Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Letter to You

Hola there. I finally managed to put this post up. All right, as you can see above... I'm currently employed in an audit firm, namely SJ Grant Thornton. I'm also being sponsored as an ICAEW trainee here as well. And yeah, auditing is fun. Honestly, it is. And, yeah... I have a message to all of you reading this post. Please refer below.
Dear Potential CEO,

School. A perfect place to train candidates of the most efficient employees. Then comes the million dollar question, where do these people work without employers? There is no specific subject being taught in any school around the globe on being a successful employer. Therefore, the subject that should be learned is
financial education.

Financial education is a subject where someone should learn to make things work the opposite way. Employees work for money and employers don't.
Employers make money work for them. This is a form of education which has outrageous demands which result in either an oblivious failure or a magnificent success story. Here, I shall divide the matter to four scopes: investment, understanding the market, accounting & law. To be a successful employee, one must know everything about something. Example given, a doctor who specializes in a particular area earns a considerably higher amount of money & reputation than a normal doctor. On the other hand, an employer has to know something about everything. His/her scope has to be limitless to accomplish so.

The
art of investing money is the key to making money work for you. It is like science that has formulas which you apply but not necessarily have to memorize. The crux is learning how to make formulas which particularly involves a lot of brain-storming or in a simpler term, thinking. Nevertheless, creativity is the most vital factor in investing. Take note that even in investing, there is something that works like gravity : inflation. Take precaution, think creatively and win.

Before you can actually master the art of investment, you shall have to be able to
understand the market. This is the renowned process of supply & demand. The market is like a person with feelings. It's all about emotions, which frequently doesn't comply with logic. Mastering these emotions will take thorough research & understanding. The deeper you get into these emotions, the easier it gets. Pokémon cards used to be the "in" thing during my childhood days. Almost every Tom, Dick & Harry had them. Then suddenly, everyone stops and the cards becomes very much dead. There was a tipping point. Therefore, the flow has to be followed and understood so changes can be made.

Next up,
understanding financial statements. The one & only way is through accounting. Advanced accounts has to be mastered to fully understand documents & importantly, financial statements. By using the financial statement, one will know whether the investment has potential to succeed or fail which most probably goes unnoticed by the untrained eye. Accounting plays an important role in eradicating fraud too. Anyone could lie, so you'll have to get smart & see through them. In these lies, the genuine truth is hidden.

Lastly, one should learn to
utilize the law. The law is supposedly a punishment to the rich, but in practice it really isn't. Taxes are paid by everyone. Employees work, get paid, pay their taxes then spend their money. Employers get paid, spend and pay their taxes with their leftovers by utilizing personal corporations. Almost anything can be accomplished at the tip of your fingers if you understand the law. Use it & never let it outdo you.

If all of these are learned in school, one would definitely be on the road of being a successful employer. Unfortunately, it isn't. So, it's your call. A persistent person believes in destiny, a capricious one in chance.

Happy Diwali :)

Monday, August 25, 2008

King of the Jungle

The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness and deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen. :)

The pic above is my workdesk. I'm currently employed by PPG as a purchaser. For those who didn't know, purchasers purchase on behalf of the company. In simpler terms, we do the shopping for the company's needs. It's the link between a company and it's suppliers. And the best part is, I work only from 8.00am - 4.30pm and have 3 breaks in between. ;p
Next up, tattoo; a permanent picture, design, or other marking made on the skin by pricking it and staining it with an indelible dye. It's a awesome process honestly. You get into the tattoo parlour. You either bring your own design or choose one of the thousands that have been predesigned, and he traces it using a carbon paper. Then, he rubs alcohol on your designated tattoo area and shaves it. Next, he applies a special type of glue on the area and puts the traced design on the glue, applies some pressure and voila, the design has now been transferred to you. Then, he uses an electric tattoo machine (that's what its really called ;p) to draw it. And after a few minutes which might feel like the longest and most painful ones you've ever been through, you'll have your tattoo. It hurts so bad, but feels so good. You'll definitely feel awesome.
That's Haridass' tribal one. It looks even better when you see the real thing honestly.
This is the design that was initially transfered to me.
To avoid misintrepretations of the design, it's an infuriated lion. Cut the long story short, in the heart of every brave man, sleeps a lion. Some say getting a tattoo is like a continuous ant bite. Sadly, thats a lie. It's actually a lot more agonizing than that. I gotta go "Hakuna Matata" with Timon & Pumba now. :)

Monday, July 28, 2008

Truth, Honesty & Lies

You want it all. Well, guess what? Everyone wants it all. Alright, you get it all. You sustain for a lil while. Then, you begin to lose your pride & dignity. And that's pretty much losing it all, ain't it?

I'm pretty disappointed with individuals who claim to have it all and convince others to follow in their paths to having it all too. Particularly, I'm referring to the highly famed "peak performance coach", Anthony Robbins. A one day seminar with 3000 other participants will cost you a stunning USD10,000. Well, there are also camps(like one week seminars) which are priced at around USD100,000 per participant. Overwhelming? Here's the catch. You'd be able to fire walk after the seminar. Spectacular yet possible. Read about it here. Strangely, the cool down period(time frame where you are entitled to revoke the contract and get a full refund) for his seminars are relatively low compared to other seminars. His books are spectacular reads and I'd recommend them to all. However, some facts are baseless so please beware.

He also self proclaims himself as having a "perfect marriage", to his first wife, Becky who is 10 years his senior which ended up in a divorce after 15 years in the year 2001. And in June of the same year, he got married to Bonnie Humphrey who is 22 years younger than his first wife and hence 12 years younger than himself. The best part is, he met both of them at the seminars he hosted. And yeah, he markets products for the "perfect marriage". ;p

Lesson: Do not trust everything that you READ or HEAR.
Here's another good example. It's called the "Yales Study of Goals". Scientists surveyed the Yale class of 1953, and found that 3 percent had written down financial goals for their futures at their college graduation. When the group reconvened in 1973, this 3 percent of the class that had started their careers with some kind of plan controlled more combined net worth than the other 97 percent combined.

Sounds astonishing ain't it? I went "WOW" for a while. This "study" has been quoted by Zig Ziglar & Anthony Robbins in their self-help books & seminars. Guess what? The study never existed. It turned up to be just an urban legend.

Even the crux of Einstein's theory of relativity - E = mc2 may be relatively wrong. Lene Hau has already shaken scientists' beliefs about the nature of things. Albert Einstein and just about every other physicist insisted that light travels 186,000 miles a second in free space, and that it can't be speeded-up or slowed down. But in 1998, Hau, for the first time in history, slowed light to 38 miles an hour, about the speed of rush-hour traffic. And in 2002, another discovery made by a team of Australians gave evidence that the speed of light may be slowing down. When one of the cornerstones of physics collapses, it's not obvious what you hang onto and what you discard.

Even logic can be proven illogic. There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out. Give it a thought the next time you decide go by logic. It's never too late. :)

P/s: The Joker makes a lot of sense.
Batman: I have one rule.
The Joker: Then that's the rule you'll have to break to know the truth.
Batman: Which is?
The Joker: The only sensible way to live in this world is without rules.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Not Your Average Super Hero

Ever wondered how it felt like growing up to be a superhero? Well, I'll tell ya. First up, you will have to understand that "Heroes are born, whereas superheroes are made" :)
That's me during my training days. I used M16's for criminal hunting practice. Yeah, I kinda used guns coz' I haven't learnt CQC (Close Quarter Combat) or should I say, dirtying my hands for the kills. ;p
That was me about a few years back when I bagged my first melee kill.
I had my undercover missions too, when I had to get to parties and catch some of those nasty villains.
I never missed out on clubbin' moments too as a superhero.
And finally, that's me after I saved the world. Phew, it was a tiring day really. ;p Memorable, but still exhausting. Hope ya'll enjoyed the post. I gotta go off and get those evil dudes running around now. Cheerios. =)
P/s: Nuffnang, it's now up to ya.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Petrol Hike

Petrol prices in Malaysia has been raised by at stunning

40% to RM2.70/litre

I just filled my car's fuel tank. And I think it would be certainly most appropriate for you to do so too.
Anyways, we can choose to be re-active or pro-active towards what happened. Being pro-active is acting when something happens to you and being re-active, is about the opposite.

You can learn to save some bucks by saving petrol by checking these links out.
Daily Fuel Economy Tip
Automotive Tips
UWIC
Searchwarp
Fight Global Warming

Good luck.
P/s: RX-7 belongs to Nanu and person in picture in Jothi. Both are ex-classmates.