like study for a particular mod but because of, like last minute anxiety or like I blank I blanked out at that moment of that exam then I feel like like I, all the efforts that I put into studying was wasted because of that one time performance ya so I felt like it was very wasted and like why can't I just do the exam right and not be anxious about it ya I'm I guess it's also my mindset how like I always like


like very am very negative about exams I'll be like oh my god I'm going in and probably going to get like very bad grades and all then I'll just panic at the, spot so it's something that I feel like I'm, always never good enough to like perform in a exam situation or under strong


ya then another one was like when I was in secondary school and like, that time I struggled really really hard to like past NAPFA ya that was like something I was very I don't think a lot of people know but I was very bad at sit-ups so like when I was young


I just didn't I just don't know why I cannot do sit-ups at all so that time I was very very stressed like of passing my NAPFA because people who retain are like uh people who like keep doing NAPFA like like I scared there's like


for being called out or like ya like why why why she must keep going back to take NAPFA again and say ah she cannot do it , and like at that point of time the PE teacher was very like a bit condescending like the tone that he used was like why can't you do a sit-up or like why can't you even do like ten sit-ups or something like that


so at that point of time I was really scared then I just tried all means to like avoid going for NAPFA I even went to like see a doctor to see whether my spine was all right or not just to like get a like medical cert that says that I cannot do NAPFA or something


ya but I was very stressed at that point of time lah but ya I guess at that point of time I tried a lot of methods to like even pass my NAPFA but I didn't manage to do it so in the end I met a very nice teacher , and like he just closed one eye and allowed me to like pass NAPFA ya but then


and but ya I think that that point in time I just felt like, uh why can't I just do sit-up and everyone can do other stuff like they did ya, ya


I think like our mindset start to like change for me go older like those small little things don't affect at us as much any more


, , I think studies are like my the number one stress that I have by now because like uh I think it's very important to maintain a good grade to


like for your future like like to find a job or anything so like even though my parents don't really give me a lot of pressure for like getting good grades I just tend to like, have a high expectation out of myself so like, I think it has been since when I was young I always get like very high expectation of myself to like


do well in school ya so, I think, school work has been one of the top stress that I have then other than school work I think stress uh


I think as I grew older I feel like, the stress coming from adulting life is starting to impact me more, because like uh we are going to go work in a few years time and like there's a lot of uncertainty and a lot of things that I feel I'm not prepared


for like how to manage with the working life or like how to even uh settle my bills like the household bills and paying like independent ah cause like right now we are like still living with our parents and like the fact of like


uh leaving them is quite daunting and to be independent and be financially independent from them, ya and like, ya I guess I mean that's not the main stress that I have now but I just tend to think about it like what will happen in the future and like I don't really have a fixed goal that I want


like I don't know what I really want to be in the future also so I guess I'm a bit stressed out like why my friends already know what they want to be in the future but I'm just like still figuring out what I want and like still tapping in the waters and see it whether this field is whatever I like that kind of thing


yeah


uh something that I cannot, , I think I want to be more like something that I want to change is to be more decisive uh I always very indecisive and like because


uh I'm scared that whatever decision I make will affect what people think of me or like I scared they don't like my position so I'm just very indecisive when I come to, like making a choice and like very simple stuff like choosing what to eat also feel I'm very indecisive lah so I think it's one of the bad traits that I have and I want to change lah I want to be more decisive ya


like can make a quick decision lor, yeah


I think like like if we put the part and quit maybe we can like probably change instead of like negative traits them talk about ourselves


, early though ya ya ya wait ah, , is there anything like any hurtful words that people say to you that you wish to forget


yeah ya like it was very like a bit insensitive uh like


like the fact that you're crying he then say something like don't shed crocodile tears that was a bit hurtful don't like say such mean stuff [loh] what about you


I think more of like how people like judge your appearances that kind of thing I remember in my primary school apparently got people say I I'm very hairy so like from then on I just very like, subconscious like whether I am really or not


uh things turn out better than expected, I okay uh can't exactly say a moment but maybe like, coming to a school that uh I wasn't intending to like ya not intending to and that I didn't aim for so like coming to school that wasn't my goal


like when I was young ah so but in the end I felt like no matter what school I'm in as long as I found like close friends that I have and like I, enjoy like the company of my friends and like what I am studying in I think it's all right cause


I always thought that if I never enter my dream school it will turn out to be very sad like because most of my friends are not coming with me so I wouldn't be able to like mix around with people but it turned out to be much better than I expected because the school was really fun and like


I made a lot of new friends even though it was very competitive but I felt like uh overall I wouldn't have went to another school like, if I could do we again right ya going to a a school that I didn't predict I would go in was better than expected I guess


uni, oh no no in like uh when I was in secondary school, ya like it wasn't my dream school so


ya, ya I wanted to go Dunman high so I was a bit sad, ya, ya sorry


actually it's also true for me about like COVID period cause like we get to spend more time with our family which is not like something we normally do mah like usually we are like so caught up with work and home


so I guess it's also we thought it's going to be damn bad lah got no bubble tea cannot no freedom to go out but in the end I think it was still, not too bad it was a bit better than expected lah ya and exchange was cancelled also so ya


memorable place, , I don't have like the place that make me like the most but can be more like that experience cause I I think I enjoyed err my OCIP trip the most


ya because it was like a trip to like myanmar and like it was my first time doing OCIP trip, OCIP volunteering also then although it was very tough at the start like we had to do construction under the very hot sun we had to teach the kids like


they are like super rowdy and they don't really understand english uh basic english also so it's very hard to communicate with them but then in the end I still enjoyed it a lot because like, it just feels very rewarding [orh] after like we teach them english and like they are very innocent and pure and like they genuinely care for you


like when they see you like you you are perspiring and you look very hot and tired they will like are you okay that kind of thing like they'll pass you tissue and like show that they are concerned about you, so I think it really like worth the hard lor the volunteers there to see that they are so sweet even though they don't really understand us most of the time ya and like I think the friends there I like the friendship I forged there was also like


one of the biggest takeaway because like I still keep in touch with a lot of them till today ya ya since secondary school I've been wanting to go and volunteer overseas so I think that was one of the best travel experience I had [loh], ya what about you


I agree about the detaching part though cause sometimes when you go overseas we don't really get like wifi I mean for me sometimes I don't have twenty four hours for wifi so like


it just gives me a chance to like like put my phone away and then just enjoy the company of the people around me which is I think, ya so I think it's a good experience [orh] to like just detach away from our busy life and to enjoy enjoy the people and like the scenery all these kind of thing


what do I love about myself


I think something that I love about myself is that I don't I just, very patient or like I just I just don't get angry that that easily like I don't get get unless you trigger me like really badly then I'll be like


one day angry about it but usually I think I have a high tolerance for like people being late or like people not, I don't know don't reply my okay like don't reply my text I still can bare with it a little but I don't think I flare up that easily with my friends and all ya so I guess that's


a part of me that I like the most and like I and like I like that how I, begin to realise that the importance of friend is not that important because like when I was young I don't know why I just keep getting very


affected by by like whether my friends will care about me whether like I will have friends, but in like I'm glad that now I look pass beyond it I like don't really care about, like whether my friends will like me or that kind of thing so I feel like I like that how chill I am about my friends and social social circle


like I don't feel the pressure to like make new friends or what cause I'm very happy with the amount of friends I have and the amount of close friends I have so ya I like that I'm chill about it


so what's one thing that


that's a good trait though when you're open to like learn new thing


then is there anything that you used to hate as a kid but now love as an adult uh


actually mine is a little bit similar it's like when I was young I don't like to be like alone ya I will just like want to find my friends and like hang out with my sibling I just don't like alone time but I think as, I grew older I treasure it more like alone time to like watch YouTube your own time to like relax and just just do something that I like lor it's like to recharge myself also from all the social interaction before


I think I grow to like spending time alone better when I was compared when I was younger lor ya cause I think when I was young I also like felt, if I'm alone I'm lonely and no friends that kind of like opinion ya when a young


ya lor and like when I was young I like, I don't like to I like to stay up late I know when we're young we're just I don't know whether you have but I don't like to go to sleep I will ya I just hate sleeping I just want to like stay up until like two three AM but then now it's like I want to sleep I guess


, I think I also sometimes will stay until quite late but I just I really want to sleep though like sometime I just because you got a lot of work to do then you need to rush through I mean when school start I always want to have more sleep but always got no time to like sleep


nah you said, I think the best is like handmade handmade gifts, like my brother recently made like a LED light for me like I was very impressed ya he like really went to the lab and then he carved out my my name in acrylic


you know those kind of DNT lab and then he went to the workshop and like did all that thing no lah for my birthday then, I think it takes a lot of effort [loh] like to even like put the lights like using like soldering or something ya and then it turned out very pretty also so like I was very touched [loh] like like by the effort behind it also lah I mean apart from it being very pretty


one two three , part one financial related topic


okay uh okay should we start with the first uh question like what is your investment strategy , okay uh I can start first ah uh I'm not very knowledgeable in investment but earlier I went to read up a bit so I just got a bit of like general knowledge so there's one thing that I


uh searched about was that actually there are okay there are quite a few investment strategies so there's like general trading selective trading uh so there's also like buying cheap and selling then there's also long pull selection and bargain purchases and I think that a very huge uh


component of like investment strategies is like the risk lah the amount of risk that you are willing to take so like some individuals they have very high tolerance for risk then there are some that are more risk averse, so like the main rule is that like you can you should only risk what you can afford to lose and if the higher the risk you take then there's higher potential return ah but then


you will also have more chance to lose lah like more things to lose ya so there are some that more risky then I think like as a student we don't exactly have a lot to even risk in the first place ya, so it's like we start very small so personally my own risk tolerance is quite low


, ya uh this is uh generally what I have searched ya do you have any to share


, (hmm)


it's still recording


oh your plan is very it's actually very detailed lah I think


, because uh my friends actually most of my friends they are not very financially aware maybe like only one or two but even so they focus a lot on like


the stock market actually so when it comes to that then I'll be I find it very daunting because uh, like there's a lot of things to learn and I also don't really know what is uh right or wrong cause there's just so much information there are so many sides to everything and I don't know how to analyse so there's a lot of times that they won't really


try to share with me ya they'll they'll end up just joining like uh investment groups in NUS then they will just discuss amongst themselves so there's a lot of times that actually not very aware but, ya so that is one thing that I want to try to uh learn more ya I was thinking of even like taking a financial module in a years cause I think it's quite useful but other than that actually life's not as my own strategy is not so uh


detailed it's actually now I'm focusing on saving first cause I want to save up to a certain amount like now my aim is actually ten K ya uh ten K but I but I of course, I just want to aim higher first ya ten K by the end of next year cause now I'm actually uh working in a few ways so I'm working part time as a intern ya so now I'm saving like actually like


more than half of my pay ya and also during a semester I'm teaching like I'm teaching in a module ya so , like now I'm just trying to look for certain ways that I can work and like freelance also so that I can just save as much money as I can so it's a very like short term goal lah for now


uh actually I think I realise that there are a lot of people our age who are like how to say it, they are like starting to become like like you know they're taking courses and exams to become financial advisers so it's like actually a lot of them right now and I think it's good cause like


in a way they learn how to manage their own but there are also helping other people but then ya comes the thing that I I think that there is actually a somewhat negative connotation


attached, ya cause , because ya you're quite young like a lot of a lot of us are quite young then it's not like we have a very robust portfolio then then we call ourselves like financial advisers so there was one thing that I actually heard


my friend talking about a few days ago when one of our our friend, it's recording, ya so ya so this is just it just came actually came into topic like a few days ago when we learn that one of our friends also became a financial adviser ya so


, I think that there was one uh there's this thing that I read that actually I think is quite interesting is that, uh cause, for beginners who are new and there are actually applications that like have like stimulation so you can try to invest in like fixed stocks lah it's all like just all it's all fake but there's like you just is for you to practise also how to analyse and stuff so in


I think it's actually good practise and I was thinking of trying that out yeah, that's really good you're like it's like so that you know you don't have to put in much yet then you just try ya,


so is that something that you are actually doing now like you put in hundred every month


(hmm), that's interesting I think I think it's just , like, there was once that I


there was once there's this insurance agent then he tried to sell me this plan that is like a savings plans so I put in around hundred a month also ya so they will help me save it and hold it and I actually wanted to take out the plan , but when I actually took it and I went home no of cause it was like a


you can how to say uh like I I signed a form first but if I go home I change my mind I can still cancel so I went home and then I shared with my parents and then I got scolded cause , to them like all these are same it's like it's all insurance and in the end it's like it's all insurance and


like to them it's like a scam yeah because like like there's too many, there are too many things that seem very attractive but they don't, ya cause that's the thing so I think investment right they give it gives you like a good amount of passive income but


it's not so easy like it actually takes lot of effort you need to keep monitoring the market and keep you need to monitor a lot of things and you need to check regularly so it's not like I just put in and then one month later I get this income, ya like I can just


tap


yeah I agree so if you suddenly have one million dollars then how will you split it


make sense, I I think if I have one million dollars then , I think I'll give a portion to my family first then I'll save I'll take the other portion , and try to invest like a percentage ya but hopefully when I'm older than I would have already have more knowledge ya so I'll be more like


I'll know better how to invest my money, and how to , basically how to better manage it lah ya so like right now I'm at a stage that I think I will try to save more of it


yeah and I'll just give a smaller I'll just uh allocate a smaller portion to investing ya but maybe if I'm older then I more knowledgeable lah and I'll probably be more ready to take risks ya so I invest more


, part three negative experiences,


uh I think this is when I was in JC so , during that time I was vice captain of my council in my house lah in in JC so I was vice captain and


my house captain was in my house obviously and there was another vice president in a whole council but he just happened to be in my house as well and so the two of them and the two of them are very strong headed, yeah so they're very individualistic and I think their way of doing things was just very different so they just really rubbed each other the wrong way half the time and there was a lot of times that I was just


the middleman I was just trapped in the middle and during that time I wasn't I didn't know how to, go about, this conflict at all ah so I don't think I handled it very well I just kept going back and forth and trying to help the both of them but


never works out very well lah but I think after a while because they are so strong headed, although there are times when they clash there are also times that they get along pretty well and they are all both very extroverted so they have very very strong energies and me on the other hand actually I'll I'll just come off as more quiet


ya and so that was when my council teacher came to talk to me and he said that uh he told me that, I need to step up more cause he doesn't feel like I'm doing my job and that was when I just felt very, I felt a bit lost cause I feel like I really do a lot but it was all behind the scenes and nobody could see it ya and even my teacher couldn't see it and so


I think it actually just stayed with me throughout the whole time I was a vice president ya so I think it stayed with me for a while like I kept feeling like you know like no matter what I do it's not


uh it won't be good enough I feel like a lot of things that I do it must be there must be someone there to witness it if not they won't know what I'm doing and cause half the time when things you are doing is all behind the scenes like those kind of behind the scenes work and I think it actually carried on with me for a while


like when I was I came back as alumni to plan a leadership training camp and I think the same thing happened as well just that this time I was the second IC of the camp, ya so and that was a uh another difference was that the first IC of the camp she was seven years older than me and she was an event planner and so the gap was really drastic


ya so a lot of times especially she was an event planner she has a lots of experience planning camps it and etcetera and half the time she made decisions without consulting me as well because, I think I'm just rather amateurish compared to her and cause I don't have that kind of like strong headed personality that I don't voice up my thoughts as much so the whole time it felt I just felt very useless like I felt like I wasn't pulling my weight even though I really wanted to ya


a stigma is it


I think it's, also the fear lah cause like everybody can do it, but then you cannot ya, ya I understand that also think that uh actually this is one thing that uh uh I don't think I ever really said like talked about it was in secondary school also when


I think I got into an argument with my lower secondary school clique and so I kind of got outcasted for the remaining one and a half years cause uh it was it happened in the first half year of, uh one ya so I was actually outcasted and I think I I really I really hated it felt


it just it was just a feeling that, nobody likes you ya and it actually impacted me so much ya so I really stuck to my CCA friends


ya then I will always uh go home with with uh you and uh other people ya so they were really my support but, every time I went back to class I just I just really dreaded going back to class ya and it felt so terrible and one of them actually


was in the same upper class as me and was actually in the same group of friends as me and I think the same thing happened again in, uh well it didn't affect me as terribly as before cause this time I wasn't outcasted this time I just uh I just decided to switch a group of friends but it


did impact me in a certain way like I really questioned myself ah if the problem was actually me or like the people around me and , I think at some point of time I just truly believe that I wasn't likable ya so I think it just started a lot of uh unhealthy thought patterns so if somebody just shows a bit just the slightest bit of err displeasure towards me right or just like maybe ignore me just a a tiny bit


and then I'll just go into this uh, train like train of thought like , oh is it the person don't like me anymore don't want to talk to me anymore and it's just very unhealthy for my own mental health ah ya I just really hated it so


to be honest uh secondary school was a very dark time for me I think cause I was still very , young ah and, a a lot of this kind of small things it will affect me a lot and it was only in JC that I slowly started to grow out of it then furthermore in uni that I managed to at least mostly get away ya that kind of like unhealthy habit ah


I think also when you establish a certain rapport amongst your friends right and you know like


what


, one hour five minutes, okay, okay, okay ya what what


was, oh ya ya I was just thinking that it's linked, I think as you grow older then uh I guess also a luck kind of thing that, the people that you meet they are like just you just manage to make good friends who you know like no matter what you do like no matter how badly you mess up they will always uh be there for you lah they will just always save you from if you just mess up ya so there was one thing that


uh I could rely on that that that that that's when you know like actually I never really truly alone lah, ya, , so


usually okay maybe during this period so what is something that makes you feel stressed


I understand I think for me is that


uh I think something that stresses me out is actually, meeting other people's expectations ya cause uh in a lot of ways actually so like if at work then I want to meet my bosses expectations


and I sometimes I stressed out cause uh when I started my intern my current intern the other interns are already, they are very capable and they were already doing a lot of things and , it was quite scary cause I didn't understand a thing that they were talking about and like I just felt like so why did they hire me cause I don't even know anything I don't feel like I could do anything ya so that was uh actually it really stress me out on the first day


ya uh sorry okay ya thank you uh sorry uh then ya so that was something that uh really stress me up so , uh yeah same goes to a lot of other things so when I join projects and stuff I always want to do a good job and it's a bit of like something that I


expectations that I impose on myself but it's also a thing that I also comes with the fact that I want to, please people as well ya I don't want I same as previously that I mentioned before I don't


I get very sensitive to when people are maybe like just a bit cold towards me ya so that was one thing that I didn't like and I just really wanted to do well I want to be I want to feel capable and as cause now I'm an only child so my parents there's this expectations that I have to


uh give back to them in the future so there is nothing wrong that I actually agree with that I'm really I my parents did so much for me I want to do the same but sometimes I worry that I, might not be able to give them a better life than they would have wanted ya cause it's just me ya and


I want to do a lot of things for them sometimes I worry that I'm not capable of it ya like cause a lot of people in computing they are like just uh achieving like big things so I sometimes I just worry ah that I cannot


uh I can't match up to other people, , thank you, but is there like


uh if there's one thing you can change about yourself right but then you couldn't change is there like something like that


I, a bit similar ya cause it's somewhat similar is that I want to be more sure of myself, ya I want to be more sure of myself when I do things when I make a decision I want to follow through I don't want to doubt myself


I want to do things without regrets lah there's a lot of things there were a lot of times that I hesitate when I do things and I it actually takes a lot of joy out of things like when you worry so much about , a certain outcome but you worrying so much about outcome never gives you much ya so it just it never helps you it doesn't help you anticipate


the outcome better it just stops you from actually being present for the outcome ya so that's something that I just really want to, change but it's very very difficult not that easy


, , I don't think there's much that I think we are very privileged [loh] cause like there isn't uh a lot of things that


we like necessarily like can never change like we are born with a like handicaps or anything so that is like uh the blessing in disguise


, , I think that it was


from my mom like in the past like, uh cause she just tends to be more blunt and straight forward with her words so sometimes she will get angry at me then she will say a lot of things that I find actually very hurtful like


there are a lot of times that maybe uh she bought something for me then after that, she will just say like oh because she bought something for me and I get what I want already then I can throw tantrum at her like I'm only nice to her when I want something and so that's very hurtful and there are a lot of times that I think there was one time that uh


it hurts the most the first time you hear it and there was once that she, I was very how to say like ended up just quarrelling and then I was upset so think I teared up then she told me like not to like cry crocodile tears


I think it was really upsetting for me cause uh I felt like wouldn't you be alarmed if your child's crying so I felt upset like why, why does she not take me seriously yeah that was something that was I thought was really hurtful to me


what about you,


what about you eh,


part two positive experiences, do you want to share a moment when things turned out better than expected


which school you mean like uni


also like you mean for like when you were entering secondary school, (hmm), what was your dream school was it Dunman high, I think that was the dream school for everybody but we just all ended in the same secondary school instead


ya actually I agree with that uh I think, maybe one, actually I will agree cause uh there are a lot of times that my schools they were never on my first choice actually


ya they were never my first choice in uh secondary school and even JC ya so the only time that I actually got my first choice was like in uni, ya and I was actually quite upset for JC cause I really wanted to enter Nanyang I even appealed but I couldn't get it and


but I was actually really very happy in, my my JC so, yeah so that that was one thing that I I thought was uh, kind of like a blessing in disguise and another thing that maybe I'll say that when it turned out better than expected I didn't really expect


uh anything much I think it was just this circuit breaker period that it kind of feels like a silver lining because I think there's a lot of times that uh, you'll be over stretch and over commit ourselves in uni like we take on so many commitments and I think I was running a bit short on fuel already like I was studying I was actually feeling overwhelmed for quite some time but


couldn't really get a break ya so when a lot of uh events were slowly cancelled and eventually a lot of my commitments are cancelled as well and although, it was sad cause uh I had two dance concerts and two of them were cancelled ya so it changed to just a recording and although that was sad like we we we practised so many months for it but in the end I don't know actually it felt like


uh it gave me a sense of relief that I could just, like start to relax a bit like start to take things a bit easier and especially when the semester start and the then, I really just, I could just I could still do my own things like I was still productive I didn't slack but


it was at my own pace and I really enjoyed that ya


uh yeah same same mine was also cancelled that's why we are both still in singapore now what


ya, uh actually ya that was also one thing because I was supposed to , I wasn't supposed to stay on campus this semester ya but the very it was a very last minute thing where they actually had empty rooms so they asked seniors if they wanted to go back ya so I made a decision to go back because


okay ya so that was uh, something that I didn't expect that I'll get a chance to to like just return to my hostel again cause I really enjoyed my time there and also that was one thing that was very surprising that it wasn't expected at all


, then what is the most uh memorable place that you travelled to, or like just the place you like the most


uh


I think there is a very close tie between two places that I visited, but they are both very memorable in different way so like the first one was when I went to taiwan , with my friend and uh I think I really enjoyed it because we are uh both very similar in what we want and


our personalities in a way so it will just like, you know usually how when you go overseas then you need to accommodate each other what like their habits what they want to do and everything but for us there wasn't much to accommodate cause it was all very similar and we are all very easygoing so


that that was really enjoyable and I really enjoyed when uh it was in you know in <mandarin>九份:jiu fen</mandarin> so you can light up the the lantern or is it <mandarin>十份:shi fen</mandarin> ya but one of those two so can light up the lantern you wrote you write your stuff your wishes on the lantern then you you light it up


ya I really really enjoyed that ya so I that was very memorable ya it's the first thing that came to my mind if I think of uh taiwan , but ya so another place that we enjoyed was japan cause japan was just like the dream trip lah but, the whole the whole trip was really like packed cause we stay in Tokyo and we really did


everything that you can do in Tokyo ya but, even the the most the happiest moment uh like the part the moment of the trip that I really treasure was when we went to a farm stay cause in a farm stay it it's very detached from the world cause there's no


there's very there's very little people there isn't a lot of like , like you know those kind of city city life that kind ya so it was just very very peaceful and I think I could just sit there and just not do anything for like the whole day ya it was very calming so that was what I like and


I think we were supposed to go cycling through the rice fields but then it rained so it wasn't very safe , but the host was very a very good host so he has was very welcoming he actually drove us in the van so the van there was a


I don't know what's the actual term but you can pull off the roof ya so we we could stand and look out of the van and and like when he drove it was just really very very calming it just felt like in that moment I


all my worries have disappeared like I'm not part of, this world that kind it just ya it was just very uplifting so that was one thing that I enjoyed there ah so I that's why I really like travelling I feel like you get to see a lot of things that you don't usually do in your daily life


(hmm) (hmm) then , and what do you say like you love the most about yourself


that's good though cause I I think it's something that we're still trying to work on like I want to treat people how I want to treat them like how I actually feel about them I don't want to treat people , like I feel like there were a lot of times that the way I respond to people is also a reflection of how they respond to me so if they're very cold to me then I'll be like why then err I'll like be very hesitant to reach out to them also ya


, , uh I think one thing that I like about myself is that I have very diverse interest ya so like I really explore a lot of thing so I


just example only if I watch shows I really watch everything I watch english shows I watch korean dramas I also watch japanese anime then as I once in a while watch chinese variety shows for fun, ya so like I just watch a lot of things and I just go into it ya so like that's one I thing I like cause I get to explore a lot of different things and when I talk to different people I will always have something to talk about so


it's something that I realised comes very handy when I talk to people about like interest so like games like but okay but this this is another thing that I


I sometimes I can be quite what's the word, persistent I don't know very diligent like like I will just if I start something I will just be obsessed with it like ya so so usually when I play games I will just really go into it very far so like a lot of people they just play a while then they will just get bored


I'll so I'll play all the way to the end I'll I'll really play all the way to end I'll finish the game and then I will just annoy my friends with it cause ya ya so ya that's what that's one I thing that I like that I have very very diverse interest when it comes to like


but okay it's a bit limited it is diverse when it comes to like shows and music ya, so maybe I can learn more things in the future because I am very open to, exploring new stuff


uh because it's very fun uh and, and you're experience something new especially when you find somebody who usually where I to find somebody who explores like who, is interested in so many things as well so once in a while when I do find someone who is like that I'll feel very it's like very it's a very pleasant surprise ya


okay, uh


I think last time I okay I won't say I hate it I just didn't really like it uh , when I was young I hated not hate ya okay that's a very strong word but ya I always wanted siblings ya I I didn't like being an only child and it felt very like lonely and also cause my parents are quite over protective


so a lot of times I'm just really alone at home ya then that's why they don't play with me cause my parents are definitely not my age and they are not interested in things that I want to do ya so, that was something that I always wanted to have like I hated being an only child now I won't say I love but I'm actually quite content being an only child like I'm quite content having my own space actually I really treasure it ya I'm


although I'll, next time if I have children I will still want to have, siblings god don't want my child to be an only child but, I there are a lot of there are actually still a lot of upsides to it yeah so I've grown to appreciate that


ah


, (uh huh) ya ya okay okay understand


oh, I think I still stay up like until three AM like


but then no but it's not like it's just cause it's a bad habit ah ,


what what would you say was like the best birthday present you received


!whoa!


ya that's a lot of effort, , I think same though cause uh my the best birthday gift I got was actually a card but it was


it was very detailed so cause my friend knows that I love totoro and so I mean having to sew an actual totoro onto the card, like so like using strings then then you just sew the shape of a totoro so it was just kind of like very like criss criss criss cross pattern kind ya and


though it just I think it actually took him like at least three four hours for around two weeks cause he's not very artistically inclined, ya so it took a while for him to figure it out and I was actually very very impressed cause


I think even for me if I wanted to do that I'll be stunned for a while at least ya so, it was more of the effort, that it took as well but also the outcome was really very nice that's that was what I was really, grateful for it's it's not like the gift the actual gift that they that you receive that makes it the best it is more like the thought and the effort that goes into it


dan thumbs up, part one, financial related topic


ya #wai hong# how are you, long time no see, ya finally see you on screen but very small ah smaller than the circuit breaker, days


so what's been keeping you why you so uh busy this morning


how is the recent uh COVID nineteen affecting your, your business or, even the finances


oh, so meaning you're uh you were doing something related with the MICE right the seminars


ah okay I'm sure you can work something around that with uh IMDA or something ah since now is all uh work from home and, and uh, distance learning now right mostly


ah oh I see, so there's that highlights the importance of, having a, some liquidity lah ah, and some cash seems like cash is king isn't it


these days ah people are holding on, the the things again ah you see in new zealand news after the second or third wave and even the the, people are are saving up lah for the rainy day right


you reckon, toilet paper ah uh that one uh think there's a over supply you know but the I seem to see a lot of instant noodles being bought recently so ,


I I see a need to stock up on toothpaste ah because the colgate is pretty expensive now so we yesterday there was a offer so I I managed to get some


so we have to be market savvy lah you have to go around the markets especially the supermarkets, and see that you know, there are different types of products right, sorry ah I just using a analogy we are just uh


you know average joes ah in singapore, so we need to so do you have a a lot of uh money on standby, for your for your to tide over this period or you or you


so so you are being helped lah you are getting incentives to, for your business all sorts ah


oh, but you are SEP right like I'm a SEP now so, uh the timing lah while I just didn't I didn't get to start the business so uh so I'm SEP I got I got my nine thousand


grant ya, I got it approved lah I actually lost a job so I got another the initial ones ya, a stint ah a stint, with uh some government organisations, so, they they compensated me lah


for the loss of job so !huh!, no no no this is just a one off, one off uh ya, but of course uh being in the union helps ah ah


no I'm ya I'm I'm waiting to see what what kind of training is being given, maybe I'll go into the financial uh training involved, so uh oh need to tap on the screen uh


so ya , so do you think is is good to be keeping money, out of the uh in the bank, for this season or is it uh good to be spending money uh you know in the market I mean the government has been giving a lot of


so call helicopter money lah I, I mean, in a good way to to help stimulate the economy, so do you think is are you a saver or a a spender, let's just put it this way ah


you mean the you mean , trust trust me the nine K is not much ah, okay , it's just a supplement


it's not a supplement, but compared to last year when uh I was really struggling is a positive for me lah this period in fact it has made me a a a shopper a lazada shopper


this circuit breaker, so ya it encouraged spending so I'm actually able to exercise my spending rights , ya so I bought a couch and, and bought uh some other ya that's for my dad a recliner it's on offer ya


ah, ya so they can, ya I did oh Taobao ah from china


are we supposed to tap the the screen again ten, minutes, okay so uh, so you are more of a saver, as I think most singaporeans are lah ha we are all, and the looming uh


I mean the unemployment rate and or the GDP going down I think gives you a, you are in two minds ah you you are trying to save for the rainy day and then you are trying to, you know because you have free money uh sort of sort of stimulus you need to spend ah to to create


jobs and uh, and uh everyone needs to, to, eat right so necessities and all that, so, so what has been uh working out for you in terms of investments did you did you buy a flat or you invested in a HDB right something like that


[orh] okay, but you definitely can qualify for one already right, ya we both can ah ya


ya is is quite a abundance of uh, even you don't have to wait for BTO if you don't want to, wait this I'm sure there's a lot , you can check out those uh remnant flats lor those flats that are


left over, so but surprisingly ah the the property prices are still quite high ah ya I was just watching youtube when the looking at the luxury condos !wow!


I think is good, , because of the greater southern waterfront so uh so is uh inspiring and uh


uh, ya lah something to aim towards right since we are both entrepreneurs, and uh ya, so what what what are the other


investment strategies that you are planning to have, tap ah tap on it ya, oh oh !wow! good


oh, okay


[orh], !wow!, so you are a technical person ah ya ya engineer, so uh


!wah!


eh didn't call me ah you,


!wow! you actually have a pot of gold I only have a pot of instant noodles, , oh so you are you are in the debt territory ah


I guess but I ah, so you you got burnt ah fingers burnt but


but that said uh never give up lah ah otherwise the stock market SGX will not have any business, next time we should uh talk more on these uh strategies ah because I I feel that I have missed a few great opportunities


uh on hindsight and uh though I'm not really on shares ah ya so my singtel should I cash out my singtel should , because I long ago ah long ago right we are given right as citizens, so


ya me, ya so one one of the uh, I mean I'm not a shares guy lah I'm not that savvy like you, uh neither do I have the capital to to


I mean the one that make money was unit trust ah that's over the ten year period and, before I went to land banking, so that that money helped, and uh because samsung was in the, is uh schroder's emerging market I'm not sure whether it's still the same name


was one of the basket of uh, uh companies in the basket of companies was, uh samsung, so it was on the up lah at that period lah that's more than ten years ago, ago ah so got got my money out with uh


with cash ah unfortunately didn't reinvest, didn't reinvest so, the other the other one that uh, ah the the ya tap


battery


okay, so, ya one one of the uh I mean, you know we have been, moving around in the circle so much we, uh bitcoin and uh other other forms of investments so one of the


event was a dual listing by top gloves which is a malaysian company that , so that was uh I don't know what to say in in in english ah but uh cantonese is <NEN> ah you know


so uh could have, you know, if I known that the the shares ah will go so high ah, could have like ask someone to help me and, then uh, invested in top glove we can make make some money, because uh they were in a high demand


right so, but then recently they also ran into some problems so you you never know lah this, that's why you cannot invest with your emotions ah is otherwise it'll be like gambling and then you'll get burned


because you follow everyone, just like uh recently hyflux, now it was a all time high and then uh, a lot of people are now stuck right they're trying to cash out but they waiting for the white knight to to rescue the the the part lah so not not everyone is uh is uh


very happy ah, that's why the SIAS is involved and all that, so I I guess sometimes like the saying goes ah you know what's


you lose the there's chinese story of, the losing a horse and then the, the son did not have to go army or something like that and, then, so something bad may not be necessary


bad ya I was going to say good, but uh you know, so ya


it's not for you alright, ya


okay , you were, so that's your is a spiritual , spiritual investing ah


, I I don't know because ya that's past life that I you you I cannot go back to, to verify you know


so I would but I I would say ya there's uh this element of luck lah, uh I will just tell uh discussing with my father so it's like uh, the bible lah ah sorry ah I just quote the bible since you talk about karma, yup


the bible say the race doesn't go to the swift, the strong you know because people say you have to be, sorry ah I go into mandarin again <mandarin>快狠准:kuai hen zhun</mandarin> ah you know, so the the this is from, king solomon in the proverbs is it thes the battle doesn't go to the swift or the strong or the wise you know but time and time and chance are happen to all


so sometimes when the opportunity come like for alibaba and then they got oversubscribed and uh everything just uh you know so now now they are that's why uh now I'm buying from lazada lah which is their which is their uh company I'm helping them make more money and create jobs


okay (uh) I'm I'm hearing some barking or, stop


part three negative experiences, hannah


when people's ah, okay, you're in india why didn't call you didn't call me


you went to nepal right you went to nepal, that trip, was that a part of that that trip


!wah!, !wow!


!wow!


oh


you, you were travelling alone at that time or, !wow!, uh sounds like a horror show man, is is


so at least at least you weren't rob right they didn't rob you or do something funny to you


oh so so are you


!wah! sorry just , to charge my laptop, , ya is must be a harrowing experience ah for you ah, I am I'm we


I mean there will always be some, some takeaways ah not necessarily good even if you are overseas, and uh, so one of one of the, bad experience was when we uh visited great wall of china


with my family that's uh early two thousand, one ya two thousand one ya, so we went there because my uncle is he lives there my mum's brother, and he, he was actually


I mean he's not born there lah he's been there since the, you know cultural revolution those kind of thing therefore, he's not actually local so, they are those overseas chinese that went back, so you would think that he's a <mandarin>老北京:lao bei jing</mandarin> right so <mandarin>老北京:lao bei jing</mandarin> means uh


a local there, be able to bring us around, so what happened was we went to Tiananmen square, to visit and because he lives along that that uh one of the


one of the over over outlying areas ah so, we went there to, to look for, a car to drive us as well to, the great wall of china that's our next, point of interest so because we didn't follow a tour we followed a so called local


so he, we got a best price from this touts you know so, is too good to be true lah to be honest because at the end of the day, they drove us to the great wall but before that we had to go to a restaurant for lunch


where we got overcharged you know, so for the fish so that is the chinese call it <mandarin>黑店:hei dian</mandarin> ah so , so we were actually being , you know you had you is like a blackmail kind of thing right so you have to pay if not you won't get to your destination also


so the the the driver to the great wall was cheap that this is pre those you know now you can take a train and all that right see on youtube I haven't I haven't been back to Beijing for a while lah I mean my uncle has, my cousin married


some singaporean and uh anyway my uncle has passed away lah that's more than, twenty, uh ya almost twenty years already, this this story so he , it makes you realised that eh they they made an undercut the competition but they are not honest lah they ripping us off because maybe


also we are singaporeans, so we give people impression we are we are loaded ah we are rich, so things like that happened that was a, negative experience ah for sure, because uh of course you know the the overall was still memorable but this was a really


uh, negative thing that has happened out of this trip lah to Beijing my first first trip to Beijing ah so , uh ya it's a head head shaking


highlight of that, of the great wall , ya speaking of #hui xuan# I mean we have been overseas students and as well and, one of the worst ones was actually the time


that led to, me leaving canada, so that was a very I look back it's quite stupid, and uh maybe I was immature, but uh things were


were quite dark ah during those days I mean literally and figuratively, because the the winters are dark right, winters are long and the winters are cold and the winters are dark and that's in vancouver the warmest part of canada


so that was a dark a dark, period where I kind of uh wasn't, quite myself, so I let my student visa okay lah maybe you can say it was a depression period so because I I spent quite a substantial amount of money overseas and


I didn't get the end result so, anyway things got out of hand and uh the visa student visa expired, so instead of going to alberta which is, next to british columbia province


it also takes a bit of travelling and it's winter time, so I did not go to lethbridge to, to do the, visa renewal so I let it expired so when I woke up from my uh


from the is it funk the word ya then when I when I the snap out of it lah ah then I I decide to do something it's already expired, so the, and I made a wrong decision which is to go to seattle


which is in washington state just cross border so when I did that it was really bad because uh well it's supposed to be convenient because you know it's easier to get down to seattle than to


go to alberta in the winter right so, uh I did that and, the it was uh I had to book a overnight stay in a hotel and uh, the make the appointment with the consulate right so


and there's this asian looking lady should be could be mexican could be filipino anyways there's a lot of filipinos in canada I won't be surprised so she was there and she looked at my case and I was telling her the appeal


and she said you are not a bona fide student you spent so many years because of the difficulty to get back into uni right the four four point O GPA clause around in the colleges the uni uh the colleges ah


so so I was stuck for, few years doing all kind of first year courses you name it so anyways she turned down my, uh appeal


ya application and cancelled my visa you know, so that led me high and dry because uh I I'm now in america you know I'm not I'm I'm in the united states I'm not in canada, so


so when I try to go back right, I have thirty days ah, to finalise everything, so in in the end is was actually like you can't go back there as a student but and because I went back over here for alvin's wedding


but the thing was that, , the the people I expected them to be nice to me ah the canadians were really nasty and, especially that lady, who rejected my


oh I actually extended the screen now I can't see you guys, okay anyways uh how do I minimise the


oh okay so uh , when I had to cross the border right uh because I took a coach or something ya I think it was a coach I think greyhound was still operating


then is it still on now not sure, so the, the guard right the guard the american guy he was you know usually when I went to US and the talk, ya


are we okay, ya so the the americans were the people who will really talk tough you know they are big sized and and you know you encounter them in LA in new york and all these, so this guy in washington the the border guard you know


he was looking at my visa he was like oh your is got cancelled right so by right ah you are not I think is like by right you're not supposed to go back to canada , I explained to him the situation


so he let me get back to canada because all my stuff are over there and you know I got to pack up right I got thirty days, so the irony was the the american guy those tough talking, guys were were


helping me, ya they were nicer to me but the the disappointment it was really, I mean seattle is nice lah I mean, and all the buildings are stately but it was quite, quite a dicey thing lah you have to go there and then uh get your visa rejected and that was uh


one of my darkest days ah so, ya no good, good good thing uh this is a experience ah is a experience to take, it with you but uh ya I mean it it wasn't so bad that you go to Guantanamo bay lah ah which is


but it was really, at that point in time and, you know twenties right you know, almost ya around end of twenties, uh that was a a door shut lah ah, so I look back now is not is ya lah it was a very bad experience but uh


but at least I I got got to go home and pack up, ya


bad news upon bad news ah, so any any, thing else that uh, you know


I was going to I was going to tell you another thing but uh, not much time so , things were, uh


uh alibaba, ya


, uh shitty moment so that was a shitty moment


and, was was that recently or


okay, when when they IPO and, a few years later is it


oh, oh


I see, !wah!


I see, so I was probably one of the recipients


ya it, ya oh


[oh] I see, I see


part two, positive experiences, ah, so what's your most positive experience that happened to you I hear wedding bells


think so long ah going to die , oh !huh!


okay okay I like I mentioned uh, uh this year is actually financially positive for me because of the , the the all the relief packages the it it it was literally raining money lah okay it was literally raining money


it's like last year was a drought and then uh I mean ya lah it it literally every month I mean I I feel sorry for the, minister who who, gave us all the aid and then, you know the the results doesn't


reflect , so excuse me so , , ya but it was a, it was a, flowing well it's not his money right is it is our


actually our #ah gong# money so, as well as you know because the president has to take out from the reserves, so, oh is it okay lah as a as a person who don't pay too much tax I


okay so, oh ya oh ya ya, but there was no ERP mah during the circuit breaker you can drive in and out freely


oh it it like like you mentioned karma also it all goes back to you lah, right, so we have to keep sowing ah sowing positive things pay it forward


uh what's a, positive ya that's for me is the, financial uh in fact uh I'm I'm still waiting for another payout, but uh initially is enough to to start the business but it's uh my business is cross border so


it could be it might be a blessing in disguise ah ya the delay anyway, so now I might have to work from home instead of a a shared office so that that could go towards


I mean my house doesn't have aircon so the money could go, towards uh air conditioning the house ah and contributing to uh you know global warming,


I think I think that is the reason why we are growing a uh doing the vertical farming you know, because the CO two is going to the plants and then we going to we going to eat them


rooftop, ya just go to the toilet and then it refertilises the


ya, so this ya so


so she she halved your sorrows and double your joy right and, and tripled your expenses I was just kidding , ah


so she's she's wearing the pants now, uh she's still with the the job the coworking


[orh] okay that's fantastic, okay, ya lah I mean singapore you cannot don't work lah ha if you can work lah so


what uh, uh, ya it's just a, I guess you you, that you have to take a the positive out of the negative lah ah even in in in times like this people are also making money what right


there are people making money I mean there's widespread some a lot of people losing, the jobs and money and shop closing shop even in restaurants I I finally had the time to go to my shopping mall for a korean meal


and they and they disappeared , they got wiped out they got wiped out , so that's the irony


but you you ya, you you can't really prepare ah uh you know what I mean, you you may prepare lah but you you think you are prepared right, right right


okay lah I see so like when the when the student is ready the teacher will appear that kind of thing ah


ya so uh so recently I was uh, asked to do some fundraising because, from my colleague and then uh of course that that could be a positive thing ah I'm not certain because he hasn't got back to me for two weeks almost two weeks already


so, no no no it's a it's something that to do with charity and and also a service providing a service in hospitals, so I'm sure you you you, heard me mention the the your friend's name and all that but uh I I don't know because uh it has to be economically viable lah it cannot


it's making money now based on uh the goodwill of corporations corporations are donating so so they are able to provide the service and look profitable but in the end whether it works out or not uh


well you never know but is something that I'm I'm comfortable in the position wise and uh, something that is uh able to bring in money lah even my set of skills uh so it could be a positive because uh as I mentioned the


business cross border business is now on hold because, uh because of all this uh COVID measures no travelling so , ya is we we need to look at alternatives and


the bright side of things ah because it it could be that you know you are prevented from making a bigger mistake, uh through events and then uh it diverts you to something that maybe is uh more correct for your path lah even for example


I'm uh in NTUC I'm a I'm a union member even though I had not been in those unionised companies for a long time I'm still paying my nine dollars a month and then uh, so finally oh you you too ah


so I've never used I've never used the UTAP so I mean when I was doing the property uh, licence ah which I did not take the exam for I didn't uh actually managed to


use it maybe I use it for the exam I I can't remember but usually it's it's gone to waste ah all these years so all so I will also wondering why am I paying all these union, fees when I'm only getting benefits at the supermarket you know so


so recently there's this uh course that actually covers the entrepreneurship, path so , so is uh deducted okay and then the , what is the skillsfuture now


ya is is it five hundred or one thousand or something like that or for our age group or something, and then you can add uh you can uh, claim that as well as the UTAP so the this entrepreneur course ah


it's practically free ah ya, so, ya they'll pay you for it if like ya union members I think more than ten dollars, so this is not not advertising for them lah because you have to


we also have to be, wise lah because this is a is a it it will pay for the whole course, but it doesn't mean because entrepreneurship is you either fail or you succeed what right so there's no it's not <NEN> ah ah


[orh] there's no guarantee, ah excuse the hokkien, so this, whereas if you like do a course in uh data analysts and all these then, if you are technically inclined and qualify for this there are plenty of jobs more lah right for the PMETs


so you got to look at both sides of the equation ah, whether it's worth your time and whether the deal is really good or too good to be true those kind of thing, uh


you have to commit to a job after that internship or something


ya ya, oh, ah oh, okay


I ya, you have to weigh the pros and cons ah, because uh, because


ya true true


ya so, ya uh like you said right being prepared and all that, so now now is the chance to skill up lah if you, have the time and the chance uh, one more if if they pay for you maybe there are other other kind of thing ah you can ya maybe you can share with me after


afterwards , I , ah you did okay did that with with the at #paya lebar#


okay, but that's for business owner is it, okay so that's


ya so ya is a is a starter lah ah, ya sure


ya good things are meant to be shared, just like this , uh, this is a positive what uh this is a positive thing


because I I haven't talked to you for a while you know, like one on one to one, one to one uh so that that, , is a is a great incentive to talk to


to each other yes, yes referral program,


ya there's , other, I I tell you something funny I was doing a gig right uh for some stat board lah ah in hawker centres


so things were going well but uh there were pressures ah to, do certain things so I'm the I was the supervisor, so, so because of the this social distancing thing came coming in


that was before circuit breaker lah so, so , uh we are supposed to do something fun lah you know promote something, healthy related lah ah I I can't divulge too too specifically but


so, in the end I was I was the one doing the work this because I'm a salesy guy right so when I'm supposed to be supervising because my my millennials were, not too uh proactive ah in their role for the manager so I I had to do it myself and then uh it came to a point where because of this social distancing measures for safety reasons ah I have to deny some


kid lah with the parent something that they used to be able to do freely to win the, to win something you know and then you, get the impartation of, knowledge so, the parent was


maybe I came across too abruptly so, the parent was very upset, because the other child could do it, and now this child couldn't, so I said oh is my uh subordinate's fault because I was told she was told not to allow it but


she did lah so I could have closed an eye so anyways, , what what happened was she made a formal complaint and returned all the goodies that she won , the earlier rounds


so uh it became like a very bad thing for me, so because you know I still had a few more stints, uh so I wasn't sure I was going to get fired or not bit but then it is a part time job ah so it wasn't a full time thing but I was trying to help the company get a


renewal of contract you see, so the long and short of it was that, suddenly after that incident a week or two later the, all the all the gigs were cancelled because of the difficulty in enforcing the social distancing then I was pretty


pre circuit breaker ah so ya and then in the end the positive was that I got compensated more than I you know in terms of job loss ah, ya so so for being


being a, ya I can't use the language ah but anyway, so, for something that is bad, apparently that was coming at me and you know the rice bowl ah you know break your rice bowl and then suddenly


this, ya the silver lining was greater than, the uh than the loss of income so that was crazy I mean it's been a crazy year lah ah, so ya a lot to a lot of


things to look back on ah, when you, when this is over, ya, ya exactly game changer changing of seats musical chairs


the new the new new normal, hopefully it works for us [ah], ya


dan thumbs up, part one financial related topic, okay, ya


so okay lah long time no see ya now finally see you on screen, ya lor


!huh! oh playing games work related matters , ya trying to, trying to squeeze as much time as I can to do stuff lah


ah quite quite a lot actually uh in the beginning of the COVID, uh this become a discussion on COVID I wonder if that's valid, but uh okay, uh I did, what happened was that (oo) relating it back to investment ah what happened was that uh a lot of investors pull out of one of my project so uh in fact uh I pretty much lost my business for entire year lor so uh ya so ya so I had I'm working on some other projects which are smaller


and uh uh most of them are not uh making any immediate money lah, I I was related ya working on something related to uh what you call LMS which is uh


uh what do you call that , uh learning learning management systems, ya ya ya, now lah


the thing is they favour uh they favour certain vendors so that the smaller vendors like us don't get the chance


so they hoard a lot of toilet paper too ah right, so so we have to we probably have to invest on uh toilet paper and uh instant noodles at this point of time right


I see


well unfortunately not lah, unfortunately not also ya so that's why government also have to lend a hand, ya no not really not really I was rejected twice uh for the for the assistance actually


uh ya ya ya you got I didn't


oh, by giving you a job, by giving you a job, oh okay


I think I'm more more or less a I can't say I can't say I'm truly a spender because when I see something, I want then I would buy it but uh, after a lot of consideration lah like for example I was thinking of buying a samsung phone but then uh taking a look at the other kind of expenses which I need to bear I don't think uh I don't think I can spend that amount of money so I will just wait for it lor (ppc)


besides the, besides I wasn't given the nine K mah so , I know , !hey! even if it's not much ya ya even if it's not much ya I know


I know what you mean, richer


okay, seriously ah


oh okay okay understand oh I also I actually I also bought a recliner for my dad what a coincidence ya, uh but I didn't I didn't use lazada I think I I bought it from another uh I think it was Taobao, !oops! sorry we're we're supposed to use


english ya, ya but


ah no no no didn't even have a chance to do that yet uh, just waiting for the right time to apply lah, ya, not yet but ya well ya with the is a two room flat lah


okay looking at luxury condo lah that's why, but I I, [orh] ya okay


ya, ya true correct ya I agree


uh, I think I think a week ago also uh one of the one of the stocks I was holding onto because it was a actually a stock option lah they actually went up, ya so I had a hard time trying to decide whether I should so now or not because is like


it's uh after five years is the highest spike that it was but because uh probably there wasn't much uh, solid ah solid, knowledge I had to ask around lah but even if even when I ask around uh


some of them uh, also can't help me very much so I had I have to basically try to analyse it using the technical analysis to see, ya


supposedly lah cause because this is the only uh only indicator, I think previously ah there was there was a time where actually I I did invest in a lot, more stocks and then I was watching the warrants and things like uh


I don't go for dollar cost averaging and all that stuff because I I basically was going for the high risk return ah like buy low sell high, and for a short time I was able to do


quite well uh or moderately well, uh using warrants but then, after a while ah I think they change the rules or something like that warrants didn't become so profitable anymore and uh because there was one time where I lost quite a lot of money


then uh, and that was that was actually that's actually on impulse like most most of the time right if I if I invest using the using the method I was investing, more or less I can get by but then there was one time where there's some news about alibaba coming out on IPO on the hong kong market


then oh, well if I call you then you will be even more penniless right now , ya at that time there was uh there was alibaba going IPO uh we just bought lah then there was a there was a market rush to buy all of it


and the very next day after I bought or even even not the very next day, the few even like, uh maybe an hour later it just start going down and it and it went down all the way so that's where I've lost my first uh pot of gold


the point was I didn't have a pot of gold but I lost a pot of gold so you you can see uh where that led me lah, ya yes


I was in a debt so because of that ya because of that then uh I kind of like uh give up not really give up ah ya but more or less I kind of like uh stop investing a lot already


oh you still have ah , I don't even know if I still have it leh , or maybe it was cashed out a long time ago or maybe they sold it for us I'm not sure


!oops! I think my phone, the, uh no not the battery the screen saver actually went on


yes the timer stopped, okay, computer recording, yes it's still running


so I don't need to uh continue okay okay sure


understand sure ya, I think ya funny thing about this is just a personal thing lah but, after investing here and investing there that that I I kinda like thought maybe investing is not that uh


uh I'm not that strong in I'm not that strong in investing lah but then and another thing also that affected me was like, when you look at all those people investing and then all the money that goes in and some people lose some people win that kind of thing then then it becomes a little bit like uh thinking of the effects of


uh karma, like uh if you didn't if you didn't actually, build it enough or if you didn't it it actually accumulate enough uh so so called, karma then you probably will not be able to get anything out of there as well some people have that kind of karma so they will


they will earn from there lah, that's just a personal opinion ah , ya some people have that kind of like uh


accumulation lah you might say


ya, ya agree


, yup, ya uh


part three negative experiences, okay so


I guess on this topic I can probably start first, , there was there was a time where uh I was forced to change my plans ah against my will ah


uh that was that was when I was planning that was when I was actually in in india then ya I was in india, !huh!, you wanted to go


well anyways, yes, no uh this one was just to india and I went to uh Dharamsala lah, so what happened was that uh


we of course lah we do our homework we, read up on all the like guidebooks and everything, then we prepare thoroughly already then, uh ya lah even book the hotel not not oh okay at that time ah it was it was not uh internet digital booking age yet so it's like you call the hotel you say ya I'll be coming that kind of thing then you go to the hotel uh you go to the airport


then you will look for the taxis and say oh ya this one I seem to have read about you have to avoid these taxis and go to these taxis but then booked a taxi and then tell him okay this is the hotel we want to go to so this was about eleven PM at night


uh after arriving at the airport is already around eleven PM at night so you're driving along with, this indian uh man the one of the local taxi drivers and then uh halfway he stopped by a, uh a building


uh, ya an office building which the lights were out and everything so he go in wake up that guy inside there and then he says ya uh, it's it's supposed to be a so called tourist, info, uh office tourist information office and there are a lot of them ins in in india


and then uh so this guy supposedly got on the phone spoke and spoke to somebody on the other side who say who was the hotel person ah, then he say oh all all booking full all booking full all booking full and I say oh can can can you help me call this person then all booking full but of course lah the voice at the other side is always the same one


so it's actually a scam ah so ya is a scam so so so basically that guy brought me there and try to convince me that the or the the hotel I was trying to go to is full already and then uh, he took me he took me near there he didn't actually bring it bring me in


into the place he says okay you walk there yourself because I don't want to go in I'm afraid of going in because this area is very bad, that's what that's what that's what he says lah but of course !wah! first night in first night in india


first time I was travelling uh alone that in that way then in the middle of the night then being dropped off by this taxi uncle uncle who's telling you something like this so, of course lah I Chuak lah uh I don't feel very comfortable in in going


so he he then say okay lah I take you to other places then we went around uh places by places in the other hotels and then finally settled in one of the more expensive ones lah and then he was expecting some kind of commission ah but then of course I didn't give him ah


so that was one of the that was one of the time where I uh had my plans so called derailed, ya, ya I was struggling at that time uh alone at that time to meet up with uh another friend that was uh later part of the journey


it was it was ya it was kind of a downer lah ya it was, an interesting experience to the very start of the journey uh was like that already, but good thing is later on there's uh up and downs lah


but ya ya, in my mind at that time I was just wondering uh what's going what's going to happen next and uh whether uh they will actually kind of cut out one of my kidneys in uh it like one of those horror stories or not


ya so it was , and I was wondering like what was this guy's uh what does this guy have to do with this hotel the guide one of the one of the guys living in the hotel or working in the hotel tells tells me that uh that guy has nothing to do with this hotel but uh at that time of course like I don't know what to believe


so I also didn't take their word, for it lah so that was one of the more interesting episodes, ya


ya,


that's true ,


(mmhmm)


, !wah! seriously ah


ya, oh,


, ya , (mmhmm), , (mmhmm)


depression [orh], ya ,


(mmhmm) , ya, , application ah ya appeal lor


yup ya


I I think might have closed, no my app is still open ya yup yup


, , ya


, (mmhmm)


ya ya, yup , are nicer to you


, that would have been damn scary man, I wouldn't have imagined ya I wouldn't have imagined how I'd deal with that


ya ya


ya, ya that was pretty harrowing actually, uh imagine, I can't imagine like uh, what you had to what you had to


, what do you have to tell your family and all that stuff and you had to go back like this, that must have been kinda like, !wow! terrible ya ya


well


I think I think, ya, one of the times I also felt like uh utterly helpless and then uh, no one to turn to was when I when I lost that amount of money when uh


when I did that impulse trading lah ya on the on the alibaba stock, then I guess at that time at that time it was like uh my family the rest of my family were holidaying in, in in, australia then I have to cut my trip short come back


then it was, it was totally feeling like a, I was, a disgrace and I was really like uh wasted all the effort that my parents gave me and that was really


one of the lowest point of my life lah like I was sitting in the toilet and then crying ah, that was a shitty moment and, ya it was it was like, uh, they spent all the money on me educating me taking care of me all all this time my sister was working


and then they didn't have one of my sister didn't have the benefit of uh being educated, in in a university I got the chance to do that and then eventually uh all the effort they put inside me was kind of like uh let down to the moment where I realised I really


uh, was pretty low , no that was that was around uh two thousand plus, ya that's around two thousand plus and then


ya, ya uh when they IPOed, it it it was at exactly at the time when they IPOed when they IPOed then the stocks spiked and then went down low I just took a took a very bad bet


and borrowed money not borrowed money I just bet bet against credit, then to, make the make the trade, then it didn't end up it didn't end up well at all, so that was a huge loss, and I also at that at that period of time I was very negative I was like very nasty and uh I was very


bad to anyone uh anyone who came in contact with me like uh I was very demanding very nasty like I will just, lash out at anyone so , (hmm) not sure whether you were maybe


can't remember that that that, period of time the few months after that trade thing right went by as a blur ah I can't even remember how I, managed to go through like uh, but one of the things which kind of snap back was


(um) some guy telling me that he lost five times more money than me [ah], then then it kind of give me some perspective anyway I think time's up


then okay, part two positive experiences, okay


!huh! most, , eh, personal letter,


, how about you start first how about you start first, oh


(hmm) , why you feel sorry for the minister why you feel sorry for the minister


is is actually our money, not our #ah gong's# money , ya the reserves come from us mah you know


okay as I agree , but then there's GST there's also uh ERP that kind of thing [orh]


ya, is accumulation of uh how many years of uh our ERP ah or those drivers' ERP lor


ya ya, ya


, ah


, ya ya the goes to the head of the world


ya, ya, I just hope that we can grow enough plants fast enough to replace the one that we lost, oh ya ya


you need a super plant in order to outgrow all the things that we are damaging but that's that's that's more negative than positive, (hmm)


I guess I guess ya it is true one of the most one of the more positive experience I have is actually uh, marrying my current wife I don't I think in a way I don't really know if I'll get married or not or didn't expect to get married or that kind of stuff but then ya lah so one of the more


positive experience was actually uh, marrying my wife last year, so that was that was that was interesting, uh


, kind of, kind of you if if you mix that around then it will be a more truer picture,


ya ya you might say so, business is bad for me, so ya ya


so ya lah in a way like uh ya lah in way that helps a lot also during this time lah, ya, ya


that's true, positive experiences


(mmhmm) that's true ya, actually ya, ya


, and they disappeared


ya that's the that's the sad thing about it ya there are people who prosper during this time there are people who don't prosper there are people who prosper because they are in in a in a, good position they prepared and then they are prepared to seize the opportunity as well so that's uh you can say that's a karma they have for preparing


I think ya, oh


that's true like the, what what what I'm saying is is not really a preparation as preparing the things in order to do a specific thing but, more uh preparing your frame of mind preparing your whole, attitude mentality habits and things like that


that kind of thing ya , yes correct, ya


!huh!, (mmhmm) what he he take that money and run away


ah okay, ah okay , ya


the increased demand ah (mmhmm) , ya


(mmhmm) , oh ya,


(mmhmm), (mmhmm)


ya, (mmhmm) same here , ya me too


ya ,


ya, !wah!


ya, right


, ya correct, they even pay you for it right to attend, ya


ya


ya ya, actually ah do you do you know of the one where you uh I think it's called SG uh united or SG assist or something like that they they actually pay you a thousand two hundred per month for taking up a course but it's a full time thing


uh if they can find one for you but I I'm not sure whether they can find one for you or not uh they'll they say they'll try but of course you like you say is no guarantee lah, and


ya for that one ah, I I actually wanted to take but uh because I am a so called business owner then the criteria is that I don't qualify, so it seems like ya there's a lot of place I'm not uh able to qualify kind of silly isn't it but uh ya


ya that's true that's true but then I guess in and and like I guess part part of it is like you say lah you have to uh, maybe some things diverts you towards uh a more positive outcome


and uh maybe maybe at this time I'm supposed to actually concentrate on something else like building certain skills so, ya , ya


ya ya, ya, sure ya in fact ya ya I uh uh ya I took like a like you I also took a digital marketing course


ya, uh ya so that one was uh that one was on that one was with a one organisation but it's just a two day course two or three day course so it wasn't really that


uh no for SEPs or anyone ah anyone can take it but they they pay you the same, ya uh, that one was a little bit too over uh, is is not too deep


it's not detailed enough that you can practise with but it gives you basics lah, uh ya, but I guess I says, ya, I guess is is is quite wide uh it's quite suitable for you as well I will I will send it send the details to you later on


(hmm) sure ya, yup ya ya, I think talking talking about positive things ah I think one uh I I remember the time, ya I remember a


ya it is, ya lor yes, and this this is a great opportunity actually like uh we haven't we haven't actually talked to each other for for a while and then


ya, , okay how about let's hook up all our friends , and then and then and then ah and then see ya


ya, it's it's uh it's also nice to catch up on uh like what what what has been going on ah and then uh I think it's nice because


ya , , !wah! okay


ya, ,


ya, ya


(mmhmm)


!wow!, ,


, I see


COVID lah, oh,


okay (hmm) ,


there's a silver lining somewhere, ya, ya ya


ya I think so too, this will be the year that you know the a game changer year, , that's what a lot, that's what a lot of experts have been talking about lah every every the world is changed now


and everything is gonna be different after this the new normal here, ya


clap, financial related topic


ah okay okay so, okay so cheryl how do you invest your money to accumulate wealth and plan for your retirement


ya, ah


(mmhmm), ya actually for me too I don't buy any shares whatsoever so what I did was I get my financial planner to help me invest, uh through


CPF investment also and then also insurance lah those that can help to, long term help to grow my wealth ya


correct, (mmhmm)


ya okay but then again you have to really believe your financial planner lah if he's really doing his or her job,


(mmhmm), okay so ah, uh at


I think it all depends on, uh for me I will, ask them whether they have been savings lah honestly because if they have not been saving for those big ticket items right then whether is it really necessary for them to do it, but of course when we come about talking about starting a family right then my view is a bit different lah it though yes we know starting a family requires a lot of money


but I always tell my friends all that it all, I mean if you all work towards it it can be done rather than always think uh you know you need to have money before you can do it, if not then by the time they were already want to do is a bit too late lah ya


, ya correct


ya, , ya that's right like but things like buying a car or a house I mean if it's not I mean like a car if it's really not necessary then I don't think they should spend beyond their means ah unless this is something that they have


the means to, pay for, because it's not cheap to maintain one and then it's a necessity for them that's what I feel lah


ya, ya that's true, (uh huh), okay


ya then cheryl for this uh how do you manage your financial commitment before and after your marriage


(mmhmm), oh okay, (uh huh)


oh, okay but then would there be any like argument in terms of like eh whose portion is bigger than whose portion


ah,


uh, okay but if let's say you have issues like maybe if either one of you have problems paying for your portion right the I mean you're open to asking the other person too, chip in right


okay , ya, correct


ah, ya, okay


, true


, yup ah okay okay okay, then ah, ya


I think I've been saving more, definitely because you know ever since COVID started right we are not really allowed to go anywhere else, staying home most of the time so I really save a lot in terms of like , socialising expenditures ah ya because before COVID I have I always you know almost every other day will be out whether is it for meetings or but after meetings I'll also be meeting friends you know to catch up and all that so but because of this COVID uh


a lot of these meetings became virtual ones so there's really no need for me to step out, I don't spend money on transportation and all that, and I think in time to come also because times are tough so, definitely spending wise will still spend but would not be as extravagant or


as uh, ya before COVID lah ya what about you eh


okay, okay


okay ya after COVID, okay


(uh huh) (uh huh), !wah!


okay, ,


ya, ya that's true


, actually ah, (hmm)


oh ya that's true, ya so I mean the the because of the pay cut, uh the savings is definitely not as much, ya, but then that also allow that also uh did not allow us to spend as much because of the pay cut


ya ya correct, uh


yes, correct ya,


price right ya correct so that's the same for me too like when I meet up with friends they they suggest to meet up I first thing to them is okay let's go somewhere that's non air conditioned and then let's go somewhere that is cheap you know don't don't we don't need to spend unnecessarily and in the past I mean


in the past if I were to suggest that I wouldn't even suggest that lah and then my friends also would not because we will tend to go to nice cafes and whatnot, so now for me suggesting at first I'll be wondering whether my friends are okay but when I suggested they all also like ya ya ya let's go somewhere that you know don't need to spend so much money so it's like everybody ya


correct that's right,


correct, ya how the situation would change right correct


okay, okay so what do you think of, FIRE financial independence retire early and how we can achieve that financial independence,


okay, (hmm), (mmhmm)


ya, (mmhmm)


, yup


yup, true


uh ya, actually it's true uh so far I I do have some friends who retire early lah


but I think uh they have the capability of doing so because firstly either they come from uh quite a well to do family so they really have the kind of means, uh secondly is maybe some of them do business lah so they earn quite a bit then they decided that you know I have enough then I just want to take it easy


ya, so I I think it's in relations lah in terms of financial independence unless like what you say you do , investments and all that but you must be very savvy in investment in order to to manage to retire early but I also think that in terms of retirement it's also very different well meaning for different people


ya some of them retirement is I just don't want to do a full time job you know but I still want to work maybe just, do some odd jobs according to what I want to do just to while my time away so to them that is also considered a retirement that means they don't need to report to work every single day


ya, so ya lor so I think it, ya so when one person say they want to have financial independence retire early I think it all depends on what is their definition of retirement first


you know, ya, correct ya so you just work to all your time away to gain new experiences but not for the money lah


ya, uh credit card it depends eh, I mean, I personally feel after owning last time used to own a few credit cards right then my friends always tell me it's good to have credit card then you have enjoy all the different promotion all the different rebates and all that


but after a while I realised for me personally I don't really make use of all these rebates so to me ah it's not much of a difference, but then uh what I realised is that you know credit card you spend without realising you're spending so much and then when the bill comes !wah! I get a shock then have to like !aiya! okay how much of my salary now goes into the spending and all that and most of the time when I look back is quite


unnecessary spending that you buy on impulse so now when I cut back on the number of credit card I have right then I realise that a lot of things before I buy I would think twice, so I think whether you want to own a credit card really depends on how well you can control yourself for me once I I cannot control lah if I see something I like I will buy so with a credit card ah that it is more you know dangerous for me ya


so if if but if a person like some of my friends that are really very prudent and they know they can control and they really know how to use the system then okay I think with a credit card right they are able to maximise the the benefits of it lah, ya


but what what about you what do you think


, ah ya


, okay, ah


okay,


okay, ya


correct, ya ya ya ya ya


ya ya, ya that's true


ya ya that's true


yup, negative experiences, okay, ya


what gave, goosebumps ah I don't think recently I have anything, that really gave me goosebumps but the one recent news that I watched was the you know the the lebanon blast


ya that that was quite upsetting to see because that whole incident could be avoided correct, so knowing that it could be avoided but because of corruption in the politics in the government and all that right leading to so many loss of life unnecessarily is quite upsetting lah ya


what about you, oh okay I see


, (uh huh), no I did not


okay alright, ya


correct , okay


ya, okay oh interesting


ya, ya


I just feel that uh it's not safe lah to do one person round island at in the evening whether is it cause of supernatural things or what it's just for safety reasons one person is not recommended that's what I feel lah ya


okay so is there anything that made you very angry before, ya


ah, any person or, ya okay anything that disgust you then


(uh huh), ,


, oh, but maybe not moment eh in general is there anything that disgust you


, hypocrites lah basically ya, same uh I do not like uh I mean I find hypocrites very disgusting I also do not like people who just think about themself and don't care for other people when it comes to like maybe certain situations that requires bigger picture


, what disgust me ah disgust, that people narrow minded people lah in general, who only thinks that their way of thinking is the only way, ya and not willing to listen to other people's point of view, ya


(uh huh)


!wah! this is a very big topic to discuss about, ya I think one thing is uh, it the world needs to do more about it, !wah! a lot of things you know like for me okay I know climate change is one huge topic now lah but for me I think what


I feel the world needs to do more about is to be more empathetic and understanding towards other races culture and religion lah, ya because I find that there's just too many conflicts going on about this kind issues also at the moment ya just because


you look differently from me or you think differently from me or we believe in different religion that doesn't make you more superior to me you know or me more superior to you it's just that we we we we just understand or we believe in different thing but we can still learn to mutually respect one another


ya, correct


ya that's true, ya ya ya that's true that's true


ya my other toys with you correct, ya that's true


, ya, ya


(mmhmm), ya, the true ya


a lot of issues are man made yes, ya that's true, (hmm) I I agree ya


uh I think, for me for me I for me lah I would think that I would know, whether in the business point of view whether borders will open how soon it will open and all and whether it is even once th borders are open is it really safe to travel


ya unless there is a proper vaccine being developed that has no side effects whatsoever and can really help in the the virus right then I feel that you will give people the peace of mind to finally travel again


because travel all the while has is not a necessity it's a luxury ya so if you want to prioritise health over travel I think everybody would prioritise their own health, ya so that is one of the worries that I have lah it


not only just travel just in general you know because if without a vaccine when you go out you do not know whoever you meet does that person have a virus and will it spread to you and spread to you is okay but what about to know from you who else you spread it onto there's more worrying


, yes


correct that's right ya so there's , ya and in new zealand, correct


I mean lockdown is one thing but we really cannot afford to fall sick and then pass the virus around, ya especially to you know elderly parents or young children,


what frustrates me uh when managing my dragonboat team, uh that's super frustrating, ya, because it is it when you manage a, team of like sixty people everybody has their own everybody wants their own say and nobody wants to think of the team in a bigger picture there's really frustrating and it makes you wonder why is it called a team if there's no teamwork involved


ya, so that is one , one one area lah that frustrates me but at the same time you know the sport is also, uh, pretty enjoyable so it's like okay so there's a good and bad towards that sport lah


ah correct


ya that's true ya,


ya correct


ya that's true that's true, , correct


ya not in the open ya correct,


correct because we


ya, yup, ya that's true and then rather than giving constructive feedback ah what people like to do is just to complain air their grievances but they don't give uh ideas on how to do better like they are not happy with the management with the government all that right they could do their part in helping


but instead no they just rather do lip service and complain complain complain and hope you do something about it


correct, ya that's true and


, ya, ya correct and it's so funny you know we actually had a a zoom meeting ah because of all these unhappy chatter


so we had a zoom meeting the zoom meeting did relatively well and those people who are unhappy right they would kept very quiet, so it's like, okay on ya keyboard warriors lah so when you're typing out right !whoa! all that you are going all out just to make us look very bad then when we finally have a chance face to face to meet up and talk right suddenly you're very quiet


suddenly you you say things that are okay make sense uh give some suggestions here and there but all this could be done in via chat so the chat doesn't need to be very hostile to begin with, ya so it just makes me wonder lah what's the the


you know what's the endgame what's the motive for all these people lor, ya, correct just twenty percent of them could affect the whole morale you know, but, whether is it a company a team whatever ya so that twenty percent even though it's a small number it's also a very potent number


ya, ya, correct, correct ya


okay cheryl what is your, ah ya okay, I okay, !wah!


, too angry to watch ah ya I don't don't cannot recall leh I really uh, too angry to watch, no usually there is nothing that really makes me very I mean I I will continue watching lah even though angry and then I'll just keep scolding and scolding ah but if it's too gory like those kind of


uh, massacre scenes or whatsoever, right, then then that will be too upsetting for me to to watch because I cannot stomach it ya, ya, because they always tend to film it quite, realistically lah ya uh


okay then cheryl what is your greatest fear , (uh huh) ya


(uh huh), any, and


any reason why ah, is there any reason why like suddenly like we when do you realise that you you have a fear of all these scaly animals


okay, ah, ah ya ya ya that's true


I don't like flying cockroach, normal cockroach I I still can can okay with it because I you know you roughly know where they're going then you know how to avoid them, but flying cockroach you never know where they're flying, so that is even more scary for me


ya I I don't like it, (uh huh)


and how to , , what about you what's your phobia, ya, then


yes, ah okay okay that sinking feeling ya


okay, ah okay, I see, I also have a, ya how did you overcome it


!wah! [oh] I see (ppl), okay, okay


positive experiences, okay ya


ya that's true


right it's very hard leh I mean travel experiences that left me in awe each time you, travel right is a privilege uh I feel and then each time we travel even to the same places we're always exposed to different things, but I think maybe if I want to


placed it uh perhaps I share my first, okay me perhaps I share my first hiking trip that I led overseas on my own which is the the Fansipan one ya because that trip right as we we know I mean all our previous trips uh usually we will have a friend to help to plan or operator


this and that whereas this one is kind of a semi arrange self arrange kind of, trip because we have to book alone like hotels all that we book on ourself the hike operator arrange ourselves so there's a lot of stress


before the trip because wondering whether will everything fall into place nicely or not because sometimes when you plan nicely on paper ah paper is one thing but, actual, trip might be a different story you know so there's a lot of worries, behind the scenes but surprisingly when I was there I feel


I'm very lucky lah everything fell into place you know nicely and then uh the members all enjoyed themselves even when the hike, on the morning where we are supposed to go for the hike it was raining heavily so even that was also a concern but the moment we started our hike right the rain subsided and eventually stopped and we had one of the best view best weather during the entire hiking two days one night hike