The 10 banned websites by Malaysian government

This might be a few days old news, but just in case you are not aware of it, then this might be useful.

In a bid to combat piracy, the Government has declared war on filesharing websites with 10 such websites now blocked by the telecommunications industry watchdog.

The websites were among the most visited sites by Malaysians to illegally download movies.

The image is from last week's Star. So if you are a regular visitor of any of the listed 10 websites and are not able to go to the site anymore, then just be reminded it's being blocked already.

If any of you out there that has a way to bypass the blocking, please private message me! I doubt it can be done :)

10 tips to manage your credit card debt

Here's something I read from the Star yesterday that I found to be quite useful to control our credit card spending. At least I myself practised some of the ways ...


The following are 10 simple, less-dramatic ways to manage your credit card debt:

1. Credit card freeze (not literally)

2. Waive the annual service charge

3. Minimise credit card usage or use it as a last resort

4. Pay bills on time and in full

5. Take advantage of offers

6. Don’t let your points expire

7. Reduce the number of supplementaries

8. Reduce the number of cards held

9. Use a debit card or cash (don’t use credit financing)

10. Don’t spend – if you don’t need to

Hopefully readers out there find this steps useful as much as I do! Spend wisely and manage our wealth wisely !

Taxman expects to collect RM9 bln in taxes through banks...WHEN???

The Inland Revenue Board (IRB) expects to see RM9 billion in tax collections made through its agent banks this year, which would be a 10 per cent rise from the RM8.18 billion collected through banks last year.

"To date the collecting agent banks for the IRB are CIMB Bank, Public Bank, Maybank, Bank Islam, Hong Leong Bank and RHB Bank," said IRB deputy director general Mohd Sait Ahmad at a media briefing on e-payment services.

Sait said online payments were safer than cheque payments sent through ordinary mail.

Last year, it received 224,618 cheques which were sent via ordinary mail compared with 577,046 cheques through registered post, he said.

Cheques sent through mails run the risk of getting lost during delivery, he said, adding that while reports of lost payment in the banking system was less than five percent and mostly due to the carelessness of the individuals themselves. - Bernama

I want my refund back !!! It's been 2 years and all that I got from IRB after I submitted my E-Filling was letters saying they need time to check, WTH!

Toyota forecasts 35% profit slide after quake

Toyota Motor Corp forecast a larger-than-expected 35% fall in annual profit on Friday, June 10 and warned that the strong yen was making it difficult to justify keeping production in Japan.

Toyota has struggled to restore output after a massive 9.0 earthquake in March rocked northeastern Japan and forced automakers to slash output. The ensuing nuclear disaster and power shortages have compounded their woes.

The production disruption will likely see Toyota lose its title as the world's largest automaker this year.

"This is probably another conservative estimate from Toyota, but it's predicting a loss in the fiscal first half so we can tell how serious the damage from the earthquake was," said Koichi Ogawa, chief portfolio manager at Daiwa SB Investments in Tokyo, adding that shares in the company may fall on Monday.

Toyota reiterated its plan to restore output to pre-quake levels by November, helped by a recovery in the supply chain for key parts, and expressed confidence it could claw back market share lost as a result of the quake.

In an encouraging sign for automakers, chipmaker Renesas Electronics Corp said on Friday it now expected to restore supply capacity lost due to quake damage by the end of September, one month earlier than previously planned.

Renesas, the world's biggest maker of microcontrollers, had become one of the biggest bottlenecks in the automotive supply chain that forced car firms to curb production.

Now I know Renesas's main business product :) Let's hope everyone over at the affected Japan will have their life back to normal soon...

Astro revises subscription rates AGAIN !!!

See what you get when they are the sole satelite tv provider? You get price increase over and over again !!!

Astro is revising the pricing of its television subscription packages in view of the increase in the cost of global and local contents, coupled with the rise in operational costs.

Tan cited sports which contribute to one third of Astro’s content costs as an example. According to him, the Barclay’s Premier League has raised its prices by 10 times from 2004 to now. “And that is only one of the content providers, every major sporting content provider has increased the same,” said Tan.

Beginning July 11, subscribers will revise some of its packages. Tan said the increases will be dependent upon individual subscription packages. There are some packages that have increased while others decreased.

Depending on the customer’s choice of packages, some customers may experience an increase ranging from RM1 to RM15 per month as well as enjoy savings ranging from RM4 to RM14.95 per month in their subscription. Some packages will retain the same pricing, such as the family pack, which will remain unchanged at RM37.95 per month.

In conjunction with the new pricing scheme, Astro will also launch new packages that include high definition and personal video recording services.

Tan said this is to offer customers value for their money. These packages range from RM125 to RM155 depending on the chosen pack.

The television network service has currently close to three million subscribers, and this number is slowly increasing, with a rise in demand for vernacular content.

They can give all sorts of reason, but what I do know is that their profits are gaining more and more...talk about equal playing rights ! For good sake, the government should consider giving more licenses for satelite provider...

Myvi launch brought forward to mid-June

The launch of Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd’s (Perodua) new Myvi has been brought forward to June 16 from the earlier scheduled September launch. Bookings for the model were opened last Saturday at all 178 Perodua sales outlets nationwide with a booking fee of RM400. The actual price will only be revealed on launch day.

The new Myvi will be initially launched in six 1.3-litre variants comprising both automatic and manual transmissions. The existing Myvi is available in eight variants, including a 1-litre variant. Perodua expects to generate monthly sales of 8,500 units from the new Myvi.


The Myvi launch is a critical factor in determining the direction of industry sales as it is the best selling model in the market accounting for up to 17% of Malaysia’s TIV in 2009 and 13% in 2010. The previous Myvi generated sales of an average 7,300 units per month during its peak in its second and third years on the market. In 2010 (the Myvi’s fifth year on the market), the model generated average sales of close to 6,500 units per month.

Recall that the new Myvi was originally scheduled for launch in April. However, due to the Japan earthquake and the ensuing supply chain crisis, the launch was understood to be delayed to September.

This, along with expected sales weakness of other Japanese marques, had prompted our earlier TIV forecast downgrade to 590,027 units — which implies a 2.5% year-on-year TIV contraction for 2011 against an earlier expected 3.5% growth. The earlier than expected new Myvi launch could see our TIV forecast raised by 1.6% to 599,710 units from 590,027 units. This still implies a 1% TIV contraction in 2011.

Wah, with this new launch, I supposed there will surely be more MyVi on the road and helps Perodua captures more market share of the local car :)

Penang Botanical Garden River Contaminated By Leptospirosis Virus

The river water at the Penang Botanical Garden has been found to be contaminated with the leptospirosis virus.

Timur Laut Environmental Health senior assistant officer Alexander Selvam advised visitors not to bath or play in the river.


"The area has not been closed to the public. But signboard warnings have already been put up," he told reporters on Tuesday.

So far no one has been infected by the virus. The health office would be monitoring the situation, he added.

Meanwhile, park director Datuk Tengku Idaura Tengku Ibrahim said signboards were put up near the river immediately after the alert.

-- BERNAMA

Do take note everyone, especially now it's school holiday time. Stay away from the water, stay away from the rivers....watch over your kids :)