Some discussion about the recent slide in oil price and its impact to world economy

The slide in crude oil price from above $100 per barrel in 2014 all the way down to around $30 per barrel today has caused quite a lot of worries and volatilities in the investment market recently.

I found some data on the annual average prices in US$ per barrel of domestic crude oil from InflationData.com and plotted the graph of inflation adjusted oil price from 1946 to 2015 as below:

In fact, there is also a historical inflation adjusted oil price chart in the website of InflationData.com shown like this:

Looking at the historical oil prices since World War II, and adjusting it for inflation in today's currency value, we can see that most of the time, the oil prices were within the range of $20 to $40, which is what it stays at now.

Observing from my graph above (which is a clean version of the original graph from InflationData.com website cluttered with more information), there were 2 bubbles in oil price, one is in the 1970s where oil price crisis occurred due to wars in the Middle East, and another in the 2000s which once affected by the 2008 economic crisis but quickly restored until the recent burst.

The 1st bubble in the 1970s made Soviet Union into a major exporter of oil, and its burst in 1980s eventually caused the dissolution of Soviet Union in 1991.

Now the 2nd bubble in the 2000s which brought oil price to a level of above $100 per barrel was a super windfall to the oil and gas industry and oil exporting countries, to the extend that their fiscal for 2015 and 2016 need the oil price to stay above $100 per barrel to breakeven.

The recent oil bubble burst sending the oil price to its "normal" price range of between $20 and $40 has no doubt caused trouble to the overspending oil exporting countries. It is also a big slap to the oil and gas industry which borrowed huge debt from financial institutions to finance their drilling activities. This include the shale oil companies in the United States which bloomed up during the bubble.

Who will be most affected by this oil price slide?

The website of World's Top Exports has a list of Top 15 crude oil exporting country in 2014 as follow:

• 1.Saudi Arabia: US$268.2 billion (18.5% of total crude oil exports)
• 2.Russia: $152.6 billion (10.5%)
• 3.United Arab Emirates: $98 billion (6.8%)
• 4.Canada: $88.1 billion (6.1%)
• 5.Iraq: $84.4 billion (5.8%)
• 6.Nigeria: $76.2 billion (5.3%)
• 7.Kuwait: $69.3 billion (4.8%)
• 8.Angola: $61.2 billion (4.2%)
• 9.Kazakhstan: $53.6 billion (3.7%)
• 10.Venezuela: $53.3 billion (3.7%)
• 11.Norway: $44.2 billion (3%)
• 12.Iran: $41.3 billion (2.8%)
• 13.Mexico: $36.2 billion (2.5%)
• 14.Oman: $34.8 billion (2.4%)
• 15.United Kingdom: $29 billion (2%)

 

And the website of US Energy Information Administration (EIA) provides a list of Top 10 net oil importers in 2014 as follow:

• China (6.1 million barrels per day)
• United States (5.1 mbpd)
• Japan (4.2 mbpd)
• India (2.7 mbpd)
• South Korea (2.3 mbpd)
• Germany (2.2 mbpd)
• France (1.6 mbpd)
• Spain (1.2 mbpd)
• Italy (1.1 mbpd)
• Taiwan (1.0 mbpd)

The website of World's Top Exports also provides a list of Top 15 refined oil exporting country in 2014 as follow:

• 1.Russia: US$114.7 billion (12% of total refined oil exports)
• 2.United States: $110 billion (11.5%)
• 3.Singapore: $66.1 billion (6.9%)
• 4.Netherlands: $64.8 billion (6.8%)
• 5.India: $60.8 billion (6.3%)
• 6.South Korea: $49.1 billion (5.1%)
• 7.Belgium: $40.8 billion (4.3%)
• 8.China: $25.8 billion (2.7%)
• 9.United Arab Emirates: $24.7 billion (2.6%)
• 10.Kuwait: $22.8 billion (2.4%)
• 11.Saudi Arabia: $22.1 billion (2.3%)
• 12.United Kingdom: $20.2 billion (2.1%)
• 13.Taiwan: $19.3 billion (2%)
• 14.Malaysia: $18.5 billion (1.9%)
• 15.Germany: $17.9 billion (1.9%)

Generally speaking, high crude oil price will hurt China, United States, Taiwan, Germany, etc. which are top importer of crude oil and also at the same time the top exporter of refined oil. Low crude oil price will hurt Russia and countries in Middle East which are both the top exporter of crude oil and top exporter of refined oil.

 

However, the market is worried that economy slowdown in places like China will cause them to consume less oil domestically and therefore export more refined oil, bringing oversupply situation to the world's oil market, which will then further dampen the oil price.

 

But I think the main worry is with those over-financed oil and gas companies and over-spending oil exporting countries (to erect skyscrapers and luxury places). This is because their repayment default and/or bankruptcy will definitely hurt the finance industry, and a troubled finance industry is really a bad news for the economy.

 

 

Auspicious dates for housewarming, open house, party, gathering, etc. in 2016

Here is the list of auspicious dates in 2016 for organizing and hosting meet-up with friends and/or relatives (会友), which is produced based on the Chinese almanac Tong Shu.

The dates are applicable for housewarming, open house, home party, gathering, potluck, and any other similar functions to meet up with friends and/or relatives. (Click the image to enlarge)

Bear in mind that although the Tong Shu is a compilation of Chinese astrology and calendaring studies gathering wisdom of thousands of years, we should use it wisely and rationally, but not be too superstitious on it.

Installed YouTube for Android TV 1.3.8 in Huawei EC6108V8 STB of UniFi HyppTV

The Huawei EC6108V8 set top box (STB) of TM UniFi HyppTV comes pre-installed with YouTube app that is not functioning, even though you've successfully make use of WiFi to connect the STB to the Internet.

Anyhow, I've installed YouTube for Android TV version 1.3.8 that can functioning well in the Huawei EC6108V8 STB.

You probably can't find this app in the pre-installed Google Play Store running in the Huawei EC6108V8 STB of UniFi HyppTV. You need to make use of the pre-installed web browser in the STB and visit to the URL below to download and install the YouTube for Android TV app:

• http://www.apkmirror.com/wp-content/themes/APKMirror/download.php?id=51391

Note that the pre-installed YouTube is a system app and you can't easily uninstall it. After installing YouTube for Android TV version 1.3.8, you will have 2 different YouTube app in the My Applications screen of the STB. Luckily they have different icon, so you can easily differentiate between them.

You might probably also be interested to read about:

• Upgraded my UniFi HyppTV set top box (STB) from Huawei EC2108E to Huawei EC6108V8

Free Touch n Go card preloaded with RM10 and laptop bag to grab for online IWK payment

FYI, Indah Water (IWK) is having a 2016 IWK Online Payment Campaign from 11-31 January 2016.

You can get a free Touch n Go card preloaded with RM10 value if you are among the first 300 customers who pay your IWK bill using online payment method.

If you are among the first 45 customers who prepaid for 1 year of IWK payment, you can get a free laptop bag too.

In order to participate, you need to email your proof of payment to iwkcontest@gmail.com.

Refer to the poster below for more detail.

Upgraded my UniFi HyppTV set top box (STB) from Huawei EC2108E to Huawei EC6108V8

If you are new home subscriber to TM UniFi with HyppTV package, you will probably get the new Huawei EC6108V8 set top box (STB) as your IPTV service decoder.

If you are existing TM UniFi VIP package user, your HyppTV STB might be of the old Huawei EC6106V5 model...

or even the older Huawei EC2108E...

The Huawei EC2108E STB can only run the HyppTV app, and provides the least control to user.

The Huawei EC6106V5 STB comes with higher hardware specs as well as later version of Android, and is possible to install with other Android apps with some hacking.

The Huawei EC6108V8 is much smaller in size, has even better hardware specs, running on Android 4.4.2, and comes with Google Play Store which makes installation of Android apps even easier.

If you are using the older HyppTV STB and have recently upgraded your UniFi to the 30Mbps or 50Mbps package, you can request to replace your old STB with the latest model for free. As a result, I've upgraded my Huawei EC2108E STB to EC6108V8.

Note that the LAN port of your STB is connected to the LAN port of your router with VLAN 600, which is dedicated for IPTV service. So you can't use it to access to the Internet.

In order for your STB to access to Internet and download apps from Google Play Store, you need to enable WLAN under Settings > Wireless and Network > Enable WLAN.

With this, you can connect the STB to your home WiFi network provided by your router, and use it to connect to the Internet.

Changed my last Panasonic FM14C5 ceiling fan to Alpha Reno 699

About 9 years ago, I installed 3 Panasonic FM14C5 ceiling fans in my house, 2 of them went faulty 4 years ago and I replaced them with Alpha VS-5.

Recently, my last Panasonic FM14C5 ceiling fan also facing the same  motor control circuit faulty problem, and I've replaced it with Reno 699, also manufactured by Alpha Electric Co.

This Alpha Reno 699 ceiling fan only cost me RM160. It has 5 ABS blades (56" each) which are light and anti-rusting.

This is a remote control fan with basic function of 3 speeds selection and timer of 1hr, 3hr or 6hr.

Now I have more confident in Alpha brand ceiling fan than Panasonic or KDK.

Understanding the tyre speed rating, tread wear, traction and temperature resistance

I have just changed my car tyres to Hankook Ventus V2 concept2 (H457) all-season with the following ratings:

• Speed rating: H
• Tread wear: 500
• Traction: AA
• Temperature resistance: A

Out of curiosity, I have done a search in the Internet to find out the meaning of these ratings, and below is what I've learnt.

The tread wear, traction and temperature resistance ratings are measured following the standard as defined in the Uniform Tyre Quality Grading (UTQG) system.

Speed Rating

The speed rating is the maximum speed capability of a new tyre, denoted by an alphabet as below:

• L = 120km/h
• M = 130 km/h
• N = 140 km/h
• P = 150 km/h
• Q = 160 km/h
• R = 170 km/h
• S = 180 km/h
• T = 190 km/h
• U = 200 km/h
• H = 210 km/h
• V = 240 km/h
• W = 270 km/h
• Y = 300 km/h

Tread Wear

The tread wear grade is a comparative rating based on the wear rate of the tyre when tested under controlled conditions on a specified test track.
Tyres with lower tread wear grade are generally softer, run quieter, but wear off faster, whereas tyres with higher tread wear grade are generally harder, run noisier especially on concrete road surface, and wear off slower (generally more durable).

Most tyres nowadays have tread wear grade between 300-500, therefore tread wear grade of 500 is comparatively harder and wear off slower.

Traction

The traction grade represents the tyre's ability to stop when braked on wet pavement as measured under controlled conditions on specified test surfaces of asphalt and concrete.

There are altogether 4 traction grades for tyres approved to be used on the road:

• AA - the best rating
• A
• B
• C

Most tyres nowadays have traction grade A, so AA is considered as an above average grade.

Temperature Resistance

The temperature grade represents the tyre's resistance to the generation of heat when running. It is tested under controlled conditions on a specified indoor laboratory test wheel.

Note that sustained high temperature can cause the materials of the tyre to degenerate and thus reduce its life, and excessive temperature can lead to tyre failure.

There are altogether 3 temperature resistance grades for tyres approved to be used on the road:

• A - the best rating
• B
• C

Most tyres nowadays have temperature resistance grade B, so A is considered as an above average grade.

A families trip to Belum-Temenggor Forest Reserve

Do you know that located at the east of Penang Island about 155km travelling distance away, there is a world's oldest rainforest believed to have been in existence for over 130 million years, covering an area of over 300,000 hectares and surrounding the 2nd largest lake in Peninsular Malaysia.

The huge lake is called Tasik Temenggor, and the northern part of the tropical rainforest is called the Royal Belum State Park of Perak, while the southern part of it is called the Temenggor Forest Reserve.

There are many beautiful scenes of nature in this forest reserve area. The lake is pretty clean. It is like a mirror reflecting the scenes on it.

For this nature trekking trip, we took the 4 days 3 nights Temenggor Package of Belum Eco Resort. The package includes cruising, accommodation, activities, and 4 meals per day.

We parked our cars at the car parking area of Pulau Banting public jetty. The jetty is located after the 1st bridge of East-West Highway crossing the Temenggor lake and before the 2nd bridge.

We boarded on the boat from the resort and travelled south. We passed by Pulau Talikail, an island with a mountain, and there is a lookout tower on top of the mountain. Unfortunately, we were told that the lookout tower is under repair, so we have no chance to climb up the mountain for sight seeing at the tower there.

After about 30 minutes, we reached a small island at the heart of Tasik Temenggor where Belum Eco Resort is resided. The small island belongs to Uncle Steve Khong, who established and run the resort on it.

Located far away from civilized area, there is almost no phone signal coverage on the island, so you will be free from Internet disturbance during your stay. Water supply is pumped directly from the lake. Drinking water is properly treated by filtration process. Electricity is supplied with their own power generator, and only available from 6.30pm to 7.30am. That should not bother you much, as during daytime you will be out of the resort going for activities. Interestingly, the resort does have a modernized sewage treatment system to properly treat the waste water before discharging to the lake.

The green house on the lake in the photo below is where the diesel powered generator located. It is a bit noisy during operation, so it is purposely located some distance away.

There are 3 types of accommodation available. The boat houses are spacious and well equipped.

The 2nd type is double storey dormitories, good for large group of people staying together.

The 3rd type is where we stayed, small chalets with a queen size bed with private outdoor bathroom. Hot water is available with gas heater.

This dining area of the resort is clean and nice. I think this is a temporary dining area, as the actual dining area is located on a platform below this area, which is currently under repair.

There is a function hall upstairs. Every night, one documentary movie about the Belum-Temenggor Forest Reserve will be shown for visitors to have better understanding about the place and its nature. After the movie session, usually there will be Karaoke session at the same function hall.

Evening activities at the resort includes fishing, swimming, kayaking, photographing, etc. If you are lucky, you will be able to see hornbills and monkeys on the tree. There are elephants in the surrounding rainforest, but not on the small island of the resort.

Tilapia fishes are found in the lake, and if you are lucky, you can get Tilapia of easily above 2kg for additional dish in your dinner.

In front of the resort, there are many fish breeding facilities, but they are not belonged to Uncle Steve.

Travelling to other visiting sites in the forest reserve will require cruising of at least 20 minutes.

We saw old tree with big trunk like this in the rainforest.

The world's largest flower Rafflesia is also found in the rainforest. Unfortunately, by the time of our visit, the flowers are still at the budding phase and looked like a ball.

We also had some fun at waterfalls in Pulau Tujuh. The jungle trek to the largest waterfall upstream is a bit challenging to the young children. There were some wooden facilities downstream which were abandoned, probably damaged by elephants.

We visited to an Aborigines village.

Our children coming from urban area encountered with their children staying with the nature.

We passed by an island with white rock with dinosaurs age outcrops, on the way to a trekking area to explore the Sira Gajah salt lick. We couldn't find any elephant that day, but found some caves made by the elephants, and also their droppings.

After staying 3 nights with the nature, our vacation finished and we returned back to our urban live. I started to miss the 3 dogs and 1 cat living in the small island, and also the relaxing and email/messaging disturbance free moment at the rainforest!

Updated my HTC One (M8) to Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) with Sense 7.0

My HTC One (M8) Developer Edition smartphone received its OTA update from Android 5.01 (Lollipop) to Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) last week.

In this update, its Sense UI also upgraded from Version 6.0 to Version 7.0.

 

Here are some of the noticeable changes found in this update:

• Android Marshmallow introduces a new feature called Doze which can tremendously prolong battery life. After this update, my phone still has remaining 58% of battery after 19 hours of normal usage with several phone calls, heavy messaging, email checking, calendaring, and moderate BlinkFeed reading, Facebook, web browsing, Youtube, etc. This is really amazing to me. I believe the battery can easily last for 2 days usage without recharging with this new version of Android.

• The Navigation Bar is now user configurable. You can now add more soft buttons to it, define which buttons to show, or even hide out the entire bar.

• Now you can have control on the app permissions, defining what permissions to grant to the apps installed in the phone.

• Configurable "Do not Disturb" mode

• Option to format the SD card as internal storage.

• Home Widget that can auto-switch the icons and widgets on your home screen based on your location (Home, Work, or Out).
• More personalization to the Theme and accent colour.

Updated the firmware of my Transcend DrivePro 220 car video recorder from v1.0.7 to v1.0.8

I have successfully updated the firmware of my Transcend DrivePro 220 car video recorder from version 1.0.7 to the latest version 1.0.8.

The new firmware of Transcend DrivePro 220 can be downloaded from this webpage:
http://www.transcend-info.com/Support/No-692

Look for the Driver/Firmware section under the Support & Download screen, the click on the file download icon to download the firmware update package.

Here are the steps to perform the firmware update to the Transcend DrivePro 220:

Step 1: Remove the microSD card from the car video recorder and put it in a USB card reader.

Step 2: Plug in the USB card reader to your computer to access to the storage content of the microSD card.

Step 3: Backup all the videos and pictures in the microSD card to your computer.

Step 4: You will see a folder called System in the microSD card. Go into that folder. It is OK if you find the folder is empty.

Step 5: Unzip the firmware update package you just downloaded from Transcend's support website, you will find a file called DP220.bin. Copy this file into the System folder of the microSD card.

Step 6: Safely remove the USB card reader from your computer, and put back the microSD card into the Transcend DrivePro 220.

Step 7: Ensure your Transcend DrivePro 220 is fully charged.

Step 8: Turn on the Transcend DrivePro 220, and open the Settings menu.

Step 9: Go to the "Firmware Upgrade" option, and press the OK button.

Step 10: Confirm the firmware update, and press OK to proceed.

The firmware update will now begin. It will take several minutes, and your Transcend DrivePro 220 will reboot itself after the update.

After reboot, it should be running on the new version of firmware. You can check the firmware version inside the Settings > Information screen.

U Mobile awarded as Malaysia 2015 Fastest Mobile Network by Ookla and give 1GB additional free quota in December 2015 to all subscribers

Which mobile network provides the fastest 4G LTE Internet bandwidth in 2015?

According to the Ookla Speedtest results, the winner is... U Mobile, and the second place is... Celcom. The Maxis who made a lot of noise recently ends up at the third place, and the forth is Digi.

(Source: http://www.speedtest.net/awards/MY)

Right after winning this award, U Mobile has announced that all their postpaid and prepaid subscribers will get 1GB extra quota to their data plan for free in the month of December 2015.

I have received this SMS from U Mobile too!

Seems like I have made a right choice in switching my tablet network provider from Digi to U Mobile recently.

Meanwhile, there is news that P1 who invested heavily in the wrong technology (WiMAX instead of LTE) will make a strike back to the market under the umbrella of TM. This means that TM who all the while in the fixed line market, will soon enter into the competition world in the mobile market, after they bought P1 mobile business quite some times ago.

Things are getting interesting, especially if you still remember P1's advertisement about "potong", ended up they need the rescue from TM.

Anyhow, it is a good news for consumers to see more competition in the market. We look forward for more quality service and more "potong" in pricing among them.

Auspicious dates for baby first haircut (Mundan) in 2016

In many culture, religion and/or tradition, the first haircut of a baby is considered an important milestone for his/her life. The day is known as Mundan, Chadakarana, Halaqah, Upsherin, etc.

Here is the list of auspicious dates for baby first haircut in year 2016, which is produced based on the Chinese almanac Tong Shu. (Click the image to enlarge)

Bear in mind that although the Tong Shu is a compilation of Chinese astrology and calendaring studies gathering wisdom of thousands of years, we should use it wisely and rationally, but not be too superstitious on it.

Auspicious dates in 2016 for getting a baby

Here is the list of auspicious dates in 2016 for getting a baby (求嗣), which is produced based on the Chinese almanac Tong Shu.

The dates have good element(s) to embro/faetus. Traditionally, the dates are referred for conception planning (making love and expecting a baby to the family). Nowadays, people also make reference to them for Caesarian delivery of new born.

Bear in mind that although the Tong Shu is a compilation of Chinese astrology and calendaring studies gathering wisdom of thousands of years, we should use it wisely and rationally, but not be too superstitious on it.

Register free Comexe Dynamic DNS domain name and use it in TP-Link router

Dynamic Domain Name System (DDNS) is a way for you to access to your home network from the Internet even if your ISP is assigning dynamic (non-fixed) IP address to you.

With DDNS configured in your router, you can access your home network using a domain name, regardless of what the IP address of your router has changed to.

TP-Link router provides 3 options of DDNS to setup with, namely:

• Comexe
• DyDNS
• No-IP

Among the three of them, Comexe provides free DDNS service, and doesn't need periodical account confirmation.

In order to use Comexe DDNS service, you need to register an account in their website:
http://www.comexe.net/member/reg_login.php

There are 5 fields for you to fill in:

• The 1st field "用户名" is your preferred account name, comprises of 3 to 16 characters. For free Comexe DDNS service, your free dynamic domain name is fixed to be your_account_name.kmdns.net. So, set your account name carefully.
• The 2nd field "登录密码" is your preferred password comprises 6 to 16 characters.
• The 3rd field "确认密码" is to reconfirm your preferred password.
• The 4th field "电子邮箱" is your email address, which will be used to reset your password in case you forget it in the future.
• The 5th field "验证码" is a captcha verification. Just key in the characters you see in the image.

When you are done, click on the left button "注册" below to register your account. The right button "取消" is a cancel button.

The registration might take some time. Do not refresh your browser while it is still running. You need to be a little bit patient.

If your account is successfully registered, you will reach the screen that looks like below.

Now, go to this URL directly: http://www.comexe.net/member/domain_free.php

You should be able to see your free DDNS domain name is ready for activation. You need to click on the "立即开通" button to activate it before it can be used.

Upon successful activation, you will see the message similar to this:

Next, login to your TP-Link router, and go to Dynamic DNS configuration section.

Select Comexe (www.comexe.cn) as your Service Provider, then enter your DDNS domain name and provide your account name (user name) and password in Comexe.

Make sure you ticked the "Enable DDNS" option, can click the Login button.

If you see the word "Succeeded!" in the Connection Status, then your dynamic domain name is up and running now. You can then proceed to click the Save button to save the DDNS configuration in the router.

In future, if you want to disable the DDNS service, just untick the "Enable DDNS" option and click the Logout button.

You can go to System Tools > Diagnostic section of your TP-Link router to ping your dynamic domain name. You should be able to see that your dynamic domain name is now bound to the current IP address of your router's WAN interface.

Auspicious dates for moving to new house / office in 2016

Here is the list of auspicious dates for moving to new house/office in year 2016, which is produced based on the Chinese almanac Tong Shu. (Click the image to enlarge)

Bear in mind that although the Tong Shu is a compilation of Chinese astrology and calendaring studies gathering wisdom of thousands of years, we should use it wisely and rationally, but not be too superstitious on it.

Using My U Mobile app to check monthly plan quota usage and perform other account management

Nowadays most Telco already have mobile apps for smartphone in Android and/or iOS to check for our prepaid or postpaid subscription plan quota usage and perform other account management, including doing top-up or monthly payment, etc.

Such official Android apps for various Malaysian telcos are:

• U Mobile: My U Mobile
• Digi: MyDigi
• Maxis: MyMaxis
• Hotlink: Hotlink Red
• Tune Talk: Tune Talk
• XOX: MyXOX

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any official Android app for Celcom (either postpaid or Xpax).

Among them, I found that My U Mobile is so far the best mobile app which is very clear and straightforward for checking quota balance with its simple user interface.

In its My Plan screen, you can clearly see what is the subscribed plan, what are included in the subscription package, and each of their individual real time quota usage, all displayed in one screen.

The mobile apps of other telcos also provide similar information, but might be spreading the information into several screens, and/or the user interface is not as straightforward to the user.

In the same My U Mobile app, you can also check your bill statements and perform bill payment with credit card too.

You can also use it to apply for U Card to collect points and enjoy privileges. The U Card can stay virtual inside your smart phone too.

I think My U Mobile is so far the best official Malaysian telco app in terms of design and development. However, it could be the worst in terms of maintenance and support.

Like you can see in the above screen about U Promotion, the same Starbucks 10% discount for U Card members repeated 3 times, showing poor quality control. We would expect it to show only once per item, or if it repeats, there should be some different between each items, and not exactly the same.

In addition, the server of this My U Mobile seems to be pretty unstable. Users can be completely cut off from the server for more than one week, rendering the app completely unusable. Worse still, there is no announcement or information from U Mobile explaining what happened to the downtime, and when will the service be available again, leaving their users in complete darkness.

So, I've experienced the best design and usability, together with the worst maintenance and support for this My U Mobile app. Can't we get the best from both side to have a perfect service?

Switched telco plan of my tablet from Digi Tablet 1GB plan to U Mobile U28 3GB plan

About 2 months ago, Digi started to offer a new RM25 SmartPlan with 1GB monthly Internet data quota.

I contacted Digi to find a way to switch over my Digi Tablet 1GB plan (RM29/month) to this RM25 SmartPlan. Disappointedly, Digi told me there is no way to switch over, unless I terminate the existing Tablet 1GB subscription, and reapply for a new RM25 SmartPlan subscription.

Since there is no flexibility to switch over to the new plan, I wondered if there is any other better postpaid plan from Celcom, Maxis or U Mobile for my tablet, and I found U Mobile U28.

The monthly subscription of this U Mobile U28 is about the same as the Digi Tablet 1GB plan, and is in fact RM1 cheaper.

However, it provides 3GB monthly Internet data quota, which is triple of what the old Digi Tablet 1GB or the new Digi RM25 SmartPlan is offering.

On top of that, there are free voice call minutes and free SMS every month, which is not available in the Digi counterpart plan. Anyhow, it is very rare for me to use the tablet to make phone call or send out SMS, although I do use it to receive SMS.

Similar to Digi SmartPlan, I can listen to KKBox music with U Mobile all day long without using up my Internet quota, with their free music streaming service.

U Mobile also provides free YouTube and Tonton video streaming, but only within the very odd time period from 2am to 10am everyday.

As a result, after terminated my Digi Tablet 1GB plan, I switched over to U Mobile U28 plan to have a try.

Now, after about 2 months of usage, I decided to stay with U Mobile.

I found that in many places in urban area, the Internet speed of U Mobile is about the same with Digi. I some places, it is even better than Digi. In certain rural areas where U Mobile only able to provide EDGE or GPRS data speed, I still have my Celcom First Plan in my smartphone as backup Internet. After all, Celcom is still having the best rural coverage among the telcos now.