Saturday, February 28, 2009

A fool n his RM are welcome everywhere!

This is the biggest gold bar in this universe. One piece of this is "Kau team" (enough) to solve all the plights of poverty in any corner of the world, or to do all the evils in this world.


This is a USD with a true value big denomination and not one of those from the African continent or our neighbour, Indonesia. Ten pieces of this will make you a US millionaire. Btw they are only printed for the use of the US treasury and not for the public. Such big denomination would have made a certain individual in Malaysia ecstatic to carry them into Australia.

This a lady everyone loves to strip. She is pound covered.

So, yours sincerely ( y s) is musing about money, Ruppiahs, Ringgits, Reminbis, USDs, Pounds whatever.........

They say that money does not grow on trees, but when y s was a young boy, many, many years ago, money came out of my dear Nyonya mum's bra. Really ! That was where she safely kept her dollars and cents which were carefully wrapped in her handkerchief. No wonder there were no snatch thieves those good, old days. Btw she was wearing a size L not that she needed one but rather bras did not come with reinforced cups those days so the oversized were more practical, airy and comfortable, I suppose. ( So unbecoming of y s to talk about bras, eh?.)

Of course, y s does not expect modern females to keep their valuables in their bras these days. Anyway, no cup size can contain their cash, cards, IC, car keys, house keys, handphone, lipstick(s) , powder compacts, blusher brush, eyebrow pencils/touchups, (emergency) female towels, tissue papers, address book, trinkets, pepper spray, just to list a few. With so much paraphernalia to lug around, Gucci, Louis Vitton, Sach, Hilly, Giossad, Bonia ( the few I can recall from his better half's collection) have lots of handbags to market that certainly keep the "Mat Rempits" snatchers gleefully busy.

So, when y s started his career, harsh reality set in. The RM210 salary as a college trained teacher needed a lot of stretching to cover all his expenses. This is where one has to make "sen" (sense) of every ringgit earned. This is where good monetary management comes in. This is also where frugality, thrift and prudence are deeply inculcated and instilled, and steer one out of financial crises.

So, save, save and save as much as you can and deny yourself the simple and legitimate pleasures of life. God forbids. According to Martin Luther, God divided the hands into fingers so that money could slip through, somehow. Many work their butts out and save for several life times. I like to say it in Hokkien : "Pia mia chooi lui" (work your butts out for money disregarding your health and leisure) in your youth then in your middle age or old age " pia looi chooi mia" (pouring out your money to seek life, treatment for sicknesses because of health neglect and abuse) Finally, all that one needs is a 6 ' X 6" X 4" pit !

Many save and save because they are worried that they may not have the RM to get treatment when they are sick in old age. They say: " What if I need a bypass, two bypasses, three bypasses etc. What if a need a kidney, a liver, a this and a that?" They spend three quarters of their lives slogging, labouring, slaving and saving hard, eagerly waiting to pay the doctors! Pathetic? (No wonder Malaysians are clamoring for Medic courses. Some go as far as Russia to somehow snatch one in the name of wanting to save mankind, true to the "Hypocrite Oath"....oops sorry..... "Hippocratic oath." )

Many more well-meaning parents scrounge the surface to save for their children and grandchildren as if they do not expect them to work for a living! Every child of theirs should inherit a house from them. They survive very spartan, basic, frugal, isolated, friendless, joyless, and self-centered life. The Hokkien say : "Si bo tak." ( To die pathetically for not living well)

Money is like manure. You have to spread it around or it smells. Don't be guilty of paying yourself first with the money you have EARNED after every payday. You deserve it!

Also beware that too many are spending money they haven't earned to buy things they don't need to impress people who cannot even remember our names. Never spend before you have earned it.

Many people have finally realised that money can't buy happiness. Now they are trying credit cards. Never believe the Credit Card companies. You cannot spend to save. How could you save more when you spend more? Use the credit facility and convenience promised by the cards BUT NEVER OWE THEM. These "Visa Long" or "Master Long" can be legally worse than the "Ah Longs" from Buklit Beruntung. They do not splash red paint on your walls, hang dead chicken on your door post , cut off your little finger or kidnap your loved ones but they can legally cause you nightmares, night after night until you go crazy! Remember that compound interest is the eight wonder of the world! Don't be subject to it.

Of course, money is important. Which fool says that it isn't? A Chinese proverb says that with money you are a dragon; with no money, a worm. But those who think money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money. Francis Bacon puts it correctly that money like fire is a good servant but bad master. Money is the most egalitarian force in society. It confers power on whoever holds it. The chief value of money lies in the fact that we are living in a world in which money is overestimated. I like what Henry Ford once said : "The highest capital is not to make more money, but to make money do more for the betterment of life."
Of course, you cannot take your money to heaven but you can send it on ahead. Ya?

" It is said that for money you can have everything, but you cannot. You can buy food, but not appetite; medicine, but not health; knowledge but not wisdom; glitter, but not beauty; fun but not joy; acquaintances, but not friends; servants; but not faithfulness; leisure, but not peace. You can have the husk of everything for money; but not the kerrnel." - Ame Garborg.

As for y s and his better half, WE ARE SPENDING OUR CHILDREN'S INHERITANCE.

Work, save n spend on. Life is for the living.

4 comments:

AJ7 said...

enjoyed your insights... 8)

Anonymous said...

money cannot buy happiness,but can there be happiness without money?haha..
yahh,truly agree,life is for the living,if we keep on saving every money earned,we'll miss out on the reasons we wanted to make money for.I guess spending should also be at moderation too.

Teoh Yew Aun said...

Hi Uncle Thomas,

This is Uncle Peter's[from Kota Bharu) son, Yew Aun. I was reading your blog and I must say, I enjoyed it tremendously. And apparently, you and I have been to Turkey and Egypt. So that says a lot about our personality and coincidentally, we're both Dragons.
Do visit my papa in KB when you and your family get the chance to. heis ever ready with is big Kuala Besar prawns and a rounds of golf.

Anonymous said...

Dad - u should write for a finance magazine..haha.."How to Budget the Malaysian way"