FOMCA IN THE NEWS

Ringgit & Sense: Careful budgeting will promote quality of life

1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00

Ayappan Krishnan marketing with his wife Omana and two children at Taman Tun Dr Ismail wet market. There is less temptation to buy unnecessary items in wet markets.

Families need to better plan their expenses to minimise unnecessary spending. They also need to be more open to trying unbranded goods. The objective of families is to enhance the quality of life. Careful planning and discipline will ensure this, says Consumer Research and Resource Center (CRRC) chief executive officer PAUL SELVA RAJ.

Azli Family (Household income RM2,000, Kampung Mesira, Tumpat):

The Azli family has kept expenses to a minimum. Another approach to save is to explore house brands instead of costlier branded foods.

Khamsar Family (Household income RM3,600, Batu Pahat):

The Khamsar family spends on what appears to be higher-end foods. The focus of sustainable consumption is to enhance the quality of life. The family may increase savings by exploring similar foods which are less expensive. Currently, they are buying house brand sugar and they might want to consider other products.

Lim Family (Household income RM7,000, Petaling Jaya):

The Lim family purchases food both at a hypermarket and a wet market. This enables them to compare prices and freshness. While the focus of the family is on quality of life, they might want to explore lower quality goods and house brand goods to reduce their expenses.

Lee Family (Household income RM1,000, Penang):

For the income and family size, Lee appears to be struggling to minimise his expenses. Two ways he can reduce expenses is to cook more at home and purchase inexpensive food.
Ayappan Family (Household income RM2,700, Sungai Buloh):

The Ayappan's expenditure is entirely on fresh food. This minimises household expenditure. Additionally, they do their marketing at wet markets where there will be less temptation to purchase unnecessary items.

Loh Family (Household income RM2,000, Taiping):

The Loh family make their purchases from a variety of outlets, presumably to get the best value for money. They can further reduce expenses by packing food from home and buying less branded goods.

Ganesa Family (Household income RM1,400, Cheras):

Most of the Ganesa's purchases are fresh food, which may mean the family depends on home-cooked meals. However, the husband seems to eat out too often. Maybe once in a while, he can eat food packed food from home.

Kasab Family (Household income RM500, Gumbang, 75km from Kuching):

Based on his income and family size, the Kasab family needs to plan expenses carefully to minimise spending.

Jamaludin Family (Household income RM400, Kg Chempaka, Kuantan):

The Jamaludin family appears to be spending too much at the supermarket. Prudent budgeting is necessary, to minimise expenses and increase savings.

Safini Family (Household income RM4,000, Kangar):

The Safini family appears to carefully plan purchases. They spend on fresh food and fruits. This probably means the family depends on home-cooking, which is a good practice.

Masrihan Family (Household income RM3,500, Johor Baru):

The Masirhan family keeps tight control of spending. Most expenses are on fresh foods and they buy it at more than one source, probably to get the best value for money.

Ringgit & Sense: Empowering consumers to save

1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00

WHY are these families not buying hypermarket house brands?

This puzzles me. The 12 families in the Ringgit & Sense project could have managed their food bill better.

From the survey, it is obvious that purchasing of house brands is almost non-existent. This is probably because of the belief that house brands are somewhat inferior.

We need to challenge the belief that branded goods are superior as lower- priced goods may be of similar quality but not so heavily advertised.

In Malaysia, house brand purchases constitute only eight per cent of the total sales, whereas in developed countries, it is up to 40 per cent.

Families may save up to 40 per cent on groceries if they opt for house brands.

Given the tougher financial situation now, readers can learn from the experience of participants.

One of the good habits is comparing prices. The Azli family had been comparing prices at various hypermarkets and made a conscious decision to shop where goods are cheaper.

Others such as the Lim family buy from several outlets, probably to get the best deal possible.

They are also a good example of careful and prudent spending.

Lim's wife plans her purchasing, brings along a calculator to compare prices and purposely does her shopping at off-peak times so there is minimal distraction.

For day-to-day shopping, preparing a list and sticking to it would be very helpful.

Based on income and family size, some families seem to be overspending.

One family even indicated that sometimes they need to borrow money from moneylenders to make ends meet, even for purchasing food.

The more limited a family's resources, the more critical it becomes for them to plan how they are going to allocate their finances.

We need to be especially careful about using credit cards, for this can easily cause runaway debts leading to all kinds of financial problems.

Families also need to practise home farming.

Of the 12 families, only the Kasab family is growing vegetables.

But I am happy to note that the Jamaludin family, as a result of this project, has started to grow vegetables and rear chickens.

Whether you are staying in a terraced house or a flat, every family should attempt to grow some vegetables or fruits around or in their homes.

Choose vegetables that grow easily, such as curry and onion leaves.

Other measures for prudent spending can be eating more at home and packing food for children to take to school.

The Lim family is an excellent example of the husband taking food from home to work.

The Loh family tries hard to save on their electricity bill. This is good.

The Ganesa family should also be applauded for their efforts in educating the children about managing finances and spending wisely, while Lee's wife attempts to do the same by taking her children marketing.

More families should do this as such education is best started young.

Paul Selva Raj is chief executive officer of Consumer Research and Resource Centre

E-TRIBUNAL SYSTEM: FIRST CLICK, THEN TO COURT

1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00

P. Dick Horton Ganai (right) receiving two mock cheques from Daud Tahir (centre). With them is Mohd Yusof Abdul Rahman.

KUALA LUMPUR: It takes more than just a click of a mouse to win your consumer complaint case. Contrary to what some users of the e-Tribunal System may believe, consumers who submit their complaints online must still follow through with their case by attending the ensuing court hearing.

Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca) secretary-general Muhammad Sha'ani Abdullah said most consumers think their cases could be solved just by entering their complaint into the system.

"This is a huge misunderstanding.

"The system only provides access to legal advice so consumers don't have to go to the tribunal's counter.

"But if they don't show up in court for the hearing, they'll lose the case," he said at the Consumerism Competition's prize-giving ceremony yesterday.

The system, which comes under the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry's Consumer Claims Tribunal, was set up to enhance and facilitate the tribunal's work.

It also allows consumers to make online enquiries and complaints without having to make the trip to the tribunal office.

Muhammad Sha'ani said there was a case where the complainant did not show up in court and lost as he thought that his case could be solved online.

Fomca's chief executive officer Mohd Yusof Abdul Rahman said a majority of consumers were unaware of their rights and usually lost their case as they did not have strong arguments.

He said consumer awareness had not reached a satisfactory level and consumers did not know how to get compensation or fight for their rights.

"Straightforward cases like 'scratch and win' are easy to win, but consumers usually lose because of negligence.

"It's hard to win in service transactions because it involves contracts and agreements.

"So consumers should check the documents thoroughly before buying anything," he said.

Present at the ceremony was the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry deputy secretary-general Daud Tahir, who presented the prizes to more than 60 winners.

P. Dick Horton Ganai, of Sabah, received RM7,000 for winning in the categories of best director and best short film on consumerism.

Malay Mail - Filters need proper care

1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00

IN an era of cutting edge technology, many consumers tend to believe claims related to health and hygiene quickly without processing the validity of the information.

Filtration is a process where unwanted materials in any solution or mixture are removed. These materials are usually related to health problems or environmental pollution. The filtration process was mainly used in industries either to treat water or waste water. Being a health conscious society, every one of us wants the best technology to protect ourselves and our family.

There are claims that drinking water after using a particular filter can give energy or even cure sickness. Some retailers or direct sellers may even claim this with pictures and recommendations.

How true are they? What are the actual certifications received by them?

There are filters that remove chlorine from water supply. The consumers are not reminded that non-chlorinated water is not suitable for storage without boiling it first. Filters too need to be cleaned or changed periodically. If this is not done, the dirt/chemicals will be released back into the filtered water.

In addition to that, Fomca has conducted a survey of water-vending machines. These machines are situated on open and public space. Some are even next to drains and rubbish bins. How clean are the nozzles where water is discharged for consumers?

The source of water for these machines is from domestic water supplies which undergo a filtration process. When consumers purchase a sealed water bottle for drinking, it is understood that it is clean. This is mainly because the certification comes from the Ministry of Health.

Who certifies water-vending machines? During our investigation, one of the water vendors mentioned that the machine is given a temporary licence which is renewable under ‘temporary hawker’ category.

In both the filter and water vending machine, the integrity of the claims was not certified by government or certification agencies. Fomca urges the relevant government agencies to carry out proper enforcement and certification to ensure consumers do not fall prey to false claims.

The final truth is water is neutral. It does not contain energy; it dissolves chemicals. That may give taste or scent to it. Please log on to Fomca’s website and download information on filters and bottled water.

The future is in your hands.

Piarapakaran Subramaniam
Programme Manager,
Federation of Malaysian Consumers Association (Fomca)

Filter out the truth on retailers� claims

1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00

IN the era of cutting edge technology, many consumers tend to believe claims related to health and hygiene quickly without processing the validity of the information.

Filtration is a process where unwanted materials in any solution or mixture are removed. These materials are usually related to health problems or environmental pollution.

The filtration process is mainly used in industries either to treat water or waste water. Being a health-conscious society, all of us want the best technology to protect ourselves and our families. But do filters safeguard our health?

There are claims that water which has been filtered by a particular filter can give energy or even cure sickness. Some retailers or direct sellers even claim this with pictures and recommendations. How true are they? What are the actual certifications received by them?

There are filters that remove chlorine from the water supply. Consumers are not reminded that non-chlorinated water must be boiled first before storage.

In addition, the filtrate or the dirt deposited in the filter layers must be cleaned periodically or the parts of filters must be changed periodically.

This is due to the limited storage capacity of the dirt in filters. High storage will cause these chemicals to be released back into the filtered water.

Fomca has conducted a survey of water-vending machines which are situated in open and public space. Some are even next to drains and rubbish bins. How clean are the nozzles where water is discharged?

The source of water for these machines is from domestic water supplies which undergo a filtration process.

When consumers purchase a sealed water bottle for drinking, it is understood that it is clean. This is mainly because of the certification by the Ministry of Health.

Who certifies water-vending machines? In our investigation, one of the water vendors mentioned that the machine is given a temporary licence renewable under “temporary hawker” category.

In both the filter and water-vending machine, the integrity of the claims has not been certified by government or certification agencies.

Fomca urges that relevant government agencies to carry out proper enforcement and certification to ensure the consumers are not victimised by false claims.

The truth is: Water is neutral. It does not contain energy; it dissolves various chemical into it. That may give taste or scent to it.

Please log on to Fomca’s website and download information on filters and bottled water.

Please click here to view the details

PIARAPAKARAN SUBRAMANIAM,
Programme Manager, Environment Desk,
Federation of Malaysian Consumers Association, Petaling Jaya.

Regulate water filters, vending machines

1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00

In the era of cutting edge technology, many consumers tend to believe claims related health and hygiene quickly without processing the information’s validity.

Filtration is a process where unwanted materials in any solution or mixture is removed. These materials are usually related to health problems or environmental pollution. The filtration process is mainly used in industries either to treat water or waste water. Being a health conscious society, every one of us wants the best technology to protect ourselves and our family.

But do filters safeguard our health? There are claims that drinking water after using a particular filter can give energy or even cure sickness. Some retailers or direct sellers may even claim this with pictures and recommendations.

How true are they? What are the actual certifications received by them?

There are filters that remove chlorine from the water supply. The consumers are not reminded that non-chlorinated water is not suitable for storage without boiling it first. The filtrate or ‘the dirt’ which is deposited onto the filter layers must also be cleaned periodically or the parts of filters must be changed periodically.

This is due to the fact that storage capacity for ‘the dirt’ in filters is limited. High storage will cause these chemicals to be released back into the filtered water.

In addition to that, Fomca recently conducted a survey of water-vending machines. These machines are situated in open and public spaces. Some are even next to drains and rubbish bins.

How clean are the nozzles from which water is discharged for consumers?

The source of water for these machines is from domestic water supply which undergoes a filtration process. When consumers purchase a sealed water bottle for drinking, it is understood that it is clean. This is mainly because of the certification from the health ministry.

Who certifies water-vending machines? In our investigation, one of the water vendors mentioned that the machine is given a temporary license which is renewable under the ‘temporary hawker’ category.

In both the water filter and water-vending machine categories, the integrity of the claims have not been certified by the government or certification agencies.

Fomca urges the relevant government agencies to carry out proper enforcement and certification to ensure consumers are not victimised by false claims. The final truth is water is neutral.

Piarapakaran Subramaniam
The writer is programme manager, Environment Desk, Federation of Malaysian Consumers Association (Fomca).

Malaysian Public Transport: Long Journey "Home"

1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 9 (Bernama) -- For Perak-born Nuha, the looming hike in bus fare would not deter her from `balik kampung' or journeying home this coming Aidilfitri celebration.

"Where else can I spend my Hari Raya if I do not go back to my home town?" Hence, she is willing to fork out more than RM21, which is set to be the current bus fare for the Kuala Lumpur-Taiping journey.

For people like Nuha, the governments recent announcement that soon the commuters would have to pay more for express and stage buses journeys is not something that they would welcome particularly with the Hari Raya festivities that are approaching.

Whether they like it or not, the hike is inevitable due to the bus operators high operational costs including the price of diesel that has jumped to RM1.43 a litre, as compared to 71 sen a litre since the last bus fare increase in 2005.

Even though the fare hike is expected not to be 100 percent as what is demanded by the Pan Malaysian Bus Operators Association (PMBOA), any amount of increase would certainly burn a hole in the consumers’ pocket.

What more with spiralling rise in the cost of living since the government raised the price of petrol from RM1.92 to RM2.70 a litre and that of diesel from RM1.58 to RM2.58 early June.

The steep price hike has pushed the Consumer Price Index for June to 7.7 per cent, the highest in 26 years.

REINFORCING PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Following the restructuring of subsidies for petrol and diesel last June, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had said the government would give priority on improving the public transportation system.

He said the city’s light rail transit system would be expanded and more integrated public transportation terminals would be built.

The efficiency of commuter train services, buses and taxis would also be enhanced to reduce the number of private vehicles on the road especially in the Klang Valley.

This announcement should bring a huge sigh of relief for people who have no other choice but to resort to public transportation.

Grouses like not comfortable, troublesome, slow" rides should be a thing of the past.

WORRYING TREND

Maybe there are those who are not so concerned with the recent steep fuel price hike. To them, buying and owning their own cars is still a dream they desire to fulfill.

The Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca) had conducted a survey prior to the petrol price hike.

The survey was conducted on 1,000 youths, and one of its objectives is to find out the future trend of the Malaysian public transportation sector.

Out of the 1,000 respondents, 26 per cent used public transport. As for the rest of the respondents, they were either using their parents' cars or that of their own.

All of the respondents said they prefer to have their own cars in the future.

For Fomca, this trend is worrying indeed.

"Do we have enough roads and fuel to cater for such demand?"

Fomca president Datuk N. Marimuthu asked: "The youth who are our future leaders, are growing up with that as their goal in life. What would our future policies be?"

BETTER PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Whatever the scenario is, Marimuthu said Malaysia needs a better public transportation system to enable the people to have a smooth ride.

A frequent user of public transport himself particularly the Light Rail Transit (LRT), Marimuthu comes out with a list of reasons on why some Malaysians simply spurn public transportation.

"Consumers would like to experience comfort while travelling to their destination. This comfort is seen as a pull factor. In its absence, this immediately turns into a push factor.

"Comfort must be given priority in the transportation industry. Over-crowding or sardine-packed situations should be avoided.

"The public transport operators should also anticipate growth in the number of users and reduce this discomfort," Marimuthu told Bernama here recently.

He said public transport service starts at the ticket counters and in some cases with the bus driver who also acts a ticket seller.

Fast service, sufficient information, booking facilities, route options and punctuality are the sub-indicators that ensure whether a consumer continues to use the service.

"In most cases, even those who travel using the LRT may not be able to reach their destination on time.

"Such failure deters consumers from using the service again. Many will simply stop using it as it is not only inefficient but the operator fails to reduce the crowded situation during peak hours," said Marimuthu.

MAINTENANCE, UPGRADING TECHNOLOGY

In order to provide satisfactory service, public transportation should be properly and adequately maintained.

However in this case, as what the Fomca president described, the maintenance culture in Malaysia has not showed a very promising record.

"Scheduled maintenance, preventive maintenance and repairs are part of the operational management from the service provider. It has to be planned and checked for safety and reliability as well," he said.

Marimuthu said, as the consumers' demand for public transport increases, improving or upgrading the technology becomes another vital point.

At the same time, the right technology must be applied to ensure that the technology is able to cater for the growing demand.

FOMCA’S PROPOSALS

An integrated policy, that was what the country’s public transportation sector needed, said the Fomca president.

Such a policy should cross-check all available policies and integrates them so as to ensure a smooth implementation.

The development process, he said, should include the participation of all stakeholders to ensure representation from all levels.

In tackling the transportation issues, Marimuthu said that it should be governed by a sole organisation.

Marimuthu calls for what is termed as the Integrated Transportation System (ITS) which he believes will be able to resolve the nation's public transportation woes.

WHAT IS ‘ITS’

According to Marimuthu, ITS is based on the public transportation model in Japan and Singapore that involved only one system for all modes of transportation which have several operators.

Marimuthu said he has submitted this ITS proposal to the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) and the cabinet sub-committee on public transportation.

"This concept is maybe similar to that of the RapidKL but there should be more pick-up points for passengers as the outreach by RapidKL is still low.

"Consumers do not mind walking 100 or 200 metres to catch a bus as long as they are assured that they can arrive at a destination faster when using a public transport as compared to when using their own vehicles," he explained.

The ITS system allows consumers freedom to choose the transport providers according to the service satisfaction.

The system also provides connection between the main transport (train service) and the supporting transports (bus services) for consumers' benefits.

"What is important that there is no monopoly under ITS and it must be based on healthy competition," said Marimuthu.

To ensure the system runs smoothly, enforcement would be the prime concern, he said.

"Enforcement should look into service quality and safety aspects. Providers of services that are not in compliance with the standards and which draw high number of complaints should have their licence revoked," he said.

By Melati Mohd Ariff
-- BERNAMA

Council must hear all views

1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00

WHY NOT? BY WONG SAI WAN

The imminent global recession is best tackled by the nation as a whole, and the setting up of the Economic Council is only the first of many steps that need to be taken.

THE country’s economy in a shambles through no fault of ours and, on the political front, the nation in turmoil with Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim facing criminal charges in court.

No, that’s not a description of what is happening today, but what happened 10 years ago, at the height of the 1998 financial crisis.

Nevertheless, it would seem quite a coincidence, and history seems to be repeating itself.

Then, it was the Asian Financial Crisis brought on by currency speculators that affected our economy. Now the commodities speculators have driven oil and food prices beyond everyone’s means.

And, yes, Anwar is again charged with committing sodomy just as he was 10 years ago.

At the darkest hour, the Government took various radical decisions which at that time seemed ridiculous, like the fixing of the ringgit exchange rate and freezing the outflow of foreign funds.

Many of those moves had only recently been removed and many other countries affected then concede now that we were right in taking the steps we did.

Among the best decisions by the Government then was the setting up of the National Economic Action Council or the NEAC, on Jan 7, 1998, as a consultative body to deal with the immediate issues and to tackle the Asian Financial Crisis.

The NEAC launched the National Economic Recovery Plan six months later, presenting six strategic areas of action to address the crisis as well as the negative effects on the Malaysian economy brought about by the ringgit’s depreciation and the collapse of the stock market.

Then in 2001, the NEAC proposed stimulus initiatives which included a RM4.3bil fiscal package with wide distribution of rural/small projects, especially among Bumiputra Class F contractors, special emplacement and training programme for unemployed graduates, and funds for the retraining of retrenched workers.

The NEAC, which still exists till today as a division within the Prime Minister’s Department, is a success story. It is probably why the Government announced three days ago the setting up of the Economic Council to replace the Anti-Inflation Cabinet Committee and the National Anti-Inflation Council.

Besides coming up with plans to tackle inflation and ensure a steady supply of goods, the new council’s role include monitoring and analysing domestic and international economic trends and developments.

The 42-member council is also tasked with formulating a comprehensive social safety net to reduce the impact of inflationary pressure and economic slowdown on the low- and middle-income groups.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who will chair the Economic Council, is joined by his deputy Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and 10 other ministers, senior civil servants, captains of industry, academicians and some non-governmental organisation heads.

Representatives from the private sector and government-linked companies include Public Bank chairman Tan Sri Thong Yaw Hong, Lin Associates chairman and chief executive Tan Sri Dr Lin See Yan, Institute of Strategic and International Studies chairman and chief executive Tan Sri Mohamed Jawhar Hassan, Royal Selangor Pewter managing director Tan Sri Yong Poh Kon, Khazanah Nasional Bhd managing director Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar, and RAM Consultancy Services executive chairman Tan Sri C. Rajandram.

Other members include Bank Negara governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Economic Planning Unit director-general Tan Sri Dr Sulaiman Mahbob, CIMB chief executive Datuk Nazir Razak, Cuepacs president Omar Osman, Fomca president Datuk N. Marimuthu, Universiti Malaya economic and administration faculty’s Datuk Seri Panglima Andrew L.T. Sheng, and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia vice-chancellor Datuk Sharifah Hapsah Syed Hassan Shahabuddin.

The list looks impressive, and I am sure that everyone on the council will work very hard to come up with strategies to save the nation from the latest threats.

Their immediate task is to meet very soon if they are to quickly ease the pain of the man on the street, because, as prices of goods keep on rising, it gets more painful each day for the ordinary folks.

I would like to suggest that the council members, besides meeting and talking, get to feel the needs and wants of the common people.

No disrespect meant, but most on the list in the private sector are very rich people and may not understand the problems faced by those they are tasked with helping.

Do multi-millionaire bankers know how much a roti canai cost a year ago? Even if they do, do they know how painful it is because the price of that roti canai has increased by 30 sen?

Again, I am sure that Marimuthu and Osman will try to convince their fellow council members on the pain the people are feeling, but then they are just two voices in a high-powered setting.

The council should seek the views of others, like petty traders, as to why they are raising prices, or why people still drive to work despite the fuel price increase.

Short-term as well as long-term solutions must be offered. There is no point formulating strategies that will insulate and assist future generations while the present populace roils in pain.

Yes, short-term solutions may seem to be playing to the gallery, but why not?

The Government must not fear populist decisions, because the present problem is not only economic, but also one of confidence.

Wong Sai Wan, The Star deputy executive editor, is amazed at how little RM100 can buy nowadays at the wet market.

Calling all budding filmmakers

1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00

BUDDING Malaysian filmmakers, including students from institutions of higher education, are invited to take part in a short film contest themed Smart Consumer.

The 30-second to three-minute film in Bahasa Malaysia has to be based on topics like smart consumers, ethical traders, product safety for consumers, cleanliness at food outlets, 3R practice in everyday life and public transport.

It is one of the eight contests organised in conjunction with National Consumers Day 2008 by the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry in collaboration with the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Association (Fomca).

The theme and tagline for the seventh edition of National Consumers Day is Save Today for a Safe Tomorrow and Practise Sustainable Consumption respectively.

The campaign being held from May 6 to Aug 16 is aimed at exposing students and the public to adopt an awareness towards consumerism and implement this realisation in their daily lives.

The other contests are: essay-writing (in four languages) for primary and secondary school students and the public, essay-writing (in four languages) for teachers, lecturers and senior citizens, poster drawing for primary and secondary school students, cartoon drawing, photography for amateurs, scrapbook and folio making for primary and secondary school students, as well as colouring contest for primary school students.

An outreach programme featuring a colouring contest promotion at selected Giant outlets as well as activities like talks, consumer quizzes and exhibitions were held at various schoolsin Peninsular Malaysia.

The talks focused on the eight consumer rights, five consumer responsibilities, challenges faced by teenage consumers, the effects of current lifestyle trends and what needs to be done to improve the teenage consumer’s lifestyle.

“There is a tendency for today’s teenagers to follow trends and peer pressure,” said Fomca deputy CEO Siti Rahayu Zakaria.

“We’re trying to teach them to change their lifestyles by taking simple steps like packing their own food to school, saving electicity and water, and passing their used school books to their siblings.

“The colouring contest promotion had 3,461 participants at the 18 venues the event was held, while the activities held in 60 schools saw a participation of 9,701 students.”

“All these activities will culminate with the National Consumers Carnival held on Aug 16 at the TNB Sports Complex’s Multipurpose Hall in Bangsar,” said Siti Rahayu.

“Besides a prize presentation for all the eight contests, we will also be having the finals for the colouring contest and a Healthy Eating Demonstration where 20 primary school students will prepare simple and healthy meals like sandwiches, salads and fruit juices which they can have at home instead of the usual fast food.”

The carnival’s programme lineup includes health screenings, a blood donation, exhibitions by companies and agencies like Bank Negara, Astro, Nestle and Gardenia, K9 demonstration, promotions like special offers for Giant house brands, and sale of handicraft and books.

The carnival is open to the public and will be launched by Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shahrir Samad.

The deadline for all contest submissions is closed, except for the short film and colouring contest, where the submission deadline is Aug 8. Contest details, registration forms and details on the National Consumers Carnival are available at www.mypengguna.com.

By JADE CHAN

Calling all budding filmmakers

1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00

BUDDING Malaysian filmmakers, including students from institutions of higher education, are invited to take part in a short film contest themed Smart Consumer.

The theme and tagline for the seventh edition of National Consumers Day is Save Today for a Safe Tomorrow and Practise Sustainable Consumption respectively.

The campaign being held from May 6 to Aug 16 is aimed at exposing students and the public to adopt an awareness towards consumerism and implement this realisation in their daily lives.

“There is a tendency for today’s teenagers to follow trends and peer pressure,” said Fomca deputy CEO Siti Rahayu Zakaria.

“The colouring contest promotion had 3,461 participants at the 18 venues the event was held, while the activities held in 60 schools saw a participation of 9,701 students.”

“All these activities will culminate with the National Consumers Carnival held on Aug 16 at the TNB Sports Complex’s Multipurpose Hall in Bangsar,” said Siti Rahayu.

The carnival is open to the public and will be launched by Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shahrir Samad.

By JADE CHAN

Move to protect catchment areas

1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00

Zaini: ‘It is important to look into the planning of water resources’

The Selangor state government is looking into gazetting all water catchment areas and have proposed to gazette at least four ponds in the state under the Selangor Water Management (LUAS) Enactment 1999.

The pledge to protect ponds and lakes is being made in view of the projected water crisis in 2010.

State tourism, consumer affairs, and environment committee chairman Elizabeth Wong revealed this during the Selangor Water Forum 2008 held at the Sheraton Subang Hotel & Towers recently.

She said the four ponds were Kuala Selangor, Hulu Selangor, Sepang, and Kuala Langat.

Wong was one of the five guest speakers at the forum attended by mostly water industry players and several non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

The other four speakers were Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas) chief executive officer Datuk Ruslan Hassan, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia deputy vice-chancellor (research and innovation) Datuk Professor Dr Ir Zaini Ujang, National Water Services Commission (SPAN) chief executive officer Datuk Teo Yen Hua, and Federation of Malaysian Consumer Association (Fomca) president Datuk Marimuthu Nadason.

One of the key things mentioned was the call for better transparency in the water industry given the state’s current water privatisation agreement.

Fomca’s Marimuthu said: Transparency is important to ensure consumer rights are protected.

“To ensure a sustainable water industry, a clear development policy must be formulated with transparent implementation,” he said.

“We are looking to an affordable tariff rate to cater to the needs of low and middle-income groups, while the tariff should also reflect a fair rate for sustainable water consumers (people who consume less water).

“Meaningful public participation in the water industry must also be increased,” he said, adding that water was a basic human right and it should not be treated as a commodity which would be like putting a price tag on water.

Wong added that water was so important that it must remain in public trust.

“Although the issue of non-revenue water (NRW) is still unresolved, I wish to allay the fears of people of this impending water shortage, because the 2010 crisis is just a projection.

“The Selangor water supply task force has identified alternatives like lakes and mining pools for future water back-up, but I believe that if we maintain and protect our rivers and water catchment areas, we can hopefully sail through 2010,” she continued.

Teo said SPAN hoped to achieve greater transparency through water forums, especially where tariffs were concerned.

“From now on, we’ll also check on water quality, discharge of effluents, while monitoring, investigating, enforcing, and prosecuting offences and non-compliant activities on water supply and sewerage services.”

Meanwhile, Ruslan claimed that Syabas had managed to reduce water losses by 10% by implementing small projects to increase the capacity of treatment plants and water resources after it was reported that there would be a water shortage this year.

Prof Dr Zaini said too much emphasis had been placed on mega projects, which cost big and were difficult to handle, referring to the controversial Selangor-Pahang inter-state water transfer project.

He said for a start, authorities should start looking into planning of water resources and the technology to cope with it.

“For example, we are almost certain of experiencing sea water intrusion into our river system in future. Our water treatment plants are only designed for treating freshwater and not sea water, so when desalination happens, can our technology handle the change?” he asked.

Fomca to submit water report in September

1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00

KUANTAN: The Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca) is expected to submit a report on its two-year water conservation awareness campaign in September.

The campaign was jointly organised with the Energy, Water and Communication Ministry in July 2006.

The Ministry’s under secretary (water sector) Roslan Mohammad said that Pahang was the last state to benefit from the programme.

“Fomca will submit a report on the campaign that covered schoolchildren, students and the public.

“Based on the report, the ministry will gauge the campaign's effectiveness,” he told reporters after opening the workshop at a hotel here recently.

Roslan, who read out the speech of the Ministry’s water services senior secretary Japar Abu, said it was important to educate the public on water conservation and water discharged into the sewerage system.

“The public must do away with the perception that only clean water needed to be managed, he said.

“Water discharged by domestic and industrial users is equally important as it needs to be treated before being released into rivers and seas,” he said.

Recognizing the Consumer Movement

1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00

On Saturday I attended my 7th Hari Pengguna Malaysia (Consumer Day) 2008, an event that had been celebrated by the Ministry since 2001. Since my involvement with the consumer movement in 1982, I have never missed this event as it indicates the government’s recognition and commitment to consumer issues in Malaysia. All too often this event has been stiff and formal with the Minister’s speech as the highlight of the event.

I would like to say that of all the previous events I had attended, this year was the most meaningful and most memorable, for me as the Ministry finally gave its due recognition to the contribution of the consumer movement in Malaysia.

For the first time, the highlight was not the Ministers’ speech but the sharing of a consumer activist, Mr. Gurmit Singh, a leader of a consumer movement, Consumer Association of Penang and a school in Johor, which had undertaken substantive projects in the area of consumerism in the school. In fact in his speech, the Minister humbly acknowledged that consumer leaders on the ground were the real experts and it was most appropriate that they should share their experiences for all of us too learn and get involved in the consumer process.

It is very rare for a Minister to show that kind of humility, I was certainly impressed with Dato’ Sharir’s genuineness and warmth. He had even suggested that this Day should be one that was more informal and participatory rather than formal and stiff. Most importantly I was truly impressed with the Minister’s recognition of the contribution of the consumer movement in Malaysia.

Consumer issues are certainly complex, it is high time that the government recognized and continues to give space for the consumer movement to contribute at the highest decision making levels to enhance consumer welfare and consumer interests in Malaysia.

Datuk Marimuthu Nadason
President, FOMCA

Waste collection process not eco-friendly

1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00

MANY of us are relieved once the rubbish in front of our home is cleared. However, is the removal process in the waste collection lorries eco-friendly?

We can observe that during compaction of the solid waste, the liquid waste (leachate) is released throughout the concession routes.

This is the same material that we try to avoid from leaking into sanitary landfills. Leachate has chemicals that can cause health problems and environmental pollution.

Consumers staying around these ‘illegal’ dumping areas can smell the stench and eventually the dried material will dissolve during rain and flow into the national water system.

Actually leachate can be treated but why are the concessionaire companies releasing this material everywhere?

A collection system should be made so that leachate is treated properly before it is let into our water system. This is the duty of the concessionaires.

The environment desk of Fomca hopes that the relevant authorities take appropriate action.

A vacuum pump system can be put in place to prevent the leachate from being released everywhere.

PIARAPAKARAN SUBRAMANIAM,
Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca)

Are waste collection lorries eco-friendly?

1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00

Many of us feel relieved once the rubbish in front of our house has been cleared. However, is the whole process in the entire journey of the waste collection lorries eco-friendly? We can observe that during compaction of the solid waste, the liquid waste (leachate) is released throughout the concession routes.

What is this material? This is the same material that we try to avoid from leaking in sanitary landfills. Leachate has many chemicals that can cause health problems and environmental pollution. For consumers who are staying around this ‘illegal’ dumping, they can smell the stench and eventually the dried material will dissolve during rain and flow into national water systems.

During my university days as a student, we only use 10% solution of leachate to detect its content due to high levels of pollutants in 100% of the content. Actually leachate can be treated. Why the concessionaire companies are releasing this material everywhere? A collection system should be made so that leachate is treated properly before letting into our water systems. This is the concessionaires’ duty.

The Environment Desk of FOMCA hopes that the relevant authorities take appropriate action. A vacuum pump system can be put in place to prevent the leachate from being released everywhere. We also observe that the regulations for an industry to release wastewater is governed by the Department of Environment, and these concessionaires openly break the law. Such disposal shows clearly that the concessionaires are not keen to treat the leachate.

We hope that immediate steps are taken to solve this problem. We would like to highlight that these materials do enter our river and other water systems which are used as water intake points for drinking water processing. Pollution increases cost of operation and eventually translated into higher tariffs. Prevention is always better than cure.

The future is in your hands.

Piarapakaran Subramaniam
FOMCA, Petaling Jaya

Getting people to spend less

1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00

KUALA LUMPUR: Imagine not buying anything today. Impossible?

Malaysian Federation of Consumer Associations (Fomca) chief executive Muhammad Sha'ani Abdullah feels "Buy Nothing Day" will be a success if people put their minds to it.

"The public should focus on limiting expenditure and purchasing goods on a need-only basis," he said yesterday.

He expects the people to use public transportation, take packed food to work and not buy non-essential items.

Fomca is involved in a four-year joint campaign with the National Council of Women's Organisations, Malaysian Youth Council and Cuepacs to get Malaysians to spend less.

He said advertisements over television and radio appeared to "force" the public into making purchases.

Muhammad said the campaign, which saw 18 volunteers handing out brochures to passengers at four train stations here, was not a boycott of advertised brands nationwide.

"It was merely an attempt to remind consumers that the choice of purchase lies in their hands and that the choice should be made wisely."

Revert to 20-day grace period, consumer groups urge banks

1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00

KUALA LUMPUR: Consumers groups are calling for banks to revert to the old policy on the 20-day interest-free period for credit card holders.

Late last month, Bank Negara announced that the interest-free period would only be enjoyed by those who pay the outstanding amount in full.

Previously, credit card holders who made a partial or minimum payment of their outstanding amount were able to enjoy the grace period.

According to Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) president SM Mohamed Idris, the old ruling was more flexible and did not burden consumers.

“The new ruling states that the grace period can still be enjoyed by those who pay the full amount, but what about those who can only pay a partial sum? Not everyone can pay the full amount every month.

“It is not because they won’t; it’s because they can’t,” he said.

Fomca secretary-general Muhammad Sha’ani Abdullah said: “Not all cardholders can maintain full payment. What if they get sick or retrenched?”

Sha’ani added that the interest-free period is one of the advantages of using a credit card.

“Without the grace period, there is no difference between using a credit card and paying cash,” he said.

Meanwhile, Fomca president Datuk N. Marimuthu said that the interest that must be paid by users who default more than once, as stated in the new three-tier structure, should be reduced from between 15% and 18% to 12%.

“The reduction can help those who cannot manage their credit card debts,” said Marimuthu.

He added that if the system continued this way, people would be discouraged from using credit cards.

Buy Nothing Day a time to ponder on spending

1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00

WE thank Bulbir Singh for his letter “Buy Nothing Day not such a good idea” (The Star, July 10) and wish to clarify the misunderstanding among some quarters that the said campaign is meant to target traders and promote a boycott of products on July 16.

The consumer movement has always promoted prudent spending, saving and no wastage but the generous subsidies and low prices of goods and services did not encourage these noble values. Profit oriented trade practices take maximum advantage of the weak and the marginalised consumers.

Traders depend on profit to sustain and there is no dispute that the traders, including the distributors, are the life-line in the supply chain. However, all trade practices good or bad do not discriminate the buyers, young or old, poor or rich, as well as the fixed wage earners or businessman who recoups all costs from his clients and customers.

At this time, lifestyle change is the solution not only to the fixed wage earner but also to all in the marketplace, the Government included. The suggestion for life-style change did not go down well as many privately, and some openly, complained that the wealthy can afford to change from a five-litre car to a three-litre vehicle but questioned how the 37% of households earning less than RM2,000 are going to cope.

The lower income group is already cutting tuition for their children, taking bus to work, carrying lunch from home, missing loan repayments, just to mention a few. Further savings can be made by changing our choices of products and it involves a change in life-long learned habits, status consciousness of brands and perception of quality of products.

“Buy Nothing Day” was chosen as a trigger point to encourage the consumer to ponder and challenge to try simple living for a day. Spend time with the family and friends, rather than spend money on them. It may sound boring and cliché, but love is one thing money cannot buy.

Buy Nothing Day is also a day of self-reflection of one's values, especially in relation to consumerism.

It is also a time to think of their spending patterns.

How much of money does one spend on his “real” needs versus his “wants”.

Buy Nothing Day isn’t about changing your lifestyle for just one day – we hope it will be maybe a life changing experience.

MARIMUTHU NADASON,
President,
Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations.

Champion of consumers

1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00

Darshan attending to a complaint by a consumer at the NCCC office in Petaling Jaya.

KUALA LUMPUR: As the director of the National Consumer Complaints Centre, Darshan Singh is in a position which many don't envy.

The 38-year-old Kampar-born activist has made "enemies" while fighting for consumer rights. His job makes him an easy target when he approaches companies and services providers with tonnes of complaints from the public.

Darshan admits that his job is not an easy one especially when consumers expect their problems to be solved when they come to him at the centre in Petaling Jaya.

But Darshan has proved to be persistent, and much of his efforts since 2004 has paid off.

One of his major accomplishments was getting scratch-and-win contests to be banned.

Q: Tell us about your involvement with NCCC. Where were you before this?

A: I joined the centre in 2004 after learning that there was an opening for NCCC, an affiliate of the Federation of Consumers Associations of Malaysia (Fomca). I left a merchandising company to take up the NCCC job.

We started operations in January 2005.

I was with the merchandising company since 1996, handling legal and corporate affairs. It served as a training ground for what I am doing now because at the NCCC, I deal a lot with people and legal matters, especially when it comes to products and services promised to the consumers.

This is what I can do, and I hope to do this for years to come.

Q: Did you ever imagined you would serve the public through a consumer-related organisation?

A: I never expected to be working with an organisation like NCCC. However, come to think of it, I've always been interested in helping society. This is my way of doing it, by bringing up their grouses to the regulators and directing their complaints to the companies.

Q: Is it tough dealing with complaints every day?

A: To do something, you need to have passion. The same principle applies here; I take people's grievances as if they are my own. It's also satisfying we received e-mails, thanking us and informing that the complaints were solved. There were also situations when we got scoldings from the complainants who were frustrated that their problems were not solved. We have to be very patient when dealing with this. When I forward complaints to companies, it is very important to do a regular follow-up. What we need is not just a win-win situation, but even better, a win-win-win situation. This means, we work together with the consumers and companies as well as the regulators.

Q: How many complaints have you looked into since NCCC started its operations in 2005? Which areas received the highest number of complaints?

A: Easily 50,000 complaints, with last year being the highest recorded, around 20,000 complaints. Most of the complaints were against finance and service providers like banks and phone companies.

Q: What is your education background?

A: I had my primary education at the La Salle School in Kampar and my secondary at the Anglo-Chinese School, Kampar. I got my law degree from University of East London. I didn't complete my certificate for legal practice, though. I plan to continue and get my certificate one day.

Q: Tell us a bit about your family.

A: I'm the eldest of six and most of my siblings studied law. Malim Nawar state assemblyman Keshvinder Singh is my brother. My father, who owns a small business, always stresses about the importance of education. When people asked him why he didn't subscribe to insurance, he said it was better for him to entrust his money to his children. To him, that's his insurance.

Q: Do you have chilren? How old are they?

A: I have two boys, aged 10 and five. I always remind them the importance of helping others.

Q: Were you active in sports? What do you normally do in your free time?

A: I'm not into sports although my brothers played football in school. I was more into society works. I love reading as that is one of the sources of information for me.

Q: What do you hope to achieve one day?

A: I wish that every consumer would be a consumer activist. The day when every consumer understand his or her rights and roles in bringing up issues that affect the public. It is even easier with emails, where we can forward their complaints to companies and even bring up issues to government agencies. I hope that one day, we don't need people to come to us and lodge complaints as they can communicate directly with the relevant companies and have their complaints resolved without our intervention. Currently, I feel that we are still not ready to be self-regulatory. Government agencies need to be more stringent in monitoring these organisations, especially in enforcement, and not just policy-making.

By
Nuradzimmah Daim

Buy Nothing Day not AGAINST traders nor a boycott

1970-01-01T00:00:00+01:00

We wish to thank Mr BULBIR SINGH for his letter "Buy Nothing Day not such a good idea" (The Star, July 10) and wish to clarify the misunderstanding among some quarters that the said campaign is meant to target traders and promote boycott of product on 16th July 2008.

Consumer movement has always been promoting prudent spending, saving and avoid wastage but generous subsidies and low prices of goods and services did not encourage there noble values. Profit oriented trade practices take maximum advantage of the weak and the marginalised consumers. Traders depend on profit to sustain and there is no dispute that the traders including the distributors are the life-line in the supply chain. However all trade practices good or bad do not discriminate the buyers, young or old, poor or rich, as well as the fixed wage earners or businessman who recoups all costs from his clients, customers or the consumer.

At this time, lifestyle change is the solution not only to the fixed wage earner but also to all in the marketplace and the government included. The suggestion for life-style change did not go well as many privately and some openly complained that the wealthy can afford to change from 5-litre car to 3-litre car but how the 37% of the households earning less that RM2,000 are going to cope.

The lower income group is already cutting tuition for their children, taking bus to work, carrying lunch from home, missing loan repayments to mention few. Further savings can be made by changing in the choices of the products purchased and these involve change in life-long learned habits, status consciousness of brands and perception of quality of products.

"Buy Nothing Day" was chosen as a trigger point to encourage the consumer to ponder and challenge to try simple living for a day. Spend time with family and friends, rather than spend money on them. It may sound boring and cliché, but love is one thing money cannot buy.

BUY NOTHING DAY is also a day of self-reflection of ones values, especially in relation to consumerism. It is a time to think about ones values in relation to the importance they give to their family, their friends, and the goods they acquire. How much do ones possessions define them? How much do one define oneself by who they are rather then what they possess?

It is also a time to think of their spending patterns. How much of money do one spends on their "real" needs and how much is being spent on their media defined "wants". Can they spend less for certain goods and services at the same relative quality or are they stuck with certain brands because they think it is "below their standard" to use anything else. It is a time for reflection. We decide.

BUY NOTHING DAY isn't about changing your lifestyle for just one day – we hope it will be a lasting relationship – maybe a life changing experience.

Change begins with me – National Consumer Campaign

MARIMUTHU NADASON
President
Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations