Convocation Pics!!

Millionaire to be!!

In fact everyone should be a millionaire if you start investing young!

Target:

30 yrs old $180k
40 yrs old $700k
50 yrs old $1.8m

Conservative estimates! I will report back in 7 years time to tell you if I've hit the first milestone. =)

The flip side is - doesn't quite look like I can become a MULTI-millionaire. How??

Blogging once in a blue moon

Updates:

- I've gotten the Rosie Heng-Koh Poh Choo Gold Medal for Human Resource Management! A really big surprise and a great honour to get any book prize / gold medal, especially coming from Michael Heng and co!

- Convocation is on the 26 July at 10am, ceremony 10 at Nanyang Auditorium. Welcome all friends and gifts and bears and flowers haha, okie just kidding! Can take pictures together!

- Started work back at RSAF since May actually. Lamenting on my stagnated pay and admin inefficiency that cost me.

- Went on a short one week holiday to Bangkok and Phuket in June with Philifer to unwind, sightsee and shop!

- Rowed for NJ Alumni last wkend for SDBF at Bedok Reservoir. The 10-men 'B' boat got into the inter corporate final, while the other teams fought hard. Plenty of problems in the alumni team to be sorted out. Don't like politics I just wanna row.

- Minor ankle sprain during a casual street soccer game, did not warrant any MC :p

- Passed my IPPT before the ROVW deadline.

Want to

- Apply for credit cards with lotsa dining discounts!

- Buy a non camera PDA handphone with Wifi, GPS, good multimedia abilities. Dopod P800 looks good, any comments anyone?

I got my FIRST class!

Hooray! Really a pleasant surprise and I'm glad I did not slack off for my final sem! The feeling is ecstatic, especially not knowing our own standing for the 4 long years at NTU!

It actually exceeded my own expectations. Gave me a sense of achievement for the 4 years spent working to this degree. =)

Passed my IPPT!

Yah I know itz no big deal! Haha but after my ROVW last year it is a relief to pass at the first attempt this year, and almost getting a silver! Hmm, I will try harder to improve my 2.4 timing to get that extra 100 bucks, they come in handy! ;)

Met Benjamin Chew and some other AEOs at the IPPT at SBAB this morning. Not bad had a chance to catch up and understand more about how people are doing at base level. He got his Nissan Latio, pearl purple, quite chio! Haha I wish I can get one too!

FYP is finally done. I've submitted my hardcopy report to Prof Lee and the abstract through the library electronically. But it was a chore really, had to download the VPN to submit successfully. I supposed that's the end for my NTU life, as I walked through the south spine one of the last times on my way out today... Au revoir NTU et mes amies! Merci pour tout!

And announcement of 0.5 months bonus with $220 for civil servants! Hooray, but I think I will get peanuts again after pro-rating. Sianz. Hope my results come out soon, then I can fax to AMD asap and emplace me.

And I signed up to row for SDBF for NJ alumni. The club looks like in trouble and I hope a half-fit me can help. Actually kinda scared for the upcoming trainings - 25 mins slow run then 2 hrs sprint trainings. The last time I did these were in year 2. But I will try my best, as usual. Hope we can return to winning ways, if not perform respectably! C'mon we are NJ alumni! Everyone is a champion with so many extra db gold medals at home. We just need to ignite that innate potential to terrorize our opponents again! *ROAR*

VisualDNA

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Moving back home

After 4 years on my own in NS and university, I am back home again.

It's supposed to be good that I have dinner prepared and laundry done, and no more chores like sweeping and cleaning my room, but seemed to lose something.

Lost an independence. My handphone actually starts ringing if I hang out later with my friends. *shrugz* Yup I know my mother is concerned about me, but I know how to take care of myself.

Lost a privacy. Need some personal space at times but there's no longer a place I can hole up alone anymore.

Lost some friends. Okie not exactly a loss, but used to be able to find people go for dinner and jogging by shouting out loud, but now everyone is apart.

Oh well, oh well. May be back to living out soon if I opt to stay-in for my ALOC. A money-saving option, given that all meals can be indented. We shall see.

Team Gathering at Pan Pac Hotel

What can a big group of guys and girls do in a 5-star hotel room?

Team gathering lah. Haha... Met up njcanoeists at the Pan Pacific thanks to organiser Shihui, though her info dissemination leaves much to be desired. An upscale chalet really, with "I have never..." and lotsa drinks to intoxicate our livers. Unhealthy, but we don't really care.

Really had fun, with old and new jokes infiltrating the room. Bunch of greats friends to have! Too bad it's mother's day today and I didn't want to stay.

I don't need a voyeur!

I hope you are reading this, because I am going to articulate in no uncertain terms for my bust-up.

Please for goodness sake show respect for people's privacy. Of course people are curious and dun mind a little gossip every now and then, but if you keep doing it despite being warned, you are asking for it.

We have our own reasons to keep things under wraps, and I don't owe anyone any reason.

In concrete terms, these are what I hate:

1. Peeping into my phone when smsing.

I confronted you about it before. Your answer of "unintentional" is totally unacceptable, though at that time I did not want to pursue. It is basic courtesy not to look when people are smsing, or is it not obvious to you? It has to be intentional to notice clearly who the sender of the msg is and what I am writing.

2. Announcement to the whole grp BEHIND my back.

I am not rich nor famous, I don't need paparazzi. My privacy is totally intruded! Please!

3. Constant probing.

You may not realise it, but your msn messages are prying into our privacy. Move on, we are an open secret why ask the obvious and keep harping on it?

4. Jumping to conclusion

God knows what kinda conspiracy theories you weaved to Phil. We are not what you make us out to be. And if you are MAN enough, it's men's talk! Don't have to go back to bug her! And then there's Jo last time too. C'mon, we settle it b/w us!

I have been tolerant enough. I ignored, acted blur and swallowed these crap. But there is a limit to how much I can stomach. What happened is a culmination of all the above and not your perception that I am unhappy you two chatted. We are all mutual friends, and I certainly hope that we remain so.

Spare me all these nonsense, PLEASE!

The weighty issue about SAF

I'm in danger of losing my performance bonus and promotion! Heard from the chief clerk at ALS-UC that failing to pass the BMI will have severe penalty!

Rumours say that the BMI passing mark will be lowered from the current 27 to 25 after the new CDF took over! After some calculation, I still need to cut 3 - 4 kg to pass my BMI... Haiz why why...

Actually BMI doesn't measure much. It doesn't account for pple with greater bone density, or people who are more muscular and hit the gym more often. Maybe SAF should consider using a combination of BMI and body fat percentage to determine the status of a serviceman's healthy weight.

Hey, I am not only defending myself okie! I am trying to speak in all fairness and as objectively as possible!

I don't wanna go Lim Chu Kang

S.I.A.N.

"Noise travel upwards....." What a joke!

Getai noise should be assessed objectively
by Richard Seah Siew Sai

Published on ST on 21 April

"In my earlier letter, I pointed out that there are objective and scientific ways of measuring sound levels, in terms of decibels. Why is getai noise assessed subjectively by police officers? Are these officers aware that noise travels upwards and what might sound acceptable at ground level is much louder on higher floors?"

Hahaha, I just can't help but start laughing when I read this paragraph. If this joker can prove that power increases with distance and height, he will win the next Nobel Prize! What a dumb comment, and ST Forum actually publishes such a lousy article!!

A lazy student's dream...

I was talking to Kenneth yesterday. He is from our EEE batch, skipped IA went for IO and has already finished all his modules. Although I knew he was good, I didn't know he is THAT good - First Class honours, with 65% As.

As he was saying, maybe the fact that he is from the poly batch, went for overseas exchange, and hence taking lesser NTU modules helped him secured his first class more easily. I never thought about this point before, yah maybe, but still kudos to you dude!

Then I started calculating, and I don't have 65% As. Only 50% I think, and took a lot more common engine modules. I think I should be glad to get a 2nd upper...

I think I made things difficult for myself by getting involved in so many activities. The first two years were crazy from a student's point of view. Four times a week training, then was bizmag for hall, all these took up precious time. Sometimes I do wonder, will I be in a better position now if I had just put in some more efforts for my studies. Regret? Maybe.

I think scoring that few more As were within my grasp if I worked harder. Then maybe first class is not so elusive then.

On hindsight, I think I would be better off at NUS with their cap system. If one is consciously aware of maintaining their cap at 4.5, I will plan and study and make sure that I get that 4.5 in the end. Afterall, I consider myself quite systematic and methodological to carry out my plans.

Bleah, just moaning. And dreaming too! I think this semester has been really good, and I am hopeful of doing very well indeed. Will a last surge send me up a notch? Hmm cross my fingers and pray.

If if doesn't come true in the end, at least I left NTU with a minor in CS, fluency with French, knowledge of German, and a double IVP athlete.

I am bored

Today is my last technical paper in NTU - Digital Communications! By 3pm I will be FREE! Haha

Yup and I am very bored now. I don't think I am very good in this module, but I have done all the revisions, looked through the notes and tutorials and did a lot of past year papers! So if the profs come out with the routine questions, I should be able to do well.

That's the beauty of the Singaporean system isn't it? Not too smart, but practice make perfect. Yup I am officially quitting this system soon!! Haha, can't wait to graduate!

Focus, it's the final lap!

In 15 days! That's the amount of time for me to finish my FINAL exam in NTU!

17 April:
HW310 - Prof Comm
EE4110 - Optical Comm System Design

18 April:
EE4839 - Fiber Optics Comm

19 April:
EE4152 Digital Comm

26 April:
LG80 - German 1

Yup actually the first 3 days are the most difficult, with all my technical subjects! German is pretty much in cruise control.

Final semester, a little nostalgic of school life actually, but at the same time looking forward to starting work. At least Ah Lee is going to give me a little pay rise after giving himself $0.6million more.

Surprisingly, I don't feel the stress this semester. Partly because I followed the courses very closely the whole while, started revision early, and simply because this semester is peanuts compared to the last when I had to labour through 8 modules!

I am actually done with all the theory and lecture notes, though some parts do require a little more attention. I think all that's left is to do the Singaporean ten-year-series method, work through the past year exam papers, need to be fast and accurate!

I need a target: 6As! I haven't been a bang these 4 years, but at least let the final burst be that big bang!

Need to do some critical thinking

The topic for today is - Ministerial Pay.

I googled and did a short research on the salary of some world leaders.

British PM: £127,334 + £60,277 as a Member of Parliament
US President: US$400 000
French President: 6 594 € per month ~ 80 000 € per year
Singaporean PM: $1.2M or there about

Anyway, I happened to find an explanation to this by the ministry of finance as well. Not very convincing in my opinion.

The formula currently pegs the salary of our ministers to the median of the top 8 earners from 6 professions. (FYI, the engineers are the worst paid group of the 6) As PM Lee recently pointed our, the ministerial salary should be $2.2M should the formula be applied stringently.

Honestly, I have no doubts about the capabilities of our leaders. We have to acknowledge that these men and women are able to command a salary in that range should they have decided to go into the private sector. The purpose of this salary peg is then to retain talent for the civil service to chart Singapore's growth.

Sounds pretty logical, except that the civil service is perhaps driven by different set of motivations. If money is the motivation, why be a politician? A top-rung insurance agent can also earn that amount of money, and I am pretty convinced that our ministers got great persuasive powers.

The civil service has an altruistic dimension, in improving the lives of people, in making this place a better home for all of us. All these are invaluable and can never carry a tangible price tag. Nobody would disagree about the importance of their excellent work, yet when a price has to be put on that, people shudders at the thought of top of the scale renumerations.

This is because the civil service is a not-for-profit organization. The performance of a politician cannot be measured solely on economic terms. Maybe a distant example, but the pay package of TT Durai should serve as a reminder of how people change their perception of renumeration for non-profit organisations' leaders.

Now, pegging the salary of the ministers against the top earners in the private sector is dangerous. Already, people question about the "ironness" of a civil servant's rice bowl. If this iron rice bowl is now gold-plated with the riches of the private world, would we be attracting the wrong kind of people into politics?

The earning potential in the private sector is probably unlimited, and their salaries can only get expectedly bigger. But the Government's budget is limited, and the general rate of salary increase of the taxpayers cannot surpass this elite group. Simply we will have a population which enjoys moderate income growth paying for the supersonic increase in ministerial pay. In this light, this formula is doomed to fail, and is made for creating stirs the day it was approved.

Strange enough, the notion of civil service pay increase seems focused on the top brass until now. It is as if that the work of the top hierarchy is all that matters! As the largest employer in Singapore, it is too easy to demean the work of all the other rank and file civil servants. If the leaders produce stellar results year in year out, doesn't that mean that he has a capable team under him. Then, shouldn't we peg their salaries to the top 48 earners in their domain too? Yet it is an open secret that civil servants' overall pay package tapers off and lags significantly behind their private counter parts.

I think the rhetoric is clear. If the entire structure of civil servants has to suffer from lower renumeration, why should it be any different for the ministerial leaders? In fact, anyone of a good calibre who works for the civil service can possibly get a better-paid and similar position out there in the private sector. The civil service is effective and efficient as a WHOLE, so stop differentiating the ministers as if they were superhuman beings!

Been a long time...

I was typing lotsa long paragraphs everyday, but not for this blog, instead itz for my fyp report. Things are coming finally to an end soon, though prof lee just msned me that my report need to cut quite a bit, but neva elaborate. Shrugz.

Been so busy, hardly having time for myself. Couldn't join shihui and the rest at Wala yst night; haven't went to macritchie to run in quite a while, I think Derrick will struggle again the next time we meet up; no time to play mahjong and catch up with my jc mates.

Really can't wait for this sem to finish. With so little modules left, I actually feel quite comfortable and confident of doing fine. Little worried over my fyp grade though. Felt like I gave my best efforts actually. Am happy working with all the guys and girls, but it appears that some of them are nursing differences now. Hmm hope all's well in the end, been a good yr working with and knowing all of them, though things got too gossipy for my liking recently.

Okie just a casual entry to tell you im still alive and kicking! Bis dann!

Market Correction, Poorer, and More Determined to be CFA

There is a global stock market correction correction, triggered by falls in the Chinese market. From what I gather so far, it is regarded as a healthy correction for overbought markets for the last yr or so, with fundamentals still solid.

Another reason for the massive selling is the increase in interest rates by 0.25% by BOJ. With many hedge funds borrowing yen to buy, they are now selling their stocks to repay the yen loans. It is term "unwinding" of yen trade.

BUT, I am just regurgitating what I read elsewhere. I was a few hundred bucks richer last two weeks, but this healthy correction wiped out my small little profits from my single UT. But I am not losing sleep over it.

Seriously, this market correction makes me realize how ignorant I am, and I still dared to put money into UTs. It has strengthened my desire to pick up more financial skills and to earn the chartered financial analyst (CFA).

The CFA should serve as a useful qualification should i decide to switch career after my bond, and at the very least I will be able to make my money work harder for me.

My lunar birthday, and the end of term break...

Yup today is 元宵节, and it is my lunar birthday. Haha actually only my mother celebrate my Chinese birthday with me, and we had chilli crap and zi char at the kopitiam near my place. Simple fare and lotsa calories! :p

***

The term break is over in a wink. Not an especially productive semester break considering that most other people are busy writing their FYP reports.

***

Went to the career fair at Suntec over the wkend just to have a look around. Talk to some stat boards and companies and they all told me last yr's bonuses were good, between 4 - 7 months. Wow, so much more than the 2.2 months that the civil servants received!

The only consolation was that it was headline news on ST saturday edition that ministerial and civil servants' pay will rise this year. Looking forward to an increase in starting pay, coupled with a increase in CPF rates to 14.5%, I think it is not too bad a year to start working. =)

***

Been entertaining myself watching youtube and crunchyroll lately. Trying to make use of my increased bandwidth with Maxonline subscription. Haha. In the process of watching this Korean drama called "Wedding" starring Jang Nara. Not bad, simple and touching romance with lotsa twists. Been catching Hana Kimi too on youtube before it started airing on Ch U recently.

Inflationary pressures at work, long before the GST hike set in

It is normal for hawkers to raise their prices during the CNY holidays because they work throughout this festive period to serve up food, but this year, they aren't reverting back to the pre-CNY prices. The increase is permanent!

Although the GST hike to 7% will not be effected in another few months' time, the hawkers at the market at my place have already taken the liberty to raise their prices. The vegetarian bee hoon was $1.50, now itz $2; lor mee and laksa was $2, now itz $2.50.

Erm, now my GST offset package can't pay for 7 years of increased GST because the absolute cost of living has risen!

And an article in ST today says "inflation surprising tame in January." Try doing the same report for Feb after the concrete announcement by Lee.

Actually, I dun even know why am I writing this. Can't really blame the merchants since itz a legitimate one-time excuse to increase prices across the board thanks to the govt angbao. Just grumbling.

Now I've lost the last $1.50 bee hoon I know of. =|