Announcement...

Effective from the month of October, I will not spend my money unnecessarily on things or eat expensive food. I will start to be thrifty and start saving my money for a period of time, until I am comfortable to spend excessively again to buy things or eat expensive food. (grin).

Bermula bulan Oktober ini, saya tidak akan membazir duit dengan membeli barang atau makan makanan yang mahal. Saya akan mula berjimat-cermat untuk satu tempoh sehingga saya berasa selesa untuk membeli barang atau makan makanan yang mahal. (senyum).

Sub-life Insurance Securities

This is my behaviour when I'm in the office. I don't get into work mode straightaway. What I do is I go online and read up on local and international news (including business). Today, I read something that caught my attention in The New York Times (NYTimes). The article was published in 6 Sept 2009. It was about bundling life insurances as new securities in the investment market. Oh my blipping crap!!

How it works? Briefly:-

1. You buy life insurance (the policyholders).
2. You are not rich and you may need money. On top of it, you're diagnosed with some terminal disease (touch wood).
3. You sell your life insurance to the investment bank and receive a one-time premium, depending on the quality of your life i.e. how long are you still going to be in this world!! People actually do this (seriously) because of the uncertainty factors that surround the them.
4. Let's say we follow what NYTimes had stated; USD400k paid to policyholder for an insurance policy with sum insured (SI) of USD1m.
5. Investment bankers securitise the life insurances (into bonds) by bundling the bad ones (those policyholders with terminal illnesses) with the relatively good ones, the latter are just to maintain "good" rating, given by the rating agencies the likes of S&P, Moody's and etc.
6. 1 year later, you die.
7. You don't get the USD1m anymore because you sold your policy. The investment bankers and investors get it as payout to their investment, along with the fees they (bankers) charge investors to administer/manage such bonds.
8. If you die 2 years later, they get payout later.
9. If you die 10 years later, they get payout even later which would also mean that they would get poor returns or lose money altogether, when you take into consideration interests and etc, because your yields are slow in coming.

THEREFORE, THE FASTER YOU DIE, THE FASTER THE INVESTMENT BANKERS AND INVESTORS GET THEIR RETURNS.

Put yourself in the investors' shoes... you would do this:-

"Dear God, please make the policyholders with terminal diseases whom have sold their life insurances DIE FASTER. Otherwise, I'm losing money in my investment".

That's pretty fucked up! (pardon the language)

Basically, you're making a profit at the expense of people's health misfortunes. What have we become? Investment bankers actually have the audacity to create such financial instruments, bearing in mind (very clearly, I must add) that the recent financial upheaval was just starting its painful "journey" on the road to recovery. Plus, is this morally acceptable? Where's the conscience?

Now, what happen if actuaries and underwriters make big mistakes big time in their analyses of mortality of these policyholders? What happen if there was suddenly a cure for AIDS? What happen if there was suddenly mind-blowing developments in the R&D of terminal diseases and patients live longer?

All those that would've been projected, say people die within 5 years of AIDS, or people die within 1 year of certain terminal diseases, become "incorrect" and people starts to live longer, live healthier. What will happen to this "market"?

Simple. You'll have another financial meltdown because your investment turns bad - the yield is either gone (lose money) or not attractive. Extrapolate this to the impossibly huge pool of USD26 trillion of life insurances that are still effective and people are not dying as soon as they were projected to be... you will get a major screw up!! To protect against such risks, maybe investment bankers and investors could get financial insurance to cover the potential losses, just like the CDSes for the subprime mortgages securities. Then you will also screw up the insurance market, when the instrument blows up in your face!

Unlike the recent meltdown of subprime mortgages and CDS, should the market screw up, you not only have the option to buy back bad securities, you have the option to "kill" people to get your investment income. Although this will never happen (I hope), theoretically, it's an option.

The rating agencies would need to value these bonds carefully and rate them as what they would be and not be clouded by the spread of risks as we've learnt in the previous meltdown that the spread of risks could go awry.

Sub-life insurance securities, anyone??

Somewhere Out There

I was deep in thought over something earlier and I suddenly remember the song "Somewhere Out There" from the OST of the animation "American Tail" back in 1987. Went straight into YouTube and looked for it... Needless to say, I found it:-

This video brings back so many childhood memories; good and bad. I still remember that each time I watched this animation, I will cry. I can't believe that it first came out in 1987. Tonight, as I finished watching this video, I was again touched...

Because I love this song so much and it brings back so many memories, I have pasted the lyrics of the song originally performed by Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram, below. The song was written by James Horner, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. If you can, download the song performed by Ronstadt and Ingram and listen... feel the words.

To all of you (including me) whose family, loved ones (husbands, wives, girlfriends, boyfriends, friends) are not with you, worry you shall not, because like you, they are thinking of you...

Somewhere Out There

Somewhere out there,

Beneath the pale moonlight,

Someone's thinking of me,

And loving me tonight.

Somewhere out there,

Someone's saying a prayer,

That we'll find one another,

In that big somewhere out there.

And even though I know how very far apart we are,

It helps to think we might be wishing on the same bright star,

And when the night wind starts to sing a lonesome lullaby,

It helps to think we're sleeping underneath the same big sky.

Somewhere out there,

If love can see us through,

Then we'll be together,

Somewhere out there,

Out where dreams,

Come true...

In my very honest, very personal opinion, at the end of the day, what we need to have is faith. The faith and trust that despite the distance or location, we're still loved and thought of.

Detaching from my phone

I have a bad habit. When I'm with my family, friends or people that are very dear to me, I can't stay away from my phone. When it buzzes and work e-mails come in, I get distracted immediately and must attend to my phone. I need to change. Why?

1. It's unfair to people around me.
2. I need a break too.
3. I neglect the very people before me.
4. It's rude.

If I say I'd like to have perfect moments with people around me, this will not make it happen. So, I've decided to minimise the "frequency" of such "occurrence". I know I can't totally eliminate it from my system as it is part of me, but I will try my darnest to cut it down.

I want to be in the moment with them.

State of Fear

"State of Fear races on a roller coaster thrill ride across the globe - from the volcanoes of Antarctica to the streets of Paris and the beaches of Los Angeles - all the while keeping the brain in high gear. Gripping and thought-provoking, this potent blend of scientific fact and pulse-pounding action is Michael Crichton at his very best."

Source: http://www.crichton-official.com

Those were the words that captivated me into buying the book. It all started when I was in Rome, Italy last June for a business trip. We attended a gala dinner on the second night and we engaged in a discussion about books that we've read. There were flowing red wine, good food and good company. Great big laughters to top the night. As we were talking about books and global warming and how Rome's temperature is not what we've expected, we came to Crichton's "State of Fear". Everyone gave it a two thumbs-up. It was highly recommended. Of the 10 at the table, 4 read the book and agreed, almost in unison that the book was a superb read.

Needless to say, when I returned to Kuala Lumpur, I went for book shopping. One of the books that I bought was of course, "State of Fear".

The story started with incidents occurring in various parts of the world. People die from mysterious murders and rendezvous. These incidents are at first puzzling and then slowly, everything comes together to form a very substantial picture and end-game.

All of us have the notion that global warming would one day destroy Earth, or if not, make it a living hell. However, in this book, the theory of global warming and its effects were refuted in a series of events and discussion that took place in various parts of the world. Something that I found very refreshing. What made it more interesting was that the facts as laid out in the book were indeed, facts. References were quoted as footnotes and more at the back of the book as Appendices vis-à-vis global warming and other environmental issues. There were bibliographies. I actually verified a few of the references and they were real and was used correctly and appropriately in the book to demonstrate Crichton's angles. See Crichton's biography here and you'll know that he knows what he's talking about.

As the story develops, you will notice that all of us actually live in the state of fear, for centuries. Governments, medias, lawyers and NGOs instill fear in us to put us in a state where we fear something and that they (institutions above) would step in to mitigate the fear and ultimately control it. By controlling it, they control us. If we ever notice at all, when one incident/catastrophe occurs (regardless or scale) and end (with whatever the effect), another pops up and take over and the cycle continues. At every pivotal period of these incidents, there'll be organisations that will step in to do their "thing". Therefore, we constantly live in the state of fear that apparently brings order to things via new regulations, new rules, new way of living and etc (although they may not be effective). In short, a series of unfortunate events at global scale and impact that keep us "in order".

To a certain extent, steps were taken at the expense of other factors or should I say, living beings. There's always a trading cost. This is very clearly illustrated in the book. In Crichton's book, in order to garner enough publicity and instill fear amongst the population of the world, the NGOs went on to "create" a global environmental threat that would cause lives in the millions. All these were done in order to get the media to capture real time coverage of these impending occurrence that will kill millions around the world, to prove their points (in this case, the point was global warming - even if it's not true but generally accepted), to instill fear and to get funding.

A group of people came together from very different backgrounds to prevent the NGOs from carrying out their plans. Along the way, there were cannibalism, human vaporisation, humans controlling the path of hurricanes and storms, humans creating flash floods in a matter of seconds, rockets, satellites and poisons. Crichton blended all the above with proper scientific findings, intense actions, wits and of course humour.

When you finish the book, you may start to wonder whether all the threats that are happening in the world today (environmental or otherwise) were specifically "created" by certain groups of people and organisations that have specific interests and stakes in areas that we will never find out. I did.

I wondered whether the 2004 Tsunami that killed hundreds of thousands of people was a 100% natural environmental catastrophe or a catastrophe with certain "specifications", tailor made and initiated by powerful shadow organisations/individuals to drive home certain points and achieve their objectives... But of course, this is my baseless suspicion after reading the book. (grin).

Mixed

I don't know. I am not sure.

I am getting mixed signals and responses, I don't know why. Or more accurately, I don't know whether I'm too sensitive or I had over-indulged my synapses in my brain. Whatever it is, I still have faith.

I'm getting myself into things that I've never thought I would get myself into. Unchartered waters, so to speak. I shall call them life's myriad experiences and through each, we become wiser and we live better.

I don't know how to continue this post. For that matter, I shall leave it as just the above...

PART 3: Kenyir Farewell

on the final night, four of us decided to bunk on ONE king-sized bed. It was supposedly fine. However, at about 6 something, I ended up with only about half a meter of space to sleep on. I had to position myself on my side to avoid falling off the bed. Naturally, two of us moved back to the comfortable and relatively spacious sofa bed. LOL.

Some of us woke up. Some of us still needed some good sleep. So, a few of them went swimming. Crazy bunch. The room was already at freezing temperature and they insisted on swimming. Brrr... I of course, continued sleeping. So 1 person on the bed, another on the sofa bed.

Finally, it was time for 2 sleeping beauties to wake up from their slumber to have breakfast. The 2nd morning was our turn to have breakfast. We freshened up and walked leisurely to the pool to find our kakis for breakfast. There was a photo shoot going on at the pool. They were snapping photos for the last time at Kenyir.

We adjourned to the restaurant for our breakfast:-

Pastries (not available)

Croissants (good)

Breads (good)

Omelet/Scrambled eggs (good, although not tasty enough)

Bacons (too cooked. I like it tender)

Baked beans (as if Kenyir was on ration for baked beans. One tablespoon only)

Juices (odd)

Coffee (horrible - but I had two cups)

Tea (no idea. Didn't take tea)

Overall breakfast experience - AWESOME!!!

We went back to our Chalets to start packing. Our bags had more space than when we arrived because some contents ended up in our stomachs. Bliss!!!

As the buggy arrives, we hopped on it and went to the taxis.

I had a last look at the whole place; the lake, the Chalet that we stayed in and the trees. It was a trip to remember. One last fresh air of Kenyir and I went into the taxi and went on our way to the airport.

At the airport, we went to hunt for food. Alas, only one restaurant there that sells more variety. We had no options and therefore, established our hungry selves in that restaurant. As we approach the restaurant, there was a group of Indian people seated behind us. They were sneering at us! Many of us didn't see that but I did. Plus, I was hungry. A hungry man is a very angry man. So I sneered back. They were so fake!!! and annoying!!! We didn't care. We just had our food, chat a bit, went to the toilet and soon, we went to our boarding gate.

Our plane took off and that was the end of our Kenyir getaway.

One group of cool guys;

One very large man-made lake;

ONE FANTASTIC GETAWAY!

PART 2: Kenyir Outdoor

and so, we slept on the first night. We woke up in the morning. 6 people went for breakfast. Another 5 fellas just continued sleeping. LOL. There's a story to why didn't everyone went for breakfast. We had 3 room vouchers and each room can (rightfully) accommodate 2 persons. 11 people went for this holiday. Do the math... (grin).

Anyway, we then gathered at the jetty around 10:30am for our very first outdoor activity: boat ride. I was so excited. The last time I had a boat ride was when I was in Oslo, Norway. So all of us jumped onto the boat and off we went! As we breezed through the lake, our guide explained several islands to us. Alas, only few were paying attention as the others (including me) were busy talking among ourselves or enjoying the lake breeze. It had its calming effect, in case you'd like to know. Haha.

We reached a shore (I can't say the shore because I don't know which shore). We trekked our way to the land. I felt adventurous already. We climbed a few flights of concrete stairs and behold... a waterfall. The sound of the water splashing onto the rocks was so good! Totally took my mind off the millipede I saw on the way up earlier (the size of that thing was scary. You could make a very heavy wrist band with it).

We frolicked in and around the waterfall and snapped a million pictures. For a moment there, we were as if having a photo shoot session, sans perfectly sculpted bodies. (grin). Nevertheless, we had fun, I must say! The rocks that were submerged were so slippery we had to be very careful as not to fall on our asses and take a roller coaster ride down the river. Slippery rocks, refreshing super cold water, good company... what else could we ask for? Nothing. I think our guide shook his head, looking at us going crazy.

Next stop with the boat was the herbs garden. Not really my thing. I think it wasn't the "thing" for many of us. So I'll skip this bit!

We went back for lunch. This time, 6 of us went back to the hotel to have can food potluck. The other 5 (I was in there) decided to have lunch at the hotel's restaurant. We were glad we did. We talked, we laughed, we had a great lunch (except for that Rojak Buah - fruit salad, Malaysian style). Unacceptable bowl of nothingness. Apart from that, we were happy and absolutely satisfied!

All of us went back to the hotel room to get some shut-eye. Then we woke up (of course). After much contemplation, we decided to go kayaking and then swimming. The initial plan was the other way round.

8 of us went for kayaking. I was again, excited.

The kayak experience was somewhat different from those that I had previously at sea. The lake was calm. The entire experience was very calming, very nice, very Zen. I very like... LOL. So, up we went... down we went... left, right and everywhere with our kayaks. In the last 20 minutes or so, the four kayaks decided to play "Transformers" and we "merged" our kayaks together. I was unfortunate to be one of the kayaks by the side. LOL. So as the 2 kayaks (both ends) tried to steer our way back to the jetty (while breathing in the sight), we talked and did some splashing too. Suddenly, the 2 kayaks in the middle burst into Sammi Cheng's songs and instantly, we had on-kayak radio. (please correct me if you guys didn't sing Sammi Cheng). It was so cool! I of course, just listened because I don't know Chinese songs (in fact, I don't even remember the lyrics to English ones).

(I was prohibited from dipping my hands into the water. I did that initially but my "co-pilot" prohibited me from doing it for fear that suddenly the killer fish or some lochness monster or something from under the water would pull me in and that'll be the last you'd hear from me. The intention was good but because I was so naughty and mischievous, I still dipped my palms into the water, without my co-pilot's knowledge. LOL. The sensation: SO GOOD!).

Immediately after the kayaking, we went swimming! We were on a roll, baby!!! Swim swim swim... and finally everyone got hungry. We had dinner again at the same restaurant.

When we were back in our rooms, we watched the American remake of the Thai movie: SHUTTER. Of all the movies we could watch, we watched a ghost flick. Wasn't that scary but it was a fun watch! When the movie finished, we played some card games. 7 guys played cards and the other 4 were doing something (which of course I don't know what because I wasn't there. I was playing cards). WE WERE SO CRAZY! Coolest card games ever for a holiday! We laughed so loud and practically screaming at the top of our lungs. If we were in the normal hotel room/suite, I think our neighbours would've complained to the reception. Thank goodness we were staying in Chalets.

That night was very memorable! That was our last night at Kenyir.

We called it a night at 3am.

PART 1: Kenyir Touch Down

Let's see what I did in Kenyir, Terengganu (using my previous post in JohnTeh.com).

Kayaking (Loved it)

Jungle Trekking (Didn't do it)

Boat ride (Loved it. Went to the waterfall too. Not big but FUN!)

Eating (Loved it, although only 1 restaurant was available)

Sleeping (Not much but enough)

Lounging by Pool Side (or Pool Bar... Muahahaha) - (No lounging. Swimming and playing some water games)

Maybe a bit of drinking (just a bit) - (Impossible to do there. Can't even see a bottle of anything alcoholic)

Read my novel by the pool/lake (Didn't do it. Did it on the plane though, for a while)

The flight to Terengganu was pleasant. The flight wasn't full. The whole gang (11 of us) took our own sweet time walking into KLIA and decided to have McD for breakfast. It was almost 8am. Our flight was at 8:40am. We had our breakfast and chatted and laughed, not knowing that we were already late. When we boarded the plane, it was almost 8:40am. Needless to say, the ground crew was a bit pissed at us. Naturally, we couldn't be bothered. The cabin crew was still nice and all smiley; Malaysian Hospitality is apparently in the plane only and not at the gate.

Touched down @Kuala Terengganu International Airport. Chartered 3 taxis to take us to Kenyir Lake. On the way to Kenyir, I was typing frantically on my phone, replying e-mails and reading e-mails. Others were either sleeping or listening to music. So peaceful!

We reached Kenyir around 12pm (I think. Not sure). Checked in and we got hungry. Thank goodness for our brilliance. We brought our own food supply in case there are no food available. Only 1 restaurant. LOL. We were all tired from the early morning craziness and so, we rested in our rooms and just watched some TV and chatted. Eating too...

This part is in Italic because the initial post did not include this paragraph... We had a panel interview in our room as well. 4 interviewers and 2 interviewees. The 2 of us fielded very direct questions. I sensed that some timing reconciliation was being done at time of interview. Eventually we went to sleep, thereafter. Again, I attributed the sleepiness to the early morning craziness. I think we slept at almost 2 something or 3am in the morning the night before we flew to Kuala Terengganu. No wonder we were so tired...

When evening came, we went swimming. The lake view was breathtaking. I found the whole swimming experience very very calming. Water, breathtaking view and absolutely amazing group of buds. We played some water games and later on, adjourned to the recreation centre for some table tennis. You don't want to know what they played. It was hilarious and I can't put it here. LOL. Later, we went back to our rooms to freshen up and get ready for dinner.

Dinner was good, surprisingly. LOL. After dinner, we played Pool. Then we went back to our rooms and more chatting and laughing. Hehehe. After that, we went to sleep. It was midnight, I think. Must be the early morning. LOL.

Day 1 was relaxing... I went to sleep feeling glad that I actually took the chance and went to Kenyir. I'm not a jungle/environment/nature person, but I liked it! Will do it again next time but perhaps, another destination.

No photographs yet as the photographer did not have time to upload or disseminate the photos. :).

PART 2 will be posted tomorrow (I hope).

I'll be gone, to join mother nature (for a change)

Effective 10pm tonight, I'll not be posting anything to JohnTeh.com, until Monday. I'm going to Kenyir, Terengganu for a long overdue holiday with my pals. So exciting... LOL. I'm going to http://www.lakekenyir.com/main.htm. Activities that I will be doing (or hope I can do) are:

Kayaking

Jungle Trekking

Boat ride

Eating

Sleeping

Lounging by Pool Side (or Pool Bar... Muahahaha)

Maybe a bit of drinking (just a bit)

Read my novel by the pool/lake

The view from the chalet's balcony

(source: http://gamtet.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/kenyir3.jpg)

It'll be a relaxing weekend getaway!

Idiot Parking...

I was at the Curve today for lunch. I don't like driving around to look for a vacant bay, so I drove down to P2 to park my car. Just when I parked my car and looked to the left, I saw a car that belonged to an idiot. He parked his car as if his brain was in his ass, instead of his head. I get very annoyed at unscrupulous and inconsiderate people. This guy fits the two adjectives. In case you are wondering why I didn't "hide" his car registration no., I didn't find the need to.

so many...

I have so many things in my mind lately, I don't know how to react to them. Probably I'll take them as they come. I need to take a deep breath and just appreciate the things and people around me. I read a book and the author talked about "perfect moments" and how they need not be something big. I agree, whole-heartedly. Even the smallest of thing, could be a fond memory and therefore, a perfect moment. Again, my message is to live and appreciate life.