Archive for the ‘Money & You’ Category

Yes, Canada has done it! Canada successfully won the ice hockey gold through a golden goal by Sidney Crosby in overtime to give Canada an euphoric 3-2 victory over USA at the Vancouver Games. The win sparked off massive celebrations across Canada from the Atlantic provinces right up to the Yukon. With a total haul of 14 golds, Canada created history for the most golds won by any country at a Winter Olympics.

Ice hockey is the most popular sports in Canada.  Indeed the country seems fanatical about the sports. Ice hockey stars are revered. Don’t be surprised if some Canadians give you a blank stare when you mention Wayne Rooney or Ronaldo. But ask them about Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr or Guy Lafleur and see how they respond.

During my university days at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada in the late 1970s, I witnessed firsthand the fanatical popularity of ice hockey among Canadians. Being in Montreal, my favorite team was the Montreal Canadiens which was then the most successful team in the NHL, winning 4 consecutive Stanley Cups during the period 1976 to 1979.  And their most famous player then was none other than Guy Lafleur. Fans chanted “Guy, Guy, Guy!” whenever he touched the puck. He became known among English fans as “Flower”, while among French fans he was dubbed “le Demon Blond” or the Blond Devil. He is regarded as one of the greatest ice hockey stars of all time.

Guy Lafleur...the Blond Devil

So I know what it means to the Canadians to win the Winter Olympics ice hockey gold. Ice hockey is their national passion. Ice hockey is to the Canadians what soccer is to most of the rest of the world.  Canada=Ice Hockey! So congratulations Canada!

Canada is such a lovely and peaceful country. If you have never been to Canada, do visit it one day. It is a huge country so it would take you weeks if you want to travel from British Columbia to the Atlantic Provinces. But I can assure you that you won’t regret it….indeed you will be awed by the breathtaking beauty of Canada. Just thinking of Canada brings back a lot of nostalgia of the fun and happy memories I had there. O Canada!

Today is the last day of February and it is also Chap Goh Meh, the finale to the Chinese New Year celebration. Being a Sunday, this year’s Chap Goh Meh will be celebrated on a grander scale by the Chinese.

Chap Goh Meh, meaning “fifteenth night” in Hokkien, is a day to spend with loved ones. It is like Valentine’s Day for the Chinese. On this day, single adults throw oranges into rivers in the hope of finding a life partner. The Hokkien even have a saying which goes “tim kam chua ho ang”  which literally means “throw a mandarin orange, marry a good husband.” But nowadays a lot of young people throw oranges into rivers merely for fun.

People used to write their names and telephone numbers on oranges that they threw into rivers or lakes.  Nowadays with the widespread use of the internet, I guess people will probably write their emails or their websites addresses on the oranges that they throw……some may even write the names that they use on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

To all my friends and associates, I wish you all a very happy Chap Goh Meh!  Go now to the supermarkets to buy a box of mandarin oranges and see you at the lakeside at Bulatan Park tonight! Who knows, you may find your life partner tonight! Hahaha…happy orange throwing!

It is a Chinese custom to give hong pao (Mandarin) or ang pow (Hokkien) or Lai See (Cantonese) to the younger generation during Chinese New Year. A hong pao is simply a red packet with some money in it. The red color symbolizes good luck and is supposed to ward off evil spirits. The packet is often decorated with the Chinese zodiac animal symbol according to what year it is. For instance this year is the Year of the Tiger and there are lots of red packets with the picture or symbol of the tiger printed on them.

The amount of money that a red packet contains is dependent on several factors such as the relationship between the giver and the recipient, the social standing of the giver and the recipient, etc.

The amount of money is almost always an even number and amounts that end with 8 are very popular as 8 sounds like prosperity in Mandarin. However an amount that is usually avoided despite ending with 8 is 38 as “3″ and “8″ when used together refers to an unpleasant woman.Amounts that are usually avoided are those that end in 4 or involve 4 as 4 in Mandarin sounds like death.

Collecting red packets has become a very popular hobby among a lot of Chinese.  Some red packets, like stamps, can command good prices so it can become a lucrative hobby.

My wife is a collector of red packets. This year she has managed to collect a few red packets with the symbols of the tiger printed on them. And I have asked some of my friends in neighboring countries to reserve some of the red packets from their countries for my wife. My wife is looking forward to receive these red packets to add to her collection. To my friends who have so kindly reserved the red packets for my wife, I wish to express my heartfelt thanks! May the Year of the Tiger be a ROARING GOOD YEAR for you!

My wife's Year of the Tiger red packets from Polo shirts!

Year of the Tiger red packets

At the stroke of midnight about half an hour ago, the sky of Miri erupted in a glorious display of fireworks as the Chinese celebrated the arrival of the Year of the Tiger.  And this was accompanied by deafening firecrackers that turned the whole city into a war-like zone. I managed to capture some of the firework display on  my compact digital camera.

I started my new blog “My Cherry-Picked Programs” on January 30, 2010. In this blog, I am sharing the programs from which I am making money online. Do drop by when you are free……I hope you will benefit from that blog so that 2010 may turn out to be a great year for you!

Go to: http://www.mycherrypicks.com

My Cherry-Picked Programs...May You Prosper From Them

Spring Is Here!

Today marks the beginning of the season of Spring or Lichun according to the Chinese solar calendar. However Chinese celebrate Chinese New Year on February 14 2010 in accordance with the Lunar calendar.

There are some Chinese who believe that today is a very important day as what happens to you today is an indication of what the year has in store for you. If great things happen to you today, then the rest of the year will be fantastic. However, if unfortunate things happen to you, then the rest of the year will not be smooth too.

If you happen to see a lot of Chinese wearing red today when you go to the bank, don’t be surprised. It is believed that if you wear red and go to the bank to bank in some cash or cheque today, it augurs well for your finances for the rest of the year. Now you know……..will I be seeing you at the bank wearing red today?

Most of us are loyal Facebook users and enjoy the social aspects of the social networks.  We all love to use Twitter and to be honest in the beginning I had no clue how to work Twitter and I did not understand it.  The fact of the matter is that social networks are the way of the future and the way most people are communicating nowadays.  People are spending less time emailing each other and more time leaving messages on each others wall.  Theses companies are exploding in popularity and are estimated to worth in the billions of dollars.

There is only one problem. These companies do not pay their members for all of the traffic and the advertising revenue that they generate.  PeopleString exploded onto the scene a few months ago and has been rising fast on the Alexa.com ranking.

So, what exactly is People String? It is a new social media site launched on September 23, 2009 to compete with giants like Facebook by paying anyone and everyone to recruit members and grow its ranks.

People String is also working with companies who want to bypass the advertising giants and pay people directly for looking at their products/services. The more people participate, the more companies will see this as a viable alternative to reaching their target audience. PeopleString shares 70% of its revenue with its members. Just imagine getting paid for what you do online!

To get a preview of PeopleString, watch the following YouTube video:

It can potentially be quite lucrative for those willing to recruit new members. They will earn a commission for every person they recruit, get paid per item of advertising they look at, thus getting a percentage of revenues from everyone they recruit for life! For those not interested in recruiting others, the remaining income streams may be more to their liking and more are to be added over time. You can join for free and still earn lots of money by referring others to join. There are some members who are now enjoying a monthly income of few thousand dollars

When you have a business where everyone who joins makes money even if that is $1 and you get a percentage of that $1, this gives you very powerful residual income potential.  Imagine getting a percentage of the ad revenue that your every member brings to Facebook every month.  Imagine sharing in the billions of dollars of ad revenue that Facebook generates on a monthly basis.  Yes it would be very profitable but more importantly it has the power to help those who otherwise would not be able to make a lot of money have a chance to build a great business in the social network marketing world.

Well, wait no more because PeopleString gives you this opportunity.  Best off all the PeopleString social portal already integrates with Twitter and by the time you read this article it is very well likely that it will be integrated with Facebook.  What this means is that you can send messages from your PeopleString wall and your message will show up on your Facebook and Twitter wall.  But now you will be getting paid because PeopleString will be sharing all of their advertising revenue with you.

Lastly PeopleString has an innovative mailbox cashbox program which eliminates the middleman and allows advertisers to advertise directly to you.  You walk to your mailbox and you get paid. You also get a percentage of the your referrals mailbox cashbox offers as well.  PeopleString also has cashback shopping and gives you a free Blackgrape energy drink store as yet another way to make money with PeopleString. So if you are not a PeopleString member yet join today and own a piece of the web! Click here to join.

A couple of days ago, I received my first Clickbank affiliate commission cheque. Though this is a small $90.33 ( USD) cheque, I am happy as this shows that affiliate marketing does work. I have not put any effort into my affiliate marketing so this cheque may be the catalyst for me to take affiliate marketing a little more seriously.

About half a year ago, I received my first ever affiliate commission payment from a program that I wrote about in one of my blog post. That was a bigger cheque amounting to over $300.

Affiliate marketing looks easy but it isn’t that easy in practice. There are so many things to learn that one often becomes overwhelmed by the avalanche of information. We get bombarded by offers from all sorts of so-called internet marketing gurus that it is often difficult to distinguish the fake gurus from the real gurus.  All these gurus are trying to pitch their programs to you as the “must have” program to succeed in internet marketing. So you end up buying one program after another and in the process get yourself totally confused by what you should do next. I know because I have been through that.

I think the better way is to seek out a guru who is really successful and then stick to his program with laser-like focus. For me, one of the first guru that immediately pops into my mind is Ewen Chia of Singapore. He is regarded as one of the top affiliate marketer in the world…..indeed he is considered a super affiliate marketer! For the record, he makes a seven-figure income (and in US dollars) annually from internet marketing.

The last day of 2009 will end in a few hours. It is time to say goodbye to 2009 and say hello to 2010.

Goodbye 2009

As I look back at the past one year, I honestly think 2009 has been a  good year for me. I feel blessed in many areas of my life and I am filled with a great sense of gratitude to all those who have touched my life.

My wife and my two sons have been a source of immense joy for me. My wife has given me full support in what I set out to do and has always been the pillar of my life. My son Clarence has been a source of my inspiration for what he has been able to achieve in his professional career. And my younger son Leslie completed his Bachelor of Commerce in June this year and is now attached to a reputable audit firm. I am really awed by his prudence in money matters. To both of my sons, I just wish to say that I am proud of you two.

This year has seen a few milestones in my life:

1. I started this blog on March 17 of this year so this blog is now almost 10 months old. I am glad that I have persisted in keeping this blog active and updated regularly. In a couple of months, this blog will be 1 year old….I look forward to that day!

2. In April this year, I attended the Global Internet Summit in Penang. That was a real eye-opener for me and I am so glad that I took the initiative to attend it.

3. On October 22 this year, eBay granted me the Top-Rated Seller status. That is a real milestone in my eBay business and I am indebted to all my eBay customers who make it possible.

4. Several of my investments in online investment programs paid off handsomely this year. I am glad that I did my due diligence on these programs and invested in them. Why leave all your money in bank earning a meagre 2-3% per annum when you can get almost ten times that return PER MONTH investing in reliable online programs?

5. I read a couple of books this year that have changed my mentality about money and life, notably “The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari” by Robin Sharma, “The Secret” by Rhonda Byrne and “How To Be Wildly Wealthy Fast” by Sandy Forster. I am learning to have a prosperity conscious mind and it has been an interesting journey.

2010 is just a few hours away.  I look forward to the new year with great anticipation and I am confident 2010 will be an even better year for me. And I wish you all success in whatever you do in the coming year. May you be blessed!

Did you read the following news article about some leakage a few days ago? What a joke…..hahaha…..rofl!  No, it is not about oil leakage…..it is not about house leakage…..it is about ringgit leakage….leakage amounting to BILLIONS of dollars! All Malaysians particularly those from Sarawak are eagerly awaiting to find out where the other 60% “leaked” to……if only a very tiny portion of this leakage flows to my bank account, I would be an orang kaya di Miri…..hahaha!

Sunday November 29, 2009

Billions siphoned - Sarawak govt steps in

By STEPHEN THEN

MIRI: The Sarawak Cabinet has ordered an internal investigation into claims made by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) that up to 60% of government allocations — running into billions of ringgit — meant for vital infrastructure projects between 2002 and 2008 have been misappropriated.

MACC investigations showed that only 40% of the money set aside by the Government were spent on the projects. The remaining 60% were said to have been “leaked elsewhere.”

Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr George Chan Hong Nam said yesterday the state government’s internal audit department would carry out a detailed probe into the allegations.

“The state government is investigating. We also want the MACC to give us a full and detailed briefing on these claims. We (state government) view these claims very seriously and if such abuse of government funds had taken place, we must find out who was responsible and take appropriate action against them.

“This is government money that comes from taxpayers. If indeed funds from the Government meant for projects for the rakyat and the poor had been misappropriated, the state government wants action taken,” he said yesterday.

He was commenting on a statement by MACC deputy commissioner Datuk Zakaria Jaffar that the MACC had uncovered cases in Sarawak where up to 60% of government allocations had been “diverted’’ away from the projects.

Zakaria had said this in Kuching during an anti-corruption seminar a few days ago. He claimed that the misappropriation of funds took place between 2002 and last year, adding that MACC investigations showed that only 40% of the money allocated by the Government were spent on the projects.

He, however, did not disclose what the projects were or which part of Sarawak the projects were being carried out.

He noted that the projects involved infrastructure constructions for roads, housing schemes and mosques, among other things.

Zakaria said MACC investigations found that many of these projects were poorly-implemented while some had not even begun despite the fact that the Government had already channelled the money for them.

“The MACC found that there were fake claims made by officials and contractors involved in these projects,’’ Zakaria said.

Dr Chan, who is State Industrial Development Minister and State Minister for Agriculture Modernisation, said yesterday that the state government had always been very strict with how allocations from the Federal Government are used.

He said the Sarawak Cabinet had always been transparent with taxpayers’ money.

“I am happy that the MACC had exposed the issue. If they are doing their job properly, we are thankful because this is for the good of the rakyat,’’ he said.

State Housing Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Openg wants the MACC to give him more details about the housing projects said to be affected by the misappropriation of government funds.