No one thing is certain...

Beginning of this week was nothing but bad news. Really, it was nothing but gloom and doom but they were facts, not hearsay.

After Hurrican Ike swept into Texas causing many people to lose their homes, Lehman Brothers, (never heard of them till now) one of Wall Street's investment giants, filed for bankruptcy. Bank of America bought over Merill Lynch. The latest saw Fed injecting $85 billions into troubled AIG, another financial giant.

I received news from back home, many people have requested to have their AIA policies terminated. To the average man, cutting loses is way better than zero returns.

These reminded me of what I had learned in history lessons during my school days, "all great empires will eventually fall". And it is true, how many great financial empires have collapse in recent years.

When all these things happened, I was reminded of one thing - get back to the basics.

Look at my dad for example. He never studied much. He "graduated" at primary 2, that was only eight years of age. But I could tell you that he could easily be one of the richest man around. He may not be the perfect father but he followed his heart. He never believed in "make your money work for you", "do you want your loved ones to live comfortably after you are gone" etc...he never get persuaded into all these sales talk. He never believed in living through installments. From his humble 3-room HDB flat to his current 4-room HDB flat, they were all fully paid for. Those were considered big buys during his time. He only did the most basic thing, save and save and save. So, in situations like now, it doesn't really bother him. He carries on with playing his mahjong to keep himself mentally active, eating his porridge and fish to keep himself physically healthy - these are his insurance. I have only one word for him - RESPECT.