I remember when i was in primary school. Maybank sent representative to my school to encourage the primary school students to save. The slogan the bank used at that time was “Sikit sikit lama lama jadi bukit” (Save bit bit, it will become a hill eventually). I opened a bank account with them, thinking that i might be rich if keep up the habit. But now the bank who taught me the value of saving has turn their back on me. They started to charge me for all their services, for no fucking reason. To get a clearer view of the whole issue, Claudia Theophilus wrote an article in Malaysiakini
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The Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry wants banks to furnish it with details of the service charges they are currently imposing on customers. Deputy Minister S Veerasingam said the ministry had made the request to all the banks two months ago following numerous complaints about the increasing number of charges that were being imposed for various online as well as over-the-counter transactions.
“Although we have so far only received verbal complaints, we have acted on it by asking the banks to give the full detail on the type of charges they are imposing on customers,” he told malaysiakini yesterday.
“In fact, many were totally unaware of these charges until later, when they realised that small amounts were being debited from their accounts.”
He said one of the complaints involved a third party who wanted to cash a cheque and was shocked when told to pay a RM2 service charge.
“This does not happen if the cheque is cashed personally by the account
holder.”
Promptly and seriously only one or two banks have responded so far, said Veerasingam. He hoped the rest would come in soon.
“This is something that Bank Negara must look into promptly and very seriously.”
None of the central bank officials could be reached for comment.
Effective Dec 20, Maybank will start imposing a RM12 annual subscription fee for customers using its Internet banking facility, Maybank2u.com, where an upgraded posting explains the service charge.
The Maybank2u website states that fees and commissions are levied on various products and services provided by Maybank. The move has prompted hundreds of protest e-mails to the Maybank Group Contact Centre whose response has been a standard format e-mail to all customers, regardless of their queries or suggestions. An online petition is currently making its rounds via e-mails asking the Malaysian, Singaporean and Filipino customers of the country’s largest banking group to show the power of consumers by signing it before Dec 19. Don’t remain silent
Referring to the latest charge by Maybank2u.com to be imposed, the petition said it was ridiculous to pay service charges for “keeping our money in your bank”.
“You (Maybank) use our money to invest in your projects. You give us minimal interest, and you ask us to pay for using services that are given free by other banks!” read the petition, partly in English and Bahasa Malaysia.
The protest note also claimed that Maybank was the only bank to charge 50 sen for withdrawing “our own money” at the ATM for every withdrawal exceeding four times a month.
In Bahasa Malaysia, the note expressed regret that customers did not protest against the 50 sen charge when it was first imposed a few months ago.
“If we continue to remain silent, I’m sure the banks will impose more charges on us in the future.
“It is because we had failed to protest previously that this is happening now. Come, let’s act. Enough is enough!” the petition concludes.
“Let’s teach them (a lesson) by clicking on the ‘reject’ option on the subscription page in protest of their new terms.”
The petition ends with a call to all Malaysians to show their consumer power by uniting behind this one issue.
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Sometimes, i wonder if the bank care about us, the consumer. As my friend put it “Every businessman will try to cheat money off the consumer no matter how ethical they are”. But, isn’t the Bank suppose to be our most trusted business companion?
Regenerate @ Espanda
Hen, Umeng, Jennifer, YK, WK, Lin, Jin Han, Yming, Peng, me and others planned to party again. Our initial target was Atmosphere since it has been almost a year since we went there.
We were greeted by a bunch of muscular men, mostly dressed in sleeveless tops, outside Atmosphere. They were collecting donations for the Tsunami victims. Soon we realised that they were gay men. As I was waiting for the others to reach, one of the organizers came up to me. He wanted me to fill in a questionnaire.
After I filled up the questionnaire, I said,
“Forgive me for being rude, is this a gay oriented party?”
“Yes, it is”, he replied.
“I see, how often will you hold this event here?”
“Hopefully once every 2 weeks”
Then out of no where, Ping said,
“ooooohhh main buntot ohhh, syokkkk…” (oooooohhh play ass…feels goooodd)
I went O_O
I whispered to Ping, “WOI SHUT UP”
Instead of keeping quiet, he added, “manyak sakit ohhhhhhhh” (very painful ooooohhh)
Unknown to him, the questionnaire guy was actually gay. Ping had no place to hide his face.
Since the sight of sweaty gay men doing the ‘sotong’ dance isn’t very appealing to us, we headed to Regenerate @ Espanda. We struck a deal with the bouncer to open 2 bottles of whisky for 11 people (limit is 4 per bottle). However, we weren’t entitled to all the re-entry tag and the bloody bouncer wanted us to get him a pack of cigarettes in return for the remaining entry tag. We fuck him no time ah!!
Espanda wasn’t packed at all. I guess Regenerate missed their chance on a huge profit after the initial KL Tower rave that was cancelled. The crowd was so-so. The music was so-so. The whole event was so-so.
BEER
First and foremost, HapPy NeW YeAr everyone!!
Despite the government not encouraging any major new year’s eve celebrations this year, I’m sure many of us partied in a minor scaled fashion anyway. Bangsar, Sri Hartamas, KL… were packed, as usual.
Celebrations and parties aside, I’m dedicating this piece of blog to all our male readers. Please read on, and StaY ALERT!
Police today warned all men who frequent clubs and parties to stay cautious when offered drinks by women. Females are using a ‘date-rape drug’ called “Beer” to target unsuspecting men. This drug comes in liquid form and is available nearly everywhere!
“Beer” as it is commonly referred to, is used by ‘female predators’ to persuade hapless male victims to go home with them. Women need only persuade a man to consume a few of these “Beers,” and then ask him home for ‘no-strings-attached Sex’, …. a simple approach that renders most men helpless.
After several “Beers,” men will have sex with even unattractive women. Often men awaken with only hazy memories of the night before, a horrible headache, and a vague feeling that something bad happened. Some really unfortunate men are even separated from their life’s savings in a scam called “a relationship!” In extreme cases, females have entrapped unsuspecting males into long-term servitude through a punishment called “Marriage!”
Apparently, men are much more susceptible to this scam once “Beer” is administered.
If you or some men you know, have fallen victim to this insidious “Beer” and the predatory women who administer it, rest assured, …. male support groups exist in every major city where you can discuss the ugly details of your encounter in an open and frank manner with similarly affected, like-minded guys.
So, here’s wishing all readers a very Happy New Year filled with hope, joy and love. Cheers to you boys..and no, I’m not offering any beer!
**winks*
As for the ladies, lets just keep up with what we always do BEST!
A woman’s philosophy: “Men are like a fine wine. They start out as grapes, and it’s up to women to stomp the shit out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with…”
All festivities cancelled
Malaysia Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said that the Government has cancelled all celebrations to usher in the New Year in view of the tsunami tragedy and has called on all parties, including the private sector, to instead hold prayers for the welfare of those affected
That means there would be no fireworks or parties.
Hence , the event that i was looking forward to…
Regenerate NYE 2005
31 December, 8pm
Celebrate seven years of Tempo at Regenerate NYE 2005 with their current and guest DJs such as DJ Callen, DJ Burger, DJ Eugene, DJ Ben Katana, DJ Goldfish, DJ Blink, Spacebar, and percussionist Tabla Maniam (from Singapore). Two booming rooms await those who want to party hard to fresh and furious beats of this 7th anniversary bash.
RM50 (inclusive of 1 drink)
KL Tower
Menara Kuala Lumpur, Jalan Punchak, Off Jalan P. Ramlee, Kuala Lumpur
Train : Dang Wangi (Putra)/Raja Chulan (Monorail)
….has been postponed to the next day. (Source: glo http://e-uphoria.blogspot.com/)
Regenerate NYE 2005/Tempo’s 7th birthday bash has been put forward a day.
It is now scheduled for SATURDAY 1st JANUARY 2005.
BAAAHHHHH
But this is an event to look forward to 😀
Unfortunately, invited guest only…
UPDATE!!!!:
Japanese stamps
Not many countries in the world issue stamps based on comic characters.
Japan has been issuing various comic character based stamps. They are too kawai!!!!
Accident @ Cameron Highlands
Last week, before the tragic event that befall us, there was a serious motor vehicle accident in Cameron Highland, one of the popular tourist spots in Malaysia.
A bus over turned and crashed into a ravine. Few passengers were killed. Surprisingly, there were many foreign tourists in the bus. There goes Malaysia’s reputation.
So anyway, here’s a picture of the scene of the accident courtesy of The Star newspaper.
How I spent my xmas eve….
Well, I didnt spent my Xmas like that. My friend and I celebrated it @ the heart of KL, Jalan Bukit Bintang..
The entire town was in a Christmassy feeling. The roads were packed with cars and the traffic was almost standstill.
Fortunately, Ping offered to drive, hence Jennifer, Rachel, Umeng and I sat on his car. Well, unfortunately for Ping, we were stuck for 2 hours in the standstill traffic.
There were loads of people selling some sort of spray that emits foam or some Spiderman sticky strings at RM10 for 4 bottles. However, it runs out after few sprays. Bloody cheats. Further, if you don’t buy those spray from them, they will start spraying foam etc at you.
Another group of friends rented a service apartment in the city, well not really friends, I barely know them! However, they were nice to share their apartment, food and liquor with us. We even traded gifts ^.^
Everyone had to pool in presents. Then we had to draw lots. I didn’t know bout the gift polling thingie while on my way to KL. Running out of time, I jumped to the nearest shopping centre which was having some sort of Thai Exhibition. I bought a wind chime from there.
Well, in return, I got 2 packs of cigarette and a lighter. Great present, especially when I’m not a smoker.
Beers were abundant. We bought a bathtub full of beer. By the end of the night, we were wasted.
Asia quake 8.9 magnitude quake.
Thousands of people have been killed across southern Asia in massive sea surges triggered by the strongest quake in the world for 40 years.
The 8.9 magnitude quake struck under the sea near Aceh in north Indonesia, generating a wall of water that sped across thousands of kilometres of sea.
At least 2,000 died in Sri Lanka and more than 1,000 were killed in India.
Casualty figures are rising throughout the region including in Thai tourist resorts, packed with holidaymakers.
More…
43 dead from tidal waves in Malaysia
BBC World News: http://tv.hao1.com/show.asp?type=1&id=943
Read experiences @ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/4125619.stm
Merry Xmas 2004
I am not going to write about how i celebrated Xmas eve. it was so damn normal that i had decided to erase it from my memory.But, like the Queen of United Kingdom, i am going to give a Christmas speech to all our fans.
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My beloved fans and fellow internet surfers ,
Merry Xmas. Thank you for supporting www.xes.cx all this while. I love all of you. If not for rule against polygamy, all our guy guest bloggers would have marry all our girl fans. The girl guest blogger marrying the guy fans. That i can promise, if my beloved fans and fellow internet surfers can lobby hard for the Government to abolish to rule.
My beloved fans and fellow internet surfers,
I would like to clarify an earlier statement made by xes that the site is closing down. I would like to inform all our fans that www.xes.cx is not closing down. At least not until xes and me strike jackpot and buy our own island in the Carribbean. Therefore, i plead to all my beloved fans and fellow internet surfers to keep supporting us.
My beloved fans and fellow internet surfers,
I aim to push the hits up to 500 by the 1st Quater of 2005. I pledge that we will belt out better and high quality articles. However, the site will not archeive 500 hits without all of you. Your applaud is what keeps me going. For those who has link of www.xes.cx on their site, thank you for being such a sport.
My beloved fans and fellow internet surfers,
I pray that the blessing of Almighty God may rest upon all of you. Once again, Merry Xmas.
Decomposing car
An abandoned car in a popular night spot in Kuala Lumpur. The wheels are stolen and the metal is rusting away. Certainly one of Malaysia’s car of the year nominees.
There’s another picture of a run down car who got nominated for Malaysia’s Car of the Year. It was from autoworld.com.my website. I cant find it though. Anyone has it? 😀