"There were no secrets between us. I was not surprised at all when she told me how much I was going to get"- Christine
A boat passes in front of the Singapore skyline. A devoted Filipina maid inherited six million Singapore dollars (more than four million US) from her late employer after more than 20 years of service, a newspaper report said Wednesday.
AFP - A devoted Filipina maid inherited six million Singapore dollars (more than four million US) from her late employer after more than 20 years of service, a newspaper report said Wednesday.
"I am the luckiest maid in Singapore, with or without the money," the 47-year-old single woman -- identified only by the pseudonym "Christine" -- told the Straits Times in an interview.
The maid refused to be named in public for fear of possible threats to her life in the impoverished Philippines, where wealthy people have been kidnapped for ransom and some killed by their abductors.
The windfall, including cash and a luxury apartment near the Orchard Road shopping belt, came from the estate of her employer Quek Kai Miew, a medical doctor and philanthropist who died last year at 66.
The maid had also taken care of the doctor's late mother, and was told that she would be a beneficiary of her employer's will when it was drawn up in 2008.
"There were no secrets between us. I was not surprised at all when she told me how much I was going to get," the maid recalled.
"Christine" was devastated when Quek died a year ago, as the two were inseparable, and temporarily moved in with the doctor's nephew for solace.
"It was heartbreaking for me as I saw more years with Doctor Quek than with my own mother. I would break down every time I thought about her. I could not be by myself," she said.
"I was always beside her. Wherever she went, I was with her."
The maid, who is now applying for permanent residency in Singapore, said her newfound wealth had not changed her lifestyle.
"I do not really think much about the money I got. I just live my life as I did before, and not as a rich person," the maid, dressed simply in a blouse and slacks with short-cropped hair, was quoted as saying.
"I am still who I was before. I cannot behave differently because I have money now. Even my Filipino maid friends here still treat me the same."
Nearly 200,000 foreign maids, mostly from the Philippines and Indonesia, work in affluent Singapore, which has a population of five million.
THE property market in the country is expected to rise soon as there is a strong connection between the stock market and property values.
Capital Sanctuary managing director Dr Christopher Shun said over an 18-year period from 1992, the average positive correlation between the Malaysian equity and property market was 76.54%.
“Thus one can safely conclude that a 20% increase in the Malaysian equity market would adduce a 15.3% increase in the Malaysian property market.
“A similar thing would happen if the equity market was to reverse with a 20% decrease,” he said.
Property talk by Dr Christopher Shun Kong Leng during the The Star Property Fair 2010 held at G hotel.
He was speaking at the talk ‘Is It a Good Time to Invest in Real Estate?” during the three-day Star Property Fair 2010 organised by Star Publications (M) Bhd in collaboration with Henry Butcher Malaysia Penang. Shun said the property market was also expected to be boosted by the growth in trade surpluses of the country.
“Our ringgit is depreciating, making our exports cheaper, and enabling the countries in the region to buy more from us.
“This creates an overwhelming tide of liquidity which will first make its way into the equity markets and then spill over into the property and commodity markets,” he said.
Shun added that although the present base lending rate for housing loan was 6.3%, it was still the lowest in three decades.
“These are the reasons to invest in property especially landed ones and make investments in real estate.”
Earlier, Iskandar Associates principal Dr Iskandar Ismail, in his talk titled ‘Profiting from Real Estate Investment’, said the next 18 months would be the best time to indulge in property investment in Penang.
“Although the economy is slightly uncertain, the local property market has solid long term fundamentals.
“You will make a good return once the boom comes in a few years. Income from rental plus capital growth and tax benefits make property an unbeatable investment,” he said.
Armed with a doctorate in Corporate Property Management from the University of Reading, United Kingdom, Iskandar was the brainchild behind the Malaysia House Price Index that is used by investors to track the property market.
Meanwhile, George Town World Heritage Incorporated general manager Maimunah Mohd Sharif, who gave a talk on ‘The Economics for Heritage Conservation’ said there might be no direct transaction happening in heritage conservation but the heritage value was priceless.
“We may not be able to label them with the dollar sign but the economics of heritage conservation is all about retaining a sustainable and liveable city.
“Investments may not see profit in hard cash but it is the sense of belonging, cultural memories and pride that counts,” she said.
Apple (red) and Microsoft (blue) closing prices for the past five years: Apple shares have gone up 500 percent and Microsoft
Apple reported record revenues earlier this week but Microsoft had a blowout quarter of its own, reporting revenues Thursday of $16.04 billion — enough to keep the Redmond giant ahead of the Cupertino company in this particular financial metric.
Apple remains the most valuable high-tech company by a fair margin. And, perhaps more importantly, when Apple exceeded expectations on Tuesday shareholders cheered, adding about $7 per share from the previous day, before the after-hours earnings report.
Microsoft’s superb quarter was greeted, instead, with crickets. Shares in the company were actually down fractionally in after-hours trading.
“It’s a great quarter — but does that matter?” Colin Gillis, analyst at BGC Partners, told Reuters. “We all knew the business refresh cycle was in place. This is the dilemma for Microsoft — how do they get the stock moving again?”
The stock chart above tells the story: For the past five years Apple has screamed, and Microsoft has coasted. Fair? If you think the market is by definition never wrong, that’s not even a fair question.
But it is something of a poser for a major company that’s made no financial mistakes to go unrewarded by Wall Street for that long — even though Microsoft has slightly outperformed the NASDAQ market where it trades and significantly outperformed the S&P 500 during this period.
Still, it’s not all just hoping for the best for holders of MSFT. The company pays a dividend of $0.13 per share — Apple has never paid a dividend. Apple hasn’t paid a dividend since 1995. It is also awash in cash, which has led Bloomberg News to speculate that Microsoft might raise its dividend to $0.15. That’s 15 percent, and for large institutional holders — and the gazillion tech funds long on MSFT especially — a very nice bump.
“They really have to do something,” Michael Holland, chairman of Holland & Co., told Bloomberg. “A dividend increase is a way for the board and management to signal their overall business is healthy.” Not doing it “would probably send an unintended signal,” Holland said. Follow us for disruptive tech news: John C. Abell and Epicenter on Twitter. See Also:
Baidu is the world's third largest Internet search engine
A Picture shows the logo of Baidu on its headquarters in Beijing. A US judge ruled Thursday that Baidu has a "plausible" legal case against a domain registry firm that let hackers commandeer the Chinese Internet search giant's website.
A US judge ruled Thursday that Baidu has a "plausible" legal case against a domain registry firm that let hackers commandeer the Chinese Internet search giant's website.
Chin backed two of seven claims Baidu made against in a suit filed in January.
In a partial victory for domain name company Register.com, US District Judge Denny Chin dismissed five of seven claims Baidu made against the firm, including breach of contract, complicity in trademark infringement and aiding trespass. He only backed two of Baidu's counts against Register.
"I hold that Baidu has alleged sufficient facts in its complaint to give rise to a plausible claim of gross negligence or recklessness," Chin said in his ruling.
"If these allegations are proven, then Register failed to follow its own security protocols and essentially handed over control of Baidu's account to an unauthorized intruder, who engaged in cyber vandalism."
Hackers launched a cyber-attack on Baidu on January 11 by gaining access to the search firm's account at Register, in a move the firm said cost it millions of dollars.
For about five hours, Baidu traffic was rerouted to a Web page showing an Iranian flag; a broken Star of David, and a written message stating "This site has been hacked by the Iranian Cyber Army."
Baidu is the world's third largest Internet search engine and is reported to control more than 70 percent of the Chinese-language market.
Hackers seized the Baidu account by duping a Register tech support worker into changing the email address that Baidu had on file at US-based Register, legal documents maintained.
The Register support worker asked the imposter for security verification information but didn't bother to check whether it was correct as required by Register policy, according to court paperwork.
The hacker later pretended to forget the Baidu account password and, because of the altered email address, was sent a link granting access and control.
"If Register had simply followed its own security protocols, the attack surely would have been averted and neither Register nor Baidu would have been victimized," Chin concluded.
Baidu and Register are due back in Chin's New York courtroom next month for a pre-trial hearing.
A couple of years ago, I did a post on my blog listing my 10 reasons why Chinese companies were failing in the United States.
In response to that post, Nina Ying Sun at the Plastics News Blog did her own post entitled "Why Chinese Companies Fail the US Market," explaining, agreeing on and challenging the items on my list.
Chinese companies are still failing in the United States at what I see as an alarming rate--and the reasons I see for that have not changed a bit.
Here is my list, with Ms. Sun's comments and then my comments on Ms. Sun's comments:
1. Chinese companies focus on a Chinese consumer, not an American one.
Ms. Sun's comment: "Chinese companies would like to find out more about their target American consumers, but they mostly rely on personal-level approaches to collect business information, lacking a systematic and scientific market investigation conducted by professional Westerners that understand the market."
My comment: Very interesting and, I think, accurate observation. Chinese clients have driven me nuts by asking my views on things that I know nothing about, and then completely ignoring my advice when I try to hook them up with real experts. The following are typical conversations:
Chinese client: How much should we pay for that U.S. trademark? Me: I have absolutely no idea. I just do not know such business well enough to be able to help you at all on this. But, we have worked with a company that does nothing but value IP and I would be happy to give you their name. Chinese client: But what is your best estimate? ---
Chinese client: Should we start out selling our product just on the West Coast or should we start out nationally?
Me: Good question. Difficult question. It seems to me the answer to this will hinge greatly on the costs involved and on your ability to set up distribution networks. My firm does not handle questions like this (and even if we did, I do not think it would make sense for you to pay law firm rates for this information) but I would be happy to refer you to top notch business consultants who do. Chinese client: Should we start out in Los Angeles, Chicago or New York?
2. Chinese companies fail to realize that one reputation-damaging mistake in the United States could doom them forever here.
Ms. Sun's comment: This one is dead-on. And how come they don't realize this common sense? Because they get by in China and assume it's the same in the States.
My comment. Exactly.
3. Chinese companies fail to realize it will take time for them to make an impact in the United States and they are unwilling to spend the time and money necessary to do so.
Ms. Sun's comment: Chinese people take such pride of the fact that industrialization, urbanization and modernization have happened in China in a much shorter period time than in the West that they believe, if you try hard enough, everything can be done fast and well. Why don't they invest enough money to lay the ground work for the new market? Well, they look at the exchange rate. The same exchange rate that makes the Chinese production cost in yuan seem so low magnifies the marketing cost in dollars in the States.
My comment: Okay. But see number two above. Haste oftentimes makes waste.
4. Chinese companies focus too much on the end result (making money), and by doing so, they sacrifice the professionalism that would allow them to achieve long- term success. Ms. Sun's comment: The Chinese would ideally like long -term success. But the drastic social, economic and political upheavals and changes in the past century have paralyzed Chinese people's long-term thinking. Fill the pocket as full as possible before the next change hits, be it credit policy, industry standards or consumer interest. My comment: Absolutely true. Why think long term if there may be no long term? This explains the reason for the problem, but it still needs to be resolved.
5. Chinese companies tell users what they want instead of listening to users.
Ms. Sun's comment: This obnoxious mentality is a hangover of the old Soviet-Union-style "planned economy" (1949-1978). That period of time featured insufficient supply of necessities and one-sided propaganda.
Although it's hard to question about China running a market, capitalistic economy today, the country skipped some vital steps in the development of the Western countries.
My comment: Same as for number four above.
6. Chinese companies focus too much on making money in the short term, rather than on building the quality necessary to sustain themselves in the long term.
Ms. Sun's comment: What pops up in my mind includes: vicious and endless price wars, a business environment that has deprived consumers their say, and lack of technology and craftsmanship.
My comment. I agree, but what pops into my mind is that companies must be broad-minded enough to recognize that what makes sense in one country may not make sense in another. Indeed, one might even say this of China's regions and there are certainly plenty of Chinese companies that have managed to succeed in China as a whole by localizing their product or their marketing by region.
7. Chinese companies fail to understand how beauty and design might distinguish their product from that of their competitors.
Ms. Sun's comment: Traditionally, domestic consumers simply can't afford beauty and design. Price is the only distinguishing point. Plus, the companies don't want to invest much on design, because it's bound to be copied by competitors right away, thanks to the absence of intellectual property protection in China.
My comment: All true, but see my answers to Number four and number seven above.
8. Chinese companies rely too much on phone calls and face-to-face meetings instead of e-mail.
Ms. Sun's Comment: This is probably part of the Asian culture, underscoring personal communication instead of machine-generated and less interactive e-mail. I don't think it's necessarily a disadvantage though. Japanese companies have done well in the U.S. market, despite their preference for in-person meetings and phone calls rather than e-mail.
My comment. When in Rome..... But, I agree this may not be a disadvantage, so long as the Chinese company has the time and the people for it.
9. Chinese companies fail to use "simple and elegant designs."
Ms. Sun's comment: Unfortunately, they are trapped in between complicated traditional styles and a blank page of modern Chinese inspiration. Again, they can't justify investment on design, because it will be copied by competitors overnight.
My comment: See my comment to number seven above.
10. Chinese companies fail to realize their need to hire MBAs and those with local knowledge. Ms. Sun's Comment: Call them cheap or arrogant. They don't trust MBAs or Western veterans unless foreseeable return is guaranteed. They also want everything under their control, not threats and risk brought by language barrier and different business values.
My comment: I don't know what to call this but I know it is not wise.
