Amanah Saham 1 Malaysia (AS1M) dividend in six month's time... time to make more?

Time sure flies! Before long PNB is going to declare the much awaited dividend for our investment in AS1M (Amanah Saham 1 Malaysia) launched in September 2009. Looking at the dividend rates of other PNB products and the fact that this one was put up at the instigation or direction of the Prime Minister, I am inclined to think and expect the dividend for AS1M to be rather generous.

I also see an opportunity to create wealth here by parking my current saving and fund derived from stock sale in AS1M. As it is a fixed rate unit trust, you would only expect  a proportion of the dividend based on the period parked. So if you were going to put in 100K now, you would get an extra income of about 3.5K  at seven percent dividend rate compared to 1K at two percent interest at the bank! How about that? Of course if you were risk-loving and  lucky, you would get much more than that at the stock market but times are not so good now. Shiller, the author of "Irrational Exuberance" and the man who predicted the dot com bubble burst has predicted a market correction soon so for me it means I need to seriously think of quitting the market pretty soon. Of course I am no savvy investor but my gut feeling is Shiller might be right.  For goodness sake! The man has studied market data since 1881 under different economic climates.

And so I will flee the market and gather my profit on SIME and seek the safe haven in AS1M and reduce my potential losses. I will also take out my saving from the bank and leave enough to maintain the set limit and plough them into AS1M, surely the dividend rate would not be below five percent. I have full confidence in PNB's ability to perform despite lacklustre market condition.

I really cannot wait to write about the outcome of my decision in six month's time. Yes, what is life without risks? This time I am taking a low risk approach though. And Prof Shiller, whatever the outcome of your prediction , I promise not to regret or blame you.

MANDARIN .. how I wish I could read the written words!

I have been receiving a number of comments on my blog articles in Mandarin. I thank those who sent them but sadly I could not read the long notes and respond to whatever they are trying to tell me and my other blog visitors. I am afraid to publish these notes as I really do not know what they are saying!

Please write in English so that I can interact with you all who have commented in Mandarin. I am sure you found something you like or do not like about my articles such that you feel that you need to comment. 

Thank you for visiting my blog and I welcome all your comments but am illiterate in Mandarin.

Restructuring my Portfolios to Compensate Losses

At the end of last year 2009 I looked at my then portfolios with alarm as  not only was I losing on paper but the stocks were also ghostly dormant. I decided that I needed to do things quite drastically like taking out my ASN shares and my other savings and sold off my non-performing mutual funds and plowed them all into blue chips such as AXIATA, TM , SIME and MAXIS. And after nearly six months, thanks goodness the decision has paid off. The first two bluechips are doing really,really well.

Up till last week my paper losses on the plantation counters have been compensated and now I notice that for the last six weeks the plantation counters are slowly picking up indicating the commodity prices are on the upward trend. I cannot wait to sell some of them off in preparation of buying the shares in the two Petronas companies to be listed before the end of the year. I am now more concerned about getting constant good dividends rather than just relying on share price upside.

I have heard of loan restructuring which usually involves extending the period of payment and lowering the premium in which case the person is virtually stuck to the loaner, looks like a modern day slavery to me. What people say of a certain  situation is  "dig some holes  to cover others", that is when you take out a loan to pay another loan. Yes this is another  form of restructuring. What a life!

That is not a path to wealth creation as anyone can see. One should only restructure when one does not have to borrow money from others, though in my case I did borrow some at no interest from my better half whom I promptly repaid when my position became positive. But you cannot do that with others, let alone banks and worst still loan sharks!

Restructure your portfolios by all means but you must  have initially created a diversified portfolio to do that. 

London Public transportation - A model of efficiency

What I love about London beside its theatres, museums and city parks is its seamless public transportation. Buses and tubes (underground rail) and regular trains seem to travel in tandem. You hop on one and off another and plan your destination earlier. You use only one card usually you pay in advance.

If you were to take the tube based on a daily rate you have to pay GBP1.20 per trip. So if you want to go to a destination, you have to make sure that it can be connected to the line you are travelling. Once you alight and go out of the station and then coming back to go to another station, you have to pay for another ticket. One week season ticket enable you to hop on and off any transport without having to pay for each trip. A great way for tourists to travel around London.

We had a pleasant surprise when the cost of travel to areas outside London is deducted according to zone, from the season ticket. We went shopping and sightseeing in Portsmouth and visiting friends in Wellyn Garden City about 2-2 1/2 hours from London Waterloo and King's Cross respectively. But you need to tell the ticket seller about your week season ticket otherwise he will charge you the full fare going out of London.

The bus in London is also numerous and run according to schedule. It is good to travel by bus as the route is sometimes direct rather than by tube in which you need to change line to arrive at your destination. When I was on a fellowship in London some years ago I mostly travelled by tube so I hardly saw the London scene such as the river Thames, bridges, iconic buildings such as Westminster, St Paul Cathedral etc. Some of the bus routes are really scenic. Of course you need to know which bus to go where and which is nearer to your place of stay.

Visionary planning is required to reach the level of such efficient transportation where not only the poor can travel on it but the middle class as well. I used to see my clinical professor travel to London on the tube every day. She parked her car at the train station nearest to her home in outer London and travel all the way by public transport.

In Kuala Lumpur it looks like only those without own cars travel on public transport which is still insufficient in numbers and is not run efficiently as well. There is no seamless ticket system yet except for touch n go for LRT . I am wondering why despite being independent for more than half a century we have not really bothered to raise the standard of public transportation to the level seen in countries like England. We are at the mercy of some unscrupulous taxi drivers who fail to see the big picture when they fleece especially the tourists.

When I went to London at Christmas 2008, I saw several top government servants who took their families on a holiday there and these are the people who advise the government on policy and planning. There are of course those Ministers and Deputy Ministers and their families and friends who have been going to London all these years. Don't they notice how good London public transportation is? Unless of course when they are there they are all chauffeur driven.

Flying with MAS and experience at Heathrow terminal 4

I was pleasantly surprised, as a gold card Enrich member, I was offered the use of the first class lounge. I had once used it in 2002 on my way to New Delhi on official duty. It is much quieter of course compared to the normal business class lounge and the food is served by waiters on white table cloth. It;s like a five star hotel and I had a couple of well-heeled Europeans for company.

The shower room is complete with WC facilities unlike in the business class which is separate. Yes the experience was welcoming prior to the long flight to London.

I had a good dinner in the lounge and opted not to have anything on board. Watched some videos and off to a good sleep. Woke up about five hours before arrival with a headache! Despite knowing the physiology of headache I decided to ask for a cup of MILO... ghee that made the headache worse I immediately requested for two cups of orange juice and within 10 minutes the headache had disappeared... thanks goodness, I was dehydrated... so no paracetamol please.

Breakfast was not so good as I made the wrong choice of "nasi lemak".... the rice was soggy and the condiments not so tasty. The attentive steward tried to replace it with omelette but I declined.

Yes my next seat companion was a lovely English lady who returned from Perth Australia after playing golf there. She was very stern at the beginning but we got talking a few hours before arrival as she had been going to and fro the toilet. I was glad I chose an aisle seat.

As I mentioned earlier we were given a card for premier lane immigration check. Very fast but too many people initially at the lane . I was served by a young British Pakistani officer  with a funny gelled hairstyle. Anyway as my passport was brand new as I just renewed it before this travel, he had his uneasiness and brought out a little gadget from his pocket to "scan" the passport!! He took some time triggering me to blurt out that he did this because it was a Malaysian passport which has been getting bad names around the world airport immigration check. I then took out my professional membership cards, my IC etc without him ever asking and he finally stamped the passport! By that time there was no one behind me. he was doing his work and yet why does a bona fide traveller always have to suffer this undue scrutiny? By the way the last time I was through this lane it was a breeze and the serving officer was a British English man with an unpleasant and sour face! This Pakistani officer at least had a nice smile and he even apologised for taking so long..... I forgave him.

After a long walk, luckily I had a bag on trolley, I arrived at the baggage reclaim carousel. It was cramped and like most space in London very narrow. I prefer Terminal 3 anytime. It is less vibrant and people crowd together. KLIA is 100% better.... ghee! How I miss my country with its warts and all.

We arrived at 5.10 am local time and I was out by about 6.20 am, would have been earlier if I had my old passport with me with all those international travels stamped on it... the young immigration officer would not have to apologise. Well a single lady travelling..... remember those mules? It makes me cringe.

Remember when you are travelling with a brand new passport just bring a long your old one. It saves you a lot of hassles.

Flying off to London with Malaysia Airlines

I am leaving for London in a few days. Actually I dread traveling long distant like this especially when you are alone as you do not know who is going to be sitting next to you for that "captive"12-hr  journey.

I am traveling business class with MAS, my favorite airline. The cabin staff usually make you feel pampered and at home so on that score, I am not worried. The seats, two in a row, are also ergonomic and you can have a restful sleep. I used to travel economy class when I was a student and I wonder now how I could have put up with such a crowded atmosphere and cramped leg room?  You can hardly move and watch out if you have a middle seat of five in a row and when your next door passenger is fast asleep and you cannot control that bladder of yours! I remember my body ached quite a bit on arrival.

When you travel business class they give you a form on board to go to Heathrow immigration through Premier lane so it will be a breeze as less people in a queue. Come to think of it, it might have been packaged into  the cost of your  ticket. Nothing is free in this world!

Thanks to the internet that I can check the weather and temperature on arrival so looks like I am going to have to acclimatize from 32  to -3 deg C! Have to look for all my warm clothing  from my last trip in 2008.. Gosh I have been so "busy " I hardly have time to pack! Zana please make sure you bring along those warm leggings when you fetch me! Yes, I must remember to print that  Terminal 4 map as not to feel lost. I have been to London many times and the earlier terminal was at number 3 which I am familiar with. This is the first time I am coming to T4.

I'd better start packing as I will be away for almost two weeks. And  I just hope the passenger sitting  next to me is not an obese gentleman who snores.....

Prolonged allergic reaction... currently alleviated

My second patient for today was a 53 year old lady whom I saw about three weeks ago complaining of itchy rashes in her arms of about  three weeks duration. She was not an asthmatic.

I remember she was quite distressed and was scratching away. And she said that, had she been fair, one could actually see the redness in her skin. She had an allergic dermatitis likely to be contact in nature. It was quite extensive and one would notice the thickening appearance of the skin with numerous scratch marks. She said she could hardly sleep due to the itchiness.

She had been to see three doctors and I was then the fourth. The first gave her antihistamines and calamine lotion, the second gave her an antihistamine injection as well and the third gave her a steroid cream which apparently worsened her itchiness so much so that she had to apply baby lotion to soothe the "burning skin". Obviously local treatment did not help neither were the usual oral and injectable anti-allergy agents. So I prescribed her a tapering oral dose of steroid and asked her to return after she had completed the therapy.

So she came today, smiling cheek to cheek and telling me that her condition had been "cured". In fact , according to her, the itchiness disappeared after two days of the medication. She thanked me profusely and showered me with praises and said she prayed for my good health and that of my nurse too! She apologised for not coming earlier as she had to travel outstation to see her sick old mother.

She also said she did go back to the first doctor for a cold medication and she told him that his medication did not cure her  itchy condition such that she had to seek other doctors to get relief. Apparently the private doctor  had inquired  who was the doctor who "cured" her and also asked to look at the prescription. 

She was indeed verbose with excitement and a kind of gratefulness. This patient made my day.

On a serious note, I advised her to keep away from the allergic agents/irritants as the condition will recur. Actually  I do not fancy giving oral steroid on a regular basis as it is against my training and ethical practice.