When we moved to our new house last year, the Mrs wanted to buy ceiling fan that comes with light at the center and remote controller. I agreed with her because the wiring on the bedroom ceiling were designed for ceiling fan thus the lights have to go on the wall. The plan was to have dual lighting i.e. cool white on the fan and warm white on the wall.
I remembered reading the paper a few years back that the Road and Transport Department (JPJ) are planning to introduce customised plate number in Malaysia. This was a plan made a while ago as the current letter & number sequence of vehicle registration in the country will soon be running out.
When a Malaysian buy a car, chances are very highly that the person purchased a motor vehicle assist plan such as AAM in case of breakdown in the middle of nowhere.
However, when we buy a house, do we ever bother to purchase a home warranty plan? The answer is more likely NO. Why? Because we are MacGyver. We know how to do a break-fix. If our home pipe burst, we would rush to the nearest hardware store, purchase a new pipe and install it ourselves. If our light bulb is blown, we run to the nearest Giant hypermarket to buy a new bulb and replace it ourselves. When our gas cooker stops burning, we also know how to fix it. If our roof leaks, we rush again to the nearest hardware store to buy a sealant to seal the leaking roof.
If we are no MacGyver, don’t worry. We call the nearest and normally the cheapest handyman. Malaysian home postboxes are ever filled with handyman’s calling card so we need not worry about who to call. Every two to five days, you’ll see repairman ads in your mailbox.
Why did we do this? Because we want to save money. Fix what we can fix on our own. If we cannot fix, we call the cheapest handyman to solve the problem for us. But this is a short term fix. Have we ever thought of a long-term coverage plan? What would happen to our home in 15 to 20 years time? Entire wiring system needs an overhaul. The air-conditioner system requires servicing. The roof structure demands inspection. These are long term maintenance plan that would require the qualified professional service such as American Home Shield. Can we find one in Malaysia?
In my last holiday trip to Cherating, Pahang I stayed at Cherating Bayview Resort. The 2-star budget resort offers chalet type accommodation with basic facilities. The chalet that I stayed was comfortable as it was a newly constructed block. Unfortunately the surrounding was not well maintained. The resort areas were left untidy. There were thick bushes everywhere. These invites dangerous animals such as snakes and scorpions to hide in these bushes.
In front of the chalet blocks, there were a field and a volleyball court. However, the grass was not well kept and nurtured. There are more weeds growing on the field compared to grass. There are also bold spots everywhere, signs of uneven growth of the grass. It looks like the resort owner does not bother to keep the surroundings beautiful. No wonder not many tourists stayed in the resort because the atmosphere is not inviting or appealing enough to welcome visitors. The resort owner certainly must do a quick fix by consulting a landscape company such as TruGreen to repair the damage if they want to keep tourists coming to their resort.
During my recent holiday trip, I flew with Fireflyz which operates from Subang Airport. Being in the airport, brought back memories during my schooling days when I used to sleep over at Terminal 3 while waiting for my flight home early next morning. Subang Airport used to be the happening place but ever since airlines operations had moved to KLIA in Sepang, the old airport was left to a sorry state.
The outstanding balance on credit cards among Malaysians at the end of March 2007 amounted to RM19.9 billion. This constitutes 5.9 per cent of total household debts. According to CEO of Bank Negara’s Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency, 60% of credit card holders in the country pay their bill in full. The remainders are delinquents. Over time their credit card debts or bank loans accumulated into bad debts. These are becoming more worrying among young Malaysians.
