When I started working back then in 2009 as a chambee, there were nothing much that I could do with the money. The allowance that I received through out the 9 months period was minimal amounting to RM1,200/month only. It merely enough to cover my expenses and cost getting back and forth from Shah Alam - Bukit Bintang. If I thoroughly digged my account deep enough, maybe and just maybe I could find a hundred or two to get myself something fancy which rarely happened.
After I completed my pupilage I was offered to hold a post as an officer in SUHAKAM where I earned the basic officer's salary. Wah masa tu excited gila tengok duit ribu-ribu masuk akaun. Terharu pon ade. Its not easy surviving with minimum allowance when u were a student as well as pupil in chambers. It took me 3 months before the idea of investing (minimally mind u) crossed my mind.
As a fresh grad(not so fresh but i wasnt the rotten one), I have listed the following basic investment;
- Unit trust
- ASB
- Insurance
- Gold Investment Passbook
At that point of time I wasnt sure whether or not im being realistic. Yeah i spent my money like nobody's business..its mine anyway so sedar-sedar akaun dah kosong. I have to bare in my mind that with a limited earnings, i have to be careful with what i buy as well as how much i invested. An investment could be a liability for example your insurance policy where you are practically commit yourself with the monthly payment but of course its a different kind of commitment if u compared with your car mothly commitment.
After 3 months of working, i managed to invest on public mutual but im yet to see the outcome on this. Then, yada yada yada after 6 months I applied for ASB loan followed by insurance policy 5 months later.
While I was googling, I came to know about Shares by Bank Rakyat. It seems like a good one based on its track record of awarding 12-15% dividend to their members. Unfortunately membership is limited and when i called Bank Rakyat at that time to enquire, I was informed that "application masih belum dibuka encik (wah seksi suara kau)". I have to wait until they opened up membership to apply for the shares. Ruginye tak tau daripada zaman kecik2 dulu
Then in March 2011, Bank Rakyat opened up new applications for those who are interested to join. Wah apa lagi berlari la pegi Bank Rakyat Putrajaya but the maximum amount that i could purchased was RM500 only. I was advised by the Bank to fill up Borang Q for additional purchased. Maybe akak tu terkesima dgn wajah cute ini bila tengok aku kecewa di kaunter sebab tak dapat beli banyak
I didnt received any news on my application to purchase additional shares afterwards but tup tup yesterday I received a cheapskate piece of paper from Bank Rakyat. Ingatkan
“alamak kredit kad aku due lagi la nie”.
However I was eric-leong-kind-of surprise when I saw the title of the ‘letter’. Apparently Bank Rakyat offered me additional shares to be purchased seperti gambar pertama di atas. With that letter I quickly rushed to the nearest branch and proudly purchased another round of their shares. Thank god because I recently received another half month bonus from the government. Although the bonus was neither handsome nor gorgeous but at least I can fully utilized the money to maximize my investment with Bank Rakyat.
Another interesting point to note is that I was advised again by the bank to fill in another application for additional shares. According to the lady at the counter, Bank Rakyat is still accepting new application as well as application for additional shares for existing members. Hmm..tak tau la bile boleh beli lagi..
For those out there who are interested with the shares but has yet to purchased, I highly recommend u guys to grab this opportunity. Biarlah sikit-sikit lama-lama jadi bukit. Maybe tak dapat puluh ribu but a hundred or two for a dividend is a good start. It’s not wrong to earn while saving with the bank. At the end of the day kite jugak yang untung. So tepuk dada tanya selera.
