Lowest Household Income

Today is Friday and another weekend is right in front of us. Shopping spree, spending your hard earned money, yes? Then, perhaps a quick glance at our income is a good thing to do.

I saw this in the local daily not too long ago and tried to check it out with Department of Statistics, Malaysia. These particular figures are not made public, so I guess we'll have to make do with what Daily Express shared with us:

Source: Department of Statistics Malaysia (JPM)

First, a bit of jargon buster.

1. Household income is a measure of the combined incomes of people sharing a particular household or place of residence. It includes every form of income - salaries and wages, retirement income, investment gains, biz income, etc.
2. Mean and Median - the two terms used by statisticians to find an indicator of household income in certain geographic area. JPM uses mean or average.
   

In Malaysia, household income normally refers to the combined income of husband and wife as this is the most common finding when census is carried out.

You can see from the histogram that Sabahans are among the lowest income earners, with average of RM3,144 per household. This means that each member of the contributing person earns about RM1,570. If Labuan is removed from the equation, I am quite sure Sabah would fall further down.

Our friends in Putrajaya command higher income with average household bringing home double the amount of what we earn in Sabah.

To put things into perspective, median monthly household income for some of our neighbour countries (in 2009) are:

1. Singapore : SG$4,850 (USD3,785)
2. Philippines : P17,166 (USD395)
3. Malaysia : RM4,025 (USD1,275)
4. United States : USD4,148

[Sabah : RM3,144 (US$995)]

The United States are not really our neighbour geographically but economically they are considered by many as yardstick.

So, heading for the shopping malls this weekend?

Have a great weekend everyone.

Cheapest Computer

Super cheap but is it fit-for-purpose?

Students showing off the new Tablet - Aakash. Image from Voice of America.

If you recall, a week a or two ago, India introduced a super cheap computer, the Aakash for Rs.2250 (US$45/RM135). Well, a tablet computer to be exact. Over the years India has been well known for its initiatives in producing cheap and affordable stuffs. Not too long ago India's Tata stunned the automobile world with its US$2,000 car, Nano.

It is understood that the tablet can be had at $35 with subsidy from the government, specifically for students. A commercial version would cost around $70 to be made available later.

Enter Bangladesh.

It seem that India is not the only nation building cheap computers. Bangladesh this week introduced the Doel, Android-based laptop in Dhaka priced at 10,000 Taka (US$130/RM390), according to BBC.

Compared to Aakash, the price of Doel is a bit steep but for a $130, who can complain much about a fully functional laptop. I wouldn't. It is a very decent effort by creative individuals. For some, the ability to connect with the rest of the world and the convenience of being able to do away with papers is far more important than the built quality of the tool itself.

Think about people with low household income of $300 to $400 but with decent educational infrastructure available around them. The Aakash or Doel may just be what they need, not iPad2 or the latest HP dv6 series.

Alright, let's have a look at the brief highlight of the comparison between the two latest cheap gadget, see for yourself if the price gap is justified:

In two words - pleasantly cheap. Period. My only hope is that people don't sacrifice green with cheap. Please consider your e-wastes and the environment as you design your stuff, hopefully the smaller (and cheaper) the gadget the smaller the production waste will be.

The Doel is essentially a scaled-down laptop like Aspire One, Lenovo IdeaPad, Inspiron Mini but priced much lower. Come on Malaysian IT enthusiasts, bring on your homegrown RM399.00 laptop/tab now. Afterall, who invented the thumb drive? Phua Khein Seng. He's a Malaysian.

Call it Nuri, Bangau, Kenyalang, or even your name.

Energy Efficiency by SESB

Being the sole licensee for the supply of electricity in Sabah, SESB has initiated a drive to promote energy efficiency in the State. The Energy Efficiency Steering Committee (EESC) meeting is to be called this week at power company's head office in Karamunsing, Kota Kinabalu.

The main focus is to accomplish noble objectives such as:

1. To identify challenges and solutions to the promotion of Energy Efficiency or energy saving initiatives amongst consumers in Sabah,
2. To build a strong and effective collaboration of ideals, efforts and results amongst key industry players,
3. To accelerate a culture of responsible consumerism and an effective energy demand management in Sabah.

There were few other initiatives by SESB in the past but let's hope this one - with the involvement of some ministries and key industry players - would bring about better results towards preserving energy via efficiency.

Stay efficient, save energy, save money!


Let's see if this'd come out in the local dailies tomorrow.