有人曾说 “你跟人讲情义， 十个会有九个当你是傻子”。
I never thought this would be true in real life, and then I only got to taste the bitter fruits for not believing such a good teaching.
You whole-heartedly do something for somebody, then the person does not really appreciate your efforts. Instead, he/she will start to suspect you have some vested interest.
When they reap the benefits from your efforts, they will only consider that as their own merits.
看开点儿啦。。。
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Another Farewell
Today, a friend of mine called me from the airport. He is going to board the plane and leave Singapore for good. I wished him all the best, but I don't really feel good in the bottom of my heart.
So many of my friends had left Singapore. Their destinations are diverse, from New Zealand, Australia, Canada, to France, Denmark, mainland China & Taiwan. But all of them have the same objective which is to seek better lives. I am getting more and more alone & lonely in this island.
So many of my friends had left Singapore. Their destinations are diverse, from New Zealand, Australia, Canada, to France, Denmark, mainland China & Taiwan. But all of them have the same objective which is to seek better lives. I am getting more and more alone & lonely in this island.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
A Place to Call Home
I got the key to my flat today. Finally, I have a place to call my home. I can do whatever I like there, do it up to my taste, not anyone else's. I am happy.
The living room is not as spacious as the one I am living in now, but should be big enough to host some still life photo shoots if my photography buddies are ever interested :) And I should have a room for my guests. My international friends who happen to drop by now can have 'free' accommodation, and I can have the opportunity to be a 'good' host, finally.
Buying a flat at a property market uptrend is not really that favourable. The price went up quite a lot when I bought it. It becomes even worse coupled with rising inflation. Everything, from furniture to electrical appliances, to whatsoever that you can think of are rising in price. The service you receive is also worse. Not that they are rude to you, but they are simply overwhelmed by the number of customers. Business is thriving.
Now I can pamper myself a bit more, too. Feeling happy...
The living room is not as spacious as the one I am living in now, but should be big enough to host some still life photo shoots if my photography buddies are ever interested :) And I should have a room for my guests. My international friends who happen to drop by now can have 'free' accommodation, and I can have the opportunity to be a 'good' host, finally.
Buying a flat at a property market uptrend is not really that favourable. The price went up quite a lot when I bought it. It becomes even worse coupled with rising inflation. Everything, from furniture to electrical appliances, to whatsoever that you can think of are rising in price. The service you receive is also worse. Not that they are rude to you, but they are simply overwhelmed by the number of customers. Business is thriving.
Now I can pamper myself a bit more, too. Feeling happy...
Monday, January 14, 2008
Cafepress
I just opened a shop at Cafepress.com. It is just a basic shop, trying to sell some products that are derived from my photos.
It is my second attempt. The first attempt was not successful at all. Hardly anyone visiting my shop. I don't know how successful this time will be, but at least I give it a try. No harm trying, right?
There are two types of shops at Cafepress, the premium and basic. A basic shop has a lot of limitations, usual tactic to make you upgrade to a premium shop, which you have to pay $$$.
Come visit my store on CafePress!
It is my second attempt. The first attempt was not successful at all. Hardly anyone visiting my shop. I don't know how successful this time will be, but at least I give it a try. No harm trying, right?
There are two types of shops at Cafepress, the premium and basic. A basic shop has a lot of limitations, usual tactic to make you upgrade to a premium shop, which you have to pay $$$.
Come visit my store on CafePress!
Taiwan Legislative Yuan Election
The election for a new Legislative Yuan (立法院）is finally over. Kuomingtang (Nationlist) party has 81 seats, the ruling DPP has 27 seats out of a total of 113 seats in the new Legislative Yuan.
Well, at least the people in Taiwan gave the ruling DPP a clear signal to express their unhappiness with DPP's performance.
Whether to be part of China or becoming an independent country is only significant to the few elites in power; as that decides who will be recorded in the history textbooks as heroes. For the general public, what matters more is their daily life. How good their life is, how easy to make a living under the ruling party.
Look at what DPP did in the past 8 years? They provided lots of bad taste entertainment to people in Taiwan, as well as the rest of the world. They had lots of promises, but did they deliver any? They are only interested in cutting ties with mainland China, did they ever care about the lives of the people in the street? Any economic policy that they came up to make Taiwan prosperous?
The utmost important task of whoever in power is to make sure people have a good life. Whoever forgets this important task will be dumped, in any democratic society.
Well, at least the people in Taiwan gave the ruling DPP a clear signal to express their unhappiness with DPP's performance.
Whether to be part of China or becoming an independent country is only significant to the few elites in power; as that decides who will be recorded in the history textbooks as heroes. For the general public, what matters more is their daily life. How good their life is, how easy to make a living under the ruling party.
Look at what DPP did in the past 8 years? They provided lots of bad taste entertainment to people in Taiwan, as well as the rest of the world. They had lots of promises, but did they deliver any? They are only interested in cutting ties with mainland China, did they ever care about the lives of the people in the street? Any economic policy that they came up to make Taiwan prosperous?
The utmost important task of whoever in power is to make sure people have a good life. Whoever forgets this important task will be dumped, in any democratic society.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
CDO and Subprime
Collateralised Debt Obligation (CDO) and the subprime crisis have been the most talk-about topics in the past year. I am reading some materials on CDOs today. From the face of it, I don't think CDOs are bad. If I were offered such structured securities, most probably I will grap them.
Those mortgage-backed CDOs give investors a fixed income based on the money generated from mortgage loans. Houses, which are brick & mortar, serve as collaterals. What can be better than such an investment? If the mortgage lenders stick to the established credit rules in the past, this investment will remain as AAA investment grade investment.
CDOs turn sour only when the subprime factor comes in. That is when some become greedy. On the one hand, they inflate the true value of the houses that serve as collaterals; on the other, they asked people who were not previously qualified for mortgage loans to take up loans, which is the source of all evils of the current subprime crisis.
I suspect I had indirectly fallen prey to the subprime crisis. A fixed-income fund that I have had dropped quite a lot in the past few months. The fund is managed by a bank in Singapore, which has the largest CDO exposure.
Let me pray...
Those mortgage-backed CDOs give investors a fixed income based on the money generated from mortgage loans. Houses, which are brick & mortar, serve as collaterals. What can be better than such an investment? If the mortgage lenders stick to the established credit rules in the past, this investment will remain as AAA investment grade investment.
CDOs turn sour only when the subprime factor comes in. That is when some become greedy. On the one hand, they inflate the true value of the houses that serve as collaterals; on the other, they asked people who were not previously qualified for mortgage loans to take up loans, which is the source of all evils of the current subprime crisis.
I suspect I had indirectly fallen prey to the subprime crisis. A fixed-income fund that I have had dropped quite a lot in the past few months. The fund is managed by a bank in Singapore, which has the largest CDO exposure.
Let me pray...
Thursday, January 10, 2008
A New STI
Today, they revamp the Straits Times Index's component stocks. The total number of stocks is reduced from 45 down to 30. Some smaller counters have been kicked out and 3 new counters were included in the new 30-component STI.
1st day is always a bit chaotic. Many financial websites displayed erroreous STI numbers. For example, at Yahoo! Finance Singapore, the STI was displayed to be 3344, and the change is in green 3344 points! Wow, how I wish STI would go up 3344 points in ONE day! Haha....
AsiaOne's webpage removed the STI display. Some security firms such as DBS Vickers & Philips Security also removed the STI display from their websites until further notice. I wonder, what's wrong with those guys? They had been informed of the change quite some time ago, yet they still couldn't get things ready when the change happened.
A new STI, unfortunately, did not bring new life to Singapore's stock market. The new STI went down 33 points and ended at 3311 points.
One interesting observation. The last time they changed the component stocks of the Straits Times Index was in 1997-98 during the Asia Financial Crisis. The previous old STI went all the way down to 800+ points. Then the previous old STI was revamped and the new STI went up quite some points.
Looking back, I should have bought shares back when STI was at 800+. A good friend of mine did advise me to buy at that time, but I was too naive, believing in many stupid teachings & principles. I am still naive now, otherwise I would not have missed again the bull market that had been running for the past 3 years or so.
It is always bitter to see your own mistakes. It is even more bitter if you didn't learn from your own mistakes and committ the same sin twice. Hopefully I will learn this time...
1st day is always a bit chaotic. Many financial websites displayed erroreous STI numbers. For example, at Yahoo! Finance Singapore, the STI was displayed to be 3344, and the change is in green 3344 points! Wow, how I wish STI would go up 3344 points in ONE day! Haha....
AsiaOne's webpage removed the STI display. Some security firms such as DBS Vickers & Philips Security also removed the STI display from their websites until further notice. I wonder, what's wrong with those guys? They had been informed of the change quite some time ago, yet they still couldn't get things ready when the change happened.
A new STI, unfortunately, did not bring new life to Singapore's stock market. The new STI went down 33 points and ended at 3311 points.
One interesting observation. The last time they changed the component stocks of the Straits Times Index was in 1997-98 during the Asia Financial Crisis. The previous old STI went all the way down to 800+ points. Then the previous old STI was revamped and the new STI went up quite some points.
Looking back, I should have bought shares back when STI was at 800+. A good friend of mine did advise me to buy at that time, but I was too naive, believing in many stupid teachings & principles. I am still naive now, otherwise I would not have missed again the bull market that had been running for the past 3 years or so.
It is always bitter to see your own mistakes. It is even more bitter if you didn't learn from your own mistakes and committ the same sin twice. Hopefully I will learn this time...
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Life & Death
STI ended the day at 3344.53 points, up 6.26 points. The number really tells a lot. 3344, in Cantonese, it reads as Life Life Death Death! It is a matter of life & death at 3300 points. Once the 3300 points support is broken, STI will go straight down to 3000, the next support level.
STI dipped below 3300 points at start, then it slowly but steadily recovered. In the afternoon, boosted by the optimism with the 500 points rise of Hong Kong's Heng Seng Index, STI gained 6 points before market closed.
The new report season will start this Thursday (Singapore time), how good the big brothers such as Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Goldman, etc, will influence which direction STI will go. STI is weak, flirting with both life & death.
STI dipped below 3300 points at start, then it slowly but steadily recovered. In the afternoon, boosted by the optimism with the 500 points rise of Hong Kong's Heng Seng Index, STI gained 6 points before market closed.
The new report season will start this Thursday (Singapore time), how good the big brothers such as Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Goldman, etc, will influence which direction STI will go. STI is weak, flirting with both life & death.
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