We had talked about how good the property investment could benefit our ROI. We will need some way to measure any particular real estate investment opportunity coming out at any point of time.
If your rental yield annually could cover all of the property expenses including the loan payment, it is a good investment. If it not only cover all the expenses, but also generate some passive side income for us, we see it as a attractive investment.
Bank is like our business partner because they are the big share holder in our property investment. To measure the yield of the real estate investment, the first thing we need to do is to calculate the annual installment that we need to pay the bank.
The common used formula for this which we always call it "Amortization" is the following:
R = P ( i / ( 1 - ( 1 + i ) ^ -n ))
R: the periodic payment
P: the loan
i: the interest rate
n: the period of the payment
Aug 14, 2008
Aug 8, 2008
北京奧運開鑼囉! 2008 Olympics!
今天是二零零八年八月八日, 一個很特別的 日子。北京奧運開鑼了!
Today is a very special day for China (8th, Aug 2008) the first time that the Olympics hosted in China!
Today is a very special day for China (8th, Aug 2008) the first time that the Olympics hosted in China!
Aug 7, 2008
"Rule #1, don't lose your money; Rule #2, see rule #1" - by Warren Buffett
What is the most important thing to remember in the investing world? My experience for the last few years tells me that "don't lose your investment capital" is the most important thing to remember whenever you do a investment decision. That is also noted from Warren Buffett.
You may want to argue that, to not losing the investment capital, you will just put it in the bank. The truth is, the high inflation around global has put your money in a greatest risk now. Put Singapore as example, the expected inflation in year 2008 is around 5%-7%. That is higher than all the banks' fix deposit returns.
From that, you may try to invest your money in some other investment tools instead of just putting in a bank. However, investment takes disciplines and experience. As long as you are not fully understanding any investment tool, do not put your money into it. Always remember that the most important rule for doing investment is not losing your investment capital.
You may want to argue that, to not losing the investment capital, you will just put it in the bank. The truth is, the high inflation around global has put your money in a greatest risk now. Put Singapore as example, the expected inflation in year 2008 is around 5%-7%. That is higher than all the banks' fix deposit returns.
From that, you may try to invest your money in some other investment tools instead of just putting in a bank. However, investment takes disciplines and experience. As long as you are not fully understanding any investment tool, do not put your money into it. Always remember that the most important rule for doing investment is not losing your investment capital.
Aug 6, 2008
"The future of security prices are never predictable" - by Benjamin Graham
I am in the process of reading a book from Benjamin Graham. From the current volatile market in US, it looks like there are many good opportunities out there. The Wall Street people are worry about the US economy trigger by sub prime mortgage crisis and high inflation.
I have been monitoring specially Bank of America for the last few years, the price has been fallen to around $30 dollars now. It even drop to around $18 a few weeks ago. If you buy it at around $20, it will give you a dividend yield of about 12% annually, which is very attractive compare to other investment tools, and you can potentially get a 100% capital gain a few years later.
The problem right now is that, you never know how US economy will go, will it recover? In this point of time, a value investor should always look at the foundation of investment. As Graham said, you never know where the market will go, and thus the price is not predictable in the short term.
Given the fundamental analysis of the bank, I can only say that some companies in US are put out on sales. Always remember "Buy when the market is down, Sell when the market is high". However, the fundamental analysis needs to be done in order to measure if the price is really 'low' to go in.
Given the current market condition, you can go in the market with a big margin of safety which reduce the risk of making wrong decision. So, go and do your homework and you should get good ROI a few years down the road from the US market.
I have been monitoring specially Bank of America for the last few years, the price has been fallen to around $30 dollars now. It even drop to around $18 a few weeks ago. If you buy it at around $20, it will give you a dividend yield of about 12% annually, which is very attractive compare to other investment tools, and you can potentially get a 100% capital gain a few years later.
The problem right now is that, you never know how US economy will go, will it recover? In this point of time, a value investor should always look at the foundation of investment. As Graham said, you never know where the market will go, and thus the price is not predictable in the short term.
Given the fundamental analysis of the bank, I can only say that some companies in US are put out on sales. Always remember "Buy when the market is down, Sell when the market is high". However, the fundamental analysis needs to be done in order to measure if the price is really 'low' to go in.
Given the current market condition, you can go in the market with a big margin of safety which reduce the risk of making wrong decision. So, go and do your homework and you should get good ROI a few years down the road from the US market.
Jun 17, 2008
[转载] 绘本阅读的指导方式
我在网路上看到了这篇文章，与大家分享。文章有点长，但我觉得内容挺不错、挺实用的，你就耐着性子看完吧！保证你不会后悔。刚巧文章里也应用《蚯蚓的日记》为例子。:)
source: http://www.zidong.net.cn/Article/ShowArticle.asp?ArticleID=2012
******************
儿童在通向独立文字阅读的过程中，教师必须引导他们学会阅读，这会让他们终生受用。绘本阅读也需要教师的指导。其方式主要有以下几种：
1、参与式。
在绘本阅读的过程中应尊重每个孩子的不同感受，教师不要把故事情节一股脑儿全盘托出，要积极鼓励孩子边读边猜想后面将要发生的事，鼓励他们将自己比拟成故事中的角色让孩子也自然地融入到故事中去；鼓励他们参与到编写故事中，想出与作者不同的更有意思的情节或续编结尾。比如，指导阅读《猜猜我有多爱你》时，教师可以让孩子也来猜猜看，大兔子听到小兔子说自己对妈妈的爱有自己张开的手那么大，有自己跳得那么高时，兔妈妈会怎么回答；在读完故事后问问孩子，要是你，你想对谁说“猜猜我有多爱你”？你会用什么方式来表达自己对他的爱呢？通过角色替换，孩子很自然地以主人公的身份进入故事，感受故事，思考故事。
2、开放式。
⑴教学地点开放：阅读绘本也需讲究氛围和意境，可以根据需要在教室，在阅览室，在学校的花园或别的地方，不要固守教室，可以让孩子无拘无束地席地而坐，营造一种宽松的、积极的阅读氛围，拉近书与孩子的心之间的距离。
⑵教学人员开放：授课者不必都是同一位教师，可以是不同班级教师的交流，或与学校图书教师、家长、图书管理员，有条件的话能邀请到一些小有名气的作家就更好了，和他们一起演绎故事，诠释故事，分享故事。
⑶阅读内容开放：不必都读作家所写，等孩子对绘本有一定了解后，也可以让他们以小组为单位创编绘本故事，到时就可以阅读孩子自己的优秀作品，可以是同校同学的作品或同班同学的作品。在阅读完《蚯蚓的日记》之后，老师就可以让孩子以自己的生活为原型以小组为单位创作《蚂蚁的日记》、《蝴蝶的日记》、《我的日记》……大家分工合作，有的负责文本，有的负责绘画，完工后把他们的作品张贴在教室里，举行一次阅读品评会，让孩子互相交流，评选最佳绘本，从而激发孩子的创作欲望。
3、互动式。
因为优秀的绘本价格相对就比较贵，要孩子购买很多也是不现实的，因此就需要在班里开展“绘本漂流”活动，大家可以把自己购买到的认为好的绘本互相传阅，用有限的资金看更多的绘本。
⑴班级同学间互动：同学间互相交流图书，交流读后感，有能力的甚至合作创作新书。
⑵师生间的互动：教师向学生推荐优秀绘本，轮流借给学生；学生把自己看到的优秀绘本推荐给老师，让老师来推广。
⑶亲子间互动：号召家长和孩子一起开展亲子阅读，在家和孩子共读绘本，或请家长来学校为孩子朗读绘本，和孩子一同走进图画书的世界。
4、拓展式。
结合阅读内容开展拓展延伸活动，可以为父母读故事、讲故事，可以和同学一起演故事、画故事、续编故事，可以在扉页处写前言。比如读《泰迪熊搬家记》，可以学画地图；读《别再亲来亲去》，可以续写故事；读《鳄鱼怕怕牙医怕怕》，可以表演故事；读《可爱的鼠小弟》系列，可以直接在绘本的留白处写写画画；读《嘟嘟与巴豆》，可以学习写信，介绍各地风土人情……
从头到尾读图画绘本是一张到处都隐藏着秘密的“神秘地图”，因为无论是扉页、封面还是环衬，都是绘本的有机组成部分，在这些地方作者都为读者献上了很多精美的图画。只有指导孩子从头到尾阅读图画，才能发现很多常常被读者忽视的小细节。读懂了这些细节，才会对文本的理解有进一步的理解。
１、从封面猜故事。无论什么书，封面都是最先映入读者眼帘的，而在阅读前让孩子对故事进行猜测会激起孩子强烈的阅读欲望。《猜猜我有多爱你》这本书的封面上画有一大一小两只兔子，小兔子抓住大兔子的耳朵，仿佛在说些什么。教师就可以引导孩子看图，猜猜他们对话的内容，从而引出故事的题目——猜猜我有多爱你。
２、不要漏过环衬。环衬是封面与书芯之间的一张衬纸，很多绘本的环衬上也画有图画，不过你可千万不要以为它们仅仅是起装饰作用的图案而马上一翻而过，实际上，绘本的环衬不但与正文的故事息息相关，有时还会提升主题。《我爸爸》这本幽默的绘本里，透过孩子夸张的幻想，塑造了一个让人笑破肚皮的爸爸形象：这个爸爸一天到晚穿着一件长长的睡衣，他不怕狼，一跳就可以跳过月亮，吃得像马一样多，游得像鱼一样灵活……《我爸爸》的环衬上的图案就是“我爸爸”身上那件棕黄色睡衣的一个小小的局部。而《蚯蚓的日记》的环衬竟然都是蚯蚓在不同时期所拍的照片，有自己第一天上学时的留影，有自己和家人、好朋友的合影，还有自己的考试成绩单和教师的评语，我们仿佛看到了小蚯蚓的成长记录，虽然还没有开始读故事，但已经被这些可爱的画面给吸引住了。
３、会讲故事的扉页。扉页就是环衬之后、书芯之前的一页，上面一般写着书名和作者的名字。扉页不仅仅只是通向正文故事的一扇门，不仅仅是告诉你谁是故事的主人公，它有时还会讲故事。《猜猜我有多爱你》这本书实际上有两个扉页，第一个是张单页，第二个是一个带版权页的跨页。请注意，在第一张扉页上，作者画了一只小兔子骑在一只大兔子的脖子上。你看，这时的大兔子是静止不动的，而且大兔子和小兔子的头都扭了过来，一双黑点似的眼睛望着书外，也就是故事之外的你，似乎在询问你：嗨，你准备好了吗？快和我们一起走进这个名叫《猜猜我有多爱你》的故事里吧！当翻过这一页，你会看到三幅充满了动感的小图——大兔子背着小兔子扬起了后腿、准备起跳、猛地往斜上方一蹿……这其实是一个连贯的起跳动作——这一跳，两只兔子就跳到了后面的正文里。于是，我们看到小兔子紧紧地抓住了大兔子的长耳朵，听到他问妈妈：“猜猜我有多爱你？”这富有动感的画面把读者的视线牢牢地锁住，想不看下去也难。
４、朗读正文毋庸质疑，正文一定是孩子精读的部分。可绘本的正文部分究竟是应该由教师读给孩子听，还是放手让认识了几个字的孩子自己去读呢？不管是日本最久负盛名的绘本阅读的推广者松居直，还是美国教育心理学家杰洛姆·布鲁纳，他们都一致认为：教师得先为儿童读故事。因为绘本是通过优美的语言和图画表现出来的，当教师把绘本所表现的最好的语言用自己的声音、用自己的感受来讲述时，这种快乐、喜悦和美感才会淋漓尽致地发挥出来，绘本的体验才会永远地留在孩子的记忆当中。考虑到绘本资源有限，教师可以翻拍书中的图片，制作成课件让孩子们一起来阅读。当孩子欣赏画面时，教师投入感情地朗读故事，并加上动作、神态辅助语言来“演”故事，用生动、夸张的手法来呈现故事，有时还可以用故意犯错来培养孩子读图的敏感度。教师在引导孩子阅读正文时，一定要注意不要急着说教，也不能不断地提问、说明，犹如应试教育一般，应该把看书、思考的空间留给孩子，让他们有足够的时间来品味故事，让他们的体验和感受经过时间沉淀，再慢慢地转化为自己知识和智能。在教师给孩子读图画书时，也一定要让孩子自己看图画。每一个孩子都是读图画的天才，只要故事在图画上表现出来，那么孩子的眼睛就会发现它们。他们能发现画家没有发现的破绽，能读出成人料想不到的意思。在听老师读《好饿的毛毛虫》时，就有孩子一边盯着那条因为贪吃而肚子痛的毛毛虫，一边做出了自己的诊断：“毛毛虫是因为妈妈不在身边才生病的。”因为孩子从毛毛虫身上联想到了自己，像他们这样的孩子肚子痛时，首先寻求的就是妈妈的安慰。
５、并未结束的封底。合上一本绘本时，绘本的故事就已经讲完了吗？答案当然是否定的。比如在日本几乎家喻户晓的绘本《第一次上街买东西》的封底，就没有重复书里的故事，而是把故事的结尾延续到了封底上。这本书讲的是一个小女孩第一次上街去买牛奶的经历：躲闪自行车、摔破了膝盖……故事的结尾，是小女孩的妈妈等在巷子口，然后和她一起朝家里走去的背影。小女孩回到家里的情形又是怎样的呢？仿佛为了回应读者的期待，画家林明子在封底上又添上了一幅温馨的画面：小女孩和婴儿在喝她新买来的牛奶，她的一条腿搁在妈妈的腿上，两个膝盖上都贴上了创口贴……可以说，作者一直把这个故事讲到了封底上。《蚯蚓日记》的封底粗看和封面没什么两样，可仔细一看，只见绘本的主人公小蚯蚓写的日记本上多了这么一句话——“我有一种被偷看的感觉”，让人不禁哑然失笑！孩子们和绘本中的小蚯蚓的距离更近了，通过画面，读者和文本又进行了一次对话。
<完>
source: http://www.zidong.net.cn/Article/ShowArticle.asp?ArticleID=2012
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儿童在通向独立文字阅读的过程中，教师必须引导他们学会阅读，这会让他们终生受用。绘本阅读也需要教师的指导。其方式主要有以下几种：
1、参与式。
在绘本阅读的过程中应尊重每个孩子的不同感受，教师不要把故事情节一股脑儿全盘托出，要积极鼓励孩子边读边猜想后面将要发生的事，鼓励他们将自己比拟成故事中的角色让孩子也自然地融入到故事中去；鼓励他们参与到编写故事中，想出与作者不同的更有意思的情节或续编结尾。比如，指导阅读《猜猜我有多爱你》时，教师可以让孩子也来猜猜看，大兔子听到小兔子说自己对妈妈的爱有自己张开的手那么大，有自己跳得那么高时，兔妈妈会怎么回答；在读完故事后问问孩子，要是你，你想对谁说“猜猜我有多爱你”？你会用什么方式来表达自己对他的爱呢？通过角色替换，孩子很自然地以主人公的身份进入故事，感受故事，思考故事。
2、开放式。
⑴教学地点开放：阅读绘本也需讲究氛围和意境，可以根据需要在教室，在阅览室，在学校的花园或别的地方，不要固守教室，可以让孩子无拘无束地席地而坐，营造一种宽松的、积极的阅读氛围，拉近书与孩子的心之间的距离。
⑵教学人员开放：授课者不必都是同一位教师，可以是不同班级教师的交流，或与学校图书教师、家长、图书管理员，有条件的话能邀请到一些小有名气的作家就更好了，和他们一起演绎故事，诠释故事，分享故事。
⑶阅读内容开放：不必都读作家所写，等孩子对绘本有一定了解后，也可以让他们以小组为单位创编绘本故事，到时就可以阅读孩子自己的优秀作品，可以是同校同学的作品或同班同学的作品。在阅读完《蚯蚓的日记》之后，老师就可以让孩子以自己的生活为原型以小组为单位创作《蚂蚁的日记》、《蝴蝶的日记》、《我的日记》……大家分工合作，有的负责文本，有的负责绘画，完工后把他们的作品张贴在教室里，举行一次阅读品评会，让孩子互相交流，评选最佳绘本，从而激发孩子的创作欲望。
3、互动式。
因为优秀的绘本价格相对就比较贵，要孩子购买很多也是不现实的，因此就需要在班里开展“绘本漂流”活动，大家可以把自己购买到的认为好的绘本互相传阅，用有限的资金看更多的绘本。
⑴班级同学间互动：同学间互相交流图书，交流读后感，有能力的甚至合作创作新书。
⑵师生间的互动：教师向学生推荐优秀绘本，轮流借给学生；学生把自己看到的优秀绘本推荐给老师，让老师来推广。
⑶亲子间互动：号召家长和孩子一起开展亲子阅读，在家和孩子共读绘本，或请家长来学校为孩子朗读绘本，和孩子一同走进图画书的世界。
4、拓展式。
结合阅读内容开展拓展延伸活动，可以为父母读故事、讲故事，可以和同学一起演故事、画故事、续编故事，可以在扉页处写前言。比如读《泰迪熊搬家记》，可以学画地图；读《别再亲来亲去》，可以续写故事；读《鳄鱼怕怕牙医怕怕》，可以表演故事；读《可爱的鼠小弟》系列，可以直接在绘本的留白处写写画画；读《嘟嘟与巴豆》，可以学习写信，介绍各地风土人情……
从头到尾读图画绘本是一张到处都隐藏着秘密的“神秘地图”，因为无论是扉页、封面还是环衬，都是绘本的有机组成部分，在这些地方作者都为读者献上了很多精美的图画。只有指导孩子从头到尾阅读图画，才能发现很多常常被读者忽视的小细节。读懂了这些细节，才会对文本的理解有进一步的理解。
１、从封面猜故事。无论什么书，封面都是最先映入读者眼帘的，而在阅读前让孩子对故事进行猜测会激起孩子强烈的阅读欲望。《猜猜我有多爱你》这本书的封面上画有一大一小两只兔子，小兔子抓住大兔子的耳朵，仿佛在说些什么。教师就可以引导孩子看图，猜猜他们对话的内容，从而引出故事的题目——猜猜我有多爱你。
２、不要漏过环衬。环衬是封面与书芯之间的一张衬纸，很多绘本的环衬上也画有图画，不过你可千万不要以为它们仅仅是起装饰作用的图案而马上一翻而过，实际上，绘本的环衬不但与正文的故事息息相关，有时还会提升主题。《我爸爸》这本幽默的绘本里，透过孩子夸张的幻想，塑造了一个让人笑破肚皮的爸爸形象：这个爸爸一天到晚穿着一件长长的睡衣，他不怕狼，一跳就可以跳过月亮，吃得像马一样多，游得像鱼一样灵活……《我爸爸》的环衬上的图案就是“我爸爸”身上那件棕黄色睡衣的一个小小的局部。而《蚯蚓的日记》的环衬竟然都是蚯蚓在不同时期所拍的照片，有自己第一天上学时的留影，有自己和家人、好朋友的合影，还有自己的考试成绩单和教师的评语，我们仿佛看到了小蚯蚓的成长记录，虽然还没有开始读故事，但已经被这些可爱的画面给吸引住了。
３、会讲故事的扉页。扉页就是环衬之后、书芯之前的一页，上面一般写着书名和作者的名字。扉页不仅仅只是通向正文故事的一扇门，不仅仅是告诉你谁是故事的主人公，它有时还会讲故事。《猜猜我有多爱你》这本书实际上有两个扉页，第一个是张单页，第二个是一个带版权页的跨页。请注意，在第一张扉页上，作者画了一只小兔子骑在一只大兔子的脖子上。你看，这时的大兔子是静止不动的，而且大兔子和小兔子的头都扭了过来，一双黑点似的眼睛望着书外，也就是故事之外的你，似乎在询问你：嗨，你准备好了吗？快和我们一起走进这个名叫《猜猜我有多爱你》的故事里吧！当翻过这一页，你会看到三幅充满了动感的小图——大兔子背着小兔子扬起了后腿、准备起跳、猛地往斜上方一蹿……这其实是一个连贯的起跳动作——这一跳，两只兔子就跳到了后面的正文里。于是，我们看到小兔子紧紧地抓住了大兔子的长耳朵，听到他问妈妈：“猜猜我有多爱你？”这富有动感的画面把读者的视线牢牢地锁住，想不看下去也难。
４、朗读正文毋庸质疑，正文一定是孩子精读的部分。可绘本的正文部分究竟是应该由教师读给孩子听，还是放手让认识了几个字的孩子自己去读呢？不管是日本最久负盛名的绘本阅读的推广者松居直，还是美国教育心理学家杰洛姆·布鲁纳，他们都一致认为：教师得先为儿童读故事。因为绘本是通过优美的语言和图画表现出来的，当教师把绘本所表现的最好的语言用自己的声音、用自己的感受来讲述时，这种快乐、喜悦和美感才会淋漓尽致地发挥出来，绘本的体验才会永远地留在孩子的记忆当中。考虑到绘本资源有限，教师可以翻拍书中的图片，制作成课件让孩子们一起来阅读。当孩子欣赏画面时，教师投入感情地朗读故事，并加上动作、神态辅助语言来“演”故事，用生动、夸张的手法来呈现故事，有时还可以用故意犯错来培养孩子读图的敏感度。教师在引导孩子阅读正文时，一定要注意不要急着说教，也不能不断地提问、说明，犹如应试教育一般，应该把看书、思考的空间留给孩子，让他们有足够的时间来品味故事，让他们的体验和感受经过时间沉淀，再慢慢地转化为自己知识和智能。在教师给孩子读图画书时，也一定要让孩子自己看图画。每一个孩子都是读图画的天才，只要故事在图画上表现出来，那么孩子的眼睛就会发现它们。他们能发现画家没有发现的破绽，能读出成人料想不到的意思。在听老师读《好饿的毛毛虫》时，就有孩子一边盯着那条因为贪吃而肚子痛的毛毛虫，一边做出了自己的诊断：“毛毛虫是因为妈妈不在身边才生病的。”因为孩子从毛毛虫身上联想到了自己，像他们这样的孩子肚子痛时，首先寻求的就是妈妈的安慰。
５、并未结束的封底。合上一本绘本时，绘本的故事就已经讲完了吗？答案当然是否定的。比如在日本几乎家喻户晓的绘本《第一次上街买东西》的封底，就没有重复书里的故事，而是把故事的结尾延续到了封底上。这本书讲的是一个小女孩第一次上街去买牛奶的经历：躲闪自行车、摔破了膝盖……故事的结尾，是小女孩的妈妈等在巷子口，然后和她一起朝家里走去的背影。小女孩回到家里的情形又是怎样的呢？仿佛为了回应读者的期待，画家林明子在封底上又添上了一幅温馨的画面：小女孩和婴儿在喝她新买来的牛奶，她的一条腿搁在妈妈的腿上，两个膝盖上都贴上了创口贴……可以说，作者一直把这个故事讲到了封底上。《蚯蚓日记》的封底粗看和封面没什么两样，可仔细一看，只见绘本的主人公小蚯蚓写的日记本上多了这么一句话——“我有一种被偷看的感觉”，让人不禁哑然失笑！孩子们和绘本中的小蚯蚓的距离更近了，通过画面，读者和文本又进行了一次对话。
<完>
Jun 15, 2008
New blog address: http://blog.jooleo.com
We just registered a domain name "JooLeo.com" from Go Daddy which just costs about US $9.99 annually. Though we haven't decided what to do with that domain, but the main reason to do it is to let the http://blog.jooleo.com bind to the JooLeo blog instead of the original blogger's sub domain linking, http://jooleo.blogspot.com. This can increase the search engine visibility and it is easier for our friends to remember.
Blogger provides an easy way for you to do just that, all you need to do is just register a domain, and let Blogger do the blog hosting for you. For those bloggers who are interested to explore such approach, just follow the instruction from here.
Blogger provides an easy way for you to do just that, all you need to do is just register a domain, and let Blogger do the blog hosting for you. For those bloggers who are interested to explore such approach, just follow the instruction from here.
Jun 5, 2008
《蚯蚓的日记》书评、应用与样本
《蚯蚓的日记》 Diary of a Worm
Written by Doreen Cronin; Illustrated by Harry Bliss; Translated by 陈宏淑
Simplified Chinese edition is published by 少年儿童出版社
这本书在说什么？
凡是会在地上蠕动的动物或是昆虫都是我的克星，当然，蚯蚓也是我的头号敌人之一，虽然它们是农夫的最佳伙伴。我想世界上没几个人喜欢蚯蚓吧！因此，在书展中这本绘本马上吸引了我的目光——蚯蚓的日记会是怎么样呢？
诙谐幽默的文字，生动有趣的插画，缤纷鲜艳的色彩，天马行空的情节，我翻阅了几页后毫不考虑就决定把这本童书买下了。
通过日记的形式，作者把蚯蚓拟人化，让读者化身为蚯蚓，一同体验小小蚯蚓的生活。小小蚯蚓也和我们一样：上学、吃饭、作恶梦、交朋友、旅游、被老师罚写、参加舞会。它也爱恶作剧，作弄害怕它的小朋友。它也会幻想，幻想成为秘密情报员，认为保护总统是自己责无旁贷的事。阅读完这本绘本，我相信讨厌害怕蚯蚓的小朋友们（包括身为大人的我！）都会对蚯蚓改观。我也相信，这本绘本会让小朋友爱不释手，一再阅读。
我买的是简体翻译版，定价人民币27.80。相对一般中国书籍来说，挺贵的。但是书本的质量和装帧，以及内容的版面编排和印刷都能和台湾出版的绘本相提并论。另外，出版社并没有加入汉语拼音或增加其他无必要的功能，忠实的呈现原作。
如何应用这本书？
以下纯粹是个人意见，我以自己在图书馆讲故事以及从事教育出版的经验来思考。
对象：4~8岁的小朋友。
一、引起动机：和小朋友一起讨论封面，让他们说出对蚯蚓的看法，猜猜蚯蚓的生活是怎样的，大人解释什么是日记。
二、蝴蝶页（封面内页）有好几张的照片，可以先进行讨论，让小朋友（尤其是害怕蚯蚓的）卸下心房。
三、进入内文后，混合使用各种手段：读出故事，用图画说故事，提问，让小朋友说故事等等。
四、灌输小常识：本书也说明一些蚯蚓的特征，有必要强调，例如：
- “我们钻地道的时候，也同时帮忙照顾了地球。”说明蚯蚓翻松土壤，让土地更肥沃。
- “钓鱼季从今天开始。我们全都钻到更深的地方。”说明蚯蚓是好用的鱼饵。
- 蚯蚓没办法倒立走路”“不能吃口香糖”“永远不用看牙医”说明蚯蚓只会蠕动、没有牙齿。
五、后续活动一：参考其他书或网站资料，例如：
1）http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/worms/index.html （英文网站，大人和小孩都可以参考，资料很丰富）
2）http://www.hoodong.com/wiki/%E8%9A%AF%E8%9A%93 （中文网站，给大人参考）
六、后续活动二：鼓励小朋友写日记。如果年纪太小，用录音也可以。
来看看一些样本吧！
Disclaimer: The text and illustrations excerpted from the above-mentioned title were used for the purpose of review. If you would like to use the text and illustrations in any form of work, please contact the copyright holders for copyright clearance.
Jun 3, 2008
A small step does help make the Earth greener
There's two news articles about environmental protection today.
One is about the monthly Bring-You-Own-Bag program will be converted to weekly event, starting tomorrow 6 June. On Wednesdays, you will need to bring your own carriers when you go to supermarkets to buy groceries. Otherwise, you will need to pay 10 cents for a plastic bag. All the proceeds will go to Singapore Environment Council to fund environmental activities.
The other news is about the launch of Saving Gaia website. People can go to the website to pledge their support on environmental protection. You need to write a method you have adopted today to conserve natural resources when you take the pledge. Frist 3000 to make the pledge will receive a trendy eco-friendly shopping bag. Also, people can participate in a challenge which the winner will walk away S$10K cash.
I find it amusing that, again, money serves as the carrot to increase awareness of environmental protection. To me, caring for the environment is parts of the social responsibility. The global climate is changing, more natural disasters were occurred, fuel price is going up rapidly, cost of living is rising - all of these are caused by us, the human beings living on the Earth. Well, I must admit that cash rewards will definitely attract more people to notice this event, participate in the challenge, and ultimately increase more awareness. Sadly, it seems that this is probably the best strategy to promote social awareness in Singapore.
In fact, we can adopt many small steps to help preserve the environment, even during work:
1. Having lunch out more often
2. Use your own lunch box to buy back lunch (the bonus is, your lunch may be cheaper! At least it works for me. ;>)
3. Keep the office air-conditioning at 23-25 degree C.
4. Switch off all power points when you knock off.
5. Print double-sided, B/W, and when necessary.
A small step does help make the Earth greener. So what are you waiting for? :)
One is about the monthly Bring-You-Own-Bag program will be converted to weekly event, starting tomorrow 6 June. On Wednesdays, you will need to bring your own carriers when you go to supermarkets to buy groceries. Otherwise, you will need to pay 10 cents for a plastic bag. All the proceeds will go to Singapore Environment Council to fund environmental activities.
The other news is about the launch of Saving Gaia website. People can go to the website to pledge their support on environmental protection. You need to write a method you have adopted today to conserve natural resources when you take the pledge. Frist 3000 to make the pledge will receive a trendy eco-friendly shopping bag. Also, people can participate in a challenge which the winner will walk away S$10K cash.
I find it amusing that, again, money serves as the carrot to increase awareness of environmental protection. To me, caring for the environment is parts of the social responsibility. The global climate is changing, more natural disasters were occurred, fuel price is going up rapidly, cost of living is rising - all of these are caused by us, the human beings living on the Earth. Well, I must admit that cash rewards will definitely attract more people to notice this event, participate in the challenge, and ultimately increase more awareness. Sadly, it seems that this is probably the best strategy to promote social awareness in Singapore.
In fact, we can adopt many small steps to help preserve the environment, even during work:
1. Having lunch out more often
2. Use your own lunch box to buy back lunch (the bonus is, your lunch may be cheaper! At least it works for me. ;>)
3. Keep the office air-conditioning at 23-25 degree C.
4. Switch off all power points when you knock off.
5. Print double-sided, B/W, and when necessary.
A small step does help make the Earth greener. So what are you waiting for? :)
May 31, 2008
Sit back and relax from S&P 500 index fund investment
Stock market goes up and down all the time. Is there a low risk investment in the stock market? If you are lazy to research on the company annual reports, but still want to make a profit from the stock market, there may have a easy way.
S&P 500 is a stock market index containing the stocks of 500 large capitalization corporations, mostly US companies. There are many index funds and exchanged-traded funds tracking the performance of the S&P 500, e.g. BARCLAYS's iShares S&P 500 Index Fund. If you look at the index trend below, you can see that the S&P 500 is always in the uptrend for the long run (e.g. 30 years). This is mostly caused by the inflation.
If we buy the index on 1978 (30 years ago) and sell it now, what will be our return like?
Year 1978 June, index ~ 100
Year 2008 June, index ~ 1400
Using the calculation from the financial calculator, the compound return is closed to 9%. Not a very bad investment consider that you just need to buy once and forget about it :)
S&P 500 is a stock market index containing the stocks of 500 large capitalization corporations, mostly US companies. There are many index funds and exchanged-traded funds tracking the performance of the S&P 500, e.g. BARCLAYS's iShares S&P 500 Index Fund. If you look at the index trend below, you can see that the S&P 500 is always in the uptrend for the long run (e.g. 30 years). This is mostly caused by the inflation.
If we buy the index on 1978 (30 years ago) and sell it now, what will be our return like?
Year 1978 June, index ~ 100
Year 2008 June, index ~ 1400
Using the calculation from the financial calculator, the compound return is closed to 9%. Not a very bad investment consider that you just need to buy once and forget about it :)
May 27, 2008
Agriculture land investment ROI in Johor
My dad is a plantation owner in Johor, Malaysia. He is always interested to buy lands. When I asked him how profitable is it to own a land, he just told me that the land price appreciate overtime. Beside that, the oil palm plantation is his major profit source.
I am very interested to know how the land ROI is, thus I tried to ask him the historical price of the land. He told me that the land was only about $8k sixteen years ago for one acre. The price has been appreciated a lot nowadays. It is about $60k right now. Using the financial calculator, the compound return from the investment for the 16 years is 12.7% from the capital gain not including the income generated from the plantation. If I could generate a conservative return of $200 per month from the plantation, the yield is estimated to be 200 * 12 / 60k = 4%. Thus the total return from the land investment is roughly 16.7%.
As you can see, although it is not a very good investment compare to investing in the properties, the risk involved in land investment is minimal.
I am very interested to know how the land ROI is, thus I tried to ask him the historical price of the land. He told me that the land was only about $8k sixteen years ago for one acre. The price has been appreciated a lot nowadays. It is about $60k right now. Using the financial calculator, the compound return from the investment for the 16 years is 12.7% from the capital gain not including the income generated from the plantation. If I could generate a conservative return of $200 per month from the plantation, the yield is estimated to be 200 * 12 / 60k = 4%. Thus the total return from the land investment is roughly 16.7%.
As you can see, although it is not a very good investment compare to investing in the properties, the risk involved in land investment is minimal.
May 20, 2008
Travelling tips to Phuket - for 1st timer or budget traveller
We went to Phuket for a 4D3N trip in end April. It was our first trip to Phuket and we spent time on the island only (without going for any snorkelling tour). Below are some tips which I think may be useful:-
1. Online resources
1. Online resources
I did research on activities/tours and book accommodation online after I booked air tickets. I find below websites are pretty useful:
* Phuket.com (comprehensive info about Phuket. You can book tours via this website too. The price of the tours *may* be cheaper. For example, Phi Phi Island Snorkling day tour costs THB1500 per pax on this website. However, the cheapest tour price I could get locally is THB1750.)
* kata-beach.com (everything about Kata and Karon beach; We stayed in Karon beach.)
* Phuket map (online free maps for major beaches and the Phuket town.)
* Jamie Monk's blog (hosted by an expat living in Phuket, a very interesting blog and provides insider's tips. He also hosts other blogs, one of which is the Phuket's weather blog.)
* Asiarooms (I found the cheapest room rate on this site after compared with other major hotel portals, such as zuji, tripadvisor, wotif, agoda. I don't dare to use unheard sites. The customer service agent of Asiarooms is helpful too though they doesn't speak English very well.)
* Phuket.com (comprehensive info about Phuket. You can book tours via this website too. The price of the tours *may* be cheaper. For example, Phi Phi Island Snorkling day tour costs THB1500 per pax on this website. However, the cheapest tour price I could get locally is THB1750.)
* kata-beach.com (everything about Kata and Karon beach; We stayed in Karon beach.)
* Phuket map (online free maps for major beaches and the Phuket town.)
* Jamie Monk's blog (hosted by an expat living in Phuket, a very interesting blog and provides insider's tips. He also hosts other blogs, one of which is the Phuket's weather blog.)
* Asiarooms (I found the cheapest room rate on this site after compared with other major hotel portals, such as zuji, tripadvisor, wotif, agoda. I don't dare to use unheard sites. The customer service agent of Asiarooms is helpful too though they doesn't speak English very well.)
According to the locals, end April - June is the low season (rainy days) where everything is cheaper and everywhere is less crowded.
2. Air ticket
Fly with a budget airline is sufficient as it takes 2 hour only to fly from SG to Phuket. Do book during promotional periods that you will only need to pay taxes and charges. We booked our tickets during $0 promotional period (Tiger Airways, in end February) and paid about S$300 for taxes and charges.
Tiger Airways: overall, the journey with the no-frills carrier was pleasant - width of the seat is OK for mid-size Asian, service is OK, plane take-off and land down smoothly, except the back of seat is kinda straight for me.
3. Food
We usually aim for local foods when travelling. Reasons are simple - special, authentic, and cheap. During our trip, we ate local Thai food at both expensive and cheap restaurant, and local Chinese chicken rice. No western food except the complimentary International breakfast buffet.
The Thai version of chicken rice is very interesting. We found this eatery among old shophouses when we wandered around for lunch in Phuket town. The rice and chicken tasted about the same as the Singapore style; the interesting part is that the food was served with a plate of vegetables, including lettuces, cucumbers, spring onions, and garlics. Yes, with few stalks of spring onions and few cloves of garlics!!! My husband tried both and said it's kinda weird.. haha.. :p Anyway, the diners in the easteries happily enjoyed their vege...
For Thai food, again, we explored the streets to look for authentic local food. A special note on this eatery which we went there twice! It runs by a family which the owner's job is to greet the customers and keep asking "OK?" We tried local dishes on our 1st visit and ate live seafood on the 2nd visit. The food was cheap, tasty, and authentic - 1st dinner costed us about 100 Baht for 3 dishes + rice + drinks, 2nd dinner costed us about 700 Baht for 1 vegetable + 4 huge tiger prawns + one 1-kg red snaper + drinks + rice (trust me, this is more than enough for two Asians!)
The eatery is located at Thai Na Road at Kata Beach but I can't remember its name. When you reach the junction of Patak Road and Kata Road, you will Smile Inn and Family Mart (convenience store) along Thai Na Road. You need to walk for 10-15 minutes before you pass by a small eatery selling live seafood. It's an old shop and look a bit dirty. The wall is filled up with photos of Thai royals, currency notes of different countries, and big poster featuring different ingredients.
According to the news cutting which featured this eatery, the owner used to do business in Patong beach but moved to Kata beach 13+ years ago due to exorbitant rental in Patong beach.
(Sorry that we didn't take picture on the food..)
4. Sight-seeing land tour
Do take the local bus (Songthaew)!
It is an experience. We took the local bus service between Phuket Town and Karon/Kata beach. It costs 40 Baht per person and about 45mins ~ 1 hr from Karon to Phuket Town. If you took Tuk-tuk (the local taxi), as told by the hotel staff, it costs 500 Baht for a half-an-hour ride. Few interesting parts are: 1) passengers sitting face to face and there's a bench in the center to take in more passengers; 2) the bus is actually a converted mini lorry; 3) the bus driver stops the bus at half way to collect bus fare. Honestly speaking, it's dangerous to take the bus especially for passengers sitting near the exit (see the picture above!) You don't have anything to hold on except window grill. However, it's an experiece! :)
When we reached Phuket Town, we were approached by an enthusiastic Thai man who turned out to tout business for city tour. He kept following us for a few streets (afraid that other tuk-tuk driver approached us). As the weather wasn't good we finally agreed to take his service at 400 Baht. He agreed to ferry us to the Rang Hill (the highest point in Phuket Town) for city view, tour around the city and interesting places, drop us at shopping district, drive us to Patong Beach, then back to the hotel at Karon Beach. Overall, the tour is OK BUT we felt cheated when we realized the "interesting places" are those tourist places - jewelry shop, cashew nut factory, tin factory, fruit stalls - where he can collect stamps to get free gasoline. Next time if a Tuk-tuk driver offers you a city tour, you better check the itinerary carefully! Anyway, I felt 400 Baht was worthwhile as the ride from Patong to Karon might likely cost 300 Baht.
May 19, 2008
How much does it cost to own a car in Singapore?
After taking so many years of public transport in Singapore, I finally decided to buy a car in Singapore. I have no complains regarding Singapore's first class public transportation. It is very efficient and convenient, and it is very cheap compare to other countries. However, I have reached a point that the car could probably save me more time to earn more money. Thus I decided to go for it.
After doing some shopping in Leng Kee road, I bought the 2008 new Toyota Corolla Altis 1.6. Since I am always looking for values, I see the Altis provided good qualities with reasonable price tag $62,700. "Reasonable" in Singapore but expensive compare to USD15k in United States :)
As you may know, Singapore is probably the most expensive place to own a car. Based on the price above, I have done some calculation to see how this is true. Let's assume that we put $15k down payment and we take the loan with 2.5% from the bank for seven years. In Singapore, you can only own the car for 10 years. After that, if you would like to keep the car, you need to bid for the COE (Certificate of Entitlement is a program designed by Singapore government to limit the car ownership in Singapore) again. We will assume we only own the car for 10 years, drive 60km every day and the fuel efficiency of the car is 13km/L, oil price is $2.1/L.
Gas/oil price per month = 60/13 * $2.1 * 30 = $290
Parking fee = $90 * 2 + $60 = $240
(Note: assume two season parking $90/month and other parking fee as $60)
Car insurance per year = $1.7k
Road tax = $851
Total interest = $47,700 * 7 * 2.5% = $8.35k
Scrapping of vehicle value = $17k * 50% = $8.5k
Car depreciation per year = ($62.7k + 8.35k - 8.5k) / 10 = $6.25k
Car maintenance per year = $400
Thus the monthly cost that we need to maintain this car in Singapore is:
(6.25k + $1.7k + $850 + $400)/12 + ($290+$240)
~ $1.3k
Based on "the key household income trends, 2007" published by the Singapore government, the mean monthly household income from work is $4.87k in Singapore. The monthly cost per car is almost one third of the mean monthly house hold income. This explains why only 13.6% (2007) of people in Singapore own a car.
After doing some shopping in Leng Kee road, I bought the 2008 new Toyota Corolla Altis 1.6. Since I am always looking for values, I see the Altis provided good qualities with reasonable price tag $62,700. "Reasonable" in Singapore but expensive compare to USD15k in United States :)
As you may know, Singapore is probably the most expensive place to own a car. Based on the price above, I have done some calculation to see how this is true. Let's assume that we put $15k down payment and we take the loan with 2.5% from the bank for seven years. In Singapore, you can only own the car for 10 years. After that, if you would like to keep the car, you need to bid for the COE (Certificate of Entitlement is a program designed by Singapore government to limit the car ownership in Singapore) again. We will assume we only own the car for 10 years, drive 60km every day and the fuel efficiency of the car is 13km/L, oil price is $2.1/L.
Gas/oil price per month = 60/13 * $2.1 * 30 = $290
Parking fee = $90 * 2 + $60 = $240
(Note: assume two season parking $90/month and other parking fee as $60)
Car insurance per year = $1.7k
Road tax = $851
Total interest = $47,700 * 7 * 2.5% = $8.35k
Scrapping of vehicle value = $17k * 50% = $8.5k
Car depreciation per year = ($62.7k + 8.35k - 8.5k) / 10 = $6.25k
Car maintenance per year = $400
Thus the monthly cost that we need to maintain this car in Singapore is:
(6.25k + $1.7k + $850 + $400)/12 + ($290+$240)
~ $1.3k
Based on "the key household income trends, 2007" published by the Singapore government, the mean monthly household income from work is $4.87k in Singapore. The monthly cost per car is almost one third of the mean monthly house hold income. This explains why only 13.6% (2007) of people in Singapore own a car.
May 14, 2008
Creating digital watermarking for your photos
I just took some pictures from Phuket using my new Canon 450D digital SLR. To let my wife to present the pictures online, I think it is better to create the digital watermarking for the pictures for copyright purpose.
There are many softwares available out there, but I was wondering if I could do it myself easily. After some research and goggling, I think I can just use Perl to process all my photos at once with the help of the ImageMagick since I have it installed in my Vista Premium already.
Here are the simple steps to produce the watermark photos:
There are many softwares available out there, but I was wondering if I could do it myself easily. After some research and goggling, I think I can just use Perl to process all my photos at once with the help of the ImageMagick since I have it installed in my Vista Premium already.
Here are the simple steps to produce the watermark photos:
- Install Gimp or Photoshop or any image processing software to create your own digital watermark such as the following:
- Install ActivePerl in your Windows OS. If you are using Linux/Unix, you may already have it installed.
- Install ImageMagick.
- Then copy the following perl script using a text editor to a file named "transfer.pl".
#!/usr/bin/perl -w
#Change your settings here
$targetFolder = "converted";
$targetFilePattern = "conv";
$watermark = "C:\\Temp\\watermark.png";
$imageExt = "JPG";
$i = 1;
opendir(DIR, ".");
@files = grep(/\.$imageExt$/,readdir(DIR));
closedir(DIR);
mkdir($targetFolder);
foreach $file (@files) {
$targetFile = "$targetFolder\\$targetFilePattern".($i++).".$imageExt";
$cmd = "composite -dissolve 50% -gravity SouthEast -geometry +5+5 $watermark $file $targetFile";
print "Converting $file to $targetFile\n";
system($cmd);
} - Change the setting in the script, e.g. target folder name, target file pattern, watermark picture file location and the source photo file type.
- Copy the file to your folder which contains the photos to convert and execute it by "perl transfer.pl".
May 13, 2008
A costly buffet lunch at Grand Bluewave Hotel in Johor Bahru
It was an unpleasant buffet lunch experience I ever had.
Bluewave used to offer good buffet lunches. My family celebrated few occasions there and we were satisfied with the food and the service. Although Bluewave's buffet is not the best in JB, but it's more valuable compared to other hotels. However, the last experience was a real disappointment and we doubt we will go back again.
It costed RM38++ per pax for "special" dishes for Mother's Day. It is RM25++ on usual weekends. However, I didn't see (or feel!) the differences. The variety of food was slightly more but food is being replenished slowly, the food weren't yummy, the cafe was warm and stuffy, the staff were smileless and impromptly... We even had to ask for water and they served the water more than 15 minutes later. We left the cafe about an hour later - a really short period for a buffet meal.
Apparently Bluewave's standard is going down, in term of food and service. Although my sister-in-law told me that buffet is not as popular in JB as before, the hotel still have to maintain their standard, or at least, get staff prepared well for special occasions, so as to match the self-claimed 5-star standard. Otherwise, how they can fight with other hotels such as Mutiara and Pan Pacific which offer better food?
I did a search on Internet to find reviews on buffet lunches in JB. Unfortunately, not much info can be found. I hope this piece of writing can serve as a reference for people who is looking for silmiar info and do think twice if they would like to go to Bluewave for a buffet!
Bluewave used to offer good buffet lunches. My family celebrated few occasions there and we were satisfied with the food and the service. Although Bluewave's buffet is not the best in JB, but it's more valuable compared to other hotels. However, the last experience was a real disappointment and we doubt we will go back again.
It costed RM38++ per pax for "special" dishes for Mother's Day. It is RM25++ on usual weekends. However, I didn't see (or feel!) the differences. The variety of food was slightly more but food is being replenished slowly, the food weren't yummy, the cafe was warm and stuffy, the staff were smileless and impromptly... We even had to ask for water and they served the water more than 15 minutes later. We left the cafe about an hour later - a really short period for a buffet meal.
Apparently Bluewave's standard is going down, in term of food and service. Although my sister-in-law told me that buffet is not as popular in JB as before, the hotel still have to maintain their standard, or at least, get staff prepared well for special occasions, so as to match the self-claimed 5-star standard. Otherwise, how they can fight with other hotels such as Mutiara and Pan Pacific which offer better food?
I did a search on Internet to find reviews on buffet lunches in JB. Unfortunately, not much info can be found. I hope this piece of writing can serve as a reference for people who is looking for silmiar info and do think twice if they would like to go to Bluewave for a buffet!
May 6, 2008
How to get rich using property leverage
I started investment since year 2004, but I only invest in stocks, unit trusts and treasury bills. Recently, I found property investment the other good option to make good ROI.
One of the theory that caught my attention is the property leverage. It helps the middle class people to get rich easier.
Let's see how the property leverage can help us grow. Assume we have 400k to invest in real estate now, and there is one good property with good location cost just 400k, how should we invest in it?
There are two options, either we pay a lump sum to sleep peacefully or just pay 20% down payment and get a loan from the bank.
To illustrate the difference, let us do some mathematic exercise:
Assumption:
Renting return after 10 years = 400k x 6% x 10 = 240k
Profits after 10 years
= property value - original payment + rental yield
= 800k - 400k +240k = 640k
Annual compound return rate = 9.6%
Case 2:
Renting return after 10 years = 400k x 6% x 10 = 240k
Down payment = 400k x 20% = 80k
Loan amount for 25 years = 400k x 80% = 320k
Profits after 10 years
= property value - original payment + rental yield - total interest paid - loan balance
= 800k - 80k + 240k - 174.5k -254.5k = 531k
Annual compound return rate = 20.5%
As you can see from the calculation above, we can get double compound rate return over the lump sum payment. The most important thing is that you only need to pay 20% of the original property price. Thus the property is more affordable to the middle class.
How smart and rich people can get richer and richer by property leverage? It is very simple. The rich people just need to put the original 400k to 5 same properties and get the loan from the banks. Just see the bank as your shareholder. Then you could get the same 20.5% compound return, and it is five times as shown below:
Compound rate = 20.5%
Payment = 400k
Profit = 5 x 531k = 2,655k
If you look at the profit amount above, it is five times more than the profit without using the property leverage! Thus, we must enforce the property leverage whenever possible to get the best ROI.
One of the theory that caught my attention is the property leverage. It helps the middle class people to get rich easier.
Let's see how the property leverage can help us grow. Assume we have 400k to invest in real estate now, and there is one good property with good location cost just 400k, how should we invest in it?
There are two options, either we pay a lump sum to sleep peacefully or just pay 20% down payment and get a loan from the bank.
To illustrate the difference, let us do some mathematic exercise:
Assumption:
- Since the property is in the good location, we estimate that the property price will become double in 10 years, and we will just sell it after 10 years.
- The renting yield of the property is 6% annually.
- The mortgage interest rate is 6% annually.
- The property price is 400k.
Renting return after 10 years = 400k x 6% x 10 = 240k
Profits after 10 years
= property value - original payment + rental yield
= 800k - 400k +240k = 640k
Annual compound return rate = 9.6%
Case 2:
Renting return after 10 years = 400k x 6% x 10 = 240k
Down payment = 400k x 20% = 80k
Loan amount for 25 years = 400k x 80% = 320k
Profits after 10 years
= property value - original payment + rental yield - total interest paid - loan balance
= 800k - 80k + 240k - 174.5k -254.5k = 531k
Annual compound return rate = 20.5%
As you can see from the calculation above, we can get double compound rate return over the lump sum payment. The most important thing is that you only need to pay 20% of the original property price. Thus the property is more affordable to the middle class.
How smart and rich people can get richer and richer by property leverage? It is very simple. The rich people just need to put the original 400k to 5 same properties and get the loan from the banks. Just see the bank as your shareholder. Then you could get the same 20.5% compound return, and it is five times as shown below:
Compound rate = 20.5%
Payment = 400k
Profit = 5 x 531k = 2,655k
If you look at the profit amount above, it is five times more than the profit without using the property leverage! Thus, we must enforce the property leverage whenever possible to get the best ROI.
May 4, 2008
How budget is the budget terminal?
Just having a trip to Phuket via Tiger Air. Overall the airline is punctual and comfortable. For the Singapore budget terminal, it is pretty small, but I would say it is almost the same as or better than the Perth International Airport.
The budget terminal cannot be directly access via the local train service (MRT), but if you would like to go there via MRT, you could just take a free shuttle bus service from the terminals to the budget terminal. The frequency of the bus is about 10 minutes. For my case, I actually took a public bus 858 which can easily access from my place in Woodlands to terminal 2 and then transfered to the budget terminal.
My first impression of the budget terminal is very bad, it has nothing but a dining place, a children play ground, an ATM machine, a AXN machine, a terminal service counter, a small convenient retail shop and about 26 airline service counters. I had taken some photos from them as the following:
I also notice that you could get a piece of "My Paper", a free local published newspaper in the terminal. However, I think you can only get it in the early morning flights.
Actually, all of the good facilities available for the budget terminal are only available after you have gotten passed the custom checkpoint.
There are quite many facilities inside the budget terminal, here is the list:
Overall, the budget terminal is not that budget after all, it includes all the facilities that a traveler need to get on the budget air planes.
The budget terminal cannot be directly access via the local train service (MRT), but if you would like to go there via MRT, you could just take a free shuttle bus service from the terminals to the budget terminal. The frequency of the bus is about 10 minutes. For my case, I actually took a public bus 858 which can easily access from my place in Woodlands to terminal 2 and then transfered to the budget terminal.
My first impression of the budget terminal is very bad, it has nothing but a dining place, a children play ground, an ATM machine, a AXN machine, a terminal service counter, a small convenient retail shop and about 26 airline service counters. I had taken some photos from them as the following:
I also notice that you could get a piece of "My Paper", a free local published newspaper in the terminal. However, I think you can only get it in the early morning flights.
Actually, all of the good facilities available for the budget terminal are only available after you have gotten passed the custom checkpoint.
There are quite many facilities inside the budget terminal, here is the list:
- A free Internet access point with quite a few computers available for travelers to access and a good cafe O'Briens to you to take a cup of coffee.
- Two rest places that you could watch ChannelNewsAsia, a famous news channel in Asia.
- A money changer which allows the travelers to change money in the very last minute.
- A free laptop Internet access zone allows the travelers who has a laptop to access the free wireless network.
- There are many tax free shops available for travelers to do last minute shopping.
Overall, the budget terminal is not that budget after all, it includes all the facilities that a traveler need to get on the budget air planes.
May 1, 2008
Joining the world of blogging
Hi, everyone! Welcome to our blog.
We are a Malaysian couple leading a decent life in Singapore. Why we join the crowd and blog? We are common people but we believe that, in this info-sharing era, we can contribute by sharing our interests and thoughts concerning any aspect in our life. It would be good if our writings can benefit other Internet users; however, we think it's also a part of self-reflection and preparation, which will lead us to a more meaningful, comfortable, and happier life. Afterall, that's what everyone working hard on, isn't it? :)
OK, stop talking big. Let's blog!
Regards,
Leon & Coco
We are a Malaysian couple leading a decent life in Singapore. Why we join the crowd and blog? We are common people but we believe that, in this info-sharing era, we can contribute by sharing our interests and thoughts concerning any aspect in our life. It would be good if our writings can benefit other Internet users; however, we think it's also a part of self-reflection and preparation, which will lead us to a more meaningful, comfortable, and happier life. Afterall, that's what everyone working hard on, isn't it? :)
OK, stop talking big. Let's blog!
Regards,
Leon & Coco
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