DianaTan.net

Just a few days ago, I went to the ATM in Public Bank to take out my Paypal money from USA. As I used my Public Bank Visa Electron Debit card in the ATM, and keying my password, there is an option to Transfer Funds. I selected it and key in my bank savings account number which was ready in my wallet. You need to know your bank savings account number first for the transfer which was so much more convenient than to take out the cash and put into cash machine to bank in again. The total so far was about RM2,000 taken out from my USA Paypal account for work done in writing articles plus paid blogging previously.

Just 2 days ago, I managed to withdraw my Paypal funds from my Public Bank Visa Electron Debit Card account for the first time. Before withdrawing, I checked the amount is in my account by internet banking that is linked to my savings account. You need to ensure that you have at least RM30 in your debit card before you can add your Visa card to Paypal. At the ATM, I had to key in my password 2 times, the first time is for the new card to accept it and the second time is to log in and transfer funds outs. I got about RM350 for less than USD100 that I withdraw from Paypal. I am still waiting for my USD500 or rather USD495 to be transferred to my debit card in the next couple of days.

Previously, earning money from USA was much easier but now you need to fill up a form to declare that you are a foreigner earning US money and don’t pay income tax to the US government. Some of the writing articles company insist that you fill up details including your Tax identification number to verify that you are a US resident. Gone are the days where you have free flow of US funds coming in so easily by paid blogging and writing articles.

Today is the first day that the Malaysian Government Bonds are available for deposit up to RM50,000 and minimum of about RM1,000 for people above the age of 56 or retirees. This is to help them generate some income from their savings. My bank has called me earlier on Monday to inform me of this so that I can go earlier to deposit and join the queue for the early birds to have a better chance of getting this much sought after government bonds that pay 5% interests per annum for 3 years. As I don’t qualify, I have to use my father’s name under a joint account and deposit my money. The date of issuance and sale period is below:

* 18 March 2009 ( BSM 01/2009 – RM1 billion)
( Sale period 18 Feb to 17 March 2009)
* 4 June 2009 ( BSM 02/2009 – RM1 billion)
( Sale period 4 May to 3 June 2009)

Source: Malaysian Government Bonds 2009

The returns are higher than Fixed Deposits which have dropped by 0.2 percentage points. From a previous 3.7% per annum for 12 months deposit, it has dropped to 3.5% per annum of many banks including Public Bank. And for 3 months deposit of 3.2% per annum, it has gone down to a flat 3%. And the government bonds are on a first come first serve basis and the moment it hit RM1 billion throughout Malaysia, it is closed. So, it you have extra cash to put aside for 3 years, hurry to any bank today to deposit the Bon Simpanan Merdeka 2009.

I just came back from Public Bank in Bishop Street, Penang, the main branch. I am happy to say that I finally managed to add my Public Bank Visa Electron Debit card to my Paypal account in USA. This is possible after topping up my card to RM55 from RM25. I contacted the person in charge in KL and she informed me that in order to be able to add your Visa debit card account to Paypal for withdrawing US funds, you need to have at least RM30 in the debit card. When I applied for the debit card, I was told to put in RM25 which was the minimum but insufficient for Paypal transactions.

And true enough, I came back and logged in to my Paypal to add the Visa debit card (Note that Paypal only accepts Visa credit or debit card and not Mastercard) and it was successful. Such is the magic of online transactions via Paypal to receive US dollars. The US funds accumulated because of my work done mainly in writing articles for overseas clients and very little from paid blogging. I have about USD600 in Paypal since December 2008 and the money was stuck for 2 months as I had to wait for my Public Bank Visa Electron Debit Card approval which took about 3 weeks. I am relieved that by today, after a visit to the bank, everything was settled.

Today is Valentine’s Day 2009 and I am going out with my family for a simple dinner. Probably at a hawkers’ centre nearby. The above picture was taken by me during our trip to Hadyai over Chinese New Year from 24th to 27th January 2009. You will never find this type of dolls in Malaysia as they are too holy moly and it is ‘haram’ or sacrilege to display such dolls openly. Since it is Valentine’s day, I thought it was appropriate to show it here and its genitals look cute. I am back to processing more company photos for our web site in www.OlympicVenture.com as we complete more projects for clients. Have to update the web site with reference projects that are recently completely and this is my nature of job amongst others. Happy Valentine’s Day to you young dating couples out there

I came back from KL a few days ago. The trip was worthwhile as we visited a few places after some enquiries. I always like going to KL as it is a getaway from the clutches of parents and tight reins. Here, I have more freedom to see Kuala Lumpur and travelling around, notwithstanding some quotations to prepare and printing to be done. My second sister also went back to Suchou, China on the same day with transit in KL by Malaysian Airlines. When I reached home at 6:00pm, they have already left at 5:30pm for the airport and dinner in Ayam Mas. Work continues as per normal and I have the remaining calendars to send out as a way to keep in touch.

I have recently discovered that our former futsal client Hanis from Kelantan, copied 90% of the photos from our web site in www.OlympicVenture.com to create a similar web site offering sports surfaces products. I shall not reveal her web site but we are getting our lawyers to deal with her. She does not seem to understand what copyright infringement means and delay in taking out the photos. Each time we contacted her, she says wait for 1 week before she remove our photos as ‘there are procedures to follow’. I don’t know what she means by procedures as taking down or closing the web site is very straightforward.

Hence I have been busy getting proofs of the theft and updating our current company web site with html code to prevent right click and copying for over 300 web pages. But this is not fool proof that it won’t happen next time. Therefore I was very busy the last week because of this dishonest client turned competitor. They copied every brand that we use like Plexipave, Tiger Turf and also our rubberized floor. Such no brainers who follow our very own business model.

Since Hanis is so reluctant to remove our copied photos from her web site, we had to get a lawyer to send her a letter. She admitted being too lazy working as an accountant for other people and prefer to do business. But with blatant copying from our web site including the paragraphs that I had to carefully think out, and taking a short cut method to build her web site quickly, she leaves us with no choice but to proceed this to the court if she is so stubborn. Meanwhile, we also discovered her partner who is fluent in English secretly contacted our source of supplier in USA and pretended that they sub-contract work to us when actually they are our clients for sports courts. Well, this is the last thing that we want to have anything to do with them.