July

Havent had the time to update the blog about our trip yet. Been really busy with work since we got back from our break in Penang. This is my schedule for July:

Kch-Sibu-Kch-Miri-Labuan-KK-Kch-JB-Kch

Basically, I'll be in Kch for 2 weeks in July only. 3 days in Sibu for Fanny and Gabriel's wedding. About a week each in Labuan and JB for work!!

Debra Jill ... if u're reading this... start planning our dates!

Penang-Langkawi

Oh yes we are both in Penang!! Arrived last night at 11.15pm. Here to mess up Sue's apartment so she has to repack everything again before she returns to Kuching in July and say farewell to Penang. HAHA...

But now...we're back at the airport again. After less than 12 hours arriving. Suppose to be leaving to Langkawi but the flight got retimed due to operational problems. wtf. I think it's cause the plane hasn't arrived yet. Oh well...not sure where Alvin went. He said he went to take a walk.

Don't exactly know what to blog about. We'll be in Langkawi for the next 2 days, hoping and praying the weather there would be sunny. I plan to just lie on the beach all day as the beach is just a doorstep from the hotel. This is where we're staying: http://www.sungroup-langkawi.com/sunset/ Hope it looks the same when we arrive in there later. Will report back later.

Alvin's back from his walk. And here's a picture of us at the airport:

You're My Inspiration

Thousands of stars in the sky have now disappeared
I feel about in the darkness
The floating moon is now becoming gloomier
My inspiration fades without a direction

A moment of your face appears in the silence
There is a faint glow in the light
Is that the stars or the moon?
I wish Thank You

Let me to steal the shadow of your face
Let me to steal the imagination with you

Forgive me, oh
Imagine this song distracting the space in your life
You smile, oh
Just memories of us in this arena
You're my inspiration
You're my inspiration


Thank You Manbai.
Thank You everyone who have inspired me.

The Musical Duo?

If you asked us last month whether we play any instruments? I would have said no and neither does he. Well, unless you consider playing parts of The Entertainer (me) or Final Fantasy (him) on the piano counts.

Now we do.

Can't Believe It's April

The months are passing by so fast! Work has been more and more hectic, due to more and more responsibilities. Deadlines, Projects, Audits, and I'm not going to mention anymore. On a positive note, it'll soon be time for our break. Am so excited!!! We're heading up to Penang to visit Sue (and make use of her free accommodation before she graduates and return back to Kuching).

Anyway, the other day I had a short conversation with my GM while he was in another manager's office. I so happened to walk pass and he shouted from inside:

GM: Siaw jie, do you want to go to India with me?
Me: Are you kidding me?
GM: No for real
Me: For what?
GM: To check out the corn that they are loading into the vessel.
Me: For real?!?
GM: I've been trying not to go but the purchaser insist that we make at least 1 trip there.
Me: No problem for me. I've never been to India.
GM: No problem with your passport etc?
Me: Nope.
GM: Ok, I'll try to schedule a time for us to go! Sometime May/June. At least if we die, we'll die together.

Then again, I never thought I would have a chance to go to INDIA (of all places) that would be sponsored by the company. Not sure whether to get my hopes up or what. Am I suppose to look forward to going to India??? HAHAHA... let's see how it goes. Maybe boss will decide not to go again.

Oh btw, Sushi King's having their RM2 bonanza this month!!! (That's what it says on my sushi king table calender...hahaha). Yes totally random.

10 random things on my computer desk:
1. Sushi King table calender
2. Walkers cheese and onion (flown from UK by Malaysia Airlines)
3. An empty tin of Japanese Ichigo Milk Drop
4. Silky Brown colour nail polish
5. Alvin's G-shock watch
6. Nail buffer
7. Nail clipper
8. Air-con remote
9. A scrub shirt
10. Laptop cooler pad

CNY

Updates. Haven't been doing much lately. Swamped with lots of workload but both of us are doing well. Been almost 3 weeks since the last really short update. So anyway we all had a great CNY. Everyone was back and we celebrated grandma's 90th birthday. It was amazing...

We had a wonderful reunion with loads of amazing food!!!

Grandma and my nephews (Daniel, Linus and Conrad) had an amazing time as well.

We had the lions come to dance for the little ones.

Everyone came for grandma's 90th birthday. Our one big happy family.

And this is by far the best shot for the year.

Sick.

I am mentally and physically drained.

So much to do, yet so little time.

Feeling so sick and tired.

The sniffles.

Drowsy.

Snooze.

Financial Planning Tip #1

Tip #1 - Did you PYF?

Have you ever thought of saving money, but when the end of the month comes, you are left with a single digit dollar amount in your account? Whether you are a salaried worker, commissioned worker or a businessman, the most and very basic foundation in personal financing is something so simple yet underestimated by many. Something that has to be habitual or else any other financial plans that you do, you can throw them out the window. Savings.

If I were to show you 2 formulas:-

• (1) INCOME - EXPENSES = SAVINGS
• (2) INCOME - SAVINGS = EXPENSES

Which formula do you fall into? (1) where you pay your telephone bills, gas, food, rent, entertainment etc, then whatever is left for the month you keep it as "savings". Or (2) where you leave aside some money first above anything else, then pay your bills?

PYF - Pay Yourself First (Inspired by Mr K.)

definition:- A way of saving by putting you, yourself as a priority to be paid first before paying anything else. Usually a % of your income salary.

You earned the money, you deserve to be paid first. Not your insurance company, not your phone service provider, not SESCO or LAKU, not Telekom. It's a way of discipline, a worthwhile and fulfilling one at that. It is what the title is. It is the ultimate way to SAVE MONEY. Every aspect of financial planning basics revolves around savings. Retirement, insurance, tax planning, investments or even estate planning. Pay yourself first above anything else, including debts (car, house, credit card loans), food, rent, entertainment, fuel, etc.

Whether it's putting 10%, 20% or 30% of your salary aside would depend much on your situation, debts, age, marital status, geographical area, spending pattern, living standards, and most importantly salary level You should put a percentage that is comfortable for you. At least by the end of the day, you saved something! Here are a couple of things that you can do to help:-

1. Use 2 separate bank accounts, where 1 of which is your money saving pool.
2. Once collected a decent amount, do something with it, either put them in an investment vehicle or at least locking it into a fixed D.
3. Not advisable to keep an ATM card for the bank account that holds your savings.
4. If by the end of the day, you find yourself not having enough money to spend, you know you've spent too much. Or revise the savings % ratio again for next month to a more comfortable level.
5. Set a "reward target" for yourself; eg. for every RM 4000 savings that you hit, you're going to treat yourself to a nice electronic gadget.

For working youths, saving more money is just as important as earning more of them. Avoid debts and monthly payment obligations as often as you can to gain financial freedom. If debts cover more than 50% of your net take home salary, you know you need some help in debt planning.

PCNYMS

Happy Year of the Tiger to all! Cheers to the fearsome Roar. May it bring wealth and prosperity to all other Chinese zodiac animals like Panda, Fish, Sea- Cucumber, Giraffe, Zebra, Abalone, etc etc.

The 2 golden characters in the jpg above... google-translated "double-jays". Hahahaha. I'll bet it makes no sense.

Yearly zodiac animal guides should not be taken seriously, but can act as a base on how to change one's self. Here's some of them extracted from a "reliable source".

Year of the Tiger for Pandas (Years born 1981,1987,1993,2000)

People born in the year of the Pandas are picky people. They only eat certain things and stay in a single area. Avoid debts and be more opened towards change to open more doors for better opportunities. For better wealth feng shui, place bamboos on top left corner of house facing north east. Be cautious of little girls or they might try to hug you fuzzy wuzzy. Compatible with mouse and tiger, as they can do kung-fu together.

Year of Tiger for Fishes (Years born 1982,1988,1994,2001)

This year for Fishes, be extra aware of your surroundings. Sometimes you might feel you are trapped in a bowl. Seek freedom upwards, but be careful to not jump too high this year, or you might find yourself in a ditch. Avoid rocks for good feng shui for better health, or else you might get stuck between them.

Year of Tiger for Sea Cucumbers (Years born 1983, 1989,1995,2002)

People born in the year of sea cucumber are normally soft, emotional, good thinkers and good listeners. Beware of people being born in year of brocolli and abalone, as they can mean trouble and may lead you the frying wok. For good health feng shui, drink lots of water to avoid being dried sea cucumbers.

Girls get PMS. I get PCNYMS.

PCNYMS

abbreviation:- Post-Chinese-New-Year-Mood-Syndrome

Chinese New Year has not ended yet officially, but unofficially for me it has since I'm back to work on 4th day.

It's quiet in the office though, as some people are still on their new year leave, allowing me to cam-bastard (not whore) myself without being noticed. PCNYMS is when you keep giving yourself the same reason when you're lazy to do something. eg. "I should be doing this...nevermind, it's still new year till chap go meh".

New year was fun in Kuching, where I got to meet LOTS OF NEW PEOPLE, which is a bit scary. I try to help around as much as I can, but seems like I got more in return in ways of ANG PAOS. I received more angpaos in Kuching than a CNY in Miri. Hahahaha.

Ok..I'm lazy to continue. Seeya guys and enjoy the rest of the new year! (Whats left of it)

February

I know it's only the 3rd day of February but there's so much to talk about. Am feeling so excited. And no it's not because of CNY. Talking about CNY, it's about time we had a new wallpaper. So outdated. Alvin's working on one now as I am writing this. Anyway, this is what's happening that's making me so excited:

• My brother's coming back this Saturday (for 2 weeks!).
• Cousin David and wife Grace will be back from the UK together with my little baby nephew Conrad this Friday until 4th day of CNY.
• Cousin Gillian and husband Barry are coming back from the UK too! Together with baby Linus & Daniel (Am seeing the 2 babies for the first time!) They'll be here till March.
  

Pic 1: Koko Conrad with little baby cousin Daniel
Pic 2: Koko Linus feeding cousin Conrad (how cute!)

• 
  
• Cousins Susie and Vincent with their other halves would be here together with their "little" ones too (Tricia, Julian, Timothy, Chloe).
• Melanie and baby Melvyn will be here too with Mummy Alicia.

Pic 3: Grandma's other great grandchildrens - Chloe, Julian, Tricia, Timothy

Pic 4: Melanie with baby brother Melvyn

• The house is going to be cram up with so many people!!
  
• We'll all be celebrating grandma's 90th birthday on the 3rd day of CNY.
• There's going to be a mini reunion karaoke with my good old friends (Khang, Alan, Elaine, Diana, Bryant and whoever else is coming!).
• And I'm moving to a new office (my very own room...this Saturday).

BUT what's more exciting is this ...

"OMG What happened to your hair???"

Frustrated and Confused

I always knew what I wanted,
Since the first day I stepped foot into GCS,
No, it was not about the money,
More of a good job,
And experience? Maybe.

But after eight months of highs and lows,
I felt so lost for the first time,
Questioning and doubting myself,
He also saw it in my eyes.

I felt so frustrated,
Confused.

I fought hard to get back on track,
I knew what I wanted,
I knew what I needed to do,
He was happy, but undeniably concerned.

He told me not to get too involved,
This was so unlike him,
Again, confused.
Does he really want me to progress?

And just yesterday,
He stepped down from his position,
My future just became blurrier,
The seas just got rougher.

The other told me to wait for February,
Be patient as the tough times will pass,
Everything will soon be sunny.

Just be patient.

Or.
Maybe the grass is greener somewhere else?

Even dogs know it

**Picture abstracted from some random people in Facebook.

"Why do you look at the past, when the future holds infinite possibilties?"

I have done many life changing decisions in the past, without realizing it's life changing. Even deciding whether to eat chicken rice or economy food for lunch today could be life changing. You never know who you're going to meet while eating or what happens to you if you chose the latter. Whether it's studying something I know absolutely nothing about after form 5, to going abroad to further my studies, to close down a shop, or even starting a job revolving around the stock market. We all just have to be like the dog. Looking into the horizon awaiting what the future would hold for him during the sunrise.

"You have at your command the wisdom of the ages" - A phrase stuck to my colleague's monitor

What I actually do

A familiar scenario de'javu-ed one too many times

Someone: So where are you working?

Me: In an investment bank.

Someone: Ohh . . . . where? Public Bank? HSBC?

Me: Investment bank . . . .

Someone: . . . . . . your bank's credit card facilities good ah? . . .

Me: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Someone: erm . . . loans?

Pieces fall where they may. Not everyone is lucky enough to work as what they envisioned work to be, as they step up the stage getting their certificate during their graduation. Some people may work in places they thought they'd never work in a million years and ended up liking it. I'm one of them...

When we were young, when our brains are still in a naive state, we began to set stereotypes for certain things and occupations, may it be because of the media, teachers, or our own parents. We see an image on how a job should be and never realize the complexity of it. For example, when I was a kid, in my head:-

• Accountants - Nerdy looking people working on a "calculator printer" on one hand, and a pencil on the other fixating on book ledgers.
• Bankers - People sitting in front of the counter counting money. o_o . . .
• Doctors - HORRIBLE PEOPLE TO VISIT
• Lawyers - Crazy people wearing white curly wigs shouting at each other
• Stock brokers - Lots of crazy people shouting at a few other people in a big big hall.

As we grew older, things wouldn't have changed that much on what we think jobs should be like. You would probably think banking and commerce is all about sales, banking products, sales, money, unit trusts, did I mention sales? If you think that way . . .

most probably you're right. HAHA. However, as you go deeper, good banking executives are more complexed that you might think. On top of knowing what the products are, they would always have to update themselves with information that is changing EVERYDAY and how is it affecting the products that they are selling, do their own book-keeping and records, read A LOT about all types of industries because people would expect them to be the jack of all trades when it comes to the economy.

I work in an investment bank, so I am not a commercial banker or a banking executive. The difference is really my company do not promote credit cards, housing or personal loans or current accounts/saving accounts like commercial banks do. Investment banks, they specialize in

• stocks & equities
• futures
• unit trusts
• bonds
• estate & will planning.

I am currently dealing in equities, meaning after getting licensed by Bursa and the Securities Commission, I act as an intermediary to people who trade shares and stocks. I'm in the process of getting my license however and it's taking a long time because of certain complications. With this, clients expect people like us to know everything about everything.

I am still a noob. But I am still trying my best to learn. Dealing in stocks may seem easy, but it's actually not. News Straits Times polls on the top stressful jobs in Malaysia: -

No.1 most stressful job:- Prime Minister of Malaysia

2nd. Doctors

3rd. The chief commissioner of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC)

4th. Stockbrokers

5th. School teachers

6th. Attorney generals

7th. The inspector general of police.

Number 4... Along side the anti-corruption commissioner. That's pretty high if I say so myself. Before even entering the real job comes exams, licensing, networking, learning and reading. Then the stress on getting good clients in order for you to at least earn something if you are a remisier, or meet the expectations of your company if you are a paid dealer. Even after you get a hold of a few good clients, comes the part of servicing them. One wrong press of a button and you're in trouble. It brings the term "goods sold are not returnable" to a whole new different level.

• Bought/Sold off the wrong stock?
• Bought/Sold too much of the stock?
• Bought/Sold it to the wrong client ID?
• Misinterpreted what the client said?

THERE IS NO UNDO BUTTON. CTRL-Z?

Apart from being penalized by Bursa Malaysia, the Securities Commission, the company, the client, your boss, sometimes you have to fork out your own bread and butter to solve it. Apart from that, clients would expect you to have a certain level of knowledge on stock picks / economics data / efficiency / technical analysis support / fundamental analysis and whole loads of other things that a stock broker must know in order to make the right decision.

But all in all. I like parts of my job because it's exciting and interesting at times. Anyway, the conclusion to my elaborate statement of my job industry is that, people must not underestimate the value and complexity of certain jobs even though it may seem simple in the outside. I'm sure you readers would understand what I am talking about as well on how other people underestimate the jobs that you are doing. Do they?