Dividing an inheritance

Posted on 19 June 2010 by ssquah

I was reading this Q&A item in The Times newspaper recently. Do bear in mind that as this advice was given by a barrister in England and the circumstances refer to UK law, it may not be totally applicable here in Malaysia. Nevertheless, it raised an interesting point of view.

Q In her will, my mother left me and my brother two houses with an orchard. We were also executors of her will. After probate was granted, we had all the land registered in both names at the Land Registry. My brother lives in one house, and the other is rented out.

divide.jpgWe now want to split up the properties and divide the proceeds, but my brother is worried that he may be forced to move out of what he calls “his” house. Do we need to sell everything or can I let my brother simply keep the house? Also, what do we do about the orchard? Although I love my brother dearly, I do not simply want to give it to him for nothing.

A Your mother’s will created a trust. The property in the trust is held by the trustees named by your mother and it is to be used for the benefit of the beneficiaries identified in the will. You and your brother are therefore both the trustees and (coincidentally) the beneficiaries as well.

Ordinarily, when the trust is wound up, the properties would be sold and the proceeds divided among the beneficiaries according to their entitlement in the will.

However, the more appropriate procedure in your case is probably a partition. The trustees can sign a Deed of Partition that divides up the land and allocates the various parts to you and your brother. Under Section 7 of the Trusts for Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996, the trustees first have to obtain the consent of the beneficiaries – but it does not sound as if it that should be a problem in your case. If you cannot agree about the partition, either of you may apply to the court to order a partition under the Act.

As to the orchard, the solution is to have the various parts of the properties valued by a surveyor before they are allocated. If either of you is allotted a less valuable parcel of land in the partition, they can have their share topped up by a cash payment by the other party. This is called payment of “equality money”. Again, the amount of any equality money can be set out in an agreed Deed of Partition or the court can be asked to assess whether it should be paid and what the sum should be.

The writer is a barrister at Tanfield Chambers.

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Will history repeat itself?

Posted on 18 June 2010 by ssquah

I’VE got a feeling that we may see a youngster as national chess champion this year. Some of you will say that we have had young national champions before, and you are not wrong.

( Former national chess champion Edward Lee.)

In the last three national championships alone, the titles went to youngsters like Evan Capel (2009), Edward Lee (2008) and Zarul Shazwan (2007). Indeed, the list of national champions is peppered with names of other players who were still in their teens when they won their titles.

I’ve this feeling that the trend will continue. I may be wrong but when I look at the list of participants in this year’s national championship, I believe the future of Malaysian chess rests with the likes of Edward Lee, Sumant Subramaniam, Lim Zhuo Ren and Yeoh Li Tian.

In the women’s national championship, Alia Anin Bakri is the current torch-bearer among the youngsters but two names to look out for are Fong Mi Yen and Tan Li Ting.

Interestingly, this year’s line-up looks remarkably strong and there is a rather long list of players. Maybe it’s because the prize money has been increased.

I still remember how the national champions were rewarded with a RM300 first prize that came from toiling for five or six days at the chess board.

This year though, the first prize is a more reasonable RM1,000 for the open championship and RM600 for the women’s championship, and these have attracted more players.

Never mind that the national championships are being held at the more remote Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia campus in Bangi, the numbers are there and this should make the Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF) a happier organisation.

Now, the next big task for the federation is to convince more of the top players to take part. For this year, there are many experienced names to count on: players like Loo Swee Leong, Tan Khai Boon, Kamal Ariffin Wahiduddin, Kamaluddin Yusof, Nik Ahmad Farouqi, Ismail Ahmad and Lim Kian Hwa. On their good days they are quite capable of upsetting the form books.

We shall see how they prevail in this year’s tournament. Today is already the third day of the event; four rounds have been played since Wednesday, and there are five more to go.

All are critical rounds because as the championship progresses, the tension takes a toll on the players. And tension strikes hardest during a national championship than in any other tournament.

I’ve seen players almost collapsing from exhaustion towards the end of a national championship.

Once, I noticed a player close his eyes to catch forty winks in between moves and he kept nodding off thereafter until the time limit.

Many times, I’ve seen winning games ending up lost because the players could no longer think straight. Their thoughts got muddled up or they became too tired to think. What matters is how well they can pace themselves and at the same time out-pace their rivals.

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Russian roulette

Posted on 11 June 2010 by ssquah

KHANTY-Mansiysk in the middle of Russian Siberia experiences wide swings in temperature during the course of a year. Historically, the summer temperature is highest at 18°C while the lowest temperature in winter is around -21°C.

September may be the last best opportunity to visit the Russian town while the average temperature hovers around 8°C without dropping below zero. However, it’s still cold enough to threaten visitors from the tropics with some big shivers.

This September, however, should see the temperature rise a notch higher in Khanty-Mansiysk because not only will the next Chess Olympiad be held there, but the World Chess Federation (Fide) is set to hold its elections.

Yes, it’s election time in Fide. They are normally held every four years and in the months leading to the elections, candidates would start posturing themselves to the worldwide Fide family. Many times, however, the elections would fizzle out tamely. Why? Because by the election day, either the candidates have opted for a compromise solution or they would have withdrawn from contesting.

This year’s Fide elections may yet turn out tamely but then, there is also a fair chance that it will not. It’s particularly interesting this year because the former world champion, Anatoly Karpov, is making a big play for the Fide president’s position.

He has made his position quite clear by challenging the incumbent president, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. And two developments have made this challenge very interesting.

The first is that Karpov and Garry Kasparov have put their previous differences aside to work together. I know, there are gasps all around. It’s quite unbelievable, isn’t it? The two of them are now working together with Kasparov actively supporting Karpov’s candidacy for Fide president.

They have been the most bitter of bitter enemies in the 1980s when they were at the pinnacle of their chess careers. Their world chess championship matches were stuff that could inspire comparisons with the Cold War except that the two of them were from the same country, the former Soviet Union.

The second development is that the Russian Chess Federation has been put into a quandary. Who should they support? Karpov is obviously Russian but so is Ilyumzhinov, and Fide regulations say that a federation can only support one candidate.

Karpov is their former world champion so he merits their support. But Ilyumzhinov is the incumbent Fide president and also a political figure in Russia, he being the president of the autonomous state of Kalmyk in Russia. He would also be demanding support from the Russian Chess Federation.

About two or three weeks ago, the situation in Russia reached crisis point. One faction within their federation nominated Karpov for Fide presidency while a second faction insisted that that nomination was illegal. Of course, the second faction’s choice was Ilyumzhinov.

To make matters more complicated, soon afterwards, the second faction descended on the office of the Russian Chess Federation, sealed it off and sacked the federation’s sitting board chairman who supported Karpov’s candidacy. The situation is so fluid now that it is impossible to gauge who is in control over there.

In the meantime, it has also emerged that Ilyumzhinov is striking back at Karpov, claiming that the former world champion had libelled him.

The battle lines are clearly drawn and there does not seem to be any resolution or compromise until the Fide elections in Khanty-Mansiysk this September. That’s why I say that the heat is being turned up in the Russian town despite the dropping temperature.

It’s still early days where most of the national chess federations are concerned, the Malaysian Chess Federation included. For sure, these three months are very critical months and they will pass by very quickly. The two presidential candidates or their teams have already started campaigning and crisscrossing the globe to convince the national chess federations for their support.

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Inheritance battle looms in Malaysia

Posted on 5 June 2010 by ssquah

Estate planning for non-Muslims and Muslims can be worlds apart. For Muslims, the Syariah inheritance laws take precedence over any civil considerations. When a Muslim dies, his estate will be subjected to divine laws already laid down in the Quran and there are no two ways that this can be avoided.

The news item below from the Malaysia Insider describes clearly what happens to a Muslim’s estate. There is a big potential scrape brewing over the outcome of a suit lodged by the family of the second wife of a deceased Muslim businessman to claim their share of the estate. It’s going to be messy because this man’s business and personal empire is estimated at about RM3 billion. That’s nine zeros behind the number 3. Here’s the story:

KUALA LUMPUR, June 4 — The Naza empire built by the late tycoon Tan Sri SM Nasimuddin SM Amin is in danger of breaking up if the legal battle between his first and second wives is dragged to the syariah court.

naza.jpgThis comes as Nasimuddin’s second wife, Rokiah Abdullah, and her five children filed a legal suit to claim RM350 million and properties in Malaysia and England as well as control of six companies now being held by Nasimuddin’s first wife and their five children.

Under Islamic inheritance law, the property of the deceased must be distributed equally according to the proportions stated in the Quran.

This will divide the Naza group of companies between the two feuding families and result in a split of one of the country’s biggest privately-held conglomerates.

At stake is an empire said to be worth over RM3 billion.

Nasimuddin had built this empire on the back of the government’s affirmative action Approved Permit (AP) system to import cars. He was said to have received up to 18,000 APs a year.

The Naza group of companies includes a complex array of over 30 entities engaged in businesses ranging from automobile trading to hotels to property development and taxi services while the family holdings apparently included properties in London and Los Angeles.

Syarie lawyer Aziz Hassan told The Malaysian Insider that the Quran is very clear on the distribution of inheritance.

“Islamic inheritance law can be found in the Quran and it predetermines and states how the inheritance is distributed among the family. It is quite clear and there is no issue of anything circumventing unless the inheritors agree otherwise.

“It states how much the parents, spouse and children get. Also, how much can a son and a daughter inherit. All of it is stated.

“The most fundamental aspect in the inheritance law is that the son is the one who takes the most after the residue,” he said.

“In normal circumstances, the parents will get 1/6, the wife or wives will together get 1/8, the sons will get two portions and the daughters get one portion. That is the basic distribution of inheritance under Islam after the debts are paid.”

The companies being claimed by the second wife and her children are Naza Kia Sdn Bhd, Naza Automotif Manufacturing Sdn Bhd, Nasim Sdn Bhd, Naza Motor Trading Sdn Bhd, Naza TTDI Sdn Bhd and NZ Wheels Sdn Bhd.

naza-wifeclaim-grafik.jpgThe suit in the High Court was filed by Rokiah, 53, and her children Sharifah Roslina, 26, Mohd Azli, 25, Sharifah Rosnani, 24, Sheikh Mohamad Azrul, 21, and Sharifah Sofia, through the law firm of Jamil Mohamed Shafie & Associates.

Named as defendants were Nasimuddin’s estate, his first wife Puan Sri Zaleha Ismail, 57, and her children, Datuk Faisal, 31, Nur Diana, 28, Sheikh Mohd Nasarudin, 26, Sheikh Mohd Faliq, 25, and Nur Nadia, 24.

Besides the sum of RM350 million, the plaintiffs are demanding Zaleha, her children and CIMB Trustee declare all assets, movable and immovable property in the country and overseas, that was owned by Nasimuddin from May 1, 2008 until now.

The plaintiffs are also claiming interest in the companies, assets and properties of Nasimuddin in Malaysia and in England.

They also want Ekspedisi Nikmat to hand over details of assets held in trust for Nasimuddin.

Aziz said Islamic inheritance law has precedence over any written will.

“Whatever net value, it goes to this ratio. It is very clear and there is no question even if there is a will. Unless we want to respect the deceased and his will then everybody has to agree in complying with the will. Otherwise the inheritance law will prevail,” he said.

According to the statement of claim, the plaintiffs are claiming that while Nasimuddin was alive, he had promised to hand over Naza Kia, Naza Automotif Manufacturing, Nasim, Naza Motor Trading, Naza TTDI and NZ Wheels to them.

The plaintiffs are also claiming that before he died, Nasimuddin had told them his assets were worth more than RM3 billion and handed over to them details of the companies and properties he owned.

The properties include a few bungalow properties in Malaysia, five properties in London, a bungalow in Johannesburg, South Africa, as well as an apartment and a bungalow in Los Angeles, the US.

The plaintiffs claimed that Nasimuddin also told them that CIMB Trustee was the trustee of a significant portion of the movable and immovable assets, including shares in the companies.

However, Aziz stressed that the wives can lay claim to jointly-acquired property (harta pencarian).

“It does not matter as it can be proven that the wife’s marriage is legitimate then 1/8 is shared among the wives but as far as the wives are concerned, they can lay claim to jointly-acquired property or wealth accumulated since marriage,” he said.

“The first wife should theoretically get more because of the period of marriage and the younger will get less.”

He added that the claim to jointly-acquired property must be made before inheritance is distributed.

“The jointly-acquired property must be given before the inheritance law is applied but the property must be claimed and the contribution must be proven. So it is not automatic. What do you claim? How much do you claim? And how do you prove that you have contributed to the acquisition of the assets. The right is there but you have to prove your claim,” he said.

Aziz admitted that determining the value of the Naza empire would be a major stumbling block in determining an accurate distribution.

“Yes, she (Rokiah) has not been married for a long time so definitely she has claim to jointly-acquired property. However, the question is how much is her share? The problem is that nobody knows the true value of Naza’s property. Private companies are very difficult to value.

“Technically, all the companies under the Naza group were held under the name of the deceased so all of it must be considered as inheritance. Unless it can be proven otherwise,” he said.

The plaintiffs said they had asked Nasimuddin’s first wife and children to settle the issue of their rights.

They also said that on Jan 27, the defendants, through Akhberdin & Co, had sent a letter to them offering RM20 million as a final settlement for their claims without taking into account the intentions of Nasimuddin.

Through lawyers Radzuan Ibrahim & Co, the plaintiffs had requested for the case to be settled with a payment of RM350 million and for the control and assets of Naza Kia, Naza Automotif Manufacturing, Nasim, Naza Motor Trading, Naza TTDI and NZ Wheels to be handed over to them as promised by Nasimuddin to Mohd Azli, the second son of his second wife.

They also demanded a temporary payment of RM20 million from Zaleha and her children through Ekspedisi Nikmat and for the balance of their claims to be made after trial.

Second son Nasarudin declined to comment when contacted yesterday.

Nasimuddin started his business in 1974 and was awarded almost 18,000 APs for imported cars a year from the government.

Naza also came under the spotlight late last year when it was awarded 65 acres of valuable government land in the highly-prized Duta area of Kuala Lumpur with an estimated gross development value of RM15 billion without going through an open tender.

Naza is best known for its motor trading business which includes distribution rights to Mercedes Benz, Ferrari, Porsche and Harley Davidson. The group also assembles Kia and Peugeot cars in factories in the north of Malaysia.

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When an estate is too small…

Posted on 3 June 2010 by ssquah

Here’s a real life situation. Some years ago – maybe two years ago – I helped to write someone’s Will. The person wanted to appoint a Trust company as the executor despite being advised that a family member would probably be a better choice considering the assets he owned. A year after this Will was written, he passed away.

The Trust company was called in to discuss with the family on the administration of the estate. However, not all of the beneficiaries could be present at this meeting and among those that attended, some were not too happy after hearing about the cost of administering the estate.

Unfortunately, these were only the preliminary costs talked about at this meeting, which would include the cost of applying for the grant of Probate. And it was confirmed that there weren’t many assets anyway.

The family asked for an alternative solution and the Trust company decided to stand down as the executor, leaving the family to apply for a Distribution Order under the Small Estate (Distribution) Act as if the deceased had not written any Will. The family agreed to this solution.

The last I heard about this matter was that the family members could still not resolve the problem of distributing the estate. It wasn’t so much as the cost now but rather, the beneficiaries could not agree among themselves. Sad, but there’s nothing I or the Trust company could do to help them anymore.

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Snippets: a picture is worth a thousand words

Posted on 30 May 2010 by ssquah

The person you are meeting for the first time does not know you. Neither would you know him. Therefore, your initial appearance is usually the first clue that the interviewer has to go by. The key to a good impression is to present yourself appropriately. Start with your grooming. A clean and tidy appearance is appropriate for an interview. Get a good haircut or shave. Wear clean and tidy clothes. Have a neat and tidy make-up. Appropriate dressing and grooming will help you feel calmer and have greater confidence. Add them all up and you are well on your way to creating a good first impression to the interviewer.

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The heartache of intestacy (people dying without Wills)

Posted on 30 May 2010 by ssquah

Not leaving a Will means leaving a heartache for a bereaving family, especially one that is unaware of the legal quicksand.

Can you imagine a scenario such as this: a man died without having written a Will. All he owned were assets of not more than RM600,000 including a house.

will.jpgHis non-working widowed wife thought that obtaining a distribution order from the Land Office was the end of the matter but no, she was told that as her three children were still below 18 years old, two-thirds of her late husband’s EPF money would be transferred to the Amanah Raya Bhd (ARB) as the public trustee for them.

So she went to the local ARB office to enquire after the amount that she wanted withdrawn for her three children’s expenses. But there wasn’t any good news. According to the ARB, piano lessons, swimming lessons, art classes, ballet dance classes and other similar activities were considered as “luxuries” to have. No, no no. The ARB would not allow the children’s money to be used for these activities even though the kids had been attending them before her husband died.

She was shattered. How can it be? Not only was it already hard for the children to cope with life without their father, their lifestyle and activities now risk being drastically changed. How much more tragic could any child’s life become?

As a mother, could she bear to stop her children from attending activities that they have enjoyed and acquired skills from? She used her one-third entitlement which was for her personal benefit under the law, for the welfare of her three minor children. Most probably, she may exhaust her entitlement by the time her three children reached adulthood. Who could she rely on if her children were not filial to her?

The above is only a scenario but so typically, it highlights some of the many hardships that we may put our families through if we die without a Will.

In law, there is the Small Estates (Distribution) Act 1955 (Small Estates Act) that allows the District Land Administrator (DLA) to act in situations where a person dies without a Will and leaves an estate consisting wholly or partly of immovable property and which does not exceed RM600,000 (small estate). This Act sounds very compassionate and socially responsible but in reality, it is full of pitfalls for the affected families.

As the ARB is also a government agency, it is a common practice of the DLA to appoint ARB as the trustee for beneficiaries who are minors. Further, and this is also a very important point to note, no lawyer is entitled to appear on behalf of any party in respect of a small estate except with the permission of the DLA. Hence, lay persons are expected to deal with the relevant authorities all by themselves.

In 2008, perhaps with an eye on inflation, the amount of RM600,000 under the Small Estates Act was amended to RM2 million. According to the official portal of the Department of Director-General of Lands and Mines (Federal), this amendment is already effective, meaning that many of us now falls under the above category. Ironically enough, with this amended definition, even the properties of some deceased millionaires can now even be classified as “small estates” and thus affected.

In any event, when a person dies, his property is known as his estate and his children are his “issue.” If the person dies intestate (without a Will), Section 6 of the Distribution Act 1958 (DA) provides distribution as such:

INTESTATE, with surviving

ENTITLEMENT TO ESTATE

Spouse

Parents

Issue

Spouse

Parents

Issue

 Yes

No

No

whole

-

-

No

No

Yes

-

-

whole

No

Yes

No

-

whole

-

Yes

Yes

No

one-half

one-half

-

Yes

No

Yes

one-third

-

one-third

No

Yes

Yes

-

one-third

two-thirds

Yes

Yes

Yes

one-quarter

one-quarter

one-half

For example, if a man dies intestate, leaving behind both parents, spouse and three children and two houses, both houses will bear six people’s names in each of the title deeds. Can you imagine the inconveniences to all six of them and the disputes that may arise in the event of disagreement in dealing with the two houses?

If the man had died leaving no parent, spouse and issue, his whole estate will go to the following persons in order of priority:

(a) brothers and sisters
(b) grandparents
(c) uncles and aunts
(d) great grandparents
(e) great grand uncles and grand aunts
(f) the government.

For the purposes of the DA, the word “child” means a legitimate child and where the deceased has more than one lawful wife, “child” includes a child by such wife, but does not include an adopted child unless the child is adopted under the Adoption Act 1952. Similarly, the word “parent” means the natural mother or father of a child or the lawful mother or father of a child under the Adoption Act 1952. As for divorced spouses, they remain surviving spouses until the divorce order is made absolute.

So essentially, what can we do if we have assets below RM2 million but we do not wish them to be classified under the Small Estates (Distribution) Act and falling under the control of the District Land Administrator with all the heartache and problems coming with it? One answer is to avoid intestacy and have your Will written as soon as possible.

Apart from avoiding the above problems, making a Will has other advantages: we select our beneficiaries, their shares and entitlement, and this will minimise disputes among them. Further, our named executor in the Will can directly petition the Court for a grant of Probate. Generally, the steps involved in obtaining the Probate are less cumbersome compared with the situation if one dies intestate and family members have to petition for the grant of Letters of Administration.

Every Will is unique because it reflects our personal intention and direction of how we would like our assets to be managed and distributed. There is no single Will format that will satisfy everybody. Traditionally, we engage a lawyer to prepare our Will. People still do but since 1996, there are alternatives. Professional Will-writing companies such as Rockwills Corporation provide specialist estate-planning services in this area to non-Muslims.

For more details or consultation in Penang, southern Kedah or northern Perak, please do contact this writer here.

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The probate, explained

Posted on 29 May 2010 by ssquah

This is interesting information on the Probate from The Times newspaper quite some time ago. Do note that the article is based on the laws of the United Kingdom and may not be totally applicable to your country of domicile.

Dealings with lawyers, banks and the taxman are something most people dread. So it is especially hard that families must handle all three within weeks of the death of a loved one.

probateexplained.jpgHere is Times Money’s guide to probate and administration.

What is probate?

Probate is issued by the Probate Service — see direct.gov.uk — to the executors named in a will, granting them access to the deceased’s assets so that they can wind up the estate. Where a solicitor or bank is one of the executors, it will expect to handle the administration for a fee deducted from the estate. Where none is named, the executors are free to hire a solicitor or do the work themselves.

When a person dies without a will, relatives, or a solicitor, apply for letters of administration, which give access to the estate for distribution according to intestacy laws.

Probate for executors

If you are an executor and no bank or solicitor is named as joint executor, it is up to you whether to seek professional help with probate and administration or to tackle it yourself. Paul Elmhirst, author of the Which? Essential Guides — Wills and Probate, says that people considering the latter should be aware that many estates are complex, especially where inheritance tax is payable, family trusts are involved or there are beneficiaries aged under 18. He adds: “Without a solicitor, you could be liable later if you miscalculate tax, for example.”

He says that fees at a good provincial solicitors should come to about 2 per cent of a “fairly routine” estate and the work should take two months. He adds: “Shop around several firms for a free initial conversation and ask whether there is anything in the circumstances that could complicate and prolong the process.”

Kay Hornsby, of Help the Aged, says that the charity knows of many people who have administered simple estates without difficulty. The process — mainly a matter of letterwriting — takes about 20 to 25 hours, over a couple of months at least, and may involve several hundred pounds of expenses, including £90 for the grant of probate, deductible from the estate.

Problem executors

Where you are named executor alongside a bank or solicitor, contact that institution as soon as possible to discuss fees. These are especially likely to be high with banks. Mr Elmhirst says: “Bank fee scales are draconian. The work costs a percentage of the estate, regardless, which means an especially bad deal when an estate is straightforward.”

If you want to change a named bank or solicitor, Mr Elmhirst says to ask it to renounce executorship, giving a reason, such as “unreasonable” cost. He adds: “If you want another solicitor to take on the work, it will contact the unwanted executor and exert pressure.”

If an institution refuses to budge, and you think that its fees are unreasonable, you can threaten legal action, but going ahead with such action may be risky. Your local Law Centre or Citizens Advice Bureau can advise.

Keeping tabs

Be sure that you understand a bank or solicitor’s fee structure and tell the person handling your case how often you expect to be updated. Prompt administration is especially important when markets are falling — as a long wait before the sale of shares or property could result in serious financial loss for beneficiaries.

Mr Elmhirst says: “If a solicitor is taking a long time and not accounting for it, use the company’s complaints procedure. Your case will be referred to another partner in the firm and, failing that, the Law Society.”

Unresolved complaints to banks go before the Financial Ombudsman Service. Both can secure redress if a bank or solicitor is found to be in the wrong.

Probate for will-makers

If you are writing a will, you can make administration easier and more affordable for your beneficiaries by naming lay executors who can make their own decision whether to hire professional help. Update family or friends on the whereabouts of your most recent will and keep an up-to-date record of your assets. This will make administration simpler for lay executors or save thousands of pounds in solicitors’ fees.

Know the rules on inheritance tax

• Inheritance tax (IHT) is payable at 40 per cent on sums above £325,000. Bequests to a spouse, civil partner or charity are tax-free.

• Married couples and civil partners can also transfer the unused element of their IHT-free allowance to each other when they die, enabling the surviving partner to bequeath up to £650,000.

• Part of the tax is paid before probate is issued, with the rest due within six months of the end of the month in which the person died. Interest is charged on any unpaid tax after this.

• The tax is calculated on the value of the estate on the date of death, which means that you may pay tax on a house value that is out of date and higher than the sale price realised.

• IHT on a property or land can be paid in equal annual instalments over ten years, subject to the payment of interest. The tax is due in full on the sale of the asset.

• You have to complete a tax form whether or not IHT is payable.

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Long-running tourney

Posted on 28 May 2010 by ssquah

EARLIER this month, I made an unplanned private day trip to Kuala Lumpur. One aspect of most of my unplanned trips is that one way or another, I find myself visiting the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre (DATCC) at the Wilayah Complex along Jalan Dang Wangi.

The place is such a magnet for me. It’s so conveniently located in KL that just about any chess player can visit it with ease. I was mildly surprised when I got there. The place had expanded. Occupying about twice the original floor space, the chess centre is now big enough to cater comfortably to any tournament with up to 120 players.

As luck would have it, the Selangor open chess tournament was going on that day when I visited the chess centre.

Good timing, I noted to myself, here was a perfect opportunity to see how the country’s longest-running chess tournament was being organised. This tournament has been running without any interruption since 1974, the year the Chess Association of Selangor (CAS) was formed.

That’s an unbroken stretch of 37 years. It’s a local achievement and I think this is mentioned in the Malaysia Book of Records, too. I remember having played in the first two editions of the tournament back in 1974 at the Royal Selangor Club, and in 1975 at a school in Jalan Gasing, Petaling Jaya. That school was used by the CAS for several years.

Today, the organisers are using the DATCC in Kuala Lumpur. I gathered from the playing list that there were 71 participants at this year’s event.

This was a reasonably big enough number for an event of this stature but I felt the organisers would have wanted to see more people taking part in their premier chess event.

Another thing that struck me about this tournament was that for the second year running, the Selangor open has been organised without any sponsorship deal. The prize moneys and the money for our expenses are being met mainly from the entry fees and partly from the association’s internal funds, I was told.

Well, it is a shame that the country’s longest-running chess event hasn’t been able to obtain any sponsor again. The association’s long-term sponsor pulled out last year, citing economic problems. But the tournament had to go on, so the CAS decided to use its internal funds.

This year, the sponsor must have pulled out again and left the association carrying their baby for yet another year.

In my opinion, this can’t be continuing. It was quite understandable if the sponsor had been forced to pull out last year. After all, the global problems triggered by the sub-prime crisis in the United States had left many companies in a difficult situation.

But if the same sponsor had pulled out again for a second year, the CAS should come up with a Plan B and search for alternative sources of sponsorship. They shouldn’t allow this situation to spill into the third year.

Chess associations in Malaysia operate almost exclusively on sponsorship funds. Everyone works purely on a voluntary basis for the good of the game. As much as chess players owe it to the chess associations to uplift the level of chess in the community, chess associations also owe it to the chess players for their support. It’s the only survival technique the associations need, otherwise they become irrelevant.

Dependency on one another makes it a symbiotic relationship. One cannot do without the other. But the only way for chess players to support their associations is for the associations to organise quality events for players. No matter how hard a voluntary organisation may work, it becomes impossible for it to continue working hard for long without external sponsorship funds coming in.

So definitely, a Plan B is in order for the CAS to move forward. I hope they are already doing this because I shall really be sad if Malaysia’s longest-running tournament gets affected again next year and in the years to come.

For the record, Dr Nicholas Chan bounced back from his disappointing display at the Kuala Lumpur Masters event to bag the first prize at the Selangor open tournament. A convincing performance here which saw Chan finish half-a-point ahead of Jimmy Liew and Kamal Ariffin Wahiduddin who ended in joint second place.

However, the most impressive result was scored by 11-year-old Yeoh Li Tian who finished in joint fourth place with Loo Swee Leong, Muhd Syazwan Zulkifli and Tan Ken Wei.

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Right preparation

Posted on 27 May 2010 by ssquah

You may be the smartest candidate short-listed by the company but if you think that the job is already yours for the taking without you having to prepare for the interview, please think again. The silliest thing for any job seeker to do is to walk into any interview unprepared.

When you go to an interview, you must be prepared to face the persons on the other side of the table. After all, they are going to be the ones that are going to decide whether you have a future with their company. So shouldn’t they be the ones that you try to impress?

Making impressions come in many ways. Take, for example, the very first impression you can possibly make: the way you dress to the interview. Now, you can easily put them on their guard by turning up with unkempt hair and wrinkled clothes or you can warm the interviewers by looking spick and span like a professional. Which one would you prefer? The choice is yours to make.

In cast you think that it doesn’t matter much, we’ve had companies passing remarks to us about candidates showing up for interviews in jeans and other inappropriate attire. These are for professional positions. To them, the impression was that if this was how a candidate already looked when he was supposed to be at his best, they wouldn’t want him to represent their business.

The other types of impression are internal. For example, impressing the interviewers with your knowledge of the company. Before any interview, do a research on the company. With the Internet at our fingertips, there is no excuse not to do this. Go to the company’s website and read the “About us” section.

You should walk into an interview knowing things such as the company’s size, products or services and their target markets. Google the company to see if it has been in the news recently. It’s also a good way to uncover the company’s reputation. If possible, google the hiring manager and try to find out more about him.

All these boils down to smart preparation. If you can prepare and demonstrate during the interview that you did your homework, you will surely have broken down some of the barriers between you and the interviewers.

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