Foong Speaks Her Mind

It is worrying that amidst all these political shenanigans, the world financial crisis have been pushed to the background and it is good that this letter in Malaysiakini brought it up. The impending global recession was ignored and from the looks of it, many Malaysian politicians are pretending that it is not happening and that Malaysia will be practically untouched by it.

Er, yeah. Sure. US is suffering the financial crisis and going into recession while Malaysia will weather it all. Talk about delusional idiots. Seems like they are just too busy quibbling over their own positions in their political parties than tackling this very real problem that will affect every single Malaysian except those politicos with millions stashed away somewhere.

Just look at how delusional some people are or is it just plain stupidity?

Meanwhile, Abdullah said Malaysia could withstand the impact of the financial turmoil sweeping across the US, Europe and already reaching parts of Asia, including Singapore - which has already declared a state of recession.

Abdullah also pledged to keep the ringgit on its current managed float regime, adding that the country could ward off economic contagion with its political stability and strong economic fundamentals.

- Malaysiakini

So, the financial crisis is affecting US, Europe and even Singapore but Malaysia will not be affected at all? Who the heck is he kidding? What, he thinks we are all three-year-old kids? He thinks we don’t have brains to think, eyes to see and ears to hear?

What strong economic fundamentals is he talking about? As it is the inflation rate of this country is increasing and costs of living are skyrocketing. The income of the people are not getting any higher and it is just a matter of time before smaller companies suffer and start to close down. This means retrenchment and unemployment.

And what is the government doing about it?

Nothing. Zilch. Nada. They are too busy squabbling over unimportant things like party elections and arresting people under the ISA and Sedition Act. So, how will the world financial crisis affect us? According to JT:

How will this affect us? Some say not significantly, since our exports to US is only 16% of total exports. Our reserves exceed US$119 billion. Our banking system has only 2.5% non-performing loans and remains liquid. We have foreign direct investments, never mind if the net is negative.

That’s self-denial! We will be affected severely and that, too, in the next 9-10 months. Why? Deny as we will, we are an open economy and our exports to the US, Japan, China and Europe will trend downwards – why do they need our products in a recession?

Our reserves will fall with trade deficits, capital outflows, and the ever persistent negative services account. Banks will ‘slow down’ credits, businesses will face lower turnover, and the job market becomes tighter.

- Malaysiakini

See? Need I say more? So, why are they hoodwinking us or are they really that delusional or daft? For once, Anwar Ibrahim has seen reason and stopped talking about taking over the government which could further shake the economy. For all we know, he is probably planning something in the sly but is keeping mum and will spring a surprise on us all when the time is right.

Pressed on the question of whether he would table a no-confidence motion against Abdullah, Anwar answered: “For now, our focus is on the economy.”

- Malaysiakini

Rightly so. The world financial crisis is very, very real and we will feel the effects one way or another, so, brace yourselves now and don’t hope too much on any intelligent contingency plan from the current government. When you don’t have anyone with intelligence there, you should not expect any intelligent decisions from them.

Although the shares are up yesterday (according to this article in Malaysiakini), don’t expect that it will continue nor even think that it will reflect the market conditions of days to come. Brace yourselves.

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Yep. I am serious. Salmon may be an expensive fish if you order it at restaurants but if you buy the fish from a wholesaler and cook it at home, it is very much cheaper than what you can get at restaurants.

Look at the whole salmon fish I bought from the wholesaler

Whole salmon

It is at RM40 per kg and this whole fish is RM126. Sounds expensive but let’s do the maths…

For this plate of sashimi

Salmon sashimi

it probably costs me around RM6 when outside it costs about RM16 or more.

And for this plate of grilled salmon,

Grilled salmon

it probably costs me around RM10 including the teriyaki sauce I used to season it for grilling. In a restaurant, this salmon steak would have cost around RM30.

What I love about salmon is that it is so delicious and sweet and the best part, it is healthy as ever. Oh, we didn’t eat the whole fish. I gave half to my father and brothers. They are also a big fan of salmon and they preferred their salmon fresh and raw. No cooking required!

Luckily, it does not require any killing on my part because the salmon is already dead when it arrived here all the way from Norway.

For the recipe and where to get the fish and teriyaki sauce, go here.

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We will be suffering the whiplash from the petrol price hike and even now, costs of living are going up. Interest rates are on the rise and the prices of things are also on the rise. An example, normally RM2.50 bowl of bihun (vermicelli) soup is now RM3 (for a small bowl) and RM4.20 for a large bowl. Then there is the groceries shopping part.

Each time we go grocery shopping, it would cost us at least RM100 plus and not because we were buying fluff or anything. We were buying essential items like toiletries and food like milk powder, rice, fruits, vegetables, canned food, sauces, breakfast cereals, etc. So, we came up with a way to cut down our costs as much as possible, we do comparison shopping.

Comparison shopping is not that difficult. All you need to do is to compare the prices of several grocery stores and buy from the place with the lowest rate. I know, you will probably complain that going around one by one before buying would only mean wasting more petrol driving around. Well, I don’t mean you compare on the spot. You do it gradually, in the course of a few weeks.

Say, this week, you go shop at Giant Supermarket. You keep the receipt and make a note of all the essential items that you normally buy but did not buy at that time. Then, next week, you need to go again to buy some other items. So, you go to Tesco hypermarket instead and then check out the prices as compared to Giant. You also take note of the rest of the items you didn’t buy. You continue doing this with other supermarkets that you frequently go to. No point driving very far, just keep to those you normally frequent or are located conveniently nearby.

After all this research, you will have a list of all the items and how much they were sold at each supermarket. You will notice some are being sold much cheaper at one supermarket while some are about the same. The next time you want to go grocery shopping, refer to that list and go to the supermarket with the most items that are comparatively cheaper.

This way, you save a lot, not only a few cents, sometimes up to RM50.

We tried this and it is effective. Luckily for us the four major supermarkets, Tesco, Jaya Jusco, Giant and Sunshine are on our way so we could do the price checking. Based on my own research, I find that the best overall place to get groceries is Tesco because most of the items are comparatively cheaper. (my son’s diapers are RM10 cheaper there!!) This is followed by Sunshine, then Jaya Jusco and then Giant.

Do not be misled by Giant’s huge billboard advertisement proclaiming to have the lowest prices because they don’t. Only some of their products are cheaper but the rest are way more expensive as compared to Tesco. Sunshine Farlim / Square is pretty good on the pricing too.

As for Jaya Jusco, they have the cheapest and most varied organic produce and organic products as compared to all those small organic shops.

Parking at Tesco is still free for now, it’s free at Sunshine Farlim, free at Giant and RM1 per entry at Jaya Jusco (Queensbay Mall).

Comparison shopping is not exactly a lifestyle change but it is a way to cut down some of your expenses for essential items. Good luck!

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