The Piano [Life is a song] Yann Tiersen - comptine d'un autre été l'aprè...

Withdraw EPF Savings at 75 ??

Wow, some advice from our government - all EPF contributors should withdraw their savings at 75 - the Star 28-Oct-2010.


I don't know about the announcer but for him to make such a statement clearly defines the apparent lack of faculty most higher corporate figures seem to possess. They assumed that they are in a position which empowers them to depart wise words without the need to do homework. Or is this behavior atypical of high income receivers - income which is not confined only to salary alone - got my drift? 


I begin to worry. Now, if I have to retire at 55, assuming I'm not eligible to continue contributing my skills within the same company until 60, who will sustain me for the next 240 months? Can I confidently get another job before my last drawn salary is used up? 


I am not one to have amassed huge sums of money during the tenure of my employment and I have no other source of generating side income, be it legal or "ill-gotten". Nor am I classed under the category of those fortunate group who started out with high paying jobs and were able to build a mountain of savings over the years.


Simply put, I am not on par in financial status as the one who blurted out the advice. In fact, I would not even survive were I to withdraw my EPF savings even a month late.


My day in the office have not been peaceful, so please, Mr EPF Employee, spare me this bad and tasteless joke! And please don't tell us that it's because the government stops giving dividends after the age of 75. Don't convince the citizens that you have a case of bad eye-and-hand co-ordination!

Merdeka / Family Day at Good Shepherd Church, Setapak

Today we celebrated our Family cum Merdeka Day celebration in Good Shephed Church. Mass started at 9am celebrated in English, Chinese, Tamil & Bahasa Malaysia. After Mass we were all treated to several cooking demonstrations by the different BECs after which we helped ourselves to lunch which was provided free to all.

Among the dishes and delicacies were the 'ondeh-ondeh', coconut pancakes, pisang goreng and other fried stuff, agar-agar, Indian 'kesari' - my favourite, Ang-Kuh kuih, and the highlight was the Dragon Beard Candy. Too bad there were no hot drinks - I really missed my morning hot coffee.

Want to be a Millionaire? Get to work!!

I read with disdain an article today which reported that a 21-year old Singaporean beauty wanted to be a millionaire by the time she reaches 22, and has ask Singaporeans, via YouTube recording, to donate 10 cents to her so she could achieve her dream. And she has the odacity to confess that she just doesn't want to work! She even provided her bank account number!

It is known that her action has spurred condemnations widely by online users, including yours truly.

Astro B.yond - Rediscovering the Xperience

Got my Astro set upgrade to B.yond within the last week, and since then it as really open up a w dimension, plus a new experience, in watching moview/TV. No regrets there.

  

Currently, only 5 channels are transmitted in HD (High Definition) :

831 - Astro SuperSport HD

832 - ESPN HD

431 - HBO HD

573 - National Geographic Channel HD

575 - HISTORY HD

Ok, what's the difference for those who are not familiar with the term HD? Imagine that you have been watcing programmes through your 21" colour TV. Somehow, you decided to take your TV watcing experience to another level and bought youself an 42" LCD or Plasma TV. After painstakingly installing you new set you discover that most of the programmes shown on Astro are blur. That's because the picture set in that particular resolution got expanded to fill up the 42" screen. It's like blowing up a picture of a passport-sized photo to an A4 size.

That's was what I've experienced when I got a 37" Samsung LCD TV, the plus side was it came free thanks to MBF Cards. Months later I upgraded my video cable from the decoder to LCD TV with an S-video cable (RM168)  and the picture improve about 20%. After a while the euporia died down and mostly then I preferred to watch DVD movies.

Now, after having experience the picture quality of HD I was really excited and truly impressed with HD. I never knew D quality would really blow my mind into a new experience! It was like watching Blue-Ray picture! Even DVD quality cannot match B.yond HD quality! With B.yond HD you can experience five times the detail of standard television broadcast. Sharper pictures, more vibrant colours and crystal clear such that you can even spot details on a person's face.

I signed up last month at their roadshow in KLCC concourse after having been briefed that during the promotional period they would change your decode, satellite dish, smartcard and provide HDMI cable - all for free, just top up RM20 to the monthly bill. And I dare say it's worth it. Anyway I was told that Astro would be increasing the number of channels to be broadcasted in HD progressively.

Previously I don't watch History nor National Geographic channel, but with HD I found myself hooked up with it, only if the movies at HBO HD (431) sucks.

Take it from me, if you are those freaks who enjoys better quality watching TV/movies, go for it. It's really about rediscovering new experience and will bring your excitement to a whole new level!

Nazri: Children of mixed parentage are bumiputras

Nazri: Children of mixed parentage are bumiputras

I read with great interest tonight on the topic (click on the link above) and the affirmation from Datuk Seri Nazri Abd Aziz that, according to the Clause 6 of Article 161A in the Federal Constitution, Sarawakian children of mixed parentage, where one parent is a native, has bumiputra status. He further reiterated that, in Sabah, children of mixed parentage are considered bumiputras.

Now, I am beginning to wonder whether we, Sabahans, have been erred all through the years since the inception of the constitution, or Nazri, who as erred, but "on the right side". In Sabah, a child is accorded bumiputra status if his/her father is a native. Many of my Sabahan friends are not bumiputra for the very fact that their native mothers married non-native.

However, the Sarawak State Constitution states that a child is considered a bumiputra if one of the parents is a bumiputra. But some quarters claimed that the bumiputra status is only accorded to the child whose father must be a bumiputra, and not either.

It is a sad and long standing issue for Sabahans and Sarawakians of mixed parentage, especially where ASB is concerned. By virtue of my father being a Kadazan, I am accorded bumiputra status regardless of my mother's chinese origin. There was no hitch in applying for ASB for my 1st daughter, as she is also a bumiputra, and my wife is a Malaysian of Indian ethnicity. 

However, a year later, when I applied one for my 2nd daughter I received a letter from PNB requesting for evidence of my father's citizenship and copy of IC, my father's father's (my late grandad) documents, and my documents, apparently to provide evidence to enable my daughter to open an ASB account. I was really flabbergasted mostly at the reason they provided, which was to "kemaskini" (update) their records. Who were they trying to kid? Maybe they were gullible once themselves, but not Sabahans nor Sarawakians!

I wasted no time shooting them an email claiming that my daughter has every right under the Constitution to be allowed ASB account, and Lord knows what else spewed forth from my keyboard in the heat of the moment. Barely a week passed by when I received a reply from them that they have waive some conditions and I just had to provide them with my own documents. The trouble we had go through despite the obvious facts!

School education churning out EDUCATED citizens or "A"-scored pupils?

"Only 4 As?", a father queried.

"7 As out of 8? What's wrong with you?", scorned one mother.

"Great! I'm really proud of you!", I congratulated my younger daughter last Thursday on her SPM results.

Now, what's wrong with the picture? The picture is only wrong if you paint your own picture and hope your son or daughter would end up exactly like the picture you've depicted. What's worse is if you screw them for not ending up like it in the end. You ought to be screwed upside down for de-moralising your own child, who, after having tried their best, (and you even compared their 'best' against your own level) and having endured the agony of waiting for the results, got a slap from life with your cruel and "un-parently" remarks.

Look at some of the rich and successful individuals all around the world. Delete from this list all who are rich by virtue of inheritance. Delete also those who are successful as a result of puppeteering, meaning those who are lucky to have good connections. Lastly, look up those who have only hit a low passing mark, or none at all. There you are..

I could name some names, but it would take me some hours of research, and I bet you wouldn't even try to cross-reference and validate my findings. But you and I already know that there many out there who work hard and smart and have become successful, and for some, way too successful!

What I'm trying to present here is to express my deepest condolence to the death of a strong team of people whom we once called "teachers", comprised of selfless individuals dedicated to the noble profession of educating the young all the values of life and providing them the means to tackle life after school.

What we have now are mere staff, who after having sufficiently obtained their minimum grades for graduation, being employed by the education ministry, and being paid on meagre salary, which is not really commensurating with the dynamics of this economy, struggling to impart the syllabus, "cleverly" frameworked by the so-called scholars, to the pupils, whilst juggling with the ever-increasing administrative functions.

It is no wonder that many pupils are forced to make extra sacrifice attending out-of-school tuition till late nights. Tell me, who actually are the real teachers, those employed in school or from the tuition centres?

The irony is every year certain schools are proud to claim that so-and-so number of their students scored the most number of As, when the students actually got around to understand the concept and fundamentals from the tuition centres. Can I deduced that they practically learned nothing from schools!! Or rather, what did they learned from schools?

Too much hype is place on the number of As. But what is the "essence" of As? Are there any built-in survival kit with which school leavers can equip themselves and live in the cruel world of employment? Or do they continue to attempt to score more As by enrolling themselves in higher education? Get a degree, perhaps? A Bachelor after that? Or a Masters? So long as they could avoid employment cos they're not ready yet?

Do the As contain EDUCATION? Or are they just results of good memorizing techniques?

When they grow up in the employment world, having scored several As, and having claimed a Diploma, a Degree, or even a Masters, what would You and I think of this fella who, as a result, drives a Benz, or Camry, gets spotted throwing a soiled tissue out the window on a highway, or refused to offer a seat to an elderly person? For all you know, this "successful due to great scores" fella, who lives in an expensive house behind you, gets spotted one dark night throwing a plastic bag of rubbish into the monsoon drain at the back of your home? Do you really think 18 As means a person received 18 times the education?

3 As, 2Bs, 2 Cs & 1D. I really felt so overjoyed and on top of the world! My daughter's happy too.

Weekend Movie : The Book Of Eli

Can't say I was really immersed into the movie. Been watching movies at TGV KLCC once in a while and yet in all those times I was really put off by the jokers manning the projector. I'm beginning to wonder if they really have a serious case of myopia or they're just dumb-stupid. Picture quality was bad - very blur. After paying RM12 to enjoy a TGV class movie and this is what we get. You want to watch good movies at a cineplex go to GSC at Pavillion, or any GSC circuit will do. Forget TGV.

Anyway, it is a slow paced movie. In post-apocalyptic setting we have a lone traveller tasked to protect 'the book' and will kill in order to guard it. Others will kill to possess it. Denzel Washington's good and swift with his knife. Along came Mila Kunis, my favourite actress. She's a real beauty and a saving grace to the otherwise boring episode.

For me I am not a movie critic and would have enjoyed The Book Of Eli screened at any GSC cinema.

Clogged Pipe Nightmare

Ever had a frustrating moment with your sink pipes clogged? I mean, water is just not flowing down the drain pipe and is literally stuck? You're thinking of pouring down hot boiling water, or a bottle of solution you've bought from the mart, down the pipe. But first, you'll need to get the water, which is already filling up the sink, cleared, before you can do that. What works?

The plunger! I mean, use the old fashion and reliable plunger! That's if you want to avoid opening up the P-trap under the sink and remove all the years of accumulated unwanted pieces of nightmarish blackish waste glued around the inside wall of the pipe with your, preferably gloved, hands. Need I mention the stomach-wrenching odour too?

We have a double sink and while I was out browsing for movies at a local video shop on a nice hot Saturday afternoon my wife text'd me that the sink was clogged, and the water stubbornly refused to go down despite using the plunger. Also, that she couldn't cook so long as the sink was stuck.

Well, she came to the right place. I mean, the right person. I'm usually the handyman at home. Fixing my own bathroom flush tank, replacing broken faucets, some simple stuff, here and there, so long as it's not electrical nor major piping. It's only a matter of 'when' I get to work. But this.. this was critical, if I ever want to get home food into my stomach. So off I went to the only place opened for business, Ace Hardware, the place where I could spend hours looking at wares and not buying.. if I have hours to spare that is.

It took a good 30 minutes to select a good solution, in my opinion, and a good chunk off my coffer, which coame to RM33+. This one says you get to pour only 1/5 of the bottle into the drain pipes and leave the sink unused for 15 minutes for the solution to clear the clog. As for other products you have to pour half and that leaves you one more chance. Here the picture of the bottle which I bought:

When I reached home I saw evidence of unsuccessful attempt by my wife in using the plunger; water was stuck in both adjoining sink. So with her help in using a stopper in one sink, I started popping the plunger on the other sink. At first I was doing it the wrong way in lifting the plunger over the water after each pop. Water still remained. Then I started popping the plunger up and down a few counts before lifting it over the water and repeated the steps. The water gradually began to subside after each succession and I realised that the up/down strokes helped to shake the clog loose from it's hold.

Finally, after successfully having freed the sink, I cleared the remaining muck off the sink and began to pour 1/5 of the Liquid-Plumr solution into the sink and let it do its magic for the next 15 minutes. Anyway, it all took less than 5 minutes to clear the clog.

If you moved into a new home, but it's actually a second-hand house and has not been occupied for a good 6 - 12 months, and you find that the kitchen pipes are clogged, don't bother with any solution, be it acidic or not. Forget the steps I told you about. Go get a plumber or contractor. They'll do a better job.

A Very Painful Account of my Surviving Life!

Here is an account of how my life in the Big Ocean is continually ruined and constantly subjected to pounding and crushing under the hammer of  'the powers that be', who, some say, are more than ordained by god; they consider themselves gods!

It was day of Bonus given out from robin hood bank, which had amassed a fortune over the years, and, annually, saw if fit to distribute to its faithful servants the fruits of labour (and plundering?), allocating the quantum based on achievers and yardsticks that purportedly measure their performances. No doubt it was a joyous occasion for all after weeks of anticipating the day and the planning on how best to spend their annual fortune.

One such person is yours humbly, and how all his plans and eager anticipation of such occasion culminated in a devastating and emotional event, such that the path of life was almost guaranteed to be dictated by gravitational forces.

Well, here goes:

Having served 20 years in the same bank with no record of fraudulent activities on my part, saved for some shortcomings attributed to heavy workload, as a result of poor management, the expected quantum of bonus would naturally be 2 months at the least, in view of the poor economic downturn, bla bla..

So what if I tendered my resignation last November, only to be persuaded by my boss's boss to stay put with the promise that I would be transferred to reporting, in view of my database and programming skills. With that hope I retracted my letter and continued on. No counter-offer of promotion or salary raise. It was a clean transparent deal.

Now, as I thought to myself, what could I do with my 2 months bonus? It was 2 months before bonus then. The prevailing economic times dictated that I conduct proper planning in prudent spending and putting a leash on my 'wants' and 'wishes', only allow the essentials through.

My 'top essential items' on my bonus spending list:

1. Pay RM3K to my credit card creditor so they could lock the interest and offer me 17 monthly instalments of RM520 to settle my credit debt, with no further interest charged;
2. Update RM500 on another credit card balance;
3. Pay another RM300 to update another;
4. Now that the cards are taken care of, update the payment on my car, RM700;
5. Give RM1,500 to my wife for the expenses incurred which was all spent from her December bonus;
6. Give RM200 each to my 2 daughters;
   That already amounts to, what? RM6,920?
7. Ok, the rest.. well, there's these electrical power points at home which have not been working, a CD player and home theatre that were in dire need of repair, give mum some money for the Chinese New Year, replace some of my torn working shirts, squeeze some money to buy a second hand desktop PC, and maybe, maybe if there's still some money left, I could get me a new mobile phone instead of being stuck with my Nokia N73 with a broken pointing stick and broken keypad.. maybe something that costs below RM500..
8. My younger daughter likes photography and is working part-time to earn some savings to buy a good SLR camera. Maybe I could chip in RM500 to make her dream more realizable. It touches me to make my girls happy, doesn't it, for you?
9. My elder one, she has already exhausted her savings to buy materials and accessories for a fashion show organized by her college last month, so I thought I would replenish it with another RM300 to 400. Not much coming from 2 months bonus, I know.

Now tell me, was that so much to ask for? Some things I could only depend on annual bonus as almost all of my monthly income goes to paying off my credit cards which never seem to reduce. Hey, don't blame it all on me, I was never born with a silver spoon. And when I needed the extra money during the early days, as a low-income earner, and expenses run high, who would willingly lend me money to survive? Lo, here comes the credit card company, offering a way to live above the poverty level! Of course, we all thought we could manage the balances until they struck us hard.

Back to the bonus thingy.. The minimum I got for my bonus last year was 2.9 months. Used to be 3, 3.5 or 4 months during the good ol' times.. and finally that day came..

WHAM!  ..   BANG!! ..  another WHAM!!!

That was how I got hit! Never least expected it to be a damn cruel one! I checked my bank account - it was only RM3,800! No need to work out the calculation - I got a shocking 1 month's bonus! ONLY ONE MISERABLE MONTH'S BONUS after almost 300 days of working late like a dog last year!

I know for a fact that some of my colleagues in my dept received 4 months bonus or more but for me to be allotted only 1 month is surely done with cruel intentions. I can only imagine the bonuses of 'the powers that be', receiving a damn fat cheque that may even run into 6 figures, who don't even have any outstanding bills to settle.

OMG! What would I bring home? I gotta settle RM3,000 to my creditors otherwise they'll come knocking on my door, I gotta pay RM500 to another one too, no 2 ways about it! Ok, I paid them both. So, now, lemme see what's left in my coffer... errrm.. RM300. 

My heart sank, and then it almost drowned, literally, in my own tears, though I managed not to let them out through my eyes. Later, that day, in intervals, I let some out when I couldn't control myself any longer. I was alone. Loneliness crept into me as the bare fact of the bonus quantum reared it ugly head and seek out to divide me from the other colleagues who are satisfied, though not very upbeat, with their own quantum.

Gone away is my dream and hope of redeeming myself from the clutches of debts. But what hurts most is that a weary and downtrodden father is unable to offer the fruits of his labour to his wife and 2 daughters to make them happy and lessen their burden.

So, in atonement for my shortcomings I shall attempt to stay sane and strong under the same boss, and continue bear the burden of my wife and children in the hope, no matter how thin the thread it treads on, that someday soon our struggle to survive will end, and that we shall start living, again.

My dear friends, I think now is a good time to offer me some comforting words, or some hope. I think I will need it very badly..