Why I can't wait for my 1 year Maxis contract to be over

I am a fairly tolerant person on a typical day. Today my patience is challenged. As corporations grow bigger, the average consumer becomes smaller until its concerns and frustrations remain its own and consumers just have to swallow whatever rubbish is dished out at them.

I fell in love with the Apple iphone and that is the start of my problem with Maxis. I had been a Digi user and been reluctant to change out of Digi. Although Digi has some limitations with the quality of the service but Digi's customer service is superb and Digi has always been able to assist me in making full use of the telecommuication service. As an example, I remember standing outside my office building one day and looking at my Palm treo with its conference call feature I decided that while waiting for my husband to pick me up I might as well call my friend in LA and conference in another friend in Kuching and I managed to do that with Digi and that was way back in 2001, 2002?

I was excited that with the Apple iphone I can now make conference calls with my family members who live in other states. On this day, when my elder sister turns 50 I had hoped to use my Apple iphone to connect my family members just so we could all wish my sister a 'Happy Birthday'.

Now in 2009, I have the state of the art phone, the latest iphone, and I can't even connect members of the family within Malaysia. I was puzzled so I called Maxis Customer Service at 123 and was told that the conference call feature is a value added service and if I wish to activate the conference call I need to pay a deposit of RM1000. I was stunned that for Digi I did not have to activate anything but with Maxis it is not RM100 but a RM1000 deposit. I am puzzled that if there is no restriction on my international calls why should Maxis worry about how I make those calls.

I am really hoping that Maxis will be able to catch up with international telco providers like Digi. Is it because Maxis does not hire the right people? I am surprised that only the top brass people are listed on their website and they are not contactable. The switchboard is afraid to put me through to anybody other than David Keong, the floor manager of Customer Service at Sunway. Presia the switchboard operator tried her best but no one at HQ wants to take up the issue. No one from HQ felt able to call me back. It is clearly a policy issue and I do expect someone more senior than the floor manager of Customer Service to address this issue.

I just want to have an Apple iphone and I am saddened by the fact that with a more sophisticated phone I am now unable to use a feature which I was able to use freely although I had not seen the need to use it frequently. Should we be patronised by telcos who forget that they are a service provider and how can authorities allow such an arbitrary imposition of RM1000 deposit for conference calls when I expect only to be making at a conference call locally. If the telco is concerned about bills running too high, shouldn't a credit limit be imposed instead. Furthermore Maxis is the redistributor for Apple iphone and yet Maxis as the telco provider is barring conference calls.

cost of transfer pricing

For older tax practitioners, it probably is easy to recall that one of the tax maxims is that tax compliance should not be overly taxing and onerous on the taxpayers. Ideally, tax should not carry additional cost beyond what is required in the ordinary course of business. As far as possible, it should be a fairly easily quantifiable sum with sufficient certainty.

Yet, in the present era of transfer pricing compliance, businesses, particularly multinationals are required to prepare lengthy transfer pricing documentation not unlike an annual report, which I daresay, like annual reports, a lot of the print is hardly read or appreciated. These documentation require specialists in the field to prepare and which contributes nothing to the businesses and in many cases produce end results that are at best a ballpark figure and at worse, a wild guess.

In that backdrop, it seems odd that there is a global trend for collecting tax based on transfer pricing documentation. This trend should be reviewed. Is it just about collecting some taxes? Do businesses really think the transfer pricing exercise helps them understand what the true transfer price is between them and their related parties. Is it a case of the tax authorities wanting to collect more taxes and the businesses playing along, simply because a business' true costing for its pricing whether related or otherwise could never be revealed for obvious reasons vis a vis its competitors.

If it is really just a matter of collecting taxes, shouldn't the OECD and the tax authorities gather and reconsider a way to collect taxes, which does not require businesses into revealing its true costing for its pricing potentially threatening its business core, nor does it depend on broad economic theories, not unlike the concept of efficient market hypothesis which carried so much weight in the 80s only to be shot down in more ways than one in the 90s in that can markets ever be efficient or is it inevitably affected by noise. Let's get real, theories are theories. Businesses succeed or fail for reasons only peculiar to itself and no one else. For instance one keyman falling sick could potentially bring a multinational down. How can there be true comparables, even if there is another company selling exactly the same product type when so much goes beyond just the product, such as marketing. More so when the global economy face challenging times, every business will undertake measures of its own to cope in order to survive. Can corporate decisions be dissected into its components just by looking at its public financial records in order to compare similar factors like working capital levels, inventory levels etc.

Tax collection is about taking money from taxpayers. It can only be constitutionally appropriate if the laws which provide for the tax is clear and unambiguous. Can the laws be clear and unambiguous in the context of transfer pricing if such laws or rules require some mathematical extrapolation based on some economic theory on pricing in order to arrive at the tax liability.

Countries like Malaysia new in attempting to compete in the global arena ought to take a step back to see if they would truly want to jump into the play 'which the rich can afford to play'. One wrong tilt of the dice could mean a company closing down its business in Malaysia and that would mean loss of jobs. Malaysia is also not a high income country that is generating huge profits for multinational corporations for it to be easily replaced as a location. But that is digressing, the issue should focus on whether such an exercise is productive or merely a waste of corporates time and money when much focus should be placed on productive income generation, just so the taxman can collect its dues.

If it is about collecting tax revenue, would it not be easier to just ask for contributions similar to cess. Contributions can simply be based on turnover, agreeing on an affordable rate for businesses to pay. Take it out of the tax legislation and appeal to the corporate social responsibilities of corporates. After all it is at best a ballpark sum. The difference is it makes everyone feel empowered and happy with what they are contributing. Multinationals feel welcome to operate in Malaysia just by making contributions to the country's tabung. Malaysia then is truly boleh.

Marriage

Marriage vows is not about love. It's about commitment, not between the couple, but a commitment to the children of the marriage.

Between the couple it is only about whether there is love or not. Commitment is about the children.

Marriage vows should be relooked. Are the vows relevant? Should it be reworded? Should it be more like a tripartite agreement with the children as an additional party.

Whitney Houston

I was just watching Oprah's amazing interview with Whitney Houston. Whitney was explaining what she went through over the last 8 years or so after 'Bodyguard'. As a big fan of Whitney, I have watched that movie over and over. Somehow I felt that Whitney was probably affected by that movie where her character had to give up love for her career. Although I watched the interview with the view of wanting to know Whitney's account of what happened to the lost years as if it was a loss, at the end of the interview, I felt it is not about loss but about life. What came through to me is Whitney's strength in choosing love. It may seem that she gave up a critical time of her career for passionate love. And why not. As much as career must be grasped hold of during the prime of life, so is passionate love. That moment gone can never be re-captured. One experiences love differently at different stages in life.

It takes courage to love wholeheartedly and it looks like she did just that. It is not about what Bobby Brown did. It's about what Whitney did. It's about giving one's heart wholeheartedly. It's about chance. It's not about whether the marriage was good. When a marriage fails, it's not about failure or regret. The love that first sparks the marriage is still as wondrously real as ever for that moment. It is better to have experienced that love than never ever.

I look forward to listening to Whitney's new album 'I look to you'. In choosing to live life, Whitney inadvertently connects with the real world. Her experience has made her singing ever more relevant, like in real life opera filled with emotional depth and maturity.

Goods & Services Tax

There's uncertainty and sort of excitement in the air about Goods & Services Tax (GST) as we approach the Budget 2010 announcement. In the papers, people are talking about the urgent need for the implementation of GST to fund government spending.

Cooking

It's a great day today for me. Why? I actually got myself to the bangsar wet market. There I bought some fresh meat and some dried mushrooms and a packet of curry paste. Then I head over to tmc and bought some shiitake and spinach. And I cooked a combination of fried beehoon with mushrooms and spinach and also pork curry.

I feel such a sense of achievement. And i must say that Nigella's book on How to eat was really quite inspiring in the sense that she was saying cooking is not about following one recipe after another. It is more of cooking what you like to eat and i figured that i ought to start with my favourite foods. And I like my food to be properly paired and I just think the best food combination has to be fried beehoon and curry. The taste of each mouthful is just amazing. The richness of the curry and the simplicity of the beehoon yet good enough to eat on its own. With that the impetus is naturally there to follow the sense of taste. I can visualise how my mum would cook those dishes from all those times spent watching her cook. Though I didn't get to use the exact same ingredients but the essence of the dish is ingrained in me. And i just follow through from the preparation to cooking it. I guess in a way, cooking is really a matter of mimicking an impression that is in the mind, gauging the taste that is a part of us.

I hope that with this first step, the menu for the next day and the day after that would flow seamlessly. And that somehow gives me a sense of life's purpose and my role in the connection between one generation and another. Next I want to go down the lane of my days in Monash where i would do a one pot meal essentially with chicken, mushroom and potatoes.

netbook

I love the netbook. when asus first came up with asus eepc 701 i couldn't believe it. it's just so portable. It's main function is internet connectivity. I tend to see it as a handphone that allows you to access the internet and respond to emails. It is truly more like a handphone than a notebook eventhough it may be shaped like a notebook. Certainly the price is akin to a mobilephone. I think it is useful to have one around the house. I keep one in my bag that i carry around and up to my bedroom. It's for accessing the internet in bed. Because it is so light, I surf the web like reading a book in bed. It's really nice.

I bought mine before the webcam comes with it. So I don't have the webcam. It would be nice to have a netbook with webcam. The built in skype is also excellent and I can messenger or call my friends. I think it is worth having a netbook like a telephone at home and it can work like a video phone.

I am hoping the newer netbooks would squeese in a dvd player. It is mainly for those times when you are travelling or moving around and there is no wi fi. At least one can view a movie then. And I am ready to upgrade to a new netbook with webcam and a dvd player. no need to add any other features like bigger ram or memory. keep the price low within the mobile phone range.

nokia 6300

Today i shall talk about mobile phones. It took me a long while to wean off my palm treo 600 even when the telephony was barely audible. Still I could not bring myself to get a mobile. I hung on to my treo and used to send text messages instead. That went on for a couple of years, until my brother gave me a nokia 6300 and said it's a pretty good phone. I have used the earlier generations of nokia phones before and some other brands too so I am familiar with nokia. But I found the 6300 model special. Firstly I love the slim shape and i just love to hold the phone. So i don't use any phone covers. I think the most important feature is the screen. The colours are just so vibrant. I love to play games like diner dash on the pc. I found i could download diner dash on 6300 and play diner dash with just one hand. I had hours of fun just playing diner dash on 6300. I guess Nokia has always been strong on telephony so there is no question with the telephony quality. The bluetooth feature works fast for transferring music. Even the 2mb camera is excellent and has given me good shots of plants which I can use as screen savers. Another thing, the calendar is brilliant. Like most handphones, you can add calendar reminders of appointments. It has this added lovely feature where i can book a movie and send the movie details as a date to my husband straight to his calendar item together with a reminder alarm. When I sent my first movie date, my husband was impressed. He also uses the same nokia phone model. The calendar feature has also come in handy when we travel as a family to calendarise everyone on the flight details. Even my sister who usually meets us when we fly to kuching gets the details on her phone calendar. She also uses the same nokia model. It may seem like no big deal but when there is a family reunion and everyone is flying at different times, it is quite useful to have the flight details as a calendar item for the greeter. And now my teenage daughter plans to get the same nokia 6300 for herself too.

Somehow with the 6300 i was able to finally give up my palm treo. With the treo I enjoyed accessing the web. And i found nokia 6300 though so slim, could do pretty well on the web. I can check my emails and do short replies. And if you download opera mini, you get the view the full webpage. Like I said earlier, the screen is probably the most important feature to me. And this is the main reason. Even though the screen is not that big compared to other phone models but somehow the screen is so sharp and the colours are so bright it is a pleasure to view. I am happy accessing the web on 6300. I even do messenger on 6300. And it's nice to be able to view websites like bbc gardening and view pictures of plants. It's also comforting to know if I really wish to I can view pictures on yahoo photos or facebook. I am still amazed that for an average price range phone, nokia 6300 is truly not just value for money but a joy to hold and have with me.

so what would i want in a newer model of 6300? nothing really. i was thinking may be a bigger memory but i can add a 2gb memory as it is.

Labelling risk levels

The Madoff Incident could have been prevented. All it requires is a labelling of the risk level of the company. Once a company has been labelled as a low risk investment this means that all its underlying investments ought to reflect the same level of risk as the company has represented to its investors. This would allow the expectation of the investors to be met. Presumably an investor would expect a low risk company to invest only in low risk investment.

With the disclosure system that the global security industry seems to be upholding to, it is not necessarily useful to the average investor. An average investor may not have the resources to consume all the information disclosed. Which is why it may be necessary to use a labelling approach in addition to the full disclosure system. Whilst the institutional investor may have the capacity to sieve through all the information, labelling would allow the average investor to know at a glance the risk level which the company is adhering to or whether it has not been able to adhere to. A company with a low risk level would need to disclose if its investments have complied with the same low risk level. If it has not, the company would need to reflect that it has exceeded its risk level and moved on to higher risk level. This would enable the average investor to decide if it wishes to maintain its investment at that higher risk or to sell out of the higher risk investment.

The labelling can be done by a simple colour coding. If all stocks are labelled, the colour label can easily be implemented.

corporate social responsibility

It may be a good time to re-look at corporate social responsibility ("CSR"). Instead of the norm in looking at charities or endangered species to protect, it may be relevant or useful to look at the integral business concerned.

On a typical sale season in the shopping mall, for instance, in the clothes department, one can see so much of clothes piled up high with its prices slashed. It gives one an idea of how much over-production is involved in each production run. This is where i believe the CSR team in the company should begin. Is it possible to look beyond economies of scale for management to decide how much of the stocks can truly be sold and ultimately consumed? Can social responsibility begin way before production and the creation of the waste. Instead of tagging bonus to the sales people who can rake in the turnover. Should management deduct bonus where there is a major overrun in production resulting ultimately in pollution. Should CSR look into the amount of waste created and contributed by its own business?

It would seem even more critical to consider this issue of over production, particularly where consumption is expected to be much lower. Is management looking into lowering production? or slowing the release of new designs. To take it a step further, should ethical standards be placed on consumption. For instance the use of bottled water to be banned in certain countries. Could this global economic turmoil become a catalyst for striving towards a more ethical consumption and ultimately resulting in a better environment?