Pencarum dapat lebihan wang
- Details
Selasa, 10 November 2020 @ 8:30 AM
Kuala Lumpur: Belanjawan 2021 yang diumumkan minggu lalu menyaksikan pelbagai bantuan disalurkan namun rakyat yang terkesan dengan penularan wabak Covid-19 seperti hilang pekerjaan, kerugian dalam perniagaan dan hilang punca pendapatan tetap memerlukan suntikan kewangan.
Penganalisis ekonomi, Prof Dr Azali Mohamed berkata, penurunan kadar caruman Kumpulan Wang Simpanan Pekerja (KWSP) dari 11 kepada 9.0 peratus menerusi pengumuman Belanjawan 2021 dilihat akan memberi lebihan wang belanja buat pencarum seterusnya mampu merancakkan ekonomi domestik.
Katanya, jumlah inisiatif yang membabitkan sehingga RM9.3 bilion ini bakal menyaksikan pergerakan ekonomi lebih baik tahun depan.
"Memang benar, caruman KWSP untuk pelaburan jangka masa panjang dan simpanan hari tua, namun rakyat amat terkesan sekarang dan pengumuman kerajaan dalam Belanjawan 2021 dapat melegakan kira-kira 600,000 pencarum.
"Langkah ini hanya terpakai dalam tempoh 12 bulan tahun depan dan boleh berubah semula ke peratus asal apabila ekonomi sudah kukuh dengan pengumuman semula pada belanjawan seterusnya.
Pematuhan Standard Keselamatan Barangan Pengguna Akan Terus Diperkasa
- Details
09/11/2020 09:14 AM
KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama) -- Baru-baru ini, setelah pulang bertugas dari pejabat, penjawat awam Ahmad Erwan Othman singgah di sebuah pasar malam di tengah ibu kota, untuk membeli anak patung sebagai hadiah hari jadi ke-5 tahun anak perempuan sulungnya.
Antara banyak deretan gerai jualan, langkahnya terhenti di sebuah gerai, ada pelbagai jenis permainan kanak-kanak di gerai itu termasuk anak patung.
Hatinya berkenan pada satu anak patung Barbie yang kelihatan begitu comel, berpakaian hijau laksana puteri raja, dengan rambut palsu berwarna emas. Harganya sekitar RM15.
Ahmad Erwan tersenyum sendiri, membayangkan betapa anak kecilnya itu akan melompat keriangan menerima hadiah hari jadinya nanti.
Namun ketika ingin membuat bayaran, barulah beliau perasan, tiada pelekat Malaysian Comformity atau MC tertera pada anak patung atau di mana-mana bahagian kotaknya, tidak seperti barangan mainan lain yang pernah beliau beli sebelum ini.
Dengan perasaan sedih, beliau beredar tanpa membeli anak patung itu kerana risau ianya mungkin tidak selamat untuk anaknya. Getus hatinya, “apakah ianya suatu kesalahan berdasarkan undang-undang terhadap pengeluar atau peniaga untuk menjual barangan pengguna yang tiada penandaan MC?”
PERLU PENANDAAN MC
Mengulas mengenai persoalan ini, Penolong Pengarah Kanan Bahagian Standard Kepenggunaan di Kementerian Perdagangan Dalam Negeri dan Hal Ehwal Pengguna (KPDNHEP), Salman Salim berkata, mainan kanak-kanak adalah salah satu dari enam jenis barangan pengguna yang dikawal selia KPDNHEP dan perlu mematuhi standard keselamatan.
Read more: Pematuhan Standard Keselamatan Barangan Pengguna Akan Terus Diperkasa
Pengeluaran KWSP bantu golongan sasar - FOMCA
- Details
KUALA LUMPUR, 7 Nov -- Pengeluaran caruman daripada Akaun 1 Kumpulan Wang Simpanan Pekerja (KWSP) secara bersasar disifatkan sebagai langkah terbaik membantu golongan terjejas dalam menampung perbelanjaan isi rumah.
Timbalan Presiden Gabungan Persatuan-Persatuan Pengguna Malaysia (FOMCA) Mohd Yusof Abdul Rahman berkata pengeluaran itu dilihat dapat membantu memulihkan kitaran ekonomi masyarakat yang terjejas dan terhimpit.
“Pada masa sama, kerajaan masih meneruskan pengeluaran i-Lestari di Akaun 2 yang dijangka tamat pada Mac tahun hadapan. Sekurang-kurangnya, mereka (pencarum) boleh mengeluarkan sehingga RM1,000 daripada Akaun 1 dan 2 KWSP dalam meringankan beban kewangan mereka akibat wabak COVID-19,” katanya kepada Bernama.
Menteri Kewangan Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz dalam pembentangan Belanjawan 2021 semalam mengumumkan kemudahan pengeluaran Akaun 1 KWSP secara bersasar sebanyak RM500 sebulan dengan jumlah sehingga RM6,000 untuk 12 bulan.
Pada masa sama, katanya, FOMCA menyifatkan pembentangan Belanjawan 2021 sebagai menyeluruh meskipun kerajaan menghadapi pelbagai kekangan daripada segi kewangan.
“Bajet ini juga bukan sahaja mengurangkan bebanan rakyat tetapi pada masa ia bertujuan menggerakkan ekonomi negara,” katanya.
Bantuan tambahan pinjaman bersasar
- Details
Isnin, 9 November 2020 @ 7:01 AM
INDUSTRI perbankan bersetuju memberikan bantuan bayaran balik pinjaman bersasar tambahan untuk peminjam individu dan perusahaan kecil dan sederhana (PKS).
Semua penambahbaikan ini adalah tambahan kepada bantuan yang diumumkan sebelum ini untuk mereka yang kehilangan pekerjaan serta untuk individu dan PKS yang pendapatan mereka terjejas akibat pandemik.
Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) dalam satu kenyataan berkata, peminjam juga boleh terus menghubungi bank mereka untuk bantuan bayaran balik yang sesuai mengikut keadaan kewangan khusus mereka kerana semua bank terus bersedia memberikan bantuan kepada peminjam yang memerlukan.
"Bantuan bayaran balik pinjaman tambahan akan diberikan kepada peminjam dalam kategori yang individu golongan B40 yang menerima Bantuan Sara Hidup (BSH) atau Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat (BPR) dan perusahaan mikro.
"Peminjam dalam kedua-dua kategori ini boleh memohon sama ada untuk menangguhkan ansuran bulanan selama tiga bulan atau mengurangkan ansuran bulanan sebanyak 50 peratus selama enam bulan," katanya.
Bantuan ini akan disediakan untuk kemudahan yang diluluskan sebelum 1 Oktober 2020 yang tidak tertunggak lebih daripada 90 hari pada masa peminjam memohon bantuan bayaran balik.
Kesan positif keyakinan pengguna
- Details
Isnin, 9 November 2020 @ 7:20 AM
BANK Islam Malaysia Berhad (Bank Islam) menyambut baik penambahbaikan bantuan pembayaran balik bersasar yang diumumkan Menteri Kewangan, Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, ketika pembentangan Belanjawan 2021.
Langkah terbaharu itu membuka laluan kepada golongan terjejas khususnya kumpulan B40, M40 dan perusahaan mikro menangani kesulitan dialami dan memberi peluang kepada mereka untuk pulih selepas berdepan cabaran yang berpunca daripada penularan pandemik Covid-19.
Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif Bank Islam, Mohd Muazzam Mohamed berkata, pihaknya menyedari Covid-19 memberi impak berbeza kepada masyarakat dan secara konsisten menghubungi pelanggan bagi memahami keperluan mereka.
Katanya, dari sudut ekonomi, penambahbaikan kepada bantuan bayaran balik bersasar ini memberi kesan positif terhadap keyakinan perniagaan dan pengguna.
"Ia jelas memperlihatkan institusi perbankan secara proaktif menangani kepayahan yang dihadapi pelanggan mereka.
Contractor loses over RM107,000 in Macau Scam
- Details
The scammer told the victim that there was a transaction on an Ambank credit card in his name amounting to RM11,188.35 for the purchase of goods from Lazada
09 Nov 2020 8:30AM
BATU GAJAH — A contractor lost more than RM107,000 after he was duped by a Macau Scam syndicate member into believing that he had credit card debts.
Batu Gajah district police chief ACP Ahmad Adnan Basri said that the 45-year-old victim was at home in Kampung Baharu Chenderoh here, when he received a phone call from a man who introduced himself as 'Mr Lai' purportedly a Bank Negara officer at 03-94165679.
He said that 'Mr Lai' told the victim that there was a transaction on an Ambank credit card in his name amounting to RM11,188.35 for the purchase of goods from Lazada, but the victim denied it.
“The call was then connected to the money laundering division in Bukit Aman and the victim spoke to a woman named Than Kok Hwa who told him that his credit card account had been misused and he was required to appear in the Kuala Lumpur High Court.
“The victim informed the caller that he had two accounts, namely, Ambank account and Hong Leong Bank account before he was directed to go to the automatic teller machine (ATM) of both banks,” he said.
Intensify Buy Malaysia campaign – Sothi Rachagan
- Details
The government needs to clarify its guidelines, criteria for the campaign to be effective
9 November 2020
THE Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry has initiated a follow-up to the Buy Malaysia campaign first launched in 1984 and relaunched during the financial crises of 1998 and 2008.
The current follow-up to encourage consumers to buy made in Malaysia products is to help local entrepreneurs during the economic crisis consequent on the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
Proponents of economic liberalism and free-market capitalism baulk at such protective measures.
However, as noted by Nobel laureate Paul Krugman in his opinion piece in the New York Times supporting the US Buy National Campaign during the 2009 financial crisis: “These are not normal conditions. We’re in the midst of a global slump, with governments everywhere having trouble coming up with an effective response... Don’t say that any theory which has good things to say about protectionism must be wrong: that’s theology, not economics.”
Malaysians will surely support the ministry’s efforts and treat buying Malaysian made products as an important determinant of their purchasing behaviour.
Transport group disappointed no initiative to tackle fatal accidents
- Details
November 6, 2020 @ 10:02pm
KUALA LUMPUR: Despite the announcements on new road infrastructures under the 2021 Budget, the Malaysian Road and Transportation Safety Association (MRTSA) nevertheless is disappointed with a lack of coverage on road safety.
Its deputy president Harijit Singh said that the budget did not address solutions to road traffic accidents leading to deaths.
"Nothing in the budget to address the daily deaths of 16 to 18 people on our roads.
"The government should look into road safety enforcement and education. There should be specific grants to generate more road safety professionals," he said in a brief text message today.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Public Transport Users Association (4PAM) president Ajit Johl welcomed the transportation related initiatives to assist the groups in need.
Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz in tabling the 2021 Budget announced that the My30 unlimited travel pass initiative would be continued and expanded to Kuantan and Penang with a total allocation of RM300 million.
He also announced an unlimited monthly travel pass for as low as RM5 be for children to commute to school, and for the disabled.
Read more: Transport group disappointed no initiative to tackle fatal accidents
Budget 2021: EPF withdrawal helps ease burden of target groups — Fomca
- Details
November 07, 2020 15:09 pm +08
KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 7): The targeted Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) Account 1 withdrawal facility has been described as the best measure to help ease the burden of those affected by Covid-19 with regard to household expenses.
Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca) deputy president Mohd Yusof Abdul Rahman said the facility was seen as being able to help restore the economic cycle of the affected groups.
“At the same time, the government is still continuing the i-Lestari Account 2 withdrawal scheme, which is expected to end in March next year.
“They (contributors) can now withdraw up to RM1,000 from EPF Accounts 1 and 2 to relieve them of their financial burden due to the pandemic,” he told Bernama.
Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz when tabling Budget 2021 yesterday announced a targeted Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) Account 1 withdrawal facility of RM500 per month, up to a maximum of RM6,000 for 12 months.
Mohd Yusof also described Budget 2021 as being comprehensive despite the government was facing various financial constraints.
Read more: Budget 2021: EPF withdrawal helps ease burden of target groups — Fomca
Patient’s Rights – Trampled Again
- Details
6 November 2020
FOMCA is extremely disappointed that the Poisons (Amendment) Bill 2019 that would enhance patients’ protection has been withdrawn. It appear that the government is not concerned to increase patient protection or patient welfare.
Previous governments had to some extent protected patients by regulating how much doctors could charge patients, as healthcare is a right not a commodity.
However, the previous health minister decided to eliminate the price ceilings and thus there are no price controls of how much patients can be charged. Doctors could charge as they please. Patients lost their protection. Thus the protection provided by setting a ceiling on consultation charges was removed – patient’s rights were trampled.
In addition, one of the promises made was that while doctors could charge as they pleased, with no price ceiling, they would be transparent in their patient charges, clearly indicating the breakdown of charges for consultation and for each of the medicines prescribed. Each patient would then know exactly how much he is being charged for both consultation and for each medicine that he has been given.
With transparency in medication costs, the patient could then make a choice on whether he wanted to purchase from the clinic or a pharmacy. For convenience, many may choose to buy from the clinic; while other more cost conscious consumers may choose to compare prices to get the best value for money.
Page 68 of 98