MESHIO.COM

When tackling most problems, it’s often good to have an active approach.

Sometimes, however, it’s also good to look at the problem from a “passive” perspective. One good problem that would benefit alot from a “passive” approach is your income source.

A mentor, currently earning 6-figures income (per annum) in a giant corporation, sums it up by saying, “All these figures are just temporary. There’s absolutely no security. You should focus on building your passive income instead.”

Are you putting more focus on your paycheck or working hard building up your passive revenues?

To all my Muslim readers, selamat hari raya!

And for the home-going folks, please be extra careful on the road. I just drove down from PJ to Melaka and I’ve witnessed 2 very fatal accidents. Eat some coffee powder if you had to.

“Our banking hours are 9.30am to 4pm. All banks are like that.”

That’s the typical reply you get when you are few minutes late to the bank, as the security guard closes the glass door and looks at you like you’re a leper. Most of the banks are also Monday to Friday only.

If there’s a bank that is open on Saturday, that’s one bank that would definitely win my support. I don’t even mind if it’s closed on Monday. Saturdays are when most people are free to do their bankings.

Talk about putting customers first.

Average price for a wan tan mee is now RM3.80.

2 years back, a friend who started out her wan tan mee stall together with her husband started selling their hand-made noodles at RM2.70.

Almost 40% increment, in 2 years.

Back in 1993, the stalls alongside Lian Seng Garden’s main road, Ah Sau (阿嫂) is only selling it for RM1, with almost the same ingredients.

Almost 380% increment in 15 years, about 25% increment every year.

Government continues to tell her people inflation is at 8.5%.

Petrol to be reduced by 10 sen to RM2.45 per litre.

Diesel to be reduced by 10 sen to RM2.40 per litre.

Source: Bernama

Barely a month back, during the mother of all by-election in Permatang Pauh,

Petrol was reduced by 15 sen to RM 2.55 per litre.

Diesel was reduce by 8 sen to RM 2.50 per litre.

PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi also states that “although the world oil price had dropped slightly, the value of the ringgit against the United States (US) dollar had also weakened resulting in the 10 sen reduction being the maximum that the government could give.”

The government hopes the price reduction would ease the burden of the people, especially in celebrating the Aidilfitri.

A better way to ease the burden of the people is to stop all the rampant corruption and free the detainees now locked up in ISA. Also, listening to what the People is trying to tell you would be very important.

A 10 sen reduction is seriously not a very attractive diversion.

I never thought this would be possible given the way the Country is managed by the current ruling government, but I must give credit when credit is due. The Government should be complimented for making serious effort to go electronic, although compared to other neighbouring countries, we are not exactly very “ahead”. Sometimes, we just need to stop complaining and appreciate what we already have ;-)

However, as much as the process can be computerised…it doesn’t mean that the result will be pleasing to the end users.

Here’s one of the gems that I found from the navigational nightmare at www.gov.my- Online Business Registration.

I’ll keep it short here so that you can also start using the wonderful online services provided by our Government. It’s really a time-saver!

1. To get started, you must have Internet Explorer. Yes, a stupid but nevertheless an important requirement.

2. Next, you must register as a www.gov.my member to show your patriotism. Click here to register.

3. Once you become a member, you can now choose the type of business you want to register. Click here to see all the business types available.

4. To start entering your business details, you should login here. You would also be required to make a payment of RM 5 for a one year subscription.

5. You can also renew your existing businesses here at this link.

That’s it. It’s going to save you lots of money and trips renewing and managing your businesses with this neat online service provided by our Government. Since we’ve already paid for it (tax), we might as well utitlize it.

BusinessWeek has an interesting coverage on Where AIG Went Wrong:

The primary job of an underwriter is to spread risk around. In making bold bets on home prices, AIG left its business exposed to one terrible turn of events and is paying a steep price. For taxpayers, the question is how deep the mess can get—and how long it will take AIG to get out of it. Then there’s the issue of whether $85 billion is enough to do the trick. The government has taken a bigger stake than is typical in bridge loans, experts say, exposing it to the risks of a company whose capital needs have been escalating. “I don’t think anyone really knows the risks” says Vickrey. “If they say they do, they’re fibbing.”

Morale of the story: Even big companies can get into plastic problems! Even with today’s sophisticated technology to help us crunch numbers and data, it seems that the human element is constantly and will always be an unknown risk. The lust and greed for more profits, without considering the risks involved can be deadly.

Just thought this might be useful.

Applicable for general plastics termination in Malaysia. Fill up your own details and fax over to the credit card company.

Download the PDF here! (18.4 Kbytes)

You just need to make sure that the credit card company received the fax.

Thanks to Teh on his timely AIG coverage.

AIA Malaysia, AIG General Insurance M’sia reassure policyholders

AIA chief: It’s business as usual

AIA: Local ops strong, well capitalised

Insurer’s roots run deep in Asia

Fed takes control of AIG in US$85b bailout

Citigroup sees AIG’s mark-to-market loss at US$20b

US stocks tumble after government bailout of AIG

Will AIG plan cost taxpayers money, or just sleep?

Short-term US Treasury demand soars after AIG bailout

AIA says it remains strong

It’s the time of the year again to campaign for cancer awareness. Please don’t miss this meaningful event if you can. It’s just 2-3 hours of your time on a refreshing Sunday morning, but it’s going to mean alot to cancer patients nation wide.

Here are the 2008 Terry Fox Run for KL’s details:

Date: 2 November 2008 (Flag off 9.00 am)

Venue: Taman Tasik Perdana (Lake Gardens).

Participants are to be at the assembly area by 8.45 am.

All participants must run on the designated route. To participate, you can purchase the limited edition Terry Fox 2008 T-Shirt from the following locations:

1) Ms Chan Siew Wan / Ms Lee Siew Bee at the Canadian High Commission, 17th Floor, Menara Tan & Tan, Jln Tun Razak (6th October onwards)

2) Ms Yoon / Mr Peter Kang at the Cancer Research Initiatives Foundation (CARIF), 2nd Floor, Outpatient Centre, Subang Jaya Medical Centre (6th October onwards)

3) Ms Tila at the Foyer, Ground Floor, Menara Citibank, Jalan Ampang (12.00 to 2.00pm, 20th October until 24th October)

4) At the Lake Garden on Run Day (2nd November 2008)

If you would like to be a volunteer, contact Ms Jo Tan or Ms Yoon at organizer@terryfoxrunkl.org

Email contact: organizer@terryfoxrunkl.org

I would suggest getting your Terry Fox Shirts before the event. Usually, 2-3 weeks prior to the event, -there’ll be announcements by the organisers on “Collection Booths” around Klang Valley. Last year, I remember there were booths in Bangsar Shopping Complex and Jalan Ampang’s Citibank. Will post the information if I get winds of it.

Also, arrive early to avoid traffic jam. Car pool if possible.

Bring your own water and avoid drinking from the Milo van. Most of the runners last year had very bad stomach ache after consuming the “Sihat dan Kuat” beverage, including yours truly.

Also, I would suggest that the organisers and event sponsors avoid giving out plastic bottled waters since the amount of rubbish and plastic waste generated is very un-eco-friendly.

Nope, there’s no official website this year for Terry Fox Run for KL 2008. Surf to www.terryfoxrun.org for more info. It’s a pity, we’d a great fun helping to run the site last year :~(