Category: Personal

Recently, i have started a new investment blog. I plan to devote the majority of my time there as I really do want to succeed in the world of investments and trading. I will be focusing on the blog there and will be doing less and less updates as time passes by here. This domain is still alive as I used to have a dream with some friends. Looking at this blog, I feel like I can be a better me and continue working, carving out the career that I dreamt of and becoming rich enough to benefit others like how I have always wanted.

Anyway, just some short and simple updates of my life. I have just finished my exams and fear for one of my module as it is really badly done. I felt like it was over before it even began even though I have been studying so hard for it. Sometimes, things just dont go the way you want them to, but if you give up, its all over. If you don’t, there is a possibility that you can bounce right up and become even stronger. What doesn’t kill a person will make him stronger.

Today, i am going to touch on my personal finance. Currently, i have income from tutoring, part-time sales, web business. The combined income i get from the 3 sources averaged around $500 to $600 every month. Of course, none of the income is really passive and in fact, some really take up a huge amount of my time and mental strength. Coupled that with the fact that i am so concerned over my studies, the whole work thing is actually adding additional stress to my personal well being.

Yet there are numerous benefits to a healthy passive income stream like better financial freedom to do the things you like or eat the things you want. The passive income stream can come in various forms which i will actually start doing once my expenditure account reached $5,000. I have 2 accounts, 1 for savings, where all my fees and loans are paid from and another, my expenditure account that i used for going through life from day to day. These are the few things i would like to get started on:

1. Investing in low risk securities

2. Starting a service for university undergraduates and graduates

3. Buying more investment linked products that actually generates revenue

4. Getting started with being a broker for various financial related services that can improve my knowledge of the market

Truthfully speaking, there is a ton of things i would like to get started on and all that must start from one thing: capital accumulation. Only through capital accumulation can one gathers the sufficient resource to indulge in higher pursuits. Of course, the combined effects of capital accumulation through friends, families or even strangers is so much more stronger than just 1 person.

In Singapore, being the top 1% earner means earning in excess of $700,000 every year. From young, i always have a fascination with getting there or simply the notion of being rich. To be honest, as i look back, i never felt truly satisfied in my life before. I would attribute it to being from one of less privileged family, incessant dramas on watching how the Rich are living their life or simply just pure greed. Regardless, its depressing and unsatisfactory. In recent months, as i am plagued with various new events in my life, i see an even greater need to achieve financial freedom and a stronger drive to succeed.

The thing is, i am constantly stepping in and out of the path that will take me to riches. One minute, i am doing so well and the next, laziness and an inflated ego beat the crap out of me and make me fall back into the circle of mediocrity again. So many times, over the years, and i just keep shuffling in and out.

The truth is, i am really sick of all my shuffling. I talked about action but in reality, its CONSTANT ACTION that i need and i am not doing any of it. What i did is a one time action, that usually yields me some results and i grow satisfied, flaunting it against anyone who will care to listen. All i am feeding is my ego and none towards my dream. I would laugh at myself if by the time i got out of university and i realized i haven’t really made any difference to my life.

“Unleash the giant within”

Today, i am going to blog about 2 things at once seeing as to how i am absent from this blog for about 2 to 3 weeks already. I will start with my time in Vietnam. This chinese new year, i went to Vietnam with my family. I visited Vinh Long, Ho Chi Minh and Nha Trang. I went there to take some wedding photos at the most popular beach in Vietnam, Nha Trang. Vietnam has changed a lot since the first time i visited it back in 2010. More and more high rise buildings are being built and i can sense immense opportunities there. One obstacle to the development of this country is its ideological system. Things might be moving fast now, but a simple change in leadership can affect the landscape of the entire country and i am not too sure if investors would be willing to put their money there.

Well, concentrating on myself, i have to say that many many things are going on right now and i am trying my best to handle everything at the same time. I actually kept this post as a draft for 1 week before able to write this second part. Moving forward, there are a few things i strive to achieve and i will now put it down in writing to make a commitment towards myself.

1. Exercise every other day to the best of my abilities

2. Reduce entertainment time and time spent watching shows and mangas

3. Study more and work harder to build my own personal knowledge and wealth

4. Cultivate a daily habit of reading news

5. Try to save as much as possible and reduce expenditures

6. Be diligent in my web building efforts

7. Build up my home tuition business

I believe if i am able to stick to this schedule of mine, i might be headed for success. If i cannot even win against my own desires of endless entertainment, i would most probably not land my dream job. With that said, i will try to post more in this blog as i really wished that this blog can become my personal journal, one in which i can look back years from now.

Recently, i started a new part time job at Coffee Club. I was paid rather moderately per hour, but compared to my other part time jobs, the hourly pay is around 20% to 30% lower. Anyway, my job includes serving customers, taking orders, cleaning tables, and if i do closing, sweeping and then moping the floor. All in all, this is a difficult job that entails many physical labor.

After one week of work, my fatigue started to kick in and i could no longer tolerate the harsh hours as i was reaching home at 2 or 3am the next day despite having to study early the next morning. In the end, i decided to take a pause to consider my options. Considering what i am aiming for this semester in school, i cannot work as much as i want to now. Yet, there is a need to generate additional income to sustain the living expenses of my family. At this crossroad, i decided against working and studying more so that i can keep up my grades.

These are some of my fixed schedules on top of schooling:

Tuesday Night: Tuition

Friday & Sunday Night: Assistance with my mom’s business

Saturday & Sunday Afternoon: Gems and diamond sales part time job

I really would like to reignite the popularity of my free stuff site that used to earn me close to $1,000 per month. I will be concentrating on that and hopefully, the 2nd bloom of the free stuff site will come again. I believe that as long as i put in the effort to do my due link exchanges with each and every site out there that offers real free stuff, i will be able to build the site up once again like i used to.

This february, i am going to Vietnam, or Ho Chi Minh. I am going there for a variety of reasons that i would be more comfortable keeping to myself. Anyway, i am saving up $1,000 so that i will be able to carry out a series of actions which will maximize the satisfaction of the trip to my family and me. Yes, i am going with my family =)

Anyway, i am working super hard now to save enough money to go to Vietnam. I would say my schedule is pretty crazy. Add that into my study at the university and i just feel so cramped, so stressed. But slowly, and steadily, i am somehow getting into the tempo of cramming myself up. I feel light at times even when i am pushed to the extreme. Things seem to move slower and i feel to be in more control of my mind and body.

Definitely, i am working more and studying more compared to my first semester. I have significantly reduced the amount of time i spent for entertainment. In fact, i am guessing my entertainment time is less than 10 hours every week. Also, i am doing less napping even when i am extremely tired. I need to push myself more, if not, i might crumple under my responsibilities and that is something i never want to see happen. I will come up on top!

This year, i received one of the most memorable and useful present from the most special person in my life right now. She has always been with me, through thick and thin. There are times where we severely disagree with each other, which usually ends in me taking a step back and letting her “win” the whole tug-o-war. She has put me through times of happiness, unhappiness, excitement. Simply put, being with her is like a roller coaster ride in one of the most crazy theme parks ever built or conceived by mankind.

Yet, this is the same girl that has propelled me through incredible growth, where i cry, i laugh, seek for advice like a helpless boy crying for his mother, ponder over certain things, and simply come to terms with myself and who i am. She has made me stronger. By being with her, i learnt patience, money management, temper control, 3 of my biggest flaws. Of course, like life itself which is constantly changing, i am constantly building up these 3 characteristics of mine.

This Christmas as i reflect on my life and looked back on my years, even though it was not the way i wanted it to turn up, i am grateful for all the events that lead up to today. She has made me a better person. I am definitely better because of her but i do not dare to foresee the road ahead of me. If we are both going towards the same goal, i believe a life of highest fulfillment will reach us. For now, i am just going to do the best i can in whatever i can, my job, my studies and my family. I haven’t spoke to my grandmother in 2 weeks, maybe its time to call her and tell her how much i love her. In case you are wondering, no, my grandmother is not the girl. As for who the girl is, someday, sometime, you will know when i am rich and famous.

Today, i am going to talk about the concept of filial piety. Before i was mature enough, i always blamed my mother for nagging at me, not showing me enough concern, causing me embarrassment, but after going through each and every event in my life, i understood that she was the one who was always by my side, supporting me, helping me. I feel very ashamed that i am still not independent enough that she has to keep working at the age of 55. Throughout her life, she has been guiding me subtly and helping me in whatever ways she can, yet i being the immature fool could not comprehend the various things she has done for me and continuously blamed her for every stupid choices that i made myself.

Slowly, i am understanding the folly of my 20 years of combined brashness and insensitivity. I am determined to make sure that she feel the love her children has for her. Sometimes, when i see her working 10 to 13 hours a day, i cannot help but feel a tinge of sadness. If i was a bit more sensible a bit earlier, i could never have spent the way i did, wasted my time the way i did and continuously strives to give her a much better life than all she has experienced. She has always been the silent warrior supporting her 3 children by herself since my dad passed away. She might not know it, but my life is so much better because she was my mother. My life experiences has humbled me, and in the process, open me up to what is the most important thing in my life, my family. As we safely tide over “the end of the world”, perhaps its a good chance to ask yourself what do you hold dear to yourself?

Thank you my mother, for you made me who i am today. Even though i might not be much now, but someday, you will enjoy one of the best life that is humanly possible. Until then, i will keep on walking and striving towards that goal.

Dreams… Every living human being has a dream they want to reach. For some, becoming rich is the dream whereas for others, to be able to help people is the dream. For me, i have always changed my dreams as i progress through my life…

When i was young, i thought about becoming an explorer, like a real life Indiana Jones going around, exploring ruins and caves, digging treasures until my family persuaded me that much of the known world has already been explored. After that, i changed my dream. I wanted to go to Japan and live there to experience their culture, that was my dream when i was around 14. At that age, i was already fascinated by the Japanese culture. When i was 16, i thought about becoming a businessman and striking it rich. I tried and successfully for a short while, earned some significant income doing some online business. Finally, after i served in the army, with my cumulated knowledge from my years of education, interaction, thoughts, settled on creating a fund as my dream, meaning i will become a fund manager.

However, this is an incredibly tough road that tons of other smart people from many other different countries will be competing with me. We will be required to slit each other’s throat, well not literally. There is a known fact being told around, a dollar in your pocket is a dollar lost from another’s pocket. As of right now, i am gaining momentum towards my dreams. The obstacles are abound, and you would be so surprised if i listed it down but i believe that step by step, day by day, i will simply do the best i can each day to move towards my goal.

There are a few reason why i wanted to become a fund manager. Financial independence is one. Other reasons include that being a fund manager, i can do what i like: managing capital and making it grow. As i continue towards my dreams with student loans, debts and increasing competition from around the world, poverty and stress, the only way you can go once you reached the bottom is up… or simply just burn up and perish. Haha.

I will go towards my dreams right now. Too often have i given up on something because it is tough or i simply lost interest and only came to regret it later. I have tons of real life experiences that i will be sharing here that i hope would benefit people who are much younger than me or even older. I believe in my dreams and will keep on moving forward no matter what people say. What about you? How old are you right now? Are you striving towards your dreams now?