A Merry Christmas to all my blog readers!
Did you go and have a merry Christmas?
My Christmas was spent in the morning/afternoon with friends in the city and at night with sis at home.
I managed to catch up with Jason, Choi Kuan and Kelvin in the city on Christmas day for lunch. Oh boy, how empty the city looked that day. Almost everything was closed, except the Asian restaurants along Swanston St. I wonder why Asian only =P We had a good lunch and then at night I celebrated with my sis together. We had turkey, salads and potatos and while watching Friends on the tv.
At night it was spent watching poker or playing poker or doing poker related stuff. I had an early night because the next day would be the shopping spree day.
In Australia, Boxing day is the day when the whole nation comes out from their houses and spends a lot of money in shopping. At the same time, many stores nationwide have massive discounts they don't usually have throughout the year.
I saw some big brands go on discount up to 50%, very surprising. I spent a total of about 5 hours shopping. In total, let's just say I splurged about AUD 1100. People say boxing day is smart shopping, I say that boxing day is really the day people become silly. So much money is spent, and mostly on unnecessary stuff. What I spent on today, I can actually live without, but I spent it nevertheless because of the temptation.
Overall though, I had a good experience, this would be my first Christmas + Boxing day experience in Melbourne. May we also not forget the true celebration of Christmas which is to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. Happy Birthday Jesus!
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Thursday, December 24, 2009
A pleasant surprise
Hallelujah! I think I have got the best Christmas present ever.
Today, coming home from work from a hot day, I collected the mail from my mailbox. Came back to my room, got dressed into something comfortable, and started opening my mail.
Surprise, surprise - there was one mail from my uni.
I wondered who could it be from.
I opened it and read slowly the following words from the Head of Department, Paul Kofman.
I quote:
Dear Mr Ng,
I am writing to congratulate you on your excellent performance this semester in the subject 333302 Corporate Finance. As you know, your overall result in the subject was a first-class honours grade, which places you in the top group enrolled in the subject. You may not, however, be aware that your result was notable even within that select group. To be precise, you placed first. You should take great pride in this achievement.
I hope you found Corporate Finance a challenging and interesting subject.
Once again, congratulations on your result in Corporate Finance.
Yours sincerely,
Prof Paul Kofman
Professor of Finance and Head of Department
Department of Finance
The University of Melbourne
..
Happyness pursued. :)
Glory to God.
Today, coming home from work from a hot day, I collected the mail from my mailbox. Came back to my room, got dressed into something comfortable, and started opening my mail.
Surprise, surprise - there was one mail from my uni.
I wondered who could it be from.
I opened it and read slowly the following words from the Head of Department, Paul Kofman.
I quote:
Dear Mr Ng,
I am writing to congratulate you on your excellent performance this semester in the subject 333302 Corporate Finance. As you know, your overall result in the subject was a first-class honours grade, which places you in the top group enrolled in the subject. You may not, however, be aware that your result was notable even within that select group. To be precise, you placed first. You should take great pride in this achievement.
I hope you found Corporate Finance a challenging and interesting subject.
Once again, congratulations on your result in Corporate Finance.
Yours sincerely,
Prof Paul Kofman
Professor of Finance and Head of Department
Department of Finance
The University of Melbourne
..
Happyness pursued. :)
Glory to God.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
You guessed it - Honours!
I finally got into Honours! Happy, happy, happy :)
Praise to God!
I remember one year ago, I would be worrying much about my results. I even went so far as to study Investments during December before my internship last year. I planned very far ahead, I made sure I did Investments (2nd hardest) in 1st sem whilst I did Derivatives (easiest) and CorpFi (hardest) in 2nd sem. I had my reasons back then.
Turns out that although I pre studied for Investments, it got the lowest amongst the three. Ironic huh. Maybe also because it was a tough paper, I have to say.
But finally, today, after checking my mail, I found the offer document from Melb Uni! Official!
I did not receive whatsoever email about Honours, though, making me wonder how those people who are overseas for over a month are going to accept their offer. A complicated one...
But yes, I was very, very relieved receiving the offer pack. I thought of so many things that could go wrong. Eventually, though, God provided.
Some people say that honours will be one of the best times of your life. I heard that from not one, not two, but countless number of people. It must be true to some extent. I will have to see that for myself next year, hopefully all goes well!
I am officially am Honours of Finance student from now on for the rest of my life!
Praise to God!
I remember one year ago, I would be worrying much about my results. I even went so far as to study Investments during December before my internship last year. I planned very far ahead, I made sure I did Investments (2nd hardest) in 1st sem whilst I did Derivatives (easiest) and CorpFi (hardest) in 2nd sem. I had my reasons back then.
Turns out that although I pre studied for Investments, it got the lowest amongst the three. Ironic huh. Maybe also because it was a tough paper, I have to say.
But finally, today, after checking my mail, I found the offer document from Melb Uni! Official!
I did not receive whatsoever email about Honours, though, making me wonder how those people who are overseas for over a month are going to accept their offer. A complicated one...
But yes, I was very, very relieved receiving the offer pack. I thought of so many things that could go wrong. Eventually, though, God provided.
Some people say that honours will be one of the best times of your life. I heard that from not one, not two, but countless number of people. It must be true to some extent. I will have to see that for myself next year, hopefully all goes well!
I am officially am Honours of Finance student from now on for the rest of my life!
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Kelvin's Graduation Ceremony
Today is the day of Graduation for my very very good friend, Kelvin Chuah Rhun Kiet. I have not actually attended a graduation ceremony before, and so since he got for me a ticket, I decided to attend his! For those of you who want to know when's mine, I do not actually have a graduation (no not because I failed, but I decided to defer it till after my honours year, next year).
Coming to uni again and seeing so many parents there is a different, unique sight. Everyone seemed happy to be with their parents, taking photos and smiling because they are now a graduate. I managed to find Kelvin and his family there at South Lawn. It was good to meet you, Kelvin's brother and sister. Also Kelvin's girlfriend and her family was there too. Such a nice meetup!
So we were off taking photos all the time, posing and knowing that these photos that we take would one day be very fond memories of graduation. I also got to catch up abit with Kim Chew, Jaslyn, Kuchai and Aida. Finally, at 3.30pm we entered Wilson Hall where the formal ceremony began. The Dean and Deputy Dean was there, they formally held the ceremony and all the graduates, one by one, began to come up and shake hands and receive their uni certificate.
It was in the following order - PHDs, Masters, Double Degrees, Honours and Degrees. It makes me think whether uni was worth it, all that hard work just to receive a piece of paper. But if I think like that, I would be totally wrong about uni, it is not about the piece of paper (worth 1 cent) but rather the friends and experiences that we get out of uni.
It was funny how the guy calling out the graduates names as they came up called most of the Chinese and Middle Eastern names wrong. I wanted to Laugh Out Loud, but I knew it would be rude. It was a good experience overall even though many people told me it was down right boring. But after going through that once, I think it would be enough to last me a year until I attend my own next year (hopefully).
Lastly, but not least, congratulations Kelvin on graduating!
Coming to uni again and seeing so many parents there is a different, unique sight. Everyone seemed happy to be with their parents, taking photos and smiling because they are now a graduate. I managed to find Kelvin and his family there at South Lawn. It was good to meet you, Kelvin's brother and sister. Also Kelvin's girlfriend and her family was there too. Such a nice meetup!
So we were off taking photos all the time, posing and knowing that these photos that we take would one day be very fond memories of graduation. I also got to catch up abit with Kim Chew, Jaslyn, Kuchai and Aida. Finally, at 3.30pm we entered Wilson Hall where the formal ceremony began. The Dean and Deputy Dean was there, they formally held the ceremony and all the graduates, one by one, began to come up and shake hands and receive their uni certificate.
It was in the following order - PHDs, Masters, Double Degrees, Honours and Degrees. It makes me think whether uni was worth it, all that hard work just to receive a piece of paper. But if I think like that, I would be totally wrong about uni, it is not about the piece of paper (worth 1 cent) but rather the friends and experiences that we get out of uni.
It was funny how the guy calling out the graduates names as they came up called most of the Chinese and Middle Eastern names wrong. I wanted to Laugh Out Loud, but I knew it would be rude. It was a good experience overall even though many people told me it was down right boring. But after going through that once, I think it would be enough to last me a year until I attend my own next year (hopefully).
Lastly, but not least, congratulations Kelvin on graduating!
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Christmas party!
Yesterday I attended my firm's Christmas party at Zinc at Federation Square. It was nothing short of spectacular.
Nice food. tick
Service was quick and effective. tick
CEO attended. tick
A lot of friendly people. tick
Lots of beer and champagne. tick
Seeing all my colleagues dancing. tick
The place was very nicely decorated and obviously a huge effort on behalf of the people organising this wonderful event. Throughout the night I was catching up with peers, colleagues and did a bit of dancing on the dance floor.
They hired a band as well to play the cool music, but unfortunately the music could have been much better (to suit my taste). I guess it was a blend of variety to suit the older people as well. :P
I enjoy the moments when I can catch up with my buddy or with my fellow interns, because these moments are where people can bond and get closer to workmates. Kudos to my firm for organising such an event. This year, I heard, is much better than last year when the GFC hit and some people was let go just before the Christmas party. So this year's atmosphere was a much merrier one, which is what Christmas should be.
Even though this year I will not be going back to Malaysia to celebrate Christmas with my family, which I have not failed to do since I was born (21 years ago!), but luckily I got to experience abit of the festive spirit at this Christmas party.
Even though the celebrations here is not what the true purpose of Christmas is about, which is celebrating the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus, I still think it is important for people to celebrate and let loose any worries and cares for a short period of time. It is good for us.
Hopefully in the future I get to attend more Christmas parties!
Nice food. tick
Service was quick and effective. tick
CEO attended. tick
A lot of friendly people. tick
Lots of beer and champagne. tick
Seeing all my colleagues dancing. tick
The place was very nicely decorated and obviously a huge effort on behalf of the people organising this wonderful event. Throughout the night I was catching up with peers, colleagues and did a bit of dancing on the dance floor.
They hired a band as well to play the cool music, but unfortunately the music could have been much better (to suit my taste). I guess it was a blend of variety to suit the older people as well. :P
I enjoy the moments when I can catch up with my buddy or with my fellow interns, because these moments are where people can bond and get closer to workmates. Kudos to my firm for organising such an event. This year, I heard, is much better than last year when the GFC hit and some people was let go just before the Christmas party. So this year's atmosphere was a much merrier one, which is what Christmas should be.
Even though this year I will not be going back to Malaysia to celebrate Christmas with my family, which I have not failed to do since I was born (21 years ago!), but luckily I got to experience abit of the festive spirit at this Christmas party.
Even though the celebrations here is not what the true purpose of Christmas is about, which is celebrating the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus, I still think it is important for people to celebrate and let loose any worries and cares for a short period of time. It is good for us.
Hopefully in the future I get to attend more Christmas parties!
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Uni results are out!
Finally, the day has arrived when I find out how I have done this whole semester. It is results day.
After sending an order for my results history, and waited for about an hour, and opening the email, I cannot believe what I saw.
Not only was CorpFi, the subject which I have feared the most, was my best subject, it was the highest score I have ever achieved in any subject!
And not only that, this semester was the best semester ever!!
Speechless for a few seconds.
...
...
I checked the email once, twice, three times just to make sure.
I couldn't believe it. I so really really thank God and give Him all the glory for this semester's best result.
This would be really hard to beat, and going into honours next year, it certainly will!
This is just one of those moments when happiness is hard to contain. :)
After sending an order for my results history, and waited for about an hour, and opening the email, I cannot believe what I saw.
Not only was CorpFi, the subject which I have feared the most, was my best subject, it was the highest score I have ever achieved in any subject!
And not only that, this semester was the best semester ever!!
Speechless for a few seconds.
...
...
I checked the email once, twice, three times just to make sure.
I couldn't believe it. I so really really thank God and give Him all the glory for this semester's best result.
This would be really hard to beat, and going into honours next year, it certainly will!
This is just one of those moments when happiness is hard to contain. :)
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
CFA - one of the toughest experiences ever
It's finally over! The exam ended at 6pm after a 12 hour long day. It was really tricky, and had two 3 hour sessions. Everyone was expecting the afternoon paper to be easy, but they made the afternoon paper super difficult!
Honestly, however, for me I felt it was the opposite. That I did better in the afternoon paper compared to the morning paper.
My feeling about the morning paper was that it was pretty straightforward, but I did make quite a few careless mistakes when I could have done better. The afternoon paper, I felt, was quite straightforward! But maybe that is just me, maybe I was lucky to get the questions that I did know the answer to. I remember, at one point during the afternoon paper, I was on a roll - I had managed to do almost 30 questions without hesitating because I guess I knew the answer! I did not have such confidence during the morning paper.
But it's all finally over, after a few months of actually studying for this. Throughout uni period, however, there were multiple times when I just had to leave CFA behind and focus on my own uni subjects because I placed more importance on them. After all I have gone through, I have to give God the honour for guiding me through this. I am immensely happy that I have 'freedom' now to do whatever I want! Hopefully I will spend this holidays constructively besides working, maybe building a few relationships with friends and making new friends.
I am glad that I sat for the CFA Level 1 paper, and I know that, even now I am uncertain about whether I am going to pass, I know that it has been a good experience. From meeting Daniel, Catherine and Andrea during exam day and hanging out, to learning so much about financial markets from the CFA, I know that the pass/fail decision would not mean as much as what I have learnt so far. At the moment, I am feeling that my result is about 73%, and hopefully that is enough to pass! I will know by late January, so it's all in God's hands.
I totally recommend anyone thinking of doing CFA to do it! It will be one of the hardest but most rewarding exams you will ever take in your life. It truly is the gold standard in the finance industry.
Honestly, however, for me I felt it was the opposite. That I did better in the afternoon paper compared to the morning paper.
My feeling about the morning paper was that it was pretty straightforward, but I did make quite a few careless mistakes when I could have done better. The afternoon paper, I felt, was quite straightforward! But maybe that is just me, maybe I was lucky to get the questions that I did know the answer to. I remember, at one point during the afternoon paper, I was on a roll - I had managed to do almost 30 questions without hesitating because I guess I knew the answer! I did not have such confidence during the morning paper.
But it's all finally over, after a few months of actually studying for this. Throughout uni period, however, there were multiple times when I just had to leave CFA behind and focus on my own uni subjects because I placed more importance on them. After all I have gone through, I have to give God the honour for guiding me through this. I am immensely happy that I have 'freedom' now to do whatever I want! Hopefully I will spend this holidays constructively besides working, maybe building a few relationships with friends and making new friends.
I am glad that I sat for the CFA Level 1 paper, and I know that, even now I am uncertain about whether I am going to pass, I know that it has been a good experience. From meeting Daniel, Catherine and Andrea during exam day and hanging out, to learning so much about financial markets from the CFA, I know that the pass/fail decision would not mean as much as what I have learnt so far. At the moment, I am feeling that my result is about 73%, and hopefully that is enough to pass! I will know by late January, so it's all in God's hands.
I totally recommend anyone thinking of doing CFA to do it! It will be one of the hardest but most rewarding exams you will ever take in your life. It truly is the gold standard in the finance industry.
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