finding happiness in life

In the words of George Bernard Shaw:-

"This is the true joy in life - that being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one. That being a force of nature, instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as i live it is my privilege to do for it whatever i can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die. For the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. It's a sort of splendid torch which I've got to hold up for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations."

as the stomach turns

Lately there have been several below-the-belt attempts by neo-conservatives in this country to use the Sultans as justification for clamping down on legitimate free speech. Take the case of the International Islamic University of Malaysia's law lecturer Prof Dr Abdul Aziz Bari who has been issued a show-cause letter from that university's disciplinary board for his remarks published in a news portal regarding the Sultan’s decree that no persons be prosecuted for the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS) inspection during a thanksgiving dinner by NGO Harapan Komuniti at the Damansara Utama Methodist Church in Petaling Jaya in Aug 3. What was plainly an academic discussion from a learned source on a matter of public importance has been deemed as an assault against the Sultans themselves and an excuse to clamp down on legitimate public discourse and free speech. Such cynical disregard for the right of the public to know and be informed of its rights and the use and abuse of the Sultans as a weapon of choice must be nipped in the bud immediately before the rot is allowed to fester and stew. We have become accustomed to politicians and their minions using the Sultans as and when they see fit to suit their agenda and the trend has only worsened in recent years. We give an inch, they take a mile. Then they take a few hundred more miles. Until one day, we wake up and find that we are stooges to be told what to think and say. If they have forgotten, we have NO lese majesty laws in Malaysia and our freedom from such archaic laws is something that we can be rightfully proud of. Certain countries may have need for lese majesty laws but they are always at best, criticised or at worse, ridiculed outright for it internationally. The Sultans may be the head of Islam in their respective states and that gives them the authority to make proclamations on all matters of Islam. But if an issue affects non-Muslims as well, you can hardly say that it is the sole and exclusive prerogative of the Sultans to comment on such matters which must then immediately be closed off in a vacuum-proofed seal and kill all further discussion or investigation into the truth of the matter. NO WAY. We need to fight tooth and claw against such insidious attempts to stifle our basic right to free speech and fair comment. So STOP using the Sultans to justify your narrow-mindedness. The Sultans don't need you to defend them. Our Sultans are clever enough to speak up for themselves and to join public discourse affecting their non-Muslim subjects. Don't insult their intellect by suggesting that they're not capable of standing up for themselves or backing up what they have said. Stop it. It's disgusting.

My First Home Scheme

Right. The Government announced in the PM's Budget 2012 speech on 7th October, 2011 that, effective from 1st January 2012, the "My First Home Scheme" first launched in March this year to assist young people to buy and own their first homes would increase its present ceiling limit of RM220,000 to RM400,000 (the price of the home). So this means that if you're aged from 18-35, is/are employed in the private sector, is/are a confirmed employee with the same employer for at least 6 months and your combined household income does not exceed RM3,500-00 (i know, they reported it as RM3,000-00 but bankers informed me otherwise - so if you earn RM3,000 a month and your wife earns RM2,000 then as husband and wife jointly you do not qualify unless only one of you apply for the scheme), techinically you MIGHT be eligible for 100% financing in the purchase of your first home. You can buy landed or stratified (condos, apartments, flats) properties it doesn't matter. The government's national mortgage company Cagamas Bhd will guarantee your downpayment of 10% deposit so that the loan covers everything, including even an extra 5% financing to cover fire insurance/takaful. But that's not all. The term of the loan is 30 years' tenure but if  you're a graduate or a professional, the banks can, on a case-to-case basis, stretch your loan tenure to 40 years (elitism? you tell me). Other criteria filtering out loan applicants include the requirement that your savings' reserve be at least 3 times your loan instalment sum and your combined household income is at least 3 times your total monthly commitments (that means your housing loan plus car loan, student loan, etc) or, with the approval of Cagamas Bhd, your combined household income be at least 2 times your total monthly commitments. Contrary to rumours, you DO NOT enjoy 100% exemption off stamp duty (not for the transfer nor the loan) but since this is your first home, and provided that the price of your home is not more than RM350,000-00, you get a 50% discount off stamp duty like any other first-time house buyer. (Eligible buyers of the government's other scheme, the PR1MA in which developers build on land given to them by the govt get to enjoy 100% stamp duty exemption off their loan but not My First Home Scheme). There are no other restrictions, you can sell off your home like other property owners at any time (unlike PR1MA where there is a 10-year moratorium against selling your property) but subject of course to real property gains tax as usual. Details are a bit sketchy but under the old scheme, only husband and wife or siblings are eligible. Friends, business partners, relatives do not qualify. And if you already bought a house previously and sold it off and now you want to buy a new house, you do not qualify neither. Only first-time, VIRGIN house buyer is eligible, geddit?

The following 25 banks/financial institutions are participants in the My First Home Scheme:

1. Affin Bank Bhd
2. Affin Islamic Bank Bhd
3. Alliance Bank Malaysia Bhd
4. Alliance Islamic Bank Malaysia Bhd
5. AmBank Bhd
6. AmIslamic Bank Bhd
7. Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd
8. Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd
9. CIMB Bank Bhd
10. CIMB Islamic Bank Bhd
11. EON Bank Bhd
12. EONCAP Islamic Bank Bhd
13. Hong Leong Bank Bhd
14. Hong Leong Islamic Bank Bhd.
15. Maybank Bhd
16. Maybank Islamic Bank Bhd
17. OCBC Bank Malaysia Bhd
18. OCBC Al Amin Bhd
19. Public Bank Bhd
20. Public Islamic Bank Bhd
21. RHB Bank Bhd
22. RHB Islamic Bank Bhd
23. United Overseas Bank Malaysia Bhd
24. Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Bhd
25. Standard Chartered Saadiq Bhd

Unfortunately, the interest rate for this scheme will cost more. I am informed by a source at the time of writing that, while the interest rate for housing loans is now BLR - 2.2%, under the My First Home Scheme the interest rate is BLR - 1.8%. So, stretch that over 30 or 40 years and this scheme isn't exactly going to save you money.

At the end of the day, you decide whether this scheme really helps young salary earners to buy their first home or it is just another elections gimmick with precious little to offer in substance.