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Family Money:
The Cost of Learning
By Leslie
Wright,
Managing director of Westminster Portfolio Services (Thailand) Ltd.
For many, the cost of raising and
educating children puts a tremendous strain on the family budget. These
costs are rising faster than inflation, and in most cases income isn’t
keeping pace. Most parents will do whatever they can to provide the best
education for their children, but this often means sacrifices in other
areas: fewer holidays, waiting to buy the new car, putting off home
improvements.
Most parents would like to send their children to
college. But even if the child is bright, the family finances may not
stretch that far – especially when there are other younger children in
the family that have to be fed and clothed as well.
Not only the poor have trouble at the start of every
school term. Middle-class Thais and even the well-to-do also feel the
pinch. As do many retired or semi-retired expatriates who have started a
new family here. And even working expatriates who have children going to
school ‘back home’ and who do not qualify for State grants or support.
How to find the large sums of money required to educate
children is a perennial problem, and not just at the start of the school
year.
So how can you make sure that you will be able to
finance the ever-increasing cost of education? I would like to offer some
simple suggestions as follows:
Step 1: Know the various options. Different schools
offer different standards and programme options. Obviously, the state
schools and universities are the cheapest. The numbers in the accompanying
table are annual education expenses (in baht) that do not include entrance
fees or room and board. Somewhat daunting figures, aren’t they?
Step 2: Project the future cost. Just when you think
the numbers in the table seem astronomical, you have to realise that
inflation will cause those costs to increase by the time your child
reaches that level of education. And as mentioned earlier, education costs
both here and internationally are increasing at a higher rate than
inflation.
If you want to send your child to a college in the UK
that currently charges an annual fee of ฃ25,000 (or roughly
equivalent to 1.6 million baht), in 10 years these fees will probably have
risen to around ฃ40,000 (or 2.5 million baht), assuming education
cost rise at an annual UK inflation rate averaging only 5% p.a. This also
assumes that the exchange rate in 10 years time is the same as now.
Step 3: Check the possibilities. Knowing that you will
need to have roughly ฃ125,000 (or 8 million baht) available for your
child’s three-year college education in the UK starting in 2013,
calculate how much you need to have today, and how much that sum needs to
grow to reach that target.
Here are a few scenarios that will give you 8 million
baht in 2013:
*Your principal of ฃ48,125 (??3.1 million baht)
annually earns an average of 10% net;
*Your principal of ฃ58,000 (? 3.7 million baht)
annually earns an average of 8% net;
*Your principal of ฃ70,000 (??4.5 million baht)
annually earns an average of 6% net.
Of course, there are other combinations. The point of
this logic is that the less principal you start with, the higher the
return it will have to generate.
But you shouldn’t be taking undue risks with your
children’s education. Thus you shouldn’t be going into higher risk
investments, which may dip and lose money just when you need it to pay the
school fees. You should be projecting conservative growth figures on a
conservatively-stanced portfolio rather than expecting higher returns on a
higher-risk portfolio.
But even if you do not have a lump sum of capital to
invest into your children’s education fund today, you may still be able
to achieve the target of 8 million baht within the timeframe of your
window of opportunity, by investing a regular amount every month or
quarter for the next 10 years.
With a regular savings program you can in fact afford
to take on a higher degree of risk to achieve a potentially higher rate of
return, because the principle of unit-cost averaging is working to your
advantage. When the markets are down you are buying more ‘cheap’ units
in your chosen investments; when the market are high, you are buying fewer
‘expensive’ units. The price you pay for units over time averages out
– and provided the unit price when you come to cash up your investments
is higher than the average you paid for units, you will make a profit, no
matter what the markets did in the meantime.
Step 4: Create the investment portfolio. Assuming you
start with a principal of 3.5 million baht, you will need to construct a
portfolio of investments that will give you the target yield for 10 years.
There is no way that the asset class with which you are
most familiar – the bank deposit – can give you such a yield.
Appropriate proportions of various assets – cash,
bonds, stocks, mutual funds, gold, properties – will be able to give you
the target yield. However, you should realise that the annual returns will
not be constant for 10 years: they will fluctuate from year to year.
You may even have a loss in some years if the
proportion of more volatile (which means risky) assets such as stocks is
sizeable in your portfolio.
In such cases, do not be alarmed. When you have time on your side, you
can take on higher risk assets – e.g., stocks – to increase the return
potential. I would argue that you will be better off in 10 years if you
start adding stocks into your investment portfolio when the indices are
comparatively low, as they still are now.
Snap Shots: The Final Guide to Videography
by Harry Flashman
 The
biggest problem when looking at ‘home video’ is boredom. It is never
boredom on the part of the videographer however, but boredom on the part
of the audience! This week I have a few guidelines which will make your
videos more appealing, and more interesting for your audience. Again I
repeat that you should spend some time looking critically at TV and
movies, as these are your readily available ‘text books’ and examples.
Even the ‘soaps’ can teach you something, other than how to stop
screaming at the awful acting.
Firstly, remember that your major goal as a
videographer is to create moving images which will make your audience want
to continue watching your programme. This does not mean that every video
you shoot has to be something new, as most video productions are about
ordinary people doing ordinary things with ordinary objects. , it is only
your creative skill and talent which can make such events seem
extra-ordinary and worth a viewer’s time.
One very common mistake made by all photographers, as
well as videographers, is to only shoot from the most convenient or
accessible location and point of view. Lazy photographers stand with their
feet set in concrete and the camera at their eye level. This is not the
way to do it.
The position of the camera relative to the subject
makes an enormous difference in the shot and its impact. If the camera is
higher than the subject, this creates a feeling of inferiority,
helplessness or isolation between the viewer and the subject. In other
words, you are literally, as well as metaphorically, ‘looking down’ on
your subject.
Going to the other extreme, if the camera is lower than
the subject, the audience will see the subject as superior, strong and
overwhelming. You are now ‘looking up’ to the subject. The camera (the
viewer) is inferior.
Keeping the camera level with the subject’s eyes
makes the audience and the subject “eye-to-eye.” They are seen and
felt as equals. Keep this in mind when shooting and be prepared to get
down to the subject’s level. This is particularly important when
shooting children. Get down to their level and become to see the world
from their angle.
Despite the fact that all pro shoots entail the use of
a tripod, it is still one of the least used pieces of equipment by the
home videographer. Let’s be honest - most of you don’t even have one!
And that goes for still photographers too. However, if you want to keep
the audience’s attention, and not waste time and batteries, here are a
few tips to produce ‘shake proof’ video tape with hand-held video
cameras.
The first thing to do is to set the zoom lens at the
maximum wide angle position and set the focus at around 2 metres. The wide
lens position and focus setting gives you maximum depth of field with
sharp focus from about 0.5 metres in front of the camera lens to infinity
in bright sunlight. This range guarantees sharp focus no matter how close
or far away you are from the subject.
By not using the zoom, this will make you become more
aware of the position where you are shooting from, and make you walk into
the action, instead of just standing there and ‘zooming’ in. It will
also mean that you become more agile and start shooting from different
angles as well. By shooting this way, you will end up with more footage to
play with during final editing.
Of course, you should not forget to try and look for
ways to steady the hand-held camera. Leaning against walls, trees,
telegraph poles will help, as will sitting down if you need the lower
point of view.
If you practice all the pointers given over the past couple of weeks
you will notice an improvement in your video films, and even more
importantly, so will your audience! Lots of luck. And lots of practice is
the answer!!
Modern Medicine: How’s your liver these days? Still living?
by Dr. Iain Corness, Consultant
Ask any man which is his most important organ and he
will undoubtedly point to his bladder’s siphon hose. Perhaps the magic
symbol of masculinity, but it is certainly not the be all and end all.
(Though indiscriminate use can end everything!)
The liver is one of the more important organs you
possess. Without it you will die, whereas you can get by without a kidney,
or a lung or a thyroid, or even the willy for example. Yes, I’d rate my
liver above my thyroid any day.
Think of your liver as a filtering and de-toxifying
device. Chemicals are taken up by the liver, to be broken down into
non-toxic chemicals, all to protect your system. Clever organ your liver.
The most well known liver toxin is our old friend
Ethanol, more usually referred to as booze. That alcohol affects the liver
is accepted, with the end result being called Cirrhosis, a fibrous
hardening of the liver which then becomes unable to carry out its job
correctly. Toxins build up. You feel unwell and it’s all downhill from
there.
Some proprietary or prescription drugs can produce an
inflammation of the liver tissues too. Or worse, produce a breakdown of
the liver tissue itself. Amongst these is the headache medication
paracetamol (the ubiquitous “Sara” tablets, for example), but before
you throw them out of your bathroom cabinet, it requires some heavy and
very frequent dosage of paracetamol to do this.
Other prescription items that may produce liver
problems include Methyldopa, several penicillins, Simvastatin (the
cholesterol lowering drug), Diclofenac (a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory)
and Ketoconazole (anti-fungal).
Prescription drugs can be dangerous (even though you
can get most of them over the counter in Thailand), that’s why they have
a PI (patient information) leaflet inside the box, (the bit you throw away
and don’t read).
However, what about “Health” food preparations? The
purveyors of these all cite the fact that the ingredients are
“natural” so everyone assumes that this means “safe”. Not so,
I’m afraid. Lead, for example, is a naturally occurring compound, and
not much good for young kidneys. However, since we are talking about liver
problems, hands up all those of you who have heard of Echinacea?
Supposedly fixes everything from falling hair to fallen arches - but is it
“safe”? Well, Echinacea, along with Kombucha Tea are two of the
commonest compounds showing a well documented history of being toxic to
the liver. So if you’re sipping Kombucha tea because you’ve drunk too
much alcohol, I would suggest that you change to water!
Others for sale in the Health Food shops with known
toxic effects on the liver include Evening primrose oil, Valerian,
Chaparral, Japanese Daisaiko-to (for dyspepsia), Chinese Jin-bu-huan and
several forms of herbal teas such as those from Heliotroprium, Senecio
crotalaria and Symphytum. Makes you think that the shops that sell them
may be incorrectly named, doesn’t it!
But while the column this week seems to be spreading
doom, gloom and disaster, it’s not quite that bad. The liver is a very
powerful organ and is capable of regenerating itself quite quickly, so in
most cases of toxicity following ingestion of chemical compounds, by
stopping taking it the liver recovers and the patient feels well again.
So remember that if you are taking anything regularly
and you feel unwell, it may be the liver - but tell your doctor everything
you have been taking! And no thanks, I’ll give the herbal tea a miss
today.
 Heart to Heart with Hillary
Dear Hillary,
I suffer from a ‘windy bottom’ if you’ll excuse the directness of my
query to you. In the private confines of my own salon at home, this does not
produce a problem, but at the office with the usual loo under the stairs, and
the staff all queuing up after elevenses, it becomes very embarrassing. The
office girls are already looking askance at me, and some have even begun
spraying air-fresh after my visit. Have you any suggestions that can help?
Windy
Dear Windy,
The answer to your melodious but malodorous problem is not easy, my Petunia. It
sounds (if you’ll excuse the pun) like you may have to take evasive rather
than evacuative action here. Where is the closest large hotel relative to your
office? When in desperation, Hillary has always found that by striding
purposely through the foyer of the nearest hotel and heading towards the far
right corner you will usually find a toilet. Whilst not in the privacy of your
own ‘salon’ as you so nicely put it, at least no-one knows who is playing
the bugle in the next stall. As far as a long term ‘cure’ is concerned,
this is well out of my territory, but I would recommend you find a copy of the
book Le Petomaine (long out of print, so try Amazon dot com) as the author had
the same problem as you, but used it to his advantage to make a large amount of
money. He is quoted as having farted his way to a fortune, so there is a noisy
future ahead for you, my Petal. You will need to have some satin shorts made
with allowance made for exhaust gas escape, but the book has the description
you need.
Dear Hillary,
The other night in the bar we had a discussion whether Thai females are
romantic. I say that they are, but my drinking buddies all say not. They said
that all they are interested in are large amounts of gold, and the larger the
better. Surely there are still some gals out there who appreciate roses and
chocolates (apart from you, Hillary)? I need you to back me up here, Hillary.
Robert de Roses
Dear Robert de Roses,
Such a lovely name, especially if said in the French way, “Roberr de Rose”.
Of course there are romantic ladies left in Thailand, other than myself. It
sounds to me as if your drinking buddies are looking for ladies from the wrong
watering holes. The professional ladies who come to the surface with the
buffalos in tow are certainly only looking for gold. That is their business,
their profession (and an old one at that). However, by looking in the
universities, offices and even department stores, you will find ladies who
appreciate being appreciated. You are correct, Robert. Your friends are taking
too narrow a sample to base their findings.
Dear Hillary,
I have been invited to go and see an up country village with my girlfriend. I
thought this was being very generous of her, but as the time to go up country
gets closer, I am having some second thoughts. Far from the “we’ll go up by
bus” it now seems that we will have to hire a car as I am told that she needs
to take some things up to her mother. Things that are too large to carry on the
bus! She is also saying that I should take up some money to give her mother,
and numbers like $2,000 dollars are being given as an example. Is this usual?
Or am I being used as a sucker?
Unsure
Dear Unsure,
This is very usual, in certain areas of Thailand, but Hillary does not mean
geographical areas. I mean certain bar areas. You are not being played as a
sucker, you are being viewed as a cash cow and as such are standing there
waiting to be milked. It is high time to take off the blinkers, slip the noose,
head on out of the stall and canter off to better pastures. You’re not a
friend of Robert de Roses are you? You seem to be very limited in your
experience of ‘real’ life.
Dear Hillary,
How do you pick the best girls? We see so many beautiful girls and yet hear so
many horrific stories that we are just a little worried about getting involved
with any of the local lasses. Have you any tips you could give a couple of
likely lads from the UK on holidays?
The Lads.
Dear Lads,
Just what did you have in mind, Petals? Settling down with your long time
girlfriends of several days and raising chickens? Honestly, you men these days
are such wimps! What is wrong with just enjoying some lady’s company and
behaving as you would in your own town back home? Would you buy some girl you
just met in a pub in Battersea a motorbike, several ounces of gold and contract
to send her children to school and look after her mother for ever? That is what
all the “horrendous tales” are about, my lads. Keep your wits about you,
behave properly and do as you would in your own country. There’s no secret to
it all.
A Slice of Thai History: Pridi Banomyong:
a Life of Controversy
Part Five 1948-1983
by Duncan steam
Pibulsongkram removed Khuang Aphaiwong in April 1948,
ushering in a period of military rule that would be unchallenged for 25
years.
In February 1949, Pridi, having grown a moustache as a
disguise, slipped back into Thailand from China, aiming to stage a coup
with the help of his supporters and a group of naval officers. Assembling
at Thammasat University, they seized the Grand Palace on 26
February but within three days troops loyal to Pibulsongkram
managed to suppress the attempted coup and Pridi was again on the run. He
escaped and returned to China. He never set foot in his home country
again.
Many viewed his actions in 1949 as the mark of a man
with a lust for power while others saw his attempted coup as aiming to
restore democracy to Thailand. Both Seni Pramoj and his brother Kukrit
were not just rivals, but outspoken critics of Pridi, especially via their
Siam Rath newspaper. Even though Pridi and Seni had worked together
during, and immediately after, the Second World War, they had fallen out
badly. Kukrit wrote about Pridi’s asylum status in China, “Before the
communists accept someone, they will investigate that person’s past
behaviour and opinions. Pridi has a lot in his past to make him acceptable
to the communists.”
In the late 1960s and early 1970s there were
unsubstantiated claims made by sections of the military that Pridi was
helping direct the Communist insurgents in the northeast of Thailand.
Pridi remained in China for 21 years, waiting until the
statute of limitations for criminal prosecution had lapsed. In May 1970,
he went to live in exile in France.
After the military dictatorship that had ruled Thailand
since 1948 was overthrown in the October 1973 student revolt, a number of
activists and young journalists travelled to Paris and talked with Pridi.
They viewed him as a champion of left-wing politics, but found he was not
radical enough for their tastes.
Rumours abounded that Pridi was preparing to return to
Thailand and establish himself as president while others suggested he
secretly continued to run the rural communist insurgency.
In an interview he gave in 1979, he stated, “In 1932,
I was 32 years old. We had a revolution but I was inexperienced. When I
had power, I had no experience and when I had more experience, I had no
power.”
As one commentator pointed out, Pridi belonged to the
same generation as other great Asian leaders, people like ‘Pandit’
Nehru (India), Sukarno (Indonesia), Aung San (Burma) and Ho Chi Minh
(Vietnam). ‘He shared many of their ideas, and he had as big an impact
on his country during his active years from 1932 to 1949.’
Pridi died in Paris on 2 May 1983, just nine days short
of his 83rd birthday. His ashes were brought back to Thailand, and the
rehabilitation of his reputation began.
In 1984, Thammasat University erected a statue to him and established a
museum in his memory. In the 1990s, his anti-war novel The King of the
White Elephant was reprinted.
Personal Directions: How do we define Success?
by Christina Dodd
Recently in my discussions with people about life
direction and achievement, the subject of success and failure became one of
passionate debate. Everyone holds their own definition of success, and today I
would like to share some views that author Shiv Khera has on the subject, which
are simple but very real, and perhaps they will hold some inspiration for you.
“How do we define success? What makes a person successful?
How do we recognize success? To some people, success might mean wealth. To
others, it is recognition, good health, good family, happiness, satisfaction,
and peace of mind. What this really tells us is that success is subjective. It
can mean different things to different people. The definition that I feel
summarizes “success” well is: Success is the progressive realization of a
worthy goal. - Earl Nightingale
Let’s look at these definitions carefully.
“Progressive” means that success is a journey, not a destination. We never
arrive. After we reach one goal, we go on to the next and the next and the next.
“Realization” means it is an experience. Outside forces cannot make me feel
successful. I have to feel it within myself. It is internal not external.
“Worthy” refers to our value system. Which way are we heading? Positive or
negative? Worthiness determines the quality of the journey. That is what gives
meaning and fulfillment. Success without fulfillment is empty.
Why are “Goals” important? Because they give us a sense
of direction. Success does not mean being accepted by everyone. There are some
groups that I would not want to be accepted by, out of choice. I would rather be
criticized by fools than appreciated by unsavory characters. Success results
from inspiration, aspiration, desperation and perspiration; and generally in
that sequence. Success and happiness go hand in hand. Success is getting what
you want and happiness is wanting what you get! Existence alone is
not success! It is a lot more! Do more than exist – live, Do more than touch
– feel, Do more than look – observe, Do more than read – absorb, Do more
than hear – listen, Do more than listen – understand - John H.
Rhoades.
Some Obstacles to Success (real or imagined)
Ego; fear of failure/success; lack of self-esteem; no plan
and lack of formalized goals; life changes; procrastination; family
responsibility; financial security issues; lack of focus – being in a muddle;
doing too much alone; over-commitment; lack of commitment; lack of training;
lack of persistence; lack of priorities.
The Winning Edge
In order to get the winning edge, we need to strive for
excellence, not perfection. Striving for perfection is neurotic; striving fro
excellence is progress, because there is nothing that can’t be done better or
improved.
All that we need is a little edge. The winning horse in the
race wins 5-to-1 or 10-to-1. Do you think he is five or ten times faster than
the other horses? Of course not. He may only be faster by a fraction, by a nose,
but the rewards are five or ten times greater. Is it fair? Who cares? It
doesn’t matter. Those are the rules of the game. That is the way the game is
played. The same is true in our lives. Successful people are not ten times
smarter than the people who fail. They may be better by a nose, but the rewards
are ten times bigger.
We don’t need to improve 1,000% in any one area. All we
need is to improve 1% in 1,000 different areas, which is a lot easier. That is
the winning edge!
Struggle
Trials in life can be tragedies or triumphs, depending on how
we handle them. Triumphs don’t come without effort. A biology teacher was
teaching his students how a caterpillar turns into a butterfly. He told the
students that in the next couple of hours, the butterfly would struggle to come
out of the cocoon, but no one should help the butterfly. Then he left. The
students were waiting and it happened. The butterfly struggled to get out of the
cocoon, and one of the students took pity on it and decided to help the
butterfly out of the cocoon against the advice of his teacher. He broke the
cocoon to help the butterfly so it didn’t have to struggle anymore. But
shortly afterwards the butterfly died. When the teacher returned, he was told
what happened. He explained to this student that by helping this butterfly, he
had actually killed it because it is a law of nature that the struggle to come
out of the cocoon actually helps develop and strengthen its wings. The boy had
deprived the butterfly of its struggle and the butterfly died.
Apply this same principle to our lives. Nothing worthwhile in
life comes without a struggle. As people and as parents we tend to hurt the ones
we love most because we don’t allow them to struggle to gain strength.
Overcoming Obstacles
People who have overcome obstacles are more secure than those
who have never faced them. We all have problems and we fell discouraged some
time. Most people get disappointed; but winners don’t get disheartened. The
answer is perseverance. An English proverb says, “A smooth sea never made a
skilful mariner.” Everything is difficult before it becomes easy.
How Do We Measure Success?
True success is measured by the feeling of knowing you have
done a job well and have achieved your objective. Success is not measured by our
position in life but by the obstacles we overcame to get there.
Success in life is not determined by how we are doing
compared with others, but by how we are doing with what we are capable of doing.
Successful people compete against themselves. They better their own record and
keep improving constantly. Success is not measured by how high we go up in life
but by how many times we bounce back when we fall down. It is this bounce-back
ability that determines success.”
If you would like to send me your thoughts on this subject or
to contact me about personal life direction or indeed our professional training
and executive coaching programs, please email me at Christina.dodd@
asiatrainingassociates.com . Until next time, have a wonderful week!
Social Commentary by Khai Khem:
Christmas and New Year, a balm for the human spirit
Merchants and economists talk about this
annual holiday season as an economic bonanza. But we ordinary people know
that if we didn’t already have a Christmas or a New Year; we would have to
invent them. They serve as a spiritual and social function. There is much
more to this season of holidays than filling the coffers of shops and
department stores. These two annual holidays are the best excuse and
incentive ever devised to do things we never get around to doing until the
season nudges us into motivation.
This is the time most of us visit family members. In this
modern world and the fast pace of life we are forced to keep up with, we
find too many excuses not to get together with some of the people we love
most. We are too busy. They are too busy. They live too far away and it
costs too much, in one way or another, to make that trip, take time off from
work, and put off the everyday things that seem so important - until the
these special holidays approach.
At Christmas time or as the year comes to an end, we
manage to make the plan, book the plane and find the time to be with our
loved ones, because for some of us, this is the one time of year that if we
miss the moment, another year will pass and time with our families and
friends is too precious to ignore. Christmas and New Year are the holidays
to glue us briefly back together so that the fractured family unit of our
globetrotting age does not completely fall apart.
Christmas is not a holiday celebrated around the world as
a religious holiday, but the season has become so universal it has taken on
a multicultural persona that is observed even by non-Christians.
Parties, gift-giving, special events and festivals are
now arranged in a secular setting in which people of all nations and creeds
can participate. For Christians, this day is celebrated as the birth of
Christ, but as a global family we can all find common ground as we share
each other’s precious and meaningful days through the year, even though
the intimate substance may be different according to individual beliefs.
Not every nation celebrates its New Year on January 1st,
but this annual event has also become widespread in the ‘Global
Village’. In their own right, each society’s meaningful holidays are
precious. In Pattaya, we have the great advantage - and blessing - to live
in a city that shares and pays tribute to a remarkable variety of local and
international fetes and sacred days that enrich us all when we participate
with the joy of tolerance and understanding. This mix of culture, religion
and ritual deepens our understanding of each other and broadens our
horizons.
I want to wish a “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year”
to all of our readers. The phrase is more than a clich้. The meaning
is broader. This is the season in which the desire for peace on Earth and
good will toward our fellow man is an expression of optimism. This
particular holiday season summons a need to strengthen certain frayed bonds.
At this time of year we remember that the greatest comfort of all is the
comfort of connection.
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