lonely no more

Im counting down till she comes :D Happy Happy

Banker jokes

Adopt a Banker
Adopt A Banker


Give generously to executives

work

hmm its been like a month since my last post. Got really lazy to blog, despite living a rather lonesome life over here. Oh well, i do upload some nice pics on facebook once a while, but okay there isnt much happening other than work related issues.

the bank just announced that there will be pay freeze and no cash bonus, and all sorts of weird clawback shit. I personally dont think ill get anything. So prospects of no pay rise, no bonus, and an ever decreasing value of the pound, certainly isnt good. And if that isnt bad enough, the bank will announce its strategic review in 2 weeks time. After this review ( ahem... job cuts ) is done, then jobs will be lost in 2 ways.

The first being layoffs due to redundancies, so maybe one or 2 within a team will leave. Bear in mind there was already round 1 in last december, so its getting leaner each time, and its like survival at this stage.

The second way is systematic risk: not an individual but by desks. If it is deemed that a certain country/ team is not performing, example the equities exotic team in tokyo, then the whole desk gets shut. Might be that tokyo is making money, but simply because the bank is nationalised and everything is scaled back and cut down, that they might close the tokyo office irregardless. Might be that my exotic trading desk will be shut, leaving only vanilla traders? who knows.

Surprisingly the redundancy package is quite lucarative with golden handshakes, and notice periods that it becomes like a large digital bonus. So the idea of relaxing for a year in singapore isnt such a bad thing. maybe its too early to say, cos i might end up jobless for years? maybe i shud just consider a career switch and host poker games, hehe

i also miss fiona, so going back would solve our long distance problem. otherwise, its tough.

but then again, i like my job, so in the long run its best i keep it for as long as i can. Ive been really stressed lately which is a good thing, but its affecting me quite alot. Im losing sleep just by worrying too much. Really feel like hall days... yes i worry alot back then... those days was all about finding solutions to organise this and that, like where to have dnd, how to run rhoc with so few ppl, how to get more participation in hall, activity allocation, points allocation, my dropping cap, and lets not forget miss tang!. come to think of it...those days were fun.

Now i worry about work, work, work. Never in my 3 yrs have i ever worried so much about work. im not worried of being fired, just that work is affecting me. haiz.. someone cheer me up please

pet romance

arsenal v liverpool

its december 21, and guess what... liverpool is still top of the table. :) OK not for long... but thats what i heard since sept... but its christmas already. Having beaten both chelsea and man u, one final team of the Big 4 awaits....

this seasons expectation has indeed gone thru the roof

Bellini Grande

(sam where are my pics )

3 weeks holiday

Arrived at the airport, fiona picked me up, and headed to Tiong Bahru. No more clementi hehe. My parents and brother is in town so its been a family reunion these days with alot of eating from my favourite din tai fung fried rice to bringing my brother to kuishinbo.

I try my best to enjoy the festive season and the catch up with friends but i cannot help but be afraid of what will happen in months to come. I got a text from colleagues in london saying that they just fired TA, a junior trader who pretty much does exactly the same thing as me. Seems like they are targetting 1-2yr juniors like me... gulps. Already a few in tky , hk and london have left. You can only imagine how horrible this feeling is.. and it could seriously happen to me. Got to think of a plan b. mai ji fan?

So anyway, will still enjoy being back. Looking forward to adipos xmas party this saturday. but until then im bored to death. Anyone wants to go cafe del maar? i misss the sunny beaches already..

if i get fired...

some of my friends have been made redundant. Really sad. Many of them are juniors. 1-2 year experience, earning below market standards, and yet a headcount is a headcount. People who are cheap and good are being thrown out of the door. Might be my turn one day. So i need an exit plan if this economy doesnt get back in shape.

if i get fired...

i should have a redundancy package ( hopefully in the region of 3-4 months salary )

places i want to go...

1) milan
2) amsterdam
3) VEGAS!

or should i do asia?

4) Japan
5) Taiwan
6) Korea

or should i do budget?

7) kohsamui
8) bali
9) kinabalu

anybody fancy a holiday with me?

cold

its 3pm on a saturday... i look out of the window and the skies have gone dark. my apartment is freezing.. temperatures from a high of 5C to a low of -2C. Dont even feel like going out to get lunch. ordering 2 large pizzas have been my usual thing now

november is always a bad month to be in london. December will be worse. Days are gloomy and it will only get worse. At least i know im coming back soon , counting down to my flight to sunny singapore.

Risk and Return

Once upon a time, i was an engineer. Putting it simple, work was very technical, but it was always slow pace, less stress, easy hours and income was steady. And after a year in the factory, a 25 year old me thought that life in the fast paced investment banking, unfairly rewards bankers who are no better than doctors, engineers, or scientists.

When i graduated, i thought getting a guaranteed 2-3 month bonus is good, never had i imagine the wealth on the otherside, where the grass is greener. it came in 12 months, 24 months, and even more. Then, up was the only way.

2008 brought the world back to reality. The days when my dad told me to study hard and be an engineer. "Dont study business, because the degree is too general, and you might nt get a job". Not getting a job? Thats unthinkable 2 years ago... Think i myself had switched jobs 3 times already without problems... Ah.. but that was the days of the bull market.. Say hello the the bear now.

rbs announces something like 3000 cuts in global markets. citibank 50,000+ worldwide. hsbc already started with 500 gone in hk. That is on top of the layoffs from lehmann, probably tens of thousands. And also many were gone since early this year. The entire market is flooded with bankers. and apparently its far from being over.

we have seen the return, now its the risk