Finally moved to my new home. The flat is still quite bare. Two of the bed rooms are still mostly empty with nothing. There is no light in the kitchen yet, and no gas supply. Water heater is still absent. Because of that, I have to have cold showers everyday! It is a goal that I wanted to achieve since I was 7, or even younger, but never really did it. Now I have done it, until the water heaters are ready :)
We always think that we need a lot of stuff in life in order to survive. That is nothing but far from the truth. What do we really need? Just a roof over our head to shelter ourselves from wind and rain and sun, you don't even need a bed. Things we thought we need are in fact things we want. Do you really NEED a washing machine? Not really. Hand wash is always an alternative. How about the fridge? Alas, I have not even turned on the power to my fridge.
The place is quite noisy though. Being right next to a main road, and a MRT track, the noise is really an issue. Hopefully I will get used to it after a while. Mmmh, noise, always noise.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
The Boring Single's Weekends...
A columnist of Sunday Times laments that how boring her weekends are being a single. She does not have as jam-packed weekends as her married friends. To a great extent, it is true. Being single means you are alone most of the time, including weekends. Unless you have a huge social circle with many single friends, you will feel being left alone, especially on weekends; while your married friends have to juggle with all their family responsibilities, feeling jealous of the freedom the singles have.
A novel called 'Wei-cheng' (City under siege) 围城 by a famous Chinese auther Qian Zhong-shu (钱钟书）described this situation very well. People who are outside the city want to get in, while those who are in the city want to get out.
Hahaha... Just like what the Chinese say, you seem to be in a better situation than me in my eyes; while I seem to be in a better situation than you in your eyes. (你看我好，我看你好）There is no need for the singles to feel jealous about the married's life. You should just make your own life more interesting.
Pick up a hobby, or start learning something new seriously, that will take up all your 'boring' weekend time. In the past, I was more engaged in photography. It is a time-consuming hobby, other than expensive. Once you go out for a shoot, it most probably will take up your whole day. Even if you are a lazy bug who does all the shooting at home, your time still literally flies. For example, a simple still life shoot will take up a couple of hours, to the least. And that is assuming you are not a perfectionist, and easily satisfied. The post processing time is not even included.
Or how about study for something. I started reading those study materials for CFA level 1. My gosh, so many reading materials.
How about hitting the gym? Or the swimming pool. There are endless possibilities, but, of course, only if you have the discipline and determination to do all these.
Oh, at the end, I still must say single's life is indeed a bit lonely. A family life will be more fulfilling, but only if it is a happy family.
A novel called 'Wei-cheng' (City under siege) 围城 by a famous Chinese auther Qian Zhong-shu (钱钟书）described this situation very well. People who are outside the city want to get in, while those who are in the city want to get out.
Hahaha... Just like what the Chinese say, you seem to be in a better situation than me in my eyes; while I seem to be in a better situation than you in your eyes. (你看我好，我看你好）There is no need for the singles to feel jealous about the married's life. You should just make your own life more interesting.
Pick up a hobby, or start learning something new seriously, that will take up all your 'boring' weekend time. In the past, I was more engaged in photography. It is a time-consuming hobby, other than expensive. Once you go out for a shoot, it most probably will take up your whole day. Even if you are a lazy bug who does all the shooting at home, your time still literally flies. For example, a simple still life shoot will take up a couple of hours, to the least. And that is assuming you are not a perfectionist, and easily satisfied. The post processing time is not even included.
Or how about study for something. I started reading those study materials for CFA level 1. My gosh, so many reading materials.
How about hitting the gym? Or the swimming pool. There are endless possibilities, but, of course, only if you have the discipline and determination to do all these.
Oh, at the end, I still must say single's life is indeed a bit lonely. A family life will be more fulfilling, but only if it is a happy family.
Friday, January 25, 2008
The Rebound
STI continued its uptrend today, up 100+ points at market close. It is pretty impressive. Many investors who fished for bargain during the bull slaughter are now making quite a bit of money. I would expect the market continues its uptrend in the next week or two. STI may have a chance to hit 3300 points.
My broker sms'ed me on Wednesday morning, telling me if I were adventurous, I could buy some good value stocks before the opening of the Hong Kong stock exchange, and hold for a few days. If I had taken up his advice, I would be making quite some money by now. Too bad, I was busy doing up my flat that day. No access to the internet.
Anyway, I am ready to sit out this round. I have no time to take care of the stocks right now. And I don't want to get into the market blindly which I did in the past. I will start participating again, maybe after Chinese New Year. It is actually a bit wasteful. Most probably there will be a small Chinese New Year rally. Good time to scoop some put warrants. Too bad I will out of action, until the rally is over.
Just be content with what I have. Don't be too greedy...
My broker sms'ed me on Wednesday morning, telling me if I were adventurous, I could buy some good value stocks before the opening of the Hong Kong stock exchange, and hold for a few days. If I had taken up his advice, I would be making quite some money by now. Too bad, I was busy doing up my flat that day. No access to the internet.
Anyway, I am ready to sit out this round. I have no time to take care of the stocks right now. And I don't want to get into the market blindly which I did in the past. I will start participating again, maybe after Chinese New Year. It is actually a bit wasteful. Most probably there will be a small Chinese New Year rally. Good time to scoop some put warrants. Too bad I will out of action, until the rally is over.
Just be content with what I have. Don't be too greedy...
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Cutting Losses
Today I made the difficult decision to sell off all my loss-making investments in all the unit trusts. Those unit trusts are all bond funds or income funds which are supposed to be 'safe' and a hedge against a stock market crash. Unfortunately in my case, these funds have something more than you thought they should have invested in.
For example, DBS Shenton Income fund in fact has some CDO exposures, and it also invested a substantial amount in REITs. When the REITs were doing well, which coincides with good times of the stock market, the fund did well too, but then when the stock market crashes down, so do the REITs. REITs are, no doubt, defensive. But 'defensive' is just another good name for losing money.
Remember Warrent Buffet's investment rule #1? NEVER LOSE MONEY!!!
With the appalling performances of all the funds, I have lost all my faith in them. I want to have an income fund? I will build my own income fund! A growth fund? I will build it on my own, too! I don't want to pay the fund managers to lose my money.
If I fail, what is the worst case scenario? I will lose ALL my money. But if I leave my money in the fund manager's hands? They still will lose my money, and I have to PAY them to do that! It is outright ridiculous!
Cutting loss is a painful experience. I didn't sell all those funds off when they were making money, my greed. The current rebound in the stock market gave me a good opportunity to sell off at a smaller loss.
Anyway, I am looking forward to a better future, without the fund managers!
For example, DBS Shenton Income fund in fact has some CDO exposures, and it also invested a substantial amount in REITs. When the REITs were doing well, which coincides with good times of the stock market, the fund did well too, but then when the stock market crashes down, so do the REITs. REITs are, no doubt, defensive. But 'defensive' is just another good name for losing money.
Remember Warrent Buffet's investment rule #1? NEVER LOSE MONEY!!!
With the appalling performances of all the funds, I have lost all my faith in them. I want to have an income fund? I will build my own income fund! A growth fund? I will build it on my own, too! I don't want to pay the fund managers to lose my money.
If I fail, what is the worst case scenario? I will lose ALL my money. But if I leave my money in the fund manager's hands? They still will lose my money, and I have to PAY them to do that! It is outright ridiculous!
Cutting loss is a painful experience. I didn't sell all those funds off when they were making money, my greed. The current rebound in the stock market gave me a good opportunity to sell off at a smaller loss.
Anyway, I am looking forward to a better future, without the fund managers!
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
NTUC's Service & My First DIY Attempt
I got my water heaters from Fairprice Xtra at AMK hub, and paid for the installation service as well. This afternoon, two guys came and looked around, then told me they could install the water heater for me.
Ok, never mind. I asked for the reason. The guys said I don't have the proper piping, neither proper electrical wiring. I pointed to them where the water pipe is, which is right below where the heater is supposed to be, and the electrical point right above. All they need to do was to run a short wire, and a short pipe to connect up.
The answer? Oh, we don't do this. The piping is plumber's work, electrical wires plus the conduit cost additional S$30.00 for a 3 feet long wire. All that they would do is to connect up if all wires and pipes are there. My foot! If everything is there, why do I need you to come and do an INSTALLATION!
Too bad, I had already paid for the 'installation' service. No choice. I went to buy two new taps - the 2-way taps, and two flexi-hose, which cost me S$87.00! (I must have been ripped off by the convenient store lady)
With the instructions given by my big brother, I managed to turn off the water supply, removed the old tap, screw in the new tap and the flexi-hose. Done. 10 minutes work. So because of those useless installation guys, I changed a water tap for the first time in my life. Somebody's teaching says love your enemies, and those who make life difficult for you. Yes, indeed. If they didn't make life difficult for me, I will never learn.
After Chinese New Year, I will continue the electrical work. At least give it a try. Knowledge is GOLD. It is always true!
Ok, never mind. I asked for the reason. The guys said I don't have the proper piping, neither proper electrical wiring. I pointed to them where the water pipe is, which is right below where the heater is supposed to be, and the electrical point right above. All they need to do was to run a short wire, and a short pipe to connect up.
The answer? Oh, we don't do this. The piping is plumber's work, electrical wires plus the conduit cost additional S$30.00 for a 3 feet long wire. All that they would do is to connect up if all wires and pipes are there. My foot! If everything is there, why do I need you to come and do an INSTALLATION!
Too bad, I had already paid for the 'installation' service. No choice. I went to buy two new taps - the 2-way taps, and two flexi-hose, which cost me S$87.00! (I must have been ripped off by the convenient store lady)
With the instructions given by my big brother, I managed to turn off the water supply, removed the old tap, screw in the new tap and the flexi-hose. Done. 10 minutes work. So because of those useless installation guys, I changed a water tap for the first time in my life. Somebody's teaching says love your enemies, and those who make life difficult for you. Yes, indeed. If they didn't make life difficult for me, I will never learn.
After Chinese New Year, I will continue the electrical work. At least give it a try. Knowledge is GOLD. It is always true!
Monday, January 21, 2008
Spectacular Dive
STI held up pretty well in the morning, hovering around 3000 points. Then the fireworks came after lunch. All of a sudden, the STI dived down by 80 points, then 100 points, by the time market closed at 5pm, STI already went down by 187 points, ended the day at 2917 points. Wow... That is really something. Just a couple of days ago, people were still talking about strong support at 3000 points, a technical rebound maybe coming. Then we started the week with a big crack in the 3000 points support level.
What next? Once the 3000 support level is broken, the next support level is 2700 points. As the sold-down today was too massive, to drastic, I would expect some rebound in the next few days, at least in the morning. However, I was also told there are many margin calls to cover in the next few days, so tread carefully. Medium to long term, still DOWN!
What next? Once the 3000 support level is broken, the next support level is 2700 points. As the sold-down today was too massive, to drastic, I would expect some rebound in the next few days, at least in the morning. However, I was also told there are many margin calls to cover in the next few days, so tread carefully. Medium to long term, still DOWN!
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Environmentally Unfriendly
As I am packing my stuff for a move, I found I have loads of brochures from all the different banks, credit cards, Easy Credits. They send me finely printed promotional materials, discount catalogs which I didn't even open to take a look. It is such a waste of paper.
I would like to send them for recycling, but where I live does not seem to have any recycle bins, so the only out is to chunk them into the rubbish chuke, and let nature take care of it. I feel guilty. This should not be the way we should treat Mother Nature.
Our torture to her has already led to consequencese we have to bear. Last year, the prices of natural products, including agricultural products, oil started to have shortage in supply. Mother Nature can't continue to meet our wasteful lifestyle's demands.
Let's all work together, from small little things in our daily life, to help save our Mother Nature for ourselves, and many generations to come...
I would like to send them for recycling, but where I live does not seem to have any recycle bins, so the only out is to chunk them into the rubbish chuke, and let nature take care of it. I feel guilty. This should not be the way we should treat Mother Nature.
Our torture to her has already led to consequencese we have to bear. Last year, the prices of natural products, including agricultural products, oil started to have shortage in supply. Mother Nature can't continue to meet our wasteful lifestyle's demands.
Let's all work together, from small little things in our daily life, to help save our Mother Nature for ourselves, and many generations to come...
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Social Imbalance?
As I am doing up my flat, I found something that is quite unreasonable, from my point of view. One sofa set costs S$1600.00, while the combined cost of a fridge, a washing maching, & 2 water heaters is only S$1400.00.
In terms of complexity, how many times more complex is a fridge, a washing maching or a water heater. The design and manufacturing of such goods requires professional knowledge, years of university education. It is true that sofa manufacturing requires professional knowledge as well, but it is not on the same scale of any of the electrical applicances mentioned above.
This explains well why very few Singaporeans want to go into engineering. Everybody wants to go into business, finance and/or banking. The amount of hard work required for engineering simply out-weighs the reward.
Our policy makers should seriously look into this issue, or in the near future, you will find no engineers, or good engineers available anymore in Singapore.
In terms of complexity, how many times more complex is a fridge, a washing maching or a water heater. The design and manufacturing of such goods requires professional knowledge, years of university education. It is true that sofa manufacturing requires professional knowledge as well, but it is not on the same scale of any of the electrical applicances mentioned above.
This explains well why very few Singaporeans want to go into engineering. Everybody wants to go into business, finance and/or banking. The amount of hard work required for engineering simply out-weighs the reward.
Our policy makers should seriously look into this issue, or in the near future, you will find no engineers, or good engineers available anymore in Singapore.
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