FEW Willing to Pay to go GREEN

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Only 1 in 5 Malaysian consumers are willing to pay more for eco-friendly products.

That is according to a global study by analysis firm Nielsen, and it's pretty low an appetite for greener products on our part.

According to Nielsen’s 2011 Global Online Environment and Sustainability Survey, 9 out of 10 Malaysian consumers show awareness and concern for environment pollution but 20% would actually be willing to pay more towards contributing to a greener world if it cost more to purchase environmentally friendly products.

There were 51 countries worldwide surveyed online and Malaysia ranked 9th in terms of consumer worries about the impact of air pollution and global warming. In this respect, Malaysians have shown good improvement compared to the last poll conducted in 2009. But being aware and concern is useless if they are not coupled with a commitment of sort, and this is where we are still lagging behind other countries.

What this means to the green industry is that this findings will have big implications for retailers and manufacturers looking to invest in environmentally-featured products to meet consumer needs.

I remember a quote by our State Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment Datuk Masidi Manjun, "...that it is about time we start paying to view cultural shows and performances so that not only will our cultures be preserved but it will become a self-sufficient industry..." or thereabout, and I fully agree with him.

It is about time we pay a little more for eco-friendly products. Hopefully this, together with the incentives given by the government will bring down further the cost of producing such goods.

Read more about Nielsen's 2011 Global Online Survey here.

So there, for every five Malaysians out there, only one is willing to buy the more expensive green products. Could that person be you?

Happy Merdeka Day

Selamat menyambut ulang tahun kemerdekaan daripada penjajahan British. Deklarasi kemerdekaan pada 31 Ogos 1957 merujuk kepada bermulanya pemerintahan sendiri Persekutuan Tanah Melayu (Malaya).

Hari Malaysia pula merujuk kepada terbentuknya federasi Malaysia pada 16 September 1963 bilamana negeri-negeri Sabah, Sarawak dan Singapura bergabung dengan negeri-negeri di Semenanjung Tanah Melayu membentuk sebuah negara berdaulat - MALAYSIA.

Selepas itu negeri-negeri di Semenanjung Malaysia dikenali sebagai Malaysia Barat maakala Sabah dan dan Sarawak yang terletak di Pulau Borneo dikenali dengan pangilan Malaysia Timur.

Secara peribadi saya lebih suka istilah Malaysia sahaja berbanding panggilan-panggilan yang bersifat regionalisation. Tidak perlu beza-membezakan antara satu sama lain, kita kan satu Malaysia.

Many thanks to Uncle Google for putting up a nice banner of "Independence Day" on his landing page for Google Malaysia for a good few days until 31st August 2011. As you hover your mouse/cursor above the banner, you will notice a hyperlink and a click would bring you to search results on 'Malaysian Independence Day' news and updates.

This year's Merdeka Theme is "1 Malaysia, Transformasi Berjaya, Rakyat Sejahtera" (1 Malaysia, Transformation Success, People Peace)

Top: Landing page, Bottom: after a click. Note the double celebrations marked with 'Ketupat' and the 'Jalur Gemilang'


This year's Hari Raya Eid ul-Fitr coincides with the Merdeka Day celebration.

Selamat Hari Raya, selamat merayakannya kepada saudara-mara, sahabat-handai dan taulan Muslim dan keep safe ya.

Could This Be the iPhone 5?

iPhone 5 is going to be launched next week!

Of course that was said in my wildest of dream. Apple Inc., is one company that is well known for being so tight-lipped when it comes to information on products launching. But with Samsung Galaxy S II release in the US scheduled for end-August (initially 29-08-2011 and later rumoured to be delayed for a day due to hurricane Irene), it is very much expected that iPhone 5 is well on its way in a matter of days rather than weeks.

Some says that iPhone 5 - or whatever it may be called - is going to be launched in the 1st or 2nd week of September. Some sites like The iPhone 5 News Blog even predict 7th or 12th September as release date with some credible insight and opinion bundled in.

I am a big fan of the iPhone and am very excited about the imminent release hopefully not too far away. I saw this purported clone of the iPhone 5 in giz-china.com and it looks pretty shiny, it could be a clone/fake of the real one.

If you recall, china made iPhone-alike is quite popular in our country and these functional sets look almost exactly like the real deal.

I took some of the pictures published by giz-china.com and compared them with that of my current 3GS. Look glossy actually.

The iPhone 3GS with iOS 4.3



Top- iPhone 3GS, bottom- iPhone5 by giz-china. Now, where is my 4" screen?




Left- iPhone5 by giz-china, right- iPhone 3GS. Note the curvy back of the 3GS.




Top- iPhone 3GS, bottom- iPhone5 by giz-china




Top- iPhone 3GS, bottom- iPhone5 by giz-china

The Galaxy S II is currently regarded as the cream of the Android clans and retailed at RM2,099.00 (US $699). The new iPhone 5 being retailed at RM2,399.00 ($799) is certainly conceivable.

I kind of like the iPhone-y 5 design with curved front glass and curved metal back panel but the display size is nothing new compared to the current iP4 and iP3GS - small and nowhere near to the Galaxy S II's 4.3 inch.

Okay, so let's wait for the release next week, shall we. If you ask me, I'll stand by what I mentioned in the first sentence.