A Clockwork Toni

Hefty loss on Hang Seng Bank's Easylife insurance policy

2006-01-19T19:25:00.000-08:00

I have made up my mind to terminate my Easylife life insurance policy of Hang Seng Bank. Lately, I constructed my personal finance accounting statements with Excel, which show my monthly income and expenses, as well as my assets and liabilities. As a result, I needed to delve into my insurance policies, and I found that after contributing nearly HK$32,000 into my Hang Seng Bank Easylife life insurance policy, the cash value was only about HK$2300, which is far below my Prudential life insurance policy! (Both have savings from my premium). After talking to the so-called personal finance consultant at Hang Seng Bank, I found that the Hang Seng Easylife is really crap. First, it locks up my money, and the break-even point between the cash value and my total paid premium will be 20 years! which is unbelievie. Compared to my Prudential one, which I bought 7 years ago, now is nearly break-even! Even worse, if the inflation rate remains above 3% in the following years, my real income loss will be huge!

However, as I am always a cut-loss philosphy follower, I have decided to stop paying the premium of Easylife, and use the money to increase my Prudential life insurance policy, which gives me more flexibility and higher return.

Learning single-handed backhand from Stefan Edberg

2006-01-19T17:53:00.000-08:00

Step 1: Preparaion
Look at Edberg's right knee and shoulder. Actually, it is his face, right shoulder and squatted right knee facing the opponenent side, with the balance focus on his right knee at this moment. A big backswing is a must on single-handed backhand.

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Step 2: Swing
Edberg begins to rise his front knee, and rotate his upper body. The motion starts from his front knee, then release his turned upper body, then the shoulder, arm, and finally release the racket from his left hand.

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Step 3: Hit the Ball
Look at Edberg's grip, and the racket face. He is hitting the ball a in front of him. For beginners, don't think of any spin on the ball. Just hit/push the ball flat will do, keep the racket face perpenticular to the ground.

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Step 4: Follow Through
Just follow what Edberg does. I don't know how to put this in words.

What separates pro players from club players?

2006-01-18T08:22:00.000-08:00

Snap Wrist
Note the awkward looking "follow through" of Pete Sampras' serve. This is actually the result of an action called the "snap wrist". What this means is that he turns his wrist outwards as he strikes the ball allowing him to generate more power with less effort. This action also allows him to disguise where he intends to direct the ball.

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Hit on the Rise
What this means is that you hit the ball before it reaches the peak of its bounce. The advantages of this is that it gives you more power, since the ball will still be travelling at a high speed when you strike it. This also gives you opponent less time to react to your next shot.

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Stay Low on Volleys
Staying low on volleys, especially low ones. Note also how firm Sampras' wrist is. Staying low prevents the racquet head from dropping down. Ideally it should remain at shoulder level or close to it to provide maximum control.

Source: Howard Ng

每日一字 Sir

2006-01-18T08:17:00.000-08:00

如果我生個仔, 一定改佢個名單字叫 "瀡". 我姓陳, 佢以後一定好威, 因為人人都要叫佢做"陳瀡" 英文叫 Sir Chan. 問你死未.