greed and fear...

I considered myself to be somewhat lucky to have an interest in something that generates some passive income every month. I have to admit that I am still pretty new in property investments but several years on, I am starting to feel disillusioned with the growing crop of so-called 'investors'.

Over the years I've got to know some pretty good investors who I thought shared a common interest, but lately things seem to be getting a little out of hand. Generally I have no problems with how one manipulates his/her own financial tools to diversify their own investments. But I do have my reservations when a company is formed to 'train' new investors into jumping into the bandwagon.

Personally, I believe property investment is not the kind of activity where a huge group of people can just join and be a member. Surely there is something that benefits the core group of investors who formed the 'group' that gives such training and seminars, such as huge membership fees up front. While one can gather much knowledge through these activities, but to introduce ONE project to 300 registrants I think we are misleading a whole group of 'newbies' into the BUY BUY BUY trend.

Surely no one is obliged to join and buy but the situation now creates an army of mindless zombie-like 'investors' who would be more than willing to jump in with the rest of the crowd, and let's be honest, with thousands of like-minded 'investors' in the same project, do one still think it is a good investment? I have my conclusion on that, but I'm keen to know what these people are thinking.

In the end of the day, the core group of investors will be the main beneficiary. Hundreds of registrants will mean over a million ringgits of membership fee received, and no doubt these 'seed monies' will be distributed amongst themselves as 'bullets' for their own agenda, possibly other developments not known by commoners like me. Do one honestly think that a smart investor will buy something where thousands of others are investing into?

Think again.

By motivating a group of people to BUY unconditionally we're creating a bubble which will eventually burst in the near future, and when that happens who will benefit, again?

Things are getting a little out of hand, and you either join the bandwagon which will guarantee to make some profit IF you can predict the timing of the bursting bubble correctly; or you take a road which holds lesser risks and let others have make the money first.

You may be greedy when people around you are fearful, but be fearful when people around you are greedy.

rings...

Well, most would've already know that we have registered last month, while this is not really a proper post, I am posting up the photos of the Proposal Ring and our Wedding Bands, as promised previously.

This is to toast the end of bachelorhood. Less than 4 months to go before the big day.

qualifications...

These days, you only need to grab a big DSLR and take a photo with you holding it near your face, crop the image to hide the bad angles, add a little airbrush using Adobe Photoshop, adjust the colour tones and post that photo on your Facebook profile and voila! You call yourself a professional photographer.

Sometimes, it feels like everything is getting too easy and people earn titles without having to work for it. 15 years ago, a photographer will take one shot and his reputation will be based on that naked photograph that comes straight out from the darkroom.

Come 2010, a person holding a DSLR will take hundreds of images of the same object, go back to his computer and select the least ugly shot, make overwhelming editings and he'll come out with that great 'photograph'. He then uploads it online and earn plaudits and compliments for a capturing a fantastic shot.

Photographer? Cameraman? Or just plain photo editor?

new look...

Since I wasn't going to post any updates, a little revamp on this little blog to compensate.

Busy weeks; probably months, ahead.

It's official: I will be tied down after 20th August 2010. It will be fun to know how life will pan out to be after that.

A picture of our wedding bands shortly, once I got it downloaded into the laptop.

my way or no way...

I still remember someone asking me that if given a choice of two properties with identical specs, apart from one being freehold and the other leasehold priced 20% lower than the former, which would I choose.

I chose the latter, without hesitation.

I won't be discussing my reasons for doing so, especially so since it's going to derail from today's topic.

But if someone's going to come up to me and say that when you buy freehold you own the land, I'd say bull and go flip today's paper to see what's the latest crap.

Condo owners shocked by land acquisition

In Malaysia, it doesn't matter whether you buy free- or leasehold, 10- or 99-years lease, if your government suddenly decides during their teh tarik session last night that they want to acquire your land to build a Legoland they'll just issue a statement of compulsory acquisition and you're left there screwing your own behind yourself.

In Malaysia, the freehold title is as precious as toilet paper, you can use it to wipe your @$$ and flush it down the toilet, nobody gives a damn.

"want to rent"...

When I was 20 and searching for a place to rent near my university, my budget was RM150 per month for a room, and I don't mind having roommates.

I just saw a post put up by a student looking for a place to rent near his university, his budget is RM1,200 and he would prefer to have a studio apartment for himself.

Generation gap?

point to ponder...

When single-room units in KL begin to hit the RM400,000 mark, does that mean Mont Kiara can no longer be called the hub for luxury condos?

bye bye BBCC...

Uda diminta utama Bumiputera

Oleh Sharifah Salwa Syed

Pengusaha Melayu mahu pemilikan 70 peratus di Bukit Bintang City Centre KUALA LUMPUR: Uda Holdings Berhad (Uda) diminta supaya memberikan pemilikan lebih 70 peratus kepada Bumiputera untuk membeli projek pembangunan bercampur dikenali sebagai Bukit Bintang City Centre (BBCC) yang akan dibangunkan agensi itu tidak lama lagi.

Yang Dipertua Persatuan Penjaja dan Pekedai Bumiputera Wilayah Persekutuan, Mithlan Samijoo, berkata Uda bukan saja perlu memberi peluang kepada pengusaha Bumiputera yang berkemampuan, malah memberi keutamaan kepada mereka yang layak membeli hartanah di kawasan berkenaan.

“Apa yang kita tahu ada di kalangan ahli persatuan memiliki aset yang banyak, tetapi kebanyakan mereka mengeluh tidak mempunyai tapak niaga yang strategik seperti yang dimiliki peniaga Cina di sekitar Bukit Bintang. Jika ada pun, kita tidak mampu untuk bersaing dengan mereka berikutan sewa yang terlalu tinggi.

“Justeru, apabila Uda memperuntukkan pemilikan sebanyak 60 peratus kepada Bumiputera, kita anggap itu satu bonus kepada peniaga Melayu. Namun, pada masa sama, kita berharap Uda meningkatkan pemilikan sehingga 70 peratus bagi memberi lebih ramai peniaga Bumiputera memiliki hartanah di kawasan berkenaan,” katanya ketika dihubungi di sini, semalam.

Semalam, kerajaan bersetuju dengan cadangan Uda meroboh keseluruhan Kompleks Penjara Pudu tahun ini untuk dibangunkan sebagai projek pembangunan bercampur dikenali sebagai Bukit Bintang City Centre.

Menteri Kewangan Kedua, Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah, berkata pembangunan di kawasan seluas 7.6 hektar itu akan membabitkan pembinaan 1,100 unit kondominium, hotel, ruang pejabat dan pusat komersial dengan anggaran kos RM5 bilion.

Mithlan berkata, pihaknya yakin ramai di kalangan peniaga Melayu mempunyai kemampuan untuk memiliki hartanah di kawasan berprestij itu cuma yang menjadi kekangan kepada mereka adalah dari segi kekurangan tapak sesuai untuk dijadikan premis perniagaan.

Beliau berkata, ada antara ahli persatuan menyewa premis di Jalan Masjid India dengan kadar harga tinggi sehingga RM30,000 sebulan untuk tapak niaga berukuran 20x70 kaki.

Sehubungan itu, pihaknya berharap cadangan pembinaan hartanah bercampur itu akan memberi satu khabar gembira kepada peniaga Bumiputera.

“Jika tidak diberikan 100 peratus kepada peniaga Bumiputera, memadailah memberi keutamaan sehingga 80 peratus kepada peniaga Melayu untuk bertapak di BBCC apabila ia siap kelak. Kita mahu menjadikan kawasan ini sebagai tempat pemborong Bumiputera.

“Kebanyakan ahli mampu untuk membelinya... cuma apa yang perlu Uda sebagai agensi yang menjaga kepentingan orang Melayu perlu memikirkan sesuatu, termasuk menawarkan harga berpatutan bagi membolehkan mereka membeli ruang niaga di BBCC, sekali gus bersaing dengan peniaga bukan Melayu,” katanya.

Now I am really speechless. No, this isn't about races or religions, this is about the mindset of certain quarters in the country.

“Apa yang kita tahu ada di kalangan ahli persatuan memiliki aset yang banyak, tetapi kebanyakan mereka mengeluh tidak mempunyai tapak niaga yang strategik seperti yang dimiliki peniaga Cina di sekitar Bukit Bintang. Jika ada pun, kita tidak mampu untuk bersaing dengan mereka berikutan sewa yang terlalu tinggi.

Wait, I didn't know in Bukit Bintang retail outlets have different rental prices for bumis and non-bumis.

Jika tidak diberikan 100 peratus kepada peniaga Bumiputera, memadailah memberi keutamaan sehingga 80 peratus kepada peniaga Melayu untuk bertapak di BBCC apabila ia siap kelak. Kita mahu menjadikan kawasan ini sebagai tempat pemborong Bumiputera.

Here's the plan, I think UDA SHOULD give 100% to bumi entrepreneurs, and on top of that, the developer should bear all costs of promoting the commercial area after completion, guarantee-buy-back scheme with 10% increment from developer's price in case businesses do not make it, waive maintenance fee for life, developer to bear utilities fee, developer to bear all renovation costs for owners, as well as providing working staff for business owners as there's a shortage of foreign labours and the locals are demanding way too high in salary, also subsidizing 20% of the employees' pay, contribute EPF and SOCSO on behalf of business owners, while the banks should come out with BLR%-BLR% (0% interest) loan packages with options to postpone installments when business is bad, further 10% off the installment sum when paid on time, and special buy-out clauses when business go haywire.

Goodbye Bukit Bintang City Centre. For a moment I thought you're going to be a key development, the next hotspot, and a brilliant investment in Bukit Bintang.

Then I woke up.

1Malaysia!

points to ponder...

Boy, 15, shot dead by cop.

Public's Response:-

1) He's only 15, are there no other alternatives but to fire shots at him?

2) The only crime he committed was sneaking out from his home at 2am in the morning, and driving without a licence, and beating several traffic lights.

3) The cops are hungry for blood and above the law.

I'm not saying that I'm siding with the cops, nor am I siding with those who are calling for justice, but I'm just looking into this matter objectively.

It's 2am. The cop doesn't know who is manning the vehicle. The suspicious car tried to escape from the cops and sped past several red lights in the chase before being stopped by the patrol car. The deceased reversed and rammed his car into the patrol car.

If you're the cop, and in such situation, what would you have done?

ice kacang puppy love...

Time to hit the cinema, Ice Kacang Puppy Love will be coming to the big screen tomorrow.

I must say this is one of the movies in 2010 I'm looking forward to catch besides Iron Man 2, and after watching the trailer, I must say that I am very impressed.

The movie, directed by Aniu - who also starred in the movie -, boasts big name artistes which includes Angelica Lee, Gary Chaw, Fish Leong, Victor Wong, Yi Jet Qi, Eric Moo, Nicholas Teo, Penny Tai, Hong Kong Bruce Lee-lookalike Chan Kwok Kwan and apparently Michael Wong as well (although I don't see his picture in the poster or in the trailer).

Apart from directing and acting, Aniu also produced, co-wrote and edited the film which is some sort of semi-biography of his own first love. By roping in the internationally-recognized all star cast of singers (and friends), this is almost like an extended music video-styled movie that lasts close to two hours, and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Set in the 1980s and filmed in the mining town of Tronoh in Perak, Ice Kacang Puppy Love first got my attention when Aniu was promoting an audition through 98.8 radio station to search for an Indian man to play a motorcyclist who sells junk food (although come to think of it now, isn't it a bit funny to look for an Indian to go for audition through a Chinese radio station?). It was already widely publicized back then (I can't remember but that must be over half a year ago) when the casting was announced.

From the trailer it looks to be a class above the CNY movie 'Woohoo!', and this is one local movie I'll be watching in the cinema in the coming week.

Malaysia Boleh!

transformation...

Pardon my disappearance for some time, I have been pretty occupied with these...

That took me about a month to change the entire outlook, and for a first timer, I guess it's not bad huh? And if things go as planned, it's going to give a cash on cash return (COCR) of 27.6% and 11.6% rental yield beginning from next month.

Requote something I read some time ago,

"The harder you try, the luckier you get."

signs…

PT950.

0.31.

H.

VS2.

Here goes nothing.

hello 2010...

Turn of the new year, and I became an uncle. My brother's baby son came to the real world last week and that instantly made me feel old.

But I'm not really.

Seriously.

2010. So what do we expect?

From a personal POV, I sure hope this year will sail through smoothly. Just like every other year.

Career? A little bit tensed but I'm coping well, and hoping to make some major statements.

Relationship. Seeing so many friends around getting engaged or married is indeed a real pressure. Let's just say something will happen this year alright? No wild guesses please, we don't wanna make things too predictable, do we?

Financial. Sabotaged by red bombs hurled around. Okay, just kidding. Hopefully it'll be steadier than last year, I had some bad moments towards end of 2009 but everything turned out well and good things are spilling over to the new year. Will slow down a little in my real estate portfolio and saving up for another important 'aspect' in life, although I won't rule out any good deals if they come along at the right time and price.

Health-wise, will need to watch my food intake. High level of uric acid but yet to see any symptoms. High level of bad cholesterol. Goodbye to Bak Kut Teh.

Won't be making any new year resolutions, at this age I'm starting to feel that my goals are for life, and hopefully I won't be setting myself any short-term targets and risk getting in the way of what I want to achieve in life's marathon.

Happy New Year to all. Be nice.