RON95 and Diesel Price Increase by 20 cents Effective 12:01 on 2/10/2014

Why don't I feel surprised with this kind of news anymore? It's because it has become a commonplace in the country I live in. The rumors and so called announcements come the day before around noon and by nightfall, you will have cars lining up at petrol station causing havoc and congestion everywhere just for them to save a few ringgit on their petrol cost. I often wonder why bother with all the hassle when you would be burning around the same amount of petrol waiting for your turn with your engine running and air-conditioning turned up. 

The price of RON95 increased from RM2.10 to RM2.30 per litre while diesel from RM2.00 to RM2.20. The current unsubsidized market price for RON95 is RM2.58 while diesel is RM2.52 per litre. The same 20 cents increase happened slightly more than a year ago on Sept 2, 2013.

While the repercussions of this circa 10% increase to motorists may be nominal in relation to their petrol consumption (most of us may experience an increase of around RM100 per month for heavy users), the bigger picture would see price of everything else classified as a tangible product to an intangible service increase in price in relation to this increase in petrol price. As for tangible goods, everything produced in a factory or from a farm or orchard is transported by lorry or trailer to it's final destination, be it at a retailer or wholesaler. An increase in petrol cost would mean higher transportation cost incurred by the market intermediary which would eventually be passed on to the final consumer. 

As for services, for example even the professional services of your neighbourhood doctor would expect to see some sort of an increase because your doctor would be driving to the clinic in his expensive high powered car which incidentally would incur more in petrol cost. 

Everything we use requires it to be transported to a place convenient for you to purchase and consume. The transport and distribution network is part of a larger supply chain while the place convenient for you to purchase the finished goods is the marketplace. 

While the government of the day will have measures in place to keep prices of consumer goods in check and to prevent unscrupulous traders to simply raise prices as they like, the distribution and transportation cost would eventually need to be passed on to the consumer if manufacturers were to maintain their cost price without compromising profits and traders to maintain their selling prices also without the desire to compromise profits. Business is all about making money while fulfilling consumer needs and not only to fulfill consumer needs alone. That is what capitalism is all about. If the key focus was to meet consumer needs alone, then every organization would become a Non-profit organization or we would need to resort to practicing communism instead. 

Ironically, the night the government announced the price increase of the RON95 and diesel petrol in which the majority of road users pump for their daily use, KL was hit with flash floods which saw cars parked in open air carparks partly submerged in water and stalled in roads turned mini streams. This was coupled with apocalypse style sea of cars lining up at petrol stations trying to pump petrol at the old price before the 20 cents per liter increase at midnight. The whole city turned chaotic with the rain and cars everywhere creating bad traffic jams throughout the night. The next morning, the city woke up to more traffic jams with cars jam packed on literally every single road and highway in the city. Even the ones with multiple tolls. I wonder if all that queuing up at the petrol stations the night before was to prepare for the bigger chaos the following day. If so I guess queuing the whole night for petrol would pretty much be justifiable. 

More ironically, come April 1 next year (2015), Malaysia would be implementing the Goods and Services tax at 6%. Guess how much more the prices of goods and services would be? Someone on social media lamented, 'everything increase in this country but our salaries remain the same'. I guess this is the reality of the world we live in today. It's not the same as 10, 20 or 30 years ago where anything and everything is much cheaper in relation to what we pay for today. You name it, anything! The familiar complaints are, 'in those days...' or 'gone are the days...'. Yes, all of us reminisce about the past. Even kids!

I guess, the best way forward is to look to the future and plan ahead. Well, for me at least. A good friend of mine used to tell me, things are getting more and more expensive these days so instead of trying hard to save money, why not try hard to make more money? It's easier to be more resourceful rather than be more stingy. Our lives would be much better and comfortable if we are the former. 

UNDERSTANDING WHAT PEOPLE CRAVE FOR CAN HELP MARKETERS POSITION THEIR PRODUCTS BETTER IN THEIR CONSUMER’S MIND.

Although there are three basic things that all human beings really need, namely food, shelter and clothing store, these things alone would not bring fulfillment to our lives. That is why we have wants which is what we desire after we have fulfilled our 3 basic needs. As the name suggests there is no limit to the number of material things or services or conditions of how our lifestyle or our body should be or even how the things that fulfill our basic needs should be like or look like.

Upon this basis is how marketers of things and services get the ideas and inspiration in how their goods or services should be marketed and who it should be marketed at. However I believe that it would be a more profitable proposition to take a step further to understand beyond needs and wants to what people crave or desire. To crave for something is to have an urgent desire for or to need something urgently. Humans crave for a few things to the point that, even though their basic needs or wants have been fulfilled they have a desire so deep in the depths of their souls to fulfill it urgently and definitely. Below is a list of what I think are what all of us crave for as people.           

We humans most of all crave attention. Mental institutions are built all over the world to lock up people who go crazy trying to gain the attention of others. Children their parents, employees their bosses, lovers their partners and even leaders their people. It is something we must have at all costs even though we already have everything and many people are willing to risk their sanity trying to get people to pay attention to and to acknowledge them.

I got to know this fact years ago from my readings. I think it was from Dale Carnegie's book How to win friends and influence people. Dale said that we humans are selfish creatures. The only people we care about more than anyone or anything else in the world are ourselves. When we look at photographs, who do you think we find first? That's right, ourselves and there is an urgency to know how we look like or if there is any flaw about us. People crave for attention to a point that it has become a sort of disorder. Try to google ‘Histrionic Personality Disorder’ and you will find that this is a ‘dramatic’ personality disorder where people with histrionic personality disorder, their self-esteem depends on the approval of others and does not arise from a true feeling of self-worth. They have an overwhelming desire to be noticed, and often behave dramatically or inappropriately to get attention. Another type of attention seeking personality disorder is the Manchausen syndrome.

How can you as a marketer use this to your advantage? Consumers buy products to make themselves stand out from the crowd and be different from others. This is how we fulfill our craving from attention. No person want to be caught wearing something that another 10 person in the same place is wearing or maybe drive a car that look like every other car in town. Even though the model of the car is a popular one, people would go out of their way to get a nice number plate or customize it in a unique way for example. Being different is one way for people to attract attention to themselves. This difference makes them feel empowered and satisfied with themselves. This is also one of the reasons why people buy expensive items, sometimes even to their own disadvantage. Have you ever heard of this saying, ‘people buy things they don’t need, with prices they cannot afford, to impress people they don’t know’. That is also how people grow deeper and deeper in credit card debt.

Secondly, we humans crave recognition and praise both from our peers and even people who doesn't even know or know us. Ever heard someone yell, do you know who I am? to another person as a public display of some might say arrogance with a hint of inferiority complex and a huge craving for praise and recognition from others. Mark Twain said, I can live for two months on a good compliments. Whether it has anything to do with having a low self-esteem is debatable but almost everyone craves for recognition and praise from others. Marketers of luxury goods are good at selling products that gets their customers the recognition and praise they truly desire. Whether it has been programmed into our minds or by other means, we are oftentimes inclined to give due recognition and praise to people who have and use expensive and branded products and services regardless of whether or not these people can afford it or not. Maybe it’s because deep down inside we crave these things as well thus the jealousy and envy.

That brings us to the third cravings of mankind which is a craving for love and affection. This craving is more intimate and does not require public outcry but it sometimes leads people to display it outwardly in a public display of affection or love. Marketers fully understand this craving and use it well on special occasions such as Valentine's Day, birthdays and Christmas Day every year by flooding the market with specially commissioned products catered specially for these special occasions. It is of no surprise that profits gained in a day on these special occasions (Xmas and valentine) are enough to cover a whole year of operations if executed well. Cravings for love and to be loved are not only between partners but between children and their parents, siblings, family members and between friends. Fulfilling one’s sexual desires would normally also be considered as fulfilling one’s cravings for love and affection but that would probably of interest to marketers of goods or services of that nature.

Finally as human beings we crave safety and security. On an individual level, that craving would be for personal safety and security for our belongings and things that are precious to us. Marketers of physical goods who incorporate features to satisfy this craving of people often find their products being favored more by consumers. Examples are, fingerprint scanner for new iPhones, added security for car tint, a house with built in security system etc. However, today as markets become more and more competitive, consumers too are becoming smarter and expect a lot of these added features as a standard feature for products they purchase.

Understanding what people crave for can help marketers of goods and services position their products better in their consumer’s minds. Human beings find all ways to fulfill their needs and wants everyday and beyond that, they also spend a lot of money to fulfill their cravings as well. Arguably there are a lot more things that people crave for, like craving for good food and cravings for fun and entertainment. That would probably be a topic of discussion for another article. 

David Geh is a head of faculty and a senior lecturer at a top private university in Malaysia. He is also an avid writer and can be contacted at davegeh@gmail.com for comments. 

The Importance of Honesty and Integrity in Business

Taken from an article published in LinkedIn by David Geh (Aug 27, 2014) - https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140827105035-152710888-the-importance-of-honesty-and-integrity-in-business?trk=mp-reader-card

Many underestimate the value of honesty and integrity in running their business operations. Even if you are an honest businessperson with impeccable integrity, as you grow in your business you need to constantly remind your people about how much importance you place on such values. It is no point having sophisticated and fancy mission statements and a bold vision when you say one thing and your employees do another. Don’t expect all your salaried employees to share your bold vision and your mission to change the world with what you do because at the end of the day, they are what they are, salaries employees putting in the hours to carve out a living month after month.

In a robust economy, there are ample employment opportunities for the salaried employee to choose from and what push comes to shove, they pack their bags and go on their next adventure in their quest for that new job opportunity leaving you high and dry in search for another willing candidate with an impressive resume to convince you with his or her skills and experience.

So the question here is what happens when you as the entrepreneur say one thing but your employees do the opposite? In a work environment where employees go unsupervised with the notion of giving employees freedom to make business decisions that would benefit the company, you may end up (sometimes later than sooner)discovering that, some of these decisions made may not be of the best interest of your company. No doubt they are in the ‘best interest’ but if you’re the type of boss that are seldom around to supervise your employees, you may find out that some of these decisions are in their own best interest.

Back to the topic of honesty and integrity. I believe that there is no use to invest millions of dollars in advertising, branding, promotions, public relations etc when at the core of it all, your people at the front line are ruining your business for you. For example, recently I was having lunch at a popular fast food chain outlet which main specialty is fried chicken. The meal was $12.65. I paid with a 20 and only got back $7.30 in return. It is not that I would die of hunger without the 5 cents she cashier didn’t return me but as a matter of principle, the fast food chain had cheated me. That 5 cents had in a way affected the way I view this fast food chain.

When I was a marketing lecturer teaching about customer service, I had always reminded my students that, to a customer, a business is worth the amount of money it cheats its customers of. No matter how many millions of dollars the company invested to position its brand in the market or how much money they spend on promotions it will be of no value to the cheated customer. Once the intention of the employee is there to make a fast buck out of unsuspecting customers, it could be 5 cents or 10 dollars or 10,000 dollars it amounts to the same thing. The customer’s trust has been tested and lost in the process of the employee trying to profit at the company’s expense.

After all, what do they care? At the beginning of this article I mentioned that at the end of the day, they are only salaried employees, no matter how big or small your organization is, or how much paid up capital your company has, or how much net profit you made in the last financial year.

So, what can you do to lessen the chance of this scenario happening to your company? For starters you can help build and nurture a strong culture of honesty and integrity in your company and get your people to buy in to it naturally. Nothing happens by coercion, everyone knows that. Awards and recognition of exemplary work done in certain key areas could be one of the ways. Employees are rewarded for helping return a customer’s iPad left at your restaurant for example. Besides rewarding employees who have demonstrated honesty and integrity in their everyday work, it would also be nice to give them recognition and appreciation openly so that others will be inspired to follow in their positive example.

Team based projects are also a good way to encourage and nurture this culture of honesty and integrity. Employees of different departments are grouped together in teams and given a task to identify a way to improve the customer’s buying experience at your company for example. You will be surprised at how much ideas can flow out of these brainstorming sessions where individuals of different backgrounds, experience and culture come together and are given a ‘responsibility’ which could potentially change the way their company operates or possibly the profit the company would make. 9 to 5 is such a drag and from time to time, your employees may want to flex their creative muscle or let their creative juices flow and how better could you let them do that than to give them special assignments from time to time.

Finally, it is not enough just to talk. Good leaders walk the talk. When it comes to honesty and integrity, it is much better to lead by example than to preach it. There is an old Chinese proverb that goes:

“Tell me and I will forget.

Show me and I will remember.

Involve me and I will understand.

Step back and I will act.”

People remember what they are shown and seldom what they are told. Action speaks louder than words. I believe that, the more you show as a leader, the more your people will try to emulate. No doubt this is a double edged sword where if you show nonsense or negativity, you can be sure that your customers will complain that your employees are pure nonsense and negative. You won’t want a case of monkey see monkey do, do you? However if you show honesty and integrity in your dealings with your stakeholders, your employees, your customers, your vendors and your shareholders or partners, pretty soon your employees will take notice and it won’t be long before they may want to follow in your footsteps. - David Geh

The pain of losing a best friend

August 22, 2014 went down in the history books as the day a nation mourned the loss of 43 of it's countrymen (and women) in possibly the most tragic air disaster in aviation history. On July 17, 2014, a civilian aircraft, the flag carrier of Malaysia, Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot out of the sky possibly by a surface-to-air missile by Russian backed Ukrainian rebels fighting with the Ukrainian army for independence of their territory. The location where the plane crashed was near a small village called Grabovo about 50km from the Ukraine-Russian border.

The Boeing 777 aircraft was flying at 33,000 ft and was given instructions by Ukrainian air traffic controllers to fly into the disputed region on air routes which was approved by IATA as 'safe' airspace. There were a total of 298 people onboard the doomed flight in which 283 passengers and 15 crew members on board. 193 passengers were of Dutch nationalities, 43 Malaysians (including crew members), 27 Australians, 12 Indonesians, 10 from the UK, 4 each from Belgium and Germany , 3 from the Philippines and one each from Canada and New Zealand. It is also heart-wrenching to know that out of the 298 passengers which were killed instantly when the missile hit the aircraft, 80 of them were children including 3 infants and one of them was only a 1 year old toddler who perished with his young mother and aunt.

Gruesome photos of burnt rotting bodies and mangled airplane parts strewn all over a sunflower field was paraded on the internet for weeks coupled with photos of victims in happier times invited mixed responses from netizens. Expressions ranged from shock to sadness and anger to rage.

Neither the Ukrainian Government nor the Russian backed Rebels of the Donetsk region claimed responsibility for the grossly inhumane act with both sides pointing fingers at each other backed by volumes of 'evidence' of the act displayed by both parties. The United States and affected countries like Netherlands, Australia, the UK and Malaysia strongly condemned the act and some strongly implicated Russian President Vladimir Putin in the incident.

The news of this tragedy couldn't have came at a worst time. Just 132 days earlier, Malaysian Airlines lost another Boeing 777 airplane, it's flight MH370 disappeared from radar 2 hours into a midnight flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Until today, 239 passengers and crew (227 passengers and 12 crew members) are still missing and an international search effort is still underway to find the missing aircraft.

What's tragic about the whole MH17 incident to me was, I lost a best friend I knew from my college days in PJ which I have known for 19 years. His name is Liew Yau Chee and he was onboard flight MH17 with his wife Lee Kiah Yeen and was returning from a business trip in Europe. The couple leaves behind 3 children. I don't really know how old are their children exactly but from the news reports they were 10, 8 and 2.

It's heart breaking to know that innocent souls, who are sole providers to young children and their elderly parents are snatched away in an instant by insane irresponsible people or groups. I too strongly condemn the parties responsible for the downing of flight MH17!

To my best friend Yau Chee and your wife, may the both of you rest-in-peace in heaven and may God protect your children so that their guardians will take good care of them and help raise them well.Till we meet again, Goodbye my friend.

Incidents from the past coming back to remind us of them perhaps?

In the past week I have had this very strange experience which I couldn't clearly explain. Perhaps it was caused by watching too much Ancient Aliens episode that this place Tenerife had kinda stuck in my mind for days. Until yesterday only I had learnt that Tenerife is a place in the Canary Islands archipelago off the western coast of the African continent under Spanish rule.

This was how the story played out. For 2 weeks it was Tenerife Tenerife Tenerife I really couldn't get it out of my head no matter how I tried. I had wanted to Google where it was but never got around to it. I think I heard it on one ancient aliens episode where they mentioned about sightings of UFOs around that region. This was probably due to the fact that they have Mount Teide which, at 7500m from its base and a 3718m summit is the third highest volcano on a volcanic ocean island on earth and I'm thinking, aliens would probably be fascinated by places like that. The first two highest are Mauna Kea and Mauna Lua in Hawaii. Today, bored in the office during lunch time, I was browsing YouTube on my iPhone (with my own 2GB data plan, mind you!) and came across some vids of air crashes and accidents. Someone had shared it as a video on Facebook and because I rarely finish my monthly quota and my smart phone runs on LTE connection, I sometimes watch almost all the videos shared on Facebook and occasionally some on YouTube, One of it was almost like a movie and you could see the pilots and captain cursing while trying to run for their lives. 

Since it was the last air accident scene and looked so much like a movie, I decided to YouTube it to see if I could find more information on it and viola! I did. It was an air accident that happened on the runway of a small hilltop airport called Los Rodeos airport in Tenerife back in 1977, the year I was born. Two 747 jumbo jets had collided with each other during the takeoff of one in thick fog killing 583 passengers on board the 2 jets. The jet that was taking off was a KLM royal Dutch airlines flight 4805 carrying 234 passengers and 14 crew members and the one that got hit was a Pan Am flight 1736 carrying 326 passengers and 9 crew members. As a result of the accident, all passengers and crew members of the KLM flight died while there were 61 survivors from the Pan Am flight. It was dubbed the deadliest air disaster in aviation history and (touch wood) no other accidents has topped it yet and we all hope and pray that none will. The fatal incident happened on 27 March 1977. Sadly, around 8 months later, on 4 December 1977, a Malaysian Airline System (Now known as MAS) Boeing 737 airplane crashed into the straits between Johor and Singapore after it was purportedly hijacked and diverted to Singapore from it's original routine flight from Penang to Kuala Lumpur. 93 passengers and 7 crew members was killed instantly. I was born on 12 May 1977, the same year those air accidents occured.

Looking back at the unfolding events that led me to the discovery of this horrific accident in the annals of history was rather creepy to say the least. It felt as if something was trying to inform me about incidents that occurred during the time when I was born (and was still developing in my mother's womb). Perhaps it's just a mere coincidence and has absolutely nothing to do with anything.

On a brighter note, I also found out that alot of classics (songs) that I love today were big hits the year I was born as well. My fav are:

- Tonight's the night : Rod Stewart
- Dancing Queen: Abba
- Hotel California : The Eagles
- Lucille : Kenny Rogers
- Dreams : Fleetwood Mac
- Jet Airliner : Steve Miller Band

This is the top 100 chart of 1977 thanks to www.musicoutfitters.com which can be found at

1. Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright), Rod Stewart 2. I Just Want to Be Your Everything, Andy Gibb 3. Best of My Love, Emotions 4. Love Theme (From "A Star Is Born"), Barbra Streisand 5. Angel In Your Arms, Hot 6. I Like Dreamin', Kenny Nolan 7. Don't Leave Me This Way, Thelma Houston 8. (Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher, Rita Coolidge 9. Undercover Angel, Alan O'Day 10. Torn Between Two Lovers, Mary MacGregor 11. I'm Your Boogie Man, K.C. and The Sunshine Band 12. Dancing Queen, Abba 13. You Make Me Feel Like Dancing, Leo Sayer 14. Margaritaville, Jimmy Buffet 15. Telephone Line, Electric Light Orchestra 16. What'cha Gonna Do?, Pablo Cruise 17. Do You Wanna Make Love, Peter McCann 18. Sir Duke, Stevie Wonder 19. Hotel California, The Eagles 20. Got to Give It Up, Pt. 1, Marvin Gaye 21. Gonna Fly Now (Theme from "Rocky"), Bill Conti 22. Southern Nights, Glen Campbell 23. Rich Girl, Daryl Hall and John Oates 24. When I Need You, Leo Sayer 25. Hot Line, The Sylvers 26. Car Wash, Rose Royce 27. You Don't Have to Be a Star (To Be In My Show), Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. 28. Fly Like An Eagle, Steve Miller Band 29. Don't Give Up On Us, David Soul 30. On and On, Stephen Bishop 31. Feels Like the First Time, Foreigner 32. Couldn't Get It Right, The Climax Blues Band 33. Easy, The Commodores 34. Right Time of the Night, Jennifer Warnes 35. I've Got Love On My Mind, Natalie Cole 36. Blinded By the Light, Manfred Mann's Earth Band 37. Looks Like We Made It, Barry Manilow 38. So In to You, Atlanta Rhythm Section 39. Dreams, Fleetwood Mac 40. Enjoy Yourself, The Jacksons 41. Dazz, Brick 42. I'm In You, Peter Frampton 43. Lucille, Kenny Rogers 44. The Things We Do for Love, 10cc 45. Da Doo Ron Ron, Shaun Cassidy 46. Handy Man, James Taylor 47. Just a Song Before I Go, Crosby, Stills and Nash 48. You and Me, Alice Cooper 49. Swayin' to the Music (Slow Dancin'), Johnny Rivers 50. Lonely Boy, Andrew Gold 51. I Wish, Stevie Wonder 52. Don't Stop, Fleetwood Mac 53. Barracuda, Heart 54. Strawberry Letter 23, Brothers Johnson 55. Night Moves, Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band 56. You're My World, Helen Reddy 57. Heard It In a Love Song, Marshall Tucker Band 58. Carry On Wayward Son, Kansas 59. New Kid In Town, The Eagles 60. My Heart Belongs to Me, Barbra Streisand 61. After the Lovin', Engelbert Humperdinck 62. Jet Airliner, Steve Miller Band 63. Stand Tall, Burton Cummings 64. Way Down, Elvis Presley 65. Weekend In New England, Barry Manilow 66. It Was Almost Like a Song, Ronnie Milsap 67. Smoke from a Distant Fire, Sanford Townsend Band 68. Cold As Ice, Foreigner 69. Ariel, Dean Friedman 70. Lost Without Your Love, Bread 71. Star Wars Theme / Cantina Band, Meco 72. Float On, The Floaters 73. Jeans On, David Dundas 74. Lido Shuffle, Boz Scaggs 75. Keep It Comin' Love, K.C. and The Sunshine Band 76. You Made Me Believe In Magic, Bay City Rollers 77. Livin' Thing, Electric Light Orchestra 78. Give a Little Bit, Supertramp 79. That's Rock 'n' Roll, Shaun Cassidy 80. Love So Right, The Bee Gees 81. Rubberband Man, The Spinners 82. I Never Cry, Alice Cooper 83. Nobody Does It Better, Carly Simon 84. High School Dance, The Sylvers 85. Love's Grown Deep, Kenny Nolan 86. Ain't Gonna Bump No More (with No Big Fat Woman), Joe Tex 87. I Wanna Get Next To You, Rose Royce 88. Somebody to Love , Queen 89. Muskrat Love, Captain and Tennille 90. Walk This Way, Aerosmith 91. Cherchez la Femme / Se Si Bon, Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band 92. Year of the Cat, Al Stewart 93. Boogie Nights, Heatwave 94. Go Your Own Way, Fleetwood Mac 95. Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word, Elton John 96. Don't Worry Baby, B.J. Thomas 97. Knowing Me, Knowing You, Abba 98. How Much Love, Leo Sayer 99. Main Title Star Wars, London Symphony Orchestra 100. Devil's Gun, C.J. and Co.

POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE BY YOUR FOREIGN STAFF WILL AFFECT YOUR BUSINESS AND PROFITS

Yesterday was a Sunday and I was infuriated. The incident had spoiled my otherwise peaceful serene Sunday. This was what went down. My wife and I we woke up really early because she wanted to go have breakfast at the chinese kopitiam in Jalan Imbi opposite 7-eleven famous for the Nasi Lemak there. It was a hazy Sunday morning, one I would rather sleep in than venture outdoors. After all, I only had 3.5 hours of sleep because of the Germany vs Ghana soccer match which ended around 5pm. Yes, it's World Cup season again! Physically and mentally I was trashed cos of the lack of oxygen in the brain from countless sleepless nights staying up late catching live soccer matches.

After breakfast we took a walk to Bukit Bintang opposite Fahrenheit 88 as there was a new property showcase there and we were in the market for one to add to our investment portfolio. After that, following some quick window shopping at Sg Wang Plaza we went over to Lot 10 to the Chatime Galleria for a drink. Both of us are ardent fans of the specialty beverage and would often go for a drink there if we weren't hanging out at our favorite Starbucks! However, after the incident yesterday and a few previous incidents, I doubt I will ever step foot into a Chatime outlet again.

My wife had earlier went to the Hong Leong Bank ATM to withdraw some money and one of the RM50 note happened to be slightly stained. No big deal we thought since it's not torn anywhere or defaced, it's still legal tender and the value of the money was still RM50. The chap at the cash register looked 18-19 at best and from the way he spoke we reckoned he was a student from China working part-time there. After ordering and giving him the RM50 note, he became very rude and keep on asking if this was a real RM50 note. We assured him it was and told him we just got it from the ATM. He wasn't convinced and keep on holding it up to the light to see if there was the outline of the Agong there. He kept saying it was difficult to bank in that note later at the Cash Deposit Machine and it would be rejected. At that point we were already really annoyed. In my mind, it was none of my business whether the money can be banked in or not. As long as I paid for my purchases legally using a legal tender note taken out from an Automatic Teller machine and not a fake note. He the gave me back my change grudgingly, made our drinks obviously grudgingly and handed the drinks to me with a black face.

We then went over to the airconditioned area of the kiosk where they had some bar tables and high stools as my wife was tired from all that walking. 2 minutes later another kpop boyband looking guy came over to us holding the RM50 note we gave him earlier looking annoyed and kept on insisting we gave him a new one. We found out he was a Myanmar national and his name was Naim or Nain or something. After debating for 5 minutes, my wife took out her purse and grabbed a new RM50 note and handed it over to him in exchange for the stained RM50 note in his hand.

The cash register and kitchenette was attached to this little dining area and when he went back to his little corner, we could hear the both of them (China PRC national and Myanmar guy talking in Malay) "Money like this if we give customer also they don't want to accept, how can they give such thing to us?" rather audibly and in my opinion, rather on purpose to mock us.

At that point I totally lost it and shouted all sorts of Fcuk him up words from where I was sitting and instructed him to come and stand in front of me and say what he said again which to my surprise he did. I said I was going to report his stupid shit attitude to Bryan Loo the boss of Chatime to which he had the cheek to spell out his name clearly so I wouldn't misspell it to his boss when I complained about him. I then fcuked him up further for another 20 minutes till he went into the kitchenette to hide. There was another table of customers there who remained quite during most of the ruckus.

Here's a little thought I would like to share. Do you think we were not able to simply switch the RM50 note we legally tendered for the transaction we concluded over the counter? I am not rich but I'm sure I'd easily have a couple of RM50 notes in my wallet I can randomly take out to use to purchase stuff. How if I was a tourist there and that RM50 was the only piece I had when I changed my foreign currency for Malaysian Ringgit at the money changer? Would I need to run to the money changer again and frantically look for more foreign currency to change so that I would give this foreign worker a fresh unstained RM50 note? Would that look very good at the kind of customer service that we Malaysians show to our customers during Visit Malaysia Year 2014?

I am not against the idea of hiring foreign workers as our front liners in industries such as F&B or Hospitality. Being the Head of Department for the School of Hospitality and Tourism in a private Uni in Malaysia, I feel that we should properly train our foreign workers in the area of customer service and EQ before we allow them to be placed in the actual customer facing situation. Albeit cheap to hire, these foreigners will cause your company to lose millions of ringgit in profits if they continue to be ignorant in how to handle customers professionally or to the very least, politely. If you don't realize this early, don't be alarmed when you find that even if you have hundreds of outlets, your customers start to dwindle even though you have the best products at the best price.

Although you are selling a physical product and adhere to the 4Ps of marketing in formulating your killer marketing strategy, don't forget that you are also selling a service to your customers. In marketing services, there are an extra 3Ps you need to be aware of. People, Processes and Physical Evidence. The 'People' part of the 3Ps are the most important element in ensuring your company's success.

Overall, what went down yesterday, 22/6/2014 at the Chatime Galleria outlet outside Lot 10 Bukit Bintang was less than satisfactory. In fact, to be blunt, it was appalling so say the least. Receiving such service and treatment in an outlet located in a popular tourist shopping area leaves you much to desire for. It also leaves much (emphasis on MUCH) more room for improvement, not only for the sake of the country's image but also for the company's own reputation and profits. Why is this so? Because once you lose a customer, you may never ever get him/her back and don't forget, customers talk and if they don't have anything nice to talk about they will still talk and they will tell their friends in person, in Facebook, in twitter, in instagram and in Skype and not forgetting Whatsapp, Line, Wechat, Kakao, Viber, Gtalk, Email etc. And if they have bad things to say about you and you brush them off, now imagine they have 4000 friends in Facebook! That's enough to make you lose 4000 customers instantly... and then there's Youtube but let's not go there.

2014 FIFA WORLD CUP BRAZIL. All in One Rhythm! Ole Ola!!!

Wow FIFA World Cup season for 2014 just started with the host Brazil kicking off against opponent Croatia in Group A. I can't believe that I woke up at 4am after going to bed around 12am earlier to watch it. The last time I remembered doing this was for the South African World Cup in 2010. I reckon that with the month long matches all during the wee hours of the morning (3-4am), it's gonna be a long month ending in the mid of July.

The theme for the FIFA World Cup Brazil this year is All in One Rhythm (TM). The logo resembles a hand holding a football, the hand is yellow in color while the ball is green. The whole thing looks like the world cup itself and was probably customized to represent Brazil's jersey colours. The official song was We are one Ole Ola performed at the opening on 13 June 2014 at the stadium in Sao Paulo, Brazil on stage by Jennifer Lopez (JLo) (who to me looked like an Avatar in her green outfit or worst, look like Shakira ready to shake some belly. Mr. Worldwide Mr 305, Pitbull was wearing a polo-tee resembling Brazil's green and yellow colors and really really tight pants... while Claudia Leitte a Brazilian singer wore a tight glittering blue outfit that made her look like a gymnast from China to which I reckon didn't really go with the theme of the Brazil World Cup at all!

My buddy commented in FB that you will know it's WC season when traffic is clear in the morning and your meeting suddenly gets canceled. I also reckon that this one month is going to be a good business month for...... DOCTORS! Undoubtedly the hottest item this month is going to Medical Certificates! It's no wonder the Government is suddenly talking about setting up a central database to monitor MCs to keep medical absenteeism in check. I read in the news somewhere that medical absenteeism is costing Malaysian companies a staggering RM4 billion a year! Well, frankly I question what kind of methodology they use to derive at that figure. How do we measure losses resulting from medical absenteeism? Is it by the amount of salary paid to the worker when they are on leave? Or is it the future profit loss resulting from the worker not present at work. I think the latter is a vague assumption or guesswork at most.

Back to the kick-off match between Brazil, the game started off rather disorientated with both sides trying hard to take control of the ball with their own individual playing styles and strategies. Suddenly 11 minutes into the game, Brazilian defender Marcelo in the No. 6 yellow jersey made history by unwillingly scoring an own goal giving the Croatians 1 goal in the opening match. I reckon it's really a first in the history of World Cup, to make it more interesting, it was the opening match!

Brazil went on to win 3-1. 2 beautiful goals were scored by Neymar and one by Oscar. Game play by the Croats were, to me, rather disappointing as they didn't score any goals except for the one Marcelo helped them score! Nevertheless, things are inevitably just going to get more and more intense and exciting as the matches slowly unfolds. Interesting matches to watch are Group B's Spain vs. Holland (13 June)  and Group D's England vs Italy (14 June) or even Group G's Germany vs. Portugal (16 June). I guess it's time I get used to the routine of waking up at 3-4am to watch these 'must-watch' matches as the competition intensifies to reach the finals.

The big question is, who is going to win the 2014 FIFA WORLD CUP BRAZIL? Will it be the host, Brazil? Germany? Italy? France? I guess only time will tell and we have to wait till the finals to find out. After all, as the saying goes, The Ball is Round! I wonder where the heck is Paul the Octopus now? Or Mani the Parakeet from Singapore? Brazil has an answer to that... It's screw them! They have Big Head the Loggerhead Sea Turtle as their new tipster and at the run up to the opening match, Big Head has already predicted a sweet win for Brazil! I can imagine the Croat players cooking up turtle soup recipes in their heads now.

Owning real estate property you can't afford. 'Investment' or stupidity?

Property Fair Tyre Kickers?

I read from the news over the weekend that newly wed couples and young families prefer to buy landed properties as compared to condos and apartments. I feel that these people should really wake up and assess themselves. The problem is not about not enough affordable properties, it's their wrong mindsets. A 2012 household income survey found that average household income in Malaysia is RM5k (5,742 in KL). Take home pay for 5k is RM4,243 and I'm sure everyone drives a car (or 2 per household). How much would that leave them to buy a new landed property and put food on the table? Bear in mind it's per household not per individual. I'm not boasting but if I was earning RM5k a month, I wouldn't even dare to step into a property fair looking for new landed properties unless I was there to marvel at how interesting scale models of properties look.

Over the weekend I read in the newspaper about a property fair showcasing new properties and the reporter managed to interview some of the visitors and what caught my attention was how some young couples in their 30s with a kid in tow or newlyweds preferring to buy a landed property as compared to condos and apartments which are abundant in supply in Malaysia, particularly in Kuala Lumpur, it’s capital.

Now, in Kuala Lumpur, the average price for a new landed property (2-storey terrace house being the all time favorite) starts at around RM400k in least popular areas like Semenyih or Rawang (30-40km away from Kuala Lumpur via highway). These once unpopular areas are now hotting up as reputable developers are snapping up landbank there and developing houses with contemporary designs that appeal to the younger generation of buyers. With the network of highways all over KL and the greater KL, nowadays housebuyers are less reluctant to consider properties that are further way from their place of work for the sake of having a quality lifestyle. However, all this comes at the price of convenience as they might need to travel right up to 100km a day to and from work.

In my honest opinion, 90% of those who frequent property fairs that showcase new houses won’t be able to afford any of the properties showcased there. Why I say so is because every developer wants to maximize the development value of the land they purchase to maximize profits so, nowadays if they don’t have to, they would prefer not to build low or medium cost properties. Unless it’s in a rural or developing area where the household income is low and they have no choice but to make the best of their investment in land.

In urban areas such as Kuala Lumpur (or the Klang Valley) for that matter where even new houses in Rawang and Semenyih are going for RM400k and above. I’m not saying that the majority of home buyers who wants to buy their first landed property cannot afford to do so, but look at the average salaries we earn here in Malaysia. In a 2012 household income survey conducted in Malaysia, it was discovered that, average household income in Malaysia is RM5,000 per month. Around RM5,742 in urban areas. That is gross salary. Take home salary is RM4,243 after deducting EPF and SOCSO contribution and some income tax deductions. Minus a car loan, petrol, mobile phone subscription, Unifi, Astro, electricity and water I doubt that 80% of wage earners earning RM5,000 a month has anything left to even dream about buying a house. And oh yeah, I missed out monthly rental. This doesn’t apply to people from affluent backgrounds or those living at home with their parents because that is a different story altogether.

A good friend of mine gave me his insight, saying that back then when we grew up in houses instead of apartments or flats, our parents advised us that it was wise to invest in landed properties for the capital appreciation or maybe the quality of lifestyle derived from living in one. This was good advice 20-30 years ago when jobs were not that competitive and houses was relatively cheap and people could afford them with the salaries they earned. Today, where property developers prefer to build more expensive houses because the demand is there (mainly derived from foreigners, affluent individuals, investors, private investment clubs and professionals), clinging on to advise given by our parents 20-30 years ago may come across as worrying to say the least.

However, this may not be surprising in a world where credit is easily obtainable, where anything and everything can be purchased first and paid for later. Imagine a couple with a newborn with a combined household income of RM7,000 per month. Take home pay would be around 5.5k. Minus loans for two cars at say around RM1,500 a month because everybody likes to drive the latest Japanese and Korean models (or for some, German marques!) Minus 1-1.5k for rental because of the added security and convenience. Minus another 1k for credit card debts because everyone has at least 3-4 credit cards on average and there are minimum payments to be made. Another 1k goes to petrol, toll, astro, handphone bills, internet subscription, electricity, gym membership, car maintenance, insurance etc. That leaves the couple with roughly about RM1,000 for food, entertainment, shopping and other expenses. Oh, did I mention that the average household earns about RM5,000 a month? The less consumers spend on credit the nearer they would get to their dream of owning their own homes. This is not a problem with the Government for not providing affordable homes to it’s people, it’s about people having overly unrealistic expectations of property ownership which forms the bulk of people who cannot afford to buy their own homes.

It’s not a shameful thing to live in high-rise properties.

I think the first thing people should realize is that it’s not a shameful thing to live in high-rise properties. I’m sure the majority of first-time homebuyers who dream of buying landed properties are the very ones who are currently renting at flats and apartments who tell themselves every now and then that, “when I become rich I’m gonna buy a house and never going to stay in an apartment or flat again!” However, the reality of property prices today quashes that dream, the very one that holds everything together, a happy family, a better job, savings and investments etc. I believe that not everyone who start out with a dream of buying themselves a landed property in KL actually ends up realizing their dreams, not here at least.

For that matter, I believe that it is not shameful even to still be living with your parents, siblings, in-laws, friends, colleagues and so on either in a rented or owned property. It all boils down to the type of lifestyle you can afford and not about overstretching youself to achieve your dream lifestyle. It is different though, if you are rich or come from a wealthy family. But like I said, that is a totally different story altogether.

Therefore, like an old saying goes, if you don’t want your dreams shattered, don’t have big dreams to start with. It is the same ordinary Malaysians who drive big cars and live beyond their means who end up in a counseling seminar at AKPK, the counseling agency for financial education and the very same one who will help you restructure your credit card debts and outstanding loans to get you out of trouble if you are already knee deep or are just getting into it. A 30 year loan on a property is no joke. If you’re 25 today, it takes the next 30 years till you’re 55 to finally pay off that home you have been wanting to buy. Imagine if the monthly repayments are RM2,000 a month and you’re earning, say RM3,500 to 4,000, it won’t leave you much to get by every month for the next 30 years. Doesn’t that sound scary?

A couple of days I read a newspaper article about a woman in Singapore who had 4 or 5 kids and her husband died in a freak accident at the airport. She got almost a million dollars in compensation and donations from well wishers but a year later she was broke without a penny to her name. The most remarkable thing she did was use 400 thousand to invest in her brother’s business and a few thousand more on other unnecessary stuff when she should have used that money to invest in financial education for herself to begin with.

Talk about spending money you don’t have, buying things you don’t need to impress people you don’t know. Society looks down at people who like to show off with stuff they clearly cannot afford or clearly doesn’t need to be shown off in the first place. This includes owning a house you clearly can’t afford to live in.