From Other Blogs

 Just discovered this blog that has a story about me.

BENDAHARA ZAMIN ERAN: direct descendants/keturunan langsung tok tuan@karaeng agang jene mohd naziruddin bone 

I am trying to collect as much information about our family and ancestors and put them in an online family tree Geni.com . Below is the link:

https://www.geni.com/home 

Everyone is invited to join the family tree and connect to our family tree.

Falsafah Selawat

 Saya sedang mencari makna kepada ungkapan "Selawat kepada Nabi".  Apa sebenarnya maksud selawat?  Mengikut kebanyakan definisi, selawat adalah kata jamak daripada as-solah.  As-solah pula bermaksud do'a.  Jadi apa maksud "Allah dan malaikat berselawat kepada Nabi?  Apa pula yang dimaksudkan apabila Allah menganjurkan supaya orang yang beriman berselawat kepada Nabi (rujuk Surah al-Ahzab 33:56)?

Penerangan yang selalu kita dengar ialah bahawa:

1.  Selawat Allah ke atas Nabi ialah Allah memberikan PujianNya kepada Nabi serta reda  kepada Nabi. Keterangan yang lebih detail ada diberikan dalam link ini 

https://muftiwp.gov.my/en/artikel/al-kafi-li-al-fatawi/3457-al-kafi-1274-maksud-selawat-dan-salam-kepada-rasulullah-saw

2.  Selawat Malaikat ke atas Nabi pula ialah do'a malaikat kepada Allah supaya Nabi mendapat barakah.

3.  Selawat (sollu) Manusia ke atas Nabi pula merupakan do'a kepada Allah, memohan rahmat ke atas Nabi.

Pertanyaan yang selalu bermain dalam fikiran saya ialah apa sebenarnya yang kita lakukan apabila kita berselawat ke atas Nabi?

Video ini Masyaallah! Ini Penjelasan Resmi Tentang Apa Itu Sholawat || Habib Novel Alaydrus - YouTube 

memberikan satu penerangan yang jarang didengari.

Antara yang menarik ialah:

1.  Apabila sahabat bertanya kepada Rasulullah (s.a.w.s.), bagaimana untuk berselawat ke atas Nabi, beliau (s.a.w.s.) menjawab, ucapkanlah teks yang selalu dibaca iaitu "Allahumma solli'ala Muhammadin wa'ala ali Muhammad.

2.  Ini bukan berselawat tetapi sekadar cuma ucapan memohon kepada Allah supaya Allah berselawat kepada Nabi, dan Allah berkata Allah sentiasa berselawat ke atas Nabi.

3.  Manusia tidak mampu berselawat, sekadar memohon kepada Allah supaya Allah berselawat.

Penerangan seperti ini jarang didengari.

Sekian dulu.

22022022

Happy Twoosday. 

I have since retired from USIM and thus this blogspot will add postings on general matters 

Penyalahgunaan perkataan tentatif

This posting has not much to do with actuarial science or actuarial finance.  Ever since I left the profession I have been keeping in touch with professionals, students and graduates of the field of actuarial science. 

Recently, I was faced with an issue that I have been taking up while I was at the university, which is the use of the phrase "tentatif program" by students and staff of the university.  Apparently, the phrase "tentatif program" is very widely used by those who are organizing programs, to mean the details of the program, giving times of starting of each activity.

I stumble onto a blog that also discusses this issue: http://kptmbangi2u.blogspot.com/2011/02/tentatif-aturcara-sejak-bila.html?showComment=1400422501061#c4041026803376878138

Malaysia's pension reform may boost Islamic funds

Or This Link
The pension industry in Malaysia is growing very rapidly. The challenge is to make sure all transactions meet shariah requirements.

As stated in the following article, EPF investments do not strictly follow shariah guidelines. What would be the position of Muslim members' fund?

Mon Jul 23, 2012 1:39pm IST

* Malaysia liberalising pension market

* Govt sees 73 bln ringgit into private pensions by 2020

* Eight fund managers approved to offer products

* Product limit raised if it includes Islamic offerings

By Bernardo Vizcaino

SYDNEY, July 23 (Reuters) - Malaysians will have more room to allocate part of their retirement contributions to Islamic investments under sweeping government reforms to the pension system.

At present, the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) receives public pension contributions and invests the money. Some of that investment is in sharia-compliant areas such as sukuk and halal stocks, but contributors have limited scope to ensure the money is being used that way. A maximum 20 percent of savings can be placed through the EPF into a single mutual fund.

Under the new, voluntary Private Retirement Scheme (PRS), which will not replace the EPF but supplement it, contributors will be able to allocate money to a wide range of products offered by private-sector fund management firms. This will allow them, if they choose, to target sharia-compliant investment - potentially increasing the amount of money going into Islamic instruments.

The scheme's governing body which will oversee how the fund managers operate, the Private Pension Administrator (PPA), was officially launched last week.

"PRS will contribute towards the growth of Islamic fund products," Zakie Ahmad Shariff, board member of the PPA and chief executive of the Federation of Investment Managers Malaysia, told Reuters.

The initial rollout of 30 PRS products will include six Islamic funds, he added.

"Early adopters will have much to gain - especially for the Islamic players," said Mahadzir Ahmad, a wealth management consultant and an instructor at the Financial Planning Association of Malaysia.

GROWTH

As of March 31 the EPF managed assets worth 488.5 billion ringgit ($154 billion), according to company data. That is larger than the 435.36 billion ringgit of assets under management in Malaysia's entire fund management industry, according to securities commission data.

At least partly because of PRS, Malaysia's private pension industry is expected to grow to 73 billion ringgit by 2020 from effectively zero now, according to a report by the government's Economic Transformation Programme. The securities commission has a more modest but still sizeable estimate; in April last year, it said: "Over the next ten years, it is projected that assets under management in the private retirement scheme industry will grow to 30.9 billion ringgit."

Sharia-compliant funds have on average held 10.6 percent of total assets under management in Malaysian retail products over the last two years, according to Reuters calculations based on securities commission data.

If this ratio is maintained under the PRS scheme, Islamic funds could theoretically see inflows of 3.3 billion to 7.7 billion ringgit.

All eight of the approved PRS fund managers already have sharia-compliant retail products. They include some of the country's most established firms such as CIMB-Principal, AmInvestment and Public Mutual.

Firms will begin offering conventional products first but sharia-compliant products will soon follow, said Nancy Chow, director of marketing and strategic product development at AmIslamic Funds Management. AmInvestment plans to have an Islamic PRS, she said.

Hwang Investment Management will include sharia-compliant products in its PRS range, Steve Lim, chief product officer at Hwang Investment Management, said in a statement. "We foresee our investment in PRS to break even after three years."

PRODUCTS

Under PRS, fund managers will be required to offer a minimum of three "core" products catering to different investor risk profiles. A maximum of seven products can be launched under the scheme by a single PRS provider, but if it intends to offer both conventional and sharia-compliant options, it can offer up to 10, according to securities commission guidelines.

This could encourage fund managers to launch Islamic products to maximise their access to PRS money. The initial products will be available from September, the securities commission said.

Guidelines also allow for the outsourcing of the fund management function, which could open the door for boutique firms to tap into the sector without the need for established sales channels.

In order to encourage take-up in the PRS scheme, the government is offering incentives such as personal tax relief, tax deductions for employers on their contributions to the scheme, and tax exemption on income received by PRS fund management firms.

Some details of how the PRS scheme will work, and whether it will impact Malaysia's current retirement age of 55 years, are not clear, Ahmad said. "These details are not forthcoming yet."

The personal tax relief of up to 3,000 ringgit may need to be increased to make it enticing to higher income earners, he added. Without a significant tax benefit, "the take-up might not be as great." (Editing by Andrew Torchia)

Social Security Seminar

Faculty of Science and Technology USIM is proud to be associated with this seminar organized jointly by Actuarial Partners, UiTM, USIM and SOCSO.

The presentations by speakers can be obtained from the website http://www.actuarialpartners.com/sss-presentation/

Islamic Mega Bank

Asian Finance Bank likely target as Islamic mega lender, say sources An interesting development in the Islamic Finance area. This should be followed closely by those in actuarial science field and financial risk management students.

Fomca: Don’t use EPF money for public housing loans

I agree with FOMCA on this issue and hope FOMCA will continue to fight for the welfare of workers in Malaysia who will eventually retire and want to benefit from their savings in the EPF. However if the government can ensure a high return on this investment, say 7% or more, there is no reason why they should not use the fund to benefit the low income earners in Malaysia.

Also, since the government has the power to decide on the mechanism of funding the low cost housing project, they should ensure that the funding is done in a syariah compliant manner. This will then benefit the muslim contributors who will be able to have a peace of mind when using the dividends declared for their funds.

Food Myths

I got this from my son Faeez and would like to share it with my readers. I must caution you that this has nothing to do with actuarial science or finance.

Every other week, new research claims one food is better than another, or that some ingredient yields incredible new health benefits. Couple that with a few old wives' tales passed down from your parents, and each time you fire up your stove or sit down to eat a healthy meal, it can be difficult separating food fact from fiction. We talked to a group of nutritionists and asked them to share the food myths they find most irritating and explain why people cling to them. Here's what they said.

Pension Funding Deficit Reaches 50-Year High — Should You Be Worried?

In light of the recent Malaysian 2012 Budget, this article is relevant not only for consideration of private pension planners but also to the Malaysian Government Pension Department (Bahagian Pasca Perkhidmatan JPA). Defined Benefit plans give pensioners guarantees of income during retirement until death but the ability to pay depends on mortality and investment return.

The market swoon in last month didn’t just hurt your portfolio, it also clobbered corporate pensions. The total deficit of U.S. pension liabilities increased by $134 billion to $512 billion as of September 30, according to worldwide HR consulting firm Mercer. The reported deficit compares pension liabilities to assets in pension trusts for defined benefit retirement plans sponsored by S&P 1500 companies. The increase in the deficit results from a combination of stock market declines and decreases in yields on high-quality corporate bonds during the month. (Pension liabilities rise when interest rates fall, due to reduced expectations for future investment earnings).

Read more: http://moneywatch.bnet.com/retirement-planning/blog/money-life/pension-funding-deficit-reaches-50-year-high-should-you-be-worried/5407/#ixzz1aLgta0JB

A 4D windfall, then a death

This news has been reported in many local newspapers. The gamblers who won decided to enjoy by drinking and getting themselves drunk. In the end, a tragedy resulted and I consider this as a way for Allah to remind people not to participate in gambling activities.

Alcoholic drinks and gambling are two very serious crimes in Islam and thus no one should even try to get near them. However there are many schemes that are not considered gambling but seems like gambling. I, personally consider that any scheme where you are entitled to get a substantial amount of money or can make huge monetary gains through a lucky draw should be regarded as gambling and there are many such schemes being run. Islamic scholars should study the issues of gambling very seriously and then alert Muslims to stay away from such practices.

BUTTERWORTH: An outing by five friends to celebrate their 4-digit winnings ended in tragedy when the car they were in plunged into the sea near the Bagan Dalam wharf early yesterday.

Four of them swam to safety, but the 24-year-old driver is believed to have drowned in the 12.45am incident.

His body has yet to be recovered as it is believed to have been swept away by strong currents.


It is learnt that the five -- aged between 24 and 53 -- from Tikam Batu, Kedah, had spent the evening at a nightspot in Bukit Mertajam before the accident occurred.

Deputy Seberang Prai Utara police chief Superintendent Mohd Shukri Awang said initial investigations showed the group had partied at the nightspot after two of them had a windfall in a 4D draw.

Read more: A 4D windfall, then a death http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles//14rakans/Article/#ixzz1ZQATWnOX

Retirement Income Using the 4% Rule

I recently stumbled on this rule and found out that the idea has been discussed in quite a lot of articles. This should be an area that actuarial science students can explore.

How much can I safely withdraw from my retirement funds?

Simple – use the 4% rule. This will give you a great chance of not running out of your money and it’s valid for 25+ year periods. If you are at an advanced life stage where 25 years is a dream then the 4% can be adjusted upwards.

The way the 4% rule works is that you start by taking 4% out of your portfolio in the first year – this includes dividends, interest, withdrawals. The next year you take out the same figure you took out the first year plus inflation. So if you start by taking $40,000 out and then inflation is 3% then the second year you take out $40,000 + 3% ($1200) = $41,200. Every year after that you adjust the previous year’s withdrawal amount by the inflation rate.

... Read more here and this article The 4% Rule—At What Price? by
Jason S. Scott, William F. Sharpe, and John G. Watson
April 2008

Kweko Adoboli and the UBS Fiasco

By CARRICK MOLLENKAMP, PAUL SONNE and DEBORAH BALL

LONDON—An alleged trading scheme at UBS AG went undetected for three years before it was finally discovered, triggering a $2 billion loss, U.K. authorities indicated Friday as they charged a 31-year-old trader at the Swiss bank with fraud.

Read more here

The shit waiting in the derivatives market: After UBS, who could be next

The article contains a lot of information useful to students who are analyzing the derivatives market. My apologies for the crude title but I suppose it attracts attention.

Noramfaizul 'was insured'

The news article mentioned that "all Bernama employees were covered by term life and personal accident insurance policies which were applicable worldwide". This would mean that Allahyarham Noramfaizul was covered by term life and personal accident insurance policies. I hope the term insurance policy does not have an exclusion clause for death by shooting in a war zone which normally is included in most policies. Also can this death be considered as death due to an accident? If the said exclusion clause is included in the term life policy and the death is not considered as an accident, then the family of the deceased will not be able to claim any benefit from both the policies mentioned. So it is necessary that other forms of compensation be considered. SOCSO should provide compensation for death while in the course of employment. Other than that, BERNAMA itself must provide some form of compensation. If the compensations provided are not enough, Malaysians need to pitch in and donate to provide much needed finance for the wife and children of the deceased Allahyarham Noramfaizul. The need is a long-term one and must be looked into immediately.

New Semester

The new semester has started at USIM and this time I will be busier than before. There are ten students who will be doing their project papers under me with titles from mortality rates for diabetes to designing syariah-compliant life annuities. The students presented their proposals last Friday and I have asked each of them to present a more detailed proposal next Friday.

What strikes me most last Friday was that the students kept pronouncing the word "determine" as "deter" and "mine", and not "deter" and "min" as I learned in school before. I wonder where they got this pronunciation from. It is not specific to the current group of senior students. Previous students also used the same pronunciation. I would be very pleased if others can comment on this.

Retirement Calculators

It has been a long time. I have been busy with teaching and other official business of the university. However an article in Moneywatch.com on retirement compels me to write in this blog.

It says, "Every major financial services company has an online tool to estimate how much money you need to save for retirement. But a recent study by the Society of Actuaries says many popular calculators have serious flaws. These potential hazards could lead to serious miscalculations when you’re plotting your financial future."

The first problem is in assuming the rate of return of your savings. Most calculators use fixed rates of return. In order to be realistic, calculations should allow users to assume different rates of return on investment and even use probabilistic rates with reasonable standard deviations.

The next issue is how to handle life expectancy. Most calculators use the life expectancy figures. This figure is only useful if you die at the age according to the average person assumed in the calculation. If you live slightly longer, you will end up with very little money when you need it most.

The next problem is how to handle inflation. Inflation rate assumption plays a very important role in determining whether you will be able to live your retirement years according to your plan. It is necessary to allow users to look at different scenarios using different inflation rates.

Revised Pension Policy

The following news item from The Sun attracts my attention. There should be some explanations to all concerned. Was there a misunderstanding of the provisions in the revised pension policy announced 14 years ago, or is someone being very inefficient?
Pensioners fed up with PSD turn to PM for help
By Himanshu Bhatt

SEBERANG PRAI (Nov 8, 2009): Retired government officers disgruntled by the Public Services Department’s (PSD) failure to implement a revised pension policy - announced 14 years ago - are appealing to the Prime Minister to intervene.

The pensioners, many of whom are aged and debilitated, have come together in an informal network currently stretching across five states in the peninsula to submit a memorandum on the matter to Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak.

The group’s coordinator, former teacher Arumugam Suppiah, 65, said it had collected 814 signatures from pensioners supporting the memorandum.

According to the policy, introduced in a PSD circular dated Jan 30, 1996, government servants were to be entitled to pension calculated on the number of years served.

The policy was supposed to retroactively come into effect for pension payments issued from Jan 1, 1995 onwards.

“It has not been implemented till today despite countless appeals,” Arumugam told a press conference organised by the group at the Inderawasih Rukun Tetangga centre here today.

Currently, all government retirees are paid on the same scale, their pensions rounded up to similar figures, without consideration given to the numbers of years served.

“We, the poor pensioners who are drawing a few hundred ringgit of pension have been deprived of our rights in getting this revised pension formula and arrears,” he said.

Retired Malayan Railway staff Athimulam Rengasamay, 75, said the group had previously sent two letters to the prime minister’s office in 2005 and 2008.

The matter was referred to the PSD’s pensions section for action, but it had yet to take any action.

A copy of the letter sent last year was also sent to Cuepacs but the union has also yet to act on it.

Arumugam, however, said they were grateful to the prime minister for approving a RM500 bonus for government pensioners in the 2010 Budget.

Visit to ETIQA

Yesterday (21 October 2009) the third year students of the Actuarial Science and Risk Management (ASRM) program at USIM visited ETIQA Insurance and Takaful in Bangsar. They were welcomed by the management of ETIQA and given briefings on the actuarial and risk management aspects of insurance and takaful.

Thank you ETIQA for the contributions to enriching the knowledge of ASRM students at USIM. Thank you Mr. Nik Rahmat, Head of Takaful Corporate Actuarial for your explanation on the role of actuaries in family takaful. Thank you Mr. Rudie Erman, Head of Risk Management for explaining the various aspects of risk management and how ETIQA view risk management. Thank you Mr. Effendy Norazman, Head of Non-Life Corporate Actuarial for highlighting the importance of actuarial science in general insurance and takaful.

There is a lot of opportunities for actuarial science and risk management graduates from USIM to be involved in the fields of risk management and general insurance and takaful. So there is no reason for them not to work hard at their studies because the world out there need their expertise very much.

Once again I would like to thank ETIQA for their willingness to accommodate a group of eager USIM students and look forward to more cooperation between USIM and ETIQA especially in the areas of actuarial science, risk management and general insurance and takaful.

Allow workers to revert to 11% deductions, says MTUC

The call by MTUC for the contribution from employees to EPF to be increased from 8% (suggested by the government) to the original 11% need careful study and analysis.

First of all how has the reduction of the contribution rate affected the economy of the country? How much spending money has been released to the retail sectors? Have they played any part in boosting our economy? Should such reduction be recommended again in the future when the situation requires it?

Secondly, how has it affected the employees' retirement benefit? Surely the amount at retirement would be less than if the contribution rate has not been reduced. Can this be overcome by an increase in the contribution rate when the economy has improved? Maybe EPF can increase the dividend rates in the future years with some help from the government. After all, the employees (EPF contributors)have played their part in helping the government to boost the economy when it was required by the government. So if the economy has improved as a result of the sacrifice made by the contributors, the government can help by providing subsidies to increase the dividend rates in the future.

Monday October 19, 2009
PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) yesterday called on the Government to allow the 2.2 million workers, who opted for the 8% Employees Provident Fund (EPF) deductions, to revert to 11% with immediate effect.

As the economy is recovering, MTUC vice-president A. Balasubrmaniam said EPF contributions were savings for old-age for private sector workers and it was important that the savings percentage be maintained.

Due to the economic downturn, the Government, in November last year, gave employees the option to either maintain the deductions at 11% or reduce it to 8% for a period of two years from Jan 1 this year.

According to the EPF, a total of 2.2 million or 40% of workers opted to reduce it to 8%.

Balasubramaniam said MTUC was now concerned for these 2.2 million workers as they were losing in terms of dividends and final pay out when they reach the retirement age.

He said that although the option was for two years, the Government should allow them to revert to the previous deductions now. — Bernama