The leak

I been planning to leave my company for a couple of weeks now. Only my closest colleagues (whom have similar intentions) know about this.

Just last friday, my current boss RW asked if I could help out with another project. As I respected him well, I informed him that I intent to leave and it is not wise to bring me over. He accepted it and hope I can stay at least till the end of the current project.

And then this afternoon, my former boss, L, asked me to join him for a chat. I smell something is wrong.

Just before this, I met up with my new COO, RM. Its his first day and he wants to get to know everyone. The previous COO, G is on 3 mth notice and I am happy to see him go. Dun get me wrong here. The bad place I am in, as cheated of his time and money.

G was brought over as COO after my fat boss wanted to buy over his coy. It din go thru due to cash flow problems. So as such, they been trying to get rid of him for months. G has not been given any pay for 4 mths and been bombarded with questions at every issue.

G took it bravely but know that his days here are numbered.

Anyway, L asked if I was unhappy with my current role and seek to bring me back to his team. I asked him what this about and he said he learned that I have intentions to leave. I openly said its true and he was surprised. I told him that there is no point in gg over his side. After all, the reasons for my leaving is the same. (I told him abt the lack of operating fund. The only reason I held back is that I hate that fat bastard)

L wants me to think it thru and I said I will. But well, my mind is made up. Thinking back, RM was saying things like the coy is very happy with my work here and hope to give me more opportunities. I now smell a rat. They are playing this game to keep me.

What is interesting is that I realise now that this is just a scheme. G is leaving and is likely to bring with him a few staffs whom respected him. I am guessing, they are sounding me out if G is intending to poach me. Perhaps they want to use it to play him out and deny him his pay.

Its my guess and I got a feeling, I aint far from the truth. Now I wonder if RW has leaked this out. If so, I guess he is trying to keep me. If not, it is definitely true that they are sounding me out about the possible poach.

Noguchi Table

Take a good look at this Designer Coffee Table.

Looks damn chio hor.

Very Modern hor.

Now what if I tell you its designed by a Japanese Guy, Noguchi.

I bet you would think that this Jap dude has a eye for simplicity and interesting structure.

Now what if I tell you that this table was designed in 1947. Now, would you believed me?

It is pretty amazing to me that back then, this artist caught an idea and made something that becomes a timeless classic. He probably stand out so much back then that the people around din know what to make of this.

All I know is, I am damn keen to put this in my new place.

Run from the Hippo

I made the bold move last year to leave a comfort zone and ventured out into the open waters. Friends around me had warned me that things out there are different. I was to believe that the sharks are all around and you will likely be bitten from your own kind.

Mentally preparing myself for all this…. Office politics and competitions are impossible to avoid in the private sector. After all I rather have that competitiveness than to be in a organization that endlessly protect the lazy and weak. I always obey the animal kingdom rule. The strong will survive.

I have been out in the shark infested waters for 8 months now and I am glad I have moved.

There was a fair share of people who goes around stabbing backs and some who was bolder (or foolish) to stab while you are facing them. There were plenty of smiling faces who have their hidden agenda. And of course there are friends among them I could trust.

Sadly, I have to find another water body soon. This little pond is running dry of water. Lots of fishes have left and there is a strong chance there would be a drought. On top of that, that hippo in my opinion, is making more and more bad moves. One of which has made me come into conflict with my former colleagues.

I seek to find an ocean this time. Small little ponds have a tendency to run out of water. Hope there is some good news in the coming days.

Privatising

During lunch, a colleague mentioned that the govt made a terrible mistake. They should not have privatise the transports. Giving that the situation now, the govt has to step in to pump in more money in order to keep the fare lows and the bus coy profitable.

However, I think the govt made a bigger mistake. They should have kept transport coy under their wing and should have privatise HDB instead. My colleague was shocked when he heard that.

I laid it out to him. Private coy always look at their bottom line. If they were to build something, they have to ensure they sell it and make money.  If HDB goes private, all developers out there will panic. HDB will go into building not just HDB, but Condos, landed, industrial, commercial etc.

It be the biggest developer out there. As such, all the other developers will have to drop their price in order to compete.

Of course, with HDB being in the private sector, the mass market low cost HDB will be priced higher. BUT the other sectors will drop owning to their entry.

In time to come, some developers will enter into the mass market HDB in order to protect their bottom line. This will create competition that is healthy for the first time buyers.

I guess in the short term, we will see lots of panic and price fluctuation. In the long run, we should see a better controlled property market.

Till then, I guess the govt will have to see if they are willing to let go of this golden goose.

Soccer in work life

Very often you would find reference to soccer in work life. Sometimes the reference is so real, it hurts.

Sales is pretty much like strikers. When they clinch a deal (or score a goal), they are heavily praised upon and rewarded. Whereas the engineers are like the goalkeeper. They do a good job and no one realise. Its only when there is a mistake made (a goal scored) that the engineers get all the unnecessary attention.


1.  All that lessons learn in school (training) have never transferred to real life. The competition will tackle you and you may break a leg.



2.  You are only valuable to the team when the other teams (other job offers) wants you. Its only then that your boss will notice you.

3.  Working hard and long hours doesnt mean you will go home a winner. Often its played on luck and that means being in the right place at the right time.




4.  Everyone gives their 2 cents worth on what you should have done after the match (project) ended and not before.

5.  No one is happy to be substituted.

6.  Fighting among co-workers in front of others are fairly common




7. Staying in one team for good never gets you anywhere. Unless the team you are in, happen to be the top team.Then again, you may still want to leave and go to Madrid.

8. You can expect to work on most weekend. Holidays included.

Hublot watch - Antikythera mechanism

I should really not look at watches. Without fail, I would find something I like and spend the rest of the day thinking about it.

Its like having a massive crush on a girl. Except this could be bought with the right price.

Hublot went about and recreated an ancient mechanism now known as Antikythera mechanism. Its invented in the 100-200 BC to allow the Greek to accurately predict the position of the sun and the nearest known stars (planets).This can be done, simply by turning a single dial.

Now I am captivated by this and dreaming wish I could own this piece of history on my wrist. I think it would no doubt be costly. Hopefully I would struck TOTO one day

The wait for your property

I was rather fortunate. Just last June I made a deposit with a heavy heart. I know I need a home after my wedding. But its impossible to find a place that is affordable and readily available. The HDB launches then are impossible. Our combined income was outside the ceiling. The resale HDBs were scary. COV was averaging at 40K and it aint going to be a location I am happy with.

It took a heavy heart to come to terms that my home would likely to be my biggest investment. Something I would be working hard to pay off.  This would leave little for other luxuries. As I made the deposit, I can only hope for the best. So far, I have not regretted on my decision.

The thing that I was pleasantly surprise was that I would be getting my keys in Dec. Now how about that. A wait of just 1.5 years. Something bearable.

Now if you wondering why I am sharing all these above, its becos of my conversation with a senior colleague. To give you the whole picture, I shall throw some background info. He is single, in his late 40s and is wary about investments.

He said that the PAP Govt (Notice he din said its the SG Govt, but branded it PAP) has noticed that the voters are unhappy. Largely becos of the high cost of owning a property. Well he was partially right. The voters are unhappy for high property cost, but are also upset of the job losses, influx of foreigners, etc etc etc. AS SUCH our PAP govt will control the price of the properties. They even hinted (no reference provided) that in 2014 the prices will drop drastically.

This is something I do not quite agreed. Yes, I aint no soothsayer. I definitely cant predict my stocks portfolio in 2 weeks much less the next 2 years. But I do know that its very hard to bring down the property prices.

Just 2-3 years back when we have the Depression. The one they said would rival the Great Depression of 1930s. Well what happen to our property prices? Interestingly I did not notice a substantial decline.

Private condos that were in the launch phrase did became softer. A small discount was given to entice buyers to come in. And though the showrooms were quieter, the units were largely sold out.

Property developers who were anticipating the crash, immediately withheld all their plans. No new housing were build thus increasing the demand with a even smaller supply. (HDB too reduce their supply, thanks to a smart arse)

Those who owned homes has withhold from selling. The majority could afford to wait out. And with banks giving out a pretty low interest rate then, they are more than happy to. 

Those whom owned properties for rental too were enjoying the low rental rates. They may be the tricky bunch as some may have tenants whom pack up and leave. (forgoing a month of security deposit) However I am sure even with vacant units, those whom could afford to rent them out are able to hold on to them for months and not years.

So what is this trying to tell us? Property is a big investment and most investors are fundamentally able to cope with a short term loss. Despite an economic decline, the price of property may slip a few % but generally would stay strong.

Now let me use another way to explain this. A majority of our savings are tied up in our home. This is our prime investment where it takes years to pay off the banks. If a substantial drop (lets say 20%) is to occur, plenty of us would be cursing that we are paying more than what our home is worth.

Banks will be wary of this as well. Any bad debts would mean that the unit they be repossessing is worth less than the loan. A good amount of paper value would be wiped out if that is to happen.

Soooo do I think that the property price would drop? Well NO. I have seen the past data when I was looking for a home during the crisis. I saw a dip and not witness a drop.

Personally I think our Govt hands are tied. The only thing they could do is to stabilize the pricing and build affordable HDBs for young couples.

PS. I doubt the Govt would cut the price of new HDB by half, unless they are keen to piss off all the surrounding neighbors and developers. If a new 5 room unit cost 200K, all surrounding older unit, would have their prices drop. And these are the ppl whom has paid 500K for their unit years ago. Imagine the paper loss.

Home project

Just a couple of weeks ago, I received a surprise call from my lawyer. He has called to informed me that I be getting my keys to my new home in Dec, this year. Now this is a little shock to me. The developer has kept the TOP at Dec 2012 and even counting in the time buffer they put in and the speed of construction, I had only assumed that I could collect my keys in early half of 2012.

So with my mouth wide open, my heart skipping a bit, I shared this news with my wifey. She too was taken aback. Both of us are excited by this news and it became apparent that we need to get some planning done.

First off, I called 2 of my Bros. Mr B who is in the flooring biz and is setting up work on home interior design. He has assured me that he would help me to look into carpentry and necessary painting and flooring.

Next I called my Mr N, who is in the lighting biz. He invited both us to drop by his showroom and we have found a couple of lightings we fancy. We even found that he has products on ceiling fans and would be considering them as well.

Furnishing is the next step and we dropped by Furniture Mall yesterday to take a good look. I must say, 3 hours is not sufficient to cover the whole place. We spent most of the time in the first 2 floors and have only swing by the 3rd for a quick look.

Looking at the possible cost that we would arrive at, I must say I am glad that we are financially prepare for this. It feels like I have taken a whole year of my income and gave it to all these groups of ppl for a swell looking home.

Nothing in life is cheap nor easy. One has to be prepared for the worst and planned for the best. (This means I wont have to go ahead with my EU 11 plan)

Pet tracking idea

This all happen relatively quick. Got a fren who is into a biz that provides vehicle tracking services. I remarked to him that he has a brilliant product and there is plenty of opportunities he could explore.

And then he enticed me.

He asked if I wanted to go over to help him out. He is in need of people to help him grow his biz and is relented to trust just about any one.

Honestly I am flattered and strongly tempted. The idea of being in a small startup and the ability to help it grow, greatly entices me.

Sadly I told him that I could not afford to do so. I am pegged down with commitments and would need the dough. He understood where I was coming from and we kept our friendship professional.

When an idea pops up, I would share with him about the possibility of using his tracking services in this new area. He would give me an opinion if it is feasible or not. Recently I came up with the idea of Pet tracking and shared with him immediately.

What I din know was that he has already ventured into that field. The only problem was, this was carried out in another country and not SG. He asked if I was keen on it. If so, I could be his reseller. All I would need is to register a legal biz entity and signed with him a reseller deal. I would price the product with a mark up and proceed to sell it in my own capacity. I am fairly excited and have been considering it since.

I aint keen to just jump straight into it. I need to see if there is market potential for this. What I do know is that my risk would be small. The startup capital would be affordable and I just need to the energy and time to market this (online stores and such).

I guess I would make my decision shortly. If its worth a shot, I should be waiting for the cows to come home.