it said how we have come to think so lightly, of uh this kind of issues, that perhaps uh can be felt more by by the minority groups compared to those in the majority yeah but


uh having this situation placed in the spotlight uh helps us understand ah that uh we need change and change will be difficult especially since this whole idea of


joking about ourselves joking about friends has been sown into, the social fabric for quite a while already, uh and therefore needs a lot of work yeah, so I think in that sense uh yes racism is definitely one thing that uh might not I wouldn't say makes me angry but makes me wonder how good we actually think we're and how good we actually are


yeah (ppc), yeah


more works


, I think one one that was embarrassing but funny also uh was was a time in army uh so


previously I said there was this period of time when uh, that I I wasn't eating properly in a sense like for period of time for a few weeks, wasn't because I don't want to eat but rather because like the instructors uh limited our food in take so actually there was this time where I was so desperate


after training uh right outside the instructor's office there was this clean dustbin cleaner I have to emphasize clean and clean trash bag and there was packed with food inside, in boxes the trash bag is clean the trash bin is clean and so on so in my hunger actually opened up the trash bin and took some food and


so I thought that was the end of it right like you associate by hunger but I actually got caught for it and because they wanted to restrict your food intake uh, ya being caught red handed that means I actually committed like some offence ah so it was embarrassing because for me like I had to stoop so low


just to get some food uh and yet I still got punished for it yeah so I thought that was that was stupid, yeah (hmm)


what keeps me awake at night, , yeah (hmm)


yeah I think stress and work related stuff it's like sometimes you look back and you're eating like what could have done better in that day or what emotions could have dealt with better, yeah err, yeah I think in terms of technical problems it is one cause there is the fear and need for you to as a student or whoever to solve those issues but uh I think the emotional ones otherwise at stay for longer because even after the situation has over sometimes you still think about it


positive experiences


(hmm)


(ppc)


yeah


, I think in terms of food probably parents, cause after as in after circuit the circuit breaker uh instead of staying in school I actually moved back home yeah so uh most of my foods was I mean it's cooked by cooked by my parents lah my mum


so I mean uh for her to be able to cook decently and do not always uh, like !chey! so boring like standard school food yeah guess I'm quite appreciative of that it's like it comes at your ease right like you can be doing work and then uh when you just wanna take a break


there's food over there already compared to if you have to queue up for food previously uh during this whole period actually I also increase, uh my food delivery orders, cause usually I I don't order food delivery I mean it's pricey and then uh you also have to pay for the delivery cost


but uh I think was just an experience and the thing I'm grateful for it also because sometimes you just want to change a environment especially when you can't go out sometimes like some signs or some something that that can comfort is like food lah


yeah and so food is a very important to to me and uh ya so that's that's in terms of food, and I think in in terms of healthcare also I'm quite grateful for how well singapore has or singapore's healthcare system has dealt with this whole COVID situation I think in terms of


uh the number of cases even though is not the best uh even though we are relatively high but then again I would say that, coming from a country that is so uh high in population density uh it's quite inevitable that the spread of these diseases will be quite fast but


I think other than that , mainly the migrant worker dormitory was affected, yeah and it's not to say that it that the government didn't didn't try or what uh I think there's many different social issues that were brought to light and this whole COVID situation and it's good that we get to discuss and we get to know about it at least we're not ignorant


and you can see the people actually care but I think the more important one uh is, is how we are able to keep the number of, uh COVID there's low, and also to do the contact tracing ya I think in terms of technology I'm quite grateful of how they were able to come up with the contact trace uh app


self so quickly and they're able to uh gather people support to use it so actually I was communicating with my exchange friends who came over to singapore to study (ppc) and they were quite surprise that even though


uh it can be seen as the government robbing us, of our rights to to go out to do anything we want but yet they were able to see that the citizens ourselves were uh in a sense trusting the government and being able to


uh carry out whatever uh decisions that were made by them because the people know that the government made the choice in the the best interests of the seasons and did themselves were quite


, I mean I I guess they were quite exposed and they were like !wah! singapore so good you know, ya because I guess where they're from they're bit more liberal some of them come from european countries uh I've got some friends from canada and even for them like for you to to say that oh I want you to stay in I want you to like adhere to the lock-down it's quite hard for them as well


ya but then I guess in singapore uh to get to where we are oh am I drifting into politics now , uh, I guess uh yeah some things need to be done lah for us to be able to progress so quickly in such a short period of time yeah so I'm quite grateful for how the the whole system set up to to help their people uh grow in the shortest period of time and to be able to have a system that is reliable


yeah (ppc)


yeah yeah,


persevere, I think in general it's like we're all walking towards a certain goal and we know that to reach that goal sometimes these things aren't attained so easily and you have to put in hard work you have to sacrifice and so on but and when you're suffering of course it sucks lah


but knowing that there's a better end go out there definitely makes the whole process a bit more worthwhile if you can see that angle, yeah


, (mmhmm)


, yeah yeah yeah


I think also knowing that this whole pain and all has a purpose, of molding and shaping you into a better person in terms of achieving your goals and so on, yeah (mmhmm) yeah


you've done a full marathon before or, same ah same (mmhmm) boring yeah yeah yeah (mmhmm)


ya I mean okay lah, if I'm running on the track and doing the same old laps over and over again ya it's quite boring but if I say for example if I run out then you're for me like I'm quite surprised at how far my legs can take me and like you can enjoy the scenery and all while you're running


ya so that's something I look forward to sometimes for trainings,


yeah it's boring twenty five rounds, yeah yeah (ppc)


group meetings for me, yeah


yes fairly , yes yeah imagine your your face just getting oily and all


yeah, but actually I I guess like COVID in a way helps to speed up like the way


companies look at working from home, I mean we all kinda knew that technology can breach such a gap but we always felt that uh maybe you can leave it to later because seeing each seeing people face to face might actually be more productive in terms of your interactions and so on but I guess during this whole time we're forced into such a


situation where we learnt that uh I mean even when we don't have that choice we're still able to operate in a certain manner and perhaps for some people their productivity even increase because they save time from travelling, and uh they can do a lot of things in the comfort of their homes where perhaps they even have better facilities or infrastructure at home say for example if they have more powerful internet or like extra screen all this will definitely help in multiplying your productivity


yup, yeah


yeah , (mmhmm)


yeah


oh actually right I mean back to a bit about finance or like investment uh, so when during the I think halfway through COVID during like march april period uh actually somebody can't remember who did interview on razer boss uh <P2>tan min liang</P2> right


yeah in the gaming industry so previously you were saying that I mean he knows that his products are good lah, right currently I think his company is valued but one billion is it or something like that I know he's a multi millionaire uh yeah and so you are saying that he kind of knows like based on the trajectory of his company's past successes


that they knew that they were going to like continue going up, but the whole COVID situation turn it to like fast pace this progress because everybody is now stuck at home for those people who are not working and have nothing there to do they just spend their time on netflix time gaming


and when spend time on gaming you definitely want to invest in better equipment right so maybe companies like say secret lab I'm thinking that they would probably have an increase in sales as well because people want more comfortable chairs, people want better equipment in terms of screens and all so now you talking about prism computers uh which are being pushed out uh better technology cheaper price but also increase in sales


compared to dell HP and so on and for razer itself I think there's also different products that are pushed even though there was this whole COVID situation so actually for this companies COVID even make the situation better for them


yeah yup


I think it's all subjective depending on the period of time when you probably never eaten so in army there was this period of time that I never eat didn't really eat, for prolonged like few weeks and all yeah so the first meal was super good but I can't remember what that was


(ppl) yeah (uh huh)


financial related topics,


uh yeah I think uh cryptocurrencies are actually a very uh a new new technology in the market I think is definitely has a lot of potential to grow uh in the market you know uh lately in the news has been some talk, once in awhile there's some talk about cryptocurrencies ah how about yourself


yup yup yup


for sure it's interesting you bring it up uh about the uh, uh mining processing the way they they certify transactions uh some cryptocurrencies I heard that are moving from uh mining which is proof of work to prove of stake so eventually you will no longer need these computers to actually uh certify these transactions online yeah


you just be able to hold a certain amount for certain assets and the they will continue to, ya you just replace the the mining, ya, how about stock market, do you invest in the stock market


yeah I don't think we need to cover everything we can just jump around and the, yup


yeah uh I I do agree with you it is actually a a couple of months ago in march we had a market crash uh due to lot of fear of the uh COVID situation, uh which I think hit america in in march, and the


and the you know the donald trump has uh done different uh, measures to actually help boost the market and and different things like that so I think that has gone well we have got pretty good recovery but uh we are nearing the all time high of these markets which is


uh, not the wisest time to invest because it's at the highest but I do, agree with you that uh I think people our age uh do actually want to look for potential investments potential opportunities to grow our money uh like what you said uh inflation is


is a, is is is is, there and the our salaries do not increase as fast as inflation does so it's definitely a good opportunity to for us to actually grow our money to at least uh beat inflation yeah


I think, for for traditional markets there are a lot of uh, a lot of fundamentals which you can look at


uh, for example if you're looking at the tesla you can look at, uh a lot of potential growth in terms of the autonomous driving for example you know uh so these are things that may drive the stock prices higher tesla has also been extremely volatile


uh hitting all time high of like thousand three hundred US dollars recently and, and uh there are a lot of factors that play to this however there's also a technical analysis point of view where if you looked at the charts and moving averages and different uh things that indicators you can actually use for this uh it's a whole different side of it lah I think uh generally you may want to


uh look at a basket of companies for example the S&P or the dow jones where uh it covers a a group of companies so in case one does well and one doesn't you still get, average, price kind of thing is not affected too much ah compared to if you invest uh hundred percent of your income into a certain specific uh stock or share yeah


so definitely some fundamentals and some good technical analysis uh and of course long term growth as well, yes, I'm not too familiar with this I cannot give you a a answer but uh generally I think S&P is is a basket for like fifty companies which which spread across different uh


is that S S&P, or five hundred companies maybe yeah, so ya maybe wrong that so, at least like like what I mentioned you know a basket of companies to make it a bit more safer for investors that they have the confidence that when one one sector goes down you know other sectors can pull it up


yeah, (ppc)


no you just tap on the anywhere on a screen don't don't stop it yeah


yup, definitely I mean uh consists of like top ten uh microsoft apple amazon facebook, google and all of them are tech companies but that being said you know the growth since the nineties uh


for for like companies like amazon for companies like apple you know uh have have been so exponential that if you have invested then you know you're looking at uh, a lot of gains I think you mentioned earlier about, uh some chips that are being processed and uh now it reaching kind of like a plateau in terms of technology uh which I think may play a part in this as well as you know because when you reach a plateau there's no much new technology that can go in then it may not drive up demand lah


but uh up until now since at least the early two thousands or late nineties you're looking at incredible growth in in these in these sectors, yeah


yeah what do you think of uh, maybe automating on investments and investing uh passively okay what is the difference in your opinion, ya I think is robo investors yeah


yeah, for sure uh I do agree with you, I I think that robo investing is a interesting concept where uh, it definitely helps people like you and, me you know uh eventually when he when we get a day job


uh I I think it'll be a bit more difficult to actually uh understand another market uh to understand maybe the fundamentals sort of the technical analysis of of a certain market to be able to do it on the side, in my opinion it's not so easy to do


a full time job and uh do this unless investing and and and all these things are part of of what you do for your job, uh but I think ya definitely they take a cut is normal the only fear is that if the robot uh the you know fails to to do something for example if it fails to uh close out position or fails to open the position you lose potential gains


uh so I think that's maybe one of the downfall of this yeah


uh I'm not sure if this the right word it's called back testing right, so they come up with an algorithm which works on some, uh like what you say patterns from from the historical, standpoint but but to take a certain time frame let's say five years and they back test all these algorithms or automation systems to to to take traits for you based on what you've


uh key in like the parameters and based on this they'll be able to tell you like oh how many trades for profitable how many trades are not profitable and then net loss or net gain, yeah, it yeah


I think automation is definitely a way to go, if you've tried investing I think sometimes you can get a bit emotional, uh if you if you buy an asset and it drops you know for little bit you you tend to feel like oh maybe it's I got it wrong and you may want to consider


uh selling that position at a loss, but if you do robo investing and he does it for you, I'm quite sure that it may pick up another better trade for you lah, yeah sometimes you can get a bit emotional I feel, yeah so I think it's not bad not bad yeah


and uh I think we can try one more question uh should I invest with the financial advisor or should I invest on my own and why, yeah, I think uh I think a financial advisor definitely he's a


he does it for his full time job so he's definitely more well of us in this area as compared to you know you and me uh definitely like you said earlier they do take a cut in what the robo investors these people do take a cut cause it's their livelihood as well which I think is fine uh my personal opinion is that the they would probably be


able to make a more informed decision uh as to how the market is going, and uh so, they could be more profitable than you and me so I think that's okay if they take a cut, you know yeah, so


yup (ppc)


yeah definitely, uh I I I called it sentiments I think definitely eventually maybe you want to do it yourself, uh you know looking at maybe for example retirement when you retire you want something and because assuming from now till then you just read out little bit everyday hopefully by then you have a wealth of knowledge you'll be able to understand the markets and do it yourself


uh, uh and then ya maybe you could make some money doing some retirement job like this, yeah so it's not too bad yeah yeah


so they are you familiar with investing, yup ya, it's a consuming thing is a lot to read up a lot a lot to read up


negative experiences, !wow! that is a very good question I I really haven't thought about that actually uh


use my money left behind for you wisely I guess and the I just just thanked them for everything they've done for me my life, ya the that's what I would say ah off the top of my head right now, yeah how about you


I think uh it's it's funny you know sometimes uh we like for example <P2>steve jobs</P2> I don't know if you've read an article on him when he said uh when he was going to die he said oh !wow! oh !wow! oh !wow! ya and he said that I read an article but


ya if I if I was going to die I won't say something like that I I would say something more meaningful then uh something that could actually have an impact in in in yeah other people's lives


it is true how about describe a time when you felt like giving up


, yup


, I think for me uh I always feel like giving up when there's a steep learning curve


uh whether is it school in a subject or when it be work uh or any work related thing I think uh companies nowadays especially smaller companies do not have the capacity to hire ten different people for ten different job roles


uh so they maybe hire two or three to cover these ten job scopes, uh which would mean that that you will be covering other job scopes which you may not be proficient in uh and you may not uh be very uh comfortable in doing


uh and those are the moments where you feel that it's pretty tough on you, because you are trying to learn multiple things at the same time and the results are expected of you at the same time from your superiors or even from like in that school in the school terms it'll be exams and your lecturers but in the work world is maybe your boss or your peers


uh and yeah these are the moments we just feel that uh it's tough and you actually don't want to give up because you may feel like you're giving your best and the and the it is not still not working out for you yeah essentially so so uh yeah


that that's that's that's for me, yeah, describe a moment where you feel when you were heartbroken okay I can go first on this uh I think one moment when I felt very heartbroken was when my dog died uh you know dogs are dogs are man's best friend and they're friends for life


uh especially when you have had the dog for many years or even just grown up with the dog, a dog the dog really becomes your family and the it is a very tough thing when you when uh when your dog


which is now part of your family dies due to whatever reasons, and uh, and the ya I think it was it's very heartbreaking moment for me and the couldn't sit well actually for for a little while because of the sadness and the yeah thinking about him


(ppc)


it's rough


what dreams of yours died a little with each passing day, I can uh I can go first I think that when I was young I mean everybody has a dreams uh when they are a kid


be a police officer or or or or whatever you want to do and for me I really liked cars and one of my dreams was obviously to become like a race car driver uh unfortunately it is a very expensive sport wherever you may live


uh and it's even tougher in in singapore because there is not much infrastructure and there's not much uh, opportunities for you to participate in this, uh in this sport so


I think they come to a point in my life where I realized that, it is no longer a feasible dream, uh and the not that you can't enjoy the sport by watching it or or you know but I think that it no longer is a is is feasible in my life lah so ya when I think this started when I was six or seven and each slowly die every day until


ya it finally died ya


(mmhmm)


yup


yup, actually uh a thought that just came to me was was uh you know when when like I said when when we were young our dreams are like for yourself maybe is to become a, basketball player professional basketball player


uh for myself was to go racing you know at at a high level, and obviously you'll dream we all dream big but as the days goes by and realization of more important things like education and and and and different different issues


you don't realize that all these thing become uh less feasible and each day you know you realize that there are more important things to to do and things like that and I guess along the way when you talk to your friends and you tell them oh this is my dream to do this and this and


and uh they always say like look be realistic you know you never going to to make it, uh in the for example in the NBA you know you're and things like that and I guess these things actually do, to kill our dreams each and every day


yeah , what what are the injustices of this world that make you angry


, (ppc)


yup uh for me I think it'll be just, treating people fairly uh I think it's a it's a injustice which uh is very prevalent you know for for example some people will treat


a cleaner in a different manner than they would uh CEO for company uh but I personally feel that everybody deserves respect, a certain level of respect at least the basic level of respect, and the just because this person may be a cleaner doesn't mean that he doesn't deserve the respect lah


, you know just because they don't have a a certain uh, social status or things like that you know we're treated unfairly and I think one of it one of it is also, uh it's just a simple thing you know like cutting queues in in in in let's say you ordering food it is it is such a simple and the basic concept


and the but I feel like, you know it's only fair for you to go and queue, to order your food than to cutting the queue you know maybe if the queue let's say one hour cutting it halfway, I feel that it's just such a basic


form of like you know look everybody's queuing why can't you do the same in a sense equality as well, so I just I just feel that I feel very strongly that these are some uh injustices in the world that


goes on without being brought up too often you know the fair treatment of different individuals the fair treatment of, of uh people of different social statuses, I I think it's very important to me and I do evaluate it lah so actually do I do get


I won't say angry but I do get annoyed when I see these things happen when I actually do feel a sense of injustice for these people who are victims of this, yeah


, describe okay what is your most embarrassing moment, okay mine was there was it I I guess it's not the most embarrassing one but it was an embarrassing moment


uh it was a rainy day in in school and I was leaving school so I was very young then I think in primary school lower primary school and and as kids we do run about quite a fair bit so like what you mentioned earlier about


uh not being afraid of getting wet and different things like that so I ran out and the under the in the rain which was fine, but I did not realize that this area that does not have grass was very slippery because of the mud that had become moist and and wet and and dislodged


so as I stepped on it I fell and landed on my on my on my butt and the the whole like my whole pants was orange in color because of the soil, and obviously you are very cold uh because it's raining and and soaked uh and obviously there's a lot of people around so they they managed to see what happened and yeah so this was one of the actually embarrassing moments that I've experienced in my life


yeah


yeah yeah


what what keeps you awake at night


for me sometimes is a stress yeah sometimes it's stressful situations you you actually do think about different things that may happen in the in in the situation that you are stressed about and the ya so I think sometimes you can't see because of that how about you


positive experiences, yup uh okay I think let's start with this question, uh which is pretty relevant uh to us now


in the post COVID world, who or what are you newly thankful for, thankful of or appreciative towards,


can maybe I can go first , I think uh looking at this whole COVID situation and how it's affected uh everyone I think one way or another , you would have been affected by it, , whether it's a job or studying or or even your favorite sports you know I believed uh football NBA you know and the any other kind of sports would all suspended for a period of time uh and the you do realize that at the end of the day it is not these people who sportsmen who are paid you know


ten twenty fifty thousand dollars that made the go the world go around but people like front line workers uh healthcare professionals uh even grabfood riders you know, uh because you and I were stuck at home during this period and the


the only way to get our food was, to actually get someone to delivered to us and uh these are always people that you know all of us don't show appreciation for, uh but I think that definitely if you when you look at it they put their lives at risk even if it's just delivering food


uh for us uh risk of getting this uh COVID, uh, so I think I'm definitely more thankful and appreciative towards these people who have actually uh, put themselves out there, and uh actually delivered food to us


yeah during this period yeah, (ppc) yup


uh definitely I think you know what you mentioned earlier, uh I think one other positive experience that that, I mean maybe it's it's not not experience for positive observation I have I've seen during this period uh you know the whole world uh whoever was affected by this uh virus had a common enemy which was this virus and the


we managed to see especially in singapore I remember reading some articles of a when, uh the foreign dormitory workers were affected by this virus different singaporean actually stepped up to support support them, uh by actually maybe uh delivering some food or buying you know just I mean they maybe small things like curry puffs or or or Kentucky you know chicken and they delivered to this dormitory workers who were who actually


uh willingly come to singapore to work, to, to to build our our land, and I think it's a it in a very negative, uh, situation like COVID where the whole world is negative about this situation when people are dying uh a lot of positives


come out from this a lot of us showed the more human side, uh of us even for our medical workers, think a lot of singaporeans were very appreciative of these medical workers who actually uh put their life on the line everyday uh and without them I mean


I don't think uh singapore would have dealt with this situation as as we did, you know, so I think it's it is a very positive thing uh experience especially in the past, uh few months, yeah


so maybe we can change topic uh what makes you persevere, in your life yup


I think like what you said we all have a goal in our life a certain goal, uh whether is in your life or certain situation uh, we all want to walk towards it and sometimes it may be difficult, I think we faced many challenges like this in our school life when we are not so good at a certain topic or subject


and the we actually struggle to to get a grade that we desire, , ya I think I I could I I have done some uh you know half marathons or some runs or even some uh triathlons and I think that the, it is tough it is tough uh during the race because you know maybe it's half marathon half marathon you are looking at uh a twenty twenty one kilometre run which is which is the distance and


and sometimes halfway you may want to give up because that end goal seems like it is not getting any nearer uh but I think definitely remembering uh why you started, uh uh and why you started wanted to aim for such a event in the first place you know remembering why why why you started is a good


reminder for me personally, definitely before a marathon or half marathon you want to, put in effort to train that'll be some times that time the put aside for that, and theyeah you don't want that to go to waste you know sometimes when I when I run I think about this don't let the training in the past two three months go to waste you put in so much effort and time and


and uh you you know make it work, pain pain is temporary you know what they always say just motivational quotes pain is temporary you know that kind of things, yeah, so definitely reminding remembering why you actually started it uh to begin with is something that actually keeps me going lah


yeah yup


definitely uh it definite builds your character builds your character I think if you talk about sports uh like I was talking about earlier, uh sports is a character building activity whether is a individual sport or a or a group sport and uh it definitely builds a character in different ways perseverance is one of them and the and the of course fitness levels and skills and enjoyment is another part lah


but yeah it's it's always a positive experience exercising and enjoying yourself, yeah, I've only done half I've only done a half ya but I think I think I'm not going to go for the full it's it's a bit long and uh and I I I don't know it's just maybe not for me I guess


I I dislike running ah running is a very uh I feel is boring ya like a lot of sports require running for example basketball or football you know but there is a certain goal for it right like you're running after a ball or you running to defend or running to attack


uh but, running a marathon you only racing against a clock or maybe your uh friend that you you you you you are racing against so, can get a bit boring sometimes I'll be honest, yeah


, (ppc)


yeah I have I have actually ran for a training run before or at the at the at the stadium and it's a four hundred meter lap I was running a ten K and the, !wow! after yeah


after a certain amount of laps it really takes a toll on your on your on your mind, it feels like it's pointless, yeah, , yeah, uh maybe you can talk about the uh what are what are the things that you most look forward to when the pandemic ends


group meetings I see uh, I think I do I do agree with you group meetings I mean we're limited to certain number right now uh and hopefully sooner and later we will be able to meet in larger groups and and go back to old normal life before COVID nineteen


, and uh I think one other thing which I I I'm looking forward to is uh not needing to wear a mask where we leave the house, yeah I, it is a very uncomfortable lah


uncomfortable uh feeling, to be doing it is is not normal for for non healthcare workers, and the, yeah there's also increase of uh pimples and and different, things like that so so uncomfortable


yeah


(ppc)


yeah definitely I I do agree with you it does think is pro and con it depends on the kind of person you are as well, uh if you're at home the obviously the positive is that you know you can wake up just ten minutes before you supposed to start work wash up and and and you know start work


uh which is saves a lot of travelling time and I think a lot of people will, will be very thankful for that but on their on the flip side is that, productivity may go down due to you know your your bed and and different facilities being available to you


uh you you also get distracted because there's no one watching you per se your boss isn't there with you so, uh of course like what you mentioned you could increase productivity as well due to maybe faster internet a bigger screen or, or maybe just being more comfortable at home


so I think that uh yeah it is definitely something interesting, yeah


(mmhmm), (mmhmm)


yup yes


ya I do agree with you definitely being being at home you tend to want to get more comfortable land and maybe get different things which may help your productivity in fact I do believe razer in singapore they did


uh produced some face masks for for people for for the consumers uh I do believe it is so I think that uh this whole COVID situation has really allowed different companies to, err


to realize uh that what they actually do can be used for other things an example would be an example would be a formula one teams uh like any other sport in the world they will they they also have their races put an hold uh since march and because of this virus and uh I think it's a lot of top of


a lack of respirators they actually use the technology that they have during this period to to try to produce respirators and actually I do believe uh uh the mercedes team are actually did manage to put together something beneficial for the


ya NHS but uh yeah I think this this whole COVID uh has has a, put together a lot positive experiences for all of us in different ways ah, yeah


okay maybe we can go for a last one what is the best meal you've ever had


(ppl), yup


test yo so okay


okay so basically I, I have around, multiple accounts K, so one is the main account where my income will go to, where my monthly salary and investment dividends will go to and then there are backup accounts which I will transfer my money to then those I'll try not to touch it's my emergency fund so those are also my savings lah


and if I need to make some investment or anything then I'll, will, allocate funds from those backup accounts, ya, so that's the gist of it then how about you, (mmhmm) (mmhmm) (mmhmm) (mmhmm)


K so normally ya normally what is the what is the thing that cause that, causes the highest expense for you, like transport food, in terms of expenses which one is your highest


in order to achieve financial independence early yeah, passive income would be one of the most important factor then followed by followed by careful planning of your financials and of course


don't squander away all your money, yeah


I think it's good that ya, planning early then, it also helps to set a goal so that you know what is your destination, and you can make your plans accordingly of how to reach it, yes


(mmhmm) ya ah yes (mmhmm) ya so


it's high dividend but you lose your capital, yes


(mmhmm) then have you ever thought about generating side income, maybe like using your (mmhmm), (mmhmm) yes (mmhmm)


yes yes I do agree and have you ever thought about turning some of your interest into income generating side lines like maybe your


passion like you say like, like you do ad-hoc writing so maybe you have a passion for writing, yes yes (mmhmm) (mmhmm) (mmhmm)


okay sure, K to grow my portfolio because now I


only just reached my savings target so, I will be taking my first step, towards investing in more volatile stock markets then currently I'm trying to, still study as much as I can to


to gain more knowledge so I won't be making costly mistakes after all those, hard earned money you know and yes , yes and then


then I have been trying to turn my hobbies into a side generating income also by, cause as I said my one of my hobbies is actually drawing, so I've been trying to draw more and then trying to sell


them as prints online, to generate more income ya then, I am looking to eventually, make it going into web design so currently I am studying web page design on my own during my free time ya


I'd yes how everything has become digital, yes so now


yes, (mmhmm)


my first pot of gold K actually I am thinking of property, K so the first step would, be getting my


first house which is I think most of, almost everybody's first step towards their, adult life okay so I am thinking, maybe can start off with, room rental where I actually rents out the room to cover my mortgage then


yes then eventually, yes yes and from, there and hopefully I get to slowly build on my wealth, and eventually will be able to, afford a another property hopefully a decent private property from there and then I can see it's either I can buy private


property as a investment, or, to generate passive rental, income ya


yes (mmhmm) (mmhmm)


I don't mind looking at other assets just that for me personally I somehow feel that property is one of the safer options because I mean, the it's your property it's nobody can take it away and it's not prone to crashing like certain stock markets


yes and then and because, we can take loans you don't have to, pay for the property in a single lump sum so, with the money after down payment I can still


invest as well while, if I am renting out the property I can actually use the rental income to cover the mortgage, and eventually when property rises property price increase and everything I can actually sell it for profit as well so that


is sort of how I see properties, ya and, seeing how things are, ya, ya because seeing, how the world is now everything is getting global people are, travelling for work people are going to other countries to work


and I think that, maybe ten twenty years down the, road singapore will be even more, will be a even bigger global hub where you see, much more foreign talents coming over and I think at that time property prices may be going higher so it should be a good investment choice


(mmhmm) K


okay that's actually a pretty easy question for me anything that is justified would be your needs whatever that


everything that keeps you, alive K your food, your water your housing, transport for you to work okay and then whatever that is not justified will be your wants K like


luxury goods and any, extra clothes that you don't really need yes then ya so so every time when I have to spend on something I will first


analyze whether that thing is is it, a need or is it a want, so if it's a want then, do I have the, a extra budget for this month to spend on


negative experiences, K, what I often worry about is actually what most people


entering adult life worry about mainly money obviously then would be starting a family and, getting a house, K so for money wise obviously it ties to the job so most worrying would be whether


the company is making enough money and whether would I get my well deserved bonus this year, yes (mmhmm) but then cause all these actually ties to being able to provide for me and my mother which is important and whether if I will be able to be fully independent and eventually even start my own family


yes and then the battle would be obviously health issues both for both me and my mother because my mother is slowly getting older then having more and more health issues here and there


and I'm same for me feeling that I'm no longer like as strong as when I'm in my teens ya I could actually feel my body degrading getting weaker yes


ya yes that very big three yes yes


(mmhmm), yes I mean it's like ya, back in the time we could chase after the bus for like one or two bus stop without


feeling anything but now it's like, running like ten meters and you feel like you are panting like a dog, ya yes yes yes that's why and what about you


(mmhmm) (mmhmm) (mmhmm)


yes agree, (mmhmm) (mmhmm) ya


it's just against your own, principles is it something like that, (mmhmm) (mmhmm) (mmhmm)


yes which you did and good for you ya , (mmhmm) uh


will be replaced by something, something automatic yes, (mmhmm) yes yes (mmhmm) yes yes


yes yes definitely which is why as I said just now I'm actually trying to learn web design so it's to widen my skill sets and I, it's like how people always say in


investment term, never place all your eggs in one basket, so actually for me it's, never never place your entire life on just one skill set I guess that's a good way to compare so


I believe that it's actually a, a good thing if a person can have multiple skill sets so, in the case that if, let's say the market, for your, main skill set actually crashes, or, suddenly maybe AI just came out and can completely replace your skill set


perfectly you have another to fall back on yes so I yes, yeah if you have you don't just throw all your money in a single, stock yes


yes yes, the saddest thing I ever witnessed okay there is this scene that I witness


okay there's this thing that I saw back in my army days, where I, I was actually I just book out, and I'm on my way home then, just outside this #yew tee# point, there is actually this very old lady who looks to be about eighty


and she and her son is actually right next to her but the son actually suffers from some kind of a, degenerative illness where, he is no longer capable of taking care of himself and yes


it seems to be, it's seems to be, suffering from huntington disease, K so it's a degenerative, ya, degenerative illness that eventually robs the person of his


capability to be self reliant, so then, this old lady was with her, son who is on a wheelchair then they were selling tissue there then, that scene actually I find it quite sad


cause I see her like she's really so old and, she should be enjoying her retirement life having having sons daughters taking care of her playing with her grandsons grandchildren and everything but then she


she actually has to take care of her, son for the rest of her life and it's not going be a easy thing for her as well cause, after all her son is K I won't say it's big size but, the, body weight of her son would still be quite a


burdensome for her, if she needs to bathe him, or change his clothes and I think, but I think the physical difficulties is actually, not comparable to what she have to suffer, like mentally so feeling


knowing that she's already in her old age she won't be she won't be, around for, long enough to take to take care of her son, then maybe she's going to be worrying about how her son is going to take care of himself


would anybody take over her, and what will happen to her son if she's gone one day, I think these are the things that would, really be hard on her so ya ya so that's yeah so


those things came across my mind when I saw her ya, so I think that's actually one one of the saddest, saddest scene I've actually seen yes and what about you, (mmhmm)


bitter cold , (mmhmm) (mmhmm) (mmhmm) (mmhmm) (mmhmm) yes (mmhmm) yes yes (oo) okay that's good that they are okay


yes yes ya, if it were night time they might, I think they might die from hypothermia yes


get some help yea yea that's good that's good I, ah yes I think it'll be cheaper to get a new car than to fix that car


right ya , okay K that's good that's good


(mmhmm) ya ya


ya, especially babies they're most prone to, the hypothermia ya,


describe a time when I felt helpless ah think the time when I felt most helpless was back in my, BMT field camp, K cause that time uh


we were digging the shell scrape, right and I was very unlucky the spot that I've been given, I think the previous person who dig there instead of instead of covering it back with soil I think he just


push all the gravel stones and rocks into that, shell scrape and then just cover it up with one layer of sand, so when I was digging I wasn't actually really digging I was carrying rocks, out from the hole ya ya think


digging that yeah digging that, I even chipped my ET blade , because everything was rock I was like digging digging then, after about digging roughly, I think about fifteen centimetres in into the shell scrape it's all rock


ya then it's it was like !wah! err, the smallest one was something like that, it's like ya


and then I remember there was one big it was, like, it was even bigger than my helmet, !wah! just digging out that, rock itself took three hour, oh my god


yes they were embedded in the soil so it's like, they're trying to, trying to dig it out but the rocks is deflecting your ET blade so it doesn't, cut into the soil so fall ya and


and you know right that time we have a time limit of eight hours, yes ya, and we only had like eight hours to dig that shell scrape and three hours I was just digging out one rock, oh my gosh ya


yes yes yes, yes ya and that helmet, is so constricting so suffocating, !hais! how about you, err


during your job seeking period, right (um) ya and I think when we were ya, when we graduated


test positive experiences, K, my best travel experience, yeah


K so I guess would be the korea trip we went together, , yes very memorable, (mmhmm) ya yes


felt down to every week ya, but we did at least a good ninety percent of what we planned, ya then K everything was smooth, we didn't get lost we didn't yeah we didn't get sick there was no


unpleasant stuff, no natural disasters yeah, no cold feet , (mmhmm), you remember the black pork


that black pork stew, or, even until now I still I still remember the taste, can never forget, oh ya, !wah! that's like fifteen sing right


ya crab prawns abalone or yeah


I mean those are all for them is a, it's their local catch, so I guess they can sell it cheap, yeah yes yes yes (mmhmm) (mmhmm) ya and ya


all thanks to your driving ah , ya ya and yeah cause we


I think we did everything very fast yes, yes yeah


and the octopus, that is a, very big experience , gosh yes I don't know no I don't see it as like a


my biggest bragging rights , (oo) !wah! I'll like to see you try to yeah (mmhmm) think probably my most recent one the vietnam one where I actually broke my leg and still


went around for the next three days, yeah yes


no problem problem ah I still remember, having you to to find those disposable chopsticks that's why I create a temporary cast, remember, yeah


the antibiotics cream right, antibiotics, ya yup, I mean eh I work in the healthcare, ya yes oh ya ya (mmhmm)


but then I think everything was nice leh food was good the weather oh my god air con everywhere ya


ya I think cause we pick all the, cooked food, we didn't eat anything as, under cooked or raw ya so I guess yeah oh true, uh


uh yes yes yes ya quite ya , yes yes yes yes of course say yes,


that's why I'm telling you to, watch out for a lot of things , (mmhmm) (mmhmm) (mmhmm) ya


that thing will be like, you know when you strained a muscle, and it just feel like that's a that very sharp tight pain it's, it's quite similar to that kind of, pain


just that it's constant, it doesn't goes away , yeah torture


yeah oh my god I'm , I still remember the airport staff when he sees my when he saw my walking stick


, he was like oh what is that for, oh my god, still remember checking it in, yeah yeah yeah yeah


I mean !wow! that stick was a, I think was very solid bamboo, and extremely thick, but I think it's it's quite, it's quite good it served me well as a walking stick even in singapore, yeah


she said it reminded her of that, unpleasant time , yeah oh my god, getting casted is worse than breaking a leg I tell you


it's so heavy it's so inconvenient it prevents you from sleeping properly, !hais!, oh my god showering is a nightmare, ya it's a total nightmare oh my god


my comfort food ya I mean, all the years we've know each other, ya I mean, both of us we love good food


always go to buffets, think my, biggest comfort food would be seafood, followed by meat I love seafood crabs prawns, lobsters if I get a chance to eat it


oh my god you what about you, (mmhmm)


ah yes yes yes


#bah kut teh# #char kuey teow# err yes yes yes chili crab, (mmhmm)


no because I haven't tried being, abroad for extended period of time, so the longest that I've been abroad is about one and a half weeks so I doubt, homesickness will kick in


so fast then most of the time, is I resent, the last day I don't want to come back I want to stay there lor yes


comfort food in singapore, (mmhmm) ya


not sure but I think I would really want a #char kway teow# yes ya


my mum's cooking would be her fried rice the fried rice that she does uh, that taste is


so far there's no one outside that, has done the fried rice like hers cannot match yes ,


positive experience that shaped who I am first one I don't think it's my


positive experience that really shaped, what I'm today but more of my negative experiences so this one we can talk about later I guess then whatever but, (mmhmm) (mmhmm) (mmhmm) (mmhmm) (mmhmm)


K thanks thanks, (mmhmm), definitely definitely


okay thanks thanks,


most ya most definitely go for, final celebration as a reward for myself, K yes to


to make it seems like everything is worthwhile, and to have a minor, taste of what financial freedom is like for, us so that I'll have, more motivation to carry on, (mmhmm)


yes yes yes most definitely


yes yes that is one of the most important thing, to not waste your life on things you do not like to do , yes that has to make sure you don't spend the most of your life doing it


yes (mmhmm) ya yes (mmhmm) yes yes your, be just as what peoples those rich people say the money is chasing them, they don't even have to work but the money just comes after them


yes yes , oh you never heard the term before


no money works for them is the, you can say it's like the second highest level but, the highest level is when they don't any they don't do anything and money just goes to them, still


it's like they are, they automated everything already from, their investments their properties this and that, they literally just sit back enjoy life their, they're still generating income practically


financial related topic so #wei hao# , ya this is very interesting thing ah about financial related topics that's


looking at it how did you manage your cash flow every month, (mmhmm)


yup (mmhmm) (mmhmm) (mmhmm) sure


okay sure ,


cash flow is a very interesting thing ah because every month that is your life plug ah and I've I feel that managing it well is really critical, to achieving financial freedom in future so I do so in terms of err cash flow


I try to spend within my passive income every month and I will, save uh I try to save as much as I can uh of my active income which is my salary from my full time job I try to invest at least hundred per cent uh of my


active income every month uh that goes fully into the stock markets into uh other assets like bonds be it single premium endowment plans or even to cover uh some to even to uh index funds so


I would say in terms of my allocation to savings right I try to do close to a hundred per cent and it has been possible you know uh in terms of expenses I will it is limited to just my passive income that comes in and of course all my savings are then invested I feel this is the


fastest way towards financial freedom, yup in terms of so yeah sure


in terms of expense ah I'll say food is the highest expense other than that , I think knowing you and knowing myself right we are quite, conservative with our spending we are prudent we are frugal ya so you know going out with our mutual friends that will take up the bulk of our expenses lah on your end what what actually is what was the biggest component of your expenses


sure, sure yup


, I guess it's our filial duty to definitely uh give allowance to parents and it's I think it's also great that your food expenses are below that of what you give to your parents so yeah uh


it's good lah I mean supporting supporting your mum this way uh while she is in her golden years and she can enjoy her retirement uh because you have been doing your part as a as as a faithful son lah, so on so what else do you what what's your opinion of this whole movement towards financial independence retire early


what is your , what do you think of this whole idea of financial independence retire early


(mmhmm) sure (mmhmm)


definitely yes I feel it, takes it's it's a long road lah definitely towards uh this FIRE and we should take advantage of compound interest while we are young uh like einstein says compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world and in order to take advantage of it we have to start


when, preferably when we are kids if possible, I think that I think that going forward , ya so that's that's what I've been doing uh the uh trying to grow grow my asset portfolio since young I have also been making sure that I put aside a certain amount every month if possible uh my


entire take home pay , these little steps I feel ah would bring us slowly to the big goal and it is a sustainable step rather than you know investing in bitcoin or, playing


playing the stock market in terms of penny stocks uh it's this small it's this small little step, ah instead of hitting a home run, that, uh ultimately will bring us back and I hope to achieve it by forty or forty five where you work because you want to and not because you need to


uh that's yeah so what do you think of this


yeah definitely I feel also asset allocation is very important on this where we need to know our risk appetite and, spread your entire capital properly into asset classes so I try to follow this thing called the all weather portfolio uh just minus the gold part where I have the majority of what


the majority of it in safer assets because I'm I I don't have that high risk appetite and I think that's similar also to you, we, ya so I I think in terms of bonds I have the highest allocation of about maybe sixty to seventy percent in terms of stocks


I have about twenty and the remaining ten is of a more speculative nature uh that's like the penny stocks or like the higher risk blue chips which also pay very good dividends but it could also drop twenty percent in a crash ah so


, a few days would yeah my my main goal at the end of the day is to have a good source a sustainable source of passive income that can cover my expenses of course keeping our expenses low is also, part of part of the deal uh so you don't need that much assets ah to generate that kind of cash flow


that is I I think ah that's at least my plan my working plan on how I can achieve financial independence, side income I feel that a side hustle yeah definitely yeah a side hustle err you know


all these even simple things like err helping out with web design or you know giving giving private tuition, or occasionally the one assignment that you know as a I ever tried things like being a ad-hoc writer for a blog writer for a website before and I was paid based on each article that


I generated definitely these are the things that would boost your active income every month and the amount that you have to invest uh, but I feel we should take it with a pinch of salt because that would be it it it is actually compromising your rest time uh after work and it could affect your active income if we overdo it so at most I would say maybe one or two days on weekends


two days but maybe just a few hours each day at most , to generate their income of course when we are young now we should be working harder so that we can enjoy it when we are older,


definitely yes yeah, sure yeah uh I think a


you know the problem with this is that most of it is actually ad-hoc and you never know where your next pay cheque or your next opportunity is coming from so I would still think that a more sustainable way of generating this side hustle would be


would be going for uh something like maybe a private tuition where you are engaged for nine to ten months every year, uh, the monthly pay is also fixed there is also continuity if you perform well and you are engaged to teach higher level subjects every year as the student moves up from primary to secondary school even all the way to university if you can handle it so yeah I


I would invest all these side income that I have into the markets buying into long term index funds holding it for ten years twenty years and just letting compounding do its work that would be definitely market cycles in the short run where you have a twenty percent thirty percent dip


uh but it's, it's all about the long run growth of six to seven percent that I'm aiming for and these twenty percent dips are good time lah to actually buy in so I mean if you would want to hear more I we can I can


recommend some index funds for you so on your end what else what else would you what else would you like to do uh to to grow your portfolio


sure, true yes we will very up for it especially with your side hustle and with your active income


sure


that's nice definitely there will be a that will always be demand given how, how the internet of things is rising in prominence ya true ya everything is either on the phone on the tablet online ya


pretty sure our lives will be filled with more screens like even your watch is also now a digital screen right, uh uh who knows maybe smart homes all that are going to be the next big thing so I would think that K in terms of asset allocation uh what are you actually looking towards beside


uh this besides, having a side hustle besides leveraging your skills what what actually do you want to invest into grow your first pot of gold


(mmhmm), (mmhmm)


yup sure , so you buy a bigger house and rent out uh maybe a spare room or two and hopefully that covers the mortgage, (mmhmm)


, it's also my dream lah but I must say that I think it's increasingly less feasible to buy private property nowadays looking at the cost I don't think firstly it comes at a high cost uh you're taking on a lot of


leverage to gain maybe two or three per cent , and looking at singapore's economic growth in future I don't think we can hit the highs of five to six percent that we saw in our parents' times, so I I don't think it will be a good investment going down uh you know over the next ten years and I still prefer the stock market because it is more liquid and I have the holding power to uh and I have the holding power to


hold it for the long run to at least ride out the short term waves the crisis crises that come along our way, how, would would you because property wise right it's going to eat up a huge chunk of your first pot of gold or or it in fact all of your first pot of gold to affect uh to afford a first you know the the first condo that you want to buy


uh, would would you want to consider maybe looking at other assets or it's just property,


(mmhmm)


, it's true uh maybe I think okay maybe property can be part of our assets uh ah sorry you say,


I was looking at the industrial property option a couple of weeks ago it's not an easy task lah I must say uh I would say that you need to to be able to comfortably set aside that big a down payment right


you would and I would ah personally be, I I would want to accumulate at least three times of that down payment first so that even if I lose that thirty three percent now that that third of it it will still not be too painful and I still have other income generating assets that I can rely on


selling it it it could be that you know the property is liquidated you have to sell it at a loss uh because the you know tenant moves out so I feel that's a safeguard ah that I would put in place before I go in, so I think just


just moving on right in terms of expenses every month ah what what do you think is justified and what what isn't


yeah (mmhmm) sure (mmhmm) , (mmhmm)


(mmhmm) (mmhmm)


yeah either that it comes from your passive income uh so I feel that on my end right I'm okay to spend from passive income that's my safeguard lah in a way to afford luxuries in life and that is


how I can take care of my wants while also ensuring that my portfolio grows every month, and I'm also doing my part towards uh the financial independence retire early, dream that that that you and I share lah ya yeah so


negative experiences so what was what do you often worry about, (mmhmm) (mmhmm)


definitely yeah , , ya true true uh, (mmhmm)


(mmhmm) , (mmhmm) (mmhmm)


yeah definitely ya ,


definitely yeah, , it's true ya I mean we are near we're near thirty already so that is that's the time where, you feel that yeah you you feel that your metabolism starts to slow and yeah you you can see that right in in our IPPT performance every year


you know you the recovery takes longer err takes more time to train you can't run as fast or or, do as many push ups as you could back in the days when we were fit back in back when we were eighteen we no longer have good stamina yeah


oh man you can do that !wow! , now like you just get a grab lah you have money but you don't have the strength anymore


yeah (hmm), I think what I worry about let me see , I think as I think the simplest answer to this is


probably about things that I wish I had control over but actually I no there's no way to control it and yet the negative repercussions, will affect will affect me I think job security is definitely one of them you know through no fault of yours uh you know there's a economic recession you can't provide for your family err you're you're you are being retrenched those those are the pains lor know that


really keep keep me up at night and, knowing that you you don't know where your next meal would come from so I guess this is what, this is what most adults actually worry about lah I feel I'm I'm I'm just I'm definitely not the only one on this you know of course in future when we have bigger liabilities like when you have a housing mortgage to pay when you have kids to feed even though times are bad know kids still need to eat


that is definitely something that we will need to plan for and I think there are ways to mitigate it but you can never, fully uh, overcome this lah unless till the day we reached financial independence


again it's things beyond my control lah uh maybe within your family that might that might always be quarrels that would be uh disunity people, get angry with each other and that's in a way you are in no position to


intervene and uh mitigate the conflict, of course at work there are some disagreements that you can inadvertently get into or you may step on someone someone's tail uh and it backfires uh it could also be the nature of the job uh like previously where it uh


the company's way of doing things just it was just it was just dumb lah I would say you know and we are always getting queried by customers for it,


ah ay it's against my own principles it's it's dumb to begin with like nobody ever does things that way in this world when there are more scientific methods to, accomplish that goal ah you know uh yeah so that


that in itself you know what I mean ah when you start off on a weaker foot uh you know that that way of doing things is just not just not right in today's world and the other competitors uh you have other, firms in the same industry that are doing things way better than you your customers that you're going to uh that actually pay your salary they are comparing you with other competitors who are much smarter so you know what I mean it's like


it's like fighting a battle while only having half the required amount of ammunition ah something like that so it's something I worry about and it's, it's never ending ah you know this this level of stress I would say, until until


the the only solution is technically just to find another job which I did lah yeah, yeah, much happier where I am now and definitely you know it gives me much more insight lah to deal with better uh stakeholders internally and externally and at the same time


doing things in a way that is more structured respected scientific and using better tools ah to have, you know to to acquire the skills required to advance in this industry, so other things that worry me let's see uh


I would say the pace of technological disruption is very quick these days so, I worry whether my skill set continues to remain relevant yes and I don't want to be replaced by a robot by a computer program or simply by cheaper foreign labour no it could be one day ah very it could very well be one day that you know the foreign workers become


they they advance so much they advance faster than us in terms of their skill sets that they're just cheaper to hire to any commercial firm out there so, I always think ah on what what do I need to do to grow my own skill set and make sure I'm as irreplaceable as can be


ah okay I won't say as irreplaceable as I can be but more to make myself more valuable to the company that's a nicer way to put it, do you do you do you have the same thoughts also like on growing your skill set and you know and preferably even learning a new high income skill


(mmhmm), (mmhmm) (mmhmm) definitely yeah


(mmhmm) (mmhmm) (mmhmm) (mmhmm)


(mmhmm) , definitely ya same same in investment also where you have multiple streams of income and they say that average millionaire has four to five streams of income so that's what we should work towards and


mean if you are, definitely if you are financially capable all that life would be much easier on you and you have more ammunition on hand especially in tough times like this COVID now


so oh so what else what was actually the saddest thing you ever witness, the saddest scene that you ever witness, (mmhmm)


(mmhmm), oh !wow!


so it's that so it's an old woman and a uh and a special needs child right, uh, K (mmhmm) (mmhmm) sure


(mmhmm)


, (mmhmm), (mmhmm) (mmhmm)


that's sad to hear though I mean being that old with a special needs uh child and you know no other family member to help her it's kind of sad on this,


uh (hmm), (ppc) saddest scene, something that I still remember to this day was uh so the scene was, so I was in northern russia uh north of Moscow that was like in in an environment of like minus thirty degrees uh it was I was on an ice road it's very desolate in an area that is far away from any of the nearest town


if I'm not wrong we were heading towards some caves, sounds like the sounds like the cave thing in thailand but except that it's much colder and much more remote so we have chartered the van for the day and we were sitting inside you know going and enjoying the tour the day tour that we that that


that we were planning to uh ride to the caves and halfway through there was we saw a car overturned at the side of the road and it actually crashed quite badly so, uh


I felt quite sad lah honestly because the you know, when it is that cold the road at the side is it actually becomes an ice road and the whole path ah is actually very very slippery for the cars, uh that's why the car crashed lah I I I suppose so the car was actually overturned overturned that really and I saw the but luckily luckily the family was okay that was like the mum and the dad and a really really young russian baby so


ya so it was a very sad thing to see the baby crying and then uh the dad was like you know trying to go back into the car to find some you know whatever food or bottle that he had left uh he didn't know how long he had to be out there and in the cold in minus thirty it's no joke luckily it was still daytime yeah


uh how is he ever going to get back to civilization with a young baby ya that, so it was so we we actually stopped and you know we spoke to them for a bit uh turns out we offered them to get on board our van and we brought them to the nearest town lah where the dad could actually get some


get some help you know call somebody you know at least I I'm not sure if they they can even rescue the car or it or it's even worth rescuing you know repairing the car it was really quite badly damaged it was you know turn turtle so, yeah it's it's a big loss lah it's a really a big loss lah for the family that they ya in terms of the car and I think


they they were also quite lucky ya that uh they didn't need to I I I'm not sure how long they were out in the cold but the baby was actually okay after that so I think the father was also quite happy that that , that we somehow that we somehow showed up also eh ya because that road was like I mean who goes there you know and he he was surprised also to see that uh there are there are singaporeans there


spoke a different language ya so ya that was one of the saddest scenes lah and I putting myself into shoes imagine yourself as the dad who you know unfortunately the car turns turtle luckily all all three of you are still alive no one is injured and, but your your baby son uh needs to be kept warm and fed uh with enough water that uh and you're in the middle of nowhere that's yeah I guess he he had definitely bigger worries than us lah that day yeah that was a that was a very heartbreaking scene


yup so so, what was actually a time that you felt that you felt very helpless you know uh like where you saw something in front of you but you know you just cannot help due to some circumstances that day


(mmhmm) (mmhmm) yup (mmhmm) (mmhmm)


oh man oh man


moving rocks oh man oh ah, uh, oh man that's that's one tough one man, (mmhmm)


!huh!, how big were the rocks were were they like small ones or they were like big ones that you'd to literally carry away that's not fun man that's that's not digging anymore yeah it's it's not big enough to carry away and yeah


uh okay (mmhmm), uh and I can imagine the rocks are embedded in the sand also right ya, (uh huh)


how very irritating ya I can feel the pain ah and not only that you have a I won't say you have a time limit lah but you have a very heavy vest that you're wearing also at that time right


, !aiya! oh yeah the tough part of that was that you you were in skeletal battle order the load on your back was heavier than the actual load of you know throwing the ET blade down and digging it up


yes uh so that that was oh helpless lah I see this is a tricky one I must say yes,


this I need time to think actually I I haven't exactly, felt helpless before but, oh okay maybe it's just those times where, I'm waiting for, okay I think maybe yes ya now that I think of it the the time where I felt most helpless was that when you're at the mercy of the economy literally seeking out seeking out a job so it was that time when I was uh when I was fresh out of university and


ya just seeking out you know applying for many many jobs so it was two zero one six the economy wasn't that good apparently the job market was quite quiet and you know you you never know where again where where your next, source of income is coming from and you know it it took about four to six months actually for the whole search ya


positive experiences K (hmm) so what was your best travel experience so far I guess we have many right


ah that's nice yes definitely ya lots of memorable things, uh good food nice people, a smooth trip because we planned really hard we really worked out every part of the itinerary of course not down to the not down to every minute lah but yeah but it float pretty smoothly lah nah yeah the transition right also


ya true uh, yes there was no natural disaster or major things that messed up our trip yeah I mean I I've really enjoyed the nice food in uh Jeju where we went to eat the I think there was this black


black pork or something right ya, and then that pot of seafood soup that you cannot believe ah that you get abalone for fourteen dollars and on top of fourteen singapore dollars it comes with crab and prawns inside


well it's like the ya true , you cannot believe ah totally you'll never find that in singapore one I wonder how they even make money from that , yeah so


(mmhmm) uh, ya and it's right from the sea you know uh cause we've would we we see the women there diving for abalone and shells right and they were selling it at the side


ah those that was finally and I remember we got to many destinations very quickly especially especially in Jeju , I I I mean what we plan for an hour, uh


you know by the GPS telling us it's one hour and we actually get there, in half ah that was so fun, and you know the the fact the fact that we we we do this right meaning to say it means we actually covered more on our itinerary and we had to use the backup things that we planned


, that was a very fun grad trip I must say ya true true and you and I are the speedy types who don't who totally don't, uh you know like to wander around or no or or we we're just subjective lah right in everything we do


uh (mmhmm), yes that was that was really memorable that till today I can show people that video and they are like gosh how do you eat that like !eww! it's disgusting you'll eat that


or !hey! the octopus will you you will become an octopus in your next life and you're caught and people will chop you up and eat you up yeah, I felt that lah the uh have you seen that also, never mind the next time we go back you can eat the whole octopus not the chopped part one that will be more fun


small one small one ya uh , but !hey! small one and you chew it fast lah I think it's okay , !wah! what other travel experiences that you have that that was really something that you will remember for the rest of your life


(mmhmm)


I salute you for this I wonder how how how much I can imagine the amount of pain you were in and yet you still managed to tough through it without going to the hospital without putting your leg in a cast walking on that stick hobbling along and yet we still


we we pretty much covered more we planned for you know in the itinerary, yeah thank you for being a great travel companion there, I hope


my most memorable thought there was actually ah my most memorable memory there was actually go riding that motorbike out again, to buy medical supplies you know the bandages all that and it's quite amazing that you can tell me the exact name of the anti


that anti bacteria or antiviral antifungal or something cream that that that you wanted me to buy turns out it's the exact same thing , ya so


and I cannot believe the prices there too can you imagine like you know the the same I I think that same amount of, the same amount of uh medical supplies is going to cost us twenty or thirty bucks but there it just cost me like five and the the bandages are so much cheaper in uh in in in vietnam than than it is in in singapore uh but


unfortunately it doesn't come with the service you you still I remember you going through the pain of putting the iodine on your on your bone and, !wow! god that was painful I still remember your face taking a shower also while while being injured


ah that was bad really , true ya, the weather was yeah the weather was great definitely yeah and no the people are really friendly


the food is surprisingly we did not get sick from food poisoning after eating so much street food,


those fresh veggies don't come those that they give you as a side we ate plenty of that (uh huh) and then oh I remember you telling me something about the chili when we were having the Pho, that the bacteria stays there for very long and they leave the chilli out uh the out in the open exposed to all the traffic fumes when for uh for like months on end


I remember I just took one dip and then after that I was like okay no I'm not touching the chilli again I don't want to fall sick it was the first day of our trip some more it's terrible to fall sick on the first day , yeah, definitely yeah uh that was that was fun that's fun definitely yeah of course the scenery was great and I'm


I'm really glad you've managed to go along to to the Halong bay trip even though you were really in pain, I can imagine how painful it is that though and how how about you can can you describe what it was like, oh jeez


uh man , and your bore with that the whole day while hobbling on the stick walking up the hills some more , oh gosh how do you do that uh oh man that that was yeah I I think


if I think nothing nothing in our army experience beats what you totally totally went through in vietnam uh and I uh I feel also the airport staff were really nice one they let us uh jump queue, to go right to the counter to yeah


they asked you to check it in I cannot believe it ya, uh, I mean I I tried to argue with them and say that !hey! you know you really cannot walk if there's no stick you know look look your leg is injured and they're like no you've got to check it in it's a security risk


you think I'm gonna become a ninja turtle on the plane and start you know whacking everybody with that stick that stick is so heavy ah for goodness sake you gotta be really strong to take down someone with it I think, ah so


true true definitely


ah that stick should should be immortalised somewhere you know maybe you should keep it in your collections pity your mum threw it away after that, , that unpleasant two nights when you came back and you have to go to the A&E get your leg casted


, , and showering with it is also a nightmare because you have to wrap it up right


!huh! man right , in terms of food in terms of food uh what, what's your comfort food so far, it's something we never discussed lah actually for all the years that I've known you I can guess lah but I don't think I will get it right


, comfort food something that uh will, (mmhmm) (mmhmm)


uh yes definitely comfort food (hmm), that's a good question and I never really thought through this ah until, until once ah where until once where you know


when I was overseas for a long time and I was like you know what do I really want I won't say my comfort food is something that, it's very close to heart and it's cooked by myself, I don't really like eating food uh you know outside where I don't have full control about


the entire sourcing and the cooking process so you know cooking something that's that's a very intangible joy there that it's it's a bit hard to describe lah imagine you're in a foreign land uh away from your family for many months it's cold it's dark uh the cuisine of that land is


totally unlike what you are used to ya so you you're you really miss home and, all the food especially your local singaporean food so ya what what else going through that I I realize my comfort food was all the singaporean, delicacies like you know #bak kut teh# the


fried rice it's really very very simple things uh even a Laksa fried rice uh black pepper, pork uh, ya maybe a simple pasta like a Carbonara that's made from scratch this is you know is I I must say ya as much as I love also eating meat and seafood but


it's these little things that I actually missed most lah ironically I don't miss uh eating expensive crab expensive lobsters all that but it's, the day to day food that you are used to as a kid that you will miss most when you're in a foreign land did you did you go through a similar experience like this where you were away and you are thinking of home


(mmhmm)


yeah definitely uh, what about comfort food in singapore like you know when you are maybe when you are feeling sad when you are ill


ill as in maybe not the kind where you when you have a stomach upset and you can't really eat anythings lah but, what what would you what would you dream of and what would you want to have when you are in that situation


see it's the local things right it's the little things that everyday food, that we that we actually miss lah what about something that your mum cooks do do you miss your mum's cooking,


something you cannot get elsewhere ya, I think you should definitely learn how to cook it maybe I can help you replicate it


so what, so what actually what what what are the positive experiences that shaped who you are today you know the happiest things that


ya yes, maybe


sure okay I think in terms of positive experiences uh


I would say I would say the positive experience that really shaped me so far is, reaching that first first, financial goal that I set for myself and see


money work for me, honestly it's it's a very liberating feeling to know that it is actually possible to be free from the rat race, you don't need to take any nonsense from your boss you can look for a a job that is less stressful while you know in a way


semi retiring because we are still young uh yet you know you see that dividend coming in that passive income coming in every month and you still see your portfolio growing is a very \I would say it's a happy thing and at the same time it is also a very liberating


feeling yeah I think you will definitely reach there, given that you already said you reached your first financial goal and yeah you you will you will see the joy that it brings lah


also uh, ya so my I I will I I will definitely uh share how I did it with you and also guide you along uh specific to your circumstances lah


yup then ya, I don't know what what would you do when you first see I I'm just curious lah let's say in terms of that happy it how how happy would you be and what would you do when that first when you see that your passive income first exceeds your uh expenses every month


say you spend a thousand every month and you get just nice you know your dividend income hits one thousand every month how how would you feel then, definitely yeah


true true you know the there's there's a really a very big joy in you know not slaving away from someone anymore and you can literally have you you literally get your time and your life back you don't need to work in a soul sucking job that is


that they they where you're underpaid and overworked I think you and I have gone through that before we are so tired of it, yeah so that is yeah I mean let's work towards that and hopefully by forty and come forty five uh we can totally walk away from the working world and yet have more than enough money to live the rest of your life and your dreams and fulfill the rest of your dreams ah ya


, to be free basically, but sometimes there's this saying that even though you don't like to do it you still have to go through it to earn your first pot of gold, so


ya true true and definitely we would have to I think we can accelerate the process and reduce the pain by of course saving more lah yes you work hard at the same time you cannot spend that much, but you know that !hey! there is there is


a pot of gold literally at the end of the rainbow if you continue to make all these small right moves one of these days it will snowball and that's it compound interest will be in your favour already ya so we share this goal and ya definitely let's work towards it we want to be free and we want it soon


(mmhmm) the money is chasing them, that's the beauty of the capitalist system lah definitely yes uh we just we just have to be on the right side of it, yeah


money is chasing them that's new leh I've never heard this before money is chasing really, I only heard of money works for you but not and you don't


you don't do anything and money just goes to them


it's true it's true , ya I mean it's quite satisfying lah especially when your stock dividends come in yeah that that is that's one definitely


part one financial related topic


K K, K basically K


and investments currently I personally feel that shares has has a lower price and also the unit trust is at a lower price, and now the because the US dollar drop, uh overally the interest rate have dropped also now is only uh if let's say the fixed deposit rate is only less than


one percent so if let's say got money what happen is I think that it would be better to park the money into the share, you need ETF, or if let's say you are daring enough uh you can park into the REITs but I do not know why the government are so focus on REIT because uh they are buying the our MSCI index our SCI index are very heavily weighted and they change the thing to uh REITs I do not know what is the main reason lah but


overall this is how I feel lah how about you mister Lee


sometimes it's like that lah it's your confidence level I think uh I think it's a US print money mah print money so everybody got more confident ah , ya


don't know I basically I do not know about all these auction future commodity periods ah because it's a high risk products I like to have something much more low risk ah, all these product a bit high risk it's not very I not very favourable to them, ya and you need a lot of times to to I think by doing making money from somewhere I think it will be cover because this is in fact all these are uh product that is high risk and you need to understand it which I don't have too much time on that ya it's how I feel lah what about you


oh ya ya ya this one I heard of it ah so uh, I think it's I think it is they tried to uh try to hedge against it ah but end up they lost money on that, ya one, #hin leong# #hin leong# the I think #hin leong# is the top thirty billionaire in Singapore ah top thirty


ya ya ya, ya ya he very low profile and a lot of country who talk about oil ah know him one you go to a lot of countries those oil traders ah will know him because he he can uh have a very good trading amount ya


no lah singapore no monopolised lah but he's a bigger player lah bigger player I can say he's a bigger player


ya ya I have a trading account I think I using lim and tan ah, lim and tan philip but I don't like to use philip ah I feel that philips ah the trading account a bit difficult to use, ya ya, lim and tan ah you can use on handphone you can use on laptop and also the when the buying buying things ah it's much more efficient ah you know sometime when you want to buy things ah if you cannot click on time ah you will have some problem so I think that this is a very good way ah I think lim and tan is very good in Singapore


as compared to other provider other provider like CNIB phillip a bit difficult to use ah even kian heng also very eh kian heng also okay but I think lim and tan much more easier !aiya! if you are using trading I also want to put in one trader lah my this trader very good ah he I buy trade ah all put under her


and some more he buy we met her in a roadshow


ya tapping tapping I if tapping I sure like that lah I can ask you about that, no leh haven't eh I don't understand what is crypto so I don't know but I heard some people make money lah but some people lost money ah


but I think if let's say want to play crypto you must understand ah don't mind understanding it maybe later on it will be one of the replacement currency, ya if you want can diversify it ah buy some and keep maybe it have one thousand return one thousand percent return


don't know leh I didn't buy I didn't understand it ya


not sure leh this one I not sure about crypto leh crypto, but crypto got a lot of version ah so I do not know which one so there's don't buy the bitcoin this type I think will be much more safer lah the rest of them I still new leh


I don't think they will easily replace uh the physical currency lah


oh I I think I do invest on CPF money lah but I realise that recently CPF money when I open the accounts ah it's a bit leceh ah once must take test ah, must take test in order to open CPF account I think that one is a bit leceh ah !aiya! people who know to invest ah no need to do this mah so what for want to go and take test


last time not so leceh nowadays if let's say you want to uh invest CPF money you need to uh open account ya so I feel that CPF money do not know why leh it don't really the investment ah since government is regulating it ah but the the fluctuation is not as efficient as outside leh


I think they overly regulate it ah resulted ah the the return ah maybe less than two point six, I personally feel that ah, but but some of the things they still outbid lah but most if you buy now should be outbid lah two point six


but if you buy high point should not lah, ya I personally feel that CPF money if let's say you buy now during this timing the return the yield is good, but if you buy at the high time I don't think the yield is good [orh] because better put in the CPF better, ya


I think if let's say they want to invest ah I think the the government should be doing some regulation on it to give it high performing not like that too low performing nowadays, I think they too scared ah a a lot of thing they too scared ah until ah they follow and listen ah a lot of thing too scared ah until all the government related products all not making money very sad ah do not know why also ya


no the not it's not the performance not so good if let's say


the returns and the yield ah the return and the yields ah depend on the ah if let's say you, do not know how to select ah you anyhow select you select uh maybe now US equity maybe with uh AIA you buy it, US market is making money you know but this fund not doing well because of the regulations that uh CPF board have


imposed because CPF say cannot grow mah cannot uh cannot be higher risk mah so it cannot put into IT stock Amazon Apple all these cannot put so what the stock they put is very all the stable traditional one now market change already what market all change


now you do things in what we do now is we do zoom meeting we do all this meeting, all change already so it's totally different ya so cannot be too safe lah traditional stocks can be a bit lah but not all lah but they are too traditional


so if can don't don't don't touch what governments doing now the direction ah they may be too comfortable until they not efficient, ya then nobody go and voice it out if voice it out only the small minority voice it out the main major majority don't know !aiya!


no lah now is the best time lah confirm will outbid two point five ah drop some more better confirm will be


confirm ah just if you got money put into in CPF investment lah but then don't know leh uh I think yesterday PAP don't do well eh so I do not know monday market will fall, ya


saving bond ah saving bond is for retail market who don't know how to invest lah then they put inside here, if let's say they don't know how to, place the money in the bank then put in Singapore savings bond lor the the yield quite good lah one point something to two better than they put in the traditional bank deposit ah


so you all can if let's say for this few years Singapore savings bond should be should be a very good tools ah, next few years ah, if you don't know how to invest put in Singapore savings bond


if you know how to do of course put in the market ah, but you also can must be careful careful ah put in the market you put in the market also must thinking thing whether you have risk or not because now the market very volatile


buy low sell high ah buy low sell high buy low sell lower lor buy high sell higher [orh], it used to be a good strategy lah when Singapore started lah but now where Singapore all educated I think buy low sell high should not be the strategy anymore ah


because if the potential for this stock is going to go up it will go further up, you see, you said Amazon last few days last few weeks or months, bid highest high, you say buy low sell high what to how to how how to how to achieve it


very difficult, you see SPH Singapore buy lows buy uh you buy low then it drop lower you buy, three dollar three dollar now drop to one something one something went to seventy cent will it lower, ya but compare


no lah now I think now is three three eighty ah


three eighty three eighty , but they are affected lah so SIA cannot put into picture because they are affected by this COVID lah, ninety percent not flying eh how to make money, ya lah but they don't make money too much ah their their margin is very little only they have very high high thing you know their margin is by single digit eh


airlines thought ah the the airlines thought the margin is very little it's only by single digit cannot use SIA as a comparison lah because SIA is, is they need to use SIA for certain reasons ah so they even don't make money lost money government will support lah


because it will bring in more more business into Singapore, yes tap already


time the market time in the market depend on how much fund you have [orh] , ya if you have got more money then you always can buy uh, you got more a lot of money then you can time the market to play lor if not you time in the market [orh] just wait wait it to go back to the normal


I think that both of the if you want to if you are good enough ah time the market you know this is the lowest you can buy lah you got foresight, potential can generate potential yield for the market ya


so I think can combine two way lah don't stick to one way because you stick to one way the risk very high let's say you buy the thing, that you time the market you put everything into maybe uh you put in everything


uh into uh maybe for example you you put everything into one company lah, uh maybe uh, maybe I think these few days got one company close down ah if I put you time the market put everything inside go lower go lower then close down then grab nothing back lor


so I think more important is diversify it ah ya, depend on the individuals how much fund you have if you have more fund diversify more lah


but if let's say not a lot, one or two should be enough lah but, if a lot diversifying is due ah because now market you also do not know ah unless you're super savvy eh, super savvy also means a lot of time planning into it depend on how you make money lor ya


dollar score averaging if you don't know how to play then dollar score averaging lor you still make money from the market mah, so your risk is further diversified ah, more more important is, protecting your portfolio ah I tell how you feel ya


I think what they means ah dollar score averaging means here is you buy you buy every time every month hundred hundred hundred hundred you average out the price, so what is mean is is diversify it so that you don't buy the high price and don't buy the low price so you buy the medium price


ya so this is for people who don't have time they will diversify it ah this is how I feel ah, so how I normally do to uh plan for my investment portfolio is


I will I will put my fund into two parts one is for lower time like now to buy one is to buy it leveragely, so that I got a discipline it's like CPF ah you buy it every day you got at least got money mah but buy into those that is strong don't anyhow buy don't anyhow hear because rumours will make you


[ah] don't anyhow, ya so buy things that is good [lor] that's all [lor] ha ha


part three negative experience, what frustrate you mister Ong


[orh] what frustrate you ah, this year end, !aiya! of course lah I need to redo two time eh , ya no ya frustrate also no choice also no choice something is not uh what you want lor it's it's just happen in that way angry I


can be quite quite angry also lah but no choice leh now technology is like that a lot of things also is not can it can't your thing your terms, like yesterday I saw the the thing, also I saw eh, the polling thing I say !wah! they do so well you know but end up they didn't get a very good good good reply from the markets


they give so much money you know these few years but end up the market don't really appreciate some some some frustration is very common I also feel that but, can be very frustrations frustrated certain time, but more important is how we deal with it lah, ya


and then what how how do you manage your frustration, how you manage your frustration


this this thing is quite common mah everybody have this type of issue, like let's say your boss tell you do what you also uh not happy also no choice what you also need to keep quiet what what can you do suck thumb mah so , no choice what this one is very difficult to manage also sometimes it's it's very contradicting lah it's very contradicting so how I manage this ah very simple I always those I always say look at his has it is angle and think


if this he do correct or not but if let's say do all the analysis still think Sian ah ah don't bother lah, what can we do only keep quiet lor some bosses are like that one mah most of the time, ya you cannot control one


angry bird lor angry, ah you got to see for angry bird lor angry bird movie, the angry bird every time also angry one if don't disturb him also angry


K, what is the greatest fear ah, greatest fear ah, greatest fear is greatest fear is greatest fear is not to act [orh] my greatest fear is not to act everyday we do things ah the greatest fear is we don't act


this is my greatest fear !huh!, like everything was given to you is an opportunity the greatest fear is is afraid mah then you don't dare is to do it mah so that is my greatest fear, ya, because I very I like to do things ah I don't like to say eh don't want don't want don't want because my greatest fear is I didn't act and everything is very beautiful all mah then I didn't make an actions and the outcome is beautiful that is my greatest fear ya


correct correct and conquer the fear lah conquer the fear, ya know how to conquer the fear or else you will be always fearful, fearful of doing things ya


!aiya! things that can, for me I think that, got lah but that experience, I think your one not so bad lah my one thing your one can each can solve by money one no problem


buy a laptop spend a bit more time it's no issue, ya lah the worst thing is unfortunate thing is spend, you pay things that, could go wrong but you cannot use money to solve that is the worst


ya you cannot mah use money to solve ah that is the worst, how do I overcome it ah, so it's it's the it's the wisdom to understand ah it's the wisdom to understand ah what what is life about get what I mean then it's the wisdom for us to know ah what is correct and wrong you get what I mean so if you know what is correct and wrong ah


you should not be able to feel uh you may not be able to feel these unfortunate events you should be feel that this is a blessing in disguise, ya, so , I personally feel that


if if I got a chance to uh describe unfortunate events right things that I can solve ah is no more an issue I can solve it myself but the problem is things that I cannot solve ah that would be the worst, event that it become unfortunate for me ya


ya even money also cannot solve that's the worst, phobia ah hello what phobia you have