Personal Money

No Loans for Poor Results

2011-06-24T08:31:00.000-07:00

Today, The Star online news says No Loans for Poor Results. Oopss! PTPTN recently says that it will withdraw loans from 152,000 students who scored CGPA of 2.0 and below.

"Its chairman Datuk Ismail Mohamed Said said the students with the poor results received loans totalling RM632mill."

That is a substantial amount to be given to those who not worthy of a helping hand because of their poor performance in their exams. I think this amount can be used to help those students who really need the loan or scholarship and who are qualified for the loan. Or maybe they can use the money to upgrade the facilities of public schools and universities.

At the end of the article also mention the following:

"Of the 132,180 blacklisted students who defaulted on loan repayments, he said 12,400 had repaid loans amounting to RM113.9mil."

Wow! So many graduates defaulted their loans. Personally I've never taken PTPTN loan because i did part-time degree while working. Young graduates nowadays can afford to buy the latest cool gadgets and drives a brand new Toyota Vios just barely 6 months into their first job but cannot pay back their study loan? For what I know is PTPTN charges very low interest rates and the repayment schedule is stretched up to 15 years to ease fresh grads burden. Monthly repayment is only RM100-250. I think it is doable when they can afford to own such luxurious items.

What do you think? Anyone has experience in defaulting their PTPTN loan before?

1Malaysia Grocery Store

2011-06-24T07:40:00.000-07:00

MSN News talks about 1Malaysia Grocery Store. The first 1Malaysia store was launched last Wednesday at Kelana Jaya LRT Station. This store is the first of its kind, and according to the source, many more will come along in the future. This is part of the 1Malaysia programme obviously. For those who wants to know more about 1Malaysia can visit their official website. The main attraction and purpose of this store is to have its products priced lower than market price. Here's another interesting part about this concept:

"Among the store's substantial inventory are 250 grocery items carrying the brand name "Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia." These are priced 30% to 40% below market prices, Najib noted."

Wow! So they are going to have their own store brand. Another Tesco, Giant and Carrefour in the making. Here's another excerpt from the article:

"The store will be operated by Mydin Mohamed Holding Berhad following a mini market modus operandi. It will have basic necessities - rice, eggs, cooking oil, etc. - and more."

Ah! So now we know why their prices can be lower. Mydin is well known for its low prices. It was not mentioned in the article how many store the government plan to open under this programme, but we can definitely see another 99speedmart alike coming up. If their prices is really cheap and their intention is to help the people, then i believe this project will be very much welcomed. Maybe I will approach them to open up 1Malaysia Grocery Store in the place I work :)

How about you? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. if you like my blog and my topics, do follow me. thank you!

Personal Money - My Financial Freedom Journey

2011-06-22T09:56:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Personal Money, my new financial adventure. I've wanted to kick start writing on this blog but I've been held up by other matters. Now I've decided to start writing on this blog. I hope readers out there join me and helps me out by commenting on my thoughts and setting me straight.

This blog is about Accumulating Wealth and Achieving Financial Freedom

Although this blog is about personal finance, but i believe from time to time i might stray away from the topic a bit. But I will try to keep all topics to financial, money and savings related, always with the goal in mind of accumulating wealth and achieving financial freedom.

I've been through life full of debts and living paycheck to paycheck. So I'm hoping that with this blog, I can constantly remind myself to not fall into this trap again. I can also learn more about finances and investment by making a commitment to write here. Most importantly, I hope i can share my stories and knowledge to help anyone out there who are seeking for ways to improve their finances. For now I just want to welcome you to Personal Money, thanks for joining me!