Asian Tiger

I look around me and there are many eligible bachelors and bachelorettes who have passed their thirties and have yet to settled into a relationship, let alone marriage.  Many of these are my personal and childhood friends whom I have grown up with.  Somehow, they seem very happy and contented to remain status quo as far as their bachelorhood are concerned.

This trend of “enjoy first, marriage second” seems to be a national issue as well; not surprisingly, giving rise to matchmaking service businesses. Perhaps it is perceived that these group of individuals fail to get into a relationship because of of their inability to get dates but frankly, the friends that I have are all well to do, handsome, beautiful and professionals.

Assuming that this circle of friends that I have all have the attitude of “enjoy first, marriage/family later”, then please allow me to forewarn that the older we get, the longer we have to work to support our young children.  Let’s just take an example of say, John.  Let’s assume that John gets married when he is 35 and Mrs John conceives a child and the following series of events:

• John Jr is born - John is 36.
• John Jr goes to primary school at age 7 - John is 43
• John Jr goes to secondary school at age 13 - John is 49
• John Jr completes secondary school at age 17 - John is 53
• John Jr enters higher secondary school and completes at age 19 - John is 55 (retirement age in Malaysia)
• John Jr completed university at age 24 - John is 60

John will have to work beyond his retirement age just to support his child to complete the necessary education and by that time, John is already 60.  That is only the first child.  What if John has 3 children? How long does he have to work to support his kids?  Worrying, isn’t it?

Lesley came home from the United States for good. With her, she brought in a container load of furnitures, electronic goods and other belongings. I helped her unpack and for the first time, I saw what a dishwasher looks like. I’ve never seen one before nor do I know how to operate it. Lesley wanted to demonstrate how the Maytag dishwasher worked and plugged the power right in. She switched on and there was this whirling sound followed by smoke. Yeah, you guessed it right, the dishwasher operates on 110 volts while Malaysia’s juice runs at 240 volts.

Lesley shook her head and asked me where she could get some Maytag parts. I replied “Maytag what? Here where got sell Maytag brand?” The best bet was to search online but who would know which spare part to purchase. Importing involve not only the spare part cost but also the shipping, handling and insurance. On top of that, you probably need to clear customs.

Lesley discarded the dishwasher and have now resorted to good old fashion hand wash. So, if you are bringing home electrical goods, check the voltage before using it. It might save you from a little shock, literally.

Beginning today, Malaysia Airlines is giving away zero fares for its domestic fares.  There are terms and conditions attached to it; something on the line of no change, no show, no refund, no flight change, no passenger change, etc etc.  Best to read their fine prints on their website.

I’m a little surprised that Malaysia Airlines is going this route (i.e. free fares) similar to that of AirAsia’s. I’ve flown both airlines before and frankly, 90% of my flying is done with Malaysia Airlines simply because of less flight delays, no hassle during check in, no need to line up to board the plane, no need to elbow the person next to me who is trying to get the best seating, no need to argue with fellow passengers who booked an entire row for his/her friends, no need to pay for checked in luggage, no need to pay for water or maggi mee.
Now that these 2 airline giants are competing against each other aggressively, I as the consumer wins.  Now with this latest offerings by Malaysia Airlines, I get cheap flights with great service.  About 15 minutes ago, I’ve just booked 6 seats to Kuching on this offer which cost me RM1,440. I did a quick comparison (kiasu-ness kicks in) with AirAsia’s economy promo price and that ended up with RM1,560.

With Malaysia Airlines, I’m getting best of both worlds.