HLeBroking 1Trade - stock trading account with the best of both world

There are several types of stock trading account available for HLeBroking service provided by Hong Leong Investment Bank in Malaysia.

ValueTrade is a type of cash upfront account in which you can only buy with cash in trust account, with the advantage of low brokerage fee of 0.106% (including GST) and also interest to cash in trust account above RM1,000 at the rate of slightly lower than fixed deposit rate.

PowerTrade is a type of collaterized trading account which allows you to trade up to 2x cash in trust account and 2x share collateral value.

1Trade is a hybrid trading account that combine the best of both ValueTrade and PowerTrade. For 1Trade:

• If your purchase contract is fully covered by cash in trust account, the brokerage fee is 0.106%, same as ValueTrade.
• If you sell within T+3, your selling brokerage fee is also 0.106%.
• If you sell within T+4 and T+7, your selling brokerage fee is 0.1908% if the transaction amount is above RM100k, less than that the brokerage fee is 0.4028%.
• If you purchase without cash upfront, the brokerage fee is still 0.106% for day trading. If you don't sell within the same day, your brokerage fee will become 0.1908% (transaction amount is above RM100k) or 0.4028% (transaction amount is below RM100k). There will be force selling after T+7 if you still haven't settle the contract.
• If you do day trading, the brokerage fee for both buy and sell transactions within the same day is 0.106%.
• Regardless how the transaction is done, the minimum brokerage fee is RM8.48 including GST.

Therefore, with 1Trade account, you can:

• Enjoy low brokerage rate for day trading and T+3 cash upfront buying.
• Enjoy the flexibility of 2x trading limit like other collaterized ordinary trading account, with the trade-off of higher brokerage fee.

I would advise for you to stay disciplined with ValueTrade trading account if your overall portfolio value including cash and shares is below RM300k. If it is above and you got tendency to trade stock in amount of at least RM100k in a batch, then you can take advantage of 1Trade by converting to it.

Instruction manual for S-Sport Coolboss 30m water resistant watch

I have bought an S-Sport Coolboss 30m water resistant watch for my small kid. This made in China watch cost only RM11 at online store.

It is splash proof but not water proof, which means it can resist rain water, but cannot be worn for diving.

This watch has 4 buttons:

• L: Light
• M: Mode
• S: Start
• R: Reset

It is pretty tricky to set the watch without referring to the instruction manual, and that manual is just a piece of paper.

I am copying down its important instruction here, just in case the paper cannot be found in the future. If you also have this watch (or similar Coolboss watches) and you lost its instruction manual, you can bookmark this page and come back to here for future reference.

Displaying the date:

• In Normal Time mode, just press the "S" button to display current date.

Displaying the alarm time:

• In Normal Time mode, just press the "R" button to show the alarm time currently set.

Switching time display between AM/PM and 24 hour mode:

• In Normal Time mode, press "M" button 3 times to enter Time Adjustment mode.
• Then, press "R" button 2 times to enter Hour Display Adjustment mode.
• Press the "S" button to adjust the hour digit and the desired time display mode.
• When finished, press "M" to return to Normal Time mode.

Adjusting the time:

• In Normal Time mode, press "M" button 3 times to enter Time Adjustment mode.
• When the second figure is blinking, press "S" to adjust the second value.
• Press "R" to make the minute figure blinks, then press "S" to adjust the minute value.
• Pressing "R" continuously will switch among the hour, day, month and weekday value to be adjusted. Use the "S" button to adjust the blinking figure.
• Press "M" to return to Normal Time mode.

Setting the alarm time:

• In Normal Time mode, press "M" 2 times to enter Alarm Adjustment mode.
• Use the "R" button to toggle between hour and minute figure.
• Use the "S" button to adjust the blinking figure.
• Press "M" to return to Normal Time mode.

Using the stopwatch:

• In Normal Time mode, press "M" 1 time to enter Stopwatch Function.
• Press "S" button to start the stopwatch. Press "S" button again to stop the stopwatch.
• Press "R" button to reset the stopwatch.
• Press "M" to return to Normal Time mode.

Turn hourly chime on/off:

• In Normal Time mode, press and hold the "R" button.
• While holding the "R" button, press "M" button to toggle hourly chime on/off. When it is on, all the weekdays on top of the screen will have black background.

Turn alarm on/off:

• In Normal Time mode, press and hold the "R" button.
• While holding the "R" button, press "S" button to toggle alarm on/off. When it is on, the alarm indicator at the bottom will be shown.

Alarm snooze and stop:

• When the alarm is chiming, press "S" button to snooze. The alarm will chime again after 5 minutes.
• When the alarm is chiming, press "R" button to stop it.

Cold light lamp:

• Press the "L" button, the cold light will be on for 3 seconds.

Repaired my Alpha Smart 18EP instant shower water heater

Few days ago, the Alpha Smart 18EP instant shower water heater in one of my bathrooms failed its start-up test. All its LEDs were blinking in red colour.

This water heater has different warranty period for different parts as follow:

• Heating element: 5 years
• Brushless DC motor: 5 years
• Brushed AC motor: 1 year
• Anti-leak tank: 10 years
• Other internal parts: 1 year

My unit has already been used for more than 1 year. I tried my luck and called the company to send technician to my house for inspection and repair, which possibly cost much cheaper than buying and replacing with a new unit.

Alpha customer service supports reporting via Whatsapp, which I found is very convenient. You can find their Whatsapp / SMS number in this webpage. Alternatively, you can also report a problem using email or direct phone call too.

Since my water heater lifespan has already passed its 1 year warranty period, it cost me RM53 (including 6% GST) for them to dispatch a technician to my house for checking and repairing.

After the checking, a circuit board inside the water heater was found faulty and need replacement. That cost me another RM68 (including 6% GST).

So, the total cost of repair is RM121 (including 6% GST). This is indeed much cheaper than buying a replacement unit and get someone to change it for me.

Overall, I am pretty satisfied with their service, particularly the availability of Whatsapp as one of the customer service channel. Their respond is fast, and the repairing cost is reasonable. Now, my water heater is up and running again.