Disqus - Latest Comments for yowchuan

Re: Critical Illness Booklet Second Edition

yowchuan — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:53:43 -0000

Cheong Peng, again, I think we are pretty much on the same page on this issue.

I think there are more than just the insurance companies, agents and policyholders involved here. We have to take into account the way our health institutions work as well as how they are regulated . If there's the need, we should even get the Statistics Department to ensure the transparency and integrity of the statistics used by these insurance companies.

Each of these entities are interlinked in this risk ecosystem.

First, we have touched a bit on the Insurance Companies. We know that they are all about profits. They basically just pooled everyone's money together and act somewhat like a trustee of the fund. They are also in charge of disbursing claims as long as the condition of the illness matches according to the wordings of the contract. Like you have mentioned, these Insurers are not stupid, policy wordings are almost always favorable to the Insurer. However, let's give them the benefit of doubts. It's a good thing none of the Insurers in Malaysia has a monopoly in the Malaysia insurance market, unless of course there are some underground insurance cartel that we don't know about. And if we can trust Bank Negara Malaysia to do her job, we should be expecting that the statistics used by the actuaries are up-to-date and realistic enough to be applied to all Malaysians. So, it would be foolish for any companies to offer any products that is not competitive as they might risk losing their market share. And not to mention, any bad press such as a valid claim not paid, can quickly be used as a tool by other Insurers.

On the insurance agents end, how many of them truly understand in-depths about the 36 critical illness in their product portfolio? Not all of them had medical backgrounds, and from the way you have dissected the policy wordings, I can assure you that if the agents are to explain to their clients like you had, I don't think they could have sold many of these critical illness products. The way these agents are trained and educated in a typical insurance sales agency, profit will always be priority. Though we are seeing insurance companies beefing up their in-house education program, let's not forget the ultimate bottom line of an insurance company, the emphasis will always be on the sales.

What about the health institutions? I am sure institutions like the Malaysian Medical Association and the Ministry of Health should play an important part in ensuring the health and medical policies are properly structured and most importantly, fairly priced so that every Malaysian can be entitled to some level of coverage.

However, what we are seeing is these days are rather the opposite. The cost of getting treatments are escalating by the day, and the attitudes of most doctors in private hospitals makes you think if you had mistakenly ended up in a business complex. With the rising cost of medical care, the premium that was charged to cover such benefits also escalated, causing even more woes to the people who need such coverage most.

We have so often heard about stories where patients are asked what cards (credit card or medical card) they have before they are even being given the chance to register at the counter. It doesn't matter if you are bleeding to your death, the motto seems to be 'No cash no cure'.

Of course, I am not saying that our health care system has gone to the dogs. I am very sure that there are still plenty of good doctors around who still puts lives before the dollar signs. However, the recent trend seems to reflect that our health care system is turning into a wealth care system for some of these profiteering private health care institutions. You know, they loved to say, "We'd to take care of our stakeholders too".

Now, let's turn our attention to the policyholders themselves. Policyholders who don't ask the right questions are just the type of customers that the Insurance Companies, insurance agents and the doctors love. There's really nothing much you can do about it.

If the policyholders themselves don't take the initiatives to be more well-informed and educated about the products recommended by these experts, then there's really no one to blame but themselves. They have to read the fine prints themselves. They have to get second opinions, or third if they are not satisfied. It's their own money at stake here.

Cheongpeng, I think what we've pointed out is only the tip of the iceberg. There are many things that can be done to improve the situation. Public awareness should be one of the main priorities. Policyholders have the right to know more about what they are buying. Insurance companies should make it a point to explain as best as they could how they are really covered.

The health care institutions should be monitored much more closely. Channels to complaint malpractices by health authorities or unethical practices should be made more accessible and patients' rights should be championed at all times.

Re: How to Withdraw Money from PayPal in Malaysia

yowchuan — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:57:40 -0000

MD, have you tried withdrawing?

For my case, I did not bother to 'Link and Confirm' my Debit cards, since I have no intention to add funds into my PayPal account. My experience also tells me that for most debit cards, you are not able to 'Link and Confirm' them.

So I don't recommend you to 'Link and Confirm' your debit card if you just want to withdraw funds out of your PayPal account.

Again, I would like to repeat: You don't have to 'Link and Confirm' your debit card if you just want to withdraw from your PayPal account. Just add the debit card into your account would do.

I have not used Public Bank's Electron Visa card, but I have heard from many friends who are using it and had no problem withdrawing.

Re: 9 Weeks Australian

yowchuan — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 02:58:09 -0000

Indeed Bro, motivation is like boosters. They're usually not available at the time you need them most. But remember, the fuel that really powers you is your desire (which is often distracted by the most trivial things in life, for example materialistic wants etc).

You've got yourself a good start, now you just need to keep the ball rolling. Some challenges can be tackled head on, while for some, you need to work around them. This is when finding the right peers can be important. Everyone needs a helping hand along the way, especially when it gets stormy. And the lessons learn will be invaluable.

When the going gets tough, the tough gets going. Be grateful with what you already have and do your best to achieve your full potential.

You can do it, bro!

Re: Critical Illness Booklet Second Edition

yowchuan — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 02:16:23 -0000

Hi Cheong Peng, your view on this matter is absolutely justified and valid. An insurance policy is in fact just like any other contract, where two parties agreed with the terms and conditions, and in the event of any ambiguity, as long as one party can prove that the ambiguity has resulted in losses, then there's a high probability for the victim to be compensated.

It's also true that the probability of catching any of these 36 critical illnesses is like hitting the jackpot- extremely rare. I have mentioned this in my book, and in fact, like yourself, I have made the point that there's a higher chance of you being killed in an accident than catching one of these critical illnesses.

So, should one NOT buy a critical illness policy? Before I answer this question, let me paint a backdrop of how a standard insurance policy is drafted. I am not an actuary by profession, but I should be able to provide a general overview.

1) An actuary will design a product based on the probability (statistics) of certain events, for example, mortality rates. In this case, chances of people being diagnosed with critical illness (including the severity and variations of the illness) would be an important factor. Age, hereditary, and diet could be another set of considerations.

2) The Actuary will then assign a price tag which will determine the insurance charges for the benefits covered by the scheme he is designing. This will determine the premium that the policyholder will need to pay to ensure that he is protected by the policy's scheme.

3) The Actuary and the Insurer will then need to get approval from the Industry Regulator, the Central Bank of Malaysia to approve the new scheme, before it can be sold to the public. The Central Bank will be responsible in ensuring that the premium, the benefits, advertising & marketing information, and how the figures are derived meets the requirement set by the Regulator.

4) Once approved, the Agents will then be briefed on the new products and then can then start selling. New applications submitted by the agents will then be screened by the Underwriters using the guidelines determined by the Insurer.

So, that would be the overview of how a new product reaches the general public. Now, back to the question of whether should one refrain from buying an insurance policy just because the chances of claiming the benefits are low?

This question is almost the same as asking, "Why should I buy an insurance if I know I can't claim from it?"

The logic here is pretty straightforward, the risk of the Insurer paying the benefits has been taken into account when the Actuary was designing the product. They have already estimated the maximum amount of money that could be claimed at any given time, without putting the Insurer's own cash flow at risk. We must remember that these Insurers are profit organisations, and they are not about to insure a money-losing risk. I am not going to touch on the ethical side of the issue, but that's how an Insurer works- they still need to make a profit, after estimating the claim amount, operation and adminstrative expenses. It's a probability game after all, and the last thing a policyholder wants is buying an insurance policy from an Insurer that could not pay up the promised coverage.

So, let's say a policyholder would like to cover herself from a critical illness protection that encompass more variations of each illnesses and a more comprehensive coverage of each illnesses. Something in the line whereby it's enough to just have the Medical Practitioner says, "It's a heart attack" and the claim will be paid out to the policyholder. It's absolutely possible for the Insurer to come up with such a product, because they can easily just adjust the premium rate. The reason why they are not doing that is quite obvious- how many people can then cover themselves, when the premium skyrockets in proportion to the risk taken by the Insurer to provide a more encompassing and comprehensive critical illness coverage? The Insurer also needs to apply the law of large number as the basis of their risk protection business.

I am not saying the Insurers are doing a good job with their education programs through the agents. The policyholders must understand that it's a contract that they are going into, between the Insurer and themselves. Any parties that comes in between- agents, consultants, financial planners will not affect the terms and conditions of the contract after you have solemnly accepted it.

I would suggest that the policyholders do not rely solely only on the agents for their source of product information. Get a lawyer to vet through the details if you have to! You have been given the policy contract and at this point of writing, you are also given 30 days of free look period, whereby you can get a 100% premium refund if you are not satisfied with the policy. No question asked. So, please do yourself a favour by reading through the contract, word by word.

Re: How to Withdraw Money from PayPal in Malaysia

yowchuan — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 01:26:39 -0000

Alwin, though I have not tried withdrawing with a Public Bank Visa Debit card, I should say the procedures would not differ by much. The fund in PayPal will end up in your Public Bank Visa Debit card account (after deducting the PayPal transaction fee and exchange rate imposed).

Any Public Bank Visa Debit card users who can shed some light on this?

Re: How to Withdraw Money from PayPal in Malaysia

yowchuan — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 01:18:20 -0000

rayvin,

I think there has got to be some truth in that. Even with local banks, the consumers are bound to face with transactional issues. When a company grow this big, the number of complaints they get would also grow, and when it comes to money transactions, these problems are normally amplified, if not exaggerated in favour of the complainants.

To be safe, just try to keep your PayPal transactions for 'normal' transactions and if you are doing business using PayPal account, make sure all your paperwork and documents are always ready to proof your legitimacy.

There's not much you can do if they freeze your account except to follow their instructions to the letter. Remember when you signed up for their account, they did ask you to accept all the 'Terms and Conditions' in their usage policy.

I've not worked for PayPal nor represent PayPal, and my opinions are just based on my own experience.

Re: How to Withdraw Money from PayPal in Malaysia

yowchuan — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 00:24:33 -0000

MD, No problem!

Re: World Ranking of Current Account Balance

yowchuan — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 23:35:39 -0000

Mike,

I guess one of the issue that the 'Current Account Balance' brought up is how some of these countries are leeching (countries with negative balances) on other countries' economies (countries with positive ones).

Also, a healthy economy is one where valuable goods and services are being traded, where you are only allowed to exchange your value with someone else's value.

Right now, too many people are buying value (goods and services) in advance (using credits and loans which creates an artificial boom in the marketplace). There's always a finite amount of value created in the marketplace because resources are always finite to begin with. At the rate new credit and loans are created, it seems that we can spend like there's no tomorrow.

Re: Malaysia Health Insurance and H1N1

yowchuan — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 01:22:58 -0000

Claire, just dropped you an email!

Re: World Ranking of Current Account Balance

yowchuan — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 07:10:12 -0000

I can still remember when his best-selling 'Rich Dad Poor Dad' hit the local book stores about 7-8 years ago, he was preaching real-estate, real estate and more real estate.

I wonder how many of those subprime mortgage victims got their ideas of owning real estate from these 'gurus'...

Re: A Case for Your Web Development Project

yowchuan — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 07:13:05 -0000

James, you haven't tried my cooking yet ;-)

Yup, please do review (please show no mercy). And as for the sketches, do let me know which one you need. I might have a higher resolution version for some of them.

Re: World Ranking of Current Account Balance

yowchuan — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 15:00:33 -0000

Thanks Wong for the heads-up!

Re: PNB Opens Up Amanah Saham Malaysia (ASM) to All Malaysians

yowchuan — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 02:45:19 -0000

The current administration sure knows how to play the mind game. The fastest and easiest way to show the People that this country is moving ahead and progressing is using the KLCI index. The feel good factor.

To really show progress and growth, it would take at least 3 years and the PM knows better than anyone time is a luxury he cannot afford right now.

Such direct manipulation is definitely unsustainable, but unfortunately they have the entire nation's coffer at their disposal.

Re: AS 1Malaysia Starts Selling Today

yowchuan — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 16:17:55 -0000

(BUSINESS TIMES, 8th August 2009) More than 1.4 billion units of the new unit trust fund Amanah Saham 1Malaysia (AS1M) were subscribed within two days of its launch.

Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) president and group chief executive Tan Sri Hamad Kama Piah Che Othman said the take-up rate was within expectations, given the fund size and the minimum subscription limit of 50,000 for those below 55 years old and 100,000 units limit for those above 55.

AS1M is a 10 billion-unit fixed price fund of RM1 per unit, with features similar to that of Amanah Saham Wawasan 2020 (ASW 2020) and Amanah Saham Malaysia (ASM).

“We will be adopting similar strategies for AS1M as with ASW 2020 and ASM and we hope for AS1M to perform as well as the other two funds which have exceeded their benchmark,” Hamad Kama Piah said in a statement yesterday.

He said ASW 2020 had declared annual income distribution ranging from 6.6 per cent and 8.8 per cent, while ASM has consistently paid out income distribution ranging from 6.25 per cent and 7.8 per cent.

Both ASW 2020 and ASM are benchmarked against the three-month Klibor, which has been averaging at 3.07 per cent for the past 10 years.

AS1M, meanwhile, is benchmarked against the average five-year Malaysian Government Securities, which now yields about 3.72 per cent.

This year, PNB has opened for subscription an additional two billion units of ASW 2020, 3.33 billion units of ASM and 10 billion units of AS1M.

“We would like to ensure the success of all our existing funds before we decide on other funds’ expansion,” Hamad Kama Piah said.

Re: AS 1Malaysia Starts Selling Today

yowchuan — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 09:53:10 -0000

Very contradicting indeed. If the price is fixed at RM1.00, then it would automatically meant the capital would be also guaranteed.

Unless, of course, there are 'microscopic prints' that we are not aware about in the prospectus, which could sound like, "Price fixed at RM1.00 means that the fund price will not appreciate above RM1.00 but this does not mean that the fund price will not depreciate below RM1.00."

Re: PNB Opens Up Amanah Saham Malaysia (ASM) to All Malaysians

yowchuan — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 09:58:22 -0000

(Business Times) 22 JULY 2009, Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) has announced that all remaining Amanah Saham Malaysia (ASM) units have been sold out.

The 1.6 billion units were part of the 3.33 billion additional ASM units announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak at the 2009 Malaysian Unit Trust Week in Johor Baru on April 20.

Re: How to Withdraw Money from PayPal in Malaysia

yowchuan — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:49:35 -0000

The charges for using PayPal are pretty straightforward.

1) When someone pays you, a transaction fee will be imposed by PayPal. The rate varies, but should be around 3-5% depending on your account type.

2) When you withdraw your money into a valid credit/debit card, there will be another fee imposed by PayPal which is the USD5.00 withdrawal fee. Hence, I would suggest that you only withdraw when you have accumulated at least USD500.

3) Finally, when the fund is transferred to your local credit/debit card, there'll be another fee, which is the forex exchange fee, which I think the card issuing bank would somehow incur additional fee above the normal forex rate during the transaction, which I find still reasonable. The only issue I have is that the exchange rates are not published by the card issuing bank.

MD, I think PayPal would be your best bet when it comes to international fund transfer. Of course they are other more cost-effective methods, but those would require that you have a substantial transaction volume on a regular basis.

Re: Hong Leong Bank’s Cheque Deposit

yowchuan — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:41:31 -0000

This one's the Subang Taipan's branch. Most of the Hong Leong branches in PJ looks similar after office hours.

Re: Sick of Exabytes

yowchuan — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:20:47 -0000

Neither can I agree with some of your points and assumptions. Let me know which comment came from the same person and I will try and ask them if they are competitors like you've mentioned. I prefer not to assume things and not make this discussion into another hosting companies debate.

Anyway, after my migration a year ago (to an oversea hosting partner), I have not had any problems. Like you said, all the uptime issues were ISP-related. It's also much more affordable (at least 40% savings).

And when it comes to data integrity, I hardly think that the law enforcement in Malaysia gives much protection to the consumers, just look at the way ISPs here behave. The odds are definitely better out there.

Also, I do not see any correlation between hosting quality and consumers who host with them. If that's the case, that would mean everyone should host their website with Google (which is not such a bad idea after all!).

Re: A Case for Your Web Development Project

yowchuan — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:31:41 -0000

Eugene, just trying to suggest new perspectives for people who are building a new website or revamping existing ones. I think a lot of funds are being invested into cosmetics, rather than functional reforms.

I am not saying that aesthetics should take a back seat in the process. Rather, my proposed method will be a better way to communicate your needs to your web development team.

IT dumb? I don't think so bro, not at all ;-)

Re: Cutting Up Your Goals!

yowchuan — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:33:58 -0000

Haha...maybe I should 'patent' this strategy...alright, what else do I have in mind... Yo-Yo Strategy, Ping Pong Strategy, bla...bla...

The mind has the tendency to magnify obstacles. We are usually 'paralyzed' by the sheer pressure of an overwhelming obstacle simply because we lack the tools and resources to overcome it. We can either go back to the drawing board and re-strategize, seek reinforcements or to find ways to 'go around' (not shortcuts) it.

Re: KFC - The Chicken People

yowchuan — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:42:33 -0000

Murthy, have you tried frying chicken yourself? I think it's much healthier (although vegetarian readers would never agree to that).

I would use the 'Kentucky' powder (ironically named), add some garlic powder, some onion powder and a little bit of pepper.

Toe-lickin' good!

Re: First 10KM Run at the KL Marathon

yowchuan — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:33:58 -0000

1hr 26mins 24sec... could have drove down from KL to Melaka ;-)

Re: How to Withdraw Money from PayPal in Malaysia

yowchuan — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 08:21:59 -0000

My primary card is the Al-Rajhi VISA ATM Debit card.

Re: How to Withdraw Money from PayPal in Malaysia

yowchuan — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:16:48 -0000

Yup JJ, it normally takes about that length of time for the transfer of funds from PayPal to your card.