Nightmarish hunt for a home ?

Property consultants forecast the property market to remain slow for the rest of the year. Will the average middle-income earner be able to afford the house of their dream now?
 
COMMUNICATIONS executive Michelle (not her real name) has been house-hunting for a while now but has yet to find a property that suits her budget.

Having been in the workforce for nine years, Michelle, 33, feels it is time to buy her own house. But with the prices of residential properties in Malaysia skyrocketing over the last two years, her prospect of getting her dream home looks bleak.

“Back in 2009, my friends were telling me to buy my own place but at that time, my priority was to travel. Around last year, when I was finally ready to commit to getting a house, prices weren't what they used to be any more.

“A decent 1,000sq ft (93 sq m) apartment that used to cost around RM200,000 to RM300,000 is now RM500,000 to RM600,000. That is far beyond what I can afford,” she laments.

Soaring interest: Prospective house buyers at a property launch. — Filepic

 

From early 2010 up to the end of last year, residential properties in good locations within the Klang Valley have seen a sharp spike of between 20% and 40% in price, a trend which has caused grave concern for potential house-buyers.

But how is the scenario looking in 2012?

According to KGV International Property Consultants executive director Anthony Chua, the first half of the year has been generally quiet.

“There seems to be a breather in the residential market. It's definitely not as busy compared with the same period last year. (The number of) inquiries with us have also lessened significantly,” Chua says.

He explains that inquiries in 2012 with KGV on high-end properties (above RM2mil) have gone down by about 30% compared with the first half of last year. Inquiries on other segments (between RM1mil and RM2mil, and below RM1mil) have also gone down but not as drastically.

Reasons for this could include tighter lending guidelines set by the banks and buyers taking a more cautious approach on their investments this year.

(Following Bank Negara's new lending guidelines, which came into effect on Jan 1, loans are now approved based on net income compared with gross income previously, in addition to the need for more documentation. The new guidelines are intended to help keep household debt in Malaysia to reasonable levels.)

Chua: ‘While interest in property purchase has waned, prices are still going strong for landed property.’

Chua adds that there was a lot of speculation in the property market in the past two years, and that the market is due for a correction.

“The economic scenario is not as rosy and people are expecting things to worsen, which could be why they are hesitant to invest. And to a lesser degree, it could also be the coming general election, which is causing some uncertainties,” Chua says.

Paul Khong, executive director of property consultancy CB Richard Ellis (M) Sdn Bhd, shares similar sentiments.

“The number of buyers (for properties above RM3mil) has dropped by about half with the stricter bank-lending guidelines, which has eliminated the speculative group (of buyers).

“For properties below RM2mil, the market is relatively active with more real transactions. With the new lending guidelines in place, many investors have disappeared from the radar,” Khong says, adding that those who want to purchase their third property now will need 30% in cash for downpayment.

“So, to buy a RM3mil property, they'll need RM1mil in cash if it is their third property. Previously, RM400,000 was enough,” Khong says.

Interestingly, Chua notes that while interest in property purchase has waned, prices are still going strong for landed property.

However, sellers are seen to be less aggressive this year.

“They seem to be less demanding and more willing to accommodate. Last year, they would have said this is my price', and would have refused to budge,” he says.

Property consultants forecast the property market to remain quite slow for the rest of the year.

Khong: ‘The number of buyers (for properties above RM3mil) have dropped by about half.’ >>

Even so, for average middle-income earners such as Michelle, the current prices of properties in various locations within the Klang Valley (refer to chart) leave her with few options.

“I don't even dare look at landed property any more. Even apartments at relatively good locations cost RM400,000 and up.

“For my budget, an apartment around RM200,000 to RM350,000 would still be quite comfortable,” says Michelle, who currently lives with her family in Petaling Jaya.

A mass communications graduate from the United States, Michelle draws a salary of about RM5,000 a month, which goes into paying for her car loan, household expenses, utilities, and credit card bills.

“Household expenditure doesn't just cover grocery shopping. I also have to pay for medical bills, car maintenance and repairs as well as give my parents some money too,” she says.

“As banks are now looking at net income, the loan amount I qualify for is unlikely to be enough for me to even afford an apartment in the Klang Valley.

“Sure, you can still get cheaper houses in places like Bukit Beruntung, but it's just too far away. My life is here. At the rate property prices are going, the thought has crossed my mind that I may never be able to afford a place of my own.”

It's not just within the Klang Valley that property prices have escalated.

Early last month, it was reported that residential property prices in Penang have shot up by more than 25% over the past five years.

Condominium units in Batu Ferringhi, Tanjung Bungah and Gurney Drive, with sea-front views, are being sold at astronomical prices, in some cases beginning with RM2mil for a 1,000 sq ft unit.

Houses which cost about RM500,000 in 2007 now cost RM800,000 an increase of about 30%.

Chang: ‘An entire generation of young adults could be locked out of property investments.’

Raine & Horne Malaysia director Michael Geh was reported as saying that the increase was among the steepest in the Pulau Tikus, Gurney Drive, Tanjung Tokong, and Tanjung Bungah residential neighbourhoods, which experienced a 25% increase in prices of condominium units.

Other areas where prices of condominium units and terrace and semi-detached houses have shot up by at least 25% are Bayan Baru, Sungai Ara, Minden Heights and Batu Maung.

Medium-range housing schemes in George Town neighbourhoods of Perak Road, MacCallum Street, Jelutong Road and Sungai Pinang have also not been spared an apartment located in such a neighbourhood cost RM180,000 in 2007 but is now RM250,000.

It is precisely with this concern in mind that the National House Buyers Association (HBA) has come up with a 10-point proposal to the Government, to find solutions which it claims will hopefully bring prices down.

Among the proposals are for the Government to unlock its land banks in various locations and give priority to affordable housing projects rather than high-end properties.

The HBA is urging the Government to take the lead in developing affordable homes and not leave it to property developers.

It has also proposed that those who buy homes under the affordable housing projects (with a proposed price range of RM150,000 to RM300,000) be barred from selling their property until after 10 years. Before the 10-year period is up, they should only be allowed to sell the house back to the Government.

The association has also proposed that the Government impose a higher stamp duty and real property gains tax as well as tighter mortgage rules for those buying a third and subsequent properties.

HBA secretary-general Chang Kim Loong notes that with the way prices are climbing, the majority of young working adults will not be able to afford to buy a home.

“I'm talking about young people from around the age of 25 to 35 years old, with an average income of about RM3,500 per month.

“The rule of thumb is that a third goes into paying for your home.

“But with RM1,000, many will still not be able to afford it. The consequence of this could be that an entire generation of young adults could be locked out of property investments,” he explains.

A question that needs to be asked, however, is whether HBA's proposal for “affordable housing scheme” by the Government will be able to meet the needs of the urban middle-income earners such as Michelle.

“There are several factors to consider. The location, for example,” Michelle says.

“If the design and quality is decent, then yes, I am willing to consider it. But this doesn't mean we have to settle for bad quality homes, with cheap construction materials.”

BY LISA GOH lisagoh@thestar.com.my

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‘Violent lawyer’ may face action

PETALING JAYA: The Bar Council is looking at issuing a show-cause letter to the lawyer who was caught on video pushing and kicking a client.

Bar Council president Lim Chee Wee said that if there was a cause for further action, the lawyer would be referred to the Disciplinary Board.

“The Board (which is independent of the Bar Council) will decide whether to convene a disciplinary committee to investigate further or deal with the matter summarily.

“If convicted, the lawyer can face reprimand, fine, suspension, or be struck off the roll,” he said.

He said this in response to a 9.03-minute video clip on a “hooligan lawyer” that has gone viral.



The video showed two men, believed to be a lawyer and a house buyer, arguing in the presence of three others in an empty house on June 19.

The argument started when the house buyer refused to acknowledge receipt of several documents handed to him by the lawyer.

The lawyer, Tan Hui Chuan, who is a former Selayang municipal councillor, said it was not fair to pre-judge him.

“I am only human. The client bombarded me with hurtful and disrespectful words over and over again.

“I am 58 years old and about to retire. I never had any disciplinary issues before. As all can see, I only pushed him away from me, to make him stop.

“But he went on and on. I raised my hands several times as a sign of surrender but he kept pestering me.

“And yes, I kicked him once. But it was a soft kick,” he said.- The Star

Sources:

http://www.malaysianbar.org.my/

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The rise of risky Internet casinos gambling among youths

Betting among youths more popular with rise of Internet casinos

PETALING JAYA: Gamblers are getting younger and increasingly using the Internet to try their luck in hopes of striking it big.

Besides gambling in online casinos, there are also bookies as young as 13, who take bets in school on football matches.

Gamblers Rehab Centre Malaysia president David Chiang said young punters were a worrying trend, with some already becoming habitual gamblers at 15.

“Youths usually gamble over the Internet because it is not regulated. They will obviously get stopped at casinos because of their age. So they turn to online casinos instead,” he said.

Chiang said youths could also deceive their parents into believing they were conducting research over the Internet when they were actually gambling online.

Addictive vice: Two boys visiting an online casino website. Teenage gambling is becoming more rampant with easy access to Internet casinos and young bookies taking bets in schools.

 

“Parents will easily believe them because the Internet is such a huge part of the lifestyle of youths today,” he said,

Chiang said young people were able to gamble in online casinos because they could borrow credit from online brokers, who offered their services on the websites.

“If the teenage gambler loses the credit, the broker would then pay the online casino first with a credit card. The teenager has to repay the broker in cash,” he said, adding that besides betting on games like roulette and poker, young gamblers were also fond of sports betting, especially football.

“The youngest habitual gambler I know is a 15-year-old. Habitual gamblers are actually addicted to gambling but they are not aware of it,” he said.

Chiang said that while the problem of teenage gambling was widespread across the nation, another alarming trend was schoolchildren borrowing money from loan sharks to pay their gambling debts.

“Some Ah Long know the teenagers' parents are rich enough to pay off the debts so they have no qualms about encouraging them to take loans,” Chiang said.

He said young people resorted to gambling because many of them wanted a quick way to get money to buy better handphones, computers and branded goods.

The centre expects a surge in calls to its hotline at the end of Euro 2012, mostly from gamblers who have lost their bets.

MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Seri Michael Chong said he had received six cases of gambling problems involving those aged between 16 and 18, amounting to RM200,000 so far this year.

“This is considered an increase because last year I received fewer than 10 cases. I've already got six and it is only June,” he said.

Chong said he believed the cases highlighted were only the tip of the iceberg, adding that the youths he met were already in serious trouble and needed to seek his help.

“There are many out there who choose not to seek help,” he said.

About 80% of gambling cases involve the Chinese, with the other races making up the remaining 20%, he added.

By YUEN MEIKENG meikeng@thestar.com.my 

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You are guilty until you prove yourself innocent in cyberspace, right?

Write or not, you can be wrong!

It is absolutely right that we be held responsible for what we post and say in cyberspace. But only if we indeed are the ones who wrote and posted it. 

SOME years ago, a nephew – a freshie in college then – walked over to me with his phone and pointed out an app he had. It was all in Russian, so it was pretty much Greek to me.

“Watch this,” he said, and fiddled with the keys. Seconds later, my phone rang. It was my wife.

But the wife was sitting across the table, all innocent-like and with her handphone safely ensconced in one of those tie-string cloth bags – inside her handbag (why they do that with handphones, I will never understand).

So, I stared at the nephew. He grinned. It was an app, he said, that could tap into any phone nearby and make a call out, using that number. You got to chat and someone else got the bill.

Cyber fun: This file picture shows a group of people patronising a cybercafe in Petaling Jaya. Someone could very easily walk into a place like this, hack into a person’s account and do something nasty.

 

“Do you want it? I can bluetooth it over to your phone,” he asked, oh so generously.

No thanks, I said, I can pay my bills without having to land someone else with the burden.

That was years ago and with a phone that’s nowhere as canggih as the ones to be found these days. These days, I am told, kids can do just about anything with their phones and computers or tablets.

Which is why the story of the new Evidence Act is quite scary for people like me. You see, anything posted on, say, your Facebook account is now your responsibility (as it should be, if you really did post it) and the real scary part is: you are guilty until you prove yourself innocent.

I’m no wonderkid and I am still trying to figure out what all this means but the doctrine of being guilty until proven innocent just doesn’t sit right.

Sure, some friends tell me that IP addresses are infallible and unique but these days, tech guys can do just about anything.

And what if some guy goes into a cybercafé, hacks into my computer and does some nasty stuff. Do I take the fall?

I mean, I’m the guy who grew up with stuff like The Net, where Sandra Bullock’s character has her identity stolen and loses just about everything. Of course, in the movie, she’s this IT-savvy girl-genius who manages to outdo the bad guys. But this is the real world. The bad guys often win!

And even Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir (she needs no introduction) had to make clear a few days ago that some imposter (im-poster, how apt) was posting stuff in her name.

Sure, there’s a need to regulate what’s being said in social media these days. I tell you, it’s a real rancorous country out there these days.

We’ve had a yellow rally, a red rally, big guys with beef burgers, bigger guys going bottoms up (with warm water please, no isotonic drinks. Someone should tell them that bottoms up is best done with the hard stuff), even punch-ups and egg-throwing fests.

And all that rancour is turning into a lot of venom and seditious, defamatory stuff that’s being spewed anonymously on the Net.

It doesn’t have to be all politics, either.

There was this model who was rubbed the wrong way, quite literally, by some guy in a cybercafe. And a few other guys had heckled her and made catcalls in Tamil.

If she is expecting catcalls in Hindi, Urdu, Telegu or Malayalam from Indian-looking guys in Malaysia, she has a long wait coming.

Most Indian-looking guys here speak Tamil and many do make cat-calls at pretty, young Indian-looking woman.

I don’t know where this woman’s ancestors came from in India but since the guys spoke in Tamil, she decided she hated the Tamils and went on a hate-spree on Facebook.

Of course, that angered other Tamils, whose only crime was trolling the Net. And they went after her with a real vengeance.

The poor woman had to apologise in a newspaper, saying she meant to scold only those guys who had hurt her.

That is the problem with the social media. It’s one thing to grumble to friends about others, but another altogether to go about hate-mongering on the Net.

This model is not alone. Some years ago, another woman – a snatch theft victim, I think – also went on a racist rant after her ordeal.

She, too, received several angry retorts before being forced to apologise.

So, it is important that we stop to think about what we want to write in cyberspace.

And I believe it is absolutely right that we be held responsible for what we post and say. But only if we indeed are the ones who wrote and posted it. But guilty until proven innocent? I’ll definitely take a rain check on that.

> The law comes into effect June 1, 2012 but the writer hopes that lawmakers will take another look at it, although he has no solutions to offer. It’s over to the techies, really.

Why Not? By D. RAJ

Related post:

Warning to Malaysian Internet Users: an Amendment to Evidence Act 2012

Warning to Malaysian Internet Users: an Amendment to Evidence Act 2012

Onus on account owners as cyber bullies and stalkers often get away because of lack of evidence

PETALING JAYA: “It wasn't me.” That's the most common response from people when a hate or threatening message is traced to their Facebook or Twitter or any other Internet account.

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission says it is almost legally impossible to take action if all that a person has to do is to deny any responsibility.

“Think of the victims. People who have been slandered or whose lives have been threatened,” commission chairman Datuk Mohamed Sharil Mohamed Tarmizi said, adding that many a time cyber bullies and stalkers who often use “the cloak of anonymity” have got away because of lack of evidence.

“As more of the young are connected online, who is going to watch over these kids when there are real people who want to harm them?” he said in an interview on the amendment to the Evidence Act passed by the Dewan Rakyat last month.

Answering critics who said the amendment was unfair in pushing the burden of proof to the accused, he said that owners of Internet accounts where hate messages had originated could easily rebut charges against them if they were innocent.

“For example, if you can produce witnesses to say that you were nowhere near your computer or any other communicating device at the time the message was sent out, you can get off,” Sharil said.

He added: “It is not easy nailing offenders to the charge. Sometimes you can find evidence and sometimes you can't.

“At least now (with the amendment), a flat denial (from the accused) cannot work anymore.”

The amendment to Section 114(a) of the Evidence Act includes the following stipulations:

> If your name, photograph or pseudonym appears on any publication depicting yourself as the author, you are deemed to have published the content.

> If a posting comes from your Internet or phone account, you are deemed to be the publisher unless the contrary is proved.

> If you have the control or custody of any computer which published any material, you are presumed to be the publisher unless proven otherwise.

Asked if the amendment infringed on Internet users' personal liberties, Sharil said the authorities would still have to carry out rigorous and thorough investigations before charging anyone.

“Then there is the trial processs to go through,” he added.

He admitted that the conviction rate of suspected cyber offenders was very low.

From 2009 to 2011, 625 cases of people making obscene or offensive comments via the Internet or phone were investigated.

Only 16 were brought to court and just three were convicted.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said it was difficult to prosecute offenders before the amendment to the Act.

“It was especially difficult to prosecute offenders because the servers were located overseas.

“Everything was in a mess,” he said, and denied that the amendment was to curb dissent.

“The Government does not want to stifle anyone. But we don't want people to slander or threaten others,” Nazri added.

By REGINA LEE  regina@thestar.com.my

Amendment not justified, say groups

PETALING JAYA: The amendment to the Evidence Act transfers the burden of proof to the accused, which is contrary to the principle of justice, said lawyers and Internet users.

“At any trial, whether criminal or civil cases, it is up to the prosecutor to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt. Now the burden will be shifted to the accused to disprove (the allegation against them),” said human rights lawyer Edmund Bon.

He added: “All around the world where there is Internet any reasonable person would be against the posting of hate messages. But whether the Government should step in and take such control is another matter.”

Disputing that the amendment will bring more people to justice, Bon said that it will instead reduce the need for the police and other enforcement agencies to be thorough in their investigations.

He believed that current defamation and sedition laws were enough to curb offensive and criminal messages on the Internet.

Intellectual property lawyer and Kuala Lumpur Bar Information Technology Committee co-chairman Foong Cheng Leong said the amendment would be a source of harassment to people whose identities have been abused to send offensive or threatening messages.

“Say it is an elderly person who subscribes to the Internet and does not know how to secure his wifi account.

“If someone uses that unsecured wifi to upload all these offensive postings, it's the elderly man who will get into trouble,” he said.

However, he agreed that it was difficult to trace the author of the offensive material, especially when international servers or public computers are used.

“But changing the law is taking the easy way out,” said Foong, who authored an extensive article about the amendment on the Loyar Burok website. ( See below:Grave repercussions for internet users)

Meanwhile, many have tweeted their disapproval for the amendment, claiming that people would have to “flip over backwards to prove their innocence”.

At the same time, some have voiced their support for the amendment, especially those who have been on the receiving end of hate messages.


“These anonymous writers of hate messages against me are gutless and stupid.

“They help justify the Government's proposal to amend the Evidence Act,” tweeted lawyer Roger Tan who had been criticised for writing a critique on the recent Malaysian Bar extraordinary general meeting.

Grave repercussions for internet users

The Evidence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012 was one of the bills rushed and passed by the Parliament recently. Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz, when winding up the Evidence (Amendment) Bill 2012, said the use of pseudonyms or anonymity by any party to do cyber crimes had made it difficult for the action to be taken against them. Hence, the Evidence Act 1950 must be amended to address the issue of Internet anonymity.

The amendments introduced s. 114A into the Evidence Act 1950 to provide for the presumption of fact in publication in order to facilitate the identification and proving of the identity of an anonymous person involved in publication through the internet. In simple words, s. 114A introduces 3 circumstances where an Internet user is deemed to be a publisher of a content unless proven otherwise by him or her.

Men in masks, beware of s.114A.

Although it is stated that the amendment is to cover anonymous persons on the internet, the effect of the amendment is quite wide. You see, we, especially social media network users, generally do not use our real names on the Internet. We use nicknames and pseudonyms. Our home addresses do not appear on our account. We sometimes use fictional characters or even digitalized images of ourselves as our profile picture. All these are done to protect our own privacy. So, if none of my personal details appear on my account, does this mean I am anonymous? If someone’s identity cannot be directly ascertained from his account, I would think that he would be anonymous.

The new s. 114A(1) states that “A person whose name, photograph or pseudonym appears on any publication depicting himself as the owner, host , administrator, editor or sub-editor, or who in any manner facilitates to publish or re-publish the publication is presumed to have published or re-published the contents of the publication unless the contrary is proved”. In simple words, if your name, photograph or pseudonym appears on any publication depicting yourself as the aforesaid persons, you are deemed to have published the content. So, for example, if someone creates a blog with your name, you are deemed to have published the articles there unless you prove otherwise. If you have a blog and someone posts a comment, you are deemed to have published it. If you have a Facebook page and an user posts something on your wall, you are deemed to have published it!<.

Subsection (2) provides a graver consequence. If a posting originates from your account with a network service provider, you are deemed to be the publisher unless the contrary is proved. In simple terms, if a posting originates from your TM Unifi account, you are deemed to be the publisher. In the following scenarios, you are deemed to be the publisher unless you prove the contrary:-.

(1) You have a home network with a few house mates sharing one internet account. You are deemed to be the publisher even though one of your house mates posts something offensive online..

(2) You have wireless network at home but you did not secure your network. You are deemed to be the publisher even though someone “piggybacks” your network to post something offensive..

(3) You have a party at home and allows your friends to access your PC or wireless network.You are deemed to be the publisher even though it was a friend who posted something offensive..

(4) Someone use your phone or tablet to post something offensive. You are deemed to be the publisher..

As for subsection (3), you are presumed to have published a content if you have custory or control of any computer which the publication originates from. Here, you are deemed to be the publisher so long your computer was the device that had posted the content. So if someone “tweetjacks” you or naughtily updates your Facebook with something offensive, you are deemed to be the publisher unless you prove otherwise Admittedly, the amendments certainly saves a lot of the investigator’s time. It is very difficult to trace someone on the Internet. It will make prosecution for, among others, defamation, offences under the Communication and Multimedia Act 1998 and Computer Crimes Act 1997 and, election offences much easier. But it is not impossible to trace someone. There are many cases where perpetrators are caught and charged..

The new Bill: to like or not to like? | Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/birgerking/

I do not see the logic to deem someone to be a publisher. If an investigator is unable to trace the anonymous internet user, then why should the innocent Internet user take the rap? The onus of proof should always be on the prosecuting side. In the English case of Applause Store Productions Limited & Anor v Grant Raphael [2008] EWHC 1781 (QB), the claimants were awarded £22,000 in damages against Raphael, an old school friend, who had created a false personal profile of the claimants on Facebook. The claimants convinced the Court that Raphael was the person who created the fake profile even though he claimed that he had a party at his house and someone in that party created the account.

In summary, the new amendments force an innocent party to show that he is not the publisher. Victims of stolen identity or hacking would have a lot more problems to fix. Since computers can be easily manipulated and identity theft is quite rampant, it is dangerous to put the onus on internet users. An internet user will need to give an alibi that it wasn’t him. He needs to prove that he has no access to the computer at that time of publication and he needs to produce call witnesses to support his alibi..

Clearly, it is against our very fundamental principal of “innocent until proven guilty”. With general election looming, I fear this amendment will be used oppressively. Fortunately, the amendment is not in force yet. I strongly hope that the government will relook into this amendment.

Posted by Foong Cheng Leong

Malaysian banks to curb the online scams' ;Carelessness, Lease your bank account to scammers?

PETALING JAYA: Banks will introduce a new layer of security as they work closely with cyber security authorities and the police to combat the proliferation of online fraud.

Cybersecurity Malaysia said fraud cases reported to the agency had doubled from 606 in 2009 to 1,328 in 2010 and 3,142 last year.

“As of April this year, we received nearly 2,000 cases of online banking fraud,” said its CEO Lt Col (Ret) Prof Datuk Husin Jazri, who confirmed that the agency was joining forces with the Association of Banks Malaysia to combat Internet scams.

Going the extra mile: A third layer of security is to be adopted for online systems soon.

 

The agency, under the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry, will work with banks to carry out an intensive campaign to raise awareness of the scams.

The matter has become so serious that CIMB and Maybank recently made a concerted effort to warn of online banking scams by taking a full page advertisement in The Star, urging their customers to report immediately if they received a TAC (Transaction Authorisation Code) which had not been requested.

The TAC, which is sent by SMS to the registered mobile phone of the user, is the second layer of security. The first is the login credentials the username and password.

According to Macro Kiosk Bhd, the mobile service provider for 16 local banks, financial institutions might adopt a “third layer” of security for their online systems soon.

The “Third Factor Authentication” feature will detect attempts to hack into online banking accounts based on the location of the user's mobile.

“It will allow banks to detect the location of the computer used to log into the account and match it with the location of the user's mobile phone.

“For example, if the person accessing the account is found to be outside Malaysia, while the user's mobile phone is in this country, it is likely that something is not right,” said Macro Kiosk CEO Kenny Goh.

The user would then be sent an SMS to confirm if they wanted to continue with the transaction.

“This will alert the user if someone is trying to hack into his or her online banking account.”

By P. ARUNA aruna@thestar.com.my

Hectic lives can lead to carelessness, says cyber cop

PETALING JAYA: It is not always greed or ignorance that leads people to become victims of online scams. Sometimes, a hectic schedule could be the cause.

“Due to our busy schedules, we tend to overlook or forget to be wary of online fraud ... until it happens to us,” said Cybersecurity Malaysia CEO Lt Col (Ret) Prof Datuk Husin Jazri.

He related an incident involving a professional who ended up losing all the money in his bank account within minutes.

“He was about to go out for a meeting when he decided to quickly check his e-mail before leaving the office.

“He then saw one supposedly from his bank asking him to click on a link to update his account details.

“As he was in a hurry, he clicked on the link without much thought and followed the instructions as he was eager to proceed to his meeting.

“It was only much later that he remembered what he had done with the e-mail.

“Suddenly, it occurred to him that it was a hoax because he had heard about such a scam before.”

Husin said that although the victim contacted the agency, it was already too late.

He said Cybersecurity Malaysia had a two-minute video on how to avoid becoming a victim of banking scams that could be downloaded for free from its website http://www.cybersafe.my/video/banking/Banking.wmv.

He said scammers were always “up-to-date” and took advantage of the latest banking trends and offers.

“When a bank launches a mobile banking service, the scammer will also launch a new trick to cheat mobile banking users.

“This year, several new malware known as mobile banking trojans that mimic mobile banking applications have emerged,” he said.

He advised users to pay close attention to security messages posted on online banking websites.

“These initiatives are to help you, they are for your benefit,” said Husin

It doesn’t pay to lease your bank account to scammers

GEORGE TOWN: Two civil servants were nabbed for their alleged involvement in a ‘Macau-scam’ where the victims were cheated of millions of ringgit here.

Both of them were among three people arrested by the police on the mainland.

Penang Commercial Crime Department chief Asst Comm Roslee Chik said the suspects, in their 20s and 30s, had allowed the syndicate members to use their bank accounts for ‘illicit’ money to be deposited.

He said initial investigations showed that the suspects were given commissions by the syndicate for leasing out their accounts.

ACP Roslee said the syndicate members would impersonate personnel from the Home Ministry, Bukit Aman and Bank Negara.

“They use the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology, to replicate phone numbers of the police, Bank Negara and other govern­ment agencies to call family members of those implicated in criminal activities overseas.

“The family members would then be told to transfer their money into an account given by the syndicate members, so that the family would not have their assets or bank accounts frozen by the authorities,” he said yesterday.

ACP Roslee said during a press conference at the state police headquarters here that police were still tracking the mastermind behind the scam.

He also said the case was being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.

He added that police were looking for Nazarime Siran, 29, to help in investigation into cheating cases involving the sale of second-hand cars.

MIA, Malaysian Institute of Accountants needs to change

World Bank report says it should improve its governance structure

PETALING JAYA: After a recent assessment of the accounting and auditing environment in Malaysia, the World Bank has concluded that there ought to be changes in how the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) is governed.

The report on the observance of standards and codes, released in February, noted among other things, that the institute's governance structure and lack of resources were “posing some challenges”.

The report focused on accounting and auditing standards and practices in corporate Malaysia, as well as the institutional framework that underpins the corporate financial reporting system.

“An independent review of the governance structure of the MIA should be conducted to provide recommendations for improving its structure and operations,” said the World Bank.

“In particular, these actions should address the structure and membership of the MIA council, and the streamlining of the investigation and disciplinary process.

“These changes should also facilitate the process of approving any increases in membership fees, as it appears that a lack of resources is impacting the MIA's ability to discharge effectively all its obligations.”

The report noted that the institute's governing body, its council, had 30 members, 10 of whom are elected. The rest are appointed by the Government.

“All the members of the investigation, disciplinary, and disciplinary appeals committees are required to be members of the council, which limits the volume of cases these committees are able to process,” said the World Bank.

The institute has already taken steps to address this. In an interview with StarBiz earlier this month, MIA president Datuk Mohamed Nasir Ahmad said the institute had submitted to the Government a draft of proposed amendments to the Accountants Act 1967.

Among the changes sought was that the MIA be allowed to create multiple sub-committees to deal with investigations, with the subcommittee members possibly coming from outside the council.

However, the World Bank report did not mention any dissatisfaction over the council's composition, although this has been a longstanding complaint among some MIA members.

In a statement sent to StarBiz, the Malaysian Accounting Firms Association (previously known as the Association Of Small & Medium Accounting Firms of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor) pointed out that although the MIA was “wholly supported by members subscriptions”, 20 of the council members were appointed by the Finance Minister on the advice of the Accountant-General, as provided under the Accountants Act.

“The MIA is probably the only members-only professional body in Malaysia, and possibly in any country, with such a majority of unelected members in council,” said the association.

“If at all any amendment to the Act is to be proposed, it should start with reinstating the rights of the members to govern themselves as professionals should.”

The association issued the statement in response to the StarBiz article on April 16 on the proposed amendments to the Act.

Mohamed Nasir said the MIA was also proposing that its council be given the authority to make or amend certain rules, instead of having to wait for a general meeting to approve new rules.

The association frets that this may enable the MIA to unilaterally increase its membership subscription rates.

It said: “To put that in context, members have rejected subscription increases sought in the last two AGMs due to unhappiness with the institute.”

The World Bank report alluded to the institute's previous attempts to seek a subscription hike.

“The MIA derives almost twice as much income from its professional development programmes than it collects from annual membership fees. The annual membership fees stand at RM250, and two recent attempts to increase annual fees were voted down,” said the bank.

By ERROL OH
errol@thestar.com.my

Evil in the name of God; Beware deadly con men!

In a country with several religions, there are many who claim to be holy. But how do we tell the saints and devils apart?

IT’S one of the most heinous crimes the country has seen in decades.

A heartless charlatan, claiming to be a holy man, gains the trust of a family and in the pretence of helping them settle a family feud, feeds them with poisoned milk which he claims has been blessed.

Then, as they fall unconscious, he steals their jewellery and tries to cover up his crime by setting their house on fire.

The nation should be in shock. The outrage should be palpable. The hunt for this murderer should be a priority.

The Mona Fandey case shocked the nation years ago. So did the case where three men beat a couple to death in a bizarre ritual to “heal” the latter.

But we seem to be slow on the uptake this time – probably distracted by the politics of the day. Or maybe we are inured by all the con men out there, most of whom claim to be doing God’s work.

And there are many such incidents in recent times.

There was a man who razed his house on the advice of a “holy man” and rebuilt it from scratch according to the latter’s specifications. It cost him a fortune but his luck did not change. Instead, his business went south.

The “geomancer”, when confronted, suggested further renovation.

And, the victim later died in an accident. The suffering the family went through is something I would not wish on anyone – except maybe the mass murderer of Kajang.

Another renovated his house because “some guy said so”. The living room became the bedroom and vice-versa.

His luck, too, did not change. But since he did no re-wiring works, he had to fumble in the dark after entering his house – or the bedroom - to get to the light switches. These are all at the other end.

Why do people even believe in these con men, you may ask?

Probably because there are some genuine ones who have been given the “gift” of being able to help others.

Which is what makes the killings in Kajang very outrageous. It hurts. It makes me seethe. It makes my blood boil.

You see, I was a medium once – the type who would go into a trance and sort things out for people.

The trance is an experience that’s difficult to describe. It could be like you are in deep sleep and when you wake up, there are no memories of what transpired at that time. Or, one might call it, a dream state. Or even an “out-of-body experience”, where you watch yourself do or say things but without control over your ac­­tions.

I did not like not being in control of myself. So, I sought another (more famous) medium to put a stop to it. He did some rituals and told me that I would never lose control again – not unless I or someone close to me was in danger – or if something important was happening.

Sounds like mumbo-jumbo, doesn’t it? Well, I never lost control since then - except once!

I was driving to Ampang one day and all my senses suddenly began to act up. So, I turned the car around and headed back home to Petaling Jaya. However, when I tried to open the door, I could not. The door was latched from the inside. And, there were noises coming from within.

I raced to the back lane and to the back door. It was ajar where some thieves had just fled. Coincidence? Was I being warned? I don’t know.

A happier example occurred to me later. A holy man, matted hair and all, came by asking for alms. I gave him about RM10. He thanked me and walked away. All of a sudden, he stopped and came back to me.

“Young man, do you dabble in numbers (the 4D kind, not numerology)?” he asked. And, I was young only by his standards. I nodded. “Add the number nine to your address and you will get lucky,” he said.

Three days later, I was richer by RM18,000. Coincidence? Random luck? Maybe. It’s something I’ll never know. I have never seen the man since, so I have not been able to thank him.

So, they are not all bad out there. There are some saints among the sinners.

But the guy responsible for the Kajang tragedy wrought evil in the name of God. He must face the full wrath of society.

Meanwhile, I am still grappling with trying to understand how anyone who calls himself a human being - much less a holy man - could plan to wipe out an entire family for a handful of jewellery.

It’s just so senseless.

 Why Not? By D. RAJ  Beware deadly con men  > There are things out there that defy explanation. One of them is: Why is it in our search for material wealth, we have lost our human values.

Beware deadly con men

PETALING JAYA: Before, there was only the risk of losing money or ending up with a broken heart to glib-tongued swindlers.

Now, Malaysians have to be on the lookout for deadly con men pretending to be mediums to gain the trust of unsuspecting victims before robbing and even killing them.

A recent triple murder in Taman Sri Ramal, Kajang, has highlighted the existence of such vile fraudsters.

A medium who claimed he could mend family disputes through a ritual, poisoned them with milk laced with weedkiller in the wee hours of April 1.

The deceased: (From left) Rajeswary, Manivaran and Sakunthala.

He fled the house after stealing their jewellery and valuables and setting a gas cylinder on fire in the kitchen.

K. Rajeswary, 28, died in hospital on April 4 while her brother Manivaran, 33, died four days later. Their mother M. Sakunthala, 63, died on Saturday.

Selangor police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Tun Hisan Tun Hamzah said although deaths were rare in cases involving con men, many other cases, however, go unreported.

“People should be wary and be extra cautious when seeking alternate solutions to problems, including family disputes and medical ailments,” he said.

He said in most cases, the public seek these people out of desperation.

As con men look for ways to manipulate strengths and weaknesses, they would first work on gaining trust.

“The eventual victims are easily duped because they are usually in a state of distress. The con men prey on their desperation to get what they want,” he said.

Devastated: M. Karuppanan, 65, and his eldest son Sargunan (left) at the Serdang Hospital mortuary.

 

Meanwhile, the Bukit Aman Commercial Crimes Investigations Department (CCID) director Comm Datuk Syed Ismail Syed Azizan said Malaysians have been swindled of more than RM32mil through scams between January and June last year.

Besides Internet fraud, the con tricks also include parcel scams (victims are told that he or she had received parcels with expensive gifts, jewellery or cash, but the packages are detained by Customs and payment is sought for the release), Macau scams (con men claiming to be police or bank officers duping the victim is being investigated and that he or she has to surrender money into an account to verify that it was not gained illegally).

“A total of 454 Macau scam cases were reported amounting to losses of over RM10.6mil while 472 parcel scam cases were also reported with losses of over RM10mil as well within the same period,” Comm Syed Ismail said.

 By AUSTIN CAMOENS and SHAUN HO austin@thestar.com.my

For the youth, by the youth

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NGO for the youth, by the youth - Entrepreneur sets up group to inspire peers to succeed in life

 The Staronline

Going places: Shen (in blue) discussing plans with (from left) ACE Youth role model Lee Yvonne, 23, ACE Youth vice-president Allen Low, 24, and ACE Youth role model Jenvine Ong, 21, at Jaya One in Petaling Jaya >

PETALING JAYA: A group of youths has started a non-governmental organisation to inspire their peers to become successful individuals.

ACE Youth was set up three months ago by entrepreneur Shen Yee Aun, 24, who made it his mission after going through a low point in his life last year.

“The aim of ACE Youth is to empower and develop youths to become successful in life. It is also to develop their talents according to our 10 pillars of strength,” he said.

The pillars include leadership, networking, talent development, entrepreneurship, entertainment and lifestyle.




Shen said he was at the peak of his life, earning RM40,000 a month as a successful tuition teacher and freelance motivational speaker last year.

“However, I fell in love with the wrong girl. Things did not work out with her and I was in a bad state,” he said, adding that his earnings dwindled to RM600 a month.

“I told myself that if I were to get back on my feet again, I would do something to help youths realise their potential and stop them from taking the wrong path,” he said, adding that this then drove him to come up with ACE Youth.

He said the organisation would come up with a programme featuring nine “role models” to inspire youths to contribute to society.

“The role models will consist of young women who are successful in their careers and popular on social networking sites,” Shen said.

The organisation will also launch a website next month to share inspirational stories and motivate youths to achieve their dreams.

“On Thursday, we will be organising an event called Rise of Youth Nation to celebrate youth rights,” he said, adding that it would be held at G-Six, The Gardens at Kuala Lumpur.

ACE Youth is open to youths aged between 15 and 30.

For details, log on to www.theriseofyouthnation.net or e-mail aceyouth.my@gmail.com.

Golf courses targeted for re-development - Too valuable for golf?

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Golf courses in the centre of development areas are now being targeted for re-development as property prices rocket through the roof.

Caddy Master By WONG SAI WAN

JUST a couple of decades ago, the crowning jewel for any Malaysian developer was to own a golf course and to use that sporting facility to enhance their property sales.



In the 1980s and 1990s, it was unthinkable for a housing developer not to try to have a golf project. Even if they do not have enough land for a full 18 holes, they would try for a nine-hole or at least a driving range.

But how things have changed with the Asian financial crisis of 1998. There were less than a handful of new golf courses built in the past 12 years. In fact, more golf courses have closed down in this period.

KGNS sits on prime land and has been in the news a lot of late.

Fast forward to this year and once again developers are eyeing the golf courses but in a totally different manner. Developers no longer want to build golf-related projects; instead they want to tear them down.

Word has it that, especially in the Klang Valley where the prices of property have gone up tremendously, developers are eyeing golf courses to be turned into property development projects.

An 18-hole golf course with a reasonably sized clubhouse will cover about 50ha and a land of that size in the Klang Valley or even just outside the greater Kuala Lumpur is worth hundreds of millions.

For developers such a large track of land will be worth billions in terms of property for sale especially if it is located near major highways or with railway access to Kuala Lumpur.

Many of such courses when developed between 15 and 20 years ago were located away from the city centre with some built on former estates – usually the lousiest piece of land that is hilly and with plenty of valleys and swampy soil.



Those days this kind of land was considered “rubbish” and too costly to rehabilitate to build good houses that would have fetched the top dollar.

But two decades on things have changed. The Klang Valley has grown and the Government has adopted the concept of the Greater Kuala Lumpur where they expect almost 10 million people will live in.

                  Image via Wikipedia

This expanded Kuala Lumpur will stretch all the way from Sungai Buloh in the North all the way to Kajang/Semenyih in the south; Klang/Banting in the west to Bukit Tinggi in the east.

More than 40 golf courses are located within this very large area and every single one of them have suddenly become prime land and worth a lot of money. The landowners who previously thought they were sitting on a worthless piece of property now find that they have a gold mine.

From the likes of Rahman Putra Golf & Country Club to the now defunct Emville Golf & Country Club, these are now prime properties. Even the Kampung Kuantan Golf Club and Kundang Lakes Golf & Country Club which were the starting grounds for many golfers in the Klang Valley may not be safe from the hands of developers in a few years time.

Already, Kajang Hill Golf & Country Club has been sold to Dijaya Corporation Bhd for redevelopment for RM228mil into mixed development with an estimated gross development value (GDV) of RM2bil.

Dijaya, which owns Tropicana Golf & Country Club in Petaling Jaya, plans to develop the more than 80ha site that now sits the golf course and the clubhouse facilities into a new project called Tropicana Kajang.

The deal was struck in September and club members were then informed that they had less than a year left to play on its Par 72 championship course layout measuring 7,148 yards.

Kajang Hill was owned by the Japanese company Taiyo Resort (KL) Bhd. It was not the most exciting golf course but it had unique Japanese features set in tropical settings.

There is now a rush by golfers to play there before the course is closed down for good.

Word is abound about all sorts of other courses been targeted by land hungry developers. Among them is said to be the Kelab Golf Negara Subang which sits right smack beside of the Federal Highway in Petaling Jaya.

The present committee decided to not renew a Caveat the club had placed on the land thus allowing the Federal Land Commissioner to act on the land title.

Speculation is rife that there are some people eyeing the land of one of KGNS two 18 holes. There is no concrete proof but a hurriedly called EGM by the members has appointed a panel to look into the matter.

KGNS is reported to be sitting on land worth some RM5bil – a sum that some people deemed too valuable for golf.

This is what worries the golfing community that both courses on the outskirts as well as those within the city limits are being eyed for re-development.

This is made worse by the fact, many of the commercial club owners are only just too keen to sell or redevelop the land. It would seem that only a recession or the burst of the property bubble would prevent this from happening.

Till next month, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Dijaya in RM228mil land deal for Kajang Hill Golf Club land

I was a member of the Kajang Hill Golf Club and I received notice to terminate the membership from November 2011. However, they are paying back the monies that we paid to join. So, I was expecting some news on this. This was confirmed in today's papers. The owner, a Japanese Datuk is going to make a lot of money in this deal.

However, if you go to the vicinity of the area, the whole place is going to be developed very soon. The size of the whole area is huge with the other areas combined.

The prices of the properties here is also very high (by Kajang standards), mind you. So it's left to be seen how the place will eventually turn out.

Until the next time, cheers.

The Star, Tuesday September 6, 2011

Dijaya in RM228mil land deal

Purchase of freehold land from Taiyo to cater for increasing demand for property in Kajang
 

PETALING JAYA: Dijaya Corp Bhd has entered into a conditional sale and purchase agreement with Taiyo Resort (KL) Bhd to acquire five parcels of freehold land in Mukim Semenyih, Ulu Langat, Selangor, measuring approximately 80.33ha for RM228mil cash.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, Dijaya said the agreement with Taiyo Resort was entered by its wholly owned subsidiary, Tropicana City Service Suites Sdn Bhd (TCSS)

The parcels of land are currently held under the operations of Kajang Hill Golf Club, it added.

Dijaya said the land would be transformed into a mixed development consisting of landed houses, condominiums, apartments and shop offices with an expected gross development value of about RM2bil.

“The development, known as Tropicana Kajang, will be another future revenue generator for the group and shall contribute positively to its financial performance,” it said in a separate statement.

Dijaya said the freehold land had an upside potential in terms of capital appreciation because of the increasing demand for residential and commercial properties in Kajang, as seen in other developments such as Nadayu 92, Tiara Residence, Ramal Villa, Twin Palm and Jade Hills, just to name a few.

“With increasing population and expanding residential properties in and around Kajang, the proposed development of commercial properties will cater to the rising demand for office and retail spaces.

“Furthermore, the proposed Kajang-Sungai Buloh MY Rapid Transit project will enhance the investment potential of Kajang, presenting a greater opportunity to property investors,” it said.

Group chief executive officer Tan Sri Danny Tan Chee Sing said the group was continuously acquiring sizeable land-banks with good development potential in strategic locations.

“The land deal provides an opportunity for the group to introduce more development in Kajang with quality and prestige synonymous with our Tropicana brand,” he said.

Dijaya said the purchase price was arrived at on a willing-buyer, willing-seller basis after several considerations including the reasonably low land cost of RM26.36 per sq ft which will enable TCSS to price its proposed development competitively and with reasonable margins.

On the financing for the purchase, Dijaya said it would be funded through internally funds and/or bank borrowings.

“The exact mix of internally generated funds and bank borrowings will be determined by the management of the company at a later stage, after taking into consideration Dijaya Corp and its subsidiaries' gearing level, interest costs and internal cash requirements for its business operations,” it said.

The group's net gearing is expected to rise to 0.22 times post-land acquisition assuming about RM114mil, representing approximately 50% of the purchase price, is financed via borrowings. As at Dec 31, 2010, Dijaya was in a net cash position.

Sources:Kajang Town Blog

Related post:
BJCC Golf and Country Club News

A man of his time, Samuel Kam

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Samuel Kam: A man of his time

By ROUWEN LIN star2@thestar.com.my

Having lived through wars and peace, a nanogenarian believes everyone can be useful. One just has to grab the chance to do so.

WHEN Japanese enemy planes circled the sky and dropped bombs on China’s wartime capital of Chungking in the summer of 1940, Samuel Kam, at that time a government official, sought refuge in an air raid shelter with 60 colleagues.

When incendiary bombs destroyed the shelter, Kam, then 25, found himself assigned to yet another shelter, the same one as some of the top-ranking officials in the Chinese army.

And if you think it is just in period war films that grim and gaunt war generals recite Tang dynasty poetry while waiting out the bombardments, think again.

Engineer in charge: ‘I never imagined that I would be an author,’ says Samuel Kam, 96, who wrote Through Wars And Peace. 

I recently had a long chat with Kam, now 96, at his home in Petaling Jaya, Selangor. He tells me that his eyesight is not as good as it used to be and he walks with small, careful steps with the aid of a walking stick. But when he talks, he maintains a consistent pace, breaks into laughter easily, and expresses his thoughts with an eloquence that men half his age would envy.

“I am very busy every day. I have a secretary come in to help me do some necessary things. There could be numerous phone calls to and from friends and families here and abroad, as well as friends dropping by for a visit. Of course, in old age, you don’t have the speed that you want to have. You have to do things very slowly. So although I am busy, I feel that I cannot achieve much,” he says, laughing.

Born four years after the 1911 Chinese Revolution, Kam grew up in Hong Kong, served as the governor-general’s de facto foreign affairs officer in Hainan, returned to Hong Kong and taught in a girls’ school, and then sailed 19 days on a ship to America to do a master’s degree in chemical engineering at UC Berkeley (where some lectures were conducted at night because a professor was involved in top-secret research work related to the hydrogen bomb during the day!).

He stayed on to work as a chemical engineer in the United States before a varsity mate extended an invitation to go to Singapore to help develop Lam Soon Cannery, a family business started by the friend’s father in the 1930s.

Today, Lam Soon produces many household brands – Knife cooking oil, Daisy and Naturel oil and margarine, May and Fruitale soap, Drinho beverages and Zip detergent, just to name a few.

But back in the 1950s, the company was not doing well. Initially a producer of soy sauce, it envisioned being a jack-of-all-trades and added cooking oil, laundry soap, canned food and coffee to its product repertoire.

Unfortunately, its machines were badly maintained and the unplanned layout of the factory floor resulted in a production process that was far from optimum. Besides, machine operators were untrained. Thus the company could barely keep its head above water even with the help of overdrafts.

Young Kam and his wife, Lin Kwok Fong.

“Both the technical and management aspects were in a mess. No one was even able to tell me what the product costs were.

“At this time, the main business of the company was cooking oil, but the product was of poor quality. The company marketed the oil, refined from coconut oil extracted from copra, as clear and fragrant. But in reality it was neither clear nor fragrant, and retained the copra smell,” says Kam, adding that he made many technical changes, which eventually led to the company improving its financial situation.

“Lam Soon had never had a professional engineer before and I was given the post of chief engineer, even though I was really the only engineer there!”

Lam Soon in Malaya

So that was how Kam started out in South-East Asia in 1955, where he has – barring a stint in the US as an engineer when a former boss secured him an immigrant visa – lived since. He became a Malaysian citizen in 1969.

After three years with Lam Soon Singapore, he moved to Malaya and played an instrumental role in setting up Lam Soon Oil and Soap Manufacturing Company. When the country gained independence in 1957, high import duty was imposed on goods and building a factory here seemed like a step in the right direction for the company. But financial and manpower constraints meant it wasn’t exactly a walk in the park.

“I was sent to Malaya without any budget, without manpower, and I was told to build a modern factory with minimum cost. We had to compete with the multinational Lever Brothers (later known as Unilever), which had well-established brands such as Planta and Lux.

“The company had no money; often when the machines arrived, we were not able to pay someone to install it! Creditors chased me for money all the time. It was hard work and I had a really tough time. But I was still young, in my early 40s, and I had courage,” he says.

Kam wrote his memoir especially for his grandchildren (from left) Timothy, Priscilla and Philip.

Lam Soon’s new factory, built on a three-hectare plot of land in Petaling Jaya in the late 1950s, was to have an oil mill and oil refinery, a margarine section, a soap section and a glycerine treatment plant.

“The factory that I built in Malaya had a United Nations of machinery – the best automatic soap machinery from Italy, efficient German oil press, and other machines from America, Denmark, and England, as well as locally. I sourced machines from all over the world, provided that they were economical and worked well.

“Labour in Malaya was cheap, so people asked why I thought automatic machines were necessary. But I said – you have to look ahead. And it is important to have good machines if you want good products.”

Kam believes that a technical man has to be at the helm during the start-up of such an industry. The accountants and marketing people can come and serve later, he says.

“After helping to set up Lam Soon in Malaya, I went to America to work. But my heart was always with Lam Soon and I felt that I could maybe contribute more in South-East Asia, so after a while, I decided to come back. I considered it lucky for me that I could put my skills and knowledge to good use.”

And what a contribution it turned out to be. When he returned to Lam Soon in the 1960s, cooking oil was still refined from coconut. Palm oil (from the palm fruit), now commonly used as a cooking ingredient, was not commercially used then. Insufficient local supply of copra (at one time, large quantities had to be imported from Indonesia) and an increasing supply of crude palm oil got Kam wondering whether palm oil might make a good alternative raw material.

“Malaysia produces lots of palm oil every year so I tried to find out how to turn it into cooking oil. I was also looking forward to using palm oil to produce soap. We started with palm kernel oil and moved on to producing cooking oil from palm oil. We bought a centrifugal machine from a Swedish company in the late 1960s and got a two-year exclusive use of the new technology.”

Kam during an oil palm plantation inspection in his Lam Soon days (centre).

Lam Soon built the first oil fractionation plant to manufacture cooking oil in the country and sales of the palm-based oil grew when the Malaysian Medical Association declared in a research report that refined unsaturated palm oil is beneficial to health.

“After all its early troubles, Lam Soon is a huge success today,” he says.

Kam adds that he would like to think of the switch from coconut to palm oil as a small contribution to society.

“It is a healthier alternative to coconut oil. Once the country began to know the value of palm oil, the Palm Oil Research Institute of Malaysia (Porim) was set up to carry out research in this industry. I was one of the advisors for the research programme. Malaysia took a wise step in getting all kinds of oil experts from America, England, Holland. Palm oil is now one of the biggest pillars of the Malaysian economy.”

He retired from Lam Soon in 1982, at the age of 67, but stayed on as one of its directors until up to about five years ago.



East and West

The eldest son and second oldest of six children, Kam grew up in what he describes as a close-knit “typical Confucian family”.

“My mother was a very gentle woman and treated everyone very well. My father was a Confucian scholar and magistrate of two counties. At that time, to get ahead in life, you had to pass your examinations. He got the best private tutors for me and at a young age, I had to memorise and recite Confucian analects and the writings of Mencius for six to eight hours every day.

“At that time I didn’t even know what they meant, but because I was young, the memories are vivid and even today I am still able to recite what I learned as a boy.”

After an education in Chinese classics, he went on to a Chinese primary school where he was given a firm grounding in Chinese historical readings. Then his father, convinced of the importance of English in westernised Hong Kong, enrolled him first in the English-medium Wah Yan College, followed by King’s College.

“My father decided that I should be well-versed in the English language so I went to these two secondary schools, the best in Hong Kong at that time. The teachers at the senior classes at King’s College were all from Britain and graduates from Oxford, Cambridge, London University. So basically I got a very good English education also.”

Kam was then awarded a scholarship to study at the prestigious University of Hong Kong, but his father continued to arrange for private tutoring in Chinese literature, foreseeing the possibility of his eventually taking up a job on the Mainland.

“The university is ranked among the best in the world and even back then was very expensive. If I didn’t to get that scholarship, I don’t think my father could have afforded to send me there,” says Kam, adding that Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics were his favourite subjects in secondary school.

He reminisces that his life would probably have turned out very different if he hadn’t gone to the University of Hong Kong because he would have likely pursued his education in mainland China.

The combination of a Chinese and English education has served him very well in his life and Kam says that he owes eternal gratitude to his father for having the foresight to provide him with an education that straddled the best of east and west.

“The combination was a great advantage to me. If I only had the English education, I could have never worked in Lam Soon. And without the Confucian education, I could hardly have worked in China during the war.”

A book is born

Blessed with an impressive capacity for recollecting his younger days, Kam was struck by an urge to write it all down after he retired.

“I felt that I had gone through a very turbulent world. I have travelled throughout the whole world and I moved from one place to another all the time. I wanted to write a book, especially so that my descendants – like my son Paul and my three grandchildren – could read it. I wanted to write about my experiences, my sentiments and feelings about the dramatic changes in the world,” he says.

His friends were always captivated whenever he regaled them with snippets of his life.

“They found it really interesting and told me: ‘You must write, you must put all these down in black and white.’ They encouraged me, so I sat down and started to write seriously. I never imagined that I would be an author. I may say that I’m a good engineer, but not a good writer although I like to read literature. But I found that once I started writing, I had many things to write,” he says.

Originally, he wrote his memoir in Chinese by hand, in prose and verse. Then he got someone to help type out the manuscript.

Kam took about five years to complete A Memoir At 90: Life In A Tumultous Century and it was published in 2007. He hopes to use it as a medium to introduce his life to young people and those who are interested in how the world has changed, especially now that China is coming up as a world power.

“I started very slowly but as time passed, I gained momentum. Towards the end, I even sacrificed my time for exercise to finish writing the book. I never kept a diary so I had to write everything from memory.”

People who read his memoir were astonished that despite having to go many decades back in time, Kam was able to recall many minute details.

“People are very surprised at my good memory. When I think about a part of my life, the event comes to me immediately. It’s like a movie. Maybe it is in the genes; my sisters and brothers also have good memories. Sometimes I wonder about my friends who have very poor memories – I cannot understand how this can be!

“My memory is not that good now and I have problems remembering names. But I can remember events very well. As a result, my mind is always busy. I find that I use up lots of energy just by thinking!

“And when you grow older, you always think of the past,” he adds. Memories of his wife, Lin Kwok Fong, whom he married in 1944, remain clear. She died in 1993 after a stroke.

In his book, he writes: “My wife of 50 years left without so much as a goodbye... When I was having lunch at home the day after Kwok Fong’s passing, I sat at the table for a long time with tears streaming down my face. It dawned on me that I would never have my wife sit beside me again.”

For Kam, a typical day now starts at six in the morning. He does some simple exercises even while in bed and then takes a morning walk. Meals are kept simple, and after lunch he has an afternoon nap, a habit he has cultivated for the last 50 years.

“Nowadays, being an old man, my life is very simple. In my younger days I played golf, practised tai chi, and watched movies. Now, I cannot have these any more, so listening to classical music before I go to bed is the only amusement I have.”

Beethoven is one of his all-time favourites.

“I didn’t like classical music when I was young, but now I find it the most beautiful kind of music because it harmonises one’s emotions,” he says, adding that he has been a regular patron of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra since it started.

Kam has also been active in social work involving drug rehabilitation and scholarships for tertiary education.

With almost a hundred years behind him, are there any words of wisdom he would like to share?

“Life is never a straight path. But even when you are down, you must not give up. You must struggle to overcome. I believe there is always a way and I also believe that any man can be a useful person,” he says.

The tricky bit is finding out what you are good in and trying to develop it.

“Of course, people are born with different levels of intelligence, but I think everybody is given a few opportunities in his life. And when an opportunity comes along, you must recognise it as one and grab it.”

He has certainly done well with the opportunities that came his way. Perhaps, more importantly, he has helped create many opportunities for others.

An English edition of Samuel Kam’s memoir, titled Through Wars And Peace, will be available in bookstores next week. The book was translated from A Memoir At 90 by Sarah Yip, who also added more background information on certain topics to cater to an English readership.