Updated: Added 2 more items that you hate in Shanghai on no.11 and no.12! Gawd! Unbelievable!
Ok ok. Enough with all the bloggers and everyone writes about what to do in Shanghai, although not that i complained though as i learned a lot from their experiences, thus wisdom for me. I am going to write DE TOP TEN THINGS i hate in Shanghai, inclusive of cities around, such as Wuxi, Suzhou, Zhangjiagang and Nanjing.
The reason is simple. You cannot and will never will understand why they do that. It is pure unbelievably stupid and no-brain symptom? Sometimes you get so fed-up, that you wish to go and take a piece of wood and knock the shit out of their head. No explaination needed. Just pure stupidity!
We start at here:
1. Stopping at the end of an escalator
This syndrome is called planning for the day. Imagine this. You are simply walking around in the mega shopping malls in Shanghai. Its packed like sardines with everyone is rushing to dunno do what shit thing. Perhaps rushing to get that toilet roll or rushing to finish before you. Then you are packed and pushed into a walkway down the escalator going up or going down. Its packed and its a lot of people. Then, out of no where, the FAMILY in front of you simply stop when the escalator reaches the end. THEY STOP and have a discussion in front of the escalator! WTF?!?!?!?!?!? YES! They stop and discuss which way to go while scratching their butt and their head.
Simply unbelievable!
2. They spits!
They act is called clearing the throat kung fu. It takes your chi and your breath, all in 1 act. Ptuiiiiiiii ................................. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Then the fucker turns his head and make the furthest spit, and if you are walking around these "spitting kungfu master", you need both of your ears and all your senses to avoid that lump of spit! YuckS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes! Sometimes you need to jump away if necessary!
3. Bad Breath!
I do not understand why. They dislike drinking a lot of water. It makes them fat! Sometimes, when they talk to you, you can feel it. Smelling that foul smell from the mouth 1 foot away from you that you have to hold on to your breath and look away to catch a breather!
They do not believe in the thing call mouth spray nor sweets. Its sweet and its fattening. Never mind the breath! *faint*
4. Food and service staff attitude
You feel like choking them alive. Just imagine 4 counters during lunch time. Pack of people going to buy McDonalds right? They open only 1 counter. >_<
Have you ever tried to ask for 1 more slice of lemon for your ice lemon tea or requests for 1 more slice of cheest for your burger? I tell you. You will VOMIT blood! They will tell you its not for sell nor they will give it to you. Its not company policy! FUCK!
5. NOT lining UP!
This is ONE OF THE FUCKING thing that i hate the most! No body lines UP in China. I think everyone who visits to China, will somehow be amuse at the crowd when they buy tickets in bus station, McDonalds ordering food, hospital lining up for payment and etc. You feel like popping their head in that instant. I mean, its a common understanding that everyone waits for their turn.
Well, its China!
6. Cars making u-turn in the highway trunk road
Imagine this. 6 lane trunk road. Its huge, but without dividers. That fucking car simply making that u-turn without looking at the side mirrors or give a damn glancing to the back. Those cars behind simply have to be more aware and step on the emergency brake and horn no fucking stop while screwing that car in front.
Buses, taxis and bicycles are the most dangerous automobiles in China. You cannot imagine how dangerous it is until you have been to China.
7. Food wastage
In China, a dinner is considered as a treat. It is all about face value you are talking about at the end. Thus, everyone orders or serve with food they will never ever able to finish. Imagine a typical Chinese wedding dinner, where an average of 20 dishes will be served to a table of 10. Simultaneously and served together. Therefore, your table WILL be STACKED of food! Drinks, cigarette and etc will be served as well. Its customary.
Its unbelievable. Once you are here in China, you will understand why the word of food wastage does not applies in China. It is simply inpolite to finish your dishes when your hosts pay for your food!
8. Food prices
OMFG! Food prices in Shanghai are like one of the highest. Its like simply outrageous. Of course, it also depends on which area or restaurant that you go to. If you are to go to that small little stall by the road side, then of course, a few renminbi will suffice. But, just imagine a little higher such as famous BiFengTang, the cantonese food franchise. An average meal costs you RMB40 for one? And its like RMB40, one plate of fried noodle and a glass of ice nai cha?
Freaking expensive. Dun even bother to ask me the price of a glass of German wheat beer in Paulaner. You will stop and wonder. How the hell are the common Shanghainese going to survive with few thousand salary a month?
9. Pollution
The pollution are seriously serious! No joke. And Malaysians are complaining that haze cause by our neighbours in Indonesia. Come to China and experience what we called as common. Its like so freaking hazy that the air you breath in is smokey in smell. Not mentioning that during the summer, the heat is like 38 centigrads + the humid + the haze smell!
OMG! You feel like staying in the home and shut all your windows. Even my fart smells nicer!
10. Got conned
Everyone thinks that you are easily con-able. Its like you are not speaking Shanghainese dialect and from your appearance shows that you are a "lao wai", therefore, you should be easy to scammed. I admittedly tell you, i did. I was conned before when i was like new in China. After that, and QiPu shopping + buying silk in Suzhou GuanQian Jie. I was like OK. Now i know.
Everyone bargains in China. Or you simply walks away. Simple. No need to hassle of that item for 10 minutes. Just name your price and wait for acceptance. Never answer and tell them your price. Just keep your mouth shut and let the seller do the work. Normally it works wonder.
For example, you wish to buy that t-shirt at that bazaar. You approach the seller and ask "dou shao qian?" (how much?). Normally they will see your appearance 1st. If you are indeed a laowai, they will tell you RMB100 instead of RMB25 if you are Shanghainese.
Therefore, you have to keep in your mind that the item should be selling at RMB30 at the most. You say, "tai gui le" (too expensive), continued by "20 kuai" (20 bucks). You leave 10 bucks for negotiation purpose. The seller will automatically tells you, no way! then what you need to do is wait! The seller will normally says 50 kuai! (50 bucks) and you say, "ni yi pan wo yi pan" (you half i half), and continued by saying 30 kuai! (30 bucks).
From there, either you walk away if the seller refuse or smiling walking happily after purchase that t-shirt for RMB30!
11. Smoking everywhere
Its true and i don't want to even lie to you about this. Everyone smokes in everywhere even i have seen it in gym changing room, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, KFC, hospital, everywhere and anywhere imaginable.
Smoking in Shanghai or anywhere else in China is sort of a mentality and ego kinda cultural thingy for them. Just imagine you are being judge on your status by the type of cigarette that you puff into your lungs.
There are varieties of brands here, from every province, ranging from prices and quality and brand. The most common famous expensive brand in China would be Zhonghua, that costs around RMB40 to RMB80 per pack. Again, depending on the quality of the tobacco. The more expensive it is, the better your ego will be. Seriously.
12. Beggars, little beggars and kids beggars
This is also another rampant issue and problem that China is facing right now. Coastal cities such as Shanghai, Shenzhen, Beijing, Suzhou and anywhere else on the east side of China next to the sea and river will have a bigger chance out of proverty. Its true.
Foreigners, expats and everything just pour everything to these places. This started a chain reaction and affects everything. These cities produces more millionaires due to opportunities, employments and growing economies.
There comes another problem. Those Chinese citizens from the west, such as Xinjiang province, that is a desert and no economic growth becomes isolated. They are poor and they are not educated. In short, they are at least 50 years behind in mentality.
There is a saying in China. If you see a child beggar begging for your money in Shanghai, most probably you will say that they are from Xinjiang. It might be true you know. These beggars will flock on the street more especially during pre-chinese new year. They will beg for money under cold winter conditions. They are child merely 5 years of age. They are poor and extremely poor.
What i hate more, is when the parents, grandparents and the elders would even scold the kids for not able to get money from us! The kids beggar will cry and cry. Such a humiliation. These child beggars are sometimes also pickpockets. Beware!
What do you think? The top 10 things you hate in Shanghai? Fits the picture?
Hahahahaha.
ps: I still like to go and hit the clubs in Shanghai! Not forgotten, the Xinwang Roasted Pork Rice! :)
God! I am hungry now!
Ciao~
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
10 things you HATE in Shanghai
Monday, January 12, 2009
Astrology 2009 for me
Ya ya ya. I know what they all say about listening and reading all those horoscope and astrology stuff. Makes people anxious and thinks too much perhaps. Whether that our life are still at the control within our palms and within our grasp.
Gawd! Lifes unfair. I am feeling kinda down coz its accurate, somehow one way or another. I remember i did compare this reading twice from 2 different sources and somehow it is almost the same and accurate.
I hate it. Or perhaps i am feeling and being emo now. Thinks too much syndrome in my blood that runs in my family. Hate it.
You see. I am born in the year of Monkey and my element in the astrology is water. Accurate #1. From the lucky elements, i agree and feel very comfy with the points mention also. I hate summer and love winter. I like and i love green plants, which makes me more comfy. I like dark colors in my room and the black ambience feeling. Not that i hate white, but i felt uneasy with all white ambience. I love to wear black and dark colored shirt. I have more than 20 pieces of black t-shirt. Gawd!
Fitness Tips
I want to bulk up. Nuff said. I am getting thinner, thats a good start. But i am also getting smaller, which i do not want to. My shirts and jeans seems to get bigger constantly. I am worried. My waist is smaller. So is my chest.
I need to bulk up physically. Gawd! The formulae is simple:
1. Weight training 25%
2. Food intake 75%
Back to the weight training. I read from here that lifting heavy can really increase the strength and the size of the muscle. Its true, and i am experiencing it. 3 x 3 is what they called it. I think i can managed 4 x 3. 4 reps of 3 sets of super heavy compound lifting. 9 sets per body part for each session.
Simplicity. Bench press 3 sets x 4 reps followed by incline dumbbell press 3 sets x 4 reps followed by alternate dumbbell press 3 sets x 4 reps. All of these sets are for chests workout, to ensure that i have done the 25% of the weight training part.
Now to the food intake. This needs arrangement and planning accordingly. I need to consume protein and calories adequately to ensure muscle growth. Too little protein, i will decrease in size and no muscle growth. Too much protein and calories, i will grow fatter at waist and look bloated.
Ensuring that i eat as according to time as well. Small meals breakdown over the whole day to provide adequate calories for my body needs and protein for muscle repair.
I also read here that i need to eat more egg white. Its definitely cheaper comparing to drinking protein shakes. I was surprise when i read the 1 egg white only has 6 grams of protein. And as according to my body weight (i weight approximately 200 pounds), i will need to eat around 200 to 400 grams of protein / day if i want to maintain my muscle mass.
Take that into account, if i were not to eat any protein for the rest of the day, i will need to eat 30 eggs white in 1 day! Crazy meh! *faint* Or else, i can substitute my food intake with more japanese food for their fresh salmon sashimi or that huge beef steak!
Please read more at here for tips to grow and build muscle of yours. Credits from respective authors and websites.
Gawd! I need to eat more protein!
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Kaixuan Fitness Center in Zhangjiagang
Fitness and health is important to me recently. Life changing moments i think or perhaps i am terribly sick and tired of being overweight. "Spare tires" coming out and having a hard time to find a nice attire to wear. Sweating out of no where during air-con hours. My body is not healthy, in short.
I was looking around for a gym center in either Shanghai or Zhangjiagang in the beginning. I went to California Fitness in Shanghai and Physical Gym to checkout for more info. California Fitness is a premium center that costs a smucking RMB7000/pa and Physical is the cheaper version that costs around RMB2k to 3k/pa.
But at the end, due to traveling and time constraint, i decided to stick with gym session in Zhangjiagang. I enrolled into this gym, Kaixuan Fitness Center during their opening promotion. Costs me around RMB1500/pa, if not mistaken. I enrolled and signed up with a few friends and from there voila! there i am!
I enjoy the workout session tremendously. It is due to the feeling of sensation, the joy of muscle aching, the adrenaline rush during the weight pump or that techno music blasting through my ears when i work out. My body start to change. I get fitter and i get thinner. My pants, my jeans, my shirts, my coats and everything else seems bigger.
Of course, i did my other part as well. I eat better. I eat according to timing now. Less carb at night, energy food in the morning, more water and less rice. Anyway, back to the point. Kaixuan Fitness Center has a nice lounge area, 1 yoga room, 1 spinning class room, 1 kick boxing room, several treadmills, a couple of bicycles and elliptical machines, resistance machines and free weight area.
I personally like to hangout at the free weight area and resistance machine. Jogging and treadmill for warm up during the winter times. I normally spends around 3-4 days per week if i am free and 1 to 2 hours in the gym. Pump that muscle and lift the weight. There after, i normally jog for another 10 minutes if i am not rushing or else, i would head to stretching area to relax my muscles after working out. 15 minutes normally. 
I really love the sensation of the feelings after gym sessions. I sleep better at night and feel healthier during working days. I can cope more with work stress and i do not panic easily during unpleasant times. I love the feeling of muscle aching, that reminds me to eat less and healthier. Knowing that my muscles will grow back stronger and bigger. 
I know i am getting better with times and i will be better in shape. 6 months. I am telling myself. By then, perhaps i have to change my wardrobe completely! Hahaha. Stay fit and stay healthy, my friends!Friday, January 9, 2009
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The movie is extremely nice, for me anyway. If you are those who would be swept of the ground from super performance from actor / actress and a good story line, then go and catch this movie. My tear was practically rolling down from my tear duct uncontrollably due to the super action performance from Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt.
OMG! The last time i catch a movie and felt this way was during watching I Am Legend by Will Smith. That movie is super extremely good as well. Go and watch!
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is about the life of Benjamin Button (simple, ain't it). This movie started from after World War 1 in America during 19th century, when a baby is born in New Orleans, America. To the father demise, the wife pass away and he promise to take good care of their new born. But, the baby born is ..... *ahem ahem* ugly.
This baby has an extremely rare disorder. He is physically old but mentality he is a baby. Sort of a new born baby stuck with the appearances of a 70 years granny. His life grows in the reverse order. He become younger physically but mentally he gets older. Wait until to the end of the movie where you get extremely emotional. For instance, he is now physically 10 years old kid but mentally, he is 70 years old that has memory lost.
The scene where Cate Blanchett, holds him as a baby physically but die of oldness in the arms of hers makes me weep. It was a super excellent performance from both of the lead actor / actress. Gawd! Thinking about it makes me wanna felt emotional again.Bernie Madoff: Scammer and Ponzi Schemer!
Gawd! After reading more about this Bernie Madoff creep low class ass human and his stupid little classless act Ponzi scheme. I might just wanna roll over and die. Pity those who make the decision to invest with him. GREED it seems has a huge fucking influence on everyday little people. It makes you go wild flushes with adrenaline. Makes you pathetic poor little investors felt better right?!?!?
Wrong!!!!!!!! The world are driven by people like him. Greed, fear and i might add ego. Invest in some instruments that is SO unbelievable solid with nice returns and i will tell you, its all fake. All of those are just instruments and tools to manipulate you to make you feel better and feel more confident. At least, they uses this to convince you to invest, for you to make that decisions. To lose your hard earned penny. To invest with them.
So that low-class act f____rs like him will be able to live a life that is fake and comtemporary. USD50 billion worth of funds are actually worthless. Yes! Of course, unless someone in US will be able to recover some of these funds. Which of course, will be given to corporate account 1st such as HSBC, which seems to be one of the biggest loser as according to here.
OMG OMG OMG! How can anyone be so stupid?!?!?!?!?!? (see the lists below copied from clusterstock) Don't they do checks and balances? Banks wor! I can smell it better than those add together 100 years of experience bankers. Perhaps, Madoff promise returns are too tempting. GREED.
HSBC "has emerged as one the largest victims of Bernard Madoff’s alleged fraud with potential exposure of about $1bn...HSBC’s exposure stemmed from loans it provided to institutional clients, mainly hedge funds of funds, that wanted to invest with Mr Madoff. HSBC’s direct exposure is believed to be about $1bn in loans provided to clients who invested some $500m of their own funds in Mr Madoff’s venture. Under the typical terms of these deals, if the US authorities recover any funds from Mr Madoff, HSBC will be paid first, with its clients suffering the first tranche of losses."
Access International. $1.4 billion
Fortis Bank. $1.4 billion
Man Group’s RMF division has about $350m invested in funds which outsourced their management to Madoff securities, although this is a tiny fraction of the division’s $25bn of assets.
Tremont Capital. Fund of funds. $3.3 billion invested.
Pioneer Investments, an arm of Italy’s UniCredit, had “substantially all” of $835m invested with Madoff.
Union Bancaire Privet: $1.1 billion
Benbasset & Cie: $935 million
BBVA: $404 million
Maxam Capital Management LLC. Combined loss of $280 million. "I'm wiped out," said Sandra Manzke, Maxam's founder and chairman. The Darien, Conn., fund of hedge funds will have to close as a result of the losses, she said.
Fairfield Greenwich Group. Bloomberg: The biggest loser may be Walter Noel’s Fairfield Greenwich Group, whose $7.3 billion Fairfield Sentry Ltd. invested with Madoff’s eponymous firm, three people familiar with the matter said... Fairfield Sentry has a record of more than 15 years with an annual return of 4 to 6 percentage points above benchmark interest rates, according to a marketing document dated this month that was prepared by Zurich-based NPB New Private Bank Ltd. On an absolute basis, returns exceeded 10 percent every year from 1991 through 2000. Since then, they ranged from 6.4 percent to 9.8 percent...The strategy is a “split-strike conversion,” where the investment manager buys shares of large U.S. companies and enters into options contracts to limit the risk, the document says.
Fix Asset Management. Bloomberg: Fix Asset Management, which had an account worth at least $400 million with Madoff Investments. The firm said it’s checking with lawyers about the holdings. “We are very shocked,” John Fix, the son of founder Charles Fix, said by phone from Greece. “We put in redemptions in the past few months and got our money back no problem. We are just so surprised about all this.”
Kingate Management Ltd. Bloomberg says $2.8 billion Kingate Global Fund Ltd. invested with Madoff.
Santander. WSJ: The eurozone's largest bank by market value, said its clients had an exposure of €2.33 billion ($3.1 billion) to Madoff's investment funds, mainly through its Optimal Strategic US Equity fund. More than €2 billion belongs to institutional investors and international clients of its private-banking business, which provides services to wealthy individuals, it said. The remaining €320 million belongs to private-banking customers in Spain, where Santander is based.
Thyssen Family. Source sends the following: Thybo Investments grew out of a family office for Thyssen. They have been in fund of funds it seems since 1989. Thybo International is a "proper" fund of fund but it's newer share class G invests only in one manager - and i'm 99% sure it's Madoff as the returns are almost the same. Some more info. The fund started in Jan 2007. Ernst & Young. Luxembourg are the auditors. UBS Luxembourg is the administrator. Thybo states on their webpage: "Our track record incorporates audited financial statements at both a composite firm-wide and individual portfolios level."
Ira Roth's family. WSJ: Ira Roth, a New Jersey resident, who says his family has about $1 million invested through Mr. Madoff's firm, is "in a state of panic." He said his 86-year-old mother-in-law has been living on the investments' returns, and he has been using the funds to pay college tuition.
Sterling Equities. Fund controlled by Fred Wilpon, co-owner of the NY Mets, confirms it had money with Madoff.
Stephen Abbott, a San Francisco lawyer. WSJ: [Abbott] and two siblings had several hundred thousand dollars invested with Mr. Madoff. They inherited the trust from their father, who had befriended Mr. Madoff years ago. Performance remained steady through the current bear market, he said. "People were floored," he says. "We were making money in this lousy market." He says he is concerned about recovering the money but "you have to get philosophical about this stuff. It could be worse; we still have our health."
Palm Beach Country Club. Source: CNBC's David Faber
Lawrence Velvel, "69, dean of the Massachusetts School of Law, said he and a friend may have lost millions of dollars between them (AP). "This is a major disaster for a lot of people," Velvel said in a telephone interview from his Andover, Mass., office. "You work all your life, you finally manage to save up something, and somebody who's entrusted with it, it turns out suddenly he's a crook. Lots of people are getting fully or partially wiped out." Velvel said he wants to know where government regulators, as well as accountants and others at Madoff's company, were when the money was being lost."
Loeb Family. Source: CNBC's David Faber
J. Ezra Merkin. GMAC LLC Chairman. WSJ: Mr. Merkin, the chairman of former General Motors Corp. financing arm GMAC, is also a money manager at Ascot Partners LLC in New York. Ascot, which had $1.8 billion under management as of Sept. 30, had substantially all of its assets invested with Mr. Madoff, according to a letter to Mr. Merkin sent to clients Thursday night. Mr. Merkin said as one of the largest investors in Ascot, he believed he had personally "suffered major losses from this catastrophe."
Norman Braman. Former Philadelphia Eagles owner
Leonard Feinstein, co-founder of retailer Bed Bath & Beyond.
Mort Zuckerman. Mr. Zuckerman, the chairman of real-estate firm Boston Properties and owner of the New York Daily News and U.S. News & World Report, had significant exposure through a fund that invested substantially all of its assets with Mr. Madoff
Richard Spring. WSJ: A Boca Raton resident and former securities analyst, says he had about $11 million -- or 95% of his net worth -- invested with Mr. Madoff. "That's how much I believed in him," Mr. Spring said.
Elie Wiesel's Foundation For Humanity. Lost $37 million.
Members of half-a-dozen country clubs: WSJ: "Mr. Madoff tapped social networks in Dallas, Chicago, Boston and Minneapolis. In Minnesota, he attracted investors from Hillcrest Golf Club of St. Paul and Oak Ridge Country Club in Hopkins, investors say. One of them estimated that investors from the two clubs may have invested more than $100 million combined. One of the largest clusters of Madoff investors was in Florida, where losses could be substantial. Mr. Madoff relied on a network of friends, family and business colleagues to attract investors. According to investors and agents, some of these agents were paid commissions for harvesting investors. Others had separate, lucrative business relationships with Mr. Madoff. "If you were eating lunch at the club or golfing, everyone was always talking about how Madoff was making them all this money," one investor says. "Everyone wanted to sign up." Jeff Fischer, a top divorce attorney in Palm Beach, says many of his clients were also Mr. Madoff's clients. "Every big divorce that came through my office had portfolio positions with Madoff," he says. Two of his investors said that among his clients, Mr. Madoff was considered a money-management legend; they would joke that if Mr. Madoff was a fraud, he'd take down half the world with him."
Bramdean Alternatives in the U.K. 9% of portfolio.
Banque Benedict Hentsch, Geneva-based private bank, $47.5 million.
Nomura and Neue Privat Bank. "Marketed access to Fairfield Sentry Ltd., a fund overseen by Mr. Madoff and sold through Fairfield Greenwich. The shares offered by Neue Privat and Nomura were leveraged three times -- meaning $3 of borrowed money was added to every $1 of capital invested in order to magnify returns, greatly increasing the potential losses for those investors."
Unicredit. The Italian firm had unspecified amount with Madoff via its Dublin-based Pioneer alt-asset group.
Sen. Frank Lautenberg. Unspecified
Robert Lappin Foundation in Massachusetts closed its doors today and is citing relationship to Maddoff fund. $8MM foundation plus personal holdings. Foundation supported Jewish organizations throughout North Shore of Massachusetts. (source: Jewish Journal)
Wunderkinder Foundation, a Steven Spielberg charity. In the past the foundation "appears to have invested a significant portion of its assets with Mr. Madoff, based on regulatory filings. In 2006, the Madoff firm accounted for roughly 70% of the foundation's interest and dividend income, according to regulatory filings. A representative of Mr. Spielberg confirmed that the foundation has suffered losses on its investments with the Madoff firm. He said he didn't know the size of the losses and couldn't comment further, including on whether Mr. Spielberg had any of his own money invested with the Madoff firm."
BNP Paribas. "BNP Paribas's exposure, the extent of which is not clear, may stem from BNP's lending relationship with a fund of funds that was a big Madoff client, said people familiar with the matter. A BNP spokeswoman declined to comment." WSJ: BNP, France's largest bank by market value, said it could lose as much as 350 million euros as a result of the alleged fraud. The bank said it has no investment of its own in the hedge funds managed by Bernard Madoff Investment Services. BNP Paribas, however, said it is exposed to these funds through its trading business and lending to hedge funds that had invested in Madoff's funds.
Ira Rennert. Vicky Ward of Vanity Fair, said on CNBC."Heavily, heavily invested."
Englebardt family of Los Angeles. (Reader)
Swiss private bank Reichmuth & Co. "said its clients had an exposure of some 385 million Swiss francs to Madoff funds. The bank said Reichmuth Matterhorn, a fund that invests in other hedge funds, faced a potential loss of about 8.6% on its exposure to Madoff. That amount represented about 3.5% of the 11 billion Swiss Francs Reichmuth & Co. has under management, the bank said."
Union Bancaire Privee. UBP spokesman said the bank's clients have "limited" losses related to Madoff, but wouldn't be more specific or comment further.
EIM Group, the European investment manager with about $11 billion in assets, had a number of non-U.S. investors into funds overseen by Mr. Madoff, according to people familiar with the matter. Overall, EIM assets at risk are less than 2% of what it manages, which means losses could top $200 million.
UBS: ""Very limited" direct exposure to the Madoff funds...But the Zurich-based bank's wealth-management arm helped clients in Europe and possibly elsewhere invest with Mr. Madoff, according to investment professionals in Europe who spoke with some of these clients. UBS is currently reviewing its clients' exposure to Mr. Madoff's funds, according to the person familiar with the matter. The person said the funds weren't on UBS's list of "recommended" investments for its U.S. clients, but that they may have been among the firm's suggested investments for overseas clients."
Stephen A. Fine, president of Biltrite Corp.
Avram and Carol Goldberg, former owners of the Stop & Shop supermarket chain
Helfman family of Miami.
Saul Katz, co-owner of the New York Mets.
Irwin Kellner, of Port Washington.
Carl and Ruth Shapiro, donors to Brandeis University, and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. The Boston Globe reported on Saturday that the Shapiro family foundation lost almost half its money, or about $145 million.
Fairfield County, Connecticut. Bloomberg: First Selectman Ken Flatto and other elected officials in Fairfield, Connecticut, thought the 58,000- person town’s pension fund was holding up well amid the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. The 18 percent decline in total assets since the end of June looked smart compared with the 31 percent plunge in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, and total assets of $286 million left a cushion over the $270 million of estimated liabilities. Flatto’s mood darkened yesterday when he heard Bernard Madoff, a Wall Street executive who oversaw $42 million of the assets, had been arrested and charged with fraud. “We classified this on our portfolio as one of the more conservative investments,” Flatto said in an interview. “You rely on your experts and your managers to be honest.”
Royal Bank of Scotland: $330 million
Nomura: $302 million
Aozora Bank: $137 million
Various Boston families: The Boston Globe.
Jeff Katzenberg. Dreamworks CEO has "millions" in Madoff losses.
Gerald Breslauer. Jeff Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg's financial advisor. WSJ: According to people familiar with the matter, Mr. Breslauer himself has likely sustained heavy losses in the Madoff affair. He customarily invests alongside his clients, say these people, and has sometimes been a larger investor than the people he represented. People familiar with the matter said Mr. Breslauer was known to be a Madoff investor.
Yeshiva University lost $100 million to $110 million.
Jewish Federation of Greater Washington said it had $10 million invested with Mr. Madoff, about 8 percent of its endowment as of Nov. 30. The organization said it would work to recover the money.
North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System: $5.7 million exposure to Madoff Securities in the form of a gift from a donor who insisted that it be invested that way. “The donor who contributed the funds has graciously agreed to reimburse the health system for any financial loss,” the organization said in a statement.
Ramaz School lost some $6 million invested with Mr. Madoff, according to a letter sent to board members and two parents whose children attend the school.
SAR Academy, a Jewish school in the Bronx, had roughly a third of its $3.7 million in assets invested with Mr. Madoff, according to an e-mail message it sent to donors and parents.
Chais Family Foundation in Encino, Calif., announced over the weekend that its losses had forced it to stop operating, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. The foundation had $178 million in assets in May 2007, according to its tax form.
JEHT Foundation. May have lost hundreds of millions. Will cease operations.
Arpad Busson. Uma Thurman's billionaire fiance runs hedge fund, EIM, which was reportedly exposed to roughly $270 million of products sold by Madoff
Accountants Scott Sosnik & Larry Bell. Accountants who worked for many of Madoff victims claim that they too lost money.
Swiss insurer Baloise. $13 million. (Reuters)
Swiss Re: Less than $3 million (Reuters)
Burt Ross. Former Ft. Lee, NJ mayor lost $5 million.
Maimonides School. Boston school lost $3 million. (Boston.com)
Charles & Cindi Nadler Foundation. $10 million.
Tufts University $20 million (Boston.com)
Alexandra Penney. Artist and author lost bulk of her life savings. (Daily Beast)
Robert Chew. Colorado-based investor. (TIME)
Fair Food Foundation. Detroit-based urban farming group. (NYMag)
Pasha S. Anwar and Julia Anwar. Investors first to sue Fairfield Greenwich. (DealBook)
Pedro Almodovar. Famed Spanish film director has $240,000 "at risk" (Bloomberg)
More as we get them...
Can you imagine these lists of people are going to get longer?!?!?!?!?! WTF WTF?!?!?!? Banks, financial institutions, hedge funds, foundations, charitable funds, trusts funds and etc etc did not due their due diligence. In rechecking and rechecking all your money.
OoooOOOoopssss! I forgot. Its not their MONEY! Worst case scenario, they still fight for their year end bonus. FUCK! Maggots.
Read this too. He too lost a fortune and lost hopes in these international investments.
At the end, i believe this. Simplicity has its virtue. Forget the numbers and all those fancy fancy paperworks and numbers. It boils down to the bottomline and the most simplest things of all. The most important thing, "If it is too good to be true, most probably it is!"
Last but not least, i heed this advice from which i hold on to (which is in my heart guiding me all along, in regardless of the world turmoil, the world's multi-religion and beliefs) CHARACTER OVER CONTEMPORARY STUFFS.
The world need more charismatic individuals like Muhammad Yunus or Steve Jobs, to change the world to a better place. Fuck the rest. People like Madoff, in spite of his fame, fortune, ego and reputation, which IMHO, all contemporary stuffs, fucking around the world and with peoples sweat and money.
Gawd! I hate people like them. What about you?
Thursday, January 8, 2009
I ponder: Chaos and Riots
This is a short post.
I am reading this post online about law blogs relating to China market. Please check them out here. This blog is fantastic and very very informational comparing to what we get in Malaysia.
When i read this post about the effects of the global economy slowdown and its effect relating to doing business in China, i came across this:
"I'm just glad we are no longer in Thailand"
It chokes me and instantly makes me laugh! It is true, you know. All the sudden. Thinking back about a government and its people rioting all the time looking for something so intangible such as justice and fairness. Overthrowing the government. How many prime minister has Thailand change since last 2 years? I forgotten the numbers la, but i am pretty sure its more than 2 to 3.
Its political instability is very much of a concern. Thinking back as a normal person who wants to travel to Thailand for holiday, i might want to change my mind to other destinations.
Its true. Chaos, riots and wars in the world.
How do one really survive and live peacefully at this tormented times? Perhaps we need more positivity and people that really cares about the world.
What do you think?
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