Money — Tool for the rich and Trap for the poor

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Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming here!

Another top celebrity in China got fined for tax evasion. The fine was more than 100 Mn RMB (~16Mn USD, ~20Mn SGD). 

This is just pure illogical.

First of all, the fine is at least the amount of tax he evaded. So his attempt did not save him money.

What’s worse, this pretty much marks the end of his career as a celebrity. None of the celebrities who got fined for tax evasion before him got the chance to come back.

For a top celebrity who is in his 20s, the amount of money he could make out of his career would be humongous, compared to this fine.

But he pretty much lost that.

Anyone can do the math.

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On the other hand, Huawei announced rent subsidy for its tenants, in face of yet another wave of Covid.

• Rent for past 6 months will be refunded
• Rent for next 9 months will be halved

Huawei is not at its best after the US ban. But the leaders in the company understand there is a family behind every small shop and they are vulnerable.

I firmly believe Huawei can go a long way, no matter what is thrown at them.

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For people who only think about themselves, they will be forever poor. No matter how much money they have, they would never feel they have enough. They would never feel the abundance to help people.

On the contrary, for people who are willing to share and help others, sustainable richness will come from satisfaction, reputation and network.

 

Till next time!

Monthly Net-Worth Update — Mar 2022

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Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming here!

Below is another summary of our Networth.

 

Net-Worth increase from last month: -37K SGD, -1.2KG Gold

Stock portfolio once again erased our household income and more for this month. 

As for Gold, the price increased, which reduced the drop in terms of weight of gold.

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Investment: -15.2% annualized return, incl. dividend

This is the worst investment return so far, both in terms of return rate and definitely in terms of absolute value.

 

Till next time!

My Market Transactions — Wk12 2022

 

Photo by Micheile Henderson on Unsplash

 

Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming here!

Transaction for past week: Nil

Have a good week ahead!

Till next time!

By definition, we cannot know what will revolutionize our World

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Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming there!

People believed battleships would win wars in the World War II.

Every major power had their plans.

Nations worked out their strategies and invested heavily in building their fleets centered around Battleships. For example, Japan, subject to the limitations of “Washington Naval Treaty”, decided to build Mega Battleships to prevail in the war.

And it turned out that Carriers won the war. And Battleships proved highly ineffective in battles and totally defenseless again attacks from the air.

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People could not have predicted it.

In fact, Americans only started to rely on Carriers after Pearl Harbor where they lost all their battleships.

If people had known that, the Japanese would not have built their Mega Battleships, but redirected the resources for carriers and planes.

The Japanese would have also either launched the attack on Pearl Harbor when the US Carriers were in the harbor or invested more afterwards to destroy the US Carriers.

But there is no “if” in history.

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The point is that we cannot predict what would revolutionize our World next, by definition.

Because if we could, we would have prepared for it, just as all the major powers prepared for a war of Battleships.

What we could do is keep an open mind and boost our ability to adapt.

Anyone who falls behind will risk total defeat, like Japan.

 

Till next time!

Think & Think & Think

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Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming here!

Just had an embarrassing two-weeks

• I delivered pathetic value
• I made the most basic mistakes
• I could not defend myself or my work
• …
• Worse still, I worked extremely hard

A very junior member did better than me.

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I collected feedback and it was rather simple:

1. Get into the role

As a manager, I was expected to understand really well client requirements, describe clearly what our best responses would be like and then define the structure and what needed to be done, and lastly assign tasks to members of the team and empower them to complete them.

I was not meant to work hard, but to make sure the team works hard

2. Think more on everything to get a head start

With enough thinking, I can be ahead of the curve on planning, discussion, convincing others and defending my points of views.

I cannot wait for things to happen or to be instructed. I need to be adding ideas to partners, making decisions on the ground and leading the team forward.

I need to be thinking what else we can do.

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I look forward to my next assignment.

• I will know my value and level
• I will not get overwhelmed
• I will delegate and make members own their work-streams
• I will not work hard, but think hard
• I will stay ahead of the curve and engage in those difficult conversations
• I will be able to defend my opinions and decisions with an open mind

And ultimately, I will add value and be a good manager.

I know I can do it, because I have done it before.

 

Till next time!

My Market Transactions — Wk11 2022

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Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming here!

Transaction for past week: Nil

 

Last week was intense. The opportunity window might have already come. Definitely worth keeping an eye on it.

Have a good week ahead!

Till next time!

I am the commonest commoner

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I don’t have the extraordinary comprehension of others

Nor do I have their great luck

I was not born into a rich or powerful family

Nor do I have anyone to reply on

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But I’m not jealous or resentful or angry

Most importantly, I don’t give up or back down or give in

I gratefully welcome the lessons I have been taught over the years

I gladly endure the pain I have been put through in life

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I will turn all of that into a sharp blade, and carve bravely on myself

I will make myself mature and wise at all costs

I will also cherish everything that I have created and come to possess, and use that as the foundation to travel a thousand miles

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So, I don’t care if people mock me for being slow or foolish

That is ok. I am the commonest commoner and just want to be the best of myself

And I will just keep going and never stop.

One step at a time - best strategy for life.

From Internet

Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming here!

“One step at a time” might seem slow and boring, but it is probably the best strategy for life.

A great example is Chester W. Nimitz, the famous admiral who led the US Pacific fleet from the defeat in Pearl Harbor to the ultimate victory in World War 2.

He had the opportunities to “fly” to another path of life and to higher positions, but he said “No”:

1. He said “No” to money. In 1915, Captain Nimitz lived in a small apartment with his wife and two little kids, earning a monthly salary of USD 288. He was offered USD 25k per year by a private company, who was willing to up the stake if Nimitz asked. Nimitz said No because he knew he wanted to stay in the Navy.
2. He said “No” to promotion. Early 1941, Nimitz was offered to command the US Pacific fleet. That would promote him to Admiral, by-passing 50+ of his “superiors” in rank. He said No because he knew that would upset them and ultimately affect his ability to perform the job.

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I have to say these are very hard to resist, at least for me.

But if Nimitz had accepted the first opportunity, he might have lived as a rich man. But he would have never got the opportunity to command the Pacific fleet.

If he had accepted the second opportunity, Pearl Harbor could have happened during his tenure. And he would have lost the opportunity to command the fleet for the battles to come.

By rejecting the opportunities and just focusing on doing his job, Nimitz is remembered in history.

 

Till next time!

No Transations but getting ready - My Market Transactions — Wk10 2022

Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming here!

Transaction for past week: Nil

 

But in light of recent drop, I am getting ready. With the accumulation from past few months, I have some ammunition in my war chest now.

Have a good week ahead!

Till next time!

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History has to “make sense”

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Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming here!

The “Pacific War trilogy” is so good, even though I only have read 30% of the the first book “Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific”. I plan to finish it in H1 this year.

The book covers vividly what “actually” happened during the war, supported by a lot of first-hand evidence. The readers will get so many details comparing to movies, or even documentaries.

While reading, I could not help, but keep on thinking that History has to make sense.

Thinking from this angle, we can call bullshit a lot of the “propaganda” material, even though probably that is what we want to see.

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For example, a lot of the movies and documentaries, in order to showcase courage of the soldiers and give people hope that they would win eventually, highlighted how angry and committed the US soldiers were right after the Japanese surprise attack on Peal Harbor, having seen their colleagues die and their ships burn.

I am sure they were.

But what would make more sense, as the book described with tons of evidence, was that

1. They were scared shit-less about the possible invasion of the Japanese, because they could not locate the Japanese carriers
2. They were extremely low in morale 

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Some of the details in the book (I could not remember all):

1. In the chaos after the attack, weapons were distributed “randomly”. No signature were required and no record was kept.
2. Ground defense and anti-air would just fire on anything that moved, causing multiple casualties, including the 5 fighters from “Enterprise” (4 damaged with one shot down and its pilot killed). Even the Admiral commanding the “Enterprise” were shot at when he tried to reach shore in a small boat while the carrier was being resupplied and re-fueled.
3. Light restrictions were way beyond reasonable level. Soldiers would shoot any lights that were on. People who did not follow would get their windows smashed. Even lighting a cigarette in the back yard were fined.
4. Light restrictions were not conducted in the islands, but also across west coasts
5. Nursers kept poisons in their pockets because they heard how brutal the Japanese were towards females in general
6. Rumors flew: Japanese sub-marines in the harbor, Japanese bombers over San Fransisco, Japanese landing on Pearl…Wives would screen at random rumors about the ship their husbands were on…

….

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Logically, that would make more sense as well.

Just put ourselves under those circumstances and we would be able to realize it.

Also, that was also part of the purpose of the risky “Do-little Raid” to boost US morale and inject fear to the Japanese minds.

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Therefore, even though it is good to watch those angry and committed soldiers on screen, we could easily realize that the other side would be more human and make more sense.

And that only made the Americas more admirable.

We all have fear. It is what we do right then that makes a difference.

History has to make sense.

 

Till next time!

Anxiety is not necessary most of the time

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Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming here!

As my work becomes more demanding, I need to complete some things during the weekend, like updating this blog, hitting my reading target, and sometimes completing some work.

The ideal situation is that I could complete what I need to do early Saturday morning. Then I can enjoy the rest of the weekend.

But I cannot always do that due to various reasons.

That is when I start to feel anxieties sometimes.

I keep worrying about it to the point I cannot focus on and enjoy what I am doing now.

That hurts my happiness.

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But most of the time, it proved to be unnecessary. 

Most of the time, I overestimated the difficulty of what needed to be done. 

And I could complete what I needed to do when I sat down and really got to it, many times earlier than my plan.

So I blamed myself why I had to let the anxiety affect my happiness.

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Being able to accurately estimate the workload is a skill, which takes only experiences and observation.

It can certainly help ease the anxiety.

But most importantly, we need to be able to focus on what we are doing currently and not worry about what may or may not be coming.

That is the only way of happiness.

To us all.

My Market Transactions — Wk09 2022

 

Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming here!

Transaction for past week: Nil

Have a good week ahead!

Till next time!

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Slow is Fast — never just do something when asked

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Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming here!

Past week has been stressful for me at work.

Not only because of the work itself, but also because of the additional hours resulted from my failure to understand before actions.

One typical example:

• One partner asked me to do something and I thought it would be a quick change so I just did it to get it over with. I did not care about that change and did not bother to find out why.
• Then another partner asked me to undo the change. When he asked why I did the change in the first place, I looked like an idiot who could only respond that the other partner asked me to do it.
• Most of the time, I had to undo the change and needed to explain to the other partner
• …

Another typical example:

• I was asked to do something and I thought that was a lot of work with not enough benefits.
• I became very reluctant to do it and I showed it. And I pushed back using that.
• The partner explained and even argued why it had to be done. 
• I just would not listen and just could not get myself out of the thinking that this would be a lot of work and now I would need to protect myself and push back.
• Most of the time, I had to do what I was asked anyway after spending the time “arguing” and sometimes irritating the partners.
• …

This resulted in iterations of work, which are never a good thing, especially under high-pressure situation with tight deadline.

And I looked like an idiot, which are never a good thing either.

And I gave the negative impression that I would avoid work, put myself before the client and team, and therefore, do not have enough commitment to client, project and team. Definitely not a good thing.

And I do not learn why the partners would ask for or reject the change, which is a good reflection of the way or work and also his own experiences. Absolutely a bad thing.

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When I reflected, the key element missing in the process was my own judgement based on the right rationale.

Without my own judgement, I could not prove or disprove the merit of the change, to justify or defend the action to either make or reject the change.

Without my own judgement based on the right rationale, I appeared selfish and could not get my point through.

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My lack of judgement based on right rationale could be caused by a few underlying reasons:

• My lack of commitment — I did not care enough about the client, team and project
• My failure to understand the reason and significance of the change — I did not know the reasons why partners asked to do something or not do something. Neither did I see the implications of the change to the client and project.
• My under-estimate of the value of my ideas — These guys have their skin in the game for many years. Why would my ideas or judgement even matter?
• My laziness to just complete something for the sake of completing it — I am more concerned about ticking the box, rather than focusing on the impact the box would bring. This is actually laziness.
• My wrong inclination to accept or push back a change request based on the amount of work I perceived — if I thought it was easy to do, I will just accept the request and make the changes. Why wasting the time to discuss? If I perceived more work was required, I would push back. This was wrong. It should only be based on merit of the change first and only then discuss implementation.
• My wrong perception of work needed — sometimes, the change was easier than I anticipated and other times, it was harder and took longer time.
• My lack of enjoyment and motivation in the work — I did not really enjoy the work and did not really appreciate the meaning of the work
• …

None of these is good. I need to work on all of them.

If not, why would I step out of my comfort zone and take this challenge anyway?

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Going forward, when I am asked to do something, I will follow below 5-step process until it becomes a habit:

Ask—Discuss — Judge — Decide — Act

1.Ask

I will force myself to ask why and understand the reason behind, so that

• I learn
• I do not look like an idiot when asked
• I do not feel frustrated when doing the work
• I increase my investment in the project and become more committed

2.Discuss

Voice out my reasons and concerns and actively discuss with an open mind on why or why not the proposed change might help the client and project.

• I learn even more
• I practice my discussion skills
• I understand what I am doing and why I am doing it.

3.Judge

This is purely my judgement after discussion. It could be:

• This is the right thing to do
• This is just his preference
• This is the wrong thing to do

4.Decide

My decision. It could be:

• Agree and do it
• Disagree but do it, to be a team player
• Disagree and keep pushing back on merit of the request; need to immediately go back to discussion

5.Act

Act accordingly, knowing very clearly why I am acting the way I am.

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Breaking an old habit is hard. But it can be done if we have the commitment and right way of dealing with it.

To us all!

“War is in the Air”

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Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming here!

 

Russia-Ukraine conflict has been all over the news. 

And my company has taken actions to offer aid to employees affected.

Our prayers go to the people affected. War is always unfortunate and we hope a peaceful resolution will be reached soon.

Here, I do not want to advocate or even discuss who is right and who is wrong. 

There are tons of “facts” and views out there. And Come on. Let’s face it. What I think does not matter shit.

Here, through this unfortunate event, I would like to discuss something that could be relevant for you and me — how we should approach the bottom-line of others.

Photo by Marjan Blan | @marjanblan on Unsplash

1. My Personal Perspectives

To me, the cause of the conflict is that the expansion of NATO crossed the bottom-line of Russia.

Before Soviet Union fell in 1991, the world was in Bipolar pattern — NATO vs Warsaw Treaty Organization.

After 1991, Russia struggled while US led the world.

However, Russia never stopped being a strong power and a force to reckon with.

To further establish their advantage, NATO decided to expand east. However, NATO did not know where they should stop, aka where the bottom-line of Russia is.

So they adopted the “Salami tactics”.

In 1999, NATO incorporated Czech Republic, Hungary & Poland. It was all fine. These countries were far away from Russia anyway.

In 2004, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were accepted. Some of these countries were part of the Soviet Union.

Again, it was all fine. Russia was still on the defense.

So NATO continued to cut the “Salami”.

In 2014, NATO tried to get Ukraine. This time, the “Bear” was upset and started the Crimea War. 

Well, that seems to be Russia’s bottom-line. Russia needs Ukraine to be the buffer zone between it and NATO.

Now, they tested it again. And the “Bear” just took over more territory.

So it is really clear where Russia’s bottom-line is.

Photo by Suzy Brooks on Unsplash

2. NATO’s Response

In 2004, when Russian tanks rolled into Crimea, NATO was not able to help Ukraine defend its territory.

Of course, the Economic sanctions were painful for Russia. 

This year, again, Russia will not be stopped until Ukraine gives in one way or another.

Of course, Economic sanctions will most likely come again, but how much more can be done? 

Commodity prices, like oil, gas and wheat, are already rising like hell. Will the World really turn their back on Russia exports? 

And do not forget the giant in the south who is always hungry for these resources.

In summary, NATO will not fight a war with Russia at the door-step of Russia. They cannot afford it and they cannot win it.

Even the Economic sanctions may not be as effective as they think.

As a result, Ukraine will suffer. This time around, the consequence could be really devastating to Ukraine as a nation. Putin denied its every existence.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

3. Take-away

Stop where it is safe especially when you do not have strong enough counter measures against the counter measures of the other party.

The repeated testing of Russia’s bottom-line did not work well for NATO.

• Credibility is on the line.
• Economic sanctions work both ways.
• For the other members of NATO, they have no choice but bond closer with US.

This applies to everyone of us in real life as well. We all face this type of choices:

• Should I keep pushing my wife to do all the housework? 
• Should I keep requesting my colleague to do the work?
• …

Leave some room. You cannot maximize your benefits every single time.

Endless greed and over-stepping will attract fight back and whatever benefits you have “secured” might only be a small part of the costs you have to incur in the “conflict”.

 

Till next time!