He makes BIG MONEY in shares, not soccer - By Joyce Lim

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Article excerpted from He makes BIG MONEY in shares, not soccer

* LAST WORLD CUP: Civil servant turns down friends' offer to bet on matches, instead he buys shares
* Now: They've gone broke, but he's worth $800,000. His salary? Just $3,000 a month

MR Roger Koh aims to become a millionaire in less than 10 years.

And it is not just a pipe dream for the 33-year-old civil servant, even though he draws a monthly salary of just $3,000.

In fact, he's just $200,000 shy of it.

Like some Singaporeans, Mr Koh has $500,000 in CPF, insurance and housing.


--Joyce Lim
But unlike many Singaporeans, he has $300,000 in cash and shares. His four-room HDB flat in the west and Japanese saloon car have also been fully paid for. This brings Mr Koh's total assets to $800,000.

Showing his latest bank and CPF statements to The New Paper on Sunday, Mr Koh proudly declares that he is debt-free.

And in a country where Singaporeans are quick to swipe and sign, Mr Koh is a rare breed.

He claims he has never owned a credit card.

Indeed, Mr Koh, married with a 1-year-old son, hates spending on credit and prefers to pay with cash or by Nets.

But he might not have the comfortable life he's leading now if he had gambled on the World Cup four years ago.

He contacted us after reading our report about a man who became a bankrupt after he gambled away all his money on World Cup matches.

The story struck a chord with Mr Koh as he too had once come close to losing his life savings on soccer bets.

He recalled: 'My friends and colleagues asked me to chip in on their bets. They told me, 'Sure win'.

'But I didn't believe them because they were soccer fanatics, and every match to them was a sure win.

'I'll place my money only on something I know well. Though I like playing soccer, I don't really follow soccer news or watch the matches.'

So Mr Koh watched from the sidelines as his friends placed huge bets.

'When I told my friends, 'No, thanks', some of them made fun of me and called me kiasu and kiasi (afraid to lose and die in Hokkien),' he said.

'When they won, they would say to me, 'See, told you to buy, but you didn't want'.'

STOOD HIS GROUND

Many times, he was tempted to take the plunge, but each time he said he stood his ground.

Instead, he put his money in shares, even though the stock market was languishing then.

'My friends, who won in the soccer matches, laughed at me for putting my money in stocks. They said that the market will keep going down. But I thought otherwise,' said Mr Koh, who holds a local diploma in business studies.

'I recalled how there was a rebound in the stock market after the 9/11 incident. So I decided to take the chance and invested all my money then.'

'I spent my time reading up on financial news and wrote e-mails to company CEOs to ask about their financial reports.'

With a capital of $30,000 in his CPF account and $50,000 cash, Mr Koh first invested in unit trusts and stocks.

Withing a year, he made $100,000.

His current portfolio includes shares in HTL International, Unisteel, BestWorld and TPV.

In four years, his investment portfolio increased by more than 160 per cent.

His friends, on the other hand, landed themselves deep in debt - many of them got burnt by gambling on the World Cup.

Mr Koh said: 'They lost their promotions, advancements, and most importantly, their loved ones, as the debt was too much for them to handle.

'Some of them tried to borrow money from me. But I refused because I didn't think it would do them any good.

FRIEND DECLARE BANKRUPT

'One of them, a property agent, was more than $50,000 in debt and finally had to declare himself a bankrupt.

'Another colleague's career was affected when his boss found out about his gambling from debtors who visited him at the office.'

Looking back, Mr Koh said he was glad he stayed away from football betting.

'Now, I aim to help my friends or relatives in their investment portfolio.

'I don't just concentrate on making money. I also want to give back to society by donating blood 100 times before I reach 50. I have since donated blood 42 times.'

And since the World Cup is just round the corner, Mr Koh has pasted The New Paper on Sunday report at his work desk to remind his colleagues about the pitfalls of soccer betting.

'I'm glad your paper ran the report. I hope it can serve as a reminder to readers not to blindly place their money on something they don't know about.'



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Odds are stock market will be hit

FORGET about the stock market.

Come June, punters will be watching the likes of Ronaldinho, David Beckham and Roberto Carlos make their runs down the soccer field rather than the rise and fall of the Nikkei, Dow Jones and Hang Seng indices.

With Berlin 2006 kicking off in just over a month, punters are more likely to be putting their money on the World Cup.

Some analysts believe that many retail investors and contra players, who look for short-term gains in shares, will shift their resources to football betting.

Remisier James Quek, 30, feels that the World Cup will ease share-trading activities.

'There will probably be less speculative trading,' he said.

'Even though share trading and soccer betting are two different things, the latter is still an opportunity to make money.'

HYPE

With less liquidity, share prices are set to fall.

'Some people may just take advantage of the situation and come in during the World Cup period,' said Mr Quek.

There are bound to be some brokers who will be distracted by the World Cup and their work attitude will be affected.

'Maybe there'll be a lot of hype in the first few matches. The middle part will be quieter until the finals,' said Mr Quek.

During the last World Cup in 2002, turnover on the SGX was almost halved in June, compared to the previous month. Share prices also took a hit.

However, a veteran remisier, who declined to be named, feels that today's market cannot be compared to four years ago.

She said: 'There was the crisis back then. Our economy has since recovered and we've recently been seeing a high volume of China stocks here.

'Also, with the General Elections, the market will do well,' she said.

Share investor Andy Ang, 28, agreed.

'In fact, people are speculating that the STI will go up even more,' the engineer said.

He is looking forward to the World Cup's kick-off on 9 Jun, but said he will not neglect his stock market activities.

Most of the investors we spoke to also said they would not be dumping their money into football preferring shares.

Though share speculation is also a form of gambling, it is still safer than soccer betting as losses can be reversed if the share price recovers.

Share investor Andy Ang said although he is looking forward to the World Cup's kick-off on 9 Jun, he will not neglect his stock market activities.

Engineer Ray Tan, 30, is also not bothered by the World Cup.

'I don't give a damn about the World Cup. Not everyone is into soccer,' he said.

'Some investors will probably be watching soccer matches and be less focused on the stock market.

'In that case, fewer stocks will be traded, which could result in depreciating share prices.'

This means the World Cup may actually be a good time for investors to go bargain hunting.