At least she's quite upfront and honest about mistakes and not investing earlier. I think we can learn more about personal finance from her and also how not to over-extend when running a business. Cash flow is more important than maintaining an unsustainable "image"!
The Straits Times
Apr 15, 2012
SMALL CHANGE
Celebrity chef's food for thought
Owner of baking school Siti's Delights wishes she had started investing much earlier
By Joyce Teo
It is an oft-heard story and Madam Siti Mastura Alwi, 48, is not shy about repeating it, if only to inspire more people.
She was retrenched in 2003 after 21 years as confidential secretary to the director of Changi International Airport Services, and became depressed.
But that jolted her out of her comfort zone and pushed her into starting her own baking school, Siti's Delights. It made her a celebrity chef well-known in the Malay culinary scene.
She started her own baking show on Suria channel in 2008 and will be hosting the third season of the show next month. She was also invited twice as a guest judge for Masterchef Malaysia.
'I registered my business after my retrenchment but I didn't have the confidence to open my own shop. So, I conducted classes out of my sister's office on weekends,' she said.
'However, after 1 1/2 years, my sister gave up her business, so I did not have any place to teach. I did not know what to do as I had not done any financial planning at all.
'I was living on my retrenchment money alone and I had refused to do anything about it.'
But faced with eviction from her sister's premises, she finally took the plunge.
With some help from her husband, she opened her first shop in January 2005.
'I had only enough money to pay for one month's rent at the new shop,' she recalled.
Madam Siti, who has a diploma in baking, is married to Mr Halim Rahman, 50, who runs a small business.
Their elder son Mohd Shakir, 27, is helping in his father's business while daughter Sarah, 21, and son Muhd Shabil, 18, are still in school.
Q: Are you a spender or saver?
I used to be a spender until I started my own business. I must admit I handled money quite badly before that.
Looking back, if I had planned my money wisely, I think I would have been able to do more things. I wish I had spent my retrenchment money wisely.
I made good money within four years of opening my first shop. But I then made the wrong move of moving to a much bigger shop. This depleted the money I had earned.
I don't spend much on myself but I like to splurge on my children - on good food and lots of books.
Q: How much do you charge to your credit cards every month?
I don't have a credit card of my own. I know this is ridiculous but I am actually scared to own one because I know that if I use it wrongly, it can become a bad habit.
Q: What financial planning have you done for yourself?
At present, I have two insurance investment policies. I used to have one other policy but I had to give that up when I needed money for renovation works for my new office.
I wish I had taken out insurance when I was much younger too.
People always think they will invest when they have more money. But they should invest if they want to have more money later on. I wish I had known this earlier.
I am planning to launch a recipe book, recoup my investment and make some money.
I will then use the money to buy a property and an investment-linked policy. I like the idea of saving my money and investing it at the same time, and have started to discuss this with my agent.
I want to tell people that you can start early when it comes to investing. Don't wait too long. For me, I could have invested my retrenchment money.
Q: Money wise, what were your growing up years like?
I have six siblings and I am the youngest. My mum sold mee siam part-time from a pushcart and my dad used to be an electrician before becoming a taxi driver.
He would also sew and bake part time to raise money for our education.
My dad is very thrifty. I remember he had a black suitcase for his accounts books. Every night when he returned home, he would write how much he earned for the day and also how much he spent on himself and his children.
When I was still studying for my secretarial duties, he gave me just slightly over $2 as my allowance. That was very little but I did not ask for more as I had peeped into his accounts book and saw that he ate only curry puffs for lunch.
I remembered crying because I felt so sad when I saw that.
It left a great impression on me but I must admit I didn't inherit the frugality from him.
I am more like my mum. She will save whatever my dad gave her and spend it on me and my siblings. She loves taking us to movies and buying gold jewellery for me and my sisters.
I wish I had inherited my father's habit of keeping track of his spending because it would have helped me to be very disciplined about my finances.
I used to think that my father was too thrifty but he has proven to me that he can be very generous.
When I was 12, he gave me money to buy a $40 pair of red shoes that I wanted. That was quite expensive then.
But if he could make me happy, it would have made his day too.
So sometimes, when my own children yearn for something expensive, I would sacrifice my own needs to get it for them.
Q: How did you get interested in investing?
I am a late starter. I realised that if I had invested my money, I could have grown it more.
In 2003, I put about $60,000 of my retrenchment package into a fixed deposit account. The interest was quite good. But I frittered it away as I would withdraw some of the money whenever I ran out.
Q: What property do you own?
I have a five-room HDB flat in Bishan but it is not fully paid yet.
My husband and I bought it for about $350,000 in 2006.
I have plans to move to the east so as to be closer to my shop. I am hoping to buy a shophouse.
Q: What's the most extravagant thing that you have bought?
I bought a $2,000 designer handbag when I was retrenched as I wanted to pamper myself.
I used to think that if I carry an expensive handbag, I would feel good and confident. I was surprised to learn that wasn't the case.
In fact, I regretted my purchase because I saw many people carrying a fake version of it.
I also don't use it now as it is an evening bag and not suitable to carry around for work.
Q: What's your retirement plan?
If I had my way, I would love to retire in about six to eight years but realistically, I have my doubts.
I hope to be financially independent in about 10 years' time and I plan to groom my children to either run their own business or take over mine. I want to travel more.
I still want to teach as that is my passion, but cut down on the hours. I want to work normal hours, not the 16-hour day that I'm doing now.
Q: Home is now...
I live in a five-room HDB flat in Bishan but ever since my business responsibilities grew, my office has become my home as I spend more time in the office than in my flat.
Q: I drive...
A Toyota LiteAce and my son's Isuzu Twincab.
I am a very practical person. I need a van to run around, buy groceries and transport my baking supplies when I go for outdoor shows.
I have never been embarrassed about my choice of vehicle. Once when I was invited for a formal black tie dinner at MediaCorp, I arrived in a long black evening gown in stiletto shoes... and in my humble LiteAce.
I am used to getting stares from other drivers because they are not used to seeing a dolled-up woman driving around in a van.
To me, a vehicle is for getting me from point A to B.
[email protected]
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WORST AND BEST BETS
Q: What is your worst investment to date?
I would say it was my investment for a bigger shop as I had expected to recoup my money and buy the shop.
I made the impulsive decision to shift to bigger premises in 2009. I rented the 4,500 sq ft place in Arab Street, with an option to buy, for $17,500 a month and I spent a big chunk of my savings renovating it and buying equipment.
Previously, I had paid $1,380 a month for a place in Upper Thomson Road that was over 10 times smaller.
The Straits Times ran an article about people who survived retrenchment and I was interviewed. Many people then called and visited my shop.
But when they saw how small it was, they were not convinced that I was capable of training people.
So, I decided to move to a beautiful three-storey shophouse in Arab Street, without realising that I was biting off more than I could chew.
I thought my shop should be impressive if I wanted to give good-quality training. My desire to have that place overruled my better judgment.
All that I earned went towards covering my huge overheads, which were close to $50,000 a month. I started a retail counter and had to employ staff to man the counter, invest in deep freezers and chillers.
I had to borrow money but I survived. Two years ago, I moved to a smaller place in Eunos.
I am a well-known figure in the Malay community so I had their support. For me, it's a matter of survival, not embarrassment.
Q: And your best?
I haven't really invested my money, so I would have to say that my best investment is likely to be my first recipe book.
I am in the midst of producing it and it will cost around $120,000.
I am also leaving a legacy for my children and my students... That to me is worth much more than the value of money itself.
I also want to give back to my community, as many people want to attend my classes but not all of them can afford to do so.
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