Personal Finance 101: Nope, EVs do not save you money. Get serious!

Financial News: Nope, EVs do not save you money. Get serious!

Once upon a time…

Over 10 years ago, my wife told me about her colleague who shared that he bought a hybrid car because he wanted to save on fuel. It could be driven like many hundreds of km and the cost to pump petrol is super low. I laughed. Please note that we can never save enough from petrol costs in order to make these hybrids become cost-effective to our expenses yeah. Hybrid cars of the same size versus petrol cars are usually double or higher the price of a similarly sized car.  Let’s just do a simple calculation as below.

Hybrid car – RM100,000

Typical car – RM50,000

Difference is RM50,000.

Cost per 1 litre of petrol RON95 is RM2.05 (it used to be lower and may be higher in the future) and typically 1 litre can be driven for 12-20km (depending on what car you drive).  Let’s just take the lower point which is 12km. If RM2.05 for 12km, that’s 17 sen per km.

Now, how many km do we need to drive in order to save the RM50,000 price difference?

RM50,000 divided by 17 sen (per km) = 294,117km. Anyone wants to tell me how long would we need to drive in order to drive 294,117km? Typical km per year is maybe 20,000 km? Even this 20,000 is on the higher side because most people could not drive more than 15,000km per year. It means we need to drive the SAME hybrid car for 15 years or more in order to save the same amount of money which we have saved right from the start versus buying a hybrid.

Why need to say it’s for saving petrol?

Just be direct yeah.  Say I buy hybrid car because I like the brand… or I like to tell people I care about the environment… all these reasons are debatable but at least it makes more sense this is more on a personal perspective and it’s hard to say one is wrong from their perspective. From a financial point of view, please stop thinking that we can save on costs when we buy a hybrid yeah. It does not hold water at all.

Now let’s look at EVs (electric vehicles)

This is the cheapest Electric Vehicle we have in Malaysia today. Yea, I have seen the actual car in Bangkok in September last year. No frills, nothing to complain, looks moden and yea, today, it’s the cheapest model we could buy. Nope, I did not have the driving experience but generally the first few comments are usually, ‘It’s quiet!’ or ‘The acceleration is very good.’ or even ‘It’s so easy to drive.’

The price for Neta V is RM99,800.

Article in paultan.org here.

What’s the size of a Neta V?

The below is the dimension of a Neta V. We measure it versus a Proton Saga’s size right after.

Body measurements of Proton Saga 2022:

Wheelbase:  2,465 mm

Length: 4335 mm

Width: 1,690 mm

Height: 1,1515 mm

Extremely similar dimensions for a Proton Saga to a Neta V.

Meanwhile the price of a Proton Saga is as below. The highest priced version is RM46,000 On The Road. Yeah, this is probably half of the price of Neta V.  I will not repeat the calculations above but I think you get the idea that buying an EV can be a lifestyle. It could be due to the brand. It could also be a personal choice of brand. It is definitely not because you want to save on petrol…

I know, that driving experience is a different one?

Many people may point out that driving this Neta V will be more comfortable than driving a Proton Saga! Haha. Noted and perhaps I say that I agree with you since Neta V is likely to be much more quieter and the acceleration is much smoother. So essentially, one could say that they are driving a better car in terms of Noise, Vibration and Harshness (NVH). That’s perfectly fine. You have your valid points this time. Happy driving!

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Personal Finance 101: Fresh Engineer and the monthly salary.

So little, how and what to do?

Anyone here who does not want to complain that their pay is low? Well, even engineers are also complaining, not just those with non-technical degrees which the supply is much higher than the supply of fresh engineers. My brother and my two brother-in-laws are all engineers. They have been engineers for a long time and I think they will retire as an engineer. All three are holding senior level positions today. However, all three started from that low starting salary like many fresh engineers.

Save, that’s the fundamental

All three drove Protons. My brother drove my father’s Proton Iswara. My brother-in-law 1 drove his father’s Proton Wira. My other brother-in-law bought a Proton Wira. All three did not feel inferior even versus all those driving ‘supposedly’ superior Japanese branded cars (just like how many love to do today). In fact, all three drove the Protons for many years and while I lost count, it was definitely more than 9 years (the length of a typical mortgage loan). How much did they save, really?

A typical new car may be RM70,000. If one is to pay for this over 9 years, the total comes to RM85,650. Typical 9-year and typical interest rate of 4%.  So, the total savings is RM70,000 for the two fresh engineers who drove their father’s car. As for my other brother-in-law, the Proton Wira 1.3 manual he bought was RM46,000. Compared to the typical car price, he has saved RM40,000. Yeah, savings is really the fundamental

Career progression, that’s critical

All three worked hard and they continued to progress in their career. Please note that without career and the salary growth as a pillar, then nothing further will happen because it the savings would not keep increasing every year. Frankly, there are engineers who remain engineers because they think of their career as a job. They do it as a job. Thus, their salary increments would follow inflation. That’s not good news yeah. Two of them (brother / brother-in-laws) are at Manager level while another one is a Head of Department.

Investment, that’s what matters for the future

All three purchased properties. Happily, I have to say, all three bought properties which I told them to. Haha. Today, all three of them are staying in properties which has nearly tripled in price and thus we can safely say that as long as nothing unforeseen happens, this property they have would be a good asset for them. In fact they could even sell the property in the future to do many other things. Imagine, if they rented. The following would be the rental which they have paid for the first 10 years they work.

RM1,600 (typical 1,000 sq ft apartment with facilities in Penang) x 12 (months) x 10 (years) = RM192,000

Well, they could have lost it all versus currently owning a property which has nearly tripled in price.

Okay, what car do they drive today?

All three could now afford above average cars yeah. They deserve it and they could afford it without much financial pressure nowadays. By the way, there is really no need to save up every cent yeah. Spend to enjoy a little when you can afford it. That would motivate you to work harder too.Win-Win.

One is driving the latest
Hyundai Staria (look at the price here)
 Another is driving a
Volkswagen Tiguan (price here)
 and another is driving a
Honda Civic (price here)

Another thing in common for all these three engineers?

They work in Penang. They are still working in Penang. They will most probably work in Penang until they retire. Penang is a good place with lots of great companies for engineers. This is why many engineers choose Penang as the place they like to forge their career. So, fresh engineers who want something like the above life, the above can be an easy example to follow. Of course, one would have to graduate as an engineer first. Study hard okay!

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Personal Finance 101: I buy EV so that I save money. True?

There are so many ways we could save money

If we are spending RM30 per day for meals, we could save RM3,650 (RM10 x 365 days) per year if we reduce this to just RM20 per day. NOT ordering drinks 3 times is already a savings of RM8 from this amount.

If we are spending RM400 for petrol per month, we could take up the My50 offer and enjoy unlimited rides via Rapid KL Rail and bus services. This is a savings of RM350 x 12 = RM4,200.

Meanwhile for those who are used to renting one whole unit for RM2,500 could either rent a room or rent out the empty rooms. Both these measures would save RM1,000 off the bill easily per month. That’s RM12,000 per year in savings!

Just these three would allow savings of close to RM20,000 per year!! Now, this is what I call savings. Then again there are friends who told me that when they buy an Electric Vehicle (EV), they are saving money. Please allow me to smile first. Okay, now we look at the photo below:

Image Source:
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/longest-range-evs-2023/

Top 10 cars for driving range and their price

The below shows the top 10 cars with the LONGEST driving range in the world. Lucid Air leads with 830km! However, buying one is US$138,000 and if we assume no price change and we just convert directly, that’s RM642,000. I assume one can drive this car for 10 years? That’s RM64,200 per year or around RM5,350 per month. I have no idea if there are anyone who spends over RM5,350 for petrol every month?

Let’s be fair. We take the CHEAPEST EV in the list and that’s Hyundai Ioniq 6 and it has a driving range of 581km. Impressive frankly because it’s 3rd in the top 10 list for driving range and yet it is the cheapest car in the whole list! I am sure there are cheaper EVs being sold here in Malaysia but those have a lower driving range yeah. Ioniq 6 is US$45,000 and that’s around RM209,305. Again, driving this car for 10 years would be RM20,905 per year or RM1,742 per month. Again, I really wonder if there are that many petrol car owners who spend so much on petrol every month.

Image Source:
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/longest-range-evs-2023/

Buy a cheaper petrol car, that saves a lot more than an EV

Below are the typical prices of cars that would have saved by far more money than buying an EV.

https://www.perodua.com.my/our-models/ativa.html

https://www.wapcar.my/cars/proton/exora/images

Buying an EV can be a personal choice

Just say I love EV. Just say I love Hyundai Ioniq 6. Just say petrol cars are so out-dated. The first two statements are personal opinions and no one could say you are wrong yeah. Out-dated is debatable BUT saving petrol via an EV is a myth. Stop trying to tell people about this myth and pretending that it is real or that one could drive an EV like for 50 years? By the way, even if you drive that Lucid Air for 50 years, you are still spending RM1,284 per month for the car. WOW… saving money?

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Personal finance 101. Salary from KL. Property from Selangor.

KL pays higher salary than Selangor

As per Department of Statistics, Malaysia, the median salary of someone working in Kuala Lumpur is RM10,549 while the median salary for someone working in Selangor is RM8,210. That means one would earn up to 30% extra per month if one were to work in KL instead of Selangor. Just need to note that this is median and that KL would have more of the high paying jobs because someone working within the KL CBD cannot be having a lower pay than someone working in Kajang. Else, better work in Kajang lah since properties in Kajang is much cheaper than KL.

Source: Household Income and Basic Survey Amenities Report 2019, DOSM.

Property Prices among all the states in Malaysia?

Sometimes, we hear some government official saying that the median home price in Malaysia is just RM330,000. If we live in the Klang Valley, we would be scratching our head because there’s hardly any normal sized homes at RM330,000 price. I define normal sized homes as 950 sq ft or higher. My own definition yeah, not some official definition. As for the minimum size acceptable by most Malaysians, I think it’s probably 450-500 sq ft.  This RM330,000 is the median average for ALL the states in Malaysia. Do take a look at the chart below from JPPH, Malaysia.

Source: napic.jpph.gov.my

Highest home price is in…. Putrajaya lah

Putrajaya’s 75th percentile home price is RM1.3 million! Yes, I also wonder why the prices could be so high as well. I think the senior civil officers are staying there. They could definitely afford such property price yeah. Median price for Putrajaya is RM620,000 and this is above the typical affordability range. It’s okay, if we are not working inside or nearby Putrajaya, chances are we are not staying there. Let’s look at somewhere we usually work.

Second highest home price is in Kuala Lumpur

That’s RM495,000 for the median price or if we look at the 75th percentile, then it’s RM878,000. No wonder lah people say why property prices in KL is so expensive as well? Well, refer back to the first image above. People working in KL earn the highest monthly salary yeah. Higher than even the working people in Putrajaya despite home prices in Putrajaya being higher than those in Kuala Lumpur.

Work in KL and stay in Selangor lah

When I think about it, I think most of my friends are doing so. Salary from KL, home within Selangor. Haha. Their office address is in Kuala Lunpur but their home address is Selangor. KL has the highest median salary and Selangor’s median property price is lower than those in Kuala Lumpur. So, this gives us the best of both worlds right. That’s what I am doing currently too. I am also one of those who prefer a bigger home versus a closer distance to the KL city centre. However from the prices, we could see that many are still making KL their favourite place to stay yeah.

Happy working and buying yeah.

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Personal Finance 101: Why do banks offer moratorium?

Moratorium was first offered during the Covid-19 lockdowns

In 2020, Bank Negara Malaysia announced a 6 months AUTOMATIC moratorium to all bank loans — except for credit card balances.
Article in nst.com.my here.

In 2021, another round of 6 months moratorium was offered to all individuals, microenterprises and affected SMEs starting from 7 July 2021. This was announced by Bank Negara Malaysia here:
https://www.bnm.gov.my/-/six-mth-mora-begins-20210707

Briefly, moratorium means that the banks will allow their borrowers to stop paying for the monthly instalments until the end of the moratorium period. If every month the monthly mortgage is RM1,500 it means that the person will save RM1,500 x 6 months = RM9,000.  This amount is hoped to be able to help the person with his expenses because there is a chance that the person had lost their source of income due to Covid-19, especially due to lockdowns where economic activity trickles down to a minimum.

Here are the latest news on moratorium from our friendly google

One says Maybank and CIMB offering six months moratorium to Johor flood victims. Bank Pertanian has also just joined this list too. Another tells of how Johor MB appeaking for moratorium so that burden on flood victims could be reduced. Meanwhile the last one says that the government is holding talks with banks on moratorium for flood victims. Suffice to say that since the news are all quite recent, it meant that more banks are likely to join the current three banks in offering moratorium to Johor flood victims.

What is moratorium’s meaning?

Investopedia offers a definition from the investment perspective. “A moratorium is a temporary suspension of an activity or law until future consideration warrants lifting the suspension, such as if and when the issues that led to moratorium have been resolved. A moratorium may be imposed by a government, by regulators, or by a business.” Read it here.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/moratorium.asp

Briefly, it’s a stop in loan payment for a period of time in response to some financial hardships.

Why banks may prefer moratorium versus usual loan recovery steps?

If we lent someone money to buy a property, we would want that someone to pay us every month. Now imagine this someone loses his job and thus lost his income and thus unable to pay us what he owes us. We could send him a letter to remind, we could then proceed to even auction off the property if the person did not start repaying by a stipulated time.

Now… what will happen when we auction off a property during a Covid-19 lockdown? Would the property be sold at a higher price or a lower price? Chances are the property price may be sold at an even lower price that the remaining amount being owed by the owner. In other words, the bank would not just have to pay many parties for this process, they would also have to write off some of the amount owed as bad debts.

Now, if the bank chose to offer a moratorium for 6 months. There is a chance that majority of those who lost their job could find another job maybe 1-2 months later. The person would then start repaying and the bank would continue to have an uniterrupted continuation of earning the interest from the home loan. There are no expenses to be paid to auction the property. There are also no potential bad debts too.

Breathing space from moratorium beneficial to all parties

For the person / business, this moratorium provides a breathing space. They also do not want to face the prospect of being a bankrupt too should they fail to repay the loans to the banks. Thus, both the bank and the person / business would gain from this breathing space to get everything back in order. Just need to note that the banks must be strong financially in order to allow for this. If we force a weak bank to do so, then the bank shareholders would now have to start worrying!

Hope this explains in laymen term why moratorium is a good way to move forward, at least for a short period of time.

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Personal Finance 101: Not enough money. Let us work till 70!?

Could I still travel like I wanted to when I am 70 years old?

The header image shows what I would also do when I stop working. I will plant more stuffs too.

One of the first few articles I wrote when I started kopiandproperty.com was my lifestyle when I retire. I do think I will stop having any full-time role by 56 years old. When I am 56, my children will be 18 (First Year Uni) and 20 (3rd year Uni respectively). I do not think they like to stay with me and every day listening to my stories, so they will stay at some place nearer to their university and my wife and I would travel. Yes, I know that the retirement age for Malaysia is now 60. It was still 56 when I started kopiandproperty.com

I think if I am travelling when I am 56 years old, I should be fit enough. I am just not that sure if I would still be fit enough when I am 70. Okay, okay, I have to start my 10km walking per day again soon. Haha. Take a look at the image below, I really did walk that much for many months.

Why did I say we may have to work until we are 70?

 Well, there’s a call for Malaysia to increase the retirement age. No, it’s not from current 60 years old to 70 years old. I think 65 may be what is being asked. Certainly not a sudden increase from 60 all the way to 70.  The reasons are due to an ageing population, there’s a high number of Malaysians without sufficient savings and Covid-19 has actually eroded the savings of many Malaysians, especially the B40 households who had withdrawn a lot of their retirement funds aka EPF savings.

Some statistics according to EPF include the following.  About 6.62 million (52%) of EPF members aged under 55 have savings of less than RM10,000, and 3.2 million members aged under 55 have savings of less than RM1,000.  Only 4% of current EPF members would have enough to retire comfortably. Most members would not be able to.

Retirement age around the world?

Australia: 67 years old

Germany: Gradually up to 67 years old by 2029.

Japan: 64 years old

The Netherlands: 66 – 68 years old

Singapore: 62 – 65 years old

UK: 66 – 68 years old

United States: 62 – 67 years old

Nope, Malaysia’s 60 years old is not the lowest yeah. There are many countries which are still below 60. However, I would say 60 is certainly that number in the middle. There are many reasons why retirement may need to be later. First and foremost would be that money is not enough. Secondly is maybe the person feel they want to continue working. Third is probably due the need within the country so that government continue to get tax payments so that they could sustain the older population who are no longer working but needs medical care and more.

Working longer or retiring earlier may not be an option for everyone. For some, working longer would be compulsory. Be ready.

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Personal Finance 101: Pay more tax is good!

I hope my tax is increasing every year

Once upon a time, I complained to my mother.

Me:  I really cannot stand paying higher tax this year.

My mum:  There’s only one way to pay lower. That’s by earning lower.

Oh…  that was when I would do my very best to earn ever higher income every year. I know it will help me tremendously because even though I pay more tax, I actually have more money to spend because I have higher income every month. So, do you also complain about paying higher tax like me?

I may pay even more tax in 2023

Why do I say so? Well, we can look at the below photo from EY’s recent report on Budget 2023 which was just retabled.  If our chargeable income is between RM35,001 to RM100,000 then our tax rates have been reduced by 2 percentage points. Yeah, that’s a lot of money. It ranges from many cups of coffee at some cafe all the way to a local holiday for two!

Source: Retabling of Malaysia Budget 2023 Tax snapshots by EY

No GST… (not a good decision, sorry to say)

With GST, when the country’s economy is rising, the revenues would also rise in tandem too. It is then up to the government on how to do some ‘wealth redistribution’ to the less fortunate ones. If I am earning a lot, I would love to help the less fortunate too. We are all Malaysians at heart. Read all my articles and you should get the idea that I am one of the few who would against foolish statements by some people yeah. Haha.

Anyway, it’s decided that GST will not be introduced until the economy is ready. Please do not ask me what does this mean yeah.

I can transfer property to my children and it’s tax free too (up to RM1 million value)

 Source: Retabling of Malaysia Budget 2023 Tax snapshots by EY

Happy understanding a little more about tax for year 2023.  (nope, not for last year yeah…)

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Personal Finance 101: PIDM protecting our savings

Many Malaysians may not know this. Your savings are protected. (Your task is to increase this savings!)

Source of info:
https://www.pidm.gov.my/en/how-we-protect-you/how-pidm-protects-you

Perbadanan Insurans Deposit Malaysia (PIDM) is a Government agency established in 2005 under Akta Perbadanan Insurans Deposit Malaysia (Akta PIDM). How PIDM protects financial consumers? Briefly, do refer below. It protects financial consumers by protecting deposits and takaful and insurance benefits. Briefly, it meant that PIDM would honour the benefits entitled to us the financial consumers even if the provider of such a product happened to fall into some financial issue.

PIDM says 96% of all depositors are protected in full

Since PIDM protects up to RM250,000 per account, it meant that majority of everyone; 96% have less than RM250,000 in savings. Below shows what PIDM meant.

Good news, PIDM is becoming well-known

My two Malaysian friends working in Hong Kong did not know about PIDM. Well, they may not have been reached by the media employed by PIDM. Perhaps PIDM should also employ me as well because over 25% of kopiandproperty.com traffic comes from overseas. I believe they are Malaysians.

Stats about all the member banks.

Yes, it’s all positive yeah. It meant that banks could continue their role of lending. It means all the banks are rated as healthy. The bad debts are very low as well. Impaired Loans Ratio is less than 1% which is very good by international standard.

Happy understanding about PIDM and also how Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) remains a very good and well managed institution. Let’s hope this continues.

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Personal Finance 101: What happens when prices rise?

My rich friend does not care much

It’s quite clear that there are wealthy people out there. It’s also very clear that a RM50,000 rise in property price is seen as super huge for many people but may not mean much to the ultra-wealthy. There are also the super-wealthy that does not own any property. They just move to anywhere they like, they buy things they do not have and they eat food they like by flying there in the morning and coming back in the afternoon. Majority of the people are not within this category.

What happens when prices rise? (For majority of us)

What do we do when things become expensive? I would find a cheaper alternative or I would not buy the item for now. What would happen is that when demand slows down, the price would have to drop so that people like me would consider buying it again. So, if things get expensive, demand will just slow down.

In many countries, the parking rates are so expensive that people are forced to take the public transport. Some would argue that it’s because their public transport is super efficient. Yea, I am very sure many people love to walk to the nearest bus stop, take the bus to the train station, walk from train station to office and then walk from office to the train station, then arrive nearby home in a bus and then walk back home.

Now imagine you are not alone but with a new baby…. (strollers… baby bottles… hot water… lots of baby wipes etc…) would you still think it’s convenient? Imagine it’s raining… Imagine going grocery shopping and you have 3 large bags of stuffs. I know, now the argument would switch to taking GRAB / UBER lah. Haha. It’s always a PUSH and PULL factor yeah. I am still driving and I would continue to drive until the government increases the petrol price and the parking rates to something unacceptable to me.

This is also why smartphone brands have their luxury model, followed by their mid-range models and then followed by the base models. This is why car brands have their luxury brands, followed by the D-segment (Deluxe), the C-Segment (Comfort), the B-Segment (Base) and so on… When things get expensive, people choose something cheaper.

When property price rises?

It’s the same with buying a property. When property gets expensive in the city centre, people consider properties within a 5km radius. When these got expensive, they consider the properties within a 10km radius. This would just continue until the radius now turns into a word called suburb. The distance may now become 54km away, or further. This is why new townships are also flourishing and transactions and interest are also rising too.

When land and cost of construction was cheaper, homes were usually landed ones. When everything starts getting more expensive, they build upwards; high rise. However the typical sizes are still above 1,000 sq ft as people need more space to feel comfortable. When the price of all the inputs rise, then the high-rise units would get smaller in order to maintain the same price level. If a 1,000 sq ft high-rise was RM300,000 10 years ago, the developers could still offer RM300,000 price today. The difference is that the size would be smaller and the number of units within the same development would go higher.

By the way, this is not something applicable only to Malaysia. In most countries today, the only way for developers to build homes which are affordable enough in the city centre is to build high-rise units and increase the number of units by building higher and smaller. Just look at what Housing Development Board (HDB) of Singapore has done. Starting from the mid 2000s, it started to build flats taller than 40 storeys high. Based on construction technology and the population growth, there is nothing to stop the buildings to go higher. The prices of these flats have also kept going up, especially the ones within in-demand neighbourhoods.

Conclusion?

Rising prices will happen because once you and I bought a property, we are unlikely to sell it at a lower price. We will hold on to it until we get a better and higher price. Imagine buying the latest smartphone and the next model goes cheaper followed another cheaper model. Would you still want to buy that latest model? Of course not. That is why the next model of similar range will be priced almost the same or higher and the company would launch a lower-end model and price it lower.

Imagine our salary staying the same every year… It will not happen. This is why after some years of increase and we wanted to buy a property, we could offer to buy the property at a slightly higher price. The movement continues. Cheers.

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It’s not an investment if we know nothing about it

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Personal Finance 101: WORKING LONGER is compulsory for majority. Does it include you?

Here’s that news which should alarm many of us:
71pct of EPF contributors aged 55 and below do not have enough to rise above poverty level
  Briefly, this meant that for these 71 percent of EPF contributors, they will live under the poverty level for their savings versus the years they have to live with it. Malaysians are living longer yeah. Take this into account when we are talking about working past retirement.

Continue the lifestyle, not reduce the quality

A good friend was saying that he wanted to just resign and stop working full time. He’s too tired of going office daily. When asked if he had enough savings, he said that he can manage his expenses and detailed how he would eat at a cheap place everyday. He will also not going to travel a lot, just need to go hiking and stay healthy. That’s most important he said. While I agree health is important, I disagree that one would have to reduce the quality of life when compared to going to office daily. Everyone’s different I guess. Which one are you?

Working past retirement?

Will you continue working past retirement? I guess the answer depends on whether we have enough to cater to our lifestyle. The lesser we spend, the lesser we need and the longer our savings could last us. Typical retirement age is probably between 56 – 60 years old today in Malaysia. This is on the low side because many ageing and aged countries have already increased their retirement age many years back. They realised they needed more people to continue working because there’s just not enough young people joining the workforce.

Already an ageing nation

Let’s look at some facts.
Article in themalaysianreserve.com
 World Bank Group representative to Malaysia and country manager Firas Raad said in a statement, “Malaysia has passed a crucial milestone in its development trajectory this year and has become an ageing society; defined per the international convention as having 7% or more of the population aged 65 and above.”

He shared that with rapid ageing, Malaysians would have to work longer. Our demographics have shifted to an era of low fertility and low mortality from a high fertility and high mortality previously. (Briefly, we have less baby and people live way longer than previously) He shared that only 45% of Malaysians between 55-64 are working while in South Korea, Japan and Thailand, more than 65% of persons aged 55 to 64 are active in the labour market. Do read more here:
Article in themalaysianreserve.com

Health is wealth, that’s the truth!

They say health is wealth. Could we maintain this past retirement? Well, it’s happening with the demographics shift in Malaysia. We are now living longer. However, are we also be coming healthier? An earlier article here for reading:
Living longer and staying healthier. Malaysians lah

Three reminders for all of us. Living longer means we MUST be wealthier too. Else, how to support our life post-retirement yeah. If we are NOT wealthy enough, then be prepared to work LONGER. Else what to do once income stops? Lastly if we intend to work LONGER, then we need to stay healthy. Else, it’s not just inability to earn more salary post-retirement age but we will also be spending even more of our savings due to health issues.

We are ageing, we need health and we definitely need to work longer

Are we spending our salaries happily? In the future, happiness will be harder to find. Save some for the rainy days they say. Well, invest some for future days too. At the same time, do not be lazy and get up and walk 1km this whole week. 2km daily the next week and so on. A typical 1km walk is less than 10 minutes. Everyone can do it if they like to. Continue reading kopiandproperty.com too. Haha.  Take care and have a good day ahead.

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Personal Finance 101 includes these 5 must-know things.

Personal Finance 101 includes these 5 elements

There are no links anywhere in this article for you to buy any savings plan or insurance or mortgage plans. There are also no links to view a virtual 360 of a property too. Haha. You are reading this in kopiandproperty.com

I write to share what I know, not to sell any courses at the end of the article. Oh yeah, I do not run any course(s) too. Happy reading to understand why Personal Finance 101 is so important to all of us. It starts with getting a decent job…

#1 – Working for good salary

This is the base supporting the next stage; savings. If our current job does not pay well, it is important to either find another job which we could get a second income stream. Else, we should also look for another job if we know our skill and expertise will be valued higher by another company. However, if we could not find another higher paying job because our skill and expertise is not something special, it’s time to think about how to upskill and upgrade ourselves. Then, we will be more valuable in the job market.

#2 – Spending based on needs, not on wants

If we really do need a car, then buy a car which can help us get from point A to point B. It does not need to be a car which will make us feel better that we are not driving a cheaper car. It does not need to be a car which our friends will approve, they are not the ones paying for it every month. A car appreciates on the first day it is driven out of the sales gallery. Second-hand car need not be a second choice yeah.

If we need lunch, RM10 can be lunch money. RM20 can be lunch money. RM28 for a set lunch with a cup of coffee can also be lunch money. Difference is RM300 if we opted for RM10 versus RM840 if we opted for RM28. This is just ONE meal for the day. It would not kill us to spend even lower for lunches yeah. Perhaps for the image, we do suffer a little from how the colleagues think of us but hey they are not the ones paying for lunch!

Spending based on needs would help us tremendously to have extra money which could then be saved up.

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Simple. Real. Personal Finance as easy as ABC? Or 123?

First of all, I do not know
anyone in The Woke Salaryman.
Essentially, they made personal finance as easy as abc. I mean very easy to understand. I think we are missing a lot if we do not take a lot at what they have been sharing.

I missed out on so many interesting ways to tell about personal finance as I
did not LIKE and read the posts from The Woke Salaryman.
 Below are some of the really candid views from them and it reflects the serious situation we are in if we continue to refuse to acknowledge many of these situations. As they say one picture tells a thousand words. Many of the messages are things I have written before but they told it in just a few pictures. Amazing stuff.

Image source:
https://www.facebook.com/wokesalaryman

By the way, PASSIVE investment needs a lot of ACTIVE learning, experimenting and changing. No such thing as doing the same thing again and again. The world is moving way too fast for us to stand still at one place or stick 100% with just one investment even if it gave us great returns for the last few years.

Image source:
https://www.facebook.com/wokesalaryman

The above image is awesome. Just remember yeah, these days the social media is also very accommodating to what we love to read. That’s why the bias we have is getting worse and not better.  The ones who lost a lot of money in property investment seldom would want to tell the world. The ones who invested plus some luck and managed to earn a great return on investment would tell the world and the world loves all these stories. Do not simply jump in because some could swim well and some could not…

Image source:
https://www.facebook.com/wokesalaryman

When it comes to a dream home, the dream home will keep changing. Let’s not kill all our investment potential with the salary we have because we have to put everything into a home which we stay in. Just remember, there’s little difference between staying in a fully paid RM700,000 home versus having RM700,000 under the bed. The home may keep appreciating in value but the RM700,000 is stuck there without giving more returns.

I will keep reading their interesting strips daily. If you like to read and learn as well,
Click here to LIKE and get to read all the interesting
, yet simple and ever so real advice with regards to money. Personal Finance as easy as ABC. Keep it up The Woke Salaryman. You have a new reader from Malaysia.

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Personal Finance 101: Relevance of a water machine and a luxury car.

I saw a very interesting post by one of the Facebook pages which I follow and read periodically.
Azizul Azli Ahmad
 gives many good personal finance tips which makes financial sense too. In Chinese, there’s a saying, “If your head is not big enough, don’t wear such a big hat.” In Malay, it’s “Ukurlah baju dibadan sendiri.”

Image source:
https://www.facebook.com/azizulazli.ahmad

Wealth is not just about finding more but also spending less

Actually, building up our wealth is not just trying to earn ever higher incomes. Many continue to spend more as they earn more. It should be more of minimizing expenses and in fact this is also why some are able to live a stable and happy life with a lower salary versus some others with higher salary but may be struggling in the final week before salary day…

I stopped paying car instalment 7 years ago

I paid in full after 5 years for my Persona 1.6 Manual and have driven it for the last 12 years. It has recently reached 151,500km. Thus, for the last 7 years, I have an extra RM600 every month which is more than enough for fuel, maintenance and even many extra dinners for my family. How much did I actually save? RM600 x 12 (months) x 7 years = RM50,400.  Enough to pay for a totally new Proton Persona today. Haha.

Do I feel inferior versus someone driving a luxury car? I do think their luxury car is more comfortable! I also think someone they look more stylo than me. The only difference though is that I have a water machine at home. I am sure most of my friends driving a luxury car has a water machine at their home too. Haha. Happy earning and saving everyone. Life is ours and not to buy things we do not need to show off to people we do not like.

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Header Image by
Dariusz Sankowski
 from
Pixabay

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Financial news: If you are looking to invest, perhaps luxury is another choice

Investing into the stock market?

When it comes to the stock market, many friends ask, what industry to buy? Well, if the industry is growing, everyone knows about it. However not every company inside the industry is worth investing into. Meanwhile some asked for the company name instead. Truth is, if everyone knows the company name, how could it be an undervalued counter? Or if the company is totally unknown, then why are we buying into the company?

Perhaps this can be worth trying?  Whenever we visit any mall, look at the crowd. Look at how busy the shops are. Look at how hard it is to find a car parking space.  If everything is super positive, look at the stock market and see if this mall is under any stock counter? If the price is okay and the dividend seems to be stable, then perhaps we could buy into this counter with the thinking that if everything goes well, then dividends may rise or the price may move upwards.

Now, there’a another potential. Read on to find out

Article in themalaysianreserve.com
  Chinese shoppers are spending with gusto buying luxury goods this year thus far. Two companies, Hermes and LVMH has a stellar first-quarter results. Well-heeled Chinese consumers still love pricey handbags and jewelry.

Zuzanna Pusz, an analyst at UBS Group AG said, “The strongest players have already reported.”

She added, “We expect more polarization in the luxury space because Chinese consumers are picky and they want to buy brands that are strong.”

LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE’s results sent shares of the owner of Christian Dior and Tiffany to a new record. The rally briefly
lifted
 the French luxury powerhouse into an exclusive club of the world’s 10 most valuable companies this week and
made
 billionaire Chief Executive Officer Bernard Arnault even richer.

Pusz places companies such as Salvatore Ferragamo SpA, Burberry Group Plc, Omega-owner Swatch Group AG and Kering SA in a weaker category with less appeal, especially in China.  Please do read the full article here with a lot more detailed information.
Article in themalaysianreserve.com

What’s the price of the LVMH today?

I do not own any LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton and has no idea if it’s worth investing into.  Do your own study and decide yeah.

Source: google.com dated 17th April 2023

The theory about scarcity

According to investopedia, this is definition of scarcity. “The scarcity principle is an economic theory that
explains the price relationship between dynamic supply and demand
. According to the scarcity principle, the price of a good, which has low supply and high demand, rises to meet the expected demand.”
Full definition here.

In the luxury goods world, scarcity is at work as well. There are definitely more wealthy buyers versus the number of luxury goods  which they have preference for. Many times, it’s not whether you have money or not, it’s whether you get it first or not because the brands would want to ensure there’s always scarcity. This pushes up its appeal and meanwhile buyers feel they are special because others could not have the same item. When emotions are at play, price is ignored and only perceived value would be the focus when it comes to buy or no buy.

Scarcity in property?

This is also at work in the property world all the time. City centre as an example. Number of properties which are possible within the city centre would always be limited. That’s why cities grow bigger because when people could not buy into the city centre, they will offer higher prices or they move slightly further away. This continue to happen and as prices go up even higher, then the surrounding areas also start to increase in price and less wealthier buyers buy even further away.

Just need to look at the property prices for suburbs and please do understand that given a choice, everyone would prefer to stay closer to the city centre and no one would want to drive 54km to work everyday in the city centre. Scarcity would force everyone to rethink and prices would force everyone to adapt accordingly. Happy understanding.

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Personal Finance 101: 4 Pillars for Financial Success

What is Financial Success?

There are no universally agreed definition of financial success. Suffice to say, financial success for someone may be that his debts are under control and that his networth is positive (total assets minus total debts). It could also mean that every year, his wealth is growing faster than his debts. In other words, financial success can be achieved by anyone and it’s very different from becoming a billionaire for example.

Financial success to a working professional may just be getting a promotion every year where his salary would have a huge surplus versus his expenses which had stayed almost the same. We just need to remind ourselves that higher salary is not financial success because the debt level could be higher too. As someone who has worked for 25 years, here are the 4 pillars to that potential financial success. Note though that this is more applicable to working professionals.

#1 Pillar – Earning.

The first pillar is NOT saving, okay? The first thing is earning. If we do not earn enough, there’s no need to talk about savings. As for how much earning is enough, it’s really up to us. We could work hard and smart in the company and soon got good promotions and perhaps becoming a senior manager even before 30 years old. This was impossible then but it’s achievable today. With these higher position levels, the earnings increase too.

If there’s really no choice of higher income at the official work, then it could be after official hours. An office boy could still have his e-commerce business in the evening. A receptionist could become a GRAB driver for a couple of hours everyday after work. Even senior managers could choose to start a blog about an interest and turn it into generating extra second income! These are all examples of working hour earnings and extra after hour earnings.

Pillar for earning higher salary is learning. These days, we could learn many things for free. Question is, are we watching the TV series or reading a book week after week and later year after year? When we improve ourselves, we improve our career outlook and when we improve our career outlook, we improve our earnings. What we choose to do today determines what we will achieve in the future.

#2 Pillar is Saving.

We can earn RM10,000 and we could still be in heavy debt. Or, we could earn RM3,500, rent a cheap room, give our parents RM700 per month, drive a reliable but old second-hand car and still have savings in the bank every month. Oh yeah, IF WE DID NOT buy that iPhone latest edition for just 3 years, it would have saved us easily RM10,000 or more. Crazy but true.

Having nasi ekonomi versus sushi (or similar priced meals) will save us thousands every year too. Even changing the coffee we drink daily saves thousands every year! Do our math and we realise that it’s really possible to save enough down payment for an affordable home of RM300,000 after 5 years. Only 10% of this RM300,000 is needed. A good girl friend or a wife forcing us to save would help tremendously too with the savings. My close friend, Mr. C’s wife SAVED all his and her earnings every month. I think Mr. C has a very good wife.

Photo by Pixabay on
Pexels.com

#3 Pillar is Investing.

Note the word investing. It has nothing to do with speculating (super fast returns, super high risks for example). It has nothing to do with whatever get-rich-quick schemes in the market today. However, it can include buying a property and stretch ourselves to the limit BUT we rent out two of the bigger rooms and we stay in the smallest room. A friend actually did that after listening to me. Yes, he owns the place today.

It’s not even just property and first one may not need to be property. It can also include buying good stocks which we UNDERSTAND and keep them for dividends. Of course, before we start investing, always ensure we know what we are doing. That means studying, learning and implementing what we studied. If we earn good money every month and we ONLY saved it month after month, chances are we may still not be ahead of the inflation. Pillar #3 is super important yeah.

#4 Pillar is Preserving.

My dear friends, regardless of how much we have, an admission into the hospital for a appendicitis surgery with complications would easily cost RM15,000. (I know because I was hit with one before many years ago).

Do we have sufficient medical coverage even if we are currently covered by our company? No one would have any idea if the company shuts down suddenly yeah. What happens if we could no longer work, will our whole family suffer because of this or do they at least be compensated by the insurance company?

Remember, if we stop paying the mortgage, the whole family may lose a place to stay! This is why it is good to have a good insurance agent friend who’s able to provide sound advice on how to preserve whatever wealth we have as we continue to build it up.

My personal story towards financial success (obviously, in my own terms, not yet achieved)

My wife and I saved as much as we could for 5 years so that we could buy a 700 sq ft apartment at RM123,000 and spend RM35,000 on renovations and furnishings. Our savings was wiped out totally then. It was a forced savings and I am glad we did it. Else, we would have spent the money for travel. Well, after buying that first apartment, I worked hard and we have more salary and thus more savings after that.

That apartment in terms of price did not increase by leaps and bounds but after ‘fully utilising’ it for 8 years, we sold it for RM215,000. In those 8 years, we stayed, my brother stayed, my wife’s brother stayed, my sister stayed and later it was rented out too. If we did not invest into this tiny apartment, imagine the money that we would have needed to spend on the rental alone.

RM600 x 12 months x 8 years = RM57,600 yeah. It’s either I get back the money after selling the home or I lose all the money by paying rental and making someone richer every month. What a sobering thought indeed right?

Happy earning, saving, investing and preserving.

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Personal Finance 101: 5 things that could happen when we have extra money

Personal finance 101: 5 things that could happen when we have extra money

When we have extra cash in the wallet

It’s the beginning of the month. Salary has just been credited and we have just withdrawn a lumpsum amount of money and all the notes are now in the wallet. Okay, perhaps these days the younger ones do not need to siwthdraw money. They just need to load their e-wallets. Whatever way you chose, it’s the beginning of the month and you have money… What will happen next is… we will think we are rich and we will start spending…

#1 – It’s important to have a little celebration

Instead of the usual nasi campur (mixed rice) with teh panas, it’s now a meal at an air-conditioned place. It’s okay, we have the cash, right? It’s always worth celebrating every month when we get the salary, right? Instead of the usual one meat and one vegetable, it’s more appropriate to add an extra tandoori chicken. It’s okay, just one meal every month. We have the cash.

#2 – How can we ignore the old and distressed wallet?

Suddenly, we realise the wallet looks old and distressed. Somehow we did not notice it before. Okay, a new wallet is needed, else, how to take out the wallet in front of people? The wallet does not even need to be those luxury brands. Just buy any common brand, make sure it’s leather so that it will last a very long time. This is how we ensure we ‘save’ money right? When wallets can last a long time, we do not need to buy it so often.

#3 – That discount, that colour, that perfect fit. Come on…

Suddenly, we saw that pair of jeans on offer when we were walking in a mall during the weekends. Come on, discounts do not happen all the time. Furthermore, that pair of jeans is in the colour we always wanted and it’s the brand we like. Somehow, when we put on that pair of jeans in the fitting room, it looks perfect on us. After discount, we save so much money! We will buy since we have got cash…

#4 – We do not cut hair so often lah, get a good one

Suddenly, we realise we have not cut the hair for the past 2 months. Perhaps this time, can also colour the hair too. We must ensure we look good. No one wants to look older than their age. Instead of the usual barber, it’s time to be more serious about the outlook. As they say, it’s the hair that makes the man. Erm… never mind if the quote does not exist. Everyone wants to look good. Besides, after this roung of cutting and colouring the hair, it will be many more months before that next cut.

#5 – It’s on the wrist and can be seen everyday. It lasts a long time…

Suddenly, we realise that the watch we are wearing is the same one we have been wearing for the last 3 years. There’s that scratch which is now bothering us. As a working professional, having a proper watch is essential. Not compulsory of course but essential. Furthermore, it’s a sure thing that the new watch will last us many years before it ever needed to change. Just look at the current watch, it lasted over 3 years thus far. Surely, the new watch can last longer. Besides, we have the cash right now.

Then comes the end of the month

How come my cash is running low and it’s a few more days before salary day. It must be due to my employer who is underpaying me. I must not work so hard since the employer is paying me a low salary. Pay peanuts, get monkeys lah. Somehow, the rice with lots of gravy and a fried egg is good enough lah. Air suam please instead of teh panas. Somehow no matter how big the discount sign is, we miss it totally. Somehow, the best thing to do after work is to go home and watch TV. Or perhaps surf the internet. Both are already a fixed cost and there’s no extra charges to pay. With all these measures in place, we managed to scrape through until salary day. Suddenly we are rich again. Haha.

Happy understanding and think about saving.

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Pertama says property prices will rise by 25 percent.

Erm… who is Pertama?

Sorry, this is the first time I read about The Malaysian Real Estate Association which is known as Pertama. They have a prediction which is something I have not read about thus far. Yes, I do read news daily and this is the first time I heard of a prediction for such a huge increase in price. Do read what they have to say about property price in a recent article.

Article in malaymail.com
   The Malaysian Real Estate Association (Pertama) has reportedly said that property prices are expected to increase by 25 per cent — especially for homes valued RM500,000 and above — as the economy continues its recovery. Its president, Ismail Omar said this about the potentially increasing prices.

He said, “Especially houses priced above RM500,000 which are largely unsold when buyers are more likely to buy homes below RM300,000. So developers or owners are forced to sell at a lower rate to avoid selling at all. However, the situation is only temporary, as the Malaysian economy recovers, the housing market is expected to stabilise again with a price increase of around 25 per cent. So some people are aware of this, they are scrambling to buy a house now that the price has fallen before the value has risen.” Do read the full article here:
Article in malaymail.com

By the way, anyone can predict yeah. There’s nothing wrong to predict.

I predict property price will continue to rise. I predict it will just follow the inflation rate when we look at the rate of increase over a long period of time. In other words, I am hoping that there are no sudden huge changes to property prices. It will not be a good thing for all home owners if the property price becomes too high suddenly yeah. Trust me.

Else do read why the mortgage crisis happened in that advanced country to know why unnecessary price increases will just ‘kill’ the market once the people suddenly realise that there is a limit to short term increase in salary and when salary does not rise as fast as price, the market will just need a correction. This is why I do not wish for high ups and high downs. Happy understanding.

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Perth – City with Parks or actually Parks with a city?

I like Perth. I used to think Perth is pretty boring as it is somehow not as prominent as Sydney or Melbourne. After 6 days here, let me declare this. I like Perth and yes, I did browse through realestate.com.au to understand more about the properties here. On a scale of 1 – 10 on probability of buying with 10 as surely buying, I am only at 4. Haha. Main reason because I would prefer a landed property but those available to foreigners are mostly smaller strata titled properties and more often than not, you get to buy because the Australians themselves weren’t that interested in these smaller and more expensive in price per sf units. We shall see if there are opportunities in future. No rush. I would have no issues to fly to Perth on a quarterly basis if I am able to plan ahead. Oh yeah, I have not been to Sydney or Melbourne before. One of these days, if Air Asia tickets allow me, I would. Haha. That does not take away the fact that I enjoyed my ‘virgin’ visit to Perth.

Within Perth, there are parks, gardens, reserves and these are everywhere! I stayed in Belmont and within Belmont itself, there are already way too many parks for me to complete within this one trip. My baby daughter loves them. Anyway, she would love anything with grass for her to run and playground for her to play. Some names include: King’s Park and Botanical Garden, Stirling Garden, Booyembara Park, Adachi, Faulkner, Tomato Lake, Point Walter Reserve, Mosman Park and more! Yes, I have been to more than these stated ones and I enjoyed everyone of them. Somehow I felt that instead of Perth being a city full of these public spaces, it’s more like all these public spaces being filled by buildings and thus become Perth. Picnics are a must and so many Australian families do so at Point Walter Reserve. Best part, since I am from Malaysia is that their toilets are very, very, very clean. Design wise, I do not see huge difference but I guess the users and the level of civic mindedness are still lacking for us versus them.

I do not remember Perth being ranked a top destination for retirement but I think my parents like it enough to stay here for a while. Just like me, they would prefer Malaysia but hey, if you are really thinking of staying at a city full of parks and internationalised enough for your Chinese, Japanese or Korean food, you have a good choice in Perth. AUD350,000 may be needed at the minimum level for a small 1 bed room unit here and buying a second hand car is going to be easy. Huge numbers still plying the road and pretty cheap. Only the fuel may set you back a bit unless you are used to earning AUD$. My brother also told his wife, ‘this is quiet and yet exciting enough for us to visit again in the near future.’ If you are visiting Perth and would like to know more, do write to me. I can send you my itinerary and also some tips on car rental, where to stay, where to eat etc etc. Happy visiting.

written on 26 Nov 2014

Next suggested article:
Median income: 57,400 Median property price: 680,000 No Bubble Yet.

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Perth properties for investment? Some factors.

This article was first published in Property Hunter magazine, February 2015 edition.

For the past few months, I have seen a few marketing promotions for properties in Perth here in Malaysia. Their advertisements could be seen online, in newspapers and some property fairs. I think for the past few years, when people talk about Australian properties, it would most probably be Melbourne or Sydney. These two are bigger and more vibrant cities as everyone would tell you. In November, I travelled to Perth. I have been to 18 countries thus far but have never been to Australia. So, what do I think of Perth as a city for potential property investment? Statistics are one thing but what about actual on the ground experience? Read on.

Family friendly. It’s really a friendly place for a family of old and very young. Google for Perth CBD, enlarge it and look at all the little parks and gardens that Perth has. Do note that I said Perth CBD because city centre is normally the place where there are least public spaces compared to suburbs. In Perth, these are available everywhere. My parents do not like huge shopping centres and they prefer natural surroundings where we can have a nice family picnic. My baby had lots of fun running here and there in a safe surrounding in some of these parks and gardens. It was truly a family friendly place to visit. All in all, we had two picnics and visited no less than 6 different parks and 3 different beaches. All clean and the public facilities, working.

Food diversity and of course, affordability. I estimated RM50 per pax per meal. This is around AUD$15 which is a normal price for one set of lunch. I spent much lesser. Not just because of the price but because of the diversity. From Chinese to Japanese to Vietnamese and of course the famous Fish and Chips, Perth seems to have everything. Including the very delicious Apple Strudel of Corica Pastries. All of us (whole family) enjoyed different meals every day and needless to say I rate their food diversity and affordability as better than my expectations. In the end it was just an average of AUD10 per meal per person. Mind you, the portions are bigger than our usual. No matter which country we go to, do you seriously want to eat the same type of food everyday? For food, in Perth, there’s no need to worry.

Convenience. Shop closes at 5pm. Oh dear, are we able to buy anything at all since everything closes at 5pm? No offense but I think this labeling is a little unfair because every evening, I was still able to buy stuffs at the supermarkets there. Yeah, its true that MANY are closed by 5pm but there are still many specific stores of the supermarket chains which are open till 9pm and for one nearby CBD, it’s open 24 hours. Just to name a few of the chains, they include Woolworth’s and IGA. Both offer attractive prices for some of their products and some of their dairy products are cheaper than Malaysia, after conversion. As for the eateries, there are still many which remain open even up till 9 including those in the neighbourhood of Belmont. Even the casino is easily accessible. J

Property prices and the potential gains. Please note that foreign buyers are not allowed to buy secondary properties from the market in Australia and of course that includes Perth. However, we can buy new properties or newly redeveloped ones. In terms of the prices versus the quality in terms of location, size, convenience and environment, Perth is really pretty good even when compared to Malaysia. Not many of us can buy a home just within walking distance to a nice park with a garden or even water features for just AUD$400,000 or lower. In terms of capital appreciation, Perth remains to be a growing city and buying new properties would not be that easy because many of the more popular suburbs are already pretty mature and new units are not easy to come by. This is why when we buy a good one, the chance of it appreciating is definitely good. There is the potential for AUD$ to appreciate again since today it’s lower than their historical highs. Thus, potential for a further gain due to currency exchange. I have not changed back my AUD$ to RM because it has depreciated more than RM from the day I bought them. Sigh…

Services are expensive though. Yes, this one is not a myth. Your plumber will be charging you a number that would make you feel ‘dizzy’. So would your dentist and so would the electrician you called to your home. Australians love to DIY for a good reason. There are lots of huge DIY stores too and I think if you DIY, the overall cost savings would be huge. Thus, if you are thinking of staying for a longer term than usual, be prepared for this or you can prepare your funds too, to pay them. On second thought, if you intend to learn some new skills, why not think of this as an advantage too? Haha.

No thick smoke, no burning of rubbishes, clear water right beside the housing area. Perth is surrounded by water. Lots of water. I went to Mosman Park for a stroll and when I was taking pictures, I noticed that the water was clear. In fact very clear. This was right beside a restaurant and I told my wife and we were very impressed. I did not see a single vehicle spewing thick black smoke. There were also no rubbishes on the streets. Perhaps I have only passed good areas? I have no idea but when we look at this aspect, Perth is by far ahead of many of the cities I have visited thus far.

There are lots of other factors. Just go and experience it yourself. Perhaps Sydney and Melbourne would have all these that I have mentioned above. Perhaps they are more exciting. However, both of these are also further than Malaysia. Both of these cities have also been ‘hotter’ for many years where properties are concerned. If you do think that some of the reasons stated above are valid, it’s time to take a look at Perth. Properties are not just about where everyone is buying or where everyone said we should buy. It should also be where we have been and we feel good with it. If one whole family of different ages, background and even occupations can all agree that Perth is worth another visit soon, I think there’s something right about it. Happy visiting or considering.

written for Property Hunter magazine, Feb 2015.

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Developers pessimistic but luxury home prices still up

There are still no signs that Singapore government would
relax the cooling measures
. In a report by Business Times, based on the latest NUS – Redas Real Estate Sentiment Index, property developers in Singapore remain pessimistic over the current state of the residential market and its outlook. I think similar surveys done by REHDA Malaysia has revealed similar results. Some selective stats include the following. 58.4 percent of respondents believe that market conditions will deteriorate further because of the government’s stance on not changing any of the current cooling measures. 47.2 percent expect home prices to marginally soften over the next six months. In brief, the expectations from the real estate community is negative.

This was however not the case based on Knight Frank’s latest Prime Global Cities Index. Here, it was revealed that Singapore’s house prices rose 5.4 percent in Q1 2016 compared to a year ago. Its Research Head Alice Tan said, “The annual price increase signals ‘green shoots of recovery’ for the ultra-luxury segment, as high-net worth individuals see rising value proposition for Singapore luxury homes after a prolonged two-year period of price declines.” One key reason was because of wealthy buyers returning to the Singapore home market and the confidence they have with the country’s long-term outlook. Singapore has always been regarded as safe haven and having stable economic fundamentals.

Could the property market be such? Some latest prices in the image. Actually, it is during a slowdown that a lot of value emerges, especially for the wealthy buyers. In terms of the modest property price increase, it may also because flower transactions for the lower valued homes while the higher end ones continue to be sold. Even in Malaysia, the
sales of luxury cars were up in 2015

and is still up in the first few months of 2016. Sad to say but true. Richer will always become richer because of the investments they do while the poorer majority will remain poor because of the things they do not do. Always note,
 doing nothing is not considered an investment strategy.
Happy believing.

written on 13 May 2016

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Press Release: Petaling Jaya Gets RM30 Million Public Infrastructure

Petaling Jaya, 6 July
 – Petaling Jaya Mayor Tuan Mohamad Azhan bin Md Amir, today officiated the opening of the 250-metre-long Sunway Serene bridge, the final milestone in the RM 30 million public upgrading works at Petaling Jaya undertaken by Sunway Property, alongside Sunway Group Founder and Chairman Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah.

Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya Chief Engineer Tuan Ir. Ismail Shafie, Sunway Group Deputy Chairman Tan Sri Datuk Seri Razman Hashim, and Sunway Property Managing Director Sarena Cheah were also in attendance.

As part of Sunway Property’s commitment to sustainable development, the developer had undertaken extensive upgrades to existing road networks as well as rehabilitation of the 15- acre Sunway Serene Lake in tandem with its planning for the 17-acre Sunway Serene development.

Petaling Jaya Mayor Tuan Mohamad Azhan bin Md Amir lauded Sunway’s tireless commitment to sustainable development at the launch.

“Sunway Group’s bold commitment to developing smart sustainable cities is aligned with MBPJ’s goal of becoming a low-carbon city, based on the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs) and the 10 themes under the Petaling Jaya Smart, Sustainable and Resilient 2030 Plan (PJSSR 2030),” he said.

“With the help of forward-looking corporate citizens, local councils can foster resilience for their communities, while progressing their communities and better manage the challenges brought about by rapid urbanisation and climate change,” he added.

Sunway Group Founder and Chairman Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah said that the Group will continue to introduce low-carbon cities under its portfolios, aligned with the nation’s commitment to be a carbon-neutral economy by 2050.

“This community initiative is our pledge to place the interests of our communities at the forefront of our business operations. At Sunway, we believe that no corporation can stand apart from the community it serves. You have my word that Sunway will continue to walk the talk in serving the community here. Sunway Group has most recently implemented a Green Township Policy on the back of its Green Building Policy.

Having announced its commitment to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, the Group is the first in Malaysia, and among the first in Asia, to implement an internal carbon pricing framework to achieve this goal. It’s Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) arm is the first REIT in Malaysia to implement a Green Lease Partnership Programme, to encourage best international practices in sustainability and drive sustainable solutions through behavioural change, advancing Malaysia’s national commitment to net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

To encourage the adoption of sustainable communities, Sunway Property has partnered with Alliance Bank, Standard Chartered, and Public Bank to offer lower interest rates and faster turnaround times for its purchasers to encourage the adoption of green communities.

ROAD UPGRADES AND LAKE REHABILITATION TO BENEFIT PJ COMMUNITY

The extensive road upgrades that Sunway Property had undertaken involve the 500 m open v-shape drain along Jalan SS7/1 & SS7/3 to a 600 mm x 600 mm box culvert, constructing a 1,800 mm width new walkway with concrete imprint finishes to ensure smooth drainage, upgraded Jalan SS8/2 from two lanes to three lanes, lengthened the current weaving section between Federal Highway Ramp and traffic from Jalan SS7/2 from 20m to 100m, built a 250m long approach bridge from the signal junction to the development.

The extensive roadworks alleviates traffic congestion and smoothening the passageways to the public transport network system – the Glenmarie LRT, Setia Jaya KTM, Kelana Jaya LRT and BRT Sunway Line.

At the same time, Sunway Property adopted the 15-acre lake near Sunway Serene during the construction period and rehabilitated the lake. Prior to Sunway Property’s adoption of the lake, the water in the lake was classified as Class IV and V – which meant the water is not ideal for recreational purposes. The poorly-lit lakeside had also become a hotspot for crime.

As part of its lake and lakeside rehabilitation works, Sunway Property had installed floating traps and the removal of litter from the lakes, as well as planted aquatic plants to help improve the water quality. The effort saw the removal of a substantial amount of trash which is equivalent to multiple truckloads of rubbish from the lake. The developer also planted 1,000 trees, preserved 168 trees during construction as well as transplanted 16 trees, translating to the capture of at least 22,000 kgs of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Sunway Property’s initiatives have seen the return of fish, birds, frogs, and squirrels to the area. The lake is now open to the public and suitable for recreation, particularly for the community of Petaling Jaya with a safe 1.2 km jogging path, lush greenery, clean public car parks including bays for differently-abled citizens, motorbike parking, a public bus stop and a 250-metre-long bicycle lane.

Sunway Serene, worth RM 1 billion in gross development value has been completed in January 2023 and is being handed over to its purchasers. Sunway Serene is designed according to the Sunway Design and Development Architecture (SDDA) which infuses Sustainability, Innovation, Health and Wellness as well as Lifestyle & New Experiences elements into its developments, encouraging our communities to live healthier, sustainable, and holistic lifestyles. Sunway Serene’s innovative features include a mini water tipping bucket and a 210m lazy river inspired by Sunway Lagoon.

In tandem with the enrichment of the community-centric built environment, Sunway Property has also launched Sunway Property Community Programme which brings together owners, sub-sale owners and tenants together under its care so we can provide them with the lifestyle support they need.

-END-

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Petrol down. Prices remain. Just us.

I read an interesting article in a local English daily. The petrol prices has come down a lot. However, the restaurants said they can’t lower their prices. It’s funny because they said the main reason they could not lower the prices is because of their suppliers are still charging them the same. The suppliers meanwhile said that the transporters have yet to reduce their prices after the petrol price drop. The transporters meanwhile are saying that it is hard to estimate how long would this fuel price last, thus, no adjustments. On the other hand, in some huge departmental stores, some of the restaurants inside are giving out lunch sets or dinner sets at just RM7.90 including a soup, a main course and a drink!  Yes, you guessed it, COMPETITION for customers. Even Mc.Donalds has their value sets and do do KFC. It has to be competition because both are not charity organisations. The real reason that all these are happening would always be the consumers. If we are still okay and patronise the restaurants while still lamenting the fact that they are expensive, then we are the real cause. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not easy to survive when you open a restaurant, I do understand. However, there are many restaurants that are overcharging and all of us know about it. Yet, we continue to eat there. What a great encouragement.

Everyone said more competition would push for better services. Very true. Where does the competition come from? It’s from the buyers and users of such services. Why do majority of us shop around when we want to buy a new smartphone? Most of the time, we would go to places where many phone shops would be operating side by side. That way, we know we would get the best possible price. It’s the same. Is it true that the food that we want to eat, only that ONE shop sells it and only that ONE shop is our only choice? If answer is Yes, then congratulations to the shop, they can continue increasing their price. Pity the ones who must eat from that one shop only. Until today, there are nasi lemak, with half an egg, some sambals, kacang and timun for RM1.50 and all the way to RM5 or higher. Do we believe in the power of the people? If we do, it’s also time to exert a little influence on prices that we feel are not justified, not just continuing to post in Facebook comments and then do nothing.

Personally, if I ever come across any restaurants which I feel is overcharging, I would not go there and I would tell everyone I know about it. Perhaps it is just the nature of us Malaysians, we are good people. Therefore, most of the time, we complain and then forget about it. Inflation, according to economists depends on demand and supply. Higher demand, insufficient supply, prices go up. Too much supply, insufficient demand, prices come down. When we go back to the actual foundation for this inflation matter, whether its demand or supply, it points back to us, the people. During good times, even the hotel rooms would be expensive and yet during low periods, the hotels can throw special discounts. Please do not tell me that their operating costs differ between good times and slow times? I know, everyone have their favourite spots. Please continue to patronise and support them as much as you want. Would I still go to Starbucks? Yes, I would. These days, mostly for those buy one free one offers. I also have some vouchers where I get another free cup of coffee when I buy any coffee there. We shall see what happens when they run out of offers / promotions. Seriously, I don’t think so. 🙂

written on 5 Jan 2015

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World oil prices. Would we pay lower or higher?

There used to be long queues right after official announcements of new petrol prices. These days, with the weekly adjustments, the number of vehicles queuing up to pump full tank or even top up their tank has lessened tremendously. I have queued just once, when a petrol station was right in front of me and I saw only a few cars queuing. It probably saved me RM2.60 for the top up. Waiting time? 10 minutes. Haha. Want to read about some predictions for oil prices for the past few months? Well, read on.

Quotes and comments about the oil prices? Here are some recent ones worth reading a bit

NEUTRAL – “Every once in awhile the fundamentals kick in — people realize there’s nothing super bullish there to keep driving it higher,” said Ric Navy, senior vice president for energy futures at RJ O’Brien & Associates LLC.
(This comment is so true! Speculation is rife currently. Everything is about’ expectations’ or ‘predictions.’)
  Full article in
foxbusiness.com
 here:
Crude Rally continues on U.S. output, inventory data.

LOWER – Goldman Sachs now points to a three-month average of $47.50 per barrel for WTI crude, down from its previous estimate of $55.00 a barrel.
(This is considered negative for the producers but positive for us, the consumers. 10 sen difference per litre for a 55-litre oil tank is RM5.50 / full tank. Assuming we can drive 10km with 1 litre means when we drive 2,000km per month, it is either an extra RM22 or lesser by RM22)
Full article in cnbc.com here: Goldman Sachs slashes oil price projection amid US shale surge.

HIGHER – Meanwhile, U.S. producers will also cut back on drilling due to lower cash flow from operations caused by the drop in prices,” Hatfield said. “We believe these two effects [will] cause oil to rally off the lows back toward the $50 area.”
(The expectation is similar to me. See my conclusion below. Haha)
 Full article in
marketwatch.com here:  Oil prices sets sights on longest streak of gains in 10 months.

Using nothing to support my predictions (haha), I think it will be US$50 per barrel by the end of 2017. The price at the pump? Well, here’s an earlier formula by
cilisos.my
 to calculate the price of retail prices for petrol. Either way, I think RM2 per litre is going to be an average that we will get used to for some time. Hopefully no unforeseen circumstances lah. By the way, oil prices up is not a good news but oil prices staying very low is not good either. With
economic growth comes demand for more oil

and this usually mean prices inch upwards.
Without economic growth means demand
 comes down and if the producers produce the same amount of oil, then the supply will push prices downwards. Happy following. Stop accelerating so much to save some fuel..

written on 30 June 2017

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Petrol Subsidy cut totally beginning June 2015. Get ready.

Today, a friend said that she read online that from June 2015 onwards, there would be no more petrol subsidy. She was upset that the subsidy would be no more. After all the world oil prices are going down, why can’t the government just maintain the same amount of subsidy? Many people argued that there were so many governments which were reducing petrol prices because the world oil price is going down, why is our government different? Seriously, are all these countries’ oil prices also under subsidy? I do not need an answer. I have it and if you insist you are right, I will also insist I am right.

Oh yeah, as usual, the argument is that with the removal of subsidy the property prices would increase. If you look at the actual % of increase versus the actual % that petrol is actually involved in the construction of houses and the property buying transaction numbers continue to be low, the developers may be absorbing this slight increase easily. My industry friend pointed out to many one developer who was offering rebates and discounts, so much until the buyer pays virtually nothing to buy a new property. As for secondary properties, surely the price would remain the same, so what’s the argument that petrol price increase meant that property prices would increase? Just remove it, and let one time price adjustment happens.
Then, whoever tries to increase prices in future better think of NEW reasons instead if the petrol price does not change. If the petrol prices drop, then they BETTER get ready to reduce their prices too. That’s what I call full transparency as advocated by many.

As for oil prices movement, look at the chart. The volatility in prices are more of speculation instead of anything else. Due to such volatility, any country which subsidises petrol meant that their budgets will always receive low ratings from any rating agency. How can you say I will set aside RM20 Billion for petrol subsidy when you cannot even control the oil price movement?! However, a responsible government should subsidise its poor people who really needs this, at least for now since MRT is not yet ready. As for ‘sponsoring’ all the rest, including myself, I think it should at max a flat rate. If subsidy is removed today, I will have to pay an extra RM45 – RM55 per month based on 1,500km per month.

Get ready, it’s coming whether you like it or not. If you are honestly worried and you drive a 1.6 litre car, just changing to a 1.0 litre economical car would save you more money than the removal of subsidy. This can be proven easily by calculation. Enjoy your drive.

written on 26 Oct 2014

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Petronas Twin Towers still tallest in the world*

Photo source: http://www.firstpeoplesolutions.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/top-10-buildings.jpg

Burj Al Khalifa was completed in 2010, it stood 828 metres tall. The second placed Taipei 101 was VERY FAR away. However, there was one building which can still claim to be tallest in the world today and perhaps for many more years to come. It is our very own Petronas Twin Towers. Note the word ‘towers’ has an ‘s’ behind it while all the rest in the world are known as ‘tower’. Yeah sure, say what ever you like on ‘syok sendiri’ but if you ask Taipei folks which tallest buildings they love most, guess what’s the answer. Yet, Taipei 101 does not even have enough space around it to build huge parks like our Petronas Twin Towers.

Yes, I am serious. Petronas Twin towers are still the tallest TWIN TOWERS in the world. 🙂  Another ‘tallest’ tower, the Warisan Merdeka was rumoured to be 596 metres tall which meant that if built, will be the second tallest tower in the world, surpassing even Taipei 101.  What about other ‘tallest’ towers planned? According to bdonline.co.uk, there are a few and they are as follows: Kingdom Tower (Jeddah) at 1,000 metres!, Ping An Finance Centre at 660 metres, Wuhan Greenland Centre at 636 metres and Shanghai Tower at 632 metres. All three in China. How tall can future buildings be? Let’s wait for Kingdom Tower to complete before we go any further, ok?

written on 23rd dec 2013

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Press Release: Petrosains Playsmart Kuantan To Resume Operations On 3 March 2021

After several months of temporary closure, Petrosains PlaySmart at the Pahang Public Library Corporation in Kuantan will reopen its doors to the public on Wednesday, 3 March 2021. Its operation hours will be from 9.00am to 4.00pm from Monday to Friday. It will be closed for breaks from 1.00pm to 2.00pm on Monday to Thursday and 12.00pm to 2.30pm every Friday. Petrosains PlaySmart is closed on weekends and public holidays.

With the re-opening, Petrosains PlaySmart is committed to ensure the health and safety of its visitors. Petrosains PlaySmart has taken all the necessary measures to prepare for the operations of the centre and ensure a very safe and secure environment for everyone during their visit. It has conducted stringent sanitizing and disinfecting and ensured all staff to undergo COVID-19 testing prior to the opening. It will also be implementing precautionary measures to help prevent the risk of exposure in accordance with the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) issued by the Government authorities.

Among the measures taken are limiting its operation hours, capping the number of visitors daily to facilitate crowd control and imposing physical distancing measures.

Visitors will also be required to register using the MySejahtera app, complete a health declaration form and undergo temperature screening before entering the premises. Visitors of all ages must wear a face mask at all times and practice good personal hygiene with hand sanitizers provided for use throughout the centre.

Petrosains PlaySmart looks forward to welcoming visitors back to its premises and hopes to provide a fun and educational visit experience with added safety measures.

For more information on Petrosains PlaySmart and its visiting guidelines, please visit its
website
 or
Facebook
 page.

— End of Press Release —

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PH Property Expo, Kota Kinabalu: 3rd to 5th March.

PH Property Expo by Property Hunter,
East Malaysia’s top property site. It starts on 3rd March 2017 (Friday). The PH Property Expo would be held in Kota Kinabalu in Sabah Trade Centre. The address is Jalan Istiadat, Teluk Likas, 88400 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Time is 10am – 9pm. Two speakers would be featured, both would be sharing their real life property investing experience. These two are not those owning hundreds of properties. From their introduction, it should be worthwhile listening and see what have they done right. We can always follow if that’s what we aspire to have as well. Developers participating as per the image beside. Information for the event as per posters below. More information at
PropertyHunter’s website.
 Happy visiting!

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Latest: Economic Sector Facilities (Complete Vaccination) allowed to reopen in Phase 1 NRP

Many people have told me they needed a haircut. Some just want to buy new clothes (never mind if just wear at home). For some people whose close relatives are getting married, they may just want to buy some gold jewellery for them. To all these people, it’s possible to do so starting 16th August. It has been announced that these shops and more are now allowed to open for all states under all Phases, even Phase 1.

The below images are from
Majlis Keselamatan Negara (MKN) Facebook page.

Phase 2 – More shops can open

Meanwhile, for states under Phase 2, the below image is applicable. Photography shops (take new photos for business), used-goods shop, plant nurseries (gardening at home!) and even shops selling perfumes. I am sure many people want to smell nice too.

Construction and Manufacturing

Meanwhile Construction and Manufacturing can continue for all phases. As for the operational capacity, it will really depend on the vaccination percentage of the workers. Do take a look at the image below. Self-explanatory yeah. These shops need to display the worker vaccination statuses outside the shop to all potential customers.

Parks visit now possible

Yes, it’s possible to visit the parks too. On a personal note basis, please remember to just be very wary of the number of people yeah. No pint in endangering yourself and others even if you are already fully vaccinated yeah. By the way, it’s not simply visiting ANY parks yeah.  You can visit the nearby ones for now. Do not get fined just because you want to go to a bigger one in another district…

For even more information,
feel free to visit MKN’s FB page yeah.

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