Euphoria No More – Part 2

Today is a holiday, well, somewhat officially. The actual holidays are tomorrow, the 1st and the 2nd, officially tagged as the Eid holidays. Today is just a “mandatory” leave (together with Friday, the 3rd) instituted by the government for the general public. Mandatory leave (or cuti bersama) in this case means that the leave will be applied to our yearly paid leave, with little option to get out of it (except for those working in certain industries such as F&B or tourism). I’m not trying to get out of it, by the way, as I welcome the opportunities to unwind from the daily work routines.

Talking about work. More than a year has passed since my promotion to the Equity Research Division. The fatigue that had set in is still there, but it is now somewhat manageable. Despite the exhaustion, I gained more knowledge with each passing day. Macro stuff, sector bits, and model tricks are just some of them. However, the confusion that has enveloped me since then has not subsided. In my Friendster profile, I wondered whether the capital market was meant for me. Well, after more than two years of dealing directly on a day-to-day basis with the market, I’ve begun to consider it as a long-term career field for me, not just a temporary aspiration.

Finance, in general, is a vast field, with the capital market to be just a subset of it. I would very much like to explore the other subsets of finance, emphasizing investment and economics. This did not suddenly come to me, though. After encountering the confusion of a new job and struggling to keep my own standard, I’ve realized that there are still lots to learn. And unfortunately, baptism by fire can only do so much. Proper care and continuous nurturing are called for, which has been somewhat lacking as time goes by. So, perhaps it is time to stay foolish?