Greed- A lesson well learnt

I have to describe in detail a lesson I have learnt on momentary greed. So one early morning I came across an article in the newspapers where the writer warned that the way one stock, Asiasons, had rocketed 50% overnight was ridiculous. The stock had started to ram up when news broke out that it was acquiring some oil and gas company in the US. The writer mentioned that the target company's Balance Sheet was in pretty bad shape and that the price earning ratio of Asiasons was trading at over 500 which made it more overpriced than even the frothy dot.com companies in their heydays.

Now Asiasons was one stock I had held some time back on a roller coaster ride before disposing it with great relief and some small profits. When I read the said article early in the morning I thought to myself the stock price would surely plunge that very day after people read about it. So I thought I could make a quick buck by selling short (sell naked and cover by buying back later). I was so sure I could outsmart some fools and make some money. I knew that I had to do it fast, real fast. However I had never carried out a short sell trade before. Nevertheless I was so carried away with the idea of gaining from what I thought was prompt information that I quickly logged on to my trading platform. The stock had closed at $2.72 the previous day and I almost clicked the short sell bottom for 2 lots at $2.72. However it occurred to me that I may need to get permission from the security house to short sell. So I called up the AM in charge of my account. Unfortunately she had just stepped out but her colleague assured me I could short sell but I need to cover up within the day (because I have not signed up for share borrowings). I was delighted , but even as we spoke over the phone the stock had dropped very very fast from $2.72 to $2.52. I thought to myself if the stock could move up almost a $ in one day it could drop just as much and I would have no problem covering the short position within the day. So my right hand just clicked and I short sold 2 lots at $2.55.

That morning saw my heart beat double its normal rate (well it was a long time since my last visit to Genting and no Genting trip had caused half as much excitement cum panic). Instead of dropping (which I was so convinced it would), the stock was steadily climbing. In less than half an hour it had climbed back to  $2.62 when my remisier called back. Her colleague had told her about my call and she had noticed that I short sold 2 lots. She told me to be careful because the stock was controlled by some players and the volume was not high; meaning it could be more difficult to cover. I told her I probably would have to pay a bit of tuition fees for my first short sell transaction. So the price yoyoed the whole morning and I was glued to the laptop screen. I couldn't do my normal chores and I was so unsettled that I couldn't even  read the newspapers. What more I couldn't have the peace of mind to prepare for the story telling session in the same afternoon; and yes I forgot I had to leave the house at 2 pm which meant I had less than a full trading day to cover my position. Just one hour before I had to leave the house, the stock suddenly jumped another 10c and more. Gosh did I panic as I watched the price climbed. In the end I was forced to buy back at $2.70, incurring a loss of over 350 bucks.

Now I have paid to learn a few things about myself and about greed in general:

1) I certainly do not have the fearless composure of a trader or a gambler
2) I am too emotionally attached to a trade ( as a reflection of my cleverness or foolishness ) to view the situation objectively
3) I can not stomach big losses or rather my heart isn't game for such thrills
4) Because of greed, I lost a whole morning of quiet and calm reading as well light-hearted moments preparing for the afternoon story telling session
5) Because of greed, I was really not my normal self. It was as if I lost control, my head was tight and tense and I was muddled.

After this episode, my AM called me to enquire whether I would like to start a share borrowing facility. With that I can borrow shares and need not cover short positions within a day. She got to be KIDDING!!!   I thought the $350 well spent to gain awareness that I am not cut to be a trader. It was also a $350 well spent to experience the ills of greed in general, a lesson most useful to reflect upon when encountering greed of larger scale in future.

Comments on my last blog

My tribute to our great leader (from a  小人物's perspective) in my last blog actually kept me thinking for quite awhile. Even as I penned the last sentence of my previous posting, I was thinking that I could have been rather superfluous with my comments. At the back of my mind I thought it was not a single visionary man that made the difference in this country but really a visionary man backed by a good team. Well, it was his birthday and people can be excessively loving at birthday parties, especially a 90th year one.

I enjoyed Rachel Chang's article in yesterday's ST entitled "Weaning Spore off the Great Man leadership style".  She described it well when she cautioned that we should remember "our founding fathers-plural-..." in how they backed their leader with loyalty, without desire to usurp power and striving with a common purpose. She continued to remark that this "Great Leadership Theory" which believes that the "innate intelligence" in civil servants enables them to take on any portfolio, has manifested dangers. She felt that the legacy of this Great Leadership Theory "has narrowed our minds" and stunted the citizen's  belief in their own ability to bring about changes. So when things go wrong the government is expected to answer for it and to find solutions.

Now being a real  小人, I can now blame my own narrow mindedness on the Government and the social construct it has created :(

Jokes aside, a bad workman can not blame his tools forever. At my age, I jolly well get cracking to be more aware, ask more questions, try to think broader and deeper, though it is really not that easy to change a shallow thinking habit at this age. This country should really run a university for senior citizens offering courses like political science, social studies and other humanities subjects at low tuition fees.They owe us this last chance to broaden our minds after conditioning us to narrow economic modes of unquestioning utility thinking, don't they?

Happy Birthday

Today is LKY's 90th Birthday. For the past few days there has been lots of tributes in the papers on his achievements in transforming Singapore.

Though I am not like the LKY-adoring "grateful old" of my parents' generation (having been influenced by the critiques of the Gen X and Gen Y), just 2 things which drew my attention lately have made me sufficiently appreciative for all he has done for our country.

First is a mundane report that the Malaysian Government is relaunching an effort to spruce up Kuala Lumpur's Klang River. The article describes how unbearably filthy and smelly the river is that even pedestrians avoid taking the footpath along its banks. When I read that I instantly recalled how 50 years ago I used to suffer the stench when accompanying my mother to the Central Market at KL. My sister's school was also located at the Old Klang Road which was parallel to the Klang River meandering from Port Klang to KL. In my childhood memory the brown waters of the river which seemed to stretch forever was a landmark when visiting my sister's school. I can't believe that 50 years forward, the conditions of the river is unchanged if not worse, having been described as "between critical and bad" by Gareth Jones of Wessex Water, a UK based company. Can you imagine if Singapore has the fortune of such a river, it would have been made into a tourist hub of miles of alfresco dining and water sports. Looking out from any building along our Singapore River is enough to make one proud and grateful.

My daughter just met up with a college friend who is a Malaysian working in KL. Though we read in the papers about the frequent crimes in Malaysia, it only strikes you as very real and rampant when heard first hand from the locals. The girl narrated several incidents that happened to friends and relatives eg being slashed on the neck when opening the car door just parked outside a condo, another needing a cornea transplant when the car's front screen was smashed before his very eyes and robbers who wait no time to cause grievous hurt. Hearing all these accounts make me postpone my trip to KL, something which I often used to do to reminisce my childhood. Now KL seems to me a lawless city, a cowboy town without a sheriff.

I used KL to compare with Singapore because it is very real for me, ie. I could have ended up in KL if alternative decisions were made some decades ago. It also pains me to see how conditions have deteriorated in this idyllic town of my memories. No one would have envisaged how vastly different the 2 countries have become. It just takes one visionary man to make the difference and in the lives of many.

My struggle with Chinese

Having completed 5 modules of Fundamental Dharma Course in English at the Sagaramudra Society I had to wait until next year for them to conduct the Dharma Progressive course in English. It would be the first time they will be conducting the progressive course in English although they have conducted the course in Chinese for several years. Just to accompany my sister-in-law I enrolled myself in the Chinese Progressive Dharma course.

I was really apprehensive as to how much I would be able to gather from the class given my limited Chinese knowledge. However I was inspired when a Chinese educated classmate (who attended both the English and Chinese Fundamental courses) related how she diligently went through the English text, looking up the dictionary, before each English class. So for 2 lessons now I did much the same looking up the Chinese dictionary to understand the Chinese text before attending class.

However I think there is a difference here. I am not sure whether it is a fair statement coming from an English educated background, but I really think it is harder to understand Chinese just by looking up the dictionary, word for word. If you ignore the English grammar construction, once you find out the meaning of the unfamiliar words you can probably guess the meaning of an English text. The same can not be said of Chinese. Many times I still don't get the meaning even after dutifully and diligently looking up each difficult word. This is especially so when the text is in the form of verses, given the economy of words in Chinese verses and multiple meaning even for each word. However such frustrations can change to delight when the teacher explains the meaning of those verses in class and you can not but marvel at how apt and concise those few words are in each line. You also find yourself rather stupid trying to read word for word when at times you should be reading 2 words or more together to get the meaning. (But of course a good dictionary would certainly help) Still it does take me quite awhile sometimes to realize that the 2 or 3 words together actually refer to the name of a character or a place!

Tough though it is I am beginning to enjoy it. In fact I am now beginning to wonder at the vast treasures I have missed not knowing this language. I guess when I have better mastery I wouldn't be so lost. Hopefully with a bit of hard work and perseverance;
Iwouldknowwhentolinkwordstogethertoknowtheirmeaning  as in reading English

(Also it has been said that learning a language is a good way to keep dementia at bay)

Volunteering, Why Me?

A writer to the forum page makes a good attempt to analyse the lack of volunteerism in Singapore. She cited 4 possible reasons being :
1) people are too weary and what little time left besides working is needed for recuperation
2)we are brought up with the "every man for himself" mentality
3)the "new rich" always feel poor compared to the"super rich"
4)the feeling that every other person is doing well given the high ranking of almost everything in our country, be it health, education, safety, housing etc.

Whilst I think the first reason certainly plays a part, I doubt the prevalence of the mentality cited as the second reason. I believe most people have empathy for the less privileged but may feel they do not have the time or resources to help.

Now the third reason may have some degree of validity. Just turning the pages of the newspaper filled with pictures of luxury homes, cars, bespoke kitchen/bathroom fittings, travel destinations, expensive enrichment classes, fine dining etc can possibly make one feel poor and "hey there are countless rich people who can help". In fact sometimes I do wonder whether the likes of the Philip Ng,  (named richest man in Spore) will give instruction to his PA to write a cheque when reading about people/families who met with misfortune and in need of financial help. You see on some occasions when I write a cheque, I tend to wonder the appropriate amount (eg. if the medical bill of someone amounts to half a million, all it takes is 500 people to write a $1,000 cheque or a few rich guys to settle the bill). Should "what you can afford" be taken in the context of a sole donor or an estimate of the possible number of donors.

As for the 4th reason postulated there could be some validity as well. Sometimes when you are bombarded with all the good things happening in your own country, you do have this feeling that everybody is well and happy. In fact one may even feel out of place to feel low/moody when everyone else (especially in face book, haha ) feels on top of the world.

The writer then went on to suggest that corporates take the first step to involve their staff in volunteering. lessening any initial discomfort when carried out as a group. I also feel that only through volunteering and being involved will one become more aware of the help needed out there.

In Buddhist teachings, making an offering also helps one to be less attached to one's belongings thereby practicing detachment. As such it is not about the fairness of giving as a proportion of how much you have, but a matter of willing to give up what is deemed 'yours'. This includes 'your' time. So if your time is not really yours, why not you?