Young Engineers Academy.

I was never much good at Physics. I didn't understand my teacher in school and I concluded that it just didn't interest me much. I was a F9 student. My teacher even told me I could drop the subject.

However, I was lucky enough to discover a TV series that made Physics interesting for me! I cannot remember the name of the program by now but there was this short elderly Caucasian man with frizzy grey hair who would teach Physics through demonstrations!

Although I found it impossible to understand what my Physics teacher was saying in class, I could understand that man on TV! Then, I also discovered something called "10 Year Series Model Answers". It was so easy to understand compared to that horrible tombe of a textbook by someone called Abbott which was used by my school.

My grades gradually improved and I managed a B3 for my "O" Levels. Did I improve because of my class teacher or because the prescribed textbook became intelligible? No. I improved because I found a teacher and a "textbook" I could understand.

If you have a child who is having trouble with Science, don't immediately think the child is uninterested or slow, it could be that a different approach is required.

A fellow blogger, LP, the blog master of Bully the Bear, whom I know to be a very intelligent and humble person is offering an innovative approach to teaching Science using LEGO bricks. Yes, LEGO bricks!

Young Engineers Academy is the first and only MOE registered school in Singapore that does such a thing. The program is imported from Israel, one of the world's top patent producers. MOE even bought the Excellence 2000 program from Israel for use in our gifted education programs.

Using LEGO to teach children Science offers a non-threatening and fun environment for them to explore and learn through play. This is the philosophy of edutainment! It gets children motivated and enthusiastic about learning!

 

The ideal outcome is for the children to have so much fun playing with the LEGO models that they do not even realise that they are learning!

If this excites you and if you would like to find out more, there is a preview lesson offered at $50. However, readers of ASSI get to attend for free.

Just contact Young Engineers Academy and tell them "AK blogged about this".

Website: www.youngengineers.edu.sg

Facebook: www.fb.com/youngengineers.sg

There is also a 2 day holiday workshop in March. Early birds get a 10% discount (ends 8th March). Tell them "AK blogged about this" and get 15% discount instead.

 

Have fun while learning. I like this!

Hock Lian Seng: Dividend of 1.8c per share.

Hock Lian Seng announced a dividend per share of 1.8c. With EPS for the full year 2012 at 4.9c, we are looking at a payout ratio of 36.7%.

Although dividend is lower compared to the preceding year's 2.0 c per share, the payout ratio has actually gone up. This is because EPS is down some 20%, year on year, compared to the previous year which saw EPS improving 15.1%.

The numbers are not fantastic, for sure.

I did not expect the company to go into industrial and residential property development but they have done so. They are probably somewhat late as after seven rounds of property cooling measures by the government, it could be harder to find buyers even for industrial properties. This could be a drag on its performance.

However, with the Singapore government planning to spend some really big money on the MRT network through 2030, it is unimaginable that Hock Lian Seng would not participate in nor benefit from the exercise. So, it is probably a good idea to stay invested for this reason.

Mr. Chua Leong Hai, the Chairman and CEO, said that they are excited about the prospects for the entire local construction industry with the government's plans to improve Singapore's infrastructure.

Being a Grade A1 contractor in the Building and Construction Authority of Singapore’s (BCA) civil engineering category, it is more than likely that Hock Lian Seng would be successful in capturing their fair share of new contracts.

With share price at 30c, PER is approximately 6x. By this measure, Hock Lian Seng's stock does not look expensive. However, the technical picture hints at ongoing distribution activity. Immediate support is at 29c.

For anyone thinking of buying in, bear in mind that the company's performance could be lacklustre in the near term. Therefore, we cannot rule out the possibility of being able to buy the stock cheaper in the next 12 months.

See press release: here.

Related post:
Hock Lian Seng: 2c dividend per share.