Interviewing International Super Model Amber Chia

Finance Malaysia is very pleased to be able to interview Malaysia's Super Model Amber Chia, who had already making a name for herself in Modeling. When given the chance to interview, Amber Chia had always been Finance Malaysia's mind. In fact, Amber is an icon of the industry nowadays. She even forays into international scene, bringing Malaysia's image with her.

Amber's Story

From her small town roots in East Malaysia to her domination of the local modeling scene, Amber Chia embodies the classic fairy tale rise to fame. After moving to Kuala Lumpur at the early age of 17, Amber was quickly able to make a name for herself within the local modeling scene. Her charming personality and distinct look hastily ensured her place amongst the countries elite. Amber proved her international appeal by securing a contract with Guess Watches International in 2004 and has since used this as a platform to propel herself into other mediums such as movies and television. (AmberChia.com)

The Lovely Interview...

1. Being a Model, TV Host and Actress, which one do you think that is the most challenging task for you? And, why?
• Basically, everything new to me sometime would be challenging. If you really want me to select, I would say being a model. Why? This is because modeling is the first task that I faced the world, be it on the stage, in front of TV and camera. In fact, being a model had gained me different experiences which could then be useful for being a TV host and actress. Yes, modeling is my answer.
  
2. You had ventured into business and started Amber Creations and AmberChia Academy. What drives you to become a businesswoman?
• I am not young anymore. Haha. I wanted to plan for my future too. I love this entertainment industry, and before venturing into business, I had been in this industry for 14 years. I started Amber Creations (event management company) and AmberChia Academy, and these are not new to me either. These businesses closely related to what I am practicing all this while. And, this is the best of me.
  
   
  
• AmberChia Academy was set up with the aim of grooming the next top super model. I am very passionate about it, and hopes to nurture ones talent just like Amber Chia did.
  
3. The following questions touched on your personal money matters. What is your view on Insurance
• For me, insurance is something compulsory, it's not optional. My insurance plans includes everything ranging life, medical, accidental and retirement. You must be mindful of your loved ones when something unfortunate event happens to you. Insurance is very important to us, especially if a family was set up.
  
4. How about Investment?
• On investment, I had started planning, and started my baby education fund. I am investing in properties. As usual, location location location is the most important rule in property investing. All of my investment is in Malaysia. I don't invest in overseas because I only did what I knew best. For me, I am not confident in overseas investing.
  
5. Any words for our readers?
• Dear readers, we must save money for our future. We should save, invest and spend on essential items. Do not overspend. Learn and enhanced our skills and knowledge in personal money management is crucial. Good luck.

Finance Malaysia takes this opportunity to thanks Amber for her time spent on this interview, and wishes her good luck in her career and businesses. We hope that this article could inspire Malaysians to excel further in their future.

Still not enough on Amber Chia?

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Personal Income Tax 2010: Residential Property

With effective from Year of Assessment (YA) 2009, Malaysian resident who acquired any residential property are given the specially designed tax relief of up to RM10,000 a year for 3 consecutive years from the first year the interest is paid.

Residential property means a house, condominium unit, apartment or flat which is built as a dwelling house. This kind of tax relief was given by the Government to counter the property market downturn, or to spur the property mart after the 2008 global financial crisis. It has proven to be a success in Malaysia for the past 2 years, where property prices skyrocketed to a not so comfortable level for most of Malaysians. People are crying foul on the high price to own a house nowadays.

What is the Terms and Conditions?

To qualify for the tax relief, the following conditions must be met:

• the taxpayer is a Malaysian citizen and a resident;
• limited to one residential unit;
• the sale and purchase agreement is signed between 10th March 2009 and 31st December 2010;
• the individual has not derived any income in respect of that residential property

How about Joint-Ownership property?

Yes. You still will entitled for the interest expended tax relief where:

• 2 or more individuals are eligible to claim relief for the same property; and
• where the total interest expended by those individuals exceeds the allowable amount for that year, each individual is allowed an amount of relief for each year based on the following formula:

 

In other words, the total interest expended would be RM10,000 per house, and it can be proportionate in accordance to the number of individuals. Example, Alex and Esther purchased a house, and the finance interest incurred for that year of assessment amounts to RM30,000. Alex only pays 30% of the installments while Esther paid the remaining 70%.

So, for that YA, Alex would entitle for RM3,000 interest relief while Esther would get RM7,000. If both of them already married, and if Esther elects for joint assessment, then RM10,000 would be given to Alex.

Source: Inland Revenue Board website

Related Posts:

Personal Income Tax 2010

Personal Income Tax: Child Relief

Introduction

In 2008 I embarked on an unusual experiment in gonzo urban anthropology. I left the world of radical left-wing academia, and went to London with two goals in mind. Goal one: To break into the financial sector at the heart of one of the most powerful centres of the global economy and to see first-hand how it worked, to learn by doing, not by reading. Goal two: To shatter the complacent intellectual comfort zone I’d found myself in, and to learn to move in and out of different worlds like a chameleon. It was an exercise in critical thought, backed by real action.

ADVANCED TIE SKILLZ

That’s how I found myself on the 36th floor of the Lehman Brothers offices in Canary Wharf, four weeks before the company collapsed, and how I found myself in the subsequent financial crisis, trying to pitch esoteric inflation derivatives, property derivatives, and longevity derivatives, aboard a mad raft with an oddball crew of old rogues and young rats, fighting against the odds to stay afloat. It’s a pretty interesting story, and I hope to tell it some time.

In the mean time, I’m completely broke, in a room in Brixton, with a pile of business cards and a stack of ideas, most of which don’t add up. Sometimes I help unusual people to get to grips with conceptually challenging things, like what the financial system might be. I look at how financial concepts might be channeled creatively, through the fledgling world of social and environmental finance, and consider why all this might matter in issues of social and environmental justice.

Sometimes I look at bizarre curiosities, like new currencies and new units of time, Islamic finance, Hawala systems and financial crime. I delve into the way the financial sector tries to reconcile our views of the future in the present.

Sometimes I hang out with people who call themselves anarchists, but who are mostly just concerned about a world they perceive as offering them nothing but bland complacency and treadmill materialism. They hack conventions and set up bases in old abandoned buildings, but are still daunted by the seemingly intractable, impenetrable and arcane financial structures around them. I urge them to try engage more, to spend less time throwing rocks at things, and more time subverting their own preconceptions. They look at me weirdly, but I think there’s a lot to be said for a new activist philosophy.

I play a lot of guitar. I once busked on the New York Underground. I have a pricing model on my hardrive that can tell you what rate to charge for a bet on how long people live for. I lifted it from an investment bank, and one day, when I learn to use it, I'm going to create a rock 'n roll financial opera.

I once went to a fancy university, got an MPhil in Development Studies, wrote some papers. Sometimes I hang out with development people and talk trade policy, agricultural subsidies, and NGOs. Other times I hang out with finance peeps, and talk about things like sugar and carbon.

New Fund: OSK Indonesia Equity Growth Fund

To join in the Indonesia Theme bandwagon, OSK launched its own version of Indonesian Equity Growth Fund, which aims to achieve medium to long term capital appreciation through investments in securities of companies with high growth potential that are listed on the Indonesian Stock Exchange and/or companies listed on other exchanges whose business are substantially in Indonesia.

This fund is suitable for investors who:

• wish to participate in the potential and investment opportunities of the Indonesian economy
• are willing to accept higher risk in their investments in order to achieve potentially higher returns in the medium to long term
• seek capital appreciation rather than income

8 Answers to "WHY invest in Indonesia?"

1. Impressive equity market performance
• Jakarta Composite Index gained 46% in 2010
• The 7th year in which Indonesia has outperformed Asia ex-Japan over the past 9 years (Source: CLSA Research January 2011)
2. Strong economic growth
• Expected growth of 5.7% to 6% in year 2011
• Growth is driven by domestic consumption, currently stands at about 65% of Indonesia GDP
3. Favorable demographics
• 4th largest population in the world
• Middle and upper-middle class households is expected to increase from 29% currently to 41% by 2012
4. Resources rich
• World's biggest CPO producer
• World's biggest Thermal Coal exporter
• World's biggest Tin exporter
5. Government projects and infrastructure development
• 2011 budget is pro spending, especially in infrastructure development
• Development expenditure expected to increase 29% in 2011
6. Equity market remains attractive
• Currently trading on 13x PE with 22% earnings growth and 25% ROE
• Indonesia has the 2nd lowest Equity Market Cap / Nominal GDP ratio in the region
7. Outlook on Rupiah to strengthen
• Lagged regional currencies in the past 10 years
• Improving outlook for Rupiah makes Indonesia attractive to foreign investors

Investment Approach

1. Combination of "top-down" and "bottom-up" approach
• An investment strategy that is not mutually exclusive but closely inter-twined between asset allocation and stock specific selection
2. Value driven approach
• Stocks are then selected for their value
3. Emphasis on growth
• Stocks are further selected for their growth potential

Investment Approach

Portfolio Strategy

OSK sees several investment opportunities including

1. Banks
• Strong loan growth (+25%) driving revenues
• Low penetration of key financial services and credit
2. Infrastructure
• Total investment needed for infrastructure projects 2010 - 2014 will reach USD34.14 billion
3. Commodities
• Medium term outlook for thermal coal positive due to increasing demand from China, India and Indonesia
4. Consumption
• Low consumption in categories such as cars, motorcycles, cellular phones and cement

Source: OSK-UOB unit trust management berhad

Click here to read the prospectus

Personal Income Tax: Child Relief

When we are having children, it's a gift from God. And, Malaysia is a blessed place to live, a place where no earthquake and volcano. Although we once hit by tsunami, but it brings minimal effect to us. Thank God.

In line with the effort to increase Malaysian workforce, in achieving self-sustainable economy with strong domestic consumption, Government has laid out several tax relief especially meant for child. Dubbed as one of the "major investment" of family, a child could easily cost a family few hundred thousands (if not millions). Let's take a look at some of the tax advantages of having a child.

Child Tax Relief

Married couple can claim child relief of maintaining any child. The children can be their own child, step child, or legally adopted child. Then, there are subdivided into 4 different categories.

Source: IRB, Finance Malaysia Blog

Generally, parents can claim tax relief of RM1,000 per unmarried child per year, until he or she turns 18. An unmarried child who is over 18 and continuing full-time education at a secondary school, he or she entitles the parent to a RM1,000 tax relief.

Meanwhile, parent may claim a tax relief of RM4,000 once the child is 18 and above, and pursuing full-time tertiary education (diplomas and above qualifications) locally or overseas. The said tertiary education must be a program and in Higher Education Institute that is accredited by related Government authorities.

For those unfortunate Disabled child, the tax relief is RM5,000 per year as long as he/she is unmarried. Other than that, an additional relief of RM4,000 will be granted if the disabled child pursues a full-time tertiary education just as an ordinary child mentioned earlier.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Is there a limit to the number of child entitled for child relief?
• There is NO limit to the number of child, but please take note that relief will only be given to unmarried child.
2. Can husband and wife claim for the same child relief?
• NO. Instead, the child relief should be claimed by either spouse who has the highest taxable income in order to minimize the tax payable. It should never be divided between husband or wife.

Source: IRB

Related Post:
Personal Income Tax 2010

Personal Income Tax 2010

It's the month of April again, and it's time for us to file our personal income tax. Usually, people would wait until the last minute to do perform their once-in-a-year task (I myself is one of them). To encourage taxpayer to do e-filling earlier, Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia (IRB) said that those early birds can get their tax return money in 3 days. I don't know whether this is can be true, but I would like to give a try this year.

For you, readers, Finance Malaysia will write more about topics related to Personal Income Tax this month. Welcome to the "Month of Tax", and we hope that the info posted here could help you to file your income tax confidently, error-free, and wiser.

Generally, any amount paid by the employer to the employee in relation to having or exercising an employment will be taxed. This refers to employment income such as salary, bonus, gratuity, commission, allowance, director fees and many other forms of remunerations. In contrast, the phrase "income exemption" refers to employment income that is excluded from taxability.

What is Tax Relief?

The Income Tax Act provides a list of items which is deductible from any income earned by a resident individual in order to relief him/her from tax burden. That's why it called Tax Relief. These expenses are essential to provide welfare to an individual, and Malaysian government use Tax Relief as an incentive for Malaysians to make decision. Example, government think that insurance is crucial for social welfare, and would gave tax relief on insurance premium paid by citizen. By doing this, government actually encourage Malaysians to buy insurance.

Source: IRB, Finance Malaysia Blog

* Blue color: Tax relief that we can adjust easily in our daily life

* Green color: Tax relief specially for property (to be explained in detail later)
* Light Red color: Tax relief related to child

* Yellow color: Tax relief related to insurance premium

Related Links

Tax Benefits of Unit Trust YOU must know

Tax Relief from Insurance YOU must know

OSK Stock Picks for April 2011

After being hit by a few Black Swan events, markets rebounded in March with the KLCI ending 1Q in the black. Moving into 2Q, we still see some short term volatility but are confident of an eventual rally to close in on our year-end KLCI target of 1680 points. We advise investors BUY Big Caps on potential rebounds while focusing on the more defensive Small Caps given their superior performance over the past few months. The favorite sectors remain Banks, O&G, Property and Construction in the mid-to-short term while the longer term buys are Media and Healthcare. This strategy is reflected in our April top buys as well.

Timber the BIG winner...

For March, timber stocks were actually the big winners, including names such as Suber Tiasa, Jaya Tiasa, TaAnn, WTK and Lingui, on hopes for better timber demand in view of reconstruction efforts in Japan. Nonetheless, these counters are not part of the FBM100. Instead, among the FBM100 constituents, media player Media Chinese and Petronas companies Petronas Dagangan and Chemicals were the big winners. Sectoral wise, O&G led the way followed by Technology (JCY), Media (MCIL), and Gaming (Genting).

Outlook: Moving into 2Q

Moving into 2Q, we see the possibility of some short-term volatility for the remainder of 2011 but market fundamentals remain sound. We maintain our year-end KLCI target of 1680 points based on an average of the 2011 KLCI fair value (1648 points 16x PER) and 2012 KLCI fair value (1710 points 15x PER). With this in mind, we maintain Overweight on the Malaysian market. Our view is driven by 4 key factors:

• The economy will continue to grow
• Upside and Downside are fairly equal
• News flow ahead of the General Election remains very supportive
• Earnings should match expectations

For April - A month of 2 Halves

We believe that there may well be 2 distinct halves in the month of April. The first half should be positive for the market, with the one of the key factors being the Invest Malaysia conference which will be held on 12 April. Among the announcements could be:

• The disposal of Khazanah's stake in Pos Malaysia
• The next Risk Service Contract for marginal oil fields
• Release of Government lands for property development

However, for the second half of the month, we are concerned of greater market volatility, due to potentially less positive outcome of the Sarawak elections. Since BN already holding more than 80% of the state seats, we believe the risk is that their performance may drop in this upcoming election. Consequently, this may spark some knee jerk selling until the 1Q2011 reporting season.

Source: OSK Reseach Report