Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Malaysia EPF Camouflage


In recent announcement by Malaysian government that contributors to EPF(Employees Provident Fund) are allowed to contribute 3% less than the usual mandatory amount until 2010.
The reasons given were:
1) To bring relief to household income.
2) To stimulate Malaysian’s declining economy due to global financial crisis.

The measure taken will perhaps contribute to relief and stimulation but who are the losers.

What had not been explained, as usual, to the unsuspecting contributors, was ‘the catch’.

We had indeed over-looked the implication of this government’s move until my daughter asked me, ‘will it increase her income tax’.

I am sure many were just as unsuspecting as me.
If our income is already in the taxable bracket, any amount that you get out of the 3% will be taxed at its maximum.
Now, do we still think our government is very caring and concerned on our well-being ?
Or they are just simply incompetent!

Clarification:
If your gross income is between Rm28K & Rm58K, and you do not have additional personal insurance for deduction, then you stand to lose out in this 'generous' move from government.
Apparently the target group is on young workers.


Vegee Plot continue....






Today, the 1st brinjal has reached the size of 120mm x 100mm, the purple colour has somehow faded. Perhaps it is being over matured.
A second brinjal had formed and the size is 100mm x 85 mm.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

The Vegee Plot


Had cultivated this plot before I left for Kuala Lumpur and that was in mid July.
When I got back in mid September, it was in miserable shape, full of aphids and mealybugs. Since then I had given it a round of insecticide and watered it regularly.





Waa-hoo, what do you know, the tomato is profuse in fruits, the chilli plant has shot up to about 5 feet and full of chillies.


What amazed me most is the brinjal (egg plant), I had expected it to be of the other type which is elongated in shape but this appeared the round type. Not much fruit with it, only 3 that I had noticed.
The earliest formed had become quite big. Photo taken on 8th Nov. showed it to be around 60mm tall & 100mm in width.
As of today, I had it measured again, the width had reached 120mm and the height was 90mm.
I just wonder how big it can really grow.
According to Wikipedia, brinjal is known to grow to 250mm long and 90mm broad, can weigh up to 1 kilogram.
So far with this one, it is already broad enough but I doubt it can reach that length. It may just mature and wilt. I can wait to see what happens next in coming weeks.