Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Wishing all a Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year

Wedding Preparations I

Its less than 9 months away and no preparations made yet. Should the panic button be hit? Nahhh.. plenty of time left what... Everything will be JIT, if Toyota can do it, so can I!

On that note, if there are anybody out there with wine contacts, please drop me an email.

Thanks.

Quote of the month

"The future is not written now, it is written along the way" - Me

EPF Withdrawal Procedure

A follow up to an entry written earlier. Beginning 2008, EPF will be implementing a new scheme for people withdrawing money from their Account II to pay for home.

Below are the procedures taken from their website.

<---- BEGIN---->

EPF Announces Details For Housing Loan Monthly Installment Withdrawal

The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has announced today the details for the housing loan monthly installment withdrawal as mentioned in earlier press statement made on 7 September.

Under this withdrawal, which will take effect from 1 January 2008, members with a minimum balance of RM600 in their Account 2 can withdraw their savings to make monthly payments towards their housing loans.

The minimum monthly withdrawal is RM100 for a period of not less than six months whilst the maximum amount for monthly withdrawal should not exceed the total monthly housing instalment.

The savings in Account 2 allocated for this withdrawal cannot be used for other withdrawals.

Meanwhile, members must also be below the age of 55, and do not have any housing loan arrears.

This monthly housing withdrawal which was announced in the 2008 Budget by the Prime Minister on 7 September allows members to withdraw their savings from Account 2 and payment will be made directly to members’ personal bank accounts on a monthly basis.

Currently, members are allowed to withdraw from their Account 2 for the purpose of building or purchasing a house and settling their housing loan.

The conditions for this withdrawal are as follows:

- Members must either be the purchaser or builder and the borrower as well as owner of the house or shop house with a dwelling unit.
- Members should have an existing housing loan from an approved financial institution.
- The house has been mortgaged and fully disbursed by the financial institution.
- Withdrawals are applicable for any houses subject to one house for each member and it is not limited to the same house from previous withdrawals. However, subsequent withdrawals are only allowed for the same house.
- Other forms of refinancing besides housing are not allowed for this withdrawal.

Members intending to withdraw for the first time are required to complete EPF 9P (AHL) Form and provide certified true copies of their Identity Card with either their bank books or account statements which are still active, confirmation letter on balance of housing loan, Sales & Purchase/House Construction Agreement, housing loan approval letter, Mortgage Form and Title Deed or Deed of Assignment.

For subsequent withdrawals, members need only complete the EPF 9P (AHL) Form and submit copies of their Identity Card together with their bank books or account statements which are still active, and also the latest confirmation letter on balance of housing loan.

The EPF will revoke this monthly instalment withdrawal and members will not be eligible to apply for a similar withdrawal in the future in the event of the following:

- Members have a non-performing loan with a financial institution.
- Loans have been revoked/redeemed.
- The house has been sold/auctioned/transferred to another party.

- Members who are convicted of cheating by submitting fraudulent documents / information for this withdrawal.

<----END---->

Dear drivers...

If the road has three lanes, two for cars going straight and one for cars turning left / right, please use the lane used to turn left / right and not from the middle lane. It is still wrong even though you have signal left / right.

Please be considerate and not road hog.

Thank you.

Bitching

Sitting down alone eating my lunch, I hear and observe my surroundings. I noticed a general trend amongst all people. They tend to bitch, complain, talk about everybody else. As if, they are always doing good/right and people to blame are the rest of the world but myself.

My Eyes!! My Eyes!!

I have been blinded by my own ads, click on the 'Happy' ads and you will understand what I mean. What's with the bright colours and cartoon-ish website?

p/s Hope they dont pull their ads off my blog :P

"Blank"

Thats the state of my mind for the past few weeks...

Transportation

"A car is a luxury and not a necessity."

People should start thinking whether they can afford to own a car before making the purchase. Recently, a lot of people has taken the opportunity to purchase a car due to the various promotions and of course stretch the hire purchase loan to 9 years! What they did not consider is that a car requires routine maintenance and petrol. Petrol price, as we all know, is not fixed and may increase from time to time. And then what happens? These people as usual will start complaining, condemning the price increase that has put additional burden onto their monthly expenses.

Think about this before you buy or start complaining when petrol price increase.

1. Who ask you to buy a car if you barely can afford it now?
2. What makes you think the price of the petrol will remain the same?
3. Why did you go and take a 9 year loan? Can your car last that long?
4. How about the routine maintenance?
5. Finally, where are you going to find the additional income to support your car?

Stick to a motorbike, bus or other various public transportation if you cannot afford.

Ethnicity, Religion and Culture

Three different words with three different meanings... slowly fusing into a single word with a single meaning.
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Guess which one is it fusing into?

Feeling sorry...

for the state of our country's unity. Normally, I would refrain from speaking on anything related to politics as that is not really my area of interest but lately, things are not getting any better. Each time, there is a meeting of certain groups of people, calls for the non-majority people to go home, go away or go to a neighbouring get louder and louder.

The question here is; are they doing this for the sake of getting short term support? or they truly meant it? Aren't we all (after 50 years of independence) Malaysians? Aren't we all, majority or not, arrived in Malaysia from other parts of the world? Aren't we all, considered as immigrants?

I admit my forefathers are from China but would I go back there? The answer is HELL NO! Why? Malaysia is my country - my home, the place where I was born, brought up and will most probably die and buried.

For those who keep asking us to go back, think for a minute, YOU are also not from here, your forefathers and their fathers (just like mine) came here to seek an opportunity. Why not co-exist harmoniously like how they have enjoyed in the past?

On that note, don't you think unity should come from within you and not from wearing a certain band that is so publicly advertised nowadays? WE don't need a stupid rubber based band to show our unity!

Bak Good Teh

(NON HALAL)

Raise your hands if you are a pork lover like me :) I would like to recommend this particular place in Centrepoint, Bandar Utama - old wing that helps me get my weekly dosage of pork goodness in me.

The place is called "Bak Good Teh" serves the ever famous Bak Kut Teh (BKT), yes the same BKT the Singaporeans are trying to claim that they created it first. Wrong! We, Hokkiens, in Malaysia (back then, Malaya or Tanah Melayu) created it first!

The soup is 'kau' enough and the meat is tender and yummy-licious. A typical bowl would have mixed meat, spare parts, mushrooms and tau foo pok. And price for it is pretty reasonable, about RM12 - 13 with a glass of ice chinese tea. Rice served is either white or 'oily' rice (yau fan).

Try it out the next time you are there!

Plastic money: a blessing or a curse? (Part II)

Having a credit card can be very convenient but most people take this convenience for granted to a certain extent that they do not realise that they are spending money that they do not have now. With that kind of mentality, it could only spell trouble as well as the beginning of a life long of debts that you will take months (even years to clear).

What has prompted me to start writing about credit card is a bill of a friend that I accidentally saw a few weeks back. What shocked me is that although his credit limit was only RM 3k, the outstanding balance owed to the bank was actually RM4.6k!! You may ask, where the heck did that additional RM 1.6k come from? Simple answer: first the bank charges you for spending over your available limit - RMxxx, then due to the fact my friend did not pay his bills promptly, bank charged another RMxxx and finally he does not settle his bill fully leaving a balance to be charged a small interest (according to him!), the interest charged is actually not small at all, its 18% p.a. Even higher than mortgage interest!!

You may automatically assume that this friend of mine has just graduated and just got his credit card, hence the tendency to use the card more than he should. But that is untrue, he has been working for a while now and graduated eons back. This is indeed a worrying trend that I observed from working adults today. They have the concept of "swipe first, pay later" all wrong! It is supposed to be "swipe first, pay later... with money that you have"

Fellow readers (though there isnt much of you out there), do not fall into this "trap". Debts are hard to settle, looking for the money to settle the debts are even more difficult.

Be prudent! Spend within your means. Consult help if you think your spending is spiraling out of control.

Getting hitched: an expensive affair!

What happened to those days when our parents got married under a shoestring budget? Dinner with close family members and friends, no need to spend lavishly on wedding banquets, photo taking and everything else that you may need in a 'modern' wedding today.

Today, in the 21st century, all of the above is no longer applicable, if you want to get married, you have to be at least moderately rich to hold a simple decent wedding reception. Why am I saying that? More will be reveal in the months to come.

This will be the beginning of a series to discuss the wants, needs, musts, frustrations of holding a wedding of about 500 pax.

Malaysia... Tanahairku

Malaysia.... my homeland. A shot of Kuala Lumpur Twin Towers from Mandarin Oriental side. Taken using Nokia N80.

Plastic money: a blessing or a curse?

Dear fellow readers,

Raise your hands if you do not hold at least 1 credit card and use it to pay for something that you need. If you did not raise your hand, good for you! But if you did, you will be in the same boat as many other fellow Malaysians.

Do not get me wrong, credit cards are a good thing especially you are traveling or experience some unexpected emergencies. But used excessively without control, this could lead to a lifetime of debts that mounts month after month; no thanks to the high late and finance charges levied on any unpaid/owing amounts.

There are several reasons on why I chose to blog about this. Firstly, seeing a lot of youngster (read: fresh grads just got a job) applying for a credit card the moment they received their 1st payslip. Where are those days, where you need to provide a stack of documents to prove that you are eligible? Back in the day, I was actually rejected twice by a international bank even though I met their requirements and provided all the necessary documentation. But is that (still) happening today? I am not so sure, perhaps someone out there could enlighten me on the approval procedure.

Turn anywhere; clubs, disco, dining, cafes, you will most probably see them flashing their credit card when paying their bills. What these people do not realised is that, although convenient, they are actually spending money that they do not have at that point of time. And they DO need to settle the bill at the end of the month when the bill is due. Failure to do so will normally result in the bank charging a finance and/or late payment charge.

(To be continued...)

Why I want to eat at Friday's

Because its near lunch time and staring the advertisement doesnt really help either. TGIF brings back a lot of fond memories as it was one of the pioneer upscale-like makan joint during schooling days. Unlike nowadays where people are spoilt for choices. Birthdays, dates, anniversaries were all celebrated there with the staff singing clapping cheering. Gone are those days...

If you are wondering what I am blabbering about, that makes the two of us. Just bored and looking for something to write about.

The Unexpected..

I cannot believe it that a government department is so darn efficient and fast! Today I went to withdraw money from KWSP / EPF and all it took me from start (taking number) to finish (confirmation letter from them) including time take to run around to photocopy some documents, all of 20 minutes! An they even started working before the stipulated working hours. Kudos to you, EPF!

For those who intend to withdraw money from EFP to buy their first home, here are some pointers.

1. Download their form 9C from their website and fill it up before going (The form is free btw).

2. Photocopy the following documents:
- Your Identity Card (MyKad); front and back on the same side using A4 paper.
- Your Sales & Purchase Agreement (SPA)
- Your active bank book; just the first page showing the acct number, IC etc.
- Title search showing the original owner of the house you intend to purchase

3. Bring all the originals of the above.

If you have forgotten to photocopy some documents, do not worry, there is a photocopy shop located at the back in the canteen area. And more information is available on their website, http://www.kwsp.gov.my/ Give their hotline a ring if you need to clear any doubts.

People there are friendly and helpful to my great surprise! Keep up the good work EPF!

It was late...

and I was sleepy. Contemplating whether I should stay up since I have a long next day. I am GLAD I did... as it was the best climax ever..

KIMI is the new world champion!! In your face, Lewis (learn how to drive properly first) !!! In your face, Alonso!! Kudos Felipe Kudos Ferrari!

The New Toyota Vios..

Welcome back from the holidays. The roads in KL are back to its normal state (read: jams, no parking etc.). This proves that the majority of the KL population are from out of towners and this makes me wonder... their home state no jobs issit? :)

Alright, I am not here to start an argument on this but would like to let you guys know that the new Vios is actually out with actual models in their showrooms. I happen to pass by one of the showrooms yesterday and the pricing are as follows:

1.5S - RM 88 100
1.5G - RM 84 800
1.5E - RM 78 700

Well, this is not the first time I saw this Vios, I have actually seen this around when I was in Bangkok and Singapore. My first impression was 'ee.. why look like that one?' and the back looks some sort of a butt lifted Proton Waja. Having said that, its either you like it or you dont, some like the Honda City when they first launched it.

For more pictures, you can head on down to Toyota Malaysia's website. And if you some some fun and games, you may occasional see an advertisement appearing on the right asking you to design a Vios. The reward? I believe its a Panasonic Video cam or something, check it out if you are bored.

Selamat Hari Raya!

to all celebrating it and Happy Holidays

Haagan Dazs Icecream

Ice cream lovers! Haagan Dazs Icecream lovers!! There is an on-going 'all you can eat' promotion by Haagan Dazs until the end of October. Refer to picture for details...

Burger King Coupons!

BK Lovers, here is my Raya gift to all. Coupons expires end of October and can be printed out as many as you wish.

Download here.

Does an Apple Freeze?

Remember an ad put out by Apple Computers several months back criticising Windows machine saying that it hung frequently and needed a reboot? Well, this is not true! as Apple recently admitted that their iMacs hangs as well!

For more info, click here. So Apple supporters, eat your hearts out!

Next Holiday Destination?

It has been 1 looooong month that I last went for a holiday. Where should I go next? Bangkok? Krabi? Bali? Phuket? HK (via Shen Zhen or Macau)? Or their latest offering, GOLD COAST, Australia, land of koalas and kangaroosss!! or maybe I shall go 'Cuti-cuti Malaysia'. Penang has always been my favourite destination with its food and homely feel to a Hokkien. How about Langkawi? - with the upcoming LIMA 2007. Decisions decisions... money money money....

Realised that the destinations that I mentioned are all reachable via Air Asia? Thanks to them, now I really can fly anywhere I want (or at least to the destinations they fly to :P)

Something to ponder over..

Are there anyone on the same boat as I am when I say that Malaysian newspapers (I call them tabloids) tend to over glamourised a particular news? Call me insensitive but why must there be so much emphasis on a particular case where there are many of such cases around the nation? Are the rest not as worthy? OR do they actually wait for something to happen before reporting it extensively.

Right now, I can think of two such cases where politicians, public, everybody starts making their views heard (after it has happened). Where WERE they before? Isn't it better to be more proactive than reactive?!

How many lives has to be lost before somebody begin to change their attitude?

Share your thoughts...

Heroes in BACK!!

Yippie.. the long awaited Heroes Season 2 is back!! I wonder where this season will bring us this time. Sylar, Peter, Nathan, Claire and of coz Hiro Nakamura.

Mouse mouse!

Guys and girls, imagine using this mouse to play you WoW or DOTA. The mouse that we hold in our hands today has sure evolved over time.

Project Double Rings...

has been initiated. More details to come in weeks / months to come. Stay tuned.

One of my earliest trips

Raise your hands anyone who doesn't like to travel!
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No takers? Why am I not surprised? Everybody likes.. no, LOVES to travel. Here is my first travel review of a short trip to East Malaysia! A place called Kota Kinabalu in the state of Sabah.

(view of Mount Kinabalu from afar)

Mount Kinabalu is a must see place for anyone who visits KK. Mount Kinabalu stands at 4,095.2 metres, making her the highest mountain in the South East Asia region. Mountain climbers would absolutely love trekking up the mountain. A journey that normally starts early in the morning to enable climbers to witness the awesome scenery when the sun rises.

For people who are not into mountains, fear not! as Sabah is also known for its beaches and I had the opportunity to stay in one of probably (in my opinion) the most comfortable beach resort, the Nexus Karambunai with their latest tagline "some say it's heaven". Location wise, it is relatively near to the city - about 30 - 45 mins drive. However, once you step into the hotel, you would never want to leave as there are plenty of activities for singles, couples and even families. Shots of the hotel from a nearby hill - arranged by the hotel.

(view of Nexus Karambunai)

(view of Nexus Karambunai)

As any Hokkien would say "Buay Pai!". It means Not Bad!

Remember Safety First!

(picture taken at Cabbages and Condoms, Bangkok, Thailand)

Creative but...

weird! Take a look at the following video clip. You will never look at your lil teddy bears the same again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMTfrYw0xoA

Song: Sexyback
Artist: Remade by Poison

The Birth of Hokks United

Today, Wednesday, 26/09/2007 marks a very important occasion. The birth of Hokks United! A website of my random rantings on life, travel or any rantings that I can come up with. It is also an experiment that I am trying since I have heard so much about this 'in' thing called blogging.

On the question on why Hokks United? Well, I am a Hokkien of course and proud of it!

-Edited- If you guys or gals have any interesting articles/news/etc. feel free to email me @ hokksunited@gmail.com