What's in My Wallet Version 2

Here's what in my wallet as of March 2010. The first version which was posted in August last year is here.

I bought this wallet at Parkson Pavillion KL back in early December 2008 and only started using it in September last year. It is a Pierre Cardin wallet.

Financial cards shown above (left then right) :

• HSBC VISA
• HSBC MasterCard
• HSBC Savings Account ATM Card
• HSBC Checking Account ATM Card
• Public Bank PLUS Savings Account ATM-cum-VISA Debit Card
• AMBank Savings Account ATM Card

That's a censored picture of me with someone. Beneath the picture is my Federation of Malaysia identification card and driver's license (not shown above).

My membership cards :

• Times Bookstores Privilege Card
• Jaya Jusco J-Card
• ISETAN of Japan Department Store (Malaysia branch) members card

Cash inside money slots :

• 2x RM1 bill
• 3x RM10 bill
• 1x USD1 bill
• 3x RM50 bill

Careless

As the FFP points in my Malaysia Airlines Frequent Flyer Program - Enrich was about to expire in December 2009, i decided to redeem for a total of five RM50 Malaysia Airlines Temptations Inflight Shopping vouchers as i did not have enough Enrich points to exchange for any free ticket.

Ever since i received the vouchers from Poslaju in July last year, it had since been sitting idly inside my drawer. I did think of buying something from the Temptations Inflight Shopping catalogue through mail order but there was nothing i fancy.

Anyway, the vouchers were due to expire by mid-February 2010. So, instead of letting the vouchers to go waste, i decided to simply buy something from the Temptations catalogue even if i do not need the stuff i was about to buy.

Malaysia Airlines has been advertising their First Class duvet (shown below) for quite some time already with a price tag of RM250 a piece. I've seen the hard product before and thought it was quite good. So, the next thing i remember is that i printed out the order form and was ready to mail it out.

Inside the order form, it is clearly stated that i'd have to foot the courier fee myself and they will charge it into my credit card. MAS is charging one flat rate of RM25 for delivery within Malaysia and RM50 outside Malaysia which in my opinion is so bloody expensive. I was told that it is because they are using courier service from either Federal Express USA (FedEX), DHL or United Parcel Service (UPS) which none are Malaysian.

So, i sent out the order form along with my vouchers in a registered mail a week before the Chinese New Year and have not heard from them until two days ago !!! Yes !!! They took more than one month to process my order and they didn't even have the courtesy to call me to apologize for the delay ! Anyway, it is better late than never.

I received a computer generated notification from UPS (United Parcel Service) on Monday but guess what ? They sent my parcel to Penang instead of Kota Kinabalu ! They got the post code and my house address correct but the wrong state ! How careless of them !

Chinese New Year Open House

Organizer : Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC)

Venue : Grand Ballroom, Pacific Sutera Harbour Hotel

Date : 20 February 2010

Pacific Sutera Harbour Hotel

I was invited to the HSBC Chinese New Year Open House this year held at the Grand Ballroom of Pacific Sutera Harbour Hotel on 20 February 2010 (Saturday). Admission was free but only invited guests may attend the function. So you see ? It's not a true open house event. They might want to change the title next time ...

Invited guests may bring their children or spouses to the dinner. Since i have neither, i decided to ask my cousin to go with me instead.

This was my second time attending such function. The first time being a small tea-party held inside the HSBC Kota Kinabalu branch just a few days before the Mooncake Festival last year.

The newly appointed CEO of HSBC Malaysia, Mr. Mukhtar Hussain was present. So was Sabah Chief Minister, Musa Aman and the Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak, Richard Malanjun.

The guy giving speech on stage in the picture above is the newly appointed CEO of HSBC Malaysia

The foods weren't great but were thousands times better than what i had at the Upper Sixth Form Prom Dinner at Shangri-la Beach Hotel & Resort Tanjung Aru. And no, they never ran out of desserts like what happened in my Upper Sixth Form Prom Dinner. But then, it'd be a joke if it happens in a party thrown by the largest European bank. Yes, despite its full name which screams Chinese and Asia all over, HSBC is actually British with its global headquarter based in London.

There were more than 300 people attending the function and i was sitting on Table 8.

Some of the foods served that night. Deep-friend spring rolls, black pepper lamb, fish and chicken are visible in the picture above. Also included are coconut pudding (scrumptious !!!), a glass of red wine, a glass of plain water and a glass of coke. I was very full by the time i took this picture and it was my fifth round actually. Should have taken pictures of the foods starting from the first round but i completely forgot !

Halfway through the dinner, they had Yik Nam to perform a lion dance for us. The Aussie sitting on my table liked the lion dance show very much !

That's it ! 恭 喜 发 财 ！

梦 醒 时 分

你 是 否 和 我 一 样， 发 觉 身 边 的 亲 戚 朋 友， 似 乎 少 了 很 多 ？

以 往 接 近 过 年 时， 各 种 聚 餐 排 得 满 满 的， 而 今 年， 似 乎 没 声 没 息 。

即 使 是 平 常 日 子， 电 话 少 了， 与 大 家 见 面 也 少 了 。

也 许， 大 家 各 忙 各 的； 或 者， 目 前 流 行 “宅 生 活”， 尽 量 避 免 出 门 。

也 不 尽 然 如 此 。 再 想 一 想， 很 多 老 友 和 亲 戚， 已 经 不 在 了 。 嗟 ！ 大 吉 利 是，他 们 都 还 好 好 的， 只 是 离 开 了 马 來 西 亚 。

老 余 去 了 中 国 大 陆 开 工 厂； 王 子 不 做 工 程 师， 移 民 到 澳 洲 开 小 食 档； 阿 风 离 开 本 地大 学， 去 香 港 做 讲 师； 青 蛙 去 了 台 湾， 开 展 事 业 第 二 春； 还 有 的 到 了 美 国、 英 国， 唔， 还 有 去 印 尼 的 …… 。

起 初， 以 为 这 只 是 个 別 现 象， 逐 渐 的， 旁 人 也 有 同 样 发 现； 原 來， 这 不 是 个 別 现 象， 而 是 社 会 现 象； 这 不 是 少 数， 而 是 相 当 大 的 数 目 。

外 交 部 早 前 披 露 了 一 个 数 字， 说 明 这 个 现 象 是 多 么 真 实， 多 么 贴 近 。

从 2008 年 3 月 至 2009 年 9 月， 已 经 有 30 萬 大 马 人 移 民 他 国； 其 中 20 萬 人 是 2009 年 1 月 到 8 月 移 民 的 数 目 。

累 积 下 来， 已 经 有 超 过 200 萬 大 马 人 移 民， 接 近 今 天 印 尼 外 劳 在 大 马 的 人 口 。

不 同 的 是， 移 居 他 国 的 大 马 人， 多 是 专 业 人 士、 中 层 阶 级 。

他 们 有 很 多 出 走 的 理 由， 追 求 事 业 发 展， 为 了 孩 子 前 途， 寻 找 个 人 更 大 空 间 …… ， 简 单 地 说， 就 是 对 马 來 西 亚 失 望 。

50 年 前， 大 家 说， 马 來 西 亚 真 好， 好 过 香 港， 甚 至 日 本 。

30 年 前， 大 家 说， 马 來 西 亚 还 不 错， 比 得 上 韩 国、 台 湾 （不 提 香 港 和 日 本 了） 。

20 年 前， 大 家 说， 马 來 西 亚 还 可 以， 至 少 超 越 中 国、 泰 国 （不 能 和 台、 韩 比 了） 。

10 年 前， 大 家 说， 马 來 西 亚 再 差， 还 不 至 于 像 越 南、 印 尼 （中 国 已 是 不 同 级 別） 。

今 日， 越 南 和 印 尼 的 经 济 成 长 率 遥 遥 领 先 大 马， 社 会 活 力 和 知 识 发 展 也 胜 過 一 筹； 距 里 愈 来 愈 近 了 。

怕 什 么， 还 有 菲 律 宾 和 柬 埔 寨、 缅 甸 。

但 是， 一 位 经 济 学 家 最 近 到 菲 律 宾 考 察 之 后， 认 为 再 过 20 年， 大 马 可 以 取 代 菲 律 宾， 出 口 马 籍 女 佣 到 全 世 界 了 。

半 個 世 纪 以 來， 马 來 西 亚 是 在 大 宅 院 里， 用 封 建 方 式， 分 配 祖 宗 家 业， 消 耗 社 会 资 源， 浪 费 和 逼 走 人 才； 不 谈 竞 争 力， 忽 略 生 产 力， 讨 厌 绩 效 制 。

亞 洲 金 融 风 暴 來 襲 時， 大 马 把 门 关 起 來， 以 为 避 過 一 劫， 有 人 还 自 我 陶 醉， 自 以 为 是 天 才 策 略 。

然 而， 其 它 国 家 面 对 风 暴， 走 出 风 暴， 進 行 体 制 改 革， 跨 步 向 前， 登 上 另 一 個 水 平； 大 马 却 还 在 原 地 踏 步 。

马 來 西 亚， 该 醒 一 醒 了 ！

Ooooh New Yoooork

Can't seem to be able to get this song outta my head ...

Happy Travelling the Air Asia Style

It's not that i hate Uncle Tony. I think the fact that he brought the low cost travel concept to this part of the world is great and noble as more people can have access to air travel nowadays. I just have a major issue with someone shamelessly taking up all the credits for something he or she did not pioneer.

A few years back, the no frills travel concept was such a stranger to Asians. Many people thought Uncle Tony was so creative and such as business savvy person (in a way he is) that he is the designer of this no frills travel concept. What many people did not know is that this kind of travel concept has been existed in the States way back in the late 70s. Ryanair sent several managers to Dallas so they could learn something from Southwest Airlines and they did. They modified the business plan a bit and whoever Air Asia today, it is the exact replica of Ryanair.

Besides the usual low air fares, the only good thing about Air Asia is their spanking new and modern fleet of SAS Airbus A320-200s. Used to travel on Air Asia several times, i found their flight attendants pompous and a great pain to deal with. If given a chance, Air Asia is the airline that i would avoid religiously besides Qatar Airways !

Below are some cartoon sketches about what the world of air travel is changing into. Ryanair and Easyjet have been doing so for quite a while (except having to pay for the use of lavatory and oxygen mask). Generally the Europeans hate it but at the end of the day, they will still vote with their wallets.

You've Been Warned !