Tagged by Yi Rhu

I was tagged by Yi Rhu….Well, since I’m so bored here, I shall do it….I’m so sick of studying for exams which is this coming Monday…Again I have to repeat, hostel is scary…..Everyone’s studying!!!!!!!!!!!

Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, and find line 4.
Screw la….Exam week, what book you expect me to have? The nearest I have is my Term 2 Econs lecture notes, nicely binded in a book….Page 18, line 4 – The higher the wages offered in a particular bla bla bla…

Stretch your left arm out as far as you can.
Done

What is the last thing you watched on TV?
Can’t remember la….Hostel no cable…got boring free-tv only.

Without looking, guess what time it is.
9.40?

Now look at the clock. What is the actual time?
9.36…okla

With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
Fan

When did you last step outside? What were you doing?
Outside my room? Ten minutes ago to the toilet

Before you started this survey, what did you look at?
Reading Yi Rhu’s blog and I got tagged there!

What are you wearing?
White shirt, black ¾ pants

Did you dream last night?
Don’t remember doing so

When did you last laugh?
Dunno….dinner time I guess?

What are on the walls you are in?
Nothing

Seen anything weird lately?
Nothing….You call everyone studying 15 hours per day weird? I call that scary….

What do you think of this quiz?
Damn you Yi Rhu….

What is the last film you saw?
Ocean’s 13

If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy?
Launch a hostile takeover of a public listed company? Haha….

Tell me something about you that I don’t know.
I hate studying

If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?
Probably can’t do it…so don’t rather think about it…better to think of something that I could do….

George Bush:
Most useless worthless President of America….Like father like son….SORE LOSER!

Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?
Too far ahead in my future….Let my wife decides la…

Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?
Bobby Junior? Haha….

Would you ever consider living abroad?
I’m technically abroad right now…Across the causeway @ Singapore….Well, Europe or America? Definitely.

What do you want God to say to you when you reach the pearly gates?
Dunno….Is there God?

Tag 5 people who must also do this in THEIR journal:
1. Bryan
2. Jen Sern
3. Sye Yuet
4. Tracie
5. Sabrina

Best Time to Buy or Sell 2nd Hand Cars

I must be too bored studying….Living in a [tag]hostel[/tag] in Singapore is insanely scary. I have mid-years exams coming soon and everyone’s studying like mad, except me. Read here for more info on the scary hostel I’m in now.

Anyway, as the title suggest, I have plotted a graph to illustrate when is the best time to [tag]buy or sell your second hand cars[/tag]. Take a look at the graph here.

Let me explain the graph. On the left axis (and the black curved line) is the price of 2nd hand cars. The reason the price decreases exponentially is quite common sense. We all know the rate of depreciation for any new car value is at the greatest during the initial stage after buying right? And the rate of depreciation slowly decreases till it reaches a point where the car is not worth selling as a car anymore but would garner more value if it were to be sold as scrap metal….

As for the right axis (and the blue curved line), it refers to the maintenance cost of cars. Assuming this car has no factory defect, the cost of maintenance at the initial stage is minimal. But as the car gets older, and is subject to more wear and tear, the maintenance cost will increase exponentially.

The horizontal axis represents time. And it can be observed from the graph that there is a point of intersection between the two curves. I’ve marked them as Eq on both axes.

So when is the best time to buy 2nd hand cars? On my analysis, it is best if we buy 2nd hand cars somewhere around the big red dot on the black curve

Why do I say so? It’s because somewhere around that red dot, the cost of acquiring the 2nd hand car will not depreciate much more in the near future (or the depreciation value will be negligible)…Also, since the car is pretty new, the cost of maintenance will not increase very steeply yet….

In other words, my theory is that somewhere around that red dot, the depreciating value of the car and the maintenance cost of the car will be at the minimum to the new buyer.

If we buy a new car (or anywhere to the left of the red dot), the depreciating value of the car will be extremely great over time.

So does it mean that it is the best time to buy a 2nd hand car as the price is half its original value? Or 2/3rd it’s original value? That I’m not so sure because that will require further analysis of car prices which I do not have the time to do…

Then, what significance does the Eq on the graph bear other than the intersecting point of the two curves? The Eq here stands for the turning point when it is of the best interest to the seller to sell his/her car.

At this point, the value of the car has depreciated to such an extent that over time, the value will not decrease significantly anymore. However, this point marks the point when the car will start getting into more problems and maintenance cost will start to increase exponentially.

As a buyer, it is not a good idea to buy cars over here (unless you don’t mind the increasing maintenance cost) but simply because of the low value of the car.

****

This is just some analysis based purely on monetary value. Of course I did not factor in many other variables when buying 2nd hand cars such as the mileage, whether it’s accident free, whether it has some factory defects etc….

This graph is just some opinion of mine regarding goods which depreciate in value over time such as cars. I have this idea in mind that to stretch your cash, that is to lose the least amount of money over time, it is better if we buy 2nd hand goods for goods which has [tag]depreciating value[/tag] such as cars, cameras, handphones etc. And in the opposite sense, it is better to buy new goods for goods which have appreciating value over time such as land, property etc

Effort-Result-Time Concept

Here’s the deal….The left axis and the line in black signifies EFFORT PUT IN…It ranges from zero effort all the way to infinity effort…
The right axis and the light blue shaded area signifies the RESULT you will get meaning your exam marks…..n it ranges from zero to a maximum of 100%
And this effort/result graph is in respect to time on the horizontal axis….

As you can see, we can put in a constant increasing amount of effort into studying for exams…..But our results will not be increasing at a proportionate rate with respect to amount of effort put in….

At the initial stage, we can see that the result obtained is more than proportionate than the effort put in, but at the later stage we will realise that it drops till it reaches a limit.

And once we have reached the limit, no further effort put in will increase our result….I call this the cap or ceiling….

So in an ideal situation, to enjoy life and to still score the maximum obtainable result for an individual, we shall all strive for the Eq (Equilibrium position), that is putting in Eq amount of effort using Eq amount of time that will bring maximum yield (result)….

With the Eq position, we will reach the maximum capability of our individual self….

And of course this graph/theory/concept doesn’t factor in efficiency….meaning the amount/percentage of information absorbed/understood in a certain period of time.

And one last drawback about this graph/theory/concept is that it is extremely hard to determine the Eq position….

What shall I call this concept? The [tag]effort-result-time concept[/tag]? Bleh….doesn’t sound very sophisticated….Come give me some techno-sophisticated name for this new concept of mine…..Gives it more weight and credibility….

Haha….that’s my 2 cents worth….I’m stressed out looking at people studying….Everyone’s been studying but here I am blogging and writing about this new concept of mine…..

Any use for my exam? Probably not…But one thing’s for sure, I enjoy doing this…..and that’s more important in life….to be happy

Journey to Singapore

Ok this post is 2 days overdue. Well, I had my safe journey back to Singapore on Wednesday afternoon with a [tag]First Coach[/tag] bus. It was 5 hours long with some slight traffic jam around Ayer Keroh area if I’m not mistaken due to construction work to widen the road.

Just some random shot of [tag]Muzium Negara[/tag] I’d took during the bus journey out of KL…It reminds me, it’s been a while since I’d been there….Read my trip to KL to know why I suddenly wanna go explore KL…

Why bus instead of train? Well, bus is way faster than train. And it is very comfy…
Price? First Coach is not too expensive. RM40 from KL to Singapore or S$30 from Singapore to KL…

Well, it’s half the price of so-called luxury buses plying the [tag]Singapore-KL[/tag] route….[tag]Airebus[/tag] and [tag]Aeroline[/tag] are the luxury bus companies that brand themselves as flying in a bus…..I shall write a review between the 3 bus companies someday in the future….

Anyway, I can’t help but to write this. Life in hostel at this moment of time is SCARY!!!!!!! FREAKINGLY SCARY!

You know why? Coz everyone is studying like CRAZY!
Exams are right after the holidays (this coming Monday), and it’s scary seeing everyone studying…..
People clock in double digit hours studying per day. They sleep late at night, and wake up early in the morning.

I CAN’T FREAKING DO THAT! I have a short attention span. All I wanna do is chill and enjoy. But peer pressure brother…..PEER PRESSURE….

I feel damn guilty for not studying….I spent less than half the amount of time that these people spend studying these last few days….

While they had been studying I had been playing my computer, blogging, going out….gosh….scary….I sleep late, waking up early and hence wasting my whole morning off, but as I wake up, I see people studying already….WHAT THE HECK!?

My philosophy – There’s no use studying so much more if you have already reach the maximum capacity because further effort won’t do much good….

Anyway, I’ve spent some time into creating a graph and writing some explanation for it….It’s in the next post. Read it and understand it…It looks a lil econs-ly…but heck…it’s the fact what….

Going back/Leaving Home?

Tomorrow I’m heading down south to Singapore. It’s the end of my holidays back at home in Malaysia. And that means, I have 4 more days in hostel before beginning exams. And after that, another 4 more days and it’s time to shout Merdeka! End of exam….

This 2 ½ week back home surely brought a lot of thinking to my mind. Although it’s just a short 2 weeks plus, I felt that I’ve matured a lot more. I guess it’s the people you hang out with. Many friends over here are done with school; they are all in college and are all behaving like adults. But in Singapore, it’s back to school (though they call it junior college) and you know how people behave in school…..

Like it or not, that’s my road….1 ½ years more before graduating from junior college (aka Form 6)….

Anyway, I’d really enjoyed my time down here in Malaysia. To all my friends, thank you for making it fun by hanging out with me. Sorry to those I didn’t have the chance to catch up with. Was busy so we shall catch up some other time, k.

On other matters, I’m finally done with my [tag]Eat and Sleep[/tag] business plan. It looks very nice on paper….It’s high time now to implement the plan….Will blog a whole post dedicated to this matter soon in the next few days once everything is ready…..

2 More Days

Yup I practically have Monday and Tuesday left in Puchong before heading back to Singapore on Wednesday morning. There are still some stuff that I wish I have more time to complete before heading down south…

Among them:

1) Studies – Gotta finalise and understand more stuff for my mid-year common test…I need to score good grades….
2) Biz plan – ‘[tag]Eat and Sleep[/tag]’ business plan is still hanging in the air up till now. I told myself to complete it asap to show my biz partner – Bryan, but up till now still nothing…
3) Friends – I was supposed to meet up wit a few other Subang/Sunway friends, but somehow the plan did not materialise and I don’t think I have the time to meet up since point 1 is of more importance….Perhaps I will just go play a game of basketball with some secondary school friends on Monday evening and have some chat with Pravana – my good friend since primary school….Haven’t had the chance to meet him since he came back from NS…
4) Others – I need to get myself some basic necessities over here before heading down Singapore coz put it this way, things here are much cheaper….and I need to get a haircut…

Anyway, I was reading Bryan’s blog and he wrote some nice post about our previous failed venture, in his own words - [tag]69Tribe[/tag] is down the toilet…and he did write some stuff bout the new Eat and Sleep venture…..Read it here and here…

Also, I was chatting with Darren yesterday, an ex-colleague at Xfresh (I’d interned there as a webjournalist some years back when Xfresh was still English based)….He’s an IT guy who’s now his own boss. He’s an entrepreneur and had a few online business ventures and is doing quite well….

Well, he asked me bout my latest venture…I told him I have real problem with Internet biz, coz got no technical expertise, even though I have the idea….And I told him some stuff that I have in mind with the Eat and Sleep brand….More idea out soon….

And he said something very useful to me…..You know, to start your own business, start it young, cause as you grow older, you get less motivated….

I believe that’s so true…He started his own business with his friends when he was around 19 or 20 years old. I’m already 18, at a ripe age to start doing well with my life….

He also said - And for young people, getting into Internet business is good, because most of the successful kids out there are people of my age….

Hmmm….my technical aspect (read: programming knowledge) is close to none….Apa macam?

Go finish up ‘Eat and Sleep’ business plan…..Go..go..go…..That’s my best hope now…..

Morning Wasted

I got up today telling myself that I don’t have much time to study before heading down to Singapore and I’ve got to start reading my books today, especially Econs since I have not touched a page of it yet.

But I got up not in ‘the mood’ to study. And sure enough, after eating my breakfast, I turned on my laptop and had been surfing around reading blogs ever since.

As I read blogs after blogs, I realised that many (or most) of them are monetizing their blogs. Among the Malaysian blogs, most of them are running Nuffnang or [tag]Advertlets[/tag] ads…

And then I hopped on to [tag]Nuffnang[/tag]’s website. They are growing so fast that they are hiring new staff…I liked the pixs advertising for new staff…I went on to read Nuffnang’s history and somehow found their founder’s blog - Timothy’s.

Reading success stories just makes me feel like I haven’t achieved anything in life yet. I wanna write my own big success story but so far there’s still nothing to write.

I wanna earn my own money. Honestly, I’m sick of studying. Feel like working, but then people say working life is much harder, stressful and not fun at all as compared with studying. Well, who won’t blame them? Fresh graduates earn only like RM2000 per month? Feels like very little. I’d been thinking of ways of earning much more cash than that. And if any of my ideas ever worked, I don’t even need to start hunting for jobs once I’m done with university.

‘[tag]Eat and Sleep[/tag]’ brand? Damn it….I still haven’t finish writing the business plan that I started out to do a few days back…

Holiday’s Almost Over

*Blog update for Thursday, 14/6/07*

Again, I’m one day late in posting my blog post for the same reason – Momma using Internet…Damn it, I shall now update my blog in the remaining days here during the day instead of fighting it out wit Mom at night.

Anyway, here it is:

I just realised I don’t have much time to study once I’m back in Singapore. I’ll be heading down south this coming Wednesday and after that I have 4 more days to go before the start of exams. And cut 1 day off because I’m meeting my orientation group friends for some gathering.

This leaves me with Friday, Monday and Tuesday to finish up studying most of my subjects. Don’t count the weekend cause it’s my out days. And I’ve got lotsa things to catch up. Crappo.

I hate exams, never liked it. But crap, I’m stuck here going through the education system. I’ll write more about it in some later posts why exams are a piece of junk.

Damn it man, although I have a 1 month holiday break, it’s not really holiday. It’s more like a study break. Reason? 1st week I had Alpha Bravo Camp aka [tag]AB Camp[/tag] – a leadership camp supposedly to groom leaders of my college (but in my humblest opinion have not achieved its objectives)…

Then we had make-up lectures for Maths and Econs during holidays. Luckily my co-curricular group does not have any extra practises during holidays…Choir had practices like almost everyday during the holidays.

And then we had to do self-directed learning for one chapter in Physics. We have to download an e-module from the school website and study it. It is a video consisting of lecture slides with a background lecturer’s voice. I did my lecture yesterday and took up more than 1 hour of my time.

As I said earlier, exams are after holidays, so this holiday (ermm…study break) I have to brush up on my studies….and it’s almost over…Should exams be after holidays or should it be before holidays? Which is better? Another post for some other days….