My Darling, Erney and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary on Dec 12. Since she puts up uncomplainingly with my eccentricities that revolve around workaholic and, possibly, excessive thrift, I took her for a short a holiday in Hong Kong. We had a great time staying at the posh 40th floor apartment of our friends Jacky and Simon in Kowloon, for free, and visiting Disneyland, Madame Tussauds, and the world’s only full-sized replica of Noah’s Ark built on Ma Wan Island, unfortunately not for free!

Having visited the larger Disneyland in California twice, way back in 1987 and then in 1989, and the original wax museum Madame Tussaud’s near London’s Baker Street tube station several times in my distant youth when the apostrophe in `Tussaud’s’ was still being used in the official name, I was especially intrigued by the novel sights in Noah’s Ark. I was also delighted that prices of tickets, souvenirs and food within the Ark were reasonable, at least by Hong Kong’s pricey standards.

Wellcall Holdings Bhd may not be on the radar screens of most investors but it is undoubtedly still a gem among small market-capitalized companies. The industrial rubber hose maker has a strong balance sheet and dishes out consistent dividend payments. Judging from the recovery in its purchase orders in the last few months as well as the general upbeat prospects of the rubber products industry, Wellcall is slated for brighter days ahead. Some industry observers reckon that Wellcall could very well be the next TopGlove, a “honey” of the rubber products industry.

Wellcall is the largest exporter of rubber hoses and tubes in Malaysia. It began operations at its sole plant in Kinta, Perak, back in 1996. It was listed on the Second Board of Bursa Malaysia in July 2006 and was subsequently transferred to the Main Board in March last year. The group started off manufacturing and selling rubber hoses to three major application markets and has since expanded to more than six major application markets, which include the air and water, welding and gas, oil and fuel, automobile, ship building, and food and beverage industries.