have all your assets like cars property right all these uh assets need to be sort of protected lah in case you know anything happens right to your children to your car whatever


ya I think like the endowment plan is a very good planning plan lah cause many of the times the funds you can get back is thirty of twenty years, and by the time maybe if you start late you probably retire then and then you can use that fund for retirement or something


ya, , I think like for people our age right sometimes we don't really recognise the importance of


insurance because we think that we are young and and nothing will happen to, us, so we don't really, uh, or we don't really have the necessary foresight about what is going to happen in the future so sometimes we don't really plan ahead which I think it's important to learn about the importance of insurance lah ya


(mm) understand


part, three negative experiences, okay


I get you so uh mainly is about like unfair advantages and like workplace politics lah a bit of both, uh,


for me right I think I can draw on uh a bit of my experience uh in the past like in the hospitality industry I think I agree with, you lah sometimes uh uh the output that people give right even though some some people can put a how to say


that the output but in in in the end they didn't get the rewards that they deserved ya and then , err leading back to the question I think uh for us we're uh used who used to be in the for me lah who used to be in the hospitality industry I guess uh working what frustrates me is like working with uh


or like dealing with unreasonable customers or like clients so sometimes they will ask a bit uh more like demanding requests so a a lot of times they don't see the point of, where we stand so sometimes whatever they want they have to get it but they don't realise that uh uh on our part it may be uh challenging to do it lah on behalf of them so I guess that's a main point that frustrates me


ya, and ya personally , I won't say frustrate but I think being on time I like I like things to be on time so sometimes if work doesn't delivered on time sometimes uh I get a bit


uh uh how to say annoyed ya uh ya but uh I won't really voice it out lah I will just take it as it is lah ya, ya and


okay uh next question okay uh should we ask what is your greatest fear, uh you want to answer I can answer first


okay I think my fear err, recently changed like err which used to be like a very, uh how to say err, like my fear used to be like you know like uh afraid of the water you know cause last time I went scuba diving so err I got a bit seasick and then like


uh I'm afraid of going down the water where I potentially could drown and die you know but recently I think my fear is uh afraid of dying alone like spending my uh my senior years alone and dying like


being alone lah when like before I die, ya cause I don't know I feel like for for in life right it's it's quite important to have someone like a partner to rely on ya so I'm afraid like whenever next time if I


fall ill right or uh or anything right I don't have someone that I can turn to for help, ya, so I guess that is a a fear that I have lah, like dying alone like and nobody knows about it ya


ya do you have any like fear don't have to be greatest I think just any like small minor fear also can,


ya as I think quite relatable like the fear of the unknown right or like the fear of, what what's going to happen uh if you don't have the sort of like safety net you know of holding onto the railing ya


ya they say our generation is like a strawberry generation like very afraid of uh failure very afraid of being uh exposed, to the unknown and like uh just being fearful lah about everything in life ya so I think quite interesting to hear like about other people's


, okay ya do you want to share about that or


I think for me it's pretty similar to you, cause like, we all need income to live right so jobs mainly pays a very big part of our worries lah, and, right now I'm currently studying lah so prior to this COVID


situation, I sort of already have worries about what jobs I would want to take on next time, like I'm, taking a course on sociology so, a lot of people would think it's irrelevant lah it's very hard to sort of find jobs in the future and then


I guess this situation sort of worsen, , the jobs that I possibly can undertake in the future ya, and uh, that is one part of my worries that, I, sometimes think about and also like how


maybe a worry about how, am I have, to settle for a job that I don't like in the future because of COVID, and like how , the thing's that how social interaction might change also lah that is the different part of worries


I think cause I know I I'm more of a a face-to-face person so, anything like online is very difficult for me I feel I cannot relate to someone through a screen uh cause you can't really tell a person's body expression and facial expression right so ya and then because of this COVID


thing , we sort of like a speed up the the digital technology and a digital world so everything has been shifted on online so I guess one of the worries or anxiety is basically having a like genuine connection with people and like being relatable


cause sometimes like you know uh it's very hard, to, how to say interact with someone, uh through uh a, ya virtual connection ya, and then (mmhmm) continue uh basically I guess that's


uh my main worries lah for for this this this year ya


, ya I would I would agree with you like a lot of this regulation traditional regulations that are being placed in school rights is not being reinforced lah so


a lot of these kids they will you know use the computer and everything in their free time ya and I think uh as a society also like some of the times uh worries that we face can


be like uh mental, health I guess one of the main problem that it is COVID, uh world post COVID world that could arise lah from like how how we are coping with uh mentally


cause uh, like humans we are social being need to interact with other people, so mentally we might be overthinking things like we think a lot and uh it's very hard to voice it out cause sometimes when we voice it out something it's clearer


and also helps to process our thoughts lah so a lot of times maybe the post COVID world a lot of uh social issues is I guess would arise on ya, and then ya so uh


dissonance ya (mm)


part, two positive experience, okay uh so one of the question is what makes you want to be alive


, I think I agree with you like how uh be alive right it's not really about material possession is not about having like you know a lot of money and cars that make me feel alive you know


but, mainly is the social connection that you have with your families and friends lah so the emotion that you experience with them and also the memories that you make, uh with people that you around you and I think besides that part of a life right like activities that you like to do


for example for me is like exercising or like uh doing, sports lah like things that made me feel the adrenaline you know then I feel that uh that's a a part of me that feel alive ya


and then uh, what else make me feel alive I think, , just experiencing new things like things that err it's not uh outside of my comfort zone nah so something that you know keep us alive and keep us curious


like a challenge lah like having a challenge in life


I get what you mean it's like connecting with your senses like your touch your


not a lot, I must say like like work right then I come back exercise and then uh by the time it's dinner already and then the night you spend watching a movie or like okay watching YouTube you know, so I guess that's most my like daily routine like lah


ya and, ya so should we move on to the next question or


oh you mean the second question or, okay I think, wait what was the question again sorry , what is the, oh a travel experience that left you in awe okay


uh I think, for me I think cause I'm I really like travelling like, I think both of us are into traveling cause we take up uh hospitality and tourism right so , !aiyo! travelling has been always been sort of like


a way to see the world and then like uh spend some time ending with one of the uh most memorable travel experience is uh when I was in new zealand I spend uh six months there so , uh that kind of shifted my perspective about


uh about singapore and also about, living uh about life, like how uh our problems are really very small compared to others and then also how, , like it's interesting to hear about different


life story and what people have gone through, and, I think that was big my biggest takeaway from that travel experience lah, ya, and also , ya just to meet new people and connecting with people that are very different from


uh, where I come from lah which is the city, ya ya, you want to share yours or, , oh ya I still remember that time we went to Bangkok that was a good one as well, ya ya I think we had a lot of fun then


ya four day three nights


, ya


, hopefully like this COVID thing die down so like we can all like travel cause I feel like travelling like is a is a one of the most like popular or like mainstream way that a lot of life experience like positive life experience are accumulated


like a lot of memories are made while we travel right cause we want to escape from like our day-to-day life our work ya so I'll (hmm)


!aiya! a lot of times you don't remember like where you uh where you've been like but mainly the event that happened you know like the certain memories


, ya that's why companies have a lot of like retreats and like, get getaway you know tour or something


okay shall we move on to another question, okay which question do you want to cover , should we, answer the question oh despite the ongoing global uncertainty what makes you optimistic about the future


I think this quite this question is quite interesting I want to hear your your reply , I can think about it lah I can say something about it like how, ya so like, in today's COVID situation right it's it's uh I don't know it's natural for us to feel a bit down and you know uh restricted with all those


uh restrictions in place by the government and uh elsewhere around the world lah but I think for us we share the same faith right so uh I guess our faith sort of keep us going that there is always


uh, better days ahead and that uh we have strength from, ya from our religion lah ya so I guess uh also to know that this situation will pass and that one day we'll look back and then we will also remember about the days that uh we are stuck at home and then uh uh we make like


uh all those like memes and trend you know that is going on that keeps us uh happy and laughing lah ya so uh all these uh small small things that, uh this COVID situation has, uh, sort of introduced to our life ah like


uh , home workout and stuff I think all these uh make us a bit more uh positive like about uh the future, and also that ya so that, this thing will will go away and that uh we'll come out stronger lah as a country and uh as as people as well ya


adding to your point right I think for this uh COVID thing it's very good for uh, like, how you say work arrangement especially for like families like working parents cause a lot of times right they work uh nine to five uh then they don't see their kids especially


younger kids their growth uh is the fastest when they are young younger you know so uh by staying at home right they can actually spend more time with their kids and watch them grow up together lah so uh in a way, uh, maybe this working from home thing will be a default and it it can potentially bring family closer together so


this is a thing that can be, I don't know, be optimistic about that uh , ya


ya ya true, ya I'll keep


prompt one out of four


!wow! I think !wow! that's a interesting question I think uh I think one at financial advice I would give to me five years ago was would definitely to be more, calculative I guess uh to check my expenses a little bit better because I feel like now nowadays when you when you don't check your expenses is very easy to just spend err spend as much as you can and especially since


now especially since I'm probably gonna start err working now and I actually have to check uh how much money I have how much money goes to the bank how much should I spend on savings and so on and so forth so one one advice I will definitely give myself would be to, err better check my expenses and even perhaps even to start investing from err five years ago even though I probably don't have a lot of money from pocket money that my parents give me but I'm sure if I had invested err money five years ago I think err some interest would I mean some return would have been accrued


from it and I probably would have had more money today than I've had five years ago how about you


definitely , ya definitely so now that now that you have mentioned you started working and everything err do you think that you should actually just do it yourself or do you think you should get a financial advisor in order to manage err your finances


, ya definitely I was also thinking about this question also I actually asked my my dad like oh should I get a financial advisor and he gave me a resounding no because I think


so far my family I don't think anyone has a financial advisor also because he happens to be err he he does teach err business in in in in one of the polytechnics so I think he has quite a lot of knowledge about err finances and how to play because I mean he teaches this to his students so uh ya I don't think but


that being said as much as so not having a financial advisor also means that I guess, I have to be very diligent in checking and managing my own finances because something that actually have to spend time doing especially since I'm gonna start, working in the future and plan ahead and ya it just seems like a lot of things to think about and it's very overwhelming but I'm very thankful that I guess I've been looking online and there are a lot of like resources actually that are available for me to to see this and and ya and and so and even like help from family and friends I think actually don't need to


have this financial advisor and also I think it's also good to have opinions from like a variety of different sources I think, err the danger in having a financial advisor is that he tells you he or she tells you one thing and then you become super like oh I must do this thing like it this is the way to go and but I think when you have opinions from like a lot of different people and a free some more err so I think it it it it's definitely it's definitely beneficial and ya


ya definitely I just I just recently , I just recently hit err subscribe to this err I think StashAway account which is one of the global investors because I think it's something that a lot of my friends have been doing and it's it's it's like the most basic form of passive


income I think you literally just give your money to the advisor and and you don't even know what what stocks are being invested in you just see your money err go up or go down and you you just know that your the money that you spent investing goes, to a portfolio of maybe stocks bonds or REIT and so forth


ya ya I I guess you could I guess you could put it that way but I guess I think I think what's so good about these global investors is that they will , optimise your portfolio for you for example like they run some algorithms in the background and and see perhaps if if this stock is not doing very well then they will sell off this stock and everything happens in the background so you don't even know and I think another benefit that of it is that it they they they charge a lower interest rate as compared to maybe a conventional like


err stockbroker or ya because the fact that it's like oh it's by like machines so you don't actually have real people doing it so I thought it was pretty cool and ya hope ya


ya, ya


that's a a good question to be honest I think, I live I think I live life pretty err frugally I think it's just something that my parents have have taught me from a young like I remember when I used to bug them and to let me buy err a lot of these like gadgets that perhaps it's just like a passing phase and I I probably wouldn't I would use it once I won't use it again so


from young already my parents told me that if I wanna buy anything on my own I have to save up for it and then have to buy it and very often when I save up like, two three months for this product and and buy it the I guess the novel is the novelty is gone and everything so for me I guess to answer the question for me most of my income I would say is allocated to savings at at the moment yet sort of started only recently started been doing these passive


income global adviser ETF things so I would say still most of my income is just err sitting in the bank, err I I get like very ya which I realised is definitely not the best way to go because I just I mean I just checked my my bank account last last month I had like fifty cents of like interest


which is like uh it's like not not really very worth it like it doesn't even beat inflation, in singapore so I think that I definitely ya maybe I should ya okay I I think I should at least Stanchart gives you like I think one one percent if I'm not wrong one per cent I I think DBS really savings accounts gives me like zero point zero err I I don't know how many percent


ya well so ya I think I think ya I would definitely so expenses wise I would say a good maybe I say only like twenty or thirty percent of my income actually goes to expenses because I don't really buy like big ticket items or like I mostly just buy necessities and


most of the rest of money goes into savings slash insurance ya how how how about you


!walao! eh


oh !wow! seems seems like you really dabble in a lot of these different err investment technologies !wow! that that that's good so I guess you really do have this this habit of saving so I guess perhaps what, what what's the longer term goal like what exactly do you think that you are saving for err at this moment


oh


ya definitely it takes so many years to repay so I think it's definitely good to to start err saving err especially if you just started working anyway so ya so many things to to consider I guess ya


to be oh no to be honest I haven't really thought much about this I guess growing up like ya very I was very thankful that my university like fees all covered under err scholarship so I didn't have to spend and I didn't really see err any any need so I I didn't have to like many like some of my peers they had to like


maybe they perhaps give tuition or like to take on extra part-time jobs I think I I would definitely do that like if I had the free time, I remember after I think it was, the after after army before I started university actually spent two months doing an F&B err waiter job and that was a very good way to


spend my time you know so earn a little extra income but ever since I started university ya I I I didn't really see the need to even though I don't like perhaps giving tuition probably one of the best ways to earn extra income since like, the per hour rate is like definitely a lot higher than you would get


from from err ya


ya definitely I think ya I think, in in NTU I choose I chose to pursue other interests and everything but I think u have a lot of free time I would also sounds like, this this job that you did and it was very uh !wow! was very err attractive and actually give you more income so I think moving forward err now I'm currently on an internship which pays me decently well so I think it's good but once I start working I actually don't I think really depends on the nature of my work too if


my work is really very chill that I have a lot of free time err then on the sideline I guess I could, I don't know maybe give tuition or but I I don't really see it the immediate need now to do that, ya so ya ya maybe ya the future I guess I guess really just being more informed about investing and going for all of these online courses that they have err now NTU is giving a lot of free online courses about this thing so that's pretty cool ya so that's that's pretty awesome so


hopefully it will give me a more informed view when I ya maybe maybe even read more about I feel like I haven't really been read reading, about like finance I always just like when I see the finance section of the newspaper I just like normally ignored it and and I don't really look much at it but growing up I feel like ya that seems like something like an adulting thing to do err read the business times all the financial times so ya


oh that's pretty cool I uh uh I I will definitely check them out oh ya


ya I think definitely in in singapore it's just so different from err err from all all all of the other countries given the fact that our we have like CPF and then we have all these ya I think CPF something that is definitely uniquely err singapore and I'm I'm I'm definitely very interested to to think about how I can spend and or perhaps even invest my my my CPF


and money ya I was just reading up about this err supplementary err retirement scheme which is it's it's actually a pretty pretty cool scheme err have you have you heard about it before, oh okay so let me tell you what it is so so actually what it is is that so the whole point of this scheme is like it it kinda


accompanies the CPF scheme so you put money into this account separate account but the catch is that you cannot you can't you cannot really withdraw this account until you are sixty two, I mean you can withdraw it but you are subject to penalty, so you get like a five percent penalty if you would choose to withdraw this amount err and the advantage of putting your money into this err they call it a SRS account instead of a normal savings account is that it's tax free so I just reading up online about it they were saying that if your income level is actually because you know in in singapore we have different tax brackets for example I think if you earn


up to forty thousand dollars you pay, perhaps I'm not so sure I think like seven percent of your income and tax but once you hit the next tax like bracket like, forty to fifty thousand or forty to hundred thousand, the percentage immediately jumps to like ten percent so something you can do is is put like for example I if I'm earning like fifty if I'm earning forty five thousand dollars a year I can put ten thousand dollars into this SRS account so now my income drops down to thirty five thousand so you earn within the lower tax bracket now get taxed less I think it really adds up in the long run


so and the thing about this account is that you can invest you can use it for investment, err purposes also so it's not like you just letting it there because there's actually no interest, compared to CPF which gives you a two point five percent interest this account doesn't really give you any interest so I think it's a I think it's a very good idea and since you just started working maybe you can look into that and and consider that too


ya, ya it's for all singaporeans but I think the thing is that you can only deposit, twelve thousand five hundred dollars into their account every year so ya you can't just put all your money into that account I mean and and some more you it's it's meant to be a long term savings account so it's not meant to be like you can't just withdraw it because if you withdraw it you get penalty plus you pay tax on that so it's really not beneficial to you if you withdraw it from their account


you only put money inside there if you know that you not gonna need this money and there's really solely for investment so, ya ya definitely ya !whoa! the so, I guess what what are your thoughts of of credit cards though I mean since you started working right now do you think that you should all go out and get all these credit cards and


oh !wow! ya I think from err for me I really saw the benefit of err okay maybe err very different when I was in the US for


ya it it's quite amazing so like credit cards so when I was in the US I actually got a credit card err and it gave me like I think two percent three percent rebates on all my purchases so basically I just use my credit card for everything like I just kept whenever I can use credit card I just use credit card and the rebates are quite okay two percent three percent they can add up they actually do add up you can like cash it out


I'm not so sure about singapore I think a lot of credit cards are tailored to like students like us so you'll need to pay like a monthly like some credit cards you have like annual fees and stuff, and maybe you spend like oh you only spend like five hundred dollars a month something like that I'm I'm I'm pretty sure for students there's some like waiver or something so definitely you can can check it out I guess find find ones that don't require to spend a certain amount and


and have pretty good like rebates and perks and like one for ones and stuff like always see my friends post about it I'm like oh I want to do that too also, ya, for me oh no I don't have a singapore credit card now ya so ya I just realized that singapore is actually not very like we're still very used to using cash err still a very cash filled society as compared to over there in in the US like what basically use my credit card for everything so I I


I don't feel like like I I since I don't use my card very often also there's maybe no need to get a credit card I mean maybe unless you do a lot of like online shopping, or that they they they tend to give quite of rebates I think for for that and and ya ya so I guess something that you can consider


err saving goals I think similar to you it's probably saving up also for those very big big ticket items that I mean every singaporean wants like own a house just like err also I guess house maybe a car in the future and


start starting a family I think but I mean I think all these things are definitely very very expensive too and it's very important to start saving now even though it's like a small small amount but like a little bit helps so that's definitely what I'm working towards even though it's like pretty uncertain the future but


definitely it's good to have like a buffer and like it's always good to have extra money in on hand because I've, ya again I got to the real I've seen the effects of people like really living paycheck to paycheck is a very like it's crazy lah like if if suddenly like a tragedy strikes you when a disaster comes then you really have no money and people start selling their possessions and everything so it's pretty crazy so


ya ya


ya it's a very good question I think I think to be honest in singapore like the banks are too important like it I don't think that I think I think our banks are really really very stable like err the government will definitely bail you out like in the event that the the banks really lose all money it's only in like I think the US like wall street all the


private banks that become very greedy and everything and and no one the government doesn't want to bail them out as a result like if there's a whole banking crisis but I also think singapore is very stable like err I just bought some singapore bonds I think which very low interest rate but you know that they won't default so, I think that's that's pretty good ya ya ya not really I guess


part, three negative experiences


!wow! what disgusts me, err !wow!, I mean I guess off the top of, , my head I mean we can say I mean there are a lot of things that that definitely disgusts me like I guess there are a lot of things happened in the news when you hear like atrocities being being


committed err like ya I I I just watched this like show about like world war two and like you see all the like you really see like the worst of mankind you see people getting err, all the prisoners of wars being treated unfairly they will starve to death and ya you just victimise everything I think think anytime I guess to put it more broadly like something that disgusts me is when people are just treated like unfairly that sense like for no reason for like no rhyme or reason when people are abused and people are


really just disgust me lah it really just turns me away and I mean I mean I guess, bringing that closer to home because I mean you don't really in singapore you don't really see this kind of things happen you always you always hear about these things happening but like it doesn't really affect you in in your life I guess just just bring go going closer like to home lah I guess when


my friends do something to me that I I feel like it's like wrong or like negative then I would generally be disgusted by it also but like their behavior like when they do like I mean I mean I I mean I guess like when you work in a group member then you have like one, when they work in a group project and then you have like one group member who like doesn't really do anything the work and still like try to claim credit and everything I feel like that


disgust me also even though ya, so a lot of ya how about how about you


is there a particular reason why you said that, rats disgust you or, or I mean rats okay I I off the top of my head I can't think of any reason


two I guess I mean they are one they are one they are one class of of pests , ya okay err, I guess I mean in in the post COVID war what are some worries and anxieties that you face


ya definitely when I think about it like I think about how much our government has spent like on this crisis and like, ya like no more I mean the future I guess there will be no more like bonuses and we really see like if the economic damage lah like devastation how people have lost their jobs and honestly oh ya and I guess like being a graduate I mean I haven't graduated yet I'm going to be graduating soon later this year I think


I mean the biggest worry and anxiety I definitely have would be like jobs I I mean my my job like what I'm gonna do in the future because of the whole nature of, it's like I mean I guess the whole COVID situation has even changed how like jobs are being like conducted and everything so just worry that like the skills that that I have the things that I learnt in the university may even be like obsolete or like not relevant anymore and and ya


ya I mean I studied chemical engineering lah and and to be honest the the chemical industry is doing very badly now cause I mean oil and gas and, it's it's down I mean it has always been in an in decline but I think now more more more so than other like I remember at one time I think oil prices went negative because people have so much oil they just didn't they just wanted to


ya they just couldn't find areas to store it so I think the future like really just thinking about don't even want to do this as a job in in the future because of the fact that this this seems like everyone assess that like oh oil and gas it's just like a sunset industry and like err, like renewables are the way to go and everything and I'm just thinking like !wow! I spent four years of my life like studying for this degree and everything and and I'm just thinking like what else can I do if if


if not I guess I guess it's just the the, , it's just that uncertainty that lies ahead and and not knowing like the future like what if I picked wrongly or anything even though I what what is is there even a right or wrong thing so, it's just it's just it's just worrisome for for me I guess and I mean like I guess like what you said also lah like like the fear that like even though now I feel like


COVID is pretty contained till now I mean so far like most of my I don't I don't know any family members or like friends who have like been shaken by it so thankfully it's like still I still I I really think the government is really doing a a very good job in in containing and managing it so that


it really reduced the infections and, and ya so so I I guess that's that's still worried that anxiety that you spread it you've get it and you don't even know that you've got it and then you spread it so that's like the worst I feel


I think we're termed the lost generation a generation that is that is gonna be, I think it was to to refer the people graduating how like it just wasted because I mean they did some survey and it said that like


basically if you don't start out like I mean if if because of this the whole COVID thing you start out on a poor footing and it it has ripple effects throughout your life because you know as you grow older then you have all these connections and networks and it's easier to build your career but if you really don't start off in a very good footing and like maybe because of the COVID


you are unemployed for like a year or two years you cannot find that job then you just get it just makes it so much more difficult like imagine if people graduate next year and everything you're basically you are competing with new graduates and bosses employers will rather pick the new graduates as opposed to picking you because you've been unemployed for like two years so


I don't think but I I'm but I get at least the government has been like, doing all these like training traineeships and everything and I guess that does allay some of the concerns that I have and worries that I mean I can definitely find a job I mean it may not be my ideal job and everything but at least there's availability of this job and hopefully upskill myself in the process


err ya I guess uni never ends even though like I I felt like I thought I've done the studying but I guess it's lifelong learning err for for me, it used to be I mean I remember the but I know that I mean a lot of companies are


freezing hiring now even in my company I know that my company has frozen hiring all the way to the end of of this year so I know a lot of my seniors actually got written offers from the companies so, and this company I mean it's quite good to be honest if they were to give me a return offer I think I would take it but I think it's very uncertain and at this point of time given the uncertainty I still have to go out and find other jobs and ya just find another option so


ya ya, okay let's let's let's talk about something else what is an issue that you feel upset, over because you feel the world needs to do more about it


the third last one what is an issue that you feel upset overall because you feel the world needs you more, okay I guess I could I could start first


I mean definitely one thing would be err, climate change all these I ya I mean, it's something that in singapore like we don't I mean we don't really talk about it that much I mean some people I mean it it's a topic but I feel like the minds of singaporeans is being relegated to the sidelines so even though there have been some like emerging technologies I just read the there was this like carbon capture they're gonna use carbon capture in singapore but I definitely think that it's so slow and and and


and I think I think the world like keeps neglecting this because it's like a long term problem I think it's I I remember reading an an article before that it said that really sad that like the world was so affected by like I mean COVID and terrorism and everything even though the impact of COVID and okay the impact of COVID is is is fast and like err like


ya but I mean probably be like a few years everything you think about climate change like how, the the all the all the damage that were doing to our earth right now lah it's it's really just making it sustainable for like our future generations and what people are so narrow minded they only think about oh my generation like if you really were to care about like the future generations you would want to preserve like the resources you will not be so against like


all these policy is that even though it may it may be be be damaging the the short in the short run but like I mean people may get, like unemployed because of like the use of like err I think especially in in the US I've been reading about it like, err I mean if you were really to be more if you want to move towards better policies you would like outlaw maybe coil coal mining and fracking all these other like fossil fuels thing that harm our environment but yet like you put people out of jobs and and and it's tough but I mean are we willing to I just feel like the world was not willing to


to take take these like I guess you would say inconveniences for the sake of like our our future generations and that's something that ya and there's something that I feel like the world should do about more about instead of like speaking about it like everyone know everyone says that oh climate change is important and everything and we should do stuff but like people always like


that's so funny that I mean okay it's not funny but I guess like it's just it's just very sad that like , like countries have this like oh fear of missing out like oh just because like , you cannot hate your like you when you have US withdrawing from like the Paris peace agreement and then you have like US saying that oh because china hasn't fulfilled that quota so we're not gonna fulfilled our quota also err who who cares about the earth like we just care about being competitive in the short run and everything when you trade economy you're you're like economic policies for the sake of like


that environment I think that's a very bad long and a lot of this damage is like I I guess you it it's irrevocable like can't like once it's there it, you can't go back in time and change it so I think that's what's the saddest


I'm just thinking about what you said and and and ya like I just remember like I was following the news like the the whole incident happened in the US err very closely I think there's something that, I guess I mean if you realized another question also something that make me very angry is that when you see like opportunists in this situation like I remember just ya I remember just


seeing how like people are like protesting on the streets seeing the people like looting and like rioting and like and like it's just very and even see like seeing video video clips of like I don't know I remember there's one there's one long clip that I saw that made me very, angry when when there was just like police who just pushed there's like elderly man like like and then he fell backwards and he hit his head on on on the pavement and they started bleeding and like the police officer didn't like immediately go and help like he's still like


ya I think that that's just like horrible when like, you can just do these things and like not see it as like wrong and I mean that's one side of the question and the other side is the people who exploit this situation and you see all the looters like, I remember I watch err other videos where I saw that like people are trying to nah you have this like elderly people trying to defend their store from like looters and rioters and they end up get getting beaten up and everything because these people are like just lawless and just like


robbing this ya just just heart wrenching ah I feel and, and, it's just it's just very sad I feel when when you see humanity like tried to protest for like, good cause then you have the other side of of of humans who are just ya I think it just it just it just it just really makes me quite angry I guess and


and sad ya ya ya, so maybe okay maybe we can do err recall a scene


from a movie that made you too angry to watch seem like someone who likes to watch a lot of movies do you have any scenes or anything that you ya angry I guess like


I mean I feel like it's always it boils down to intentions right like as a reason why the bad guys are termed bad guys because, I mean maybe their goal is really just to wipe out everybody to like enslave mankind to kill destroy and play but I mean the good guys the whole point of the good guys is to, overcome the bad guys and stop the bad guys into in in that process I think you're right like they do inflict a lot of damage to but I guess you can call it collateral damage because it's not intended


their main goal or aim is really to, I guess remove the bad guys and prevent them from doing bad things and in the process you have all these collateral damage and, ya and but but I I I I can't relate to that I guess again I purchasing Ike I guess war movies and there's always I mean we we always have this whole concept of good guys are bad guys err yeah I just remember watching like


world war two when we we we claim that they were good guys are like the, the allied powers and the western powers and the bad guys are like I guess the axis which is like germany and italy and but then if you if you think about it and you and you see like, how like I guess you can see how the western powers also like treated their prisoner of prisoners of war like that their


I guess their interrogation techniques and and they they can try to justify and saying like oh we need this information to end the war and everything but yet like human beings are intrinsically like I feel like human beings are shouldn't be valuable there's certain things are like over the limit like, ya there's just certain things that that you shouldn't do even if if if you're like out to war and like always in the justification given is that oh the enemy is doing the same as well and we we have to do it we have to do it if not we we won't win and everything I just think that's not very good


justification lah and even it, ya ya even just just watching err I'm watching a clip about the atomic bomb and like


everyone cheers it all I remember I remember reading in the history textbooks or maybe in a social studies textbooks like young lahoh this atomic bomb happen it ended the war and everyone's cheering but no one really talks about like I guess the ethics or like the the the decision behind the war and like how, it really just it's a horrible like decision and and yet like it's being peeled and prayers then like ya


I just think it's it's it's quite horrible sometimes lah like when we, praise these like acts of aggression like what you mentioned, when they in fact I mean the the objective is to kill people you can't get away with killing people the a bomb is meant to kill people and that's what happened and I mean you can argue that it was used to end the war earlier but


I mean it's just quite sad seeing [lah] like scenes I remember seeing scenes from that (um) where people it's just like horrible like


part two positive experiences


so what makes you want to be alive, okay what


!wow!


oh !wow! ya definitely quite


quite memorable I think I can I can imagine how you feel how how how long was it climbing that, that mountain when you were err cold and stuff oh okay


ya I I I I I can relate to that I remember there was one time of I was with my friends in in in Hawaii I think, and then we we actually drove all the way to the top of a mountain to catch the sunrise, and it's very strange because we we went in summer I think but I guess when you're like err I think we were about two thousand three thousand metres above sea level like and when the sun goes down like it's so cold so you see just a bunch of us like running out of the car so like we're like oh no when is the sun going to come out then we were like checking our phone like when is it going to come out then when it came out we all immediately rushed out


and then like you know when you use your camera and everything when you take pictures you have to take out your gloves and everything and we were like basically freezing, and they will just ya it was like torturous we were like oh no it's okay for the for the for the pictures you see everyone else there also who they were all like unprepared because you know when you go to Hawaii you don't really bring like winter clothes and thankfully we we did we we brought like gloves and stuff and everything but some of them there like !wah! they were really like freezing and everything and then like you just wait like two hours later and the sun comes beating down and it's so hot


so ya that that stark contrast I guess ya, ya ya especially ya I think you I mean you don't really experience that in singapore because singapore everything is just like low lying I think we have #bukit timah# hill lah which is like what two hundred metres above sea level but four five hundred okay because


oh okay ya but you don't really see like notice the temperature difference like ya so ya oh ya thanks for sharing though I think I I think for me like while I had so many memorable travel experiences err ya when when I was when I was abroad like I think definitely for me it was


one one that left me in awe was when I went to err I went to south america err I think it was really amazing because it's such a different at area an environment to be like, all my life like travelling, oh I went to I went to peru and I went to bolivia, and ya and all my life like going to my family goes a lot of asian countries like err japan err korea then you see so many singaporeans there like isn't sometimes you don't really feel like it's but when you go to there like usually you don't see any asians there I remember the people at the so me and my friends are super like cheapskate lah so basically we always just go to all the like


we always hang out where the locals hang out like you go to those like those like the Kopitiam the hawker centres kind and then like I remember going there then we see the locals all staring at us like wondering where we are from and everything cause like they never see asians before I think so and it was quite, it's quite amazing also because like err like language barrier like we really have to google translate everything and


picked up a few spanish words so, err I think I think something which left me in awe is when I went to err #machu picchu# which is which is in err peru and I think it's one of the, six it's one of the natural wonders of the world basically and like oh so crowded but it's really very nice is like some ancient civilisation err a lot of like ruins and stuff and I look at pictures I'm like how can this like really be very nice like it just like ya but when you go there like


too bad when we went there like it was raining and like the I guess like what I like your experience in nature also like the fog and the cloud cover the mountain so we don't get good pictures, but about still a very good experience and ya very thankful for for that I think spent like three weeks there that was I guess the, longest I've been so ya that was that was pretty fun ya ya oh


ya have you have you been there before and have you been out of asia before


oh !wow!, okay so describe your favorite activity to unwind and relax


I think I radically like so you mentioned that you like running but I I also really like running so I think my favorite activity to unwind and relax would really be like to exercise it is like, like !wah! I really find that oh okay it's it's singapore okay so back again err whatever to the US like


so in singapore I feel like running it just like oh but I still do like running because like you know you are so stressed like school or and then you just wanna like ah I want to stop working and everything you just go out and then when you run I feel like like what you mentioned you you said you like mindless activities running is the perfect mindless activities you just zone out you just, literally that your feet just move and like it's just so nice and calm and


I think I mean in singapore is okay but when I went to the US it was amazing like so beautiful you could see like I was running in the hills I was running like trail running now in singapore we have like macritchie and like it's overcrowded there's so many people at macritchie so many monkeys like wanna attack you also so but when you really go out, you see like the wilderness and ya that's why like I I really develop the love for trail running when I was in the US I went for like one of the competitions like err it was it was really fun because you get to see nature all around you and you get to see like sometimes it's really very silent cause no one is there and ya it's really just amazing I think that was definitely a way that I


I'm !wow! ironically right cause I mean like people saying running is like not fun and everything but there's something that I I really look forward to, ya ya definitely but I guess other than running also I mean occasionally I will also like I I do like watching uh


YouTube videos also mindless YouTube videos sometimes the thing about YouTube is that they keep giving you like suggestions so you just keep clicking from from thing thing like you somehow YouTube knows you better than you know yourself I feel sometimes it's like they know what's suggestions to recommend you so they just keep recommending you things, you are like oh I want to watch that and and and after a while like two three hours are gone so ya it is


oh okay !wow!, I don't even I don't even use TikTok so I guess okay ya maybe maybe in future


I will I will try that okay you can your turn you can ask me something, what was the proudest moment of my life oh !wow!


I feel like okay I mean at at at this moment I guess I can really say err, it happen in in university actually err when I was in I was in so so I'm in my my my university's err dragon boat team and err there's one year where we went overseas to to macau to compete in a dragon boat competition and ya and and I guess the proudest moment would would would be when we came in the finish line and like


we saw our like name it's being first and like we had this like banner and everything ya it was really like surreal and everything especially cause in singapore like dragonboat isn't really recognised a lot but when you go overseas like you saw all the like, foreign teams like cheering for us and like we appeared like national television and everything are just very memorable for me I think I I think I really felt proud of the achievement because we really put in a lot of like


I guess you can say okay not a lot of blood but like sweat and tears like training up for this event and and ya it's it's really just very proud to see like oh all all my hard work like really pay off, in the long run I guess that that that was something that I mean it's also really like that really give me on a huge adrenaline rush and I also felt like !wow! this this is amazing and I guess this is the reason why I stuck to the sport even though like so I've been in dragon boat like all my my uni life like and and I really experiences these memories that you have like


err coming in the finish line first and even even when we don't win I feel like even when we don't even competing it's just so enjoyable, ya and and and really like how how how about for you


nice !wow! , oh I guess I guess you are small you are more agile and nimble right you can like


go in and out and like tug in, !wow!, !wow!,


are you are you planning on competing in in boxing or doing any like, ya, oh no , err oh ya definitely


ya definitely affect the running it's okay !wow!


oh ya I ran I ran one towards ya I I agree with you like it it's so funny cause like you know in at least for me in secondary school it was like no primary school was like one point six KM it's like, crazy how am I going around one point six KM and then secondary school you get to two point four KM and then like in army they made us run like of like basically when they made all the like first year soldiers run a half marathon


was like how am I gonna run a half marathon and I was like shit oh it's not that bad and actually did a few like half eh no sorry it wasn't a half marathon it was a ten KM it's not gonna have a marathon yet it's only in this, ya is the army ten K like everybody had to run and then you have all the other like all my other friends in army just okay lah we walk lah like I mean they can't not gonna make us run also so but I I really wanted to run lah I really wanted to do well and I mean it's also better if you you run you finish you get it over and done will be faster lah you know you really walk then so many people there it's very crowded and


ya and then after that I I actually there are a few half marathons I think there are six or seven half marathons before I went for this full marathon and and ya err, I don't know I always told myself I I remember reading online it was like oh never do a full marathon because doing a full marathon is very bad for your joints you going to get very painful then I commit to myself I was like okay I'm never gonna do full marathon because it's very bad on my joints but then I mean last


year when Standard Chartered had this err fifty dollars for a full marathon I guess I was so convinced by it that I guess I decided to go for it too and ya I definitely don't regret it even though I was in pain I tell you it was so much pain after that I I don't think I felt so much pain in my body before


ya ya but, that was that was really enjoyable and I look forward to doing more I guess as much as my body I mean now I feel like now we at the peak of our like fitness and like in the future like when you start getting older then your body starts like getting weaker you can't do a lot of these things that


ya, well that's true I heard about it ya oh ya that's true but I guess ya ya so ya definitely want to keep up the fitness, ya I guess


that's true but really shows I guess like how much how much effort they put into it because I mean they're so much older and yet they can still overtake you really shows that they put in more training right like you are so young got so much energy still cannot run faster than them, I think ya ya but okay


a lot a lot more opportunities I guess I mean hopefully when it comes back and this COVID doesn't last like a few hour a few years or something and they can never run, a marathon is like the biggest event you know I think thirty thousand people like how you're going to be err it's quite crazy so hope hopefully !haiya! if not we just run marathon on our own lah just take your phone go out and then run


(uh huh), oh don't need pay what like, that's true ya that's true


!wow! (uh huh), I think what next year optimistic that the future is when I used to really like another question which is about like , describe a time when your faith in mankind was renewed I mean during this pandemic we see a lot of crazy things happening lah like around the world like we see people be very basically people being very racist accusing china of of everything but we also see like the best and then you can really see the worst like all these tragedies and disasters bring out the worst and best


in in mankind and even though I mean it's very easy to focus on the negative things and say like oh ya people are racists people are helpful and everything but when you say good things being, happening err I think I think one thing that I saw recently was I was reading a news about , of this group of erm I think they were refugees they were Rohingya refugees from


from from the ya and then they they stopped at indonesia but the indonesia coastguard didn't let them in because like COVID and everything but then the villagers actually like pulled their boat and the villagers like you can't let them go out and die like in it's it's very mean lah so they just like defied the like government and they already pulled them in and then that's really when you see like


faith in mankind restored lah like people are willing to go against the government for the sake of humanitarian, so I mean I think acts like that really make me optimistic I think I I think another thing that makes me optimistic is that I mean the situation is getting better I mean it was very bleak in like february the whole phase one and like really cannot go out then like infections not really seem to be going down then like everyone very sad


but now now really seems to be getting better people are like more responsible and that that gives me optimism I think err even though a future so uncertain but at least like, it's getting better we're working towards it and it's not like not like the US where like they're that it's like they're getting they try and open up but yet there is getting worse and worse and worse so I feel very hard to be optimistic about future when you're there so


!wow! that's such a generic question what is your best surprise I mean okay I can think of a time in which I was surprised like okay I I don't really ya I don't really get surprised very easily I think, I think what I think ya like I just I just don't open myself I think one of the things that really surprised me is when I was I remember I was in army one time and I think it was my birthday or something


and then like I just met my friends like we were out for like a meal or something and then err and then we went our separate ways I think it's my birthday and then but then so I basically I took a bus home like after the event my friends they basically cab to my house and then they they went up and then they were like preparing everything they wanted to put like decorations like gave me a cake and everything


and then when I came out of the lift and they just surprised at I was honestly like shocked and surprised like I I really really didn't expect that, ya they go back to my house before me because because they cab back so I was like so surprised you know I was like !wow! like I didn't even know that they knew my birthday and yet they would, like, come and they were very good at hiding like surprises and everything and I mean I've done this kind of thing before lah with all of my friends and everything but I guess when you're the the the subject I mean of it like you really see like !wow! and that was like surprise me a lot lah


ya, how about how about for you


[oh] bungee jump !wow! sounds fun (ppl)


prompt one out of four, part


okay so I guess the first question is like what's one financial advice that you will give to your, five years ago to yourself five years ago


actually ya I think it's very interesting that you mentioned about checking your expenses because err I think that was the the the first thing that I did when I started working is that I created like this excel spreadsheet and then like, err I think every month like I'll I'll just check like even if this very small expenses like I'll check it and ya try update it daily actually and ya I think one advice that I would give myself five years ago is to really just like start taking about


ya similar to you I guess like to start thinking about finance more early because I guess when you're young and you don't really have err, you have you don't make your own money you feel like err you don't feel the, need to like start investing and like start making your own like passive income but I think it's really important that you start from a young age lah because err I I guess when you when you start working like you have too many things to do so like to like start suddenly start picking up like a whole new like


a domain is like quite difficult, ya so to really like get started earlier


I think, I think for now I will still like manage it on my own because I I've like just starting out mah you don't really like earn a lot so you need a finance advisor for what, ya, and I feel like cause like my family will really have like a family like


oh, insurance agent or whatever you call it, ya so I guess, if I need finance help I can ask her


think like now also nowadays like there's a lot of like tools online that like allow you to like have access to all this information like global advisories and like all those like and stuff so it's really like catered to like the younger audience who don't really have much like on knowledge beforehand about this


ya so I think is and now I guess passive investing is like quite in, so you don't really need to know much about like investing


actually it's basically a ETF lah


alright okay so I guess moving on, so I guess question three is like how do you manage your cash flow, so I guess even though you you're not working yet, is still like kind of have an income right because you're like on scholarship


ya, so how do you like like what you spend on


dude change to Stanchart, !ugh!, I sent you the link already, ya and multiplier just decreased their interest rate also


I guess for me I I don't really feel that I live very frugally but it's just that I don't spend a lot like I don't have the desire to spend a lot, ya so I just basically ya it's just food and and now it's like during uh even though it's phase two you are still mostly stuck at home and I just and I work from home as well so ya so you just mainly cook our meals


so ya most of my money goes into savings I guess and like giving money to my parents, ya, and ya ya in investing I guess so like every month I tries like err I think two hundred to three hundred and I leave it to like err


to invest in different like portfolios lah yes like mostly err like same as you I invest in StashAway as well and like some unit trust, and err ya, Bitcoin here and there


as in I just start only lah


I don't know man actually it's just I don't really have a desire to spend so there's no other alternative saving [loh] ya but I guess one, one thing that I should be saving up for it's like a HDB I guess if I wanna move out soon


how do you how do you what can you do to earn extra income to improve your income level, oh actually I was just talking about this with my mom so actually I I can't really like work on the sideline, because ya err


I think if I have to cause I'm in the civil service so I think you have to apply like for permission if you know like have a side job or anything so I don't think, I'm allow to do that ya so no extra income you eh ya ya ya no actually ya I


feel like universities actually like have a lot of job opportunities and they pay like relatively well so I was actually working, part time at NTU and I think like that supplemented like most of my income actually most of my like expenses


only until august


actually there's there's a lot of like podcast about like err finance now like I think they have like money ninety nine point three or something and ya there's there's there's like a few like err singaporean podcasters that, like do like finance stuffs, so ya ya and


ya it's like very singapore centric lah so I guess it'll be useful for us


okay


is just for like everyone like


gosh, okay okay ya , ya okay I'll check that out


err no, since, I feel like credit cards just like incentivise you to spend more, ya and ya cause you can borrow like at like a lot more than you actually have in your account lah so, I I actually don't have a credit card


I mean I I have one but it's, it was like from my parents like so it's technically linked to my mother's account ya so I didn't have credit card of my own yet ya, and ya I guess ya


oh but you get points right if you use your credit card ya


as in by the way for singapore credit card


I guess you also mentioned that you you're pretty frugal person so do you have like any saving goals and


actually ya I feel like watching a few videos here and there about like all the banking crisis so it's like you know if you like because like banks like they can just like loan out like all the money their bank plus like like three times the amount okay I that actually this was a US centric video lah so I don't know whether it applies to singapore


but it's like it's I guess is a bit dangerous to put all your money in also one bank account, so like would you like diversify, like your savings in like multiple bank accounts like in the future or currency


right okay, so it's like not like a worry for you [lah] I guess


err, part three negative experiences


oh my gosh I really hate people who claim credit for like, or like people who like leech off your work, ya oh, okay but I was gonna err going to say rats because I really hate rats but yes, err I think


ya just humanitarian like err horrors and every day ya I guess, ya similar to you I I really like watching like war shows and like history stuff but I think it's also like very gruesome and ya not really the best person with all the


the gruesome stuff, just so ugly and disgusting I think they are like they are they are like quite useless I don't know why they why they are alive


okay nevermind rat sucks okay anyway,


I guess for me like the possibility of getting COVID I guess that is still a worry that I might and that I face because it's not so much about me getting it but it's like more of like a spreading it to my family especially because I stay with my grandmother


ya and then also, I guess the economy lor, like I mean I guess cause you and I we are both like the the new generation, that is like starting in the workforce so , I'm guessing like you have to like bear the brunt of like the taxes


so sad , ya , and I'm just like we're to replenish all the reserves


quite like you studied what computers and stuff right like software, ya right


, semiconductors


ya and I think like the job thing that you mentioned like, it was, like because for me like err so I applied for a job and like , like actually like there were two jobs like one that was I was in the midst of like applying and I really wanted but then because of the whole COVID situation I think like that like pressured me to like


I mean that sort of like pushed me to like accept this job that I'm doing now because I think it allowed me to start earlier because if I took the other job I will start later and I didn't know whether like they will retract their offer lah, so I think ya like even though if like I had the opportunity


ya I would have taken the other job, ya I think it's a very like pressing issue lah like the this issue about jobs and everything especially for graduates, ya, and also the the possibility that like you know like we might be like getting like a lower salary than we otherwise would have deserved and


ya, ya lost generation, okay wait but I don't know whether that applies to us because like I think that applies to like the students or what no no meh or is it like the people that are graduating


but I mean you mentioned that you were on an internship right so do you think like the conversion rate is like


!wow! okay let me think first how about you you have an


ya and I guess like also like, uh post I mean not really post COVID but like recently china has announced that they're also gonna disregard like all the, like uh greenhouse gas emissions you just gotta to go forward and like try to increase ramp up production and manufacturing as fast as possible to like recover some of their losses lah and I'm thinking like you know even as we like kind of recover from COVID everything like everyone is gonna be trying to like err recover from this economy


and that's like really gonna throw all this global warming and all the like, , advances that we have actually made into like alternative energy everyone is just gonna go back to like the most if, like, the most efficient like form of energy lah which I guess is fossil fuel which ya


irreplaceable (hmm) ya right, I guess for me, err something that, I feel has gone gravely wrong is that I feel like especially like in our generation I feel that people has have err become like


ah, like we have become like a cancel generation we like we become like so sensitive to everything that we are not allowed to like kind of like face like certain hardships like the minute people the minute like err something of like is like kind of offensive to us


or like something like maybe err something, unfortunate that happen to be fall on us we just like term it as like oh this is like a form of discrimination this is a form of like err like hardship and everything lah I mean that that definitely is like


like, true discrimination and racism and everything going on but I feel like sometimes like people like gets too carried away and they just try to lump everything together and like just say that, ya oh everything is discrimination everything is like racism


like ya and we don't really like really like learn like we don't develop like, to be tough people because, ya we just sort of, like, ya just lump everything together and I think that's very bad lah in the future, if we don't actually like face all these like difficulties and obstacles


yes like taking advantage


ya agreed


too angry ah !wah!, actually like something that I've always thought about like you know in all those like action movies and all the superhero movies like I feel like the good guys kill equally like they they cause equally they err they cause the same amount of


damage as like the bad guys, so that I don't really feel that they are good guys like honestly ya , like ya I just feel very angry that like you know they just like kill all these like bad other bad guys people and like they destroy all the building and then like everyone proclaims them as like the hero okay lah I still watch it lah but then like I mean it


it's like something to think about lah, that, like what what constitutes good and bad


because there's no like universal laws that are like written down it's just like, up to us to like kind of define it for ourselves


and you mentioned that atomic bomb right so like the first time they dropped it like they saw the amount of damage that it already caused then like why did they have to drop the second one, like I I feel like japan was already like gonna surrender, they were already fighting like a losing battle like germany had surrendered


I can't cannnot answer the question okay I choose I choose I choose a question I wanna answer, so I guess , this, okay what is describe a travel experience they left you in awe


okay I guess so like err this didn't really left leave me in awe but like something that like err, err a travel experience that like s stuck very close to my heart was actually something that like happened last year actually last year like for my birthday I went to climb mount a mountain that I can't remember what the mountain is called but basically it was in indonesia like with my with my JC classmate


and I think like err the trip was very memorable because like I thought like indonesian weather will be like singapore, so I kind of just brought like singlet and shorts, but I forgot I would I don't know why but I I kind of forgot that we were going to the mountains in I ya forgot it was gonna be cold in the mountain that was like seven degrees six degrees and it was raining and like


I was in like a very thin like uh tights in like a singlet I think and I was like freezing cold there everyone was everyone else were like, wearing like winter jackets and everything and ya it's quite embarrassing and some more the the because it was raining everything was foggy and I couldn't see the mountain but


ya it was it was it was super cold lah I guess it was a a trip that I would remember and then after that we went to climb like this waterfall and like it was super slippery and I'm a very clumsy person, so ya and then everyone was laughing at me and like I just kept thinking that I was going to die like all the time like climbing down climbing up the waterfall because we went there like we were the last people there already


then err ya it was like getting dark and we're like in a foreign place and, ya there's no signal in the waterfall please, ya so I was quite scared, ya, so uh ya


like like activate it I was just like very like, err it was just really cold and very embarrassing cause everyone else was like dressed so warm and then they were like just staring at me ya


ya it's crazy like how fast like the temperature changes with the altitude, ya ya it's flat five hundred I think


okay it is five hundred meters up from like the ground I don't know how high it is from sea level


but which part of south america


ya


I think I'm very fortunate to have been too like a lot of like places out like overseas, I think my favourite country is, I don't know turkey because I feel like there's like both the europe and asian like culture so it's like mix together because it's on the boundary of both europe and asia


and like I guess there's a like, as a christian like there's a lot of like religious sites in turkey as well so ya that makes it like a bit more err, ya close to my heart, ya, so I guess moving on to do you want to choose the next question


I guess for me it's just, watching YouTube videos or like watching Netflix and ya and cause it's like it's like after you work so hard and like you used your mind so much you just wanna like no lah I totally and not think


ya, that's that's why I really hate play like board games or like games in general cause you still have to think but like if you watch a movie or you like, ya watch like stupid videos and no need to think


it's not relaxing you still have you will like sweat


K I I ya I get what you mean but like it really stress, ya it really does I guess it feels like you are running away from your problems


no eh but I feel like for YouTube is different from like TikTok cause YouTube they they recommend you like stuff from the same YouTuber but for like TikTok is like the similar content but like different people, ya, so I feel like TikTok's algorithm is better,


ya it, okay (hmm) oh, oh what what was the proudest moment of your life


err I can't think of a the proudest but I guess like err, something that I'm low key proud about, is that cause err I do boxing and then like cause like I'm quite small in size, I I get a bit proud okay I ya I get a bit happy remember like I win someone that's bigger than me it's like ya cause especially like in my gym like


I'm the smallest there and then everyone like has this like low expectations oh you're just like some small girl and then ya, because it feels good , ya but, ya ya and I guess like people doubt you more so they will be like oh my gosh


ya so it's like, more fun I mean is is, the adrenaline rush is there lah so like like what you mentioned, so I guess we both enjoy sports, yes


err I wanted to but like I I kind of don't fit the weight category yet, and ya, I don't I don't want to put on weight also I mean yes, put on like five kg and then like if I feel cause like I run also so if you put on five kg it's like five kg additional weight to run so no


ya, I guess another proud moment that I had was like also to do with running so like running was something that I I started quite late also so when I first started uni so like I never imagined myself being able to complete like a marathon so I guess when I completed my first one it was like !wow! like I actually like can do this


and ya I'm sure you can relate since you you ran a marathon before


oh it's the army ten K is it I remember


but why you do so many KM ha right


no way if if you grow older your your stamina improves I feel like your timing will improve ya, ya I get damn pissed when all the like uncle and aunty overtake me !wah! especially the like last five KM


, !wah! ya, right ya, ya that's why like a bit like Paiseh but, nevermind next year next year


dude no it's it's different it's like you need the atmosphere, if if I just run run outside one KM, ya okay, okay I think this is a very interesting question says despite the ongoing global uncertainty what makes you optimistic about the future


I think very similar to yours oh like you know you really see the best in people like when like there's hard times lah and then it causes you to like err think about what what matters the most lah I think I think we we all like heard like a lot of like heartwarming stories


like both in singapore and out of singapore lah so it's just very touching and ya ya I'm I'm very like happy and thankful that you know err even though like the circuit breaker is a very like painful time especially for me cause like I couldn't go out, but, like I think it was necessary like why like the everything had to like closed down for awhile and like you can really see like the foresight on how like you know even after we open up like mainly about seventy percent like it's still like relatively quite err safe ya


so I'm just very thankful for how like, I guess singapore has handled the whole situation and ya just praying that people be more responsible and how they act like even now, ya okay (hmm)


okay let's move to a fun question how about what what was the, what is your best surprise what's the best surprise that people have, surprised you with


they expect everything


wait so they got back to your house before you, alright cause they cab ah


(ppl) [ah], I think maybe one surprise was that when I was in (ppb) J_C and then like suddenly my friends said we like do a bungee jump in singapore I was like what (ppl)


part one, financial related topic, , if there is one financial advice that I will give to myself to the me five years ago is to


pay and invest in yourself first I don't mean to splurge on your money and get luxury goods I feel like uh due to social pressure nowadays many people buy things that they cannot afford to impress people that they don't like what I mean by paying yourself first is to like set a priority


set a priorities and a specific amount of money for your bills and other necessities before you buy anything you want and never overspend, and by investing in yourself I mean to pay off, try to pay off your debts first as soon as you can then take a step forward to dedicate your time and money to educate yourself get new skills


make mistakes and learn from mistakes cause in my perspective time is more valuable than money so I think like the younger we are the more we can afford to take risk cause we don't need like we don't have a family, now uh like like I mean you don't have uh we don't have kids or anything to like to is their our own family to stress about so now is the time that we I think we can take more risks and make more mistakes ya so how about you what would you give yourself you a financial advice


uh I'm actually kind of similar to you I managed my cashflow by setting my goals to my personal finance so I divide I use Excel like every time I turn on my computer I will just type then I track I also track I don't think


ya 'cause I 'cause I usually use card then like they got transaction like always spend on Sheng Siong Giant then I know what I'm buying and then, usually I will do every alternate days and then I use Excel and then uh I'll divide my finances into five categories lah income expense savings insurance and investing and


like now I cannot give like err allocation to these categories yet 'cause I'm still like planning uh what insurance policies to get and stuff like that so I record I don't think you I don't think you are stingy I think it's good to like count , what you're buying so that you can I mean you can budget for example let's say you spend too much this month on GrabFood or food or like


Grab, then the following month you will be aware like oh maybe I shouldn't uh eat out too much or like take GrabFood delivery I think is good like it's good to be frugal in younger days so that you won't like suffer in the end like in future


ya so I record items that I spend on and make sure I stick to my monthly budget every month and ensure that my net cash flow is positive, ya, do you have a habit of saving, how how do you ensure you


, meet your saving goals cause, I don't know I find it sometimes a bit hard 'cause I want to spend on more things ya


, it's a kid


yes yes , yup


oh !wow!


ya yup, yup ya yup


oh that is very healthy I think you develop a very you develop a very good habit since primary school which is really very impressive 'cause I only like start saving just, when I'm like, older teenager or like ya just recently so


[orh] okay I have a habit of saving but before I want to spend on anything right I I set aside like an emergency fund so like let's say touch wood in case anything happen like if I lose my job or anything then I have no income right so


uh when I've no income this is sort of like a contingency plan then I'll use that money while look while job searching for new job then I'll use that money and then I try to be more prudent in my spending habits and save, the rest of my income every month so initially right I actually just started opening a Standard Chartered JumpStart account savings account because the interest rate is very high


yes yes yes, yes so it was like two percent sorry for the first twenty K , without any requirement but then I think due to the economy and also the COVID situation so from with effect from first july onwards the interest rate has been revised to just one percent so currently I'm trying to do my homework to see if like there's any better deals too


put this amount of money and to ensure I meet my saving goals I define my short term and long term goals to make sure they are realistic and achievable then I meet my overall budget, every month to make sure I achieve my desired savings rate and then if I want to increase my spending I'll make sure like either there's a salary increase or like I get income from somewhere else to to spend more


ya ah, so , !huh!, uh like , like I think there's many different ways like maybe you can


I think nowadays a lot of people want to do YouTube videos then they can the more views they earn then they the more views they get the more they earn there's many different way to get income like or you can just do a temporary job, uh during the weekends or like temperature taking or take survey or like give private tuition there's many ways that you can


get, other income from somewhere else, ya but how about you what do you think is there any other way you think can, yup (mmhmm)


yup okay


ya , uh, uh , I think have to do a uh source first like source where I can conduct lesson 'cause I think I need to get a teaching cert before I can teach somewhere ya


actually depends but I think it will be better to get a certificate teaching certificate before you teach somewhere else if not you your dance teacher will, maybe let you try to teach some other a a few classes then let you earn a little bit of income


ya that's if your teacher allow you ya but it's always better to get a certificate so that you are a qualified teacher, ya do you do you how do you spend your money like, I realised that last month I spend a lot on gifts so 'cause on gifts because uh because of father's day my friend's birthday like a lot of event so how what expenditure you think like you should spend and what have you been spending too much on


oh


, same yes


that's right


uh on average I think like you I spent most of my money on daily necessities like you know shampoo everything like all those like stuff and then meals and transport which I think, we should spend on like I create a monthly budget plan I told you then dividing them into two categories one is fixed and one is variable so the fix expenses like every month you need to pay your phone bills


subscriptions like Spotify, oh sorry I'm so sorry so okay, yup I'm I


because because I feel like okay so my fix expenses is like monthly phone bills and subscriptions Spotify Netflix so variable expenses include like shopping meals transport repair maintenance, the reason why I divide them is because I feel like variable expense can be adjusted regularly like for example this month you realise you spend too much on food or because you eat out too much or like food delivery so the following month you can adjust


easily by like cooking at home and eat more often at home so whereas on the other hand right, for fixed fixed expenses you can only adjust when like there's a better phone phone contract or like there's a change in subscription rate or like there's a better app


like, uh better music like Apple Music and Spotify which one cheaper then which is quite hard to tweak if you want to reduce on fixed expense so in my opinion spending money on meals and daily necessities is justified to meet our physical needs but I think last month I spend too much on gifts last


for my friend's birthday and the, father's day, and stuff like that but but whenever I spend I try to like, uh, use my credit card if can because, like oh like GrabPay I haven't tried for GrabPay yet but I I know that the benefits I know that the benefits are good uh so I tried to make use of the rebates and collect points collect miles whenever I can so that


that's how I think we should, ya we should spend on money ya


, nope I have nothing to add on anymore I think I should I should have start saving like you uh at a young age but it's never too late lah, ya


yup (ppl)


part three negative experiences, so, something that frustrates me the most is when someone complaints nonstop about the same problem over and over again and so not not like very very


annoy me a lot and not facing the situation even like his or her friends give advice to him or her to address the issue I feel that the more times a person vent about problem the less people care because it's very like, emotionally draining to their friends is very like radiating the negative vibes ya so is either I feel like he or she should do something about it


or like accept the misery and just keep quiet ya so how about you, , what frustrates you the most


yes yes


ya sure you can share first


I guess my fear would be death but, I think everyone is scared of death but uh ya but the second most, is when I, I know that my, close ones betray


me and then , and then I will be, in able to in order to protect myself I'll be cold to them because for the fear that they will hurt me again, because I gave them all my trust


and then one day they just like, snap and betray me, and then, I just feel like, or like someone just lie to me I just don't like people lie to me because, I mean lying in terms like in terms of


like in the end I'll something will harm like there's a harmful consequences so in the end I will feel, very betrayed and I'll turn very cold to them to protect myself


(mmhmm) uh, do you do you have a serious do you have, any phobias and how do you overcome them


oh ya ya ya ya ya ya when you look at the picture


oh I can't think of any phobias right now but I will talk about a series of unfortunate events that occur, quite recently which is last year so so I actually study overseas in Melbourne so right after I graduate uh students are international students can apply for a temporary graduate graduate visa where where they can


work live and study oh and do anything they want for two years in Melbourne, so, right after I graduate I apply for the the visa but got rejected because I failed, to provide a document which I thought was not mandatory there's a police check ah so I thought like oh so they ask me on the check the checkbox uh have you submitted have you applied for police check then I put no 'cause I thought like don't really need and then I got rejected so that's the first


unfortunate event so the second opportunity when a letter came I went to appeal and I had to pay for another thousand over dollars, and , after I submitted the officer tell me oh is not certain that the appeal will be successful and only after I submit right the officer told me I'm not allowed to leave the country for next one and a half years or else my appeal case will be considered void oh my god so I I was really really very upset


I I asked her why don't you tell me why didn't you tell me before I submit and then she just keep quiet so yup that's my second series unfortunate event and the third one is, that happen in last year july august so in september my father had a bad fall and was hospitalised so and the doctor said he showed a little symptoms of stroke on his brain so living overseas


living overseas and like I can't go visit my, my dad my flight back, makes me really like like, it's just very too much shit, , too much drama going on, that point of time so the fourth one which is the last one okay


so I was working part time at a cafe while looking for a full time job and getting my, ya while getting a full time job while trying to get a full time job cause my visa is not still not still not process yet so whenever the interviews call me like I feel like I'm lucky enough to get interviews


uh phone interviews but when they ask me about my visa I say oh it's still processing then they will like uh okay uh sorry we choose we're going to choose another candidate cause your visa is not is not certain yet so, understand where they're coming from so I was working part time, part time in a cafe right


and then uh, initially I I did see like signs of red flags like, (hmm) these bosses doesn't, it's not really trustworthy because I feel it and I just observe what he do and then a few months, ya I just went ahead and and my friend actually got a better job at retail benjamin uh okay I shouldn't name the shop like is a singapore retail shop in Melbourne and


got better pay but because of like, I'm a more people person so I don't want to like just leave my boss like that and he got to find a new person to take over and he went bankrupt in, november december period and I haven't receive my salary since then


and that point of time I was struggling to pay my rent and my visa application and I'm waiting for visa application to process, so I could use this salary to pay for my one month rent so until now I still haven't received so that whole six months of last year the end of six months the last six months of last year was really really very unfortunate for me but I guess is much better now ya


do you have any series of unfortunate events, uh I think with family wise, and I feel more comfortable but , but I don't like it because I feel like I'm not growing like I want to be more independent


ya, do you have any events or like anything that made you angry ,


or like disgusts you anything that disgusts you or make you angry or anything


yes oh the K pop star


let I'll describe I'll just, say an event that made me very angry so , back in back to the same cafe okay I used to work in a cafe as a part-time waitress so one time we were understaffed and it was a saturday you know saturday cafes are really busy


and my boss and supervisor was weren't at work so one of my more experienced colleague let's name her mary okay she offered to come down she was she's off that day but she offered to come down and help out during lunchtime which is nice of her and I kept telling her I'm grateful and stuff like that and then


then, because I was new staff so I wasn't sure where some items were, placed like some random like normal, normal regular normal stuff I know where is it but like those special things I don't where is it so I so I went back went to the back kitchen halfway halfway to get a small bowl that we rarely use and I wanted to let customers to try a new dessert just for marketing purposes lah


so when I got out of the kitchen I found out that mary already made the dessert that I wanted to make is okay and then she also got the similar bowl that I was looking for and was already serving it to the customers and then I approach her and ask her eh I wanted to ask her you like eh there's a small bowl in one, like, near the counter I didn't I didn't I wanted to ask her that 'cause I didn't know there was one in front and then before I even started talking to her to ask her about the bowl she told me like


uh she came down all the way to cafe she, to help out and, not to work for me so I got really really angry like I feel like she's not genuine like, ya I mean ya I'll it was understaffed I know and like I really I was really grateful that she come out and help but after hearing what she say I feel like


I feel very mistreated because I found her very unreasonable and I had enough of her trying to like assert dominance even before this incident so so I feel like her true intention is to like show maybe like to show to the boss that uh I am


uh she is kind and helpful so I decided to speak up to myself for myself I don't want that, if she's not sincere and not joining to help, she can leave we we can handle without her and in the end she left


yes I don't care because I feel like I feel very mistreated I I just feel like she's not genuine, she just want to maybe, show something uh, I don't care if she did cause the next day the next day was sunday and we both at work and then my boss ask uh what's what's wrong with us cause we both were like black face and then I that night I tried to like talk to her like I say I know uh you cannot help all the way or that but I just


I just try to state my stand and then I did apologise to her but she read the message and just brush it off, so I feel like this kind of person is like mixed, no point yes yup, , is that talking about


yes I'm sorry yes but let me just relax but can you talk about like do you have anything that you want to talk about


okay for me I feel like, uh, the anxiety I face is I feel like the lesser there'll be lesser human interaction because more companies are allowing, asked to work from home which leads to like a negative impact in our mental health so I feel like physically interaction is very very important but we've working from home or that or what home based learning it will impact on


mental health and I feel like more people will get anxious and depression over the next two years and also the last one is like you I've I'm actually quite scared, that just anyone I feel like any, it's true that anyone or what


anyone can be anyone job can will be put redundant, uh I'm scared that one day my boss will just tell me oh sorry our firm is, we don't need you anymore like because I feel like a lot of things nowadays can put can be put into automation


and, like you I want to learn more, (um) especially in the technology


part, part two positive experiences


uh what makes me feel alive is I guess, , every day I will wake up and I know what I I've motivation to do something I think every day, everyone has goals to do


like, uh wake up you want to brush your teeth or indeed to go to work for me motivation there's like, uh short term, goal and long term goal like short term or are all the daily stuff that we do uh


long term is more of my career perspective and, relationship friendships stuff like that like for career if I want to set a target and then, I always try to learn like you uh I'll, learning stuff makes me happy like if I can't solve a problem


no matter how much time or effort I take I'm willing to do it , ya or how many failures I made like I don't mind failures as long as I get to the end, that's makes me happy and satisfied


ya so talking about skill , there's one skill and, I'm, not say it needs like a natural skill uh a skill that I, have recently learnt is


the skill of empathetic listening, and I think that this is, empathic listening so I think like this is an important ability in today society so recent uh, living in a fast paced world a lot of people are often busy with their studies and careers and they don't have time to spend on themselves


so like when family friendship or relationship problems arise they tend to put aside and keep them keep them to themselves keep keep their problems to themself for the fear that others will judge, and I like to listen to to people to better understand them and try to solve their problem if I can and I only judge when someone does something morally wrong or like attack my principles and value because I feel like at the end of the day we all just wanna be heard and be accepted for who we are


I like to just listen to my friend stories and try to understand them and then reflect at end of the day how about you do you do you have any skill that you think you're proud of having


ya


yes


yes,


no is not I think is okay,


yup sometimes sometimes ya , yes to run


judge eh so bad okay


sometimes you will be amazed by your result right, sometimes you will be like amazed by result !wow! oh my god I actually run this far or these much ya, ah yup


, uh mine is very


just very simple simple I enjoy solitaire and I love spending time alone listening to music , shut, okay what thing what, think what, oh no I don't play anymore I just likes likes


ya I don't play anymore like just spend time and like reflect then do stuff listen like listening music going to the gym like like you alone sometimes with friends is good, dancing and reading books during my down time so sometimes I like to like travel out the city 'cause I feel like it's very busy and I do road trip to hike during the weekends to get recharge for new week ahead


ya so 'cause sometimes I feel like I socialised around then I get very tired and I need few days to recharge, my own time then after that few days I'm I'm okay then I can get to socialise again cause I'm an introvert ya


yes, ya do you, do you have any travel experience that left you in awe, okay okay uh I will try to summarise mine okay so I went taiwan to volunteer few years ago where I taught english and dance to


an elementary school in a rural area in taiwan this is an experience that I'll never ever forget there's a very smart boy, who has ADHD attention deficit hyper disorder and always like to misbehave in class so the teachers actually told me that his parents were in jail because of drug abuse and he was living with his grandparents and his grandfather had to take care of


his grandma and great grandfather who were both ill so there's one day I realised that he wore the same, jacket three days in a row and I saw his fingernails were muddy like very black and then so I asked him


!hey! uh, didn't you shower like you have been wearing the same clothes I, I think, I'm not sensitive enough but that's why I asked him like why is your hands so dirty ya I'm sorry , ya so so he


it really breaks my heart to hear it he say oh, he said I didn't shower for the last two days because there's no heater at home and it was during winter time so so he can't do shower at home so I feel that, and he always frequently got into fights with other students so I feel that the boy misbehaviour is to gain attention from the adults in school which he lack of at home and then I respect the teachers a lot who have the patience to guide and teach him throughout the years in the primary school


because it's really not easy like he every day definitely he will get fights and, and, also all the students there were also taught to clean and maintain the toilets themselves like in singapore I think cause we focus a lot of in education but for them I think they're less


less strict on education and are more relaxed and simple and then they were taught to clean and maintain the toilet themselves they don't have like toilet cleaners and they sweep the corridors every day and help the kitchen chef to serve the, oh oh ya ya that's right