b.Return on Capital

The last part is here:   Return From Powerful Retreat

During my most recent sabbatical, I have learned one very important point:   Return on Capital is vulgar only if there are restrictions to the game. Otherwise, it is very normally grim.

Some of the investments I have gotten has a return of 5-8 years. To achieve such a great return requires lots of finesse. I must say it was a cooperative effort that came out very fine. The return on capital was stable and non-volatile. The sums involved were also not very large, mostly manageable bite-sizes, which is great for piece-meal engagement.

Even the coming restaurant share investment is also rather bite-size. So it would have made my original premise of not borrowing from the bank possible.

Now is summer time, the land deals in white land is stiff. Summer time is a time where deals are struck as they were able to see and feel their purchases. Speaking from experience, I always without fail would fall in love with the properties I visit. I used to scold Chrysanthemum about her falling in love with the properties she visited. Truly I was no better. So I would give it a short break. Come winter, the deals would have sweetened themselves. Why? In winter, people are less like to travel. If the sellers are desperate for cash, the deals would be better. Now in the shopping malls, more stores are closed and not replaced. Frequently, these voids were not filled till a year later. It is very painful for the whites. Recently they reopened the flooding gates for more immigrants, hoping to reduce their pain.

As the word implies, I am currently torn between investing more cash into businesses or fixed assets. A fine balance is needed. With the recessionary pressures at their greatest, fixed assets are burning and great deals are everywhere. I am simply spoilt for choice. But, business investments must still have to be ongoing, else these businesses will take forever to fruit.

I am holding 50-50 view over the two investment choices.

People management

This remains extremely tricky to me. Most of the people I engaged were cunning and useless. But, therein lie a few gems. These gems interestingly did yield an overall benefit. Just one gem would have make up for the lost time and money invested in 10 other useless assholes. So it is quite profitable. Just be wary of unusual leeches. They come in all shapes and sizes.

p.The Nice Path Ahead (Next Part)

The last Part is here:   The Nice Path Ahead

The acquaintance mentioned before this essay gave me a food treat. I rejected. She suggested that if I ever needed anything, please feel free to ask and it shall be complied. I smiled.

In the past, I have spent hundreds if not a couple of thousands on her to please her. In exchange, I asked for occasional favours. But none of these favours asked were returned. Every one of these favours was non-monetary in nature. Sad. She made a final attempt on me and said she would be leaving for her ex-home country for good. She has burnt 20 years of her stay in white land, achieving nothing. I am sorry that I couldn't help her. She is beyond help. I can't teach her how to suck eggs. Her path is hers alone to choose. I don't wish to help.

The time has come for me to say goodbye to this unwanted relationship. She talked for hours on end. Her companion even claimed that the relationship could go on if I choose to. I just smiled with no facial expression. I am indeed a poor actor or was it that I am just plain lazy.

Another acquaintance just popped up to meet me at 500 km from his place. He will bring along resources to help me to manage my work. No question asked about compensation. No hint of extracting favour from me. This is called a true friend. Not because I received unasked favours but a friend don't question return but just do them. There is still hope in mankind.

Tiramisu Queen as usually gave me a dangerous look. She claimed if she had met me earlier in her life. Her life would be so different. I smiled. My intensive pheromone perfume worked. I was expected to say something but I resisted. Chrysanthemum gave me one tight slap on my face and said I should not be ambivalent about relationships. Women are like cats, they clawed their ways around.

Noticing that I was quiet thereafter, Tiramisu Queen offered me to buy a small share in her newly setup lucrative restaurant.

I guess if I can please a gal enough, she will feed me food.

I felt so blessed.

p.The Nice Path Ahead

The last part is here:   p.Show - 衣锦还乡

I am loving every moment of this.

A get-together with an acquaintance yielded that he was very angry. He had spent 20 years of his life in white land. He is now just an odd-job labourer with some small licensing ticket in white land. Of cos, he has a small house to boot. He has achieved this house purchase through his hard work in his previous home country. He told me that during his more tender years, he did not listen to his seniors before him. They have suggested to him businesses that might have worked for him in white land. He did not listen to them. He claimed he was stubborn. He explained to me that all my current projects are too big and too wide-spread. He don't believe I will ever succeed. His tone was bitter.

I smiled.

He told me nothing. Being my senior, he taught me nothing. I never did expect anything for free. But, since he taught me nothing and has no cash, I can't be serious with him.

But of course, during his earlier encounters with me, he has hoped to find some common projects to play with me.

But he played me out time and time again over small test matters. I don't trust anyone who failed my little tests. I have no spare cash to lose. Hence, the little tests. I am cunning and extremely careful about who I want to go to bed with. I then blocked all entrances to my projects. I gave him no hope.

He is now very, very angry. Angry that he made no head ways in white land. He is now angry that he has spent 20 years of his youth in white land achieved nothing. Not even one extra house in his name. The current house that he stayed was purchased with funds from the sale of his own house back in his ex-home country. He is still under heavy mortgage. His entire 20 years did not yield a single additional house. In fact, he harbours the thoughts of returning to his own ex-home country for good.

He has no true friends. In fact, he has none that I know of. Why? One asked. It is simply because he was never a true friend to boot. He don't help others from his own heart and he expects others to help and pay for him. Such leecher can't hope to have true friends to die for him.

He is now extremely angry. I did not offer any projects for him to play as I don't trust him at all. I told him that all my projects are deadly expensive and takes forever to reach fruition. Yes. He then answered his own question by saying he and I don't have many more 10-years to game.

Yes. I did misinform him on the progress of my projects. Yes. I did not give hope.

My Comments:

In all battle planning, one needs to address the negativity raised: The long gestation of my projects and the thin-spread of my investment capital.

Contrary to common misconception, I did have a very strong business type that I draw my strength. This business type currently carries the full load of my income. Right now, due to my slightly lack of attention, it has weakened slightly. I have to refocus on it to get it up again. My discussion with my business partner yielded that this business type did have a limit and we have to address it. It was based on this limit that I need to diversify to more business types. But, each business type investment need at least 10 years to fruit.

The ultimate game as we all know is land and lesser extent, properties. Every business type is meant to achieve land ownership. It is with land ownership that one can be confident with one's future. In fact, I have achieved far more unencumbered land mass than most now.

The thin-spreading of the investment capital is intentional. Since I am able to poke my finger in every pie, why not? This thin-spread will allow me to have very low exposure to any one investment type. Hopefully I won't cause jealousy in any one I encounter. 

I still want my peace.

I am water. I flow into every crevices of the mother nature. I may not be able to enjoy the full fruit during my physical life, but I am sure those that take over me will finally find peace and serenity.

I may be wrong in spreading the capital too thinly. But, I am truly enjoying myself. So I am kind of stuck in thinking otherwise. Let time be my ultimate guide. I never had so much now than before. Before I was battling with uncertainty. Now, every asset is acquired with pure cash, I sleep well every night. Yes. There would be storms ahead of me. Yes. There would be uncertainties. But, with my unyielding hardworking hands, I believe I can brave all fears.

When the last leaf falls ...

b.Capital - Time Units

The last part is here:   Capital - Energy Units 

My partner-in-crime asked me a difficult question today:   We must exploit the factor of time units.  

For time immemorial, my partner-in-crime and I have been grappling with the problem of cash. We resisted borrowing from anyone for a long, long time. But, we always ended borrowing in times of distress. For each borrowing, we always pay back in double the time and using double the effort. This caused a great loss of progress and a great deal more chance for competition to catch us. Fortunately, we lasted.

So a day in once upon a time, my partner-in-crime suggested that we exploit the time units, i.e., we start employing people to do our work. The progress was tremendous and we made lots of money in a very short time. But, we missed out on the quality control. The people that we employed were very slipshot in their work and delivery. After a while, our customers started to complain about the shody work output and started to shun us.  Initially, customers bought from us was because we were symbol of quality. But, once they consumed and realized that our quality sucked. We went downhill all the way. It took us 5 good years to repair that damage and regain the confidence of customers again.Exploiting the time units is not an easy task.

Just watch the movie on Steve Jobs, you would realize you need more than just employees to do a good job. You need passion. The whites tried to do it by giving employee shares, founder's share, share options, profit-sharing, and etc. But, even at this time and age, Steve Jobs still had to fire everyone and restart from ground up.

What my partner-in-crime gave me was indeed a very, very hard question. How to exploit the time units effectively? This is slippery. Done right, we fly. Done wrong, we are dead, like Nokia, Microsoft and yahoo. But, if we don't try to exploit these time units, we will never be very big. Once we have the cash units, the only next step is exploiting the time units.

The answer is not yet fully established by me.

But, I do know a good start, We must look at strong companies that are at least 200 years old. Let's look at the story of Kikkoman:

During the hundred years from the mid-seventeenth century to the mid-eighteenth century, soy sauce production led by the Mogi and Takanashi families prospered in the city of Noda, located in Chiba Prefecture. This is where Kikkoman was born.

Noda is located on the Kanto plain, once one of the largest production centers for soybeans and wheat. It was easy to secure the necessary workforce in this region, owing to its growing population following on the establishment of nearby Edo (today’s Tokyo) as the capital of Japan. Besides its geographic advantages, boat transport had developed in Noda, which was blessed with two major waterways: the Tone and Edo rivers. The transportation of ingredients was thus facilitated, while manufactured products could be delivered to Edo for mass consumption. Based on historical documents, nineteen soy sauce brewers organized an association in Noda to ship soy sauce mainly to Edo. By the mid-nineteenth century, Noda had become the largest soy sauce producer in the Kanto region. 

In 1917, the Mogi family, the Takanashi family and the Horikiri family merged their businesses to form Noda Shoyu Co., Ltd. In 1964, Noda Shoyu Co., Ltd. changed its corporate name to Kikkoman Shoyu Co., Ltd. In 1980, this trade name was altered to the company’s current name: Kikkoman Corporation.

"Make Haste Slowly" was a show about Kikkoman, after the company's motto, and alludes not only to its 300-year history, but its six-month brewing process that, according to Kikkoman's site, dates back to feudal Japan. The process involves fermenting soy beans, wheat, salt, water and a koji mold. The mixture, called moromi, is aged for several months before being pressed, refined, bottled and shipped. Kikkoman's site also states that the company was founded by a woman, "in a time when women didn't start companies." 

When I was younger, I was invited to join in a discussion with the boss of a Kikkoman factory and a chinaman consultant who specialised in fermentation. The consultant claimed that he could cut fermentation period to only 10 days. Immediately the boss' face turned black and the meeting ended in less than 10 minutes.

The consultant simply didn't know why the short meeting. He didn't realize that good things only come slowly. I was humbled by the meeting. Although I have zero respect for neither Japanese nor the chinaman, the company was indeed still a force to contemplate with.

The time units can therefore be established only after we have finalized the quality aspect of the products.

I still have much to learn. Growing is always good if not great, but growing at the expense of quality is death.

b.Capital - Energy Units

The last part is here:   Capital - The curse of Loan 

Let me start off with a show:   Dragon Heart

“A knight is sworn to valour.
His heart knows only virtue.
His blade defends the helpless.
His might upholds the weak.
His word speaks only truth.
His wrath undoes the wicked.” 

This is a very good show. It is light but heavy in meaning.

Only about 1000 years, we were under the greedy reigns of kings and knights. After 1000 years, we are not so different. Now we are still plundered by the so-called "democratically-elected" rulers. Dictator Saddam Hussein had 100% parliamentary support. The rings of Animal Farm and Josef Stalin stayed real close. One would be greatly protected if you are under such tortures to leave immediately. Along the way, there would be adjustment pains, but do bear with it for the sake of the next generations. Don't be selfish and think only about yourself. Live a life that is humble and safe. Your family clan will thank you.

Living in the white land is not easy. It involves great inconveniences such as integrating with them. But, if you want your family tree to continue growing. It would have to be the case.

Energy Units

When Japan was booming up to the 1980s, the properties in Tokyo can go for $10k psf. The Japanese were snobbish as if they conquered the world by their cheap-and-good products. They were almost unstoppable. Immediately after, Japan plunged into a depression that lasted at least 3 decades. it is still on-going while we speak. This trend continued with the 4 little dragons and the big dragon.

Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain (PIIGS) were in deep trouble by 2008. USA were in deep shit too. The loans the governments borrowed were huge. Every person wants their smart phones, notebooks, latest techie stuff, large TVs, hand-bags and many more. Soon the Chinaman would be next. The citizens simply over-consumed.

Countries like Canada and Australia sell their minerals and oil deposits to receive cash. This is also not sustainable.

We must understand the meaning of energy units, money is just a piece of rubbish paper. Every day the sun deliver energy to earth, nourishing it with energy. The plants and the trees captured this energy and stored it within their bodies. The animals consume these plants to nourish themselves. The humans consume both the animals and plants for these energy units. But there were too many of us. So some (I think is all) countries will dig and consume stored energy units in the form of oil deposits and minerals. Oil deposits and minerals took millions of years to construct, so although their energy units are high but once plundered, the units would not be so easily replaced, hence, the term "non-renewable".

So if you want to have a safe living, you must never consume more than what the sun can deliver. That way, these energy units are renewable and ever present. That's the reason why I always suggest delaying the development of the land for higher usage such as hotels and shopping malls.

Now that the autumn and soon winter is coming, I noticed a great increase in selling of very large buildings going for a song. Properties in Detroit, after the demise of the motor industries, are now so cheap that you would not believe it. Properties such as schools, churches and government offices in white land are now for sale to the highest bidder.

So if you consume more than what the sun can supply, very soon you would be forced to borrow and once your borrow, the land will soon be taken away. Be honest to yourself, consume humbly. Buy enough land to feed the entire family. Learn to live off the land. If there is sufficient extra, go for a little trip around the world.

For that fucken little island, the end is near. My partner-in-crime always suggested that "everything we do, we must be sustainable. Not only in terms of work output, but also consumption."

Let's enjoy the show ... I meant "Dragon Heart" ... LOL ...

b.Capital - The curse of Loan

The last part is here:   Capital - The Inner Core 

A blogger wrote:

I am the second child in my family.

My parents have 4 children in total and the youngest is 13 this year.

My parents have borrowed and accumulated the interest of up to $200k from 20 over different LS. Yes, my mum is foolish, but all was done out of her love for her children.

My parents CPF have been depleted to pay for the house they bought but there is still an outstanding amount of a few hundred thousand(5RF) and have to pay cash every month, on top of the expenses that they family spend, which is just barely enough.

Finally their saving have been depleted and friends and families shun from then, fearing that they might borrow more money, she borrowed from the LS to pay of her current debt, hoping to pay the LS asap, but interest compounded and her debt just skyrocketed, they derived a plan to lend from a LS to pay her current LS debt and hope to pay them slowly but it was just too much and they have to sell the house to pay for the LS payments and they rented a house from my aunt.

It was still insufficient to pay them all and the situation got worst when LSs refused to lend her any more money(coz of the plan they derived) and the amount totaled up to over 200k, which my parents have no ability to pay. The LS payments have to be paid but my parents’ income was just too little to pay them all without the help of another loan and my mother ended up not paying most of them.

They called day and night to pester my parents and sends threat sms to my family, they doped my mother into giving them our residential address and now, they are knocking at our door daily.

I was terrified at first, after learning about this but we are also the cause of her current problems. My mother told me that she would go to jail if we called the police and the LS would not let us off. She talked to us about her situation and told me the procedure to claiming death insurance L should anything happened to them.

The income my parents earn everyday is paid to LS leaving then penniless and they have less than 100$ with them and we are surviving thru bread and financial assistance in school. They still owes many payments from many different LS.

I don’t blame them but I feel that they are really silly to borrow $ from LS in the first place. 

I really wish that someone could help my parents out of this situation L I know I am a little naïve to ask the people from this forum to help with monetary issues, especially such a large sum but even a little help would do… 

I really want to help them but what could I do. Does anyone know any job I can take up to help to settle at least some of their debts? ( I have remedial lessons almost every day). 

Although I felt a little fake about the story, but the general tone sounded bad.

Loan-sharks (LS) are just another type of bank. All banks behave exactly alike. They leech off every single energy resource that one has. Each energy resource is vital resource that you can commandeer for greater good of the family clan. You lose that you lose the family clan. The family will fall in disrepair. The next generation will suffer poor growth. So be very careful about loans.

I know many would ask the question how to do it without loans. There are enough things that don't require loans to start. It is allowed by Mother Nature. As long as you stay loan-less, you will be alright at all times. As a playing member of the 10 poker players, the hand will be in your absolute favour one day. That day will come silently without a hint. When that day arrives, rejoice but do think hard about others who are not as fortunate.

Since you don't borrow, nobody gets hurt, not even the lender.  You will be so eco-friendly.

b.Capital - The Inner Core

The last part is here:   Capital - Investment Style

Sigh ... I have written about this many, many times before, but, no one seems to understand. 一念天堂，一念地狱。

Many guys go through education and not knowing why they are in it in the first place. Lots of these guys thought that since I wouldn't use the knowledge gained from books and education, I shouldn't waste money going to school, but instead, go straight to work and learn from the market and become a graduate from the streets.

This is so sad. Many guys don't understand that the fastest way to learn their weapon-of-choice is through education. What can be easier than being spoon-fed from the bottle in school?

A bachelor degree will allow the guy to break free from the mother's apron tie. His 思维 will enable him to learn things independently. He does not need help from any quarters. He is his own man. Given enough thinking, he will be able to solve his own problem-sum.

A master degree, as the name implies, will allow the guy to run a group of bachelors and commandeer them to work. His 思维 will enable him to coordinate attacks on cities and land. He will move men by mind-fucking them. He is a leader and manages resources. Given enough thinking, he will be able to build empires. He has solved the 3-dimensional space problem.

A doctorate degree will allow the guy to return to his basics. He questions every single class norms. He does not take what he sees as the truth. He questions about the illusion that the incident provides. His 思维 will enable him to build timeless machines to calm his clan. Given enough thinking, he will transcend the time dimension.

Given a choice, I would defer my entry into the market place as late as possible and get spoon-fed by the kind masters of the trade. 

A strong guy is normally in the science discipline, but there are indeed numerous exceptions. My partner-in-crime is not only scientific and analytical, he is also a historian. He knew history of mankind at the back of his hand, he therefore able to explain philosophically why things happened the way they were. Lessons are learned and mistakes avoided. A very pleasant outcome indeed.

Attack the issue at hand only from philosophical point of view. Only then will you find peace.

If you must, learn to play GO. The rules are simple. There are only black and white stones. Every stone is important. Every move is permanent, i.e., once move is placed, the stone will stay till the end of the game. This stone will either help in the attack or be eaten alive if wrongly decided by the general. The stone's fate is fixed. It can't be moved. Once placed, it has no more freedom. The stone's usefulness will either be a lifetime or cut short by circumstances. Such is the fate of the stone. Unmoving, unchangeable. It can be a game changer, a useless by-stander or a sacrificial lamb. Each stone is equally important and equally cunning. Life is also like the game of GO, once move is made, it can't be changed. Therefore, contemplate and re-contemplate each move. There are not many possible moves in life. Like what 柴九 said:
人生有几多个十年，最紧要痛快。

b.Capital - Investment Style

The last past is here:   Capital - Generations Game 

A friend once asked me that not every one is interested in land, some might prefer the more modest property investment. But, she saw problem in property investing. For each property, marked at say, $100, the place could usually be fairly rented at say, $5 per year (or 5%) or $0.42 per month ($5/12). With this gross rental, it will take approximately 20 years ($5 x 20 = $100) to recover the investment. This is a very long time. But, compared to bank deposit rate (at 1-2%). This is still superior. And compared to stocks & shares (15% returns), it is slightly inferior. But, stocks & shares have higher risk. The good news is property investment does bring about capital appreciation which she felt that is a good compensation. So in order to bridge this low returns, one usually tries to gear the investment by borrowing from the bank. Say, based on 10% down-payment and if there is a capital appreciation of 5% that year, one would have gained 50% investment return! Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Many people has forgotten that borrowing incurs cost. That interest cost could be as high as 6-8%. Based on the borrowing of 90%, the net interest cost could be anything from 5.4%-7.2% (90%x6%, 90%x8%) which is way above that of the 5% appreciation. There is therefore a net loss of 0.4%-2.2%, even with 5% capital appreciation. What if there is no capital appreciation for some years?  The longer one borrows, the more negativity one gets. so how?

I smiled. Once you borrow from the bank, you would be doomed. I have been there, done that. There was no happiness. There is no quarrel. See the car that the banker drives and the car that the borrower drives would tell you its true story. If all are earning normal profits, there should be no difference in being a banker or a borrower, all are earning fair value, the fact is the banker drives a much better car implies that there is trickery up the banker's sleeve. So it is a zero-sum game, the winner is the banker and the loser, the borrower. So don't borrow, regardless. You will see the wisdom many years down the road.

But faced with the grim prospect of buying a property cash and renting it out to try to recover its capital is real long and painful, there must be a better legal way.

If you must invest in boring property such as houses and buildings, then you must exercise cunning. Most residential properties have terrible tenant records, i.e., the tenant will not pay on time, the tenant is very well-protected by the authorities, the owner can't evict the tenant without an eviction order, which can take up to 3 months to get. There are hearings and complaints from the tenant to slow the eviction process down. By the time the property is vacated, i.e., rental-free for 6 months, you may find cement powder poured down the sewerage before they leave. The repair bill (or rebuilding cost) is going to be extremely high.

You have no choice and must therefore employ cunning, if you must buy a residential property, find out if you could rent it out to businesses like the old-folks homes, child-care centres, corner grocery stores, churches, display houses and etc. The key is you will receive a much higher return for your property and hence, it is now worth its while to purchase. Having a business residing in the residential property provides stability in rental income and general state of repair. These businesses hope to gain in the long haul and so is less likely to play tricks. For other property types, you will have to think further.

There is however one more joke. The capital appreciation is not real. Why? Well, if you were to sell the property, can you buy back the same property with less cash. The answer is a big fat NO. So what have you gained? Nothing. The so-called capital is nothing more than the state's printing press having gone on overdrive to print more coloured papers in exchange for your real estate. Paper money is not real estate, it is just a medium of exchange for goods and services. It has no intrinsic value. By the time you wish to sell, your plate of chicken rice would have been $50 per pop.

So even with boring residential property investment, you have to employ cunning to win the race. Anyway, I rather prefer not to. Learn to put the land on duty, that's what my partner-in-crime used to say.

g.What is meant to be Financially Free?

The last part is here:   Pants Chasing 

This is so fun. A friend just gave me her most disapproving and scorching comment on my last essay. She said what I have written was so revolting and degrading to the general woman-folks out there that the essay mustn't see the light of the day. How apt. That essay was written based on my observation and it may not have any scientific basis, although I tried my best to be philosophical at the very least. By the way, seeking populous votes is never my idea of this blog. I am only trying to keep my sanity. But, I do stand by my own point of view. I have re-read my own entry and realised that the key reason is that woman-folks found the essay too truthful. It produces a truth mirror that is so brilliant that it only reflects their worst characteristics was way too much for these "ladies" to swallow. The "ladies" expect the opinion of guys of them to be one of kindness, generosity, modesty and beauty. Sorry, if we guy-folks don't take our woman-folks seriously and learn how to manage them properly, misery and cuckoo-ness would be our only comeuppance. If the gals I date ever give me a cuckoo hat to wear, good luck to me if she is never found out, I will just throw them out. Of course, the tub, baby and water all in one.

Chinese Dinner

Just finished dinner with a group of friends from another little island. The table topic was skirt-chasing. I was inquiring why throughout all my good years, I never manage to get any gals from the twin island. The gals at the table again loved to engage me spiritedly to counter any attacks on woman-folks. A gal replied that I didn't spend enough. I smiled. Well, where should I have spent then? She happily suggested dinning at half-hill-estate, the highest revolving restaurant or the shallow-water-bay. I said OK, not that I have not tried. Next time whenever I meet a gal I will just suggest immediately dinning at these places. She said no, no, no. I must never suggest dinning at such places on the first date. It would be too much pressure. I must be subtle. I sighed. I replied god is you, devil is you (神又是你，鬼又是你。) You see:  The problem is it is already so difficult dating the gal out for the first time. During this first date, if I bring her to road-side store, she will squeal and instruct that I shall never ever date or call her again. Since you have suggested that my class (级数) is not high enough, I must act quickly and suggest those places to prove that I have arrived (够级数), since I only always have only one chance to show-case. Not able to counter my logical argument, she laughed heartily.

During the convo, the gals also asked me about the update of the three mormon gals that I was trying to meet. I replied no luck. Then, one cheeky gal asked that what if the cute one suddenly appears at my door step? I replied then better quick-hand-quick-leg open my room liao (快手快脚，开房啦。) She was shocked. She said since I am from that fucken little island, I must not have known mandarin that well, do I therefore know what I have just said? I replied of course, I know what I am talking about. I said since fate has brought us together again, it must also be fate that we will be together from now on, you adult I adult, so let's get it going lor. Two of the gals laughed until they teared.

We had a good dinner. 

Financial Freedom

Lots of guys don't understand the meaning of financial freedom. The gals are only interested in financially-free guys. It doesn't matter if the guy brings her to dine in a road-side-store, she wouldn't complain as she knows full well that the choice of the guy is super flexible. The reason why the guy brings her to a road-side-store is that the food there is the best one can find. The guy simply knows what is its true value. He would bring her to dine at the half-hill-estate if he feels the quality there is great. Money was never in his consideration, only quality of services/products are.

(Wiki:)    For financially independent people, their assets generate income that is greater than their expenses. For example, a person's quarterly expenses may total $4000. They receive dividends from stocks they have previously purchased totalling $5,000 quarterly, while also having more money in other assets. Under these circumstances, a person is financially independent. A person's assets and liabilities are an important factor in determining if they have achieved financial independence. An asset is anything of value that can be liquidated if a person has debt, whereas a liability is related to debt, in that it is the responsibility of one possessing it to provide compensation. (Homes and automobiles with no liens or mortgages are common assets.)

Based on the wiki's definition, roughly it means personal assets are more than liabilities. But, I simply don't agree with this standard definition. I can almost guarantee that poor people are financially quite free as long as they don't gamble. They have poor credibility in the eyes of the banks, they simply can't borrow any money from banks, the poor can only spend what they possessed. In the strict definition, these poor people would have been way more financially free than most modern middle-class debtors.

Financial Freedom to me is the ability of having a continuous and consistent excess cash-flow, without much work to be done to get it, and having all the time in the world to spend these cash-flows at places where even most woman-folks would also be pleased to join or possess.

How can the guy get there?

(1)   Work hard on the first passion business and produce real excess cash-flow.

(2)   Use the excess cash-flow to buy land (as many as possible).

(3)   Develop the land for use,  collect cash-flows from them. I call these cash-flows rental.

(4)   Use these rentals to spend on luxuries. Never sell your land to spend on luxury.

(5)* Buy even more land. The cycle repeats.

If you have not gotten enough gals by then, trust me, there would be too many.

Guys' Greatest Mistake

A guy will start in his 20s and he will then buy the best car and house he can afford with full bank loans. He pays to the hilt of his loans. After about 5-10 years, he got promoted to a new position, he starts to think about buying his next property. Again, he borrows to the hilt from the bank. By 40s, he will get retrenched and become extremely miserable. He starts to blame his government-of-the-day for allowing too many foreign trash in, his friends of sponging drinks and food off him, his relatives for borrowing large sums of money and not repaying him, etc. Within 20 years, he will face a financial tsunami (this is guaranteed) and once again, he is back to the same place as he first started working, as penniless as ever. But, unfortunately for him, he still have another 50 years of living to go.

b.Capital - Generations Game

 

You asked:   How did you get capital?

You know you have asked a rather difficult question or rather a sensitive question. If you ever find a straight answer from the internet, it is not going to be useful to you. Ordinarily, I would have just brushed the question off by saying it was all hot air from a lunatic old guy. I was just talking cock. Nothing was real. But, you have helped others and you do have a tender heart to help those who are weak around you, you have therefore accumulated good karma points. Hence, it would be extremely bad of me to brush you straight off. But, at the same time, I can't tell you things that are not meant for the leaky internet.

Maybe I tell you something fundamental, so that you can get an idea on how does it all begin?

Generations Game

Immigration always starts from the fact that the immigrant is unhappy with his/her home country for whatever the reason. He then tries for fairer shores. There are two possible ways. One is he is a young and strong 20yo, but penniless lad. Or two, he is an old guy in his 30-60s with a family.

First case:   The young lad being young and penniless (I am not discussing the young and strong, with a good family background; immigration for them tends to be a matter of choice.) Like my father, he came to his fairer shores in his 20s alone. Being penniless and uneducated, he worked at all things, but after about 30 years of trying and learning, he will found things that he likes to do. He will grow his little wealth. I classified him as a true 1st generation. His 2nd generation, born local, will have adequate education and contacts from young to merge with the locals and be counted as one of them. Very seldomly, this 2nd generation will want to be a musician or doctor. He tends to be more practical, as he has experienced great hardship when he was younger. He can't ask for toys that other locals play. He is a young lad of little means. He will grow up humbly and knowing the value of money from a very tender age. He will work hard and take his time to perfect his hunting skill. Indeed he has all the time in the world. He will grow beyond what his 1st generation can achieve. He will then raise his 3rd generation with ease. The 3rd generation and all his subsequent generations will enjoy the comfort of abundant contacts, blood support and wealth. By the 4th-5th generations, he will sire his first doctor or musician. The reason is simple:   The next generation felt so secure that he will want to achieve the finer things in life, like a doctoring degree or learning music at the age of 3 to soothe his soul.

Second case:    The older guy with the burden of the family, even with money, tends to do very badly initially. He will bring along bad habits he acquired back from his ex-home country. If he is rich, bad, bad, bad news. The first thing he dabbles would be starting a business in the new home country. He will burn bad. I classify him as a zeroth (or 0.5th) generation. After the initial failures, he will grow humble and a little ex-home country missing. He will start to do odd jobs to pay bills. He has a whole family to feed. I have seen too many examples. His off-springs are classified as 1.5th generation. Why? He is not without support, his entire family is here with him. Being younger, he will merge quite well into the environment. His hard-work and education also win him some admirers. He will frequently top his class. He will try his best to win respect and recognition because he knows he needs that break. Luck is not allowed here. He too, by the 4th-5th generations, will sire his first doctor or musician.

A common example:   Once upon a time, there was this fucken old guy, he was either the 3rd or 4th or 5th generation, people called him a Baba. He can't even speak a word of Chinese. He was well-educated due to his father's connections and worked hard to marry into the hongchos of the day. Of course, with money, he enjoyed meteorically rise in power. We can't compare with him, he is many generations ahead in the Generations Game. We are immigrants from another previous place, we are the rolling stones that gathered no moss.

Of course, there will be exceptions to every case I quoted. But, these exceptions are rather few and far apart. The majority do fall in place. 

Speeding Up
Naturally your question is meant to ask if you could speed up this process. The problem is most people don't think hard enough. They wait for people around them to teach and guide them. There is not a chance in the world that you would be spoon-fed. Any spoon-feeding is bad for you. It is like trying to learn riding a bicycle with helper wheels. You can't really ride properly. Learn to let go the clutches. You will grow fastest.

If you think hard enough and search your inner soul, you can even harness the air around you to do your bidding. You just have to think really hard. In fact, there are enough things here already to tell you the proper way to think. These essays are meant for my next generations to read when I finally passed on. There is no falsehood if you are my heir; pure falsehood if you are not my heir. But, like in all public key systems, you are only holder of the public key, you still need the private key to open the lock. This private key I will leave it to my heir(s).

Way Ahead
Maybe you can start by thinking about what are the things you can do when 8 out of 10 chaps out there can't do? Use this starting point as your cash flow. Then invest your earnings into things that your heir(s) can inherit to smoothen their entry into this world. Be that unmoving rock, you will start to gather moss. Don't be too quick to spend that money you make in luxuries. 

The choice of immigration location is important. It is frequently perceived to be young, fresh and afford great opportunities for those who are weak. 

Don't punch above your weight. I want you to understand relatively where you are now and work from there. There is no shame in being behind. You have to just wait for your turn. It is after all the great Generations Game. When you finally make it, pay it forward, don't be that fucken old guy. It is not worth burning any good karma points you have accumulated thus far.

I wish you well ... in metta ...

b.Contract - The colours of People

The previous parts are here:   b.Contract - Mister 20% and p.A Joke in Emigration.

This is a very interesting part of life. When I first arrived in a white land, I thought my best friends must come from my ex-countrymen or same-same colours. How foolishly wrong!

(1)   Talk to a 45yo Vietcon for a professional service. She quoted $X. I asked why so expensive. She replied it is a complicated matter. I swallowed my saliva and said I got no money. I later decided that I have no choice but to open up the task to more quotes. I asked a white from a very famous place. He said it is too simple a matter. He suggested to bill me $Y, a fucking 27% of $X. 屌你老母 ...

(2)   I asked for a rental for a small place when I first arrived. I was introduced to a 55yo ex-countryman from another ex-countryman. We started off very well. We talked about NS and fucked that fucken little island till kingdom comes. When we finally come down to price, he quoted $X, claiming that his wife will cook nasi-lemak now and then for me. I replied that is a little above market. He claimed that is not the case, in fact, he has already given me a 33.3% discount from what he charged the whites. I said I got no money. Later, I just read the newspapers and book a place from a white. He only charged me 50% of $X in a superior location. 屌你老母 ...

(3)   I went to another place again for rental in another city. This time a chinaman discussed with me on the rental, she quoted $X. I said that is about 25% more than the usual price. She said I got no choice if I don't wish to rent. I just read the internet and went to a very nice white couple for exactly market price. Later, they reduced my rental by another 50%. 屌你老母 ...

...

Don't need too many examples ...

It is so obvious that these jokers haven't make it in white land, since they can't sponge the whites, they act like lao chiaos and try to sponge off the newbies. How foolish! They should have grouped together and fight in a foreign land. I have coined a new word "auto-racism", auto means self in Greek, to suggest the racism I am facing. So what a beautiful day, I now run away fastest whenever I happen to hear that fucken accent from that fucken little island. Help them? Lol ...

That being said, there are also many nice chinamen that helped me along the way (non-monetary). The whites don't usually helped me but they are very fair. They don't quote above market, although they try their best not to deal with the likes of me.

Given time, each and every one would have survived, the government of the day would ensure that. They wanted more bodies to do up their economies.

Racism exists everywhere, sadly auto-racism is the hardest to swallow. Sometimes I feel the whites may be more genuine in dealing with the likes of me, after all, they still need to feed, but in nicer ways.

I am feeling stronger by the day ... principally, out of every 10 deals, I succeed in just 1. But, usually a very good one. The rest of the 9 losers, I just minimize my bets and take my time. I don't show-hand at all. The best is that the few successful deals paid me more than 10 times each. It is good to be patient. Lol ...