Post GST and the Business Crooks

After the new Malaysian Government announced the removal of GST, a lot of people were happy, hoping that prices would go down and people would have more money to spend overall. However, I was aware that there are certain business people, the crooks, who would use this opportunity to milk their customers like they did when GST was put into place previously, overnight prices went up and some restaurants still retained their service charges (as high as 10%). This has also happened in the past when fuel prices increase and the price of good would increase overnight, many times not proportional to the price rise. However, the worst part was that when the fuel prices went down, the price of goods and services did not go down.

Now consumers are more aware and social media was flooded with companies, mostly restaurants, which increased their prices when GST was removed - with people sharing images of receipts before and after showing no difference in prices. One famous example was that of a restaurant in Bangsar and the owner blamed it on a IT glitch. The authorities were also quick to investigate. However, in terms of prosecution, we have not really seen any of these  cheats being punished. Now they seem to be getting more blatant. Another restaurant in Bangsar have maintained the prices on their menu. On being confronted, the restaurant simply said that they had increased the prices by 6% (the same amount as the GST which was removed).

Let us act against these vultures and I sincerely hope that the authorities take stern action - not just fining them but closing these outlets.

Victorinox Swiss Army Classic SD Pocket Knife

I was looking for a pocket knife that was not too bulky and could be attached to my car keys for everyday carry (EDC). The Victorinox Swiss Army Classic SD Pocket Knife fit the bill. 

The model no is 0.6223.7B1. It is white, measures just 58mm and has 7 tools: a blade, nailfile + screwdriver, scissors, key rings, tweezers and a toothpick. 

I bought it on Lelong.com for RM80 + RM 7 (for delivery). It arrived in just one day - really efficient.

Comparing it to my old Victorinox Swiss Army Knife Climber, it looks quite small and that is what I wanted.

What is the oldest recorded Kingdom in the Malaysian peninsula?

This is the 2nd quiz question I ran on my Facebook page. A few got it right.

Well the answer is Langkasuka which covered Kedah and parts of Patani (now in Thailand).

Historians believe the kingdom to have been founded around 1-2 AD. That's about 1400 years before the Malacca Sultanate.

Records of Langkasuka was found in the Book of Liang (Liáng Shū) compiled by a Yao Silian from the Chinese Liang Dynasty (502-557).

Archologists also refer to Kedah Tua to a civilization that existed in Kedah, which may be related to Langkasuka. Besides the famous ruins in the Bujang Valley, archeologists are now slowly uncovering relics from this ancient civilizations including ships and other amazing stuff.

However, not much is known about this civilization. In fact, not many Malaysians know that the Bujang Valley complex was declared as the home of the oldest civilization in South-East Asia.

Name the only Malaysian state which was once ruled by a Queen?

Many of my Malaysian friends are quite surprised when they find out that I know so many obscure fact about Malaysia even though I was not born here. So I thought it would be a great idea to share what I know about this beautiful country by asking you a Quiz about Malaysia regularly. This was my first quiz on my Facebook page.

The answer is Kelantan. It was the only place in Malaysia to ever have a Queen as a ruler - Cik Siti Wan Kembang. Here is a pic.
Also, Kelantan is the only place in Malaysia where the King was killed by his wife in anger. Puteri Saadong who was the adopted daughter of Cik Siti Wan Kembang, killed her husband Raja Abdullah with her hair pin, for not keeping his promise.

Sorry, I do not have a higher resolution image. Please let me know if have one.

Call for Fatwa against terrorism

Was shocked when I read about the church bombings in Egypt which have left 43 dead and more than 100 injured.

I am tired apologising for these misguided people who keep doing these horrendous acts in the name of Islam. They are going against the Quran and the teachings of the Prophet pbuh - Islam prohibits targeting innocents and houses of Worship.

The illustrious scholars in Al Azhar, Islamic authorities and other centres of Islamic learning all around the World should not only condemn these acts but come up with fatwas declaring these people as non-Muslims or Kafirs, unless they repent. There are so many fatwas for deviationist beliefs in many Islamic countries and I strongly believe that these acts are clearly devistionist as they go against the Quran and the teachings of the Prophet pbuh.

Renting a house - the only option for now.

Sometimes I find that many from the Baby Boomer generation are quite clueless with some of the issues that the current generation face.

Quite recently I was having a chat with an uncle and he was shocked when he learnt that we were paying RM2000/pm as rent for our house. He asked why I did not buy a house instead. The house I stay in has a market price of about RM1 Mil. Paying about RM2000pm, I can only afford a 2+1 condo costing about RM400K in the outskirts of the city with a down payment of around RM40K + extra charges around RM20K upfront for lawyer's fees, etc.

I guess most of them do not realise this because many of them already have a house which they bought a long time ago when owning a landed property was not a dream but something you could achieve with a bit of hard work.

Now, if I wanted to buy a landed property around PJ, I would have to cough up around RM6K every month for nearly 25 years. More than half my salary and I will be probably be retired long way before the end of 25 years.

In other words, I can only dream of a house in Kelana Jaya, PJ. So renting is the only option for now unless I come by some good fortune.

Found this great link which asks you: "Are You Financially Ready To Buy A House In Malaysia?"

Wondering about the ancients - nine planets, flying chariots and WMDs

Yesterday my daughter was complaining about her boring history classes and asking me tips on how to remember dates and names. She was also wondering why we have to learn about history in the first place.

"What is the use of learning about people that passed away and events that happened long time ago?"

I was explaining to her, that we need to learn from history so that we do not make the same mistakes again and also to learn from things that went right. I also told her that I was in our school and University Quiz teams and was an extra reason I had an interest in memorising the details of things that happened in the past.

However, today morning I was pondering about our conversation while reading an article about ancient Indian. Thousands of years ago, the ancient Indians believed that there were nine planets and even worshiped them as Demi Gods. I even wear a pendant given by my Mum which is called Nav-Ratan in Hindi (9 Jewels) and Graha Mapan in Manipuri, which represents the 9 planets.

We know this to be a fact today and even there were some debate on whether there was a 10th planet and the removal of Pluto from the list of planets for a while.

The question that bristled in my brain was how these ancient people knew there were 9 planets when there is no evidence that they had telescopes.

Or were there advanced civilizations which had access to telescopes and other scientific equipment  and I then think about all the ancient Hindu epics with their flying chariots and weapons of mass destruction and wonder whether these were actually faced on facts.