Economics @ Home © Volume 2 Issue 20

Maximum Utility

This is going into the second year after my graduation from Bucknell University, which also marks the second year of my ownership of my Nikon D40. Purchasing my very first DSLR was a long and arduous process because of how much it costs and more importantly, because of how miserly I am (according to my mother). Against all odds, I decided to invest in a real man’s camera, supposedly the most practical of its kind.

Now, two years down the road, with the surge in social network activity, photo sharing becomes increasingly taken for granted. In fact, some of the photos are completely unnecessary and probably better left unshared. Nonetheless, this issue is not a whine-fest about Facebook and other similar sites. After two years of experiencing the barrage of photos from friends and even strangers in Facebook, there are two lessons that I can draw. First, there is a trend of improving photography skills among the common folk. Second, my Nikon D40 is utterly underutilized.

Seeing people take blurry pictures and having the courage to share it online made me realize that I need to make full use of my D40 a bit more. One of the main reasons I have not dragged it along everywhere I go is that I cannot afford an indoor lens (yet). With the 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens, the D40 is only good for outdoor purposes. My next target acquisition would be to either get an 18-200 mm f/3.5-5.6 lens (can’t afford the f/2.8 lens, which costs around RM7,000 last I checked, plus, using that on a D40 would be a laughing stock) or a fixed 50 mm f/1.4 AF-S. I think that acquisition process will be another long and arduous one as well.

But I digress. The point of today’s issue is, how often do we purchase items that we hardly use? The easiest example would be, girls and their clothes and shoes. Although my sample size is somewhat limited, the proportion of girls who own clothes and shoes that they have not used for more then 3 times is sufficient for me to conclude that this problem of buying things we don’t use is fairly common. I have recently made an acquisition where its utility is somewhat controversial.

While many of you are getting excited about the iPhone 4, I must say that I have managed to stay behind the curve by buying an iPhone 3GS. The motive of that purchase is not the topic of discussion today, but I want to address the question, what can I do with my iPhone to make it worth the money? So far, I have not jail broken it. I have used it to surf the net, used the maps (pretty awesome stuff, I have been to the jungle and back), emailed, blogged, played games, read books, updated my calendar and maybe a few more insignificant things on it. Has the value of the iPhone paid off its price? Quite likely.

As for the D40, I am not too sure. Nonetheless, I can rest assured that its value cannot decrease. Even the newer D40x has not replaced its uberness. So I can take my sweet time in adding a new lens to it.

What about you? Planning to buy something you will likely not fully utilize?

Economics @ Home © Volume 2 Issue 19

Nothing Short of World Class



It is difficult to imagine what these girls have to go through to have to come up with an 8-minute performance like that. The blood, sweat, and tears must have flooded the gym several times over. The synchronized routine that was almost flawless should be made an epitome of the 1Malaysia culture that we so badly try to explain.

Why? First, to be able to come up with a performance like that requires more than just hard work. Even that, many Malaysians cannot even say that they are willing to work that hard in anything they do. Bear in mind that these girls were not forced to do it. They are in it for themselves. They are in it because they enjoy doing it. How often do Malaysians find themselves waking up on Monday morning grumbling about why they have to go to work and how long they have to work? Why can't Malaysians enjoy what they do and therefore work hard at it?

Second, the passion and commitment in what they do is unbelievable. It is safe to say that every girl in that performance loved what they were doing. Otherwise, they would not have been able to do it that well. Their only reward for all the effort that they invest, is simply the small sense of accomplishment that they did something amazing. Why do Malaysians work and complain about why they are not being paid enough, and why they have to work long hours? Why can't they find something worth doing, and do it well, and thus be satisfied with the sense of accomplishment of having done an honest day's work? The girls knew right from the beginning that their weeks and months of hard work would boil down to those 8 minutes of make or break. If they can be satisfied with working non-stop for weeks and months for an 8-minute performance, what is stopping us from working hard at something we enjoy doing to achieve something far beyond the greater good?

Third, every member in that team knew their role. While it is not hard to imagine that not everyone put in the same amount of effort for the whole performance, every single member in that team knew that they could not afford to slack off. There was no room to sit back and let the "better" members carry the team. Every member knew that if she was out of sync with the rest of the group, she would have to work extra hard the next day to make sure she was at the same pace as the rest. The moment she slacks off and decides to give up, she will be off the team. The analogy for 1Malaysia is clear. There should be no room for rent-seeking. Every member of the Malaysian society should know their role in making Malaysia a better place. There is simply no room to sit back and let the "smarter" ones lead the economy, while you sit back and hope to reap the fruits of their labour. Now, if only we can kick the non-contributing members of Malaysia off the country... that would be an interesting idea.

What better way to exemplify how Malaysia can become a world class nation? What better way to show how 1Malaysia can work?

Economics @ Home © Volume 2 Issue 18

Inspire me, inspire me not

Below is a story published by the Star on 16 Aug 2010, about a Malaysian girl who overcame one of the greatest adversities to achieve a success many of us can only dream of. I am certain that June is not the only person in Malaysia who has faced the same kind of obstacle that exists because of the poor culture of “un-meritocracy” in Malaysia. Please read through the interview below carefully and I will share my thoughts below.

Tiong gets it right in Harvard
Story and photo by YU JI
yuji@thestar.com.my

AT just 23 years old, June Tiong - straight As student, ex national squash player and Harvard University undergraduate - has a heck of a CV.

Few young adults have accomplished more, but her success has not been without setbacks.

As a squash player, Tiong had always played one age-category above her own. By 17, she was ranked fourth in Malaysia’s junior category.

But her first heartache did not arrive on court, it came when she was rejected by a government scholarship. Perhaps rebelling, Tiong quit playing squash for the country, and proceeded quietly to Form Six.

On solid ground: Tiong had a second chance at higher education when Harvard University granted her a scholarship.

Such stories are not unheard of, but zooming in on Tiong, what was apparently not good enough by local standards was good enough for Harvard University.

About three years ago at 2am, Tiong, fast asleep, received a phone call informing her that the world’s most prestigious university had granted her a scholarship.

In an interview with StarMetro on her summer break, the Chemistry undergraduate talked candidly about the importance of speaking up, her “awesome” roommate who cooks for her, and whether she wants to return home for work.

Question: Can we begin with your family background?

Answer: Sure. I’m the youngest and I have two other siblings. One is working in Kuala Lumpur, and the other, a student at a private college here. I was a student at St Teresa Kuching, before doing my Form Six at St Joseph’s.

Q: What were your SPM and STPM results?

A: Nine A1s and one A2. In STPM, I got three As and one A minor.

Q: Did you apply for government scholarship and what did you apply for?

A: Yes, I did. I applied for the Public Service Department scholarship, but they rejected me. I applied to do pharmacy.

Q: Did you find out why you were rejected?

A: I was rejected because they told me my results weren’t good enough.

Q: Were you offered a place at a local public university after Form Six?

A: Yes, I was offered a place at Universiti Malaya.

Q: How did you feel when you found out you were rejected for the scholarship after Form Five?

A: Well, honestly I thought it was sort of unfair, especially given my sports achievements. I also felt that, even with just my academic results, they were pretty good.

After that, I told myself, well, fine. I can’t dwell on this. Behind every cloud there is a silver lining, I kept telling myself; and furthermore, I got to stay home for another two years for Form Six.

Q: Was there a particular area of study you enjoyed?

A: Not really. Not in primary school, and at secondary school, as you know, everyone goes through the same drill. I was in the science stream. I don’t recall having a particular favourite subject.

Q: But every young kid has an ambition. What was yours?

A: I went through a lot of phases. [Laughs]. First I wanted to be a doctor, then I wanted to be an architect, and at some point later, I wanted to be a veterinarian. I’ve been through many kinds of ambitions.

Q: So why chemistry at Harvard now?

A: Well, besides chemistry, I’m also trying to get a second major in archeology.

Q: How did you get into Harvard?

A: After STPM I was applying for several things along with several friends. My coach also chipped in to help. At that time, he was promoting squash to other young kids. I was helping out a little bit. One day, he told me, “Oh June you should be applying to universities in the US too. Your squash achievements will help.”

He had contacts. He had advise from sports coaches he knew at Yale and Princeton.

Q: Was there an interview? I can’t imagine Harvard accepting undergraduates without interviews.

A: Yes, there was one. But even before that, there was a lot of paper work to do. Only short-listed candidates will then be given interviews. I was granted just one interview. That was in Kuala Lumpur by a Singaporean interviewer.

Q: Were you the only Sarawakian at that interview?

A: No, another girl from my school, Jacintha Tagal, the daughter of the late Dr Judson Tagal (Ba’ Kalalan assemblyman who perished in a helicopter crash at Bario in 2004) got into Harvard the same year with me. So, it was like, awesome.

Q: Okay, so why chemistry? That’s about as far away from architecture as you can get.

A: I guess coming from a Malaysian education, being in the science stream, made me think about a career in science.

Q: What year are you in now?

A: I’m in my third year. It’s a four-year course.

Q: Any more Malaysians in your year?

A: There’s three of us, another is a boy from Kuala Lumpur. Next year, there will be a total of seven of us.

Q: How is it like to study in Harvard?

A: It’s pretty stressful but it is also a lot of fun. The style of learning is also very different from Malaysian education. They really want you to ask questions in class. They encourage you to think out of the box. We have assignments every week that goes towards your final grade. Basically, it’s a continuous grading system. Classes are very diverse too, in the sense that, even though I’m a chemistry undergraduate, I’m taking up archeology, photography, history and even classes on Confucius.

Q: Do you feel pressured being at Harvard? I mean just living up to expectations?

A: No no, I’ve never felt that way. I have the coolest parents ever. They’re always telling me to go have fun. They’re like, “Go watch a movie. Stop stressing out,” and I’m like, “Mum, I don’t have time”. [Laugh].

Q: That’s what I mean, you must feel like you’ve got a lot to accomplish. No?

A: I don’t feel that way. My parents have always told me to enjoy life, and that’s what I’m doing now.

Q: Growing up, did you ever attend tuition?

A: Not really, except for Additional Mathematics.

Q: So you’ve always self-studied?

A: Kind of. I used to have a friend who studied all the time. She kept inviting me but I was always ‘too tired’. [Laughs]

I’m someone who derives a lot of energy from my friends and family.

Q: From a Malaysian education background to Harvard, were you well prepared?

A: Honestly…not at all; at least not for the first few months. I had difficulties speaking my mind. We had to participate in all kinds of discussions, and for the most part, I just didn’t know what to say. Malaysian education doesn’t really prepare you for that.

It would be good to have more group discussions within Malaysian classrooms. I suppose it’s really about encouraging young kids to talk. I feel a lot of Malaysians are not ready to have discussions. I mean, once you go into the working world, all of us have to deal with meetings, presentations, or just to come up with good ideas.

Q: Let’s move onto sports. Are you still playing squash?

A: I started playing at the age of 10. My mum felt I was too meek. After playing, I started to open up. I played in the junior circuit competitions once a month. I had the opportunity to go to many places, but by 17, I had quit. At that time, I was ranked fourth in the country in the junior category.

Anyway, so now, I’ve started playing for my school again. It’s an inter-varsity league kind of thing.

Q: Having excelled in sport, growing up did you ever want to make it your career?

A: No, never. I just don’t think I have that much passion in it. It’s something I’ve always enjoyed doing. As a career? No, I don’t think I can be that good at it.

Q: It’s often said that the Malaysian education system neglects sports. What are your opinions?

A: For sure the government needs to emphasise more on sports. In the US, sports is really big. It’s part of their education. As for me, I know very well that it was a stepping stone into college.

Q: Are you the only Malaysian on Harvard’s squash team?

A: Yes, I am. But it’s really a team thing. We train three hours every day, and absolutely do not drink alcohol during the squash season.

On the weekends we have matches. I think there are two other Malaysians playing squash for other Ivy League schools.

But to go back to your question about sports in schools, a lot of people assume that the reason I’m still playing squash at Harvard is because I have to; because I got in under a sports scholarship. But that’s not the case. I don’t have to play the game. I continue to play because it is fun. And making learning fun is really important.

Q: To cap off the interview, will you come back to Malaysia to work eventually?

A: Yes I would love to. But I would like to work overseas for a couple of years first. Maybe the US, maybe Europe, maybe Australia. I think that kind of experience and exposure is very important. Ultimately though, Malaysia is home. It’s about friends and family really. Food is a plus too.

Q: Is it possible to get Malaysian food in Harvard?

A: Yes there is one actually but it’s a bit far away in Boston and I don’t have that much time to travel. Anyway, Jacinda is my room-mate and she loves cooking. [Laugh]. She’s always like, “Hey dude, here’s Malaysian food,” and I’m like, “Woah, okay. Awesome”.

Even talking about food, I’ve come back to friends and family again. My parents, my friends, my coach has always told me to do well in school, do well in squash, and the world is your oyster.

This seemingly amazing story is made even more amazing simply because she is Malaysian. Sadly, this is not a success story of Malaysia Boleh. If anything at all, this story exemplifies why Malaysia Tidak Boleh. How do you explain that one of the best universities in the world can recognize the talents and abilities of this young girl, yet our government, with its vast resources and “foresight” did not see any “potential” in her. Or was something else at play?

After serving the country by representing Malaysia in squash, June’s services were repaid with a cold shoulder when she needed it most. She was one of the more fortunate ones to land a scholarship to Harvard after Form Six. Many of us (I was one of the more fortunate ones), had to face this obstacle yet AGAIN after Form Six, when we apply for university. Many students with excellent results could not enter the universities that they desired and worse, were only given their 8th or 9th choices for the desired course. Imagine, a student so passionate about Astronomy being sent to a university in the outskirts beside the jungles of Malaysia to study Biology. Do we know the detriments of such an action? Instead of having a world class astronomer in the making, we have a mediocre biologist at best instead.

When I read June’s story, part of me wants to feel inspired by her achievements, but a greater part of me feels so discouraged by the fact that my children may not be as fortunate as June when they finish Form Six. What if my children get sent to the jungles of Malaysia to study advanced pottery, simply because our system chooses not to recognize the talents and abilities of Malaysians? Yet, the 10th Malaysia Plan talks about attracting and maintaining talents.

I want to feel inspired but I simply can’t.

Economics @ Home © Volume 2 Issue 17

Doing it without FDI?? Are you kidding?

When I saw such a huge heading in the online version of the Star, I was extremely shocked. After reading through the whole article, I was totally appalled because at the start, I was thinking, “Who is this Gunasegaram to say that Malaysia can do it without FDI?” Then at the end, I found out that he is actually the Managing Editor of the Star. Why is a journalist pretending to be an economist? What will happen when the ignorant public start listening to people like Mr Gunasegaram here? Let’s have a read about what he said. I have included his whole article here:

I have included comments where I deemed it necessary.

Saturday July 31, 2010

10 ways of doing without FDI

A Question of Business

By P. GUNASEGARAM

A STIR of sorts has been caused by the story that foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country for 2009 fell 81% to US$1.4bil (about RM4.5bil) from US$7.3bil (RM24bil).

But really it should not. If we want higher value-added, then labour-intensive industries are not our target. This is the area which many foreign investors like because they can get tremendous cost savings by using cheap labour in places like China, Vietnam etc.

If greater value-added is what we are after, then increasingly more investments have to be made in the services area – think tourism or education for instance. That does not necessarily need foreign investment – we can use local money.

We have plenty of money in Malaysia – as much as RM250bil at last count. That’s roughly the excess of deposits over loans sitting with the banks throughout the country.

All that money and nowhere to go within the country, is our problem. The money is not chasing investments in the country. And that can mean only one thing – there is a lack of opportunity here. (This is just a nice way of saying, the investments around are too poor, especially the investment climate that is totally not conducive and transparent)

The question then is what is it that is reducing business opportunities in Malaysia? Is there too much red tape? Are approvals not forthcoming? Are there too many equity strictures? Do we have sufficient workers?

FDI flows in any particular year into Malaysia pales in comparison to the amount of idle money in the system. What we have to do is to find ways to use that and we will more than mitigate the effects of reduced FDI. Here are 10 ways we can do that.

1) Shift from manufacturing to services. This is inevitable if you want to move towards higher income. Our manufacturing is low value-added. Much of it is low-end assembly. Things like tourism and education offer so much more opportunities and are already large contributors to foreign exchange savings; (This is utter rubbish. The way up is not a change in sectors. Just liberalize the economy and let the private sector and the market determine what are the goods that have demand, then those are the goods that will be produced. Furthermore, we can never do without manufacturing. The value-addedness per worker in the manufacturing sector is simply too large. Even in the advanced countries such as Germany still have a huge manufacturing sector)

2) Reduce export dependence. Old habits die hard and we must realise that we cannot continue to export ourselves out of trouble all the time. What we must do is create a market for ourselves right here. Get our consumers, who seem to have a lot of money, to spend – think restaurants, entertainment, lifestyle etc; (AGAIN, total rubbish. It is precisely this inward looking attitude that was “introduced” by our 4th Prime Minister that has caused so much destruction in our economy. Once again, the market should decide what to produce, what to export, and what to import. To produce domestically is not as simple as Mr Guna suggests. Take Proton for example. Without the subsidies that the government pays them, they would have gone bankrupt a long time ago. This protectionist measure has cost the Malaysian public billions of RM. Once again, just let the invisible hand decide where our money should go)

3) Identify and target the high growth areas. Old-style low-cost manufacturing is out. We need to identify some areas for good growth in the future and focus on this. We could easily become a quality education hub for the region for instance and benefit ourselves in the process. We could set aside areas for international universities to be set up; (Need I say it again? Liberalize the economy. Let the private sector decide where their money should be most efficiently spent. Mr Guna is simply a product of the Mahathir mentality. You think the people are too stupid to decide how to spend their money?)

4) Make incentives the same for both domestic and foreign investors. The days of giving more incentives, latitude and preference to foreign investors must end once and for all and the playing field levelled. In fact, greater encouragement and incentives must be given for the development of local enterprises based on the simple premise that we must help ourselves more; (Totally contradictory. In the first sentence, he says that we should make incentivest eh same for both domestic and foreign investors. Then in the third sentence, he asks for greater incentive for local enterprises. I think he has no idea what he is talking about anymore. Equal opportunity is best. There is no need to give “crutches” to Malaysians. We must inculcate this culture of competitiveness as soon as possible. Or else we will be sending our children to Indonesia to become their maids very soon)

5) Cut tariffs and taxes. Tariffs are non-competitive and cutting them increases competitiveness of all industries as they are able to source supplies and services which are the cheapest and of the best quality. Cutting taxes provides incentives for making money. Our taxes are still relatively high; (Then where is the government going to get money from? Hasn’t anyone told you that our budget deficit looks just a bit too much like Greece? Does blood really have to spill on the streets before someone realizes that Malaysia needs to wake up and wake up now?)

6) Do away with equity targets altogether. With bumiputra equity targets probably already met if we measure using the right techniques, there is no need to force non-bumiputra industries to continue to enter Ali Baba-style partnerships to do this, a highly inefficient process that benefits very few bumiputras in any case; (First smart thing he said so far. But who doesn’t know this already?)

7) Cut red tape. For all the lip service made to cutting red tape over the years, this is still very much with us. As long as officialdom puts all kinds of barriers in the way of genuine enterprise, expect enterprise to be hobbled; (This is number 7?? I already said this right at the start. Liberalize, liberalize, liberalize!!)

8) Do away with yearly renewal of licences. If you already have a licence, why renew it yearly? Why can’t it be given to you indefinitely unless you flout licence requirements? Doing away with licence approvals on a yearly basis helps cut bureaucracy; (Please see comments from number 7)

9) Improve educational standards. We can’t emphasise this enough and the steady decline in educational standards both at schools and universities has not, so far, elicited a strong enough response from the Government which will stop the slide; (All talk but no substance. Mr Guna, if you are so smart, perhaps you might give a concrete suggestion as to how to do this? If you can pretend to be an economist, maybe you can pretend to be a politician too? Simply promote a culture of meritocracy. Let people appreciate the value of competitiveness. Almost everything else will follow) and

10) Cut corruption. This insidious, widespread problem is eventually the cause for much bottleneck, inefficiency, higher costs and a downright hindrance to improving productivity at all levels. It’s incredible how little we have done to stop this scourge. (It’s incredible that Mr Guna has not said anything that we don’t know in such a long article. Maybe we need to give more voice to people who actually know what they are talking about)

Yes, FDI has dropped and it may continue to drop. But really, that’s not the end of the world. Anyway, it’s high time we reduced dependence on FDI and did something to pump up domestic investment instead. And there are many more imaginative ways to do that. (No FDI will be the end of Malaysia! Does Mr Guna realize that the benefits of FDI is not just limited to  investment? Does Mr Guna even relize what investment is?)

Managing editor P. Gunasegaram is amazed that some foreign companies are taxed by their home countries for the taxes they don’t pay here; in other words, the tax incentives given to them here goes to a foreign country instead. (I am amazed that people who have a "voice" do not take their privilege seriously)

Just some additional comments. Let me just list down A FEW of the benefits from FDI that CANNOT be obtained from just domestic investment. FDI allows transfer of technology. It allows foreign companies to bring in new technology that can provide value add to our local industries and workers. FDI allows foreign companies to bring in new training methods and foreign experts which can help train and improve productivity of our workers. FDI also creates a competitive business environment that forces local businesses to stay on their toes and not rest on their “laurels”, if any at all.

This article from Mr Guna is a simple example to show that we cannot simple believe every person who has a voice. What he wrote only appears intelligent on the surface. Any real economist will know that a developing country CANNOT survive without FDI. Only Mahathir will agree to something like what Mr Guna said.

If you think I have contributed nothing but a harsh criticism of Mr Guna, then the least that you can do is to note that Malaysia needs FDI and I have given you enough reasons why.

Economics @ Home © Volume 2 Issue 16

Why Singapore Leads the World in Mathematics


I always wondered why we label the Singaporeans "kiasu" (afraid of losing). Despite studying there for two years, what I discovered was a culture that amazed me. What is referred to as the culture of competitiveness in Singapore, is gravely misrepresented by Malaysians as kiasu-ism. For whatever reasons we deem Singaporeans to be kiasu, be it jealousy, or what we call the "truth", the fact remains that the GDP per capita of Singapore is at USD35 000 and the GDP per capita of Malaysia is struggling to breach USD7 000.

I can present you with all kinds of facts and statistics to show you why Singapore is so much better than Malaysia, but that would probably be in conflict with my day job. Instead, I will let the video below speak for itself.



The first thing that struck me after watching this video was how much thought the Singaporean government has put into educating their pre-school children. The Malaysian government has always preached about accessibility this and that, but the fact is, the quality of our education is not there. The amount of thought put into it is clearly exemplified by the amount of flip-flopping that has to happen even before we can decide on what language to use as a medium of education, notwithstanding the fact that they most probably made the wrong choice.

And here we have Lee Kuan Yew, one of the more visionary people in this age, calling for China to embrace English in their bid to become a global superpower. It seems to me that we are moving in the opposite direction. What a sad case we are...

Economics @ Home © Volume 2 Issue 15

This week, there is a double issue because I had skipped a week without posting Economics @ Home and being the man of integrity that I am, I have chosen to redeem myself by repaying your loyalty with the number of issues that you deserve. 

Football Genius

If there was a God of football, this is it. Although I took this video off someone else, I am sure he wouldn't mind simply because he created it to share to begin with. In fact, in all likelihood, this video was created to exhibit the prowess and masterclass that Lionel Messi is. By sharing this, I am merely reinforcing the creator's objective. While you may think that these are not exactly 30 of the greatest goals you have ever seen, they most certainly are worthy contenders. People who know me know that I am not a fan of long shots. Messi is the reminder to us all that we don't need to drive the ball into the net from over 20 yards out to score a goal. The delicateness and deftness of Messi's touch is like the sweet melody from the flapping of an angel's wings. In fact, he is so good, this is how tight they have to mark him.

On a lighter note, the tale below is probably based on a true story. Enjoy the goals and the story.

Messi, Kaka and the pope are at a lake to find out who can walk on water. Messi runs on the water, across the lake to the other side and runs right back. Then, during Kaka's turn, he did the same thing. Now the pope, he takes two steps on the water and falls. Kaka looks at Messi and says, "That's harsh, didn't you tell him about the stepping stones?" and Messi repliess, "What stepping stones?"

Probably a true story...

Economics @ Home © Volume 2 Issue 14

A Tribute to Paul

Any self-respecting blogger should at least say a word about the World Cup and as we all know, I am full of self-respect. It must be put on record that I am exhilarated that Spain are the new world champions, just like I had hoped. Their superb fluid passing and sheer skillfulness are a sight to behold. All the sore losers can whine about how Spain is stacked with all its superstars but the fact is, the superstars are from Spain for a reason. They were not born superstars. They are products of a culture of beautiful football. And for those of you who still think that the EPL is the best league in the world, you need to be reminded that England was annihilated by the Germans with a lowly scoreline of 4-1. The English have to go home with the consolation that they “scored” a goal that should have been but never was.

If there is one thing that we can learn about the Western culture and from the World Cup, it is the fact that they love placing the blame on everything else but themselves. It is either the referee’s fault, FIFA’s fault, the Jabulani’s fault, and more ridiculously, Paul the octopus’ fault!! Not one person has thought about how the team can improve themselves.

A word of advice to all English players. You may think that you play in the best league in the world, but the fact is, you are only playing in the most popular league in the world. Your standard of football has long been surpassed by the likes of Spain, who, before 2010, has never even been to the World Cup Final! Now, all the best players are either playing for Barcelona or Real Madrid, while you EPL-ers can only bitch about how Real Madrid is “cheating”, forgetting that the EPL was the one who started overpaying for the players in the first place. Now, the big names like Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Villa, Kaka, Alonso, Benzema (No, I refuse to acknowledge Christina Ronaldo as a real football player) et al. are playing in the man’s league. Christina, please return to your little girl’s league.

As a final word, and on a much lighter note, there is a rumor going around that Goldman Sachs is offering a USD4 million package to acquire Paul’s services in its proprietary trading team. The benefits are said to exceed the meagre morsels that were offered to Paul for the World Cup. Merrill Lynch has also indicated their interest with intentions to replace their whole trading desk with Paul. 8 out of 8 calls is most certainly something to shout about. My professor once told me that in forecasting, if you ever get it right, never let them forget it.

Paul, this is my little contribution with hope that your contribution will never be forgotten.

Economics @ Home © Volume 2 Issue 13

When In Need

It is funny how we take so many things that we have for granted, only to realize their importance after we have lost them. But that is not what I am trying to discuss today. We go through stages of our lives meeting all sorts of different people and we make their acquaintance and before we know it, we become great friends.

However, when we prepare to move to our next stage in life, we are sometimes forced to leave these people behind. That is probably still acceptable but sometimes, we burn the bridge after we cross it. Just because we are moving on to the next stage of our lives, it does not mean that we can mistreat the people in our past. Of course, mistreating does not have to be in the form of abuse or ill-treatment. It could be something as simple as not expressing the gratitude towards that person's friendship and the things that he (or she) did for you.

I will give two examples of what burning the bridge means. In the first case, consider a couple who has recently broken up because the girl has lost her feelings for him. During the course of their relationship, the guy has helped her in every crisis one can imagine. But now that the period of her crisis is almost over, she decides to find a better guy instead. In spite of the hurt that the guy has to go through, he acquiesced to her request that they remain as friends. For starters, how the guy pretends not to hurt every time he sees her is a mystery to me.

However, months later, he realizes that the girl is only keeping him at his side because she knows how helpful he can be when she is in great need of help. Other than contacting him when she was in need of help, she has absolutely no care about his well-being and how he was moving on with his life. She still behaved like everything in the world revolves around her. She even had the nerve to tell him that they can't be friends if he can't let her go, not remembering that in the first place, it was upon her request that they remained as friends.

I strongly believe in the good of everyone. Given the opportunity, every person has good intentions. One can remember similar proposals from Jean Jacques Rousseau, the French philosopher during the Enlightenment period. But when that guy realized how someone he loved so much had taken the things he did for granted in such an insulting way, he almost swore off helping anyone ever again. I suppose the key word here is "almost". After coming to his senses, he decided only to swear off helping people who do not deserve it, especially the likes of his ex-girlfriend.

The second scenario is less dramatic, but no less important. At some point in our lives, we may or may not contemplate a change of occupation. One of the most common reasons is job dissatisfaction. Some people find the job too stressful, the benefits too little, and the management too stupid. For some reason or other, it all begins with a simple misunderstanding. I explained the issue of the kind of snowballing that begins with a small problem. Nonetheless, the story was in another context, but the same principles apply (see Econ @ Home Volume 2 Issue 11: Of Mountains and Molehills). That's why the same solution applies. The key to prevent making mountains out of molehills is simply communication.

Nonetheless, for whatever reason, when some people leave the company that they were working for, they feel the need to be as destructive as they can. Not only do they stop caring about their jobs, they do not meet their deadlines and do not feel the need to maintain the quality that was required in the first place, simply because they are leaving the company. Of course, you may ask, "Why should I do this?". While it may appear like there is nothing to gain from your efforts, you are forgetting that the company is still paying for your services and it is only your responsibility to facilitate the transition process as much as possible. So because of the stubbornness of some people, they refuse to complete their task and act high and mighty simply because they think they will be compensated if they were to be fired. This is the kind of attitude that Malaysians have developed because of its rigid labor laws, but that is a story for another day.

So, their insolence would be considered as burning the bridge and little do they know that when they start applying for their next job, as they are about to fill up the application form, there is a section called "References". Since you burned the bridge when you crossed it, who are you going to list as your references now?

While some companies may not need any references, especially when the applicant is a young fresh graduate with little experience, as they progress through their career, references become more and more important, as your transcript becomes less so.

There are simply no benefits to burn the bridge when you cross it, unless something really really bad is chasing after you. Is something chasing after you?