I really believed that the Malaysian Government BN Government is gonna lower the price on the 1st of September 2008. As always, they lied. I remember some bloke in Perak even boasted that the fuel price is to be reviewed twice a month, all craps! I hate them politicians. Well, I supposed they are natural hate magnets when they go around shooting yesterday’s meal through their mouth.

Lame post this, yeah. But I felt better.

So what exactly makes them or us this corrupted? “Tak Cukup Makan” (not enough to eat) is the answer that comes from most of those I asked and they are being frank. High inflation that follows the recent crazy 41% fuel hike has irked all but the most corrupted ones.

Right now almost everyone is trying to find ways to earn more, in order to live their previous living standard. Cutting cost is not an option anymore. Everything is on the rise, including basic necessities such as water and electricity tariff. The chain of reaction is somewhat devastating to the economy, with traders trying to earn more by rising prices and consumers trying to spend less to save. It is a lose-lose situation where traders will sell less and consumers will buy less.

Looking at things, I would be corrupted too if given the chance. Shitty!

The “Sales” culture is so embedded in the life of Malaysians. If it is not on sales, don’t buy yet, wait.

“What you do not have now is what you do not need” holds water here. Most shopping centres and complexes, huge ones, are quite deserted nowadays if there is no promotion of sort to draw em crowd in.

So I went and bought meself three pairs of trousers and two pairs of socks. All on 30% discount. Smart move eh!

Why buy so many freaking pairs for? My waistline is playing havoc on me. Sometimes big, sometimes small, really. Got some wide range of sizes, these trousers of mine. Next I ought to get a bigger wardrobe to stuff em in.

So short are my legs that all three pairs of trousers need to be altered. “We do not have alteration services during promotion sales” says the saleslady.

Very well, I will buy a pair of scissors from the stationeries dept and cut em myself. I just need you to fold em up and sew them, can? Cannot!

Ended up paying RM8 each pair for alteration at one rundown tailor shop near my place. That is 40% of the purchase price of RM19.90 a pair. So much for the 30% discount smart move purchase.

Heck!

This system is often put into place when negotiations with the banking or financial body in certain country failed to make any progress. It is a last ditch effort made to enable users to transfer funds without being subjected to the rules and regulations set by the regulatory body. In Malaysia, that body is called Bank Negara.

If you log on to your paypal account, click on “Withdraw”, you will now see two options. The “Transfer funds to your card” is a newly added feature. It costs 5.00USD per transaction with a limit of 500.00USD.

Initial attempts to withdraw funds this way have not been successful. I am using credit cards issued by the local banks. I made a quick call to their customer service asking for clarifications. Their credit card officer revealed that all local banks have barred this kind of fund movement also used by online sports betting bookies.

This may not be good news. Funds transferred to online sports betting bookies accounts are subjected to the usual “Cash Advance” charges. Current rates are three percent of the total amount and two percent per month until the whole amount is fully paid up.

Looking at the rate things are going, it will not be long before the Banks charges interest for using credit cards to deposit funds INTO paypal. That will be bad.

The current credit card terms and conditions are drawn up and approved by the Bank Negara of Malaysia. Although debit cards use the same Visa and MasterCard machinery, some rules are relaxed to promote the electronic purse culture some time back.

For now, I would suggest using debit cards for Paypal.

Good Luck!

KLCC Suria Shopping Mall is a six level shopping mall near Petronas Twin Towers. The place is unusually crowded on a weekday.

One particular thing worth noticing is the crowd. The majority are very young and very fashionable. My usual t-shirt and pants outfit is no doubt the most out of fashion attire in the entire place. There are young couples holding hands everywhere I looked. The water fountain and garden just outside of the shopping mall is a major attraction for lovebirds.

I had my lunch at the food court, tasty but expensive. Most of the shops there are very expensive and up market. It is the best place for window shopping and ogle at watches and jewelleries costing tens of thousands of ringgit.

I had this very confirmative feeling that if I were to walk in any of the shops, no salesperson would bother to come and serve me. Outside one of the shop windows, the private security guard inside actually came out to see what I am ogling at. It is important to dress nicely in order to be acknowledged there. My credit card would break into two and goes up in smokes if I were to swipe it at one of those shops, figuratively speaking.

The most outrageous conversation I overheard at a camera shop there:

Salesperson: This is a nice camera (pointing to a Canon EOS 400D in the showcase, which also happens to be my dream camera)
Young Man with Pretty Little Lady in tow: Yeah, nice…
Salesperson: We have a special promotion today. You get a two gig memory card free.
YMwPLL: After I download the photos, can I edit them with Photoshop?
Salesperson: Yes, you can.
YMwPLL: Can I have one set of the camera?
Salesperson: Sure.

I wish I am rich and young. Sigh.