Saturday, August 14, 2010

Deteriorating Services (or is it deteriorating money value?)

I was amused, and confused. In a span of 2 days, my money was rejected, or nearly so. Oh well, maybe it's too small a sum, I guess.

At a public toilet, I was given a "lecture" by the caretaker, when I pay with a few 5 sen coins. I was so surprised, I thought to myself "is it that the 5 sen coin had also been canceled, like the 1 sen?". Eventually, he was saying that it's hard for him to change, or something like that. I wasn't paying notice once I'm sure my 5 sens are still valid.

But afterwards, I gave the incident a deep thought. What the hell! What is wrong with paying with 5 sen? Is 5 sen not money? The fastfood chain are paying me those all the time, can I say no?

And another instance(which is quite normal nowadays)is when I pay with a RM50 note for a few ringgit of products. While I always try to avoid doing this, sometimes I just can't help that I do not have any small change. But when I pay, the attendant just totally reject the money, asking me to find some small change to pay him.

I really think the services sector should improve, and move away from this practice, as I think as a consumer, we deserved better.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Major Tolled Highways in Malaysia - and its Major Share Holders

1) North South Expressway owned by PLUS
2) Kuala Lumpur-Karak Highway (MTD InfraPerdana)
3) Penang Bridge (UEM Builders)
4) Shah Alam Highway or KESAS (Selangor govt 30 per cent, Gamuda 30 per cent)
5) Butterworth-Kulim Expressway (PLUS Expressways)
6) Cheras-Kajang Highway (Taliworks 55 per cent)
7) Damansara-Puchong Highway (LITRAK)
8) SPRINT Highway (Gamuda 53 per cent, LITRAK, KPS, New Pantai Expressway (IJM Corp)
9) Kajang SILK Highway (SILK Holdings)
10) Guthrie Corridor Expressway (Pemodalan Nasional Bhd)
11) Sungai Besi Highway (IJM Corp)
12) East Coast Expressway (MTD InfraPerdana)
13) Malaysia-Singapore 2nd Link (PLUS Expressways)
14) Butterworth Outer Ring Road (Rayston Consortium SB)
15) Ampang-KL Elevated Highway (Pemodalan Nasional Bhd)
16) SMART Tunnel (Gamuda-MMC JV)
17) New North Klang Straits Bypass (Shapadu Corporation SB),
18) Duta-Ulu Klang Expressway (Wira Kristal SB 70 per cent, MRCB 30 per cent)
19) ELITE Highway (PLUS Expressways)

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Toyota crisis

On the first week of my working life,my company exposed me to the idea "Doing it the Toyota Way" and "Kaizen", which I was told means "improve" in Japanese. But don't get me wrong, I wasn't part of the Toyota staff, and in no way being associated with them. The only link between me and Toyota is my dad owned one Toyota Corolla.

Until the recent crisis, Toyota has been a symbol of excellence, a sustainable corporate giant that span 73 years long. Toyota cars are meant to be reliable,and to many, owning a Toyota car alone is a great pride.

I was unfazed when Toyota announced the recall of vehicles. I thought it was a great move, a sign that they really care about the quality of the cars they produced. "No recall doesn't mean it's a good car" is what deeply feel, due to the numerous problems encountered by the people owning a national car. I was in no doubt that Toyota will come back stronger.

But when the news of an internal Toyota document broke off, I was deeply shocked! The internal document allegedly boast of a "win" for Toyota in striking a deal with the U.S. government for a more limited recall involving floor mats, and saving the company $100 million.

Though until now there aren't any definite reply whether the document is genuine or not, I hope Toyota, or even Akio Toyoda himself, will clarified on this matter. While customers acknowledged that defects does happen, they will never forgive for ignoring their safety for the sake of saving money. This will be a crucial point in convincing and winning back the customers again,and that Toyota is still a reputable company that stress on safety.

My confidence on Toyota is greatly shaken by this document, and as this crisis keep on unfolding, we may, or may not get to the real cause all these recalls.

May we all get to the root of the cause..

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Malaysians should be PROUD! We have a very proactive government!

I have always been a passive person, and was, and still is, always urged to be more proactive in the way I do things. Perhaps I'm too passive in nature...perhaps I should learn a thing or two from the government.

The government has been, in recent time, very proactive in what is happening in the country. The two obvious cases are as below:

1) The alleged leaking of the autopsy report on Teoh Beng Hock to non-authorized personnel by Pornthip.

The PROACTIVE Personnel: MACC Officer.

2) Filing of appeal against the High Court ruling on the use of the word “Allah”

The PROACTIVE Personnel: Home Ministry/ Home Minister


I'm deeply influenced by the government's proactive-ness, and I vowed to be more proactive from now on! ( wow! what an influential government! They will have to be careful with their action if they command such great influence, as there are always Good and Bad influence)

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