Life For Rent

I moved to my new cubicle at work yesterday. See, when you work in a large company, you don’t need to lift a finger. At smaller companies where I used to come from you gotta lift all fingers and toes and come back over the weekends too!

Here are some shots of my new place. Love it. And yes I have put up all my lil stuff toys on my table too.

You can see Happy, my rainbow dog, another dog that is one of my favorites right behind the lil frog, representing me and my dear of course

On my telephone there’s the little thingie which has my name on it, taken off Rach 21’st chocolate theme dinner. Also, my yellow Ikea cushion for my seat and my fav tinberland jacket. Cups and water flasks are on the far left. I think all that remains to be added is a pair of bed room slippers? I have the habit of taking off my shoes to let my feet air.. as you can see…

I have been hearing of this I’m Not a Plastic Bag thingie, along with the Be a Bag thingie where you can have your photograph on it. After launching in HKG, fight broke out and organisers have decided to cancel all promotions in the various countries, including Singapore.

While I applaud the green movement, are retailers profiteering from the green movement for their own gain? Is the message on going green lost, where now it is hip to ‘go green’ but are you really green? Or are you buying a green product at overpriced prices so you can be one up against your peers. DJs battle to play the latest remix releases first. While the rest of us struggle to get our hands on the ‘green’ items, even if they cost many times more on ebay?

I do not need any green bag that has my picture on it or something that seems cute (from pictures, the I’m not a plastic bag, bag). Give it to me and I MAY use it, but how green a person is, isn’t measured by how organic he seems to be from head to toe. Seriously, actions speak louder than words. Yesterday I bought ciggies and 2 bottles of green tea (on offer of course) from the 7-11 outlet at one of the petrol stations here. It didn’t occur to me there and then but when the cashier took out and bag and got ready to pack it all in, I told him I do not need one, for I was carrying my lovely purple crumpler bag. No doubt the bottles will be wet through condensation but it aint really matter. It actually felt good to have ’saved a bag’. Try it!

The weather has been cool and I have cut down on the use of the aircon during the day when I am home (like right now). In fact, the windows are good enough for me. At work, it gets tricky because what is cold to you may be warm to me. A centralised aircon at 20deg is cold for me but is too warm for my colleague. Maybe we have different metabolic rates.. I don’t know.. but it is tricky. Looks like I cannot do away with my lovely timberland comforter. I love that. Been having it for around 7 years plus now. I love the feel of it anyway.

While many things are beyond our control at corporate level, we can help by doing our part at our own levels. At home, when one is out etc. I am hoping more hybrid cars are made and sold so I can get my hands on one. I know lexus has this new hybrid, electric-petrol driven car. 5 litres of EC, drives like a 6 litre car but consumes petrol like a 3.5 litre car. Excellent price savings, good for the environment, and you get a green rebate from the government. Why not?

I wonder a lot of things today.

I wonder why recently people who just got to know me keep calling me Mike. Why?

I wonder what is with the weather. It feels so december. Should put an end to dengue outbreaks and it is cooler. Nice.. but why?

I wonder why people around me bump into my ex. Even I saw him in his car along Shenton way heading towards keppel road last Monday. Are we everywhere or is he everywhere. Why?

Not like I care much. Some why’s are just stuff that make you go hmmm but otherwise is insignificant.

I wrote about pregnant women and trains yesterday and today someone wrote into the ST forums. The same old story. Pregnant lady boards, notices the whole carriage falls asleep miraculously, and standing in front of the student, the latter just stared blankly. When it was time for the student to get off, she did all she could to hide her school badge.

Let’s look at it from another angle. Someday she will be pregnant too. Maybe she will be a tai tai and be driven around, maybe not. Maybe 10 years down the road she too will stand in front of another school girl and we have her writing in then “Once I was like that too, today I realise for myself how it felt..”. Men don’t get pregnant, but I feel for the safety of the mother and baby, they do deserve the seat. You can tell when a person is pregnant, and when someone is making use of gender inequality to get her way, which was what my blog was about yesterday. Isn’t it irritating when I make use of my gender to get my way? Many blogs ago I wrote about females who are fighting for gender equality. At work, at home etc. But they demand men open doors for them, seat their partners at tables etc. While I agree it is gentlemantly to do so, it is NOT a right. I will leave the door open for the person behind, male or female. I would appreciate someone pressing the buttons of the lift for me if my hands are filled. It is just being nice and polite, not because one is a male or a female. While I would open car doors for people, it is totally different if a female EXPECTS me to do so and yet fight against gender equality. To be treated equally at work but you wanna be treated better out of work? Sorry, there is no free lunch!

I have scheduled a minor surgery (I actually had to visit this doctor who is an O&G and it was a clinic for women. I knew it all along but still it felt weird, but the smartness in me went early in the morning where there isn’t many people and on this day there wasn’t although usually there is. You know, gynes do take a long time to examine their patients) to fix up whatever wasn’t done properly. I talked about health care and seriously, it is very clear to anyone who has done surgery. You want a good scar line, you need to pay for expertise. No disrespect to surgeons in restructured hospitals but really, I don’t think they give a shit to you if you pay subsidised rates. In theory, an orthopaedic surgeon does not carry expertise in stitching. So they do fix the primary problem but they create a new problem (unsightly scar lines). Ask anyone who did a major surgery, be it to repair a fracture or just a cut that requires stitching. At private clinics, doctors do charge a lot more but they use better sutures and techniques. You need to know how to spend your money. Pay for a doctor who specialises and is experienced in your condition. I don’t need to see a doctor who specialises in kideny transplant to do my minor surgery, do I? So if you can afford it, pay the extra dollars. But make sure you do your research. For those who can afford extra, hire a plastic surgeon to perform stitching, it does make a lot of difference in the end, trust me. We have very good plastic surgeons here, eg Dr Martin Huang and Dr Woffles Wu. Of course their fees will be higher, but unfortunately for now, quality comes at a price even in health care. It is only fair I guess, that is how the world works. If you are a good surgeon, don’t you want to practice in private without all the rules governing you in a restructured hospital. You are so overloaded you simply do not have time to go the extra mile as much as you would like. And of course, if I am a good surgeon, don’t you think I should be duly paid for my expertise? You earn 2k when you start out, 20 years later are you happy with just 4k? I very much doubt so.

Enough about all these for now. Surgery is scheduled on 7th Aug. Hope to see it done well and good once and for all. Cheers, to an all brand new me!

I killed my mobile phone’s LCD screen when I bumped into the corner of my table at work, right into the phone. It may have shielded my leg at the expense of the LCD.

Took it in and found that the cost of replacing the LCD is 200 bucks. Warrenty does not cover physical damage (includes keypad, slide function etc… so do take note) however, I have 2 options to proceed:

- Pay 200 and the warrenty continues
- Have the repair cost waived, but the warrenty will be void. ie, exchange warranty for free repair

Wow not bad. I always even looking at new phones while waiting, as I expected the cost to be high and it may be more feasible to just get a new one. But this phone is only 4 months old…. nooooo it is not due to die yet! SO I am quite glad consumers have options, and of course I decided to trade in the warranty in exchange for the repair cost waiver.

This morning in the MRT, there was this lady who seems new to traveling during the morning rush hour? She is smart enough to try and get into the last carriage and was carrying a bag of goodness knows what. At Orchard MRT, someone seated was going off and she was gearing up towards the seat (imagine baywatch) but someone else beat her to it (noooooooooo…). In frustration and dumped her stuff back onto the floor and grabbed the handles for support angrily. She clutched it so tight, she covered part of my hand. She shifted her hand and placed it side by side with mine on the pole. She wanna eat into my space? Hey she can forget it. I aint moving my hand or anything away for her. She wants space? Go get a cab! If she thinks she can get me away to make room for her, forget it.

Initially I thought this lao guay bu was a driver but had her car in the repair shop and hence had to take the train, for the first time in her life? But upon reaching raffles place, i found her still seated towards Marina Bay. Gawd, she is heading for that forsaken area.

What is my point? If you want something, ask. You want a seat? Ask. You want me to make room for you, ask.

On second thought, ask, but just don’t ask me. I know my mom used to ask people to give her the seat in the past when she took the train or bus. Most of the time in the train, I don’t take seats, allowing others who need them have them. If I am seated and someone really needs a seat, I will give. Especially the elderly. Parents bringing their 6 year olds for excursions on the trains do not require seats. As for pregnant ladies, take a look at what happened:

her: excuse me?

me: ya?

her: (rolling her eyes) im pregnant

me: oh, congrats (i plonked back to sleep)

her: (tapping me even harder) im pregnant and you should give the seat to me.

me: huh? (the train was kinda packed and it was at somerset going towards cityhall)

her: you are taking the seat for pregnant and elderlys. you should give it up.

me: look. you are wearing a dress, it doesn’t state that you are pregnant. besides, how would i know if you are not just fat, or you have thyroid like chen liping? and im sleeping. there’s no pregnancy sensor! and just because being fat, you claim ya pregnant. what makes you think im not pregnant too?

(at this point. the train had like loads of people giggling. i turned to the auntie on my left and asked)

me: she look like pregnant meh! can you tell?

auntie: (shook head, and still giggling)

her: so.. er… (looking flabbergasted) im telling you now lor!

me: and im telling you im pregnant lor. (roll eyes)

Obviously no one thought she was pregnant too. I love to torture people who irritate me. Have you ever seen kids running and you raise your leg over so they would trip over? Have you been nastier to someone who tried to be nasty initially. Don’t bitch me man. If you think you want your space and you can move me, you can carry me up and move me. If you can. Else get out of my face. Everyone is rushing to work. Everyone is tired. Everyone is squeezed. If the prince is also among everyone, it doesn’t make you any special. Cunt.

But I wasn’t upset. I was pretty amused.

Someone asked about what I said on risks. As I said earlier, different people have different risk profiles. For some risk adverse people, unit trust may be good. What is a UT? When you buy, you are investing into a portfolio of equities/investments. There will be a fund manager who is also known as a BB (Big boy) in the stock market. A fund manager is supposedly an ‘expert’ in investment. So he invests into different industries, bonds, equities etc using the money pooled together from investors like you. They buy in volumes big enough to cause a stir in a counter. Ideally it will be good if you are already vested in the stock market with a particular counter before they move in.

I like the templeton fund. Different fund managers invest differently so you need to look at what they invest in and the performance so far. It does give you an idea of how they are doing BUT remember, past trends does NOT imply future trends. It could be doing well for the past few years but the very week after you buy, it starts to fall. UTs are into diversification. For some fund managers, they go for opposites. Egs bonds and stocks. When economy is good, stock prices do well, bond yields go down (ie, bond prices go up). The reverse is true, but not always. Bonds and stocks are inversely proportional, theoretically. Hence, if the stock market crash, you would expect bond yields to rise. Hence, the risks are mitigated. When one goes down, the other goes up. Chances are, both bonds and stocks can’t be at an all time high side by side. This form of diversification means, chances are you won’t lose a lot no matter what happened. But it also means you won’t gain a lot too. You must factor in the spread and charges for buying the fund. You can switch funds at will but it is usually chargable. If you buy UTs from banks, rest assured they will suck you dry with the high spread they take. Fund managers also ask for a high ‘reward’ if their fund does well. It is only fair that they take a payout themselves. So end of the day, you get very little. I used to own DBS Shenton fund which did very well. Got out of it earlier this year and went into stocks directly. My advice for UTs is, don’t go for capital guaranteed (not protected, which is different). They are usually lousy in returns. If you are so risk adverse, go for treasury bills (government bonds), or fixed deposit. What are the risks? The bank closes down. But what are the chances of a big bank doing so? Or in t-bills, the government is gone. But it also means Singapore is gone too if that were to happen. So relatively, t-bills are virtually 0 risk. And their yields can be a tad higer than fixed deposits.

The advantage is, you can invest in t-bills for as low as 1k. Usually a bond is for a period of 3 months, and currently it does around 2.4% p.a. or so? How does it work? Say you invest in 1k. The bank will withdraw $950 (for example) from your account. On expiry, you get 1k so effectively you earn $50. These amounts for just for illustration. Remember, the yield is different all the time, and you can bid for the t-bills every thursday. For more info, google on t-bills on how to buy and what to do etc. Very safe, and it is 3 months (so note the rate is per year, so you need to do the maths yourself how much you really earn).

UTs are not all that bad. But my recommendation is that you do your own research and pick your own fund. You can buy via POEMS or fundssupermarket.com. Do not buy from banks. They don’t know a thing, only have their own products, and suck the blood out of you through high spreads. Not worth at all. Similar to investment linked policies (ILP). I strongly advise against endowment and ILPs. Both give lousy returns. Very lousy returns. ILPs also suck a lot of blood. I advise people to seperate investments with insurance, do not link them together. As for endowment, guaranteed portion is very low. Does not even cover principal amount. Think inflation and interest rates. 20 years from now, you may have invested 40k, and get a return of say 50k or so. But what is 50k worth in 20 years? For those who are in their 20s, think back how much $1 was worth not too long ago. You get the picture. The money you invest in for endowment is used by the companies to do investment etc. They always win, you always lose. Most people who are into endowment for a couple years will regret it but would rather cut ‘losses’ as early as possible.

Warren Buffett says, investment does not have to be high risk high gain. High gains can be achieved through low risk (calculated risks).

I say, don’t take risks. Manage risks.

I say that a lot, why? Cause there is no real right or wrong. Diversifying your investment is neither right nor wrong. It really depends on your risk profile.

A real life example. I put all my cash, cards, ID, etc.. into 1 wallet. Some others feel that they should spread things out so if they lose the wallet, at least you don’t lose your ID, ezlink card, cards etc. So you have your wallet, cash, cards all in different places. True, if you lose your wallet, you don’t lose the rest. But aren’t your chances of losing something higher? I have just 1 wallet, with everything in it. If I lose my wallet, I lose everything, BUT what are the chances of me losing it. 1 thing to carry, vs 5 things to carry. It is easier to lose something out of 5 items than 1 item mathematically. The more things you have, the higher the chance of losing something. So are you prepared to lose lesser things more often, or more things less often. Really depends on your comfort level. I prefer to lower my risk by carrying it all but concentrate my attention on just that 1 item so I reduce the risk of losing it. Focussing my attention on 5 items is a chore. Imagine you are rushing out in the morning and you have to find all the items. When you are out you need to check to make sure all items are with you. You may neglect one or two and kaboom.

Yet, I could get robbed, and the robber takes my wallet and everything else in it. Or he may just take the cash (if I have things seperate) but leave my credit cards, ID, ATM cards alone as he has no need for it. He may even return me my wallet. So I lose less.

So again, it all depends on your comfort level (Read : Risk profile). Manage risks to your comfort level. You are a winner when there is a positive ROI. The difference is, how quick and how much is your ROI compared to someone else. No right or wrong, and let not someone tell you what you should do with your own money. It is your money after all, and ultimately you are responsible for it.

I was on the train to work when this malay girl was listening to Rihanna’s Umbrella through her earphones at blasting levels so much so I could sing along with it. I read that the single has been at #1 6 weeks in a row on the billboard, a feat that hasn’t been done since Wet Wet Wet’s Love is all around. Now that is indeed a long time ago. However I personally feel the Jody remix of Umbrella beats the single anytime. In fact, I wouldn’t even use the original track. There is a radio edit remix of the track and I think it was very well done indeed. The original is neither here nor there. Doesn’t sound RnB to be, definitely not something to dance to, but when you hit the jody remix, the whole track just sinks in. Love at first hearing for me. There are other remixes, like the tribal mix by Rafael Lelis but he used the original vocals so it sounds like the original with loads of hard tribal beats, that’s all. Jody gave Umbrella a total makeover. Excellent job.

Flipping through the papers, what do I see… hmm a new smoking ban in north korea. Why? Cause the doctors of Kim Jong Il said he should quit drinking and smoking. Hence, they decided that all the places where Kim Jong Il frequents, will be non smoking zones. Even top execs must comply. “A chain smoker”, “cognac guzzling playboy”, “appetite for fine dining” are phrases used to describe the leader. I am very tempted to say a lot bout it but decided not to, lest they send me a nuclear warhead.

It is just one of things that will go into the books (and emails) of “things you never knew”. Singapore is in it too, for banning chewing gum, alongside with the wierest rules countries and states have.

I was chatting with rach and this brings to mind another ‘investment lesson’.

There is an investment tool for everyone, with different risk profile. My colleague is a watch expert. He has a watch bought a few months back that has now doubled in value cause it is a limited edition vintage watch. No he does not intend to sell it as yet cause he bought it for himself, not as an investment.

The great warren buffett said, do NOT diversify. Why? Think of it as a number’s game. Simple illustration. You go to a betting booth to bet on a soccer match. Do you bet on 1 match, throwing your bet amount all on it, or go with 5 matches? In terms of probability, of course you will do 1 match. The odds of winning is 50/50. What happens when you bet 5 matches? To win all 5, your odds are 1/2 x 1/2 x 1/2 x 1/2 x 1/2. That is 1/32 chance of hitting it all right. Even a seasoned investor in stocks will tell you, if you can get 7/10 counters right, you are doing rather well already. So what happens when people diversify, or in their own terms, spread out their risk? They don’t win all 5. They win 3, lose 2 maybe. Or worse, win 2 lose 3. It negates everything. There is a higher chance of a downside than an upside.

In stocks, it can be the same. Say you have a counter. It either goes up or down (a counter with flat earnings is excluded in this calculation, simply because good companies with good fundamentals will ALWAYS rise in value over time). So you hold a stock. Odds of it going up or down is 50/50. Say it is going down, do you hold, or do you cut loss and sell? Another 50/50. Say if you sold, it might have gone up, or it may continue to slide. Another 50/50. So what are the odds of you picking the right decision, ie hold and it appreciates in value, or sell and it slid further.

In my work, I do risk management. Honestly if you ask me, we do not take risks. We manage risk. There is a huge difference. You cannot avoid risk. What are the odds you walk out and get hit by a missile from the middle east? Rare, but still possible. Do you stay at home all day? Something could happen at home too. You cannot run. But you manage the risk. You watch out for cars and hopefully you don’t get run down. In the event that you take all precaution and still get run down, then it is bad luck. But you did your best to avoid such a scenario.

So we all know we need to manage risk. But how? That is the question. You know when you cross the road, you look left, then right, then left again. You do not jaywalk. You do not walk with blasting earphones and hence you cannot hear sounds of warning. But a car falls from the sky and hits you. Tough luck. As I said, you cannot run away from risk. But let risk work with you. Let numbers and probability work on your side, not against you.

Invest, and be wealthy.

Phew. What a weekend. From wednesday night all the way till yesterday. I am indeed exhausted. And fat. Perhaps I am suffering from post holiday blues. Kinda moodless and all.

I literally sat in bed thinking about a lot of things last night but I guess it is one of those things that keeps me clamped up. Or perhaps, something that I’ll clamp to myself.

Round 1 started on Wed evening, with my dad, grandma, ceddy, colin and alex turning up at my place at my invitation. A simple meal but it was nice to see colin again especially. Kena arrowed for his wedding again. No way man. Do you people honestly bear to make your best friend work on your wedding day? Come on don’t make me call you a cheapo for sparing the cost of a pro emcee. Brudda brudda work is fine, but to host the whole function? Wah lao. I aint gonna host any show for any wedding. Not my poly mates not my best friend not anyone! Not the whole show at least. I charge 20 grand an hour, take it or leave it. Anyway back to my birthday thingie.. We were gonna head to play but I guess we decided to stay since it was kinda late by then. We chatted, played cards (I learnt how to play rummy!) and yada yada till almost day break. Oh yeh, I had to pick 4 numbers. I drew 2261. Did it win anything? I like the company of a close small group. Boys night out. Thursday saw us sleeping in till late, other than Alex who had to go to camp. Woke up, went down to the bank to settle my stock investments and then went to cut hair. Got a 10% discount after my hairstylist found out it was my birthday. For the first time somewhat, the whole shop was empty. I like…
Sake sushi at heeren and some CSI dvds at home, and that was pretty much how the birthday went on the actual day. I was a little skeptical bout eating sushi and all on a day before a big feast though…

Friday was boys’ night out round 2. This time round, at the Ritz Carlton’s Greenhouse. I was placed at a good location but served by inefficient servers. The lady (God bless her soul) server got me the wrong beer, forgot my requests for water and coffee. But I could tell she was overworked so I let things be. Dinner was pretty good. I kinda expected a little more seafood for main courses though, although the grilled lobsters were my favorite. I also loved the chocolates at the desert corner. Unfortunately, not a lot of room remained for those. Overall it was nice. Thank you alex for the cologne. I haven’t opened it yet though but I will soon I promise! I still recommend the place though, for I really loved the japanese theme they had a couple months back. Lots of birthdays celebrations there always. UOB card members get discount (all the time) and a complimentary birthday cake for the birthday person. The quality, which is what I was paying for didn’t fail me, but I expected a tad more somewhat. Perhaps Sats had more seafood, although I was assured fri and sats are the same. They cost more than other nights cause it is international seafood. hmmm… But it is all good. The 4 big bellies then trotted to play, which wasn’t a big deal. For some reason I’m getting more and more turned off by the whole thing. Maybe it is cause I don’t really like leaving a club for air or 7-11 outside. I go clubbing, but not to sit outside some 7-11. I would go there but don’t tell me we are going clubbing then end up clubbing outside 7-11 basically. Furthermore Play is like a place of dramas..

Round 3 was the best. It was so good I wouldn’t even tell you where it was cause I don’t want you booking the location! Pictures are up on my friendster while videos are also available. I love the bed, the bathroom, the outdoor day bed and jacuzzi… gosh I could make the whole place my own home. The idea of the outdoor area is fantastic, although not much of a scenary but it is has its privacy in a small little area where you can get drunk on booze and puke all over and it doesn’t even matter. Just don’t walk and fall into the jacuzzi and drown. I even dipped into the jacuzzi in my birthday suit! Only people in the office buildings would be able to see through a pair of binoculus. I rate this place 9/10, which is a very high score actually. Take away 0.5 points for not having a bidet in the bathroom and a low ceiling, and another 0.5 for its price, but I guess perhaps that makes it even more special and exclusive. *shrug* The booze, the chocolates, the drinks, the munchies, and the water and bubbles of course! My best stay at a ‘certain location’ yet. Boys night out round 3, with bubbles and boys.

Like vegas, whatever happened in the room, will stay in the room too. Or bathroom *grins*.

I might be moving out in months to come to a new place. I will miss the location, but there is nothing else I will miss in where I stay. For a place I have spent 14 years of my life, I must have hated it eh?

And so it is life back to normal (which means work) and I am looking at my next ‘away from work’ break. Till then, I still can feel the lobster from last friday. I aint kidding! It never really got expelled. Yet. I won’t be posting routine pictures here. Will begin doing so on the new site only. For now it is all in friendsters and at casan0vakid’s multiply site.

I will be back. Once I get used to being ‘normal’ again… But thank you Rainz, Jia Yan (closet to midnight), my brother, Anthony, Joey (why were you up so early at 6am? thanks for the sweet words!), Lobby lobster lester, Karen, Noris, Aunt Lai san, Jamal, Lesley (1 day late, but better than never!), Shahrin (whose birthday is a day away), and elmer. Thank you dear dear for the room too, as well as ceddy and alex for their company. So fetch loh you two!

A sea of red in the STI and regional bourses today. STI pulled back to below 3600 at time of writing. This is something many analysts have been expecting. A pullback to 3580 or so even. Personally while all my counters may go red (I have not checked) I feel such pullback is good as it flushes out weak and contra players. Remember, do not be emotional about more than usual fluctuations. Indexes cannot go up forever. And those who did contra and margin trading with money they do not have, this is where the market can kill, within hours. You can go contra per se, but make sure you have holding power if such events occur so you can buy and hold. Of course if you do not have money then you will have to sell, at a loss that you may not be able to imagine. Remember the student who won 80k in a week but lost 700k the next week during a correction? Longcheer killed him, along with many others. A sea of red (blood).

Weak holders must be flushed out, and the prices will fall so real investors can go in for a little bargain hunting. A good breather. As long this pullback does not continue for 3 days or more straight. I am in a joyous mood still! Not so much of birthday, but an exciting weekend, beginning tomorrow!

I went to see my urologist earlier and now I have to pee into a bottle for a period of 24hrs. I don’t know when I can do it man… sigh. But the staff were nice. Noticed that tomorrow is my birthday. As I said many posts back, money talks, even if healthcare. You want good care, first class service, pay private rates! Simple.

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