4/06/2010
Missing a golden opportunity to make money
Our population has surged more than a million in the last 10 years, and many thanks to the new immigrants, PRs and new citizens. And many more are queuing to come in. If this is the case, why don't we place a small fee for application or successful application to be a PR or new citizen? If the demand is real, if we are that desirable, there must be a value for something that is so good.
What is the price to be a PR or new citizen? In real terms, PRs and new citizens tend to benefit a lot in financial terms through the buying of HDB flats and all the subsidies in medical, education and other govt services. Then there are the occasional angpows that the govt is giving out in subsidies for conservancy fees, in New Singapore Shares or special govt handouts.
All these are real monies that go to the PRs and new citizens the moment they are accepted. Shouldn't they be priced in to bcome one of us? A $100 application fee, a $5,000 approval fee for PRs or a $10k fee to become citizen should be cheap compare to the immediate gains awaiting them.
How come no one is thinking of making some money out of this business? Oh, they have not privatise ICA. I think they should and make it a profit centre.
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This is a story of a PRC couple who arrived in Singapore penniless in the summer of 2000 from Jilin province and went home millionaires in the winter of 2009. Fact or fiction, judge for yourself...........
Da Bao and Shu Mei met when they were both working together in a restaurant in Singapore. They came on work permits and were much sought after even then. They never complained that they had to work 12 hours and especially for Da Bao, it was tough as he had to endure the squalid conditions in the kitchen as a cook. For Shu Mei, she was a waitress serving locals and it was no less a demanding job as locals demanded lots of service besides being rude to people like her most of the time. They got their PRs in three years and became citizens in five. They got married in 2005 and with their savings over the years which they had slaved, together with their combined CPF, they bought a new five room HDB at a "matured" Housing Estate. In the meantime, they also opened a food stall in a food court selling fishball minced meat noodles. Da Bao had a secret formula for the chilli sauce which he concocted after observing the eating habits of locals. Business roared. Not so much glitz and publicity as the launch of the Iphone but they were the joy of the food court operator. They could also now afford a private condo in a decent neighbourhood which they rented out for income.
When they first came to Singapore, it was never the intention to stay. They wanted their children to grow up and become citizens of a Superpower not a minnow in the shark infested waters of SE Asia. But they loved the power of the Sing Dollar so it made sense then to come here.
In June 2009, they toted up their assets and it came to S$10.3 million comprising their HDB apartment, their 4 bedroom condo, savings from work and business. They decided it was time to cash in.
In December, 2009, they arrived in Changchun, Jilin province on business class from Shenyang as there are no direct flights between Singapore and Changchun. In their bank account with a Chinese bank which also operated in Singapore was a credit balance of RMB 49.44 million.
No, they didn't had children when in Singapore. Imagine they had to work like dogs so there was honestly no time nor the energy to raise a family. Of course there was sex. They were no celibates duh. But there is plenty of time for raising a family now as they are back HOME.
Their story is replicated in countless tales of new immigrants who made good here. But one thing stood out. Very rarely does anyone want to stay. It was a place to make money and go home, same as our forefathers thought they would do. But there is a difference. Our Ah Gongs stayed and forge a young nation and made it the second richest nation in Asia after Japan. The new generation of PRCs came here only for the gold.
This is a tale of those who made good in the food business.
Coming up, if my mood allows, will be the tale of a good time girl who came here with only a vanity bag and left to return to her hometown to become a property tycoon.
Waaaah....didn't know can make so much money selling fish-ball noodle.
And here I am with nothing better to do than gallivanting round the net....
Hehe,
Rob, we're oldies and whiling our time away, or what's left of it.
But I still can dream of coming back as a real Buffet. What about you?
Yup, come to think of it, Da Bao must have been running some pretty nefarious business to acquire such wealth!
Hehe.
Last Sunday it was reported that a school teacher bought a HDB flat at $250k and sold at a loss of $50k. Then he bought a pte property for about $800k and sold it for a profit of slightly more than $100k.
My question is that he must be a very careful person, stinging to buy a $250k HDB then splurged on a $800k pte property. Must have a lot of money in savings.
With the profit, assuming he paid his $800k with no loans, he now had $900k+, he bought 2 pte properties each more than a million. Possible since he could split $900k into two and borrowed a million on top of it.
Then he bought another million dollar property, so he split his $900k into 3 parts, or maybe 4 parts, saving another part to buy another million dollar property.
Now he is sitting on paper profit of $3m! in 3 to 5 years. See how easy to make money?
From a $250 HDB flat to owning 3 pte properties each value at least $2m.
This is really a place to make quick money.
Not the real Mc Coy? Gee......it sure seemed like the REAL thing. :)
Sadly, not many who try to emulate the actions of the successful will necessarily achieve the same results. Some may succeed but many may also suffer losses. Such is the "real" world.
Buffets are indeed rare.....
Hehe Rob,
I'm sure you're no carrot head either.
But you know, Buffet is still my investment guru even though lately he's a bit off the mark. Maybe age is really catching up with him.
Without the chance to mimic his moves I would probably be working at a petrol station or clearing the trays at a food court now instead of posting drivel on the net.
Hehe.
Hmmm, a COE for citizenship. Should be another avenue for making money.
Why not?
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