Undergraduate Business Conference @ Curtin Unversity

Miri – 1 October, 2009 – Curtin University of Technology, Sarawak Malaysia (Curtin Sarawak) is holding its 6th Undergraduate Business Conference on 3 October 2009.

Themed ‘Awaken the Financial Genius Within’, the conference is jointly organised by the university’s Accounting Club, Certified Public Accountants (CPA) Australia and Fortress Wealth Advisory.

The conference’s objectives are to nurture Curtin’s graduate attributes, provide a platform for learning and sharing, and widen networking opportunities among students. It is open to anyone of non-accounting background and approximately 200 participants from other educational institutions will be attending.

According to organising chairperson Chew Lun Wu, the conference brings much benefit to Curtin Sarawak students and they truly cherish the experience. “Besides being a good platform for Curtin Sarawak students to share their thoughts and ideas on money matters, we also get to develop our communication skills. It is also an opportunity for us to interact with industry professionals and our peers from different institutions who will be attending the conference,” he related.

“It is a unique learning experience that cannot be accomplished from just attending lectures and reading textbooks. Indeed, Curtin Sarawak encourages its students to learn beyond the classroom and gets us involved in meaningful events such as this conference. It is an event that is always widely anticipated by our students each year,” added Chew.

During this event, I had the privilege to represent FORTRESS Wealth Advisory to discuss topics at the conference such as ‘Beyond the Millionaire Mindset’ and ‘Discover the Entrepreneur Within’.

The Organizers: CPA Australia, FORTRESS Wealth Advisory, Curtin University of Technology and Curtin University Accounting Club

My business partner, Lucas receiving souvenir from the VIPs of CPA Australia

Representatives of FORTRESS Wealth Advisory

From the left: Lucas, Jonathan, Kh’ng Lee, and Pierre

Click for more: The VIPs and participants having fun during FORTRESS’s session!

Life With No Limits!

As a college student, George studied very hard and he was burning midnight oil almost every night. So late that he overslept one morning arriving 20 minutes late for class. When he reached the class, he quickly copied the two math problems on the board, assuming that the questions were his homework assignment.

Surprisingly, the 2 questions given were really tough and it took George several days to work through the 2 problems. Finally.. He had a breakthrough and dropped the homework on the professor’s desk the next day.

Later, on a Sunday morning, George was awakened at 6am by his excited professor. Since George was late for class, he hadn’t heard the professor announced that the 2 unsolvable equations on the board were mathematical mind teasers that even Albert Einstein hadn’t been able to answer. But George Dantzig working without any thoughts of limitation, had solved not 1, but 2 problems that had stumped mathematicians for thousands of years.

How Did George Managed To Solve The Problems?
Well, George solved the problems because he didn’t know he couldn’t!

Are There Any Reasons to Diversify?

Many financial gurus often advises that diversification is used by people to protect themselves against their own ignorance. They noted that if you know what you are doing, you should concentrate your portfolio into equities as they achieve the highest return. And you can achieve low risk not by simply spreading your money around, but by your competence of knowing which funds and stocks to pick. In fact, if you have read the latest chapter of Conspiracy of the Rich by Robert Kiyosaki, there was a paragraph that goes:

‘If you listen to most financial pundits, they will always say that smart investors diversify. Yet, to quote Warren Buffett in The Tao of Warren Buffett, “Diversification is a protection against ignorance. It makes very little sense for those who know what they are doing.”‘

If this investment concept was preached years ago, well, probably the financial gurus are right!

Let’s look at the unimaginable market of today!

Entrepreneurship and Youth – A Learning Network (EYLN) Conference

I am very proud to announce that my company, FORTRESS Wealth Advisory was an Event Learning Partner of Entrepreneurship and Youth – A Learning Network (EYLN) Conference. The EYLN 2009 is a non-profit project that aims to equip undergraduates on learning experiences with appropriate practical and theoretical knowledge on business and entrepreneurship.

The list of EYLN 2009 topics and speakers include:

• Business Etiquette by Mr. Geh Thuan Hooi – General Manager of Group Human Resources – Services Division of Sunway Group
• Entrepreneurial Experience by Mr. George Ang – Co-founder of Revenue Valley (Manhattan Fish Market, Tony Romas, Sushi Groove) and Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2008 – Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Awards 2008 (Malaysia Region)
• and many more and
• of course, Financial Intelligence by Jonathan Quek!

The conference was extremely successful and inspired FORTRESS to continue spreading our life transformational talks, seminars and workshops to make a difference to the lives of young aspiring entrepreneurs in Malaysia!

Did you know – Right Here, Right Now

There was once a professor who wanted to go down a river. He approached a local boatman who agreed to row him downstream for a $50.

As they made their way down the river, the professor decides to show off his intelligence and high education so he started to test the simple boatman.

Picking up a leaf, the professor arrogantly asks the boatman, “Have you studied Botany?” The boatman looks at him blankly and replies, “No.. I’m just a boatman, Sir. I don’t even understand what the word meant.”

Then I’m afraid 25% of your life is gone!” the professor loftily says. The boatman feels really bad about his ignorance but continues to row on.

As they move further downstream, the river currents begin to get stronger and stronger. The professor picks up a stone dropped on the boat and asks, “Boatman, have you ever studied Geology?” The confused poor boatman again says, “No….”

The professor shakes his head and says, “Then 50% of your life is gone!” He then signals him to carry on rowing. As they move further downstream, the currents get even stronger, the water is moving faster and the boat begins to sway violently.

Where will your education lead to?

Recently, I’ve been deeply inspired by a team of AIESECers from UKM who have taken the initiative to equip local and international undergraduates with entrepreneurial, personal and professional development skills. The understood clearly the important question that had been lingering in most students’ mind

In today’s society, there are a number of different intelligences we need to survive and prosper in society. The 3 most important intelligences are:

Keeping a Roof Over Your Head?

One of the most interesting insights that I’ve gathered from Singaporeans is the way of proposing for marriage. Singaporeans are pretty creative people and they usually propose by saying, “Let’s register to buy a HDB flat!”

In Singapore, it’s pretty common to regard the home that they live in as an investment for retirement. Real estate has the benefit of appreciating over time and it’s a pretty good tool to hedge against inflation.

The very success of the CPF system contributed to Singapore having one of the world’s highest number of homeowners. However, this has also rendered Singaporeans as “asset-rich but cash-poor” during retirements. This saying is pretty common because most of Singaporeans’ savings are locked up in their property and they may faced with the possibility of selling their property upon retirement if they do not have other sources of funds to rely on.

For those who wish to monetize their property in their golden years in order to fund their retirement, two options with respect to their properties are available.

5 Things About the Man Behind the World’s Biggest Ponzi Scheme

Now, on a cold March day in Manhattan, Madoff — the mastermind behind the largest Ponzi scheme in history — has pleaded guilty to 11 felony charges, including securities fraud, money laundering and false filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Madoff may face up to 150 years in jail!

Here are 5 things about Bernie Madoff, the man behind the world’s biggest Ponzi Scheme:

Developing Leaders Day, AIESEC UTM

Two weeks ago, I was invited to speak to a group of young leaders for the Developing Leaders Day organized by AIESEC Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. This is a part of my mission and strategy of increasing Financial Intelligence of young Malaysians!

In the photo: Committeesof AIESEC, June & Lucas

From Left: June, Jonathan, Lucas

Warren Buffett’s Advice for 2009

As we begin 2009 with dampened enthusiasm and dentened optimism, some of our dreams and hopes are diluted by the financial illness that has infected the world! Every new year, Warren Buffett adopt a couple of old maxims as his beacons to guide his future. This self-prescribed therapy has ensured that with each passing year, Warren Buffett grow wiser and not older.

This year, Warren Buffett invites you to tap into the financial wisdom with him and become financially wiser.