Blessings From The Universe For My Son and Me Too 🙂

My New Citibank Reward Platinum Visa Credit Card

I only have one credit card issued by an Australian bank because no other credit card issuer in Australia is willing to offer me one. The reason why I have the Citibank Platinum Visa Credit Card is because I used to have Citibank Gold Status. But Citibank downgraded me ever since they revised the AUM to AUD300K to be eligible for Citi Gold Status.

Luckily I did not bother to convert more MYR to AUD to be eligible for Gold Status. Today the conversion rate AUD/MYR is 2.85 versus more than 3.0 last year and at one time it was even 3.5. In one of my previous articles, published a few years ago, I also mentioned that if one was investing in an apartment in Australia by utilizing bank loan, one will not be making money after taking into consideration of the various management fees and bank interest. And if a foreigner (non-resident) is making a profit from rental, the profit is taxable at the rate of 39%! And if one bought an apartment when AUD/MYR was above 3.1, today, he/she will be losing money! Many property agents in KL will entice you to purchase properties overseas but they never highlight to you the fees and taxes that may be imposed plus potential forex loses. And if you have a property in UK, the moment you die, your child who inherited the property may be poorer! One who has more than enough cash to survive until he/she dies on the other hand buys a property overseas not as an investment but for other reasons.

Anyway, who cares about the Citi Gold Status (sour grapes mah), more importantly is that Citibank did not cancel my Platinum Visa credit card, hahaha.

However, I hardly ever use the above shown Citibank Visa credit card but only auto-debit my car monthly insurance premium to it. You see, it is damn stupid of me to use the Citibank Platinum Visa Card! Reason being is that I earn 1 Citibank Reward Point for every AUD1 spent. And in order to convert to 1 Emirates Skyward or 1 KrisFlyer Mile, I need to spent AUD3 with it.

The current AUD/MYR conversion rate is around 2.85. What this means is that I need to spend RM8.55 with my Citibank Platinum Visa just to earn 1 air mile!!!

My Maybank 2 Cards AMEX Reserve and Visa Infinite earns me 5X Treats Points for every RM1 spent overseas. And based on a conversion of 5000 TP = 1000 Air Miles, this means I earn 1 air mile for every RM1 spent overseas OR AUD0.35!!!

Therefore, while in Australia, it makes more sense that I use my Maybank 2 Cards Premier and earn more than 800% air miles compared to my Australian Citibank Visa Platinum!!!

Some of you will say that we are imposed overseas admin fees by Maybank. Well this is true but would you rather lose up to 4% (Maybank Admin Fees and Visa International Forex Fee) or earn 800% less air miles?

In respect to the above, I only use my Maybank Visa Infinite overseas despite knowing full well that I will be imposed up to 4% fee on top of Spot Rate. However, all My Air Miles Disciples know that we can much more in returns with our Maybank 2 Cards Premier. And those who are in my Advance Project 8 know we earn much much more than 30% returns. Therefore I will earn more in return when I use my Maybank  Visa Infinite or AMEX Reserve versus Cash changed at Money Changer where they impose about 1% fee or more over Spot Rate.

My Second Son Was Blessed By The Universe Where He Earned FREE AUD6K From Thin Air But Burned Part Of It On A Computer Gaming Rig

My second son graduated from University of Melbourne (ranked No.1 in Australia and Top 30 in the world) last year with a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Accountancy and Banking &  Finance. He is now pursuing a Masters of Science in a university which is ranked No.1 for Data Science.

Yes, from Accountancy he has switched to Science. And why is he able to do so? It is because he has the necessary science fundamentals that are taught in High School. I made sure that both my second son and youngest dragon daughter took all the basic science subjects (Math, Biology, Chemistry and Physics) for their VCE (Victoria Certificate of Education which is like STPM in Malaysia) despite not requiring to do so since they wanted to be an Accountant and Lawyer respectively.

And because all my children (my eldest son and older daughter both were in Science Stream in Malaysia and scored 10As for SPM including BM), all of them can major in anything they want since they have the necessary fundamentals and can even suka-suka switch majors. I tell you, the current Malaysian Education Minister’s (who is not a Science graduate) objective to abolish science stream is a big mistake. Children in Malaysia are spoon fed and have no plans for the future and therefore must be guided by their tiger parents who know best. Like I said, if a child is in Science Stream, he/she can major in anything but if a child is in arts stream or lack the basic knowledge of science, he/she can be a lawyer or accountant but will find it very tough (not impossible) to be a Doctor or Engineer.

Anyway, this second son of mine is a computer gaming addict where he plays games until early in the morning. It is a miracle that he did extremely well in U of Melbourne where he scored distinctions for most of his subjects.

Before my second son graduated from U of Melbourne, I brainwashed him that he must pursue a Masters degree just like me and his older brother (who holds two post graduates degrees, i.e. Masters Of Engineering & Doctor of Medicine). I was happy when my second son agreed to pursue a Masters degree; and when he chose a Masters of Science degree I was delighted because now I can say that both my sons are Science graduates just like me, hahaha.

My second son is about to finish his first year of his Masters program and he has been scoring well in his subjects despite playing computer games all the time, hahaha. Seriously, we hardly see him studying but he is always in his room with his headphones on and eyes glued to the computer monitor. FYI, I did buy him a Microsoft Surface this year for all his uni assignments which include computer programming.

For his gaming needs, my second son is still using the Acer Nitro 5 Intel i7 notebook I bought for him 4 years ago. Some of you may remember this where I bought the Nitro 5 for him as a reward for scoring a VCE subject in his Year 11. FYI, students in Victoria Australia sit for VCE papers in Year 12 (final year of high school). Time really flies……

This second son of mine has been wanting a desktop computer gaming rig for the longest of time BUT I refused to burn a few thousand Ringgit on a computer just to play games. As far as I am concerned, playing computer games is a waste of time…. and I am more that qualified to make this statement because I have been playing computer games ever since I was a kid – I had  Apple IIe compatible, Coleco Adam (colour screen long before Apple and IBM models), many Microsoft compatible computers  plus video games from Philips, Atari, Sega, Sony PlayStation, Nintendo and XBox. All of you GenY and GenZ were not even born when I was playing computer games….. but what did I gain from playing computer games? Nothing but shiok sendiri, hahaha.

Last month (mid October 2019), out of the blue, my second son told me he was awarded an AUD6K scholarship for next year. The thing is, he did not even apply for it nor saw it coming. I guess he must be doing pretty well in his Masters program to be recognized by the university and therefore awarded this really wonderful blessing.

So I told my son, since the AUD6K was purely from his own actions and not my money, he can go use it and get his dream computer gaming desktop 🙂 My second son wasted no time in doing research on what parts he wanted in order to build his gaming rig. I asked what monitor he was getting and he said a 24in non-curve model to save money. But I told him that he can only order the parts for his computer after his final exams. I then returned to KL.

Another thing, I told my son to purchase outright a fully completed branded gaming desktop unit that comes with warranty (from ASUS or MSI) instead of buying different parts and assembling them himself. My son assured me that he has no problems assembling a computer from different parts. I then told my wife my reservations on my son assembling the computer…. and my wife told me – “your son is pursuing a Master of Science” and then it only hit me, oh yeah that’s true, he is a science student now and therefore an intelligent person, hahaha.

Then last week (Wednesday) while I was in KL, my second son suddenly contacted me and said he wanted to purchase the computer parts and was seeking my permission to use his Supp Maybank Visa Infinite Credit Card and I gave him the green light. He claimed that he had found the best prices online for the parts he wanted from a reputable company.

Then the next day (Thursday) he told me that the merchant will be reimbursing the payment as they do not accept overseas credit cards and told him to pay via PayPal!!! I called Maybank CS and true enough the payment had been charged to my Supp Card. The next day (Friday) I called Maybank CS again and the payment was reimbursed the exact amount in AUD. BUT because of MBB overseas Admin Fees (as mentioned at the start of this article) plus Australian Dollar weakening against the Ringgit , I loss RM400 from the in and out transactions!!! However, I was not really pissed off….. looking at it from another angle, it is not my money but FREE money from GOD, therefore it makes no difference to me or even my life, hahaha.

I then flew to Melbourne on Saturday last week. On Sunday, I told my son that he should just buy whatever parts he can from the computer store in Melbourne CBD. He told me that the parts are more expensive in the city. I then explained to him, rental in Melbourne CBD is high and therefore paying more is normal plus we are guaranteed to get the parts. Therefore, by paying a little bit more, we can get the stuff on the spot instead of waiting for stuff to be delivered to our home which may be loss in transit.

We then went to the computer store in Melbourne CBD but they only had 3 items he wanted, i.e. the processor, the motherboard and the monitor. Both the AMD processor and MSI motherboard was about AUD10 to AUD15 more expensive (which is negligible) but the monitor was cheaper! I used my Maybank Visa Infinite credit card to pay on the spot and earned myself more than 3K air miles.

And it was only then that I found out he ordered a 32in Curved QHD Gaming Monitor! I ask why he decided to get a 32 in monitor when he told me earlier last month he was getting a 24in non curve cheap 144Hz monitor? His reason is that he is purchasing the more expensive monitor so that it can match the performance of the graphic card he is getting. I then told him that he should look the other way around where he should get the cheap 24in monitor and chose a compatible graphic card, hahahaha.

Below are the Ryzen Processor, MSI MotherBoard and AOC 32in Curve Monitor we collected on Tuesday 12th November 2019 from the computer store in Melbourne CBD (Central Business District).

However, for the other parts, such as SSD 1TB, power supply and RAMs, my son told me the store we were at in Melbourne CBD was selling at much much higher prices and it did not make sense to buy from them. And the most important part that my son wanted, i.e. the graphic card, was not available at the store.

So for the above mentioned parts, my son had to order online and pay via PayPal. BUT I forgot to tell him to use his Supp AMEX Reserve for PayPal! You see, stupid PayPal will convert purchases online to RM because the credit card is issued from Malaysia!!! Therefore, instead of earning 5X Treat Points guaranteed with the AMEX Reserve from the purchase when paying with PayPal, I may end up earning 2X TP with the MBB VI since PayPal convert the transaction to Ringgit PLUS PayPal also has conversion fee!!!

On 13th November 2019, the Power Supply, Intel 1TB SSD, 16GB RAM and Sapphire Nitro 5700 XT Graphic Card was delivered to my apartment in Melbourne CBD.

However, the computer desktop casing is only scheduled to arrive on 14th November 2019 (ordered and paid at the same time online from the same merchant). That’s the problem with buying online, we can’t get what we want on the spot.

In total, the entire gaming rig cost RM7.5K+ but if I include the loss of RM400 from the in (it was charged) and out (then reimbursed) transactions with my MBB VI mentioned earlier, the total damage adds up to close to RM8K. And the thing about computer is that in a few years time it will be obsolete!

In conclusion, my second son was blessed with a gaming rig that he has always wanted and I too was blessed with 7.5K air miles from thin air 🙂 And there is still balance RM9K to subsidize for my second son’s tuition fee.

Code Word: Blessed