trueeee

that part on splitting the bills is sooooo true.

i get that all the times too. hate those marketing gimmicks.

OH MY GOD. Thank god we just have GST in New Zealand...

Then again, prices here are high up...

It's like a Japanese Pacific...

Everything. Is. Expensive.

You name it, and I'll tell you. I guarantee it is at least more than 4 digits.

Not including service tax. Ha ha.

Oh oh...

Or this thing we have called...

Administration fees.

Yep, that's right...

If you work in an office you can charge a processing fee.

AND: To get something copied here, as in printed or scanned,, it costs $8.00

For an...

Uploading fee!

LOL! i agree about this, so very annoying.

Pizza hut service tax?

What service??

Sorry...but what is a "Datuk"?

(And while you're at it, what's a Tun, Toh Puan, Datuk Seri, Datin Seri, Tan Sri, Puak Sri, Dato and Datin?)

Thanks. :)

all these service charges and taxes are bloodsuckers!

Last week I went to Merry Brown.
And their prices are already rounded up inclusive of gov. tax.
So its basically different than other fast food restaurants.

Hmm...why use Datuk...be a big shot...use Tun...Tun Kenny Sia...lol.

Anyways, true enough paying for a flight on the so-called low fares is shocking for a first timer. Nonetheless, the MAS all inclusive fare would make any customer feel...less cheated. HEHE...using MAS to go to KL this January. Too bad the A330 (MH2507) flights are not low fare...enough.

The Starbucks here advertises the full price. I believe it's called 'the law'. Some restaurants do add service charge but NEVER a casual place.

Agree , that's not making any sense , its just another kind of hidden cost

Ya, hate those hidden service charge ,gov tax andsuch....hahah well, restaunrant and shop in aust already mark up their price with GST so, u will know the actaul price ...wow... Mas so kind lately?..haha will try travel with it then

cheers.... great post ~

all hail Datuk ~ haha

a datuk going on economy class HAHA!

on an related note - I'm totally for taking out the 10% service charge of bills. Come on, why shld i be forced to pay an xtra 10% when most of the time the money goes towards the boss's coffers instead of the service crew?

that's their advertising gimmicks, they'll always advertise at the lowest possible prices, get to know their gimmicks and you won't mind it anymore. Drink your coffee or tea at mamak stall, no tax & no service charge :)

just like those stupid department stores, always put a hefty price tag with the discount board hanging above. bodoh betul la, coz sometimes i didnt see the discount board and assume the clothes are that expensive and left the place. their loss, then.

"Hmm...why use Datuk...be a big shot...use Tun...Tun Kenny Sia...lol."

i think he used "datuk" to show that how easy it is to get that salutation nowadays =)

I SOOOO Aggreee.. its not like you can have the pizza without paying for it... so why not include the taxes? unless of cos they expect us to cook it ourselves.

yeah, so true Kenny.
not that we don't have enough cash to pay,
but now we're buying/eating,
not calculating!

couldn't agree more with your post.

Kudos for bringing up the subject...believe me..even nasi kandar outlets are also at it!. It's about time the government fellas go and check how genuine these Only-God-knows-what-they-are percentages...and where the many unassuming customers are really taken out for..

Good one kenny..Rm0.70 is still money rite..

It is fine that they charge and document 5% on the receipt. But Many outlets, due to their status or turn over, 5% tax is applicable.
Funny, many shops hang up 5% tax is applicable, but they NEVER NEVER issue receipt to most customers. They just simply us a piece of paper and pass on the lady boss. Imagine, they are collecting your TAX on behalf without document, not even register in the POS. I had seen many many restaurant, outlets and busy popular stalls, which suppose to tax 5% but hardly issue the guests any receipt with 5% tax .
Thank you for paying tax to their private wealth.

Stupid tax indeed. Starbucks should just display the prices inclusive of the tax to avoid causing unecessary confusion for their customers. Duh.

FREE my ass..lol
thats why i never believe them. hahaha

Pizza Hut should never ever charge 10% service tax! What kind of service did they give? Utter nonsense!

splitting bills are always a problem...

sigh...

Agree!!!

Gosh, that's sooo true!!

How much MAS pay you?

i gotta agree with that mr kenny!!

Your take on MAS is incorrect. I just tried to book a flight from KL to Penang on Christmas. The online booking systems found the flights for the round-trip, listed as MYR79 each way.

BUT the total at the bottom of the screen says "Total price including tax: MYR350". My maths sucks my it's not THAT bad.

So, Kenny, your new hero is just another fraud.

this is absolutely true!! so ridiculous and the datuk thingy is so cool. you tried it!! haha

is hard to divide anyway, knowing how malaysian behave, they could simply argue

'i had only 2 slices and you had 5 slices of pizza'

typical chinese :)

when paying the bill, juz add up wat u ate and times 1.15 (eg 15% tax).. not tat difficult rite? =D

The part about advertising with full fare - Singapore advertising authority has made it MANDATORY for anyone (especially airliners) to advertise the full all-in-rate for their promotional airfare. It's about time they impose this in Malaysia because it's always deceiving the public when they say 'free seats'and with a fine print at the bottom

biasa lah...

if u want the good things + good service , pay more tax..hee

apa boleh buat....go LHDN report?

is this a message for air asia? i thought you like em?

haha.. i always encounter the teeeeeeedious calculation of the meal cost and all the extra pays again when eating with a big group of frens. as if they wanna pull out the joy of eating together. ugh. surely sometimes hv to pay wayy more again because its such an odd figure! double ugh!

LOL DATUK KENNY SIA NOW =D

Dude, your Datuk skit really cracked me up! Keep up the good posts man!

Not true for the malaysia airlines, i check already, still got tax to pay.

If this is an advertorial, you may want to check on the facts. MAS is not the first airline to advertise nett all-in prices. Airlines such as SIA has been doing it for sometime now.

The MAS is not true also... Have to pay so much. :p

CHEE BYE TRY TO CHEAT US WITH TAX!
i donno what to do -__-

TRUE !! KENNY ! WHAT YOU SAID WAS SOOOO TRUE !!! I HATE SPLITTING BILLS !!!!!! FcUK Gov Tax !! FcUK SERVICE CHARGE !

They can just put the cost of the food with service and tax charges right?

And I wanna be book a ticket so I can be a Datuk..is that how Shah Rukh Khan got his datukship?

omg this is my FAVVV post so far. brilliantly written with pictures as evidence too! screw "ZERO FARES" man! all lao chiansss~

hey! I saw Chessie!!!! so cute!

i hear pizza hut in msia charge serivice charges according to races. only non malays HAVE to pay. is it true??????

SOOOO trueeee~!! n yes, for pizza hut, only non malay need to pay the service charges (10%).

is that group picture an old one? ringo looks pre-haircut.

haha kennysia so fast turn your back on AirAsia ar?? how would tony fernandez feel??

good! Datuk Kenny...now you support our Sarawakian Dato Sri Idris Jala(M'sia Airlines CEO) from Bario highland,Sarawak.
check this;
http://www.asiamoney.com/default.asp?page=7&PubID=185&ISS=22675&SID=656176

Advertorial or not, this is certainly a very well written entry. I like the way you always bring up some topics that we, Malaysians never give a damn about & turn it into something for us to go "Hmm... true true."

Kudos again.

Really? They started advertising all-inclusive fares? That's great! Hopefully all other airlines and restaurants will follow...

I hate the split bill part... as the one who paid it all will tend to collect the money back, in a way lesser amount (because you can't divide the bill equally)... sigh....

1) are you really sure that only non malays were charged 10% for service tax in pizza hut?

2) what if i am dining with malay.

nice..thx for sharin d info..and also on d advice about gossips!

personally...i nvr had problems with gossips cuz i was in a boy secondary high school..untill i came to college! ah! anyway thx again!

Agree with u kenny. People just wanna eat out and enjoy themselves and not do calculus. I think the People in Power should push forward to bring this practice once for all to and end. Small token but big impact for the rakyat.

That rm0 menu is ridiculous , Mr fernandez is going to get you lol

Oh that's so true about the splitting bills part. I remember when I went to Dragon-i in KL with a bunch of Singaporean friends. I paid the bill first by credit card and after that, they all paid me the exact amount of what they had ordered, and end up that I had to fork of RM20++ for them because of the stupid 10% service charge and 5% government tax. It was very frustrating.

Oh! Not forgetting the tibits and the wet tissue charges as well.. zZz.. frustrations...

i believe it's a way of marketing. it's something like selling price of rm10 tagged as rm9.99.

those restaurants and stuffs wouldnt wanna "bear the responsible" of charging so expensive due to "govt protection fee" and service charge and stuff like that.

so they will prefer to price tag it at the so-called original price before the small tiny little wording "5% govt tax and 10%service tax".

that's the trend now. for anything, u have to pay more than what it's worth of.

whee looks like someone likes green tea frapp too~!!:)

I love the mountains, I love the clear blue skies ~
I love big bridges, I love when great whites fly ~
I love the whole world word, and all it's sights and sounds ~

Boom-de-yadda, Boom de-yadda ~

I love to try stuff, I love real dirty things ~
I love the idiots talkin shyt, I love the schadenfreude ~
I love the whole world, It's such a brilliant place ~

Boom-de-yadda, Boom de-yadda ~
Boom-de-yadda, Boom de-yaddaa ~
Boom-de-yadda, Boom de-yaddaaa~
Boom-de-yadda, Boom de-yaddaaaaaa ~
BOOM DE YADDAAA !! :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5BxymuiAxQ

Kudos to MAS for introducing all flat rates!

YEA! SPLITTING BILLS WITH FRIENDS IS HARD!! but usually we pay more than we should and let the fella collecting the money keep the change =)

thats american for ya.

Next time you walk in busy outlets and watch the counter display 5% tax . Please observe the sneaky eyes of the boss...
Whether they issue a receipt to you if you never ask for it.
LorMee in Uptown Damansara and HarMee in Segambut...always cheat..

you Tony's gud fen now. tht why u don't post airasia pics. u scare offend him la. airasia started wiz 0 fare and lots of hidden cost. bloody sia....

shit. I juz bought my brother a seat in Airasia kch-myy one way and it cost me RM170! If I know about this earlier, I could've get him the RM54 using MAS! Fark.

fcking ridiculous. self service restaurant should not charge service charge !!!

Which is why I like living and eating in Perth. Prices stated have no additional charges, it's all included. which definitely saves me and my pals the headache when splitting bills or when buying fast food!

Leeches! Disgusting!

Not so long ago, you were sort of supporting AirAsia. Now you're supporting MAS. What happened? Some dispute with the AirAsia people?

To shed some light, yes, there's indeed a thing called "service tax" which is supposed to be levied on "taxable services". This tax is actually being administered by our dear Royal Malaysian Customs dept.

"Taxable services" include, amongst others, hotel accommodation, golf driving range, massage parlours, provision of F&B, etc. But do note that not all services are actually taxable.

On the other hand, "service charge" is actually not a tax, but rather a fee being charged by the service providers and it is SUPPOSED to be allocated between the employees at the end of every month (in which some bastards never do this).

And the best part is, you CAN actually opt not to pay for the service charge if you're not satisfied with their services cos there's no legal obligation for you to pay that (i think so)... Hope this clear up some confusion. :)

what a well written piece of advertorial. i am expecting this the moment i saw the title. they should put back the price on the menu the way it should. no more hidden cost.

Malaysia Funny Images

Can't really blame on the airlines part though, fuel surcharge and airport taxes varies according to different areas and countries. At times it changes just as fast as the fuel prices hike. Take note that airline is airline, they dont own the airport so its hard for them to set a fixed price to all these, especially if its a different country with different standard and currency exchange. (10 cents difference can make up a huge difference for 225 passengers per flight)

The reason they are offering these free tickets is to occupy as much seats as possible when they fly, because whether the plane is full or not they still have to pay up a large amount for the fuel( fuel for a plane in gallons is not cheap ok, especially when youre refilling the fuel in another country, your'e basically buying it in their price, not your local country price)and airport tax, so instead of paying for the loss in fuel and airport tax it would be better to suffer less from the loss in tickets.

For some airports there are rules that you need to meet up a specific quota of passengers in the plane or they wont allow you to land in their airport.

So that's basically the purpose of this gimmic. Tickets in fact dont cost much at all, or in this case its free. Its the surcharges that's doing the blood sucking. Have fun flying =D

Kenny, you 2 face money worshipper...

Not long ago, you were screaming your lungs out, professing your undying love for Air Asia, Tony Fernandez and all that shit. Fast forward a few months later, you actually took a 180o turn and hail MAS as the new icon of low cost travel? Oh God... no wonder people say you're such a "lui bin" (read it out loud in hokkien). What a disappointment...

OMIGOSH!!!! hahahahahahah~ datuk.... @.@"

Datuk Kenny Sia gets the honourship from which state? :P

Lucky that there's no GST in HK~ :)
But still there are stupid 10% Service Charge everywhere! And except the 10% SC, they always expect tips from you!

It's fine if they provide fine food and good service. But in HK, the waiters used to serve cusomters with shit faces and disdain... :P

ya.. what u said it's true..
but i feel u're making all this fuss up.. the iPod thingy, and now this.. r u hoping that u will get more benefits via all these posts?
i used to like ur posts a lot.. but not anymore

EVERYONE knows about the 10% and 5% tax.... and how hard is it to calculate your taxes if you want to split a bill? Take the price of whatever you at and times that by 1.15. If people can't even do a simple calculation like that then shame on Malaysian education system.

How difficult it is to count if you ate something for RM 35 to + RM 3.5 + RM 1.75 to it? Just round it up to RM 40. The only problem I see is that many people tend to purposely forget to pay the taxes when the bill is split.

i totally agree with Ray!!

For once i think this entry is annoying and plain stupid. Who dunno that we live in a world of deceptions? Businesses would advertise cheaper prices WITHOUT adding any taxes to attract customers.

Living in Malaysia for so long, this is already a norm in life.

michaelkon:
"Your take on MAS is incorrect. I just tried to book a flight from KL to Penang on Christmas. The online booking systems found the flights for the round-trip, listed as MYR79 each way.

BUT the total at the bottom of the screen says "Total price including tax: MYR350". My maths sucks my it's not THAT bad.

So, Kenny, your new hero is just another fraud."

Dude, I think you need to read fine the T&Cs. It said:

Blackout Period: 20 Dec 2008 - 04 Jan 2009, 21Jan 2009 - 02 Feb 2009, 06 Mar 2009 - 16 Mar 2009, 22 May 2009 - 08 Jun 2009

which means no cheap fares for 25 December.

I agree with commentor MichaelKon.

MAS 'All Inclusive Low Fares' promo is a total fraud!!

Try it out, Kenny. Esp. if yuo gonna start promoting it!

You guys complain when MAS fare is too expensive at one time. Now they lower it till this level and you guys still want to complain.

How fraud wit the MAS 'All Inclusive Low Fares' promo?

Free food, no baggage surcharge like what AirAsia is doing, and an extra 5kg of weight to carry compare to AirAsia. The only similarities is the seats.

yea, I totally agree with you man! These 'hidden charges' has got to stop! I don't see such unscrupulous sales gimmick in the West! Kudos to MAS for doing things differently and it is great!

well in america you never know what the real price is. heated your sandwich? add tax. cold drink from starbucks? as listed (well this one actually depends on location)

sintak222,

1. This blog entry was about extra charges HIDDEN & DISGUISED as taxes and misc. fees. The so-called blackout IS HIDDEN in the T&C.

2. When you are at the flight-booking screen, you pick the flights to suit your dates.From the shortlisted choices pick the items which are marked MYR79 each trip. It should total RM158. If the result reads "Total price including tax: MYR350" it simply means the taxes were NOT part of the fare as shown on screen.

If it is within the blacked out period, then it should NOT have been included in the list of choices.

Sheasy:
"How fraud wit the MAS 'All Inclusive Low Fares' promo?
Free food, no baggage surcharge like what AirAsia is doing, and an extra 5kg of weight to carry compare to AirAsia. The only similarities is the seats."

How come?!! MAS's seat is much more spacious than AirAsia lor.. u tried before or not? or you are the skinny type? tried to sit in AirAsia for 2 hours you will know how pain is your backbone.

Oopss, my comment should refer to Bliss but not Sheasy, sorry :(

LOL... it's very correct!

and.. i booked the MAS recent promotion's ticket already. it's fare enough! fly from kl to labuan only Rm84! even cheaper than air asia RM0 free seats, but after TAX --> Rm98~
zzzzz

good concept.. should do it like this early !

It's all the same in SGP...

Enjoyed reading your post...none of fellow sgpreans DARE to blog like you..
You know..the freedom of speech...
;)

Sheasy:
"How fraud wit the MAS 'All Inclusive Low Fares' promo?
Free food, no baggage surcharge like what AirAsia is doing, and an extra 5kg of weight to carry compare to AirAsia. The only similarities is the seats."

And amendment: Seats as in............you cannot choose your own seats and need to pay extra if you do

I would certainly pay up for something so reasonable. But the best, its unlike the fcuking AirAsia that increases the ticket prices over time. You need to book months earlier to get prices like that.

U are absolutely so true! It is indeed annoying when the price u see was not what we paying for! Although we know that the 5% govt tax is going to charge at our bill but at least the display of price could included the govt tax, isn't it? Since the 5% govt tax is a must!

the reason why Starbucks and Pizza Hut list prices without tax included is because these chains originate from the US, and in the US, different states charge different amount of taxes.
So they list the price, pre-tax, so that the pricing is uniform across the chains.

all the prices displayed on the menu are exclusive of EFFING TAX !
it's not like in the UK where the menu has everything inclusive of tax .

thats a great post !
keep them coming !!!

lol, its sad but its true... lol

okay. you're back to your best. i like this post. funny, enjoying and yet i feel contented. haha! good job kenny!=)

You make this entry unlike an advertorial post at all. Great job and I enjoyed reading the post =)

I shall call myself DYMM already xD

finally some one has spoke for us, after a long time. yeah i personally finds it very frustrating due to have to dig out extra coins to pay for d bloody taxes and so on. better they just include iniside and ppl like us dun have to be so pathetic right ? yeah i do aware of mas lastest ads. this way they can be more honest to them their customer, wateva u paid means its inside, thats how u call the word INCLUDED !

yeah! fabulous topic, that is true, hope we have more people can point out those trick and words.

DUDE if it wasn't for AirAsia do you think MAS will be so cheap? sigh.

Just like what Henry said, it makes a lot of accounting sense if the same item is sold under different kind of tax schemes. Especially in the US where each state decides on their sales tax. Imagine the convenience on advertising (same ads, save cost), cost and profit projection (one price structure) and etc.

For airasia, it makes sense because the same ticket is taxed differently between two airports.

But for places like Starbucks, KFC, Pizza Hut..... that's just dumb. Unless, of course, let's say they sell a big mac here for RM 10 and RM 10*exchange rate in Singapore. Then, I can forgive them for doing this.

maybe u deserve a datukship for this post!

Just like what Henry said, it makes a lot of accounting sense if the same item is sold under different kind of tax schemes. Especially in the US where each state decides on their sales tax. Imagine the convenience on advertising (same ads, save cost), cost and profit projection (one price structure) and etc.

For airasia, it makes sense because the same ticket is taxed differently between two airports.

But for places like Starbucks, KFC, Pizza Hut..... that's just dumb. Unless, of course, let's say they sell a big mac here for RM 10 and RM 10*exchange rate in Singapore. Then, I can forgive them for doing this.

Agree with hee. Soon, the blog will be named www.datukkennysia.com. or grandpa kennysia. haha

some how have this wicked feeling you're doing an undercover market survey for your friends at AirAsia..hmmm....

SGP also like tat wat. u mean sin restaurant put NETT price ?? everything also comes out + 7%GST n 10% service charge can ??? so wats with msia ???

Aussie and the Brits dun have such extra surcharge cause they are Aussie and Brits. How the f**k you guys are comparing those systems with the one here? Different place have different systems, so stop comparing it.

As for those ads, tell me, which businessman/woman doesn't want to advertise their products/services like that to attract in customers? If you study basic business, this is one of the commonest tactics to make it look cheap and attractive.

One more thing, who the hell tell you ppl that business is fair for the customers? Business is never fair at all levels. Its either we buy smartly or waste money for us consumers.

I really don't mine paying the extra RM2, if I actually have some royalty treatment.
But no~ The shithead waitresses behind the counter will give us the plain "RM44.76", snatches our cash, slam the register shut, and that's it.
No thank you, no "Have a nice day".

"Be like Australia, sikit-la." You get 'more' than what you pay for. With all the GST and tax already calculated in the bill, it makes shopping lots better, even if the price after exchange rate is heaps more.

It's called 'consumer rights' they have been teaching in schools.

Way to go, DatukSia!! hehe :) :)

Got fed up with having to pay service charge for inept services!!

What happened to your deal with Tony Fernandes? Now you're taking up an offer from MAS? LOL

The govt has actually stopped collecting the 5% charge from restaurants and they still continue collectring from the consumers.

tony is so not gonna get a man-gasm alert after reading this.

Kenny...

I think your readers deserve some respect. Please make a clear distinction between your ads (which we totally don't mind having around) and the content on your blogs.

Make your money by selling the real estate on your blog by all means. But, come'on, don't let it taint the content.

you're married to AirAsia, but having an affair with MAS? i sure hope it's only a one night deal that paid heck of a lot.

whosyourdaddy - i think it's quite clear from the title of this entry that it's an ad right? kenny already said "advertorial" leh. not clear enuff distinction meh?

hey mommy... that's my point. Sell the banner ads, and the other real estate on the site... but leave the content alone.

You need a dictionary with that?

I think Kenny is using this chance to get more offers out of AirAsia. Soon i think there would be an ad "AirAsia: KL - KCH ---> RM99 inclusive all cost"

this is like d smartest entry from u in a few yrs now. well done.

well who are we to decide on kenny's revenue stream? not like we're doing something those ads on newspapers, on television, on radio and on the billboards along the highway? some more you have to pay for the newspaper and pay toll to use the road. to me, those are infinitely more annoying and in-your-face compared to advertorial blog entries, which at least are still fun to read.

LOL, no body force u to eat there, tak suke tak yah pegi/pakai hahahhaha

Hic! Luckily in Thailand, the price shown is always inclusive of the GST.

Hmmm...i wonder hoh, if i order a take away from Pizza Hut, will there still charge me the 10% service charge ah?

Sooo true. Especially when u go with a group of ppl, in the end u paid for all the taxes and service charges.

I actually did bring the exact amount of money once when I was buying popcorn.

It was in TGV 1U and I brought the exact amount for a large popcorn with coke, the guy tapped in the bill and I was like 20 cents short I think.

I told him I didn't have that extra 20 cents, he gave me a grin, accepted money. That's it.

I know I cheapskate la, do anything to save that 20 cents. =/

lol datuk...unbelievable~

Daniel:

Well, do you know then all cheap fares come with very stringent T&Cs - that's why they are cheap. That includes cannot buy cheapo tix during peak travel period and tix will burn if not used. Look around and you will realize that all airlines actually practice blackout periods during promos. So bro, if you want to travel during peak, go buy la normal fares...lol

Hei, i hope u can blog about the Vietnam motorbike news...http://malaysia.news.yahoo.com/ap/20081028/tap-as-vietnam-road-rules-9a7ed42.html

Yes! Datuk Kenny for president n abolish all this tax tax. hehehe

Ohmansosad, I agree with you those tax and service charge thingy really have to stop. Those are just plain stupid.

if you can put Datuk even if you are not, Datuk Shah Rukh Khan may feel his datukship is a nothing compare to yours. :P

woohoo...Datuk.

Be fair. The fares shown are all super duper early or late flights. The blackout period are so long. I'm sure you are not an idiot.

lol

Same as Canada. I bought a watch which I thought was C$135 but the bill came out C$140++ and like a stupid tourist, I asked the salesgirl "I thought it's $135".
salesgirl: Oh, there a 7% provincal tax and 5% gov tax
me: ??!!?!?!?!

maybe Msia is the only country where cafes neva show price afta tax unlike in spore which makes consumer more pleasant as u c is wt u pay..

good 1 kenny

I rarely leave you a comment but this time, it's a must. Good job on all these awareness. Haha! Govt need 5% to buy helicopter ma.

we have to pay the 5% lo.

Good one, Datuk Kenny Sia!

i'm totally into you man Datuk Kenny! Scrap those fucking taxes.. ARGHGHGHHGH

agreed...fully agree with this, in fact this is unethical way of doin business...

Salute to you, Datuk Kenny Sia!!! Hehe...

Genius ending!! One of the best post in a very long time.. Go Datuk Kenny!! No mile high club s*x tape pls!

HAHA. Hail Datuk Kenny Sia..

Way to go KENNY!!

One day you'll u become first blogger to be given the title Datuk.

http://kelvinsse.blogspot.com

Have anyone of you wonder why there is Datuk why isnt the female called Nenek?
why?

LOL

randomness.

www.ruionkoh.blogspot.com

Hahaha... funny.. Gud for u to speak it out loud.. :-) but nothing we can do..huhu..

I am no one to talk but ive been reading some stuff on other sites about you. Honestly, based on what ive read and if they are true, I am surprised of what you did seeing that you have a gf BUT i have no rights to say anything.

I do not know the whole story and I am not here to dig it out from you. I really liked (actually I still like) you as a blogger, kenny and i think youre really entertaining.

I do not see why all these people have to force the "truth" out from you. Who are they that you have to report your personal life to? They are just a bunch of busybodies and i really dont like what ive been seeing in those sites. I feel like they have no right to do that to you. No matter what you may have done. You can choose to deny, you can choose to admit. It is up to you and not them to decide on it.

All i have to say is kenny, I am glad that this post still contains the entertainment value which attracted me to your blog in the first place.

Let them dig all they want. Just be oblivious to it and dont feel like you have to explain yourself to them. Cos you dont. Do take care because I am a concerned reader who is worried about the effects those idiots might have caused.

:)

Kenny, I totally agree with you regarding the tax. Sometimes the "service charge" gets on my nerves too, because more often than not, we DO NOT GET GOOD SERVICE, so why must we pay for SERVICE CHARGE?

As this is a advert post, I wonder how much MAS pays our Datuk Kenny Sia, as he has to shoot down Starbucks, Pizza Hut, and Air Asia.

Hehehe... Just a thought.

i believe that airlines now are required BY LAW to publish their flat rates (including the 'hidden' charges) on their advertisements, so this means an end to those 'marketing gimmicks' in the aviation sector at least.

no idea yet when this takes effect, but it's been announced in major newspapers if you ever take the time to read. whether or not this new requirement would be expanded to fit other industries, who knows?

on another topic, tough being a blogger, eh? give out a neutral point of view and you get accused of taking sides. cheers.

Now it's another gimmick widely used in Europe, one way all in but the return ticket will be astronomical. Back to square one.

soooooo freaking trueeeeeeeeeee....time to ring up tony fernandes kenny...and tell him to stuff it with his "free" seats..

after MAS,JetStar airways & AirAsia..coming soon...will fly direct S'pore-Kota Kinabalu & S'pore-Kuching...for right now the ticket already on sale...i just bought JetStar S'pore-KK ticket...the prices are S$79+59(ticket)+S$137(Tax&Charge)+S$29(insurance)+S$6(???gimmick cost Facilitation Fee)=S$310...ha...ha..

Kenny,

I couldn't agree with you more. AirAsia has been the main culprit of this "LOW FARES, RM 9 one way" or 1,000,000 FREE Seats" crap. And they are still doing it till today. No remorse whatsoever. And they claimed they are "World’s Best New Airline 2008, The Budgies World Low Cost Airline Award" or "AirAsia awarded Best Asian Low-Cost Carrier by TTG". What a load of bulls*hit!

Just go to AirAsia website now. Now they offering "Free Seat Fever to Singapore" or "Fly to Padang & Surabaya for FREE!Book now". Yes, there are terms and conditions which stated "fares do not include taxes and fees". But do they tell you how much their taxes and fees are? No right? See how daring they are. Or should I say how crappy or sh*tty they are.

:)

i face the same problem too.. when i was dining in pizza hut..its not that im stingy to giv them extra 10% or 15% in total..its just i feel like my rights as a consumer has been abused.. coz as i know 5% gov tax is the tax from gov to them for their profit like us(worker) we have our income tax..
if liddat why dont we tax our company for our income tax..ask our bos pay extra 10%... pisses me off la these ppl..

Alas poor taxes, I know them well.

I hated the fact that in Vancouver we had to pay 5% on GST and 7% on Provincial taxes as well... and I groaned that in Europe and Asia there are no such idiocy...

Well, thank god now everyone is on the same page, because I'm coming home in 14 days.

Damn.

lol kenny..at least you don't have to pay VAT. Praise the vault!

Ahahahaa! Mr. Datuk Kenny Sia! And they didn't say anything? xD Haha, so much for false advertising! You just false advertised yourself Kenny! Lol!

Yea I hate it how they're like that in Msia. At least in Aus, prices are high and expensive but when you split the bill, you know EXACTLY how much you ought to pay since prices are already GST included. A far more convenient way to have a good time with friends without looking like your cheap~!

thank you kenny. this is the only time im compelled to drop a msg and say thank you! cos i just booked my holiday with mas airlines the minute i finish reading your post, SERIOUSLY! yes, i agree sometimes air asia is cheaper if i book 6 months ahead, but sometimes with my last minute holiday plans, i REALLY cant book with air asia, cos for last minute fares, its pretty costly, like super costly, like abhorringly expensive. i was close to tears when i thought i couldnt book my holiday anymore, until ur post! thank youuuuu!!! i will buy you souvenirs, yes, that i promise, even though we're complete strangers, but because u just solve my problem, thats the best way i can think of to say thank you. and yeah, u did well with this post too! what a lead in for a topic:)

Good Morning Datuk Kenny Sia!!

Kenny, you got the point. but, this is a type of business strategies of those restaurants and cafe. By not putting the service tax and gov tax into the the price, is to attract ppl 1st impression. cheap! it is very human nature, most of the ppl will definitely put their focus into low price tag compared to those expensive one. next, another human-nature, we are "too kind". ask yourself, how many times you will terminate the order after your order has been made, and only found out some unreasonable tax on it? 1 time, 2 times or never. most of us are never.

think again, government said only restaurants/cafe earn more than 3mil a year can collect their government tax from customer. Do you ask them to show you their financial report before paying the tax. last point, if you notice, now some of the franchisers not even put a breakdown of tax (gov 5%, serv 10%) into the bill, instead they put a lumsum (tax), now you can't really figure out what tax they are collecting..maybe "open-mouth" tax. makan pun nak bagi tax, lebih..

You said it out. I've been finding it annoying for years especially when u just want to foot the bill you still have to pay extra charges, it always made me pissed off. This has to be stopped, or maybe wait till malaysia become a tax free country?

LOL for the datuk part. That's bullshit.

you obviously haven't been to the states. here u buy chewing gum pun got tax :( EVERYTHING is taxed, and different state different rate. so sometimes you pay more for the exact same thing if you buy them at different places.

and usually places you have to clean up after yourself at the places that don't have service charge, like McDonalds, and most chinese restaurants. if they dont charge for service and they still serve you, thats where you have to tip them. cheap restaurants usually dont have service charge and rarely ask for tips, so you hv to clean your own mess.

Haha! Nice one! Budgets are really not cheap lor. In sg the taxes at budget terminal isn't budget at all!

good advertisement! :)

MAS cheaper only if you travel at specific dates & times.

i agree with you on the % charges. ridiculous

I have booked MAS tickets at those prices... very very happy...

Alor star to KL at 54 bucks...

KL to miri for 103...

Good deal ba!

Lol! this is so funny:)

That's the disadvantage of eating and dining out too often. Extra money goes to pay for the government tax and service charge or rather pay for the ambience. Hence, not everyone can afford to dine out often with the spiraling cost of food and cost of living.

On a side note, it is interesting to see that you can add a Datuk to your salutation in MAS online booking, right Dato' Kenny Sia?

Diana @ http://www.DianaTan.net

there is a rumour going on that only non-malays are being charged with the government tax and service charge. I wonder is this true?

you are just dumb. Dont like it ? Dont live in malaysia dumbshit

sintak222,

It seems you didn't get the point of my first comment? What I am saying is just that the MAS fares are not always as what is advertised, not so different from AirAsia; there ARE hidden costs as well.

And if there was something you were insinuating, I usually fly MAS and often at normal fares if I do not have a fixed schedule and may need to change flights.

What is Jala doing to the plane's cockpit?! 0_o

I managed to book that cheap fare for next May for as low as RM103 few days ago... woohoo :))

Rule of thumb. They must earn more than RM3million or be in a hotel. If not... make a scene. heheh

1. The public can decline to pay service tax to restaurant owners who fail to display their service tax license issued by the Royal Malaysian Customs.

2. The public have the rights to demand for receipts or invoices indicating that the 5% Service Tax payment or 5% tax inclusive payment has been made.

3. The public can make cross references of the list of restaurants licensed under
the Service Tax Act 1975 in the Customs website at www.customs.gov.my or
with the State Customs Director / Head of the Internal Revenue Division at the
respective Customs offices.

4. The public can submit their complaints / suggestions to the Customs Department via these e-mail addresses: cd@customs.gov.my or kastam@customs.gov.my or to the Head of the Internal Revenue Division at the respective states Customs offices.

5. The public can obtain and download service tax information / guidelines from the Customs website at www.customs.gov.my under the heading Internal Revenue with the sub-heading Service Tax.

6. Please be informed that failure to obtain a service tax license and issuing invoices, if convicted, can lead to a fine of RM5,000 or jail term of not more than 2 years, or both.

hahahhah its pretty much true u know... there's always hidden costs... and there's alot of restaurant that arent suppose to impose the 5% GST (konon lah if u make less than Rm3mIl a year) but still charges...gila man suck blood..&*^*#@

Folks, the writer is not two faced or loyal to any one company.

He is merely advocating the practise of all-in-pricing. No hidden costs, or at least that the fine print charges are highlighted upfront.

With the bills etc, you have to carry your own calculator to work out the % and then add to the supposed total to get the real total. With MAS, i believe those fine-print costs are mentioned on the webpage already.

i've totally no knowledge on the gst stuff...guess i'm just a typical consumer who paid everything listed on the bill. and pizza hut non-malay tax is really getting on my nerves.

I think our gov should follow what the UK people does..Their 17.5% are always included and printed as total of the price.

Even shocking news is Pizza hut is Racist. I don't know did they change o not but what I know from few years back, the Malays does not need to pay any service charge while the other race does.

This is so true especially for tourists visiting Malaysia, like me. I have encountered this at the Penang airport........ Do you expect me to change for Malaysian currency to apy for that bloody extra RM0.75 if i only have the exact ???????

kenny..tony fernandez will no more be ur friend la.. now u write here hentam his promo.. hehehehe..

all well said and I dun get it why do we have to pay for the "rounding"?

I feel the need to come to Pizza Hut's defense here.

The rumour that Pizza Hut charges service and government taxes to non-Bumis only is utterly and completely untrue.

I have checked with my Malay friends and they said they are charged service and government taxes as well.

tax again~
need to pay more money than the actual price...

Good afternoon Datuk Sia,

Well, we just have to accept the fact that Malaysia has implied such nonsense in our lives... 5% tax, 10% service charge and yeah..agree wit ou on 100% stupidity... especially when Airlines promoting ZERO Fares...felt kinda deceived by them!!!

Anyway, thanks for your email regarding the tips to Bali! Appreciate that a lot!!

Why are you whining about government tax & service tax on food? its not really rocket science. We dont tip in malaysia because there is already service tax. Anyway, nice pictures though.

I feel the need to come to Pizza Hut's defense here.

The rumour that Pizza Hut charges service and government taxes to non-Bumis only is utterly and completely untrue.

I have checked with my Malay friends and they said they are charged service and government taxes as well.
***

OMG there are comments on Malays who dont get taxed while dining? How stupid can the people who give comments give? On a scale of 1 to very stupid, id say very stupid!! If like that ill go eat out everyday laa kan since its cheaper for me? Please la. Use your brain before commenting and yeah use for brain, if it is even in existent!! :(

You guy's english understanding must have been terrible.

What does "Free Seats" imply? You all would simply imply and wishfully think that you get free air tickets. No, thats not it. "Free Seats" term only imply that the airline charge you nothing for the seats on their airplane and thats it only, you get to sit on the airplane for free. This term does not imply to any costs required before and after your air trip on the airplane. This term used by the airline company is by law or by logic, legal except for people who sucks in their understanding, thinking they had been cheated.

So for you guys who complained about this, i think you guys really need to take some english lectures again.

I must say this article has helped all Malaysians to voice out!

Huhuhuhu..
That's hidden cost....

I want to become Datuk Seri...
Flight with me/.

dude try purchase dominos instead of pizza hut, u will see the big different between cash and the taxes thing. This could one of good example for you to check out!

hey kenny, i booked my ticket immediately after i read your blog. scared it will sold out. :D
its certainly a great deal but tax is not included.

You make this long story just to empasize the " Datuk "?
Nice one.

Why complain like a girl?

agree with you kenny. it's really annoying. unlike in UK, "what we see is what we pay for"

hey! regarding the pizza hut thing, the service charge and all that crab only applies to non malay laaa... i have checked. 1st time went there with malay friends and i pay...got tax. Then a few weeks later we went there again, my malay friend pay and there is no tax.....since then i have stopped going to pizza hut for years liao

http://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopic=777546&hl=

for more information on government tax, please visit the link above...

Yup, it's a ploy to get us all! At least in Canada, we're not required in Starbucks to pay tips as part of the bill. But we do pay 12% tax on everywhere else excluding food. It is both annoying than expensive.

Atleast we're not in Denmark, I think tax there is in around there 20% range.

Hell yeah. I am totally agree on splitting the bills. On last friday, I went to Secret Recipe to celebrate my friends birthday and the bill . . . .Rm179. But we gotta pay them RM186. Eh how lah? : )

whats the point of writing in the comment box? is kenny going to go through all of them?

thats why when they give back change i take all of it... cause they've cheated us enough on service tax and wat not

omg... its bull shit..!! the MAS promo...

Service Charge MYR 18.00
Surcharge MYR 174.00
Net Surcharge
Adult: 2 MYR 218.00 MYR 192.00
Total MYR 410.00 each

OMFG..!!! ALL INCLUSIVE AIR FARE
-include fuel surcharge
-airpirt tax
-insurance levy

WHAT YOU SEE is WHAT YOU PAY FOR

^
|
|
NOT ON THE POSTER... ON THE FREAKING INVOICE..!!!

Kenny.. how much did they pay you to put tat advert up??!!!

oh kenny.. no hard feelings man..!! it could be an innocent mistake u made... its ok..!!! have a nice day..!!

kenny kenny, its like in sg you pay 7% GST. Msia 5% okay already. lol.

LOL I think pizza hut's manager read about this post, because they put the prices for BEFORE AND AFTER TAX NOW ON a NEW MENU! LOL LOL!