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

CUEPACS: PENSION MORE BENEFICIAL THAN EPF

This is one of the many articles on pension planning that appears in the news recently. I will also post the other articles shortly.

Isnin, 2009 Oktober 05
CUEPACS: PENSION MORE BENEFICIAL THAN EPF
Malaysian Insider
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
5/10/2009

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 5 — Cuepacs president Omar Osman said civil servants stand to lose more under the current Employees Provident Fund (EPF) scheme.
That is why Cuepacs, together with the workers’ unions in seven government agencies, will be submitting a memorandum to the prime minister in an effort to ensure the welfare of these civil servants after they retire.
“We are pushing the government to look at the current status of government employees who have been allotted separate retirement plans from other government agencies,” he said referring to the seven government bodies.
There are about 60,000 employees in the seven agencies. They are Socso, the, EPF, Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera, Tabung Haji, Perbadanan Hal Ehwal Bekas Angkatan Tentera (KEBAT), Bank Simpanan National and the Inland Revenue Board.
These agencies have been accorded different retirement schemes from other government bodies because they “have been given the task of managing and handling the country’s finances.”
“We want our workers’ welfare guaranteed. Even though these bodies are separate, there should be equal benefits for them, and sadly the benefits are not the same,” explained Omar.
He said that under the EPF formula, the future of these workers is not guaranteed after they reach the retirement age of 58 unlike other government employees.
Instead of handing over a lump sum of money, a pension-based model would be more conducive and realistic as they would then be able to get a steady income every month, and would be able to use their money wisely.
“Getting RM300,000 won’t be worth anything in the year 2020. Even now, everything is so expensive, people end up spending everything they have instead of saving,” he added.
According to Omar, Cuepacs has also 10 more issues which it will be taking up with the prime minister.
Among these is a call to reduce the housing loan interest for civil servants from four per cent to one per cent.
“We are like barking dogs. We will bark until they hear us.”
The barking has apparently received the attention of Datuk Seri Najib Razak, as Omar has stated that he has personally met with the prime minister regarding the matter and that he is aware of the situation.
He also expressed confidence in Najib‘s administration, saying that the 60,000 affected workers will always remain loyal to the ruling government.
Posted by CUEPACS at 17:30

Marriage

This posting is a little bit different from my previous postings in this blog. I suppose everyone should be interested in this discussion whether you are pro or against the institution of marriage.

An article in the local Malay newspaper (Utusan Malaysia) attracted my attention and the topic was also discussed by a local radio station (Radio IKIM) that I listened to while driving to work. Below is the article in Bahasa Melayu. For those who do not understand the language, I would be willing to translate the gist of the article upon request.

However, another article in the Daily Mail (June 17)in London, entitled "Only Marriage can mend broken Britain" also attracted my attention. I read it from one of the blogs I read regularly (Malaysian Insider). I post this article followed by the article from Utusan Malaysia.

Only marriage can mend broken Britain, says top judge

LONDON, June 17 — Marriage should be promoted by the government to end the ‘social anarchy’ of family breakdown, a senior judge said last night.

Justice Coleridge accused mothers and fathers who fail to commit to each other of engaging in a game of ‘pass the partner’ that has left millions of children ‘scarred for life’.

In a hard-hitting speech in Parliament, he called for a change of attitude that would attach a ‘stigma’ to those who destroy family life and said a National Commission should be established to devise solutions for the ‘epidemic’ of broken homes.

Currently, one in three marriages ends in divorce. One in ten children lives with cohabiting parents and a quarter live with a single parent. Children from single-parent families are far more likely to do badly at school, suffer poor health, fall into crime, drug abuse, binge drinking and teenage pregnancy.

Sir Paul Coleridge, 60, who is married with three adult children, is a leading family judge, having presided over the divorce of Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills. He also made the ruling in Britain’s largest divorce settlement in which Beverley Charman received £48million (RM277.6 million) when she divorced insurance magnate John Charman.

The judge’s comments stopped short of condemning the government or any other political party for the breakdown of family life. But his support for marriage will be music to the ears of Conservative leader David Cameron, who has made clear that a Tory government would support marriage through the tax system.

By contrast, Labour ministers insist alternative family set-ups are equally valid. In his speech to the Family Holiday Association charity of which he is a patron, Justice Coleridge said: “I am drawing attention to the endless game of ‘musical relationships’, or ‘pass the partner’, in which such a significant portion of the population is engaged.”

Condemning the “endless and futile quest for a perfect relationship”, he said many parents were in ‘a complete and uncontrolled free-for-all where being true to oneself and one’s needs is the only yardstick for controlling behaviour’.

He added: “The children are caught up in the conflict of their parents unresolved relationship issues and it can leave them scarred, sometimes severely scarred, for life.”

The judge also said government should support “those who chose not to marry but live a committed life with a partner”, since they provide stability for children.

Calling for “a fundamental change in individual attitude and behaviour”, he said: “What is a matter of private concern when it is on a small scale becomes a matter of public concern when it reaches epidemic proportions.

“I am not suggesting that all relationship breakdown and termination can be avoided in all cases. Of course it cannot.” But he concluded: “The time has come for a major examination of all the issues surrounding family life, its support and maintenance, and especially the mechanisms and laws of its termination.” – Daily Mail



Ubah stigma tentang cari jodoh

Oleh NOOR FAZRINA KAMAL


MENCARI jodoh di Internet telah menjadi lumrah masa kini sama ada dari pihak perempuan atau lelaki. - Gambar hiasan

ADA rupa, ada gaya, berkerjaya dan berharta tetapi kenapa masih bersendiri? Itu antara soalan klise kerap menghujani lelaki mahu pun wanita yang pada pandangan kasar sudah memiliki hampir segalanya - kerjaya, wang ringgit, kediaman sendiri, kenderaan yang selesa, penampilan bergaya dan sebagainya - namun memilih untuk mengekalkan gelaran bujang atau solo.

Status solo memang menjadikan seseorang bebas tanpa sebarang ikatan untuk melakukan apa saja tanpa perlu meminta izin daripada suami atau isteri.

Tetapi benarkah 'kebebasan' alasan mutlak untuk memilih gaya hidup sebegitu ataupun mereka sebenarnya memang cerewet dalam memilih teman atau mungkin juga mereka hidup bujang kerana tiada pilihan.

Bagi golongan ini insiden ahli keluarga menjodohkan atau mengatur janji temu dengan seseorang yang mereka rasakan layak sudah menjadi perkara biasa.

Namun disebabkan berasa ego tercabar kerana dianggap tidak berupaya mencari pasangan sendiri 'niat murni' ahli keluarga akhirnya putus di tengah jalan.

Ramai juga di kalangan mereka ini percaya pada 'pertemuan yang tidak dirancang' dengan pasangan dan yakin itulah jodoh terbaik buat mereka. Dek kerana terlalu berpegang kepada prinsip itu juga mereka sanggup menunggu dan terus menunggu biarpun semakin dipanjat usia.

Pengurus Smart Builder Consultant Sdn. Bhd., Azhar Awang berkata, selain menunggu sebenarnya ada alternatif lain yang boleh dilakukan contohnya dengan bantuan agensi mencari jodoh.

Begitupun untuk berbuat demikian terlebih dahulu stigma masyarakat Malaysia tentang apa yang dikatakan dengan mencari jodoh perlu diubah.

"Ini kerana apabila bercakap tentang perkara cari jodoh, ramai menganggap bahawa mereka yang terlibat adalah golongan yang terdesak, sedangkan hakikatnya bukan begitu.

"Sejak portal mencari jodoh secara Islam ini dilancarkan saya mendapat banyak maklum balas positif daripada wanita golongan berkerjaya dan profesional.

"Rata-ratanya mengatakan sebab untuk kekal solo kerana masih belum berjumpa pasangan yang sesuai," ujarnya yang ditemui ketika hadir ke pejabat Utusan Malaysia, baru-baru ini.

Katanya, pencarian jodoh bukanlah satu perkara baru atau asing di negara luar.

Azhar yang pernah menuntut di Universiti Purdue, Indiana, Amerika Syarikat berkata, idea untuk mewujudkan program cari jodoh di Malaysia diambil ketika berada dalam satu majlis perjumpaan pelajar-pelajar Islam di sana.

"Dalam Islam 'takruf' bermakna perjumpaan antara calon yang bertujuan mengenali rupa, personaliti dan perbincangan yang makruf, dengan niat untuk berkahwin, calon wanita mesti ditemani oleh wali atau muhrim, di tempat awam yang sesuai.

"Kami tidak menggalakkan dating. Sebaiknya calon wanita hadir ditemani muhrim atau kawan baik yang sama jantina. Tempat perjumpaan pula mereka boleh tentukan sendiri tetapi mestilah di tempat terbuka seperti di restoran atau masjid.

"Kami juga menggalakkan calon wanita agar menutup aurat. Apabila peraturan asas telah diberi, cara perkenalan dan perjumpaan antara ahli portal adalah tanggungjawab mereka sendiri," jelasnya.

Beliau yang juga pengurus portal program cari jodoh Islam Almuslimin berkata, mencari jodoh atau jodoh yang diaturkan adalah sebagai satu usaha yang digalakkan dalam Islam untuk mencari pasangan.

"Sudah tentulah sebagai orang Islam kita perlu sentiasa berdoa, melakukan solat hajat dan istikharah dan yang berusaha untuk mendapatkan jodoh yang baik.

Dalam program cari jodoh Islam yang beliau jalankan, Azhar berkata, pihaknya sekadar menjadi pemegang amanah dan tanggungjawab yang diberikan oleh calon yang hendak mencari pasangan.

Proses pencarian dilaksanakan dengan bijaksana dan mengikut kehendak syariat Islam dengan syarat calon-calon memberikan butir peribadi yang sebenarnya agar tidak timbul masalah kelak.

"Calon terdiri daripada gadis iaitu wanita belum pernah berkahwin, teruna atau lelaki belum pernah berkahwin, duda, balu, janda, ibu tunggal, dan juga lelaki yang berhasrat berpoligami.

"Kebanyakan calon yang mendaftar terdiri daripada mereka yang berpendidikan tinggi, profesional, guru dan pendidik, usahawan, kakitangan kerajaan, tentera, polis dan ahli akademik. Ada juga ahli yang terdiri daripada ahli portal kami iaitu http://almuslimin.net/JODOH," ujarnya.

Tidak sesuai

Dalam pada itu melalui kajian yang dijalankan oleh sebuah agensi pencari jodoh berpusat di Singapura, Lunch Actually, mendapati jawapan paling popular yang menjadi sebab utama golongan profesional di Malaysia memilih untuk kekal bujang ialah kerana tidak bertemu dengan orang yang sesuai.

Ini bermakna mereka tidak bertemu dengan pasangan yang boleh berkongsi pendapat dan minat yang sama dengan mereka. Alasan kedua yang diberikan ialah orang yang mereka minat kebanyakannya sudah berkahwin atau tidak berminat terhadap mereka.

Menurut pengasas Lunch Actually, Violet Lim, dalam kajian yang diberi nama Regional Dating Survey 2009, menariknya, penemuan yang dibuat pada tahun ini adalah sama dengan yang pernah dibuat pada tahun 2005.

"Ini bermakna, walaupun tempoh empat tahun berlalu sebab musabab untuk individu kekal solo masih sama walaupun kini terdapat begitu banyak saluran untuk bersosial secara online mahupun perjumpaan terus," jelasnya ketika ditemui pada sesi pembentangan penemuan kaji selidik tersebut di Sri Hartamas, Kuala Lumpur, baru-baru ini.

Kaji selidik ini membabitkan tiga negara iaitu Malaysia, Singapura dan Hong Kong untuk mendapat jawapan lebih tepat tentang persepsi mereka yang solo terhadap temu janji dan perhubungan secara amnya.

Kajian ini juga telah berlangsung selama sebulan dan responden yang dipilih bukanlah klien atau pelanggan yang pernah berhubung dengan agensi pencari jodoh.

Trend temu janji

"Responden sasaran dipilih kerana kami mahu mendapatkan jawapan yang tulen dan realistik tentang mengapa mereka kekal solo dan juga trend temu janji di tiga negara yang dipilih," kata Violet.

Lebih menarik, dengan penemuan berharga menerusi kaji selidik ini, Lunch Actually akan lebih mudah mencari pasangan yang sepadan dengan apa yang diingini pelanggan mengikut trend di negara masing-masing.

"Kami mencari penyelesaian terbaik untuk klien bertemu pasangan mereka, demi memenuhi matlamat tersebut kami bukan saja perlu memahami diri mereka tetapi juga keadaan sekeliling yang mereka hadapi setiap hari. Kami begitu prihatin dan memberikan kualiti dan menepati keperluan klien kami," tambah Violet.

Justeru, tidak perlu bersikap tabu dengan perkhidmatan mencari teman kerana siapa tahu cara aturan janji temu yang mereka buat untuk anda adalah penyelesaian untuk apa yang anda cari.

Kata Violet, tempat makan lazimnya menjadi medan pertemuan paling ideal kerana sambil menikmati juadah mereka boleh berbual tentang apa saja dalam suasana yang amat tenang dan santai.

"Kebanyakan klien menyatakan mereka terlalu sibuk untuk bertemu calon pasangan, tapi tidak akan menolak jika pelawaan makan tengah hari.

"Apa pun kami akan menapis, merancang koordinasi dan temu janji, apa yang klien perlu lakukan ialah hanya menghadiri temu janji tersebut.

"Klien akan dipadankan dengan pasangan mengikut kriteria pilihan dan mereka boleh menandatangani pakej enam kali perjumpaan selepas bersetuju dengan pilihan dan syarat yang telah dibuat," ujarnya.