Petrol RON97 naik 20 sen, kuat kuasa tengah malam ini

KUALA LUMPUR, 1 April - Harga petrol RON97 akan mengalami kenaikan 20 sen seliter mulai tengah malam ini, demikian menurut sumber-sumber industri hari ini.

Dengan kenaikan itu, bahan api RON97 akan dijual RM2.70 seliter - kadar peningkatan paling tinggi tahun ini.

"Baru petang ini kami menerima notis pengesahan (daripada kerajaan) mengenai kenaikan, 20 sen seliter kali ini," kata sumber kepada The Malaysian Insider.

Ini kenaikan kali ketiga tahun ini. Ia mengalami kenaikan 10 sen seliter berkuat kuasa 31 Januari lalu.

Harga RON97 yang diapungkan mengikut pasaran minyak dunia semasa, naik sebanyak 15 sen pada 1 Disember lalu, menjadikan RM2.30 seliter dan kemudian RM2.40 seliter mulai awal Januari lalu.

"Kenaikan kali ini hanya membabitkan petrol RON97, yang lain-lain kekal tidak berubah," kata sumber itu.

Februari lalu, Menteri Perdagangan Dalam Negeri, Koperasi dan Kepenggunaan Datuk Ismail Sabri Yaakob berkata kerajaan sedang mengkaji semua opsyen bagi membolehkan kerajaan tidak menaikkan harga petrol RON95 dalam waktu terdekat walaupun berlaku kenaikan harga minyak global.

Disebabkan harga RON97 diapungkan kerajaan memutuskan untuk tidak mengumumkan perubahan harganya dari semasa ke semasa.

Nota: kenaikan harga petrol bakal menyaksikan kenaikan semua barang keperluan harian. lihat saja kenaikan itu dalam tempoh beberapa hari nanti.

Home loans declined for 4th straight month in February

KUALA LUMPUR, April 1 – The value of residential property loan applications have declined for four months in a row beginning October last year, recent Bank Negara statistics show.

In contrast, for the period October 2008-October 2010, the value of home loan applications have not declined for more than 2 consecutive months.

Residential property loan applications totalled RM10.3 billion in February this year, down from RM12.6 billion in January, RM13 billion in December, RM14.1 billion in November and RM15.5 billion in October according to the latest Monthly Statistical Bulletin issued by Bank Negara.

The February figure however was still 24 per cent higher than the RM8.3 billion recorded in February last year.

Foo Gee Jen, managing director of property consultancy CH Williams Talhar & Wong, said that the October –February period tends to be slower as developers prefer to launch projects in the middle of the year rather than at the end or the start.

He noted however that the roughly 30 per cent drop from October to February was unusual as compared with about 10 per cent normally.

Foo said that the government imposed new loan-to-value ratio cap of 70 per cent introduced in November last year could be part of the reason.

“That is going to have some impact on the residential market,” he said. “Probably speculators stayed away.”

RAM Holdings chief economist Dr Yeah Kim Leng said that the declining trend was a welcome development given the government’s moves to deter speculative borrowing.

“We see a more stable trend going forward,” he said.

He noted however that the prices in the major urban areas was still on the upward trend given the expansion of the population falling in the house buying age group and the historically low interest rates.

The 70 per cent cap in loan-to-value ratio was introduced last year followed public outcry over rapid price increases which made it harder for genuine home owners to buy residential property.

The high prices of property in KL have also prompted the Najib administration to introduce a first-home ownership scheme last month in addition to the loan-to-value ratio cap in a bid to stave off discontent.

The measures pale in comparison, however, to efforts seen elsewhere in the region, such as China and Singapore.

The Chinese government last year introduced curbs on foreigners buying property and raised the minimum downpayment for first-time buyers to 30 per cent from 20 per cent and banks were ordered to suspend mortgages on third homes and above in addition to hiking interest rates three times since October.

Singapore, meanwhile, raised stamp duty on new properties to as much as 16 per cent of the sale price to be paid by the seller if the house is offloaded within a year of purchase.

The amount that banks can lend for a second property has also been lowered to 60 per cent of the home's value.

There was also some concern that the new first home ownership scheme, which provides 100 per cent home financing to those earning less than RM3,000, would flood the market with cheap credit and affect the loan quality of the banking system.

Bank Negara governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz denied the possibility however saying that banks would be conducting affordability and credit worthiness assessments on applicants of the scheme.

Note: This is a good news to all.

1) Tarian poco-poco boleh diamalkan umat Islam selagi tidak melanggar hukum syarak, mencampurkan unsur agama lain dan pemujaan seperti difatwakan haram oleh Jawatankuasa Fatwa Negeri Perak (JFNP), kata Timbalan Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Dr Mashitah Ibrahim.
2) Katanya, berdasarkan pemerhatian beliau, tarian poco-poco di Selangor tidak mengandungi unsur bertentangan dengan Islam dan dilakukan oleh golongan berusia sebagai bentuk senaman untuk kesihatan seperti aerobik. “Isu ini tidak perlu diperbesarkan kerana kemungkinan tarian poco-poco di Perak berbeza dengan tempat lain.
3) "Jika kita nak buat aerobik kepada orang tua memang tidak sesuai, jadi tarian poco-poco ini digunakan sebagai wadah untuk bersenam,” katanya kepada pemberita selepas menghadiri prapelancaran buku Album Masjid: Lambang Ketamadunan Islam di Malaysia.
4) Beliau diminta mengulas keputusan JFNP untuk mengharamkan tarian itu yang yang diumumkan Mufti Perak, Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria, baru-baru ini. 
5) Bagaimanapun, Mashitah berkata pihak berkuasa agama negeri berhak mengeluarkan fatwa pengharaman poco-poco sekiranya tarian berkenaan didapati mengandungi unsur yang bertentangan dengan ajaran Islam, pemujaan atau agama lain.
6) Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia (JAKIM) juga katanya tidak perlu mengkaji pengharaman tarian itu kerana tiada aduan daripada rakyat. 


Apa kata Mufti Perak


1) Sementara di IPOH, Harussani berkata pergerakan berbentuk salib dan maksud dalam kamus Jamaica yang merujuk poco-poco yang bermula di negara itu sebagai tarian pemujaan roh, menjadi sebab JFNP mengharamkannya. 
2) Katanya pergerakan berbentuk salib begitu jelas dalam poco-poco yang kini turut meluas dijadikan satu aktiviti senaman, namun ia tidak disedari sebahagian besar umat Islam. 
3) Katanya, ia jelas mengaitkan tarian itu dengan Kristian. 
4) “Mengikut kamus Jamaica poco-poco bermaksud tarian pemujaan roh. Perkara yang membawa kepada unsur pemujaan roh adalah syirik,” katanya.
5) Beliau mencadangkan umat Islam menggantikannya dengan tarian atau pergerakan yang berakar umbi dalam budaya Melayu seperti zapin dan joget, tanpa mencampurkan lelaki dan wanita dalam melakukan aktiviti itu. 


Apa kata Kita: Dr Masitah menolak fatwa Mufti Perak hanya kerana mata kasarnya melihat tarian poco-poco selesa. Kenyataan ini sangat menghairankan.

Loan SHARKS put up "IKLAN" on taxi

1) Loan sharks, operating under the guise of licensed moneylenders, are getting bolder in seeking new ways to advertise their services.

2) Besides the usual flyers, business cards and posters on trees and lampposts, they are now putting up advertisements on taxis.

3) These advertisements on taxis would offer personal or “easy” loans. Some would even feature a chart on the repayment schedule.

4) Taxis which carry such advertisements have been seen in Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, Puchong, Subang Jaya, Shah Alam and Klang. The telephone numbers provided on the advertisements are local lines.

5) These so-called licensed moneylenders charge interest rates of 25% to 33.3% a month.

6) Under the Money Lending Act, licensed moneylenders should charge between 12% and 18% per annum.

7) And just like loan sharks, these “licensed” ones resort to intimidating tactics such as taking possession of the borrowers’ bank account books or ATM cards.

8) Several calls been made to the numbers seen on taxi advertisements and found that the moneylenders have a similar modus operandi.

9) Usually, the person answering the call would not reveal much, but instead invite the caller to visit the office.

10) Potential borrowers are required to bring along their identity cards, payslips for three months and ATM cards.

11) Its office is situated inside a shopping complex in the city. Visitors have to buzz a bell to enter.

12) When asked for a RM3,000 loan the company would only release RM2,250 while the balance would cover processing fees.

13) He went on to say that there were three repayment schemes. Under the first package, borrower must settle the RM3,000 in 30 days. It is very straight forward "we give you RM2,250 and you have to settle RM3,000".

14) The second package would give borrowers a three-month repayment period during which they must pay a monthly instalment of RM1,360 for three months.

15) The third package is very simple. You have to pay RM750 per month until you settle the RM3,000 loan. The amount would be withdrawn monthly with the ATM card until the RM3,000 was settled.

16) The loan would be released within an hour after the borrower’s personal documents were verified.

Note: Sounds like easy. But when come to default or late payments, this is where SHARKS comes in with tonnes of extra charges.