The History of Kubes?

[dark-defender]

Kubes is like an enigma for me. Such calculating and sage-like advice on financial matters... so cold and calculating... yet occasionally warm and funny.

I'd love to know more about you Kubes. If you really have 1.20 trillian (with a 't') doolars, how about some advice for those starting out. Did you start with old money? Or was it a rags to riches story? Did you flip bricks in the projects then climb out of the ghetto by singin' gangsta raps? Was there a property with a white picket fence that was your first investment that you still own to this day?

Give me more to go on Kubes - to embellish my fantastical imagination.

Tell us... the history of Kubes.

[Kubes.SG]

Well, where to start.  Worth not trillions, but billions when applying the Singaporean developer/investor mindset, or if it is the Aust taxman calling the amount is only in the single digit millions.  No need to disclose too much!  Property has been an interest and vehicle, but I have liquidated most of it, and now waiting for significant declines to happen.  So despite the claims of the local property-fanboy bulls that bears are whimps, I have made my bets and got my skin-in-the-game.  No white picket fences, but still have properties in AU that I will probably not sell as they are either a family heirloom (ocean-side house) or a nice little tax-deduction tool (not neg-geared, but travel home, etc.).  Of course if I get someone to match the asking price of AU$1.0b I will sell.

Property has been very good and solid.  The thing about Australian property is that it is a much more rational and predictable market and linked to the quality of the location and overall economic fundamentals.  Worst house in the best street and all that.  Those AU property economic fundamentals got totally screwed-up starting 18-24 months ago hence my decision to move into cash.   Getting the timing right is of course a factor, but nothing like it is in Singapore where it comprises probably 90% of the variability.  Still have the first apartment we bought as newly-weds and at a point of financial-reflection at the height of the dot-com boom I realized that if we had not bought that but instead put the same money into Cisco stock, then we would have been worth $38m.  But who had heard of Cisco around the time we got married?  Main play in the stock market is via Company stock and options - tracking about the same as property for us (so very good and steady) and little touched the current melt down.

Unlike the most of the connected Property Development Chairmen in Singapore we have not inherited anything of real value so it is all self-made.  So proportionally net-worth growth we have generated is far better than them. :-)

About me. testing has shown a few times that I am an ENTP tending to ENTJ if you are familiar with Myers-Briggs - colleagues and family seem to see more of the ENTP so guess that is what comes out mostly.  Other testing says that my IQ is in the 137-140 range, but that is all relative based on your environment, so at work I am probably just in the pack.  One personal achievement that is distinctive and pleasing is that I managed to bowl a maiden over to Micheal Bevan - hope you know what that all means.  He's #13 on this list:
http://www.iccreliancerankings.com/odi/batting/all-time-ranking.php 
I once represented Australia at beer drinking, and at another time managed to get back to the Thalkirken campground after drinking 9 liters of beer at the Hofbräuhaus tent during a München Oktoberfest.  I used to be able to get 47 grapes in my mouth at one time.

[Poor Kube]

Contribution of my thought on Kube, since he enough the spotlight so much.

For all his talks and stats that he pull to support his argument, his forcast or predictions are horribly of the mark.

One things a fact, he messed up his cosmetic surgery and look what he become?

[To Poor Kubes]

Contribution of my thought on Kube, since he enough the spotlight so much.

For all his talks and stats that he pull to support his argument, his forcast or predictions are horribly of the mark.

One things a fact, he messed up his cosmetic surgery and look what he become?

Back up assertions that Kubes have been wide off the mark...

[Kubes.SG]

Yep, not buying Cisco heavily when they launched was off the mark.  But please tell me on what statements I have been completely wrong about on discussions here?   

I am certainly up for criticism but if you are going to provide that please at least back up your aspersions with some facts.  I would like to be corrected or respond.

[cmdsea]

Kubes. I am disappointed.. Only 47 grapes. I had you down as a 60+ man.

I have followed your posts avidly as the lone voice of reason against the tide of self-interest and flawed dogma. Over the years I have taken the liberty of cataloging your achievements..

Kubes is a dynamic figure, often seen scaling walls and crushing ice. He has been known to remodel train stations on his lunch breaks, making them more efficient in the area of heat retention. He translates ethnic slurs for Kenyan refugees, he writes award-winning operas, and manages time efficiently. Occasionally, he treads water for three days in a row.

He woo's women with his sensuous and godlike trombone playing, he can pilot bicycles up severe inclines with unflagging speed, he cooks Thirty-Minute Brownies in twenty minutes. he is an expert in stucco, a veteran in love, and an outlaw in Peru.

Using only a hoe and a large glass of water, he once single-handedly defended a small village in the Amazon Basin from a horde of ferocious army ants. He plays bluegrass cello, he had trials with Manchester United Football Club and is the subject of numerous documentaries. When bored, he builds large suspension bridges in his garden. he enjoys urban hang gliding. On Wednesdays, after work, he repairs electrical appliances free of charge.

he is an abstract artist, a concrete analyst, and a ruthless bookie. Critics Worldwide swoon over his original line of Corduroy evening wear. He doesnt perspire. he is a private citizen, yet receives fan mail. He appeared on “Through the Keyhole” and won the Nobel Peace prize. Last summer he toured Eastern Europe with a travelling centrifugal-force demonstration. He runs the 100m in 9.65 seconds. His deft floral arrangements have earned him fame in international botany circles. Children trust him.

He can hurl tennis rackets at small moving objects with deadly accuracy. He once read Paradise Lost, Moby Dick and David Copperfield in one day and still had time to refurbish an entire dining room that evening. He knows the exact location of every food item in the supermarket. He has performed several covert operations for the CIA. He sleeps once a week; when he does sleep, he sleeps in a chair. While on vacation in Canada, he successfully negotiated with a group of terrorists who had seized a small bakery.

The laws of physics do not apply to him. He balances, he weaves, he dodges, he frolics, and his bills are all paid. On weekends, to let off steam, he participates in full-contact origami. Years ago he discovered the meaning of life but forgot to write it down. He has made extraordinary four-course meals using only some vegetables and a Breville toaster. He breeds prize-winning clams. He has won bullfights in Madrid, cliff-diving competitions in Sri Lanka, and chess competitions at the Kremlin. He has played Hamlet, He has performed open-heart surgery, and has spoken with Elvis but he has never been to Bluewater.

[chaos theory]

I have always been a disciple of the Kubes Cult. But now I know he has bowled a maiden at Micheal Bevan it has confirmed for me that he is all seeing, all knowing.

Dont tempt him shallow ones.

[Kubes.SG]

Given the interest I decided to dig around and was actually quite surprised I could find one of my earlier business cards.  Oh the foolishness of youth.  I used to hand these out on my travels around the world while a younger man, and interestingly survived to now re-tell the stories, many of which cmdsea has kindly researched and summarized.  Very impressed with his research and sources.



I think I should get this card updated, and get a new batch printed.  Have been providing Blackwater advice on their security strategies, and NASA on their satellites' tropospheric temperature calibration.

Disclosure:  The 9.65sec 100M time was claimed to be wind-assisted and thus not ratified despite the court ruling.   Bolt's people are in touch with my people so there may be a match race, winner take all, up coming mid-2009  (considering Singapore if Sands to the party), linking to the first IR launch, YOG countdown and anniversary of SG's 2nd Olympic Silver Medal.

[guest]

Loved the piece cmdsea - almost fell in love with you and then realised it had been posted before... Still, very, very good.

Kubes, loved your business card - for my beloved's birthday I will be making him a similar card - who the man behind the man really is - may be abit less of the "virgins converted", and more of the "small fish temporarily intimidated" - but the idea is fab and will be replicated.

[And]

with all your achievements, you are still holding onto an Australian property?

[Make up your mind]

I thought Kubes mentioned earlier he only had one property left in Australia and now he is talking about an additional property. Kubes - can you make up your mind - one or two?

[Kubes.SG]

I thought Kubes mentioned earlier he only had one property left in Australia and now he is talking about an additional property. Kubes - can you make up your mind - one or two?

I have 1.3333 properties in AU now.  One is a shared-ownership with my siblings.

[google nerd]

google nerd, then search images, and you'll find kubes....