Someone said to me the other day that he has not seen any new post from me and wondered if everything was ok? The truth is it is not. Having to worry about where I am heading to next is first and foremost on my list of to do. Thanks to my sister for loaning me her lap top (referred to as desktop by a famous blogger due to its size, which I kind of agree! but beggars are not choosers..)
There is so much to blog about, (not necessarily in order of importance), Samy's denial mode that Thaipusam celebrations in Batu Caves was not affected by the 'boycott', (record numbers in other temples kind of proof that he was wrong. The still missing Sharlinie (and just when you thought that the Police actually made progress in catching the culprits in the Nurin murder (more like a red herring, if you asked me). Sounds like me, looks like me, and the guy that has tendencies to bump into prominent judges. The impending elections....and the art of body snatching, ala Malaysian style! (now the Police are in on the act too!)
Just so much to blog about, but hopefully, I will be back full time, from nrext week when the Blog house opens daily, and the installation of two units of PC's fo bloggers to use. Keep checking back here for the actual openning of the house and the PCs for use.
But before I go, I would like to ask you if you have banked in any crossed cash cheques into your account? I recall doing this sometime in 2004 when i banked in a cash cheque that still had the 'AC Payee' cross on it. I did not have any problems then. I went to CIMB bank the other day, trying to bank in a house cheque (from the same branch) that a friend issued me. The clerk refused to accept the cheque, and when I asked why, she 'clearly' pointed out to me that my name on my IC was not CASH! That pissed me off, and I argued that I had done this before, and was not aware of any new ruling that had been imposed by the Central Bank (Bank Negara). I was told that if I needed the cash, I would have to have the payee sign cancelled by the issuer.
The Manager was called and she asked if we could speak privately. I agreed and she again pointed out to me that cash cheques can only be cashed in provided that the issuer had cancelled the ac payee cross on the cheque, to which I replied that I merely wanted to bank it into my account ( She replied that it cannot be done, and I had to wait for 48 hours before I can access the money.After contacting my friend and apologising for the inconvenience, he reissued another cheque, this time to the name of the account holder.
I returned to the same branch, and this time armed with the 'correct' name, asked that the cheque be banked in so that (immediate credit) so I could withdraw it from my account. The clerk told me that this was not possible and that I needed 48 hours before getting access to the money. The manager was called again, and this time I informed her that the cheque was issued to the name of the account holder and wanted the cheque banked in immediately. The manager responded in the same way that I needed 48 hours, and she further added that if I was in need of the cash, that she would do me a favour, but first she had to check with the issuer, to which I agreed. I informed the issuer about my problem and asked that he wait for a call from the bank Manager. She appeared some 20 minutes later and sad that all was ok, and that I could access my account immediately.
I left the banked disgusted that I had to justify that I needed the cash urgently.
Two days later, my friend asked if everything went ok, as he did not get a single call from the branch! So, my question is have you ever had such an experience? What is the central bank's ruling?
I got another cheque some days after, and this time the issuing branch was a Maybank branch in Bangsar. As this cheque was already issued to my name, I proceeded to the issuing branch and asked for an immediate credit into the account. I was pointed directly to a hep desk, given a slip to fill in and got to the counter in a jiffy. No questions asked and , wallah, my account was credited immediately!
2 banks, two very different response! I asked the clerk if this was a normal transaction and that other people actually did this, to which she replied, normal and she does this almost daily!
No wonder that Maybank is the Number 1 brand in Malaysia! Syabas....indeed.
To CIMB bank, try not to inconvenience those that really need their money!!
