Touchy...

The topic of scholarships is always an interesting one and potentially a divisive one among friends and in Singapore. Given the government's "encouraging" stand on this, I am surprised to read this in The New Paper:

Rethink scholarships, give only to needy to help them climb up

THE rich give their children a leg up the beanstalk to wealth by making sure their children are well-educated - the best pre-school, private tuition, enrichment classes, overseas exposure.

Is there a way to give more people the chance to move up the education beanstalk in pursuit of their share of 'golden eggs'?... Last year , it was revealed that students from better-off families made up about half of government scholarship holders last year. ... Financial expert Leong Sze Hian has an idea: Reshuffle the chips for each generation by giving scholarships only to the poor...


I wonder how far this can go (means-testing again?). While it's probably true that some scholars that I know come from very comfortable and well-to-do families, most of my closer "scholar friends" are pretty much your typical HDB heartlanders (VS - neighbourhood school mah). They will most probably not be given this push in life if they hadn't had a paid scholarship. Moreover the state of economy and culture in Singapore is hardly comparable to the States to make meaningful analysis.

So if there are rich folks/scholars out there reading this, would you ever take a "scholarship with honours - meaning no money, in name only"?

Good times in Singapore?

Someone sent me an email the other day, with news relating to the massive increase in graduates' pay back home in Singapore. From $2k starting pay last year, fresh graduate auditors are now paid between S$2,400 - $2,600. As for the banks, they are paying up to $3.7k for a fresh graduate. Times have indeed changed - and for the better. I could recall working for 3 years in Singapore and not even close to earning the starting pay of a newbie banker (This even after 20-35% increment p.a). This I applaud the government for driving a growing (but sustainable?) economy in the midst of a seemingly volatile market.

London is the probably the next BIG thing after Wall Street, well poised to take over the latter as the top banking market in the next years. Seeing Singapore as an example, I thought the graduates here might be positioned for more good times. At least until...

Graduate jobs rise, but pay down (BBC)
The jobs market for graduates continues to remain buoyant - but there are signs in some areas that starting salaries are declining, research has suggested.
A major twice-yearly employment survey shows a 13% increase in graduate jobs - the fourth consecutive annual increase.

But the survey from the Association of Graduate Recruiters shows that starting salaries for university-leavers in London and East Anglia are falling.

Full article here.

Done with Paris

Got this really interesting clip off Youtube. Watch it!

Raised rates and stakes

Interest rates went up again in the UK this week, from 5.5% to 5.75% - which is extremely rewarding for the savers and hard on the mortgage home buyers and small businesses. The benchmark rate has been growing steadily over the last year as the government seeks to rein in inflation. Wars have started on the high street as many banks have started enticing campaigns to lure customers - check out the benefits of opening a bank account here - firstdirect, Abbey, Halifax. Over our time here, we have opened a few bank accounts and got rewarded with an Ipod and some cash. And credit cards have no yearly subscription charge here. This, I think, should be followed in Singapore.

The daily commentary which I sent out has been quite a hit, as far as my boss is concerned. What was initially meant for my department and colleagues in Credit Product Control has taken a wider audience than intended. In fact the Front Office e.g. traders and sales people have requested to be put on this email. While it certainly increased the commentary's profile, I felt that a albatross has been placed over my neck.

There are many researchers and analysts in the firm and the last thing I need/want is for this email to be considered an equivalent. No doubt research is an interesting career path but to "screw up a move" via this daily task may well close all doors.

Thinking like a 18 year-old

Barely a month after I started running with my department's running club and just three run sessions so far, I have signed up for the London Duathlon in September.

This is what happens when a 28 year-old starts thinking like he's 18 at the water cooler. I was asked if I am interested in doing a run with the rest of my colleagues. I thought - easy - and agreed readily without more questions. I later found out that the run is due in two months and I am tasked to run the 10km part of the race.

No wonder I had to join them for the session today. 67 more days and counting down.

Trouble brewing at KPMG

As part of my own mini-series of coverage on my former employer, here's another update for my former colleagues.

Very well, thank you...

Flooding hit UK, hardest in the northern region in the week just passed. "Worse than a third world country" was the line I kept hearing on TV. Andy Ang came over to London this weekend with Lian Hong for a short break. We drove up to Strafford-upon-Avon, birth-place of William Shakespeare (din know he wrote so many books and plays) and then to Bicester for a few hours of shopping.

The car-bomb found on Friday definitely got the attention of most people and was the first thing after Hello when I called Singapore. Not sure if we are "Londonised" but it did not ruffle many feathers in office, including mine. After all, such news reports are quite common. It was when we returned to London after the sight-seeing and shopping that we experienced, at first-hand, the aftermath effects. We were stopped before we could enter the Canary Wharf area and kept seeing police cars hot on sirens zooming past on the roads. Cars were stopped for random checks and we had to allow our rented car for inspection. Guess what? It makes me feel really safe to have all these checks and seeing the police officers with the sub-machines on the road/airports.

P/S: Patrick and myself were on our way to return the car (at London City Airport) when we were stopped at a road block. The police officer asked me - "What business do you have at the airport?". Patrick whispered to me - "None of your business". God knows which section of the local newspapers we will feature if the grim man-in-blue ever hear that.

Can you tell the difference?

Bloomberg reports on the loss of Bank of England's economists to the banks - here

AsiaOne's take on retaining the best in Civil Service - here

Reading the news

My job has gotten a little more interesting nowadays, especially since I have requested for research to be incorporated into my job scope. I spend a good part of my morning reading news articles on Bloomberg, Reuters, BBC, Financial Times etc to produce a mid-day daily commentary about the significant events and their financial impact. This goes out to my colleagues and enable them to know (a little) about the reasons driving the numbers that they are seeing.

I thought I should share some interesting articles or knowledge about what you commonly see on the newspapers but have too little time to find out. The main issue hogging the financial headlines recently (other than TH14's £16m transfer to Backside Loner) has been the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the U.S. and, in particular, the fiasco at investment bank Bear Stearns.

Sub-prime mortgages are, simplistically, loans made to borrowers who do not qualify for loans from mainstream lenders. Sub-prime business has exploded in the last few years as investors consider the high returns to be an adequate cover for the underlying risks. Unfortunately with recent interest rate increases, borrowers have been unable to repay their mortgages which impacted the flow of funds to the investors. And if you are still interested, you might want to visit FT's website, which carries an in-depth analysis of the sub-prime lending crisis.

Almost met my...

Indeed. With 30 minutes to go before our Eurostar train departs Brussels for London, we were still lost on the streets looking for the nearest Metro. A subsequent 10 minutes wait doesn't help, and we had to put on our speedy Gonzales boots the moment we got off the tram and just managed to sneak through customs, passport control in time for our ride. That's just about the most exciting part of our rest-and-relax weekend trip to Belgium.

This definitely beat our breath-taking taxi ride to the airport bus when we were in Barcelona, where we just managed to get onto the bus as the last passengers (Ryanair bus does not entertain standing passengers and leaves on the dot). This exciting journey aside, we actually managed to enjoy a leisurely time in Belgium, visiting Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Waterloo (yes that famous battleground). We had time to swim in the late evening, tucked into hot waffles in Bruges and scanned the killing fields from Butte du Lion.

Many friends preferred Bruges to Brussels and we were also advised to spend more time in Bruges but I have to say Waterloo was the highlight for me. Luckily it wasn't mine.

P/S: I just got back and will upload the photos soon!

So near, yet so far

Just when I thought I can finally get a new lease of life, I failed at the final hurdle. Sigh.

Hang in there, mate.

The 2nd Andersen (avoided)

Some of you may be aware of this. That I was supposed to start work with Arthur Andersen before its demise in 2002. Because of that I had to seek alternative pastures and eventually landed up in KPMG.

Bloomberg today reported KPMG was facing a possible bankruptcy scenario due to its sale of tax shelters. This follows a recent article in Wall Street Journal, aptly titled "What did KPMG know?"

Stay tuned for exciting days ahead.

If you wanna buy a house, go study first...

The Japanese introduced Hello Kitty, manga and Sudoku; now there is something new from Japan again. This time it might be very appealing to most of us here who are keen property buyers - lower mortgage interest rates for "intelligent" customers.

I wonder if this is akin to some kind of discrimination and I can imagine the uproar in Singapore if this is introduced. I, for one, would like to take such exams to qualify for a discount. And I guess this would widen the already-wide-enough rich-poor divide.

What's next - Extra fish balls if you can spell "mee-pok"?

Another Weekend Gone...

Xueyan's persistent coughing and sneezing meant a sleep-in for us this weekend. I was up early today to do the laundry, giving Ms Wee some time off to rest. The weekends are what kept us going at the workplace. Saturday was spent window-shipping, first polishing the chickens off the plate at Nando's, then getting Xueyan's bracelets fixed at Tiffany's, finally a stroll from Old Bond Street to Leicester Square. Have not had such a leisure walk for quite a while.

I mentioned earlier that I met up with a long-lost friend last week and this "meeting old friends" theme seems to run on, and guess who we met today? Ms Goh Pei Pei - yes, from CFCC! I know she's here in London and staying in the Canary Wharf area but I have not seen her in my 20 months here. And of all places, to meet at the Reebok gym. We reminisced about the time in Singapore, her disdain for local food and intolerance of the cold British weather. And we endeavoured to meet up for dinner soon, now that we are finally in touch.

I had intentions for a "photo-visit" to the Motorexpo, held on the open grounds of Canary Wharf but was too lazy to bring my camera along. From the classic Morgan Aero to the awesome(and of course expensive) Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren coupé, they definitely set many mouths drooling (and wallets dripping). Xueyan was tempted enough to sit behind the steering wheel of a BMW Z4 (can see, can touch, cannot buy). So many posh cars, even a Maserati Quattroporte looks normal. One car did catch my attention though - Audi R8. A truly unstated beauty which seems to have that perfect combination of power, performance and pulchritude.

And there goes the weekend. Can only hope the next will be better.

How rich are you?

My friend told me of this website, which supposedly ranks you on the list of richest people in the world. Very bo liao but quite fun initially. On the strength of the sterling pound, the minimun wage earner in UK is still amongst the top 10% richest in the world.

So how rich are you?

Tagged!

Releasing the curse of the tag.

Rules of the game:
1. Each player of this game starts off with ten weird things or habits or little known facts about yourself.
2. People who get tagged must write in a blog of their own ten weird things or habits or little known facts as well as state this rule clearly.
3. At the end you must choose six people to be tagged and list their names.
4. No tagbacks!

1. As with most boys after watching Top Gun, I wanted to chase the flying dream. I signed on as a pilot trainee with the Singapore Air Force when I was eighteen. Three months into the training, I was "chopped" - on my birthday. So much from the people who are paid from the taxes inflicted on my parents and friends.

2. I have a history of self-inflicted injuries. My nose bridge is crocked from an childhood accident when my knee said Hi to the nose as I ducked under a tree branch while running. The scar on my right wrist was a result of me stepping on the hand after doing a triple-jump routine. I was wearing spiked shoes then. Ouch.

3. Ever since I saw Sundram do the bicycle kick against Brunei in 1994 at the National Stadium, I harboured hopes of doing the same in front of an appreciative audience. I practiced the routine every day on my bed and had the chance to pull it off when I was playing my first competitive match for VS. The boot met empty air instead. Tata to a trial with the Gunners.

4. Army was not where I learnt the art of killing. My first "kill" was a harmless pigeon which I rescued from the void deck when I was around 9-10 of age. Seeing that it was limping, I brought it home for a shower and tried to feed the bird. Unfortunately it didn't fancy a clean-up and was on a hunger strike. I tried to smoke out the nostrils and it died from CO2 poisoning. I buried it at the playground near my place.

5. My left hand is the only limb left untouched by surgeons. Both knees have undergone reconstruction and I was actually proud to cite competitive injuries as cause for their imperfection. Playing "catching" at the local playground and fracturing the right arm after a mis-guided jump probably didn't win me many followers in the neighbourhood.

6. My first real ambition was to be a PE teacher since I was into sports in school and was very close to my PE coaches. A neighbour, who was (and still is, I think) a history teacher, probably crushed my idealistic vision of a PE teacher when he quoted the following: "If you can, do it. If you can't, teach. If you still can't teach, do PE." - How motivating.

7. I then wanted to do economics in Uni, having struggled with impractical subjects like Physics and Chemistry (they don't change the economy, do they?). Then came a friend who told me Accountancy is the fastest way to getting a professional degree with honours in three years. And having the fairer sex as the majority in the cohort. I did not have to think twice.

8. I was probably a fantasy customer for retailers, at least until 2 years ago. It doesn't take much to convince me to buy anything. As long as the sales staff is nice and keep asking questions or giving me information, I will end up buying the product. I once shocked my friends when I "upped" the quoted price in Bali when a pretty Balinese tried to sell me some wooden monkey figurines. From Rp10,000 to Rp 20,000. She probably thought I was Li Ka-Shing.

9. I don't like to eat pork or beef. Beef because I was a Buddhist and is still not accustomed to eating beef after years of abstinence. Pork because I had an overdose of cold pork cubes in the Army. Funnily enough I liked char siew.

10. Speaking about char siew, I was a regular patron of the corner char siew rice stall at KFC (Kallang Food Centre) when I wa in Upper Sec. I faithfully ordered that culinary delight, topped with a hard-boiled egg and accompanied by a Ice Kachang for dessert, whenever I went there for lunch. So if you want to be like me, you know the dietary requirements!

My tag victims - Amy, Merlin, Weifu, Eliza (twice now), Xueyan and Kevin!

Taxes

I mentioned earlier that there are two certainties in life - death and taxes. You can't avoid the former but you also try to shun the latter.

So this article makes for interesting read - do people actually enjoy paying taxes? And I bet the likes of ST and The New Paper will soon carry abstract of this report as part of the gahmen's propaganda. Speaking about taxes, especially personal taxes, Singapore is a real haven. In the three years that I worked in Singapore, I hardly paid taxes. This is possible with the many tax benefits available to Singaporeans. And to think I used to complain when I had to pay the paltry $300 tax when April comes round.

Over in the UK, the tax system runs on a Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) basis. Seeing >30% of your monthly salaries deducted as taxes and National Insurance is akin to ordering a plate of wanton mee and having to share the char siew with the neighbourhood bully. It is of no exaggeration that the taxes paid here in a year is equivalent to 60 years of taxes in Singapore (based on my last tax paid to IRAS).

It's tough enough having to survive in a taxing job. Taxes just made it worse. I wonder how the Americans can live in Texas all their lives. Maybe that explains for President Bush's Bushisms.

Note: The tax system in Singapore is on a "deferred basis" i.e. you pay taxes only after the end of the financial year. There was talk to align this current tax system to a PAYE but that may require one year of tax waiver OR double taxation in the inception year of PAYE - gosh!)

Lunch time run

Near the start of our run - River Thames on the left

It is quite funny to see ang mohs in running gears galloping down Shenton Way on a hot Wednesday afternoon. Yes, I used to think those guys have nothing better to do than to sweat it out during lunch hours, taking in very polluted air and missing out on kopi-time with colleagues.

Well I did just that today - in London. Running is quite a big thing here, given that London hosts one of the world's premier marathons. So off I went, with absolute irreverence for the fact that I have not ran outdoors for 4 months, hoping to survive this 8km route.

We (just three of us) began at a rather fast pace, cutting by River Thames from the Docklands to the Tower of London. I heard that this is a popular and scenic route. And it did fill up to its name. It's amazing how people can take time off to run in this searing heat and dry weather but I see so many people running. Familiar faces at work, young and old, they were all in for the adrenaline and to take their mind off work.

The route was indeed scenic, first the cobbled streets and pretty townhouses down Narrow Street and past Grapes where Charles Dickens used to get a pint or two. Then we proceeded to Shadwell Basin, a nice enclosed water body where ducks swam and kids canoed. We then hurried past King George's Park and before arriving at Saint Katherine's Dock - a really quaint place with nice flowing mini waterfalls, houses by the river and a very serene feeling. However, at this point I was more than half dead and it doesn't help that Nelish and Ryan were a good 200m in front. I then pressed on and on seeing the Tower, doubled my pace and turned around at Guoman Hotel, just next to the Tower. The route back wasn't easy and I was tempted to walk but knowing that an hour was all I have, I had to drag the 160lbs worn machine back.



Totally knackered was how I felt after a cooling shower. Staying awake was itself another challenge for the rest of the afternoon. Good thing I had interesting stuff to do which kept me on.

Today's run is a huge challenge and it has strengthened my determination to do this on a regular basis. Perhaps London Marathon 2008 may not just be a dream.

P/S: I have told Xueyan about this route and hopefully we can take a run, if not stroll, and take in the sights. More pictures will be provided!

Goodbye Our Friend

Every Sunday without fail, she will come by our place to fetch us to church... We also made it a point to have dim sum or dinner once a month... She said she wanted to leave when we first met her, they said she has been saying it for the last five years...

Now she's finally leaving - for Singapore.

For many of us in the cell group, she is a faithful sister who gladly host us at her place every Friday. She was our CGL who would pray for us and counsel us. Her after-cell group tea would be greatly missed. So it was no wonder that many of us wept (in joy/sadness) as we gathered for her last CG session in London, sharing how she has blessed us and then passing the leadership mantle to Richard.

It reminded me of the legacy that I hope for. Will I be remembered for the things that I have or what I have done?

I’m but a stranger here, heav’n is my home;
Earth is a desert drear, heav’n is my home.
Danger and sorrow stand, round me on ev’ry hand;
Heav’n is my fatherland, heav’n is my home

A Step into the Past

It has gone a little quiet on the blog space recently. Well except for Mr Yao's audacious wishes. Glad he was only joking (Quote: "Call me shameless, call me disgusting.. but I'm just having fun la") ;) You can't stop someone from having fun, but it's dangerous to take fun too seriously.

Anyway the completion of Xueyan's CFA exams heralds the new DVD/VCD season for us. We start off with
A Step Into the Past, a TVB serial starring Louis Koo and Michelle Saram. I think this show has been out for a few years but, considering my inclination towards Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it is no surprise that I fell in love with the show in the first episode.

As if a kid starved of toys, we piled through 19 episodes over 4 evenings. We will plonk down on the sofa once home, with eyes glued on the TV while taking intermittent breaks for our take-aways. Still-sane Xueyan reminded me to "re-focus" and I managed to ply myself away from the TV to meet up with Albert Bong - literally a long-lost college friend who has been working in London since we parted after college.

Finally time for a rest and a return to blog writing. Maybe I should take some time for my wishful thinking to think aloud.