Some off topic ramblings for you guys to ponder on.

Hello folks. I was away for the weekend and when I got home it was straight to the Ford showroom beside the Federal Highway to collect the recently launched all-new Ford Mondeo 2.0 Ecoboost. As some of you who know me personally, I lead quite an exciting life. From dabbling in trade, some investing, to being a father, a husband as well as a person who maintains two blogs things are pretty interesting most of the time.

So since the school holidays have officially started my family and I decided to take a short break down south to Singapore. I tend to do this often and three hour drives to do so are common. Why I end up there is basically because you can get a whole lot of stuff there which you can't get here. And the motoring scene in Singapore can be pretty vibrant too. Even with the most expensive car prices in the world do not stop them from enjoying them from buying cars they like. I suppose where there's a need, there's a way. In short, they work bloody hard and smart to get what they want. I don't hear most of the population bitch and whine most of the time. They do, but they still carry on with what needs to be done. And do note....they are disciplined 95% of the time in doing so. Compare this to us - we break traffic laws in city driving almost all the time. No signalling at turns, going down the wrong way on one way streets in neighbourhood commercial areas, no giving way to others in traffic,  not wearing your seatbelts most of the time and carrying babies in your laps. This does not happen down south okay. Discipline on the roads helps. It is also carried on in other aspects of life. If you do not have some self control, you will be a poor person. And don't blame others for your laziness and stupidity.


Next up. Most of you may think Singapore is an expensive place to be. It is for Malaysians. RM2.72 = SGD1. But let's look at things from a SGD1 to RM1 point of view. A Toyota Camry 2.5 may cost you 170,000 in SGD and in RM. So would a Toyota Corolla Altis. But if you went to Arab Street for Mutton Beryani it would cost you SGD6.50. Here in Kuala Lumpur, you have mutton beryani its going to cost you RM13.50. If you were a general worker in Singapore you may earn SGD1,500 and still get to eat beryani once a week without getting shocked. And the beryani rice there is made out of the long basmathi rice. Here, I doubt most of the shops use this. Do you know why? It is because basmathi can be bought at a cheaper price in Singapore than in Malaysia. In fact all quality rice is cheaper in Singapore than in Malaysia. Imagine, a 100% net importer of rice actually sells rice cheaper than Malaysia which produces some rice of its own. So surprisingly, food is actually affordable over there. Someone there is doing things correctly as the importers still can make money from this.

Of course, in Singapore things and people are packed and in high rise buildings. But you'd be surprised at the amount of greenery that most areas have. Orchard Road is comparable to Jalan Bukit Bintang with its shopping centers but you see the amount of trees there and you see how clean the air is you'd want to be there doing your window shopping every few months of the year. I have no idea why we cannot do this to our cities. I can suggest that DBKL or PBPJ plant TREES and not flower shrubs.

Maybe its because their cars are all Euro 4 rated? If you say its because of the 10 year lifespan put to them by their Certificate of Entitlement I do not think so. This is because most cars in downtown Kuala Lumpur are under ten years old usually. It has to be the petrol and diesel quality. We have Euro 2 at the very most and this affects us. This is simple. Since prices are now unsubsidised, why the heck don't they raise the quality of petrol and diesel to at least clean up the environment?

Actually, there are a whole lot more I could state. Yes, housing is expensive there, but the governement provides HBD housing which is actually reasonable - SGD300,000 may get you a two bedroom apartment within walking distance to the MRT. Imagine trying to find a RM300,000 subsidised apartment in Kuala Lumpur. Quite impossible these days. I know you need money to live well over there, but if you really look at it, it is possible if you are not into buying the latest phones, handbags and cars. Living well is subjective and relative. I personally think that living well means using certain luxuries in my life. But I know some of my friends who could do without those luxuries. But one does need to budget and one needs to have goals.

I better stop now. Need to go drive around in the Ford Mondeo. Quite a good large sedan. Something that I wouldn't mind having in my driveway for a tad bit longer than the few days given for me to test it.