Golden Handcuffs

It was a 5-star hotel.

In terms of curb appeal it is nondescript on the outside, but once you step into its hallowed halls, resplendence lay all around. You marvel at the stately Peacock Lounge, with its columns rising up into an expanse of ceiling, its grandeur only surpassed by the magnificent chandelier - the undisputed centre-piece of the hall. Its warm lights cast shadows onto those plush sofas, inviting the weary traveler to rest his legs, while sipping on a freshly blended glass of tropical fruit juice. The walls, clad with the finest marble, keeps the interiors cool. You learn that the renovation was done by Serrano, a highly regarded interior fit-out company. After hours navigating the roads choked with gridlock, here is finally a place for rest and comfort.

You enter the cafe. It is called a cafe, but in truth it is more like the dining halls of old - a cavernous space carved out of the building. The floors are lined with strips of hardwood, hewn from the mighty forests of the country. The counters are laid with the most delicious ingredients, painstakingly gathered from around the world and prepared by the best chefs. The menu? Mediterranean. Location? Indo-china country. You know now that the long arms of globalisation has reached this corner of the world. It's an international buffet, the waiters and waitresses tell you. You can eat as much as you want, they say. You take their word for it and begin the process of stuffing yourself silly. It's not without help though. The staff are omnipresent, they clear your plates after each round. They serve you tea to wash down the food. And you begin the next round. And the next round.. Crabs, clams, tiger prawns, grilled asparagus, French onion soup, German sausages, cheeses, slices of baked back bacon, crochets. Have you had your fill yet? No, how could you miss out on that chocolate fondue fountain! Wait, let's grab some of that delectable looking muffins and macarons. And there's always space for dessert. Oh they're serving your favourite rum and raisin ice cream. Your stomach cannot take even a morsel more. Finally, it is bursting at its seams. You beat a retreat to the privacy of your room, not before it occurs to you that you haven't paid for all these food. Just sign here sir, don't worry, everything is covered by your client. You feel flattered, but you can't shake off that nagging suspicion that you're still missing something.

You step into the hotel room. Lo and behold. Carpeted floors and walls covered with gold and brown patterns of the most intricate wallpaper. A king size bed is planted in the middle, guarded by a fortress of fluffy pillows and lined with plush blankets. Richly-grained rosewood furniture gives the room a mid-century feel. Your eyes are drawn to the spacious bathroom, with the luxuriant wash basin fitted out with a generous slab of marble, criss-crossed with the weaving typical of the cooling of metamorphic rock. Sinking into the middle of the bed, you feel restful and secure. You feel relaxed, but you can't shake off that nagging feeling that you're still missing something.

And then it dawns onto you. The thing you're missing is interaction. Without someone to speak with, to engage on a deeper and more intimate level, it all becomes meaningless. The silence becomes deafening. The four walls become a prison cell, trapping you within. It's a gilded cage, lined with precious stones, and you're the bird inside. You want to get out. To escape. But escape to what? You do not trust your wings. These wings, used to the comfortable confines of the cage, cannot bring you far and wide outside. You do not know how to navigate the treacherous world outside, yet you loathe to retreat back to the golden cage. You are stuck. Without interaction, it's like you looking into a mirror, and nothing looks back. It's empty.

Now you learn. Now you know. Spread your wings my young one. You are the sum of your experiences. Let not that which glitters coyly chain and bind you to a sad fate, one unexplored and unexamined, for the unexamined life is not worth living.

The Sunday Times (26 October 2014) - Feature on Michael Lien

Favourite part of the article

His former JC classmate, Mr Olivier Lim, 50, until recently deputy CEO of property group CapitaLand, says Mr Lien was always a "considered contrarian, not willing to accept status quo and conventional wisdom blindly, but also not contrarian for the sake of it". "Among my friends, he was the most well-read. He drove the cheapest and oldest car for years, not succumbing to the automobile arms race. He preferred to save his money travelling to places like rural Nepal. Yet, at the same time, he led a 'double life' as a successful investment banker."

Today, with a six-year-old son, Mr Lien no longer drives a "bombed-out car". But he still enjoys the simple things in life, like a prata and teh tarik. He continues to "like to move off the grid", trekking the Inca Trail in Peru or the Simien Mountains in Ethiopia. "In these remote places, you are grateful for a bowl of hot vegetable soup," he says, tight-lipped about other aspects of how he lives.

As to why he juggles this "duality", the free-thinker says simply: "It could have been us."

The Sunday Times (12 October 2014) - Feature on Ray Dalio

Section I particularly liked

Mr Dalio is equally complimentary about Singapore, saying there is "no country in the world that is so admirable as to be able to particularly raise its income levels, without losing its financial responsibility".

However he sounded a warning on countries that are no longer rich but profligate. The cycles mirror those of families, with a Chinese saying that the wealth of families lasts only three generations.

Countries start off being poor and think of themselves as poor, Mr Dalio notes. They then become rich after working hard and saving but still think of themselves as poor. That's when growth is good. The next stage is when countries are rich and think of themselves as rich and want to enjoy themselves more and spend more. The fourth stage is when countries are poorer but still think of themselves as rich.

Singapore continues to have a strong work and savings ethic, Mr Dalio says, but he holds up the US as a cautionary example of countries that have reached the stage where they borrow as they have spent beyond their means.

Thoughts

The Chinese saying for this is 家宝不传三代. 

Myanmar, October 2014

I was sent on a business trip to Myanmar. It was a trip of many firsts. First business trip. First time to Myanmar. First time flying SQ.

As a young adult exploring the world, it's great to be able to travel and see how business is conducted in other countries. There is still so much to see and experience and learn. Previously I was the pleasure traveler, the one who checked the 'for holiday' box in the 'purpose of travel' section in immigration cards. It is a strange feeling to be checking the 'for business' box this time.

I was anticipating the famed service on the Singapore Airlines flight. Coming from a humble background, I never had the chance to fly on the national carrier before. It was always budget airlines where-ever I went. It was the only way I knew how to fly. When I sat in the SQ cabin and the lovely air-stewardess offered me a warm towel, I knew that things have changed.

It was quite an eye-opening experience. It certainly did help me to clear many misconceptions about the country. Before I left, I consciously downgraded my wardrobe, opting for a simple $16 Casio watch. I didn't want to attract attention, especially since I knew I'll be in the villages, where the most of the people live below the poverty line and earn US$100-200 a month. I even joked to some friends that I was trying to learn Burmese for "Please don't kidnap me, I've got no money". As it turns out, I couldn't be more mistaken.

#day in the life of a 'professional'*

You are sleeping in on a public holiday when that familiar beep beep of an incoming sms calls you from the dream world. Like an attention seeking prat, it wants your time at the moment you least want to give it. No way. You flop over, maneuvering into that cool corner of the bed unspoiled by body heat. Not today.

Today is the day you ignore the overbearing summons of the phone. You don't get my attention just because you demand it! You settle back into the cot of warmth, security and familiarity, letting out a contented sigh. A smirk escapes your visage. Ahhh.. Today is the day you show them who's boss. Back at home, you are the king of your castle, and no marauding barbarians can scale the high walls you've erected around your sanity.

One Year On

It's been a year since I last blogged. I guess my inspiration to write fizzled - there were other fires to fight. In fact, if we only count quality posts (by that I meant posts I wrote myself instead of piggy-backing off someone else's writing), the last decent ones were actually this and this.

Coincidentally, both posts happen to be about work, which at the time that was consuming my life. Don't be mistaken, I don't mean it in a negative way. I like my work. There was plenty of learning. And there is no better place to learn from than The School of Hard Knocks. I took plenty of beating. No doubt it was painful, but I guess it's a necessary evil. How else do you toughen up? I was like a little fish learning how to flap my fins in the nursery. Sadly, it wasn't too long before I found out I was to swim with the sharks.

The greatest oak was once a little nut who held its ground

Re-read the FY2011 annual report for TTJ Holdings, and the opening story was too awesome not to share. Despite having read it before, I still get inspired and awe-struck every time. I am going to post it up here as a reminder to myself to hold fast, to never settle for what is easy.

Penny stocks in play

One of the indicators that 'dumb' money is flooding the market. Time to start realizing the value of some of my holdings.

Those who matter do not mind, those who mind do not matter

It can be frustrating being blown hot and cold at.

It can be frustrating being obliged to spend time and money to do things you derive little satisfaction from. It is especially frustrating trying to accumulate a war chest while plugging the leaky holes of wants.

You spend your working hours rushing from appointment to appointment, talking to agents and tenants, internalizing what was divulged, and perhaps more importantly, that which wasn't.

Your spend your non-working hours managing a *0,000k portfolio. You delve into annual reports, you read business news/books, you try to expand your field of competence.

You thrash your body at training, even though it was already thrashed to begin with.

It can be frustrating to try so hard. It is more frustrating to do that while dealing with shit. But it doesn't matter. If support is not forthcoming, then support will come from within. I will do.

When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.
- Arnold Schwarzenegger

The things I do to myself

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."- Howard Thurman


Arranged for 7 appointments on Friday to do a favour for a friend. Rushed from destination to destination from morning, before finally returning to office at 5pm. Beat back the paperwork mountain until 7pm.

Participated in the Onsight Lead Climbing Competition on Saturday. Because of ties in the U-19 Women category and other delays, the timings for the subsequent categories snowballed. The event finally ended at 8pm and I was thoroughly drained. I eventually ended up 4th place, which led me to ask myself - was it worth it? A day of breathing in chalk and dust wasn't particularly kind to my throat. It ended up sore and itchy in the aftermath. All that effort, but nothing to show for it.

I assisted in a course on Sunday in a bid to earn some extra pocket money, to make up for my sad income. From 10am to 5pm, I plastered a smile on my face and pressed the 'play' button that I've come to rely on so many times. Thankfully, the lead instructor was fantastic so I didn't have to use my voice too much.After having barely rested for the weekend, it's back to work on Monday morning. 

Sometimes I ask, 'Why do I do this to myself?". And then I'm reminded of the quote from Howard Thurman, and I press on.

Food for Thought

All things excellent are as difficult as they are rare

- Baruch Spinoza

What Do Successful People Share in Common?

The reason is that they have found their purpose in life. So all they have to do is just to organise their lives and all decisions and activities around it. If something does not fit with their purpose, they will simply turn away from it and not have anything to do with it.
- Dennis Ng

Take things in my stride

Those who matter do not mind. Those who mind do not matter.

Has wealth changed you?

Dan Brown, when asked this question by an interviewer following his meteoric success with his books.

No. I still get up at 4a.m. to write. And every morning I face a blank page. The characters don't care that I've made money. I have the same friends that I had before, and I'm married to the same wonderful woman. I drive a four year-old Lexus. I don't think about money. I have it, but I'm not drawn to fancy clothes, or yachts, or fancy cars.

Organized Religion

Very little in any organized faith is truly original. Religions are not born from scratch. They grow from one another. Modern religion is a collage.. An assimilated historical record of man's quest to understand the divine.
- Robert Langdon in Angels and Demons

Dissonance

CLIMBING, OR MY LACK THEREOF

After much reflection, I realised that I was at my happiest in the final year of university. No, the reason was not getting FYP out of the way, nor getting over two traumatic failed relationships. The reason was because I finally fulfilled my dream of living the life of a pro-athlete. I overloaded on academic modules in the earlier semesters with the view of enjoying a lighter load in my final semester, timing it to coincide with the bouldering competition season. The earlier semesters were hell, but as a result I was granted the time to put climbing at the top of my priority list. Priceless.

Banal

One of my favourite columns in The Sunday Times is the Me and My Money feature. The articles typically involve rags-to-riches stories, inspiring ordinary people with 'if-I-can-do-it-so-can-you' anecdotes. These are stories of hard work, financial prudence, fiscal discipline, steely determination and shrewd business sense, revealing much about the myriad of strategies successful people have adopted to rise to the top or escape from the rat race.

But recent features have become increasingly mundane, even to the point of being plain senseless. Are the journalists running out of people to interview? Take this weekend's (18 Nov 2012) feature for example.

I'm a Big Kid now

My manager requested that I let the intern tag along with me while going on my daily rounds. At first I was concerned that she will slow me down. I do, after all, work at a blistering pace. But after a moment's consideration I decided that I was game. It was not too long ago that I was an intern. And I remembered how being brought out of the office and onto the field was a real treat for me back then!

And so she tagged along for the afternoon. Partly for her benefit, I only arranged for 3 inspections that afternoon. I didn't want to inflict mental trauma, you see. The day passed smoothly, but on the drive back to office, I knew the inevitable question was looming. I should know, it used to be one of my favourite questions too. Is this your typical day? Adopting the 'honesty is the best policy' approach, I informed her that a more typical day involves 4-5 inspections. On more busy periods, you can do upwards of 10 cases per day. "My personal record is 12 inspections in 6 hours", I smiled broadly. "What we did today was a walk in the park", I added.

"You have to run so many cases, where do you find the time to type the reports?", she countered. Ah hah. There we have it, the elephant in the room nobody could bring themselves to talk about.

Rich Singaporeans

I read with incredulity a Strait's Times article (dated 2 June, 2012) about how a recent study by BCG has found that one in six Singaporean households are millionaires. That is to say, 17% of Singaporean households have investible assets of US$1million or more. Do note that property and other non-financial assets are excluded from consideration, which means that the number of rich in Singapore can only be more mind-boggling. Is the study credible? I find it such statistics hard to believe.

My eyes were opened not long after embarking on the job.

Mortgage Valuation

Where do you work?

I work in the mortgage valuation department. For the benefit of friends who want to know more, I shall elaborate. 

What is Mortgage Valuation?

When a buyer is interested in buying a property, he will need to approach the bank for a mortgage. Because property transactions are capital intensive, buyers typically only put up 20-40% equity (depending on your credit rating), borrowing the remainder from the bank. 

When the buyer applies for a mortgage, the bank will commission a property valuation firm to conduct a mortgage valuation. The report is used to establish whether the property is worth the value that the buyer is proposing to buy it for. The bank requires it to protect itself in the event that the borrower defaults, i.e. fails to pay up. Should the borrower default, the bank will have to sell the property, and they need to know that if they do sell the property the proceeds can cover the loan. 

Here you might ask, why doesn't the bank just hold onto the property for capital appreciation, while renting it out to derive income in the meantime? The short answer to that is that banks prefer to focus on their core business of banking, not property investment.