Thursday, May 21, 2009

Funny

Today I was requested to assemble a car but I'm not given the manual. Oii, I'm not automobile engineer ok. I'm the bloody dumb IT engineer.

Then instead of me being given spanner or screwdriver but I was given spoon and fork. Screwed you lar.

What am I crapping about, nothing. I'm just a bit of "wayar putus" and a bit of emo onli.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Holes in my wallet

Sooky was recently "released" from her "house arrest". She has been very lucky as compared to Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi who house arrest terms will most likely get prolonged once again.

My dear, don't worry, although you have broken numerous "house arrest" rules during the past 1 month (secret recipe cake, not finishing the ginger soup, not drinking the ginger herb water), I being a non-junta, a very democratic hubby and of course such a lovely hubby will grant you the long awaited Independence.

Once she gained the deserved independence, she decided to go on shopping spree and guess what? That means Sooky is going to create uncountable holes in my wallet.

Yesterday, we talked about some $$$ stuff:

Me: Dear, I think I cannot execute my plan so early leh ... If I do that then I mah lose close to 14K in total .. aiyoyo ...

Sooky: Wah 14K, arr .. then I think I can increase the allocation for my shopping spree. (Me: jaw dropping)

Me: WHAT !! I thought you finished with your "trophies" searching last weekend.

Sooky: Hey, that's only the appetizer .. I'm going for more after this .. (Me, pengsan, fainted, white bubble coming out from the edge of my mouth ... )

Look at here for the trophies and catch of the day !!!!

Monday, May 18, 2009

How to Renew Work Permit For Your Indonesian Maid?

First, you need to go to FOMEMA Sdn Bhd to get your maid register into their system so that you can bring your maid to medical checkup and x-ray.

Where is FOMEMA Sdn Bhd? It is located at Pusat Bandar Damansara, the immigration, HELP college and other government department.

Lot G1 - G10, Level 3,
Block G (Central),
Pusat Bandar Damansara,
50490 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03 - 2094 6188
Fax: 03 -2092 5610

Documents Needed:
- Prepare a bank draft of RM 190 payable to "FOMEMA SDN BHD". You can get this done at any banks.
- Bring a copy of maid's passport
- Bring original passport

Process:
- Get a form from FOMEMA
- Fill in the details
- Choose your preferable clinic/hospital for medical check & x-ray
- Register your maid
- You can bring your maid to the clinic on the next working day. Preferably you call up the clinic to make an appointment or to check doctor's availability.
- After 10 days of medical checkup, call FOMEMA at 03 - 2094 6188 and give them "Worker's Code" to check your maid medical status. You can get the "Worker's Code" details from the form given to you by FOMEMA.
- Duration: less than 30 minutes.

Notes:
- Bring PEN
- FOMEMA check-up only needed for maid for the first 3 years. If your maid stay with you for the 4th year onwards, you do not need to go to FOMEMA again. Proceed to Immigration to get the work permit directly (of course bring along the bank draft)


After you get a "PASSED" for your maid's medical status, you can proceed to PUTRAJAYA IMMIGRATION to get the permit. Yeah, I'm saying PUTRAJAYA and some of you might be asking why not at PUSAT BANDAR DAMANSARA. Yeah, I know also but hoh, Malaysia have 2 sets of working procedure.

If you wanted to do the permit renewal at PUSAT BANDAR DAMANSARA, then you need to have I-Card for your maid. To do I-Card, you need to bring your maid to PUSAT BANDAR DAMANSARA with 1x passport size photo with WHITE BACKGROUND. My maid don't have I-Card so I have to go to PUTRAJAYA where they don't require I-Card. Bravo Malaysia.

Where is IMMIGRATION OF MALAYSIA IN PUTRAJAYA?

Ibu Pejabat Jabatan Imigresen Malaysia
(Kementerian Dalam Negeri)
Tingkat 1-7, (Podium) No 15, Persiaran Perdana, Presint 2,
62550 Putrajaya, WILAYAH PERSEKUTUAN.
Tel: 03 - 8880 1000
Fax: 03 - 8880 1200

Documents Needed:
- 1 bank draft of RM 445 payable to KETUA PENGARAH IMIGRESEN MALAYSIA. (notes if you opt to go to PUSAT BANDAR DAMANSARA then this bank draft have to be made payable to PENGARAH IMIGRESEN NEGERI WILAYAH PERSEKUTUAN)
- 1 copy of passport
- Bring original passport

Process:
- Get your queue number
- Pass the passport to the immigration officer to register
- Make payment at payment counter
- Get your permit sticker from another counter. (I waste most of the time at this counter. Waiting .. waiting .. waiting ....)
- Duration: less than 40 minutes

Notes:
- From my observations, we can reduce all the red-tapes by having the registration, payment and sticker printing in one counter rather than counter hopping.
- Having more officer to serve the public

So folks, if you have time, you should go renew the work permit yourself since it is not too much of hassle. Those bloody agency is trying to squeeze out your hard earned money.

Update 21 Apr 2010
---------------------
I just went to renew my maid's work permit at Putrajaya Immigration this morning. Fantastic, awesome. I reached there at around 9.20am. Got my things done in only 10 MINUTES !!!! Yes, it is that fast. Kudos to Swe Yin and P. Malaya, you guys deserved my respect for serving with dignity. Kudos to Immigration Department for Foreign Workers Unit.

I do reserved some comments for the cashier at Counter 2 this morning. Please be more courteous. Show some respects to the rakyat. If you so hate your job, change job. Don't show your dissatisfaction to the rakyat.

Update 19 May 2011
---------------------
Just went to Putrajaya to renew my maid's permit. Well something has changed.

- Maid no longer need to be present for permit renewal. It was needed in 2010 but they changed the rule again. Now in 2011, no need.
- Only employer/spouse (bring your marriage certificate) can renew the work permit. No proxy (third party) is allowed.
- RM 445 bank draft payable to "Ketua Pengarah Imigresen Malaysia"
- Old and New passport (if you have just renewed the passport.)

Update 18 Apr 2012
----------------------
I've just renew my maid's work permit via http://www.myeg.com.my/

- Very easy, just fill up the online form and pay by either credit card / online banking like maybank2u.
- Please have your maid's passport ready because you need the passport number and maid's DOB as part of the information.
- Levy charges has increased from RM 360 to RM 410. Other charges remain the same.
- Additional RM 38 as processing fees charged by MyEg. Well considering that if you need to take leave and drive all the way to Immigration office, parking fees and the waiting time. I guess RM 38 is quite reasonable.
- The breakdown of the charges:

Pass Charge: RM 60
Visa Charge: RM 15
Levy Charge: RM 410
Process Charge: RM 10
e-Services Charge: RM 38

Total: RM 533.00 (Previously was RM 445, now additional RM 50 (Levy) + RM 38 (e-services charges) which makes it RM 533. )

How To Renew Your Indonesian Maid's Passport?

If you have an Indonesian maid at home.

If your maid wished to extend her tenure (maid service) with you after having worked for your family for more than 2 years. You will probably need to help her renew her passport since most Indonesian maid will have a 24 pages passport that only last for 3 years.

Why you need to renew her passport?
1. You need to apply a new yearly working permit so you need a valid passport.
2. Passport is expiring, so how to apply a new working permit.

Normally those maid's agency will charge you anything from RM 400 - RM 500 for the service of renewing passport. Well thinking of after paying the $, you can walked off easily and let the agency deal with your maid. Hell wrong. Even after you had pay $, you will still need to bring your maid to the Indonesian Embassy to get her passport renew. Crazy idea right. Yes indeed it is very crazy and it just doesn't make sense at all. So in this case, money won't help you to solve your problem unless you managed to scout for under table dealings.

My experience:
- Simple
- Time Consuming
- Should reach embassy after 1230 hrs and before 1300 hrs because at 1200 hrs, the whole embassy people going off for lunch leaving no one to serve anyone. Crazy right. Yes believe it. Afternoon session, not that crowded. I reached embassy at 10am, jezz, packed like sardine.
- no appointment needed as compare to apply for US Visa.

Prep Works:
- 4x passport size photo with RED background.
- bring original passport
- bring a copy of original passport
- bring a PEN. Jezz you need this to fill in the forms and you won't find any PENs provided at the embassy.
- a copy of employer's IC (be sure who is the employer, either the husband or wife)

Cost:
- RM 12 for 4x passport photo
- RM 22 for 24 pages Indonesia passport
- RM 8 for parking at RHB building
- RM 15 for lunch for two at embassy's cafe

Contact of Indonesia Embassy:
- http://www.kbrikualalumpur.org/
- 03 - 2116 4000 (don't bother to call, take ages for someone to pick up the phone)


Updates: 11 May 2011
I just went to Indonesia Embassy to renew my maid's passport. This time is worse. I reached there around 9am and finished at 3.30pm. So many bureaucracy that cost the delay.

Procedures:
  1. Take the blue form and contract (1 book = 3 copies of contract) (free)
  2. Take your number
  3. Maid to take the passport picture inside the embassy. (free)
  4. Wait for your number to be called
4.1 - First called, will be to counter 20 to submit the contract
4.2 - Second called, to counter 12 / 13 to be interviewed by the staff. You will need to pay RM 18 for the passport.

Questions include:

4.2.1 - What is your employer full name?
4.2.2 - What is your last salary? (Please take note, embassy wanted RM 600. So you need to inform your maid to answer that else they won't allow you to renew the passport.)

Notes: Number will be given to public up to 10:30 AM. So if you reached there after 10:30 AM, you won't be served.


Documents needed:
- copy of passport
- copy of levy/visa/permit
- 2 copies of employer IC
- 1 copy of marriage certificate if employer name in the maid permit is not yours.
- BRING PENS ALONG
- 1 copy of Maid's personal insurance. You can get this from post office / RHB bank for RM 85 for 2 years or RM 60 for 1 year.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

RON 95 vs RON 97

How many of you all understand the differences between RON 95 and RON 97?

In general, RON 95 will produce more kicking for the engine and RON 97 produce less kicking to the engine.

In laymen terms, RON 95 hurt the engine more as compare to RON 97. If you check your user manual for your car, it will state which petrol grade that is suitable for your car. In general, most of the car in this region has been configured to run on minimum RON 95.

The recent announcement does not come as a surprise since previous minister Shahrir Samad has given some indications or hints on this before.

In Harian Metro, "Pengguna untung 5 sen guna RON 95"

In The Star, "RON95 to be priced 25 sen cheaper than RON97"

Our new Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob seems to fare even worst than his predecessor Datuk Shahrir Samad.

If Ismail Sabri Yaakob do not understand about the differences between RON 95 vs RON 97, appreciate if he can go do some research before giving press conferences. RON 95 will definitely hurt the engine more as compare to RON 97.

Beside, with the current crude oil price floating around USD $60 per barrel. Do all of you know that we are paying petrol tax to the government for every litre of petrol that we pump into our car. In another words, government is making money from the people every second in a day. Previous report estimated that government is making RM 8 - 10 million a day from the petrol tax when crude oil price is around USD 40 per barrel.

Friday, May 8, 2009

Shame on BN & PDRM

SHAME ON BN & PDRM ... ACT LIKE THXX, BEHAVE LIKE THXX .. This is the type of politician that BN supporter has voted. Shame on you all ... MCA, MIC, Gerakan .. where are you all? You all agree to this right ..

I urge all Perakian to bloody vote out BN forever from Perak land ... BN is the DEVIL


Monday, May 4, 2009

Idiom Of The Day

Today I would like to share a common idiom in Chinese (cantonese) with you all:

"Woh Chung Hao Chut, Beng Chung Hao Yap"

which loosely translated to

Disaster are a cause of foul-mouthed and Sickness is a cause of bad diet

Woh - Disaster
Hao - Mouth
Chut - comes out
Beng - Sickness
Hao - Mouth
Yap - go in

Friday, May 1, 2009

31 Years Old Birthday in Lunar Calendar

This is another tedious chinese custom for those married couples (ie: married before 30 years old in lunar calendar):

Your 31 years old birthday celebration (in lunar calendar) have to be organized and of coursed paid by your mom in law (only applicable to men). And for the ladies, your mother (not your mother in law) have to organize the same celebration for you and of course ... all the cost shall be borne by your mother as well.. hooray ..

Apart from that, there are few things that wife's mother need to prepare:

1 set of clothes (pants + shirt)
1 tray of eggs
1 bottle of cognac/wine
2 pieces of fatt kou

FYI, the above items is for 1 person.

Tips:
If your birthday and your wife's birthday are close to each other, you can opt to hold the celebration together, ie: help your mom-in-law to save cost on 1 luncheon/dinner instead of having 2 luncheon/dinner.

Happy go lucky.