Monday, December 2, 2019

Upgrade Huawei Mate 20 series from EMUI 9.1 (Android Pie) to EMUI 10 (Android 10)

Huawei has already released the new EMUI 10 firmware with Android 10 to its Mate 20 series smartphones by now.

However, you might not be able to find it under the normal Settings > System & updates > Software update section of EMUI 9.1.

You will need to ensure your Huawei Mate 20 series handphone has been updated to the latest version of EMUI 9.1 (Android Pie). Then, you can proceed to search for EMUI 10 by using the HiCare app and perform the firmware upgrade from EMUI 9.1 to EMUI 10.




After you have open the HiCare app in your phone, make sure it has the latest version first. Go to Me > Settings > Check for updates. Your HiCare version should be 10.0.5.341 or above.

Then, go to Services > Update > Check for updates. You should be able to find EMUI 10 and perform the upgrade there.



Monday, November 25, 2019

Using professional home inspection service to check property defects

Home inspection is part of the essential process right after receiving vacant possession of brand new home from the property developer. Normally it is conducted by the buyer (new owner) of the property, and there is a 24 months defects liability period whereby the buyer can report any defect found in the property to the developer, and the developer has the obligation to rectify and fix the defects reported by the buyer.

There is another common scenario of home inspection. When the buyer is going to buy a pre-owned property, he can request to perform a home inspection to the property on sale, and get the seller to fix the defects found before signing the sales and purchase agreement (S&P) with the seller. This is because pre-owned property is normally sold as-is, without the 24 months warranty period as in the case of new property. It is imperative for the buyer to ensure the property is in good condition before signing the S&P with the seller. After the property is sold, the buyer will need to use his own money to fix for any problem with the property.

While home inspection can be performed by ourselves, it also worth to consider using professional home inspection service from a company that provide such service, because they have the knowledge, experience, skillset and related tools to perform detail home inspection. In addition, a complete home inspection can take several hours to finish checking, and another several hours to prepare the property defects report. Home inspection service charge is normally within 3-digit RM, depends on the size and type of the property to be checked.

The Construction Industry Development Board Malaysia (CIDB) has already established a guideline called the Quality Assessment System in Construction (QLASSIC), which is a system or method to measure and evaluate the workmanship quality of a building construction work based on Construction Industry Standard (CIS 7). When engaging with a home inspection service provider, you might want to ask if their service is conformance to QLASSIC standard or equivalent.

After confirmation to engage for home inspection service, the buyer will need to set an appointment with the service provider to visit the property to perform the inspection, which will usually take a half day.

The home inspection specialist will then visit the property with all the required tools, including camera (or handphone with camera), torchlight, magnifying glass, ruler, spirit level, stickers, electrical outlet tester, etc.



The scope of home inspection encompasses checking on house components and fitting of:
  • Architectural: floor, wall, ceiling, door, window, stairs, drain, furniture, etc.
  • Mechanical and electrical: lights, power, switch, socket, plumbing, sanitary fittings, etc.
  • Specification compliance: area size measurement, fitting quantity, material used, etc.
  • Water leakage testing in toilet, bathroom, balcony, basin, sink, etc.
Stickers will be used to mark down any detected defect point, and photo will be taken for documentation.


After the checking, a home inspection report will be compiled and delivered to the buyer.

The report will normally contain:

i) a summary of inspection result:


ii) a floor plan marking the defect areas:

iii) description of the defects with photo taken:



The home inspection report can easily go between 50 to 200 pages for normal home, depends on the amount of defects found.




Friday, November 15, 2019

Online converting service apartment commercial electricity tariff to residential with myTNB portal

If you live in a service apartment which sit on a piece of commercial land title, you might be paying higher electricity bill every month if your electricity usage is charged based on commercial tariff.

You can file an application with Tenaga Nasional (TNB) to request to change your commercial tariff to the cheaper residential tariff, either by visiting to TNB branch in your area and submit the paper form, or submit the online form in myTNB portal anytime anywhere.

Either way, your application will be processed pretty soon. Normally, your tariff will be changed to residential rate during the next business day after online submission.

You can click here to access to myTNB portal. If you haven't created an account in myTNB, you will need to register for one before you can login.


After login, go to the Apply menu, and select the option "I want to do something else".


Then, select "I want to find out more about other services".


After that, select "Change My Tariff".


There are 4 steps to fill in the online form. Make sure you select "Domestic" as premise type, and select the correct residential type.

At the end of the process, you are required to submit a scanned copy of your MyKad. The name on the MyKad should be the same with the name printed on your electricity bill.

If you confirm to submit the application, you will be charged for RM10 stamp duty, which will be reflected in your upcoming electricity bill.

Upon successful submission, you will receive an email like below.



However, there seems to be no further notification on successful tariff change. You can login to myTNB after 24 hours later to check if your electricity tariff has been changed to residential rate or not.

For your information, current TNB commercial tariff is as below:


and current TNB residential tariff is as below:


If you don't apply for the conversion to residential rate, you might end up being charged double or more in your bill for same amount of electricity used in your service apartment unit.

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