Elections, Royal Wedding and Osama is Dead

So many historical events seem to be taking place over the past few days.

Singapore General Elections 2011.

Yes. By now, most people are probably suffering from an overdose of election news and trivia ranging from Kate Spade to Nicole Seah. In fact, facebook seems to be flooded with so much election news that I am suddenly surprised at how politically charged so many of my friends are. Well, this is a once in five years event and I am keenly keeping watch on the elections since 82 out of 87 seats are being contested. My predictions? I think the opposition party will only keep one seat - Hougang.

Royal Wedding

So while we were suffering from an overdose of election news, the royal wedding was really a good break. Spent quite some time in front of the TV watching the live footages of the royal wedding even as I remarked to myself the fact that I have visited those places in London a very long time ago. I think the royal couple look really sweet.

Osama is Dead (Latest News)

With a wedding, there needs to be a funeral. Well, the news is out that Osama bin Laden is dead. Shot in the head. After 2 wars, and an entire US army hunting him down, it took almost a decade just to kill this man. And he was in Pakistan. Not Iraq or Afghanistan where the wars took place. Scroll below for a gruesome picture of Osama.

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Jim Rogers Sighted at Video Rental Shop

I spotted the legendary Jim Rogers at a video rental shop just yesterday with his 2 daughters. For those who don't know, Jim Rogers co-founded the Quantum Fund and retired at the age of 37. He now lives in Singapore after moving from New York. He studied in Yale and Oxford too.

Anyway, it was great seeing the man in action bargaining at a video rental store in Singapore. Yes, bargaining! He wanted to buy some videos and asked his daughter to bargain the price down by a few dollars actually. And the surprising thing was that he did managed to bargain down the price - through his daughter of course. What is even more amazing was him asking his daughter to bargain down the price using Mandarin!!

I was completely floored. Jim Roger's daughter speaks almost perfect mandarin. If she was speaking on the phone to you, there would almost be no way that you could tell she was a little American girl! She speaks perfect Mandarin!

Another thing that surprised me was that this rich guy who managed to retire at age 37 would actually bother to bargain down a few dollars. I am pretty sure that few dollars meant nothing to him but that he was actually trying to teach his daughters a lesson or two in bargaining. And his daughter actually did it without protesting! Amazing amazing.

IMF Warns About Perils Ahead for World Economy

The IMF warned that there are perils ahead for the world economy if certain issues continue unanswered. This includes:

1. Rising Food Prices

2. Joblessness

3. Middle East turmoil

4. Weak finances in advanced economies.

All these could possibly derail the current economic recovery. Regarding the surge in food prices, World Bank President said that "We are one shock away from a full-blown crisis".

In addition, new ailments like overheating in emerging economies could also add to the existing list of problems.

Some other comments from IMF includes the following:

"There was a sense around the table... that we are still in a fairly fragile situation," said Tharman Shanmugaratnam, chairman of the IMF's policy-setting monetary and financial committee.

"We have to be extremely watchful, but we also need to develop the capabilities... to anticipate scenarios that could turn out to be ugly, and require that countries, including especially systemically significant countries, take actions early to prevent another crisis."

Time to be cautious in investing?

Driving away the Monday Blues

I would like to think that I successfully drove away the Monday blues. It did not help that was feeling slightly depressed on Sunday night but a good dose of coffee, reading the various comments on mt previous post and just thinking about the good things that have happened to me in my life thus far made me slightly more thankful and happier today. I wouldn't claim that I am not feeling depressed anymore but I am sure feeling much much better. How did I do it?

Firstly, I spent a good two hours watching lots of mindless standup comedy by Chris rock and Russell peters. Super funny. Chris rock is really vulgar but I guess I am actually immune to swear words and stuff so i am able to take his jokes. I know some people who cannot stand swear words and thus cannot bring themselves to watch it. But the two hours of watching mindless standup comedy really made my Sunday night much bearable. At least it got my mind off the things that were bothering me.

Secondly, I spent some time sharing online my thoughts through this blog. Even though I did not reveal what was causing my sadness, just blogging about it made me feel a little lighter. Just knowing that somebody else knows about my bad mood was comfort by itself. I don't know why this is so really since most of my readers are really strangers to me in a certain sense-I won't recognize them if I saw them on the streets. Yet, they know a part of me and my struggles that even some of my closer friends know nothing about. So I guess I can call these people my Internet buddies. It is almost as if they are on the same journey as I am. Some of them are also much older and are also able to give me a better perspective of things.

Thirdly, I took a new route to work today. Just felt like doing something different today so I took a new route to work today. And I guess with a new route brings new sights and sounds. I might even start using this route for the next few months. Oh well, guess I will just wait and see.

Fourth, I ate something different for breakfast. I usually frequent this stall for breakfast during weekdays but this time, I ate at some fast food for breakfast. And fast food I guess makes one feel happy because of the sugar rush that comes along with it. I sat there quietly and ate my meal slowly. Truly enjoyed every bit of it. Perhaps another reason why I should switch to this new route.

Lastly, I pampered myself and bought a new shirt. It was not expensive or anything but I just felt like I needed some pampering.

And that was what helped me drive away the Monday blues. Like I said, I am still abit moody but as a whole, feeling much better already!

Am I afraid?

The past few days have been difficult for me. There have been many things that I feel passionately about but which I do not feel comfortable writing about. Am I afraid? What am I afraid of? These are the few questions that cross my mind. And sometimes it is just the fear of certain repercussions that will result from blogging too honestly about my personal life. Cos there are days when things do not go well and I feel like spewing vulgarities into the Internet. But I restrain myself because I know I will regret it one day and that I will end up revealing a side of me that readers might not be familiar with.

I need to admit that beneath a lot of happiness and good times are sometimes lots of heartaches, failures and angst. And sometimes, a happy weekend can soon turn into a deep bout of depression for me. I start to turn depressive and moody. The world suddenly seems a lot bleaker. The future is no longer bright. And I wallow in self-pity. It does not help that I cannot tell anyone what I truly feel. For if I do so, I might end up cursing and swearing under my breath. And that I know I will regret I'm due time. So I am afraid that I will destroy the image that I have been projecting all long. But somedays, I really feel like I need to get it off my chest.

So tomorrow is a brand new day. And I must remember that I live a life more fortunate than others. Be contented with what I have. One day the light will come. And hopefully I will have the courage to tell of my struggles and life in an honest manner. And perhaps I could share my deepest regret with all one day. But in the mean time, I need to get out of this depressive mood! Perhaps the best way is to not think about it. But then that is just ignoring the problem. Perhaps it is time I confront the problem head on.

$790 Dividends for March 2011

March 2011 is gone. April is here. A new month. Collected almost $800 worth of dividends for March 2011. That has perhaps been my highest thus far for the year. Have been looking to add more dividend stocks lately but also wary about the market conditions now.

I have been toying with this concept for the longest time but have always put it off and procrastinated. What happens if I manage to invest a large percentage of my monthly salary into REITs or dividend paying stocks and then reinvest the dividends that I receive? Will I become financially free within 10 years?

Red Wine and Reflections for the Day

Opened a bottle of red wine yesterday to have with my food. And there was still quite a bit left over in the bottle so I am sipping some right now. Apparently, Robert Parker gave this vintage of wine 90 points. And that is perhaps the only reason why I bought the bottle of wine.

Today was quite a wretched day. I was suffering from some kind of flu but still went to office nonetheless. And time just seemed to whiz past while I was at work. Before I knew it, it was time to go back home. And I wasn't even sure what I had accomplished the entire day.

Flipped through the papers to catch up on election news and other trivia. Logged on to facebook to check on the latest status of all my friends and adding the random comment or "like" to the 1001 statuses.

Life is almost blissful and simple. And reading up on the latest new about the person who commented about heartlanders in Holland Village suddenly made me realise that I am very much one of those heartlanders. I live in a HDB flat, take the MRT to work, eat at hawker centres, and wear my flip flops to Holland Village. Drats, I have slowly transformed into a heartlander without knowing it. Of course, I don't speak vulgarities. But I guess I am one of those persons the higher rungs of society do not want to associate with. Thanks for the wake up call whoever you are. Just the other day, I drove up to get my car valet park and the guy manning the valet stall looked at me increduously and asked whether I was looking for the public carpark which was just ahead. Classic!!!!! My car small means cannot valet park issit??? It reminds me that there is still much to strive for in my life, career and personal growth (i.e. anger management and not comparing with others). Good thing I was in a hurry and did not give him a good dressing down (which I would not have done given how timid I really am).

Reminds me that I have not written about personal finance for some time which I probably should. But right now, personal finance matters seem so distant from my mind. I mean, I earn so much and spend so much. Is anyone really interested in that when Japan has suffered a terrible earthquake and is now facing like radioactive problems? I over heard a guy speaking to his Japanese colleague the other day how Japan should explore other forms of energy. My mind was going: Give your Jap friend a break! With people dying out there, it is just too easy for us to analyse the situation from afar and say what Japan should or should not be doing. That being said, I am definitely against Indonesia building a nuclear plant anywhere near us. If they want a nuclear plant, build it in Antartica please. If Japan is having problems dealing with this situation, everyone should re-think their nuclear strategy. Especially if you are situated so close to a fault line. But who cares? Noone cares about what I think.

I have also realised how stupid I am. It seems that everyone around me are all so clever. Actually, I used to think that I was above average in intelligence and looks. Then slowly over the years, I realised that everyone thinks the same way. Most people think that they are above average. Problem is: If everyone is above average, who is average and who is below average?

I have concluded that I am actually a below average Singaporean with a below average intelligence and below average looks living with a below average salary. But who cares? What is important is being happy. And I do not mind being below average. Okay, at least not for the salary part