There’s quite a number of DVD/VCD of local movies sitting on my shelf that I’ve yet to watch. Decided to watch a few of them.

Watched Kelvin Tong’s Men in White last week, and his The Maid just a few minutes ago. Both these movies made a profit. I can’t say I liked these two movies that much.

I did like Rule #1, cause it had a decent story, and was shot nicely, but apparently that didn’t do too well at the local box-office. I also liked Love Story, because the story was funky (ie. what the hell is going on), and he made Singapore look not Singapore. Eating Air was decent too - simple story, simple characters, and nice cinematics.

There’s still some local movies waiting for me to watch. Strangely, I’ve never watched a single Eric Khoo movie so far. Mee Pok Man and 12 Stories are on the shelf.

And so is Perth.

Funny. It seems that local movies that win awards overseas generally do not do well locally. When I see the box-office takings for local movies, sometimes I really go ‘huh’. I don’t think I quite understand the general Singapore audience.

We have strange tastes.

I forgot I can’t drink tea at night. Been tossing and turning and still can’t sleep. Damn caffeine. Decided to come back online and rant, in the hopes that perhaps that will make me sleepy.

To some extend, I’ve been leading a pretty sheltered life. In theory, my real family tree is so messed up, it could be a ch8 drama series. In actuality however, I don’t think that has actually affected me much while I was growing up.

Which leads me to the point: Is blood really thicker than water? Personally, I have no reason to believe so.

I’ve been trying out real estate for awhile now. I’m still trying to find exactly where this fits in my life. At the moment, I’ve kinda decided that I’m not going to give up my freelancing editing for it, but instead, trying to fit it in with my main ‘bread and butter‘, and treating any income from that as money for investment.

Regardless however, being in real estate has benefited us on a personal capacity. Paying a course fee of $535 to become an agent has saved us $8,213 so far, over 2 transactions. I’ve learnt a lot about property transactions and hdb, and it’s actually quite interesting how they made simple public housing so bloody complicated.

How does being an agent help?

- A lot of seller agents out there will try and collect commission from you, if you try to represent yourself in a transaction. Partly it’s because they don’t want you to screw up on your side and end up causing complications in the transaction. If you refuse to pay them, the owner will amazingly ‘disagree with any offer you make’. Being an agent representing yourself kinda solves that problem.

- If you are interested in getting a new condo, you can get a ‘discount’, as developers pay agents commission if they are able to make a transaction. Any agent can usually bring a client to a showflat, even if its being marketed exclusively by a particular real estate company. (Along that lines, if you are interested in a new condo, let me be your agent lar. I split half-half with you, we both win! :P)

- You have access to programs and networks with practically the whole singapore market at your disposal. Some of these software cost money, but a mere fraction of what you would otherwise pay out in commission.

- When you reach a certain level of sales, your commission split with the company increases, and you get a (small) cut of the sales made by the people you recruit under you. You also get a referral fee when you recruit someone. (Again, if you are joining for any of the above reasons, let me ‘recruit’ you, referral fee also 50-50 lar.)

- There are also other sources of ‘income’, like referral fees, if you refer someone for a bank loan, or a contractor, for example.

- You are ‘forced’ to monitor the market, in the process of finding out information for your clients. This will aide you when you finally have the means to invest in property, and want to make an informed decision.

I’ve also learnt some about ‘human nature’ too.

- I’ve met a family of 4, who are looking to move just opposite their kids’ school. Their kids don’t need the proximity to get a place in the school. The elder one is already going there, while the younger one starts school there next year. They just feel that it’s time to move, for the kids. Some parents will really do anything for their kids.

- At the other spectrum, a guy turned up with his kid, looking to downgrade his family of 4 from a 3 room flat to a 2 room because times are hard, and he was having trouble making ends meet. It’s amazing how a stranger is willing to bare his soul to another complete stranger. Yet at the same time, it reflects the two extreme faces of Singapore, where ironically, it’ll not be long where the poor will not be able to own the very public housing created to be affordable for all.

- I’ve also learnt that remembering that the owners of the flat you are visiting, and their agent are human is important. In today’s day and age, we tend to switch to ‘business-mode’ and take things too seriously at times, that we forget that we are dealing with actual people. Perhaps some would feel it’s 公私分明, and not wanting to get too personal, but fail to realize, that sometimes being friendly and sincere is all it takes to seal a deal, and likewise, being too coldly business mode, can break a deal.

Year to date, I’ve been averaging a lot better than last year’s earnings. Unfortunately I can’t say the same about savings. I spent about about $3.4k on my lasik, which I didn’t intend of paying all at one shot, but I still feel is worth it nevertheless. I’ve also made a few stupid investment decisions this years, losses which I’ve considered ‘school fees‘ on how not to be a stupid investor. I don’t think I managed my money as well as I could have, but intend to correct that for the remaining part of the year.

Went for a gala today. Usually the same crowd turn up for galas. Today’s setting was slightly different though. I don’t think many people outside know we are together. They know us each separately, but not as a couple, and have never realized that we’ve been attending galas together all this while. I guess usually it isn’t obvious, cause a lot of our ex-colleagues are usually nearby, but today, they weren’t there, so it became a lot more obvious. We saw a few ’stunned’ reaction when they put 2-and-2 together.

It’s about time I guess. It’s not like we’ve anything to hide. It just feels weird, because it might change the dynamics of things on some level, when I meet these people again. I guess I just want to be known as me, as an independent individual, and not merely just so-and-so’s gf. Maybe I’m just being over-sensitive, or maybe I need to grow-up.

Or maybe I really need sleep. Go away … caffeine …

There’s something in the code of my blog that is making those stupid ads pop up when you load this site. I have no idea what code is causing the pop ups, but boy is it irritating!

And I’m not even profitting from that spam!

Grrrr…

I went for my 3rd post-lasik checkup this morning.

For the past few checkups, while doing the eye tests where you have to read the charts, I was always under the impression that the lasik didn’t quite correct my eye to 6/6.

Strange. Apparently, slightly one month after the lasik, after today’s checkup, my doctor told me that my eyesight was not 6/6 … in fact it’s better: it’s 6/4.5 for both eyes. Considering my astigmatism was pretty high, he says that’s very good that I managed to reach 6/4.5!

Wow. I had a very blank look when he told me that. It’s kinda hard to believe. Who says government hospitals are not as good as private?

Yesterday while walkin to the MRT station, this old lady stopped me, and asked if I could follow her to the pharmacy and help her pay for her pills.

She wasn’t outright asking for money, or using her empty medicine pack as a means to get money to ‘buy her medicine’. If she had asked me for money there and then, I would have said no.

And so I followed her.

At Guardian, the pharmacist refused to issue her meds. Apparently, she recognized this old lady, and told her to go see the doctor and get a prescription. All the while the old lady was talking/rambling, in some dialect, and started saying that woman very bad, but nevermind, there’s another pharmacy further down.

I’m beginning to feel skeptical. Is this woman like overeating her meds or getting addicted or something? I don’t think she’s reselling it for profit cause it’s not very expensive. I asked her what the meds were for. ‘Giddiness’ she replied.

We entered Watsons, and went to the pharmacist. The pharmacist there issued her the drugs. All this while, old lady was still talking, and even telling the pharmacist how ‘good i’m am’ that I was helping her pay for her meds. She wasn’t trying to hide the fact or anything. But still I felt concerned.

I spoke to the pharmacist in English, and asked about the meds, and explained the situation. I asked if the meds were dangerous, and told her what happened at Guardian. The pharmacist asked the old lady how often she was taking the pills, and then she told me not to worry, the drugs weren’t dangerous.

So I paid for the drugs and left, with old lady saying ‘thank you thank you’ behind me.

I still feel unsettled. The cashier gave me a very bewildered look when old lady said I was a stranger helping her buy her meds. I still don’t know if I what I did was right or wrong. Am I really helping an old lady get meds she can’t afford, or am I actually … I don’t know … harming her by helping her get meds of which I have no clue about?

I was very jaded while in JC. I didn’t see the purpose of going to school and studying things I would never use in real life. The above statement was exactly how I felt then, and I remember arguing with my mum over it. I think the term I used then was ‘zombies’, not ‘hamsters’ though.

I love Life, as a means of discovery: to learn more and more with each passing day. Knowledge seems like a kind of fuel in my life, because there’s so much out there to learn, to absorb. Not the kind of book knowledge from school, but relevant real life knowledge that enriches my everyday life.

I can’t know anything, and I don’t want to know everything (I’ll go mad), but I really wish that I will always have the chance, to pursue whatever interests me, and never be trapped in the zombie hamster lifestyle.

Ironically, and as predicted, I remember at best 10% of what I studied in JC. Integration/Statistics, Chemical Analysis, Biology … sad to say, all gone.

In 4 days time, it’ll be close to a month since I went for Lasik. Though Lasik has been around for years now, when I woke up the next morning and could see clearly, it really really really amazed me. Technology is so amazing.

It’s just like every time I board a plane, feeling the plane lift off just makes me go ‘wow’. I’ve flown countless times, but each time it lifts off, I still feel the same way. Who would have thought Man could fly?

And as I’m typing on this laptop with ‘millions of colours’, high speed internet. thumbdrives and crystal clear music, it reminds me of the days of DOS, of 386/486 computers, of 256 colours and 5.25″/3.5″ floppy disks. How far we’ve come in just over a decade.

It is sometimes true that we limit ourselves, just as how we too can sometimes be our worst enemies.

I’m currently embarking on a new career. It’s really true that money has the ability to make money, and truly, it is the rich that will get richer. I aim to be one of those people, and aim to be financially free in 10 years time.

Financially free meaning I no longer have to work because I’ve bills to pay, but rather I’m working then, because I don’t think I can be a idle ‘retiree’.

Life is short. We should be spending more time with our love ones, our kids, and exploring this unique thing we call Earth.

I may sound over-ambitious now, but it’s time to dream, and dream big. If not now, then when?

Sometimes when I meet people who are obnoxious and condescending, and even one who talks like he’s talking to a bunch of idiots, and I cant help but feel mad.

And then later, I find out that these people actually call themselves Christians, I feel flabbergasted.

But when I stop to think about it, why should I?

The Church is not filled with perfect people. Jesus did not come to die for upright and moral people. He came to save people who needed saving from even themselves. Christians are people who at some point in their lives admitted that they needed a savior. That’s why they bear the name of Christ in them.

Sometimes when I really meet a super duperly horrendous person, it feels me with admiration, to remember, that Jesus loves even that guy, and died for him too. So who am I to judge him, and get angry over?

BORCHGRAVE: So how do you see the future of capitalism?

MM Lee: As chairman of the equivalent of our Sovereign Wealth Fund, we examine and decide where to invest our money, in equities or bonds or what have you. Our fund managers are paid five times what I get. Why? Because they have had good track records in growing our fund and we know what they could command in the private sector. They are dealing with billions of dollars every day and must be compensated accordingly.

Unbridled capitalism, winner takes all like in America, does not work unless you can cope with an underclass. So here we also stay with the losers, make sure they have enough to live on, with healthcare, equal education opportunities for their children whose parents can no longer afford it. It’s very important they not feel abandoned. So we have workfare and ingenuous ways to keep them working as we don’t want layabouts doing nothing. We also subsidize homes which they would not be able to buy. A society can only survive if there is a sense of equity and fair play.

(via Middle Eastern Times, first seen on Singapore Election Watch)

I never quite understood the role of the government. I mean, we aren’t trying to overthrow the government (yet), nor are we holding protests like some of our neighbouring countries are.

But then again, does the government owe us a living?

I guess there’s no smoke without fire.

I got the 1MB plan from singtel at the PC Show. So far it’s worked everywhere I’ve tried it, including my house, at the workplace carpark, and even in the mrt from bishan towards town!

The crowd was crazy at the singtel booth, but I think it was worth it.

Speeds underground is kinda funky though.

The Jewish Rabbis have a saying that “coincidence is not a kosher word.” Kosher is to the Jews, as Halal is to Muslims.

A few months back, curtis was trying to sell his flat. I learnt a lot about buying and selling in the process, often having to look up stuff, since my intention initially was to do without an agent. In the end we still had an agent to help us out.

With resale flats all having cash-above-valuations (cov) now, it’s a painful process trying to juggle buying and selling. If you sell first, what if you don’t have enough cash from the sale to buy another flat? Then you’ll be homeless! But if you buy first, what if you can’t sell your flat at the price needed to raise the extra cash? Then you’ll have to find out ways to borrow some money.

Finally, curtis agreed to sell it at $X. He hadn’t yet confirmed the price of the other flat, and there was some fishy stuff going on with the one he was looking at, so he decided to give that one up and ask the agent to help him look for another one. His citeria was quite specific, and lo-and-behold, he managed to get a unit at the price he wanted.

I think selling it at $X is one of the highest, if not the highest price for flats in that area of that age. And buying another was below the cov others were asking for. Coincidence? Read on.

So $Y would be due next month during the 1st appointment with HDB. Since the sale of the flat would not be completed before that, curtis has to first fork out cash for the cov and 5% bank deposit. But he doesn’t have that much cash, for it’s no small amount!

But God knows our plans way before we even know of them, and so He plans in advance for us. Just last week, curtis received a call from his cousin, informing him that his aunt’s estates has finally been settled after 4 years, and was being distributed. The amount received? $Y + $1k extra!

Coincidence? I’ll let you decide.

Sidenote: Through this whole process, I kinda got interested in real estate. I joined ERA earlier this month, so if you’re looking to sell/buy or rent a place, let me help you!

I got rejected for my POSB everyday card and DBS Capitaland card. And I have no idea why.

All they are telling me is that:

We regret to inform you that your application has not been successful.

All application received are processed via a credit processing system. In addition to customer’s individual credit standing, the propriety system is designed to process the application based on other variables that are pre-determined by our credit committee.

Thank you once again for your interest in our services.

So I guess I failed their system. I know I’m not a credit risk, and I pay all my bills on time. Or is it because of no prior credit report for them to make judgment by? I won’t know. Can only guess.

At least when I got rejected for my first credit card in the US, they did tell me it’s because I didn’t have an existing credit standing, and when I called them up to explain why, they did finally issue me a card.

I hope OCBC doesn’t reject my application!

—-

I failed my M9 too. I don’t really know what questions I got wrong. I could have sworn that I passed, so failing it came as a surprise.

They don’t tell you what questions you got right or wrong. Oh well, guess I’ll never know.

Couldn’t post last few days. Kept getting error. I thought I broke my blog again.

So I tried upgrading Wordpress. Still getting error.

Turns out, my sql database was overflowing.

Now it seems I accidentally deleted my categories from my database!

That’s what it says on a Notice of Assessment (NOA), whether you have income tax due or not. But it’s nice to finally be able to say, I contributed! No no, it’s not because I enjoy paying tax, but rather, it means that I’m officially eligible to apply for credit cards! Woohoo!

As a self-employed personnel, (otherwise known as “the freelancer”), I have to submit 2 NOAs for credit card applications, to certify that I do make at least $30k p.a. Doesn’t matter that I should have qualified more then 6 months ago, when I started freelancing - they need proof from a government agency!

And today, my NOA finally arrived.

mmMMmmm ….

I was at Cash Converters just now, and I manage to pick up a code 1 Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of the Black Pearl DVD.

And better still! When the lady opened it up for me to check, the seal was still in tack - that DVD was brand new!

Gah.

Now I just need a DVD player that can play it. Lol.

Just got 2 of 3 of my paychecks today.

Oh, Dad needs money,
Bills need to be paid,

Money comes in, money goes out.

That’s what we’ve been lead to believe, and that’s what I’ve come to realize - it’s just not true.

What’s the use of doing research, having the knowledge, and at the end of the day, still being ‘blackmailed’ into paying more then you should?

I wonder which is worst. Not knowing, and being cheated, or knowing, and accepting the fact that you are being cheated.

Funny how that’s not only true for mosquitoes.

The real estate industry really needs serious regulation.

Realized the other day, I haven’t gotten a paycheck since February.

Hoping to get my 3 paychecks around the start of next month.

I’ve been playing around with shares and funds over the past few months, using the logic that even if I do lose $$, the sums would be small, and it counts towards “educational fees”.

I have learnt a few things:

1) No point playing the stock market with little capital.

It’s harder to make money with small capital, as your overall cost is higher once you take brokage fees into consideration.

For experimentation purposes, I bought 2 apple shares (AAPL) at about USD$122 each, and paid a brokerage fee of USD$14.95. To break even, my 2 shares have to rise to a price of $137 each! (Selling brokerage fee taken into account). Thankfully, I still made money of the share, as it rose even higher then that.

I think I might have sold it off too early!

2) Known companies vs Penny Stocks

In theory, when a penny stock costing 25cents rises 1cent, you make a 4% return, where as if you buy a large known company like apple, a 1cent increase is only a 0.8% return.

In theory, using the same amount of money on both stocks, you can buy more penny stocks then the other, and potentially earn more $$.

However, I found out that it’s easier to lose money in penny stocks then it is to make. I’m currently holding 3stocks with 1000+shares, and it’s all in the reds. AAPL on the other hand, even tho I owned merely 2 shares, made me money!

I’m hoping that I these stocks will at least pick up and allow me to break even. The buying and selling fee of USD$29.90 however, is affecting it a lot. If I had a larger amount invested in these penny stocks (ie. point 1 above), its possible for me to still make $$, however the brokerage fees meant that the stocks had to rise more then a cent or two to cover cost.

3) Dollar averaging is still the safest means of investment.

I wish I had more money to dump into my dollardex investments. I’ve been keeping my cash liquid just in case I do decide to buy property.

I might pump some money in though, once I get my finances figured out.

Thankfully, I still have a regular savings plan (RSP) of $150/mth. Hopefully that will serve as a good investment over 8 years. (And hopefully, I won’t find out that the returns are horrible due to high agency costs!!)

I’m thinking if I should start another RSP, but this one purely investments only (ie no insurance component). I’m afraid to commit though, because I currently don’t have a fixed paycheck.

4) Higher Interest + Liquidity

I wrote an article some time back about bank interest rates in Singapore. In general, interest rates have dropped a lot.

However, I also learnt that money markets are good places to put your money, and still get decent returns (about 2%pa). It’s not as liquid as going to the ATM to get your money out, but you can still get your money in about a week or two. The upside is, at least you can’t spend on impulse!

A good money market fund is the Lion Capital SGD Money Market. I’ve some money in there via dollardex.com, and the best part about it is there are no fees to put your money in it!