2022-09-25 at

Malaysian Home-buying in 2022

(from comments)

Are you looking to buy? I can show you how i did methodical shopping last year. Gov.my had policies to depress prices from 2020 to 2021. In 2022 the pressure was off so it's freer now. Prices in Malaysia are only likely to go up.

1. As the MYR depreciates, our property looks better to rich people. The MYR is depreciating because  the US is raising rates. More on this below. As property bubbles ex(cluding)-Malaysia start to pop, investors look at non-bubbles as value buys, driving up prices.

2. Ex-Malaysia bubbles are popping because gov.us is raising interest rates, so it's more expensive for everyone to borrow money to invest in bubbles (US underpins global lending market).

3. Us.gov is raising rates to depress US inflation, and reduce pain for their citizens.

4. US inflation is up because US is a major import/export hub, and globally supplies of things are short due to downsizing during global covid lockdowns ... plus bro Putin doing Putin things messed up energy and food prices this year.

As a buyer you're limited in the size of what you can buy by :

1. Age : loans here tend to cap you at 70 years, so a 65yo can get only a 5y loan. You, under 30, may get a 70y loan. Longer loans mean smaller monthly instalments.

2. Free cashflow for investment : a rough guide would be to budget 30% of your income after tax into mortgage instalments.

2a. Lifestyle choices, may increase cashflow for investment : some people consume more, some invest more. Hence those blogposts about "haha i saved 70% of my income and ate tuna for 8 years and bought a house". To get this data, one has to track expenditure monthly to understand the % breakdown. Caveat 2c.

2b. Interest rate regimes : you have to read the news for this one. Knowing roughly if in the next 10 years interest rates are going up or down, helps you plan a bit. You can get fixed-rate or floating-rate interest loans as a strategic play, you pick after modelling the difference.

2c. Income strategy : it's generally agreed that learning how to earn more, is a far more productive strategy than learning how to save more without increasing earnings. Plenty of pop blogs on this.

Combining 2abc, lets you plan like ... Example: I can afford X mortgage now, but rates will rise, so I expect to pay (X+Y) by next year and (X+Y+Z) in five years for the same mortgage which is more expensive later monthly. However if I have a frugal saving pattern now I can aim a bit higher than X, and if my income strategy works out I should be making lots more in 5 years when (xyz) will feel like nothing, so I can actually afford a slightly bigger mortgage, which lets me buy a property with "better upside for appreciation" increasing my chance of turning this into a rental unit which pays for itself in the future.

2022-09-16 at

C-Startups versus P-Startups

Capital-driven "startups" are generally not about "validating business models" - rather, c-startups are about "validating a team's capability to generate a positive internal rate of return". The team may shuffle through various business models, but its success is defined by financial stability. The team is in the spotlight. The hypothesis to be supported or disproven is about the financial viability of its human capital.

Product-driven "startups" tend to mean a startup is trying to validate or disprove a value-chain hypothesis, abstract of its human capital, hence "business model". The commanding officer for such an operation may shuffle through various teams, until the right people are found who can categorically prove or disprove the viability hypothesis. But many p-startups ultimately fail to categorically prove or disprove the viability of their product ... often, p-startups simply run out of financial resources, and either turn into c-startups, or die.

This distinction is crucial. A change in the fundamental purpose of an organisation must be recognised as a sea change for its governance operations.

2022-09-04 at

Yawn 88

 13jul

Seems like i need to catch up on six months of limited sleep.

/

Looking for a professional engineer, qualified to submit floor plans and furniture layouts for a small residential renovation.

/

Reading the manual for a washing machine. This one is fancy - I got it for free and had to fix it. I am not sure that it is fixed yet.

Update : ok, it's working.

Energy test results :

- Cotton : 90C : 1200RPM : Quick : 0.605 kWh, 30sen

- Quick : 40C : 800RPM : 0.021 kWh, 1sen (!)

- Saver : 40C : 800RPM : 0.30 kWh, 15sen

14Jul

Good to have greaseless protein for breakfast. The absence thereof correlates with reduced productivity for the rest of the day - this compounds over weeks.

17 jul

Episode N : a New Flat ... the saga continues. Yesterday I fixed the dryer. I can't add a permanent office partition yet because the engineering consultant may require sprinkler additions. But I would like to get back to work quickly, so fuck permanance ... it's time to get two (or four) loft beds from IKEA, and we're temporarily boxing those over the entire office space. Why is this necessary? Well the unit is designed as a rectangle with wet stuff at three corners. Go fucking figure - let's zone off the middle!

/

Programs just killed by the University of Malaya : Bachelor of Science in Bioinformatics, Bachelor of Science (Materials Science), Bachelor of Biohealth Science, Bachelor of Science in Science and Technology Studies and Bachelor of Education (Educational Management), Master of Education (Science Education), Master of Education (Mathematics Education), Master of Education (Planning and Administration), Master of Educational Leadership, Master of Power Systems Engineering, Master of Medical Science (Physiology), Master of Economic Research and Master of Public Administration Research.

18 jul

I am enjoying my study of choi sum. I am learning that it has a dominant note of sulphur. Spice and sulphur. Bit of a hard rock vegetable eh?

19 Jul

Recalibrated targets : gotta log 11-hour-days till 23 August. Lock and load ... ( 1/35 )

Hamster built a better cage ... but hamster gotta roll back on that wheel.

20 jul

2019h : enforced nap

21 jul

0820h enforced waking, feeding, wash

24 Jul

Separate priorities are only equal if they are codependent. Codependent priorities should be encapsulated in abstract superpriorities.

/

I find my snobbery somewhat parochial ... I tend to assert that certain classes are beyond the reach of anyone who aspires to them. Because much of trend-chasing bores me.

/

Reflections on how I describe myself, based on conversations from a date. I used to say I am a generally unambitious and uncompetitive person, but that is not as accurate as : I think we each have broad ambitions, but a key difference is mine require near zero external validation.

It's just part of my risk management model, having plenty of regrets from listening to advice. Haha

25 jul

Finally getting enough downtime to effect houskeeping of working memory. Probably means infrastructure is stabilising.

Optimise, optimise, fix, fix, fix ...

26jul

Need to check my timeline. Still operating at 50% max capacity.

/

Standing by for the Najib X DAP jokes

/

Someone lit a coconut on fire, and left it in the hallway.

#flatlife #justkidding ... not kidding, my neighbour got married and it is the latest in a series of elaborate rituals ๐Ÿ˜‡

/

Calorific calibration has begun.

Jul27

OMG - TNG E-Wallet - has no automatically mailed monthly statement, and then it erases transaction history after 90 days?

/

Enforced swim time.

/

Unanticipated benefit of the current space : the soundscape is fantastic - stereophonic traffic, pity I'm now low enough to hear the schools and mosques,

/

I think a lot about empathy, because people often complain that I lack it. I think that comes with the territory ... I care about many things and people, but that gets in the way of my ability to be ruthless, and I value my ability to be ruthless more than I care about these things and people. So a decision is often made to train myself to care less about them. Discipline does not happen by accident ... I guess public dissatisfaction does not either.

/

The Line is a great idea - I'm all about district level infrastructure, since I discovered how redundant all these little air-conditioners are. But 500H 200W 170,000L metres is not economically reasonable at this time.

I want to see developers test out something like 50H 20W 1,700L metres. If it works, wunderbar ... double a couple of dimensions. Hope the whole earth is full of these eventually.

July 28

Minimal whitey uniforms for business - I'm still studying Uniqlo because it's the IKEA of clothes. Currently it has four dress shirt materials almost all of the same price, and in this order of complexity :

- 100cotton, oxford : most traditional solution RM100

- 51polyester, 49cotton jersey : the stretchiest, but polyester means no chlorine, and no heat RM130

- 96cotton, 4spandex easy care : spandex means no chlorine, and no heat RM130

- 100cotton, non-iron : no chlorine, no heat; fine-print ... don't even rub these too hard, or the chemical coating comes off, and they reduce in quality RM130

BTW for Malaysians : Padini will come in about 20-30% cheaper for any of these.

28Jul

Sore throat๐Ÿ˜† but negative for C19. Sometimes this happens when my immune system gets edgy, when I transition from a relatively sedentary lifestyle to a more hardcore workout routine (maybe it's just adjusting to higher airflow and the associated crap). Or it's all the fat in this batch of chicken soup - mid-wings are gross that way. Work is slow at all offices. Objectives must be improved in clarity, so that it is easier to understand if work is getting done or not. I sit on my bed and clear the quota from dating apps. Maybe it is time to take another year off. Theoretically that starts in January, but I suppose it really depends on what the world needs from me.

I thought about my new friend, as an archetype of the ambitious optimists that lack comfort with stasis. Everyone has deadzones, that they're trying to flee, it seems. Mine are nowhere and everywhere.

I decided to get white sheets to study how they work in hospitality. One of my current rituals is dripping boiling water over a teaspoon of percarbonate mix, in the smallest jam jar, then dabbing with a toothbrush the mark of a lost mosquito until the stain disappears, vacuuming up any excess powder, then blowdrying the sheet in-place with mom's old orange hairdryer. Maybe I poison myself, that mix is full of cleaning things.

Maybe it's the mouldy shallots from the corner grocer.

6-13: VP
6-20: moved in
7-12: canteen operational
7-16: laundry M&E operational
7-24: first community meet with neighbours
7-26: calorific calibration begins; physical conditioning begins in earnest
7-27: fish oil reintroduced at mean rate of 2g/d
7-29: home isolation order begins

29jul
Enforced waking. Enforced work. Off we go.
Pruning a schedule involves realising liabilities whose improvement lies beyond our control. Good time for housekeeping.
Covid home isolation bureaucracy :
1. Notify the government
2. Notify all employers
2.1. File respective leave documents
3. Notify the building's management
3.1. Set up reception area for no-contact delivery of goods and trash removal (wow, unexpected).
4. Figure out the best source to order groceries
4.1. Order groceries
5. Take a shower, and nap
6. Get back to work
Any ideas for later?
7a. (finally) sub TinderPlus maybe? other networking services?
7b. work out ( involves cleaning, but probably better than complete neuro-muscular degeneration )
7c.
7d.
7e ...
30 JUL
Febrile conditions make the, AC not needed for last night's sleep, in fact it was quite comfortable. How efficient. I should get fevers more often.
Time to get up, wash, feed, and do work.
31jul
Finally sleeping long enough to dream. Possibly aided by fish oil reintroduction, but this is uncertain.
Covid is not much of a problem, but a few months of undersleep, is.
Month-end chores. Then work.
The usual enforced feeding and cleaning.
1aug
Work progresses well.
Enforced wake, wash, feed, desk ...
/
Which dungu decided that single- multi- triple- quad-level-cells should be abbreviated
SLC, MLC, TLC, QLC
... Instead of ...
1LC, NLC, 3LC, 4LC
???!!!!
/
Todays runes are ...
BOD ( is GRC ) -> { XO, IA }
XO -> xGRC -> FP&A -> CPM -> BI -> DS
xGRC -> { OD, QA }
/
Enforced sleep.
Not sure if acrid smell in office today is refrigerant leak, farts, or covid hallucinations
2aug
Hypothesis : a good mark of insufficient exercise is discomfort at 29.5C with zero wind.
/
2200h
Napped. Back to work, Mercury
/
Tourists : "I love the diversity"
No, you just like the novelty, lack education, and come from a different place. Neither here nor there is particularly diverse ...
/
Calibration : I have to always remind myself to avoid the happiest people, even though this is considered a sickness. You see the person who dwells on happiness is not well enough to function without it. They years are spent on maintenance, and they have not the capability to invest in risks which may disrupt that. Either this is a profound observation, or I am just frownier than the average person when we are both at the same level of happiness. Probably the latter. Maybe still the former.
/
Apparently a slow cooker at 60W runs cheaper than IKEA tealights ... yet the absence of a thermostat and insulation appears to be quite wasteful.


2aug
Tourists : "I love the diversity"
No, you just like the novelty, lack education, and come from a different place. Neither here nor there is particularly diverse ...
/
Calibration : I have to always remind myself to avoid the happiest people, even though this is considered a sickness. You see the person who dwells on happiness is not well enough to function without it. They years are spent on maintenance, and they have not the capability to invest in risks which may disrupt that. Either this is a profound observation, or I am just frownier than the average person when we are both at the same level of happiness. Probably the latter. Maybe still the former.
3 aug
Enforced waking, washing, feeding, work.
6Aug
Sometimes when I'm working in companies where staff are supposed to be satisfied with their jobs, I accidentally forget to be unsatisfied with mine. In general I have a personal policy of never being satisfied with any ongoing counterparty, in order to keep me motivated to focus on more important work than whatever is available in my environment. Now in order to get my jobs done properly, and my to keep my own progress on track at the same time, I only have to remind myself of these facts, and then it becomes simpler to treat all jobs as temporary encumbrances, and to remain focused on my own value generation priorities.
All relationships are jobs, and that is the simplest way to engage with society in general. ๐Ÿ™‚
So how do senior executives convince junior executives to be more loyal than the seniors themselves are? I can't tell you because that would be tattletaling. As for myself, I never encourage junior executives to be loyal, so it's a problem I never have to face. Likewise in intimacy.
7Aug
Home again. Hopefully the glue is dry, and construction can be completed.
8Aug
Almost two months at the new flat. Time to take stock of operations.
J0: inactive business with conditional tax credits / retained losses.
J1: a volatile, floundering, operation - short-term prospects are fair, long-term prospects are negligible. I should adjust my expectations of influence in accordance with my very limited responsibilities. Near zero opportunity for personal development. This is basically a side-gig.
J2: a less volatile, less floundering, situation - short term prospects are fair, long-term prospects slightly more interesting. I have greater influence here, but not much room for personal development also. This is basically a daily grind.
J3: physical conditioning routine is fairly stable : food, sleep, swimming.
In order to balance these, I should perhaps :
J0: research some low capital, low profit, autopilot operations. Between merchandising and coaching services, there might be something here.
J4: allocate a minimum number of weekly hours for personal development. Push out the ongoing software engineering project, and then use it as a platform for more analytical studies.
J5: continue to shop for intimate partners, without rushing into anything too expensive.
J6: allocate a minimum monthly budget for organising parties.
J7: prepare the governance structure for the flat's statutory management committee.
J8: clean up all counterparty changes of personal address.
J9: clean up backlog of bills, taxes, and investment accounting.
J10: KIV to increase studies of financial markets after all that.
... probably need to throw this up on the wall ...
9Aug
Facing a lot of social pressure both at work and outside. I think it's just a matter of spending too much time hanging out with folks from the lower levels of the Maslov hierarchy. Fundamentally, I do think of epicureans as sort of intellectual subclass. I just have to remind myself that these are my neighbours and we have to build society together, regardless of different interests.


10aug
I miss 14 hour work days, and I've been working really hard to bring them back. But I'm not there yet.
1000h
Six hours of sleep plus some warm up reading. Time to wash, clear work, and shoot a lot of caffeine and carbs.
2359h
Having studied the shit out of the corners, it's time to cut corners.
12 aug
Modifying governance processes from pitch to delivery feels like brain surgery. I suppose one isn't supposed to take it less seriously.
13 Aug
Time for intercity housekeeping.
14 Aug
Catching up on dating quotas and inboxes.
Some housekeeping to do. Probably groceries, and some work also.
15 Aug
At this rate, my corporate career is going to specialise in ISO implementations.
16Aug
Got my allnighter, napped, cleared 5/6 of my personal emails ... soon, more sleep. It is only 2am now.
17Aug
Prototyped a BOM costing spreadsheet, which can follow business rules to quote different prices based on historical purchases, in day or so ... I guess experience counts for something.
Not that it's money.
19 Aug
What a fucked up week. Lol. Three more days till the weekend.
20Aug
Working weekend.
1108h slow start. Maybe housekeeping first. Ended up working on both flats, and meeting up with friends.
21 Aug
1418h time to start work.
24AUG
Back to work-work. Stress level maybe at 30%-of-breakdown, due to outstanding issues. Let's see ... new metric. Will study it closely.
Maybe I can't brain the concept of quiet quitting because I've always been a loud performative mercenary.
25Aug
Maybe I can't brain the concept of quiet quitting because I've always been a loud performative mercenary.
I keep buying USB3-HDMI adapters for my Dell Inspiron 5459 but many of them don't work easily with Ubuntu ... next I'm trying a Dell D3100 dock which supposedly works with Ubuntu as long as the DisplayPort driver is installed. 65 ... 85 ... 150 ... before shipping, I'm already RM300 in the hole ... live and learn.
Next Saturday's study is IRR@MWRR vs TWR.
27AUG
So, the end of 3G service in Malaysia forced me to purchase fibre. Now I have too much bandwidth. What do I do with this? Should a become a streamer?
K50 Gaming! 60%-75% the price of some other phones with the same chipset.
Shit ton of work to do for other people.
First I'm going to sew some sheets.
Yell if you want to get a drink later.
28 AUG
Some work done, some work not yet done. Back to work.
Apparently the ACs are on WiFi now, with hourly datalogging. I guess the whole flat is bugged ๐Ÿ˜›
30aug
Super boring day. Time to feed, then fix wifi, then back to work.
Ah shit, it's a holiday tomorrow. Better for me to work then, fewer distractions. Few other ways to profit.
Fixed WiFi! Small win. Little to look forward to for the rest of the year.
Emergency social at 11+pm
31 Aug
3am ish, done with social, snacked. Time to clock in ... because I have too much stupid shit to do that I can't wait to get rid of.
Fixed CSS. Back to fixing spreadsheets ... after nap
12pm ish
Social apps iterated, time to enforce feeding, maybe get more work done.
Perhaps it is time to nap before more work.
1 sep
Innovation (learning) is a hard skill. When we tell someone "you lack experience," it's just sugar-coating the concept : "either you lack aptitude, or you lack skill and need more practice".
Physical exercise functions to improve intellectual capacity. If you know how to plumb it.
2 sep
Reminding myself to stick to daily SOPs a little closer and to be grateful for relatively calm seas : hahaha
4 Sep
TIL the Fed is not a bank, but a mesh of twelve banks.