Naked Economics

Just finished reading this book, Naked Economics, and I think this is one of the very good books which I would recommend to my friends. If you like Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, I think you would also like this book.

On my msn, my nick is "a delightful book is as good as a dose of adrenaline". It has been quite a long time since I have read a book, so I'm glad I'm picking up books again. Perhaps it is because I'm influenced by my sis, who is currently taking her MBA. The sight of her studying in her room with her table lamp rekindles a part of me. Anyway, shall not go into talking about the virtues of knowledge (ps: increasing human capital is one of them).

Inside Naked Economics, there is an interesting concept in labor economics (whatever that is..) called the "backward-bending labor supply curve." "Thankfully, the idea is simpler and more interesting than the name would suggest. Economic theory predicts that as our wages go up, we will work longer hours - up to a point, and then we will begin to work less. Time becomes more important than money. Economists just aren't quite sure where that curve starts to bend backward, or how sharply it bends."

This reflects my current state of mind very well. Seriously, I do not know when my curve will start to bend backward, and how sharply it will bends.


Sometimes I like to keep blogging, for there are so many things in my mind that would otherwise not take shape. Blogging seems to me to be one way of telling myself that life is not only about work. But sigh... have to stop here, for my team is waiting for me to send my deck over to them.. (not literally waiting, since we will only review it tomorrow morning, but still, it is waiting to be done.)

Week

Ever wonder why 24 hours is a day, 7 days is a week, 365 days (or 12 months) is a year?

We experience day and night in 24 hours, hence a day is 24 hours.
There is a full moon in a month, and hence a month.
And there are four seasons in 365 days, and hence a year.

But what about a week? Why is a week 7 days? Why can't it be just 5 days, or 10 days? Why can't we have a system such that there are 12 months, and each months has different number of days (same as current system). We can do away with the days, and just use notations such as today is the 4th day of the 8th month; or the 31st day of the 12th month, etc.

The only reason I can think of as to why a week is 7 days is because God create the universe in 7 days (actually he used 6 days, and rested on the 7th). Well, anyway I did a quick search and found that I'm half right (actually there are a lot more different reasons than just one).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Week#Origin_of_the_seven-day_week

Mom

It's 2.30am now, just came back from supper with joseph. Having just chatted with my team lead online, I should be doing my modeling now rather than writing this entry. But there are things which I have delayed writing and I do not wish to delay further.

Mom wasn't feeling well the past week. Went to see the doctor a few times, but the prescribed medicines do not seem to help. Talked to her last night, and can feel that she is quite depressed with her unwellness. This morning before I went to work, she told me that the pain is quite intolerable sometimes. This is quite worrying since my mother is someone who seldom falls sick.

Met up with my ex-colleagues for dinner last night. When I reached home, saw my sis at the living room, and told her that my IPO has gone underwater. She was quite irritated and didn't really answer me. Tot it's another of her bad moods.. Then I went to mom's bedroom and ask her how she is doing. It was then that I realized that she is still not feeling well. No wonder sis was angry. Our mother is sick, and yet I went out with my friends. First thing I said when I reached home was not to ask about mother; but rather was to talk about my stocks. I was instantly reminded of a scene in Click. Family should always come first. Not career, not friends, and certainly not money.

Today mom went to the doctor to get an ultrascan. Sis went with her. I called sis to find out the results of the scan, and the doctor told us that he suspected it's gallstones. I asked sis how mom is feeling then, and she told me mom is quite worried. When she is on her phone, she saw mom take out the scan from the envelope to take a peek at it. Mom can't read English, and is not highly-educated. The image of her trying to make sense of what is causing her the pain formed in my mind and broke my heart at the same time. I feel that I should be a better son than I was.

On my way back home, I thought about everything mother has taught me over all these years. She has never imparted any skills to me, even though she did attempt to teach me multiplication in primary schools before the english become too difficult for her. But what I learned from her is something which I will carry with me for the rest of my life. Mother is a simple person. Our neighbour of 20 years once told me that her opinion of mom is a content and optimistic person. I never think of her this way, but I think her assessment is accurate. I was thinking of how I can be a better son; of what I can do to make her proud; and what kind of a man would she want me to become. Then it struck me that the answer is nothing. There is no better son for her. It doesn't matter what I do, or who I become. I am her son, and that's it. Period. Doesn’t matter who I was, am, or become. Every mother will feel the same way for their child.

There is one thing which I know my mother would like to see me do. She has always tell me to 好好做人. Be a good student. Don't miss classes. Don't stare at gangsters. Don't accept candy from stranger (it later becomes "Don't accept cigarettes from stranger"). Don't be late for work. And on and on. And now, I understand that what she is really telling me is to stay true to yourself and live life with your conscience. If you have done nothing wrong, you would not be scared even if someone knocks on your door in the middle of the night.

We will be seeing the specialist tomorrow. Hope it will be nothing serious and mom will get well soon. Ti gong 保佑.

Jakarta

This blog entry comes slightly late, but as the popular saying goes, it’s better late than never. Today is 21 Aug, one and a half week since I have returned from Jakarta. As mentioned in my previous entries, I was quite skeptical about going Jakarta, since I’m visiting Khendy with two of his ex-housemates whom I have never met before. Didn’t particularly really like the idea that I am going to spend my precious holiday and weekends with strangers. But in the end I still went, cos it’s something I had given my word to.

Things didn’t get on a good start. My flight is at 8am, and I am supposed to reach the airport two hours before departure. Worked my ass off until 5am for Innovation InFusion, grabbed an hour of sleep, then quickly took a shower and packed my bag.. (yaya, I don’t really have a habit of packing my stuff in advance for any trips.. Started packing for my Student Exchange trip one week before departure. I think wherever you are, you really only need three things: passport, money/credit card, and friends.) Got off the wrong stop, and ended up almost late for check-in. Bad start.

Fortunately, things get better from then since. Met up with Foo Lee and Jie Quan at Jakarta airport. No offence to anyone, but among everyone whom I have traveled with so far, these two dudes are like the best traveling companions ever!! (not that any of my travel companions are bad or anything..) They are really nice and easy to get along!
On a side note, this is in line which what I have always believed in. I read before that the wealth of a man is equal to the average wealth of 10 of his closest friends. I did not agree then, nor do I now. I believe however, that if you want to know what kind of a person a man is, look at 10 of his closest friends. Khendy’s housemates are like Khendy, friendly, helpful and easy-to-get-along. ;)

On our first day, Khendy drove us around his neighbourhood. He stays in Pluit. And there is this amazing neighbourhood near his place that has houses which I have never seen before. The houses are huge. Repeat, HUGE!! And the government does not have any restriction on the buildings. So, you can see houses that look like the Roman palace, Japanese temples with the Zen touches, old castles style houses, traditional Chinese-styled buildings, weird Mediterranean houses and houses that look like the White House. Cool isn’t it!!

Then, Khendy drove us around Jakarta’s city, introducing us to the CBD of Jakarta. I am truly a mountain tortoise, for I have never realized how developed the city of Jakarta is. If I may compare, I would say that their city is as good, if not better, than Singapore’s. The only thing I don’t like is the traffic jam. But other than that, the city is amazing!! And of course, being Singaporeans, we went to buy Crispy Kreme donuts, and J-Co donuts. (J-Co is a local brand, and I swear it is better than Crispy Kreme).

Next day, we went to a giant shopping mall. I bought quite a lot of things from there: One giant Spider Man III poster, 3 cufflinks, one shirt and a couple of DVDs. Also, tailored-made two pants as well. Hmm, maybe not a lot compared to some of my friends who love shopping, but definitely quite a lot for me, since I have stopped going on shopping spree for quite a long time.

On the last day, we had lunch with Khendy’s parents. Then, his dad took us to see a plot of land which Khendy just bought. Yup, a plot of land!!! Cool right, haha. Felt very glad to see the proud look on my old friend’s face. (A little free advertisement for my dear old friend: Ladies, here’s one very eligible bachelor who also happens to be one of the kindest person I ever known. Interested tai-tai’s to be, pls feel free to contact me. =) )

After that, we drove to visit his father’s estate which is nearby. It is, well, HUGE!! We initially intended to drive to a town outside Jakarta, but ended up visiting his dad’s estate all day. And it was so fun as well!! I am very very impressed by what I have seen that day. Impressed, not by the scale of his land. Impressed, because of the spirit his dad has shown us. For more than 10 years, he has slowly accumulated his wealth and land through hard work. By acquiring small plots of land at a time, he has, over a long period of time, managed to acquire and maintain such a huge piece of land. Comparing myself to him, I think I really need to work on my attitude. I can blame it on some assholes (read: Lai), but at the end of the day, it’s really me we are talking about.

Anyway, when I came back to Singapore on Sunday, I can’t help but reflect that this is definitely the best overseas trip I have ever taken!! I have several reasons for visiting Jakarta, and I have achieved exactly all I wanted to do! And on top of that, I have also made new friends and learnt a lot from this trip! Khendy has always offered me his wise and most sincere advices. And this time, even though I didn’t ask for it and he didn’t offer me any, I feel like no advice is needed; I arrive in Singapore with a strange feeling of calm and inner peace.


PS: it has been two weeks since I have returned from the trip, and though I am not feeling what I had felt, I feel that the trip has one step forward towards where I’m heading. =)

79.9

Something to cheer. Today after I came home from my tennis game, I weigh myself on the weighing scale. 79.9. Woohoo, I'm back to sub 80 again!! Haha. Went to get a packet drink plus a durian for mini celebration. And after downing them, I looked at the weighing scale and thought to myself, "Dude, you can't be lucky twice..". So yup, I didn't get onto the scale again. So I'm still 79.9. =D

If only everything in life can be so simple. Sometime I look at what I am doing, and think maybe this is not it. And sometimes I'm right; And, sometimes I'm wrong. Had a conversation with Irwin just now, about my perspective of my career decisions. We had different views, and a part of me feel that he is right. However, a larger part of me disagrees. Is there really such a place as the ideal workplace? Does it really exist, or does it happen because over time, we lower our expectations? I don't know the answer, but I know one thing: If I don't try, I will never know. No matter how many people tell me that I am wrong, it doesn't matter. Only me can prove me wrong. I didn't regret when I threw away my boarding pass in Cambodia to pursue a free and easy backpacking trip. I didn't regret when I jumped into the freezing lake with nothing on but my shorts to fulfil a childhood dream. I didn't regret when I ran my ass off for a marathon I didn't fully prepared for to achieve a goal I set for myself. And I didn't regret when I pissed everyone off to join AMS. I'm not being selfish. I'm just pursuing the important things in life. The important things in MY life.

Yes, indeed, sometimes I do regret. I regret not attending the party held by my host family and attending the farewell party instead. I regret not knowing Roberto, Joel, Dave and Oscar better, and instead spending the time with someone who just doesn't worth it. I regret not telling my best friend in school about my decision to go to the Student Exchange Programme, and not discuss with her first. I regret not leaving the firm after all that happened in my first project, and instead, chose to believe that there will be light at the end of the tunnel. And yes, I regret not becoming the man I want to be after 26 years.

But aren't these part and parcel of life? We tried. We failed. And we rejoiced. For life is not about win, lose or draw. Winning is defined by the society. Life is not about winning or losing. Life is about living. Whether with a purpose or without one. Whether with happyness or sadness. For remember, a purpose exists because of the lack of it. And happyness exists only because sadness does too.

+++

This entry is written because I want to write something non-negative. :)

For the first time, I'm actually looking forward to National Day!! Haha. This is because it will be my first time out of Singapore on a National Day. It will also be the first time I'm visiting Jakarta.

This trip is the first time I'm leaving the country for reasons other than my own. Well, not completely.. I'm going also to take a break and think through things. Though I have already made up my mind. Case in Point.

Today several things happened. They could be the turning points of my life. They could also not be. But regardless, I would consider them to be important milestones.

Firstly, I bought my second stock. Well, not exactly bought. Technically speaking, it is bidded successfully. But regardless, it is a stock which I feel strongly about, and so I will most likely hold on to it, instead of selling it for a quick buck. Funny thing is, when I reached home, I read on the news that the US's interest rate is affecting the stock market worldwide. Not exactly sure why. But since my stock is still above the price I bought, I guess there are still rooms for improvement.

Second thing is, I made my first wine investment. Everything happened so quickly. The deal was sealed in 30 min time. Though it is quite a big investment, I reckon that if the wine depreciates, I can share it with 60 friends....

Was flipping through some old stuff, and I saw my birthday card. It was from my colleagues from PA. Funny, a lot of them wished that I would be happier, and mentioned that they look forward to seeing a more positive me. Funny, I was never associated with negativity when I was in uni.
Regardless, I think I might be making a change pretty soon..

Khendy was right about knowing your destination. Jakarta is not my destination; but it is one step closer to it. :)