OSIM OS-3200 iCare 200 Eye Massager

I redeemed this OSIM OS-3200 iCare 200 Eye Massager with my Citibank Rewards Points recently. The delivery was very efficient, as it reached my house within 2 days time right after the redemption was made through Citibank Online website.

The function of this electronic eye mask is to massage and exercise the eyes. I find it effective in relieving the eye strain and tiredness.

It is very lightweight, easy to carry, and operates with the remote control with 4 AA size Alkaline batteries. It doesn't use household electricity and doesn't have a power plug.

Its 3 main massaging features are: air pressure, heat and vibration. It also contains magnetic nodes said to be able to improve circulation around the eye area and enhancing the massage effectiveness.

There are 4 modes of air pressure, 2 modes of heat selection, 6 modes of vibration. It comes with 1 automatic massage program, and 6 manual massage modes. Selectable massage time are 5, 10 and 15 minutes. I find the default 15 minutes massage time is quite long. If you are impassion, better select a shorter time period.

I have also seen this product appeared in Maybank TreatsPoints reward list before. If you plan to redeem your points, probably can consider this as well.

How MYR has performed after de-peg from USD

Today is 21 July 2008, the 3rd anniversary after Bank Negara Malaysia (the central bank of Malaysia) announced the Ringgit de-peg from US Dollar on 21 July 2005.

To recap, during the the Asian financial crisis in 1997-1998, when the former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad announced the impose of capital controls to the country, Malaysia Ringgit was pegged at 3.80 to the US Dollar in September 1998 after plunged by 60%.

The capital control measures were then gradually lifted several years later. Ringgit was de-peg a few hours after China announced the de-peg of Yuan to US Dollar on the same day.

So how has the Ringgit performed now, after 3 years from the date of de-peg?

The graph below shows the foreign exchange (forex) history of Ringgit and Yuan against US Dollar since 21 July 2005. It shows that the appreciation of Yuan is pretty steady, while the appreciation of Ringgit is more fluctuated. We can also notice that the Ringgit depreciated slightly since the recent election held on 8 March 2008 which caused some political instability as the ruling government become weaker in power.



Many people are also concerned about the forex rate with Singapore Dollar, and here is the graph.



Singapore Dollar has appreciated from the bottom of 2.22 in 23 May 2007 all the way to 2.39 in last week closing, and the appreciation rate of Singapore Dollar to US Dollar is all the way faster than Ringgit. This is because Singapore is making use of a faster rise in the Singapore dollar to curb their inflation.

Below is the percentage change of the Ringgit forex rate against some major currencies, between the date of 21 July 2005 and 18 July 2008:

Hong Kong Dollar (HKD): +17.56%
US Dollar (USD): +17.12%
South Korean Won (KRW): +14.71%
Japanese Yen (JPY): +12.62%
Indonesian Rupiah (IDR): +9.72%
New Zealand Dollar (NZD): +5.10%
British Pound (GBP): +2.85%

China Yuan (CNY): -1.55%
Canadian Dollar (CAD): -2.92%
Singapore Dollar (SGD): -4.28%
Russian Ruble (RUB): -4.75%
Thai Baht (THB): -5.75%
Swiss Franc (CHF): -6.26%
Philippine Peso (PHP): -7.00%
Australian Dollar (AUD): -7.79%
Euro (EUR): -9.75%

A simple judgement to the performance of Ringgit is to consider the imports and exports of Malaysia. The best condition is for Ringgit to depreciate against currency of exports-partners (so that Malaysian goods become cheaper to them) and to appreciate against currency of import-partners (so that their goods become cheaper in Malaysia).

Here are the top 8 exports-partners of Malaysia as reported in 2007:

• US 15.6% (RM94.52 billion)
  
• Singapore 14.6% (RM88.51 billion)
  
• Japan 9.1% (RM55.24 billion)
  
• China 8.8% (RM53.04 billion)
  
• Thailand 5.0% (RM29.98 billion)
  
• Hong Kong 4.6% (RM27.97 billion)
• Netherlands 3.9% (RM23.60 billion)
• South Korea 3.8% (RM23.03 billion)
  

And here are the top 8 import-partners of Malaysia as reported in 2007:

• Japan 13.0% (RM65.54 billion)
  
• China 12.9% (RM64.90 billion)
  
• Singapore 11.5% (RM57.96 billion)
  
• US 10.8% (RM54.69 billion)
  
• Taiwan 5.7% (RM28.71 billion)
  
• Thailand 5.3% (RM27.01 billion)
  
• South Korea 4.9% (RM24.93 billion)
  
• Germany 4.6% (RM23.42 billion)
  

Since Malaysia export Market still rely heavily on US, it is not favourable for the Ringgit to appreciate too fast against US Dollar. The depreciation against Singapore Dollar is OK since exports value to them is more than the imports. The appreciation against Japanese Yen is OK too, since imports value from them is more than the exports. However, Ringgit should follow the long-term strategy of slightly ahead of China Yuan, and current situation is unfavourable, since Malaysia imports from China is more than exports.

All in all, so far the Ringgit performance is intact and not too bad.

Is it wise to change your phone plan to Lets Talk?

I remember when TM first introduced their Let's Talk plan, nobody is interested because we felt that for most scenario, we'd end up having to pay more than maintaining the conventional home fixed line subscription.

Here is the comparison:

Home fixed line subcription:
Monthly rental: RM26.00
Local call: 4 sen/min (minimum 8 sen/call)
National call (within 50km): peak: 10 sen/50 sec, non-peak: 10 sen/60 sec
National call (within 150km): peak: 10 sen/20 sec, non-peak: 10 sen/40 sec
National call (exceed 150km): peak: 10 sen/7 sec, non-peak: 10 sen/14 sec
Handphone call (same area): peak: 10 sen/20 sec, non-peak: 10 sen/30 sec
Handphone call (other area): peak: 10 sen/8.6 sec, non-peak: 10 sen/15 sec

* Peak hours for national call: 7 am - 6.59 pm
* Non-peak hours for national call: 7 pm - 6.59 am
* Peak hours for handphone call: 9 am - 8.59 pm
* Non-peak hours for handphone call: 9 pm - 8.59 am

Previous Let's Talk 38 plan (obsoleted):
Monthly fee: RM38.00
Local call: free 500 min, thereafter 4 sen/min
National call: free 60 min (inclusive 20 min to mobile), thereafter 25 sen/min
Call to Celcom: 33 sen/min
Call to other mobile: 38 sen/min

Previous Let's Talk 68 plan (obsoleted):
Monthly fee: RM68.00
Local call: free for unlimited calls
National call: free 120 min (inclusive 30 min to mobile), thereafter 25 sen/min
Call to Celcom: 30 sen/min
Call to other mobile: 35 sen/min

Later, TM has revised their Let's Talk plan to a better rate as follow:

Current Let's Talk 38 plan:
Monthly fee: RM38.00
Local call: free for unlimited calls
National call: free 60 min, thereafter 18 sen/min
Handphone call: 30 sen/min

Current Let's Talk 68 plan:
Monthly fee: RM68.00
Local call: free for unlimited calls
National call: free unlimited calls
Handphone call: 25 sen/min

As a result, we can see that the Let's Talk plan is much better than before.

So, is it wise for you to change your home telephone plan to Let's Talk?

If your line is solely used for Streamyx Internet access, and you hardly make any call from your home phone, you'd better stay with the existing fixed line subscription.

If you make calls or faxes out from your home phone, and your average monthly phone bill charges is more than RM38, it could be wise for you to switch over to the Let's Talk 38 plan.

If majority of your calls from home phone is national or to handphone, and your average monthly phone bill charges is more than RM68, it could be wise for you to switch over to the Let's Talk 68 plan.

There is another Let's Talk 108 Plan, which provides substantial IDD discount (up to 80% off) and is suitable for those who makes a lot of international calls and phone bill charges is always more than RM108.

With the new Let's Talk plan, now we can see the savings and the rationale to switch over.