Friday, March 13, 2015

Why I bought the Samsung (and not the iPhone)


Currency, External Debt, 1MDB's Singapore parking explained. I ended up getting myself a Note 4 Edge yesterday. I had wanted to buy the iPhone 6 Plus but the Apple guy told me the price had just gone up by RM400! Why? Because the ringgit had dropped against the US dollar.  Really, ah, existing stock also price can go up just like that? So I went next door and bought the Samsung, instead. Lucky the ringgit didn't weaken against the won, uh?

Profiteers don't need a good reason to cut your throat; they just need you to be gullible enough. To most of us who had gone through the 97 crisis and saw how we fixed it with our own recipe of blind faith and currency controls, the US dollar even at 3.80 should not be too much a concern. To quote a friend, "It just makes Ford Mustang more expensive, and of course single malts and cigars!".

Still, some quarters had no qualms using the depreciating ringgit to put pile up the pressure on Najib Razak and demanding that the Bank Negara governor steps down. 

Our country's external debt is another one. My friend Bujai wasn't the only one who might have misread the situation (External Debt "Success") . 

As HishamH observes in Explaining External Debt (Economics Malaysia, 12/3/15), 
"... the reporting on this has been deplorable, and not just from the local media (sorry guys, it has been pretty bad), but from the foreign media as well. One joker speculated that with external debt so high, Malaysia might have trouble “servicing” it, because the foreign exchange reserve cover was low. Hah!" 
Read also Malaysia's External Debt by Mat Rodi's Bringing Sense Back, 12/3/15

1MDB's decision to park the money it brought back from Caymans to Singapore sent Najib's critics into a new frenzy. The PM should thank Hantu Laut ("this is not in support of 1MDB but since they are keeping their inelegant silence ..") for helping explain, simply and convincingly, Why 1MDB parked its money in Singapore. 

The point of this posting is to tell the  Najib Administration that it needs to explain things better. People are running down the country. Politics aside, we should not set fire to the house because we don't like the persons sharing the home with us. Unfortunately, there are people who do.

Secondly,  I wanted to note that the Samsung is definitely the smarter phone. 

11 comments:

  1. Gempal4:20 pm

    The friend that you quoted is an idiot. Must be one of those that benefitted from affirmative action. Then u state about 97 financial crisis bla bla bla. Left out conveniently the part on:

    A) our collective debt at the time
    B) oil at the time
    C) we had mahathir

    I can list more but why bother? You take it that today is like looking in the mirror prior 97 is it din? This entry states alot about you and how you think. Either:

    A) you are stupid and gained a foothold to be where you are today due to above average english during yesteryears.
    B) you are spinning
    C) malaysia's journalist are just dumb

    Keep up the good work

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  2. Anonymous4:46 pm

    Fantastic 10-minute post, Latuk.

    (Do give a cut of your monthly retainer to the folks you quoted, yeah?)

    Although, as Tun Dr M rightly says:

    "Sehingga kini Kerajaan tidak menjawab secara yang masuk akal. Umpamanya 1MDB tidak punyai masalah kerana asetnya lebih dari hutang. Tetapi hanya untuk bayar faedah 2 billion, tidak ada wang sehingga tidak dapat tutup akaun ikut jadual. Kemungkinan terpaksa hutang untuk bayar faedah."

    Or as the cinabeng Deputy Finance Minister Chua Tee Whatever said, it's just that the banks have "confidence", hence the thrice-delayed repayment. Wah lu manyak pandai......not.

    Actually, if you ignore about 85% of the unanswered questions and conflicting explanations from the govt about 1mdb, then things are just fine n' dandy.

    Head back in the sand, Latuk, there may be coins buried there, yum yum.


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  3. Anonymous4:47 pm

    Rocky,

    Najib should thank Hantu Laut for convincingly explain why 1MDB parked its money in Singapore? Which part that is convincing? Is it the part that if 1MDB remit the money to Malaysia, they will have to convert it into Ringgit? Have you ever heard of FCA (Foreign Currency Account)? if you have a foreign currency account (FCA) in any local banks (Maybank, CIMB, RHB, etc), you do not have to convert your transfer of foreign-denominated currency (especially US dollar) into Ringgit!!!!! For more information about this FCA thingy, you can refer to the following links. So now your argument would be 1MDB does not have FCA account? Patut pun Najib panggil blogger UMNO bangang. IQ almost zero and amat memalukan.

    http://www.maybank2u.com.my/mbb_info/m2u/public/personalDetail04.do?channelId=&cntTypeId=0&cntKey=ACC02.10&programId=ACC02-CurrentAccounts&chCatId=/mbb/Personal/ACC-Accounts/

    http://www.rhb.com.my/deposits/multi-currency/mc_main.html

    https://www.pbebank.com/Personal-Banking/Banking/Deposit/Foreign-Curency-Accounts/PB-Foreign-Currency-Fixed-Deposit-Account.aspx

    ReplyDelete
  4. Rocky

    What is Najib's handphone?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dear A Voice,

    Last I checked he had a Blackberry. But maybe like me he has given up on the former Canadian icon ...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous7:28 pm

    Cannot, lah....the NSA has the tools to hack smartphones.

    Perhaps your phone is already being monitored by Uncle Sam, Bru!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous7:53 pm

    samsung smart like you rocky? it shows. LOL

    ReplyDelete
  8. Alyaniff10:05 am

    I agree rocky. Too much doom and gloom predictions. And saddens me when some of BN prominent blogger now made the focus of pulling down Najib rather than targeting their guns elsewhere. PRU-13 shows that this focus of bringing down leader to be replaced with someone else does not bode well in preparing for next PRU. It might back fired. What we must backing up the leader and let law take it place. Im fine with letting the auditors, pac and police investigate imdb but please refrain from judging before any results of the investigation is done. If najib is indeed guilty of that then let law take its action. Indeed IF that happens, then leader replacement will becomes smooth as party members knows what to do. Same with the anwar trial, when he is indeed been found guilty of sodomizing saiful, majority of people drop their support on him except for very few hardcore supporters. My advice to BN supporters, please be impatient. BN leaders always steps down when their time comes (except for brother anwar)

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  9. Anonymous11:28 pm

    Tun M is saying that your paymaster is a piece of shit and will cause BN to lose in the next election. Can you get you BN bloggers to explain tun comments.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous6:33 pm

    @ 11:28 pm

    "Tun M is saying that your paymaster is a piece of shit and will cause BN to lose in the next election."

    As long as the cheques keep flowing, who cares if he's a piece of shit?

    Why do people still bother working in the soon-to-be-doomed PMO?

    Same reason 160 KBU turn up to see the paymaster at pwtc.

    Money, hay, sun, shine.

    Before it all turns to cow manure, lah.



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  11. Anonymous4:20 pm

    I understand the Iphone and Samsung metaphor. :)

    ReplyDelete