HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR, EVERYBODY!

It's the Year of the Ox... or bull...May all nations' economies be healthy and the stock markets be bullish... May there be no corruption, human rights abuses and all humans lay down and destroy their weapons of war and death in this precious planet of ours ...

MAY GOD HELP US ALL!

"CEO" From Nowhere

One of Tham's present day luxurious Vios

A true life story...

One day, a sandwiched triple-storey building became an educational institution called 'Kolej Fajar Tinggi'. Before it became that name, it was called 'Sin Lee Business Institute'. Lately, it uses the name "Fajar International College".

Soon after changing its name, the place became a booming business for those who were interested in doing private education. Some of its courses received accreditation by the Malaysian Ministry of Education. Others were talk of the town like the quickly earned "Preston University" degrees.

The owner of the business (with a change in name to "Fajar International College" not too long ago) was and continues to be an enterprising calculative West Malaysian / Singaporean businessman, Dr Peter Tham. This is the man from nowhere: he appeared out of the blue and today, he is a wealthy educationist who drives in a sleek white Toyota Vios vehicle. He owns the Boulevard Fajar International College lots and other properties.

I came to know him when I attended two meetings conducted by the infamous ex-MCA President, Tan Koon Swan in Miri. In case any of you do not know him, let me just say this man was a charasmatic star in the MCA until he was jailed in Singapore for mismanagement of stocks. Many believed he was merely a "scapegoat" who had to take the rap.


He claimed to be a changed man after being released, becoming a Christian and it was Peter Tham who arranged testimonies by him that we got to see and hear him speak of his past experiences.

Here are pictures of Tan Koon Swan at the height of his power and at his lowest point in life when he was arrested. Interestingly, when invited to autograph either the book or magazine, he chose the former.

In case, you are still interested in Peter Tham - whose doctorate comes from St Clemens University (registered in the Turks and Caicos Islands) - he denies all knowledge of stock-broking in the past and does not admit he is the notorious wanted fraudster and maverick trader of the past Pan-Electric Industries stock scandal. If you still want to know more about him, google his name and you can read and decide if he is the wanted fugitive!

By the way, I have since worked for him twice, at first without pay and getting paid the second time, but finally I could not bear his highly unusual questionable business strategies and resigned! He has also not fulfilled his contractual obligation in paying me the overriding commission on newly recruited incoming students who have been recruited by my management staff and withheld half a month of my salary for no valid reason. I believe the amount he has to pay me is RM10,050.00 (US$4,000). This is an estimated figure as he has not honored his earlier oral agreement, before I agreed to be the college marketing manager, to let me see the accounts.

<==PETER THAM, circa 1985

My recent latest employment by him was in another part of Miri, along the Miri-Pujut Road and we were using a building that is so extremely close to a SHELL petrol station that it could not be considered as suitable as an educational institution. (Besides, many of the students -a lot from Sabah-smoke heavily all over the place outside the college in the compound, usually before, during breaks and after classes! If a puff of wind were to blow away a lighted cigarette suddenly ... I dread to imagine what would happen to the folks at the petrol station nearby and in the school itself!)

How Does the Stock Market work?

It sounds simple but let's hear a good description of how it actually works. Believe me, I've being there, seen it and done it. The following e-mail is from Eddy of Brunei:

It was autumn, and the Red Indians on the remote reservation asked their NEW CHIEF if the winter was going to be cold or mild. Since he was a Red Indian chief in a modern society, he couldn't tell what the weather was going to be. Nevertheless, to be on the safe side, he told his tribe that the winter was indeed going to be cold and that the members of the village should collect wood to be prepared.

But, also being a practical leader, after several days he got an idea. He went to the phone booth, called the National Weather Service and asked, "Is the coming winter going to be cold?"

"It looks like this winter is going to be quite cold, indeed," the meteorologist at the weather service responded.

So the Chief went back to his people and told them to collect even more firewood.

A week later, he called the National Weather Service again. "Is it going to be a very cold winter?"

"Yes," the man replied at the National Weather Service again replied. "It's definitely going to be a very cold winter."

The Chief again went back to his people and ordered them to collect every scrap of wood they could find.

Two weeks alter, he called the National Weather Service again. "Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very cold?"

"Absolutely," the man replied. "It's going to be one of the coldest winters ever."

"How can you be so sure?" the Chief asked.

The weatherman replied, "The Red Indians are collecting wood like crazy."

THIS IS HOW THE STOCK MARKET WORKS!