Memoirs of 2010

I realized the blog has been deserted for quite some time. Combination of being busy with work and weekend getaways and plain laziness...what to do? And not to mention the lack of inspiration from recent bouts of mood swing. But im getting better now, no worry.

Hmm... so fast it has came to the end of year 2010! I remembered I actually had written a memoir of 2009, 1 year prior to today. So I guess its good idea to do a review for this year in similar fashion. Sometimes only when you glance back at your past, do u realize how far you have come, and from here chart the next goal in life, right?

The major milestone this year is non other than having found my very own place. I like the contemporary house design, the location which is near to city center, the excellent accessibility and of course, the affordable price. Granted its not located in the Greater KL at all, where house prices skyrocketing like no tomorrow, well at least I have a roof above my head now :)

In terms of work, I actually migrated twice this year! From the far away land to stud-land to hometown now. I miss the tantalizing fried rice and wanton mee in far away land, miss the springy lou-shu-fan and claypot chicken rice in stud-land! So far I havent found better alternatives here lor...Otherwise job scope has been pretty much redundant and its like sucking my life force little by little everyday. On the other hand I have been in this line for too long that it would take massive willpower and a fat bank account to even consider switching to another career...not to mention wasting all the time, effort and money sacrificed. The more I think about it the more depressed I get, hence the mood swings...

Some people say im money-minded. I don't mind to be labelled as such LOL. Its just that people crave for what they do not have, right? :P  But of course im not the type who would do anything for money either. This year's finance didn't grow much but its ok. Started researching and investing in shares. What about gold rush? Gold prices been steadily climbing up these few years. People are afraid of potential financial apocalypse brought about by fiat money, seeing how the western governments printing money out of thin air, the massive bailouts, the things happening in Greece and Ireland etc. Hence, they park their money in gold. Erm..still learning so didn't participate in it yet. I think gold is not as foolproof as it was claimed to be. Avoided mutual funds like plaque since got burnt in it previously. Also, bought personal insurance lately. In order to keep the premiums low and more coverage, insurance companies are promoting packages where the amount insured is getting abit ridiculous, i think. Imagine you pay thousands every year but when you died, your life is only worth the measly RM 80K? To think that your life is worth less than the midget Toyota Vios...sad isn't it?

How do your friends perceive you? I had someone commented that I am not versatile enough. Before you mind drifts further, I like to reiterate that what he meant was that I am not flexible enough in thinking. Open up your mind and you might see things in different perspective. I am tying myself up in various ways according to him. Well, I guess he has his reason for saying so and I should take it as a constructive criticism. I always teased him in return as in "I know you are definitely 'versatile' enough..." Bad me...LOL. Some say im sarcastic. But I think im not in real life lor. Haha..

Lazy to write more...so how has your 2010 been? I would like to hear your stories too!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011! :) 

On giving Face "面子是別人給的"

Today I met the ex-schoolmate cum insurance salesman again. Prior to this, he already sent me a few quotations and given me his probably well-intentioned recommendations. Too bad I have already make up my mind of what I wanted, precisely.

Never mind that he kept sending quotations of additional insurance benefits and riders which I did not request at all, bear in mind that I have informed him clearly of the kind of coverage I want in the first place. But there is something he said that irked me.

I guess he was expecting me to sign on the dotted line today after he presented the product write-up. But I didnt because I needed to check on certain detail on the term and conditions. Appeared flustered, he said I have been delaying for quite some time and the policy is not really that expensive.

I can understand if he is desperate to fulfill his monthly quota or for closing purposes. But certainly this cannot be the kind of customer service expected in the 21st century? Since this concerns cash that you have to fork out on a repetitive basis, surely you cannot be too careful with all those wickedly written terms and conditions? Is it not the right of the client to fully understand the policy before signing up? Are you prepared to be sued by your client later on because you did not explain clearly the policy or you did not bother to clear up whatever doubts your clients have in their mind?

That was what I answered him, but of course in a less sarcastic manner... Like the chinese saying "面子是别人给的，脸是自己丢的" meaning respect or honour towards you is granted by others (sorry I do not know better way of translating this). Something similar happened while I was applying for housing loan whereby the salesgirl was busy hardselling and urging me to sign up without bothering to explain her product details. Im not obligated to even listen to their persuasions, let alone to sign up their offer, do I?

Customers are not always right. On the other hand, it is wrong to enforce your personal biased perspective on your clients. Let them do their own informed decision. At least they won't blame you if things do not go their way.

Ohh..and the expensive or cheap part? Thats my call to decide, im afraid :)

Happy Sunday everyone!

Sunshine where art thou?

Have you ever wake up on a weekend morning but just don't feel like doing anything at all? Not the type that you actually enjoying the morning by lying lazily on your cosy bed, but the type that you painted the world so bleak eventhough the birds are chirping gayly as usual?

The breakfast doesn't taste nice. The family companion seem unexciting. You don't know what to expect. There is nothing encouraging in your mailbox either. The internet seems slower than usual. Everything just don't feel right. And somehow...you have no idea why...

I don't like this feeling...how to get rid of this?

Insurance. Have you done your homework?

Most people my age would have owned at least one or two insurance policies, whether sold by walk-in agents or their relatives/friends working as agents. Not me. Why? Simply because I never knew the value of insurance prior to this. Too young, too early. And I don't have kids, or never will..LOL

Not that I had never encounter near-death situations in my life before. In fact, there were quite a few. Considering this, I gave insurance a deeper thought recently when my ex-classmate tried to persuade me to buy policy from him...oh well..

As with any other big item purchases or redundant payments eg mortgage/insurance, I think its always good to do some homework before jump into the bandwagon. At least you don't get coaxed into unnecessary expenses or simply get conned by unscrupulous people.

So here im just going to share some information I found off the net regarding insurance. As usual, do your own homework and research. Isn't it ironic that we deal with money matters everyday and yet our education system never teach us about money? :D

Life insurance. The general overview.


Types of insurance benefits


Traditional insurance VS Investment-linked


Term or Whole-life?


More on TERM


After checking out the sites, I guess I roughly know what plan is more suitable for me now. Im sure you would too. There is no such thing as the best policy, only the one that suits you most :)

Btw, women can insure their boobs and legs...

What about men then? LOL..

Happy holiday and Selamat Hari Raya Haji to those not working tomorrow! Cheers!

Mid life crisis/Herd mentality

Perhaps no one would even noticed, I have been absent from the blogsphere for almost 3 weeks now. As someone pointed out, I might be experiencing whats called the "mid-life crisis". Passing the quarter-a-century mark, anyone would be thinking im talking crap, too early for all those symptoms of hair loss, poor sleep, increasing life liabilities, declining libidos...


Rest assured I have yet to experience those stages of life. But I guess I am in fact, undergoing the process in a mental perspective. Questions like where to go from here...what am I doing...am I walking on a correct path...Get what I mean? And to tell you the truth, its certainly not easy to ignore the "herd" mentality and go against what most of your peers are doing or directions they are heading. You will feel inferior when they brag about their newly purchased luxurious gated and guarded castles, or that sparking new car, their marriage, newborn etc...its only natural to feel that way, i guess. Unless of course, you know EXACTLY what you are doing is indeed SUITABLE for you and you only, not betting an eyelid to other people's perceived IDEALS.


In the article entitled "Consensus decision making in human crowds" published in the current issue of Animal Behavior Journal, it sheds light on a behavior that is consistent among many species – that is, making decisions based upon the actions of others. 


Scientists at the University of Leeds believe they may have found why humans flock like sheep and birds, subconsciously following a minority of individuals. Researchers discovered that it takes a minority of just five per cent to influence a crowd’s direction – and that the other 95 per cent follow without realizing it.

Professor Krause, with PhD student John Dyer, conducted a series of experiments where groups of people were asked to walk randomly around a large hall. Within the group, a select few received more detailed information about where to walk. Participants were not allowed to communicate with one another but had to stay within arms length of another person.

The findings show that in all cases, the ‘informed individuals’ were followed by others in the crowd, forming a self-organizing, snake-like structure. 

“We’ve all been in situations where we get swept along by the crowd,” says Professor Krause. “But what’s interesting about this research is that our participants ended up making a consensus decision despite the fact that they weren’t allowed to talk or gesture to one another. In most cases the participants didn’t realize they were being led by others.”

Other experiments in the study used groups of different sizes, with different ratios of ‘informed individuals’. The research findings show that as the number of people in a crowd increases, the number of informed individuals decreases. In large crowds of 200 or more, five per cent of the group is enough to influence the direction in which it travels.

In the stock market, many inexperienced investors lose millions or even bankrupt because they buy shares based on hearsay and what other people are buying, without making their own informed judgement. They followed their generous neighbour/colleague/friends recommendations on some supposed "hot stocks" of the moment, not realizing that the "hot" period is in fact already passed. Hence they bought at peak price and have no choice but to brace ahead for the impending avalanche. 


People say, sometimes free advice are in fact the most costly! And so, some practice the contrarian approach in shares, of course with much research done on their intended investment prior. SO how does this apply onto our own life? 


Are we the 5% who influences the crowd's direction? OR are we the remaining 95% who follow the trend without even realizing it? The decisions we make everyday...from the kind of food we are consuming (think fast food)...to our spending behaviour (buying on credit card for that extra "classy touch")...to our future career path (to follow blindly what others are pursuing?)...to the latest fad (the luxurious iPhone anyone?)....


Which are you? :)

Sundae sunday

And here I am, siting in a cubical room surrounded by yellow-colored walls, on a beautiful sunday morning. I heard raindrops outside my window panes while sleeping last night. Supposed to be able to sleep soundly, but apparently I didn't.

Gonna lock my ass on the chair for half day today. My first time doing overtime since started working. Well why would anyone wanna sacrifice their beautiful sunday for working, if not for the pennies? I don't really actually. Not that I don't have use for the extra dollars, just that I am far from a hardworking employee. :)

Since I don't have any pending dates or plans at all, might as well earn some extra money for the rainy days. Not that I actually enjoy spending sundays in such manner. So how are you spending your weekend away?

Rather than lying seductively like this guy above, I think I will look more like this later after work!