Little Things 237 : Paying PTPTN using KWSP 2 (updated)

I currently have a remaining balance of RM 22,730 for my PTPTN loan from my full loan of RM 40k in 2010. I graduated almost 7 years ago from Uniten and I've been paying my PTPTN religiously. Some of my friends finished paying off their loan, some (like my brother) still shamelessly refusing to pay it.

Image by Michelle Henderson

 

So Af and I discussed about our education loan, and decided that we should try to pay some of our PTPTN using our KWSP - Akaun 2. Several weeks ago, we went to KWSP to ask around about the procedure, the process sounded easy so we decided to proceed with our plan. After we registered for the i-Akaun at KWSP, we went to PTPTN in the same week to apply. I had to wait for 2 days for the online application before receiving a message on my phone and went to KWSP again to sign a form.

1. At KWSP (I was in Raub) :

• Register for i-Akaun
• Print out your EPF statement to see your balance and decide how much to use. (You can only use the money in Akaun 2)
• Time : less than 5 minutes

2. At PTPTN (in KL Sentral) :

• Bring your transcript and statement of graduation from your university.
• Take a number, wait.
• Tell the guy at the counter (about taking out your KWSP to pay PTPTN loan)
• He will then ask you to fill-in a short form
• He will ask how much you want to use from your account to pay your PTPTN
• He will give a form (for you to bring to KWSP)
• Wait 1-3 days, you will receive a sms about your application
• Time : less than 10 minutes (depending on the crowd at PTPTN)

3. At KWSP again (in Petaling Jaya) :

• I received the message
• We went to KWSP in Petaling Jaya (bringing my transcript, the copy and the form from PTPTN)
• She asked for my fingerprints on my form
• Settle, wait for 7 working days to see the deduction
• Time : less than 5 minutes

After a week, I received a text message stating that my application got rejected because of incomplete documents (not my fault, I did asked the counter whether I should submit any documents and she said "NO"). Af's application was successful, his loan is now 10k lighter. So after 2 weeks, I decided to reapply :

1. At Home (online) :

• I got online and applied to pay my PTPTN using account 2 again
• In 1 day, I received a text message stating that my application has been received and I need to go to any KWSP to submit my documents (University transcript & graduation certificate)
• Time : less than 5 minutes

2. At KWSP again (in Petaling Jaya) :

• Take a number
• The same woman at the counter asked for my IC
• Submitted all printed documents & showed the original copy for approval
• She asked for my fingerprints on my form
• Settle, she said to wait for 7 days for it to be approved
• I mentioned about previous rejection (she said it was odd that I got rejected, the application was pretty straight forward. I should have received a phone call from KWSP if they need more documents - but maybe I missed the phone calls, maybe )
• Time : less than 10 minutes

3. The application : 

• After 7 days, I checked my KWSP status : DILULUSKAN
• I checked my PTPTN account and received the latest balance of RM 7,786 (Aug 2017)

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I decided to use 15k to pay my PTPTN, and because it is more than half of my remaining PTPTN balance, I should get the 10% discount (I'm not sure why I didn't get the discount). I saved long years of interest fee. So, the balance of my education loan now is : RM 7.7k. Way ahead of my original timeline to finish off paying my education loan :D I am so happy, I can't believe I paid up so much over the years and it is almost over soon ❤

• Education loan (2010) : 41k
• Current loan (2017) : 23k
• Current year : 7th year after graduation
• Pay-out (KWSP) : 15k
• 10% discount : 1.5k
• Balance : 6.5k

During 5 years of my early working life, my salary was so low I had to pay the minimum payment requirement. The 2 years after that was a great career time. My main goal is to pay in less than 10 years, at least to be free from my education loan. And then I will think about my next step to pay off my apartment loan (which seems like a looooong way to go) - but step by step guys !

Note : I will ask the PTPTN about my 10% discount and will update this blog post later.

Update : I went to Ptptn and asked them about the 10% discount, and they told me that the discount will be added in Sept. And I just checked my account today and noticed that I received the 1.5k discount ! My current Ptptn balance is updated and the remaining balance of my education loan is 6.5k. I can even pay it full by the end of this year if my account is strong :F

Extra notes :

• Your KWSP account (Please apply for i-Akaun at KWSP)
• Ptptn applicants - Check your PTPTN loan balance here.
• MARA applicants - 
• Apply i-Akaun at KWSP & take fillable form
• Go to MARA HQ and request to pay MARA using KWSP (more forms)
• Go to KWSP with forms, submit documents and leave fingerprintsss. 

2021 update : I finally finished paying off my student loan, during the pandemic. Alhamdulillah !

Little Things 237 : Family & Friends

I suddenly remembered the first open house that we did during Eid, after such a long time of living in shadows of broken past. I was excited, the whole family was excited, because we don't really invite people to our house. It was a rare occasion, a feast, a celebration. It was the first house my mom felt comfortable for social gathering after the divorce (more than 10 years ago).

After so much foods that we cooked, so many hours for preparation, so much efforts and excitement. I ended up inviting the one and only close friend (she got something else planned, so she didn't came), Af invited his friends as well (but none turned up), my younger sister didn't really invited anyone that she knew will come, my older sister invited her close friends and colleagues ( but I just met only W during the feast) and my younger brother invited his friends over (which in this case - some of his ex-school mates). My mom didn't asked anyone other than relatives that stay in the area (2/3 families came). That's it. 

The event reminded me of why we didn't really do social gathering anymore. 

Other than we are all socially awkward beings and we don't really have any friends, we are just too broken to have relationships other than the our own family ties. We don't really have the energy to build up trust and connection with others. Either we just brush it off, or everyone around us can see how tall the walls that we built from all those years. Some part of me did felt disappointed, in a way, I felt like my wedding all over again.

But in any relationship, the connection needs to go both ways. There are reasons why people won't commit in a one-sided friendship, it is just a waste of energy. And I understand this. But I didn't realized that almost my whole family is on the same page as me. 

I'm not sure whether I should worry.
I am fine without friends in my life, but I'm not sure how they cope with that.
Whether they enjoy the solitary life as me, or they do feel lonely.

Work Related : All Things New + Shiny

I think I've been super productive these couple of months. I love making and creating things without anyone telling me what-I-should do or not-do. I think there is something about being an artist, you kinda choose to follow your instinct and passion. 

As a designer, I had to follow all the designer's rules and requirements made by clients. Although it is good (in a way), I always thought it was somehow giving me limitations and I'll be stuck and depressed (every day). It did taught me how to be a better designer, but I was born a rebel. I don't like to follow :F I think if Yayoi Kusama listened to other people's critiques since she started making art, she won't be the legendary Polka-dots Queen now. 

As an independent illustrator, I can experiment on things that I want to learn and explore. I can use the same colour all over again, I can try different styles and decide on how the end product should be. All my syok-sendiri stuffs that make me feel excited to work everyday. ❤

Here are the things I made since I work as a full-time independent illustrator :

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They are available at my :

Local e-store (Malaysian only)

Etsy (International)

And I am forever thankful to people who chose to

support me on my Patreon (I love you guys forever)

❤ ❤ ❤

Work Related : First Self-published Travelogue 2

My love for far-off places started when I was 14, after my first Fukuoka homestay program in 2000. I decided then, to collect as much money as I can, to distant myself from my friends (so I wouldn't feel bad when I need to say goodbye) and to love being alone (in case I never meet any like-minded life partner) in order to fully commit to the idea of travelling in my whole adult life. 

When I was small, travelling was only something rich people/international students would do. Without money, we can't really go to far places because flight tickets alone was so expensive. As I mentioned, I started collecting money when I was really young, by the time I finished my degree when I was 25, I managed to collect RM 10,000 from all my duit raya, daily school money, and part-time works. Those were collected since I was born, because I hardly touch the money from my ASB and I am a very dedicated person. It wasn't much la, but collecting money that much without any help from parents or full-time work, RM 10,000 was a LOT.

So by 2009, I started travelling every year. 

I think I started by going to Umrah, and every year afterwards, I allocated money to go to at least 1 new place each year. 

And because I am really thankful for achieving my life-long dream to travel to new places, I also put an effort to record my stories while travelling by writing, taking photos and doodling. So that I won't forget that I've been dedicating my life to see these wonderful places in this world and I'm hoping to share it with the world back.

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I love books, I love writings and I love illustrations, eventually I knew I wanted to share my own travel journal. Of course, anyone can write a travelogue, or buy a guidebook from the bookstores. But what I wanted to share was something more personal. Little tit-bits, little stories, random mini adventures. 

When I read a visual travelogue, I want to know the person, their stories and how the place + adventure affect them. So I started collecting travel journal, and visual travelogues from illustrators & comic artists.

The first visual travelogue I bought was in 2012 : French Milk by Lucy Knisley and soon afterwards, I bought all visual travelogue each time I found out an illustrator made one. I love their stories, I keep them as an inspiration, I read them over and over again. 

The list of my travel/illustration related books :

• French Milk by Lucy Knisley (France)
• Displacement by Lucy Knisley (a Cruise)
• Carnet de Voyage by Craig Thompson (Europe & Morocco)
• Memento bento by Alessandra Criseo (Japan)
• Tokyo on Foot by Florent Chavouet (Japan)
• Maneshima Island Japan by Florent Chavouet (Japan)
• Perfect Tree Shapes by Frannerd (France)
• Orange Ginger Jam by Frannerd (Chile)
• Natsu by Atelier Sento (Japan)
• Jejon di Jepun by Jonsuraya (Japan)
• We bought a bus ticket from KL to England by Black Jellyfish

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You see, passionate people make things that they are passionate about. As for me, combining stories, travels and illustrations in a book is something that I want to do mainly for myself (syok sendiri). 

That's why I finally finished digitizing the last year's travel journal and self-published it. I knew I don't have something solid to purpose to publishers and I hated the idea of being controlled by what-can-sale and what-not-so-'in' the market. So I just made it myself. Some of the books from my favorite illustrators produced were self-published, and I did bought it online straight from them. So I thought, why not?

In this Indonesia-Singapore travel journal that I recorded, I kept those little stories in the simplest form of writing and doodles (because I am not a comic artist, I don't do stuffs in comic boxes, and I don't have rules to follow). It was just a travel journal that I recorded during that time, only. So it wasn't perfect, and collecting 22 pages of random doodles thinking that I might want to share with the world was hard. BUT, as I would always say, "JUST START" with whatever you have and whatever know, you'll learn to improve along the way.  

Here's to my first self-published travel journal ❤ :

Anyway, if you want to read and also add my book in your collection, 

you can now buy it from : My Online Shop ⭐⭐

And if you want to help me making more illustrations and more books, you can support me from my Patreon account , I usually post early videos, secret projects, and post random gifts and latest zines to my Patrons ❤ 

Little Things 236 : Wedding/Event Videos

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As some of you might have guessed from our various #sirieskapi videos, my husband, Af is a videographer & video editor - if you guys are planning on getting married soon and is currently searching for an event's videographer, you can contact him at : ahmadfarikarim@gmail.com ♥ I am his loyal assistant 😀

Sample of his works : Vimeo 

*2017's Price Offer

Mini Escapism : Days in Melaka

We needed a short break from work.

I wanted to go to Ipoh but we only had 3 days because we had to attend my cousin's wedding on the weekend, so we decided to go to Melaka again (it is one of the nearest anyway).

But I went to Melaka so many times and just several months back, I stayed in Melaka for almost a week for the Melaka travelogue project. During that time, I tried so many stuffs, I went to so many places, I ate so many local foods. So, this trip wasn't as exciting as I anticipated :( We didn't really know what else to do other than beach-walk and eat !

Things we did in Melaka :

• walked in Dataran Pahlawan and Jonker Street area
• tried the Asam Pedas dish near Taming Sari Food court area 
• went to Mamee Museum for a nice Ais Kacang ❤
• window shopping in Dataran Pahlawan
• went to Coconut Shake in Batu Berendam ❤
• sat at the beach of Pantai Klebang ❤
• dinner at Umbai seafood
• walked in Jonker Street at night 

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Af compiled this video yesterday :

ESCAPISM #14 from Farik Karim on Vimeo.

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Here's a detailed post on places we went and foods we ate :

Mamee Jonker Street

Our main stop would be : Mamee Jonker Street. I think I've been here 3-4 times since Mrs Lim told us about this place. She brought us to several other places that you can find nice cendol/ice-kacang in Melaka and this is my favorite !

I love their ais kacang and cendol ❤

If you are like me : you like the taste of evaporated milk more than gula melaka, you will definitely like their cendol and ice-kacang :D The place is a bit underrated, because I'm pretty sure people hardly go to Mamee Jonker Street to try their cendol/ais kacang. I wouldn't, if Mrs Lim didn't tell us about the foods there.

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Coconut Shake in Batu Berendam

And instead of bringing Af to the famous coconut shake in Klebang Beach, I suggested to go to Batu Berendam instead (this is also Mrs. Lim's idea). I love their coconut shake special and the free-flow of coconut water. You can also try their Yong Tau Fu. 

Here's the map :



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Klebang Beach

We didn't do anything much. The weather was nice when we arrived. We sat around on our mat that we brought from home, taking videos and pictures before the rain came an hour later.

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Ikan Bakar Parameswara, Umbai

We went to Umbai Beach after we finished taking photos and videos in Klebang Beach (around 45 minutes drive). The weather was really bad, it was super windy and dark. We went here just for the seafood galore :D Instead of going to the famous Umbai Seafood, we went to the other seafood restaurant : Ikan Bakar Parameswara.

We ordered for nasi lemak (AF), kerang rebus and sotong celup tepung because we weren't that hungry after our short stop at Coconut Shake Batu Berendam just few hours before. I think I like the foods in Kedah & Bagan Lalang much better.

We also found this man-made long wooden boardwalks near the restaurant :

Here's the map :



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From the look-out point on the highway
(if you like to do random stops) :



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This trip felt so short because we went out on the afternoon and arrived in Melaka around 3 pm on that Thursday and went back home on the afternoon of Saturday. If I count by the hour, it was just a 48 hours visit in Melaka. 

Hopefully we can plan more mini escapisms soon.

Event : CAFKL & Food Poisoning

Last weekend's event was a success !

A lot of my stuffs that I brought and prepared for the event were sold out (sticker packs & enamel pins), people also came to pre-order the Eskapi travelogue and I saw a lot of talented illustrators and comic artists all around. There were a lot of self-published comics and zines. I think I spent around RM 100 just for buying other people's works.

Look, my favorite Moana artprint by Sillyjellie ! :

For me, this was my first comic-related event. I usually apply for art & crafts events because I don't really feel like I belonged to the comic-industry (I don't do comics). So I never really know what to expect in this event. Fortunately, it was the best among the best sales so far, doubled from my previous best sale record ! I am so extremely happy, so I applied for this December's Comic Fiesta in KLCC.

I am happy because just several days before, I spent several thousands on self-publishing my travel journal (and so I got it back almost right-away). I was so worried that I won't survive next month without taking any freelancing and only focusing on the Japan's travel journal. But, I think I can pay off all my bills for next month and still survive by working silently in my nest studio :D

Note : I just wish more variation on the styling of drawings/illustrations instead of focusing in manga & anime though. It's good that the industry is here and beginning to get bigger, but I just wish more people would explore their own unique styles & strokes.

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The bad from the event :

I had the worst case of food poisoning, just an hour before the event ended.

I felt bad in the stomach, nauseous, I can't no longer sit at the booth (so I let Af took care of the booth). Finally when I felt really-really bad (kenot tahan anymore), I ran to the toilet and threw up badly (around 6 times in one shot). I pitied the girl next to my toilet, she had to listen to all the drama. 

I asked Af to pack all the stuffs because I can no longer do anything. We left while it was still busy in the hall, I didn't even say 'good bye' or 'thank you' to anyone. The second time I threw up was when we almost arrive at our car in the parking lot. The third time was in the toilet in KL Sentral when we had to do emergency stop because I also had to go to the toilet so bad. And the final one was right in front of the clinic, near my house. 4 times in 1 hour, and because it was so bad, the doctor advised to take a shot to stop the vomiting. But the diarrhoea had to continue until all the bad stuffs come out from my body =.= 

Yes, it wasn't my first food poisoning. But this was the first time that I had the worst case of vomiting until I felt like I had to surrender my body to the urges alone. I felt like I was possessed and my body was so weak and so foreign that I could no longer stand or walk. :F So I took a shot, drank a gallon of water, ate charcoaled pill and all the other little colourful pills the doctor provided. And I slept and rested the whole night.

Af had some minor diarrhoea and Ma also had several times of vomiting and bad diarrhoea. The whole family ! There must be something we ate together (like the sandwich Aja made for all of us because we didn't eat anything else) :F Worst food poisoning ever.