Tuesday, March 18, 2014

BNM to postpone execution of 50 sen cheque processing fee from 1 April 2014 to 2 January 2015

There is insider news from local media that Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) will soon announce a postponement of the execution of 50 sen cheque processing fee from 1 April 2014 to 2 January 2015.

About one year ago, I have written here that BNM reduced  the processing fee of Interbank GIRO (IBG) money transfer performed online via internet banking or mobile banking to 10 sen only, effective 2 May 2013.

At the same time, BNM intended to discourage the use of paper cheque by imposing a processing fee of 50 sen per cheque transaction on top of the existing 15 sen stamp duty, making the transaction per cheque to cost 65 sen to be borne by the cheque issuer. This is supposed to start soon on 1 April 2013.

Now, we are glad to hear the news that this policy will be postponed until year 2015.

In my previous article, I ended by saying that BNM really need to think through carefully before enforcing the "discouraging mechanism" of using cheque in order to get people to use electronic money transfer.

Now that after one year, we are still having a lot of questions which need clear direction, including:

  • We can write cheque that honours a large amount of money transfer, such as hundreds of thousands to millions. How will this be handled in electronic transfer, which only allows a small amount of money to be transferred per day?
  • We can have current account that requires 2 valid signatures on the same cheque before it is honoured. How will electronic transfer handle the requirement for co-signature?
  • In certain scenario, we can make use of cheque to act as deposit/guarantee, which is kept by the recipient but will not be banked in immediately. How can electronic transfer handle this kind of requirement?
I hope that BNM can at least come out with a list of FAQ with answers, before the cheque processing fee is imposed, be it on 1 April 2014, or 2 January 2015, or other date.


Sunday, March 16, 2014

Rooting the HiMedia Q5ii Android TV box

You might wonder why you need to root the Android TV box in the first place. Well, I also never thought about this, until the recent Chinese version of Q5ii firmware taken away the Google Play Store, and I need root access to restore the Google Play Store in the HiMedia Q5ii Android TV box.

In order to gain root access of the HiMedia Q5ii from your computer, you need to put connect them to the same local network. Then, as usual, you'll need the famous Android Debug Bridge (ADB.exe) which is distributed in the Android SDK Tools in Android Developers website. All Android developers and/or hackers should already have this Android SDK Tools in their computers.

Alternatively, you can also install ADB in your computer by downloading and installing the Minimal ADB and Fastboot package from XDA Developers website.

If until this point, you don't know what I am talking about, and you have no idea what is "root", you should not continue. This is because rooting an Android device, if not handled properly, might introduce risk and damage to your Android device.

If you still keen to continue, then copy these 3 required files to a new folder in your computer:

  • adb.exe
  • AdbWinApi.dll
  • AdbWinUsbApi.dll
Then, we need the "su" binary and the Superuser.apk.

Download Superuser-3.2-arm-signed.zip here, unzip the file, and copy these 2 files into the folder where you put ADB just now:
  • su
  • Superuser.apk
Then, you need to find out the IP address of your HiMedia Q5ii Android TV box and use ADB to connect to its port 5555.

Go to Windows command prompt by executing "cmd" in Run...


Go to your folder with ADB, and issue the following commands:
  • adb connect your_himedia_ip_address:5555
  • adb root
  • adb remount
An example of the command issuing and respond is as below...

Then continue with the following commands:
  • adb push su /system/bin
  • adb push su /system/xbin
  • adb push Superuser.apk /system/app
  • adb shell chmod 4755 /system/bin/su
  • adb shell chmod 4755 /system/xbin/su
And finally, reboot your HiMedia Android TV box with this command:
  • adb shell reboot

After the reboot, you should be able to gain the root access to your HiMedia Android TV box now.




Wednesday, March 12, 2014

CIMB credit card Statement of Account Delivery Instructions form

Effective 1 April 2014, CIMB Bank will force all their credit card members with online CIMB Clicks account to access to their monthly credit card statements via CIMB Clicks website. The bank will no longer send out the monthly credit card statements to them.

If you are affected, and wish to receive your monthly credit card statements by email or in hardcopy by post, you need to inform CIMB by filling up the so-called Statement of Account Delivery Instructions form and fax to 03-2381 7198 or email to cardcentre@cimb.com.

If you are looking for the form, it is available here as below:


You can also click here to download the CIMB credit card Statement of Account Delivery Instructions form in PDF format (English and Bahasa Malaysia).

You will receive a Notice on CIMB Bank Credit Card eStatement and its Terms and Conditions together with you March 2014 credit card statement sent by CIMB. Click here to download the softcopy of the Notice on CIMB Bank Credit Card eStatement and its Terms and Conditions.

I wonder if CIMB Bank has any legal standing to force their credit card members to accept such change in such a short period of time using this manner. Any lawyer reader here who can give some comment?


Updated my HiMedia Q5II Android TV box firmware to Mango Hi Q v1.0.6

After the successful upgrade of my HiMedia Q5II Android TV box firmware to Mango Hi Q (芒果嗨Q) v1.0.5 in January 2014, I have now updated its firmware to the latest Mango Hi Q v1.0.6 without much problem. This new firmware v1.0.6 was just released on 8 March 2014.

You can download the Mango Hi Q v1.0.6 firmware for HiMedia Q-series dual core Android TV boxes here.

Make sure you download the firmware that matches with the model number of your HiMedia Q-series dual core Android TV box. If the label on your box has the wording of "eMMC" (which is the newer version sold to the market since November 2013 onwards), download the firmware for EMMC version. Otherwise, download the firmware for non-EMMC version.

The update process is pretty simple. Just put the downloaded file in a USB thumb drive, then plug the USB thumb drive into one of the USB port of the HiMedia TV box, and perform the update from System Settings option.

This version of Mango Hi Q v1.0.6 brings the long awaited support for DVD ISO replay function, support for Apple iOS 7 Airplay and Airplay Mirror, WiFi hotspot function, user defined wallpaper, and bug fixes.

Unfortunately, my WiFi Analyzer app disappeared from the Application Management screen after the update. The app is still there, just that it is not showing up in the listing in Application Management screen. Hopefully this new bug can be fixed soon.

Sunday, March 9, 2014

Youtube for Google TV that works with HiMedia Q5ii Mango Hi Q Android TV box

If you have a HiMedia Q5ii Android TV box with Mango Hi Q firmware and find that it doesn't work well with Youtube, I've found the solution for you.

If you install the Youtube app (for Android smartphones and tablets) from Google Play Store into your HiMedia Q5ii Android TV box, you might face the problem that the Youtube always showing a black screen without any video, while the audio can still be heard.

The solution is to install Youtube for Google TV version 1.7.3 and it should work fine.

Youtube for Google TV was once available in Google Play Store, but is now unavailable. Anyhow, you can still download its APK file from here to install into your Android TV box.


Wednesday, March 5, 2014

MSWG Seminar on Privatization & Take-Over Matters

The corporate scene has witnessed a spate of privatization and take-over exercises carried out particularly over the last one year. Launching of privatizations or take-overs seem to be the trend, and many are amazed or baffled with such news reported with increasing frequency.
 
Against this backdrop, the compelling and burning questions ringing in the minds of many is why the increasing need to privatize and exit from the public domain and particularly more important to minority shareholders or the non-interested shareholders is whether the price offered to them is fair and reasonable.

As a result, the Minority Shareholder Watchdog Group (MSWG) is organizing a seminar themed "Privatization & Take-Over Matters",  to be held at MSWG Training Centre on 25 March 2014.

MSWG aims to look for a particular outcome from each of the current privatization or take-over bids in question to curb what is seen as short-term motivations, delivering a target listed issuer easily into the hands of the bidders.

The seminar will discuss and look at various matters and issues pertaining to privatization and take-over bids, including:
  • Factors leading a listed company to consider a privatization or a take-over bids
  • Review of legislations and regulatory rules governing privatization of listed companies
  • Role of various parties and relationships in a privatization or a take-over bids
  • Privatization or take-over implications: Voluntary general offer vs mandatory general offer scheme of arrangement (SOA), selective capital reduction/repayment, assets & liabilities acquisition, offerors and parties in concert
  • Practical issues, and useful tips, Qs and As on case studies in question
The fee for this seminar is RM80 per seat.

Click here for more information and Registration Form of this MSWG Seminar on Privatization & Take-Over Matters.

Monday, March 3, 2014

Garmin nuvi 2565LM Sing/Mal GPS firmware v8.00 update

I have just updated the firmware of my Garmin nuvi 2565LM Sing/Mal GPS from v7.60 to the latest v8.00.

This new version is said to have improved the route calculation issue.

You can find this firmware update here: http://www.garmin.com.sg/products/ontheroad/nuvi_2565lm_sg_my/#updateTab

The instruction on that firmware update webpage is very clear and easy to follow.

Besides, the latest MalFreeMaps 2014.10 with latest Singapore MCE (Marina Coastal Expressway) data is also available now. You can find it here: http://www.garmin.com.sg/mapupdate/

Hint: Click on the "Older Posts" link to continue reading, or click here for a listing of all my past 3 months articles.