Sold 3 Books and Stamps June 17, 2015 bizadmin Just the other day, I sold 3 books and over 500 stamps via the internet on a popular website. For the first 2 books, I sent them by Skynet courier and for the third book, met up with my customer at McDonald’s near my place for the sale transaction. It was also the same for the stamps – conducted near my place and sold to an automation engineer working in Butterworth. He revealed that he has 8,000 stamps so far and still collecting. I am happy to get rid of those stamps even though some are repeat designs and he does not seem to mind; plus the fact that they are still stuck to the envelopes.
Down South June 13, 2015 bizadmin I am now in KL for business and will stay for 4 days until Monday. I reached here on Friday yesterday afternoon and went to see a client before calling it a day and drove back home in Rhythm Avenue. There are a few restaurants here which have operated for a long time already and are quite established with repeat patrons. I think it is a better place than Main Place which is too pricey for me. Both Rhythm Avenue and Main Place were abandoned projects under the Barisan government in Selangor and then revived to completion under the Pakatan leadership. I am pleased that Pakatan is doing well and really cares for the citizens and their financial problems. Lim Kit Siang personally took it upon himself to visit widows and widowers who have lost their spouse and network of financial support. He does not mind travelling from Penang to Johor just to comfort a person in distress. This is his caring trademark that is now followed by his son, Lim Guan Eng. I just hope Pakatan will continue to rule more states and offer more benefits for the common people with their individual problems just to put food on the table and the struggles just to survive and get by day by day for all races, regardless of religion or creed.
Blogging Requires Labour June 9, 2015 bizadmin Maintaining a blog or blogs requires hard work. You have to have fresh ideas to write and type to the admin system of the blog and if possible, include pictures for eye candy. It is more of a passion or hobby than anything else. Sometimes the small remuneration is not enough a reason to continue blogging for so long. And you need to engage with your readers so that there is repeat visitors. It all starts from a desire to make the world your oyster with the tap of the keyboard. Being online, you have to be cautious not to share too much private information, your financial standing and such for your personal safety. You never know who is reading your blog/s or stalking them.
Working at Home has its Benefits June 6, 2015 bizadmin I love to work at home with benefits such as EPF and SOCSO. There is also paid medical leave and holidays within Malaysia. It is good to have sufficient knowledge to work effectively in a home office, creating and maintaining the company website that pulls in most of the clients and business. But it requires lots of hard work and determination to maintain the website with more than 600 pages now. I know Photoshop and HTML. With sufficient knowledge of Microsoft Office, I am able to leverage on the features to effectively and productively work at home. I can create Powerpoint Slides, brochures of products, etc. Photoshop is a powerful editing tool if you know how to use its many functions.
Sold a Book May 12, 2015 bizadmin I sold a book ’72 Amazing Ways to Internet Profits’ for a mere $8 after paying a whopping $56 for it! Well, there is too much hype and Patric certainly knows the psychology of selling, being a greeting card seller himself before his phenomenal rise to wealth via the internet. I read it only once but the title of the book certainly attracts much interests, despite the boring contents. There is nothing new to be learnt and that is why the big boys keep making crazy amount of money every day while the normal people like us struggle to put food on the table for our families. To some people, making tonnes of money seems to be the norm each day and they are jet setting to exotic destinations, taking up the entire bungalows for their families with swimming pool included and the best scenery of the beach, white powdery sand and the azure blue seas crashing onto the shores, giving out lots of negative ions in the process.
Long Stretch of Holidays May 2, 2015 bizadmin Yesterday was Labour Day on May 1 which is a public holiday that is celebrated worldwide and it continues with the weekend right up to Monday, since Sunday is Wesak Day for the Buddhists. I just came back from a one night stay at Equatorial Hotel, Penang and enjoyed the buffet breakfast with a wide repertoire of selections to choose from. I think I might just skip dinner or have a very light dinner since I am still full now, with time approaching for dinner in just a few minutes. The stay at the hotel including breakfast for two set us back by a whopping $400 plus, almost $500 with 10% service charge and 6% GST included. But the view of Penang Golf Course, formerly known as Bukit Jambul Golf Course was serene, dotted by lakes with water fountain right smack in the middle. The lawn is well tended and some golfers could be seen putting away with their caddy and buggy to move from one fairway to the other. However, there was a long queue to check into the hotel yesterday and the service was rather slow, as observed. Apparently there was a new staff who knows next to nothing manning one queue and she had to ask for directions on the booking system. Otherwise, my short holiday was almost immaculate and enjoyable.
A new conundrum emerges from the weaker ringgit April 28, 2015 bizadmin The ringgit has weakened by almost 5% year-to-date against the US dollar. Yet, Bursa Malaysia has remained at levels above 1,800 points. STOCK markets that remain strong or unaffected amid a weakening currency represent a new conundrum for investors. The ringgit has weakened by almost 5% year-to-date against the US dollar, and is among the worst-performing currencies in the region. Yet, Bursa Malaysia has remained at levels above 1,800 points. It is 3.1% up since January this year. The euro has depreciated even more – 13% – against the dollar since the beginning of the year. Yet, the markets are soaring on the back of the European Central Bank embarking on a quantitative easing programme that would result in a weaker currency in Europe. The Brazilian real has lost almost 24% against the US dollar due to a host of reasons, ranging from a multi-billion corruption scandal at Petrobras, the national oil company, to its president Dilma Rousseff facing mounting opposition to her rule. Despite the Brazilian real depreciating, the stock market has remained somewhat flat over the last year. Brazil’s neighbour Argentina, which saw its peso devalue by almost 26% against the dollar since January last year after it defaulted on a debt, has seen its stock market almost double. The Argentinian stock market was at 5,283 points in January last year and is now at more than 10,000 points despite the peso being the most under-performing currency in South America. Each of the countries above is having problems unique to their respective economies. But the reading seems to be consistent – the weaker the currency against the dollar, the better it is for the stock market. Or, in the worst-case scenario, the stock market remains unaffected. This is unlike the case in 1998 when a depreciating currency among Asian countries against the US dollar led to a collapse of the stock market. Malaysia was one of the worst affected when the market hit up to 260 points on Sept 2 when former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad imposed capital controls. The capital controls helped rein in the currency speculators, but did not dispel the reasons why the Asian countries came under attack. The economic logic then was that the Asian countries had sustained their years of high economic growth via debts and a dependence on foreign direct investments (FDIs). Their current account was in negative territory for a few years and governments consistently recorded a deficit in their budgets. The weak underlying economic fundamentals meant the currencies were over-valued and, hence, the attack from speculators. It started with Thailand and had a knock-on effect on other countries in the region. The Hong Kong government that had its dollar pegged to the US dollar fought off the speculators, thanks to the heft of China’s huge reserves. The Russian rouble also came under attack, as did the Brazilian real. The currencies only saw some stabilisation due to multiple efforts – including the entry of the International Monetary Fund and the fear that countries could also follow the Malaysian style of imposing currency controls. But now, that economic logic does not seem to work. Weak currencies do not mean that the macro-economic fundamentals are necessarily weak. Some countries have deliberately weakened their currencies to be competitive. This is one reason put forward as to why a weak currency does not necessarily result in a weak stock market. In fact, based on what the US is experiencing now, the pundits are saying that the strong US dollar is bad for improving the economy of that country. This is the excuse that fund managers and the various intermediaries of the market are giving, as the Dow Jones struggles to cross the 18,000-mark convincingly. The US dollar has appreciated against all major currencies, and now investors are saying that the strong currency has its drawbacks. Any business with an international angle to it in the US has had an impact. Exporters, including farmers, are finding themselves less competitive, while imports are getting cheaper, which means inflation will remain muted. A low inflation rate does not give an excuse for the Federal Reserve to raise rates. US-based multinational companies are seeing lower value from the profits of the operations outside the country and this is impacting their earnings. The stronger dollar has also had an impact on FDI in the US, say the technocrats. The US generally has been the largest recipient of FDI, but its share of the total global FDI flows has dropped from about one-third in 2000 to less than a fifth in 2013, according to a report. Preliminary data revealed that the FDI flow into the US last year had dropped by almost 60% compared with 2013. The optimists say the figure in 2013 is distorted because of single corporate transactions that had hiked up the FDI flow. They also say that as the US ties up more trade pacts the investment flows would improve because of the incentives. A strong currency, which is an indication of a strong economy, is supposed to be good because it means higher income and more private-sector spending and investments. It translates into a buoyant domestic economy that, in turn, tends to attract more foreign flows. However, that does not seem to be the economic logic for now.
Lau’s Tencent worth of contribution April 25, 2015 bizadmin IN the corporate world, Malaysian-born SY Lau might be synonymous with Tencent Holdings Ltd, a China-based company best known for its mobile text and voice messaging communication service, WeChat. However, Lau, who is Tencent’s senior executive vice-president and president of its Online Media Group, is quick to attribute his success to his humble upbringing within a “strict but loving” Malaysian upbringing. “My parents were strict but they were also very loving. But I was also in an environment where I wasn’t penalised for making mistakes. “I would learn later that what kills innovation is when you do not allow children to learn when they commit right and wrong things,” he tells StarBizWeek. Lau was a speaker at the Chief Marketing Officers Conference in Kuala Lumpur earlier this week. While his parents might have allowed him to “make mistakes,” Lau says however that certain faults were less forgivable than others. “There was no grey area between what was right and wrong. For instance, when I went to school and I got 97 (out of 100) for mathematics, my mother would hit my hand three times,” he quips. Lau named Media Person of the Year at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. This strict upbringing is probably what moulded Lau into the perfectionist that he is today. “I was pushed from young and have since always strived to be the best at whatever I did,” says Lau. Lau says this translated into making him a “determined and competitive individual in the working world.” Not surprisingly, Lau is no stranger to accolades within his line of work. In 2011, New York-based Advertising Age recognised him as one of “The World’s 21 Most Influential People in Marketing and Media.” Earlier this year, Lau received another global award when he was named “Media Person of the Year” at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity in France. As the first person from China to receive this award, Lau joins a list of luminaries that include Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, former Microsoft chief executive officer Steve Balmer and Google executive chairman Eric Smith, among others. Lau believes that having a strong, positive mindset, is crucial to being able to achieve success. This, he says, has helped him grow his business in China. “If people start facing obstacles and they start painting negative images, then (working in a place like) China would be a challenging place to work for anyone. “If people view difficulties as a challenge, it presents a different sort of melody, where you could actually learn to dance to a new beat and create a bigger fire in the future. I call this passion.” Lau says he sees former sugar baron and tycoon, Robert Kuok, as a huge inspiration. “I have an admiration for Kuok. He is humble, maintains a low profile and his knowledge is diverse. “Staying humble is vital for achieving greatness. Many people, when they get recognition for whatever success they achieve, only end up losing themselves.” Tencent is today the largest Internet service provider in Asia, with a market capitalisation of US$172bil (RM636bil) as of March 20. The company specialises in Internet, mobile services and online advertising. Lau joined Tencent in 2006 as a member of the senior management team, focusing on driving corporate growth, with the specific goal of overseeing Tencent Online Media Group (OMG). Today, OMG is one of the largest media companies in the world, with a portfolio that includes a matrix of online information and entertainment products. As the market leader in China, OMG’s products and services provide penetration into a market numbering in the hundreds of millions of active users per month. Going forward, Lau says the aim is to create more recognition for Tencent and grow its product offering to customers all over the world. We’re just 16 years old. Despite the fact that our name precedes us, we’d like to see a future where the world knows us not by globalisation of the ambitions that we have. “Instead, we’d much prefer if the world knows us because we are much more appreciated by users globally.” Commenting on Malaysia, Lau says the country’s growth prospects for online media looks bright. “Malaysia is actually pretty advanced. Around 16.7% of its gross domestic product comes from Internet-related services. In China, it’s just 4%. “Furthermore, the average number of hours spent on the Internet in Malaysia by users is between five and six. In China, it’s just between three and four hours. “Also, the Internet penetration rate in Malaysia stands at around 65%, compared with China at 45%. So, Malaysia is pretty advanced in this area.” Generally, Lau says he is optimistic about the prospects for online media in Asia. “Various indicators suggest its a bright outlook going forward. But just like anything in life, there’s no guarantee. “The future might be bright but it’s only the case for those that are prepared and willing to think more for their users, rather than those that only think of short-term revenue and profits.”