No money! No money!

Many Malaysians are complaining about the high costs of living and getting low salaries.

Instead of complaining, stop smoking, stop spending a lot on nasi lemak and the teh tarik. Take breakfast at home, pack your lunch and spend less on unnecessary things.

I love you Wong Mew Choo

You have proved to the world that we are among the greatest in the world.

To those who do not know who Wong Mew Choo is, go back to sleep.

Tenaga Nasional Berhad (LLN)

In the first week of every month hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of Malaysians would get reminders in sealed envelopes that there are bills in arrears that need to be settled or get a cut in their electricity supplies.

To the non-accounting and common people on the streets there is nothing wrong with that but…

Posting reminders cost money. Probably around 50 sen each (envelope, paper, postage, handling, etc.)

Assuming there are about 2 millions customers = RM0.50 x 2,000,000 = RM1,000,000 per month

Per year = RM1,000,000 x 12 months = RM12,000,000

I was in the accounting/auditing profession for more than 35 years in Malaysia and in the UK. I was a Credit Controller once in a large Newspapers company in Malaysia. As such I’m fully aware of the importance of sending timely reminders at appropriate times.

Allow me to repeat the words “timely” and “at appropriate times”.

“Timely” means “Occurring at a suitable or opportune time; well-timed.” as defined at http://www.answers.com/topic/timely

“At appropriate times” simple means suitable timing. Like you don’t go visiting your married friends around 12 PM. Probably OK with your bachelor friends.

After a diversion back to LLN’s reminders.

Let me ask you a question: How many of you pay your bill before the end of the month? Some of you did? Good, probably because your employees (like the Government of Malaysia) pay your salaries early. Unfortunately the majority pay right on the dot – on the last day of the month.

The majority would get their salaries in the 1^st week of the month and would also settle their bills. Among the bills are those stated in the reminders to be in arrears by LLN.

If LLN were to delay those reminders, say about 7 days, many reminders wouldn’t have to be sent out because many of the bills are no longer in arrears. Assuming that 75 % will pay those bills in arrears in the 1^st week of the month, only about 500,000 reminders need to be sent .

The saving would be:

RM0.50 x 1,500,000 (2,000,000 less 500,000) = RM750,000 per month

Per year = RM750,000 x 12 months = ? (do the calculation youself)

Am I talking stupid?

P. S. Telkom Malaysia send their reminders in the 2^nd week of the month since they know their accounting well.

Debit MasterCard in Malaysia

“Convenience and control beyond cash or checks
MasterCard debit cards offer the ultimate in convenience and financial control by combining the worldwide acceptance and benefits of MasterCard cards, with an immediate deduction of funds from your checking account.” – Mastercard.com

What ultimate in convenience and financial control are they talking about?

I don’t want to use my credit cards for online purchases because there are risks of identity thefts resulting in all my funds being stolen. Similarly I don’t want to use any cards (credit, debit, prepaid, etc) that allow automatic withdrawals from my banking accounts.

The usage of Debit MasterCard (allows automatic withdrawals from banking accounts) would result in spending of your money in the banking accounts at a much faster rate because the Impulse Buying Devil is always around.

I’m using PB Visa Electron debit card and AmBank NexG MasterCard because my purchases are limited to the funds (always min of RM25 = 0 available fund) in that cards and I need to top-up if I want to buy something online. Since the nearest bank is about 2 km away from my house (I work at home), I would ask myself “To buy?” and “Don’t buy?” many times before I make any top-ups. Because of this the Impulse Buying Devil is always the loser.

I’m of the view that there wouldn’t be much interest in the debit MasterCard because prudent individuals wouldn’t feel safe since it would be much riskier than having credit cards. A credit card comes with a credit limit (most of the times not much balance still available) but debit MasterCard could pose much harm if one has a lot money in the bank after withdrawal from a fixed deposit, after getting large sales proceeds from the sales of properties, etc.