Why is the domestic trade ministry so insecure of this "NPO" statement what are they trying to hide? Why are they so afraid of this negative perception of palm oil is it because its true? I just have so many questions.

Source of screenshot : https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2024/05/03/convenience-store-raided-for-selling-no-palm-oil-ice-cream/

https://www.theborneopost.com/2024/05/03/malaysia-wins-gold-at-international-cheerleading-cup-held-in-us/

https://youtu.be/XCjcpGuxWyU

They are pretty cute and do a great job!

Hello fellow monyets. Need help identifying this bioluminescence sea creature from outer space. Yes I'm monyet that's never seen this. Something I've seen close to this is bioluminescent plankton at Thailand beaches.

For a bit of context, I've been working part-time / freelance for many years. The company I work part-time for contribute EPF etc for me. On top of my part-time job, I also have freelance jobs. Although the income of my freelance gigs are not stable, I do self-contribute an amount to EPF every month. I do taxes myself.

Recently, I've decided to go full time for a company. During interview, since I am not able to provide any payslips as my income is from all over the place, I showed my 3 month EPF statement to prove my current income. Now that I got the position, the HR department just texted me asking for 6 months of pay slips for "tax purposes" (probably from a different person in HR that is unaware of my situation, since I talked about it in interview).

I am just genuinely curious what role does my previous pay slips play here? And also, what is the best way to approach this kind of situation for self-employed people like me? On top of that, I felt slightly violated that the company knows so much about my finances now, do HR department of companies have ability to access to your tax / epf info etc without you knowing?

Hi Everyone, We are an Aussie family of 4 with 2 children (2)/(1) The wife looks after our children at home.

We have family in Malay and visit quite often. I work in the mines FIFO from Perth. We are seriously considering moving to Malay as the cost of living is killing us financially, and we have very little debt.

We love KL and forsee a great future there for our family.

What are the pros and cons of this type of thinking?

I understand we can only do 3 months at a time and would have to leave the country.

But with everything calculated, flights,food accommodation, insurance, etc it's still allot cheaper than living in Aus currently.

Anyone doing this currently from Perth?

I recently listened to this song called hal hebat by Govinda and I really liked it. Ofc I’m open to many genres so drop down what you all feel like recommending 😚

Sometime when when go to isi minyak, they might approach us. I assume they might want to offer help to isi minyak but i also wonder, will they ask for some money..

I am not really comfortable to pass them the card/phone for paywave then fill the tank though.

Is helping us isi minyak in their job scope?

PS: Random image from Google Image source : https://i.malaysiakini.com/1350/b24f172b55980113359b3401adb18ce3.jpeg=s600

How much does it cost to have a child in Malaysia from prenatal and post childbirth follow up? Also if possible please share your overall experience, bad or good!

• Petir (OG)

• Petir (Galaxy S1)

• Halilintar (OG S2-3)

• Halilintar (Movie 1)

• Halilintar (Galaxy S1)

• Halilintar (Movie 2)

• Halilintar (Galaxy S2)

• Angin (OG)

• Angin (Galaxy S1)

• Taufan (OG)

• Taufan (Movie 1)

• Taufan (Movie 2)

• Taufan (Galaxy S2)

• Beliung

• Tanah (OG)

• Tanah (Galaxy S1)

• Gempa (OG)

• Gempa (Movie 1)

• Gempa (Movie 2)

• Gempa (Galaxy S2)

• Api (OG)

• Api (Movie 1)

• Api (Galaxy S1)

• Blaze (Movie 1)

• Blaze (Movie 2)

• Blaze (Galaxy S2)

• Air (OG)

• Air (Movie 1)

• Air (Galaxy S1)

• Ais (Movie 1)

• Ais (Movie 2)

• Ais (Galaxy S2)

• Daun (Galaxy S1)

• Duri (Movie 1)

• Duri (Movie 2)

• Duri (Galaxy S2)

• Rimba (Galaxy S2 comic - not pictured)

• Cahaya (Galaxy S1)

• Solar (Movie 1)

• Solar (Galaxy S1)

• Solar (Movie 2)

• Solar (Galaxy S2)

Elemental fusions - Movie 2 + Galaxy S2

• Frostfire (Ais + Blaze)
• Glacier (Ais + Gempa)
• Supra (Halilintar + Solar)
• Sori (Solar + Duri)
• Gentar (Gempa + Halilintar)
• Sopan (Solar + Taufan)

Link to my previous post: https://www.reddit.com/r/malaysia/comments/10k5gv8/im_about_to_open_my_own_gerai_selling_ayam_goreng/

Warning: This is gonna be a long ass post. Head over to TLDR below for summary.

1. Background

In Feb 2023, I opened my own small business selling fried chicken under a renowned brand from Johor. Let's call it the MHC brand (dead giveaway, I know). After paying a certain amount of RM to its HQ, I got the right to sell the MHC product in my hometown. I was ecstatic.

Having researched the brand awareness and the market demand for 3 months, I was convinced the business is financially viable if I can manage 4 P's well: product, price, place and promo. It also helps that I have 3 years experience in FnB business prior to this venture.

2. Game Plan

The ultimate plan is to hand over the business to my brother once I finished training him how to run it. I also planned to expand to 2 more locations in 3 years (and therefore 3 locations by 2026).

Why the handover? I have another sdn bhd I still have to manage. Therefore I took no salary.
Why 3 locations by 2026? To lower cost of purchasing raw materials and maximise profit margin (and finally give me some salary).

To paint you a picture: if one location hits minimum monthly sales, it generates approximately RM2,500-RM3,000 net profit. 3 locations = RM7,500-9,000 net profit.

3. The Execution

Based on the 4P's of marketing, these are what we've encountered.

Product

1. HQ products' are limited to proteins only. No carbs and drinks.
2. HQ's Korean sauce game is exhaustingly weak. The viscosity isn't right. The taste isn't right. And we, the agents, can't tamper with it.
3. The most prevalent complain from customers is the blackened chicken bones. HQ dismiss the complain completely.

Price

1. HQ position their product as mid-tier options for fried chicken. But most agents sell by the roadside, making us vulnerable to comparison with cheaper options.

Place

1. Sales increases whenever we join events, festivals outside our usual locations.
2. Listing our products in FoodPanda and GrabFood is a must. Without fail, these platforms represent 30% of our total sales (which I think is decent since we're operating outside major city).

Promo

1. HQ's promo effort is disappointingly minimal. No ads spend whatsoever in both digital and traditional space. Too reliant on TikTok's generous organic reach (which is unsustainable).

And these are what we've done:

Product

1. Add rice, fries and drinks options.
2. Give a 10% discount voucher every time customers complain about HQ's weak Korean sauce.
3. See above.

Price

1. We can't tamper with the price. So we present ourselves as mid-tier options accordingly. No more roadside stall. We store freshly fried chickens in a proper food warmer. Cleanliness is decent (despite our best effort. See below)

Place

1. Move into a permanent location provided by the Majlis Daerah. It's spacious, the rent is relatively cheap and we're no longer have to cram our staff into our van. UNFORTUNATELY we have to deal with the 'cat ladies' makciks who feed every stray cats passing through our premise. As a result, our premise looks and feels ghetto as fuck.
2. We join events and festivals if and only if we can manage the logistics.
3. We always join FoodPanda and GrabFood promo deals if there is one. The only thing we don't participate is the one where vendors have to pay if they want to rank higher in listings.

Promo

1. RM500/month allocated for Meta advertising without fail.

4. The Result

1. The addition of rice, fries and drinks options did increase our sales. But it's not significant (around 10%).
2. Most of our customers didn't even use the 10% off voucher we gave.
3. Sales peak during school season, decreases during school holiday period. However, Q4 2023 was our best quarter due to a lot of catering requests from school teachers/parents (for jamuan celebrating the end of school year).
4. During the height of KFC and McD boycott, the sales did reflect significantly ;)
5. From Feb 2023 to Feb 2024, we recorded losses during these two months: April (Ramadan) and May (Raya month) 2023.
6. Median net profit from Feb 2023 to Feb 2024: RM3,500. Average loss: -RM1,500.
7. Sales could've been better had other vendors avoid opening/closing their business erratically. When all vendors open, our premise is bustling with customers. When they close, sales got affected

5. The Last Straw

Silly me. I was adhering to the 4P's of marketing instead of the 5P's of marketing. I completely underestimate the fifth P: People.

Staffing has been my major headache since Day 1. I've had staff who went MIA mid-shift, stole from the cash register, showed up late macam kedai bapak dia, close shop early macam kedai nenek dia and other headaches I'm sure every employers has been through.

But that's not the worst. The worst is when I mix family with business. I should've not let my brother near my business. If your family members understand and know how to keep things professional, you can mix family with business. If they don't, don't mix family with business. Otherwise, they'll treat everything you said personal. Like you're out to get them.

Before this business, I've never had to quarrel with my brother. My mom never had to deal with us arguing to the point she had to beg us to stop while crying. Now we aren't in speaking terms. When I drop some stuff at our shop, we act like we're invisible to each other.

When my mom asked me to not punish my brother's lack of professionalism at workplace, coincidentally coupled with my one dependable staff tendering her resignation last week, it was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Family favouritism ain't my thing. Clearly my family can't separate business with family affairs.

So I've decided to close the business fearing it would make things worse for my family. My brother can always find another job. How about the plan to hand over the business to him? I realized it was a pipe dream. What about opening up 3 more locations? Well, life stood in the way.

6. What I Learned

1. FnB can't be managed half-heartedly. You gotta go all in. If I don't have other money-making avenues, I would've probably cut ties with my brother, roll up my sleeve and keep persevering. But I have, so I don't.

2. If you're interested to open MHC business, remember these golden rules:

• Only hire 1 staff for every 200 pcs fried chicken sold daily. If you're selling more than that, you can consider hiring another staff to make things less chaotic.
• Run Meta ads about your availability for catering and target them to school teachers and parents 1-2 months before school year ends.
• Always reject staff candidates with these criteria: Under 30 and unmarried, mentions 'part time' before you even bring it up, family members applying on his/her behalf.
• Primary customer avatar: Working Malay mothers in their 30s

3. Though it's short-lived, I've no regret. Barring the family drama, it was a decent business venture. I gained nothing financially from this business, but I managed to give two staff competitive salaries (well above minimum salary regulation) without having to migrate to KL for more than a year.

TLDR

1. Opened fried chicken business with a family member
2. Underestimate the importance of staffing
3. Had to close business before family situation gets worse
4. Learned some lesson.

Bonus pics

Our first location by the roadside

The we moved into a permanent location.

That's me during the recent Bazar Ramadan!

I have many 5, 10, 20, 50 cents. Tried to go direct to deposit at coin machines at bank but always not functional. Either machine already maxxed out early in the morning or machine broken and not in service. What’s the best way to deal with duit cents

This was taken at 4.56pm today

who remembers this from back then?

I am wondering does Iban traditional clothing, Chinese cheongsam, Indian saree or Baju Melayu consider as formal wear?