Spend spend spend

Looks like I am going to spend a lot this year. There’s house renovation, getting new maid (agency fees really killing people not to mention the maid’s salary is increasing too), repair my Toyota (cost me RM5k! If I know it would have cost me so much I would have claim insurance instead) and there is my son’s school fees and then there is tax to pay (which I have no idea why am I paying for since my government kept on saying they can’t subsidies us anything anymore). There goes most of my saving for this year.


Have to cancel my family trip to overseas this year. Need to do some saving on whatever left.

I’m praying hard that my uncles keep their promises then my brother and I will have some extra pocket money. It does not matter how close you are to each other, when it comes to monies matter everyone lies. Oh well, not that I’m hoping anything but if they do not keep their promises then I know they are no longer a trustworthy person.

I’m also praying hard for my bosses to keep their promises. So far they do, so I think I should be doing find this year.

Since I’m going to spend so much, I have to control my other expenses like foods, DVDs and my gunplay collection. And it is only beginning of the year!

The miracle of having faith in the Good Lord

People always say “have faiths when praying and your prayer will be answered”. In the Bible, Matthew 17:20, Jesus Christ said “if your faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move and nothing will be impossible for you”.


I am not a man with a very strong faith, although I want to believe I am. But when I do have faith, believe me when I say this, the Good Lord will answer my prayer! And He did many times.

Just last month my elder son fell ill because of some viruses passed from me to him and we already had plan to take a trip back to our hometown (which is about 4-5 hours drive) to see my parents-in-law in few more days to come. Normally when my sons fall ill they may take up to about a week to recover. So I pray with faith that he will be cured in a day. I have tried begging God or praying until I fell asleep that my sons will get well soon but nothing works. So this time I tell myself to have faith, you only need to pray once with faith and your prayer will be answered. And guess what? It works! It took me a week to recover but my son who is only 3 (well, few more weeks to 3, obviously his immune system is not fully mature) took only 2. Then it happen again, this time my younger son’s turn. And so I told myself, if God granted my prayer once and if I pray with faith again He will definitely grant it to me. And so my 1+ year old son cured within 2 days, which is a day before our trip!

Weeks ago, my elder son had a flu (my elder son’s immune system is not that strong or either that he had a sensitive nose, either way if we are not careful he will fall sick easily) which is quite bad and he suppose to attend his first day of pre-kindy on the following day. And he was all so excited about it. This time it makes my wife worried that he may miss his first of school. And so again, I did the same thing, prayed with faith. Think I do not need to say what happen the following day…

Some of you may think this is nonsense. Children get sick and heal just like that. Or it is just a coincidence. Well, I can tell you it is NOT, I know my sons condition better than anyone else and there is no such thing as “coincidence” in the dictionary of the Bible. Miracles happen to me day in day out…

And before I close this chapter, last night I prayed (with faith) that my elder son will enjoy his pre-kindy today (since he has been crying and begging not to go to school again since the first day at school). Guess what, he made a mask at school today and he is so proud of it. Another “coincidence”? if yes then my life is full of it…

My accomplishment in 2010

Let’s see what I have accomplished in 2010.


1. Get closer to God

Well, I start to get closer to God and start telling the people I know that I have changed my belief. Still I know I’m still disappointing Him from time to time, but I have fate that he will forgive my sins. I need to start to take my family to church, arhhh kept on giving silly excuses not to go. But fist I need to be baptized!

2. Family trips

Ah yes, family holidays, the best time of the year. Only managed to do 2 holidays this year. First to Port Dickson (my in-laws joined us), staying in the Legend Water House with a private swimming pool and it cost less than RM500 per night and my children love it. Too bad my elder son was hit by a fever but thank God he is active enough to play. We even had the famous curry chicken with buns, don’t think you can get the same taste back in KL.

Second trip was to Hong Kong. Our first family holidays outside Malaysia. Again we had a wonderful experience, went to Ocean-park (which I feel it is better than Disney Land if you have kids below age of 3). We also visited the Big Buddha at the Lantau island, nothing much for the kids to do there other than enjoying the long cable-car ride.

3. Celebrate my younger son’s first birthday

Like my elder son, we celebrated my younger son’s first birthday in Penang. The kids love the place with very nice kid theme decoration. Every kids that attended my son’s birthday have a very sweet memory that night. My mother-in-law said some of the kids that do not speak much enjoyed themselves so much on that night that they do not want to go home. Imagine what the active kids do. They trash the place of course…ha ha…Now that is priceless!

4. Reactivate my blog

Well, not that anyone read on this blog..ha ha..but still think I’ll continue to keep this blog for my own reading pleasure when I’m old. I do read my old diary, those that I written 20 years ago, and I was like wish I had written more back then. So yup, think I’ll continue writing.

5. Collecting 2 Euro coins

So far I collected about 5 coins, think I’ll stop for now. Some of my coins got lost in transit, some sellers are nice enough to re-send it to me, and these are sure top EBay sellers, very nice and sincere sellers. May God bless their businesses.

6. Collecting and assembling Gunpla

Think this is the greatest thing ever happen to me this year. I just love my gunpla collection. Manage to assemble 7 this year (all will be posted on my WarZone blog). I did make some mistake at the beginning (I do not know when or how to apply normal stickers on my very first gunpla then I do not know how to apply dry stickers on my very first MG gunpla) but my skill improves as I assemble more.

7. Bought insurance for my kids

Some says if their parents bought them insurance when they were still kids, they do not have to pay for the insurance now as the cash invested should be enough to row until they are old. Well, since my generation complaint about no insurance from their parents it makes me think I can buy one for my kids

8. Selling unwanted staff on Lowyat.net

This forum is way much better than EBay. Yes sir, I manage to sell RM170 in a month! And the site is absolutely free! Will be looking for more junk to sell of this forum. The best deal was the baby stroller, manage to make RM25 profit from it.

9. Reactivate my Facebook

Ever since I started Facebook I don’t really enjoy it that much, recently I started to look into it again, not that I enjoy it very much, but I prefer to keep my Facebook active. The reason is because I want to keep my friends active. Managed to found some old friends and also kick those that I am not very familiar with. I don’t want to let every Tom, Dick and Harry knows what me and my family is doing.

Bad experience at Leo's cafe

I took my family to Leo’s café yesterday to celebrate Mother’s day (09 May 2010). The food was quite ok and my family and I were quite happy to dine there. When we were about to finish our meals, my baby boy starting to be noisy due to lack of sleep. So we thought he was just in time as we were about to finish the foods and leave.

When I ask for my bill, I realized that a drink that I ordered for my maid did not arrive. So I requested for the drink to be cancelled from the bill. The waiter went to checked with the bar (obviously to inform them that my drink did not arrive) then to the supervisor and then to the waiter who took my order. Each time he passed by me, he will smile and politely requested me to wait. I thought he was just going around telling his colleague that no one brings me my drink.

He later came back to me and informed me that the drink cannot be cancelled. Immediately my temper when uphill, imagine my family and I had finished our meals and my baby boy was crying, and we are suppose to wait for the drink? Imagine if it was a food and not a drink! How long will I have to wait for it. I shouted at the waiter saying I want to see the boss, he then ran to his supervisor which I followed behind. I shouted at the supervisor and threaten to call the police if this cannot be settled. Only then they are willing to cancel the order from the bill.

It was indeed a very bad experience, a happy dinning out turned ugly just because of a poor, lazy supervisor who would rather makes more money for his boss than to cancel the order. Never again will I dine there!

My marriage life

Today I’m going to talk about my marriage life. What my wife and I do to make our marriage works. As mentioned in my previous blog Marriage Counselling before saying I do my wife and I have been married for more than 4 years now with 2 beautiful kids (can’t stop thanking God for his wonderful blessing).


Holidays
My wife and I planned that we should have an overseas holiday at least once a year. But due to my working schedule, many holidays plan have to be postponed or cancelled. But instead of having an argument over it, my wife came up with a good plan, just pack our bags on weekends and stay in a luxury hotel. Any hotel will do as long as it is 5 stars, even if the hotel is only ½ hour drive from our house. It is indeed a good relaxation, just my wife and I, even if it for a quick getaway. My point is, it is not the end of the world if things do not turn out the way you and your spouse wants it and there is always a solution if both parties willing to think of one.

Bills
We have discussed on the who-need-to-pay-what even before married and we are very committed to it but of course we are flexible on this, helping each other out when we are short of cash. I have seen a lot of couples fail on this, one party will neglect to commit after awhile.

Freedom
For those who want a 100% freedom after married, PLESE THINK TWICE before you says “I do”. You have to take away the “I” and replace with “WE” after married. However, my wife and I agreed to have a personal time off once a week. She will have her lady nights out and I’ll have my boy nights out.

Talks and discussion
Think this is the most important stuff do to. After awhile husband and wife do not talk to one another anymore, and when they do it will be an argument. My wife and I will talk on everything, our daily life, things happen in office, TV shows, things we read in newspaper/magazine and etc, etc. Of course we do argue sometime (don’t think there is one couple who do not argue), a talk can become a discussion and from discussion can become an argument. But after argument we will let the hatred cool down and we will either continue to talk and think of a solution if the talks are important or just forget about it if it is just a silly argument.

Patient
I guess this is the key to every successful marriage. We just have to be patient with each other, listen to each other needs. We may not always give want our spouse want but at least being patient with them will definitely make a huge different. For example, I like things to be neat and tidy but wife on the other hand will place stuff all over the place. I once scolded my wife for being such a messy person but then again this is how she is the very 1st time we met. So instead of scolding her after awhile, I’ll just let the mess at it is until when everyone go to bed I’ll do the clean up (I’m not the person who can sleep knowing the mess is all over the place and wait for my maid to clean up the next morning). She’s happy, I’m happy and we all can have a good night sleep.

Like I said before, head for marriage counsel before marry, then you will understand what you spouse want in marriage life, continue if you sincerely think you can handle your spouse needs, stop if you are not ready. Remember, there is no in-between. From there it is up to you and your spouse how to make the marriage a successful one.

Metro Center - SOHO unit

Invested in one of the SOHO unit in Metro Center at Old Klang Road (OKR) today. It will be my 1st property investment. My wife and I feel it’s a good investment as we believe the place will be an upcoming area. Look around OKR and its surrounding area and you will notice new condos are coming up, some high-end (one at Taman Desa and the other at Kuchai Lama) and some medium-end. The way I see it, soon the whole OKR will transform to new town and the old building will give way to the new ones. More new shops and new condos will be built say 10 years down the road (it’s just my feel).


The unit design is quite modern. 775 sq. ft. separated into 2 floors. 1st floor come with toilet and kitchen about 555 sq. ft. while the upper floor is a one bedroom size of 200 sq. ft. The design can either be a studio apartment or an office unit. It has the facilities of a service apartment, i.e. swimming pool, bbq area and etc.

Some interesting facts:

Discount: 8%
Downpayment: 2%
Free gift: 2 aircons, kitchen cabinets and 1 car park
Land type: Commercial and Freehold
Title: Strata title
Maintenance fee: Range from RM0.20 to RM0.25 per sq. ft. (yet to confirm)
Long-term tenant: Tesco (signed 30 years of tenant agreement)
Total car park: 3,000 lots
Total SOHO unit: 1,080 units with 3 blocks (currently launch 1st block to test the market I presume)

I’m going to turn my unit into office unit, heard can rent at RM2.5 per sq. ft. Not bad if it is true, about 7.3% returns before maintenance fees.

The only issue is it has 1,080 units with only 3,000 lots of car park. It’s going to be pack and tough competition between owners to rent out their unit. But don’t think all will turn to office unit, like I mentioned it can also be a studio apartment. Anyhow, at least I got the 1st block which normally the cheapest.

Marriage Counselling before saying I do

Few days ago, a closed friend of mine split out all his marital problems to me and said he is now temporary staying in a hotel. I was surprise indeed. Never will I have thought this will happen to him. He seems to be a happy man all the times, even though I know he and his wife had different needs in marriage but not until need times to cool off things.


Anyway, I’m not going to talk about my friend’s marriage issues here instead I’m going to talk about my marriage experience.

My wife and I (married for more than 4 years now with 2 lovely kids) attended a marriage counsel before getting married (it is more like a class). Well, it was organized by her Church and since she wanted to marry in a Church, it was a requirement to attend. I must admit how I feel uncomfortable at 1st but at the end how relief I was that we have gone through it.

The marriage counsel was conducted by 2 old married couple. There were more than 6 couples (including my wife and I) in the class. Each section (can’t remember how many sections in all but think it took about a month to complete, one section per week), they will read out their experience to us and from there they will ask our opinion. Then they will hand out a booklet and ask us to answer it from the bottom of our heart. The questions were range from things the couples like and dislike about each other, do you think your partner is pretty to what they aspect in marriage life, like having babies, how much freedom you need and etc.

Then we were asked to exchange our booklet, let our partner to take few minutes to read and discuss about it. I remember there were one section that it ended up with quarrel among the couples (yes, including my wife and I) ha ha ha. At the end of each section, the counselors will explain the purpose of today subject and they will explain what we need to do to overcome our differences.

The whole process makes us aware that small little stuff that we take it for granted may cause a big argument later in the marriage years and it prepared us for what we will be facing. It also tells what kind of character your partner is and what is she/he expecting in the marriage life.

The whole purpose of the marriage counsel is to make sure you are ready to say “I do” and not simply rush into it just because you love your partner. At the end of the counseling, I heard some postpone their marriage plan, some just call it off but for most, like my wife and I, proceed with planned. I must admit there are a few who devoice even after attended the class. But nevertheless, I always encourage couples to go through it before their big day. I believe if the couples would have answered the questions truly from their heart instead of pleasing their partner and come out with solutions to pave any differences there and there, they might have smoother marriage years ahead.

Next I’ll talk about my marriage life and what my wife and I did to stay happy.

Writing Wills

Few months ago, my wife and I did our Will. Cost us about RM1,200 for 2 persons from Rockwills.

Some of my friends, including my parents-in-law said we wasted so much for Wills and how we should get lawyers to do it instead. Well, I do not see it that way, you see I got a lawyer friend who can do it for free but yet I choose to pay RM1,200.

The reason is simple, we got 2 sons, both age below 2. For that we need a Trustee. When it comes to Trustee there’s a lot of questions running around my mind, for example, who will be the Trustee, what if the Trustee go before me, what if the Trustee spend all my wealth and leave nothing for my children and so on.

My father-in-law said that a lawyer can be a Trustee and when they pass away they will pass their responsibility to another lawyer. Well, think about it, if say you are the Custodian of someone children and if say the lawyer and the children’s parents pass away, how on earth are you going to find out who the hack is the next Trustee? Or say you choose the lawyer to be the Trustee (assuming you can trust him) are you going to call the lawyer every now and then to see if he/she is still alive? Even if he/she is not then are you going to find a medium, who can communicate with the after life, to talk to him/her who is the new Trustee?

For me Rockwills is quite established in Malaysia and they got their reputation. The Will writer informed me that Rockwills is like an insurance companies (not in the sense of investing your wealth but more like just a company so that your wealth with them are protected), they need to register with Bank Negara. When they do become a Trustee (touch wood!!), at least you know your children will inherit your wealth because they only pay if there is proof that your children need to spend (of course you need to pay them fees when they exercise their right as Trustee).

Anyway, the way I see it, when your children is below 21 years old (the age where they can sell/buy properties) you need a trustworthy Trustee and yes those money are well spend for the future of your children. But if your child is above 21 years old, well, you can write your own Will and ask 2 independent parties to be witness and you don’t have to spend a single cent.

HLA - Cash Builder: Clause 12

iLast month I bought the HLA cash builder and was hoping all the guarantees will be captured in the policy. In my opinion this is the best deal, so far, in the market. See here for more detail HLA - cash builder/retirement plan. HLA took more than a month to deliver the policy to me because of CNY break.

First of all, the policy did include all the guarantees that my agent briefed me before I sign up. Second it also include the spreadsheet (where it shows how much guaranteed interest, minimum/maximum dividend/surrender value for each year until 35 years) that my agent shows me before I sign up (first time in my experience in buying insurance where it include such spreadsheet in the policy). Furthermore the policy does not have any fine print line.

Looks good right? Well, there is one setback, clause 12. This is what clause 12 says:

“No alteration or waiver of any provision in the Policy shall be valid unless such variation or waiver is made by a Policy endorsement and signed by the Company’s authorised officer. The Company may request for the Policy to be sent to the Company to effect the Policy endorsement. No Company’s agent has the authority to make any alteration to or to waive any of the terms and conditions in the Policy.”

At first glace, it doesn’t sound much but look again. First line it read:

“No alteration or waiver of any provision in the Policy shall be valid unless such variation or waiver is made by a Policy endorsement and signed by the Company’s authorised officer”

This is how I interpret, as long as the Company’s authorised officer signed on the variation or waiver then it is consider a valid deal. So is that mean HLA can change the benefits and guarantee in the policy anytime they want to?

Second line:

“The Company may request for the Policy to be sent to the Company to effect the Policy endorsement”

This is how I interpret, when HLA change the policy, it may or may not request the original Policy to effect the new terms. Is that mean they do not need the policy owner consent to effect the change?

I have asked my agent to get a confirmation letter from HLA to reassure me that HLA will not use clause 12 to change the benefits and guarantees currently stated in the policy. All I want is to lock down the benefits and guarantees. But instead what I received is a letter explaining the intention of the clause.

Their explanation is that clause 12 is to use in situation where the policy owner wish to request for alteration or waiver of any provision in the policy. So I tell my agent that I am exercising my rights in clause 12 to change the provision in such a way that the benefits and guarantees will be locked down. And you know what? My agent told me is not that easy!

So think about it, clause 12 is meant to protect the policy owner but at the same time make it difficult for the owner to exercise it. So what is the true intention of clause 12 then? An escape clause for HLA?

My agent tried very hard to convince me that I do not have to be worried about the clause, how Bank Negara approved the policy (since when Bank Negara disallow escape clause?) and how strong is HL group. Well, all I know is no one can tell the future. Look at Enron, Lehman Brothers and AIA (in USA). If it can happen in other countries do you think it will happen here, back in Malaysia?

Seriously all I request for is just a reassurance from them, and it has been more than a week and yet a simple request like this can’t be delivered. I am tired of all their self- reassurance and excuses and decided to return the policy before the cooling off period.

Disclaimer: Above is solely based on my own interpretation, assumption and understanding. I might be entirely inaccurate and wrong on the interpretation. For those that are worried please get your own lawyer to interpret the clause and please DO NOT rely on my interpretation to make decision as I am NOT a lawyer.

My Dear warehouse sales

I went to “My Dear” warehouse sales last week with my wife. The place is quite a distance away and by the time we reached there is about 10:30am. The good thing is, since it is quite a distance away, the crowd is not huge. Compare to those warehouse sales at PJ, whereby huge crowd start queuing at 9am by 10:30am most of the good stuff would have been sold off.


The sales areas are divided into few sections (disclaimer note: I categories the area based on my personnel observation. Do not get confuse if it is not the case):

1. The entrance and to the right: Old stocks area. You can only pay by cash but the items are cheep, very cheep. We bought a tricycle for RM50 and a baby stroller for RM60 (all still looks very new to us minus some dust here and there). There are no warranties on these items, what you see is what you get and you have to make sure everything is intact before you buy.

2. Straight ahead after the entrance. New stocks area. Here you can pay with your credit card if your purchase is above RM100. And there’s a warranties to the items that you buy. You have to pay the stuff that you want, get the receipt and collect it at the collection area (which is opposite the counter). We bought a car seat with RM195 (model 03012) which is only RM64 cheaper than the market price (roughly about 25% discounts). Well, I’m not sure if this is a good buy but since we need a car seat for our elder son and that we are already there so might as well get one.

3. On the left of the entrance. Toys and some cloths. Don’t think those items belong to “My Dear”. My wife brought some pants, Winnie the Pooh’s pants only RM4-RM7. I say is a good buy (since the market price is about RM14-RM20) but I’m not sure if it is the original stuff. My wife said she saw a monopoly board game with only about RM10 (not sure which model, monopoly board game has been evolved since my time), but we didn’t buy because it was not properly wrap.

Overall, I would say it is worth checking out (especially the old stocks area). The sales end on 14 March 2010. Go in the morning, not so crowded and you can bring your child with you. By the time we finished shopping, is almost noon and the crowd started to increase. So if you plan to reach there at noon then better to leave you kids at home.

Property investment in Australia

Went to Eastin Hotel last Sunday to have a look at the investment of properties in Melbourne (Australia). Here is what I managed to compile:

Cheapest studio apartment is around A$180k-190k (lets take A$190k for calculation purpose).

Total cost for 1st time payment:

1. Downpayment of 30% = A$57,000
2. Stamp duty (one off) = A$8,000
3. Legal fee (one off) = A$2,000

Total = A$67,000
(Roughly RM3:A$1 RM201,000)

4. Malaysia agent fee (one off) RM5,000

Total payment in RM is RM207,000!!!

Ok fine, if say you got the spare cash and you don’t mind. You may get a yearly return of 6%. Wow better than bank interest ya? Well, think again, here’s why.

Bank loan (Australia bank) interest is about 5.6%. So 70% of A$190k = A$140k, take 5.6% annual interest = A$7,840. Assume you can really get annual return of 6% (note: 6% is on A$190k - the cost of the apartment), so:

Annual return A$11,400

Cost

Bank interest A$7,840
Maintenance A$1,800
Commission for rental (7%) A$798

Total cost A$10,438

Net annual return A$962

Your net annual return is only A$962, that’s 0.5%!!!! On top of that you have not even pay the principle to the bank!!!
Seriously, with that type of money that I have to put in I can buy a condo (with all fees included) in Malaysia with CASH. I can rent out for say RM1k per month, minus off maintenance fees with say RM200 I still left with RM800 per month net return. RM800 x 12 = RM9,600, which give me 4.8% net annual return!!!

Want some more bad news? Real Property Gain Tax in Australia is 20% vs Malaysia is only 5%!!!

HLA - Cash Builder/Retirement Plan

I have applied for Hong Leong Assurance – Cash Builder/Retirement plan and now waiting for its policies to arrive. Got to check if all the so call “guarantees” items that the agents said HLA will guarantee is stated inside the policies. I hope it does.

Some bloggers say this is just another endowment plans (not very sure how this works, my knowledge in this area is quite limited), others say no insurance guarantee so much return but if it does then it is worth the investment but 35 years is just too long. Well, if you ask me, if the policies mention all the guarantees then I say it is worth the risk. I did the calculation of up to 20 years of putting the same amount of money in bank with 2.5% interest vs the most conservative guarantee return from HLA and yet HLA provide slightly higher returns. Of course the longer you invest the higher the return, for 35 years I am not investing for myself but for my children. But then again, like I said, I am still waiting for the policies. If any of the guarantees is not mention in the policies then I’ll forget about it (including the spreadsheet calculation that they show to me – hey, the agents said the spreadsheet is part of the agreement so it got to be in or else).

The truth, I don’t trust insurance companies. All making tons of bucks by tricking people like us investing in it. They always have some very cleaver people who are very good with playing with figures and make us believe it is better than putting your hard earn income in bank, and when we do cash out we will never, never ever have the amount that they mentioned. Therefore, I see these type of products as to protect the beneficially and not for investment purposes.

Etiqa Maybank Takaful

I wanted to do some low risk investment and was shopping around for a good one. I sat down and listen when I was approached by the Etiqa Takaful agents and this is what I was informed on their latest product:


1. Principle investment is guaranteed by PIDM (I found out later this is a big bullshit!)
2. It’s a saving plan (hmmm…so it is not an insurance plan?)
3. Maturity is 30 years
4. Free insurance coverage
5. interest can earn up to 8% (not guaranteed)

Right, after some thoughts I asked what are the risks and any hidden cost (I was preparing to invest, with my IC on hand). The agent simply said there are no hidden cost and no risks since principle investment are guaranteed. Worst case scenario, I will get back my investments in full.

The thing is, after the Lehman Brothers’ issue which has stirred the world by surprise, I will ensure every guarantee provides in an investment is recorded in black and white. The agent said he will email me one, which after a month now and I have yet to receive any.

I have also found out that I cannot withdraw in full amount (principle plus interest) before the maturity date or I’ll lose some of my investments. I was surprise as this sound like an insurance plan, insurance supposed to be free! This is supposed to be a saving plan! Mind you I do know that Takaful is an insurance company and not a bank but then why say it’s a saving plan in the first place?

This is not fine since I need the money for my sons’ education and so I ask the agent to calculate how much I can earn in a worst case scenario should I withdraw (be it in partial or I surrender the value) in say after 15 years. Well, I can’t say I am happy with the result but then again this is base on worst case scenario and this is the risk that I have to take. HA funny at first they said there is no risks.

Two days later (and while I’m still waiting for the black and white from the agent saying my investments will be guaranteed) I was withdrawing money in Maybank, another agent approached me. I was furious seeing another Etiqa Takaful agent, how they say there are no risks, how my investments are guaranteed, how there are no hidden cost, how this is supposed to be a saving plan. The agent then explained to me that I must have got it wrong. First of all, there is no guarantee in this investment. NO GUARANTEE. Secondly, there will be cost for admin fees and so on, that is why I will never get back my investment in full. Thirdly, even if I do not withdraw any money and waited until maturity date I will still not receive my investment in full because Takaful is base on profit sharing and on maturity date, depending on the amount of money in the pool, Takaful will calculate how much I will get.

Holy Cow!!!!! No risks and no hidden cost? In my opinion this is an insurance plan plus investment, just that they twist it in such a way that sounds like a saving plan. For 30 years and with such risks involved, I would rather put my money in EPF. Now at least that is guaranteed.

Disclaimer: This is base on my understanding and may not be the facts on Etiqa Takaful Maybank (hack, not even the agents can get it right, how can I?? Two agents telling me two different stories) If you have any questions on the investment product please seek an agent yourself and don’t rely on what I have written above.

My luck or God at work?

When I was young I like to have a job that allows me to travel and so I chose to take up auditor as my career path but instead of being an external auditor I somehow landed on internal audit field. Well, it was not in my original plan (seriously I have no idea what is internal audit all about back then) but of all the jobs hunting that I been to, this job pay the highest and of course I knew I can learn something better compare to book-keeping work. And when I found this job suits me very well, I continue with this path.

It was the people that I met in my 1st job that got me landed on Cambodia and Hong Kong which I spent 6 years traveling between Cambodia (80%), Hong Kong (15%) and Malaysia (5%). Yes, I only spent about 5% of the 6 years in Malaysia. How ironic that the 5% can get me a girlfriend and later a wife (and of course that were 0.0 something % where I traveled other countries for holidays).

As my relationship with my wife (back then my girlfriend) is getting more and more serious, the feeling of stop traveling has become my top priority. There are times where my wife and I had fight due to my heavy traveling schedule. It was such a headache that I sometimes tried to avoid such discussion. But at the same time I do hunt for jobs that do not require traveling or at least minimal traveling. It was not easy getting a job where you have to undergo a 50% pay cut, many companies question my commitment due to the large pay cut, and some even accused me for looking for a stepping stone which allows me to return to Malaysia. Alas, I was unable to find a suitable job after more than year of hunting. And I broke the promise that I made to my wife that I will be back in Malaysia for good at a promised date.

But all was not lost, I had a good talked with my boss and he agreed to allow me to based in Malaysia with a condition, I have to travel at least once a month for 7 days and if need be up to 14 days. Pay cut is still 50% but I was given a US$50 allowance per day if I travel (including weekends) with foods, accommodation and transport all provided for. It was a good start and my wife was happy. And it is also this opportunity that allows us to made wedding arrangement together. Yes, it is tiring but it was fun when you do things together with your love ones.

Few months after I returned to Malaysia, my wife and I plan to have children, which make me re-think of my traveling schedule again. While my wife did not really complaint anymore but being a husband and a father I want to be at their side most of the time. And so again, I hunt for new job, but this round it does not take long. I got a new job within a month of hunting. And so I quit my job of 6 years with great colleagues, which I do not know whether I will find such a wonderful colleagues elsewhere, for the sack of my family.

Working in the new company was really a disaster, my previous job gave me so much freedom that, I guess, I was pampered, so much so that I hate jobs that require to record working schedule (well, all audits line do anyway) and no flexibility on working hours, punch card for a Manager!!?? You got to be kidding man!!!! Worst, I have to work on weekends and travel (within Malaysia) more often. And my scope of work as a internal auditor is greatly different from my new boss, who is from external audit firm, hack what do these people know about internal audit anyway?? Those originated from internal audit background know that Manager level do not travel unless they conduct an exit interview (means meet clients to discuss about the audit report) because Managers level is as good as junior partner in audit firm. So, if a Manager need to travel to conduct audit work then it is very obvious the head of department (HOD) came from external audit background.

As for my new colleagues, they are alright but none is brave to voice up freely, why simply because the HOD (male) has PMS all the time. A typical Malaysian own company with a typical Malaysian bosses.

But I kept on telling myself, do it for your wife, do it for your children. All I need to do is suffer for a year then look for a new job (a year is because no company want to hire a person who like to hop from one to another company to often). But I started to feel the heat when I spent more time on work and less time with my wife, it deceive my main purpose. And so I called up my previous company and hope they will take me back, well, with such ex-bosses that I have, it has no problem at all for me to go back. But I told my wife I have to stay for at least a year or 2 before I can change job again and my wife agreed. Still, even though I was happy to go back, I was deeply disappointed that I can’t stay in Malaysia without having to travel so often.

But God got his plan, He really does. Only one month I returned to my previous company I had to resign again. And this time it is because 2 of my ex-bosses are going to have their own consultation firm. What’s more, it was the same own colleagues that I’m going to work with, they gave me 5% of the shares which makes me a director and a shareholder and most of all flexibility working hours and more time to spend with my family. And plus great bonuses.

But the most important thing is, since I have worked with my bosses before, we all share the same goal in life. Family 1st the rest is secondary. For that, I was able to take a month off when my wife delivered, take the morning off to take my son and wife for their routine check-up (not counted as off-day), work from home when my son is not feeling well and much more that I will never ever get no matter what company that I work for in Malaysia.

Looking back, I always got what I wanted, I struggler a little but still at the end I got what I want and most time even better than what I ask for. My luck or God at work? Well, I do not think I alone got so much luck, but with God, my luck is unlimited. And for that I count my blessing.

Thank you my Lord for your blessing.

Falling ill is no fun at all

Being a parent is sure no easy job. Last weekend my son, who is only 1 year and 8 months old, had a fever, and it went as high as 40C. My wife (who is now 7 months pregnant) and I went in and out of the hospital for 3 times within 2 days. The 1st time we brought our son to the hospital, the doctor (a general doctor attended to my son) said it is too early to do a blood test as we need to wait for 2 days (48 hours) before his blood shows any abnormal movement/activities (i.e. any sign of bacterial/virus infection). So we took our son home after the doctor gave him some medicine which able to control the fever for the rest of the day. The following day it happen again, fever went up high and we were unable to control it even after we gave him the medicine. Normally, after giving our son a sponge bath his fever will come down, but this time is does not work, on top of that he split out most of the milk we gave him earlier. And so we went to the hospital again at about 5:30am. Another general doctor attended to my son and said the same thing, too early to do blood test, only able to give him a stronger medicine and sent us home.

After that, he was fine for the whole day, playing with the maid, running around the house, the only thing he had was diarrhea. By about 8pm he was sleepy. We thought that well, he must be recovering, no fever for the whole day and with some diarrhea must have made him tired. But ½ hour later his temperature went from 36.6C (his normal temperature) to 38C and keep on claming every second. He had never experience this before. He shivers, his feet were cold but body and head were getting hotter. And so we rush him to the hospital again, and this time I insist to admit my son. The doctor agreed. This time, the doctor (same doctor that we see in the morning) said we can go ahead with the blood test. She even called my son’s pediatrician.

After a night in the hospital, my son was very uneasy with that hospital mainly because he had his circumcision there (due to infection) and kept on crying and asked to go home, we decided to go home. The result was negative on dangerous infection and his diarrhea test did not show anything dangerous as well. There are still some other test to be done, just to make sure everything is save, but the result will only come out in 2 weeks time. And my son did not show any sign of fever after 24 hours. It was a big relief for my wife and me, we are really tired from the whole episode. With the current outbreak (the H1N1 outbreak) it is better to be safe than sorry, beside, the other disease that I’m worry is dengue.

Went we reach home the only thing he has was diarrhea. Not very often, about 2-3 times but was quite greenish. The following day the diarrhea stopped and the fever has been gone for 48 hours. Now we can get some sleep. The only thing is I really pity my wife who is already 7 months pregnant and has to run up and down. And yet our boy wants his mummy very badly especially when he is not feeling well. I feel so helpless. All I can do is to make sure both my son and my wife are comfortable.

Age 35 and still playing games

Few weeks ago I managed to locate a friend who I have not seen for ages through internet. Well, to be precise, it was his blog (which makes me want to start one for myself) that I found and not the person in physical form. And so I spent whole night reading his posts, trying to see what has he been up to during all this years.

He was 3 years younger than me and yet he finished his professional course faster than I did. You see, I’m not a very bright student and I failed many times on my professional course, and it takes me 5 years to complete compare to an average student that takes about 3-4 years. I have to re-sit the same exam papers over and over again before I can proceed to another paper and there are times I do feel that I am the oldest student sitting for a particular exam paper. And that is also how I met a guy 3 years my junior.

He was just an ordinary guy when we met and we become close friends, but within one year he became so famous that he was appointed as a student president of the professional course that we were taking. The college that we studied recruited him even before he graduated.

After graduate, we went on a separate path, we still meet regularly then but it stopped after some time. He was married the last time I heard but something terrible happen (I do not wish to disclose what happen here) not long after his marriage. Anyhow, from his blog, he seems to have got over with the incident and now back on his own feet. But he also seems to stay low now. What I meant was he no longer the type of person who seeks for glory (unlike when we met long time ago). I guess the incident hit him very hard.

But compare to him, I never search for glory at my entire life. While this guy have tea with some billionaire at some restaurants (that this what he claimed), I play online games in office. While the 1st thing he looks for in the newspaper is the business section, I look for the comic section. He enjoy being famous, while I enjoy staying low (but I do feel envy sometimes), even thought he claimed that he stay low now yet I somehow feel he can’t stay there for long.

Sometimes I wonder, am I too simple? I sometime feel ashamed of myself, a person holding a managerial position and never read business section and yet his staffs do? There are times when I hang out with my friends and all they talk about is the current business/market situation and I would like have no idea what there are talking about. Age 35 and still act like a child yet I have 2 children at home, silly isn’t it.

But then again, looking back at what I have achieved, I am not all that bad. I don’t have to go through the pain that he had, I have a beautiful family, my own house, well more on this on my next blog. Well, yes, I may not be as rich as he is (in term of money) but I’m doing things that I like, I do not have life-schedule to follow (resolution is life-schedule for me), I do things as and when I feel like to and I bring foods to my family and above that my family need not think twice to spend (of course I’m referring to average stuff, not too luxurious stuff). Well, at least I’m looking at the business section in the newspaper now, although it is not the 1st thing that I will look at.