Renewed Malaysia passport in 11 minutes during RMCO period

My passport was about to expire in less than 6 months time. I planned to renew it online, but the system said due to their internal problem, I was not able to proceed with the online passport renewal and need to do it by going to an immigration office.

You can click here to try your luck to renew your Malaysia passport online. Before you proceed with the online passport renewal, you need to take your passport photograph at a professional photo shop to be uploaded to the system. After you've completed the online passport renewal process and made the payment online, you will still need to go to the immigration office with relevant documents, including a printed copy of the payment receipt, in order to collect your new passport.

If you plan to do your passport renewal at the immigration office, it is not necessary to take passport photograph, as your passport photograph will be taken at the immigration office, free of charge. Even though you have brought your own photo, the officer will still insist you to take a new photo at their photo booth.

Since I was not able to renew my passport online, I made an appointment to visit the UTC Shah Alam Immigration Office located at Level 2 of Kompleks UTC Selangor (Anggerik Mall). During current recovery movement control order (RMCO) period, it is a must to make prior appointment before going to the immigration office.

You can click here to make online appointment with immigration office.

Note that you need to make separate appointment for each person going to the immigration office. For my case, I brought my kid together to renew his passport as well. Therefore, I made 2 appointments, one for myself and one for my kid, both at the same timeslot.

Kompleks UTC Selangor (Anggerik Mall) is quite easy to reach with the aid of Google Maps. You can easily identify the building with its big UTC Selangor signage as shown in the photo below. It was quite easy to get a parking bay there. The parking is not free, but its hourly rate is pretty reasonable.

The immigration office is located at Level 2 in the building. We need to fill in a form for each person and submit all the required documents to the reception counter there, before we can get a queue number chit to be served.

Required documents for an adult to renew passport:

• Existing passport (original)
• MYKAD (original)
• Printed copy of the appointment email received after the online appointment was made

Required documents for kids below 18 years old to renew passport:

• Existing passport (original)
• MYKID/MYKAD (both original and photocopy)
• Birth certificate (both original and photocopy)
• MYKAD of the parent who brings the kid to the immigration office (both original and photocopy)
• Printed copy of the appointment email received after the online appointment was made

If you forgot to bring any of the required original documents, then that's too bad, you need to make another visit again with the complete set of required documents.

If you forgot to photocopy any of the required photocopies, no worry, expensive photocopy service is available at the shop just next door.

If you forgot to print out your appointment email, also no worry, expensive email printing service is available at the same shop next door, provided that you can access to that email with your handphone.

One more thing! If you forgot to bring the person (such as your kid) along, the passport also cannot be issued to the person, as thumbprints verification is an imperative process. The passport holder needs to be present at the immigration office.

Quite surprisingly, there were very few people coming for immigration office service today, probably because now is still RMCO period. We managed to complete the whole process, from getting the queue number chits for 2 persons, then attended by an immigration officer, had our left and right thumbprints verified, took our photo, made the payments at payment counter, put the payment receipts into a basket at Counter 8, wait for a while and collect our new passport, all completed in just 11 minutes.

Anyhow, the immigration office in UTC Selangor has made a KPI that all passports shall be ready for collection within 1 hour after payment made.

Note that payment can only be made either using credit card or debit card. Cash payment is not available.

Passport cover can be purchased at the passport collection counter. The price is RM5 each. There are 2 types of passport cover, the old type in darker red colour has a more solid feel, and the new type in lighter red colour is a piece of soft plastic. This passport cover is optional.

DIY hair cutting at home with Xiaomi Enchen Boost wireless hair trimmer

Due to the prolonged Movement Control Order (MCO) period which has caused all the barber shops and hair salons to shutdown until further notice, I have bought a Xiaomi Enchen Boost wireless hair trimmer for DIY hair cutting at home.

Enchen is a startup company in ChongQing (重庆), China that has successfully crowd-funded their hygiene care products in Xiaomi Youpin (小米有品) platform. They have several models of wireless hair trimmer product, with the name of Boost, Hummingbird, Sharp3, etc. and I found the Boost model is easier to use and more suitable for novice users.

At the price of around RM50, the package comes with:

• The electronic hair trimmer with built-in rechargeable battery
• Cleaning brush
• USB type-C charging cable
• A small bottle of lubricating oil
• 2 stainless steel hair cutting scissors
• Plastic comb
• Barber apron
• User manual in Chinese language

There are sellers selling this Xiaomi Enchen Boost hair trimmer at a slightly cheaper price, but without the scissors, comb and apron.

Before using the hair trimmer, its battery needs to be recharged, and its cutting blade needs to be lubricated with the lubricating oil supplied in the package.

The package does not come with a charger. You will need to use your own wall charger or computer USB port to charge the hair trimmer. When charging, one of its LED will blink slowly, with "breathing" effect. After it is fully charged, the LED light will stop "breathing" and become continuously on.

The hair trimmer can be used while connected to its charging USB cable. Normally, it is used wirelessly after unplugged from the USB cable, so that you can move it freely without being tangled by the USB cable.

It takes about 60 minutes to reach 90% charge, and another 30 minutes to be fully charged. At 90% charged state, it can be used for 80 minutes. When fully charged, it can be used for 90 minutes.

The one button at the front of the hair trimmer functions to turn it on/off, as well as to toggle its normal/turbo speed. You can toggle into turbo cutting speed by turning it on with a long press instead of short press.

Its motor is pretty quiet without producing much noise. At normal speed, the motor rotates at 4,500 rpm and at turbo speed, 5,800 rpm. It is strong enough to even cut down fine copper wires, as shown below.

The Enchen Boost hair trimmer can be easily adjusted to trim down the hair from 3 mm to 21 mm at a slide to its back button.

Note that the hair trimmer body is not water resistant, and should be avoided from contacting with excessive water. Its cutting blade can be removed and rinse with water for cleaning purpose.

You can use the comb and scissors to fine tune the hair slope for nicer look after the trimming.

This Xiaomi Enchen Boost wireless hair trimmer is very easy to use and value for money. With it, you can easily DIY your own hair cut, and also help your family members' hair cut, even without any prior hair cutting experience. It is suitable for hair cutting to people from infant to old age. Its low noise operation is generally more acceptable to infants and toddlers, so that they are more cooperative and emotionally calmer during the hair cut.

One thing to criticize is that it only comes with user manual in Chinese language. The user manual has clear instruction on how to operate the hair trimmer, cleaning and maintenance, and also some fault troubleshooting steps. It would be much better if English is included in the user manual.

What is meant by FOMO, FOBO, YOLO, MOMO, FOMOMO, FOJI, BROMO, SLOMO, JOMO, ...?

You might have heard about FOMO, the acronym for Fear Of Missing Out. It is a psychological need of a person in society, particularly in social media. It is a common term nowadays used in advertising and marketing, applied in strategies and tactics to influence customer behaviour.

Other than FOMO, there are many other related acronyms spun off to describe a person's state of mind in the real-world and/or virtual community. Some of them have also become sales and marketing terms.

You can see these terms in social media hashtags.

FOMO = Fear Of Missing Out, or fear to be left behind. For example, when your friend posted something in the social media, and many friends reacted on it. You feel FOMO if don't follow suit.

FOBO = Fear Of Better Options. There is another one: Fear Of Being Outcompeted. This is commonly seen in a job interview. The employer is FOBO (fear of better options), the candidate is also FOBO (fear of being outcompeted).

YOLO = You Only Live Once. This is a trait of positive personality to live the fullest. It is also a common advertising term.

MOMO = Mystery Of Missing Out. This is a higher level of anxiety than FOMO. For example, when you post something in the social media and anticipate your friends to react, but you get very little reaction, you might fall into MOMO state.

FOMOMO = Fear Of the Mystery Of Missing Out. You are fear to post something, because you are fear of MOMO.

FOJI = Fear Of Joining In. This is another term of FOMOMO. Nowadays FOJI is a more commonly used term than FOMOMO.

BROMO = Bros protecting you from Missing Out. This is an act of solidarity from your friends to avoid you feel FOMO.

SLOMO = Slow to Missing Out. When something has happened in your social network while you are offline or sleeping, and you realize later...

JOMO = Joy Of Missing Out. This is the opposite of FOMO. You feel okay or even happier to be offline.

Reliable online shop to buy disposable 3-ply non-woven face masks and disposable plastic gloves

It is a crucial practice to maintain good hygiene during current critical time against the COVID-19 corona virus.

To prevent infection, it is essential to wear a 3-ply non-woven face mask whenever we go outdoor, or whenever there is any sick family member in the house.

As the global demand for face masks is very high at this moment, there are not much stocks available in the market. Worse still, there exists quite a lot of scam face mask sellers in the Internet trying to cheat the buyers.

As such, it is very important to know where can you buy face masks online of:

• with reasonable price
• of reliable quality
• from trustworthy seller
• that promised to deliver to you within a short period of time

One of the online shop that fulfil all of the above requirements is the online JDX Presto Concept Store in PrestoMall.

JDX Presto Concept Store is a renown O2O store with a 50,000 square-feet physical shop located in Quill City Mall. PrestoMall, formerly known as 11Street, is one of the larger and popular online marketplace in Malaysia.

The URL to buy disposable 3-ply non-woven face masks from them is:
https://www.prestomall.com/productdetail/3ply-disposable-face-mask-50pcs-3-69407527

 

 



According to a research done by University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA), the COVID-19 virus can stay active for more than 3 days on certain surfaces including plastic and stainless steel.

If you touch on the following (but not limited to) objects, you might carry the bacteria and virus on their surface to your hand, which might include the COVID-19 virus as well:

• Petrol pump
• Lift buttons
• ATM machine buttons
• Door access keypad buttons
• Door handle
• Bus / train handle bar or handle strap
• Shopping trolley cart handle
• Fingerprint scanner
• ... and many more

Then, the bacteria and virus would spread out from your hand to all the other surfaces that you touch on, and might also enter into your own body if you touched your eye, nose, mouth, body wound, etc.

Therefore, it is highly advisable to wear a disposable plastic glove before you touch on any of such objects, especially in public places, and immediately throw away the glove into dustbin after use.

You can buy the disposable plastic gloves from Shopee. According to my own experience, the plastic gloves arrived at my doorstep within 24 hour of purchase.

The URL that I bought my disposable plastic gloves is:
https://shopee.com.my/product/12837901/986704474

The same shop also sell alcohol-free hand sanitizer spray as well.

Take care. If you find this article useful, please bookmark and share its link to your friends.

Yoodo provides free weekly additional 1GB data plan until end April 2020

Currently, Malaysia is undergoing a Movement Control Order (MCO) to prevent the widespread infection of COVID-19 corona virus. Most people are ordered to work from home.

In view of this, Yoodo has announced to provide free additional 1GB data plan on every Monday to all their active users. This free additional 1GB data is given automatically, and users need not do any setting to enjoy the free data.

The first additional 1GB data has been allocated on Friday 20 March 2020. Thereafter, on every Monday of every week until 27 April 2020, active users will automatically get another additional 1GB data in their plan.

Note that if you did not subscribe to any Yoodo data plan during the period, you will still get this free 1GB data as long as your account is still active. However, the 1GB data will not be seen in your Yoodo app's dashboard.

If you have an active data plan, you will be able to see 1GB added on top of your remaining data quota in the dashboard screen. However, the 1GB free data will not be added to your total data plan value.

In the example above, the active data plan is 2GB, and 0.03 GB has already been used. The remaining is 1.97GB. Then, the additional 1GB is added, so the remaining is now 2.97GB instead.

Unifi Mobile #bebas prepaid provides 7 days FREE unlimited LTE data pass during 2020 Malaysia Movement Control Order period

Currently, Malaysia is undergoing a Movement Control Order (MCO) to prevent the widespread infection of COVID-19 corona virus. Most people are ordered to work from home.

Unifi Mobile has just announced that they are providing a 7 days FREE unlimited LTE data pass to all their  #bebas prepaid users.

Note that this 7 days FREE unlimited LTE data pass, namely BEBAS Weekly, is not given automatically, and you have to subscribe to it from within the mobile@unifi app.

All you need to do is to tap on the BUY NOW! button at the bottom of the screen, go to the Data menu, and select BEBAS Weekly at the price of RM0.

I believe after 7 days, when this free data pass is expired, you can go to the same place and subscribe for another 7 days, until this option is eventually revoked from the menu.

EPF declared 5.45% (conventional) / 5.00% (shariah) dividend for 2019

The Employees Provident Fund (EPF, a.k.a. KWSP) has just declared the dividend rate for financial year 2019.

For year 2019, the dividend declared for conventional account is 5.45% while for Shariah account is 5.00%. The dividend has already credited into members' account, and you can check for it by login into your EPF i-Account.

Year 2019 was the third year of dividend declaration for Shariah account, while dividend for conventional account has been declared annually since 1952. The dividend for Shariah account in all the years from 2017 to 2019 were lower than the dividend for conventional account of the same year.

The 5.45% dividend for EPF conventional account in 2019 is 11.38% lower than the 6.15%  dividend declared for 2018 (last year).

Calculation: (5.45-6.15)/6.15 = -0.7/6.15 = -11.38%

It is 9.00% higher than the 5.00% Shariah dividend declared for the same year.

Calculation: (5.45-5.00)/5.00 = 0.45/5.00 = 9.00%

The table below shows the historical EPF dividend payout rate since 2001, for you to judge yourself whether the dividend payout rate in 2019 is satisfactory or not.

Register for mySalam free national health protection insurance

The mySalam national health protection scheme is an initiative started by the Pakatan Harapan Government that aims to provide B40 and M40 citizens with free takaful health insurance protection.

You are eligible to online register for the mySalam national health protection scheme if you are inside one of the following categories:

• Bantuan Sara Hidup (BSH) recipient, married, age between 18 and 65 (both inclusive).
• Bantuan Sara Hidup (BSH) recipient, single, age between 40 and 65 (both inclusive), yearly income less than RM24,000.
• Bantuan Sara Hidup (BSH) recipient, OKU, age between 18 and 65 (both inclusive), yearly income less than RM24,000.
• Non-BSH recipient, yearly income less than RM100,000.

Basically, if you have already received your e-Tunai Rakyat 2020, there is very high possibility that you are also eligible for this mySalam national health protection scheme.

This Scheme covers 45 types of critical illnesses and provides an income replacement of RM50 per day for a maximum of 14 days, or RM700 per annum, to those who are hospitalized at government, university or military hospitals.

Registered BSH recipients will receive a one-time RM8,000 cash payout upon diagnosis of one of the 45 Critical Illnesses, while non-BSH recipients will receive RM4,000 cash payout instead.

All registered citizens under this scheme will also receive RM50 daily hospitalization income replacement up to RM700 per annum at any government, military or university hospitals. This include hospitalization to receive treatment of the Covid-19 virus.

You can click here to find out what are included in the list of 45 critical illnesses covered under this scheme.

To register yourself for the scheme, click here before the deadline of 31 March 2020.

Interest rate reduced, bond price to rise further

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has just reduced the overnight policy rate (OPR) by 25 basis points from 3.00% to 2.75% on 22 January 2020. This is back to the rate 9 years ago at 2011.

Below is the chart of historical OPR rate over the years.

In general, a reduction in interest rate will have a positive impact to bond price (and therefore, the bond funds as well), and vice-versa. OPR and bond price are having an inverse relationship to each other.

This is because most of the bonds are paying fixed interest rate. When the general financial interest rates fall, the bond's fixed interest rate will become more attractive to investors; when the general financial interest rates rise, the bond's fixed interest rate will, in turn, become less attractive.

The Opus Income Plus Fund (IPF) has been performing pretty well recently (refer to the chart below). The reduction in OPR is expected to further boost up its performance.

Click here to learn about how to invest in Opus IPF with 0% sales charge.

Using Boost e-wallet to trade gold with HelloGold app

HelloGold is a Shahriah-compliant online platform to make it easy for us to buy, sell and/or transfer 99.99% (24 Karat 999) pure gold.

Account opening and all transactions can be performed in the HelloGold mobile app, available for free download in Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

You can check for its gold trading price from the app's opening screen, even without the need to login to the system. The price is updated every few seconds.

HelloGold separates gold price from trading and administrative charges. So, there is only a single reported trading price for both buy and sell, without any spread between them.

You can login the system by either using password or Touch ID fingerprint.

It has a very straight forwards menu, which is self-explanatory.

It used to have an Add Cash option, but that option was recently taken out from the menu.

The gold that you purchased is claimed to be kept in a vault in Singapore. For each single day the gold is kept by HelloGold, they will charge you a fee on daily basis, and the fee is deducted from the quantity of your gold held with them.

You can opt to redeem physical gold that you have purchased, which needs to be in whole gram of PAMP Suisse gold bar. However, redemption will take some times, and it will incur charges from administration, shipping and insurance services, which added up together will not be a cheap amount.

To buy gold, you can make payment by using your cash balance (the cash proceed from previous gold selling), FPX online banking, or Boost e-wallet.

The advantage of using Boost is that it has zero processing fee (compared with RM1.20 processing fee per FPX transaction). In addition, this Boost payment will be entitled for Boost shake for coins, and occasionally there will be joint promotional campaign between HelloGold and Boost for additional cash rewards or benefits.

After selling your gold, you can withdraw the cash by online transfer to your bank account at no cost.

The cost involved in trading gold in HelloGold including:

• Buy fee (weekday): 0.79% of buying cost
• Buy fee (weekend): 2.79% of buying cost
• Sell fee (weekday): 2.00% of selling price
• Sell fee (weekend): 4.00% of selling price
• Keeping cost: 0.0055% of your gold deducted per day (equivalent to 2% per year)

The keeping cost is a major drawback with HelloGold. The longer you keep your gold in the system, the lesser your gold will become, as every single day, a little bit of your gold will be deducted to pay for the keeping cost. If you keep for a long time, lets say 5 years, then you will lost 10% of your gold by paying the keeping cost. As such, HelloGold is OK for short term and mid term trading, but will be harmful to your gold keeping for long term due to the cost involved.

If you have already opened a HelloGold account, either new or old, you can go to the Rewards page, choose Enter code, key in FOON5YPH and apply.

You will get a cash reward of RM5 the next time you buy gold worth RM50 and above in HelloGold.

Note that the rewards code can only be used one time per account.

Starting from 15 January 2020 until 14 March 2020, there is a promotional campaign whereby you can get RM10 cashback from Boost and also another RM10 cashback from HelloGold if you buy RM200 and above worth of gold in HelloGold and paid using Boost and keep the gold for 30 days without selling it out.

Assuming you buy RM200 gold with this method, you will get RM20 which is an immediate 10% return, on top of a Boost shake reward.

Note that you are only eligible to buy gold with this campaign for up to 2 times only. So, for the 2nd time of buying RM200 or more gold, you will get another round of cashback.

Boost free personal accident insurance coverage for bill payment protection

Shortly after Touch n Go e-wallet launched their free personal accident insurance campaign, now Boost e-wallet also introduces a free personal accident insurance coverage for their users, namely the Bill Payment Protection.

You can find it inside the Boost mobile app, under Do more > Bill Payments section.

You will need to enroll for this Bill Payment Protection insurance coverage by provide your personal detail in the enrolment online form after tapping on the Bill Protection menu item as shown above.

Upon successful enrolment, you will receive a confirmation email similar to the one as shown below.

This free personal accident insurance coverage is linked to your bill payments made with Boost using the Do more > Bill Payments > Pay Bills function, including repaying your PTPTN education loan or top-up SSPN-i education fund with Boost.

This insurance is underwritten by Lonpac Insurance Berhad. If you have enrolled for this insurance and have made bill payments of at least RM100 via the Boost app during a calendar month, you will be covered for one month Bill Payment Protection with up to RM1000 sum insured due to Accidental Death, up to RM2000 due to Permanent Disablement, and up to RM1000 hospitalization allowance for accident caused treatment.

The insurance coverage will take effect for 1 month, beginning on the next month after the RM100 Boost spending on bill payments is fulfilled.

You can claim for this insurance in parallel with your other personal insurance coverage. All benefits are paid in addition to and regardless of any other insurance policies you may have.

To enjoy for this insurance benefit, your age must be between 16 to 80.

There are 4 attachments in the confirmation email, which will inform you clearly about this insurance scheme, and how to make the claim. The attachments are:

• Bill Payment Protection Policy
• Bill Payment Protection FAQ
• Claim Procedure
• Claim Form

If you are a Boost e-wallet user, this is something free and nice to have.

Free 3 months Unifi with Pay Nothing year end promotion

Currently TM Unifi is running a Pay Nothing promotion targeted to both new and existing Unifi high-speed broadband users, which waives the monthly subscription fee until 31 December 2019.

For new users, all you need to do is subscribe to new Unifi Home or Unifi Biz Internet service from the list below:

• Unifi 30Mbps unlimited @ RM89/month
• Unifi 50Mbps unlimited @ RM99/month
• Unifi 100Mbps @ RM129/month
• Unifi 30Mbps VDSL @ RM139/month
• Unifi 100Mbos + TV bundle @ RM159/month
• Unifi 300Mbps @ RM199/month
• Unifi Biz Pro 100Mbps @ RM139/month
• Unifi Biz 300Mbps turbo @ RM249/month
• Unifi Biz 500Mbps turbo @ RM299/month
• Unifi Biz 800Mbps turbo @ RM349/month

and you will be able to enjoy your package fee waiver until 31 December 2019. At the most, you will get fee waiver for 3 months consecutively (October, November and December).

For existing users with no outstanding bill payment, all you need to do is to have a new 24 months contract with TM Unifi to enjoy the Pay Nothing year end promotion. You can opt to either:

• remain with your existing plan
• upgrade your plan with a new one from the list above
• downgrade your plan with a new one from the list above

It is advisable for existing users who are enjoying special discount or special package benefit in their existing Unifi subscription to think carefully before opting to change their existing plan, because their current plan could be more attractive than the new plans available.

If you join the promotion and choose to stay with your existing plan, then your plan and price will stay the same as it is, but the contract period will be extended for another 24 months. Upon approval from TM, you will start enjoying the Pay Nothing period until 31 December 2019.  At the most, you will get fee waiver for 3 months consecutively (October, November and December).

Note that the Pay Nothing fee waiver is applicable to your base Unifi subscription plan only. If there is any one time charge or pay-per-use service such as Video On Demand, etc. in your monthly bill, those additional items are still chargeable.

You can apply to join in for this Pay Nothing year end promotion through Unifi website or MyUnifi mobile app. Existing users who do not want to be restricted by the new 24 months contract period can just ignore this promotion and need to do nothing.

You can visit to this webpage for more official information about this promotion from TM Unifi.

Touch n Go 100% toll rebates and free personal accident coverage promo

Touch n Go has been pretty aggressive in promoting their eWallet mobile app since the inception of this eWallet.

In this latest campaign, Touch n Go is giving multiple times of 100% toll rebates to their eWallet users. In order to get this 100% toll rebates, you need to be either:

• A new TNG eWallet user who registered using a referral code (3 times 100% toll rebate)
• A TNG eWallet user who first time activates the PayDirect function in the eWallet (3 times 100% toll rebate)
• An existing user who refers new users to use the TNG eWallet (3 times 100% toll rebate for each successful referral)

If you haven't used the Touch n Go mobile app before, you can click here to download and install the Touch n Go eWallet into your smartphone.

You can enjoy the 3 times 100% toll rebates if you register your Touch n Go eWallet account with this Referral Code: m4sxxm

After you have successfully registered your Touch n Go eWallet account, you can start to earn more 100% toll rebates by referring other new users to use the eWallet.

Your unique referral code can be found by tapping on your circle icon at the top-right corner of the main screen of the TNG eWallet app, then tap on Share & Earn Rewards in the next screen.

Tap on the Share Now button to share your unique referral code using either one of QR code, WhatsApp, Yahoo Messenger, Facebook, SMS or Email.

You can use your smartphone to scan the above QR code to install the TNG eWallet app.

To activate the PayDirect function, you need to have either a MyKAD with Touch n Go function, or physical Touch n Go card(s).

Tap on the PayDirect icon in the Services section of the TNG eWallet main screen, then tap on the View TNG Card button and then the Add A New Card button on next screen to add your card(s) to PayDirect.

You will need to key-in the 10-digit Card Serial No. to add the card to PayDirect function. For MyKAD, you can load some money into its Touch n Go function and obtain the Reload Receipt. The 10-digit MFG / Serial No. is printed on the Reload Receipt.

PayDirect is a function whereby you use your physical card to pass through a participating toll, and the toll fee will be deducted from your eWallet instead of the card itself. If you have 100% toll rebate, the toll fee will be refund into your eWallet.

If you have used Touch n Go PayDirect or RFID tag to pass though a toll, you will get free Personal Accident coverage (worth RM10,000) until 31 December 2019 underwritten by Allianz General Insurance Company (Malaysia) Berhad. You can contact with Allianz General insurance for enquiry or claim of this free PA coverage.

If you are entitled for this free Personal Accident coverage, you will receive an email from TNG Digital with the content as below:

Note that the 100% toll rebates promotion period for new eWallet account referrals is until 31 December 2019.

The 100% toll rebates promotion period for PayDirect activation is until 31 October 2019.

In order to get the free PA entitlement, you need to pass a toll using PayDirect or RFID tag before 31 October 2019.

Reference from Touch n Go website.

TGV cinema Monday RM8 tickets and up to 50% off with Maybank promotion

From now until 31 January 2020, you can buy movie tickets in TGV cinemas Malaysia with big discount by using either one of Maybank Malaysia credit cards (Visa / Mastercard / AMEX), debit cards, charge cards and prepaid cards.

The offers are as below:

Standard Hall and Deluxe Hall movies:

• RM8 on every Monday.
• 50% off on every Saturday.
• Promotion is applicable for twin seats (considered as 2 seats).

IMAX 2D movies:

• RM20 on every Sunday to Friday.
• 50% off on every Saturday.
• Promotion is applicable for twin seats (considered as 2 seats).

IMAX 3D movies with glasses:

• RM24 on every Sunday to Friday.
• 50% off on every Saturday, but not applicable to the price of 3D glasses.
• Promotion is applicable for twin seats (considered as 2 seats).

INDULGE movie tickets:

• RM35 on every Monday to Friday.
• RM45 on every Saturday and Sunday.
• Promotion is applicable for twin seats (considered as 2 seats).
• Discount is applicable to movie tickets only, and not applicable to purchase of F&B items.

Candy Bar and F&B counters:

• 30% off total bill on every Monday to Friday before 6pm.
• RM28 all-day-long for Super Saver Combo set.

Chill*X and Indulge dining:

• 20% off total bill for F&B items excluding alcoholic beverages.

This promotion is valid for movie tickets purchase at TGV ticketing counter, online app and web, but except for Kiosk.

This promotion is best to be used with Maybank FC Barcelona VISA Signature credit card, which will give you 2% cash rebate on your spending all-year-long except May and August, and 10% cash rebate on your spending during the month of May and August.

Reference from TGV official website and also Maybank official website.

You might most probably be interested to also read about:

• TGV cinema RM10 movie ticket all year long with Touch n Go eWallet

TGV cinema RM10 movie ticket all year long with Touch n Go eWallet

From 1 September 2019 until 1 September 2020 all year long, if you use Touch n Go eWallet to buy movie ticket(s) over the counter at any of the TGV cinemas in Malaysia, you can get your movie ticket(s) at the price of RM10 per ticket all-day-long, any movie, any time, daily.

If you haven't installed Touch n Go eWallet in your smartphone, you can click here to download and install it for free. You can enjoy 3 times of 100% toll rebates if you register your Touch n Go eWallet account with this Referral Code: m4sxxm

It is not necessary to have any Touch n Go card to use this eWallet. In case you have the card, you can link it to your eWallet with the app and acticate the PayDirect function to deduct money from your eWallet instead of your card balance when you touch your card at participating toll. By using PayDirect to pay toll, you will be automatically covered by free RM10,000 Personal Accident Coverage.

This TGV promotion is applicable for TGV Classic / Deluxe seats, in Standard / Deluxe hall. It is also applicable for Twin seats at the price of RM10 x 2 = RM20 only.

This promotion is limited to purchase of up to 2 movie tickets per transaction at the TGV ticket counter using Touch n Go eWallet as payment method. The grey area is: there is no limit on the number of transactions of movie purchase in the same day. Therefore, it is possible to purchase multiple tickets at the price of RM10, by multiple transactions at the same ticket counter.

Note that this promotion is valid for normal movies, but not valid for Special Screenings, Concerts and Events at the cinema.

Besides, there is also an RM25 promotion every Tuesday at TGV cinemas nationwide for purchase of 2 movie tickets and  1 Regular Popcorn Combo consist of 1 popcorn and 1 cup of drink.

Reference from TGV official website.

You might most probably be interested to also read about:

• TGV cinema Monday RM8 tickets and up to 50% off with Maybank promotion

Register to get Touch n Go RFID tag for free with RM8/RM10 e-Wallet value and also 20% toll fee rebate

Have you become a Touch n Go RFID tag pilot user? The free registration is opened now with limited slots available.

By following the method below, you will be able to get all these for free:

• Touch n Go RFID tag affixed to your car
• RM8/RM10 e-Wallet value through free reload PIN code
• 20% toll fee rebate when using the RFID at participating tolls

In order to participate in this campaign, it is compulsory for you to be:

• A smartphone (either Android or iPhone) user with non-rooted / not jail-broken phone.
• A private car owner with the car ownership registered in Malaysia under your name.

The steps are as follow:


Step 1: Download and install Touch n Go e-Wallet app into your phone.

If you are reading this article with your smartphone, just tap here to download and install the Touch n Go e-Wallet app into your phone.

Else way, proceed to search for Touch n Go e-Wallet app in the app store and install it. During initial setup of the app, using this as referral code: m4sxxm

It is very important for you to use a valid referral code (either use mine, or any valid referral code from your friend or family member) to get 5 times of 20% toll fee rebate later. If you don't specify any referral code, you will miss this goodie.


Step 2: Register online for your interest to be a Touch n Go RFID pilot user

You can click here to register for your interest to be a Touch n Go RFID pilot user. This link is only active while the allocated slots are still available.

It is most advisable for you to fill in the online form with your phone number which is the same with the phone that you have installed the Touch n Go e-Wallet app in Step 1 above.


Step 3: Wait for 2-3 days

After completed Step 2 above, you will probably receive an invitation email as below for you to proceed to register as Touch n Go RFID pilot user.

If you didn't receive any such email, you can still proceed to Step 4 and try your luck. As long as you can enter the online registration form with your phone number, then everything is OK. If you are unable to enter the online registration form with your phone number after 3 days from Step 2, you can contact with Touch n Go to check for the status.


Step 4: Submit the online registration form and make appointment for RFID tag installation

Click here or go to the webpage below to submit your online registration:

https://rfidregister.touchngo.com.my/#/woheader/login

Make sure all the information you provide is correct, particularly your car plate number.

At the end of the process, you can choose your nearest or most convenient RFID fitment center and make appointment by specifying a date and timeslot (morning or afternoon) for your RFID tag installation.

Click here for the updated list of fitment centers, including their address, Google Map / Waze location and opening hours.


Step 5: Bring your car to install the RFID tag at fitment center

During the appointment timeslot, bring your car and the following documents to your selected fitment center:

• Photocopy of your MyKAD or valid driving license (or valid passport - for foreigners only)
• Photocopy of your car registration card or valid car insurance cover notes

You'll need to submit the 2 documents above to the technician at the fitment center. He will need to login to an online system to complete your registration, as well as allocate an RFID tag for you that will link to your account in the system.

The RFID tag is in the form of a sticker.

The technician will first try to test for its signal reception with a device by putting the sticker on the left hand side of your car's windscreen. Then he will try a second location, which is on your car's left headlamp.

Based on the test result, the technician will then decide whether to attach the RFID tag on your windscreen or on your headlamp. It is very likely to get a stronger signal by installing the RFID tag on your headlamp.

The entire installation time, including the signal testing time, should be less than 5 minutes. If including the document submission and system key-in time, the whole process should be less than 30 minutes.


Step 6: Wait 1-2 days for RFID tag activation

You need to wait again for your RFID tag activation before it can be used. Normally it will take 1-2 working days.

Upon successful activation, you will be notified by SMS.

Don't worry if you don't receive any SMS notification after waited for 2 days. You can also check in the RFID section in your Touch n Go e-Wallet mobile app. If your RFID tag has been successfully activated, you will be able to see your car plate number there. Otherwise, you might want to contact with Touch n Go to check for the status.


Step 7: Get the RM8/RM10 reload pin and load the value into your e-Wallet

Before you complete this step, it is very important for you NOT to reload your e-Wallet with any credit card, debit card, or any other ways.

This is because your e-Wallet need to be virgin with zero transaction in order for you to successfully load this free RM8/RM10 reload into your e-Wallet.

There are plenty of places to get this free reload pin. If you get it from an agent, it probably carries a value of RM8. If you get it directly from Touch n Go, it probably carries a value of RM10.

Here are a few ways to get this free reload pin:

• Search the Internet to locate for agents who giving out the pin for free. You can find some inside Shopee online mall.
• If you are a registered Touch n Go card user, you probably have received a marketing email from Touch n Go with an RM10 e-Wallet reload pin code in the email.
• Visit to Touch n Go RFID kiosk, roadshow, etc. and you will have chance to be given an RM10 reload pin voucher for free.
• Visit to one of the Touch n Go participating merchants (the shops that accept Touch n Go e-Wallet as payment method) and you will have chance to be given an RM10 reload pin voucher for free.

Step 8: Reload your e-Wallet

Before you can use your Touch n Go RFID for toll payment, your linked e-Wallet need to have sufficient balance in it.

You can reload your e-Wallet with the free reload pin obtained from Step 7 above.

After that, you can also reload your e-Wallet using credit card, debit card, or purchase new reload pin from participating outlet.


Step 9: Use your RFID tag at participating tolls and get the 20% rebate instantly

Your RFID tag works in a way similar to Smart Tag. You just need to go through the RFID lane at the toll plaza. The toll fee will be deducted from your e-Wallet. If the highway is participating in the 20% rebate campaign, your e-Wallet will be receiving the 20% rebate in 1-2 minutes right after the toll payment.

Below are 2 of my usages at LDP. Notice that within 1 minute, I got the rebate in the form of cashback, so my effective LDP toll fee was RM2.10 - RM0.42 = RM1.68.

Step 10: Get more times of 20% toll fee rebate

Note that you will get 5 times usage of the 20% toll fee rebate at participating toll plaza if you have created your e-Wallet account using a referral code as stated in Step 1 above.

To get more times of the rebate, you can:

• Link your physical Touch n Go card with your e-Wallet account. I got additional 10 times with this.
• Invite your family members and friends to join this campaign with your own referral code, which you can find inside your e-Wallet app. You will receive additional 5 times at the same time when they received theirs for account activation.

No doubt that this is quite a tedious process, with many steps and requires some waiting days in-between the process. However, it worth a try to get the free RM8/RM10 reload and the 20% toll fee rebate.

Note: you can email this article or print it out for your easy reference with the corresponding AddThis button below. (Click the "View web version" link below if you can't see the AddThis buttons in mobile view)

The evolution of cellular mobile technology (from 1G to 5G)

Do you still remember the first generation of mobile phone running on 1G analog cellular telecommunication network? The phone is as bulky as a brick with large external antenna. The average talk time for each battery recharge is about 35 minutes only. It was a luxury item.

Mobile phones started to become popular during the 2G digital era, whereby SMS text messages were made possible. Sending SMS at that time was not as convenient as today, as the phones were having physical T9 keypad, and typing alphabets would need more than one strokes.

Apple has changed the world during 3G era by introducing iPhone supported with iTune app store. Physical keypad was totally removed from the phone, giving larger space for its touch screen.

Today we are at 4G era, moving forward to 5G soon.

The table below summarizes the evolution of cellular mobile technology from 1G to 5G. We can see that for each advancement of generation, or sub-generation in between, there would be an increase in data transfer speed, and wider range of network application usage.

5G will be essential for the IoT connected world, particularly for connected vehicles and smart cities.

5G technology promises to greatly reduce the latency (the "preparation time" required before 2 wirelessly connected device to start transmitting data to each other) to around 1 milliseconds, compared with the current 30 milliseconds in 4G LTE.

5G technology also promises a 20 times increase in network speed from 4G, bringing gigabit Internet access possible to all mobile devices.

5G technology also promises a much stable and reliable signal strength by utilizing massive MIMO beamforming technology, which is a matured technology already in used in Wireless-AC WiFi networks for years.

On the other hand, 5G will require much stronger end-to-end cybersecurity protection and user privacy protection.

Are you excited to the upcoming 5G technology? It is said that key industry players are already working on 6G, which will mesh over satellite WiFi technology.

EPF declared 6.15% (conventional) / 5.90% (shariah) dividend for 2018

The Employees Provident Fund (EPF, a.k.a. KWSP) has just declared the dividend rate for financial year 2018.

For year 2018, the dividend declared for conventional account is 6.15% while for Shariah account is 5.90%. The dividend has already credited into members' account, and you can check for it by login into your EPF i-Account.

Year 2018 was the second year of dividend declaration for Shariah account, while dividend for conventional account has been declared annually since 1952. The dividend for Shariah account in both 2017 and 2018 were lower than the dividend for conventional account of the same year.

The 6.15% dividend for EPF conventional account in 2018 is 10.87% lower than the 6.9%  dividend declared for 2017 (last year).

Calculation: (6.15-6.90)/6.90 = -0.75/6.90 = -10.87%

It is 4.24% higher than the 5.90% Shariah dividend declared for the same year.

Calculation: (6.15-5.90)/5.90 = 0.25/5.90 = 4.24%

You can click here to check the historical EPF dividend pay-out rates from 1952 until today to judge yourself whether the dividend payout rate in 2018 is satisfactory or not.

ADcase the handphone case with special dampers that can save the phone from dropping damage

ADcase (active damping case) is a very innovative handphone case invented by a German engineering student called Philip Frenzel. It has just won an award from German Mechatronics Society.

The phone case has special shock-absorbers made with metal springs at its 4 corners. In normal situation, the shock-absorbers are hiding inside the case, and the case just looks like other normal handphone cases.

When sensors inside the case detected that the phone is on free fall dropping, it will immediately unfold the metal springs before hitting the ground. In this way, it can effectively protect the phone from damage due to dropping.

After the falling, the dampers can be manually folded back into the case and are therefore reusable.

You can watch the video below to see how ADcase reacts when the phone is dropping.

Very brilliant idea, isn't it?

EPF declared 6.9% (conventional) / 6.4% (shariah) dividend for 2017

The Employees Provident Fund (EPF, a.k.a. KWSP) has just declared the dividend rate for financial year 2017.

If you still remember, earlier on, EPF has launched its Simpanan Shariah Islamic saving account beside its conventional saving account. Members can apply to switch their account type from conventional to Shariah at their own will.

Year 2017 was the first year of dividend declaration for Shariah account, while dividend for conventional account has been declared annually since 1952.

For year 2017, the dividend declared for conventional account is 6.9% while for Shariah account is 6.4%. The dividend has already credited into members' account, and you can check for it by login into your EPF i-Account.

The 6.9% dividend for EPF conventional account in 2017 is 21% higher than the 5.7%  dividend declared for 2016 (last year).

Calculation: (6.90-5.70)/5.70 = 1.20/5.70 = 21%

It is also 7.8% higher than the 6.4% Shariah dividend declared for the same year.

Calculation: (6.90-6.40)/6.40 = 0.50/6.40 = 7.8%

It seems that members who had opted to convert their account to Shariah might be upset and regret, due to the lower dividend in 2017.

According to EPF, the Shariah account derived its income solely from its portion of shariah assets while for conventional account, a total of 38% of the income was generated by its share of Shariah assets and 62% from non-Shariah assets.

The returns for conventional account were enhanced by the income generated from non-shariah investments following the outperformance of global banking stocks, while Shariah account does not include conventional banking stocks due to their non-Shariah compliant status.

In addition, equity impairments from shariah-compliant stocks, particularly the oil and gas, and telecommunication counters, has lowered the income of the EPF's shariah portfolio.

Is the 6.9%/6.4% dividend considered good or not? The 6.9% dividend rate is the best since year 1996. However, EPF had been consistently declaring dividends of above 7% from 1976 until 1996! The dividend rate had even been consistently above 8% during 1980-1994. So, you judge yourself!

You can click here to check the historical EPF dividend pay-out rates from 1952 until today to have a clearer picture.