How can anyone win a lottery without buying one!

Below is an email I received recently in which a method is claimed to be used to get someone to part with some cash. I cannot verify the truth of this happening but then to know this can only put us on guard just in case we are the next victim of such a scam. Well, to be forewarned is to be forearmed. Besides that, how can anyone be so naive to believe that a lottery can be won without buying or entering one?

If you see RM200K in your bank account, don't be overjoyed !!
Read on and you will be shocked !!!

Beware times are bad !!!!

Any cheque banked in into your account need a few days to transact. Although the amount appears in your account, but it's still pending for transaction, the person issuing the cheque can cancel the cheque at any time!

A few days ago, one of my friends received a sms with the message: "You've strike 1st prize with a prize money of RM200,000 cash." The sms came with a contact no. My friend ignored it since he had heard of too many bogus scams using
similar tactics. After a short while his handphone rang, a Miss Fang asked: "Sir have you received an sms telling you that you've strike 1st prize?"

My friend answered: "Yes, I have"

Miss Fang: "Please let us have your bank account number so that we can deposit the money into your account."

My friend thought, why not, let's see what you can do. My friend has a buddy who works in that bank. Hence, he gave her his account number. Ten minutes later, my friend's handphone started ringing again.

Miss Fang said: "Sir, we have deposited your prize money into your account, please check and verify."

My friend checked using his handphone and found that RM 200,000 was really deposited into his account. He was euphoric, just like that and he's RM 200,000 richer!

Thirty minutes later, Miss Fang called again. She was crying: "I'm sorry sir, I made a mistake, I forgot to deduct the tax before I deposited the prize money, 20% of RM 200,000 equals to RM40,000. Now the company wants me to reimburse the money. Can you please return the RM 40,000 tax? I beg you."

My friend thought for a while and felt pity for the lady. Thinking of the money in his bank account, he went to the bank. Suddenly he thought of his buddy working in that bank and decided to ask his buddy to double check and confirm with him first. Upon checking, his buddy found out that the money was deposited using a cheque of a different bank. Even though the cheque was deposited but the actual amount of money can't be transferred into his account on the same day. If the other party decided to
cancel the cheque, then he'll not get this RM 200,000. My friend was shocked. He almost lost RM 40,000. Before my friend left for home on that day, the cheque was actually cancelled. If not for his buddy, if not for him being a professional, or if he was cared of letting others know of striking the prize then this bogus scam would be successful.

This is a true story, please beware. Future scams could be even better planned. Please don't forget to forward to your friends and relatives to warn them from being cheated. -- Thank you.

Neither a lender nor a borrower be.

At the hill the other morning, a friend told me about one of her lady friends who is in the habit of borrowing money from her. Before the last time, all the borrowed money had been returned. The last loan she gave her friend was merely five hundred.

Surprisingly, when the friend borrowed the money she gave this friend a gold necklace as collateral. So abrupt and unexpected was this move that the friend did not know what to say or do. Recovering from the unprecedented action, she asked her whether she was supposed to keep the necklace; to which the friend nodded. So, unquestioningly, she kept it.

It has been a year now, her keeping that necklace, without any sign of her friend intending to return her the money. Not only that, that friend seem to no longer want to meet her. Thus, the last time she phoned her she invited her out for a meal and she refused the invitation giving some excuse. Sensing that it could be the loan that is preventing them from meeting as friends, she told her that the invitation had nothing to do with the money, to no avail.

Looks like she would have to hold on to the necklace and probably have to forget about her money. Her friend must have considered it good exchange. Unfortunately, there was no actual agreement to convert the loan and the collateral into an exchange. Certainly, she would not be wearing someone else jewellery, would she? Even though the price of gold has gone up, it is not hers. What if, one day, the friend wants it back?

Well, my advice to her was to just keep the jewellery and to prevent any further unhappiness over the affair, just forget the loan and consider it a gift instead.

Understanding money, I know that it is one matter that can cause a lot of happiness as well as a lot of grief. Lend it to somebody and if that somebody is greedy enough to try to forget having taken a loan and time works on the money's return with it digging into our brain, causing a lot of presumptions and leaving us uneasy at the least and mad at the worst.

There was a time, as I was heading to the supermarket to purchase something, I met this guy who smiled at me, greeted me like an old friend and wondered how I could ever have forgotten him. Frankly, I had no idea who he was. He got me to guess who he was and when I mentioned a group of friends, he said he was in that group. Then, he told me the sad story of realising how he should have never got married, that he was a the supermarket thinking of how he could buy a tin of milk for his baby. All he needed was fifty ringgit. He even asked for my phone number and said that should he be able to return the money, he honestly said he did not know when, he would phone me. However, if I do not hear from him, it just meant that he was still jobless and without any money to return.

Listening to that, uncertain whether he was the friend he claimed to be, I told myself "What is fifty ringgit between friends?" That thought cost me fifty ringgit and I was left with insufficient money to make my own purchase. So, after giving him the money, I turned back to my car and drove home. To this day I do not know whether I have been duped or I have been of help to a friend. I do not consider it a loan. It was just a small gift from me. Furthermore, I was able to thank God for being in a position to help.

When it comes to money, although I am far from being rich, my able management of it has helped me greatly to be neither a borrower nor a lender.

Money, money, money.

Today I read of an accident in which RM75,000 worth of coins from a steel container in a car spilled onto the North-South Highway. According to the papers, this happened on Tuesday, the 18th of January.

The highway has always been one of the most dangerous place for any person outside his vehicle unless proper signs and barricades have been put up to slow down vehicles speeding along this busy road.

Yet, when the people traveling along this busy highway saw the coins roll across the highway in all directions, every caution was thrown to the wind as they stopped their own vehicles, got down from them and rushed around to collect as many as they could all those coins. That, despite the owner of the coins telling them to stop collecting his coins.

Any of those people could have been killed by one of the many vehicles traveling along that same route. No, they cared not for their own safety or their lives. After all, what is the use of a life without the opportunity to gather some of the thousands of coins being strewn on the road.

Yet, none of them were killed. It goes to show how actually careful and attentive our drivers truly are. Or was it the numerous coins that got them all to stop so that they could also take part in the collection of free coins on the highway?

And when it came to money, all those coin collectors were fast to gather up as many coins as they could into whatever containers they could use. They used almost anything to hold those coins. And, the excitement could have lasted a long time, had they not been interrupted by the arrival of the police.

And here is one good reason for wearing a helmet. The motorist found good use for them as they certainly were big enough to hold a few hundred coins. They must have thanked their lucky stars to have such a useful container for the collection of hundreds of coins each.

It is in such circumstances that we see how reckless people are. It is at such times that we understand the lure of money.

As for me, the opportunity is unavailable and therefore I turn my thoughts to the possible reasons for transporting so many coins in a vehicle. According to the owner, it was to be distributed to stores in Malacca. Nevertheless, in our modern times when the nearest bank which can supply the coins is just a few kilometres away from most places in town, where is the need to transport coins from one state to another? I find this most strange. But then, as someone once wrote, truth is sometimes stranger than fiction.

Do not put obstacles into the path of the learning child.

What can possibly happen when a child is given the understanding that his future is planned for him so that there is no necessity for him to worry about a job or any financial situations in his life?

And if that child happens to be a student, what would be that child's attitude towards schooling? Perhaps, some children could still want to study to improve himself. Some may even want to study even harder because he understands that he must be capable enough to manage not just ordinary workers but professionals as well.

However, as a retired teacher who was in charge of a class where one of the students qualify to be the child I am thinking of in this posting, I found such a child to be arrogant.

From the very first day I entered that class, he clearly indicated that he was there not to study but to enjoy himself. First, he does not tuck in his shirt. My first duty to him was to teach him that there are rules to be followed and the most basic one was to be properly attired. Being a gymnastics coach as well as a physical education instructor, I was no weakling. He knew it and getting him to wear his clothes properly was easy but the problem came when he always wore slippers. I told him about the right foot-wear to use, even had him sent home but, with the help of his parents, he managed to get away with wearing slippers to school so often.

In fact, the mother even had the temerity to show up at a Tai-Chi class I was attending and told me to let her son be. Another lady who happened to be her friend was at the same class and when this friend heard her tell me off, she was shocked sufficiently to speak up and inform her that she was the one who was teaching the child bad behaviour and ought to apologise to me. That was a good one! That boy's mother must have cursed her misfortune at meeting her friend there, a friend brave enough to tell her off.

I would say that the mother got what she deserved. Thinking they were rich, the parents thought education and good manners were not necessary for their children. So, their poor child in my class would be absent every now and then for no valid reasons other than that he wanted to follow the father to another part of the country or overseas. Of course, as expected, he lost a lot of studying hours and eventually failed his final examination.

According to that child, there was nothing to be worried about as his father's position would be his one day. The unfortunate thing is that the child refused to think further than that even when I asked him about his other brothers and sisters. That has always been the trouble with undeveloped brains which could not visualise further into the future.

In a way I was helpless to do anything much for him as no advice, talk or discussion could lead anywhere but the belief that he did not need a paper qualification(Well, I must admit i have to agree with them on this to a certain extent.), knowledge or correct behaviour in his life as he will be the one in charge and others would have to behave properly, listen and follow his instructions.

Well, his first teachers, his parents, had certainly taught him well about being the boss in his parents' factory. They have done their job a little too well and others find it difficult to undo the harm they have done.

With such an attitude, without sufficient knowledge or the right behaviour, would this child do well in life? As far as I know, he did not. I only hope that it is not too late for the school of hard-knocks to bring some positive changes to him.

What money can do to an individual.

If you are a millionaire, would you give each of your non-working children Five thousand ringgit a month as their allowance? Of course, you can afford it. nobody can deny that! But what are the possible consequences to a developing attitude towards money?

That amount of money is not earned by them. In a way, it is free. There is no worry about repayment. Those children would not need to think twice about purchasing most things, especially when they know the next five thousand ringgit will be coming their way in at the most thirty days' time. With such a sum what is ten, hundred or two hundred ringgit? How many value would they place on their money?

Perhaps it is difficult for most of us who do not get five thousand ringgit a month as pocket money when the average professionals are getting approximately two to three thousand ringgit at the beginning of their career to understand how these young people would feel. For those who are not professionals it could be about a thousand.

So, I would now go to a true story of Malaysians who can afford to give each of their children not just five thousand monthly pocket money but also a Mercedes to drive around. This is a story of someone in Klang. One of the children came out of a university and applied for a job. At the interview, he was told that he would be paid two thousand five hundred ringgit each month. Upon hearing that, the shocked young man told the interviewer that he receives five thousand a month from his parents without putting in any work. Of course, the interviewer told the man he has come to the wrong place if he expects more than the amount they were offering him. They bluntly told him to get a job from his parents. They fear not that he would not accept a position in their company for a man who is so haughty would certainly have no place in a workplace where respect and pay is due to an individual for his ability to perform in the company.

Now pay and pocket money are two totally different things. Pay is given for the expected work of the individual. Pocket money comes from love and responsiblity towards the receiver. Would a person with such a huge amount of pocket money value his post in a company which is only willing to value his work at two thousand five hundred ringgit? It would obviously be difficult. Such an employee would not have second thoughts about quitting for any slight disagreement, discomfort or misunderstanding. Such a person can never be an asset to the company.

Of course, since the parents are millionaires and must be owning a big company, getting a job is not a problem as he could easily be absorbed into the parents' company. But, if all the children are expecting the parents' company to give them top posts and big pay, will they be an asset to their own company? Well, frankly, we can never know. I have heard of sibling quarreling over positions and money and how such companies can collapse. However, there are also those that went from strength to strength.

No matter what can possibly happen, cultivating the right attitude towards money is important as money management is just as important as other managements in life.

Tomorrow I shall tell you about an ex-student and his attitude towards studies as a result of great wealth splurged on him at a very young age.

The five siblings and their inheritance.

"Wait, I am the eldest and therefore I make the decisions in this house now that father is no longer around," the biggest of the children told the others. The others looked at each other, unhappy with the situation, yet fearful of saying what they had in mind. Silent, that is until one of them felt he had to have his say or be pushed out of his rightful part of the inheritance.
"But the decision is not fair. You have been enjoying yourself, disappearing from this shop most of the time, leaving the four of us doing the work around here," the second son protested.
"What's that? Do you understand that the eldest is the one who takes over and become the head of the family. The head of the family makes the decision and everyone else must agree to it. Do you understand that?"
There was a lot of grumbling and unhappy faces with the second son the most vociferous about the injustice of sharing the shop with the eldest who had always been away somewhere else. This eventually lead to a quarrel among the siblings and the latest was the possibility of the matter being taken to the court.

What has transpired? Their father has just passed away without a will and not sufficient wealth to make every son happy. All he had left them was a big electrical shop. How could a shop be shared among five brothers, four of whom were already married. How much can the shop provide in a day or a month? Could the earnings from that shop be enough to feed the brothers and their families when they have to get dwellings of their own. Certainly, they cannot continue occupying the already crowded top floor.

What had happened? It was actually the father's fault that the five siblings had to face such a predicament. You see, the children were not exactly stupid. If they had been given the opportunity to strike out on their own as soon as they stopped their schooling, most of them, if not all, would have been able to find good jobs or develop their own businesses. Unfortunately, the old man had conventional ideas that the family must be together and work together for the wealth of the family. In those days, the sons were usually made use of and they become the unpaid workers in the shop. Of course, in return they have a secure job, a sense of belonging as they are also the bosses in their own shop and life was easy as the family or staff was sufficiently big to make everyone's job easy.

The problem only emerged when the father passed away and the question of who the rightful boss was arose. Even if everyone of them is the boss, someone had to head the organisation and manage the money. Who is going to trust who to control the money and divide the earnings? When it comes to money, even members of the same family will face some problems. And such problems are practically insurmountable. Brothers become no longer that close especially when a court case or some authority finally decides how the property is to be divided.

That is why a will is important, especially when the property is big enough to fight for. It will stop any misunderstanding and even if there is disatisfaction, it can only be directed at the one who has passed away and that is harmless as that one is no longer able to suffer anything more.

Another thing is the allowing of children to go out and establish their own future, no matter how much wealth is at stake. And this is how the story came to my ears. I met a relative of one of those siblings and he was repeating the mistake of his father, not allowing his child to further his studies but made to concentrate on his business. This relative told me he had no alternative but to point to that sibling's problems at the time of his father's demise as a lesson. The relative did not wish to have him make the same mistake.

Riches is neither good nor bad.

The last few days I had to leave this blog unattended as I went to Kuala Lumpur to attend to matters pertaining to my car at Bukit Aman. While I was there I met an interesting young man who was always impressing upon all that he met that he can afford a very luxurious life-style.

I had a long talk with him as we talk of the possible wealth that awaits him from his academic success. He was not talking of thousands but millions. At the beginning I felt that was not altogether bad as dreams are what takes people to heights of success in life. But as we talked on I realised that his feet were not securely planted on the ground. His dreams were obviously unreachable, not possible with what he intends to do anyway. As Napoleon Hill said,"Whatever the mind of Man can conceive and believe, he will achieve." Well, this man was dreaming of millions but he could not conceive how it could be done and he was asking if it could ever be possible. Yet, it is certain that this man has a great thirst for wealth. He has that inferiority complex which could give him the drive to go the distance to achieve it.

He has this thirst for wealth because he has known hardship and poverty. He came from a family where the father had looked for no job as the grandfather was very rich.

Well, his is the story of a man (the man's grandfather) who gathered so much wealth that when he passed away he left behind so much money that his children had never had to worry about anything that money could buy. Some of the children did well; using the money to earn more money but a few depended upon their inheritance and as a result did not search for a job or did any kind of business. The need was just not there!

One of those who merely enjoyed their lives with the fortune left behind was the father of this man whom I met. As he was neither thrifty nor careful, the money soon ran out. And when he found himself with hardly sufficient to continue his luxurious lifestyle, he found no one willing to employ him as he was either too old or without a skill. The most unfortunate ones were this new acquaintance and his siblings. They had to do with whatever little the father could earn as a small vegetable seller.

So, it is no wonder that this new acquaintance had this inferiority complex. According to another person who was there too, I was told he would spend more than what he could afford. I realised that he was trying to cover up the fact that he was poor. But it resulted in him being in debt even when he was studying in the university.

Fortunately for this acquaintance, his success academically surely would give him the chance to overcome his financial position if he is careful and manages his finances well.

Now, it the rich grandfather had done better parenting and ensured that the children work despite his wealth, the children and grandchildren would not have to suffer the 'disadvantage' of being too rich. For wealth need not necessarily hampers dependents from improving themselves or reaching out for their own successes.

What are you working for?

Here is a true story of a young man who could not decide what he wanted out of work. After studying for his secondary school certificate, he decided to get a diploma in computer science. He wanted to enter for that course as he was interested in computers.

A year later, he decided to quit the course when he saw some of his ex-schoolmates working and earning a salary. Those friends had their own money to spend. He so much wanted to be in the same situation as those friends. His parents could not do anything to persuade him to stay on with his studies as he felt he could also earn a lot of money working like his friends. Furthermore, he felt that what those friends were earning then was sufficient for him.

So, he started work for a company. Then he noticed that some of the workers who were doing the same type of work as his friends were being paid more. He discovered that those better paid people were better qualified than him and his friends. He suddenly realised that qualification is important. So he enrolled himself in a distance-learning course. He was a salesman from morning until evening and studied at night. Unfortunately, he had a weakness for video-games. That was a problem. It was a difficult choice for him, to study to improve his salary or relax with his video games. Eventually, video games won over his heart and he spent more and more time at them instead of his studies. Of course, a reason or excuse given for turning to video games was that once upon a time there was a guy in the neighbourhood who could help him with his studies whenever he encountered difficulties. Apparently, the helper has gone to live elsewhere leaving him without much needed assistance.

And he wanted to give up the studies. He has forgotten the better salary. He no longer thinks of a better salary. After all, he still has a job. It is not that he is jobless or unable to support himself.

Well, it looks like he does not actually know what he wants out of his work. Perhaps he does not even know what he wants out of life.

Be vigilant for greed is always present..

The fact that my land remains as big as it is from the time I bought it from the developer and has not changed is the result of luck and facing the forces of what I believe to be corruption.

The proof as seen in the drawn map of the developer is evident to this day that a developer, the developer of Taman Arkid, Sungai Petani, did drew a plan with a piece of my land as a side road so that he could use the land on his side for the building of another terrace house. Despite the developer clearly attempting to turn part of my land into a side road. the land office and the municipal council approved the developer's plan.

When I first complained to the municipal council about the attempt to turn part of my land into part of the developer's side road, I was told it was necessary so as to allign the back lane of the row of houses behind my house with the intended side-road. Perhaps, someone could have given up the matter as a reason by the authorities was extended and who can claim the authorities are wrong.

Fortunately, I have been involved in my place's residential association for the last thirty one years with more than twenty years as its secretary. In those twenty or more years we have fought for the residents' rights which are often trodden on. Therefore, when the municipal council told me that the planned back-lane had to be in alignment with the other back-lane, I went out to gather information on this. I went to other officers in the land office as well as the municipal council without letting on about the case in question. I also discussed this with the residents' association committee members and some of them are very knowledgeable people about this matter. One of them, our chairman is a lawyer working in a consumers' association while another is a retired person who has experiences on such matters. And I was told that a back lane must be straight but it needed not to be in alignment with the other back lane. When I had confirmed this truth, I approached the municipal council again to confront him with the knowledge I had. When he refused to do any changes or act on it, I went out and requested to meet the president of the municipal council. The president agreed that what I knew was true and phoned the officer concerned, giving him instructions to take action on it. Then i was told to meet the officer concerned again and this time the officer phoned the developer to stop him from building that last house so that the area would be the back lane. I firmly told the officer I would be watching every move on that spot and should my land be dug up. I would lodge a police report. I definitely did not trust that man.

How did I become aware of such a devious plan. Well, it all started a few years earlier. One morning as I was tending to a tree in my garden, some people were doing surveys. The guy who did the survey reached under my fencing and hammered in something into the ground. Puzzled, I enquired what was the purpose of that embedded piece of metal. I was told that my fence was on other people's land and I have encroached onto the person's land. Since the fencing was supplied and constructed by the developer of my housing estate it could not be possible and since my fencing had not been removed or changed in anyway, I did not think about as I thought it must have been the surveyor's mistake. And I left it at that although i was suspicious and did mention it to my wife.

Then when the Arkid developer started building the houses, my mind took me back to the day I met those surveyors. I wondered about what had been said. The unease growing at the back of my mind kept me thinking of those surveyors' words. So it was that I went to the new developer's office to have a look at the plan of its housing estate. Studying that plan I realised that my diagonal fencing at the side had been straightened and my land was with the shape of a rectangle instead of it being triangular. I confirmed that that land was where my house stood and still stands.
With that confirmation I started on ensuring that my land would not be the one encroached upon by this developer so that he could make an extra profit with the building of one more house by using part of my land as the back lane.

Only when i had found out all that did the developer sent people to negotiate to buy that part of my land. I flatly refused not matter the price for I hate people who try to cheat and use their wealth to carry out their wishes without considering the feelings of others.

Of course, I won and still has my part of the land with me although the map still exists to show that someone did do something to take away part of my land without my knowledge.

Who makes it a money world?

"The garden of the house has been overgrown with plants here, there and everywhere. Some time ago we had a maid and so it was fairly easy to keep the place clean and tidy but since mum passed away, we have done away with the maid and except for me, there has been no one else to help cut the unwanted plants that seem to grow so easily without any attention or care," she complained to this willing listener.

"well, my dear girl, you still have your father, your brother and his children,' I reminded her.

"Yeah, that's true. However, my father at eighty plus is too old to do much. As for my brother and his children, they stay some distance away and are hardly seen whenever there is work to be done," she explained.

"So, what do you have in mind?" I asked.

"Could you come and help? I do not mind paying somebody to clean cut the plants and clear the mess in my garden," she told me.

Here I am with already too much work to put into twenty-four hours a day and this friend hopes to get some of my time. I was certainly not able to give much time to anybody then and since she has a brother with healthy boys, I felt it unnecessary to offer any assistance.

Then, this morning when I saw her she started complaining the minute she saw me. She told me that she had asked her brother and the children to help out. At first, there was no response until she offered ten ringgit each for the help. Fortunately, that was sufficient to bring themand so the clearing of the place started.

However, she soon realised that the father was so happy to see the grandchildren that he had quickly distributed ten ringgit each to all of them soon after starting. And you know what? With the money safely in their pockets, the brother disappeared from the scene to be followed soon after that by the children. And so it was that she did not managed to get the place properly cleared.

"If it had been some workers, I can understand that they came just for the money. But here are her own brother and nephews, people who ought to give a helping hand without any spoken request. Yet, despite the 'carrot' of ten ringgit, the work was not done satisfactorily," she lamented.

"Well, I don't think it's the children's fault. Somebody has been in the habit of rewarding them with money for every small deed that they had performed," I could not help but told her.

"Yeah, lo! It's my father. He's always giving those children money for running errands, for helping around and for everything. They come expecting some money each time. And when no money is forthcoming, they run at the first mention of work. Children nowadays are so different," she expressed that thought sadly.

Sometimes, parents teach their children wrong values and grandparents pamper them so much that the children just knew how to get the grandpa to respond correctly to their wishes. Children are clever and old folks are too doting where their grandchildren are concerned. In such circumstances children perform not out of love and care but for the money and whatever else that they can get.

Money problems in families.

"You know, I always thought my family has so many problems, more than others until the day the lady who owns her family's printing press complained about her family members. Nobody knowing her with her sweet smile and friendly approach would have thought such a woman could have problems."

I listened intently as she told me what happened. Apparently, the lady boss had a brother and sister-in-law who passed away at a fairly young age. It was due to an accident which took place quite a good number of years ago. The couple left behind two children whom this lady boss, who was the aunt, took up the responsibility of bringing up. Everything was fine and the children grew up as employees of the printing press.

She would not have known of the children's thoughts on the grandparents' property, had the grandparents not died one after the other, their deaths merely a few years' difference.

However, one the last of the grandparents had died, the children wanted their share of the property, demanding that what they get ought to be the same as their aunt. This caught the aunt by surprise as even her brothers had not demanded more than what had been written in the will. Obviously, she gets the lion's share as she had always stayed behind to manage the parents' business while the brothers wander afield to establish their own businesses. The two children were given a small sum as they had done nothing for the business except to be employed as two of the workers in the printing press.

Of course, according to the will and the law, the children will have to accept what has been given in the will. But that did not prevent them from saying so many unkind things about the aunt who had lovingly sheltered and cared for them since the day they were orphaned. In fact they had been given the best possible education except that non of the aunt's or these children were good academically. All the children stopped their education after secondary school as none of them had the kind of results that could have made them eligible for any further studies. Furthermore, all of them seem to have no interest in continuing with their studies. So, all of them either worked for the printing press or in some other occupations of their choice.

As whatever unkind words were uttered not in the presence of the aunt there was nothing much she could do but be patient with them. She did not want any ugly situation that could possibly result as a result of confronting them with their accusations. However, knowledge of what had been said made her feel bitter and sad that her own nephew and niece had the temerity of condemning her behind her back. To her it was the most unkindest cut to be accused thus especially when she had brought them up so well.

Well, sometimes money can cause all kinds of problems and here is one such case. Perhaps but then it is certainly difficult, we should not expect any gratitude for whatever kindness that we do perform. If there is gratitude, treat it as a bonus. And we have to learn to be deaf or if that is not possible, do not let such sad incidences affect us too much. Just accept it as a part of life and treat it as an opinion others are entitled to. If we manage to master our mind in such matters, then depression or stress caused by such things will effect us not.

Teach your children money management.

As parents we wish to teach the children almost everything. Nowadays we even send them to tuition at the age of six years as if we fear that a morning of nursery class is not enough. But when it comes to money, do we ever train them how to realise its value, understand what money is and be able to manage it well so that no matter how much they earn, they can end up with sufficient to last the rest of their days?

Nowadays if we were to look at the bankruptcy column in the newspapers we see so many being so at such a young age. And if we enquire into the matter, we discover that for some people money control goes haywire with the use of credit cards. That is one reason the government requires that for every card we possess we have to pay fifty ringgit. Perhaps the intention is good but is it effective? Just one credit card's use is sufficient to put us in debt if we spend to the limit it permits us. For example, a person with a three thousand ringgit pension is given a limit of twelve thousand ringgit. The only reason we do not go into debt is our control over our expenditure despite the amount available to us.

So what do we teach our children. We can teach our children the wondrous power it gives us to purchase whatever makes our life good. We could teach him or her to make payments for food enjoyed, extending the money in exchange for toys and food and getting back the change. In doing so, we teach them how to count note and coins. And as they progress, let them buy some small household items. I see some streetwise children able to go to nearby sundry shops to buy things even at the age of five or younger, initially accompanied by bigger brothers or sisters. And these children know about money and how much they are holding.

Then, even if we are rich, we have to create the situation for understanding the limit of the amount available. Of course, if one is rich, everything a child needs is within the ability of the parents to buy but unless the child understands that there is such a thing as limit, the child would never have to think twice before purchasing anything and should that continue into adulthood, there can be problems if the untaught adult has unbridled desires for such addictive things as gambling and sexual pleasure. When it come to the child of a poor family his circumstances would be his very efficient teachers for he would have learned early that not all things are within his reach and he has to make choices, with priorities in mind, getting the necessary and forgoing the frivolous. The necessity for choice comes when money is limited. And in the adult world of most people, there is always a limit to what can be spent. And unless we learn this while we are young, there will always be loan sharks and and unsettled debts to make life miserable. (Oh, yes! I remember reading just this morning about a married couple in their forties who made a pact to commit suicide due to monetary woes. According to the news,the husband is to be charged for the murder of his wife when he could not summon enough courage to kill himself.)

As money is limited and the need for it is obvious, parents ought to teach children to save early. Teach them to put some of their pocket money aside. Show them how it can become useful when they wish to buy some special something that is priced somewhat higher than most things and which is not possible to purchase with their pocket money although the parents have the money to buy it for them. Such times our children can learn the reason for saving. For some people, the first time they learn the value of savings is when they think of the first payment for a car or a house.

Children ought to be taught about the need to save for another reason which is old age. As I have always pointed out, the world is our audio-visual aid for teaching our children. If we meet, read or know of unfortunate people who find themselves in financial problems due to poor management of money during their younger days, use them as examples of what can happen to people who do not save enough. Show them how savings multiply in fixed deposits and other kinds of investments. Teach them the need to save. Savings and the ability to manage it well can bring peace of mind when we realise that there is sufficient and the need for charity does not arise.

Then, of course, there are people who insists that the amount they have is not enough. The question here is what is enough. Is one ringgit enough for a meal? Some people may jump at the mention of such a low price for a meal. Do you know that in Sungai Petani, a one ringgit 'nasi lemak' or coconut-milk rice comes along with anchovies, a few slices of cucumber, some small prawns and half an egg. I have eaten such a meal and it is tasty. Of course, I add in a cup of raw greens such as spring onions and a good number of edible leaves which are tasty and good. Certainly, we do not hope to eat one ringgit meals everyday for the rest of our lives. Therefore, we should save so that we do not have to wonder whether what we have is enough. But if we are ready to take on life as it comes after learning how to save and manage our money as well as spend it wisely, then the question of 'Is it enough?' does not arise.

We are certainly responsible for ourselves.

During the last few weeks I have heard on radio, as I drive to work and exercise as well as recreation of one kind or another, that children ought to be responsible for their ageing parents. As parents, is that really good?

Of course, we should be responsible for everything that we can act upon in this world. For example, if we never take the responsibility to help the poor in our society, should they be forced into crime to have a decent meal, then we have only ourselves to blame when they resort to such actions to stay sane and alive. But, there is no necessity to coerce anybody to look after their parents; the suggestion of enforcing such a duty through laws is not the thing to do.

When we say that we are responsible for everything, we must remember that that includes ourselves., we should be responsible for our future which includes the process of growing old. If we are responsible for ourselves, then, as a responsible person, we should think of the future and how our present actions are going to affect it.

We ought to think of our health at the time when we are still healthy. We should act on our own financial situation when we are still young and capable of hard work. We must know how to bring up children with love and understanding so that they will love us in return. However, let us not depend upon them to look after us. We must plan to depend upon ourselves. If they are around to care for us, consider that a bonus.

Why must we be responsible for ourselves and not depend upon our children even though they are caring enough. First, we do not know our future. Look at the families around us and we see parents who outlive their children. To think thus does not in any way indicate negativity or cruelty in our thinking. Things just happen at times. Nothing is predictable and we have to be realistic if we want to be truly prepared for the future.

Then again, there is the type of thinking we develop as a result of being responsible for ourselves. Our thinking moulds our actions. Knowing that we have to be responsible for our future, we plan for it by saving our money consistently. I know of a bachelor who planned to live life to the full, not bothered about old age, by spending every cent he had believing that his pension would be sufficient to take him to his last day. Sad to say, he found his life longer than he had expected, his pension getting insufficient for his needs due to inflation and he had to spend the last few years of his life just surviving miserably. So, we have to plan wisely. We must plan to save no matter how small our income but then we could strive to work harder to earn more. If we are willing, there are ways to do it. I earn more even now by working hard throughout the day although it is for another reason.

Even if we really hope to have our children to lovingly look after us, we must start when our children are young. Love begets love. Nothing comes free. Remember that they do not owe us anything. It is our responsibility to bring our beloved children up well as it is our duty for bringing them into this world. As it is our duty, they do not owe us anything. Whatever we get from them is the result of love, the bonus we get for doing our duty well.

Anyway, if we plan our lives well, everything will fall properly into its place, everything will turn out well. Therefore, planning is important. True success in life, no matter what we have in mind, is no fluke. (Getting millions through a lottery is no success; that is luck.) It’s the result of work.

Be alert when withdrawing money from ATM.

Nowadays, there are so many people out there waiting to grab some of your money one way or the other. There are emails informing you of the good fortune of winning some lottery that you have never entered for. Then, there's the poor lady who needs a little financial help to get her million dollar inheritance out of the bank. There is this guy with a fantastic money-earning business that needs you as a partner. What a huge load of good luck on the internet; money waiting for us to have.

Sorry, the luck is not ours. It's theirs. Money waiting for those unscrupulous ones hoping to find easy money from people among us who greedily hope to get easy money from unheard of sources.

If such tactics on the internet no longer work well, there are still other ways to get your money. And those guys are brainy with lots of ideas as you can see from the true story below. And they prove they can work as a team too! The only thing is that they use their intelligence wrongly, right for them but wrong for us, anyway. Well, those guys could hold a seminar on 'How to get a million ringgit a month with no sweat.' and charge each entry a thousand ringgit. Who knows? One day, they may do just that and the police will be after me for giving them that idea.

Well, here's the true story from one guy. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. Read on and know what can possibly happen.
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High Alert when you withdraw money from an ATM.
Please share.


This afternoon around 5:30pm I was at Queensbay Mall Penang, doing some financial payments (credit card, mobile and etc). I went to the 1st floor Maybank ATM to withdraw some money.

As the ATM was finalising my payment, someone tapped me on the shoulder. Naturally I turned around, and there was this stocky Middle Eastern man (around 5ft 2in, fair complexion), pointing to some money on the floor (around RM30plus, there were three 10 ringgits and several 1 ringgit notes).

He said "I saw you drop your money just now". Coincidentally, today, I had some bundled spare notes in my shirt pocket. So I picked up the ringgits on the floor.

Suddenly, a lady, also of Middle Eastern descent - shoulder length curly hair, fair complexion, 5ft 3in, said to me " It's my money!" Then the man told her " No, I saw him dropping it - while pointing to me". Instantly I checked my shirt pocket with a quick glance and I felt and saw that my bundle of spare notes was intact. Without any hesitation, I passed the money to the lady and said "It's your money, not mine."

Within a split second, I turned back to the ATM and saw a male person's hand (did not see the face) reaching for my ATM card that the machine automatically returned upon finishing a transaction. Out of natural instinct, I slapped on the wrist of the person's hand that was trying to take my ATM card.

And the person quickly walked off. I did not have a chance to look at the face as I was waiting for the ATM to dispense my RM1500.

All this happened within 2 to 3 seconds. When I finally got my cash and turned around, the Middle Eastern man and woman had disappeared, including the taller male person who was trying to take my ATM card and, most probably, my cash. I quickly went down the escalator to see where they had gone, I managed to catch a glimpse of the Middle Eastern lady as she was going down the escalator but, soon, she also quickly vanished from my sight.

If I had been slightly doubtful of my own cash in my shirt pocket or had been greedy, I would most likely had my RM1500 stolen. The Middle Eastern man's and lady's job was to create a diversion and confusion, while another person's intention was to snatch my ATM card and cash out of the machine while I was not looking.

This could happen in any mall and, at the time, there were some people withdrawing from a few other machines as well. So it was not a totally secluded area. I firmly believe they are not the only group in Penang or Malaysia.

Points to be remember to remain on high alert:
1. If somebody taps your shoulder while you are withdrawing from an ATM, make sure
you are mindful of your surroundings and focus especially on taking your money
first.
2. Their usual trick is to create a diversion. So, focus on what you are doing.
3. It is best is to have a friend with you when you go to an ATM.

Please let everyone you know about this incident. Especially now when it is so near the festive seasons. They are preying on your bonus and salary! So, beware!

Savings can be an umbrella for a rainy day.

"I never save any of my money. Who needs it. The old people maybe. But young people like me do not need to save. I have strong arms and body which will get me employed anytime."

It was obviously the positive but unrealistic voice of an immatured person. In fact, it came from someone who obviously needs savings should anything happen to him. A strong body is important but if a person's pay comes not from some kind of skill but only through his strength, then such type of work can be done by almost anybody; he can be replaced anytime.

When there is a monetory crisis like the present time, people think of the future. To those in the private sector, it could be a threat to employment. Demand for goods decreases and manufacturers find they have too many workers with too little work. Sales and profits decrease but the same number of workers need to be paid. So, to prevent losses, there has to be retrenchment. The days of work may be reduced and so the pay lessened accordingly.

When it comes to retail, people are more careful with their money and will not buy unnecessarily. This is the time when savings is seen as such an important responsible act. When people are retrenched or out of a job, food and everyday necessities continue to be important for sustaining life. Without savings, a retrenched worker will be in trouble.

So, savings is important not only for independence as one grows old. It is essential to tide over a financial crisis or as a capital for starting a new income generating venture.

Manage your money to financial security.

Some people complained that they never had enough money despite the fact that they earn RM3,000/- a month. Yet, I see many who earn merely RM1,000/- living happily and having savings in the bank.

Some can have nine credit cards and yet are constantly in debt, owing the bank a great deal of money although they have not invested the money in a business. There are people who have only one credit card and it is more than sufficient.

The fact is we are all human beings with different life-styles and different expenditures. What kind of life-styles we have and the type of expenditures we choose depend upon us and our wisdom. Yes. Wisdom is all it takes to make the difference. The wonderful part is that it does not require any amount of great wisdom to know which lifestyle or expenditure suits us.

My 'sifus', my life's great teachers, Napolean Hill, Norman Vincent Peale and Dale Carnegie taught me money management during my teenage years. I was fortunate to discover these great people very early in life.

Since I was young I knew the importance of money. It gives us the ability to choose our food, to buy the necessities of life and to be independent. No longer do we need to stretch out our hands to have money to purchase things which we need. That is the beauty of having money.

However, unless money is well managed, it can also bring misery and death. I have personally seen and read of its effects on individuals, couples and families. I have seen and read of the good and the bad. (They will be the stories I hope to tell you in future posts.)

From Dale Carnegie, Napolean Hill and Norman Vincent Peale, I learned that savings is one of the most important factors in living a good life. Yes, we have to start saving at least ten percent of our pay each month if we wish to have a better, financially secured future.

At this point, someone could be protesting that the pay is so little that there can hardly be anything left to save. If everyone wish to have the excuse not to put aside some savings, that is the very good reason for everybody.

Yes, nobody has enough money, if he wants to spend every cent of his pay. There are so many ways to do it. Give me RM2,000/- a day and I will show you how that amount can be finished easily. All I need is to jet to one of the increasing number of casinos in another part of the world and very soon even that two thousand ringgit can leave me in debt.

Take some of the very poor people in our country. Some could be earning less than five hundred ringgit a month. Yet, they managed. Of course, they do not live in brick terrace houses. They stay in small wooden bangalows with no television perhaps. Yes, you read me right. A bungalow is a house that has only one storey; and that is the definition of my Cambridge Advanced Learners' Dictionary. Of course, they do not frequent restaurants or drive cars. That is their life-style. they spend on the barest necessities of life. Frankly, I do not know whether they save any money in the bank.

Now, if a family can manage, albeit somewhat shabbily, with just five hundred ringgit a month, certainly another family with seven hundred ringgit can manage after putting aside seventy ringgit in their bank account, leaving them with six hundred and thirty ringgit which is obviously more than five hundred ringgit. (The figure given here are examples and, of course, can change as times change.) If a family with a seven hundred ringgit pay can save seventy ringgit, why is it not possible for a family with a two thousand ringgit pay save two hundred a month?

I know that someone would point out that the life-style and expenditure would be different. And that is exactly how we should manage our money if we wish to look towards a better financially secured future. Thus, a family with a two thousand ringgit income should live a lifestyle with expenditure of one thousand eight hundred.

It is through savings that we improve our financial security and ensure that we are safe from debts. In the first place, we cannot be in debt if we plan our lives well. If we can live within our means after putting aside the savings, we are definitely secure and confident that this financial part of our life is well looked after.

Savings help our money to multiply. Each month we see the interest we get from our savings increase. Such interest is money earned through savings, without further work from us. And the more we save, the more interest we get to add to our savings.

With savings, we may one day have enough to invest when the opportunity arises. Without it, even when the opportunity stares into our eyes, we cannot do anything. It could be a good business investment where the profits are good. In such circumstances, it is true of the saying that 'money earns money'.

And those who appreciate the fact that savings is important for financial security, they would certainly not join the group of people who gamble away their money, get into debts, lose their future financial security and perhaps ......well, I leave you to think of the consequences of gambling.

As we can see, it is important that we learn to manage our money well early in life. I know what I am writing because I have walked my talk and proved to myself that my great teachers are right. Thanks to them, I am on the right track.

Easy come, easy go.

Once upon a time, there was a young man who lived in shabby little hut in Kodiang, Kedah. Like quite a number of young man in this part of the country, which is very near to the neighbouring country, Thailand, he would travel to the some of the small towns in the southern part of Thailand.

People go to Thailand for mainly two reasons during that time. Many business people and families or women would go shopping in groups as everything they wanted was cheaper in Thailand. Another reason for going there were the girls who were easily available for a night of fun and, perhaps, presents of some veneral diseases.

Well, this young man went there because of the girls. One of the girls he became friendly with, gave him a lottery number. His star was shinning bright and the number brought him a huge sum of money. He was full of joy at his good fortune and so patronised this girl often. A little time later, another one of the numbers she gave struck gold again, this time bringing the young man more than a million ringgit as he had much money then with which he could bet with.

A million ringgit! Without further thought, he married the lady goose that gave the golden numbers. They lived happily for some time with the wise lady urging him to buy up land with some of the money.

Time dilutes the happiness of possessing a mere million ringgit. After all, there are others who have more. His only problem was that he was not prepared to use the money wisely. He knew of no business he could do with his money. Furthermore, his wife would be able to think of another number when his savings dwindled.

So, he continued to gamble. With the amount of money he had, he gambled big time. With money at hand and no work, he spent his days gambling at cards and mahjong,a kind of betting game.

Initially, he won but eventually, he lost more than he won. After more than half a year, his money was almost all gone. Yes, a lot had gone into buying land, but it was a matter of time before he had to sell each one of them to maintain his type of life-style.

Soon, he was back to where he started almost a year ago. Finding insufficient food on the table, his golden goose fled back to Thailand. Well, "Easy come, easy go." was the people's comments. And there was truth in it.

When a person does not have appreciation of something, he is careless with it. Through carelessness, that something can be lost. A person who gets his/her money through hard work or planning will understand how difficult such money is obtained. The person would value it and think of how he/she could use it to improve life.

We value something more if we finally achieve that thing through some effort. We treasure it more because it was not too easily obtained. It is just as I value my health a lot because I was very sickly when I was young. It took a lot of knowledge and exercise such as body-building to give me the health I have today. I thank god for my awareness of my weakness and determination to overcome it while I was still very young.

So, let's forget about easy money and gaining something with nothing. God only help those who help themselves.

Feed essential knowledge to the young.

A few days ago I wrote on how the imagination of children could be easily stimulated through stories their parents told them.
This morning, on my trek up the Sungai Paisr hill, I met this friend, Ah Ju, who told me his story when I told him how the minds of children can be affected by whatever is told them. He totally agreed with me.

Minds of children absorb whatever adults tell them with such ease that we ought to be careful with what we tell them. We ought to make use of this knowledge of our children's mind to teach them things essential to their lives.

Ah Ju told me how he was so frightened of policemen when he was young just because an adult friend told him that the police would catch a small little boy like him. He was nine years old then, very naive and what he heard had such an effect on him that he would run and hide whenever a policeman happened along.

Somehow, in his mind was this idea that a policeman would apprehend any boy who is not accompanied by a parent or adult. This fear of policeman took some years of knowledge to remove. It is unnecessary fear and may even deter him from approaching a policeman for help, should such a need arises.

Of course, fear does have its use for dangers that we do not want our children to learn through experience.

Instead of such nonsense, adults should use this belief of children in adults to teach them good manners and habits.

Tell them, perhaps, how people with good manners are always respected and well-recieved by others wherever they go. Point out to them the people who practice good manners in the neighbourhood and how popular they are.

Teach children to observe good habits and show, explain or tell them how such good habits can bring better health, better growth and greater wealth.

Have the children exercise through walks or runs in the parks as well as in your enjoyable activities. Tell and show them how strong and healthy are the people who do such exercises. Compare these healthy ones with people who are weak through having a sedentary life.

Inform the children of the food that is consumed. Let them understand about proteins and how essential it is for muscular and body development. Educate them on the carbodhydrates from plants, fruits, grains and cereals. Tell them about the vitamins and minerals their body needs. Do not forget about fats and its importance to our body. (Of course, too much, especially saturated fat from animals, is not good for us. However, fat has its role to play.) Make sure they know about the cleanliness of the air they breathe and the water they drink. Finally, tell them that the amount of all those nutrients which ought tobe consumed depends upon the needs of the individual; the weight-lifter will need more protein and food than others, the labourer will need more carbohydrates and fat than other people, and we should also tell them about the healthy oils which are also fats. Let us give our children the knowledge some of us took so long to realise. Of course, all these are disseminated as and when it is opportune to do so.

Tell them about the habit of saving. Explain to them how wealth can multiply through savings. Show them how, a little at a time, for the next ten to fifteen years, when they reach their early twenties, can yield at lot.

You know, I had parents who could not find the time to talk to me about all those things. Fortunately, I had always had this thirst for knowledge and at approximately the age of nine, I went along the book shelves of the USIS (United States Information Service) building in Beach Street in Penang, in search of the above knowledge.

And I must add that my health is this good today because of the knowledge learned since then till now; knowledge which I put into practice every single day.

Through this, I hope parents as well as their children can achieve better health.

Of course, there are always people who have even better knowledge and practices than this writer at improving health. Therefore, comments and further knowledge will always be welcome.

Even without financial inheritance, it can be done!

I know that when I wrote that every aspect of life is within reach with confidence derived from intelligence, courage, strength and coordination, there is the possibility that someone would point out that poverty could be a stumbling block.

For that, I wish to draw your attention to a man I know. When I first met him, I knew he was the owner of his own big factory. Seeing his muscular build, I asked how often he frequented the gym. He wondered where the coversation was heading to but told me he had never been to one. His muscles came from bending heated canes to make cane furniture. He was the employee of the shop. And he did the work after school hours.

This man, now aged approximately forty, came from a poor farming family. His education was only up to primary school level but he did not lack intelligence. He worked hard at many jobs to help his parents. He was tough, ready to learn and improved his knowledge and ability in the school of hard knocks. He had the courage to even travel from his homeland to acquire sufficient knowledge and money to start his own factory.

So, with intelligence, courage, strength and coordination, one can gather the necessary knowledge, expertise, and money to achieve one’s goal in life.

Without strength and coordination, he might not have been able to do cane-bending well enough to earn his first pay-check and realize the importance of money in big projects in life.

Without the intelligence, he would not have realized that the boss gets the bigger share of it. He would not have realized it would require a lot of tough work to gain money and make the difference to his family’s total income. He would not have realised he had to find the expertise and knowledge to start his own business.

Certainly, he must have confidence to venture wherever it takes to gain the essential knowledge and ability to start a factory. Knowing the importance of money, he must have saved most of whatever he earned to be financially capable to think of a factory.

This is the story of a self-made man; one with the strength and coordination to take on many jobs, one with the confidence and courage to venture far from his poor beginning. Obviously, it was a tough, uphill climb but it could be done.

Of course, not everyone can do it because it needs true intelligence to learn in the school of hard knocks, understand and realize what it takes to make it, to realize effort must be substantial and have the courage to seize the opportunity when it comes.