Malaysia Money Matters

In these times of high prices and low salaries, a lot of people get into financial difficulties when they end up with a lot of credit card debt to maintain their lifestyle. Anyway, no judgement - mistakes happen, I've been there too. The thing is how to get out of it. This is where I think personal loans are not too bad. Well, they are expensive if you take a long tenure but if you know how to use them wisely, they can be very useful. As a banker, these are the tips on how to maximise on your personal loan: 1. Have a clear objective: Such as to clear off your card debt AND that you are going to stop using that card! The lower monthly monthly repayment is meant to relieve your monthly budget and create a set timeline to pay off that amount. 2. Be disciplined: Per no 1, don't run up another debt on another card for goodness sake. 3. Sign up for the lowest TENURE, not the lowest rate: The shorter tenures have the cheapest rates anyway. If you try shopping around ...

There is some word, unpublicised as far as I know, that Bank Negara is looking seriously into the valuation practices of local banks. Mainly the way in which loan sales offices shop around valuers to get the valuation for the loan because it could be one of the factors driving up property prices. Well, in a way, yes it is a contributing factor but the margin of difference at which they are valuing is not really that large - based on observation, it is a fluctuation of about 5% to 7% in "hot areas" but true enough also that in low transacted areas, they can undervalue as much as 25% of the asking price. Which begs the question of is the market pricing too high or are valuers judging at too low / judging too high in hot areas in order to get the deal to do the final valuation report? After all, if they keep giving low verbal valuations, they will not get the business. If they give high values all the time, then it is an advantage to the seller and doesn't take into ...

It was bound to happen eventually - the lax way the government wastes money, leakages everywhere and so on. In the long run, this downgrade is probably a good thing. It is a wake up call that we have to DO SOMETHING concrete to move our economy to the next step! Off the top of my head, with but a stroke of a pen, the government should: Impose GST - not just to broaden the tax base but to create more oversight into businesses; lets face it, there's way too much cooking of the books. How can business tax be almost equal to personal income tax? (Govt tax revenue sources by petroleum: business: personal is roughly 33:35:32) Shut down / tightly control the money changers and remittance houses - they are the key channel for fund leaving the country under the radar. Banks have to monitor and report to Bank Negara on fund flows but these organisations don't have to. Why? And it's already proven that funds from corruption by politicians have left the country this way. So ...

As we get closer to the date (who knows when it will ever materialise .... talk about dragging it out), a new article on Malaysia Today links to a so-called campaign by Anas Zubedy  called "No Free Rides" calls for Malaysians to write a letter to their MPs articulating what you would want and then based on their responses, vote for the one who agrees to your wishes (!). Now, I'm rather conflicted about this guy - am not quite sure if he is naive, idealistic, has a hidden agenda, just doing this for attention (for his business) or all of the above. He always comes across, to me anyway, as a mix of smarmy and sincere. Not a good combination, believe me. Anyway, what he's calling for is not wrong - in an ideal world, that really should be how we decide on which politician to vote for.. but practically? Hmm.. Nonetheless, 'tis a good exercise to think through what each of us finds important. Ultimately, what we want is the best for our country, right? So to ...

Many people, including those in the government, think that credit cards are bad, bad, bad. So is fire, doesn't stop you from using it, does it? I would argue that if the rules are set properly (not arbitrarily as they are now), AND taking into account lessons learnt from Taiwan and South Korea on how to jump start your domestic economy but without most of the dire problems that can come with a consumption-led boom, then listen up: But first, some background. There are about 11-12 million working adults in this country. Only about 4 million actually hold credit cards. What about the rest, you ask? Based on the Bank Negara guidelines, they don't qualify due to their lower income or lack of income documentation, say hawkers etc who deal in cash and don't keep proper records. The consequence of that is that these individuals are essentially LOCKED OUT of the formal banking system, so who do they turn to when there is a need for cash - you got it, the loan sharks. Why do...