Why you don’t want your RM8.8 billion? Please claim it!

You received a cheque for dividends from shares you hold for a particular company. It’s probably less than RM100. You put in on the dining table thinking that you will bank in the cheque tomorrow. Unfortunately, you then spill coffee by accident and the cheque got wet. You tried to dry the cheque with some tissue papers and it got worse… You then think, perhaps I should ask the company for a new cheque and cancel this one.

You kept the cheque in your wallet and when you found it many months later, you were too lazy and decided to just forget about it. After all, it’s less than RM100 and it’s too much hassle to do so many things. You have a full-time job and taking a half-day leave to go and settle it will probably be more expensive than the money you are trying to claim… Many more similar situations but you get the picture… These are known as UNCLAIMED MONEY. There are now RM8.8 billion of these unclaimed money today.

Article in themalaysianreserve.com
 .  The Accountant General’s Department of Malaysia (AGD) managed to return RM2.13 billion to the public up to December 2019.  These accumulated monies include salaries, bonuses, commissions and other payments made to employees; dividends and profits declared for distributions; insurance claims; tender deposits; and sundry creditors or sundry debtors with a credit balance.

Besides these, the banks also channel the money from matured fixed deposits, dormant savings, current and fixed deposit accounts too.  The AGD is the trustee that oversees the unclaimed money. This year, the AGD launched an online portal called eGUMIS (Electronic Government Unclaimed Moneys Information System) to facilitate the public to check the status of their unclaimed monies. AGD said, “We do regular monthly awareness talks on unclaimed monies involving companies and firms at all AGD’s state offices across the country to ensure they comply with the requirements of the Act, maintain a complete unclaimed monies registry and lodge a submission of unclaimed monies to the registrar before or on March 31 every year.”

Yes, I have registered via the eGUMIS and registration took just minutes. Please ensure you have a smartphone next to you yeah. As for the search once you have logged in, the results from checking too just seconds! We only need to enter our IC number. Look at the image below for the screen after we logged in and wanted to start searching for the unclaimed money.

Click here for that official site from AGD yeah.
Happy claiming what we actually own and perhaps what we have forgotten that we have over the many years of missing some money here and there. Perhaps this is also a proof that the government departments are very serious in wanting us to claim back and we could then start using the money to buy whatever we want. Online shopping works too. Happy registering and claiming it yeah.

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Will ‘affordable’ homes’ prices go up?

Someone told me the other day that it’s best not to buy an affordable home. I think he meant those homes below RM300,000. The reason is because there may not be much property price appreciation for them. The reason? There’s just too many of these affordable homes in the market now and there’s more coming in the future. Our new government says they will build 1 million new affordable homes within next 10 years. I think his argument may have some logic but it’s good to understand a little beyond just the quantity itself shall we? Four questions for us to ponder.

1) Are we buying an affordable property solely to wait for price appreciation? If this is the case, the only time that we can do so would be when the property bubble bursts and the best time to sell would be when the property price is at the peak; before the property bubble bursts. Well, anyone here wants to advise me when are these periods in the future? If however we are buying for own stay, then buying one is definitely better than renting one. This is because the price is already a subsidised one and we could afford them.

2) Do we assume that land prices, construction costs and even salaries for the construction workers and the buyers to stay stagnant for the next 10 years? I say this because even with subsidy, there’s a limit because land prices will still be going up while the construction costs are usually trending upwards because of material prices and labour costs. I also do not think the CEO or the GM of these developers are willing to have the same salary for the next 10 years too.

3) Will everyone be staying in the same place they are staying today. When I was born, I stayed with my parents. My brother and sister too. Today, my parents are still staying in Ipoh. My brother, sister and myself, we stay in our own homes. Demand for homes will continue to increase because Malaysia remains a relatively young country. Graduates will flock to bigger cities to work and they will need a new place to stay. This is why the demand for homes will continue and usually in the first few years of their working life, they could only afford an affordable home.

4) The property prices in Malaysia has been going up by an average of 6.7 percent for the past 26 years. (1990 – 2016.) Let’s be much more conservative.  What if property prices would now only be rising by 3 percent for the next 30 years? (on average). If this is the case, then an affordable home of RM200,000 will become RM500,000 after 30 years. Assuming one starts working at 24, bought a home at 30 and retired at 60 one would have a RM500,000 home fully paid for at retirement. Not too bad, really.

In conclusion, would most Malaysians be able to save RM500,000 by themselves through their monthly salary when they retire after 30 years of working? I think the answer is, No. However, if we save slowly by paying for a RM200,000 property and even if we assume the price to be growing just 3 percent per year for the next 30 years, it will become RM500,000 after 30 years. When we think about inflation, it is very true that RM500,000 at that time may be equivalent to just RM200,000 today but it is still going to be a good sum of EXTRA money which the owner could sell and use if he wishes to. If he had rented for the past 30 years, he would have nothing to fall back on. So, buy or no buy when one could only afford an affordable home? Happy deciding.

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written on 7 Sept 2018

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There has been news about hotels closing down because of the Movement Control Order (MCO) which has now been extended to 12th May 2020. When we read a little more, then we realised the hotel was already suffering losses for the past few years even before the MCO.

There has also been news about some manufacturing concerns shutting down because they could not sell what they produce since the world is under a lockdown. Reading deeper, we realised that this manufacturing concern has been operating at a loss for years somehow. Okay, perhaps the MCO was the final nail in the coffin but MCO is definitely not the sole reason for closures.

What about shopping malls?
Earlier article on my expectations of a good mall.
That favourite spot for many people? Including tourists who just love to shop? That place where couples could catch their favourite movie after a relaxing dinner? That mall where the supermarket is always packed? Mother doing grocery shopping,  father could go to his favourite shops and the kids could just drop by their favourite cafe. After everything is completed, the family will choose a restaurant to eat their favourite delicious meal? Today, all these malls are empty. Would people return? Will MCO spell the end for shopping malls?

Article in FocusMalaysia.com
  Malaysia Shopping Mall Association has estimated that the losses for the retail industry could be around RM5.2 bil to RM6.2 bil in lost sales this year.  What will happen after the MCO? Malaysia Retailers Association (MRA) president James Loke said, “We are sure that the malls will not be totally empty, but social distancing will become a new normal since people would still fear being infected by the virus. However, we are not expecting to see a return in footfall at malls in the near term; maybe a full recovery of the industry will take up to a year.”

Retail design firm Visata Creative Sdn Bhd co-founder Timothy Liew said malls will still see visitors but less of them. He said, “As such, they will be wanting to go out somewhere and I think the easiest will be the malls. However, it is important for the malls to put in place necessary safety precautions to ensure that visitors feel safe, along the lines of limiting the number of people within the mall at any one time.”
Article in FocusMalaysia.com

This is my personal view. After so many days in MCO, I have already asked my wife a few times, “what day is today?” Haha. After having to be cooped up in my own home for such a long time, malls will be one of the first few places to visit because it is BIG enough to do social distancing. People will definitely feel safer since there are a lot more space for them to move around.
Earlier article on why online shopping will not kill malls…

I have been buying my groceries online and at the nearby 99-mart and convenience stores. I just buy whatever brand is on display at the shelves. Definitely not looking for my usual favourite brand. After MCO, I would love to go back to browsing through the many new brands and choosing versus just simply taking the only choice available from the shelves. So, a mall with a huge supermarket will satisfy what I would like to have.  Plus a visit to all my favourite cafes for a latte slowly over a few days. Too many days of drinking 3 in 1 coffee is making me go crazy…

There is more but I think the malls may just have a surprise in terms of recovery versus needing up to 12 months for the recovery. Oh yeah, some malls are also helping their tenants too. Read here:
Some malls waiving rental
 All these would of course also depend on the number of new COVID-19 infections lah. After MCO, please continue to practise social distancing and do what is necessary. Malaysians can lah. Happy staying at home and see you in some cafes after MCO.

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Will MRT Malaysia really start on time? Sure?

My friends asked me would MRT be on time since two unfortunate incidents happened recently. I told her that I believe it would. She said but won’t the construction be delayed? While I could not remember where I read before but I did read before that the MRT project was slightly ahead of schedule, before the two recent incidents. Anyway, based on a local media report, the first phase of the MRT, from Sungai Buloh to Semantan would be open by December 2016. As for the whole project, it would be delivered on time by July 2017. This was announced by the Minister in Prime Minister’s department, Datuk Seri Idris Jala.

Actually, for a huge project, the safety aspect is always a challenge. Perhaps during the beginning, every subcontractor would abide by the safety rules and regulations but without continuous reminder and checks, some may start to slack and you will see incidents happen. If you think this is just in Malaysia, think again. Within just this year, the Singapore’s Manpower Department took action against 174 companies for safety related issues. These include construction sites and four were issued Stop Work Orders. Most recent event included an empty cable car under testing falling down at the construction site. Fortunately no one was injured. Of course, coming back to Malaysia, I seriously do hope that all these are reported more transparently in Malaysia too.

GAMUDA Bhd’s group managing director Datuk Lin Yun Ling also said that 60 experienced safety managers will be appointed to ramp up safety monitoring of ongoing construction of the MRT project. These managers would be stationed on site and will not be just for safety aspects but also the quality of the work done. Coming back to my friend, she still insist that the MRT project will never start on time. I told her, I am still confident that it will be on time. Truth is, implementation works in Malaysia has always been criticised but when the right company with the right people really put their effort and mind into it, most of the time it will be completed. Time would tell whether my friend is right. In the mean time, don’t stop viewing new project launches nearby MRT even if you may not have funds to buy at this moment. You learn more when you visit instead of sitting at home playing video games.

written on 31 Aug 2014

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Will property prices ever come down? Realistically?

Few days ago, I was chatting with Ken Lim, the founder of Penangpropertytalk.com  The issue revolved around the possibility of property prices downturn. Today, he wrote an article about it.
Read it here
.
 He gave an amazing example which everyone can relate to easily. His friend who owns a semi-detached home worth over RM2 million in the island of Penang asked him about the possibility of the government doing something to control the property price. The reason he asked was because his daughter wanted to buy a property. Ken asked his friend to sell to him (Ken), his semi-detached home at the original developer’s price. His friend rejected him instantly. Ken told his friend that this is the reason why
house prices, once up

would be find it hard to come down.

I told Ken that I related a similar story to the staffs of a Singaporean bank recently. They asked why would prices not come down? Well I explained that the possibility of house prices not going up can be seen from the prices we pay today for a bowl of curry mee. Long time ago, a bowl of curry mee costs just 20 cents or even lower. At that time, a house can be bought for less than RM10,000. IF, everything remained exactly the same as long time ago, then the prices of houses would not rise. If it did not rise, it does not need to come down. At the same time though,
nothing would ever change.
 This is the price of development. Before 2009, there were less complaints about the too expensive home prices. Long time ago, there were not even smartphones or Starbucks. No 80 inch LED TVs. However, is that what we really want? The life of yesterday? When I was young, for one fried ikan kembung, we had to share between me, my brother and my sister. Today, I do not even stop with just one fish. Oh yeah, if you long for the
life of yesterday
, you may not be reading this too because no one would be willing to pay 50% the price of a house of yesterday for a Macbook which I am using currently.

Oh yeah, there is definitely a chance for prices to stay stagnant. Using law, every type of houses built have a pre-determined price. Condo should be just RM350,000 and nothing more. Double Storey Terrace must only be RM500,000 and nothing more. Developers do not need to build a differentiated type of condo. In fact they can copy and paste a similar one for every NEW development.
Land prices must not change or go up.

You buy land at RM2 per sf, you can only sell at RM2 plus a little inflation later. Thus, land owners should not make a profit. Salaries should also just stay the same every year. 🙂 Hey, there’s no inflation, thus why ever higher pay? Okay, I am joking but please note that when we look at the fundamental of why prices would continue to inch up, we would understand that it has to move up. Make no mistake, if your
salary is not moving as fast
, you either have to buy a cheaper unit first or you work harder and make your pay become higher faster. Perhaps a third one, wait for the affordable homes from the government.

In Forrest Gump, the famous sentence was, ‘Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you gonna get’. For property, it’s like climbing a mountain. If you are not skilful enough, just start with the hills. If you are very experienced, you can try the mountains. One thing is for sure, whether you are a good climber or a bad one, you would still have to climb or you can only stay at the foot of the hill or mountain and watch as others climb. Some may climb too fast and may fall down. Some may found a short cut and thought they will continue to find these short cuts. During bad times, the volcano may erupt or landslides may happen but after all have passed, you better continue climbing because property prices will never be staying stagnant for a long time.

written on 2 Nov 2014

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Will Property Prices REALLY rise in 2022? (more slides!)

Will Property Prices REALLY rise in 2022? Does it also depend on who you ask?

Anyone selling you a property will definitely tell you that property prices will always rise no matter what happens. Anyone intending to buy cheaper property will tell you that the property market is about to collapse and thus prices will drop. If you are attending a property investment course… guess what the trainer will tell you?

What happens if the speaker is NOT from the developer, NOT a real estate agent and NOT running any property investment course then? What will he be sharing then? Of yeah, he does not have any property to sell too. He intends to keep his properties unless buyers are willing to pay his asking price which is definitely slightly higher than the market price. Oops… 🙂

I am honoured to be one of the featured speaker for NCBcircle’s event, “Ready for ASEAN-CHINA market?”

I will be presenting a total of 28 slides this time. Hope to see all of you in this event.

Raymond Chin, Founder of NCBgroup will be sharing something important for all parents. Further study in China with scholarships!

My good friend Dr. Daniele Gambero will be sharing something super important and applicable even for the future! His talk is titled, “Property Investing of the Future in PropTech World.”

Please take a look at the below for the full details.

Zoom ID is: 219 256 2778

If you are Non-Profit NGO and wishes to invite Charles Tan to give a relevant talk in your event, feel free to speak to us yeah. Email us here.
meiyun@kopiandproperty.com

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Open Category of Top 3 Winners

Press Release: Winners of Seremban 2 ‘S2 In My Eyes’ Photography Contest Announced

Winners captured scenic and poignant moments of living in Seremban 2, winning RM68,000 in prizes, courtesy of IJM Land and sponsor Nikon

From 1st November 2022 to 31st Jan 2023, IJM Land launched its inaugural
S2 in My Eyes
photography contest at Seremban 2, in collaboration with Nikon. And since then, three deserving top prize and five consolation prize winners, from both the Open and Student categories, have been selected after receiving more than 3,000 entries.

Captured by professionals, hobbyists, and enthusiastic student photographers, their moving images attest to IJM’s assimilation of the natural surroundings when conceptualising Seremban 2 as an immensely liveable township in the state of Negeri Sembilan.

The
S2 in My Eyes
contest also celebrates 28 years of Seremban 2 by showcasing a visual collage of the township. What IJM has provided is the supporting infrastructure that enables these lifestyle conveniences and leisure propositions.

Participants of all ages contributed to this visual celebration of the development even as they vied for lucrative prizes in cash and Nikon products worth up to RM68,000. The winners were presented with their prizes during a private award ceremony with Ng Oi Wei,-Sales & Marketing Manager of IJM Land, and Alex Moh, Senior Manager of Futuromic Photo AV Sdn Bhd in attendance.

PICTURE PERFECT

The final images taken within the Seremban 2 township, paint what it’s like being a part of the Seremban 2 community, expressed by the very individuals living here.

In the
Open Category
 (18-Years-Old and above), the top 3 winners are:

1/ Chua Bing Guan

2/ Joseph Yong Thiam Woon

3/ Hazize bin San

Consolation Prizes: Chong Keng Loy, Mohd Nazim bin AB Rahman, Lee Choon Long, Pang Heong Choon and Leong Chee Wai.

The top three winners here each received a cash prize of RM3,000, a Nikon Z fc mirrorless classic camera with NIKKOR Z 28mm f/2.8 lens (worth RM5,648) and a certificate from IJM Land and Futuromic Photo AV Sdn Bhd. In addition, the five consolation prize winners each received a cash prize of RM1,000, a SanDisk portable 1TB SSD card (worth RM1,726), and a certificate from IJM Land and Futuromic Photo AV Sdn Bhd.

In the
Student Category
 (18-Years-Old and below), the top 3 winners are:

1/ Lee Xuan

2/ Afiq bin Sharkawi

3/ Muhammad Aisar Hafiz bin Abdul Hafiz

Consolation Prizes: Shanise New Jia En, Muhammad Afiq Azfar, Jade Low Yenjie, Saw Zhi Qian and Tan Shu Hua.

The top three winners here each received a cash prize of RM1,500, a Nikon Z 30 Mirrorless camera with NIKKOR Z DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 VR lens, a SmallRig Tripod (worth RM3,918), and a certificate from IJM Land and Futuromic Photo AV Sdn Bhd. In addition, the five consolation prize winners each received a cash prize of RM800, a 1TB SanDisk portable SSD card (worth RM1,726), and a certificate from IJM Land and Nikon.

The involvement of younger budding photographers is also an impetus to launch the
 IJM Land Seremban 2 Young Photography Club
, besides being a creative avenue to engage with local residents.

MOVING PICTURES

Bing Guan’s, Joseph’s, and Hazize’s aerial shots focus on the four-acre lake as the centrepiece,  highlighting the tranquillity and peace of mind residents experience on a daily basis. There were also photographs by participants in the student category of children gleefully gliding down a flying fox and even chasing down bubbles – without a care in the world. These holistic elements speak of the highly competent town-making skill IJM Land has long been associated with.

Photo by CHUA BING GUAN

Photo by JOSEPH YONG THIAM WOON

Photo by HAZIZE BIN SAN

“It was intentional that creativity be allowed to flourish like the green topography in Seremban 2,” said Chai Kian Soon, Senior General Manager of IJM Land. “Hence, the only condition we had for the contest was that submissions had to capture any subject that portrays or interprets the daily happenings here. This could include lifestyle, work, recreation, people, and nature. I believe the winners have achieved that wonderfully with Seremban 2 as a source of inspiration and muse.”

And while the talented and skilled lensmen here may have walked away with the prizes, the essence of Seremban 2, including the landscape dotted with trees and the refurbished 15-acre City Park and S2 Club, show that there are many ‘insta-worthy’ backdrops throughout the development.

“Nikon is once again proud to facilitate the first ever
S2 in My Eyes
contest,” added Dato’ Billy Lai, Business Development Director of Futuromic Photo AV Sdn Bhd. “A picture paints a thousand words, and this cannot be further from the truth when trying to capture the natural beauty and the people that inhabit Seremban 2. Over the years, these photographs and those taken by up-and-coming photographers and visual content creators will serve to document the intimate details of what it’s like to live here harmoniously. This should continue even as Seremban 2 evolves and gains traction as a thriving township for generations to come.”

Looking back to 1995, Seremban 2 was previously a barren parcel of agricultural land. All these changed when IJM Land stepped in to develop it into the most progressive township in Negeri Sembilan. Spanning over 3,800, the township is now home to over 62,000 people, a population that continues to grow as the potential of Seremban 2 is eventually fully realised.

For further details regarding the final winning entrants, please visit this
 link
[1]
 .

-End-

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My MUST have list for malls, both old and new

Everyone have their
favourite malls
. I think today I will write about what I hope all malls would have to provide, especially to valuable shoppers like me. Haha. I buy all my groceries from the supermarkets within malls every week. Majority of whatever I normally buy are also from within malls. From my Macbook to my watches and moving on to even my current Plasma 51 inch TV. Thus, if the malls are able to fulfil my requirements, many of the retail outlets within these malls would be able to secure some businesses from me. I assume all malls would have enough food and beverage related outlets.  Here are my small requirements.

Touch n GO for car parks. Make it as hassle free as possible, especially for your treasure visitors. Please do not make me queue to pay for the parking and I would be terribly irritated if one of the machines broke down and the queue stretches longer than 10 pax. Do not be foolish, just do it.

Baby Rooms – Nope, I am not talking about just those provided by some of the anchor outlets like Parkson or Jusco. I am talking about some baby rooms which are provided by the malls themselves and please equip them right. If the baby room smells bad, I can safely assure you that it would be my last visit to the mall. Based n demographics, this is becoming ever more important and its best to do it before every other mall has it.

Toilets, quantity and quality – Please, not just one at each end of the malls. There should be sufficient numbers and it should be dry, airy and bright. Provide acceptable quality toilet papers please. There’s little need to force visitors to skip the mall simply because of the toilets. Oh yeah, there are 40 plus malls upcoming too.

Events, lots of them. – Let visitors come in one big group and everyone has something which can keep them interested. A branded warehouse sale for shoppers, a famous cartoon character and other entertainment for kids or even a dancing or singing audition where 30 participants alone would already be bringing along an additional 300 of their supporters easily.

Strong air-con – Any mall which made me sweat will only be visited once. I will also tell the world too. Let’s be objective. This is Malaysia, no one goes to mall because they want a sauna.

Supermarket – Any mall without a good supermarket is going to lose lots of visitors like me. Therefore, all the malls must ensure one of their anchor tenant is a supermarket. Please get one with lots of variety and not just have a small one.

My requirements are so simple BUT many malls do not fulfil them. That’s why there are many malls that I have visited only once. Just the other day I was in a ‘premium’ mall in Ipoh where its anchor tenant does not even have a proper baby room. I was utterly disappointed and it will be a very long time before I visit again. The reason for visiting again is simply because there are not many choices yet. Malls in the Klang Valley are not as lucky because
competition is heating up and thus the survival of malls are at stake
.
Happy visiting malls.

written on 13 Oct 2015

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With GST, demand may slow down next year. True?

Reported in the Star on 29th July. According to UEM Sunrise Bhd’s executive director, Datuk Izzaddin Idris, after GST is implemented, demand for homes may slow down. This is especially do in the second quarter of next year. This was also based on the scenarios in other countries which has implemented GST. Thus, the environment may be more challenging and UEM Sunrise Bhd are prepared to on hold new launches if necessary. In fact, some of the development plans may be changed based on market demands and trends. demand may slow down. Even margins would decline slightly with the rising costs and also due to the slower market.

Would this happen? Would demand really slow down after GST? I think this may happen because of the usual herd mentality. No different from the stock market. When everyone said Mont Kiara is better than Damansara Damai, even if you wanted to consider Damansara Damai you would think three times or more and still may decide on Mont Kiara despite the fact that you may have to pay higher and get a much smaller unit. Just like in Penang, even though Tanjung Tokong and Sungai Ara is just less than 25km away, but the prices are SO different! I have condos in both places. The bigger condo in Sungai Ara is still cheaper than the smaller condo in Tanjung Tokong! So yes, if the transactions start to slow down, even those people who needs to buy their first home would also think, perhaps I should wait a bit.

Another thing which I see is the affordability. The newer launches are no longer priced at a high premium. I think the developers are really in tune with the slowing transactions and are more willing to reduce some of their margins just so that they can sell easier. Just look at those which were sold out within past few months. Majority are RM500psf or around RM500,000. Not many are huge units and hitting higher than RM700,000. In fact even within Penang Island, any condo launched today at RM700,000 will face huge resistance and will not be easy to sell. The ‘affordability’ is a challenge. In actual numbers, if two professionals got married, both are engineers or senior finance executives, their total income would be RM10,000 or higher. It will not be easy but at 90% loan, they can still afford a condo up to RM800,000. Note though that not many are willing to take a high risk with RM700,000 or higher.

So, history aside, I personally also agree that these two reasons will be stopping many new buyers from buying. As for those who are buying for investment, there’s just not many of them around. For developers, they have to rethink their current launches or future ones. Perhaps smaller units, perhaps lower margin and perhaps really do a huge marketing to have the highest probability ever that anyone who needs a new home will see their launching. If you hit huge enough, based on probability and your ‘affordable’ pricing, it will still sell. Based on current demographics, demand is definitely still there.

written on 31st July 2014

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Affordability Availability: Penang Properties (Island).

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With kids, landed is better. Well….

I was talking to a friend recently and she told me that she was moving to a landed home and will be selling her condominium of over 1,300 sq ft. She then said that she was moving to a landed because of his 2-year old toddler. I have two little ones, I told her that I disagree lah. If she just likes landed, then move to landed lah. No such thing as moving to landed just because of kids. She then shared how dangerous it is for toddlers in high-rise because the toddlers may climb here and there. Seriously, even for a landed, the toddler can still climb here and there. Please do not tell me we have never heard of unfortunate incidents that has happened with toddlers in landed properties…. I did not debate with her further. Just wish her the best lah since that’s what she like.

Let me share why I think high-rise is really not that bad. Haha. Kids love to play. Get a condo where there is a nice playground forbids as well as a kids pool. I have had countless of happy moments with them and my wife usually brings them in the evening. It’s also where the kids get to know even more friends. Learn some good communication skills. My kids have been to their neighbours home many times and their neighbours have dropped by many times too. As usual, everyone refused to leave after they have played together. Haha.

There are a lot more space. Kids also love to run around. It’s definitely safer to run around within the condo instead outside on the road. For example, within my condo, there’s a huge publicspace where there’s even a jogging track, outdoor gym and lottos green grass. My daughter had her first pool session since 9.5 months. I am not sure how many would have those experience if they are staying in a landed, unless of course there’s a dedicated club house. Then again, if it is a dedicated club house, most people would probably not be able to afford those type of landed homes. My friend’s? Nope, just a normal double-storey terrace.

As for my wife, she has gotten to know so many other ‘Domestic Ministers’ like her in the same place and has even arranged for breakfast sessions together. I think she
likes high-rise even more than me.

Wait, it can’t be all good right. Unfair to landed homes. Well, after I parked my car, I have to walk around 70 metres to reach my home. (Good exercise, actually) I have to pay maintenance fees every month without fail, else I am barred from even driving in. The capital appreciation of high-rise is definitely slower than a landed since we cannot have more land in the future. Last but not least, I think high-rise would always be considered a ‘second-class’citizen compared to landed homes. (Note: I personally do not feel so, ok) There are definitely a  lot more reasons for debates but as long as you tell me, ‘I love landed because I love landed,’ I will accept it without any debate. Just don’t start telling me all those awesome reasons like I am moving to landed because my kids love landed. Hello….

written on 17 July 2017

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With RPGT, no more property investment

Someone shared in facebook recently that with RPGT at 30%, the property price would have to increase 40% in order to earn any meaningful profit. Perhaps there’s a confusion here. RPGT is Real Property Gain Tax. In other words, you pay tax on your net profit. If you sell at a loss, you pay nothing. Let’s examine this in numbers. We will only concentrate on the gross profit itself and see if it is still ok to invest if the property price increased by just 10%. We will not look at lawyer’s fee, valuation fee etc.

Property Price: RM500,000

Downpayment: RM50,000

10% up after 1 year, sell?

RM500,000 x 10% up = RM50,000 gross profit.

RPGT = RM50,000 x 30% = RM15,000.  Giving you a remaining profit of just RM35,000.

Considering your downpayment of RM50,000, the profit of RM35,000 gives you a return per annum of 70%.

Even if 10% increment happens only after 2 years, after doing back the same calculation above, your profit % is still 35% per annum.

When compared to FD rate, Unit Trust return rate or whatever typical investments, 70% or even 35% is a number you will never be able to get except perhaps gambling which gives you 100% return or even higher, IF you win.

So you can see, it is not true that with 30% RPGT, you need the property price to increase by 40% before it is worthwhile to invest. The main reason why RPGT comes about is not to punish people who buys one or 2 properties. It is meant to curb everyone stretching themselves too thin and keep out speculators who loves flipping out of the market. I do not think any of us want any property bubble to build and burst in Malaysia, right? Remember, if the sentiment turns negative with all these cooling measures, you may not hit the 10% profit above. Perhaps you may only hit 10% price increase after 3-5 years? Haha… Redo the calculation and you decide if it is still worthwhile. Remember, you must include ALL other costs into your calculation.

written on 1st dec 2013

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EPF ‘punts’ to profits vs other investment options?

I was about to go to sleep when a friend sent a message into a WhatsApp group which I was part of. She forwarded the message in the image. An article about how EPF punts its way to profits. In case you do not understand this term inside the newspaper, the word punt comes from ‘punter’ A punter is someone who speculates rather than invests. So, in essence, it meant that EPF is ‘punting’ to get profits. I do not have the full article but I asked my friend what would she do with her money inside EPF if indeed she dislikes this. Perhaps she could withdraw the EPF money into some Unit Trust approved schemes instead?

She said, yes, that’s a good idea. Then, I told her that the fund managers in these funds, especially the equity ones would also be very aggressive with her funds. Otherwise, the return is not going to be worth of ‘Equity Fund.’ Thus, it meant that there is a possibility for losses as well as gains. Equity funds are always like that. Need the fund to be very safe? Then Bond Fund. Bond here has nothing to do with James Bond. This Bond fund meant the money that comes in will be stable. When it’s stable, well, it tend to be on the low side. Would we be satisfied with the percentage year after year?

Next option, perhaps putting into Fixed Deposit, if she is able to withdraw that EPF money? She agreed though that the interest rate for Fixed Deposit is too low. What about buying a property for rental income then? Well, this option is not really available unless your total EPF money is huge. Then again, if it is huge, I recommend not to touch the money. Use your other free money to invest and earn more, then add this to your EPF money when you retire and suddenly you can do a lot and can go to many places instead of watching TV day and night and eat bread to save costs.

Suddenly, the choices are not that many. I am not a fund manager of EPF but on a yearly basis, we can read about what is the percentage that is being invested overseas to diversity, what is the percentage that is in government bonds thus getting fixed income and all the other percentages. The current CEO of EPF is not someone who will authorise all 100% of the whole fund to be used for this ‘punt’ activity if whatever the report says is true.

Oh yeah, who is this EPF CEO? Briefly, his name is Datuk Shahril Ridza Ridzuan. He was appointed to current role in 2013. Was previously Deputy Chief Executive Officer (Investment) of EPF, since 1st December 2009. He holds a Master of Arts (First Class) from Cambridge University and Bachelor of Civil Law (First Class) from Oxford University and has been called to the Malaysian Bar and the Bar of England and Wales. Yes, both degrees are First Class. To be honest, he may still be wrong in some of his investment decisions. No one can predict the world economy correctly at all times. However, if I am compared to him, I think my percentage of being wrong is definitely higher. So, my tiny money would remain with EPF and I hope he takes care of my money well. I need it for my retirement in future. Oh yeah, EPF being used to save some “stupid” companies? Sure, sure, I am very sure you have your valid points. Happy investing in anything that you believe is best.

written on 4 July 2015

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Without freebies, should you buy property?

Someone showed me a SMS about a property developer offering any introducer a fee of 0.4% if the deal goes through successfully. Another advertisement stated that special ‘Angpow’ package for all buyers worth RM28,888. During the CNY holidays, there were so many open houses, all offering food, drinks, gifts and lucky draws. So many freebies and offers, which one should you buy? Of course it’s the one with the highest freebie value! Just kidding. With so many cooling measures and so many uncertainty in the market, coupled with the fact that developers who aready to launch cannot delay their launching, the amount of freebies would be quite a lot for 2014.

Thus, I can safely say that for any launches for 2014, you should not buy if there are no freebies. Actually, there are projects which are definitely worth buying, especially if the developer has yet to launch, thus they would have adjusted the price to a level they feel buyers would be comfortable with. Gone are those which is RM750 psf and higher. When you buy at that price level, unless it is for your own stay, you are not going to get good rental yield. If developers are still adamant in launching these Rm750 psf or higher, it better have an amazing concept and a very big brand name. Suddenly, developers who has never ever cared for their branding will feel the pinch this year. Oh yeah, in the market of today, if your project cannot hit 70% threshold in 6 months, I think it will give doubts to buyers as to why not many people wanted to buy your project. If you have marketing budget, spend it wisely and DON’T KEEP IT. Regret is not a good option.

Today, majority of the projects I saw being advertised are those which are RM500 psf or if it’s slightly further away, it will most probably be RM400,000 – RM500,000. For example, I saw a Ken Rimba Condominium in Shah Alam starts from sub RM400,000. I think 2014 is indeed a very good year for those who are still looking for their first property. If you have saved enough, do not delay. Remember, the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. You missed it. The second best time is now; today. Rather than paying rental and making the house owner rich, think for yourself. For new launches in 2014, the developers better get ready freebies because if you can’t beat all the rest of the developers who are also offering freebies, join them.

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Women are better investors!

Interesting article in
 TheStar here. Women make superior investors.
The article quoted Propedia Consultancy founder and principal Vicky How who says that since women are more calculative, they are naturally better investors. She says, “It is a myth that men are better at investing. Women are more careful when it comes to investing their hard-earned money. However, women are often conditioned to believe they are ‘not smart enough’ to invest and so they leave it to the men. Actually, you don’t have to be smart to be an investor. You have to be calculative and this, women are.” It also quoted data from American financial services company Fidelity Investments in Boston. Fidelity says that women are superior investors because Fidelity discovered that women save more than man (0.4% MORE) and their investments earn more annually too (0.4%). (Okay, seriously I should not comment.
Please do read the article

to understand more of all the other reasons why women are superior investors yeah.)

Okay, what are your thoughts about this? Let me share about the story of three ladies then. All three were once my colleagues. A close friend, now in her 40s had just bought her apartment after working for over 10 years. I shared with her about property investment and why she should take advantage of opportunities to buy instead of just being satisfied with a home, even if she thinks as a single one home is enough. As usual, also shared the typical return on investments, calculated risks etc. She understood my sharing and today owns a few properties, not just in Malaysia but also outside Malaysia.

Another lady friend who’s over 30 and earns lesser than RM4k bought a property for her own stay after many years of saving for it. She attended a property 101 talk I gave to fellow colleagues and told me that she believe she should buy another property. To cut the story short, after some Q&A with me, she bought her second home 3 months after my sharing. Today, she has one home to stay and one place to rent out. Yes, she loves to save money.

Another close friend asked me if she should give up her ‘affordable’ apartment and pool the money with her husband for a condo instead. I asked her a few questions on the purpose of her affordable apartment, who would she be renting to since she will not be staying there, how much would the rental be since the nearest college is well known for its low fees etc. She decided not to buy the affordable home because the number of choices are aplenty today and she is currently enjoying her condo stay with her husband.

These three stories may not tell much about whether they are better investors or even superior as compared to men. However, these three stories show that these ladies are far readier to buy because they save MORE. It tells also that they are able to make firm decisions once they have had a long Q&A session which provided them with answers. Last but not least, they show to me that they may not start investing much earlier on because they do not have the knowledge to do so! Starting earlier is the key but it’s always better to start today rather than tomorrow. As for men who discusses property investment with me, they are usually younger and are usually the typical above average income earners. Did they buy after they talked to me? The answer is yes but usually even before they discussed with me, they already have some idea and decisions in mind.

A male schoolmate

lost THREE opportunities to buy one same place
 d
espite speaking to me three times over the years. First time was when he viewed a unit he deemed expensive even though I told him that he should quickly buy because people are snapping up all the available units. He said, ‘No need to rush, there are so many units.’ He did not get any unit and told me later than the ‘many’ units were actually the same unit and it was already sold.  Second time was a few years later when he said he wanted to upgrade to a bigger unit and he said my place is within his budget. After checking, he said all the units are TOO EXPENSIVE. He only wanted bare units for lower price and unwilling to pay more for renovated units even though I told him that the extra price he pay would still be by far lower than the renovation. So,he failed yet again.  The very last one was when I told him I wanted to sell my place (I was moving to KL) and that if he wanted, he can look at the market and give me an offer. He did not give an offer and said that my unit at Level 5 was not his first choice. My unit was sold 4 weeks later and when he learnt about it, he said, ‘Aiya, you should have reminded me and given me more time.’  I really do not know how to comment.

There was even a good male friend who kept insisting that the
housing market would collapse way back in 2009,

when the market was just starting to warm up. Is this showing to us that men are weaker when it comes to investment? Frankly, no idea. Happy investing yeah everyone. Cheers.

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written on 6 March 2018

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Wooing property buyers, local and foreign. Focus on many reasons, not just price.

Most of my friends from overseas love Malaysia when they came visiting for the very first time. A few days ago, I met an international motivational speaker from Dubai who told me that he has visited Malaysia a few times and he loved it here. He has visited many countries throughout the year to speak.  I forgot to ask him to buy a property here but you know, once you are visiting a country quite often and you love it, property usually becomes something probable.

A few days ago, a developer asked me if I could speak in Cantonese. The reason was because they may bring me along for their trip to Hong Kong. I think Hong Kong is a hot target currently. With the current uncertainty, some of the Hong Kong people who could afford an overseas property will seek some stability somewhere. Starting new is not something uncommon to them anyway because Hong Kong was another one of those tiny place without much resources long time ago. Malaysian developers believe more foreigners will be buying Malaysian properties soon.

Article in themalaysianreserve.com
   Mah Sing Group Bhd founder and group MD Tan Sri Leong Hoy Kum is confident that there will be more transactions involving foreign buyers soon. He said, “At present, we are engaging local and overseas agencies, along with a series of digital marketing initiatives lined-up to market our products in an effort to continue to leverage on the current interest from foreign buyers.”

“We are seeing overwhelming interests from Hong Kong buyers in our properties, especially from those who have excess funds and are turning to Malaysia for property investments in view of our many attractive qualities, including tropical weather, cleaner air and a good education system, among others.”

Gamuda Land COO Aw Sei Cheh said this about foreign buyers. “Our experience also tells us that foreign buyers are more interested in properties that are under construction compared to completed projects as they plan for their second home (in the) years ahead.” Please do read the full
Article in themalaysianreserve.com

kopiandproperty.com has 25% visitors who are from overseas every month and this has been a stable number for a long time. This is why I confidently tell people that Malaysian properties do not just attract the locals. Of course whether these interest with Malaysian properties will translate into more buying needs more effort from Malaysian developers yeah.

In fact I think they love Malaysia more than some Malaysians. So, why should these overseas buyers buy into the Malaysian property market? Lower prices versus other countries because of our currency strength? If this is the main reason, I will worry for the buyer. Should it not be for potential returns, for EQUAL RIGHTS with the local buyers, the diversity of places of interest and more? Plus the fact that statistics have shown that when we look at historical price trends of up and down throughout the years, the average is still a positive number? These reasons will all be important to share too. Happy promoting.

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Work very hard, invest and retire by 50? Possible?

Someone I look up to who’s also a reader of kopiandproperty.com commented on my recent article,
“
Car vs property? Well, car ownership do mean something, luxury one please
.”
He said,
“Working under employment cannot really make us able to afford luxury car (Audi/BMW/Merc) even at the senior management level. Sure the company can get you a luxury car but as soon as we resigned, we need to bid bye bye to the car. I think as a financially responsible person, one couldn’t pay a rm270,000 luxury car on a 15,000-20,000 salary from own pocket as there’re other priorities. However if one invested wisely and concentrate his firepower on the type of investment that he excelled, in my case..property investment. One can easily afford luxury car and retire before reaching 50 yrs old. That’s is the magic. But caution; to be successful investment, one needs to be knowledgeable, skills, bravery and a bit of luck.”
  Frankly, I agree with his view!  Especially the final few sentences.

Perhaps we look at the possibility of retiring by 50 years old? Assuming one graduates at the age of 24. That’s 26 years of working life till we reach 50. Please work hard and keep learning. If we are the top 20 percent of all workforce, then we would usually be promoted to manager before we are 30 year old. Since we started working at 24, for the first 6 years, we managed to save just RM800 per month on average. I am talking about top 20 percent performers yeah, not the usual staffs. We would have a total of RM57,600 when we reach 30 years old. Enough for downpayment as well as qualify for a 90 percent loan for a RM500,000 property.

Anyway, this is applicable as long as we did not buy a luxury car as explained above. From 30 years old onwards, our salary should already be easily RM6,000 or higher. By then, even after paying for the mortgage which is around RM2,250 per month, we should still be able to save the same RM900 per month so that 5 years later, we will have RM54,000 which is enough for our second RM500,000 property. That’s when we are 35. We assume that this second property does not give us positive return on investment for rental. So, every month we continue to have to pay an extra RM300 for it for the maintenance for example.

From 36 years old to 40 years old, despite our higher salary, we DID NOT spend more. Thus, this time, we could save RM1,000 per month. It will become RM72,000 and it will be enough for another RM500,000 property. We are now 40. Again, this 3rd property did not give us positive return on investment. Our second one is however okay already because rental has slowly caught up. So, it’s still just negative RM300 per month.

Assuming after buying that 3rd property, we no longer wish to buy anymore property and wishes to just save our money and watch the property value grow. Our first property, when we are 50 years old should have risen to RM1,000,000 based on a 4 percent increase every year. Conservative number I would say. Our second property bought when we were 35? That would have risen from RM500,000 to RM900,000 ONLY. Well, we stopped at 3rd property at 40 years old. that 3rd property would have risen to RM740,000 when we are 50 years old. I know, everyone wants to also calculate the interest lost, the extra that we pay every month etc but frankly, if we did not use it for property, would we be able to keep it somewhere safe anyway?

We assume our savings do not change from 40 years old onwards at RM1,000 per year. Using just the FD rate of 4 percent meant that when we are 50 years old, we would have RM150,000 from the compounded returns. In total, together with our properties, we should have around RM3 million.  We have not yet counted the amount we have in our EPF.  Of course, all these numbers are estimates yeah. Many would say that when the home is not rented out, then we have to pay for the full instalment ourselves. Noted.

In fact one would also have to be the top
20 percent performer so that one’s salary is high enough t
o do the above. Then again, if we could not even build enough ‘firepower’ why are we dreaming to retire by 50?  The value of money is definitely becoming smaller but right investments allow us to hedge against inflation which will ensure we have enough to retire. So yes, I think my friend’s comment on retiring at 50 is doable for the top performers as long as they did not buy that luxury car right in the beginning. Perhaps I should buy a commoner SUV in 2019? Haha. Then, when I could retire, I can exchange my SUV for an AUDI too. Happy believing.

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written on 23 April 2018

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or this
Spending unnecessarily is the real concern

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Working hard for money, resting enough to continue on. Nice.

HK Convention Centre

I was on a flight to Hong Kong a few days ago. T8 (typhoon) was declared and it has been raining ever since until today. Take a look at the image. Back to my flight. As I was reading the magazine on board, I heard an interesting conversation. On my left, a gentleman was speaking non-stop to his friend who was a great listener. He was sharing about all his business deals and that every year, he works just 9 months. He needed to rest for three months because its too tiring to work the whole year. He was sharing how most business deals are due to relationship building. When people like you, they buy from you. Else they buy from others. His friend nodded in agreement. He was also sharing that with his friend that with his profits, he could go for vacations and relax for three months but the most important thing was that he could save enough for a new property every few years. I have no idea if he was able to pay in full for a new property every few years or if it’s only enough for downpayment for a new property. Of course I would not dare to stand up and ask him. Haha. However, I think it’s important for all of us to realise that this ‘businessman’ understands that money is about
maximising what we have
 and life is about actually living it.

Working just 9 months per year and resting for 3 months sounds like he was in some sort of business which may be seasonal in nature. However, this is great and I would love it if my job can pay me for 12 months but I work just 9 months every year! What he shared with his friend is something ALL OF US should take note of. I already have many
friends who work very hard,
 so hard that they now have high blood pressure. One just told me that she was very tired yesterday evening but she only slept at 1am! The concept is this. The company will NOT collapse if you do not work until midnight. However, we will collapse if we fail to get enough rest after many days of working. A Hong Kong taxi driver told me that when he first got a taxi license, he wanted to pay for it as fast as he could and he was driving 18 hours everyday! One day, he crashed the car because he was just too tired. He realised that the priority would have to be his health too and not just money because he might have been killed. Let’s learn from all these people. Work hard, sure! Rest is however needed. Of course, it does not need to be 3 months lah……

He is also

investing his hard earned money.
 He said it’s a very tiring job. I still wonder what’s the business that he was doing. He was buying a property probably because he believed in the long term nature of property investment. Capital appreciation does not happen overnight but when we stretch it longer, the prices has always been going up. Just using the same inflation rate percentage would already mean the property is already helping us to hedge against losing the value of our money. RM500,000 property increasing just 2% per year? That’s already RM10,000 per year. Simple calculation means 10 years later it will be RM100,000. Regardless of inflation, RM100,000 is NOT a small number. I wish him all the best. Earning enough money for reinvestment plus enough rest is certainly a dream to many. Happy working hard everyone, including me.

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written on 14 June 2017

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Work in Singapore, stay in Phuket? Cool.

If you are an expat, would you want to work in country with high pay and stay in another country with lower cost of living? Living comfortably and luxuriously during the weekends instead of renting a small unit in the country where you work? According to Phuket Gazette in an article in propertyguru.com.sg there are already expatriates doing it. They are relocating their families to Phuket and commuting to work in major cities in Singapore, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok during the week. This could be done because of Phuket’s international airport. I did a check in google. Take a look at the image. The flight takes nearly 2 hours and there are up to 16 flights from Singapore to Phuket depending on the day.

According to Kevin Hodges, the North Branch and Investments Manager for Siam Real Estate, the reasons for these expatriates to do so include lower living expenses and infrastructure in Phuket. It has a number of international-standard medical facilities, improving infrastructure, beaches, numerous leisure activities, a low cost of living and a growing expat community. Besides that, if they were to stay in Singapore or Hong Kong, the expats could only afford much smaller units. There are also lots of international schools to choose from as well.

Assuming I do not doubt this, I would like to advise these expats to consider Penang instead. International schools, beach, lots of shopping malls and even popular medical facilities meant that it is on par if not better than Phuket. Secondly, it is also nearer in terms of flight duration. Third reason, there’re even MORE flights from Singapore to Penang on a daily basis. Take a look at the image below sourced from google. In terms of property, there’s no comparison because expats can buy freehold condominiums too. The only restriction is RM1 million or higher but rest assured, the choices are aplenty and when converted into SGD, it’s lower than even a HDB flat of 1,000sf or higher in Singapore. Lots of lifestyle type of products. There are definitely more restrictions in Thailand when we want to buy a property too.

ASEAN countries are not too far away from one another, especially Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia. It’s okay, I guess it’s alright even if they were to choose Phuket. The most important thing is that they know that there also other equal or better choices around. Happy travelling dear expats.

written on 6 Feb 2016

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Working beyond the age of 65?

Singaporean Prime Minister said that the Singaporean government will be looking at amending the Retirement and Re-Employment Act so that people older than 65 can continue working. The particular move was being negotiated by the unions, employers and the government. However, he said that older workers should also be willing to change their expectation in terms of the pay. It is quite impossible for them to be receiving the same pay because by then, at 65, the workers are no longer as strong as previously. He pointed out that there are 800 civil servants who were rehired out of 800,000 today.

Personally, I do not hope that my parents would need to work beyond 65. In fact they have retired many years ago. Staying in a cosy semi-detached house fully paid for and shopping at Tesco’s every few days. My mum told me that their expenses these days do not go beyond RM1,000 per month except if we are home and she has to buy a lot more. Haha. The Proton Saga is fully paid for and their mobile phones were gifts from me. I am not sure if anyone would be thinking like me but if my parents said they needed to work because they needed more money, I think between my brother, my sister and myself, we would give them more money and tell them not to work.

Some friends working in Singapore tell me that working there is great because of the strong S$. I think it is true to a certain extent, especially if you are there for a short period of time, save as much as you can and do some effective investments in Malaysia. However, in my mind, if it is really that amazing, I am not sure why is there a need for Singaporeans to work beyond 65. I have a friend who told me that if he is healthy, he would continue to work beyond 65 and find nothing wrong with it. I told him, I would retire as early as I could and would retire from all the project deadlines, customer complaints, sales target pressure and more. I would love to just travel, with my loved ones and enjoy coffee anytime I think I want. It does not even need to be Starbucks, I am ok with Kopi-O on and off too. Yes, I would love to travel even beyond 65 years of age. As for working for a much lower pay once I reach my retirement age and being looked upon by others as ‘slow’ or ‘yesterday’, I shudder at the thought.

written on 16 May 2014

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Working for a company and needing company

I cannot work alone. The reason is because I could not bring myself to. It would be so quiet and well who could I joke with occasionally?! Okay,occasionally I prefer to be alone but most of the time. I need company within my company. I support the flexibility of working from home but that is only if the person loves it plus the work is one that is repetitive for example. Anything else needing some interactions, the best is still through face to face conversations. Even for businesses, no amount of calls can beat a firm handshake and a friendly conversation followed by an “all the best and see you again” handshake.

Scoopoint @ Penang

Recently, I started to write about co-working spaces which I think will be a trend for a long time to go. In fact, it should be replacing most typical office spaces we have today, especially those sub 1,000 sq ft spaces first. I mean, if the company is still having fewer than 5 staffs, it is just not cost efficient to get our own place.  It’s not just about the rental. It’s also the environment. There’s no way that we will get a big enough place for a lobby with a receptionist, a lounge for a short break or even a ping pong table for us to thrash one another. It is not even feasible to paint and renovate the office to look cool plus switching on the air-conditioner the whole day without the fear of getting ‘killed’ at the end of the month when the TNB bill arrives and more….

Today, I read an article which reflects my thoughts. I just could not write as well as the writer at
Harvard Business Review could. Here’s that article.
The writer, Steve King tell us that co-working is not about workspace – It’s about feeling less lonely!’ Selected studies from the article as follows:

79% said coworking has expanded their social networks

82% of respondents reported that coworking has expanded their professional networks

80% reported that they turn to other coworking members for help or guidance

64% said their coworking networking was an important source of work and business referrals

These are also the other advantages mentioned:  In addition to reducing remote work loneliness, coworking spaces provide excellent business and technology infrastructure, strong networking opportunities, and exposure to innovative companies, products, and services. The article concluded by saying this, “creating community and reducing isolation and loneliness, coworking benefits both organizations and workers due to greater levels of work engagement, productivity, and worker happiness.” Here’s that
relevant article from HBR again.

I am not helming any small start-up and thus I do not need a co-working space. However, I do think if I have my own start-up, it’s definitely a co-working space for me and even after my company is well established, I think I will still frequent these co-working spaces for new ideas and connections. Oh yeah, I
recently visited a thriving one in Penang called Scoopint too.

Happy co-working.

written on 4 Jan 2018

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Working for money, buying property for?

The main reason why we work is for money. Right? Question, how many of us dread waking up on Monday morning? How many of us would prefer to get sick instead of facing your manager everyday? Sorry, I have not feeling this way for a very long time. You can say that my motivation level is high or that I could self-motivate myself? Or perhaps I feel ‘challenged’ at what I do currently? Anyway, I would love to
work for as long
 as I can because I love what I do and more importantly, I get money to pay my bills, to bring my family on a holiday and to pay for petrol as I would not be taking the MRT even when it is completed unless it’s absolutely necessary.  If you think that’s just me, fyi, I did a survey among my friends in Penang. I asked them, if there is a bus stop just 200 metres away and you need to stand for 30 minutes before reaching your factory and you have to walk another 200 metres before arriving at your factory, would you take the bus. It’s 10/10. None would take the bus.’

So all of us work for money. Then why do some of us buy our first property? Let me tell you four reasons why. You can smile but these are my real reasons.

1.
 I can afford one.
 Yes, truth is, my first one was just a small apartment of 700sf. I treasured it tremendously and both my wife and I still talked fondly about how we paid the deposit and we were finally owning our very own home sweet home. If you can afford one and you choose NOT to buy, you may not be able to afford one in future. Okay, perhaps you can still afford one which is smaller and further than what you would have been able to afford today.

2.
 I love my family.

If you seriously love your family, you need good financial planning. However, there are so many different ways. Buying property is the simplest, safest and most assured. If you and family love staying there, chances are, many other families would love it too. You need a place to stay anyway, So, if you are not so awesome in financial planning, buy a home and let your family have a home sweet home. Hard to go wrong on this one.

3.
Protect my money.

You worked so hard. You saved so much. Do you save it under your bed? Of course not. You save it in banks for interest. You buy unit trusts because all your friends said unit trust is good. Let me remind you that house prices increases based on it’s overall price. Even if your salary increases by 10%, your savings is not going to be able to keep up with the house price increase after a while. Fortunately, you can buy FURTHER away, for now. 2% increment for a RM300,000 house meant you have gained RM6,000 every year and increasing year after year. Saving RM6,000 and it is suddenly not easy…. right?

4.
Pain first, sweetness later
.  Let’s face it, when I do not buy a house and tie myself down to mortgage payments every month, I would have extra cash. With this extra cash my hands would be itchy and I may use it for some things like buying a bigger car than what I really needed. I may even use it to book a 5-Star hotel instead of a 3 star one for my vacation. I may buy new Iphones every year. Sigh, there goes my money unless I have no access to it. Think about it.

I know of many friends who said they do not work for money. They said family is more important than money. Yeah sure, you mean medical fees are free when your family is sick? You mean your family loves staying at home during school holidays instead of going on holidays? You mean your family members are happy when you give them your old handphone as birthday gifts? Please, get real. We work for money but how we use that money for real happiness, that’s up to you and me. Happy Investing.

written on 3 Sept 2014

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Is working in 1 job enough these days? How about 3?

Working 3 jobs? Possible?

I have many friends who bake during the weekends. The earnings are pretty decent by the way for some whom I know. Of course, all depending on how successful they market their home baked stuffs. One friend made special chilli sauce and it’s really delicious. I finished two bottles already.
Here’s her instapage if you love special chilli sauces
and many more different bakes.

I also have a few friends who are real estate negotiators and they have a second income from some of these second job; selling insurance, driving GRAB, part-time tuition teacher and even website developer. Check this out if you need to have a great website. You would not extra discount even if

Article in malaymail.com
  Workers in tertiary sector (office and admin jobs) are using the Overemployed.com website to try to combine several jobs.

Out of boredom or fear of being fired, they test the limits of their productivity to double or even triple their pay.

In order to find a way out from current, less than desirable situations, a community of “overworkers” has formed in the United States.

Coming mainly from the technology, banking and insurance sectors, these employees are combining two jobs. Please do read the full article with a lot more details here:
Article in malaymail.com

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Working in KL city centre but living 100km away, would you?

Answer was a firm no out of all the few friends whom I asked. One old friend did however drive around 100km daily from his home in Penang island to his office in Kulim, Kedah. However, seriously if your office is at the fringe of the city and you can buy a property of your dream 100km away, would you want to drive 100km per day to work? At a constant speed of 110km per hour, point to point may take you just 1 hour. This is no huge difference from a slow moving jam of 20km which would take up almost the same amount of time, not to mention the stress that you need to endure from the unprofessional drivers.

How far is 100km away? 100km is already halfway to Ipoh from KL. Tanjung Malim is 70km away. Seremban is also 70km away. Port Dickson is slightly below 100km away. Malacca is 142km away.  Average property price in KL is RM673K. The average price in these secondary cities are much lower than KL’s average, not to mention bigger as well. Have you now decided to think about it, seriously? My friends are still looking at me and shaking their head. Haha. Ok, I give up, perhaps 100km is still not a distance which majority of Malaysians would accept.

In terms of actual costs of this travel, assuming you are driving a 1.6 litre car like me, it would be RM32 / day. Please do not say, why not drive a 1 litre car? Well, except for the minimum expectation Ford Fiesta 1.0 turbo, I seriously do not think it is a wise decision to drive a small car over 200km per day, everyday. You would need much more attention due to the size of the car. RM32 / day x 22 working days means RM704 per month. So, even in terms of just the fuel costs, it will be prohibitive because if you stay closer, you can save enough for a small second hand car for your wife. 🙂

Okay, unless we have bullet trains, I think 100km per day is totally out for now. My ex GM, a Japanese said he is used to travelling of over 450km per day everyday as he could not afford to buy a big house in Tokyo for his family. Thus, he stay at places with easy access to bullet train and thus travels around 3 hours daily, to and fro from his home to office. He said, it’s quite a usual thing to do. Some travel even further away.

written on 26 June 2014

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Property Investment 101: Working and Investing are complementary for journey to financial success

Everyone is working for money. Even the ones saying they have passive income.

It’s not just the working professionals yeah. The entrepreneur is also working to achieve her financial success. In fact she needs to work harder than a working professional because the entreprenuer has no income ceiling as everything is dependent on the success of her business. Meanwhile, a working professional no matter how he works would earn the same salary every month except when he gets a promotion or a bonus and an increment after every 12 months.

However, if an entreprenuer does not invest his earnings and chooses to spend it all, then she better be very lucky not to face any hiccups with her business. This is why working and investing are complementing one another. The more salary we have, the more we could invest. The more we could invest, the more potential additional income we could get and this will take away a lot of pressure we have by having just a job and we are very scared to lose that job everyday. How do we start? Here are 5 steps to start your property investment journey and I assume your working side is stable.

#1 – Understanding our financial position

Before investing into a property, first question is whether you could continue to pay for the property after buying it. Take into account your income, savings, expenses, and any debts you may have. This will help you determine how much you can afford to invest in a property and what type of property will be most suitable for your budget. For example, after deducting all expenses and you are left with RM1,300 per month for a property, choose to buy a property where the repayment is lower. What is the property price you could buy if you could spare RM1,300 per month? The answer is as below.

#2 – Research the property market

It’s not what our friends say. It’s not what the rich and successful businesswomen aunty said. She may tell you that landed property is better than high rise and she may be true because there are fewer landed properties versus high-rise but could we afford landed properties? Just need to remember, we have to start somewhere. So, look into the types of properties. Look into the areas. Look into duration versus distance. Look into all the amenties you must have and those you could drive to access. All these would help us to decide much better.

Consider working with a real estate agent who can help you navigate the market and find properties that match your investment goals.

#3 – Choose the right property

View many units. Drive to many different locations. Ask as many questions as possible. Once we have done enough, then we could then choose the property to buy. Actually, if you have viewed 20 properties and you could objectively choose the top property to buy out of these 20, you can worry less. Chances are there would be people who would like your property. Chances are you have done enough homework to decide and choose the right property. When choosing a property, consider factors such as location, type of property, condition, and potential for growth.

#4 – Consider financing options

Every bank has their own strengths. Some may be easier to get approval but their rates are slightly higher. Some may have lower rates but it would be harder to get approval if you apply to them. Speak to your friendly real estate agent friend and ask them to recommend some financial / mortgage consultants who could provide you with a better picture. When we buy a new property, most of the time, only a few banks would be lending for the property. As for the secondary market, the number of banks who are willing to lend would be higher but their considerations to approve your application would be bery different from one another

#5 Managing our investment

Once you’ve invested in a property, it’s important to manage it effectively to ensure you get the best return on your investment. This may involve finding reliable tenants, maintaining the property, and keeping up with any legal or regulatory requirements. For my properties in Penang, I just made sure I appoint a real estate negotiator with a REN Tag. Yes, I only trust the licensed ones. At least I could complain to the agency if something negative happens. This person helps me in anything and everything with my properties including ensuring the rental increase reminder too. Please do not try to do all of it alone. Paying that rental of one month every year is certainly value for money versus all potential problems.

In conclusion, property investment can be a great option for fresh graduates looking to secure their financial future. By understanding your financial position, researching the property market, choosing the right property, considering financing options, and managing your investment effectively, you can make informed decisions and maximize the potential for long-term growth and passive income.

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Working longer as an alternative? I hope not, if possible.

When I was much younger, the retirement age for the Malaysian workforce was 55. It is currently 60. Malaysians are expected to live longer. We may need to ensure we have enough funds for 20 years after we retire. Even assuming we need just RM2,000 per month to survive, that’s RM24,000 per year or RM480,000 until the day we say bye-bye. How much do Malaysians have in their bank accounts? Here’s one article:
42 percent senior citizens have zero savings

In many countries, the retirement age is easily 65. For example, in the UK. In Singapore, it’s 62 by statutory BUT if employees want to work on, the employers would have to offer them a job till 65. It will be up to 67 years come July 2017. It’s also 65 in Australia as well. In the US, it is 66 years old. Sometimes, we do wonder why should people work longer? Well, perhaps the nation still needs them. Especially true for countries which are becoming an ageing nation. Is Malaysia becoming one?

Oh no, 15% over 60 by 2035

There was this
article in TheStar
about the possibility for the retirement age for Malaysians to be extended to 65. The Women, Family and Community Development Minister, Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim said, “Though we accept the idea, we need to study it thoroughly.” (Please note that this statement meant that the government is open to the idea)  She also shared that the negative points from this is that the younger ones who were supposed to be promoted would be affected. (If the manager is STILL the manager, then the assistant manager cannot become the manager…. right?)  Rohani also said something which I agree totally. She said that senior citizens over the age of 60 have a different approach to working and want a job with flexible hours. (I think most senior citizens, as long as they are closer to retirement age should have a more flexible job. They should also be focusing on jobs which requires them to help upskill and upgrade the younger generations. This will benefit the nation as a whole) Besides, the decision of whether the retirement age should be raised is also going to rely on the inputs from other agencies such as the Public Service Department (JPA).

My opinion about retirement? Well, I hope I could retire earlier than the current retirement age. That’s why investments must form one part of what I do, beyond just not spending indiscriminately.
This is what David Beckham thinks about retirement.

I also think it’s never about age as well. It’s all about interest and perhaps physical capability. Everytime I go to Singapore, I would notice that their foodcourts would have cleaners who are senior Singaporean citizens instead of foreigners. My friend once told me that this is because these senior citizens are still healthy and would like to work instead of staying home to watch TV. I beg to differ. I think, working for some senior citizens is a necessity and not to cure boredom. One major reason is also because they (senior citizens) are living longer and yet they do not wish to burden their children who’s also facing
 high property prices and rising costs of living.

Working longer is thus not an alternative due to interest.  It’s just another way to ensure one would have enough savings from continuous earnings for the retired years. Save more,  invest harder.  Hopefully it’s a choice to us in future and not a must.  Happy working because I love my current job too.

written on 12 April 2017

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Working longer may be a necessity and not a choice

Anyone here does not know that within less than 20 years, Malaysia will become an ageing nation? What’s an ageing nation? Haha. Well in brief it’s not that awesome for the economy, where growth is concerned. As we get older, our productivity drops. Please do not debate about how some at 60 years old are still very fit, running marathons etc. We are comparing against the young people, says 20s and 30s and even 40s. When we look at  the number of babies being produced per couple, I do believe it is just a matter of time. Plus we are living longer too. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) as at 2015, Malaysian men live to 72.7 years old while ladies are 77. Yes, still many years more for me to reach this average.

Oh yeah, earlier article here:
Malaysia – Ageing population – stats and steps

We need a minimum of 2.2 babies per couple or else the total population number would actually be  going down instead of up. Well, we are nowhere near that though.
2015: Fertility rate dropped to 1.9 for Malaysia

And the numbers continue to drop. Just look around, how many of us have more than 2 kids? Even my wife said NO. What does this mean for us? Well, just look at all the countries in the world today which are having issues with their pension funds and we can more or less guess what’s going to happen to us in the future too. One article for reading? Here:
‘Disastrous Pension Fund Hole’
 or this:
Signs your Pension Fund is in trouble
.

Where EPF is concerned, the returns would get lower.
 The reason is because the current interest rates are low and thus income fixed investment instruments would no longer yield high returns. EPF used to pay out high dividends of 8% in the early 1990s. In the past 15 years, the yields on MGS and Treasuries have declined. A 5-year MGS paper yield is less than 3.3% now. You may google for the typical returns one of our neighbour’s provident fund to get some ideas too. For the past 5 years, EPF was still able to provide returns of more than 6%. This came from some shrewd investment strategies in the equities market. Current low interest rate regime is likely to continue for the next 10 years or more, all over the world. Look at Japan or the U.S. and we can understand why.

Thus the question that we should also answer would be, how can I prepare for these possibilities? Well, it will happen that’s for sure. Perhaps we can get ready by having
more assets than EXPENSES
. The more we put into assets, the lesser we have to spend.
Time to force savings?
My wish is for every Malaysian to own at least one fully paid property so that by the time they are old, they have something to fall back on. Happy starting the property journey.

written on 3 Dec 2016

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Working professionals, do you love your job and have no need for anything else?

Many have asked me this, ‘do you love your job?’ My answer is a definite yes. Else, I would be doing something else. Else, it would have been impossible to keep posting at least a job article everyday for the last 7 years.

Photo by fauxels on
Pexels.com

Haha. Funny question? Not really because you see, beyond just my job, there are a lot of things and people I like and love. Don’t get me wrong, especially my CEO who may be reading this article. I love my job too. However, my job cannot replace my love for my family. It provides me with a salary to feed my family but imagine if I work 7 days a week. I may be earning a lot but I am replacing my time for my loved ones with more money?

I am not sure about you but I am one who believe that laughters with my loved ones are still better than a very productive meeting with my favourite boss. Actually, I meant all my bosses. Somehow, after working for nearly 20 years, I have good bosses since my very first job. (WOW!!) From my first job, my Japanese GM (Mr. C.H) now back in Japan to my second and fourth job’s GM (Mr. E.S) and to my 3rd job’s ex Group CEO (Mr. S.M) and my current CEO (Mr. S.S), I love our working partnerships okay.

So, what could we do then, in order to have the best of both worlds? A great boss and a great future? Well, keep working hard, very hard so that all your bosses would love you and would always want you to do more (oops) and they pay you more lah. All your earnings meanwhile, please INVEST lah.

First investment? Buy more investment books. Second? Follow the advice of those investment books. Third? Start to share with your friends about investment. Actually, when we do it together, it gets more exciting and we usually are more committed. Since this is kopiandproperty.com, of course my example has to be property investment, right? Do not worry, for stock investment, here’s a great resource to have.
DividendMagic.com.my

Even if it’s alternative investment that you are looking for, say Bitcoin, here’s one good resource.
Ringgitohringgit.com
 All these are really kind people and they have not yet paid me a single cent to be quoted here. Haha. Not even a latte, yet. Anyway, back to property investment. It’s for our family.

Let me share a very brief example of what a working professional could achieve if he were to just invest into one medium priced property every 10 years. Medium priced as in RM400,000. I assume this working professional earns just RM4,000 per month (until the day he retires?) and saves just RM500 per month, somehow. RM500 x 12 months x 10 years = RM60,000. RM60,000 is enough for 10% downpayment for a RM400,000 home plus minor renovations, lawyer’s fee, stamp duty and basically everything.

Do note that I assume this working professional could not save anything HIGHER than 10% and his RM500 savings are unchanged until he retires. Haha. The more we save, the more we have for future.

Over his entire career life of 30 years, he bought just 3 RM400,000 property and he rents out 2 of them and one for his own stay. This saves him rental.  RM1,500 x 12 x 30 years = RM540,000. His RM400,000 home? Well, at 2.5% up per year for the next 30 years, the first home would become RM846,000 when he retires.

The second home, at 2.5% up per year for the next 20 years would become RM659,000 when he retires. His last property, bought just 10 years before he retires and goes up the same 2.5% per year would become RM513,000. I know, I know, the interest he paid for the homes are higher than 2.5%, right?

Well, I did not calculate the rental he would have gotten for those properties anyway. There’s little need to do some final calculations about how money would shrink etc etc etc. By the time we retire, as a senior manager in some companies, we have 3 homes that is either fully paid for or nearly fully paid for. Still better than just working for salary and saving and saving and saving… right?

I know, there are times the
 property could not be rented out.

PLEASE… buy something that can be rented out. You can already check it out via the property sites or even ask your friendly real estate negotiator friends. Here’s one for Penang. 016xxxxxxxx.  Here’s one for KL.  012 xxxxxxxx.   I know, these calculations are just assumptions.

By the way, even that company that you trust do not know how their future orders would be. I think these are conservative assumptions because if we work really hard, there’s no way our
bosses would not pay us more or promote us.
Totally noted about those higher living expenses debates. Here’s my point.
Eating cheaper is still possible, depends on us actually
  I know, RM400,000 means we can only get a high-rise unit. Well, anything wrong with high-rise?

There’s too many of them? 😛 Here’s my response.
 I know, for the third property, 30% downpayment is needed and that is RM120,000 instead of RM40,000.

Actually, as soon as we have invested the money into property, we could no longer afford a lot of stuffs. Sometimes it is sad but are we working only for ourselves or also for our loved ones. If it’s for them as well, then think about their future. I am aware of many other forms of ‘investments’ with much higher and faster returns.

Unfortunately, I do not know to speed up the whole process. I am just another working professional who still have to clock in and clock out and sometimes have to work even during weekends. At 40, I have 20 more years to go. Ooops. Noted my current CEO, Mr. S.S, I will be in office early on Monday morning. Question, do you love your job? Happy working, saving and investing.

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Working in SG. Buying in JB? Considerations.

My sister’s college friend who’s working in Singapore asked me if he should buy a certain ‘luxury’ condo in Johor Bahru. The price starts from below RM1 million to over RM1 million but there are now rebates being given. Completion is a few years away and it’s a 99-year leasehold property. Total car parks given is 2. As he is working in Singapore, he earns a currency which is 3x higher and he is now thinking of buying a property for investment. What’s the right answer? Actually, there’s no such thing as the right answer. Everyone’s different. My question and answer to him as follows:

#1 – Buying this condo so that one can stay in the condo when it’s completed?  If this is the actual reason, then it is okay to buy as long as you love the condo, love the area and have already accepted a lifestyle change because staying in JB and travelling into Singapore on weekdays is not something easily adaptable yeah. That’s the reason why many Malaysians working in Singapore are renting rooms inside Singapore. They prefer the convenience even if their rental would have sufficed for mortgage payment to a decent place in JB.

#2 -Thinking to sell the condo as soon as it’s completed?  If this is the reason, then better pray that the property market is booming when one gets the key. Else, just be reminded that during a slow market and a few hundred new owners thinking to sell at the same time will mean a hard time for everyone to get a good price. Secondly, what if the developer still have unsold units and they offer free MOT, lawyer’s fee and even throw in some other extras? So, I will not use this reason if I am buying a condo unit unless the price is just too attractive. (20 percent below the typical market price of all the units in the same area)

#3 – Thinking to buy
and rent it out?  If this is the reason, a much better choice is to buy the currently completed units / from secondary property market and start renting out instead. This makes your investment returns much faster than paying for a new home and waiting for the next 3-4 years for it. Perhaps can even focus in AirBnB type of rental. There are today quite a number of agents doing that for owners in JB. If needed, I can recommend you to such AirBnB agents who will make it hassle free for you. Of course, in order to make it a positive cashflow, the price of the unit should be as low as possible yeah.

#4 – Thinking to buy so that one stays in JB and stops paying SGD rental now? I think this advantage is available only for stay @ JB – work @ SG combination. It is certainly a good time because the property market is slow. In other words, there are more opportunities to get below market value properties. Many owners are also more willing to negotiate unlike during boom times when owners will not consider any price down offers. One can also supplement the mortgage payments by renting out the extra rooms in the property. This builds wealth and perhaps 5 years later, one can buy another unit?

On a longer term, say 10 years, the property price appreciation is likely to be significant. Well, unless of course the Johor-Singapore combination loses to Batam-Singapore combination or somehow Singapore and Malaysia become ‘enemies.’  Calculation wise, a RM500,000 property @ 3 percent price appreciation per annum is RM15,000. Over 10 years on a simple calculation, that’s RM150,000. I think this calculation is conservative enough. Oh yeah, there’s also the extra rental income for the last 10 years. As for which condo to buy, happy choosing one that meets most of your expectations yeah. Perhaps one that has all the things you like. The catalyst is definitely when the
RTS JB – SG is fully operational because that will help in the lifestyle part tremendously. Latest news here.
 Happy believing.

written on 1 Sept 2018

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