Monday, August 11, 2008
What started as a calculated gamble eventually became a high stakes of defending a nation against imminent invasion. With the Beijing Olympics at the forefront of eveyone's mind, including politicians, Georgia launched a quick strike against South Ossetia, a breakaway region.
What they didnt count upon was the rapid mobilisation of Russian troops surging into Ossetia. Apparently, Russian forces are now advancing well beyond the disputed regions into Georgian territories, pushing both nations closer to the brink of a real war.
What are the intentions of the Russians? Lets take a look:
1) Putin, the true power in the Kremlin has always haboured for a return to the might of the USSR. Georgia, Ukraine and the former Soviet satellites are somehow still viewed by the Russians as their 'backyard'. Cold War mentality prevails?
2) With the election of a western( particular US)-educated President, the Kremlin has been watching events unfolding-against their favour as the independent nation sought early membership into NATO, which Kremlin hotly disputes.
3) The separatists are inclined for a reunion with north Ossetia which is under Russian control. Perhaps by instigating these separatists, Russia hopes for an opening such as the current crisis to advance their ambitions of re-establishing influence in Georgia?
4) Georgia is a key 'southern energy corridor' which exports oil while bypassing Russia. this ensures a steady stream of oil to the West and US. By bypassing Russia, Russia's control over the oil ( and political leverage) affected, as seen when it used economics in the Orange Revolution in Ukraine.
to be continued
Sunday, August 12, 2007
I have been spending rather much rather lately. Much of them have been on clothes that enhances my corporate image. Bought a light brown pointed shoes which can serve dual purposes for casual and office wear from Pedro at about $89. I consider it cheap because anywhere else, such shoes cost more than $100, especially the ones that are made in Italy. Pedro's shoes however, are not made in Italy and its a Singaporean brand. Quite impressed with the design though.For shirts, i had a long sleeved Daniel Hechter for $39, another good buy. It has a white base and black stripes( i like striped shirts). Simple design, but timeless.Today, i bought an American Polo Association belt from Jurong point for only $15. Brown striped(yes striped!) .Pretty much about it. But i have ensured that before i made these purchases, i thought about its dual functionality. Since my contract is ending soon, i have to get accessories that not only is fitting for the office, but for casual wear. Haha, think Economics: maximising utility
Friday, August 10, 2007
The View from Where i work. Absolutely a Concrete jungle where pretty office ladies and the lads throng the streets; morning, lunch and dinner.
Makes you feel like a working professional.
Labels: Raffles Place
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
I have to say that getting this job at the Firm is really a blessing; a silver lining in the cloud. Although i don't really learn much unlike my friends who are doing AP/AR, i did gain valuable industry insights, and the opportunity to take the initiative to reach out to people of higher authority and have lunch with them, hence in the process getting to know their job scope better.
Before the Firm, i was looking at the corporate world through rose-tinted glass. Now, this glass is shattered. I emerged more enlightened.
It's never easy in the office. You don't know who the 'feedback' units are, who your real friends are. There are lots of people in the 'grey' zone of moral principles. Its hard to find the righteous souls. Often, you get mistaken quite frequently. As a temp, i am free from these. Then again, my mentor, (Buddha bless him) has enlightened me much about the office politics.
He gave me career advice and study advice which eludes me all this while before i met him. He emphatically emphasises what's at stake, what are the ramifications of this..jobs with gd prospects and the like.
Real fortunate to have met him. He's a straight-forward guy, not a slimeball and i enjoy the moments where we talked b/w the partitions.
And he's a true Buddhist. sometimes, this makes me ashame but i will follow his footsteps with fervour.
And just recently, i had lunch with the 'tea-lady' Irene. She's a demure, soft spoken gal. We talked lots of stuff and i get the impression that if one knows her well enough or if she's comfortable with you, she can be talkative in the good way. A kind of person you wanna associate with. I shall ask more info abt the stock market in future.
And then, there are the lunch perks if you are a temp eating out with them. Hugh(the french operations risk manager) treated me twice already. I have to repay him back. We chatted abt France, French history(i studied them), football and nothing else related to work.
Its strange how people can open up to me. I guess its because i am sociable? I smile at them, ask how they are and all that, sympathise with them. Damn, this job really gives me confidence to speak to strangers.
Just spoke to Susan from marketing. Man she goes to the gym. That explains her great figure. She always smile at me. In fact she's the only one from marketing that smiles at me(Marketing is the Out of boundary zone in the firm). She was formerly from SIM-UOL, and she's doing well now!!
Now, its time to think of what presents to buy for them when i depart from the firm.
'So say we all'
Trampoline
Friday, July 27, 2007
Thursday always the day i look out for cos after that, its the long weekend for me, and i look forward to the outings with Benjamin (and sometimes Kenneth and Hakim if they do come) after office.
I met him at Samsung to retrieve my phone which i orginally intended to agree to repairs. Initial dignostic costs abt $26 which is irrelevant or 'sunk'. Estimated FULL costs of repair as according to the counter staff on last sat, was around $68, which was why i agreed to the diagnostic cost.
Little did i expect the actual full cost to rise up to a wide margin. It became $119.54, which is like a 75% increase from $68! What is this?! A margin call payment?(something i learned from the present firm i am working in)
I disagreed to the repairs and promptly, we took a walk to Sushi Tei. Beside me were 2 Japanese 'trainees' in their 40s to 50s. I took the initiative to say hi when my eyes and the other guy's met(guess its part of my on the job training at the FIRM that equips me with the social skills to break the ice b/w strangers, and it helps if the office climate is a treacherous one to begin with)
He asked if I was a native Singaporean and i said yes and he wouldn't believe that the majority of Singaporeans are Singapore-born and bred. (he has the conception that many Singaporeans were 'Malaysian-Singaporeans')
I asked him abt his opinions of Shinzo Abe and the upcoming Upper House elections in 3 days time and the sensitive issue plaguing the pension system in Japan and he replied that Shinzo is basically, going to lose this one.
And then i talked abt my tour in Japan and how i like Kyoto in contrast to Tokyo and he fully agreed that Kyoto is a much better place to live in. He also spoke abt the opposite sex and the funny encounters he had with the local women here, which i shan't elaborate because of its brawdiness.
People were looking at me and the Japanese. I guess they must have been shocked that i was ale to strike a conversation with them. And i did this w/o uttering a single word of Japanese. you dont need to speak Japanese to talk to them. Some simple English and genuine sincerity and adequate knowlege of their country does the job unduly well. They treated me and Ben to 2 bottles of Sake. I prefered the first one because it tasted sweet but according to them, that's not REAL sake.
The second bottle was stronger and i felt flushed immediately. They offered to pay me and Ben's dinner(YES its true!) but hey man, their treat for the sake is good enough. With that, they left first.
Strangely, we didn't even introduce ourselves properly. No names, addresses and email exchanges. I would say the whole talk was a roller coaster ride-we were interested to know abt each other but somehow, these were left out!
Next week in store, i guess i shall have lunch and possibly dinner with the French ORM(Ops Risk Manager). Am really going to be interested in his views of Singapore. He's only 2 years my senior and perhaps, we shall talk abt things related to our age group.
"So say We all"
Trampoline out
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Yup, it appears that i have not been updating regulary unlike the flurry of posts which i has during the first few weeks of work. It appears that everything is becoming routine, such that i even began to think of an apt depiction of life in the derivatives business, asa part-time. If someone askes me something like, "So whats the plan for work today?". The answer shall be, "The same as yesterday". Pretty simple. Pretty boring. Definately routine.
Ken, the Dutch/French who could potentially be my first foreign friend/lunch buddy, has left for greener pastures. He's sent to Hong Kong for 3 months and that means when he's back, i won't be around for good. We chatted after work and i remembered him asking me LOTS of questions which borders on the ones being personal to the ones being hilarious and crazy, for example name me the hottest 3 BABES in the FIRM. Sadly, i really can't think of any.
He joked that once i graduate, i shall sit in the Compliance Manager's chair. No thanks dude, having worked as a part timer in that department, i realized that reading through TONS of documents, coordinating with the various unco-operative departments and answering to MAS auditors directly, isn't exactly what i call an exciting job. I rather be in investment banking.
Another bad news, my compliance manager is leaving soon. This time, he got a better paying job(and hopefully, a more friendlier environment) at another firm. Fortunately, he's leaving after i am leaving and that leaves us ample time for lunching.
I really enjoy lunch with him. He offers great insights into the finance industry, the ideal career route one should pursue, what jobs to avoid if possible and of cos, studying studying and more studying.
One of the reason i hang out with him is because he takes me to places beyond raffles place. To be honest, there are many eateries at where i work but few good ones to lunch at. Furthermore, we sometimes overshot the 1hr for lunchbreak and coming back with a manager gives me more "legitimacy" as compared to coming back alone late.
I ate for the first time with the IT staff and he's Indian. We ate Indian food( I suggested cos i like Indian food) and thats where i got to know the 'other' perspective of the other staff.
for example, who dislikes who and all that.
Best of all, he treated him the whole lunch set.
As for the Client Support Officer, she's gone through a remarkable change: apart from the new haircut, she seems more polite and gracious nowadays. I don't know why. She thanks me for the work being done(which was very uncommon initially) and even does not scold or reprimand me for the various silly mistakes i made.
The stock market is unpredictable. So is life. And to better illustrate the point, i have the NS asking me back for a briefing tmr. Frak that!
Friday, June 22, 2007
I can never emphasised any greater than this. Before i started working, the most common advice is not to ask too many questions cos this will irritate your employers. Well, to be honest, i asked many questions. Questions not just related to my work scope, but to things beyond my job. i asked the dealers questions about their operations, the acocuntant about her work, the compliance manager about his role in the company and all that.
If in doubt, do not hesitate to ask for affirmation. Being a smart aleck only to create mistakes gets you no praises, but bad impressions. If it gives you reassurance, then JUST BLOODY ASK.
You have a mouth not just for doing other things, but to ask as well.
Pride gets you nowhere. Here's what Nick Leeson said:
"People at the London end of Barings were all so know-all that nobody dared ask a stupid question in case they looked silly in front of everyone else."
And nobody asked. He got away with his losses for so long that the bank eventually collapsed.
Well, anyway, i met Ken in the toilet and he said something about his work being busy next week. I took the opportunity to arrange lunch with him on next Monday and he agreed!
Ahh..the weekend beckons! Time to rest, before work begins shortly.
