cash on us it's very inconvenient cause sometimes if we are going out as a group and you want to pay people for their meals its very inconvenient to find change and then pay them so it's easier to use like debit cards or mobile banking apps like paynow and paylah to


send money and receive money, and it's also because if uh we when we started working was easier to transact using debit cards as everyone that we're that was surrounding me was kind of also using debit cards or like any banking apps rather than just the traditional way of cash


so it was also easier to transact and buy items as well ya, so what ya what else do you think about this banking products


ya I agree that it really increases convenience and actually other than helping us to track our finances it also help our parents to track their finance as well especially when they are giving allowance and stuff cause they can see how much money they been giving you as well as how much money have you


spent during a certain period of time allowing them to properly track their finance as well and also I feel that since many of us now are more tech savvy so it's easier to use all these banking products and also personally not directly related to banking product but kind of like


an extension of it I've also used the singpass app to access my CPF services to make sure that make sure that I was able to track how much of my salary that I was drawing at the point of time was being dedicated to the different medisave accounts or


current uh special accounts so this made me make sure that I was also actually getting paid on time and at the right amount because my work was paid by the hour and it was hard to gauge how many hours I work in a month as we only recorded it


uh physically in a book rather than electronically so using this uh these products allows me to better track how I'm being paid and what and whether I'm being paid correctly so I feel like it's very relevant right now in this day and age ya


so what are your thoughts


ya I agree and also to add on like on how these type of apps can help us manage our finances there's actually an option under the POSB digi bank where you can track how your spending has been going like which percentage of your spending has gone to transport which has gone to


food as well as different services that allows you to maybe apply for a multiplier account to help you like manage your savings better and also it kinds like like help you invest or buy any credits or funds that could help


in your future investment so I think its very useful to help you track all these minor investments that you can even make at this this age and it's very relevant to us right now especially I feel like since almost every shopping mall or every MRT station there will be ATMs over there and its very easy for you to withdraw money


when you need the cash or to pay your bills from like AXS machine and stuff like that so I feel like it can help us it really brings a lot of convenience into our lives and makes it easier to manage ourselves, uh what about you?


is something based on my limited knowledge it's something that could help you multiply your savings by a certain percentage and you need to keep a certain amount inside so of course it you have to I think you have uh to have a minimum amount inside your account and dedicate some of that funds


into the multiplier account for it to generate generate money throughout the year, ya you, ya actually it's very convenient you can just do it through the app there's steps to help you so so there's like E services if I'm not wrong and there's credit transfer funds so there's a lot of services under the homepage of the POSB digibank I feel like its a very good extension of


a banking product that is what is traditionally viewed as just a savings account ATM or just credit card debit card because is something that's can be carried around in our smartphone because it's downloaded in our smartphone and everyone nowadays have a smartphone


so its much easier to use it, ya, ya, ya


actually it's interesting because I'd also applied for my debit card through the app so a lot of things can be done through the app and I think it's a very good product they have actually pushed for cause brings a lot of convenience to people's life but I was thinking uh other than this there's also things like apple pay and


samsung pay and do you have any like experience using them


ya, actually I have same thoughts as you because initially I would want to try google pay or samsung pay but I'd always have this fear of what if my phone gets hacked and my details will get will be stolen because now since we are downloading all these apps into our phone other apps may actually like endanger the security of our phone


so I was just wondering like whether it's safe to use these apps so I would rather stick to the my debit card to pay for items and I think that it's a very relevant product that will still be seen in the future and not totally obsoleted because everyone carries around


their wallets and even if you don't carry cash you can carry your small pouch that has your debit cards inside that can pay for almost everything nowadays so I feel like it's still okay to just stick to traditional use of debit cards as it will still be relevant in the future, ya


I agree with the part on elderly not being that tech savvy because I've seen them being resistant to using these services and prefer the traditional method as they can ask people to help them as well if they are not sure also for cheques is it can be relevant but I feel like


in the future it will kinda become obsoleted because we can see like in the past people used to get paid for their salaries using cheques where like you know the manager will give out cheques to every employee and they would have to bank it in but nowadays is all just internet banking and


they will just transfer you your salary and there's no not such as high restriction on the amount that you can transfer and usually people get their pays through internet banking so I feel like this is actually, gonna be obsolete in the future and like not relevant anymore because cheques are still like physical pieces of paper and is also dangerous to carry around cheques sometimes because maybe if you lose it and then other people can bank it in so I feel that maybe cheques will not be seen


as so relevant in the future anymore, ya


ya cause actually a lot of people do not know about this type of services that's actually present in the app so there was a time where I was just very interested when I first download the app so I tried to like figure out what can we do within the app and I realise that it's actually super convenient


also like in the for ATMs right I feel like its very inconvenient in a way that when there's a lot of people trying to withdraw money or like do any transfer from the ATM you would have to queue up and wait for others in front


and usually the older generation they are quite, they are not that tech savvy so it's quite inconvenient for them as well sometimes they don't know what how to internet transfer because I have a personal experience where a older lady in front of me actually asked me for help on how to to transfer her money to her son


so I feel that ATMs actually it's not it is convenient definitely but it's not the best method that can be to help us manage our finances and do any finance related method however it definitely will still be relevant in the future because


if anyone wants to go out to withdraw money where do they go to first it's actually the ATM if not there's no other way cause I don't think people want to waste time to go to a bank to just withdraw money and like ask someone personally to help them withdraw money ya


ya I agree also and it's also a better way to book keep let say for people who are who are actually doing businesses its better to keep track of their finances because personally I have seen research on how actually better financial accounts and having


structured accounts can help you to ensure that your business is actually moving the right direction or you are know you are in the know of where your funds are actually going so it provides like a very clear cut way of showing like oh this is where your money is going


and for us cause we are still students right now our income is definitely not that high and we are just very wary of our spending especially we are now in university and university tuition fees are not cheap so we want to be sure that we are not spending that much and


these banking products will definitely help us to just keep track of our finances and make sure that we all are able to, uh ya able to keep, how about you


I'm sorry my internet died


ya so basically I was just saying that it brings a lot of convenience to us and it's very relatable from people of all the ages right now so definitely banking products will stay relevant in the future but certain products will definitely go obsolete since there are physical versions and digital versions of it


ya actually I agree with the point about bank books because my mum actually likes to keep track of her of her finances that way I think its a very traditional method but when she went to the banking service they actually told her that we don't print out bank books anymore or like most of them prefer not to and


do not have that option anymore, so definitely we can see the banking products evolving uh as time passes so some of them will stay relevant but things that are like print form like bank books and cheques eventually I feel like they will evolve into something more digital and more convenient for everyone to use


ya definitely had a few cause, A'levels was really a very stressful period and not just the exam itself the whole two years where content was just packed into us everyday and it's just a whole new chunk of new things that we have to learn every single day when you start to lag behind it's really hard to catch up


so there was a period of time where I was very overwhelmed with work because it was during april march and april period where I had uh continual assessments coming up and during the period of time I also had my Taekwondo competitions coming up as well as


having to plan for the next uh executive committee of Taekwondo as I was in charge I was secretary of Taekwondo and at that point of time it was very stressful to have to, fish out all the details from all my members and collate them and send it back to my teachers and even to deal with the stress of exams because at that point of time I wasn't doing very well as I expected to be and I remember distinctively a period of time where it was very stressful for us it was because


me and my executive committee we were not able to submit names for the competition for our school on time because of some admin issue and it was a very large issue because my friend who was wrongly graded as


uh colour belt than he was supposed to be and it was very major issue because if this was brought up to the competition board they could actually suspend the whole school for not uh suspend the whole school and not allow us to continue the competition and there was a a lot of very intense exchange with our teachers


and a lot of rushing trying to get the information right and communicating with our coach was very laid back on admin issues because usually we handle it and it was very stressful because it was supposed to be a period of time where we are having our exams and top of this we had deadlines that were like two hours away to reach


and at the point of time I was very stressed out and had a bit of a panic attack but my friends were there to calm me down because we were all on this together but I agree that really exam stress adds on to a lot of things that you're facing in life and it really can make you feel very down and


just very very stressed and very anxious about things happening around you ya, how about you leh


ya definitely there was a lot of procrastination but the thing is it was very stressful at that point of time where there were many assignments coming out one after another and our schools always held regular exams to ensure that we were on task and like ready to take the final exams


uh which is A levels and I remember one one point of time that was super stressful for me was during prelims period where it was just only a month and a half away from A levels and when we all got back our prelim results I did very badly for two of my subjects


and it wasn't even it was just a bare barely pass kind of thing like sub pass what we call it in JC so I've I was very stressed and very anxious because I wasn't sure of how I was going to improve myself with within that short period of time because from my experience


in secondary school that was not the case because being consistent helped me to achieve better results but right now I wasn't able to keep up to that and that really affected me and my mood I was very stressed that I kept I kind of binge eat a lot and also when people tend to question me I get very easily frustrated and


flustered and I I do not like having people annoy me especially when I was studying ya so really adds up to a lot of my stress around here, ya how about you


(hmm) ya I I agree it just like when there's a lot of things piling on to you and when one thing starts to go wrong like we are not able to prepare for our exam well or we can't seem to be able to study it just breaks down this whole chain of


stuff that is going wrong in your life and then it puts a lot of amounting pressure on you, ya so other than that other than exams I actually felt like very intense stress during one of my part time jobs after A Levels so basically it was customer service job where I had to call customers to ask them to make payments for their rentals


on time and ensure that there were not no discrepancy in payments and, make sure that all the logistics are in place so basically when I had to call customers it was very stressful for me as as I had prior experience like the first few times when I called there were people who were very angry on the phone and very


short fused where they just shouted or they just, they were just very rude to you because money is a very sensitive issue as we all know and when you tell them that they haven't paid something on time they actually get very angry and frustrated and then they project this anger on to me but I was I was just thinking I'm just a part time worker who really did not know much that was happening and just doing what


my supervisor asked me to do and it was very frustrating because I also could not talk back to the customer but all I did was just sit there and take it all in and I realise this also because my supervisor was was very hesitant to take any calls that were coming from customers and she also did not want to face this type of situation


and I was thinking why did they if they themselves did not want to face this type of situation why did they ask me to do it and it was very very stressful time because I did not like to be accused of things that I didn't do and I'm I'm someone who is very defensive but when it comes to times like this I just have to


suck it in and just take it all in and just be nice to the customer because there's no choice but it was very stressful and very nerve wrecking period of time ya how about you any experiences with work or


ya cause I also took the coding module and it was very stressful as there was a portion under the coding module where they had a leader board and they show show people who were on top of the leader board that means they were doing their assignments way ahead before time and completing them


and this kind of rankings actually stress me a lot because it shows how far you someone can actually lag behind which was what I felt and there were so many deadlines every single week where there will be at least two assignments to submit


weekly and to see people moving up the leader board meaning that they have completed their assignments make me think that they had it so easy like they were able to do it and why can why can't I do it that fast as well it make me very stressed looking at the assignments and trying to complete them


and also with someone with no coding background it was very very hard to catch up and to deal with all the technical terms and aspects of this module especially when there are people who are, who are very knowledgeable in this field and I feel that its very competitive as well because we are in a very competitive faculty which is computing and people are just pit against each other all the time so you would you really had to like step up and


get your A game on if not you will really just lag behind ya


ya, I also felt the same way like I had there was very like very often I have to stay up until three AM plus to just try to finish my work and even staying up that late didn't help me to to finish like it could be a very simple assignment


yet I will take so long to do it and it made me very stress and anxious and I'll become fidgety and like every time I try and stare at the computer screen I just zone out because nothing can go in my head and I realise its actually a bad thing to code that late at night or like just do any work


for long periods of time into the night because it really makes you very stressed and your head is just in the wrong place so you can't actually concentrate that well I feel ya so its really just a very stressful experience that I felt and also


having this experience makes me more aware of where I where my weaknesses lie and where I must work how I must work on it so it makes me very stressed in a way that I have to better myself and like upskill myself in order to be able to compete


better with all these other people in the faculty, ya


ya I feel like definitely there's pros and cons because my personal experience with studying online was just was average because other than it being very comforting to just study at home but also


I had an experience with our online module where they were teaching they were coding it was a coding module and it was a tutorial and it was online and I felt that it did not help me at all and this was even before the whole COVID situation started and because online some certain modules just can't be taught online I feel because we just need that human


interaction over there to help you and online lesson were just boring as they all they did was ask us to complete assignments and ask us to read out the answers which was very useless to me I feel because I did not manage to learn a lot of things from it and as a result I feel like my grades suffer


and that's another worry that I feel that might happen in the post COVID world because in our field of studies we are bound to take on more of these modules and if they plan to shift everything online it may not be that beneficial to our learning and this will like affect us in getting our


degree and stuff like that, ya, how about you


ya I also agree because just the other day when the prime minister <P1>lee hsien loong</P1> was talking in his speech and he actually mentioned the part of where our economy will take a few years to recover and then we have to take a few years to recover as well then it really hit me that this pandemic really affected


like so much on a global scale not just where lives are being lost but even lives that are still, able to be safe right we still face other issues happening like how our economy is being restructured whether we will have secure jobs and even all our learning abilities how are we it affects the new way of learning I feel and like pandemics like this really


like makes you think about how easily like everyone how fragile life as in like how easily a life can be lost cause now when I just see reports on COVID nineteen deaths or COVID nineteen cases its just numbers but these numbers actually have


so much impact on people who actually know them like people who are actually suffering from COVID nineteen or people who actually pass away and its very sad because the deaths are very amounting and such pandemics really just bring across very solemn feelings around the world


I feel and having the whole world in lockdown really just seems so self isolating like never would I have thought that the whole world could actually go into lockdown where travel is being restricted things that we did maybe just six months ago were now totally not


not uh totally avoidable like we can unable to do it so its very scary to see how fast the world can actually just change and just how much that is effort that is taken to get through this and we are not even halfway there but its very scary to


predict and like kind of foresee what would happen in the future, ya


!huh! I'm online [ah], ya I can, okay


ya similarly like in general also I'm very thankful for, having people around me like relating back to well technology part I too agree with you a lot because during this period of time it can be, quite self isolating in a sense of your emotions rather than the person itself also because you cannot see your friends and you are stuck at home all day and sometime you are just facing the same people all day but then these are the people who are the support system for you so for me is like


my family where I have my parents and two of my siblings, and I'm very grateful that at least at I have them to like get me through this period of time and it's very heartening to see, like how many how much more conversations we actually have right now this situation like brings to us because now we are just stuck at home and we can like engage with each other more and like spend more time together and also with the use of technology like zoom applications


or Skype I'm I'm able to, I'm able to communicate with my friends even though we are not able to see each other and we are like socially distant and it allows me to keep my like straighten my bonds with my friends and not lose contact with them and it's a very useful way to keep in touch with someone as


I'm someone who likes to have interactions with people and I do not like enjoy having to be socially distanced for that long so having this experiences and having online gatherings allows me to be happier and more


more heartened than I am able to still get to get like get together with my friends online and just keep track of what they are doing and that's like being in each others lives ya how about you


ya I agree and it's something like apart from that also it's very heartening and very kind of privilege for us to able to have this opportunity to spend this time to seek out what we actually like our interest and participate in


where our passion lies or what we want to learn more about and definitely this makes me thankful for being in singapore especially because the way that they are having handling this COVID nineteen situation is definitely one of the best and is at the end of the day it's still a pandemic we cannot expect


it to just go away simply but I feel like our government has definitely handled it very well and took care of all the citizens and their needs although there are some areas that could be improved and with that I'm very thankful for that and also the security that this country provides because we can see a lot of chaos and violence happening in other countries


like the black lives matter movement in america it's a very good movement however there's so much violence arising for it and I feel that maybe countries should provide security for all their citizens and not show any discrimination and I feel that


singapore has actually managed to sort of achieve that because nothing is fool proof we can't say that they totally achieve it but I'm very thankful that they are able to provide us with this security blanket for us ya


ya, it was very interesting because I do not have an electric mixer so I had to whisk it with my hands and at first I I took about ten minutes before I saw like the slightest bit of result but it was very fulfilling when you finally get the result that you see on


tiktok and instagram because so many people are doing it and its really a just a fun way to keep us occupied during this period of time and I feel like it's very I'm very thankful for all all the opportunities that I'm able to get despite this pandemic and like


all the memories that I can create with my family with my friends online ya so I think is a very fulfilling experience throughout the pandemic cause you learn more about yourself and you discover more things about yourself and going back to that I also picked up like a new skill baking as you said


and in the past I would not have done so during when I was schooling because school was very stressful however picking up this new skill allowed allowed me to be more uplifted and like happier because I was able to do something that I like and also do it for my family


, ya, ya I agree also that's why it's very I think its very lucky of us to be able to able to carry out all these activities like you said I'm able to just stay at home and enjoy my netflix shows and I've been watching a lot of shows recently to keep myself occupied


cause we are I'm also in my school holidays and there's nothing much to do unless you you have to push yourself to pick up a skill and then I feel like that makes you very motivated and have something to look forward to in life in general because if you wake up everyday and you have nothing to do you feel very


lost and sad but with something you will you can raise it raises your spirit and then you can have like something else to do as well and I think it's good that we can watch movies anywhere anytime and we can actually also watch it with our friends cause now netflix has netflix party so can actually


it's kind of like going to the movie with your friends but at the comfort of your own homes and definitely you cannot have your friends around with you but it still another fun and like engaging way to be with your friends and also just to like keep keep each other company because in this period of time some people may


feel very down and its just good to lift up their spirits and just make them happy, ya


ya I I really I also had the same experience as you about working from home because we do not have to travel really saves us a lot of time and inconvenience and you do not even have to dress up you can just stay in the comfort of your own clothes and even if you are doing work online you can actually have your meals alongside it so it's quite


quite comforting as well and like very relaxing for us and I feel that I'm very thankful uh to be able to have such as stable home environment for me to carry out all my work as well because I feel like I know some people who do not have the


luxury or just are not entitled to a very conducive home environment and they are always seeking for options to work outside because there's no way they can stay at home but for me I'm very grateful that I'm able to have such a conducive working environment at home having


like places to study and able to have my meals while studying I think its also very comforting to me and like to be able to just relax at home while working makes the working less stressful as well ya


I feel that the most memorable ones also actually on twenty nineteen where a few of my friends came and celebrate my birthday together but what was actually memorable the most is the company because I always enjoy having my friends around me


and is just the company that really matters having like genuine conversations and just engaging with each other which is very heartening because it it shows that we will want to know more about each other's lives and know what's going on and I think is very important for the friendship as well


and this the one of the best birthday presents that I was ever given was the company of my friends I believe and as well as the company of my family just to have them around with me makes me feel very luck uh feel very happy that they are with me and, able to for them to able to celebrate for my birthday and just remember it is just very heartening already ya


ya I actually agree cause as we grow older right I feel like we we would definitely mature more and then the way we do things and like how we celebrate each other birthday has definitely evolved and is goes beyond the material part of it because you really want to show genuine care and concern


to people and that's why I think it ties in to why do I like to be alive because I like to be alive for the people around me I'm happy to be able to engage in conversations with them to create memories with them and its very heartening to have them by my side through times of need or


during times of celebrations as well like when I receive my A Level results and it was decently good my family were there to support me and celebrate this occasion and as well as other times where maybe when I was down like stressed from school my family and my


friends where there to get me through it and talking to people really helps you to get through things and that is why I'm very happy to be alive to be able to just surround myself with people who make my life more fulfilling and also to be alive is to have some like to have a purpose in life is something that


is very important to me as well, so being alive allows me to fulfill some of my goals like having a good job in the future so that I can take better care of my family and also just contributing back to society I feel like it's very important so I like the feeling of having a purpose


because it makes me very motivated and very happy to serve the people around me, ya, how about you


ya I agree is the small things that actually can help you like uplift your spirits and things like that because just small gestures or actions that you give to your friends or your friends show towards you can actually really change your day


cause I also remember a period of time where I was very down and then my friends were just there supporting me and they will always bring food to school and like share with share with me and like all of us and it's very a very heartening memory that I remember because in JC


we were allowed to eat in classes and we have a food locker where we just store all our items and then on period in periods of time where people are actually sad we will just take some items from home and then like surprise them or we can just eat the items basically or like during every lecture and then it's a very fun thing to do I feel


and it's like very cute memory that I have of my friends so I really, appreciate all the small gestures that have been made to me by my friends and I like to do this for them as well because it's very heartening to have a strong bond with the people around you


ya there's always few people who always take the extra mile to give you gifts before your exams or before major celebrations like during teacher's day even though its teacher's day there's this classmate who actually went around giving everyone


like food packets as encouragement and then before exams there will always be food packs going around to encourage you to stay healthy and stay mentally well during this stressful period of time as well so I feel like it's just all these small gestures that sometime fall through the crack and you don't


appreciate it that much but in the moment you realise it and then it's very heartening for you and it really uplifts your spirit I feel ya


(um)


uh so I have a savings account a debit card as well as paylah and paynow account setup and I think that is important to have a savings account especially if you have started working be it a part time or full time job so that you can have a platform to receive payments from your employers with ease


uh what about you


oh I think at a quite a young age my mum actually created my savings account for me to help me to start saving up for the future so that I have somewhat uh so that I have somewhere to credit my red packet money as well as bursary awards


and other uh cash that had my relatives have given me, ya what about your savings account when did you start using it, (mmhmm)


, oh uh I think same as you I also use the uh an app for my I use the POSB bag to track uh POSB app to track my savings and expenditure so that I always try to ensure that my savings are always increasing


so that I do not use uh more than I receive as ya well as for my debit card I only started having one when I took up a contract job and starting earning a steady flow of income


and I use the I use it to make withdrawals to fund my daily expenses and other than withdrawing money and making payments my debit card also doubles up as my EZ link card and I think it's very convenient as I only have to bring out one card is instead of having two cards


which is like my bank card as well as my EZ link card I think for now I do I don't even use my EZ link card anymore I just bring out my bank card and use it for transportation instead, uh what about you


okay


I think I agree with you but however for my paylah and paynow accounts I actually started using it quite late I think I only started using it about one year ago when I started university because on campus


a lot of payments and transactions are made through paylah and paynow and it makes it very uh convenient as everything can be done via paylah paynow and I do not even have to bring out my debit card or even cash anymore so sometimes I don't even bring out my wallet especially during my stays in hall


usually we would when we go out for lunch or dinner I would just bring out my phone and all of my friends also don't bring out their wallets we just bring out our phone and head down to the canteen and we won't even feel like we have to bring a bag because we only bring out our phones and we do not have to keep it in our


we do not we can just keep it in our pocket and not in our phones and ya this makes life even more convenient, so you can just make payments with your mobile phones instead ya what what about you your what uh


, okay uh I actually wasn't really inclined to use paylah paynow as well as the POSB app cause I thought it was quite a hassle at first however after started uni err my university education and seeing everyone around me using these apps


and they have been telling me that it's very convenient so I kind of was peer pressured into downloading the app and I think during my hall stay in university a lot of my friends actually would like when they pay for the


when they pay for my meals at the start then they would ask me to pay them back through the app using paylah or paynow instead of cash and usually I would offer cash because at the start I did not have a paylah or paynow account, but they actually uh requested for me to pay them back using the app so I started to download the app and and started to use it more often and then I realised how convenient it is and its actually quite life changing


ya what about you


oh I think you mentioned the multiplier account just now actually I haven't heard of that before what is what is that supposed to be ah


oh uh how do I activate the account can I do it through the app or must I go down to the bank and activate


oh I didn't know of such functions in the app I've just been using it to track my income as well as like my and as well as my spendings so I didn't know that you could actually use it to uh create such accounts as well


ya, oh


uh actually I I've heard of apple pay cause I had a friend that used apple pay to just uh pay for her transportation fees and I think it's quite cool but I think uh usually I already bring out my debit card so I actually never bothered to setup the


apple pay but I think maybe in the near future it's something quite interesting and I should probably activate it soon uh then what about you do you have uh samsung pay or apple pay


oh


(mmhmm), ya I think I personally also use debit cards quite often but I think uh one thing that I have done quite uh less frequent in the recent years is going to the ATM to withdraw money cause everywhere is going cashless nowadays


I think I only withdrew I think the last time I withdrew money was a few months ago to buy something at the coffee shop where they do not accept uh debit cards yet however I think that in the and I think that in the near future that the these current banking products would still be relevant however


cause the older generation are still using these older products such as cheques as well as going to withdraw their cash from the ATMs as they are actually more familiar and comfortable with these methods and they, uh may not want to switch to E payments as they are not very familiar with the technology and they are not very tech savvy uh what do you think about that


(mmhmm)


(), I think I I agree with you largely but then however like I think I still have quite a traditional mindset cause I think uh I remember that time when I was trying to apply for my debit card


I didn't know you can do it online or through the app then I actually went down to the bank to apply for the physical card which is quite a waste of time cause the nearest bank is not like just a, stone throw away from my house so when I went down to apply for the debit card they person actually told me that I can do it online instead then I was quite shocked actually ya


oh, uh


ya but I think like in a VUCA world I think where things are ever evolving and technology is advancing rapidly so I think that these products eventually may become obsolete as people would start to like adopt more convenient methods such as E payments


and then I think the government are also trying to educate the elderly on more uh technology as well as like E products so I I think maybe they will eventually learn how to uh be more familiar and use these methods


however I think however I think that in the near future that these uh physical banking products would still be relevant lah, ya I think also for especially for ATMs you can uh transfer funds through the ATM to other people so I think that in the event that the app is faulty or there's a internal breakdown maybe we can also rely on these


physical banking products as a uh fail safe lah in the event that these are not working


hello, eh eh, hello


oh okay


, ya I think the most important thing is the convenience that these online banking products bring I think especially cause you can track your spendings as well as income through the app you don't have to go down to the to the machine to update your bank book


which is quite troublesome cause not everyone has a ATM machine that is within the vicinity of your uh area of residence ya


ya but I think currently like uh as mentioned just now the elderly maybe some of them prefer the more tactile feel and having something physical cause you are able to see it like on the spot you don't have to log in to an account to check the


your transactions but I do agree that online trackings are much more convenient cause you don't have to you don't have to spend maybe you can uh immediately track your transactions instead of having to go down to an


physical uh, location to track your savings as well ya


so I guess I can start with something that makes me stressed I think one of the most memorable stressful periods of my life was during A'level period I think throughout the two years I procrastinated and was not very consistent in those two years of my JC


so by the time when it came to A'levels the the study break period I had a lot to catch up on and it was especially stressed in the few days living up to A levels so actually my uh family asked me to go on a day trip with them to JB a few days before


so I thought that it would help me to relax and recharge and I'm not saying that it didn't like it did but uh on the way back to singapore I think like it was kind of uh, back to reality kind of situation then I suddenly remembered of all the things that I had to catch up all and then that a few days later I had a major exam going on then I think the stress came rushing back in so ya it was quite a


like a brought back to harsh reality kind of situation cause I still had a lot of untouched content to study for then I felt very anxious so like I remember on the way back around when we reach like singapore customs I had like a mini internal panic attack at the back of the car


ya but thankfully my cousin was there to comfort me so do you have any like stressful exam experiences


ya I think, I think like exam stress is, quite a tough period for tough period for tough thing for students but I think the addition of uh other commitments maybe from CCAs is actually like helps to worsen the problem which is


not what we want but we still have to do it cause like CCA commitment uh CCAs are quite a compulsory thing and everyone just goes for it so I remember there was this time where cause I was from drama club so I remember for one of my productions I was the production manager


so I had to like take note of everything that is going on backstage and plan for all the backstage things and ensure that everything is running smoothly and that we are on task so I think it was very stressful to try and finish the various things by their deadlines especially when you have to study for exams


so I think this added commitment makes studying for exams even worse and I think cause of that I kept procrastinated a lot throughout the two years so by the time when it come to A levels period the I or I kind of suffered a lot during the study break


cause I had to cram in two years worth of content in like that few weeks, ya do you do you procrastinate or , try uh


(mmhmm)


(mmhmm), yeah I think during like all the quizzes and the like pre-finals kind of exams I actually didn't really pay much attention to it cause I prioritise my CCA and going out with friends so I actually did quite badly for all of it


I think throughout my two years all the school exams were, think I I I never got a A or B before so it was quite bad ya and but then my, through the lead up to A levels it was very stressful cause I knew that I was consistently bad and I didn't want to uh have my A levels be uh have my A levels results be the same as my quizzes all those


so I really had to uh push myself to study hard and I think it was very stressful cause I was cramping two years worth of content cause I never understood what was going on in class I will just be sleeping sometimes cause I would spend my all a lot of my time on CCAs


and especially staying up late for CCA commitments and stuff ya so I think the external commitments make studying even more of a hassle and sometimes I just do not bother with it what do you think


I think most of my work experiences is still quite okay I think most of my stress comes from studying I think I think one of my other stressful periods was during university in year one semester one I think cause I took this coding module


and it was very new and I had no prior knowledge to coding and I did not like I have never ever code anything before in my entire life so it was quite stressful to learn something new and especially being a


it was quite hard to familiarise myself with the language especially the lecturer was going at quite a very fast pace and, after like learning the language I think it was okay but then because our results were based on bell curve and I was uh and a lot of people from this modules are from the computing faculty so it was very competitive and I knew of a lot of the guys that are in this


they are taking the same module who actually had prior knowledge to coding and they actually have spend their time in NS which is like they had they they spend their time in NS learning how to code and so basically they had an a sort of an advantage over us


girls so I think its quite err, disheartening to know that you are pit against such people that already have prior knowledge whereas you are someone who is very new and who have only learnt the subject for maybe about three months and then you have to take the exams whereas they had a year and a half maybe before the three months


uh so they kind of have more of an advantage over us ya what do you think about the coding subjects


ya so I think like being able to see the leader boards and cause we are able to see which levels they are at and knowing that we are very far away from them is very disheartening and makes you feel very anxious, cause I think especially since we are already struggling to finish the missions that are assigned to us and seeing that those people have already completed their missions and are doing the


additional side projects that we do not have to do so I think doing those uh help them to level up really fast and they are able to reach the required uh level whereas we are maybe just halfway through its quite


scary cause ya it just its just very competitive overall ya what what do you think, do you feel like anxious also


I think studying in like a post COVID world may also be quite scary, cause although like the COVID situation is getting better I think most of our classes are still being held online and it makes you feel a bit worried or anxious that maybe you won't be able to learn as well without being in a physical classroom


although it's more convenient but you may be afraid that there are somethings that can't be conveyed online you have to do it face to face so I think that's one thing that is quite worrying do you do you think that it's a good thing or bad thing


ya I think especially cause like the economy is quite hard hit now so I'm afraid that it may not recover in time when we graduate so we may not be able to find jobs as easy also ya cause I think a lot of companies are also


trying to cut down on their manpower so they may not be uh they may not want to they may not be as willing to hire new employees so even maybe a few years down the road I'm not very sure if the economy will be able to recover in time


which is when we will graduate and it's quite uh stressful, cause I think we study the reason for our studies and bit and doing well is so that we can find a good job so being uncertain and having the chances of finding a good job lowered significantly is quite uh dampening on our spirits as well


ya,


ya I think what's also scary is that we are not able to do anything impactful about it cause it's a relatively new virus and no one is familiar with the situation so even for all the vaccines they are still trying to


uh come up with it and, I think as individuals we can't really have a huge impact on the situation as well so what we can do is maybe just try to do our best in our own life ya


[eh] she's here [leh]


, okay so I think I'm very thankful for technology first of all, so apart from having technology to make our life easier through uh banking services I think that currently now during the circuit breaker although we are not allowed to go out and meet our friends we are still able to keep


in contact with them via social media such as instagram whatsapp and also video call them through skype and zoom and even play uh multiplayer online games with them which


uh helps to occupy my time and I can relax at home and binge watch my dramas and netflix series in this period of time ya what about you


(mmhmm)


ya I also agree with you that these uh self isolation thing cannot go on for too long so I think it's very uplifting whenever I receive a text or notification from a friend through my phone then we would go on to have more


in depth chats ya so I'm thankful to technology for that uh cause I think in the past during SARS maybe when technology isn't advanced it was still like two thousand and three then people uh I was still a toddler back then but I think


peoples could still , could could not communicate as much maybe cause there wasn't like more advanced video calls and stuff so I think that we can do that now so we should be very thankful for that


but I think I'm also quite thankful for this self isolation period cause it had it has allowed me some time to think about my life and decide what I want to do, and I've recently signed up for a shopee code league so I think it helps to uplift my mood to know that I have something to look forward to and I have signed up for quite a few courses through this uh event and I think that it's quite


it's quite good to have something to look forward to instead of not doing anything at home all the time what what do you think


ya I think uh amidst this pandemic there is also a lot of good things that have come out of it like I think many of us have picked up new skills along the way such as baking and I think simple cooking as well as making things such as the Dalgona coffee I think that one is quite popular and a lot of people have been


picking up such a skill so I I think you also have tried the Dalgona coffee right how was your experience


I think during this time I was able to finish watching quite a few dramas cause I had a lot of uninterrupted time uh and a lot of free time where I have nothing much to do so, I think I finished about three dramas and uh the the very long the vampire diaries netflix series like finally I finish watching it


ya oh and and for the Dalgona coffee I didn't have a whisk as well so I also used a fork to whisk my coffee I think the first time I failed cause I used the wrong instant mix but then the second time I finally did it and it was very fulfilling


and I could take a very instagram worthy pictures which was quite nice


ya uh actually I agree with you that we can do everything at the comfort of our own home now uh apart from like watching movies I think those who are working also err uh I I'm hoping they are quite happy about it cause they do not have to spend maybe uh one hour to travel to their office


and I think you don't even have to change out of your pyjamas you can continue wearing your comfortable clothings and stay at home and do your work ya so I think it's quite a good thing that we are actually able to work from home , ya I think even for us that time when we were studying from home cause personally my school is about one and a half hours away so if I have to travel it's three hours in total so I'm very thankful that a lot of the tutorials and lectures have been converted online


so we don't have to wake up get ready and go to school so we can just wake up maybe around half an hour before the class starts ya what what do you think


ya I think I'm also very lucky in a sense that I do not have siblings so whenever I'm studying or working from home I do not have additional noises so I can just relax and focus on my work ya so I think apart from this period I think another time when I felt very lucky was my twenty nineteen birthday celebration


so it was thanks to my friends cause it felt like it was surprises after surprises so I think at first I had a group of friends to come over to my hall cause I used to stay in university uh used to stay on campus when I was studying at university in year one


so they came over to my hall to surprise me without my knowledge and I think what was so shocking is that we were suppose to meet the next day however they came to meet me one day earlier so I was shocked but mostly happy to see them cause after that like a few days later another friend of mine also came down to my house


to surprise me with a birthday cake as well so I was very touched cause she stayed very far away from me and I think the travel time was definitely more than one hour and she took the effort to find out my address and came down to my house to surprise me so I was very shocked uh very shocked


but ya and I think seeing that your friends are able to put in the time and effort to make you happy makes me feel very blessed and lucky to have such friends ya what about you what's your most memorable like birthday experience


ya I I think I agree with you that the physical time uh physical interaction and time spent with your family and loved ones are very heartening cause I think is in this uh current day and age where everything is very fast paced uh you don't get to spend a lot of time with maybe your family cause maybe they are a lot of them are working


a lot of them are working so being able to sit down and have a nice meal with them is actually very it's a very enjoyable thing, ya and I think we should feel lucky about that and another thing that I am thankful for is a handmade board that was given to me by one of my friends cause it showed the time and effort that they are willing to put into the


uh birthday present so I think from looking at the decorations as well as the pictures kind of reminds me of all the happy moments that we had together so I actually placed the board, at uh directly in front of my bed so that I'm able to see it every time when I wake up actually I when I wake up I am able to look at the board directly and it actually is filled with a lot of funny pictures


so I'm able to laugh every time I look at it as well as the decorations and there's a lot of inside jokes and notes on it as well and I think looking at it I am able to appreciate the, effort that my friends have put into the present to make me happy so ya I think uh handmade gifts are one of the one of the best gifts to receive I think uh in my opinion ya what about you


ya I think the people around me such as my family and friends are also one of the greatest uh factors that contribute to me wanting to persevere and I think especially during our tough times I think for students maybe it is major exams


such as A levels and maybe finals I think during those trying periods your families and friends are the ones that will motivate you and encourage you to do better so I think I remember there was this one friend that uh would send very long text messages to me before each of my papers


so its very motivating because every time I look at the messages I would want to strive harder to achieve my goals and be able to score well for the exams ya so I think seeing the messages makes me want to do better for my friend


uh not just my friend but also for my family but I think those small little actions such as sending a nice text and or encouraging messages actually helps to uplift my mood and I think most people feel the same way as well what do you think


ya I think I agree with you that food also it plays a very important part so I think I remember like during my JC days, I was in a group I was uh friends with a group of girls who are from girls school and I think they mentioned that is their girls school culture to bake for people before the start of each major exam


so I think that is quite cute and coming from a mixed school I have never experienced that before so they would bake like cookies or brownies for the whole class actually before the paper to uplift their to uplift everyone's mood and encourage everyone to work harder so I think that is very nice of them do you have anyone that like bakes


for the class or something like that


ya I think (um) you don't have to bake but maybe just a small note to your friends would help to uplift their moods and encourage them ya


go ahead west


(mmhmm)


, ya I think ya I I mean really depends on your situation right what's what's your position as a what's your position as a citizen in the country are you are you are you citizen or uh are you singaporean or if you know are you for or are you from somewhere else or maybe or are you a PR


so uh but generally if you know when you are talking about public housing uh really really revolves around having to use CPF to pay because that's just the way it works right in singapore, right


(mmhmm) (mmhmm)


(mmhmm), right ya ya


(mmhmm), (mmhmm) (mmhmm)


(mmhmm) (mmhmm) (mmhmm), well that's an interesting thought never honestly I never thought of it that way because err the way of purchasing property is so ingrained and if if like like for example my own personal experience buying a HDB flat


what's the objective usually when people want to buy a flat at at least for me my objective is to obtain the flat and the means of it like using CPF I think for me it didn't really


it it it didn't really raise those you know issues that you mentioned uh because because I think at the end of the day my objective is to get a flat ya so so I I do understand you know those points that you mentioned where


can I just clarify it the issue that you are talking about right is having to use the CPF use the money from your CPF uh but at the but after uh when you do decide to sell the flat you have to payback HDB


uh the balance of the flat or you have to payback the CPF okay, oh


okay, okay


(mmhmm), okay, err oh I see so what you're saying is when okay okay so when you're paying so so you're paying for the house with your CPF money right just let me get this right because this is I've never thought about this so so you're paying for you're paying for your house


and then subsequently you but if you were not to pay for your house you will be accumulating accumulating interest just to clarify that that's that's that's one that's the that's a angle of attack


right so once you sell the house what you are saying is you have to replenish the CPF uh upon selling it is that right, including a interest, okay okay


okay, (mmhmm), (mmhmm) (mmhmm) (mmhmm) yes I I actually that that's the pretty good point I mean what you will be thinking is that if if I took out this much money


to pay for the house I only need to return let's say I took out took out one hundred thousand dollars from CPF I only need to return one hundred one hundred thousand back to the CPF account if I sell the house right


ya so so based on the interest let's say for example the interest amounts to twenty thousand dollars so when I bought the flat it was at a hundred thousand so I took out one hundred thousand and then when I sell the flat


I by my CPF my CPF amount would have theoretically reached hundred and twenty thousand so, I need to put back hundred and twenty thousand, (hmm) okay honestly I've I I've not considered that to be honest because I myself have actually sold I I I have bought property and sold property so


so in terms of this I did I did I did ya so uh the it it was ya ya it was done automatically and it really has to do with the sale price of your of your flat


I mean right so in in in a how should I put it in an ideal environment where a market is favorable for for the seller you're selling at a profit correct


right so if you are selling at a profit then perhaps you will not, you won't you won't have that kind of bad taste when you sell your property and at because you made a profit and


as a result of selling your flat you increased your CPF amount which I mean you can't anything with it but at least you know you received the profit of the sale correct ya so, ya ya ya so so I I think it it but but on the other hand if you're selling it at a loss


then then I think the issue really becomes you know quite evident you would you would be wondering !hey! you know I'm already selling at a loss and uh I still have to top up my CPF


ya so I at least that's at least that's the thing that comes to my mind ya that's that's really quite interesting , so is that is that why you decided not to buy a HDB flat


okay,


, ya I I think it'll when it comes to public housing you're you're definitely always gonna be subject to rules and regulations and whether these rules favor you or not unfortunately we do not have the leverage


as you know layman right and on the on on on the other hand I did err I did make some money when I sold my sold my house so


ya so so that's fortunate but you know if if you don't if you don't but I I think in singapore it's I I haven't heard of someone lose money but I do know that it that it it can definitely happen right


ya, , ya,


(mmhmm)


(mmhmm), (mmhmm)


, (mmhmm)


(mmhmm) (mmhmm), (mmhmm)


what was the what was the location again Newton, that sounds cheap that sounds cheap


, (mmhmm) okay, ya


ya that's true actually just just just have a quick question on on HDB loans or or rather uh you know housing loans so I suppose for for you you uh uh when you bought your property do you did you have any option you don't have any option right for your property it has to be a bank loan


right so there's no choice but uh okay assuming assuming that uh all things equal you know you let's say a HDB err let's say you go just go for you know public housing HDB


err base on err you know would you take a HDB loan or bank loan, I guess


(mmhmm) (mmhmm), , nah it's okay because I uh for HDB it's rather straightforward it's a fixed interest rate if I'm not mistaken I might be wrong but I think it's fixed so ya uh but anyway


ya it's it's when it comes to housing do you think let's say you had the money on hand, would you use all that money to buy a house if you have the money


(mmhmm), (mmhmm), (mmhmm)


(mmhmm), (mmhmm), right


(mmhmm) (mmhmm)


ya pretty much, ya,


you think so you think that are liquid okay


ah okay that's interesting, okay, , (mmhmm)


(mmhmm) (mmhmm), (mmhmm), yes


that's a good question that's a very good question because I haven't because if we've if we've been following the news at least okay I honestly I haven't seen the property market hit you know a big tank


or something you know had hasn't I haven't seen anything major like property prices dropping [loh] something like that which is actually quite interesting I I thought that would be, ya, (mmhmm) cool cool ya I'm not sure about uh liquid uh because I find that uh the property in singapore is so much it it's so high the price is so high


and when I expecting the return of investment it feels like I'm putting all the money in a tank and whenever I need to it's it's like a water tank so whenever I need water for the day I go to my water tank and I switch on the switch on the tap and


you know get enough water for a day and then I use it but I have all these all this water in my tank it just doesn't so ironically it is liquid so ya so


whereas err so so so that's just that's just the perception that I have I don't have any particular uh fixed idea of what it should be or what it shouldn't be but that's that's currently my impression ya so ya err when it comes to


I don't know with with that amount of money if it I think given a choice uh let's say let's say hundred two hundred thousand dollars right it's obviously enough to buy property maybe not the best property in the market but if you have this money why not put it somewhere where the money works for you


financial instruments so I yes property is still really popular these days so I I guess for me it probably won't be the first thing that I think about


if I have a very huge sum of money to spend ya, ya alright cool okay


alright err west really appreciate you you know joining for this session so ya speaking of negative experience I guess I guess maybe I'll just start off by asking maybe just redirecting the question to you a little bit like


perhaps maybe uh look back maybe for the past five years has has there any okay maybe not five years but was there any like really you know any anything that really hurt you like


like a particular moment where you you were just completely gutted you know that did did did anything happened anything like that happened err recently or I mean for some time ago in your past


(mmhmm)


(mmhmm), (mmhmm)


(mmhmm),


, okay,


, (mmhmm) (mmhmm),


(mmhmm), (mmhmm), ya ya ya sure actually thanks for sharing uh about you know the the dark times that you know you experienced I'm sure that you know sometimes I've I've had many many instances where I also had this feeling of a loss of identity to be honest


and uh I I that loss of identity can really err get to you because at least for me I remember feeling incredibly inadequate incredibly lost and


you know when you lose your confidence when you lose your confidence and you you start having this kind of thoughts that you probably won't be able to, uh achieve what you set out to achieve and you start having doubts whether you are making the right decisions I I I think that then then it really becomes err it really becomes a point where you start feeling depressed you know


and the ya uh in terms of identity uh I think ya that's a sad uh I I can definitely see that you know that's definitely a sad moment actually when when it comes to something that that really made me sad recently was one of my friends


suddenly died suddenly just left, my wedding was on twelve january twenty nineteen we went for a honeymoon we came back and one one or two weeks later


I get a message from uh from someone who I don't know and it turns out this person it was actually (ppc) my my friend's sister my deceased’s friend's sister who


was messaging me messaging me and uh telling me that he had passed away , so when I ya when I heard the news


I couldn't process it correctly because when she sent the message, she sent the sentence was arranged in a very very strange way, in like the subject was the object or something like that and


I thought that this friend of mine for privacy purposes let's call him err Maverick right, so maverick was one who died and maverick's sister called me right so maverick's sister typed a message and said that I am err maverick's sister and uh maybe the brother


died so I think what she was trying to tell me was that her brother died which was maverick who died but in my mind was like he has a third sibling so I couldn't process it and


I had another group chat with uh maverick and some of the other uh guys so I got to uh the way I knew maverick was we played pool for donkey years I've known him for fifteen seventeen years


since I was since the early two thousands early two thousands uh so ya when and I've always been in touch you know I constant uh we he he's he's my pool buddy right whenever we wanna go for game of nine ball eight ball


you know he's he's always available right he's he's not one of one of those guys who needs to win all the time he's really a person who was uh incredibly sociable nice guy plenty of jokes (ppc) and


and he's just one of the, one of the nicest best buddies I've ever met in my life and so when I got the message I I was I cried


I I just I was working that day and when I uh when I received the message I just could not believe it and uh so so when I finally processed processed that he


passed away I just I just like cried I couldn't hold back any anything and I was really extremely devastated because , we I mean he is a young dude he's about maybe a couple years older than me and in in in my mind in my mind I was just I was just devastated I was just crushed


it it it it was


in, I'm not sure I I I'm not sure about the the regret part of spending more time with him but it's more on knowing that I would never see him again I would that that the that that that time that that one minute


that I spoke to him during my wedding that was the last time I the last time I spoke to him, and I would never hear (ppc) I would never hear from him again and that's really really hard for me and to think about err and and during during his uh (ppc) during his wake uh he


uh we uh I I I I also went to the wake with a few of my friends and uh this guy has (ppc) quite a few err collection of uh custom cues so all these cues that he owns were of value and his sister actually wanted to give them to us wanted to give the cues to us so but we we we just said that we'll help to sell


the cues in the (ppc) open market and give uh whatever funds that we could retrieve to uh you know support the family so uh we actually raised I think close to I think maybe close to ten ten ten K


from selling all the cues ya ya so as it I I think was I think it was the least we could do I mean when we saw I I will never forget the day going to his house to see his dad and to see his sister to see his dad and to see his room


I mean his dad was just totally, crushed I mean to have to be in the room and they cleared up they they they cleared up the room but I I don't how they're gonna continue you know because they have to see they they're living in the same place


so they are seeing the same room from the same place where he grew up within and that's so hard, that's the one of the worst things that could ever happened to to a dad or a mum, is that ya to see to to to see a child go that's that's terrible


ya,


, , ya


, , ya it's it's it's really sad because , like, I've (ppc) he uh maverick wasn't the only one who one of my friends who passed away I've and in actual fact I've met quite a few friends (ppc) who who just couldn't make it or had problems uh one way another and it's just


it it it it's when when you think about it you you you you really you really kind of give some introspective from you know sometimes you know life life is up and down ya but


I'm not sure if if I would if I were to put my shoes in you know the the parents who actually cared you know for for these people I think it's you would I think you would lose hope you would probably really question on your your existence and question really why


you know why it has to happen and , you just don't know and you just have to just try figure it out and, ya it's ya it it it it's a really messy really messy really


tragic so much anger, oh man, (ppc), ya,


I biggest regret in life is easy for me career choosing the wrong career path ya and not really tapping on the strengths that were that was evident to me when I was younger


so I think when it comes to making career choice it was really about uh what what I what I really regret today and feel an incredible pain is knowing that I could have done so much better it's knowing that I could have


I didn't really have to be where I where I am today and that's when you know you really know that you are you regret ya because when I think about my younger days I was I was doing very well in school


but the but when it came to decisions to make when it came to deciding on career, how it was it was so confusing, it was so confusing it was you you you know that you don't know anything you go out for advice and the advice you get it's so bad


you keep getting bad advice and, , exactly


(mmhmm), (mmhmm) ya


, (mmhmm), well that's an interesting dynamic but


ya the in between is it is it's where it is ya it's easy to say but and it's really frustrating because at this at at my age currently there are things that I know that I can do and things that I know I can't do


and what's particular frustrating is that the things that you know that you can't do appear to be the things that are that is needed and you know it just really infuriating to to to a point where you know that you


you are good at let's say for example you are good at uh writing for example you love to write and but you don't have any journalism experience you've never written articles you never taken you know qualifications like diploma or degrees in communication for example and


but you know but you know you are good at writing and people say that you are good at writing and you can't get into it because that's not needed now, right so so so that that kind of that that the kind of what what what what you call irony not irony that contradiction or is it contradiction I can't find the word for it but it's just so


frustrating it's so frustrating that you know you're good at certain things but there but for whatever reason the opportunities aren't there for you to get hold of people say that opportunities can be created


but you think about the environment that you are in , then, and you think about , having to to find avenues to develop those talents it can be very very daunting and for for me I find you know that sometimes it can be it can feel quite


ya I I guess the word is just frustrating ya,


ya ya (mm), okay (ppl) sorry we kind of over run okay, yup thank you


, , yup


so so what what what's something that is particularly life changing is that right


well that's a good (hmm), you know I have I have quite a lot of things that I can recall from big moments to small ones so I guess the big ones I mean don't want to sound sound too cliche or whatever is probably err getting married


I think that's that's one of the biggest things that err that you know I never thought that my wedding day would be the way it was or the way it was planned and I never thought that I would have more than


twenty volunteers on our wedding day that was and wasn't even that like ya including you so I think that was really like one of the most heartwarming things that I remember from the wedding was that


because I heard of you know I mean the friends around me their weddings are probably just about the same size and they have probably just barely ten or less you know friends who are helping out and it's like my wedding's got like twenty it's like what's everybody doing so uh


ya so that was that that was a real surprise and you know and and it wasn't just like twenty people that you know you just pick out you know they're just acquaintances or whatever but these are really good friends, of my friends and my wife's friends they're all real all like really really err we know each other very well and


we've spend time together whenever we have free time we we you know we've went out together for years and that's just like I mean sure of course the focus is you know the the bride and the groom well ya but I mean like


I mean people err the people who attend the wedding are honestly underrated don't you think , ya appreciate it man


ya, ya


ya definitely because I mean when we thought about you know the initial stages of planning for it you know the the thing that really stands out so much is the cost right because if you're gonna have you're gonna throw a wedding that


that's gonna take up so much uh finance where if you put it in a practical perspective you could probably go on five holidays and practically like take first class flights or something something along those lines maybe not first class but but anyway ya


okay enough about me but maybe you can share about yourself like you know was there any point of time where you know very very fond memory like I mean uh , doesn't have to be you know relationship or whatever it could be something along the lines like you know


going somewhere or being somewhere or having a particular experience


, (mmhmm)


(mmhmm), (mmhmm)


(mmhmm)


(mmhmm),


, ya I guess I I I guess uh as time goes by you know we we kind of become very aware of our social need you know our need for connection our need for relationships I think that's pretty consistent with


anyone who is considered or classified as human and I I I can totally see you know because we it's a it's it's the relationships and it's the the moments that we share with all these friends that really


that really make us who we are to a very very large extent and we we can be we can be individuals we can , you know be who we are as an individual we can be a son we can be you know a person who works for a company we can be err a particular single contributor but I mean that's not


what's what defines us right that's it what what really makes us who we are is you know who we know and how we connect with the people around us and you know how how we enjoy you know those times that we have together so ya uh it I mean I I I totally you know


think that uh when it comes to fond memories you know best best day of your life perfect day or whatever I think to some extent you your perfect day will revolve around spending time with someone right I would think no


or you just sick of people that so sick of it oh but the perfect day is like oh no I want to be alone


ya,


(mmhmm), no I I just wanted to to because my when I look at you when I think about wesley right it's like man ya it's got oh got his own place that's I want that you know


I want I want to have my own place too you get what I mean and but but I I've honestly never thought about uh you know that that feeling of uh being coming back to an empty house to be honest I I don't know maybe because I'm someone who who will just


if if I ever feel if I ever feel like you know okay this is I'm just too lonely ya I will just message someone I will just talk to anyone ya in my circle so maybe that's why I feel like staying alone isn't so bad because


I do have a social circle which I believe that definitely you you do as well it just a matter of, after a after an entire day you know and then going back to a place because I I've I think there's the the good thing about staying alone is that after everything that happens in the day you have the time to yourself


right, would you agree


ya ya, ya


, , very very true ya


ya actually when I as as you know I was I ended a previous relationship some time ago and I was I was left with my own property right if you remember


ya so actually I think at that point of time it I I would say maybe I had the chance to see it both ways in a way maybe because when I was, and and the thing that I observed is totally coherent with what you just said because I mean because I mean like when whenever you're in in something you're you're not really conscious


you know of what you're in you're just living out life you know you don't step out of your own self and look at yourself, you know there's this interesting dynamic which is you know you don't really know you have something until you lose it and you know the the part about greener pastures always finding greener pastures


ya so ya really really true eh eh I I actually have I I'm actually quite curious about like you know err was there any point of time where you felt like right this is the best


you know like I can understand like okay relationships really you know define or your life as to making your life good or you know making a balanced life but is there like any particular moment that you remember


where like really speaks out really stands out like for example for me like, okay I don't know why I'm thinking about this but I'm thinking about food ya so I remember where that you said you went to japan with uh the three other ladies or two other ladies I I can't really remember uh and


and one of them was vegetarian and I was like no no way ya so I just so so it's like and then and then and then I found out that and then you shared you went to japan recently without


without a vegetarian so I'm thinking like you know there has to be something that you really really enjoyed when you were there, what was that again what was that again


ya


, , ya


a brown bear you saw a brown bear in front of your car, oh my oh


that's, !woah!, that was, that was in Hokkaido


damn okay that's !wah! that's that's really err, ya I mean I I mean I I think if you ever travel and you get to see nature you know like animals like it doesn't have to be a bear like could be anything else could be like you know something you've never seen before I think that nature


aspect of travelling really really creates a really big difference right, true


you know different perspective on you know where you wanna go and what you wanna do and I think you really have to think properly about who you travel with you can't just, travel with any friend right


ya ya, ya definitely like like for me food is a very very big thing ya if I go to a place that has really crappy food then oh man it's gonna be bad


okay so I'm gonna kick off the conversation which is about finance with respect to property loans so I mean westian you know I would like to just discuss you know what you think of you know uh this whole idea


of using you know the CPF you know to pay for the housing loan and what what do you think is the best you know strategy for example do you want to use your CPF as to cover the down payment uh which you know we are allowed to use twenty twenty percent we allowed to use our CPF to cover twenty percent of the down payment


for our err mortgage loan so what do you think of uh that is that something that you do you know you will do,


right but the thing is from from my understanding right uh and from what some of my friends have told me before most people will opt to use the CPF to pay for their uh downpayment as well as to cover the mortgage uh payments


the thing is right this is there's small caveat ah uh which you know quite a few people didn't I mean I don't think a lot people know I don't I didn't know this myself previously but is that if you say you buy a house right and then you use CPF for for downpayment and your mortgage payments


now if you choose to sell that house you know say after you know five or ten years say after ten years and you don't purchase a new house just just err you know hypothetically speaking what happens is that you actually have to payback the CPF


for all the money that you you have used to pay for your housing plus interest I'm not sure if you heard of this before but when I heard of this I was like a bit shocked because why do I need use why do I need to payback the CPF it's my money right the CPF belongs to me


you know but if you think about it I guess you know it is is in a way it's because the CPF is uh is a obligation on every singapore every working citizen's every working singaporean's part to contribute uh you know and if you take the money out to use for your house


and you sell the house technically you are still obliged to put back what you have taken out you know until you reach that that that that age where you allowed to you know withdraw your CPF, but if you think about it this is actually something that you know uh you need to


take into consideration I guess you know when deciding to use your your your CPF for your mortgage payment, uh mark what do you think about this you know what what are your thoughts on this


not HDB you have to payback the CPF, whatever that you have taken out from your CPF to pay for your housing regardless of whether it's a downpayment or the mortgage payments you have to put it back


so there's a certain amount that you are obligated to to to fulfill you know to the CPF and on top of that you need to payback the interest which you would have gotten if you have kept your money into the CPF you know what I mean so if you didn't use your money for the for the housing you have accrued some interest right


uh from the CPF you know no matter how small and that if you decide to sell your house and payback you would need to include that interest so you actually paying more than you took out in a way lah you know you know what I mean, , yeah


alright


correct exactly yes, correct


correct including the interest, yes yes, so if you think about it right if you compare to if you didn't use the money at all in CPF what you would have now you need to basically payback if you if you borrow the money and sell the house if you take out the money


you need to calculate the interest, alright,


correct, the accrued interest is twenty thousand correct, correct you payback you put back hundred and twenty thousand,


so some something to


oh you do you didn't have to put back the CPF I mean from your experience what you did right, but it was done automatically for you right so you didn't have to like


ah right right right, correct, correct yes


correct yup so I guess you don't really you're not concerned about that that interest part so much lah right, ya I understand ya understand what you're saying


, right


yeah, ya it is ya, no honestly I I like I said I this I did not know about this before you know so this wasn't even a consideration ya


uh in the first place, so I only learnt this later from some of my other colleagues you know and I was little bit surprised to be honest ya little bit surprised


ya, correct , but but yup go ahead go ahead sorry, uh congratulations


for sure for sure there's there's no guarantee you will make money in properties right you know so I think in the two thousand and eight financial crisis the property market was at it's lowest, but but back then right you know a lot of people were afraid to to go into the market to buy a property even though the price you know uh it was mostly undervalued


uh I think the reason is of course you know uh just just human nature is fear lah uh fear of the unknown but the thing is when people started realizing that you know we were coming out the recession that things weren't so bad the prices


shot up so fast you know that a lot of people you know basically just did not have the opportunity to go in the market you know, and know I I I know this first hand because I was you know actually looking at properties you know with with some of my my colleagues and even my parents you know


and uh you know at that time you know I still have some of the brochures that I took you know from some of these property launches and, it's it's it was incredible you know at that time that what you could get back then you know at around two thousand eight two thousand nine I think uh I went to see an a a new apartment err private at Newton and Newton and it was


we could they were selling at about thousand, one hundred thousand two hundred square feet err apartment for I believe it was less than a million if not close to a million, I mean right now there's there's no way you can get the kind of property you know at anywhere close to that price you know the minimum I think you will have to pay for that size will be about one point five one point six


you know which means the market has risen about fifty percent Newton, Newton yup it's right almost beside Newton hawker centre which is it's really cheap ya, you know I mean but even looking at that time you know I I it it like you know with I didn't dare to go in at that time you know because I was like you know it's probably gonna you know it might come down some more right you know it might


so ya but but you know what they say hindsight is always perfect right hindsight is always hundred percent so, ya


it's a bank loan ya it's a bank loan correct


, I mean I think it will depend right ya I think it depends , honestly I'm not I'm not too familiar with the HDB loan myself you know uh I've I've not


personally studied it for me when I when I you know got the bank loan it was more about deciding you know whether to get the fixed uh interest rate or the floating interest rate you know on the mortgage so


ya I mean I I apologize I don't have much to add you know for HDB loan because I'm not familiar with it, but


okay


well I think generally speaking properties are good investment in singapore you know I think number one it's stable and number two you know it's it's kind of uh I mean singapore is a stable country so you know unless there's a


cataclysmic event you know some kind of a catastrophic event that that you all can't foresee you know I think the property prices in singapore generally have remained stable you know and ya and in terms of uh return on investment I think


it's it's I would say there is a there is a good opportunity to get a a a healthy return on investment compared to other compared to other investments out there compared to other assets out there you know


= but having said that much this is my opinion and you you can you can debate me on this is that you know I feel that in our generation right our age you know uh it's it's harder to to make money you know from properties


uh as compared to our parents time because you know I I'm sure you heard the stories right your your uncles you know uh talking about how they could buy this property for you know so cheap you know a landed property uh for I think hundred K you know twenty twenty years ago right you know and now of course the price has gone up to maybe


ten fold twenty fold you know right at least, but when it comes to our generation you know I think that potential right to make a ten fold profit you know it's it's really, I won't say impossible I would say unlikely an unlikely and rare you know


so in that sense if if you look at it you know I think yes properties is still a good investment uh in because singapore is a stable country uh you know and properties are liquid you know by nature you know I think given our population growth


my opinion is yes ya you know and you can you can discuss your opinion but my opinion is that in singapore population right is only gonna increase err over the next five ten years you know so if the population is gonna increase naturally you know the demand for housing will always be stable if not rising


you know of course if you look at the market now uh and any every everyone will say it's not great because of this current COVID situation you know it's dampened a lot of uh the prices but if you look at the market prices right even now


has it suffered a a huge decline a huge drop no right it's not crashed it's still holding ya


yes yes is a sign right you know it's indication of the strength alright you know the strength that's still there you know uh at least that's what I think you know


I I see what you mean ya but


alright


alright okay understood that's that's a that's a fair and valid point (um), so I think ya we can wrap up this (uh) discussion, okay thank you


ya thank you for asking I I think for me you know one of the , experiences the negative experiences that I had , is was when you know I sort of


lost uh I realized that you know the the current job that I was doing uh, wasn't going to work out anymore so uh I need to give a bit of background of that when I first graduated from from uh from college I started my first job as a a financial trader


so I was trading for a small err firm and basically you know in the first couple of years that I was there we were doing pretty well so the strategy the strategy that you know we had employed then


err was very successful you know very profitable so me and and you know the the my senior colleagues they were actually had a pretty good run and then after the end of two years you know the the markets started getting


uh the market started changing and so the strategy that we would employing before started you know to be not as profitable it started to uh basically err deteriorate


you know uh because more and more people were coming in to the market you know and basically there was the the share of the pie you know uh basically became smaller and smaller for each and everyone of us so you know, it it it became something like you know I was err it feeling very invincible and don't forget this was you know me as a young person just just coming out of school uh you know to to doing well uh you know to to I would say you know making some decent decent uh uh uh money


you know to a point where after two two and a half years you know , I I didn't see this money anymore and it to one point it even dried up you know to the point that I wasn't getting a salary you know for at least a few months


so the market that changed you know and and I, it it started to affect me uh uh uh you know psychologically you know because I've started thinking about you know what am I going to do you know uh do I want to continue in this line where there is no guarantee that you know


we can devise a new strategy that's going to work you know so if if you you know if you have a a a decent understanding of the financial markets you you will know that it's very volatile you know uh there is no uh guarantee that whatever strategy you do is gonna be profitable


it can profitable now but you know one year two years down the road you know you can't predict you know uh because the market would change so it was during this time where I think I was uh going through a very, uh tumultuous time a very dark time uh because


I I sort of lost my identity you know because in the two years that we were doing well I sort of you know I I became a little bit arrogant you know I started to think you know I'm I'm invincible you know uh you know I I was young then you know I mean I would say maybe even a little stupid you know


so and then you know it it all went away right you know so and it so sudden you know it was nobody prepared me for this you know none of my seniors told me this is gonna happen you know I thought it was gonna be a cash cow till till the till till you know the end of days you know


so this sort of woke me up you know and then I started, I I I lost my way a little bit you know and I I had to make a decision whether to to quit this this line and and do something else eventually that was the path that I took you know after a lot of you know uh uh uh


introspection with myself you know and and I would say that at that time you know uh I had people around me you know who who were able to uh advise me wisely you know my my family my friends you know and uh


but but ya I mean it was still something that I had to resolve uh internally with myself uh I had to battle with my own demons you know it it was tough you know I was in a lot of despair put it this way you know and that was one of the reason why I I came back uh to church you know which is what I talked about you know uh earlier


uh but that to me is one of the darkest periods in my life lah and, you know uh it it's something that you know I I I think it's you know it's ya it it it make it made me who I am today hopefully you know I'm a better person for it


that's for me you know what what about you westin you wanna share a, dark period in your life you know something that you know you , you know you


had difficulty overcoming you know what's challenging for you personally mentally physically you know


(mmhmm)


okay, I'm sorry to hear that


, what what did what did you feel after that ya how did you feel you know after you you you you've


got the news


what what's the, what was the grief period like for you was it did did you feel any way responsible not not responsible but you know I think did you in any way regret not spending more time with him not not you know cherishing your time with him not valuing


him you know, right right right


alright, !wow! that's, that's a that's a wonderful thing to do you know I think uh, in support of your friend ya


, right right


right, I understand ya I I mean I used to have a when when I was in in in college I did uh basically I was uh running a program for some of the polytechnic students


and you know I I I basically formed quite a you know I was I was, uh quite close to to uh the group of students that we were teaching uh me and my my other uh friends, and you know tragically one of these students you know


passed away from a motorbike accident and given I mean you know I I wasn't I would say that close to him you know it was more like a a mentor kind of student uh relationship but I I did go for the wake you know and uh


ya I mean I, I mean just just seeing the mum and you know the mum was inconsolable of course you know, and it was just so it was it was painful you know like for for for for me even just to to see her like that you know and I think none of us can imagine the pain that the parents go through you know


we we won't be able to even phantom you know uh what degree you know the depths of the pain you know that they are going through, so no words can console them you know and, ya it's it's just


uh next


alright, tragic


changing the topic a little bit what's what's your greatest regret you know in life, something that you didn't do you know,


okay


, but I but I think it's because also you know each of us would have to find our own pathS right you know, and you know it's we sometimes I think a lot of us don't know you know uh even when we start work we don't know what our passion is and also we don't know what we are good at because we haven't tried enough things out there


you know so I think the balance is the is to find something that you are passionate about, while also something that you are good at you know because sometimes the two don't mix sometimes what we are passionate about we are not good at and sometimes what we are good at we are not passionate about you know so


I think that's the balance that we need to find you know that that that in between that's my thought on that


, right right understand


but I would just like to say that you know I think you know it's it's more in life it's more the journey that we go through right you know not not the uh not the end destination, so I think that's ya


okay I think this is been a good very good (uh), discussion, thank you


so westin, I know you for quite a number of years you know but I don't know much about your you know I don't know you in depth you know so I think we can talk about our memories here you know uh our fond memories positive memories that you know we have


uh fond memories all that we are you know could brings a joy to our hearts you know when we when we reminisce them can you share an experience you know uh maybe a holiday you know or just something that happened in your life that


you know made you, you know change your perspective on things you know uh make you see life in the positive light you know it could be someone you know it could be your wife you know uh who's a wonderful person by the way yeah


ya I mean you know doesn't have to be life changing but you know that it that is always in your that it would be tattooed in your in your head you know it would you know always be something that you would look back upon you know fondly uh no matter where you are you know


right


including me,


, ya


I'm I'm overrated I mean so but but but thanks for considering me , ya I mean ya I think I think your wedding was was lovely you know and I was happy to be a part of it happy to share your joy with you know your wife


and ya I do I do understand I mean I I observed what you are saying you know that you know even though it was it wasn't a a a a big wedding with you know lots of of guests but I think you know it it was meaningful in the sense that you know your closest


the people that you were closest with the people that are that mean the most to you you know that that would be genuinely happy for you genuinely wanna be a part of this joyous day you know you were surrounded by those people you know and that's something that I think


it's it's a it's it's wonderful lah and it's something that I think you would treasure I hope you would treasure it you know


ya I mean for me I think , as as you know you know uh of course I'm I'm I'm not married err I haven't had that fortune but one of the things that bring one of one of the experiences in my life that I think changed me uh for the better was


six seven years ago when when I when I you know first stepped into the church and you know I I I won't I won't talk about religion here you know but I just wanna share the experience of you know finding this group of people who you know uh I guess genuinely