Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Realizing your dream - Part 2


Cost

In order to buy your dream house, you have got to get a loan (unless of course if you have the MONEY). There are many home loans out there for you to choose, some at a higher rate but with better facilities (meaning you have the flexibility to pay more and withdraw at any point of time), some lower rates & some at fixed rates.


But all ends up with only two types of home loans:


a) the normal type based against the BLR (based lending rate) &


b) the other the fixed rate.


The normal type varies depending on the BLR, but on daily rest while the fixed rate ones are like car loan, fixed annual rate for the whole tenure. There are many online loan calculators around you can find, one example is http://mortgages.interest.com/content/calculators/monthly-payment.asp


One good thing about home loans is that you can pump in additional money if you have cash in hand to reduce your loan amount at any point of time, and this will greatly reduce the interest borne by you. A typical home loan is around 25 years, very much depending on how much you can afford to pay monthly.

Now, if your loan is RM300,000, how much do you think you’ll end up paying for your house in 25 years time, assuming there are no early payments and refinancing? Let me give you a rough calculation:

Loan amount : RM300,000
Loan tenure: 25 years
Fixed interest: 5.99% (Best available at the moment)

RM300,000 x (5.99% x 25 years) =
RM300,000 x 149.75% = RM449,250 of interest paid

This is only the figure of interest paid, mind you! As for the total amount you need to add another RM300,000 to make it:
RM449,250 + RM300,000 = RM749,250!!

A RM300,000 house you end up paying for nearly RM750,000???? Now that’s the beauty of home loans… How I wish money grew from the tree..





to be continued...









Tuesday, August 21, 2007

It’s so hard to say good bye






Contributed by CP Toh Harnniann






I was here since the very beginning: before it has a name, before it has a body, before it has a soul. It was not a club then: it was just a group of strangers.

Without rational explanation, this group of strangers decided to create and strengthen the bonds between them. So a trip to Genting was planned. It was during that trip I was unexpectedly elected as the charter president.

This group of strangers didn’t stop there. When they returned from Genting, they gathered every 2 weeks, arranged board meetings and pushed their way to get a charter certificate from Rotary International. That day was 17th May 2005, the day The Rotaract Club of Port Klang Centennial was chartered. Finally, this group of friends (no longer strangers now) was given an identity.

When we were given one of the first few tasks: raising fund for a boy who had problem walking, we got into panic. We had no idea what and how to do. Once we had the money, what should we do about it? Somehow we managed to pull it through and some valuable lessons were learned along the way.

Between work place and home, it gave me a third option to spend time fruitfully and constructively. At least once in a week, my schedule was filled with one rotaract related activity: be it club meetings, board meetings, fellowships, installations, committee meetings etc you name it.

Rotaract becomes part of my life. If Rotaract is filtered out of my life, I do not dare to imagine what will happen. I guess I will be lost or wandering around the streets aimlessly while seeking for something to kill time. Worst still, if Rotaract is thoroughly filtered, I would not have this opportunity and honour to know great friends in the club, in this district or another.

But the Chinese says 天下无不散之筵席. There is always time to say good bye. And my time with Rotaract Club of Port Klang Centennial has finally reached an interval.

I had no choice. If I could bring the whole club to China, I would. But the buckets always go to the well, not the other way round.

My dear Rotaract Club of Port Klang Centennial,

Please forgive my selfishness. I decided to abandon you to chase my dreams in China. I am not sure whether I will find what I seek. I am not sure whether I will come back in the foreseeable future. At this stage, the future is full of excitements and uncertainties.

I know you will give me your blessings. I also know you will grow stronger and larger, become more vibrant and energetic with or without me.

Right now, I have a song for you. A song that best describes my feelings right now:-

It’s so hard to say goodbye to Yesterday – Boyz II Men

How do I say goodbye to what we had?
The good times that made us laugh
Outweigh the bad.

I thought we'd get to see forever
But forever's gone away
It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.

I don't know where this road
Is going to lead
All I know is where we've been
And what we've been through.

If we get to see tomorrow
I hope it's worth all the wait
It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.

And I'll take with me the memories
To be my sunshine after the rain
It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.

And I'll take with me the memories
To be my sunshine after the rain
It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.

God bless!

Monday, August 20, 2007

THE FORMULA FOR SUCCESS

(Extracted from the book The Five Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle by JimRohn)


by President Hui Hui



Now here is the great news. Just like the formula for failure, the formula for success is easy to follow: Its a few simple disciplines practiced every day.Now here is an interesting question worth pondering:

How can we change the errors in the formula for failure into the disciplines required in the formula for success?

The answer is by making the future an important part of our current philosophy.Both success and failure involve future consequences, namely the inevitable rewards or unavoidable regrets resulting from past activities. If this is true, why don't more people take time to ponder the future?

The answer is simple: They are so caught up in the current moment that it doesn't seem to matter. The problems and the rewards of today are so absorbing to some human beings that they never pause long enough to think about tomorrow.But what if we did develop a new discipline to take just a few minutes every day to look a little further down the road? We would then be able to foresee the impending consequences of our current conduct. Armed with that valuable information, we would be able to take the necessary action to change our errors into new success-oriented disciplines. In other words, by disciplining ourselves to see the future in advance, we would be able to change our thinking, amend our errors and develop new habits to replace the old.One of the exciting things about the formula for success - a few simpledisciplines practiced every day - is that the results are almost immediate.
As we voluntarily change daily errors into daily disciplines, experience positive results in a very short period of time. When we change our diet, our health improves noticeably in just a few weeks.

When we start exercising, we feel a new vitality almost immediately. When we begin reading, we experience a growing awareness and a new level of self-confidence. Whatever new discipline we begin to practice daily will produce exciting results that will drive us to become even better at developing new disciplines.The real magic of new disciplines is that they will cause us to amend our thinking. If we were to start today to read the books, keep a journal, attend the classes, listen more and observe more, then today would be the first day of a new life leading to a better future.

If we were to start today to try harder, and in every way make a conscious and consistent effort to change subtle and deadly errors into constructive and rewarding disciplines, we would never again settle for a life of existence – not once we have tasted the fruits of a life of substance!

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Thursday, August 02, 2007

Forked path in life

Contributed by Rtr. Vivien Kuah

Some time in life, there will always be a query of the path you have taken. I know some of you have also gone through this and made your decisions.




Lately I have been triggered to think if I should stick to the comfort and familiarity; in addition to the satisfaction and enjoyment, of my current job and life, or listen to the advice of my parents and join them in a more rewarding (money wise - to what I think so far) yet unfamiliar business. I have been querying and fearing stepping out of my circle of comfort. Too many worries plague my thoughts.

Recently, I have been suffering from some serious financial fallback and being offered a chance to earn much more than my current income does pull a trigger. I have been in my industry for almost 2 years now, and despite my complaints and long hours at work, the job satisfaction and people I work side-by-side with everyday far outweigh my dislike of work.

These are the worries that have crossed my mind while considering whether to change fields at the moment:

Fears:

1. Loss of freedom - I fear that working so closely with my parents will mean too much control by them over my social life. Silly as it may sound, this is one of my greatest fear, of being too protected.

2. The fear of 'change' - I know that change is the only thing that doesn't change in one's life (do read 'Who moved my cheese'), but I have never thought of myself as a salesperson, and insurance is certainly not the easiest thing to sell.

3. Expectations - Everyone who's been trying to encourage me to move has mentioned how lucrative the pay will be, and that the harder you work, the more rewards you'll get. But what if I do not live up to the expectations and am a lousy salesperson?

4. Loss of close interaction with workmates - being in the creative business, I've been so used to contact with 'creative' people, i.e. mad and informal. And I needed to work closely with my colleagues, therefore creating a close bond between us. We're really like a family in the office. Will I get a culture-shock working for people who have to be decent and proper all the time? Doing sales means that you have to work independently most of the time unless with your superior, in my case most likely to be daddy dearest. Not to mention that I myself will have to look prim and proper too and cannot wear anything I want to work any longer.

5. What if I really dislike the new job and want to get back to my current job again? I'll be way left behind and might have to start afresh.

However, there is still the benefits of changing jobs to consider:

1. Working with mummy and daddy means easier connections.

2. Money is better and faster than working up the corporate ladder step-by-step. So I'll get to do the shopping that I like and not worry about not having the money to pay for them.

3. I still don't have to go to work at 8a.m. (I hope)

I've mentioned to my parents to give me a few more years to enjoy my life as I really think that I might join them one day and not enjoy it then. But will it be even more difficult to fallback when I've gone that much further? And will I only be wasting my time now since I'm thinking of moving away from the industry anyway? But I've been thinking that if my pay increases (I know colleagues who earn quite a lot) and I don't need to worry about the money anymore, will I still want to move? Not likely.

So should I just try it out now and if it really doesn't work out for me, come back to advertising business again. Also, being in the lower level of the ladder means easier entry back.

I think I shall give myself another few months and see how things go in my current job before making my decision. Though some advice from those of you who are more experienced will be helpful.

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Wednesday, August 01, 2007

RAC Port Klang Centennial 3rd Installation Dinner



Dear all,

RAC Port Klang Centennial would like to invite all to join us in our 3rd Installation Dinner.

Details are as below:

Date: 11th August 2007
Venue: Windmill Steakhouse, Bandar Baru Klang (near Jaya Jusco Klang)
Time: 7:00 pm
Price: RM50
Theme & dresscode: Formal

Each guest will be given a goodie bag loaded with lots of stuff, and entitled for 25% chance of winning a lucky draw! Grand prize is 3 sunglasses courtesy of Eye World Klang !! Come and join the fun and hope to see you there!

Please contact Organizing Chairperson Lloyd Cheam @ 0123298776 or President Hui Hui @ 0122770723 for more information or tickets purchase.

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