#401: End of the road

For readers of my blog, i didn't expect #401 to read like this.. i had quite a few thoughts and topic to blog about yet i wasn't motivated/interested enough to get to it..

For readers of my blog, my grandfather passed away this evening (30 Jan 2010).. towards the end of his journey, old age and sickness took away the authoritative man that i have come to know and fear as a kid..

At the end, i believe that pain was minimal and this had come as a relief for him..

For him, he has reach the end of his journey.. rest well grandpa

#400 Choice

Life in general

In general, each and everyone of us has a choice to live the way we want.. courses are taken, classes are attended and jobs are taken as we choose our path in life..

With a good number choosing the "standard" path of a strong education and working experience in a reputable and big company, jobs are in demand, especially as we move towards economical recovery..

But this post is about other choices in life.. a friend of mine lost his iPhone in the gym one night.. an iPhone, a brand new iPhone that he had sync with all his applications and also the other websites like your facebook, ebuddy and sorts..

What surprised me was how well he took the lost. He shared that he had once left his phone on one of the gym machine and was lucky to retrieve his phone when he returned from his shower.. "this is lesson for me", he said

What matters most then is how he has choosen to face the awful truth that his neglience caused him his brand new iPhone.. now if i was in his shoes, even with my old Sony Ericsson, i would surely have been more affected.. i know well that i have not any backup for the contacts in my phone and i would be affected by the lost of precious photographs in my phone: the confirmation of the pregancy, baby's ultrasound scan pictures.. so much more

He is calm over his lost because he has choosen to handle it well.. he chose not to be upset nor curse the thief (which i certainly would).. "this is a lesson for me", he said.. For me, this is a lesson too.

#399: Final Journey

For him, the final journey beckons..

Life is such, the very moment that we were born, we begin this slow process callled life.. from the helpless infant that we are, our parents and those around us nurture and care for us to grow and be independent, for us to then start our own lives and create life of our own to nurture and to grow.. as time passes, we age and we get old, weak and basically we begin the process of dying..

In sickness, one wonders if the mind is still strong enough to be aware of the surrounding, to fight the illness, to worry about loved ones.. from the outside, the sight of a feeble body that is approaching the end of the road is painful yet so real.. at the end of the day, everyone of us has to go through the process, there is no other way but the end of a journey that each one of us partake..

and sadly it seems, for him, the final journey beckons..

#398: Monopoly Singapore

This post is not about the famous boardgame but general concepts apply.

In land-scare Singapore, its amazing how Property has become one of the main sources of generating a huge amount of money over time. Sadly, this is a game that is played by the rich ones where the poorer part of the nation continues in the day-to-day earnings as an employee..

Way back in early 2006, wifey and i had confirmed our HDB flat at 217,000. That's quite alot of money for a 16th floor, 4-room, 93sqm HDB flat located in Punggol, a relatively "ulu" and facilities-lacking location back then..

Fast forward to 2010 and here we are, done with renovations and house-cleaning and having spent a little over a month in the new house, we have somewhat adjusted to this new life in our new home. What has changed though, is that the 217,000 house we paid for is worth some 280,000 now. Just for calculation sake, the jump of $60,000 over 4 years is about $15,000 increase yearly. 5 years down(HDB rules states new flats can only be sold after 5 years occupancy), this figure is bound to increase and a sale, if any, of my flat will probably give me a return in the return of $100,000. Not. Bad. At. All.

Changing scenarios, the very same model applies to buyers of private properties. Condominums, Penthouses, you name it. Proceeds from sale alone is not the only source of income, instead, something quite more powerful is the rental market. A good condo conveniently located can rake in some $4,000 a month.. that's more money than i and a large part of Singaporeans earn on a monthly basis!

This brings us to the question as to who can afford to buy a condo and rent it out: The Rich. As the rich get richers buy renting out $4,000/month condos.. the monthly generated helps to fund other investments to ready for the next property buy.

On another end of the spectrum, friends who are getting hitched are searching for a place to call home. Resale flats offers good locations and matured facilities while renovation cost and cash downpayment tips the balance. New flats are hard to come by and BTO flats results in homelessness for 3-4 years.

"Build more houses (Buy in SG's context) and collect rent. This is the way to win Monopoly."