Steve Jobs and Bill Gates

Steve Jobs was not 'warm and fuzzy': biographer

Jobs, despite being worth billions of dollars, lived in a modest house in Palo Alto and was determined not to let money change him.

Jobs told Isaacson a lot of people had changed at Apple after becoming wealthy.

"A few people went out and bought Rolls-Royces and they bought homes, and their wives got plastic surgery," Jobs said.

"I saw these people who were really nice, simple people turn into these bizarro people," he said. "And I made a promise to myself. I said: ‘I’m not going to let this money ruin my life.’"

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/story_print.html?id=5597108&sponsor=

And here's a real world example to explain Precession Theory...

Bill Gates to Students: I Didn't Dream About Being Super-Rich

I think most people who have done well have just found something they're nuts about doing. Then they figure out a system to hire their friends to do it with them. It it's an area of great impact, then sometimes you get financial independence.

"I didn't start out with the dream of being super-rich. And even after we started Microsoft, and the guys who ran Intel—Gordon Moore and those guys—were billionaires, I was like, 'Wow, that must be strange.' And so—it is, it's quite strange."

Wealth above a certain level, really, it's a responsibility that then you're going have to either, a.) leave it to your children, which may or may not be good for them, or b.) try to be smart about giving it away…So I can understand wanting to have millions of dollars, because there's meaningful freedom that comes with that. But once you get much beyond that—you know, I have to tell you, it's the same hamburger. Dick's has not raised their prices enough…But, you know, being ambitious is good. You just have to pick what you enjoy doing.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2395453,00.asp#fbid=1hwS0uB4cWV

Bill Gates not bothered by Steve Jobs's comments in biography
While Gates said he found Jobs to be a "weirdly flawed human being," Jobs asserted that Gates was a "basically unimaginative" person who "never invented anything... He just shamelessly ripped off other people's ideas."...
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/11/10/31/bill_gates_not_bothered_by_steve_jobss_comments_in_biography.html

Hong Leong Bank

Building A Strong Foundation:

As at 2011, it seems the bank is on track as planned.

Corporate Journey 2008

Corporate Journey Magazine online subscription service article on China Press:

Mobile Trading

This ads on 21st April 2008, The Edge Financial paper is additional info to Consumption Device, Digital Contents, and Online Campaign:

10 minutes between meeting. 12k made. not bad.

Ads by Maxis and Blackberry.

A Message to Occupy Wall Street

Dear Occupy Wall Street,

I completely understand your anger and commend you for having the courage to do something about it.

Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor Company said nearly a century ago, "It is well that the people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning."

And that was before the government financial system really got good at stealing from and impoverishing us. Today, if we all really had any idea as to what has been done to us by the system there’d be 6.8 billion people involved in these protests. 

However, there is a very, very important piece of the puzzle that you have missed completely.

In order to understand why, you have to realize one thing. You have been brainwashed. Don’t feel too bad, we all have been.

Thomas Pynchon said, "If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." 

And that is precisely what they have been doing for decades, using propaganda and indoctrination to confuse you as to the real source of the problems so that you never ask the right questions.

In a sound, honest world, you could do anything you want… you certainly would not have been forced into a minimum of 12 years of indoctrination (called public or private, state regulated schools) as a child. As well, practically everything in mainstream media is meant to subtly, every day, push you in the direction of supporting the nation-state.

After 12-16 years of government controlled “education” and thousands of hours of television propaganda from mainstream media that is all but one-in-the-same with the government it can be very hard to see reality.

Here is the reality. All of the problems you see are real. But you’ve been misdirected as to their cause – on purpose. Wall Street is, for the most part, corrupt and incredibly damaging to society as a whole. But, they are a SYMPTOM, not the CAUSE of the problem.

If you want to protest the real devils who have caused every major problem in the world, from wars to poverty to oppression, then you shouldn’t be in New York. You should be in Washington D.C. (District of Criminals) in front of the White House, Congress and the Federal Reserve building.  That is the source of all of our problems today.

 

Sadly, because of all the propaganda and brainwashing you are actually asking for more government involvement in the economy as a solution to the problem CAUSED by the massive amount of government involvement in the economy. You have to realize one thing.  There is a war on for your mind. At the moment, the side of reality, truth, honesty and self-responsibility is losing. The side of propaganda, corruption, theft (taxes), violence (laws against victimless crimes, wars and cages/jails or death if you do not submit to theft) and outright evil has been winning.

The tide is turning, however. Slowly people are awakening to the truth. We don’t need to fight violently, like them. We just need to say no. But this will only happen if you can see the true cause of all of the problems of today.  As the younger generations we have unfortunately been completely brainwashed and indoctrinated.

We’ve been told government is good and here to protect us when the only times most of us have been accosted, tased, put in cages (jail) or beaten has been at the hand of a “police officer”.

We’ve been told taxation isn’t theft, when that is exactly what it is.

We’ve been told that democracy is freedom, when in fact it is slavery.

We’ve been brainwashed our entire lives but we can snap out of it very easily. Here are a few videos to get you started down the rabbit hole:

• The Story of Your Enslavement
• Statism Is Dead
• Statism’s Assembly Line
• The American Dream

Once you are done those videos then you can move on to the next stage.  Read these books:

• Murray Rothbard’s “For a New Liberty”
• Hans-Hermann Hoppe's "Democracy: The God That Failed"
• Morris & Linda Tannehill's "The Market For Liberty"

You will feel a lot of emotions as you awaken. You may feel, more than anything, fear. Swallow it. You are here on Earth once. Don’t allow yourself to be scared out of freedom, love and peace. Step past that feeling. Once you can quell those feelings, then you may feel angry. That is good and natural. However, we shouldn’t need to get violent to stop this slavery.

All we need to do to stop it is to stop supporting the government and spread the word to others so that they do the same. This is very easy.

Mahatma Gandhi said, "Withholding of payment of taxes is one of the quickest methods of overthrowing a government."

Be warned, this process will not be easy… we will go through a few months and maybe even a few years of virtual chaos as the entire nation-state, political control system collapses. The entire false, non-free market, thieving monetary system will collapse in the process.  Everything will change. People will once again have to learn to support themselves and how to be productive.

But don’t worry. As Bill Hicks said, it’s just a ride. Once we can get rid of the devils amongst us who only can have power WHEN we CREATE that power for them to attain (governance) then they scurry like the cockroaches that they are.

Freedom is right in front of you. Prosperity like you’ve never known lies at your fingertips. All you have to do is awaken, educate yourself and follow one simple principle. A principle that is so simple and obvious that they teach it to kindergarten children. The Non-Aggression Principle. Don’t hit… don’t steal… and only resort to violence when aggressed against. And don’t allow any person, corporation or government to breach this principle.

When that stands as the center of your philosophy of being all else becomes simple. The “authorities” hope you never figure this out.  Unluckily for them, but typical at the same time, they didn’t realize the internet would allow this message to get to the masses. It is typical because these people aren’t especially smart. They are scheming sociopaths and excellent conmen and women, but they aren’t especially smart.  If they were they would have realized the internet would be a major problem for them years ago and have done something to stop it.

Now they are beginning to realize that the internet will facilitate their fall. People like Barack Obama speak often of the “internet kill switch” for this reason. But we have a few months still to educate, communicate and to defeat them. Act now to devour all of the real, honest information that is available to you through the internet. Look to website such asLewRockwell.com, Mises.org and watch interviews with top anarchists at Anarchast. Also, download all of this information... it will almost certainly be censored by the government very soon.

If we cannot spread the word prior to them shutting the internet down then we will lose. We will all be enslaved except for the few of us who have found a way to escape to remote islands, live discretely off of un-policed waters on sailboats or ships, small seasteads or the few who may have even escaped to outer space… things like Virgin Galactic are just now making possible.

But it is my hope that we can use this moment as our time to awaken. Pass along this post, its videos and articles to anyone and everyone you can.

Fight the power and stand up to the tyranny, but fight the root of the problem, not the symptom. The root are the governments of the world. They have created an entire, artificial financial system (which is not capitalism, it is corporatism/fascism) based on theft (taxation). It is natural, then, for the financial edifice that grows up around that system to also be based on theft and corruption.

But you cannot defeat that financial system without defeating the system that created it. Take your fight to Washington, D.C. When ten million+ occupy Washington D.C. and call for the end to institutionalized force and theft then we have an opportunity to really change the world for the better.

Youth of America, occupy Washington. Youth of the world, occupy the power centers of your own tax farms (countries). They have stolen your futures from even before you were born.  

Take it back...

http://www.wealthwire.com/news/liberty/1995

Education And Freedom

For years, I've dedicated my life to mastering the global economic chess match, where the moves of yesterday and today will land us tomorrow. And trust me, it's no easy task. It entails knowing how the policies in America trickle into the stability or instability of the world.

Below are some drafts and notes related to the education system (part of the cause), part of my findings on slavery in the 21st century.

Though they are still scattered around, by connecting the dots, we shall be able to get a better picture in the near future. The temporary conclusion is: all things are well connected: 政经文教、 士农工商，环环相扣、息息相关.

While the plantation system is still alive and well in the Information Age (Slavery In The 21st Century?), there seems to be an education trap in the real world to produce obedient skilled workforce to the ruling elite. As what G.Edward Griffin in The Creature from Jekyll Island pointed out on Rockefeller's General Education Board (founded in 1903):

True education was to be restricted to the son and daughters of the elite. For the rest, it would be better to produce skilled workers with no particular aspirations other than to enjoy life.

However, they may have not realize the internet would allow this message to get to the masses.

Real education, today, is all free and can be done via the internet from anywhere. All you have to do is ensure your child can read, write and count, equipped with the right attitude and mindset, from there they can self-educate and grow.

Formal education will make you a living. Self-education will make you a fortune. ~ Jim Rohn

In life there are no "sure things" or guarantees. The government fooled you into thinking there are, but there isn't. In real life you just have to get out there and do it.

Today, however, formal education often does not even make you a living as the cost of schooling has increased dramatically ever since the government subsidized it with grants, loans and tax benefits.

The good news is, we still have alternatives with the advance technology and the free will with us.

For example, home schooling which is a legal option for parents in most developed countries to provide their children with a learning environment as an alternative to public or private schools. However, there are still legal issues for homeschooling in Malaysia at the time of writing. Some lobbying effort may be needed in the future.

Another example of the use of technology as alternative would be private sector's initiative, the one such as gooroo.my provide a live and working model as well as a good case study.

Above are just bits and pieces of the findings to date. While compiling the masterpiece and preparing a thesis and reaction to the "cause".

With Love, Respect, and Much Abundant Blessings Always,
How Tze

During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act. ~ George Orwell

Does Our Education System Destroy Free Will?

All public school is, in the US (and major part of the worlds where you can use Visa/Master - same system! - or spot KFC, McD, Starbucks etc) today, is indoctrination for jail or to train you to be a cubicle rat for the rest of your life.

Don't get caught in the education trap...

http://www.wealthwire.com/news/liberty/2047

Message to Occupy Wall Street

Fight the power and stand up to the tyranny, but fight the root of the problem, not the symptom.

http://www.wealthwire.com/news/liberty/1995

獨木橋和陽關道

教育是百年大計，不能以意識形態來決定政策，而必須以遠見來作抉擇。你走你的獨木橋，我走我的陽關道；誰都不礙誰，後果如何，自行負責。優點在於，家長和學生有選擇的自由，依本身的家庭背景，以及未來的展望，進行選擇。

http://opinions.sinchew-i.com/node/21453?tid=17

The Real Threat of Cyber Terrorism

Identity theft — mainly, fraudulent spending — has affected hundreds of millions of people, causing hundreds of billions in losses worldwide in the past decade.

Today, though, your credit card number isn't the only target of hackers' keystrokes...

What Do You Do Online?

I bank with an online interest-bearing checking account. I use it to make utility, car, cable, and phone payments. It also contains my entire banking and ATM transaction history.

I pay my mortgage through a separate online account.

I have a brokerage account.

I manage my insurance and health savings account (HSA).

I have an individual retirement account (IRA).

I have a credit card account.

And of course, I have an email account, which doesn't forget anything and is a catch-all for correspondence from any person or business I interact with: orders, confirmation numbers, pictures, usernames, etc.

The very fabric of my life — and yours, I'm sure — is sewn together with digital thread.

It's not just our financial data that's at risk; it's our personal information, our likes and dislikes, our habits, and even our geographic location.

Google knows what you need and how you're getting it. It knows where you're going and how you're getting there. It knows what you're cooking. It knows when you're sick.

Social media, apps, and smartphones have added a whole new layer to this.

People chronicle their lives on Facebook, telling the world what movies and books they like, what they're doing over the weekend, even which coworker annoys them. Some even sync their phones' GPS with these accounts to broadcast their location as they go.

It's all out there in the ether, strings of ones and zeros floating on a server in some cloud.

Individually, you may not think much of it. But when combined, you have a dossier on a nation — a psychological profile, a financial profile, a spending profile, a medical history, a travel log, a family tree, a social interaction chart.

We're way past identity theft...

These mountains of data are our new Twin Towers.

The Real Threat of Cyber Terrorism

We've all seen how penetrable supposed "secure systems" can be.

Hacking has come to be the new tool of both criminals and law enforcement. It's at the core of today's activism, now known as hacktivism.

And more and more each day, it's terrorists' new weapon of choice.

The most important thing to know is that this stuff is already happening.

"It is now clear this cyber threat is one [of] the most serious economic and national security challenges we face as a nation," President Obama said during a speech.

"We know that cyber intruders have probed our electrical grid, and that in other countries cyber attacks have plunged entire cities into darkness," the president said.

Keep this issue in mind... when the market comes back, this will be one of the prime places to be.

Call it like you see it,
Nick Hodge

Face It

If you have a problem, face it. Don't Facebook it.

Putting A Human Face On Environmental Problems

If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.

A simple and straight forward message to bring up the awareness that taking care of environmental problems is everybody's responsibility.

Dengue are transmitted by mosquitoes, clearing off the surroundings to prevent the growing of mosquitoes is a good way to prevent the cases.

In the image above, steps such as eliminating pockets of stagnant water that serve as mosquito breeding sites at home, workplaces and their vicinity, not storing water in open containers, covering all water containers with lids - are carried out through a sharp community message image.

俊男美女的比赛

http://www.facebook.com/terimee

OMG Paradise’s We Love Planking Asia Challenge
OMG！帅哥美女爱扑街亚洲大挑战
http://www.12winfreebies.com/win-a-free-trip-with-omg-paradise-planking-asia-contest

Half Time (Retire Young Retire Rich)

Life is a game of time and money. A professional football game is made up of four fifteen-minute quarters and your working life is four ten-year quarters.

The Game of Money
Age	Game Period
25 - 35	1st Quarter
35 - 45	2nd Quarter	Retire Young Retire Rich!
------- Halftime -------
45 - 55	3rd Quarter
55 - 65	4th Quarter
------- Overtime -------
Out of Time

Will You Work Forever?

People who did not have anything at the end of the fourth quarter may have to work for the rest of their lives, which may not be a bad thing as long as you are able to work.

In fact, I believe working keeps us healthier and happier. I know because I retired at forty-seven and found it depressing ... which is why I keep working, even though I do not have to. ~ Robert Kiyosaki

Do something you enjoy and you can work at for as long as you want to work at it. There will come a time when you will call an end to the working game and really want to retire and do nothing. Also remember that doing nothing can still be expensive.

Every investor needs to pay attention to time. What worked for our parents' generation may not work for many of us. Watch the change in cycles. It is important to understand the velocity of money.

Velocity of Money

The example demonstrates the differences of how your money increases when invested in a mutual fund, a rental property, and a rental property where you borrow the appreciation every two years. Choices 1 and 2 are examples of people who park their money and choice 3 is an example of people that increase the velocity of their money.

20,000	Description	Net Equity After 7 Years	Average Annual Return on a $20,000 Investment
Choice 1	Invest in a mutual fund that earns 5% a year	$28,142	5.8%
Choice 2	Invest $20,000 and borrow $180,000 from the bank for a $200,000 rental property and let your equity compound. Assume rental income only breaks even with expenses and the property appreciates at a rate of 5% a year	$101,420	58.2%
Choice 3	Invest $20,000 and borrow $180,000 from the bank for a $200,000 rental property. Rather than letting the equity compound, you borrow out the appreciation every two years and invest it in a new property at 10 percent down.	$273,198	180.9%

The investor needs to first invest in their financial education before expecting such accelerated returns.

The formula professional investor follows:

1. Invest money into an asset
2. Get the original investment money back
3. But keep control of the original asset
4. Move the money into a new asset
5. Get the investment money back
6. Repeat the process

Financial institutions understand how important it is to expand their money supply in order to increase their earning power. Most investors do not realize they too can expand their own money supply and thereby expand their earning power. Financial institutions do this by making their money move. The more times a dollar moves, the greater the money supply and the greater their earning power of that dollar. The movement of money increases your money supply !

Don't count your money while you're sitting at the table. ~ A professional gambler.

In summary, as a professional investor, you need to know when to enter, when to exit, and how to get your money off the table, and still in the game playing with house's money, banker's money, and the tax man's money.

By financial definition, my ROI - return on investment - is infinite.

Professional investors want CONTROL over their assets and their cash flow.

Mechanization of Credit

The problem with this low-credit, low-risk environment:
profits were slim, not just for banks but for retailers and the real estate industry.

If people had to save up to buy a new item of clothing or an appliance, then the retailers were limited in how many gew-gaws they could sell.
If people stayed put and didn't buy and sell their houses frequently, then developers, lenders and realtors had a very limited field of profit-making opportunities.
If only people who qualified via stringent credit standards had access to credit, then the transactionf ees and interest earned from credit were also limited.

The "solution" to that low-risk, low-churn, low-credit environment was the commodification and mechanization of credit.

An analogy can be found in industrial consumer goods such as autos. When autos were hand-made by artisanal craftsmen, they were extraordinarily expensive. When Henry Ford mechanized the production, effectively turning them into mass-produced commodities, they became affordable to tens of millions of households.

The same thing happened with credit when computers took over the task of qualifying borrowers.

A computer program assessed credit on a simple point system, and voila, the costly task of assessing credit risk fell to pennies per borrower.

Not entirely by happenstance, banks found that millions of households that had been viewed as risks now qualified for credit, as the issuing and servicing of credit--credit card annual fees, transaction fees, late fees, etc.--became a fast-growing, monstrously profitable gusher for banks.


The Origins of American Debt-Serfdom
http://www.wealthwire.com/news/liberty/2075

4 Ideas to Help You Offer More Value to Your Customers

Internet marketing = An exchange of value

4 things you have that are valuable:
1. Time
2. Knowledge
3. Experience
4. Skills


Value is NOT JUST ABOUT MONEY

attention, trust, referring friends, sharing success stories, contributing to a vibrant/active website, sharing ideas, contacts, all these are values in addition to their money.

Offer valuable SOLUTIONS

1. Save $$$
2. Save time
3. Save effort - accomplish a lot more with a lot less work, help people to increase productiviti, to avoid mistakes, to achieve greater results,
4. Offer something better - example, Apple - improved customer experience, what is already available, filling in the gap, correcting weaknesses


What can I do to add value to the transaction?
How can I provide a solution that is cheaper, faster, easier, better?

Mister Potato and Jacker

Just not long ago, a local brand launched its Mister Potato and Man Utd marketing campaign. It is one of the best try for local business where they are scoring with the right brand. In this promotional event, you can Win the Experience of A Lifetime with Mister Potato Man Utd Promotion!

As player in the same industry, another company, Jacker, launched its own campaign aiming to boost sales too - where you can Win Up To RM200,000 Cash with Jacker’s Extravaganza Contest.

It is interesting that both companies are producing similar products, and both are from Melaka. And it is interesting too to study the gap between the team that produces these campaigns.

A follow up on 19th October, 2011:

When Ferguson walked into the press conference that would announce to the world the association of Mamee-Double Decker's Mr.Potato with United, there was pin-drop silence. The man has an aura that is larger than life.

Education Trap

During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act. ~ George Orwell

All public school is, in the US (and major part of the worlds where you can use Visa/Master - same system! - or spot KFC, McD, Starbucks etc) today, is indoctrination for jail or to train you to be a cubicle rat for the rest of your life.

The human herding process School is an 18 years forced government training program that sterilises the potential of brains in children. Those who actually survive schooling and survived comformity and continue on to think for themselves truly are a rare breed. Until we abolish mandatory schooling, your child will be brought up as a slave, so that he can accept becoming a slave later in life in adulthood. "The aim of public education is not to spread enlightenment at all; it is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed a standard citizenry, to put down dissent and originality" -HL Mencken

Formal education will make you a living. Self-education will make you a fortune. ~ Jim Rohn

Today, however, formal education often does not even make you a living as the cost of schooling has increased dramatically ever since the government subsidized it with grants, loans and tax benefits.

In life there are no "sure things" or guarantees. The government fooled you into thinking there are, but there isn't. In real life you just have to get out there and do it.

Real education, today, is all free and can be done via the internet from anywhere. All you have to do is ensure your child can read, write and count, and from there they can self-educate.

Don't get caught in the education trap...

Does Our Education System Destroy Free Will?
http://www.wealthwire.com/news/liberty/2047

An interesting study: We are the 99 percent
http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/

Slavery in the 21st Century?
http://howtze.blogspot.com/2011/07/slavery-in-21st-century.html

Food Security, Food Fear

Will a "Food Armageddon" happen in the near future? It will be tough to convince Malaysians that such a calamity could happen in a country where food is available round the clock. It is said that Malaysia is the only country in the world where food is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The term “food security” seems to be the preferred term today. Just a few decades ago, journalists weremore familiar with the term “food crisis”. Who authored the change in terminology? Was the currently preferred termspecially coined to be “politically correct” in context or “politically motivated” to accommodate a sinister agenda of institutional structures?

Experts today use this term because it is not just crisis situations which cause “food insecurity” (i.e. lack of security). Almost a billion people go to bed hungry each day, according to the World Bank. Some of these peoplemay live in countries which have food, but they cannot afford to buy the food, meaning, they have no economic access.

And this lack of abilitymay lead to a situation of “chronic food insecurity”, which potentially affects the growth and development of young children, and thereby their ability to learn as well. There have beenmany studies to show the link between under-nutrition and education performance among children. So all these are now included in the term “food security”.

Look At Effects

One possible effect is the disruption or restriction in supply of food or agricultural rawproducts to the country concerned. For specific countries, local policies could be developed, and supportedwith adequate funding and technical support, to increase local production of a particular item. For example, a country responsemay be to increase local rice production in the face of a global reduction in the amount of rice traded.

Most countries have government agencies chargedwith applying food safetymeasures. The challenge is to ensure they are functional.

There is enough food in the world to meet everyone’s needs, but not enough to accommodate everyone’s greed. Should the world be in jitters over an impending “Food-Armageddon” that might not materialise – or should the international community address the tangible problemof wealth and food distribution more emphatically?

Concurrently, the world population will become more urbanised, leading to fewer people farming. With urbanisation, it is also predicted that the percentage of poor people who are food insecure in the cities will also increase.

Organisations like the World Food Programme have advocated safety nets to help the vulnerable poor who cannot afford to buy food even if food is available.

These safety nets operate in the broader context of individual country policies on wealth distribution vis-à- vis job creation, livelihood improvement and generally economic growth. It is difficult for the international community to effectively address country-specific wealth distribution issues.

Individual country governments need to take local action that can meet local situations of unequal wealth distribution. Assuming no disruptions in the food supply chain, whether local or global, people who are economically well off have a better chance of being food secure.

Malaysia has many advantages as a food producing country – bountiful landwith no regular natural disasters such as typhoons or earthquakes, suitable climate for crop, fish and animal agriculture, resourceful people and strong technical as well as financial resources to support farming.

So Malaysia can ramp up significantly its domestic production of agricultural products if it chose to. The challenge is whether it would be cheaper to import or go for local production. In the context of food security, most experts predict increasing prices of raw materials and increased competition for these raw materials due to population demands and the improved economic status of more people, especially in Asia.

Many countries have developed their own food security plans to ensure there is sufficient resilience in supply to buffer any unexpected shocks to the system.

One of the dilemmas that countries likeMalaysia face is whether to increase the level of self- sufficiency in key items evenwhen other countries can produce those items cheaper or continue to depend on imports fromoverseas and find ways tominimise any supply disruption. There is no single solution.

There are also trade-off issues as cash crops like palm oil continue to yield high returns when compared to food crops like rice.

Some agricultural products will require continued importation, such as wheat; while others like soybean and corn could help lessen the impact from supply shortage if Malaysia grew more of its own. But both soybean and cornwould require renewed significant investments in research to produce the right crop varieties andmanagement technologies.

Brazil has shown that it is possible for tropical countries to become agriculture powerhouses if sufficient financial resources are devoted to R&D.

Agriculture will have to be made more attractive, especially, food agriculture via appropriate incentives and supportive policies.



http://203.115.192.117/thesun-epaper/tue/04102011/files/assets/seo/page10.html

I am not worried about long run supply of agriculture production; the big question is about who gets access to it. ~ Peter Timmer
Invest in agri technology, says Harvard don
http://www.thesundaily.my/news/164579

Related:
Food Price http://howtze.blogspot.com/2011/08/ever-wonder-why-malaysians-are-paying.html

Invest In Land
Penang wants control of foodstuff during natural disasters
http://www.thesundaily.my/news/175800

我和我的阿四

在我和我的小三于一星期前有所进展后，特丽美面子书专页活动也逐渐活跃。

特丽美俊男美女网络选拔赛在 2011 年 10 月 1 日推广后的两个星期内，粉丝从 2818 人增至 4040 人 （本贴标题阿四的意思，是四千多，非广东话里的 "ah sei / 仆人”的意思）：

社群互动也从之前近乎零而呈令人鼓舞的增长：

最新的进展，当然是游览特丽美面子书专页！

Roller Coaster Ride

This spells it out better than I can describe with words.

In the end, the only thing left standing will be the precious metals and their corresponding mining shares as one fiat currency after another implodes worldwide. We are witnessing the final stages of what happens when fiat currencies go the way of the world...

What lies between now and that moment is plenty of market volatility and all kinds of societal chaos.

You simply have to choose as an investor whether you want to be part of the slaughter, or be on top of the financial heap as the consequences for decades of economic and political stupidity come to full maturation.

This is called the hijacking of America by the elitist banks for the elitist banks so they can get even more power and control. In reality, nothing is going to change the course we are on. Citizens worldwide are going to pay the full price for all this economic and political stupidity. It is not going to be a pretty picture.

This would be very useful in explaining to loved ones and others why you are investing in precious metals:



From:
Slaughter or Opportunity: The Choice is Yours
http://www.wealthdaily.com/articles/precious-metals-investing/3256

Related:
A Message to Occupy Wall Street
http://www.wealthwire.com/news/liberty/1995

Is Buffet full of BS?

Can You Handle The Truth?

the truth is that life can be pretty cruel, if one cannot handle the truth.

To make matters worse, most of these people who cannot handle the truth don’t even know what the truth is. Many believe that the money they’ve been putting in for years is still there, much like a private savings account. Most are unable to comprehend that the money they put in is actually gone, having flowed into an older retiree’s wallet. They do not know that if younger person doesn’t come in behind them and put money in the funds, they’ll be forced to face the truth that there isn’t any money in the kitty.

Little does he know that the stock market is nothing but one big Ponzi scheme. In other words, if money stops coming in to the market, the money already in will rush out. With computerized high frequency trading (HFT), money can disappear at the speed of thought.

What will it take for the economy to come back? Well, obviously, another Ponzi scheme… and that’s the truth.

What truth do you have to handle?

----------------------

Why Is Gold Going Down?

central banks are the only ones who could move the price of gold that drastically that quickly. If the central banks are selling gold to raise cash, that’s not good news for the world economy. If they’re raising cash, then the economy is very weak. This isn’t good.

Then again, the price of gold could be coming down because the economy is strong. Gold is generally a fear investment, and if fear is going down, then the price of gold comes down.

If the sell-off in gold is because the economy is strong and growing again, the sell-off in gold is good news for the economy.

Is this time to buy gold and silver?

My answer is always the same. You need to do your own study and research, and test for yourself. If you can’t tolerate the ups and downs of markets, it’s best to allow someone else to invest for you, regardless of what you invest in.

If you trust our corporate and government leaders to fix our global economic problems, then gold is not for you. Stocks might be a better investment.

there are only two emotions that drive a market: greed and fear. When fear is strong and prices are low, then greed creeps back in and buyers like me begin buying again.

If everything is down, we’re all going down. If everything is going down, a gun might be your best buy.

----------------------

You Can’t Handle the Truh

the name of the game for the conspiracy is “Bailout.”

Why bailout countries such as Greece and Italy? One reason is that the rich want their money back. By bailing out the Greeks, they get the Greeks to pay them the money owed them.

In other words the rich are playing games with money.

In this game, the world becomes terrified, there is a lot of noise and thunder, and then the banks ride to the rescue, saving the world economy.

As stated in other COR updates, the ultra-rich want us to beg them to print more money, even though it means higher taxes and higher inflation for all of us.

What am I doing?

Nothing has changed. I continue to invest in debt by buying apartment houses with as much debt as possible. This is what banks want and what the government wants. The economy needs people who can handle large amounts of debt. This means I need to find apartment houses for good prices, take on lots of debt, and let the tenants pay off the debt.

What should you do? As always, I suggest getting more financial education.

This crisis will be the worst crisis for millions of people. It can also be the best crisis, if you know what you are doing.

-----------------------

Are You Rambo or Pee-Wee?

Risk is an interesting word. Millions live in fear of risk, although they don’t know what it is.

Risk only exists in the future—it’s what might happen. So technically, risk does not exist until the moment it’s realized. It’s only in the unknown where risk lies. For example, if you knew the stock market was going to crash in five days, you could do something about it and mitigate the risk.

Pee-Wee has been right more times, but Rambo’s had more fun. The fact is that I could lose everything I have in the deal, but I’m not stupid enough risk everything I have.

-----------------------

Buying your own shares is often a red flag for professional stock investors. It can mean a number of things. Generally, when a company buys its own shares, it means, “I can’t get my share price to go up so I’ll manipulate the share price up by buying my own shares, which will make my shareholders happy and like me.” It can also mean, “I can’t find a good deal,” or, “I don’t know how to grow my company,” or, “I’ve got more money than brains,” or, “The best return for my money is to invest in my company.”

On CNBC, Buffet said he was buying back shares of Berkshire Hathaway because the value of his stock was less than the “intrinsic value of his company.” This sent the price of his stock back up. Where Warren leads, the sheep follow.

Who knows what the truth is? Only Warren knows.

There are two reasons why I don’t invest in stocks.

Reason #1: Employees play too many games, from the CEO down. Many employees use the public company as their person expense account and ATM. This is why I tend to invest in private companies, not public ones. The private companies are businesses of friends, fellow entrepreneurs who own their company and whom I know and trust.

Reason #2: I invest for cash flow, not capital gains. Most people who play the stock market invest for capital gains, wanting the price to go up. Investing for cash flow, I receive a check every month or every quarter. If I don’t like the dollar amount on my check, I call my friend to find out what’s going on.

Try calling Warren and see what happens.

Egalitarian

Big govt vs small govt
Aidan Chan

Switzerland has been a safe haven for many centuries – both financial and political.

this stable country does not have a central government...its central bank is tiny in comparison to its size.

The Swiss “government”, or collection of governments, is entirely bottom-up, with plenty of volatility. In fact, it is the last main nation that is not a nation-state in the modern definition of the term. It has a small government, or a coalition of small governments. Because so many decisions are made at the municipal or cantonal level, the Swiss are intimately involved with laws and regulations which affect their lives. In Malaysia, by comparison, very few people relative to the Malaysian population know the Constitution.

Each canton is different, so the Swiss are able to see for themselves which policies work best.

Swiss citizens can then decide which policy suits them best and “vote with their feet” by moving to the canton which they find the most attractive. The result is that good policies tend to drive out bad.

When Malaysians vote with their feet, they move to another country, not another state. Encouraging more intra-Malaysian competition between states might help to mitigate this.

I like to think of the Swiss system as a free market, competitive, federalist system of government.

Another good reason for the coalition of governments system is that Switzerland is made up of several different major ethnic groups – Germans, French, Italians and Romans. Over the years, whenever conflicts arose between the language groups, or between Catholics and Protestants, the Swiss resolved these by allowing each of the warring groups to govern themselves. Thus single cantons (Swiss states) have divided into half-cantons, new cantons have been formed, and border communes have opted to leave one canton to join another. In this way, the Swiss system allowed people of different languages, cultures, religions and traditions to live together in peace and harmony. It is a system Malaysia can learn from, a system where all political dissent and noise is allowed to rise to the surface. In contrast, we are currently fond of stoking dissent and not allowing it to rise to the surface.

Politicians are more easily held accountable in a small government. A government bureaucrat would not be as ashamed of overspending taxpayers’ money as someone you see in the town square every day.

In the spirit of libertarianism, we should promote the idea of downsizing big governments, or moving big governments towards a coalition of small governments. Small is beautiful; small governments are beautiful governments.

http://www.thesundaily.my/news/177340

----------------------------------------- Same rules of the game
Tricia Yeoh

Their message is simple: a protest against the well-oiled financial and economic system that is led by the 1% of the population, made up of the wealthiest and most well-connected Americans; the same system that despite having wreaked havoc on the country’s (and therefore, the world’s) economy, still continues running unabashedly on the same rules of the game as it did previously.

The principle of privatisation is to maximise competitiveness and productive efficiency, but the Malaysian version seems to have emerged with the opposite results.

One wonders if real competition and private-led initiatives will be permitted to flourish. Especially since recent privatisation schemes with similar modus operandi have continued.

although the federal government will pay the concession companies the additional fees, this is only for the first five to seven years. These funds dispensed by government are effectively taxpayers’ money anyway.

The privatisation model seems to be a repetition of schemes that in the past have failed to deliver public benefits effectively. Further, it enriches a rentier, crony class disproportionately to corporate performance. Unending “corporate welfare” provided by government could instead be channelled more effectively for public good.

Given the trend, one hopes Budget 2012 will tackle structural reform. Failing which, Malaysians may begin to ask themselves whether they belong to the 1% of society – or the 99%.

Egalitarian
Adjective:Of, relating to, or believing in the principle that all people are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities.
Noun: A person who advocates or supports such a principle.

http://www.thesundaily.my/news/169226

Scoring with The Right Brand

This is a follow up discussion on Mister Potato and Man Utd.

Football clubs are not what they used to be.

But as the game evolved, so have the clubs.

Most have grown intomillion-pound enterprises, some of which are listed in the local bourses.

While one group of highly-paidmen show their skills on the field, another group of not-so-well paidmen (andwomen) make it their business to bringmoremoney into their over-flowing coffers.Yet, there’s another groupwhich goes about building the club as a brand, and then conquering markets all over the globe.

This year, with a “brand value” of £412 million, Manchester United Football Club dislodged Real Madrid (£401 million) at the top of the table followed by Barcelona (£392 million), BayernMunich (£308million) and Chelsea (£109million). These figures were arrived at by brand consultants, Brand Finance plc who define a brand as the trademark and associated intellectual property.

AON and Manchester United

AON is the world’s leading insurance broker and risk consultant. Headquartered in Chicago, it has more than 59,000 employees in 120 countries. But what has insurance got to dowith football? AON explains on its website: "Football is dynamic, competitive and appeals to a global audience. It transcends cultures and people, and brings communities together like no other sport. It goes without saying that for AON to become part of this high energy environment is extremely exciting." Like AON, Manchester United has a truly global reach. The club has a great pedigree, and shares both our ambition for worldwide appeal, and our pursuit of excellence. This partnership allows us to bring theManchester United brand into our core business areas, andwill help us to grow in emerging insurance and reinsurance markets, such as parts of Asia, where the Manchester United brand is very strong. “TheManchester United shirt is an iconic image in the world of sport, and the chance to appear on it is very rare – AON is only the fourth company to do so in history of the club.”

Similar sentiments were expressed by the Malaysian company’s CEO, Datuk Pang Tee Chew who explained how the sponsorship deal with Manchester United would make available a huge platform to expand in both new and existing markets for Mister Potato.

“We believe football is a wholesome event that brings friends and family together. They cheer for their team together. When their team wins, they celebrate together. We want to be the favourite snack towatch football with, and become part of the special moments only Manchester United can provide.

“I believeMister Potato’s brand image will be elevated by theManchester United partnership and the football fans will love Mister Potato just as they loveManchester United,” he told themedia at the launching in Old Trafford three weeks ago.

... the commercial teamat United have developed such “a compelling andwell protected brand, that global partners are willing to pay premium sums to be affiliated” with the champions.

With broadcasting andmatch-day revenues all but maxed out, it’s the commercial brand revenues that provide the club and investors with contractual and highly profitable streams of income less dependent with on pitch success.

http://epaper.sun2surf.com/thesun-epaper/thu/06102011/files/assets/seo/page29.html

Can You Afford It?

Can you afford it?
Natalie Shobana Ambrose

The face of Malaysia’s urban poor has evolved and now includes different segments of society. Imagine if Adam were on a tight budget, what other Malaysians earning less are living without.

The experts and politicians say we need to live within our means and save 30% of our income. In Adam’s case, saving RM1,500 is next to impossible unless we cook the books and he stops eating.

Imagine how much better Adam’s classmates working overseas are doing – and we wonder why the brain drain figures are so high in this country.

...instead of just pumping more and more money from a deficit budget, greater efforts are concentrated on curbing corruption and frivolous spending, so that the real benefactors of the budget would be the people.

http://www.thesundaily.my/news/167775

Reluctant to lead
Yap Mun Ching

...unless Asia is able to muster the leadership and innovativeness to respond to the new environment, we cannot expect a painless transition from the shift in global balance of power.

... it is this lack of leadership that will hinder the ability of future generations to find global solutions to global problems.

Is this a manifestation of Asian humbleness or have we become so set in the Confucian/Asian-values hierarchy of authority that we are now good only as followers?

...recent developments in the Middle East also hint at what could be the flip side of the coin if not enough jobs are generated to accommodate the large numbers of young people entering the work force annually.

...leadership and innovation are two sides of the same coin that Asia must embrace if global leadership is to come from this region.

The democratisation of Asia at all levels of society must take place in order for the region to fulfil its growth potential. And unless Asian leaders to today can loosen their grip on authority and allow true creativity to grow, we may as well prepare ourselves for many years of hardship ahead.

http://www.thesundaily.my/news/167781

多喝茶没事 没事多喝茶

江迅‧踐行“減法生活”
一段感情結束，一時身體欠佳，一份工作失去，一場財務危機，一次心靈受傷……沒關係，嘗試不同方式，釋放身體內的沉積能量，減掉不切實際的想法，給生活排列優先次序，集中注意力做最重要的事，把複雜問題簡單化，為心靈減壓，減去疲憊。減肥，減壓，減負，減齡，減輕煩惱，減少鬱悶，減出完美生活。生活的本色是簡約。

http://opinions.sinchew-i.com/taxonomy/term/22

鄭梅嬌‧巨人的感召
只要人人能在自已的崗位上，忠於自己的角色，在心態上有一定的高度，大家都有能力讓世界更美好，不一定要等到成為喬布斯，或甚麼首富，才叫成功。

http://opinions.sinchew-i.com/node/21189

歐陽文風‧蘋果與禪
他不是粗枝大葉的敢做敢為，因為勇敢不會太難，無知者往往最敢；他是一個思考者，可以沉靜。

蘋果產品總有一絲絲的禪味，設計簡單但不單調，平靜但不平凡，一切從簡，但內容豐富；空與實，實與空，互相交錯，以少勝多，以無為有。

喬布斯拒絕人雲亦雲，因為這是媚俗。他拒絕隨波逐流，但也非逆流而行，他是以橫溢的才華，使歷史的長河從此改道！

http://opinions.sinchew-i.com/node/21198?tid=10

楊照‧難以超越的“喬布斯障礙”
“喬布斯障礙”指的是一種未來很難被超越的經營管理典範，一種未來更難被超越的企業家形象。

他五度（！）以不同產品改變人類生活體驗的光輝成就，他創造的高科技與美學品味結合的模式，他帶領的既能揮灑創意又能切實執行的神奇團隊，還有他在短時間內給蘋果帶來的驚人營收、盈餘與高漲股價。

看看喬布斯同輩的這些人物就更清楚了。微軟的蓋茲、亞馬遜的貝佐斯、谷歌的施密特，乃至於年紀更輕的臉書的祖克柏，他們都是獨當一面的一代創新梟雄，但就連他們，都沒有取得、或已經失去了喬布斯那樣的全球性近乎“教主”的地位。一個關鍵因素：喬布斯不只創造一個讓人拍案驚奇的發明，他源源不斷持續創造了一連串讓人愛不釋手的發明。

最有可能瓦解“喬布斯傳奇”的，是喬布斯自己。

http://opinions.sinchew-i.com/node/21193

侯雅倫‧你我都不明白的事
習慣了以千萬和億作花費單位的官爺們，永遠不會明白小市民繳不起賬單的煩惱，更不會明白為何有人窮其一生都買不起一間小小的房子。

http://opinions.sinchew-i.com/node/21194?tid=7

Cruel to be Kind

Last year, at a dialogue session with visiting Talent Corp officials including those from Pemandu, CIMB head honcho, Datuk Nazir Razak, talked about the need for Malaysian talent to return home. So the question that was posed was: “Why would anyone want to come back to a country which is perceived to be rife with corruption?” Nazir acknowledged it as a problem and responded by saying that such perceptions have to be changed and that the prime minister is paying serious attention to them. Did my question damage the image of the country? It is a serious enough issue that is deterring many young people from returning home and who perhaps, falsely, have been led to believe that in Malaysia, “you have to pay for everything”.

How are such perceptions going to change if in the first place we do not acknowledge their existence and take appropriate steps to rectify them? What better avenue than with young talented Malaysians who are able to accept that something is being done to address such issues? But for some quarters, most with blinkered minds, such questions are akin to “memalukan imej Malaysia”.

No, the country’s image is not being damaged by journalists who seek the right answers to many unanswered questions. It is being damaged by those who never want to confront or take on contentious issues.

Sometimes, you have to be cruel to be kind by asking questions that require straight answers. This certainly does not make me a lesser Malaysian.

Cruel to be kind
by R. Nadeswaran
http://www.thesundaily.my/news/163448

我和我的小三

特丽美俊男美女网络选拔赛在 2011 年 10 月 1 日开始进行（适逢星期六），当时的特丽美面子书专页有 2818 名粉丝：

点击上图以观看时间

在 2011 年 10 月 6 日上午，粉丝小增至 3018 人　（标题“小三”的意思）：

点击上图以观看时间

虽然最近 Facebook 改了一些流程，即 by default 社群不需按 LIKE 或赞成为粉丝也可以游览专页内容，粉丝的增长幅度与参赛人数也还好。

至目前为止，共有 30 名参赛者 - 请游览特丽美俊男美女网络选拔赛十月份活动相簿 - 而且素质也还不错。

值得一提的是，特丽美俊男美女网络选拔赛报名表格设计也非常专业。

最新的进展，请游览特丽美面子书专页。投票者也有奖品！

Red Tomato Campaign - 3 months

Online campaign: Red Tomato weekly newspaper entering 3rd month, a grow of fans count from 1,431 (as at 5th July 2011) to current 19,014 (as at 5th Oct 2011), 1228% growth in 3 months. Not bad.

Till Death Do Us Part?

Whatever happened to "till death do us part" ?! .. :P

When you say, " To have and to hold," you're talking about the TV remote - right ? "

It will not be "... and they live happily ever after". This scenario only happens in fairytales.
Extra affairs of the heart
Leong Chin
The Sun Daily, Lifestyle, Page 28, October 7, 2011

Are You An App?

I’m personally in favour of no retirement age limit and for freedom of choice as well as for market forces to prevail. If a person wants to retire by 55 (or earlier), he should be allowed to do so, and if he wants to work until 75 (or later), he should be able to do so too, provided his employers are agreeable.

I guess I hold this view because I have an unconventional perspective of work. I’m a freelancer, so any kind of mandatory retirement age limit would not apply to me.

Whether you are a millionaire, a manager or a teacher, you will one day have to make a transition from the struggle for success to the quest for significance. ~ Bob Buford

And what exactly is “significance”?

a great life involves “using your strengths, understanding what it is that makes you unique, realising the truest expression of who you are – and doing that persistently in the service of something larger than yourself”. ~ Daniel Pink, A Whole New Mind

And the mid-point of your life – “Half Time” – is the best time to think about what you can do so that at the end of your career, you don’t end up wondering “Is this all there is to life?”

Half Time
Oon Yeoh
http://www.thesundaily.my/news/166169

I cost them almost nothing. I don't have health care. I can be deleted at a moment's notice. I'm not a valued employee anymore. I'm an app.

迈克尔•戴尔与美国学生创业明星座谈笔录

去实践，去着手做事。如果你等待别人教你成为创业者，你就不是一个创业者。

技能可以学习。它是让你走出去做出不凡之事的驱动力和雄心。我们任何人都可以成为医生。我们任何人都可以做律师。但只有自强自立的志气——即使在困难的时刻——让我们与众不同。

如果把你置于一个有机会快速学习，并且必须学会成功的环境的话，你的学习过程就会快得惊人。

创业是一种激情，因为你心甘情愿地为创业而学习，它成了你生活的一个重要部分。如果你不喜欢创业，你就不可能成为学生创业者。我完成工作，因为我乐在其中。它不是一项任务。

我过去，并且直到今天仍然遵循的原则是非常简单的。我擅长什么？我不擅长什么？我如何让可能是最棒的人来帮助我做我不擅长的事情？我并不想尝试亲自动手做一切事情。

在你的公司规模还小的时候，基本上一切都是未知的，你没有资本，你还年轻，会有一些唯利是图的人来为你工作。因为这时候风险与回报都相当高。

你必须建立一个面对挑战也能够发展下去的制度。也可能有一些人会做出不同的决定。他们说，我们只打算以我们人能成长的速度成长。好吧。你可能最终仍然是一家非常小的公司。你用的人不对。

如果业务增长速度超过人的成长速度，而现在是你最好的朋友在做这项工作，可他已经没有能力做好，你是要做出一个感性决定还是理性决定呢？这不是私人问题。这是业务问题。如果你雇佣朋友，你要准备好解雇他们。

我认为你必须确定你要寻求什么样的生活。

的确有挑战，但我觉得这些挑战不见得与年轻且快速取得巨大成功有必然的联系。你会受到想从你这里渔利的人们的攻击。我必须要学会保护自己不受他们的侵害。这些人中谁是我的朋友，谁只是想从我这得到好处？结果发现有很多人就是想从我这里渔利。而且，我越成功，他们想得到的东西就越多。

领导者必须乐观。这是很重要的一点，我已经学到了一些：你会发现自己处于完全无所适从的境地，而且你的手上是一堆乱麻。这时如果你不给你的属下指明前进的方向，如果你不知道路在何方，那么用不了多久你就得歇业。因为大家都依赖于你。你必须想出办法，制定计划。这就是领导的职责。

我觉得，不利用社交媒体是很荒唐的事情，因为在与客户交流和分享信息方面，社交媒体是精髓工具。你可以通过它把你的信息直接传播给大量的客户和大量的潜在用户。而且社交媒体发展极其迅猛。

内容的深度对自然搜索有很大影响。所以，如果你有深度的内容——有可能来自于博客或者来自于与客户的交谈——就会有助于自然搜索。实际上，自然搜索是几乎任何企业的强大导向信息。它正在取代大量的其他媒体形式。

对我来说，我的博客非常有用。说到产品本身，客户群就会非常兴奋。他们对颜色、对图案都很兴奋。他们喜欢佛蒙特州公司的想法，他们喜欢我去滑雪和赛车的想法。对我来说，通过社交媒体在网上讲述这个事情其实是我的需要。不然的话没有人会知道我在做什么。~ 科琳娜·普雷沃

在我们这个阶段，还是要讲经济效益的，因为我们不能损失资本。

全文 ：http://www.forbeschina.com/entrepreneur/review/201108/0011374.shtml



English version: http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2011/0822/best-colleges-11-dell-noer-hamilton-dwyer-fu-startup-summit.html

人气卖家 Power Seller

逛商场时，直觉叫我投资马币 8 块钱买这本杂志：

打开了密封的胶袋，再看一看内容，资讯将让读者赚回无数倍的回酬...

与虚拟大国诞生，第三波淘金潮在 facebook一样，都是 Business Next 数位时代的商品。

看来本地杂志还有一段很长的距离要走。