Increase of Annual Sales Threshold Applying Government Service Tax 5%

Our Malaysian Prime Minister made and official statement on June 4, 2008 regarding the restructuring of subsidies given by the goverment with regards to the recent oil price hikes.

One of the changes were the increase of the goverment sales tax (GST) threshhold for eateries located outside the hotels. According to the press release, this is to ensure that the Malaysian people do not feel burdened with paying the extra 5% of GST. Previously, eateries making a revenue of RM500,000/annum must charge and collect the 5% GST from their customers. Now, the revenue threshold has been increased to RM3,000,000. This was made effective July 1st, 2008.

When we were deciding, whether to temporarily eliminate the GST, we enquired for some information from the Jabatan Kastam (Customs Department). Their response was if we felt that we would not reach the RM3,000,000.00 then it was ok to stop collecting GST. Otherwise, there is no clear guideline indicating if we should stop collecting the GST or continue collecting GST. Anyhow, we decided to stop charging the GST to our consumers effective July 16, 2008 until we hit the new threshold of RM3,000,000.

So last time, one scoop of Vedablu Ice Cream would cost RM5.88 after 5% GST. Now one scoop will cost RM5.60. Saving the customers RM0.28 cents or with the rounding RM0.30.

So tips to consumers out there. As a consumer, especially when you eat out alot, check on your receipts. Just imagine if you spend RM300/mth on eating out a month, not paying the GST's would mean savings of RM15.00! Can buy additional 5.5 Liters of petrol for the month. Also as a consumer, if you doubt that any eatery you go to is making RM250,000 per month or RM3,000,000 per year. It is always your right to enquire. Because as long as they collect GST, they would have to pay this to the Jabatan Kastam at the end of the month.

First Entry through ScribeFire Blog Editor 2.2.10

I just added this super add-on to my FireFox Browser. So just wanted to test the functions out. The cool thing about this is that you could actually manage and update few blogs from one blog editor.

Secondly, you could surf the web while composing your blog entry without having to switch tabs. The browser is split into half, top is the usual browser window, and below is the editor.

I also appreciated the fact that I could add flicker pictures and you tube files directly into my blog posts, insert special characters and even check live previews of my new blog entry.

Cheese made Locally in Sabah

I am a sucker for locally produced or homegrown products. Having the chance to study and live abroad there is a main difference between the mindset of our Malaysian consumers and consumers living in other western countries (I am saying the majority in general). Our Malaysian consumers has this mindset that locally produced products are less superior in quality, therefore they are more willing to pay triple the price for products that are imported because they feel it is more high quality.

Whereas, overseas, consumer picks up a products which are made in their own country.The are proud buying products which are manufactured in their own country. Not only that, they know that it would contain less preservative and would be fresher.

I have studied alot of our customer's comments and pattern. Most of them believe that our product should be cheap like other industrial or generic ice creams. Why? because they are made in Sabah. Sometimes forgetting we are selling premium ice cream, equivalent to Haagen Daz quality and we are half the price of Haagen Daz. Why can't it be lower? Well because to produce premium ice cream, we use premium ingredients, most of it which has to be imported because they cannot be found in Malaysia, otherwise those that can be found, we would use because they simply would be fresher. So we pass you the savings in our products and local consumers get to consume very fresh premium ice cream instead of those that has been sitting in shelves for months.

Even before I was a producer of ice cream, I have valued local manufactured products for its freshness. I am not saying all manufactured products are better then imported ones though. Even I am willing to pay for a few ringgit more if I felt that the products were better in quality.

Pardon me for the long story. Imagine how delighted I was when I was walking in Giant Citymall supermarket a few weeks ago and saw Cheese that was locally made! What an achievement I thought. This company Langkah Syabas Sdn Bhd is currently making cheese on a small scale at Kinarut, under the brand name 'Kinarut Beach'. Cheese like yoghurt goes through a fermentation process, therefore I can't say how much fresher it is from an imported one, but then it is a homegrown product and we should all support it.

I bought their Camembert cheese just to try it out to compare to the other imported brand, President cheese. It is not too bad actually, a little salty. I wonder if they are using Frisien Cow Milk or just regular. It would make a difference. My only comment is on their packaging. Their Camembert and Brie is okay but their Feta Cheese were not looking so food anymore on the shelf. Probably can't blame them, its probably due to the refrigeration problems at Giant. However their cheese displayed at Merdeka supermarket were better.

Their cheeses are priced about 40% lower compared to imported ones which is quite reasonable I would say similar to our ice cream products. Although made locally, cheeses like artisanal premium ice cream require a degree of attention and is labour intensive. So I would like to say Kudos to the first Cheese producer in Sabah and perhaps Malaysia. Hope to see other cheeses maybe in the future. Perhaps, cheddar, mascarpone, mozarella, ricotta or blue cheese? Mmmmmmm.... delicious.

We should support local products more, instead of bringing in branded imported products that is highly priced due to currency exchange and import duites, we should be encouraging export of our local brands by supporting first our local brands.

A Little of Everything (ALOE)

What am I up to, currently burning the midnight oil again...

Things are getting more and more hectic and busy with the daily running and operations of Vedablu Ice Cream. Seems like I have been doing multiple jobs, it gets too many that I have to remind myself to focus on finishing a particular task to not get overwhelmed and over stressed with the load of work.

My calendar for the following week would be training for new Sandakan licensee, tomorrow finalizing of the SOP's for the new recipes and products that we will be introducing to you, some internal meetings to attend, and some external meetings & issues to manage and attend to, the 2nd Sabahan Bloggers Meet (click to see the list of bloggers attending) that Vedablu would be sponsoring on Saturday and also our first GSE Study Meeting to Denmark organized by Rotary International.



I am excited about the 5 week trip (31 Aug to 5 Oct) to Denmark, because of few reasons, I get to go off for 5 weeks to gain more insights from the best city to live in the world, also nominated happiest place to live in. Its good to broaden the mind sometimes elsewhere and not to think about just the work I do daily. At the same time, I can share stories on Sabah to another developing nation while learning about them. Denmark, one of the Scandinavian countries is also a very beautiful place.

I am starting to feel nervous though as the time approaches, because I have very little time to prepare for the time I will be absent from the business. Have got to secure, organize and delegate responsibilities for events that will be happening in September and October. At the same time there are presentations, gifts and cultural dances that we need to prepare for our trip to Denmark. This is the first time I am doing a cultural study exchange myself, however we always had cultural exchange students from Korea, Japan and America staying with us to few months to a year while we were growing up. My parents thought that it was good to have us experience cultures of others.

I hope that there will be time on the trip to continually update the readers of this blog on what I have learnt and seen daily. Still thinking to bring or not to bring my laptop.

Shame In Denial

I read this article posted on the New Sabah Times today called Serious Migrant Problem and thought that I'd share them here. Not only for its insightful content but because of the writer's comment on 'Shame in Denial' at the end of the article.

And I quote:

There is no shame or loss of sovereignty in admitting wrongs and attempting to redress them. There is every shame and imminent loss of sovereignty in perpetuating the wrongs and denying them.

It is humans nature to let ego/pride get into the way most of the time of not admitting wrongs, and denying mistakes done. Refusing to admit is one thing but what is worse, refusing to learn from mistakes done in the past and re-doing them again, repeating history again just to deny mistakes done in the past. I see alot of this everyday and it is saddening. The writer's quote is really clearly and brilliantly stated.

Referring back to the topic of discussion in the article, I was reminded of stories of a few friends who visited Kuching for the Rain Forest Music Festival 2008 few weeks ago. I asked them "How is Kuching compared to Kota Kinabalu?" Their reply were all the same. That Kota Kinabalu was a more 'happening' place, but Kuching city is 'cleaner'. Out of curiosity I asked them, "Cleaner? How?". They explained cleaner not only meaning streets are clean and rubbish free but they felt save walking the streets. Being in the Borneo Island, we share similar borders with Indonesia, yet they have no immigrant problems. There is are no 'street kids or adults' and crime rates are believed to be lower because they have lower immigrant or 'economic migrant' problems. Apart from that Kuching is also cleaner because the city is well developed and well cared for.

Reading the article and recalling my friends' story had me pondering for awhile. How can we be so different? I am sure that all Sabahans are wishing that Kota Kinabalu & Sabah will not only be a more 'happening' place with 'happening' people, but also a cleaner place in every aspect.

Tyre Change Story

Finally, I decided to commit some time after much pestering from a certain someone to change my car tyres. Since I got my car, never changed them and the time has come for me to change all four. I have already clocked 57,000km, but compared to other cars, my tyres are worn out but I must say that its not so bad. I notice the tread wearing out faster in KK, whereas most of the mileage I clocked in KL, did not do much harm to my tyres. We have to improve roads in Kota Kinabalu.


Gulp, gulp, as I waited for the tyre to be changed and alignment to be done. I went to the familiar tyre shop that all my family cars are sent to and also because the owners are good friends. They recommended me to use Pirelli tyres. My original were Conti 195/65/R15. So I replaced them with the exact specs. My new tyres are now Pirelli P7 195/65/R15 I just agreed to them because I felt that they knew what was best and I always have this notion that pay slightly extra for quality goods, they last longer. Plus, I didn't think they would slaughter me.

Little did I know, the little extra was alot extra. RM300 per tyre~~~ yikes! Steep! Later after paying the total bill of RM1250.00 (sob... sob...)The floor manager told me about about the increase in tyre prices. July 1st 2008, tyre prices increased 10% for private vehicles and 18% for trucks. Yikes!! I should have changed them earlier.

I drove away with a few mental notes on the lesson learnt today. No. 1 Do not procrastinate. No. 2 Spend some time to do some research. I could have saved RM120 if I changed them before the price hike and I could have gone for a cheaper brand like YokoHama or GoodYear.

Upside of having spent around RM30 -RM50/per tyre more then necessary is that, the drive feel is distinctively superb. The drive felt more well balanced,solid but comfortable. I am not an expert but there is a difference. Plus,they are the recommended tyres for my car make and model.

More spending to come on my car. Also time to change my brake pad and major service. That is why cars are a huge liability.

The RM625 car rebate doesn't hurt in situations like this.

Inspiring Thoughts

I added an application called the Kiss Fortune (I think...) on Facebook some time ago that delivers inspiring messages daily, only that I seldom check on them. These words are simple but very wise and meaningful.


These are two of my favourite inspiring messages:-

"Fear less, hope more, eat less, chew more, whine less, breathe more, talk less,say more, love more, and all good things will be yours. Be aware of what your actions and their effects on others, demonstrating concern for another can go a long way"

I believe if we are more positive, eliminating all negative vibrations, good will come if we desire it and believe in it.

"Be patient in one moment of anger - escape a hundred days of sorrow. Passion is good, but withhold quick judgement and fiery words until you can see the entire picture. You may be pleasantly surprised"

Words spoken out of anger can be damaging because it can never be taken back and often exaggerated. Harsh words heard by a listener moreover a loved one are often hard to be forgotten or forgiven.

*New Flavour* Peanut Ice Cream coming your way!

Im letting the cat out of the bag even before the official release in our outlets and the official website. We are thinking of a more interesting name then just Peanut beacause although its Peanut Ice Cream we added strips of chocolate pieces inside and also roasted crushed peanuts.

For those peanut lovers out there, this could be your next favourite flavour. For me, it reminds me of eating a bar of Snickers, only without snickers sticking to the roof of my mouth and my teeth. There is the taste of smooth creamy peanut butter with pieces of chocolate bits and crunchy nuts to munch on. During the tasting I ate 2 scoops, more then it was required for the tasting. This new flavour should be out soon...

Also, because we get alot of customer requests to develop more local fruit flavours like Yam, Nangka, Chempedak and Papaya. All these flavours are also pending release and final approval =)

Maybe we should call the Peanut Ice Cream, Chunky Peanuts! Or... Nuts for Peanuts!Just a thought....

My Favourite Things (Part 1)

Inspired by Oprah's favourite things but with a little twist, my favourites just not limited to THINGS.


Stir Fried Mixed Mushrooms with Oyster Sauce and Chillies

Top 3 Fav food items:
1) Vedablu Premium Ice cream (naturally..HaHa)
2) Wo tiek (pan fried dumplings)
3) Mushroom (any kind of mushrooms, I love them cooked in anyway)



My favourite everyday watch

Top 3 Fav items (Things I never leave home every morning without):
1) My Lap Top
2) My Watch
3) My Cross Necklace




Wollongong Harbour, overlooking parts of the town

Top 3 Fav places:
1) Wollongong, Australia
2) My Apartment, Puchong
3) Any island with white sandy beaches and clear blue waters




Hiking along Waikato River, New Zealand

Top 3 Fav past times:
1) Reading
2) Computer Games (currently hooked on Texas Holdem Poker and The Sims 2)
3) Road trips, discovering new places