Personal FB Maher Alias #1: Life as a Remisier in Malaysia
Introduction
Although I am a remisier, I actually love writing. At the same time, there are many stories to share — ideas, perspectives, and progress related to Mahersaham.
However, I cannot always dedicate a full-length article post at once.
So I thought, perhaps by sharing updates bit by bit on my personal Facebook, Maher Alias, I could compile all the relevant posts from each week and put them on this website.
13 August
Humanity
Focus on people, interaction with people.
Because humans will still be humans until the end of time.
We do not expect technology to fully replace human duties, but to elevate our standard of living and raise our capabilities to a higher level.
To be the best that we can be.
https://www.facebook.com/hishamguru/videos/1755127941190541/
Market
As usual, we opened our laptops in the morning and tried to find entry opportunities in various stock counters.
One of our team mates suggested EDARAN. At that time, the price was 47 sen.
But more stock counters were in the red than in the green.
EDARAN had potential, but we were still waiting for a stronger signal.
And we ended up missing the entry.
We did not set an alert. It was not meant to be.
By the time it was near closing, the price was 71 sen. Roughly a 50% increase.
Focus
I was asked about stock investing versus property investing.
Which one is more profitable and which should we choose?
I do not know. Each has its own techniques. Be open. Be flexible.
When you see a technique that works, when you have enough data, focus and channel your energy, effort, and capital into that proven technique.
Because that opportunity or ''special moment'' might only come once.
Unseen
Our intern made an observation, asking whether we are really leaning more towards technology that can strengthen the business. Hmm.
Another team mate voiced the same thing — initially did not expect Mahersaham to have an unexpected technical side.
Front end. Back end. Two different perspectives.
It is alright, take it slow. Certain skills that we develop today will insyaAllah be useful in the future.
14 August
Children
A child is a blessing, and can also be an investment for the future.
The time we allocate, the attention and upbringing — the results are not visible now.
Just like any other investment, it requires conviction and belief in the future.
Today I read a story about a child being hurt by their own father. Truly heartbreaking...
Beautiful Market
When the market timing is perfect, every stock counter we discuss could fly.
The sad part was yesterday we sold our position out of emotion.
Assuming that today would drop further.
But more than 60% of the stock counters we recommended in the premium group this morning actually shot up.
That is just how it goes sometimes...
15 August
Failure
I had not fully processed the news of failure from the night before. This morning, I re-read the email that stated:
"We regret to inform you that you did not pass the exam..."
They regret it, or do I regret it?
I am the one who should feel regretful for perhaps not studying hard enough.
My attention earlier that year was mostly spent learning Excel VBA programming, then Python — all in an effort to find the ''Holy Grail'' — a guaranteed profitable technique in stocks.
In the end, the guaranteed profitable technique was still nowhere to be found.
"Failure is an opportunity to try again, more wisely."
— a wise figure
"Fall seven times, stand up eight."
— a proverb
Do not give up easily; we will try again later.
But right now, I have gotten caught up in learning digital marketing more deeply... ugh
Website
In Malay, a website is called ''laman sesawang'' — literally ''spider''s web''.
As if telling us that whoever visits a website will surely get trapped.
Website visitors are the prey, while website creators are the predators.
In this day and age, do not visit websites carelessly, or you might get trapped.
Predator
However, the situation does not always have to be a prey-predator relationship. Sellers of services or products can choose not to be a ''scammer''.
Their duty is to produce honest products and services that can help others.
Set prices according to their own strategy, which then needs to adapt to the dynamic market.
Demand and supply will help with optimal or most efficient ''price discovery''.
In conclusion, we can choose — whether to be a predator, or to be part of the effort to elevate the community''s standard of living to a higher level.
18 August
Hardship
The image I have included is part of a mother''s heartfelt expression in a nursery group.
The difficulty of requesting leave is not a small matter.
A friend told me about a female doctor who was married with a young child. But the young child kept falling ill.
Babies under one year old get sick easily — coughs, colds, or fevers — especially those placed in nurseries.
The duties of a doctor, especially one tied to on-call shifts, possibly stationed at a district or tertiary hospital, are extremely demanding.
Not enough manpower, and it is difficult to even request leave.
So in the case of this female doctor, her husband was the one who always had to take leave.
One day, probably extremely stressed, her husband even threatened to throw the child out of the apartment window if the doctor did not request leave to look after the child.
That is the level of hardship that can be faced.
Salute to single parents who raise young children alone, sometimes more than one child.
Quitting
Even though it was not immediately apparent that young children get sick easily, leave is hard to apply for, and so on.
The desire to stay together and care for our child in Melaka became partly the reason behind my decision to quit being a doctor.
I spent one year as an MO (Medical Officer) at Klinik Kesihatan Sarikei, Sarawak. To request a transfer, they said I would have to wait two years first.
My wife was about to deliver. Whether it is one year or two years, there is a huge difference for a child''s development from the moment of birth.
Perhaps we could have requested my wife''s posting after housemanship to be transferred from Melaka to Sarikei as well, but deep down, starting a family in Sarawak while our closest family members live in Peninsular Malaysia felt rather uncomfortable.
Besides, I did not have the aptitude for further study in the medical field. And although Sarawak is indeed interesting, peaceful, and the people are friendly — I had lived in the peninsula since I was young.
Humans do find it hard to accept change.
Remisier
I quit in September 2016 to become a stock remisier.
Why a stock remisier?
Because I attended an information session about the process of becoming a remisier conducted by sifu Dzulhilman Sulaiman. During the session, he mentioned that a remisier could earn RM50k a month. Ha.
Whether I achieved that or not, that is a story for another time.
But recently, there was a remisier, quite senior in age — let us call him a senior remisier.
He said to me,
"So how''s life as a remisier? Wrong timing la you entered as a remisier. Especially when the market is this bad."
He said it in a joking tone, though.
Hmmm...
You hear this story — what do you think?
Can you get rich as a remisier?
Or even if you cannot get rich, at least you have plenty of time for personal matters or family affairs?
Generation
Different generations, different perspectives.
Most people currently aged 50 to 70 would have lived through the 1998-1999 economic crisis.
Before that, the stock market was booming. Everyone wanted to quit their jobs and become a full-time stock trader or a remisier.
Remisiers back then, they say, could buy a new car every single day.
But when the market plunged terribly, many jumped off buildings.
The streets began to be stained with blood.
Alright, that was a bit dramatic. But cases of suicide due to stock market crashes do exist.
So after that period, people started to avoid the stock market.
A ''generation gap'' emerged for careers in the stock market.
That is all. I do not know what else to add.
No more ideas.
Any questions or additional stories?
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