Compact Surfing

Its almost 11p.m. Just got back from work. Had to stay back and prepare for a very important presentation to the Central Bank tomorrow morning. Damn tired. Had also to endure a loss from my bond postion...abt USD71k...so there goes my bonus this year. Not really a good day.

Anyway, I'll be writing on a new autosurf prgm I just discovered. It's called Compact Surfing. What so special about it? Like a typical autosurf prgm, it pays 13% daily for 9 days. Very fast withdrawal. (You're allowed to withdraw 3 times in a month, in which it's just nice for you to cycle 3 times for a month). The unique part about this prgm is that u can withdraw before it reaches the 9th day. So as long u have a minimum of USD10 in your cash balance u can withdraw it right away. Payouts are processed within 24 hours.

Since it's brand new, and with the payouts being prompt and the sudden gush of members joining in, we can see CompactingSurf taking off in a big style. Site is based in Panama and will not be subjected to US regulation. Read more feedback here: http://www.talkgold.com/forum/r78829-.html

As usual, for those who joined under me, I'll share 50% of the referral commision for every single upgrade. Just leave a note on this blog and I'll do the necessary. Click on the banner below to join.





Signing off at 11.15 p.m.

My Kampung, Vasco & Scam

Just got back from 5 days leave. Didn't go anywhere apart from visiting my parents in kampung. My kids love to go back to meet their atuk and nenek. It was quite puzzling since those kids are urban kids i.e. they simply cannot live without Astros, pc etc.But none of those exist in my parents house. Perhaps they enjoy the spacious laman and garden there. My son won't miss spraying the water host on the pokok bunga every evening. My daughter really fancy picking up her sandals and casually walk out the house to stroll around the compound. And they will annoy their atuk by hassling him to take them in a motorcycle ride every day. to Sadly they can't do it here in KL. Not when u live in a condo/apartment. I found it quite troublesome to convince my kids to go back to KL. They simply love the kampung way of life.

Since I have a very limited pc access there, I have a lot of unread mails when I reached KL tonite. Btw managed to see the last 15 mins of the Reds revival against the Magpies. Glad the strikers have found their scoring boots. Cisse scored but still I'm not impressed. Oh talking about emails, I received a mail from a good Doctor in Terenganu asking about my investment in Vasco Investment. Good on you Doc. Didn't expect a doc. would be involved in these type of business though. Another mail was from Invest Place where they've informed the members that their account has been blocked by e-gold and therefore can't pay the existing members....sounds familiar? So they goes my USD80 investment in it. Damn...another scam?

Talking about scam, EMO Corp, the so-called revolution in payment processor has been placed into receivership. Lucky I don't have any money in there. My friend was scammed so many times in these autosurf and HYIP business. He was so pissed off and decided to scam others too. Ha ha what comes around goes around. I was having lunch with him the other day and he showed me a link to a new HYIP program. Quite impressive but I didn't know that the prgm belongs to him! Well done bro. He then told me that he'll be launching the site soon and will invest into forex trading. If the prgm makes profit, he'll pay the investors otherwise he will cabut with all the money. Interesting...oh btw none of the prgms I promoted in this blog belongs to him ha ha.

Ok guys. Got to go...tomorrow will be a tough day. Monday blues...need to cut loss on my MGS holdings oouch and have to speak in the Regional conference call (so blur..don't know what to say!) May god prevent us from being scammed.

Signing off at 1.00 a.m.

Should We Trust The Alien

Just to let u know (in case u haven't) the SEC has filed a suit on 12DP on charges that the scheme is a ponzi (so there goes my USD3k).

A lot of autosurf prgms have been changing their terms to suit SEC's requirement. Basically potraying that the site is a advertising site rather than ponzi. One of it is Alien Trust Just. A revolution? in internet advertizing. In fact this program is different from the typical autosurf programs. Normally, people are getting paid larger amounts based on doing the same amount of work as those who purchased smaller amounts. Which does in a way make sense - why should a member get paid 800.00 a day for viewing 20 sites when another member only receives .80 cents a day for viewing 20 sites.

One thing I like about this site is u can be a free member and still be paid for the advert u view. For free member u'll be paid USD0.50 per day for viewing 25 sites daily. Accumulate this for 16 days and u can use the USD8 to buy ad package. From there u can earn 10% for 13 days. Not bad considering u won't fork out a single cent from your hard earned money. Click here to join Alien Trust

For those who joined under me, I'll share 50% of the referral commision for every single upgrade. 50% for the life of the program. So,....care to trust the alien?





Signing off at 11.40 a.m.

What's The Score

I had a course today on bond trading. Quite interesting but I fell asleep halfway. Not because the trainer bored me to death but I was feeling very sleepy today. Why? Have been staying up all night to watch my beloved Liverpool got knocked out of the Champions League.

It was quite a frustrating night for the Reds who need to come back from a one goal deficit. It was more frustrating when they had chance after chance but failed to score. I think they had about 13 shots on goal, countless number of corners yet failed to put the ball at the back of the net. What's happening guys? Lack of skills...don't think so, lack of confidence...maybe, but from my observation these strikers simply lack the determination to succeed. You can see from their body language when they played. Morientes simply lacks the determination and his understanding with Crouch is somewhat limited. Garcia never failed to try those fancy footwork and silky touches albeit at a success rate of 1%. Come on this is not sexy football...we are playing for results.

As for Cisse...need I say more. Maybe he played out of position but I'll never forgive him for missing the 6-yarder against the Scum. For the whole season, whenever he plays right wing, he'll approach the penalty box, push the ball to his right and attempted a cross. This move is so predictable that a Melaka defender could read his intention. I wonder why he never cut inside his left?

Crouch..the beanpole strikers....I like his control and build up play but he's simply lacks the cutting edge of a striker. Look at the chance he had last night. A good stricker would either chip the keeper or curl it at the far post but he tries to put the ball in between the keeper's leg. Bad move son...I think that's the turning point for that match. Rightly so, Benfica scored after that.

Fowler...he is still lacking match fitness but even he's fit I think he has passed his primetime. That's 3 disallowed goals for him since he rejoined Liverpool. Unlucky? Perhaps 4th time lucky this week against the Arse.

So, as a Liverpool fan, do I regret their decision not to resign Owen? Kind off but as a someone who has trading background, I'll never buy a player at a price higher when he was sold to Madrid. In economic terms, that's a rip-off. I think Benitez made the right decision.

So what's next? It doesn't need a rocket scientist to figure it out. We need new strikers. Someone who has more determination and self believe to wear the read shirt. Who? That's quite difficult to answer given the limited resources and the price of players these days. So I'll start with the easier task, i.e. the players who should be sold. My lists are as follows:

1. Traore...simply a nightmare, bad to my heart
2. Cisse...cut loss strategy...send him back to Mr. Houllier at Lyon
3. Morientes...lacks the motivation and determination...but Rafa seems to favor him
4. Garcia...had enough of his silky skills, but again see point 3

The list can keep going but I'll stop at 4. Ok la enough on football...need to catch some sleep.

Signing off at 12.05 a.m.

An Interesting Comparison

I received a mail from a friend of mine about a comparison between Malaysia and UK cost of living. Quite interesting so I decided to paste it here. Some are true, some may be debatable. So here it goes:

The argument in this thread from day one is the cost of living in each country especially UK and Europe) based on what you earn in the respective country and whether the standards are higher than in Malaysia.

I tried to point out that many Malaysians always convert and that is why they say the UK is expensive. In fact, the cost of living is much cheaper than in Malaysia.

In actual fact, Malaysians are being conned because for such a rich and resource rich country, the pay in Malaysia is way too low compared to the cost of living and inflation.

One good example is Singapore. Singaporeans (average) earns around S$3000 to S$4000 and nearly everything is half the price of Malaysia. Eg clothes, computer parts, electronics etc. But the average Malaysian still earns M$2000 plus and goods are double the price of Singapore.

This is the same as the UK. If you earn around 2000 pounds, you can liken this to the person earning RM$2000 in Malaysia. I give you some examples below. Maybe you can understand.

1) Good terrace house

It is more or less the same. If you want a house in KL, it would most probably be in Puchong and not Damansara Heights. So your house would be RM$200,000. In UK, you can get a decent new house in Zone 6 (still within the tube) for 200,000 pounds. If non London, you can get a nice house also for less than 200,000 pounds outside London. The same also applies to buying a house in Seremban, Kajang etc. You can buy a nice house for RM200,000 below. So buying a house is the same for the local and the Malaysian.

Renting a place is the same too or maybe cheaper than in Malaysia (I am not sure of this). A 2-bedroom flat in London is about 750 pounds (Zone 2). 500 pounds outside Zone 6 but still able to commute to London. A 2-bedroom house in Nottingham is 450 to 500 pounds. A 3-bedroom house in Belfast is about 300 pounds.

2) A car

A good Wira is RM$55,000. Most Malaysians have to take 7-year loans and be in debt all the time. If you are earning RM$2000 a month, you take nearly 3 years saving the RM$2000 with not eating at all just to buy a Wira.

In UK, the average local earns about 2000 pounds. He saves 3 months, he can buy outright a good Ford Fiesta or a Vauxhall Corsa without being in debt.

If buying a second hand car, even better. A 1990 Mercedes 190E cost 500 pounds. My 1996 Mercedes E220 cost 2000 pounds. My friend just gave me his 1989 Honda Accord (Auto) for free because he said he could only get 30 pounds for it. I used it for a few months and decided to give it of for free too. That alone speaks for itself.

Even if you are kuli or an office boy, you still can drive a Mercedes or a BM. Yes, kuli's and office boy's get paid quite well. Average temp/office boy in London can earn about 7 to 10 pounds and hour. Overtime is 1.5 times or double. A brick-layer can earn 20 pounds an hour. The same Indon who lays bricks in Malaysia earns RM$50 for the whole day.

Before I became a doctor, I used to be an office boy and I earned near 300 pounds a week working about 70 hours a week. My makan was 30 pounds a week. My rent was 70 pounds a week for a room but I still drove a BMW back then. I bought the 10-year old BMW 3 Series car for 200 pounds. Amazing how an office boy can drive a safe and luxurious car.

3) Petrol

For a UK person earning 2000 pounds, 80 pence a litre/gallon is cheaper than RM$1.92 paid in Malaysia. If you don't convert, it is like paying 80 sen a litre in Malaysia

4) Shopping

20 pounds (which is 1% of 2000 pounds) can buy you 1 week's worth of groceries in Tesco. RM$100 (which is 10% of RM$2000) can also buy you 1 week's worth of groceries in Giant or Carrefour.

5) Utility Bills (This is what I pay in UK)

1. Virtually non-stop heating the whole day only 20 pounds a month. (Only 1% of the 2000 pounds earned)

2. Electricity, I use my electricity maximum only 20 pounds a month. (Only 1% of the 2000 pounds earned)

3. My water bill also comes to about 20 pounds a month (Only 1% of the 2000 pounds earned)

4. My internet - I get 2Mbps for about 25 pounds (Bulldog DSL) (Also slightly above 1% of the 2000 pounds earned)

5. Astro Equivalent (NTL cable or Sky) - 30 pounds per month (Also slightly above 1% of the 2000 pounds earned)

In Malaysia, this is what I used to pay:

1. Tenaga Bill comes to RM$200 to RM300 a month with 3 air-cons.This is more than 10% of the RM$2000 earned)

2. Water (Puas) comes to RM$40 (This is about 2% of the RM$2000 earned)

3. Astro RM$100 (if you take Chinese package) (This is about 5% of the RM$2000 you earn)
4. Internet Streamyx 512K RM 88 per month (This is about 5% of RM2000 you earn)

5) Books

A good book is about 10 to 15 pounds in the UK. This is less than 1% of the 2000 pounds you earn. In Malaysia, you have to spend RM$75 to RM$100 for a decent book in MPH or Kinokuniya in KLCC. This is about 5% of the RM$2000 ringgit you earn.

7) Education.

I think it is about RM$20,000 per year to do a degree in Sunway Monash and about RM$12,000 per year to send your kid to UM, UKM, USM etc. I am not sure about this.

But in UK, it is only 3000 pounds a year to send your kid to a great university. That also, the white man still makes a lot of noise because the grants were taken away. Previously, it was virtually free for the English man to send his kid to university but now, since the grant was taken away, he has to spend 3000 pounds per year to send his kid to university and less money to get drunk in the pub.

Well, if you are earning RM$2000 ringgit, sending your kid to UM to study is quite difficult. If you are earning 2000 pounds per month, you can easily send you kid to university in the UK.

Even worse for the poor non bumi's not given a place in local university. Even if they can afford, they won't get a place because of the quota system. Unfortunately, the Chinaman and the Indian who gets 5A's in STPM have to be sacrificed and not given a place to let the Malay fellow with 2E's and 3 Fail's to enter the Medical Faculty or Law Faculty.

So the non-bumi's have to save RM100,000 per year to send their kid to the UK. In the UK, at least the white man still can go into university based on results and merit and only pay 3000 pounds per year.

8) Luxuries

Panasonic Plasma TV in Malaysia about RM20,000. If you are earning RM$2000 a month, memang mahal! You have to save 2 years your monthly salary to buy it. In UK, the same Panasonic ironically, Panasonic plasma is made in Japan and Japan is close to Malaysia, so the plasma should be cheaper in Malaysia) is only 2000 pounds. And this is only 10% of the 2000 pounds earned.

9) Health

NHS is free. Though the service is slow, quality is still there. You still can get a top quality by-pass for free although you may have to wait many months.

In Malaysia, IJN charges RM$30,000. SJMC charges RM$50,000. GH is free but as many people know, GH and UH have clown doctors. For example doctors who wear tudung and use a pen to touch the patient because scared dosa).

10) Assessments to local councils

I may pay high council tax but at least my council assures my streets are clean and safe, got no holes (pot holes) on my roads, and they jump and attend to me whenever I call them.

When I stayed in Malaysia, I paid my assessment and quite rent but MPSJ I lived in Subang) told me to "podah" whenever I asked them to come and fill up the pot holes, cut the long lalang, put street lighting etc.

The councils, especially MPPJ and MPSJ, were more interested in eating nasi lemak and going for 10 teh tariks in a day during office hours and hardly did anything for their residents.

11) Income Tax

My national insurance and income tax also is not wasted. When I was unemployed in 1997, the government via social security paid for my 2-bedroom flat for one whole year and I was given about 100 pounds per week for me and my wife to live on. I am happy to know that one day if I lose my job, I can still claim social security and get my apartment paid and food to eat again for free. It is a good security
to know.

The list goes on. Here alone you can see, the sterling you earn goes a long way in the UK. So your quality of life is far better in the UK than a Malaysian in Malaysia. It is just that Malaysians are just too content with what they have. But you compare apple for apple.

The British just love to complain. They have it made but still they love to complain. Nothing is good enough for the British. The government gives the citizens so much but they still seem to want more and more.

Regards

Dr Zain Azrai
London

Signing off at 10.30 p.m.

Minyak oh Minyak

I received a sms from a friend of mine (I know this guy thru Celcom SMS contest) at about 10 p.m. informing me that fuel prices will be hiked by 30cents. My instant reaction was...gosh! must fill up the car before 12 a.m. On second thought, I decided not to leave the comfort of my home and cueing up as if there's no petrol tomorrow. True, those who cued up had saved some money but for me the savings will not compensate the waiting time. Why? For god sake, u are not filling up thousands of litres. In my case I usually buy 30 litres of petrol on my each visit. So a 30cents increase will cost me an additional RM9. That has not taken into account the petrol u waste while waiting.

On a separate note, the fuel hike will definitely has an effect on the economy. Prices of goods will become more expensive (not to mention those unscrupulous traders who will take advantage), cost of living will be on the uptrend and all these factors will increase inflation. U think it ends there? Think again. Higher inflation will lead to a higher interest rate. Those who didn't take my advise last year to opt for Islamic house financing will start to feel the pain. For conventional loans, the current BLR is set at 6.50%. I see no reason it couldn't reach at least 7.00% by end 2006. That has not include the bank's spread (normally BLR + 0.25) so someone will be paying 7.25% by year end. So I would like to congratulate those who took Islamic financing and lock in the fixed rate at 7.00% for 25 or 30 years.

Ok enough on fuel and inflation ramblings. Need to go to watch Sportscenter.

Signing off at 10.00 p.m.