Alone on Penang Bridge

Months after I made my solo descend from Sasanarakkha Buddhist Sanctuary, I found myself alone, again, on an endless stretch of road.

This time, I was not in the wilderness with an adjacent graveyard. I was on one of the biggest megastructure in Malaysia - Penang Bridge that spans 13 kilometers.

Penang Bridge Internation Marathon, held once per year, is the only time you will find the bridge closed for traffic.

There was no single soul in my line of sight. As I sat there on the cold rough road, I was finally at ease. No man is an island, but for that brief moment, I had a complete sense of solitude. A calm feeling that was in stark contrast to the hustle and bustle of a metropolitan life.

Unlike Sasanarakkha Buddhist Sanctuary trip where I ended up in cold sweat and goosebumps, I was happy I started the 10km walk. Continue reading...

Leonid Meteor Shower

More than 10 years ago during my secondary school years, I moved the couch outdoor to the porch in the middle of the night. Coupled with some blankets to keep myself warm and the mosquitoes away, I sat there and waited. Seconds passed. Then minutes. And hours. Not a single meteor appeared. Definitely no meteor shower. I was duped! (or maybe I fell asleep ;p)

That was Leonid Meteor Shower too. I can remember because, well, I'm Leo, the lion.

Today, Leonid Meteor Shower is posed for a comeback. And a grand one it is. Astronomers are predicting as many as 500 meteors per hour. Although the number is nothing compared to the ultimate Leonid Meteor Shower in 1833 with hundred thousands of meteors that literally lighted up the night sky, the number is still relatively a lot more compared to the last couple of years.

This year, the best place to observe Leonid Meteor Shower is Asia. The full Leonid peak will occur at predawn hours.

Let me see, Asia. Yes, I'm in Asia. Check.

Predawn hours. No problem, I have an alarm clock. Check.

Camera to capture the show. Check.

Camera battery fully charged. Check.

Empty memory card to record the whole sequence. Check.

Knowledge to operate the camera. Check.

Clear night sky...

Damn, it has been raining whole night. The past few nights as well. I have everything readied, except this one thing that is out of my control.

Where've you been, clear sky? Continue reading...

Dear Diary

I'm sorry. I know I have missed the quota last month, and it was entirely my own wrongdoing. It all started with an innocent "I will do it later", then it swiveled out of control and I was soon lazing on the couch, stargazing, wandering in parks and before I knew it, I went for walk in the country where they built wall that stretches thousand of kilometers.

I know, I know, I procrastinate again. You don't have to yell at me. It does't help..

Anyway, I checked with editor-in-chief, and he has given me the approval to make it up the missed quota last month by writing more this month. No penalty or salary cut whatsoever, he's a nice guy, that editor-in-chief. Continue reading...

Confronting My Greatest Fear

All of a sudden, darkness enveloped me. I looked at my surroundings, but there wasn't a faintest ray of light reflected off any surface. A moment ago, I looked back to the gate, just in time to catch the last glimpse of light faded away into the distance as I made a right turn. Beyond that point, light ceased to exist. I was shrouded in total darkness. As I stood there, in the middle of a palm oil plantation, a bizarre fear built up in me.

I didn't want to continue the descend.

This wasn't what I expected to encounter when I visited Sasanarakkha Buddhist Sanctuary. I have come to the sanctuary a day before Kathina Day to avoid the buzzing crowd, to soak myself in nature wonders and to frame the spectacular views into digital files. But at 8 p.m., after a two-hour stay in the sanctuary, I was starving and tired. I longed for a hot meal and wanted to leave Sasanarakkha Buddhist Sanctuary as fast as possible.

I walked to the rendezvous point where I could ride a jeep down. To my dismay, the jeep would only depart after another 30 minutes. I couldn't wait. And I didn't want to wait. The hike down by foot would take 20 minutes. If I quickened my pace, I could probably make it in 15 minutes. I contemplated the options I had. Was it wise to foray into the darkness alone? Could there be muggers hiding behind bushes waiting to ambush me? Or maybe there were things even more sinister out there in the wild?

I was scared, but I started the descend.

The air was still. I breathed heavily. Raising my hand while activating the illumination, I looked at my watch. It was 8.15 p.m., merely 5 minutes into the descend. I knew I wasn't that far from the gate of Sasanarakkha Buddhist Sanctuary. Should I turn back? But that would mean conceding defeat. Besides, if I pushed forward, there was just another 10-minute walk ahead. It wouldn't take long, I reassured myself.

I was still scared, yet I continued the descend.

Fortunately, the concrete pavement made easy my descend. I didn't have to worry stumbling over tree roots or rocks. Without a way to illuminate my path, I took out my cell phone and pressed the cancel button repeatedly to get the small screen lighted all the time. With that dim light, I kept a steady pace.

The night was eerily quiet. An intense fear crept up my spine as flashes of horror scenes from movies flickered through my mind. To make matter worse, a Chinese graveyard was just a stone throw away. I couldn't help it but think of the inhabitants there. My mind had played a trick on itself and I was cut out of the loop. I wasn't in control. All I could do was to chatter prayers.

Soon, steep slope became flat land and the concrete pavement ended abruptly. In front of me lied a narrow path cutting through a palm oil plantation. The fear in me did not subside. Raising my feet higher to avoid kicking rocks on the uneven earth, I broke into a small run.

I had no idea how long I ran. I only slowed down when I heard the distance sound of the roar of a car engine. The head lights came nearer and nearer until the jeep halted beside me. The driver looked expectantly at me and smiled.

"Why don't you get into the car?"

I must have looked like hell. Without uttering a word, I climbed onto the back of the jeep.

As I sat there in the jeep, I realized that my skin resembled a goosebump farm. The night wasn't hot but I was soaked wet. It was cold sweat.

I didn't wait for the jeep, but I ended in one.
Continue reading...

The Origin of Apexture Photography

A few friends had asked me the meaning of "apexture". How did Ghee Sin and I come out with that word? Was it something random that we stumbled upon?

Fact is, there is no such English word as "apexture". We created it. Ghee Sin and I and another friend. More on that person later.

We first thought of using our own names, as that would add a personal touch to our photography blog and clients would easily associate it to us. Let me see.. [putting on my thinking cap]

Ah Beng Photography. All Chinese in Singapore and Malaysia know Ah Beng. It is a household name. Everyone will be able to connect with that name. Without doubt it will be a hit. But as usual, good things don't lay around for long. The name is taken. Claimed by a bunch of young males who dress like monkeys and cruise in town with bat cars.

Ghee Sin Photography. Sounds alright. Problem is the name bearer doesn't want his name to be in public's eyes. I suspect it is a ciphertext that leads to endless wealth and the name bearer wants to keep it to himself while he himself decrypts it.

Beng and Sin Photography. The result of combining both our names. More appropriate I would say as the website will host both our works. But when we shorten it, it becomes BS. Yes, BS. Most of us BS everyday but I don't think you want BS as your title.

Sadly, our own names didn't work. I had to blame that on our parents for not giving us better names (:

So, we had to think of something generic instead. We cooked up all kind of names. My memory eluded me here and I can't remember any of them. Needless to say, they weren't good enough.

Finally, Ghee Sin suggested "aperture". Now, that was a good one. Photo is created when light is reflected off different surfaces, and falls onto a CMOS sensor. Aperture is the opening in front of the sensor that ultimately controls the amount of light that reaches the sensor. When we talk photography, we can't neglect aperture. Apple even named their image editing software as Aperture.

You should have guessed it. Aperture Photography was taken. Ghee Sin and I had to think of something else.

While searching for new ideas, I happened to message a friend of mine in MSN. I told her the situation and ask if she could come out with some good idea. She did. She changed the "r" to "x" and tadaa, we had Apexture. Apexture carries the definition of the highest point of something. In our context that something is photography (: Thank you so much, Yin Leng.

With that, Apexture Photography is born.
Continue reading...

New Photography Blog

I'm pleased to announce my new photography blog is officially up and running. It is a joint venture between me and my friend, Ghee Sin. With the launch of the blog, our new photography adventure has begun.

When the idea of having our own photography blog was first born, Ghee Sin and I were very excited. The feeling was like when we were kids, our parents told us they were taking us overseas for holidays. We looked forward to the day our blog would go live and thereafter become a platform for us to post our photos.


As GS wasn't too familiar with web designing and coding, I was put in charge of building the blog. Wait a minute. I am no expert in coding either! Although I had prior experience in internet marketing, all the hard coding part was done by my CEO cum technical director. My job was to oversee the aesthetic of the websites. What should I do?

Building a blog from scratch is certainly out of question because I don't have the technical knowledge to accomplish it. Besides, it is silly. There are different blogging platforms out there which are free and customizable. All I have to do is decide on one, then choose a theme that I like. Simple right? Not exactly.

I chose Atahualpa theme for its easy customization and powerful features. It was the second theme after a failed attempt on the first. In order to get the look that I desired, I had to meddle and alter a lot of codes in the first theme. And that was when I came to a deadlock. I am a coding idiot remember? I then switched to Atahualpa and after getting a few advices from my technical director and some hard work, I managed to get everything done.

The blog was built from ground up in two months. Now that it is fully operational, please help me to share the joy and love. Share it with your loved ones, bookmark it, and best of all, link to it. Let me think of something to reward those who link to the blog ;p

I hope you have a great time reading it.

Thank you so much!
Continue reading...

手是要这样子用的

Continue reading...

Answer for the Previous Riddle

WARNING: Just in case you stumble upon the answer here first, please read the previous post before continuing.

Full answer after the jump.

The answer is that there is no such thing as a missing dime in this riddle. The reader is misled by the presumptive nature of the question. There is no reason why the amount paid by the three men, $2.70, should add up to $3.00 if you add it to the 20 cents the waiter put in his pocket. That 20 cents came out of the $2.70 they paid. So the correct calculation is that the bill of $2.50 plus the 20 cents taken by the waiter should add up to the $2.70 (3 x $0.90) that the men paid. Nothing is missing.
Continue reading...

An Old Riddle

Three good friends frequent their favorite restaurant and get a check that comes to a total of $2.50. Each man hands the waiter a dollar bill. On his way back with their change of 50 cents, the enterprising waiter decides that it would be needlessly difficult for the three patrons to divide up the 50 cents, so he pockets 20 cents and hands each man a dime. Now, each man paid a dollar and received back 10 cents in change. So each man really paid 90 cents. From all three, the total was $2.70. The waiter of course has 20 cents in his pocket for a total of $2.90. The riddle is that since they started with $3.00 but we have accounted only for $2.90, where is the missing dime?

I will publish the answer tomorrow at 6pm. Continue reading...

Rant about Amanah Saham 1Malaysia, again

One month ago, I published a post regarding the dividend of Amanah Saham 1Malaysia. I explained that the return of Amanah Saham 1Malaysia is not 3.7% - 4% as everyone and every single articles in all newspapers claimed. Indeed, Amanah Saham 1Malaysia is benchmarked to 5-year MGS yield which is around 3.7% to 4%. But what does that mean anyway?

The purpose of benchmarking the fund is so that PNB as the fund manager has a yardstick to measure its performance upon. Normally, a fund manager's objective is to to beat the benchmark and realize a return higher than the benchmark. 3.7% - 4% is the return for 5-year Malaysian Government Securities (MGS), it is not the return for Amanah Saham 1Malaysia.

There was another article about this silly mistake on TheStar Online. I quote:

"UOB KayHian research head Vincent Khoo said 10 billion units was a difficult target to meet given the low return for such an equity income fund.

As stated in AS 1Malaysia’s prospectus, it is noted that the fund’s returns will be benchmarked against the five-year Malaysian Government Securities (MGS). The current yield of five-year MGS is about 3.7%.

Khoo said the return was slightly higher than bank interest rates but it was not as attractive as previous Amanah Saham funds."

Again, Amanah Saham 1Malaysia's lacklustre response is attributed to the fund's low return. Fact is, this occurs because the experts and professional have been trumpeting the "low return" in all major publications. Our fellow citizens buy it and hence the low subscriptions. Nevertheless, my friend thought of another brilliant factor - our countrymen dislike the man who launched Amanah Saham 1Malaysia and thus refuse to invest in the fund. To that, I have no comment. ;)

If we have done a little more research, we would have known that Amanah Saham Malaysia (ASM) and Amanah Saham Wawasan 2020 (ASW 2020) (which consistently return an average of 6%-7%) are benchmarked to 3-month Kuala Lumpur Interbank Offered Rates (3- month KLIBOR). Guess what, KLIBOR has been hovering between 2.5% to 4% for the past few years.

Another thing that intrigued me is all these fixed-price funds by PNB (AS 1Malaysia, ASM and ASW) have up to 90% of their total portfolio invested in local equities. They are mainly equities funds. Why are they benchmarked to MGS and KLIBOR, instead of KLCI? Continue reading...

母親，我怎麼讓你等了那麼久?

树欲静而风不止，子欲养而亲不在。 朋友们，多点回家吧。。 [转载自佳佳的部落格]

母親真的老了，變得孩子般纏人，每次打電話來，總是滿懷熱誠地問：「你什麼時候回家？」

且不說相隔一千多里路，要轉三次車，光是工作、孩子已經讓我分身無術，哪裡還抽得出時間回家。母親的耳朵不好，我解釋了半天，她仍舊熱切地問：「你什麼時候能回來？」

幾次三番，我終於沒有了耐心，在電話裏衝母親大聲嚷嚷，她終於聽明白，默默掛了電話。隔幾天，母親又問同樣的問題，只是那語調怯怯地，沒有了底氣。像個不甘心的孩子，明知問了也是白問，可就是忍不住。我心一軟，沉吟了一下。母親見我沒有煩，立刻開心起來。她欣喜地向我描述：「後院的石榴都開花了，西瓜快熟了，你回來吧。」

我為難地說：「那麼忙，怎麼能請得上假呢！」她急急地說：「你就說媽媽得了癌，只有半年的活頭了！」我立刻責怪她胡說，她呵呵地笑了。小時候，每逢颳風下雨，我不想去上學，便裝肚子疼，被母親識破，挨了一頓好罵。現在老了，她反而教著女兒說謊了，我又好氣又好笑。這樣的問答不停地重複著，我終於不忍心，告訴她下個月一定回去，母親竟高興得哽咽起來。可不知怎麼了，永遠都有忙不完的事，每件事都比回家重要，最後，到底沒能回去。電話那頭的母親，仿佛沒有力氣再說一個字，我滿懷內疚：「媽，生氣了吧？」母親這一回聽真了，她連忙說：「孩子，我沒有生你的氣，我知道你忙。」

可是沒幾天，母親的電話催得越發緊了。她說，葡萄熟了，梨熟了，快回來吃吧。我說，有什麼稀罕，這裏滿大街都是，花個十元八元就能吃個夠。母親不高興了，我又耐下性子來哄她：「不過，那些東西都是化肥和農藥餵大的，哪有你種的好呢。」母親得意地笑起來。

星期六那天，氣溫特別高，我不敢出門，開了空調在家裏呆著。孩子嚷嚷雪糕沒了，我只好下樓去超市買。在暑氣蒸騰的街頭，我忽然就看見了母親的背影。看樣子她剛下車，胳膊上挎著個籃子，背上背著沉甸甸的袋子，她彎著腰，左躲右閃著，怕別人碰了她的東西。在擁擠的人流裏，母親每走一步都很吃力。我大聲地叫她，她急急抬起滿是熱汗的臉，四處尋找，看見我走過來，竟驚喜地說不出話來。

一回到家，母親就喜滋滋地往外捧那些東西。她的手青筋暴露，十指上都纏著膠布，手背上有結了痂的血口子。母親笑著對我說：「吃呀，你快吃呀，這全是我挑出來的。」

我這沒有出過遠門的母親，只為著我的一句話，便千里迢迢地趕了來。她坐的是最便宜、沒有空調的客車，車上又熱又擠，但那些水靈靈的葡萄和梨子都完好無損。我想像不出，她一路上是如何過來的，我只知道，在這世上，凡有母親的地方就有奇蹟。

母 親只住了三天，她說我太辛苦，起早貪黑地上班，還要照顧孩子，她乾著急卻幫不上忙。城裏的廚房設施，她一樣也不敢碰，生怕弄壞了。她自己悄悄去訂了票，又 悄悄地一個人走。才回去一星期，母親又說想我了，不住地催我回家。我苦笑：「媽，你再耐心一些吧！」第二天，我接到姨媽的電話：「你媽媽病了，你快回來 吧。」我急得眼前發黑，淚眼婆娑地奔到車站，趕上了最後一趟車。

一路上，我心裏不住地祈禱。我希望這是母親騙我的，我希望她好好的。我願意聽她的嘮叨，願意吃光她給我做的所有飯菜，願意經常抽空來看她。此時，我才知道，人活到八十歲也是需要母親的。

車子終於到了村口，母親小跑著過來，滿臉的笑。我抱住她，又想哭又想笑，嗔怪道：「你說什麼不好，說自己有病，虧你想得出！」受了責備的母親，仍然無限地歡喜，她只是想看到我。

母 親樂呵呵地忙進忙出，擺了一桌子好吃的東西，等著我的誇獎。我毫不留情地批評：「紅豆粥煮糊了；水煎包子的皮太厚；滷肉味道太鹹。」母親的笑容頓時變得尷 尬，她無奈地搔著頭。我心裏暗笑，我知道，一旦我說什麼東西好吃，母親非得逼我吃一大堆，走的時候還要帶上，就這樣，我被她餵得肥肥白白，怎麼都瘦不下 去。而且，不貶低她，我怎麼有機會佔領灶台呢？

我給母親做飯，跟她聊天，母親長時間地凝視著我，眼裏滿是疼愛。無論我說什麼，她都虔誠地半張著嘴，側著耳朵凝神地聽，就連午睡，她也坐在床邊，笑咪咪地看著我。我說：「既然這麼疼我，為什麼不跟著我住呢？」她說住不慣城裏的高樓。沒呆幾天，我就急著要回去，母親苦苦央求我再住一天。她說，今早已託人到城裏買菜了，一會兒準能回來，她一定要好好給我做頓飯。縣城離這兒九十多里路，母親要把所有她認為好吃的東西都弄回來，讓我吃下去，她才能心安。從姨媽家回來的時候，母親精心準備的菜餚，終於端上了桌，我不禁驚詫──魚鱗沒有刮盡、雞塊上是細密的雞毛、香油金針菇裏居然有頭髮絲。無論是葷的還是素的，都讓人無法下箸。母親年輕時那麼愛乾淨，如今老了竟邋遢得這樣。母親見我挑來挑去就是不吃，她心疼地妥協了，送我去坐夜班車。

天很黑，母親挽著我的胳膊。她說，你走不慣鄉下的路。她陪我上了車，不住地囑咐東囑咐西，車子都開了，才急著下去，衣角卻被車門夾住，險些摔倒。我哽咽著，趴在車窗上大叫：「媽，媽，你小心些！」她沒聽清楚，邊追著車跑邊喊：「孩子，我沒有生你的氣，我知道你忙！」

這一回，母親仿佛滿足了，她竟沒有再催過我回家，只是不斷地對我說些開心的事：「家裏又添了隻很乖的小牛犢；明年開春，她要在院子裏種好多好多的花。」聽著聽著，我心裏一片溫暖。

到年底，我又接到姨媽的電話。她說：「你媽媽病了，快回來吧。」我哪裡相信，我們前天才通的話，母親說自己很好，叫我不要掛念。

姨媽只是不住地催我，半信半疑的我還是回去了，並且買了一大袋母親愛吃的油糕。

車到村頭的時候，我伸長脖子張望著，母親沒來接我，我心裏忽地就有了種不祥的預感。

姨媽告訴我，給我打電話的時候，母親就已經不在了，她走得很安詳。半年前，母親就被診斷出了癌症，只是她沒有告訴任何人，仍和平常一樣樂呵呵地忙裏忙外，並且把自己的後事都安排妥當了。姨媽還告訴我，母親老早就患了眼疾，看東西很費勁。

我 緊緊地把那袋油糕抱在胸前，一顆心仿佛被人挖走。原來，母親知道自己剩下的日子不多了，才不住地打電話叫我回家，她想再多看我幾眼，再和我多說幾句話。原 來，我挑剔著不肯下箸的飯菜，是她在視力模糊的情況下做的，我是多麼的粗心！我走的那個晚上，她一個人是如何摸索到家，她跌倒了沒有，我永遠都無從知道 了。
母親，在生命最後的時光裏，還快樂地告訴我，牽牛花爬滿了舊煙囪，扁豆花開得像我小時候穿的紫衣裳。你留下所有的愛，所有的溫暖，然後安靜地離開。

我知道，你是這世上唯一不會生我氣的人，唯一肯永遠等著我的人，也就是仗著這份寵愛，我才敢讓你等了那麼久。

可是，我真的有那麼忙嗎？
Continue reading...

An Experiment about Perception

I got this in my mailbox a couple of weeks ago.

Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning. A man with a violin plays six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. 2 thousand people passed through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle-aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later:
The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes:
A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.

45 minutes:
The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin valued at $3.5 million dollars. Two days before, Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the price of seats averaged $100.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities. The questions raised: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made... what else are we missing?
Continue reading...

Revelation from an Oversized Feline

Come to think about it, sometimes we spend so much time planning we get nothing done in the end. Why? Because we spend too much energy laying out a grand plan but we don't take actions to make it a reality. There simply isn't any follow-up action.

It's not the plan that is important, it's the planning.
- Graeme Edwards

As important as it seems, planning is just the beginning. If we don't take action, we are not going to accomplish anything.

Now, who said Garfield is all fat and no substance? Continue reading...

Amanah Saham 1Malaysia - Dividend NOT 3.7%-4%

In the past few days, several middle-aged women have approached and told me that they are not going to invest in the newly launched Amanah Saham 1Malaysia because its return is only about 3.7% to 4%, much lower than the usual 6%-7% return consistently achieved by Amanah Saham Malaysia (ASM) and Amanah Saham Wawasan 2020 (ASW 2020).

I was dumbfounded. How did they know about its return when 70%-90% of the fund's total portfolio is going to be invested in equities and the rest in fixed incomes? Amanah Saham 1Malaysia, like the ASM and ASW 2020, is mainly an equity fund. And equities, as we know, had gone through a roller coaster ride in the past one year. Shanghai Composite Index, for example, after reaching a high of nearly 6000 at the end of 2007, had plunged to low of 1700 before staging a tremendous recovery to 3400 lately.

To find the answer, I checked the website of Amanah Saham Nasional Berhad and downloaded the prospectus for Amanah Saham 1Malaysia.

From page 12 of the prospectus:

5.3 PERFORMANCE BENCHMARK

The performance of the Fund is benchmarked against the performance of other instruments that have similar features with that of the Fund. Being a fixed price fund, the return to unitholders of the Fund will mainly be in the form of the Fund’s income distribution yield. The return will be benchmarked against the average of 5-year MGS yield which can be obtained at Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) website and Bloomberg.

Well, the current average of 5-year Malaysia Government Securities (MGS) yield is about 3.7% - 4%. They must have misinterpreted what they read in the newspaper, I thought. So I spent some time explaining to them, that Amanah Saham 1Malaysia is benchmarked to 5-year MGS yield which is around 3.7% to 4%, and that is not the return of Amanah Saham 1Malaysia. We will not know the return of Amanah Saham 1Malaysia, as it is largely depended on the performance of its portfolios.

Then, this morning I read the following excerpt from Nanyang Siang Pau:

理财界人士指出，一个大马基金的年利率介于3.7%至4%之间，不比之前推介的利息至少6%高，因此都掀不起太大购兴。

I nearly fell from my chair.

Clearly, the public has been misguided. I can understand when the typical person can't fully apprehend the prospectus as they don't study finance, but the people who say this are professionals, they are the experts. What are they doing?!

From the master prospectus that I downloaded:

ASB, ASW 2020, ASM and ASD
Being fixed-price Funds, the performance of these Funds are expressed in terms of the respective Fund’s Annual Income Distribution Yield, benchmarked against the 3-month Kuala Lumpur Interbank Offered Rates (3- month KLIBOR), which is obtainable at any commercial bank.

You can obtain the 3-month KLIBOR here.

Do I need to say more?
Continue reading...

There you go, 4 posts per month

WARNING: CRAPS ahead!

When I started writing for this blog many months ago, I set myself a clear goal. A goal to have around 100 posts posted by the end of the first year, which would mean an average of 2 posts per week, or 8 posts per month, or 24 posts per quarter. At a time when everyone was talking about Project 365 and Mars landing, this couldn't seem easier.

Well, I'm glad to announce here that there is no longer a need to track and analyze my performance anymore, as it is shown blatantly at the blog archive that - I have failed miserably. Hmm, maybe not.

Weeks into writing boring and unfathomable posts, I decided to tweak my goal. Yes, even writing two posts per week proved to be too much of a hassle for a pathetic procrastinator like me.

"This is bullshit!" My mind yelled at me. "I can't possibly handle two posts per week, it's too much work!"

"OK, OK." I said. "I'm gonna reduce that by half, one post per week, alright?"

This was good news. Now I only need to do 50 percent of what I'm initially expected to do. Great.

July came. July went. And I'm stuck with 3 posts.

So here I am, writing this piece of crap, in order to fulfill the quota of 4 posts per month. Please don't hate me. I have to do this, seriously, so that my contract won't be terminated by, well, myself.

OK, there you go. End of the crap. Hope you are not choking by now ;p

Continue reading...

How to Deal with Naysayers, Complainers and Pessimists

If you read my previous post, you will know that naysayers, complainers, whiners and pessimists turn me off. Most of the time, I would try my best to draw the line, but what if they are someone close to me? I can't possibly distance myself from family members, relatives or best buddies when they are naysayers and chronic complainers, can I?

The following newsletter from Learning Strategies on dealing with naysayers, pessimists and complainers hits the bull's eye:

Do negative people rub you the wrong way? A negative, pessimistic, and complaining person can wear on your nerves and deplete your energy faster than you realize.

And trying to change their attitude wastes even more of your energy. Your effort has no chance of success when they do not want to cooperate.

When you believe that positive thinking is desirable and negative thinking is undesirable, then you are empowering people to irritate you when they think and talk in negative ways.

Dr. Al Siebert, author of The Survivor Personality and our Resiliency personal learning course, calls that kind of thinking "The Theme Song of the Human Race."

This belief, "If only other people would change, things would be much better for me," may indeed be correct, he says, but it also makes it possible for negative people to control you. When others are negative they can upset you, cause you to spend time and energy trying to cope with their negativism, and frustrate your positive efforts.

The solution to regaining control is not to change them but to change how you respond to them.

Start by giving the negative person permission to be here on Earth the way they are.

"When you feel frustrated or feel an energy drain, treat the difficulty as a test in the school of life," Al says. "Look at it as an opportunity to learn about your blind spots. Appreciate opportunities to learn better ways of handling people who knock you off balance emotionally."

Next, replace the thought "If only they would change, my life would be much better" with questions.

Ask, "How might I respond differently so that I am less vulnerable? What could I do to regain control? How can I handle negativity in positive ways?"

When someone says something negative, try one of the following:

* Say, "You may be right," then change the subject.

* Pretend you didn't hear them. Attention is a big payoff for people with pessimistic attitudes, so stop reacting to their negative statements. Withdraw attention. Be selectively impolite.

* Be playful. Say, "It's much worse than you know." Describe more things to be upset about, and then be quiet or leave.

* Say, "Now that you've identified the problem, what is your plan for dealing with it?"

* See the benefit of their negative thinking. Develop an appreciation for the ability of chronically pessimistic people to see potential risks and problems that others overlook.

* Make the negative person a useful resource. Ask them to help you anticipate difficulties. If you thank them for their critical thinking, your relationship will probably improve.

Rehearse what you might say the next time you are around a negative person. Notice how much more in control you feel when you develop a positive plan of action.

The key to making your life better is to stop blaming others for triggering reactions in you that you don't like and to focus instead on discovering better ways to respond. When you change how you react, your emotional strain is reduced.
Continue reading...

Overcoming Procrastination

I have a secret.

I procrastinate.

Many of us have a penchant for procrastination. Almost everyone occasionally procrastinates. However, to say that I procrastinate is an understatement. I would put off doing certain tasks for days, even weeks. I told my friend I would write a post about banks creating money out of nothing when I visited her, but I didn't start writing until two weeks later. My habit of procrastinating has spiraled into a disruptive problem in my personal life. I am a chronic procrastinator.

The seed of procrastination was first planted during my college days. I would put off completing assignments until the last possible minute. I would always print out all the lecture notes and tutorials at the start of a semester, and placed them on a shelf. Then, 24 hours before the exams, I dusted off the notes and buried myself in a frenzied revision. By the time all the exams were over, usually two or three days later, I was like a zombie, an animated corpse starved of sleep. Of course, my penchant for procrastination took its toll. Mediocre results, stress, anxiety, guilt and resentment ensued. Yet, I procrastinated, again and again, without fail. Then, I lacked the will to change.

There are many causes to procrastination. Laziness, stress, lack of discipline and poor time management are some of them. Those symptoms attack me from time to time. Yet, I now realize that there is one particular behavior pattern rooted deep within me that is triggering my procratination habit - the strive for perfection.

I always want to deliver the best. Because of that, I am afraid of making mistakes. "If I make mistakes, the outcome will not be perfect." I would convince myself. The fear of making mistakes and eventually succumbing to imperfection gives me a reason to put off a task that would be better accomplished ASAP. I will give myself excuses to avoid the task until I can find a better way to do it. And this usually means indefinite delay until the last possible minute. Now, there isn't enough time for me to complete the task perfectly. Poor results follow. But I can still let myself off the hook by telling myself that I could have done it better if I had more time. I guess in some ways I act instinctively to protect my fragile ego, that I am a imperfect human, that I can't get the best results all the time.

Procrastination is self perpetuating. The act of procrastinating can become automatic and ingrained. That's what I'm experiencing. Procrastination has become part of me.

People told me it is hard to change one's habit or nature. I do not believe that. It is a question of whether one can find the will to change. Breaking a habit is not an easy task, but it certainly can be done.

The simplest way to beat procrastination is to just get started. I have to allow myself to be human and admit that I cannot get everything done perfectly. Start small. As long as I get started, I can always revise the way I do it later. Miraculously, the task always turned out to be less daunting when I started early :)

Life is short. If we procrastinate and dally one hour per day, we would have wasted 15 days after one year. 15 days! We can accomplish so much more if we don't procrastinate. Act with a sense of urgency. Work on yourself. Then, you will find out that the world is an awesome place after all ;)
Continue reading...

How Banks Create Money

Yes. You heard that right! Banks create money. No, they don't have smoke-filled basement rooms in which counterfeiters work vigorously. Banks don't make currency as in notes and coins, what they create is deposits, and they do so by making loans.

Now banks are not magicians either. They can't create money out of thin air. In order to create money, they need a raw material - money. This money comes from customers' deposits. It is the money we deposit into the banks.

Armed with these deposits as reserves, banks can now make loans. Note that banks don't have $100 of reserves for every $100 that customers have deposited with them. If banks behave this way, they wouldn't earn any profit. Banks loan out more money than the reserves they possess, thus in the process, banks create new money that did not exist before.


Bank's required reserve ratio determines the maximum amount of loans that banks can make. Banks are required to hold a level of reserves that does not fall below a specified percentage of total deposits. This percentage is the required reserve ratio.

The required reserve ratio is a bank regulation set by the central bank. It normally ranges from 3-10%. A 3% reserve ratio means that the banks must keep $3 for every $100 deposits, and can loan the remaining $97. A 10% reserve ratio means the banks have reserves of $10 for every $100 while the rest $90 can be loaned out. These reserve levels, albeit low, are adequate for ordinary business needs.

To illustrate this, let's assume the required reserve ratio is 10%.

One day, Roger deposits $100,000 into a certificate of deposit at Citibank. Now Citibank can use this money to create loans. With a required reserve ratio of 10%, Citibank can loan out a maximum amount of $90,000 and keep only $10,000 as reserves. On the second day, Andy approaches Citibank for a loan of $90,000. The bank manager approves the loan and opens an account for him with a credit balance of $90,000.

The story does not end there. According to Citibank's balance sheet, the $90,000 loan to Andy is also a $90,000 asset for the bank. Andy has to repay the $90,000 (plus interest) to Citibank at a future date. As you can see here, Citibank has effectively created $90,000 out of nothing.

Since Citibank has now an additional $90,000 asset, it can make another loan based on this asset. Hence, a second $81,000 loan is created.

This process will keep on repeating itself. Loan #3 is $72,900, loan #4 $65,610 and so on and so forth. A initial deposit of $100,000 will eventually create $1,000,000 of money (the original $100,000 deposit and another $900,000 loan).

Now you should see that banks only have tiny amount of reserves, reserves that are needed to meet depositors' demand for currency and to make payments to its creditors. When confidence towards a bank falters, a bank run occurs. And this is what happened to many US banks in the current crisis - Huge bets on CDO and other derivatives turned sour, confidence eroded, followed by large withdrawals from their depositors. The banks failed when they couldn't repay all their creditors and depositors at once.
Continue reading...

Home

Listen to me, please. You're like me, a homo sapiens, a wise human. Life, a miracle in the universe, appeared around 4 billion years ago. And we humans only 200,000 years ago. Yet we have succeeded in disrupting the balance that is so essential to life. Listen carefully to this extraordinary story, which is yours, and decide what you want to do with it.

If you liked Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, this is 10X better. You can watch the movie Home at YouTube.

Home is a documentary on the various human activities that are impacting planet earth. Scientists tell us that we have 10 years to change the way we live, in order to avert the depletion of natural resources and the catastrophic evolution of the Earth's climate. The world that we know, is dying. Do we have to will to change now? Or do we only change on the brink of destruction?

PS. The movie runs about 90 minutes. Depending on your connection speed, it would be better to let it download for some time before settling down to watch it. Continue reading...

Clearing Up Misconceptions over RON

Beginning September 1, RON92 petrol will be pulled from the market, and substituted with RON95 petrol at RM1.75 per litre. Also, by September 1, fuel subsidies for RON97 will be removed, making RON95 the only petrol subsidized by the government. RON97 petrol will become a premium fuel sold at RM2 per litre.


The introduction of RON95 and the removal of subsidies for RON97 were announced by the government many months ago, at a time when crude oil was hovering around 40 USD. Since then, crude has staged a strong recovery to 70 USD. If this current price persists, which I think it should, the pump price of unsubsidized RON97 will naturally go beyond the RM2 per litre first suggested by the government.

Now these figures may not bode well for those with constrained budgets. 90% of drivers use RON97 today. If they opt for RON95 instead, will that change affect their cars adversely?

Last Thursday, I attended a Chevron workshop that talked about the RON95 transition. In the midst, they threw in an interesting presentation about RON and fuels in general. I feel compelled and obligated to explain what I learned about RON here as I know there are a lot of public misconceptions over RON. :)

Firstly, RON stands for Research Octane Number. It is a common type of octane rating (another type is Motor Octane Number) used to measure the petrol's qualities to resist igniting prematurely and spontaneously under extreme pressures and heat inside the combustion chamber, causing a phenomenon known as "engine knocking".

Under normal circumstances, the combustion is started by the engine's spark plug in an orderly and controlled fashion. However knocking occurs when the fuel spontaneously ignites in small pockets, under the heat and pressure of the combustion chamber, outside the controlled spark from the spark plug. This abnormal combustion increases the pressure in the chamber, resulting in a knocking sound and potentially causing engine damage.

• Normal combustion in a spark-ignition internal combustion engine is initiated by a spark.
• The flame front fans out from the spark plug and travels across the combustion chamber rapidly and smoothly until almost all the fuel is consumed.
• When combustion is abnormal, the last part of the unburned mixture ignites spontaneously and burns very rapidly, causing the pressure in the cyclinder to rise rapidly. This creates the characteristic knocking sound.
• Occasional light knocking doesn't hurt an engine.
• Heavy or prolonged knocking can result in objectionable noise, loss of power, overheating of engine parts, knock-induced surface ignition and worst, engine damage.
• Knock occurs because the petrol's octane number is below the antiknock requirement of the engine at that moment. Generally, the situation involves high-load conditions, like hard accerelation or climbing a grade.

The higher the RON numeration, the higher the percentage of iso-octane in the fuel mixture, the more resistant the petrol is in igniting spontaneously. Petrol with higher RON ratings is recommended for use in high performance vehicles where their engines run higher compression ratios, and therefore are more prone to engine knocking.

Myth #1 - I am currently a RON97 user. Switching to RON95 will damage my car engine.

The only difference between RON97 and RON95 is their octane ratings, indicated by the octane number in the product name. Using petrol of a lower RON may or may not hurt your car. You just need to find a suitable fit for your car and driving style. It’s best to refer to the Original Equipment Manufacturer’s (OEM) recommendation in your car manual or check the back of the petrol filler lid of your car for the recommended octane rating. RON95 works good for most vehicles on the road today.

Myth #2 - Higher RON petrol gives my car that extra power and performance.

Again, another misconception. Higher RON petrol does not give more performance. In fact, putting in petrol with a higher RON rating than the manufacturer's recommended specifications won't provide any significant benefits. The important point is, not using one that is lower than manufacturer's recommendation, because when you use petrol with an octane level lower than required, knocking may result.

Shell's V-Power is a RON98 fuel. It enhances performance and responsiveness. But this is not due to the higher octane number. Rather it is the combustion enhancer addictive Shell added to make the fuel burns better. It doesn't improve fuel consumption either. In Singapore for example, Shell sells Formula 98 and V-Power. Both are RON98 petrol.

Lastly, the diagram below shows the fuel sales in different continents around the world. RON95 is the main grade sold in Europe. And RON91/RON92 are most popular in many countries.
Continue reading...

Father Forgets

Too often we are quick to criticize others. It is always easier to find fault in others than to admit we ourselves have blundered.

I once hissed and spat venom towards a close friend, to defend and to protect myself. It was impulsive. But it was wrong. I then apologized and we were back on good terms (luckily). Was the initial outburst necessary? No.


"Father forgets" was written by W. Livingston Larned. It is such a wonderful piece that it should act as a constant reminder for all of us to think twice, if not thrice before criticizing or scolding someone, especially our children:

Listen, son: I am saying this as you lie asleep, one little paw crumpled under your cheek and the blond curls stickily wet on your damp forehead. I have stolen into your room alone. Just a few minutes ago, as I sat reading my paper in the library, a stifling wave of remorse swept over me. Guiltily I came to your bedside.

There are the things I was thinking, son: I had been cross to you. I scolded you as you were dressing for school because you gave your face merely a dab with a towel. I took you to task for not cleaning your shoes. I called out angrily when you threw some of your things on the floor.

At breakfast I found fault, too. You spilled things. You gulped down your food. You put your elbows on the table. You spread butter too thick on your bread. And as you started off to play and I made for my train, you turned and waved a hand and called, “Goodbye, Daddy!” and I frowned, and said in reply, “Hold your shoulders back!”

Then it began all over again in the late afternoon. As I came up the road I spied you, down on your knees, playing marbles. There were holes in your stockings. I humiliated you before your boyfriends by marching you ahead of me to the house. Stockings were expensive - and if you had to buy them you would be more careful! Imagine that, son, from a father!

Do you remember, later, when I was reading in the library, how you came in timidly, with a sort of hurt look in your eyes? When I glanced up over my paper, impatient at the interruption, you hesitated at the door. “What is it you want?” I snapped.

You said nothing, but ran across in one tempestuous plunge, and threw your arms around my neck and kissed me, and your small arms tightended with an affection that God had set blooming in your heart and which even neglect could not wither. And then you were gone, pattering up the stairs.

Well, son, it was shortly afterwards that my paper slipped from my hands and a terrible sickening fear came over me. What has habit been doing to me? The habit of finding fault, of reprimanding-this was my reward to you for being a boy. It was not that I did not love you; it was that I expected too much of youth. I was measuring you by the yardstick of my own years.

And there was so much that was good and fine and true in your character. The little heart of you was as big as the dawn itself over the wide hills. This was shown by your spontaneous impulse to rush in and kiss me good night. Nothing else matters tonight, son. I have come to your bedside in the darkness, and I have knelt there, ashamed!

It is feeble atonement; I know you would not understand these things if I told them to you during your waking hours. But tomorrow I will be a real daddy! I will chum with you, and suffer when you suffer, and laugh when you laugh. I will bite my tongue when impatient words come. I will keep saying as if it were a ritual: “He is nothing but a boy - a little boy!”

I am afraid I have visualized you as a man. Yet as I see you now, son, crumpled and weary in your cot, I see that you are still a baby. Yesterday you were in your mother’s arms, your head on her shoulder. I have asked too much, too much.

Continue reading...

Swine Flu raised to Level 6

One week ago on June 11, Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization raised the level of swine flu alert level from phase 5 to phase 6. Strangely enough, it didn't hog media headlines as it did when the alert level was raised to level 4 in April. The news simply failed to garner as much media attention, with hardly any response from the various capital markets.

I think mass media did it right by playing the news down. As governments are busy devising precautionary measures to fight against swine flu, additional issues arising from a panic-stricken crowd is the last thing we want to see. If you carefully read the WHO descriptions of the different phases, we should be at phase 6 much earlier, like one month ago. WHO might have postponed the decision after requests and pressures from countries' officials.

Phase 5 is characterized by human-to-human spread of the virus into at least two countries in one WHO region. While most countries will not be affected at this stage, the declaration of Phase 5 is a strong signal that a pandemic is imminent and that the time to finalize the organization, communication, and implementation of the planned mitigation measures is short.

Phase 6, the pandemic phase, is characterized by community level outbreaks in at least one other country in a different WHO region in addition to the criteria defined in Phase 5. Designation of this phase will indicate that a global pandemic is under way.

Do we not have flu outbreak in many countries in different continents one month ago?

Frankly, there is no reason to be afraid. Swine flu mortality rate is very low at present. Be prepared. Wear a mask if you need to. Be vigilant. Take the precautionary steps to protect yourself. And don't panic! You don't have to cancel your holiday trip to Perth, or Alaska. You can proceed with your business trip to Dubai and come back in one piece.



PS. I prefer the name swine flu than H1N1 because flying pigs are cute :)

Continue reading...

Malaysia tops Power Distance Index

I was reading Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers: The Story of Success with great interest when I stumbled upon a term called Power Distance Index. In his book, Gladwell correlated plane crashes with the pilots and first officers' power distance rating of their culture. I was so intrigued with what he said that I did a bit of extra research on the internet to find out more about PDI.


Power distance is one of the five dimensions of culture coined by Dutch writer, Gerard Hendrik Hofstede. He studied the interactions between national cultures and organizational cultures, and his study has demonstrated that there are national and regional cultural groupings that affect the behaviour of societies and organizations, and that are very persistent across time.

Power distance, in particular, is concerned with attitudes towards hierarchy, specifically with how much a particular culture values and respects authority (click here to see Hofstede's global PDI map and table). It measures the extent to which the less powerful members of organizations and institutions accept and expect that power is distributed unequally. To measure it, Hofstede asked questions like "How frequently, in your experience, does the following problem occur: employees being afraid to express disagreement with their managers?" "How much are older people respected and feared?" "Are power holders entitled to special privileges?" etc.

To put it simply, people from low power distance countries are more comfortable with demanding the right to contribute and criticizing the decision making of those higher in power. In an organization with multiple hierarchies, subordinates may treat someone few ranks above them as an equal, regardless of formal positions. Contrary, in high power distance countries, subordinates acknowledge the power of others simply based on where they are situated in certain formal, hierarchical positions. They would be intimidated by those in power, and treat their superiors like, well, superiors.

The United States is a lower power distance country. It is, after all, one of the most democratic countries in the world. US ranks at the bottom of the PDI and this can be easily observed by the way the Americans perceive power differences. Companies like Intel encourage their employees to communicate openly, by implementing open door policy. Issues could be escalated to the top management to get their attentions. Unlike their high power distance counterparts who most of the time use subtle language and mitigated speech in order not to offend their bosses/clients, the Americans usually speak bluntly. This explains why sometimes they are regarded as “rude” and “uncivilized” by others from high power distance countries.

While using subtle language/mitigated speech or speaking tactfully might not appear harmful and are welcomed in certain societies, doing this in the cockpit will certainly yield deadly consequences. A bad decision by the CEO might result in reduced operating income, or worst, bankruptcy. However, a bad decision by the pilot might cause a plane to crash. And what is more valuable than human lives?

The linguists Ute Fischer and Judith Orasanu once gave the following hypothetical scenario to a group of captains and first officers and asked them how they would respond:

You notice on the weather radar an area of heavy precipitation 25 miles ahead. [The pilot] is maintaining his present course at Mach .73, even though embedded thunderstorms have been reported in your area and you encounter moderate turbulence. You want to ensure that your aircraft will not penetrate this area.
Question: what do you say to the pilot?

In Fischer's and Orasanu's minds, there were at least six ways to try to persuade the pilots to change course and avoid the bad weather, each with different level of mitigation.

1. Command: "Turn thirty degrees right." That's the most direct and explicit way of making a point imaginable. It's zero mitigation.
2. Crew Obligation Statement: "I think we need to deviate right about now." Notice the use of "we" and the fact that the request if now much less specific. That's a little softer.
3. Crew suggestion: "Let's go around the weather." Implicit in that statement is "we're in this together."
4. Query: "Which direction would you like to deviate?" That's even softer than a crew suggestion, because the speaker is conceding that he's not in charge.
5. Preference: "I think it would be wise to turn left or right."
6. Hint:" That return at 25 miles look mean." This is the most mitigated statement of all.

Fisher and Orasanu found that captains overwhelmingly said they would issue a command in that situation: "Turn thirty degrees right." They were talking to a subordinate and they had no fear of being blunt. The first officers, on the other hand, were talking to their superior, and so they overwhelmingly chose the most mitigated alternative. They hinted.

In the 1982 Air Florida crash outside Washington DC, the first officer tried three times to tell the captain that the plane had a dangerous amount of ice on its wings. But listen to how he said it. It was all hints.

"Look how the ice is just hanging on his, ah, back, back there, see that?"

"See all those icicles on the back there and everything?"

"Boy, this is a, this is a losing battle here on trying to de-ice those things, it [gives] you a false feeling of security, that's all that does."

The plane ended up plunging into the Potomac River.

Now, the interesting part. If you have already clicked on the link to Hofstede's global PDI map, you should see that Malaysia ranks highest in the Power Distance Index. How could Malaysia, a peaceful democratic country ranks higher than so many other autocratic countries? Is the high population of Muslims (more than 60%) a factor in this? Or has the draconian Internal Security Act(ISA) made its countrymen afraid to speak out and confront the authority?

I wonder.

Continue reading...

Swine Flu: What happens next

As new cases of swine flu emerge around the world, World Health Organization(WHO) has on Monday raised its global pandemic alert level to level four, indicating the influenza virus is capable of sustained human-to-human transmission.

Unlike severe acute respiratory syndrome, or better known as SARS, that hit Hong Kong in 2003, the AH1N1 strain of swine flu has a higher potential to develop into pandemic levels, as the virus has already been confirmed to transmit between humans. It also triggers mostly mild symptoms and has a lower mortality rate compared to SARS. "Although SARS jumped the animal-to-human barrier, it didn't mutate enough to enable sustained human-to-human infection, said Dr. K.Y. Yuen, head of microbiology at Hong Kong University.

"Strictly speaking, Avian Influenza and SARS did not become pandemics because they were too good at killing their hosts. For a sustained pandemic, it needs to be able to maintain human-to-human contact without killing its host off," he said.

While it's too early to predict how widespread the swine flu epidemic will become, it's important to assess its threat and implications to the world, so that we are better prepared when the worst happens.

If there is any lesson that we can learn from the 2003 SARS, it is the economy will come to a halt. As governments impose travel restrictions and close its borders to contain the outbreak, schools will close, and airports will be empty. Tourism and transportation industries will be crippled. In 2003, airline travel to Hong Kong fell by 77 percent and retail sales by 15 percent amid the SARS outbreak.

Financial market knows the consequences of a full-blown flu pandemic. Stock exchanges around the globe tumbled yesterday, with airlines and tourism companies among the hardest hit. On the other hand, shares of pharmaceutical companies that manufacture antiviral drug for influenza shot up in anticipation of greater demand for their drugs. If the flu outbreak gets worse, this trend will surely extend. So, it is best to keep a close watch on those stocks to make a prudent investment as the situation develops.

Although swine flu cannot be transmitted through eating properly cooked pork or any pork product, consumers will normally avoid pork products. Hog industry will too come to a standstill. People will stay at home and avoid as much social contact as possible, causing retail business to dwindle to almost nothing. As a result, internet business will prosper when people turn to the wired world at home to gather information and obtain services.

After a roller-coaster ride last year, the world economy is finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. The swine flu outbreak could not have come at a worse time for the world already reeling from a banking and financial crisis. It seems now, the light at the end of the tunnel, could turn out to be the headlight of an incoming train rather than the sunshine we all hope for. Continue reading...

From Living Paycheck to Paycheck to Financial Freedom

If you are a balloon, do you want to roam the sky freely, or would you prefer being tied to a pole?

With the world economy falling off a cliff last year, millions of employees had lost their jobs. According to the U.S. Labor Department, the nation's unemployment rate rose to 8.5% in March, a level not seen since 1983. Elsewhere, from China, to Philippines, to Malaysia, multi-national conglomerates are cutting back expenses, shutting down factories and as a result, millions more workers will be joining the jobless ranks.


Since the recession began in December 2007, jobs were slashed at an unprecedented pace. Until today, the economic recession still occupies the minds of many. The fear of losing jobs haunts those who live paycheck to paycheck as they can't afford to get laid off.

If you read Rich Dad's Cashflow Quadrant, Robert Kiyosaki outlines 4 quadrants based on our source of income.

• E for employee
• S for self-employed
• B for business owner
• I for investor

Most of us are from the E quadrant. We rely on paychecks to clear our credit cards, and to pay at pumps. The problem with this is when we stop working, our income stops too. And depending on the safety net that we have built, our tap may soon run dry.

In the E quadrant, we are trading time for money. The equation here is time = money. We receive money directly in proportion to the time we put in our jobs.

"What's wrong with that?" You may ask.

Since we were kids, we were told by our parents to go to school, study hard, get good grades and then find a safe high paid job after graduation. They put emphasis on steady paychecks and job security. They recommended a life's path that resides in the E quadrant.

However, there is one problem with being in the E quadrant - You only have so much time a day. You can't bargain from God another extra 12 hours a day to work on that project your boss assigned, for example. With 24 hours a day, you only have a certain amount of time to work and as a result, you only make a certain amount of money. Not only is there a cap on the time we can work, we only get paid while we are working. The day we stop working is the day our income stream stops.

Now, do you still think it is a good way to generate income?

Many employees look at employment as the safest and most secure way to support themselves. This is wishful thinking. If there is one lesson that we can learn from this recession, it is - the idea of a safe, secure job with a steady paycheck is all but an illusion. With jobs being axed across the board from private to public sectors, no one is safe. How safe can a job be when you can be sent packing with only three words (you are fired)? Although by owning a business, you will have to take the ambiguity and responsibility of being in charge, at least you are in control of your own fate. You are not at the mercy of your boss.

Before you go and write that resignation letter, I think you should be aware of a few things. There are successes and failures in each of the 4 quadrants. Those in senior positions of a company are making big bucks (whether they have financial freedom is entirely another story), and many entrepreneurs have not been able to keep their companies afloat for 3 years. Operating in the B quadrant requires a different skill set and knowledge from the E quadrant, and vice versa. Not everyone who changes quadrant can do as well in the new quadrant.

Each and everyone of us has different interests in our lives. As we grow older and gain experiences, our goals change. For someone, it is absolutely alright for him to work in the E quadrant at his stage of life. College graduates are often happy to get a job. They may treat it as a learning platform or a stepping stone to get where they want to. No matter what their intentions are, they must plan an exit strategy from the indentured servitude.

Two years ago, while I was working for Intel, I had two colleagues. They would complain and whine about the long working hours and also the relatively low benefits. The first of the two colleagues, Ed, didn't take long to come out with a plan. In search of new financial reward and personal happiness, he ventured out to UK, amid all the uncertainties working in a foreign land. The second colleague, Sam, did not take any actions, nor make any changes. He just wanted to vent out his frustrations.

Although I wouldn't know how these two colleagues of mine will fare in the future, I believe Ed will be a happier person. Even if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly.

Many of us are unwilling to leave our comfort zone. We fear to take up new challenges and leave our safe harbour. During brain storming session, we are always asked to think outside the box, without fail. This is, in fact, another type of social conditioning. Our boss wants to constrain our physical self in a cage. Have you ever seen a caged Orang Utan looking nostalgically to a distance in the horizon? That's thinking out of the box! Rather than thinking out of the box, we should be outside of the box.

Starting a business is no easy feat, the stake involved is high. However, the rewards are substantial too, because not many people dare to take up the challenge. Hence, you must summon all your courage to take the first baby step. Step by step, soon enough you will find a whole new horizon beyond your safety box.

Now, you can either choose the blue pill and retreat to your blissful ignorance, or take the red pill, embracing the truth that true freedom can't be attained without financial freedom.

The choice is yours.

Continue reading...

9 Simple Actions After Earth Hour

So you pledged support to Earth Hour. On March 28, you voted Earth by switching off your lights for one hour starting from 8.30pm. You joined billions of people around the globe in a noble fight against global warming, resulting in a saving of tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

Splendid!


While you are patting yourself on the back, you might want to ask: what next? No, it is still too early to plan your next trip to Paris during Earth Hour 2010 to witness the lights turning off at Eiffel Tower. The question for you is: What can you do to reduce your carbon footprint and prevent climate change, post Earth Hour?

There are many different answers to this question. And you can find all sorts of suggestions from the internet, such as stopglobalwarming.org. Now, I'm not going to reiterate all of those actions you can find elsewhere here. You do not have to spend a huge sum upfront to upgrade your gas-guzzling SUV to a plug-in hybrid like Toyota Prius or an all-electric Tesla Roadster. Nor forgo that getaway trip to Maldives because air travels account for a huge percent of global warming. Start small. I'll enlist 9 simple steps so easy to implement that they are no-brainers.


1. Something about the lights

Turn off the lights when they are not being used. I have encountered many instances where friends would leave the lights on when they leave a room for a short period of time. If you could flick your light switch during Earth Hour, there is no reason you can't do the same thing on your way out of the room next time.

2. Phantom electronics

In standby mode, your electrical appliances will still consume a small amount of electricity known as vampire power or phantom load. Although the wasted standby power is relatively small, the sum of this from all such devices becomes substantial. So unplug all your electronics, such as televisions and stereos.

3. Your PC needs rest too

A lot of people will leave their computer turns on while they are not using it. This is a waste of energy, and it will eventually burn a hole in your pocket. Shut it down. Or put it in sleep mode.

4. Water will become a precious commodity

Fresh and clean water will be scarce in the future. Conserve water, and you will save the planet. Take shorter shower and install low-flow showerhead. Using less water also means less energy to heat the water. And you guess it, do use the water heater if the water isn't too cold.

5. Trees are your best allies

Trees suck up CO², reducing green house gases. Besides, trees provide shade for your home from the hot sun. Plant more trees.

6. Blow your tires

Your may not have the means to purchase a hybrid vehicle. But you still can improve your fuel efficiency by making sure the tires on your car are adequately inflated. Check and inflate your tires regularly.

7. Incandescent isn't cool

Incandescent light bulbs are less energy efficient compared to compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) and light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Though CFLs and LEDs cost more, you will save more in the long run as they last longer. Replace any incandescent with CFLs and LEDs.

8. Meat kills the environment

We all know eating excessive meat is hazardous for our health. Truth is the same practice will cause harm to the environment too. Every year, millions acres of forest are destroyed to make way for farmland to grow crops that are used to feed livestock, such as cattle, hog and poultry. In U.S., about 48 percent of corn production is for animal feed. It is highly inefficient to feed crops to livestock instead of eating the crops ourselves, as energy is lost at every levels as we move across the food chain, i.e. it takes up to 16 pounds of grain to produce 1 pound of meat. Besides, the billions of farmed animals produce enormous amounts of methane, which is 20 times more powerful than CO² in retaining heat in the atmosphere. Reduce your meat consumption, or go vegan.

9. Ditch that plastic bag

Reduce waste by saying 'no' to plastic bags. Bring your own cloth bags or any other reusable shopping bags next time you visit the mall.


Closing thoughts

I have been a bit skeptical about the effectiveness of Earth Hour in fighting global warming. There were too many media coverage about cities and monuments around the globe going dark, with little press releases on how we can reduce our carbon footprint. As a result, many people don't realize Earth Hour is more of a symbolic event. Earth Hour is not about switching off your lights for one hour, saving power and money. How much energy would be saved in one hour, out of 365 days in a year anyway. The goal of Earth Hour is to instill awareness about global warming. An apprehension about the dire consequences of global warming and the urgent need to take action.

In fact, a lot more actions need to be done to save the Earth. Sacrifices will be made. Political wills shall be tested. But rest assured, with a little more effort, we can give our future generations a greener planet to live on. Continue reading...

Don't Listen to Naysayers

It is not the critic who counts;
not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled
or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena;
whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood;
who strives valiantly;
who errs and comes short again and again...
who knows the great enthusiasms,
the great devotions,
and spend himself in a worthy cause;
who at the best knows in the end
the triumph of high achievement;
and who, at the worst,
if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly,
so that his place shall never be
with those cold and timid souls
who know neither victory nor defeat.

-Theodore Roosevelt, 1910

There will always come a time in life when you decide to change your status quo. It could be a career change, a move to a foreign city, or simply any new venture that departs from your existing state of affairs. As usual with making any important decisions, you will want to seek advice and opinion from family members, friends and colleagues.

Take their opinions, particularly objections with a grain of salt.

Now, I am not proposing that you abruptly reject their objections. Listen to what they have to say. Most of the time, family members shoot down your wondrous proposal because they have your best interest at heart. They might think that your idea is badly made and it would not work as intended. Analyze their opinions. They may not be right all of the time. If you still think your idea is viable, by all means, go ahead. But do take steps to reassure those who have different opinions, just to ease their worry.

Contrary to those who have your best interest at heart, you will probably have a couple of people in your life who constantly rant and whine about the most insignificant inconveniences. Having poor and downbeat attitude, they always view the glass half empty. Due to their pessimism, they seldom leave their comfort zone, and will be the last one to take up new challenges. They are the naysayers.

As soon as you bring up your doubt, these naysayers will stop at nothing to bring a sense of negativity to the situation. This doesn't mean they have had bad experiences before and are now harping about it, trying to save you from repeating the same mistakes. They just feel uncomfortable at your endeavour.

I do not approve of naysayers. They are those cold and timid souls, who know neither victory nor defeat. I'd rather try and fail than do nothing. We as human beings learn from mistakes. An infant will fall before he learns to walk. We must be willing to make mistakes.

When you come across this type of people, ignore them. Their negative comments do not contain any real value and only work to sabotage your attempt, hindering you from reaching the next level.

Can you identify anyone in your life who fits the above descriptions? Continue reading...

Love is not a zero-sum game

We are all gamers. We play games everyday.

A game is being played whenever people interact with each other. Men and women play courting games. An employee and his boss negotiating his pay raise are playing a bargaining game. When an internet user logs in to Ebay to bid for his favourite item, he is playing a game with the other bidders of that item.

On a chess board, the player's sole aim is to checkmate his opponent. With that move, he claims complete victory, thus becoming the winner. Like most other games, chess is a zero-sum game. If you don't win, you lose.

Zero-sum game, as explained in Wikipedia.

In game theory and economic theory, zero-sum describes a situation in which a participant's gain or loss is exactly balanced by the losses or gains of the other participant(s). If the total gains of the participants are added up, and the total losses are subtracted, they will sum to zero.

Then, is love a zero-sum game?


Trapped in a period of sulking after exiting my previous relationship, I was inclined to believe love is a zero-sum game. I remember feeling bitter during that time. While she has found bliss, I was in a bad shape.

Of course, I was duly wrong.

I realized that after shifting to a different mindset. When there is no light at the end of the tunnel, breaking up would be a better solution. This is not a win-lose situation, it is win-win for both of us.

The Game of Love isn't a zero-sum game. That's for sure. Continue reading...

End of the Road

There's always something waiting at the end of the road. If you're not willing to see what it is, you probably shouldn't be out there in the first place. Continue reading...