A tale of logic and emotion

I guess it's been a long time since I've written anything on this blog. Admittedly, it was not because of a lack of time; but I was too confused these days to write anything sensibly. However right now at 2am in the morning, I can finally extricate myself from my predicament and analyse things in perspective. To begin, I'll start off with my favourite topic on investing.

It's always been a great pleasure to read books on Warren Buffett, especially the 2 classics by Robert Hagstrom. (I feel that Robert has done the most extensive research and analysis on Mr. Buffett) Not least because I'm a Buffett fanatic; I'm as much a cynic as well as an admirer of Mr. Buffett. But because his thinking always brings order in the midst of chaos, and reason in the face of irrational exuberance. These traits help to keep me sane for quite some time these days.

And back to ideas on investing. I'm a value investor, but I'm not a 100% value advocator. The importance of this statement is I've just identified my investment philosophy, a.k.a what are my carefully thought out investment strategies. And I don't mean trading strategies such as buying at p/e below 30, or following certain trends, or even following the Buffett Way. I mean really, what are the reasons that make me believe in this strategy I'm using, are they relevant anymore, are there logical fallacies, am I taking risks and returns which are unacceptable due to my investment philosophy. (Not due to market conditions) That's why I always find it ridiculous when people say they are playing the market. The market is one of the easiest and fastest ways for you to lose your entire fortune, so how can investing not be a serious business with an infallible investment philosphy? To ascertain whether you understand your investment philosophy, try explaining why you are most comfortable or most confident in your trading strategy to someone in 3 minutes. And 3 minutes is only for first timers, it's supposed to go down to 1.30 minutes when you are absolutely sure. But that is not all. An investment philosophy, as mentioned earlier may be extremely flawed, and it requires intelligence, humility, confidence and time to fine-tune.

I feel that just as Economics has a central problem of scarcity, the realm of investing also has its own central problem: How not to lose money. Many may be familiar but not appreciative of the 2 famous rules: Not to lose money, and never forget rule number 1. Of course, losing paper money or even real money is part and parcel of investing. But on foresight and not on hindsight, consider whether we have done everything possible to understand comfortably the companies we invest in, whether the price was really logical, and lastly whether our investment philosophies have changed. We should not blame ourselves for unexpected changes on hindsight because these are likely non-recurring.

At this point, it is important to understand the difference between an investor and a speculator. This is because I believe that investors and speculators do not mix well socially or privately, and if they ever turn out to be Siamese twins it may become a total disaster. The difference is probably best summarized by Keynes and Buffett as: Investing is the process of forecasting roughly with a margin of safety of the yield of the asset or business over its life, speculating is forecasting the psychology of the market. Benjamin Graham was more cynical in his definition: Operations not promising safety of capital and a satisfactory return are speculative. Anyway according to Keynes, investing is about fundamental analysis while speculating is about technical analysis. Maybe some of us will find Keynes' definition outrageous. But think about it; the purpose of speculation is to guess correctly so as to be rewarded quickly, afterall people don't speculate that 10 years later they have bought a winning stock. (Unless you are Nostradamus) This means a specific time frame, and of course high turnovers and precise market timings. And of course only technical analysis is concerned about predicting the time frame, where people are trying to decipher the next up and coming trend to follow so they can profit immediately. Fundamental analysis however is not about predicting the time frame, our job is to value the asset using its earnings, and finding the right price below value to earn a satisfactory return when the price meets value.

I do not believe in technical analysis for several reasons. However, my enlightenment comes from Robert's research at Santa Fe Institute. (A top-notch research institute famed for its multi-disciplinary and open-minded approach) The market is concluded to be a complex system, and the key to this system is its adaptability. Humans, alike the tissues that form part of us, adapt. And we reorganise our thoughts to correct our obvious errors in the past. (For eg, we might have heard things such as "Stocks at p/e under 30 have been winning over the past 6 months and I should have bought them") This adaptability brings about multiple degrees of thinking where we are second or even third degree guessing what our 6 billion opponents are guessing about each other. In a theoretical way the market mechanism may still bring this super complex system to an equilibrium where a winning strategy occurs, but the system on a whole is so unstable that any equilibrium last shorter than the time needed for an ordinary person to figure out. The other thing that troubles me about trends is regarding the logic of back testing. I still find it unacceptable that people inevitably manipulate variables (even unintentionally) to spot a trend. And even if we have spotted the correct trend, is that relevant anymore at this point in time? And even if the correct trend worked precisely at this point in time, can I repeat my strategy to achieve similar winnings? At the end of the day, is my investment philosophy so unstable and risky? No wonder traders make huge gains but easily lose more too. And for those who are successful, I'm not even sure whether they made money because they somehow have a prodigy to bet big on winning stakes. Of course I may be exaggerating the risks by neglecting the risk management polices (such as stop-loss positions). But what if you consistently make small losses from bad luck? Is this very much like gambling? If it were so, can you sleep well tonight by putting all your money into trading positions instead of using the fund's money?

And this is not to say fundamental analysis is the key to success either. As implied in the definition earlier, the two keys to fundamental analysis are determining the value and waiting for price to catch up to value. Tackling the second issue, if price stays depressed for a very long time, then capital gains will be reduced because of the time value of money. This is understandably frightening, but on a more logical analysis, returns come from 2 aspects: Dividends (or earnings if you own the entire company) and capital gains. Robert has shown that there is a high correlation between price and earnings over a period of time. However even when disregarding that, Mr. Buffett apparently seems unfazed by buying into private companies. These holdings have absolutely no price tags in the market, but he is happier than ever that such companies pay him such high returns because he paid such a miserable price for them since they are virgin to market IPO excitement. To the trickier first issue of valuing a company properly, this is where true education starts. To understand how a business work, how the management is running it, the financial performance of the company and lastly the value of the company, in this specific order which must not be altered, is my ultimate goal. (To fully understand, we have to ask ourselves why it should be in this order) I don't think I'm an expert in any industry or company so far, but these days i'm asking myself all sorts of questions and seeking for answers that I'm probably improving my general understanding of how businesses work.

Lastly, I've left my personal emotions to this very end. I don't think I'm living happily at all, especially I should confess that I've thought of experiencing the excitement of flying off the moving windscreen whenever I think about family problems and such. My cynicism is growing, and I'm more convinced now that unconditional love is a luxury beyond my reach. I hated the abuse when I was young, but now it makes no difference with the amount of hypocrisy from my parents. I've only told my best friend what happened since dirty linen should not be washed in public. Therefore, I've also never shared my success and sadness with anyone before; the sorrow I felt when leaving HC, the achievement when I finally played solo for NJCO in its first public concert, when I conquered lies in NS and when I lived out my bittersweet success in SMU. It is indeed a sad and lonely world out there, at least for me. But I still believe in reaching the light at the end of the tunnel, to become the beacon of light for youths.

It is in my sincerest wish to become a student of students, and a teacher of teachers for the future troubled youths.

It's a long, long journey

Six months fly past in a twinkling of an eye again. However, I still remember how exhausting and demanding this semester was. Personally, I feel that after pushing myself to the limits this time, I am more confident about my future endeavours. Overall, I did well for my grades and I am happy with my own performance. However, this semester also came with a heavy price, one which caused me great physical and emotional labour and intensified my no-nonsense attitude when it comes to work.

Perhaps it started from the mid term break. I was very demoralised and burnt out at that time because I ended up handling my projects alone. I remembered having to review my TA's comments, re-write the proposal and send the final copy to the office all by myself just to meet the deadline, while the other teammates were enjoying the start of the break. It was a mistake on everyone's part because we were all unaware of the deadline until the day itself. However, what frustrated me was that while I was trying to do a lot of research for the project, my teammates apparently did not appreciate the importance of the research or take the time to find out the proposal's deadline. It was then that I thought to myself I should not give up just because I was alone. Giving up would be akin to forgetting why I even bothered to step out from my comfort zone in chem engine to take a greater challenge in SMU.

At various points in time, I wondered to myself if I was overdoing it and whether my efforts were unnecessary. Therefore, I always made sure that I double checked with my teammates whether I did the right thing. In one instance, I asked someone to find relevant videos for the presentation, but it turned out that he wasn't very committed to the idea. Frustrated, I decided to search for the videos myself despite having an important test the following day. It turned out that the videos created a lot of interest and debate for both the class and my professor. In another project, I realised that I was handling both case studies by myself, despite having discussed the ideas with my teammates and delegated work to them. However, this is because some of my teammates lacked understanding in the marketing concepts required for the project. My determination was put to the test when I slept less than six hours on two days, while having a presentation and report submission and two important tests on those two days. Therefore, after overcoming these obstacles, I know I can survive and excel in overwhelming difficulties as long as I will my heart to it.

However, this semester was also one of my happiest in SMU. I've met a couple of really kind souls in SMU and became good friends with them. Can you imagine that someone in SMU actually brings around a lighter in his bag so that he can celebrate his friends' birthdays? Or someone who never hesitates to pick up his phone to give a listening ear to the mentally ill? I guess this world isn't so dark afterall, where everyone only thinks of his or her own pleasures and problems. There are people who are genuinely interested to make this world a better place for others and understand that in truth, we are all equal. It is this human spirit that kept me warm despite the feeling of loneliness and helplessness. And I'm really thankful for the outrageuous surprise they have given me on my birthday, although I must admit I was really more nervous than proud to have a hot-air spongebob balloon tied to my desk in the 300 seater exam hall. =)

Recently, I've lost a couple of valuable things close to my heart. It will probably take some time to get over them but I know life will only become happier in the days to come. Maybe a new surprise is in stall for me... who knows? But I'm sure of one thing, that I've become much much stronger... and I will not be alone.

P.S: To become greater, it's not about measuring up to others, it's about overcoming myself.

This blog never really died...

To all my friends from secondary school, JC, NS or my first term in SMU, I'm really sorry for not keeping you updated in the past 6 months. Yup indeed, the past 6 months seemed a lot tougher and busier than my first term in SMU, partly because I was swarmed with so many modules that I was not good at and I had to work doubly hard for them. Nevertheless, besides the disappointing Management Science module, (which I really regret taking under that prof) everything else seemed to pay off. Overall, I did quite well for my combined GPA, largely due to my results in the first term.

However, there were a lot going on behind the scenes. For a start, I still remember that Business Law was my first class in this term and I had created such a bad impression on my prof (which I honestly have no idea why) that she "ban-listed" me from the second lesson onwards. Initially, I thought I was just hyper-sensitive. But it was no sooner that my friends told me she made snide comments everytime I asked a question or provided a suggestion. (Things like "obviously you have not been reading up on the case", when it was only the second lesson and no one bothered to buy the case book yet, and "you can say all you want, but this is not how the Singapore Law works") And I realised she always replied my emails "a tad later" than my friend, for example, my email which was sent on Sunday night only got a brief (if not absurdly abstract) reply on Thursday afternoon but my friend's email on Wednesday night received an immediate reply. Seriously, I was so frustrated and demoralised after every Business Law class that I had even thought of giving up! Luckily, my good friend Melvin reminded me that exams in SMU are transparent. (Names are not written on exam sheets to prevent discrimination) As such, I was determined to salvage whatever negative class participation marks I had and kudos, I did it! Haha, of course this is somewhat exaggerated since it is impossible to get negative class participation marks, but the point is unlike me in the past, I did not give up without a fight. :)

My LTB (Leadership and Team Building) module was a totally different experience altogether. Looking back, it was certainly one of the most memorable times I had in SMU. As part of this course, we had to organise and execute a community service project and we will be judged based on our project results as well as team dynamics. In the end, we created a beautiful and homely library-lounge for the orphans of Darul Ihsan. Doesn't it sound fun? Or at least until you realised you have to work with 7 very different people in your team who are pre-arranged. Frankly speaking, this is the module which made me drop lots of hair, took up all my msn and dinner time and made me lose countless nights of sleep. As it turned out, every team I knew had their own major problems, and none was so cordial or smooth-sailing as I initially thought it would be. However, what touched me and made my team different was that somehow, we realised that we needed to iron out these problems. And for the first time, I could feel our heartbeats thumping as one. Yes, although this is a meaningless cliche phrase in most instances, I could really feel their heartbeats this time. This feeling is indescribable; when you see your teammates working with you from Saturday morning to Sunday 6am, when everyone disregarded his or her presentation on Monday just for the sake of making the LTB project a roaring success, and in the middle of the night we shared our woes and laughters like we were long time best friends. (Such as comforting Yue Yue when she missed her mum so terribly, confessing in funny poses in front of the video camera, feeling unjust for Angie and together with Jinhao helped her to create an A+++ email to refute the unfeeling CYJ, and laughing with Forest throughout the night while he made Singapore's funniest video for the project. As ridiculous as these descriptions may seem to be, the truth is it was really a very emotional and dramatic night. Maybe you might think that we were forced to bond together as a team to finish the project, but this wasn't the case. In fact, we could have easily finished the powerpoint slides and packed up for the day. However, we chose to make 3 excellent videos for the project because we really wanted to make something out of our project and our friendship. And like what I've told my LTB friends, this is and probably will be the only time I could talk in LJ language. (If you're still innocent, never mind what LJ means) *A tribute to you guys again*

After my exams in April, my story at Boys Town started on a new chapter. Currently, I'm tutoring a Chinese-Japanese student called Zachery. He seemed to be very enthusiastic towards learning and I'm quite satisfied with him. I also have good and bad news about my former students. The good news is Djong and Roy have finally stepped closer to their dreams by entering the institutions of their choice. (Djong went to poly and Roy decided to sign on with Guards) They have achieved what they wanted and I'm happy for them. Hopefully one day, they would help their juniors in Boys Town too. However, I'm quite worried for Xavier. Although he was not assigned to be my student, however, I have interacted with him on many occasions. Currently, Xavier is transferred to Boys Home due to some offences he committed. Therefore, I'm going to contact his counsellor in Boys Home asap and hopefully get a chance to see him and give him an important present. (It's a meaningful card and some glitter pens for his drawing) I thought it's urgent that I meet him soon because I know how it feels like to be cut off from all your friends and family. During such harsh times, it's really comforting to know that at least someone out there still believes and supports you. I hope that my message can get across to him that he's not alone... and hopefully, this will be a turning point in his life.

Coming back to myself, I personally feel that this blog never really died despite hibernating for a whole 6 months. Occasionally, I still read my blog again and find new inspirations in my life. Every promise I've made and everything I've been through is a living testimony that I've somewhat grown up. I guess this is something I've never expected when I first began this blog. Hopefully, the spirit of persistence and confidence will continue to inspire me as I write this blog. As for now, Gambatte! Gambatte! Gambatte!

Looking back at the past 5 months

It's really been a long time since I have written anything on this blog. Firstly, I must thank Elvin and Gaston for posting comments on my last blog entry... it really inspires me to continue blogging after the exams. Also, it is very heartening to know that some of my friends like Zhiwei are starting to read my blog... guess it's a good way for friends to know more about me even if we have to take different modules next semester. :)

Haha... I'll stop here with the niceties. (This is certainly not the star awards which ended a few days ago) Looking back at the past 5 months, I feel that I have changed and to a certain extent, become a better person. In the last blog entry, I have promised Boyang and myself that I must do well in my SMU academic life and get the SMU scholarship. So far, it seems that I am well on track and if everything goes well, I will push myself to ask the Deans for the scholarship. This scholarship has a significant meaning to me because it represents my goals and determination at a time when I faced lots of objections and doubts from my family and friends. Getting the scholarship will therefore be a very important proof I can overcome all obstacles and reach my goals like how Changjin did it. I remember just 5 months ago, almost everyone did not share in my dreams and some even ridiculed me. Well, things have changed now. I am a stronger person than before. :) Another important reason to get the scholarship is to relieve the financial burden on my father... afterall as most of my friends know my father is paying for both me and my brother's education and I really hope to do something for my family. This dream, this goal, is more than just the money or the prestige. It represents my determination and courage when no one else could believe in me.

My last session at Boys Town was an enjoyable one, and I could sense some degree of gratitude from my tutees. I bought them chocolates as promised because Djong did quite well in his prelims, and it was also a farewell treat for both of them who would be leaving Boys Town at the end of this year. Actually, I am confident both will achieve their dreams someday, because Roy has changed into a more mature and repsonsible person, and Djong has discovered his talents and found his direction. Haha... reflecting now, I also need to grow up... cannot be as whiny and short-tempered as before. I remember my goal is to become a teacher of teachers one day. :)

I have a piece of good news to share with my close friends too... My BGS (Business, Government and Society) prof welcomes me to join her research team for an overseas study mission on industrial parks in Dalian. This will be the first time I have ever boarded a plane, travel further than Malacca and have all my travelling expenses paid for. :) Besides that, it is certainly a refreshing experience to interact with the Chinese people and understand the business climate in China and how Singapore companies can succeed there. However, I have to get a GPA of at least 3.8 which is certainly a formidable challenge. Nevertheless, I still have a chance to achieve it... as long as my management accounting doesn't screw up. (Praying praying hard...)

After staying 5 months in SMU, I have some opinions on this university. I realised many people keep saying that SMU is different, the environment is unique and the students are more attractive to employers than N** and N**. Haha... frankly speaking, I really don't know whether it is true. However, I feel that SMU seems more like a part of city life than an academic institution due to the underground linkway, (which really comes into life at night with all the CCAs practising there) the close proximity to nearby shopping malls and the beautiful glimpses of the city at night from the GSRs. (group study rooms) Maybe this is one of the main reasons why I feel more relaxed in SMU than in NJ.

If there is one thing I hope to improve next term, that would certainly be to open up and get to know more friends. Right now, I guess most of the people I have come into contact with in SMU feels that I'm a nerd or a silverfish. (cos I seem to eat up all the books in the library) And the interesting thing is almost everyone has no difficulty in guessing I come from NJ, the muggers society. Haha... anyway I seriously have to change my image and my degree of openness. To friends whom I have appeared cold or distant to, I'm really sorry and I'm trying to really trying to change... so pls dun condemn me and continue to talk to me k? :) And to friends whom I'm going to know next semester, I will try my best to know you more and help you as much as I can. Yup... I think I really need to improve on my social skills and that will be one of my main goals in the next semester.

Finally, I really hope that my friends are also doing well and having fun in other universities. Don't worry, I'm not arrogant or superficial as what some people make out of SMU students. I'm still very much the same old me... with a tinge of adulthood now. (Afterall I just reached 21 yea) Anyway, really hope to stay in contact with all my close friends. Really miss ur sometimes... haha. To all my friends and those who strive to achieve their goals and to myself... Gambatte Kudasai for the new year!!!

A new way of living life

Wow... time really flies. Clemence just reminded me that I haven't blogged for more than a month and before I know school is going to start in 4 days' time. To make matters worse, I'm in a I-can't-be-bothered-about-anything mood recently, something like what Boyang is going through in his first week of school. There just isn't any passion or enthusiasm in me, so I thought it might be a good thing to rediscover my hopes and goals.

Well to start off, I guess my lack of enthusiasm has rubbed off onto others, or it might be the other way round. My students at Boys Town are nonchalently taking a long relaxing break in the middle of their exams. Djong has decided he's going to heck care his exams completely since he doesn't want to go to a JC anymore and that he wants to study design in NYP. So on Monday, after an amazing effort on my part to rush to Boys Town after my zoo outing with fellow SMU friends, (I spent a total of $10 on cab fare) Djong rewarded me by showing me his pictures and designs on a project that he has been doing for Design and Technology. It's a nice thing, as in both his works and his friendliness, but all I could do was comment it's nice since I really have no idea on how to appreciate such works. Thereafter, he carried on doing his D&T project and at the same time he listened while I recited chemistry sutras to him like one of those Shaolin abbots in the ancient times. In the meanwhile, Roy pulled a stunt on me by telling me he's going for a toilet break, which unfortunately, lasted for the entire 2 hours. So after 20 minutes of confusion on my part, Djong told me Roy has most probably gone upstairs to watch Wild Wild West. Frankly speaking, I was quite disappointed at that time because I've just been fooled by my tutee, and on top of that I forgot to tell my brother to tape down the show as I've not watched it before.

Well, at the end of the day, I was quite surprised with myself for not feeling angry or sad. All I felt was a tinge of disappointment and an overwhelming sense of helplessness. In the first place to start with, Djong has decided to take design in NYP, so why the hell am I teaching him chemistry and physics when all these have no iota of benefit to his future except that he gets a better looking 'O' level certificate? On the other hand, while Roy still keeps his dreams about topping his 'N' level cohort and doing his 'O's next year, I don't see how he's going to achieve it when he still fails everything except for his tamil and geography papers. Had I been a terribly lousy or terribly boring teacher? A few weeks ago I wouldn't have thought so because Roy seemed to show an increase in interest in his maths and science and he also made some progress in understanding them. Maybe his frequent mood swings caused him to give up on both himself and me.

While the session on Monday may have drowned my morale, several other incidents in recent weeks have also helped to reduce me to a state of indifference with myself. And the thing is I know I have faults in each and every one of them. Maybe in the past I would have condemned myself as a total failure. But now I have decided that it isn't going to make my life happier or the day brighter by getting so harsh with myself. There are still so many things in life I look forward to. The new friends I'm going to make in SMU, the shopping at Orchard Road, the many useful things on investments and business that I'm going to learn, the transformation that SMU will have on me and even the frequent chillax evenings at Coffeebeans or Starbucks make me yearn for tomorrow. I suddenly remember why I made the switch from chemical engineering in NTU to business in SMU this year, despite many concerns from my close friends that I may not be able to fit in with the culture. I made the switch because I want to learn how to be financially independent, I want to widen and diversify my group of friends and most importantly I want to be transformed by SMU into a more open and happier person. There is certainly a reason for me to be interested in whatever I'm going to study in SMU, and despite my shortcomings I'm sure I will be able to make good friends there who can help me to overcome my weaknesses. Afterall while I may have failed in several aspects of my life, I do have some successes too.

A few months ago, I wrote down on my dreamboard that my ultimate goal in life is to be very successful by the age of 50 and become a beacon of light to youngsters who are lost and troubled. While I definitely can't see the light right now, I'm sure I can find my way if I hold on to that shimmering light of hope in my heart. : )

Alone

Ok. This will be a relatively short entry. A few days ago, I rejected a chance of getting the American Chambers of Commerce scholarship by telling the SMU person-in-charge I'm giving it up for a better scholarship next year. (This is because I will not be able to get another scholarship if AmCham awarded me this scholarship) Actually, I could have tried my luck at the interview and decide later whether to accept the scholarship if I get shortlisted. However, I feel it's unethical to reject it if I'm shortlisted because this will mean I've faked all my enthusiasm and interest during the interview. Besides, the SMU person-in-charge also said I may end up depriving the other two interviewees the scholarship if I reject it last minute.

Anyway, I also do not know whether I'm really silly or optimistic or confident of myself. But I do know one thing for sure. Somewhere inside me there is a very strong desire for the SMU scholarship that I had failed to get earlier... even though it's almost impossible to get it after the first year because it's normally only awarded to pre-entry students. I do know what I'm up against. However, I want to trust myself again. I want to tell myself that the moon is within reach... and not dampen my spirits by disregarding it as a mere reflection on the water. In fact, I just want to give myself a chance to prove to myself again. Boyang told me this gamble with myself is too risky... because he thought if it were in the past I would have failed without question. Some of my friends have also told me I'm fighting a losing battle in the first place. It was quite demoralising for me initially because most of my friends do not trust and support me in my ambitions. Maybe some will even cross their fingers and watch me fall painfully before declaring "see I told you so". But at least Boyang touched me by saying as my close friend he will feel sad for me if I fail. Even though he still believes that I could not achieve my dream, he also implied he would share some of my disappointments if I fail. Frankly speaking, it was by far the most sincere comment that I've heard from a friend regarding this issue. He also told me that even though the path I've chosen is rough, I must learn to overcome all my obstacles like Chang Jin and that I must never look back again.

Indeed, quite a number of my friends did tell me I cannot make it. However, wasn't there a moment when you yearn for a dream so much that you wouldn't want to stop dreaming? When they say I cannot make it, are the limits to my abilities imposed by these people or by myself?

If there is one thing that made me walk this path, it's because I want to continue dreaming. : )

School For Entrepreneurs

Hi everybody! It's been a month since I started attending the School For Entrepreneurs Camp. For those who do not know the cost of this camp, it's $2400. However, I can help you get it at $1200 if you wish to join this camp. (It's no advertising gimmick btw, I don't earn any commission and if you go for the preview they will tell you it's $2400) Well, maybe some people will think I'm crazy to pay so much for the camp. To tell you the truth, I don't feel too painful in forking out this amount because I have saved $1200 for not going to the Taiwan trip with Chee hui and gang. (Actually, in this case I suppose it benefitted both me and Chee hui and gang)

I remember my last entry mentioned about making Chemslime at Boys Town. Well, I did and succeeded only after 4 tries which took me an entire hour. Boyang came along with me and we really had fun making the chemslime with Xavier. : ) I guess it was quite a memorable night for me.

For those interested in knowing more about the School For Entrepreneurs, you should really attend the preview conducted by Dr Dennis Wee next time. And for those who do not know who Dennis is, he is a Secondary Two dropout who became a self-made millionaire by setting up his own real estate company. He's also the favourite student of Rich Dad Poor Dad's author Robert Kiyosaki. Anyway, my instructors have asked me not to reveal the camp's activites so I will only tell you what they have said during the preview and what I have learnt from this camp.

To start it off on the first day, I walked on bits and fragments of genuine broken glass barefooted while I broke a wooden arrow using the soft bottom of my neck at the same time. (Btw, they will also tell you about this activity during the preview) I know the glass is genuine because they picked up one of the fragments and sliced an A4 paper easily without effort. I suppose there will be two extreme views to this scenario; one will think it's all fake because others have walked over it safely while the other will start to fear after witnessing the event. Anyway just to assuage the latter, I did not get cut after walking over the pieces of broken glass, although it really did hurt a lot. I'm not bluffing you. Breaking the piece of wooden arrow with the soft bottom of my neck didn't hurt that much, but it certainly made me breathless and for me it also increased my sense of panic. Besides doing stunts during the camp, the other important part of the camp was coming up with a business proposal, a TV ad and a sales expo which were judged on the last day.

During the camp, I learnt more about my personality traits and how I could maximise my strengths to help others. Well, I belong more to the conscientious and careful group and I also aspire to be a steady and efficient worker. Therefore, I may not be a very good leader because I do not have a very loud voice and I may also appear boring and monotonous to some who find me unattractive. However, I often take time to think of new solutions to tackle a problem and I also believe more in proving my intention with action rather than words.

The main business lesson I've learnt from this camp is how to be different from the rest, and how to be attractive to the rest. To those who love to marginalise people and stick with the crowds, let me tell you something. It takes courage to stand out from the rest to defend your ideals and beliefs, and it also takes courage to succeed. The one who laughs last laughs best! : ) We did some crazy things during the camp and my team's business presentation and business proposal won over all the judges because we were uniquely exciting in our ideas and in our presentation. Our business idea was an Asian fast food restaurant concept that aims to be the next hip and cool place for youths. In the first place, we chose this idea because fast food and convenience has become the needs (not wants) of the 21st century and Asian fast food is first of a kind in Singapore and most probably all over the world. We did quite some research on the success formulas for a fast food restaurant and even came up with a plan to win. In fact, the judges liked my team's ideas so much that our total investments came up to $5.4 million which was almost double that of the second best team. Some judges were also very keen on knowing whether we wanted to continue with our business idea and even wanted to know our leader's contacts... haha. However, we lost out during the sales expo where around two hundred people came with fake money to purchase our products, which were kueh pati and nuggets fresh from the oven. Although we were the fastest team to sell out our products, we did not earn much because we priced our products too low. I guess that was because initally some customers who were friends with my leader complained that our products were too expensive, hence we buckered under pressure and lowered our price. However, many customers in fact really liked our products and were willing to pay any price just to get our products even though we have already sold out. Nevertheless, I suppose it's a good lesson for me in the future.

Personally, I feel that the most fufilling thing I've learnt from this camp is to live happily and generously. In fact, they made us see clearly through activities and games that a true rich mind thinks generously. Although some companies seek to compete aggressively on price wars which hurt the entire industry while some others use unscrupulous methods to get rid of competitors, Dennis Wee's company seeks to develop its own unique strengths which attracted many customers and it even forges warm and honest ties with its competitors. In fact, your competitors may one day even become your collaborators. There are some competitors which value the trust between them so much that they even recommend each other's services to their customers when they couldn't handle so many customer orders.

Well, the TV ad is at the bottom of this blog page. Although we thought it was good initially, we realised later that we failed to create much excitement and desire for customers to buy our food because we did not present savoury food in our ad and we also did not promote our branding very well on the packaging. Anyway because there may be infringements on certain copyright issues, I will remove this video in 1 week time. I would really appreciate it if anyone can give me comments. Also, I encourage my friends to join this camp too... especially if you seek to be a better person. : )