There was still Commerce course. It was Science, Commerce or Arts.
Commerce course is pretty much taking, Principles of Accounting, Econs, Math.
One day there was a quiz/test, well, in JC it's always a quiz anyway, cos we aren't graded by any mid term exams or anything, the most important thing is the 'A' Levels anyway. Any other test before that is just a formality to gauge what we have learnt.
Anyway, one day there was a test...
And when we got the results back, I think only 2 people passed. Top score I think was 60+%, second top score was 52%.
So of course most of the people in class was really sian cos almost everyone failed.
Then one classmate went up to the 2nd top boy and saw his results.
Then he shouted, "Hey guys, don't worry it's not so bad, even XXX got only 52%."
And I think this is quite interesting.
We always benchmark against others.
BUT, we don't necessarily always benchmark against the best. We tend to benchmark against people who are close to where we are ourselves.
The guy in the above story didn't go and check the top girl in class who got 60+%.
He went to the 2nd top scorer. Who typically was better than the rest of the class in studies but still not so far ahead that it was unbeatable.
It's like... most of us don't look at Bill Gates and compare against him.
If we make $2500 per month, we look at someone who earns $3000 per month.
My friend used to earn quite a normal amount when he started out as a remiser, then in the recent years, he started earning big bucks.
He started looking and comparing against top sales of property agents who were making 6 digits for monthly commissions.
Whereas previously, he never compared against them.
Cos recently, he has already reached close to the top tier of a remiser, so he now has his sights set on comparing against the folks who are the top in their industry.
Well, this kind of behaviour can be good or bad.
It could drive someone to be better, work harder, or it may make someone bitter about how successful other people are.
Although I find it very weird when some people compare their returns against the STI or Warren Buffet, etc...
Benchmarks are set in accordance to investing style.
If you're someone who buys and sells stocks after 3 months. Your benchmark should not be STI, S&P, or Warren Buffet... You should maybe be comparing against Soros or Medallion fund.
Comparable benchmarks need to be set with relation to the investment style.
If you invest mainly in REITs, then benchmark should be some REIT fund.
Value investing, then maybe Warren Buffet or some other value investing fund.
If you're a trader then compare against another trader.
It's quite ridiculous in sports when one is trained in a pistol sport and compares against an archery sport.
I like individual sports like shooting, archery, etc. Cos it's really about self improvement.
It's like life. It's all about the individual. You aren't fighting against anyone else except yourself.
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