Bribing a Malaysian cop (UPDATED JULY 2018).

I just came back from a day trip to Johor recently and this was one of the things we talked about.

Singaporeans are a fortunate bunch but being in Singapore most of the time also makes us sheltered and somewhat naive.

Just look at the number of Singaporeans who got scammed in the years past, for example.





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I just read that "A Singaporean man has been sentenced to a day’s jail and fined S$4,300 (RM$10,000) for attempting to bribe a Malaysian traffic policeman with S$21 (RM$50)."

I remember how almost 10 years ago, I exceeded the speed limit on the North South Highway by some 20km/hr and was caught in a speed trap.  





The police officer smiled at me and told me I was speeding.  

He asked for my driver's license and I gave it to him.  

He did not proceed to issue me with a speeding ticket but continued smiling at me.  

I looked at him and asked him how much was the fine.  





He looked puzzled and looked at a chart and told me RM200 (thereabouts), if my memory serves me right.  

I just said "OK, please give me the ticket".  

His smile went away as he issued a speeding ticket.





My friend who was in the car with me gave me a scolding after I drove off.  

"Couldn't you see he was waiting for you to bribe him?" 

and 

"You could have settled it with just RM50!"  





I simply replied that I always do the right thing or try to anyway.  

I got another scolding when I spent a couple of hours the next day trying to locate a police station in Klang to pay the fine.  "See how much time we have wasted?"  

It didn't help that the policeman on duty was dozing and the receipt was manually issued which took an inordinate amount to write.





A couple of years later, my dad drove the same car into Malaysia and was stopped by a policeman who claimed that the fine was never paid!  

My dad called me on the phone then and I told him that I laminated the receipt and he would find it in the glove compartment. 

I had taken precaution just in case something like that happened. 

It's Malaysia. 

Malaysia boleh!

(You have to watch the video by ABC NEWS.)











This Singaporean guy who was trying to bribe the traffic policeman, if you asked me, was just "suay" (bad luck) since what he tried to do is something which many (Malaysians and Singaporeans) have always done and are probably still doing.  

The Chinese have a saying: 

"Kill the chicken to show the monkeys".  

He happened to be the chicken in this case.





Read the full story here.

Gold nearing US$1,300 an ounce.

Gold is currently at US$1,293.50 an ounce and silver is at US$21.05 an ounce, even higher than just a week ago when I said "I see immediate support for gold at US$1,260.00 an ounce and immediate support for silver at US$20.20 an ounce.  Gold is now challenging resistance at US$1,270.00 and if it does break this, it could go much higher."

The Fed seems ready to increase liquidity in the US economy and this could possibly cause the US$ to depreciate further. What this might translate into is greater inflationary pressure in the USA in time and I have been a staunch believer of this eventuality as informed by Dr Marc Faber and Mr. Jim Rogers.

The worst thing to invest in would be the US government bonds (treasuries) as bondholders would basically be seeing their wealth eroding away as the US$ depreciates in value.  This is precisely why the Chinese government is so concerned since they are the world's largest holder of US$ debt, after Japan. However, in the short term, they could see bond prices bumping upwards because the Fed would buy bonds to keep interest rates low in an effort to encourage borrowing by the private sector.

Could gold go much higher?  It is my believe that it would but it would not be a straight line up.  The real value of gold is closer to US$2,000 an ounce and this would take time to materialise. So, for anyone who is thinking of having some exposure to the precious metal, it is my opinion that buying on pullbacks as supports are retested would be the way to go.

Related posts:
Gold and Silver highest in the last 12 months.
Real value of gold.

K-REIT: Volume expansion.

Just yesterday, I mentioned that "the attempt to move higher in price was on the back of relatively low volume.  In fact, we could see a negative divergence between price and volume clearly.  Price is rising on lowering volume.  Not too promising." and "Of course, things could look much rosier if we have an expansion of volume the next day while price moves higher. TA is only about probability after all."  Well, today, volume expanded significantly.  In fact, it expanded so much that it negated the negative divergence observed yesterday.  The buy signal on the MACD histogram delivered the goods and proved the skeptic in me wrong.

OBV has climbed sharply indicating strong accumulation activities while the MFI rose towards overbought territory.  Demand is strong but the fact that there is a long upper wick in today's white candle suggests the presence of some selling pressure beyond $1.30.  Looking at today's trade summary, however, we find that of 4,334 lots traded, almost half of these (2,164 lots) were buy ups at $1.32.  If this buying momentum continues, we could see price moving higher.  Expect $1.33 to be the immediate resistance although it could be a weak one if the buying momentum continues. Immediate support at $1.28.

Related post:
K-REIT: Moving into the next band?

K-REIT: Moving into the next band?

On 14 Sep, I suggested that "K-REIT seems to be trading in a 6c trading range recently: $1.16 to $1.22 and $1.22 to $1.28".  I also said "in the event that $1.28 resistance is taken out, one could therefore expect $1.34 to be the next resistance level."

Today, K-REIT traded at and above $1.28 the whole session.  It touched a high of $1.30 before closing where it started the session at $1.28, forming a gravestone doji.  The sell queue at $1.30 is formidable. Could $1.28 be the new support?  Frankly, a gravestone doji does not inspire much confidence.  Furthermore, the attempt to move higher in price was on the back of relatively low volume.  In fact, we could see a negative divergence between price and volume clearly.  Price is rising on lowering volume.  Not too promising.

However, OBV shows accumulation mode in full swing.  MFI is rising gently and not overbought.  RSI is however in overbought territory and suggests that buying could be overdone. Very interestingly, the MACD histogram has turned green, a buy signal but notice that the distance between the MACD and the signal line has been narrowing.  So? Caution.  It would not be a good idea to buy into K-REIT now.

Of course, things could look much rosier if we have an expansion of volume the next day while price moves higher. TA is only about probability after all.  Whether $1.28 is now support needs confirmation.  That there is a strong support at $1.22 has been established earlier.

Related post:
K-REIT: Trading bands.