Selamat Hari Kebangsaan Brunei

1 hari lagi kita akan menyambut Hari Kebangsaan Brunei ke 29, dengan tema sambutan Negaraku Brunei Darussalam. Sempena hari yang penting ini, saya ingin berkongsi pendapat mengenai Brunei.

Seiring dengan status Brunei sebagai negara Melayu Islam Beraja, pada tahun 2012, beberapa inisiatif telah diperkenalkan. Yang paling diperkatakan oleh orang ramai ialah penutupan sementara premis-premis perniagaan sewaktu sembahyang Jumaat. Pelbagai pendapat telah diutarakan oleh orang ramai, namun perkara ini jangan dianggap sebagai 'menyusahkan'. Jika pandai mengatur, perkara ini tidak akan memberi implikasi apa-apa sekali pun

Beberapa bulan ini,saya telah membaca pelbagai pendapat yang disiarkan dalam akhbar harian tempatan, Brunei Times & Borneo Bulletin. Ada yang mempersoalkan mengapa BSP tidak menyumbang banyak kepada Brunei, seperti Petronas kepada Malaysia. Ada pula yang mempertahankan BSP,bahawa mereka telah menyumbang banyak kepada negara. Pada pendapat saya, adakah perlu bangunan ikonik seperti Menara Berkembar Petronas di bumi Brunei? Rasanya tidak ada keperluan tersebut. Pada pemerhatian saya sejak menetap di Seria semenjak 1997,banyak perubahan yang telah berlaku di Seria hasil sumbangan BSP. Mengambil contoh OGDC,Pusat Insani,pusat bowling dan pawagam 3D.

Kerajan KDYMM telah memperuntukkan sejumlah wang untuk projek FTTH. Baru-baru ini Telbru telah melancarkan FTTH. Diharap dengan pengenalan FTTH di Brunei, tiada lagi masalah seperti 'internet lag' akan kedengaran lagi. Tambahan pula, pihak DST dijangka akan melancarkan 4g LTE bagi mengatasi masalah capaian internet mudah alih dan menawarkan kelajuan internet yang lebih tinggi kepada pengguna telefon mudah alih terutamanya telefon pintar. Walaupun kemajuan teknologi di Brunei agak perlahan berbanding negara jiran, ia tetap dialu-alukan!

Akhir kata, saya bangga menjadi salah seorang dari penduduk di bumi bertuah Brunei ini! Walaupun saya bukan rakyat Brunei, saya dididik mengikut acuan negara ini. Brunei akan mendapat tempat di hati saya, jika boleh saya ingin berkerjaya di negara ini, tetapi apa kan daya saya bukan orang Brunei dan bidang pekerjaan yang saya ingin ceburi menurut undang-undang yang saya ketahui orang Brunei sahaja yang boleh diambil bekerja/keutamaan diberikan

SELAMAT HARI KEBANGSAAN KE 29 BRUNEI

10day CNY holiday

Its 12day into the Lunar new year of water snake,another 3 more day and it will be Chap Goh Mei. My zodiac prediction for this 'Water Snake' year is not very good. Master So,a famous HK fengshui master describe it as 'Yat Lap Kat Sing Dou Mou' (1 lucky star also dont have). Some other predictions says that I should not try to get/expect 'quick gains' from gambling or investment (I am assuming CFD those kind of investment). I am also prone to easily 'fire up', so I must control my anger! This year not much luck for me,only hard work will do! Jiayou Fighting!

Let me just quickly sum up my 10day holiday
7 Feb-depart Brunei to Singapore on a RB 9.15am flight.arrived at efficient Changi Airport,only to be greeted by traffic jam on PIE/CTE otw to Holiday Inn Orchard City Centre.Had lunch at The Basement by Kopitiam,in Centrepoint. Went to the 'usual place' Ngee Ann, OG, Robinson's,Paragon. I went to branded boutiques AX,CK Jeans,GUESS but the prices were .... (I guess I should stick to buying these in Australia during Chadstone sale).Anyway managed to buy 1 T-shirt & shorts from GAP,not exactly cheap but since its 'sponsored by parents' who cares LOL! Evening went to Chinatown. After Chinatown, went to Singapore Flyer. Wow, what an experience!

8 Feb-as usual every morning I went for my Orchard Road morning walk to buy newspaper & get free newspaper. And this time, I stopped by any free wifi hotspots to check on the latest update on the housing issue (glad to note its settled). After breakfast & a quick shop at 313@Somerset,depart to JB. Similar like last year, it rained heavily! Halfway to my 'kampung' in Batu Pahat, dad asked if I wanted to go JPO. I rejected it,thinking that I would be brought there few days later but apparently I was WRONG!

9 Feb-CNY eve,nothing much to say. In the afternoon, meetup with one of my friends from Monash Sunway, Tommy. Nice to catchup with what they are doing

10 Feb-Happy CNY,nothing much to talk about just temple visiting for 'pai pai'. At night, had a CNY feast in Restoran SY

11 Feb-Went for kirin fish touching.As usual didnt manage to touch the fish

12 Feb-This is going to be the longest journey in this trip,err more than 12 hours no thanks to traffic jams! After breakfast,went to Kluang to pickup my cousin,Peter who will join us to Penang. The jam at PLUS highway was terrible, luckily we manage to shave off some jam time by detouring to GCE somewhere in Selangor. But still, we reached our hotel,Holiday Inn Resort Penang in Batu Ferringhi at 12am

13 Feb-After breakfast, went to Fort Cornwallis. Next up,Penang Hill train/tram ride up Bukit Bendera. Had lunch up there,char kway teow! After the hill,went back to rest,but me and my cousin decide to walk around Batu Ferringhi up til Hard Rock hotel.Dinner was at Guan Guan Cafe, an eatery which obtain '4 star+' trip advisor rating.

14 Feb-Breakfast at New World Park. After breakfast, went to the Wat in Lorong Burma. Got a 'chiam' from there,not  very good one. Next up, Queensbay Mall. Had lunch at Kim Gary, looked around at branded boutiques like FCUK,but the price ...... (I should stick to Chadstone sale). Instead went inside AEON to renew my AEON card and buy Renoma underwear(which might be a wrong decision,as when I return to Singapore learnt that BHG sells the more upmarket 2xist 2 for $35). When we are about to leave,it rained heavily so end up having a drink in Starbucks and luckily Starbucks had a buy 1 free 1 promo for Hojicha latte. At night went to nearby Tesco Seri Tanjung Pinang for dinner n some shopping in Tesco

15feb-Depart from Penang after breakfast in Mcd, send my cousin back to Kampar. Arrived in Subang Jaya/Sunway, went to Monash to buy my textbooks. After that, had some cendol at the famous cendol rojak stall. Stayed at Empire Hotel Subang. There, I manage to have a look at Superdry prices in Tangs. Turns out its about the same,if there is no discount,but if there is either Malaysia or Australia is cheaper. Pretty huge collection also! Dinner at Din Tai Fung, which is famous for its xiao long bao. After dinner, went to Thean hou temple

16 feb-Depart for JB after breakfast in Asia Cafe.Stayed in Inter Continental singapore in Singapore. I must say its a very good value for the price that my dad pays,with free internet n nice room! went to marina bay sands after lunch at food junction.no luck at all,but manage to walk around the shoppes at MBS. After that, went to Chinatown to buy the 'famous' Lim Chee Guan bak kwa. At night, I went for last minute shopping at EDC Bugis

17 feb-Back to Brunei,weather was not very good.The flight was bumpy almost all of the times! BTW, a friendly info:If you spend $100 in a store in Singapore,dont forget to ask for GST refund form. Now the process is simplified by using eTRS kiosk. Previously I often get scolded by Custom officers for what reason that I dont know,now no more scolding,easier GST refunding!

I guess that's about it for now.Next up my National Day posting

Pre CNy posting

Before CNY

                It’s been almost a month since I last blogged. I still can’t contemplate to have regular blog timing, and is amazed how some people can blog daily.

                The Lunar New Year of ‘Water Snake’ approach and the Year of Dragon comes to a fiery end on Saturday nite/Sunday. Let’s wish everyone celebrating Chinese New Year and people I know, Gong Xi FaCai Xing NienKuai Le. May The Year of The Snake Brings Everyone Good Health,Good Life and Prosperity.

                Speaking about CNY, this year marks the breaking of the CNY tradition that I called ‘1 Sabah,1 Johor’ (no I am not pledging allegiance to a certain political party) as in 1 year, our family will go back Sabah and another year Johor for CNY. No, we are not going for a CNY holiday, as its too costly and certainly not in our current financial situation. For the record, we went back to Johor for CNY last year, and surprisingly or not, we are going back to Johor again, due to ‘certain pressures’!

                The good news is I get to go to Singapore for some ‘Orchard Road shopping’ and maybe try my luck in MBS. In Johor, we might visit Johor Premium Outlet or the much talked about, Legoland. For our ‘Cuti-cuti 1Malaysia’, we would be going to Penang. Before going back to Singapore, we would spend a nite in Subang Jaya. I hope that some of my friends are already back from their CNY break in their hometown, so we could meet up. More on my CNY holiday after I return from my trip. Lets get to a few things that I would like to blog!

Crazy CFD Losses:Pause & Reflect

                If you remembered I have blogged about the huge losses that I suffered from CFD! Unfortunately, the $150 has also turned into ashes, pushing me further into red. Currently, I am taking a break from this ‘risky game’ to recoup some of my losses through survey work. At the same time,before I get back into the ‘game’ again, I have to reflect on my decisions carefully,so that I am not pushed further into losses! Again, I shall advice newbies, don’t dabble in these kind of things unless you are sure and not powered by greed!

Move House: Another Long Story

                Things are not looking any better since I first blogged about the ‘lease problem’, as of now there are still NO confirmation on where I will be staying the next sem. Hopefully, over this week and next week, they would have settled it,and provide some certainty. Otherwise, I am left on a ‘cliffhanger’.

                Seria has been my ‘home’ since 1997, Labuan which is my real hometown seems ‘foreign’. The prospect of moving out of Seria, saddens me. However, as this is not my decision as its related to where my dad will work in the near future,amid the end of a huge contract. This might be a logistical nightmare, as I would have to update my Bursa’s correspondence address as well as moving stuffs!

Fruits of Previous Investment

                Its been a while, since I last blogged about my share portfolio. My share portfolio value is facing a ‘roller-coaster’ ride, as the Malaysian market faces uncertainty over the upcoming PRU13. Let me share with you, some of the current quarter’s dividend distribution  and updates of my portfolio!

My Australian portfolio:CFX is expected to announce its distribution on 21 Feb, however based on previous release to ASX, they are estimating 6.8cents/share

From YTlGroup:I have just received 1sen/share from YTL.Starhill REIT has declared 3.58sen/share. Starhill Global REIT declares 1.13cents, however due to broker admin charges, I am not going to get the full amount

Interestingly, Sunway REIT which declares more than 3 sen (including advance distribution), is asking for a trading halt pending an announcement. Let’s see whether its good or bad!

Pavilion REIT declares 3.51sen

KrisAssets which would be delisted, upon the completion of all the corporate exercise, has provided me quite a windfall of $2.60 cash distribution. Its offspring, IGB REIT has also declared 1.83sen

CMMT declares 4.24sen

Last but not least, I have added KLCCP to my portfolio and I am wondering if it’s a correcr decision. In addition, DiGi will declare its result on Wednesday, I am anticipating 4-7 sen dividend

                Okey dokey, I shall blog again about my CNY in the near future.Once again Gong Xi FaCai and see you soon! Cheer!