It's hard to get true friends in the city, especially when you have started your working life. You can't appreciate the meaning of true friends anywhere better than the city.
I had a friend who stays close to my hostel room during the university days. We were quite close to each other back then as I always dropped by his room for casual chats. We nearly lost touch after graduated as both of us are busy traveling and working. (there is no Facebook yet back then) However, I tried contacting him a year after we graduated. The conversation sounds like this:
Me: Hey, brother, how are you doing?
My friend: I am fine. How about you?
Me: I am fine too. Just thought of catching up with you, have time for a cup of tea?
My friend: Sure, but what you want to SELL to me?
Me: Huh? SELL to you? I am not selling anything to you, just catch up with you and have a gathering.
My friend: Sure or not? You are the first person who told me this after graduated.
Me: .............................................
It's not hard to come across "long-lost" friends who calls you for a "tea-session". I have friends who calls me up to introduce insurance plan, MLM, "investment-link", credit cards, mortgage plan, Iraq dinars, fitness membership (by the way,i heard YogaZone got into trouble lately), get-rich-quick scheme, discount vouchers, magazine subscriptions etc., you name it. Some called me for help to ease their cash flow problems or borrow my car for emergencies. I gave in most of the time. Everyone needs a rice bowl to survive in this city. If you can help your friends not at your expense, why not ? This explains why I had applied more than 10 credit cards.(which most of them I had canceled to date)
City is a cold place. Leaving your hometown for opportunities in the city can be depressing especially if you do not have true friends in your city life. Your parents and siblings are not there to give you a listening ear or a helping hand. Coping with city and working stress alone is definitely not easy.
"无事不登三宝殿" (wu2 shi4 bu4 deng1 san1 bao3 dian4, it means people don't look for you without a reason). I can truly appreciate this Chinese proverb now which existed since 5000 years back. 90-95 % of your friends are mostly "business-related" . It's a norm as everyone in city fights for survival and might not have much time for you on non-beneficial activities. I am fortunate to have a few true friends which consists of my ex-classmates, ex-house mates, ex-uni mates, ex-colleagues and CG (cell group) members. I appreciate them a lot for their support, listening ears and helping hands in needy times. So , how can you get true friends in the city?
1. True friends shares similar values
You might might share different stories with true friends but you always find it interesting to listen to their stories. You might not have the same dream and vision but you are always keen to know how they think.
2. True friends tells you the truth
Conversation with friends tend to be superficial especially in city. There is typical two types of answers when they are asked about their current life. "Business is extremely good and life is great like never before" or "I am not as good as you la" . True friends shares their success and struggles with you.
3. True friends thinks of you when they need someone to listen to
I give "platinum status" to all my true friends. I never cease listening to their problems and trouble, because I felt privileged to be the first group of people they think of when they need someone to talk to.
4. True friends thinks of you when they have something nice to share
Be it a nice dumpling or home cooked dessert, they always call you up to share nice things with you.
I always encourage my friends to join my CG(cell group). One of the reason I liked my cell group a lot is because most of us comes from foreign states. We share the same feeling of not having our family members around, we share the same stress of coping with city life.
True friends can be found in groups of people with same hobby or ideology as well. You can find a true friend even in the driving range. You might also meet a true friend during a back-packing tour. True friends can even be found from blogsphere as you might share the same ideology,passion and values with other bloggers.
Last but not least, business partners can also be true friends if both parties are not selfish in nature. Anyway, you do not want to have a selfish business partner, right?
To all my true friends, i dedicate this post to you,:).
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Inflation, OPR, BLR, Currency & You
Inflation, OPR, BLR, Currency. These words seems to be hitting the financial news headlines lately. Besides inflation, what the other terms has to do with you?
Staying in city is not easy, the cost of financing a property is always double the ones in smaller towns. The cost of financing is directly affected by BLR(Based Lending Rates). So, if you are staying in the city and planning to purchase a property, inflation and BLR will be one of the major concerns for you.
Inflation creeps into our daily life, causing us to spent more for less goods. This is what we can feel directly when inflation hits us. How about our savings, trust funds and stocks? Our liquid assets will be less valuable. Imagine your FD rates is 3 % while the inflation rate is 7 %. Whatever you have today is worth lesser tomorrow.
One of the ways to fight inflation is to increase the OPR (Overnight Policy Rates or Interbank Lending Rates). Increasing OPR will slow down inflation as business activity will slow down due to tightening of banking facilities. Besides that, the OPR might be higher than inflation rate as a result, giving positive return rate for your liquid assets.
Bank Negara has recently decided not to raise the OPR. Therefore, BLR will not be raised as well. Most of the property owners hence felt relief about the decision. The stock market has also return to bullish state as cost of borrowing for business remains stable following this announcement. However, the retaining of rates might also signify that our economy is lethargic. We cannot to afford a setback in economy growth now by raising the rates. On the negative side, inflation might also be spiraling up in months to come as a result of the decision.
Now that Bank Negara maintained the OPR rates, we are also facing yet another crisis, the currency crisis. If you check on the BNM FOREX rates, you will notice that MYR has been depreciating since the announcement of Bank Negara on 25th July.
Currency devaluation is a scary phenomena. Imagine your hard-earned money accumulated since the past 10 years is depreciating by 5-10 % every year. Your EPF money will be eaten up by inflation and currency devaluation. We are experiencing the toughest time ever, in wealth management and economy management.
It's far too complicated to analyse the best solution to manage our current economy. It's a tough decision to make in deciding whether to raise the rates in order to maintain our economy's health. I have been admiring Zeti for her calmness and intelligence for a long time. I hope she had made a wise decision this time.
Staying in city is not easy, the cost of financing a property is always double the ones in smaller towns. The cost of financing is directly affected by BLR(Based Lending Rates). So, if you are staying in the city and planning to purchase a property, inflation and BLR will be one of the major concerns for you.
Inflation creeps into our daily life, causing us to spent more for less goods. This is what we can feel directly when inflation hits us. How about our savings, trust funds and stocks? Our liquid assets will be less valuable. Imagine your FD rates is 3 % while the inflation rate is 7 %. Whatever you have today is worth lesser tomorrow.
One of the ways to fight inflation is to increase the OPR (Overnight Policy Rates or Interbank Lending Rates). Increasing OPR will slow down inflation as business activity will slow down due to tightening of banking facilities. Besides that, the OPR might be higher than inflation rate as a result, giving positive return rate for your liquid assets.
Bank Negara has recently decided not to raise the OPR. Therefore, BLR will not be raised as well. Most of the property owners hence felt relief about the decision. The stock market has also return to bullish state as cost of borrowing for business remains stable following this announcement. However, the retaining of rates might also signify that our economy is lethargic. We cannot to afford a setback in economy growth now by raising the rates. On the negative side, inflation might also be spiraling up in months to come as a result of the decision.
Now that Bank Negara maintained the OPR rates, we are also facing yet another crisis, the currency crisis. If you check on the BNM FOREX rates, you will notice that MYR has been depreciating since the announcement of Bank Negara on 25th July.
Currency devaluation is a scary phenomena. Imagine your hard-earned money accumulated since the past 10 years is depreciating by 5-10 % every year. Your EPF money will be eaten up by inflation and currency devaluation. We are experiencing the toughest time ever, in wealth management and economy management.
It's far too complicated to analyse the best solution to manage our current economy. It's a tough decision to make in deciding whether to raise the rates in order to maintain our economy's health. I have been admiring Zeti for her calmness and intelligence for a long time. I hope she had made a wise decision this time.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
The Wish List
I love to be young. I am easily satisfied during my younger days. I am delighted when I got my first mountain bike, overjoyed when I bought my first car using my hard-earned money during university days. It's very hard to describe my joy in words. However, I am supposed to celebrate joyfully upon settling my home loan last year but I wasn't really overjoyed. The only feeling I had was, relieved.
One of the hardest thing to to overcome in city is temptation, and one of the hardest thing to achieve is satisfaction. I have to admit human are greedy in nature but temptation makes it even harder for people to survive happily in the city. I can still recall vividly that the best ice-cream in my hometown were Walls and Nestle. (FYI, my hometown is a small town with a population of about 100,000). There is no Hagen Dazz, Baskins, NZ Natural, you name it. Peer pressure makes it hard for you not to taste them, especially if you are a young working middle class. What makes it worse is that once you have tasted them, you will never be able to appreciate Walls and Nestle again. Life is hard, our decisions are always contradicting, huh?
To satisfy all your needs, you will have to earn more. Some chose 0 % payment scheme to satisfy their needs while some work day and night just to afford higher taste. I knew this will never end. I knew I couldn't afford everything I wanted. I came out with a solution for myself, a wish list.
My wish list is supposed to make myself happy in every milestone of my life while helping me to control my spending habits. Some milestone were based on accumulated wealth while some were based on personal achievements. The wish list is meant to be a reward scheme to make my family and myself happy especially when I have achieved certain milestone. Wish list is also a way to drive myself harder to achieve something in life in order to enjoy the carrots.
I will probably share my wish list as snippets in future entries. If you are finding yourself in a dilemma to own something you wanted a lot, create a wish list. You will be happier, someday.
One of the hardest thing to to overcome in city is temptation, and one of the hardest thing to achieve is satisfaction. I have to admit human are greedy in nature but temptation makes it even harder for people to survive happily in the city. I can still recall vividly that the best ice-cream in my hometown were Walls and Nestle. (FYI, my hometown is a small town with a population of about 100,000). There is no Hagen Dazz, Baskins, NZ Natural, you name it. Peer pressure makes it hard for you not to taste them, especially if you are a young working middle class. What makes it worse is that once you have tasted them, you will never be able to appreciate Walls and Nestle again. Life is hard, our decisions are always contradicting, huh?
To satisfy all your needs, you will have to earn more. Some chose 0 % payment scheme to satisfy their needs while some work day and night just to afford higher taste. I knew this will never end. I knew I couldn't afford everything I wanted. I came out with a solution for myself, a wish list.
My wish list is supposed to make myself happy in every milestone of my life while helping me to control my spending habits. Some milestone were based on accumulated wealth while some were based on personal achievements. The wish list is meant to be a reward scheme to make my family and myself happy especially when I have achieved certain milestone. Wish list is also a way to drive myself harder to achieve something in life in order to enjoy the carrots.
I will probably share my wish list as snippets in future entries. If you are finding yourself in a dilemma to own something you wanted a lot, create a wish list. You will be happier, someday.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Snippet: Leapwalking.com
Career development is very crucial for every one to survive in the city. I have not been focusing much on career development thoughts. My friend, Boon, has a great blog that focuses on career development with analytical views on various career related issues. Visit his website at http://www.leapwalking.com You will surely benefit a lot from his advice.
Having a mentor at different stages of your life
I am learning to appreciate things I have learned in the past as I get older. I am an engineer by training. However, I started appreciating finance at the age of 21. I moved on to history, geography and now economics. When I was young, I couldn't understand why people did their PhD in history. It was boring to me. At different stages of life, you learn to appreciate the usefulness of different knowledge domains and starts to apply them in your daily life.
Having a mentor at early stage of your working life helps you to appreciate these faster and easier. I had started to have mentors after entering university. My first mentor Dr. Ewe gave me advice on entrepreneurship when I started my first techo-venture at age of 18 . I learned a lot from how to lure venture capitalist, striking an elevator pitch to writing professional business plan in the early days of my university life. I thanked Dr. Ewe for his enthusiasm and guidance in bringing up the future generations of technoprenuer in Malaysia.
During the final years of my university life, I met Mr. Yap, an ED of a public listed company in Malaysia. He was kind enough to mentor me on starting up new companies and running a profitable business. I had a great lesson on startup essentials and know-how on maintaining a successful business cycle. I thank him for his patience with a young punk like me.
I met my ex-CFO, Mr. Chew, who was also a Finance Controller in a listed company years later. Cool and quiet person, he is a great mentor in guiding me on financial management and stock market investment. Having graduated from engineering studies, financial management is a total stranger to me. I started learning about the basics of financial management from my cool mentor when we got closer in a trip to Ipoh. I continue to learn about ways to control operational cost as well as to increase company's profits from a financial standpoint. Terms such as technical analysis and fundamental analysis were added to my dictionary throughout the mentoring process. I was trained to be a shrewed investor. I wouldn't say I am a financial expert now but my financial knowledge are much superior than my university peers thanks to Mr. Chew. I opened my first CDS account after knowing him and my stocks portfolio has been multiplied by 800 % since then.
Ms. Lee and late Elder Cheng were my spiritual mentors. Their guidance and teachings has kept me walking in a righteous path throughout my career and life. Being successful in your life without ethics leads to emptiness. I thank them for planting ethics and God's word in my life.
Good mentors are important in shaping your thinking and character. They fill your innocent mind with useful tips and advice which can be applied for lifetime to make you a better person. I could never imagined myself to be what I am today when I moved from a small town to the big city of Kuala Lumpur. My mentors gave me substantial survival skills to survive in a city. I certainly hope I could mentor the younger generation someday.
Having a mentor at early stage of your working life helps you to appreciate these faster and easier. I had started to have mentors after entering university. My first mentor Dr. Ewe gave me advice on entrepreneurship when I started my first techo-venture at age of 18 . I learned a lot from how to lure venture capitalist, striking an elevator pitch to writing professional business plan in the early days of my university life. I thanked Dr. Ewe for his enthusiasm and guidance in bringing up the future generations of technoprenuer in Malaysia.
During the final years of my university life, I met Mr. Yap, an ED of a public listed company in Malaysia. He was kind enough to mentor me on starting up new companies and running a profitable business. I had a great lesson on startup essentials and know-how on maintaining a successful business cycle. I thank him for his patience with a young punk like me.
I met my ex-CFO, Mr. Chew, who was also a Finance Controller in a listed company years later. Cool and quiet person, he is a great mentor in guiding me on financial management and stock market investment. Having graduated from engineering studies, financial management is a total stranger to me. I started learning about the basics of financial management from my cool mentor when we got closer in a trip to Ipoh. I continue to learn about ways to control operational cost as well as to increase company's profits from a financial standpoint. Terms such as technical analysis and fundamental analysis were added to my dictionary throughout the mentoring process. I was trained to be a shrewed investor. I wouldn't say I am a financial expert now but my financial knowledge are much superior than my university peers thanks to Mr. Chew. I opened my first CDS account after knowing him and my stocks portfolio has been multiplied by 800 % since then.
Ms. Lee and late Elder Cheng were my spiritual mentors. Their guidance and teachings has kept me walking in a righteous path throughout my career and life. Being successful in your life without ethics leads to emptiness. I thank them for planting ethics and God's word in my life.
Good mentors are important in shaping your thinking and character. They fill your innocent mind with useful tips and advice which can be applied for lifetime to make you a better person. I could never imagined myself to be what I am today when I moved from a small town to the big city of Kuala Lumpur. My mentors gave me substantial survival skills to survive in a city. I certainly hope I could mentor the younger generation someday.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Working Overseas & Migration: Are you in?
If you are below 30s, something must have crossed your mind before. Migration. It's the trend for the young working adults now and the trend is spreading virally.
I used to hear stories about my relatives and friend's parents working in foreign countries during the 80s. Many of them migrated and some came back during the late 90s. The favourites are Australia, New Zealand, Japan, US, UK, Singapore, Canada and Saudi Arabia. The rich ones will uproot their family and migrate to developed countries while the poorer ones simply work in countries that can provide them with more income. In the 80s, economic instability and currency conversion rate was the driving factor for the migration wave. Today, the economic factor is still present but there are more reasons behind this new wave.
12 of my friends have left to other countries this year. Also, I am seconded lately with my family to work in MENA region. Officially, I am an expatriate now, :). 4 of my other friends are leaving by August. There are more to go. Different reasons are cited by my friends for leaving the country. Why the migration and job secondment wave is hitting Generation X in Malaysia?
1. Air Asia Factor
Low cost air carrier or better known as Air Asia in Malaysia makes it possible for middle-class or even lower-middle class to travel by air. I used to envy my friends during my school days when they tell me about their traveling experiences. I used to imagine how the air cabin looks like but my maiden flight was way below my expectation. My parents used to tell me that if I want to fly to other countries, I will need to earn a lot or join a good company. Air Asia changes everything. The air-traveling landscape has changed much since the millennium. Many Generation X had the chance to travel at least to nearby countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia, Myanmar and Hong Kong to experience a different culture and lifestyle. I am blessed to be able to set foot on 16 different countries. After observing the culture and lifestyle of different people around the world, many just have the impulsive thought of spending a year or two in some foreign land. Yes, we want to see the world, and feel it. Low-cost air carrier has opened our eyes to the world and we want more now. We want to experience a different place rather than visiting. Air Asia has also given many a good reason to fly back to their homeland more frequently, taking away the concerns of losing touch with friends and family.
2. Diminishing of national pride
Nationalism started since the 19th century, marking the end of imperialism. Enterprises and businesses used to be indirect tools for new imperialism but is slowly fading away now. In the past, people worked hard for their country to "conquer" the world with their products and businesses. Malaysian Proton bought Italian Augusta which is sold to the Germans now. Americans are selling Budweiser to Belgian brewers and GE Plastics to Saudi Arabians. American owned Jaguar is sold to Indian TATA now. It's hard to distinguish who owns what now but the new owner will always try to impose control by swapping the senior managements. Today, you are not sure who you work for anymore. You might be working for a Malaysian company, which is later sold to the Italians and later to Middle Easterners. Today, you feel less proud of your country and other peoples country. Vietnam, China and India are growing economies but you will not feel proud to be their citizen. Of course, with what's happening lately, you feel less proud of being a Malaysian now. Many used to chase the American Dream, but the Green Card's demand is getting lesser now. Today, people care lesser about working and contributing in and for their homeland. Money, security and personal experiences comes before nation building.
3. Wide-spread of User-Friendly Communication Technology
Call any Malaysian number using www.flekx.com and it cost you nothing. Communications cost is zeroing now. I still remember having pen-pals from Finland when I was 13. Ask any 13-year-old teenager today and they will tell you to socialise in Facebook. We are changing our communication tool from letter-writing to telegraph to phones to internet voice calls and now to video calls. The classic verse to end an overseas phone conversation used to be, "we have talked too long and it's getting expensive, guess i need to end the call now". Today, our conversation end like this,"my ear is hot liao la, bye bye". The advancement of communication technology has brought everyone closer. People are less concerned about communication problems after leaving their homeland. Even Indonesian maids can afford to call back everyday now.
4. Rising Education Levels
Our parents used to be proud of having HSC or Diploma certification. Anyone who graduated from university will leave their name on the ancestors association's wall of fame. This is not the case for today's education. Throw a pebble and it might hit an undergrad on the street. The rising of education levels has 2 major effects in driving the migration rate. First, it's harder to get a job now. Second, your knowledge and skill sets can be deployed anywhere in the world. Salary scales has been quite stagnant for the past 10 years. It's getting harder to look for a decent-paying job now as compared to 10 years ago. Graduates are forced to work with lower wages as they do not have much options. Experienced expertise and knowledge workers will look for decent paying jobs in overseas to make their experiences worthwhile.
5. Historical Mirror Factor on socio-politics
Politics. Be it Anwar or Najib, TDM or Pak Lah, all we want is a foresighted leader, a prosperity-and-security-conscious leader. We studied Sejarah (history) from Form 1 to Form 5. What has the history taught us? History told us that Philippines and Indonesia are stronger and more powerful than Malaysia. Riau and Sulu Empire used to conquer the "Kepulauan Melayu". Their currency is much stronger in the 80s and 90s compared to what is today. Reformation and chaotic politics has brought down the nation. Political chaos has inflicted burdensome socio-economic problems. We have a very close mirror to predict what will be happening soon to Malaysia if the political problems doesn't end. As what Sun Tzu says, "Fleeing" is the best option.
6. Globalisation of Developing Economy
I have just finish reading the book, "The World is Flat", by Thomas L. Friedman. Globalisation is affecting your daily life whether you like it or not. Many Malaysian companies are venturing to less developed countries to fight for survival. One of my friend is seconded to Cambodia as Financial Controller for a listed company in Malaysia. He is still below 30, this is a great opportunity for him to gain his experience as an FC. Globalisation has given opportunities for many Malaysian companies to venture out. As a result, many young working adults are given the opportunity to prove themselves at young age, as the more experienced group in their 40s has more family obligations and considerations. Given a chance to be a country manager at age of 28, would you go to a less-developed country to venture your career?
There are far more reasons than the ones mentioned above for people to leave their homeland. Be it a migration or secondment, survival is what you need in a new environment. I will talk more about surviving in a new city with a different culture,language and lifestyle in future entries. If you have some time spare, do vote for my migration question on the sidebar, "Given a chance to be in senior management at 28, would you go to a less-developed country to venture your career?"
Good luck to all my friends who decided to venture out.
I used to hear stories about my relatives and friend's parents working in foreign countries during the 80s. Many of them migrated and some came back during the late 90s. The favourites are Australia, New Zealand, Japan, US, UK, Singapore, Canada and Saudi Arabia. The rich ones will uproot their family and migrate to developed countries while the poorer ones simply work in countries that can provide them with more income. In the 80s, economic instability and currency conversion rate was the driving factor for the migration wave. Today, the economic factor is still present but there are more reasons behind this new wave.
12 of my friends have left to other countries this year. Also, I am seconded lately with my family to work in MENA region. Officially, I am an expatriate now, :). 4 of my other friends are leaving by August. There are more to go. Different reasons are cited by my friends for leaving the country. Why the migration and job secondment wave is hitting Generation X in Malaysia?
1. Air Asia Factor
Low cost air carrier or better known as Air Asia in Malaysia makes it possible for middle-class or even lower-middle class to travel by air. I used to envy my friends during my school days when they tell me about their traveling experiences. I used to imagine how the air cabin looks like but my maiden flight was way below my expectation. My parents used to tell me that if I want to fly to other countries, I will need to earn a lot or join a good company. Air Asia changes everything. The air-traveling landscape has changed much since the millennium. Many Generation X had the chance to travel at least to nearby countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia, Myanmar and Hong Kong to experience a different culture and lifestyle. I am blessed to be able to set foot on 16 different countries. After observing the culture and lifestyle of different people around the world, many just have the impulsive thought of spending a year or two in some foreign land. Yes, we want to see the world, and feel it. Low-cost air carrier has opened our eyes to the world and we want more now. We want to experience a different place rather than visiting. Air Asia has also given many a good reason to fly back to their homeland more frequently, taking away the concerns of losing touch with friends and family.
2. Diminishing of national pride
Nationalism started since the 19th century, marking the end of imperialism. Enterprises and businesses used to be indirect tools for new imperialism but is slowly fading away now. In the past, people worked hard for their country to "conquer" the world with their products and businesses. Malaysian Proton bought Italian Augusta which is sold to the Germans now. Americans are selling Budweiser to Belgian brewers and GE Plastics to Saudi Arabians. American owned Jaguar is sold to Indian TATA now. It's hard to distinguish who owns what now but the new owner will always try to impose control by swapping the senior managements. Today, you are not sure who you work for anymore. You might be working for a Malaysian company, which is later sold to the Italians and later to Middle Easterners. Today, you feel less proud of your country and other peoples country. Vietnam, China and India are growing economies but you will not feel proud to be their citizen. Of course, with what's happening lately, you feel less proud of being a Malaysian now. Many used to chase the American Dream, but the Green Card's demand is getting lesser now. Today, people care lesser about working and contributing in and for their homeland. Money, security and personal experiences comes before nation building.
3. Wide-spread of User-Friendly Communication Technology
Call any Malaysian number using www.flekx.com and it cost you nothing. Communications cost is zeroing now. I still remember having pen-pals from Finland when I was 13. Ask any 13-year-old teenager today and they will tell you to socialise in Facebook. We are changing our communication tool from letter-writing to telegraph to phones to internet voice calls and now to video calls. The classic verse to end an overseas phone conversation used to be, "we have talked too long and it's getting expensive, guess i need to end the call now". Today, our conversation end like this,"my ear is hot liao la, bye bye". The advancement of communication technology has brought everyone closer. People are less concerned about communication problems after leaving their homeland. Even Indonesian maids can afford to call back everyday now.
4. Rising Education Levels
Our parents used to be proud of having HSC or Diploma certification. Anyone who graduated from university will leave their name on the ancestors association's wall of fame. This is not the case for today's education. Throw a pebble and it might hit an undergrad on the street. The rising of education levels has 2 major effects in driving the migration rate. First, it's harder to get a job now. Second, your knowledge and skill sets can be deployed anywhere in the world. Salary scales has been quite stagnant for the past 10 years. It's getting harder to look for a decent-paying job now as compared to 10 years ago. Graduates are forced to work with lower wages as they do not have much options. Experienced expertise and knowledge workers will look for decent paying jobs in overseas to make their experiences worthwhile.
5. Historical Mirror Factor on socio-politics
Politics. Be it Anwar or Najib, TDM or Pak Lah, all we want is a foresighted leader, a prosperity-and-security-conscious leader. We studied Sejarah (history) from Form 1 to Form 5. What has the history taught us? History told us that Philippines and Indonesia are stronger and more powerful than Malaysia. Riau and Sulu Empire used to conquer the "Kepulauan Melayu". Their currency is much stronger in the 80s and 90s compared to what is today. Reformation and chaotic politics has brought down the nation. Political chaos has inflicted burdensome socio-economic problems. We have a very close mirror to predict what will be happening soon to Malaysia if the political problems doesn't end. As what Sun Tzu says, "Fleeing" is the best option.
6. Globalisation of Developing Economy
I have just finish reading the book, "The World is Flat", by Thomas L. Friedman. Globalisation is affecting your daily life whether you like it or not. Many Malaysian companies are venturing to less developed countries to fight for survival. One of my friend is seconded to Cambodia as Financial Controller for a listed company in Malaysia. He is still below 30, this is a great opportunity for him to gain his experience as an FC. Globalisation has given opportunities for many Malaysian companies to venture out. As a result, many young working adults are given the opportunity to prove themselves at young age, as the more experienced group in their 40s has more family obligations and considerations. Given a chance to be a country manager at age of 28, would you go to a less-developed country to venture your career?
There are far more reasons than the ones mentioned above for people to leave their homeland. Be it a migration or secondment, survival is what you need in a new environment. I will talk more about surviving in a new city with a different culture,language and lifestyle in future entries. If you have some time spare, do vote for my migration question on the sidebar, "Given a chance to be in senior management at 28, would you go to a less-developed country to venture your career?"
Good luck to all my friends who decided to venture out.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Enhancing Value of Your Neighbourhood
I stay in Puchong. This year marks the 10th anniversary of my stay as a Puchongnite.
When I made my decision to own my house in Puchong 6 years back, it's was really tough to tell people that you actually bought a house in Puchong. Back then, it makes you look stupid investing in a place full of mining pool and shady shoplots-some are even renovated into dodgy pubs. IOI mall has so many vacant lots and their anchor tenant, The Store, could not even survive. Many asked me why I bought a place in such areas (a.k.a low-class-area). Many recommended Subang USJ to me at that time. My answer was simple, without help from anyone, how can you afford to own a landed property in Klang Valley after working for only 2 years?
I have never stayed in a strata property before in my life-time (my entire hometown has only 2 blocks of residential apartments) and I came from a foreign state where landed freehold properties are halved the price of Klang Valley's. It's really tough to make a decision to own a relatively expensive piece of property in the early days of your working life. However, I knew I wanted a freehold, mining-free, gated landed property in Klang Valley and the properties that fits into the category are getting scarce day by day.
Setting price factor aside, one of the reason I bought a place in Puchong instead of Subang is because Puchong has plenty of land. You might be surprise with this reason as it contradicts with the normal rule of economics where scarcity increases the value of goods. I knew about this, I know Puchong's property value might not appreciate fast. However, when I look at Subang from Google Earth, the entire area was very well planned with little space for roads and highways. Most of the land are built with landed properties and you hardly see any vacant land plots on the map. The Subang's population will be saturated and the commercial properties are not doing well here. Subang is definitely a no no for me to stay as I hate traffic jams. On the other hand, a future city with vacant lands gives the future city mayor a chance to plan for a better city. I always tell my friends that Puchong will be a bigger city compared to Subang in years to come. I chose Puchong.
Some of my major concerns when buying a house during my early 20s:
For sure, you do not want to stay close to foreign labours, drug addicts or prostitutes. Also, you want your next generation to study with other kids who are brought up in a good family. The question now would be, how can you be sure about your neighbourhood when you are buying a newly developed property.(the neighbourhood has not been established yet).
Of course price factor does come into the picture, but we have to take price factor aside in this discussion. (or I will just stay in Kenny Hills) My best friend bought the same area two years after me and we started to promote Puchong to friends. Most of our university mates are working as professionals now and I ended up having most of my university friends staying in Puchong now. I am very surprised as my housing area are now occupied by doctors, lawyers, engineers, architects, professors, lecturers etc. Even better, 10 % of them came from my hometown and many of them came from my home state. I am satisfied with my neighbourhood now as everyone are very co-operative and we have a very good security management.
A peaceful and friendly neighbourhood greatly enhances the pleasure of your stay in a particular housing area. A good neighbourhood also increases the value of your housing area indirectly. It is therefore important to do your part to create a pleasurable neighbourhood. Some of the things my residential committee and neighbours does:
I love Puchong.
When I made my decision to own my house in Puchong 6 years back, it's was really tough to tell people that you actually bought a house in Puchong. Back then, it makes you look stupid investing in a place full of mining pool and shady shoplots-some are even renovated into dodgy pubs. IOI mall has so many vacant lots and their anchor tenant, The Store, could not even survive. Many asked me why I bought a place in such areas (a.k.a low-class-area). Many recommended Subang USJ to me at that time. My answer was simple, without help from anyone, how can you afford to own a landed property in Klang Valley after working for only 2 years?
I have never stayed in a strata property before in my life-time (my entire hometown has only 2 blocks of residential apartments) and I came from a foreign state where landed freehold properties are halved the price of Klang Valley's. It's really tough to make a decision to own a relatively expensive piece of property in the early days of your working life. However, I knew I wanted a freehold, mining-free, gated landed property in Klang Valley and the properties that fits into the category are getting scarce day by day.
Setting price factor aside, one of the reason I bought a place in Puchong instead of Subang is because Puchong has plenty of land. You might be surprise with this reason as it contradicts with the normal rule of economics where scarcity increases the value of goods. I knew about this, I know Puchong's property value might not appreciate fast. However, when I look at Subang from Google Earth, the entire area was very well planned with little space for roads and highways. Most of the land are built with landed properties and you hardly see any vacant land plots on the map. The Subang's population will be saturated and the commercial properties are not doing well here. Subang is definitely a no no for me to stay as I hate traffic jams. On the other hand, a future city with vacant lands gives the future city mayor a chance to plan for a better city. I always tell my friends that Puchong will be a bigger city compared to Subang in years to come. I chose Puchong.
Some of my major concerns when buying a house during my early 20s:
- Price & Budget
- Crime Rate & Security
- Neighbourhood
- Landed, Tin-Mining-Free, Freehold
Of course price factor does come into the picture, but we have to take price factor aside in this discussion. (or I will just stay in Kenny Hills) My best friend bought the same area two years after me and we started to promote Puchong to friends. Most of our university mates are working as professionals now and I ended up having most of my university friends staying in Puchong now. I am very surprised as my housing area are now occupied by doctors, lawyers, engineers, architects, professors, lecturers etc. Even better, 10 % of them came from my hometown and many of them came from my home state. I am satisfied with my neighbourhood now as everyone are very co-operative and we have a very good security management.
A peaceful and friendly neighbourhood greatly enhances the pleasure of your stay in a particular housing area. A good neighbourhood also increases the value of your housing area indirectly. It is therefore important to do your part to create a pleasurable neighbourhood. Some of the things my residential committee and neighbours does:
- Pay security management timely
- Keep the roads clean
- Organise seasonal events
- Alert every residents on any burglary cases within the neighbourhood
- Alerts the security when suspicious foreign labour found wandering around (they climbed over fences sometimes for shortcuts, as what they claim)
- Do not simply park their car outside your house (it's very annoying, and part of the reason being, a young neighbourhood generally has less cars)
I love Puchong.
The New City Trend- Unit Trust: Should I Invest?
It's very hard not to bump into a unit trust agent while walking around the city. I still remember this agent who never fails to promote her unit trust when I bumped into her during lunchtime around KL Sentral.
Some of the promotion tag line are very creative, eg. "Young man, don't only wet in pubs la, save some money, buy unit trust and save for "lou po bun"(savings to get married)." Hey, do I look like someone who wet a lot? I have not been to pubs since 23 and I have already got married,:P.
Anyway, back to the unit trust topic. Most of my friends who are working in the city bought unit trust, a lot of them are selling too. Some also opted to leverage on their EPF savings to purchase unit trust, as they are worried about the way EPF manages our money. However, many asked me the same question these days, "Should I sell my trust fund?"
I sold all of mine back in 2007, anticipating a recession which didn't happen. Ever since then, I never bought in a single fund. I was one of the very first trust fund advocates and investor among my peers. I am still able to recall that we are able to count the number of trust funds available in the market back in 1996. Now, you just lost count.
My stand is still neutral now for trust fund. Reason being that a lot of people living in the city are lacked of financial knowledge. This is the reason for buying as well as not buying trust funds. If you do not know how to manage your money, probably investing in a trust fund might help you to fight against the rising inflation. However, many of the fund investors are investing based on the city "herd-mentality". Their favourite tag line is, "If you do not know how to manage your wealth, let the professionals do it".
People are working very hard to make extra money in the city but didn't have extra time to learn how to manage it. This is why when I asked my friends on funds they have invested, they couldn't even tell me the ratio of their funds distributions (ratio of cash, equities, bonds, properties etc). Many are unable to tell me which sector of equities their funds are focusing on and what is their funds' investment policy. When asked about the difference between Money Market Fund and Equity Fund, a typical answer would be "huh? got difference one meh?" I hope you are not asking yourself those questions now. Even if you are, it's never too late to learn,:).
My current view on trust funds: a long-term investment tool. If you do not know how to manage your wealth, keep everything in cash and gold now. Trust funds are not good for short-mid term investment in the current financial climate. One of the reason you lost count on the trust fund counters is because the number of trust fund investors is growing at an exponential rate due to overheated economy. Economy is extremely hot in countries such as China, India and Vietnam. The recent economic shocks has sent various equities market value back to more acceptable level, bringing down trust fund's NAV (Net Asset Value) significantly. The worse has yet to come.
What if you are still on a trust fund investment plan? Keep whatever that you have invested, unless those are junk trust funds. (I will write on analysing trust fund soon if possible) For future investment, IMHO, I would choose to divest into foreign currency or gold instead of trust funds.
Does your trust fund manager care about losing your money ? No, they don't. They still get their sales commission and professional fees annually. Life goes on. This is why I don't trust them.
My personal advice before investing in trust funds, always take note of these few things:
* the above advice are purely my personal opinion and I will not be responsible for any losses incurred based on advice given.
Some of the promotion tag line are very creative, eg. "Young man, don't only wet in pubs la, save some money, buy unit trust and save for "lou po bun"(savings to get married)." Hey, do I look like someone who wet a lot? I have not been to pubs since 23 and I have already got married,:P.
Anyway, back to the unit trust topic. Most of my friends who are working in the city bought unit trust, a lot of them are selling too. Some also opted to leverage on their EPF savings to purchase unit trust, as they are worried about the way EPF manages our money. However, many asked me the same question these days, "Should I sell my trust fund?"
I sold all of mine back in 2007, anticipating a recession which didn't happen. Ever since then, I never bought in a single fund. I was one of the very first trust fund advocates and investor among my peers. I am still able to recall that we are able to count the number of trust funds available in the market back in 1996. Now, you just lost count.
My stand is still neutral now for trust fund. Reason being that a lot of people living in the city are lacked of financial knowledge. This is the reason for buying as well as not buying trust funds. If you do not know how to manage your money, probably investing in a trust fund might help you to fight against the rising inflation. However, many of the fund investors are investing based on the city "herd-mentality". Their favourite tag line is, "If you do not know how to manage your wealth, let the professionals do it".
People are working very hard to make extra money in the city but didn't have extra time to learn how to manage it. This is why when I asked my friends on funds they have invested, they couldn't even tell me the ratio of their funds distributions (ratio of cash, equities, bonds, properties etc). Many are unable to tell me which sector of equities their funds are focusing on and what is their funds' investment policy. When asked about the difference between Money Market Fund and Equity Fund, a typical answer would be "huh? got difference one meh?" I hope you are not asking yourself those questions now. Even if you are, it's never too late to learn,:).
My current view on trust funds: a long-term investment tool. If you do not know how to manage your wealth, keep everything in cash and gold now. Trust funds are not good for short-mid term investment in the current financial climate. One of the reason you lost count on the trust fund counters is because the number of trust fund investors is growing at an exponential rate due to overheated economy. Economy is extremely hot in countries such as China, India and Vietnam. The recent economic shocks has sent various equities market value back to more acceptable level, bringing down trust fund's NAV (Net Asset Value) significantly. The worse has yet to come.
What if you are still on a trust fund investment plan? Keep whatever that you have invested, unless those are junk trust funds. (I will write on analysing trust fund soon if possible) For future investment, IMHO, I would choose to divest into foreign currency or gold instead of trust funds.
Does your trust fund manager care about losing your money ? No, they don't. They still get their sales commission and professional fees annually. Life goes on. This is why I don't trust them.
My personal advice before investing in trust funds, always take note of these few things:
- Fund Distribution (Ratio of Cash, Equities, Properties, Bonds)
- Risk (high growth high risk, stable growth low risk)
- Investment Policy
- Moral & Ethics (in case you don't invest in gaming or tobacco companies)
- Past dividend and bonus splits records
- Compounded Annual Growth Return (CAGR)
- Performance of other funds within the same financial group
* the above advice are purely my personal opinion and I will not be responsible for any losses incurred based on advice given.
Why city folks are late to get married? (II)
Steps to save for your wedding:
- Get a wedding planner: You have so much to do to prepare for a once-a-life-time event. Get your friends(preferably just married,without kids) to plan for your wedding. I bet you can save a lot!
- Wedding Cards: Get from your hotel/restaurant if you are not planning to have a special wedding invitation card. Otherwise, get a friend irom digital printing industry to help you out.
- Wedding dinner: try to negotiate not to settle for full payment before the wedding.
- RSVP: Many Malaysians do not understand what RSVP means. Instead of explaining this to them, just call up everyone you invited for your dinner two weeks before to confirm on their attendance.
- Wedding buffet (if you have any): remember any "chap fan" auntie or uncle who sells very nice chap fan. Get them to cook for you and what you need is just to buy/rent some very nice caterer utensils. You can save a few thousands for this. My buffet for 150 people with 8 dishes only cost RM800. Get your wedding planner to do this,:).
- Honeymoon: Ideally, go for a one week honeymoon in a nearby island (eg Langkawi, Bali, Phuket). There's is always AirAsia,:). You will enjoy and relax a lot. If you wish to have an overseas posh trip, plan it during MATTA fair.
- Flowers: Get a florist from outskirt( Klang, Kajang) who is equally good to assist you in decoration. You can easily save a few hundred bucks.
- Relatives: If you need to accommodate relatives from far, get a bungalow for a day or two. You will usually pay less compared to hotels.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Why city folks are late to get married? (I)
One of my good friend recently told me that she needs to "strategise" her steps to get her boyfriend to marry her. When asked, the reason given was that her boyfriend was financially unstable. I felt sorry for her. I got married at age of 26 though it wasn't easy. Let's face it, marriage is one of the biggest event in our life and a once-a-lifetime event which you will have to spend to give your wife a memorable wedding. This is some experience that I would like to share, getting the best with least money for your wedding. And guys, don't wait for your girlfriend to push you to marry her!
Spending for wedding can be very impulsive if not well planned. For instance, your wedding album might go up from 3K to 6K if you do not have an idea about how your album should look like. My sister's wedding album cost her Rm14K while mine cost RM2.8K. Imagine Rm14K sitting at a corner in your house collecting dust after your wedding. Well, memories are priceless, some might say.
Let me give you an idea about the main expenditure for weddings:
For wedding rings, needless to say, check them out early and purchase during sales season. :)
Getting tired. To be continued tomorrow.
Spending for wedding can be very impulsive if not well planned. For instance, your wedding album might go up from 3K to 6K if you do not have an idea about how your album should look like. My sister's wedding album cost her Rm14K while mine cost RM2.8K. Imagine Rm14K sitting at a corner in your house collecting dust after your wedding. Well, memories are priceless, some might say.
Let me give you an idea about the main expenditure for weddings:
- Wedding Album & Wedding Package
- Wedding Ring
- Wedding Dowry
- Wedding Dinner
- Event Video & Photo Shooting
- Honeymoon
For wedding rings, needless to say, check them out early and purchase during sales season. :)
Getting tired. To be continued tomorrow.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Snippets: Malaysia Property Outlook
I have been checking out on different opinions on Malaysia's Property Outlook lately. Some of the interesting views and arguments I found.
http://malaysiafinance.blogspot.com/2008/07/frank-assessment-of-property.html
http://biz.sinchew-i.com/node/14940
http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/7/14/business/21807128&sec=business
http://www.estate123.com/reviews_articles/article_review_detail.aspx?a_id=59
http://www.bnm.gov.my/files/publication/msb/2008/5/pdf/5.15.pdf
http://malaysiafinance.blogspot.com/2008/07/frank-assessment-of-property.html
http://biz.sinchew-i.com/node/14940
http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/7/14/business/21807128&sec=business
http://www.estate123.com/reviews_articles/article_review_detail.aspx?a_id=59
http://www.bnm.gov.my/files/publication/msb/2008/5/pdf/5.15.pdf
Building Zero Cost Knowledge-Based Business (III)
Money, you cannot run business without it. Though I am talking about zero cost, but money is still involved in any business. Without money, your business will not profit even if it is a zero cost business. This is why, it is extremely important to have business clients while having an investor will help you to quickly expand your business.
It is really hard to run a business while having a day job. You have limited time to approach your customers directly or even to surface for your business. It is therefore important to join a network to promote your services through your friends and strangers. Promote your solutions and skills through Facebook chats or your blog. A casual chat with your friends might bring you surprises. You will never know your friend of friend are actually looking for the solution you are building. This helps your solution to be promoted rapidly by just word of mouth.
There are plenty of "middleman" or "solution brokers" around. Many people has huge contact database and are always looking for "lubang"(opportunities). However, be very careful and selective when you encounter one. A good "solutions broker" will help you to manage your entire project and provide you with peace of mind to concentrate on solution development. Never underpay your broker. A good solution broker helps you to build your track record which is extremely important for a business to attract more customers and investors. These brokers will also be a good marketing personnel for your business if you are able to pay him/her handsomely.
Investors are able to help your business to take a leap for your business expansion. If you have a good solution which is attractive, investors are always interested to invest in your business. How you can meet these investors ? Some tips for you on investors:
1. Join Entrepreneur Clubs. Be it MCA ICT Resource Center, TeAM or PUMM, these organisations provide you with necessary information and networks to access to investors.
2. Look for Listed Companies. There are over 1000 listed companies in Bursa Malaysia alone.Listed companies are owned by many shareholders. Their money belongs to public and most of these companies are always interested in acquiring potential companies to boost their revenue and improve business portfolio. If you happen to know any friends working with or owning(as a director) a listed company, you can always approach them to help you to sell your company.
3. Private angels. There are many people who are rich and do not know what to do with their money. Socialise around and you might get surprises. To expand your social network, join Toast Masters to get to know more professionals. You can also visit trade shows and free conferences to get to know more people from different industry.
These are some basic guidelines to start a zero-cost business and by no means a comprehensive one. I hope to cover more from time to time in future. Feel free to drop your comments if you have any. Moving to more interesting topic soon... :) . Why city folks are always reluctant or late to get married ?
It is really hard to run a business while having a day job. You have limited time to approach your customers directly or even to surface for your business. It is therefore important to join a network to promote your services through your friends and strangers. Promote your solutions and skills through Facebook chats or your blog. A casual chat with your friends might bring you surprises. You will never know your friend of friend are actually looking for the solution you are building. This helps your solution to be promoted rapidly by just word of mouth.
There are plenty of "middleman" or "solution brokers" around. Many people has huge contact database and are always looking for "lubang"(opportunities). However, be very careful and selective when you encounter one. A good "solutions broker" will help you to manage your entire project and provide you with peace of mind to concentrate on solution development. Never underpay your broker. A good solution broker helps you to build your track record which is extremely important for a business to attract more customers and investors. These brokers will also be a good marketing personnel for your business if you are able to pay him/her handsomely.
Investors are able to help your business to take a leap for your business expansion. If you have a good solution which is attractive, investors are always interested to invest in your business. How you can meet these investors ? Some tips for you on investors:
1. Join Entrepreneur Clubs. Be it MCA ICT Resource Center, TeAM or PUMM, these organisations provide you with necessary information and networks to access to investors.
2. Look for Listed Companies. There are over 1000 listed companies in Bursa Malaysia alone.Listed companies are owned by many shareholders. Their money belongs to public and most of these companies are always interested in acquiring potential companies to boost their revenue and improve business portfolio. If you happen to know any friends working with or owning(as a director) a listed company, you can always approach them to help you to sell your company.
3. Private angels. There are many people who are rich and do not know what to do with their money. Socialise around and you might get surprises. To expand your social network, join Toast Masters to get to know more professionals. You can also visit trade shows and free conferences to get to know more people from different industry.
These are some basic guidelines to start a zero-cost business and by no means a comprehensive one. I hope to cover more from time to time in future. Feel free to drop your comments if you have any. Moving to more interesting topic soon... :) . Why city folks are always reluctant or late to get married ?
Building Zero Cost Knowledge-Based Business (II)
Have been busy lately, it took me such a long time to blog again. Anyway, I hope to finish this series as soon as possible.
The Power of Collaboration. Many knows that collaboration and partnership is important for businesses but do not exactly know how to benefit all parties involved in a collaboration. There are many ways to work on a collaboration but I am only going to mention one of the most crucial collaboration or start-ups--resale.
When you have a knowledge-based business, the value of the solution is intangible and subjects to the importance of your clients' encountered problem. Packaging your solution with some existing goods gives your customer an impression of "value-buy". For example, you can package your solution with Windows Server software license, server hardware or even a data hosting subscription. Collaboration with distributors in such cases, will help you to solve a lot of software and hardware related problem as those problems can be directly directed to your vendor/partner. Furthermore, software/hardware sales commissions are quite lucrative and will be able to boost your company's profit. Packaged solution also gives more revenue to your business which provides a good track record for financial institutions if you need any facility.
So , how do you start your first collaboration? Here's some tips for you:
1. Google for software or hardware from overseas which complements your product/solution. Approach the contact person and strike a partnership. Why overseas? Overseas products normally hopes to get some sales rep/agents to expand their business to other regions of the world. If you are genuine, they are more than willing to work with you. For example, Flekx.com, a Malaysian FREE Calls provider collaborates with PORTSIP to distribute their free calling software. This allows Flekx to concentrate on free calls solution while leaving the soft phone features development to PORTSIP.
2. Brainstorm on how you can benefit your potential partner with your current solution before approaching them. This will help you to convince your potential partners.
3. Provide updates to your partner. Updating your partner with the latest development gives more confidence to your partner and encourages them to promote your solutions more aggressively.
4. Demographics. If your partner comes from a different region or industry, share and exchange your market demographics with them to help both parties to expand faster.
5. Distributorship. Seek for distributorship of your partner's product if you think their product is robust and strong. This will provide you with a lucrative side income for a start. However, never forget that your solution is still your core business and always stick to your business goal.
The final chapter, I will talk about Client & Investor, source of your income and capital. Watch out!
The Power of Collaboration. Many knows that collaboration and partnership is important for businesses but do not exactly know how to benefit all parties involved in a collaboration. There are many ways to work on a collaboration but I am only going to mention one of the most crucial collaboration or start-ups--resale.
When you have a knowledge-based business, the value of the solution is intangible and subjects to the importance of your clients' encountered problem. Packaging your solution with some existing goods gives your customer an impression of "value-buy". For example, you can package your solution with Windows Server software license, server hardware or even a data hosting subscription. Collaboration with distributors in such cases, will help you to solve a lot of software and hardware related problem as those problems can be directly directed to your vendor/partner. Furthermore, software/hardware sales commissions are quite lucrative and will be able to boost your company's profit. Packaged solution also gives more revenue to your business which provides a good track record for financial institutions if you need any facility.
So , how do you start your first collaboration? Here's some tips for you:
1. Google for software or hardware from overseas which complements your product/solution. Approach the contact person and strike a partnership. Why overseas? Overseas products normally hopes to get some sales rep/agents to expand their business to other regions of the world. If you are genuine, they are more than willing to work with you. For example, Flekx.com, a Malaysian FREE Calls provider collaborates with PORTSIP to distribute their free calling software. This allows Flekx to concentrate on free calls solution while leaving the soft phone features development to PORTSIP.
2. Brainstorm on how you can benefit your potential partner with your current solution before approaching them. This will help you to convince your potential partners.
3. Provide updates to your partner. Updating your partner with the latest development gives more confidence to your partner and encourages them to promote your solutions more aggressively.
4. Demographics. If your partner comes from a different region or industry, share and exchange your market demographics with them to help both parties to expand faster.
5. Distributorship. Seek for distributorship of your partner's product if you think their product is robust and strong. This will provide you with a lucrative side income for a start. However, never forget that your solution is still your core business and always stick to your business goal.
The final chapter, I will talk about Client & Investor, source of your income and capital. Watch out!
Friday, July 4, 2008
Building Zero Cost Knowledge-Based Business (I)
"白手兴家" (bai shou shing jia), a term to address successful business man who started with just penny-like capital. Its seems hard to start a business without much capital these days. My friends has been asking me, how do you start selling and stop dreaming without capital?
As what the Chinese proverbs says 创业难，守业更难, starting business is never easy, maintaining a business is even harder. However, if you start with limited risk running business within your domain of expert and interest, it would be much easier than thought. Some of the tips are as below.
1. Service, Solutions, Product
Many of us just don't like working for people. I have friends making Rm20K and above a month with average 3 months of bonus every year who quit their jobs. You can be making RM5K, 10K, 20K, and yet you will still quit for the same reason: I want to be FREE! However, many people quit for the wrong reasons, they just want to be FREE without preparing themselves for financial freedom. Many end up returning to employment with even more grouses and depression over their employers and jobs. Generally, I classify businesses into service, solutions and product.
Without much capital, most of the people started out by self-employing as a service provider a.k.a free-lancer. Freelancer will not keep you going far as you might be "hitting-flies" during low-business-cycle. Therefore, freelancing might be something good to start with but one must quickly turn him/herself into a solutions provider or product seller. A lot might ask, what is the difference between service and solutions? Service generally involves exchange of labor or knowledge for goods/money. Solutions on the other hand, involves problem-solving. Solutions can be documented and reapplied to different parties easily. Thus, solutions are valuable and might contain some sort of intellectual properties.
Let me quote you an example. I have a friend who is a web scripting programmer, took up a freelancing job years back to create a server monitoring web-based application. It's a simple job with little wages. However, he managed to turn the scripts into an SMS-based server monitoring solution, which is currently sold to 32 countries worldwide at http://www.hyperspin.com. He managed to quit his day job to run this business full time after slowly building up the business for more than a year.
As for products, you can turn your services into products and engage resellers to sell for you as well. Just burn your software product into a CD/ USB drive and package them into a box. Alternatively, you can use a serial-key controller to control your software distribution through the web and get paid using Pay-Pal.
Yes, service is just a short term solution for business-running and you can't go far with that. You need to try to turn everything you do into a sell-able solution or product.
In the second section, I will talk more about the using Power of Collaboration to build your zero cost business. Watch out for more,:).
To be continued.................
As what the Chinese proverbs says 创业难，守业更难, starting business is never easy, maintaining a business is even harder. However, if you start with limited risk running business within your domain of expert and interest, it would be much easier than thought. Some of the tips are as below.
1. Service, Solutions, Product
Many of us just don't like working for people. I have friends making Rm20K and above a month with average 3 months of bonus every year who quit their jobs. You can be making RM5K, 10K, 20K, and yet you will still quit for the same reason: I want to be FREE! However, many people quit for the wrong reasons, they just want to be FREE without preparing themselves for financial freedom. Many end up returning to employment with even more grouses and depression over their employers and jobs. Generally, I classify businesses into service, solutions and product.
Without much capital, most of the people started out by self-employing as a service provider a.k.a free-lancer. Freelancer will not keep you going far as you might be "hitting-flies" during low-business-cycle. Therefore, freelancing might be something good to start with but one must quickly turn him/herself into a solutions provider or product seller. A lot might ask, what is the difference between service and solutions? Service generally involves exchange of labor or knowledge for goods/money. Solutions on the other hand, involves problem-solving. Solutions can be documented and reapplied to different parties easily. Thus, solutions are valuable and might contain some sort of intellectual properties.
Let me quote you an example. I have a friend who is a web scripting programmer, took up a freelancing job years back to create a server monitoring web-based application. It's a simple job with little wages. However, he managed to turn the scripts into an SMS-based server monitoring solution, which is currently sold to 32 countries worldwide at http://www.hyperspin.com. He managed to quit his day job to run this business full time after slowly building up the business for more than a year.
As for products, you can turn your services into products and engage resellers to sell for you as well. Just burn your software product into a CD/ USB drive and package them into a box. Alternatively, you can use a serial-key controller to control your software distribution through the web and get paid using Pay-Pal.
Yes, service is just a short term solution for business-running and you can't go far with that. You need to try to turn everything you do into a sell-able solution or product.
In the second section, I will talk more about the using Power of Collaboration to build your zero cost business. Watch out for more,:).
To be continued.................
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
How to thrive during tough times?
Depressing news is hitting business headlines more often nowadays. Nikko Electronics which is listed on Bursa Main board is closing down its factory, retrenching thousands of Penangnites. US is becoming Bear Country now with Dow Jones heading south for more than 20 % from the peak. During the 97 Asian Financial Crisis, I am still an undergrad without much wealth accumulated. Although I started some small business since 1996, my business was not too badly affected as my business is dealing mainly with cost savings. Volatile times can be melanchonic, but can be trivial too. How you can thrive during tough time?
Property Shopping Spree
On and off, I like to check on the latest property market price from Thestar Classifieds or iproperty.com.my, not really to purchase any property when I found one that is a steal but to checked out how many "steals" are available in the market. Lately, I found quite a few and it's getting more and more. A 20 x 70 double storey link house in USJ 3D normally cost about RM300-310K , but someone is letting go at RM270K. If you are planning to buy a property, hold on, you will be surprised with what you can get with just RM250K.
Blue Chips Shopping Spree
If you are feeling sad because you missed the 2006 Super Bull run for KLSE, this is a good time to shop for good blue chip counters. Down from peak of RM13.20, Maybank is now RM7 per share. The price can be much lower during a recession. General rule of thumb, when the blue chip counter cost only 30 % of it's peak price, it is normally a steal. (disclaimer, this is a personal view and I am not liable for any damages or losses of anyone taking the above advice)
Garage Sale
Huge amounts of expats vacated areas like Damansara Heights and Sri Hartamas during the 97 crisis. If you have spare cash, yes, you can purchase the properties in hose areas. However, for most of us who can't fork out 500K and above at any one time, forget about it, as banks will be very stringent on housing loans as well during bad times. What might be appealing to the general public would be the garage sales held by those expats. At times, you can get very good quality stuff at dirt cheap price in a garage sale. Check out classifieds for garage sales!
Business acquisition/Starting your own business
Are you nuts? Some people might say that. Why start or acquire a business during a recession? Plenty of reasons, among those, because your employer will freeze your pay anyway during a recession and you need extra income(even during 2001, many companies still freezes pay), because many businesses will collapse and you will have less competitors, because you might be able to acquire a business probably halved the price it use to be, because many people will choose to migrate and sell their business, because it cost lesser to operate during a recession, because .... . No matter what reason it is, starting a part time business during a recession gives you some flexibility to learn from failures. Freelancer are especially sought after as well during bad times to cut fixed operation cost.
Economic cycle is getting shorter. We will be experiencing longer stagnant economic conditions sandwiched by short boom times. So , grab your opportunity during this coming cycle and get the best out of it!
Property Shopping Spree
On and off, I like to check on the latest property market price from Thestar Classifieds or iproperty.com.my, not really to purchase any property when I found one that is a steal but to checked out how many "steals" are available in the market. Lately, I found quite a few and it's getting more and more. A 20 x 70 double storey link house in USJ 3D normally cost about RM300-310K , but someone is letting go at RM270K. If you are planning to buy a property, hold on, you will be surprised with what you can get with just RM250K.
Blue Chips Shopping Spree
If you are feeling sad because you missed the 2006 Super Bull run for KLSE, this is a good time to shop for good blue chip counters. Down from peak of RM13.20, Maybank is now RM7 per share. The price can be much lower during a recession. General rule of thumb, when the blue chip counter cost only 30 % of it's peak price, it is normally a steal. (disclaimer, this is a personal view and I am not liable for any damages or losses of anyone taking the above advice)
Garage Sale
Huge amounts of expats vacated areas like Damansara Heights and Sri Hartamas during the 97 crisis. If you have spare cash, yes, you can purchase the properties in hose areas. However, for most of us who can't fork out 500K and above at any one time, forget about it, as banks will be very stringent on housing loans as well during bad times. What might be appealing to the general public would be the garage sales held by those expats. At times, you can get very good quality stuff at dirt cheap price in a garage sale. Check out classifieds for garage sales!
Business acquisition/Starting your own business
Are you nuts? Some people might say that. Why start or acquire a business during a recession? Plenty of reasons, among those, because your employer will freeze your pay anyway during a recession and you need extra income(even during 2001, many companies still freezes pay), because many businesses will collapse and you will have less competitors, because you might be able to acquire a business probably halved the price it use to be, because many people will choose to migrate and sell their business, because it cost lesser to operate during a recession, because .... . No matter what reason it is, starting a part time business during a recession gives you some flexibility to learn from failures. Freelancer are especially sought after as well during bad times to cut fixed operation cost.
Economic cycle is getting shorter. We will be experiencing longer stagnant economic conditions sandwiched by short boom times. So , grab your opportunity during this coming cycle and get the best out of it!
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Why SGD?
I have been advocating lately about keeping some cash in SGD.(I know this sounds a bit like a Malaysian "traitor" and will be condemn badly by Tun Mahathir if he came across my blog). Many might just ask me, why SGD ?
Singapore has been suffering from high inflation lately with steep fall in export revenue especially last two months. My wife visited Singapore 2 days back hoping to get some nice shirt for me and guess what, the same shirt I bought last year cost more now even during the Great Singapore Sale! Inflation, this is the reality that we have to face it, even in Singapore.
Singapore has limited land and manufacturing activities will not be able to sustain Singaporeans' cutting edge lifestyle anymore. Singaporean government, dubbed The Singapore Inc. , is gradually changing Singapore into a high tech, commercial and financial economy driven country. This reminds me about SimCity game where old factories are gradually faced out and replaced by high tech research labs and commercial offices as your population grows and as the city gets better.
This is what exactly Singapore is doing. No doubt, introducing stronger currency will hurt manufacturing driven economy especially South East Asian countries. Therefore, by getting rid of low cost manufacturing, strengthening the local currency will bring more good than bad. As the country is less dependent on manufacturing sector, stronger currency will not deplete the trade surplus as country's income is not dependent on this particular sector anymore. On the other hand, strengthening currency will cut down inflation(for a small country that relies heavily on imports), attract talents to work with high salaries and also attract depositors to keep their cash in SGD with Sg banks. Yes, Singapore is morphing itself into the so-called "Eastern Monaco".(Monaco is a small country where a lot of Europeans keeps their cash with Monaco banks and makes the country super rich)
Let's do some simple analysis. Malaysian's MYR is depegged from Singapore's SGD since 1992. What are the changes in terms of % for MYR/SGD currency exchange rate from 1992-2008? The maths is simple:
1992 - SGD 1 = MYR 1
2008 - SGD 1 = MYR 2.4
(2.4-1)/1 = 1.4/1 = 1.4 = 140%
16 years with 140 % of difference is not bad at all. 8.75% per year on average, which is better than the all-time-high foreign FD interest rate NZD is providing. Sounds sexy , huh ?
Many of my friends did the math and told me, "Cannot be la, SGD cannot be keep rising. You mean it will rise until it hits the same level as USD, are you kidding? There is always a limit"
Let's look at 2007-2008 rates. (with reference from BNM website) During June 2007, the rates was 2.20 and as of 30 June 2008, the rates was 2.41, there is a 9.51% rise in terms of exchange rates. If SGD rise another 8 % by June 2009 , the exchange rate will be something like 2.6, which sound possible. Besides that, we are really not sure how Malaysia politics will mess up our entire economy, turning our currency into "banana papers".
Again, the next question, why SGD? Why not Euro, CHF or GBP? Haha, the answer is simple, Singapore is so damn near and Malaysian can even open an account with Malaysian MyKAD. In any case of emergency, you can withdraw your cash from Singapore on a day trip. So , why make your life hard?
So, if you have some cash to spare, this is a good and safe option to go for, don't you think so ?
Singapore has been suffering from high inflation lately with steep fall in export revenue especially last two months. My wife visited Singapore 2 days back hoping to get some nice shirt for me and guess what, the same shirt I bought last year cost more now even during the Great Singapore Sale! Inflation, this is the reality that we have to face it, even in Singapore.
Singapore has limited land and manufacturing activities will not be able to sustain Singaporeans' cutting edge lifestyle anymore. Singaporean government, dubbed The Singapore Inc. , is gradually changing Singapore into a high tech, commercial and financial economy driven country. This reminds me about SimCity game where old factories are gradually faced out and replaced by high tech research labs and commercial offices as your population grows and as the city gets better.
This is what exactly Singapore is doing. No doubt, introducing stronger currency will hurt manufacturing driven economy especially South East Asian countries. Therefore, by getting rid of low cost manufacturing, strengthening the local currency will bring more good than bad. As the country is less dependent on manufacturing sector, stronger currency will not deplete the trade surplus as country's income is not dependent on this particular sector anymore. On the other hand, strengthening currency will cut down inflation(for a small country that relies heavily on imports), attract talents to work with high salaries and also attract depositors to keep their cash in SGD with Sg banks. Yes, Singapore is morphing itself into the so-called "Eastern Monaco".(Monaco is a small country where a lot of Europeans keeps their cash with Monaco banks and makes the country super rich)
Let's do some simple analysis. Malaysian's MYR is depegged from Singapore's SGD since 1992. What are the changes in terms of % for MYR/SGD currency exchange rate from 1992-2008? The maths is simple:
1992 - SGD 1 = MYR 1
2008 - SGD 1 = MYR 2.4
(2.4-1)/1 = 1.4/1 = 1.4 = 140%
16 years with 140 % of difference is not bad at all. 8.75% per year on average, which is better than the all-time-high foreign FD interest rate NZD is providing. Sounds sexy , huh ?
Many of my friends did the math and told me, "Cannot be la, SGD cannot be keep rising. You mean it will rise until it hits the same level as USD, are you kidding? There is always a limit"
Let's look at 2007-2008 rates. (with reference from BNM website) During June 2007, the rates was 2.20 and as of 30 June 2008, the rates was 2.41, there is a 9.51% rise in terms of exchange rates. If SGD rise another 8 % by June 2009 , the exchange rate will be something like 2.6, which sound possible. Besides that, we are really not sure how Malaysia politics will mess up our entire economy, turning our currency into "banana papers".
Again, the next question, why SGD? Why not Euro, CHF or GBP? Haha, the answer is simple, Singapore is so damn near and Malaysian can even open an account with Malaysian MyKAD. In any case of emergency, you can withdraw your cash from Singapore on a day trip. So , why make your life hard?
So, if you have some cash to spare, this is a good and safe option to go for, don't you think so ?
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