Manchester United Football Club's Asian snack!

I went and bought one of my favourite snacks today and I found out that it is actually a Global Snack Partner of Manchester United Football Club's!

So, which snack is it? You might be amazed:

Really! No kidding. Then, I decided to check on the manufacturer which is based in Malaysia.

Unfortunately, it is a private company.

Oh, well, I tried. Time for a snack. Have a break, have a Mamee. Sedap!

Old Chang Kee: Peek-a-boo!

Have you had yours today?

Come, come. Don't be shy.

I think someone just went "bo liao". LOL.

Related post:
Old Chang Kee: Lessons from Mr. Han.

Buying property in Iskandar, Johor.

Singaporeans are pouring money into the Iskandar region in Johor, buying up real estate.

"Singaporeans make up 74 per cent of foreign home buyers in the Nusajaya township in Johor's Iskandar region, according to Malaysian property developer UEM Sunrise." 

Read story: here.







(Added in November 2016.)

Anecdotal evidence shows that most are buying for investment, hoping to rent out their properties or to sell for a profit later on. 

Few are entertaining the possibility of staying there.

I have spoken to friends in Malaysia and some of them stay in Johor. 

They told me that the optimism is just scary and they really cannot see how Johor would have so many renters to rent from enthusiastic (and, in their words, naïve) Singaporean landlords.





One told me that he now stays in one of these new townships and the neighbourhood he is staying in is not even 50% occupied. 

Yet, there are new neighbourhoods being constructed around his.

"This is not Kuala Lumpur. You Singaporeans are crazy."



I think people are optimistic about property in the Iskandar region because of the proximity to Singapore. 






So, if anyone is thinking of buying a property there for investment, it makes sense to buy one that is close to the proposed link to Singapore's MRT line. 

A train ride to Singapore's city centre then could take no more than 40 minutes assuming that there isn't a jam at the Customs checkpoints.

Am I interested? 

Well, there are too many optimists amongst Singaporean buyers now. 

I will wait until a time when they are mostly pessimists before looking. 



I could miss the boat but it is of no consequence to me. 

I rather miss it and still have my money than to join the crowd, buy in a mad flurry only to regret later on if I lose money.






(February 2014.)

2 February 2017

Related post:
Disastrous property investments!

Nobody cares more about our money than we do.

I read something by Suze Orman which resonated with me and I would like to share it here:

Right now, interests are still relatively low even though they’re headed up probably. We still have one of the lowest interest rate environments ever.




Everybody knows that when interest rates go up, the value of bonds go down.

If you are going to buy a bond mutual fund, you have to be very careful because if interest rates go up, the value of that bond mutual fund will go down. And, in a mutual fund, there is absolutely not maturity date.

So, what are you thinking? The worst thing you could do with your money right now is put it into a bond mutual fund.




Not too long ago, my dad came to me after visiting a local bank right here in Singapore. 

He showed me a few pieces of paper which a financial advisor at the bank gave to him. 

Basically, he was advised to invest in a unit trust which was invested in bonds. 

Luckily, he did not commit right away.

Bond funds are not the place to be now and I have said this in various blog posts before.

As I believe that the very low interest rates we currently see cannot persist for many more years, buying long term bonds is a risky proposition.
Why? See: CPF or SGS?

Now we have "perpetual bonds". What are these?  See:
Perpetual bonds: Good or bad?





We have to remember that nobody cares more about our money than we do. 

Don't take what "finance professionals" say as the Gospel truth, especially not when they want to benefit from our business.

This actually raised a question in my mind as to whether wealth managers are providing products which are fit for purpose or are they self serving sales people.
See: Be cautious even as we accept higher risks.






My parents have both been sold unsuitable products by "advisers" in local banks before. 

I tell them to remember that these "advisers" are just sales people and it so happens they work in banks and they sell financial products. 

The more they sell, the more they make. 

They are not altruistic or noble.




We have to look after our own interests. 

No one else would.

Related posts:
1. Unscrupulous and rude person from Prudential.
2. Inflation adjusted retirement income plan.
3. Know what is good for us.
4. Why a wealthy nation cannot afford to retire?

Eco Music Challenge : Vote for your Favourites!

Organised by the National Environment Agency, the contest inspires talented musicians to protect and care for the environment through music. 

Give your favourite song / singer some support by voting for them!

Show your support and vote! Details at:
http://sg.sharings.cc/AK71SG/share/neaecomusic

"Every small action contributes to reducing our energy footprint. Follow the 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) to bring down our overall energy use."

Marco Polo Marine: Employee Share Option Scheme.

One reason why I like Marco Polo Marine is the large stake which Mr. Lee Wan Tang has in the company. If insiders have a large stake, their interests are more likely to be aligned with those of minority shareholders'. Any action to hurt the interests of minority shareholders' will likely hurt their own.

I also like the fact that Mr. Lee Wan Tang's son, Mr. Sean Lee Yun Feng, who is also the CEO, and daughter were granted share options on 24 April 2013 with an exercise price of 41.5c. 30% of the share options are allowed to be exercised on the 1st anniversary of the date of grant, not earlier.

Anyway, it is unlikely that anyone would exercise the options now even if they could as the share price is currently quite a bit lower than 41.5c. By end April 2014, up to 30% of the options could be exercised if share price were to rise above 41.5c, I suppose.



Mr. Sean Lee

This tells me that there is an even greater incentive for Mr. Sean Lee Yun Feng to steer the company towards higher earnings in 2014 (which would likely result in a higher share price) if he were to benefit from these share options. If you think that this looks like a strong alignment of the management's interests with those of minority shareholders', I won't disagree with you.

All else being equal, favour companies in which management has a significant personal investment over companies run by people that benefit only from their salaries. Peter Lynch.
Read page 235, One Up On Wall Street.

Patience is sometimes the hardest part ... There is simply no way to know when a particular stock will appreciate, or if, in fact, it will.
From: http://singaporeanstocksinvestor.blogspot.sg/2013/02/little-book-of-value-investing.html

See:
Employee Share Option Scheme.

Related post:
Marco Polo Marine: It got cheaper.

Marco Polo Marine: A video.

See Marco Polo Marine's yard and some of their vessels in action.

Related post:
Marco Polo Marine: Will FY2013 better FY2012?

9M 2013 income from S-REITs and more.

Three more months to the end of the year. Lots of things have happened in the first 9 months of the year. I want to zoom in on the investment front and record some of my thoughts.

The strategy to be invested in S-REITs for income is still working. Of course, with the spectre of the Fed cutting back on QE and a possible increase in interest rates in the next 2 or 3 years, Mr. Market has turned cautious on leveraged investments like S-REITs. This is only natural. Unit prices of S-REITs have become more realistic as a result.

When Mr. Market is pessimistic, that is when we are likely to get good deals. As to what is a good deal, I am sure this is rather subjective. Every person would have a different idea of what is an acceptable margin of safety. Every person would have a different perception of a REIT's prospects.

Having built up a relatively large portfolio of S-REITs, I devoted more resources to investing in what I believe are undervalued stocks, something which I continue to do in 2013.

So, essentially, what I have done is to keep what has worked well for me thus far while expanding my investments in certain companies, recognising possibly more difficult times ahead for S-REITs. 

This is an approach that requires more work than simply getting passive income from S-REITs but the time when it was a no-brainer to buy and hold S-REITs probably ended sometime in the second half of 2012.

For 9M 2013, how much did I receive in passive income from S-REITs? 

$92,872.65

Full year 2013 income from S-REITs is most likely going to be lower compared to 2012 because I sold a significant portion of my investment in LMIR earlier this year and also because Saizen REIT distributes income half yearly (i.e. there is no income distribution in December from Saizen REIT).

Also, we might want to bear in mind that, although hedged, the weaker Indonesian Rupiah and Japanese Yen could result in lower income distributions in S$ terms for unit holders of these REITs in the year 2014.

With twice as much industrial space being scheduled for completion in 2014 and 2015 than any single year in the past decade, the possibility of stagnating or even a reduction in income for industrial S-REITs in future cannot be discounted. This is why looking at WALE (Weighted Average Lease Expiry) of industrial S-REITs is more important now.

Although I would have liked nothing better than to sit back and collect passive income regularly from S-REITs, doing very little else, I decided to move out of my comfort zone. For sure, there were bumps along the way but my efforts have generally been rewarding thus far. 

What did I do?

I increased my investments in stocks which are likely to be dependable passive income generators such as SPH and NeraTel. 

I also hold long positions in stocks which I believe would benefit from the Chinese consumption story such as CapitaMalls Asia, PCRT and Wilmar. 

Any dividend from investing in these stocks and any gain from trading would go towards cushioning the possible decline in income from S-REITs in future.

Up to 15 September 2013, the total gain from trading this year amounts to: 

$188,625.13

It was fortuitous the way the China Minzhong saga turned out. It preserved my trading gains and grew it rather significantly at the same time. Apart from my long position in Wilmar, all other investments are in the black. 

So, what is my plan for the future? 

Nothing profound really. 

If prices were to decline much more, I hope I would be brave enough to buy more. If prices were to rise much more, I hope I would remember to sell some.

The grand scheme is to augment and not to replace my passive income portfolio. 

For sure, it doesn't mean that I think S-REITs are going the way of the Dodo. Indeed, they are still good investments for income at the right prices. For me, passive income from S-REITs will still be an important pillar in achieving financial freedom. This is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future.

Remember, this blog is not meant to instruct but if anyone finds it inspiring, I will be happy enough.

Related posts:
1. 2012 full year income from S-REITs.
2. Never lose money in real estate and S-REITs?
3. Do not love unless it is worth the loving.
4. Motivations and methods in investing.
5. Be cautious climbing the S-REIT tree.
6. Be comfortable with being invested.

How much do cheaper mass market cars really cost?

People always say how expensive it is to buy a car in Singapore. Fewer people talk about how expensive it is to maintain a car in Singapore.

With Category A COEs being protected from luxury makes very soon, some of us who are looking to buy smaller mass market cars are probably feeling a bit happier.

Cars with engine power output exceeding 97kW will be classified under Category B in COE bidding exercises starting February 2014.

The new categorisation criteria comes as LTA seeks to better delineate mass market cars from premium cars.

Imagine rich folks buying cars like BMW 116, Mercedes Benz C180 and even the Lotus Elise competing for Category A COEs with people buying a Mazda 2 like me! It just isn't fair! Well, it will soon become a thing of the past. Read article: here.

However, if you are thinking of buying a car, whether it is a need or a want, be prepared to spend a fair bit of money to keep your car running in good condition.

I just sent my car for servicing recently and this was how much it cost me:

To be fair, it was a major service as the half yearly maintenance bill usually hovers around the $300 mark.

For a 1.5 or 1.6 litre Japanese make, a $15k to $20k a year burn rate is about right, including depreciation (although some might argue that this is a non-cash item). Is it money well spent?

Read these?
1. Buy a Mercedes Benz.
2. Lease a car, don't buy.