Malaysia Budget 2010 Not Favor To Middle Income Group

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced the Malaysia Budget 2010 on 23 October 2009 which falls on my birthday. What a coincident! The budget 2010 was aimed at making Malaysia a high-income economy and ensuring holistic and sustainable development.

Just to highlight a few measures especially in the tax relief and charges of RM50 for credit cardholders. I think the measures are ‘unfavorable’ to middle income group. Why I say so…

Financial Ratio Analysis - Good Reading

This article is taken from the website of University of Notre Dame (an independent, national Catholic university located in Notre Dame, Ind., adjacent to the city of South Bend and approximately 90 miles east of Chicago (http://nd.edu/)


It is difficult to infer organizational performance from one or two simple numbers. Nevertheless, in practice a number of different ratios are often calculated in strategic planning endeavors and, taken as a whole and with some caution, these ratios do provide some information about the relative performance of an organization. In particular, a careful analysis of a combination of these ratios may help you to distinguish between firms that will eventually fail and those that will continue to survive. Evidence suggests that, as early as five years before a firm fails, one may be able to detect trouble from the value of these financial ratios.

In this note, the basic financial ratios are reviewed, and some of the caveats associated with using them are highlighted. The ratios tend to be most meaningful when they are used to compare organizations within the same broad industry, or when they are used to make inferences about changes in a particular organization's structure over time.

DS Najib speech during the 60th UMNO Assembly

On 16 Oct 2009, the 60th UMNO General Assembly at PWTC, Kuala Lumpur has been overwhelmed by the speech by the UMNO President, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to all UMNO members and audiences at large. The speech was unexpected from DSN and every and each word has its own meanings. The one that caught my attention was he talked about the return of Tan Sri Isa Samad into the battle of UMNO in winning the election poll in Bagan Pinang, Negeri Sembilan. In the election poll on 11 October last week, TSI under the flag of BN got a majority win over PAS candidate, Zulkefley Mohd Omar. The BN wining was expected because of the popularity of TSI in his own birth place and he is accepted by all the communities there since TSI was the former chief minister of Negeri Sembilan for 20 years. May be he had done a good deeds to the people of Bagan Pinang.

Back to DSN's speech over TSI, he told that TSI had been punished due to his guilty as charge in committing a money politic during the UMNO vice president contest in 2004. TSI has been hardly sentenced by stripping him from the post of chief minister of NS, and barring from any post in UMNO for 4 years. The punishment was found to be to harsh for a man who has been served many years to UMNO and the public. During that time, TSI wife was passed away. Pitty to TSI ... Dah jatuh, ditimpa tangga pula...

TSI took his fate in gentlemen way by accepting the decision made by the UMNO disciplinary committee and just remained silent. He still remained in UMNO and did not have attention to jump ship.

But when the time is right, he made the come back with a big limelight and a full of glory. Indian movies always show that the hero is defeated first round but will bounced back with a happy ending.

What DSN told in his speech is a noble thing where if the guy has been punished due to his wrongdoing. The guy cannot be punished for the second time or forever been punished. TSI should be given a second chance to prove that he still can contribute to UMNO and his own constitutions in Bagan Pinang.

The morale of the story,

Please give people a second chance, regardless your spouse, children, friends, colleagues, subordinates, and so on. And do not condemn them with negative things but to support them to change and improve.

Please look things positively when you face the lowest moment in your life. If you patient, seek guidance from Allah swt and do not loose your faith, Insya-Allah. Things can get better.

Three Key Elements of Internal Audit

Internal Audit has three key pillars in order to successfully carry out their roles and responsibility to the organisation, i.e. approach, resources and infrastructure.

1. Approach
a. Planning where to identify what areas are the top priority that needs to be audited (via Risk Management) and communication with the control owner (the Management) to establish responsibility and commitment.

b. Engagement related to the appraisal activities to test whether the controls and the management action plan are adequate and effective.

c. Monitoring involved engaging with the control owner (the Management), to improve their operations and reduce the recurrence of deficiency through reporting and follow up.

2. Resources
a. Responsible, experience and knowlegable Audit Managers

b. Competent and skillfull internal Audit Staff

c. Qualification and computer savvy

3. Infrastructure
a. Management Information System (MIS)

b. Data mining - sampling and red flags

c. System support and full access

All the above elements are equally important but not exhausted of other elements which more or less crucial depends on the individual perceptions. Will elaborate further the sub-element in future posting.

Why some Husband are naughty?

Yesterday got discussion with my wife regarding why some husbands are naughty, specifically where the husband quietly plays SMS with other women beside his wife. This is considered “main kayu tiga” in Malay.

What drive the husbands to cheat their wives by having affair with other women?

Mee Racun Gear Box Batu Pahat

I was on duty in Batu Pahat on 7 and 8 Oct 2009. Around 7.30 pm, the manager invited me for a quick dinner before role out for the day. He took me to this wooden stall at Taman Setia Jaya, next to the single storey terrace house. No not sure what is the address of the road. What I can remember is that if you want to go there, you need to go to Tesco, after you passed the Tesco, turn left if you from Batu Pahat town but if you from Ayer Hitam, you need to turn right. Then, you have to go straight until you reach a mosque next to your left, then quickly turn right. Go straight down at least 1 km until you reach shophouses at your right hand side, please look at your left, there is a stall but open your eyes widely because at glance, you cannot identify there is a stall there.

The manager ordered 2 Mee Racun Gear Box. It teasted like a mee bandung but more delicious when i took the first bite. The Mee Racun was accompanied by two Lamb gear box where the meat was so tender and sweet.

The manager told me that when he was 7 years old, his father took him to eat this Mee Racun. So it means it was 25 years ago since the manager was a year older than me. Previously the stall was located in town and it was operated by the father of the current owner. The owner now is his son who had the opportunity to continue the legacy of his father in selling the Mee Racun. I managed to talk to the owner but cannot recalled his name. I asked him whether the stall open on Saturday. He said yes and he asked me how the Mee Racun since he saw from my facial impression that i was so satisfied with the Mee Racun.

My uncle told me that there is a same stall located in Kuala Lumpur. I will find the place and try the Mee Racun. But I will still continue to come again to Batu Pahat and try this Mee Racun.

US Thunderbirds shows at RMAF Subang

On 3 October 2009, I brought the whole family to Royal Malaysian Air Force Subang to watch the air show of US Thunderbirds at the RMAF Subang. The traffic was so terrible but we managed to get a spot at the fence next to the runaway. Cannot find the entrance to RMAF.

We reached there around 8.30 am and have to wait until 10.30 am when the air show was started by our own proud jet fighter “Sukhoi”. There was a time when I was so amazing when the Sukhoi was hovering like helicopter at the sky facing the upward. After 20 minutes showing the acrobatic performance, the Sukhoi was safely landing and I was unable to take photo since both of my hands were occupied, one was holding an umbrella when the day start to raining and another one was holding my son's hand.

Then, we waited another 50 minutes for the US Thurderbirds. Both my son were complaining why we needed to wait since I knew that they were tired waiting. I told them that the US pilots were afraid of flying now because of rain.

Finally at 11.50 am, we saw 6 jet fighters marching before our eyes and we saw the pilots waving their hands to the crowd. Their 45 minutes air show performance by the US Thunderbirds was damn so fascinating and spectacular. I managed to take some photo but sorry to say if you were using a normal camera, the jet looked like a small fly at the open sky. My sons and I were so happy with the show.