pub_date:A window of opportunity has opened, and I will be taking that leap after a 22-year journey at The Business TimesTHIS is my last Show Me the Money column, more than 11 years since I proposed the idea to my bosses.儲存倉I'm grateful to my bosses for giving me that opportunity to start that part of my life journey as a columnist for The Business Times. Close to 500 articles later, it is time to start another chapter of my life journey - that of a fund manager, implementing the investment process that research of more than a decade has shown to have worked.In life, we never really know where we will end up. Just like when I start writing an article, I sometimes don't really know where it will lead me to. I've entertained thoughts of retiring at this job - my first and only so far! After all, I am still passionate about writing articles to educate investors, to share the findings of my research as well as interesting ideas I've come across.It still gives me a high when I receive emails from readers. And I continue to look forward to meeting up with those who have contacted me, to learn about their life experiences, their philosophies in life.Sailing awayBut some time this year, a friend whom I've known for at least eight years came to me with a proposition to join his newly set up firm. "We can build the company we want brick by brick."A few years back, when I was going through my mid-life crisis, I lamented in this column that I've never taken a risk in my life before. Perhaps this is the time to take that leap!Nassim Taleb in his book Fooled by Randomness says: "Most successes are caused by very few 'windows of opportunity', failing to grab one can be deadly for one's career. Take your luck!"I'm not sure if this is an "opportunity" and whether it will lead to "success".But I'm taking that leap anyway because I believe in what Mark Twain, the American writer, said: "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do, than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."In any case, I'm not someone who has a grand purpose in life and who would endure frostbites just to get to the summit. I'm more the the type who enjoys the journey with less emphasis on the end goal. So I'll just see where this path leads me.Reflections of the past 22 yearsMy life events attest to the role randomness plays. Years back, after finishing my Sijil Tinggi Pelajaran Malaysia (STPM) or the equivalent of A-levels here, I was pondering over where my next stop would be. One day, I was flipping through the Star newspaper in Penang, and I saw an advertisement from the then Straits Times Press Holdings inviting students to apply for its scholarship.I sent in my application and was asked to come down for an interview. They put me up in a room at Automobile Association on River Valley Road. Times House was just further up the road. The Human Resource manager who interviewed me was kind enough to short-list me, even though I wasn't the most fluent English-speaking person around. Even up till today!?It still gives me a high when I receive emails from readers. And I continue to look forward to meeting up with those who have contacted me, to learn about their life experiences, their philosophies in life.Then on the first day when I was supposed to report to work, I showed up at the Business Times newsroom where I had interned during my two previous vacations. The news editor in BT at that time was surprised to see me. "Oh, we didn't know that you are joining us." So I called the HR department. And the person at the other end迷你倉價錢said: "Oh, it doesn't mean that just because you've interned there in the two previous years, you will automatically join BT. But since you are there, ok la. You just join BT."That was the beginning of my 22-year career at the leading business daily of Singapore!The initial years were tough. English was my third language in school. A copy editor's comment about me in those early years was: "Hooi Ling is not articulate in her writing. Just as she is not articulate as a person."That was a big blow to my already low self-esteem. But I plodded on. I found things to amuse myself along the way. Every time I was moved to a new beat, I dived into it, relishing the new learning opportunity.I covered retail and manufacturing sectors initially. Then I was moved to the China beat, because I could understand and read Chinese. I reported on Singapore's investments in China, and was keeping a close tab on the development of the Suzhou Industrial Park. When the China fever died down a little, I was moved to cover telecommunications. As luck would have it, my stint on the telecoms beat coincided with the period when the industry was being liberalised. SingTel was fighting tooth and nail with M1.One day, the SingTel public relations manager called to complain that they'd done a media audit and found my articles to be biased against them. A few weeks later, M1's chief executive Neil Montefiore invited me out for lunch. During lunch, he wanted to understand why my reports favoured SingTel. I guessed I was doing something right.As one of the perks of the job, I got to witness the launch of SingTel's satellite from French Guiana.Along the way, I got myself a Master's degree in Applied Finance and completed my Chartered Financial Analyst exams. That was when I asked to start this column, believing that I had something to share with readers.It was with this column that I sort of came into my own. I received encouraging emails from readers. A book publisher asked me to write a book. I countered by suggesting that we compile my published articles into books instead. We came out with four. I received job offers from the financial sector. Nothing worked out, nothing felt right, until now.A few years back, a group of students from the NUS investment club asked to meet me. During the session, I told them not to choose the highest paying job, but one that they saw a purpose in, one that they were passionate about, one that they were good at, one that didn't compromise their integrity.If I were to speak to them again today, I'd tell them not to go for short-cuts. Put in the hours. Build their foundations right. Substance trumps style, over the long term.I'd also tell them to try to cultivate goodwill with whoever they come into contact with. The feeling of someone genuinely wishing you well in your next venture is heart-warming.Make the little things wellFinally, I'd like to leave readers with a quote from Friedrich Nietzsche, on the necessity to put in the hours."Do not talk about giftedness, inborn talents! One can name great men of all kinds who were very little gifted. They acquired greatness, became "geniuses" (as we put it), through qualities lack of which no one who knew what they were would boast of: they all possessed that seriousness of the efficient workman which first learns to construct the parts properly before it ventures to fashion a great whole; they allowed themselves time for it, because they took more pleasures in making the little, secondary things well than in the effect of a dazzling whole."PS: For readers who may like to get in touch with me, I'm sure I can be found somewhere in cyberspace.The writer is a CFA charterholder迷你倉
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