A Happening Week

I have a happening week. I have many thanksgiving points.

My article 'How to be a recession-proof worker' was published in My Paper this Monday. It occupied about 1/3 of the page. Some of my friends read it and sms me. They commented it is a good article and feel proud for me.

I was planning for my CNY home trip. One-way air fare to KLIA shot up to about $180 and bus fare shot up to about $65 due to high demand. I asked God to provide me the most economy way to go back. I also hoped to go back with people rather than alone. God answered my prayer - I suddenly thought about my cousin which we seldom contact each other. He agreed to give me a free ride to KL during CNY. Praise God!

I have personally sowed on two colleagues and have wanted to bless them with a meal during this Christmas season. I did it on Friday. I hope they are blessed. I will invite them to our Christmas service. I hope I will lead them to know Christ soon.

I stayed back in the company this Thursday. My Japanese colleague taught some of us how to make 'Okonomi-yaki'. We mixed flour, egg, ginger, cabbage, water & cheese, then grilled them. We put some typical Japanese source (can also use typical BBQ or curry source) and fish shred on the top and ate it with wasabi/mayonnese. Yummy!

CG is on Friday. We shared a lot of testimonies and answered prayers. My heart is filled with awe. Yanyan prayed that her boss would praise her this week and it happened! Her boss is busy most of the time. This week, he reviewed her work and said to her, "good work!" Kae prayed that God would provide something for her to eat in one rainy day. Out of her surprise, her neighbor brought dinner for her that evening.

We had a 'Eating Marathon' today. We had a few new faces. They are Deo, Kran (Mark's Thai friend) & Shi Wei (James' Myammar friend). We ate our Beef Hor Fun at Geylang Lorong 9. We then moved to Kallang Leisure Park to play bowling. It is Mark and Kae first time and we really had lots of fun. After that, we moved to Golden Mile Complex to have Thai food dinner.

Attempting Small and Ad-hoc Business

MeiBeng (my younger sister) is going to run a small business soon. She will set up booth to sell cookies at One Utama end of Dec 08 till end of Jan 09. This will be her first time. She called me to ask for financial support. At the beginning, I hesitated to help her. I worried this could be a rash decision and lack of careful business planning. After talking to her, I found out that she is indeed serious about it and had done her homework.

She is a very extrovert girl by nature. She has good track record in her retailer sales job for the past few years. Her previous boss promoted her and entrusted her to supervise a team. I always feel very encouraged when she did well and I always believe she can do very well in this area. I always hope to sponsor/partner her to start our family-owned business one day.

Here are a few things to be considered on this business opportunity:

• Strategic locations – The shopping mall is always crowded in normal days and holiday seasons based on past experience. The booth will be set up at ground floor. We don’t have to worry good human traffic passing by our booth.
• Quality food – The food is tasty. She managed to sell quite a lot via direct distribution to friends last CNY. She will get the food from the same source and has faith on the food quality.
• Good price – We have to prepare to adjust the price as I foresee fierce competition during that period. There will be a few stalls selling CNY cookies as well. We have to manage the price carefully to ensure maximum profitability. Depending on customers’ behavior, we can sell the goods differently, e.g. buy 2 free 1, buy 3 50%, etc...to be more flexible and creative.
• Excellent sales person – She and Ah Heng will still work on their current job. Their availability to man the booth is very limited. Initially she planned to get Ah Heng’s mum to help. I was very concerned as the mum is quiet and slow. She will not do a good job. She is now trying to hire an experience sales lady. I advised her to pay the lady commission based on sales volume on top of the basic pay. In this way, she can motivate the sales lady to boost the sales volume and increase profitability.
• Aggressive advertisement – If possible, we have to give out flyers at different entrance to attract as many customers as possible. There is power in good advertisement. I already observed how my company’s neighbor does it.
• Good operation and management – Ensure supply of food is on time and sufficient. Plan off-day wisely to be available at the booth during peak-hour/peak-day of the week to boost sales.

Recession-proof Our Jobs

There are many bad news in the business world lately. We heard of many factories closed down in China, demands for goods slowed down, stock price everywhere plummeted, corporates reported losses, widespread retrenchment started, etc...most of the business news are very gloomy.

My company is no exception. They recently repositioned and rebranded themselves to focus on the recession-proof businesses. The so-called recession-proof business are human health and environmental health businesses. They want to sell off one of the core business (consumer lighting business) in Asia which will have direct impact to our Singapore operation. The employees here are generally concerned about future their job security and uncertainty in this company.

I believe retrenchment may be inevitable during bad times like this. However, as worker, we should make ourselves recession-proof so we can survive the bad times. Here are a few tips:

1. Be excellent in our job. Be a star performer. Company would not release a star performer. This is quite common sense. We should always strive for a high standard in the work we produce.
2. Be volatile and flexible. We should always be ready to take on new roles and responsibility, adapt to changes, work beyond our boundary when needed. Some people are very narrow-minded and rigid, they will never move beyond their well-defined job scope and never learn new things. These people will be the first to go when there is redundancy in the company.
3. Don't worry, be happy. Happy workers are effective in their work and they produce quality work. They are contagious and they spread their happiness to people who work with them. They build good rapport with their colleagues and bosses. In contrast, some workers are not happy. They are power-hungry and always want to be in control. They frustrate their subordinates and do not build good rapport with other colleagues and bosses. These workers are in danger during retrenchment.
4. Add value to our job. We have to innovate and improve our work daily. We must always reflect why we do what we do. Does the activity I am currently doing add value to my company's business? We should always be proactive in thinking of new ideas. We shall not wait until our boss gives us instructions.

My Sister's ACCA Graduation Ceremony

I took flight to and fro Singapore and KL to attend my sister's ACCA convocation last week. It was my first time travelling with budget airlines on this route. I saved a lot of time and energy though I had to pay a little bit more. It's worth the value as I have spent quality time with my families during the trip. Normally, I take more than 9 hours (with 6 hours in the bus) to reach home, as a result, I get myself physically exhausted. Last week, I only took approximately 4 hours (with 45 mins in the air) to reach home. This is the effect and benefit of technology. In the future, I will take plane for short-day home trip and take bus for long-day home trip. To make my time more fruitful, I will get friends to go back with me when I take bus to build friendship.

My sister's graduation ceremony was held on 8 Nov 08 at KL Convention Centre. My sister has done the family proud. Her boss sponsored her part of the tuition fee and she took the course on a part-time basis. She never gave up completing the course despiting facing numerous set-backs (failed exams) throughout the course.

My Thoughts on Using Pirated Product

I bought a laptop 3 months ago and my Microsoft Office trial version has expired after two months. I now cannot use all the important and critical functions of the software and require to purchase the full version. I knew the price of the software is considerably costly so I hesitated to purchase it without looking for other options. My good friend knew my problem and he passed me his pirated Microsoft Office 2007 to install. I did not feel very right to do so without giving some thoughts on the piracy issue.

In the movie commercial ad, we are told that piracy is equal to stealing. The widespread of piracy activities are affecting the profittability of many businesses who sell their copyrighted products. When we use or buy pirated products, we are indirectly supporting the proliferation of piracy activities by encouraging illegal manufacturers to produce more such illegal products. We are not only doing wrong to the affected business people/product owner, in fact, our action is against the law.

From the biblical perspective, I thought of the following principles:

• "You shall not steal" is one of the 10 commandments in Moses' time. Stealing is wrong. Stealing is getting for ourselves something that does not belong to us.


• Jesus says in Matt 7:12, "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you..." Just put ourselves in other's shoe, if we don't want people to do this (supporting piracy) to us, then we should not do this to others!


• Violating law intentionally is not submitting to authority and is wrong. In Rom 13:1, "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God."

Is it worthwhile to compromise the biblical principles to gain a little money and conveniences? I seriously doubt so. What other alternatives for me now? I hope I can get a shared licenced Microsoft Office 2007 with other people.

My Prediction on American Decides '08

1. Barack Obama

(Advantages)

• He is leading 5 ~ 11% in major national polls. I think racial discrimination is not an issue in this election as I believe majority of voting Americans are open in their thinking. If there is some components of racial biasness and people polled dishonestly, I think the lead may be reduced a little bit only.
• I think his tax-cut policy is good despite greatly criticized by the Republican. He will give tax relief to the middle-class and tax the rich more. Majority of Americans belong to the middle class, the working class people.
• Because of his young age, he is appealing to a lot of young generation voters. He won the support from well-known leaders in the high-tech industry, like the CEO of Google.
• Collin Powell, the respected and influential former secretary of state of the U.S. openly endorsed Barack.
• Hillary Clinton, the respected Democratic presidential nominee, openly endorsed and supported Barack. Those independent voters especially the ladies who would vote for Hillary will vote for Barack.
• He chose a very safe vice-presidential running mate Joe Biden. Joe is a steady and non-controversial in his Senator career.
• He is a very charismatic leader. His speech captured the audience. That's why people praised that he does not speak at you but to you. The word 'change' they use is very powerful and captivating throughout the campaign.

(Disadvantages)

• He has much less career achievements.
• He lacks of executive experiences to run a government.
• He lacks of foreign policy experience.
• He was relatively unknown or unheard of until 2 years ago. A lot of people might still doubt his background and link him to muslim, terrorist, and the like.
• He can talk well. People doubt whether he can effectively put his words into actions.

2. John McCain

(Advantages)

• He is regarded as national wartime hero. He was involved in Vietnam war and nearly lost his life for country. He is regarded as a tough fighter and will fight till the end. He bore the scars of his sacrifice for his country.
• He has more career achievements compared to his opponent.
• He has foreign policy experience.
• People who support him have the confidence he will put the country first.

(Disadvantages)

• He is representing the Republican which has 8 years of failed policy. The '8 years of failed policy' is used countless times by Barack in his speeches and it is deeply imprinted in my mind, and in many people's mind as well, I believe. Many people are scared that the failed policy will continue.
• His selection of the vice-predential candicate, Sarah Palin, is not impressive. It is a risky and surprised choice. I personally believe she is not ready to run a big country like the U.S. as vice president and she is barely known by the White house elites. She also lacks of foreign policy experience and exposed herself too much to the negative media publicity. I think it is a risky and unwise choice.
• The republican spent too much energy and time attacking Barack's identity, associating him with terrorist, or etc. There is no proof to what they claimed so it is a waste of time and resouces. They should focus on their campaign message instead.
• He is old and does not seem to appeal to the modern-generation voters. He does not even use computer, does he?

Based on my analysis, I predict a landslide victory for Barack Obama on 4 Nov 08.

Dinner at Adam Road Hawker Centre

We went to have dinner at Adam Road Hawker Centre after CG. The prawn noodle stall is famous as the queue is long and there are many posters of recognition and publicity. They have small, medium and big prawn for customer to select. I ordered pork rib medium prawn and found that the sliced prawn and soup is tasty. The food there is not cheap. I paid $5 for my food.

During the dinner, I had a good time discussing how to improve men's 'market values' with David and Florence. I must thank them for giving me some good recommendations:

1. Dressing - Blue, white and black coloured top will look good on me. Dull or brownish colored top is a big NO NO.
2. Physical Look - Swimming will help give good body shape especially the chest will be enlarged and more muscular. Spiky hair would be good on me.

Besides above, I think having self-confidence is of paramount importance to attact a girl. Girl will be attracted to someone who is clear of his goal and purpose, who can lead her and who can provide her security.

Soaring Amidst Financial Crisis

1. During the recent financial turmoil, many investment banks have collapsed and their investors make losses of their investment.

2. The interest rate was very low and many people were able to buy new homes. As the demand for homes increased, the price of home also increased.

3. The low interest policy was designed to ease the credit and help people get new homes. However, they did not realize that many homeowners could not afford to repay their loans to the banks. As a result, at the forth quarter of last year, the banks started to feel the credit shortages and were forced to take back their mortgages. In order to get credit, the mortgages (or asset) might be sold off at a cheap price. They eventually did not get back the investment return they intend to make. They called it 'sub-prime mortgage' credit crisis.

4. In the first place, where did the banks get the money to loan out to the home buyers? From the public, or from other banks. They do it through selling bonds to them. In Singapore, the investors bought 'mini bond' of Leighman Brothers through local banks.

5. As the cash liquidity problem surfaced due to the 'sub-prime' crisis and the banks cannot afford to pay back their creditors (creditor is investor who buy their bonds or investment products hoping to reap a return), they filed for bankcrupcy to protect themselves legally and declare they could not pay back their creditors. As a result, the public make losses of their investment.

6. What is the lesson I learned on investment and money management through this financial crisis?

a. There is risk in whatever investment we make. The banks or financial planners are well trained and equiped to persuade people to buy their products but they never emphasize on the risk involved. Therefore, when I decide to invest, I have to study the financial product they offer thoroughly to make an informed decision.

b. I read Matthew 25:14-28. This passage teaches me some very important principles in terms of personal financial management.

• Our money does not belong to us. They are God's asset. (v.14) This is a very important understanding and value we should uphold.
• God gives us money according to our ability. Some get more and some get less. (v.15) This is God's sovereity.
• God wants us to be faithful to reap a return for His money. We do not please Him (v. 26) if we are lazy and do nothing about our money. (v.16-30)

c. The followings are my personal monetary policies and I want be a faithful servant of God's asset:

• Rom 13:8 teach me to let no debt remain outstanding. I will aggressively to pay off my tuition fee loan by year 2009 or earlier.
• I will give to God faithfully. The money I give to Him will be used to run the church's operation and extend His kingdom.
• I will spend to bless people and do God's ministry.
• I will continue to support my family financially and pay the home-loan installment.
• I will save money to invest and grow myself hollistically to be an effective servant of God, e.g. I will save money to go for Thai Camp '09, Adult Camp '09 to refresh myself spiritually. I will save money to go for short term holiday in Thailand after the camp to relax and build friendship with people I travel with. I will spend to buy a digital camera for blogging purpose. I will buy books and whatever that is useful to help me grow.
• I will review my saving / investment in financial products soon.

7. What are the things you learned through this financial crisis? What kind of investment you think will reap good return in future? Gold, property, etc...? I would like to hear from you.