Moving up!

Tomorrow would mark the end of my nomad days! Having been in Singapore for the past 6 years, I have been living like a nomad, moving from one place to another. Despite being a landlord, sad to say, I have not stayed in any of the properties I bought. Finally, with my dearest partner, Ryan, my dream came true this year.

Infact many things came true this year,

Alpha Marketing was invited to exhibit at Marina Bay Sands - SMART Investment Expo this year. And we did not pay a single cent for the booth. We were invited, yeah, it was that great!

Ryan & Myself - Business Partners for life

Our booth was one of the most visited booth as we offer free maps and people going through our books and stop to talk to us about real estate in Malaysia.

Thomas Ong & Stephanie Ong, Malaysia Commercial Property Tycoon. Very nice couple too.

Hubert Ong, Thomas Ong & Desmond Lin - MISS members

Our banner is right behind the podium, even SMART Expo colour is the same as Alpha.

Thomas speaking on stage

A strong crowd of more than 200 people stayed back to listen to Thomas

Volunteers for the day. Yang Loong & Valen

 

Due to very encouraging response from SMART Expo and request by members, we have decided to organise another property tour, and this is none other than Iskandar Malaysia. During the expo, I have about 4 - 5 Alpha Ambassadors to assist us in giving out fliers and explaning to people of what we do, and almost everyone who signed up as member, asked us about Iskandar. So, we thought, why not we visit Iskandar to see for ourselves! And the take up rate was very good, a lot were left dissapointed too cause I only have rooms for 35 pax. 

 

 

 

Recently we have been approached by a few developers from Malaysia asking if we could share their projects with our members. But we have been very very cautious of not accepting just any deals that being proposed as Ryan and I have a relatively strict criteria for our investors. Having done a few co-investment deals for the group, I think we are getting more comfortable now than 6 months ago when we started. Got a lot of contacts along the way and I am definitely looking forward to expand Alpha and grow my investor base.

 

When I first started investing in properties, I only wanted to own 5 properties before I turn 30 years old. I am 27 this year and well, I have 4 in Malaysia and 1 in Singapore. The secret is, never stop believing in your dream. 5 is nothing as compared to those who own 30 over properties but I dont think I want to play the number game, Five is good for now. My new resolution would be another Singapore property in the next 2 years. :)

 

 

Mid of year 2012

The year 2012 has been a crazy year! And it is not even year end yet!

Earlier this year, Ryan got our bazi reading done and did a self evaluation fengshui of our current house. Don't quite remember what did Joey Yeap's disciple said but basically I would have some luck in networking, business and gambling/investing. Apparently business will come after us to expand our portfolio but real wealth would have to wait.

Career wise, I would have a smooth progression with potential of further promotion or increment. So far, it has been pretty good. But gotta monitor my health. Which is very true, I have been failing sick pretty often after my trip to Hong Kong last year. I have just recovered 2 months ago after a strict diet and medication.

In April, again I went to Kek Lok Si Temple for fun during my annual "cheng beng" prayer to my anchestors. Despite being born Catholic, I don't mind giving my respect at Chinese Temple, and again being superbly superstitious, I draw a divination lot and got it decipher by the monk. Apparently abundance of wealth and marriage luck in the air 0.o

Alpha also took one of the bigger step ever by organising her first and virgin property tour. It was a full 20 pax plus investors from Singapore! Definitely an honour to host them!

Marcus Chu of REIGN & Jacob Tay Co-founder of IProperty also part of the entourage. Guess what, even the Head of Wealth Management of BNP Paribas joined us and now he is our close contact! We are forever grateful to have met people like them!

There are a lot more whom we have met, Mr Ho Chin Soon, Milan Doshi, Juanita Chin, Thomas Ong, Trutz Winter and many more property investors who are very successful in their own respective way. This journey is trully a life changer!

To date, I have organised countless events thanks to great response from fellow investors. Be it property investment or gold/silver investment. My fee is very reasonable and I also work on a commission basis. SOmetimes I work for free just to get names into my portfolio.

What started as a passion has definitely grown into a business! On average I receive at least one email from client seeking my service to join them in organising or a cooperation. However, I need to be careful in who and which organisation that Alpha/MISS is associated with to avoid being seen as bias and losing our stand as an agnostic club. We don't charge any membership fee and MISS is open to everyone be it new or seasoned investor. 

One of the reason MISS is formed was to bring Malaysian investors residing in Singapore together to mingle with rest of the investors and educate those who are less familiar with Malaysia real estate. I heard too many unfortunate stories of Singaporean getting burnt in Malaysia real estate hence, being a Malaysian, I felt it was a calling to debunk the myth! You CAN make money in Malaysia! Get yourself educated, mingle with SUCCESSFUL investors who are familiar with Malaysia and take action. If you do not have enough capital, then co-invest with someone you can trust.

Sometimes you just have to put your skeptism away for a successful joint venture, if you cannot trust your partner, then do not put your money in. And do not over analyse until paralyse. Every investment has its inherent risk, if you cannot sleep then better don't invest. Investment is not for the faint hearted. 

As Ryan and myself have basically exhausted our borrowing capacity, we co-invest with other investors in commercial deal. Believe it or not, none of these investors are my friends whom I know before my real estate journey, rather, these are people whom I met at real estate event. They trust our findings and believe in us. Some merely know us for a week, and willing to join us in our investment! Isn't it amazing! One investor told me, "I don't know who is the developer, I don't know who is Thomas Ong, but if Melissa says it is a good buy, I'll buy". Like wow! Perhaps I should become a real estate agent! Trully an honour!

Another surprise came into my mail box.

An invitation to be part of SMART Expo and we get a table and publicity for free!

Usually event like this would cost S$2-3k for a booth or a table. And we are honored to get such privilege at Marina Bay Sands expo! Usually Alpha tags along with Mr Ho at his event. This time we got a direct access to go under Alpha's name!

And the last sweetener of the day!

I finally got a condo in Singapore!

Okaylah, I didnt buy myself, it is a co-investment with Ryan. Somewhere near city. Will be getting the keys in November the latest!

Thank you God for answering all my prayers and thank you fellow investors for propelling my business to another level!

Okay, gotta plan for my exhibition and redesign my website! Oh boy oh boy! It is good to be busy for your own business!

Year 2011

Haven’t been blogging for a long long time. I guessed, there aren’t many people who actually reads my blog, rather this blog captures all the past moments and my future aspiration.


Let's see, what happened in year 2011

- Broke up with my bf of 4 years. It was heart breaking and I always wonder if I would regret in future but what's done is done, it was a wonderful 4 years. No regrets as he brought out the best in me and I am who I am cause of him. However, knowing my competitive nature and go-getter, I need to get out the comfy and chilling zone. I need a guy who would push and spur me further. He was my best friend and it was the hardest decision ever.

Then: The funny guy

- Met an investor friend, turned business partner and lover. We are so similar in so many ways. Both are equally bad at housework, bad at roads/directions, hate durians, love business and investment. We can talk hours on property investment and our usual date revolves around meeting business partners, attending seminar or property launches. Our weekends are usually packed. In a way, I am glad I met him. He redefines the focus of my life, the only guy who always tries to challenge me, but still lose nevertheless. :D

Now: The serious guy



- Started Alpha Marketing Singapore

-  Ventured into event management (Mini scale private function)

-  Cousin Sam and best buddies Chan & Kamz got married

- Volunteered in a few charitable organisation, Rotaract and Junior Achivement

Merce Fund Raising Campaign @ Orchard Road

- Appeared on Singapore Business Times, Malaysia News Straits Times, Singapore Channel News AsiaOne and Ho Chin Soon book 5.

- Went to see Mickey Mouse and Stanley Ho

- Bought a car in Singapore on my own.



- Added 2 more props into my portfolio.

Well, I guessed, thats pretty much about it for year 2011.

As for 2012, I am looking forward to a greater year ahead! Hopefully could add one Singapore property to my portfolio and I am done for the year.

Happy CNY ppl.

Featured in Malaysia New Straits Times Property

Patrick of Patchay.Com and myself were interviewed by Nicholas Leong from NST Property few weeks back. It was a casual chit chat rather than a serious interview.

The content are more or less repetitive of my Business Times feature, but any publicity is good for business.

There is another developer launch coming up, price is relatively affordable. Please go to AlphaMarketingSg.com for updates on the deals. You can also sign up as member to get access to the articles.

Inefficiency

After 2 weeks, I am still featured on AsiaOne.com. ;)

I went back to KL yesterday (reached Kajang at 2am), thanks to the coach's delay (NICE owned by Plusliner Sdn Bhd - suppose to depart at 7.15pm but bus only arrived at 8.30pm) and horrendous jam at the causeway! It is pure common sense that Friday night has the most traffic that commutes between Singapore and Malaysia, yet our dear Immigration Department thinks one lane of immigration clerance is enough to cater for the masses of migration!

The traffic was very smooth from the bus terminal to Singapore immigration, but once we reached JB soil, I can see dozen buses ahead of mine! And the implementation of biometric scanning for foreigner adds to the anguish of travellers.

Sometimes I cannot comprehend why on earth we have idiots sitting at the driver's seat (as in governing our country).

Implementation of unnecessary system at untimely hour! It took me 3 precious hours just to cross the border!

On surface, the government of Malaysia seems to be welcoming Singaporean but I have no freaking idea, why did they introduce biometric scanning! Besides, system breakdown in Malaysia is a norm, Why can't they just CHOP, CHOP like every other country? The hassle of this would be detrimental to the development of Iskandar Malaysia. Iskandar Malaysia cannot take off without foreign money pouring in, in particularly Singaporean money.

Malaysia Government loves to come out with new unnecessary project and initiative that cost a bomb but adds NO VALUE to the Raykat, it is very apparent it is a stance to suck out more taxpayer's money. No country is perfect and free from corruption but can YOU please implement something that at least benefits the Rakyat like a

1) MRT vs 100 storey warisan merdeka.
2) Scholarship to those in need vs 1.8m Facebook project
3) Increase civil servant salary (so that they don't corrupt) vs 1Msia email project.

I don't mind corruption if things are done properly, but the crappy thing about Malaysia government is that, they award projects to Tom, Dick and Harry with a bt or bte at the back, blow the budget and yet deliver shoddy work. If you want to protect your bumiputeras, I do not mind, at least train them to deliver better quality and service.

And please, can you start work on the bullet train between Singapore and Malaysia already? I don't care who gets the tender, just make sure they get it done properly and don't cut corners.

Thank you for your defense

Good to know you are always there to support me in good and bad times. And good luck in being a landlord and getting a girl friend :D

Channelnewasia forum

Have been rather upset after my feature was being scrutinised and critised in a few Singapore forum recently, I do not blame the forumers for they do not know me well enough. But he defended me on the forum. I guessed noone could ever understand me as well as he did. He witnessed first hand how I cried every night missing my family and stressing at work, my anxiety in buying my first property, my sleepness night when my unit untenanted for 2 months and all my ups and downs at work.

Instead of smearing the name of your ex, isn't it great that your ex comes to your defend when you are defenseless? I believe in karma, what comes around goes around. Once again, a big thank you!

Why invest in Malaysia?

Ever since my feature was out, forumers have been debating if Malaysia is a better bet as compared to Singapore real estate? With all due respect, I think if I have the cash, I would invest in Singapore as compared to Malaysia. As land is scarce in Singapore, there will always be demand for reasonable price property. But due to constant Singapore Government intervention, the rich gets richer while the middle class stays put. So, the only way to get out from that category is by investing elsewhere. I am not going to debate why property is better than shares, cause I failed at shares. I did invest in shares for a brief moment but I can never understand why it went up on certain days and drop the next minute. It was beyond my control. I broke even in my shares trading.

Now, why Malaysia?

1. Strong Singapore currency.

Having a strong currency is an advantage as we (Singapore earners) can easily secure a nice condo in a prime area at half the price. But then again, the shortcoming would be further depreciation of RM against SGD, making the conversion no longer attractive. Unless you have some local business in Malaysia to offset against your income. Else enter into a hedge, again not feasible when your cash flow is minimal.

2. Proximity.

Would you invest in Indonesia? Thailand? Vietnam? Or even US? If you don’t see yourself investing in such country, so apart from Singapore, where else can you invest? Malaysia is just a ride/fly away. Besides that, let us analyse the potential country to invest internationally. Starting from the west to east.

- United States
Plenty of foreclosure, time to load up the property, but massive subprime debt, distance a problem, no leverage avenue for foreigners.

- Canada
No data

- Europe
Same as United Stated


- Africa
No data


- Middle East
Dare to invest in Middle East? Not me.

- China/Hong Kong
Overheating prices, worst than Singapore, dare to go in now? Currency control measure, currency fluctuation, language barrier (for me, I can’t read Chinese), not familiar with local legislation.

- Thailand/Vietnam/Indonesia/Philippine/ Myanmar
Underdeveloped countries, politic instability, chances of currency control is even higher, they have yet to get their fundamentals right where the basic infrastructure and human needs are yet to be met. The gap between the rich and poor is too wide.

- Malaysia
Government a bit screw up, but still acceptable. ETP plans, upcoming MRT line within Greater KL, possible high speed train from KL to Singapore. Once this high speed train is made possible, connectivity makes easy. Similar to Hong Kong MTR that connects to Shenzhen, bringing vast business opportunity between both country. Singapore can only grow at a certain extent due to its size, it’s economy has to expand beyond its own backyard. The tipping point for Iskandar Johor, KL and Singapore is the high speed train, then we will be known as a Mega Region as popularised by Mr Ho Chin Soon.

3. Population growth
While Malaysia is hit with high percentage of brain drain, we still have locals from the remaining 11 states to fill in the vacancy in KL. At the moment, the population of people in KL itself is 7.2million (quoted from Tim Murphy, Buying Asia), which equals the population of whole Singapore.

So, where would you invest now apart from Singapore?