Iskandar's Super Property Buyers

High End Landed Wealth

Yes, according to the Malaysia Chronicle (23 September 2013), three out of five buyers of the high-end properties in the Southern Johore corridor of the Iskandar regional townships are the Singaporeans.

They account for 74 per cent of purchases made at the various developments by non-Malaysians. Most Singaporean buyers are people who go to Johore frequently for business and those wanting a weekend home.

"They buy more of the upmarket products, as foreigners can only buy units (both landed and strata-titles) that are above RM 500,000 (S$195,000) in value.  This they can do with ease especially with the increasing value of the Singapore dollar day after day.

UEM Sunrise is the master developer of Iskandar's Nusajaya area. Its developments include East Ledang, a 111ha project with bungalows and villas and several condominiums at Puteri Harbour, Iskandar's mirror answer to Singapore's Keppel Harbour.

UEM data shows that Singaporean buyers usually outnumber all other foreigners combined. At the Imperia project, Singaporeans made up 39.1 per cent of buyers, eclipsing even Malaysians at 24.3 per cent. Foreigners of other nationalities made up 36.6 per cent.

At neighbouring condo Teega @ Puteri Harbour, 36.5 per cent were Singaporeans, 51.8 per cent were Malaysians and 11.7 per cent were of other nationalities.

It was also pointed out that a substantial proportion of non-Singaporeans who bought units in Iskandar have strong links to Singapore.

Many are Malaysians who live and work in Singapore, while others are expatriates or foreigners who visit often.

"These are people who travel to Singapore regularly for various reasons, like health care, education for their children, business and commerce or for lifestyle."

The high number of investors flocking to Iskandar has pushed prices up considerably.

For instance, prices of bungalows at UEM's East Ledang development have surged 44 per cent on average in the resale market since 2011. Even so, prices in Iskandar are still much cheaper than in Singapore and so continue to appeal to Singaporeans.

A 1,500 sq ft three-bedroom unit at the upcoming Marina One condominium in Singapore is likely to be "in the region of RM 11 million". For the same amount of investment, one can buy two swimming pool villas in East Ledang of 5,500 sq ft sitting on land of about 10,000 sq ft.

As they say, the world is a playground only for those who have money and the Singaporeans are leading the way by making Southern Johore just that.

As the song goes," Money Makes the World go Round."

How true!

Out of Africa-the 1937 African Memoirs of Karen Blixen

I Have a Farm in Africa

This is one gem of a movie.

It chronicles the life and times of Karen Blixen while in Kenya and how she lived and worked among the Kikuyu tribe.

Romance in the Kenyan Bush

Starring the screen greats, Robert Redford and Meryl Streep, you can see the spectacular vista of green of the Kenyan grass-lands from the air, by jeep and by train from Mombasa in Out of Africa.

Frolicking

The direction by Sidney Pollack is fantastic and the John Barry music score is beyond compare.

Sad memoirs but hauntingly memorable on film

Spectacular Sights via the Plane Flight

Great re-visit down memory lane.

The Apparition-Frightfully Tense

You Die Anyway

I thought it was the run of the mill horror flick. Poor and predictable plot-line.

But it was not to be.

In fact, if can shock you out of your shorts!

The suspense does not let up at all!

Messing up with so-called black magic and science, a group of college students inadvertently allowed a being from the other world,apparently Purgatory, to enter the human world and to cause untold disaster.

A short movie, it shocks as effectively as the first 'Poltergeist' movie!

Frightening-and the conclusion-the humans lose!

Charming

Ashley Greene, that sexy actress of the Twilight series, star as the eye candy.

Cannot Teach English!

Malaysia Boleh!

It appears that in Malaysia, teachers can be trained miraculously on an ad-hoc basis and then can be considered competent  to teach that subject to students.

All you need in some short term exposure courses and walla! Malaysia boleh!

This is apart from those that have formal training to teach English of which 70% failed miserably to perform.

Endless Possibilities!

 This first person reports of the inadequacies felt by some teachers is truly frigthening.

Read on!

While parents decry the low standard of English among teachers, some lecturers lament that they were “cheated” by the way they were trained.

Devi, for instance, chose to make teaching a career about eight years ago.

Her pride in graduating as a teacher quickly disappeared after her first few weeks in the classroom as she taught English to the students.

Devi discovered a significant gap in ability between her and them.

“Some speak much better English than I do, especially those from the better classes.

“It really affected my confidence,” she recalled.

“How can I teach these students when they know more than I do?

“I felt let down by my education and training; I felt so unprepared,” said Devi, who only opted to teach English while she was enrolled in her teacher training course, and appears to have quite a good command of the language.

“It was embarrassing at first when I mispronounced words and got my tenses wrong, and my better students corrected me.

“Now I look at it as a learning experience, and I just have to keep trying to improve myself,” she said.

Another is Zeti. With English not being her teacher training option, Zeti felt lost when she was asked to teach the language in her school.

“I can communicate fairly well in the language, but I’m definitely not trained to teach it.

“A few in-service courses here and there only helped a bit,” she pointed out.

“It’s really frustrating to hear complaints about how bad we (teachers) are when people don’t acknowledge the kind of challenges we face.

“I’m good at what I was trained in, but suddenly I’m expected to be an expert in another area overnight – how can I stay motivated?”

Meanwhile, experienced English teacher Gina opted to undergo a masters programme at a private university in the hopes of expanding her teaching skills.

“I wanted to learn more about the methodology of language teaching, but I didn’t feel like I was learning anything new. In fact, a short course I went for on my own time had more to offer.

“But how many teachers have the time to do this?

“It’s one thing to have a good command of English, but teaching is a different ball-game altogether.”

A Likely Trade-Off-The JP Morgan Story

This is one likely story about beauty and marriage and it comes from JP Morgan himself.

This is how he replied to a pretty lady seeking marriage based on income.

Have fun.

Lesson to be Learned

Title: What should I do to marry a rich guy?

I’m going to be honest of what I’m going to say here.

I’m 25 this year. I’m very pretty, have style and good taste.

I wish to marry a guy with $500 k annual salary or above.

You might say that I’m greedy, but an annual salary of $1 M is considered only as middle class in New York.

My requirement is not high. Is there anyone in this forum who has an income of $500 k annual salary? Are you all married?

I wanted to ask: what should I do to marry rich persons like you?

Among those I’ve dated, the richest is $250 k annual income, and it seems that this is my upper limit.

If someone is going to move into high cost residential area on the west of New York City Garden, $250 k annual income is not enough.

I’m here humbly to ask a few questions:

1) Where do most rich bachelors hang out? (Please list down the names and addresses of bars, restaurant, gym)

2) Which age group should I target?

3) Why most wives of the richest are only average-looking? I’ve met a few girls who don’t have looks and are not interesting, but they are able to marry rich guys.

4) How do you decide who can be your wife, and who can only be your girlfriend?

(my target now is to get married)

Signed,

Ms. Pretty

A philosophical reply from CEO of J.P. Morgan (or someone who signed off as him):

Dear Ms. Pretty,

I have read your post with great interest. Guess there are lots of girls out there who have similar questions like yours. Please allow me to analyse your situation as a professional investor.

My annual income is more than $500 k, which meets your requirement, so I hope everyone believes that I’m not wasting time here.

From the standpoint of a business person, it is a bad decision to marry you. The answer is very simple, so let me explain.

Put the details aside, what you’re trying to do is an exchange of “beauty” and “money” : Person A provides beauty, and Person B pays for it, fair and square.

However, there’s a deadly problem here, your beauty will fade, but my money will not be gone without any good reason. The fact is, my income might increase from year to year, but you can’t be prettier year after year.

Hence from the viewpoint of economics, I am an appreciation asset, and you are a depreciation asset. It’s not just normal depreciation, but exponential depreciation. If that is your only asset, your value will be much worse 10 years later.

By the terms we use in Wall Street, every trading has a position, dating with you is also a “trading position”.

If the trade value dropped we will sell it and it is not a good idea to keep it for long term - same goes with the marriage that you wanted. It might be cruel to say this, but in order to make a wiser decision any assets with great depreciation value will be sold or “leased”.

Anyone with over $500 k annual income is not a fool; we would only date you, but will not marry you. I would advice that you forget looking for any clues to marry a rich guy. And by the way, you could make yourself to become a rich person with $500 k annual income.This has better chance than finding a rich fool.

Hope this reply helps.

Signed,

J.P. Morgan CEO

Mercury Rising-The New Poor in Malaysia

Loans and Ah Long Beckons

The Edge Financial Daily has made an educated guess and rightly so.

After the price rise of 20 sen per litre of gasoline at the pump and the current inflation rate, this paper has projected that a family of 4 (with 2 children), earning a combined income of RM 6,000 will have very little left in the kitty.

A Forlorn picture of Hopelessness

Assuming they have a conservative housing loan as well as a car loan, the estimated savings would now by only RM 357 at the end of the end. No contingencies!

Do it quietly?

With the impending GST application through Budget 2014, it's mercury rising for the middle class especially those of the salaried class and the pensioners and retirees.

RAM Holdings Bhd group chief economist laments that the effect of the  middle income squeeze will not be good as a large population of the Malaysian people are in this bracket.

Apart from the filthy rich elites--cry, fellow Malaysians as you feel the sharp sting of urban poverty.

Further misery through GST

Any further increase of indirect taxes through the GST will certainly impact negatively on the happiness index and will create further poverty in the country.

Runwaway inflation at the food stalls

Even now, the price of food at food-stalls and coffee-shops has gone up by 50 sen.  That is easily 10% of the going rate! The cheapest bowl of noodles is now RM 6.00.

The French Revolution?

Woe betide the Malaysian people!

Tax Dependents Indian Style

This is one wallop of a laugh.

Enjoy!

But It IS NOT a Dog's Life!

Complete with a Dutch Wife!

My friend really takes care of his dog, Bobby.

So, Bobby is given the best food a dog can have and sleeps in air-conditioned comfort.

Look at him in golden slumbers!

Outdoor Education in India

In far flung, poverty-ridden India, the thirst for education cannot be contained.

They Longed for Knowledge

Here we see that hunger and thirst.

A Bedroom Closet Woe

This was reported in the online Guardian.

Tale of Sexual Woe

A man had issues with penetration and sought help.

Not the end of the world for him, though.

Interesting article.

Do read.

I’m 38, male, heterosexual, and have always experienced a phobic reaction to penetrative sex. I lose any semblance of an erection. I enjoy many forms of sexual contact and have normal erections with and without a partner, but most intimacy has ended in depression, humiliation, sometimes ridicule. Viagra produced mixed results. When I've sought help I was told that nothing much could be done outside a steady relationship, but I'm now starting a potential one.

There's no need to feel hopeless. A good sex therapist could identify the cause, then create a treatment plan. You would not necessarily need a partner, although it could certainly be helpful if you found an understanding person who was willing to participate in your treatment (in the US, professional surrogate partners are sometimes used for such cases). There are individual techniques such as guided imagery, visualisation, relaxation, progressive desensitisation, hypnosis, or psychodynamic psychotherapy. 

First, try to reframe the importance you place on penetration. Intercourse isn't necessarily a woman's favourite part of lovemaking, so the shame you feel about your erectile failures is really unnecessary. After all, it's direct clitoral stimulation –not penetration – that helps her achieve orgasm. Once you realise you can be a fantastic lover without erections, you will be well on the way to sexual health.

-the guardian.cm

Endless Possibilities: A Prelude to More Misery

The last hurrah at the pump

Today (3 September 2013)'s petrol and diesel hike by 20 sen is going to unleashed untold misery except to those who are filthy rich and the business circle. Even those in middle wage brackets will feel the sting as their pay packet will not be enduring enough to take both direct and indirect effects of this hike.

If you pump about RM 60.00 petrol a week, add RM 12.00 directly and be ready to face the brunt of the inflation from food and services price from now on.

Be afraid for it will eat into a big hole in your tight budget!

Even the poor motorcyclists are bedevilled!

So, look for ways to reduce the damage.

Cut off  the habit of carrying too many credit cards. Cancel unnecessary personal insurance.

Eat less at restaurants and avoid the cinemas as often as you can.

Remember: A ringgit save is a ringgit earned!