London
 

IN PICTURES

A Trip Down Memory Lane

(9th – 15th Aug 2010)

IN PICTURES -- A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE

My wife Lucy, my son Ming and I went to London recently to finalise the purchase of an apartment. We were in London for about a week and we took the pleasure in exploring parts of the city and visiting a family we know for over 30 years. It was indeed a trip down memory lane.!  

The first time I traveled overseas in my life was to London for business in 1970. Since then I have been to UK numerous times, particularly in 1980s and 1990s when Ming and Mei were studying there. For business, I would normally travel there alone, but on other occasions, Lucy would accompany me. The last time we were in London was in Oct 2002.

Since 2000s, I did not have to handle any business dealings in the UK and my travels were mainly for adventures, particularly for scuba diving and mountain trekking in many third-world countries in Asia, Africa and South America. I tried to avoid travelling to developed countries like America and Europe as I have little affinity with big cities

After giving up my professional practice in 1994, I disposed off a couple of my landed properties and early this year I also sold off the oil palm plantation in Pagoh which I had managed for about ten years. With accumulated funds, I have to decide where and how to reinvest them.   

Malaysia is in a deep pit now - racial politics and policies, award of contracts to cronies without tenders and based on 'kulitocracy' instead of meritocracy, high loss of skilled workers, declining foreign and domestic investments, rampant corruption, high wastage and implementation of useless mega projects, admission to universities based on “kulifitcation instead of qualification resulting in low university standards, no end to NEP and an authoritarian government with no checks and balances. The end result will be a depreciated currency and general poverty. The country hasn't declined yet because of oil but no country with such a burden can go up.

The reduced FDI inflow will continue to slide further and we really stand the risk of being marginalised in the near future. The outflow of domestic investments has all the signs of capital flight. Even local investors do not want to invest in Malaysia.

With the above scenario, it would be foolish for me to reinvest in Malaysia with the monies accumulated from the disposal of properties. I look for investment in properties overseas which would not only generate good returns but also capital appreciations. One of the cities I decide to invest in properties is London.

The Bezier Apartment, City Road, London

We went to London this time to finalize the purchase of an apartment in the newly completed Bezier Apartment. Our unit would be fully furnished and let out by 1st of September.

Though I have been to London many times before, I did not have the flair to take photographs of renowned buildings and landscapes then. But this time around, armed with a digital camera, I took some shots of buildings and sceneries in places we visited. The streets and places we visited this time were still familiar to me, but I was pleased to note that all infrastructures were well maintained and new structures were dominating the skyline.

The following photos were taken when we strolled along the River Thames from Westminster Bridge to Tower Bridge and other places of interest.

The Palace of Westminster, The Big Ben & the Westminster Bridge

 

London Eye – 135m tall, tallest Forris Wheel in Europe. This is new to me!

The changing London Skyline & the Blackfriars Bridge

The Millennium Footbridge with St Paul’s Cathedral in the background

 

St. Francis Drake’s Galleon

 

The London Bridge

The Tower Bridge

China Town in Soho

 

Busy Oxford Street

Buckingham Palace

Victoria & Albert Museum

Busy Tube Station

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