SELAMAT #Deepavali 2016 A PUBLIC HOLIDAY

#DAMARU DEEPAVALI

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#DAMARU DEEPAVALI.





WISHING HAPPY DEEPAVALI TO ALL

Deepavali 2016 and 2017

Deepavali is the most festive holiday of the year for the world's Hindus, and it is an official public holiday in many countries with significant Hindu populations, including Malaysia.

Year	Date	Day	Holiday	State
2016	29 Oct *	Sat	Deepavali	National except Sarawak
2017	18 Oct *	Wed	Deepavali	National except Sarawak

* Subject to change.

The date of Deepavali is determined by the Hindu lunar calendar, and so its date on the Gregorian calendar varies from year to year.

There are several different legendary backgrounds for Deepavali celebrations in the Hindu writings. One story tells of how Rama returned to reclaim his throne after a 14-year banishment. Because the night when he returned was exceptionally dark, the people of his city lit clay lamps at all their houses, thus lighting the path as he made his way to his throne. Others see Deepavali as a time to honour Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of prosperity and light clay lamps at their homes so she can find them and bless them. Either way, the clay lamps which you see lighting up homes and businesses during Deepavali are the reason it is also known as “the Festival of Lights.” The more abstract meaning of the festival is a symbolic display of the triumph of light (good) over darkness (evil).

Hindus traditionally rise early on Deepavali, in the wee hours of the morning to prepare for the day. First of all, they take a ritually prescribed herbal oil bath, which is meant to represent the washing away of one's past sins. A family prayer service will then often be held in homes, and some will also go to a local temple for additional rituals and acts of worship.

Houses are decorated with colour-paper lanterns and with “kolam” this time of year. Kolam refers to intricate, temporary floor designs made out of dyed rice and colourful powders. Kolam take much practice to perfect, and you will appreciate the ones you see inside shopping malls and other public places. If possible, try to “get invited” inside a Hindu house to view the beautiful kolam patterns. Since Deepavali is a time for open houses among Hindus, they will probably invite you before you can even ask.

Other Deepavali practices in Malaysia include: attending fireworks displays and setting off small firecrackers, giving children gifts of money enclosed in purple or yellow packages, and eating an abundance of sweet and savoury foods and sharing them with neighbours. One Malaysian snack you simply must try is called “murukku.” It is basically deep fat fried rice noodles shaped into a spiral and infused with cumin or sesame seeds. Rice pudding is also very popular.

A few ideas on what to do should you visit Malaysia during the Deepavali festival are:

• Visit Kuala Lumpur, the capital, and particularly its two “Little India” districts to see the Deepavali lights and celebrations. The first Little India, Brickfields, is an easy walk from Kuala Lumpur's main train station. The second Little India, stretches along Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman. To get the full experience, regardless of which Little India you tour, look for open houses, for much of Deepavali takes place inside the family home.
• Visit famous Hindu temples located throughout Malaysia. Most of the Hindu population is concentrated in the western part of West Malaysia. West Malaysia is at the end of continental Asia's Malay Peninsula, while East Malaysia lies across the South China Sea on the island of Borneo. Since Hindus have been in Malaysia for many centuries, there are a good number of ancient temples to view.  In 2006, several city governments demolished Hindu temples in move seen as a persecution by Hindus but claimed as based on “squatting” violations by the Malaysian government. Nonetheless, many temples remain.
• Look for Batu Caves in Selangor, seven miles north of Kuala Lumpur. It is a complex of natural caves with various Hindu temples built on the inside. In downtown Kuala Lumpur, the Sri Maha Kaliamman Temple is on Ipoh Road near the Batu River. It is very ornate and colourful and houses an incredible number of statues and images. Finally, the Arulmigu Sri Rajakaliamman Glass Temple is covered in glass. It is in Johor, right next to the city-state of Singapore.
• See and photograph the largest flower on the planet, which grows on the Rafflesia plant. The flower can grow to a three-foot diameter and is only found in Indonesia and Malaysia. You can see it in the rain forest of the Taman Negara National Park, where you can also see tigers and tropical birdlife, travel the “canopy walkway,” trek up Mount Tahan, and go on a boat trip down a jungle river. Taman Negara is clearly an excursion for those a little on the “adventurous“ side, but that daring spirit of adventure is always well rewarded.

Deepavali festival is a major holiday in parts of Malaysia, mostly among Hindus, and it is a time when Hindus invite those of other religions into their homes to see how they celebrate what, to them, is the most important day on the calendar. There is no doubt that the Festival of Lights in Malaysia will be as much a learning experience to tourists as it is religious experience to local Hindus.

RINGGIT BEFORE THE BUDGET 2017

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FOR MORE GO ===========================================

SEPT 8 TH 2016

OCT  7 THE 2017

ere's What Malaysians Want To See Addressed In The Upcoming Budget

Yesterday S wishlist for the upcoming budget.

Ng Hooi Koon, 26, accountant, Kuala Lumpur

“The education system in Malaysia should focus on being an economic instrument for growth. The government should allocate more funds to improve Internet access in schools, since many teaching materials were now online. The quality of reading materials in schools and libraries must improve so students would have better access to information.

Seran Shanmugam, 30, technician, Sitiawan

“It is not an overstatement that most Malaysians are still unable to own a home even though Malaysian property prices are rising at a slower pace. My wish is for the government to make it easier for the younger generation to own their first house by increasing the supply of affordable houses. Providing affordable houses for Malaysians is no longer a financial question but a moral one, so to speak.

Jeff Henry.L, 32, wedding planner, Pasir Mas, Kelantan

“GST has severely affected my finances. This could be due to the lack of proper execution for the escalating cost of living. I want the government to reduce the GST rate and to improve price regulation to deter errant businesses from rampantly increasing their prices.

“Besides, public transport should be improved and the government must ensure the bus and taxi network in the Klang Valley is efficient, and well coordinated and the fares must also be attractive.”

Shilla Robert, 23, public relations officer, Kuching

“There is no denying that our country has low minimum salary that it’s quite difficult to stretch income to last till the end of the month. I hope the government introduces more affordable housing schemes especially in the city. Housing loans should also be more flexible for those who do not earn much to enable the lower or middle income group to own their own houses.”

Focusing On The Bottom 40 Percent And Middle 40 Percent Income Groups

According to Economic Report 2015/2016, the B40 (bottom 40% household income) group comprises households with a monthly income of up to RM3,855, while those in the M40 group (middle 40% household income group) earn between RM3,860 and RM8,319, Second Finance Minister Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani had highlighted the government’s continuing concern for these groups at the 2017 Budget focus group meeting on cost earlier in August.

Datuk Johari had said besides BR1M, Budget 2017 would also address issues pertaining to affordable housing under the 1Malaysia People's Housing Programme (PR1MA), the welfare of the Bottom 40 per cent (B40) and Middle 40 per cent (M40) income groups.

Johari said The 1Malaysia People's Aid programme or BR1M will continue as the government is committed to it. He also emphasized that there is a gap in terms of obtaining financing for the total purchase price of properties as banks are not providing the full financing that people want and there is a need to look into this.

When contacted, Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd financial analyst, Sia Ket Ee (pic) told Malaysian Digestthat with the increase in the general price level, it is argued that the B40s and M40s are finding it hard to sustain their standard of living.

"It is commendable that the government is committed in addressing the issue in a holistic way to enhance the well-being of Malaysians. However, Malaysians generally spend about 30% of their disposable income on food and food away from home, nearly 24% on petrol, housing and utilities and others.

"With the change in lifestyle, the basket of necessary goods today includes cars, hand phones, computers and Internet access,” he said, which is consistent with the Finance Ministry’s statement earlier.

Asked how to address the rising cost of living, Sia opined: “Prices of essential goods and services and income need to be examined closely. This can be done by opening up more land for food and fish cultivation to all enterprising farmers and fishermen on a more equitable basis.”

“At this point of time, it is more important that the government continues on its budget consolidation path with the aim of reducing the deficit to further enhance private sector participation in economic development instead of focusing on goodies.

“The government should also review and revise our current economic model and make it more competitive, efficient and productive,” he reiterated.

Sia’s call for prices of essential goods and incomes to be constantly monitored echoes the government’s concerns as the Budget 2017 focus group convened in August summarised six items to be further examined. These areas all relate to keeping tabs on cost escalation of food, education and transportation, as well as other necessity items like handphones and internet, and the ability to get finance from the institutions to buy houses.

“With the increase in the general price level, it is argued that the B40s and M40s are finding it difficult to sustain their standard of living,” Datuk Johari added.

“We will look into all these in detail and see how we can think about coming up with the formula (that we need) to have,” he noted.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan had also spoken that among the aims of Budget 2017 is to create an efficient social security network for the target groups during a challenging economic environment.

"Besides, we also need many training programmes to teach fresh graduates new skills to make them more relevant to industry needs," he told reporters after officiating Softec Asia 2016 earlier.

Abdul Rahman, who is in charge of the Economic Planning Unit, said for the middle 40 percent income bracket (M40), apart from tax reliefs, the government was also expected to study ways of reducing their monthly fixed expenses.

"If we can't increase salaries, as requested, maybe we can look at reducing the monthly payment component with the collaboration of the private sector," he said, adding that this would increase the purchasing power of the M40 and boost the country's economic growth.

Fiscal Discipline Is Important To Achieve Macro Stability, Says Economic Expert

However, it all comes down to the government's revenue forecast for the coming year as Datuk Johari also emphasized that allocations under the 2017 Budget would be decided ultimately by what the government can afford without jeopardizing the country's financial position.

"We will look at what the government's anticipated revenue is," he said, reports New Straits Times.

Earlier in September, the World Bank had also signalled its approval of Malaysia’s steering of its economy in the face of uncertain economic conditions.

“If you look at Malaysia’s story over the past years, it has been a positive growth story. Malaysia continues to grow in the period when there is a lot of global headwinds,” World Bank Malaysia Country Manager, Faris H. Hadad-Zervos had stated about Malaysia’s pro-growth budget policies in a one-day workshop in collaboration with the Performance Management and Delivery Unit on 6 Sept 2016

Faris highlighted that the Malaysian economy grew by 4% in the second quarter of this year, leading to a 4.1% growth in the first half of 2016, in line with the moderate pace of the global economy.

Speaking to Malaysian Digest, Prof Dr Shazali Abu Mansor (pic), economic expert and lecturer of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) said our country needs a major restructuring in our economic plans and annual Budgets.

“To alleviate the burden of Malaysians, the government should allocate more funding for basic needs like housing, transport, health and even higher wages that can be related to productivity and performance.

“This is because all these necessary economic structural changes will also mean a better tax structure that will eventually raise taxes from the higher income groups through higher estate duties and wealth taxes.

Shazali, however, believes that the upcoming budget is going to be people-centric, which will be focused on measures to ease concerns of voters like easing the rising cost of living and raising income level.

“The bottom 40% of households (B40) and the middle 40% (M40) will be the targeted group in Budget 2017,” he predicted.

Even though market expectations for a “people-friendly” Budget 2017 has been mounting amid speculation about an early general election, some economists say there won’t be “big election giveaways”, as the government also needs to ensure fiscal prudence.

Elaborating, Shazali remarked: “The budget’s aim should be macro stability which infers any expansionary plans should be done with fiscal discipline, considering the prolonged slowdown in global trade.

Pointing out that striking a balance between necessary spending to alleviate Malaysians concerns while practicing financial prudence to ensure favourable international economic rating will continue to be a priority.

“Striking a balance between spending priorities and resource constraints is important as rating agencies had warned that a lack of fiscal discipline could lead to negative rating action on Malaysia's credit profile.

“This is important as rating agencies have sounded that wavering on fiscal discipline and broader public finances that lend to higher debt ratios,” he concluded.

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