Tired Golden Geese?

I attached a post I made about Genting and Resorts World on April 16,2007.

Seen from hindsight,all the worse fears came and now Genting and Resorts World is traded at huge discounts.

Read this post to know the issues then in April 2007.

"Both counters went ex-subdivision on 11 April 2007, amassing huge gains. Gentings added 50 sen and Resorts took in 28 sen. However, on the following two days, the mood turned nasty and they sold both counters down the river. Gentings went as low as RM8.35 and Resorts to RM3.40.

Why is there this contrasting scenario before the subdivision and after the subdivision of the shares? No facts have changed. The negative news of UK 's intention to subject betting licences to additional taxes or for that matter the uncertainty of the Sentosa Island casino licence has not changed. The market is fickle!

The only logical explanation is that those who had the extra lots wanted to dispose of them because there believe there was no longer any “up-side news”. To play safe,they will just hold a lot or two as keepsakes and locked away all the profits. Similarly, some Singapore fund-managers could have sold on Day 1 because of the good profit margins. Then, there are the jittery sellers who saw the breaching of the 1,300 level as Bursa Armageddon and have been liquidating. Other than that, there is just no good reason for the selling pressure.

Both Gentings and Resorts are solid blue-chips and should pay well in the medium term. As we take cognizance of the downsides of both counters, let us not be unduly disturbed by short-term analysis. Analyses are based on static facts but the market is dynamic. Anything can happen. To me, both counters are dynamic and resilient.

From time to time, I will make my comments on both theses counters. The important thing is to look for the new support price of both counters. It appears that the support price of Gentings is RM8.75 and Resorts -RM3.50.

Resorts had never offered an IPO to the investing public except for a restricted bumiputra public offer way back in the late 80s. At the current price level, Resorts is now going for RM3.50–dirt cheap by any standard. Good to collect for the medium term.

As for Gentings, when was the last time you could confidently buy up a lot or two? Just like Resorts, it is rather inexpensive at RM8.75. The Bursa seems to have run out of good counters at this point of time and my belief is, Gentings still possess good ‘intrinsic value’. So do not hesitate, invest in this counter.

For your information, I have seen the market collapsed during the First Gulf War and during the Asian currency meltdown in 1997. Believe me, on both occasions, the counters that rebounded the fastest were gaming stocks like Gentings, Resorts, B-Toto and Tanjong. Also during recession, these are the best defensive stocks. Dividend-wise, Gentings and Resorts have been paying fair dividends.

The world is Gentings’s and Resorts’s oyster. Good news can be created by the dynamic Gentings Group when opportunity arises. A changing scenario can impact prices again towards a northerly direction for both counters."

I believe there is still a lot of steam left in both counters for us to look at them for inclusion into our portfolio.

Not only Ostriches Do it!

What a wonderful photo. It screams out at you in the face!

The message-The denial syndrome.

Believe me, that has always been a problem with Malaysian society. When there is a problem, they will deny it at the first instance. No exception. We are ostriches with our heads in the sand.

When can Malaysia mature into a truly civil society that can come out clean on the greater issues and happenings confronting Malaysian society?

Another generation?

Solid Gold

Watching old movies is fun!

Believe me, they are so much fun to watch especially at this age. Some of the movies are at least thirty to 60 years old.

I sat through a few goldy oldies some seasons back.

Groundhog Day-wonderful movie and one of the best role to showcase the beauty and sexiness of Andie Macdowell. Such joy!

Cat Ballou-see the youthful Jane Fonda and Lee Marvin having the fun of their lives. Marvin went to win the best actor award in this movie. As for Fonda, isn't she heavenly?

Prime Cut-another Marvin movie this time showcasing an innocent young Sissy Spacek in the buff. Exciting but be careful when you eat the next sausage-you may never know what you're eating.

Julius Caesar-a classic Shakespearean play where Brando sparked as Mark Anthony. John Gielgud and James Mason gave awe-inspiring performances too!

Ferris Beuller's Day Off - A flighty movie showing the early days of Matthew Broderick and Mia Sara. Mia Sara is mesmerisingly charming. Now we know why we need to preserve youth. If only Mia will always be Mia as in this movie-never aging a day! Fun movie and a romp around Chicago in a day!

Happy Gilmore- Adam Sandler and a satire on golf versus ice hockey. Fun movie!

Gigi- Leslie Caron in her best role. Songs are wonderful especially Thank Heaven for Little Girls.

Thomas Crown Affair- A classic involving a cat and mouse between Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway-Cool and entertaining. Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind!!!

In the Heat of the Night-Bigotry in the racist South. Steiger versus Poitier in a small town of Sparta. All because of a girl that went nudie in the heat of the night! Wonderful music by the fabulous Ray Charles!

These days we would give an arm and a leg just to watch truly good old movies.

Cheating the Gods!

These days,its not only the Ah Longs that are in the act.

Fruit sellers are up to their tricks as well.

The law of the jungle has really come down hard upon society in these lean times. The dark side of their characters are being 'illuminated".

Overheard at a coffee shop.

On special occasions, the Chinese community in Malaysia will hold prayers for their deities, particularly on the 15th day of the new moons. They will buy fruits as offerings to the gods.

On such days, the fruit sellers will gang up and sell the 'ugliest and almost rotting' fruits to the buyers. They placed the good fruits on top of the heap and when a customer comes calling, they will choose good ones and mixed with a few bad ones. They continue with this foul act in spite of receiving complaints.

When you are in a monopoly or in a monopolistic position, you call the shots.

So, customers are cowed to buy the fruits if they are in desperate need of them.

As they say, what goes around, comes around.

In this case,I believe the gods will soon be angry with these profiteering cheats.

So they better watch out for the wrath of the gods will soon be on them!

Defeatists,Apologists and Queers

I sometimes wonder.

Why are artists and poets not considered as 'mainstream people'?

Are they weird,queer or what?

Take the following cases.

John Keats killed himself after being spurned by a lover. Yet he wrote one of the greatest poem "Ode to a Grecian Urn"-where we find the oft quoted line,"Beauty is truth, truth beauty."

There there is that great artist-Vincent Van Gogh-with his overflowing talent in creating art pieces-of which "Starry,starry Night" was the epitome of his work. Yet, he went mad, cut off his ear, used some of his blood to paint and finally shot himself in the heart and perished.

Then we have William Shakespeare-wasn't it possible that he was a gay in those bygone days, falling in love with a young man which he so affectionately put into lines in Sonnet 18??

They were defeatists,possibly queer in their own way.

But the world,similarly, is one big funny farm. Sadly, we are apologists and suckers for art. We posthumously recognised these talented people ages after they have gone from this earth. Their art pieces are worth millions these days, a testimony of what is their real worth in the world of art.

It's rather strange that oftentimes we recognised talent too late to reward them in their own times. Most artists were destitute at their death.

How sad!

Look for the Roots

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. observed that 'a word is not a crystal, transparent and unchanged; it is the skin of a living thought and may vary in colour and content according to the circumstances and the time in which it is used".

Winston Churchill added that 'words are the only things which last forever."

A word indeed vary greatly according to circumstances and the time in which it is used. The embodiment of a living thought derives from a root-word, in which a thought was initially expressed, and that root-word, by a Darwinian process of evolution, spawned other words based on the same kernel of thought.

To discover root-words, etymologists study words from different languages having a common meaning called cognates and work backward by deduction. For example:words beginning with tri which include trinity, triangle, triathlon, triceratops, triplet and trivia among others. The common root for these words would appear to be Greek and Latin.

Just like geneticists studying DNA samples try to find a common ancestor, etymologists search for the true source of the word-the ultimate root word called an etymon, a word or morpheme where compounds and derivatives are formed.

It is great when you actually stumbled on to something revealing.

An Irish Joke

Let us have some harmless fun.

The story of a Parish Boy's Confession

'Bless me Father, for I have sinned. I have been with a loose girl'.

The priest asks, 'Is that you, Kennie?'

'Yes, Father, it is.'

'And who was the girl you were with?'

'I can't tell you, Father, I don't want to ruin her reputation.'

'Well, Kennie, I'm sure to find out her name sooner or later, so you may as well tell me now. Was it Mary Allen?'

'I cannot say.' 'Was it Tess Hillary?'

'I'll never tell.'

'Was it Marilyn Simpson?'

'I'm sorry, but I cannot name her.'

'Was it Nellie O' Hare?'

'My lips are sealed.'

'Was it then Sophie Cassie?'

'Please, Father, I cannot tell you.'

The priest sighs in frustration. 'You're very tight lipped Kennie, and I admire that. But you've sinned and have to atone. You cannot be an altar boy now for 4 months. Now you go and behave yourself.'

Kennie walks back to his pew, and his friend Jojo slides over and whispers, 'What'd you get?'

'4 Months holiday and five good leads'.

Worthless Mutiny

Mutiny on the Bounty, the latter version starring Marlon Brando, Trevor Howard, Richard Harris and Tarita is wonderfully woven to emotively graft you to the pulse of the voyage of the Bounty,the anxiety for mutiny and the arson and sinking of the Bounty.

Apparently,a re-look ar the naval archives found the movie has overtly over-painted the cruelty of Captain Bligh over the treatment of his crew. He was actually more lenient than most captains of the day.

Brando, as the more disturbed second-in-command, finally took over the ship after being angered by a series of corporal punishment meted out by the high-handed and tyrannical Bligh,which caused death to members of the crew. He was portrayed as more human and caring as contrast to Bligh's iron fist command of the Bounty and its crew.

A wonderful movie with great biting dialogue, it effectively captures the mood and effervescence of the South Seas as well as the spontaneous and friendly nature of Tahitian society. Tarita provided appealing eye candy and in actual life married Brando for many years before divorcing him.

I belief the ending where Fletcher was burned to death was chosen to be a more dramatic and fitting ending to reflect the man. In real life he was killed on the Pitcairn Islands by unhappy natives over his leadership.

Great movie. I really enjoyed it.

The Star-Spangled Banner

Interestingly,when watching many American movies, we tend to see the patriotism and compassion in the eyes and demeanor of the American audience as they responded in homage and respect to their national anthem.

I sometimes wonder what is so special about the Star-Spangled Banner compared to our Negara Ku.

Let us look at the lyrics and perhaps you may see some difference.

Oh, say! can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming;
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there:
Oh, say! does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In fully glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution!
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Oh, thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust":
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

The Indefatigable Mary Poppins.

One great revisit. View Mary Poppins for old time sake.

Wonderful movie, wonderful songs, great feelings.
Julie Andrews was her charming self and her acting as a nanny is superbly natural. She deserved her Oscar! As usual Dick Van Dyke was a super duper dancer.

Have a spoonful of sugar while watching the movie!

Rage and Outrage

It is rather strange that some people you did know to be at first, considerate and understanding can suddenly be possessed by an towering rage that cannot be contained.

Like a lawyer,they trooped out all the points to continue their rage at something that has long passed on. A a rationale person would have let it go. A person in rage goes on plain fault finding and making mountains out of all molehills.

So how would you respond to this kind of person? They are needling you all the time.Grind your teeth and bear it? Turn a deaf ear? No can do.

You can forget about suggesting an anger management course. It will only fuel the fire and enrage a tsunami of sorts.

Maybe they need a dose of counseling. The religious type!

Darkest Congo!

The Dark of the Sun was released in Malaysia as The Merceneries. It was one shocking movie when I saw it in Form 4. Unused to violence, you can feel your skin creep at the helplessness of people who are victimised by wild rebels and they virtually chop you up with machetes or skewer you to death. Biting fear!

The place-the Belgium Congo. The time-in the 60s when anarchy prevailed. Rod Taylor (Curry) and Jim Brown braved themselves as paid mercenaries into the Congo to save missionaries as well as collect US$50 million in diamonds. Continues to be suspenseful in spite of it being filmed in 1968. Yvette Mimieux provided the female attraction.

Watchable film even by today's standards. The closest to rival it was Hotel Rwanda.

Not Tippi's Best

Marnie is a psychological Letdown

Alfred Hitchcock's Marnie was meant to be a hair-raiser-a psychological thriller. It had the then famous and beautiful Tippi Hedren and the debonair Sean Connery as star billings. I believe this was one of the duller Hitchcock films. The usual sound and visuals may have worked in those days but they pale in comparison to the wizardry of special effects today.

Not exceptionally great story line. It was reported that Tippi had a hard time with Hitchcock and fell out with each other after Marnie though Hedren was the hot favourite of Hitchcock after The Birds. Also, Hedren's beauty did not shine through in this role as the fearful Marnie.

Nothing great about this movie. Give it a miss.

Coffin for a Gunfighter-that was the name it was released in Malaysia in the late 1960s.

It was then the era of the spaghetti western and stars like Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef held sway. And then there was Franco Nero.

He was different. He was sullen. He had no horse. He is seen just dragging along a coffin. The music is nostalgic and the violence was never seen before-the gatling gun action is just stupendous!

Simple revenge story with a gold heist in between.

The gunfight in the graveyard is great.

Another Type of Legend?

I Am Legend is another film of the future-the background-a deserted New York after the world has been ravaged by an unknown virus that slowly killed everyone except for one million people.

Will Smith stars with a dog in the main part of the movie. It documents how he adapted to life scrounging in empty homes for canned and bottled foods and his experimentation on zombie-fied beings affected by the virus, trying to find a cure.

Oftentimes he goes crazy and shoots things up.

The movie ends with his demise after he has found the cure to the viral inflicted condition on humankind. Exciting at times.

Watchable fare.