USAHAWAN UNIT TRUST PUBLIC MUTUAL

kirawang

info for every body

start semlm for epf, submission mesti di hantar on the same day with due date ...
cmf_LAT Post at 25-5-2010 11:03

tak pe lah abg lat, kita sabar....satu hari je..
Yang approval date mesti laju...

kirawang

Training Hari ni.....

1. Prospecting  ..Perlu ke untuk senior Cosultant..?
Answer..Yes And NO.
Adakah Senior Consultants Tak perlu spend too much masa mereka untuk prospecting.,? Dan apakah priority yang perlu diberi keutamaan untuk mengekalkan our sales and our income.

Discussion and brainstorming on the formula of Return of Investment in Prospecting

2. Case Study
Mr P telah decide untuk terjun dlm bidang sales UT setelah sekian lama berkecimpung dalam bidang yang tidak menjajikan kehidupan yang sempurna dizaman lampau.
Jika sebelom ni beliau bertungkus lumus dengan carreer (dizaman lampau) bekerja pagi petang siang malam untuk better life, tapi with new job as UTC, beliau sudah bebas seperti layang layang dilangit biru. Masa yang ada sungguh luxury dan nyaman sekali..

Dan beliau berusaha dengan gigih untuk mencapai impian beliau dengan mengekalkan stamina untuk berjuang hingga ketitisan darah terakhir. Finally, beliau nampak  juga cehaya di hujung hujung terowong..( end of the tunnel)

Tapi, 5-6 bulan lepas, baliau agak lesu, lemah , tak bermaya...Apakah sentimen melanda dijiwa beliau. Adakah beliau terperangkap dengan masa yang too luxury..? adakah beliau tersesat memilih rakan..? Adakah beliau hanyut dnegan kehidupan kota yang penuh berdebu? or adakah tersentak dengan permainan Farmville dan facebook..? Kita tunggu kisah benar dari Mr P.

Yang penting, kita sama sama membimbing beliau ke jalan yang betul.

cmf_LAT

renung renung kan...

Kunci Kemurahan Rezeki
Hadith :

Rasulullah s.a.w bersabda yang maksudnya:”Berilah (belanjalah) dan jangan kamu selalu menutupi kepunyaanmu, kerana dengan itu nanti Allah akan menutupi rezekimu.”

Riwayat Bukhari & Muslim

Huraian:

Pengajaran Hadis:

i) Allah yang mewujudkan sifat semulajadi dalam diri manusia iaitu sifat belas kasihan yang menggerakkan seseorang itu untuk bersedekah. Firman Allah S.W.T yang maksudnya "Bandingan (perbelanjaan/derma) orang-orang yang membelanjakan hartanya pada jalan Allah, ialah yang tumbuh menerbitkan tujuh tangkai: tiap-tiap tangkai itu pula mengandungi seratus biji benih. Dan (ingatlah) Allah akan melipatgandakan pahala bagi sesiapa yang dikehendaki-Nya dan Allah amat luas (rahmat) kurnian-Nya, lagi meliputi ilmu pengetahuan-Nya.”(al-Baqarah:26)

ii) Syarat bersedekah adalah keikhlasan. Tidak kira wang ringgit atau sebagainya asalkan ia dapat memberi kesenangan terhadap orang yang memerlukannya kerana kesenangan (kekayaan) yang diberi oleh Allah kepada hamba-Nya merupakan satu perkongsian dan tanggungjawab terhadap sesama manusia di muka bumi ini.

iii) Sifat suka bersedekah lawannya adalah bakhil. Sifat bakhil dicetuskan oleh Allah kepada hamba-Nya yang lupa akan kewajipannya dan sangat cinta kepada harta kekayaannya.

iv) Oleh itu demi mencari keredhaan Allah kita hendaklah menggunakan waktu yang ada dengan beringat-ingat kepada yang susah dan memberi sedikit bantuan mengikut kemampuan. Sebenarnya di sebalik amalan bersedekah akan dapat mewujudkan perasaan kasih sayang sesama manusia dan sesungguhnya amalan yang baik akan dibalas baik oleh Allah S.W.T.

cmf_LAT

tak pe lah abg lat, kita sabar....satu hari je..
Yang approval date mesti laju...
kirawang Post at 25-5-2010 16:06

    tu la boss
last week, hantar monday, jumaat pagi dah masuk utc conneck..
so harap harap yg hantar hari selasa, hari ni boleh masuk laa..

kirawang

cerita menarik untuk dishare ..

........................................

Abu Bakar as-Siddiq seorang peniaga kain
ABU Bakar as-Siddiq dilahirkan pada tahun 573 Masihi. Nama sebenar beliau ialah Abdullah bin Abi Quhafah. Berasal dari keturunan Bani Tamim, Abu Bakar terkenal sebagai seorang usahawan yang berjaya. Semasa hidupnya, beliau pernah menjadi penjual kain.

Sebelum memeluk agama Islam beliau terkenal dengan gelaran Abdul Kaabah. Selepas Abu Bakar memeluk Islam, gelaran as-Siddiq diberikan oleh Nabi Muhammad kepadanya kerana keikhlasan dan kejujurannya mengembangkan agama Islam.

Beliau juga taat dan setia kepada Nabi Muhammad.

Selepas Nabi Muhammad meninggal dunia, Abu Bakar dilantik menjadi khalifah pada tahun 11 Hijarah dan meninggal dunia pada 13 Hijrah.

Walaupun bergelar khalifah, Abu Bakar masih terus berniaga bagi menyara kehidupan keluarganya.

Malah pada hari selepas dilantik sebagai khalifah, beliau tetap berniaga kain di pasar.

Semasa dalam perjalanan ke pasar beliau terjumpa sahabatnya, Umar.

Selepas Umar melihat kelibat Abu Bakar, beliau hairan dan bertanya sendirian: "Bukankah Abu Bakar sudah dilantik menjadi khalifah. Mengapakah beliau masih lagi berniaga di pasar?"

Tanpa berlengah, Umar terus bertanya kepada Abu Bakar. "Adakah kamu hendak ke pasar?"

"Ya. Saya perlu berniaga pada hari ini bagi mencari rezeki," jawab Abu Bakar sambil memegang kain-kain yang mahu dijualnya itu.

Umar menjadi semakin hairan dan bertanya: "Sekiranya kamu masih sibuk dengan perniagaan kain, siapakah yang melaksanakan tugas sebagai seorang khalifah?"

Lalu Abu Bakar menjawab: "Saya perlu mencari rezeki bagi menampung keperluan keluarga saya. Sekiranya saya tidak berniaga seperti ini, saya tidak dapat menyara kehidupan keluarga saya. Siapa yang perlu membantu saya mencari rezeki ini?"

Selepas mendengar penjelasan Abu Bakar, Umar terus mengemukakan ideanya. Umar mencadangkan supaya mereka berjumpa ketua pegawai Baitulmal, iaitu Abu Ubaidah al-Jarrah.

"Mari kita berjumpa Abu Ubaidah. Beliau ialah ketua pegawai Baitulmal. Kamu perlu mendapatkan bantuan wang sara diri daripada Baitulmal," kata Umar kepada Abu Bakar.

Mereka berdua pergi berjumpa ketua pegawai Baitulmal. Sampai sahaja di sana, Abu Ubaidah berkata: "Wang sara diri yang saya berikan kepada Abu Bakar serupa dengan wang sara diri yang diterima oleh orang yang layak menerima bantuan, tidak lebih atau kurang."

Bermula dari hari itu, Abu Bakar menerima bantuan wang sara diri daripada Baitulmal. Abu Bakar juga menumpukan sepenuh masanya menguruskan negaranya. Beliau tidak lagi menjalankan perniagaannya.

wang sara diri

Pada suatu hari, isteri Abu Bakar mahu makan makanan yang enak. Pada waktu itu Abu Bakar tidak mempunyai wang bagi membeli makanan itu kerana kehidupan mereka sekeluarga hanya bergantung kepada wang Baitulmal.

Isterinya mendapat satu idea: "Saya cuba bahagikan wang sara diri yang kita dapat ini sedikit demi sedikit. Sikit-sikit lama-lama jadi bukit. Apabila wang itu sudah cukup, dapatlah saya beli makanan yang saya idam-idamkan itu".

Kemudian Abu Bakar menjawab, "Saya bersetuju dengan pendapat kamu itu".

Lama kelamaan wang yang disimpan oleh isterinya semakin banyak. Wang itu sudah cukup bagi membeli makanan yang dimahukan oleh isterinya.

Pada hari isterinya mahu pergi membeli makanan itu, Abu Bakar merasakan bahawa wang sara diri yang diterimanya sudah berlebih-lebihan. Wang itu sudah melebihi daripada keperluan hidup keluarganya.

"Isteriku, saya rasa elok kita kembalikan semula wang yang terlebih itu kepada pihak Baitulmal," kata Abu Bakar kepada isterinya.

Isterinya tidak membantah suruhan suaminya itu. Malah Abu Bakar turut meminta pihak Baitulmal mengurangkan bayaran wang sara diri yang diperolehinya itu.

Begitulah kehidupan seharian Abu Bakar. Hasil usahanya menjadi peniaga mendatangkan pendapatan yang cukup bagi menampung keperluan hidup keluarganya.

Menurut anaknya Aisyah, selepas meninggal dunia, Abu Bakar ada meninggalkan seekor unta betina, sebuah mangkuk dan seorang orang gaji. Malah Abu Bakar juga berpesan menyerahkan kebun kurma yang dimilikinya kepada Baitulmal.

Abu Bakar berbuat demikian kerana beliau mahu menggantikan semula wang sara diri yang diterimanya daripada Baitulmal selama beliau menjadi khalifah.

kirawang

renung renung kan...

Kunci Kemurahan Rezeki
Hadith :

Rasulullah s.a.w bersabda yang maksudnya ...
cmf_LAT Post at 31-5-2010 13:19

   
kebetulan, minggu lepas after training kami makan makan kat mamak...
bro Yakin dok cerita strategi2 sedekah, impak, dll....

so, malam ni, after training, kita minum2....

kirawang

[img][http://charts.aastocks.com/servl ... =1&15MinDelay=T/img]

kirawang

Hari ni training ada seperi biasa..

Our training untuk diselang seli denagn cuti every week, mendapat bantahan..Ramai mahukan every week macam biasa,...

Tajuk akan diberikan petang nanti....

cmf_LAT

Hari ni training ada seperi biasa..

Our training untuk diselang seli denagn cuti every week, mend ...
kirawang Post at 1-6-2010 07:36

bukan ape bosss..
kalu every week, dpt lah kawe melepas rindduuu pada member member..
macam abe toke, abe edy, bro muza dll..
kalu 2 minggu sekali, nanti rase macam makan x kenyang, mandi x basah.. hu hu..

kirawang

Training 7-30


1. Educate your clients.
Statistic mangatakan jangka Hayat rakyat Malaysia ialah 74.4 tahun. Tapi 70% pelabur hanya mampu menggunakan wang simpanan yang ada dalam masa setahun hingga  10 tahun...Selepas tu, mereka kena bekerja semula, harapkan duit ihsan family or ditempatkan dirumah orang tua?

Persoalan lagi,,
Berapakah paling afdal simpanan perlu ada untuk mencapai 74.4 tahun?

Apakah kadar Inflasi sekarang dapat menjamin dividen dari EPF?

Apakah perancangan yang perlu ada untuk mereka (pelabur) hidup selesa after retire.

Untuk mereka yang hadir akan dihadiahkan dengan article yang menarik untuk dikongsi dengan pelabur u all.

2. Kisah Benar - Aku Wanita Biasa
Puan Y akan share tentang perjalanan dan liku liku hidupnya hingga beliau terjebak dalam peniagaan unit trust. Beliau juga akan mendedahkan bagaimana beliau menghadapi hari hari mendatang bila beliau berdepan dengan sindrom kurang daya tahanan motivasi,  zaman kejatuhan, zaman kemilangan dan pelbagi lagi.

Sebagai seorang wanita yang gigih, beliau betungkus lumus untuk menyara family beliau. Tapi cabaran cabaran pahit kelat dari mereka  berhasad dengki, tekanan dari sekeliling,  cemuhan dan umpatan dikedai mamak Fatima atau kedai tomyam belakang P Mutual  or kat facebook, discriminasi gender dan lain lain terus memburu beliau.

Bagaimanakah caranya  beliau terus bertahan hingga hari ini...

Ikuti pengakuan kisah benar yang exclusive dan bermotivasi dari Puan Y malam ini..

3. aktiviti bebas 9-30pm -  makan makan roti nan garlic kat fatima..

kirawang

bukan ape bosss..
kalu every week, dpt lah kawe melepas rindduuu pada member member..
macam ...
cmf_LAT Post at 1-6-2010 11:40

iye abang lat...
kalau tak de apa2, jumpa malam ni....

brader azman, yakin and the geng request..
kalau tak de training, tapi kena datang jugak untuk acara borak borak santai every week...

cmf_LAT

By concentrating on the positive,
we create a sense of optimism and energy.

kirawang

aik..biar betul maybank ni..

..................


Maybank Investment Bank Bhd cut its year-end target for Malaysia’s benchmark stock index to 1,375 from 1,410 because corporate earnings growth is “decelerating.” - Bloomberg


Read more: Maybank cuts KLCI year-end target to 1,375 http://www.btimes.com.my/article ... icle/#ixzz0phrWsatO

kirawang

Investors may relook China stocks on Bursa
Published: 2010/06/02
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Developments in Kenmark Industrial Co (M) Bhd may affect how investors view Chinese based companies listed in Malaysia, although it would be unfair to generalise, analysts said.  


"Investors will always be wary of the possibility, especially when the shareholders are not local. I think the concern is also one of the reasons why some Chinese stocks in Malaysia are trading below their listing price," Jupiter Securities head of research Pong Teng Siew told Business Times.

Kenmark turned into a financially troubled company overnight after its managing director James Hwang, a Taiwanese, went missing.

Shares of furniture maker Kenmark tumbled by more than 42 per cent to six sen yesterday. They had been trading around 80 sen for most of this year.

All of its operations have stopped and banks are now demanding their money back.



But Pong cautioned that investors should not generalise Chinese firms in view of what had happened to Kenmark.

"It does not mean that all companies with foreign shareholders are in the same category ... You can't paint them with the same brush strokes," said Pong.

Shares of Chinese-based stocks like Xingquan International Sports Holdings Ltd, Xidelang Holdings Ltd and Multi Sports Holdings Ltd are trading below their initial public offer price.

So far this year, their prices have fallen by as much as 32 per cent.

But analysts remain optimistic on some of these stocks. For example, most analysts covering Xingquan and Multi Sports have "buy" calls.

"I'm quite positive on Xingquan. So far, their numbers have been good and their disclosure during their quarterly announcement has been very transparent," said an analyst.

Analysts believe that investors may have been able to avoid losses by simply understanding financial statements better.

"In Kenmark's case, its receivables were due for more than six months already. That would have put its cash flow under pressure. I believe if investors looked into the company's accounts closer, they could spot the signs and avoid the danger," said Pong.

Read more: Investors may relook China stocks on Bursa http://www.btimes.com.my/Current ... _html#ixzz0phs5av7O

kirawang

'Healthy' correction for KL bourse sets in
Published: 2010/06/02
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Bursa Malaysia signalled the start of a correction to close lower yesterday as selling persisted in heavyweights, although gains in Maybank and IOI capped losses, dealers said.  


The benchmark index, FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (FBM KLCI) lost 2.04 points, or 0.16 per cent, to close at 1,282.97, after opening 0.76 point easier at 1,284.25.

MIMB Investment chief technical analyst Mohd Nazri Khan said the market was now undergoing a healthy correction for the big gain it posted last year.

"Last year, the market rose by about 70 per cent. So we should be seeing a correction of around one-third of that, or about 15 to 20 per cent," he said.

He expected the market to correct further as it was now a cyclically weak season, and that the coming World Cup could also draw punters away from bourses.



Mohd Nazri, with a bearish view for the immediate short term, said any gain in the near term would only be for bargain hunting without a long-term uptrend. "The support level for the FBM KLCI is likely to be at 1,250 all the way until the World Cup ends in mid-July."

He expected the resistance level for the near term to be at 1,280.

"After that, there should be some stability in the market, with new leads coming on board in July such as the second round of the New Economic Model and the Tenth Malaysia Plan," he said.

The FBM Emas Index dropped 29.37 points to 8,616.49, FBM70 Index fell 50.55 points to 8,493.55 and the FBM Ace Index shed 17.77 points to 3,738.39.

The Finance Index slipped 15.9 points to 11,538.42 and Industrial Index shaved 9.73 points to 2,565.07.

The Plantation Index, however, increased 9.32 points to 6,058.46.

Losers led gainers by 487 to 200, while 214 counters were unchanged, 477 untraded and 34 others suspended.

Volume, however, declined to 653.23 millions shares valued at RM758.26 million from 760.65 million shares valued at RM1.47 billion on Monday.

Among active stocks, Kenmark shed 4.5 sen to 6 sen, Talam was flat at 14 sen and Gamuda-WD rose 36 sen to 65 sen.

CIMB Group and KNM were unchanged at RM6.78 and 49.5 sen respectively while Axiata declined 3 sen to RM3.74.

Of the heavyweights, Maybank and IOI Corp rose 40 sen each to RM7.38 and RM4.95 respectively, while Sime Darby lost 3 sen to RM7.72, Maxis dropped 2 sen to RM5.20 and Tenaga Nasional fell 5 sen to RM8.30. - Bernama







Read more: 'Healthy' correction for KL bourse sets in http://www.btimes.com.my/Current ... _html#ixzz0phtopnOp

kirawang

article ni, menarik..kita baca sambil berfikir..
.............

Are remisiers still necessary?
Personal Investing - By Ooi Kok Hwa


Online trading cheaper so remisiers should offer better and value-added services


MEMBERS of the general public have been complaining about the services of remisiers as they feel there is no difference between buying shares through remisiers and online trading. They feel that remisiers do not provide any value-added services.

Whenever they call to buy or sell shares, remisiers let the investors decide themselves whether to buy or sell stocks at the current prices.

They say remisiers seldom provide their views on whether to buy now or later as sometimes investors may be able to get better prices if they purchase the stocks later.

Some investors prefer online trading as some stockbroking firms provide the minimum brokerage cost of about RM10 per trade compared with the minimum brokerage cost of RM40 per trade if they use the services of remisiers.

On the other hand, a lot of remisiers have been complaining about their business. Some complain that the minimum brokerage cost of about RM10 per trade for online trading has put them at a disadvantage as their services are more expensive at the minimum brokerage cost of RM40 per trade.

In addition, despite the high stock market trading volume, they also notice that not many retail investors are actively involved in the stock market.

As a result, some remisiers are quite negative about their own profession.

The Securities Commission launched the Continuing Professional Education (CPE) programme and has made it mandatory for all licensed persons in the Malaysian capital market since 2001.


'You still need me'? asks a remiser.

Given that remisiers are licensed holders and have been attending classes over the past 10 years, we notice that their investment and financial knowledge has improved over the years.

At present, remisiers are looking for more advanced courses instead of simple courses like introduction to investment or financial knowledge or products. Hence, we feel that remisiers have the ability to provide better and value-added services to investors.

There are two main transaction costs when purchasing stocks, namely explicit and implicit costs. Explicit costs refer to direct costs of trading like brokerage commissions, stamp duty and clearing fees whereas implicit costs refer to indirect costs of trading like market impact (or price impact), delay cost and missed-trade opportunity costs.

Market impact refers to the price movement caused by placing the trade in the market, delay cost is the inability to complete the trade immediately due to the order size and market liquidity, while missed-trade opportunity cost is related to the unrealised profits or losses attributed to the failure to complete the trades.

For example, Stock A is currently selling at RM1.98 (buying price) to RM2 (selling price). Mr B intends to buy 50 lots of Stock A and to save on brokerage commission by buying online. However, he is not aware that there is some good news on and strong buying interest in Stock A.

A good remisier should be able to advise Mr B to give market order and buy Stock A at the best available selling price of RM2, rather than give a limit order of RM1.98. If the day’s closing price for Stock A is RM2.10 and Mr B did not manage to accumulate the stocks at RM1.98, the missed-trade opportunity to Mr B is 5% ((RM2.10-RM2)/RM2).

This missed-trade opportunity cost of 5% is much greater than 0.6% that he pays on the brokerage commission.

We tend to agree with the general public view that not all remisiers are willing to commit themselves to get the best prices for their clients. One reason may be the difficulty in judging whether the buying interest will persist throughout the whole day.

As a remisier, his key role is to get the best execution prices for his clients. We feel the minimum brokerage cost of RM40 per trade is fair to the remisier as the implicit cost of buying a stock is much greater than this explicit cost.

The RM40 is also used to cover the time required to monitor and to get the best prices; time spent on reading market developments and corporate news; costs required to acquire market information and attend classes; and administrative work involved in helping their clients on rights issues or any other corporate exercises.

In Malaysia, we have about 8,000 remisiers and dealers with a population of 28 million versus 3,000 remisiers with a population of about 4 million in Singapore. We strongly believe that the remisiers’ services are still required and have the potential to grow.

Nevertheless, remisiers need to upgrade and add more value to their services, on top of providing the best execution of trades to their clients, to differentiate their services from online trading.


The writer is one of the active CPE course trainers. He is also an investment adviser and managing partner of MRR Consulting.

kirawang

adussss....

...............................

Banks start increasing interest rates on car loans
By YVONNE TAN and EUGENE MAHALINGAM
[email protected]


But car companies say rate hikes will have small impact on sales

PETALING JAYA: Interest rates on new non-national car loans has increased by an average of 0.25 percentage point effective yesterday while rates for new national car loans saw a hike of about 0.10 percentage point, a check with several major lenders showed.

At least two bank hire-purchase officers confirmed this while another said the rates at the bank where he worked would be increased this Friday.

Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) president Datuk Aishah Ahmad said the hikes were likely to have a “small initial impact ” on car sales.

“Car companies may see a light impact at first but the increase is marginal and people will get used to the new rate,” she said when contacted by StarBiz.


A file picture shows people viewing cars at a Proton showroom in Mutiara Damansara

Aishah said if there was any major impact, it would most likely be on companies that sold affordable, mass-market cars. “The high-end players would be less affected,” she added.

An EON Bank Bhd hire-purchase officer said the bank’s revised interest rates for new non-national cars were 3.5% (5-year tenure), 3.75% (7-year) and 3.85% (9-year).

Meanwhile, rates for new national cars now stood at 3.85% (5-year tenure), 4% (7-year) and 4.10% (9-year), he added.

Previously, new non-national car loan rates at EON Bank ranged from 3.25% to 3.5% while new national car loan rates were 3.75% to 4%, he said.

The last car loan rates increase was in March when the overnight policy rate (OPR), the benchmark interest rate that determines banks’ lending rates, was revised upward by 25 basis points.

On May 13, the central bank raised again the OPR by another 25 basis points to the current 2.5%.

Not too long ago, when the OPR was at a historical low of 2%, users used to pay only up to 2.8% interest rate for a new non-national car.

At the rate of 2.8% over nine years, a person borrowing RM80,000 would have paid about RM70 less per month compared with the one that borrows the same amount but at the current rate of 3.85%.

Nevertheless, MAA’s Aishah said the association would not revise its total industry volume forecast of 550,000 units for 2010, given the steady consumer confidence.

In 2009, sales volume stood at 536,905. Year-to-date sales stand at 196,121 units from 162,075 in the previous corresponding period.

Nasim Sdn Bhd director Samson George was unperturbed by the rate hike, saying that it was unlikely to have any impact on the company’s sales. Nasim is the official distributor of Peugeot cars in the country.

“Higher interest rates will have an impact on car sales in general but the profile of our customers are different, as they tend to be more affluent.”

Earlier this month, Edaran Tan Chong Motor Sdn Bhd executive director Datuk Dr Ang Bon Beng said the second increase in OPR to 2.5% would not have a major impact on vehicle buyers.

However, should the rate be raised by another 50 basis points by the year-end as predicted by some economists, the motor industry would be affected, he said.

Proton Edar Dealers Association Malaysia president Armin Baniaz Pahamin said that after the first round of OPR hike this year, the company was expecting an “adverse impact” on sales.

kirawang

Kisah Motivasi...

Success people...

--------------------------------------

After hours: Ahmad Izham Omar        

Tags: Ahmad Izham Omar

Written by Kathleen Tan     
Monday, 03 May 2010 00:00  
  
“Among the favourite things I like to do after work is jamming with my makeshift rock band comprising my colleagues at Media Prima. Currently, we’re practising for Media Prima’s Media Appreciation Night on May 7.

We started our band, D’Kechewas, to represent Media Prima at a rock band competition at the AdBall [organised by 2As, the Malaysian Advertisers Association] around three years ago. My band mates and I have day jobs but we go jamming because it makes us happy — it’s a nice distraction after work.

I thought the name ‘D’Kechewas’ was cool because in the past, bands liked to put [the prefix] ‘D’ in front of their band names. So we thought it would be funny to call ourselves D’Kechewas. Why ‘Kechewas’? Because we’re all above 30 so we’re ‘kecewa-ed’ musicians… ‘kecewa-ed’ in life!

I’ve been a professional sessionist musician for a long time, produced a lot of music, managed a lot of artistes in my ‘previous life’ [as co-founder of the Positive Tone recording label] and had written some songs so I had always wanted to do something like this.

Ahmad Izham Omar, Executive director, 8TV/Metropolitan TV Sdn Bhd, CEO Alt Media Sdn Bhd;head of radioi, Media Prima Bhd;and director, Monkey Bone Records. Photo by Kenny Yap

Music is the most creative thing I can do because it’s creative on top of a set of strict rules. It’s quite mathematical as you have to play in time and you only have 12 notes to play with so how creative you are using those 12 notes is quite important.

The best part about playing music is that it fills your soul and you feel very fulfilled when you play it. Playing with a band allows you to interact with others in a way that is unsaid as you have to click and feed off each other. Music allows you to be creative on a collaborative level where more people could do something that neither of you could ever achieve alone.

My mother got me to learn the piano when I was three so that I could play something she could sing along to. When my love for music grew, she exposed me to the Beatles – her favourite band – so I loved to play as she sang at the top of her voice! [Laughs] From then on, I discovered that music was a relevant way to express what I feel inside – just to be happy and let my creativity flow.

In my family, my younger sister and elder brother play instruments as well but not as much as my youngest brother — he is currently the bassist for a blues band. Of course, I leave instruments lying around the house so that my children, who are taking piano and guitar lessons now, always try something new. Music is very important in our lives – even my wife used to play the piano and the organ.

My musical influences are The Beatles — because of my mom — and I have to admit… WHAM! There’s also George Michael, Prince, Michael Jackson, Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana, Babyface, Billy Joel, [Claude] Debussy, Harry Connick Jr, Keith Jarrett, Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, George Shearing as well as the Afro-Cuban All Stars line-up.

Currently, there’s Train, Taylor Swift, The Black Eyed Peas, David Tao, Hujan, Meet Uncle Hussain and Faizal Tahir – but I’m biased because I produced Faizal’s recording!

Those guys from Innuendo taught me the finer art of listening to a production, while my colleague and friend Paul Moss taught me more about music than school ever did. [Izham studied music production and engineering at Berklee College of Music in Boston, US] School taught me about structure, formula, academics and theory but Paul taught me to listen to the melody.

I still remember D’Kechewas’ first gig, a competition where we performed songs by Lenny Kravitz, Aerosmith and Twisted Sister. During that performance, I proceeded to smash two Styrofoam guitars on stage for fun before I jumped off stage and body surfed… and we won! [Laughs] When I was body surfing in the crowd of Media Prima employees, I could hear whispers of “Boss! Boss! Slowly, boss! You okay, boss?” [Laughs] They were so worried that something would happen to me!”

Madura1

EPF to allow members to buy quality funds                                        By DALJIT DHESI
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KUALA LUMPUR: Effective August, Employees Provident Fund (EPF) members will be allowed to buy only quality funds with consistent returns over a period of time in a bid to safeguard their investments in unit trusts.
At the same time, investment by members into funds with a foreign exposure would be reinstated but with a limit of up to 30%.


Federation of Investment Managers Malaysia (FIMM) president Tunku Ya’acob Tunku Abdullah said yesterday that EPF had agreed with the federation to allow their members to buy performing funds – those that have higher consistent returns for at least three years to further instill trust and confidence in unit trust investment.

This means that funds with less than three-year track record and newly launched ones will not be sold to EPF depositors.
The reinstatement of funds with foreign exposure would enable EPF members to enhance their investment options and diversify their risk portfolio, he added.

In early 2005, Bank Negara liberalise the overseas investment rules whereby EPF members were allowed to purchase without any limits funds with foreign exposure.

Then in 2007, EPF disallowed it, stating among others, it needed further study on the impact of such funds performance.
To ensure consistent performing funds, FIMM would introduce a performance focus methodology to measure funds under the EPF Members Investment Scheme annually.

“Funds that consistently have higher performance relative to its peers in the same category will be made available for sale to EPF members. Those that generate returns but not as high as their peers and do not meet a certain criteria, will be suspended for sale.
“These funds can be re-instated when they eventually meet the criteria. The evaluation methodology for sale of funds as well as those with foreign exposure are expected to be implemented in August,” he said at a press briefing.

Tunku Ya’acob said currently more than 300 funds under the scheme would undergo the evaluation process and the final list would be announced in due course.
Out of this total, he expected 5% of the funds to be suspended for not meeting the relevant criteria, but would qualify if their performance improved.

A person familiar with the matter told StarBizWeek that successful funds would be listed on FIMM and EPF’s websites. “These performing funds would have their names on the websites but will not be given ratings as FIMM and EPF are not in a position to do so.

“Suffice to say that these funds have been evaluated with the right methodology. EPF members will benefit from this move,” the person noted.

FIMM executive director Lee Siew Hoong said the methodology would evaluate relative performance on funds among peers with at least three years of track record in line with international accepted practices.

A period of three years was deemed to be the minimum period to evaluate the longer- term performance of the fund as unit trust investment was for the medium to long term, he noted.

Lee said funds must meet certain criteria including consistency and risk-adjusted return performance before they are allowed to be offered to EPF members.The methodology uses an international research house rating data to calculate the criteria, he said

cmf_LAT

waaa.. mkt bermula pagi ni dgn merudummm
meh kome weei, pi submit ...