Forum (5) Part II - Investment In Trust Fund-- The Truth, The Myths and The Strategies

1. What is Unit Trust?

A: A Unit Trust fund is a professionally managed investment fund, which collects the resources from individual investors or corporate investors with similar investment objectives. With the large sum of capital, fund managers can invest the money into stock market, bonds, money market, property or others according to the investment objectives of the fund.

2. Why we invest in Unit Trust? What is the benefit?

A: Unit Trust is one of the investment tools that we can use to achieve our financial goals. The benefit of unit trust includes:
• Low risk as it invests in many different sectors or asset allocations (diversification)
• Managed by professional fund manager
• More liquid than share
• Chance to invest in bond market or foreign stock market, where normal individual investors cannot invest into.
• Advantage of compounding

3. Is there any disadvantage for Unit Trust?
A: Yes, there is disadvantage for Unit Trust as well. Diversification may reduce the returns, as some of the share may perform well, and some of the share may perform poor. Fund Managers have limitation on investment strategies, as they need to follow the investment strategies stated on the prospectus.

4. What is the difference between Unit Trust and Mutual Fund?
A: Theoretically, there is difference between unit trust and mutual fund. There is only unit trust available in Malaysia.

5. Where we can buy Unit Trust?
A: We can buy unit trust at their fund houses respectively. Example, buying Public Mutual fund at Public Mutual office. Another way is, buying through agents or banks.

6. Any requirement or minimum amount to invest in Unit Trust?
A: The minimum initial investment amount is stated in the prospectus. Different funds have different minimum initial investment amount. Normally, the minimum initial investment is RM1000.

7. Is there a variety of Unit Trust in the market?
A: Yes. There are many types of unit trust available in the market now.
Equity Fund:
Higher risk, mainly invest in stock market.
Bond Fund:
Lower risk, mainly invest in bond market.
Income Fund:
Lowest risk, mainly invest in fixed income securities, such as Fixed Deposits.
Dividend Fund:
Moderate risk, mainly invest in high dividend yield stock.
Index Fund:
Invest in all the Composite Index contributing stocks.
Balanced Fund:
Moderate risk, invest in both stock market and bond market.
Besides the type of funds, there are also varieties of region where the fund will invest in. Currently, there are funds investing in Asia region, Europe region, global, Far East region, ASEAN countries and so forth.

8. What is NAV?
A: NAV (Net Asset Value) is the real value of the fund. All the transactions of the fund are based on the NAV.

Example:
If the NAV of the fund is RM0.25:
You buy 10000 units, the total investment is RM0.25x10000=RM2500
You sell 10000 units, the total money you get is RM0.25x10000=RM2500

9. Is there any charge and fee applied?
A: Yes, normally we need to pay service charge, annual management fee and annual trustee fee. The rate of charge and fee is different among different fund. Normally, equity funds charge 5-7% service charge, 1.5% annual management fee and 0.7% annual trustee fee. Bond and income funds charge 0-0.25% service charge, 1.5% annual management fee and 0.7% annual trustee fee.

10. How to choose a fund to invest?
A: Examine the risk level that you can take. Different types of funds have different level of risk. If you are risk taker, you can invest in high risk funds, such as equity funds. After deciding which type of funds to invest, look at the past performance of the fund and the fund houses. Although the past performance cannot guarantee the future performance, we can know the ability of that particular fund manager.

11. What if I do not have much of money? Can I invest as well?

A: Normally, the minimum initial investment amount is minimal, which is RM1000. There are still unit trusts having minimum initial investment RM500.

12. What is the interest rate of Unit Trust?
A: Unit Trust is not a saving tool. Unit Trust is an investment. Hence, there is no fixed interest for Unit Trust. You can get return from Unit Trust when the price increases or dividend distribution.

13. Do I need to top up my investment every month?
A: No, it is not necessary you need to top up your investment every month. Effective 25 June 2007, EPF funds are no longer allowed to be withdrawn to invest in oversea funds.

14. Is the return of Unit Trust guaranteed?
A: No, there is no guaranteed return for unit trust.

15. If the stock market is going down, should I sell all my Unit Trust?
A: Not necessary. As unit trust has diversification in different regions or different sectors, even the stock market is going down, it does not mean all the stocks price will go down and not all the region will face this downtrend.

16. How long should I hold the Unit Trust?
A: Normally, investors are advised to hold the unit trust for 3 to 5 years or longer. Hold the unit trust longer to enjoy the compounded return.

17. What is distribution and unit split?
A: Distribution is similar to dividend. Its purpose is to give back return to investors. Distribution is given in cash or investors can choose to reinvest the distribution. Unit Split is to make the fund size bigger and price lower.
Eg: Unit Split 1:25, if you have 1000 units, you will get 40 units extra after the split.

18. Should we only buy the fund with high historical distribution?
A: No. Distribution is not indicating the performance of the fund. The real value of the investment is still same. After distribution, the fund price will drop as the distribution is from the NAV of the fund.

Eg: Fund with RM0.50 NAV declares distribution of 5 cents. If you have 1000 units, you will get RM50 from the distribution. After the distribution, the NAV will decrease 5 cents, become RM0.45 per unit. So, the value of the 1000 units you are holding is RM450 instead of RM500.

19. How can we know that how much we have earned or lost?
A: From the statement, you can know how many units you have. Multiply the number of units with the NAV of the fund, you can get how much is your fund worth now. Example, you invest RM1000, and the worth of your fund now is RM1200, you earn RM200 or 20% of it. If you are not sure the number of units you have, you can refer to your agent.

20. Can we sell the Unit Trust anytime we want?
A: Yes, you can sell your unit anytime. Get your agent to help on this.

21. What is switching?
A: Switching is one of the strategies in Unit Trust investment. As there is service charge for every investment, switching is used to save the service charge. Normally, switching applies a minimal switching fee, but you do not need to pay the service charge.
Example, you are holding equity fund and have earned money, you foresee the market is unstable and going down, you can switch your equity fund to bond fund to lock your profit. Bond fund is more stable and will not be affected much by share market movement. Once you feel that the share market is stable and going up, you can switch back your bond fund to equity fund. This process includes two times of switching, so the charge is only two times of switching fee. You can save the 0.25% service charge (when switch from equity fund to bond fund), and 5-7% service charge (when switch from bond fund to equity fund).

22. How is the mechanism of switching?
A: Switching is similar to repurchase and buy without paying service charge. The mechanism is as such, for example, you have 4000 unit of an equity fund, you want to switch it into bond fund. These 4000 units will be converted into value by multiplying the NAV. The value is divided with the NAV of the bond fund to get the total unit of bond fund you get. Eg: 4000 units of RM0.25, the value is RM1000. If the bond fund’s NAV is RM0.50. You will get 2000 units of bond fund.

23. Do I need to pay tax for the profit I gain from Unit Trust investment?

A: No, the profit you gain from the capital appreciation is not taxable. However, distribution
is taxable.

选择基金时，价钱重要吗？是不是低价表示比较便宜划算？

信托基金的价钱并不应该被视为遴选基金的重要因素。基金的价钱并不像股票。一个股票如果价钱比净资产低或本益比低，股价可以说是便宜。但是基金并不能这样评估的。

例子1：
有2个新的基金，一个NAV是RM0.25，一个NAV是RM0.50。是否表示RM0.25的基金比较便宜，比较划算？
当然不是，真正来说，这2个基金都一样，不会一个比另一个便宜，或比另一个贵。想象一下，如果你投资RM1000（舍去服务费不算），一个你能得到4000单位，另一个你得到2000单位。一旦这2个基金都涨了10%，那RM0.25的就变成RM0.275，那RM0.50的就变成RM0.55。
现在来算真正你赚了多少，RM0.25的，你的4000单位乘以RM0.275，你能得到RM1100。RM0.50的，你的2000单位乘以RM0.55，你能得到RM1100。
那不是一样吗？

例子2：
当一个基金的价钱来到RM1.00时，是不是表示该基金已经很贵了，不值得买？
其实也不然。因为基金就是投资在股市的。一个基金能否继续上涨，并不是看基金的价钱，而是看股市的走势。一个低价的基金，如果股市上涨不多，这基金也不会上涨很多的。所以，并不能说RM1.00的基金就是很贵。如果股市还有潜质上涨，那基金就肯定能继续上涨了。

例子3：
一个RM0.30和一个RM1.00的基金，是不是RM0.30比较有潜质上涨呢？
当然也不是。有没有潜质上涨，并不是看基金的价钱，而是看基金的投资策略。如果美国股市疲弱，而亚洲股市强劲，那投资美国的基金就肯定不能上涨很多了。
有很多人以为比较低价的基金，上涨空间比较大，其实也不然。投资回酬是以百分比来衡量的。不应该用钱来衡量。如果2个基金的投资策略一模一样，RM0.30的基金赚了RM0.10，那RM1.00有可能也是赚RM0.10吗？当然不会，因为你投RM0.30就能赚到RM0.10，如果你投RM1.00，当然赚的也比较多。以这个例子，RM0.30的基金赚RM0.10，等于有33%回酬。那RM1.00的基金，应该是赚了RM0.33，也是33%回酬。所以，上涨空间并不能用价钱来衡量。

结论：
我个人觉得基金的价钱并不应该成为我们选基金的考量之一。选基金时，重要的是，清楚自己本身能承担的风险程度，然后选一个适当的基金。除了风险，还要考虑基金的投资策略是否适合你的口味。还有，记得一点，衡量投资回酬一定要以百分比，不能单单看表面的价钱。了解基金的投资策略并考量该基金的投资市场是否有潜质，这样的做法比较妥当。

至于便宜或贵，也得看股市了。如果股市普遍很贵，本益比很高，那RM0.10的基金也是贵的。如果股市普遍很便宜，本益比很低，那RM1.00的基金也不贵。



什么是distribution？Distribution重要吗？
投资股票，其中一个收入来源就是股息，dividend。在信托基金世界里，我们叫这作distribution，而不是dividend。Distribution 就是基金经理把一部分赚到的钱，分发回馈投资者。Distribution是以现金的方式分发的。投资者在投资基金时，会选择再投资这distribution还是把distribution拿出。那distribution重要吗？当然distribution是起着一定的作用的。对投资者而言，distribution的意义不是很大。为什么？比如，一个基金NAV是RM1.00，分distribution 10cent per unit。你持有1000个单位，那你就能得到RM100。那基金在分了distribution后，NAV就会相应的降低，从RM1.00跌到RM0.90。现在算投资者真正持有的单位价值，1000xRM0.90=RM900，然后加上distribution RM100, 一共RM1000。价值还是一样。这里值得一提的是，再投资时，我们是不用付服务费的。Distribution 有一部分是需要抽税的，但是如果你的个人所得税没有公司税般高，你能在填 BE Form 时，claim回你多付的税款。那distribution到底有什么用处呢？其实，它可以降低基金的价钱，看起来比较便宜，比较能吸引更多新的投资者。Distribution对基金公司很有用，但是对投资者并没有什么意义。所以，个人觉得我们在选择基金时，不用看基金过去的distribution纪录。只需要看基金的性质和投资策略是否适合自己。也可以参考过去的回酬表现。




Annual Return 的计算法和复利的奥妙

在这里解释一下如何计算年回酬（annualized return）。
任何投资都有总回酬（total return）和年回酬（annualized return）。总回酬很简单计算也容易了解。只是用回酬除以投资成本的百分比就是了。

例子1：
投资者投资RM1000在某基金，5年后他的基金价值RM2000，赚了RM1000的回酬。总回酬率是100%。
方程式：
% Return = Total Return/Total Investment
总回酬率 = RM1000/RM1000 = 100%

这例子的投资者赚了100%，听起来好像很多，赚了一倍，但是大家没有考虑到他用了5年时间。那他真正一年是赚多少？这个就必须算年回酬率了（annualized return）。

例子2：
就以例子1的情况，现在我们看看这投资者的基金每年的平均年回酬是多少。
方程式：
%Annual Return={(total return % +1)^(1/year of investment)}-1
年回酬率 = {(100%+1)^(1/5)}-1 = (2^0.2)-1 = 0.1487 = 14.87%

我们可以算到平均年回酬率是14.87%。
如果我们不这样计算，只是用100%/5，那我们会得到20%。其实真正的年回酬是14.87%。

从另一个角度来看就是，RM1000投资在每年有14.87%回酬的基金长达5年，我们的RM1000就变成RM2000了，赚了一倍。

这就是复利的奥妙。别小看7.2%年回酬，以为这投资在10年后才赚到72%。其实不然，如果投资RM1000在每年7.2%回酬的基金，在10年后，其实这投资是赚一倍的，既是赚了RM1000。如果你要验证，可以利用上面的方程式算算，顺便可以练习一下。这里也引用klse.8k前辈的开番理论。投资RM10,000在每年有26%回酬的投资，30年后竟然变成RM10,000,000。

说了复利的奥妙，当然也要说通货膨胀率。通膨每天都在发生，如果通膨率每年4%，那你现在的RM1000在5年后变成多少？
方程式：
Future Value = Present Value x (1-inflation rate)^(number of year)
5年后的价值 = RM1000 x (1-0.04)^5 = RM815.37

现在可以看见分别吧。把RM1000用来投资，只要年回酬率比通膨率高，那我们的钱就不会变少了。如果把RM1000收在家里，那5年后就变成RM815.37。

Invest Early or Invest Late?

Assuming that the annual return of the investment is 8%:
Mr. A invests RM1200 every year for 10 years, but Mr. B wants to enjoy life first, so he plans to invest RM1200 every year for 20 years on 11th year onwards. In the 30th year, Mr. A has around 40% more than Mr. B, although Mr. A just invests for 10 years while Mr. B invests for 20 years.

Conclusion:

Time is very valuable and it cannot be bought using money. Time is a very important aspect for the investment to grow. The compounding effect is significant. Invest earlier definitely generate more money for you compared to investing later.

Regular Saving in Unit Trust Fund
Regular saving is same as DCA (Dollar Cost Averaging). This method is to force investors to save money into the funds and let the money grow, and also to average the fund price, so that investors will not buy the fund at the peak.
Let see how much we can get if we invest regularly:
Assume initial investment is RM1000.
Average annual return = 8%

Most of the financial planners will assume unit trust fund can give 8% of average annual return. Assume that you invest RM1000 and top up RM300 every month for 15 years, you can get RM104,000 after 15 years.

Even if you cannot take too high risk, and opt to a combination of moderate and low risk funds,
an average annual return of 6% is reasonable.

Assume that you invest RM1000 and top up RM300 every month for 15 years, you can get RM88,000 after 15 years.

Why Use EPF to Invest in Unit Trust?
Since February 2008, EPF (Employee Provident Fund) has modified their policy and allow more
people to withdraw from their EPF account 1 to invest in unit trust funds.

Advantages of using EPF to invest in unit trust:
1. Lower Service Charge

EPF has set the service charge for EPF investment maximum 3%. Normally equity funds impose 5-6% service charge.

2. Longer Investment Time

We only can withdraw the money from EPF account 1 when we are 55 year old. Since we cannot withdraw the money for the said period, we can put the money into the unit trust fund for long term, like 15 years or 20 years. With the longer time of the investment, the risk is lower.

3. Higher Return

Since year 2001/2002, EPF gives lower interest, which is around 4-5%. Even in the year 2006/2007, with the big bull market, EPF also just announce 5.8% interest in year 2007. For equity funds, the average annual return is always around 8-10% if we invest for more than 10 years.

4. Average Buying Price

We are only allowed to withdraw the money to invest every 3 months. So, we will invest into the funds every 3 months for long term. This definitely will average our buying price, so that we will not buy the funds at peak price.

Disadvantages of using EPF to invest in unit trust:

5. Only pure local funds are allowed
EPF only allows EPF investors to withdraw from EPF to invest in pure local funds. Funds which invest in oversea are not allowed. This may limit the profit of the investment if oversea markets are doing well and the investment is not diversified in terms of region.

The content of this post belong solely to Mr. Lee Keng Ket and published with the consent of Mr. Lee Keng Ket.

Prepared by: Mr. Lee Keng Ket

(Should you have any query or requires further details, kindly contact him at: http://leekk8.blogspot.com/.)

Q&A Session:

Q: What is the minimum amount allowed to be withdrawn from EPF at the age of 30, 40 and 50 years old?

A: (After taking into consideration of the minimum amount in the 1st account of EPF according to age and minimum amount allowed to be withdrawn of RM1,000.00 (refer http://www.kwsp.gov.my/ for "simpanan asas") ) At the age of 30, the amount should be more than RM23,000.00, at the age of 40 should be RM49,000.00 and at the age of 50 should be not less than RM95,000.00. But it is advisable to dispose of all the shares between the age of 50-55 as the market of the Trust Fund when you are at the age of 55 years old may not be a good price to sell.

Forum (5) -Family Law [On 28.09.2008 (Part I)]

(A) Relevant Statute

1. Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 (“The Act”)
2. Divorce and Matrimonial Proceedings Rule 1980 (“The Rules”)

- The Act applies to :
i) All persons in Malaysia*; or
ii) All person domiciled in Malaysia but are resident outside Malaysia

-EXCLUDING
i) Muslims; or
ii) Any native of Sabah & Sarawak; or
iii) Any aborigine of West Malaysia whose marriage is governed by the native customary law or aboriginal custom unless he elects to marry under the Act.

(*please take note that a person who is a citizen of Malaysia shall be deemed, until the contrary is proved to be domiciled in Malaysia.)

(B) Validity on Marriage

Prior to 1.03.1982, those marriages which have not been registered would be recognized under the Law provided if the parties to the marriage able to show the evidence that they had undergone the customary marriage. i.e- wedding invitation cards, photographs etc.

After the 1.03.1982, all the marriage must be registered under the Act and must be monogamous.


(C) Restriction on marriage

(i) Either party is under age of 18
§ If female is above age of 16 but below 18 – license must be obtained from the Chief Minister

(ii) A person who is below 21
§ Must obtain the consent in writing from his/her father or if his/her father is dead or he/s she is illegitimate child- consent must be obtain from his/her mother.
§ If he/she is an adopted child- must obtain from his/her adopted father. If his adopted father is dead, then obtain from his/her mother.
§ Where consent is unreasonably refused or impracticable – may seek consent from the court by way of file in application under s.12 of the Act.

(iii) Both parties are same gender – female & female or male & male

(iv) Either one party is still married – bigamy is an offence under s.494 of penal code

(v) Prohibited relationship – no incest allowed
(* Exception- under Hindu customary law- a Hindu may marry his sister’s daughter (niece) or her mother’s brother (uncle) which is permitted under the Act.)

(D) Divorce
x Jurisdiction of the Court:

(i) Marriage must has been registered; or
(ii) Deem to be registered under this Act; or
(iii) Foreign law which provides for monogamous marriages, and
(iv) Both spouses live in Malaysia or consider Malaysia to be their home.

x Restriction

§ Before expiry of 2 years from the date of marriage- petition cannot be presented to the court.
§ may obtain leave from the court if the marriage is still hasn’t reached 2 years time- the applicant must show the exceptional circumstances or hardship suffered

x Types of Divorce

1. Mutual Divorce

§ The marriage must stand for at least 2 years except for exceptional or hardship cases
§ No need to go through the Marriage Tribunal (conciliatory body), therefore, certificate of Tribunal is not required.
§ must state the reason for divorce but need not state the cause of the breakdown
§ Both parties have consented to the term of the divorce i.e- division of the matrimonial property, custody of the children.
§ Faster than a Single Petition

2. Contested Divorce

§ The marriage must stand for at least 2 years except for exceptional or hardship cases
§ Reconciliation proceeding must be go through before present the petition for divorce, which mean the Certificate of Tribunal is required. ( it takes about 6 months )
§ Must state the reason for break up and specify the cause which shows the marriage has completely broken down and has to prove at least one of the following:-

a) 2 years separation;
b) 2 years desertion ( left for continuous period at least 2 years);
c) Adultery;
* The act permits the alleged adulterer or adulteress (if any) as co-respondent.
* There may be a prayer that the co-respondent be condemned in damages in respect of the alleged adultery
d) Unreasonable to be with the marriage ( cannot expected to live with him/her)

(E) Other grounds for divorce

(a) Presumption of Death

§ If the other party to the marriage has been continuously disappeared for at least 7 years and the petitioner has no reason to believe that party has been living within that time.

(b) Conversion to Islam

§ Such conversion does not cause a marriage dissolved automatically but it provides a ground for the other party who has not converted to petition for divorce.
* take note that the party who has not converted only may petition for divorce 3 months later from the date of conversion
* the petition may be made before the expiration of the 2 years of the marriage

(c) If husband is not living in Malaysia or does not consider Malaysia to be his home
- wife petitioner still may present the petition for divorce if :-
(i) her husband left her or was deported from Malaysia, and he considered Malaysia to be his home before the desertion or deportation; or
(ii) she has lived in Malaysia for 2 years preceding the presentation of the petition.

(F) RIGHTS of the affected parties

(a) Custody of the child :

§ May apply at any time, even no divorce or judicial separation case.
§ Rebuttable presumption – the biological mother will have the custody of the child who are 7 years old and below.
§ Court will take into consideration of the welfare of each child of the marriage, wishes of the parents and whether the child can express independent opinion.
§ All the cases of custody or maintenance of the child the court must have regard to the advice of the welfare office.
§ The order for custody may include the matters relating to the child’s residence, education and religion, temporary guardianship to someone other than the legal guardian and the right to access to the children for parent or relatives not granted custody.
§ The custody of the children shall expire on the attainment of 18 years old, or where the child is under physical or mental disability on the ceasing of such disability, whichever is later.

(*the definition of the “children” is fall under the purview as below:-
i. children of both parties who is under age of 18 years old; or
ii. the children of one party to the marriage accepted by the other party; or
iii. an illegitimate child; or
iv. child legally adopted by either of the parties to the marriage.)


(b) Maintenance ( to wife or/and to child ) :

To Wife and to Children

§ Assessment of maintenance is based on primarily on the living lifestyles that they are used to, the financial affordability of the husband, the needs of the wife, number of children, ages of the spouses, how long the marriage has lasted, who is more at fault for the breakdown of the marriage, contribution made during the marriage.
§ If the husband has another woman, the court might give less maintenance to the wife because the husband has another family to take care of.
§ Maintenance to wife shall cease if the recipient dead, or re-marries or lives in adultery with another person.
§ The maintenance to the children shall expire on the attainment of 18 years old, or until completion of the first degree.

§ Arrears of maintenance for wife as well as children are recoverable for a maximum period of 3 years.
§ Arrears are recoverable if they accrued before a receiving order was made against the defaulter and shall be provable in his bankruptcy.
§ Arrears are recoverable as a debt due from the defaulter’s estate if they accrued before the defaulter’s death.


(c) Division of Matrimonial Property

§ Includes house, car, shares, cash in the bank and any other properties bought after the marriage.
§ The division of the property is usually 2/3 to the husband and 1/3 to the wife where there is no monetary contribution by the wife.
§ If the wife had made monetary contributions to the purchase of an asset, then the division is according to the contribution made.
§ If monetary cannot be ascertained, the an equal division of the assets will be decided by the court.

(d) Injunction

· Injunction to prevent the other parent from removing the child form Malaysia or for the right to remove the child out of Malaysia.
· Reversal of or injuction to prevent a sale transaction or transfer of assets which is intended t reduce the maintenance payments.
· Injuction to prevent the other party to the marriage from disturbing or bothering during or after the court case related to the marriage.


(G) Procedure for divorce

(A) Mutual Divorce

(1) Get a lawyer to file joint petition which state :
- details of marriage and children, if any
- previous court cases relating to marriage
- maintenance
- custody of the children
- right to access of their children
- division of the matrimonial assets

(2) Both parties must appear in court unless dispensation has been given by the court

(3) This process can be taken for 1year to 2 years.

(B) Contested Divorce

(1) Meeting by both spouses with the Marriage Tribunal
- the Tribunal will try to reconcile both of the spouses.
- the reconciliation process will be taken about 6 months.
- if the Tribunal fails to reconcile both of the spouses, a Certificate of Tribunal will be issued.

Exemption:-
a) The other spouse cannot be found (deserted); or
b) The other spouse refuses to attend the meeting; or
c) The other spouse has been imprisoned for 5 years or more; or
d) The other spouse is suffering from an incurable mental illness; or
e) The other spouse resides abroad and it is unlikely to come back to Malaysia within the next 6 months; or
f) Court is satisfied that the meetings are not practical.


(2) Get a lawyer to file petition which state:
- details of marriage and children, if any
- previous court cases relating to marriage
- proof of complete breakdown of marriage
- maintenance
- custody of the children
- right to access of their children
- division of the matrimonial assets


(3) The petitioner must appear in court but the other spouse (respondent) can choose not to appear


(4) This process can be taken more than 2 years subject to the complication of the case.


(C) Where DECREE to divorce has granted

x Once the court is satisfied that there should be a divorce, Decree Nisi shall be granted
x Decree Nisi will be made absolute after a stipulated period ( usually is 3 months )
x During the stipulated period, other spouse can be allowed to show why the marriage should not be dissolved (which mean if they are intend to get together)
x As long as the Decree Nisi has yet to be made absolute, the spouses may get together and thereafter apply for the Decree to be cancelled
x They also cannot re-marry to anyone within the stipulated period
x After the stipulated period expired, the court will make the Decree absolute
x once the Decree Nisi is made absolute – both parties can be re-marry

(H) OTHER RELIEFS

(a) Judicial Separation
§ This can be opted if one party does not want to divorce but refuse to live together
§ Do not require to attend the reconciliation meeting
§ Grounds are exactly the same as per the grounds for single divorce petition
§ This may be apply within 2 years of the marriage
§ The applicant may pray for maintenance and custody of the children
§ The parties cannot be re-marry
§ Can still petition for divorce


(b) Annulment of marriage (cancellation of the marriage)
§ Application can be made when the marriage is void or voidable

(bi) VOID marriage

(i) Either one party is still married with someone (former marriage was then in force) at the time of the marriage; or
(ii) a male person marries under 18 years old or a female who is above 16 years old but under 18 years marries without obtain license from Chief Minister; or
(iii) Both parties are under prohibited relationship; or
(iv) Both parties are not respectively male and female (same gender).


(bii) VOIDABLE marriage

(i) The marriage has not been consummated owing to the incapacity of either party to consummate it; or
(ii) The marriage has not been consummated owing to the willful refusal of the respondent to consummate it; or
(iii) Either party to the marriage did not validly consent to it - duress, mistake, unsoundness of mind;or
(iv) At the time of the marriage, either party, though capable of giving a valid consent, was a mentally disordered person within the meaning of the Mental Disorders Ordinance 1952 of such a kind or to such an extent as to be unfit for marriage; or
(v) At the time of the marriage, the respondent was suffering from venereal disease in a communicable form;
(vi) At the time of the marriage the respondent was pregnant by some person other than the petitioner.

(I) ADDITIONAL

Marriage outside Malaysia

Marriage outside Malaysia other than one solemnized in Malaysian Embassy is recognized as long as the following requirements are fulfilled:-
I. Legally married in that country; and
II. Each spouse would have been qualified to be married under his/her home country law; and
III. Either party is a citizen of Malaysia or considers Malaysia to be his/her home and both are qualified under Malaysian law to be married.

Presented By: Mr. Barry Tan Cheng Ho

No deadline no numbers?

Today, on 24 September 2008-- after the hearing of DSAI's sodomy charge in Court, the star online (ref: http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp%20file=/2008/9/24/nation/20080924143912&sec=nation), DSAI was quoted as saying

“It is not an issue of deadlines anymore. Who could have anticipated that the Prime Minister would refuse to hold an emergency Parliament session when we already have the numbers?” he told reporters at the Jalan Duta court complex on Wednesday after the hearing of his sodomy case.

After half a year of declaration, the 916 declaration of takeover of government by DSAI has now come to an end. The plot- which DSAI claimed had more than 31 members of parliament defecting from BN government can be considered as one of the longest political saga in the history of Malaysia. Finally, the matter is coming to an end and BN government (previously known as "Pakatan") after reigning for 51 years, will continue to reign at least until the end of this term.

What say you?

Is this a good time to invest?

The year 2008 is certainly not good for the market.

Beginning of the year 2008, we have inflations, global fuel hike, the spreading of the "Sub-Prime" effect and the sudden increase of prices for all raw materials.

During the second quarter of the year, we have the "Political Tsunami" which hit the market at the heart and destroyed the confident of foreign investors in regards to Malaysia's political stability. Then, we have the disasters including earthquake, hurricane and cyclone etc all over the world which destroyed assets and reduce the liquidity of the market. We also saw the increase of petrol price of RM0.78 from the original RM1.92 to RM2.70 and most of the government's mega projects were put on hold.

During the 3rd quarter of the year, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim makes his way back to Parliament and the rumours of whether the Barisan National Government will be replaced by the Pakatan Rakyat had put all the foreign investors on hold.

Now, we are at the 4th and final quarter of the year, is this a good time to invest?

If we analyze from the market, the petrol price hike seems to come to an end where the price dropped from the historical high of more than USD 140 per barrel to the current less than USD 100 per barrel. The drop seem to mark the end the mother of all inflations (petrol and transportation costs). We also see that the much publicised September 16 change government political strategy came to an end as nothing materialized. The festival seasons are coming and people seems to be more incline to spend.

We also see that share markets are going down to a point which doesn't reflect the true performance and potential of most of the public listed companies.

If we look at real estate, most of the projects are still on-going and there is still no sign of any abandoning of projects in the market unlike the 1997 crisis.

However, if we look at the political scenario, the dominant UMNO party will be holding their election end of this year and whether there will be political changes therein will affect the country tremendously.

We also have to look at the judicial system which remains unchange after the infamous "Lingam video clips" that may affect the confident on the legal system of Malaysia. This may not be good to encourage public confident to throw their money in the market especially the minority share holders.

We must also be aware that the unnecessary arrests made under ISA do have negative effect on people dumping money into the market.

Whereas in America, the "Sub-Prime" effect is still expanding. The forth biggest investment bank in America, the Lechman Brothers is currently in the midst of applying to the Bankruptcy Court in respect of its financial crisis whereas AIG, the well known international insurance companies are currently facing deep financial problems.

Until the end of this year, there are still a lot of risks which at the moment seems to be quite apparent but in the long run, this may be the drop that all investors are looking for -- before the market starts to bounce up again. This may be the golden opportunity that we are looking for.

Investment in the market involved risks, but if we have the extra cash that we can spare on assets that we can hold for a long period of time, this may be a good time to invest before your cash starts to devalue.

Press Freedom- is our government promoting it or otherwise?

In the dramatic incidents happened on 12.09.2008, 3 individuals unrelated with each other were arrested under the draconian law- Internal Security Act 1960 (better known as "ISA").

Raja Petra Kamaruddin, the editor of Malaysia Today (online news web) and well known "deep throat" in the Malaysia political arena was arrested in his house in Sungai Buloh, Selangor at approximately 1:50pm.

Tan Hoon Cheng, the reporter of Sin Chew Daily News (a famous local newspaper in Malaysia) was arrested at her house in Bukit Mertajam at approximately 8.40pm on 12.09.2008.

Teresa Kok, the Selangor Senior Executive Councillor, State Assemblyman of Kinrara, Selangor and Member of Parliament of Seputeh (Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur) was arrested at 11:20pm during her journey home from a function.

These arrests were made after three local newspapers (namely Sin Chew Daily, The Sun and Suara Keadilan) were issued with show cause letter by the Home Ministry on why their publishing license should not be suspended/revoked.

All the 3 individuals were arrested under section 73(1) of the ISA which reads as follows:

"73. Power to detain suspected persons.

(1) Any police officer may without warrant arrest and detain pending enquiries any person in respect of whom he has reason to believe -

(a) that there are grounds which would justify his detention under section 8; and

(b) that he has acted or is about to act or is likely to act in any manner prejudicial to the security of Malaysia or any part thereof or to the maintenance of essential services therein or to the economic life thereof.

(2) Any police officer may without warrant arrest and detain pending enquiries any person, who upon being questioned by the officer fails to satisfy the officer as to his identity or as to the purposes for which he is in the place where he is found, and who the officer suspects has acted or is about to act in any manner prejudicial to the security of Malaysia or any part thereof or to the maintenance of essential services therein or to the economic life thereof.

(3) Any person arrested under this section may be detained for a period not exceeding sixty days without an order of detention having been made in respect of him under section 8:
Provided that -

(a) he shall not be detained for more than twenty-four hours except with the authority of a police officer of or above the rank of Inspector;

(b) he shall not be detained for more than forty-eight hours except with the authority of a police officer of or above the rank of Assistant Superintendent; and

(c) he shall not be detained for more than thirty days unless a police officer of or above the rank of Deputy Superintendent has reported the circumstances of the arrest and detention to the Inspector General or to a police officer designated by the Inspector General in that behalf, who shall forthwith report the same to the Minister.

(4) -(5)(Repealed).

(6) The powers conferred upon a police officer by subsections (1) and (2) may be exercised by any member of the security forces, any person performing the duties of guard or watchman in a protected place and by any other person generally authorized in that behalf by a Chief Police Officer.

(7) Any person detained under the powers conferred by this section shall be deemed to be in lawful custody, and may be detained in any prison, or in any police station, or in any other similar place authorized generally or specially by the Minister."

Raja Petra Kamaruddin (or better known by referring as "RPK") was arrested for suspected posting of seditious statements in his post regarding religion and in particular Islam.

Ms. Tan was arrested for reporting the statements of UMNO (the dominant political party in Malaysia") Bukit Bendera division chief Datuk Ahmad Ismail's statements and caused racial sentiments in the country.

Teresa Kok was arrested for allegedly involved in a dispute pertaining to a petiton to one Mosque in her constituency (which she denied involvement).

With Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim ("DSAI") announcement of political power swifting on 16 September 2008, these untimely arrests under ISA had caused stir in the now instable community and to which the public are shocked by rational of such actions taken.

On 13.09.2008, after almost 16 hours in arrest, Ms. Tan was released and the Home Minister had in a press conference said that she was arrested for ensuring her safety and to assist on certain investigation.

Leaving other issues aside, the arrest of Ms. Tan had raised public outcry on why the person suspected to make racial remarks was not arrested but instead it was the reporter reporting the statements which was arrrested.

The arrest of Ms. Tan really doesn't look good on the government or help our country in any way. The press freedom is currently under tremendous pressure and the public is not at all happy to it.

The thing is, what political wisdom would be exercised by the Government to help restore the image of Government which had said that they would be more democratic and allow criticism prior to this incident.

Press Freedom, is our government doing enough? Is our government promoting it or otherwise?

Are Malaysians ready to take the challenge?

After the 308 political tsunami, malaysia has had a new political landscape. People had made their choice to deliver the clear message : they want a change, they want a new malaysia!

Though the current political landscape's changes might have been creating a certain level of social instability and insecurity, due to the political power hunting game among the two political partisan, there were mix cum complicated feelings and the divided opinion among the 'rakyat'.

The ordinary street man may seek of stability whereby the country's economy keep on growing robustly and they have their current jobs secured; while those affluent groups may hope to see the stock market stop to go south and the foreign investors still continue to invest in Malaysia. Those businessmen may wish to see the current political conflicts ending faster because they are seeking for certainty of the future economic outlook. While there are a group of 'New Malaysians', mostly consist of young people who only have one thing in their minds, that is "the urgency of change" .

The emergence of the internet and its constant, revolutionary cum disruptive transformation have played a critical role to portrait the current political scenario in the country. The people ever since have a better insights towards democracy, they have higher quality of expectation towards their Parliament Members, and more importantly they want to say "enough, enough, enough" towards the corruption among the politicians, burgeoning criminal cases, higher inflation, limited employment opportunities and diversity.

On the issue of whether Malaysia is heading onto the right track given the current development, there were pro and cons among the 'Rakyat'.

Are people of Malaysia have the enough wisdom and ready to take the risk to create a new chapter for the history of Malaysia?

LO YU CHONG

Stability -vs- Instability

During the era of Tun Dr. Mahathir, the machinary of the government controlled media have alway propagate stability.

The stability that most of us would not treasure on the sole reason that we felt oppressed by the system then practise. We want freedom and we want democracy.

Under the leadership of our current Prime Minister, with all due respect, yes, freedom and democracy have larger space and boundaries, but cans of worms were openned up and the content of the pandora box starts to haunt us.

Freedom and democracy has a price-- the instability of the country. Do we want it? Will we be another Indonesia or Thailand or Philipines. I do not know.

What I do know is we chosen a path never taken before by Malaysian after the May 13 incident. Will it be for a better or worse future? We do not know. Will the instability be temporary or permanent? I do not know.

But there will always be risk in life, where are you now in the midst of nowhere -- oh my beloved Malaysia.

Tan Chun Ming