Summary of Malaysia Budget 2010 (3rd Strategy)

3rd Strategy: Focusing on Well-Being of Rakyat (Citizens)
1) Preventing Crime

-RM3.7bil allocated to increase efficiency of security force.

-Total RM1bil provided to improve PDRM services.

-RM1.9bil will be provided to armed forces.

-Another RM622mil will be provided for Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency.

2) Improving Income and Quality of Life of the Rakyat

2.1) Eradicating Hardcore Poverty

-Distribute Federal Welfare assistance on the 1st day of each month.

-Continue the “Skim Program Lonjakan Mega” with an allocation of RM141mil which will benefit 5000 families.

2.2) Assisting the Poor and Vulnerable Groups

-Continue the SPKR with an allocation of RM180mil.

-Provide skills training and entrepreneurship programs to more than 3000 women.

2.3) Establishing “Kedai Desa” (Rural shops)

-RM30mil will be allocated to UDA Holdings Bhd to build 300 units of shops in nationwide rural area.

2.4) Eradicating Urban Poverty

-RM48mil allocated to implement related programs.

2.5) Increasing Home Ownership

-More than 44000 low cost houses will be sold at a price of between RM21500-RM35000 per unit by DBKL and JPN, besides; JPN also will provide 74000 low cost houses to be rented in 2010. Priority will be given to the low and middle income groups for the above programs.

-RM200mil will be allocated under Ministry of Housing and Local Government to extending appropriate financial assistance to rehabilitate low and medium cost houses.

-The Government will launch a scheme that enables EPF contributors to utilize current and future savings in Account 2 to obtain houses.

2.6) Expanding Public Health Facilities

-RM14.8bil allocated to manage, build and upgrade hospitals and clinics. Besides, Government will also allocate RM10mil to expand 50 community clinic services in selected urban areas.

2.7) Enhancing Social Safety Net

a) RM224mil allocate to the disabled. And also RM174mil provided for the senior citizens.

b) Allocate a sum of RM15mil to assist poor patients and purchase medical equipments.

c) A total RM3.3mil provided, which increase the allowance rate from RM50-RM150 a month for every disabled children enrolled in NGO-organized special schools.

2.8) 1Malaysia Sukuk

The Government will issue 1Malaysia Sukuk (Syariah-Based Government Saving Bond) of total RM3bil, offered to all Malaysians aged 21 and above, with min investment of RM1000 and max RM50000, maturity period of 3 years with 5% annual return rate paid quarterly.

2.9) 1Malaysian Retirement Scheme

-Government will establish the above scheme which administered by EPF for those who self-employed and without fixed income.

-For every RM100 contribution, the Government will contribute 5% subject to max RM60 per annum, which is an addition to the existing dividend paid by EPF. This contribution is only for a 5 year period and contributors may withdraw the savings at age 55.

2.10) EPF contributions

-EPF contributions will be increase to 11% on voluntarily basis and effective immediately. And will revert to 11% starting from 1 Jan 2011.

-Government proposes the existing personal tax relief of RM6000 be increases up to RM7000 for EPF contribution and life insurance premiums.

2.11) Developing Wakaf Properties

RM20mil will be provided for this particular purpose.


3) Strengthening Infrastructure in Rural and Remote Areas.

-In 2010, a sum of RM2.3bil will be allocated to:

a) RM857mil for construction of both rural and village roads

b) Priority will be given to the soil stabilizer in the construction of rural roads, where appropriate.

c) RM530mil allocated to supply water and RM825mil allocated to supply electricity.

d) Provision of RM88mil to implement 5356 social amenity projects.

-Government will spend RM41mil to improve the income and quality of life of the Orang Asli Community.


4) Improving Public Transport

a) Accelerate formation and operation of SPAD as a single authority to monitor and enforce service standards as well as provide a long term plan for public transport and expected to be operational in 2010.

b) Acquire 8 new EMUs and refurbish 9 EMUs by KTMB.

c) Acquire 35 units of LRT trains by SPNB.

d) Construct covered walkways linking LRT stations to nearby activity centers.

e) Expand special lanes and increase the number of buses in KL. And 4 new hubs will be constructed in Penang.

f) Fast-Track construction of the Integrated Transport Terminal in Gombak.

g) Implement dedicated lanes for buses on underutilized expressways and modify Touch’n’Go lanes at toll booths.



Glossary

PDRM: Polis Diraja Malaysia (Royal Malaysia Police)

SPKR: Skim Pembangunan Kesejahteraan Rakyat

DBKL: Kuala Lumpur City Hall

JPN: National Housing Department

NGO: Non Government Organization.

SPAD: Public Land Transport Commission

EMUs: Electric Multiple Units

KTMB: Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd

SPNB: Syarikat Prasarana Negara Berhad

*Adapted from Malaysia 2010 Budget Speech by Prime Minister Najib 

Are You Rich in Internal Assets

I found this nice article from a personal finance website, and would like to share it here.

Are You Rich in Internal Assets?

As each of you gets busy working and finding ways on how to increase your net worth, remember to pay attention to the assets that make you a unique person. I am referring to your ‘internal assets’. Your internal assets refer to your intelligence, creativity, generosity, persistence, patience, vision, compassion and all the other good qualities. Let us not forget your other skills like organizational skills, time management skills, persuasion skills, team work, etc. However, you must discard any ‘internal liabilities’ that you are carrying within you. For example, anger, laziness, selfishness, small-mindedness, etc. These negative qualities will drag you down preventing you from achieving your life’s goals.

Your children’s assets

Developing your internal assets is important. As a parent watching my young children grow, I want them to have an abundance of good internal assets. I do not tell them that I wish they would grow up to be a wealthy person with lots of money and material things. I am sure that is not what you tell your children either.
As parents, we concentrate on building our children’s character and internal assets which will ensure that they grow up to be successful and happy people. You can call this important process as building the foundation of their true wealth.
Do you agree that being wealthy also means being rich on the inside? It is not enough to be wealthy by having lots of money, properties or material things and poor in terms of internal assets. I call this having superficial wealth only. I believe we also need to be rich in internal assets to be a happy and well-rounded person.
If you know the story of “Scrooge”, then he is a perfect example of someone who is rich but totally lacking in internal assets.
So, do you want to be like Scrooge?
Read other articles by Jacquelyn at WParent.com on parenting matters and Tips4Everyone.com on solving marriage problems.
This article is posted at: KCLau's Money Tips

The Mayonnaise Jar

I just received this email from my friend, and I like the words, post and share here, and wish whoever read this like it too~!

When things in your life seem , almost too much to handle,
When 24 Hours in a day is not enough,
Remember the mayonnaise jar and 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class

And had some items in front of him.

When the class began, wordlessly,

He picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students, if the jar was full.

They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar.
He shook the jar lightly.

The pebbles rolled into the open Areas between the golf balls.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.

Of course, the sand filled up everything else.

He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous 'yes.'

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

'Now,' said the professor, as the laughter subsided,

'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.

The golf balls are the important things - family, children, health, Friends, and Favorite passions –

Things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, Your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, house, and car.

The sand is everything else --The small stuff.

'If you put the sand into the jar first,' He continued,

'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.

The same goes for life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff,

You will never have room for the things that are important to you.

So...

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.

Play With your children.

Take time to get medical checkups.

Take your partner out to dinner.

There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.

'Take care of the golf balls first --

The things that really matter.

Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.'

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled.

'I'm glad you asked'.

It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem,

there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.'

My Wonderful Financial Dream...

If I am going to start enter in job market in 24 (I will graduate at late 23), then I need to plan my financial goal well for my future.

Well, I wish and would like to achieve financial freedom at 50 years old. That means I have to save and accumulate a total sum of million net cash in 26 year’s time.

Emm…if start working at 24 years old, just to save a proportion of money and have the money being invested at a compounding interest rate of conservative 10% annually, I was just need to save around RM800 monthly in average, that’s seems not a big problem to me.

But~wait wait wait wait….How about asset? I also wanna purchase some property assets too, with an estimated 7% (based to current Commercial Bank BLR) mortgage rate annually, for a common middle class property of around RM200000, if I purchase at 30 and wish to fully occupy it within 10 years time (wishly between 30-40 years old), it means I need to paid a sum of RM394000 for that. In other words, I have to allocate around another RM800 monthly since 24.

What about a car? Not going to set a too high target, If only just going to get a “Middle Class National Car~:P” Perodua Kenari cost around RM40000 once I have reached 24, and finish all the installment within 5 years with an current loan rate of around 3%, that would increase my monthly saving amount of RM650.

Well, insurance is important too; maybe I will just allocate a RM200 monthly for that particular purpose and increase that proportion if it is necessary at future.

Hmm…seems like I had plan enough for my financial needs, but I think it is better to allocate more RM300 monthly for extra or emergency usage, if there is luckily nothing extraordinary happen before I reached 50 years old, huh, it will be another big sum total of RM110000 at that age.

Huh, now lets sum up all my saving needs one by one…RM800+RM800+RM650+RM200+RM300, the total is…….dang dang dang dang~RM2750, RM2750 monthly~is monthly~! And it is just saving only, not included my daily expenses…Oh shit, If I really wanna achieve that financial dream, that means I need to get a very very high paid job…walao, or either seeks for part time job?? Part time job? It will definitely kill me man~!

Sigh…seems like I have to expand my financial freedom due date to 65, or to adjust my financial goal at a lower level…well, that’s means I gonna calculate again…@.@...so now I know that’s not a easy things to become a financial planner…lol….gonna seriously consider whether want to step on to this career or not~haha~

Conclusion...wonderful dreams always hard to achieve one...sigh...so just keep on dreaming...just like what Jacky Cheung song said: "Life is Just Like a Dream"~what your say~??? :D

Summary of Malaysia Budget 2010 (2nd Strategy)

Summary of 2nd Strategy: Ensuring Holistic and Sustainable Development

1) Enhancing Highly Skilled Human Capital
1.1) Expanding Access to Quality and Affordable Education
RM30bil will be allocated to primary and secondary school education, where:
-RM19bil for emoluments
-RM2.8bil for student assistance and scholarship program
-RM1.6bil for schools construction (where RM1.1bil for refurbish).
Besides, 4 NKRA will be focused, which are namely:
a) Strengthening pre-school education – RM48mil will be provided in 2010.
b) Increasing literacy and numeracy rate – RM32mil allocated and all 2010 year 1 school children will be involved.
c) Creating high performance school – RM20mil allocated to target 20 schools to be recognized as SBT in 2010.
d) Recognizing school principles and head teachers – Monetary or non-monetary incentives will be awarded to head teachers and principles who achieve target performance.

1.2) Safeguarding Welfare of Student
a) Award national scholarship to 30 crème de la crème students.
b) Convert PTPTN to scholarship for those who graduate with 1st class honors degree or equivalent started at 2010.
c) Provide 50% discount on KTMB long distance fares for student aged 13 and above, commence at 2010.
d) Netbook package cost RM50 per month for 2 years offered to 100000 local university students by Telekom, commence 2010.

1.3) Enhancing Skills of the Workforce
a) RM1.3bil for polytechnics and community colleges.
b) RM504mil for Industrial Training Institutes and Advanced Technology Training Centre.
c) RM438mil for Institut Kemahiran MARA, Kolej Kemahiran Tinggi MARA, Institut Kemahiran Belia Negara, and Institut Kemahiran Tinggi Belia Negara.
d) RM 110mil for state skills development centres and selected training institutions.
e) Accredit SKM level 4 and above as equivalent to the academic stream.

1.4) Expanding PERMATA program
-RM100mil allocated to implement related programs.

1.5) Strengthening Public Higher Education Institutions
-Government will consider relaxing the rules and regulations on hindering IPTA from generating their own income.

2) Strengthening Banking and Financial System
-A new motor basic insurance and takaful scheme will be offered and expected to be introduced by the mid of 2010.

-Micro insurance and takaful coverage will be expanded for small businesses, small scale businessmen will benefit from coverage ranging RM10000-RM20000, with a premium of RM20 per month.

-Government will review, improve, and enforce Anti-Money Laundering Act and Anti Terrorism Financing Act 2001.

2.1) Invigorating the Stock Market 
a) First stage of allowing brokerage sharing at a minimum rate of 40% for remisier which takes effectively, and second stage of fully liberalized commission-sharing will be effective 1 Jan 2011.
b) Allow 100% foreign equity participation in corporate finance and financial planning companies compared at least 30% local equity before.
c) All PLC required offering e-Dividend, and stockbroker will offer e-Dividend option too.

2.2) Further Developing Islamic Finance System.
Government proposes existing tax incentives be extended to 2015 in financial services especially for Islamic finance. Scope will be extended:
a) Stamp duty exemption of 20% on Islamic financing instrument.
b) Tax exemption on banking profits derived from overseas operations, and also extended to profits of insurance and takaful company which derived from overseas operations.
c) Double deduction on expenditure incurred in promoting Malaysia Islamic
Finance.
d) Deduction on expenditure incurred on the issuance of Islamic securities approved by SC and LOFSA.
e) The tax treatment accorded to SPV established under the Companies Act 1965 is extended to SPV established under Offshore Companies Act 1990 electing to be taxed under the Income Tax Act 1967.
f) Tax exemption on profits received by non-Ringgit Sukuk approved by SC extended to Sukuk approved by LOFSA.

2.3) Ar-Rahnu Micro Credit Program
Government will encourage all syariah-compliant financial and banking institutions to offer this scheme.

3) Combating Corruption
a) Formulate a Whistle Blower Act to encourage corruption disclosure and will be introduced in 2010.
b) Establish 14 Special Corruption Session Courts and 4 Special Anti-Corruption Commission Appeal High Courts.
c) Enhance Malaysia image in anti-corruption.

4)  Development of Regional Economic Corridors.
-RM3.5bil will be allocated by Government in Regional Economic Coridors.

4.1) Developing Putrajaya and Cyberjaya
Efforts will be intensified to increase business, commercial and recreational activities.

5) Improving Effectiveness and Efficiency of Government Administration

5.1) Strengthening Management of Government Finance
-If to implement GST, it will replace the current sales and service tax as well as exemption will be given to the low income group.

-Government proposes that upstream petroleum companies income tax for year of assessment 2010 based on income derived from 2009 be allowed to pay in installments within 5 years.

-Government proposes that a tax of 5% be imposed on gains from the disposal of real property from 1 Jan 2010. But the existing tax exemption will be retained for gifts between close relatives. This exemption will be given on disposal of a residential property once a lifetime.

-Government proposes RM50 service tax per year imposed on each principle credit card and charge card, included those issued free of charge, and also RM25 service tax on each supplementary card, effective 1 Jan 2010.

-Government will impose a sum of RM10000 for each AP to open AP holders, effective 1 Jan 2010.

-Government allows government agencies to rent out certain assets and retain 50% of rentals received while the 50% shall be remitted to the Government as revenues, effective 1 Jan 2010.

-Government has identified assets (lands and buildings) which can be jointly developed or sold to GLC.

5.2) Restructuring of Fuel Subsidy Scheme
-To benefit only targeted groups, Government will implement a fuel subsidy management system in early 2010 as well as other commodities.

5.3) Intensifying Government Delivery System
-Civil servants with monthly household income from RM2000-RM3000 are qualified for the RM180 monthly pre-school fee subsidy. An allocation of RM200000 will be made available for every Ministry and Government department to establish day-care centre.

5.4) Individual Income Tax
-Government proposes income tax rate reduced to 26% effective from the year of assessment 2010, as well as cooperatives and non-resident individual’s tax rate.

-Government proposes personal relief be increased from RM8000 to RM9000, effective from the year of assessment 2010.

-Government proposes income tax on employment income of Malaysians and foreign knowledge workers residing and working in Iskandar Malaysia be imposed at a rate of 15% only.

*Adapted from Malaysia Budget 2010 Speech by Prime Minister Najib.

Glossary

NKRA: National Key Result Areas

 KEMAS: Jabatan Kemajuan Masyarakat

SBT: Skim Bantuan Tuisyen

Crème de la crème: French word, which means the very best.

KTMB: Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad

SKM: Sijil Kemahiran Malaysia

PERMATA: Program Pendidikan dan Pengasuhan Kanak-kanak

PLC: Public Listed Company

SC: Securities Commission

LOFSA: Labuan Offshore Financial Services Authority

SPV: Special Purpose Vehicle

GST: Goods and Services Tax

AP: Approved Permit