- HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:
-
Money matters
-
Snap Shots
-
Modern Medicine
-
Heart to Heart with Hillary
-
Let’s go to the movies
-
|
|
Money matters:
Graham Macdonald MBMG International Ltd.
Beware false profits, part 1
Niche funds can be, to steal a turn of phrase from “1066 &
All That”, a ‘good thing’. When our portfolio managers at MidasMitonOptimal
recognise an arcane, highly specialised opportunity they don’t immediately try
to become experts in that field themselves. What they do try to do is use
recognised, existing expertise in this particular class or, where that doesn’t
clearly exist, they might simply take exposure to a sector using Exchange Traded
Funds (ETFs) or Contracts for Difference (CFDs) - derivatives that capture the
movement of a sector.
When Joanne Baynham wrote one of the first articles advocating the upside of the
water sector a couple of years ago, she also identified Pictet’s water fund as
being the specialist in that area that the MidasMitonOptimal portfolios had
bought into. Since January 2000, the team of water industry analysts and fund
managers that Pictet had assembled has outperformed the MSCI world index by
6.79% per year. Yes, on a yearly basis they had added almost 7% annualised
return. Even over the last 5 years the fund made 13.1% a year versus 8.6% by the
index and over the last 3 years, Joanne has seen 11.8% from the fund versus
6.04% index growth.
In addition to building a team to manage the fund, Pictet also use an external
advisory board comprising wide-ranging water industry expertise.
As with all things, success fosters imitation. In the last 6 months we’ve seen a
raft of articles extolling the investment virtues of water. None of these has
added much to Joanne’s original article - remember, it was written in early
2006. In fact, some seem to have borrowed extensively from it and others would
have been better advised to have done so! Commodities have become an even hotter
investment topic today than they were back in the summer of 2006.
Oil has gone over USD115 per barrel and gas, gold, a variety of other precious
and non-precious metals, wheat and other ‘softs’ and even coal have all captured
the attention of investors and consumers alike as their values and prices seem
to have inexorably risen over the last few years - albeit via a rollercoaster
ride. As equity markets have now peaked and fallen (as predicted in 2006 by
Joanne and the team), investing in defensive, high dividend stocks such as
utilities has also become an area of increasing focus for the markets. Yet now,
as then, there is a shortage of intelligent research on one of the areas of
cross-over between these two - i.e. water. A full copy of Joanne’s 2006 article
is available but below we’ve detailed the main points as so many are relevant
today:
“There’s a huge debate raging about when the world will run out of fossil fuels
and the consequences of this - but very little on how long the global water
supply can last. Scientists don’t claim we are running out of water per se –
just clean water. The United Nations Population Fund Projects that in 2025, if
present rates of water consumption are maintained, 5 billion of the world’s 7.9
billion people will live in areas where safe water is scarce. Eighty percent of
all diseases and one third of all deaths in developing nations are caused by
contaminated water.
Between 1970 and 2003, the world’s population growth rate declined from 2% to
1.2% per annum, yet in contrast, the increase in water withdrawals has steadily
outpaced population growth. Water withdrawals are growing at 2.5% per annum, and
there is no sign of a reversal in this trend. Put another way, since 1950 world
population growth has doubled, but water use has tripled.”
Withdrawals
Hence one can see that the increase in water usage is not merely a
function of having more mouths to feed, but is in fact a result of growing
global urbanization. As developing countries mature and move away from an
agrarian society, the net result is that one sees the migration of the rural
poor to the cities. Government’s encouragement of industry growth, for which
water returns are higher, is helping to drive this phenomenon.
Rural poor in developing countries are now migrating to urban slums at such a
rate that by 2007, for the first time in history, half of the world’s population
will live in towns and cities. In China, for example, where this migration from
rural to urban living has been pronounced for the last 15 years, 400 of the
largest 670 cities are operating in serious water deficit and over-taxing sewage
treatment facilities if available at all. Only one quarter of the 21 billion
tons of China’s annual output of household sewage is treated. Treatment plants
are being built, but will still handle only half of all city sewage, leaving
rural waste water untreated. The government has forecast an annual water
shortfall of 53 trillion gallons by 2030 - more than China now consumes in a
year.
A clear indicator of the growing trend of urbanization is the ever increasing
number of mega-cities with a population of more than 8 million. In 1950 there
were only two - New York and London, but now there are already 22. Of the top
ten of these mega-cities, seven are in developing countries, and all are
outpacing their industrial counterparts in terms of the rate of expansion. With
the possible exception of Sao Paulo, every one is experiencing a high level
water stress. This figure will have risen to around 36 by 2015, and many of
these cities will have a population way in excess of 8 million. Of these 36
mega-cities, 23 will be in Asia.
In one extreme example, Dhaka’s (Bangladesh) population has grown from 250,000
just over thirty years ago to more than 13 million today. This means there is
now an environment where more than 9 million people have no sewerage at all,
resulting in human waste collecting and overflowing into rivers and lagoons -
sources of fresh water for the poor.
The lessons of a letter written by the US President nearly forty years ago are
even more pertinent today than they were then, “A nation that fails to plan
intelligently for the development and protection of its precious waters will be
condemned to wither because of its short-sightedness. The hard lessons of
history are clear, written on the deserted sands and ruins of once proud
civilizations,” - Lyndon B. Johnson.
To be continued…
|
The above data and research was compiled from sources
believed to be reliable. However, neither MBMG International Ltd nor its
officers can accept any liability for any errors or omissions in the above
article nor bear any responsibility for any losses achieved as a result of any
actions taken or not taken as a consequence of reading the above article. For
more information please contact Graham Macdonald on
[email protected]@mbmg-international.com.com
|
Snap Shots: by Harry Flashman
Lartigue - the man
who shot what
pleased him
 Jacques-Henri
Lartigue was the first photographer to show that equipment comes second
to imagination. He was a great individualist taking photographs of
“…everything which pleases me, everything I am keen on, which delights
or amazes me. The rest I let pass.” Famous lensman Richard Avedon called
Lartigue “The most deceptively simple and penetrating photographer in
the history of that art.” I can only agree.
Lartigue was born into an upper middle class family in Courbevoie, near
Paris. He was a child prodigy, who began to photograph at age seven when
he received his first camera from his father, who was also an amateur
photographer. This camera was no auto everything point and shoot, but a
large 13 x 18 cm box on a wooden tripod. He is reported as having said,
“Now I will be able to make portraits of everything, everything. I know
very well that many, many things are going to ask me to have their
pictures taken, and I will take them all!” And he did, keeping a diary
illustrated with sketches, in which he recorded the details of each
shot. Just the same as I encourage you all to do today.
The amazing aspect of J-H’s photography was that he was able to show
movement in his images. Remember that no one was there to teach this
young boy, and the cameras, lenses and films were not fast enough to
allow him the luxury of fast shutter speeds, yet he could find that
split instant in time to stop the action. He would capture the subject,
mid-frame, as if posed in mid air waiting for the shutter to click.
Truly remarkable stuff for a young boy. And he was young. J-H was born
in 1894 and has been resident in the Great Darkroom in the Sky since
1986.
Fortunately for us, he took plenty of photographs, but the enormity of
his collection was not discovered till 1963, by which stage he had over
200,000 photographs catalogued in albums! On his 90th birthday he was
still snapping away and had a major exhibition in London. His photograph
collection he also donated to the French nation. In addition to his
black and white photography, Lartigue made several short films in 1913
and 1914.
What J-H Lartigue gave us, however, in addition to all those photographs
was two fold. The first is called ‘Anticipation’. As a photographer
wanting to record action subjects, you have to anticipate where the
action is, and get yourself ready to record the height of the action. Be
that tennis, soccer or golf, the great action shots are at the zenith.
It is a lot easier now, because these days even compact cameras have
shutter speeds faster than poor old J-H’s first camera, and the top of
the line SLR’s have shutter speeds as fast as 1/4000th of a second
combined with motor drives exposing multiple frames per second. This
makes action photography today much easier than at the turn of the
century. However, there is still the need for “anticipation”, Lartigue’s
great gift.
The second gift from Lartigue is his diary. He recorded all the
pertinent details, so that he could reproduce the same concepts later.
Photography is always a learning process, and the quickest way to learn
is to have records so that you can see what went wrong, or how you got
it right!
So let’s have a crack at some “action pix” this week. Take a motorcycle
- it leans into the corner and you can see that it was in motion. Or
even better, riding through a puddle, with the spray coming up from the
wheels. People jumping convey movement too, or skipping rope, water
skiing, running, swimming or diving, like Lartigue’s shot of his
brother, or other physical activities. Anticipate the action and get
that action shot.
I am not saying it is easy, but it is well worth the practice. You can
set the camera on Auto - but anticipate for a great shot.
Modern Medicine:
by Dr. Iain Corness, Consultant
Living with cancer
So you find you have terminal cancer. What can you do? The
first thing is to sit down and take stock of your circumstances. All of us
know that that piece of string called “life” eventually comes to an end, but
we don’t know when. The only difference with you is that your doctor has
actually told you when your piece of “life” string is due to run out.
Now whilst the immediate thought is “How do I beat this?” there are many
factors you have to consider in the time ahead, and one of the main ones is
called ‘The Quality of Life’.
Now is the time to talk with family, friends and health care team. It is
natural for a person with advanced cancer to feel many emotions including
anger, fear, and sadness. Just as you may need time to adjust to this new
phase of your illness, your family and friends may also need time. If you
are having trouble talking with family and friends, ask your nurse, doctor,
or counselor to gather everyone together to talk.
This talking phase should also include your getting to understand your
cancer. This you do by talking with your treating doctors, and from
information from reliable internet sites. Note I say “reliable” sites. There
are always plenty of sites ready to sell you snake oil.
Now is the time to manage your symptoms. Your quality of life is better if
your symptoms are under control. Talk to your health care team about the
best way for you and your caregivers to manage your symptoms.
Do not be afraid to ask your doctors about any proposed modalities of
treatment. Getting an extra two months of life, but at the cost of the
quality of life, may not be worth having. Always keep that in mind. Quality
of (the remaining) life is everything.
Be as active as you can. When an illness progresses, it may be harder to do
the things you have always done. Talk to your health care team about what,
if any, limitations you may have. If your physical health allows, continue
to exercise in some enjoyable way. Or, if you find it is too much for you,
take up a new hobby or find things that you can still do and enjoy, such as
reading, writing, creating a photo album, or making a video for family and
friends.
Let friends and family know what they can do to help. What can you do for
yourself? What is important to you? What can friends and family do for you?
What can all of you do together? Where do you turn if you need extra help or
care? If you are not up to being social, let people know this as well.
Make your wishes known. Making the decision to stop active cancer treatments
can be a hard choice for a person with cancer and their family. These are
personal choices. If you are faced with making these decisions, talk with
your family and health care team about your wishes and explore all of your
options. You are still able to make decisions about your life to the extent
that you desire.
Maybe you want to give someone else some of the responsibilities or share
decisions about what to do. You may want to create a health care proxy
and/or power of attorney. This allows someone who you choose to make health
care or other decisions for you. Whatever you choose, you are in control of
your life and you know what will work best for you.
You may also consider creating a ‘Living Will’ or giving specific
instructions on what your wishes are if your cancer progresses. This process
helps make your end-of-life wishes and desires known to family, friends, and
your health care team and can help ensure that your wishes are honored.
These wishes may include funeral arrangements or decisions about hospice
care. Discuss with your family, friends, and health care team your wishes
regarding resuscitation.
Sorry if the column this week sounds a little deep and dark, but it can give
assistance to those who feel as if all their options have gone.
 Heart to Heart with Hillary
Dear Hillary,
I don’t know why you “bovvered” replying to that obnoxious guy with his IQ of
whatever! But then you are always so polite.
My letter is really about how to refuse food? I am certainly not anorexic and
not obese either, but when I visit any Thai friends or acquaintances I am
immediately faced with huge amounts of food.
I love the Thai people very much, and know they can ill afford to feed their
families let alone me. When I enter their homes I tell them I have already eaten
and am full, but it makes no difference, the food still appears. I force myself
to eat something then when I get home I have to reach for the “Imodium”
capsules! What would your solution be Hillary?
Fat Delboy! (Well getting that way)
Dear (Fat) Delboy,
How nice to hear from you again. Did you ever find the helmet from your
motorcycle? And have you started to padlock it securely these days?
How do you refuse food? With difficulty, my Petal. Offering food is part of the
ingrained hospitality in Thai culture. If you clean your plate it means that the
host did not give you enough, so you must always save your host from
embarrassment by leaving some food on the plate.
Tuck in with enthusiasm, but then leave a sizable amount on the plate, and
that’s when you say “Aroy, aroy, im lao” (very delicious, and I am full). Your
host will be happy that he has fed you and even happier that he has filled you.
I don’t really understand the Imodium. The food can’t be that bad, surely?
Dear Hillary,
This one is a bit different from the usual ones you get here. What is your
advice on beggars? Should you, or shouldn’t you? I find them at all the
overbridges and the ones with obvious physical disabilities or young babies are
difficult to walk past. But I am told that my concern is misplaced as they
aren’t real beggars at all. What do you suggest, as I do not want to appear
stingy, as I am reasonably well off, but I certainly do not want to be ripped
off either.
Bob
Dear Bob,
Always a difficult question, and one that foreigners here have a problem with
all the time. You are generous by nature, and understand that there can be great
differences in wealth. However, your pockets are probably nowhere near as deep
as the pockets of some of the members of the Thai community, and you will not
often see them donating to waifs at the roadside. There are much better ways of
distributing largesse and this is through the service clubs and organizations.
This way, your donation goes directly to where it is needed, and nothing is
skimmed off the top for ‘middle men’. So my suggestion is to certainly put
something into charity, but do it through people like the Jester’s Care 4 Kids
or the Ploenchit Fair, or through Rotary, Lions and other groups such as the
Pattaya Charity Club or the Yasothon school project run by Norman and Eileen
Denning (Yorkies).
Dear Hillary,
Most of the letters you get are from men who are whining about what has happened
to them with girls from in the bar scene. Has the simple fact escaped them that
there is another side to living in Thailand? Surely they must see that there is
a big difference between that side and the other side? If they stopped to look
past the end of their noses they would see that there are some truly wonderful
girls out there. I have been married to my Thai wife for ten years now and we
have a partnership and mutual trust. This works very well and I have never felt
at any time that I am being ripped off. Adjustments have to be made (by both the
people) but that is normal in any marriage. My wife came from a respectable
family and had a good job before she settled down to be a wife and mother to our
two lovely girls. Why don’t some of these men who write in with complaints spend
more time to look for the “good” girls?
Happily Married to a Thai lady
Dear Happily Married to a Thai lady,
I thank you for your letter, as it is easy for the casual reader to think that
there is nothing but disaster in any relationship with a Thai lady. You are
correct, people with problems do tend to write in to a problems column, rather
than those who do not. It is always good to show that there is another side to
the coin. Unfortunately, the ‘professional’ ladies are the ones that the
newcomers meet, who are then swept off their feet in the rush to the gold shop,
the motorcycle dealers and the real estate agents. These men would not go
looking for their life’s partner in a bar in their own country, so why do they
do so here? Laziness and easy availability is the answer. Congratulations again
on writing in and 10 years of marital (not ‘martial’) bliss.
Let’s go to the movies:
by Mark Gernpy
Now playing in Pattaya
Bangkok Dangerous: US Action/Drama – Directors Danny and
Oxide Pang return to remake their popular 1999 thriller about a ruthless
hitman (this time Nicolas Cage) who travels to Bangkok in order to carry
out four crucial murders. During the course of his jobs, the triggerman
falls in love with a pretty local girl while also forming a friendly
bond with his young errand boy.
Tevada Tokmun: Thai Comedy – Some Academy Fantasia 4 winners in a
comedy about the misadventures of an angel and a monk.
Mamma Mia!: US/UK/Germany Comedy/ Musical/ Romance – Starring
Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, and Colin Firth. Donna, an independent,
single mother who owns a small hotel on an idyllic Greek island, is
about to let go of Sophie, the spirited daughter she’s raised alone. On
a quest to find the identity of her father to walk her down the aisle,
Sophie invites to the wedding three men from Donna’s past, all possibly
her father. Popular ABBA music that I find horrifyingly infectious and
which I can’t get rid of. Extraordinarily vivacious and energetic
musical that is bound and determined to make you sing and dance and feel
good about marriage. Mixed or average reviews.
Boonchu 9: Thai Comedy – Another in this popular Thai comedy
series. The son of the original Boonchu is a happy monk who is defrocked
by his mother and sent to university in Bangkok.
Boys Over Flowers: Final/F4 Final: Japan Romance/Comedy – Wildly
popular film in Japan, based on a top selling manga, featuring five
popular Japanese idols, following the travails of a working-class girl
at an elite prep school who must contend with a four-man clique of
“rich, gorgeous guys” from extremely powerful families. (Thai dubbed
with no English subtitles.)
The Deaths of Ian Stone: US/UK Horror/Thriller – On an otherwise
ordinary night, the young Ian Stone encounters a mysterious creature and
is forced into the path of an oncoming train. Rather than facing certain
death, Ian finds himself reborn into a new life that feels strangely
familiar. After his second death, it becomes apparent that Ian is being
hunted by an evil presence, and will be forced to die every day until he
can solve the mystery of his own life. Rated R in the US for violence,
some drug content, and brief language. Generally favorable reviews.
Virgin Territory: US/UK Comedy/Romance – Hayden Christensen plays
a Don Juan who revels in seducing the beauties of 14th-century Florence
while the black plague decimates their city. Laughably incompetent
lewdness. Rated R in the US for sexual content, nudity and some
language.
Death Race: US Action/Thriller – The most twisted spectator sport
on earth as violent criminals vie for freedom by winning a race driving
monster cars outfitted with machine guns, flamethrowers, and grenade
launchers. The previews are the most repulsive imaginable, and have
convinced me I don’t wish to see it. Mixed or average reviews.
The Coffin/Longtorai: Thai Horror – Thai superstar Ananda
Everingham as a claustrophobic architect who participates in obscure
coffin rituals.
WALL·E: US Animation/ Comedy/ Family/ Romance/ Sci-Fi – The film
is a work of genius from the first frame to the last. Robot love in a
dead world, and the cutest love story in years. There’s virtually no
dialogue for the first 40 minutes; you’ll be enthralled. Reviews:
Universal acclaim.
Where the Miracle Happens: Thai Drama – A powerful plea for
compassion towards neglected segments of Thai society told in basic and
simple dramatic terms, with the standard ingredients of Thai drama and
comedy fused into a quite moving film. If you relax and let yourself be
drawn into the story, you’ll be very affected at story’s end.
Rogue: Australia/US Thriller – An American journalist on
assignment on a tourist riverboat in the Australian outback encounters a
man-eating “rogue” crocodile. A modest and effective thriller, with some
extraordinary shots of the breathtakingly forbidding Australia
harshness, and accompanied by some quite excellent music throughout. The
whole is a sort of study of crocodiles and crocodile lore by the
director/writer Greg Mclean, who seems to really love the subject, and
who seems very fond of the Northern Territory landscape. Rated R in the
US for language and some creature violence. Early reviews: Mixed or
average.
Hanuman: The White Monkey Warrior: Thai Action – Utter trash, and
the biggest argument yet for imposition of censorship, let alone a
rating system. Not only not fit for kids; not fit for adults either.
Detailed beheadings with close-ups of the surprised looks on the faces
of the decapitated heads, loving depictions of skin being slowly ripped
off of humans, and worse. All involved should be heavily fined.
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor: US Action /Fantasy – One
bang after another, one explosion after another, one bloody fight after
another, all to no purpose. Ignore this one, unless of course you like
mindless action, and the rest. Generally negative reviews.
|
|
|
|
News | Business | Features |
Columns | Mail Bag |
Sports | Auto Mania
Our Children | Travel |
Our Community | Dining Out & Entertainment
Social Scene | Classifieds |
Community Happenings | Books Music Movies
Clubs in Pattaya | Sports Round-Up
E-mail: [email protected]
Pattaya Mail Publishing Co.Ltd.
62/284-286 Thepprasit Road, (Between Soi 6 & 8) Moo 12, Pattaya City
T. Nongprue, A. Banglamung,
Chonburi 20150 Thailand
Tel.66-38 411 240-1, 413 240-1, Fax:66-38 427 596
Copyright © 2004 Pattaya Mail. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
|
|
|
