Colin Charles Agenda

Executive summary: If you make a mistake in your e-filing for taxes, you have to print out the tax form, submit supporting documents, write a cover letter, and send it over to the tax office, anytime after the tax madness of pre-April 30, is over. Read on, for the tale.

So, if you’ve been following my tweets, you know I’ve been a little under the weather lately. Plus I just flew back from San Francisco. No, I do not have swine flu, its just sinuses acting up. Nonetheless, the government of Malaysia’s, Inland Revenue Board (LHDN/Hasil/tax office) doesn’t believe in excuses, and had set an April 30 deadline (showing them my passport, I doubt would have been any help).

Much like Suanie, this is my first year of filing taxes. I thought I’ll try the e-Hasil method, which is basically e-filing, right in your web browser.

First up, the system is available in English. OK, the content is mostly available in English (its filled with Bahasa Malaysia at the top, with the English text, in small print), and the buttons are all in Bahasa Malaysia, but you can guess what needs to be done.

Getting my e-filing PIN was easy. I just went to a very crowded LHDN office, and asked the nice lady over the counter. I’m surprised she engaged with me, entirely in English, without any complaint. I got my Tax ID, my e-filing PIN number, and some instructions.

Upon going home, I attempted to get it all working. Its pretty easy, if you can get connected to the site (I ended up tunnelling my traffic – and Gareth warns that the servers do crash). It really did take less than 15 minutes. I just input my salary, how much I could deduct (charity, books, and medication for parents — who knew sporting equipment counted too? Time to buy some this year.)

And then, the next day, I realise I had made a boo boo. I had not input the maximum deduction for EPF. Why? Because the software didn’t translate it properly, and it did only say “KWSP”, not “EPF”. So there’s a RM6,000 deduction, making my taxes not seem in order (in a way that benefits me, might I add — this should add to my refund).

The site, is all written in ASP. There definitely are some checks, via JavaScript in some fields. It works fine using Firefox on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux (I got to test it all — my parents too, decided to go the e-filing route this year).

Now, noting that there is already some JavaScript, why not, at the field which asks you about EPF (or KWSP as they put it), there be an alert? After all, if you’re paying taxes, you’re definitely paying for contributions to your retirement, to the EPF/KWSP.

To make matters worse, once you’ve submitted the form online, and “signed” it, you can’t amend it. I called up the Shah Alam office (because all other numbers went to hell), at 03-55103202, to ask for help. I must shout out to Twitter user, @derekw who had already emailed the tax office before with regards to a similar question. His email to me, was really useful.

I got transferred three times before I got to someone that spoke English to me. His instructions were simple: write a cover letter, state your case, attach the print out of the tax return, plus attach the document(s) required to support your claim. In my case, the nice bloke told me to just write the cover letter, and attach my EA form, which comes from my employer. And he said, don’t bother doing it now, just do it anytime next week (or later, even), since the offices are all too crowded now.

So, that’s been my tax tale. How can all this be improved? What’s good, what’s bad?

• Good: it works with Firefox. It also seems to be cross-platform. It could be worse — like some Windows based software, that will make you vomit
• Bad: its written in ASP, and uses Microsoft technology (Windows 2000, IIS 5). Spending money of the rakyat should be wiser, and using proprietary software, is bad.
• Bad: servers need to scale. Failing, or being slow, under traffic, is just unacceptable. You don’t need “extra” machines, so maybe some form of scale-to-cloud, during peak season.
• Bad: there are some checks now, with JavaScript, but there should be more checks on mandatory things (case in point, my EPF problem)
• Good: Its bi-lingual.
• Bad: the English interface needs improvement. Buttons need to be translated properly
• Bad: editing your tax returns, should be available, till the deadline, in the respective year
• Good: PDF’s are generated of your receipt, as well as your tax form

Again, thanks to the Twitterverse being helpful: @ShaolinTiger, @derekw, @kamal, and @mikefoong. In other news, I can heartily recommend you read: Why should we pay income tax to the BN? and the running commentary there, as well as on Suanie’s post.

I don’t know if this is the right use of Facebook, but Malaysia’s Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah has decided that a good thing to do, is to be online, on the first and third Wednesday of every month, from 10-11pm (so he’s working nights), on Facebook, so that he can probably participate in a Facebook chat with students.

He mentions “Facebook messaging”, and its unclear if he plans to add students as his friends, to then get them chatting, or if he just wants to receive “email” via Facebook? Or is it a good way to get information about students that are griping to the minister, and mark the troublemakers out?

Who’s to say. Whatever it is, I don’t think Facebook is the right platform for this sort of thing, but kudos for trying to be hip.

It always makes me smile when I see headlines like this: iPhone can boost mobile data business: Maxis. Lets decompose the article. (And yes, the answer is still that you shouldn’t buy a Maxis iPhone 3G.)

“We are seeing exponential potential in mobile data growth. With the launch of iPhone, I think it will strengthen Maxis’ competitiveness,” chief marketing officer Matthew Willsher said in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

What it means: Lots of people like mobile data. New phones practically demand it, otherwise you might as well buy a cheap as chips phone, that only makes and receives phone calls, and has a non-colour screen. The chief marketing officer continues to say that the iPhone will “strengthen Maxis’ competitiveness”, which means that they will get more mobile data subscribers yes. But they will all complain at the lacking quality of service. Its fine and dandy that there is a 3.5G network, but if each cell can only take a certain capacity (in terms of bandwidth), what happens in areas where things are oversubscribed?

So far, more than 1,000 units of iPhones have been booked and Willsher said the initial booking numbers have “exceeded expectations”. However, the company did not want to reveal its actual booking numbers.

What it means: There are over a thousand idiots (some tell me its mostly Maxis staff and partners, since Maxis provides hefty staff discounts) who purchased the phone. This after the announcement that there is to be an iPhone OS 3 sometime really soon, and the heavy, mostly accurate speculation that there will be a new iPhone coming out sometime in June. It also seems that Caller ID doesn’t work out of the box and will require Maxis to update the software themselves (how true is this, I have no idea). But the chief marketing officer is right, 1,000 units being booked and snapped up, really does exceed expectations — I expected Malaysians to be a lot that valued their money a lot more.

Industry sources revealed that Maxis may have ordered as many as 150,000 units of iPhone 3G, as part of the conditions to bring the phone into the country. Willsher also declined to comment on this.

What it means: Wow. 150,000 units of a product that is to become obsolete within the next few months? Especially noting that it may not be exclusive to Maxis?

What’s the appeal of the iPhone? The AppStore. The iTunes Music Store. Not being able to have the music store seems like a big boo-boo towards Apple/Maxis.

And just in case you made it this far, read Jeff Ooi’s rather satirical piece Cut Maxis from broadband, please! When it works, its usually a breeze — when it doesn’t, its mighty annoying. Sadly, its usually not working… i.e. probably lacking capacity.

So Maxis’ mobile data business will be boosted – chances are lots of people are locked in for a year or two, and even if the service sucks, paying the penalty of quitting early, will probably derail most folk. Let’s see how they flog off the remaining 149,000 units in the next few months ;-)
(and no, no amount of advertising on blogs [I’m looking at you Nuffnang], and getting funny man Kenny Sia to write about it will help – read the comments, it seems at least his readers are smart!)

The Home Ministry has decided to censor opposition newspapers like Harakah (by PAS) and Suara Keadilan (by Keadilan/PKR?) for a period of three months, with immediate effect, since their reporting is “wrong, sensational and sensitive in nature”. Malaysiakini also reports that DAP’s Rocket is having issues renewing its annual publishing permit, as well.

Why do I get the feeling that its just another slap in the face for the BN-led government. After all, before this hoopla, I’d have never read these dailies. I probably still wouldn’t.

However, if you did, there’s a good chance you’re going to read them online. HarakahDaily.Net and Suara Keadilan are all online, and free for all to read. The latter even comes with an RSS feed. DAP’s Rocket doesn’t seem to be online yet, but Lim Kit Siang himself is an active blogger.

The BN-led government will retort saying “but everyone reads it in print” (which is what they can control). Nay. Now, those that don’t get the print versions, will get information from their friends that read the online versions. Soon, you’ll get a scenario like Chinese whispers, which will probably only anger more people.

You know what’s disgusting? I knew that I couldn’t purchase music at the iTunes Store (see A plea to Apple), but yesterday I found out I couldn’t even look at the podcast directory. In fact, no Malaysian using the Malaysian store can. Podcasts are free Apple.

The item you’ve requested is not currently available in the Malaysian Store

And here I was wondering why there aren’t more Malaysian podcasts. Do you listen to a Malaysian podcast? Tell me what it is.

In fact, can anyone tell me if they have access to the AppStore but not the music/podcast store? That means… do Singaporeans get access to podcasts? Music? Thanks.

The whole of the Malaysian Twitter scene is abuzz with the official launch of the iPhone 3G by Maxis in Malaysia. Now, you can see the i-Value Plan with a 12 month contract, i-Value Plan with a 24 month contract, and the more sensible Value Plus Plans with a 6 month contract. Such is life, where Maxis released some data, then pulled the main page, as pre-orders are meant to close by midnight, on the 12th of March.

Should one buy an iPhone 3G today?
Barring the prices, and the plans, should one get an iPhone 3G? If you’ve been waiting and lusting for it, there’s a chance you’ll jump to the pre-order. If you’re on a disposable income, there’s a chance you’ll jump to the pre-order. But what about the rest of us, that actually work hard for our money? Is the iPhone 3G worth it?

First up, know that this current iPhone 3G model was released in mid-year 2008. Apple has an uncanny mechanism for refreshing their hardware, at least once every year, and rumours will always exist, stating that the next refresh will come in June/July 2009. In fact, this isn’t even hearsay – check out what the Mac Buyers Guide for the iPhone says.

Also, remember the current iPhone 3G has limitations, namely a horrible camera, the lack of MMS (meaning Maxis can’t spam you as much, so it might work out to be a bonus), and no video calls. Don’t forget, as a Malaysian, you will have access to the iTunes AppStore to buy apps, but there is currently, no iTunes Music Store.

Then, you should think about support. If your Nokia fails today, you can take it to many authorised dealers, or to Nokia themselves. While Apple has an online store, they only have Apple Premium Authorised Resellers in Malaysia today. This means, that getting simple things done, can take a week or two, in terms of turnaround time. Can you live without a phone for that long?

In conclusion, knowing that the iPhone 3G is probably ready for an update in about 3-4 months, has got deficiencies, and you’re going to be finding it more difficult to get support, if you’re getting one from Maxis, you might consider their 6-month contract, if you like to live on the edge.

Should one buy an iPhone 3G today, from Maxis?
Looking at their rate plans, this is a tough question.

A 12-month contract costs anywhere between RM100-RM375, in where you buy the iPhone 3G 8GB for anywhere between RM1900-RM1080, or the iPhone 3G 16GB for anywhere between RM2290-RM1470. Know that your total commitment ranges from RM1200 – RM4500, not including the cost of the phone. Data isn’t unlimited – you’re going from 500MB-3GB, and you are billed on “minutes” instead of calling blocks (so 333-2,500 minutes per month).

If you’re crazy enough to stretch this out to 24-months (that’s two years people), suddenly the 8GB model comes down to RM1,510-RM0 (yes, a free phone) or the 16GB model comes down to RM1890-RM260. Nothing in the plan changes, per se, except the term of your contract, so your commitment level now becomes RM2400 – RM9000 over 2 years.

Note that these sneaky buggers also ask you to pay an “advance deposit” to ensure you are a Maxis customer for a while.

Also, it looks like if you need more data, you have to shell out the tiny sum of RM99/month. On an iPhone, you tend to need more data. Because with the lack of MMS, getting things out of your phone is just an “e-mail message away” — that becomes the new MMS.

Today, I am already on a plan with Maxis. The Value Plus 80, which I always think I might increase to 150 or 250 even. Maxis plans to continue that, for folk with deeper pockets, with their Value Plus plans. Why deeper pockets? Because the 8GB model costs RM2,540 and the 16GB one costs RM2,960. And you get a meagre 500MB of data free, so you’ll definitely be getting the RM99 unlimited data plan.

Now, back in January, I wrote about price comparisons and where to buy an iPhone 3G in Malaysia. RM2,899 (8GB) and RM3,099 (16GB), unlocked, from iWorld. Today, I moseyed over there to see them having a “spring sale”, and it now costs a mere RM2,999 for a 16GB model, completely unlocked. Sure, you’re worried about warranties, but you’re not much better off, from buying it from Maxis.

Compare that: RM2,999 vs RMRM2,960. RM39 is the difference, you save with Maxis. But the grief of going to the Maxis store, parking there, dealing with not-so-clever support “professionals”. No contracts. Completely unlocked phone. Delivered to your house, the next morning. I’d pick iWorld.

In conclusion, is it wise to get on a Maxis plan? Probably not. They’re fleecing you, the customer. If you’re going to pay so much for the phone, you shouldn’t be locked into such an expensive contract. You should be free to move over to DiGi when they launch better services.

As a Maxis customer, know that their 3G data service quality is questionable. Also know that their customer service is lacking.

Note that you can also get units like the ones from iWorld, completely unlocked and available for you, around Low Yat, for a few hundred ringgit cheaper. I’m just stating my experience with them, that’s all.

Anything else?
Well, its unclear if the Maxis iPhone 3G units are completely unlocked, or if they’re SIM locked to Maxis for the period of the contract.

With MNP in place, and competition rife, I’m surprised Apple Malaysia didn’t pull a stunt like what they did in Hong Kong – sell completely unlocked units, and let the people choose.

Apple is planning an event towards the end of March, that may announce some changes to the iTunes Store, which may mean that Malaysians get to buy music, and other content. This is how Apple makes residual income from the sale of an iPhone — they don’t really care for the carrier profits, now do they?

I don’t forsee many Malaysian’s shelling out cash for apps in the AppStore, with the way the USD-MYR rates are going. They’ll use it, but they’ll get the free apps. I can’t blame them. Apple doesn’t release sales metrics for their AppStore by region, but if they did, we could come up with a better analysis.

In “high society” (middle class and above, I use the term loosely), seeing an iPhone is very common. Whether its the older model, or the 3G model, its almost everywhere. So again, it depends on the “disposability” of your income.

So, would you buy an iPhone 3G in Malaysia, from Maxis?

Update: Maxis has pulled down details of their rate plans. Its OK, Twitter points me to this link, in where you can see the rate plans for yourself.
Update 2: Apparently, according to a LowYat.Net forum moderator @andrewkjs, they had a post with the pricing and were given a call by the friendly lawyers at Maxis, and given a takedown notice. Tsk tsk. IANAL, but you don’t need to comply with phone requests. Written emails are much better – you can publish them too :-) Also, another site, that is carrying some iPhone information is MyMacBUZZ, run by my friend @blogjunkie, including things like internal discounts, and more.
Update 3: An enterprising fellow has posted a spreadsheet analysing the iPhone pricing, and how much the total cost of ownership really is (a little further down, he talks about Celcom/DiGi and more… so I haven’t verified the numbers, per se, YMMV). Conclusion? Malaysians get a raw deal in comparison to Hong Kong or Singapore (heck, even New Zealand, from what I gather).
Update 4: Its a little after 3pm, and the site seems to be back up. Book until 17th March 2009, and you’ll get invited to the launch held at the KL Convention Centre from 20-22 March 2009. I have a feeling a launch itself cannot take several days, so this event must be more “open to all”. T&C is not available, but an FAQ is. Read it! Note that Visual Voicemail will not be available, and “On launch, customers will not be able to buy content from the iTunes store.” Remember, Maxis 3G network isn’t up to scratch, so contracting and finding out it will suck at home, is going to be a big deal for many. I predict more complaints written to SKMM/MCMC about this at some stage, if the uptake is great.