ya to me that understanding is just something a gesture , to give somebody leeway so everyone is happy so of course uh I'm I was happy to have this compliment so what was the happiest moment in your life


, uh


happiest moment is always uh at that moment is the happiest but of course we hope that there are more happiest moment to come uh the the moment will be, moment that nobody come and scold you nobody come and disturb you you can do the favourite things just like one of my friends what she like to do is sit in front of the TV uh open up a packet of chips and have a can of coke


in front of the TV so that is the happiest moment don't have to do housework


ya especially you you are staying in a very cosy house no one come and disturb you yes


, yes, uh, I think I would like to say share about south africa


cause I'll yes I stay in south africa travel there for, about three weeks uh that is uh one of the longest stay as well as uh my first uh long haul travel


and to africa before I travel I thought that all the blacks but south africa how many hours fifteen hours is ya yes yes that's right it's not it's not that long it's fifteen hours, it's interesting uh south africa have uh white there also have black so most beautiful is the scenery


we can hear about the safari before uh I travel to south africa I do not like animal but in south africa itself when you go to the safari all the animals really comes alive, they they are so real they are so real it's unlike those animal


ah, it's not a zoo it's it's open it's open it's not like singapore safari zoo is uh open yes and we were on the uh vehicles, that we can really pass by the animals the tiger and lion can anytime walk next to you


so it's , uh we have ranger we have ranger with rifle with them so we have tracker as well so the tracker can really tell you, from the footstep when the animals was there they can say that the animal was here yes he says can be was here this morning or was here just now ya yes


yes that's right so even I can see the eyelashes of the giraffe, ya is long and curly so I we were hunting for in ah in south africa africa they called it big five


big five we have yes giraffe okay buffalo uh hippopotamus uh lion okay and uh we were hunting for yes we have one more cheetah, hunting for cheetah we couldn't find cheetah but we managed to find all the other four


so in fact it's very uh blessed to us is that in singapore zoo for for instance I want to see a giraffe I will look at the map and say okay let me go to the giraffe ah encounter to see you know ah too look for the giraffe but over there you cannot say ah to tell the ranger I want to see giraffe


he can he cannot tell you where is the giraffe you just have to travel, and to hunt for it so is on that day they are able to find all the five of them you are consider very bless so if I unable to find uh too sorry next time you just have to travel there again


uh south africa is all depends some some of them dare to travel alone but to my sister she told me she was there for two years she says that can be quite dangerous, because uh they are allowed to have gun like uh US so anytime ya that's right so anytime they can just pull out


pull it out and then they want to rob you or get anything uh from you so it can be dangerous ya so but of course it's not being racist it's good to stay in in the city instead of the suburb so beside the safari the other side we


called the in south africa they call uh garden road garden road is just the other parts of the of uh of south africa which is also very very beautiful you'll see many uh waterfall, and then you we can travel to the cape cape of good hope cape of good hope is a tip ya it's a tip and the the the wind there is so strong


yes it you can literally see a lady you know, ah it's bigger than my size she was being blow off by the by the wind so you can imagine how heavy how strong the the wind was ya, so it's a it's a very beautiful place


and another thing I like there is that we went for game meat ya game meat that's mean you eat uh elephant meat lion meat so ostrich meat so ostrich is very common in singapore but is that lion meat and then elephant meat and all the deer meat


yes they cook it and then they barbecue it and ah it's it's just like singapore, uh carnival have you been to carnival, there were there was they will uh barbecue the meat and put in the skewers and they will uh come around your table and tell you what meat is that and they will offer to you


but in singapore uh carnival they only offer you beef or pork or things like that, animals but uh, they have certain license that maybe, these animals uh is uh is of old age you know so we are able to uh use them as food


so many many eye eye opening experience for me when I was there and even the uh the black african themselves their, handicraft is so good so I bought yes yes I bought many so they're ya I bought many they can carve giraffe from the uh trunk


yes from the wood it's it's very beautiful I still I still have many of them at home I so sorry because I like this place so I I'm I'm sharing so much of my travel experience say ya so how about you


ya I've been to israel too like what you say yes like what you say the custom is very strict but that is the, only country that we are allowed not to choose to stamp or not to stamp on our passport


, ya ah yes I have I have a yes I, I have a piece of paper so I ask them to stamp on my piece of paper instead of my passport, yes so like for food wise you says uh I I don't really fancy their food so uh to me KFC is !wow! home


home cook food so after, after ten days then we see one uh KFC so maybe that was the the time that uh I went maybe right now they have more fast food restaurant we've we visited one of our friend's relatives uh they are from singapore as well they stay in #tel aviv# uh when we reached there they uh cook


uh laksa for us and my sister says that !huh! we just came from singapore why do you cook Laksa you should cook the local food for us but the aunty says that, you better eat the food now if you don't eat you may miss singapore food you may not like the food there


so true enough true enough once you have left her house uh we really miss singapore food, ya yes, my comfort food uh when I was there that's was KFC , back in singapore porridge porridge is my comfort


yes comfort food I love cantonese uh porridge yes with lots of peppers ya how about you


like, uh


feeling down yes watch drama korean drama , ya that's right you see I can smile so heartily okay watch drama so it, can really forget about uh all the things that sadden my days or you can feel very relax


, ah K drama K drama yes that's right uh, have been watching uh, not favourite actor only actors that I know how to name them #xuan bin# and then #lee min ho# that's all ah I only know how to name them


but uh the that I I can't remember their name is is so difficult to name but I can remember the them by sight , ya , yes


especially your lingo right


I have no time for a local drama now because I've been hooked to the uh korean drama so one after another so I will wait till I finish all the Netflix uh program ya yes


yes uh we go for a walk uh especially now uh when we uh have our phase phase phase, phase phase two ya circuit breaker the only place you can go is go for a walk can go to a park


I at there no shopping center but now shopping center is open but we still go for a walk correct reservoir especially when from uh macritchie reservoir you can actually walk all the way to uh #bukit timah#, yes from


yes uh walk for you can walk for two hours so from #bukit timah# you you start from #bukit timah# you can walk to dairy farm especially when, when you are in the, in the wood ya you can find that it's not that hot


yes usually I'll complain to my sister place we uh don't want to go for a walk very humid singapore very hot, but she always assure me that never mind once you go in you are in the shade and then the temperature will will be uh down for at least one to two degrees so it's true enough so just avoid the the sun walk in the shade you will enjoy the walk


especially we tell ourselves that we have been in the air con room throughout the day uh at least uh once a day you just have to uh sweat it out


so they talk , yes , animals , insect mosquito


we like to stop by, to listen to the birds, and my sister can tell me what bird is calling what bird is that what's on the tree yes, especially when we go to uh #sungei buloh# you can see uh lots of birds when you go uh behind the bird watch you can just uh watch them as the way they fly is very beautiful


, , don't like birds but is that uh you just watch and you just see them ah ya I like I like yellow bird sometimes at our workplace you see birds fly past you can see eh yellow bird


there was once uh at my void deck I saw six of them it's amazing if you see one or two, it made my day yes it's normal that's right but that day I saw six of them I believe it's a family I so happy yes


okay


financial related topic, okay, okay, so , regarding saving account yes I started having a saving account since I was very young


uh we started off with the POSB stamps uh collected stamps and then uh after that is being bank into our account


ya that that is how we first started, ya, yup me uh me still carrying on with the same account until today, still under POSB (uh huh), and then uh, yup I'll I'll subsequently did open other banks account as well


and uh so do you have a credit card


I see I I enjoy using a credit card because I can accumulate the points and there are some rewards as well, their, there are times whereby they give you very good rewards like giving you discount on certain purchase and also uh rebates and so on


so it's quite interesting to actually read up all the different banks uh offer for their credit card, and , yup, their debit card wise I also enjoy using but not as often like what you said


uh for myself okay one thing about credit card all this because right now all the bills go online you will have to be more, , uh what you call that diligent in checking make sure that uh, you don't I mean you make sure you pay your credit card in time that's about the only thing having to check all the time


payment charges yes correct, okay bank interest rates uh ya I will have to say saving account interest rates is not very attractive unless you move


the, money into another account sometimes they have that the , different banks has different uh names for it whereby they give you a higher interest rate but you have to uh of course keep a certain amount there and also use some of their facilities


like their credit cards and so on


I mean the thing is that you have to use their credit card as well as some of their loans and insurance also in order to have that, attractive interest rate


(mmhmm) right (uh huh) okay, (uh huh) okay


we don't have a joint account we have a separate account cause I find that it's easier to manage that way but of course there are some couples who likes to have, a joint account and then they manage it together I suppose is the the preference of the couple itself for myself no I have a separate account and I find that it's easier to manage that way there will not be so much confusion


help to manage ya okay okay do you have any loans because I don't beside mortgage loan I do not have other loans do you


I see I see for me I think besides mortgage loan uh I don't own any cars neither do I take up any other loans renovation loan or whatever so I don't really have much idea about how the loan work


(mmhmm) and then, (uh huh) (uh huh)


oh is it (uh huh) right, oh (uh huh)


(mmhmm) (mmhmm)


I see I see so you have any investments I mean do do you invest it into things like insurance and so on


I see okay


I I do have a medical hospital insurance, but is not tied to any of the bank products, is solely deducted from your account but, but is definitely not tied to any of the bank products, and uh as for fixed deposit wise


I do not have any fixed deposit, uh I only, yup, I don't have any fixed deposit


but it draws a higher interest rate right


ah ya because, (uh huh) right


okay what happen, !wow! that's so good


oh so they have a certain quota for that maybe is is meant for promotional purposes uh to draw people to into pump in their money for six months


(uh huh) , right track agree and then any of your kids have any uh accounts I mean uh bank account


(uh huh) okay, oh ya that's right (uh huh)


under, okay, yes yes (mmhmm) right


secondary school ah yes but I, yes yes correct yes


(mmhmm), paynow, right yes uh yes correct


correct correct (uh huh), yeah agree with that because my kids have their own account until they grown up then they started having other accounts from other banks whereby they use it for their salary and so on


and certain account they use it for savings as well as insurance like what you said, (mmhmm)


but I think is not a new it's not a old product is quite a new product I will use the, it's ya it's a new product


okay but do you invest in anything else beside all these I mean like stocks and shares uh blue chips unit trust whatever


oh you you you downloaded the app, did you download that oh okay (uh huh)


I see, (uh huh) ah okay, (uh huh) (uh huh)


(mmhmm) (mmhmm) right, ya ha, yes ya you you


you can use CPF to invest also right understand


products okay, oh I see, okay, who is very knowledgeable and and and full ya ya their their intro of products is very important because if you got the wrong agent you might just end up investing over investing or investing in a wrong products


no I don't really I think my only investment is actually my house, that that is my major investment it is not the stocks and shares kind of investment and, and also I invest in other things will be my children are very different form of investment


ya, so to me it is a it's different from the , products investments , yes yes that's right


ya because you need to be very very uh careful in monitoring you have to keep going to the market basically to to monitor a lot of things so I'm I'm not , I'm very lazy leh I'm not very hardworking so I would I don't think so I can


afford to do that beside that we're working ya there's really no time to do that, yes yes yes


ah that is also one good question because credit card have their annual fees charges, and then if you don't use it to that certain limit they will charge you that annual fee you cannot ask for waiver , and to have many card sometimes also it's difficult to monitor which card have you paid which card you have not settle or which card should use which card you should not use or which card has whatever rewards which card have whatever perks or you know rebate and so on


you have to keep monitoring all these details and , it's quite taxing sometimes so I prefer to maintain with just two cards and then uh it's easier to manage that way, uh my payment is up to date I don't I'm not late in payment and usually for my year end the annual fee paid uh charges I managed to wave it all because


I managed to reach their the target which they want me to spend and to me that that is a plus point lah that's a plus point I don't have to pay for the annual fee charges, and I don't give any supplementary card to my kids either cause it will be very very difficult to manage if imagine if I give them a supplementary card how about yourself


(mmhmm) (mmhmm) ya ha ya ya ya like NTUC right watson the POSB card yes I I enjoy using their rebates and it's quite useful sometimes uh can get ten twenty dollars out of it depending on your expenditure how much you've accumulated in the points and so on ya (mmhmm) yes but sometime credit card also has its danger my daughter actually had one card which was being used in france when she's in singapore so I don't know how they managed to phish up the information and they actually managed to phish up about uh euro three thousand dollars and uh thank god the the bank managed to trace it down and they're they actually wave all the charges she don't have to pay the euro three thousand because she's in singapore she didn't fly over to france so obviously you know she didn't spend it and the bank is willing to wave all the whole entire thing I mean it's very risky ah (mmhmm) (mmhmm) right !wow! okay (mmhmm) oh (mmhmm) that's that's good ah at least you know your card is safe


negative experience, describe it is there any time in your life whereby you feel


trapped or helpless like you know you really needed someone to be there for you, but somehow, you don't get the help you want and or even, the uh listening ears or or you know someone who you wish that can reach out to you


ya for myself yes there was incidents in my life whereby, I'm I felt so helpless I don't know what to do, I'm at the lost and I'll


notebook of mine, I have a tendency to write out, uh my, pan out all my feelings, my situation and, and then I'll pan out a lot of things inside my mind literally pan it out


I I'm not one who will actually cry over the thing, but I I'm a person who will actually pan out a lot of feelings because I'm felt trapped and and don't know what to do ah, and then who don't know who I can trust, whom I can talk to


therefore I find my notebook and my pen actually works wonder, I I don't have to feel uh, ah I can just let go ah without feeling, that I must hold back ya that that that is the thing about me and then ya (mmhmm)


, when, sometime you are too hurt and uh it's very difficult also to pan it out if you are person who does not like to pan out there are people who actually like to


cried it out run it out or even eat it up also have so it all depends on your way of letting it out and then especially when people say hurtful words to you you know you want to, you you wish you can forget about it but then you also must try you you have to find ways to to to let it


go so (ugh), I mean for myself lah ya ya I there are there are some, hurtful words which , people use on me I I I just find it very unfair to use those words on me


I I don't feel that I am but ah, especially is said by people who who are close to you I suppose if it said by a stranger you couldn't care less who cares you know I mean


those hurtful words, ah can be very hurting I mean uh like when I was young my mom, will always scold and say you are so stupid you are so stupid, these are the words which really can, can dig right into your heart and stay there ah so ya that this this is some of the things which is not easy to forget lah


(mmhmm) (uh huh) (mmhmm) (mmhmm)


right and, have to be sensitive lah ya I mean we have to be sensitive to to to at other people, (mmhmm) , uh, is there any incident in your life which you have seen which really you know trigger a very sadness in your heart


(uh huh) (mmhmm) (mmhmm)


oh okay you miss him ah


(uh huh) I see


definitely because you misses him so much, for for myself okay one of the saddest scene I I've ever experience was, when my friend died she left a daughter behind who was about ten years old at that time


and uh the the child's father actually disown her because he actually had another family outside so it was very sad her grandparents do not want her, they want the house which her mother owns and it's very sad because they don't want her


and then another of my good friend a very very good friend of mine, took the girl in and adopted the child because at the funeral itself it was so heart wrenching when we saw the little girl crying crying and crying in front of all us and telling everybody that nobody wants her so we felt so sad


that my girlfriend herself I mean my my good friend herself cannot take it she say I will adopt her I will bring her up, and it was so touching at the same time it was also very sad to witness such things ya this this is one of the saddest thing I ever witness and then ya


(uh huh), oh (mmhmm)


(mmhmm) (mmhmm) (mmhmm)


I see


some , (uh huh) (uh huh) I see


right (mmhmm)


do you wish that you could actually change I mean like you know didn't fly to somewhere and then how you wish that you know you will stay put in singapore at that point of time when she pass on, of course (uh huh)


because it I mean it's something whereby I mean it's not possible lah it will it will never happen but you know is that kind of deep feeling whereby you you feel you felt bad you felt guilty that you know I should have stayed by I should not have flew I should have stay by your side that kind of feeling


oh I see okay, now I see now that your parents not with you would you more relaxed or do you have when or should I say when you're stressed that time your parents are not with you


do you feel you know, very sad in a sense like there's no one to talk to when you reach home


(uh huh), ya it's very expensive, ya you have to make yourself available right


(mmhmm)


ya I mean is to protect the uh uh to protect their health lah I mean don't want anything to happen to them I I suppose now


ya correct ya true, true true okay and, it so right now that your parents are not around actually you have more you you should not have so much things holding you back from your goal in life right I mean you should be able to you know have more time in your hand to reach out from your goal


which is I think is a is a positive thing in that sense ah but of course they're not around to see your, your achievement your achievement yes


yes yes, sometime you wish that they are around yes correct correct, that's right share with them (mmhmm)


, but eh I mean I'm sure they will see you from somewhere so it's a good thing


for wise ya yes that's right that's right for myself, I, I had my kids and so on so I wasn't able to have some big dreams because, ultimately I have to prioritise my family before whatever goal or dreams in my life


sad in a sense but now that they've grown up , I I wish that I'm able, to to uh reach out for my goal ah I I hope there's enough time I don't know


because my priority is always them I felt that I have to put them first before my career so as I do not want to have any regrets in life cause I've heard of too many incidents whereby people have a lot of regrets in their life


when they put their priority wrongly and that there is something very sad, well I will say like all kids they're not angels, so they have their plus point they have their negative points


but I will generally they are very well behave they are very well behave ya I'm wishing that they can reach their goal in their life as well


they are it


oh dear yes all parents dream yes all parents dream, yes yes uh yes yes we pin a lot of hope on them yes I mean you put all your hope and all your feelings and all your resources in fact tuition and everything hoping that you know to get something out from them but then if they didn't make it's very very sad


and it it you feel it lah because you you pin all your hope on it already, that that that is something which parents goes through ya


, it take quite a while, yes and it's especially worse when you have friends around you or relative around you start calling you up comparing results and asking how did your child do ah !aiyo! how come this kind of result oh which school did your child end up in


oh this school ah why what happened oh I thought you, give your child a lot tuition you send to hit this place and that place for tuition why what happened why this kind of result come out and then you feel so bad but at the same time you want to switch it off you you you just don't want to listen to all these people


telling you all this very negative things because you you just felt it's very unhealthy lah I mean you kept comparing comparing there will be no ending but at the same time is, very irritating I I mean I had a I I


ya I mean I hate it I mean some of their kids did very well, then they start boasting around then your kids didn't reach that that standard !wow! I I think it's the worst during PSLE results !wow! I mean a lot of parents starts putting very


high aggregate expectation so that you can go to this school and that school and then if your child didn't make it you know what I mean then when people start calling up !wow! that feeling, is really lousy is a very lousy feeling


but it's not everything yes is not everything


ya ya especially boys they mature at the at the later part of their life, so ya they usually don't do as well as the girls well of course there are exceptions maybe certain boys do very well so it all depends on children


ya its just a rat race


(ppl) ya true true true I agree with that because it is a different different scenario already by then


age, positive experience


okay , what's the nicest thing someone ever told you I think the nicest thing someone ever told me will be things like , I I'm hardworking


, , is quite thick skin to say that , , and for yourself dorothy I also supposed, uh the nicest thing someone ever say to you should be


both of my children very lame but I mean like all mothers having children in our life is one of the happiest thing, to see them grow up yup so I I


ya ya


ya ya, ya that, ya ya I think for myself also I also enjoy uh lazying around at home, to it's something very normal but


at the same time it's something very at peace to yourself whereby you know you don't feel any negativity you just feel very peaceful relax I think that is to me that is a happy moment ah, it's not stressful at all


yes yes correct correct correct I I I enjoy doing that and then, so dorothy you saying that you love to travel right, (uh huh) what's uh which is the, favourite place you ever been


fifteen hours to fly to south


okay so you actually went to the safari zoo


oh oh okay oh really okay (uh huh)


!wow! is it frightening (uh huh), oh (uh huh)


!wow! they can they can be that sharp uh, !wow! they are so marks so sharp in telling all these things


big five (uh huh) okay (uh huh)


ah that's interesting


okay (uh huh) I see, oh okay (uh huh) but is it safe in south africa


ah that is very dangerous ah


(mmhmm) I see


!wow! okay that's beautiful yes I heard about it yes yes yes heard about it


!wow! must be beautiful


do you mean they actually cook it and feed you ah !wow! it uh, (mmhmm)


but isn't isn't lion all those protected animals


I see


(uh huh) oh so you bought a lot of craft like, the wood right ya I've seen some before


no it's okay it's okay it's enjoyable to hear about your uh myself I, I just went to israel last year uh it was a very interesting time for me cause I always wanted to go uh me my husband and my daughter we flew there with my church uh friends


it was a eye opener and was the first time I mean I've been to a should I say a middle eastern place, the security there is extremely tight, I when we are there we actually bypass and can see places like syria lebanon all those places which we only hear about in the news we never get to see them so when I was there I actually bypass all these places and it was like


such a eye opening and , the place there yes there's a lot dry areas and so on but there are also very interesting places like the dead sea, uh we went there and, the you can actually float there you know and you take a lot of us take the mud


and then we started covering ourselves with the mud that apparently has got some very good properties for your skin and so on, but you can't stay there for too long about twenty minutes that's about how much your skin can can take it because after a while you begin to feel the your skin feeling very tight and so on ya at max about twenty minutes we have to come up from the water already


and then beside that we went to a lot of places whereby I mean is more on like a pilgrimage trip the path and jesus walk and the place where he was crucified and then also the place where he was buried and so on so was very very interesting uh we went to the


uh western wall and, and western wall inside comprises of other religions as well the muslim themselves, the red uh eh armenians and so on, so again there was so many gates to pass through and security were very very tied down there extremely tight I think more tight than the airport and I really enjoyed doing that because uh for once in my life I


get to feel what is it like I mean they check everything of yours from your pocket to your hand phone everything you will throw on the table imagine it's not even an airport, but just to enter one gate after another you actually got throw out all your things, and their security it they are holding all the rifles and so on and then at the mosque


even husband and wife are not allowed to hold hands and, and not allowed to hold hands when you take photos and all the woman has to, be covered up that includes our head we have I mean like the malay like that wearing a Tudung so we also have to cover up I mean it's done for respect of that place it's interesting it's really very interesting I get to eat the middle uh the middle eastern food


yup and, not your usual rice uh their rice look like the Basmati rice other than that a lot of salad a lot of different different kind of salad a lot of different kind of uh spice which they used and so on


uh for my husband he struggled a bit because he's you know he like to eat chinese food kind so it takes him a while to get used to the food over there and then uh beside that , I enjoy going to the sea of galilee


we actually uh sat on a boat in the sea of galilee it was beautiful and was very peaceful, something which I don't know how to describe but it's just so beautiful, the weather, there during december was winter, pretty cold we went to jerusalem it was very very cold


in the especially in the night because I actually expected to be warm but strangely enough, it was cold it was like running like seven eight degrees, but I think you should go and have a look since you have been to south africa go to israel and have a look I think it's interesting place


oh you have (uh huh) (uh huh)


did they give you a small little slip uh like an identity card, ah, (uh huh), (uh huh) okay


okay, (uh huh) (mmhmm), oh okay (uh huh) (uh huh) I see


okay, uh oh


okay what's your favourite food I mean what's your comfort food, ah, how about in singapore back in singapore like when porridge is your, oh okay (uh huh) right (uh huh)


me comfort food I actually I've sweet tooth I like chocolates I like cakes I like ice cream so, yup all these are my comfort food and especially on days when I'm down I'll bring up my chips and my coca cola as well it just makes me very happy when I'm eating all this sort of food


ya so uh uh, is there any, is there anyone I mean uh is there anything else you would you would do beside eating when you're feeling down


so that would that would lift up your spirit right


so you chase a lot of K pop is it K pop drama K drama sorry K drama (uh huh) so who okay any favorite actors, (uh huh)


okay (uh huh) I see, I see I I like to watch HK drama it makes me feel very


happy I chase a lot of HK drama yes ah yes yes since, young you know I've been watching a lot of hong kong movies hong kong drama chasing episodes after episodes, somehow uh I got addicted to it so until this day one of my favourite thing to do is still chasing shows beside that I also like to watch local dramas (uh huh) local drama is also one of my


favourite therefore everyday when I reach home my my TV is on I'll be switching on the TV watching from channel to channel and ya I I think our local drama has done pretty well also so I really enjoy watching


oh ya Netflix is another one yes Netflix is another one so beside uh working watching TV. anything else you do, you go for walks or something like that


phase two yes phase two now yes, (uh huh) (uh huh)


right I think it's very very very relaxing right


right ah okay


but I I I believe is very you give me a very peace peaceful feeling, uh relaxes your mind and of course exercises your body I I think it's a very good form of exercise and, and also a good form of relaxation ah


yes appreciate the nature appreciate the nature at the same time but do you get to see any animals when you are in all these parks


ya, ah because I've seen some of my friends taking photo of different different kind of animals every now and then flowers even uh ya one more they they have savagely seen a lot of different different kind of flowers plants and she has a tendency to take a lot of photos and send it to me and it's true some of them I've not seen them before


(mmhmm) it's quite interesting I never expect certain flowers will be growing in singapore, (uh huh), birds !wow!, okay (uh huh)


(uh huh) (uh huh) oh, !wow! I I didn't expect eh you to like birds


(uh huh), oh really okay (uh huh), that is so cute


(uh huh) !wah! okay (uh huh) it's normal, (mmhmm) okay okay


part one financial related topic


so how do I invest my money to accumulate wealth and planning for retirement I think for investment there are quite a couple of strategies people can be quite conservative investors or pretty high risk investors


for conservative investing individuals like to invest in mutual funds index funds properties that pay them rent over time and I guess risky investments would be more risky stocks or


I guess more risky property investments that may or may not sell or may or not get uh rental, ya so how I would invest my money in the future I would definitely be keeping an eye out for index funds that allow me to invest my money in a basket of stocks


highly rate stocks from pretty highly rated companies and companies that have a good cash flow good profit margin uh good, funds and and revenue every year so this would be like S&P five hundred and even locally we have pretty good companies to invest in you can invest in DBS singapore airlines capital group


ya I think definitely investing in property would be quite a huge capital fund so I'm not sure if if I will be doing it that soon in the future but ya index funds for sure, what do you think


ya ya yup


ya I think many of us grew up with the idea that the best way to be wealthy is just to save your money, and I guess it's a very I mean it's a pretty asian thing as well to just save your money cause you want to be able to see your money, but it doesn't really grow in any way uh keeping all your money in the bank account but at the same time I do get what the elders mean in terms of you know you may mess up if you invest in the wrong property or if you invest in the wrong stocks


ya ya exactly, ya ya ya ya ya ya


yup, ya ya ya ya ya ya exactly


actually another point is probably needing to diversify your investments and not have, have all your money in in the bank as well cause I know people say, like the books I read they always mentioned that you should have a safety fund for like six to six months to a year so if something were to happen you have the savings for six months to a year that you need to just live and get by


and then you also should have some money in property have some money in some sort of stock uh and I and I guess there are bonds government bonds those kind of things, ya


ya ya ya and the other thing about investment is also it makes money as you sleep because if you keep uh if we keep thinking that moneys gonna like the only time we earn money is when we, give when you work actively then there's only so much that we could earn because there's only so much your income can can go to the rest should come for us you as you sleep really


ya, especially given the high cost of living, ya and people have kids a lot later


so your kids do need ya very few kids and much later, and there's that brings us to like the second one as well about how do you pay for big ticket expenditure is which I guess having extra money that comes in from different streams like investments would also enable you to have a little bit more of a disposable income


for for big ticket stuff, ya, , ya for housing ya ya ya


ya ya ya ya ya, ya cause I think if you have a loan from CPF


it does not earn any interest, as you are repaying the loan, from your ordinary account, ya , and I guess in similarly the post COVID world thing I think a lot of people who depended on on investments


during COVID probably, were more comfortable if they did unfortunately lose their job or have pay cuts but , ya but at the same time I mean the stock market crash wouldn't didn't bode well for people who are hoping to sell or somewhere around here


yah because it did mean that they have to hold onto their stocks for many many more years before it finally comes out, ya I think that's what it means I that I sorry you were saying


or if you had a lot of money right now now is the right time to buy stocks


ya exactly, ya everyone no one really wants to hold on to like airline stocks, I guess even any any sort of travel related stocks ya


I think that's what they said when COVID started warren buffet, sold all his stocks in the airline industry that's why nobody wants to buy airline stocks


I guess post COVID world people will just, save more but I think as asians we're already pretty frugal in terms of saving we grew up with the, save save save don't spend unnecessarily mindset


oh what am I making, I think I wasn't I wasn't I wasn't under I was trying to understand about investments actually because I had a lot more time since I'm at home


so I was trying to understand about financial literacy what on earth it means to buy stocks, initially I thought when the stock market crashes it means you have to pay money that's what I thought that's why I just, why I thought people don't like buying stocks, but I realized that it just meant that you have to hold on to the stocks for a lot more


I am ya and I'm, saving more in whatever little way I can save


yes, yup yup


oh


, yup that's true ya ya ya ya


actually I did not have the same experience because I was working in the I'm still working in the corporate sector so my job stayed the same they just gave me a laptop and asked me to work from home, I mean I work more because some of my colleagues have been furloughed because of the hit and uh it's it's it it's definitely quite sad seeing my colleagues being badly affected not just my


sector so that's why I became a little bit more interested about


finance and needed to educate myself badly in the COVID world uh when I started earning money, I remember feeling so happy about, no I remember feeling that I didn't earn as much as I had worked, because


I was working full time and yet I was I was paid, I guess higher than most people, most of my friends but still not as high as I thought I should be paid given that I'm waking up at five am and I come home at eight pm


and I've been out the whole day and work just keeps coming in so that that taught me how to that actually made me want to save more and not spend at all because I was like no this is hard earned money I need to save it for special moment


ya but COVID also taught us that online jobs are possible


I think a lot of my my friends recently got some online remote internship not a job but it's a remote internship, ya, so think that's what the post COVID world can maybe well not I mean I'm probably I'm definitely going to be trying to find more


uh, remote jobs, ya you don't travel, at home


ya and you don't go out to meet your friends because it's not allowed you don't go to the movie theater you don't go to the gym so you know you don't pay for the gym, ya


there's I spend a lot less on on transport I think like spending like five bucks a day for transport, so that adds up really really fast


another new thing I picked up which is which probably answers one of the questions do you think you should own a credit card I always thought credit cards were bad like if you have a credit card you're definitely going to build up debt and it's going to be so bad for you


but I learnt that owning a credit card can be good if you pay it off on time because it can help you build a credit score that you would need if you need to take, loans for big ticket expenditure is because I guess most people do take ya some


ya so apparently you should get a credit card but you should pay it off as soon as possible so if you got if you go into the store today and bought groceries with a credit card, try to pay it off the next day or something, so that you, ya you have to you have to pay it off immediately but this is just a strategic move to purposely build a credit score if you know that you're gonna be taking a loan sometime in the future


no I think when you go to the bank they they want a bunch of documents and credit scores are one of them so if you are you know if they see that oh do you know this person pays off their credit card all the time then they they may think you are financially responsible and are more likely to be able to you know pay off the loan


it's more of like a moral thing I guess more than a financial like this person has the means to pay it off it's more of this person has the responsible mindset to pay it off because look at them they they pay it off the next day


oh


ya ya ya and I think when your bill comes you get a minimum amount you need to pay and your actual amount and you should never pay the minimum amount because it's a trap ya if ya that would just earn interest and you actually end off paying a lot more


so always pay what you spent never pay the minimum amount, ya, and I know there are things like travel travel travel credit cards that will ya like what you said give you travel points and then I I guess credit cards do have perks like you get lounge access for some credit cards if you travel a lot


or you know discount for movie theaters or cash, back but you also pay their principal sum every every year, so need to know if, it balances out or if you're actually losing more money


oh how do you spend your money


ya ya when you log into your app now they will tell you !hey! you have been spending more than your usual usual yeah I've spend a lot on like a new computer a new iPad I am going to uni overseas


so I just bought my travel ticket I've to like withdraw money to exchange into, the overseas currency, ya but I've actually kept my spending to the big ticket expenditures not I've not been spending on small small things


just trying to like be frugal on this small things, ya ya , yes exactly, I'm like no must save must must save for my new iPad


I never spend on food I don't like spending on food, I don't like going to the I don't like going, the starbucks and paying ten bucks for coffee that's just outrageous


part three negative experiences, this is intense if you're going to die tomorrow what are your last words to your loved ones


uh ya I love you thank you for everything you've done, ya thank my parents for, also just, you know taking care of me every time I'm going through a tough time and whenever I've been such an annoying person to them like my teenage years actually everybody's teenage years your parents are


suddenly you go from loving your parents and idealizing them and and them being the centre of your universe and them knowing the answer to every single question in life to I hate you you don't know what are you talking about you don't know what I'm going through you just you just


stop okay like just stop talking to me and my friends are the only people who know me and understand me and love me for who I truly am, ya so I apologize for those ten years, we're just


ya, ya


yup, I, I think the there was this realisation similar to your parents are human is that your parents


this is their first time parenting you


mistakes but they have no idea who you are and what you're going to be and they're just like okay what did I do and I think it's crazy how they they manage to stay so put together in front of us, but I guess inside they're like okay so what do we do like if I were to parent I just constantly be okay so what I do should I Google this do I like text my friend


should I pick up a book about it my parents always say that there's no books to parenting and like they just laugh at anyone who ever says oh I read this book on how to parent my kid my parents are like ya if you know there was a book to parent your kids wouldn't everybody be amazed and and so happy


ya definitely talk to my parents and grandparents also ya I just realised I think grandparents had it so much harder than, than you did just, my grandfather ya my grandfather passed away two years like just when JC started


so that was definitely a a tough, time, I I wasn't it's not that I was incredibly close to him because I met him once in three four years and I didn't talk to him that much but every time I did meet him or if I did talk to him he he


was always so supportive about anything I wanted to do and always ready to give me the best that I needed at any point or be I remember ah I was crying terribly in sec four because I was so scared of exams and didn't want to do well and like didn't want to fail and stuff


and my parents were so done with me because I kept crying and they just gave up they're like I don't I really don't know what to do with you anymore so then in frustration I called decided to call my grandfather and cry, cried to him and I guess that was a bad idea because he got so worried


so then should I keep and ever since then he called me every day for a few months I think, he was just like are you okay ya because I think he never heard me cry or he never heard me, mentally breakdown as much as my parents had, so then my parents actually did get really mad at me because they were like why did you involve him in this he's so far away now he's so worried about you it's like why are why are you crying so much


ya, ya it was and then he he actually celebrated his fiftieth anniversary and then it was a huge grand celebration and then I came back to singapore with my family and then two weeks later he got sick and then he he passed away so we had to fly back


, we have just flown like a month ago, for like a huge celebration and then we flew back a month later for for one of the worst grief grief ridden moments of our lives, ya, it's also the first time I saw my dad cry because you never see a dad cry


, (mmhmm) (mmhmm)


oh my okay oh no


(mmhmm)


ya, ya, no but that's the everything I guess just experiencing setbacks in life like but not getting the course I wanted and the uni I wanted and just when life doesn't go according to


plan it, especially when you're young and it happens for the first time you you definitely think that everyone is against you and the entire world is against you and this is some special like I'm the most hated person in the universe, and the universe is trying to purposely find ways to make my life miserable on a daily basis why me why not anybody else and everybody else gets what they want but I'm the only one who worked this hard and blah blah blah a lot of why me goes on and and you don't realise just how common


these experiences are in an adult person's life and, I guess it's it's it's annoying and it's heartbreaking for your parents to say grow up deal with it but I think that's the only way to deal with like to grow up is is to deal with it and find a find your own way to move on and keep taking strides forward


like there just some things in life that I didn't realise you just have to suck it up and and move on and find a way to cope with it and it doesn't mean that you will never re-think it like it doesn't mean that I never think about my grandfather ever again I have his photos right there on the wall but it just means that you find a way to cope with the feelings that


you have of flaws and and failure, ya ah growing up is tough ya, this is crazy I think that's that's what makes our parents seem so invincible as well you just don't really know how they have you think their life is perfect and this is why they're always fine because nothing ever goes wrong with their lives right like they have lived and and this is this is just


ya but I think clearly they are there and they're invincible because they gone through some, stuff as well, and they've like gotten over it so now it's our turn to get over it


ya I think ya as you I read I read somewhere that you when when bad things happen to you shouldn't ask why me you should ask what is this teaching me and I keep try to tell myself that every time I feel bad so okay what is this teaching me am I going to become a better person am I going to let it get to me


yup, it's the only way you liberate it if not you just sit on your you just lie on your bed and cry all day which is what I did for many many weeks and months like I literally took two weeks off work to grieve, I ya I texted my my I emailed my boss and I was like K this happened and I need two weeks to grieve and she said cool go ahead but I it's just felt oh my gosh getting rejected is so tough I need to take two weeks


unpaid leave and and not get paid for half a month just so I can lie on my bed and cry the whole day, in reference now it's crazy l like lost out on two weeks of pay just so I could sit home and cry, what I'm still working uh my end date is thirty first august


ya cause they keep extending my I think I guess they like me so they keep extending it which is quite nice, I've to go back to office though on on monday to like return the laptop and everything, ya I have no idea how to get to the office anymore completely forgot what's the route where is it


ya I've just been like wrapping up things, negative stuff guess you just have to find the positive


, no I say, it's not dreams right I think you get more practical day to day you know when you're young you just like anything is possible like I'm going to be the first I don't know gardener singer astronaut princess and and the older you get you're more like okay so NASA is impossibly hard to get into cancel that


yah I think the older you get the more walls you build up and the more the more reasons you give yourself why you're not you're not good enough which is why your dreams die, I'm not sure if it's a good thing or bad thing


because every time you turn successful people talk they always say oh you know never give up never lose, sight of your dreams but yah, (uh huh) ya (uh huh)


yup yup I think that's a good point a fantasy or a dream, ya , I don't think I have I've had that many fantasies I think my my dream was always just about the career I wanted


pretty much I guess the fantasy components is like like the details of the career like oh I want to study in oxford that's a fantasy I mean it can be an ambition but for the most part getting in


it's a uni that only takes in ten international students for the course you want every year is a fantasy, ya, so I think my dreams aren't dying so much as they're just getting more realistic and I'm starting to realise that, like rankings aren't everything and numbers aren't everything and like the like image and just external stuff honestly doesn't matter isn't everything because people like live amazing lives without going to oxford or like without doing this or that ya


ya what dreams of yours, I don't know , what other dreams oh


I guess okay this doesn't die but, the idea of having kids seems increasingly unrealistic to me if you if I think about okay so how old am I gonna be and I gonna financially stable enough by then should I want to like


do I would I have enough money to pursue everything I want and still cater to the needs of raising kids like kids are so expensive, it's not a dream so much as it was an like it's always an expectation of people to have kids right like get married and have kids but having kids just seems increasingly realistic day by day unrealistic day by day like


how on earth would that ever be possible, , what keeps you awake at night oh no no no sorry what what dreams of yours die a little everyday


ya yup yup , (mmhmm)


yup ya ya ya


ya I haven't actually harboured that many dreams in the past it's just that it's just the one that I'm think I'm just going to keep keep working towards, ya so what keeps you awake at night


ya, thinking too much overthinking, do you overthink I overthink a lot, okay


ya ya, yes, ya ya ya ah


ah I just overthink every bad thing that could happen to me like how, , every single way or something could go wrong, that's what keeps me awake at night but I and I recently realised that it's called like overthinking is a legit thing


and it's a it's a legit, problem that causes negativity and just just just general you know bad stuff in people's lives and I read a quote recently that's like you know if you spend as much time thinking about every little way or something could go right as much as you do about the way things could go wrong


you would be so much of a happier person, so that's what I'm trying to do now you know just every tiny way things could go wrong okay what if I don't get that what if I don't do well in this what if I if that doesn't happen if I fail at this what am I gonna do what if you just


think about ways that things could go right, ya ya, I don't know I don't know I don't know about you but in twenty twenty just negative experiences makes make me realise that you just all the more have to force yourself to focus on the positive


positive right it's it's really tough to expect that nothing negative is ever gonna happen to you


that's nice I've been the most unhappy in the last


basically ever since I entered junior college I felt it was just like a downward spiral of, everything going wrong, I didn't even like I didn't get C like the CCA that I really really wanted, so then I had to appeal and then I when I appealed I interviewed uh I was interviewed by the teacher in charge


and then I got in and then I think everybody didn't like the fact that I appealed and got in so then everybody kind of didn't talk to me because they were like oh my gosh she appealed and got in why did she get in why didn't X X get in even though X X appealed or, why didn't X X get in at all ya so just that and like A levels was a terrible time everybody reminds you that it's going to be bad and it was every bit as bad as people who told you it was


yup but it does force you to grow and and, brace and I like what you said earlier about you don't have to prove yourself first to anyone you are, ya you are worth it because you are I never ever felt that I just felt that I was only worth it because I


had a certain grade or a certain achievement and I was worthless if I didn't have any and I'll lose all my friends because nobody wants to talk to me if I don't get that grade or I don't have that position, or don't have that ability, ya


(ppl) I would I am going to write down on my wallet later on (ppl)


part two positive experiences


I actually I want to start with the first one describe a time when you were helped by someone in your time of need because this time it was actually you and your mom who helped me I remember we were


how old were we probably secondary one or two when I when it was our friend's birthday in CCA and I was running to the cafe to pick up a like a muffin and then I dislocated my, knee and I fell to the floor and then the entire CCA was like oh my gosh she dislocated her knee and then it


popped back right in but then I couldn't walk and I couldn't go home so then you you called your mom and your mom came down after CCA to like bring me back home and she helped me with the dressing and the, ice and she told me what to do uh and I and I was so touched because


I felt that oh my gosh like I had someone who was willing to drive me home or was willing to care enough, to want to drive me home which is, something that I never really experienced in the past, so thank you for that


, , okay I think the best meal that you ever had is not really about the food but about the people you had it with


right like you don't really remember exactly what you had but you remember how you felt and and and and the effort you put into going there because you're so excited so I think when I've gone to birthday parties I don't get invited to a lot of birthday parties so I could


probably tell you every single one that I've been to in the last few years, well I just don't go out a lot so every time I go out it's a special occasion, ya I remember the one time I came to your house and you were and you had like a red velvet cupcake and you just piled on the frosting and I made fun of you for years I was like you just had cream with red velvet not red velvet with cream


, on food


(mmhmm), oh my gosh ya


are you a more savory person or a dessert person savour or sweet


I quite like buffets but everytime I go to buffets I just eat the desserts and I will have like I'll get a plate I pick one of each dessert and then I'll decide which one I like best so I can go back for seconds and thirds I probably always skip the starters and the and the mains because I'm like


that desserts amazing I'm getting three of those tarts, definitely just the fact that you're out with your friends or family or it's a nice time and you're not very stressed that's just the best part about the meals you remember it's not like oh my gosh that chocolate lava cake I had was the best in my life ya it was but you know I had friends and I had a good conversation and I went out after so long


ya after A levels yup yup, ya and A levels and that you just feel like okay now everything is possible if I if I went through that I can probably get through anything


I guess anything in COVID that was cancelled


ya, ya


on stage yup, ya, ya and I think when you're on stage because we were both in the same CCA for a few years when you're on stage you have this moment where everything just blank


and you just you just hear your voice and everything, is pretty cathartic like it's it's it's the most, close you get to the present moment as possible, I have you know when people ya people try to


meditate ya I know people do meditate and they do and they exercise and they are in that zone but I've only ever been in that zone when I have like been on stage or like I guess exams well not really sometimes in exam you're all over the place you have no idea what's going on but


think on the on stage for sure it's that it's that moment where you're just present and you hear yourself and your voice and you don't see anything else


ya ya ya ya


ya, and I love the moment that the moment behind the curtain when you're just waiting for your cue, to enter and you try to get into the character and you're in that zone and you try to interact with people backstage, with with your character and you try to be that sassy person or whatever it is that you need to be on


stage and then you go in ya ya ya ya ya especially the the, the the time before everyone starts coming in when you are done with the rehearsals, ya and just huddle together ya


ya I have not yet I know you were in a similar CCA for the last two years as well I will just, ya I was not in the same, I definitely miss that (mmhmm)


but I do I did I did quite enjoy I did quite enjoy family events because my family's quite far away from, from where I live my extended family lives in india so I guess anytime I get to go back it's three four years maybe


think once even five years we didn't go back so like those that that those fourteen to twenty one days are like something I look forward to for months, I just countdown oh I have to do this exam and then I'm done okay this one and I'm done okay this this school day and then I'm done and I get to go meet them


ya so it's not exactly a event or concert but but it is special event


oh do you want to wait should I go first or do you want to go first, okay uh, family I was never exactly very very family or


oriented I was kind of like always alone or like I just always stayed in my room basically but but I think during COVID we heard a lot about, people, people's loved ones passing away all alone in the ICU just just just being alone in general and there was just a lot of suffering in terms of


you know like losing your job or getting pay cuts or losing loved ones your loved ones being stuck in a different country faraway so all of the small problems in life kind of fades, and you're just left with the big okay life family


safe health kind of thing so ya, the most, thankful to be alive and to not be sick and to be home is and with my family ya


right


ya I'm not sure if it's the age, ya I remember when we were teenagers and just your parents are the worst people ever


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


ya ya ya ya I started watching a lot of shows with my mom like I never used to do that I was I always thought that the shows she watches are so lame I'm not sure if it's the fact that we're older, or just the fact that we were home so much but just the combination of everything it was it's it really was a really strange blessing in disguise circuit breaker and just being home and and all these things


ya I quite liked it actually ya, ya or just like choose your closest friends and you're only ever talking to them texting them face timing them


ya, who are the people you really really miss and you wanna you wanna be in touch with them and even when when phase two started and you could only be in like a group of five you're forced to decide okay so who are the five that I really really want to see or who is that one person I really want to see


ya, I've been ya oh gosh class reunion


I've been going to macritchie a lot, with with like one or two people that's just my, post COVID activity of choice, , ya I am leaving soon so we should probably go soon


yah I quite like macritchie I mean it's the walk's nice and then we usually either pack, uh lunch like I went with a friend and we bought stuffed from from from J eight, because I really like stuffed it's one of the item it's it's it's so filling


ya and then we just had stuffed and like the view of the reservoir, do you know what I just spent I spent one hour trying to figure out what the water body was I kept calling it a sea a river and I got home and I realised it was a reservoir because we went to macritchie reservoir


, I kept telling her that I want to eat by the sea and she was like I'm pretty sure that's not a sea and I said whatever let's just go by the water body, ya there were there were there were


ya there were monkeys I think uh one of the last the few times I went my the monkey took my friend's wallet, ya but then he it dropped it so it was okay ya so that was the thing the post COVID world definitely choosing who you want to go out with and finding


activities that can help you stay away from cafes and movie theatres and restaurants and all the basic places ya it's free ya and they're just overpriced as well


ya make your own coffee I used to spend so much money at cafes and starbucks to study outside during the A level period and then I uh realised that okay I was reading I was talking I was


I was following a financial literacy person he's like a self made millionaire and then he said, the one number one thing you need to stop doing to become a millionaire is to stop buying coffee from cafes and I know he's exaggerating but it really does add up


yup have you seen that yes yes I was going to say I think the economic times they they decided to calculate the prices of property in LA with avocado toast


ya ya ya


no but avocado toast are definitely overpriced, like you could just buy an avocado honestly even though avocados are pretty expensive they're not as expensive as avocado toast


okay so I didn't I have never, experienced huge failures in the past, like failures in the sense oh you get bad grade here and there but these are considered pretty small things that I think, you could get over in a few days, but lately I have definitely been experiencing more bigger setbacks about you know uni life course


where do you want to go what do you want to do with your life and and definitely not getting what you thought you wanted for many years, is, really pulls pulls the ground from beneath your feet you really feel like everything's going to crumble down nothing's ever gonna be right so I've been experiencing personal growth in that regard and I'm


moving overseas so I have to take care of myself do laundry and cook food and remember I can't cry because my mum's not in the next room anymore, and , , ya


crying is crying helps you let out your emotions but yeah not you can't I can't cry in front of like everybody else in the in the uni , definitely just as I realised now that you definitely going to experience some sort of setback in life so getting over that is is important and it makes you a stronger person and I guess everything happens for a reason so that's my moral of twenty twenty


what about you, ya or personal growth what do you love about yourself


ya you are


(mmhmm)


ah that's nice, no I've I've known you for ya I've known you for these six years and I can definitely say I've seen is probably two to three distinct and in in in the six years that I've known you


definitely your hair cut your hair just gotten shorter with every phase of your life, it's like every time you see Nia with a different haircut it's because she's going through something revolutionary


, okay, okay part one finance related topic


how do you invest your money to accumulate wealth and are planning for your retirement


okay, I think I think actually you gave you gave quite a quite quite a comprehensive quite a comprehensive uh coverage of that , yeah I I agree (ppc) there's a different there there you can you can choose to go to


more high risk ventures than to go into more low risk ventures to be honest because I lack I lack , very much knowledge in the financial sector, (ppc) and also much understanding of the financial sector so because of that I mean I probably choose to invest probably similarly to the way my parents do and I think my parents invest primarily in properties like in australia


and uh in singapore so no actually no it's mostly just australia, so I, I would probably choose to go for more low risk investment opportunities so things like like, property where you where you acquire rental over time, because those are more surefire ways rather than going into


like stocks and shares that that that go up and down a lot I know also that one requires you to monitor it like constantly and know when to like sell on or off but I mean I am hoping to become more financially uh literate and be able to invest


in high risk more high risk than just like high risk high risk, ventures without like , actually risking that much if you know what I mean so then like I don't wanna make unwise investments right but I also don't want to just sit on my money, which I feel like I would do if I did not


if I don't if I don't uh improve my financial literacy


but then again money in the bank just sits there and depreciates doesn't it with the in with the interest with with with with with the economy's like like uh uh what's that called inflation going up like ya basically you are just your money just sits, there and loses value and like right now I haven't got much savings so I guess it isn't that big of a deal I haven't started investing yet because because honestly I don't have that much to invest but eventually I feel like I should start soon


and like by soon I mean like even in university or like right out of university rather than wait till I'm like thirty five, or something and have accrued wealth that sits in the bank and dissipates


right ya ya it's just like not just invest in like you don't dump all your money in one company that could die


ya especially if you want to retire, I mean okay ya tapped, ya I mean like and I think that's especially if you ever wanna retire right like you you I don't I don't think in our day and age considering


how long we live you can really go for like twenty years after sixty five without like working at all if you are not making any passive income, ya ya, and the long life expectancy


and much fewer if at all ya ya


and also I know big ticket items you can leverage on things like CPF, right like CPF is what people use mostly to pay for housing you can even draw on it for, ya ya I mean I know I know that's how my parents paid for like housing paying off the house for a very long time lah


like that's what you use your CPF for essentially, although I'm not sure how how that bodes whether that bodes well for your, retirement ya ya right right yeah ya ya it's true ya ya I mean


uh no no I I I know what you mean like I actually I'm not sure how to weigh the post COVID world thing because eventually the world would get back to normal I don't think that that should be a lesson in you should never invest anywhere, ya, ya, I guess like stocks and shares of ups and downs you know what would be great now if you have like a shit ton of money right now or a lot of money right now as in you


you you you bought like a big ticket item right, now and then you invest in that like that would be great, ya because everything is down and, right now everyone is selling so the supply is pushed up right


right ya, airline stocks , damn ya ya it's true ya okay but


in this COVID world what changes are you making in terms of your spending, have


right, , so you learn more that's that's a good way to spend your circuit breaker


for me I I've actually, before COVID right or before COVID hit so bad we were we were in our uh a post A level gap year sort of thing and so I was working a full time job like I was working as a as a relief teacher in RI, , and like to be honest for the first three months of the year when I was pulling in lots of the monies right because I had a fulltime job essentially like I was spending like like like nothing man I was forever like okay


let's go out for lunch I just made eighty bucks today oh ya money is falling off trees like as in like I was suddenly like so happy with the fact that I could that I could spend money that I literally had any money of my own and that it was such a regular flow of income because I had I had an everyday job right


but then post COVID, like there were no more jobs, jobs like I I I was working also in a cafe, part time and then they they just they just stopped giving out like shifts to part timers because like part time part time because I mean like even the full time staff had had had less


had less uh, in in it didn't have very much income so like like I immediately from like march till now had to like switch my spending habits like no more expensive dinners and lunches out with friends for me because I didn't have like a stable job anymore and like so then and then I like for a while I didn't do like


I didn't do anything for like a month that was like oh my god I'm not spending that much money but nothing is coming in either so anyway if there was anything I learned from COVID from the COVID period is don't spend the money that you have on hand don't just get eighty dollars and then spend eighty dollars for dinner which is totally what I was doing for one


one month and then also uh, the other thing I did was I gotta I got a job again I got like a research internship job which is so terrible what they paid me they paid me peanuts and and it was, because okay it was in the tourism agent uh industry so it was very hardly hit it was very badly hit they could barely afford to pay me lah so but eh even though they paid me a a god awful salary I realised that that it was okay if like like this like I think that it's better to make small money


than make zero money because you will always spend a little bit you know what I mean, ya so those were some lessons from COVID, ya ya


ya I mean I guess the hard earned money was something I guess like COVID kind of drove home the fact that money doesn't grow on trees


ya my internship was entirely online, to be fair like post COVID job like the remote remote working right that you do have much fewer


expenses do you realise like like you bet you don't transport you just eat like whatever is at home, ya


just sit at home doing chloe Ting ya, ya, so I guess I also spend a lot less


ya especially if you're not earning very much which is how I actually managed to get get by on my pathetic stipend given by my given by my uh the internship company that I was in, ya it was like half the regular amount but like to be fair I didn't, spend anything yes


really I didn't know that thought you just shouldn't get a credit card


oh so you have to remember to pay it off, how do you take a loan for a credit card


my mom also says the benefits of getting a credit card are that they give you a lot of points so like she does this thing where whenever we travel she basically never pays for the ticket she pays it off with credit card, points ya, and like also but but she does say that you should never get a credit card until you're completely sure that you can pay it off each time like you should never un overdraw you know which is what young people tend to do


she's also she said till I start making like a legitimate salary and I can pay it off like please just stick with a, debit card ya I've heard that


that just gets on interest


financial literacy , ya, okay what about what topics have we not, covered, x, how which expenditure has justified what have you been spending too much money


okay, okay right now I'm spending a lot of money on setting up my like university life because I've just started university like this month so I've been like buying things for my dorm I've been buying like a refrigerator I just went to buy climbing shoes because I'm starting rock climbing


and you know all so expensive I've I got a notification from POSB tell me telling me I've been overspending, more than any other month


ya same I bought a iPad, ya ya ya


I stop I stop buying like like fun stuff like clothes and that kind of thing I buy like, mops that's my new fun thing to buy, ya so I think those expenditures are justified honestly the only thing I think I I do that is like not justified is I buy like overly expensive foods sometimes


that's true I do draw a line at that ya


part three negative experiences


oh man to answer negativity what's this, oh okay


ya it's so true, to be honest I I completely need to apologise to that shit too like I feel like if before I die I really need to have a good conversation with my parents you know like okay I


I read somewhere I've read somewhere that, that that like it's a good step in, in life to to to, that's the greatest sign of maturity is learning that your parents are human too ya and like I and and also like you know when they grow older like telling them what they did right and what they didn't do


right you know and that, that that sort of thing and like I think for the longest time I did not have an understanding that my parents are human too you know, like so I I expected a lot I think and also I put a lot of things I I, I I guess, I wanted to be seen in school you know that kind of thing I wanted to


find belonging there so I like I I just I just I, I sort of like distance myself I, was very resentful I was, very hateful for many many years you know and I, look back and I just I I, I I cringe honestly like because some of my concerns they were valid


valid you know like it's not to say that that I didn't experience anything that was bad that wasn't justified for all the resentment I had but then again at the same time, , you know I I would want to say that, like I understand, you know because parents don't always get it right


and, and and I mean it's sometimes it's not their fault because they don't they actually don't understand


so actually we are the first child


, that's so sweet


that's so sweet though


ya my grandparents fast furious a bit it was a bit it was a it was a shit time like honestly junior college was a terrible times I was very close to my grandparent, grandparents like on my mum's side especially because uh like I would go over many many like for like at least once a week I will be dropped there and and they would just take care of me for like a day or like even when I was in kindergarten I went there every single day you know so like they were very instrumental


in like raising me and that kind of thing so I was quite close to them especially my grandma, and , then they they passed away one after another so my grandfather died in uh, J one JC one uh june, and my grandma died in JC two august so right my maternal grandmother died like two months before A levels


ya so that was not fun like and I think that, that that year was was was a year I had to do a lot of growing up because my mum was was the primary caretaker for both of them , because she's the only doctor in the house right and, and also in general she is called upon to take care of of


family thing so so there was a lot of emphasis on Nia you need to keep it together like I know you are taking your A levels I know you're in you're in your you're in your first year and it's hard but you need, to not disturb us we are, we are busy with your grandparents and, to be honest that wasn't a great thing for my parents to do


and that was very hard on me to be honest because there was a lot of like you can't cry, there there is no time for you you know you know like like you need to keep your shit together you need to find your own way to cope with it you know, ya ya


ya I guess so


but whatever man you worked for like six months, you're still working right ya, ya it like keeps getting longer everytime I talk to you


so you're almost at the end oh my gosh !wow!, ya


okay let's see what have we not, covered, describe a moment when you felt that you were treated unfairly I guess you, that's a good one


this is so sad what dreams of yours die, a little each passing day that's


dreams ah I mean I, I guess you had a dream, I had a dream too but like I always was, fully fully called cognizant that like it was not a thing like I wanted to do theater like professionally but like, it was always fully cognizant that like this was not going to happen so it was kind of like uh well like a fantasy than a dream so that


not so much as died as like thinking about it practically I don't actually want it like


, ya for the most part ya ya


, I don't I I I I don't I don't keep dreams like that I as a as a rule like if


it's a goal it's a goal I'll walk towards it I don't think about it, I I ya I I, as a rule don't do things like I wanna join the theater I wanna oh no it's dying, like the way I see it like that's a fantasy because I, don't actually want it I want the I want to do it as a hobby but


do I want the financial instability do I want having to audition for every single thing I want to ever enter do I want it to be completely okay for people to judge like oh she's too tall she's too indian therefore not appropriate for this role like no so I mean practically I don't actually want to do


theater you know it's just ya so I don't I don't actually have dreams that slowly die, just the one ya


what keeps me awake at night insomnia, ya


I do this thing where I go into angry spiral I'm like I'm angry I'm upset, I'm upset with my parents and everyone's upset with me like, like how could this happen to me it's not fair nobody understands me oh my god, and I just sit there and I fume


I hate this person I'm gonna I'm going to and then after that I like I like play out entire conversations in my head where I go where I confront the person that I'm upset, with, so ya if anything keeps me awake at night it's probably that


I don't know to be honest I think until maybe this year I, I wasn't very happy I would, do many uh mental health crisis PM , that I was not satisfied at all especially through in junior college like those with terror


terrible terrible years I've been quite happy this year ya ya worth it because you are ya I


one hundred percent would get that tattoo you're worth it because you are I'll write it on my wall ya good


part two positive experiences


yes go ahead, oh


, you're welcome you can thank my mom my mom is lovely


oh my, I I I really can't think of anything right now describe a, time, okay let's go back to that for me uh, okay I I I will take what was the best meal you've ever had ya Shika,


yes I agree, ya (mmhmm) ya ya valid ya ya


eh answer that now what was the best meal you've ever had I, can't I I I actually have no idea what the best meal I've ever had is I love food out uh for that I'll , so I keep overspending on food I really love food but okay there is like one thing that I've been doing with like uh one of my closest friends what we do is we've been we've been like trying to find the best hotpot places in singapore


right, but the thing about it is there're like both of us on very big budgets and and both of us are like decently frugal she especially so honestly we can't really afford this shit but we love hotpot and like and like, like , like you know the #shabu shabu# type thing so we've been like


aggressively trying out each one's like I think one of the best meals I ever had was when we went to a #hai di lao# like immediately after a levels right and I think like at some point this friend had had, had had messed up like like some of the books she needed for her literature examination and I happened to have like an extra copy so I like gave it to her and because of that


she uh she sponsored my #hai di lao# meal , but it was such a good, good meal but then also we didn't actually have all the nice things honestly I think it was also good just because our A levels had just ended, right ya, and and like to be honest it wasn't like objectively that great because we couldn't really afford it so we didn't have like the good pork pieces and shit we were just like dipping like like like breaking like fish balls in the soup and that kind of thing we had like one sheet of pork


I'm going to say savoury but I also really like dessert


, ya okay, ya


ya ya it was amazing ya, ya ya I think that's why I also remember this meal particularly because it was like it was like immediately after A levels I think it was the next day and it was the first time we went out and we both look like shit but we were there


like eating our #hai di lao#, ya ya okay okay should we move on uh let's see I can't


can't think of an answer to that I'm not sure special event or concert, okay okay okay I will say ya, to be honest I'm not going to say I, I okay okay I'm a bit spoilt because I have been performing in many uh many uh many a uh play concert lah don't know what lah


so, to be honest I prefer performing in plays and concerts and musicals more than watching them so I think like some of the best moments of my life have been like, during plays ya on stage and before stage because I feel like that's just like such a feeling of anticipation and you're like oh I'm not going to be able to do it I'm not going to be able to do it then you could do it and you're like oh this is the greatest moment of my entire life


ya that's exactly what it is you're very much in the present


ya I'm, , ya it's like it's you remember what miss Rina said like the whole the whole like acting is reacting , it's so I I'm so very disturbed that I I completely believed that like that like acting is uh and like like just


theatre such a meditative experience in my opinion because like do you know how we used to do like breathing exercises beforehand to feel right so you're like do breathing exercises you centre yourself you do yoga beforehand, and you go in you're like completely present I love that kind of, ya ya


ya then everyone is hyping each other up so fun , ya, ya right before you know like when the house music is playing, I miss that so much ya ya ya ya that's nice ya


okay I want to talk about this ones but there you can answer it firstly so like in a post COVID world who, or what are you newly thankful of or appreciative towards, you you can go can build with your answer ya that I learnt ya uh


ya that's nice ya okay honestly very similar answer ya I I got like really close to my family over COVID, ya like, like much more so than normal and also I think I think like just just like at this age and, also like in the current context that we are in like


I was for the first time able to not be like a an angsty little brat to be honest because, I'm like I'm like I'm so glad I'm over that , we were so angsty good lord


ya, probably for the first time I was like really really appreciative of my family I spent a lot of time with, like my my parents with my mom especially like my mom, when I got into the thing is now I can drink by the way and my mother is so happy about, that so we can doing things like


we have cocktail nights and it's just us because no one else is into this kind of thing, we have like cider and cheese night wine and cheese night , , we watch like series together, ya I so


watching a lot of shows with my whole family actually, ya same I've never done that before


ya to be honest I feel like the the the being at home kind of forced you, to interact with just one group of people and therefore kind of get along with that group, people, ya to be honest like ya ya like


I feel like just like finishing school right and like going to this whole circuit breaker thing like kind of like lets you know like who, who you need in your life and who you can kind of cut


ya exactly like no more like like oh we wanna do a class reunion


that's so nice honestly we can go to macritchie sometime do you know how near I am , ya I'm, I'm living in NUS I'm so near


same


(uh huh) indeed big brain


isn't it nice to spend less money as well, because I feel like cafes are such an unnecessary spending of money, like just to sit there and study and hang you have to buy like an overpriced coffee like make your own coffee guys


like those people who say millennials aren't saving enough to because of because of the avocado toast I'm not gonna show on social that's true, okay no no no but that's such such that's such a


not valid concept like like it's so it's so stupid like the prices cost of living has risen like taking care of your parents is a new thing there's like so many more financial difficulties that we face, face switching to you


ya avocado toast is literally getting someone to put, avocado on toast for you fricking do it yourself man , ya, ya ya we should probably move on let's see, , okay how about we share somethings about ourselves uh we try to answer talk about the time when you experience personal growth or what is your favourite thing about yourself what do you love most about yourself ya Shika


that's so correct ya Shika, , crying is natural ,


, what was the question again actually


okay okay ya talk about a time when you experienced personal growth, I think uh, I honestly uh believe that I experienced personal growth, like I have like two major blocks of personal growth like the first or three I'm going to say three major growth uh major major personal growth to the point that


to be honest I cannot recognize each version of myself two years ago like I truly believe that I'm different person from two years ago or a very much adapted version and it's like very clearly in like stages of two years so the first period of personal growth I think was in sec one when I stopped being I was like such a little uh in primary school I was so irritating honestly I was so focused on grades because I was also top student in my school and all that and I worth my entire personal my entire self worth on that so I become really depressed that I didn't do well but you know I got over that because I had to and and ya I got I got much more solid ass basis of self worth you know and then like uh it's like like like I think the other one was sec three sec four I got a lot more confident in myself and I and I gained I gained also I think a lot of my journey has been has been in self worth you know uh I think honestly the greatest revolution was also in junior college because that was when I had experienced like the greatest failure like straight up like I failed I got like SU don’t know what don’t know what like and like that like my J one exams so I was so brought down by that shit ya and like and it caused me to like re-evaluate everything and you know a lot I I I I went through a lot then and like I learnt a lot about myself and because of that I could grow and also like I learnt a lot about how self worth isn't something that you have to prove to yourself you know like you don’t have to justify one’s existence you don’t even achieve a certain thing to justify your existence you know like one you are worth it because you are meaning that uh is just you exist because you are worth it because you exist so that’s ya ya it went from short to long to short !hey! I've had the same hair cut since junior college


okay, part one financial related topic


, okay for me I I have personal insurance accident plan


uh accident plan hospitalisation plan and also a term plan, , ya I, I I have I have bought the accident plan and hospitalisation plan for a year and for term plan I think I just recently bought it like say a month ago ya


my experience with the policy uh I mean I didn't really need to use it but I felt it was very, important to get because of uh, you know you'll never know what what can happen and when and ya, that's basically it I I and I also heard a lot about the recent CI changes


ya I don't know what you think about it but uh there's a lot of debate over it uh like a lot of people are using it as an opportunity to to sell, ya but uh ya


ya so do you buy because of the the changing definition


life plan ah, isn't life plan like very expensive


(mmhmm), ya lah it's the same as term plan lah just that it has surrender value correct, it's


oh


so you are paying one point three K a


one point three K a year, (mmhmm)


two hundred K means means like, your income so much now ah, , ya lah but ya lah I believe is you're you're not you're not just covering one year of your income lah at least five years I think


ya, [orh] !wah! I'm very different from you leh I mean why why why did you get uh


life plan uh whole life plan instead of a a term plan


okay so you never consider putting your money somewhere else and buy a term plan instead, yeah


ya lah term plan also cover critical illness what bro ya I'm like I'm like paying like twenty plus I think for two hundred K coverage, twenty plus or thirty plus I forgot already around there lah , but it's like when I check hundred K right it's like eighteen dollars a month


ya so I don't know if your insurance agent told you there is this option or ya I don't know bro for mine I just paid eighteen okay assuming I'm covered for hundred K but actually I'm covered two hundred K but I forgot what's the monthly uh monthly premium I need to pay


it's about thirty plus lah around there ya, per month ya and ya per month lor I pay, ya so yearly is around like three hundred plus four hundred max four hundred


for a for a two hundred K coverage lah, the numbers uh is around there lah any CI any any I mean if I die then it's two hundred K lor CI all these depends lah it's the it's the same it's the same lah


but , I just don't have the surrender value whatever I'm paying is just for the insurance only, ya because I don't want to lock in so much money like per year and you'll have to lock in how long do you know how long do you have to pay , ya dude ya


twenty years lah so it's not a one point three K commitment leh it's a twenty over whatever ya you cover two hundred K right so it's like two K per year so it's like a forty K commitment ya so ya lah so for me I I feel that err ya I just want the insurance lah I got better places to put my money at


ya, , money that you won't touch can I mean can put at other places also lah


ya, I ya that's why that's why like you know like when you approach insurance agents or insurance agents approach you right I think it's very important that you you yourself have the knowledge because if you don't right high chance they will I mean you know what's best for yourself mah you can't let other people decide ya so


so err ya lor I feel that uh my agent he, he just gave me the options and I just choose what I what what I feel is best for me ya


ya lor but I had but but but for my for my accident plan and my hospital plan err ya a bad experience ah I I don't know if I told you before, ya lor my agent never service me


no he okay not just he never service he keep trying to up sell lah, ya to investment investment linked plan when I already have a endowment plan from my own family agent ya so ya lor three companies ah three different companies uh AIA uh great eastern AIA is where I got my hospital and accident plan from


income is where I get my endowment plan from and great eastern is where I got my term plan from, ya so so right now don't really have any investment linked plan ya in maybe in future lah when I make more money lor


ya, endowment plan is like savings plan, ya you don't have ah no lah you can start you can start now, ya


I think my, my endowment plan started when I was in poly ah nineteen twenty years old ya around there but I'm not sure what uh like like my mum bought for me lah when I was young I think she bought something to to actually save up for me also but I'm not I'm not very sure she also didn't tell me


yeah, but ya lor, ya something like that lah there's a minimum number of years


you can also choose to put if I'm not wrong you can you can also choose to to to leave it there even longer ya


ya ya of course of course, of course the the but but one thing for sure is okay not for sure lah but one thing that I'm very assured of is that it'll it'll beat uh it'll beat inflation and bank interest, rate


ya ya it's it's not very high lah but it's there lah, endowment plan I'm not sure what's the lowest but mine is two thousand four hundred per year, ya ya lah


no no no parents pay first when last time last time when I not working yet ya, then after that you can take start taking over already what, ya lah so it's good to it's good that my parents uh started ya lor rather than now I start and then you know like I am few years late


you don't have endowment plan meh,


no there is a minimum uh there is a okay if you want to cash out right you lose money lah that's all I know how much you lose I don't know but, ya ya ya if you want to cancel you have to, you you will lose some money but I'm not sure exactly what's the numbers because like I never really thought of it


ya I also never really go and ask, ya lah but if you ask me I would have gone for ILP like a hybrid, plan that my my insurance agent proposed to me which is like a like a investment but combined with combined with a combined with term


ya ya, I'm not sure if it's two separate products or they're just packing packaging it nicely to me as a hybrid plan you know you get I mean, ah ya, !aiya! everyone says this lah a bit but it's actually two separate might might be just two separate products


ya that you know makes it sound nicer if you if you package it together mah ya, no no no no


your once you're in you can there's this thing called uh premium holiday but if your investment make money right then your investment you can don't pay ya use the investment to cover the insurance portion of it ya, ya ya that's a ILP lor ya


attractive ah ya not bad lah I mean my my my money is working for me lah ya lah I I don't have to come up with the the premium to pay mah ya


ya ya you can't do immediately of course


paid for life ah that one I don't know leh I don't know if it is paid for life leh


isn't that the isn't that also err life plan


isn't whole life plan supposed to pay until err like hundred K or something like that or two hundred K, no leh


what what my friend told me was different ah he said you gotta pay until uh it'll it'll cover your whole life so even if you start like let's say you start at sixty plus years old, your premium will be much higher but you have to pay a certain you have to pay a certain amount and it comes up till you are a hundred years old


so so, what you are paying for is basically like, like if you start early you can start paying less first ah if if you start old then ya lor it'll divide over the like if you are sixty then you start ya that's life plan right


oh okay so your so your package is smaller lah is it


isn't wait isn't the life plan supposed to supposed to be just to cover you


okay okay, [orh]


your agent from where ah, your friend ah


[orh] which which friend , [orh], okay okay okay, he recently connected with you is it


[orh] okay okay, what what is service eh like that also service


okay


part three negative experiences, so what are the injustices of the world that make you angry


why leh, what what constitutes a scam


(uh huh) yup, oh that is that that is considered a scam ah


[orh] ,


I see


what if uh what if the scammer doesn't know that he's scamming you, will you still be angry


ya lah so does does it make you angry or not, [orh]


so so you so you'll still be angry lah, okay okay ya same lah I also I also feel that not just scamming lah I feel that dishonesty


dishonesty is err, ya you know sometimes you sugarcoat things I think that's fine but straight up dishonesty ah it's very hard to it's very hard to put the finger to it but to as to where to draw the line but then you know this one all based on feeling one


ya lah but whenever I feel someone is being, dishonest to themself, or to others, that's when I feel angry lah and I I feel this way because uh, I was I used to be very dishonest to myself lah and and I think that's very toxic so like I become like I become someone that I'm not lah you know


ya because like like I keep telling myself I am this then I try to act like this but then deep down I know I'm not like this so I'm dishonest to myself ya like keep trying to convince myself that I'm someone I'm not lah


no lah army is army is no lah army is fine army is fine it's ah it's like generally my whole life lah whenever this happens I feel very angry lah, ya whenever this happens lah like have you ever had this kind of err this kind of feeling right eh why am I acting like this ya you know like what am I doing this is not myself ya ya ya ya


ah ya lah ya lah ya lah sometimes at that point I will straight away realise like eh why am I like this ya, ya lor


most embarrassing ah, !wah! don't really have leh , ya do I know about this story


yup


(mmhmm) (mmhmm)


(uh huh), , ah


then you Kena


then then you admit lah so do you admit, so you all stay no so you all stay the weekend


okay what


now that you think back ah, understand understand


interesting !wah! I really cannot pinpoint a moment that I felt really embarrassed leh cause you know ah I very like I got nothing to hide one lah I very clear cut one you know you get what I mean, I really cannot think leh


no leh like like not not embarrassing leh like funny but then like I don't feel embarrassed about it