Not very long ago, a friend of mine asked me to consider pursuing a Master of Law in Tax at NYU.

I was interested. A few of my friends had gone down that path - it seems to be a good springboard out of Singapore and I always wanted to go NY. The big obstacle was the fees.  I could just about afford the fees, but not the costs of living in NY. My friend pointed out that I had financed my undergraduate education via bank loans, and I can do the same with my postgraduate education. It is different, I retorted - the bank loan for my undergraduate education was interest-free until six months after graduation, by which time I was settled into a nice-paying job, the bank loan for this bears interest from the date of draw-down, and even a person as bad at numbers as I am know that you don't fool around with compound interest. I would have exhausted my financial reserves and gone into debt just to pursue a post-graduate degree. Pssh, my friend said, the starting pay of a new lawyer in NY is so high that you'll pay off the debt in no time. And he was right - even now, after six years of working experience, my pay is less than the starting pay of a NY lawyer in a big firm (even after their pay cuts and pay freezes). And in those days, it seems that law firms in NY were hiring anyone who breathes.

Still, I hesitated. I had just got out of debt at that time, debt that I did not incur, but which I still had to pay. I had a brother in university, who I was partially responsible for financially. I have semi-retired parents. Given the circumstances, to take a year off and then come out of that year in debt seems foolhardy. It was a difficult decision - the heart says, go. the head says, you can't. And there is no right or wrong decision on this - either way, a price must be, and is indeed, paid.

Looking back, as the consequences of the decision are now increasingly apparent, I am wistful, but I know that even if I can, I would not have changed anything.

We live with the consequences of our decisions, and all we can do is to smile, grimly or otherwise, and move on with our lives.

The article that inspired the ramblings above.

( Lyrics )

"If you are in pursuit of the almighty dollar, you may make a bundle of money, but your psychological happiness may not be guaranteed. But if you pursue your greatest passion, chances are you will not only become very good at whatever that passion is, but by being good, you will also love what you are doing, and probably make a sufficient amount of money to live very comfortably."

- Robert Parker, Vintage Lawyer

Why is it that it is when I am most busy, stressed, demoralised, frustrated (in other words, having bad days) that I find the most interesting articles?

I love this article by Allison Arieff in the New York Times, which is about the magical world of books. There are so many gems in her article that I feel myself almost swooning with ecstasy as I read it.

( Another homage to books ... )

 Update: Talk about a coincidence - Books Actually has a new event right now:

Sometimes we find a part of ourselves in a book. Other times, we leave a part of ourselves in it. Recommend another is about sharing that part of you with others. Pick up a card from BooksActually, slip it between the pages of a book and leave a secret note for someone. Or if you’re feeling up for it, make your very own recommendation. Start a conversation with the person in the next aisle, in note-passing fashion. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know them or they don’t know you. Because if we all shared a little bit of us, then we wouldn’t be strangers anymore, would we?

Exams are over. The last paper on Advanced Financial Accounting was tough - what on earth are the consolidation entries for a downstream sale of debt securities whose fair value is higher than the amortised value, and sold at an unrealised profit? Evil evil... it is nowhere as evil as the question she set for our presentation question though - accounting for debt securities held as AFS which is denominated at a foreign currency, and there have been changes in the exchange rate as well as massive declines in fair value of the debt securities. Took my team almost a week to solve the question, and it was so painful... though I have to say that right now I have almost committed the definitions of FVTPL, AFS, HTM and Loans & Receivables to memory!! But hey, she gave my team an A for the presentation, so that helps mitigate the Fs I have gotten on my two quizzes, which is something I guess.

Assuming I pass my two papers - Accounting Theory (a waste of trees, and definitely environmentally unfriendly) and Advanced Financial Accounting, I will have successfully completed my Master in Professional Accounting. And arrogant though it may sound, I am darn proud of myself - a girl who used to fail Maths with depressing regularity from primary school all the way to junior college actually getting an accounting degree - it doesn't come easy you know?

The next question is - what do I do now? In a way, things are falling into place - I had promised my bosses that I will stay on in my current job till the end of 2009 and with this lousy economic climate it does seem to be a smart move anyway. It is no pain to stay on - I like my bosses, I like my job, I like my colleagues and my pay is good, so really, no complaints here. Hopefully, however, the economic climate will improve by 2010 - much as I love this place, I really think that it is essential for my career development to get some overseas experience - Singapore is too darn small!

For 2009 however, I am thinking of studying French and starting on the CPA Australia programme. I was at the CPA Australia information session a few days ago - and it doesn't look too difficult - nothing compared with the SMU MPA programme at any rate, especially since I can do just one module per semester. The tricky bit is finding a mentor, especially since so much of my work is confidential and privileged so I need to figure that one out - maybe there is someone in my firm who is a CPA and willing to act as my mentor? I will need to discuss this with my bosses. I need to figure out the CPA SIngapore requirements as well - I have six years of experience working in tax and trusts, even though I have not worked under a CPA except for about a year, so I am not sure how that works out. If I need to take a series of exams for the CPA Singapore qualification though, I'll probably opt out - I want an international qualification that can bring me places (CPA Australia should help me with finding a job in Australia at the very least, and that will be a step towards my goal of getting a PR in another country), and if I want a Singapore qualification, I much rather take the STEP qualification -  I can do the thesis route rather than doing the entire course since I have sufficient work experience and it is probably much less painful and more relevant to my work in any case.

Right now, however, I am enjoying myself! I have quite a lot of vouchers from my credit cards, so I managed to get a 3D2N stay at Swissotel The Stamford at a really great price, and since I was staying in town (Swissotel is right smack in the shopping district), I was catching up on all my shopping - I finished my Xmas and CNY shopping already!  I also found information on the wine fridge that I have been meaning to get since last year - so that will be next on my shopping list. I am considering getting one of those OSIM massage chairs for my parents - my father has been longing for one for years (since I was a teenager) but we never could afford one until now. I need to do my sums and see if I can get one for him, especially now that he is retired and spends most of the day watching cable TV - yes we finally got cable as well and my parents are now glued to the TV everyday. My brother claims that he only manages to watch TV after midnight nowdays, and I still haven't watched anything on cable yet - and at the rate the TV is being hogged, I wouldn't get a chance!

The real treat is my stay at Changi Village Hotel with its absolutely fantastic spa and beautiful swimming pool, as well as the great food just outside the hotel and the beachside boardwalk :-) I have a long-overdue appointment with my hairdresser as well later this month (she is such a dearie, I've been going to her for hair services since I was in university, and she knows that I only go around three times a year, this year though, I been so busy that I haven't seen her since Chinese New Year!)

It'll be back to work next week, and to be honest, I am quite looking forward to a year in which I can focus on my work and not be constantly distracted by demands from the MPA programme - hopefully the next year, tough as it may be economically, will be a good year for me professionally as I integrate my accounting knowledge into my practice, and as I lay the groundwork for my eagerly-awaited leap out of Singapore. Yay!!!!