Singapore - Self Improvement Blog

A Turbulent First Quarter

2011-04-10T23:04:00.000-07:00

Contrary to some Fengshui Masters who use Chinese horoscope and geomancy to predict the behaviour of the stock market, the "calm" Rabbit year started the year rather turbulently. For the past two months, we have seen unrelated events, cascading to result in a mini crisis. In late January, there was a huge continuous selldown of Asian markets by large fund managers for 3 weeks. Before it ended, there was Middle East crisis heating up when Libya's unrest unwinding into a civil war. Crude oil prices shot past 2-year high and that caused great concerns to the recovery pace of the world economy. About when the oil prices eased a little with OPEC members' commitment to top up supply from Libya's shortfall, there was then a sudden Mother Nature's savage of a wrenching earthquake and treacherous tsunami that destroyed many parts of Japan, the 3rd largest world economy. All three unprecedented events sent the STI index to a double bottom of a 6-month low of 2921 points. I guess that's bad enough for many investors who got caught in a false confidence at the beginning of the new year when everything was painted all so rosy.

For those who held faith in the market, or who had capitalized on bargain hunting, the market always proves to be merciful. It did a spectacular recovery of more than 260 points in a short 3-week span. You would be helping your heart if you had hibernated out of the market for the last 3 months and opening to see your screen now, saving yourself the treacherous ride of the market; now that the STI has come close to last year's end closing of 3190 points. Phew! It was a 5-digit roller-coaster ticket price for me.

Now looking at the global economy, fundamentally is still unchanged. Broad-based economics still show an uptrend in a global recovery. US is still reporting improving sales and employment figures. The Dow Jones and S&P 500 indexes were showing continued uptrend which was momentarily disrupted by the recent crises. The US presidential election is slated to be held near the end of 2012. The government is not expected to do unfavourable measures to upset the market, especially when it is on its third year of running since the last election, as illustrated by previous election cycles. China is poised to contain its inflationary rate between 3-4% this year.

However, in a short to medium term view, there lies several risks which may hamper global economic growth and negative impact to the market.

Japan, suffering from a triple whammy disaster, will spend the next few years rebuilding its nation. As a world supplier of many advanced technologies like microchip and automobile, related industries are going to feel the ripple effect from a serious shortfall of supply. The government has to sort out the urgent need of restoring power back to factories.

The Quantitative Easing 2 (QE2) fund injection of the US Fed is ending by mid of 2011. If there is no deterioration of the US economy, no fresh injection of funds would be expected further. Less hot money would be free flowing in and out of market. Furthermore, the Fed would start to increase the interest rates amid an improved economy. It would then be less attractive for fund managers to borrow from banks and invest into equities.

If crude oil price continues its relentless upward trend, it is certainly going to derail the recovery of the global economy.

Market Comments by Economist Dr CY Chan

2011-03-03T09:56:00.000-08:00

I have extracted an article, written in chinese and translated to english, by Dr CY Chan, a program director in City University of Hong Kong. He is a well known figure as an advisor to many enterprises and a frequent public speaker about world economics:

3 March 2011

"Dear Friends
The stock market fell heavily for the first two months in 2011. Many small punters did not believe the the market would fall andwent in, hoping the market would rebound. Indeed there was no logical reason why the market should fall. Singapore economy is doing well and the government in its budget is paying out financial goodies to the people. US stocks keep rising to two years’ new high. There is no reason for Singapore stock market to fall. In my opinion, the only reason for the market to fall because too many people think there is no reason for it to fall.
Thus, many individual short term punters gamble on market’s rebound, gamble on derivative instruments in particular, hoping to have good returns with small capital outlay. But we cannot deny the big punters with their financial backing are able to
press the stocks until the small punters to surrender and give up. I believe in fundamental analysis. The fundamentals did not turn sour during the past two months. I cannot guess and do not want to guess the market’s short term fluctuations. Now is best to patiently wait for the corporate results which support the stock prices. Listed companies are going to announce their corporate results; those companies with good improved profits would make their stock prices look cheap as PE ratio would be much lower to attract investment interest. The Jasmine Revolution that started in Tunisia has spread like wild fire, engulfing North Africa and all the Arab countries in the Middle East. Tunisia is still in turmoil since the president stepped down. Egypt is under the control of military junta. Oil producing Libya is out of control. German and British oil companies have begun to evacuate their staff. In other word, oil production has stopped. Peoples of Iran, Bahrain, Yemem and Jordan demonstrate to overthrow the governments. Midde East and North Africa countries can be grouped into oil and non oil producing ones. US only concerns with who is who governing the oil producing countries. North Africa and Middle East cooutries can also be grouped into pro US and anti US. US, under the internal pressure of own people will oppose pro US governments to use force to surpress the demonstrations; therefore chances of these pro US regimes being overthrown are greater. Anti US groups will surely use force to clamp down the demonstrations; these regimes will not collapse without bloodshed. Many years ago the fanatic Gaddafi openly financed and supported Muslim extremists. Then one day US fighters flew over Lybian sky and started bombing with intent to kill him. Gaddafi, escaped and his life spared, became tamer since. Later when US invaded Iraq, Gaddafi got scared, and began to communicate with Western countries. There are US and European oil companies exploring Lybian oil fields today.
The unrests in Middle East and North Africa give US headaches. The locality is the largest global oil export region. Rising oil price will lead to price hike in other commodities. US is now in the wake of economic recovery and can ill afford continuous rising oil price that may lead to what the economists termed stagnation.
What is stagnation? It is where vicious inflation and recession happen at the same time. It happened in the 70s of the last century once due to certain rise in oll price. A price rise is either due to demands increase or supplies decrease, a simple economic concept. If the price rise is due to increase in demands, the issue is not so crittcal as it signifies economic prosperity; people have more money to spend
(though it may be due to printing of currency notes). People do not grumble that much if inflation is due to booming economy. In this case, only the less competitive and weaker group needs to be taken care of. If the price rise is the result of short supplies, then except for a few hoarders, most people whose income remains static will suffer as income lags behind rising prices. Consumption and expenditure will be cut, and economic recession follows. Should US economic recovery is hindered by rising oil price, global stock markets will be adversely affected. More frequent turbulences they are in Middle East the better it is for China. The 911 attack in 2001 was the watershed for China. President Bush’s all out efforts to counter terrorism altered his foreign policy. China became the world factory during Bush’s 8 years tenure. In order to have China against terrorism, Bush supported China’s entry to World Trade Organisation, thus opened up US market to China. As a result not a single US factory that originally rolled out cowboy jeans remaind in business. When Obama was elected, US foreign policy changed again. US is trying to woo Muslin countries, getting ready to pulll out from Iraq, liken China as an adversary. Nontheless, America had to ceremoniously welcome China’s Hu Jing Tao on his visit to US in return for financial aids. Inspite of this, the US foreign strategy to contain China has been formulated. Should the dictatorship Middle East regimes collapse one after another and these regimes ruled by Muslim fundamentalists, US foreign policy may yet change again. Obama is now trying to find a suitable pro US candidate to govern Egypt. Obama has no more energy to trade waring with China. The 20 nation finance minister forum on global inbalnce is over. It is conspicuously a meeting of tussle between Western fully developed nations and newly developing nations. Western fully developed nations have gathered some evidences to accuse the newly developing nations for causing the economic inbalance to prosperity at the expense of the fully developed nations. In other word the fullty developed nations are using all kinds of pretexts to blame the newly developing nations for their economic woes. Will the developing nations keep quiet? Not so. Yet to ignore the accusations means each goes its own way. Fully developed nations will exercise protectionism. As a compromise, Chinese finance minister suggested using trade accounts in lieu of exchange rates and foreign reserves as the benchmark. The G20 meeting was an important meeting that would have far reaching consequences to China’s government policy to avoild being accused as the chief culprit of economic inbalance. In short, China will have to increase imports by lowering import tariff to counter her strong exports. The moment when the G20 meeting ended, rumours had it that China would be lowering the import tariff for cometics and milk powder. Take a note of it."

Singapore Entrepreneur - Asian Market Savage

2011-02-16T18:30:00.000-08:00

You might have noticed or became a victim of the recent heavy selling in the stock market since the end of Jan. This is not only happening to Singapore market, but all Asian markets, except Japan, which suffered heavy losses too. As mentioned before, Asian markets had a good run in 2010, mainly due to their exceptional recovery from the global crunch in 2008 and hot money pouring from the US and Europe. Now, fund managers are re-considering their exposures in Asia, amid escalating inflation in the region. Authorities in China and South Korea are scrambling to impose higher interest rates to curb the problem. Such measures usually spook investors and they start wondering if the authorities would be able to be in control of the situation. Meanwhile, while Asian governments are scratching their heads over the next measure to impose, fund managers decide to withdraw their funds and plough back into the US and European markets, where there are still sweet growth story. Advanced economies grew 3% in 2010, less than half the pace of Asian economies which grew at 7.1%. Most fund managers think it is catch-up time for these economies. Over the last 3 weeks, these fund managers withdrew a staggering US$7.02B out Asian markets. The movement started out with an excuse to pull the stock market down during the Egypt crisis. After a false rally, the fund managers then started their concerted actions to continuously sell down the market. This amount to date, is the largest fund withdrawal in 3 years. Looking the today's stock market, the music does not seem to have stopped yet. It is expected to last for another few weeks. So, don't get trapped again by any false rally or rebound in coming weeks. A false rally is detected by low volume of transaction pushing up the prices. It will then be followed by heaving selling after that. Fund managers are professionals and have large funds under their control. If they want to sell their shares in the market, they have to get the best value out of them. After selling down the market for a few days, they will start buying them back to create a false rally. Other investors who see it as a market recovery, may follow to buy up the shares. When the price is right again, the fund managers would start selling them again to unwitting investors.

Nonetheless, to be a savvy investor, you need to know the happenings in the market. Opportunities lie out there every day. Don't despair on the performance of the market. The market will never die and whatever goes down will come up. If you have the power to hold, look out for oversold stocks. Stay in the sidelines if you are unsure. These companies are still operating healthily and still collecting their profits. Their shares are just being manipulated in the meantime. When investors start to realize their true value of these companies, buying sentiment would then start. In the wider perspective, Asian markets will start attracting back investors once they are convinced that the governments are still on top of their steering wheels. Moreover, the next round of QE2 from FED is expected to pour into the market again. But do keep in mind, if hot money comes in easily, be prepared that it exits also easily too; a phenomenon that is happening exactly now.

Singapore Entrepreneur - Hot Money, Easy Money?

2011-01-27T21:00:00.000-08:00

We have all seen a phenomenal growth in 2010, especially in the East Asia region. Stock market rallied, jobs created, cash registers kept ringing, and countries' GDPs in healthy numbers. It was all a stark contrast comparing with previous years of 2008 and 2009. The recovery was literally a sharp V-shape.

Most of us who have held on our jobs, operating a business, or even invested in the equity market, would have been rewarded by good bonuses, profits or capital gains in 2010. Those who had invested in properties during the downturn would be handsomely rewarded from a rise in property prices.

From a gloom and doom year in 2009 to a stellar year in 2010, who had made all these possible? Are we still going to continue enjoying such healthy growths?

In this article, I am going to describe the phenomenon and analyse the possible scenarios unfolding.

The Great Recession

I am sure you are aware of the 2 big engines of the world economy; the US and China. The US, for all mother nature's sake, was the main cause of the Great Recession of the century. It started in with a thing called Sub-Prime credit crisis. (For more understanding, you can read my previous blogs in the link.) When Mr Barrack Obama just came on board as the US 44th and first black president in Jan 2009, lucky or not, he inherited his country's and the world's largest problem. Within months, he managed to push through a legistration of a US$1.7 Trillion stimulus package to help the faltering US economy. This amount helped bail out some of the world's biggest banks from the brink of collapse. These banks went through major restructuring and cut down their exposures in toxic assets in the US and turned their heads to Asia. European banks, also largely affected by the American crisis, followed suit.

China as the darling of Asia, has been enjoying relentless growth of double-digit GDP for years. Money started pouring from the US into China, seen as the next hope to help the world out of the great mess. The rest of Asia, seen as emerging economies, enjoyed the overflow from investments in China. So in the whole year of 2010, the Asia region was enjoying an influx of 'hot money' from the US and Europe. The US stimulus package spending (called quantitative easing 1 or QE1) officially ended in March 2010.

So did the QE1 help US and the world?

QE1 spending helped the US economy from collapsing further by saving the banks. It contributed significantly Asia's unprecedented growth. However, it is still far from effective in bringing US back to its pre-crisis level. Unemployment figures, albeit decreasing, are still hovering at record high levels. Home prices are still stagnating.

Quantitaive Easing 2 (QE2)

The FED decided to inject another $600 Billion to further stimulate its economy. The amount will be spent from 2nd quarter of 2011. It will be used to purchase Treasury issued bonds from banks like Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan. These money will be used by the banks to loan out or seek further investments for returns. Such money would be expected to again spill into the Asia region as most investors are still hedging on its phenomenal growth.

Where on earth does US get so much money from?

US, being the largest economy in the world does not mean that it has a mountain of savings in its bank. It is like a large business centre which has a big capability in earning money. But all the money invested in its business are borrowed from the world. It issues Treasury bonds, like IOU, to foreign countries like China, who lends it a lot of money in return for interest. This is one way how US raises money to spend. Alternatively, it can simply print money out of mere paper. This is in the case of QE2, where $600 Billion are printed money. The effect of this, is a devaluation of the US currency. The government, however, does not see it as a problem because devaluation of the US dollars would invite higher exports of its products.

How would the QE2 unfold?

The US, for several years, has been complaining about China's stance in artificially devaluating its reminbi. China has, however, repeatedly denied this and is not succumbing to pressure from the US to appreciate its currency. For a long time, China has an unfair advantage of being the world's largest factory where most businesses from the US are outsourcing their production, tapping on its low labour cost. US has no qualms in going ahead with printing $600 Billion out of thin air to save its economy. This has a double effect of devaluing its dollar, thus making US businesses think twice about purchasing China goods with their weaker dollar. China may embark a tit-for-tat action by further supressing its yuan to maintain its currency value against the US dollar. Other major economies, fearing for their higher cost of goods with the weaker dollar may follow suit by printing more of their own currency. This is already evident in Brazil when its government started buying up all US dollars with its Real. When there was not enough, it started printing more of its own notes. If this continues, a major currency war would emerge. The world would be flooded with increasingly worthless currencies and inflation would rocket. Prices of precious metal like gold would also shoot through the roof when people scramble to find safer reserves. Governments around the world would start imposing high interest rates to curb inflation. When this day happens, a major economy apocalypse would have arrived. This time, much worse than the recent global recession.

But before we see the D day, let us see how the $600 Billion would affect us, people from Asia. Again, hot money would start pouring from the US. We may see further gains in the stock markets and other assets. But do remember that Asia has seen a sharp growth in 2010. Investors may start to see limited upside for Asia's growth in 2011. As hot money has entered into the Asia so easily, it may also exit easily to find better investments outside Asia.

Let us look at the charts below and analyse the behaviour of the equity markets in recent months. The first chart is the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), second is the Hang Seng Index (HSI) and the third is the Straits Times Index (STI). Each blue eclipse highlights the trading period between Oct 2010 and Jan 2011. The DJIA shows a clear uptrend, while the HSI and STI show sideway trend. In recent trading days, HSI and STI have also been lacklustre in performance despite DJIA seeing several days of rally. These patterns may be exhibiting some early signs of what I have mentioned; hot money exiting Asia and going back to the US. DJIA performance has lagged behind Asia's indexes by more than 20% in 2010 and it may be a catch-up time now. Moreover, this year's hot topic in Asia is about rising inflation, which may put off many investors.

So going forward, while we continue to enjoy the economic growth in 2011, let's not be complacent and always keep a watchout for any sudden market change. Happy investing!

Singapore Entrepreneur - Latest Property Cooling Measures

2011-01-18T08:58:00.000-08:00

Ok. The Singapore government is really coming down hard this time on property speculation. Let us swallow and digest the facts here and analyse what are the possible consequences.

The overwhelming response from the latest launch at Loft@Holland, just before the news was released, evidently showed that the previous 3 rounds of cooling measures had not dampened the mood of property investors. It averagely attracted 3 keen buyers to 1 unit, which resulted in a fully sold project within 2 hours after balloting.

There was a knee jerk reaction from the market after the news release. Many buyers retracted from deals almost signed on the dotted line or even forfeited the option fees. They are expecting a fall in prices in the following months with the slew of tough changes.

For a $1M purchase of a private home, if it were to be a 2nd (or more) property, the maximum loan approved by bank would be 60%, or $600,000. This means that you have to fork out a minimum of $400,000 upfront in both CPF and cash. For middle income earners, this is a sheer amount not to be trifled with. If you intend to let go within a year after the purchase, the Seller's Stamp Duty (SSD) will be 16% of purchase price, which equates to $160,000. This means that you need sell at least 20% above your buying price just to break even, not forgetting other costs like Buyer's Stamp Duty, legal fees and bank early redemption charges.

For a small property investor like me, it is certainly coming on me from all corners. One thing for sure, I will be out of the game for now.

The new rules are certainly going to put a hard brake on price and sales volume. The mass to mid-level market private condominiums and landed properties are going to be the worst affected. For the following months to come, it will be a stage of tough standoff between buyers and sellers. Sellers have the ability to withhold their properties with their financial abilities. Buyers have cash but will hold on to see if prices start to fall further. Property developers, who are keen to letting go their new projects may start the ball rolling by offering perks to potential buyers. But since the government measures are slated, developers have already long factored in their costs and would unlikely compromise in their selling prices anytime soon. For the following months to come, prices are expected to be flat while transaction volumes coming down sharply.

Slowing sales volume in the private sector would likely have a trickle down effect on HDB sales. Cash-over-valuations (COV) would be expected to ease further while prices would continue to hold.

On the other end of the market, which comprises high end condominiums and landed properties, would be the least impacted from the measures. This sector, not restricted to foreign buyers, often attract sophisticated overseas investors with high net worth. Prices would likely continue to grow at a healthy level with a lot of money pumped into the Asian region. Comparatively, Singapore property prices are still lower compared to properties in cities like Hong Kong and Shanghai.

In summary, the Singapore government's agenda is to encourage first-time buyers or upgraders, weed out property speculators and invite foreign investments into the local market. Afterall, its primary interest is to protect the people from being blinded by low interest rates and ever increasing property prices, resulting in a property bubble burst. The consequence would be unimaginable.

Singapore Entrepreneur - Latest 2011 Property Cooling Measures

2011-01-13T14:13:00.000-08:00

"The government has announced on Thursday (13 Jan 2011) the fourth round of property cooling measures to 'maintain a stable and sustainable property market'.

They include:

1) Increasing the holding period for imposition of Seller's Stamp Duty (SSD) from the current three years to four years;

2) Raising the SSD rates to 16 per cent, 12 per cent, 8 per cent and 4 per cent of consideration for residential properties which are bought on or after Friday, and are sold in the first, second, third and fourth year of purchase respectively;

3) Lower the Loan-To-Value (LTV) limit to 50 per cent on housing loans granted by financial institutions regulated by MAS for property purchasers who are not individuals

4) Lower the LTV limit on housing loans granted by financial institutions regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore from 70 per cent to 60 per cent for property purchasers who are individuals with one or more outstanding housing loans at the time of the new housing purchase.

The measures will take effect on Friday. "

Copyright © 2010 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

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The news is finally released after some long anticipation. It is going to be a hot topic for the next few days. I am rather surprised that they are releasing it so early and implementing it almost immediately. It looks like the government is really hot behind the heels of property speculators. It is certainly going to irritate some investors and put off many people out of the property market. But, it's better to do it now then later. Remember, it's a year of the General Election. This is expected to be held after the 2nd half of the year. It is understandable for the government to impose the rule early to allow negative sentiments to subside in 6 months. Afterall, people would start to realize and appreciate that their dear government is doing it for everyone's good.

If you have been picking up the newspapers daily for the last couple of months, you would have realized that many pleasant news and plans are being published. Big plans like rejuvenating old heartlands like Hougang and Balestier, new MRT extension to Tuas area and big Budget surplus to benefit most lower income people. In my neighbourhood, there are ongoing sprucing up of roads and pavements, and even the HDB blocks around getting a new fresh coat of paint after 5 years.

I guess everyone should know what to do when the time comes, right? Who else can we choose...?

Singapore Entrepreneur - Latest 2011 Property Cooling Measures

2011-01-13T14:10:00.000-08:00

Market Outlook for 2011

2011-01-02T04:30:00.000-08:00

We went through a topsy turvy year of 2010. The first half of the year appeared to continue the gloom of 2009 where there was much speculation of a double dip recession happening in US. There was sudden news about Dubai economy nearly falling apart. Europe was not spared the rod either with Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain dragging the Eurozone into credit crisis. In the second part of the year, things appeared to look better with better employment figures and improving home prices in the US. What's more, the Barrack Obama administration, inspired by its first stimulus package during the global depression in 2008, decided to further boost its slow moving economy by injecting another US$900 billion (dubbed QE2), to buy up treasury bonds. The immediate reaction to that was the euphoria felt by stock markets in the world. On the other side of the world, is China, still enjoying an ever red hot economy. The whole of East Asia was enjoying the spillover effects from China. Global investors, attracted by the turbocharged economy of Asia, started pouring hot money from the US into the region.

In Singapore for 2010, we have seen phenomenal economic growth of 14.7%, a figure not seen since for the last 20 years. We have also seen an unstoppable rise in property prices, passed the last peak in 2007. So what lies ahead for us in 2011?

If you have been following news and analysts' forcasts, most are still bullish about the world economy. The IMF forecasts that the world economy would grow at 4.3% for 2011 compared to 4.2% for 2010. Although most are painting a brighter picture, they are putting words of caution with the Eurozone crisis still hovering and US still struggling to pull itself out of its stagnating economy.

Inflation will be the hottest topic for the year while crude prices are expected to reach the high of US$100 per barrel, a record breached in 2007. Signs of these have already shown up before 2010 came to a closure. China, has already taken measures to increase interest rates to curb rising prices of its commodities. My Hong Kong friend cited that in recent months, mainland chinese are swarming into the territories to buy up daily necessities like fruits, vegetables and diapers with their appreciating Yuan against HK dollars. For those car owners in Singapore, you would have experienced at least 3 times of petrol price hike in the last 2 months.

How about the red hot property in Singapore? It has surpassed the previous peak in 2007. The Singapore goverment has already put in several measures to weed out speculations. With still gravity defying property prices, the government is expected to come in soon again to further dampen the speculation mood. Latest index has shown that HDB prices are still on the rise, while mass market condos are easing. Landed houses and high-end apartments have just started its rise. The government has reiterated that it wants an affordable home to all Singaporeans. It has the utmost duty to moderate home prices and while allowing them to beat inflation.

As an investor, I update myself with news, check on stock market behaviour and network with industry players to be aware of what is going on around.

Let us take a simple view of the Straits Times Index (STI) performance over 2010 in order to forecast a 2011 behaviour. Refer to the topmost chart seen above. This is the STI performance between June and Dec 2010. If we draw 2 parallel blue lines to coincide with most highs and lows, they look clearly in an ascending pattern. This is what Chartists call an uptrend. If you refer to the end of the line (highlighted by the blue eclipse) which shows a downward direction, it is still not at a dangerous low. A dangerous low will be when it is crossing the lower parallel line. A 2011 market will be expected to be choppy. If the STI line remains within the window of the parallel lines, it would then be a healthy uptrend sign.

Chartists believe that market is always the first to digest information and reacts immediately to it. Chart patterns do not behave randomly but to some specific patterns that can be plotted out. However, as retail investors like us, although it can help us to forecast the future, we should not be too engrossed in only one camp of thought. We should open our eyes and ears to look for other indicators.

In my point of view, the 2011 will await signals on how US will help itself recover from recession and how the Eurozone crisis will unfold. The market will continue its 2010 behaviour when it was very sensitive to any grim news. China economy will also be closely tracked for any changes from impact of its policy change.

As for the Singapore property outlook, it is rather certain that the government is coming in with more measures to cool down the sector, as it has mentioned in its previous move. However, it certainly does not intend to kill the market. It has to moderate the growth to beat inflation and yet cannot allow speculations to create a property bubble, like what happened in the US during the sub-prime crisis. Too much hot money has been pouring into Asia from new found wealth around the region. With new immigrants also swarming into Singapore, the government is certainly right to regulate on property as it is one of the core investment engines for investors. But do remember that the General Elections is drawing near and the government cannot do absurd measures to its voters' ire. It has to ensure the economy grows healthily and at a moderate pace, get a mandate from its election win and then go back to work as usual.

In my view, the property, although has formed a new high, is not going down anytime soon. Rather the government is putting in measures to prevent it from spiking further up. If you look at the previous troughs in 1997, 2003 and 2008, they coincided with global economic downturns. If the world economy does not meet its nemesis in the few years ahead, the Singapore property is unlikely to see another slum. In fact, we will meet more new highs before we see the next global recession. This phenomenom will be attributed to the ongoing new money and new immigrants we are witnessing today.

Singapore Entrepreneur - Entrepreneur turned Investor

2010-12-22T11:01:00.001-08:00

Hi Guys,

I have been out of action for quite a while now. I have finally left a company which I set up 10 years ago. Now, it is in good hands of a new management team. Ever since, I had not looked back and have been looking for a new chapter of my life. Enriched with many years of business and investment experience, I am now working towards a new direction towards investment.

I have burnt tremendous amount of energy and time into my company over the last 10 years. The blood and sweat I have contributed is like 20 or 30 years equivalence of any other job. It is by no mean feat to build a company from scratch to a successful company. Understandably, I went through a period of emptiness and directionless when I left. I explored many avenues of new businesses. At one point, I was even conned of my money for dabbling into F&B business. I went through many bad patches over the period that I thought dark clouds were following me wherever I go. I even changed some Feng Shui in my house to hopefully chase away the bad spell that was daunting on me.

I recalled that some of the close people around me fell into depression when they lost their jobs during recessions. I told myself that my mind was still clear and will stay sane and keep myself occupied with activities. I started to take up investment and self-improvement courses to motivate myself.

After more than half a year of a stagnated life, I have finally found back my own self and is currently pushing myself towards a new direction.

I realized the whole problem was all about myself. I had been a technical and management person in my job. It's like a occupational hazzard where you keep doing the same thing for many years till it becomes a habit. During my job, I had to crack my brain on technical issues everyday and organise my team and assign jobs for them. When all these were gone, I became lost. My mum, my wife nor my kids didn't understand me when I told them about technical things. They also didn't respond like my guys did when I tried assigning jobs to them. The world was staring emptily back at me. What was I supposed to do?

After much pondering, I started to shift my mentality. Instead of feeling nostalgic of what I used to do daily, I should appreciate on what business knowledge I have gained over the years. The best MBA course in the world couldn't have equipped me with such a deep business knowledge I have today. Since I have this invaluable asset in my brain, why not I capitalize on it?

Today, I declare that I am an Entrepreneur turned Investor. My main interest in investing is in equities and property. Thanks to some gurus in the trade for sharing with me, I am now more ready to go into this direction.

Every person in his entire life goes through ups and downs. It is up to the individual to manage his emotions and thinking. Don't blame in on luck. Everyone is in control of his own destiny.

Singapore Entrepreneur - Blue Ocean Strategy

2010-11-11T11:31:00.000-08:00

I particularly like the definition of this strategy which is described by W.Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne, Professors in strategy and international management at the INSEAD business school. http://www.blueoceanstrategy.com

Continuous competition in a market will lead to price war and oversupply of commoditized products. Brand loyalty will start to decline and profits start shrinking, ending in a bloodbath which is termed as Red Ocean.

The Blue Ocean is a market space which is untested and uncontested. Players trapped in the Red Ocean should seek a path to exit towards the Blue Ocean.

There are four principles in the Blue Ocean strategy:

1. Reconstruct market boundaries
This is to look out for spaces where current competition does not see. You may still be in the same trade, but if you manage to create a new need for people, You will see demand naturally increase. Take the example of the Japanese hairdresser franchise QB House. In the haircut industry, there are different level target markets. Budget conscious men would go for an economical haircut at the barber. More image conscious individuals would go for average class saloon. Other individuals would not even blink an eye on the high price they pay at an upclass hair saloon. QB House ingeniously created a haircut service which fuses between barber and hair saloon. It created a concept with the budget conscious individuals in mind, to provide a hair saloon quality hairstyle at a barbershop price. It revolutionize the idea of haircut and create a new need, thus found itself in the midst of the Blue Ocean where there is no existing similar provider. Although over time, it may see more copycats coming into the sector, it is important to have the first mover advantage. When it sees its Blue Ocean slowly becoming red over time, it must then seek again for the next Blue Ocean. This is what we term as constant Innovation.

2. Focus on the big picture, not the numbers:
The lifeline of a business is always its bottom line revenue and profits. However, business owners must not be led by the nose in its budget. They have to look beyond the current scenario and paint a bigger picture for the business. This usually involves time and more investments into uncharted areas and most people easily shrug off such ideas.

3. Reach beyond existing demand:
Tata Group launched the world's cheapest car, Nano, on 26 Feb 2009, just one year after acquiring two luxurious automobile brands, Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motors at a price tag of US$2.3 Billion. The acquisition allows Tata an immediate access to the premium market of the automobile industry. However, it was not sitting still. It had been eyeing on the untapped middle class families in India, typically seen riding precariously on two wheelers, with children. With more than 100 million of such families in India alone, pricing the Nano at a mere US$2200, it is a sure hit in this sector.

Another great revolutionary product is the Wii TV console game player, launched by Nintendo. For many years, Nintendo has been in a distant far in the lucrative game console market, from Sony's PlayStation and Microsoft's XBox. Nintendo tweaked the idea on gaming by simplifying its console that could entice both young and old in the family to play.

4. Get the strategic sequence right:
In all aspects when seeking for the Blue Ocean, you must be pragmatic. You may be just building castles in the air if certain principles are not adhered to.
- Buyer utility: Is there an exceptional buyer utility in your business idea?
- Price: Is your price practical in the market? You have to ask yourself why your customer would want to pay you that amount you have defined for your product. Existing competitors and substitutes must be also be compared with.
- Cost: Is your cost of production able to meet the expected profit margin?
- Adoption: Why would people want to adopt your new idea? Humans tend to have the comfort-zone intuition. It is not easy to persuade people to change their habits to adopt a new style. This may be the biggest hurdle amongst the four. Awareness and education may be necessary to assure customers.

Singapore Entrepreneur - Money Creation and Destruction

2010-05-19T13:03:00.000-07:00

From the video below you will start realizing that virtual money is being created to feed the world. It's rather scary. If the system falls apart, we will all face another D day.

Watch here

Singapore Entrepreneur - Aliens or Hearthrobs??

2010-05-19T10:57:00.000-07:00

Former French TV heart-throbs look unrecognisable on the red carpet after too much plastic surgery

Look at them in their younger days in the 80's...

Read more:

Singapore Entrepreneur - Hottest February in Singapore - El Nino Effect or Global Warming?

2010-03-02T09:51:00.000-08:00

The mercury has hit 35.2 Degree Celsius! It has been a sweltering hot hot February in Singapore! I couldn't help the environment with the extra carbon footprints I have been contributing from the full blast aircon as soon as I return to my car in the midst of the midday sun. Same when I get back home each evening in a sweat soaked shirt. I would conveniently press the air-con button control to my room.

I would then start reading news articles about the hottest and driest February and El Nino effect in this region in this couple of months. I read news about droughts in several parts of South East Asia and southern China, bush fires affecting the air quality in certain countries. I shudder the thought of global warming. I start to recall the recent climate summit held in Copenhagen. Attended by leaders of 170 countries, no agreement nor conclusions were drawn in the 13 days' meeting. The main reasons for the failure are attributed to different levels of economic development and wealth amongst nations. Even the fear of a world of apocalypse caused by global warming could not instill the urgency amongst the members to compromise and agree to a concerted reduction of carbon emission.

I just wonder if they have chosen the right location and period of the summit, in the first place. Copenhagen, being near the Arctic Circles, has got the coldest weather all year round, not to mention that the summit was held in the winter December, where temperature is at freezing point. How could you imagine what is global warming and ice caps melting when you are freezing under your thick fleece jacket.

I suggest they hold the next summit in our region, right in Singapore, 1 Degree North of Equator. Invite them to our driest, hottest February peppered with some El Nino effect. Hold it at the Siloso beach at 12pm and let them enjoy our tropical sun. Hold it every year in the same month and let them feel the heat each time the mercury hits the next record level. Without the need to say further, I reckon all parties will just sign the agreement unanimously. Let these temperate folks have a taste of what tropical people are facing on this planet.
Until any agreement signed to cool the earth, I will continue to find comfort in my aircon and please pardon me for creating more carbon footprints. I have no choice! I live in the tropics!

Singapore Entrepreneur - Guangzhou Trip

2010-02-19T09:39:00.000-08:00

It was an eye opening trip this time. It was a well-deserved break for me. I met my good friend who was on a business trip in Guangzhou. He brought me around the city and we did some shopping. It is simply an amazing city. Although rather messy and traffic very chaotic, the city is bustling with life. Now I can comprehend what is meant by "strong domestic demand...despite the financial tsunami", often quoted to describe the 3rd largest economy in the world.

I took a public bus from Baiyun International Airport to the railway station downtown. I tried to flag a cab without much success after that. After a while, a man rode up to me in a 3-wheeled scooter. He offered to take me to my destination. Since I was totally unfamiliar with Guangzhou, I sought his help to locate the hotel. He took a while to verify where the hotel was. Then, he quoted me RMB25. I agreed without hesitation. It was about 5km from where we were. He took my large luggage and strapped it on a platform fitted to his scooter. Then here we went. The ride was both scary and exhilarating. We went through highway, back lanes, against traffic and illegal turns. At one point, the machine started choking along the highway. The uncle had to stop and check on the petrol tank. He shook the scooter a bit and checked on a few items. He then appeared to behave suspiciously, peering continuously left and right. I was still sitting. I started to get a little worried, wondering if there was any ulterior motive. Memories of people telling me that Guangzhou's crime rate is high started flashing in my mind. I thought he had accomplice and he deliberately stopped his scooter in the middle of a highway to mug me. Anyway, after less than 5 minutes, he managed to re-start his engine and we moved on again. It was a 20-min ride to my hotel and finally I arrived safe and sound. Phew! I asked him how much again and this time he said RMB30. I just gave him without question. I was just thankful I was safe. The ride was like a James Bond ride on a took took van in Thailand!

Singapore Entrepreneur - Guangzhou Trip - 'contd

2010-02-18T11:03:00.001-08:00

Guangzhou is a vibrant city. It is a city where its tradition is struggling with modernisation. If you take a stroll along the streets, you could see uptown fashion retail shops and fast food outlets on one particular street, and on another, old folks selling anything from live chickens to old pots and pans.

Everyone in Guangzhou seems to be very busy. No one seems to be idling around. Even the unemployeds could find themselves some freelancing jobs which I heard could give them some decent income. The retails shops don't seem to have ever any loading/unloading bays for trucks to offload their goods. This creates opportunities to some enterprising individuals to invest in a trolley or bicycle that could help them transport goods in carton boxes from one place to another. And this is a booming trade. Everywhere I go, I could hear countless of trolley wheels scampering along rough surface of roads. I heard one could earn at least 3000RMB (S$600) a month from this freelancing.

Singapore Entrepreneur - Entrepreneur Reborn

2010-01-18T07:56:00.000-08:00

18 Jan 2010 is my birthday, or rather I call the rebirth of my Entrepreneurship - I have left Wavex Technologies, a company I set up 9 years ago. Since my partners and I sold it to a Hong Kong listed company in 2007, we never looked back. The new management has taken over and I decided to leave the company on 15 Jan 2010. So 18 Jan 2010 is a day that I have set as a new milestone in my life. I have no concrete plans. I gave myself this great challenge to leave my comfort zone of 9 years and explore the world once again. People said I am crazy to leave without a job. To me, it is just my spirit. When there is challenge ahead, I will work even harder. It was a different scenario when I first stepped out of my comfortable job to start up Wavex. I was still single, no house mortgage nor any family burden to worry. If I had failed, I could still easily find another job at that age. Today, I am in my late 30's, an age when most working men start entering into mid-life crisis; I have a wife and 2 young children; I have ageing parents and house mortgage to pay; A comfortable family car which I am most reluctant to give up. Although the wealth that I have may be able to support all these burden for the time being, the time starts ticking from now on. The challenge is to find back my next livelihood. It is a new chapter of my life. I am starting to explore into areas which I have zero experience. I came from a school of hard knocks. So, looking ahead, I am well armed with experience to wade into the unchartered territory. Wish me all the best to my endeavours.

Singapore Entrepreneur - Entrepreneurship Spirit in Singapore

2009-12-20T23:00:00.000-08:00

Great that the entrepreneurship spirit is still burning in Singapore. Read the article.

Singapore Entrepreneur - Market Correction Finally?

2009-10-28T15:05:00.000-07:00

Speak of the devil! Just when I posted yesterday about a possible market correction, the stock markets across the world plunged today. Could it be the long awaited correction? It could jolly well be. It is so dishearting to see the indices all in the sea of red. But looking beyond that, it looks like a healthy correction. At least prices are trying to align with fundamentals. Continue to monitor the situation before taking the plunge immediately. It could a small window of opportunity to dive in or it could be another bear trap.

Singapore Entrepreneur - Aspiring Entrepreneur's Forum

2009-10-28T14:50:00.000-07:00

I have chanced on a forum website set up by some aspiring Singaporean Entrepreneurs. I posted a couple of messages there. It's rather heart-warming to see the spirit of Entrepreneurship in Singapore is still very much alive. Feel free to visit: http://www.ssuf.biz/

Singapore Entrepreneur - Is the World Economy Recovering?

2009-10-27T21:29:00.000-07:00

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has forecast the global economic growth at 3.1% for the year 2010, compared to a dismal -1.1% in the year 2009.

Asia, led by its growth engines China and India, is slated to outpace its US and Europe counterparts. This year, China alone is expected to emerge at 8.5% growth amidst a global recession. This feat is mainly attributed to its government stimulus package and continual strong domestic demand. Developing economies like ASEAN stands to benefit from these powerhouses.

On the other side of the globe in US where the epicentre of the financial tsunami is, growth has been laggard for this year. No clear signs of recovery has emerged. Same is felt in most European economies. High unemployment rate is still being faced in these countries. It will certainly take at least another year of two for the US and Europe climb back its their pre-crisis levels.

Although the decoupling effect theory has been in the talks for some years, the impact of the US economy on the rest of the world will, nevertheless, still be great.

In this year alone, we have witnessed the equity markets rising to as much as 80% from their lowest points. Asian markets have seen the most spectacular gains in anticipation of their quick recovery.

But are all these rises sustainable? Could we see another bubble or start of a W-shape recovery, as depicted by some analysts?

One argument point about the unprecedented recovery of the global market is that most governments' stimulus packages have taken effect. So whatever improvements we have witnessed are all artificial and may not be sustainable. How much more can governments continue to "feed" their economies until they can be back on their feet again?

Nonetheless, Asia is still slated to emerge strongly from this deepest recession in 70 years. Economists and analysts have unanimously agreed that any next bet would be on Asia. The spectacular rise over the last few months in Asia markets is mainly attributed to new investment monies entering from US and Europe.

In Singapore, many counters have risen from undervalue to fair or overvalue. In the short term, analysts are divided over which direction the Straits Times Index (STI) will head.

My analysis on the current trend is that most counters have been fully valued. All earnings have already been factored into the current price. Today's STI Price over Earnings (P/E) ratio stands at about 21x. It is no longer cheap as compared to the above chart (courtesy of Bloomberg), showing the historical STI P/E. The direction of the index will really depend on the earnings announcement for the last quarter and also any development in the US economy. A small correction may be eminent in the near future. It should be healthy for the market to cool off speculation. For long term investors, the current price is still reasonable for future growth. As for short term investors, be on your toes when looking into the suitable price to enter. Don't get caught up by a sudden correction.

Singapore Entrepreneur - What's My Strategy

2009-10-18T05:06:00.000-07:00

In May, I wrote about my investment strategy which worked during the doldrums in the stock market for the past one year. My returns for the past one year is on par with the Straits Times Index which has since regained about 60% from its low in Oct 2008.

Today, we are seeing a relentless rally of of regional markets, including Singapore's. It seems the long anticipated correction is not ready to show itself anytime soon. Anyway, I have again tweaked my investment strategy since those counters I have been investing for the past year have been constantly on the uptrend which saw very small swings in recent months. I now stay on the sidelines and await a dip in the counter and grab them at current low price. I then hold them longer, between one and three months. With the current momentum, I believe the STI will continue to grow albeit a correction may be round the corner.

Singapore Entrepreneur - Some Corporate Tips

2009-10-14T16:19:00.000-07:00

I have been preoccupied with my work that I have been unable to update my blog for the past 2 months. Usually, we are quite busy in the last quarter of the year as most corporates are clearing their budgets before their financial year closes. Existing projects must be completed and signed for clearing of invoices and new projects are quickly awarded to exhaust their remaining funds. If these finance departments do not finish up their funds for the year, the board of directors will start questioning on unfinished funds and will consider cutting budget for the next financial year. So, as a Division Director of an enterprise, who would want budget to be cut? This is a common practice amongst corporations. Vendors like us would certainly stand to benefit from such a culture.

Although it sounds like business is good at this time of the year, there are many internal issues that need to be sorted to face the surge in projects. It is a good problem to solve. But if things are not managed and planned properly, then disaster will befall. Sales people must keep the other departments informed of incoming or potential deals, technical people must prepare for logistics and resources and project budgets must be well-defined. When orders start pouring in, it is expected that things may get quite messy and people getting frustrated. Such unpleasant matters must be managed and contained. Regular meetings must be conducted to keep everyone updated and team leaders to keep tabs on members. Ultimately, with a proper system carried out, usually problems will be solved along the way. But most importantly, customers must not feel neglected and marginalized. If a problem cannot be fixed in time, it should be made known to the customer. It should be discussed and proposed to the customer on any alternative solution. This is called managing customer's expectation.

Singapore Entrepreneur - Venturing Out on Your Own Business

2009-08-14T14:04:00.001-07:00

Any business venture needs some in-depth study on the risks and opportunities. Here are some topics which may provide you with some guidance to ponder about.

Capitalize on Your Strength

When you wish to embark a your own business, it is best to capitalize on your own strength and experience. Try not to explore into uncharted territories without any prior studies as the price to pay is usually very high. You will find yourself in best form when you do the things you are familiar and like. If you don't think if you are a qualify to be a gastronomist, you'd better not be in food business just because you think the money is lucrative.

Be Focused, Be Professional

Companies are usually identified by their respective products or services. When you think of Honda, you think of cars. When you think of HP, you think of computers and IT services. Start your business focused in a certain area so that your customers can identify your company to the services or products they want. Don't be too diversified in your services just because you want more revenue. It not only makes you lose your focus but also customers would not have assurance that you are putting enough attention in the particular field.

When you are focused in your area, you would inevitably become an expert in that area. That is called professionalism. For example, if you set up a business that focuses in repairing computers, you would be the best person for the job and no one can proclaim he is better than you. As such, customers would have faith in you and would respect your expertise in the field.

Look at the Demand Perspective, not just the Supply Perspective

I feel many people who yearn to start their own business tend to make a common mistake in analyzing the risks. For example, a friend of mine wanted to bring in some children's boutique from China and set up shop here. He has no prior experience in this line. He claims to know the direct manufacturer of these clothes and their exclusive customer is in Japan. The supplier has offered to provide at factory price and wants him to open a Singapore market. Clothes designs in Japan usually appeal to Asian market and it seems like a good deal. He decided to fly over to Shanghai to talk further with the supplier. Now, looking at this aspect, there are still many things to study and plan before you should decide to proceed further. The most common negligence people make is they tend to indulge in the supply perspective and never thinks of the demand perspective. In today's real world, it is always easy to buy things but the most difficult to sell things. Try googling for any item you think of buying. Chances is that you will usually find the things you want from many websites. The world is so connected that information is so easily available. If you can find a good price with this manufacturer, why can't another person find this supplier and bring in the same types of clothes to compete with you? Once there was an attendee asking me in a motivation class which I was conducting. She devised some recipe on cooking beef patties which tasted uniquely good. Her friends all agreed with her. She was sure it tasted better than MacDonald's and vowed her business will outbid any MacDonald's outlet. I can't agree more that any burger would taste better than MacDonald's. But I cannot agree that taste alone can outbid a competitor. MacDonald's spends millions of dollars in advertising campaigns in upkeeping its brand name. Branding is a very powerful tool in the business world and people are very much connected with brands. Unless she has a similar budget to that, she should just focus on a different target audience who may appreciate the taste of her burgers.

I had my fair share of mistakes when I first ventured out. I had the skills to do great computer programs and could create smart card programs which only big companies could do during then. Equipped with that alone, I decided to form partnerships with my friends and started a company. We started to realize how hard is to convince customers to use our cards even if we offered whole suite of customisations for them. During then, most of them were connected with more well-known industry suppliers. We paid heavily for our lessons.

So before deciding to bite the bullet, do put more emphasis in studying how to create a market for your product and how to protect and differentiate yourself from competitors. You have to understand how the industry works in the first place before making the plunge.

Identifying a Market Gap

In the world we are living in today, everything seems to be complete. Whatever humans can supply, we have it. Computers, cars, planes, telephones, etc. The world will continue to operate even without the existence of you. So, it appears that there is no room for you to create any business for the world. That is what most people think. If you are the odd one out, and choose to think otherwise, you have the making of an entrepreneur. Identify a market gap is not an easy task. It takes experience and vision to create a demand from a gap in the market.

Singapore Entrepreneur - Get Started in Investing Today

2009-07-15T07:53:00.000-07:00

If the previous two blogs are what you want to achieve in your life, then get started into investment. There are many ways to grow your wealth. If you are not, by any chance, an heir of an inheritance, or not having any luck in striking a first prize lottery, then investing and starting a business would be the most pragmatic ways to bring you maxium returns.

Of course it's easier said than done. And we do not want to jump into any get-rich-quick business scheme which promises you the sky. What we want to do is to do some self-evaluation on what is your capability and aptitude in a particular area. The most comforting fact about growing rich is, you do not need to be clever ot have high IQ. You also do not need a Degree or Masters in MBA. In fact, many wealthy people who I know of, are simply businessmen who didn't even complete their school. The negative impact of receiving high in education, it makes you less risk averse in taking the plunge to start a business. Armed with a degree, you'd be more attracted to join big enterprises with promising career. This is actually a trap to most people into a rat race cycle. On the contrary, people who drop out of school usually have nothing to lose and have more opportunities to try on many things. They give themselves more exposure into starting up businesses. Of course, they need a little bit of luck and lots of planning to grow their business.

I shall talk about 2 areas of going into investments; starting out your own business and investing into equities in my following blogs.

Singapore Entrepreneur - It's All In The Books

2009-07-05T08:31:00.000-07:00

Singapore Entrepreneur - The Power of Compounding Interest

2009-07-05T08:30:00.000-07:00

My young Engineer once wondered aloud: "When will I ever earn my first Million dollar". He started using his salary and multiplying the number of years to reach one Million dollars. He told me he needs about 25 years. I told him that is only "revenue". He hasn't factored in his "cost" which is his expenses. Furthermore, inflation rate of about 4% per annum needs to be factored in. So, in reality, he will never be a Millionaire in his life. And even if he is, 25 years later, that amount is only worth half the amount today.

The scary reality about inflation which many people tend to neglect is that it is compounding. Your wealth is eroded by 4% every year and that is compounding at an exponential rate. There is a simple rule called Rule of 72 which could help you estimate how much long today's 1 Million Dollars is eroded by inflation to half its value. If you take "72" divide by the rate of annual return, it would give you the number of years it takes a value to become double or half. Take for example: "72/4%" = 18 years. This means it will take 18 years for $1M to be eroded to $500,000 (in today's value)in 18 years if the inflation rate is 4% per annum.

On the other hand, Rule of 72 helps you to estimate the number of years it takes to double your wealth based on your achievable annual return rate. Take for example, if you manage to find an annual return rate of 10%, it would take 72/10% = 7.2 years to double your investment. The power of compunding interest is that every dollar you earned from interest is re-invested into the capital. This simple technique gives a powerful exponential growth to your investment.

Singapore Entrepreneur - Financial Freedom

2009-07-01T03:52:00.000-07:00

When we complete our studies in school, we look for a job which gives us a monthly salary. Each year, based on performance or gratuity, we get an increment to our salary. This trend carries on as we proceed to our mid-career life. We spend part of our pay on necessities, bills, some on personal entertainment and save the remainder of it. High salaried employees like bankers and lawyers may earn at least half a million dollars a year. Thus buying luxury items like sports cars or indulging in high life are no big deal to them. The more we earn, the more we would spend. But if we lose our job, we will lose all the capability in spending. It means to say, our lifestyle is very dependent on our income. Welcome to the Rat Race society.

What is to be financial free? Financial free is a lifestyle you have created such that your passive income is enough to cover your daily expenses and lifestyle. Passive income is an income that you do not have to actively work for it, like a job. To be financial free does not necessarily mean you have to be very rich. It is with respect to how much you have to spend to support your lifestyle. If you live a simple life in prairie house and live on some vegetables and chickens you plant and rear, you don't need any money to spend and you don't need income. Hence you are financially free. On the other hand, if you have a family to feed or a lifestlye to enjoy, you would then need a stable income to support your expenses. If this income is passively earned and is able to support your lifestyle, it means you are financially free. You are out of the rate race.

Examples of passive income are dividends payout from investments in equities, or owning a business which constantly brings in healthy profits.

Singapore Entrepreneur - Blowing Up Another New Bubble?

2009-06-26T17:11:00.000-07:00

This May has seen one of the most spectacular run-ups in the stock market amidst an economic crisis. Most Asia markets have seen almost a 50% gain since March. From a low of 1600 in March, The Straits Timex increased to 2400 points in May. The Bull run is cooling off now in June after investors start feeling that they are not getting much fresh data to support a quick market recovery. Before we look out for any silver lining in the clouds and try to jump the gun again, let us take a backseat a little and recall slightly on the past few crises.

In 1999, the world was faced with an eminent danger of a huge collapse from what was known as the Y2K bug or Millennium bug. To combat this bug within a short timeline, then Fed chairman Alan Greenspan released huge credit line to allow corporates to tackle the problem. When the world ticked its way past 12 midnight into Year 2000, nothing of the worst anticipated happened. The world then turned its attention to the excess pool of liquid cash amongst banks and investors. This coincided with the internet craze in that era, which brought about a dotcom boom. The world started blowing a huge bubble which finally burst in 2001. Gullible investors were blindly led to invest into any internet startups which had even out-of-the-world ideas.

US went into recession after the dotcom bust in 2001. Then the 911 incident caused a double whammy to the world economy. Amid the recession, Alan Greenspan introduced stimulating measures like cutting the credit interest rates on several occasions to near zero percent. When the US economy past its bottom in year 2002, investors started to get restless again. At about 1% rate from banks, it bored most investors who were looking at much better returns. The US economy enjoyed its boom from 2003 to 2007. So much money was earned during this period that many types investment products were born, including investing into US housing market. The US started blowing a new bubble when investors started investing into toxic sub-prime products. Banks around the world was enticed into this lucrative market which eventually blew and brought about one of the history's worst financial crises today.

The uncanny resemblance of creating these 2 giant bubbles makes me wonder if the current recession in the US is nuturing another new possible bubble of the future. Although recent news are reporting data that shows evidence of "green shoots", many spendings around the world are still artificially created with government stimulus packages or government printing more money to buy up bonds, like what the Bank of England is doing.

The several events described look like a chicken-and-egg situation. If governments or authorities do not do anything, we are destined to stay for a long and dreadful downturn. Even if we jolly well know it is a new bubble being blown, we are going to pack off the idea that it will not blow up until at least a few years away. It is still better than being stuck in the mud, isn't it?

Perhaps, we have to just accept this is how the world economy works; a new bubble is being blown each time the economy goes bust. You could well say that the world is like a reality TV show actor, and the producer is the rich economies, who creates the storyline to stimulate viewership. Everything is artificial.

Nonetheless, who cares. As long as you earn real money, that is real. But the artificial economy poses many traps. Keep your guard each time when your asset grows. Bursting bubbles are usually easy to spot. The problem is people are always blinded by greed and they never seem to learn their lessons, as seen from previous events.

Singapore Entrepreneur - The Spirit of Innovation

2009-06-25T08:43:00.000-07:00

When I started my company 8 years ago, we had nothing to sell. We literally gave customers a blank sheet of paper and let them fill their requirements and we wrote programs conforming to every single bit of them. While we were small, we were always willing to customise our applications and systems to suit customers' requirements. From such customised applications, we started modifiying them into our own versions and slowly built up our products over the years. The key to our success today is our spirit of innovation that is kept alive. As products matures with the company, we always leave a space for innovation and customisation. We have never rejected a customer just because we do not have the product. Instead, we listen to their needs and assess the feasibility. We always invest in the customer for future scability. Also, innovation on products can also help in building other verticals of industry.

Singapore Entrepreneur - What's My Strategy?

2009-06-21T10:27:00.000-07:00

My simple strategy has so far been giving me good returns since the stock market crashed in Oct 2008.

Before the crisis, I had been practising value investment, the sort of strategy that Warren Buffett, the greatest investor, has been practising in his life time. I used to look for undervalued counters by doing financial analyses of the companies. Usually they were small caps. During the 4 years of rally from 2004 through 2007, the values of the counters I bought trebled or quadrupled which brought me a lot of paper gain. However, being a "value" investor, I decided to hold them for a long term. But the stock market crashed dragged all my counters beyond the cliff and their values plummeted like free fall. To add salt to the injury, many of the counters I held were S-shares which have been in the bad light from a series of accounting scandals.

The bad experience triggered me to tweak the strategy of my investment. Instead of brooding over the huge loss of investment from an unprecedented turn of the market, I thought to myself: If the market crash can cause many riches to rags, it is also an opportunity to turn rags to riches.

When the market bottomed out in Oct 2008, it provided a golden opportunity for me to do some financial analysis of various counters. I turned to blue chips and large cap stocks during then, since I got burnt by penny stocks previously. Many of them were offered at unbelievable bargain prices, some under their net asset prices. I started grabbing some counters. This time, I only focused on a couple of blue chip stocks. But because nobody had any idea where the bottom was, I was also afraid. Hence, I held lightly to the stocks. Each time the counters rose slightly, I sold them off for a small profit. The market turmoil created wild see-saw movement which allowed me to buy low and sell at profit each time for several months.

This strategy should only be applied if you have hard cash to standby in case you get stuck should the market turn really sour for a second time. My "long term" strategy is still in place because at each price I buy, I know it is still under-value compared with during good times. And I have to believe that market will eventually recover one day. On the other hand, since the market has been very sentimental, any gains will easily erode on any negative news in a market doldrums. So, I combine with some technical analysis of the counters and sell them off when there is some profit.

Each investor has his own style of investment. By my descriptions, I do not recommend any contra trading and my advice is to trade within your means. Institutional investors, hedge funds and other mutual funds dictate 90% of the share market and small retail investors like us cannot possibly outwit these people as they employ tons of brilliant brains to analyse stocks. So whatever strategy you adopt, do your sums carefully.

Singapore Entrepreneur - Start of Correction?

2009-06-17T02:04:00.000-07:00

With the recent correction of the stock market brings about many speculations if we are finally bursting the bubble of the bear rally. Some analysts are commenting that this is a healthy correction in view that many counters have ramped over value since the May rally. This may bring an awakening call to some pundits who have been wanting to make a killing in the stock market. June's performance should see a flater curve as most investors have already fully valued the market since May. The momentum of the rally is unlikely to last as there is no new data to support any recovery of the world economy. On the other hand, it does not mean you can't dip your hands into the market during this period. For me, the last stock market crash in Oct 2008 had in fact brought me a small fortune from a simple and effective method of buying. Ever since then, I have adopted this strategy for as long as the economy is still seeing no sign of turnaround.

Singapore Entrepreneur - Is The Worst Over?

2009-06-01T16:17:00.000-07:00

We are experiencing the greatest financial crisis ever in our lifetime. But recent several indications seem to suggest that we are out of the woods; stocks around the world have been rallying furiously, COE for cars have suddenly spiked indicating higher demand, and crowds have been snapping up newly launched private homes. So, is the worst over?

When the credit crisis unfolded in October 2008, Lehman Brothers, one of America's biggest lenders, was the first victim. Its collapse alone rippled through many big banks around the world which amassed losses more than US$1.6 Trillion. Following that, we saw big names like AIG, Merill Lynch and UBS at the brinks of collapse and needed desperate government fundings. Stocks around the globe saw their biggest plunge in 6 years. Even non-banking bigwigs like General Motors, Ford and Chrysler all went into deep financial difficulties. Iceland was the first country to declare bankrupt and had to be bailed out by IMF. Following all this mayhem, all sectors were affected with most 2008 annual reports revealing either losses or sharp drop in profit.

We have seen the worst unfolding before us. Whatever should happen has already happened. General Motors has just officially declared bankrupt after failed attempts in appealing for cash injection into the company. It beats me how many more job losses will follow after this. However, the market seems to shrug off these news and continue its rally. Even the H1N1 scare is not putting investors off. So effectively, we have come to a ground zero and whatever is going to happen, it won't be worse than what has happened. There may be more meaning to the term "Financial Tsunami". Tsunami are big waves that sweep everything on shore to destruction. The incident is momentary but the aftermath is catastrophic. It takes painful years to rebuild houses, for people to go back to their normal lives and overcome the grief over the loss of their love ones. You can liken this analogy to the financial tsunami. The collapse of the financial system in the US caused a tsunami to the global economy which all happened in one go. So you can actually take comfort that the worst is actually over and now we are on a long road to recover and we do not expect any more bad news.

On the other different camp of thought, you may want to consider that Obama's US$787B stimulus package is actually taking an effect to cushion the crisis. Governments around the world, including Singapore's have their own stimulus plans. So, in fact, whatever we are seeing today are just artificial. When people feel that things are not appearing as bad as they seem, they start coming back. The recent stock market rally may be a good indication that people are having a false sense of hope and are picking up bargain counters. Pessimists are saying this is a clear bear rally which has no ground to sustain. There are no good news in the US to report that could suggest the rally. It is just that news are not as bad as expected.

So how do you explain for private home sales being snapped up like in the heydays we saw in 2007? If you look at Asia during this crisis, it actually withstood much better compared to the Asian Financial crisis back in 1997. The banking system was beefed up ever since. It is also said that many people actually earned a lot of money during the heydays from 2004 to 2007. This gives them very much buffer to cushion themselves from the current crisis. Such people are out there today hunting for bargains like houses and cars. Private home prices saw their plunge up to 30% from its peak less than 2 years ago. The deferred payment scheme may have caused this aftermath effect. HDB home prices are closing in on mass market private condominiums which see many HDB folks grabbing the chance to upgrade. As a result, we see a spike in demand on mass market homes. But most are one-time buyers as they cannot afford more houses like other investors. So the demand may be unlikely to sustain. Once this batch of buyers are settled with their new homes, there will be left with no one out there to buy anymore.

In whichever camp of thought you are in, it is always wise to consider carefully before you jump onto the bandwagon. You may miss the boat if the market continues to rally, but at least you do not fall into a trap if all turn out to be a false rally. I have learnt my lessons. I'd rather watch from the sidelines if I have missed the boat. With money on hand, I still feel safer. There is always another time to invest again. However, if you are currently sitting on some gain from the recent rally, you must know when to exit. Warren Buffett had this saying: "You should be scared when everyone else is greedy. And you should be greedy when everyone is scared".

Singapore Entrepreneur - SWOT Analysis

2009-05-19T10:23:00.000-07:00

Before venturing into any business, we must always do some sort of risk analysis and calculations. The most fundamental method which most people adopt is to use the SWOT analysis to determine the viability of the venture.

SWOT, which stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats, helps us to audit the overall strength of a business in an industry.

Strength
You must identify the strengths of your company which can stand out above the rest. What makes you or your company different from other competitors and why customers would want to buy from you. For startups, one of the key strengths they can stand against well established competitors is to provide more customized services and exercise flexibility towards customers. After recognising the various strengths, you must fully capitalize on them.

Weaknesses
You must identify the weaknesses of your company which may be lose its competitive edge against others. Examples of weaknesses of new startups are the lack of products and quality control or the lack of customer references. No matter how small they are, steps must be taken to improve on the weaknesses and eventually turn them into strengths.

Opportunities
This usually refers more towards external influences. For example, change in lifestyle of people may create a new demand for certain products or services. Some businesses like retail are location influenced and people can pay high premiums on rental to create great business opportunities for themselves.

Threats
Threats are external factors which may cause negative impact on the business. Examples are like change of government rules or policies, competitors launching a new product, or behavioural change in consumer.

Analysis of Michael E.Porter's 5 Forces Model

2009-05-11T14:53:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of Wikipedia

Michael E. Porter, the world's renowned financial guru from Harvard Business School, has devised The 5 Forces Model, as shown in the above figure. It describes the external effects on a business. This model can always be used anytime to gauge the strength of a business from external factors. Even before you start venturing into a new business, this model is useful in helping you to assess the risks and also other competitors in the industry.

Let's take my new childcare venture as an example and view its viability.

Force 1: The Bargaining Power of Customer
This defines the buying power of the customer. If my company is a small setup without a brand establishment, there is no pull factor for parents to send their kids to my centre. I have no bargaining power and parents/customers may demand to lower my fees or demand for certain things to suit their needs. As a result, I may succumb to their demands in order to keep them as customers. This may become a vicious cycle.

Force 2: The Bargaining Power of Supplier
But if I am part of an established brand like a franchisee, whose name has been established over the years and has the critical mass, is able to command certain premium in fees. Parents/customers have less power in influencing how fees are set or programmes are run. Because of its pull factor, parents may flock to sign up for their kids and waiting list may grow. In such cases, parents may even be nonchalant about fees hike.

Force 3: Competitive Rivalry within the Industry
In a saturated market, usually the customer is spoilt for choice with so many suppliers. Thus, your business may be forced to selling at low prices into order to sustain its market share. On the other hand, if your services are hard to find in the industry, it is most likely you have an upper hand in commanding prices.

Force 4: New Entrants
Lucrative markets may invite more new players to come in and compete. If the industry has high barrier of entry, it may discourage most new entrants. For example, in childcare business, there are many strict rules and regulations by various government agencies to safeguard kids' welfare. There is a long and costly process in getting these approved. This may deter many people without experience from entering the market. In a way, the market has rather a high barrier of entry.

Force 5: Threat of Substitute Products
Some parents have their kids' grandparents or maids to look after them. They may also send them to kindergarten's playschool. These are substitutes of putting children in a childcare.

Starting a New Business

2009-05-10T04:03:00.000-07:00

It has been a month now since I last posted. I have been busy setting up a new business. It is an education business. I have been very passionate about education business and had never seriously been involved in this industry. Firstly, the love of knowledge sharing with others have always made me keen in the teaching industry. I always thought to myself, if I hadn't been in business, I would have been a teacher or something. Secondly, I always believe that learning is a lifelong thing and there is always demand regardless of the economy situation.

The business I have started is a childcare business. It may not sound very exciting to some skeptics. The start-up cost is high and the return-on-investment may not be attractive. Nonetheless, I view this business as a stable one in the long term. The government is encouraging its people to send their kids to pre-school education and MCYS has strict guidelines which make the entry barrier rather high. But above the rest, it is the passion put into the right place that will naturally bring the money in later.

Packaging is Paramount

2009-04-04T10:01:00.001-07:00

In my last post, I was talking about the value-add of me when conducting business with the Caucasians and the Chinese. Since the product is from China, and the user is from US, why is there a need for me to be there? I possess the know-how of the system and understand the requirements of the customer. Although the Chinese can manufacture the thing we want, they lack the ability to provide the final touches. But I am able to deliver the product desirable to the customer. It is neither magic nor uphill tasks that I have to take. It is the simple knowledge and experience that I have gained from my work in Singapore. Packaging is so important in this modern world. You can make a very good product, but without a proper packaging, it loses its shine. I liken my service in this case as being a gift wrapper, giving the gift the final touch so appealing to the recipient. Of course the Chinese are smart and will learn the ropes very soon. So what do I do? It is the continuation of our innovation and improvement of services to the customer that keep us ahead of our suppliers or competitors.

Korean car manufacturer, Hyundai, can't make engines as good as the Japanese, but are able to keep their car sales on par with Japanese because they can continue to keep their car outlook so appealing that give their Japanese competitors a run for their money. HTC phone is considered a late comer in mobile phone market but it is making a big impact because its appealing look and feel, nevermind if it is really as good as the iPhone. The essence in making a product is not about making it so perfect. It is about making it desirable to the user. When profits start rolling in, it is when you take this money to invest in further development for the version 2, 3 onwards.

Coming back on the point about my experience and know-how that put me on the edge. As Singaporeans, we are considered the most westernized Asia. The cosmopolitan environment of Singapore gives us the exposure to the world. Also, as a first world country, our level of expertise is on par with the western world. It is not that we have to idolize the Americans or Europeans or try to be like them. As a small country like ours, we have to keep ourselves abreast with things. The only resource we have is our brains. We do not have deep oil wells like the Arabs have that can last them another 150 years. We have to capitalize on our strengths and continue to provide the services the world needs. The last thing we want to be, is to be complacent about ourselves.

MM Lee once said something which has set in my mind deeply. He said the world will continue to exist and operate even without the existence of Singapore. But the world will change if America or China ceases to exist. I would liken Singapore as a small puddle of water alongside a wide flowing river. If we do not do anything to this puddle of water, it will be stagnated and eventually be dried up by the sun. We have to deliberately create an inlet and outlet to divert some water in and flow out. Then the puddle water will not dry up and will always be kept alive by the flowing river.

Being Bilingual is Beautiful

2009-04-04T08:31:00.000-07:00

I just came back from a business trip in China and Hong Kong. In China, I worked with the local people. Most of them could not speak or hear English, even the educated ones. Some could read simple English though. We dealt with Westerners, Indians and Filipinos there. In the many meetings, the Chinese, our partners, appeared clueless, because they couldn't understand a word in English. Suddenly, I felt myself so important and useful because I understood both languages. I became their interpreters and helped bridge the gaps between the customers and suppliers. Although, I must admit my standard of Mandarin is not polished, it is enough to converse with the local Chinese. I was held with high regard in the group, just for being bilingual. Furthermore, my strong ability to document all the work done by the Chinese and present to the Westerner counterparts, made my presence so important.

I felt fortunate that the education I was given in Singapore has geared me to posses such soft skills so important when conducting business at international level. In those days when I was a student, Mandarin was never held a high regard socially and when you spoke it with your friends, you were deemed as 2nd class. I even despised myself for knowing how to speak in the language. Today, I just regret that I didn't put enough effort in improving my Mandarin. I was brought up in an English speaking family and couldn't speak a word of Chinese when I started school. My parents couldn't speak well in the language either. I was like deemed to be the more "angmoh" type. I struggled with my Chinese subject all my years in school and had never done well in the subject.

Our MM Lee, recently reiterate the importance of nurturing Mandarin to our young today. He has relentless, all his life, stressed the importance of learning Mandarin. Today, as being a third generation of Chinese immigrants in Singapore, I am grateful to him for his long running initiative which still very much alive today. The only gripe I have though, is the ban in Cantonese language over TV in Singapore since the 70s, that has caused me the inability to speak Cantonese in Hong Kong. For that, I lose the edge to my Malaysian counterpart who possess the Cantonese speaking knack, picking up from the countless Hong Kong dramas they usually watch. One point that I don't quite agree with MM Lee is that dialect will interfere with learning Mandarin. Children has the ability to pick up several languages simultaneously.

Nonetheless, looking at the economic outlook for the next few decades, China is continuing to its quest as a big economy powerhouse. It has become the 3rd largest economy in the world today. Being a Singaporean, we are just a little sailboat which needs to sail with the wind. Possessing the skill of the 2 most important languages, it's like having a powerful engine and a powerful sail in the boat. In order to differentiate ourselves from Mainland Chinese, is to possess the ability to bridge between the East and West. In the very cosmopolitan nature that Singapore has, it is our very edge against the typical mainland Chinese. It takes a generation to learn a language. To those non-Chinese speaking Singaporeans, my advice is to go forward to pick up that language. You will learn to appreciate.

Related links:
1. Speech by MM Lee Kuan Yew
2. Yahoo News

What's that so called Sub-Prime Crisis?

2009-03-19T21:16:00.000-07:00

The sub-prime crisis, started in 2007 in the US seemed to have nothing to do with us here in Singapore. But the debacle has taken its toll on us today. Everyone's livelihood in the world today is affected. So what on earth is Sub-Prime??

It looks like we can never get away with the saying: "When Uncle US sneezes, the world catches a cold".

Nonetheless, here is a good video clip which has made a complex story very simple to understand:

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

We are Hiring! (2)

2009-03-19T20:47:00.000-07:00

The reponse of our job ad was quite overwhelming. Two positions were open; one for Admin and another for a Technical position. From the trend, it looks like the job market may not sound as dire as what's reported. Most applicants are still holding onto their current jobs. Perhaps they are looking for a switch. However, there are quite a number of fresh graduates applying for senior positions. I am not sure if this is a sign of desperation or just trying their luck. There were also a handful of applicants who apply for position which they do not have relevant experience. Beats me on their intention. Anyway, that is all I can share with you. For the rest of the activities, they are confidential.

You Justify Your Own Existence

2009-03-14T11:13:00.000-07:00

Many people envy what I do, running a business of my own. During the bad years in my business, I used to envy those who had proper jobs. I used to think the working in the company as an employee is always the wisest and safest choice, just like what old folks like to say: "Study hard and you find a good job". Recently, I read an article from the papers of what an expat's view of Singaporeans. She said, Singaporeans are like tropcal fishes in a nice aquarium. The job of the fishes is to look good and survive well in the tank. As long as the owner takes care of maintaining the tank and feed the fishes well, the fishes will lead a good life. Comparing the fishes in the wild lakes and oceans, they are exposed to the countless of dangers and enviroment change. They have to learn to survive and only the fittest survive.

Thinking of this analogy really makes me feel the same way about typical Singaporeans, even as a Singaporean. Some Singaporeans who are in their job, gripe about their jobs, about the unfair benefits their employers provide and about the environment they are in. They do their jobs well and think the rest will take care of itself. I do not envy employees anymore as I feel each person justifies his own existence.

A company evolves from its own nature and the market they are in. It justifies its own existence and positon in the market. If it doesn't justify itself, it would be closed down after all.

When you work for a company, you justify your own existence. You should treat your job as a monthly business transaction with the company. Your salary and benefits are returns of your service to the company. The company is not a charitable organisation and does not owe you a living. If you don't like your job and do not contribute, sales or productivity will drop. You will lose your job eventually. It is an organic cycle.

Technorati Profile

2009-03-14T10:36:00.000-07:00

We are Hiring!

2009-03-12T09:30:00.000-07:00

I am advertising for some positions for my company this weekend. I will see what response will be like and assess the types of people who will apply. I will then have a better uderstanding on the current job market status. I expect our email account flooded with CVs. I will give you some updates next week.

What I Look for in a Job Applicant

2009-03-07T11:24:00.000-08:00

I have run my company for 8 years now and have seen it grow from a 3-person company to a 25-person company today. Over the years, I have screened through thousands of CVs and have employed different types of people, both inexperienced and experienced. So what do I look out for in an application and a candidate?

Just imagine, each time we post for a position in the job portal or papers, we get tons and tons of email applications. I would classify these applicants into 3 broad categories: The Just-try-their-market-value-only, the Sincere ones and the quite Hard-up ones.

The Just-try-their-market-value-only applicant

These category of applicants are the most insincere ones who just want to see if there is any opportunity to change from their current jobs. They can be spotted by submitting their CVs which may not be relevant to the position advertised. Their CVs are always all ready to be sent out. Sometimes, their cover letter may even spot their intention with the wrong position in the title. It simply shows they have been conveniently submitting CVs to many companies. This category of applicants appear mostly in good times, when everyone is looking for career advancement.

The Sincere applicant

This category is of course the ones that employers seek. It is not easy to pick such CVs out. But putting effort in writing a good cover letter and concise CVs do help to play a part in catching the employer's attention.

Usually fresh graduates fall into this category as they have no working experience and are genuinely looking to start their career.

The Hard-up one

This category comprises those who are out of job or whose current job is in jeopardy. They are usually in the mid-career age and are married with children. Foreigners with work permit passes easily fall into this category because their permit expires within one month upon quitting their current job. These applicants come in hordes during bad times.

Tips to Landing an Interview:

1. Include your photo. Many people neglect this. Your photo is the first impression that the employer will get. A picture paints a thousand words.

2. Write a good and sincere cover letter. Write briefly about yourself and how you may be sutiable for the position.

3. Organise your CV layout well. Lay out your work experience in point form for easier reading. For each company you have worked for, you may want to classify the different projects that you have involved. Do not be too wordy because the employer has many other CVs to read.

4. To show your sincerity, you may want to be kaisu. Besides sending your application online, you may like to send a physical copy via snail mail. Remember, you are competing with hundreds of applicants out there. By sending another hard copy may give yourself more chance. It leaves greater impression of you if the employer has seen your email application and also received hard copy later. It also helps to create the impression of sincerity of the applicant.

5. Make a phone call to the company if you do not hear from them about 1 week after the closing date. Although it may sound bashful, it creates an impression to the employer. He may try recalling your application if you make the call. But don't overdo it. You may sound more like desperate than sincere.

For Those Fresh Graduates Looking for Jobs (2)

2009-03-07T10:15:00.000-08:00

I graduated from UK with an Electronic Engineering Honours degree. It was in 1998; in the midst of the Asian Financial Crisis. The economy was in the doldrums. There were retrenchments everywhere. The Recruit section in the papers got thinner by the day. I took it easy for the first 2 months after I came back to adjust myself back to the climate and lifestlye. When I got serious in hunting for a job, I began to realize the dire state of the economy. I went to job agencies, cutting out recruitment ads and sending countless CVs, and even perfecting my resumes. My pride of being a new university graduate faded by the day when no employer seemed to be interested in me. Either there were long queues at walk-in interviews or my sent-in CVs never seemed to bring any response. I started to adopt a new strategy after much thought. The mainstream job-seekers would go for the Recruit section in the Straits Times. Instead of following the crowds who aim to join MNCs and government agencies, I decided to look into the Classified section instead. I started to look for the smallest possible ad that I think hardly anyone noticed. True enough, after sending my CV to 2 companies, I was called for interviews. I was estatic. Both were local SME companies. One was in the M&E industry for a site Electrical Engineer and the other was for a System Development Engineer. After both interviews, thanks to my good presentations, I was called up again for 2nd interview by both companies. Eventually, I was offered a job by each company. I suddenly felt spoilt for choice. Nonetheless, after much consideration, I took up the 2nd offer. It was a humble setup with about 30 staff. From there on, I never looked back and started my career there. Although I didn't stay for long in the company, it was a great springboard in my career and I joined a big MNC after gaining some working experience.

Growing up from bad times have trained me not to take things for granted. It is always good to start from ground zero so that your fundamentals are well founded. When the times turn for the better, you will be the first to benefit. To the fresh graduates who are seeking jobs today; don't be discouraged. When there's a will, there's a way. Be humble and work your way hard to land a job. It's not a time to be fussy anymore.

For those Fresh Graduates Looking for Jobs

2009-03-06T19:26:00.000-08:00

I had been invited for various talks in universities and polytechnics. I spoke to aspiring students and graduands who are ready to enter into the working world. I hear the woes from these young people and urge me to post some comments here. Looking at the outlook of the economy, landing on a job is really tough. Each job posted in the ads, has thousands of CVs pouring in, each screaming for attention. Even jobs which only require fresh graduates, applicants with many years of experience also come knocking. I just recall that I posted for a temporary IT position recently. Since it was just a position for 3 months, I put in the Straits Times Classified, as small as possible to save money, and it was a walk-in interview. Guess what? More than 30 people turned up at my office! Almost all of them armed themselves with beautiful CVs and university certificates. Although I was spoilt for choice, they were mostly foreigners, whom I can't hire for such short timespan. These people who are genuinely well equipped with knowledge and experience, and most importantly not asking for high pay. So for those aspiring job-seekers, you have to lower down your expectations. I can share with you my own experience as a new graduate 11 years ago, what I went through and the lessons I learnt. Also, as an employer today, what I expect and would look out for in an applicant.

Stay Sane Amidst the Gloom

2009-03-02T08:27:00.000-08:00

This crisis came like a tsunami, in the midst when everyone was enjoying a prosperous time. It is unimaginable that just a year ago, stock market was still vibrant, people were enjoying their year end bonuses and retail shops enjoying their ringing sales. Everything seems to come to almost a standstill now. In the 5 stages of Grief; Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. After last October's financial debacle and stock market going into a tailspin, most people were in the state of Denial and Anger. Whatever happened in the US seemed only distant news to many people who still hoped things would not overflow to Asia. The full impact of the financial fallout was not felt immediately because most of us were still not out of job. At the back of people's mind, they say to themselves "This won't happen here and won't happen to me". That's called Bargaining. Today, people are feeling the real impact of the economic crisis. People are losing jobs, stock market value has gone down more than 50% from its peak. People have come to terms that the crisis is real and present. I have known of some people who have slipped into depression because of the stress to keep their jobs or the financial burden in their lives. My advice is, to stay sane amidst this crisis. Only the right mind can help you manage things. The most powerful part of a person is the mind. There's a saying: "What the mind perceive is what you will conceive". It is only from a sane and clear mind, you will then be able to think and manage problems.

Winner of several accolades

2009-03-01T09:15:00.000-08:00

A success story of Entrepreneurship

Top 15 Entrepreneur of the Year 2006

2009-03-01T08:50:00.000-08:00

The global financial downturn has allowed me take a step back to ponder how much I have gone through in the years of my career and also look what lies ahead for me. I graduated in a year amid the Asian Financial Crisis in 1998, very much in the same predicament what today's graduates are facing. While I was building my career as an Engineer, I decided to take the plunge and started a business with 2 friends in early 2001, not knowing the following few economic crises would come tumbling down one after another. There was the Dotcom crash in 2001, 911 bombing, Iraq war and Sars in 2003. Weathering through so many economic crises in such a short span of 10 years is by no mean feat, especially when you are running a small-medium business. Today, I have emerged a better person and more importantly, financially comfortable despite the current worst ever global crisis. It seems like in each crisis, no one has a crystal ball or a magical idea to tell you when the world is going to emerge from it; not even the man heading the top post of the world or that top financial guru. For those like-minded friends out there or those people feeling the blues of the economic gloom, I hope my blog will bring you some comfort and encouragement, and help you look beyond the dark tunnel ahead.