, dedication and love for my mother.
I have my own way of showing it - she in fact knows this but it is just me who refused to openly show my physical love for her.
It is not wrong, never have been; but in today's discriminative world, if love and affection is not shown physically, then dont even dream of being spared from "what?!" scream or sharply frowned upon by your friends.
Alas, I am not alone in this.
I know this for a fact - she is my love and my joy. She helped me the most when no one else did. She listened to my problems and put -up with it. She accepted me screaming at her on a rare one or two occasions and I am sure she has forgiven me for doing so, though I think that I have never apologized for screaming at her.
She knows all of this because I for one, am the eldest child of nine and I have other trillion matters running in my head per seconda of time.
That aside.
Below is an amazing photo showing the cycle of life - the mother who used to carry us in her womb for 9 months until us, the offspring who will carry the mother in her senior and ripe years.
It is such a powerful image, one that carries astronomical weight of thoughts that should remind every one of us about the demand and responsibilities of a mother.
Due to hectic demand of never-ending work, we sometimes unnecessarily and unknowingly sidelined our mothers in our thought, when in fact she should be prioritized above all else.
Do good to your mother for if you dont, then think not of smelling the heavens.
Folks,
I am now on a new dietary regime. Well, it all changed when I decided to measure my new weight, to my horror, it touched the 90 kg mark.
I was absolutely devastated because it never crossed my mind that I will weigh 90 kg in my life.
I actually noticed that I have gained several kilograms, but I did not expect it to balloon all the way to 9-series number.
But now my weight has reduced to an 8-series number, thank God! But I still need to be alert, because though my weight is now in the range of 80s, it is still close to 9-series.
A lof ofy friends reminded me that I am "just nice" because my weight somehow (according to them) correspond to my height, which currently is at 181 cm.
They even further remarked that I am a bit plum but not yet chubby. Words. How these synonyms can really change your perspective of things!
Truth be told, I love to eat. I will eat anything except coleslaw. And I dont exercise that much. It is hard to find time to exercise. It is not about being lazy, but my nature of work demands that I commit my heart and soul to it that it literally tires my mind.
Therefore, whenever I have free time, I will dedicate it to my body - to rest, sleep and laze around.
But it still does not give me an excuse to not take care of my body.
My friend recently told that I need to watch my carbohydrate ("carbo") intake - eat less rice.
To me, telling me to eat less rice is like telling me to go and die.
Well, of course I am exaggerating, but it is very difficult to separate Asians with rice. Or in this case, average Malaysians with rice. It is our bread and butter. Without rice, the world is gloomy, and life is just misery.
But somehow, I need to reduce my intake of rice. Which is why now, I, Mohd Sulhi, will try my best not to take any carbos after the hour of 6:00 pm. Especially rice in whatever form it is - fried rice etc.
And I will instead switch to eating yoghurt and low-fat foods.
Speaking of which it is funny because yoghurt costs me in average, RM 2.00 per "small cup", while fried rice will cost me approximately RM 4.00 per proportionate plate that is enough to sustain me the whole night from starvation.
And one small cup of yoghurt is not enough for me - three small cups are the mininum for my tummy. And that translates to a cost of 3 yoghurts x RM 2.00 per small cup = RM 6.00/-.
That is an excess of RM 2 which is enough to buy me a not-so-health 'benjo' burger from some abang across the street.
And I always wonder why healthy foods are costlier than non-health foods.
Somehow, it is a discrimination because the rich can enjoy eating healthy foods but the average earners and the poors are limited to unhealthy foods - food with carbos and not much of healthy vitamins.
And then there are stupid advertisements accusing Malaysians for not taking healthy foods. And then there is this shocking statistics that says 70% of average Malaysians earn below RM 4,000 which is slightly above the 'urban-poverty' line of RM 3,000.
Absolutely ironic and oxymoronic.
But oh well, that argument aside, I will now take as much yoghurt and healthy foods as possible.
It definitely tastes good (but not better than the non-healthy ones).
The yoghurt -- it is definitely worth buying for it will enhance the digestive system process.
Try it. It is goooood!
Never mind the cost.
Peeps,
This is one of my favourite foods - butterprawns. I don't know which spelling is correct, but I assume butterprawn is correctly spelt, instead of butter-prawn (with a hypen).
I have been to many seafood restaurants and there are not many that can cook delicious butterprawns such as per the image shown below.
The butterprawn below is soooo delicious. Succulent. Tasty. Fattening. And heavenly indulging!
The royal yellow colour is absolutely mouth-watering and it will open your appetite immediately.
The prawns are deep friend with high quality butter and it is best eaten while it is hot. Trust me, once it is cold, it will not taste delicious at all!
And upon taking just a small bite, it immediately sent me to cloud one. One can only wonder where I will be after gobbling the whole butterprawn all to myself!
Oh well, if you want this heavenly-tasted butterprawn, head to Impian Golf & Country Resort in Saujana Impian, Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia.
They make the best butterprawn in the world - I know I am exaggerating, but trust me, butterprawns here are indeed the best!
Folks,
I found this picture in my instagram. Somebody posted it and I am just sharing with you.
A very cute picture indeed, in which the caption is in Malay, which in English mean "my mother is so engrossed with whatsapp".
It is a simple image depicting a neglected hungry boy, and his mother is sooo engrossed with social media.
I hope this is not a reality as no child should be left hungry or rot in hunger, while the mother is ignorantly hooked with social media!
Friends,
Here is another screenshot of my Facebook's friends status.
It is equally remarkable as it talks about feelings of being in love.
Again, no need for length explanation as his words are self-explanatory.
Friends,
This is a screenshot of my friend's facebook status.
I initially plan to blank-out his name to protect his privacy but I changed my mind because he is saying something that is truly powerful and this is something that should not be hidden from everyone, right, Arm Rashid? ;)
Loving someone and being loved.
Have a ponder as his status is self-explanatory.
His words are remarkably powerful.
Folks,
The article below appeared in Focus Malaysia, but I do not remember which issue.
But the article is very interesting - eat less meat to save the world.
Oh, really?
I dont know about saving the world, but one thing I certainly do know is this - eating less meat will not, in any fathomable way, save the world; no matter how scientific it may sound.
You want to save the world?
- Reduce emissions of dangerous gases.
- Help the poor and the homeless.
- Reduce the number of useless infrastructure
- Build a safer and sustainable future for the years to come.
That is how we save the world.
Not by being a vegan. And certainly not by eating less meat!
But by having love and compassion for all - humans, plants and animals.
All,
Recently, our Prime Minister Najib Razak announced a very unpopular move of introducing Goods and Services Tax (GST) in our country in his budget speech, which is scheduled to be implemented nation-wide beginning 1 April 2015.
There are many noises and brouhahas coming from two sides of the political divide - the right and the left wing.
However the noise may sound, I am all for GST. I will not argue much on why we need GST, but I will say only this - however unpopular it is, we need them to save our economy. Our ailing debt that is ballooningly high.
Let's be real: our debt-to-GDP ratio is speculated to hit 54.8% by year end, and some sort of measures must be taken to reduce thia percentage.
While GST is NOT the only measure it will nevertheless increase government's coffers in terms of revenue. That should at the very least, reduce our public debts.
Of course there are many other economic theories that could justify to support GST, but I am not economist. I don't intend to be one, but I leave it to the expert to explain it to the rakyat (citizens) on why we need a GST.
The introductory rate of 6% is fair to me, although I was hoping that it should be 1% lesser. But nevertheless, it is an experiment, and it is the duty of the government to explain on the many benefits that can be reaped from introducing this GST system in our country.
Many economists and practitioners have written and argued for the case of GST. It is a necessity and any delay will only affect our economy.
GST is introduced to broaden our country's revenue and the same time -- hopefully -- will reduce our public debts.
Below is one such good article that defends the need for GST in Malaysia. It is an excellent article written in a very simple language for all the layman to understand.
On the other hand, the present government must also implment some other measures to reduce excessive leakages in our public finance system.
The first two steps to be taken are:-
(a) address all queries and issues in the latest Auditor-General's report, and
(b) introduce few economic initiatives to transform our public expenditure and finance systems.
This is my two cent's worth of unqualified economic opinions.
Image source: The Edge Weekly, Issue #987, Nov. 4th - 10th., Page 59.
All,
Recently, our Prime Minister Najib Razak announced a very unpopular move of introducing Goods and Services Tax (GST) in our country in his budget speech, which is scheduled to be implemented nation-wide beginning 1 April 2013.
There are many noises and brouhahas coming from two sides of the political divide - the right and the left wing.
However the noise may sound, I am all for GST. I will not argue much on why we need GST, but I will say only this - however unpopular it is, we need them to save our economy. Our ailing debt that is ballooningly high.
Let's be real: our debt-to-GDP ratio is speculated to hit 54.8% by year end, and some sort of measures must be taken to reduce thia percentage.
While GST is NOT the only measure it will nevertheless increase government's coffers in terms of revenue. That should at the very least, reduce our public debts.
Of course there are many other economic theories that could justify to support GST, but I am not economist. I don't intend to be one, but I leave it to the expert to explain it to the rakyat (citizens) on why we need a GST.
The introductory rate of 6% is fair to me, although I was hoping that it should be 1% lesser. But nevertheless, it is an experiment, and it is the duty of the government to explain on the many benefits that can be reaped from introducing this GST system in our country.
Many economists and practitioners have written and argued for the case of GST. It is a necessity and any delay will only affect our economy.
GST is introduced to broaden our country's revenue and the same time -- hopefully -- will reduce our public debts.
Below is one such good article that defends the need for GST in Malaysia. It is an excellent article written in a very simple language for all the layman to understand.
On the other hand, the present government must also implment some other measures to reduce excessive leakages in our public finance system.
The first two steps to be taken are:-
(a) address all queries and issues in the latest Auditor-General's report, and
(b) introduce few economic initiatives to transform our public expenditure and finance systems.
This is my two cent's worth of unqualified economic opinions.
Image source: The Edge Weekly, Issue #987, Nov. 4th - 10th., Page 59.
Folks,
Recently, Blackberry released a version of its Blackberry Messenger (BBM) for both Android's and Apples's phone.
And being a heavy user of smartphones, I have no interest whatsoever to try BBM. Let me tell you why.
There are plethoras of chatting apps in our phone and I dont know about you, but I rarely we use them except for Whatsapp.
I have installed befor the following apps:-
*wechat
*line
*viber
*kakao talk
*tango and yada yada yada.
But I can tell you that nobody ever bothered to chat me in those apps. Almost 99.9% of my contacts prefer to use Whatsapp.
Why? It is easy, user friendly, free (for now, I guess) and convenient.
I know that many hippie youngsters are so into wechat and whatnot, but to me, I am not that interested. I prefer my good old greeny Whatsapp than some other colourful chatting apps.
In order to use Whatsapp, you need to know the other person's phone number, and only then will Whatsapp allow the chat to proceed. Basically, no number = no chat.
As for the case of Line and others, you are only allowed to communicate through the app if you know the other party's ID.
I find it asbolutely strange. Me being a number person, I am more comfortable hearing a phrase of phone numbers than some weird 'LoveMuach80' ID. Dont you think so?
It is an absolute hassle because why would I want to know his ID instead of his phone number?
Oh, I get it.. some people prefer to chat for a while and once the other party bore you out, then you have the option of removing them, whereas in Whatsapp, you can only block the other party.
It ain't happen to me. I do not want to clog my phone's memory by installing useless app - I have enough of my current apps, and certainly this BBM app does not interest me.
Oh well, stop asking me for my BBM pin, or else you might end-up getting a slap in your face, just like what the gentleman below did to his comrade.
Friends,
I received the following image in my Whatsapp grouo chat. It says the Top 10 Most Stressful jobs.
While I dont deny the fact that all jobs listed there can be stressful, I am at the same time equally puzzled on the absence of "teacher/lecturer" in that list.
It is not easy being a teacher, let alone being a primary school teacher. God, I hated teaching those kids - they dont listen, and their questions can sometimes boil my blood; albeit them being cute brats.
I have tremendous respect for primary school teachers. You know why? Because they can make the whol class listen to them and obey their instructions, that is why.
Are you able to make or persuade the whole class listen to you? Nahhh, I dont think so.
That is how powerful a teacher is. They teach you a knowledge which hopefully will be useful to you in the future. They nurture you to be a responsible person. And they guide you through the dark tunnel in your quest to gain knowledge. And they are always there for you when you need answers.
Now tell me, does that not sound like a stressful job? A miserable one too, I must add.
Which is why, coming back to my original contention, I am puzzled why teachers or lecturers are absent from this list!
To Whom It May Concern:-
I would like to take this opportunity to wish a very merry, happy and jolly Deepavali to those who celebrates it today.
May you be blessed by the supreme being, and may you have prosperous health and wealth for the time to come.
On the other hand, I will try to keep-off from checking my facebook today for fears that I may read some non-sensical remarks, pathethic fatwas (religious edicts) that would accuse Muslims like myself and others of blasphemy for wishing other's season's greetings.
We live in a harmonic and peaceful Malaysia,, and I certainly do not need Islamic scholar wannabe to tell me what is right or wrong. You wanna know what is wrong? Go look in the mirror and fix your extreme attitude which has no place on this Earth. Look somewhere else beyond this terrestrial and shove that attitude of yours there.
Enough said. Moving on...
The picture below is a "deepavali" cupcakes given to my company from our advertising agency. The cake is sweeter than sugar, yummier than yoghurt and certainly tastier than some words uttered from bad some mouth :) very thoughtful of the advertising & public relations agency to give this cake to their customer/client on this festive season.
That is what you call -- to quote the theme of the recently conclude 9th World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) in London -- "changing world, new relationship"!
Happu Deepavali, or Diwali!
Peeps,
I am a four-eyed man. I "suffer" from a 'disease' of a long-eyesight disease. Not sure whether I put it right or not, but yeah. You got the idea. I can't see amything far away from me. It is all blurry which is why I need a spectacle or glassess to help facilitate my sight of this world.
Recently, I broke my old glasses - I accidentally sit on it while it was on my bed. It was one of my favourite spectacles that I ever owned.
I bought the old glasses when I was in Jakarta. It costs me Rupiah 500,000, which when converted to Ringgit was not that much. The simple trick to convert it to ringgit is to divide the value by three. That should be ... go figure! I ain't calculate that for ya.
The old glasses was cheap, made in Indonesia and possibly a fake one too, in terms of brand. Best of all, the spectacle was a polarized one, meaning to say that it will quickly (and yes, really quickly; despite its fake status) turn dark once it was hit by the ultraviolet light that came along with the radiated heat emanated from the scorching sun.
I like the glasses. The old glasses, I mean. But ever it was broken -- by ehem ehem, me! -- I have since thrown it away and bought myself a new spectacle from Menara Optometry, in Bandar Baru Bangi.
It doesn't cost much, and it is made of plastic. Very light despite it being big in size. Quite a fashionable glasses too. It made me look like an artist in a way. Yeah, I know.
But the thing is, it is not polarized because it costs much to do it in Malaysia. Almost double the price of the frame, can you believe it?
Fact: it will cost you at least (minimum) RM 1,000 to do a polarized glasses here in Malaysia. My god. Over there in Jakarta, it costs much much much more lesser. Lesser than RM 250, that is for sure.
Nevertheless, I plan to return to Jakarta, sip my lovely street and cooling alpokat (avocado), and get myself few more glasses from Mangga 2, a famous shopping mall in Jakarta.
There are literally hundreds, if not thousands (okay, I am exaggerating!) of optometrists there in Jakarta. Believe me when I say this!
Over there in Jakarta, glasses are like toys to babies - people there buy them not so much because they have eyesight issues, but they put it on because of fashion, being up-to-date and keeping in style with current trends. Talk about being cosmopolitan!
Oh well, for now, this will do!
Oh wait, how do I look? Yeah. I know ;) thank you for your compliment!
