Cloud computing with Ubuntu Server Edition 9.x

One of the excitement from Ubuntu Server Edition 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope) which just released on 23 April 2009 is new features in cloud computing.

Ubuntu Server Edition 9.04 provides 2 flavours of cloud, namely:

• Ubuntu on Amazon EC2 which uses the publicly available Amazon's Elastic Computing (EC2) cloud computing service.
• Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud for enterprises to build their own private cloud environment on their servers, which is powered by the Amazon EC2-like open source Eucalyptus system. Eucalyptus (Elastic Utility Computing Architecture for Linking Your Programs To Useful Systems) is a cloud system with an EC2-compatible API, elastic block storage (EBS) equivalent and an S3 compatible storage manager.

Cloud computing transforms traditional server infrastructure into a dynamic environment that expands and reduces capacity depending on requirements.

A cloud computing environment combines the resources of a group of servers together over a network. This group of servers is the cloud that provides access to resources on demand.



Adopting a cloud-computing strategy helps businesses conduct their core business activities with greater efficiency and flexibility. It enables greater utilisation of existing hardware while also providing the ability to handle peaks in usage. Thousands of virtual machines and applications can be managed more easily using a cloud-like environment.

Canonical has announced that the next version of Ubuntu Linux 9.10 (Karmic Koala) is planned to be very cloud oriented. As such, we can expect more in the cloud to come.

Click here to learn more about cloud computing from Eucalyptus' presentations and publications.

Click here for technical instructions to setup Eucalyptus in Ubuntu Server 9.04.

You might also be interested to read my article about cloud computing written in July 2008.

Will Metro Kajang repeat the history of TSH?

Several years ago, I made some big bucks with TSH (陈顺风资源，9059) and its warrant, when they ventured into palm oil business. By that time, it was still well-known as a cocoa products manufacturer then classified in the Industrial sector in KLSE.

TSH's earnings improved significantly when its palm oil business started to bring in revenue, and hence pushed up its stock price as well as its warrant price. Later, it was reclassified under the Plantation sector, and the rest is history.

Now, Metro Kajang (METROK 美景控股, 6114) well-known as a property developer in Klang Valley has also ventured into palm oil business since December 2007 by acquiring 15,942.60 hectares of land in East Kalimantan to plant oil palm. It might take them 3 years until 2011 before the palm oil business begins to contribute to its revenue, and now the time has already gone halfway of the milestone.

East Kalimantan in Indonesia is a strategic location for oil palm plantation as it is expected to have better yield per hectare, lower labour cost, etc. In fact, several public listed plantation companies in KLSE also expanded their plantation business to Indonesia over the past few years.

The 15,942.60 hectares land bank of Metro Kajang is considered small, compared with other public listed plantation companies, such as:

• ASIATIC (2291) - 80,000 hectares
• CEPAT (8982) - 10,300 hectares
• IJMPLNT (2216) - 29,797 hectares
  
• IOICORP (1961) - 169,450 hectares
• KLK (2445) - 210,000 hectares
• KULIM (2003) - 82,730 hectares
• TSH (9059) - 20,000 hectares
• SIME (4197) - 531,300 hectares

however, it is a good size to start with, and probably will be expanded in the future.

It is worth to note that although plantation is considered a new business to Metro Kajang, it is not new to their executive chairman Dato' Chen Kooi Chiew who already has 18 years of experience in that sector.

Unlike TSH (which once troubled by their cocoa business), the core business of Metro Kajang i.e. property development and management remains strong and dynamic. This business has never fail them since commencing over twenty years ago, as they have uninterrupted profit track record from day one. Therefore, the new plantation business is not expected to override their property business like TSH, but would be another good revenue generator beside the property business.

Beside that, Metro Kajang has other kinds of businesses, which contribute not as significant as their property business. That include furniture manufacturing (in China), money lending, lifestock farming and food processing.

In the short term, their lifestock farming and food processing business is seen to be affected by the current swine flu incident. This might cause some effect on their stock price performance, which might provide some good opportunity for continue accumulation. In the long term, we have seen Metro Kajang has been aggressive in buying more land banks for their property development, and the plantation business should start to bring in revenue from next year (2010) onwards. The importance of this new plantation business can be sensed from the cover page of their 2008 Annual Report.

Despite its low share price at RM0.90 only, Metro Kajang has an NAB per share of RM2.73, net cash per share of RM0.20, cash flow per share of RM0.34, and debt/equity ratio at 0.31 only. These mean that they are financially strong. With the prospected EPS of 16 sen for the coming year, the estimated PE ratio stands at 5.62 by today's closing.

Disclaimer: This article is intended for sharing of point of view only. It is not an advice or recommendation to buy or sell any of the mentioned stock counters. You should do your own homework before trading in Bursa Malaysia.

Paying income tax with online banking

If you are still required to pay for remaining tax after PCB deductions, the deadline to pay the tax is the same as the deadline to submit your BE Form, which is 30-April.

Currently, there are at least 3 banks providing the conveniece for you to pay income tax with their online banking facilities. The 3 banks are CIMB, Public Bank and Maybank.

Here is the procedure to pay your remaining tax with CIMBClicks.

• Login to your CIMBClicks account.
• Select "Pay Bills".
• Select "Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri (LHDN - Semenanjung)" from the Payee List. If your income tax account is with the Sabah or Sarawak branch, then select the LHDN payee account for the corresponding state instead of "semenanjung".
• Key-in your income tax account number as well as the amount of tax you want to pay.
• On the next screen, select "084 - Bayaran Ansuran Cukai-Individu" for Kod Bayaran.
• Key-in "2008" for Tahun Taksiran.
• Key-in "99" for No. Bilangan Ansuran.
• You need to request for TAC to complete the transaction.
• You will be charged 50 sen as bank commission for this payment.

Scrapping of 30% bumiputra quota for 27 sub-sectors

With the recent announcement by Prime Minister (and also Finance Minister) Najib Razak, there will be no more 30% bumiputra equity requirement for 27 sub-sectors in the service industry with immediate effect, which covers the health and social services, tourism services, transport services, business services and computer and related services.

The 27 liberalized sub-sectors are:

Computer and related services

• Consultancy services related to installation of computer hardware
• Software implementation services – systems and software consulting services; systems analysis services; systems design services; programming services and systems maintenance services
• Data processing services – input preparation servies; data processing and tabulation services; time sharing servies and other data processing services
• Database services
• Maintenance and repair services of computers
• Other services – data preparation services; training services; data recovery services; and development of creative content
  

Health and social services

• All veterinary services
• Welfare services delivered through residential institutions to old person and the handicapped
• Welfare services delivered through residential institutions to children
• Child day-care services including day-care services for the handicapped
• Vocational rehabilitation services for the handicapped
  

Tourism services

• Theme park
• Convention and exhibition centre
• Travel agencies and tour operators services (for inbound travel only)
• Hotel and restaurant services (for 4 and 5 star hotels only)
• Food serving services (for 4 and 5 star hotels only)
• Beverage serving services for consumption on the services (for 4 and 5 star hotels only)
  

Transport services

• Class C freight transportation (Private carrier license – to transport own goods)

Sporting and other recreational services

• Sporting services (promotion and organization services)

Business services

• Regional distribution centre
• International procurement centre
• Technical testing and analysis services – composition and purity testing and analysis services, testing and analysis services of physical properties, testing and analysis services of integrated mechanical and electrical systems and technical inspection services
• Management consulting services – general, financial (excluding business tax), marketing, human resources production and public relations services
  

Rental/Leasing services without operators

• Rental/leasing services of ships that excludes cabotage and offshore trades
• Rental of cargo vessels without crew (Bareboat Charter) for international shipping
  

Supporting and Auxiliary Transport Services

• Maritime agency services
• Vessel salvage and refloating services
  

This policy of 30% bumiputra equity requirement for companies listed publicly in Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) and also for foreign companies that wish to operate in Malaysia has long be criticized by both local and foreign investors, and deemed as the major hindrance for them to invest and run business in Malaysia. It was also one of the major cause for certain existing investors to exit their business from Malaysia and gone to other places like Singapore, Vietnam, China, Thailand, etc.

Nevertheless, with effect from 17 June 2003, the 30% bumiputra equity requirement has been no longer applicable to all sub-sectors of manufacturing sector for foreign investors. It is good that another 27 service sub-sectors are free now.

Over the last decade, Malaysia has lost too much opportunities to neighbouring countries due to certain protective policies. This has been a barrier to the performance of KLSE as well as the economic growth of the country. I believe the bumiputra should have good wisdom to reason that instead of insisting on "guaranteed" 30% of a small cake, why not invite more investors to come in and make the cake grow bigger and bigger by releasing the restrictions on them? They might need to work harder to obtain a "non-guaranteed" 30%, but what you prefer? A "guaranteed" 30% of 100 or a "non-guaranteed" chance of 30% of 1000? Even in the worse case scenario, you only managed to get 10% of that 1000, it is still much much more better than the insisted 30% in the 100, isn't it?

Therefore, I view this move as a win-win-win situation, for the bumiputra, non-bumiputra, as well as the foreign investors. It would be better if the 30% requirement be totally scrapped for all sectors to bring back live to the KLSE as well as the economy activities.

IBM the loser in Oracle-Sun deal

Recently, IBM attempts to buy over Sun Microsystems for US$7 billion end up with nothing. However, this move might have catalysed Oracle to buy over Sun with a slightly higher price of US$7.4 billion or US$9.50 per share, which just materialized yesterday (20 April 2009) and becomes today's big news.

With this acquisition, Oracle is now extended its domains in IT field from a leading database, middleware and business applications player, to include operating system (Solaris), office suite (OpenOffice.org), application platform (Java), virtualization (VirtualBox), thin clients (Sun Ray), servers, processors & chips (SPARC), storage solutions, accessories, etc.

"The acquisition of Sun transforms the IT industry, combining best-in-class enterprise software and mission-critical computing systems," said Oracle CEO Larry Ellison. "Oracle will be the ONLY company that can engineer an integrated system - applications to disk - where all the pieces fit and work together so customers do not have to do it themselves. Our customers benefit as their systems integration costs go down while system performance, reliability and security go up."

Now, Oracle has the well diversified software and hardware capabilities covering almost every angle in the system integration aspect, to rival IBM business as IT giant. IBM is not only a loser in Sun acquisition, but also lost its competitive advantage with the emergence of another full-fledged giant competitor in the IT industry.

Meanwhile, by gaining the control to MySQL, Oracle can also dominate the database world with its enterprise-class Oracle DBMS popular for large scale systems, and MySQL popular for web applications and comparatively smaller scale systems. This will no doubt bringing direct impact to competitors such as Microsoft SQL, Sybase, etc. Again, IBM is a loser as its DB2 will face more fierceful competition.

The world's IT industry has no doubt somewhat shakened by this Oracle-Sun deal. Will there be more mergers and acquisitions, or perhaps alliances formation? Let's wait and see...

Make sure your tax exempted allowances are filed correctly in EA Form

In the latest revised EA Form for tax assessment year 2008 (Borang C.P.8A-Pin.2008), there are 2 columns for filing your allowances / perquisites / gifts / benefits provided to you by your employer.

Column to file taxable allowances / perquisites / gifts / benefits:
Item B.1 - Tip kasar, perkuisit, penerimaan sagu hati atau elaun-elaun lain.

Column to file tax exempted allowances / perquisites / gifts / benefits:
Item G - Jumlah elaun / perkuisit / pemberian / manfaat yang dikecualikan cukai.

Among the tax exempt items (not applicable to owner or executive director of the company) are:

• Perquisite (whether in money or otherwise) provided to the employee pursuant to his employment in respect of: past achievement award; service excellence award, innovation award or productivity award; or long service award provided that the employee has exercised an employment for more than 10 years with the same employer (up to RM2000 per annum).
  
• Gift of new personal computer and monthly broadband subscription fee (registered in the name of the employer) (in year 2008-2010)
• Petrol card, petrol allowance or travel allowance between the home and work place (in year 2008-2010, up to RM2400 per annum).
• Petrol card, petrol allowance or travel allowance and toll card for official duties (up to RM6000 per annum).
• Allowance or fees for parking
• Meal allowance
• Allowance or subsidies for childcare in respect of children (up to RM2400 per annum).
• Telephone, mobile phone, pager and Personal Data Assistant (PDA).
• Bills for telephone, mobile phone, pager and PDA registered in the name of the employee or employer.
• Employers’ own goods provided free of charge or at discounted value (up to RM1000 per annum).
• Employers’ own services provided free or at a discount provided such benefits are not transferable.
• Medical benefits exempted from tax are extended to include maternity expenses and traditional medicines such as ayurvedic and acupuncture.
• Interest subsidies for loans up to RM300,000 in respect of housing, motor vehicle and education loans.

Make sure your HR filed your tax exempted items in the correct place (item G) in your EA Form 2008. If they are filed under item B.1, you might end up paying extra tax which suppose can be exempted.

For more detail, please refer to the Explanatory notes to Borang BE [Malay version] [English version].

You might probably interested to read these articles as well:

• Up to RM300 income tax deductible sport items
• 2009 new income tax PCB deduction rate
• Downloadable documents, references and forms for 2008 income tax assessment

Up to RM300 income tax deductible sport items

Being proposed for National Budget 2008 (which unveiled on 7 September 2007) and included in the BE Form 2008 as tax deductible item D8C, an amount limited to a maximum of RM300 is income tax deductible in respect of expenses expended by the individual tax payer for the purchase of sports equipment for any sports activity as defined under the Sports Development Act 1997 (Akta Pembangunan Sukan 1997).

The sports equipment includes equipment with short lifespan such as golf balls and shuttlecocks, but excluding sports attire e.g. swimsuits and sports shoes.

So what are the activities considered and defined as sports in the Sports Development Act 1997? Here is the list:

• Archery
• Athletics
• Aquatics
• Automobile Sports
• Badminton
• Basketball
• Billiards and Snooker
• Body Building
• Bowling
• Boxing
• Cricket
• Cycling
• Equestrian Sports
• Fencing
• Foolball
• Golf
• Gymnastics
• Handball
• Hockey
• Judo
• Karate Do
• Lawn Bowls
• Netball
• Rugby
• Sepak Takraw
• Shooting
• Silat Olahraga
• Soft Tennis
• Softball
• Squash
• Table Tennis
• Tae kwan do
• Tennis
• Volleyball
• Waterski
• Weightlifting
• Wrestling
• Wushu
• Yachting

Reference: Sports Development Act 1997

You might probably interested to read these articles as well:

• Make sure your tax exempted allowances are filed correctly in EA Form
• 2009 new income tax PCB deduction rate
• Downloadable documents, references and forms for 2008 income tax assessment

TM promotional RM10/month package for Streamyx user

If you are a residential Streamyx broadband user, here is a good news for you.

Currently, TM is offering a RM10/month telephone package to their residential Streamyx users. By paying RM10/month, you will get:

• Unlimited free local calls to TM fixed lines
• Unlimited free national calls to TM fixed lines
• Flat rate of 30 sen/min to all mobile and other fixed lines

And when you subscribe to this RM10 Package, you will also get a free DECT cordless phone with LCD display.

This package is quite attractive as it can bring savings if majority calls from your home phone are to TM fixed lines (local and/or national, including faxes). However, note that the RM25 monthly fee is still applicable with normal Streamyx plan, and not applicable for Streamyx Combo package.

Note that this is an exclusive limited time promotion plan of TM valid from 1 April to 30 June 2009 only.

Click here for more information on the TM RM10 Package. It is advisible for you to read the Terms & Conditions page as well as the FAQs.

Help to fight hunger by playing quiz in FreeRice.com

FreeRice is an innovative brainchild of a programmer John Breed launched in 2007. It is a website where you can answer a series of multiple-choice quiz questions, and if you answer correctly, the site's sponsors will donate 10 grain of rice to the United Nations World Food Program.

FreeRice has two goals, which are made possible by the generosity of the sponsors who advertise on the website:

1. Provide education to everyone for free.
2. Help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free.

The default quiz is about English vocabulary, and you can take the quiz of different subjects covering art, chemistry, English, geography, language learning, math, etc.

John has won the Harvard University's Berkman Award in 2008 for creating the FreeRice.com website. In March 2009, John has already donated the site to the UN World Food Program. The website is also a winner of Yahoo! Finds of the Year 2007 (Charity Category).

This is not a scam. You can really take the quiz and feed the hungry with FreeRice.com. By 13 April 2009, 62,751,284,800 grains of rice already donated in this interesting way.

Here are some examples of where FreeRice rice has been distributed:

• In Bangladesh, to feed 27,000 refugees from Myanmar for two weeks.
• In Cambodia, to provide take-home rations of four kilograms of rice for two months to 13,500 pregnant and nursing women.
• In Uganda, to feed 66,000 school children for a week.
• In Nepal, to feed over 108,000 Bhutanese refugees for three days.
• In Bhutan, to feed 41,000 children for 8 days.
• In Myanmar, to feed 750,000 cyclone affected people for 3 days.

Sukuk Simpanan Rakyat 2009 with 5% annual return

Have you heard about Sukuk Simpanan Rakyat (SSR) or seen its advertisement in mass media recently?

Sukuk Simpanan Rakyat (SSR) 2009 is an RM5 billions national Islamic savings bond issued by government of Malaysia and offerred to Malaysian citizens aged 21 or above. It is part of the Malaysian RM60 billions economic stimulus package announced in March 2009.

Bank Negara will issue the SSR in 2 phases. The issuance of SSR 01/2009 amounting to RM2.5 billion is on 14 May 2009 and will be offered to the public from 14 April to 13 May 2009 on a first-come-first-served basis and subjected to terms and conditions specified.

This SSR 01/2009 will have a maturity of 3 years, with profit rate of 5% per annum. The tax exempted return is paid quarterly (amounting to about 1.25% each payment). Minimum holding per person is RM1k and maximum holding is RM50k. It is is non-negotiable, non-transferable and non-assignable. This mean that this bond cannot be traded in any way.

During the sales period, the SSR 01/2009 can be subscribed at all agent banks, i.e. commercial banks, including Islamic banks, Bank Kerjasama Rakyat Malaysia Berhad, Bank Simpanan Nasional and Bank Pertanian Malaysia Berhad.

Click here for more information about Sukuk Simpanan Rakyat (SSR) 2009.

CIMB Petronas Mastercard offers 5% rebate every 1st day of the month

CIMB Petronas Mastercard is a credit card that is free for life (no annual fee) and provides 2% rebate on spendings at Petronas service stations, 0.5% rebate on other retail transactions. Beside that, card holder can enjoy special discounts and privileges when using it to make payment in more than 500 outlets nationwide.

Now, on top of that, this credit card will also provide 5% rebate on spendings at Petronas service stations made in the 1st day of every month, until October 2009.

However, this rebate is capped to a maximum spending of RM200 or rebate of RM10 on every 1st day of the month, and subjected to a maximum spending of RM2,500 at Petronas service stations or rebate of RM50 per card per month.

This doesn't look as attractive as their previous campaign which provided 3% rebate (everyday) for spending in Petronas service stations, which has already ended on 17 November 2008. Yet, it is better than none.

Forrester Research: Sponsored conversations make sense

According to an independent report published by Forrester Research on 2 March 2009,Sponsored Conversations is an evolving practical trend of marketing technique to stay and mature, especially when appropriately protected for disclosure and authenticity.

Sponsored conversations take place when marketers provide monetary or non-monetary form of award (or compensation) to bloggers who write and share their experience to the general public about their products, services, websites, etc.

If it is managed properly, this marketing approach is seen to be cost-effective, scalable, far-reaching and persuasive.

"The growth of sponsored conversation could lead to a whole new industry within the interactive marketing space and will have some dramatic effects on the blogosphere." -- Forrester Research

Click the banner at the footer of this webpage to download the full report of Forrester Research for free.

Mind Mapping with XMind

Originated as the brainchild of Tony Buzan (a famous psychology author and educational consultant), Mind Mapping has been used by many people as a great and interesting method to visualize and organize their thinkings, ideas, decisions, planning, problem solving, etc.

Mind Mapping can also be used for group of people during discussions, brain storming, note taking, etc.



XMind is an easy to learn and easy to use general purpose mind mapping application. Its diagram objects can be easily switched for mind maps, fishbone diagrams, tree diagrams, org-charts, logic charts, and even spreadsheets.

Being developed in Java, it is cross-platform and can be run in Windows, Linux and Mac OS. For Ubuntu and Debian Linux users, XMind is also well packaged as DEB distribution file for easy installation. There is also a portable version which doesn't require installation to use.

XMind has user interface in different languages, including English, Chinese (simplified & traditional), Japanese, German, etc.

Starting from its Version 3, XMind which was once proprietary and selling at US$299 has gone open source since 14 November 2008. This is really a good news for mind mapping fans. This mind mapping application now comes in 2 flavours - the free XMind and subscription based XMind Pro.

Click here to read about how XMind can be used by different people, such as meeting organizers, project managers, teachers, department members, students, team managers, architects, designers, etc.

In order to download XMind or XMind Pro from their website, you are required to create a free user ID in their website. With this user ID, you can collaborate with other XMind users in the community, share your maps with others, etc. There is a huge collection of sample maps available in their website.

Silicone wiper with lifetime warranty

The boneless rubber wipers that I last bought have already served me for about 20 months now. Although they are still usable, I noticed that the rubber colour has faded over time. Therefore, I decided to replace them with silicone wipers, which are about the same price of my boneless rubber wipers.

I have selected silicone wipers this time, as silicone material (made of silicon-oxygen polymer) is known to be very durable and will not degrade from prolonged exposure to sunlight, UV, ozone, washer fluid, road residue, chemicals, etc. (Some people or even vendors called this kind of wiper as "silicon wiper", but I think the correct term should be "silicone wiper" instead.)

I ordered the SWV silicone wipers through their website. This brand has been around for years, and the wipers are said to be imported from USA and manufactured by the same manufacturer of SilBlade.

The price can be calculated online by providing the make and model of my car. After making my order with their online form, they called me 2 days after to arrange for delivery and installation. The payment term is cash on delivery (COD), and to my surprise, no deposit is needed before delivery.

They sent a guy to deliver and install the wipers to me at the location chosen by me. I was also given a Lifetime Warranty Card, and they'll provide onsite support for the wipers. The wipers can wipe really clean, and I am happy with them.

My boneless rubber wipers are now kept in my storeroom as they are still usable. Perhaps will give them to friend who want to try out boneless wipers.

Free dental check-up and consultation in Oral Health Month

This April 2009, Colgate and the Malaysian Dental Association are having roadshows in major shopping complex nationwide for the Oral Health Month campaign.

During this awareness programme, free dental check-up and consultation will be given to the public in their roadshows, in-store venues as well as 560 participating dental clinics nationwide.

The road show venues are:

• April 3-5: Sunway Pyramid, Petaling Jaya
• April 7-12: Jusco Tebrau City, Johor
• April 16-18: Mydin Kuala Terengganu
• April 24-26: Sunshine Farlim, Penang

You can click here to visit to the Oral Health Month website. Complete list of locations providing the free dental check-up and consultation during this campaign is available there.

Downloadable documents, references and forms for 2008 income tax assessment

For your information, you can download the soft copy of some reference documents from the website of Inland Revenue Board (a.k.a. Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri, LHDN) to help you in assessing your income tax for year 2008.

The downloable documents including manual tax submission forms (Borang B, BE, etc.), explanatory notes to income tax items, user's guide to fill up the tax submission forms, tax assessment worksheets (helaian kerja), etc.

The exact download page is as below:

• Download for documents in Malay language
• Download for documents in English language

And here are the direct link to the more popular documents for you to click and download:

• Borang BE [Malay] [English] [Chinese] [Tamil]
• Explanatory notes to Borang BE [Malay] [English]
• User's guide and worksheets (helaian kerja) to Borang BE [Malay]
• Borang B [Malay] [English] [Chinese] [Tamil]
• Explanatory notes to Borang B [Malay] [English]
• User's guide and worksheets (helaian kerja) to Borang B [Malay]

If you need to fill-up some worksheets (helaian kerja) for your income tax documentation, you can print them from the attachment of the user's guide. Those worksheets include:

• HK-2 – Pengiraan Pendapatan Berkanun Penggajian
• HK-3 – Tolakan Cukai Di Bawah Seksyen 110 Akta Cukai Pendapatan 1967 / Seksyen 51 Akta Kewangan 2007 (Dividen)
• HK-4 – Butir-butir Harta/Aset Dan Jumlah Sewa
• HK-5 – Pengiraan Pendapatan Berkanun Faedah/Royalti
• HK-6 – Tolakan Cukai Di Bawah Seksyen 110 (Lain-lain)
• HK-8 – Pendapatan Daripada Negara Perjanjian Pengelakan Pencukaian Dua Kali Dan Tuntutan Pelepasan Cukai Di Bawah Seksyen 132
• HK-9 – Pendapatan Daripada Negara Bukan Perjanjian Pengelakan Pencukaian Dua Kali Dan Tuntutan Pelepasan Cukai Di Bawah Seksyen 133
  
• HK-10 – Potongan/Ansuran Cukai Yang Telah Dijelaskan
• HK-13 – Pelepasan Anak Bagi Anak-Anak Di Bawah Tanggungan Yang Belum Berkahwin
• HK-14 – Premium Insurans Nyawa/Caruman Kepada Kumpulan Wang Simpanan Dan Pencen Yang Diluluskan Serta Insurans Pendidikan Dan Perubatan
  

Related article:
e-Filing system for 2008 income tax assessment is ready to be used

Malaysia blacklisted by G20 as tax haven?

This is a shocking news to me, as Malaysia, together with 3 other nations i.e. Philippines, Uruguay and Costa Rica, were blacklisted as uncooperative tax havens by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) at the request of the Group of 20 (G20) summit.

In my perception, Malaysia is very far from being a tax haven to its residents. People always say that if you buy a big car, or a high-end property, you will always be on the eyes of Inland Revenue Board (IRB, a.k.a. Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri, LHDN). Same will go to those who never declare for income tax, or declared very little, and buy something valuable within the nation.

After some Google findings, it seems that the cause for this blacklist is by the Labuan offshore financial centre, which is viewed as the tax haven for foreigners. Although it is "offshore", now this small little island has caused a major impact to the whole Malaysia by this OECD's no-play-play blacklist action.

Surprisingly, some well-known tax havens such as Switzerland, Singapore, Cayman Islands, Liechtenstein, Monaco are just in the "grey list", together with Luxembourg, Austria, Belgium and Chile, just because they have agreed to "improve transparency standards".

China (including Hong Kong and Macao) is even in the "white list", due to their "commitment" to implement the internationally agreed tax standards.

So, it is now clear that the blacklisting is not based on how far the nations has gone in harboring foreign tax avoiders, but how cooperative to G20 are they in implementing the demanded tax standards.

This must be the most unwanted "greeting" to Najib who just sworn in as the new prime minister of Malaysia today. How will he resolve this issue?

For your information, the G20 is made up of the finance ministers and central bank governors of 19 countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, and also the European Union who is represented by the rotating Council presidency and the European Central Bank.

The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the President of the World Bank, plus the chairs of the International Monetary and Financial Committee and Development Committee of the IMF and World Bank, also participate in G20 meetings on an ex-officio basis.

Singapore wins back Evergreen Marine

On 2002, Evergreen Marine (长荣海运) completely pulled out of Singapore and settled down in Port of Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia, as said due to cost issue.

Recently, the Taiwanese founder of Evergreen Group, Mr. Chang Yung-Fa (张荣发) appeared in Singapore and announced the opening of Evergreen Marine (Singapore) Pte Ltd, a newly formed company for the reentrance of Evergreen Marine back to Singapore.

Evergreen is expected to have 13 ships presently flying the Panamanian flag to move to Singapore and raise the Singaporean flag to take advantage of the Singapore's Approved International Shipping Enterprise (AIS) scheme which provides 10 years renewable tax exemption for qualified international shipping companies. In fact, one of their vessel already flying with Singaporean flag on 10 March 2009, which is their first vessel ever flying the flag of Singapore.

Mr. Chang also announced that Evergreen will expand their Singapore operations and plan to have about 50 Singapore-based fleets in the near future. This is considered significant, as Evergreen Marine has a total of about 180 vessels now.

Meanwhile, Evergreen does not have any expansion plan for their operations in Tanjung Pelepas.

This shows that Singapore has learnt their lesson, responded fast, and succeed in winning back this marine big player to their port. This move from Evergreen is expected to contribute positively to their economy and labour market. Congratulation.

Assessing company financial health with Altman Z-Score

In early 60's, Dr. Edward Altman (Professor and Vice-Director of New York University's Salomon Center, Leonard N. Stern School of Business) has used Multiple Discriminant Analysis to combine a set of 5 financial ratios and developed the famous Altman's Z-Score.

Nowadays, Altman's Z-Score is being used by many to assess a company's financial health. For instance, investors use it to determine if the company is worth for investment, bankers use it to determine loan risk, etc.

The 5 financial ratios used are:

• A = Return on Total Assets = EBIT / Total Assets
• B = Sales to Total Assets = Net Sales / Total Assets
• C = Equity to Debt = Market Value / Total Liabilities
• D = Working Capital to Total Assets = Working Capital / Total Assets
• E = Retained Earnings to Total Assets = Retained Earnings / Total Assets

Different weight factor is applied to the above 5 financial ratios, and the formula to calculate Altman's Z-Score is:

Z = 3.3A + 0.999B + 0.6C + 1.2D + 1.4E

The final result will yield a number between -4 and +8. The higher the score is better.

According to the Altman's Z-Score analysis:

• When Z is less than 1.8, the company is very likely to have financial trouble
• When Z is between 1.8 and 2.7, the company's financial situation is fair, and there is risk of getting into financial trouble
• When Z is between 2.7 and 2.99, the company is not likely to have financial trouble in the near future
• When Z > 3, the company is financially strong

Note that C which includes the market value of the company, is determined by its share price, and very much influenced by the investment market sentiment. However, C also carries the least weightage, and Return on Total Assets is the most important factor, which I think most fundamentalists are agreeing with.

Over the past 30+ years, Altman's Z-Score was found to be pretty usable to assess company financial health, with accuracy of above 70%.

Altman's Z-Score is a good tool to predict for investment safety, but bear in mind that it is not a tool designed to predict for investment profitability.

The Ching Ming Festival

The Ching Ming Festival (清明节) in year 2009 falls on 4th April.

Ching Ming Festival is the 106th day after the Winter Solstice Day (冬至), and falls around 5th of April of the Gregorian calendar (solar calendar), which is also the 15th days from the Spring Equinox (春分).

Ching Ming is an important traditional Chinese festival celebrated by the Han Clan (汉族) for over 2,500 years. Today, this festival is also celebrated by other Chinese clans as well.

Ching (清) in Chinese translated to "Clear" or "Pure", and Ming (明) translated to "Bright". Therefore, Ching Ming Festival is also known as Clear Brightness Festival or Pure Brightness Festival.

The ancient Chinese is an agricultural society. Ching Ming Festival indicates the time to start farming for the year. When Ching Ming arrives, the cold weather from previous winter begins to turn warm, there will be more rains, plants and animals show their active sign of life again. Therefore, Ching Ming is the day of transition from Ying (阴) back to Yang (阳), which brings more "clear" and "brightness" to earth.

During the ancient time, the Chinese will take bath in the river to wash away unfortune and evil from the body (祓除畔浴). It was also a tradition for married women who wish to get pregnant to pray at the riverside for fertility.

Today, the Chinese has 2 major traditional activities for this festival. One is spring hiking (踏青) which can be family outings, young couples start courting, swinging, flying kites, kicking ball, planting trees, etc. Another major activity is tomb sweeping (扫墓), which is to visit the grave of departed family members or ancestors, sweep and clean the tombs, pray and offer the ancestors.

The activities might not be carried out on the actual day of Ching Ming, and can be any days within a month (normally within 2 weeks) from the actual day.

2009 new income tax PCB deduction rate

If you are an employee with taxable income, have you notice from your monthly payslip that the Potongan Cukai Bulanan (PCB, a.k.a. Scheduled Monthly Tax Deduction) rate starting from year 2009 is different than before?

Yes, with the reason "to estimate the tax deduction more accurately", the schedule of PCB deduction has been revised.

Here are some of the changes that I observed by comparing the old schedule (PCB 2004) with the new one (PCB 2009):

• Now, a single person with monthly remuneration of RM2,401 and above is estimated to be taxable and eligible for the PCB deduction scheme, whereas previously was RM2,551 and above.
• Now a married person with 2 kids and spouse not working, will enter the PCB scheme when the monthly remuneration reaches RM3,251 and above, whereas previously was RM3,401 and above.
• Now a married person with 2 kids and spouse also working, will enter the PCB scheme when the monthly remuneration reaches RM2,551 and above, whereas previously was RM2,701 and above.
• Generally, those with monthly remuneration below RM10,000 will have their PCB deducted above 20% more than the old scheme, while those with monthly remuneration above RM10,000 will have their PCB deducted slightly less than the old scheme.

For example, if you are an unmarried person who earns RM4,010 per month, your salary should be deducted RM145 for the PCB, but under the new 2009 scheme, you will be deducted RM180 instead.
However, this new PCB deduction rate should not affect your overall income tax for the year. If you are over deducted from the PCB, you can claim back the extra income tax paid; and if you are under deducted, you will have to pay for the difference before the deadline of 30 April next year.

Click here to download the new PCB 2009 schedule table.

Click here to download the previous PCB 2004 schedule table.

The 4.50% EPF dividend for 2008 credited today

Just for your information, if you visit to the EPF (a.k.a. KWSP) online service by today, you will be able to see the 4.50% dividend for 2008 (which was announced earlier on 16 March 2009) has already been credited into your account and reflected in the Year 2008 Statement.

At the same time, the long awaited Current Statement for 2009 is also available now. If you plan for a withdrawal, you can click on the Withdrawal Eligibility link to check your allowed amount to be withdrawn for the 9 types of withdrawal available.

As I mentioned in my article on 7 November 2008, we should not expect the EPF dividend for year 2008 to be exciting. Therefore, 4.50% is indeed within expectation. In fact, by looking at current worldwide economic situation, we shall not expect the EPF dividend for 2009 to be higher than 4.50% either.

What to do? Frankly speaking, my share investment portfolio in year 2008 also didn't perform very well. It is a really tough road ahead.

International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber-Threats launched HQ in Cyberjaya

The International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber Threats (IMPACT), backed by the United Nations (UN) International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), which is known as the world’s first global public-private partnership against cyber-threats has launched its global headquarters in Cyberjaya on 20 March 2009.

Key partners of IMPACT from the private sector includes Cisco, F-Secure, Kaspersky Lab, Microsoft, Symantec Corp, Trend Micro, etc.

The IMPACT nerve-center in Cyberjaya has a built-up of 58,000 square feet on a 7.8-acre land. Malaysia government has provided a grant of $13 million (about RM43 million) as initial funding to build the facilities. This IMPACT HQ will host the ITU's Global Cybersecurity Agenda (GCA), which promotes international cooperation to make cyberspace more secure in an increasingly networked information society.

IMPACT has 4 key divisions:

• Global response centre
• Training and skills development centre
• Centre for security assurance and research
• Centre for policy and international cooperation

It will act as a centralized anti-cyber-terrorism intelligence centre which allows its 191 member countries to be alerted on cyber-terrorism threats such as attacks against the global financial system, power grids, nuclear plants, air traffic control systems, etc.

The establishment of IMPACT HQ in the heart of MSC Malaysia is expected to attract the attentions of worldwide cyber-security people, both from the bright side as well as the dark side. How well will this IMPACT facility in Malaysia operationalize, perform and contribute to the global cyber-security? Time will tell.

Meanwhile, if you are an expert in the related field, you might probably be interested to work for this interesting global non-profit organization.

1st Putrajaya International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta 2009

Ever think of taking a balloon flight? Now you can by buying a RM10 ticket during the 1st Putrajaya International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta 2009 event.






This interesting event is co-organized by the Malaysian Sport Aviation Federation (MSAF) and AKA Balloon Sdn Bhd. 25 hot air balloons with pilots from 19 countries are participating in this fiesta.

Date: 19-22 March 2009
Venue: Precinct 2, Putrajaya, Malaysia


Balloon fun fly times:
19 Mar: 7.45am-9.00am (Media), 5.30pm-7.00pm
20 Mar: 7.45am-9.00am, 5.30pm-7.00pm
21 Mar: 8.00am-9.00am (VIP), 5.30pm-7.00pm
22 Mar: 7.45am-9.00am, 5.30pm-7.00pm

Photographers' sessions:
19-22 Mar: 7.45am-8.15am, 5.45pm-6.15pm

Other activities:

• Para motor showcase
• Remote control flying aircraft display
• Paper airplane contest
• Kite flying exhibition
• Children colouring contest
• Night glow
• Bazaar
• and more...

Click here to visit the official website of the 1st Putrajaya International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta 2009.

The Edge Investment Forum on Real Estate 2009

As I mentioned in my earlier article, the mortgage interest rate is pretty low now, and if you have some cash on hand, it is actually a good time for you to buy properties.

For your information, The Edge and UOB Bank are organizing a real estate investment forum in Kuala Lumpur, with the theme "Residential property values: How low can we go?". You can register now for free.

Date: 4 April 2009 (Saturday)
Time: 9am - 1pm
Venue: Sime Darby Convention Centre, Bukit Kiara, KL

Interesting topics of discussion:

• Malaysian residential property market outlook - any safe haven?
• Property hot spots in a recession
• Nightmares of a landlord - The legal recourse
• Panel discussion on "Property investment strategy in a recession with hyper inflation - Where should you put your money?"

Click here for more information on The Edge Investment Forum on Real Estate 2009.

Workers in Taiwan, Singapore etc., prepare for no pay rise in 2009

A recent press release by Grant Thornton International Ltd reviewed that about 21% of privately held businesses around the world plan to freeze their employees' pay rise over the next 12 months, while 3% even expected to reduce pay.

According to their survey, the regions with most respondents indicated no pay rise or even pay cut in 2009, which higher than the global average of 24% are:

• Taiwan - 77%
• Singapore - 49%
• Hong Kong - 44%
• Italy - 42%
• Malaysia - 42%
• Ireland - 39%
• Thailand - 39%
• Russia - 38%
• Mainland China - 35%
• Chile - 30%
• Poland - 28%
• Japan - 28%
• Germany - 24%
• New Zealand - 24%

From the list above, we can observe that developing countries which export economy is very much dependent to the US market are most affected. Even though the global economic crisis is mainly originated from the US this time, 20% of the US respondents has indicated no pay rise or pay cut in 2009, which is still below the global average.

By contrast, countries in the Nordic region appear prepared to be the least affected, with 82% of respondents indicating that they intend to increase salaries by inflation or above compared with the global average of 64%. Denmark topped the league with 91% while businesses in Finland (89%) and Sweden (74%) had similar high expectations.

Therefore, we should prepare for the worst and adjust our personal finance to a more defensive position.

Click here to read the article titled [No pay rises at a quarter of privately held businesses in 2009 - globally] published by Grant Thornton, which also include a longer listing of respondents league.

A money-making and recession-proof good profession

The results of SPM and STPM have just been released recently. The famous question of "what would be a good profession with good prospect to pursue for?" again become a hot topic of discussion now.

A recent chit-chat session with my friends indeed made us found one good profession. Before I tell you the answer, here are some of the characteristics of a "good profession" that you can reference to filter from the others:

• All people need you - your service is required by almost everybody, at least a few times in their lifetime.
• Recession-proof - no matter how good or bad is the economy situation, when the time come, people still need your service.
• Money-making - you should be able to easily earn 5-figure income every month, unless you are voluntarily providing your service for charity.
• No overtime, no on call - you have fixed working hour. No overtime and no need to work during weekend. Even when urgently needed, your client still need to wait for your next working day no matter how emergency the situation will be.
  
• Open your own business - you can work with an organization, or open your own business with your profession and become self-employed.
• Good social status - your profession gives you a very good social status.
• Low risk working environment - your working environment is very low risk, in an air-conditioned room.
• Less stress - normally, you are not required to work under stress.

Well, are you able find a profession that matches with all the conditions above? There are probably not many, but they actually exist, and very common too.

OK. Here is the answer: dentist.

And I'm sure there are some other good professions other than this. If you find any more, please do not hesitate to share out here.

HP and Intel Biggest Warehouse Sale (3 days only)

If you are planning to buy some IT products, here is a good news for you: there will be a 3 days HP and Intel Biggest Warehouse Sale in Klang Valley.

Venue: 3 Two Square (生意坊), Section 14, Petaling Jaya. (Near Sin Chew Daily office)
Date: 20-22 March 2009
Time: 10am - 8pm
Products: HP branded workstations, desktop PCs, laptops, PC accessories, printer supplies, merchandise, etc.

Note that the 1st day (20 March 2009) is exclusively for HP employees, Citibank or Maybank cardholders, media and students only.

Click here for more information about this event in HP website (including location map).

Guiding principles for Web 2.0 application development

In their article published in the recent Baseline Magazine, Frank Faeth and Joe Busateri who are both working for MasterCard have shared the 4 guiding principles established in MasterCard for application development that involves web services.

These guiding principles make different from the traditional way of application development, in order to take advantage of Web 2.0 technologies for speed, simplicity and reduced cost of software development.

Here are the 4 guiding principles:

1. Application developers have to be more than just good coders

Beside technical skills, developers have to be more business oriented now. They need to move forward from the back office to be more customer-facing than before. "Programmers" should transform into "business technologists" to cope with this trend.

They are expected to drive the organization forward by anticipating future business needs, and leverage technology to create practical solutions that will serve those needs.

They have to be awared that the half-life of today's business software is relatively short, so they must build applications that are stable and usable for a short period, and well prepared to be repurposed, rebuilt and enhanced. As such, rapid development is crucial, and components of the applications should be very modular, flexible, reusable and scalable.


2. Managers must realign their organizations to foster web services

Traditional attitudes and methodologies of software development no longer apply in Web 2.0. Web services require vigilance, constant management attention and repeated reinforcement.

Successful web services implementation requires all members of an organization to share technology and best practices across silos. This may require changes in corporate governance, less reliance on top-down directives and greater emphasis on mid-level management cooperations.


3. Companies should adopt Google's mentality: Fast is better than perfect

In their article, Frank Faeth and Joe Busateri argued that since the half-life of business software isn't very long, it's better to push a product into the marketplace quickly, rather than wait until it is thoroughly tested.

Both developers and business owners must agree on which compromises they are willing to accept in the application's functionality, features and stability, as weighed against achieving greater simplicity and speed to market.

The organization must be open to "failing fast and failing cheap" concept of perpetual development.

For example, Google's Gmail is released for public use while still in beta stage, and the beta has been ongoing for years, with continuous development, improvement and enhancement to the product.


4. Be sure to acknowledge that adopting web services requires time and effort

Adopting web services represents a radical change from the way corporations have traditionally developed software systems. As such, the change management and challenges involved should not be underestimated.

Latest BLR rate of banks in Malaysia as of Mar-2009

Within a short period of time since the last revision in early February 2009, BNM has cut the OPR again by another 50 basis points to 2.00% and SRR to 1.0%, effective 1 March 2009.

Here are their latest BLR rate as of today (6 March 2009):

• Majority of the banks: 5.55%
• Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (M) Berhad: 5.25%
• J.P. Morgan Chase Bank Berhad: 5.25%
• The Royal Bank of Scotland Berhad: 5.25%
• Affin Bank: 5.50%
• Citibank Berhad: 5.60%

It seems that Citibank is having the highest BLR rate, which is at 0.05% above the majority.

The interest rate is really cheap now. Let's say you have a house loan with rate of BLR-2% and the BLR of your bank is 5.55%, this mean your house loan interest serving will be 3.55% only.

With the interest of 3.55%, assuming you are borrowing RM100k, here are some simple calculations (until the next BLR revision which will affect the interest rate):

• 10 years term, monthly repayment = RM991.20, total interest = RM18,994.31
• 20 years term, monthly repayment = RM582.53, total interest = RM39,807.75
• 30 years term, monthly repayment = RM451.84, total interest = RM62,662.54
  

Notice that with this low interest rate, the monthly repayment amount is likely to be lower than renting a house/apartment, especially in urban areas where the rental is higher.

This mean that if you are currently renting a house/apartment, you should consider buying one for yourself; and if you are a property investor, now is a good time to buy more properties to rent out, as the collected rental can probably cover your monthly repayment, and might even let you earn some surplus pocket money.

You can always click here for the latest BLR info of the banks.

eLawyer Law Conference 2009 about Blogging & Law

Malaysian online legal community eLawyer is organizing a Law Conference 2009 themed "Blogging & Law" to bring legal awareness to fellow bloggers.

Theme: Blogging and Law
Date: 14 March 2009 (Saturday)
Time: 9.30am – 12.30pm
Admission: free of charge
Venue: Auditorium Tun Mohd Suffian, Universiti Malaya Law Faculty
R.S.V.P: send your name, phone, email, occupation and organisation details to forum@elawyer.com.my

During the conference, Mr. Foong Cheng Leong (KL Lawyer & Blogger) will talk about Blogging & Intellectual Property Law in Malaysia, while En. Nizam Bashir (Malacca Lawyer & Blogger) will talk on Blogging & Defamation Law in Malaysia.

Click here for more information about the eLawyer Law Conference 2009.

Click here to visit to Foong Cheng Leong's blog

Click here to visit to Nizam Bashir's blog

e-Filing system for 2008 income tax assessment is ready to be used

Begining 1 March 2009, the e-Filing system for income tax forms BE, B, M, P and E has been made available in the website of Inland Revenue Board (a.k.a. Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri, LHDN).

In Malaysia, the various income tax related forms are:

• BE - For residents who are employed with no business ownership, or who run business with no income source
• B - For residents who run business with source of income
• M - Return form for non-resident
• P - Partnership business statement form
• E - Return form for employer
• C - Return form for company
• R - Statement of company's revised 108 balance

Online module for tax agent firms to file the income tax report for their clients is also made available at the same time.

The deadline to file in the BE Form is on 30 April 2009, and the deadline for B Form is on 30 June 2009. You can either use the e-Filing system to submit the form, or fill up the related paper form and send to Inland Revenue Board before the deadline.

The online e-Filing system has been introduced to tax payers in Malaysia since 2006, and had been found buggy and problemistic in the recent years. Nevertheless, improvement has been seen, especially on last year. Hopefully, the system will be better this year.

Here are some related links:

• Homepage of e-Filing system (English)
• Homepage of e-Filing system (Malay)
• User guides for e-Filing (English)
• User guides for e-Filing (Malay)
• Website of Inland Revenue Board (English)
• Website of Inland Revenue Board (Malay)

Related article:
Downloadable documents, references and forms for 2008 income tax assessment

EPF stringent housing withdrawal condition for joint purchase

You might have noticed that starting from 5 November 2008, EPF (a.k.a. KWSP) has stringent the condition for housing withdrawal involving joint purchase.

Under the new terms and conditions, withdrawal will only be approved if the member purchased the house on his/her own, or jointly purchased it with his/her spouse. Joint purchase with parents or siblings might also be considered, but subjected to EPF's consideration for approval.

This new policy affects the withdrawal of EPF money for:

• Purchase of 1st house
• Purchase of 2nd house
• Reduction/Settlement of housing loan balance for 1st house
• Reduction/Settlement of housing loan balance for 2nd house
• Monthly loan instalment

Anyhow, existing withdrawals which have been approved before 5 November 2008 are not affected.

Filtering spam mails with Mozilla Thunderbird

Mozilla Thunderbird has similar spam filtering features with its brother SeaMonkey Mail. If you are using it as your email client, you can configure it to automatically move all detected spam mails to a Junk folder and mark them as read. You can also have the spam mails in the Junk folder to be automatically deleted after some times.

By activating this spam filtering feature, majority of the spam mails will be seamlessly removed from your Inbox. Sometimes, a few spam mails are still remain undetected, and you just need to manually mark them as "junk" to get the system to move them to the Junk folder, marks them as read, and lets the Bayesian engine to learn that marked mail as spam.

The Junk folder is very useful in retaining the detected and quarantined spam mails for a certain period, so that in case there is any false detection (which so far never happen to me), you can still retrieve the mail back by moving it from the Junk folder back to your Inbox.

If your mail account folder in Mozilla Thunderbird does not have the Junk folder yet, you can manually create it by right clicking on the mail account, select New Folder... and name the new folder to be created as Junk. The Junk folder is essential for the settings described below to work properly.

Here is the configuration to setup and activate the spam mail filtering function in Mozilla Thunderbird. Note that you need to configure for both the global and account specific settings.

Global junk mail settings:

1. Pull down the Edit menu and select Preferences.
2. Click on the Privacy option and go to the Junk tab.
3. Set it so that when you mark a mail as junk, the system will move it to the Junk folder and mark it as read.



Account specific junk mail settings:

1. Right click on the mail account folder and select Properties...
2. Select Junk Settings
3. Enable the adaptive junk mail controls, move the junk mails to your Junk folder and automatically delete them after some times.
4. If you have more than one email account in your Mozilla Thunderbird, you might need to repeat the same settings for all your email accounts.



Once it is setup, you will soon notice how amazing this spam filtering feature is in helping you to filter out the spam emails from now onwards.

Filtering spam mails with SeaMonkey Mail

If you are using SeaMonkey as your email client, you can configure it to automatically move all detected spam mails to a Junk folder and mark them as read. You can also have the spam mails in the Junk folder to be automatically deleted after some times.

SeaMonkey has a very effective Bayesian spam mail detection feature which can detect most of the spam mails, and has been working very well for me. By activating this spam filtering feature, majority of the spam mails will be seamlessly removed from my Inbox. Sometimes, a few spam mails are still remain undetected, and I just need to manually mark them as "junk" to get the system to move them to the Junk folder, marks them as read, and lets the Bayesian engine to learn that marked mail as spam.

The Junk folder is very useful in retaining the detected and quarantined spam mails for a certain period, so that in case there is any false detection (which so far never happen to me), you can still retrieve the mail back by moving it from the Junk folder back to your Inbox.

If your mail account folder in SeaMonkey does not have the Junk folder yet, you can manually create it by right clicking on the mail account, select New Folder... and name the new folder to be created as Junk. The Junk folder is essential for the settings described below to work properly.

Here is the configuration to setup and activate the spam mail filtering function in SeaMonkey's Mail. Note that you need to configure for both the global and account specific settings.

Global junk mail settings:

1. Pull down the Edit menu and select Preferences...
2. Expand the Mail & Newgroups option and select Junk Mail.
3. Set it so that when you mark a mail as junk, the system will move it to the Junk folder and mark it as read.



Account specific junk mail settings:

1. Right click on the mail account folder and select Properties...
2. Select Junk Settings
3. Enable the adaptive junk mail controls, move the junk mails to your Junk folder and automatically delete them after some times.
4. If you have more than one email account in your SeaMonkey's Mail, you might need to repeat the same settings for all your email accounts.

Once it is setup, you will soon notice how amazing this spam filtering feature is in helping you to filter out the spam emails from now onwards.

Off your lights during Earth Hour 2009

Earth Hour 2009 is setting the platform for an unprecedented global mandate for action on climate change!

You can participate in the worldwide Earth Hour 2009 campaign by switching off all the non-essential lights for 60 minutes by Saturday 28 March 2009, 8.30pm sharp.

Earth Hour is an initiative started by World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) in 2007 in Sydney of Australia, when 2.2 million people switched off their lights to bring awareness on global climate change problem. In 2008, 50 million people across 35 countries took part in this movement. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square, all stood in darkness, as symbols of hope for a cause that grows more urgent by the hour.

This year, WWF is targeting 1 billion people in 1,000 cities worldwide over 64 countries and territories. There are already 538 cities in 75 countries committed to participate.

Here is the official Earth Hour 2009 video:


Click here to visit the official website of Earth Hour.

The Horstman Laws of Management

I would like to share with you the Horstman's Laws of Management by a famous management consultant called Mark Horstman, who is a co-founder of Manager Tools.

The observations and aphorisms that comprise the Horstman’s Laws below represent 30 years of professional development leavened with a lifetime of leadership experiences.

Law #1: It’s All About People
This is actually a hard-nosed, scientific and financial reality. Any hour you spend on people is a better investment than an hour spent on systems, processes, or policies. Great people can overcome average systems; average people won’t live up to great systems.

Action: Spend time with your folks every week. Learn their strengths and weaknesses. Learn their projects. Learn their children’s names.

Law #2: More Communication is Better
No matter what the situation: work or home, professional or personal, boss or subordinate, it is always more communication that solves the problem or clinches the deal. And think about this: communication is what the listener does.

Action: Pick up the phone. Provide an update. Admit you’re behind. Over communicate, and you’re halfway there.

Law #3: You’re Not that Smart; They’re Not that Dumb
You can’t fool people. Ever. The fact is, people know when you mislead them. Yes, they might go along with you, but they know that it doesn’t feel right. That you don’t feel right. After all, didn’t you used to be “them?”

Action: Tell the whole truth. Don’t leave anything out. When in doubt, tell everyone. Use candor as advantage, rather than seeing it as weakness.

Law #4: Control is an Illusion
There is not a single person whom you think you “control” who would agree with you. If you really think you’re so good as to control another, then who in your organization thinks that way about you? Stop trying to control. You’re wasting your time. Build relationships that allow you to influence.

Action: Build relationships based on trust. Say, “I trust you.” Let your team choose their path at times, even when you disagree.

Law #5: The River is Wide, the Currents are Messy, but all the Water Ends up in the Ocean
Watch water flow down river sometime. It doesn’t march in nice straight lines. It meanders. It’s messy. Scientists say 20% of it is actually going up river. Your organization is organic – it’s made up of people – just like a river. Your projects and timelines are going to be messy and defy control. Stop fighting it.

Action: Don’t worry about or punish every missed deadline – wait for a pattern. Think about a chinese finger puzzle. Sometimes a light touch is the way out. Let go–flow–to get ahead.

Law #6: There are No Secrets
If you think you can keep something quiet in your organization, you’re kidding yourself. What everybody is talking about is what’s not being said. Everybody knows already. The one associate or friend that you felt you could tell has probably told someone else whom they trusted... and so on. If you try to keep secrets, others lose respect for you because you show you don’t trust them.

Action: Tell everybody everything. Forward every e-mail you get to all of your team...automatically. Don’t go off the record.

Law #7: How You Feel is Your Fault
If you find yourself saying, “that guy/situation/boss makes me mad,” you’re wrong. They did something, and then you decided how to respond. Think about the word responsibility. (Response-ability) You’re able to choose your response.

Action: Choose the right response. Choose not to get angry. Choose to understand why they behave the way they do.Your response will be more powerful.

Law #8: The “Other” Way Often Works Just Fine
There’s someone else out there who has succeeded to the same level you have with exactly the opposite intuitions you have. (They wonder how you got where you are too.) Your idea that your way is the right way is routinely controverted. You just think it’s right because it’s yours.

Action: Try the opposite every once in a while. After your first thought, wait for a second–different–one.

What are your laws and lessons? What have you learned? Your successes have no doubt catalyzed your knowledge into wisdom. Are you sharing your wisdom with your associates? Start now! Because it’s all about people...and more communication is better.

Bursa Malaysia - RHBInvest Market Chat 2009

Bursa Malaysia and RHBInvest are going to have a Market Chat 2009 seminar and roadshow in Ipoh. Admission is free.

Date: 21 Feb 2009 (Saturday)
Time: 9:00am - 1:30pm
Venue: Impiana Casuarina Hotel, 18, Jalan Raja Dr. Nazrin, Ipoh.
Registration and enquiry: call +603 92051300

Program highlights:

• Value Investing In Turbulent Times - RHB Branch Broking
• Must Have Trading Tools For Today's Stock Markets - RHBInvest team, RHB Investment Bank
• Market Chat '08 Presentation - Bursa Malaysia
• Top 5 Mistakes in Trading and 5 Powerful Techniques You Should Use Now in Trading - ChartNexus Malaysia
  

Credit card interest rate to reduce by 31 March 2009

The Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM) has just announced today that the interest rates for credit cards will be reduced by between 0.5% and 1.5% for Tier-1, Tier-11 and Tier-111 credit cardholders while late payment fees will be slashed to a minimum of RM5 and a maximum of RM75 effective 31 March 2009.

Interest rates for Tier-I credit cardholders who promptly settle their monthly minimum payments for retail purchases for 12 consecutive months will be reduced to 13.5% per annum from the current 15%.

For Tier-II cardholders who promptly settle their minimum payments for 10 months or more in a 12-month cycle will also benefit as the relevant interest rate will be reduced to 16% per annum from the current 17%.

Cardholders who don't fall within the 2 categories and who are generally termed Tier-III cardholders will see the interest rate for them come down to 17.5% per annum versus the current 18%.

The present late payment fee of a minimum of RM10 or 1% of the total outstanding balance, subject to a maximum of RM100 will be revised to a minimum amount of RM5 and a maximum of RM75.

This will not have any effect to good paymasters who settle their credit card bill in full payment every month, which is a very good financial discipline allowing them to enjoy 0% interest for at least 20 days, as they will still remain free from any interest charge. For Tier-I cardholders who never default their payment, they will enjoy one of the lowest credit card interest rate in Asia at the rate of 13.5%.

I would advise that although the interest rate will be reduced soon, you should never get yourself into Tier-II or Tier-III, as the compounded interest rate is still very high.

Electricity tariffs to reduce slightly from March 2009

Malaysia government has just announced a cut in electricity tariffs effective 1 March 2009.

Under the plan, tariffs will be cut to 31.31 sen per KWh from the current 32.5 sen. Domestic users will enjoy an average 2.54% cut in electricity tariffs, while commercial users will pay 2.7% less in electricity bills. Other major reductions include a 5.0% discount awarded to industrial users' bills.

Major beneficiaries will be industrial users that use a lot of electricity, such as the steel and aluminium millers. Savings to the domestic and commercial users seems to be minimal, although better than nothing.

Convertible car seat for infant and young toddler

Car seat is necessary for you to carry your child in your car, and the child is not yet tall enough to use the seat belt of the car. It will provide protection to the child in case of collision.

I bought a convertible car seat for my son and has been using it since he was more than 1 month old until now (2 years+). I think it can still be used until he reaches 3 years old. The convertible car seat can be rear-facing as well as front-facing.




Here are some common senses about car seat that I would like to share with you:

• If your car has air-bag for front passenger, the car seat should be installed at the back seat and never be installed next to the driver. This is because the air bag might hurt or suffocate the child. It is even more dangerous if the car seat is in rear-facing position, imagine what will happen when the air bag blown out.
• The child should be rear-facing at least until he/she is 1 year old and also his/her weight has already exceeded 20 pounds (9.1 kg). This is because the neck bone of infant is still very soft and easy to break. With the child lying down securely, the rear-facing car seat will provide support and protection to the head and neck of the child in case of collision.
• Switch to front-facing when the legs are too long for rear-facing position.
• Consider a convertible car seat which can be rear-facing as well as front-facing, so that it can be used for a longer period (until 3-4 years old).
• You should change the car seat to booster seat for older toddler, until he/she can use the car seat belt without the booster seat, which is when the shoulder belt can rest against his/her chest and not the neck or higher position.

AirAsia offers 500k free air tickets (6 days only)

AirAsia is currently offering a total of 500,000 free seats to all their destinations in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam & Australia.

The booking period for this campaign is 10-15 February 2009 only, and the travel period will be 12 Oct 2009 - 31 Jan 2010.

Click here for more information and updated free seats availability status.

Making good use of flexible home loan with online banking

I notice nowadays quite a lot of people are financing their house with flexible home loan. However, from their sharing with me during some chit-chat session, I noticed that not many are making good use of the flexibility provided by their home loan, and they treat it just like a traditional mortgage loan.

In my opinion, if you have a flexible home loan, you should:

• Put in extra money (excess payment) into your account to reduce interest charges
• Make use of your excess payment when needed

If you never put in excess payment into your account, perhaps you don't need a flexible home loan, and should opt for a traditional home loan package in the very beginning. In general, it is easier for you to fight for relatively lower interest rate by not having the flexibility provided in a flexible home loan.

If you very seldom make use of your excess payment in your account, perhaps you just need a semi-flexible home loan.

Here is my sharing on how I use my Citibank FlexiHome loan.

I have 2 types of account with Citibank: the FlexiHome loan, and credit card. I applied for an ATM card for my FlexiHome loan account, which cost me a one time application fee of RM8 only. I haven't used the ATM card in any bank teller machine yet, but that card is very important, because I need it to create a consolidated Citibank Online internet banking account.

Once the online banking is created, I am able to see the account information for both my FlexiHome loan as well as my credit card accounts. I can always check for the balance and transaction details of both the accounts even before I receive their monthly statement from Citibank.

This is particularly useful in monitoring how much interest I've been charged daily for my home loan. Citibank Online shows me 2 key figures of my FlexiHome loan account:

• Amount I owe the bank, which is calculated as the outstanding loan minus excess payment in the account. This figure will slightly increase daily, because the account has a daily rest interest calculation scheme. This is interesting, because from here I can monitor closely how my interested is charged by the bank, and how much is charged for each day.


• Amount available for withdrawal, which is the excess payment. This figure will not change until the next installment due date, where the installment will be paid directly from here.

Of course, if I put in money into the account, it will be added to the amount available for withdrawal, and will also affect the daily interest amount charged thereafter to be lesser.

On the other hand, by using the online banking, I can pay off some of my utility bills, including the accessment of my house, with my credit card from my computer at home. I can even get double Rewards Points by paying the house accessment with this credit card.

Every month when I get my salary, I wrote a cheque to myself and bank in to my Citibank FlexiHome loan account. The cheque amount will have some excess payment for my savings, as I know that my home loan interest is higher than fixed deposit interest, so it is a better idea to put the money in the loan account to reduce more interest, than to put in deposit account to earn the very tiny interest. In addition, fixed deposit does not provide the flexibility to take out the money at anytime without any lost in interest calculation.

When the due date of the credit card payment comes, I just need to login to Citibank Online and make a transfer from my FlexiHome loan account to my credit card account. My credit card will then be paid in the next business day. This transfer between my own accounts with Citibank is free of charge. Isn't this a good idea of making use of the flexibility provided by the FlexiHome loan account to pay the credit card bill without hassle, by using the online facility?


When I make a new share investment which requires me to bank in money into my trading account, I can also make an external transfer from my FlexiHome loan account to my share trading account using the same online facility too.

To summarize, I use my FlexiHome loan as my main savings account, as I can save loan interest with any excess payment I made, and the saving in loan interest is higher than fixed deposit interest. FlexiHome loan allows me to take out any amount of excess payment available at anytime, which makes it an even better place for main savings purpose. I also use my credit card to pay utility bills and earn Rewards Points, and use the savings (excess payment) in my FlexiHome loan account to pay for that credit card bill.

If you also have a flexible home loan with any bank, you're welcomed to share your experience on making good use of the flexibility of your home loan account too.

You might also be interested to read about my other article on "What to look for in a flexible home loan?".