There have been mixed reactions towards the government announcement that allows the government employees to take up part time job.

While a large section of the community applauds the move, the Director General of JPA (Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam), Tan Sri Ismail Adam is on the opinion that the performance and productivity of the employees will be adversely affected if employees commit for second job.

On top of that, the employees will not experience much changes by taking up extra jobs unless they are willing to change the life style.

According to him, many heads of the departments in the government and government agencies are reluctant to allow their subordinates to be engaged in part time jobs outside of the working hours after discovering that many of those who are involved in this are found to be unproductive and come to office tired, a statement that comes with a degree of truth.

Apart from exhaustion, the employees will also be at risk of neglecting their personal life and will soon find themselves spending less time with the family and their loved ones.

However Ismail was mostly referring to jobs that require physical demands such as driving taxi, taking up rotational shift and so on, but may have failed to realize that there are jobs that do not require a lot of physical work such as writing, online trading, proof reading and so on.

Rapid Penang was established as a subsidiary company of Rapid KL and commenced its operation almost a year ago on July 2007. At the moment, more than 150 buses are operating and serving more than 30 routes statewide, with plan to add more buses and routes in the pipeline.

The main objective of the establishment is to provide the users, especially those in Penang, a quality and reliable bus and public transport service. The move was made to recapture the interest of the citizens and restore the public confidence as the public transportation networks are showing the signs of collapsing.

Rapid Penang Cadetship Program

The cadetship program is designed to expose the new recruits and nurture them to be the future Bus Captains for the company. In other words, the program coaches the students to become a qualified and competent commercial bus drivers. Under the program, the cadets will be entitled for fully sponsored ‘E’ & ‘PSV’ licenses as part of the benefits. Throughout the tenure the recruits will also be paid a fixed monthly allowance, and comes together with covered accommodation.

It is open to Malaysian citizens aged 21 years old and above. Both male and female recruits are accepted. Min SPM (Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia) qualification is required to enroll for the program. Additionally, he or she must already have a valid Class D driving license.

To apply for the program, you can write in, fax or email your detailed resume to the following address: Rapid Penang Sdn Bhd, Lorong Kulit, 10460 Penang. Fax: 04-228 1070. Email: humancapital@rapidpg.com.my. Alternatively, you can attend the following walk in interviews at the following details, bringing together your resume and original and photocopies of certificates and transcripts.

1. Hotel Grand Crystal, Alor Star, Kedah, 13 June 2008 (Friday), 9am to 5pm

2. Sunway Hotel Seberang Jaya, Seberang Jaya, Penang, 15 June 2008 (Sunday), 9am to 5pm

SABA Islamic Media was established almost 20 years ago in 1989 as a sole proprietor dealing with distribution of Islamic literature, audio and video products as well as multimedia resources.

Phases of growth eventually led into the incorporation of SABA Islamic Media Sdn Bhd and expansion through addition of new branches.

With its founder named Sabariah Abdullah, you can guess how the company’s name SABA comes about. Sabariah, who hails from Terengganu, is also presently the Managing Director of the corporation. She has a background in Mathematics, and obtained her Degree in Mathematics and Statistics from the University of Kansas, United States.

Contrary to popular perception, the products sold by SABA Islamic Media is not only focused exclusively towards the Muslims, but also those non-Muslims who are interested to know more about the religion. Interestingly enough, Sabariah created SABA after finding herself helping a number of friends to find Islamic resources and from there, her interest blossomed.

Today, SABA operates 4 outlets with its main office located in Taman Setiawangsa, Kuala Lumpur, while the other 3 outlets can be found in Maju Junction Mall, Kuantan Centre Point and PKNS Complex, Shah Alam.

The company’s products are available in various languages including English, Bahasa Malaysia, French, Spanish and Turkish.

SABA is also active in organizing charity events and took initiative to invite international artistes such as Yusof Islam (formerly Cat Steven) and other speakers and singers. Due to its reputation, the name SABA will often come first when Islamic resources are mentioned.

SABA has obtained notable achievements in its business operation such as the successful partnership with with Petronas MESRA where the palm oil station’s customers would be able to buy a selection of at MESRA outlets. Their latest accomplishment was the setting up of their franchise business programs that will allow budding entrepreneurs who have high interest with their business and products can join the bandwagon and be part of a robust partnership.

In 2007, SABA Islamic Media was chosen as one of the finalists for the Malaysia Franchise Association (MFA) Award, alongside a host of popular franchises including Avon, Daily Fresh, Secret Recipe and Smart Reader Worldwide.

If you are one of the aspiring entrepreneurs out there who are interested to become a franchisee of SABA Islamic, you can download the Franchise Inquiry Form here.

The Employee Provident Fund, EPF was established by the government of Malaysia to provide the so-called retirement funds and benefits to the employees, who are members of the EPF. EPF is also the other name for KWSP, or Kumpulan Wang Simpanan Pekerja.

The term and name EPF is not exclusively used in Malaysia as other countries like India and Sri Lanka also use the same. Similar scheme is called Central Provident (CPF) Fund in Singapore while Hong Kong uses Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF).

EPF members are made up of the private and non-pensionable public sector employees. It is important to note that it is compulsory for the employers to make statutory EPF contribution for their employees. With that being said, if you notice your monthly pay slip comes without details of EPF contribution, your employer has broken the law by ignoring your contribution and once you report this to the authority, the court will rip them apart.

An employee who is entitled for a pension scheme will enjoy a monthly ‘income’ which is made up by some fraction of the monthly salary until his or her death (which then will be enjoyed by the beneficiaries). On the other hand, a member of EPF will get the sum of their contribution once he or she reaches 50 and 55 (optional), progressively. Depending on the salary scale, the final amount of your EPF contribution account can reach a few thousands, hundred thousands or even millions for those earning high salaries. We are talking about the C-level positions (CEO, COO, CFO and such) for reputable companies here. The first entitlement withdrawal when you reach 50 years old is 30%.

However, EPF fund is not merely designed for retirement but also covers sickness and disabilities. You can also withdraw some amount from your EPF account to make down payments for houses, education, medical expenses and investments. If you want to know more about the benefits of EPF fund and how withdrawing of EPF works, talk to your employer.

Through the EPF fund, a fraction of the employee’s monthly income is deducted and channeled into their EPF account on monthly basis. Additionally, the employer is also regulated to contribute a certain percentage which is according to the employee’s gross salary. In other words, think of your EPF fund account as a saving account, which will be given back to you once you have reached a certain age. If by then you have stopped working and no longer generate income, your EPF account will be your only savior.

In addition, EPF also acts as your trusted fund manager and invests in certain business activities which enable your account to generate yearly dividends and grow your account. For the record, between 2000 to 2007, EPF gave an average dividends of 5%. The highest dividend pay outs so far was 8.5% which were given between the year 1983 to 1987.

Currently, the mandatory EPF contribution is 11% from the employee’s monthly salary while the employer must contribute a minimum of 12%. In total, you will have 23% contribution to your account monthly. Currently, there is a proposal being studied to reduce percentage of the monthly contribution for older folks. Many groups however, are disagreeable to this proposal.

To illustrate the EPF contribution mechanism, let’s say your monthly salary is RM1500. An 11% reduction means RM165 will be deducted and channeled into your EPF account every month, leaving you RM1335 in your income. On top of that, the employer will also contribute RM180 (12%). Your total monthly contribution, hence becomes RM345. In a year, you will have RM4140 contribution. As your income increases, so will your EPF contribution. And we have not taken account the dividends, which depends on the EPF’s investment returns and financial performance.

A number of employers in Malaysia also offer higher percentage than 12%, as part of the effort to generate interest from the prospective employees as well as part of the benefits in their retention scheme (For obvious reason you will be more captivated by an employer who offers additional EPF contribution). Sometimes, the employer’s contribution can be as high as 18%.