或许，我还没准备好吧。。。
i went for the third round of interviews for the GIC scholarship. it was a day of activities, starting with an individual presentation (my question was: which asset class do you prefer to invest your money in - stocks or bonds?), a talk with one of the senior officers, and finally a group project and presentation (if you had S$100,000 and hope to double the amount in a span of 10 years, which asset classes, gold, property, currency, stocks and bonds, would you invest in?
they aren't exactly very difficult questions, but they require some fundamental knowledge in the finance sector, and force you to think from the point of view of an investor. And you realise that there are many considerations when you construct a portfolio, and being flexible isn't the simple way out. you need to have a robust enough portfolio to withstand some risk and uncertainty. it may be a long day, but definitely a very informative and enriching one.
there were 9 other candidates other than myself, with 6 from rjc, 2 from hci and 1 from an international school in penang. yes, i am the only one from njc, and the only one from a middle-income family. i begin to wonder what is the true message behind the award of a scholarship...
personal bias aside, today has made me believe even further that upbringing can substantially affect one's mentality. being rich and well to do (nothing against that of course), they are more willing to take more risks when it comes to investment, and think that any money lost could be earned, especially when we are young and full of potential. i think otherwise. while it is fine to take certain amount of risks, i think that we should be more prudent and maybe a little more conservative when money is involved, for money is hard-earned. if we do not uphold the importance of money, losing money in investments would probably mean nothing and no painful lessons would be learned, unless the crash is on a massive scale.
food for thought.
well, i was upset by an argument made by one of my superiors. it involved me directly of course, otherwise i wouldn't even bother. i'm just upset at the fact that in general, people are selfish and only care for their own interests. Of course, like I've said, this is a generalisation, but it applies to most people. I'm sick and tired of being the nice guy, and saying yes to everyone, when almost hardly anyone says yes to me.
Whatever I'm going to do in the next few days may turn me into the baddest guy on earth, but I'm not going to care anymore. If they don't give me a break, I won't give them a break either. Period.
india, i must say, is an amazing country. it has one of the world's fastest developing economy, and definitely has more potential for more. it has thousands of years of history behind it, and is the birthplace of 2 major religions, and is under the influence of many more. even though my trip was a short 18 days, i have already so much to tell...
let's start with the toilet experience i had at indira ghandi international airport, delhi. i entered the toilet after collecting my kit bag, only to find a young man following me to the urinal, then to the wash basin to offer me soap and napkins to dry my hands. i was caught back by surprise (i really wasn't expecting things that i read in books to happen), and so i rejected him, rather rudely i would say. it dawned upon me much later that he was only doing his job, in hope of a generous tip from a tourist, which of course never happened.
the actual training. my commanders told me that the accomodation and food in BABINA camp is actually good, much better if you were to compare it to Wallaby. It sure was, with pretty comfy beds and all bunks fitted with a desert fan that was quite effective in cooling the room when it gets unbearably hot in the afternoon. But still, there were instances where you felt that you were thrown back to basics. Blackouts were frequent, and there were times there was no water to wash or shower in. In many parts of India, water is still drawn out from wells. And so in camp, apart from potable water, they actually fill up water drums with water meant for washing on a regular basis. The drums aren't exactly that huge, and so they were times when water just ran out. I guess the experience made me cherish water and electricity, something so necessary yet basic, more than I ever did.
Going outfield was like visiting the safari. They were cows, buffalos along streams of water (that was rare though), shepherds herding their goats, sheep (they come in three types: white sheep, black sheep, and white sheep with black faces) and peacocks. A friend of mine actually saw an animal with the head of a goat and body of a horse, or something like that. Cloudless skies, land that stretched through the horizon, beautiful sunsets, starry nights...There was really nothing more you could ask for. That kind of impact that the place had on me...it was something i haven't felt for a very long time.
Moving on to the tour, the Taj Mahal was certainly food for the soul. I wouldn't elaborate more, it is one of the must-see places in the world. Very beautiful indeed.
Along the way, there was much to see. Traffic seemed to flow even without traffic lights, horns were more of courtesy and acknowledgement than rudeness. I realised that other than their railway system (that i suppose the British left behind), India's transport system isn't very developed. There were no proper expressways or freeways, the roads seemed to stretch on and on, passing by towns and cities along the way. The Indira Ghandi International Airport (Terminal 2) only had 10 gates; passengers had to wait for the aircraft to taxi before they could board. The Metro in Delhi is only in its early stages of construction, and whatever you saw on TV about the train and bus services are true. There is definitely much more room for growth in the sector.
If you were to compare India with the other rapidly developing country in the world, China, you would realise that there are key differences. I would say that China's development is more structured, with cities developing much faster than the rural areas. However, in India, things are abit more balanced. You could find posh buildings and shopping malls situated just hundreds of metres away from slums and tentages. There was no structure in the development of cities, even in New Delhi. Cows roamed the streets, people did whatever they wanted along the streets (that includes answering nature's call); it really could get quite messy. Children ran around asking for food, money, or selling anything they could lay their hands on. It is not up to me to say which form is better, but looking at how the people struggled with poverty pained me.
I wish I could do something substantial for them, but I realise there was hardly anything I could do. I felt not only their poverty, but their helplessness. As I passed by street after street, I realised that poverty is something that is inherent in all economies, and is something that will stay in time to come. It also dawned upon me that lifting people out of poverty is really a noble task.
This trip to India is definitely an eye-opener for me. For one, it made me realise how vast the world is. We shouldn't be sitting in front of the computer all day...Find time, save some money, and wander into the different parts of the world. For you never know when you could discover something you never once knew...