Time To Buy A House Without Downpayment?

In the recent 2011 budget as tabled by the prime minister, the public (applicable to first time house buyers only) will be able to purchase houses valued at RM220,000 and below without putting up downpayment for it and will be able to obtain a 100% housing loan for the full purchase price.

Another condition to be met is that the household income must be less than RM3,000 or less. I presume that whoever is (be it individual or joint applicants) applying for the housing loan must not be commanding a total gross income of more than RM3,000 per month.

Let's do some calculations here with the above assumptions.

The current base lending rate is 6.3% ("BLR"). Some banks are currently fighting each other for customers by offering good housing loan packages where some offered BLR minus 2.2% (or even more) with zero entry cost (with no other cost involved). Say:-

*Housing loan of RM100,000 at BLR minus 2.2% for 20 yrs; monthly payment of RM612
*Housing loan of RM160,000 at BLR minus 2.2% for 20 yrs; monthly payment of RM979
*Housing loan of RM220,000 at BLR minus 2.2% for 20 yrs; monthly payment of RM1,346

There could be a few obstacles along the way.

You must bear in mind that a bank may only grant you the housing loan provided that your total loan with any other banks do not exceed 30% - 40% of your monthly gross income. So, at an income level of RM3,000 you may not even qualify for a house that cost RM220,000 as the monthly payment would have exceeded the 40% threshold level unless the bank sees you fit to take up the housing loan. You may have to extend the loan tenure instead. Yeah, be a slave to the bank for a longer period.

Not forgetting that a salary of RM3,000 may have a nett take home pay of RM2,500 only after deducting your EPF, SOCSO and taxes. I have blogged about "Salary of RM3,000 Is Considered Low Income" and to survive on RM3,000 is not easy unless you sacrifice lots of stuff.

What do you have to sacrifice or what are the stuff that you may not be able to enjoy if you take up either one of the abovesaid housing loan calculation? You may just have to read this blogpost of mine that is quite factual in a comical sense- "How to Survive With Your Salary?"

Now, if you are having a nett take home pay of RM2,500 and your housing loan monthly payment is RM1,346, it means to say that you have a balance of RM1,154 to pay for the remaining expenses of yours. What about savings for your any emergency cases?

Therefore, the idea as proposed in the budget is not beneficial to the public at all. At the surface, it sounded so nice "No downpayment for houses costing RM220,000 and below". After computing the actual figures, those fellas who take up such loans will just have to scrape through in their life. Of course, the above are based on assumptions and you may suffer in the initial first few years upon obtaining that housing loan. The question is "Can you manage?".

The government is just proposing something which you may have to weigh it for yourself in the end. If you were not careful in your financial planning, this budget proposal is actually going to cause bankruptcy or financial burden to many people.
Tags: Bankruptcy, Financial Burden, Housing Loan, Base Lending Rate

Contract Law In Malaysia

Legal issue on Contract Law in Malaysia - good for us to know.

This is something I like to share with you from one of the seminars conducted recently. Please do circulate this blogpost if you find this informative. It was conducted by A/P Catherine Tay on Legal Issues in E-commerce.

Notice that most of the time, the receipt / invoice you received from the merchant carries this exclusion clause or similarly worded statement: "Goods sold are not returnable" or "No refund once sold".

The thing that I have learnt from her is that as long as your good is purchased for HOME USE and not for business (i.e. to be resold), the above exclusion clause is VOID.

That means, as long as the good is defective, regardless of what is worded, you CAN get back all your money spent. You do not have to accept a repair on the good or an exchange. You CAN ask for a refund. AND you are LEGALLY right and entitled to! What a relevation!!

And most of the time the merchant will refuse to return you your money.

Her advice? From her own experience (and no less than 7 and all successful), she will threaten the merchant with four words: "SEE YOU IN COURT!"

The court here refers to the Small Claims Tribunal Court.

However, you don't have to tell them what court! All you have to pay is RM10.00 admin fee and the loser (the merchant) will have to refund you the money PLUS the admin fee!

She shared this with us because she felt that even educated people are cowed by such unfair wordings (which includes her jaded friends who are not lawyers).

Please try not to let the merchant fleece you the next time you have a defective good.

I know where to file this. On the 16th floor of Putra Place (the mall opposite Putra World Trade Centre). The form cost RM5.00. The Tribunal will settle within 2 months period.

Tribunal Tuntutan Pengguna Malaysia ("TTPM")
Tingkat 16, Putra Place
100, Jalan Putra
50622 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-40492300 / 40424181
Fax: 03-40424259
Tags: Contract Law, Tribunal Tuntutan Pengguna Malaysia, TTPM, Small Claims Tribunal Court, Putra Place

Is Language Important?

Going about in my daily work and we saw this signboard.
The signboard has already mentioned that it's the wrong (salah) langues school for you to attend. Don't say that you have not been warned. Salah means wrong in the malay language, Malaysia's national language.

Anyway, they should have standardised the proper language. Langues is a french word for languages but then they should have used école (in langue française) instead of the word school. Well, this is a language school, not a grammar school.

To improve on your grammar, you would have to attend another school as highlighted in my previous blogpost.
Tags: Language School, Grammar School, French Language, Langue Française

Malaysian Talent in Food

My mom has been a good cook for the family when we were still young. She's retired now and we don't cook dinner during the weekdays lately as we order home cooked dishes from another family. Saves time.

My mom do agree that somehow men are seen to be the best cook around as you seldom see top chefs in hotels helmed by ladies. Moreover, TV shows seldom show a lady being a top chef either. Maybe we haven't caught the right show that shows a lady top chef yet.

However, there are two Malaysian guys who have made it into the top listing of well known restaurants now. Their restaurants have been listed in the Michelin Guide which is based in France. It's really a coveted honour for a restaurant to be listed in the Michelin Guide which is the Who's Who in the food / cuisine industry.

The first Malaysian-owned restaurant to have gained that honour is Kai Mayfair restaurant, operated by Bernard Yeoh with its head chef being Alex Chow, in London. His restaurant earned the highly rated Michelin star (only a maximum of three stars are awarded to each restaurant) back in 2009. His restaurant has been recognised again in the Michelin Guide Great Britain 2010.

Kai Mayfair is basically a chinese restaurant and Bernard Yeoh's wish is to offer something different in the Cantonese dishes which will also enable the public to have a better culinary understanding of a variety of chinese dishes.

Besides the Michelin Guide star rating, Kai Mayfair was voted the Best Chinese Restaurant in London by Harden’s Restaurant Guide (Britain) in 2009. From 2002 to 2005, Kai Mayfair was recognised as the Best Chinese Restaurant in Britain in a survey organised by Zagat Survey.

The second Malaysian-owned restaurant to have earned this prestigious rating is based in New York itself. The owner, Michael Bong and wife Kathy, operates the Laut restaurant since 2008. The restaurant has been listed in the Michelin Guide New York City 2011. Both of these owners are chefs themselves.

The restaurant serves Malaysia's staple food, favourite dishes from Malacca and Thai dishes as well. You can even order online which you can either pick it up later or have it delivered to your doorstep. Their main aim is to expose the Americans to the nation of Malaysia and its unique cuisine.

The owners own a Japanese restaurant by the name of Mizu Sushi which is also located in New York. In recognition of Michael Bong's efforts, he was awarded the Master Chef award by the Governor of Malacca last year.

It's not easy to obtain the Michelin Guide's recognition as the Food Inspector will come in unnoticed or as a spy. Not only that, you have to monitor your food quality, ambience, service, etec in order to maintain the star rating for the following year. Just when I thought food industry was easy.

If you so happend to be in London or New York, don't miss the chance of meeting up with these Malaysians owners in the two said restaurants.

Reading: AsiaOne and Star articles on the above restaurants
Tags: Bernard Yeoh, Alex Chow, Kai Mayfair, London, Michael Bong, Kathy Bong, Laut, Mizu Sushi, New York, Michelin Guide, Chef, Cook, Malaysian Cuisine, Malaysian Dishes, Malaysian Restaurant, Chinese Restaurant

Is Grammar or Spelling More Important?

Noticed the signboard as below while on the road. It was an advertising signboard for a grammar school. My colleague commented this - "For grammar, you can register at this school but for spelling, I think you better register at another school."

Didn't get the picture?

Won't be listing down the name of the school in this blogpost. A picture is more powerful than a thousand words.

Reason being, I was traced via my blog when I posted a funny comment about the name of a business entity that existed in Sudan here. That company's legal personnel actually emailed me where he requested me to delete the name of their company (based in Turkey) from my blogpost or face a legal letter.

Not that the company was well known but how in the world did they bumped into my blog (of course I didn't ask how they found my blog).
Tags: Grammar School, English School, Spelling

Yemeni Dish in Sudan

Went hunting for lunch and we thought of a Yemeni dish.










Their cooking method is unique where they will put the briyani rice, lamband chicken meat into a pot.

Thereafter, it will lowered down into an underground oven. A steel lid will then cover the hole and the dishes would be "cooked" for the next three hours to get the perfect taste.









The mixture of lamb and chicken meat on a trolley.











Up come the briyani rice.
















The aroma of the briyani rice was superb.















This was another oven that was being prepared to cook the next batch of meat.

They use traditional method - burning wood it is.












We ordered a tray of briyani rice with lamb meat for three persons.

The greeny stuff on the next tray is actually chilli. You take a bite of the fresh chilli if you want some spicy taste.










The lamb meat was really excellent as it's so tender.

The briyani rice is very soft and it will melt immediately in your mouth.







Got the owner to take this picture the second time but still blur. Never mind lah.

The owner joked with us that we are not supposed to open this kind of restaurant back in Malaysia, after taking all these pictures of his shop, without having him as a partner.



This lunch was so heavy. Burped two hours later and I could still feel the same aroma. Fantastic meal indeed.
Tags: Briyani Rice, Lamb, Chicken, Yemeni Dish

Hotel Guests Thrown Out

Nowadays, people are recording their experiences or events on the spot at well known websites such as facebook, blogs, related websites or even twit about it.

There was this couple who was travelling in Blackpool, England and they checked into Golden Beach Hotel located at New South Promenade. This couple wasn't happy with the hotel's service and wrote some negative review in TripAdvisor. This is a website where you get to read lots of personal reviews on worldwide hotels by hotel guests from all walks of life.

When you key in "The Golden Beach Hotel" in TripAdvisor's United Kingdom's category, you can read the reviews on this particular hotel. Out of 166 reviews, 60% of the hotel guests who had been there do not recommend this hotel. Wow, that's a really bad review. Not surprising for this couple to have done the same.

Lo and behold, the hotel manager somehow got to know about that negative remarks and decided to kick the couple out of the hotel immediately.

This couple had just stayed for one in their 3 days / 2 nights package and was not offered any refund then. The hotel manager called the police and requested the couple to move out accordingly.

Does a hotel has the right to kick their hotel guests out on the spot? If you had been creating disturbances that have affected other hotel guests and kept doing it even after warnings then I would understand the kicking out process. But kicked out due to some online remarks?

Moral of the story - don't post your review when you are still using their facilities. Take the necessary pictures, jot down the bad event(s) and then post it after your holidays or events.

Reading: Man thrown out of hotel for writing review - The Gazette
Tags: The Golden Beach Hotel, New South Promenade, Blackpool, England, TripAdvisor, Hotel Review