LEE KHEE CHUAN's Blog

Evolution making Women getting more beautiful !?

2010-12-02T14:31:00.003+08:00

I found an interesting article which says the following:

1. Scientists have found that evolution is driving women to become ever more beautiful, while men remain as aesthetically unappealing as their caveman ancestors.

2. The researchers have found beautiful women have more children than their plainer counterparts and that a higher proportion of those children are female. Those daughters, once adult, also tend to be attractive and so repeat the pattern.

3. Psychologist at the London School of Economics, who found that good-looking parents were far more likely to conceive daughters. He suggested this was an evolutionary strategy subtly programmed into human DNA.

4. In men, by contrast, good looks appear to count for little, with handsome men being no more successful than others in terms of numbers of children. This means there has been little pressure for men’s appearance to evolve.

5. Men are subject to other types of evolutionary pressure - “For women, looks are much less important in a man than his ability to look after her when she is pregnant and nursing, periods when women are vulnerable to predators. Historically this has meant rich men tend to have more wives and many children. So the pressure is on men to be successful.”

Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/article6727710.ece

Krista Kindy Stapok - Concert cum Graduation Nite Nov 2010 ( together with Krista Kota Samarahan )

2010-11-14T23:26:00.005+08:00

This is my Elaine in one of the dances:

You can watch the rest of her dances in my earlier post:

Elaine - My Preemie - 5 years old now and Dancing! I am a proud Dad.

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Some of the pictures and dances during the nite:

href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_YVJvpl2R_wE/TOADGxl0haI/AAAAAAAABGU/0pwLKNIpTJc/s1600/IMG_7773.jpg">

Elaine - My Preemie - 5 years old now and Dancing! I am a proud Dad.

2010-11-14T22:56:00.004+08:00

This was the kindy concert she participated at K2 level ( for 5 years old ) on 12th Nov 2010.

I must congratulate and thank Krista Kindy Stapok, principal, Audrey Kho and her excellent team of teachers for a doing a good job.

Watch my Elaine's dance videos:

Dance No. 1:

object width="480" height="385">

Dance No. 2:

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My Age-5 Daughter ask me What's my Email Address !

2010-08-01T21:49:00.004+08:00

My just-turned-age-5 daughter was playing "masak-masak" just now and ask me to order a drink from her "cafe".

  Then she asked me for my email address!   

She said she wanted to email out the order to me!  

sigh... time has changed.. our children are living in a different world.. with Digital Revolution!  

Watch out, this revolution is going to change fundamentally the way we will work n live in the future!

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.  .. I remember one of the goals i set during the new year of 2008: to embrace Information Technology in my work and business. I am not a "techie" or very proficient in computers. But Dan Sullivan ( author of the book: " The Great Crossover " ) advise me that embracing in IT is necessary to survive in the new Digital Revolution.

I remember i only started in 2007 to curiously find out what's a Blog, what's a Facebook, what's social networking,etc. And in 2008. I set up n wrote my "launched" my first Blog on 8 Aug 2008 at 8.08PM.

From then on, i think i have made some progress. I have also set up my estate planning website for my practice. I have just paid for my 3rd year renewal fee for my web address.

Looking back, i am glad i set that goal. The way I see it, a person who is age 40's ( im in that category now ) must also learn to use & keep up with the use of Information Technology ( IT ) as the pace of change is there for us to see.

( This is not to say that we must be chasing the latest tech gadget.. in fact Dan Sullivan advised that we "let the new technology come to us"... and wait for the 3rd generation of any technology or device, simply because vast majority of new technology fail in the marketplace & they are just mostly experiments on the way to something better. )

So overall, i am happy with the progress i made... i am now bringing up my profile through my website, my blogs, and my name does appear on the 1st or 2nd page in Google Search ( Malaysia ) results for words like " estate planning ".

I have also set up Google Group to help support my Rockwills Franchisees & Estate Planners who are all over Malaysia.. mainly for estate planning case discussions.
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... so now, i am now conscious of the gradual changes brought about by Information technology...,

& so i am also preparing my kids for it; n i myself is also consciously adapting to it.

If not, i may be become a dinosaur; n my children... cavemen!!

iPhone - My Personal Productivity Tool

2009-12-07T12:36:00.002+08:00

I have no experience using blackberry ( my last was a HP PDA phone ), but after started using iPhone since 8th Nov2009, d experience is the same reaction when I showed to my 8 year old daughter... "wow".

You will know why as you read on .....

There are many things that really have "wow" .....

Just a simple example, I can design a birthday cake using one of d free application in my iPhone, put on candles, Lights up the candle by touching the screen, off the light of the screen, then ...

... The birthday song starts!

I did it during my sister's birthday on 25th Nov recently.... & that's not all.

After d birthday music, she Actually Blew at d iPhone & u know what?

The candle flame was blown off & some White White smoke came up！( on my iPhone screen of course )

Once the candle was blown off, the sound of clapping & cheering came up!

My sister was impressed & thrilled!

The technology is " out of this world".

** I will share more useful tips from my personal experience of using iPhone.

So for your next handphone, get an iPhone!

* FYI I am writing & posting this post on my Blog from my iPhone.

- Posted using BlogPress from Lee Khee Chuan's iPhone

Prof Emeritus Tan Sri Khoo Kay Kim - his “Chinese education system produces copycats” remarks:

2009-12-04T23:31:00.005+08:00

Prof Khoo, where is your academic standard? the sample you use may be biased & unrepresentative of the population you studied when you made the "copycat comment". If you don't know this simple concept, just pop in to your UM's colleagues in social science or psychology department..

Luckily I was not your student during my undergraduate studies.

If I earn my Bachelor of Arts ( B.A. ) from the university you are lecturing ( and the university you graduated from , i won't know where to hide my face!

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Links:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khoo_Kay_Kim

2. http://www.malaysiatoday.com/Latest-News/khoo-kay-kim-calls-graduates-of-chinese-schools-copycats.html

3. 邱家金之論可笑

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VoucherMe.my - Malaysia's FREE Printable Voucher Site

2009-12-03T19:55:00.000+08:00

VoucherMe.my - Malaysia's FREE Printable Voucher Site

This is an interesting website to get discount vouchers.

I am printing the vouchers now to bring for my Kuala Lumpur family trip next week.

Just for your information, i am printing out Giordano & Domino Pizza discount vouchers.

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Maybank's Phishing Site - Conmen's Job again

2009-11-25T09:44:00.006+08:00

Nowadays it is so convenient to use the Internet... the Conmen are laughing too. SOOO Easy to con unsuspecting users on the Internet.

Read on....

This is the email i received... NOTE the email address above... trying to fool people with pwtc's email address.

I just wanted to make fun and try out the conmen website, i just simply keyed in a username fuckyou & a dummy password, then the next page appeared as shown below:

( NOTE the website address on top, not maybank's website )

This is is the page that appeared after I log-in with username: " fuckyou " & password: fuckyou123.

The website looks very much the same as the Maybank's web pages.

my guess is this is a website that must be making a lot of money when i read in the news report that millions of ringgit are cheated in the SMS con schemes & telephone call schemes called by chinese speaking girls with mainland chinese accent.

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Gingerbread House in Kuching ( Bormill Estate )

2009-10-02T10:44:00.003+08:00

** Good News - 25% discount for nice cheese cakes at Gingerbreadhouse, Kuching from now until 15 Oct. Check it out!

A nice bakery at Bormill Estate, Kuching..

I like the cheese cakes... you should try.

Join as a member & you can get a 10% discount for any cake you ordered or menu from their "cafe"... that's right, it is a bakery+cafe concept. I like this concept!

to look at some pictures of the bakery+cafe, click on this blog i googled

My Favourite Bookstore - Kinokuniya KLCC

2009-09-18T07:29:00.011+08:00

I was at my favourite bookstore, Kinokuniya yesterday and found many good books that interest me. So I bought a total of 24 books, 3 for my client.

Why I like Kinokuniya so much:

1. The range of books available is the best among all the major bookstores in KL ( compare to MPH in MidValley, Borders at Times Square, Time Bookstore in Pavillion KL, even Borders in Singapore )

2. 20% on many newly released book titles or bestsellers! That's the main reason I can afford to buy so many books at one time! Another money saving tip for you.

3. Sometimes, they have joint promotion with credit cards company. I remember they had a promo a few years ago where Citibank credit card members get discounts on the books they bought at Kinokuniya.

The fact is that I was never a fan of Kinokuniya when the store was in Lot 10, Kuala Lumpur, because they were selling mainly Japanese books and the price of English was also high. I got a pleasant surprise when I waled into the present Suria KLCC Shopping Mall a few years ago. From then onward, it has been my favourite..

Don't take my word for it. Check it out at Suria KLCC when you are in KL. It is very easy to find, just take the lift to Level 4 and it is opposite Petrosains's Gallery. You can't miss the big blue Kinokuniya signboard.

I enjoyed my book shopping... I am going to take my " sabbatical leave " to catch up on my reading soon :>

Do come back to my Blog soon as I will post more on the books that I read and recommend.. ( only on non-fiction / knowledge books as i don't read novels )

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AADD KNOW THE SYMPTOMS.....PLEASE READ!

2009-09-11T10:45:00.004+08:00

May be you have received this email as well... I feel compelled to comment on it based on my background as a psychology major...

if you want to read my comments & skip this email content, scroll down...
_______________________________________________________________________________

AAADD
KNOW THE SYMPTOMS.....PLEASE READ!

Thank goodness there's a name for this disorder.
Somehow I feel better even though I have it!!

Recently, I was diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D. -
Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.

This is how it manifests:

I decide to water my garden.
As I turn on the hose in the driveway,
I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.

As I start toward the garage,
I notice mail on the porch table that
I brought up from the mail box earlier.

I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.

I lay my car keys on the table,
Put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table,
And notice that the can is full.

So, I decide to put the bills back
On the table and take out the garbage first.

But then I think,
Since I'm going to be near the mailbox
When I take out the garbage anyway,
I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my check book off the table,
And see that there is only one check left.
My extra checks are in my desk in the study,
So I go inside the house to my desk where
I find the can of Pepsi I'd been drinking.

I'm going to look for my checks,
But first I need to push the Pepsi aside
So that I don't accidentally knock it over.

The Pepsi is getting warm,
And I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.

As I head toward the kitchen with the Pepsi,
A vase of flowers on the counter
Catches my eye--they need water.

I put the Pepsi on the counter and
Discover my reading glasses that
I've been searching for all morning.
I decide I better put them back on my desk,
But first I'm going to water the flowers.

I set the glasses back down on the counter,
Fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote.
Someone left it on the kitchen table.

I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV,
I'll be looking for the remote,
But I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table,
So I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs,
But first I'll water the flowers.

I pour some water in the flowers,
But quite a bit of it spills on the floor.

So, I set the remote back on the table,
Get some towels and wipe up the spill.

Then, I head down the hall trying to
Remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:
The car isn't washed
The bills aren't paid
There is a warm can of Pepsi sitting on the counter
The flowers don't have enough water,
There is still only 1 check in my check book,
I can't find the remote,
I can't find my glasses,
And I don't remember what I did with the car keys.
Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today,
I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day,
And I'm really tired.

I realize this is a serious problem,
And I'll try to get some help for it,
But first I'll check my e-mail....

Do me a favor.
Forward this message to everyone you know,
Because I don't remember who I've sent it to.

Don't laugh -- if this isn't you yet, your day is coming!!

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My comments:

If you are young ( say below 50's ), then it is just that your conscious mind is LAZY, always depending on your sub-conscious mind to "dictate" u..

If you are above age 50's then, the problem can be real.

BUT... You can avoid it/minimise it if you start "using your brain" now....

The Brain is very much like your muscle - your muscle is there with you & the more you EXERCISE it, the better it becomes.

SAME with your brain is there with you & when you start USING ( EXERCISE it ) it, the better it becomes ( & reduce the aging of your brain ).

Do some " mind gym ".... Example of exercises are like crossword puzzle; chess; sodoku, etc or just simply DO some THINKING when you read newspaper/books/magazine to discussing some issues with your friends .... ( but don't start arguing or quarrel with your spouse... Even though your brain is also "exercising" )

The morale of the story is... Keep your brain active.& agile ..

& enjoy our Gift of " intellectual capacity " ( that's what differentiate us from animals ) while we we are sane !!!

Have a good day, everyone ....

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Elaine ( Age 4 ) Recently in Singapore

2009-08-20T21:32:00.006+08:00

... click her for Elaine's earlier story ( as a pre-mature baby born at 875g )

( in Singapore Zoo )

( in front of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Shop in Singapore Zoo )

( Elaine was very excited... on board MAS Flight to Singapore )

( can't sit still... on board the flight to Singapore )

( Elaine posing during a dinner in Singapore )

Good News for Bookworms like you & me!

2009-08-02T22:28:00.002+08:00

Yeah... MPH Jimat Sale with CIMB/Direct Access Credit concurrent promo which ends to day ( 2nd Aug 2009 )..

I get discounts as mush as 15% (MPH Jimat promo) + 10% Rebate from CIMB + 5% ( RM5 MPH voucher for every RM90 nett purchase)+ up to 10% ( cash rebate from MPH Reader's Circle membership* )

* 10% cash rebate for RM1000 purchase for each qualification period ( Jan-June & Jul-Dec ); RM300 and above gets 5%. Membership is only RM20 for two years.

Planning for your Loved ones' Future

2009-01-04T16:18:00.005+08:00

Planning for your loved ones’ future

This article was first published in The Borneo Post on Tuesday, 28 February 2006

In my inaugural article way back on 26 July 2005 in The Borneo Post, I have taken a comprehensive view and defined Estate Planning as involving the process of PROVIDING, PRESERVING & PERPETUATING / DISTRIBUTING your assets with the intention of making sure your financial & family affairs are in order when you are no more around.

News report

In a news report dated 21 August 2003 in a Chinese national daily, a businessman, Tan from Johor Bahru was shot dead and left behind parents, minor children and wives.

His Family members were involved in a legal tussle to distribute his estate. Those who sought court actions to distribute his estate were his surviving parents, eldest brother, the second and third “wives”. The defendant was his legal wife.

The dispute, among others was over who should be appointed the Administrator of the estate as the deceased did not leave behind a will and obviously had not done any integrated estate planning. The parties also sought court ruling on the proportions entitled by different beneficiaries.

The plaintiffs applied for an injunction at the High Court to prevent the legal wife from extracting the Letter of Administration ( L.A. ) to administer and distribute the deceased’s estate. Their reason was that the legal wife was “too young, not highly educated and inexperienced”.

What was interesting to note in the news report is that the estate was frozen and “left to rot” while the family members were busy fighting over who should have the right to administer the estate and who should get what and how much.
According to the news report, on top of lands and cars, Tan owned a number of companies. Some shareholders of the Sdn Bhds he owned had taken legal actions to protect their minor shareholders’ interest.

Though the deceased estate was frozen pending court ruling, the only thing not frozen were the outstanding loans still owed to financial institutions. The finance companies had threatened to tow back the cars he owned as the car loan repayments were not paid on time. Even some of his properties were in danger of being auctioned off because the quit rents were not paid.

The above “kisah benar” illustrates the critical importance of why a person, especially business owner must ensure that he plans his estate carefully so that his loved ones are adequately provided for, his assets are preserved and his estate will be efficiently distributed to the intended beneficiaries. Otherwise the wealth may become more of a curse than a blessing.

PROVIDING

In comprehensive estate planning model, the first and actually most important objective is to provide for our loved ones who are left behind. The may include children who are below age 18 ( minor children ); children who are above age 18 but are not mature enough to handle substantial amount of wealth; surviving spouse(s) and surviving parents(s). Some may also want to provide for their favorite pets.

You can appoint your children’s guardian in your will. Other than assigning designated person(s) to provide care and love to children, you should be planning to leave them adequate financial resources to pay for their daily living expenses as well as their needs for education and medical care.

PRESERVING

Many people have the impression that once they have written their will, they have done their estate planning. In fact many financial and estate planning books I came across define estate planning as the process of distributing your assets.

This view is just as incomplete as the three blind men who held the image of the elephant they touched.

Your assets must be preserved and protected form various risks which may inflict a fatal blow to your estate. For example, your creditors, both secured and unsecured will go after your estate when the time comes. Even outstanding income taxes must be settled before the balance of the estate can be distributed.

Those who are directors of companies often have to stand as guarantors for company loans as required by the banks. If the company loans turn bad, each director will be sued in their personal capacity as guarantor.

If the director unfortunately passes away, the bank can sue the estate for the entire outstanding loan amount. That means all the personal assets under his/her names will be at risk.

If there is no plan to preserve and protect your estate, then you may not have much to distribute to your loved ones at the end of the day.

PERPETUATING / DISTRIBUTING

After providing for your loved ones and preserving your estate, then we can talk about who will benefit from your accumulated wealth and how much to give. When come to distribution, many people did not pay much attention to the manner and the timing of your beneficiaries receiving the gifts.

If you give your beneficiaries, especially your spindrift children too much and too early before they are ready to handle the wealth, then you may find that they spend all of it before they have anything to pass down to the next generation!

In the material world today, there are many temptations which your beneficiaries can enjoy spending their money.

Thus distributing your wealth in an efficient and proper manner ensures that your gifts will enhance the quality of life of your beneficiaries. Furthermore, you should also plan to perpetuate your wealth beyond the immediate generation.

Chinese has a saying that “wealth do not pass beyond three generations”. There may be a grain of truth in that. The first generation worked very hard to accumulate the wealth.

Because they know the hard work put in by their parents, the second generation knows the importance of holding on to the wealth.

However, the third generation is born in comfortable environment. They are the ones who really enjoy the wealth to the extent of squandering them.

Thus you must have some strategies in your plan to perpetuate your hard earned assets.

Many of the people also want to give back to society. They can set up some charitable trust funds to fuifill this noble objective.

Conclusion

Thus one should take a comprehensive view when you plan for your estate – providing adequately for your loved ones; preserving your estate so that the maximum can be perpetuated and distributed to your intended beneficiaries in the most efficient manner.

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LKC Will-Writers & Estate Planners represents Rockwills Trustee Berhad, which is part of the Rockwills International Group and an associate company of Rockwills Corporation Sdn Bhd, the No. 1 Professional Will Writing company in Malaysia.

Lee Khee Chuan is a Chartered Financial Consultant ( ChFC ), Certified Financial Planner ( CFP™ ) and a member of International Association of Registered Financial Consultant ( IARFC ), USA.

Lee provides comprehensive estate planning and advisory services to business owners and high net worth individuals. He also lectures for the CFP™ certification program. He welcomes your enquiries and can be contacted at 082-245998 or leekheechuan@gmail.com

or visit my website:

www.lkcestateplanning.com

Disclaimer:

This article is designed to provide reliable information regarding the subject matter covered. If legal or financial advice is required, the services of a professional must be sought. The author specifically disclaims any liability that is incurred from the use of the contents of this article.

College Student Cheated RM148,000 Education Fund

2007-09-23T14:42:00.001+08:00

IN a recent newspaper report in a national daily, a 20 year old student in Penang blew some RM 148,000 of her education fund her parents had set up for her to a lottery scam.

She was duped into believing that she had won some RM3.2 million in a lottery organized by the Hong Kong Jockey Club.

Her misfortune started when she received a call from someone informing her that she had won RM120,000 in a lucky draw. She was convinced to bank in RM40,000 to an account for tax and processing fees.

A few days later, she received another call from the same person who had " even better news ". The caller convinced her again that she was the grand prize winner of another draw and could get RM3.2 Million if she paid a higher fee.

The innocent student believed the caller and ended up transferring her entire education fund to the same bank account in China. She lodged a police report later after realizing she had been conned.

It Was Too Late

And it was too late. The girl must have regretted her action. But whose fault? I am sure her parents regretted too the lack of planning on their part.

Lesson learnt

Again such real story should be a lesson that we can all learn from. Leaving too much money or assets at one time to children may not be a good idea.

From integrated estate planning point of view, it is not advisable to transfer your whole chunk of wealth to the children without considering whether they are mature enough to inherit the assets.

This is to prevent your hard-earned wealth from being squandered by the beneficiaries who are not ready to handle the wealth. Therefore when clients are looking at setting up their inter-vivos or testamentary trust, they are advised to distribute the money or assets of the trust in stages.

Risks

There are different risks when the chunks of wealth are left in the children's hands too early. Even if the children are above age 18, they may not be ready to shoulder the responsibility of managing and holding on to the wealth.

One such risk is like what the newspaper reported story demonstrated the risk of being cheated. Nowadays, when we read the newspapers, we get to know there are all kinds of cases being reported SMS scam; Internet get-rich-quick schemes; Scams using emails; etc. All have one thing in common taking advantage of the human weakness greed.

Teenagers with the wrong crowd

Some parents may assume that their children are quite capable of doing a good job. However, I often bring up such a scenario: The children may be mature and capable enough but then it depends on what kind of people or friends they mix with. If they mix with people who are good and ethical, then there is not much of a problem. What if they mix with the wrong crowd? Some unscrupulous people may be targeting at the newly inherited wealth of the teenagers.

Spendthrift Children?

Many parents sound out their concerns to me that their children may be the ones who are going on a spending spree if they inherit too much at the same time.

Just imagine what may happen when a teenager suddenly find that he or she has a few hundred thousand Ringgit in the bank account when celebrating the age 18 birthday?

Bearing in mind that in a statutory trust of the Section 166 Life Insurance policies, the public trustee must pay to the child upon reaching age 18 because he or she is now considered an adult. The celebration may be more because he or she now has the money to spend on whatever material goods or big ticket items which he or she has been eying on.

Solution

The solution is quite simple. Set up a Trust for your children. Called it a family trust or children education and maintenance trust, the legal structure can safeguard your hard-earned assets. This will also protect your wealth from being misspent by your beneficiaries.

Cost

Sure the setting up of a Trust may involve some costs but there is good news for everyone. With the introduction of trust services by some of the more forward-looking corporate trustee companies in Malaysia, the costs of setting up private trusts is affordable.

Advantages of Setting up Trust

The Benefits are many. They include:

a) Assets held on trust are not subject to probate or Letter of

Administration and therefore not frozen upon demise

Your assets like your cash or your properties will not be frozen when you set up an inter vivos trust, unlike all your other assets in your Will.

b) You can specify your own beneficiaries

You will have full discretion in deciding who you want to include as your beneficiaries who will benefit from your Trust.

c) You can include your own specific instructions.

You can " time release " your streams of income to your children over a period of time if you are worried that they may not be able to hold on to their inheritance. Or providing maintenance and education expenses to minor children in the event of common disaster.

Conclusion

In conclusion, integrated estate planning is vital in safeguarding both your hard earned wealth and the wellbeing of your children.

( This article had been first published in The Borneo Post )