Tissue RM

Currency	Currency Notes
	Selling                         Buying
1 US Dollar	3.5000	3.3090
1 Australian Dollar	3.2150	3.0470
1 Singapore Dollar	2.4940	2.3820
1 Sterling Pound	5.7700	5.5260
100 Chinese Renminbi	NA	NA
100 Hongkong Dollar	46.2800	42.2400
100 Indonesian Rupiah	0.0375	0.0320
100 Japanese Yen	4.0500	3.6200
100 New Taiwan Dollar	11.3800	9.7900
100 Philippine Peso	7.8700	6.9000
100 Thai Baht	11.3000	9.2900

 

Seriously, I think tissue paper worth more than RM.

100 yen is RM4 nowadays!
Used to be less than RM3 when I was still working in KL and dreaming about travelling to Japan!

SGD needless to say… before I was born it as RM1 to SGD1…
when I first visited Singapore, I remember the exchange rate was RM1.70 to SGD1… now? We need to pay RM2.50 for SGD1! No wonder Malaysians rushed to work in Singapore (and no turning back)!

It’s even more so pathetic when I convert my tissue RM pay into SGD or Japanese Yen… because I am paid less than a blue collar in those countries!

I just don’t get the economics working in Malaysia… people here work to live? No, they work to pay debts! Car loan, home loan, credit cards… and by the time they finished paying all the debts, there is not much time left if any left!

I shiver to think of my retiring age….

Royal Kinabalu

[WARNING: Below are purely personal ideas and viewpoints… should you decide to go ahead with the investment that’s YOUR decision!]

Royal Kinabalu - a 5 star resort hotel development in Kundasang… and there is plan to build a theme park next to the resort hotel after the resort hotel. Kundasang will be like a little Genting then… (I don’t know whether this is good or bad).

The development include a hotel (with shops, function ball room, restaurant etc) to be owned by the developer, and three blocks of hotel rooms.

What is most interesting is that the public (those with lots of money that is) can also take part in this project. Because the hotel rooms of is open for sale to the public by the developer of Royal Kinabalu.

The deal is like this:
you bought a unit of hotel room from the developer and
lease it back to the developer for 15 years where your unit will be managed by a hotel management group and be rented out.

In order to participate in the investment, you need to fork out 20% of the purchase price. 10% to be paid upon signing of the sale and purchase agreement and another 10% to be paid upon the signing of the loan documentations with Maybank. Yes, only Maybank… and you MUST obtain a loan, and must obtain it from Maybank.

This is because during construction, the developer will absorb all bank loan interest so to facilitate easy banking transaction (the deducted and reimbursing of interest payment from and to your Maybank account).

After full construction and with OC obtained, and during the first 3 years of the hotel in operation, there is a guaranteed minimum returned of 6%  (of your purchase price).

Next 5 years after that, the return is 35% from the hotel’s room revenue pool.

Thereafter, the return is 40% from the room revenue pool.

The catch… It won’t matter after the first three years, whether the unit you bought is big executive room or a small studio suite.

The attractive part of the deal is in the first 3 years, when the return is guaranteed 6% of your purchase price, the sale agent who served me calculated for me and shown to me that that would mean in those three years, the revenue I get will be larger than the loan installment I have to serve to the Bank! Ie I will get instant return in those 3 years.

The catch… you would have dumped a large amount of money being the 20% down payment into the project and only see the return after 3 years construction period and will only get guaranteed return for the next 3 years.

Using the math used by the sale agent in my case,
if I take a unit for RM442,000 so I have to invest a cash sum of RM42,000 RM88,400.

When I start to serve my loan installment,
I would be getting a NET return of RM100 per month.
So for the next three years my return is grossly RM3,600.

Ie in 6 years, the return of my RM42,000RM88,400 invested is RM3,600.
One year = RM600 … roughly 14% per annum!

600/88400 = 0.68% ONLY

Definitely better than the FD rateWORSE THAN FD RATE! But this is based on minimal guaranteed return (if 35% the room revenue pool is higher you will be paid the 35%).

After 3 years, if you had enough, you would like to sell the unit you bought… and the ability to sell will depend on the business the hotel generate.

The catch… if the hotel generate good income and continue to serve my loan for me, would I want to see? No!

If the hotel is not making good business, even if I want to sell, no one would want to buy from me! Right?
 

If you ask me, to buy or not to buy?
I’d say go for it if you have the cash flow (the 20%).
Remember to treat it as an investment.
NOT a property purchase (you have to rid that from your mindset).

The risk?

I have had the following concern.

Is the Developer financially sound?
Yes… they have good track record (well maybe except one project ie the Kiansom Country Heights).

What if the hotel business is bad?
Have you ever seen a 5 star resort hotel went bad?
Imagine if Karambunai that kind of hotel also can ask hotel rate of RM300 upward… what more a hotel in Kundasang… with an upcoming theme park!!!

I was also informed by the sale agent that the hotel will be managed by an experience hotel management group that also manages the famous Tg Rhu Hotel (West Malaysia).

If indeed the business is bad… then… what can I say, that’s the risk of this investment deal! No investment is full proof!

What if the project is abandoned?
The development is required in law to be insured, but in case that really happened… no one knows how would the purchasers be affected. No one buy expecting that!

Still want to buy or not?

I would if I have RM100,000 spare money in my account!
And that is why this development has been selling out very fast!
There are many rich people in KK!
And an Indonesian company has bought out the entire Block A already!

My suggestion, is to buy the cheapest available unit… because the return is 35% from room revenue pool… I was told it does not matter whether the income was generated from your small unit or other large unit. The only difference in buying small or big is in the first 3 years of guaranteed 6% return which is based on your Purchase Price… but that also could mean nothing because if the hotel generate good income, you would be paid the higher rate of 35% from the room revenue pool also!

So… why not?

PS: I had to let go the investment opportunity.

Sprained my Ankle II

I was on my way to the courts (for the third time within four working days)… half way the journey… two cute Japanese girls approached me to ask the way (to the Poring hotspring)… they asked me where to get the bus to the “hotspring spa”…

I self studied Japanese since secondary school till now… and I passed JLPT Level 4 test a couple of years ago!

I’ve been waiting for this chance to prove my language skill for over 20 years! And… at that very moment I found out that I can't even speak ONE complete Japanese sentence to them... I felt so frustrated! All the Japanese vocabulary I learned I can’t find in my mind… I wanted to ask them whether they meant “onsen” by SPA but I just couldn’t remember the word!

I wanted to tell them it’s the same whether they take a taxi or a bus up to Ranau Hotspring… “Takusi mo Busu de mo onaji desu” but all I uttered was “koko de” (here) and expect them to understand I meant you can take the taxi from here to the place, it’s the same as taking the bus!

Although I understand fine what they were talking to each other in Japanese... I just don't know how to express my thoughts to them in their language!

I was scolding myself (for embarrassing myself again for the nth time) when I continued my way to the courts… right after trespassing the Government City Clinic for a shortcut… “crack”! I sprained my ankle again! So painful I nearly shed tears (of course have to tahan… can see other lawyers walking by already).

And that’s the story…

Carol of the Bells

Yes, it’s that time of the year again!

Came across the Ukrainian Carol (aka Carol of the Bells)… and fallen in love with it instantly! I don’t why am I always attracted to the East Western Music… some how… I felt connected!

Here’s the song by the Celtic Woman！
Yes, Celts is also the kind of music I adores!

Ukrainian Carol 
music by M. Leontovich

Hark how the bells Sweet silver bells
All seem to say Throw cares away
Christmas is here Bringing good cheer
To young and old Meek and the bold
Ding dong ding That is their song
With joyful ring All caroling
One seems to hear Words of good cheer
From everywhere Filling the air
Oh how they pound Raising the sound
O'er hill and dale Telling their tale
Gaily they ring While people sing
Songs of good cheer Christmas is here
Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas
Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas
On on they send On without end
Their joyful tone to every home
Dong ding dong ding

Bear Bear Test

Picture taken indoor under fluorescent  light without using flash light by my Minolta Dimage Xi! 

Amazingly clear don’t you think?

By the way, this is Bear Bear, my first teddy bear! I got it on my 5th year old birthday from my Yeezai… yes, it’s been with me for over 30 years… he’s lost an eye but still with me! The colorful overcost he’s wearing was also mine… I wore it when I was small… :)

Onion Ankle

First time I sprained my ankle was I think 17 years ago when I jumped down from the double deck bed one fateful morning (thinking I was Super Girl) at the student house where I stayed with my fellow TTSS friends when we were studying in West Malaysia…

17 years later, I sprained by ankle again … thanks to Little Dan who thinks he is the Super Dog!

And here’s LD who is not very concerned about my injury…

Naughty Boy Did it Again

Despite my ankle injury… I thought I owe LD his walks…
so although limping… I still bring him out at the evening on the day I was on MC!

As we reached this road… LD vanished…
Where is he? In the bush, looking for a froggie or some swamp creatures lurking somewhere there… (so he thought exist).

And then… LD decided to “scan” the muddy waters for “the Swamp Thing”… sigh!

When I yelled at him, he started running up and down the stretch of murky waters… arrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!

When he finally came out from the water… he wagged his tail at me and jumped on me!

That’s Little Dan!  

2873

The Fat Potato Fall

LD loves to chase things... any moving things or human or animals would excites him... last evening during his walk, he saw two teenagers walking by... so he pulled me (he was on leash), dragged me to the ground (tar road)... I sprained my ankle and suffered some minor scratches to my elbow and palm... and I still love LD!

You may wonder how could a small dog as he is pulled a 6o KG person down… my answer: he is a Super Dog! Whenever he gets excited, he can turn into a little bull!

PS: LD can’t be considered a small dog anymore, he has grown so much now that he is 1 year old… although definitely not a large dog, he is also definitely not small! And his name “Little” Dan may have to be changed…

Two Books on my Wish List

Hoping to get it from Amazon soon… :)

Training the Young Singer at Five and Six Years of Age
Why Train a Young Child to Sing
Starting the Musical Experience
Rehearsal Routine and Exercises
Tone Building and Intonation
Theory and Score Instruction
Musical Games and Activity Sheets
Guidelines for Literature
Continuing the Musical Experience
Increasing the Rehearsal Routine
More Advanced Exercises
Tone Building and Intonation
Building Reading Skills and Score Interpretation
Guidelines for Literature
A Final Reflection
Resources

Why Train The Young Singer
How Children Learn To Sing
Why "Doo"? Headtone Singing with Children
Healthy Singing: Proper Vocal Maintenance
Breathing Exercises
Vocal Exercises
The Out-of-Tune or Uncertain Singer
Consonants and Vowels and How They Relate to Tone Building
Vocal Acoustics: Advancing Headtone Techniques through "Doo" and More
Developing Musical Accuracy: The "Doo" Odyssey Continues
Selecting Repertoire to Build Tone
How To Choose Choral Repertoire: Is It Pedagogically Valuable?
Score Selection: How To Evaluate, Edit, and Adapt Established and New Works
Final Reflections
What Is Success?

Value Elicitation Cards

Seen a very interesting public mutual fund agent today at my office… she says she just want to talk to me to open my mind… and promised she won’t try to sell any funds to me… so, I agreed to see her (aiyoh I so free anyway).

She came and show me this stack of Value Elicitation Cards and asked me to try to pick out 5 cards that I think is most important to me.

I picked the following cards:

Spirituality, Family, Integrity, Health & Money

She then asked to be arrange the 5 cards in priority order and I did as above.

Then she asked me to comment on the cards to explain why is the value important to me and what or how I expect to achieve my goals pertaining to the respective values.

Here’s my answer -- 

Spirituality: to me is my relationship to God
I want to put God in the first place… to serve the Lord in the music mission work is my goal. I wish to work with children mission musically…

I don’t know yet how to achieve it…

Family: family has always been very important to me because if my family is not well taken care of I won’t be happy. I want my parents to live a happy and financially stable life.

Integrity: relates to my profession and is a very important value to me because I refuse to be swayed away by all the unjust & injustice surrounding the profession. I don’t want to be corruptible!

Health: I am healthy and well but keeping healthy is a struggle… I always have weight problem and wish to have a more disciplined healthy lifestyle: eating good food and doing good exercises!

Money: I put money last because to me money is at the base of everything I want to achieve. I also wish to retire early and retire financially strong! My ultimate goal is to retire to a foreign country and Japan comes to mind where I wish to do children mission work.

The above are my goals… in life, for the moment… and now what I need to do is to focus my mind set to achieving these goals and to improve myself towards getting there!

I must say it has been a very inspiring session!

I was told if I think it is good I can recommend her to friends but she would charge RM500 for each session of her service… mmm!

Well, a meaningful life definitely worth more than RM5oo! Don’t you think?

I was suggested to go to this website for more:

http://www.billykueek.com/

Pagalungan Experience

That shrieking voice was mine… I got splashed and was wet all over… lucky I was holding my LX3 above my head as I was taking this video… if not… I would have lost my camera already!

And this is a song sung by the locals during their praise and worship… :) so authentic!

The Most Expensive Photographs of the Day

99 Cent II Diptychon by Andreas Gursky, USD3.34 million
(the irony is in the photograph’s title)

The Pond Moonlight by Edward Steichen, USD2.9 million

 

BBC’s The Genius of Photography changed my perception of what IS photography!

This documentary doesn’t talk about perspective, aperture, ISO or shutter speed! The world renowned photographers depicted in the documentary do not hold a sophisticated camera with extravagant zoom lens (those are for paparazzi)… just a humble camera (one even uses an automatic)… no zoom lens! What they care about is the content of the photograph… the subject they shoot… the story they tell…

A photograph that is at the same time a painting… a true genius!

Meudon by Andre Kertesz

Traffic Jam Everyday

Doesn’t affect the motorcyclist though…
they can just broooooom through the queue!

RON 97 Run Out Again

Sedang Dibaiki… no stock say no stock lar!

Happened to me second time already…
went to the gas station when my fuel indicator was already blinking mad, and after I swiped my credit card, I found out there is no fuel to pump! Arrrrrrrrrrgh! Benci!

Sabah Road… take me home…

Monkey’s Reward

Got this from one of my bosses…
who has just returned from a long vacation

I don’t fancy chocolates…
but this white chocolate … quite nice …
very sweet… but with the orange peel,
the sweetness is bearable…

Window Shopping @ Merdeka

One of those rare Saturday on which I’d go out.

This time, I need to go have my eyes double checked at the Crystal Opto… after that, just walk around the mall…

Saw this nice dress at a newly opened boutique,
I dare not enter to enquire the price though…
Coz the name of the shop is “Rich” Girl’s Boutique!
I poor girl no need go in lar! :(

 

 

Then we went to have a look-see at a little shop opened by a church member’s daughter…

She got some really interesting wall decor there…
price ranges from RM39 to RM69 depending on size of the stickers.

If only my apartment is ready, I would have bought one or two for decor… my music room would look nice with some musical notes flying over the walls… mmm…

PropEx Starts Tomorrow