We are late !

The time was 6.44pm. It's late

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A group of 3 guys with heavy bags of groceries at their clenched fists were standing at the entrance of the famous Eastern Coast Mall, lost and clueless as to where they're heading. Then one of them, Mahmoud, approached a passer-by. "Akak, nak pergi masjid padang macam mana ya?" he asked. By the looks of it, she was startled by the question. " Ushh, jauh tu. Senang je pegi straight then pastu pergi kanan"she replied. Mahmoud thanked her and the guys proceeded to the given direction hastily.

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Minutes had passed and no sight of the majestic blue mosque towering over the shop lots of kuantan, its not a surprise that the guys believed that they wouldn't make it in time. Mahmoud was fast ahead , while the other two, Yusuf and Angelo were trailing behind. In the midst of the rush though, it seemed that Yusuf and Angelo still had time to chit chat about how appalling the movie they had just watched. Maybe they should have opted for Jurassic Park 2 instead. Yusuf then reached for his phone and looked at the time. It was 7.02pm. Not good. Not good.

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They occasionally ask passer-by for directions. Its not really because they don't know the direction, its just that they wanted to make sure that they are on the right track. Every time they asked for directions, they were greeted by the usual surprised face followed by a reply of " Ush, tu jauh tu". Not a really promising reaction that they would have hoped for. Nonetheless, few minutes later their faces were glimmered with delight. The eccentric tower blue dome was well in sight over the buildings, just meters away from where they are. "Tu dia, dah dekat gak la maknanya" said Angelo. Its 7.09pm. "We might just make it" pacified Yusuf.

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As the 3 now sweaty guys were getting closer to their destination, suddenly all of them stopped. They had just found out that the fastest way to the mosque is to bypass a government building. The building had the word " Tegas, Adil dan Berhemah " written clearly on its entrance. As they were weighing their options, the long way or the easier way, a blue uniformed personnel was just observing them intensely in his guard post. Previously, it isn't much of a big deal for the guys to pass through a police station and they have validated that when they ought to pray in a police station elsewhere that was located in Murni. However, it appears that its different here. Mahmoud asked the guard politely to allow them to pass through, he responded by assertively refusing their entry. " Awak kene ikut jalan lain" he said adamantly. No time for negotiation thought Angelo. "Jadi kalau nak ikut jalan lain yang cepat kene pusing balik la ye " he asked. The guard replied with a nod. Then they turned back and walked the away with a feeling of disappointment. Adding weight to their already heavy grocery items. It was 7.16pm by then

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As they hurriedly walked toward the mosque, it turns out that it wasn't that far because in minutes they could already see flocks of people passing by carrying bags delicious foods with them. Angelo checked the time, it was 7. 23pm but the melodious sound of adhan was still hasn't been heard yet. Basically that signifies that they had successfully made it in time. The feeling of fear of not making it in time drained from their minds. "Yeash! We made it" they jumped in joy though that didn't happen as they were too cool for that. No time was put to waste, they immediately find an empty spot on the padang right in front of the masjid and placed their items. Yusuf and Mahmoud went to buy the food while Angelo tend to the items. Thereafter, they feast happily AFTER the adhan was heard. Amidst the hundreds of people crowding the padang enjoying their meal with their family and friends, there lies 3 exhausted guys that felt that they were something more to be happy about that evening. Iftar in time

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"So let them serve the Lord of this House. Who feeds them against hunger and gives them security against fear" Surah Quraish: Verse 3-4

Maths is to physics is like finance is to business studies P1

I like being involved in a business or just discuss about it. Its not much about earning the dollars and cents, its the experience  that comes with it. Problem solving, strategy planning and management are among the valuable skills that can be acquired. It could be said that business is more of like a hobby to me, a break to the continous strenious study time.. ughh.

Yesterday I went to a talk delivered by Puan Irnee Ismail, one of the CFO of Ainon Holdings. It was held at ABS HQ in Gombak, its a walking distance from Melati station. Lack of planning ended up me having to take a taxi from Gombak station and was charged RM10 flat, no meter. I was in a rush so I don't have much choice. The price of ignorance, inclusive of GST*. In my effort to recollect and retain what I've learned that day, I would share them with you guys. Hope its beneficial to you all !

The topic of the seminar was 'Menafsir Angka Kewangan'. Basically it discusses how we should analyse the financial health of a business based on the numbers given. It would be helpful if we have some background of basic financial terms like revenues, budget, debit, credit and others before coming. If not its difficult to follow.

The breakdown of the talk:

1. Score card
2. Type of account statement
3. Analyse the numbers
4. Convention accounts



1. Score card - its a like a key performance index. We need a way to gauge the progress of our business . Having a score card is as simple as setting a target sale or revenues. For example,  Isabella sells hijabs. Her business would be more efficient if she set a target sale for a each month, like maybe 50 units per month, by then her inventory should be cleared. From that she can evaluate her performance from time to time based on whether she manage to reach the target sales and if not why. Nonetheless, it all depends on her strategy

2. Type of accounts - in the corporate world, there are countless types of account statement used to assess different financial situations. Well to me it appears countless though. For SMEs ( small medium enterprises ) to survive, they should at least have these two types proft/loss acc. and balance sheet. Not to forget cash flow, where it would show the money in money out, but not as important if you want to know your financial position

3. Analyse the numbers - based on the score cards, the type of accounts you can assess the financial health of the business. This skill is vital not only so that you can evaluate your own business but others too. Huh? Other businesses? Why you may ask?

If you want to invest in other businesses, or take-over ,then its a must.  Classic, #lokalah example would be when Tony Fernandes acquired the airline company with RM1, but along with it a huge mess of debt 40million. Hence, Tony has to analyse the financial standing of the debt ridden company, under DRB-Hicom, went through the different account statements before he could potentially make it into the AirAsia that we have today


4. Convention accounts - Accounting principles that is conventional, widely accepted format I believe. An example of that is the use of historical cost in accounting. Example, Ali set up a honey manufacturing company. He needs to get a space lot to place his machineries so he bought a land priced at RM 10,000 in 2015. 5 years later the land raised in value to RM20, 000. Based on the historical cost principle, Ali would still have to value his asset of land as RM10,000 , the cost that he bought the land, not the market value. There exceptions to the rule though


End of part 1