Public Gold Does Not Belong to Public Bank

A very funny statement made by a friend and he told me that Public Gold Marketing Sdn. Bhd. (www.publicgold.com.my) belongs to Public Bank and it basically keeps all the physical gold that owned by public bank. Huh? Well, I don't know where he got those information.

Perhaps he made his own facts by guessing that everything starts with "Public", it belongs to Public Bank! Yeah... Maybe they do it in purpose? :D

Well, I just want to make awareness here to everyone that Public Gold has nothing to do with Public Bank nor the "Gold Investment Account" offered by Public bank as well. I can see how the confusion comes because if you visit the Public Bank website you will see this "PB Gold" in their Gold Investment Account website. This makes people or investors think Public Gold is part of Public Bank or somehow related. Again, there are 2 independent companies, please don't mix them up!


Is it safe to invest in Public Gold?

Now a million dollar question, is it safe to invest in Public Gold? Unfortunately, I do not know the answer. As you may know, the Gold scam is pretty hot these days. Public Gold is selling physical gold so I'm thinking as long as you physical gold is the real, then you're pretty safe? I don't know how the transaction works too. But I do know one thing, Gold Investment Account offered by banks such as Maybank or Public Bank is always safer comparatively. Thus, I personally do not invest other than reliable institutions or banks.

If you have concerns (you should if you're not sure), I suggest you call or email "Bank Negara Malaysia" (1-300-88-5465 or bnmtelelink@bnm.gov.my) to verify whether it is authorized or have license to operate as Gold investment company. Even though they're legal, there is a risk of bankruptcy too in my opinion. Are they backed by "Bank Negara Malaysia"? I think no.

Good luck to you if you really still want to invest! But just curious, why do you want the physical Gold? Can share?

Unemployment Rate by Country - Migration Consideration?

I read a news lately about unemployment in Australia has been increased from 5.1% to 5.4% so I am just wondering how it is compared to other countries. Let's check it out the following where I get from the wikipedia but not all data are updated:

Australia - 5.4% (Sept 2012)
Brazil - 4.7% (Dec 2011)
Brunei - 3.7% (2008)
Canada - 7.3% (March 2012)
China - 4.1% (Sept 2010)
Denmark - 6.2% (April 2012)
France - 10.2%(April 2012)
Germany - 5.4% (April 2012)
Hong Kong - 3.5% (July 2011)
Iceland - 6.6% (April 2012)
India - 3.8% (2011)
Indonesia - 6.56% (August 2011)
Ireland - 14.9% (June 2012)
Israel - 7.1% (May 2012)
Italy - 10.2 (April 2012)
Japan - 4.5% (Feb 2012)
Malaysia - 3.0% (Oct 2011)
New Zealand - 6.8% (June 2012)
Norway - 3.0% (March 2012)
Pakistan - 5.7% (2010)
Philippine - 6.9% (April 2012) 
Singapore - 1.9% (March 2011)
South Africa - 23.9% (Q3 2011)
South Korea - 3.7% (April 2010)
Switzerland - 3.1% (April 2012)
Sweden - 7.3% (April 2012)
Taiwan - 5.14% (May 2010)
Turkey - 8.0% (Sept 2012)
United Kingdom - 8.1% (May 2012)
United State - 8.1% (August 2012)
Vietnam - 2.9% (April 2009)

Note: For complete and most updated list, refer to: wikipedia


You should proud to be Malaysian as it is one of the top having lowest unemployment rate in the world, but not to be compared with Singapore which is at only 1.9%. :D Hopefully these data is accurate enough. Perhaps this also explains why the're so many foreign workers these day in Malaysia?

If you're thinking to work oversea or migrate to certain country, one of the things you should consider is the to unemployment rate of that country. The lowest the unemployment rate, the chances for you go get a job there is higher.

For example In Malaysia, most people plan to migrate to Australia, United State or Singapore and minority is to China. I don't know how true this is but this is what happen in my circle of friends. Given these data, it tells you it is the hardest to get a job in United State, followed by Australia, China and Singapore. In fact, this is true based on what I heard. This also means that if you plan to migrate to United State, it is better you secure a job there first before you move. Most of the successful case that I aware of is by networking because most companies prefer locals. However in Australia, China and Singapore, the chances of getting a job is higher, you can consider to make the move first then only start looking for a job. Hopefully it is still true for Australia as the unemployment rate is at increasing trend.

P/S: Perhaps looking at the trend will have more meaningful data, I will try to get those information for my next post.