One of the wealthiest men in the world is Warren Buffet. He did not make his money by digging oil well; he did not make his money by loan sharking; he did not make his money by dealing with drugs or through other illicit manners. He made his big pile of money by investing– by using his brain.
It is often said that if you want to be a successful investor, you have to follow your brain and not your heart. In other words, you have to be rational and not emotional. I think Warren Buffet did that- a feat easier said than done.
What differentiates him from other rich is that he donates most of his money to charity. He did not stay in a 24 million house in Shah Alam; rather, despite his riches, he has always stayed in the simple house in Omaha , Nebraka since his youth.
This is what is written in Wikipedia about his plan to donate most of his fortune away:
His children will not inherit a significant proportion of his wealth. These actions are consistent with statements he has made in the past indicating his opposition to the transfer of great fortunes from one generation to the next.[94] Buffett once commented, “I want to give my kids just enough so that they would feel that they could do anything, but not so much that they would feel like doing nothing”.[95]
In June 2006, he announced a plan to give away his fortune to charity, with 83% of it going to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.[96] He pledged about the equivalent of 10 million Berkshire Hathaway Class B shares to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (worth approximately US$30.7 billion as of 23 June 2006), making it the largest charitable donation in history, and Buffett one of the leaders in thephilanthrocapitalism revolution. The foundation will receive 5% of the total donation on an annualised basis each July, beginning in 2006. Buffett also will join the board of directors of the Gates Foundation, although he does not plan to be actively involved in the foundation’s investments
He is one who did not believe in giving lots and lots of fish to his children but rather he believes in giving fish to all those who have no fish to eat, while at the same time, he is satisfied with teaching his children how to fish.
There is an article today in Yahoo about one of his sons, Peter, thanking his father for making him a happy person rather than a spoilt brag (read here). Peter also mentioned that his father had said that those who are born with the silver spoons in their mouth can become victims of ‘having silver daggers in their back”.
What this means is that we should allow our children to go through tough competition and hardship even if we have the means to give them a very comfortable life. We should allow them to compete fairly and squarely with other kids. We should not spoil them by making their lives too easy.
The same thing must be said of society. Everyone , regardless of colour or creed, must be given a fair and square chance to compete against each other in order to toughen them up and in order to make them useful persons rather than those who depends on handouts.
By not giving his fortune to his children and making his children realise the importance of building their own careers, Warren Buffet shows the greatest love a parent can have for his children.
Dr. Hsu's forum 
May 11, 2010 @ 16:40:38
hint.
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May 11, 2010 @ 17:50:15
Dr, u r a fool. We even pass down our political dynasty from generation to generation inline with the feudal system. Fortunately they don’t share the same woman as their wife.
CTY for CSL.
LGE for LKS
LSP for LKY (failed)
LHL for LLS (failed)
Paari for Samy(in progress)
Mukriz for Mahathir
And the list goes on……….
They even wish to engrave their son’s name into the seat in parliament, the ministry’s office as well as their party HQ’s office. Better still write into the respective constitution.
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May 11, 2010 @ 22:21:17
Amateur Video of the Gulf (of Mexico) Oil Slick
For your info…
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May 12, 2010 @ 03:22:09
A prolonged protected species will meet ultimately death when release into the wild jungle. Cannot survive. Natural law of survival and competition.
Only great fools ignore this and we have plenty in BolehLand.
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May 12, 2010 @ 13:37:45
Competing fair and square is not for the scions of the economic or political elites of this country. Only for the unconnected like you or me. What we have is continuing patronage built upon an almost feudalistic behavioral system. The tycoon leaves his wealth for the children to squabble over, the politician leaves his followers for his son to command. The scion of the family is only too happy to follow daddy’s footsteps. You will not find a Warren Buffet and Peter Buffet in Malaysia but you do have others who do try to give back to society. Like Koon Yew Yin from Ipoh.
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May 12, 2010 @ 16:55:54
I have the same thinking as Warren Buffet in this regard but of course, I am a poor man comparatively to him. What I can do is to let my children to have good education the best I can. Even then, quality education is so expensive.
By the way, the example on ‘LGE for LKS’ as quoted by CYC is not so fair. I don’t think LKS want LGE to join him. It is not a bed of roses especially if in opposition. LGE is there on his own merit rather than depending on LKS.
The other examples like LHL for LLS and LSP for LKY failed because of they don’t compete with merit.
‘LGE for LKS’ is like ‘LHL for LKY’. LHL is not LHL here, LKY is not LKY either. Having the same initials but totally different in mindsets.
Make a guess here, who am I talking about
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May 12, 2010 @ 17:10:57
AtM,
Your question is too easy. LKY from the little red dot and LKY from the little eunuch party are worlds apart in stature and ability. The product of their loins are similarly worlds apart.
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May 12, 2010 @ 17:32:45
clearwater,
No prize for you even ‘if’ you got it correct. There are many examples of ‘this for that’ in Malaysia, like
N for tun R
H for tun H
M for tun M
K for tun AB
They neither ‘failed’ nor ‘successful’, but ‘priviledged’. In our country, it is not necessary to be smart to be successful, priviledged is a must ingredient.
People may ask, but why LSP and LHL still failed since they are not short of $$? Simple, they are not ‘priviledged’.
Make another guess, who is smarter, LGE or LSP or LHL? They are all same, not ‘priviledged’.
Or should I say,
LKS is more like Warren Buffet than LKY and LLS? LSP and LHL may blame their loutao for not like Warren Buffet.
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May 13, 2010 @ 09:58:19
AtM,
Like it or not, all 3 scions were privileged to have political leaders as fathers. How high up would they have gone without such backing and tutelage? How much harder would their struggles be? How few the opportunities that come their way? How debilitating each setback? The Lim, Lim and Ling scions each had a shot at making it to their respective pinnacle, within existing political constraints. Only one still has a realistic chance of surpassing the father’s achievements.
Malaysia is not USA where the brilliant US born child of an immigrant can rise to the top of his chosen calling through sheer ability and perseverance. There, you can still believe almost anything is possible. Initial failure spurs you to try harder. No shame in trying again and again. Here, we are all classified from birth to death as from this tribe or that. Some things are just not possible for the minority tribes. The ceiling is armor plated glass.
As for Warren Buffet’s children, they all received some Berkshire Hathaway Inc stock from him as inheritance when they came of age plus a good education. They sold it and used the proceeds to finance whatever lifestyle they then chose to live. Peter Buffet wrote he got some US$90k for his stock in 1978 and used it to buy time to decide what he wanted in life. If he had kept his Berkshire stock till today, it would be worth some US$70 million! Yet he had no regrets. Of all the Buffet children, he is the one who got his values and priorities right.
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