My Trip to Kansai District, Japan

ST Jimmy | Saturday, November 24, 2012 | | 0 comments




ABOUT MY RECENT TRIP TO KANSAI DISTRICT, JAPAN – PART 1
((Foreword: A group of 11 senior citizens, including myself, ventured out on a self-organised trip - i.e. without involvement of any travel agency – from November 5 to 12, 2012 to Kansai. Thanks to three seasoned travellers among us pals, namely Raymond Ho, Jack Lee and Lee Min Tet who volunteered to be the itinerary planners and joint “guides”, I have archived an encompassing account of the trip in the form of short notes and snapshots. In case you may want to consider Kansai as the next holiday destination, you may find my account useful.

What I witnessed and experienced could be categorised in three aspects: (1) sightseeing (2) food (3) lifestyles & cultural traits.

For now, I am sharing only on my sightseeing phenomena. The other two categories will be shared in the next sequential episode as Part 2. So, here comes Part 1: Sightseeing.))

I wish to lay out my account by way of short descriptive points plus photographs with captions on the places that my group visited. Please note that my sharing now is only reflective of places recorded in my camera; there were many places of interest in Kansai which we could not accommodate in our itinerary due to time constraint.

Preliminary Information:

·         *We flew by AirAsiaX. Most of us booked the flight to and fro Osaka (the main city in Kansai) almost one year ago at RM505 (offer rate).

·         *Stayed in Weekly Mansion Osaka at Otomae. Made reservation via the web. Rate: US$53 per night, inclusive of tax, on twin-sharing. This is an apartment hotel, with the necessary facilities, including pantry, kitchen utensils, stove and microwave oven. Free wifi access only at the hotel lobby. Next to the lobby is the laundry machine room - auto-charge service at reasonable rate.

·         *We commuted by train and lots of walking from day 1 upon arrival at Osaka Airport till our departure day.

·         Our places of visit were pre-selected by research via the web by Raymond, Jack and Min Tet. And all in all, I only spent the equivalent of around RM2,600 for air-fare, lodging, food, sightseeing, plus some local foodstuffs (for home) incurred in my eight days in Kansai. Really worth the money spent!


      DAY 1: OSAKA AT NIGHT:
Reflections..........in the midst of Osaka City. Snapshot was taken during a stroll after dinner.)


DAY 2: KYOTO GYOEN NATIONAL GARDEN & YASAKA PAGODA:


                           ( Greenery began to turn colourful in the first week of November)
                                               (Environment of peace and freshness)
                                                                     ( Nice view )

                                                            (Two picturesque scenes)

                                                  (The street up to Yasaka Pagoda)
(The Hollies would have changed their hit song from "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" to "They Ain't Heavy, They're My Customers............pulling up on the sloppy street to the Yasaka Pagoda)

DAY 3: IKOMASANJYO (HIGHLAND THEME PARK), NARA & KOBE PORT

                                                         (Cute looking cable car)
 (Visitors could get a good view of the city below while going uphill in the cable car)
(The rollercoaster in the theme park. The park caters for fun. It is an ideal venue for family day outings, especially families with young children)

(Nara is a suburban township ideal for leisure visit by strolling around. No bustling vehicles, very     clean, lots of souvenirs and foodstuffs for selection)
(This shop makes fresh soft candy balls that stick and linger in taste buds............it entails quite a bit of might and physical activity in the preparation)

                    (Nara Deer Park.......friendly deers greet visitors. The park is very clean)
                                            (One of the serene lake views in the deer park)

                         (Kobe as the city of lights at night.........snapshot taken from Kobe Port)
(The musical fountain at the courtyard of Notre Dame building, hich is situated just beside Kobe Port. A rhapsody.......climax water display when the music became intense)
                                     (Indeed, buildings glitter at night as viewed from the port)

DAY 4: ORIMA-ONSEN & HAKUTSURU SAKE BREWING MUSEUM IN KOBE
                                         (Setting of a hill resort as one enters Orima-Onsen)
(
                                  (Colourful foliage surrounding the hill resort in November)
                    (Even this shop-house was spiked up by colourful foliage on it and around it)
                       (Public sulphur-saturated hot spring to sooth tired feet........free of charge)

                               (The brewery cum museum - producing a popular brand of sake)
                                          (Part of the traditional processes for brewing sake)
                                             Cheers!.......sampling some varieties of sake)
                               (The traditional and best way for drinking sake.......from a bowl)

DAY 5: WAKAYAMA MARINA PARK:
                                (Varieties of raw seafood sold at the seafood market in the park)
                                (Preparing to slice a Salmon fish for the meat to be eaten raw)
                                                 (Scenery........looking out to the sea)
(Wakayama has entertainment for children too........."let's shake hands to be friends")

DAY 6: OSAKA CASTLE PARK:
                                          (View of the fortress and castle from a distance)
                                                (Pleasing sight.......surrounding the castle)
 (This is the castle, built in the 17th century and rebuilt in 1931. It now serves as a museum)
                            (Views of the city from the observatory at the top level of the castle)
 (Replicas of the shachi, the legendary dolphin-shaped fish, and fusetora, the crouching tiger)

DAY 7: OSAKA AQUARIUM KANYUKAN:
                      (Some of the graceful marine species not seen back home in Malaysia)

Watch out for Part 2 of my sharing on Kansai - highlights on food, lifestyles and cultural traits, which shall be posted.............very soon.


                                                          



                 



    














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Keep Watch On The Yuan & Asian Currencies.....

ST Jimmy | Sunday, October 14, 2012 | | 0 comments


RMB TO WEAKEN?: (contributed by Chan Cheh Shin - Fund Manager)

 Thoughts for October 2012............

 We often hear analysts and economists telling people that there is nothing to worry about China's capital outflows as the world No. 2 economy has US$3.2 trillion in FX reserve. This, however, ignores the impact of a shrinking FX reserve on Chnese liquidity. Capital outflow is a drain to China domestic liquidity.

The People's Bank of China (PBoC) does have US$3.2 trillion of so-called "fire power" to prop up the currency in the unlikely event of massive capital outflow, but the success of it will come at the expense of domestic liquidity.

PBoC might use other tools (on top of the routine use of reverse repo) to ease liquidity, such as outright bond buying, or perhaps guiding a depreciation of the Chinese yuan (as Renminbi is commonly called) and hope that inflows will appear again.

And the latter option appears to be what the PBoC is actually using. As the US Fed announced QE-Infinity, at some point it may (or perhaps not) necessitate PBoC FX intervention again, essentially to print Chinese yuan in order to bring the price closer to the fixing.


Watch out!.......for other Asian currencies to possibly slide too.....

Question: Will an exchange of new party leader have a significant positive impact on China economy?

My opinion: No correlation at all. In fact, the political/position in-fighting within the party since March 2012 this year may only result in the following two outcomes:

* A mad rush to pump up the economy so that the new "leader" will look good. But it will be bad for the fundamental economy as the growth is again pumped up by stimulus.

* Party members will spend much more of their energy in jockeying for positions and thus put the economic growth plan to the back seat.

Happy Thinking!

LATEST ABOUT PRS IN MALAYSIA

ST Jimmy | Saturday, October 06, 2012 | | 0 comments




PRIVATE RETIREMENT SCHEME (PRS) PRODUCTS ROLLING OUT ANY TIME NOW
Six months ago, on April 19, I posted an article about the national Private Retirement Scheme, in which I said the scheme was taking shape fast. I also mentioned that the appointed eight PRS providers were required to submit their product plans within six months’ time for approval by the Securities Commission. True enough, now that it is October (six months from April), some of the providers are set to roll out their products any time very soon. As proactive preparatory actions to capture the market when the products are launched, they have already begun road shows to introduce the PRS to their targeted distributors and also to train them.

My research for updated information via sources in the industry, including a few providers, enables me to share the following affirmed key standard features and mechanisms of the products for your easy reference:-

*Open to both Malaysians and foreigners (with valid documents) above age 18.

* Tax relief on contribution of up to RM3,000 per annum, available next 10 years from 2012.

* Employers sponsoring contributions for employees are eligible to claim tax deduction up to 19% of their employees’ overall annual remuneration.

* Three (3) core funds, namely Growth Fund (maximum 70% equities and balance in fixed income assets), Moderate Fund (maximum 60% equities and the balance in fixed income) and Conservative Fund (80% in fixed income). Apart from the core funds, a provider may have non-core funds parked under the core funds, e.g. an Islamic Moderate Fund which is being made available by one provider.
* Participants have the option to select the fund/s of their choice.

* For participants who do not elect any particular fund, the default option automatically will apply, which allows the provider to auto-pick the core fund on behalf of the participant according to the age group as follows: Growth Fund (below age 40), Moderate Fund (40 – 50 years old), Conservative Fund (above 50 years old). When the participant moves to the next age group, the provider will redeem units from the existing core fund to purchase units in the next core fund identified for the newly attained age.

* Participants can request to switch funds along the way, between core funds and non-core funds. A provider is allowed to either charge a low or no switching fee. It can also stipulate the limit in number of switch times per year. 

* A participant is allowed to sign up with more than one provider.

* A sponsoring employer may choose the provider while selection of funds lies with employees.

* Employers sponsoring the contributions may opt for a vesting schedule formula to promote employee loyalty. For example, the vesting ratio may range from 0 to 100% from 1st to 10th year of service. If an employee leaves early, say in the 5th year, only 50% of the invested savings may be vested to him.

* Some providers may offer regular contribution scheme and/or single lump sum contribution. Additional or top-up contributions are allowed.

* Unlike unit trust investments, withdrawal of savings from Employees Provident Fund (EPF) account to fund the contributions toward PRS is not allowed.

* Contributions can be on monthly mode and remitted via bank or credit-card auto-debit arrangements.

* Contributions go into two sub-accounts: Sub-account A constitutes 70% of all contributions and the balance in Sub-account B. Sub-account A cannot be withdrawn/redeemed before retirement.

* Rules For Withdrawal/Redemption: (a) Pre-retirement withdrawal is allowed from Sub-account B. Participant is allowed to withdraw the whole amount from this sub-account or partial. Redemption  is subjected to 8% tax, deducted and collected by the provider upfront on behalf of the tax authority. (b) Retirement redemption can be done either in lump sum or periodically. Participant may also opt to retain the scheme. No tax is imposed on retirement redemption. (c) Withdrawal because of permanent departure from Malaysia through emigration is allowed. For foreigners, it can be done upon producing evidence of documentation cancellation such as work permit or permanent residency.

* Transferability/portability of savings in any amount from one provider to another is allowed, limited to once per year. The first transfer can only be done one year after the initial contribution. A provider can only charge the actual or reasonable expenses incurred for the transfer.

Special Note: I understand that as a form of consumer protection, participating members of a PRS provider may invoke a meeting under Regulation 20 of the PRS regulation upon fulfilling the following condition:

·         *Not less than 50 members or one-tenth of all members of the PRS or the fund as the case may be, direct the PRS provider to do so in writing.

·         *Purpose of the meeting is to consider the most recent financial statement, or to give the scheme trustee such directions as the meeting deems proper, or to consider any other matter in relation to the PRS or the fund or the deed.

Happy Retirees

CAVEAT: The contents of this sharing are based on my personal research and sources of information. Therefore, you should also relate to other relevant sources in order to verify the validity of the contents. Thank you.

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