Security guard killed bank officer - Johor - Malaysia

Bank officer killed after security guard runs amok

posted: Saturday April 18, 2015 MYT 12:00:00 AM 

BY MOHD FARHAAN SHAH

JOHOR BARU: A security guard ran amok in a bank in Taman Molek here and left one bank officer dead and another seriously injured.

The guard was on duty on the first floor of the three-storey bank building located along Jalan Molek 1/11 here at 3.30pm yesterday.

Fateful day: Police carrying the victim’s body out of the bank at Taman Molek in Johor Baru.

He was believed to have had an argument with one of the bank officers.

In a rage, he took out a knife and stabbed the 33-year-old officer on his face and neck, causing him to bleed to death.

He also slashed a female officer.

A witness, known only as Wong, 45, said he was at the ground floor of the bank with his daughter then.

“I wanted to change my daughter’s ATM card when we heard a commotion on the first floor.

“Suddenly, we heard someone screaming and customers running out of the bank and the guard came out holding a blood-stained knife,” he said.

Wong said he quickly pulled his daughter’s hand and ran out together with the rest.

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Seri Alam OCPD Supt Abdul Samad Salleh said two security guards, including the suspect, were on duty then.

“We detained a suspect in his 40s at the scene and recovered a knife from him,” said Supt Abdul Samad.

“The body of the bank officer has been sent to a hospital for post-mortem while the female officer is receiving treatment,” he said.

In Kuala Lumpur later, Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Noor Rashid Ibrahim told reporters that the guard was believed to be upset over work related matters.

“He ran amok with a sharp weapon,” he said, adding that the case would be investigated as murder.

Source: The Star Online - Malaysia

http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2015/04/18/Bank-officer-killed-after-security-guard-runs-amok/

4,000 companies face GST compound - Malaysia

Posted: 15 APRIL 2015 @ 9:26 PM

BUKIT MERTAJAM: A total of 4,364 companies face a compound of RM15,000 for refusal to register for the Goods and Services Tax (GST) with the Royal Malaysian Customs Department. 

Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan said the companies having annual turnover of more than RM500,000 would be charged if they fail to pay the fine. 

Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan says more than 4,000 companies face a compound of RM15,000 for not registering for the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Pix by Danial Saad

"We've given businesses ample time by extending the closing date of the registration from Dec 31 last year to Feb 28. Until the deadline, 370,558 companies had registered for the GST. 

"We've been too lenient on businesses as they do not have to pay anything to register, and they can even do it online," he told reporters after giving a briefing on the GST here today.

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Ahmad said the GST implementation was the biggest change in the history of the tax system in the country and would take time before it is finally understood by all.

He said until yesterday, the Customs Department received 3,281 complaints from the public and opened 13 investigation papers on serious cases.

More than 3,000 Customs personnel have been deployed throughout the country in the first two weeks of the GST implementation to monitor the situation, he added. -- BERNAMA

Source: The NST - Malaysia

http://www.nst.com.my/node/80641

The world’s top-performing software company is in Malaysia - Year 2015

Posted: Tuesday, 14 April 2015

KUALA LUMPUR: Forget Silicon Valley, Tel Aviv and Bangalore. To find the world’s top-performing software company, you have just to go to Kuala Lumpur.

Better known as the home of state-owned energy giant Petroliam Nasional Bhd, it’s also where shares of IFCA MSC Bhd, a maker of cloud-based software for property companies, have jumped 14-fold over the past 12 months.

IFCA’s earnings are surging just as fast as its stock after the company took an 80% market share among Malaysian developers and began expanding into China, where early adopters of its sales tracking and payment processing software include billionaire Wang Jianlin’s Dalian Wanda Group Co. IFCA CEO Ken Yong Keang Cheun (pic) predicts that the world’s second-largest economy will become the biggest market for his US$198mil software firm by 2018.

“The growth in China is incredible,” Yong said in Petaling Jaya. He plans to double the number of IFCA offices in the country to 16 by year-end.

IFCA has about 100 clients in China, where the National Bureau of Statistics estimates there were more than 90,000 real estate companies as of 2013. The country last month announced measures to make buying and selling a home cheaper, giving a boost to developers as authorities seek to cushion a slump in the property market that has weighed on economic growth.

The stock gained as much as 1.5% toward a record close before ending unchanged at the noon break in Kuala Lumpur.

Wanda uses IFCA’s software for its cost systems, bidding and capital leases, Huang Chunlei, an assistant to the president of Dalian Wanda and deputy general manager of the company’s IT department, said via email.

In Malaysia, 800 of the biggest 1,000 property developers are its customers, Yong said. The company’s software sales in the country surged 76% in 2014 as a new goods and services tax prompted companies to upgrade their software to comply with the change. Profit jumped 12-fold last year to RM21.1mil and Yong said he’s “confident” earnings would climb to another record in 2015.

“The good thing about the software is that it is niche for property developers,” Chow Yuh Seng, general manager for IT at Mah Sing Group Bhd, Malaysia’s fifth-biggest developer by market value, said.

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Shares of IFCA have surged 1,321% over the past 12 months, the most among software companies worldwide with a market value of at least US$150mil (RM550mil), data compiled by Bloomberg show. That compares with an average gain of 46% for global peers.

“There was a strong theme for IT and software-related development companies last year, and this year is a continuation,” said Danny Wong, chief executive officer of Kuala Lumpurbased Areca Capital Sdn., which owns shares in IFCA. “The shift to Internet and technology is the new way of doing things.”

IFCA isn’t the only Malaysian software company with booming sales. Grabtaxi Holdings Pte, a mobile application that assigns cabs to nearby commuters, has grown to become South-East Asia’s largest taxi-booking mobile application, luring investments from Temasek Holdings Pte, Singapore’s state-owned investment company, and SoftBank Corp, the Japanese wireless carrier controlled by billionaire Masayoshi Son.

While Malaysia isn’t known as a hub for technology companies, the government has tried to support the industry since 1996, when it introduced the Multimedia Super Corridor, a special zone to attract technology investments and multinational companies.

The success of IFCA’s business may already be reflected in the share price, according to Ang Kok Heng, the chief investment officer of Phillip Capital Management Sdn Bhd, which manages US$428mil (RM1.57bil), said by phone in Kuala Lumpur. Shares are valued at 30 times reported earnings, versus 17 times for the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“We normally don’t chase a stock,” Ang said.

IFCA planned to boost recurring income by introducing a software rental service that would make its offerings more affordable for customers via monthly subscriptions, Yong said. The firm also plans to set up a property listing website by year-end.

IFCA’s profit will probably jump at an annual rate of 228% over the next three years, according to CIMB analyst Nigel Foo. – Bloomberg

Source: The Star Online - Malaysia

http://www.thestar.com.my/Business/Business-News/2015/04/14/IFCA-up-14fold-over-the-past-year/?style=biz

Ringgit Resumes Loss on Oil Decline, ECB’s Greek Funding Limits

Posted: 9:46 AM SGT 
February 5, 2015 byY-Sing Liau

(Bloomberg) -- Malaysia’s ringgit resumed losses as oil reversed gains and the European Central Bank’s tightening of terms for Greece’s access to financing damped risk appetite.

Brent crude fell 1 percent, adding to Wednesday’s 6.5 percent drop, the biggest since November. The ringgit briefly pared its decline after Malaysia, the only major oil exporter in Asia, reported trade figures that beat economists’ estimates. The ECB said it will no longer accept Greek bonds as collateral for loans, citing doubt over the new government’s commitment to reform pledges made under the previous administration.

“There is generalized risk aversion after the ECB essentially yanked the liquidity line,” said Vishnu Varathan, a Singapore-based economist at Mizuho Bank Ltd. “The drop in oil prices” was also weighing on the ringgit, he said.

The ringgit depreciated 0.3 percent to 3.5742 a dollar in Kuala Lumpur, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The currency, which posted its biggest gain Wednesday since September 2013, retreated as much as 0.8 percent earlier.

Malaysian exports rose 2.7 percent in December from a year earlier, more than November’s 2.1 percent increase, the Department of Statistics reported Thursday. The trade surplus narrowed to 9.2 billion ringgit ($2.6 billion) from 11.1 billion ringgit. Both exceeded the median estimates in Bloomberg surveys of 1 percent and 9 billion ringgit, respectively.

“Malaysia’s trade surplus is slightly better than expected,” said Khoon Goh, a strategist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Singapore. “Exports beat expectations. This should help allay concerns over Malaysia’s external position.”

Local sovereign bonds were little changed, with the 10-year yield at 3.76 percent, data compiled by Bloomberg show. It dropped four basis points, or 0.04 percentage point, Wednesday.

Source: BloombergBusiness

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-05/ringgit-falls-as-ecb-s-greek-funding-limits-add-to-oil-concern

Good Will Walk to fund Malaysia Foodbank project

Posted: Wednesday April 15, 2015 MYT 6:00:00 PM 
BY RASHVINJEET S. BEDI

KUALA LUMPUR: Zhariff Afandi (pic) was born without hands, but that has not stopped him from living his life and doing things that not many others would have done.

Zhariff, 34, goes trail running, scuba diving, horse riding and has even participated in the 6.5km Pulau Kapas-Marang swimathon twice.

“People might see not having hands as a weakness but it hasn’t stopped me from doing the things I want to do,” he told the The Star Online.

Zhariff, 34, is also actively involved in humanitarian work – having helped out in Aceh for eight months in the aftermath of the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami and getting involved in the relief work for Kelantan flood victims.

Next week, he will be participating in the United Sikhs-organised Good Will Walk that will start on April 19 from Kampung Wang Kelian, Perlis, and end on May 23 in Malacca.

The 750km walk is meant to raise awareness on the plight of the homeless and poor and to raise donations and 200 tonnes of non-perishable food items for the newly-registered Malaysia Foodbank Project.

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A core group of 10 walkers have committed to complete the full distance over a 35-day period.

Zhariff who is on the board of directors of the organisation said that a Foodbank would help relief efforts in the aftermath of a disaster.

“People need the aid immediately. It won’t solve the problems of relief efforts, but it will help the situation,” said Zhariff, who has pledged to walk about 250km.

Besides disaster relief organisations, the Foodbank will work with soup kitchens and homeless shelters said Zhariff.  

Malaysian Foodbank Organisation director Rishiwant Singh Randhawa who is also known as the Flying Singh said the organisation was set up in the aftermath of the Kelantan floods.

“After a disaster, it takes about five days to get the food and funds. The food bank is to serve all organisations,” he said.

Rishiwant said he hoped the public would walk with them for part of the journey or donate either food items or money to the cause.

For more information, log on to www.goodwillwalk.com.my

Source: The Star Online - Malaysia

http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2015/04/15/Good-Will-Walk/

Petronas: No plans to cut jobs, salaries - 2015

Posted: ednesday, 15 April 2015
BY: INTAN FARHANA ZAINUL

KUALA LUMPUR: Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) does not have any plans to either reduce its workforce or cut the salaries of its employees.

Its president and chief executive officer Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin said on Wednesday the group was undertaking a group optimising exercise which would impact its service providers.

This exercise would see a 20% reduction in the salaries of its service providers outsourced by Petronas.

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"They (service providers) provide us with professional services with their salaries ranging from more than RM20,000 up to even hundreds of thousands of ringgit," he told reporters after Petronas Dagangan Bhd's  AGM.

Wan Zulkiflee denied a news report that Petronas was going to cut the salaries of the employees of its exploration unit, Petronas Carigali.

"There would be no salary cut for Petronas staff including Petronas Carigali. There would be no retrenchment of Petronas staff," he said.

Source: The Star Online - Malaysia

http://www.thestar.com.my/Business/Business-News/2015/04/15/No-plans-to-cut-jobs/?style=biz

Cable car planned between Penang Island and mainland (Butterworth)

Posted: April 15, 2015 MYT 2:59:00 PM 
BY CHONG KAH YUAN

GEORGE TOWN: A ‘Penang Sky Cab’ cable car system connecting Penang Sentral in Butterworth to Gat Lebuh Noordin in the island is expected to be completed in 2018.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng (pic) said on Wednesday that the project was an initiative of the state government and Penang Sentral, and which was discussed from last year and was in advanced exploratory stage at present.

“It will provide an aerial link from the mainland to the island and decrease the dependence on automobiles.

“The 3km link is expected to take around 15 minutes travel time. It will be able to cater to 1,000 passengers per hour per direction.

“It will provide an alternative form of travel in an easier, faster and more comfortable way.

‘With the implementation, Penang Sentral will become a five-in-one travel hub offering from taxi, buses, train, ferry and Sky Cab services,” he said at a press conference at Komtar here.

Penang Sentral property and retail division senior vice-president said the Penang Sentral Cable Car Station would be located next to the Penang Sentral Transportation Hub.

“The total cost of the project is still being calculated and will be revealed soon,” she said.

Source: The Star Online - Malaysia

http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2015/04/15/Sky-Cab-Penang/