To ALL those Born in the 40's, 50's, 60's and early '70s...

First, we survived with mothers who had no maids. They cooked and cleaned while taking care of us at the same time.

We took aspirin, candies floss, Fizzy drinks, shaved ice with syrups and diabetes were rare.

Salt added to Pepsi or Coke was remedy for fever.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets.

As children, we would ride with our parents on bicycles/motorcycles for 2 or 3. Richer ones in cars with no seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a private taxi was a special treat.

We drank water from the tap and NOT from the bottle.

We would spend hours on the fields under bright sunlight flying our kites, without worrying about the UV ray which never seen to affect us.

We go to jungle to catch spiders without worries of Aedes mosquitoes.

With mere 5 pebbles(stones) would be a endless game. With a ball(tennis ball is the best) the boys would ran like crazy for hours.

We catch guppy in drains/canals and when it rain we swim there.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually worry about being unhygienic.

We ate salty, very sweet & oily food, candies, bread and real butter and drank coffee/tea, ice kacang, but we weren't overweight because.......WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, till streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And we don't have cell phones to bug us. And we are O.K. And we are safe.

We would spend hours repairing our old bicycles and wooden scooters out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, X-boxes, Nintendo's, cable TV, DVD movies, no phones, no personal computers, no Internet. WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and we still continued the stunts.

We never had birthdays parties till we were 21.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and just yelled for them!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

Yet this generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosive of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

And YOU are one of them!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

You may want to forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were.

PS:-The big FONTS is because of Long-sightedness or hyperopia at your age.

😂😂😂

Picture is for illustration purposes only.

We always hear that those who work in the public sector are financially more secure and stable, but according to the fact, that’s not the case. Did you know that in February 2019, our Malaysian civil servants’ debt is accumulated by billions - RM236bil to be exact? What is happening?

Let’s take a look at some of the financial challenges faced by civil servants in Malaysia to understand the situation.

1. Civil servants spend more than half of their salaries on debt repayment.

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) revealed that civil servants spend 52% of their salaries to pay debts, causing them to have low financial buffers to overcome emergency situations.

The same study showed that 47% of their debts are contributed from lifestyle purposes and to sustain a standard of living such as credit cards, motor vehicles and personal financing. On top of that, civil servants are also burdened with housing debts that account for 49% of their total debts.

This situation does not happen to only a small number of civil servants but rather a good majority of them. On top of that, the study also showed that almost all civil servants or 97% of them have some form of borrowings.

2. “Civil servants have better salary”, is a MYTH.

According to Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), over ⅔ of civil servants in Malaysia earn less than RM5,000. For example, based on the Public Services Commission of Malaysia’s (SPA) website,  a DG29 grade teacher only earns RM1,698 a month. Would you consider such income to be proportional to the cost of living in the big cities?

Yes, just like any other working sectors out there, they will receive salary increment. But, it's only valid for a few years and will be capped at a certain amount which is known as the maximum salary, which for the abovementioned teacher would be at RM5,717.

However, a report by The Star showed that the salary increment does not match the rising cost of living. This is because the inflation rate needs to be put into account as it affects the living cost as well. According to Khazanah Research Institute’s Director of Research Dr Muhammed Abdul Khalid, after adjusting for inflation, the real wage growth is actually negative.

3. It’s hard to get a loan from banks due to strict regulations.

Just in case you didn’t know, any salary deductions of civil servants will have to go through Accountant General’s Department of Malaysia (AG) or Angkatan Koperasi Kebangsaan Malaysia (Angkasa), organisations that manage and monitor salary deduction for zakat, EPF, membership fee, insurance and loan repayments, which includes personal financing.

This is where the problem comes. It’s their job to ensure civil servants have a minimum of 40% net salary after deduction. So, if civil servants were to apply for personal financing and the deduction exceeds 60% of his/her salary, it will usually be rejected. Additionally, he/she will also receive disciplinary action due to excessive debts.

This is why some civil servants opt for easier funding from Along, as it’s easy and fast. According to The Edge Markets, there were 170,000 out of 1.6mil government employees or 11% of the government employees involved in loan scam with total losses of RM340mil because they were struggling to cope with the rising cost of living.

4. Lack of financial literacy.

The Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency (AKPK) believes that in most cases, poor financial planning, low financial knowledge and lifestyle choices contribute to debt problems. AKPK also revealed that out of 30 countries, Malaysia is ranked 26th for financial literacy based on the 2016 Report for the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

But why?

This goes both ways actually. Civil servants probably take loans to sustain their lives because they know their loan repayment will be handled by Angkasa. Financial institutions on the other hand simply dished out the loan because they are assured of the repayments through a monthly deduction from Angkasa.

BNM also claimed that civil servants are most likely to use all of their income to sustain themselves throughout the month with no savings for emergency situation. Yes, low income may be the contributor to this debt problem, but the lack of financial literacy could also be the cause as well.

Dear civil servants friends, you don’t have to live from paycheck to paycheck. 

There are other things you can do to help improve your financial situation.  First, you need to evaluate your expenditure and get a better understanding of how financial management works. Other than that, it’s advisable for you to create a secondary income stream such as running a small business.

If you don’t have the capital to start it, fret not. There are many governed financial providers that could help you kick start your small business like Yayasan Ihsan Rakyat (YIR) or Yayasan Dewan Perniagaan Melayu Perlis (YYP). The process is less hectic than getting a business loan.

Assalamualaikum. Buat ke sekian kalinya Abam Kie menyertai satu lagi segmen anjuran blogger Anis. Eh! Nama dia sama dgn anak Abam Kie yg tengah study hard utk SPM akhir tahun ni. Blogger Anis janji nak masukkan kesemua link blog peserta segmen ni. Yezza! Masuk aje. Dapat tersenarai secara percuma. 

Cik Anis minta ceritakan tentang makanan kegemaran ye? Abam Kie ni suka makan pizza la, especially kat Pizza Hut. Biasalahkan? Dah tua2 ni x selera nak makan nasi. Jadi kita makanan makanan barat la pulak! 

Jadi jom la join segmen blogger Anis ni. Jika nak join mudah je..Klik kat banner di atas tu. Selamat maju jaya. All the best!

Sudah banyak kali Abam Kie memohon kad kredit Citibank ni tapi tak berjaya. Yang peliknya Abam Kie tak ada hutang apa2 dengan bank kecuali pinjaman perumahan kakitangan kerajaan tu je. Habis tu kenapa credit score kewangan Abam Kie masih rendah? 10 tahun lepas Abam Kie ada la guna kad kredit Citibank ni tapi tak lama kemudian Abam Kie potong je kad tu sebab tak nak bayar cukai kad kredit kpd kerajaan tu. Jadi selama ini Abam Kie setia dengan kad kredit Mastercard Ikhwan Islamic oleh Maybank. 

Cuma tetiba je pada 2018 nak rujuk semula dgn Citibank. Hantar permohonan online tapi x berjaya. Tahun 2019 hantar lagi tapi masih gagal. Cuma permohonan ketiga dlm tahun 2020 ni auranya lain macam je. Jadi Citibank tak dapat mengatakan tidak kepada Abam Kie.

Tujuan utama Abam Kie mohon kad kredit Visa Simplicity Citibank ni sebab ia ada hadiah beg troli berjenama Condotti berukuran 20 inci. Kalau x ada hadiah, memang la abam kie x pohon punya! Cuma kena buat transaksi dalam masa 60 hari selepas pengaktifan kad. Rasanya abam kie dah buat sampai 10. Mudah je. Gi topup kredit RM10 di Shopee, Lazada, GrabPay, TouchnGo dan beli barang di pasaraya sudah cukup untuk melepasi syarat tu. Cuma bila abam kie call Citibank hari tu, dia kata selepas raya puasa baru buleh beg tu. Adoiii! Lambatnya. Tunggu je la. Jika masih x dapat selepas raya, dia suruh call dia lagi.

Update! Beg di atas tu dah sampai pada hari Ahad, 16 Februari lalu. Org GDex yang hantar ke rumah. Kat price tag reganya RM399! Tapi Abam Kie rasa dengan kualiti sebegitu boleh dpt separuh harga di pasaraya berdekatan. X apalah. Barang free. Terima aje lah. Jangan banyak komen pulak!

Kad Visa Simplicity ni tak ada point atau cashback tau! Ia semata2 kad plastik pengganti wang tunai bila kita membeli barang2. Tak best pun. Cuma adalah rasa prestij tu bila hulur kad kredit Citibank! Sebelum tamat tahun 2020 Abam Kie akan teriminate kad Citibank ni dan simpan kat dalam card holder sebagai kenangan. Sekian. Terima kasih.