Life is a game of waiting.. Waiting for the right ride to take us off to the sunset

Thursday, July 19, 2007

You can take a picture of something you see. In the future where will I be?
11:06 PM

Monday, July 16, 2007

Just had dinner with my Mum, Aunt and Uncle after work today. It was a pleasant surprise after a tough work day. It had been ages since I last saw my Uncle and even longer since I had a proper meal with my family members.

Due to the nature of my family, most of my meals are with Mum and even worst, me having a meal alone at home. I had never enjoyed it but there isn't much a choice.

I would be glad if there would be more dinner like this in the future. The food is secondary. I am just glad to see all if not most of my family members sitting down together having a nice meal. To those who are begrudging on the mindless family dinner, all I can said is how I wish I could be you.

看似简单的事物，给我的感动和幸福
反而胜过任何物质或金钱所能给的。

You can take a picture of something you see. In the future where will I be?
10:36 PM

Monday, July 09, 2007

Read an article in the papers today. The article was talking about the low rate our CPF Ordinary Account and Special Account is offering to Singaporeans. To the uninitiated, the rate stand at 2.5% and 4% for Ordinary and Special Account respectively. To be honest, the rate might be attractive as compared to the current pathetic rate that our banks are offering us but the catch is that we can withdraw our money in the bank anytime we want. Something that the CPF can't offer to us.

In my view, the optimum rate should be 4% and 6% minimum for the Ordinary and Special Account. I am no guru in investment but my CPFIS (buying of unit trusts through Ordinary Account) is definitely earning me more money than what it would earn if it was left to rot in the Ordinary Account. Skeptics might argue that it is because the stock market had been on a bull run since last year. Well, historical data had shown that for any investment in the stock market over a period of 25 years, the average return had been at a sterling rate of 8-12%.

Considering that our savings in our CPF will be lock in for a minimum of 25 years and more, I think the government can consider ways to make our money work harder for us.

Taking into consideration of inflation at an average of 1.5% (Should be more) per annum, our Ordinary Account ain't really beating it hands down. I think the benchmark of returns should be compared to the GIC(Government of Singapore Investment Corporation Pte Ltd) or Temasek. The combined sum of our savings in the CPF can't be much lower than these two government big wigs. The GIC had been posting an average return of 9% for the past 20 odd years. Deducting away inflation (It was set at 2.5%), the return was still an attractive 6.5%.

To help the poor break out of the poverty cycle, more help should be given to grow their savings and retirement nest. Giving them one off rebate of cash might be good for the short term but it is definitely not the long term solution that they are need. My heart goes out to those poor old folks who are either selling tissue or collecting used cans for a living. If only they had more help with their finances while they were still in their prime, would they have to slog for a living at their age?

My family was never well off since I was young(we still are). It is something that I never hide. I also know that the only way out of it is to be financially literate. Education and investing your savings are just two of the many ways to get out of it. While I applaud the efforts of the government to make education compulsory for all S'poreans, more can be done to improve our retirement nest through the increase in rate of the CPF.

You can take a picture of something you see. In the future where will I be?
10:50 PM

Thursday, July 05, 2007

Was about to blog on what a rough week I had thus far. Been working till around 9 to 10 lately but I think my colleagues take the cake. They are still on site at this hour. Trust me when I said that the feeling is like shit. You are dying to go home to take a warm bath, relax to some smoothing music, have your overdue dinner and do something to relax your mind. Problem is that you can't leave till the problem is solved. People working in the construction sector can relate better to this. But I am not complaining though.

I was recently handled a project by Stanley which was previously under a colleague of mine who had since left for greener pasture. I think the move is good for him as he was stagnating in his career and maybe a new challenge might just push him to greater heights in his career. The scope of the project at first sound easy. Doing up the programming and ensuring that the project is run smoothly. Stanley will help me with the rest. Well, life ain't a bed of rose.

During the week when Stanley is out of town, I began to feel the pressure of handling this project. From being a newbie (this is my first time handling such a big project and of this nature) to someone who is an expert in this technology. This is what my Indian workers, fellow colleagues and my boss demand from me. They had assumed that I had known everything about this system and I can run it on my own. It is like taking a degree in 1 year instead of the normal 3 years. Talk about a major stress out.

I was reprimanded all round by my Indian workers who can't believe that this Chinese man know less than them, my fellow colleagues who can't believe that I don't know the basic fundamentals of electricity circuitry, my customer who know more than me (That man is simply amazing) and my boss who just want the project to be done up without any complains from the customer.

As usual, I was full of complains and angry that I was being arrowed to do this shit. But as the days went by, I found myself improving in all aspects of handling this project. I am also beginning to have the fulfillment that I had indeed learn a lot from this experience. I am confident that this experience will be useful in my career. If this can't break me, it can only make me better.

Need to thank my great Project Manager, CK, my Shen, Mr Kolo Tay and of course Stanley for all the help rendered so far. Though this project is really draining me out, I am confident that it will be a success.

Every great achievement was once considered impossible.

You can take a picture of something you see. In the future where will I be?
10:55 PM