@ Quarterly Updates

It's been quite some time since my last update.

Really been busy at work, nothing to think about except what remains to be done tmlo. I don't like it. Perhaps a year or two is fine, but not for the next 30 years. Passing life so fast without doing anything useful or meaningful, working for a company that is just dead by itself.

There's alot to think about, how should life carry on from here? I know there are people who thinks stability and working should be part of life. I don't disagree, I respect their view, but this is just not my view.

If you look back the few years you've worked, what is memorable? Staying late to rush a project timeline? What in the end has the project done? Has it helped anyone? Has it ever made a difference to anyone's life? Answer would likely be no, it would only add to the revenue which came back as a number, cold hard number on the P&L, balance sheet, cash flow statement.

It doesn't make sense to carry on, especially working till 9 pm everyday without rest or time to make a difference.

@ New Year , old resolution

It's nearly 2 weeks after the new year started... what has changed?

The markets have rallied and fallen.
War has risen in some part of the earth..

The uncertainty of the world is getting more certain... what had been stored for a lifetime can disappear in a flash. This reminds me of a verse

Matthew 6:19
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.

In my life, I've been obsessed with the accumulation of worldly wealth. Always forgetting the big picture, that these are just worldly possession.

I'm not saying it's not good to make $, but the purpose of making $ should be geared towards the right objective.

Proverb 14:31
He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.

Matthew 6:2
"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.

These are 2 things I'd need to try to achieve this year.

# Book 6

A new book i've finished reading. Very common sense and easy to understand. Anyway, that's how it is with Buffett's way of investing. Easy to understand, but not easy to achieve. Based on the easiest concept but hardest execution.

How can I know how the management of a company thinks? I've never got a chance to talk to them!

Anyway, here's the cover.

@ A Child's Hope

I've just registered to help a child on World Vision, a Christian organization that helps children around the world. I'm glad I finally did it. Have been thinking about it for a long time. It is actually just $50 a month, something that I could have lost on 1 bad trade. (In fact, 1 bad trade sometimes set me back by as much as $200) Or the amount 2 people could have spent eating out at a middle range cafe.

Anyway, I couldn't get all the information after I registered as she's removed from the webpage immediately. Here's what I could salvage from my Firefox cache.

Her name is Birhane and she lives in HIV prevalent area in Ethiopia, I hope that by sponsoring her, I'd give her the necessary hope and means to carry on living and hear the words of God.


I'm sure this will not be my last sponsorship. As I get richer, I believe we should help the needy and in a way this will honor God.

"He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honours God" Proverbs 14:31

Here's a song that I've found to match this whole sponsorship thing.

@Creeping up on me

Slowly, but surely it's creeping up on me. My life is gradually being pulled into this dark abyss. It is slowly clouding my view and making me think all about it..

Yes...it's WORK. I realise that i'm having more OT (usually 7pm leaving) and by the time i'm home it's already 9 after dinner. I'm slowly forgetting about the value of time and the amount of work that translates to my bonus.

As someone who likes to calculate, let me calculate something for all you workers out there. To find how much it's worth to pia your life away.

Assume a very smooth career path with which you get promotion every year?
Assume a $3.5k pay and lets compare the slacker and the hardworking guy.

Slacker
Year 1 to Year 5

Standard 8.5 hours a day * 22 per month * 12 = 2244 hours
Annual income = 3500*12 + 13th month + 1 month bad bonus = 49,000
Bad wage increment with 2.5%.

Total wage after 5 years = 49,000 + 50,225 + 51480 +52767 +54086 = 257,558

Pay per hour over the 5 years = 257,558/(2244*5) = $22.90


Chao Pia-ster
Non standard 12 hours a day * 22 * 12 = 3168 hours
Annual income = 3500*12 + 13th month + 3 month bonus = 56,000
Good wage increment with 10%.

Total wage after 5 years = 56,000 + 61,600 + 67,760 + 74,536 + 81,989 = 341,885

Pay per hour over the 5 years = 341,885/(3168*5) = $21.58


Tada! Who wins?!

Note it's a 10% increase every year!!! Thats quite impossible even for now...and with that kind of rate you're still losing out!


Why not put these time to better use? Even tuition gives around $35 per hour!
Leave your job on the dot and give 2 hrs of tuition per day. You'd be earning more!

@ IPTV and Work

Amazing this is like the only time I have some thoughts on IPTV. Despite being in this line for 2 years+.

Was browsing through an advert online on this product that streams HD stream to your PC and mobile. Still not quite sure how it works but set me thinking about IPTV.

IPTV is going to be the kind of application which is going to be pricey at first and slowly goes into free-mode. Kind of like how technology evolves anyway. OS are turning open sourced, web driven OS and applications all for free.

IPTV will be a common implementation in the years to come, it shall be the norm, not the fanciful in 10 years time.

Which set me thinking how valuable my job and experience will contribute in 10 years time. If I can dig as much $ now from it, never shy away to boast this niche market and earn while the trend is still intact.

You never know if this job will be like the life of a footballer....retire at 35!

# Wham bang flop plop...ouch

Gotta write this down asap before I forget the whole incident.

A few days ago I was still thinking how is it possible to fall down a flight of stairs. The first mis-step would cause you to fall but then subsequently it can be stopped after a few flight of stairs down.

George Soros always have this. I'm fallible...

Today I was about to go down the stairs for work, and checking my bag if I rem my access pass. Then I took my first step down the stairs.

When I saw my foot was not about to land on the 1st step, "SHIT" and the next thing I know I was flat and sliding down the stairs..

I could still rem every step i slid down, trying to stop my fall. It wasn't really fast, I still could have seen every step i fall by. Until I reached the bottom.

It's amazing and now I understand that why sometimes movie blank out audio to concentrate on the visual. Because...while falling, that's all I could focus on. I see vividly my fall, yet hear nothing. I wondered if my ah ma heard me falling..haha

Well, I believe things happen for a reason. God gave me this fall to tell me that it's possible to fall down a flight of stairs, to wake me up from the Monday blues and let me think of how we're all needing his grace every moment to stay alive.

# Book 5

Finished this book by our homegrown writer/fx trader.

Nothing particularly great. It offers variety of techniques that were briefly touched on. (And the last technique is news straddling, something that's so gonna get you banned from your market maker broker).

Some chapters were emphasizing that stop loss will vary according to risk appetite and individual preferences.

so...?
Why do I even need this book if I don't need to be taught how to set stop loss? How far should a trade turns against you before a seasoned trader consider bad?

It's like saying, seriousness of injuries varies on individual's pain threshold. It's not bad to lose an arm if the guy can take the pain.

DUH! It's obviously bad to lose an arm...

7 Winning Strategies for Trading Forex: Real and Actionable Techniques for Profiting from the Currency Markets: Grace Cheng

@ How events change your age...

Recent turmoil has wiped out trillions of value in the stock market. This set me thinking how they were actually helping to offset my age and length of work years.

People who started working maybe 4-5 years ago and had invested in stocks or any other instruments would find themselves back at the same financial level as I am now. Meaning to say, their assets now would only seem like they have worked only 2 yrs ( just like me)

In a way, this gives me a good opportunity to catch up with those who have gotten in front and now fallen back behind.

It's good, coz i've gain a good few years. Better than spending money on SK II! I'm 27, but have the same financial power as someone in early 30s...cool.

# Stakeholder in UOB over the weekend

My first time owning a part of a bank.

Just barely 3 days before I said goodbye to it today.

Easier than FX I think. Feels not so jittery.

Let's wait for another dip.