Spring Cleaning

I've been procrastinating on cleaning my room these past few weeks. Well attachment's over and now's the perfect time for it. I've got a lot of stuff that has been occupying space on my desk in my room, particularly those gadgets and photography magazines that has been piling up.

I really need to clear up space for my workspace and get things more organized on my desk. My desktop PC is now up and running and I'll be using it solely for post-processing my images, so I need a more spacious environment since I'll be spending more time in my room during those image editing moments. Perhaps in the future I could turn my room into a mini studio.

Millionaires Are From a Different Planet

I bought this book last week. No wait, actually I've 're-purchased' this book because I bought a copy of it some 6-7 years ago in Singapore at the time of its release, but halfway through reading it I lend it to someone and he never returned it back. Lesson learned; never lend people your books. They're great investments and if a friend wishes to read it, ask him/her to buy one for herself (there are always enough books for everyone, c'mon). I know I'm kinda karit in this particular thing but people kept borrowing my books and just never returned them back!

Anyway, this is one my favorite reads on finance and wealth. I am an absolute fan of Azizi Ali. His writing is sound and the book is actually more practical then technical. Azizi Ali, a Malaysian, is one of the best known millionaires coaches who's been conducting a lot of talks and seminars on wealth and financial success over the years in Malaysia. He was a pilot turned millionaire after realizing the true formula to financial freedom.

Millionnaires Are From a Different Planet is his first and one of his best books he's ever written. In his book, Azizi explained his theory that in order to be financially successful, its not just simply figuring out how to make more money, but rather manage your personal finance. Most people thought that to be rich and successful one needs to learn how to make more money, full stop. Azizi encouraged people to be smart in managing your money that you currently have, and from there you'll be able to see your money grow. All is explained in his book, which is indeed practical and logical. None of those MLM, pyramid, forex or money laundering stuff, just pure financial management that you can put to practice.

I highly recommend this book to everyone, especially to my fellow colleagues and juniors of the Business School. It will teach you how to manage your money the right way so that you'll be well off in the future. And please get a copy. Don't borrow. Seriously people, buy books. Its sad that not many people read books here in Brunei. Reading is fun and at its true what our teachers used to tell us; reading more improves your English better, not DVD subtitles!

To learn more about Azizi Ali, visit his website at millionairesplanet.com

The Cashflow Quadrant

The Cashflow Quadrant represents the different methods by which income and money is generated. This theory is designed by Mr Robert Kiyosaki from his famous book, 'Rich Dad Poor Dad'. The Cashflow Quadrant consists of 4 quadrants which represents the different types of career or situation you are in that dictates how you earn money.


On the top left quadrant is the E quadrant. The E quadrant stands for Employee. It means that you are employed in a company or organization, or in other words, you get a job. You work. And in return, you get paid from what you do by your boss. People who work in the government sector or a private company fall in this category, wether you are a waiter in a restaurant, a mechanic in a plant, or a manager in a corporation. The drawback of being in the E quadrant is that you greatly depend on your salary. Should you lose your job, you will not earn anything until you find another job.

Below the E quadrant is the S quadrant, which stands for Self-employed. Self-employed means that you work for yourself. Now these people differ from the top quadrant because they are entirely independent. They prefer to do things on their own. Good examples of a self-employed are mechanics who open their own workshop, plumbers who takes calls from customers through newspaper ads, doctors opening their own clinic, and lawyers in their own firm. These people are so good in what they do that they start their own business and look for their own customers rather than working for someone else. They are specialists. Obviously, he gets to keep all the profits. But the problem of being in the S quadrant is that the business depend on you greatly. If you get sick or are unavailable in your office, than there will be no business for the day.

On the top right quadrant is the B quadrant which stands for Business Owner. The term business owner means that the person owns a business or a corporation. Unlike the Self-employed who still have to work, business owners own a system, meaning to say that business owners have people working for them. They don't have to do all the hard work as they are the decision makers for the long-term goals of the business and signs the paychecks for their employees. They have accountants to handle the financial matters, they have the sales and marketing staff to sell their products, they have secretaries to take care of all the paperwork, and so on. A good example of a local business owner is Pehin Lau Ah Kok who owns Hua Ho Department Stores.

Finally, below quadrant B is the I quadrant. This is what Robert Kiyosaki calls it 'the playground of the rich'. The I quadrant stands for Investor. People in this quadrant do something not many other people do, which is making more money out of the money they give away. They invest their money. Instead of working for money, they let the money work for them. They buy stocks, they invest on property, and they do foreign exchange trading. Overall, they're playing with the numbers.


As you can see, when you compare the left quadrants E and S with the right quadrants B and I, you can surely tell where the rich people lie in. Obviously, the Business Owners and the Investors are the money generating quadrants, and that's where we should be if we want to be financially successful. But some of you might say "How is it possible for me as an employee to get to be in the Right side of the quadrant when I don't even have the skills, knowledge and a lot of money?" There's even a saying that you have to inherit a family fortune if you wish to be in the right quadrants. Problem is, you are not one of the Hiltons.

Well, turns out, nothing is impossible. People have been doing this for years. There are self-made millionnaires and billionnaires who started from the left quadrant. Employees can be investors if they know how to spend their money right, and the self-employed can become business owners over time should the business continue to grow. In short, everyone can start a business, and everyone can invest. It's all a matter of choice whether we want to do it or not. But if you wish to stick to being in the left quadrants for the rest of your lives, well, good luck climbing to the top.

Take It To Hollywood

As I was browsing around at GIANT!!! yesteday, I found this book on the shelves of Best Eastern. The Historian is a modern re-telling of the Dracula story. Sounds cool! Well, I don't really feel like reading novels these days so I thought they should make a film out of this book, pronto.

Another Book In My Collection

Just bought this enlightening book yesterday after lunch. A continuation of the book Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. Well I know it's an old book, but I've been waiting for so long to actually wanna get hold of this. Something to read during my off-peak hours or during Mr Masaki's class. Hahaha :P