Malaysia Money Matters

A summary post of my thoughts and learnings from buying property and renovating - while there are tons of discussion forums, you'd have to trawl through a whole lot of (rather badly written) comments and sift through the rantings, boastings and fluff to even get a glimmer of useful information. So here goes and hope it helps: The majority of Malaysians prefer to buy brand new properties from developers. There are definitely advantages in terms of lower pricing and the satisfaction of owning something first hand. However, there are hidden costs to it too - primarily the risk of uncertainty that touches many aspects of a new development that includes: Risk of non-completion - this is the worst one, you're stuck with a loan or if you paid cash, you can't liquidate. Risk of non-compliance - I have viewed a 2nd hand property before where the owners have been cheated by their developer: the S&P states that the house dimensions were 22x60 but they only built it to 2...

A little bird told me that Bank Negara is adamant about pushing down the merchant interchange fee by as much as 60% i.e. from 1.2% down to 0.5%! The banks are obviously not happy about it because it is going to be an immediate hit on revenues. However, for those banks who are big on merchant acquisition, the impact may not be as bad IF this drop in rates brings about a large growth in volume due to wider acceptance. So the volume growth off-sets the drop in earnings per transaction. To me, this is a good thing because one of the resistant points towards more cash-less transactions is the merchant rate. Retailer don't want to accept cards for small transactions because they contend (which I think is bullshit) that they don't make money off these. Please, bitch, you shouldn't be in business if that is the case. Unfortunately, this move is one-sided in that it is only about the MDR but the majority of people out there don't even have a credit card (like 70% of the ...

I'm going to rant a bit. Ever notice how some people, despite a nominal RM1 parking charge Will Still Park Outside and BLOCK TRAFFIC? Yessss.... so I've come to label them as "cheap asses". Cheap. Ass. Of course their justification would be, "Oh you know, anywhere you can save a dollar, why not?" etc etc. I agree. One should save where one can. But if you become a NUISANCE in your so-called quest to save money, then you are a Cheap Ass. Here is my definition of being economical: Saving money through proper planning and creativity. Let's break it down: Proper planning = planning your trip to the mall to get whatever it is you need, knowing what's on sale, buying things you need (NEED, people. Not 'want'). Cheap asses don't plan. They just do whatever they want like go crazy, snatching stuff at sales, thinking they're saving money on parking by parking on the street, flood F&B outlets with their damn Groupon vouch...

Hands up those who got all excited about the concept of Groupon and other similar websites that offer seemingly impossibly high discounts on goods & services? Frankly, I've always been wary of these deals. Unfortunately, I have friends who love this kind of thing and want to drag you along on whatever 'deal' they've gotten. Sigh... So what happens is that I go along and invariably, it sucks. Here is why: Experience 1: Buffet, supposedly. It was a small pub / bistro in PJ. Well known for their BBQ lunch. This time, they did a Groupon deal for a buffet and free-flow of alcohol. Really got such a big frog jumping on the road*, meh? [* - literal translation of Chinese saying; meaning 'seems to good to be true', ie it (the frog) would have been caught and eaten a long time ago ] Holy crap, I tell you, it was the most painful experience EVER. The drinks were watered down and you can tell it was not a good brand that they used, very harsh tasting. I...