Congrats to Harun Asri 504 for his upcoming wedding at Dewan Felda Perdana on 17th January 2010. Sorry the attendance is by invitation only and very limited seats. Harun would like to apologize in advance since he could not invite most of us.

Congrats again! Semoga kekal ke akhir hayat

How much do Malaysians spend?

If you think you're not paying for all these, think again.

I thought i'd just share this lesson i learnt yesterday. I have a condo unit which is being rented out to an Arab student (with his family). He's a very kind guy and the nicest tenant i've ever had, though at first i did have doubts (after hearing stories about Middle Easterns). I guess i'm one of the lucky few!

One of the things that i occasionally do is to login to TNB's e-service webpage to just check on the status of the electricity bills for units that i have rented out. So i so happen to check this particular unit, and to my shock, his latest electricity bill came to be RM 2,400. His usual bills are normally about RM 30 or so. So a natural reaction would be to call TNB to demand for an explanation (at this juncture, my tenant has not known about his electricity bill yet).

TNB explained that the bills for the past 7 months (since May) are all 'estimated' bills. I asked how could it be estimated, since this is a condo and they would have access to the electricity meter. Standard answer by the clerk (i don't blame her) is 'Maaf Encik, saya cuma membaca apa yang tertera pada sistem'.

In the end, the bill is what it is. Because the past 7 months bills were estimated, and thus he was under billed, rightfully TNB could recoup this under billing and bill him this month when they did an actual reading (Apparently there is some Akta that covers this in the contract agreement we signed with TNB when purchasing a property and applying for power connection). His average bill is supposed to be about the region of RM 300 a month, so that is actually about right for 7 months accumulation.

The questions i have for TNB: 1. I noticed that there has been an increase in rate sometime in August. But the under billing was from the old rate. Now when you do a catch up bill, it is at a new rate. Isn't that unfair, because customer is billed at a new rate, when the electricity was at an old rate.

2. TNB should not have let an estimated bill be more than 2 to 3 months at max. Leaving it for 7 months is a great burden to consumers. And now you expect for a one lump sum payment of 7 months catch up bill, when it was TNB's fault at first for not doing an actual reading?

3. When TNB does current reading, they take the difference between the old meter reading and today. So in this case, there is a delta of 5000 units for example. And this 5000 units is spread out against the different bands of today's rate, and a higher band (as the units increase) incurs higher rate. So isn't it unfair to consumers to have to pay higher, because if the proper reading were taken before, an average electricity movement per month is probably about 700 units, and would be on the lower band, thus lower electricity charge if i were to accumulate each bill individually.

In the end the electricity was consumed by my tenant, and he still has to pay for it. But through no fault of his, he is now being burdened with a one lump sum bill, and risk getting a power cut because of what i perceive as TNB's ineffectiveness in getting a proper reading. Why it was an estimated bill for 7 months, we'll never know i guess, though logically it should not have been.

Probably you guys should check your bills, and if the bill is pretty low compared to what you normally use, it is worth while to double check. Otherwise be prepared for surprises.

p/s: Azizi Ali is one of my personal favourite author. He's a multi millionaire and an acknowledged and well known property guru. However, Azizi is also a financial trainer, not only qualified academically, but he has the experience and $$$$$ in the banks to be able to stand in his own league. He definitely walks his talks.

The Book Of Excuses by Azizi Ali

One of the funny things (at least it’s funny to me) is hearing the excuses people give to justify why they are not rich. What’s ever funnier is that the people call them “reasons”; I call them excuses.

Throughout the years, I’ve heard excuses such as “I don’t want the responsibility” to “people would come to rob me” to “I’m too young” to “I’m too old”! I’ve heard the works and now would like to share them with you.Enjoy! It’s too much work.

It’s too difficult.

I’m not greedy.

If I’m rich, people would come to rob me.

If I’m rich, people would come to borrow money from me.

If I’m rich, people would kidnap my children.If I become rich, people would hate me.

I have to learn about stocks, properties, investments, tax, estate planning, running businesses and all.

It’s too much hassle.

I’m too young.

I’m too old.

I’m not smart enough.

I’m not intelligent enough.

I didn’t go the right school.

I don’t have the right contacts.

I don’t have enough knowledge.

I don’t have enough capital.

I’m not lucky enough.

What if I make it and then lose it all? Then it’ll all be a waste of time.

I’ll be paying even more tax. And God knows I’m paying a lot of tax as it is already.

I’ll never know if people like me for what I am or because of my money.

It might take me away from doing the things that I like to do.

What will my colleagues/friends/family say?

Who me? Rich? No, I don’t think so.I never even thought about it.People may criticize me behind my back.

People may laugh at me.

I’m happy where I am.

What if I failed? Then I’ll really look stupid.

It’s too risky.

It’s too dangerous.

My religion forbids the accumulation of wealth.

I’d rather be doing more important things (such as watching TV).

In my world, the pursuit of academic excellence is more important than the pursuit of wealth.

It’s so unrefined – all this talk about wealth and money.

How much more money do you want?

I wouldn’t know what to do with all that money.

I’d prefer to do charity work instead of mindlessly chasing after money.

Too much wealth is not good. Moderation is the way to everything.

My husband will start thinking about having a second wife

What’s the point? My wife and/or children will just spend it all.

What’s the point? It’ll only last three generations.

What’s the point? I do the work; other people get to enjoy the money. My children will just be fighting one another for the inheritance when I die.

I don’t want the responsibility.

I don’t want to cheat or take advantage of people.

Money is the root of all evil.

Money is not important.

God don’t like rich people.

There are more important things in life than money, you know.

Happiness is more important than money. If I become rich, I cannot be happy.

Health is more important than money. If I become rich, I may lose my health.

You can’t have your cake and eat it too. If I become rich, something else will have to give. And I don’t want to give anything up.

What’s the point? When you die, you’ll die alone like everyone else.

If I’m rich, it means less for other people.

It’s difficult to become rich in this country.

I’m waiting for the right time.

The opportunity has not presented itself yet.

My horoscope says not to start any new business this year.

My Feng Shui master said it’s not the right time.

It’s all up to God. I leave everything to God.

I want to enjoy life first. You’re only young once.

I have too much responsibility to think about anything else at this point in time.

I’m already drowning in work as it is. You want me to do more work?

That’s my husband’s job.

So there you go, folks, a partial (!) list of excuses people give why they are not rich. My favourite?

Read on.

That’s the problem with the world today. Everyone is too gung-ho about money. All they think about is money, money and more money.

Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah said the new fuel subsidy system will be ready for implementation in May 2010 and it is a system using the Mykad.

The details of the implementation not yet announced by the government. However there was news reported that the subsidy system is as follow,

- No subsidy for foreigners and the vehicles with the engine capacity 2.0 cc above

- 50% subsidy for car engine in between 1.5 cc and 2.0 cc

- 100% subsidy for engine 1.5 cc below

----------------------------------------- Dear friends, What do you think of this new subsidy system? Kalau ikut 1.5 to 2.0 boleh dapat 50% subsidy, ini termasuklah proton wira etc. I wonder if lepas ni kalau nak isi minyak pam cashier kene verify ke berapa cc kereta kau dulu? Or maybe lepas ni dalam mykad ada tulis kau bawak kereta apa? Hmm...

Rank Team Points
1 [KBM]+Cakcibor11 1,195.00
2 Chikungunya FC 1,157.00
3 Man U Setan Jahat 990.50
4 naz united 989.00
5 MyTeamKit United 942.00
6 KB Geroda 903.00
7 bOyOt 899.00
8 Raub FC 872.00
9 Man U No More FC 843.50
10 sik pandey kelakar sarawak 791.50
11 intertina 789.00
12 Penang Mari 758.00
13 Jaga2CikSalmah 748.50
14 Bukit Rimau FC 635.50
15 Player 623.00

Religious Symbols Al-Hajj (The Pilgrimage) Sura 22: Verse 32

"This is [to be bourne in mind]. Anyone who honours the symbols set up by God [shows evidence of ] God-consciousness in people's hearts."

A link is established here between the sacrifice offered by pilgrims and the way hearts are made conscious of God. The whole purpose of all pilgrimage rituals is to enhance believers' God-fearing sense. All these rituals are symbols confirming submission to God, the Lord of the Ka'bah, the Sacred House, as also obeying Him in all situations. They may also involve reminders of old events, from the time of Abraham and later generations, but these are reminders of complete submission to God, obeying His rules and looking up to Him for guidance. Such is the mark of the Muslim community evern since its earliest days. Hence, these symbols are to be treated on an equal footing with prayer. [Read more here]

I would like to welcome Suraya Ali as the new contributor to our blog.

She will cover issues on financial especially, but will contribute other things that she sees fit.

We need more of Subject Matter Expert (SME) in other areas as well such as doctors, engineers, architects, interior designers, designers, modern farmers, etc. You can form a 'consortium of SME' to come up with 3-4 articles per year. 3-4 articles per year is more than enough as a starter.

Since budak2 tepeng can assess to internet, they can read our article on the profession. Consider as our CSR to them.

Opinion?

TQ to adzimi for sharing the file.

If you want to download, please click [here]

Time flies. Waktu proposal on doing the gathering post-raya for our batch, ada yang suggest mungkin terlalu dekat ngan gathering bulan puasa hari tu, dan mungkin akhir tahun lagi elok. Pejam celik, hey, its almost December! And for most of us, lagi sebulan dah boleh tukar nombor umur atas borang dari 31 ke 32. This year is the 14th year since Taiping, and next year will be the 15th.

So apa kata kita mulakan discussion on our next gathering. Why not this time we do something slightly different? Ada yang suggest buat BBQ. Ada yang suggest buat picnic. Maybe some kind of family day outing? Macam mana kita boleh buat gathering yang mana most people, especially out spouse and kids, boleh get involved?

When would be the best time to do this? December is a holiday month. Berderet cuti. So how about January?

Or maybe we can just screw all the idea gathering ideas, we've been collecting ideas for years and we're still doing the same thing year after year. Just go ahead with something? How about BBQ for a start?

Comments required from EVERY visitor. Thats the least we hope you can contribute. STOP being just an observer. We are after all a family, rooted back to one common ground where we spent 2 years of our life together. Thank you.

Points before 2 derby games, Liverpool vs Everton & Arsenal vs. Chelsea
Rank Team Points
1 [KBM]+Cakcibor11 1,078.50
2 Chikungunya FC 1,029.00
3 Man U Setan Jahat 944.00
4 naz united 910.50
5 MyTeamKit United 852.50
6 KB Geroda 840.50
7 bOyOt 812.00
8 Raub FC 793.00
9 Man U No More FC 786.50
10 Penang Mari 734.50
11 intertina 727.50
12 sik pandey kelakar sarawak 717.00
13 Jaga2CikSalmah 702.50
14 Player 574.00
15 Bukit Rimau FC 557.50

nak ajak kawan-kawan untuk join Malakoff Run 20th December ni kat KL.

Korang patutnye takde excuse sebab aini yg pregnant 7 mths pun join 6km run, she will be walking i guess..

Nak tau lebey click [here]