Some friends took me to this restaurant in a 5 star hotel in Jakarta which serves all sorts of northern Chinese delicacies with hairy crab meat and roe in it, including the infamous xiao long bao. This restaurant hails from Shanghai, so including hairy crab as part of the ingredients is understandable.
My friend said that this restaurant has to be halal (no pork) in order to cater to rich Indonesians in south Jakarta. Since they cannot use pork which is the normal ingredient in xiao long bao and other delicacies, using hairy crab with chicken is a novel approach. Besides they get to charge much higher prices than ones made of beef - each xiao long bao made from hairy crab costs about USD1 more than one made from beef.
There's no end to one's imagination. They've come up with beef bacon for breakfast and your club sandwiches in Muslim countries like Indonesia; or turkey ham which I thought was a far cry from the normal ham. The Chinese have their vegetarian versions of cha siew and roasted goose made from truly vegetarian ingredients such as beancurd, treated of course to give that tender taste associated with the original cha siew, and crispy like the skin of and roasted goose. We humans are very entrepreneurial. Is it to survive or is it to profit? Depends on how you look at it really.
In Indonesia, the nasi padang restaurants are normally no frills. All the food is prepared in the morning and left in glass display cabinets (like the ones you buy pens and watches) and one is charged by the amount one eats from the plates. So if they serve you a plate of curry chicken with 3 pieces and you eat only one of those 3 pieces, the "untouched" chicken is returned and not charged. May sound strange, and possibly unhygienic, to some of you but they've been doing that for ages so everyone here is used to it. The food is always cold, from being left in cabinets since they were cooked.
But in Singapore, Hongkong and some parts of Malaysia, specialized nasi padang restaurants exist which serve their food hot and the dishes are normally cooked as you order them - no returning of untouched food like Indonesia. Some places in Singapore display their food in cabinets similar to Indonesia's, but will heat the food up before serving them for two reasons: Singaporeans don't normally like cold food unless its a dessert, and reheating them for a few minutes do fit closer with hygiene norms there. Alternatively, some may display the food in glass cabinets but keep them warm with constant heating.
Once I had a "personalized" steamboat in a small restaurant in Beijing which was quite impressive. It is common to have personalized steamboat like shabu-shabu in Japanese restaurants as the Japanese are more hygiene conscious than the Chinese. But having that in Beijing was a pleasant surprise. So much was written about risks of catching hepatitis and other communicable diseases from sharing "common" food which is the normal way to eat Chinese food, I can't turn down an invitation to have traditional Chinese steam boat with my own personal pot.
See there's no end to evolution in this world. We can enjoy anything we like in the context of current developments and concerns, be they for hygienic or other reasons, as long as one leaves one's mind open.
Sunday 27 May 2007
Sunday 20 May 2007
Expensive Hainanese Chicken Rice
Had the chance to have chicken rice at the Chatterbox Mandarin Singapore a few days ago. It costs almost Sing$30 after taxes now (I think, cos I didn't pay the bill).
Back in the 1970s when I had the privilege to be brought by a rich auntie to try this chicken rice, I remembered it costs above Sing$5.00 a plate, when ordinary chicken rice from the neighbourhood kopitiam would have cost a dollar at most.
Then I remembered one of the bankers, plus other investment bankers, selling the idea of investing in, say mutual funds, at 5% return net per year. I pulled out the spreadsheet from my computer and put in $5 as principal and 5% as rate of return. Guess what? The answer is about $21 after 30 years. So why are these bankers telling us to invest in funds which yield amounts which won't buy us a chicken rice in 20 or 30 years' time?
But if you look outside of Singapore, there are other investments and perfectly legal funds which yield much higher rates of return. I can still remember my early days visiting Hongkong, Taiwan and Indonesia. To the people there, a 5% return isn't even worth 5 minutes of their time. At that time, I thought it was the instability of their currencies, in the case of Taiwan and Indonesia at least, whose people were totally hung up on keeping their stash funds in the safe US dollar. Hongkong is a different story cos you can make a hundred percent return if you're brave enough to speculate on a new property launch. You can make at least 20 to 30 percent a year if you're daring and smart with stocks on the Hang Seng Index, basically buying low, selling high and buying again. In mahjong jargon, they call it "winning a game with small returns is the equivalent of winning one big game". Very unlike the Casino Royale you watched where everything is about winning with ONE good hand.
It was only recently that I realized that the smart investor can actually outdo others, if they care to look beyond their own country. In this day and age, with the powers of the internet, one can get their hands on equities anywhere in the world with online trading. I'm not advocating that one should do this recklessly, cos its like gambling in a casino in Vegas or Macau, or very soon Singapore. But if one sees the price of oil rising, its not unreasonable to invest in stocks of oil related companies or countries. I put some money on a Latin America fund cos Brazil has got coffee and Venezuela oil (forget the cocaine in Columbia as that's in the black market). This money wasn't put in one stock but in a mutual fund managed by a reputable global company. True enough, in less than 9 months, the return was 30 plus percent.
Sure the US dollar is a bit weak now, relative to global currencies. But who needs to liquidate? "Just hang on to the dollars even if I had to liquidate the Latin America fund", I thought. "I don't need to swap the greenback for any currency now. I can wait till I need, say Euros to buy a Merc or a Porsche, before I liquidate the greenbacks. But by then, its a time of my choice and for all you know the greenback would have recovered from their current low of 1.35 to the Euro.
Makes sense?
That's why my advice to my friends who ask for investment advice is that one must always spread one's investments and invest only what one can afford to. Don't invest your kids' education fund if you can't afford to "pull out" in time. I remember the times I got burnt in various stock exchanges I invested in. After pouring money in some rather promising stocks, I suddenly needed funds for another more promising investment. The stocks rose by a few percent, far short of the 10 or 20 percent they were supposed to rise. So I liquidated them to move the money into the "more promising" investments as I'd already made some profit. Then those stocks I liquidated rose to the target levels I originally had in mind, yet the "more promising" investment had yet to deliver on the expected returns. A bird in hand is worth two in the bush, perhaps?
A friend of mine once said to me that if you invest (by jumping on the bandwagon), you have to know when to "jump off the bandwagon". He relates it to the tramcars in Hongkong or elsewhere in the world for that matter. You get on the tram and fall asleep, you'll miss your stop and find that you have to spend double the time to get home.
There's a Chinese saying that you miss the "Su Chow" you won't get another boat. The same in English. But in investing, I feel that there's ALWAYS another boat waiting for you. It's a case of what your expected returns are.
I've been into so many property deals which soured; a bit of the Hongkonger attitude I picked up. There's always a good deal in Hongkong. And people jump on the bandwagon in trying to get rich quick, not unlike the stock exchanges in Shanghai and Guangzhou now. A Chinese friend of mine in Hongkong once told me that the Chinese have gambling in their blood. But if you look carefully, there's always another opportunity if ever you're in doubt about the current one - just like if you see a strong banker in the casino, you don't have to place your bets on his /her table as there's always another table waiting for your bets. Sure there'll be the ones who'll become a millionaire faster than you can, but if you make an easy million, you're likely to lose that just as easily. It's like in the casino. You win, you increase your bets, and then the banker kills you in one swipe.
So now, each time a good deal comes along, I'll trust my own judgement more than what others tell me. I never listen to one investment banker; rather, I listen to a few of them and balance out their views. I'm sure every investment analyst and banker will have their preferences. They have a job to do. Some are over conservative, others are over enthusiastic about what they believe will work.
I missed out on the European funds, specifically emerging Europe. They're Euro based funds and the US was 1.25 to the Euro when my investment banker offered them to me. I felt the Euro was over-valued and sat around to wait till the Euro hits the sub-1.20 region before I move. Russia and the new Eastern European economies prospered. Along with the gain on Euro versus US Dollars exchange rate, I would have made 30 percent at least. But I have no regrets cos the money which I didn't put into Europe ended up in China funds. That went up more than 40 percent in the same period!
Life is fair. With China over-heating now, it may be time I wait for a market correction to go back into emerging Europe.
Back to my chicken rice. It's as good as it used to be. It's also the condiments which add to the pleasure of that expensive plate of chicken rice. The pounced ginger and garlic mix, and the chilly sauce, of course.
So for those of you who're stuck in less than expected yields, I'd suggest you look beyond your geographic boundaries. If you had invested in something which yielded 10 percent return, the $5 you spent on the chicken rice 30 years ago should have cost you more than $80 now. So the $30 we paid for that plate of Chatterbox chicken rice isn't that bad after all.
Back in the 1970s when I had the privilege to be brought by a rich auntie to try this chicken rice, I remembered it costs above Sing$5.00 a plate, when ordinary chicken rice from the neighbourhood kopitiam would have cost a dollar at most.
Then I remembered one of the bankers, plus other investment bankers, selling the idea of investing in, say mutual funds, at 5% return net per year. I pulled out the spreadsheet from my computer and put in $5 as principal and 5% as rate of return. Guess what? The answer is about $21 after 30 years. So why are these bankers telling us to invest in funds which yield amounts which won't buy us a chicken rice in 20 or 30 years' time?
But if you look outside of Singapore, there are other investments and perfectly legal funds which yield much higher rates of return. I can still remember my early days visiting Hongkong, Taiwan and Indonesia. To the people there, a 5% return isn't even worth 5 minutes of their time. At that time, I thought it was the instability of their currencies, in the case of Taiwan and Indonesia at least, whose people were totally hung up on keeping their stash funds in the safe US dollar. Hongkong is a different story cos you can make a hundred percent return if you're brave enough to speculate on a new property launch. You can make at least 20 to 30 percent a year if you're daring and smart with stocks on the Hang Seng Index, basically buying low, selling high and buying again. In mahjong jargon, they call it "winning a game with small returns is the equivalent of winning one big game". Very unlike the Casino Royale you watched where everything is about winning with ONE good hand.
It was only recently that I realized that the smart investor can actually outdo others, if they care to look beyond their own country. In this day and age, with the powers of the internet, one can get their hands on equities anywhere in the world with online trading. I'm not advocating that one should do this recklessly, cos its like gambling in a casino in Vegas or Macau, or very soon Singapore. But if one sees the price of oil rising, its not unreasonable to invest in stocks of oil related companies or countries. I put some money on a Latin America fund cos Brazil has got coffee and Venezuela oil (forget the cocaine in Columbia as that's in the black market). This money wasn't put in one stock but in a mutual fund managed by a reputable global company. True enough, in less than 9 months, the return was 30 plus percent.
Sure the US dollar is a bit weak now, relative to global currencies. But who needs to liquidate? "Just hang on to the dollars even if I had to liquidate the Latin America fund", I thought. "I don't need to swap the greenback for any currency now. I can wait till I need, say Euros to buy a Merc or a Porsche, before I liquidate the greenbacks. But by then, its a time of my choice and for all you know the greenback would have recovered from their current low of 1.35 to the Euro.
Makes sense?
That's why my advice to my friends who ask for investment advice is that one must always spread one's investments and invest only what one can afford to. Don't invest your kids' education fund if you can't afford to "pull out" in time. I remember the times I got burnt in various stock exchanges I invested in. After pouring money in some rather promising stocks, I suddenly needed funds for another more promising investment. The stocks rose by a few percent, far short of the 10 or 20 percent they were supposed to rise. So I liquidated them to move the money into the "more promising" investments as I'd already made some profit. Then those stocks I liquidated rose to the target levels I originally had in mind, yet the "more promising" investment had yet to deliver on the expected returns. A bird in hand is worth two in the bush, perhaps?
A friend of mine once said to me that if you invest (by jumping on the bandwagon), you have to know when to "jump off the bandwagon". He relates it to the tramcars in Hongkong or elsewhere in the world for that matter. You get on the tram and fall asleep, you'll miss your stop and find that you have to spend double the time to get home.
There's a Chinese saying that you miss the "Su Chow" you won't get another boat. The same in English. But in investing, I feel that there's ALWAYS another boat waiting for you. It's a case of what your expected returns are.
I've been into so many property deals which soured; a bit of the Hongkonger attitude I picked up. There's always a good deal in Hongkong. And people jump on the bandwagon in trying to get rich quick, not unlike the stock exchanges in Shanghai and Guangzhou now. A Chinese friend of mine in Hongkong once told me that the Chinese have gambling in their blood. But if you look carefully, there's always another opportunity if ever you're in doubt about the current one - just like if you see a strong banker in the casino, you don't have to place your bets on his /her table as there's always another table waiting for your bets. Sure there'll be the ones who'll become a millionaire faster than you can, but if you make an easy million, you're likely to lose that just as easily. It's like in the casino. You win, you increase your bets, and then the banker kills you in one swipe.
So now, each time a good deal comes along, I'll trust my own judgement more than what others tell me. I never listen to one investment banker; rather, I listen to a few of them and balance out their views. I'm sure every investment analyst and banker will have their preferences. They have a job to do. Some are over conservative, others are over enthusiastic about what they believe will work.
I missed out on the European funds, specifically emerging Europe. They're Euro based funds and the US was 1.25 to the Euro when my investment banker offered them to me. I felt the Euro was over-valued and sat around to wait till the Euro hits the sub-1.20 region before I move. Russia and the new Eastern European economies prospered. Along with the gain on Euro versus US Dollars exchange rate, I would have made 30 percent at least. But I have no regrets cos the money which I didn't put into Europe ended up in China funds. That went up more than 40 percent in the same period!
Life is fair. With China over-heating now, it may be time I wait for a market correction to go back into emerging Europe.
Back to my chicken rice. It's as good as it used to be. It's also the condiments which add to the pleasure of that expensive plate of chicken rice. The pounced ginger and garlic mix, and the chilly sauce, of course.
So for those of you who're stuck in less than expected yields, I'd suggest you look beyond your geographic boundaries. If you had invested in something which yielded 10 percent return, the $5 you spent on the chicken rice 30 years ago should have cost you more than $80 now. So the $30 we paid for that plate of Chatterbox chicken rice isn't that bad after all.
Friday 18 May 2007
What's happening to Asia
What is this about Asia.
Stock markets went berserk. Shanghai market seems to see no end to the bull run. When will it crash? Anybody's guess, really.
All this talk about Dow Jones and the US economy driving the world seems passe for now. Its China man! The Chinese farts, and the world farts along. Even Cannes film festival. Full of Chinese participation from director to artistes. Surely this must have been the effect of having more than one billion people there.
But can China sustain? Looking at the 4,000 years or so of Chinese history, there's this tendency to sit back and relax. Just like those emperors who resort to wine, women and song in the past, hence neglecting the livelihoods of the commoners, or "lau pai sing". Really hope this new breed of Chinese leaders are different from the emperors living in the comfort of their palaces.
So what's in store for the rest of Asia? India is catching up fast. Indian conglomerates are buying up European and Amercian companies like the Arabs did in the 70s with their petro dollars. Of course it's a bit more sensitive when the Chinese try to do the same - a deal some months ago to buy into one of the oil companies in the USA hit a snag with government intervention. So who is going to come out on top of this? The Chinese or the Indians, both of which are savvy traders and merchants since time immemorial.
And what is the rest of Asia doing about these two juggernauts? The Association of South East Asian nations (ASEAN) tried to do their bit. But with political turmoil and the lack of strong leaders, it doesn't look like they'll catch up anytime soon.
Thailand had its coup, Indonesia is mired in political jostling, Malaysia has its share of racial problems to resolve, Vietnam and Cambodia are still reeling from the transition from communism to semi-capitalism. Singapore has a strong government but they are at the mercy of their BIG brothers to the north, south, and west; plus the envy from these poorer big brothers. Hongkong is also at the mercy of what happens to CHINA, which they are supposedly a part of. Japan is embroiled in their own domestic problems, amidst the complications of an emerging Korea. Yet Korea is not without its own problems, considering the militant north. What about Taiwan? Probably more turmoil cos they are struggling to reconcile the relationship vis-a-vis China. Maybe when they stop punching one another in parliament will there be some serious work done in the county.
Where does that leave us in Asia?
Supposedly the South East Asian nations were to achieve ASEAN integration like Europe, with one common market and one common currency. But with such diverse economies and cultural roots, that sounds like an overly ambitious end. There's the issue of indigenous people, the majority of which belong to the Malay race, against the immigrants primarily the Indians and the Chinese who have settled in South East Asia. These are people who left their homes for a purpose and one purpose - to make life for themselves and their families back home better, economically. Their mindsets are different from the indigenous people who take their rights to their own lands for granted, and who feel that they should enjoy the fruits of economic success by virtue of the fact they are indigenous.
This isn't an Asian phenomenon. The Americans had to deal with the Indians and the Australians had to deal with their aborigines. The difference is that the American and Australian immigrant population surpassed that of their indigenous people many many years ago, before they started to realize that their indigenous people are being marginalized, in a way. Honestly, this is really of no consequence to the evolution of mankind and the modernizing of economies and the advent of freedom of global trade.
Asian countries, being a bit more backward (with some exceptions) economically and politically started to introduce immigration and restraint of trade regulations which prevented and hindered the free movement of talents and investments to the extent that they're unable to balance the ratio of their laid back indigenous populace with primordial mindsets against willing immigrants whose only objective is to improve their economic well being in the country they've chosen to live.
A free market economy is probably the only way forward in this day and age. Sure, one can choose to pace the opening up of their economy in tandem with local sentiments and sensitivities. Like China, which has chosen to regulate the appreciation of their currency to avoid social unrest. But the longer the process lasts, the more its populace will be left behind. Closing doors to the rest of the world succeeded in China through the centuries, for there was no internet, no international phone calls, and no super jumbos who can fly from one corner of the world to another in less than one day (disregarding time zones). In that aspect, India seems to be a bit more open, although they have to reconcile the divide between Hindus and Moslems and the impact of neighboring Pakistan on their own people.
What a mess Asia has become! Europe is probably facing the same problems after having merged western European economies with the newly liberated, previously Communists, eastern European markets. But they seem to be doing fine, although they don't have the critical mass which Asia has in China and India.
Long live the king, the queen, the emperor, the raja, the sultan or whomever else. As long as they have the long term interests of the populace in mind, they can live for as long as they like, provided God allows them to...........
Stock markets went berserk. Shanghai market seems to see no end to the bull run. When will it crash? Anybody's guess, really.
All this talk about Dow Jones and the US economy driving the world seems passe for now. Its China man! The Chinese farts, and the world farts along. Even Cannes film festival. Full of Chinese participation from director to artistes. Surely this must have been the effect of having more than one billion people there.
But can China sustain? Looking at the 4,000 years or so of Chinese history, there's this tendency to sit back and relax. Just like those emperors who resort to wine, women and song in the past, hence neglecting the livelihoods of the commoners, or "lau pai sing". Really hope this new breed of Chinese leaders are different from the emperors living in the comfort of their palaces.
So what's in store for the rest of Asia? India is catching up fast. Indian conglomerates are buying up European and Amercian companies like the Arabs did in the 70s with their petro dollars. Of course it's a bit more sensitive when the Chinese try to do the same - a deal some months ago to buy into one of the oil companies in the USA hit a snag with government intervention. So who is going to come out on top of this? The Chinese or the Indians, both of which are savvy traders and merchants since time immemorial.
And what is the rest of Asia doing about these two juggernauts? The Association of South East Asian nations (ASEAN) tried to do their bit. But with political turmoil and the lack of strong leaders, it doesn't look like they'll catch up anytime soon.
Thailand had its coup, Indonesia is mired in political jostling, Malaysia has its share of racial problems to resolve, Vietnam and Cambodia are still reeling from the transition from communism to semi-capitalism. Singapore has a strong government but they are at the mercy of their BIG brothers to the north, south, and west; plus the envy from these poorer big brothers. Hongkong is also at the mercy of what happens to CHINA, which they are supposedly a part of. Japan is embroiled in their own domestic problems, amidst the complications of an emerging Korea. Yet Korea is not without its own problems, considering the militant north. What about Taiwan? Probably more turmoil cos they are struggling to reconcile the relationship vis-a-vis China. Maybe when they stop punching one another in parliament will there be some serious work done in the county.
Where does that leave us in Asia?
Supposedly the South East Asian nations were to achieve ASEAN integration like Europe, with one common market and one common currency. But with such diverse economies and cultural roots, that sounds like an overly ambitious end. There's the issue of indigenous people, the majority of which belong to the Malay race, against the immigrants primarily the Indians and the Chinese who have settled in South East Asia. These are people who left their homes for a purpose and one purpose - to make life for themselves and their families back home better, economically. Their mindsets are different from the indigenous people who take their rights to their own lands for granted, and who feel that they should enjoy the fruits of economic success by virtue of the fact they are indigenous.
This isn't an Asian phenomenon. The Americans had to deal with the Indians and the Australians had to deal with their aborigines. The difference is that the American and Australian immigrant population surpassed that of their indigenous people many many years ago, before they started to realize that their indigenous people are being marginalized, in a way. Honestly, this is really of no consequence to the evolution of mankind and the modernizing of economies and the advent of freedom of global trade.
Asian countries, being a bit more backward (with some exceptions) economically and politically started to introduce immigration and restraint of trade regulations which prevented and hindered the free movement of talents and investments to the extent that they're unable to balance the ratio of their laid back indigenous populace with primordial mindsets against willing immigrants whose only objective is to improve their economic well being in the country they've chosen to live.
A free market economy is probably the only way forward in this day and age. Sure, one can choose to pace the opening up of their economy in tandem with local sentiments and sensitivities. Like China, which has chosen to regulate the appreciation of their currency to avoid social unrest. But the longer the process lasts, the more its populace will be left behind. Closing doors to the rest of the world succeeded in China through the centuries, for there was no internet, no international phone calls, and no super jumbos who can fly from one corner of the world to another in less than one day (disregarding time zones). In that aspect, India seems to be a bit more open, although they have to reconcile the divide between Hindus and Moslems and the impact of neighboring Pakistan on their own people.
What a mess Asia has become! Europe is probably facing the same problems after having merged western European economies with the newly liberated, previously Communists, eastern European markets. But they seem to be doing fine, although they don't have the critical mass which Asia has in China and India.
Long live the king, the queen, the emperor, the raja, the sultan or whomever else. As long as they have the long term interests of the populace in mind, they can live for as long as they like, provided God allows them to...........
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)