There are many reasons why people fail to achieve financial freedom although many crave to be financially free. Let me share some of the reasons why people often fail in achieving financial freedom.

Low wage

Most Malaysian are underpaid. With low salary, many couldn’t save enough. They will be lucky if they are not in the red.

High inflation rate

With low wage, many couldn’t cope with the high inflation rate in Malaysia.

Working people hard to achieve

It is not impossible to achieve it if you are an employee. As an employee you will always be underpaid. When you are underpaid with high inflation rate, the success rate of achieving financial freedom is a far distance.

Overspending

Most people spend more then what they earn. Enough said.

No proper guidance

People get confuse with the endless numbers of books and blogsites on financial management.

Conclusion

Those 5 basic points need to be avoided if one wants to reach financial freedom. It is also important to fully understand the meaning of financial freedom.

To get a simple idea on financial freedom, you can read My personal definition of financial freedom.

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The two tier fuel subsidy scheme was originally set to be implemented on May 1, 2010.

Consumers can expect a rise of about 10 sen in petrol prices. It is the only alternative the government have after scrapping the two tier fuel subsidy scheme.

At the current price of crude oil of US$80 per barrel, the government is subsidising fuel pump at around 40 sen per litre.

Conclusion

The government decision to scrap the two tier subsidy scheme came as no surprise as the government has been flip flopping on many decisions of late.

We as the rakyat really hope the government will take care of the all of us especially those hardcore poor people in Malaysia.

According to my friend (how far it is true i am not sure as he said he read this news in the Chinese daily newspaper), the government has bought the machines to implement this two tier fuel subsidy scheme. If this news is true, Malaysian tax payers money has just gone down to the drain once again.

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EPF marked improvement is due to the highest-ever net income achieved of RM19.63bil, increasing 34.82 percent from RM14.56bil recorded in the previous year.

EPF’s investment portfolio also grew 8.55 percent or RM29.25bil to RM371.26bil from RM342.01bil in 2008.

Conclusion

A much better performance by EPF. Whether EPF can sustain their good performance throughout 2010 will be much dependent on the market sentiments.

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I have also written a post on SCOMIMR - Will it be bleeding love for me? It turned out to be yes, it’s bleeding love currently..

What is my current holding of SCOMIMR and SCOMI-LA?

15000 shares of SCOMIMR, average price of RM 0.5711 and 30000 shares of SCOMI-LA with an average price of RM 0.12

Latest share price of SCOMIMR and SCOMI-LA

As per March 3rd 2010, SCOMIMR is at RM 0.385 and SCOMI-LA is at RM 0.095

How much paperloss have i endure?

SCOMIMR around -32.59% while SCOMI-LA around -20.83%

Why SCOMIMR drop so much?

SCOMIMR had a very poor 4th quarter result. The EPS stood at -17.89 sen bringing it down for the Current year to date which is -9.78 sen.

The reason for the poor 4th quarter result is due to impairment loss!

The revenue for 4th quarter ending 31/12/2009 vs 31/12/2008 is 110,916,000 vs 116,439,000. The different is around 6 million but the loss differ so much due to the impairment loss.

Without the impairment loss, SCOMIMR EPS will be around 2 +-

What is impairment loss?

SCOMIMR suffered impairment loss which is a downward revaluation of fixed assets. Meaning there is nothing wrong with the business they are doing just that a negative revaluation which makes the 4th quarter results ugly.

Am i still confident with SCOMIMR and SCOMI-LA?

Personally yes! Yes this is my personal view. I am a guy with high self confidence.. Lolx!

Will i buy in more?

Yes but not so soon. Will try to buy in some when the next quarter result is approaching.

Will i loose sleep?

Never as i am still confident with the fundamental of SCOMIMR and SCOMI-LA

Conclusion

Still confident but like i say in my earlier post, i am no GOD! Happy waiting people… ^^

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A new tax will be implemented soon which is the goods and services tax (GST). It is rumored that the GST will take place somewhere around mid 2011. A new change into Malaysia tax system.

To be honest, most Malaysians are still confused about the GST. Let me share some basic knowledge that we need to know when GST is implemented in Malaysia.

What is GST?

It is a tax that the buyer pays instead of the seller. Consumers still need to pay income tax as GST and income tax is totally different.

It is a consumption tax charged on imports and also value added to goods and services provided by a business to the end user.

Value added?

It is a mark up price. Selling price = Cost of materials + profit charged to customers

How much will the GST be?

If our government never flip flop, it will be at 4%. It is set by the Finance Minister.

Difference between GST and Sales tax?

GST is a multi stage tax while sales tax is a one go tax. With GST, you won’t have cascading effect meaning you won’t need to pay tax which are not relevant.

What are the advantages of GST?

More efficient with more tax collected. The rate will be lower also because it is broad base. The tax will be collected from the very first transaction to the consumer. That is why it’s broad base.

Tax evasion will be harder and more income tax can be collected for the government. Good for the government but not good for the citizens.

Are you eligible to charge GST?

One year business which amounts to RM 500000 must register to charge GST. Busiess lesser then 500k can volunteer to charge GST and claim input tax credit.

GST on imports

Imported goods will be tax at the time of importation

Will there be GST on domestic products?

Yes. GST will be collected within one month for businesses supplying goods and services. Period taxable will be three or six months depending on the classification of the business by the GST authorities.

Not all goods and services will be charge GST. There is 3 categories for GST, Taxable, zero rated and exempt.

Taxable goods and services

Consumers will be charge 4%. If your business is registered to charge GST, the rate will be the same on the sale of the taxable goods and services and pay GST on its purchases.

Zero rated

End user will pay 0% GST. No tax will be charged on the item on the consumers. Will be able to claim a credit for any GST paid on the inputs.

Exempt goods and services

No tax will be charge to the consumer same as zero rated but will not be entitled to claim any input tax credit on purchases.

Will GST be a pain in the ass to the consumer?

GST is set at 4% while the current sales and service tax is much higher then the GST. So there will not be any significant rise on the increase on prices.

For goods with lesser sales and service tax, consumers have to pay slightly more with the GST at 4%.

Conclusion

GST might looks simple but consumers should understand it properly. Not only consumers but business people should not take GST lightly as they need to apply the GST to their business.

Failure to do so, will result in the loss of the set off or credit for input taxes suffered. Not only that, business might have to pay penalties for not following the law.

How effective the GST will be, only time will tell. I am sure there will be many loop holes for people to exploit it. Only time will tell. We shall see how efficient our government will be in implementing GST.

To be honest, we have very good rules and law but implementation is very poor by the authorities. I don’t put high hopes in GST as well. Hope they can prove me wrong!

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One of my friends called me asking me, what happen to Genting SP? He also asked me whether i have sold any of my Genting SP shares? I guess he is quite worried with the current price drop of Genting SP! From $1.30 high to around $0.90..

Reasons why Genting SP is falling

I have written a short post on the reasons why Genting SP is falling.

What will i do with my Genting SP shares?

I will hug it tight tight and won’t let it go. Maybe i will lower down my target price of $2 and above to $1.50 but all this depends. I won’t sell now.

Will i buy in more Genting SP shares?

Yes i will. Definately. I will be crazy to buy at $1.10+ and not buy it at current price. Shall wait and see first but will try my best to get more as bullets are running low.

Short term pain but long term gain

I am confident that long term Genting SP won’t disappoint but short term might not be convincing. I wouldn’t mind short term pain but i am looking forward to Genting SP’s long term gain.

How low can Genting SP go?

I can’t answer this question as i am not GOD.

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Good news for iphone lovers and Digi supporters. Digi will be bringing iPhone to Malaysia! With this, Maxis one year monopoly in the providing iPhone to Malaysian is ending.

Digi strucked a deal with Apple Inc to distribute iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS but which package they will be joining is still not yet disclose.

Digi and Apple signed a 3 years deal and Digi is targeting an extra 5% of sales this year. Stay tune for more updates on Digi new packages bundled with the iPhone.

Even my friend LiewCF also wrote a blog post on this matter titled : Digi Malaysia to Offer iPhone in Malaysia, Breaking Maxis Exclusive

Conclusion

I am a believer of healthy competition rather then monopoly business. When a company is monopolizing the market, they set the price and we as consumers can only accept it.

With competition, it is benificial to customers as we have choices to make from rather then just one. I am pretty sure all Malaysians out there loves a market which is full of competition.

One of the main reasons why i didn’t purchase the iPhone is because it is very expensive and the contract needed to sign with Maxis is damm bloody long. So it is not worth it.

With Digi in the picture, i might be thinking to wait for a while more or get the Google Nexus One. What say you?

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Many is asking why Genting SP share price is dropping so badly lately? Let me share some of the news that i got on Genting Singapore which is affecting the price of the share.

Genting SP losses grow

Net loss doubles for full year of 2009 to $277 million which is higher then $124 million loss incurred in 2008.

Maybe due to increase of the price of raw materials to build and to complete the casino and increase in pre operation expanses really took on its toll on the earnings of Genting SP.

Selling pressure of Genting Berhad

Genting Berhad fell drastically as well to RM6.36 which might caused them to loose RM667 million in market capitalization.

Genting Singapore becomes unattractive

Genting SP has seen tripled in value since 2009. With the increase loss, the current price is not justified. Earlier than anticipated opening of the casino that seemed to have caught some investors unprepared.

Conclusion

I won’t be selling my Genting SP soon as the fundamentals of this stock is still there. Hope this short term pain will be a long term gain in the future. Huat ah… ^^

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My best buddy is getting married next month on the 14th of March 2010. I have been to many wedding marriages of my friends and families.

To be honest when i went to my first wedding marriage i was somewhat confused on how much to give. After going to many, i learn from my experience on how much to ‘Pow’ during weddings.

For Melaka standard, Weddings which are held in those Chinese restaurants, usually i will ‘Pow’ RM80 while those posh and grand weddings in those big hotels, we usually wrapped RM100 or RM120.

Now the big question, how much will you ‘Pow’ for your best buddy? From what i hear from my friends, usually they give RM200 or RM300.

My buddy asked me for 1000 shares of Genting Singapore for his wedding. I was like… What the hell? Lolx!

Anyway i have already decided on how much to give my buddy for his wedding. It is either i will ‘Pow’ him RM888.88 or RM1314. This will be the biggest Ang Pow i am going to ‘Pow’ for a wedding!

What do you think about the rate that i recommend? Is it too much or too little? Your views are appreciated! ^^

*Pow is Putting the money into the red packet

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The result for the top 10 richest people in Malaysia is out with the undisputed number 1 rank Malaysian is still the Sugar King, Tan Sri Robert Kuok with a net worth of 42.76billion ringgit.

Following behind with a distance is Tan Sri Ananda Krishnan with a RM27billion ringgit.

List of the richest people in Malaysia for 2009 :-

1. Tan Sri Robert Kuok :- RM42.76bil
2. Tan Sri Ananda Krishnan :- RM27bil
3. Tan Sri Lee Shin Cheng :- RM11.92bil
4. Tan Sri Teh Hiong Piow :- RM10.86bil
5. Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay :- RM10.38bil
6. Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan :- RM7.09bil
7. Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al Bukhary :- RM6.01bil
8. Puan Sri Lee Kim Hua :- RM4.4bil
9. Tan Sri Tiong Hiew King :- RM3.5bil
10.Tan Sri Vincent Tan :- 2.2bil

Conclusion

It is never easy to get into the top 10 richest person in Malaysia. Top 10 richest people in Malaysia are made of Tan Sri and Puan Sri.

It will take sometime before somebody can take over or cut Robert Kuok as the richest man in Malaysia. He has been there for many many years.

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