Tag: Mundane

Ok… this is going to be weird. I have had a couple of blog posts since the last one, but did not get to upload it.

Read them and you will see why I was not able to find time to do so since my decision almost two weeks back.

This one is dated 6th of April.

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It’s official. I am going to be out of a job starting from 4th of May.

I can’t describe the feeling of relief when I finally told my bosses that I had to go. I’ve been hiding for so long because I was worried about loss of my bonuses. It feels very wrong and sounds very petty. That is why I am determined not to feel this way again.

What was nice was that someone offered me a job almost immediately. Although I rejected the offer without any hesitation, it felt good to be wanted.

What am I going to do? Real estate sales. I am now in the midst of talking to my future bosses and mentor, so I can’t reveal too much, but very exciting.

In the meantime, I will also be training up to become a professional videographer to make ends meet.

Yup, none of it safe or secure. That’s how I like it.

Have you stopped and looked at people around you sometimes?

I’ve come to a scary realization that there are a lot of zombies in Singapore. I am quite worried that I might end up becoming one. I am close, I tell you.

Have you noticed a scenario like this?

Someone trips on the bus, you see many hands stretched out near that person. But all the owners of these helping hands have expressionless faces. Once the near-victim is standing, and safe. The hands retract. No smile, no ‘Thank you’, no ‘You’re welcome’.

How about this?

A cleaning lady clearing tables at a food court. You say ‘Thank you’. And she snaps out of her zombie curse, and looks at you in a funny way.

Sometimes she might actually break from her curse and start conversing with you. But most of the time, she goes back to her state. Looking down, at the piece of cloth she is wiping the table with, with a scowl on her face.

What is happening? I think all the debate about raising our service standards would come to naught if we can’t stop the zombie curse. We would just have trained zombies, reading lines, saying thank yous and have a nice days.

It’s the frenzied pace we Singaporeans live at la… I think. Anyway this reframing makes me realise that sometimes it’s not that Singaporeans don’t care, but that they are not aware. Which is actually worse, but makes me feel better about people…

Happy birthday Peppermint!

One full year ago, today was the day I proposed to Hwei Min. Today is our proposal anniversary.

We went back to the place where I proposed, the roof terrace of Esplanade mall. It was a wonderful day.

I am beginning to believe in my special powers. Hwei Min and I… We can control the weather!! Just last night, we mentioned how nice it would be if on the next day, the weather would be just right for us. There will be rain clouds, there will be a strong breeze… But no rain.

We got EXACTLY that!

Look at the pictures we took. Throw in birds singing, and you can imagine how great it was.

Have you read this about this 27 year old engineering who gambled on the stock market and lost 700K?? You can read the original article here.

He is no kid, he is about the same age as me. What could have caused him to have so much confidence in himself as to gamble on nothing?

Yes, gamble. There is absolutely no way we can call what he did investment. He gambled on high-risk contra trading. (Contra trading just means selling stock that you ordered but have not paid for within the 3 day period before you have to buy. So despite the bad name caused by irresponsible traders, it is a neutral feature of trading.)

He made some money, 80K to be exact, picking some counters that managed to perform within the 3 days. A few friends called him “Prince Midas”. He suddenly felt like he was an expert, and he had the Midas’ touch.

Probably enboldened by the 300K from his father’s savings, he bought shares with 700K that he didn’t have. Crash… boom… bang… hundreds of thousands gone.

Overnight, this guy made his father and himself bankrupt. This guy had been gambling on nothing. Less than nothing is what he has now.

Is this how investments work? Trading? NO. Please do not believe it is!

True investments are logical, emotionless decisions based on clearly defined entry and exit points. True investments are managed carefully, weighing risk appetite and gains.

Zeag has some comments on money management that would be worth reading. He’s 27 too. Read to find out how his brain ticks. He doesn’t have astronomical gains like the guy in the article did once upon a time. But I’ll entrust my money with him, anytime.

Who wants Midas as a friend anyway???

Just popped by my alma mata Raffles Institution today.

We were viewing a unit at a condominium nearby, and I thought I just walk in to take a look. Wow… a lot has changed. The school is well maintained, (Rich school lah…), looks ten times better than I remembered it. New additions were made, the canteen had the most changes made to it. Now there is a foyer area just above the canteen. I can’t really remember what used to be there.

Of course, now that RJC is sharing facilities with RI, the running track had been removed, and the field looks VERY well maintained. So did the tennis court.

But on the whole, everything I remembered was still more or less there. All the old photos (which I did not appear in), all the pictures of former headmasters (Mr. Wijeysingha will always be my favorite), all the classrooms. (some of them seemed air-conditioned, those lucky kids!)

I am thankful that I had a chance to study at RI. I am not sure I will enrol my kid to study there, however, but I do not regret studying at RI at all. I have learned confidence, and leadership at an early age. I was inspired by Mr. Wijeysingha. He managed to exude regality and calm, and yet remain fatherly and kind.

I don’t regret not going to RJC, however. I have learnt that RI and RJC attracted a certain group of kids that I nearly became. Thank goodness I came from Ai Tong before that, and YJC after that, so that I ended up pretty balanced. And of course, because I met Hwei Min in YJC, hee hee…

The condominium we visited on the other hand, gave us a very bad impression. Maintenance was poor, that whole place needed a repaint. There was one disgusting bald patch of grass next to the swimming pool. On the newspaper ad, it was stated that the showroom was open from 10 a.m., and when we were there at 12p.m, the guards told us no one came.