SRI Home Guard Set with fire extinguisher, smoke detector and fire blanket

It is always recommended (in fact, a necessity) to have some sort of safety and prevention against fire in our home. In fact, it is already a must for all business premises. During emergency, these fire fighting equipments could be our property and life saver.

In view of this, I've purchased an SRI Home Guard Set for RM168, which consists of 3 products in a box:

• 1x 1kg ABC powder fire extinguisher
• 1x battery powered photoelectric smoke alarm
• 1x (1.2 meter x 1.2 meter) fire blanket

The 1kg ABC dry powder fire extinguisher is non-toxic, harmless to skin and non-conductor to electricity (compared with water which can conduct electricity). The 1kg tank is pretty small and light, which can be easily operated by women or children. However, the fire must be put off within 7 seconds, or else the ABC powder will finish and you must quickly run away.

The battery powered photoelectric smoke alarm will sound when triggerred by smoke. Just install it to the ceiling, and it is able to cover an area of 60 meter square. It has a tester switch to test for its function. As it is a smoke detector, it should not be installed in areas such as near the stove or on top of the altar.

The fire blanket is made of non-flammable woven fiber glass material, which can be used to put off small fire by covering the fire with it, or to cover our own body when evacuating from fire.

Click here to visit the website of SRI. You can purchase the Home Guard set online there.

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.

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.

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.

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.

My Takada ISB-889 Air Master 4-in-1 air cooler

The weather during this Chinese New Year time is freaking hot, and it is so uncomfortable to stay indoor without air-cond, not to mention sleeping in the hot night with only ceiling fan blowing at the maximum speed.

Therefore, I decided to hunt for an air cooler to be used in my hometown.

There are 2 brands of air cooler selling at Tesco for RM2xx, namely Takada and Global, but it seems that others have also hunted for the same thing like me, and they've run out of stock.

Finally, managed to buy a Takada ISB-889 Air Master 4-in-1 air cooler at the cost of RM3xx in Parkson. The size of this unit is bigger than the air coolers sold in Tesco, with a stronger blower and larger water tank. Functionality wise is the same though.

Its so-called 4-in-1 functions are:

• Cooler - with water and ice box
• Purifier - with its filter and ozone release
• Ionizer - with its oxygen bar releasing negative ion
• Humidifier - damping with water curtain

It comes with 2 ice boxes which need to be refrigerated before use and can last for 4 hours. I purchased an additional larger ice box which can last for 8 hours for night use. One of its beauty is that it consumes very low electricity, at 70W only.

Although not comparable with air-cond, this air cooler functions pretty well in keeping the room cool, and now we can sleep comfortably at night.

The sextuple constraint of scope, time, cost, quality, risk and resource

If you have been involved in any kind of project management, be it in business or personal, you might have known about the famous triple constraint of project management, with the following general formula:

Quality = f(Scope, Time, Cost)

It is a simple rule of concept that says:

• To get the product with quality of your expectation, you have to at least plan carefully for the scope of work, time schedule and cost allocation.
• In order to maintain the same quality, any change to one of the 3 factors will need an adjustment to the remaining 2 of them. The 3 constraints are inter-dependent.
• If you want to adjust your quality expectation (either better or lower), then you can also adjust factors of scope, time and cost accordingly.

This is a very powerful concept commonly used during project planning, project monitoring and change management. It is used to assess the viability and to balance the trade-off factors.

For example, it is generally true that if you want to achieve a wide scope with little cost and time, you have to compromise on the quality expectation.

This triple constraint has been expanded to sextuple constraint in modern project management literature. They are: scope, time, cost, quality, risk and resource.

The risk factor is crucial because if it is not well managed, it will affect the other factors as well. Risk management comes in as preventive measure to safeguard the planned time schedule, cost, quality and resource allocated for the specific scope.

Resource is also an important factor. For example, with better resource on hand, you might be able to achieve the scope of quality with less time, cost and risk.

It is a good practise to always refer to the sextuple constraint for planning, managing and making changes to projects, so that our expectation is more realistic and success is viable.

You might want to use it in some of these projects which most of us will surely encounter during our life voyage:

• Education planning
• Wedding planning
• Parenthood planning
• Buying a house
• House renovation and/or decoration
• Travel planning
• Retirement planning
• ...

And of course, this is always applied to project management at work, including:

• Software development
• Building development
• Business development
• Operations planning
• Change/Restructuring management
• ...

Extension and renewal of Malaysia leasehold land tenure

If you are planning to buy, or are already the owner of, a property built on leasehold land, you might be wondering (or worrying) about what will happen and what should you do when the tenure of your leasehold land going to expire in the future.

In fact, the tenure can be renewed and extended to another 30, 60 or 99 years.

The following info are obtained from the National House Buyers Association.

Section 197 of the National Land Code 1965 (Act 56 of 1965) governs the extension of land leases.

Before applying for an extension, the lease must be firstly surrendered back to the state government. Then, both the property developer and leasehold land owner(s) have to submit the Permohonan Serahbalik dan Mohon Semula Tanah Untuk Tujuan Melanjutkan Tempoh Pajakan form, together will all the required photocopied documents such as land title, site plan, quit rent receipt, assessment receipt, etc. to the state's land office.

If the lease already expired, the form need to submit will be Permohonan Pemberimilikan Tanah (Application for Land Re-alienation) instead.

The land will then be checked by a settlement officer, who will then submit a report to exco for approval.

After approval, the land will need to go through re-alienation process by the land administrator.

If the re-alienation is approved, the land office will issue a Notice that Land Revenue is Due (Form 5A) to the property owner to pay a premium.

The premium charged is based on a formula factoring the following into calculation:

• Premium rate (in percentage)
• Land size
• Market value per square feet
• Lease tenure period

For example, the renewal premium for a residential land at rate of 0.5% of size 25 x 80 with market value of RM20 psf for 99 years is:

0.5% x 25 x 80 x RM20 x 99 = RM19,800 (RM200 per year).

The land valuation is done by the Valuation and Property Services Department of Finance Ministry, and is based on the latest transaction values in the area.

If the owner feel that the premium is too high, he has the option to appeal to the state government for a reduction.

Upon payment of the premium, the land office will get the land title ready and inform the property owner when it is ready for collection.


If the owner does not renew the land tenure and let it expire, the land will revert back to the state government, and be available to anyone to apply for its new ownership.

My Aurora AS424C cross-cut paper shredder

I found this round of PIKOM PC Fair does not have much difference from last round in August 2009. In fact, the RAM module price has risen quite a lot. Things which have price drop are portable harddisk, GPS navigator, etc.

Anyhow, managed to bought myself an Aurora AS424C cross-cut paper shredder at the price of RM99. It looks small and cute, very portable and easy to carry. It is not so heavy too, weights only 2.3kg.

Its main purpose in my household will be to shred old statements of credit cards, bank slips, phone bills, etc. before disposal to dustbin.

It is able to feed in up to 4 pieces of A4 paper, folded. In fact, the papers need to be folded because the inlet length is shorter than A4 width.

Equipped with strong steel cutters, it shreds pretty fast and can even feed in small paper staples without problem. It is also able to awesomely shred credit card. But it is not designed to shred CD/DVD, and there are other higher end models (with higher price) which are able to do so.

This is the result after shredding. The stripes are actually not too fine, so if you shred vertically, can still read some words on the stripes. It is more advisible to shred the papers horizontally, so that the sentences will be cut into multiple stripes and rendered to be unreadable.

This shredder comes with some safety features, such as:

• It will not start-up if the unit head is not placed properly in its translucent wastebasket.
• It will auto switch off when its motor detected to be overheated due to long operation.
• It has a REV switch to reverse the feeding and roll out the paper. You can still save the unshredded part.

At the cost of RM99 with 1 year warranty, I find this paper shredder good to have for lightweight usage at home.

Auspicious dates for renovation in 2010

Here is the list of auspicious dates for renovation in year 2010, which is produced based on the Chinese almanac Tong Shu.

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.

If you are going to renovate your house, don't forget to visit the "home idea" section of my blog to find out some of my sharing there.

Related articles:

• Auspicious dates for wedding/marriage in 2010
• Inauspicious dates to avoid for wedding/marriage in 2010
• Auspicious dates for signing contract, register for marriage, etc. in 2010
• Auspicious dates for moving to new house/office in 2010
• Auspicious dates for opening business in 2010
• Auspicious dates in 2010 for getting a baby
• Auspicious dates for house warming, open house, party, gathering, etc. in 2010
  

Auspicious dates for moving to new house/office in 2010

Here is the list of auspicious dates for moving to new house/office in year 2010, which is produced based on the Chinese almanac Tong Shu.

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.

If you are going to move to a new home, don't forget to visit the "home idea" section of my blog to find out my sharing on mortgage, renovation, furnitures, electrical appliances, pest control, etc.

Related articles:

• Auspicious dates for wedding/marriage in 2010
• Inauspicious dates to avoid for wedding/marriage in 2010
• Auspicious dates for signing contract, register for marriage, etc. in 2010
• Auspicious dates for opening business in 2010
• Auspicious dates in 2010 for getting a baby
• Auspicious dates for renovation in 2010
• Auspicious dates for house warming, open house, party, gathering, etc. in 2010
  

The Edge Malaysia Top Property Developers Awards 2009

The Edge Malaysia Top Property Developers Award ranks the best property players in the country, from the consumer’s perspective for both their quantitative and qualitative attributes.

The quantitative elements were the companies’ shareholders’ funds, revenue, pre-tax profit, gearing, and cash and cash equivalents for the fiscal year ended 2008.

The qualitative attributes include the quality of the product, innovation and creativity, value creation for buyers, image and expertise.

And the Top 30 ranking is:

• Sime Darby Property Bhd
• SP Setia Bhd
• Sunway City Bhd
• IGB Corp Bhd
• Island & Peninsular Sdn Bhd
• IOI Properties Bhd
• Bandar Raya Developments Bhd
• Eastern & Oriental Bhd
• Sunrise Bhd
• Bandar Utama City Corp Sdn Bhd
• Gamuda Bhd - Prop Div
• IJM Land Bhd
• YTL Land & Devt Bhd
• Paramount Corp Bhd
• Selangor Dredging Bhd
• Mah Sing Group Bhd
• Naza TTDI Sdn Bhd
• Selangor Properties Bhd
• Dijaya Corporation Bhd
• UEM Land Holdings Bhd
• PJ Devt Holdings Bhd
• WCT Land Sdn Bhd
• Metro Kajang Holdings Bhd
• Penitude Bhd
• Naim Holdings Bhd
• Malton Bhd
• United Malayan Land Bhd
• Hunza Properties Bhd
• Segajuta (S) Sdn Bhd
• Bolton Bhd

Is your house's developer among one of the Top 30 above?

For more information, please refer to the City & Country pullout of The Edge Weekly dated 12-Oct-2009.

Using Garmin Nuvi 255w GPS as a digital photo frame

The Garmin Nuvi 255w GPS navigator does not have much multimedia function, but it does have a decent Picture Viewer, enabling us to use it as a digital photo frame. Its 4.3" screen is good enough for this purpose.

If your digital camera can store photos into SD card, what you need to do is just to take out the SD card from your camera, and slot it into the Nuvi 255w. Then, switch on the unit and tap on Tools > Picture Viewer.

The screen will then show 9 thumbnails of the pictures found. You can navigate from one screen to another by tapping on the up/down arrow keys.

Tap on the picture to show it fully on the screen. Tap it again and you are able to show it in Full Screen mode, as well as enlarge or reduce its display size.

When displaying a picture, tap on the Info button to see the info of the filename, camera make and camera model. You are also given an option to use this picture as your Garmin nagivator's startup screen when power on.

In the thumbnail display screen, you can also tap on Slide Show to auto show the pictures one by one.

Website to look for latest home loan packages information

Do you know what is the most attractive home loan package in the market now? Which bank to approach to?

The Money3 website has the information you are looking for. They have compiled and made available quite a complete home loan package information of most if not all the banks in Malaysia.

Here are some of the useful web pages in their website that you might like to bookmark on:

• List out all the home loans of all banks, and allow you to perform sorting to the list, as well as compare side-by-side on 3 of the packages in the list
• Online Home Loan Finder tool
• Recommended home loans based on the loan type/nature
  
• Select a bank and list out the home loans offered by the bank (made available in ThinkProperty website)

There are many more useful online tools, articles, commentaries and useful loan related resources in their website. As such, they are no doubt one of the "65 Malaysian Websites That We Like" selected by The Edge Weekly and published in March 2009 their printed edition.

Sekisui retractable clothes drying rack

I just bought a modern looking Sekisui retractable clothes drying rack (model no. SFU-300WB) cash and carry for RM300 from their new showroom in Bandar Puchong Jaya.

Despite being made in China, it is a product of the Japanese Sekisui Jushi Corporation (积水树脂株式会社) which is said to have more than 50 years of establishment and pretty famous in Japan.

This Sekisui SFU-300WB retractable clothes drying rack is suitable for landed house, and can be extended from retracted length of about 4.5 feet until up to about 8 feet. When fully extended, it can hang quite a lot of clothes with its 3 hanging areas. It is very easy to assemble just by connecting the stainless steel rods together and tighten with the 6 screws provided in the packaging. It is pretty light weight (about 6kg) and easy to carry, its X-shape legs are foldable and can lean by the wall when not in use to save space.



It comes with 1 year warranty and said to be very durable which can last for many years at outdoor. It can bear up to 20kg of clothes.

Their Puchong showroom has other intersting models of clothes drying rack for landed house as well as highrise unit. For example, I found the SHO-300 model very interesting as it is transformable into different shapes. They also have indoor laundry racks, closet organizers, kitchen organizers and other products made on stainless steel rods.

The Edge Investment Forum on Real Estate 2009

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

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

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

Interesting topics of discussion:

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

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

Citibank offers 2x Rewards Points on property assessment payment

Citibank is currently running a Property Assessment (Cukai Pintu) Bill Payment by Citibank Online and Citi Mobile Campaign for their core credit cards (including supplementary cards).

2x Reward Points will be given for property assessment payment made during the campaign period via Citibank Online website or Citi Mobile phone banking.

Campaign period: 20 Jan 2009 - 28 Feb 2009

Eligible credit cards: All Citibank Malaysia Platinum, Gold, Classic, Choice, Clear and CitiBusiness credit cards, excluding Cashback, AirAsia, Giant, Shell and Celcom cards.

Terms & Conditions: Each person is given a maximum of 1000 Reward Points for this campaign.

The assessment payable by Citibank Online includes:

• Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL)
  
• Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya (MPAJ)
  
• Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya (MBPJ)
  
• Majlis Perbandaran Subang Jaya (MPSJ)
  
• Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam (MBSA)
  
• Majlis Perbandaran Selayang
  
• Majlis Perbandaran Klang
• Majlis Perbandaran Kajang
• Majlis Bandaraya Ipoh (MBI)
  
• Majlis Perbandaran Seremban
• Majlis Perbandaran Melaka
• Majlis Perbandaran Pulau Pinang
• Majlis Perbandaran Seberang Perai
• Majlis Bandaraya Johor Bahru (MBJB)
  
• Majlis Perbandaran Johor Bahru Tengah
• Majlis Perbandaran Muar
• Majlis Perbandaran Kulai

Click here for more information about the Property Assessment (Cukai Pintu) Bill Payment by Citibank Online and Citi Mobile Campaign.

Auspicious dates for moving to new house/office in 2009

Here is the list of auspicious dates for moving to new house/office in year 2009, which is produced based on the Chinese almanac Tong Shu.



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.

Related articles:

• Auspicious dates for signing contract, register for marriage, etc. in 2009
• Auspicious dates for wedding/marriage in 2009

Click here for auspicious dates for moving to new house/office in 2010.

How to get rid of termite

People are afraid of termites because its infestation could bring damages and losses, it is hard to detect, and it's colony is hard to eliminate.

To get rid of termite, you must firstly know your enemy. Here are some of the characteristics of termites:

• Termites consume fibrous plant matter, such as wood, paper, etc.
• Termites love mud and don't like sand, because it is hard for them to burrow through sand.
• Termites love moisture and stay in the dark.
• Termites might come from soil, and also from sky. During reproductive seasons, they have wings and will swarm around. They'll shed off the wings once they found place to settle down.
• Termites may move to another location when disturbed. Therefore, if you find them, don't disturb them before getting the pest control service.

Knowing about these, you should avoid a termite-friendly environment found around your house.

There are generally 2 methods of termites treatment:

• Method 1 is to create a chemical barrier underneath the building structure. Normally it is done to the land before the building is developed. After the building is developed, this treatment requires drilling of holes all over the house in order to inject the chemical into the land underneath. The chemical will either repel the termites, or kill them off. However, its effectively wear off after time, and can probably last for 3 years only. In addition, if there is untreated gap in between, termites can still find their way into the house.
• Method 2 is to use a colony elimination baiting system, such as the Sentricon system. Stations are placed around the house to look for the presence of termites. If found, chemical which can retard the termites' moulting process will be put into the bait, and the termites who eat the chemical will infect each other when they return to the colony. Eventually, the colony will be eliminated. This method also require to drill holes in order to place the station inside the house. Normally only 2 stations are placed in the middle of the house, and the rest are placed in the garden area outside the house building.

Method 2 is generally more expensive than Method 1, and the baiting stations need regular inspection for presence of termites. However, it is a more effective way, and unlike Method 1 which only function to create barrier to hinder termites from entering the building, Method 2 will try to eliminate the termites colony by killing them off.

Anyhow, it is a good practice to regularly inspect your house for signs of termite infectations. And I would recommend the inspection to be done with thermal imaging technology.

Detect termite infestations with thermal imaging inspection

Among the household pests, termite brings the more headache because it would cause damage and loss to the building materials, furnitures, etc. In fact, some studies show that losses caused by termites are 4 times higher than losses caused by fire.

Termites infestation is difficult to detect because they are intelligent to cover up their tracks. For example, they will consume up the wood underneath the surface, and the wood seems to be normal from outside. It might take up to a few years before signs of the problem eventually revealed. Worse still, the termite queen may live up to 25 years and lay more than 60,000 eggs in her lifetime, and there could be more than one queen in a termite colony.

The conventional way to detect termite infestations is to look for signs such as hollow sound when wood surface is tapped with blunt object, muddy tubes, shed wings of termite swarm, etc.

The more effective way nowadays is to make use of thermal imaging technology.

Objects with a temperature above absolute zero (- 459° F) emit infrared radiation which is not visible to our naked eye. As an object heats up, it will radiate more and more energy from its surface. The technique for making this invisible radiation visible is called thermal imaging, and involves the use of sophisticated thermal imaging cameras.

Thermal imaging technology detects heat patterns. When termites invade buildings, the normal heat patterns of the walls, floors and roof change due their presence. The thermal imaging camera is able to records this change in heat pattern and indicates the exact location of any termite infestation. The camera is very sensitive and is able to detect temperature variations as little as 0.1 degrees celcius.

Thermal imaging can therefore be used in detecting items that may be of concern which are concealed by wall linings, including termites. This method is non-destructive and non-intrusive, as there is no need to poke holes in a surface to determine if there is damage beneath it.

I have just engaged with Ridpest to inspect for termite with this with thermal imaging technology. It has been few years since the termite barrier threatment done by the developer when my house is built, and I'm aware that the effectiveness of that termiticide underneath the house will just wear off by time.