Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by illwill3

Cameron for New Year's

illwill3 — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 20:28:44 +0800

Is Cameron Highland still packed nowadays or hype died down already? Any other alternatives for a 1-2 day trip? thanks

Current market for finance/accounting staff?

illwill3 — Fri, 21 Nov 2025 15:53:12 +0800

Hello. I was wondering if any HR professionals, recruiters or analysts know what the current market is like for finance and accounting people? I've been unemployed for 2+ months and have only gotten i think 6 interviews in the last 3 months? 2 of them while I was unemployed and available immediately. Was it the wrong time to be jumping or is the job market just really bad currently? Or is it because I've jumped around too much?

Background info: ~3 years experience, half year in non-profit > 1 year in Big 4 > 1 year in mid-sized GLIC (with another half year as intern at MNC). I progressed normally in Big 4 (took me 9 months to move from A1 to A2) but left due to not wanting to take professional papers (they had a policy where you can't move to senior if you're not taking professional papers like ACCA). Left the GLIC because it felt too small in terms of growth + work load and had problems with management (too unprofessional and too much focus on individual KPIs). How do I get recruiters to notice me? Should I have stayed longer at each company? idt my salary expectations are too high (4.3k-5.2k depending on company I'm applying for and role).

Publishing a poetry book

illwill3 — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 00:10:00 +0800

Hi everyone. I've been thinking of publishing a poetry book for a while now but have some problems I'd like advice on:

I'm not too confident of my writing skills. TBH, I find my writings to be cringe. While writing and posting them online, I feel happy and enjoy it but when rereading them I end up cringing. Is this normal? How do I gain confidence in my writing?

How do I go about publishing books? Especially for poetry. Do most people self publish if they're no names? How much would it cost?

Is it financially viable to publish a poetry book? Tbh I don't have much of a capital and would rather not publish if it means I'll just be losing money especially since I'll soon be in between jobs and again, don't have too much saved.

Appreciate everyone's help with this and thank you in advance!

Why food so expensive

illwill3 — Mon, 14 Apr 2025 11:44:29 +0800

Working at Surian tower, all food here so expensive. Food trucks got only 1, sometimes 2-3. but none of them are good and price still expensive. anyone got suggestion where to eat if working at Surian tower? I only know got shops near the surau mutiara damansara which is somewhat ok but if walking then quite annoying bcos of the sun.

Kitchen sink pipe is broken

illwill3 — Sun, 16 Mar 2025 19:02:51 +0800

The pipe for my kitchen sink is slowly getting loose, not sure how or why. In my prev unit in this condo I never experienced this. Anyone know how to get it fixed? I'm renting the place and the house owner hasn't been helpful with these things. Even the curtain rod he used for the unit fell down in around a month and I had to get it fixed myself since he didn't know anything

HSBC SMS

illwill3 — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 10:07:29 +0800

Anyone else getting messages from HSBC suddenly on currency spot rates? I never subscribed for such information but now they're spamming me. quite annoying

friend's employer hasn't paid salary for months

illwill3 — Thu, 30 Jan 2025 20:43:49 +0800

My friend is a foreigner who started working in Malaysia a while back. However, recently his employer stopped paying his salary and didn't renew his visa but still expects him to work. What can he do or what can I do to help him out? It's even tougher for him since his dad passed away last year and now he's the one working and helping his mom out with expenses.

8 Jan Lazada/Shopee purchases?

illwill3 — Wed, 08 Jan 2025 21:35:57 +0800

Thinking of buying a new laptop since my current one is almost 5 years old. Shopee had good voucher (888 off) but I couldn't redeem it on time. on Lazada, I saw this laptop:
Lenovo LOQ
Processor: i5-12450HX, 8C (4P+4E)/12T, P-core up to 4.4GHz, E-core up to 3.1GHz, 12MB
Graphics: NVIDIA RTX3050 6GB GDDR6, Boost clock 1432MHz, TGP 65W, 142AI TOPS
Chipset: Intel HM670 Chipset
Memory: 32GB DDR5-4800
Storage: 512GB SSD M.2 2242 PCIe

Price: RM2.9k. worth it?

and other than this laptop, been wondering if there's any other good deals today or during CNY sale later? In terms of electronics and lifestyle/home appliances (vacuum, air fryer)?

tiramisu biscuits all out of stock?

illwill3 — Sat, 04 Jan 2025 13:27:49 +0800

What's going on? I've checked in Cheras area and bangi area for ladyfinger's biscuits but everywhere I go it's out of stock. Even online a lot of the places are out of stock or selling at very high prices. Got trend ke right now everyone making tiramisu?

DOSM food expenditure reasonable?

illwill3 — Sun, 03 Nov 2024 21:24:56 +0800

Was browsing reddit and read this post on Cost of Living in Malaysia KL food expenditure by DOSM: https://www.reddit.com/r/malaysia/comments/..._data_released/

Do you guys think its reasonable? I started living alone recently and have cooked on and off. I find the figures to be a bit unreasonable. To me, it only works if you eat more or less the same thing every day, dont eat out and have enough time to cook for yourself (no OT, work isnt super heavy and tiring). otherwise it really doesnt work.

If reasonable because u guys cook, what do you usually cook and where do you buy your ingredients from? Lunch I eat out since i go office every day and no time to cook in the morning. Breakfast Ill eat bread with jam or bread with chicken mayo if i made it night before for dinner. So daily I'll spend maybe around RM17 if I cook. If I dont I'd say on average RM24 per day.

Cooking and eating healthily

illwill3 — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 06:15:44 +0800

Started living alone again recently. My food options are: mamak, nasi kandar, mamak, pizza. Or cooking since this time I have a gas stove. Only issue is I don't know where to get gas. I also don't know how to cook and don't have any cooking utensils. So question:

1. Does anyone know where to get cooking gas around Bandar Tun Hussein onn?

2. I can only cook at night since I WFO everyday. Is it worth it to cook and if so, what's your suggestions for a newbie cook?

3. What fruits are best if I want to eat only fruits at night?

Which Condo is good to rent?

illwill3 — Sat, 07 Sep 2024 17:08:02 +0800

Hi guys, I accepted a job offer recently but its in Mutiara Damansara, which is quite far from my current place (Bukit Mahkota). Currently looking at few places for rent:
1. Netizen - no decent studio available at my budget (1-1.2k)
2. One Cochrane - I only see rooms here (which is fine) but I'm not sure whether its a good place or not to stay at. Also can't find male only units (never been comfortable with girls and I don't think living with one is the best option). I've read few comments online saying its a decent place to stay at though.
3. Neo Damansara - There's studios available (which I prefer) I can't find any reviews for it, but I found 1 post online where someone asked if it was a good place to stay at and another person saying Ritze perdana is a lot better (more parking, more shops around).
4. Ritze Perdana I & II - Studio's available for rent within my budget range, but the reviews I've seen online seem to make this place out to be not so good (or at least google reviews put it around 3-4 stars). In an old lowyat post some people said it had bad security.
5. M Vertica - I was looking at a master bedroom, the unit looked new and really nice, however it was on 52nd floor which is super high for me. Also I read in a lowyat post that recently that block (E) and 2 more (C&D) were bad quality and that overall, the whole project was at a super condensed area.

I'm looking for people's opinions and reviews for those places (except Netizen, I've stayed there before and I liked it. just can't find a unit to rent right now). Which one is best for someone with a max budget of 1.2k? Since I prefer studio, would ritze or neo damansara be a good option?

Company not paying allowance put in offer letter

illwill3 — Tue, 03 Sep 2024 21:20:14 +0800

Hi guys. Recently, my younger sis started interning at a company at Bukit Jalil. The offer letter stated that she'd be given an allowance of 800 per month and that meals would be provided. She started late August and worked there for around 10 days. However, when she received her August pay it was only RM150. Now, I know that companies normally pro rate if u join late, however, 150 for 10 days only doesn't make sense. if I divide 800 by 31, its around 25.8 per day. So for 10 days it should be around 260. are we calculating her pay incorrectly or is the company paying her incorrectly? she mentioned a number of her coworkers hv also been resigning due to mgt (didnt specify what exactly was wrong tho). Is there anything we can do here?

Received an offer but I'm not 100% keen on it

illwill3 — Wed, 21 Aug 2024 12:49:46 +0800

Hi guys. I resigned from my previous job early last month after a year and decided to just rest for a month before resuming work. Recently, I got an offer which pays decently for someone with my experience but I'm not too keen on it. Why?

1. Offer is barely an increase from my old pay (only around 2.5% increase).
2. Location is quite far from my parent's place and a bit far from my old rental place (itll take around 2.5 hrs from my parents place, 1.5 from my rental place).
3. Small-ish company. My team will be around 3 people max. I'm not a people person but based on my previous (2nd job) company, small teams aren't much fun and can be rather rigid in a way? My potential boss (a guy) seems a bit...strange? I'm not sure how to describe him but I find him suspicious for some reason.

However, it is the only offer I have currently (with 1 potential interview w another company, but that's all) and I don't want to be unemployed for too long involuntarily. Do you guys think it's better to risk it for something better or just take what I can? How much trouble would I be in if I accepted the offer then tried to retract my acceptance?

For context, I'm in the accounting field and currently really only have around 1 year experience in finance/accounting.

How long can a company withhold salary [Resolved]

illwill3 — Wed, 10 Jul 2024 10:29:57 +0800

Left my company after serving 2 months notice last week. They told me they were withholding my June, 2 days July salary + my claims and encashed AL for LHDN purposes once I'd filled up my clearance form and gotten all the necessary approvals. Problem is that there's one person who still has not approved for some reason (no reason given) and it's been a week with no word from them. Anyone know if what they're doing is legal? What actions can I take?

Edit: they've finally approved things and I've received my salaries (tho don't have the breakdown which I'd like since I feel like they missed my encashed AL). Thanks guys for helping out!

LF studio/room rental near MRT

illwill3 — Sun, 09 Jul 2023 15:20:45 +0800

About me: Male (24 yrs), Malay working (audit)

location pref: near (walking distance) MRT kajang line stations (closer to damansara the better)

room pref: non sharing

bathroom: pref non sharing bathroom but honestly as long as housemates are clean i dont mind sharing. would prefer at least 2 bathrooms tho in the house

budget: as long as RM1,100 or below when inc utilities. i dont need AC (i keep sneezing a lot when i hv AC on at night), fan alone is fine

housemates prefer working adults as well with no drinking alcohol, no smoking.

pls dm if got any that can move in mid july or early august (looking for 6 months tenancy at least, dont mind 1 year).

Cat pooping liquid-ish poop

illwill3 — Mon, 26 Jun 2023 21:36:40 +0800

Anyone knowledgeable about cats? I've got a question if you don't mind.

Ok so about the cat: its a ragdoll, around 2 yrs old male. We recently adopted him from his previous owner around a month or 2 ago who got it from her friend previously.

Situation: up until recently he'd been pooping normally. He however only really eats wet food, rarely any dry. Drinks normally. He recently started going out the house and got fleas. He also, in the last few days somehow got his hands on a small piece of lemon cake and ate it.

Yesterday we brought him to a vet to get him treated for the fleas and he was given some medicine to take. On the same day, we noticed he'd started pooping liquid poop in the litter box (possibly diarrhea?) And it stuck on him a bit, so we had to wash him and keep him in a cage for the night. Today we visited the vet again and they said it was probly bcos of some food he ate. They also gave some new food for digestive care and medicine.

For tonight, and for the next few nights, we'll have to keep him in the cage and possibly wash him whenever he comes out in case there's leftover poop on him. I honestly feel bad cos it seems like he's super stressed and sad.

Does anyone know what exactly is wrong with him? Was it the lemon cake? Could he be allergic to the medicine the vet gave?

BP GBS Graduate Program Salary and Benefits

illwill3 — Tue, 23 May 2023 21:49:38 +0800

Hi everyone. Recently a recruiter from BP approached me asking if I was interested in their (finance) graduate program (apparently they suddenly reopened it again after closing it earlier in April). Has anyone that applied to it gotten an offer from them? What was their salary offer?

Background: I applied for their finance grad program around Feb, got a rejection email earlier this month from their portal then suddenly got an email from one of theri HR managers/recruiters asking if I was still interested. However, I'm not sure if it's worth it to go for their final stage (2 parts, technical IV and face-to-face assessment) if in the end their offer is less than I'm expecting. Anyone can help?

Salary of auditors in Malaysia

illwill3 — Thu, 18 May 2023 21:51:43 +0800

Hi all. I wanted to get an idea on:
1. How much you guys earned as an audit associate when you first started,
2. How much you earned as your career progressed in audit, and
3. How it compares to the avg auditor salary now (assuming you started before 2022/2023).

I'm curious because I remembered a talk with my old boss and he said that he thinks audit firms are actually paying quite high nowadays and weren't actually earning much in return. I honestly don't think thats true (even if true then I blame it on partners being paid highly, not associates), but it'd be nice to get some data.

[WTR] 1 or 2 BR apartment/studio @ Damansara

illwill3 — Mon, 01 May 2023 23:02:22 +0800

Hi guys, I'm looking for a rental place either 1br studio or 2-3 br apartment (non sharing rooms) in Damansara. For studio prefer RM900 or lower, apartment RM1600 or lower. Prefer near mrt/lrt station.

Tq