person to myself even ya, then I'll buy that just to tell and said okay fine you know I probably deserve a drink, yup so then again on the other hand it could be because I'm a miser one I'm just treating myself to a four or five dollar reward lah you know but I think it will it does


ya it maybe that's one of my comfort drink so to speak, !hey! but I guess generally


yes


(mmhmm), essential, is an essential part of your life


okay


uh okay so when I was okay I won't say hate but I don't really liked duck when I was younger


and like like roast duck, I I may not be hundred percent sure but it kind of seems like I may not really liked it like it that back then uh then another thing I never really liked was cockles warming the cockles of your heart right


oh ya so anyways ya, yes so the funniest thing is that I never really liked it but I could eat it okay I think you would probably understand that kind of uh explanation because it's the same thing with you and spring onions and all those kind of stuff lah and


I didn't really like it lah I mean like like Laksa or whatever I can just put it aside I don't remember, being really enthusiastic about it okay and the reason why, I started eating is because I wanted to just gross the heck out of my friend


like eh so gross like why so gross about it just food and then I just started, eating it or swallowing it in front of, that person I can't remember who it was I didn't know where whether if in singapore or in malaysia or whatever but I knew that I did it it order to spike him or her and through a cause of that I kind of got used to eating it and then now it's something that I kind of like lah a lot I think so


ya it's just like why what's wrong with this you know and then I just I just eat and I sure I will just want to show person like what's wrong with this is just food like I just want to scare that person so if if grabs you were not as disgusting you know those worms you know if they don't look as disgusting as they do to me I'll probably eat it in front of someone just to


get a crap out of that person ah I new to eat them all out and stuff I probably would do that you know, but that was probably how I started what, ya lah one of the I think elden right


ya you mention, ya you mention, (mmhmm) (mmhmm)


okay I can't say is, a travel experience because the experience that I had there was memorable wasn't due to the travel


alright , but I was overseas at that point of time, okay so in a way you can see is a travel experience but it wasn't because I was outside seeing and I did something miraculous or like different okay so what happen is that we had a really good


team that went up to Narita LA and, uh during the first sector we got along pretty a well so we hung out


uh and sort of when uh sites not really sightseeing by just went out to do our grocery shopping or a bit shopping in uh, Tokyo and, I can't remember what we did in LA


but on the return oh in LA, oh in LA so in LA uh I didn't hang out with the girls then I actually hang out with the two chief on that flight they were batch boys lah


so the two chief and I and maybe another girl or guy kind of but maybe they were there three or the four us but we we drove out I wasn't the one driving the the two guys driving to the, factory outlets did our shopping


maybe they were ya three guys all the seniors the leading steward and the two chiefs they were batch boys so we had a pretty good time just talking and joking in nonsense lah so


on the way back to japan uh the girls and the blue coloured, ranks right all of us he said that eh uh before we check out let's just gathered in this person's room you know we just uh exchange colours so they you will either the browns or the blues for the makeup so


if you are blue you would put a brown this time round and vice versa, so, it was during my first year, probably I don't know what else even during my probation or not but obviously I didn't know that I needed to cancel my wake up call so every morning he will call you one hour before you check out


just to go and give you a wake up call to let you know that !hey! you know it's about time so if a halfway doing something you know it's about time for you to get ready and and check out lah so I didn't cancel my wake up call and, I left my room and of course we took all my bags and everything to the girl's room so they were like a few of us gathering there


there was one guy there were supposed to come by as well supposedly I can't remember whether yes or no he was supposed to come by but maybe he wasn't , then the phone I was sitting next to the the the the dressing table where the phone was and then the phone rang


and there was this guy that asked uh uh is this the girl's name ah is this person so and so then I like uh no this is not then he asked , who is this then I just say your mother lah your #lao bu# ah you know I just say your #lao bu# and then after that he paused for like two seconds


so he said these IFS blah blah blah does this makes me your father that I had I totally froze you know it was my supervisor for the flight so this is IFS blah blah blah so does this make me your father then I oh


uh I'm sorry then the ask are you, who and who they said yes said, what are you doing in this room, oh uh then I tried to explain said we wanted to you know gather together and stuff like that so we, came to this room lah to get ready then he said did you know that I received at least five to ten calls regarding you and another girl because they couldn't find you in your hotel room you didn't pick up your call and they've been calling me every few minutes how am I supposed to prepare for flight !wah! Kena them bad


so in a debriefing session , the two chiefs right, they , they they got along well with me lah okay then the leading guy that was that later admitted to me that saying that actually that the aisle friend also ask him to seek into the briefing because they wanted to have a witness or at least you know to see what was going on lah so they ask


he need that I was initially asked the leading to sit into the the debrief with me, but, when he found out what happened right he couldn't get but thought he he told me that if I set in the briefing with the two of you I will definitely personally out laughing because I know this is damn funny it's like so it ridiculous I know how you are and I if everything is so


it's so funny on you know is that so hilarious that happened I I cannot keep a straight face so he rejected this offer to sit in as a witness and then the other chief who had a pretty bad uh pretty straight face actually sat in lah so through that flight uh everybody knew me as the girl that


that Kena from the IFS saying that I'm your I'm your mother lah ya so that's that is the most memorable travel experience I had yeah okay that's it


ya because I got into shit right, I got into trouble,


because it was the furthest you have been and it's a #ang mo# country that you have


, but that mean you are just doing a generalisation and there's nos one specific experience ah basically


(mm) yup okay (mmhmm)


financial related topic


so you're not sure whether you've had a any grant whether HDB or CPF lah, would you want to find out , and I would guess by ya going down a HDB but even so if you ask for grant now isn't it a little bit too late because what they're gonna do refund you the amount or


uh I I think if if it's pertaining to HDB uh you you could actually go to the HDB and checked clarify themselves so during the the due diligence process when they do the first appointment second appointment the officer would actually go through in detail all the relevant uh document together with all the grants and uh


and uh whatever is available whats and possibly had you know uh discuss with the officer about it lah


actually I'm not very sure but I don't I I I don't think it's gonna be automatic ah


no on the second part is it,


, ya I I think a a a part of it uh it it will be ideal to fully pay but uh, I think some of the, savings would actually go towards buying new appliances uh furniture as well like say for example uh a bed a bigger television you know our kitchen appliances


simple things like uh pots and pans and even the mops all these costs money you not gonna take a loan for all that for sure so that in itself would probably pick up a fair bit of your own saving so taking a renovation loan, uh however substantial would definitely is the uh burden lah having to you know on top of that you still have to service the monthly uh a monthly mortgage as well as you know what's it called the I mean month quarterly month monthly maintenance


ya uh just a portion I guess that that is my opinion


(mmhmm), (mmhmm) why don't you start


uh I think is more uh relevant to uh the buyer's stamp duty so many like investment would you buy a property for investment meaning like uh it could be or even you've your it could even I think you could even be your uh first


for people buying additional property with ABSC so the first part was the first question was buyer's stamp duty which is the normal what two three per cent right ya and then ABSC will be the second part portion


ya all ya all yes uh all property ya


additional you mean for investment additional second or just the first needless to say I mean you still


I think I I I think okay so I I think in in singapore's context right for for for the first part meaning you know you're buying so at first for your own stay, right the first primary home whether it's going to be for investment as well of course I think it's definitely in singapore's context is very relevant is is uh why because we have uh


first of course uh usually doesn't really make sense renting a place right but if you are able to afford and buy a place of your own and even for them on an investment basis is still make some sense uh assuming that the port you didn't buy into a high end even buying too a high


uh it takes maybe about ten fifteen years before you actually come crawl back to the same level if, at all ya so, having to still own a place and not pay lose rental that's quite uh


it's quite something in unique to singapore I say or even you know uh big cities in the world


that's quite substantial for singaporeans I think it comes up to about eight ten percent, ah ya that's about four percent three percent ya, uh yes more than double


it is it is to be more like a deterrent


ninety seven, uh nineteen ninety seven when a Hong-Kong uh returned back to china, oh !wow! no sorry you said Hong-Kong right so oh in other the climate and in Hong-Kong uh ya that


that was uh due to the developers bidding for high high high land land prices, uh yes okay so that came after uh the casinos came about


yes ya, ah after that that was after sub prime sub prime, yup asia yup (mmhmm)


(mmhmm)


okay for my case actually is uh now is not uh yes uh I already decided that it was gonna definitely uh it really depends on the situation basis because uh if I told you that, there's a fire sale for fifty percent off off off peak price would you consider that a good price


would you want want to buying to that we're talking about fifty percent and you have to fork out another ten percent or uh assuming is ten percent ten percent off that fifty percent less as essentially like five percent so its its percentage of percentage you understand what I'm saying


yes if it's a if it's a really good steal price would you stick would you say no to that he would still


now well it's it is it's really a matter of perspective and and and how you look at it if you had a chance upon a really good buy, you can't say you you you definitely wouldn't say no now is not the good time if you really think, think uh it it it is I uh something that you you you you find that is comfortable within your means and is incredibly discounted you and you can afford it or you know have without having to lose an arm or leg on why not you know


maybe even right now in this current situation lah


come again sorry uh what do you say ah, (mmhmm) oh oh ya first not a lot


, okay then you it then uh I will look at demographics and and and have some some form of trajectory uh based on whatever has transpired


like uh for example I definitely learnt that uh location location location the casinos when they open it was a a big boom in singapore's uh economy it it was also a very good time, sorry uh uh sorry come again


okay so I find the of the research of of the recent years of the recent years uh, it was the casinos when it came into play uh it I would say maybe the uh tourism the construction


or a few industries all these factors came into play and financial as well our financial institutions as well because of the sub prime whole sub prime are a lot of the , limelight actually shifted towards asia and of course singapore is position has always had hitherto been position as a a a financial hub


competing typically with uh with Hong-Kong uh and having said that even though you know Hong-Kong today is definitely not as desirable anymore as before we had ya ya but, ya okay


ya let let's pause for


I think it's the uh network uh our wifi is a bit slowing down choppy internet ya, now it's picked up in fact I couldn't


I was saying something about a post uh post sub prime uh ya so firstly I mean mark many factors singapore is already position of ourselves as a financial hub, uh the uh


a the the picking up or china china it was a it was a on a on a very is on a bull run it and uh and of course prior to that us the US the western nations are all in the doldrums financially because uh, of of the sub prime so we were able to ride the the wave uptrend for quite a fair bit


and because of all these factors at him to play including the two casinos are opened not just one but two so ya oh in in fact sorry I think we should try to move on shortly because I just looked the time is uh oh we have less than four four minutes


can you hear me, oh okay okay ya so, ya ya so having said that


we singapore has a uh you know we we definitely benefited from the uh two casinos at the right type opportune time and uh, so that core resulted in a very steep gradient of the of the uh the curve upward trend


and hence the the necessity for the government to calm and control and regulate the uh credit, both uh buying selling uh and and and you know to put measures in place to cool the market down ya


(mmhmm), ya so of its one so so so the last the second part of the question ya it's uh on a additional buyer's stamp duty is it relevant I think I think it is it definitely cooled the market down it's uh


it it it it, it is something very necessary and it had you know with that in place it managed to cool the market down a little bit considerably and also but I mean conversely it's expensive for one but it cools


okay sorry it's expensive for the people for people buying at the wrong time and at that very moment when it heats up to to uh too fast too quickly but at the same time uh people who is already bought is a is able to offload it and a much higher price as well right


(mmhmm), oh sorry a boom boom uh


at what you you definitely can anticipate all that because I I remember uh having almost transacted in a sale just prior to that if the buyer actually sign on a piece of paper three months later upon completion he would have made a paper profit immediately then and and and and that was just the start that that


no no that was uh that was just at the cast of the bull run at the very beginning when the casino just opened, the resorts world I can still remember ya so and then of course uh we saw and that was much earlier maybe two thousand twelve


eleven ya, and you know so you can come imagine the prices than in today how far it has crept up lah, come let's take a look at other questions we have only one minute left


myself no no no not really uh


I think it's a minimum sum ya


negative experiences, uh okay so on negative experiences I've I think I can start because uh


I definitely am a lot more emotional as a person and I have been very gone through a quite a fair bit of, range of emotions even recently uh !wow! but I don't know how to pick how to start actually


there's so many things here what makes okay what makes you stress so what makes me stress a lot of things uh financial for sure uh but, I knowing myself uh, the most, common


and the biggest impact negatively, negative impact would always be, circling around uh my partner my girlfriend my other half you more often than not, ya and that usually takes the cake uh


ya family of course but I for some reason I am able to deal with it better


uh I'm trying to I'm trying to think there's a lot like even just uh last night was it last night eh eh uh ya ya yesterday right the the cat is not the saddest of course but the uh garfield is it the the python that ate the the cat


ya I mean it's not the saddest it's not the saddest for sure of course but it was something, of a little some sort and there was some impact at least ah


(mmhmm)


okay uh I uh something you just popped in my head uh it was a travel travel experience I was in Hainan island I do I might mentioned this to you before as well uh, uh the uh we wanna in a on a tour so went on restaurant eating and then there was this couple arguing really loudly the husband are screaming the wife was carrying her


infant child right in hand and then and then the man just swung around and just started to slap the his I'm guessing assuming his wife, really really really hard, and she obviously hold holding onto the child she was not able to


fight back and and and fend for herself lah so but of course uh sitting at the table were all, elderly aged uh singaporeans so we definitely, had a, a reaction but we did not see upon ourselves to


extend any help and stop the the the the the the fight, it is basically socially unacceptable in singapore but I realise that is actually, uh uh it could just jolly well be a norm there in china in Hainan island particularly you know it it


okay


I don't know I don't know I mean it's not uh but it it it it's really saddening to see the women being uh uh the the lady being abused you know so that's what it is is definitely a cause of an alarm, uh socially definitely unacceptable and and uh by our our society in in singapore a bit more modern


but then again you know uh ya I mean if if you if you were to see, uh uh say say say for example uh, exotic animals and you know if it off for example I'm might have mentioned this to you before it the eating of uh of of dogs in china is normal right across the board that's fine for them whereas it's not acceptable


by maybe largely the western nations because they think they that dogs are are are killed I mean , it it it's a matter of perspective how how you want to deem that as being sad or or or or sadistic or cruel or anything you know it's a matter of is is social


maybe an accident eyewitness an accident that's really quite scary as well, now that that ya, yes I I I was traumatised by by pictures being a witness where ex motorbike uh motorcycle accident ya I mean it it it is it sad it is said it is also sad and but ours definitely more traumatise then then then sad lah


, okay so anyway I'm looking at number number ah no I I I was more traumatise then and than anything else when it called a police or or ambulance nine nine five, I could not I could not uh I could not speak properly I was stuttering you know okay so anyway I I see number five number ten sorry is what make you stressed I I think I like to talk about that you wanna start


financial stress right


so apart from economic economic stresses financial


that's something I cannot I can't understand ah , it's


I've never missed the flight before my life


so I guess I shouldn't have asked you that question then , (mmhmm) (mmhmm) ya okay so uh it it is also still tied in with a financial isn't it


if you think about it in a matter of perspective meh, it is it basically what causes you to be stress usually entail some financial reason


no no no no what I mean to say is what I mean to say is that uh there are other things that cashless has had have an impact on you making you stress apart from just financial


oh maybe it maybe if your partner is uh not feeling well sick sick are you will you be stressed up


okay maybe he okay said said me me eh okay put it this way I have cancer, I've been diagnosed with a cancer so you know you, it's very common whereas


not really, uh, okay put it this way there is a chance of me passing on right would that


and what that there is a is a higher chance now with a bit more certainty because of a flood of critical illness that we just mention so how do you feel about that would that make you unhappy sad stressed uh financial stress burden aside


the fear that the the set the sense of the potential sense of loss of a of a loved one


ya but but then they scale financial financial is also uh a form of lost one, in in your perspective ah the fear of losing money that is also a loss


ya you I mean you can decide about it but and then if you if you can't be if it can't be helped


(mmhmm), you can still get it back you can still work and earn it back, ya basic needs ah


(mmhmm), so you are basically telling me that you are stressing over nothing then when you already told me that you have had have your own savings and and and and backup plans and stuff you see


so this is a very stressful period for you now then isn't it


ya I realise that


so I guess in in a way that you go compared to me I think if you deal with stress a lot better than I do then, ah in comparison direct comparison to me you uh handled stress a lot better than I do


(mmhmm), I'm I'm just reading through the uh the the list lah, and uh I realise that number eleven was actually what I mentioned about the accident is more relevant then it's not set norm but it's more it's a oh in fact the part of the reason why is more traumatic is also because


uh just a few days before that uh a a lady committed suicide by jumping out uh down the building, ya I I told you that so what happened was I heard it I didn't hear scream but I hear her land and I my immediate thought was just brushed it off thinking like what could how could that be you know and uh and then just late


and that I could hear it sounded exactly what uh what if you would think it is sad to say I heard it and, it's very loud, something like something something lending and it's really loud ya and then so it already left me a little mildly traumatised and then I witnessed the accident


positive experiences


okay so since you started earlier on I will start now, uh I decided to use the start with number nine which is the comfort food that it I can always rely on to cheer me up, you mentioned earlier on ice cream uh that is sort of you know chocolate I dark chocolate ice cream oh you are one of them ya uh but my first few thoughts were actually potatoes corn


bacon beef, ya a nice steak, ya, ya lah I mean like uh french uh french fries uh like like a maybe a shepherd's pie without much greens


just simple beef minced beef or or lamb minced meat uh potatoes


that's your but that's your perception of a pie while the first like I said the first pie shepherd's pie I had uh didn't really have very much uh vegetables, ya I can still remember


nope ya nope just potatoes and uh uh the minced beef I believe it was brought by violet Oon I can still tell you where where had it it was at takashimaya when it first opened, Ngee-Ann city sorry Ngee-Ann city ya


(mmhmm) it left the really deep impact eh , what about you, uh takashimaya Ngee-Ann city


uh I think it was in a basement ya, no not at all uh I've always known violet 0On to be a food critic that was the only time that she's ever had any uh food, and then after that it was a


yes and then I was a hiatus for the longest time and now she uh recent years she's got, I think two restaurants around at at least, ya I don't think is she a renowned food critic and a cook as well but she didn't really have very much uh uh of a restaurant and then it was only just the girl a kiosk or stall


in uh takashimaya when it first opened so what's your what's your favourite comfort food


noodles


excited ah, more excited and it makes you happier ya like you look for eating even if you are maybe not that hungry, is like you I are you you put a plate of lady's fingers brinjal ginger in front of me sprinkled with lots of spring onions you know my reaction I will definitely be not excited right so


now you up there we go you see, ya perhaps you could be noodle hokkien Mee #char kway teow#


so what excites you the most for food, mochi you know joy joy bread #huat kueh#


you know you can't go wrong everyone really bad hawker or like you can't go wrong you can just having like really a a really bad cook a really bad cook or a rotten ingredients


imagine your noodles are not being undercooked


a little bit hard uh uh it's very hard to to ruin that dish lah


how about uh flavours, how about flavours how about flavours, (mmhmm)


perhaps I mean you know I like uh like I I told you I was very specific with the ice cream with dark chocolate, if you give me a really weird or maybe like matcha green tea I won't get too excited you know ya


ya I think you you prefer asian asian food right asian food over western, (mmhmm) there we go ya that sounds like a comfort food too ya why not I mean it's not food but you know it's it it it makes you too me at least my my my perception of comfort food you should more it it excites you you know makes you it lifts your mood


it's very comforting you know isn't it it's like


, miser, , celebrity drink uh, (mmhmm)


, (mmhmm), okay so it it brings where you just sit on beverage ya so this brings me to see a number six right like what I hate as a kid and I love as an adult initially I couldn't think of anything at all but at it turns out I realised that I have the answer right now it is actually a beverage and is a coffee


coffee yes I could never ever in my life that my short lifetime as a kid imagine myself drinking a hot beverage early in the morning, not at all ya


ya and and and and uh now, it's the first few things that I go through when I wake up you know, oh ya lah, ya whether it's hot or cold uh it usually is it just coffee ya ya


I won't even dare to say I I I I I, (mmhmm) what about you


like duck like the duck, the boat oh okay !wow!


well I can understand why


ah you didn't like it so much


kinda ya kinda a lot ya


you know I ate the bee before right, I have to eat I have to eat a bee for a wedding there, I told you right , I was the only one that finish the whole bee ya


apparently is a medicinal bee or something from a chinese herb shop what, okay I I I'm I'm reading number three now is is just described one of your most memorable travel experiences, you used to be a crew what is your most memorable travel experience


(mmhmm)


japan (mmhmm)


!wow!, this so memorable, , okay


alright uh well I think for me uh most memorable travel experience was uh recently that I can't recall was in uh greece I liked it a lot, as in like the the country the scenery the the culture of europe and then uh


ya whatever that I did it was quite memorable and uh, I liked it very much you're there as well, I I definitely like the european unique european culture the food at uh in fact but even turkey as well as part of it was a day tour just looking at the architecture very beautiful very unique ya is supposed to you know good all asia Bali of course is nice thailand Bangkok is cheap and nice as well


uh but it's just very different very refreshing for a change


financial related topics


(uh huh)


, I have I have gone through the same thing as what you what you mention so


recently I went with my dad not recently but ya probably a few years ago and I went with my dad to get a policy, for him ya because he's getting older and you know he wants to get something which has more coverage because you know they're getting older so as we were having a conversation with an insurance agent


I don't want to say which ya so as we were having a conversation and then he started like saying oh you know when we get this when you get this policy uh you have to pay this much and then we realised that after like half an hour into the conversation we realised that it is not


what, what we wanted ya it's basically he was trying to to probably get us to you know, have a better plan so that he has more commission so in a in a way I I I feel that you know sometimes insurance is a very what would I say like a very


a topic which , it's about your life it is about that assurance and a guarantee that you know you get something or not even you but when your children or your spouse you know we'll get something after an accident or or death per se so uh in a way I feel that you know things like this should be


spoken spoken about properly and clearly to especially older people ya and because the way that he was speaking to me I understood what he was saying and I understood the the agenda behind it but you know my dad didn't


like after a while he was like oh why is he recommending this when I asked for this so in a way, it's ya that that is one bad sight to like the the thing ya and , I think if it was me like like you mentioned I would actually definitely approach an agent someone who I trust maybe someone who


who has taken uh an insurance policy with this agent before someone that I know who has taken up an insurance policy with this agent so my thoughts on like, insurance as so as a whole like if I were to plan my own insurance ya I would probably get something which


insures me for life definitely for death for uh hospital and for chronic illnesses because I mean you'll never know when you'll fall sick or anything ya, and also property insurance cause I feel it's important as well because no living in a house now we have so many incidences and cases of people


uh having their house getting burned down ya because you know they have like appliances open and all that so in a way I think that is one and I also know that HDB ya HDB they do have an insurance policy for your house so I think that is a good


ya so any other thoughts you have on insurance Yash like you can maybe a single from from a insurance provider like any single insurance provider how do you pick and choose your own


(mmhmm)


, sorry, for me like I said before I think that what is important is first I will definitely get a life insurance so that you know something that you know assures me for the whole life that you know


I'll get a payout if it even if it's not me but you know maybe for my own family or someone who's taking care of me and right after that would be definitely chronic illnesses and of course death, cause chronic illnesses I mean you never know when anything hits you so in a way I will


get that but I mean coming to the point of like the CPF insurance coverage that I mean we all have so that is one uh thing which I I'm quite like grateful for in a way it's because , like people like us we are so informed of like insurance and we know what to choose and what to pick and you know see and read up all the terms and conditions so those of the lower like privilege you know they are not able to afford insurance plans which are


which covers them for covers them enough so things like you know MediShield MediSave you know when they go to see uh doctor the hospitals they are able to cut down the cost of paying for certain


consultations ya so like I have a friend of mine who he recently went for an operation and it cost a bomb and he didn't know how to settle it so he had like the MediSave and also the MediShield life and on top of that he also had he's own insurance policy so


those three like combined he actually had to he only had to pay like a thousand for a surgery that he did that was so big and a huge amount of money ya so in a way I think, that insurance is good but maybe what puts me off into like finding for a good insurance policy or good insurance agent is that the person who hard sells things you know who doesn't say


what it is what it really is so I feel that there is this there should be this transparency with like the person who is getting the insurance as well as the person who is , uh the the insurance agent and the person who's getting the insurance ya so


so I feel that you know sometimes, when when I I've had this experience lah when personally when when an insurance agent that come up to me and you know talk to me about this this this and when they know that you're not so well informed of certain


issues or certain certain policy issues or certain policy terms or like, clauses in the in the in the contract ya that's when that you know they use it to their advantage and I think that you know something like that can be you know be put off lah ya if it shouldn't be you know


it shouldn't come off that way it should be something that you know when you're getting insurance policy you should able to trust that agent or that person or yours to to get a good policy or a contract so


how about you like do you when do you like get an insurance like you know when you engage in a in commercial activities or what you know what do you think about that


personally like I've been mentioning the uh from just now ya like personally I I feel that you know I wouldn't go for something which is like investment based because what if you know the the


the setbacks of it you know it comes back to me that you know let's say if I want to come back come out from that insurance , uh what do I say come out from that insurance policy you know stop stop it right altogether and then I I would have to you know get


I I would have to like bear the consequences of that and I feel that I rather I prefer to get an life insurance in a way ya because


like I I I feel that you know I rather invest in something which is uh important like I mean not even myself but you know for like your family members and all so I feel that I rather invest in that because you never know when anything happens to them I rather


I feel that an investment plan per se like an investment insurance is good I won't say it's not good but in a long term what if it doesn't work out, you know ya so I feel that life insurance is better


that you know everyone in your family or even yourself is covered for in terms of medical expenses lah because you know it's expensive in singapore you know everything is expensive yes but like I've come across many different


people who have come and tell me oh you know I should have gotten a uh insurance you know this would have covered me and then when I ask them you know what kind of insurance you have and then they'll be like oh I I have this , uh they they call it the saving insurance I have no idea why but ya so uh they said I have this I said then I you know in return I tell them why do you get an insurance for that when you could have get gotten insurance for your your life


ya so uh I feel it's you know insurance is very touchy topic because you know we're we're over the fence in certain situations like we're not over the fence but we are like on the fence so it's you it's good and bad but


what's important is I think we should just find, read most importantly read up like all the contracts lah that we we get, and , I think that you know the coverage that we're getting from certain insurance


coverage that we're getting from certain insurance companies when we try to, uh read up there are always be certain clauses and like like certain, things which you know is not like this insurance will be good for you the other insurance is not because they don't cover certain things so I think that you know to each their own and when we see that what is most important then it's when we should get a insurance which is


uh covers everything that we think that it does so uh Yash what do you think about like you know people who have who have like not one not two but like many insurance coverage coverage


negative experience


ya , so okay uh so one day I was walking at a mall and I was walking outside Uniqlo it's like super huge outlet, and then one of their workers, she was carrying a like really


huge poster and she was actually quite old I I would say like maybe around her forties like or close to fifties that kind quite old and she was struggling to carry and then what happened was, the poster fell on top of her I mean not like right on top but like you know just it hit her and she fell down


and everyone was just standing then just looking at her and, I felt very very like, I pitied her lah so I was actually quite far away from where everyone else was and they were crowding around but no one helped her


so my niece and I we ran forward and you know we we helped her and, and as she was like talking to us and then she was like expressing her emotion like saying that, , you know it felt I felt very upset and like sad that


something like this can happen in front of, people and they can, and ya like they they didn't help her and what they did was was even worse they use their phones and, uh took a video and a photo


ya this happened like, before after the circuit breaker, so, it was quite upsetting because like, someone is there instead of helping them you know you do it for the likes and the shares and it's I mean to me it's a negative experience it's not it didn't happen to me but the person that it happened to it's a negative experience for them I mean not only is it


like embarrassing for them but, it's also like, where is humanity you know, when when it comes to this kind of issues, so like uh how about you like Yash, any experiences


, (mmhmm)


, ya so


there were there was a time , I won't say heartbroken but, okay maybe ya you can put it that way so, recently my dog uh she actually ran really fast and she slipped on a puddle of water


so what happened was , at at that point in time there was this, like you know at the sides of walls, in our houses we have like those metal parts at the bottom some houses they don't have metal parts but it's just


it's just like a casing so I do have one in my house at the a specific corner where we put, her food and water so, as I was putting food and water and everything and then I think I didn't realise that, I spilled some water right in front so she slipped on it


and she hit her eye at that corner, and ya and she hit her eye at the corner and actually she's blind now on one eye, ya so, uh it's quite upsetting and I mean that was a moment cause I really panicked I didn't know what to do and I've not gone through that situation before so like


caring for I mean it's the same as caring for someone that you love you know your your pet is like your child and also like you know someone that you really some someone that you really love so , as like she was there and she started like panicking and running around and


like I mean it's quite visual lah like blood and all that and the whole house was really bloody and, we had to like really rush her down and she was in, the operation like they were doing like some operation on her for the nerves of the eye and everything


ya and it was quite heartbreaking and, quite painful because uh like, seeing like your your pet you know so small and going through that much of pain and it's very painful and also like, uncomfortable ya so that was one


point of time where I was, very down and very because I didn't know what to do ya that that was one point, so , uh Yash any other like negative experiences you felt you thought that you know you can share


(ppc)


uh I agree with you Yash like, I I have seen first hand like how , someone who has just recently lost their job like being in a company for like over thirty years and the person just lost their job and, with uh on top of that they also have an elderly person that they have to take care of


ya so uh it that and the situation I am describing is actually my neighbour she lives uh a floor below me and, I do speak to her like from a day to day like when I see her and I I do speak to her and so she just recently got retrenched and


that situation was a bit , upsetting was because uh she worked there for over thirty years, and and then she has a young she has , three other kids who take care about and on top of that she has


also an elderly person to take care of so you know like that sandwich generation, ya uh ya so they have they have like so much of responsibilities and everything and right now that because she's retrenched then she's unable to


take care or provide for a family as much as she did before so , I spoke to actually she's actually quite old also about around her fifties and I spoke to her and said you know there is this COVID support grant there there are grants that you know you can


apply for but I'm not sure if it's enough for you but I can help you to apply for her, so I actually sat down and I help her apply for it as well, but I mean seeing that situation her struggling back and forth and trying to find for a part time job even finding for part time job these days really difficult


something that you know that can help you, a a lot of companies like, speed retrenching people and you know, like it's just everyone is just staying at home not knowing what to do and they're all like trapped in a specific like uh like just trapped you know


and they don't have like a way out because some of them like they do not have much education, like especially the older generation they don't have much education and everything so it's difficult for them to find a job, so that is one thing that also keeps me awake at night it's because you know if it could happen to someone it could happen to me it could happen to anyone in my family


right so , uh ya so there is one thing lah that it's not it's not that, we're not making enough effort but the effort is not


being reciprocated because that situation like the pandemic is not allowing us, ya, so Yash like what what is something that you know like, you feel that, can be changed a negative situation that you think that


I don't know ya what what what do you think Yash like any other negative situations you have faced or read about


I I agree with what you said so , this pandemic actually, taught me a few things which would be to you know uh have the foresight of like planning saving and you know thinking of what, I can do with what I have right now and also this pandemic has also


even though we I've been affected negatively when I can't I'm I can't find a job I can't, uh look for a proper job something that you know is, that can help me it has also, taught me that you know


uh it's okay to slow down and it's okay to take your time, but even though sometimes certain situations don't permit you to do that, uh I I think that sometimes, these kind of situations when you go through it you know you will you will understand that


, not every time not you won't have everything every time, and also like, uh, seeing situations like my neighbour and all that you know it it help me to come out of my comfort zone to like talk to them and you know to help them and even though they don't have the means and ways to like get something they know that you know they can


rely on someone like to meet their neighbour or you know anyone else to help them and I think it's just the spirit of you know sticking together and you know making sure that everyone is okay not only about your own family but like your friends, especially your friends and especially like a relatives and all uh just helping them out and making sure that everyone is okay so that's one thing that I learnt from the pandemic


and, I mean the pandemic itself it's, it's just a very negative and a very icky situation like you don't know what to do with it you don't know how to deal with it and we are also not in the situation and the, the how to say like


we don't have the first the means to deal with it you know individually I would say, but like as a community as a group I think it's okay, and I think right now everything is slowly getting better although we are still moving into a recession but


ya that itself it's, it just, talks about our spirit lah ya, so , I will I always think this that you know in every negative situation there's always something positive and, ya so I think


going through this you know obviously there will be a light at the end of the tunnel and it will take awhile but, it's okay I guess, ya so how about you Yash like any, thing that you you think that, you know has been like a negative experience or like you know amongst friends or anyone that has said told you anything ya


, ya, ya


, ya , for me I agree with the mental health but because, staying at home during the circuit breaker and also dealing with all this it has taken a toll on not only me, but my family members as as well cause I live in a family a big group


like eight of us ya, so we live together actually ya so all of us living together you know there was some days during the circuit breaker and also like now which like , because of the financial strains and all that you know we'll be like quarrelling and all that stuff and it has taken a


toll on not only me but also my family so I think that you know, as each passing day is like just another challenge that we just have to go through ya that's all


positive experiences


okay so ya okay so , describe a time when you were helped by someone in your time of need so , I always like to go back to this situation when I was caught in the rain ya so I was caught the rain I was wearing uh a like a dress and you know


white shoes and everything and I was standing in the rain, but I was I was sheltered actually so I have to cross over to the other side which was about, maybe two blocks distance ya and the thing was there wasn't any shelter there and everything and I didn't know how to approach someone to ask them uh can I you know like hide under your umbrella we can go with you and everything and


there was this lady who walked up to me I think she didn't, uh really, I don't know maybe she noticed me from a distance I'm not sure but then uh she came up to me and she was like oh you look very uh


hesitant to ask someone but uh do you mind if I can if I can you know do you mind if I share the umbrella with you so that you don't get caught in the rain cause I was standing there for almost an half an hour, and I already missed an appointment so


, situations like this you know you you'll realise that humanity still exist ya like people still , have the heart to like help someone and all I mean it's not she didn't only helped me that was the best part she went back and forth so she dropped me off at the other side and there were people from that side she dropped them off and


when she dropped me off at the other side then I asked her why why do you like go about your day you know just after me you know you you can just continue and then she said no uh , I feel that you know everyone who's standing there you know they don't have umbrella and I do have a big umbrella so why not just spend like fifteen minutes and you know help


people to at least they also can move about in their day so that is one thing that is a positive experience in my life so how about you Yash


the story you just shared was uh very heartwarming because I've, I it makes you feel good I mean like receiving


something good from someone else so uh I would like to talk about a surprise or gifts that I've given someone so it was my niece's birthday we brought her out and you know we had a whole like day of fun and, and she didn't know that


at home we were having a surprise birthday for her so I when I brought her home and I told her because, I told her you know like I don't think we'll be celebrating your birthday so the whole day I was like you know telling her oh you know we're not celebrating your birthday you know


you know everyone is like so tired and my dad was like not feeling well so but actually I mean all these was just a lie to make her feel , upset in a way so that when she came back home she'll feel surprised so she opened up the door and then she's she saw the whole like


celebration she was she saw the whole celebration and everything and like all her friends were there and everyone everyone was there and it was quite a nice experience because, see her happy made me happy seeing her you know feel


like surprised and be so happy and she was like almost she was so happy till like she had tears running down her eyes and everything so that was a nice experience because , I don't know maybe some sometimes when you do something good for someone you know make them feel good and you have that like satisfaction that you know you made someone happy so like


I don't know ya many a times I I many times I've like encountered people who do things you know just because they want to get something but when you do something out of your own heart to uh make someone feel happy it gives you a different kind of satisfaction


in a way ya so how about you Yash like any kind of experiences that you have


thing what I'll be thankful for and appreciative towards is, I mean it might sound funny but to not wear a mask but I mean ya I mean in in another context ya I'll be very thankful for


people who'd been working throughout the circuit breaker you know we are at home staying at home and all those people who like risk their lives with all the COVID patients everything especially doctors and nurses and even, volunteers cause a sister of my my sister ya she she volunteers at this she's not a volunteer but she's she's a security guard at the


quarantine facility so and she comes back home and she tells me like certain stories about about some of the migrant workers that she speaks with and you know like what we think you know sometimes


like what we think ya migrant workers they actually feel a lot, , they feel very sick and you know like homesick and everything because they're stuck in that place so when they see someone who's not, uh in their like facility or in their compound someone who's outside and they get so happy so that is one thing that like my sister my sister has shared with me that you know she


she felt that , if we if we could be more appreciative towards , not only migrant workers per se but you know like everyone else in, everyone else and also have a have a positive I would say positive uh


notion or positive perspective of everyone you know the world will be a better place so in the post COVID world I would most probably be more appreciative towards just making everyone feel, good and making everyone feel like they belong you know in belongs here so


another fond memory that I have that I would like to share you know would be when I was younger, my dad like to loved to bring us to like many different places in singapore so you name it I've been there in a way so that was one fond memory because you know


at at that time when, it was difficult for our parents also to you know be earning not so much and you know it's from a very, uh that they were not very well to do so I mean as my my my parents especially they were not very well to do when I was younger so as I grew and then you know we became like slightly stable and more and now you know we are we definitely well to do so


in a way I feel that it's one fond memory I will think of because you know at the time where when I had nothing I won't say nothing but I didn't have as much as now uh my parents still provided for me, and they still made sure that I had the same experiences as everyone and you know I went out everywhere and and had good experiences so what what about you Yash like what do you think that you know any fond memory that you have that you would like to share


(ppc), (ppc)


(ppc), (ppc), personally for me I felt that when the pandemic struck and we're all like forced to stay home and you know that kind of slowed down everything and it made me


have a daily reflection or made me realise that you know I should kind of slow down each time when I try to be fast paced so in singapore you know everyone we just want to get things done and we just want to be more fast paced and everything so


in a way I felt that the pandemic will make me self reflect more on the things that I've been doing maybe , make me prioritise certain family time because when I was in school I didn't really prioritise family I had to like study a lot and you know I always in my room studying or you know going out with my friends so I didn't really spend much time my family and that gave me much a lot of time to like think about


the priorities and set my priorities, right ya so personal growth, would be I won't say in the specific time that this what happen but every day we're growing everyday we are learning new things and


I feel that growing shouldn't stop ya because , when when we face certain like like the pandemic right it's a very negative situation and and it I was happy that you know reading up on like people had like many positive uh experiences to share and I felt that you know even that itself is a personal growth


because not many of us we, ya not many of us we will think of in a negative situation will think of it in a positive way so that was my personal growth lah ya like, to be able to just slow down and to you know take things or take a day at a time to go about my day and plan out my day properly and prioritise certain things which I didn't really prioritise in the first place ya so what about you Yash like


uh personal growth right so what do you think about about it like like what made you persevere into you know being a better person or to being who you are today


perseverance would uh come to me I'll I have , so when I was studying I didn't really give much uh importance to to studies ya and at a age you know when we are like we just want to go about and you know run around and do stuff so


ya enjoy your friends everything so I didn't really give much like attention to studying so there there was this semester where which I did and then my I didn't really score really well so ya that that was one thing lah so I persevered to get my GPA up


and you know really really finish school ya, so that that that sorry, ya so uh so that is one of the , experiences of perseverance because it was very tough


to get from like O levels to ITE and then you know to poly so ya that that is one experience I have which was quite tough to to jump the borders and to you know ya just to persevere and to studying well


financial related topics


right so okay perhaps I could start , personally do I have personal insurance I do, uh my parents bought me a personal insurance a plan when I was born , it was a Great Eastern plan if I'm not wrong


and a Prudential plan as well, and uh the reason why they bought it was because they were advised to get one by an agent who said that it would be best to have, a form of protection for my own wellbeing for my health and in case if I die at least they'll be something to back them up financially


it was actually a whole life insurance I have in the past ah got term life insurance as well, I know for a fact that what an agent had actually told uh told my dad to get a term life insurance because it would help in paying off my tertiary education that came up to quite a sum


so that was actually uh helpful because it was a monthly uh plan by Prudential I'm not too sure what the name was, but it was my Prudential and it was a monthly sum that was a bit affordable it was I think about hundred to two hundred dollars for about five to ten years so it gave this kind of security when I apply for tertiary education that there was a little bit of funds to at least uh tied me over that period of time


ya so would I approach an agent or DIY when it comes to insurance planning actually a lot of agents are using social media, uh from what I've gathered uh they are using Instagram and Instagram ads to sort of advertise their investment skills like endowment funds but they tend to


mask it in the in the ways of like oh we are doing investment funds would you like to know more and then when you get in contact with them they start telling you that they're from a particular insurance agency, so I think it's a bit dodgy as well I got into contact with one pretty recently he was I I'm guessing he was a bit incompetent because when I did sign on with hin


he didn't respond properly neither did he send me the documents that was necessary so it it came to a point where, I am going to cancel my plans with him so when it comes to insurance perhaps I would approach an agent myself rather than you know have an agent approach me and tell me what to do and what's best for me because most of the time


I would feel like they're looking for their own commission, rather than doing it because they really truly care for the policy holder how about you yvonne what do you say


ya sure so I totally agree with you on in terms of the hard sell that a lot of these agents do in fact when I was in poly there was a time when an agent actually came to a library and told us, to give us her contact details so that she could further contact us on insurance policies and we were barely eighteen at that time


and the one way that she would do that is to bait us like to tell us oh if you actually put in hundred dollars into this endowment plan within the next twenty five years for example you will get so you know uh about hundred thousand for example I mean it's not the the confirmed amount


and because of that that actually baited a lot of these youngsters to think that it was so simple to make so much of money when in actual fact there's a lot of terms and conditions applied to these policies as well for example if , a person were to run into financial issues like right now during the pandemic where there's a very high retrenchment rate and they cannot actually give that monthly


premium because they barely have enough to live with, what happens then does the policy then closed down are you given like a break even period so that you can you know just recover or do you have to wait you know, for that twenty five year plan till the plan ends for you to get that total sum in fact even taking loans from your own insurance premium means that you have to pay interest


to the insurance provider for example if I'm going to university this year, but my plan only matures next year, I cannot end the plan early because there will be like a sort of a fine and I will not get the full sum so I have to take a loan with the agency which would mean that I would have to pay them back


before I can get the full sum the following year which makes no sense to me so in terms of which insurance provider I would go for this is a very dicey issue because I have met agents who love you know putting down other insurance providers like for example very recently


I was with this insurance provider who had advertised his , investment schemes on Instagram and he had actually come from an insurance agency and when speaking to me he actually put down a lot of his competitor agencies and he said oh this is absolutely you know that you're not going to get any profits you're not going to get anything out of it there's not much coverage


when in actual fact his own insurance plan that he was selling to me did not have enough coverage so when it comes to these things I guess as a person I would have to really research on all these different plans rather than leave it in the hands of an agent


and also because you know as singaporeans we do have the CPF and the MediSave in terms of health insurance, uh we need to of course see where MediSave and MediShield and whatever is not able to cover


our critical illnesses there certain critical illnesses that MediSave is unable to cover for us so I guess for that reason I would certainly get something that could cover critical illnesses, and also as you've mention home protection as well


would it be a priority for me to get insurance it depends if it's for self it depends on what kind of insurance it is for example if it's critical illnesses than that's a priority, but if it's for things like an endowment plan that wouldn't be a priority for me now at this point because I'm not working adult yet


I know a lot of youngsters like I've mentioned previously get baited into thinking that they have to get an endowment plan like right now so that they can retire at sixty five I think that's a very hard sell that a lot of agents do, so for me I think it's more of like prioritising what you think would have happen in the future and what would you know really set a financial bomb into your life and that is what requires insurance


how about you yvonne what do you say how do you prioritise the different kinds of insurance in your life, how do you prioritise the different kinds of insurance in your life like for example endowment plan or critical illnesses, how would you know which to get first


okay so when do I get insurance is it


okay so the thing is insurance first of all I think in singapore especially does not have a very good reputation, because we have seen insurance scams happen we have seen how agents hard sell as we've spoken previously


and all these things tend to give insurance as a whole a bad image although it is something that everybody needs in a way especially in the developed country because things are so expensive like you had mentioned you know for house for property


insurance it's best to get it because there's so many accidents going on like especially the Escooter and you know house burning down and all that yes so for personally for me I think it's also to do with prioritising what is necessary at this point, like I had previously mentioned there have been people who have been baited by agents who say that they have to get an investment uh an endowment sorry


right now there are people there are insurance agents calling themselves uh financial doctors on Instagram, who constantly push the idea of early retirement and make it seem like as long as someone gets an endowment plan right now


they can retire by fifty or fifty five which is impossible really because there are so many other commitments that will come along as we grow older however there are so many people still falling for that, you know so for me I would say I would prioritise what I feel is important at the moment and if should something untoward happened towards for example my house I would get property


insurance and I'll get a life insurance because I know that for a fact I'll be covered and I wouldn't have to deal with a lot of bills should something happen and should I die my family will be able to get, a certain lump sum of money to tide them over, even in my absence so that would be my priority


there is a question that says what kinds of insurance are is essential for people of your age and I think that's very important because , endowment plans investment linked uh funds etcetera they sound very attractive the idea of retirement to a singaporean is very attractive because


a lot of us don't want to constantly you know work all the way till we're eighty plus like you've seen some elderly do in singapore so this idea of investing and saving comes to us quite naturally, however for our age because we are in our early twenties I would say it's best to invest in something that would give us coverage for should something happen to us


rather than you know investing in an endowment plan that is purely for retirement because retirement comes gradually you know it comes in thirty years (uh huh) if even if someone is looking to, retire early and wants to start planning early it is important that they ensure that they have enough funds for themselves before


investing in something that you know might or might not give them returns as well in terms of investment linked funds so for yourself yvonne as someone in your early twenties would you go for an investment linked fund if an agent were to come to you and say this is the way to go if you want to retire early


well I would say that there, trying to be well prepared for the future I have uh I know of people who buy term insurance endowment plan everything they have literally everything because they want to be secured but let's also add that these people are very well into their careers they're able to afford the monthly premiums


uh whereas there are people in singapore who are average who are unable to afford that so it's also a privilege like I have to add that having insurance is a privilege, because not not every singaporean with, kind of varying income levels can actually afford every form of insurance there is so this is also a uh like you've mentioned it's a touchy topic it depends on a person's priority based on what they feel is best for them


yes so that's my take on insurance as well


negative experience


yes yvonne sorry would you like to begin


I'm so sorry to hear about that poster falling on the lady and you know people especially singaporeans going up and just taking videos on their phone rather than doing something about it , I think a time when I was heartbroken was very recently when uh I found out that three of the seven dogs if I'm not wrong three dogs died at the Sembawang god of wealth fire very recently


and there's been like a enquiry on whether or not, these dogs were chained, at the temple because it's a grey area because it the temple is saying that they didn't chain up the dogs whereas there are people from the public coming up and saying no we think the dogs were chained or else they would have run out of the temple when the fire happened


so this also can be linked to things that I've seen in a real life, with human beings as well not just dogs especially in terms of like migrant workers and domestic helpers very recently a singaporean employer was fined and if I'm not wrong uh his case is still ongoing for caging some of his uh


migrant workers who worked in his company because they were supposedly on their bad behaviour and also recently I think we also uh read about you know the case of uh the chairman of Changi airport group and his ex-domestic worker who


was acquitted of uh the case that he put on her for stealing items from his home, and uh for me that was a real heartbreak because I was there at the time I was actually an intern at the place that she was seeking shelter at, and I've met her before and I remember her telling me about her ordeals it was I think a two to three year long case uh just to acquit her of the misdoings that her employer claims she did


so there's always this hierarchical power of like rich versus poor and the helpless versus you know the more powerful as well, so for me that was a real heartbreak but I'm very happy that she was acquitted of all the charges uh especially since she stood her ground that she was innocent


yup so how about you yvonne was there a time where you were heartbroken


my god


I'm very sorry to hear about your dog I I think that was a very traumatic experience for you as well


as an owner I'm so sorry to hear about it I hope she feels better soon , okay so I think in terms of negative experiences there is one that says what keeps you awake at night so I was actually thinking about it especially now at a time of COVID you know there's a lot of layoffs from work lot of retrenchments as well especially


okay maybe in singapore it's not as bad as other developing countries where they're laying off workers with no compensation and what not , but what keeps me awake at night is knowing that there are people there are workers who, have given up so many years of their lives to their company and given their best to their companies and are being laid off at a time like this when it's a crisis where everybody is just trying to survive and yet companies who can still afford to you know


have , people on the upper hand take, pay cuts just to allow other workers to stay on they don't do that instead they chase they just lay off workers who are at bottom ground just for their own profits and because they want to survive


and they don't want to take a cut from their pay I think these are things that keep me awake at night because I was actually watching a video on simon senik who actually I I hope I pronounce his name right, who actually was talking about how leadership effects an entire organisation and there are plenty of organisations at the moment who are just laying off and retrenching workers and it's a real


show to see because a lot of us who are salaried workers are also fearing for our lives fearing for our livelihoods as well so I don't know I mean, if anything I'm more concerned about people who have dependence who are unable to work who may have to go through the pains of losing their jobs what do they do


at a time like this especially in countries that are less developed and do not have , you know a government that's backing them up a government that knows their pain and, what happens to them do they starve and die or it's just like truly a pandemic where we are seeing the benevolence of governments who can actually do more action than just talk


so ya that's something that keeps me awake at night so how about you yvonne does anything keep you awake at night


certainly I can resonate with what you shared about having older people getting retrenched and not knowing what to do with their lives at the moment because of the pandemic if anything I think this pandemic has really taught


the younger one us to really have a better foresight into the future I mean at our age we have lived through three once in a lifetime pandemics can you imagine we lived through SARS we lived through the asian financial crisis our parents were affected


and now we're living through COVID as well and these are things that also happen once in a lifetime and it's happened in just a mere twenty years you know so I think if there's something positive that could come out of this if it really changed our our shift of mind


I would think that it is the fact that we should always have a foresight into the future and regardless of how negative this sounds I think we should always take the world with a pinch of salt, for one thing I know is that a lot of us in our twenties and even younger folks which is very worrying by the way are suffering from mental health grievances because


first of all we've lived through three pandemics we have a lot of stress in singapore uh academic stress work stress you know all sorts of stupid things , and it's really taking a toll on the a lot of our mental healths so if anything I think we have to chart out a way to really focus on ourselves and take up the world with a pinch of salt


so yesterday I was actually watching a video on I forgot the fellow's first name it's about cultivating our own gardens which means that regardless of what happens in the world, we have to cultivate what's happening on the inside for ourselves because, the only thing we have is ourselves at the end of the day you know we can lose our jobs we can you know go into poverty this that but if you want to pick yourself up from all of these you only have yourself


to depend on so I would say that that's something I guess positive that may come out of this negative experience of a pandemic where people are dying and all of these are things that happening at once, it's to really just focus on ourselves and take it slow if anything else so how about you yvonne what has this pandemic or negative experiences taught you


one thing I've done during this pandemic to uh safeguard my mental health is to really keep a distance from everybody I know it sounds really ironic and perhaps not the best but


if there's one thing I've learnt is that you know the pandemic is bringing out a lot of stresses for everybody, every single person I know of is uh either really stressing out about their jobs or they are really stressing out about you know what's going to happen in the future especially my friends who are planning to get married


so one of the things that's happen due to this pandemic is that the BTO's uh they are going to take an extra year if I'm not wrong to be built to be completed because of the COVID situation and the migrant workers not being able to go to work, and there's you know people just lamenting their stresses every corner from every direction and it doesn't help one person's mental health when you have to hear this from your friends all the time


so if there's one thing I've (ppc) I've done is that to really you know stay away from maybe keep a distance from everybody because we are all suffering uh similar fate when it comes to recession and all that a lot of us are not able to find jobs a lot of us


are too overqualified for a uh part time jobs that don't want us because of reasons I don't know why there are agents who you know just reject us because they think that we, are too over qualified or some some nonsense like that so a lot of us are actually facing that financial strain right now in this economy so


if there's one thing that comes out of this I know that it's we're all suffering you know always unfortunately so if it's a negative experience it is a negative experience perhaps our generation can do better , you know when it comes to fostering a community spirit or fostering a form of support mental health support especially because a lot of people our age are very much


facing mental grievance right now and I'm sure a lot of people, uh you know very stressed out don't know what to do don't know how to plan their lives especially at a time like this, so yup that that's a negative experience on my end yup anything you'd like to add yvonne


positive experience in your life


ah that's a really sweet story what a nice lady, it's a member of public who didn't know you who sheltered you from one end to the other end and did it for other people as well right, !wow! that's really nice when was I helped by someone in my time of need actually I have a similar story as well


ya I was once uh sheltered from, one uh I was at the crossroads of little india actually and through you know you know little india does not it's not the most sheltered place, uh it's a very open space and rain came out of nowhere it was a full blown uh downpour and I saw quite a number of people having their umbrellas open and


to be honest like no one you know really wanted to share an umbrella with another person who didn't have it, and similarly a lady just you know came up to me and she she smile and said oh so you don't have an umbrella and she just shared it with me and we crossed the road, and I thought that was a really sweet experience because it was a heavy downpour it was very sudden so none of us could like actually run to the other end and you know sit under a shelter so ya that was also a time where I was helped by someone


uh in the time of need, ya so, yvonne how about you like what are the positive experiences do you have in your life


for myself I think the one experience that gave me a lot of uh pleasure to this day is actually uh joining, a non-profit that, made sure that domestic helpers had a place to turn to in times of need


uh I was a social worker for them for a period of time social work intern actually and I got to see first hand how a lot of these domestic workers who are abused have nowhere to turn to, high risk high reward was that there was this indian uh domestic worker who was being abused by her employer


uh she was being made to work at her employer's restaurant which is not allowed in singapore so she actually ran to little india because she was being over worked she was working seven days a week about eighteen to nineteen hours a day, uh with very little rest she had to do the housework in her employer's home and then go to the restaurant and cook there as well


and another domestic worker saw her crying at little india and actually gave her the number of this non profit that I was working at and she made a very desperate call and then we brought her in and then uh I managed to speak to her in my native language, and we actually filed the case and it was a very long process and it was also very painful process for her because she had come to singapore uh after selling all her gold in india


because uh she had to pay the agent's fee to come to singapore and for the also for their flight tickets as well so she was very afraid that her pass would be cut by MOM and that she would have to return to india for good, with no money so eventually this very long and hard process uh proved itself worthy because she managed to find a new employer and her old employers were charged for over working her and for the fact that she was made to cook in a restaurant which is not allowed to do with her work permit


so I think that was an experience that brought me a lot of joy because there was justice served for someone who thought that she didn't have a chance at justice in a developed country like singapore, and of course for a woman who couldn't even speak english to begin with she managed to you know get the justice that she deserved so that was an experience for me


ya and uh also in the post COVID world I think I would be very thankful towards the migrant workers as well, if there's a positive experience I can speak of very recently I think my family , got in touch with a soup kitchen that helps uh provides migrant workers with meals


and we actually uh managed to donate a little bit and that in fact from what I heard goes a long way because a lot of these migrant workers they're not being treated very well in dormitories they're being packed like sardines and they're going through , a lot of distress because they're not able to keep in touch with their families and whatnot


so I think it's the little things that go a long way so post COVID world I'll be more appreciative of my freedom and more thankful for the very silent heroes among us who are making sure that, day to day we are okay as civilians as well how about you yvonne what are you thankful for in the post COVID world


uh fond memories , mostly that come to mind because I don't have much memories of my childhood unfortunately, uh most memories I have is definitely from the past few years, uh based on the internships I've done


I think I experience some personal growth that was actually a fond memory when I was interning with an at risk youth organisation, I like many singaporeans was a very judgemental person in terms of like seeing people who misbehaved children who misbehave and I would think oh their parents didn't raise them well or the fact that their families didn't tell them off when they were growing up about what's right and wrong


eventually after joining that organisation I experienced about a family about of personal growth rather because I realise that there's a lot of , inequality in at the society that we live in that


you know we should be very thankful for for what we have received as children may be the resources may be the love from our family , and the fact that you know kids react a certain way or kids misbehave mostly they don't do it because they want to misbehave or because they solely want attention but because they are lacking something at home that they


wish to receive in school for example or wish to receive with strangers and other people outside, so I think that was an experience and a fond memory because I remember counselling a child who was misbehaving and through counselling her actually realised that there was uh about of


family violence going on at home and we managed to get her a counsellor to help her out and to also you know, intervene if needed with MSF if there's a lot of family violence going on at home so that was a time of my personal growth because I realised that we shouldn't be very quick


to judge every situation because we may not necessarily understand what for example the child was misbehaving was going through so how about you yvonne like have you experienced something that you know, kind of open your mind and gave you the sense of personal growth that you didn't think was possible


I I absolutely agree with you that growth is an everyday occurrence and that we're going slowly everyday uh if there's one thing I learnt from this pandemic was that people will switch up


uh very easily when , things go wrong for example there was a lot of racism being circulated when the pandemic was first announced back when, it was still called the Wuhan virus there was a lot of racism on social media and whatnot


and I realised that about a personal growth when I realised that these racist tendencies were very much, wrong and shouldn't be tolerated even in singapore's context there were people you know shaming PRC's there were minorities calling the majority race out


things like that and there was a lot of racism circulating around the migrant workers as well there was in fact an article on uh the chinese newspaper that said that migrant worker dormitories, uh they don't have good hygiene whatnot which is not true,


I think for me personally it was personal growth but I managed to observe all these and realise that you know this is wrong I'm not going to buy into the information that's been sold to me on social media uh just like that because there are people who absorb all these information and think that that's the absolute truth


you know and in terms of persevering what makes me persevere in terms of, finding the truth in situations like this like for example uh rumours going around that you know dormitories that there was actually rumour going around that


migrant workers were spreading the virus to each other I don't know how it came about but there were people who were doing that and saying that and that was a very controversial topic, what made me persevere was knowing that this may not be the truth and dispelling all these uh myths especially with the older generation like our parent's generation who would actually you know go about perhaps sending fake whatsapp messages to each other and whatnot stopping all these things so ya


I know I went a bit incoherent with the topic but, what makes me persevere is knowing that we shouldn't be spreading fake news and know the truth first, when it comes to certain topics so how about you what do you feel about persevering in finding the truth in things


I clicked already I okay I I clicked already but you can't see me right, ah can you can you see me okay good, ya because hi dan oh ya okay


part one financial related topic, ah hi dan yup , you want to share anything about the financial related topic


K


me similarly I think uh it's true that Singapore is a country you know we cannot afford, not to be prepared especially with uh the growing economy at this point as we grow older, uh basically for me I actually started uh with uh insurance right so I didn't know how to invest at all initially apart from putting money in the bank


but of course uh from my insurance advisor before you know she taught me that you know because of this thing called inflation that will eat up our money so she says that you know if you do not make your money work harder for you uh you know, basically she was talking about the chicken rice the plate of chicken rice from a full plate it becomes half a plate from half a half a plate slowly it will disappear so I started with insurance planning uh I believe uh what I learned was this thing called the


uh three or four Ws about wealth protection firstly we need to make sure that you know we are protected from all the, all the uh uh one of those uh disadvantages of life like death, critical illness or disability and along with it it comes along with some uh low risk uh


bonds investments and then later on I think I migrated to some investment-linked products so uh slowly from there it will help me to actually start to beat uh the hedge inflation for me to plan towards my retirement goals that's what I did


yes, right ya that's right that's right ya


yeah, that's totally true


that's true through me that's so true (mmhmm) ya that's so true totally agree, especially when uh you know after being single we are all taught to


yup ya so ya, so basically ya as I was saying just now you know about getting married right we are all taught to we we need to start a family you know and then after that you have this mortgage coming along


so I I I think I got to thank my insurance advisors for doing a good job in uh helping me to, start my, wealth protection plans early uh so that you know because when comes uh when you have a mortgage coming along you cannot afford to fall sick you know or to be disabled in Singapore medical costs is all very high I understand that it goes up by uh something like about five percent every year this thing called inflation


ya, so it is important for us to be protected, alright with uh some insurance protection as well as making our money work harder for us, so ya I I uh from there I migrated from investment-linked policies uh you know putting money in fix Ds into unit trust


eventually into this thing uh called the robo-adviser, ya something that it's you you need less human intervention and I heard that the cost is much lower to invest in a robo-adviser and it's pretty efficient actually then


well I, kind of like read quite a bit uh on the, uh internet and then I found out that, !hey! you know this is quite interesting so I actually met up with the , the person in charge to find out a little bit more and I found out that it's quite the same like unit trusts however different in a sense that


basically I think they actually buy you know into the index it's called the exchange exchange traded funds, and then uh versus the unit trust whereby it's managed you know all the funds it's a collective pool of funds that is actually invested by the fund managers yup


ya, oh yes


ya it is true


oh oh that's interesting


I see I see


ah that's true especially with children, ya, oh dear


that's so interesting dan uh totally agree you seem quite savvy in your investments ah so but for me uh I'm not such a, ya for for me like I said you know I'm not so savvy like you I I don't dabble in stocks like I I do not go into things that I'm not familiar with


I only stick to something that's a more balanced portfolio uh so like I mentioned earlier on you know from investment links uh because investment link is it's something like a unit trust whereby what I understand is that there is some insurance uh


had a component inside so that's why it's called investment-linked products so from there I understand that the cost is much higher because everything is all bundled together especially understand something like mortality rates that eats up the value of the funds so uh I decided you know uh


after going through my whole portfolio with my financial advisor that I'm actually well covered for the moment like they say you know you can you can afford to die but you cannot afford to fall sick in Singapore it's too expensive you know so therefore I wanted something more of a plain vanilla of course to take a little bit of risk


into a balanced portfolio so from uh from, from investment linked you know uh like I mentioned to you earlier on that you know unit trust seems to be a bit more expensive which I found out recently uh versus the ETF you know basically because the difference is this you know I do not know whether you are familiar with this dan but it's uh ETF is actually traded on a


public market whereas the unit trust right it's actually sold through private entities, right and then also the management uh in in terms of the management it's uh ETF is more passively managed whereby the unit trust is actively managed by the fund managers so the fund managers what I understand is they have to basically


buy I think you know into different companies you know to see to pick the companies that they think that will be doing well, and then you know it's a lot it's a lot of work that they have to do but that comes actually with a price so every time when we park the money in right I understand that you actually have to pay a fee to the financial advisor


which can come up to something like maybe one over to three percent every time when we put the money in, and then there is this thing called the bid and the offer spread something that charges more money when you put in and you know when it comes out they I think they charge some money as well


so it gets a little bit more expensive and then yearly there's also this thing called the AUA uh which is something like a annual management charge, where they charge us something like one point two five one point five percent which can be pretty costly because the money that we


put in you know in you you need to, earn over and above those uh percentages that you put in before we can actually you know make that make our investments like in terms like the investments will, grow so but then of course with ETF I understand that you know it's also highly liquid all right it can be bought or sold like any other stock but we don't buy into one stock we actually buy


into like , you you can actually buy into like a different a certain asset class, alright uh yes but, I understand that ETF versus unit trust is not as diversified as unit trust because ETF right it's constrained to an asset class for example like maybe REIT the real estate investment trust or even you know we have things like the digital


technology or essential basic essentials uh stocks, right or even a global portfolio but uh for the unit trust it's more diversified you know it buys into different other sectors mah however, the I think the annual fees you know and the entry fees actually can be quite a turn-off and a lot of


it it needs a lot of active management and it's difficult because also you know it's not so convenient sometimes you know when I go away I need to you know reply to say that !hey! you know ya I want to sell off you know I want to buy in that kind of thing, so I think it's not so friendly and it's a bit troublesome versus the ETF uh it is passively managed it goes by this thing called the algorithm or something ya uh whereby it just you know switches on itself ya


ya that's right ya right right right, ya ya I think that's pretty cool


and I think ya moving forward with the, post COVID right I think uh everything will be actually going, more and more into digital like digital banking as well ya


oh that's true, right right right ya totally agree, ya actually ya that's true


ya that's true, ya okay


ya, ya that's true


totally agree, ya ya, true true yup, totally agree I think well depending on the risk profile right uh what we understand is like I I don't I I don't do stocks at all because I do not have that risk appetite and I have no idea how it really works because I understand that you


you know in order for you not to gamble into the stock markets you need to understand what you are doing you know to be uh informed make informed decisions to meet balance sheets which I'm not very good at, so which is why I think you know I I believe in a more balanced portfolio by you know buying into unit trust or ETFs lah for that matter ya


so and and it's true that you know uh I think uh I think real estate actually makes a, very big pie into, you you cannot avoid not having real estate into your portfolio and I think it is wise that well when we can afford it to actually buy into what we call value investing uh


something that you know uh that will be able to give you a high capital appreciation, that that's of course private properties as well I mean uh even the even the HDBs and all and in in any from real estate I think it will help but ya


ya, okay so I totally agree that real estate can be part of the planning apart from the real estate agent's fees lah, anyway you know I think uh I I think you you've actually uh shared quite a bit and I learn quite a bit about the stock market a little bit from you and the economy may look into it


uh depends on my risk profile but I I'm not too I'm not such a high risk taker I'm also close to retirement ya


I don't see the stop and the submit button, uh sorry stop where you mean that uh you mean the recording right, I stop the recording ah, okay I stop the recording


ya it's red so I just tap on that red button right


okay time's up, uh so then maybe ya okay ya okay we so one


negative experiences so dan you wanna share anything that has caused negative experiences in your life, I mean given you know the the country that like we're living in


ya I totally agree I think dan because , I mean being a mother and being someone with a diploma uh, born and bred in Singapore a true blue singaporean , you know I I'm a very positive person but of late I have become very sad to see how and I get I become very worried


actually for my children because I do not know exactly today being born and bred at all uh whether they are really given truly given the first priority , I have no I I just feel that you know uh basically you know we do not get


I I feel that you know we're we're not given the right opportunities even as a singaporean uh even for my children where you know inflation and everything is all going up I cannot deny that inflation goes up, everywhere in the world but question is how much especially you know with uh HDB prices all going up I'm also you know very concerned whether my children would


at all be able to pay up their HDB flats because today a lot of jobs out there they're no longer full time jobs uh my daughter for one she's on a part-time job I mean not not part-time job contract job, so, it becomes very worry because you know back in our time there's not many contract jobs out there especially when you're a graduate


you are given full-time job and you know to be a graduate you know uh that means your future is all set you know uh especially with the government coming up with the retirement of like each sixty two, uh I wonder whether at all we are all able to


retire happily at sixty two with a job that we want to do, apart from the job that you know uh, we have to do, especially for my children I do not know whether sixty two will be that retirement age that they, axe it or maybe sixty five in future you know whether it will come to pass because I think you know with all this


jobs that is actually what you call contract jobs I think you know given our time you know uh like what you said your friends you know at at age of like forty fifty or even sixty uh before sixty sorry about forty plus fifty we lose our jobs with the jobs that we want to do


right I think the white collar jobs that we really want to do I see , of course foreigners coming in I think foreigners are also good to help us in that sense that you know to fill the gaps that we need, ya to fill in the gaps that uh you know uh because of our population uh we need foreigners in our country but however you know uh they have a minimum wage you know


uh I'm very concerned because when I see my children's uh friends coming out from university uh even from uh Singapore's supposed to have the top university in the world one of the top universities or even graduating from outside when they come home, you know their salary is lower than a foreigner's white collar salary in terms of admin job you know


I don't know whether this is true but you know I think for employment pass I think for minimum salary is about two thousand five and my you know my my daughter's friends are all earning below that you know how can that be I mean because we are born and bred in Singapore, I feel very sad and very very concerned especially for my children plus the HDB prices are all going up how are they ever gonna pay


their, their their mortgage, right uh with the kind of interest that we have right now you know with with that kind of amount of , even for BTOs I understand that it costs like what four hundred five hundred thousand if you do a calculation you know it it might double by the time they finish paying up and what more when you don't have a full-time job everything is a contract job and I and I also see a lot of like all this uh senior they call them PMETs


uh the the senior positions are all taken up a lot also by foreigners you know why is that so ah I I mean you you mean uh I I I just start to think to myself you mean a singaporean graduating from our top university here NUS or NTU


you know you mean you mean we can't do that job, you know that really puzzles me as a born and bred where are the first priority given to us I mean unless we cannot do the job, fair but if we can do the job are they is the government really checking on the percentages of these foreigners whether they are indians or whether they are you know uh


uh uh whites you know from Europe or from America you know or whether they are chinese you know I mean foreigners lah for that matter or even filipinos, they are all in a high-ranking jobs ah especially in financial institutions you know uh banking or even insurance


so it's a concern for me whether you know we are global citizens or whether we are truly singaporeans I know to call this our home truly, it it really saddens me at this point


ya they built Singapore


I mean ya I totally agree ah I I I can, I totally can resonate with that because end of the day, we may be that old person that you're talking about, , especially you know with the the sweat and the uh uh I mean with the sweat and the effort that we put into our work and the taxes that we pay


uh we are you know tax-paying residents you know, , I thought that you know by doing this we can have a better, retirement you know uh we we we we we would be able to retire at the age that we want if we choose at sixty two you know that kind of thing


but now it looks like quite bleak because I understand that you know we may have some job may be obsolete but what about those jobs that is not obsolete and that we can still do you know I understand you know that uh many jobs are going to foreigners and I'm very very concerned because


you know from someone who's born and bred you know we're losing our jobs and a lot of singaporeans ah , did I understand from a survey I read in the papers or in the news I saw that you know they were saying that singaporeans uh make a lot of singaporeans do not even have six months of emergency funds


how are they gonna survive so there will be many people doing exercise picking up cardboards cleaning tables if the job is still not obsolete, by robots you know, I mean what is gonna happen to Singapore people who are born and bred you know


you know and every year year after year you know you sing the song you know about this is home truly is it truly home is this supposed is our home supposed to be like that I don't know it it for the moment ah I I see a home with a lot of holes lah, you know and