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Family Money: Hedging Your Bets
By Leslie
Wright,
Managing director of Westminster Portfolio Services (Thailand) Ltd.
I have previously written
somewhat disparagingly about hedge funds, but after three calendar years
of falling equities, hedge funds are increasingly looking like an
attractive alternative asset class, rather than a dangerous gamble into
the unknown.
Hedge funds have long been viewed with suspicion –
particularly in light of the collapse of Long Term Capital Management in
1998 (which came close to bringing down Wall Street, having built up
geared exposure to the Russian market before its collapse). But
institutional investors are now starting to change their attitude,
realising that hedge funds can offer diversification away from the
traditional asset classes of equities, bonds and property. One large
pension fund, for instance, now holds 10% of its assets in hedge funds.
What is a hedge fund?
A hedge fund is basically an investment structure for
managing a collection of assets that can be invested in both cash and
derivative markets on a leveraged basis.
Unlike traditional equity fund or bond fund managers,
many hedge fund managers try to create value primarily through positions
that are uncorrelated to traditional capital markets. Instead, their focus
is on generating performance regardless of the direction of the markets.
Opportunities for growth come from two sources: an
ever-increasing world of assets and securities within which to trade, and
a wider array of trading strategies. These strategies are an advantage as,
for the most part, they can be implemented without the constraints of the
common regulation controls imposed on normal securities. For example,
hedge fund strategies may access both financial and commodity markets.
They may then take long, short, option or other positions in any of these
markets.
Therefore, hedge funds provide unique risk and return
characteristics that are not accessible to traditional asset management
approaches. The hedge fund structure encompasses diversity that attempts
to create value by exploiting specific opportunities. Underlying
investment objectives vary tremendously among hedge fund managers.
Star Managers
Many star fund managers have set up their own hedge
fund boutiques, attracted by the possibility of speculating on price falls
(going short), as well as price rises (going long). This also gives them
the freedom to use varied strategies – not to mention the potential for
handsome performance fees.
Some large fund management houses have set up their own
hedge funds to keep managers from straying.
Earlier this year the Financial Services Authority
(FSA) looked into the regulation of hedge funds and came to the decision
that individual funds should not be marketed to private investors –
which was the status quo.
The hedge fund industry is happy that there should be
barriers to entry because managers do not want to see a boom in assets
under management. Not only could a cumbersome fund size hinder a
manager’s investment style, but the more hedge funds there are, the
harder it would be to find market anomalies to exploit.
Picking a portfolio of individual hedge funds is nigh
on impossible for individual investors. Not only that, most hedge funds
have high minimum investments – often starting at ฃ100,000 while
SVM’s well regarded Highlander fund requires at least ฃ250,000 –
and many of the best performing funds are now closed to new investors.
The principal arguments for including hedge funds in
your portfolio are that they can reduce portfolio volatility and improve
your overall returns. Because they use different strategies from
conventional funds, hedge funds often have a low correlation with equity
or bond funds, which can therefore reduce overall portfolio volatility.
Hedge funds are not correlated with equities because the former are valued
according to their net asset values (NAVs), whereas the latter are
measured on the basis of their future earnings. Even diverse equities are
closely correlated because their valuations are governed by the same macro
issues: expectations about the economy, inflation and interest rates.
By contrast, hedge funds are valued according to the
success of the strategies they use, which are designed to reduce market
exposure and take advantage of specific pricing anomalies.
Also, while traditional fund managers focus on relative
performance compared with a benchmark, whether it is rising or falling,
hedge fund managers always aim to deliver absolute returns. The
flexibility and variety of hedge fund strategies offer a useful
alternative to conventional long only funds.
It makes much more sense to use a fund of funds, which
offers not only diversification for a limited outlay, but also management
expertise. Funds of funds can often secure access to funds that have
closed to individual investors.
Fund of Hedge Funds
A common and popular type of hedge funds is the
so-called ‘fund of hedge funds’. These simply invest not in just one
but in several hedge funds, and thus provide a diversified exposure to
multiple hedge funds.
A fund of funds may, for example, be overweight in
certain strategies based on a particular outlook or using certain
specialized trading or analysis techniques. A typical fund of funds could
easily provide a spread of 8 to 10 different investment strategies and
over 30 managers.
Managers usually charge a management fee as well as a
performance-based fee in addition to the normal underlying fund
administration fees. This exposes them to the accusation that hedge fund
management charges are high. That may be so - but as the charges are
generally related to performance, which has to be above average for the
managers to earn the higher fees, investors accept the higher charges in
return for a higher return on their investment.
However, the question of performance-related fees,
particularly in respect to a hedge fund of funds, is still much of an
argument. Consider the case whereby one of the fund holdings inside a fund
of hedge funds has done well. It thereby creates a fee based on
performance. Another holding in the fund of funds does not perform. In
fact it counters the growth of the former. The overall fund of funds will
generate no return but the performance-related fees due on the first
holding will still have to be paid. This creates a questionable scenario
and one that is still under scrutiny.
While traditional investments derive the majority of
their return from the capital markets, many hedge fund strategies are less
affected by the direction of underlying capital markets. Hedge funds do
provide, without question, new opportunities for improving portfolio
performance in today’s environment of lower, and maybe unstable, returns
from equity markets. Given their generally low correlations to traditional
investments and the intent to ‘hedge’ market risk, hedge fund
strategies are worth considering alongside traditional investments.
Snap Shots: For great landscapes, lightly does it!
by Harry Flashman
I was thumbing through a photography magazine the other
day (courtesy of Ernie Kuehnelt) and they had three pro photographers
discussing how they go about bringing back great landscapes (and
seascapes). Two chaps were happy with one great shot in 10 rolls of film
(gasp!), while the other of the interviewed pros said he expected every
shot to be perfect and shot on 4x5 sheet film, but he didn’t pop the
shutter until he was sure he had every element in the shot correct.
Personally, I think he must hang about for a long time waiting.
 Seascape
by Joe Cornish
Again, when the three were asked what the principal
elements were to get a “WOW” landscape, two of them went straight to
the light factor, citing the quality of light. Perhaps one of the greatest
reasons your landscapes fail is because you are not prepared to get up
early enough to get the cold morning light, or are prepared to hang around
long enough to get the warm sun just before it dips behind the horizon.
When asked about their extra gear they consider
necessary to be professional landscape photographers, two said a tripod
and the third wanted Blu-tack to keep his filters in place and a notebook
and pen!
Looking at representative works from all three - and
all were excellent shots, by the way, the use of the tripod was obvious to
the trained eye. Soft ‘milky’ or frothy seas showing a long time
exposure, or ‘filmy’ tree foliage were the giveaways, along with the
incredible depth of field which results from the aperture settings of
around f22, minimum, allowing depth of field sharpness all the way through
the shot.
Another commonality was the film they used, with all of
them going for Fuji Velvia slide film. This is nominally rated at 50 ASA,
but when I have used it in the past I got the best results rating it at
37.5 ASA. Being slide film, you should also remember to bracket the
exposures about half a stop either side of that indicated by the exposure
meter.
One feature that was also evident, looking at their
shots was attention to foreground detail, as well as the important
features further back in the frame. All of them spent much time
positioning the camera so that they had something of interest. For
example, a shot of sea with an island in the background had beach rocks in
the foreground. And all were in focus. That’s the tiny aperture again.
They will even use a Neutral Density filter as well as the time exposure
to keep that small aperture open longer. (A tip when using ND filters -
focus without the filter in place, lock the focus and then put the filter
on, otherwise it is too hard to see the individual items in the shot in
the darkened viewfinder.)
As far as the best piece of advice they were given,
they went for an alarm clock to get them out of bed early, so they did not
miss the magic light of early morning. (Being a night person, who has
difficulties with early mornings, is why I do not consider myself a good
landscape photographer!)
To look at the final situation, from the words of the
three pro shooters, if you want to get good landscapes then you need a
camera with sharp lenses, get yourself a tripod - and use it to be able to
have very slow shutter speeds, and practice with slide film. Wait for the
light to be right (the more horizontal the sun’s rays, the better) and
don’t bother if it is all wrong. One guy waited six days to get the
light right for one lakeside shot! Make sure you have some interest in the
foreground and get the deepest depth of field that you can.
Do all of that and you will be bringing in those WOW
landscapes too! And for a change do try and use slide film. It’s harder
to use but the results are better.
Modern Medicine: One Helluva Joint!
by Dr Iain Corness, Consultant
Forgive me if I take a classic line from the classic
film Casablanca and destroy it forever, but here we go. What did the
orthopaedic surgeon say to the go-go dancer’s knee? “What’s a nice
joint like you, doing in a girl like this?”
And that bit of frivolity leads me into this week’s
topic - replacement joints, with hips and knees being the ones in
particular. My interest in these was rekindled by an invitation I received
from the Zimmer people (who make the prosthetic joints) to attend a
function in Bangkok discussing the latest techniques in Minimally Invasive
Surgery (aka MIS), as this relates to replacement hip and knee joints.
Now I must admit it is some time since I worked as an
assistant to an orthopod, and it was interesting to see the advances that
have been made. The rough-carpenter side of the business has been replaced
by the use of smarter, smaller, and more efficient tools. Now it is
possible to insert a replacement joint through a 5 cm incision, instead of
the previous opening, which required a goodly surgical slash of about
20-25 cm.
The good news for Thailand is that the Zimmer people
have teamed up with the Chulalongkorn Hospital in Bangkok to form the
Chula-Zimmer Institute to train Thai and foreign orthopaedic surgeons in
the use of the latest prosthetic joints and the Minimally Invasive
Surgical techniques to put them in place. In fact, seven bone surgeons
from Thailand, plus colleagues from India, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan
have just finished learning the new techniques at the Chula-Zimmer
Institute. The Chulalongkorn Hospital is one of the foremost teaching
hospitals in Thailand.
The advances here should not be thought of as merely
cosmetic, as the shorter incision means less physical trauma, and many
patients are able to get out of bed on the day after the surgery. This
means shorter healing times and less pain.
In my day, we used to say that the only yardstick the
patient got as to whether the surgeon was competent or otherwise, was the
length of the scar. The shorter the scar, the more clever the surgeon.
Modern orthopaedic surgeons are rediscovering this old adage. You see,
nothing’s really new!
The Zimmer people have been in the business for some
time, beginning in 1927 in Indiana in the USA. They sell their replacement
joints in over 70 countries and the combined turn-over of the Zimmer owned
companies last year was 2.2 billion dollars. I had a close look at the new
knees and hips, and they really are beautiful items, complete with all the
physical movements needed for the joints to function correctly in the
human body. The hip being a ball and socket moves in every direction,
while even the knee needs an ability to have a few degrees of ‘twist’
to allow the recipient to walk naturally.
For people with horrible old arthritic hips and knees,
the new joints and the new techniques are a godsend. About the only
downside is that you’ll probably set off the metal detectors at the
airports!
I often get asked by people overseas if the standard of
medical treatment and expertise in Thailand is good enough, and many are
surprised when I say that the care they will receive at the top hospitals
in this country is every bit as good as they will receive in the top
hospitals in their own country, and in many specialties, Thai expertise is
in front.
 Heart to Heart with Hillary
Dear Hillary,
This might be the one question you’ve not been asked yet. I have been to
Pattaya a few times before, so I know it quite well, even if I don’t go there
for such activities normally associated with farangs. I usually stay with a
friend of mine and his Thai wife. Next month I will be back, but this time
accompanied by my daughter who would like to do some sightseeing in Thailand. I
have already planned some excursions, so daytime is no problem. The problem
could be that she would like to have a night out once in a while in some disco
or cafe, not accompanied by dad. That’s all right with me of course as
she’s 22 (but she looks a mere 18). The point is, that she would just like to
have a good time, without constantly being considered “game” by the entire
male attendance. Do such places exist in Fun City? I can’t help her there, as
I’m not a party man myself. Someone mentioned the Hard Rock Cafe as being
rather “safe” but are there others to your knowledge?
Michel
Dear Michel,
What a wonderful, but totally overprotective father you are! What happens to
your daughter when you are over here and she is over there? Goodness me, she is
22 years old and more than able to take care of herself, surely. I would also
have thought that the friends that you stay with over here would have been able
to help you, but since you have asked, and the young lady wants to go
sightseeing, here are a few places for young ladies to go in Thailand. The list
is not comprehensive, as Hillary is a shy person and not known to going out
much at night, though champagne and choccies can help drag me from the
computer. In Pattaya there is the Hard Rock Cafe, Shenanigans Pub, the Moon
River Pub, the Green Bottle Pub, or Henry J Bean’s. In Bangkok there are also
Henry J Bean’s outlets (I do like the one at the Amari Watergate, and
Pierre-Andre Pelletier has such a beautiful smile), Woodstock on the first
floor up in Nana Plaza is also a no hassle place with great hamburgers, but you
do have to run the gauntlet to get there. In Chiang Mai, in addition to the
Blue Note, there are places such as Riverside or Good View, great music and
good food and the Drunken Flower a small pub with good food and the Monkey Pub
with acoustic guitar, and Bubbles disco in Porn Ping Hotel is worth a try.
However, it really is time you let your little girl discover some places by
herself. If you are so worried, arrange for karate lessons!
Hillary, my deario,
I have discovered that wee Ying (same same Nit) also has a penchant for choccy
with her Bolly and this explains the disappearance of the Mars bar destined for
your oesophagus and beyond. She stuffed it down hers! And so, I have devised a
cunning plan to rid myself, in a kindly and humane way, of the confusion caused
by having identical twins in tow. I shall escort both Nit and Ying (adorables,
like yourself?) to the beach during the Loy Kratong festivities and wait for
them to go to sleep, which they undoubtedly will after a few moments. I shall
then place the one who is snoring the loudest upon an inflated lilo and gently
launch her out to sea, with a candle and a baht or two. Prevailing winds and
currents should propel the girly-laden craft to the mouth of the might Mekong.
Then all that either Nit or Ying has to do is to paddle upstream to Nong Khai
where her mum and dad (simple fisherfolk) will be waiting and ready to net her.
One for them, one for me! Good idea, yes/no?
Mistersingha
Dear Mistersingha,
Oh my Deario! What a predicament! And you want me to tell you whether this is a
good idea or not? And this is while I am suffering from chocolate withdrawals!
My Petal, I cannot think while my blood chocolate levels are so low, no matter
what paltry excuse you have used this time as to why the previously promised
Mars bars have not arrived on my desk. I am also interested to see that both
the young ladies find your company so enthralling that they instantly go to
sleep. Mind you, perhaps they are also suffering from withdrawals caused
through more of your unfulfilled promises. By the way, make sure you have the
candles and incense sticks on the Lilo before launching.
Dear Hillary,
My girlfriend moved in to stay with me in my unit a month ago. Everything is
going well, and she is really nice to have around the place. We have not had an
angry word and I was feeling so happy until she told me that her family wants
to visit her. She says it isn’t a problem that we only have a studio unit as
they will sleep on the floor. Hillary, my friends are telling me that once
they’ve got inside they will never leave. What do you think?
Worried
Dear Worried,
You have nothing to worry about, Petal, other than taking the buffalo poo down
in the elevator each morning. What do I think? I think you are a mouse. It’s
up to you to set the ground rules.
A Slice of Thai History: Prince Chakrabongse:
a short, radical life
by Duncan steam
It is rare for people born into royalty to stray too
far outside the bounds of duty imposed upon them by their imperial status.
This is especially so within the Thai aristocracy and was certainly the
case in the days before the absolute monarchy was supplanted in 1932.
When Prince Chakrabongse Bhuvanart, the 40th child of
King Rama V, married a Russian commoner in 1906, the event resulted in
severe disapproval within Thai royal circles. The marriage, ultimately a
failure, nevertheless did not impede Prince Chakrabongse’s public life.
Prince Chakrabongse Bhuvanart was born on 3 March 1883,
the fourth child of Queen Sri Bajarindra, one of King Chulalongkorn’s
favoured consorts.
His early education took place in the Royal Palace in
Bangkok. He was then sent to England for further studies.
During King Chulalongkorn’s state visit to Russia in
the summer of 1897, Tsar Nicholas II invited the Thai monarch to send one
of his sons to be educated in the country. Chulalongkorn chose the
14-year-old Prince Chakrabongse.
Chakrabongse studied in St. Petersburg, then the
capital, learnt to speak Russian and was eventually given the honorary
rank of colonel in the Hussar Regiment. During his time in Russia,
Chakrabongse represented King Chulalongkorn at the funeral of the
assassinated King Umberto I of Italy (1900) and the coronation of King
George V of Britain in 1910.
While in Russia, Prince Chakrabongse met and fell in
love with Ekaterina Ivanova Desnitskaya from Kiev. She was a commoner,
better known as Katya, and both the Thai and Russian royal households
actively discouraged the pairing. However, Chakrabongse was determined and
he and Ekaterina eloped. They were married in Constantinople on 12
February 1906.
Ekaterina came back to Thailand with her husband in
1908 and was granted the title Mom Catherine Chakrabongse Na Ayutthaya.
They had just one child, a son, Prince Chula Chakrabongse, born that same
year. He was later to achieve a measure of fame as a racing driver, along
with his cousin Prince Bira, considered Thailand’s greatest ever
sportsman. Like his father, he also defied convention and married an
English girl.
Chakrabongse built a palace close to the Chao Phrya
River in Bangkok. A keen botanist, Chakrabongse could often be found in
the garden of his new home landscaping the garden and planting trees and
shrubs.
On his return to Thailand, Chakrabongse was appointed
to the Privy Council, made Chief-of-Staff of the Army and given the
portfolio of Minister of War.
Ekaterina found the harsh Thai climate not to her
liking and her health suffered. As a result, she left her young son in the
care of his father and servants and spent a year travelling around Canada
and Japan.
During this time, Chakrabongse had become romantically
involved with one of his cousins. He tried to persuade Ekaterina to accept
a polygamous marriage, but she refused and they separated. King
Chulalongkorn, already unhappy with the original union, allowed
Chakrabongse to divorce Ekaterina but refused to give him permission to
marry his cousin.
In 1910, Chakrabongse was hunting deer a few hours
drive south of Bangkok when he came upon a scenic, deserted beach. He was
so impressed by the beauty afforded by the site that he almost immediately
began organising for a large summer residence to be constructed. The area,
known as Hua Hin, was to become a particular favourite of the Thai royals
from the 1920s onwards.
In December 1903, the world had changed forever when
Orville and Wilbur Wright became the first in the world to fly a
heavier-than-air machine, at a little place called Kitty Hawk in North
Carolina. The age of the aircraft had begun and within a few years, most
nations, including Thailand, would embrace the new technology for their
military.
The Army Aviation Unit was established in Thailand in
1913 and was the brainchild of Prince Chakrabongse. The Army
Chief-of-Staff readily perceived the value of military aircraft and had
authorised the purchase of eight French-made planes. At the time, there
were only three French-trained pilots capable of flying the planes.
Known as the Father of Thai Aviation, Prince
Chakrabongse died on 13 June 1920. He was just 37.
Personal Directions: The Power of One
by Christina Dodd
Sometimes in our lives we are confronted with periods
of being on our own. For many, this is a daunting experience as they
can’t cope with the prospect of having to be by themselves or having to
do things by themselves. We are by nature social animals and enjoy the
company or indeed need the company of others.
There are, however, individuals who find that this is
not the traumatic experience that many find it to be. Some people actually
enjoy being on their own, for a period of time being totally with oneself
and content in the very private emotion of it. It is a feeling that can
invoke great strength, control and power. It can bring forth comfort,
pleasure and deep satisfaction by the pure fact that you are collected in
your own thoughts and actions.
On many occasions I have noticed people dining in a
restaurant alone. I am not talking about snacking a bowl of noodles on the
street but being in a real restaurant. Years ago (in my younger days) I
would never have thought of sitting in a restaurant by myself having a
meal. This is something I just would not be able to do because I would
feel too self- conscious of the fact that other people would be looking at
me and wondering why I was alone. After all this is something that we
normally do in groups - isn’t it? It comes with our family upbringing
and social conditioning.
But it is quite an extraordinary feeling to actually
dine alone. I have come a long way since those days and I find myself
frequently doing this. Travelling also places one in the situation where
you have no alternative but to eat alone and this, I feel, is more of a
bonus towards our personal development. I must say I rather enjoy it at
times but I know of many who feel very ill at ease with the very thought
of it and would much rather order room service.
Just the other night I was in a restaurant and noticed
a young Thai man having a pleasant meal by himself. He had ordered a full
meal - not just a quick snack - and took his time over each course. He
enjoyed a few glasses of wine and was completely at ease with the
situation. I thought to myself that this was an appealing picture. Perhaps
he was waiting for someone who didn’t show - whatever the situation or
circumstance - it was a nice scene and I felt quite proud of him. He had
an air of confidence about him and he was very much his own person making
a positive statement.
Normally we feel we shouldn’t indulge ourselves this
way. But I think we should sometimes because each of us deserves some
indulgence in our lives. We tend to overlook this part of our own
well-being and it is wrong to do so. Indulge, enjoy and celebrate that you
are an individual and that there is Power in Being One.
There are many instances that can hold true to the
power of one. Going on a journey alone, “without” the usual entourage
of friends and family, is an uplifting and learning experience. This is
definitely an activity that everyone should have to do at some stage in
their lives. It is a mind-opener to the real world and every parent should
make it one of their goals for their children. Every person, as soon as
they can get enough money together, should travel and travel alone for a
while to have to call on their own abilities to get them from point A to
point B. I’m not saying that you should only travel this way, but think
about the value of such an experience and the rewards it can bring you as
you grow as an individual.
I have met some extraordinary people who have done just
this. They all say that the experience of being alone whilst travelling
has been so rewarding that they would never have done half the things they
have done had they been with a group. Being on their own was in fact the
major driving force behind their achievements.
Personal time or private time or whatever you like to
call it, is the most valuable time we can ever have. Without it, we do not
re-energize or re-charge the batteries! We don’t give ourselves the
benefit of sitting back and taking stock. We need to talk things out to
ourselves and think things through. It is so very important and whilst we
are alone with our thoughts and able to escape the influences around us
for a while, it is amazing how suddenly muddy water becomes crystal clear.
Think about the times you might spend on a bus or in a
train, or in a taxi - there on your own. What do you do with that time? Do
you immediately take out your mobile and make calls? That’s not
necessarily a bad thing as perhaps it could be productive or make you
happy. Or maybe you fall asleep. I see so many people fall asleep at the
drop of a hat when they are in buses. Perhaps they’ve been up at the
crack of dawn or earlier, so they are tired. But time like this can be
your own private thinking time too. It can be very settling and give you
calm and control even though you are surrounded by others.
Being with yourself in the private chambers of your own
mind is a time to cherish. No-one else can do your thinking for you.
No-one else knows your deep and inner thoughts. At night when you lie in
bed just before sleeping, these too are the most intimate moments you may
have in your own mind during your day when you own every single second.
No-one can intrude on this time as it is locked within you. Your mind
knows the value of this time and is naturally protective of it. Nurture
the moments and periods in life when you are embraced in your own
thoughts. These are time of personal growth and rejuvenation. There is,
without a doubt, true greatness in the Power of One.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me at Christina.dodd
@asiatrainingassociates.com or visit our website should you wish further
information on our programs. Until next time, have a great week!
Social Commentary by Khai Khem: Going to the dogs
An official decree has been declared that by the end of
the year there will be no more illegal drugs in Thailand, no traffickers
and no addicts. Boy! I’m all for that. It is a noble goal and I
sincerely hope the target can be met. But forgive my curiosity if I ask
just exactly how all of this social trash will be dispersed. If they
receive due process of law, how on earth will the court system deal with
this flood of felons? Our judicial system is not renowned for its speedy
and expeditious methods and court cases are often bogged down for years.
Since I’m not a law expert, perhaps there are other options open to
authorities that will allow them to meet the target date on time.
The recent scourge of illegal drugs in our nation has
become a plague which negatively affects all of us, especially the youth
in our society whom we value as our country’s future. Law-abiding
citizens are the real victims of this curse because it is drawing them
into a spate of crime and violence. Ordinary Thais are shocked at the
speed at which this wave of antisocial pestilence has spread throughout
the land. “Thai society is going to the dogs,” many of them say.
Whatever plan the authorities have created to eradicate
illegal drug use in Thailand by the end of the year will need to be
radical, that’s for sure.
Let’s suppose for a moment that police and other law
enforcement agencies already know who most of the offenders are, where
they can be located, and can get them off our streets and out of our
neighborhoods and into custody. Then what? Where do we put them?
Our prisons are overflowing, and we lack adequate
facilities to house addicts for rehabilitation. This means short-time
sentences for drug offenders and a revolving door style situation which
returns them to our streets, unrepentant and back in business.
Maybe we should try something different. In preparation
for the international APEC summit, Bangkok officials organized a city-wide
hunt for stray and diseased dogs to be rounded up and sent to an obscure
province where they would be contained, treated and thus eliminated as a
threat to the citizens of the nation’s capital city and its top-ranking
international visitors.
Don’t get me wrong. I have no sympathy for hardened
criminals who make their living selling dangerous drugs. Neither am I
comparing unfortunate drug addicts with stray dogs. But there is a
possible solution here that could ‘marry’ two situations which could
reduce the difficult logistics of both. It’s called “Community
Service”.
Why not round up all the drug dealers and addicts and
send them to tend the unfortunate stray dogs? This would serve a double
purpose. The criminals would be removed to a remote area (where they, too,
like the dogs, could do little harm), and in turn they could perform a
service to the community and the animals. This would reduce the cost of
keeping the offenders in prison and provide manpower otherwise leached
from the public service sector.
Both dogs and druggies could benefit from this plan.
The camps are already set up for the dogs; all we need to do is provide
accommodation for the drug dealers. Surely it would be less expensive than
building more prisons and detention camps for addicts.
Community service in Western countries is often offered
as an alternative to jail time. The concept involves productive
interaction instead of institutionalized incarceration. I am confirmed
drug dealers don’t really like people. They sell poison and death. Maybe
they would bond better with dogs.
Woman's World: Stress Busters Part III
Hypnosis
by Lesley Warner
By now half my readers probably think that I have ‘lost the
plot’ but I haven’t finished yet!
At one point in my life I was suffering with such
extreme migraines I thought I had a serious health problem. However, a CAT
scan assured me that my brain was perfectly normal, so one of the
suggestions was that I try hypnosis. Years ago I was told that I, being too
strong minded, was not a good subject for hypnosis. At 45 pound for 1 hour
it was not a cheap experiment, either, but I was getting pretty desperate.
I walked into the ladies house in a very skeptical frame
of mind. She told me to sit in a chair and just relax while she spoke to me
in melodic tones. She droned a similar poem to the one I printed for you,
only in this one I was supposed to walk into a beautiful garden where I was
to sit and let my feet grow roots into the ground. I tried to go along with
it and even convinced myself at one point that it was working, but at the
end of my one hour session I left as skeptical as I was when I went in, but
now clutching a tape of my session which the lady said I should not play
while driving the car. I never returned to her for the rest of my 5
sessions.
I know that a lot of organizations swear by hypnosis,
but I think you do need to be susceptible to it. Maybe one of my readers
has successfully been hypnotized and can tell us of a success story.
This is what I found out
about hypnosis
Hypnosis is a process involving a hypnotist and a
subject who agrees to be hypnotized. Being hypnotized is usually described
as (a) intense concentration, (b) extreme relaxation, and (c) high
suggestibility.
Hypnosis can be performed in various situations e.g. a
clinic, a classroom, and the police station. The police sometimes want
people to undergo hypnosis to help them remember details, for example,
those who have been victims or witnesses of a crime.
Show hypnotists usually work on the stage, or in bars
and clubs and use hypnosis for entertainment.
The subjects of clinical hypnotists tend to be people
with problems who have heard that hypnotherapy works for relieving pain or
overcoming an addiction (like smoking) or a fear (like spiders or snakes).
Others use hypnosis to recover repressed memories of
sexual abuse or of past lives. Some psychologists and hypnotherapists use
hypnosis to discover truths hidden from ordinary consciousness by tapping
into the unconscious mind where these truths allegedly reside.
Many people imagine hypnosis as a trance-like altered
state of consciousness. Many who accept this view also believe that
hypnosis is a way of accessing an unconscious mind full of repressed
memories, multiple personalities, or memories of past lives.
Studies show that during hypnosis the brain’s
electrical state changes and brain waves are different from those during
waking consciousness. Critics of the mythical view point out that these
facts are irrelevant to establishing hypnosis as an altered state of
consciousness. Psychologists do not support the theory of hypnosis as an
altered state and gateway to occult knowledge.
What is known about hypnosis
There is a significant correlation between being
imaginative and being responsive to hypnosis.
Those who are fantasy-prone are far more likely to make
good hypnotic subjects.
A vivid imagery enhances suggestibility.
If you think hypnosis is rubbish - you be hypnotized.
Hypnotic subjects cannot be turned into zombies and are
not controlled by their hypnotists.
Hypnosis cannot make you more intelligent.
Hypnosis continues to be used in a wide variety of
contexts, but research indicates that it is not always beneficial. Using
hypnosis to help people quit smoking or maintain their diet may be useful,
and not harmful. Hypnosis used in crimes to help people remember license
plate numbers of cars is probably useful. Using hypnosis to help victims or
witnesses of crimes remember what happened may be helpful.
Is it dangerous? Hypnosis is very suggestible and memory
can be “filled-in” by suggestions made under hypnosis. This power could
be dangerous in the wrong hands because of the ease with which the subject
can be manipulated by suggestions from the hypnotist.
So think carefully if you feel that yours might be one
of those more susceptible minds. Do some research on the hypnotist before
you go to his/her office.
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