Sunday, January 14, 2007

Accounting in china, from the economist.

An equally large problem is the lack of accountants to process the raw numbers. In no other place in the world, and probably at no other time in history, have accountants been so sought-after as they are in China. By even the most generous reckoning, the country has fewer than 70,000 practising accountants, trying to do the work of anything from 300,000 to a million bean counters. To be an accounting student at a reputable school is to have a good job waiting. But even after several years of education, accountants require an apprenticeship, especially if they are to get to grips with international standards based on intellectually demanding principles rather prescriptive rules. Accountants in Britain, acknowledging the difficulties, are helping with the training.

Conclusion? It is good to study accounting.

-gAvin-
From Gary Mankiw, a harvard econ prof
Once you read this, you'll understand why econs is called the dismal science. They analyse too much ;)

Case Study
Gifts as Signals

A man is debating what to give his girlfriend for her birthday. "I know," he says to himself, "I'll give her cash. After all, I don't know her tastes as well as she does, and with cash, she can buy anything she wants." But when he hands her the money, she is offended. Convinced he doesn't really love her, she breaks off the relationship.

What's the economics behind this story?

In some ways, gift giving is a strange custom. As the man in our story suggests, people typically know their own preferences better than others do, so we might expect everyone to prefer cash to in-kind transfers. If your employer substituted merchandise of his choosing for your paycheck, you would likely object to the means of payment. But your reaction is very different when someone who (you hope) loves you does the same thing.

One interpretation of gift giving is that it reflects asymmetric information and signaling. The man in our story has private information that the girlfriend would like to know: Does he really love her? Choosing a good gift for her is a signal of his love. Certainly, the act of picking out a gift, rather than giving cash, has the right characteristics to be a signal. It is costly (it takes time), and its cost depends on private information (how much he loves her). If he really loves her, choosing a good gift is easy because he is thinking about her all the time. If he doesn't love her, finding the right gift is more difficult. Thus, giving a gift that suits the girlfriend is one way for him to convey the private information of his love for her. Giving cash shows that he isn't even bothering to try.

The signaling theory of gift giving is consistent with another observation: People care most about the custom when the strength of affection is most in question. Thus, giving cash to a girlfriend or boyfriend is usually a bad move. But when college students receive a check from their parents, they are less often offended. The parents' love is less likely to be in doubt, so the recipient probably won't interpret the cash gift as a signal of lack of affection.


-gAvIn-

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Some more photos from Vienna

yeah, there are damn nice, no need to tell me ;p





















-gAvIn-

Monday, January 08, 2007

fuckin holz... (wrote this three days ago... what i thought and felt at that time...)
Well the holidays went by pretty fast… two weeks... and here i am three days from the re-start of uni... three days from our marketing examinations that is followed up by tons of other mid-terms... while my frenz went on an around the world trip, i stayed back in bordeaux... for the entire holidays, i stayed back in bordeaux. Why? Because of a gurl, that’s why... i kinda do really stupid things because of gurls... i haven’t actually thought of a New Year’s resolution, but now i think i have one... as far as i can remember, i have always been a fool around gurls... being used by them... a fren of mine once said that it’s probably because i’m too kind... i think it’s just because i’m too stupid... so, this year’s resolution, don’t fall in love, don’t be used, don’t be a fool...

U see, I spent the entire week with her, an entire week trying to get close to her... to make her realise that i am the guy for her... an entire week... and it worked out fine, i swear to u that it was perfect, that is till her boyfriend showed up... well, an entire week of hard work just vanished, in a blink of an eye... everything went back to the way it was... me loving her from afar... i could have gone around the world, studied for my examinations (which now i am trying to do with so little time meft and a heavily broken heart; i mean seriously torn and tattered), read the numerous books i promised myself i would read, but no, i stayed back for her... come to think of it, it was pretty much for me, knowing that she loves another, i still tried... a bit of a fool... a bit of a bastard... but then again, how can one manage his feelings? I know, there’s no excuse there, nor am i trying to find one or justify what i did, just telling u what’s been up with me oki...

Each time i see her, i want to hold her, touch her, kiss her... but what for? The fact is, she will never leave him... even though she says she feels the same way about me, there is so much between them... the fact is i am just digging a deeper and deeper hole for me to fall into...

I would love to say that that one week we spent together would be enough to last me a lifetime (as so well said in ‘A Walk To Remember’)... but it isn’t, it isn’t enough to last me to tommorow... and tommorow it starts all aver again... till the day i leave bordeaux...

I’ve been doubting myself a lot lately... need some sage advice from u guys... am i really fighting for the gurl that i luv? Or am i actually just trying to steal someone else’s gurl away? What should i do? Keep in mind, i see her every day one way or the other... we’re in the same friekin class!!! Which makes it so much more difficult... seeing the person u really really love, knowing that u will never be with that person...

I know, i speak of love like i know what i’m talking about... but what is love? Is it being comfortable with the person ur with to the point where u dun wear that mask u put on daily... is love thinking about that person the first and last thing of the day? Is it having ur heart ache when she’s not around, and having it beat just a little bit faster when she is? Honestly, i don’t know, but if that is love, then i do love her...
-aDRiANo-

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Love with no boundaries (translation of a previous post entitled "Un amour sans frontière" by Do Huong Tra)

One fine day, a young gurl travelled to Mars by rocket with her dog. That day, Pierre, a Martian was resting in his tent. The first time he saw this young gurl, he was taken in by her undulating gestures (dunno what the heck that actually means, i’m just a humble translator...). It was love at first sight... He then placed the words “Invitation of my Love” and placed it on his tent. Then, taking his flute he started to play a beautiful traditional Martian tune. He waited, and waited... The young gurl listened attentively... the tune bringing back long lost memories of when she lived with her large family. She approached the tent, climbing upon the rocks, her little dog always close by her side. Pierre, being behind the curtain, heard her deft footsteps approaching, and out he came. Four eyes met for the very first time. Each finding their equal halves.

A year flew swiftly by, and they decided to wed on Earth, where they returned to by a highly modern elevator (makes me think of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). Birds sang, and both worlds wished the newly weds happiness, great health and longevity.

An event marking the very first marriage between two people from totally different worlds. Simply signifying love with no boundaries.

comment; while tis is a beautiful story inspiring young lovers out there that there is such a thing as love with no boundaries, one has to wonder whether it really exists... love with no boundaries? come to think of it, there always is something holding u back... keeping u apart... language barriers, distance... don't u think? well, i would really like to know what u guys out there think about tis, so keep em ideas and opinions flowing in the comments section oki...?

tis story was written by a mum of a fren... found it a lil amusing and really moving... especially the last line... which is why i decided to place it here...

-aDRiANo-

Monday, January 01, 2007
























Christmas holiday - Prague, Vienna and Paris From the 23th Dec to 1th of Jan, I went to the 3 places mentioned above along with Alvin, Wani, Zaid and Yilie...it was a really nice trip, with lots of laughter, card playing, binge drinking, crap talking and nice places to visit. (ok, the drinking part isn't true)
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To be brief, we took a 14 hour trip from Paris to Prague, which I would never take again because it's really tiring...People in the Czech Republic do not use the euro, so we needed to convert our euros into CZK - Czech Republic Koruny, at a rate of 1euro to 27.4czk. Feel rich? Abitlor...things there are generally cheaper, especially the food...

There, we meet 3 of Yilie's friends: Amelia, Xin yi and Winnie the pooohhh. They were very friendly with lots of humor...you won't get bored travelling with them. They are first year med student in the Czech republic. Anyway, we visited Prague abit: Charles bridge, the Astronomcal Clock, Prague Castle and the old town.
The buidings there give you the impression that you're in the 17th-18th century.

To quote wikipedia:

Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, Prague has become one of Europe's (and the world's) most popular tourist destinations. It is the sixth most visited European city after
London, Paris, Rome, Madrid and Berlin.[2] Prague suffered considerably less damage during World War II than some other major cities in the region, allowing most of its historic architecture to stay true to form. It contains one of the world's most pristine and varied collections of architecture, from Art Nouveau to Baroque, Renaissance, Cubist, Gothic, Neo-Classical and ultra-modern.

According to the receptionist in the hostel we stayed, this year marks the warmest winter in Prague since everyone could recall, about 10 degres above average, which is around 2 degres...Hmm...blame it on global warming or whatever, but I am certainly not against it, coz it was reallly cold there...Next time,I'll avoid travelling during winter :)

It's 4.35 am now, got to catch some sleep, I'll write more later, ciaoz!

-gAvIn-