Will You Chill & Relax??

Shut Down

It seems that I am having computer problems (both PCs at work and at home decided to boycott me - one had power supply glitches and the other had this allergy to worms that tried to change the configuration in my PC that I spent most of the time trying to clean it) and there is a backlog of blogs I need to post this week. Anyway - here are some..... hehehe...

Will You?

On the evening of 23rd February i attended the signing ceremony between Amanah Raya Berhad and Paradise Wealth Sdn Berhad at the Deer Suite, Crowne Plaza. I would have thought that this was just another official function which I have to attend But the topic of the event was related to the assignment of Wills and Estate Management. That tickled my curiousity. It was indeed a serious topic, as it involves the distribution of wealth after a person dies. That is a very scary and taboo subject for some people - the idea of death. But I like the way the Amanah Raya Managing Director Y.Bhg.Dato' Ahmad Rodzi bin Pawanteh explained it that night - 'Death is certain. One day we will die. Other things we can never be sure of'.

The deco at the entrance of the signing ceremony

VIPs in attendance

Which is why the proper paper work needs to be done before you leave this world. done early. Unless of course you are certain of the exact date that you are leaving this world - hmmmmm..... with the Malaysian attitude of procastination and 'last minute aiyo yo', I guess they will only prepare one only when they are lying on their death bed. But these are the lucky ones anyway, because they do get a last chance of assigning their will. The not so lucky ones are those who leave suddenly without one, leaving their loved ones to suffer or squabble over the wealth (or debts) left behind. Those in this category would have to rely on the existing laws in the country, in the case of Sarawak, its the Administrative of Estates Ordinance (Chapter 80 - Laws of Sarawak 1948 Edition). It requires for the Letter of Administration under section 8 of the ordinance which reads:

Article 8. The following persons, if of full age and of sound mind, are entitled in the order stated to letters of administrations to a deceased person's estate:
(a) the deceased's widower;
(b) the male heirs of the deceased;
(c) the deceased's father;
(d) the brother or brothers of the whole blood of the deceased;
(e) the deceased's widow (or primary widow if more than one)
(f) the deceased's nearest male relative
(g) the deceased's nearest female relative
(h) any creditor of the deceased, who shall enter into a bond for such amont and with such sureties, or has furnished such securities, as the Probate Officer shall require.

Most of the Sarawak Administrative Officers in the District Offices are quite well versed with this ordinances and the issuances of this Letters of Administration. Being probate officers is part of their functions as they handle the various cases in their Districts and everyday there are such instances where relatives dispute over the estates of their loved ones who have departed. Its not an easy task and usually the issuance of the Letters of Administration takes quite a long time to settle with protests and counter claims from the living relatives.

The main problem in the existing ordinance, as pointed out by YB Puan Lily Yong, the assemblywoman of N.8 Padungan, who officiated the function, is that existing Ordinance seems to lean heavily towards the male inheritors. The male relatives seem to be in a more favourable position to acquire what gets left behind. If you a lady is a second wife for example (but does not know she is one) and upon her husband's demise she discovers he has a first wife who will be the rightful claimant to whatever 'wealth' is left by the late husband. Sometimes the first wife may be surprised that there is a second wife who also wishes to claim what gets left behind. It gets complicated. So let the ladies out there beware. It does happen and I do hope that this gets to be highlighted in the next Dewan Undangan Negeri sitting. I believe it deserves serious consideration bearing in mind that sometimes the authorities who issue the Letters of Administration have a hard time trying to settle these issues. I had the bitter experience at one time in deciding a similiar case - the husband died and two women came to me to assist them to process their rightful claims (EPF, bank accounts, etc). They both had children with the deceased. It became more difficult when I discovered that the first wife was married to the deceased the 'longhouse way' (no paperwork - just longhouse witnesses who claim to attend the wedding ceremony) and the second wife was a civil marriage (the second wife had the marriage certificate). It does lead to some disputes along the way but the best way is always to convince them to share rather than fight over it which was what I managed to advice them to do.

The crowd was good that night - it shows that people are aware of wills and estate management

The signing ceremony

'The Place' To Chill & Relax

Kenny's checklist before his big marathon

There was a request from the owner (Mavis)that I do not blog about this place. So i do not know how to approach the subject. Maybe providing photos is tantamount to 'photo blogging' which will also cause the wrath of the owners. However, lets see what I can do. I will just just provide the description of the photos without mentioning the name of the place. That I believe would be acceptable to any laws in any country. So let's just assume its called 'The Place'. If you are curious about The Place, just click on the links of the bloggers whom I met there, I am sure some will provide the description of The Place more elaborately.

But let me begin with by telling the potential visitors aka customers what The Place is not about:

1. Its not a karaoke (No televisions and mikes to exercise your throat & voice)
2. Its not a smoky pub (No smoke, ash trays....God, No Beer!!)
3. Not a Japanese restaurant (the Japanese sitting style is cool - hopefully sushi is in the menu)
4. Music Cafe (music here is played at moderate volume unlikeother LOUD music cafes)
5. Food/Restaurant outlet (No heavy dishes are served)
6. Cyber Cafe (though they have a computer there, its just for the management)
7. Bank (Security cameras everywhere including the toilet - so when peeing look up and smile)

So I came to conclude that The Place is definitely:

1. Warm Friendly reception & nice owners (I call them CH****X's ANGELS)
2. Healthy hangout place for those who hate smoky places (like me)
3. Place for those who do not take hard drinks (Though I craved for Beer)
4. Library - the book titles there are interesting - hope they can have bestsellers
5. Games - a whole lot of board games to choose from
6. Affordable drinks - You don't have to dish out your life savings to drink here
7. Easy Going - No loud chatterboxes, you can eavesdrop if there are interesting topics
8. Where you can coach Kenny Sia to run the KL Marathon
9. Kayak Parking is allowed

Seriously folks, I would come here all over again - with my baby girl to relax the next time around - with so many toys, board games and dolls to play she will be very quiet (Daddy can play with the big dolls ...hehehe). Most of the music cafes are not smoke free, so this place is just nice to have a hang out with your kids. McDonalds sometimes are just too distracting as the kids tend to be attracted to the mini playground and the seats in McDonalds are too small for a big man like me. Furthermore you have to make sure that your kid don't quarrel with the next kid there. At The Place you only get to argue with Mavis - the other ladies there are pleasantly quiet :) Sorry Mavis....

My drink that night - Doctor's Cooler: Its a mixture of Apple. Since there was no Beer that night, I had to take something that would be equivalent to beer drinking and that was to take the juice from the Forbidden Fruit.


The Japanese sitting set up - where are my Geisha Girls?



The Toilet - ignore the name on the other door of The Place



How comfortable can you get? zzzzzzzzzz........wake up Francis :)

That's right, this is definitely the place to Chill Out and Relax - I discovered that Francis can even afford to sleep there.


Mango smoothie - a must try drink as they serve it fresh - if its not, they will serve you another one, another one, another one....... :)


The bloggers in attendance for the meet up were:

  1. Francis & his non blogger buddies
  2. Wilson (you have to use the Firefox Browser for this)
  3. Unknown (it seems that this person was also there - well hopefully they join us one day, as I do believe that being Sarawakians/Malaysians, we are friendly by nature)

Comments

Francis Ho said…
Well done Desmond! You managed to pull off the 'challenge' of blogging the place and yet not blogging it! Now, we'll have to wait for Felicity to see what 'angle' or approach she's goin' to use next!

I think we all managed to do that quite cleverly! Even Kenny slipped in the toilet photo in his post...

Now Mavis know that we bloggers are a crafty lot and not easily intimidated! kekeke ;)
Strange that the owner does not want some free publicity!!
Wilson Chin said…
nice review on the Gathering pangyau, hehehe. n thanks for letting me know about my blog (only can be view on fiewfox). I need to fix that error later.
Borneoguy.com said…
nice place .... maybe the owner wants to keep the place a secret hideout ehh? Keep up the good work guys ...
hi, drop by here...u wrote a long long story...nice
Adrian said…
Is there any kuching bloggers meetup around here? I would like to attend one of those..
Uchu Keling said…
Bloggers are sometimes a "pain in the ass".. They simply just blog anything - good and bad :D