A couple of lucrative businesses

People go into business with optimism, especially those naive ones who are first-timers, who are likely to count their chickens before they are hatched. Those with sufficient start-up capital, ie. those who happen to have a daddy (or mummy) who would provide for it, or sugar daddy (or mummy) who is happy so long as his girl friend (or her lover boy) is happy, are likely to be more concerned about form rather than substance (in Malay, 'ada gaya, tiada mutu'). A pleasant office or shop with a nice catchy name, and a grand opening ceremony to announce their presence in the locality is common.

But business depends on... business of course! What good is a nice looking set-up with high monthly overheads eating into capital? It is only a matter of time when the reality sets in and the business has to close. So sales is the most important factor in any business.

Over the years, we have seen some businesses which are meant to be successful. I am leaving out those depending on political connections, commonly known as cronyism. They are opportunistic and the successful ones are those who grabbed opportunities and not meant for those faint-hearted and genteel, who are politely waiting to be given.

If you are a sin seh or Chinese medicine practitioner, your simple business set-up and low overheads would give you a head start when new, and increasingly profitable as you become popular. Just imagine, working from home and the cost of medicine is virtually negligible (herbs can be found for free if you know which type and where they can be found). Of course, you need to be knowledgeable in your field and you need people to believe in your ability to cure them. But compare this with having to be top student and to study for years to get an MBBS and another few years to get that specialist qualification, your medical practice may not be as profitable as the simple sin seh! Of course, you have that extra bit of respect from your status as Dr. so and so, but other people judge you by the house you live in and the car you drive! By the way, many people do not realize that a surgeon is known as Mr. and not a Dr. So you started as Mr. Who, and qualified as a doctor to become Dr. Who, and with your cutting skills, you get back to a simple Mr. Who!

The next lucrative business is that of a licensed money-lender by name, but a loan shark by game. In Malaysia, money-lenders are not under Finance Ministry but that of Local Government. In law, they are supposed to lend at reasonable rates, say maximum 18% per annum. But in practice, they are able to charge more than 10% per month! Yet, there is no shortage of customers who do not mind being charged exorbitantly for a short period. Then there are those who think in terms of paying interest only, so Rm100 interest per month for a Rm1000 loan seems affordable to them. How the money-lenders manage to keep secret from the Ministry the exorbitant rates they charge is a wonder. How they manage to escape paying due taxes for those extra profits is a greater wonder. Bear in mind, to the taxman, even a prostitute's earnings, though illegal, is subject to tax.
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My father worked for the Japanese during WWII

would he be classified as a running dog or a traitor? He had no choice. Being a mechanic in his thirties (he was boss of his own business at age 20), the Japanese came and he had to do as told, and became their mechanic! I was told he was given an arm-band to show others that he is part of the Japanese administration. He had a phobia whenever he was driving a big tow-truck which had a support for the hoist which he thought could be mistaken as an anti-aircraft gun from above!

He had chances to make money because of the connection, able to use stuff raided from people but being conscientious or coward or whatever, he did not. One day, he was surprised his nephew could afford branded cigarettes and soon found out that he stole and sold some petrol from his vehicle! There was once when he was given some old bullets for disposal and he did not know what got into him when he threw them into a fire and there were sounds of explosion which caused the Japanese soldiers to scurry about, some came out naked from the bathrooms. In the commotion, one soldier used something to knock on his head which caused a huge lump. This lump on my father's head was a constant reminder of the Japanese occupation and he hated them for that. He even boycotted Japanese goods for many years but who could avoid buying them with the influx of them with brands like National, Sanyo, Datsun and Toyota? He even bought a new Honda Civic with registration 1909, the year of his birth. Who would have thought that half a century after Japanese occupation, his granddaughter (my daughter) would become an exchange student for one year in Tokyo (under Rotary Club sponsorship) and spoke Japanese with her host parents?

Just after the war, his father-in-law acted as broker suggested that he buy a piece of land for 8,000. During the uncertain period, he paid half in British currency and half in Japanese currency which was still legal tender then. Who would have thought the latter currency would become worthless? Soon after, my grandfather the broker, offered another piece to him, to which he replied, 'I cannot even look after one piece of land, how could I manage two?' This is the difference between an entrepreneur (proven when he was boss of his own business at 20) who is not ambitious and one who is. It was not a question of affordability then, but the idea of being responsible for two plots of land and I think I take after him for this preference for peace of mind. The land of this missed opportunity happened to be the one along Jalan Ipoh, now owned by the Low Yat Group! What we can see now is a 711 shop, new car dealers, banks, Old Town Kopitiam, and so on, in front of their River City condominiums. Not that we would be able to develop it had we own it.

We could not even develop our own piece of land. My second brother, who was a developer, took a lot of trouble trying to develop it. It was converted and sub-divided which was proven to be a disadvantage later because we had to surrender more than half of it for roads, drains and sewerage. It was disadvantageous in terms of tax as well as being unattractive to prospective buyers who would rather have an unconverted whole piece of land. My brother's partners had included a past President of Malaysian Institute of Surveyors, a retired Director of Lands and Mines KL and even a retired KL City Planner! So there was no lack of expertise. But what man proposes God disposes. He lived to the age of 60 only (died in 1997).
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Effects of migration

In the USA...

Minorities are the majority in 22 of the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan regions. The Washington area is one of eight newcomers (in bold below) to the list since 2000.


Source:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/minorities-are-the-new-majority/2011/08/30/gIQAWwHeqJ_graphic.html

In Malaysia, even Iranians are finding it attractive...

"The Iranian influx is small but growing fast. At present, there are about 60,000 Iranians, studying, working or waiting for visas in this relatively easygoing, multiethnic Muslim-majority country. Iranians hold shares in an estimated 2,000 Malaysian businesses and occupy about 15,000 spots in Malaysian universities. Tourist arrivals from Iran jumped 14.3% to 116,000 last year. And, observe new arrivals, words of Persian origin, such as dewan for hall and anggur for grapes, have long been part of the Malay language. Most Iranians in Malaysia bask in the comforts of a life free from ideological pressures and from, in one exile's words, "bribing the police every time you want to have a party." Malaysia has become the base for frequent "Persian disco nights" and glitzy concerts by famed singers — in one performance earlier this year, during the Iranian New Year in March, there were singers calling for the overthrow of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; it was not part of the program."

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2090301,00.html#ixzz1XJrrYsUy

This is a drop, compared to this...

2.3 million foreign workers registered in Malaysia
http://ph.news.yahoo.com/2-3-million-foreign-workers-registered-malaysia-103004221.html

Meanwhile...in UK...

The Archbishop of Canterbury and The Royal Commission for Political Correctness announced today that the climate in the UK should no longer be referred to as 'English Weather'.

Rather than offend a sizeable portion of the UK population, it will now be referred to as:
'Muslim Weather' (Partly Sunni, but mostly Shi'ite)

Get the drift?

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A hornbill has landed... in our compound again

A few years ago, a big hornbill landed on our fencing wall, with a chameleon in its huge beak. Just a few days ago, there was a strange bird cry which I thought was a kingfisher, but it turned out to be a hornbill! There was a time when I discovered my fishes diminishing in number without any carcasses to show, until I saw a kingfisher with a gold fish in its beak! Looking out of our kitchen window, we are likely to see a honey-sucker bird foraging and flying over our plant which has orange flowers which seem to attract them. Our compound itself seems like a bird sanctuary though there is actually an official one near Kg. Pisang (also quite near the new KTMB railway station), where even tourists would go to. But our last visit was a disappointment as we could see only a few herons from a distance.

Thanks to Bayi, the video clip in this link was fantastic in showing how some osprey catches fish. I like the one which catches a stingray, and especially the last one which struggles to fly while holding on to a big fish!
http://www.arkive.org/osprey/pandion-haliaetus/video-00.html
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Paula Khoo speaks our mind

"And why are Chinese Malaysians braver now? It is because they are fed up. Angry. Frustrated. Even after contributing to the vibrancy of the Malaysian economy by opening up all kinds of enterprises, even after trying to be positive contributors to the development of this country, even after trying their best to integrate and to assimilate to the best of their abilities, they still have to fight for rights before the government gets to be more hard core in marginalizing and sidelining us. All this is done while they have the cheek to grandly deny that they are NOT sidelining us and worse still, we cannot voice our concerns or question this."

Rest of her article: The Winter of Chinese Discontent
http://masterwordsmith-unplugged.blogspot.com/2011/09/winter-of-chinese-discontent.html

It is useful to have someone who is passionate about what she believes in and able to articulate her views succinctly. I am not sure if others have noticed, but there are now an increasing number of senior citizens (not referring to her yet) who are openly criticizing the spins by our ministers who presume us to be fools with their double-speak and hypocrisy. It helps tremendously if they are well known personalities with popular websites.

Yet, recently I had a heated argument with a retired teacher who could well be a model fan of BN: someone who fervently prefers the status quo, never mind the corruption because we are enjoying the convenience of the North-South Expressway; cannot stand Lim Kit Siang because since she became aware of national politics she had only come across criticisms from him; do not even want to listen to Lim Guan Eng's speech, and when told about his incarceration, 'he went in to gain sympathy'! How many of us are willing to go into prison for that reason or even for political reasons? The fact that she would not listen to someone's speech showed her prejudice, similar to people who criticize without first hand knowledge. I suggest that she write to the press (likely to be published for her slant of views), comment in popular online news portals so that she could judge for herself whether her views are acceptable to the readers (problem is, she would not read online news, just newspapers and watch television news); and so on. But she insisted that she is happy just arguing with anyone who wishes to argue with her! At a dinner table for 12 persons, she was the odd one in her opinions. I rest my case.

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