PETALING JAYA: Starting today, households with a monthly income of less than RM3,000 can apply for the Government's special savings scheme, Skim Amanah Rakyat (Sara) 1Malaysia.
The scheme, which will benefit around 100,000 households, allows those eligible to invest up to RM5,000.
This sum can be paid in cash or obtained through loans.
In return, participants will enjoy monthly returns of RM134, or RM50 if a loan was obtained.
PETALING JAYA: Many consumers were seen doing last-minute shopping for fresh produce and other essentials for the Chinese New Year reunion dinner tonight.
“I will be cooking for the reunion dinner at my house but I've been so busy with work that today is the only free day I have to shop for groceries,” said Jessica Neoh, 47, when met at a hypermarket in Mutiara Damansara.
Chia Kuan Joo, who was accompanying his mother, said they wanted to “take full advantage of the holi...
KUALA LUMPUR: 1Malaysia Libraries are set to be built this year at Lembah Pantai, Titiwangsa and Wangsa Maju.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, in announcing this during his meet-the-people session in Lembah Pantai yesterday, said: “In this ICT age, it is not just the young people who want to jump onto the bandwagon, but the old too.”
Najib also announced that a Permata kindergarten would be set up in the Kerinchi area.
PETALING JAYA: Bus operators and airlines are bracing for the rush of travellers taking advantage of the long holidays ahead, with indications of a bigger exodus than in previous years.
With Chinese New Year holidays falling on Monday and Tuesday, many city folk will visit their hometowns or go on vacation over the four-day stretch beginning Jan 21.
And with public holidays like Federal Territory Day in Kuala Lumpur (Feb 1), Thaipusam (Feb 7) in several states, and the...
PUTRAJAYA: The National Registration Department (NRD) has rolled out the new MyKad using the latest laser technology and security features.
NRD director-general Datuk Jariah Mohd Said said the new card was being issued at NRD offices in Putrajaya and Shah Alam while its offices in other states would follow suit from Feb 15.
Made of polycarbonate for strong resistance and embedded with a chip, the card also has a “ghost” image of the cardholder to curb forgery.
JOHOR BARU: The number of flood evacuees in Segamat, Johor remained at 241 this morning with six relief centres still open.
According to the National Security Council portal, the six relief centres housing 58 evacuated families are in Kampung Spangloi, Kampung Batu Badak, Kampung Sanglang, Kampung Pogoh, Kampung Tandong and Kampung Kuala Paya.
In PAHANG, all the 15 flood evacuees housed at a relief centre, the Kampung Gadak community hall, were allowed to return home a...
KUALA LUMPUR: Many may dream of a white Christmas.
For Malaysians, though, it's likely to be a wet Christmas.
The Meteorological Department is forecasting erratic weather in the country on Christmas Day with rain in the morning and night and thunderstorms in the evening.
In a statement issued yesterday, it attributed the erratic weather to the monsoon transition period, which is characterised by rain or thunderstorms in the evening.
PETALING JAYA: The Meteorological Department has issued a yellow stage advisory for heavy rain in Pahang and Johor.
Intermittent rain is expected to hit the Kuantan, Pekan and Rompin districts in Pahang as well as Mersing and Kota Tinggi districts in Johor from today until Saturday which may cause floods in low-lying areas.
KUALA LUMPUR: Bank Negara has issued a new ruling to control and manage the debt of credit cardholders earning RM36,000 and below per annum.
The maximum credit limit extended to a principal cardholder in that category cannot exceed twice the holder's monthly income (RM3,000 x 2) per credit card issuer.
To further restrict their spending, they will only be allowed to be a principal cardholder from a maximum of two credit card issuers.
PETALING JAYA: The tourism industry is pushing for Malaysia to be transformed into a duty-free country as it aims to treble tourist expenditure by 2020.
Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board chairman Datuk Dr Victor Wee said that although duties on certain goods could generate some revenue for the Government, transforming into a duty-free country would be mor...
KUALA LUMPUR: The Budget has received a positive response from the public, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
He said that during a nasi lemak breakfast with his family in Petaling Jaya yesterday he was surrounded by members of the public to “thank him for the Budget”.
“I took my own car, and went with my wife and daughter to Village Park in Damansara Utama...
PETALING JAYA: With just a swipe of their MyKad, nearly 10,000 poor families nationwide can get free food items from stores near their homes.
They can even choose when and what to buy from 10 categories of items up to RM80 each month.
The scheme, implemented by the MyKasih Foundation, allows the poor to buy the basic necessities such as rice, bread, cooking oil, biscuits and milk by keying in a unique PIN number into a card-reader at the payment counter.
PETALING JAYA: Banks will tackle rising credit card debt with a new payment allocation method involving a “rejig” of interest rates imposed.
Under new Bank Negara guidelines to be implemented from tomorrow, banks will tabulate credit card balances by focusing on expenses hit with the highest interest rate.
This means payments received from cardholders for the September statement will first be used to offset items levied the highest interest, thus resulting in considera...