Jim Rogers: Do As I Say, And As I Do
If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know that investor Jim Rogers is a huge fan of China. In fact, he’s so sold on its future that he moved his family from New York City to Singapore at the end of last year. Why Singapore and not China? I discussed this in Investorazzi’s sister blog, Boom2Bust.com, back on December 27 of last year. On Christmas Eve, CNN Money got the chance to speak to the CEO of Rogers Holdings. From that post:
CNN MONEY: Why move to Singapore and not Shanghai or Beijing?
ROGERS: Well, we would like to move to China, but the air is so terrible, the pollution is so bad, that we can’t bring ourselves to do it. Everything works in Singapore. It’s an astonishing place. It’s got the best education system in the world. It’s got the best health care in the world. And it’s Chinese-speaking. Our 4-year-old daughter, Happy, goes to a school where they only speak Chinese. One of our motivations was that she continue to speak Chinese. It may not be as exciting as Shanghai or New York, but it’s exciting enough for me.
Fast forward to today. Sounds like Jim and his family are settling in just fine, according to a piece by Mak Mun San of the Singapore publication The Straits Times. In reference to Jim, his wife, Paige Parker, and their two daughters, five-year-old Hilton Augusta, or “Happy,” and three-month-old Beeland Anderson, the reporter wrote:
The couple sold their New York mansion and moved to Singapore last December so that Happy can learn Chinese in a Mandarin-speaking environment.
Rogers, who co-founded the Quantum Fund with legendary investor George Soros in the 1970s, has repeatedly said he believes China will be the next great country in the world.
“The best gift we can give our children is to let them learn Chinese and prepare them for the future,” he tells The Straits Times, while carrying the baby in his arms.
The author of A Bull In China talked about how many thought moving half-way around the world was a bad idea. Mak Mun San wrote:
Rogers says many people felt they were making a big mistake when they announced that they were uprooting to Asia.
“They thought we were crazy, because we were doing it voluntarily. Many people thought we moved to China. They don’t know that Singapore is not China,” he says.
“Some people told me I was smart to do it for my children, but they couldn’t do it themselves.”
According to Rogers, the family roots look to be firmly planted in this Southeast Asian city-state. From the piece:
Their plan is to “stay here forever, unless something else happens”, he says, adding that he hopes to travel around China one day with his daughters as his interpreters.
When asked what his net worth is–believed to be billions of dollars–he replies: “I’m sorry, but I can’t answer that.”
After a pause, he adds, tenderly: “My net worth should not be measured in monetary terms, but it should be measured in how good a father I can be.”
In an age where people’s priorities grow increasingly out of whack, here’s a man who sounds like he’s got his ducks in order.
Source:
“We Want Our Kids To Learn Chinese”
Mak Mun San
My Sinchew/The Straits Times, July 19, 2008
