MyEG for online government services
Spinning off my previous post about getting your road tax fuel rebate below, its also come to my attention that you can actually claim your rebate online. So, if you aren’t the sort who likes to queue up at the post office (I prefer going to those that are open later as there are less people in the evenings) then you might want to use the online option.
I personally have not used the MyEG service. This site allows you to obtain car insurance quotes, pay for your car insurance, pay to renew your road tax and even pay to have the road tax couriered to you so you don’t even have to trouble yourself waiting to get it. If you renew your roadtax online then you can claim your fuel rebate online too which saves you queueing at the post office. However, it will be credited to your card and so you don’t get to see the cold hard cash 
Over and above car related services, you can also renew your driving license (very useful if you don’t want to find yourself wasting half a day queueing at the JPJ) or even pay police summonses.
There is however one snag that I can see using the online road tax renewal service and that is if your car is still under a hire purchase loan. In those circumstances, the bank holds your car registration card. On MyEG, they say :-
7. My original Registration Card is with the Bank. How can I print my registration card at the eKiosk?
Normally the Bank may allow you to collect your registration card for renewal purposes for a few days. Once you have completed the road tax renewal, you may print the relevant information on your registration card. Thereafter, you may need to submit the original registration card back to the bank for safekeeping. Please make the necessary arrangements with your Bank directly.
So, it does not eradicate the hassle of having to collect your card from the bank etc. That is one of the hassle bits that really get my goat so I get someone to do it for me for a small fee. Sometimes, time is money yes?
HP Mini Vivienne Tam edition
When I first read about the new limited edition HP Mini Vivienne Tam notebook I thought I’d really want it. The whole package called out to me, where it looked both functional and gorgeous. Also, its a lovely small size just like my Asus Eeepc. However, now that I’ve seen more pictures of it on Cnet, I’m less enamoured with it. The press pictures made the peony cover look so much better than it does in real life based on the pictures I’m seeing.
The problem of course is that, this is just a dressed up version of the HP Mini 1000 which would cost half the price of the jazzed up version. Its just not worth paying extra for a shell – pretty though the shell may be. I’d rather be spending that extra money on memory be it Mac memory or just memory for my other notebooks to jazz things up on the inside rather than on the outside.
So yeah, after hearing that it might cost a cool RM2800 here in Malaysia if or when the Vivienne Tam edition is brought in by HP, I think I’m giving it a miss. Pretty it might be, but practical it just is not.
Did you get your road tax rebate?
I maybe late to the party but my car road tax was only renewable towards the end of last year so I was among the last few people I know to pick up the RM625 road tax rebate the Government was giving out last year.
The road tax rebate was given out last year and if I recall correctly, will be until April this year when I reckon they will not be continuing it for another year since the petrol prices have come down and global oil prices seem rather stagnant for now.
Still, this is a friendly reminder for you to pick up the RM625 from the Government once you renew your car’s road tax (for cars up to 2000 cc I think). Just go to any post office, fill out a form, place your thumb print on it, and wait for the cold hard cash to call into your lap!
Unlike life insurance where people usually compare term life insurance rates to get the best deal, car insurance is all quite standard so get your car insurance, renew your road tax and pick up the rebate before this policy is revoked this year!