STI: Ex-traffic cop's up to speed on his money

Apr 27, 2004

Ex-traffic cop's up to speed on his money
by Leong Chan Teik

YOU may say Mr Ab Majid, 57, was no ordinary traffic cop.

The retired staff sergeant has been as competent in managing his own money as he once was in handling an outsized police motorcycle at speeds of as high as 160kmh.

That despite having left school after Secondary 2.

Years later, he decided to go to night school to get his O-level passes so he would not remain a lowly cop for the rest of his career.

Talk to him about money and investing, and you won't hear him spout a single financial term such as price-earnings ratio, rental yield or return on capital.

No, he has made it the simple and old-fashioned way - through saving, prudent spending and long-term planning.

As a result, he became, last May, the proud owner of a lovely 2,500 sq ft terrace house in Bedok after living most of his life in Housing Board (HDB) flats.

He gladly shows you around - from the lush garden to the air-conditioned living room to the spacious bathroom on the ground floor - and points out details about them.

He declines to reveal the price he paid for the leasehold house but says part of the money came from the sale of two Johor Baru properties he had bought in the early 1990s.

One was a condominium unit and the other, a terrace house.

The condo was rented out to Japanese expatriates for around RM800 (S$359) a month, which translated into an attractive yield of 6 per cent per annum.

The terrace house was his weekend home.

When he sold both properties for RM480,000, he pocketed a profit of RM160,000.

He rode a property boom but don't think it's all luck.

Mr Majid, now a doting grandfather of five, strikes you as the sort who thinks ahead.

As a young man, he had quite a few girlfriends but chose his wife carefully.

'I looked for someone who was working in the government service, which is stable, so she can help support the family,' he remembers. He subsequently married a nurse named Noraini, who was three years his junior.

Over time, he grew keen on the idea of owning a landed property to enjoy his retirement years in.

So he worked at building up his reserves.

In the 1970s, he turned his love of cars into a part-time money-making passion.

Now and then, he would buy old cars, refurbish them, and sell them for a profit of between a few hundred dollars and a few thousand.

Through the years, he was prudent in his spending. For example, family holidays were inexpensive ones in Indonesia or Malaysia. Neither did he burn money smoking or drinking.

He also has his wife to thank for. 'She didn't spend on luxuries or jewellery. She's very thrifty and hardworking, and that's why I love her very much,' he says.

When he didn't know anything about share investments, he gave some money to his better-informed brother to invest.

Mr Majid never rolled over his credit card balance to avoid being crippled financially by its 24 per cent per annum interest charge.

Today, he holds two credit cards, and spurns unsolicited offers by banks to give him more.

All the years of careful spending and saving have led to an ample retirement nest egg.

The biggest chunk of that will come from the sale of their five-room HDB flat in Toa Payoh, which has a small mortgage outstanding. It is up for sale now.

He reckons it can fetch around $450,000 - which will mean a hefty profit as it cost him only slightly more than $300,000 in 1999.

The sharp appreciation in price is due to its location near the town centre, which has been redeveloped in recent times.

While Mr Majid can afford to stop working, he is keeping himself busy as the head of security in an international school here.

He earns around $4,000 a month and collects another $1,000 in pension from the Government.

A major perk as a pensioner is all medical bills incurred by him and his wife are paid for by the Government.

If his financial circumstances have worked out very well, so have his children.

His three daughters are teachers. The eldest, Diana, 30, is pursuing a PhD degree while the youngest, Norhaida, 24, will be starting on a master's degree course. His second daughter is Nazlina, 27.

'All my dreams have come true, thanks to God,' he says.

Since the day many years ago when he walked away unhurt after his police motorcycle crashed into a lorry, he has believed that Someone up there is looking out for him.