Have your tried e-Filing? (4)

I know it is a bit too late to inform you this (as usual), but at least I tried before the deadline.

If you are using dial-up connection, with a PC more than one year old with Adobe Reader Version 6.0 and plan to submit your income tax return tonight through e-Filing, it is probably too late. But still no harm to try...

Just few days ago I helped a friend to submit his and his wife tax return through e-Filing. Using broadband, it took me about slightly less than two hours to complete the task. Filling up the form is easy and fast. The problem lies in the PDF file. Yes, the Adobe Reader.

The e-Filing form is in PDF format. Therefore you need Adobe Reader. The problem is IRB is using the latest version of Adobe Reader. You need Adobe Reader Version of 7.0.5 and above in order to open the e-Filing form for filling up and submission.

Most two-year-old computers, i.e. like mine and my friend's, have Adobe Reader Version 6.0. To upgrade it to Version 7.0.5, we need to upgrade it to Version 7.0 first. We need to download about 20 MB of file. From Version 7.0 to Version 7.0.5, we need to download another 9MB.

Using broadband, it took me almost one hour to upgrade the Adobe Reader. If you are using dail-up tmnet or jaring, it will take you probably few hours or days to get it done.

You can be still on time if you have broadband connection at home. Otherwise go to your friend house who has broadband connection or internet cafe to get your e-filing done. Just remember to delete your digital certificate stored in the PC.

Goodluck.

MyTeam 1: National Team U20 2 (MyTeam should have won if not due to luck...)

Finally, it ended such that the National Team under-20 (three players from senior team) won by 2:1 against the amateur team MyTeam, a team that was only assembled three months ago.

The best part of the game is that MyTeam was leading 1:0 at the end of first half with a beautiful goal from Arun. A Beckham-like lop from the right caught the National Team goalkeeper by surprise. The national team subsequently won with two well-taken free kicks. MyTeam almost leveled at the last minute of second half with an amazing penetration at the left wing, back passing to the centre and only saw the ball hitting the crossbar!

It was amazing because MyTeam players were all football amateurs. They all have their own occupations or vocations that have got nothing to do with football. I followed some of the series at TV3. Some of them are students, one of them (I think the Captain) own a speedboat fetching tourists to Island, another is car mechanic, another helps father selling motorbike, another with brothers as engineers and their mother is proud of them, etc. All of them play football at their free time. Some don’t even have a proper football field to play. But they were well-organized. Some of the attacks were fantastically well-designed.

It also shows how bad our National Team is. They almost lost to a team that was assembled in three months, a team with members that are ALL non-professional in football!!! No creativity in attacking and hardly effective in penetrating defence. Everyone in the stadium jeered them (which they had probably too use to it). I jeered them in front of TV.

Viewing the crowd of the night, we can almost conclude that we all “HATE” our National Team. Mereka Tak Guna! For a nation that loves football so much, they bring little pride to us. They lose most of their matches. They have yet to win an important title. They are not in Olympic and not in world cup. Europe clubs don’t want our national players, or don’t want most of them if not all.

Sure, I am one of those thirty-something who still remember my childhood years and our National Team glorious days of defeating the top teams in Asia. I still remember that rainy day match when we beat South Korea. Yes, our national team beat South Korea! It was a fantastic game in the rain...long long time ago. We had the strongest defence in the entire Asia with Soh Chin Aun (Taukeh) the Captain, Santokh Singh, Moktar Dahari and Arumugam the goalkeeper (oh, he was called Spiderman, if you still remember).

It really sadden and madden me to hear the coach and FAM president to NOT recognise our football problems. The issue is really not how the National Team struggled to beat an amateur team with a meagre margin. The issue is how the people in-charge still refuses to see there are big problems in our nation’s football development. The official still think we have time. What time, with these players? They cannot play properly. Two of them can only kick good free kick. There is NOTHING SPECIAL in them. They are national team players, they are supposed to be developed until one day they can get Malaysia into World Cup. But now, the game shows that there is NOTHING SPECIAL in them. Will they, the FAM official, get it?

FAM also played dirty tricks. They did not send in the senior National Team. They sent in so called the Under-20 National Team, with senior National Team players mixed into this "under-20". So when they lose, they will say "Oh, these are not real National Team." If they win, they will say "See, you can't beat our under-20 National Team."

The cheers for MyTeam from the 50,000-plus fans, didn’t go unnoticed by the Malaysian Selection, of whom the majority were under-20 players, but beefed up by seniors Khaironnisam Sahabuddin in defence, K. Nanda Kumar in midfield and Indra Putra Mahyuddin, who was a late inclusion upfront, they held firm. -- New Straits Times

But, now we know, the National Team are not really the U20.

Regardless what cards FAM played trying to fool the nation: one fact remain, our National Team Football sucks. I love Malaysia and I love football, therefore I care to write about this in my financial blog.

By the way, this is really funny from New Straits Times...

For the Malaysian Selection, more than pride was at stake. The fans, no doubt slightly swayed by the publicity MyTeam had generated since coming into being, were solidly behind the amateurs but the media exposure was only part of the reason.

The fans had got so used to seeing the national team fail that they came to watch the inevitable.

Ha Ha Ha...yes yes yes, so well-written.

Cheers again to MyTeam, you all are fantastic. Wish everyone of you good luck in your future. Wish you all, one day, represent Malaysia in the World Cup Final. Our current national team doesn't have such dream. They dare not dream such dream.

Jeer again to our not-really-Under-20 National Team "Boooo...", and that national team coach who pretentiously said "We are not really prepared..." Balik kampung lah. Pakai tipu pun tipu lebih baik sikit.

football | soccer | malaysia | MyTeam | national team | Pasukan Malaysia |

Have your tried e-Filing? (3)

I have to admit that I finally filled up the form and send in my Form BE on 25 April 2006. I did not further exploring e-Filing.

I am not sure whether I am a typical internet user. I am an extensive internet user but whenever I face hassle using an online banking transaction my first reaction is usually...forget it. It is supposed to make life simpler and not to create further actions to call here and there.

Next year, may be, next year e-Filing...

However, here is the step-by-step guide to e-Filing published in theSun newspaper on 19 April 2006. I find it useful.

My original issue on income tax e-Filing
Part 1: Have your tried e-Filing?
Part 2: Have your tried e-Filing? (2)
Part 3: Have your tried e-Filing? (3)

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