Friday, October 24, 2014

The Edge forum on 2015 Economy and Investment Outlook

The Edge Malaysia is organizing a forum on 2015 Economy and Investment Outlook - Make Better Decisions.

Date: Saturday, 1 November 2014
Time: 10.00am - 12.30am
Venue: Security Commission Malaysia, Bukit Damansara, Kuala Lumpur.
Admission: Free

The speakers are:

  • Jason Chong from Manulife Asset Management Services Bhd
  • Chen Fan Fai from Eastspring Investment Bhd
  • Datuk Tong Kooi Ong from The Edge Media Group
Are you shocked with the recent market turbulence and want to listen to the view of these renowned fund managers and/or investors?

Click here for more information and online registration to The Edge forum on 2015 Economy and Investment Outlook.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Fixed Windows 8 boot into black screen with mouse cursor problem

This morning, I found my laptop unable to boot up to Windows 8.

During boot up, it stuck at a black screen with mouse cursor. The mouse cursor is movable. There were harddisk activities which eventually stopped, and nothing happen next. No Windows logo shown, and no login screen.

I've tried the following but nothing worked:

  • Press ctrl-alt-del, nothing happened.
  • Press the Power key to turn off the laptop, then press the Power key again to start up. It went to the same situation.
  • Press F8, F12, shift-F12, etc. during boot up, nothing happened. There was no boot menu shown up.
I searched the Internet and found that this is a problem faced by many. I fixed it by having an abnormal power off in the black screen with mouse cursor, and let Windows heal itself during the next boot up progress.

To do so, unplug the power cable, and remove the laptop battery while it is still in the black screen with mouse cursor, after the harddisk activities stopped. Wait for 30 seconds, then put back the laptop battery and plug back the power cable. Press the Power key to turn on the laptop. Viola! Finally Windows is back to normal.

The key to this fix is that, you need to abnormally power off the system. The problem won't fix if you press the Power key to shutdown properly and restart.

I checked the Event Viewer, can't find anything logged about this problem. Microsoft, why your Windows always caught us by surprise, and yet left us clueless to troubleshoot the problem???

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Download and read the Handbook for Goods and Services Tax (GST) for Businesses

Malaysia government is going to implement the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on 1 April 2015.

The Royal Malaysian Customs Department has published a Handbook for Goods and Services Tax (GST) for Businesses, which is a very good reference book for everyone in Malaysia to have better understanding about this upcoming GST. You can download its e-Book for free from their website.

Click here to download the Handbook for Goods and Services Tax (GST) for Businesses.

The content of this 183-pages handbook consists of:

1. Salient features of GST

  • What is GST?
  • Proposed GST model
  • Basic elements of GST
  • Registration for GST

2. Accounting for tax
  • Charging output tax
  • Entitlement of input tax
  • Apportionment rules
  • Credit note & adjustment
  • Debit note & adjustment
  • Bad debt & adjustment
  • Filing of GST return & payment
  • Record keeping 

3. Implementation of GST and business preparation
  • Preparation for implementation of GST
  • GST implications
  • Tax code
  • Business preparation for GST
  • Supplies spanning GST
  • Non reviewable contract
  • Special refund
Beside this handbook, you can also find many information about GST implementation in Malaysia from this official website: http://gst.customs.gov.my/en/Pages/default.aspx

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