Quote from Nana Trader:
I am a frequent visitor to SEA, and I can say singaporean are
very fimiliar with financial markets, and it's your family and
relatives who aren't much aware of it.
A country like Thailand even has scroling Ticker moving
across bottom of most TV channels showing quotes for
local stocks.
Yes, it's to your advantage that you started early, because
you don't have much money to lose too much money, by the
time you make any money, you might have learned this game.
As far as trading enviroment, i can say Middle east is much
poorer than south east Asia.
Quote from BlueHorseshoe:
Try paying 120% of the value of any new or used car as tax. Then add all the other fees and licenses. Then realize that every industry is oligopoly controlled by government businesses - bus, grocery, etc. Also, almost all land is owned by the government - ever heard of lease-hold? Then if you live there you will experience more news censorship than in China - no Sex in the City, no Cosmopolitan, no independent journalism ...
On the plus side, it is quite easy for foreigners, even traders, to immigrate. After all, the government needs to replace all of their young, educated taxpayers who have fled where all the real opportunities are in China or US. Another plus is that all drug dealers, rapists, murderers, and most ugly people are executed shortly after conviction. Also, the cleanest city I've ever visited ... and that is no small statement.
Btw, criticizing the government there is explicitly illegal - I bs you not. If anything I've said might come across as critical of the administration, I wish to confirm that my statements were strictly in jest.![]()
Quote from omcate:
Bubble gums are forbidden too. Also, there is no jury in a trial, only the judges. All of them are appointed by the government, of course. If you own some real estate properties that are in the way of a public project, the government will buy it back at prices well below the market values. You cannot take the government to the court either. Many years ago, a landlord did that and won, a great achievement considering the structure of the juridical system there. The government promptly passed a law and closed the loophole by revoking that particular right of all property owners.
In a exam, if there are two correct approaches to the same question, and the student adopts the one that is not taught by the teacher, he/she will receive no credits. Needless to say, that causes a lot of problems, when Singaporeans try to compete with Koreans, Japanese, Americans, Chinese, Indians, etc. Hence, few years ago, the government begins to encourage creative thinking.
After each major election, it is almost a routine that the government will sue the leader of the opposition party. A huge fine will then impose to make sure that guy goes bankrupt. Some opposition leaders just fled the country.
A taxi driver told me once that China is practicing low tech communism, while they have high tech communism in Singapore. The former will put the dissidents in jail. The latter will confiscate their capital and properties. The government will then try make them to work like slaves for the rest of their lives.
I like to confirm that my statements were strictly in jest TOO.
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Quote from Zap777:
Hi - Just a few thoughts:
1. I graduated from a top 5 MBA program in the US. 90% of my classmates that were bankers, consultants, etc. didn't understand the first thing about trading. Therefore, it really shouldn't be that troubling that your family and friends don't understand either.
2. And, please, don't take this the wrong way...even I don't take 20-year-olds seriously. That's simply because when we were all that age we changed our minds a 100 times about what we wanted to be and do. Now, if you REALLY, REALLY want to be a trader then you have to WORK at it and will EVENTUALLY get the respect of people around you. You earn respect through accomplishment and experience, not just because you want it badly enough. That's just the way the world works.
3. I have traded a number of markets (fixed income, currencies, equities, relative value, directional), in the US and London, and when I go to a party and don't want to talk to anyone about the markets (or, worse yet, what they should do with their money...gimme a break) I tell them I own a donut shop (i.e. I don't give a flying f**k about impressing people). Makes for some interesting conversation and the girls talk to me anyway. The point is that if you are in this business to get acknowledgement or approval from your peers you will be disappointed. The ONLY reason you should be a trader is because you desire more than anything else to prove to YOURSELF that you can produce...money, that is. And that proving process never ends. It goes on day, after day, after day.
With the above thoughts in mind I encourage you to pursue you goal. I've definitely not hit any sort of jackpot yet, but I can still say the the rewards are definitely worth the troubles. Good luck.
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