like the you don't seem to realize it but a significant proportion of uh uh your day's time is taken up on uh social media and people don't realize that and also another thing that uh uh that's a quite , that irks me is uh uh how people take a lot of validation from social media so uh in the past like even instagram had whatever likes and or comments and or not are recently they removed this feature and I think it's a good thing because


uh I think people tend to place a uh uh significant amount of uh importance on the validation that they get from, likes on instagram the what not they they it removed the whole factor of just sharing for your own pleasure and just sharing for people to view your photos but rather it's now uh uh placed into like a vicious uh cycle


where people are just uh competing with each other for likes and, uh validation in the host and so I believe this whole aspect has uh sort of given a negative connotation to social media in that sense and also touching on tiktok ya or whatever suggested videos that are coming up it's sort of worrying when you see


uh these things happening and uh that too for very young young adults and kids uh teens will actually engaging in this, so uh it it worries you when uh you think about how they are going to grow up to become and what not so ya take these trends or something that people should tread lightly or that they shouldn't uh uh dwell too much into it when time comes ya


ya


, yup , okay uh you want to take the next question uh


okay uh I mean there are different uh different aspects to it so there's personal and of course or uh what's happening in the out world outside so uh I I feel like a uh in terms of what's happening in the world outside I feel like uh


uh vices that are happening and crimes crimes and uh things that are happening around the world really is keep me uh up sometimes at night so there are so many things going on like a homicide uh rape cases mass shootings, and all these things actually uh keep me up thinking about what what people actually what what actually goes through people's minds when they actually do this kind of things err like uh sometimes you you always think about uh faith in humanity and how mankind


uh is is innately uh good but then, when you see these kind these kind of things happening more and more across across the globe it just kept gets you are thinking of what, what exactly people are thinking of the commit such uh cruel cruel acts and uh since uh since that that at that's happening more and more over the days and I think uh the the


the feeling of being helpless and not being able to do much in these scenarios to actually stop or reduce the amount of uh, uh acts that are happening it's it's it's what's keeping me awake and, sometimes I think whether I could do more in this kind of scenarios to


uh alleviate the the critical problems that the globe is facing today ya


ya,


ya I think I think uh in the current climate as well and what what's happening to the whole world because of global pandemic, times are really uncertain and things are just going uh like uh at one point of time everything just turned one hundred eighty degrees and then uh just from a normal day everything went south and then you can see like regarding regarding jobs and whatnot uh thinking about uh talking about value of certain professions


some of them are just uh uh give uh deemed jobless in a matter of uh in a small amount of time and then a lot of people are jobless now going through so much difficulties, so sometimes you just think about how anything could happen at any point in time and you have to be sort of prepared for the worst at any point in time and no one no one actually saw all this coming as well also


uh this kind of uh pandemics could happen and I think uh these uncertain times always keep you wondering and uh uh always give you anxiety on what what what is to come in the future as well ya


okay uh think uh, okay let me uh describe okay what is one thing in the past uh what one thing you did in your past you wish you could undo


ya, ,


(ppc)


, ya


right right okay for myself I think I think uh, similar to to what, you mentioned but uh on a different note like back in schooling days and in JC, I think I place quite a lot of importance and and place a lot of uh of my time uh spending it on extra curricular activities and and uh other commitments rather than uh like uh spending uh a valuable amount of time on my academics and what not


so uh not saying that the experiences I got from all the at uh CCS and what not was not useful or or uh enjoyable in that sense but I feel like, due to a bit of uh poor time management on my end and uh also ya uh improper planning I I could've done things differently and actually strike a better balance between all of these activities in my life


and know where my priorities were so I think I was a bit uh uh haywire in that sense where I didn't have, a proper uh plan or goal uh goal in mind and it was just going with the flow, at that point when I think uh after a certain point you have to actually think deeper where where you want to end up and what you want to do


and what are your next uh steps in your major action plan so sometimes proper uh time management and uh decision making is required so I think back in the past uh, I tend to I tend to ignore all these and keep it for later but I think uh looking back I could have done more into more in uh


uh putting some importance in these matters and taking proper decisions such that it would have a, paved my way uh towards better outcomes in that sense not that I'm unhappy with where I am now but, I think uh in terms of potential where where you could have uh gone to do maybe I would have uh reached higher potentials if I had done my uh planning and what not in the past ya


ya ya,


ya, ya


ya


part two positive experience,


okay uh this topic is uh of higher high interest for myself so uh fortunately for myself uh I was able to embark on an exchange programme uh in the earlier part of last year, so uh as part of my university's program I was fortunate enough to landed at uh an overseas exchange program in germany


so uh during this whole uh stint overseas uh I made it a point to to travel as much as possible when I got the free time, because uh uh during when I I in singapore I wasn't able to travel as much because I mean my parents did have their financial difficulties and what not so uh they sometimes we couldn't afford to go overseas and what not so


in this period of time I had actually planned and uh set aside a lot of funds to actually travel myself and uh and get exposure to all these different countries so one of the highlights I would say is when I actually went to I went to morocco


I went to morocco in last uh april and this time uh I had I had the chance to actually visit the sahara desert, and ya it was really uh a thrilling experience for myself so from time I'm landed in morocco and there was a the it was like a three day road trip where a group of friends and I we


uh took this large caravan with the whole tours group and then we went to uh on a two day trip towards the desert from morocco uh from Marrakesh uh main town and then ya so, uh over there over the two day trip we stopped at uh roadside uh uh roadside uh restaurants and uh different uh different monuments here and there that are famous in morocco to to witness their their their local culture and then last but not least of course we we stopped at sahara dessert for one full day


and the driver actually brought us to uh the middle uh somewhere in the middle and he let us just indulge in the in the soak in the atmosphere for like a good six seven hours so a lot of us just, went uh walking around the whole uh whole area of uh the the place where we're at and then we manage to go on top of a


uh very high uh sandy hill and so I I manage to just get a sweet spot where I just sat down there and uh and waited for sunset to happen, and the view that I got was really unforgettable like the sunset there at sahara desert is it is uh something you'll never forget in your whole life and that's actually currently my my desktop uh wallpaper it's a photo that I took during my my trip to sahara desert and


the feeling that you get when you just sitting there and just uh enjoying the sunset it just it just a blissful like in something, that uh I I I take to my grave and uh some I I would possibly would like to visit several dessert again and, it's uh ya definitely and a forgettable memory for myself and I am who I recommend a lot of people to go and uh experience that for themselves as well ya how about yourself


, different experience


right, yup,


ya ,


, yup


ya, uh yup


uh no I wanted to ask , uh share a funny inside joke that you and your group of friends still laugh about until this day , ,


, (ppc)


, , uh , uh okay okay I think I think gets I think tapping on the point of having a group of friends uh definitely like this, a group of friends that uh it's very closely knit and being able to share anything and everything with them that's definitely one of the positives in uh in our lives uh so I I'm actually glad that we actually uh have the comfort of doing this with a group of friends that we're really comfortable with but ya I think


uh the inside jokes that we share are plenty like there's too much to actually come but, ya I think uh, uh certain inside jokes is another inside joke is some of the the ridiculous things that we used to do back in junior college days that one now that we look back on we just laugh to ourselves and keep reminding ourselves of what kind of uh the kind of uh things that we use engage in back in school


and maybe if we had spend our time better maybe you would have done better academically and so on but ya I mean these memories are definitely uh, and things that I will cherish and it's not even though some of them may seem like seem pretty trivial and stupid when you look back but deep down uh


these are the experiences and and occurrences that actually molded who we are and and brought us to where we are today and ya I think uh uh this group of friends it is some uh uh people who I'll cherish for a long time to come and have played a significant role in my life so


uh I'm I'm really glad that we have this uh group of friends that we can always share anything and everything and, I think uh it gives a person a sense of uh uh uh, like what you mentioned since uh many of us uh minority as well


so I think having this group of friends uh just gives you a sense of belonging and allows us to be comfortable in whatever we share and err ya I think humor is a huge a huge part of this group and I truly enjoy uh every single moment of it ya


ya ya , yup


ya, ya , sure


(hmm) , ya I don't think I can pinpoint to one specific uh blessing but


I would say uh , okay for myself I think that uh it's a it's a whole it's a it's a package uh experience where whoever I have met and whatever experiences I've gone uh I've uh I've encountered along the way has has somehow happen like I believe that


whatever has happened happen for a reason and I'm here uh I'm here today because of what has happened whoever I have met, and and ya I think like small small things have accumulated and and ended up uh to where I am today so for example uh are you you are aware that I I born I born in india and then I I've I've uh flew to singapore when I was very young


and I believe like uh things could have been very different if I actually stay uh in india for my whole childhood and I was raise there I mean situations could have been different than my whole life would have turned out different so, I believe like the small small uh the uh occurrences that


happened in my life that uh change the path of where I'm going I'm headed to actually, brought me to where I am today and and I'm definitely contented with where I am and I'm thankful for whatever uh experiences and people my like my my good friends my parents my family and ya I I consider all of these uh true blessings


but in in disguise I I'm I wouldn't say uh, I can't really think of one right now maybe maybe you can you can you can elaborate more if you have one and I'll take it back if I take uh, ya ya


(ppc), ya okay


ya


ya I think ya touching on that uh now that I think, about it like uh going on exchange is definitely one of the biggest blessings


uh in disguise because at that point in time, uh as you as you as you are aware like uh exchange is a is a is a great free sem so sometimes people tend not to go for exchange to actually uh improve on their GPA and whatnot and it's I think I think it's it was crucial for myself to actually have taken this this step towards actually going on exchange rather than staying back to


to improve on my academic uh uh grades but ya whatever happened on exchange is really was really life changing for me and it really changed my perspective on, so many things that I will not uh forget for a long time to come and ya I think that's definitely one of the biggest blessings thing that I’ve had


finance, all right so I guess let's start yeah !hey! what's up so are you


oh for big ticket expenditure okay so for what I do normally is that I will, take out like a bit of my monthly whatever income I get or if I don't have monthly income for that month I'll


take out extra from my savings so it's just like a percentage that I take out and then you know I set it towards that goal let's say I want to get like a new, shirt or something I'll just like pull out money and then once I have enough then I can go and splurge when it's on sale


what about you


(mmhmm)


ya ya ya exactly exactly exactly, was that the fifty thirty something rule I forgot, ya ya ya no no no you spend the fifty percent on essentials and you save


no you, is it I thought you will like invest thirty percent, okay okay okay, but like how do you normally finance your stuff like per month how do you do expenses and stuff


(mmhmm), yup


yeah, just just take public transport it's, you know there's there's nightrider buses that go like all across singapore I didn't know that's why there's like one time when I was out and then


I stayed out until like two AM or something but the bus the MRT ends at like twelve-thirty max and then it resumes at like five or six in the morning , so I remember I I called my dad and I was like can you come pick me up he's like where are you I said clarke quay he's like you have the bus that goes from there I said it's like two AM no buses going to come apparently there's nightrider buses


drops like goes all around singapore no they will they they go all around in singapore like north south east west everywhere, I mean I mean that could help in in the future I guess like you know you take a nightrider bus to get closer to where you want to go and then you take a Grab from there at least save save money that way


yeah , yeah I think I think I think another good one is like you check your monthly expenditure at the end of each month like uh


so I I just use like the banking app to see where I was spending stuff and then it it actually splits it up for you like tells you how much you spent on dining how much you spent on, transport how much you spent on you know like recurring bills and stuff like that so it helps you like plan ah like so like for me I know


like okay this month guaranteed I'm going to spend this much at the start of the month cause that's when all the payments are taken, and then it's up to me like to control how much extra spending is done so it helps with that in a view do you do that


okay, it's a good one thanks a lot what about investing do you plan on or do you do it right now


yeah, okay can yup


I yeah I I got into investing like, because I I have a friend and then he would always like just tell me about stocks and trading and stuff and I just feel like yeah cool, but then I never like actually follow through he will just keep telling me he's like oh dude you should buy this you should buy this you should buy this like uh example is Tesla and I remember when he bought it it was like


three hundred dollar per share and he bought like five of them or something and then Tesla exploded then they did what's called a stock split you know what stock split is, so stock split happens when the market cap value of a stock is reached and then what happens is the stock price returns to its original value but


let's say you had one share and the stock splits three one that means for every one share that you had Tesla now gives you three shares, so he had three and I think it's split five one if I'm not wrong so he got back fifteen shares at


three hundred so he spent like nine hundred and then he got back what's four thousand five hundred ~ish of value and of course it's it still keeps rising, so it's yeah then I was like okay okay now I should maybe get and do it but


yeah, I think they were they were like paying people to uh take oil from them cause they just didn't have enough place to store it yeah I think cause of COVID right no one gas usage went down a lot


no but like I I think okay short term trades like day trading is not very financially viable, you got to do long term investment so I'm planning to put like money into REITs do you know what REITs are


no no REITs are uh R E I Ts is I think real estate investment trust so what that means is like they work like ETFs right index funds, so what an index fund does like for example S and P five hundred right it just means that you put in, so instead of buying so okay you know what S and P five hundred is right like


the the the the fortune five hundred companies like the big five hundred companies in US , and instead of buying one stock of each of those companies what you can do is, you can put money into an index fund which means you buy a certain percent of each of these companies for just one price so it saves you a lot on commission fees etcetera etcetera


and it's not really a thing which you know you buy today sell tomorrow it's something which you buy today and then it grows every year so, what that means is at the end of the year you get like zero point zero one percent of all of these companies' profits


from all five hundred of the biggest companies so maybe you'll get like you know at the end of the year depending on how much you bought from the index fund you'll get like, an extra hundred bucks an extra thousand bucks an extra ten thousand bucks but usually the returns are quite low and, for index funds but it's like a long term growth thing REITs is the same


so instead of buying a property or investing in a property you group with a bunch of people to invest in small chunks of that property, so think of it as crowd sourced investing I guess


like instead of spending one thousand dollars to get hundred percent of the returns you spend one dollar to get one percent of the returns , so it's safer that way as well yeah that's something that I'm looking into as well and then now they have like all these robo advisers like did you have Stashaway


yeah they just like literally do everything for you you just, ya probably I I don't know anything to be honest like my knowledge is very surface level on this I'll definitely hire a a financial adviser what about you


nice,


, there's there's this one what's it called since you said google right there's this one thing right it's like


it cause cause stocks right they they uh the prices vary based on like the smallest drop of a hat like they can change, based on random variables that you could never predict so there's one which is used by a lot of hedge funds I recently found out a website that actually has access to these data for free it gives you


private flight charters of different companies so what hedge funds used to do to with this data was let's say, Apple books a private charter plane from #san francisco# to singapore


so I mean usually charter flights are only made for like the top execs which means that someone who's pretty big in Apple who's flying to singapore and what this could mean is like, oh there's going to be some kind of business dealing happening in singapore it can't just be that he's going for fun because unless you are literally the owner of Apple I don't think you can book company flights for your own trips


so what hedge funds do is use this data to predict if there is going to be any big acquisitions or any big business moves made and then based on that they'll buy like Apple stock in singapore cause they know it's going to rise because they're going to open a new shop or whatever, yeah it's like a lot of random things that yeah it's wild I mean speaking of foresight


do you put it contribute to your monthly CPF yet, nice nice , oh nice


I think they've to match it right like whatever you put they have to put the same amount in or something, okay okay


oh okay okay, (mmhmm), (mmhmm) same, but I think you can remove money to


get a housing loan right if I'm not wrong that's like the only time you can take out money from CPF, I mean other than when you retire of course or reach retirement age


(mmhmm), I don't know I I don't know any I don't know much about CPF I would say all I knew is I remember they said oh ya ya uh this much percent of your money is going to be put into your CPF I was like oh can I like use it then like no


okay , okay, that's true that's true I think I think I remember I was having a with my my friend's dad and he said that he apparently found this out too late or something but


he said you can take out money from your CPF to pay for your housing loan but you also have to put back, at the same interest rate that it was being saved and since the interest rate is so high it's actually not a good idea in the long run to take out money from your CPF to pay for your house


because he said had he known this earlier he would have just taken a loan from the bank at a lower interest rate, and paid back I mean of course if you're if you're highly liquid in the short term right and you have a lot of assets you can easily just, pay back the loan pretty fast but but then most like everyone almost won't be that liquid in the short term so you have to pay back over time


so he said like ya I just try to avoid that if you can like ya that was something I found out about CPF I remember yeah, ya ya ya uh literally ya it's true


you know you should just make like a like a budget sheet or something on excel, like , I think it's like you know you won't realise it but then like once you see it in front of you then you'll be like oh damn


no no I still I still use excel I still use excel so what I do is just like all the investments all the budgeting it's all in one sheet, so like I have worked one thing which automatically every month there's a recurring payments then one which is like this much money is here this much money is there


see you always have an idea and then of course on the top you know you see your total cash flow in cash flow out monthly gain monthly loss things like that, but yeah I


yeah, yeah I had that as well it didn't work I didn't , yeah, exactly and then those sausage buns add up to like hundred dollars by the end of the


ya I don't I don't I I I I still have it installed on my phone I just I think there's like maybe one purchase that I put in there when I just installed it


I don't know oh oh calorie counting yeah, no but then the thing with calories is like it's a fixed thing you do it three times a day right plus if you're having snacks that day, but then for this it's like how do you control like oh every day I I'm going to spend at this this this time so I'll have my phone ah that one is like a habit this one is like


ya exactly why would you want to do that no I mean like it's it's for for calorie counting it's like you know you just before your meal or after your meals so it's like a fixed habit, this one is like spending is not a fixed thing in your daily life right like some days you spend some days you don't you can't control


yeah already at zero count , yeah I still I still don't understand how those calorie counting apps work exactly like how do not all apples are the same what it's


ya true true true I mean


doesn't the government like support people in debt a lot I don't know,


, ya that's true that's true I mean they can always you know you can declare bankruptcy that's the easiest way to get out of it but I don't know I feel like I I've never I I've never experienced or like been


or known anyone who's experienced this so I can't say much actually like I remember in my block actually there is a loan shark case one like splash the wrote the owe money pay money thing, yeah and it was like that's not a good way to like they they tempt you a lot in the short term I guess cause they offer the lowest like interest rates like oh ya you can pay back whenever but then when you do they just when you don't then they'll just like you know come after you yeah


I'd say just don't don't turn to loan sharks or anything that sounds too good to be true just got to cut down on yours expenditure I guess, I think I think best to turn to is probably friends and family first cause they are the most flexible where they can but then like it will affect your personal relations perhaps could


(uh huh), (uh huh)


(mmhmm), but then but then don't don't banks give you money based on your current score so if you if you are in debt they will won't be uh that willing to give you a lot of money anyway right which is why people go to different banks


okay


yeah student loans and stuff yeah I know in the US it's a huge deal I don't know about singapore, (mmhmm), oh ya ya ya


yeah that's true, that's true that's true I think educations are also more affordable in singapore that's why in the US the fees are much higher than compared to singapore, also the government like okay for for guys uh what NS actually benefits you with is they give you a bunch of money into your PSEA


so you can use that as well you can use whatever you earn in NS whatever work you're doing and then on top of that you know low school fees anyway for citizens so it's all good, yeah I mean in the future right like when you have kids would you like how would you you know set up some kind of savings for them and stuff


ETF, ya ya ya,


yes should we press stop, (uh) twenty minutes thirty seconds


part three negative experience, right speaking of negative experiences , just just describe one negative experience in your life I guess I don't know this pretty hard


ya


(mmhmm), yeah


ah okay okay


yup yup was this in singapore or in india, okay oh ya ya ya okay okay okay,


right right right, oh no


, oh no


right, yeah, they start to offload the luggage though, oh they'd already done that


maybe that's why they maybe that's why they didn't want to let you in cause they already done off , yeah, yeah


yeah ,


oh no, yeah, ah ya lah, oh my god


oh !whoa! were you like actually angry , oh no , oh no ya ya ya yeah


yeah, yeah yeah fair fair shortlist that's why everyone goes to the airport early, uh I don't have any like airport horror stories but like one time got lost in in London it's my first time going to the UK


and uh with a couple of friends and then the weather there is like really really uh dingy I would say like it's always very wet and cold and like , you know like the sky is always grey it's not very happy so it was like evening time ya very ominous and then


also like you know from being from singapore is very safe so over there is like dark alleys it's just like shady looking characters I was just like lost didn't know what to do, and then just like had to just find my way home somehow ya to the place where I'm staying I mean just so like okay


one of our phones was dead and then my friend's phone was no SIM card, and then my phone I think I just hadn't brought it I just left it at the the airbnb that we're staying at so, it's like yeah and then like I think no it wasn't even that late the thing is


the sun goes down very early there so it gets really and and it's not even the sun going down early it's like it's always just grey so even in the afternoon it's like really, depressing so I don't think we knew the time it was like I think maybe around eight ~ish no no no it wasn't eight it was ten PM ten PM ~ish


and then we're just like walking down the alleyways like try to re-navigate like how we came to the to the city area but then ya we we finally managed to find one of the underground stations, and


and then we managed to get back safe and sound without any incident oh ya that that also happened once in australia I remember like I was just out of bed and then I had to take a take the train back, and then you see a lot of weird characters on the on the subway honestly like I there's this one there's like


group of a rowdy like teenagers came in they started like just, spray painting on the on the on the train door and then I looked around and there was like I think five other people in the cabin with me and like no one, said anything to them so I was like oh this is not my country not my place to say upfront don't want to get into unnecessary trouble


, (mmhmm), yeah , oh no


yeah, yeah yeah yeah, oh yeah


oh my god , your yeah, yeah damn, I used to like when I was a kid I used to have this fear of like buses at night and falling asleep on them


I think it's cause like I used to read this there's this one mister midnight book which had a similar thing where the students like fall asleep and then they wake up and the bus is like somewhere else but I think my fear was just like, cause okay at night there's already very few people in the bus right and then you're sitting in it and then you just look outside usually like you won't know what your surroundings are


and then I was always when I was younger I was like always I fell asleep in the public bus no one would like be there to wake me up cause I used to do that all the time in the school bus like I was just fall asleep and then the, bus auntie or whatever would just wake me up and like oh you've reached home and I just like get out and go home


or if like my parents had come down to pick me up they're just like carry me home and then put me to bed and then in the public bus you don't have that like you miss your stop that's it like you don't know where this bus is going, like I mean back back then we didn't have the apps or whatever right to see we didn't even have phones so it's like shit I need to remember exactly where I'm getting off yeah


!huh!, oh just google maps just G maps yeah


yup, okay, yeah, oh no you can't see the exit yeah


yup yup, yup oh no were you all the right most lane or something, okay can it's like


, all right, damn


(mmhmm), , oh my god


yeah, wait I thought you said it broke down or break down it crashed after it crashed


(mmhmm), yo damn


yeah, I don't I I don't really get scared of stuff that easily like I especially like horror stuff I love I love that kind of stuff like I love going to old abandoned places and like seeing ghosts


I love I love it I remember me and my friends used to go to Changi general back in the day now now they they completely closed it down before that there was like this little uh, gap in the fence where you could just like go through so you go up there's like you know those like no drain kind of things


so you just go up those and then you jump through the fence it was just it wasn't much actually it's just like a lot of vandalism inside like a lot of graffiti everywhere, it's like empty bottle no there's nothing it's nothing it's just a old dilapidated hospital


oh damn nah I mean we went in as three we came out as three only there wasn't a , uh no nothing weird happened no nothing nothing weird happened


nah nah nah like themselves oh , (mmhmm), ya I've watched it it's pretty funny I I laughed a lot no like the whole concept of the whole concept of these guys acting like psycho killers and then they realised oh no the people inside have guns and now you're the ones trapped inside with them


I found that hilarious cause you know at the end of the movie right the owners like just so he pulls out a gun and starts shooting them cause he realises they only have knives so then they start running away from him I found that very funny


yeah, yeah, ,


yeah yeah if, if you were uh in that point of situation would you be purging or would you be like the people who don't get involved


yeah, damn, just watching live streams live streams of the purge, oh okay okay


ah ah I think I think the best kind of horror like the scariest kind of horror right is either cosmic or body horror so like, cosmic would be like things that you can't explain like do you know what Cthulhu is


so Cthulhu is like this uh old god made by this author called HP lovecraft and he has this whole series where he makes the whole myth so basically there's like the premise is there used to be these old gods, and uh they're like under the earth or something


and there's a group of cults cultists trying to resurrect these gods and like summon these gods basically and the whole concept is like, you cannot comprehend just what they are like as soon as you see them your mind will just implode so like how do you that like you know normally in like horror movies and stuff there's like


some weakness that the ghost or whatever has there's like some way to defeat it but like the concept of cosmic horrors is like you can't do anything about it it's just inevitable and, that's like really scary and then you don't understand it as well like the whole whole thing about horror movies is like they're always trying to like figure out like oh like in for example conjuring or annabelle it's like oh this doll was possessed or something and that's


ya like like ya or like you know the back story you know why or like what is happening but the thing of course requires that you don't know, and you have no way to explain like uh one of my favourite authors like #junji ito# this japanese manga author


he makes body horror and uh cosmic horror so like there's this one very famous one called Gyo which is stands for fish and the whole premise of that is, fish just start coming out of the ocean and they have legs like they have these spider legs, and the whole comic like people try to like scientists are trying to figure out what's going on


uh why do these fish have legs but no one can figure it out it's just fish coming out with legs and like you know a shark comes out with legs as well and then it starts eating people, but the thing is these are still fish so they can only survive for like a while but the legs keep moving on their own so what happens is like all these fish come out they all die and then because they died they their body starts like


decomposing and releases a lot of sulphur and stuff so the whole world just gets covered in like just not like toxic gases and stuff as well so a lot of people and then these dead fish are just like walking around everywhere it's just really really creepy, because there's no explanation like the scientist tries to like take these fish and like dissect them or whatever but he's like no lah I have no idea it's just some genetic thing that happened all of a sudden


like no explanation even the the balloon one where like ya the balloons with the people's head yeah


but you don't know that's the thing right you don't know it can like one day like rick and morty right remember the head episode, like whatever giant head just freaking appears , you don't know that's the thing you how


it could happen literally right now and you wouldn't know you couldn't expect it, , nah I doubt doubt


, yeah


, , ya that's what the greatest fear is the fear of the unknown right you're only scared of things that you don't know about, ya but like you said you don't know what what will happen right there's so many doomsday scenarios


uh it's like, uh what's that like I remember they said like they will never make AI like okay have you seen this movie called ex machina


the whole premise of ex machina is this guy he's working for so there's this really genius inventor right he has his own company and but the thing is he lives a very secluded life like he will just make his own inventions and then he will like, meet the company like the top executives once in a while to like tell them like okay this is my new idea I want you guys to


make this or whatever it's a huge company so there's like this internal competition within the company and the winner gets to go and meet this guy the inventor who like very few people have actually met, so this random like just coder in the company he wins the lucky draw, he's like okay you get to go and spend one week with this guy so he gets like helicopter to someplace in norway or something it's in the middle of the forest


you can't even see his house because it's made of this glass which makes it invisible if you look at it unless you are like right next to it, and then you'll notice some some weird kind of reflection he goes in it's like a really chill house the guy is super chill and he shows him the new thing he's working on and it's this girl, and she looks like a real girl but she's a robot she's a cyborg not even a cyborg she's a actual robot she's an android so he says this is the new AI that I've been training


and uh I want her to basically he's trying to make like real humans essentially almost so this guy he actually falls in love with the android, and the the inventor keeps telling him she's just telling you that because she knows what what do you want to hear cause she wants to escape from here or something like that


and the ending of the movie is basically like she manages to escape and she kills both of them and she just escapes into the real world, and the thing is they ended in such a way that it makes it like it makes you think like


this whole movie could have just been a real story but you would never know because throughout the whole movie they're just trying to show like how real this like how human this robot is right, or it can make itself seem because it has access to like thousands and thousands of years of human psychology and how we work and stuff like that so it knows what to say to which person


and yeah uh she just like escapes into the real world and the last shot is like her in like some busy #new york# street and you never know like the person that you are talking to could be this android but you will just you know never know about it


memories


yeah and create, yeah, yeah, it's just uncanny valley I think it's very common it's like the same thing for like video games like you know the graphics keep getting better and more realistic right


but there's one certain point that it will reach where it's too realistic and people will get like really scared yeah so that's why they always keep it right below that yeah, twenty minutes twenty seconds


part two positive experience, all right time for some thirty six questions kind of thing, so, what was your favourite hobby or activity or that something that made you happiest as a kid


(uh huh),


oh oh ya and it like comes out yo I did that once I tried that once but uh no it was pretty sad it was like it like just came up a bit


yeah, yeah, certainly damn mine was uh I was always a big fan of F one so I used to love going uh go karting as a kid ya ya ya I used to go kart a lot


everywhere every day and then there used to be one at escape theme park back in the day it's it wasn't that great but that's the one I used to go to a lot it's the go kart all the time


oh ya luge is fun as well luge is fun and all , [orh] but I mean there's two there's two parts right oh no no there's three actually last time I went


(mmhmm), skyride skyride sky scanner ride


ya ya ya ya it's pretty good the night ride was fun as well like once it gets dark and then everything lights up yeah, damn I had to go once during army


during one of my details with a VIP ya I had to do that once because he was just like, oh ya you're not don't bother like waiting around ya why don't you just come Sentosa with us I was like okay sure


no no no like I just like tagged along and then, they were like is there anything you want to do I was like I like the luge, and then like ya okay can go go out just meet us back here at six or something


yeah yeah I mean speaking of speaking of hobbies right what's your best like part of your childhood, yeah


(uh huh), damn, I didn't know singapore had skate parks


ya I I never knew singapore had one , (mmhmm), !wow!, ya ya ya ya ya ya


yeah, mine is uh I love I actually love the snow winter time so as a kid my my family used to go to switzerland a lot so skiing


down the alps was a big highlight for me I remember when I was a kid snow city was the best we would get but then when I hit like P three P four, ya so we start going to europe and then having nice like snow vacays, so I loved love the love the sunsets in the alps it's really nice and


the way the sun just bounces off the snow it's a very different experience, !huh! no you don't see that in switzerland you have to go all the way to like [orh] the aurora borealis and stuff right nah never seen


iceland finland sweden all those nordic countries can see it there, yeah, !huh! I tried , no it was just like a bunch of piled up snow


yeah why, oh okay okay okay, eh same mine's at twenty-five


oh damn, I I'm the opposite I don't really feel cold like my parents always use the, tell me to wear more layers and I just feel like chilling, yeah, there were just like one time in my life I that that I distinctly remember I think the temperature went to like


below zero or something when I was in india and I was like actually freezing to death, and then I kept putting on more and more jackets but it wasn't working, I was like just really really damn cold that's the only time I remember I was like maybe four or something yeah


yeah, , yeah (uh huh)


ya ya ya ya ya, !wow! oh !wow! , oh no


damn okay, damn yeah lesson learnt right almost as if it was a blessing in disguise , yeah I mean speaking of


, I mean okay there was there was like I can't can't really remember any time why don't you start off I'll think about it oh


ya that's sort of blessing in disguise, oh oh my NS right right right okay ya ya actually it like okay so I got posted to unit actually I can't say much about that you know on this unit, it's a confidential unit can't reveal government state secrets here but I mean


uh speaking of like blessing in disguise right like I'll just go back to the same example of winter holidays, uh just say you cause I mean we're singaporeans right we don't have winter so I was never really accustomed to those, that like cold weather kind of thing especially with the snow


and then the worst thing about winter that I remember was having to take a shower, because after you shower the second you like get out of the shower right it's so cold because you're just wet and then, the cold just hits you and then it's also very dry in singapore the thing is you're very humid right so your skin will just dry up instantly


so just I remember as a kid right I never liked to put on like moisturiser, cause it just felt really weird and sticky so it just that feeling was like pretty pretty bad, but then I mean like I said one of the best parts of my childhood was swiss alps so


it's a blessing in disguise I guess going there and getting accustomed rather than you know just living in somewhere, the whole whole way through in tropical climates never experiencing the other stuff it's good to try everything I guess


ya ya ya ya I I am, ya ya ya it is, I mean, I I think I don't know I just sometimes I feel very certain of things and then luck will always be on my side like


it doesn't matter if I'm playing like a game or if I'm literally think rock paper scissors or like you know, getting a lottery ticket or doing anything if I feel like oh like I don't do any of that stuff I don't, gamble like I don't buy lottery tickets I don't


do any of that only when I feel like super certain of something I'll do it, uh there's like one time when I went to an arcade, and then I I hate going to the arcade cause I think it's like a waste of money like, I used to go as a kid a lot especially when I went to like visit family in australia there would be like I would just go to the


arcade then like get a hundred bucks and just like spend it all on those ticket machines, and then I'd collect all those prizes and then I'll bring it back for my friends and stuff to give them as gifts, so I used to do that a lot when like whenever I went to australia a lot and there's a huge arcade like here we have timezone right that was like


twenty times the size of any timezone in singapore it's huge there's like two different floors, uh and I think what is it called it's called like galactic circus or something it's right below the huge crown you've been to Melbourne right, you know the crown crown casino


it's like one of the really really tall buildings in the CBD and it's got like a giant crown it's like the huge casino where everyone goes, so basically the the arcade is right under it cause you know they want to breed gamblers from a young age and then


so in singapore I went with a friend and then he said oh dude you have to come because the previous night, him and the rest of my friends have gone there but they were off doing something else so he said why don't we go to the arcade since we have time to kill, and this is during the army detail so


I was like okay sure but I'm not going to spend, more than five bucks he said oh the minimum you can top up is ten dollars so how about we each put in five bucks, and then that's our limit we don't go over that we just uh, we just spend that and then no more I said okay fine that's a deal


so we go in the first game we play it's like those like it's a mix of those coin pusher, I mean it's a mix of a claw machine and a coin pusher so it's like a carousel, on on the carousel is a bunch of uh like you know the rugby american football like those balls the oval ones


it's like a bunch of those just like rotating on this carousel and then you just have to press the button for the claw to go down and pick up a, a ball and amongst all those balls there's like one golden one which gives you like, five thousand tickets or five hundred tickets something like that so we played that, so I played it once and then he's like okay let me try so then he plays it that's our first


two dollars uh he's like okay let me try then he tries it and then he gets the golden one on the first try so we get five K ticket and we're feeling pretty good and we're like okay that's pretty cool and then, we go back and then I feel like the I see the scooby doo machine out of the corner of my eye and there's like this couple playing it


and I thought dude we should go to that one but they're still playing it so we didn't end up going and then uh, I went to uh we went to a different one we didn't get any luck there and then we were down to like last three dollars or something and we're like okay let's go to the scooby doo machine it's opened up, the scooby doo machine is like you pull a lever and then the thing will spin and then based on where it lands that's how many tickets you get


so we played it I put in the money pull the lever nothing happens so we thought maybe it's glitch or something, so we put another token pull the lever nothing happened, and then we're down to our last coin so we're like okay we need to go and call the staff so we call the staff and tell them this machine ate two of our dollars and didn't give us anything


the guy says oh there's no tickets inside that's why so he fills up the tickets and then, as soon as he does that and he resets the machine the tickets just start coming out, without us doing anything so we thought maybe glitch and then it actually recorded what we did but it just didn't process it


so they just keep coming out and then they still keep coming out so we thought oh maybe we actually hit the grand prize of like one thousand tickets, but the thing is it didn't stop and then I sat there for literally two hours like waiting for all the tickets to come out


but it just kept coming out there was a point where the machine actually ran out of tickets again while I was still waiting to collect my tickets and then, I call the guy and he thought I like hacked the machine or something so he call the boss and the boss goes there like restarts the machine, and then it comes back with a screen this time and it says thirty thousand tickets remaining


so they had to come back and actually refill the machine like three three times or something cause they couldn't tell me, it was my fault cause I think the machine just glitched or something yeah so, I think we just bought like a karaoke machine for our camp so that we could have like cause we've to stay in so have something to do at night


yeah !oi!, yeah, yeah


yeah, oh !wow!, yeah


(uh huh)


!huh! so it's like you have to shoot and then throw something as well, okay okay, I thought you shooting the fire why are you shooting the person suddenly oh okay


yeah, ya ya ya ya ya ya that's true , ya ya ya ya ya I remember I had that feeling


when we you know I there's those like car ones so then you sit in the car and then you shoot and then the car will like move ya that's that that was mine, yeah when I first play that it was me


ya ya ya ya ya I remember this as well oh ya ya ya, !whoa! bowling, nice


yeah uh those those uh that's a pretty good surprise would you say that the best surprise you ever had, yeah, nice nice it's pretty good


oh oh damn, yikes, oh ya ya ya we're so used to !huh! what about me


ya ya , uh no not that I can remember I remember okay okay there's this one time, where where it was in army and then my I used to go to bed really early during BMT and


uh I used to like always switch off the lights so even though my friend like my section mates were all like doing stuff they were very respect like we are all very respectful of each other uh and our sleep, so if anyone is ever sleeping we'll never disturb the other person so they were quite like uh which I'm quite thankful for like having those kind of section mates uh they're like they're pretty


uh decent about it they said ya sure you can turn off the lights when you feel like you want to go to sleep and we won't disturb you and then I wake up and my, you know you have those kind of sleeps where you don't dream and then you just go to sleep and then you wake up and then you're like [orh] like no time has passed


yeah so so my, my buddy wakes me up from the bed next to me and he's like [orh] quick quick it's a turnout it's a turnouts turnouts means like we all have to go and, line up in the parade square with all our full battle order and stuff you know with our guns rifle and everything and he's I I I feel like


it's been like no time at all since I went to sleep so I like I'm very sheepish still and I look at the clock and I see it's five-thirty in the morning I was like oh no I thought I set an alarm for four-thirty why am I, how did I miss this and then I look around and everyone's like in a panic like trying to put on all their stuff


and our our quite line was shaped like an l so from my bunk which was one end of that like I could see across to the other end as well, and I look around and then I just see people in other bunks as well like, moving around and I thought oh !whoa! so I go and pick up my phone and my phone says nine-thirty PM


and I was really confused cause then I look around everyone's like I thought my phone had like malfunctioned or something, and then I look outside and I see people wearing like helmets walking along the corridor so I I I get up and I start putting on my


number four and then just as soon as I'm about to put on my helmet and stuff everyone just stops, like just freezes even outside and then I like look around and I'm like oh what is this and then they all start laughing it turns out it's just like a prank, like but they got like everyone in the whole platoon to do it I was like proper surprised I I love a good prank like you know when it's actually well thought out


yeah not like one of those lame like things they do on YouTube like just randomly go and do stuff, yeah that's true that's true , oh we didn't do teachers' day we did like leavers' day pranks leaver oh not april fool's we did leavers' day pranks


so it's like the the batch that's leaving uh the day before their like leaving ceremony right so in our school we did like a huge , uh we did this last walk kind of thing where the whole grade just walks across the school and we had every single grade from like the kindergarteners to the grade elevens all standing doing like a clap kind of things as you walk you do have one final walk of the whole campus


and it's like a big deal yeah and then the day before that is technically like traditionally the the prank day so it's huge we literally destroy the whole school not destroy but we like, make the whole school there's this huge statue in the middle of the school we shifted it elsewhere and stuff we did a lot a lot of wild stuff yeah


(ppo) ya twenty minutes forty seconds


part one finance, okay so we just, let's start with well let's start with the strategies what strategy would you recommend for someone planning for big ticket expenditures


yeah


right I agree with you though like I was just reading up about this and they said that a lot of people what they do is they just spend first so they'll pay their utility bills, they'll like buy all their necessities and then whatever is remaining whatever the leftover income is they'll put that into their savings, but you shouldn't do that you should do it the other way round so you should already allocate a certain amount of money to your savings when you get your income


and then the remaining amount should be the one used for discretionary spending et cetera et cetera so I think that's a good way to do it because usually we just like, you know sometimes all the small spendings keep adding up and then you don't you it's hard to keep track of it , so I think that's a that's a good tip that I picked up but


ya ya there was a rule right right you have to save fifty percent , and then you spend thirty percent for fun, oh is it okay okay true true that make sense


twenty percent you save twenty percent you use thirty percent for fun, stuff like your leisure activities, no I think it was thirty percent for leisure yeah, so okay


honestly honestly I don't spend much I mean I don't have to pay for my necessities I live with my parents, my main spending goes into just buying food dining out with my friends, having fun and grab I think Grab is a huge


takes up a lot of my money so I think that's one of my unnecessary spendings every month , so I should really cut back on it cause you know it's the convenience it's too enticing and I just let go uh twenty bucks here and there just


I know but it's like you know if it's at eleven PM you know it's going to take you an hour to get home versus fifteen minutes, yeah


ya ya ya, but it only goes to certain okay, is it, !wow!


right, that's true I can actually do that, but ya I think I think Grab is where most of my money goes Grab Grab like transport GrabFood and just dining out otherwise I don't spend much


right, yeah


no but I do have the app I don't I don't monitor it I think I just see okay every month I get the I get the physical, bills so I can you know I can kind of get an understanding of what's where most of my money is going but, I think I should start doing that see the breakdown and percentage when


you know monitor my spending accordingly, yeah oh, I know okay I know I know you have gotten into investing a lot I don't personally do investing but, my parents are have invested in a bunch of properties both locally and overseas so that's how we get that rental income going for their retirement


what about you you've got into investing recently right


right, no


right, !wow!


right right right, ya actually I I I heard about someone who invested when the oil prices went down and they got like millions he made millions it seems


storage yeah, yeah


I think I've heard about it is it the you get a lot of money like in the future after a long time, , okay


no what's what's S and P five hundred, okay (uh huh)


right


right, ya ya ya, so wait you know you know a lot about all these financial investing and all that so do you think you're going to like ever hire a professional or you're just going to do it yourself


right, a financial, I think same my parents are actually currently talking to one, and it just gives you better understanding and gives you that security because you know that you know


they're going to tell you what's best for you and they know what your objectives are and then they recommend solutions to you accordingly so I think it's good to have one but if you have a lot of time, and if you have the patience to you know scour through every possible option then I mean google's your best friend right every thing's available online for free it's just about


(mmhmm)


okay, (mmhmm)


that's so interesting that's so much foresight, okay cool cool cool, ya I do I do I did actually uh when I was interning over summer then twenty percent of my income was going to CPF so initially


whatever I was going to get I think my employer also contributed seventeen percent if I'm not wrong , I'm not too sure I think it's either the seventeen twenty or as you grow older it becomes it the the percentage changes so there's that but right now I'm not because


apparently when you are interning the company can give you an allowance so it's not counted as a salary it's counted as an allowance, so for that you won't have to contribute to your CPF cause already the amount is very low, so that's what I'm doing right now but initially over summer I was the twenty percent and yeah so (mmhmm)


you can, it's not the only time I think uh, yeah cause there's a there there are three different funds right there's a savings there's a savings account and there's a ordinary account and then there's one more you know which one


, ya I think the the interest rate is really high for the savings account and the the MediSave account and you can take it out for housing or you can also take it out for your retirement


so I think the amount of payout you get every month depends on how much money is in the account so the more you put in it the more you can take out also in the future yeah


, right


, (mmhmm)


, right that's interesting , ya I need to figure out how all them how all of the different components work


yeah how much money to put into each of them , I think I really need a financial planner because, right ya my dad does that he's very into, all the nitty gritty details so every expense will be tracked


ya for sure, and that's what the app is for right it just makes it convenient for you so you don't need to use excel, is it they have (uh huh) okay


okay, right


right I think for, for for me since I don't do investing I'll just I I can use like a money tracker app so I actually had one and you every time you spend something you just put it in, so it's very conscious ya it didn't really work cause it's the small like you buy like a sausage bun from BreadTalk it's such a hassle to put in that one- twenty in the app


exactly exactly , right but it but it makes you very conscious of what you're spending cause


usually you'll just be like okay let me get that let me get that but this like really makes you think okay I'm getting this it's kind of like a food log right, if those people who like to log in everything they eat cause it's like make you ya ya ya ya exactly so you don't realise it but then when you are like oh I ate like five peanuts like ten times a day


ya if you're having snacks, no you no you have to like whip your phone out and key it in it's that effort that additional effort


yeah I don't know


no but some people snack a lot, or like every time you drink a glass of water maybe but water doesn't have calories right but ya, but I mean if you have a habit of snacking you know every okay have an apple have like a slice of it and stuff like two bites of that but ya


right I it does as an estimate it's just an estimate that's for you to like keep track so you know okay this is what I'm doing cause sometimes you don't even realise


right okay so what about what about people who are in debt what do you think what would you what advice would you give them cause uh that's a pretty scary thing you know I used to work I mean I wouldn't say but I, I've seen people who are in debt and then you know you can't pay your taxes and you have like this red colour thing uh I it's it's just seems very scary to me so what


I think they do give them like uh, you can extend the period in you pay your tax back and all that so it'll offer extensions but there's a lot of interest rate like a lot of hefty fines that you get if you miss payment etcetera


is it, right


ya ya ya, exactly, right all that short term gratification doesn't work to think


yeah, , yeah actually I was I was reading up about seven ways to manage your debts so there's like a whole flow chart okay it gives you like a whole step by step process


on how you should you know manage your debts and all that so apparently there's a way where you can consider, balance transfer so instead of you know you owing money to multiple banks you just put into one place and then it has a lower interest rate, so that's something you need to do and you need to like understand your whole debt situation


ya but it just it just sort of helps you to consolidate any amount that you owe


so it's I guess it's a way to help them and then just talk to your banks ask about like instalment plan how much you , uh what what works for you so I guess just doing then getting a financial planner, a lot of people are getting into that especially university students I feel to insurance


actually I personally know a lot of people now they are way more independent like they're paying for their uni fee uni fees by themselves, ya ya ya just recently eighteen year olds nineteen year olds


so they're living in their parents' house but they are paying for uni by themselves which is it's really cool, right, that's true


right, yeah that's true


I think you were talking about the EFT EFT right ETF the ETF account


(uh) twenty minutes thirty three seconds yeah


part three negative experience


yeah this is pretty hard because, it's hard to think of something very specific, one negative experience, I guess the negative experience that I can think of would be , that one time when I


when I missed my flight, so I was supposed to uh I was on flight to go to india and then we had a stopover in malaysia, and the thing is there was some issue with our, how how we booked the flight so it wasn't like you know, uh it's through the airport itself like we have to check our get our luggage and then check in all over again


ya so it was that whole thing and uh we it was it was very it was very stressful sort of situation cause it was my dad wasn't there with us so just my mum myself, so it was just the two of us and we were navigating through that whole thing and, first of all the waiting time at the airport is insane


so we're all super tired so we, this was in KL or yeah KL so the immigration we had to wait like two three hours in the line to just check out you know cleared past the immigration and once I was done we have to collect our luggage which took forever and you have to walk a lot


cause it's like a massive airport and it's it's not the most efficient, so long story short we were rushing rushing rushing we hadn't eaten we hadn't like drank any water we were super exhausted and my mum has a weak knee so, she had to like run and we were running running running and we when we finally got to the room like the the place


they were just like we had we just closed the doors and the plane hadn't taken off there were another like fifteen minutes left for it to take off but they said you know we just can't let you in there's some protocol or whatever and, in a moment I just felt like so much injustice cause I was like the plane is right there you can just you literally open the door our luggage is inside the plane


like why can't you why can't you do that like you know you see our situation and there're a few more people, ya ya ya they they I think they they did that or they do that they were going to do, I don't know if they've already done that but maybe they were in the process of doing that


but it just oh ya maybe maybe but apparently they were like you know there's this it's a protocol blah blah blah so it was just it just felt so unfair, because okay I agree maybe that's how you know airlines operate but it was so sad because we have nowhere to go and it was it was late at night


so it was really scary it was it was really negative it was a negative experience cause you know you feel like so helpless you can't do anything to them you can't tell them you know eh no open the door right let me through , and we already had plans like we had our hotel booked and wherever we were going to go


so all that and you have to and the thing is they don't even refund you you have to buy a new pair of tickets, so it was just it was very overwhelming my mum was stressed I was stressed I never had to deal with this kind of thing I had to like talk to the officer I was like what is this why can't we get in


I wasn't I was like uh please help us out , but it was but it was very stressful it was scary and my dad was like why how could you miss the flight, well I was like it happens happens to the best of us so I think that was that was a negative experience but it was a good learning lesson also like you know never always always just try to


leave that buffer period yeah what about you, yeah exactly it's a rough one okay, oh okay


okay, right very ominous


yeah, (mmhmm)


oh how do you do that, okay


!wow! oh no , not the smartest choice, okay


(mmhmm), okay


, that's good must be stressful though


right, yeah actually uh I have heard a lot of horror stories like that cause my friend went to spain, and he went to the club, so it was pretty late and he was taking the train back to the hotel room


and , he just fell asleep on the train back, and then you know the train goes one round and then it goes back after that so when he woke up a couple of hours later he was on the way back so he was really disoriented he was like what's happening you know like why am I on the way back


and he realised his phone had gone his wallet was gone any money whatever he had on him his bag, it was all stolen, so in the middle of nowhere you don't know where you are you don't have anyone's phone number you don't have your own phone just stranded


so I think that that's so scary I don't know what I would do in that situation but that's super scary, ya ya ya,


right, wake you up, go right, oh


yeah, yeah, yeah uh I think that's me with with like driving now I feel like I'm I don't know I'm so scared of driving sometimes when I'm going to an unfamiliar location


cause I just feel like something's going to happen like the other day I went driving to a pretty, to the opposite side of the of of singapore from where I live and I've never been there I don't even think I've, like physically been there before let let alone drive there, and then right as I went to the PIE it started raining super heavily it was like actually raining cats and dogs and I couldn't see anything it was really blurry and you know you can't see your side mirrors and the back mirror that well


I was so scared cause you have to drive super fast and everyone kept overtaking me cause I was driving really slowly , no uh I was on the I was trying to be on the left but then and especially you know when especially when there's a bus, or like a huge vehicle next to you I that's so scary for me cause I'm like it's going to hit me it's going to hit me and I'll be like driving in the middle of the road or I'm like


just ya it's it's really scary I think I think driving to unfamiliar location I have that fear and I've had this recurring dream so many times, that I'm in uh car I don't know why I have that but it had it's happened a few times that I'm in a car, and I don't know how to drive like I just forget how to drive and then I don't know what I'm doing like I press the accelerator and then it or I press the break and it starts accelerating


I think like in fact I've recently had that kind of dream that, and that my car broke down in the middle of the street and no one was helping me and I didn't know what to do like first of all I knew I was going to get, into massive trouble to like crash the car, and second of all I was like what do I do


ya it crash it like broke down broke down and crashed, ya ya exactly okay it was a it was a whole dream okay like I was I was lost I had no idea where to go and my google maps wasn't working so I was just driving around aimlessly, and then it just like broke down and then I don't know what to do and I was like walking


walking on the road it was it was really scary, so I guess driving keep getting this dream that I can't drive I don't know why, but but okay wait I want to ask you like what do you think is really scary like what what's the most scary thing that you can think of


yeah challenging uh, yeah I don't know I can't do them the complete opposite of that, I don't want to mess with, that is so messed up


(uh huh) (uh huh) , I heard so many horror stories though, I just don't want to mess with that but you never know like you know you go there alone and then when you come out you're actually not alone


that is so scary, that's what you think it's some like weird things started happening after that , things you couldn't explain people started acting weird unlike themselves


ya but it's still scary unlike unlike themselves, it's so scary though I feel like another scary concept is like you know the movie the purge, have you watched it, funny to you right but the concept the concept of


dude but the concept of it is so scary like remember uh imagine like you you just don't have any control you know the government is just like, okay you know this is the best way to control crime you just have one day where you can do whatever you want and then people since we are inherent savages right as human beings and then people just you know uh I


just just do whatever they want they actually do it and there's no one's stopping them there's no law and order, that's just so scary, like anything could happen you can't even leave your house it's it's that that feeling of helplessness


dude I would be in like this bunk in the underground that'll be like ten thousand sea level I'll have all my food with me I'll have like my, nice uh projector and screen just be like you know just shield myself from no watch like freaking just for laugh gags or something shield myself from reality I just


I can't I'll be such a scaredy cat even during a zombie apocalypse I feel like I I I just I don't want to do any,


(mmhmm),


(mmhmm)


and we say the name and then it's going to peace out


the body horror one is it


that's weird, oh


decaying, right, okay right


is it, oh ya the face one I feel like for me, it's not that as scary because you become detach yourself from it cause you know you know it's something that isn't likely to happen


it's something you but, right but it's unlikely you know the odds are very very low, no I know because it's not going to happen it's just it's just very unlikely you know the earth


I would know cause it, ya I wouldn't expect it but I don't know it just feels, very unlikely but something that feels very likely is you know like technology getting out of hand so all those black mirror episodes I think if any of that


comes to life which is so possible you know cause, people have so much access to like, whatever you do your like your own data and everything and they can use it , for their own benefit and at your expense, so I feel like that is really scary to me cause something that could actually happen you don't even know you know we don't even know what


we don't know we don't know what people know , no but it's like, exactly but this is like something that could very much happen you know like, no you know cause


not but not doomsday it's just you know like you not having control over your life you're not having control over, what you can do who you see who's that controlling you or who has like access to your personal data or whatever


no no haven't , okay


okay, okay


right, okay


ya ya ya


okay, oh !wow!


right, (mmhmm) (mmhmm), ya ya ya


ya, right


yeah, it's weird dude it's weird like it reminds me of this other black mirror episode also that was very similar so this, uh girl her her boyfriend dies, and then there's like this new technology and they can take all their like


memories and their uh videos and their voice messages and like all their phone data or whatever, and they can create that same person so he's going to look the same he's going to talk the same, I don't know it's just very uncomfortable I guess


(mmhmm), and creeped out


twenty sixteen yeah


, part two positive experience, okay which is,


I feel that I I feel like it was definitely, painting and arts and craft so I was really crafty kid I would always try to I'll uh I'd always always make cards for every occasion so it was like, uh valentine's day birthdays anniversaries everything I always like to make cards I'll make paintings and drawings and I'll make those pop up boxes


so you know you open up the card and the image like pops uh ya ya ya so I, didn't work, oh no yeah I love that I love crayons I love paint like acrylic paints I just love making things so I think that was something that


I really enjoyed and I remember very fondly because I stopped doing that, once you know after I reached uh tertiary education, what about you, right


oh !wow! okay, really, okay, really I've never go kart here before but I think the closest I've been was those luge rides


in Sentosa that was so fun so now they made it weird like you have to go twice minimally so every time you buy a luge ticket you have to buy two tickets for two runs but back in the day it was just, no


I think there are few parts but they just want to make you like buy more in one go so but last time every time we'll go to Sentosa like almost every weekend or every two weeks and then we'll just go for the luge ride and the, the skyscraper I wanted to call it sky scanner sky sky ya ya ya and then and then you just sit there and you enjoy the sunset that was that was bomb that was really


right actually I don't think I've been in a cable car for like ten years speaking of like you know night rides, have you been in cable car recently, oh okay


oh with the, with !wow!, !wow! did you give them like a tour


okay cable car (uh huh), , okay okay that's so fun then


(uh huh), the best part of my childhood I think, I remember my childhood pretty fondly I think one memory that I feel like uh it just cut me through when you're asking me this was, every day without fail we'd go out to play okay so like every time will be like five PM I'll go get my bike and I'll


like ride all around the neighbourhood I think ride like super far also for like two hours three hours will just be riding my bike, so me and a bunch of my neighbours and friends will just go and I distinctly remember we'd go to this like abandoned skate park, and it was like in the in the middle of I don't even know of some neighborhood with like uh playgrounds everywhere there'll be like this


ya it's like the skate park you know with those ramps and everything and there's like graffiti everywhere, so we'd go there and then we'll park our bikes and it'll be completely deserted and it's huge and the ramps would be super super high, so we'll try to like climb up you know you you need to gain momentum and you try to climb up and then we'll use there's a slide


that was so fun that was so fun almost every day just go to the park go ride my bike go to the skate park living it up yeah you, okay


okay, (mmhmm)


but have, !wow! I'm sure , the have you seen the northern lights, no no, ya ya ya ya ya it's not in switzerland, okay okay it's in iceland right yeah


it's so pretty then have you built a snowman before didn't work okay


oh no okay okay, I don't like the snow, I think it's I I just don't like cold weather, I like warm weather even if I'm even if I I I my aircon is always at twenty-five degrees and


if if my fan is on I always need my blanket like I'm cold right now cause my aircon is on yeah I I'm just cold all the time, right yeah I'm always cold like my hands are freezing right now


(mmhmm), , is it (uh huh) oh no


!wow!, I think the coldest I think that was me at one point I was like you know the cold never bothered me anyway and like I try to wear as few layers as possible


and I went to china and I remember I only wear like a thin jacket like everyone was wearing those down jackets you know those really thick ones and I was just like you know what I'm just going to try to, you know brace this cold like the pain it it feels nice you know no it didn't feel nice lah I was like if I can weather through it


but after that I I I got a cold I caught a cold so it was quite bad and I don't think I've ever done that since, yeah definitely, oh perfect has has anything ever happened to you where you felt like you know it was a blessing in disguise initially you were like oh no why did this happen but turned out to be good


I honestly can't, I honestly can't think of anything at the top of my head but I remember you were mentioning something about


something happening to you as a kid and then you were initially hesitant towards it but it turned out to be good in the end oh oh about your NS about your NS, yeah yeah


(mmhmm)


right right, that's good that's good I I remember you were telling me that uh you really feel like you're very lucky every day you're , like lady luck is always smiling down at you so why don't you why don't you


maybe elaborate on that you know what when have you felt the luckiest so why do you think you're so lucky all the time


it is, (mmhmm)


(uh huh) (uh huh), that's wild, ya ya ya I have


I can't remember I've been there when I was really young, (mmhmm) (mmhmm), okay,


okay


the claw machine is it, okay okay okay items, okay okay okay


okay, okay


(uh huh), (uh huh) (uh huh)


!wow!, what did you do with all the ticket, !wow!


that is so fun, that is actually pretty cool, I think okay talking about arcades I remember I went to the cruise, and there's like a whole lot of things to do at the cruise right I mean there are like workshops going all day long you have like shows you've got


uh like a lot of things there's like food there's swimming pool whatever but I remember I was there for three days and, every single second all three days I spent in the arcade playing one game, it was like this four D sort of game so I was with my family friends and, there's like golf there was like juggling workshop painting this and that but we were always at the arcade and then there's like this one game that had this four D sort of experience so there'll be like


a fire and then you have a, a gun a water gun you put out the fire with the water gun or like you will throw like the ball to accompany you throw the ball at the person on the screen to me it was revolutionary, no there were there were like different types of mini games in that one huge ass game and then you can just like you can like shoot the person and to me it was like next level I was like this


no it you get balls and then you can shoot the person with the ball like the bad guy and it was, to me it was like next level technology I was like this has never been invented before like I'm the first person to experience this cause timezone, doesn't have that okay timezone is just basic this was like elevated gaming experience arcade experience I was mind blown


right right right I'm so bad at that ya I'm so bad, that sounds fun I remember uh at one point timezone had this deal where you uh buy like twenty dollars worth of card and they give you like twenty dollars in return so you get forty dollars


so after my PSLE exam my dad got me like a fifty dollar card and it had hundred dollars , I was bawling I was like I'm the happiest kid in the world of the day and you can go to the candy machine and you give them like two bucks and like a whole bunch of candy comes out you know


yeah, I don't know if that's the best surprise but it was up there at that point in time I think in my twelve years of living I think that was the highlight for sure, yeah cause I was really sick during my primary school leaving examination I had to like take it in a separate room


cause I was I was coughing really bad, so after that you know gaming eating all the candy it was, it was pretty it was pretty amazing, what about you, what did you ask me just now what's your best experience is it best surprise


didn't you have a surprise recently or just, oh really ah maybe I can jog your memory ah okay okay , okay oh


(mmhmm)


okay, right yeah, ya ya ya it's like I just fell asleep two minutes ago, but it's already like six AM, (mmhmm)


okay (uh huh) (uh huh)


right, (uh huh)


right, !wow!, right right right


yeah I think it's all staged that's all staged, did your school uh do any like huge pranks during teachers' day uh cause I remember we were really big on that, wait sorry not teachers' day april fool's yeah april fool


what's a leavers' day oh like founders okay okay okay, okay


that's so dramatic, okay okay okay, okay !wow! we do not have that, okay okay


oh !wow!, okay , twenty minutes twenty four second


part one finance, okay err the first question is do you apply for HDB run when purchasing a HDB flat as married couple or single person do provide details of the HDB run


ya I think


okay so I I I'm not married or single, go and I think I I'm too young to afford any HDB flat so I haven't looked into any HDB grant yet


err but , I think this will be a good opportunity to help me ah you now start looking into such a grants that I can maybe have


but ya err, okay so alright the second question is do you get a loan from the bank when renovating your house if so do provide details name, named and features of loan or a renovation loan


ya okay I I I have never owned any house houses before but, ah ya so I I don't know if this I don't think this applies to me ya so okay so the again I I don't know anything about any renovation loan because I haven't come to come to that stage in my life ah


okay then the third question have you bought or sold a house before other than property price what other fees incurred during the transaction yah this one I don't really know ah but I know that err


err, there there there I know that during a transaction mostly people will most people will use their what you call that uh their CPF lah because singapore's err houses house prices are very high one of the highest in the world so I mean


it's kind of a good thing that we can use our CPF money but then ah fees and transaction if people ask over over asking price amount all at all, I don't know about it lah so


wait wait wait so wait wait wait so number four actually I I got I've been I got things to say lah like so as as as a person in in like my mid twenties right I I have, been like looking up err like


properties and how how to go about securing property or actually make err investing in property, but I realised that err reading into not only err like finding property itself but also reading into investing err property investment right


I find that there's like because singapore is so small and the space is very sparse right I feel that a property investment is actually very crucial in like your your fight can can be err


what you call that ah a stepping stone into err into growing your finances so property investment right to me is is also like, though the oldest trick in the book to grow your money so err


most most of the err papers or like newspaper articles or err property investing err journals that it's about singapore right is mostly to invest in, err what you call that ah in property because like their advice is to is to err


invest in property because it gives the it gives its how the rich grows their money you know like they invest in more property than they get then invest in another than they get, but the most important thing to note during like after all the all all of my research right is that


it's not only just buying property for like your retirement home or not buying your not buying property for you to live in because a lot of people say those if you are buying property to live


to live to live in is actually a liability because you're not generating income what you are paying off the mortgages or whatever but then where's your income from a property so the best way to make income from a property is actually


err to rent out like properties, and to do that right you need to also be rich enough to like get discounted err property prices to to so you buy on the low then when even though the price rise right your what you call that ah your income


err is still there you know from the rental lah so like you know during the two thousand and eight the income don't know what drop right the that the, the bubble crashed right the world got the recession or whatever so all these rich people they always buy houses


err they buy a lot of houses that people cannot pay like you know the bank err confiscate kind so then they they buy this kind of houses then now uh they make the money property wise they wake they make the money but also rental they make the money that's how they become rich lah


ya that okay that's all I have to say for the for the err for number four lah k you want to read number five


I I I again I have I never buy a any houses before so I don't have any experience in this ya err, okay number six would you buy property for investment given the implementation of the buyer's stamp duty or the stamp duty fee


okay so for people buying additional property would additional buyer's stamp duty deter you from investing in property okay so I answer this was ah then after that you can answer I would say that, if there's additional if I have capital again looking into what I said before like how the rich people get richer lah is to have additional property that generates income so that you don't have to work lah


so err for me this additional buyer's stamp duty will never deter me from investing in any property ya also


I would say that ya I I would I I would say that I I, it whenever it won't be deterring me lah for from from the even if there's additional buyer's stamp duty fee


k you can answer number six


ya cause anyway at the end of the day it's government mah like they won't make you homeless like cause bank profit their, their what you call that ah their goal is to earn money they they don't care about the livelihoods of the people the e to them it's purely business and yes the for the HDB is also purely business but then I have experience err err people that I know of


they like they cannot pay or they got financial issues or they got, err you know all sorts of problems that they come across ah they can actually ask the government for help and because they use HDB loan right it's kind of linked to the government right it becomes easier for the government to settle it through their departments than


talking to an outside bank right ya cause outside bank is a like like outside party already you know so ya, ya


bank loan


, ya so like a be uh err to be on the safe side I think people will not most mostly get HDB loan ah ya okay so number eight if you settle for a bank loan do you go for a fixed wait I cannot see


err if you settle for bank loan do you go for a fixed or floating rate interest package, no okay but okay but let's say if lah if you go lah eh then what is I don't even know what is


okay so eh so that means, so so everything is to keep yourself safe lah right because there's no security not much security lah we all want security what right ya okay so err


wait wait wait there is okay there is new one let me see ah okay, do you have a habit of saving how do you ensure you meet your saving goals, err what's one rate


err ya I I I feel like especially for the old the generation above me right they they are the one that has to they are the buffer between the, the old working class, uh and the the new generation


so I feel like they they are kind of the one that pays the price the most lah the baby boomer generation because I feel that, ah okay so their when their parents were working right they don't they could not earn enough so people in their generation have to stop school early ah for to feed their family take care take care of their parents ah


but then when it comes to their children the price everything is all shot up suddenly that err if they if that they have to now work, and not have a retirement plan to make sure that their children in my generation


have can afford err to even have basic things you know cause now education has gone up uh okay don't say don't count primary school secondary school lah poly already the fees are high universities also the fees are high err then


houses are all jumping like crazy so I think the generation above me have other buffers lah and the they are just I feel sad for them lah cause they have to work for their parents to support their parents last time but now they also have to work to support their children


I know a lot of taxi drivers ah they got like whenever I have conversations with them, they always tell me this kind of thing lah where you know uh I have they will they're sixty or they're fifty forty fifty sixty years old saying that I still have to become taxi driver because you know my kids are both


husband and wife working but the grandchildren needs you know add additional staff, ya so I feel like I feel that's kind of sad lah for that, generation okay so err err, how do you ensure you meet your saving goals uh what's one financial advice you will give to the you five years ago k do you have any advice for you


no no, so like stinge a lot lah for me


for for me is one is ya same lah prioritizing what is important to you, and then what is not important whatever you need to give up you need to give up ah you sacrifice lah but also what advice I would give the five years ago me I would I would say I would rather gives the


I would rathers plan for the five years ahead you know so I don't because five years ago I was like a young person I don't really care about these kind of thing but then , I would say I would tell the future me lah to in to invest in properties because that's the only way that the rich get richer lah okay


so how do you manage your financial commitments before and after marriage, this one is for you lah cause I'm not married,


no no no the no that's not the question the question is like okay before you married how you manage your money then after you married than how you make


kay then after marriage is cause you got children then got a lot of uh ,


and there's unforeseen ek and there's unforeseen expenses when children get sick you know they you don't know when your children, well will or will not get sick also what kind of sickness also what right then your old age also you don't know what kind of sickness yes or no uh healthy not healthy that kind of thing and so the only thing is to keep healthy for the family to stinge lah but then also you need to spend lah to eat healthy what right


okay so in post in a post COVID world what changes are you making in terms of your spending or saving habits okay so in the, post COVID world I feel that, err again


unnecessary spending is you need to keep your money for rainy days because you see ah no matter how much okay yes the government do help but how much can a person rely on the government also it's also kind of unfair for the government right


to to give people money that's why it's good that the financial err, like to stop people from taking a lot of money from the government also ah it's kind kind of stringent right err I think is ya finish already right ya okay so we just press stopped is it


okay, part three negative experience okay err describe a time when you feel nobody cared about you, uh oh


okay for me is when I was bullied for being dark skin , uh err okay I it was if although it was very I was very young lah , I studied chinese cause my mum is chinese


err and like we only speak a bit of punjabi err like it like the indian language languages at home or at home lah we don't like go out to speak it but then because I have indian blood and I don't really fit in with the chinese people


err I got bullied for it ah and then it was I mean I was it was during a time where I was like twelve thirteen kind and then you know you don't really want to tell your parents about this kind of thing so obviously they cannot help lah


err and then so I at that point right I feel like err !wow! like I don't have any like friends that really care about me so ya ya that's the time lah okay talk about the most heartbreaking moments in your life


uh okay most heartbreaking moment err uh, okay there was uh there was a time where my mum fell really ill, and then ya uh like


I thought I was going to lose her but then nah she pushed through lah and then, like thankfully lah but during the time where I didn't know and I was unsure than uh it was a very hard time to go through lah ya okay so describe a time when you hurt someone's feelings


oh so when I was bullied last time err because I couldn't fit in with with, uh people that I took my mother tongue with uh I stood up for myself finally and I said a lot of things that I took towards people that I at that point didn't like lah although I I did apologize but I think I really hurt them uh badly


cause ya a lot cause of what I said lah ya okay err wait ah, what are some what are some of the hurtful words someone said to you that you wish you forget


uh


okay so uh my one is ,


no actually I don't remember eh I I don't know is I forgot I forgot already so I don't I don't okay describe a time when you felt betrayed, err I would say that uh


you know where when you are young right and then like you get picked on by some of your friends lah err like uh some of some of your classmates then like, like your friends didn't stick up for you lah so I feel betrayed during that time I mean it was small lah cause other times I don't feel like I was betrayed but I that's the only time I felt like I was betrayed I guess ya


what is the saddest moment in your life


ya same same there's there's I don't have any yah okay what is a popular trend that you dislike err mini skirt and crop top , ya cause you know like you can bend over then people can see your underwear then like ya lah but celebrities promoting it lah so ya it's a be it's a very hyper sexualized world that we live in lah so no choice you know


ya yours


err okay mine is like when people didn't understand me lah then err I wanted to like give up but then I I I put through end the end lah okay what's the worst thing you've witness and kept quiet about


okay for me is err when I was working as a bartender like in the past ah err I realised a lot of people stealing money from the like the register the but err I was also not allowed


to err whistle blow because err it wasn't just the staff, that was doing it it was like the managers as well so there's no way like you can go against them you know cause they got err power like they got authority over you


and also ya when they still like bottles like new bottles for themselves lah ya so that's what I wait ah where where are we uh ya that's the thing that I witness and kept quiet about


k what problems or issues keep you, wake at night mine is being young and not having financial stability yet you know err not err being at this err age where like


I'm very unsure of making the wrong steps because making the wrong step because, it I think now is the crucial time where like it will determine my the rest of my future and err you know you cannot just change career mid thirties it err like err mid forties cause then you have responsibilities


like maybe familial responsibilities also so it kind of affects your family so to me is err ya that's the issues that are keeping me awake at night you


err okay what is one thing that you will never joke about err animal cruelty ya animal cruelty is one thing I'll never joke about like you know some people like they they find it thrilling


to like I don't know mutilate animals or, abandon them ya to me like err that that is not a joke lah because you know although we yes in for now like our life is placed above them like they cannot help themselves so I find it important that like humans do their part in helping animals as well ya


, okay so err what's the worst nightmare that you hope will never happen in real life for me is the same thing as what keeps me awake at night lah err I do not want to have


financial instability err and, I do not want to not achieved my goal you know I want to be able to achieve my goal and err attain surplus err err property surplus incomes err surplus assets ya


so what's your worst nightmare that you hope will never happen, like a war okay k


what is one thing you did in your pass that you wish you could undo, err to me is err, obviously maturity comes with age but then I really wish I didn't


err react immaturely to to certain people lah like you know err blow up in anger err or like , at the at at the moment you know lah just to them or like just uh out of angers like scold them or shout at them ya so to me is


like err ya I wish I can undo things that I shouted I shouted at people for ya


you don't wish to report to your boss earlier about the guy, ya but you wish you can undo it that means you wish that,


okay err describe the moment when you felt that you were treated unfair you cannot talk about race ah


ya so , , err !wah! this one very hard leh


oh


okay so err I I never, I've I've as in okay so, seats on the MRT lah err there was once I was having very very high fever and I was my on on my way back from work lah cause I was released early then like err even though it was early is actually late lah because I'm I'm a bartender so


err it was like say evening time lah during peak hour so when I entered the MRT, err I sat the middle seat the one that is not reserve lah so I sat down there but I was I was having fever so I've I close my eyes and I fell asleep with my jacket over my head lah err