• Blog
  • Giveaway
  • About
  • Contact
  • Sponsors / Advertisers
Early Retirement SG

The Shoeshine Boy

17/6/2022

3 Comments

 
It's been a long time since I posted. 
Just felt like it cos... well it's a worthy time to post something.

A lot of seasoned investors know of the story of the shoeshine boy...
​Legend has it that...
The story took place in 1929 : Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kennedy, Sr. JFK's father, claimed that he knew it was time to get out of the stock market when he got investment tips from a shoeshine boy. On that moment Joe Kennedy had the intuition that we were at the end of the bull market and subsequently he decided to short the market and became .. multi-millionaire !
​Ever since, the shoeshine boy has been the metaphor for "time to get out"; for the end of the mania phase in which everyone, even the shoeshine boy, wants in.

https://www.4investors.eu/post/the-shoeshine-boy-indicator


And so... I saw this maybe 6-12 months back...
People who shouldn't be talking about markets, crypto, NFT, etc... 
Well... people who shouldn't be doing these stuff, were starting to get their hands into these stuff. 
Aunties, here and there, the teens on the MRT, the ah beng neighbour, etc... 
And I was like... ok it's about time. 

I didn't sell down. In fact I'm still fully invested. 
As a long term investor, I need to be able to sit through most of these ups and downs. 
I did however switch out some of my iffy stocks for stocks which I felt would weather the downturn and recover well. 
So I'm pretty comfortable with my current portfolio. 
It's down by around 15% from the high watermark or "all time high". 
I'm still up around 15% from what I've put in. 
Of course not shiok to see the numbers down from ATH, but life goes on. 
We don't live in a world where stocks always go up. 

The thing I've learnt or seen these few months or years...
A lot of people love Warren Buffet, a lot of people talk about long term, or "value" investing. 
Everyone feels they are a value investor. Else why would they buy anything, cos well, they feel there's value in what they bought. 
The thing is... in the view of WB, gold, has little value. It doesn't do anything except sit around. It doesn't provide utility in a sense...
Similarly, crypto, at this point, isn't there yet. Blockchain tech will probably be used some time in the future. But it's not there yet. 
That's not to say people didn't make money from crypto. There's been folks who made a lot, there's been folks who lost a lot. 
But let's not get this wrong. There's no "value" investing going on in the world of crypto, yet.
You can tell yourself what you want. It is what it is. 
I did get a toe wet in crypto, despite not being a fan. That "portfolio" is down 75%. 

Other updates on my own life
I got myself back into the food rescue community. So food is once again free for me since I got back from overseas. 
My wife takes Grab or other private hires a lot to and from work and when we visit our parents. 
It was a deal between us, my wife wanted to get a car, I didn't want it. So the compromise was for us to use private hire as a casual form of travel. We do take public transport if the location is convenient and not too far away. Average spend is close to $600 on private hire transport per month.
We're trying to make it a point to increase our spending on consumer discretionary. The idea to "live it up a little". We thought it would be a good idea to "splurge" a bit every month. 
This has proven a little challenging as we hardly have stuff which we tend to splurge on.
Our main interest is eating, but we eat at home a lot as food is free, and on weekends we visit our parents so we also hardly eat out on weekends. 
We recognize that we aren't young anymore and eating out too much isn't really good for our health and waistline. 
We hardly buy merchandize, or stuff, simply because we have no need for it.
​So it's been quite hard for us to push another $400-$500 in discretionary spending. Also some of the places we used to visit raised their prices and reduced their items, so we feel the "value" isn't there anymore. 

Essentially, life has pretty much been cruising along. There's some level of routine, going out with friends, going out with my wife, going to visit parents, some days are spent doing "nothing", research, reading. 



<<PREVIOUS POST // NEXT POST>>

Did you like this post? If so, could you "belanjah" me 1/4 cup of my morning coffee pls. 
You may also consider subscribing to receive the articles in your email, link in the column on the right. 
3 Comments

My Weight Loss Journey

6/4/2022

3 Comments

 
So I started my weight loss journey on 5th March with a starting weight of 82+ kg.
On 3rd Apr, my weight was 72.2 kg. 
29 days of effort. 
It's not over yet, I'm aiming to be under 70kg, but I'm tapering it down the weight loss will be slower and I'm starting to eat more. This is intentional. Just part of the plan.

During this past month, there's been many comments. 
Why you need to diet?
You're not fat.
Why don't you try doing <insert suggestion>.

And pretty much, most people are just finding topics to talk about. 
Unfortunately this tends to annoy me. Cos... well... I'm HUNGRY.
And these kinds of talk during this period is just annoying.
I mean like... HELLO!!! This journey is hard enough as it is without some weird comments, and me having to justify why I need/want to lose weight or why I don't want to eat. 

I've had I think 4? Maybe 5 weight loss phases in my life. 
All done in similar style and similar time frames. This time being the fastest I've ever accomplished it. 
I've done a lot of reading about diets, metabolism, insulin control, exercise, etc. 
And for me, it's been a sufficiently safe journey. I don't claim to be an expert on overall weight loss. 
I do claim to know what works for my body and my own personal weight loss goals.

Typically these comments come from older folk. It's those aunties that come up with weird comments.
Younger folk tend to understand about physical appearance, health, diet, exercise, whatever. 
Younger folk tend to not bother too much and just leave me alone. 
And the worst thing is... these older folk or folks providing "ideas"... Haven't dieted or embarked on a weight loss journey for even a day in their lives, they haven't done any reading on the subject or had any interest in a healthier lifestyle.
I think younger folk get it. Most have tried to lose weight, or embarked on some program.

There really isn't much secret to weight loss. 
Same as there isn't much secret to getting wealthier. 
Just spend less, earn more and invest. 
Similarly for weight loss, just eat less and exercise more. 

No it's not easy. 
It requires focus, commitment and sheer will.
Learnt some new techniques along this journey...
And I haven't even finished the cucumbers I bought... It's been pickled. So they will last for some time.



<<PREVIOUS POST // NEXT POST>>

Did you like this post? If so, could you "belanjah" me 1/4 cup of my morning coffee pls. 
You may also consider subscribing to receive the articles in your email, link in the column on the right. 
3 Comments

What Are You Willing To Give Up To Get What You Want?

10/3/2022

0 Comments

 
I suppose this sentence spins in many ways. 

How much are you willing to give up to get what you want?
How much do you want something is proportional to what you are willing to give up to get it. 
How much you are willing to sacrifice determines how much you want something.

So today, I'm on day 6 out of my approximately 90 day weight loss plan. 
The story started 7 days ago. I had lunch with a friend and my wife. I ate my share and some of my wife's leftovers, and some of my friend's leftovers. 
Then I shared a bubble tea with my wife.
Then for dinner I went to a friend's house for steamboat, and ate a lot.
Then I shared another bubble tea with my wife.
Then we went with my friend to go eat waffles and ice cream and I shared it with my wife. 

Now, of course my wife eats less than me. That's why I tend to finish her share. So she somewhat manages to maintain her weight quite well. 
As for me, I've been on a slow upward trajectory throughout the years. 
It's normal for me. I go through similar boom bust cycles as the markets. 
I haven't been putting on much weight recently. I tend to have a certain weight range and I hoover +/-2 kg around that for the past number of years, even throughout my days overseas. 
But of course, I've been slimmer. 

So as I lay in bed that night after the day of feasting, unable to sleep cos of all the dong ding oolong I've consumed for the day, I suddenly felt this tinge of loser-ness. I felt terrible for eating so much and being at my current weight. So I decided that I would start my diet plan the next day. 
And I would do what I normally do. Cut calories and do some reasonable exercise. 
I won't go into details cos... I've posted about it before and it's quite extreme so it's not recommended. 

I go through this weight loss plan every 10 years or so, I lose maybe 8-12 kg, within 3 months, then after that I get back to my normal eating life, I slowly gain weight back for the next 5 years or so, then I maintain at my current weight for the next couple of years, then I feel bad about it, then I go on another weight loss regime. 

Due to the calorie cut, I'm always hungry. Before the diet plan, I eat pretty regularly, snacks, supper, etc. 
So now I don't allow myself the excess, and my meals are significantly smaller, so I'm hungry maybe an hour after my meals. 
So I did some research about low calorie snacks, in the hopes of being able to snack in between the day so that I wouldn't have to suffer so much until my next meal.
Essentially, the best snacks came down to vegetables with a lot of water content, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, celery.
I would have gone for tomatoes cos I like them more, but it's inefficient. They don't keep for very long and so I can't buy them in bulk, and I can't really preserve them in any easy way. 
I absolutely hate celery so... not going down that route. 
I came down to cucumbers. I don't love cucumbers, I eat them with my chicken rice, but I don't proactively buy them to eat them... well, too bad for me, sacrifices have to be made. 
Anyway, basically, I bought a bunch of cucumbers and pickled them. So in a couple of hours or days, I will have a low calorie snack to munch on. 

The thing is, if I analyze my whole weight journey throughout the years, this is the route I'm willing to accept. 
There's folks who love to exercise. I don't. 
There's folks who don't really like to eat. I love my food and want to eat as and when I want. 
So there's folks who tell me why don't I moderate my daily consumption and exercise then I can maintain my weight over many years. 
The thing is, this is what I'm willing to do with regards to my weight. 
I don't want to restrict myself on a regular basis. I like to gorge some days, drink bubble tea or ice cream as and when I feel like it. 
And then every decade or so, I go down this 3 month weight loss regime to reset. 

And this goes for many things in life. 
Financial wealth is similar. 
It's easier for me, cos I don't have an inclination to spend. I don't like spending. 
But I've come to realize that that's not the case for most people. People like to spend. They want things. They want to buy stuff, go out, eat, have experiences, upgrade their stuff, look for the next fun thing to do. 
And... just cos I don't like doing such things, (or maybe I do, except that I don't like spending more than I like doing these stuffs), I think... I can now better understand these folks. 
Cos as much as I would rather eat and gain weight for 10 years, then go on a crash weight loss plan, some people would just rather spend now and plan for their lives later. 
It's just the system that they are willing to accept. 

And if they really want to turn their financial well being around, then they have to work out something that's against what they are inclined to do. 
And similarly, since I want to lose some weight, I also need to work out something that's against what I'm inclined to do. 

Same goes for learning a new skill, language, etc. 
Are you willing to put in the hours and sacrifice to get what you want? If something doesn't work, try something else, adapt, learn from others, research, etc?
If not then probably, you just don't want it enough. 

Some people are born smarter, richer, fitter. But that doesn't mean we can't get to a high level of competency in what we want to do.
For most of us, life is about the choices we make, the sacrifices, hard work and drive we have to get what we want, health, wealth, happiness, etc.
And I suppose, if we want it bad enough, we will try all sorts of ways to get it. 



<<PREVIOUS POST // NEXT POST>>

Did you like this post? If so, could you "belanjah" me 1/4 cup of my morning coffee pls. 
You may also consider subscribing to receive the articles in your email, link in the column on the right. 

0 Comments

I Don't Own My HDB, And I'm OK With That

18/1/2022

4 Comments

 
I've written about HDB 99 year LEASE a couple of times.
https://earlyretirementsg.weebly.com/blog/the-99yr-hdb-lease-time-bomb
https://earlyretirementsg.weebly.com/blog/what-it-really-means-when-you-buy-your-hdb
https://earlyretirementsg.weebly.com/blog/why-is-it-so-hard-to-understand-99-year-lease

https://earlyretirementsg.weebly.com/blog/are-99-year-properties-good-investments
Note: LEASE is in caps... cos... LEASE is LEASE. You don't own it. Tell yourself whatever you want. 

Anyway, I've accepted that I don't own my HDB. 
And I'm ok with that. 
For the past 2.5 years when I've been out of the country, I've been renting. 
I don't know how much the rental was in Paris, cos the company handled it. 
But in US, the apartment cost me US$1,830 every month. 

I signed a 99 year lease contract with HDB to rent this place at Dawson for S$45x,000. I forgot the exact price I had to pay for the BTO.
This works out to be around S$400 per month using straight line depreciation. 
(Not counting bank loan and interest.)

Current price for a similar unit in the block I stay is around S$820,000.
So even if I take over someone's remaining 93 year lease from within the same block, it works out to be under S$750 per month. 
*Notice how I phrased it ;) 

For a first world country, we are paying some really cheap rentals. 
Sure, it's not a condo, but it's not shabby either. Most of us have a park/playground near where we stay, we have coffeeshops nearby, easy access to food and amenities. 

This low rent is of course only available cos we're paying bulk prices for a long term contract. 
Current market rent for an HDB is maybe S$1,500 per month. Which is starting to be pretty expensive. 

The thing is, we/I always have a choice. 
I can move to a freehold property, and yet I choose not to. 
There are some cheaper freehold properties in some ulu places. Not great location but it's still freehold. 

I like the idea of "fully paying" my rent for the rest of my life. So that I don't have to worry about having a roof over my head. 
Yes, from an investing point of view, it's not the brightest idea. 
But from a stress and mental point of view, I feel it's the direction for us.
My wife can leave her job anytime she wants cos there's no loan. 
I don't want to have a situation where we're sitting on a loan and my wife isn't free to move as and when she wishes, and if markets turn bad, I end up with a situation where I have a loan and my investments aren't doing well enough to easily pay off the loan. 
Wrote about this here. 
https://earlyretirementsg.weebly.com/blog/defending-your-position

The thing is... well... I've come to be more ok with not owning my HDB and that it's just a long term lease. Rental at S$500 per month, or S$700 per month. That's already a steal. 
Furthermore, I could easily transfer the remaining lease of my current place to someone else and take over the lease of a place on the east side and nearer to our parents and we would likely get a bigger HDB and even get some money back. 

Bulk purchase of long term rent really isn't that bad if you think about it from an expense point of view.



<<PREVIOUS POST // NEXT POST>>

Did you like this post? If so, could you "belanjah" me 1/4 cup of my morning coffee pls. 
You may also consider subscribing to receive the articles in your email, link in the column on the right. 
4 Comments

How Much Do You Trust Experience?

7/1/2022

0 Comments

 
Ok...
So... Let's say you know an old guy. 
He's old, he's a billionaire, he's experienced in investing and has a good track record.
And he says that XYZ stock is a good investment. 
He puts money where his mouth is and makes large investments on this stock.

What do you do?



<<PREVIOUS POST // NEXT POST>>

Did you like this post? If so, could you "belanjah" me 1/4 cup of my morning coffee pls. 
You may also consider subscribing to receive the articles in your email, link in the column on the right. 


0 Comments

Zero Value Items (Part 2)

31/12/2021

1 Comment

 
Long time ago, I wrote a post on this topic.
https://earlyretirementsg.weebly.com/blog/zero-value-items

I recently returned back to Singapore mid Dec and have been packing up my place at Queenstown. 
After 2+ years living overseas without all my stuff, it becomes very apparent, what I need, and what I don't need. 
Also, a lot of the stuff I have at my place have grown old, dusty, a bit moldy, cos they have not been used/touched in 2 years. 

There are a lot of items which we/I deemed useful, valuable. 
But in the end, it's really considered a zero value item. 

What I would call a zero value item is... well, it's just sitting there being a dead weight. It does nothing. 
I might have bought it for $200 but now, it's not being used. I might THINK that it's still worth $200 cos of anchoring, but really it's now zero value, cos there's no utility from this item/items. 

And after 2 years, I come back and I see some leather items get moldy and hard to clean, and I throw them away, or some leather cracked, etc etc...
I had a leather wallet, received as a gift couple years back, but at that time my existing wallet was still moderately used, so I didn't switch out. Then after 2 year, I come back wanting to change my old wallet to the new one... The new one was now moldy and we couldn't get the mold out, so had to just dispose it. 
Luckily I had another new wallet which I could clean up and switch to this new one.

So note to self: If someone gives a new wallet, belt, etc... to use the new wallet, belt, and maybe keep the old one as a spare, or even sell the old one. If the old one becomes moldy and needs to throw after a few years, at least not so heart pain. 

So we decided to go on Carousell and drop off stuff for real cheap. 
I'm talking 10-15% of retail prices. 
The thing is, I want to just dispose the zero value items and get some money back. Better than nothing back.
I'm not even going to use the items anymore. There's even a "cost" to maintain the items, cos it takes up space and needs cleaning after every couple of years. 

So we've sold our TV for $40, still in good working condition, no dead pixels, but we haven't used a TV in 2.5 years, and our TV is just taking up space in the living room. 
We sold a spare vacuum cleaner for $40, good as new, hardly used.
Sold some perfume which we received as gifts, cos... we don't use it and it's just sitting around. 
Sold a Kate Spade bag, bought at $200+, sold at $25.
Other items still listed and waiting to be sold. 
​
It might seem like a waste, cos IF we want to buy these things back, it would cost way way more. 
However, for us, as we've been out of the country for so long, we pretty much know that we won't use these stuff. Even if we need them in future, if we don't use them often, these items might be spoilt and we'll need to throw and buy new ones. 

But most likely for bags, wallet, a lot of personal accessories, we don't go back and use the old ones. 
Like my wife has a couple of bags she likes to use. She had other bags last time, and they are just sitting in the cupboard. Maybe she might change out of her existing bags, then those bags will end up sitting in the cupboard and she will use the new "current" bags. She won't go back to them anymore. 
She may think, "Oh, next time still can use." But more often than not, she won't.
And we've come to recognize this. 

I've also been disposing old clothes that don't fit...
I have loads of clothes from when I was younger and I was slimmer. Ok I'm hoping to fit into them again... but I think... I'll dispose them first, then next time when... IF I lose weight, then I'll think of what to do when that happens. 

Of course I won't be disposing some stuff that I seldom use but are important. Like my tool box, or spare LED panels for my lights. 

The thing is, at least for us, we've realized how little we need to feel comfortable due to our 2 years out of the country. 
We've pretty much been living out of the stuff which could fit into a couple of boxes... and we're ok with that. There are some comforts being back at my own place. I have more cooking equipment and other clothes which I like to use.

However, the learning lesson is pretty much... there's a good amount of stuff we don't really need or use. And it's really zero value. Cos it's just sitting around. And it's time to let them go, even though we bought them at an expensive price, it's no longer worth that amount and getting a couple of bucks from selling it, well, that's pretty worth it. 
Note: I make sure that the sale is at my block lift lobby. It's not worth for me to travel to anywhere to close the deal. So I don't care if they are late or don't turn up. Selling on Carousell also has it's issues cos of no-show, or late folks. But that's a different story.


<<PREVIOUS POST // NEXT POST>>

Did you like this post? If so, could you "belanjah" me 1/4 cup of my morning coffee pls. 
You may also consider subscribing to receive the articles in your email, link in the column on the right. 
1 Comment

The Story Of A Piece Of Paper

24/11/2021

3 Comments

 
So Tom has a piece of paper. (Don't ask why, don't ask what's on it, it's not important.)
Jerry has $10,000.

Jerry offers to buy the piece of paper for $10k.
Tom is willing to sell. 
So Jerry now has the piece of paper and Tom has $10k.

Sometime later, Tom wants the paper back. 
Jerry doesn't want to sell. So Tom says, "Ok. I'll buy 1/2 the piece of paper for $10k."
Jerry is ok with this so Jerry cuts the paper and sells 1/2 to Tom. 
So now, Jerry has $10k and 1/2 the paper, and Tom has 1/2 the paper. 

Sometime later, Jerry regrets selling the 1/2 piece of paper and approaches Tom.
Tom doesn't want to sell. So Jerry says, "Ok. I'll buy 1/4 for $10k."
Tom is ok with this so Tom cuts the paper again and sells 1/4 to Jerry.
So now, Tom has $10k and 1/4 of the paper and Jerry has 3/4 of the paper. 

Sometime later, Tom regrets selling the 1/4 piece of paper and approaches Tom.
Jerry doesn't want to sell. So Tom says, "Ok. I'll buy 1/8 the piece of paper for $10k."
Jerry is ok with this so Jerry cuts the paper and sells 1/8 to Tom. 
So now, Jerry has $10k and 5/8 the paper, and Tom has 3/8 the paper. 

Sometime later, Jerry regrets selling the 1/8 piece of paper and approaches Tom.

Tom doesn't want to sell. So Jerry says, "Ok. I'll buy a 1/80 for $10k."
Tom is ok with this so Tom cuts the paper again and sells the 1/80 to Jerry.
So now, Tom has $10k and 29/80 of the paper and Jerry has 51/80 of the paper. 

Sometime later, Tom regrets selling the 1/80 piece of paper and approaches Tom.

Jerry doesn't want to sell. So Tom says, "Ok. I'll buy 1/800 the piece of paper for $10k."
Jerry is ok with this so Jerry cuts the paper and sells 1/800 to Tom. 
So now, Jerry has $10k and 509/800 the paper, and Tom has 291/800 the paper. 

Sometime later, Jerry regrets selling the 1/800 piece of paper and approaches Tom.

Tom doesn't want to sell. So Jerry says, "Ok. I'll buy a 1/8000 for $10k."
Tom is ok with this so Tom cuts the paper again and sells the 1/8000 to Jerry.
So now, Tom has $10k and 2909/8000 of the paper and Jerry has 5091/8000 of the paper. 

Tom and Jerry tell their friends that they are now worth $29,100,000 and $50,910,000 respectively. 




<<PREVIOUS POST // NEXT POST>>

Did you like this post? If so, could you "belanjah" me 1/4 cup of my morning coffee pls. 
You may also consider subscribing to receive the articles in your email, link in the column on the right. 
3 Comments

Why Retirement Is Like Driving

26/10/2021

2 Comments

 
The retirement journey, or even the investment journey... 
Is typically made more complicated than it really is.
Investment advisers, financial planners, friends, relatives, newspapers, bloggers, etc... 
We look around, we see someone else doing something else, someone else made more money via this investment, someone else did this, someone else did that...

And yet... when we really look at it...
Let's say... today you want to go to see the doctor. 
You wake up, wash up, determine the time you need to leave, you get out of the house, get in your car, or Grab, or bus, or MRT, whatever. 
Then you reach there and do whatever you want to do. 

Not everyone is going to the doctor's today.
Those who are going to see the doctor will likely be seeing the doc for a different issue. 
Not everyone will leave the homes at the same time. Some live closer, some live further. So they start out at different times. 
Some are bringing their kids to see the doc, some might bring their partner or parents, etc. 
Some will take car, or walk, or Grab, etc...

And most likely, you wouldn't care who else is going to the doc today. You wouldn't care how they got to the doc. You wouldn't care what time they left home, etc... 

You'd probably just go see the doc, and do your thing, then just go home. The end. 

And that's what/how the retirement journey is supposed to be. 
We all start at different points in our lives. Some are born luckier, some have higher earning jobs, some want to retire earlier, some later, some want low risk returns, others want higher risk for more returns. 
Some have kids to take care of, some have elderly parents, etc. 
And most of the time, it's none of our business, and also it's none of their business how we each want to plan our retirement journey. 

Most of the time, when we do our daily things, our daily journey, no one cares how, why we do what we do. 
And yet, when it comes to retirement or financial planning, it seems so complicated. So many different kinds of experts, so many different opinions on what's the right way. 
When we talk to friends and family, so many more comments about how this works, how this doesn't work, etc etc...

It's really not that hard...



<<PREVIOUS POST // NEXT POST>>

Did you like this post? If so, could you "belanjah" me 1/4 cup of my morning coffee pls. 
You may also consider subscribing to receive the articles in your email, link in the column on the right. 
2 Comments

No Company Will Kill Its Golden Goose

24/10/2021

2 Comments

 
I'm no fan of conspiracy theories. 
But I do have suspicions. As in... I just keep in mind that there is a possibility of these things happening, but I don't let the idea consume my life. 

If a cow is producing milk, do you kill it? 
Same as no one should kill their goose laying the golden eggs. 

So long time ago, Microsoft had their MS Office. We would buy the product and use it for years. 
Now, it's on a subscription basis. 
Cos... well, it's good income. 

So this subscription model is really working out, Amazon, Netflix, Microsoft, Costco, etc...

And so....
Pfizer, Moderna, or any other pharma company...

Think about it... Why would they want to release a "true" vaccine? You know, those old types that really protect from the virus, you know, those polio vaccines, BCG, etc... 

It's now a golden goose situation. They sell 2 shots for vaccination and every 8 months or so, they get to sell booster shots. 

Ok, maybe ... it's not possible to make a "true" vaccine for COVID. 
OR maybe, it is possible. 
I don't know, and I think most of us won't ever know the truth. 

But I do wonder about the possibility of it. 

Did you know, there was an organization of light bulb makers who colluded to ensure that lightbulb lifespan didn't exceed 2000 hours? 
Cos previously, every lightbulb maker was trying to outdo each other, trying to make lightbulbs last longer. And their business suffered, cos consumers got longer lasting lightbulbs and bought less. 
They eventually got together and formed some kind of committee, and discussed and came to some form of conclusion that... yea, you get the picture. 

There's no money to be made if you sell a product that lasts forever. 

Don't kill the golden goose. 



<<PREVIOUS POST // NEXT POST>>

Did you like this post? If so, could you "belanjah" me 1/4 cup of my morning coffee pls. 
You may also consider subscribing to receive the articles in your email, link in the column on the right. 
2 Comments

Is Singapore A Fluke?

7/10/2021

2 Comments

 

So I was watching this YouTube clip.
Some time back, LKY was asked a question about Sweden's IKEA and Finland's Nokia.

And his response to Nokia was that it was a fluke. With a population of 7-8 million, it would be hard to find talent, he did not expect Nokia to maintain it's success for for long with the rising competition from Korea and Japan. (And he would have probably added in China in this day and age.)

Now... what if we flip this line of thinking onto Singapore as a country?
Singapore was developing alongside the bulk of Asia in the 1960s. Most of the countries were under developed, or developing countries. 
We had good leadership, Singapore played by a differently, we studied English, invited foreign investment into the country, etc. 
And this direction taken was executed successfully, Singapore thrived during this period. 

Now, let's use LKY's same words. 
We have a population of under 6 million. Can we keep up with the competition? From Korea, from Japan, (from China), watch it in the long term. How many bright fellas have you got with inventive, creative minds?

As much as we say Nokia needs good leadership to thrive in the business environment, Singapore, as a country also needs good leadership to succeed as a country. 

Which begs the question. Is Singapore a fluke? Just like Nokia?
A rare leader who made a difference. Right place, right time.




<<PREVIOUS POST // NEXT POST>>

Did you like this post? If so, could you "belanjah" me 1/4 cup of my morning coffee pls. 
You may also consider subscribing to receive the articles in your email, link in the column on the right. 
2 Comments
<<Previous
    This is the link to my first post... how it all started...
    ​

    Mindset changes
    throughout the years


    How I make use of my wife

    An Interesting Email

    Author

    Male, born in 1982. 
    INTP
    Graduated with a degree majoring in Banking & Finance, Financial Adviser for a period of time resulting in in-depth knowledge of insurance products and marketing techniques of the industry.

    Inspired by MMM and ERE.

    Decided to embark on a mission to retire early in Singapore, a place where such an idea is considered impossible. As I believe that life has a lot more to offer instead of just a working career. I've decided to start a blog to note down my journey to achieve this mission and help others along the way who are willing to listen and try doing things differently from everyone else.

    I have decided to remain anonymous until I finally am able to actually retire, reason being that this idea might not gel well with the company which I am working for currently and also to avoid real life flaming from people who say that such ideas are impossible and that an individual is lazy for choosing early retirement instead of contributing to society in the form of labour.

    More about me.
    ​

    Subscribe here. Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Archives

    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    April 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    June 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013

    RSS Feed


    ​
    ​Other Cool Sites
    My15HWW
    Investmentmoats
    TheFinance
    SgInvestBloggers
    Singaporemanofleisure
    ​
    ​











    ​










    ​










    ​










    ​










    ​










    ​










    ​










    ​










    ​










    ​










    ​










    ​










    ​










    ​










    ​










    ​
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.