Thank you Mr Lee

(photo credit: the wall street journal)

The Prime Minister is deeply grieved to announce the passing of Mr Lee Kuan Yew, the founding Prime Minister of Singapore. Mr Lee passed away peacefully at the Singapore General Hospital today at 3.18am. He was 91.

PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE

23 MARCH 2015

I'm a cynic, when I see everyone doing certain things, I tend to doubt it, and doubt it a lot. This announcement came at a time where everyone was sleeping, the next morning, it sent the whole nation into a frenzy, everyone was 'shedding a tear', tears rolling down their cheeks. I feel some of them are just blindly following a trend. Why did NParks only named an orchid after him now? Was his accomplishments only valued after his passing? Will there be a park named after him? 

Some even got lazy and start naming stuff after him. I'll do 91 chin-ups and name it #LKY91 (don't forget to hash-tag), each chin up shall signify the rises and falls of the 91 years of his life and challenging obstacles he faced in building our nation.

People in my generation are born after to reap the fruits of his work. Singapore was already a first world nation when I was very young.

Unlike most pretentious people, I have learnt about his life since I was very young (I'm really not bragging but how many people queuing to the Parliament house actually knows his English name or when he started smoking or realise that he studied law before entering politics) I didn't shed a tear when he died, to be honest, I have never really seen him in the flesh. (NDP doesn't count). He is a great man, he was ahead of his time in thinking and his work. Its amazing how little we know about this man as as a person rather than from his work. 

Other than just saying he is a great man or he is why Singapore is, lets look at him as a person and then his work:

- He is incredibly smart (check out the amount of academic achievements he has, he even said in a book that he learnt from copying from a classmate and still top the class).

- He is very proud of his Chinese ancestry, which is why he didn't really use his English name (his english name is given at birth)

- He was a really heavy smoker during his Uni days

His political career is something I wasn't really interested in and I feel instead of saying he is a politician, we should say that he is a nation builder. He made everyone not litter, ignore race, afford education, serve and protect our own country, not rely on anyone else. People may disagree but I feel this man definitely knows what it takes to be peaceful and prosperous. 

I hope this brief post can urge you to go and learn about LKY as a person, his life, his legacy is already all around us. The way some people post on social media is as if they are his oldest friends and relatives of him when in fact they don't. If you do, good, teach the young. If you don't stop shedding tears for a man you don't really know and pretend to be just because everyone is doing it.  

He is a great man that many of us do not truly know, yet he built the nation (not single-handedly though) in which we all live in. Though written by S.Rajaratnam, I feel this is the best thing to be recited to remember who LKY was and what he represents. Good job sir. Rest in peace. Please watch over Singapore from where ever you are.

We, the citizens of Singapore,

Pledge ourselves as one united people,

Regardless of race, language or religion

To build a democratic society

Based on justice and equality

So as to achieve

Happiness

Prosperity

And Progress for our Nation

(unknown photo credit)

Budgeting for Your Future

If you observe my posting times, its usually when the sun is up (SG timing that is), its mainly because my house keyboard is anti-typing, but I kept it around because its small and doesn't take up space.

Anyways to my main point: Budgeting for your Future as titled.

Ask yourself: When you are budgeting for your "future", where does this "future" stops?

For most people, its till the wedding, most people plan their wedding and honeymoon, they always forget to factor in the flats and most importantly, renovation. Which is why, banks do not need to come up with wedding loans, they only need to come up with loans to pay your renovation. Never forget this critical point. The whole idea of this post hinges on this.

For the financial kiasus, their future ends the moment their children dies of an ripe old age. It's a little extreme but you get my point what I'm comparing here.

For me I work backwards and I consider these few things in order of somewhat importance:
- Down payment + Option fees + 1st till 5th month's loan payment.
- Furniture + Appliances
- Renovation
- Honeymoon
- Engagement Ring + wedding gifts
- Wedding (photoshoots and banquet inclusive)
- Wedding bands

This broadly covers the things I'll be paying for till about 6 months after I've gotten the keys to my flat.
The breakdown 
Down payment + Option fees + 1st till 5th month's loan payment.

• Reason why this is important is because this is the most expensive thing you are going to spend your money on. This is what your parents is asking you to save money for. 
• THIS MONEY INCLUDES YOUR CPF MONEY
• I put there first to fifth months but it should cover 6 months because your option fee of $2,000 is going to be used for one month's payment. First 6 months should cover your from keys getting till moving in. You do not want to be seeing your money fly out that quickly when you are also paying for renovation and appliances, etc
• This is basis a $300,000 flat. If you can afford a $600,000 flat as your first apartment, better set aside more as option fee reimbursement is not going to help much.

Furniture + Appliances

• The silent killer, I feel renovation can be kept to a minimum if you are strapped for cash, but furniture and appliances cannot do without. You can don't hack the wall to expand your hall, but you cannot have a house without an iron and ironing board (I do not believe in those vacuum cleaner type, they don't iron collars and cuffs)
• Its better to fully stock your furniture and appliances when you move it because it makes the home a more cozy place. Imagine yourself without a washing machine for 1 month because you cannot afford it this month, you will subconsciously loathe the place. 
• For bed and sofa, go for quality and comfort over price. You can buy an ikea side table for awhile, but bed frame must be sturdy for at least 5 years.

Renovation

• This is a very gray area for me as I do not really know how much I have to set aside until I do it. I'll just put out a substantial sum for this just in case, if any remains, I have more cash for furniture and stuff. 
• I have read outside that its much cheaper to individually engage contractors for each components rather than an Interior Decorator, I do not know how true is this, but I believe Interior Decorator is just someone you hire to oversee your renovation, either you put in the elbow grease or pay someone to do it.
• Think about your lifestyle in this flat 5 - 10 years from now, if you do not see yourself in this flat 10 years from now (aka moving out), keep the renovations to the minimum
• I also include kitchen cabinet, stove and sink as part of the renovation
• For 4 rooms, I personally feel there is not much hacking you can do, yet it is versatile enough to deal with most generic family size. 

Honeymoon

• Europe. Paris. Florence. Most importantly, be happy and do not be a miser overseas, you work hard for it, don't go overseas and say things like "this chocolate sells cheaper in Singapore".

Engagement Ring + wedding gifts

• Guys, get your wife-to-be something she will like yet the design will be evergreen. Diamonds are forever, not the design of ring it came with. Just think whether will she wear this ring and look appropriate when she is 60 years old.
• Girls, I know this isn't a tradition, because no weddings are marketed to men. Think, your husband-to-be has forked out a huge amount of cash to make you look good, apart from the good time in the bed room, maybe you could get a little something for him as well. I think the best of all would be a mechanical watch (not battery operated quartz), but a really good watch. Think rolex/grand seiko/omega/patek if you are that rich. Engrave his name at the case back and make it his life-time memorabilia. He may even pass on the watch to his children in future. 
• Including in the Si Dian Jin 四点金 in this portion as well because it is only bought once.

Wedding (photoshoots and banquet inclusive)

• This is very low ranking on the list, second last to be exact, reason being, despite being very important, end of the day, you must understand that it is merely to glorify your woman and impress others. End of the day, there is nothing impressive with a $50,000 wedding and you end up being unable to afford your house and reno.
• No wedding photoshoot is about the guys and no wedding dinner is about how well dressed the groom is. The clothing with the colours, price, detail and impracticality is the gown. If you look into tailoring, you could keep that good grey/navy suit for other events after your wedding.
• Banquets for me, the mindset is this, basis 25  tables, if I throw a wedding at a Chinese restaurant, it may set me back $1000 a table, but a 4 - 5 star hotel could be starting at $1500 nett a table, I already have savings of  $12,500 right off the bat. That could cover for a good 2 nights (1st night for resting, 2nd night for procreation) stay at Fullerton Hotel and still have enough for that Europe honeymoon plus a little top up.
• I planned this portion without factoring ang bao money as you should not rely on people to pay you to treat them food. 

Wedding bands

• This is last for me  as I feel, this wedding band thing could be bought over and over again throughout your marriage
• You could get a new set every 5 or 10 years, to somewhat renew the marriage and provide various significance and milestones to the family.

Maybe you have an idea of how things should be and your order of importance is different. But this is just my point of view that even my wife-to-be don't necessarily see eye-to-eye but is accepting of it because of the surrounding principles and practicality to my future plans. 

But most important thing of all is, do not jump into the water without first finding out if there are sharks in it. Many couples get together because of love but fall out due to money, do not take money matters lightly. Sad to say, if you get married not to start a family of your own, it might not be the best course of action to take. 

(photo credit: today online)

Starting a family should be the main reason for getting married, not the outcome of being married to one another...

Vintage/Nostalgia/Throwback *hashtag

Every trend gets rinsed and repeated, mostly, its fashion related (see the bucket hats). From time to time, the cultural trend setters thought its time to portray certain lifestyles and cultures.

For the longest time running, many things have been soaked thoroughly in the good ol' days. Words like: vintaged, retrolicious, nostalgic, dapper, throwback is mentioned in every single social networking post.

I like the way some things are done the old way because it really is better not just because it is for being vintage. I see people selling chicken/ping pong print bowl or green metal cup for more than $2-3 I want to just take it and throw at the face of the seller.

I feel some people do these old things for the sake of being vintage. Not always, old is gold. Before anyone things I'm anti-culture or anti-trend hard ass, let me first come and say that I'm into the notion that for somethings, old is gold. Not all things, but some. Those that is really gold, you do not see the teens doing it because they do not get to show off doing it. For instance, chopping wood for fire, climbing flights of stairs to their 4 storeys and up HDB flats (hell, even young people who live on 2nd floor also take lift). I believe that in our ancestors age, they discovered many things, some of these things were perfected back then. Hence we never change the way we do them. Sure, marketing may steer us towards the cash cows instead.

For instance: shaving. Modern cartridge razors or electric razors are seriously bad for the skin yet some people only use that. They even use shaving cream for cartridge razor because that's how its done in the TV.

I don't see why anyone with a calculator at home will want to shave with a cartridge razor. 

Riding vespas. seriously, its a extremely overpriced scooter that just looks like its old. Remember to attached the silly looking helmets that over no protection to the cheeks and jaw with shades above it to complete the look.

Protect your forehead and your hair with this today. Also, goggles are as attachments to helmet only, not to be used by rider.

Vintage film cameras (unless you are a serious collector and/or photographer). Yes the images are warmer looking, but don't anyone who is not a professional photographer thinks that film is out? Its costly to develop, vintage cameras have too many moving parts that require alot of maintenance, some parts aren't in production anymore and are expensive to acquire. End of the day, you take these money-ripping things out to Haji lane or some weird back alley to take #stilllife #throwback #nostalgia photos only to post them into instagram or facebook only. Seriously, if you into photography for casual, just get a digital camera or basic DSLR. Don't come and step step (fake) one film camera user

cannot find any photos to illustrate my point as I do not want to offend any photographers but you get the point

Hair grooming, I just got into the slick back rockabilly thingy with my hair, I have always sported a side parting for most part of my adult life (at some point, it was spiking on its own like a gong kuay aka rooster). But nowadays I feel alot of things revolve around the dapper gentlemen kind of look. How come we are into dapper all of a sudden? Answer: Mad Men tv series.

The styling is good, although I felt that initially the clothing was a bit badly fitted, due to budget I suppose. But in mad men, its all about the hair and the slick. In sunny (sweaty, sticky) island Singapore, we face a very very different weather and climate versus our golden haired counter parts in the west. In many hobbies, there will be this group of people who call themselves purist. I honestly hate this term, not for what it represents but for the fact that this term is being abused and destroyed utterly by people with internet. For example, previously mentioned 'photographers' and in men's grooming case, usage of products that are from the past or making them overpriced. Pomade debates on oil-based vs water-based pomades for example. I can understand if American's do it. Firstly, they have seen oil-based pomades all their life. Their dad's did it, their grandfather did it and now, they are doing it, no wrong. Another reason is also their everyday drug store (our guardian or watsons equivalent) sells it since back it was first sold in early 1900s.

But what I cannot stand is Singaporeans who 'swear by' oil based pomades. Seriously serious? Swear by is kinda a strong word. Its true that forums have listed out the advantages of oil based pomades, but can you imagine, in humid Singapore where your pillow case has residue of grease? Its disgusting. Oil based pomades do not wash off in 3 or less washes of shampoo (PUB bills not you pay that's why shampoo until so song *shiok right?)

Cock grease for "cocks"

But I'm not here to change your habits, I'm just telling my readers (not like its alot, but surely there are some), do not buy into the crap marketing people push down your throat. Best is to educate yourself, make your own judgement. Always remember that you are in Singapore, not America, don't blindly follow people from another country.

look at this lovely vintage photo of Tong Ah (which is now moved a few units down the street, if you see this part of the building, turn right and keep going down to find, due to lease or something). Also look at that 'vintage' Honda Odyssey as well.

Also, Dr Martens boots (although Red wing is even more expensive, but it is better) and $400 denim is also over-rated and grossly overpriced. Sorry, I love the way they look, but seriously, $400 for a pair of jeans? Perhaps if you are such a purist, maybe you could find out the purpose denim is being invented for. I do not believe miners were folding cuffs to show off the red selvedge to other miners or laughing at them when they are not wearing any japanese denim or 500 oz rhino skin denim.

Double Your CPF Money Today!

For your info...

- Do you know, that money if left untouched in CPF for about 30 years, it will double itself? If you have $100,000 in your CPF OA in 2015, it will have at least $200,000 by 2045 without any additional contribution at all (assuming current interest rates of 2.5%). You do not need to do anything!!!

- Do you know, that money in CPF SA, doubles itself in less than 20 years?That's why its called special account!

This is not some magic advertisement or false claims by CPF. This is just the work of the little devil that we all know as compound interest.

This amazing little devil has build wealth for many rich people who understand it. It is by no means a magic bullet for us to riches, it is just a mathematical formula. 

Simple interest is like this: when you have $100, every year, you get the interest rate based on the same $100.

Compound interest is more complicated, but essentially, every time you get a interest payout, that extra payout adds to your sum and you get exponentially more each payout. There is interest on the interest previously earned.

Einstein (who is a physicist) allegedly said that compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world.

The maths is very simple. There is a way it will work in reverse to find out how many years it will take for your money to double. Just take 72 divide by the interest rate. At 2% interest annually, it will take about 36 years to double the money you started out with. 

At an annual interest rate of 24%, it will take a mere 3 years to double the money. 

As always, I urge everyone to read up and research beyond the CPF web to gain more knowledge about how certain maths work.

MEDISAVE

When you actually get out to read up on how CPF works, and more or less understand the gist of the concept CPF, you will not be bothered whether the money is yours or the govt. I'm not commenting on whether I agree with the system, I do not believe my agreement in this matter is going to change anything.

I want to talk about for a moment on the ownership of the money in CPF or Medisave in particular.

I'm sure many of you have heard from your friends and relatives that if you go for surgery and/or being hospitalized, you can CLAIM from medisave.

Many do not realise that this is fundamentally wrong and it's this wrong mindset that leads to people thinking that CPF is not our money.

I recently had to go for a wisdom tooth extraction, for my lower wisdom tooth, it is impacted which means the tooth had to be surgically removed. But my upper wisdom tooth can be extracted normally. The fearful procedure didn't hurt, I was under local anesthesia so the upper tooth extraction is painless.

I didn't admit to anyone but I felt quite good throughout the whole process. Adrenaline kicked in, making me more excited, but I was quickly reduced to puking and vomiting once it wore off.

But I digress...

Many people are lamenting that CPF money is not their own, but by telling people they can claim whatever payment from CPF, that in itself, is already you subconsciously telling yourself and others that it is not your money, hence the need to 'claim' instead of 'use'.

Simple analogy: when you go ATM to withdraw money, do you tell people that you are claiming money from the bank?

Simpler analogy: when you take out your wallet to make a payment, do you 'claim' money from your wallet?

Remember people, I get that many of us are just complaining that CPF is my money, not the govt's money. I'm not here to say whether is it ours or govt's money. I just feel that we should understand the schemes whether or not we like it. Because, by not understanding it, there is no difference as not owning it.

Personally, I feel that the CPF is not great but its not harmful either, if I use the underside of my mattress as my CPF savings account, in 20-30 years, it will be worth half the value due to inflation. I'm not a savvy investor who knows how to generate enough income with all that money to beat annual inflation (assuming 2% annually) let's not talk about earning more money from it. Risk free 2.5-3.5% on OA and 4-5% on SA is honestly good returns (considering no tax as well on this gain).

Bottom line: take time to go read up and understand how CPF works, how it gives out interest to you, use Google to solve big words like accrued interest (click me! click me!!!). Maybe financial savvy people can build a workaround to put things into your favour.