Sunday, May 9, 2010

Most recent interest rates from commercial banks in Malaysia

For your information, the Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM) makes available the most recent interest rates from commercial banks in Malaysia in their website.

The interest rates information covers:

  • Fixed deposit rate (from 1 month to 12 months) of each bank
  • Savings account interest rate
  • Current account interest rate
  • BLR rate (for lending)
It is not so straightforward to reach the information, if you don't know where is it located in the ABM website.

Well, here is its URL. You might want to bookmark it if you find it useful:

Monday, May 3, 2010

Fixed GMapTool problem regarding "Multiple products in img, creating TDB aborted"

Sometimes when you try to use GMapTool to convert the finalized gmapsupp.img or gmapprom.img back to MapSource maps, the process might not be so smooth.

It might halt halfway with this error message: "Multiple products in img, creating TDB aborted, try option -f."


Some of the maps that will give this problem are:
  • ESRI Thailand StreetMap NT v10.1 (FID = 57)
  • CN Hong Kong / Macau and Guangdong NT v7.61 (FID = 2082)
I managed to change the "error" into "warning" by specifying the mapset FID when doing the splitting in GMapTool. You can find out the mapset FID by clicking the Details button after loading the mapset file into GMapTool.


Now you can have the whole mapset splitting process complete and the installation file for MapSource created, despite some warning might come out along the process.

The bottomline is, you will be able to open and view the map in MapSource.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Towers Watson 2010 GWS found Malaysians value job security and stability

The Towers Watson Global Workforce Study 2010 claimed to be the most comprehensive study available on employee mindset following the recession. Conducted online from November 2009 to January 2010, the study polled 20,000 full-time employees from 22 countries around the world. In Malaysia, about 600 employees in mid-size to large organisations were polled. The research builds upon several previous Global Workforce Studies to provide companies with actionable insights around employee behaviours, opinions and engagement levels.

Below is derived from their press release on 15 April 2010...

Malaysian employees rank job security and stability as their most important employment criteria. Nonetheless, they remain highly mobile as only 11% plan to remain in their current organization, compared to 42% globally, according to the results of new research from global professional services company Towers Watson.

The Towers Watson Global Workforce Study – a biennial survey of employee attitudes and workplace trends – also finds that while engagement levels remain unaffected by the recession, organizations should continue to focus on career advancement and leadership as the twin factors of engaging and retaining their workforce.


"More than half of the Malaysian workforce prefers to work for 3 or more organizations throughout their career. (While they desire stability and security in their job, they may be inclined to leave the organization if better job stability and security, career advancement and effective leadership are available.) The challenge then lies in employers retaining their top talent and keeping them engaged," said Vivek Nath, Managing Director for Towers Watson Malaysia.

Career advancement opportunities to retain top talent in the workplace

While employees desire job security and stability as a general consideration, the study shows that they specifically cite the availability of career advancement opportunities as the most important reason influencing their decision to join an organization, other factors include an organization’s financial health, and competitive base pay.


In order to attract and retain employees, organizations have to focus on creating career advancement prospects in the work environment. Among the factors that respondents believe will help advance their careers are:
  • having a supportive mentor, aside from their manager;
  • having an immediate manager to provide them with the opportunity to develop their skills;
  • having an immediate manager to provide clear goals for the team; and
  • having an immediate manager to assign tasks that are well suited to their skills and abilities.
It is also interesting to note that Malaysia’s workforce views fostering relationships as an important way of helping them advance their career. 81% of respondents also believe that networking and collaborating with their peers would enhance and develop the necessary skills they need in getting ahead in their careers. 80% of the respondents also view learning opportunities from new job assignments as a way to enhance and develop their skills effectively throughout their career.


At the same time, Malaysian employees are well aware that it is ultimately the merits of their performance that will determine how far they would go in their careers. 73% agree that the results delivered in their job far trumps who they know.

Based on this belief, Malaysian employees also prefer to be assessed and rewarded on their work performance. 68% say that they prefer a pay-for-performance approach based on their individual performance, rather than on the organisation’s performance and 44% would like to receive rewards based primarily on their most recent job performance, rather than their track record of success or tenure with the organisation.

"We find that Malaysian employees are eager to carve out their career roadmap and are willing to put in significant effort to ensure that. However, organisations need to provide opportunities for employees to advance, which in our study shows employees defining advancement as a preference for acquiring new skills, achieving higher status and increasing compensation; to effectively retain their employees," continued Nath.


Engagement levels in Malaysia remain strong, compared to global levels


In addition to career development, effective leadership also plays an important role in engaging and retaining employees. The study shows that the economic downturn did not adversely affect the level of employee engagement in Malaysia. In fact, most Malaysian companies recognise the importance of employee engagement and have moved forward to close the engagement gap. 28% of the Malaysian workforce is engaged, compared to a global figure of 21%.

The higher engagement level is an encouraging indication as engaged employees are less likely to leave their jobs, with the results showing that 41% of engaged employees in Malaysia has no plans to leave, compared to 27% of the overall Malaysia results.

"The impact of the recession on the business should not be used as an excuse to deviate focus from engagement, as there is a risk of talent leaving the organisation once the recession completely lifts, which could affect business performance," Nath continued.

Wanted – Leaders with strong interpersonal sensitivities


Whilst career development is important in engaging and retaining Malaysian employees, leadership also plays a key role in communicating the organization’s values, goals and objectives. Besides demonstrating leadership skills on business and financial management, Malaysian employees need senior leaders to care about their well being, encourage the development of talent in the organization and to be trustworthy.

Only 56% of the respondents believe that their senior leaders have a sincere interest in their satisfaction and well-being, and only 60% agree that their senior leaders currently demonstrate trustworthiness.

In organizations where leaders are perceived to be effective, only 14% of employees are seeking new employment. On the contrary, when leaders are seen to be ineffective, 28% of employees are either actively looking for another job or have already made plans to leave their current job.

Taking these findings into account, Malaysian organizations could be optimistic of the year ahead, due to the relatively high engagement level in the workforce, which impacts the sustainability of business outcomes.

"However, as the economy continues to recover, it is imperative for businesses to focus on engaging their talent and address the gap on career advancement and leadership in order to ensure higher productivity and profitability of their organizations" commented Nath.

You might probably be interested to also read about:

Insights from Towers Watson 2010 Global Workforce Study

The Towers Watson 2010 Global Workforce Study covers more than 20,000 full-time employees of large and midsize organizations in 22 markets around the world (Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, UK and US) and was fielded by 3rd party vendor via online questionaire between November 2009 and January 2010.

 
The report was published in April 2010, and claimed to be the most comprehensive analysis of the post-recession employee mindset available today.

 

 
This 24-pages report titled "The New Employment Deal - How Far, How Fast and How Enduring?" which you can download for free after registering with them by clicking here, opined that the recession has accelerated the demise of the traditional employment contract, or "deal", between employees and employers. The Study reveals a recession-weary workforce -- one with lower expectations, increased anxiety and new priorities.

 
3 themes emerge from the Study as follow:
  • Recession has driven a final wedge into the social contract, or "deal", that has traditionally underpinned the employment relationship.
  • There is a gap between what employees want and expect from this shifting relationship, and what employers can affort to deliver in a highly competitive business climate.
  • Organizations have a unique opportunity to define a new and more sustainable employment deal with their employees, which include fostering towards "self-reliance".
"Few employers will be able to compete effectively in the current environment without policies and practices that recognize and allow for differences in employees' roles, skills and performance, as well as their interests, expectations and needs."

 
Interested to know more details? Just use the link above to get the 24-pages report for free.

You might probably be interested to also read about:

Saturday, May 1, 2010

All eyes on World Expo 2010 Shanghai China

It is about 2 years after China successfully organized the Olympics 2008 in Beijing, now all the eyes are attracted to China again with another worldwide event - Expo 2010 Shanghai China (中国2010年上海世界博览会).

With the theme of "Better City – Better Life", this Expo officially started today 1 May 2010, and will continue on for half a year until 31 October 2010. The venue is on both banks of the Huangpu River (黄浦江) in the city of Shanghai, covering a waterfront area of 5.28 kilometer square.

This Expo has made (or targetted to make) several world records, including:
  • The 1st Expo held in a developing country.
  • The largest world's fair site ever at 5.28 kilometer square.
  • The most expensive Expo in the history of the world's fairs.
  • The most participated Expo from 192 countries and 50 international organizations.
  • Targetted for the largest crowd of visitors of more than 70 million people.
  • The Expo Axis is the world largest membrane construction with a surface of 65,000 meter square in total.
There are 5 zones (from A to E) and 5 themed pavillions in Expo 2010, namely:
  • Urbanian Pavilion
  • Pavilion of City Being
  • Pavilion of Urban Planet
  • Pavilion of Footprint
  • Pavilion of Future
The Expo logo is a Chinese character "世" (means "World") modified to projects the image of 3 people -- you, me and him/her -- throwing arms around each other.

The mascot of this Expo is named as HaiBao (海宝), which means the treasure of the sea. It is created from the Chinese character "人" which means "people".

To recap, the 1st Expo was held in The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London, Great Britain in 1851. Since then, this Expo has been taken place from city to city around the world, and has evolved through 3 distinguish eras:
  • Industrialization (1851–1938) - focused on trade and famous for the display of technological inventions and advancements.
  • Cultural exchange (1939–1987) - based on a specific theme of cultural significance, and began to address issues of humankind.
  • Nation branding (1988–present) - used by countries as a platform to improve their national images through their pavilions.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Canonical will release Ubuntu 10.04 LTS tomorrow 29 Apr 2010

Good news to all Ubuntu Linux fans. Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Long Term Support) codename Lucid Lynx will be officially released by tomorrow, Thursday 29 April 2010.

Ubuntu: For Desktops, Servers, Netbooks and in the cloudAs this is an LTS version, Canonical will provide at least 3 years support on Ubuntu Desktop, and 5 years on Ubuntu Server.

It is announced that more than 80 ISVs (Independent Software Vendors) are announcing support for about 100 applications in it.

Among the applications available for version 10.04 LTS are the Acquia-Drupal content management system from Drupal, IBM Lotusnotes and the DB2 database, Cloudera Hadoop distributed computing software from Hadoop, the Tcat server from Mulesoft, the Mozilla Firefox browser, and SugarCRM's self-named CRM system.

Ubuntu Desktop 10.04 LTS will feature extensive design work, faster boot speed, social network integration, online services and the Ubuntu One Music Store.

There will also be a Ubuntu 10.04 Netbook Edition, which enables netbook users, in addition to benefiting from the improvements in the Desktop Edition, see even faster boot speeds on SSD-based devices and faster suspend/resume that will extend battery life. However, this 10.04 Netbook Edition will not be an LTS.

Ubuntu Server 10.04 LTS extends the cloud-computing capability of Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud, powered by Eucalyptus. The Cloud enhancements include a minimal installation profile for minimum-footprint virtual machines and multi-language Amazon Web Services library support. This version also includes many major applications and packages added or updated since the previous LTS release, giving new and upgrading users an extended range of applications that can be easily installed at launch.

Are you ready for the upgrade?

Monday, April 26, 2010

Ho Yan Hor herbal tea in Drinho Tetra Pak cartons

Yesterday while I was looking for some Wong Lo Kat (王老吉) canned herbal tea in Tesco...


I discovered a Malaysian made alternative in Tetra Pak carton selling at cheaper price. It is a new product in the Drinho's family, herbal tea from Ho Yan Hor (何人可).


The Ho Yan Hor herbal tea comes in 2 flavours -- Lo Han Guo (罗汉果) and sour plum (酸梅, buah asam).

This Ho Yan Hor herbal tea is packaged into 6-pack cartons, and selling at the price of RM8.99 in Tesco. That will be equilvalent to about RM1.50 per pack. Each pack is 250ml, so price per ml is 0.6 sen.

Meanwhile, Wong Lo Kat herbal tea is selling at RM2.20 per can, each can in 310ml, and price per ml is 0.7 sen.

Ho Yan Hor is a traditional remedy since 1941, and similar to the function of Wong Lo Kat, it is traditionally used to relief body heat, common cold, indigestion and waning appetite.

Malaysian and Singaporean, especially the Chinese, should be very familiar with the Ho Yan Hor brand. They have been selling herbal tea in sachets for decades, and they are listed in KLSE as Hovid (7213). Now they are collaborating with Drinho to sell the herbal tea in ready made packs.

The packaged Ho Yan Hor emphasizes on "no preservatives, no flavouring and no colouring". However, I noticed that its sour plum flavour has one additive, which is food conditioner (Acid 330).

The ingrediants of Drinho's Ho Yan Hor Luo Han Guo herbal tea are: water, extract of Luo Han Guo and dried Longan, Ho Yan Hor herbal extracts and cane sugar.

The ingrediants of Drinho's Ho Yan Hor sour plum herbal tea are: water, cane sugar, Ho Yan Hor herbal extracts, Pu Erh (普洱) extract, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) and sour plum extract powder.

Both flavours are Halal certified and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) certified.

DIY replacing the battery in Garmin GPS navigator

Ever wonder how to open up the Garmin GPS navigator's casing, and replace the rechargeable Lithium-ion battery in case it won't charge again?

This is how the Lithium-ion battery in Garmin looks like...


And here is a video showing us in detail how to do it...



Well, the battery in my Garmin Nuvi 255W GPS navigator is still working fine. I just keep this info here for future reference.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

My 6" giant lighter

Just to share with you a giant lighter that I bought today.

Here is it...


This lighter is slightly more than 6 inches long. You can see that it is a lot bigger than the ordinary lighter on its right. In fact, the flame it produces is bigger too.

I use lighter in my home for religious purpose - to burn incense, a ritual item. With this giant lighter, it is easier to light up the incense.

The price of this giant lighter is RM5, compared with the price of ordinary lighter which is normally around RM1. I think it can last very long, as its fluid is more than 6 times of ordinary lighter.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Know what people are searching for with Google Trends and Google Insights for Search

Are you interested to know what are the current hot topics and hot keywords that many people are searching for in Google?

You can actually track them using the awesome online tools namely Google Trends and Google Insights for Search.

In fact, Google Trends has been around for quite some times, and many webmasters, bloggers, twitterers, etc. are using it to come out with new hot topics of attraction for their websites. Google Insights for Search seems to be an enhanced version of Google Trends with more features.

Although Google Insights for Search is more advanced, Google Trends is still handy and useful, because you can access information from Google Hot Trends right in its front page.

Lets pay a visit to Google Trends:
http://www.google.com.sg/trends

As you can see, once you enter the website, you are displayed with a list of Hot Topics as well as a list of Hot Searches, and those are the most current info.

In fact, the RSS feeds of Google Hot Trends are available, including the following:

Global Server:-
http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends/atom/hourly

Singapore Server:-
http://www.google.com.sg/trends/hottrends/atom/hourly

Try search for a keyword in Google Trends, lets say "iceland", and click the "Search Trends" button, and you will see the search trends of your keyword.


When there is a surge in keyword search, it will be labelled, and at the side you can see the news headlines which probably able to give you a hint of why people are suddenly so interested to the topic during those particular periods of time.

You can also refine the result by region and by timeframe. At the bottom of the page shows where the searching people are residing in.

Now lets pay a visit to Google Insights for Search:
http://www.google.com/insights/search/

As you can see, you have more advanced tools to refine your search by comparison, filters (including filter by categories), etc.

And the result has more information, including these:


And last but not least, if you want to know what kind of keywords that have actually brought traffic to your own website, you can find the precise answer in Google Webmaster Tool.

Herbs to increase milk production for breastfeeding mother

It seems to be a common topic among the mothers, especially the first time mothers, about facing inadequate milk production problem, especially during the confinement period.

My wife's experience can testify that there are some herbs which can be taken by the mother to help promote lactation to breastfeed the baby. In fact, those herbs are categorized in a family with a Greek name: "galactagogues".

If you want to look for such milk supply enhancement herbs in the pharmacy or baby/mother specialty shop, just mention "galactagogues" to the shopkeeper. If you find it difficult to remember this name, you can also mention "nursing tea" or "milkmaid tea" instead.

The herbs which are traditionally used to increase milk production including:

  • Alfalfa
  • Anise
  • Asparagus racemosus (a.k.a. Shatavari)
  • Astragalus root
  • Cnicus benedictus (a.k.a. Blessed thistle)
  • Fennel (a.k.a. Foeniculum vulgare)
  • Fenugreek
  • Orange cinnamon
  • Red raspberry leaf (a.k.a. Rubus idaeus)
  • Stinging nettle
The nursing tea products sold in the shops are normally a mixture of the above herbs. Some of the brands are Joy Angel Nursing Tea, Earth Mama Milkmaid Tea, Autumnz Organic Nursing Tea, etc.


It is said that the effectiveness of herbal galactogogues can be increased by consuming together with marshmallow root at the same time.

Mothers who have used galactagogues products before are encouraged to share your testimonial here.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Goldman Sachs let Warren Buffett learnt a bitter lesson

Warren Buffett, well-known as the "Oracle of Omaha", has been famous for value investing, and also declaring derivatives as the "weapons of economic mass destruction" and stated that he would never be involved in them.

He derailed from this belief, when Berkshire Hathaway in 2008, at the peak of the financial crisis, purchased $5 billion worth of Goldman Sachs' perpetual preferred stock with a 10% dividend and warrants on $5 billion worth of common stock at the price of $115.

Since then, Buffett has been talking good about Goldman Sachs and declaring his strong endorsement to its CEO Lloyd Blankfien. Last week, Ron Olson, one of Berkshire’s directors, once again defended Goldman  by saying that "Buffett invested out of belief in not just the strength of Goldman but its integrity."

To the great surprise of the whole world, it was just 3 days right after that "integrity" assurance from Berkshire, Goldman was accused by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of defrauding its investors. A civil charge was filed on 16 April 2010.

Goldman is accused to have promoted and sold mortgage investments to its investors, without telling the buyers that the securities were crafted with input from its client, Paulson (a hedge fund capitalize on the housing bust), who was betting on them to fail.

The SEC said Paulson paid Goldman roughly $15 million in 2007 to devise an investment which tied to mortgage-related securities that the hedge fund viewed as likely to decline in value. Separately, Paulson took out a form of insurance that allowed it to make a huge profit when those securities' value plunged.

SEC stated that, "Goldman wrongly permitted a client (Paulson) that was betting against the mortgage market to heavily influence which mortgage securities to include in an investment portfolio, while telling other investors that the securities were selected by an independent, objective 3rd party."

Goldman's investors of that securities have lost about a billion dollar in less than a year thereafter, while Paulson reaped in its fabulous profit.

In fact, Goldman had been warned on this fraud case, in black-and-white by SEC, as early as in July 2009. The question is: did Buffett knew about that? If he didn't, then why? If he did, well, well, well....

The stock price of Goldman dropped heavily after this allegation, causing Buffett to gave out most of the profit he made earlier in his Goldman deal. However, the blow to Buffett is minimal in monetary wise. The bitter lesson to Buffett is the deteriotation to the reputation and respect which he built for decades, which had won him the title as the "Oracle of Omaha".

Now, all the eyes is staring on him, especially when the AGM of Berkshire Hathaway is just a moment away from now.

All investors make mistakes, including Buffett. But this mistake he made is really very costly. Let's wait what he'll say...

Friday, April 16, 2010

Garmin releases MalSingMaps Malaysia/Singapore/Brunei NT 2010.20 for free update

Garmin has made available MalSingMaps (MSM) Malaysia/Singapore/Brunei NT 2010.20 for free update now.

You can click here to download the installation file of MalSingMaps Malaysia/Singapore/Brunei NT 2010.20 from Garmin server. The file size is pretty huge, 742,884kb.

The installation program will update gmapprom1.img, gmapprom1.unl and SGMYMAL.JCV in your Garmin GPS navigator.


During the installation process, you'll be asked for the unlock key. The key is stored in the existing gmapprom1.unl file in your Garmin GPS navigator, which you can open with Notepad or any text editor. Just copy and paste the key to the installer when asked.

The size of SGMYMAL.JCV has increased tremendously to 352,764kb. Therefore, we can expect many more road junctions to have Junction View in Garmin with this map.

Version highlights:

  • Synchronize to Malsingmaps v4.08.
  • Extending more JCVs around Malaysia
  • Add new categories of Brand icons
  • Add more POIs, postal code data and lane information

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Have you upgraded your Windows Chinese IME to the new Microsoft Pinyin (MSPY) 2010?

Good news to all MS Windows XP/Vista/7 users who need to type Chinese characters using IME!

Microsoft has just released Microsoft Pinyin (MSPY 微软拼音输入法) 2010 which is free to download and install to upgrade the existing Chinese IME in your MS Windows operating system.

This new release of MSPY 2010 is jointly developed by Microsoft and Harbin Institute of Technology (哈尔滨工业大学) in HeiLongJiang, China. In fact, its beta testing version has been made available to the public since last year, and now it is finally officially released. It is expected to also bundled as part of the coming MS Office 2010.

MSPY 2010 loads up much faster than the previous MSPY 2007, and also has faster respond to keyboard typing.

By using MSPY 2010, we can type Chinese faster as it is more accurate in getting the correct words we want, and it supports short-cut input style as well as intelligent word predictions.

MSPY 2010 supports 2 different input styles, namely Simple Fast (简捷) and New Experience (新体验).

The Simple Fast typing style looks like this:

and you can see how fast the typing is by using short-cut input with accurate prediction of the IME:

The New Experience typing style looks like this:



MSPY 2010 can accurately predict many new Internet jargons. It also supports a vast variety of professional dictionaries to get more accurate results.


If you are still using the old IME to type Chinese in Windows, I'll recommend you to try out this MSPY 2010.

Click here to go to the official website and download page of Microsoft PinYin 2010.

PS: If you face problem in using Regional and Language Options to assign the keyboard sequence for calling out the input method, you can make use of IMETool to set your preferred keyboard sequence, and it never fail you.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Work-life lessons from Peter Drucker

Peter F. Drucker (19 Nov 1909 – 11 Nov 2005) is well-known as "the father of modern management".

In fact, Drucker's teachings on personal growth or self-management, are as profound as his views on organizational management.

Drucker personified the value of creating and living a "total life" with diverse interests, relationships, and pursuits. He called this as "living in more than one world."

He exemplified the following 5 key elements to crate a "total life":

1. Practice self-development

Drucker opined that: "What matters is that the knowledge worker, by the time he or she reaches middle age, has developed and nourished a human being rather than a tax accountant or a hydraulic engineer."

We should start thinking about our life, both as it is now and where we'd like it to go. It should cover not only our work, but also our life outside of work, i.e. family, friends, interests, activities, and pursuits.

2. Identify and develop your unique strengths

Consider what's unique about what you do, and in what areas you excel and contribute the most, both at work and outside of work. Focus on those strengths, which are your own core competencies, and find new ways to cultivate and cherish them.

3. Create a parallel or second career

Drucker said, "The purpose of the work on making the future is not to decide what should be done tomorrow, but what should be done today to have a tomorrow."

Drucker encouraged us to think about possibilities for a parallel or second career, while we're still in our main job. Leveraging on our existing knowledge and experience, and exploring into the area of teaching, writing, or working in non-profit organizations could be some good idea.

4. Exercise your generosity

Drucker believed an essential part of living in more than one world is to display a sense of generosity.

Sharing your time and talents in areas such as volunteerism, social entrepreneurship and mentoring, not only provide opportunities to contribute, but also offer personal benefits from broadening and deepening your life experience to expanding your circle of friends and colleagues.


5. Teaching and learning

Drucker would like to see us to incorporate continuous learning as a natural part of our daily life. We should also consider teaching, as he said, "No one learns as much as the person who must teach his subject."

Drucker’s secrets to success can help our life and career be more satisfying, meaningful and multi-dimensional. The following are 7 tips to get started:

  • Focus on achievement, not money
  • Make time for thinking - where you are and where you're going.
  • Practice "systematic abandonment" - stepping back, at regular intervals, to determine which of your present activities can be scaled back or eliminated. Only then can you make way for something more fruitful.
  • Volunteer your time and talent
  • Become a mentor - if you’ve been guided by mentors of your own, pay it forward by mentoring others. If not, look for opportunities to both mentor and be mentored.
  • Learn the art of leisure
  • Be the CEO of your own life - self-management is an ongoing discipline, requiring self-knowledge, introspection, and personal responsibility. Start now to think of yourself as the CEO of your own life and career, and take accountability for your decisions and actions. Know who you are, what is important to you, and how you will contribute at work and in the world.

The above are my notes taken from an article written by Bruce Rosenstein, the author of the book Living in More Than One World: How Peter Drucker's Wisdom Can Inspire and Transform Your Life.

Property investment in information age with Google Earth and Google Maps

Mr Ho Chin Soon (何振顺) recent talk in The Edge Investment Forum on Real Estate 2010 has enlightened me about the use of Google Earth and Google Maps in property investment.

Google Earth enables us to zoom in to the property of our interest, survey its surrounding environment and nearby township, assess the road systems and buildings, measuring distance from city center, know the nearby amenities, etc. You can also watch Panoramio photos and/or Youtube videos of selected locations uploaded by contributors in the Internet.

One of the powerful feature of Google Earth is it Historical Imagery, which enables us to view the historical satellite images of the location, and see its change and development over time.

For example, we are able to see the rapid development of Kota Damansara on the northern part of Klang Valley, by looking at its Historical Imagery in 2004...


and compare with its most recent image taken in 2007...


Meanwhile, Google Maps is directly accessible with your web browser, and enable you to easily switch between Satellite view, Map view and Terrain view.

No doubt that Google Earth and Google Maps can help you study the area of interest, find out the township developments and conditions of the surroundings, before you actually pay a visit to the site. They can also give you a clearer picture about the present and past developments and constructions of a location, and probably let you discover some growth area that you might be interested to invest in.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

The most reliable laptop brands are...

If you are planning to buy a new laptop or a new netbook during the PC Fair or otherwise, you might be interested to read this.

SquareTrade, the largest independent warranty service provider in US has, in 16 November 2009, unveiled a report that analyzed failure rates of over 30,000 new notebook computers manufactured by 9 leading brands (with minimum 1,000 units of each brand sampled) over the past 3 years.

The report concluded that:

  • 31% of laptop failed during the first 3 years. 2/3 of this failure (20.4%) came from hardware malfunctions, another 1/3 (10.6%) was reported as accidental damage.
  • Netbooks have a 20% higher failure rate from hardware malfunctions than laptops.
  • The failure rate is inversely propotional to the market grade (and price) of the laptop.

And the most reliable laptop brands are Asus and Toshiba which scored almost equally.


So, if reliability is important to you, you might probably consider laptop than netbook, with preferance to the more reliable brands above.

Click here to read the full report of SquareTrade's Laptop Reliability Study.

The most reliable digital camera brand is...

If you are planning to buy a new digital camera during the PC Fair or otherwise, you might be interested to read this.

SquareTrade, the largest independent warranty service provider in US has, in 31 March 2010, unveiled a report that analyzed failure data from a sample of over 60,000 new digital cameras purchased by their warranty customers.

The report concluded that 11% of digital cameras fail over the first 2 years of ownership, whereby 6.6% of failures coming from malfunctions and 4.1% from accidents.


Interestingly, they also found out that the failure rate is inversely propotional to the price of the camera. Cheaper point-and-shot digital cameras are more vulnerable to malfunction than the more costly Digital SLR cameras.

And the most reliable point-and-shot digital camera brand is... Panasonic.




How about the DSLR? There is no significant difference between the reliability of Nikon and Canon.


Click here to read the full report of SquareTrade's Digital Camera Failure Study.


Wednesday, April 7, 2010

LTKM the hidden gem stock yet to be discovered

Before the merger of KLSE's main and second board, LTKM (7085) was listed in the second board, and like most of the stock counters there, was out of the radar screen of most institutional and personal investors. This could probably explain why its price is stable and steady without much fluctuation most of the time.

Even now, its number of share remains at a low level of 42,055,002 only, and 60% of them are tightly controlled by Ladang Ternakan Kelang Sdn Bhd (the "fullname" of LTK), which founded by the 3 Tan brothers way back in 1976, and initially operated on a small piece of 10-acre land in Kampung Jawa, Klang.

The "M" in LTKM is Melaka. Ladang Ternakan Kelang (Melaka) Sdn Bhd was established in 1986 after they acquired a 448 acres freehold land in the district of Durian Tunggal, Melaka. LTKM was listed on KLSE's Second Board in March 2000.

LTKM is famous as the single largest centralized poultry farm in Malaysia. Each and every day, LTKM produces at least 1.3 million fresh shell eggs. They are fully integrated in egg production including the processing and trading of organic fertilizer. They employ high production technology, including the biosecure environment controlled housing and automatic egg collection equipment.

They are well known as the sole producer and distributor of MARDITECH licensed Omega-3 eggs under the brand name LTK Omega Plus. LTKM was given the exclusive rights to produce Omega-3 eggs using MARDI's feed formulation, despite nowadays there are a few "me-too" brands of Omega eggs in the market. Another famous brand from LTKM is LTK Organic Selenium Plus, an R&D result with MARDITECH.

Currently over 40% of LTKM's eggs are exported to Singapore and Hong Kong. The balances are sold to wholesalers throughout Malaysia.

While egg production is the main business of LTKM, and many has the perception that they are only in this business, in fact, LTKM has ventured into other business, such as organic fertilizers (since 1993), property development (since 2006), sand extraction and trading (since 2008). Their latest venture is into glass processing business in 2009. Therefore, LTKM has been diversified their business into different areas, and I like their entrepreneur spirit.

Certain analyst are curious about their business venture to glass processing, which seems unrelated to their livestock business. But taking a closer look at it, I found there is relationship between sand extraction, glass processing and property development. Do you agree with this observation?

LTKM is currently building their glass processing factory in Sungai Rasah, Klang and expected to start operation by 2nd half of 2010. They have hired 2 experts from overseas, Mohan Menon and Alexander Akguel, to help them establish this new business under the brand name Lumiglass.

So, what make me feel that LTKM is a hidden gem? All back to fundamental facts and figures.


As you can see from my estimation of their upcoming FYE2010 based on simple normalization, LTKM is likely to announce their best ever revenue and profit result, with the estimated EPS of 45 sen. If they really achieve this, the net profit will be more than double from last year, and the ROE could be standing at a high ground of 18.44%.

Something worth notice is that, on 24 February 2010, LTKM has revalued their freehold land and buildings, which will contribute an exceptional gain of about 19 sen per share to its 4th quarter EPS to be announced in May 2010. With this, technically the EPS for 4th quarter will be much higher than my estimation above which didn't take this exceptional gain into account.

You might have observed that LTKM share price and transaction volume have both risen immediately after the asset revaluation announcement, which formed a strong support at RM1.53, which was the peak of 25 February 2010.


Meanwhile, LTKM is going to distrubute a 3 sen single tier interim dividend soon, the ex-date is 14 April 2010. Based on historical records, I estimate the full year dividend to be 10 sen, with another 7 sen final dividend in 4th quarter.

Closing at RM1.61 on 6 April 2010, we can therefore calculate based on my estimation that:
  • PE = 1.61/0.45 = 3.58
  • DY = 0.10/1.61 = 6.2%
I think the asset revalue exercise of LTKM might be a sign of possible bonus issue in the future to increase their issued shares from the current low level.

Perhaps this hidden gem will be discovered when they release their 2010 Annual Report in around August.

Click here to visit the website of LTKM. Their website is really informative.

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.

Monday, April 5, 2010

The 4Ss, 6Ms and 8Ps of business

Do you know what are the 4Ss, 6Ms and 8Ps of business?

Well, the 4Ss, 6Ms and 8Ps define key elements in a business from 3 different perspectives.

The 4Ss are:

  • Skills
  • Surroundings
  • Suppliers
  • Systems
The 6Ms are:
  • Men
  • Money
  • Markets
  • Methods
  • Machines
  • Materials
And the 8Ps are:
  • People
  • Process
  • Policies
  • Procedures
  • Price
  • Promotions
  • Places/Plants
  • Products
In these 3 different prespectives, do you notice they all start with one common factor, which is:

Skills = Men = Peoples = Human resources

Undeniably, human resources are the most important element in the business. Without Skills, the rest of the Ss mean nothing; Without Men, the rest of the Ms also mean nothing; and without People, the rest of the Ps mean nothing.

Realising this is very important, so that:
  • When implementing Enterprise Resource System (ERP), you should put emphasis on the human resources (users) more than the infrastructure, data, information, etc.
  • If you are a boss, you know which part of your business is the most important one, that you might affort to lost the others, but definitely not this one, in order to sustain your business.
  • If you are a financial controller, you should know how to better control the company's financial in the way that will not deteriorate the company.
  • If you are an employee, you should know why you need the certifications and continuous improvement on your knowledge and skillsets, which are actually your core value to contribute to your company.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

CDP Roadshow 2010: Your Knowledge Hub To Maximise Your Potential

For information, MSC Malaysia Capability Development Programme (CDP) is organising the "CDP Roadshow 2010: Your knowledge Hub to Maximise Your Potential" event.


Date: 7-8 April 2010
Time: 9am - 5pm
Venue: Cyberview Lodge, Cyberjaya


Renowned speakers including:

  • Howard Kendell (founder of Service Desk Institute)
  • Darrell Mann (CEO of FR Innovation Software Systems)
  • Saravanan Karumanan (Director of Organisational Consulting, Right Management Malaysia)
  • Dr. Dominic Lau (Director of Applied Research, UCSI Blue Ocean Strategy)
  • Simen Seow (Managing Director of Infospec)
  • A. Nathan (Senior Consultant of mfQ Asia)
  • etc. 
will discuss and share their knowledge in the areas such as:
  • Service Management
  • Blue Ocean Strategy
  • Risk Management
  • CMMI for Services
  • Workforce Management
  • Innovation
  • PRINCE2 (Projects in Controlled Environments)
  •  etc.

Click here for event agenda and more information about CDP Roadshow 2010.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

A small truth to make life 100%

Just to share with you the following interesting write-up...

If


is ciphered to


can we get the keyword to make life 100%?

Hard Work

H+A+R+D+W+O+R+K

8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11
= 98%

Knowledge

K+N+O+W+L+E+D+G+E

11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5
= 96%

Love

L+O+V+E

12+15+22+5
= 54%

Luck

L+U+C+K

12+21+3+11
= 47%

(don't most of us think this is the most important???)

Then what makes 100%?

Is it Money? ... NO!!!

M+O+N+E+Y

13+15+14+5+25
= 72%

Leadership? ... NO!!!

L+E+A+D+E+R+S+H+I+P

12+5+1+4+5+18+19+8+9+16
= 97%

Every problem has a solution, only if we
perhaps change our attitude.

To go to the top, to that 100%, what we
really need to go further... a bit more...

ATTITUDE

A+T+T+I+T+U+D+E

1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5
= 100%

It is OUR ATTITUDE towards Life and Work
that make OUR Life 100%!!!

People with the Right Positive Attitude will make a more efficient organization which will contribute towards a better society and a prosperous nation!

On the other hand, those with a Negative Attitude and blaming everybody else, will not only NOT solve the problem, but will likely make it worse.

ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING

Change Your Attitude...

And You Change Your Life!!!

Now that you know the answer...

WHAT WILL YOU DO ABOUT IT?

THE LEAST YOU CAN DO IS TO SHARE THIS MESSAGE WITH THOSE YOU CARE.

Do not hesitate to click the SHARE button below!

Friday, March 26, 2010

TM new High Speed Broadband (HSBB) UniFi packages

TM launched its High Speed Broadband (HSBB) service with brand name UniFi on 24 March 2010.

The UniFi network is an end-to-end all-fibre optic, all-Internet Protocol (IP) infrastructure being built by TM to replace their older copper based telecommunications infrastructure.

UniFi is a bundled triple play service offering High Speed Internet, HyppTV (IPTV) and Voice service. There are 3 available packages for residential consumer and 3 packages for business.




Consumer (residential) packages:
  • VIP5 - up to 5Mbps upload and download speed, RM149/month
  • VIP10 - up to 10Mbps upload and download speed, RM199/month
  • VIP20 - up to 20Mbps upload and download speed, RM249/month
There will be no installation and activation fee, no deposit, no Voice rental, and free equipments.

Product features:
  • HyppTV Channels including RTM1, RTM2, TV3, NTV7, 8TV, TV9, Hikmah, Bernama TV, Australian Network, BBC Knowledge, BBC Lifestyle, CBeebies, Channel News Asia, Channel V Taiwan, DWTV, Euronews, Fashion TV, STAR Chinese Channel, STAR Chinese Movies, Travel Channel, LUXE TV, etc.
  • Set-Top-Box
  • 1x Streamyx Zone ID
  • Dynamic IP address
  • 2GB email space
  • Call rates: free calls to TM fixed lines nationwide, flat rate 10 sen/min to all mobiles and other fixed lines nationwide, normal IDD rate
  • Free cordless phone
  • Premise Gateway with Wireless N
  • Fair Usage Policy (FUP): Maximum 60GB (VIP5), 90GB (VIP10), 120GB (VIP20) download per month
Click here for more information about UniFi residential packages.

These packages seem more attractive than their previously launched Blockbuster Deals.

Business packages:

  • BIZ5 - up to 5Mbps upload and download speed, RM199/month
  • BIZ10 - up to 10Mbps upload and download speed, RM599/month
  • BIZ20 - up to 20Mbps upload and download speed, RM899/month
There will also be no installation and activation fee, no deposit, no Voice rental, and free equipments.

Product features:
  • 1x Streamyx Zone ID
  • Dynamic IP address for BIZ5, fixed IP address for BIZ10 and BIZ20
  • 2GB email space
  • Call rates: 5 sen/min to TM fixed lines nationwide, flat rate 15 sen/min to all mobiles and other fixed lines nationwide, normal IDD rate
  • Free DECT cordless phone
  • Premise Gateway with Wireless N
  • Unlimited usage
  • 10GB Web Hosting Basic with customized domain name
  • 5GB e-Storage Basic
  • Service level guarantee
Click here for more information about UniFi business packages.

Currently, UniFi only available in limited Klang Valley areas including Bangsar, Shah Alam, Subang and Taman Tun Dr. Ismail. Click here to check the UniFi roll out schedule to your area.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Top 10 IT priorities for 2010

In January 2010, CIO Magazine has conducted a survey among CIO.com visitors to gauge which technology areas IT professionals plan to focus on, and received respond from 405 IT decision makers involved in buying technology products and services for their organizations.



The 6 pages exclusive research report reveals the top 10 areas of interest that IT decision makers care about in 2010 are:
  • Cloud computing
  • Business process management
  • Web 2.0 / social networking technologies
  • Desktop/client virtualization
  • Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)
  • Analytics
  • Storage virtualization
  • Enterprise data management
  • Software as a Service (SaaS) and Web services
  • Collaboration technologies
Beside that, it is found that mobile and wireless applications are the most frequently cited technologies currently in production either enterprise-wide or on a division or business unit scale.

Click here to report the report of CIO Technology Priorities Survey (January 2010) for more detail.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Opera Mini 5 and Opera Mobile 10 stable version released

After quite a long beta period, finally the stable version of Opera Mini 5 and Opera Mobile 10 is now officially released.

For those who haven't tried the Opera web browser for mobile devices, you should test it out. It is free, and most of the time it provides much better browsing experience as well as surfing speed than the original web browser that comes with your handphone.

To download Opera Mini 5 or Opera Mobile 10 to your handphone, simply make a visit to http://m.opera.com/ with your handphone, and the automated download and installation process should be initiated.

Opera Mini 5 is available on all Java-based handphones. Opera Mobile 10 is available on Windows Mobile and Symbian S60-based smartphones.

Here is how the new Opera Mini 5 screen looks like in my Sony Ericsson P1i.



And here is how this blog looks like when browsed with Opera Mini 5 (landscape mode).


When you tab on any area, it will enlarge that region, then the text and pictures will be readable.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Air fresheners might contain toxic substances

Do you use air freshner in your office? living room? bedroom? toilet? car?

A report from the Women in Europe for a Common Future (WECF) organization titled "Foul-smelling whiff from air fresheners!" alerted that air fresheners do not "purify" the ambient air, but on the contrary pollute it by releasing well-known toxic substances.

The European Consumers' Organisation (BEUC) and 5 of its member organisations had tested on 76 air fresheners products, and found out many contain:

  • Formaldehyde and benzene - which could cause cancer in humans
  • Acetaldehyde or styrene - that irritates the respiratory tract, allergens and potential carcinogens
  • Toluene, chlorbenzene, glycol ethers, phthalates and artificial musk - all known to be dangerous to health
Not to mention all the other chemicals not assessed in this test and about which we know nothing.

These products represent a real risk to health not only of allergy sufferers, asthmatics, pregnant or nursing women and children, but also to anyone using them continuously.

As a result, it is advisable not to use air fresheners to avoid exposure to those toxic substances. Perhaps air ionizer is a better alternative.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Malaysia UKM students win 1st place in eVolo 2010 Skyscraper Competition

The 1st place winner of eVolo Magazine's Skyscraper Competition in 2010 has been awarded to 3 architecture students from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) - Chow Khoon Toong, Ong Tien Yee, and Beh Ssi Cze. Congratulation!


As a background, this annual Skyscraper Competition recognizes outstanding ideas that redefine skyscraper design through the use of new technologies, materials, programs, aesthetics, and spatial organization.

This winning contest entry project examines the possibility of creating a vertical prison in the sky where inmates will have to work and live in a community that will contribute to the host city below. The prison will have agricultural fields, factories, and recyclable plants that will be operated by the offenders as a way to give back to the community. They will live “free” until they have completed their sentence and are prepared to rejoin their communities.

The vertical prison has its own transportation system which consists of different “pods” for officers, prisoners, firefighters, and other workers.


Click here to read more about the brilliant idea of Vertical Prison.

Also worth to mention is another Malaysian entry by architect Sarly Adre Bin Sarkum has also won the Special Mention prize in the same competition. His entry is "Water-Scraper: Underwater Architecture", which is a self sufficient structure designed to float on the ocean.

Click here to read more about the unique design of Water-Scraper.

Monday, March 15, 2010

The Edge Investment Forum on Real Estate 2010

Once again, The Edge and UOB Bank are organizing a real estate investment forum in Kuala Lumpur. This year, the theme is: "To buy or not to buy: Where to put your money?". Readers of The Edge can register now for free.


Date: 10 April 2010 (Saturday)
Time: 9am - 1pm
Venue: Sime Darby Convention Centre, Bukit Kiara, KL

Interesting topics of discussion:
  • Malaysian property market outlook in 2010 - Is the picture clearer?
  • Valuation creation in property investment
  • Panel discussion on "Property, REITs or property stocks?"
Lucky participants will walk away with Ho Chin Soon research maps worth RM2,000 each.

Click here for more information and online registration to The Edge Investment Forum on Real Estate 2010.

Are you born to be a billionaire?

The Sunday Star dated 14 March 2010 reveiled an interesting finding from their "So you want to be a millionaire?" survey with YouthSays and Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR), which polled 1,678 people below the age of 30 thoughout Malaysia.

The finding: 96% of the respondents aspire to become millionaires, and 75% of them believe that they can achieve it by the age of 35! Wow!

If you haven't read about the report, here is the online version:

Anyhow, the first question to all millionaire wannabes is: Are you willing to pay the price to make millions (or even billions).  

Here is a list of 13 self-assessment questions in a Forbes' article:
  • Why Go Big at All? - What and where are your long-term goals?
  • Can You See Around Corners? - What and where are your visions?
  • Can You Tolerate and Manage Ambiguity? - Are you able to see through a jungle of conflicting data?
  • Do You Prize Independence?
  • Do You Have the Guts to Double-Down?
  • Are You Inspired by Creativity or More Process-Oriented?
  • Are You Willing to Make Tough Decisions For the Growth of the Company?
  • Do You Like Speaking in Public?
  • Are You a Consensus-Builder?
  • Can You Delegate?
  • If You Say You Need it On Your Desk By 9am, Will it Get Done? 
  • Can You Work on Christmas?
  • Can You Deal with Isolation? 
    For more explanation of each of the items above, please click here to read about the "Are You Born To Be A Billionaire?" article in Forbes' website.

    Sunday, March 14, 2010

    The Top 10s in Universities Ranking on the Web (Jan 2010 Edition) by Webometrics

    By now, results of SPM, STPM, GCE, UEC, etc. should have been released, and it is time for those secondary school graduates who want to further their study to look for university.

    Tertiary education requires a lot of cost, several years of your lifespan, have material impact to your ideology, and might be an important factor for your career path. Therefore, it is important to choose the university wisely, and a worldwide universities ranking can be a good indicator for you.

    The Webometrics World Universities' Ranking has coverage to more than 18,000 Higher Education Institutions worldwide. It summarizes the global performance of the university, provides information for candidate students and scholars, and reflects the commitment to the dissemination of scientific knowledge.

    It is an initiative of the Cybermetrics Lab, a research group of the Centro de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales (CCHS), part of the National Research Council (CSIC), the largest public research body in Spain.

    Now, let's see some of the Top 10s from the results of Webometrics' Jan 2010 Edition of Universities Ranking.
     
    Top 10 country/political region for tertiary education:

    • 1. United States
    • 2. United Kingdom
    • 3. Germany
    • 4. Canada
    • 5. Taiwan
    • 6. Sweden
    • 7. Spain
    • 8. Japan
    • 9. Brazil
    • 10. Netherlands
    Click here to see the Top 45 ranking and more information about the Webometrics Country Scoreboard.

    So, if you are Human Resource or manager in your company going to interview candidates graduated from one of the country/political region above, go ahead and challenge them with tougher questions. If they passed, offer them a higher pay.

    World's Top 10 Universities:
    • 1. Harvard University
    • 2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
    • 3. Stanford University
    • 4. University of California Berkeley
    • 5. Cornell University
    • 6. University of Washington
    • 7. University of Minnesota
    • 8. Johns Hopkins University
    • 9. University of Michigan
    • 10. University of Wisconsin Madison
    All in the Top 10 are from the United States.

    Click here to see the Top 8000 Universities of the world.

    Top 10 Universities in Asia:
    • 1. University of Tokyo, Japan (38)
    • 2. Kyoto University, Japan (52)
    • 3. National Taiwan University, Taiwan (63) 
    • 4. University of Hong Kong (128)
    • 5. Chinese University of Hong Kong (130)
    • 6. Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel (133)
    • 7. Keio University, Japan (136)
    • 8. National University of Singapore (146)
    • 9. National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan (153)
    • 10. Nagoya University, Japan (161)
    The number in the brackets above is their respective World Ranking.

    Click here to see the Top 100 Universities in Asia.

    Top 10 Universities in South East Asia:
    • 1. National University of Singapore (146)
    • 2. Kasetsart University, Thailand (229)
    • 3. Prince of Songkla University, Thailand (338)
    • 4. Mahidol University, Thailand (381)
    • 5. Chulalongkorn University, Thailand (398)
    • 6. Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (468)
    • 7. Chiang Mai University, Thailand (478)
    • 8. Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia (562)
    • 9. Khon Kaen University, Thailand (567)
    • 10. Institute of Technology Bandung, Indonesia (661)
    What? None from Malaysia? Well, the 11th is Universiti Putra Malaysia (686).

    Click here to see the Top 100 Universities in South East Asia.

    Top 10 Universities in Malaysia:

    • 1. Universiti Putra Malaysia (686)
    • 2. Universiti Sains Malaysia (725)
    • 3. Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (733)
    • 4. University of Malaya (778)
    • 5. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (985)
    • 6. Universiti Teknologi Mara (1367)
    • 7. Universiti Malaysia Perlis (1413)
    • 8. Universiti Utara Malaysia (1454)
    • 9. Multimedia University (1528)
    • 10. International Islamic University Malaysia (1576)
    Click here to see the universities and colleges ranking of Malaysia

    Are you graduated from one of the world class universities/colleges? Some fresh graduates find it difficult to get a job. It could be due to few years back, they've made an unwise decision and studied in a low ranking university.

    While some might want to argue that university ranking like this could be subjective, the employment market, locally or globally, will eventually reflect the reference value of the ranking system.
    Click here to go to the homepage of Webometrics website.

    Saturday, March 13, 2010

    eDividend to replace cheque and direct credit dividend entitlements into our bank account

    Starting from 19 April 2010, investors in KLSE can opt to receive dividend payments from public listed companies in the form of eDividend instead of the traditional way of receiving dividend cheques.

    This will bring convenient to share investors using direct trading account(s), although doesn't make much different to those using nominee account(s).

    Common problems such as delay receipt of dividend cheque, lost cheque, cheque expired, etc. will be eliminated, as dividend payment will be directly credited into our bank account if we've applied for this eDividend service. After the money is banked in, we will receive eNotification via email and/or SMS.

    We can register for eDividend with our stock broker. There will be no cost incurred if we apply for eDividend within the period from 19 April 2010 until 18 April 2011.

    The following are needed when applying for eDividend:

    • Fill up a 3-ply eDividend form, and provide info about our bank account number, email, mobile number, etc.
    • Copy of bank statement
    • Copy of NRIC / Passport / Authority Card
    The registration process of eDividend is as follow.


    And the eDividend payment flow is as follow.


    All companies listed in KLSE who announce a books closing date for dividend entitlements on or after 1 September 2010 are required to pay dividends via eDividend to their shareholders who have registered for this service.

    Click here for more information about eDividend.

    Hint: Click on the "Older Posts" link to continue reading, or click here for a listing of all my past 3 months articles.