Collapsing Financial Markets?

Citigroup, the largest bank in USA, needed to write down a record US$18.1 billion from their accounting books which caused a reported US$9.83 billion loss for the quarter ended 31 Dec 2007. Reduction of staff is the next thing to stabilise the bank. Will Malaysia's Citibank be affected?

Bank of America ("BOA"), the second largest bank, needed to retrench 650 staff from the corporate and investment banking jobs and required to sell off prime brokerage unit,. BOA's fourth-quarter profits could be down by 80% and 32% overall. Hmmmmm, wonder how is BOA Malaysian branch faring.

All this, partly due to the financial crisis involving the mortgage sector and it's slowly eating into the banking system. The above stated results are really bad and Malaysia should be ready for it. Malaysia's predicted 6% rise in 2008's economy could take a real beating.

Malaysians should be prepared for a USA recession and when it hits, it will really whack us. With rising costs in all aspects that could happen right after the general elections (rumoured to be in Mar 08), we have to tighten our pockets.

Those living on borrowed credits should take pre-cautions now and that's the issue which is bothering me as I'm hunting for a house. I'm sure the banking interest rates will rise above the current BLR rate of 6.75%. So, those BLR -2% offers are just blinding us common folks and will be meaningless when rates are increased. Banks will want to maintain high profits and when we didn't account for an increase, we will be caught with high interest and thus high monthly payment or worse, bankruptcy. Yeah, I do play real safe.

I met with a financial institution guy the other day to discuss on a potential housing loan and when he assessed my financial situation, he said financial institutions don't like people like me. HUH?????

What? With a low outstanding housing loan, no car loans, no personal loans, zero credit card debts, properly insured with diversified investments - this isn't good enough?

Nah, his meaning is financial institutions preferred people on high housing loans, with car loans, with many personal loans, with carried forward credit card balance so that the financial institutions could earn more. The more default payments the better. But if everyone is like me, the financial institutions will collapse.
Tags: Citigroup, Citibank, Bank of America, Financial Institutions, Mortgage, Housing Loan, Bank Lending Rate, BLR

Crime on the Street

First hand account from a friend of mine who lives in sec 17 PJ.
Leonard.

There was an incident outside my house last night (Monday 14th Jan 08) about 10:45pm, in which a 6 knife wielding men surrounded a car and dragged the driver out in order to mug him.

The car had been sitting outside my house for about 10 minutes and the guys moved in once the driver cut the engine and prepared to get out. Due to the noise (there was a bang as they hit his car) and screams I thought there had been an accident and went out to see what had happened.

The combination of the gate opening right behind the thugs, light flooding the area, my dogs going wild and my foolish bravado as I approached and barked orders at them to leave the guy alone caused them to flee before getting anything.

Ok this is not a hero email....in retrospect I was putting myself at risk as I had no weapon but in these cases who thinks? The point I wish to make is this. The driver was reluctant to make a police report because the perpetrators were Malay and he believed the police would be biased against him. I have no issues with race when it comes to crime.

In my area I have seen Malay, Indian and Chinese gangsters at work so race is not an issue when it comes to crime. BUT it should NEVER be a reason for not reporting a crime. Once the driver was calmed down (about half an hour as it was a fearful shock) he went to the police station. There he discovered THREE others had reported the same scenario within half an hour, so a minimum of 4 attacks by the same gang in the SS2, Section 17, 13 and 14 areas.

Apparently 4 guys on bikes and 2 more in a car. I only saw the 4 on the bike as they skedaddled. He was lucky enough to have been the only one who lost nothing. Lessons to be learned:-

* ALWAYS report crimes. It helps the police know the hot spots. They do send armed patrols time to time to the worst areas.

* When naming race be objective. Many police are Malay and if you are sensitive to how you put this across I think you will find they are concerned that some bodohs are giving their race a bad name. We all have pride in our respective race and are annoyed at those of our own who pull it down.

* Be submissive when an armed assailant comes at you. Your life is worth more than billions of ringgit. Give them what they want.

* If you go past your house, or have left your car down a dark lane LOOK before going to it or before you unlock your doors. If in doubt, ie you see possible dangers it is best to go elsewhere and come back later once the potential threat has passed.

While I could throw in being aggressive chases them away I don't believe this was the case. They were caught by surprise and had no idea whether there were one unarmed guy or a whole hockey team coming out to beat the living daylights out of them. In retrospect what I did was stupid but at the time who can think.

Grant
Tags: Crime on the Street, Section 17, Petaling Jaya

Marital Bliss

A man and a woman who had never met before, but were both married to other people, found themselves assigned to the same sleeping room on a transcontinental train.

Though initially embarrassed and uneasy over sharing a room, they were both very tired and fell asleep quickly.... him in the upper bunk and she in the lower.

At 1:00 AM, the man leaned over and gently woke the woman saying, "Ma'am, I'm sorry to bother you, but would you be willing to reach into the closet to get me a second blanket? I'm awfully cold."

"I have a better idea, " she replied." Just for tonight, let's just pretend that we're married. "

"Wow! That's a great idea! " he exclaimed!

"Good, " she replied... "Get your own bloody blanket."

After a stunned moment of silence, he farted.
Tags: Jokes, Funny, Humour, Marital Bliss, Transcontinental Train

Smoke Or Else!

I have heard of friends that they have to entertain their subcontractors or clients by bringing them to entertainment centres and then forced to drink along by them or even their own bosses/superiors. So, either you drink or you are considered non-complying with superior orders.

Well, in Buesum of Germany, there is this manager of a IT company who may want all his workers to smoke or else! Or else what?

Owing to the recent non-smoking rules being implemented in Germany, this manager may be afraid that three of his non-smoking staff may lodge a report against his company for breaching this non-smoking rules as the three staff have requested for a non-smoking working environment in the office.

Bear in mind that the manager and the rest of the staff do smoke. In order to have a perfect working environment for the rest of this staff, he sacked this three non-smokers. His reason for their sacking - non-smoking was causing disruptions.

The manager said "I can't be bothered with trouble-makers. Everyone picks on smokers these days. It's time for revenge. I'm only going to hire smokers from now on." I wonder what recourse this three staff would have after this uncalled for sacking.

Reading: Boss fires staff for not smoking - Reuters
Tags: Smoking, Buesum, Germany, Non-Smoking Rules

Heavy Thunderstorm in KL

On Sunday afternoon, I was scouting around Happy Garden & Sri Petaling for a house after 2pm. I think it was around 2.30pm onwards, it started to drizzle and then heavy rain started to pour.

Not long after that, a heavy downpour came with strong wind blowing from one direction. I could see the rain being blown ferociously. Due to that, I stopped driving and rested my legs after driving around for one hour plus seeing that it was dangerous to drive in such a heavy downpour anyway. Lightnings were hitting all over the place.

The place where I stopped was without any trees but only an electricity pole nearby. I could see those rubbish bins' cover were flying all over the area. After noticing that the rain had simmer down a bit, I continued with my scouting.

Along the way I bumped into two trees which had been blown down onto the road forcefully.

The owner of this Hyundai Getz car would be crying when he/she comes out from the house later on. It was a hot weather before the heavy downpour so I guessed the car owner parked right under this big tree to avoid heavy sun ray.

At the nearby Desa Gembira condominium side lane, this tree just missed the Proton Wira because it fell onto the condo's perimeter wall. Without that wall, it would have crushed the Proton Wira.

So, now you trust me it was a fierce wind?
Tags: Heavy Downpour, Strong Wind, Happy Garden, Sri Petaling, Hyundai Getz, Proton Wira, Desa Gembira Condominium

Searching for a Lady

While the search is still on for 5 years old, Sharlinie Mohd Nashar in Malaysia who has been kidnapped, another search is also being called.

This following search is for a lady, requested by a 60 years old German national guy. The search is not in Malaysia but happening in Shenzhen of China.

It was reported that this German national guy by the name of Milan has been looking for a Chinese woman named Ah Juan (also known as Anna), 31-years-old, who lives in the city of Shenzhen.

He got to know Anna via the internet and he met her for the first time upon invitation when he went to Shenzhen in Sept 2006. He was later convinced that she could be the girl of his life.

When Milan has to leave Shenzhen, Anna requested him to get her a German visa so she could go to Germany with him next time. Thereafter, telecommunication between them sort of blossomed and it prompted Milan to transfer 600,000 yuan to Anna and when Milan sent another 1,000 euros in Feb 2007, he could sense that she was different.

Anna would give excuses that she can't go to Germany as she needed to settle a 1.1million yuan loan and that she has contracted leukemia. When Milan went to search for her, he couldnt' locate her and a police report has been lodged on the case of being conned.........hehehe. Good thing he did realise.

The Luowu district police in Shenzhen are investigating the case. Milan has only one thing in mind, he wants his money back.

Reading: Desperately Seeking Anna - EastSouthWestNorth
Tags: Milan, German National, Shenzhen, China, Ah Juan, Luowu, Con

Search for Sharlinie

Today's Star newspaper has put up the picture of a five years old girl, Sharlinie Mohd Nashar, who has been kidnapped near her home in Taman Medan.

I'm quite confused with the police's action or mode of operations on the publicity of missing persons. If you Malaysians can remember, the police actually was not happy when bloggers published the pictures of Dora Goh when her kidnapping case was highlighted online within an hour throughout the whole of Klang Valley.

The police said "several bloggers went further by posting the woman’s photograph, much to the ire of the police who felt the action could have jeopardised the woman’s life."

For this Sharlinie's case, the publicity of her kidnapping was even wider compared to Dora Goh's case. In this scenario, her life won't be jeopardised? Even the Inspector-General of Police held a press conference to highlight the case.

So, which is which? Should it be highlighted and/or when should it be highlighted?

Personally, I hope that everyone will keep a look out for a young girl with similar face. Just be alert if you witness a struggle put up by a young girl with an adult. Those with information on Sharlinie’s whereabouts could contact her father Mohd Nashar Mat Hussain at 016-258 3450 / 016-270 9096 or call the police at 03-7966 2222 or Rakan Cop at 03-2115 9999.
Tags: Sharlinie Mohd Nashar, Taman Medan, Dora Goh, Kidnapped, Missing Person