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Monday 22 August 2016

Life Purpose (人生的意义)



从去年开始,‘人活着的意义’这六个字徘徊在我脑海里,始终没有明确的答案。直到最近,当我在夜深人静时,我深思熟虑的反复想了这个问题。最后我得到了一个简单的单字答案;‘学’。最近刚开始看中国的大型综艺节目“原来非常勿扰。看了很多期的节目后,我从黄菡老师,黄磊老师和主持人孟爷爷的分享,学习到很多东西,更加深了我对人生三观的看法。三观一般而言是指世界观人生观价值观。‘人活着的意义’属于人生观。

我有时会问身边的朋友一个问题:你们对目前的工作是否抱着热忱还是为了钱?大多数的回答是为了钱而无热忱。他们挣钱的原因是为了维持目前的生活开销或提高生活水平,很多都对他们目前的工作状态感到无趣。我认为当一个人单单只为钱而工作,这样工作将是一份没有意义的工作。因为人生多半都在工作,一份没有意义的工作就好比一个没有意义的人生,因为你已经失去了那一份去‘学’习的热忱。人生就是不断的去发觉和学习新的事物,但当你逐渐失去了学习的热忱,渐渐的,你生活的意义就会开始慢慢淡化而最终变得无趣。当你专注做你喜欢的东西时,你就有一个专注点,便会去根深的了解它。你的每分每秒会被充分的利用来学习和享受这整个有意义的过程。内心快乐才是真正的快乐。

人生的意义就是学。‘学’这个字很深远,可以是学习新事物,学会坚强,学会包容,学会感激,学习去帮助他人,学习如何去爱等等。以新加坡男生而言,当你服完两年的国民服役和念完大学后,出来社会找份工,你已经是大概25岁左右。也就是说人生四分之一的时间,已经花在课本学习。从25岁到55岁,这30年里的时间都忙碌于工作。我觉得在 25岁到55岁期间,我们有比较好的精力和时间去追求自己的梦想。算一算,人生有几个 10 年让你去实现你的梦想。难道你要每天过着一份没有意义的工作度过这 30年吗?你可能现在没有任何的兴趣或梦想,不过千万不要停下思考这个问题,时时刻刻的问自己这个问题,答案总有一天会浮现。

我觉得 20 30岁是体验人生最好的黄金起点。年轻就是本钱,青春不留白,就应该放胆的追求自己的梦想,放胆的去谈场恋爱和探索这美丽的世界。我有些朋友 40-50 岁都没有谈过恋爱,每天稳稳的打一份工挣钱,也没有什么梦想。这也没有什么错或不好,但我觉得人只活这么一次,时光飞逝,今天不知明天事,也不知哪一天瞬间的离开这美丽的世界。而当那天降临时,才遗憾感叹的说为什么未曾轰轰烈烈的谈过一场恋爱,为什么没有尝试追求自己的兴趣实现自己的梦想,为什么没有花多一点时间珍惜你身边的人等等的话。时光一旦飞逝就无法让你回头重来,去实现最初真正想要的事。

我常听到很多同学和朋友都处在非常迷茫的状态。可能是社会给了我们太大的压力,而另一方面是理想和现实之间的矛盾。父母总是希望我们能够找到一份很好的工作,拿固定的工资,然后娶妻生子。这种情况是时下很多年轻人的缩影。但是,我们每个人都还有自己的一些理想。新加坡的低出生率,大多数的家庭只有一或两名孩子,中国之前的一胎化的政策,或许促使父母望子成龙心切,不少会要求孩子走上主流社会认可的道路。

每一个人的个别状况都不一样,但我坚信如果我们能比别人更勇敢的跨出第一步去追求理想,就会有成功的可能。如果你连第一步都没有勇气尝试,成功的可能等于零。当你跨出了第一步后,在学习过程中,你会渐渐的更了解自己和坚定你将来的道路该怎么走。走错了可以改道,不踏出第一步,未来永远是个不知道。我已经用了我人生的第一个10年在工作挣钱(赚钱),我希望我能在接下来的20年里可以朝着更有意义的工作兴趣发展。我已经踏出了第一步,向我理想的人生前进,你呢?聆听你的心,再次点燃你心中的那股热忱去实现自己的梦想。

Wednesday 27 July 2016

Eye Laser YAG Treatment @ Mount Elizabeth Hospital, Orchard



Couple of months ago, my aunt and I accompanied my mum to Mount Elizabeth Hospital at Orchard for her left eye YAG laser treatment. We reached there quite early at around 1pm, way before the scheduled time for the laser treatment at 2.30pm so that we had ample time to look around for the exact place for registration. The waiting time for registration was very fast. We took a queue number and waited for about 10-15 mins for our turn. To be honest, the waiting time in private hospital is far much faster than in government hospital. In government hospital, the waiting time could be up to 2 hours even if you have made an prior appointment. After the registration, we had quite a bit time before 2.30pm so we walked around the hospital. I happened to see a list of procedures fees near the lift lobby and took the above picture. This picture provides a rough estimated fees for various procedures for people who are interested to know.

Few years ago, my mum had a left eye cataract surgery performed in a government hospital. Couple of months back, she complained about the blurred vision on her left eye. We went to an eye specialist private clinic located in my neighborhood through my aunt recommendation. After checking, the blurred vision was probably due to the "Not so good" artificial intraocular lens used in the cataract surgery which was done a few years ago. A YAG eye laser treatment was recommended by the clinic ophthalmologist (Eye consultant in Mount Elizabeth Hospital @ Orchard). It is a 5-min painless eye laser outpatient treatment to improve eye vision. After the laser treatment, my mum vision has improved and she is able to see things clearer and brighter.

As for the cost of the hospital eye laser treatment, we were quite surprised that we didn't have to fork out any cash because my mum has a NTUC enhanced incomeshield basic plan that would only cover 50% of private hospital bills. This means that the other 50% of the hospital bills would have to be paid in cash. As you can see from the below hospital bill pic, the total bill is SGD $717.78. $394.78 is deducted via Medisave and the remaining $323.00 is claimed via NTUC hospital insurance plan. Balance of $0.00 means no cash payment is needed.


Investment Brokerage In Singapore


Early this year, I opened a brokerage/trading account (DBS Vickers) with DBS bank. Basically, a brokerage firm allows you to buy and sell shares on the stock market. They charge commission fees for each buy/sell transaction you make. I have chosen DBS because it is the largest local bank in Singapore and our local banks are generally very safe and stable.

Most brokerage firms allow you to hold your stocks with the Central Depository Pte Limited (CDP). After you buy and sell stocks via most firms, the stocks themselves are held by you in your CDP account. Currently, there are only two brokerage firms – Standard Chartered and SAXO Capital Markets that hold your stocks in custodian accounts, meaning the custodian account (e.g. Standard Chartered) owns the stocks on your behalf which means that they have certain rights over stocks that you have bought. If the firm goes bankrupt (Slim Chance), you will lose all your stocks because it is technically not in your name.

Below are the commission fees across different brokerages in Singapore.




In order to get a clearer picture of how much you are paying in total for commission and related fees, I have came up with the following breakdown below for buying a stock. The commission of minimum SGD $18 is only applicable if you are using DBS Cash Upfront Account for payment, otherwise it would be SGD $25.



Monday 25 July 2016

Investor who went through 2 failed start-ups now runs million dollar e-commerce platform



Co-founder Name:
Mr Henry Chan
Age:
31
Qualification:
University degree 
Past Working Company:
SingPost
Started Business In:
2014
Business Industry:
E-Commerce
Company Name:
ShopBack 
Initial Business Captial:
$30,000 with 6 founders 
Current Company Annual Sales:
$180 million

Article URL: http://business.asiaone.com/news/personal-finance/making-good-cashback-formula