Petrol price increased

Source: Petrol to cost RM2.70 from midnight (updated)

Yesterday they said the subsidy is going to be reviewed, but only changed by August.

Now, they are going to increase petrol from RM1.92 to RM2.70 per litre by midnight!

When I was coming back from Melaka Raya, the whole road near Bukit Baru was jammed, due to the long queue of vehicles waiting to pump in petrol and get some "savings" before tomorrow.

The Petronas in Bukit Beruang had one of the worst queues, where it starts from the traffic light, and ends near the end of road near pasar malam.

With the increase of 40%, I dread to think of the prices for all the food and commodities tomorrow.

I hate the way they always suddenly announce prices are going to increase by midnight.

Can't they announce it like a few days beforehand, so that there won't be any rush?

KLCI is going to drop greatly tomorrow.

Melaka Land Office Mistake again?

"Some 36 property owners, whose buildings' back portions on the Malacca River’s reserve along Lorong Hang Jebat have been earmarked for demolition, want the state to spell out its plans.

One owner, Ken Lai, 55, said the 30-day notice calling for the demolition was unreasonable.

“The Malacca River project has been going on for two years and the authorities never mentioned anything although measuring the area six times,” he said here yesterday.

In February, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam had degazetted acquisition of 143 properties in Lorong Hang Jebat, Jalan Kampung Pantai and Jalan Kampung Hulu.

He admitted that the land office had made a mistake as the Jan 17 notice of acquisition was for abandoned or derelict buildings only."

Yeah right, it's just another "mistake" on the land office part.

Source
Property owners: Spell out plans

ESOS Tax Calculation

I had just completed my income tax online remittance. I wanted to submit earlier, but there was a problem, I do not know how to calculate tax for my Employee Stock Option Scheme's gains.

After consulting blupi and googling,I found the following page in FPAM:
When exercising your ESOS, consider also the tax implications.

Key points of the ESOS tax calculation:

1. We are not taxed for the gains made when we sell, since we normally wait until the price is high enough for us to make a profit.

2. Instead, we are taxed for the difference between the price of the stock option and the market value of the stock at the date of the stock option's offer.

3. The gain is not taxed for the current year, instead it will be counted as taxable income for the year the option was offered.

Dell's Prices

Since my PC is now AWOL, I am thinking of buying Dell's laptop. I am looking out for 17" laptops since I love big screens AND they can accommodate two harddrives (who knows, I may get a SSD one day).


I checked the Dell's Malaysia website for the 172o. Current price is RM 3,399.

Hoping that Dell Singapore will offering it for a cheaper price, I found that the opposite is true, 1720 is selling for S$1899. Current exchange rate is S$1 = RM 2.3249, which means the price is RM4414.

Looks like I am better off buying PCs in Malaysia.

Samy going for his ‘last term’

Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu will defend his presidency for the “last term” in the MIC party polls scheduled for March next year.

On the statement by Selangor state executive councillor Dr Xavier Jeyakumar that he would resolve the problems of the temples in the state, Samy Vellu said: “It would be better if they can allocate land for the over 2,000 temples in the state.”

Source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/4/5/nation/20860568&sec=nation

So, now that he's not a minister anymore, he is suggesting others to get lands for temple. Why didn't he try to get the lands before this?

For better, or worse?

Finally, a Pakatan Rakyat is formed. The only regret is that it is formed after the elections, and not before. It is a good start, and hopefully can help to improve our country's affairs.

However, I am not particularly impressed by the fact that they are forming a coalition, instead of merging. I know due to some ideologies which are different, a merger will be hard for all the three parties, but I do hope that there would be a single party instead of three in it.

Multiple parties means there will be conflicts, even though Anwar said "The agenda is clear. Whoever is the Mentri Besar or Chief Minister, it makes no difference as they are tied to policies determined by the Pakatan Rakyat." Hopefully, I will be proven wrong.

1 cent in Malaysia

Come April 1st, all bills will be rounded to the nearest multiple of five sen in Malaysia. 

I just know that it doesn't mean that 1-cent coins are useless, but that it is still legal tender for payment. 

"According to Bank Negara, the introduction of this mechanism is to reduce the demand for the one sen coins. However, the coin remains legal tender for payment of goods and services."

Source: http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/3/30/nation/20795547&sec=nation

PSP Slim and Lite aka PSP-2000

I am looking around for a PSP Slim and Lite aka PSP-2000.

In ebay, the cheapest I have found so far (24 March 2008) is RM758 with the following items:

SONY PSP Slim & Lite console (3.80 M33-5)

4GB Memory Stick Pro Duo

ORIGINAL AC Adapter (100v-240V~0.3A 50/60Hz)

ORIGINAL Battery Pack (3.6V 1200mAH)

User manuals

Accessories:

Crystal case

Screen Protector

Earphone

Wrist Strap

Cleaning Cloth

Pre-loaded games

However, it is missing a USB cable, which I presume will cost a few tens of RM.

I am pondering whether to get an 8GB Sandisk after I read this comparison between Sony and Sandisk.

Reasons for getting PSP?

Games, multimedia, wi-fi, web-browsing, GPS, and now Skype. :)

Mayhem in Terengganu

PM: Appointing anyone else is against Constitution SEPANG: The appointment of anyone but Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh as Terengganu Mentri Besar is unconstitutional, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. “Most of the state assemblymen support Datuk Seri Idris. This fact remains unchanged. They are in agreement,” he told reporters after attending the 10th Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix yesterday. Therefore, appointing anyone else is not right constitutionally,” he said.

Expert: Sultan’s discretion not absolute
Universiti Teknologi Mara Law professor Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi said the position of Kijal assemblyman Datuk Ahmad Said would not be safe even if he was appointed the Mentri Besar by the Sultan of Terengganu. “The Sultan has discretionary powers but this discretion is not absolute. The Sultan is not bound to listen to the advice of Umno divisions or the Federal Government but he has to listen to the state assembly,” he added.

First, BN said LKS did not show respect to the Perak Regent.

Now, they (BN) themselves are not showing respect to the Perlis Sultan, and now the Sultan of Terengganu.

They even had their supporters march to the palace holding banners, with no watergun or police stopping them.

Samy: Who will stand up for Indians?

KUALA LUMPUR: The time is not right for a single party system in Barisan Nasional as suggested by Gerakan, MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said here. He said in today’s political situation, such a move would dilute the rights of the Indian community. Samy Vellu said a smaller community like the Indians have to fight for their rights and that could only be done through MIC.

Source: Thestar (Samy: Who will stand up for Indians? )

"Indians have to fight for their rights"? "Could only be done through MIC"?

Are malaysians really so vicious that we will ignore other races' plight?

I think if a similar thing is spoken in US/Europe, well, it would not go well at all.

We don't see anything like Obama saying, "Vote for me so that blacks' rights are protected", nor Hillary saying, "If you don't vote for me, whites will not have a big say in government".

Death Note?

I know this is old news, but for those un-informed, a certain infamous politician in Klang has died of heart attack, as reported by The Star.

This brings to mind a certain Japanese manga(comics)/anime/movie called "Death Note".

In the comics, the main character, Raito, was a very intelligent man whom happened to obtain a Death God's notebook, whereby by writing one's name on the notebook (Death Note), the man will die of heart attack within a few minutes.

Determined to use this book to create a world without crime nor corruption, Raito proceeded to use the Death Note to kill all the criminals daily using the name "Kira" (which is the direct translation of Killer in Japanese).

His arch-nemesis would be a detective with the codename, "L", whom somehow managed to link all the clues together to identify Raito as Kira. However, he (L) did not have proof of Raito's doings, and therefore L and Kira were engaged in a long but intense battle of wits.

Somehow, I think there the story is similar to the real life hacking battle story between Mitnick and Shimomura.

Penang Mega Projects

I am glad that Koh Tsu Koon has helped to appeal for the mega projects in Penang. It would be best if the projects are kept going since they had already been planned and approved before the elections.

I hope the gov know that cancellation of the projects would mean that they are just election gimmicks, which they emphasized are not.


‘Keep all mega projects’
PENANG: Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng found an unlikely ally in his political foe Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon when both leaders urged the Federal Government not to scrap all major projects in the state.

Lim urged them not to “cut their noses to spite their faces,” adding that if they wanted to punish the people for voting in the Opposition, “then you may end up punishing Kedah, Perak, Selangor, Kelantan and the Federal Territory as well.”

“They should also understand that the Prime Minister is not the prime minister of one political party but the prime minister of all Malaysians,” he said.

Dr Koh, who is Gerakan acting president, appealed to the Federal Government to continue with the implementation of mega projects in the state although it was now ruled by Opposition parties.

“These infrastructure projects are crucial for the future economy and quality of life for Penang and our neighbouring states,” he said in a press statement.

Among the projects he mentioned were the Second Penang Bridge, Penang Outer Ring Road, monorail and the public transport system.

“Successful implementation of these projects will also ensure that Penang will continue to grow as the hub of the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) and the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT),” Dr Koh said.

Source: http://www.thestar.com.my/election/story.asp?file=/2008/3/15/election2008/20651540&sec=election2008

NEP under threat?

DAP decision will affect all Malaysians, says Hisham

Umno Youth chief Hishammuddin said The DAP’s decision to abolish the New Economic Policy (NEP) could cause national instability.

“Such irresponsible actions from DAP will only worsen the economic disparity of our multi-racial country.

“All the while the NEP has served to maintain balance in such issues.

“We cannot allow a large part of the country's economy to be ruled by the minority races while the majority race is abandoned without representation,” he said.

Source: http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/3/14/nation/20642620&sec=nation


Police disperse protestors in Penang
A big group of protesters, mostly Umno members and supporters, took to the streets around Komtar after Friday prayers to protest against Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng's remarks on the New Economic Policy.

Chanting “Hidup Melayu” (long-live the Malays) and “Allahuakbar” (God is great), the protesters marched towards Komtar in Jalan Dr Lim Chwee Leong at about 2.30pm.

Ahmad Ibnihajar denied that the protest was led by the state Umno but claimed that the Malays had gathered in response to an SMS circulated on Friday.

Source: http://www.thestar.com.my/election/story.asp?file=/2008/3/14/election2008/20080314153313&sec=election2008

Call to scrap mega projects

The state Umno will “persuade” the Federal Government to scrap all the mega projects in the state in view of the people's clear rejection of Barisan Nasional.

Since Penangites do not want development, the Federal Government should not force it on them, said state Umno liaison committee secretary Datuk Azhar Ibrahim.

He said that this was not Penang Umno taking revenge “but we are actually giving the people what they want”.

Source:http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/3/14/nation/20641797&sec=nation

Is NEP really that important? Has it really helped all the Malays? Is this really good governance? Does voting for opposition really mean that we do not want development?

Malaysia's direction?

Source: http://business.theage.com.au/malaysian-voters-open-the-door-for-anwar-ibrahim/20080311-1yrf.html

As written by Michael Backman:

"The nightmare scenario for Abdullah is that Anwar's wife, who was again elected on Saturday, will resign in the coming months, forcing a by-election at which Anwar will be elected. He might then help to coalesce the opposition parties into a more unified and effective voice. If he were to lure the Chinese-based MCA and perhaps the Sarawak-based United Traditional Bumiputera Party away from the ruling coalition, then the opposition would have precisely half the members of parliament. And if just one more government member were to walk — Tengku Razaleigh perhaps — then the Government will fall after 50 years in office. The current 13-party ruling coalition would be replaced by a five-party coalition. Whether or not this happens, there will be constant tension from the fact that it might."

Perhaps MC* can really change its image, by doing the right thing this time. Too many times have we seen they defend the undefendable, and did not speak up for everyone.

New Malaysia (hopefully)

BN lost heavily in this election. I expected BA to get some seats, but winning 5 states is surely the beyond the wildest dreams of even Lim Kit Siang.

With BN forming government with a simple majority, it is hopeful that the national w*sting and c*rruption can end, with the opposition having more voice in blocking things that are not beneficial to Malaysia.

However, I am still in doubt as to whether DAP, PKR and PAS can form an effective partnership.
Case in point is Sarawak and Sabah, where they are not able to reach agreement on who to field against BN.

Anyway, I am hopeful that with this result, Malaysia can grow stronger.

My sentiment is that everyone regardless of race and religion, should be able to enjoy peaceful life.

In my opinion, in terms of secular country's governance, we should look at Turkey, where the country's is secular, with not much conflicts between Muslim and non-Muslims.