Review on a Local, Transactional E-Commersite Site

is one of the famous local transactional e-commerce sites in Malaysia. It started from the end of year 1998. It is the pioneer auction website in Malaysia. Its mission statement is “Serving the community and bringing a high standard of quality into homes and businesses by providing an avenue for on-line trading at a low cost”. Lelong makes an effort to develop and improve its functionality to attract more users. Now, it has more than 1 million users.

When we were reviewing lelong.com.my, we saw that the website is similar with Ebay.com. Lelong allows buying, selling and SuperBuy. Lelong also provide different languages such as English, Chinese or Bahasa Malaysia for users to choose their preferred language. Besides that, the website also creates a forum to allow buyers and sellers compare information.

It is very easy for users to make transactions in lelong.com.my. For sellers, they can register an account and upload the photo galleries of their products. Of course, Lelong charges membersip fees and small amount of service charge. When the sellers have completed posting up what they want to sell, they just wait for buyers to choose from their goods. Sellers can also sell their goods through the open store function. The purpose of creating the open store function is to help sellers create their own online store even though they do not have any e-commerce knowledge. The fee of the store is only RM168 per year.

Buyers can choose the goods they prefer and make transactions with the sellers. In order to protect the buyers, Lelong.com.my provides a service which can prevent fraud transactions - called Safetrade. Lelong Safetrade will keep the money of buyers until approval is given by the buyers when they receive the goods.

References:

http://www.lelong.com.my/

http://www.lelong.com.my/Auc/help/details.asp?productid=121

Review on Piracy in Malaysia

The post Piracy in Malaysia: Fighting through Education and Enforcement! dated 25th July 2007 is about the alarming software piracy rate in Malaysia – 60% of software is pirated while the world average is 35%.

Malaysia has taken action through Ops Tulen and Sikap Tulen to fight piracy.

Ops Tulen is the enforcement of law against pirated software with continuous raids on companies and vendors selling the illegal products. Millions ringgit worth of pirated products have been seized since 2002 until May 2007.

While Sikap Tulen is the education campaign aimed at educating target groups like professionals, company directors and the public about respecting intellectual property and turn away from piracy.

Even with the recent news of the King of Pop – Michael Jackson’s death, police has seized over 100,000 pirated CDs with among them, 10,000 copies of CDs with Michael Jackson’s songs.

The Malaysian culture does not instil enough awareness of the importance of respecting intellectual property in its people. Most of us buy pirated CDs because they are obviously cheap compared to originals, and we do not perceive and feel that it is wrong. Easy access to Web sites and file-sharing networks also lead to more piracy with infringement of copyrights.

Piracy affects our country’s reputation. Enforcement must be consistent and continuous, and not for just a short period of time. Educating people on the negative effects, business and social implications of piracy can help curb the problem.

Cooperation and efforts from everyone is needed to fight piracy in Malaysia.

References:
http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/software/0,39044164,39235281,00.htm

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/7/9/nation/4283868&sec=nation

http://star-techcentral.com/tech/story.asp?file=/2007/7/25/technology/20070725115522&sec=technology

E-Learning offered in Malaysian Universities

Basically, E-learning is defined as the delivery of education programmes by electronic means. It is also known as distance learning which is ideal for education at any level especially with university studies. Distance learning is a new teaching experience for lecturers and tutors since students and teachers do not meet face-to-face. E-learning began in the late 1980’s in Malaysia. Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) offers distance learning programmes. They have interactive course materials and learning involves forums, chats and blogs.

PROS
E-learning suits best for people who are working but wish to complete their higher studies. It reduces travel time and cost for students. Since it is conducted online, it links all candidates together to exchange resources. Even without face-to-face meetings, student interactions is still easily achieved through the use of technology.

E-learning also provides the convenience of studying anytime and anywhere as long as there is Internet connection available. Students can share information and finish their given assignment whenever they are free. Its time flexibility allows students to complete assignments given by tutors before the date due.

With e-learning, students are able to get accurate information from lecturers or tutors easily regarding their studies. It not only allows students to join in virtual discussions through bulletin boards but also build up better relationships among the participants. It can be more efficient and effective than traditional teaching mode.

CONS
However, e-learning can sometimes de-motivate students. Slow internet connection may frustrate students and cause them to give up. Without disciplines, students may become lazier because of the freedom and convenience of e-learning. As a result, they will not be able to catch up on the study syllabus.

Lack of face-to-face communication can create misunderstandings easily too. Lecturers may not fully understand the needs of the students and the students also may not understand what the lecturers want as well. This can create confusion in the process of learning.
Nevertheless, e-learning is still a good alternative to provide education.

Here is a video about
Minnetonka Public Schools: A K-12 E-Learning Success Story
(K-12 refers to education levels from Kindergarten to Grade 12 in the U.S. education system)




References:
Pros and Cons of Distance Education

Pros and Cons of E-Learning

Corporate Blogging: A new marketing communication tool for companies

A corporate blog is a blog published and used by an organization for its organization goals. Corporate blog is a good way for the organization to communicate with consumers and let the users express their comments through the blog. It is a way for the organization to promote and advertise its products and services. Other than that, it is easy to follow due to their centralized hosting and easy to understand because of their conversational style.

There are basically two main types of corporate blogs which are internal and external blogs:
- An internal blog is usually accessed through the organization intranet and is used for direct communication of the layers in an organization. It can replace meetings especially for people located in different places.
- An external blog is used to announce new products, services and policies of the organization. It acts like a less formal version of press releases.


Corporate blogs can bring much benefits for the organization. It is easier for the organization to promote its products and services to wider reach of audience. It saves advertising costs. With such technology, it is easier to communicate with consumers and obtain feedbacks immediately to improve the services and maximize the needs of the consumers. It also can enhance relationships with suppliers, partners and employees because they can express their comments through the blog.

But corporate blogs also have its problems. Sometimes, workers dare not express their comments and views because they are afraid of getting fired for what they say which may or may not be the truth. Besides that, blogs are easy to start but hard to maintain because writing consistently is difficult for most human beings. As a result, many corporate blogs are not updated and often it could damage the reputation of the organization.

References:
http://www.enterpriseblogs.info/corporate-blogging/disadvantages

http://www.iacis.org/iis/2006_iis/PDFs/Wood_Behling_Haugen.pdf

http://internet.suite101.com/article.cfm/all_about_corporate_blogging

Electronic Currency

Electronic currency (also known as e-money, electronic cash, digital cash or digital currency) is the digital form of paper currency. E-cash makes monetary transactions easy especially for transferring huge amounts or from another location. It enables more secure and anonymous purchase of items. Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) is an example.

There are some advantages of using electronic currency. In this high-tech era, online banking, debit cards, online bill payments and internet business are reducing the need for paper money. Now, most of the banks offer services like funds transfer, stock purchase, e-banking and other services. These services provide convenience to customers in their transactions because it does not involve any physical cash or checques. Customers do not need to waste their time waiting in lines. Besides that, debit cards and online bill payments allow users to transfer funds from personal accounts to business accounts without any actual transfer of paper money.

E-cash is good for micropayments, which are small payments that are not significant enough to warrant the use of credit cards. It can be done anonymously. Stored-value cards like Visa Cash can be used to make purchases online (on the Internet) or offline (in the physical world). Online involves interaction with bank to deal with third parties while offline means conducting a transaction without involving a bank.

Person-to-person payments like transferring funds between individuals are also one of the common e-payment schemes. It is fast and easy. Automated Teller Machines (ATM) seem obsolete with the use of e-cash. For more information on what is e-cash.

Although there are many benefits to digital cash, there are also its limitations. Fraud over digital cash has become a main issue in recent years. There is the risk of privacy invasion and hacking of bank records associated with electronic money. Factors that may hinder the use of the technology involved in digital cash include power failures, loss of records and unreliable softwares.

References:

http://projects.exeter.ac.uk/RDavies/arian/emoneyfaq.html

http://www.businesspme.com/uk/articles/trade/90/Electronic-money---advantages-and-disadvantages.html

A Review on E-Tailing

This is a review on a post on e-tailing dated 18 June 2007 from My E-Commerce blog. It is about OpenTable.com, an innovative EC business model for restaurants. It allows customers to make online reservations anytime and anywhere, immediate cancellation, or leave messages to the restaurants.

The website allows you to narrow searches for restaurants to specific areas and types of cuisines.

You can then check the availability of seats on your requested date and time. It is convenient because it can be done outside business hours and customers do not have to purposely stop by the place to book a place. The system can also help the restaurants to familiarise with their customers’ preferences. At present, there are about 10,000 restaurants using OpenTable! Read more on OpenTable’s online reservation system.

As for Malaysia, a new site http://www.theqguides.com/ has started offering online reservations.

There are about 20 restaurants participating in it, mostly located around KL areas. Its function is similar to OpenTable. Customers can also earn points for each successful dine with a minimum value spent, almost like the Dining Rewards Program at OpenTable.

Overall, there are still not many restaurants with online reservation services. However, it is slowly starting up. Hopefully, Malaysians will start to see the benefits of such feature and encourage the list of restaurants joining in the system to grow in the future.

Credit Card Debts: Causes and Prevention

Do you know what is a Credit Card? A Credit Card is a method of payment that uses a small plastic card issued to consumers for making purchases. Credit cards may provide extra financial freedom but it will lead to a huge debt if consumers do not use credit card wisely.

Let’s look at some of the causes.

1. Poor Money Management
A monthly spending plan is essential, so that we know where our money is going. Sometimes, we may be spending hundreds of dollars unnecessarily each month and end up with extra charges on unneeded purchases. However, we will make more thoughtful decisions if there is good money management.

2. Expenses more than Income
Very often, we do not cut down monthly expenses in line with a decline in income for some reason and allow debt to fill the gap. Therefore consumers are compelled to use credit cards in buying stuff. The simplest way to avoid unwanted debt is to prepare for unexpected expenditures or emergencies by saving at least a recommended 4-6 months of living expenses.

3. Underemployment
People experiencing underemployment (getting less working hours at jobs) will be having lesser income. They may think of the situation as only for a short period but it is a false sense of relief. They should live a lifestyle that match their current income. Otherwise, debts will build up unknowingly.

4. Medical Expenses
The medical industry wants to get paid at the time service is rendered. The cost of obtaining cures and medicine is increasing if compared to previous year. Every doctor now accepts Credit Card because the doctor wants to get money instantly. We should think twice before using the Credit Card.

5. No money communication skills
Communication with family about the financial situation is important. Keep the lines of communication open and discuss financial goals and spending styles.

Here are some preventive measures.

1. Pay in full and on time
As consumers, we should always keep track of our credit card spending. Take self control and discipline to keep these cards in your wallet and not overspend on them. Make the payment as soon as possible to avoid paying interest charges to the bank, or at least try to make the minimum payment.

2. Avoid extra expenses
Prevention really is better than cure. One of the best habits is cut down on all unnecessary expenses. Wise judgments should be made before spending. There are some things we can actually avoid in buying.

3. Education
Financial courses important to educate people on how to plan their savings and spending. They are less likely to fall into credit card debts as an adult.

4. Limit the Plastics
Different credit cards have their own terms and conditions like interest rates and grace periods. Keep only one or two cards so that you can remember easily which one has the lowest and highest interest rates and not forget to pay on time.

Although credit cards bring convenience to people but it should be used with great care and caution and spend in accordance with own ability.

References:
http://www.3debtconsolidation.com/top10-causes.html

http://www.cardratings.com/howtoavoidcreditcarddebt.html

Application of Pre-paid Cash Card for Consumer

Pre-paid cash cards are like debit cards and very different from credit cards in that you can only use the card when there is balance in the card. In other words, you are using your ‘present’ money, unlike credit cards that use ‘future’ money. Therefore, there is no risk that you will spend over budget especially for girls who like to shop.

The main uses of pre-paid cash card:

Control - the purpose of pre-paid cash cards is for the users to be a master of their budget and spend accordingly with their budget.

No debt risk- you do not need to worry about debt risk like using a credit card because you are using money that you have preloaded so you won’t have the chance to spend more than what you have.

Convenience - instead of going around with huge amount of money in your wallet, it is much safer to just bring a prepaid card around. It is also a solution for those who are not able to apply for credit cards. Other than that, it is a very convenient tool for travellers because it can replace travelers checks. They can preload the card before going overseas with a set budget and avoid spending too much.

Actually, pre-paid cash card is very suitable for the young generation who like shopping and traveling because it can help control their budget and let them learn how to manage their money rather than letting the money manage them.

Phishing: Examples & Prevention

Phishing is a method that is used to get personal information for identity theft purposes.

How it happens
A phisher sends you an email or a message pretending to be from a friend, a bank or a government agency. The sender asks you to fill in or verify your personal information. Usually a link will be provided to lead you to a fake website to enter your information. Some even asks for verification with the reason being you are suspected to be a identity theft victim!

Some common phishing scams claim to be credit card companies or major retailers like eBay, PayPal, CitiBank, AOL and so on. E-mail headers can be forged easily, so do not believe what the email says just because of its headers. Here are some illustrations for eBay, Wesbanco Bank, and Chase Bank :

How to prevent
- Do not click on links or any attachments within the email message.
- Do not enter sensitive information in a pop-up screen because legitimate agencies or organizations do not do so.
- Do not surrender personal information to a caller claiming to be a company you deal with. You can always contact the company independently to check the legitimacy of the phone call.
- Review your bills and bank statements for unusual charges or withdrawals.
- Use strong and uncommon passwords for your accounts which are harder to guess.
- Ensure any online transactions carried out are on secure websites.
- Ensure antivirus software is always updated.

As Internet users, we should always be aware and take precautionary measures to protect our privacy and information confidentiality.

References:
http://www.utdallas.edu/ir/security/Phishing.htm

http://www.consumerfraudreporting.org/phishing.php

3rd Party Certification

A digital certificate is used to verify that a public key belongs to an individual who he or she claims to be. The third parties that issue these certificates are the certificate authorities (CA).

VeriSign is the best known CA which is based in California.
In Malaysia, MSC Trustgate.com Sdn Bhd is one example of a licensed Certification Authority under the Digital Signature Act 1997. Such CA provides digital certification services which include digital certificates, cryptographic products, and software development. They provide more secure open network communications, allowing organizations to conduct their businesses securely through the Internet.

One of the services that MSC Trustgate provided is VeriSign SSL Certificates. An SSL Certificate authenticates a website to its customers that they are dealing with a genuine site. It instills confidence in customers. VeriSign will review the credentials and check through all the background of organization to ensure the claims of organization before issuing any server certificate. The browser will verify its business purpose through ID automatically when browser connects to a legitimate site with VeriSign SSL Certificates. After that, information received by web visitor is identical to the encryption between browser and server and no modification has taken place.

Other applications of third party certification are Managed PKI, Personal ID, MyTRUST, MyKAD ID, SSL VPN, Managed Security Services, VeriSign Certified Training and Application Development.

Third party certification gives confidence to customers in communication and online business transactions.

References:

http://www.msctrustgate.com/product/ssl_id.htm

http://www.verisign.com/

http://www.msctrustgate.com/

Online security threats: How safe is our data?

Threats of online security have now become one of the biggest challenges on the Internet. Most security threats are done by opportunistic attackers on any small vulnerabilities.

The online security threats include:

1. Spyware Attacks
Spyware attacks are the most common online security threat faced by Internet users. Spyware is simply a computer program that is aimed to steal information from Internet user’s computer without their knowledge. Common spyware includes Trojan horses, dialers and adware programs. To prevent spyware attacks, we should scan all our files before downloading. Do not download softwares you have never heard of.
(Trojan horse: At first glance it appears to be useful software but it will actually do damage once installed or run on your computer. )

2. Windows remote access services
There are several systems providing remote access methods. Users are able to access personal information from other places also means that an attacker with the right tools can easily take over. It can be useful but it is also dangerous. Firewall protection should be installed to avoid unauthorized access by others.

3. File sharing applications
Often, computer users use file sharing programs to share files. Peer-to-peer (P2P) program is an easy way to share files where files are opened to other participants so that the information can be shared. However, this gives opportunities to hackers to access the computers easily. Most corporations do not use P2P networks since there is the risk of compromised data.

4. Mail client
Hackers use emails to spread viruses and worms by including them as attachments in emails. Delete suspicious files immediately to prevent mail client attacks.

5. Instant messaging (IM)
Most corporations block employees from using IM because it can bring technical threats and lost productivity. File transfers can expose the system to attacks.

References:
http://www.tech-faq.com/online-security-threats.shtml

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-primary-online-security-threats.htm

How to safeguard our personal and financial data?

Nowadays, online shopping is a common and easy way to buy and sell things through the Internet. But how do we safeguard our personal and financial data in the process of conducting online transactions? In e-commerce, there is alwayas the risk of personal information being stolen by seller or third party that can benefit from these information. So ways of safeguarding personal information will be the important issue that we have to consider in the process of e-commerce.

Always shop at a secure website. A secure website will have encryption technology. Encryption scrambles the information that a person sends through the website such as credit card number and only the authorized person can unscramble the information to continue the transaction. This can prevent third party from accessing the information from the website and even if they managed to obtain it, it is still in an unscrambled form which is meaningless.

After placing an online order, remember to always print a copy of your order. It should include customer information, product information and the confirmation number. You should also print out a copy of the website that described your order that includes the company name, phone number, postal address and legal terms as evidence when you want to return the product under a warranty policy.

Another important thing is to keep your password private. It is strongly recommended to have a credit card that is specially for online transaction use. Most of the reputable websites will require you log in before placing your order. They usually require a user name and password. Never use commonly known information when selecting a password such as birth date, identity card number or phone number. A good and secure password should include both numbers and letters.

Reference:

http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs23-shopping.html

eBay: An E-Commerce Success

EBay is a global online marketplace where practically anyone can trade practically anything. It was managed by eBay Inc, an American internet company founded in 1995 by a computer programmer, Pierre Omidyar. Today, eBay is the world's largest online community of buyers and sellers.

Why is eBay so successful?

eBay acts as a place that gives people the opportunity to come together and trade any items. People are able to pursue interests in areas of their hobbies and collectibles that remind them of fond childhood memories.

People enjoy the experience of shopping bazaar and hunting for great merchandise or great deals. There are great selection of products which attract alot of consumers. The competition of the bidding process is also one reason that makes eBay successful. People like to get a bargain and haggle prices. eBay's auction format allows them to do just that.

Having no inventory is another key to the success. eBay only provides a virtual space and software tools while its customers supply the products for auctioning. So, eBay is not troubled by warehousing costs.

eBay also maintains close communication with its customers through posted bulletins and interactive message boards. A sense of community exists. Even Meg Whitman, eBay's CEO is known by everyone as Meg.

It also has a huge mass of customers through the so-called "network effect". It is expanding so much that they do not have to do much external promotion to build membership. Big and small merchants are drawn to eBay because that is where most buyers are.

Boo.com: An E-Commerce Failure

Boo.com is an example of an E-commerce failure. It is one of the famous Dotcom failures. Boo.com was a British Internet company established in 1998 and founded by Ernst Malmsten, Kajsa Leander and Patrick Hedelin. Boo.com was launched in 1999 and sold branded fashion lines through the internet.

There are several reasons that caused Boo.com to fail:

User Experience
The website of Boo.com was poorly designed for its target users. The site was too relying on JavaScript and Flash technology to display its products and a sales assistance of the site called Miss Boo. The home page alone already was a few hundred kilobytes and users have to wait when loading the website which was very slow. When Boo.com was created, about 20% of home users used dial-up internet connection which did not allow them to access the website at a fast rate. Therefore, the users were not willing to visit the website again because it was wasting their time waiting for the website to respond. The web page design usability is flawed and it confused the customers.

Overspending
Boo.com’s founders did not manage their capital effectively. They spent $188 million in just only six months to make the company globalized but Boo.com’s sales did not achieve the expectations of the management. Also, the management’s lack of clear direction and executive decision on a proper staff recruitment (how many and what type of staff should be recruited), had caused them a crippling payroll cost.

Overall the reason for failure of Boo.com was because of poor management of services and internal control.

Therefore, if you are interested in venturing into e-commerce business, you have to prepare all the relevant information and the website must be able to customize to meet all the needs of customers, this will lead you away from similar failure.

References:
http://www.witiger.com/ecommerce/dotcomfailures.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boo.com

History & Evolution of E-Commerce

In early 1970s, EC applications like electronic funds transfers (EFT) were first developed even though the extent of it was limited to large corporations and a few daring businesses. Then electronic data interchange (EDI) was invented. This technology transfers documents electronically between firms which helped companies in their dealings.

Electronics commerce has become the word in early 1990s, when the Internet became more commercialized and people from all over the world started participating in the World Wide Web.

Later in year 1992, CompuServe offered online retail products to consumers. This is the first chance given to customer to buy things off their computer.

Netscape provided users a simple browser to surf the web in the year 1994.

In 1995, two of the biggest names in e-commerce were launched. They are Amazon.com and eBay.com.

In fact as early as 1998, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) provides fast Internet service to subscribers across California. It encouraged people to spend more online.

Then in the year 1999, retail sales over the internet had reached as high as $20 billion dollars.Near 2000, emphasis of electronic commerce (EC) shifted from Business-to-Consumer to Business-to-Business and consolidation of organisations engaging in EC started taking place.

Web 2.0
The term Web 2.0 coined by Darcy DiNucci in 1999 refers to a second generation of web development and web design that led to better and new web-based communities and applications. There is an increasing presence of social-networking or video-sharing sites, wikis, blogs etc.

Traditional websites usually limit users to view content of websites and cannot modify it. However, Web 2.0 websites allow building of interactive facilities and user-friendly interface, not just retrieving information. Such websites include features like tags and keywords search that facilitate information searching, and Really Simple Syndication (RSS) that notify users of new updates.

Web 2.0 technologies benefit by creating customer loyalty, online brand immersion and repeat sales. Some common examples of the technology are Google AdSense, Flickr and Wikipedia.

References:
http://newmedia.medill.northwestern.edu/courses/nmpspring01/brown/Revstream/history.htm

http://www.muslim-programers.com/5/IntroductionToeCommerce.htm

Revenue Models: Google, Amazon.com & eBay

Google’s main revenue model in generating income is through advertising. The one program generating more than 90% of Google’s revenue is Google AdWords, which is a pay per click advertising program.

This is how it works: when users search for something in the search engine, ads will appear next to the search results (where the ads are related to the keywords entered by the users). Most users will be attracted to the ads because the ads match what they are already searching for in the search engine. The advertisers have to pay Google for every single click on their ads.

Google AdSense is another program that generates revenue based on per-click or per-thousand-ads-displayed. It allows website publishers to display relevant Google ads on their sites. Advertisers are required to pay Google advertising fee everytime their ads displayed on Google Network members’ sites are clicked. Google has a sophisticated system and technology that is able to match users and advertisers with its huge ads database and produce the ads that users are most likely to respond. More information on it here.

Amazon.com involves mainly buying and selling of products and services over the Internet or computer networks.

Amazon.com is a business that uses direct online sales model to gain revenue. A website is established and becomes the place for trading, directly selling to online visitors. Product delivery is often by mail, but digital files or products (eg. e-books and softwares) can be delivered instantly through downloading.
Amazon.com offers a wide range of both used and brand-new products like books, movies, electronic gadgets, jewelries, tools and many more. A list of their bestselling products in 2008.

Ebay is a shopping website and online auction giant which is a great place for people to sell their stuff.

Ebay earns from commissions or transaction fees. Normally, the eBay fees are insertion fees and final value fees charged for people doing business on the site. It means that the person who is selling has to pay eBay once for the privilege of listing an item on eBay website, and pay again when the item sells. Especially in auction-style listing, the higher the starting and selling price, the more eBay charges.

References:

http://organicspam.com/google_revenue_model.asp

http://www.school-for-champions.com/ecommerce/business_models.htm

The girl called 'hippo'....

Yong Sher Yee is my official name but Gloria is my nick name in Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman which is the university that I study in. I finished my diploma in Tunku Abdul Rahman College and continued my degree in this university. I love to eat, sleep and shop like all young girls. I feel very lucky that I can meet many friends who treat me like family here in this university, especially my roommates Hui Chein and Pei Sun. They help me a lot in my studies. Other than that, my classmates Patrick, Kyan, Alvin and Yi Ming who are like brothers to me always take us go searching for delicious food and beautiful places, but all these memories will cost me a lot and will really let me become a hippo, haha.

Nowadays, internet is the most important entertainment in our life. Since I am a teenager who likes to follow the latest happenings and updates, I always visit Facebook to communicate with my friends. Other than that, PPS website is a tool that I use to watch dramas and cartoons. Google and Yahoo are also the most frequent websites that I visit to search for information for my assignments and studies, because these two websites are most commonly used for searches. Hotmail.com also is one of the websites that I visit everyday because I can communicate with my assignment group members through e-mailing.

Now I am in Year 3 Semester 1, I will balance my time between studying and leisure to enjoy my university life and will not have regrets when I think back ten years later.

The girl called 'fat'....

I came to this world over 20 years ago. I am Hoo Hui Chein. After I finished my diploma I joined Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman to complete my degree. Before I came to UTAR Sg. Long campus, I studied at Tunku Abdul Rahman College which is located at Setapak. My life then was quite peaceful compared to now. Because of my buddies around, my dull lifestyle has become colourful. Shopping, singing karaoke, watching movie, searching for delicious food and even playing sports already filled up almost all my time. Of course, I still play my part in studying.

Well, I also surf the net during my free time like other youngsters. Facebook and Friendster are the websites I surf everyday. Uploading photos, leaving comments and meeting new friends have become the activities that I do frequently. For my entertainment, I surf pps.tv website to watch dramas and movies whenever I am free.

Besides that, I will surf google.com to search for relevant information for my assignments and studies. Sometimes, the information provided is not as good as I thought. However, I still can learn something by referring to other websites. I often use hotmail.com to communicate with my friends. Any topics regarding school matters or non-school matters can be part of our conversations.

Actually, I really enjoy my life currently. In future, I hope to be a successful accountant.

I am Me

I am a 22-year old girl named Siow Feng Xian. It's Koh Yi Ming's fault that people started calling me 'risky'..sigh. People always comment that I'm tall and skinny. I would love to get fat if only I could haha. I'm from Seri Kembangan, a nearby town from Sungai Long but I chose to stay here so I can save travelling time and sleep more. And I feel closer to my classmates and housemates ^^

Anyway, I love music and reading. So I constantly go to YouTube to check out new/old/noisy/quiet songs and watch music videos or sitcoms for entertainment. Basically, anyone can upload any videos on YouTube to share with the rest of the world. Online version of The Star can be found at http://www.thestar.com.my/ for people to read about daily happenings around the world and gain all sorts of information about alot of things in life. Such electronic newspapers provide convenience and instant news updates to the general public. Malaysians who are residing or working in other countries can always be informed of the situation in Malaysia. Of course, Friendster and Facebook are also the two popular social networking sites that I visit often. It allows me to get connected with friends especially distant friends and nose into other people's business. Such sites have different degree of privacy protection for you to choose from to secure your own profile and information. And I also login to our UTAR's http://wble.utar.edu.my/ and student portal that provides academic information and updates from time to time. We can check for announcements, release of results, online surveys or electronic student bills at anytime and at anywhere with Internet connection.

Everything is so easy to access now =)

About Me~~~

Hi, my name is Ong Lai Hock, but my friends always call me Alan. I am 22 years old and I come from Johor Bahru. I have 4 family members, they are my daddy, mummy, younger sister and me. My daddy is a carpenter and my mummy is a housewife. My younger sister and I studied in Foon Yew High School, an independent secondary school before. Now my younger sister is studying interior design in Singapore polytechnic and of course I am studying in UTAR Year 3 Semester 1 accounting course. My ambition is to become an outstanding accountant. My hobbies are playing computer games, basketball and also listening to songs. I also like to go online. Therefore, I always visit Friendster, Facebook, YouTube, Google and also Yahoo. Friendster and Facebook will let me see my friend's photos, messages and also I can play games with my friends. I can see many short videos on YouTube in a short time. I will visit Google and Yahoo in order to search for some new knowledge. I always use MSN Messenger to talk with my friends. MSN Messenger will let me understand my friends' recent situation and I can chat with them. Besides that, I also play online games with my friends. I play "San Guo" online games with my friends recently. I always go to the forum to see the messages or comments and sometimes I will post some messages at the forum. I like to write diary. So, I always write my diary at my blog. I like to listen to Chinese songs, especially the old Chinese songs. So, searching for songs online is easier.