Thursday, January 15, 2009

Food for thoughts...

Isn't it amazing that George Carlin - comedian of the 70's and 80's - could write something so very eloquent...and so very appropriate.
A Message by George Carlin:

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways , but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete...

Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.

Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.

Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.

Remember, to say, 'I love you' to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.

Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

First rant of the blog?

Dear diary,

Its me again... Writing blog during office hour... It is not that I've no work to do in the office, its just that there is a sudden urge to rant...

Monday, I fell sick... Fever, cough, headache, flu, all came together...
Ironically, it is at the time when I was ill and weak, that I found out who really cares about me... Thanks for those calls and messages... and you are my best friends ever... A friend indeed is a friend in need? That's so true!

Second thing to rave about is, perhaps I should stop telling people who am I working for, what sort of jobs am I doing...
It is rather disheartening when you first met someone, or met a friend who you hasn't seen for years, and within few minutes, they started to ask you for insiders news in investment. It is not that I know of any, and even if I do, I do also have the integrity to abide by the work ethics... Sorry to disappoint, mate! Perhaps it would be easier to make real friends if I'm not working in this field.

Alright.. lunch time...

Friday, January 02, 2009

2nd day of 2009

The year 2009 continued to be eventful for me... Here's what happened:

Early morning till 5.15pm: Did nothing in the office as most people were still away and projects are on hold.

5.15pm - 6pm: One of the first to rush out of office, stucked in traffic jam, and took me 45 minutes to drive a mile, from office to the Pavilion.

6pm - 7pm: Finally managed to meet up with Nicki! (After several rain-checks from both sides...) Really really pleased to catch up with you Nicki, and you are one of the most talented and natural investment bankers that I've met... Lehman has faltered, but I doubt you would... All the best! and have a safe flight back to London...
(Brief intro of Nicki: one of my best friends in the uni; my CFO's for our company - Fusion Diagnostic (haha.. are we still in the competition this year?); extremely smart girl; ultra international background; speaks perfect english!)

7.30pm - 10pm: Met up with another group of friends, Logan, Evona and her sister, for dinner at Kenny Rogers Berjaya Times Square... Glad to meet you guys too! and I agree, Nando's chicken are wayyyyyy tastier...
(Brief intro of Logan: one of the resident at Prince of Wales 9; passionate in Geology; very resourceful person; travelled alone in Peru for a month, and had lots of young admirer there!
Evona: very tall and pretty... one of the luckiest student to get into Beit Hall first year in Imperial, high-achiever as a Mech Eng.er...)

10pm - 12.30am: Third meeting of the evening... with Ru, who I haven't met for 2 months. Had a drink with her and some of her friends... These people are really 'fei'... Fun to be with!
(OK, some people would be mad if they found out I was in wangsa maju but didn't call them out... haha)

By midnight, I realised that I was too tired to go on another meeting... and I guess I'll probably spend the next day recuperating at home...

Thursday, January 01, 2009

Billionaire

On the 1st day of 2009, I officially become a billionaire!
Front page
Back page

See, I'm not lying. A friend went to Africa and got me this as souvenir. Now I own 100,000,000,000 Zimbabwe dollar...

Worthiness

I tend to make decision by judging the worthiness of the move, asking myself if it is worth the effort, time, or money if it is included. I would repeat the same process throughout the day, asking myself and thinking through every decisions, some major, some minor.

Financial text book says that if a project's NPV is higher than cost of capital, it worths making the move.

In real life, it is never that straightforward. Even for a simple decision such as where to go for dinner, who to join for dinner, might take me a long while to decide, if the options offer similar 'worthiness'. (Which is why some people might find me being indecisive.)

To complicated things further, sometimes certain illogical decisions are made, influenced by emotions... i.e. I would still make the move even if I think it is not worthy of the effort, hence comes the word 'IMPULSIVE'. Trying to steer away from making impulsive decisions would be inhumane, or, make myself robotic.

These days, I realised that I have been making more and more of impulsive, illogical decisions. Sometimes I know that I just shouldn't have made the call, shouldn't have spoken those words, but I still ended up doing what I shouldn't have done. I guess there is no cure to it... it is the impulse.

And I sincerely hope that those illogical decisions would somehow turn out to be the better one to make in the end...

New Year Day

Dear Diary,

There's still time for me to write another post. I think it will be nice to jot down what happened on the 1st of Jan 2009, just because it is the first day of a hopefully exciting year.

The day began in the worst manner possible for me. After a crazy night out, I was suffering from hangover. (But yeah, thanks people, I had a great time!) I didn't drink that much the day before, but I guess after distancing myself from alcohols for some time, my tolerance is way lower now... The last time i had a hangover was perhaps the day after our summer ball, back in June. Well, there is a saying that the best thing about hangover is your day will always get better as it goes on. That's very true, at least for me.

Having partial headache, I suddenly crave for Bak Kut Teh... Of course, there isn't a better place on Earth to have it than Klang. So, I called up my mates, who wasn't in a much better condition than myself, and drove to Klang for the treat.

Then, we rushed to Mid Valley for a movie, Yip Man. Not a bad movie after all, the fighting scenes were classic, and it was very China-centric. As I said, the day always gets better when you have a hangover. After movie, I went for dinner at Umaiya Damansara Uptown with my friend's family... What a relish! Although the food was rather pricy at Malaysian standard, the quality was amazing! The maki is creative enough to be in contest for a Michelin star!! I think it is my Favourite Japanese restaurant in Malaysia, till I find a better one... The best thing is, it is just 5 mins drive from my house, and the downside, a meal there costs as much as 10 meals of hawker food in the area.

The day ended early.. as I went to bed at 9.30pm, still recuperating from the new year's eve night out.

p/s: When I woke up the next day, I saw a 'you-have-12 missed-call' message on my phone. Apologies for missing those calls...

Back in business

Dear diary,

Bored at work, while browsing through other people's blog, I suddenly recalled that I actually do have a blog on my own. Haven't updated or visited the blog myself since 2005, it seems like a miracle that I could still remember the blog address, my login username and password.

While reading through some of the posts i wrote back then (some of them I couldn't even remember if it was written by me), I realised how much I have changed over the years. So, let's have an overview of what has changed since 2005, and now, 2nd of Jan 2009.

To be honest, I was shocked by my pessimism back in 2005, reading through the lastest post. In fact, I felt so uncomfortable that I decided to delete all the posts on this blog. Having survived the years in London, i have become more independent. I am more courageous now, and sometimes over-brimmed with confidence that convince me that I can do everything I want, within a reasonable constrain. I also recalled that I was a super-fan of Formula 1, while that hasn't changed, the retirement of M. Schumi has someone dimmed my passion for the sports. The discontinued live-telecast of the event by Malaysian TV doesn't help.

Another thing that has changed is, I am back in Malaysia now, and officially a working-class. Student days are over. While the routine working hour of 8 to 6 isn't boring, I am missing the fun of being a student. The 2-hour per day of lecture, the half-work-half-play time with labmates. Ah... Those were the days that I dreamt about being a great scientist, a nobel prize winner, come up with cures to help the poor and needy... But I found out that things are never that easy... Even in one of the most advanced research lab in the world, where I did a 12-month internship in, the red-tapes and bureacracy will always hinder the progress of science... I have to be realistic, and which is why I switch from biochemistry to investment now... The dynamics of the market is fascinating... really... Will talk more about my current job in future post...

Ahh.. I think that's too wordy for a post already. Will stop here.