S:Boleh bagi tip sesuai yang boleh diamalkan supaya kita lebih berhati-hati berbelanja di musim perayaan?

J: Ada beberapa tip. Pertama, kita kena pastikan berapa jumlah wang yang kita perlukan untuk sambut perayaan. Biasanya kita sudah boleh agak setiap tahun berapa jumlah wang berdasarkan keperluan keluarga. Biasanya akan lihat perbelanjaan beli keperluan seperti juadah raya, persiapan pakaian dan seterusnya kalau balik kampung perbelanjaan seperti minyak, tol dan duit raya. Jadi kita kena siapkan berapa jumlah diperlukan, contohnya RM3,000, bagaimana nak dapat jumlah itu. Kalau kita tidak rancang, kita akan guna gaji pada bulan itu untuk perbelanjaan raya. Ini yang sebenarnya masalah sebab biasanya pendapatan bulanan sudah ada perbelanjaan tetap seperti bayaran kereta dan rumah. Bagi yang berpendapatan rendah dan sederhana, gaji bulanan biasanya memang ‘cukupcukup’ sahaja. Jadi kalau guna sejumlah wang gaji untuk perbelanjaan raya, ia akan mengganggu perbelanjaan tetap. Sebab itu ada yang tidak dapat menyelesaikan bayaran rumah dan kereta... jadi tertunggak. Ada juga yang meminjam dengan along, dapat cepat, kalau pinjam dengan bank, lambat diluluskan.

Ini akan jadi perangkap mereka.

Kalau boleh buat persiapan awal atau menyimpan sedikit demi sedikit dan akhirnya menjelang raya, duit sudah cukup. Seterusnya belanja berdasarkan keperluan dan sepatutnya kalau pakaian, peralatan masih elok, gunakan atau yang kreatif perabot boleh letak sarung baharu. Jadi tidak membabitkan perbelanjaan besar. Apa yang berlaku sekarang kebanyakan pengguna menganggap bila hari raya, semua benda nak baharu, kereta, perabot dan pakaian semua serba baharu. Ini akan menyebabkan mereka terbelenggu dengan masalah kewangan. Kita melihat ini lebih kepada pengguna yang pendapatan rendah dan sederhana. Yang pendapatan tinggi tiada isu kerana ada kemampuan untuk berbelanja. Yang berpendapatan rendah dan sederhana akan terbeban dengan masalah kewangan jika tidak dapat merancang kewangan dengan baik.

PETALING JAYA: While many Malaysians are aware that e-waste can be harmful if mishandled, few of them know where and how to properly dispose of unwanted electrical and electronic items.Media coordinator Hana Jimi from Shah Alam said she never used to think about it until she came across reports on the problems of e-waste.“Even after I realised that I shouldn’t be discarding e-waste like other rubbish, I don’t know what is the right channel to do it properly.“In my hometown in Gemencheh, my family used to discard bulky electronic items by selling them to a collector,” said the 30-year-old.

The authorities, said Hana, must go big on a campaign to educate the public on e-waste disposal.Sharing Hana’s opinion is Ipoh resident David Chen, 41, who bought a new mobile phone last month. “I haven’t thrown away the old phone because I don’t know where to discard it. In fact, I still have several of my old and faulty phones from years ago.“I just don’t think it’s okay to throw them away as I do with other types of waste,” he said.The tractor operator from Jelapang said that while he had seen e-waste collection points at malls in Kuala Lumpur, there was none where he lives.Chen said more needed to be done to create awareness among consumers, especially those in rural areas.

KUALA LANGAT: Much of the e-waste in Malaysia has ended up in the hands of scrap collectors and scavengers who have no qualms about burning cables and wires to get to the metal within, although this method is bad for health and the environment.There were scorched patches in the ground along the dirt road leading to an e-waste dumpsite in Sri Cheeding, just outside Jenjarom in Selangor. An acrid smell filled the air.It was clear that scavengers had burnt and shredded parts of electrical and electronic items to remove valuable materials such as copper.

About the size of two football fields, the dumpsite was strewn with bits and pieces of circuit boards, keyboards, plastic casing, cables, computers and mobile phones.Jenjarom is already notorious for its mounds of plastic waste. This particular spot for dumping e-waste is on a piece of land less than 200m into an oil palm estate just off the main road out of the town.It apparently attracts many scavengers, usually locals.On a second visit on May 16, a tractor was covering part of the dumpsite with soil and the signboard was gone.A boy aged about 12 was collecting cables and wires. A motorcycle was parked nearby.The boy lit a fire beside the dumpsite and burned the cables. This produced black smoke and a noxious stench.“Is it not dangerous?” we asked the boy. He shook his head.“I am looking for wires, (I burn them and) sell them for RM20 per kilo,” he said, adding that he would sell the parts to a nearby shop selling scrap metal.

I AM sure many new car buyers must have realised by now that the five-year warranty is more of a bane than a boon.More and more car brands are resorting to this apparently subtle strategy to promote sales. The big question is whether such a warranty benefits the buyers or sellers more.Cost of parts and services under the warranty period provided by authorised workshops is exorbitant (usually 200% more compared with freelance ones). The only good thing is that they (authorised workshops ) provide genuine parts, so to speak.

On the service side itself, at times it leaves one wondering whether certain parts and fluids have really been replaced/changed, as in all occasions car owners are not allowed to go in the workshop to see the work in progress even for a brief moment.When it comes to warranty claims, in most cases the buyers end up as suckers whereby, after much hassle, the faulty parts are usually only repaired but not replaced.

Why can’t big established automotive brands give their customers new replacements if the faulty goods are returned regardless of liabilities and with no questions asked?Three weeks ago, I had an unpleasant experience when making a warranty claim on my car.It was a claim to repair the drive shaft cover (bellow) which was punctured and leaking grease.Even after much hassle, the car dealer refused to honour the warranty because the bellow is excluded in the terms and conditions.I pointed out that the design of the oil drip tray does not provide adequate protection to the undercarriage parts like the bellows, hoses and etc, thus making them vulnerable to damage from objects kicked up by the front wheels.

FOMCA fully supports the action by the Deputy Minister of Transport on eliminating hidden charges when purchasing air tickets. This pervasive practice of quoting a price, for example RM 1 for ticket price, and then when all the other charges are added, the actual price is way above RM1, must be stopped. Hidden charges must be eliminated, Advertised price must be the actual price consumers pay. Consumers must get the price they are promised.  The principle should be “what you see is what you get”. The advertised prices should thus reflect the real price not some misleading promotional price to attract consumers and then hit them with an exorbitant price later.

The Federal Court in Melbourne in 2012 had imposed a penalty of A$ 200,000 against Air Asia Berhad for contravening the single price provision of the Australian Consumer Law. According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) website, Air Asia for a period of 10 months did not display on the website some air fair prices inclusive of all taxes, duties, fees and other mandatory charges in a prominent way and as a single figure.

Under Section 48 of the Australian Consumer Law, businesses that choose to advertise a part of the price of a particular product or service must also prominently specify a single total price.FOMCA fully supports and has always been advocating for an all-inclusive pricing. Consumers must have accurate price information so that they can compare prices to get the best value for money.The Ministry of Transport’s courageous action to promote air travellers well-being must be lauded. Accurate price information is crucial for consumer wellbeing.Single pricing is not only relevant for the airline industry but for all industries. In August 2017, the then Minister of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism had announced that  amendment had been made to the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act, whereby consumers need not pay more than the price displayed, quoted or advertised. He had stated that “the policy would benefit consumers and help them make more informed decisions without worrying about additional costs”. Yet till today, in restaurants and hotels the practice of “hidden charges” continues unabated.  The legislation was never implemented.

•Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 0.2 per cent in April 2019 to 121.1 as compared to 120.9 in the same month of the preceding year. The main groups that contributed to the increases were Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (+2.0 per cent), Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (+1.2 per cent), Education (+1.2 per cent), Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+1.1 per cent) and Restaurants & Hotels (+0.8 per cent).

•On a monthly basis, CPI remains unchanged as compared to March 2019. Meanwhile, CPI for the period of January - April 2019 registered a decrease of 0.2 per cent as compared to the same period last year.

 

KUALA LUMPUR: Soon travellers purchasing airline tickets will not have to deal with the unwelcome surprise of hidden charges now that the Malaysian Aviation Commission has amended the Malaysian Aviation Consumer Protection Code 2016 (MACPC).The updated MACPC now requires airlines to publish the final price of the airfare in advertising and promotion materials and at points of sale.

Airlines must disclose the prices after adding other charges, such as government-imposed tax and fees, fees prescribed by the law and fuel surcharge.This eliminates hidden charges like administrative fees and card payment charges.

This will be enforced starting June 1.The new rules also call for refunds on flight tickets for passengers who cannot make their flights within 30 days of a request being made, even for a ticket purchased through a travel agent.The refund must include passenger service charges, plus other taxes, charges and fees.If a ticket is non-refundable, passengers are allowed to get a refund on the airport tax and airlines are permitted to charge a maximum of 5% processing fee.

The decision to rent out your home or apartment can be an exciting one. It allows you to own more than one property, and hopefully enough money to cover the monthly payment – if you don’t own the rental property outright – as well as make a bit of additional income.But the reality of being a landlord is sometimes not quite as exciting as the idea of it. So before you decide to rent out a property, you’ll need to understand what your tenant could expect of you, what the renter’s rights are, what your rights and obligations are as a landlord and the steps you would need to take in the event that there’s a landlord and tenant dispute.

This is especially crucial in Malaysia, where there’s currently no official landlord-tenant law. Though the government is in the process of writing a law that details the rights of both landlords and tenants that should be enacted in 2020, until then, you’ll need to know what standards are currently affected and the processes in place for disputes.For example, even if your tenant does not pay rent on time, you cannot evict them without taking them to court. Surprised? Then read on for more information on landlord rights!

Landlord Obligations

There’s more to being a landlord than simply finding a person who’s willing to pay you to live in your property. There are things your tenant will expect you to provide and things they’ll expect you to pay for – but are those expectations or obligations?Due to the current lack of an overarching tenancy agreement in Malaysia, the official obligations aren’t easy to pin down. However, there are standards that have come to be accepted, and these will be outlined in the tenancy agreement. This is a crucial document in the relationship between landlords and tenants, as it outlines both your obligations as a landlord and your tenant’s obligations as a renter.

Generally, the landlord is obligated to pay the annual property taxes; to insure the property and pay premiums; to provide appliances that are in good condition; and to provide basic necessities such as lights, cabinets, air conditioners and curtains. As for costs associated with the property, the landlord usually pays the property maintenance fees and for any repairs not caused by the tenant, while the tenant will pay for utilities such as electricity, water and cable/internet.Pro tip: Keep a detailed inventory of all the items you’ve provided to your tenant. Take photos of all the items before the tenant moves in so that you have them on file and you can refer to them in the event of requested repairs or damage.

PETALING JAYA: A consumer group has called for the suspension of the PayDirect system of cashless toll payments at highways, while another group called for a guarantee of safety of customers’ accounts, and a payback policy.

The warnings came from the Malaysia Consumer Movement and the Consumers Association of Subang and Shah Alam, Selangor. They said there were bugs in the service and it was premature to introduce it.

Touch ‘N Go has introduced an electronic wallet service which subscribers can use to make payments, transfer funds, reload their TNG cards, and pay highway tolls directly through the PayDirect system on open-toll highways like the Duke-Ulu Kelang, Damansara-Puchong and Shah Alam expressways.

(It cannot be used on the PLUS Highway, Elite Highway, New Klang Valley Expressway and Lekas Highway, according to the app.)
MCM president Darshan Singh Dhillon said it was pointless to launch the PayDirect service when there were still highways yet to be included, adding that the move appeared to be a gimmick to get people on board.

“Touch ‘n Go must do proper research before introducing such a service,” he told FMT. “Who has the time to check which highways are participating? Most of the time, I don’t even know which highway I’m on.”

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