Top 50 Clubs In the World

1

Name: Fabric
Location: London
Capacity: 1600
Website: www.fabriclondon.com

2

Name: The End
Location: London
Capacity: 1000
Website: www.endclub.com

3

Name: Turnmills
Location: London
Capacity: 1100
Website: www.turnmills.co.uk

4

Name: Pacha
Location: Ibiza
Capacity: 3000
Website: www.pacha.com

5

Name: Space
Location: Ibiza
Capacity: 5000
Website: www.space-ibiza.es

6

Name: Amnesia
Location: Ibiza
Capacity: 5000
Website: www.amnesia.es

7

Name: Womb
Location: Tokyo
Capacity: 1500
Website: www.womb.co.jp

8

Name: DC10
Location: Ibiza
Capacity: 1500
Website: www.circolocoibiza.com

9

Name: The Cross
Location: London
Capacity: 550
Website: www.the-cross.co.uk

10

Name: The Arches
Location: Glasgow
Capacity: 2000
Website: www.thearches.co.uk

11

Name: Zouk
Location: Singapore
Capacity: 3700
Website: www.zoukclub.com
Continue reading “Top 50 Clubs In the World” →

Ya Seh Meh

By Rose Tse and Angela Collingwood
(info@shen-nong.com)

Southern China is in a sub-tropical zone whose high temperatures and humidity cause bacterial and fungal growth. According to traditional Chinese medicine, hot and wet weather makes it easy for exogenous heat and dampness evils to attack the body. They consume chi (vital energy), impair body fluids and cause a series of health problems.

Those suffering from damp-heat evils can experience fever, irritability, thirst, heaviness of the limbs, chest tightness, nausea and diarrhoea. When these evils attack different parts of the body, they cause specific syndromes.

Herbal beverages are seen as an ideal way to prevent heat and dampness conditions as they clear the heat and dampness, replenish chi and supply fluids.

They’re referred to as cooling teas, have a bitter flavour and are dark brown.

In ancient times, these drinks were effective and affordable remedies for people to treat and prevent disease. They were also combined with local ingredients and brewed to individual tastes.

Initially, people would buy the herbal ingredients and prepare the remedies at home, until herbal shops began to provide ready-made forms for convenience. In Hong Kong, these herbal beverages are often sold by the bowl at herbal tea shop counters.

There are no standard prescriptions, and many herbal shops keep their recipes secret. Ingredients in the teas may alter depending on the time of year.

Today, these traditional teas are still popular folk remedies. They’re not only able to protect against climatic influences, but also can relieve aliments caused by the stressful urban lifestyle.

Some common teas found in Hong Kong include:

Five Flowers, which is said to clear heat and expel dampness and is anti-inflammatory, helping to alleviate symptoms such as fatigue, sore throat, indigestion, poor appetite, insomnia and urinary problems.

Canton love-pes vine, which is said to relieve fatigue, irritability, chest fullness and indigestion. It is also consumed to prevent hepatitis and urinary stones.

Chrysanthemum is suitable for those people who always feel thirsty and have a bitter taste in the mouth, or those with blurred vision, sore throat, hoarseness, dark yellow urine or a headache due to wind evils attacking the head region.

Sugar cane and lalang grass rhizoma, which is said to help replenish body fluids and clear dryness and heat symptoms such as thirst, mouth sores, a dry throat, bad breath, crusty lips and nasal bleeding.

Flu tea is a very bitter tea recommended when you have the early symptoms of cold or influenza such as fatigue, a sense of general weakness and a slightly runny nose.

Twenty-four flavours is also a bitter tea used to treat excessive fire in the body and is helpful to many other ailments too. It’s said to help alleviate sore throat, fever, the common cold and flu, and skin problems.

The drinks provided by herbal shops may target more specific conditions, as each shop has its own unique formulation.

Before taking any medicine, consult your TCM or medical practitioner.

Philip Fisher: Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits

Philip Fisher

Philip Fisher’s Investment Philosophies

– Invest for the long term.

– Diversify your portfolio through proper asset allocation.

– Blend passive with active management.

– Know your costs and keep them low.

Philip Fisher’s Investment Principles

1. Buy companies that have disciplined plans for achieving dramatic long-range profit growth and have inherent qualities making it difficult for newcomers to share in that growth.

2. Buy companies when they are out of favour.

3. Hold a stock until either:

(a) there has been a fundamental change in its nature (e.g., big management changes); or

(b) it has grown to a point where it no longer will be growing faster than the economy as a whole.

4. Deemphasize the importance of dividends.

5. Recognise that making some mistakes is an inherent cost of investment. Taking small profits in good investments and letting losses grow in bad ones is a sign of abominable investment judgment.

6. Accept the fact that only a relatively small number of companies are truly outstanding. Therefore, concentrate your funds in the most desirable opportunities. Any holding of over twenty different stocks is a sign of financial incompetence.

7. Never accept blindly whatever may be the dominant current opinion in the financial community. Nor should you reject the prevailing view just for the sake of being contrary.

8. Understand that success greatly depends on a combination of hard work, intelligence and honesty.
Continue reading “Philip Fisher: Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits” →

How to Iron a Shirt

Mary Ellen Pinkham explains how to neatly press a shirt.

One thing to remember before beginning to iron is to always start with the smallest sections of the garment first, then move on to the larger sections. The reason for this is that collars, cuffs and pockets will wrinkle less as the rest of the garment is ironed.

Unbutton the collar and start ironing the reverse side of the collar first, followed by the sleeves, back and finally the front of the shirt.

When ironing several shirts, dampen them first by spritzing with distilled water. Do not use tap water because this may cause water stains. Fold the sleeves in and tightly roll the shirts up and set aside for about 15 minutes.

Pull the shirt over the pointed end of the ironing board to iron the yoke, or the upper part of the sleeve. Iron in a back-and-forth motion only, never in a circular pattern, which can damage the fabric.

Ironing the seams may be difficult, but they are the most important areas to iron for appearance reasons. Iron one side of the sleeve, then turn and iron the opposite side. The sleeves will then have creases. One way to iron out a few pesky creases is to stuff the sleeves with a rolled-up towel after ironing them and gently pressing out the creases.

Next iron the back of the shirt, and finally the front. Be sure not to run the iron over the buttons. Carefully iron between the buttons.

Use a bit of spray starch for any natural fabrics, or use sizing for polyester and other synthetic fabrics.

Turn on the radio for a little background music while ironing.

When ironing the collar and cuffs, begin at the outer edges and move inward.

Pride of the US fleet sails in for some fun

SCMP
DONALD ASPREY

Crew members aboard the USS Ronald Reagan set their sights on Hong Kong yesterday as the US Navy’s newest Nimitz-class aircraft carrier made its maiden stopover.

The 334-metre warship, commissioned in July 2003, has more than 60 aircraft and a raft of design changes, including a bulbous bow, digital communications and a redesigned “island” – the command centre for flight-deck operations.

Displacing 98,500 tonnes and with 1.82 hectares of flight deck, the ship’s four 30-tonne bronze propellers can drive the vessel at more than 30 knots, powered by two nuclear reactors that can run for more than 20 years between pit stops.

Rear Admiral Michael Miller, commander of the fleet that includes the aircraft carrier, said the city would give his crew some much-needed entertainment.

“We have brought about 6,000 sailors into your city and they are ready to spend,” he said. “For many of them it will be their first experience of Hong Kong. This is one of our favourite berths and we are all very excited to be here.”

Admiral Miller said that as well as filling the bars in Wan Chai, many sailors were keen to get involved with the local community.

“Some of us will also be participating in community relations projects, which involve anything from painting an orphanage to interacting with patients in hospitals,” he said. “It is a global community and we want to help where we can.”

Photographer’s Mate 3rd Class Dominique Lasco painted a picture of life on board. “It gets very routine,” she said. “You are working 12 hours on, 12 hours off, usually seven to seven, and then you grab a bite to eat and go to bed. There are no bars or leisure facilities. In fact, there’s no alcohol. That sucks.”

The sailor, who enlisted 2 1/2<121> years ago to help pay her tuition fees, said she was glad to be in the most balanced crew in the navy, but said life on board could still be tough for women.

“There are about 500 to 600 women on this cruise [about 12 per cent], the most for any ship in the US Navy. But it can be hard.”

One of the highlights for her has been the travel. Since the carrier was deployed in January it has roamed more than 24,000km along the east and west coasts of Latin America, through the Straits of Magellan and across the Pacific to berth at Malaysia and Singapore.

“Singapore was very disappointing,” she said. “It was boring.”

I RECENTLY had the opportunity to once again visit the Lion City and confer with the Prime Minister, the Minister for Defence and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.

My visit was part of the fifth annual Shangri-La Defence Conference, which also afforded the opportunity to meet many other defence ministers from around Asia.

As always, I was struck by the energy, zest and prosperity of your clean and beautiful city.

Having visited many times over the years, I remain an enormous fan of Singapore, a vital ally and friend of the United States of America.

Thank you so much for your warm hospitality and all that you contribute to this vibrant Pacific region and to the world community.

I look forward to my next visit.

Donald H. Rumsfeld
United States
Secretary of Defence

Singapore Chief Justice's Address

There are also opportunities in the offshore sector for young lawyers. This sector provides young Singapore lawyers who have an international outlook with the opportunity to practise law in a global environment, as law associates and later as partners in global law firms based in Singapore and other financial centres of the world. Those who become known for high quality work, excellent work ethic and bi-lingual capabilities have increased their attractiveness to the global law firms in the China market. You might have read a recent article in the Straits Times published on 15 May 2006 about a team of Singapore lawyers leaving a Singapore-based American law firm to join another Singapore-based American law firm, to pursue their interest in international trade practice. This is an example of the ability and resolve of Singapore lawyers to stake their claims in the new legal environment.

More…

Less polluted air could save HK $4b a year

HONG KONG – BETTER air quality in Hong Kong could save as many as 1,600 lives and HK$21 billion (S$4.3 billion) a year, according to a new study.

In addition, 64,000 hospital ‘bed days’ and 6.8 million family doctor visits could be saved, said the report released yesterday.

Air pollution in Hong Kong has deteriorated markedly in the past decade; some say it is starting to affect the city’s economic lustre by making it harder to attract overseas talent to work here.

The report said Hong Kong had poor visibility 45 per cent of the time and was worse than Los Angeles, London, New York and Paris in terms of ‘respirable particulate air pollution’ levels.

‘If it was an infectious disease, there would be a crisis,’ Mr Anthony Hedley from the University of Hong Kong’s School of Public Health told a news conference.

‘This is a medical emergency.’

Besides his department, the Department of Community and Family Medicine at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Institute for the Environment at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the Civic Exchange think-tank took part in the study.

The researchers estimated that HK$1.5 billion could be saved per year in tangible health care costs, HK$500 million in productivity lost due to pollution-related illness and HK$19 billion in intangible costs, including the value of lost lives and willingness to pay to avoid illness. — REUTERS, ASSOCIATED PRESS

Wong Kar-Wai

SCMP
Sunday, May 22, 2005

Private eyes
By Vivienne Chow and David Watkins

Wong Kar Wai

Director Wong Kar-wai. Photo: K.Y. Cheng.

THE MASTER OF light and shade he may be – but he’s the master of shades, too. Wong Kar-wai never steps into the public arena without his prescription sunglasses, refusing to take them off even when indoors. With his eyes hidden from view, it’s sometimes impossible to tell where he’s looking, what he’s thinking or whether he’s finished answering a question after one of his customary pauses.

Many rumours have circulated about why Wong hides his eyes. Some say he suffers from a rare disorder and is ultra-sensitive to light – although the sensual, luminous colours of his films would suggest otherwise. Others says it’s vanity – an attempt to look like the chain-smoking characters who populate his movies. Or maybe he simply dislikes being interviewed.

The truth is more down to earth, derived out of a basic need for privacy: they’re his disguise. “I have no problem with the press – I give interviews all the time. Sunglasses are like a uniform for me,” says Wong, smoking his umpteenth cigarette. “I don’t have a name card, so I have glasses. Without these sunglasses, people don’t recognise me. That way I can have more privacy with my family when I don’t wear them. Some people do things in opposite ways.”

Although his films are filled with tragic types suffocated by romantic longing, Wong in person is cheerful, to the point of being playful. And although he imposes a dimmed view of the world on his eyes when facing reporters – as he does on the day he’s at Taikoo’s UA Cinema, promoting his part in Eros, a directorial menage a trois with Steven Soderberg and Michelangelo Antonioni about erotic love – it’s what his eyes see through the camera that the world is clamouring for. Continue reading “Wong Kar-Wai” →

The Four Noble Truths

Shortly after his Awakening, the Buddha delivered his first sermon, in which he laid out the essential framework upon which all his later teachings were based. This framework consists of the Four Noble Truths, four fundamental principles of nature (Dhamma) that emerged from the Buddha’s radically honest and penetrating assessment of the human condition. He taught these truths not as metaphysical theories or as articles of faith, but as categories by which we should frame our direct experience in a way that conduces to Awakening:

(1) Dukkha: suffering, unsatisfactoriness, discontent, stress;

(2) The cause of dukkha: the cause of this dissatisfaction is craving (tanha) for sensuality, for states of becoming, and states of no becoming;

(3) The cessation of dukkha: the relinquishment of that craving;

(4) The path of practice leading to the cessation of dukkha: the Noble Eightfold Path of right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.

Because of our ignorance (avijja) of these Noble Truths, because of our inexperience in framing the world in their terms, we remain bound to samsara, the wearisome cycle of birth, aging, illness, death, and rebirth. Craving propels this process onward, from one moment to the next and over the course of countless lifetimes, in accordance with kamma (Skt. karma), the universal law of cause and effect. According to this immutable law, every action that one performs in the present moment — whether by body, speech, or mind itself — eventually bears fruit according to its skillfulness: act in unskillful and harmful ways and unhappiness is bound to follow; act skillfully and happiness will ultimately ensue. As long as one remains ignorant of this principle, one is doomed to an aimless existence: happy one moment, in despair the next; enjoying one lifetime in heaven, the next in hell.

The Buddha discovered that gaining release from samsara requires assigning to each of the Noble Truths a specific task: the first Noble Truth is to be comprehended; the second, abandoned; the third, realized; the fourth, developed. The full realization of the third Noble Truth paves the way for Awakening: the end of ignorance, craving, suffering, and kamma itself; the direct penetration to the transcendent freedom and supreme happiness that stands as the final goal of all the Buddha’s teachings; the Unconditioned, the Deathless, Unbinding — Nibbana (Skt. Nirvana).

More…

Green Rage

While there were reports recently about road rage across the Causeway, I also want to alert Singaporean golfers about ‘green’ rage on the golf course. Last week, my wife and I went to a golf resort in Johor hoping to have a nice golf getaway. What happened on the green made us think twice about risking it again. At one of the holes, I had the unusual luck of driving the ball beyond my normal range and it landed about 20m from the flight in front. This flight consisted of four men in their forties. I realised it and we shouted and waved our hands at them as an apology. One of the men reciprocated by hitting my ball into the rough and armed with their clubs, they then charged at us in their buggies. They got off the buggies and a slew of vulgarities followed. With their clubs they threatened to beat us up. Naturally, my wife was terrified as this was a quiet weekday afternoon and we were in the middle of a forest where there were just the two of us besides the men. We could not reason with them. To avoid violence, we took off in our buggy but they were hot on our heels spewing more vulgarities until we reached the clubhouse. We hope fellow Singaporeans take extra precautions should they go golfing across the Causeway as there are hooligan golfers there.

Oh Lian Chye

Singapore signs contract for 12 F-15SG fighters

By Robert Karniol JDW Asia-Pacific Editor
Bangkok

 
Singapore will acquire 12 Boeing F-15SG fighters for delivery in 2008/09 under a contract concluded on 12 December, with the option to order a further eight platforms.

“The F-15SG, which has a configuration unique to Singapore, will be the most advanced variant of the F-15 and will operate as the Republic of Singapore Air Force’s (RSAF’s) next-generation multirole fighter jet,” Singapore’s Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) said while announcing the contract.

Analysts are confident that Singapore will eventually take up its option to acquire the additional eight F-15SGs, making a total acquisition of 20.

However, it is unclear whether this will be followed by any additional procurements of this aircraft.

The RSAF is thought to require another 20 advanced fighters when it replaces the F-5S Tiger II air-defence/attack aircraft around 2015.

More F-15SGs are one option but the RSAF could instead opt for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) in combination with unmanned aerial vehicles.

http://www.janes.com/defence/air_forces/news/jdw/jdw051213_1_n.shtml

Knowledge

“If a man empties his purse into his head, no one can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.”

– Benjamin Franklin

Economics

‘Something which cannot go on forever, won’t.’

– the late United States economist Herbert Stein, top economic adviser to both the Nixon and Ford administrations.

Banyan Tree

 

“When my wife Claire and I backpacked in Asia or Europe during our younger, budget-conscious days, it was the romance and intimacy we remembered and associated with our accommodations, no matter how humble. Surely, other people would also cherish such memories, even if they had more money? That was my starting hypothesis. So, with intuition and a hankering to recapture the magic of romantic and intimate holidays in a culturally evocative and exotic setting, Banyan Tree was born.

The name Banyan Tree comes from the fishing village on Lamma Island in Hong Kong where Claire and I lived for three idyllic years before I joined the family business. Yung Shue Wan, or Banyan Tree Bay, despite its modest, rustic village setting, symbolized for us a sanctuary of romance and intimacy. Yung Shue Wan is hardly luxurious, but it proved that when two people have a wonderful experience, the place they had it in acquires a magical quality. Our hotels aspire to be the Yung Shue Wans, or sanctuaries, for our guests whatever their age or origins.

As a development economist-cum-journalist backpacking in the region, I was distressed by irresponsible tourism—destruction of the physical environment; exploitation and degradation of the cultural environment. My subsequent experience in rehabilitating the 600 acres of land that Laguna Phuket stands on today, from an abandoned tin mine into an award-winning environmental showcase offering five resorts, showed me what responsible tourism could do. These experiences—one negative, one positive—taught me that as tourism practitioners we have the immense responsibility and yet also the power to do something positive about our physical and human environment.

Through activities like the Green Imperative Fund and a group-wide committee to coordinate corporate social responsibility initiatives, we have been able to uphold that commitment. Larger-scale projects, such as marine conservation initiatives in the Maldives and the little things (refillable containers for non-toxic, biodegradable toiletries) ensure the continued preservation of our ecological environment.
Continue reading “Banyan Tree” →

The Wit and Wisdom of Peter Lynch

Peter Lynch

January-4-2006
By Kaushal B. Majmudar, CFA

We were fortunate to have an opportunity to hear Peter Lynch speak at an investment conference in New York about a year ago. Peter is, of course, the famed ex-manager of the Fidelity Magellan Fund. Under his stewardship, the Magellan Fund, which he ran from 1977 to 1990 grew from a small $20 million fund to $14 billion in assets when he stepped down to focus on family and other interests. In 1983 (just 6 years after he took over), the fund had grown to $1 billion on the back of Peter’s exceptional performance. More specifically, according to a secondary source quoting Valueline, Lynch achieved an average annual return of 29% per year over his 13 years running the Magellan Fund.
Continue reading “The Wit and Wisdom of Peter Lynch” →

Sheldon Adelson

‘My parents had little to give to me in terms of starting me off in this world. We slept in a bedroom that could hold only one bed and that was for my parents. The four children slept on the floor. And that’s the way that we started out. But…I felt myself very rich, because when I look back and think what my parents gave to me, they gave me values and that’s the most important thing.’

– Sheldon Adelson, founder of Las Vegas Sands Resort and ranked by Forbes as the world’s 15th richest man

Swaps and Derivatives by Phillip Wood

Hong Kong

Derivatives 

Derivatives is a generic term used to describe futures, options, swaps and various other similar transactions. Apart from interest swaps, most derivative contracts are contracts for differences – the difference between the agreed future price of an asset on a future date and the actual market price on that date.

Futures Contracts

A futures contract is a contract under which one party agrees to deliver to the other party on a specified future date (the “maturity date”) a specified asset at a price (the “strike price”) agreed at the time of the contract and payable on the maturity date. The term “forward contract” is often used in relation to private contracts not transacted through an organised exchange.

The asset may be a commodity or currency or a debt or equity security (or a number or basket of securities), or a deposit of money by way of loan, or any other category of property.

The effect is to guarantee or “hedge” the price. The hedging party protects himself against a loss but also loses the chance to make a profit.
Continue reading “Swaps and Derivatives by Phillip Wood” →

Travelling

“Once you get home, nobody will be remotely interested in what you did or what you saw. Why should they be? All they’ll want to know is whether or not you ‘had a good time’, and your notion of a ‘good time’ is unlikely to be theirs. The best kind of traveller is a thief on the prowl, looking for illuminating moments. Travelling, unlike tourism, is just living more intensely, freed for a short time from the constraints of being whoever it is we’re accustomed to thinking we are. It’s being on the prowl, beholden to nobody, for the beautiful self we’d forgotten was locked up inside us.”

Robert Dessaix in “The Age” newspaper, 18.ix.04.

Bus Uncle

The film starts out when the protagonist, a middle-aged man, reacts strongly when a young man sitting behind him taps his shoulder to ask him to keep his voice down while talking on the phone.

“I don’t know you. You don’t know me. Why do you do this?” the infuriated bus rider says, punctuating the sentence by jabbing his right hand downward in the air.

When the young man, who rarely talks back during the argument, expresses an unwillingness to continue the conversation, the middle-aged man explodes, “This is not resolved! This is not resolved! This is not resolved!” – now a new catch phrase in Hong Kong.

He goes on to say, “I face pressure. You face pressure. Why did you provoke me?”

In another twist, just when the dispute seems to have ended after the young man apologises and the two shake hands, the young man takes issue with profanity used by the middle-aged man, who then launches into another round of profanities.

The video has inspired numerous spoofs, including a karaoke version and a rap song using the middle-aged man’s refrain, “I face pressure. You face pressure.” Internet users have also added Chinese and English subtitles.

It still isn’t clear who shot the film and it isn’t certain if the film was staged or not. The middle-aged man has not been identified but a man claiming to be the victim of the verbal abuse has been interviewed on Hong Kong’s Commercial Radio.

“Why did I just sit there? I paid to be on the bus. You don’t think I would get off the bus and waste my money, do you?” said the man, identified only as Alvin.

A very liquid investment

Finance Asia
Timothy Cuffe, 13 April 2006

Fancy owning your own bar?

My father was never one to dispense advice lightly, but on the odd occasion that he allowed himself the extravagance he would put forward a gem. Aside from his sage counsel on marriage, his other chestnut was: “Son, if you are ever going to invest your money in anything, make damn sure that it is something you know a lot about.” So here I am writing about investing in bars, a subject that I think I know an awful lot about. In fact, I would imagine my dad would be rather proud of all the comprehensive research I have done on the subject. With the high density of expat professionals in Asia, owning a bar sounds like the ideal investment for many potential entrepreneurs and bonus-laden investment bankers. Unfortunately owning a bar is not always about rooms filled with friendly conversation, pulling a few pints and people enjoying themselves. There is definitely more to the enterprise once you step behind the counter. “Owning your own food and beverage outlet can be hugely rewarding in many ways, but be aware that owning your own bar is a little like a relationship,” says Mark Leahy, a partner in the Singapore-based McCraic Holdings, owners of BQ, Molly Malone’s, Father Flanagan’s and Dharma Kebabs. “A successful business needs constant love, attention and care. It’s a long term commitment and if you neglect it, it can quickly lose its charm.” It is important to be realistic about the amount of work involved in running your own business, especially a bar, pub or restaurant. People think owning a bar is all about sipping cocktails, enjoying the craic with friends, but they often overlook the amount of hours that are involved in creating the idea for the bar, setting it up, stocking it and organizing and managing staff. “Running a bar isn’t easy – there are a lot of potential pitfalls to owning one,” says Lawrence Morgan, owner of Jem in Hong Kong’s illustrious Lan Kwai Fong district. One of the primary stumbling blocks in owning a bar is lax cost control, and that all begins with the property’s lease agreement. In Hong Kong, leases on commercial property are classically six-year agreements with a three-year rent review. Unfortunately, with soaring property values, bar proprietors who negotiated favourable leases three years ago are now seeing their landlords ask for another 40% or more when their review comes up. “Given the steep rise in property values and subsequent rental increases, a lot of bar owners are beginning to look at the numbers and realize that it just won’t work anymore,” says Morgan. Continue reading “A very liquid investment” →

Old mystic beliefs simmer on Merapi

Straits Times
By Salim Osman
Indonesia Correspondent

MERAPI (CENTRAL JAVA) – ALMOST two weeks after the eruption of Merapi, several thousands among the more than 20,000 villagers who had been evacuated to safe shelters at the bottom of the 3,000m mountain are returning to their homes on its slopes to tend their livestock and crops.

This is despite warnings that the danger posed by the volcano has not passed.

It continues to spit lava, gas and clouds of ash.

They join other villagers who had refused to be evacuated when the authorities stepped up the alert to its highest level two Saturdays ago, before the eruption the day after.

The villagers’ action in the central Java province may seem like the fatalism of rural people everywhere, but it speaks of a deeper, buried layer of Hindu traditions among the people for whom the Islamic faith, though dominant, still remains a recent veneer.

The man who embodies these ancient traditions, which amount to Javanese mysticism, is 79-year-old Mbah Marijan, an elder in the Kinahrejo hamlet, just 4km from the crater.
Continue reading “Old mystic beliefs simmer on Merapi” →

The crash: picking up the pieces

Common sense do’s and don’ts when the markets are volatile.
By Vijay Bhambwani

The recent crash in the markets has left players dumb founded. Most of the participants I talked to were shell shocked beyond the point of normal reactions. Obviously, nobody had a chance to offload long positions since markets opened “gap down”. There are lessons in it for us, so we do not relive history in the near future.

There are three aspects to a trade – identification of a trade, initiation of a trade and management of trade. Initiating a trade is the easiest part, you just call your broker and execute. The identification is slightly difficult. The management of a trade is the most difficult. Most traders shut their eyes after initiating a trade and leave things to fate – this is especially true in case the trade goes against them. The commonest mistake is to let a bleeding trade run till your margin account dries up and your broker squares up your trade. Money management is invariably the most important aspect of your trading strategy. Handling risk, threat to capital is where most traders are lacking.

The mantra to profitable trading was aptly put forward by commodity trader and best-selling author William F Eng, “Successful traders control risk, and when they cannot control it, they manage it”. Most of the players resort to leveraging of capital. While we initiate our trades with the concept of “going concern” assuming that we will make profits and continue to trade perennially, it makes sense to assess the downside potential first. Remember, in leveraged trades, profits and losses are magnified to the extent of leveraging. Most of the traders who lost money recently were those who built up excessive large trading positions. While “big” is a relative term, we must honestly assess our comfort level and trade within our own limits where we can trade in lots where the positions do not overwhelm us.
Continue reading “The crash: picking up the pieces” →

CJ to young lawyers: Take up litigation

Straits Times, May 21, 2006

Expressing concern over falling numbers, he urges more newbies to stand up in court to argue cases

By Elena Chong 

MANY young lawyers do not want to stand up in court and argue a case, a cause of concern for the legal profession in recent years. Yesterday, the new Chief Justice weighed in, telling his audience of 202 lawyers admitted to the Bar, to consider litigation as their choice of practice. 

Litigation lawyers perform an essential role to protect the rights of clients in civil cases and defending those charged with crimes.

‘In a legal world where the successful corporate lawyer is admired for his business acumen, it is the successful court lawyer who is held in awe for his forensic skills,’ said CJ Chan Sek Keong.
Continue reading “CJ to young lawyers: Take up litigation” →