New Grants Keep Cropping Up In Malaysia

With so many grants available provided by the good government of Malaysia, I was hardpressed to choose which ones to go for.

I mean, the most basic grants would be from SMIDEC - they offer fundings and reimbursements for new start-ups, office renovation, advertising and promotion, website development. All we need to do is simply fill up their forms, submit, and wait for the cheques!

And there is the Cradle Investment Programme - a whopping RM150,000 for individuals who can come up with a feasible commercial idea, leveraging on ICT and multimedia technologies. Think "ikan air tawar" + "e-content portal" = "increased tourism revenue", and you might as well pocket RM150,000 from Cradle.

Or, similar example of the "ikan air tawar" (clear water fish, for the uninitiated) + "e-content portal" + "mobile devices distribution" = "increased use in 3G technologies", and you can apply from the Malaysia Multimedia and Communications Commission (MCMC) for a whopper catch of RM1,500,000!!!

And not to mention MDeC's RnD Grant (MGS) for MSC status companies with unlimited funding (which Designel Media Sdn Bhd, as an MSC status company, is going to adamantly pursue to enhance the effectiveness of the teaching and learning of Islamic content).

Ah... for individuals they have the MDeC PreSeed fund - RM150,000 + a new MSC Status company for teams who can come up with an idea that (yet again) leverage on ICT and Multimedia technologies to bring the Malaysian economy another notch up.

(Btw, 2 of our Eilham friends got the MDeC PreSeed fund - an animated feature, and a mobile video ringtones development).

In addition, MDeC just launched another grant scheme dubbed "ICON" (Integrated Content Development Programme) for individuals who already has something ready to be commercialized. There's ICONity (for social networking enthusiasts), ICONedu (for e-content owners and e-learning practitioners), ICONex (for online service providers) and ICONapps (an internship programme for students and the unemployed). The grant is up to RM100,000 for each subcategory (excluding ICONapps)!!!

Whoa!

How come people still go to Alongs (or Sharks, if you wanna continue the fishy metaphor)?

Sheesh. For those who have missed my posting on the available fundings in Malaysia, you may download a list of grants and funders for FREE over at www.eilmu.com/senarai.

Then, if you have the flimsiest of ideas (like compiled salon hair in a woman's stockings), you are welcome to check with me to see if they can be explored further.

I am Eilham. Try me.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri

I would like to wish all Moslems a Happy AidilFitri. Drive home safely.

It's not worth driving fast and not reaching your destination, hmm?

Digital Gaming

Dear Malaysians,

With all the grants the government is issuing, can't we just be Blizzard? Or at least die trying?

Exabytes Merdeka 09 Promotion

Exabytes is doing a value-for-money Merdeka 09 Promotion. Innovatively, the discount is the countdown - today it's 42% off, tommorow 41%, the day after 40%... well.. you get the picture.

That means, the sooner you buy, the cheaper it is.

And you will want to get it in THIS PROMO - UNLIMITED SPACE, UNLIMITED BANDWIDTH, UNLIMITED ADD-ON DOMAINS ... whoa... trust me - I've been doing web stuffs since 2001, and Exabytes Merdeka 09 Promotion is the best value webhosting package I have come across!

And since Exabytes is MSC Status - no need to worry about quality of service.

You're gonna have to get yourself a website anyway, sooner or later. This is the best time, I tell ya!

Click here to go to Exabytes and get yourself an account!

World War

Hahahah... I really like this 3D animation short clip!

Hey, you guys have any ideas like this short clip, we can go and apply an MDeC or Cradle grant.

(If you need some guidance, head to my guide).

Cradle Applicants - BizMalaysia RTM1

For those of you who missed the interview when it was on air on 04 June 2009, here's the clip.

If you feel like applying for a RM150,000 grant from the Cradle Investment Programme for your idea, just head on to my guide at http://pmrpmge.eilham.com .

Money Given Out By The Government - But Not Many Know About It

There are a lot of grants, funds, soft loans and financial assisstance given by the Malaysian government to help us in our initiative.

And to those who knows about these money our government is giving away, many thought that its for businesses only.

Dear guys and gals,

The Malaysian government offers money to SMEs, AND INDIVIDUALS ALSO.

For SMEs (or businesses), you can get a lot of grants under SMIDEC and MATRADE.

For individuals, you can appy for a potentially commericial business idea from Cradle and MDeC (I've gotten 3 Cradle Grants thus far - the 4th has been submitted as an application last Monday). You can get up to RM150,000.00, and no need to pay it back.

I've prepared a list of 23 organizations in Malaysia that has money to give, plus a list of the various grants that they offer, as well as their contact information for your benefit.

Get the list FREE - click here to get one.

Get Funding For Your Ideas - RM50,000 ++

A lot of people have come up to me and threw me their ideas. Great ideas, most of them, and have great market potential. However, many of them, if not all, are stuck when it comes to writing the business proposal.

And although I can write the proposals on behalf, I may never be able to do presentations on the ideas - the owner of the idea must do it him or herself.

As such, I thought it may be a good start to put what I know in simple writing, with clear guidelines and examples, to help you put your business idea into a basic proposal. In doing so, you may have a clearer vision of where your idea(s) can lead to - should you pursue it? Do you have to reconsider certain aspects of your idea? There are a lot of considerations before flying guns-ablaze with your business idea - lest, you'd find yourself in a muck too deep for you to retrace your steps.

I've written a guide to write a business proposal - based on my proposal writing experience since I was a consultant in Meteor way back in 2003, to this day. Recently, my team has managed to secure 2 Cradle Investment Program funding - Bulletpages (RM113,000) and Lagenda Aurellia (RM150,000), with another one Bulletlive (not sure how much yet).

For the majority's benefit, I've written it in Malay.

You can get it here: Portal Eilmu Anda

Setara Vista Flash Header

Just did a friend a favor - flash header at http://www.setaravista.com/.

For an engineer, I think my friend Nizam is one cool php programmer. Kudos!

If you haven't already - visit my gallery at http://www.eilham.net/.

Things Are Cooking Now Because I Decided To Cook Before

On almost a daily basis, my wife always call me sometime mid-morning to know whether I'm having lunch at home. She always nags at me if I suddenly appear through the door at lunch hour with a rumbling stomach (or worse, with a shaking and numbing self - a common occurrence in me when sugar is low in my system), because meals are not instant! Even Magee needs more than 2 minutes, considering the need to boil water before putting the mee into the pot!

I understand my wife's concern. She needs time to prepare the ingredients, take out frozen food from the fridge to thaw it before she can cooks them. Lunch is never instant, no matter how instant we are told it is.

I guess same goes for business - its rewards are never instant. I had to seek businesses out before I can have a business. I have to close deals before I can expect revenues. 

And then, I will reap the rewards. As I did before. As usual.

But as usual, people only notice my rewards - seldom they see the hardships behind it. Yeah, I make good money, and I'm proud that I get to spend more time with my wife and children than a majority of other men. Others wish they can have a life like mine.

But they seldom wants to do the things I do to get this life I have.

Looking at my business pot at the moment, I'm glad that it's cooking some significant projects now. It has been months of going into the market, shopping for resources, and putting recipes together. 

Today's business had not been instant. As it was never before. As usual. The recipe is to prepare for it in advance, cook it and then eat it.

So what are you cooking?