Ris Low and Claire Lee

No Make-Up...

Controversy, controversy, and more controversy.

What's up with the news surrounding Miss Singapore winner (Ris Low) and first runner-up (Claire Lee)?

First, Ris Low was found guilty of credit card fraud which she failed to declare when she took part in the competition. Ris Low was also said to be suffering from bipolar disorder which was what resulted her in getting a 24 month probation instead of jail time. She was subsequently forced to give up her title after she insisted that she wanted to keep the crown.

Next, she went on to say that Claire Lee had backstabbed her by reporting her to the media and faking a back injury to save "face" in case she was not selected as the replacement.

Today, I read the news that Ris Low was ordered not to go shopping alone as part of her 24 month probation for the credit card fraud. She apparently also has to retake an examination because of notes that were found in her pencil case which she forgot to remove during the actual examination. Perhaps its the bipolar disorder at work again.

Now, I read the news that Claire Lee, the first runner-up, does not want to represent Singapore unless ERM (the organising company), threatens to sue her.

This really makes me wonder on the quality of girls that are being chosen to represent Singapore.

They entered Miss Singapore to represent Singapore correct? So what is the whole fuss about now? Why doesn't Claire Lee want to represent Singapore anymore? Who is going to fly to South Africa in one month's time to represent Singapore?

Perhaps it is time for the governement to step in. Perhaps create a Miss Singapore Academy. Get it ISO certified and stuff. Throw in the scholarships and stuff and who knows, we might win one of the next Miss Universe. Perhaps that should be our Goal 2020!

Instead of throwing so much money into football, why not just invest in grooming the next Miss Singapore who can do the whole nation proud and perhaps win Miss Universe?

There is of course the temporary problem of sending someone in for 2009's Miss Universe.

With less than 1 month to prepare, we will need someone who knows how to put on make-up, be vocal enough to speak her mind, be well-travelled, well-liked (by the Singapore public) and of course well-dressed.

I am proposing that we send blogger Xiaxue (aka Wendy Cheng) to represent Singapore. She is sure to make a huge impact for us. Heck, she could even help all the other contestants photoshop their photos before it is published in the newspaper and stuff.

Read Claire Lee's blog here

Read Related Posts
1. Ris Low's Bipolar Disorder
2. Why is Xiaxue so Popular

Passive Income Update

In the journey to financial freedom, one of the decisions I made was to rapidly increase my passive income. This was done through the acquisition of REITs, bank deposits as well as online income sources.

My updated portfolio for passive income (end September 2009) is as such:

1. 12,000 x Ascott REITs (DPU = 3.55 per half) = $71.00 per month
2. 17,000 x First REITs (Annualised DPU = 7.66cents) = $108.51 per month
3. 11000 x Suntec REITs (Annualised DPU = 11.94cents) = $109.45 per month
4. Maybank iSavvy Deposit = $8 per month
5. Online Income Sources = $30 per month

Total Estimated Passive Income = $326.96 per month


See Related Articles:
1. I Received over $1000 in Dividends for August 2009
2. Passive Income Sources

Norway is Best Country to Live In

Looking for the best country to live in? Based on United Nations data released, Norway has been voted as the best country to live in.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) index was compiled using 2007 data on gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, education, and life expectancy, and showed marked differences between the developed and developing world. It was published as part of the UN's Human Development Report (HDR) 2009

Japan, staying in 10th, was the only Asian country in the top 10.

Singapore ranked 23rd, swopping places with Hong Kong at 24th.

South Korea and Brunei came in at 26th and 30th respectively, retaining their previous positions.

Top 10 Most desirable countries to live in(2009):
1. Norway
2. Australia
3. Iceland
4. Canada
5. Ireland
6. Netherlands
7. Sweden
8. France
9. Switzerland
10. Japan

Least desirable countries to live in
173. Guinea Bissau

174. Burundi
175. Chad
176. Democratic Republic of the Congo
177. Burkina Faso
178. Mali
179. Central African Republic
180. Sierra Leone
181. Afghanistan
182. Niger

If there is any commonality, it is that all these countries are located in Africa and many of these countries are land-locked.

Financial Freedom is a Taboo Topic

Is Financial Freedom a taboo topic (especially amongst the Chinese)?

Many Chinese prefer to keep their finances a secret. They do not wish to reveal how much they earn, how much they save and how much they have in debt. It is sort of a taboo topic that is not spoken of.

So even in families, parents do not teach their children about how to manage their finances. Even if they do, it is just simple concepts like : SAVE MONEY, EARN MORE, etc ,etc. Very seldom will a parent give a child a case study of how much the family is actually earning, how much they are spending, their strategies to accumulate wealth and much more.

This could be the death of wealth accumulation and preservation in Chinese families if this continues.

Even amongst friends, we seldom discuss about financial planning. We are only interested in talking about how to make money and WHO and WHO made how much in the stock market.

There is no true interest in how one can move towards financial freedom and the simple strategies involved.

Interestingly, it is only on the internet that you see such openess. But this openess is limited in the sense that most bloggers also do not share very intimate details about their finances.

This is what my blog was created for. I share my finances with all to see, for all to comment and for all to learn.

If you are willing to serve as a case study for all to learn from, do let me know. I can keep your name confidential if you will like. All I need is just your monthly income, monthly expenditure and current networth breakdown.

Do drop a message in the chatbox or comment here if you are interested in sharing.

Passive Income True Potential

I found this useful article on a blog regarding how to calculate the true potential of passive income online earnings. By calculating the amount of time we have put into writing articles for our blogs, and keeping track of our earnings, we can figure out how much money we are making per hour. Compare that with our active income sources and you can find out which is more "productive". The article is attached below:

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HOW TO CALCULATE THE TRUE POTENTIAL OF PASSIVE INCOME ONLINE

Building passive income online can be a great opportunity to take control of your personal finances. It typically requires a lot of hard work up front to get the income stream created. If you have built a solid income source, then your hard work will pay off down the road. But how can you tell the potential of your time and effort spent? By projecting out your earnings per hour and comparing it to other income sources.

I recently completed a personal challenge that required me to write 100 eHow articles in 1 month. While I did not reach my 100 article goal, I still finished the month with 72 published articles. In order to see the true potential of the time I spent writing these articles, I can project out my earnings for one year.

eHow Dollars per Hour Earnings

In the first month of writing these 72 articles, my eHow Earnings totaled $124.27. I spent 42 hours writing these articles which calculates to ~$2.95 per hour. I will admit that there is nothing special about earning $2.95 per hour. However, if you project these earnings out over the course of 12 months, you may change your mind.

I am in the 2nd month of collecting earnings after creating this passive income online source. The beautiful thing about this income stream is that I will earn a projected ~$128.63 from these same articles this month with no time spent on my part. That pushes my earnings over $6 per hour!

If I were to assume that these articles could continue to earn the same amount each month for 1 year, my earnings jump to $36.13 per hour. I could keep going, but you get the picture. Earning over $30 per hour (and possibly a lot more over time) is absolutely worth my time and effort when compared to my active income earnings.

Active Income Dollars per Hour

My current job that is earning active income is a salary position with a company that comes with health benefits, a 401k match, as well as a steady paycheck. Based on a normal scheduled of working 60 hours per week, I earn around $24.95 per hour (not factoring in any benefits).

Lately, because of staffing cuts and projects, I have been working closer to 70 hours per week. If I were to calculate my earnings per hour rate based on one full year of working at this pace, it would come out to $20.80 per hour.

Comparing the Income Sources

If I were to ask you – Would rather earn $30 per hour or $25 per hour? What option would you pick?

Obviously there are several assumptions in these calculations that I have provided. Health insurance coverage and 401K employer matches are not factored into my active income calculations.

I am also assuming that I can maintain the current earnings rate for my eHow articles. Who knows, the company could go under tomorrow and those dollars would go away. But who is to say that my employer couldn’t do the same?

By projecting out your passive income online earnings, you can easily compare them with other income sources. These calculations can be an excellent motivator to keep pushing you along!

How much is your active income job really paying you?

The original article can be found here: http://www.passivefamilyincome.com/2009/09/18/passive-income-online-earnings/
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See Related Articles:
1. I Received over $1000 in Dividends for August 2009
2. Passive Income Sources

StarHub Loses EPL

Singapore has only two pay TV operators: StarHub and SingTel.

So StarHub has lost the rights to screen the EPL as well as ESPN Star Sports to SingTel.

But if StarHub loses, who is the winner?

In my view, there are no winners. StarHub loses. SingTel loses. The consumers (i.e. the man on the street who loves football) loses. There are no winners in this case.

StarHub currently has 530,000 pay TV subscribers versus SingTel's 100,000 subscribers. Will losing the rights to EPL make StarHub a loser? Not necessarily so.

Cable TV does not constitue a large percentage of StarHub's revenue and probably does not contribute much to its profits. It is bundled together with other services (like the mobile services) and that is what makes it "profitable". SingTel by winning the bid at such a high price is most probably not going to break even or make any profits. They have won boasting rights but not profits in any sense.

So if SingTel is not winning and StarHub is not winning, the consumers have to be winning right? Wrong.

Most consumers would not be switching over to SingTel's Mio TV just because of the sports channel. Not all who subscribe to cable TV watch football or sports for the matter. My parents have cable TV but they certainly do not watch sports. So they will definitely not be switching over to SingTel's Mio TV.

Most households in Singapore I believe do not watch sports. Sports are usually followed by males ranging from their 20s to 40s. At these age group, very few of them have their own homes. And those that do would probably have to consult the wife who will have to forgo the many other wonderful channels that StarHub provides.

FREE STREAMING OF LIVE FOOTBALL MATCHES

What will be the alternative? They will most probably turn to free online streaming casts of these football matches which they can easily obtain over the internet. The images might not be of that high quality. But what is one to do?? Or they could head down to the pubs and hope that the pubs do subscribe to Mio TV.

So StarHub loses, SingTel loses and the consumer loses.

How on earth did we get ourselves into such a Lose-Lose situation I wonder?


See Related Articles:
Free Stuff

Why is Xiaxue so Popular?

Okay. Xiaxue (the blogger) is pretty popular in Singapore right?

Apparently 20,000 readers read her blogs.

But why on earth are people reading her blog which is filled with expletives and scantily cladded pictures of herself? Why is everybody reading it?

Is it because of the way the new generation sees things? Is it the things that they like to read about her personal life and what she does everyday?

By the way, Forbes Magazine dubbed her review of the iPhone as "Worst iPhone Review so Far".

So stop reading Xiaxue's blog and read my blog instead.

Financial Freedom. It's yours. Come get it!