Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by Bobby C

Kapas-Marang International Swimathon

Bobby C — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 17:42:18 +0800

This tread shall be dedicated to those who are interested to participate in Kapas-Marang International Swimathon. Noted that the international swimming event has been carried out for quite some time but rather unheard of, probably due to low publicity as well as limited participants.

This year event shall be on 20th April 14.

Open water swimming event has not been very popular in the country but it is gaining world wide recognition with the inclusion in the recent Olympics. Google through the web and these are what I found:-

http://www.triathlonmalaysia.com/race-deta...tID=37&tab=race

http://sukarenang.blogspot.com/2012/05/65k...athon-2012.html

https://www.google.com/search?q=marang+kapa...iw=1024&bih=471

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPRhsqjb9B4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0tmEtWDV8I

http://nabilla-naha.blogspot.com/2012/04/k...ional-65km.html

http://linger-02.blogspot.com/2010/04/kapa...n-im-alive.html

http://teganukita.blogspot.com/2013/03/427...pas-marang.html

http://badruddinghazali.blogspot.com/2013/...-swimathon.html

http://staffswim.blogspot.com/2012/05/3rd-...-swimathon.html

http://psescapades.blogspot.com/2010/04/ka...-swimathon.html

Those who have participated in past Kapas Marang swimathon kind share your experience and advice. FYI, I'm too a newbie looking forward for very first attempt in the coming weeks.

PHP & MySQL courses

Bobby C — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 15:34:32 +0800

Anyone can recommend good place to pick up some programming skill on PHP & MySQL?

We are looking for good school to train our staffs.

Our goal. Upon completion trainees able to create web base server for data entry, storage and search capability.

TQ!

Condo Building Under Receivership

Bobby C — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 17:55:39 +0800

Hi, anyone knows what are the risks of buying a condo whereby the building itself (not the particular condo unit) under receivership?

Not sure the history of this building, how it ends up under receivership.

Anyway, location and ROI looks tempting.

Cut subsidies else risk bankruptcy in 2019!

Bobby C — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 17:35:56 +0800

Refer to the recent news in The Star below.

Idris Jala said something serious which will affect everyone here in the forum and in fact the whole country. Be it rich, middle class or poor, all will be affected.

Please share your view, future financial planning etc. What you are going to do about it rather than wait and crying wolf later. How many are going to restructure your current financial plans?

Idris Jala: M’sia must cut subsidies, debt by 2019 or risk bankruptcyBy TEH ENG HOCK and SHAUN HO

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will be bankrupt by 2019 if it does not cut subsidies and rein in borrowings, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Idris Jala on Thursday.

He said that Malaysia's debt would rise to 100 percent of GDP by 2019 from the current 54% if it did not cut subsidies.

“We do not want to be another Greece,” he said when officiating the Subsidy Lab Open Day here to receive feedback from the public on subsidies.

Some of the recommendations of the subsidy rationalisation lab:

- Reduction of gas subsidy, resulting in an increase in electricity tariffs. However, most households will not be affected as the move will only affect those consuming more than 200kWh.

- Toll rates to increase in mid-2010 as per concession agreement except for highways without alternative toll-free routes.

-Outpatient treatment at public hospitals to be increased from RM1 to RM3. In-patient treatment will also increase, depending on the wards (Class One, Two or Three), from between RM3 and RM80, to between RM6 to RM160.

-Text book loan scheme and tuition subsidy aid to be abolished. Students will also have to pay for public examination fees.

-Foreign students will pay full fees at public universities.

-Local undergraduates and postgraduates to pay more in student fees, ranging from RM300 to RM800.

Meanwhile, Bernama reported Idris as saying that Malaysia was likely to become an oil importer as early as next year at the current rate it was consuming petroleum,

Malaysians continue to be among the highest fuel consumers per capita in the world fuel consumption habits pattern which generally has remained relatively unchanged despite increased oil prices in 2008.

He also said that approximately 70% of the government's liquid petroleum gas (LPG) subsidy went to commercial concerns and not the intended households.

About 30% of the cooking oil subsidy was also abused, he said.

He said the government is proposing to phase out the petrol subsidy gradually in line with its move to strategically position Malaysia's economy on a stronger footing to realise the aspirations of Vision 2020, which is to achieve a developed, high-income nation status.

"Subsidies are an inaccurate representation of trade," Idris said when officiating the Subsidy Lab Open Day here to receive feedback from the public on subsidies.

"In addition, they pose a fiscal burden that emerging economies such as Malaysia should move away from. As such, we desperately need an exit strategy for subsidies, as they are unsustainable," he said.

"In order to save the country, we need to increase our GDP, Malaysians need to be aware we are giving the highest subsidies - 4.6 per cent of GDP even higher than Indonesia (2.7 per cent) & Philippines (0.2 per cent)," said Idris, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (PEMANDU).

Malaysia is one of the most subsidised nations in the world. Its total subsidy of RM74 billion in 2009 is equivalent to RM12,900 per household.

This covers the areas of Social (RM42.8bil), Fuel (RM23.5bil), Infrastructure (RM4.6bil) and Food amounting to RM3.1bil.

"All savings to reduce these savings are intended to reduce our deficit and debt of RM103bil in five years," he said.

Meanwhile, studies by Bank Negara have shown that inflation will rise to four per cent (2011-2012) and three per cent post 2013.

Subsidies only result in market distortion and they drain the government of much needed funds that could be better used for more strategic and pressing development projects for the rakyat, Idris said.

"The time for subsidy rationalisation is now," he said.

"We are reviewing the possibility of introducing a floating price mechanism, mitigation measures and assistance needed to put in place."

"We do not want to end up like Greece with a total debt of EUR300 billion. Our deficit rose to record high of RM47 billion last year."

"If the government continues at the rate of 12 per cent per annum, Malaysia could go bankrupt in 2019 with total debts amounting to RM1,158 billion," he cautioned.

Money leaving Malaysia in massive amounts and biza

Bobby C — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:47:49 +0800

Hello Financial gurus, sifus, teachers, newbies,

Can some experts verify the accuracy of the report by UBS Securities Asia Limited?

Hope it is absolute nonsense. Else we are in trouble!

http://freemalaysiatoday.com/english/?p=6839

Money leaving Malaysia in massive amounts and bizarre fashion
Wed, Jan 13, 2010
National

SHAH ALAM: Malaysia’s once strong foreign exchange reserve is bordering on collapse, according to a UBS Securities Asia Limited report. It says that in 2009, Malaysia experienced the biggest foreign exchange reserve losses among Asian countries.

It says official reserves fell by more than one-quarter on a valuation-adjusted basis.

Describing the situation as bizarre, it notes that Malaysia used to have the largest current account surplus in Asia–at around 17% of GDP.

“Over the past 12 months, Malaysian reserves nearly collapsed” while neighbours like Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and China “have seen sizeable increases,” it says.

It says foreign capital outflows from Malaysia in the last year was nearly 50 percent of its GDP.

“When we measure implied net flows using the same rough methodology as in used on Russia, the numbers are simply stunning. [Malaysia showed] peak outflows of nearly 50% of GDP,” it says, noting that the outflow was larger than anything witnessed in the world of emerging markets (EM).

The report also says Malaysia over the past 12 months recorded one of the biggest base money contractions in the entire EM world.

It asserts that recent outflows were “far, far bigger than those Malaysia experienced in the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.”

The full report follows:

Malaysia–Another Bizarre Story

Confusion is a word we have invented for an order which is not understood. — Henry Miller

What it means
After last year’s series of notes on EM countries with “bizarre” money and credit behavior (Chile, Kazakhstan and Vietnam, see Tales of the Bizarre, EM Daily, 4-6 November 2009), we need to add one more to the list: the very strange case of Malaysia.
Question: which Asian country had the biggest FX reserve losses in 2009? The answer is Malaysia, and by a very wide margin; we estimate that official reserves fell by well more than one-quarter on a valuation-adjusted basis. Why is this bizarre? Well, in the first place because Malaysia runs a current account surplus – and not just a mild surplus but rather the largest in Asia, around 17% of GDP. Other structural surplus neighbors like China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand have all seen sizeable increases in FX reserves over the past 12 months … and yet Malaysian reserves nearly collapsed.

How did this happen? In short, Malaysia must have seen massive foreign capital outflows – and sure enough, when we measure implied net flows using the same rough methodology as in our note on Russia earlier in the week (Watching Money in Russia, EM Daily, 5 January 2010), the numbers are simply stunning: peak outflows of nearly 50% of GDP, i.e., more than twice as large as in the “capital flight” case of Russia and many orders of magnitude larger than anything witnessed in the average EM country (Chart 2).1 In fact, the
recent outflows are far, far bigger than those Malaysia experienced in the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis (Chart 3).

It gets stranger. Unlike Russia, Ukraine, the Gulf states or other recent EM capital flight economies, Malaysia didn’t see any net external inflows in the run-up to the current crisis. Indeed, Malaysia has not recorded a year of positive net capital inflows since 1997, i.e., there wasn’t exactly a large pool of “hot” money parked onshore waiting to leave. Nonetheless, as shown in the above charts, capital is apparently still leaving Malaysia in large quantities as of the latest data points – long after most other emerging countries began to see net inflows again.

1 Implied capital flows in Chart 2 are defined as the difference between valuation-adjusted FX reserve accumulation and the current account balance. Flows in Chart 3 are defined as the difference between the overall balance of payments and the current account balance.

Nor, in contrast to all the above-named economies (and in contrast to Eastern Europe in general), did Malaysia have any noticeable increase in domestic leverage – both broad money M2 and bank credit actually declined as a share of GDP since the beginning of the decade.

So where on earth did the outflows come from?

Certainly not local deposits. Unlike Russia, Ukraine or other CIS economies, there was no outflow from the domestic deposit base; M2 growth in Malaysia is still very comfortably positive, in sharp contrast to the Russian figures we published a few days ago (Chart 4).

And this despite a massive, unprecedented decline in high-powered “base” money, as shown in Chart 4. Indeed, over the past 12 months Malaysia recorded one of the biggest base money contractions in the entire EM world, matched only by the Baltic states (Chart 5). This is in part because the Malaysian central bank responded with a sharp drop in reserve requirements to keep banks liquid … but still, we can’t help but note that the domestic financial system seems uniquely unaffected by apparent capital outflows.

In fact, perhaps the most surprising feature of the economy is that interest rates have fallen steadily. In 1997-98, with much lower ex-post outflow pressures, Malaysian short-term interest rates skyrocketed into the high teens; last year the same thing happened in some other countries with strong outflows pressures. Meanwhile, during 2009 Malaysian rates settled in comfortably at around 2% per annum and show no signs of rising substantially any time soon. What is going on? How do we square this circle? To be honest, we’re not really sure – but we strongly suggest the interested reader turn to ASEAN economist Ed Teather for further answers. For additional information on Malaysia, Ed Teather can be reached at edward.teather@ubs.com.

Analyst Certification
Each research analyst primarily responsible for the content of this research report, in whole or in part, certifies that with respect to each security or issuer that the analyst covered in this report: (1) all of the views expressed accurately reflect his or her personal views about those securities or issuers; and (2) no part of his or her compensation was, is, or will be, directly or indirectly, related to the specific recommendations or views expressed by that research analyst in the research report.

Required Disclosures

This report has been prepared by UBS Securities Asia Limited, an affiliate of UBS AG. UBS AG, its subsidiaries,branches and affiliates are referred to herein as UBS. For information on the ways in which UBS manages conflicts and maintains independence of its research product; historical performance information; and certain additional disclosures concerning UBS research recommendations, please visit www.ubs.com/disclosures. The figures contained in performance charts refer to the past; past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Additional information will be made available upon request.

Company Disclosures

Issuer Name
Chile
China (Peoples Republic of)
Kazakhstan
Malaysia
Russia
Singapore
Taiwan
Thailand (Kingdom of)
Ukraine
Vietnam4
Source: UBS; as of 08 Jan 2010.

4. Within the past 12 months, UBS AG, its affiliates or subsidiaries has received compensation for investment banking services from this company/entity.

Rating Your Bank

Bobby C — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 14:17:44 +0800

Just curious, base on your own experience and opinion, how many points would you rate your banks say for 1 ... 10 points?

To start the ball rolling following is my own rating:-

1. HSBC - 9/10 (User friend & secure internet banking, well maintained ATMs, competitive loan rate, call to check when unusual usage of credit card, good gift offer by credit card, clean and less crowded counter etc)

2. Public Bank - 8/10 (supper efficiency counter service, well maintained ATMs, competitive loan rate etc)

3. Hong Leong Bank - 5/10 (idoitic computerised generated letters which nobody cares to read before they send, regular breakdown of ATMs etc)

4. Standard Chart - 4/10 (telephonist that did not follow instruction to stop junk smses even after 5 calls, forcing credit cards to your throat with own activation even you did not apply, you deposit money to reduce loans they give u free credits ask you to spend more and buy their unit trusts, their unit trust sales gals/boys call financial planner/consultant whatever - nice title though, instead of saving reducing debt they ask you to spend buy unit trusts, simply claiming issurance charges to your loan account without your knowledge and have to write letters to ask for refund etc)

5. Maybank - 2/10 (3 paxs waiting took half hour to clear the counter, 2 hrs waiting to replace ATM card till I gave up withdraw all left rm1 to auto close, ban for life thereafter, ATM always breaks down can 2 deposit machines at the same time so ask you to come back other day)

Anyway, above just own opinion and experience. Care to share your experience? Banking system seriously need to improve do you think so?

May should ask NTV7 to do a public survey ...