Colin Charles Agenda

As a Malaysian growing up & living in Kuala Lumpur, East Malaysia was always just further away and a place where you didn’t quite visit. It always seemed mystical to me. I met children of timber tycoons in Melbourne making me curious of the land. Finally, it was a book I read which talked about midin in Borneo that made me want to visit Sarawak in 2006.

Sarawak is a beautiful place (as is Sabah which I saw a little later). It was however nothing like KL, despite being a rich state. For a city slicker, this was rather eye-opening.

Today I saw the video Inside Malaysia’s Shadow State. If you are a Malaysian, I urge you to spend 20 minutes watching the video, then taking action (signing the petition, tweeting & posting it to your Facebook friends). Then share this.

First up, a big kudos to Global Witness. This kind of investigative undercover journalism shows that they have big goals. 

Next, while the old man, Dr. Mahathir is mostly spewing garbage these days, we have to thank him for one thing: the promise of no Internet censorship that he made in 1996 when he launched the MSC Malaysia initiative. It only took three years before Malaysiakini started, thus having a pretty good run on press freedom. By 2008, this stuff got more mainstream with the launch of the free Malaysian Insider.

Social media is big these days. People talk to more people & have touch points with more people.

One thing that is clear about the video that stood out to me is how the poor are exploited. They lack information. They lack access to knowing their rights. They are fed with propaganda and are expected to be happy. They are affected by the digital divide, that needs to be bridged.

Overall, I’m quite excited about people getting connected to the Internet. Malaysia nearly has 29 million people, however statistics suggest:

• 1.7 million DSL connections exist as of June 2012 (source) [or maybe its 2 million from this source]
• 16.9 million Internet users (source) as of early 2010 (though I believe this statistic includes Internet users via mobile broadband, cell phones & possibly dial-up)
• 17.5 million Internet users as of 2011 (source)
• 30.4 million cell phones (yes, people have more than one)
• 7.4 million 3G subscribers (likely to increase with smartphone rebates)

From what I can tell, that’s a huge population that needs to get connected. Connections are just pipes that allow free-flow of information.

The next thing to focus on: getting information out to citizens. Keeping them informed. Allowing them to make informed decisions.

Overall, Malaysia is going to change. It is an interesting system to watch as the Internet becomes more pervasive and the digital divide is bridged. The system is headed for a reboot.

Is the next wave restaurant booking applications for Malaysia? For that, the scene has to change much from restaurateurs.

In London, I had lunch at Heston Blumenthal’s Dinner at the Mandarin Oriental in Hyde Park. This restaurant has one Michelin star, and is generally booked out up to three months in advance. People clearly want to eat there.

But on the off chance something opens up, a service like OpenTable (not just for online restaurant reservations; is a restaurant management system too) can inform you that an opening exists and it could be great to visit. Foodies love this as there’s no wait, and restaurants love this as there’s revenue coming in.

From what I gather, when seasons are low at other OpenTable restaurants, you even snag discounts to eat there. No group buying involved, the restaurant genuinely wants to fill a seat, and everyone should leave the transaction happy.

Malaysia has no Michelin starred restaurants (Mandarin Oriental is the only user of OpenTable so far in Malaysia). That aside (who’s to say the ratings mean much), there isn’t a restaurant I know in Malaysia that has a need for a booking. I can almost always just walk in, leaving a reservation only for a special occasion if I wanted a preferential seat or something on the menu that requires pre-preparation (herbal chicken soup, beggar chicken, etc.).

There are restaurants that require you to queue though. Its culturally acceptable for us to queue and wait for something good (see Line Clear nasi kandar in Penang, the recent myBurgerLab frenzy in PJ, and probably Krispy Kreme doughnuts when it first came to our shores). I’m not saying its culturally unacceptable to queue in Europe (just look at the queues outside Laduree on Champs-Elysees in Paris). Everyone queues everywhere if something is good.

So it comes back to the type of dining. If its fine, you’re likely to take time to eat. Some 1.5-2 hours to get thru an appetizer, main course & desert. Its not fast food. You’re unlikely to queue for 1.5-2 hours under any circumstance just to get food, are you? So a reservation makes sense.

How many such restaurants are there in the Klang Valley, warranting a reservation?

There are times where reservations are invaluable. The whole month of puasa, where Muslims break fast in fancy locations, is probably a good time to make a reservation.

Overall I think the market isn’t ready for something that involves reservations. There just doesn’t seem to be a need for it. We have a foodie culture, but visiting many places almost never requires pre-planning.

I remember in Melbourne, a weekend dimsum (Hong Kong style at a place like Plume) works in 1.5h cycles. You got that much time to eat, and then head off. A reservation system there made sense. A multitude of restaurants could also be booked out for months, so again reservations made sense (try getting a booking at the then hot Fifteen restaurant by Jamie Oliver).

So, what do you make reservations for when casually dining in Malaysia?

1. Room Service which pioneered this in Malaysia (I think) wants RM20, with RM12-20 delivery fees (source)
2. foodpanda from Rocket Internet. 60 minutes delivery time, RM4-6 delivery fee, RM10-15 minimum order value

In the US, there seems to be GrubHub, Eat24, etc. In the UK, there’s Just Eat, niftynosh, etc.

What about payments? Room Service accepts visa/master/amex or cash.

The next time I have some time in Malaysia, I probably will give Room Service or foodpanda a try. Just to see how it works. I do see that their delivery areas are limited, which is naturally sad as it doesn’t cover the whole Klang Valley.

Can this work in Malaysia? Do people eat-in that often? How do you fix the location issue? When do we see more of the middlemen being cut out? Is it a good idea to go into business as a middleman like Room Service/foodpanda? How does this dynamic work when people don’t leave their homes, i.e. staying with their families even after marriage?

I don’t have the answers, and apparently this hasn’t been cracked since 2003 (when roomservice started).

I wrote a lengthy email (on 7 January 2013) about smartphone rebates for a journalist, but I think it didn’t fit with their planned story, so I’m pasting it here instead. The story, of course, never ran. Today I see that Maxis is already recycling spectrum that they own for LTE. Maybe these rebates make sense (from a recycling spectrum perspective), but I still think overall it’s meant to be abused. I’m pasting the email here in its entirety.

1. Who do you think will use the smartphone rebates?

Well, it is stipulated that people between 21-30, whom earn less than RM3,000 per month. The cap is set at RM300 million. This benefits 1.5 million youths aged between 21-30. This also benefits mobile phone resellers at a crucial time

I am more concerned that our youths are earning so little to begin with, but that is cause for another story.

From what I gather, more than 22,000 people have already taken on the rebate, meaning the payout has already been RM4.4 million *gasp*

I do not like any form of subsidy to begin with (including petrol subsidies), so I do not think we should continue to feed the subsidy mentality.

I do not like the idea of flip flops either. You do not first say the RM200 rebate is for 3G phones costing less than RM500. Then make an ad with an iPhone in it. Then back track completely and say its for any phone because of political pressure from youth wings of political parties (read: http://www.digitalnewsasia.com/insights/smartphone-rebate-turnaround-mcmc-hung-out-to-dry for a good story)

There can be a benefit – more people with 3G enabled phones. Maybe this gives MCMC the benefit of getting rid of the 2G networks and recycling the spectrum. Puncak Niaga (read The edge from a few weeks back) wants to get access to some of this spectrum, because their 40MHz of LTE spectrum isn’t enough for proper roll outs. This has been done before in other countries, see:

• http://asia.cnet.com/blogs/kts-lte-rollout-blocked-by-900-2g-customers-62212465.htm
• http://www.globaltelecomsbusiness.com/article/2940473/Goodbye-to-2G-services-says-Koreas-KT.html

This can also be a benefit for app developers. What apps can you develop to target 1.5 million people, aged 21-30, who are low income earners (below RM36,000)? Will we see more banks targeting this segment with apps? Mobile payments? Mobile loyalty? Etc.

All this aside, I keep on wondering. If you need a RM200 subsidy to buy your iPhone priced at RM2,199, you probably don’t deserve/need it. You’re just happy getting a free cheque from the government, so that you might remember them during voting time.

If you are truly using a 2G device and think you want to upgrade to some cheap 3G device, maybe it will benefit you.

But how does 3G benefit you without mobile data that you most likely cannot afford? Even U Mobile will set you back RM30/month for data from what I remember, and that hits you at RM360/yr. The RM200 rebate doesn’t benefit you that much right? :-) But maybe its about 6 months of free data, which you can always remember till election time :-)

I see the only benefit of this as recycling spectrum. But its sad that we don’t charge in bidding process for spectrum – we just give it away… sigh

2. Who will benefit BN or PR and why?

BN:
+ RM200 packet to people earning less than RM3,000. Who doesn’t like free money?
+ Who doesn’t like a new phone?

PR:
+ shoddy implementation by BN. Disguised bribe. Highlight it
+ people can now stop reading Utusan and start reading The Malaysian Insider/Malaysiakini. This is a great bonus

3. Was it a good step for BN and why?

I don’t think providing more subsidies is sensible. It goes against the principles of PEMANDU Chief idris jala as well. How do you wean people off subsidies if you keep on providing them more of it?

Here’s again how PR can benefit – its like the left foot doesn’t coordinate with the right foot, thus making a terrible tango (dance).

Gabey Goh (editor at Digital News Asia) couldn’t have said it better in her column in The Star: A nation of beta-testers. It just got re-published on DNA.

I have consciously decided that when I’m in KL, I’ll only spend my money with businesses that support other local businesses. So with a place like Jaya One, its pretty easy for me to pick only a ChopChop merchant. Its also allowing me to find indie coffee merchants – so the app is aiding my discovery of other local businesses. Why this decision?

Malaysians: when was the last time you looked at something and said, I’m buying/doing/getting/trying this because its Made in Malaysia? We lack a sense of nationalism for many reasons, no thanks to our politicians. People prefer to buy Tupperware over Swordman. In Australia, buying Australian Made is highly encouraged. In the USA, people love it when production comes home. The Swiss are proud of their items. 

Now, Malaysian businesses/startups as a consequence suffer from this sort of mentality. By not trying Malaysian made software, it hurts Malaysian made software producers. I’m not saying you should aid (via crutches) these folk if they cannot compete with an international product. I’m all for trade over aid. Gabey agrees on this too.

But for me, I look at it this way. We all know & love Foursquare. You as a business can offer mayor bonuses or bonuses on every first checkin or every 5th checkin. Great. But as a business owner why not try loyalty products like ChopChop at the same time? Its proudly made in malaysia, and you’re helping a malaysian business succeed (just like they’re helping you, a fellow malaysian business succeed).

Gabey continues to state that if you try something and if it doesn’t work out, don’t hesitate to provide constructive criticism. I totally agree. I’m sure the local business will even give you a free service or something valuable in return.

To all the haters that claim that all malaysians do is copy stuff, I will humbly ask you this: you may copy amazon.com and call it lazada/zalora, and every inch of the design might look alike. Can you copy their back-end logistics? Can you copy the requirements of going into the local market (ads, events, etc.)?

Let’s consciously support local businesses & efforts. Its hard enough for the entrepreneurs to deal with the myriad difficulties that come with having to conduct business in Malaysia. Let’s make it a little easier.

(I don’t get any gains from talking about ChopChop. I’m truly a fan of this product. I’m truly a fan of the team.)

There’s a chance that Malaysian payments will get shook up. From an online perspective, you’ve got the former nbepay becoming MOLPay. From an offline perspective, you’ve got a joint venture between softspace and MOL to form MOLCube (e27 cover it too). The center of all of this is MOL.

For me, I’ve been waiting for a softspace device for quite a few months. I was excited since April 2012. I was told a device would be coming my way from 18 June 2012, and never heard back; the presumption is that people are using this device according to their website. But it is not available for the “general population”.

I have never met Ganesh Kumar Bangah, the man behind MOL, but being a young CEO, I figure he’s got the chops & energy to pave the way. Besides, he’s backed by Berjaya tycoon Vincent Tan.

Ugliness begone, let there be better online & offline payments and this will pave the way for e-commerce as well as physical versions of e-commerce (pop-up stores, bazaars, heck, imagine your pasar malam vendor going online).

A lot of this will involve lobbying Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM). I don’t believe any payment gateway intentionally wants to provide terrible user experience, I believe its usually to feed regulatory requirements.

Looking forward to payments in 2013. It can only be better than today.