It all comes down to the difference between point-and-shoot and film (and digital SLR) cameras. It also has a lot to do with a fancy thing called an aspect ratio. “What the heck is an aspect ratio?” you’re wondering. Let’s start with that.
Aspect Ratio
The Aspect Ratio is simply the ratio of the width to the height of a photograph.
Let’s assume your photo were perfectly square shaped. If it were, the width would be the same as the height. In that case, the ratio of the width to the height would be exactly 1:1.
Now let’s move onto something a little more complicated. Let’s say you have a rectangle that is 4 inches wide and 3 inches high. If you were to do the math, the aspect ratio of this rectangle would 4:3. For every one inch of width you have .75 inches of height. The same ratio applies even if the size of the image increases. The aspect ratio of a 12 by 9 inch rectangle is still 4:3.
The reason your photos are printing with the top and bottom cut off (cropped out) is because the aspect ratio for a point-and-shoot camera image is 4:3 whereas the aspect ratio for a printed photo is 3:2. In order to fit a 4:3 image into the 3:2 print, the photo needs to be cropped. Usually they cut the top and bottom.
The red rectangle is a 4:3 image.
The yellow rectangle is the 3:2 image that will be printed.
The other way to do it is to resize the photo, so you see white edges on the left and right. Now while that keeps the whole of your original photo, it adds ugly bars. Most people don’t like that, so printing shops prefer the crop option.
Your 4:3 photo resized in a 3:2 ratio print.
Note the white edges on each side.
3:2 is for printing
Why does the printed image have a 3:2 ratio when cameras uses 4:3? Why can’t the printers use the same ratio, so the cutting isn’t needed?
It’s because film cameras use the 3:2 ratio. The entire photo printing industry (around well before the digital age) has adopted the 3:2 standard. That’s why you didn’t need to worry about cropping with your old film camera. In keeping compliant with the film model, digital SLR cameras have inherited the 3:2 aspect ratio. So if you have a DSLR camera, you don’t need to worry about cropping for printing.
Point and Shoot cameras were first designed to show on a computer screen, so create an image with a 4:3 ratio – the same as the computer screens of the time.
Avoiding the Chop
If you want to avoid the dreaded chop, there are a few things you do.
Shoot your photos knowing part will be cropped away
This is probably the easiest and most practical solution to the problem. Just try not to place anything of importance, such as a person’s face, in the upper or lower portions of the photo. What can you place in the those parts of the photo? You can shoot the sky, hills, and other background elements. So long as there is no subject matter in the top or bottom portion, you do not run the risk of cutting that subject matter in half.
Print with vertical bands
You can tell the printer to keep your whole photo and print white vertical bands on the left and right of the image. You can cut the bands off yourself later if you want.
Crop your photos before the printer does it for you
Remember, the printer will take any photo shot with a 4:3 aspect ratio and try to cram it into a 3:2 space. But you can beat it to the chase! Some photo kiosks will show you your photo beforehand, and allow you to select what part of the image to cut. You can move the ‘cut marks’ around so you don’t cut out anything important.
You can also use image manipulation software like Adobe Photoshop to crop either the top or the bottom of the photo before you send it to the printer. You can also look for the handy ‘crop for printing’ option available with some other image editing programs. Photoshop doesn’t have that, but here’s how to do it:
* Open up your point-and-shoot image in Photoshop. Go to the rectangle selection tool. On the upper toolbar (just below the File, Edit, etc. menu), there will be some options labeled “style,” “width,” and “height.”
* Under style, select “Fixed aspect ratio.”
* In the width box, type “3,” and in the height box type “2.” You guessed it. That’s the aspect ratio of a digital SLR picture.
* Now simply use the rectangle selection tool to select the part of the photo you want to print. As you do this, you will notice that the rectangle is constrained by the aspect ratio you specified earlier. Whatever you select, it will always be 3:2!
* Once you are happy with your selection, copy it, create a new file, and then paste your selection into that file. Save your new file with a clever name to remind yourself that it is the cropped version. I like to add “_crop” after every cropped photo.
* Take your new files to the printer and enjoy life without the dreaded top chop!
Friday, May 21, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
11. Hand tremors - Parkinson Disease?
Hand tremors and shaking may or may not indicate an onset of Parkinson Disease. Read more about it. In the meantime, this is my hypothesis which may not be acceptable to you. But I can try to ask you to change your mindset and lifestyle.
Your lifestyle has had been highly stressful (studies and obsession with online gaming). Your nutrition has had been of poor quality (not much vegetables but lots of processed and junk food).
What has online gaming to do with your hand tremors? These is my analysis.
1. Poor sitting position. Repetitive wrist injury over the years due to keyboard punching non-stop for hours over midnight. Tendons get strained over the past 5 years of gaming.
2. Insufficient rest. Less than 8 hours of sleep per day. Sleep at 3 am. Wake up at 9 am to go to lectures. The brain has not much time to get into deep sleep and the brain cells have no deep sleep to purge much inputs, recover and repair.
3. The fear and flight hormones are produced at maximal levels as you fight the virtual demons to grab the virtual rewards and be "master of the universe" over the past years. These have adverse effects on the hormonal pathways involving your pituitary-hypothalamus-adrenal glands. There is just no respite for these organs. It is like a compulsive gambler. He just has to have his fix and starts to beg, scam and steal to get his dough for gambling.
4. At your age of around 20 years, your brain is still "developing". The brain nerves are constantly hammered by your relentless online-gaming instincts. Your eyes focus on bright spots on the computer screen for many hours, causing stress to the visual cortex.
5. As a result of cumulative stresses over at least 5 years, your brain centres involving co-ordination starts to slightly malfunction. Poor nutrition does not provide the necessary multivitamins for the brain. Insufficient rest and stressful undergraduate studies impair its ability to recuperate. The first sign now is just hand shaking and tremors. This is an early warning to you to scale back on your obsession and do something that does not involve repetitive stress to your hand tendons, brain and eyesight for hours.
6. There are similar nervous situations in some people whose eyelids keep blinking involuntary. This can be embarrassing if a woman you converse with thinks you are trying to be "funny" with her and taking liberties. In the latter situation, a lack of rest and insufficient sleep is said to be the cause. I did have such a situation once and it was not good for me when a lady client with her dog consulted me. Fortunately, these involuntary winks are no more after I ensure that I have sufficient rest.
7. In conclusion, you will most likely disregard my hypothesis as cock and bull since I don't have brain medical specialist qualifications. As a young man in your 20s, you feel "top of the world" and "invincible".
On the other hand, if you accept my hypothesis, here are my solutions.
Cease online gaming for 3 months. Let vegetables and fruits take up 50% of your food intake. Get a rice-cooker and cook your rice. Add fresh meat with no preservatives and eat 3 eggs a week. No more fatty chicken wings and fried meat. Just sleep early as you have to attend lectures. Your studies are stressful enough but you need to pass your exams. Much is at stake for your future. Many undergraduates have financial stress, personal health problems and family health stresses. You are fortunate in not having such burdens on your mind. Be wise and change your lifestyle. Practise yoga. Read about yoga and meditation.
Recently I met a bachelor of 62 years old who is comfortably off in his retirement as his CPF savings and annuities were sufficient. He was in perfect health as he had retired from the stresses of his own bookshop business for the past 3 years. He had free regular check ups and was certified healthy by his doctor friend. He saw me taking pictures of bougainvillea flowers at 9.30 am and spoke to me. He liked talking to strangers as he loved sales and marketing. And what does he do with his health? Smoking cigarettes and drinking whisky. His rationale was that the doctor friend had certified him healthy every year. So, he continued his lifestyle of smoking and drinking. "How about women?" I asked him. "I am not interested in them," he said. Otherwise, he would be leading a lifestyle of wine, women and song. I mean, wine, women and smoke.
There are such people who take good health for granted. They don't connect healthy living and nutrition with good health till they are older and need to pop at least 3 pills per day to control their high blood pressure and diabetes.
As for you, you decide. You can consult the specialist who may diagnose Parkinson Disease and prescribe you drugs. But in the end, what stresses you give your mind and body cannot be cured by the specialist's drugs.
You have to take 3 months off intensive multi-role online gaming for your brain to recover. But will you?
Give yourself 3 months of a new lifestyle. If there is no more hand tremor or shaking at the end of 3 months, you will be the happiest young adult in the world. If you continue with your lifestyle, you may not have a second chance as brain damage is hard to reverse.
With recovery of good health, the world is your oyster. Then you can go back to burn and slash all the online demons in the world. Till another hand tremor surfaces....
Your lifestyle has had been highly stressful (studies and obsession with online gaming). Your nutrition has had been of poor quality (not much vegetables but lots of processed and junk food).
What has online gaming to do with your hand tremors? These is my analysis.
1. Poor sitting position. Repetitive wrist injury over the years due to keyboard punching non-stop for hours over midnight. Tendons get strained over the past 5 years of gaming.
2. Insufficient rest. Less than 8 hours of sleep per day. Sleep at 3 am. Wake up at 9 am to go to lectures. The brain has not much time to get into deep sleep and the brain cells have no deep sleep to purge much inputs, recover and repair.
3. The fear and flight hormones are produced at maximal levels as you fight the virtual demons to grab the virtual rewards and be "master of the universe" over the past years. These have adverse effects on the hormonal pathways involving your pituitary-hypothalamus-adrenal glands. There is just no respite for these organs. It is like a compulsive gambler. He just has to have his fix and starts to beg, scam and steal to get his dough for gambling.
4. At your age of around 20 years, your brain is still "developing". The brain nerves are constantly hammered by your relentless online-gaming instincts. Your eyes focus on bright spots on the computer screen for many hours, causing stress to the visual cortex.
5. As a result of cumulative stresses over at least 5 years, your brain centres involving co-ordination starts to slightly malfunction. Poor nutrition does not provide the necessary multivitamins for the brain. Insufficient rest and stressful undergraduate studies impair its ability to recuperate. The first sign now is just hand shaking and tremors. This is an early warning to you to scale back on your obsession and do something that does not involve repetitive stress to your hand tendons, brain and eyesight for hours.
6. There are similar nervous situations in some people whose eyelids keep blinking involuntary. This can be embarrassing if a woman you converse with thinks you are trying to be "funny" with her and taking liberties. In the latter situation, a lack of rest and insufficient sleep is said to be the cause. I did have such a situation once and it was not good for me when a lady client with her dog consulted me. Fortunately, these involuntary winks are no more after I ensure that I have sufficient rest.
7. In conclusion, you will most likely disregard my hypothesis as cock and bull since I don't have brain medical specialist qualifications. As a young man in your 20s, you feel "top of the world" and "invincible".
On the other hand, if you accept my hypothesis, here are my solutions.
Cease online gaming for 3 months. Let vegetables and fruits take up 50% of your food intake. Get a rice-cooker and cook your rice. Add fresh meat with no preservatives and eat 3 eggs a week. No more fatty chicken wings and fried meat. Just sleep early as you have to attend lectures. Your studies are stressful enough but you need to pass your exams. Much is at stake for your future. Many undergraduates have financial stress, personal health problems and family health stresses. You are fortunate in not having such burdens on your mind. Be wise and change your lifestyle. Practise yoga. Read about yoga and meditation.
Recently I met a bachelor of 62 years old who is comfortably off in his retirement as his CPF savings and annuities were sufficient. He was in perfect health as he had retired from the stresses of his own bookshop business for the past 3 years. He had free regular check ups and was certified healthy by his doctor friend. He saw me taking pictures of bougainvillea flowers at 9.30 am and spoke to me. He liked talking to strangers as he loved sales and marketing. And what does he do with his health? Smoking cigarettes and drinking whisky. His rationale was that the doctor friend had certified him healthy every year. So, he continued his lifestyle of smoking and drinking. "How about women?" I asked him. "I am not interested in them," he said. Otherwise, he would be leading a lifestyle of wine, women and song. I mean, wine, women and smoke.
There are such people who take good health for granted. They don't connect healthy living and nutrition with good health till they are older and need to pop at least 3 pills per day to control their high blood pressure and diabetes.
As for you, you decide. You can consult the specialist who may diagnose Parkinson Disease and prescribe you drugs. But in the end, what stresses you give your mind and body cannot be cured by the specialist's drugs.
You have to take 3 months off intensive multi-role online gaming for your brain to recover. But will you?
Give yourself 3 months of a new lifestyle. If there is no more hand tremor or shaking at the end of 3 months, you will be the happiest young adult in the world. If you continue with your lifestyle, you may not have a second chance as brain damage is hard to reverse.
With recovery of good health, the world is your oyster. Then you can go back to burn and slash all the online demons in the world. Till another hand tremor surfaces....
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Tips for the first-time Bond Investor
March 12, 2010
Tips for the passive retiree investor
FTIF-GLOBAL BOND FUND
I had never invested in bonds or bond funds till one day in 2006 when the POSB told me that I had to put up $5,000 if I wanted to rent its safe deposit box in POSB Bras Basah Road. Around 2008, the POSB told me that they would charge safe deposit fees instead. I was unhappy as I thought I had lost my capital as the recession had come in. In 2009, the POSB wrote that the Bras Basah branch would close down and I had to clear out my safe deposit box. I had not bothered to do research and thought that I had lost my capital since it was still recession in Singapore.
Surprisingly, Patricia, a POSB officer took the trouble to phone me to say that I had made some money instead of losing my capital of $5,000.
So, I sold off the bond in Dec 2009. I got $6,396.69. Therefore, I made around $1,400. $1,400/$5,000 = 28% interest in 3 years. Therefore, the POSB's compulsory purchase of the Fund enabled me to earn an interest of around 9% per year. The POSB pays a savings deposit of 0.125% and a fixed deposit of 0.45% (for people <55 years) and 0.55% (for people >55 years). Therefore 9% interest is a considerable amount of return for a person who does not invest in unit trusts, bonds or shares for the past 10 years.
I provide some tips on bond fund investments as contrasted to investing in shares:
1. Do your research as to how your money is invested. Franklin Templeton Fixed Income Strategy's is to invest in Coupon Income (It means buying bonds from governments and earning fixed interest income per year), Active Currency Management (It means they buy and sell currencies of various countries to make money) and Capital Appreciation (It means your share values go up over the years, see table below).
2. Some funds are well respected and rated highly (being given awards).
3. Historical results of making money such as the above at 9% are just a guide but past good performance is important for the passive investor.
4. Invest only in money you can afford to lose.
5. Buy low and sell high. Bonds are meant to be a mid to long term investment of 3 to >5 years, rather than making a fast buck as in speculative share or forex trading.
6. Every year, you need to pay a "sales charge" of maybe 1 to 3%, lowering your profits.
7. Know what is NAV (Net Asset Value). In simple terms, it is the money you will get if you sell the fund. The POSB girl defined it as Sum Invested - Sales Charge divided by unit price. The Sales Charge in 2006 was 3% when I invested. In March 2009, it is 1%. It is tempting to invest when the sales charge is now 1%. The annual charge is said to be 1% too. In the final analysis, it is the results that count, rather than think of the sales charge of 3% or 1%.
8. Dividends are given in my fund as shares and not as money.
In Dec 2009, the NAV (Net Asset Value) of my Fund was S$11.26 when I sold it. As at Mar 9, 2010, it was S$11.59, the young POSB financial officer pointed out to me. Well, I should not have sold the fund on hindsight. However, the funds are not guaranteed by banks and they may lose value (depending on when you sell).
I sold it because no financial officer in the POSB bothered to advise me. The young financial officers come and go in the POSB branches and therefore there is no after-sales services or creation of loyalty or retention of old customers.
People like Patricia are gems and are very rare in the Singapore banking industry. She has an excellent memory and could remember me at Toa Payoh when she saw me talking to her colleague. She took the trouble to offer me and her colleague (the young POSB Financial Adviser) who was making presentations on the FTIB bond, a cup of mineral water branded by POSB. No young financial officer in the POSB I encountered bothered to do this. In any case, the young man I spoke to had disappeared and this girl had taken his desk. The young financial investment officers of various banks do not seem to be trained or motivated to create a connection with the customer as they know they don't stay long in their desk. That is why I write that Patricia, in her late 30s, is a real gem for a business that is looking for top people-service personnel.
Excellent client service comes naturally to Patricia (offering water for me and her colleague to drink). She was able to recognise me though she saw me only a few times in Bras Basah Road long ago. Probably something outstanding about me made her remember me. I had complained to her that the POSB made me lose money by forcing me to buy the fund in order to rent their safe deposit box. And she had actually phoned me back to tell me I was mistaken and that I made good money of over $1,000.
The Bras Basah branch had closed down in 2009 and she was posted out without knowledge of where she would be going. She does not have name cards when I asked her. So her own customers whom she provided exceptional services had a hard time locating her since she did not know where she would be posted. Some managed to find her in Toa Payoh. Others like me was found by her! Other banks and corporations would do well to poach her if they want to improve their bottom-line.
POSB (Post Office Savings Bank), Singapore markets a FTIF-Global Bond Fund (as in their letter to me). After going to the web to do some research, the actual name of this fixed investment should be FTIF Templeton Global Fund A (MDIS) SGD as there are 2 others, viz: FTIF Templeton Global Fund A (MDIS) SGD-H (hedged) and FTIF Templeton Global Fund A (MDIS) USD. This is what I mean by doing your own research.
The other 2 funds have NAV of $12.00 and $19.00 respectively. Surprisingly, there is no relevant information about my ex-fund on the internet. The following information regarding my ex-fund (now referred to as FTIF SGD or FTIF in this report) was from the young POSB financial officer I met on Mar 11, 2010. She compared it to the Global Equities Index (GEI) from JP Morgan. Singaporeans love to buy shares. So, the GEI is a smart and relevant benchmark rather than using the bond index. The table is as follows:
FTIF SGD (one bond investment) %
GEI (various share investment) %
2004-2007
Bull market
+37
+76
Jun 2007 - Dec 2008
Sub-prime crisis
+13
-41
Jan 1 - Oct 16, 2009
+17
+33
2004 - Oct 2009
+67
+68
She showed that FTIF did not lose the capital and even earn dividends during 2004 to 2009 while the GEI dropped below normal and shot up, indicating high volatility.
In practical terms, this means that if you had sold FTIF at any time during 2004 to 2009, you would not lose your capital and even earn some profits. However, you would lose a lot of capital if you had sold shares in the sub-prime crisis. You would lose around 41% while you would gain 17% if you sold the FTIF (see table above).
If you keep the shares or bond till Oct 2009, you would not lose your capital and would make some money based on my analysis below. Therefore, timing is so important when you sell. For the passive investor who has no time to monitor or speculate, diversify and don't keep all your money in the POSB savings or fixed deposit account as they really earn miserable income for you.
Buy, for example, $5,000 high quality bonds and keep them for more than 3 years or sell when the recession is over. I have no more interest in bonds but the FTIF-Global Fund seems to be a reasonably high quality investment for the passive investor based on my short research. I just don't spare time for bond research as I have no interest in bond investments. However, for the passive retiree investor, high quality bond investment may be important to ensure that inflation does not shrink the spending power of your savings. Do your research and talk to the financial officer. Successful past historical performance does not guarantee no risk to your capital as the bonds are not guaranteed by banks or the Singapore government. You will lose money if you sell during a recession unlike your savings deposit.
From the above table from the young POSB girl, you can see how I got around 30% profit from buying the FTIF in 2006 and selling in 2009. You add 13%+17%. This is equal to 30% in 3 years. I got back around $1,400 out of $5,000 invested. So, it worked out that I had a return of 28% in simple calculations. I have to thank the POSB for renting me the safe deposit box in 2006 and earning around 9% interest per annum. I would have put the $5,000 in the savings accounts, earning a miserable 0.125% per year! I recommend my friend, Julia to buy $5,000 of the FTIF as it seems to be a good passive investment for her. She was talking about putting her money in fixed deposits. The interest rate from POSB for people over 55 years is 0.55%. But she never has time to actually do it and now earns 0.15% from her savings account. You need to spend time to research if you want to build wealth yourself. Financial officers may advise but you need to know what risks you will encounter when you are buying into shares and bonds as you will be competing with professional gamblers who can manipulate the markets.
P.S. goto
http://www.kongyuensing.com/laws/20100194Bond_investment_tips_ToaPayohVets.htm
as I don't know why blogger.com cannot reproduce the table from my downloading of MS Frontpage info to blogger.com
Tips for the passive retiree investor
FTIF-GLOBAL BOND FUND
I had never invested in bonds or bond funds till one day in 2006 when the POSB told me that I had to put up $5,000 if I wanted to rent its safe deposit box in POSB Bras Basah Road. Around 2008, the POSB told me that they would charge safe deposit fees instead. I was unhappy as I thought I had lost my capital as the recession had come in. In 2009, the POSB wrote that the Bras Basah branch would close down and I had to clear out my safe deposit box. I had not bothered to do research and thought that I had lost my capital since it was still recession in Singapore.
Surprisingly, Patricia, a POSB officer took the trouble to phone me to say that I had made some money instead of losing my capital of $5,000.
So, I sold off the bond in Dec 2009. I got $6,396.69. Therefore, I made around $1,400. $1,400/$5,000 = 28% interest in 3 years. Therefore, the POSB's compulsory purchase of the Fund enabled me to earn an interest of around 9% per year. The POSB pays a savings deposit of 0.125% and a fixed deposit of 0.45% (for people <55 years) and 0.55% (for people >55 years). Therefore 9% interest is a considerable amount of return for a person who does not invest in unit trusts, bonds or shares for the past 10 years.
I provide some tips on bond fund investments as contrasted to investing in shares:
1. Do your research as to how your money is invested. Franklin Templeton Fixed Income Strategy's is to invest in Coupon Income (It means buying bonds from governments and earning fixed interest income per year), Active Currency Management (It means they buy and sell currencies of various countries to make money) and Capital Appreciation (It means your share values go up over the years, see table below).
2. Some funds are well respected and rated highly (being given awards).
3. Historical results of making money such as the above at 9% are just a guide but past good performance is important for the passive investor.
4. Invest only in money you can afford to lose.
5. Buy low and sell high. Bonds are meant to be a mid to long term investment of 3 to >5 years, rather than making a fast buck as in speculative share or forex trading.
6. Every year, you need to pay a "sales charge" of maybe 1 to 3%, lowering your profits.
7. Know what is NAV (Net Asset Value). In simple terms, it is the money you will get if you sell the fund. The POSB girl defined it as Sum Invested - Sales Charge divided by unit price. The Sales Charge in 2006 was 3% when I invested. In March 2009, it is 1%. It is tempting to invest when the sales charge is now 1%. The annual charge is said to be 1% too. In the final analysis, it is the results that count, rather than think of the sales charge of 3% or 1%.
8. Dividends are given in my fund as shares and not as money.
In Dec 2009, the NAV (Net Asset Value) of my Fund was S$11.26 when I sold it. As at Mar 9, 2010, it was S$11.59, the young POSB financial officer pointed out to me. Well, I should not have sold the fund on hindsight. However, the funds are not guaranteed by banks and they may lose value (depending on when you sell).
I sold it because no financial officer in the POSB bothered to advise me. The young financial officers come and go in the POSB branches and therefore there is no after-sales services or creation of loyalty or retention of old customers.
People like Patricia are gems and are very rare in the Singapore banking industry. She has an excellent memory and could remember me at Toa Payoh when she saw me talking to her colleague. She took the trouble to offer me and her colleague (the young POSB Financial Adviser) who was making presentations on the FTIB bond, a cup of mineral water branded by POSB. No young financial officer in the POSB I encountered bothered to do this. In any case, the young man I spoke to had disappeared and this girl had taken his desk. The young financial investment officers of various banks do not seem to be trained or motivated to create a connection with the customer as they know they don't stay long in their desk. That is why I write that Patricia, in her late 30s, is a real gem for a business that is looking for top people-service personnel.
Excellent client service comes naturally to Patricia (offering water for me and her colleague to drink). She was able to recognise me though she saw me only a few times in Bras Basah Road long ago. Probably something outstanding about me made her remember me. I had complained to her that the POSB made me lose money by forcing me to buy the fund in order to rent their safe deposit box. And she had actually phoned me back to tell me I was mistaken and that I made good money of over $1,000.
The Bras Basah branch had closed down in 2009 and she was posted out without knowledge of where she would be going. She does not have name cards when I asked her. So her own customers whom she provided exceptional services had a hard time locating her since she did not know where she would be posted. Some managed to find her in Toa Payoh. Others like me was found by her! Other banks and corporations would do well to poach her if they want to improve their bottom-line.
POSB (Post Office Savings Bank), Singapore markets a FTIF-Global Bond Fund (as in their letter to me). After going to the web to do some research, the actual name of this fixed investment should be FTIF Templeton Global Fund A (MDIS) SGD as there are 2 others, viz: FTIF Templeton Global Fund A (MDIS) SGD-H (hedged) and FTIF Templeton Global Fund A (MDIS) USD. This is what I mean by doing your own research.
The other 2 funds have NAV of $12.00 and $19.00 respectively. Surprisingly, there is no relevant information about my ex-fund on the internet. The following information regarding my ex-fund (now referred to as FTIF SGD or FTIF in this report) was from the young POSB financial officer I met on Mar 11, 2010. She compared it to the Global Equities Index (GEI) from JP Morgan. Singaporeans love to buy shares. So, the GEI is a smart and relevant benchmark rather than using the bond index. The table is as follows:
FTIF SGD (one bond investment) %
GEI (various share investment) %
2004-2007
Bull market
+37
+76
Jun 2007 - Dec 2008
Sub-prime crisis
+13
-41
Jan 1 - Oct 16, 2009
+17
+33
2004 - Oct 2009
+67
+68
She showed that FTIF did not lose the capital and even earn dividends during 2004 to 2009 while the GEI dropped below normal and shot up, indicating high volatility.
In practical terms, this means that if you had sold FTIF at any time during 2004 to 2009, you would not lose your capital and even earn some profits. However, you would lose a lot of capital if you had sold shares in the sub-prime crisis. You would lose around 41% while you would gain 17% if you sold the FTIF (see table above).
If you keep the shares or bond till Oct 2009, you would not lose your capital and would make some money based on my analysis below. Therefore, timing is so important when you sell. For the passive investor who has no time to monitor or speculate, diversify and don't keep all your money in the POSB savings or fixed deposit account as they really earn miserable income for you.
Buy, for example, $5,000 high quality bonds and keep them for more than 3 years or sell when the recession is over. I have no more interest in bonds but the FTIF-Global Fund seems to be a reasonably high quality investment for the passive investor based on my short research. I just don't spare time for bond research as I have no interest in bond investments. However, for the passive retiree investor, high quality bond investment may be important to ensure that inflation does not shrink the spending power of your savings. Do your research and talk to the financial officer. Successful past historical performance does not guarantee no risk to your capital as the bonds are not guaranteed by banks or the Singapore government. You will lose money if you sell during a recession unlike your savings deposit.
From the above table from the young POSB girl, you can see how I got around 30% profit from buying the FTIF in 2006 and selling in 2009. You add 13%+17%. This is equal to 30% in 3 years. I got back around $1,400 out of $5,000 invested. So, it worked out that I had a return of 28% in simple calculations. I have to thank the POSB for renting me the safe deposit box in 2006 and earning around 9% interest per annum. I would have put the $5,000 in the savings accounts, earning a miserable 0.125% per year! I recommend my friend, Julia to buy $5,000 of the FTIF as it seems to be a good passive investment for her. She was talking about putting her money in fixed deposits. The interest rate from POSB for people over 55 years is 0.55%. But she never has time to actually do it and now earns 0.15% from her savings account. You need to spend time to research if you want to build wealth yourself. Financial officers may advise but you need to know what risks you will encounter when you are buying into shares and bonds as you will be competing with professional gamblers who can manipulate the markets.
P.S. goto
http://www.kongyuensing.com/laws/20100194Bond_investment_tips_ToaPayohVets.htm
as I don't know why blogger.com cannot reproduce the table from my downloading of MS Frontpage info to blogger.com
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
10 Share trading tips for the beginner trader
There are numerous books on investments in shares. Buying good shares do increase your wealth as savings deposits in Singapore give you only 0.5% interest per year. So, your $100 earns you $5.00 after one year. But inflation in Singapore is conservatively for this study, 10% per annum. So, your $100 is worth $90.00 at the end of one year if you don't invest in good shares. You don't lose money too as your shares may drop 50 - 100% of its value due to poor management and fraud by the corporations.
WHICH SHARES TO BUY?
1. Read widely all financial and political news including Financial Times, Business Times and online reports of various industries and their characteristics and fraudulent dealings of directors.
2. Learn the technical jargon of share investment and know how to apply this knowledge. For example, P/E (price earnings) ratio, EPS (earnings/share), NAV (Net Asset Value), Dividends.
3. Every day, spend time reading and reviewing the few shares you have adopted. Just invest up to 5 corporations as a beginner. You need to be hands-on. You will make mistakes as you are a beginner.
4. Use % changes from previous years instead of looking at the absolute numbers like turnover. Historical information is practically no use to predict future earnings but they serve as a guide.
5. Read all about the company reports and releases (online). Attend their annual general meetings. Know about whistle-blowing. Get out if there is some mis-management or directors suddenly selling off their shares.
6. Know the industry trends and market environment. For example, Singapore bank and property shares were at rock bottom in 2008. Anybody who has the money and patience will be amply rewarded by an increase in 30% of profits at the end of 2009 if they have had bought e.g. bank shares. If they buy shipping shares or China S-chip shares, they have sunk and drowned. You can only do this by reading widely (online news nowadays are so convenient), subscribing to financial news like Business Times (for Singapore shares) etc.
7. Speculative shares are to be avoided. However in a rising market, speculative shares rise every week and you will be tempted in making easy money. You pump in more money. The big boys (including hedge fund managers and professional traders in the banks) play out the small shareholders after some time by laughing all their way to the bank.
8. Invest only in shares when you have some cash that you can afford to lose.
9. There are more than just 8 tips to be successful in share investment. I have not bought shares in the market for the past 10 years. I invested in only one company's IPO last year as I know the managing chairman and believe he has the expertise to build up the company.
10. Sometimes, working hard and smart in your profession may be the best way to sleep peacefully at night. This is because the present world is filled with many fraudulent misrepresentations by corporations, bankers and auditors as regards the corporation's turnovers and profitability. However, there are good corporations which are well managed. You need to know where they are.
P.S. One of the financial news is:
Straits Times March 2, 2010 Page B15 - Listed firms' profits inch up 5.7%. This is considered excellent as 2009 was a recession year. There were 324 gainers and 84 losers.
The top gainer was Wilmar. The others were DBS, OCBC Bank, UOB, Keppel Corp, Capital Land, Golden Agri-Resources, Noble, Jardine C&C and Sembcorp Marine.
Top 10 losers were NOL, Australand, Genting Sinapore, Singapore Land, UIC, OUE, STX Pan Ocean, PineAgritech, Huan Hsin, Sino Techfibre.
WHICH SHARES TO BUY?
1. Read widely all financial and political news including Financial Times, Business Times and online reports of various industries and their characteristics and fraudulent dealings of directors.
2. Learn the technical jargon of share investment and know how to apply this knowledge. For example, P/E (price earnings) ratio, EPS (earnings/share), NAV (Net Asset Value), Dividends.
3. Every day, spend time reading and reviewing the few shares you have adopted. Just invest up to 5 corporations as a beginner. You need to be hands-on. You will make mistakes as you are a beginner.
4. Use % changes from previous years instead of looking at the absolute numbers like turnover. Historical information is practically no use to predict future earnings but they serve as a guide.
5. Read all about the company reports and releases (online). Attend their annual general meetings. Know about whistle-blowing. Get out if there is some mis-management or directors suddenly selling off their shares.
6. Know the industry trends and market environment. For example, Singapore bank and property shares were at rock bottom in 2008. Anybody who has the money and patience will be amply rewarded by an increase in 30% of profits at the end of 2009 if they have had bought e.g. bank shares. If they buy shipping shares or China S-chip shares, they have sunk and drowned. You can only do this by reading widely (online news nowadays are so convenient), subscribing to financial news like Business Times (for Singapore shares) etc.
7. Speculative shares are to be avoided. However in a rising market, speculative shares rise every week and you will be tempted in making easy money. You pump in more money. The big boys (including hedge fund managers and professional traders in the banks) play out the small shareholders after some time by laughing all their way to the bank.
8. Invest only in shares when you have some cash that you can afford to lose.
9. There are more than just 8 tips to be successful in share investment. I have not bought shares in the market for the past 10 years. I invested in only one company's IPO last year as I know the managing chairman and believe he has the expertise to build up the company.
10. Sometimes, working hard and smart in your profession may be the best way to sleep peacefully at night. This is because the present world is filled with many fraudulent misrepresentations by corporations, bankers and auditors as regards the corporation's turnovers and profitability. However, there are good corporations which are well managed. You need to know where they are.
P.S. One of the financial news is:
Straits Times March 2, 2010 Page B15 - Listed firms' profits inch up 5.7%. This is considered excellent as 2009 was a recession year. There were 324 gainers and 84 losers.
The top gainer was Wilmar. The others were DBS, OCBC Bank, UOB, Keppel Corp, Capital Land, Golden Agri-Resources, Noble, Jardine C&C and Sembcorp Marine.
Top 10 losers were NOL, Australand, Genting Sinapore, Singapore Land, UIC, OUE, STX Pan Ocean, PineAgritech, Huan Hsin, Sino Techfibre.
Friday, March 5, 2010
8. Forex on 5 Hours A Week - Raghee Horner 2010 book
Mar 5, 2010
Forex On 5 Hours A Week
How to make money trading on your own time
The following is a summary of a book written by a home-trader, Raghee Horner. It is published by Wiley in 2010 and contains information for young people who wants to go into forex trading with no experience.
1. The author says that the Wave is a necessary software as it provides him a visual footprint of the market's trend or lack of trend. The Wave is a real-time tool to make decisions about the market cycles. It focuses you on the right and most effective chart patterns, indicators, set-ups and saves him a lot of time. However, he does not just rely on the Wave as he has to know the market environment and the prices that big boys in banks and corporations with their insider information and knowledge play the currencies market. These are professional gamblers and he acknowledges that he does not have all the insider information that they have.
2. However, most traders make two mistakes as regards not knowing the market cycles and timing.
3. Knowledge of psychology comes lst, 2nd, 3rd and in any other place makes a successful trader. You have confidence if you have knowledge that you can recognise the set-up and confirm what you recognise is working. Merely know that you can recognise a set-up is no good.
4. A successful trader knows when to use a particular strategy. The best traders keep their trading simple.
5. Canned strategy (e.g. do Step 1, Step 2, Step 3) does not make you successful in the long term as you do not consider the market environment.
6. Consider your situation. Are you a short-funded trader? 30-60 minutes a day only to find trading opportunities. Do you prefer options? You should not worry about time but about results. You should aim to be a full-time trader with part-time hours.
7. He recommends reading:
www.babypips.com ( blog. He is Queen Cleopatra in the blog)
www.meetpips.com (Facebook community of traders)
www.dailymotion.com/ez2tradesoftware
autochartist
www.ise.com/fx (forex options)
www.ragheehorner.com (he writers for www.forextraderdaily.com , www.fxsteret.com, www.tradingmarkets.com (www.patternradar.com)
www.zenhabits.net (to de-clutter your life)
www.lifehacker.com (good ideas)
www.smarterwave.org (by lifehacker - software tips)
Conclusion:
Application of a strategy. When to use a particular strategy rather than knowing how to recognise the existence of a set-up (as taught in many forex books) is what makes a forex trader successful. Results count in the final analysis.
Can some of his ideas apply to the practice of veterinary medicine and surgery? In forex trading? Results (clinical outcomes of treatment and surgery) count rather than correct diagnosis of a disease and abundant theoretical knowledge.
Failing to produce good results in a surgery and anaesthesia means the death of the pet or to the loss of confidence and therefore migration of the client to competitors.
Market cycles and time are important to the success of the forex trader. For the small animal vet, I don't know whether there is a veterinary equivalent to the "market cycles" in forex trading.
However, the timing of the surgeries and anaesthesia in emergency cases is important to his or her success. If the animal is already too ill due to the client's delay in seeking advice, the timing is not appropriate for surgery and anaesthesia. The outcome is death and the vet sometimes do get the blame. Such owners seldom blame themselves for the protracted illness or delays.
So, the best strategy may be just to pass the buck to other vets in such cases if the vet does not want high emotions, drama and bad-mouthing of him in handling high-risk anaesthetic cases which are part and parcel of the practice of veterinary medicine and surgery.
Forex Investment in a Singapore's bank
How does the principles of the above book apply to the individual? I will illustrate with one case. I don't play forex at all and so it is best for the reader to do much more research if he or she is interested in this high-risk trading.
Standard Chartered Bank at Ion Orchard has this signboard outside, saying 4.15% interest if you invest in Australian Dollar deposits. As the A$1.00 is around S$1.30, my friend Julia was interested in this advertisement.
She wanted to buy some A$ low so that she could pay her son's tuition fees if she bought low. One year ago, the A$1.00 was as low as $1.00 but now, it has appreciated 30%. Singapore banks pay 0.3% (per annum) interest for savings account and therefore, the 4.15% (per annum) in A$ investment looks very attractive. So, I got her to talk to the financial adviser in the bank. He recommended dual currency swap for her. What is a dual currency swap?
DUAL CURRENCY SWAP
Basically, this is a forex trading put option, I said to Julia. Julia would buy Australian Dollar at, for example A$1.00 to S$1.2708. 2 weeks later, at 2.30 pm, if the A$ has dropped to $$1.2580, she would make money of around S$500 based on a S$50,000 investment. In these 2 weeks, she would be paid 4.3% to 7% depending on the initial investment. At 4.3% for 2 weeks, she would get an interest of S$500 if she invested S$50,000 and if the A$1.00 has had not dropped to S$1.2580. If the A$ has dropped more than that, the bank keeps the balance of the profits. Another contract would be opened after the end of 2 weeks.
"You get $500 for $50,000 after 2 weeks if the put option is not exercised. I asked the gentleman to state the interest in this deal rather than stating $500 profit. He said it is 2.5% for 2 weeks. Is this correct? It sounds too good to be true. There will be risks.
What are the risks? At the worst scenario, $50,000 will be lost if Standard Chartered Bank goes bankrupt. This has happened to Lehman Brothers, a very famous old bank in 2009. The Singapore Government does not guarantee investment accounts. Savings accounts are protected up to $20,000 so far.
Lots of small investors in Singapore lost substantial savings when Lehman Brothers closed down in 2009. Many people don't make money when they invest in unit trusts with their CPF (Central Provident Fund) monies at the wrong time. Timing is still everything but the investment bank is nowadays less than reliable as the bankers create high-risk derivatives and investment plans to make money for themselves out of money from the small investor. They pay themselves extremely well, even when their banks fail and have to be bailed out by the tax-payer's money.
So, is it worthwhile for Julia to take this investment route? It is a personal decision. In my opinion, it is best not to take this risk as $50,000 is a large amount for Julia. 2.5% interest in 2 weeks is a very great temptation. This works out to be 5% per month or 60% per year in simple calculations. For Standard Chartered Bank, I have no doubt it will return Julia's capital. For scam people who proposed such returns, don't part with your money. I have just heard of a scam whereby the "investor" offered 2% per week and deposit some "gold" worth more than the market value as security. The only problem is that the real value of the "gold" is unknown.
Julia has no interest in financial and market news at all and $50,000 was her retirement savings as well as money for her son's tuition fees. She earned a salary. It would be better to be keep her savings rather invest in forex trading and funds unless she can afford to lose the money.
Forex On 5 Hours A Week
How to make money trading on your own time
The following is a summary of a book written by a home-trader, Raghee Horner. It is published by Wiley in 2010 and contains information for young people who wants to go into forex trading with no experience.
1. The author says that the Wave is a necessary software as it provides him a visual footprint of the market's trend or lack of trend. The Wave is a real-time tool to make decisions about the market cycles. It focuses you on the right and most effective chart patterns, indicators, set-ups and saves him a lot of time. However, he does not just rely on the Wave as he has to know the market environment and the prices that big boys in banks and corporations with their insider information and knowledge play the currencies market. These are professional gamblers and he acknowledges that he does not have all the insider information that they have.
2. However, most traders make two mistakes as regards not knowing the market cycles and timing.
3. Knowledge of psychology comes lst, 2nd, 3rd and in any other place makes a successful trader. You have confidence if you have knowledge that you can recognise the set-up and confirm what you recognise is working. Merely know that you can recognise a set-up is no good.
4. A successful trader knows when to use a particular strategy. The best traders keep their trading simple.
5. Canned strategy (e.g. do Step 1, Step 2, Step 3) does not make you successful in the long term as you do not consider the market environment.
6. Consider your situation. Are you a short-funded trader? 30-60 minutes a day only to find trading opportunities. Do you prefer options? You should not worry about time but about results. You should aim to be a full-time trader with part-time hours.
7. He recommends reading:
www.babypips.com ( blog. He is Queen Cleopatra in the blog)
www.meetpips.com (Facebook community of traders)
www.dailymotion.com/ez2tradesoftware
autochartist
www.ise.com/fx (forex options)
www.ragheehorner.com (he writers for www.forextraderdaily.com , www.fxsteret.com, www.tradingmarkets.com (www.patternradar.com)
www.zenhabits.net (to de-clutter your life)
www.lifehacker.com (good ideas)
www.smarterwave.org (by lifehacker - software tips)
Conclusion:
Application of a strategy. When to use a particular strategy rather than knowing how to recognise the existence of a set-up (as taught in many forex books) is what makes a forex trader successful. Results count in the final analysis.
Can some of his ideas apply to the practice of veterinary medicine and surgery? In forex trading? Results (clinical outcomes of treatment and surgery) count rather than correct diagnosis of a disease and abundant theoretical knowledge.
Failing to produce good results in a surgery and anaesthesia means the death of the pet or to the loss of confidence and therefore migration of the client to competitors.
Market cycles and time are important to the success of the forex trader. For the small animal vet, I don't know whether there is a veterinary equivalent to the "market cycles" in forex trading.
However, the timing of the surgeries and anaesthesia in emergency cases is important to his or her success. If the animal is already too ill due to the client's delay in seeking advice, the timing is not appropriate for surgery and anaesthesia. The outcome is death and the vet sometimes do get the blame. Such owners seldom blame themselves for the protracted illness or delays.
So, the best strategy may be just to pass the buck to other vets in such cases if the vet does not want high emotions, drama and bad-mouthing of him in handling high-risk anaesthetic cases which are part and parcel of the practice of veterinary medicine and surgery.
Forex Investment in a Singapore's bank
How does the principles of the above book apply to the individual? I will illustrate with one case. I don't play forex at all and so it is best for the reader to do much more research if he or she is interested in this high-risk trading.
Standard Chartered Bank at Ion Orchard has this signboard outside, saying 4.15% interest if you invest in Australian Dollar deposits. As the A$1.00 is around S$1.30, my friend Julia was interested in this advertisement.
She wanted to buy some A$ low so that she could pay her son's tuition fees if she bought low. One year ago, the A$1.00 was as low as $1.00 but now, it has appreciated 30%. Singapore banks pay 0.3% (per annum) interest for savings account and therefore, the 4.15% (per annum) in A$ investment looks very attractive. So, I got her to talk to the financial adviser in the bank. He recommended dual currency swap for her. What is a dual currency swap?
DUAL CURRENCY SWAP
Basically, this is a forex trading put option, I said to Julia. Julia would buy Australian Dollar at, for example A$1.00 to S$1.2708. 2 weeks later, at 2.30 pm, if the A$ has dropped to $$1.2580, she would make money of around S$500 based on a S$50,000 investment. In these 2 weeks, she would be paid 4.3% to 7% depending on the initial investment. At 4.3% for 2 weeks, she would get an interest of S$500 if she invested S$50,000 and if the A$1.00 has had not dropped to S$1.2580. If the A$ has dropped more than that, the bank keeps the balance of the profits. Another contract would be opened after the end of 2 weeks.
"You get $500 for $50,000 after 2 weeks if the put option is not exercised. I asked the gentleman to state the interest in this deal rather than stating $500 profit. He said it is 2.5% for 2 weeks. Is this correct? It sounds too good to be true. There will be risks.
What are the risks? At the worst scenario, $50,000 will be lost if Standard Chartered Bank goes bankrupt. This has happened to Lehman Brothers, a very famous old bank in 2009. The Singapore Government does not guarantee investment accounts. Savings accounts are protected up to $20,000 so far.
Lots of small investors in Singapore lost substantial savings when Lehman Brothers closed down in 2009. Many people don't make money when they invest in unit trusts with their CPF (Central Provident Fund) monies at the wrong time. Timing is still everything but the investment bank is nowadays less than reliable as the bankers create high-risk derivatives and investment plans to make money for themselves out of money from the small investor. They pay themselves extremely well, even when their banks fail and have to be bailed out by the tax-payer's money.
So, is it worthwhile for Julia to take this investment route? It is a personal decision. In my opinion, it is best not to take this risk as $50,000 is a large amount for Julia. 2.5% interest in 2 weeks is a very great temptation. This works out to be 5% per month or 60% per year in simple calculations. For Standard Chartered Bank, I have no doubt it will return Julia's capital. For scam people who proposed such returns, don't part with your money. I have just heard of a scam whereby the "investor" offered 2% per week and deposit some "gold" worth more than the market value as security. The only problem is that the real value of the "gold" is unknown.
Julia has no interest in financial and market news at all and $50,000 was her retirement savings as well as money for her son's tuition fees. She earned a salary. It would be better to be keep her savings rather invest in forex trading and funds unless she can afford to lose the money.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Appreciating the visual arts
June 24, 2009
"Go out and see the painting," the salesgirl said after I had spent a few minutes viewing several paintings displayed on the wall behind her small desk. Mrs Aung's eyes widened as she thought that this young salesgirl was being rude to me.
As I was asking her questions about a big painting of a golden pagoda by an artist named Di Pa hanging behind her counter, I thought she wanted me to view this painting from outside her small art gallery of around 150 sq. ft. I could not view this painting as she was sitting down and her desk was between the painting on the wall behind her and me in front of her. The door was just behind my back since this was a very small art gallery. The only one in Peninsula Plaza which is a famous meeting point for all Burmese in Singapore and has various business specialising in Burmese matters.
Mrs Aung thought she was being rude to an old man (namely me). There was no reason for her to be rude. She was trying to tell me something. What was it? Why did she ask me to go out of her office? The oil painting by Di Pa was not that big. In fact, she should have asked me to go behind her desk to appreciate the fine painting.
This personable salesgirl was a Myanmar National and she was probably telling to communicate with me something. But what was she trying to tell me? I don't blame her for not communicating well in English. English is a difficult language to master and unless she had the opportunity to speak English more, she could not be fluent in this language.
As her gallery was so small, I thought that she might want me to view more paintings behind the glass wall of the front of her office.
I exited her gallery in 1 second. It was a 150 sq. ft gallery and so it took 1 second to go out. I was correct in my interpretation of her good intentions. Two very big paintings of the Pao (pronounced as Pa - O) Market occupying nearly 1/3 of the front glass window captured my attention due to its size and composition of people in a market. In one painting, I could see the "KWK" signature. Now, I knew about KWK because I had seen her other vivid paintings. I did not know that KWK did market scenes till now.
"This is the type of painting I appreciate," I said to Mrs Aung. "But it is very big painting and would take up 80% of the wall in my reception room at Toa Payoh Vets.
Mrs Aung had no interest in paintings. Once she said to me that I must be too free or too rich to look at paintings. Many people are struggling to earn a livelihood in this time of severe economic recession.
Mrs Aung said: "All paintings are original as the artist must create them. It is only the quality of paint and the canvas that affects the painting that must be considered."
I ha taken Mrs Aung to see a small painting of a market scene in the Shan State in another office in Peninsula Plaza before we came to see Di Pa's painting at this small art gallery. I loved this Shan State market painting very much. It connected to me instantly. It was also the right size to put in my small reception room of 50 sq ft at Toa Payoh Vets. It looked as if the painter wanted to show a young and pretty rich man's mistress buying flowers from the flower girl at the market.
"It is not the original painting," I lamented. "It is a photocopied painting." I don't want to display photocopied paintings as I don't appreciate them.
Mrs Aung strongly disagreed. "All paintings are original. The artist has to paint them. So how could there be copies?"
It was difficult to educate Mrs Aung as I did not have any other examples to show her. Seeing is believing. "Well," I said. "All paintings of Mona Lisa are copies, except for the original one in a French Museum".
Mrs Aung stared at me. Mona Lisa can be the most famous painting in the world but to Mrs Aung, I was talking Greek to her. She had never heard of Mona Lisa in her 40 plus years of living.
The salesgirl smiled at my mention of Mona Lisa copies. This girl knew her business of Art. She assured me: "All paintings here are certified." The salesgirl showed me a small brochure with descriptions of painting by Di Pa and KWK. I did not know what she meant but I presumed she meant the paintings were not copies. They were originals.
Art education takes a long time. It will be some time before Mrs Aung would be able to tell the differences between original, copies and reproduced versions of art. If she had interest, she could learn fast. Then she could pick up great paintings at low prices in Myanmar. Being a businesswoman, she would have one additional product to sell to people who are "too free or too rich" and make money. To her, art would be a commodity for trading rather than a source of appreciation. However, to be able to sell successfully, she would need to be motivated to know more about the business of art.
"Go out and see the painting," the salesgirl said after I had spent a few minutes viewing several paintings displayed on the wall behind her small desk. Mrs Aung's eyes widened as she thought that this young salesgirl was being rude to me.
As I was asking her questions about a big painting of a golden pagoda by an artist named Di Pa hanging behind her counter, I thought she wanted me to view this painting from outside her small art gallery of around 150 sq. ft. I could not view this painting as she was sitting down and her desk was between the painting on the wall behind her and me in front of her. The door was just behind my back since this was a very small art gallery. The only one in Peninsula Plaza which is a famous meeting point for all Burmese in Singapore and has various business specialising in Burmese matters.
Mrs Aung thought she was being rude to an old man (namely me). There was no reason for her to be rude. She was trying to tell me something. What was it? Why did she ask me to go out of her office? The oil painting by Di Pa was not that big. In fact, she should have asked me to go behind her desk to appreciate the fine painting.
This personable salesgirl was a Myanmar National and she was probably telling to communicate with me something. But what was she trying to tell me? I don't blame her for not communicating well in English. English is a difficult language to master and unless she had the opportunity to speak English more, she could not be fluent in this language.
As her gallery was so small, I thought that she might want me to view more paintings behind the glass wall of the front of her office.
I exited her gallery in 1 second. It was a 150 sq. ft gallery and so it took 1 second to go out. I was correct in my interpretation of her good intentions. Two very big paintings of the Pao (pronounced as Pa - O) Market occupying nearly 1/3 of the front glass window captured my attention due to its size and composition of people in a market. In one painting, I could see the "KWK" signature. Now, I knew about KWK because I had seen her other vivid paintings. I did not know that KWK did market scenes till now.
"This is the type of painting I appreciate," I said to Mrs Aung. "But it is very big painting and would take up 80% of the wall in my reception room at Toa Payoh Vets.
Mrs Aung had no interest in paintings. Once she said to me that I must be too free or too rich to look at paintings. Many people are struggling to earn a livelihood in this time of severe economic recession.
Mrs Aung said: "All paintings are original as the artist must create them. It is only the quality of paint and the canvas that affects the painting that must be considered."
I ha taken Mrs Aung to see a small painting of a market scene in the Shan State in another office in Peninsula Plaza before we came to see Di Pa's painting at this small art gallery. I loved this Shan State market painting very much. It connected to me instantly. It was also the right size to put in my small reception room of 50 sq ft at Toa Payoh Vets. It looked as if the painter wanted to show a young and pretty rich man's mistress buying flowers from the flower girl at the market.
"It is not the original painting," I lamented. "It is a photocopied painting." I don't want to display photocopied paintings as I don't appreciate them.
Mrs Aung strongly disagreed. "All paintings are original. The artist has to paint them. So how could there be copies?"
It was difficult to educate Mrs Aung as I did not have any other examples to show her. Seeing is believing. "Well," I said. "All paintings of Mona Lisa are copies, except for the original one in a French Museum".
Mrs Aung stared at me. Mona Lisa can be the most famous painting in the world but to Mrs Aung, I was talking Greek to her. She had never heard of Mona Lisa in her 40 plus years of living.
The salesgirl smiled at my mention of Mona Lisa copies. This girl knew her business of Art. She assured me: "All paintings here are certified." The salesgirl showed me a small brochure with descriptions of painting by Di Pa and KWK. I did not know what she meant but I presumed she meant the paintings were not copies. They were originals.
Art education takes a long time. It will be some time before Mrs Aung would be able to tell the differences between original, copies and reproduced versions of art. If she had interest, she could learn fast. Then she could pick up great paintings at low prices in Myanmar. Being a businesswoman, she would have one additional product to sell to people who are "too free or too rich" and make money. To her, art would be a commodity for trading rather than a source of appreciation. However, to be able to sell successfully, she would need to be motivated to know more about the business of art.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
A little painting by KWK
I'll pay you $50 for your artwork," I said to Mrs Htay. She had asked me to attend an opening reception of a Burmese Artist hosted by a Art Gallery on a hot Saturday afternoon. Her husband was the guest of honour. He was presented with a small painting signed with the 3 initials "KWK" and he gave this token of appreciation to his wife. I had never met KWK but I saw her paintings at the Art Gallery. I appreciated her type of painting of the Burmese countryside as I love paintings of nature, natives and animals.
That small painting given to Mrs Htay measured around 0.5 foot x 0.5 foot. It was a small painting of 1/4 sq. ft framed by little bamboo sticks. It was a painting that would bring back good memories of my attendance at this Art Gallery. It would bring back memories of Mr Htay who was the guest of honour and Mrs Aung, another Burmese lady who did not want to attend this opening reception but obliged when I asked her. She had told me frequently that art had no appeal to her at all and she just would spend her time on other matters. But most important of all, this small painting by KWK would hang nicely in the very small waiting area at Toa Payoh Vets.
"No, no, no!" Mrs Htay raised her voice as if she sounded insulted. "I want $500". Was she serious or joking?
"Mrs Htay, $50 is a very good price," I said. "It is a very small painting. I value it as $50 per 1/4 sq. ft . It sells at $200 per sq. ft. For $500, the painting must be bigger. Bigger paintings take a longer time to paint and therefore cost more."
Mrs Htay was silent or maybe she was furious. It is hard to know what the female species of the human race think. Females of the homo sapiens are inherently more emotional in their business interactions and I knew intuitively that I had offended Mrs Htay.
"Please accept my offer," I persisted. Mrs Aung who was with me on the day after the visit to the Art Gallery looked at me incredulously as if I had got tick-borne fever. She was surprised that I had offered $50 for that small painting by KWK. She would consider that small painting was not worth the canvas it was painted on.
Mrs Htay must be fuming mad internally as she remained silent. This was my speculation judging from her mannerism.
"Mrs Htay, I don't even know whether KWK, the artist is famous or not and therefore I offer you $50." Paintings can be an excellent investment as well as an object of appreciation but you must buy one from a famous artist.
"Dr Sing, the painting is worth $500" Mrs Htay was adamant but could not support her valuation to justify her selling price. She was not in the art of business and knew nothing much about art. Except as another commodity to sell and get a commission.
"Dr Sing is a miser," she probably thought of me but she was too polite to say so in my face. She would let Mrs Aung know later and Mrs Aung would let me know accordingly. This offer was an easy $50 since the cost to Mrs Htay was zero. She did not know how to do the business of art. So, there was no counter-offer from Mrs Htay. It was $500 or nothing.
Now, Mrs Htay was a very good sales person in her startup tourism business. She had the gift of the gap, sociable and very tenacious in closing sales. She followed up and networked. She faced rejections and was tired out. Yet she persevered and succeeded despite cut-throat competition. She would be persistent, sought out prospect and befriended everybody thus increasing her network and closing some sales out of the hundreds of people she met. This type of outgoing personality is rarely present in many people as rejections are hard to stomach.
Mrs Htay was the type of salesperson all companies would love to employ as she was hardworking and able to close sales.
The only quirky part of her personality was that she would bad-mouth a person without a thought and words would come back to the person affected. I knew this because one Burmese businessman phoned me to tell me to be careful of "people" who would talk bad things about me behind my back. It was unfortunately a part of her personality, a weakness she was not aware of. Part of her extrovert personality and probably nobody had ever confronted her about it.
You could see that she even managed to persuade me to attend an art reception at an Art Gallery on a Saturday afternoon. Saturday is my day off and I treasure it as I work all the other days of the year.
An offer of $50 for a small painting by KWK was in Mrs Htay's hand but she remained silent. I was quite surprised that she did not give a counter offer. That is part and parcel of good salesmanship. The lowest offer may not be the final offer.
If she had countered with "$400", there would be progress in the negotiations. Part of good salesmanship is to counter-offer to close the deal. Negotiate to obtain a win-win solution rather being silent. Most likely she was unhappy that I had the temerity to offer $50 for the small painting by KWK. Maybe she knew something that I did not - the small painting by KWK would be worth much more than $500 if she did not sell it. Maybe I have better do some research before I offer any amount to Mrs Htay.
NOTE: 1 pictures of big paintings by KWK are shown in this picture. Unfortunately for me, I did not take a picture of her small painting. Any reader interested in viewing paintings by KWK, e-mail judy@toapayohvets.com or tel +65 9668-6468.
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