Children clinic

I saw two well-dolled up mothers at a recent visit to a baby/children clinic. Some of the things that I noticed about them are:

For the first lady:
1) Her face has make-up with mascara
2) She carried a Prada bag
3) Her fingernails are well-done up with shiny paint
4) She seemed to be in her twenties and her hubby is in his 30s-40s.

For the second lady:

1) Her face is also well-make up
2) She wears a white translucent T-shirt that shows her bra colour
3) Her legs have wounds or bruises from injuries(maybe from riding motorbike)
4) She has a maid

These observations point to extravagance. I wonder how much their respective husband is spending on her handbag, her fingernails and the maid etc... What is their top priority? Is it the children, handbag, fingernail, make-up or fun?

Children – a lifetime of liabilities or Assets?

A recent incident at a playground reminded me that children can be an asset or liability. This is what happens:

About a month ago, my 2-year-old son and I met two friendly and caring children, 7-11 years old (oversea Indian based on their accent). We were at a fitness corner for adults and these two Indian children came along and asked me how old is my son and what his name is. They even cautioned my son to be careful when using this fitness equipment. I was very impressed with their upbringing and friendliness. I thought these two Indian children will go far with this attitude in life. Their parents did bring them up well.

About a week ago, at the same fitness corner, my son and I met two unfriendly and malicious children, 4-5 years old (Chinese). What happened was this: first, they glared at us, then they insulted us with words like “baby goes home”, and even wanted to throw water at us. I suspect, they would have thrown water if I was not there. Next, one of them wanted to sit on a fitness station that my son was using. As my son refused to get up, he even shows a kicking action. (I suspect he would kick my son if I was not there). I intervened by shouting “wait!” Lastly, a black girl about age 4-5 years old came along. She climbed up the fitness station with her bare hands, and the 2 malicious children upon seeing this, tried to make her fall down by hitting her hands or feet. Thankfully, she held on. Once again, she was insulted by the two children with words like “baby go home”. The black girl had enough of this insults and pointed and shouted back at the rude boy. The boy pointed and shouted back at the black girl. Luckily, the girl’s mother called her back. I am sure the mum saw the quarrel but she chose to ask her to leave. I am disgusted of this two boy’s attitude and their malice. The girl, I am impressed with her mum. She chose to let it go and get her child to focus on something else.

Well, children can be an asset or liability. It all depends on their parents’ upbringing. Recently, we heard that there is a stabbing incident at Orchard Cineleisure. Will these two malicious boys be one of the fatalities in future? I am worried for them in future. Will they become a liability or asset of their parent, family and our country?

Opportunities many missed

In life, we will come across many opportunities we ignore, neglect or do not know, till it is too late.

For my friend, Mr Weak, he does meet opportunities like a good girl, a good job in a rising industry etc… but he chose to drive them away. For the girl, she helped him to mend his clothes, which is a rare feat in Singapore today. He chose to drive her away by bringing a china girlfriend home. He has a good job in a shipping industry in year 2003. At that time, shipping is slowly turning around. Too bad, my friend did not stay around to enjoy the fruits.

I can go on to talk about many others I know, but I leave it to you to look at your own friends and your own experience. In life, treasure the opportunities that we come across daily for we may never stumble upon it again.

Is it worth it?

In Singapore, we see huge price difference in houses, cars, food, etc… Undiscerning investors or buyers are paying for features or things that they may not need but yet they paid.

Today, let us take a look at cooked food. At the lowest end, we have the humble mixed vegetable stall at coffeeshop selling at $3.20 - $3.50 for a meat and 2 vegetable plus rice. Chicken rice is sold at $3.50 too. In a hotel, similar chicken rice or mixed rice will cost $10 and above. Is it worth paying 3 times more for a similar dish with better taste, service and good ambience? Personally, I don’t think it is worth it. The coffeeshop mixed rice is not too bad after all. Many men will go if the hotel staff is a pretty woman. Well, I chose not to.

In laptops, computers, we see this situation as well. The lowest end laptop cost $500 at a sale. The highest end that is super thin cost $2,000 onwards. This is 4 times more in price for slight improvement in performance and weight.

Car prices fluctuate greatly due to the COE prices. 3 years ago, it may cost $60,000 for a brand new Toyota. The new BMW then may cost $200,000. Please note that the $200,000 BMW can only sit 5 adults comfortably. It is not as if it can sit 15 persons or can run 3 times faster. Which is worth it? Though, I love BMW cars, I think the Toyota is more value for money than BMW. Also the extra road tax, maintenance and petrol dollars make me cringe.

In housing market, this is evident too. A 1,000 square feet apartment in Sentosa cost $2 Million. A similar unit in Paya lebar cost only $1 Million. Is the scenary in Sentosa 2 times more beautiful or the air 2 times more fragrant? I doubt so. Investors or buyers are again paying millions this time for some features that they do not need or for their ego.

It is your choice.

Outsourcing

For the past 10 years, we have seen outsourcing in companies, in government, and even in homes.

Companies like DHL, Singapore Airlines, Nokia, Apple, outsourced their unimportant function like call centres, repair services, cleaning services to local or other companies.

Government sectors, like army outsourced their food catering, security services and call centres to private operators.

Closer to home, families outsource their childcare services, financial planning, and buying of food and running errands and even finding a partner.

As in all things, there are pros and cons to it. For my situation, I remained unconvinced that families must outsource financial planning to insurance agents, financial planners. This is because there is no one, absolutely no one more familiar about your own finance that you yourself. As such I have always rejected the services of financial planner from any company. As for child care, I believe that there is no one who can take better care of babies other than their own parent. Not a trusted nanny, reliable maid or even a grandparent or relative. This is because as parent, sometimes, we get irritated by our own babies as well. At least, we will be sorry to our baby and get it over quickly. But who can predict what a trusted nanny or a reliable maid can do in a moment of anger, frustration or irritation. On top of this, this nanny or maid may also have their own family or relationship problem no one knows.

Dairy Farm – a stock I missed 10 years ago

10 years ago, Dairy Farm, which owns Cold Storage, Giant, 7-Eleven, Guardian, etc chain of retail stores was trading at $1. It first came to my attention when it announced share repurchase. Somehow, I missed the opportunity to buy and today, it is traded at $12 without counting the years of dividend received. Wow, it is a 12-bagger in 10 years and more.

Today, as I walked past its business whether, is it Giant, Guardian, 7-Eleven, Cold Storage, I can still scold myself for hesitating to buy it. My excuse not to buy it then was to wait for it to go lower than $1. That day never came. Well, at least I knew it was good, just that I wanted to buy it at a lower price.

Recently, we heard that Carrfour has exited the supermarket business after 10 years of operation in Singapore. The retail business must be very competitive. At minimum, one thing I noticed is that its business is not as good as NTUC supermarket, Watson, etc… Perhaps, one day, Dairy Farm’s business will edge towards a bankruptcy and it will become a turnaround story. This will ensure a great buy. I am dreaming and waiting for that day.

Child abuse

There are many forms of child abuse:

1) One of them happened a few blocks from my house. What I heard from outside the house was this:” Must I train you like a dog? Even a dog is easier to train than you!” a lady in her 30s was shouting in the house. Her child, probably 3-4 years old was crying badly. I was angry and sad that something like this can still happen in modern Singapore, said to be the world richest city.

2) Another type of abuse is deliberate neglect. The grandma is looking far away, totally indifferent to her grandchild’s needs. She seemed in a world of her own. Her grandchild, 4-5 years old, is playing 5 -6 metres away by himself.

Could this be the right way to bring up a child? I wondered.

The final test in life

When we are as young as a sperm, we were competing to see which one of us will hit the jackpot( or egg first). After we have grown 9 months inside mummy’s tummy, we were competing to see if we can come out to see the world successfully.

After we were given birth, we were tested on ears, eyes, to see if we are generally like the majority of our peers. Soon after, we were sent to schools to compete in science, maths, English etc. Major tests like PSLE, GCE O’ Level, GCE A’ level , degree, diploma, driving test, medical test followed. The final test in life is to take care of our own children and our marriage. This is life’s hardest test in which our character traits like patience, love, discipline, responsibility, reliability, were all tested to the core.

If we are successful, we will be blessed with happiness. I wish you all the best.

When to draw the line?

When I read that parents have to draw a fine line between protecting their children and overprotecting their children, I am reminded that our schools, army camps, government etc may overprotect our people.

For example, in the army camp, recruits enjoy welfare like sleeping on branded King Koil mattress, taking air-conditioned ferry services to camp, eating commercial-standard chicken rice etc. In stark contrast, based on stories or accounts from army recruits 30 years ago, the recruits slept on unbranded low-end mattress, eat horrible food cooked by inexperienced cooks and took open-air ships (called RPL) to camp. Could this welfare be excessive? Are we spending too much money on material stuff and not focusing on the emotional and training needs of our recruits?

30 years ago, I understand that pregnant ladies go for medical checkup only a few times during pregnancy. Now, pregnant woman go for check up at least every month. Are we paranoid and wasting too much time and money on checkup? Do we over-exaggerate our minor illness or pain or do we over-value our life?

The reasons for this excessive care in our society, be it army camp or hospitals could be due to the emergence of the rare Singaporean due to our low birth rate, too much funds in the army camp or in family, the higher expectations of highly educated parents and the power of media. Could this ultimately be good for our society?

Taking care of babies

I have seek wisdom from people around me on taking care of babies and children. My question to them is “when taking care of babies, what do you think is the most important thing?”

Here are their answers:

1) “Discipline. Never beat them or lay hands on them. Do not pamper them too much or they will walk all over you. “advised a mother of 4 children.
2) “Health” came from a grandmother.
3) “Happiness and freedom,’ said my mum
4) “looking after them,” from my mother-in-law
5) “Understanding our children”, from yours truly.

The best gift to give a child is a happy childhood. This is priceless. - Quoted my mum. I fully agree with what she said.

What do you think?

Insiders selling

Recently, I took a look at Bank of America, Fifth Third Bank and found out that many directors are buying the shares. This usually means the bank is doing well. Until one look closer.

A closer look revealed many officers selling the shares. For the many directors buying, I noted that they are buying at zero cost a share. In short, the directors buying does not mean much as they pay nothing to get more shares. It is the many officers (insiders) selling that woke me up. How can the company be doing well if so many middle rank staff is selling the shares? Do they know something that we outsiders don’t?

Surely, we outsiders know less about the bank than the insiders. I suspect it is wise to follow the track of insiders to be careful of banks stocks such as Bank of America and Fifth Third Bank now.

My Mum – an independent thinker

At a time, 40-50 years ago, when most people are very traditional in thinking and superstitious, my mum was ahead of her peers. She was able to think independently instead of listening to the majority. For example, in taking western medicine, she knew that it comes with side effects. For minor illnesses like running nose, slight fever and cough, she advocates to let the body battle the virus rather than see a doctor. Needless to say, she has her own home remedy for running nose, cough and slight fever.

In stark contrast, many elderly folks believe in seeing doctor or Chinese sinseh for minor illness. I also realize that the more superstitious a person is, generally, the poorer they are. This is true in Macpherson area, where many poor folks live. During the ghost festivals, many offerings are lighted along the corridor near the void decks. This is more than what I have seen in other towns like Serangoon or Bishan.

A look at Wikipedia confirmed my mum was on the right track. As many flu, cold, running nose, cough cases are caused by virus, this mean that medication by doctor does not help. In fact, it is recommended on the internet to let the body fight against the virus.

Thanks for the great advice. Thank you, mum.

The uncertainty ahead

It is reported in the news that there are 1 Million foreign workers or more working in Singapore. Assuming a $1,000 per month paycheck, this is $1 Billion per month ( or $12 Billion a year) in income to foreign workers. Most of this money will go to their rent, food, drinks, and savings being sent back to their home country. This savings transferred back home will fuel a construction and housing boom in their home country. This $12 Billion is only for Singapore. How about countries like Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Australia etc…? if this money stops flowing to the foreign workers, the construction and housing boom in China, India, Malaysia, Vietnam etc… may end.

There are many 6- 9 – year old normal car plate vehicles in car parks such as Toa Payoh, Bishan, Ang Mo Kio etc which are hardly used in daytime. Someone is paying taxes, maintenance, parking for these vehicles. If the job market remains good, then the car taxes, maintenance will be paid. Should the job market weaken, these vehicles may be sold early. If many of these cars are sold, the car market prices will dive.

In view of such situation in Singapore, it can be said that there is an excess of vehicles and foreign workers in Singapore. As such, car prices and foreign workers numbers can only go one way down.

My complaint was listened to, finally!

A few years ago, when I learnt that HDB linked the prices of new flats to prices of resale flats. I complained that it is not the right way to price the flats.

Why? The reasons:

1) We knew that market always have bubbles. By linking the prices together, during a property price bubble, HDB new flats prices will follow the prices of resale flats and be inflated. HDB will earn fat profits. During a downturn, the prices of resale flat will be depressed and new flats prices will be sold maybe below cost.

2) HDB mission is to provide affordable flats to families, and linking the prices together contradicts this mission.

3) A resale flat in a mature estate like Ang Mo Kio can never be compared to a new flat in Seng Kang because of the difference in availability of amenities like schools, child care facilities, buses, roads, MRT, market, shops etc. As such new flats must be sold at a price much lower than resale flat and not linked to resale flat.

A better way is to price the new flat slightly higher than the cost of building the flat. This ensures HDB make small and stable profit rather than earn big profit in boom years and suffer losses in downturns. Finally, the new minister has listened to my complaint and has delinked the prices of new flats to resale flats.

Now, I have another complaint. The cleanliness of the public toilet in coffeeshop, market, CC, is in third world standard and not first world. Can we do something about it?

What happens when a country go bankrupt?

I got the answer from wikianswers.

From the link below:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_happens_if_a_country_goes_bankrupt

First of all, bankrupcy is highly unlikely. If a country is heading towards bankruptcy, they will:
1) Form trade agreements to increase trade
2) Seek loans from allies
3) Seek assistance by offering military benefits

i) For USA, they have signed many Free trade agreements with South Korea, Singapore and other countries. I suspect trade agreements to increase exports can only do so much for USA and is unable to turn the trade deficit into a surplus within a year or two.

ii) USA may also seek loans from Japan, Europe and many allies. But Europe is facing a crisis of its own and may not be able to save itself. Japan may help, but they face slow growth. Other allies may want to help but their financial situation makes it impossible.

iii) Only Japan may give assistance by accepting military benefits. But as long as Asia is peaceful, this may not be significant to Japan.
If all fails…

1) The stock market will crash and credit will seize
2) All financial institutions will fail
3) All government funded programs will end (such as medicaid, defense, police, education, infrastruture support like roads, utilities etc)
4) Business will close and jobs will be lost
5) There will be mass rioting (and no police to stop the rioters or fire fighters to fight the fire)
6) Everyone will start killing each other for food
7) The rich will buy the country and turn a democracy into a dictatorship

Will this happen? I sincerely hope not.

Could the COE prices for car be an indicator of the economy and stock market?

When things are rosy like now, COE prices for car are at $80,000, a 5- year high, home prices like Bishan flats broke the million dollar mark in recent history; the economy is in a boom which is about to go into a downturn. It is as predictable as the four seasons.

Recently, the government has introduced new measures to cool the car market and this means the car COE prices will likely go down by next year. If these new measures to regulate car and house prices are coupled with a credit crunch, the prices for cars and houses will fall by at least half.

As a proof of this theory, year 2009, just after the credit crisis of 2008, we witnessed the low of COE prices at $5,000 to $10,000. When the economy is flushed with cash in year 2012, COE prices went up to $80,000.

The coming weaker COE prices may also mean a weak stock market and economy. Let us await and see.

Is Singaporean the only ungracious commuter?

Today, as I was waiting to go into the MRT train, a person of European/American origin ( Caucasian) who was behind me overtook me to rush into the train first when the door just opened.

I was shocked because of 3 reasons:
1) It was at 2pm (non-peak hours on a weekday), so only a few people are this door. What is the rush about?
2) European or American origin people are said to be more cultured
3) I nearly bumped into him as he rushed for the gold (no gold la!) inside the train.

This is in sharp contrast to the Australian who queues up patiently when going up a public bus. I can hardly believe my eyes when this happened just now.

Never beat yourself up

Today, I am reminded of the times when my advice to family on property or stock investments turned out to be unwise later on. For example, in year 2011, I advised my mum to sell her HDB flat (rented out) as I feel the property price is high. This turned out to be an unwise move because of the new HDB ruling which forbade private property owners to buy HDB flat. Whenever I feel down over these mistakes, I am reminded of Peter Lynch words of wisdom- 6 out of 10 is what you can call a great investment record. Never beat yourself up over investment mistakes or wrong advice given.

At the minimum, I got 6 out of 10 in my investment track record. At least, the rights have been much more than the wrongs. At least, it was a right call to urge my sister to buy a condominium in year 2005. At least it was the best decision to exhort my mum to buy SGX stocks in year 2003.

In my opinion, the gains have far exceeded the loss which is justified.

A client many years ago

I remember a client while I was selling life insurance many years ago. He was a professional engineer with Singapore Power earning $150,000 per annum in his late 40s. In his portfolio, I understand that he has a cash savings of $200,000, CPF savings of $150,000. In my opinion, he is cash rich, income rich but asset poor.

Instead of cash rich, I hope I can load up my ship with good quality asset rather than cash. I am waiting patiently and faithfully for that day to come.