Lulu Yilun Chen: Alibaba Sees ‘Tremendous’ Challenge for Pure E-Commerce Business

Excerpt:

"Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. expects pure e-commerce operators to face ‘tremendous challenges’ as the web giant seeks to tap more growth from transforming China’s $4.5 trillion traditional retail industry.

China’s largest e-commerce company plans to upgrade retail businesses and improve efficiency across product manufacturing, distribution and service, Chief Executive Officer Daniel Zhang said in an e-mailed letter to shareholders on Thursday. The company is working with partly-owned Suning Commerce Group Co. and Intime Retail Group Co. to integrate the online experience with brick-and-mortar shopping.

Alibaba has highlighted trillions of dollars in Chinese household savings as a key driver of growth, with the company pledging to keep investing in business and geographical expansion, even if it drags on earnings in the short-term. The company is also looking overseas for growth, as Chairman Jack Ma targets serving 2 billion consumers and supporting 10 million profitable business around the world in 20 years.

“The most important opportunity on the horizon is not growing online sales in isolation but rather helping traditional retailers upgrade into a brand new retail model,” Zhang wrote. “The consumer retail industry as a whole is experiencing a radical disruption driven by digital transformation.”

While Alibaba has grown to dominate e-commerce in China by appealing to younger users, 75 percent of them 35 or younger, it’s coming up against a tough macro-economic environment. The economy is deteriorating, particularly in the rust-belt northeast, hurting the consumer demand that its online stores rely on."

Rest of article: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-13/alibaba-sees-tremendous-challenge-for-pure-e-commerce-business

Meanwhile...

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Tricia Yeoh: Egalitaria - Freedom to offend

Excerpt:

"THERE are many ways to think about freedom. If you live with your parents and your parents impose a curfew on you to come home by midnight, you might say that you are not free to do as you wish. That may be true. But that is not the same thing as defining the freedom of a country or a particular system.

Let me put it another way. The state or the government plays an important role of facilitating things like healthcare, education, defence and foreign affairs. But the question is when the government takes on the role of making decisions on behalf of us as individual citizens that the state of our personal freedom comes into question. To quote from Hayek, "The more the state plans, the more difficult it becomes for individuals to plan".

Of course there are many indicators that show where we stand as a nation internationally. Freedom House's Freedom in the World 2016 report shows that Malaysia is "partly free". Our press freedom status is considered "not free", and net freedom is "partly free". We perform particularly poorly in the areas of political rights (18/40), civil liberties (27/60), and Freedom on the Internet (43/100). The Economist's EIU Democracy Index classifies Malaysia as a flawed democracy, ranked 68th place amongst 167 countries. Finally, Amnesty International's report stated that in 2015 alone, 91 instances of the Sedition Act was used to arrest, investigate or charge individuals. That is nearly five times as many as the first 50 years of the Act's existence.

So by international standards, we know we're not quite hitting the mark. But critics will turn around and tell you that Malaysia is unique in its multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-cultural society. That we have our own way of doing things and cannot be compared with the rest of the world. "Itu bukan budaya kita" is what you hear a lot of the time especially when advocates of human rights and liberty confront conservative views.

The real question we are confronted with when living in Malaysia is balancing freedoms with communitarian values.

Malaysia has the highest scores in the world in the Power Distance Index, according to a study cited by the Iclif Leadership and Governance Centre's Asian Leadership Index 2014. The power distance measures the extent to which the less powerful members of organisations and institutions such as the family accept and expect power to be distributed unequally. Countries' high power distance may observe traits such as those in authority openly demonstrating their rank, politics being prone to totalitarianism and class divisions within society being accepted. Based on the study, society's power inequality in Malaysia is endorsed by followers as much as its leaders.

Malaysians are highly intolerant when this delicate balance is tipped over, preferring not to rock the boat. A recent example is when nine Australian men were charged for public nuisance when they stripped down to reveal underwear with the Malaysian flag design. Or the four tourists who stripped naked on Mount Kinabalu. Malaysians responded harshly by saying they are disrespectful to local morals and customs. Public morality is held in high regard here.

Contrast this to how Malaysians responded when our foreign diplomat was charged with burglary and assault with intent to rape after following a 21-year-old woman to her home, or when a Malaysian student was sentenced to jail in the UK for possessing over 30,000 images and videos of child pornography. These were actual serious crimes, and yet there were Malaysians who felt sorry for them, saying we should bring them back and pardon them. The Malaysian High Commission originally sought diplomatic immunity for Rizal – and Mara initially supported their scholar to give him a chance because he was a "smart student". Where was our public morality then?"

Rest of article: http://www.thesundaily.my/news/2001171

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Farah Rosley: IRB’s carrot and stick approach

Excerpt:

Budget 2017 is just round the corner and there are various expectations on what the budget will entail.

The economic environment for 2017 is expected to be challenging.

As such, people are hoping for tax cuts, balanced with prudent spending by the Government without impacting development costs that will be vital for the country’s economic growth.

A tax amnesty programme can be seen as a means for the Government to increase tax collection and thus contribute to the Government’s revenue.

Recently, the Indonesian Finance Minister, Sri Mulyani Indrawati, raised eyebrows when she issued a warning to tax dodgers in Indonesia to join its tax amnesty programme launched in July or face “hell”.

Like Indonesia, the Malaysian Inland Revenue Board (IRB) has introduced a tax amnesty programme to boost tax revenues by encouraging the payment of tax debts.

Launched on March 1, the 2016 Malaysian tax amnesty programme (which follows a similar offering from the IRB in 2015) is one of the attempts to counter the nation’s shrinking coffers due to the plunge in oil prices, whilst giving taxpayers the opportunity to regularize their tax affairs.

The programme runs until 15 December this year, and taxpayers are strongly encouraged to evaluate whether the tax amnesty programme will benefit them.

Under the Malaysian tax amnesty programme, penalties will be reduced or waived.

The following reduced penalties (depending on the payment terms) will be imposed, instead of the maximum penalty rates of 100% or 300%:

>Voluntary disclosure of non-submission of income tax returns: 15% or 20% of the tax charged

>Voluntary disclosure of incorrect tax returns submitted before the case is selected for tax audit: 15% or 20% of the tax undercharged

>Voluntary disclosure of incorrect tax returns (within a stipulated period after the taxpayer has been informed of the tax audit): 25% or 35% of the tax undercharged

>Voluntary disclosure within 14 days from the date of the IRB inspection (for tax investigation case): 20% or 25% of the tax undercharged; and

>Discovery by the IRB during a tax audit or investigation: 25% or 35%

The programme also provides for the waiver of late payment penalties for early settlement of tax arrears.

The eligibility of the offer will depend on the merits of the case and is subject to the relevant IRB regulations.

The tax amnesty applies to a range of taxes comprising corporate income tax; personal income tax; petroleum income tax; real estate property gains tax; stamp duty; withholding tax; late payment of taxes; and penalty on under-estimation of tax.

In recent years, the IRB has undergone a major re-organisation to strengthen its enforcement unit and increase its enforcement activities with the ultimate objective of stepping up the country’s tax revenue collections, through a widening of tax audit activities."

Rest of article: http://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2016/10/10/irbs-carrot-and-stick-approach/

IMHO: With diminishing oil reserves and low oil prices, Petronas as main contributor to national incomes is being squeezed to pay obligatory dividends to government as well as to cut back on capex in exploration. Therefore, GST is seen as another good source of income which current rate of 6% can be adjusted upwards, if and when necessary. Meanwhile, IRD is being pressured to produce additional tax from would be tax evaders, with initial incentives as carrot, and later with stick, when necessary. With budget cuts in vital ministries like health and education, the government cannot deny we are in financial squeeze,

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RinggitPlus: Contract vs Cash: Which is the Better Way to Buy Your Next Phone?

Excerpt:

"Should you sign up to a new plan with all the trimmings or just drop a chunk of cash right down for your next new phone? Let's see which one is best for you!

In the past, buying a mobile phone was a straightforward affair where you went to your local telecommunications shop, handed over some money and got your phone with its usual extra bits like a warranty, charger and cable.

These days, you’ll be able to buy your mobile phone under a contract with a telecommunications service provider. If you’re wondering how buying a phone via a contract fares compared to buying it the conventional way, here are the details:

Contract Purchase

What is A Contract Phone?

A mobile phone bought under a contract involves an arrangement with a telecommunications company where you’re given a phone, but have to pay a fixed amount of installments throughout your contract period, which is usually 12 or 24 months.

Additionally, you’ll be given a monthly package of calls, texts and mobile internet data. There are usually several types of packages available to go with your phone that you can choose from, with special features like extra call time, cheaper texts, cheaper international coverage and the like.

What Are The Advantages? ...

What Are The Disadvantages? ...

Cash Purchase

What Does Buying Cash Mean?

What's the difference? You pay for the contract phone with cash too, right? What we mean here when we say 'cash purchase' is when we buy the phone by itself, without tying it down to a carrier, mobile plan, or anything else. This means paying only the retail price and nothing else.

What Are The Advantages? ...

What About Disadvantages? ... "

Rest of article: https://ringgitplus.com/en/blog/Budgeting-Saving/Contract-vs-Cash-Which-is-the-Better-Way-to-Buy-Your-Next-Phone.html

• Budgeting & Saving
• by Michelle Chee

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Yahoo! Tech: Cyber attacks cripple Twitter, Netflix, other websites

Glenn Chapman

AFPOctober 22, 2016

Excerpt:

" Cyber attacks pounded the underpinnings of the internet Friday, crippling Twitter, Netflix and other major websites with the help of once-dumb devices made smart with online connections.

Waves of attacks incapacitated a crucial piece of internet infrastructure, hampering or outright blocking access to popular online venues.

"When I see something like this, I have to think state actor," said Carbon Black national security strategist Eric O'Neill, a former "spy hunter" on the FBI counter-intelligence force.

"This is not some hacker sitting in his basement typing away on a keyboard."

The attack was said to put a troubling new spin on an old hacker attack known as distributed denial-of-service (DDoS), where millions of devices in the fast-growing internet of things took part in the cyber onslaught.

Armies of computers infected with malicious code are typically used in DDoS attacks intended to overwhelm targets with simultaneous online requests."

More: https://www.yahoo.com/tech/twitter-spotify-disrupted-internet-provider-reports-attack-131047632.html

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