Remembering My Father

Dearest Papa,

I wish....
* I have been with you during your last days
* I have spent more time with you especially during the past few years
* I have taken you for more holidays abroad when you were healthier
* I have penned a poem / written you a letter stating how much you mean to me
* I have been kinder, more patient and understanding towards you
* I have not said all those mean words when I was upset with you

* You could see me starting and building a new life with my beloved
* You could see how much I miss you

Now I have lost you foreever
I look back and regret so much
I was in great pain but slowly, the pain lessens
Wherever you are, may you be at peace
I will always remember you

8.8.2014

MH 370: why blame Malaysians in general? Did the world blame China citizens for SARS?

The unexplained and sudden loss of a loved one /loved ones is always shocking, sad, sorrowful for the family, relatives and friends. I am sure no words can explain how they feel especially the family members of those in flight MH 370.

I wept when I heard the news of that the plane may have crashed in the Indian Ocean. Wept more when I saw the families on TV, crying, shouting, protesting etc. 

As a human being, regardless of one's nationality, race, religion, political beliefs etc., we emphatise deeply with the families and friends who may have lost their loved ones.

What I do not understand is how the Chinese esp. netizens reacted towards anyone from Malaysia following the crash announcement - how can they call for a boycott of anything Malaysian, curse an unborn child to a Malaysian mother, lash out against ordinary Malaysians who have nothing to do with the government, the airline, police or Search & Rescue operations? Just because we are from Malaysia?

I remember when SARS broke out in 2003 , the whole world was affected. Mainland China lost 349 lives, Hong Kong 295, Canada 43, Singapore 33...and Malaysia reported 2 SARS-related deaths

The first reported case of SARS originated in Guangdong in November 2002.  Despite taking some action to control it, Chinese government officials did not inform the World Health Organization of the outbreak until February 2003 (Source: wikipedia). This lack of openness caused delays in efforts to control the epidemic.

Did the world blame any Chinese citizens for these deaths?

Retrenchment / VSS compensation packages (part 3)

Continuation of article in  2011 on same subject
I''ve included more recent compensation packages offered to retrenched employees / employees taking up separation schemes
 
Hong Leong Bank / MIMB Investment Bank (Nov-2011)
1.4 for executives to 1.6 for non-executives, multiplied by the length of service (capped at a max. of 22 years) multiplied by the basic salary or 50% of total monthly salary until retirement, whichever is lower

Medical relief of up to RM1,000 reimbursable for a period of six months, continuation of housing and motor vehicle loans at staff preferential rates for a period of 12 months

Panasonic LCD Malaysia (2013, Source: news article)

“Our severance is one-month salary for each year of service and as the plant has only been in operation for less than four years, we didn’t get much money,” said a former employee

Maxis Berhad (2013, Source: News article)

 Career Transition Scheme. …  “speculated is that these employees would be about two months salary for every year of service (for those who have worked for 12 years and below) and 2.25 months salary for those with above 12 years of service”

Star Publications (2013, news article)

Voluntary Separation Scheme “Employees are invited to apply in writing and successful applicants will receive between 1-2 months of last drawn salary for each year of service or part thereof. The interests of all parties have been given fair and due consideration” :  representative from Star Publications

HSBC Sarawak (2013, news article)

HSBC Malaysia Berhad decided to shutdown  its commercial banking division in Sarawak…..  “ It has targeted only staff in commercial banking with a supposedly Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS)…To compound matters, the VSS is the worst ever at 1.4-month salary for each year of service, with a cap of 36 months.  This also the worst ever offered by any bank in SBEU’s long history. Previous VSS package by the bank offered 2.25-month without a cap,”  Sarawak Bank Employees Union (SBEU) claimed

Sanmina SCI (2013, news article)

“The payment we received from Sanmina on the day of retrenchment was one week of salary in lieu of notice for non-executive staff and four weeks for executive staff.  “This initial payment formula was not in compliance with Sarawak Labour Ordinance requirements,” said  Lisa Choa, Ex-Sanmina Employees’ Protem Committee member. 

To be in full compliance, she explained, SLO’s minimum requirement calls for those who had worked for less than two years to be paid four weeks of their salary, between two and five years (six weeks) and above five years (eight weeks).

“We only got half of it. So, the US$650,000 will be used to make up for the shortfall in minimum retrenchment payment,”

On the US$220,000 for retrenchment benefits, she said the amount only made the minimum legal requirement.  “The retrenchment benefits are so minimal. They do not even come to a month’s salary. It is such a disappointment.”

 

How many GLCs do we have? How many are profitable?

Malaysia is said to have one of the highest ratio of civil servants to population in the world. But I wonder how many state-owned and federal-owned GLCs do we have and how much do they earn/loss every year?
The Auditor General do audit GLCs annually but not all GLCs come under their scrutiny every year.


Here is the partial list of some of the GLCs:

Amanah Raya Berhad
Astronautic Technology Sdn Bhd
Assets Global Network
Atlantic Quantum Sdn Bhd
ACR Malaysia
Biotropics Malaysia

Blue Archipelago Berhad

Composites Technology Resrch
Cyberview Sdn Bhd
Destination Hotel and Resort
Forest Plantation Development
HVD Holdings
Inno Bio Ventures
Jaring Communications
JKP Sd Bhd
Konsortium Perikanan Nasional
Kedah Aquaculture
Langkawi Tuna Corp
LeapEd Services
Majuikan Sdn Bhd
MTDC
Mimos
Might-Meteor Advance Manufacturing
Malaysian Agrifood Corp
Malaysian International Tuna Port
Ninebio
National Feedlot Corp
Pempena
Piramid Pertama
Senstech
Silterra
Themed Attractions and Resort

Retrenchment trend

The economy is expected to slow down this year, perhaps even heading towards a recession. How will workers be affected? Will we see another massive retrenchment similar to that of year 2009?

Below are the quarterly retrenchment figures in Malaysia as reported by the Ministry of HR for the past 3 years.

	Q1-2009	Q2-2009	Q3-2009	Q4-2009	Q1-2010	Q2-2010	Q3-2010	Q4-2010
No of workers retrenched	12,590	7,470	3,526	2,125	1,714	1,859	1,751	1,761

	Q1-2011	Q2-2011	Q3-2011	Q4-2011	Q1-2012	Q2-2012	Q3-2012	Q4-2012
No of workers retrenched	2,621	1,105	3,605	n/a	?	?	?	?

Happy New Year

May all be blessed with good health, prosperity and love in your hearts. HAPPY 2012!

Blog Topics

I have not been blogging partly because I've run out of topics to write.

I note popular posts are those that provide useful, practical information to the average Joe/Jane like the Retrenchment payout and Writing complaint letter series. So, if you have anything which you need some research/info or have any suggestion topics, please do let me know

Voting while overseas

We were told that overseas Malaysians cannot vote in the general elections because it will be a logistical nightmare and these Malaysians (having lived abroad for so long) are “out of touch” with the current state of affairs of the country. Honestly, I can’t follow the logic.

Well, our neighbors Thailand and Singapore certainly did not think it was a logistical nightmare or believe that their citizens abroad are “out of touch”. In fact, Thai embassies even conduct campaigns to encourage Thais abroad to vote and have set aside a budget of 45 million baht for overseas voting. Even the country that started the Arab Spring, Tunisia allows its citizens living abroad to vote. And recently in Oct-2011, a Cairo (Egypt) court ruled that Egyptian citizens living overseas “should be allowed to vote” in the nation’s upcoming parliamentary elections. Even Pakistan is joining the bandwagon - a few weeks ago, Pakistan’s special inter-ministerial committee agreed to introduce postal ballot system for overseas Pakistanis on similar fashion as the system of postal balloting works for government servants and armed forces personnel within the country.

Nations where its citizens abroad can vote Voting in person @ overseas polling stations Voting by post Voting by proxy

Australia

Canada

Singapore

United Kingdom

United States

New Zealand

Thailand

Philippines

Tunisia

Egypt (to be implemented in next elections)

Pakistan (in the process of implementing)

Eight ways how Air Asia can charge travellers more

Oh no…Air Asia said it plans to increase non-ticket revenues by 20-30%. That means more bad news to consumers / budget travelers - very likely, we have to pay more for something, somehow.

When Air Asia first started, it only charged booking and administration fees. Now, AA charges for almost anything and everything that it can think of and justify for. AA customers now have to pay for more if they want:

• Priority boarding
• Counter check-ins
• Meals and drinks (during flight)
• To book seats
• To check-in their luggage
  
• To check-in their baggage
• Extra baggage
  
• To call AA's call centre and be assured that their calls are (promptly) attended to (calls are charged by the minute)
  
• To pay via credit cards (AA calls it convenience fees)
  

Are these justified? AA can argue that these are optional items and travelers need not pay anything more if they choose not to have these “extra” services

So what more can AA can offer us travelers and then charge us for them? A lot more!

Here are the eight ways AirAsia can increase their non-ticket revenues:

• Priority to alight from planes (when you arrived at your destination airport) – those who pay can alight first, need not queue like the rest

• Use of toilets /lavatories (either basic and premium) during flight – you know, like shopping malls

• To purchase toilet papers / hand-wash soap etc. – else, bring your own

• To re-heat meals - normal meals will be served cold/ at room-temperature

• Priority, home-like service (during flight) – you pay if you want better treatment from the flight stewards/stewardesses. They will greet you, smile more and attend to your needs promptly. If flights are canceled/delayed, you will be informed first

• Priority, home like service (ground) - pay if you want to be first to be informed about flight cancellations/delays via personal phone-calls (rather than cold, distant SMS), frequent timely flight updates, priority hotel accommodation (on AA) if flight's disrupted, request for any refund would be prioritised etc. -- essentially just better ground service
  

• Extra passenger weight – tickets bought are only valid for certain weight limit. If you are overweight, you will be charged extra. Self-weighing machines will be placed at waiting terminals, with date/time and weight stamps that will be checked upon prior to boarding

• To take photos of AA planes and stewardess/steward (or together with them)