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Junbin got his money back and people still owe him $31k.*shake head* Yuan Xiang interest has shift towards to visiting pubs. He even show me a video from his new sparkling N95 mobile phone. He even told me that the thai female singer there is great especially her boobs. I recognised that youngsters are gradually want to have fast, tempting and exciting lifestyle. That is why i left this lifestyle few years old back in order to organise my life to be prepared retirement nest. If you spend too much time in this kind of lifestyle, you probably struggle badly when you reach retirement age with insufficient saving provided that you have poor financial planning. My advise to youngsters is to give up this kind of lifestyle and start trading to simple lifestyle that make you more happier than before. Going to disco or pub once a while is fine but going there too often is bad.
Next topic will be interesting one especially for Ong Wei Li who is pursuing NTU's EEE.
I will write a few edited quotes upon my finding when spending my time to understand investment. After the quote, you see my hypothesis on engineering path.
Person A respond to Person B
"If not for my love in Engineering and IT, I would have left this industry long ago. It is not only my love in this industry. It is because of the training that I have received. You see, we are not like 'A' Level grads who spent maybe 4 years in Engineering studies. We have spent a total of 3+3=6 years (i.e. 3 years in Poly, another 3 years in local university) to study for an Engineering degree. It will be a pity to give up just like that.
Since you had been through the Poly route, you would have appreciated how hard it is for a poly grad to get into a local university and getting a Honours Degree at the end of it. Not forgetting the NS that we served in between.
And I really value my Engineering degree very much because of the above. Yes, things might look bleak at this moment for Engineers. In face of lower cost centres overseas, and the influx of foreign talents, things had not been better for the past few years. In fact, I felt that it will get worse further down the road. But I will strive on and see how it goes.
As for planning a career switch, I don't think so at this moment. But I will continue to do my DIY investment, just in case I lose my job. At least my investments can tide me through if I got retrenched again.
PS: I had been retrenched in my first job after university, and so I know how to handle it if it comes again"
Person B return his opinion.
"Yes, engineers like us who went through the Poly route have sunk in more "investments" into our engineering education. Although it feels like a pity to give up just like that, my experiences in the stock market has somewhat changed that opinion.
Ideally, an investor should be quick to admit his mistake if new facts and changed circumstances point that his previous investment was a bad mistake. He should be quick to cut his losses, even if it means losing a lot of $$$ in a massive position.
The fate of middle-aged engineers seems to suggest that your fears and mine are not unfounded. Should we "cut our losses"? I am around your age. Age is still on our side. It does not make sense to cut loss while the going is still good, even though the future may be bleak.
Since both of us love engineering, do we really have to give it up after a career switch? I have actually thought of getting involved in some open-source project if I could afford to retire early. That way, I can do what I like and not give up engineering.
Successful investors/traders take more money out from society than they deserve in proportion to the contribution they make to society. The reverse is true for engineers. Every year, engineers have churned out products (mainly in electronics, computer industry) that are cheaper and better. Technology from successful engineers has allowed the masses to lower their cost of living while at the same time raised their standard of living.
While I sing the praises of my profession, I do not want to be hypocritical. If I had a choice, I would rather be an overcompensated, underworked successful investor than an undercompensated, overworked successful engineer"
Person A offers how he feel about engineering industry
"When I first chose to study Engineering, compensation was never an issue to me. It was purely because of my love in Mathematics, programming stuff and Electronics.
I remember I spent long hours doing my projects during my poly and university days. "Camping in" amazingly cold CAD/CAM lab doing PCB Board design till wee hours of the night, Troubleshooting faulty PCB boards for the whole day, debugging assembly language, C/C++ programs until forget to eat meals etc.
I enjoy doing these stuff, though the compensation was not great. In fact, I spent more time doing projects than studying for exams because I simply enjoy doing them. Nevermind if they are only 1 AUs. I would still spent time doing these projects. The satisfaction derived at the end of the project when you see things work could not be described in words. I simply enjoy doing those stuff.
But when I came out to society to work, somehow things had changed. I began to feel that being passionate in Engineering is not enough. Compensation becomes an issue because there are bills to pay. Passion in projects faded because management keeps on changing directions. One fine day, they decided to sell the product to another company. Another fine day, they decided to relocate the R&D centre. Another day, they decided to "end of life" the product etc. We become "victims" of corporate actions. We are viewed as a "cost centre" and becomes a commoditity. Projects that were undertaken are those that can contribute "business value" to the company. I no longer enjoy spending long hours doing my projects.
Yes, the passion in Engineering is still there, but it is no longer the passion that I had a few years back. My first retrenchment served as a signal for me to do something in order to survive. I've decided to do my own DIY Investment and I had never looked back since.
Nowadays, it is just doing my projects because I need to complete them within the deadline. No more striving for perfection. I wonder how long I can sustain in this mode of operation.
Anyway, I don't felt insecure if I lose my job because I have found a new passion in a form of finance and investment. And in a capitalist society like S'pore, you have no choice but to protect yourself.
I hope that you also found investment useful and necessary to protect yourself from this capitalist society."
Person C offer his own view as well.
"I worked for 10 years as an engineer. I also gained experience and knowledge that I believe I possess which is unique. There is probably only 2 persons in Singapore that had my knowlege & I was one of them. Yet it didn't translate to higher position nor in salary. I looked around in other companies and guess what? Those in top engineering positions and management were occupied by non-locals. Then there are stories in newspaper where older folks having retrenched couldn't find any job because of age discrmination. This even happens to those who have got the job experience.
As a side note, unless you are a member of the Professional Engineering board, you are NOT a professional engineer. Thus an R&D Engineer, Test Engineer, Network Engineer, IT Engineer, Form Factor Engineer etc are NOT professional engineers. The impact of not being a professional engineer implies that any tom, dick and harry can do the job as long as the company is satisfied that they can deliver. During my university days, my dad warned me about this when I selected modules related to topics that will result in me going on the path of a non-professional engineers. I didn't listen to him. It take me 10 years to realize the mistake that I did."
This quote occurs when a daughter father ask this man(Person A)
"If your daughter's interest is in Engineering, then she should go for it. I have no regrets choosing Engineering because that is where my interest lies in the first place. But of course, interest and real world is a different thing altogether. Anyway, sometimes it is hard for a 18 year old to know what her interests lies in. Maybe she should seriously ask herself what is her real interest and not just simply choose a course because it is "popular" and more "prestigious".
Nowadays, local university courses are more flexible than last time. What I can advice your daughter if she did choose Engineering is to do a minor. Maybe a minor in Business, in addition to a Engineering degree. In this way, she can open herself to more options when she graduated.
Anyway, I had found out that having an Engineering degree alone is not enough. In this capitalist society, you do need some business, finance and even some basic law knowledge in order to survive.
And yes, be prepared to slog it all out with an Engineering degree. As I've said, if one have the interest, it is still sustainable. Also, if she don't mind the pay. Engineers are certainly not one of the highest paying job around. In terms of hours committed, it is certainly one of the highest.
This year will be my 8th year in the industry. As I've said before, interest will be sustainable in the long run. Going for money will not.
And of course, there are various fields in Engineering. So, if you are interested to know more about Electrical and Electronic Engineering in NTU, I can give you advice because I had been through it."
Person B support Person A's view.
"I read it with great interest and was surprised at what I share with you in common - graduated from Poly with same diploma, graduated from NTU (B.Eng(EEE)(Hons)) and sharing a bleak future of our profession while having a love for engineering.
It was very wise of you to have started investing early to strive for early retirement in anticipation of the "forced" retirement. Once an engineer gets retrenched in his 40s and is not willing to downgrade his salary, he is forced into retirement.
I also respect the courage of another "comrade" Wilfred Ling(Person C) to switch career to an IFA. I wish him every success in his new endeavour.
Our engineering knowledge depreciates quickly. With ever-shortening product lifecycles, the rate of depreciation has accelerated in recent years. It is wise to equip ourselves with investing knowledge that are longer-lasting."
End of the quotes. I formulate my hypothesis(more or less accurate but it will stand on realistic side) on it is that Singapore government is not spending money to reinforce the focus in engineering industry hence although there is engineering jobs but the future is so bleak. That is why there are large percentage of engineers jumping to finance industry. Each time a stranger post for a help about the advise to study finance mba course and the veteran person will say ,"Oh well, there is another person asking for the same advice. you are 4xxxth person to ask this advice." It show that based on my research on the country you are better off having engineering job in US or European country particularly Germany. Over there the future is pretty good.
Zhongming's colleague reject this claim when Zhongming told my opinion. It show that people like him like to contradict the fact especially when they don't realise it.
Here is the evidence to support. click here. Look at SMU's admission statistics for Master in Applied Finance. Bloody hell! A large percentage of people who are jumping to financial industry is enough to dumbfold him with this fact taking its place in Singapore. People have to accept the fact rather than live the dream just like the local movie i saw last month.
Congrat to Person A and he earn my respect by recognising the bleak future of engineering job in Singapore and he start learning how to invest at age of 30+. On top of that he has no financial knowledge or background to begin with. He have few years experience without joining any master course or any professional seminar.
Ong Wei Li once told me that i will see him in the paper. A person being interviewed for a paper doesn't mean you are successful. A successful person can quickly become unsuccessful in no time.
My parting shot to people who are too stubborn not to accept this fact is that it is about the time to realise and accept the fact. There is no need to jump to financial industry at once. All they especially IT people as well need to develop financial planning for their retirement nest. Like what i said to numerous people, there is no place for mercy in your life as well as this world.
I suspect the reason why the future for engineering industry is so bleak is that Singapore companies in this sector forever make things that are already done in other advanced 1st world country. The cloest thing is Trek but miserably fail to secure the pie of market share by failing to file patent worldwide for thumbdrive. In my opinion, to be successful, you need to be very innovative as much as Thomas Edison or albert einstein. That was why America quickly shot to no 1 powerful nation because of numerous scentists and engineers introducing igenious things that will be useful for our mankind today. Similiarly, Japan has similiar pattern like America but it is one of the richest and powerful nation in the world with unique electronic products. South Korea is one of them as well. Their governments simply invest and support the engineering industry.
Singapore is more into service industry and i think the success also lie in service industry. What a pity for ambitious people who enrol engineering and IT courses. IT sector is picking up considerably well especially the introduction of islandwide wi-fi network which is free to use within Singapore for 3 years and Lucas here. There is gradually shift towards entertainment service industry. Watch out for the emergencing MICE industry It is really short thought i have come up with. When i get older, you will be seeing longer thesis on Singapore economy based on my view.
I welcome any arguement to bring up this point as i am still eager to improve this hypothesis. At the same time that is why i am consistently learning all the time to update my knowledge towards the year go on. The ones who stop learning will be leading normal life but will be affected by numerous factors. I am more interested to live a simple life that are not affected by numerous factors as my knowledge i will acquire in future will make those factors only affect people who stop learning.
The corporate ladder is very tall and difficult. I will be successful person without appearing in the media and nobody know what i am doing. That is what i like to do if i never start my own business. Should i start my own business when i spot a opportunity just like the man who create Amazon.com, i will be as humble millionaire doing no fame. You will not see me doing like Donald Trump. Forever low profile sharing ideas and hypothesis to the world. That is my ideal one depending the type of the life i will take in the future. Definately financial planning and investment will be my biggest asset once i acquire them through degree, CFA, master degree and more professional courses.
Fantastic Four:The Rise of Silver Surfer(Hollywood Movie 2007)
Synopsis:
With Von Doom back in his homeland of Latveria the fantastic four have new troubles when Galactus has decided that Earth is his next target. When his henchman, The Silver Surfer (Norrin Radd), is sent to Earth he discovers that he's getting more than he bargained for when he encounters the Fantastic Four. But that's not all when Dr. Doom decides that after two years in the homeland he is ready to return
Opinions:
The story is surprisngly emotional one but once again very normal superhero. I can only think of Spiderman 1 and 2(i have not seen part yet 3) an edge over a lot of superhero franchise movies out there.
Rating:5/10
28 Weeks Later(Hollywood Movie 2007)
Synopsis:
The film starts six months after the Rage virus has spread throughout the city of London. The United States Army has restored order and is repopulating the quarantined city, when a carrier of the Rage virus enters London and unknowingly re-ignites the spread of the deadly infection, wreaking havoc on the entire population.
Opinion:
It is my first time seeing this movie without realising that there is earlier movie called 28 days later filmed in 2002. Apparently, 28 weeks later is the second installation. It is excellent movie and it illustrate how scary the virus is. People are speculating whether there will be the third installment movie which is probably be named as 28 Months later? HAHA.
I can see why Arthur told me that it is fittest of survival where your body is totally immune to deadly virus otherwise your friends and your family will be trapped. From what i see, i feel that what my mother's insistence on washing hands first before eating is good precaution in order to reduce virus infection. I think it is no joke matter. And you guys should do the same. It is not FUN at all. All of you must be thinking ,"Aiya, it is just movie.". If you think so, it suit you. Should it happen to you? You will be in despair in no time. Don't forget about SARS.
Start learning how to wash your hands properly. Don't be lazy and don't ever try to give stupid excuse.
If it happen, i will be shooting down my family and friends to exterminate the virus infection. It is for sure and i will shoot down those who try to disturb the peace with much ignorance of danger. After all, i am very religious to military being myself exposed to military text.
When this kind of scenario happen,i will do:
>Any disturbance, i will shoot you down to silence and proceed the safety mission.
>One joke coming out of your mouth, i will not give you any mercy and will shoot you down as well.
>If you do any rash act, i will shoot you down. There is no way to abandon otherwise he/she will follow distrubing the co-ordination for safety procedure.
>i will aid people who are calm and serious to listen my instruction to get out of danger zone.
Sigh, you need to know that there is no room for mercy for this kind of situation. Leave your GOD whatever you are christian or muslim or anything else outside. GOD WILL NOT SAVE YOU AT ALL.
Rating:7/10
Bonus:1)well-directed horror and sci-fi movie 2)i can't see any flaws at all. Too perfect and this movie will keep you gripped all the time
The Go Master(China/Japanese Movie 2006)
Synopsis:
A Chinese man becomes an expert player of the traditional game of Go.
Opinions:
Ever since i watched Hikaru No Go animation, i make my point to watch this movie ecause of Go game. The story is pretty static but i like the final ending to sum up.
Indeed when you get old, you will lose the ability of doing something. It is very applicable to Philips Fisher who has lost his direction to invest in stock market. Warren Buffett is still ongoing doing the business as well as doing foreign investment.
Rating:5/10
Zodiac(Hollywood Movie 2007)
Synopsis:
A serial killer in the San Francisco Bay Area taunts police with his letters and cryptic messages. We follow the investigators and reporters in this lightly fictionalized account of the true 1970's case as they search for the murderer, becoming obsessed with the case. Based on Robert Graysmith's book, the movie's focus is the lives and careers of the detectives and newspaper people.
Opinions:
Woah, it is one of the best crime thriller movies i ever seen. It is prime example why long justice despite of long arm will not catch sophisicated criminals. David Fincher is unbelieveably excellent director. I was glued to this show awaiting for the ending but the ending never came. It is not like abrupt or sudden but neatly concluded!
Rating:8/10
Bousus:1)Even i tried to run the search on this movie whether it is based on true film or not, in the end i still can't figure 2)Well film chronography 3)storyline is so excellent that you don't have to shift your back onto the seat all the time
Ocean Thirteen(Hollywood Movie 2007)
Synopsis:
The last time we saw Danny Ocean's crew, they were paying back ruthless casino mogul Terry Benedict after stealing millions from him. However, it's been a while since they've come back together, which is all about to change. When one of their own, Reuben Tishkoff builds a hotel with known casino owner Willy Banks, the last thing he ever wanted was to get cut out of the deal personally by the loathsome Banks. Banks' attitude even goes so far as to finding the amusement in Tishkoff's misfortune when the double crossing lands Reuben in the hospital because of a heart attack. However, Danny and his crew won't stand for Banks and what he's done to a friend. Uniting with their old enemy Benedict, who himself has a vendetta against Banks, the crew is out to pull off a major plan. One that will unfold on the night Banks' newest hot spot opens up, when the crew is out to bankrupt one of the city's most despised businessmen. But they're not in this for the money, but for the revenge.
Opinions:
The third installment didn't disappoint to a lot of fans who simply loved Ocean Eleven. Ocean Twelve is indeed a let down with a standard below from its first installment. Two sexy women spotting short-hair hairstyle caught my attention and they are really unique in their own way. Not too bad.
Rating:8/10
Bonsuses: 1)Superb action plot 2)showing off all high-tech stuffs 3)all the lead actors were acting superbly. Way COOL!
Tony Del Piero wrote and posted at at 12:07 am
