Recently we've been hearing about the Telco implementing a 6% GST on prepaid mobile users and as of late they have retracted the decision and from what i have read, until after next GE. So i'll leave that topic for later.
For now, i'm wondering what has happened to the Astro price hike? The supposedly "authorities" has deemed it illegal yet there has been no action taken. Recently there has been complaints from Astro customers that they have been boycotting the new bill payment and are paying the usual fee. Now they are receiving letters from Astro threatening to take legal actions against the customers. Will the supposedly "authorities" support the customers whom are only exercising their rights. How is it going to end?
Why Astro's price hike is not justifiable and the nonsense that comes with it.
1) Astro has gained far more revenue through advertisement. Can you imagine paying a high monthly fee and yet every 10 minutes through a show, there will be a commercial break of 3-4 minutes in length? Not to mention the repetitions of the shows and not many new ones.
2) MCMC (the supposedly "authorities") says the price hike is without their consent. But where is the action? I don't see MCMC actually taking any legal action against Astro. Does this mean that the supposedly "authorities" have no power what so ever? Turning a blind side on Astro or is MCMC afraid of Astro?
3) Astro service will be interrupted during bad weather. If its raining, you'll have a BSOD (a term used by computer geeks as Blue Screen Of Death or in Astro's case, Blank Screen of Death). You wont get any channels through the rain. And guess what? Malaysia has 2 rainy seasons (or should i say monsoon seasons).
The customers are indefinitely not getting their money's worth. And to make things even more dire, the economy is terrible.
I don't know if it makes any difference. Currently there are only 18K of signatures but for those who wish to participate in the petition to deny Astro's price hike, you can click here. It seems like its a dead end, but i guess its worth a shot.
Customers are no longer in power. The only ultimatum left is to completely terminate the subscription which what i have done and dedicate my entertainment budget elsewhere. Its the only way i can feel in power again and not to rely on supposedly "authorities" whom often enough, talk the talk but never walk the walk.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Personal Data Protection Act 2010. (PDPA)
Don't you just hate it when your busy doing your work and suddenly the phone rang and the person on the other side starts talking about selling a product that you are no where interested in. The biggest problem is that they know your mobile number and worst, even your name. As of late, I myself have been receiving numerous calls from sellers of various products ranging from personal insurance, free medical checkups, personal loans, travel packages and etc. This can easily be called as SPAM! Vocal (oral) Spam! It bothered me quite as i keep wondering where on earth did they get my phone number from and how the heck did they know my name.
I had the opportunity to ask a few of the callers where did they get my number from. And apparently they would say that maybe its from a credit card service i subscribed or my mobile telco provider. And you know what? Its true! I found out that most banks and telecom providers sells our personal information (i.e name, mobile number and etc) to other parties. That would explain why i keep getting anonymous calls from sellers and also spam MMS from god know what content providers asking me to buy their product. They are getting money from selling my personal information and i'm not getting even a single cent from it apart from it actually being annoying to have some sales person contacting me every few days asking me to buy their product.
I found an article on The star online, "Know your rights on personal data". Finally an act to protect the consumers from abuse and illegal sharing and distribution of our personal data. Its actually illegal for the consumer's service providers to share or distribute our personal data to other businesses. Sadly this act is not yet in motion (supposedly next year). But to make it effective, we may have to re-read the agreements from our credit card providers (or any banks agreements for that matter) as well as telecom providers and make sure that there is no fine-prints on allowing them to use our personal data other than what is agreed upon. Again FINE PRINTS is a pain! That reminds me, i hope PDPA can also do something about fine prints. There should be a regulation on how small a fine print can be i.e must be of readable size and clearly visible. Some fine-prints i came across literally looks like a line but when looked under a magnifying glass, it unveils the fine-prints! Tricky and dangerous! S.C.A.R.Y.!
Anyways, this is my take. So beware of fine-prints. Always read any agreement letters thoroughly before even signing it .And always bring a magnifying glass! - to find the fine prints. You don't want to end up allowing (legalizing) others to abuse your personal information.As for PDPA, my first urge would be to ask them to look into Banks and Telco providers. They are the key players in storing most the populations personal information. PDPA commissioner must ensure they do not abuse the consumers personal data.
So for everyone reading this, i urge you to come forth with your story and together, maybe we can make a difference.
I had the opportunity to ask a few of the callers where did they get my number from. And apparently they would say that maybe its from a credit card service i subscribed or my mobile telco provider. And you know what? Its true! I found out that most banks and telecom providers sells our personal information (i.e name, mobile number and etc) to other parties. That would explain why i keep getting anonymous calls from sellers and also spam MMS from god know what content providers asking me to buy their product. They are getting money from selling my personal information and i'm not getting even a single cent from it apart from it actually being annoying to have some sales person contacting me every few days asking me to buy their product.
I found an article on The star online, "Know your rights on personal data". Finally an act to protect the consumers from abuse and illegal sharing and distribution of our personal data. Its actually illegal for the consumer's service providers to share or distribute our personal data to other businesses. Sadly this act is not yet in motion (supposedly next year). But to make it effective, we may have to re-read the agreements from our credit card providers (or any banks agreements for that matter) as well as telecom providers and make sure that there is no fine-prints on allowing them to use our personal data other than what is agreed upon. Again FINE PRINTS is a pain! That reminds me, i hope PDPA can also do something about fine prints. There should be a regulation on how small a fine print can be i.e must be of readable size and clearly visible. Some fine-prints i came across literally looks like a line but when looked under a magnifying glass, it unveils the fine-prints! Tricky and dangerous! S.C.A.R.Y.!
Anyways, this is my take. So beware of fine-prints. Always read any agreement letters thoroughly before even signing it .And always bring a magnifying glass! - to find the fine prints. You don't want to end up allowing (legalizing) others to abuse your personal information.As for PDPA, my first urge would be to ask them to look into Banks and Telco providers. They are the key players in storing most the populations personal information. PDPA commissioner must ensure they do not abuse the consumers personal data.
So for everyone reading this, i urge you to come forth with your story and together, maybe we can make a difference.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Welcome to Life Re-enacted
I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom, for me and you
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.
I see skies of blue, and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.
The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces, of people going by
I see friends shaking hands, saying how do you do
They're really saying, I love you.
I hear babies cry, I watch them grow
They'll learn much more, than I'll never know
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world
Yes I think to myself, what a wonderful world.
Oh yeah...
As a simple introduction to what this blog is about, there is no better man that can say (or sing) it like Louis Armstrong.
I see them bloom, for me and you
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.
I see skies of blue, and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.
The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces, of people going by
I see friends shaking hands, saying how do you do
They're really saying, I love you.
I hear babies cry, I watch them grow
They'll learn much more, than I'll never know
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world
Yes I think to myself, what a wonderful world.
Oh yeah...
As a simple introduction to what this blog is about, there is no better man that can say (or sing) it like Louis Armstrong.
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