Trust v2

Is the reason for red-tapes and bureaucracy due to lack of trust? Or also due to poor enforcement? And does red-tape and bureaucracy the reason why law abiding citizens get penalised and crooks get away with murder?

How can Malaysia break away from the above?

Let's compare a few examples:

i) If you get stopped by a cop for running a red light what does one do? Pay legally the fine or pay illegaly a bribe?

ii) If getting a permanent residency easier if one pays their way through or go through all the eligibility rules and regulations in Malaysia?

iii) Why do traffic offenders with multiple fines always get discounts after waiting for enforcement for years and a law abiding citizen who pays fine early pays the full rate?

Trust

Due to the fact that the system in Australia acts on the presumption of trust, many things can be done on the phone or online via www. However as many Australians have got this built into their personal system, there is a higher tendency for them to give others the benefit of the doubt and trust the other person more.

This is directly opposite to those of us in Asia, where trust must be earned over a longer duration of time. A simple example is getting documents or identity certified for Government or other applications. In Malaysia for example the identity card is of utmost important, without one, one is nobody. Getting things done means carting along loads of documents, forms and getting it certified etc. before even submitting the application and then there is the vetting process.

Today I just found out my company got cheated over a credit card scam from Nigeria. I would have thought that these Nigerian would have attempted to scam those in Asia or so, but I guess choosing someone from a more trustworthy society may be easier given that people here are more trusting that those from Asia.

Please don't get me wrong, there are good and bad in every society. We just have to exercise caution everywhere regardless of our presumption!

REGO i.e. Road Tax

Well, trust is definitely at a much higher level here in NSW. You get to renew your "rego" or the Malaysian equivalent of Road Tax for your car without stepping foot out of your home.

1 month before the expiration, you receive a notice to renew the rego with the "sticker" enclosed.

You just buy your Third Party insurance online (with premiums comparison on the RTA website to shop around) and then just pay your rego notice online with your credit card.

Upon payment, you get a receipt reference number and then you can stick your newly renewed rego on your car and drive till it expires again.

What a way of change from Malaysia where one has to go to the post office to get a new roadtax sticker!

I wonder how they police those who fail to pay unless they get into some trouble with the law or insurance?

Credit Cards

Despite having good credit history from Malaysia, getting a credit card can be a pain.

I got one when I first arrived from the banker I bank with regularly i.e. where my salary is deposited. All I got was a limit of $1,000; lower than when I first obtained my first credit card nearly 20 yrs ago.

Well few months later after making regular payments I applied for an increase and got a rejection letter.

To this Big 4 bank, you'll be receiving a termination in due time as I've managed to get two new cards from other institutions with credit limits that are more than 4 x my existing limit.

So much for loyalty. You can spend millions in your campaign but without looking into details, you lose a customer like me.

It reminds me of a similar rejection by Malaysia's largest bank about 10 yrs ago. Till now they've not got my credit card despite attempts in sending my preapproved cards without any application.

Good bye!

Theft

We wrongly assumed that things would be safe in our neighbourhood despite several assurance from our neighbours who have been around for 10 yrs or so. Our kids 2 week old bicycle and scooter were nicked last night as I forgot to close the garage door.

So much for security here. Well this happens everywhere and lesson learnt painfully!

Studying Again

Those of you who knows me will know that I have keen self interest in both Education and Philosophy. I visited Macquarie Uni yesterday during their open day and obtain some information on studying an Undergraduate Major in Philosophy.

Once I'm more settled, I'll attempt to do so via Open Universities in Australia for this program. The Open Uni in Australia is NOT a Uni per se like the Open University in the UK. It is merely a loose body consisting of several unis in Aust offering their individual program. At the end of the day, one gets a degree from the university that offer their program and not the Open Uni in Aust which is NOT a degree granting body unlike the Open U in the UK.

Driving Test

We'll after going thru 2 hours of practical instructions from qualified instructors, I sat for my driving test on the road and passed on that attempt.

Well what does one have to do to get a full conversion?

1. Find an instructor who's willing to teach a season overseas driver, i.e. conversion of driving licence.

2. Practice what is taught whilst driving daily. This is difficult as one is always pressured from other drivers to drive like them without displaying the L or P plate. One does not get an L or P plate while driving daily with an overseas driving licence FYI. Its good and bad at the same time.

3. Read the booklet from the RTA a few times to familiarise oneself with the rules, regulations and recommendations.

4. Go thru the route and other requirements as many times as possible. Things to look out for may include 3 seconds distance with the front car, kerbside parking, reverse and headturns, observations check frequently, yellow lights etc.

5. Sit for the driving test after going through the above.

If one passes the exam, be prepared to present oneself to a camera to have one's photo taken a part with $151 for a 5 years licence. The 1 or 3 years licence is more expensive on a per year basis, so try to avoid them if possible.

I don't claim to be an expert and neither is this blog an attempt to do so but merely a "how to" for people moving to Sydney.

Another tip, please make sure you have an old licence to prove one has been driving for more than three years to fulfill the full conversion criteria or else one needs to go throught the L or P process before full conversion.

With a NSW driving licence, I finally have a "real" photo ID from NSW Government.

Driving Licence

Well after arriving here, one is given 3 months to convert to a NSW driving licence. What does one need to do?

First thing, is get it translated at the Community Relations Commission which costs A$107 if done within 24 hours but less over 1 or 3 weeks.

Then go to the RTA to get the documents vetted and entered into the system to sit for a computer based Drivers Knowledge Test. Obviously one's got to prepare for this online test which if is done prior to the test can help in getting a perfect score. One must always aim for a perfect score as some sections only allow ONE error and beyond this one error will result in a failure immedately and A$37 for a resit.

Once you pass the Knowledge Test, you should register for a practical on the road test which again requires some preparation with a driving instructor. It costs me A$55/hr for one lesson and one's got to discard out some old habit from driving all these years in order to pass the test which has a passing threshold of 90% score.

Well, my test is in 2 weeks time, and I'll update what happens then.

What's Next?

After your permanent home address, then you can get a real life.

First its medicare registration, then school for the kids, ATO, bank account and get a car. Despite moving from possibly one of the most expensive places to BUY a car (not own a car), I found Aust to be relatively expensive place to buy a car and also own a car. Relative means in comparison with UK or USA is what I mean.

A Honda City for example would set one back for A$22-25K which is not much different from M'sia and maintenance is generally higher. Other cars though do not have this issue but Honda are relatively expensive in Australia in comparison with other makes.

Once you have settled down with a house, then there is the whole works of upfitting the house. Remember when we arrived, we only had suitcases totalling 110kg.

We started with HarveyNorman for whitegoods and Ikea for furniture but ended up with various other places, Forty Winks for beds/mattress, 2nds World for Whitegoods, No96 for Sofas, Myers for Sofas/DiningSets which were on sale then and a place in Hurstsville for Chinese cookingwares.

More to follow...

First Things First

After our 1 1/2 mths here, we are now nearly settled. So what does one need first before one can get started with life in Australia?

The most important thing is a permanent address with a proof of one. The best thing unless you've got cash to buy a permanent home, is a tenancy agreement. Without one, you can't get a phone, internet, open a bank, get a credit card, register for medicare, buy a car, register for school, register with ATO etc...

It's the single most important thing to get before anything else. We found out this when we arrived here on the first week! And amazingly we rented a house within a week of our arrival despite the shortage situation where we live.

More to follow...

Telecom Services

Finally we rescinded one mobile internet after making official complain to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman TIO. Hence we have got a land line and now a land internet too...so more postings in time about what happened during our move to Sydney and the phone-line experiences.

Internet Contract Rescinded

We filed our first major complain in Aust to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman to terminate our mobile internet services on the grounds of "no coverage". Managed to terminate the contract and now applied for a land-line internet and phone line.

There is some argument going around why many prefer not to have mobile coverage in their areas i.e. objections over the "cell towers" construction and its impact on health. This is possibly why no one in our neighbourhood bothered to complain over no mobile phone coverage.

Will post more once our landline internet is up and running next week.

New to Sydney

We arrived on 30 Jun 09 and for the next 2-3 weeks we had to restart our lives in this new land. We landed with only personal belongings and clothes, no furniture, car or other stuff. Only those within our 20 kg limit MAS flight was with us. All 4 of us, wife, 2 kids and me. Over the next few weeks, we had to rent a place, buy a car, enrol in school, buy white goods, furniture, winter clothes etc...and now on 1 Aug 09, I must say we achieved all of those with some hiccups, one of which is our mobile internet which is still unresolved due to the location of our home.

Once we get a permanent internet which we can log on at home, I can blog the details of our experiences for all to share on how we achieved a new home in a span of 2 weeks, including sorting our schools, car, medicare etc.

On the internet, I've just filed my first complain to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman today to terminate my mobile internet which does not cover my home.

So far, most things have been fine with us with only one costly mistake of A$400 made and other smaller mistakes made in our bid to make our home reasonably livable in a 2 weeks timespan.

1 day to Countdown

We're just 1 day away from our flight from KL to Sydney. Boxes and luggages are nearly packed with heavy hand luggages as well. My speakers alone are 16kg/pair and hopefully we won't exceed the "allowable" baggage allowances.

With a hand luggage, a note book, briefcase etc each, we're just trying our luck. Excess is rated at RM 88/kg on MAS, but DHL couriers at RM 500 for a 25kg jumbo box.

2 rental home appointments are confirmed on 31Jun itself so hopefully we can confirm that on that day itself.

Across the radio day/night is just the late Michael Jackson music.

Things to buy include GPS on arrival hopefully A$220/pc. Our room is nearly cleaned of our stuff.

Turntable, speakers and an amp is going without software except 1 LP and a few CDs, rest are in the Notebook....and hand carry Boston Acoustics radio....

Will keep more update as we arrive Sydney next few days..

1st Week

Our first week is next week. I've booked a holiday apartment for 1 week and hence need to get hold of a home within 7 days. Also rented a wagon for 5 days, hence the need to buy a car within the few days we arrive. Still toying between a new or used car...possibly a small/compact car to mitigate our risk or depreciation and other high hidden costs.

Despite our comparisons with Malaysia, cars are not that cheap compared to the US or UK although much lower than M'sia or S'pore which are probably the two most expensive places to acquire a car.

Homes are difficult to decide and decisions need to be made on the ground. Appointments make take a few days to confirm and hence may delay our moving in dates. Keeping fingers crossed.

At this moment, hardly any large luggages except for my 16kg speakers, fragile turntable and amplifier. Hopefully we'll not be overweight.

Having lots of farewell lunches/dinners these past two weeks. Will post more in time.

What this is all about

My family and myself are moving to Sydney end-Jun09. I attempt to blog on our experiences for the benefit of those in a similar position.

Posting will be at best intermittent in the beginning as we settle down over the next few weeks.