My Intepretation of British Sporting Events

vs

Experienced 2 uniquely British experience while I was in London - Wimbledon and Premier League.

Here are some differences I spotted...

1) Football fans are watched predominantly by males and Wimbledon fans are quite equally spread among both sexes. Also, the females watching Wimbledon are generally prettier than the average girl on the street. Even the people working in Winbledon are hot! Not too sure about the people working at football matches though.

2) Football fans are predominantly from the middle and lower class of society while people who attend Wimbledon are generally at the upper echelon of society --> Football is for the masses and tennis is for the blue-blooded.

3) Football fans are much more rowdier/uncivilised compared to Wimbledon fans. That explains why after a match, the football stadium is in a much dirtier state than the tennis stadium.

4) Attending a football match is attending a football match, with the occassional brawl; attending Wimbledon feels much more like attending a carnival, with many other activities to keep you occupied in between matches.

But despite all the differences, rubbish food and alcohol is available at both events in bountiful supply.

Discovered a new hobby during this period while cooped up at home studying, or rather slacking. Unbelievable as it may sound, it is cutting nails! Yes I know that sounds gay but everytime I'm bored studying or watching a movie, I will pick up my nail clipper n start chipping away at my nails. **Please do not try visualizing the image if you do not want to lose your appetite**

And the worst thing is, I cant seem to find my nail clipper today! I usually leave it at the table besides my studying desk but when I reached out for it a while ago while feeling bored, I realised it's not there! And I still can't find it after searching the surrounding area.

In desperation, I voiced my concerns to ling and this was her reply...

"How come a nail clipper can become more important than me?!? Nv hear u say u cant slp without me! Angry!"

Haha, now I can't sleep because firstly, I cannot find my nail clipper and secondly, ling's reply is so funny! Guess one can find simple pleasures in life....

Turnaround?

In between my last entry and this, I have been through 3 more papers and things seems to be getting better, but only because the start was pretty bad. My 2nd paper was a disaster, not just any blink-and-you-forget kind, but rather those slp-and-you-a-nightmare kind ! I think I failed the paper, but at least it wasn't so bad cuz most people found it extremely difficult too. In fact, one of the student even consolidated protests from all the students and lodge an official complaint against the school. Hopefully it works.

But then things got kinda better and the next 2 papers were do-able. Not exactly confident, but after the disastrous start, I think it signal things might just be getting better. 2 more to go, andI so want to get it over and done with. I guess I'm done with studying. Never thought that taking exams was such a chore, it was tough forcing my unwilling soul to go through it. And to think I might still have to take CFA in the near future.

So many things have happened lately - the terrible earthquakes in China, Obama winning the Democratic nomination, US sinking into recession while many others experiencing inflation, Man U won the double - clearly the world waits for no one. In between, I have been thinking about what I am going to do after I graduate, that is if I manage to. Here are some of the options I'm considering...

1) Persist with landing my dream first job
2) Settle for back office job and wait for the economy to get better
3) Work for my dad
4) Charity work?
5) Learn something I always wanted to but never had the drive to do e.g. 3rd language, guitar

But 1 thing is definite - spending more time with ling! Oh, and it's exactly 1 more month before ling arrives! Can't wait...

It's been a good 2 months since I last blog. Sort of just lost the urge to write about things. While this period was meant to be a time to mug really hard for my exams, I have practically wasted it. I do not know why but I have become really nua since I came UK for my studies. Days are spent downloading and watching movies instead of studying hard. Evidence is my 500gb hard disk is running out of space!

I can't seem to find the motivation that I once had while in NTU. WHERE ARE YOU?!?!?!

Tomorrow is my second paper and again I don't feel prepared. I am conceptually so weak with derivatives, and being lazy to put in the effort to understand it, I decided to focused my efforts on a few topics which have been repeated in past year papers in the hope that they will come out this year too. I am really praying so very hard!

My first paper was quite a disaster too. Was forced to choose a question where I did not know how to do half the question. Came out with a really bad feeling that I din't do well and that my aim of a distinction is practically down the drain. It was the worst paper I have taken in a long long time, demoralising and tortourous.

I guess it's true. Hard work is rewarded, and I have definitely not worked hard enough to deserve good results. Can only hope I find my motivation for my next few papers. I still have time to make a difference to my results! (or so I hope)

Dawn of a new era?

Came away from a talk today with some profound insights and thoughts of my own. It just struck me out of nowhere, but I am penning this down and hopefully down the road, I can look back and reflect whether what I've thought of has come true or not.

The talk was on the credit crunch and mainly centred around its impact on US and Europe. It got me thinking about what does this mean for Asia. Then 2 statements made separatelt by the speaker struck me. The first one goes "During the burst of the dot com bubble, the US had a budget surplus 3% of GDP and fiscal stimulus resulted in a swift recovery which led to a budget deficit of 3%." The other went something like this "There will come a time when the sovereign wealth fund (SWFs) will no longer come to the rescue of these troubled financial institutions and this will occur at a time when they need it most. As such, Europe is likely to feel the brunt of the credit crunch much worse than US."

These 2 seemingly innocuous statements put together got me thinking about what this could mean for Asia and even Middle East. There will come a time when SWFS realise their folly that investing money into these foreign financial institutions aren't such a great idea. This is evident by the losses suffered by many of them with the subsequent fall in share prices of institutions like Blackstone, Merrill Lynch, Citigroup etc.

Therefore, instead of putting all the country's reserves in such places, why don't Asia Central Banks use it on stimulating domestic demand and fiscal spending? This will allow reserves painstakingly built up over the years to be spend on Asia for the benefit of Asians. In addition, this presents a great opportunity for Asia to "decouple" from the Western world while they are sorting out trouble of their own. This will allow the "decoupling" theory to actually be realised and not allow Asia to be stuck in a situation where "when the US sneeze, Asia catches a cold". The end product of the crisis will therefore result in Asia becoming the main engine for global growth and establish ourselves as a leader on global issues that the West has been so accustomed to.

I know my idea seems a bit far fetched and naive since my knowledge of economics isn't that great and there are probably barriers/politics that prevent such a scenario to materialise. But I am sure that this credit crunch presents an opportunity for Asia to start asserting ourselves on a global basis if we start thinking more about ourselves instead of thinking that we need the West to progress.

Can someone please tell the Asian Central Banks my great idea?

I SO WANNA GO HOME!

Wordless

Today is such a special day that I have to make 2 entries. An especially bad day I must say. One which I shall not mention here, but the other was that a blackout occured soon after and my house was in total darkness for almost 3 hours. Had to order pizza delivery since cooking was not possible and forced to eat in the dark. And this was when I thought things could not get any worse...

The "True" Cost of Everything...

Total investment of overseas studies = around $100k.

Total return from overseas studies = unknown.

I would like to rationalise with people who might find it crazy to fork out that kinda $$ for 1 year of overseas education, especially for a MSc degree that doesn't seem to be valued much by employers. Initially I thought so too.

$100k could do so many things, not forgetting the opportunity cost of me not starting work and earning $$ makes the costs even higher. I am not young anymore (25 this year). Compared to my female peers my age, some of them will have already worked for 3 years by the time I graduate. That's a lot of headstart which I have to make up! Also considering the state of the finance industry now, it's difficult to secure a job I want. My options after graduation seems pretty bleak at the moment, but I am not worrying so much about it now. My priority is to do well and hopefully graduate with distinction so as not to let my parent's money go to waste.

Nonetheless, I believed I have grown as a person and gained some new perspectives in life with my decision. While i totally agree the education is not worth the obscene amount of money LSE charges, but there are some positives to come out of it. Some intangibles that are difficult to quantify in monetary terms. For example, I learn to be more independent aka doing housework and cooking. Indeed, I find shopping for groceries quite thereupatic and cooking quite a nice departure from the monotony of school life. I also become more aware of things I am previously impervious to. Before coming to London, I admit to being politically and religiously insensitive. Looking back, I attiribute it to exposure. For example in Singapore, I do not follow the political elections because I take it for granted that PAP will always win. As such, there is not much say one can bring and therefore I do not have an opinion. In London, I started coming into contact with politics through newspapers, television and conversations so much so that I have been catching up with the US presidential elections with much interest. Indeed I recommend anyone who is free to go check it out. It's really quite interesting, especially the parliamentary debates.

So to answer the question whether it is worth the $$ and time, I seriously cannot answer. Perhaps only time will tell...

ROCK ON Singapore!

For some of you who are unaware, Singapore has won the bid to stage the inaugural Youth Olympics! As a Singaporean, I must say I feel proud that we are selected to host a multi-disciplinary sporting event of such a magnitude. Sure it might not be on such a grand scale as the Olympics, but at least it's a small step forward indeed. I am sure Singapore will stage a very successful event that will further showcase and sell the "Singapore" brand name.

Even before the announcement of this good news, I was already looking forward to being part of the first ever street night Formula 1 race to be held in Singapore this coming September. In fact, I managed to get tickets for the event and I am so looking forward to it! Imagine cars speeding down our roads at 300+km/h in street conditions at night with the skyscrapers as the background. How cool is that?

It is indeed incredible how a small country like Singapore with no resources but its people manage to transform itself into a country that boosts of several first. In fact I came across this website - http://www.singaporebookofrecords.com/index.php which compiles a list of all the records that Singapore or Singaporeans currently hold and I am shocked to see that there are quite a long list.

So for all you Singaporeans out there, you should be proud that you are part of a nation that has overcome the odds to be one of the most successful stories in nation building. At least for me, I am and also confident that Singapore can and will continue to progress with the passage of time.

Title-less

It's so troublesome to think of a title for every post, so to keep things simple, shall just name this entry title-less.

CNY came and pass, had steamboat at home with friends from all over the world including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, China, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, UK and Netherlands. It was a struggle to have everybody to squeeze into our humble home, but we managed by all standing instead of sitting for dinner. Immediately after the dinner I found myself packing for a short weekend trip to Porto, the last in a series of weekend trips. While Porto was pretty nice and cheap, it din't blew my mind away like Kiruna.

This year din't get to spend V-day with HL, but instead with SH due to her flight schedule (she's a stewardess). A trip to Primark (1st time for me but 3rd time for her already) blew all my previous misconceptions about London away! It's actually possible to shop cheaply in London. You will be hard pressed to find anything that costs more than double digits in the department store, and I must say some of the stuff are really value for money! The only item I could remember selling for more than 10 pounds is a suit which costs 17 pounds, which is still ridiculously cheap! Think I will be making my way down there more often.

The next day we made our way down to Greenwich and it was a pretty enjoyable trip. Surprisingly to find a place in London that does not feel like London at all. In fact, Greenwich feels very much like a quaint, peaceful town outside London, which is just what I like. Nonetheless there are lots of stuff to explore including the National Maritime Museum, Royal Observatory,Cutty Sark and Royal Naval College. An over-enthusiastic tour guide gave us a very comprehensive tour that lasted 2 hours when it was supposed to be half that.

On the Prime Meridien Line (0˚ longtitude)

Anyway, I just learnt a new word today - enochlophobia - which is the fear of crowds. Seriously think I have a mild condition of enochlophobia , which explains why I am not looking forward to facing the reality of being cooped up in London for the next 2 weeks after the past few weeks of travelling.

Updates

Finished a gruelling schedule of travelling for 3 weekends - Sweden, Liverpool/Manchester, Porto. Each trip brought a very different experience and looking back, did not regret going ahead with the travel plan. However, I am now suffering from an overdose of travelling and actually looking forward to spending the next 2 weekends at home. This should provide enough time for me to rest till the Iceland trip 2 weeks later followed by Southern Spain in mid-March before I head back to Singapore for my Easter break! Can't wait...

While I seem to be enjoying myself over here, it does gets quite bad sometimes especially when I did not get to spend CNY with family and friends back home and also VALENTINE'S DAY tomorrow with HL!!! Will make it up to you when I'm back k? Guess that's life, you cannot have everything. There is always gives and takes. Looking on the bright side, at least I do not have to spend time thinking about how to celebrate V-Day (presents and dinner) this time round. Ops!

To Ling - Wish I could be back spending V-Day with you! Miss you and see you at the airport in 6 weeks time!

Chinese New Year (Home and Away Edition)

It's the time of the year again - Chinese New Year. Think it's the first time that I am spending it away from home, but guess for me personally, I don't find it such a big deal.

For me, CNY at home means...

1) a welcome break from studies/work
2) a time to spend with family, girlfriend and friends
3) a time to gamble
4) an excuse to indulge in some retail therapy
5) a time to collect lots of angbaos

This year, CNY away from home means...

1) a welcome break from studies/work (only partially true because I am going to Porto for a short trip over the weekend but I have been taking short trips every other weekend too)
2) a time to spend with family, girlfriend and friends (no family, girlfriend and most friends, so only partially true)
3) a time to gamble (hopefully true with poker session tomorrow night)
4) an excuse to indulge in some retail therapy (not very true since I have been doing it on a regular basis and not only during this period)
5) a time to collect lots of angbaos (true although not in person but I am sure my mom will collect on my behalf)

Here's wishing everyone a happy CNY! Hope the year of the rat will be a wonderful one!

You'll Never Walk Alone

Date with Anfield this Saturday. Can't wait.

Stockholm and Kiruna

Just got back from a trip to Stockholm and Kiruna but shall focus on Kiruna simply because it deserves my full attention in this entry!

The perpetually snow-laden landscape, the indescribable insane temperature of -22°C, the untouched breathtaking beauty of many parts of Kiruna, the amazing hospitality of the people and the new experiences (snow mobile, dog sleigh, reindeer meat) makes for a totally wonderful trip that propels Kiruna to one of my favourite and must-go destination. If anyone of you is looking for a trip out of the ordinary, Kiruna is the place to go. And if you think you understand the word cold, try Kiruna in winter and you will better appreciate the word.

Pity we din't get to see the northern light despite waiting in the blistering cold for 1 hour, but this just gives me an excuse to return for another trip since there are still many activities left to be explored e.g. ice fishing, moose safari and staying in the ice hotel.

all geared up for the day with 6 layers of clothes, 3 pairs of gloves, 2 scarfs, 2 socks and 2 layers of shoes!
our cosy hostel which was perfect except for the rude receptionist who seems to have a problem with Asians
at the ice hotel
ice hotel logo

ice bar - not opened for business yet when we were there though. even the glass you drink from are made of ice!
one of the 30+ designer suites in ice hotel
pitstop during the snowmobile trip to ice hotel
our lunch cooked by our very entertaining guide
our satisfying meal of raindeer, potatoes and lingoberry juice

amazing shot of the picturesque landscape of Kiruna

the dogs working tirelessly to pull 4 of us in the cold temperature
keeping ourselves warm halfway through the dog sleigh tour
one of the many snow sculptures at snow festival
leaving with a heavy heart, but i'll be back, DEFINITELY!

Are you Singaporean Enough?

Went for a though-provoking talk yesterday on what it means to be Singaporean i.e.what is the Singapore identity. The talk given by the 4 invited guest was interesting, but what really caught my attention was the Q&A session. 2 old ladys, who married foreigners and settled down overseas, were "forced" by Singapore to give up their citizenship against their will. Now they feel like they are outcasted/2nd class citizens although they are Singaporean at heart and yearn to go back to Singapore.

I have never given this idea of citizenship much thought until yesterday, probably because it is something I take for granted. I did not undergo the "traumatic" experience of the old lady whose pink IC was taken away from her at the airport customs without questions and replace with a blue IC. But even that was taken away from her and now she is no longer considered a citizen of Singapore.

The takeaway i got from the talk was that the Singapore identity is very individualistic that is formed from personal upbringing and experiences. Being Singaporean means different things to different people, but it boils down to the emotional attachment that ties one to Singapore. For many foreigners who have studied and worked in Singapore for a period of time, some of them consider Singaporeans at heart i.e. they have been naturalised. But are they really Singaporeans or do we consider them Singaporeans? For me personally, I guess it boils down to how the individual feel and not what the individual has. It does not matter whether the individual holds a Singapore passport/IC or not? For him, it may just be a matter of but he does not feel Singaporean at heart. On the other hand, an individual may be very Singaporean at heart e.g. speak Singlish, like the food and way of life but may not own a Singaporean passport/IC. I would consider the latter a Singaporean.

Perhaps it's good to give this idea some serious thought. With globalization greatly increasing the mobility of humans, what impact (economic, political and social) does it have for a nation like Singapore whose only resources are its people? Is the idea of dual-citizenship feasible or will it dilute the Singapore identity? One can only wonder...

How the world works from my point of view

No concept has made me understand more about the world in recent memory than the concept of demand and supply. It took me some time, but once I begin to grasp the concept, it opened my mind to a whole new way of looking at things. You might not notice, but once you really start to think about it, many things in the world can be explained by demand and supply. Don't believe?

1) Why are some items so expensive and others so cheap? If you think about it, it is demand and supply. Take the extreme case. Air is free because it is supposedly unlimited. Salt is cheap because supply is plentiful. Ferraris are expensive because demand is high and supply is low. This could go on forever but you get the idea.

2) Demand for LSE degrees are high and supply of classrooms is low. As a result, 60+ people have to squeeze into a classroom for 40 people. And this is not the first time happening already. This is evident in other modules too. All these when we pay exhorbitant school fees, and the reason why LSE can do so is because demand for LSE degrees are high...

3) Doing my own investments in stocks made me appreciate the concept even more. Technically speaking, the price of a stock at a moment in time is the concensus price that all buyers are willing to pay (demand) and all sellers are willing to sell for (supply). What causes the demand/supply to change? Many reasons. I would like to say that I am a fundamentalist at heart, but ultimately, demand and supply has helped in my understanding and acceptance of technical analysis. I believe that what ultimately drives share prices in the long run is profits, but in the short run, there are many other factors to consider. Human nature dictates that we are self-maximising individuals i.e. we are greedy and want to make as much profits as possible. As companies report higher and higher earnings, investos flock to buy the stock to participate in the growth. This increase in demand pushes up prices. As prices increases, more investors flock in, triggering a vicious cycle known as a bubble. This scenario occurs when stock prices are no longer explained by fundamentals as seen in the tech bubble. Ultimately, prices drop and fear set in. Investors look to unload stocks, increasing supply dramatically. But with low demand for stocks due to fear, prices plunge and this continues and result in what we call a stock market crash. This is why stock markets goes in cycles.

4) The recent hoohah about the subprime mortgage crisis is also intrisically linked to demand and supply. As cheap money flooded the world, people demands rise as they can borrow more at cheap rates. Part of this supply of money is spent on housing, and as demand for them increases, the prices of houses increases. More construction took place to increase the supply to take advantage of the increase in demand. Similarly, as more people turned to property, the demand for mortgages increases. Mortgage standards are relaxed so that they can earn more $$, with the impression that the insatiable demand for housing will result in continued increased in house prices. Creative ways are then used aka financial innovation to securities these mortgage loans into CMBS that are rated highly by rating agencies before being sold off by banks to investors who are given the false impression that they are investing in safe instruments with high returns. As people feel richer, they invest their money in a 2nd property and the vicious cycle continues. All parties seem to benefit from this cycle of events. More people get to own a home that increase in prices, the mortgage lenders, rating agencies and banks make lots of commission and the investors earn high returns for taking on AAA CMBS. Sounds too good to be true? Indeed all these were brought to an abrupt end when people started defaulting on their loans which triggered another chain of events which I shall not go into detail here. Again, this is why economies goes in cycle too.

Even now, I can list many examples of the concept of demand and supply at work. One notable example is the automobile industry. With the increase in oil prices caused by skyrocketing demand and tight supply, the turn to alternative fuels as a solution suddenly gains much prominence. This increased demand by consumers lead companies to spend more money on R&D to develop new technology e.g. hybrids, ethanol, diesel to power our vehicles. I am sure that in a few years time, with sustained increase in oil prices, new technology economical for commercialization will surface and consumers will experience a drastic changes in the way we commute.

Ultimately, it all boils down to concept of demand and supply. But if you look deeper, it is also closely linked with human nature. In economics 101, we learn that humans have unlimited wants in a world of limited resources. We also learn that all individuals are self maximising i.e. greedy by nature. It is precisely these assumptions, coupled with the fact that humans adapt to changes in the environment that make the concept of demand and supply such a powerful force that can explain so many things happening around the world.

I hope that this has been an educational read. The concept of demand and supply has opened my eyes, I hope it will do the same for you too.

More bad luck!

I lost my phone today and hurt my back doing gym. How suay can I get?

And to think my horoscope in Facebook says "You'll enjoy an exceptional chance factor which will allow you to ease all crisis situations. Your material life will improve."

Hmmm, I wonder perhaps it's telling me that losing my phone is my low point and there's no way to go but up from here... Trying to think positive but it's not working. Now I have to go 1 less trip to save $$!

Some things are just not meant to be...

I was just 3 people away from seeing Dr. Josef Ackermann (Deutsche Bank CEO) live, but instead, had to settle for hearing his lecture from another theatre through video.

Darn all those people who cut queue!

10/01/05 - 10/01/08

Despite the ups and downs, we have made it to our 3 year anniversary!

(although we are 6,753 miles apart currently)

*Applause*

More Random Thoughts

No 2 individuals are ever alike, but it's such differences that make each individual unique...

Living up to someone's expectations is sometimes harder than living up to your own expectations...

True or false??? Or is there just no right answer???

The Malta Experience (Part I)

Not many people have heard of Malta, and even less people have thought of going there, but thanks to Yut and his visa problems, we settled for Malta for a short trip. Perhaps my expectations were too high, but Malta turned out to be very different from what I imagined to be. Maybe we were there during the wrong time (the tourist season is in summer where it is popular for its beaches and diving spots).

Here's a guide to Malta in numbers:

400,000 - population of Malta of which 90% of people hibernate at home during winter because the streets are all so dead!

20,300 - GDP per capita, which is quite a lot but is not reflected in the infrastructure of the country. feels more like in South America or Middle East to me!

300 - the distance in kilometres our trusty Chevrolet Aveo covered in the 4 days

240 - amount of money (euros) spend during the trip. there was nothing to buy so all was spend on car, food and accommodation with spare change left for next Europe trip!

100? - rough estimate of number of churches in Malta, an amazingly large number considering the size of the country is less than half the size of Singapore!

10-15 - temperature of Malta while we were there

6 - number of churches we visited, definitely too much. only 3 were worth checking out.

5.5 - how I would rate the trip based on a scale of 10. the overdose of churches was just not my cup of tea and the inactivity of the city was just too much for me too handle. the only saving grace was the magnificent views on our last day and lunch at ta' Marija restaurant where we got to taste authentic Maltese specialities.

3 - tried 3 different style of eating rabbit: fried rabbit, rabbit stew, spaghetti in rabbit sauce

2 - number of stars our hotel was rated. poor students = cheap accommodation

1 - the number of Zara stores we saw in Malta!

I will add photos (Part II) if I have the motivation and time!

Retail Therapy

Never knew online shopping was so addictive, thus explaining my purchases over the Xmas & New Year period...

Just joking... this is just a snapshot when my house was converted into a temporary storeroom with 10 people (me and Yut friends) squeezed into it!

Here's the real stuff...

Jeans

Watch

Shoes
Books
And all together now!

Before any of you start lambasting me as a spendthrift, let me clarify:
1) Jeans were buy 2 at 40 pounds (Ong bought the other one) - very cheap
2) Watch was at 70% discount = 30 pounds - cheap
3) Shoes were at 40% discount = 35 pounds - quite cheap
4) Books were at 50% discount = 30 pounds - cheap and enriches my mind too!

Random Thoughts

A few days back, I had the sudden urge to fly back Singapore. It's probably the first time since I came London that I really wanted to be back in the comfort of my family and friends back home.

Guess no matter how much 1 enjoys the perks that comes with living alone abroad, it can never feel quite like home. I have to wait 11 more weeks....

New Year, New Hopes, New Dreams, New Resolutions???

It's January 1 2008, a brand new year once again! I've never been one who believe in making New Year resolutions. I believe if there's something that needs to be done or something that you want to achieve, you will do it - with or without a need for a resolution to constantly remind you. At the end of the day, I'm sure many people reflect back on the year that passed and realised that many of the resolutions are not achieved!

Anyway, here are some snapshots of probably my 1 and only countdown in London...

Tons of people
Us at the countdown

As usual, it is the normal "people squeeze people" situation. But I must say the countdown was quite disappointing nonetheless. The fireworks were not as impressive and after some time, the sky got so foggy that the rest of the fireworks can't be seen! And we were drenched by the sudden downpour of champagne when 2008 arrived!

London Eye - Now you see it....

Now you don't!

Spectacular night shot of Tower Bridge

Group shot with Tower Bridge in the background

Anyway, here's wishing everyone a fabulous 2008 and may all your dreams come true! For me, that means graduating top of my cohort (actually a merit will suffice) and landing a job! Malta tomorrow and then end of holidays...