do , (ppc) low impact I do core I do standing abs even I even try those like ten minutes ten minutes ten minutes one so there's ten minutes like how to remove the arm fats then I just do that then some is ten minutes to tell you how to show your neck bone then I also do that so sometimes when I'm lazy right I'll


I will use like those short exercise to motivate myself, I will just do ten minutes okay then rest a while then ten minutes then rest a while then try different things


well I did like full cardio for the first two months, only recently uh when I read about like, body shapes and then what kind of exercise you should do for the different body shapes right then I start doing like more on strength exercise, because I think there there's this trainer that that says that for my body shape right I need to focus more on strength so I use the muscles to


so I convert the fats to muscle first then use the muscle to burn, the fats, in a way ah in a way, ya ya so so I then for the last month I start switching so I switched to strength but strength training


uh you you don't really perspire as much as cardio so sometimes it's very demoralizing like I finish thirty minutes of exercise why am I not, perspiring then I feel like I never do anything then I go and do the ten minutes of hand ten minutes of neck all these to make myself perspire a bit so that I feel better after perspiring ya


yes I know right, ya ya ya, okay okay that's all


okay part one financial-related topic, eh ya one of the basic one lah err


err !wah! okay, the the standard basic err uh saving account are usually you know when we start in school they make you start with a POSB I still have my own POSB uh account back in when I was what


primary one we started those in primary one right if I'm not wrong ya, so that one is still around and then still I have I have uh right now I only left with, two others saving account but they are much more ya one more DBS saving account


and then my my Citibank one is more of uh checking and saving lah, so, uh uh I only have one checking account left ya that's the Citibank one uh DBS is pure saving POSB is the one been there since primary one so fifty odd years one


uh ya talk about that, okay ya talk about that uh ya actually I remember the first the first account I have is not POSB is stan chart my mom also was mom me and my mom joined when you know was very young and then they start putting money in there for you but that one they close or I close that up


many many years ago, I think when I was NS I already own I already close that up already but ya I also so I consolidating all my account I used to have other account but, problematic ah, the the the issue was is that it uh it just


okay minimum sum requirement all the fee and then you got chunk of uh all the ads and notification and all the promotion uh I I'm now on the verge of saying I would terminate my uh Citibank one


and keep only DBS and then call it a day you knows too much work uh


you mean you don't get any uh like ya you don't get any notification or you know your annual bank statement all that


uh ah uh ya ya ya I that that that that one I really hate the e-notification okay I like the fact that I don't get tons of paper every month you know for the for the bank bank statement but I hate because


you will forget sometimes what you have around in it if you miss your email or the thing I throw in the junk file or they did not send to you you could have no idea and you cannot trace back and, I got a hard time do doing any reconciliation if I want to find out what's my bank balance last year act actually you I when I do my income tax that is the


pain I've to go and search, for all your end of the year so that you know you put for your you know your your bank interest for your tax uh uh uh, tax filing that one is a pain without the paper is a pain I can tell you that electronic is only save money for the bank didn't help us much but well okay lah they don't kill so much tree lah but either way doesn't help either no no


no no ya correct they they don't kill the tree but we do because I will have to print them out, so I end up killing the tree because I have to print out whatever that's on the email, to to go and get the number right uh it is a pain uh that one so right now I'm


I'm really seriously considering shutting down my Citibank because of the Citibank have a very high uh, minimum balance requirement ya very I think it's twenty K you know


the truth is I have not even need to sign a cheque for the last, year already even I used to sign cheque for all my insurance, I mean for my insurance premium I decided, that you know I I I then get a bit lazy and then I start doing online and use the I I AXS and so I don't need my chequing so I think I uh I need to cancel that uh because if you hit below minimum balance ah it's very painful you know every month you see your money get deducted for no reason


so ya I think that's something I need to do, ya I need to consolidate I really need to go and consolidate, ya that's true uh and most of it can do electronically so you don't need chequing


oh no I have debit card I have one debit card, uh no uh technically I have two because the bank chequing account, right now uh it's automatically they instead of issuing you a ATM card they'll issue you a debit card you know


yes my Citibank ATM card is also can be use as a debit card so is my post, my POSB account is a debit card I did not want one for my DBS so I did not get that I in I insist they give me a normal ATM card but err my POSB is a passion


is a passion card and a POSB ATM and but is use as a debit in fact I use it as debt debit card so is my citi which err I have debit and then credit


ya ya ya the the new one especially if you renew uh I still have the old red you know the very old red DBS uh ATM card, that one is still a normal ATM card can be use as a debit but if you ask if you go in and change your ATM card now usually they will ask do you want to be issued because I lost my uh POSB ATM card so I went for replacement


and so they'll replace it with a passion uh debit card which is my D eh ATM card also lah, so so that's why I have a debit card credit card I have a few lah few banks lah but I cancel my HSBC I cancelled


uh I right now I have actually three bank, UOB citi and DBS, and I'm seriously thinking should I cancel my citi, since I more on cancel my citi account that's why I don't want to touch I've been using citibank since nineteen ninety


the year I go went to US, ya ya ya since nineteen ninety you know the year I went to US for my to to for my undergrad I I I open my account the first time in the DB uh on citi because thinking that it will be ya it's easier in the old days uh to move money from


singapore if you want to to do a wire transfer if it's in in same bank, and you don't really think DBS don't have that kind of rich lah so that's why I have a Citibank account and I kept that account, until now lah so it's a very sentimental value lah and on top of that because I've been


because every country that I got posted to err hong kong china, U in US in every states and indonesia I had I have a Citibank account for that country, so so it


and then ya, yep ya nine three


uh ya ya ya because there get there's a balance transfer way back then you can do you can play that game uh you can transfer one card, transfer the balance to another card where you get your twenty-five day exemption and then you transfer it again okay so you technically do not need to pay for it and you'll get interest


it and and it's interest-free if you keep transferring until the end lah but then you need a lot of multiple card and you don't miss ah if you miss then your admin charge and the interest charge will start piling but if you really manage it ya that's why I was ya ya back in ninety three you can play that game you still can play the game now but


to me it's not worth the effort lah, oh no transfer you don't get charge fee you know if if they are saying uh balance transfer but I I I I have not done it since the ninety three ninety we were back in


back when I was we were student ya lah but now ever since I start work I have never transferred or delayed I just pay in full l because I really do not want to deal with the bank, in fact talking about bank charges ah do you know that, uh OCBC is one of the worst


do you know their admin charge for a late payment is a hundred dollar flat, one hundred flat know not talking about interest you know, uh no then uh you must be a minimum you have a you need to have a minimum spend per year to get waiver but tell you


it's a hundred dollar per event not talking about interest yet lah we're talking about admin charge is a hundred dollar ah and you can and my OCBC card is my plus uh and the NTUC plus I tell is not because of NTUC plus I will never use OCBC


ya which is which is, ya which is that's why I don't want to cancel my citi my citi have a very high limit because when I used to work for you know


the all the MMC so I got a very uh I got a very high credit uh line, and the credit line have been there since I have not touch it I don't need it but, if I cancel it and reapply I'm not going to get any so that that that is one of the reason I'm thinking should I cancel should I cancel


so should I cancel I don't know uh maybe I should cancel, because uh interest err the the admin charge is also going to come the membership fee fee, you may not get a waiver if you don't spend much so I don't know citi you used to be very good about waiving now they are getting a bit stingy about waiving all the


ya ya which is waiving is necessary lah which is singapore I don't understand why now they still have to charge fee when we were in US the membership fee thing I think back in the, by the mid-nineties no bank ever charge membership fee even am even AMEX will give you for free already


ya ya which is which is which is, I agree when I I really I see that I really go, I still have to spend the effort to call in press the number choose press one if you require a fee waiver and then wait for three day to let them tell you they're agree to waive your fee is like why just waive it why should you want


why you want to have your administrative costs of mail charging you know to to to go and waste paper and then you get your customer upset by having to call in for a waiver that they know they're gonna get waiver so just might as well be very nice and say okay being a good customer for so many years from now on ya you know we


we waive all your fee people feel better right I don't know lah marketing people nowadays very terrible, ya lah so they


ya lah which what they trying to do is that yo somebody forget oh very good uh here here come a hundred dollar for your fee don't know lah terrrible, ya don't know, uh oh the bank interest rate ah the bank interest rate is bad lah anyway is bad anywhere in the world right now with the quantitative easing and this COVID


have everybody every single country every single central bank dropping interest so


uh at least got two you know do you know how much you get about sing dollar , it basically it okay singapore interest rate is basically saying that you put your money in the bank the inflation will eat it up so please spend it


except put it in CPF I'll give you four per cent I think that's what they want to make you don't want to complain too much about your CPF, ya, what you mean by max out


!oi! wait wait wait wait ya but do you know that you may not get it out in sixty-five


okay I know I I I I know a lot of people do that I mean some people do that, because you I about four per cent I account pay for per cent the question about this is that you don't get it you cannot withdraw in emergency you, the only time withdraw ah is draw ah is withdraw it after you die ah


ya ya, not for the IA what, ya oh but then did, you basically you have a minimum sum that could be tied in there what


ya I I do agree with you lah the interest rate is okay lah the interest rate for at four per cent it you you you you have the ability to double what


ya I need to go and read through the rule and then see if it if it worth it lah it is is a matter of whether is it worth it to to lock down the the cash when you, you, ya if you need the cash you are in so much trouble and so much pain lah


that's the reason, that's the biggest reason for don't use it


part three negative experience experiences, ya, okay negative experience well something you once you read it give you a goosebump uh not much lah the COVID nineteen right now in US is give me a a a a head uh is going to come back and kill us


well it to some extent is a bit


maybe eh ya to to me is uh all almost like no do do you notice the low the those low death rate is in asia, if you look at it most asia have very


I I I got no idea uh but I do notice that the asian in the asia country the whole uh our low very low death rate infections rate don't don't talk lah I mean right now infection rate is is all over the, place what uh there's a resurgent in, !huh! you measure it uh


!wah! you're another trump right


it it it should happen lah the, the the whole problem is that this thing have err this thing have a non, non-symptomatic err non-symptomatic carrier lah that's the problem you got no idea ya we don't do a, you can't nation-wide screening you will not screen them out lah and you need to have a hundred per cent screen to so that you can


eliminate all your all your non-symptomatic uh carrier lah but uh that day this is


but but no those people who go back to malaysia the those on the they they you you need to swap, do be test negative then you can go back and then swab again and then, it it it then you have to be quarantined self-quarantine and then before you can release to me is like what the uh don't know lah it they're they're making


they need to swap before they can go back yes, but but but not two weeks before two weeks swabbing is is is is uh you have to swab before you go and you need to have a test result that's to show is negative before you can they will let you go


two weeks two weeks I I don't understand two weeks ah but it's all depend on how much time they you need lah but the screening should take only a few days what ah don't talk about that the you talking about bad experience about a terrible that's they they they left uh uh uh what dormitory


worker sick tested positive for three whole week before they even identify him and and and and isolate him what, took took MOM three weeks what so you in three weeks you know you can spend how much


they're supposed to be isolated ya it should not be spreading, which basically means, no isolation it is not properly isolation their isolation means they're isolated from the rest of us they are not isolated from each other


that's why they keep spreading, agree ya correct agree that that


I the they to me it's it's they're not isolating properly somebody is not isolating it properly it should not be having new cases after you have isolated there for three months if you were isolate and then you got very a lot of cases for three weeks because of the incubation one month later it should stop because isolation


ya four months they're still asking uh uh they're we're still seeing the cases going spread is that means is not being isolated it just like US they are not isolating that's why it's still spreading, is spread from new york all the way down to florida now


uh you you you they have they have they've they have the manbaby in white house lah but the the the the, issue is this thing is now getting worse and it's gonna make everything else worse it it it's not just a US problem you know


it did just like this is not just a chinese problem the chinese problem had become a ASEAN problem, and then become a european problem and now become a US problem south american problem and, don't think we can stay away lah US keep continue like that if the world


back up normal the thing will still come back you know, unless you want to shut the whole world down for two years lah


no ah just to wear your mask and all that lah by the mask thing is also useless lah to me is what the mask thing won't actually mean anything much lah it is it is a matter of letting you feel good only what if there's a infectious person running around you'll get it with or without mask


the the the the it, the the the whole problem is this thing is now getting a bit ridiculous lah it's it's like


no no it cannot it's too small for me too


ya uh it it just it is just quite


quite annoying uh that that this thing is keep going on in our infection rate should be going down to should be none already or like you know in the in in the in the ones and the twos level because it, quarantine is started but we got three few more


ya lah the the the points uh we we that's why I said uh if we don't do a nation-wide testing how do you how do you get rid of those non non-symptomatic, carrier lah the point is symptomatic symptomatic carrier you not even know you are sick you're not you not even know you're sick why would you go get yourself tested you are not sick but you will spread it to somebody else and somebody will get very sick


ya I know but you at least screen one through one that and then you can start eliminating the point is this if you are a non if you're a non-symptomatic you are a carrier the screening will will say eh you are positive


you know get make sure this guy is isolated out or stay out of the community if not it will continue, because I'm not sick I'm very healthy I'm a carrier but I'm healthy it's just the typhoid, mary what typhoid mary was very healthy all the way through what everybody around her died she did not


because she's a had she's a non-symptomatic carrier what typhoid mary, every all the food she prepared anybody can eat uh she's a chef ah anything all the people eat her food all everybody got thyphoid and died she did not


she was fine all the way through that's why it that's the important that's the that's the whole point nobody go and screen that out then and then the dorms still got three hundred two hundred three hundred two hundred, I go why, they they've been isolated for three month four month


uh ya ya that's what I've said couple of thousand a month a day they're supposed to do four thousand a day right or five


okay so let's say is five thousand ten day is fifty thousand we got five hundred thousand people uh uh uh the domestic I mean the foreign worker five hundred thousand lah that that what, how many day you need ya three hundred is dorm


six hundred thousand overall what but half a million overall, foreigner ya of about three hundred thousand in the dorm so you can do ten thousand uh err twenty-five thousand a day then thousand a hundred thousand, ya yup


twenty thousand ten days


they they the the they nobody have address the problem lah the problem okay wait uh I I I an article somewhere that complain about dormitory err, condition have since, since, the eighteen hundreds okay


when the first chinese immigrant come to singapore to work, complain that were we been talking about uh how we put all these migrant worker our great-grandparents are all stuck in those environment, so so the point is we we don't have the ability then


but we still don't want to do not want to do anything about it now, so what to do, and then the point is disease spread, in the old days influenza, okay lah right now we are we I think we we are so pampered that you know uh uh flu run around we get upset you think in the old day where all our tuberculosis spread come from


the dormitories, the chinese uh uh uh uh uh uh uh chinatown was a, ya what the the TB screening centre is is based where it, is set up where is set up in chinatown why that is the biggest cluster because that's where it spread


ya true to while


what because we, no because ya that but because the man management mentality is the US corporate management mentality not the europeans nor the australian, corporate management mentality


senior executive get very high pay and then they will squeeze as much cost out as they can on the bottom side what, the top get paid well the bottom don't get what US US corporate mentality is like that what, you work at US corporate before how you work it my entire at korea you I know exactly how they think


or whether how the approach is what you measure what is their KPI what the point you get what you measured our KPI say you need to increase GDP okay this is so how I can get it done so this is how I get it done, they really don't care about the rest is what you get from what you measured and and then with the points will make our civil servants like uh uh


we want our civil servant like that then why you think our civil servant come up with policy like that and then our our uh our political master go and sign endorse it and said ya this is a good idea because all what all harvard-trained what


ya what harvard-trained all the harvard MIT stanford-trained so their mentality we should know what we went through that for our post-grad uh we know exactly how MBA people think what, all their MBA from there what


okay part two positive experience, okay, a travel experience that left you in awe , in awe no lah but positive experience is that you got free upgrade ah ha that one is a best positive travel experience you got a free upgrade when you travel


it if especially when you travel long distance uh I got once I was flying singapore to san fran, and they uh business class overbook


I could move the first , that mean positive experience, that was a time I really like ah SQ, because we you know singapore to uh san fran flight is always err quite crowded uh right is always a full flight so I think they oversold and so


I I were I check in late lah so I went in uh because transfer out from uh that time I was working, in osborn so I from tennessee fly to eh san francisco then from san san francisco back singapore, so you reach I reach san francisco because of the food flight delay a bit late so check in very late so they said oh mister Chew sorry uh err they got overbooked ah so but first class are empty so I got bummed up to first class for the first flight ah that one is from san fran to tokyo


from san fran to tokyo I got bummed up to first class oh where that was a very positive experience


uh oh, mine will be what the last time I flew was oh the last time I flew a business class is when I'm still working with err those MNCs lah, eh when I have to still fly to US ah that was like oh maybe what eight years ago my last flight to US was eight year ago


if not other than that now is all, uh if not now is all budget airline, go fly AirAsia, SilkAir is SilkAir is still not too bad AirAsia is a bit tight, but no choice ah uh nowadays


oh no uh ya I got my Jakarta flight my my Bangkok flight my err, all the ASEAN flight uh are all budget airline now, you you know lah the the company now the you we used to have what five hour more than five is business class and then is they extend it to more than eight and they said only continental flight you know that means you have to cross pacific or atlantic ocean then you get


err business flight so, the travelling is getting a bit, it it is get a bit painful lah especially they it gets, they are people who tell you I will put you on a budget airline, err we could to save money they'll say I'll take budget airline to save money


I say ya but when you


oh ya ya ya I I I can tell you they you when you go US connection right you I fly you fly SQ to U uh san fran on SQ to new york and then you want to do a transfer flight you take a UA business I tell you no different lah the only the seat a bit bigger other than that there's no different that sitting the what that that guy seat


two row behind you so, ya true uh the last time my whole family got that uh upgrade was uh coming back from china my last trip when I got move back from china to singapore, uh err that time because my wife is expecting my daughter and then so they they upgraded uh said okay ah y'all all take business so the oh the three of us lah so henry got his first business class flight home so he was having fun in the in the cabin but other than that no more


oh ya because you're that they they took the they, they took, they took the picture from the river valley ya


ya oh I went to grand canyon in nineteen ninety, one in ninety one I was in grand canyon that was my uh first summer, summer break err when I was in oregon uh for undergraduate so summer time we took we rented a van


whole bunch of us drove all the way from oregon to, eh we drive half the country uh from oregon we drive up to wyoming to down to yellowstone, yellowstone was beautiful and then we drive down to uh nevada to in uh grand canyon went through hoover dam go one round and back you know and then go down to LA and go and swim back up to oregon


basically we run half the half the country lah err uh in a van so that was fun lah but grand canyon was nice but actually I like yellowstone better, yellowstone it is the, uh yellowstone is beautiful I mean it it


grand canyon is a grand you know you stand on the edge ah you look down !wah!, big but yellowstone is beautiful it is beautiful because you can see the the the hot spring the different colour of the water because of the minerals, and then at that time they were re-introducing the deer you know there was once they kill all the wolf and deer so they uh start putting in all these wildlife so we still spotted a few moose running around


driving you know and I can tell you ah, the yes [orh] no, err no my new zealand trip is purely business basically is hotel office


hotel office restaurant hotel office restaurant


no uh it's different mean , in new zealand I went new zealand a few time are mostly business lah but they will they drive me around you know go up mountain, see the see the inlet uh see the harbour the mountains which is, uh yellowstone is not yellowstone you don't actually you're actually on a plateau


you are not seeing mountains, okay okay very different very different already, oh no no no, okay the okay they say the old faithful you see a big hot spring splattering up that one no big deal lah the thing about yellowstone is that the environment is very surreal


and then you're they have path lah they carve out path that you can walk and then if you walk by those spring uh beneath it you cannot go down uh first the water temperature some of it is so high that you'll you basically get a terrible burn second some of it are not safe they are poisonous because of the chemical inside


not only sulphur because it you have blue, turqiouse, green whatever colour it is and all kind of uh ya orange red the different colour and by the way I can tell you, that was one of the coldest night we ever have you know we we on a van right so we camp right so we say okay pitch tent and camp you know on the campground I tell you that night in on yellowstone we eh know we're in the middle of summer in the noontime was so hot know everybody were wearing t-shirts or singlet and and complaining !wah! so hot the sun is burning


come to night the temperature drop by at least twenty degree okay so everybody was freezing shivering turn on the car engine to you know why to get heat from the car engine and hide inside the car because we cannot stay outside nobody slept that night in fact first night we


to rush out of the yellowstone because it was so cold, nearly to freezing you know nearly freezing I mean is not freezing yet but it's almost feel like nearly freezing so it was cold


ya lah uh but that's true lah but that one no uh the that time was were were were that was when you know that time we err we were basically camping out in the wild lah I mean I was glad army taught me how to ya uh a lot of camping, experience and able to survive uh because none of my big group ah able to start a fire so they cannot make fire so without a fire


they cannot start a fire on the campground you think they will they will freeze to death man that's why we I started the fire, ya, no no in the campground it was so cold I started the fire they still feel cold we run back to the car start the car engine turn on the heat and hide inside the car did not die of carbon monoxide poisoning was a was a pure luck


because it was so cold it was so cold that everybody start complaining !wah! so cold but we it's it's pitch-dark you know there's no traffic eh mean they they don't have street light in those area so you don't dare to drive out, we are in the mountain area what you don't know what you you don't want to hit a deer and then go down the ravine or you know worst or worse lah so we decided not to drive


ya to me sight-seeing ya when when we were young back in, well when we were in college and in in in postgrad the the fun part is that because first you are young and then you are you can explore you see err like


my drive lah yellowstone down uh no you go out you drive to wyoming and then from wyoming drive all the way down to utah salt lake and then all the way down to you know nevada and then go west to, san francisco LA you know LA san francisco and the back up so you basically run half the country and then err postgrad that time


postgrad what did I do uh uh weekend, oh oh no no no postgrad don't do this kind of long drive go up chicago go to concert with jeff ah my buddy jeff, he he he will get he will get he's a he he's a music fan lah


so he will he he'll will buy ticket like uh we have I went to kenny G and then we have uh billy joel billy joel's concert so drove all the way up to chicago go to the concert you know scream and yell the whole night and then drive to his house slept on the couch and then next day drive back to school


err ya uh, message lah WhatsApp email he he now moved to alabama working for [orh], he is in he's a principal partner in a consulting firm lah SAP consulting


he been staying on SAP consulting since actually since since graduation he was in arthur andersen when arthur andersen got destroyed he he he moved to another one and then, move move move but he still always on SAP consulting lah so he's now doing SAP consulting down in alabama for the US military


well his main client is a US military lah the US logistic uh side lah so their their their combat service support side lah so sometimes we will chat and you know will I'll give him some of my my my two cents worth of my experience with arm uh uh army combat logistic err but he he he do that now lah


err other than that no lah err people the eh you, a lot of people not kept in touch ah not even sure where is rebecca is now, back in hongkong, oh went back to HSBC


[orh] [orh] I haven't got any message from her, oh [orh] [orh] I I got no idea where she is uh but I haven't contact with her other than that no lah I mean other than the few the few taiwan people I know they they still in taiwan and other than that no uh that that's about it uh don't don't kept contact with people already


we starting to start living in a


to me to me the only thing I remember champagne is the biggest thing I remember is the blizzard in uh ninety-four, half a metre of snow I'd to dig my car out drive all the way to


to celine's house and help her to start her F car because her battery died it can't go anywhere and my old beat up car can drive


correct her her Ford can't start err but I had to drive my old beat up Datsun uh it's not even uh it's not even err uh uh, Nissan uh is you know is still Datsun the old fifteen year old you know beat up, like the beat up car my car can start because I I winterized my fuel fuel line so it did not freeze


no no uh ya but I winterize my fuel line my car can start so I dig my car out drive to his her house help her to start her car because her her battery died so help her to start her car help her to, put in uh bought her a a bottle of those anti-freeze for the fuel line


oh ya


minus what what what's that minus fifty, minus fifty-something fifth fahrenheit minus fifty fahrenheit, fifty-three fahrenheit ya, it was cold uh I had to wear the snow boots three three, layer of uh uh of uh clothing ya lah oh


(ppl) okay


part one financial-related topic, okay uh william do you have a savings account


basic one lah then can share the experience and details lah, you know how does it work then is


ya probably


well I I have a I still have the one that my mum open for me still a joint account you know


I'm a fifty-four year old kid, so I I guess my entire life I've opened a whole bunch of accounts err, POSB DBS Citibank stan chart, I've so many and then I finally consolidated about nine years ago so now I'm just down to


one I think now it's just DBS, I still have got one more foreign ya foreign currency account lah that's about it lah


you know I have so many accounts I lost track of them so when I, when I left err left banking nine years ten years back, I decided to consolidate so I consolidate every single account, and then I thought that was it so I left that alone and then uh two three years later


I'm so I started moving my money to into fixed deposits and then so move from bank to bank you know, and then I move my money back to Standard Chartered so I was going to open a fixed deposit and the technician says mister Leong ah what about the money that you still have with us ah I say what


so, , now I won't she was like you know #ang bao# out of nowhere I got the free #ang bao# but, cause it was my own money lah and they haven't been paying me any interest you know or paying me minimum interest so I was very upset with stan chart you know so but but I found out where the extra money


you know that had was hiding from leh, no what happen was that they they moved me to they moved me to err they ask me if I want to go on e-notification so I put on e-notification


and somehow or rather I don't remember seeing it even not uh on my emails


ya, how much tree can you save lah


I've I've now consolidated until I only have uh personally I've only got two accounts one shared with joanna one is mine, then the uh my own lah you know joanna's the same, but even then we eh then we have, one additional account for chequing account because chequing account requires minimum balance and if I'm not wrong so the non-chequing accounts you don't require any minimum balance so we just simplify the entire thing you know to be easy


then I must check with joanna is whether I can get rid of cheque book


okay let's try something else uh, do you have a credit or debit card I used to have a lot of credit and debit cards uh actually no


take it back I I have and well I don't have a single debit card, all I have were credit cards, I had seven, one one debit card ah okay I


so it's it's, then I may have a debit card because I have a ATM card but I didn't know ATM cards double up as a debit card these days so


so it's sentimental reasons ah that's why you don't want to cancel


cannot, I I remember when we first met in err, in ninety-three right I think it was ninety-three, and then, you came to me and say !wah! edmund uh you know I can transfer my balance from one credit card to another credit card transfer I don't know how many times you transferred


that's the I I think that was not popular in singapore and that time we don't even have a credit card right so you were telling me how it was done you know way back then


I've I've not transferred anything you know I mean all these years lah I don't know leh every time I pay up in full, I know that every time you transfer they charge me some fees and err


beg for mercy from them uh from them uh


you know I I all my credit cards I have I've actually made payment, quite a few times uh every time I go and, I I go and, you know the what you call uh, persuade them call them make a lot of noise and threaten to cancel ah I cancelled a few you know so then I've left a few that's been


err open I think I think I still got about three credit cards left only one is used I just receive a email from err, I think is from stan chart I think so they say oh, err uh saying that they've closed my credit card and transfer the rest of my balance amount which is a few cents or few dollars uh into the uh


into my existing, I think must still have account with them I don't know what what I have with them, so you know all my credit cards are slowly coming down I think it's good, it would be a matter of time before it's even I can't even apply for credit card nowadays I'm relying on my old salary you know


next time we after after you gonna be have a new, card when you're fully retired uh, you got to post the fixed deposit or bond I I heard in order to get a card


ya I know xavier


every bank is waiving now so that y'all y'all you know


that's how you know that's why you know that singapore banking is still very protective not competitive, aye if it's competitive it's open if it's wide open everybody will be you know cutting fees already and now the best thing is that when you incur, err for annual late fees and for annual annual fees


can automated it now you just go into the phone and dial what if you want to have uh submit a request to, might as well don't do it right just waive the stupid thing


I think all they're trying to do is that let's get waived as much as we can because, squeeze the last drop out of the all of the of your customers (hmm), just like our government lah , <B> ya okay what else do you want to explore


I think the most painful one's in australia see I I still got you know since my days in australia I still have aussie dollars so I really should have parked it in long-term deposit so I I rolled over year on year now the interest rates have dropped from eight per cent seven per cent down two per cent, shucks man


ya it's disgusting is zero point five ya no sorry is zero point zero five, it's terrible you know, I think


!hey! by the way talking about that uh since you don't have CPF uh have you max out your accounts in CPF uh, okay you see uh what uh you see uh right now you and I about okay lah you're a bit younger than me, retirement age uh ya but uh alright but retirement


age is sixty-five our CPF life right you can start draw withdrawing your CPF life at sixty-five to seventy that means uh effectively we have about fourteen years no more than sixteen years sixteen seventeen years left, so, what I did was that I maxed up my I pumped in money you know if I have spare cash ah I close off


every single, as much as I can because there's a limit to topping up on the annual basis so I'm I close I move all the monies from the savings account and current account because they earn so little interest I move it into my CPF, alright so I've maxed out the special account I maxed out my Medisave account I don't my Medisave uh when I go


hospital I won't drawdown you know I pay by cash literal from my my bank account uh so so my my Medisave is account is stocked all the way to max special account is maxed out to the full retirement sum, and then the ordinary account I still got money inside lah two and half per cent not so bad lah but the other two got four percent and sometimes five uh depending on the basic balance and


what happen is that if you leave it in there for eighteen years uh because at four per cent your money will double, so there's still a chance for you to double your money uh max it out so by doing nothing you get uh, no no no the thing is that once you move the money okay don't talk about special account (uh huh) so the thing is that if you want to move into ordinary account


alright because the thing is if you don't need the money of course you want to leave it there lah but once that when you reach fifty-five uh, you can actually withdraw money over and above the basic retirement sum, so you can now I'm now going to treat CPF as a bank


for depositing my money


well you you can withdraw it because as long as you need to meet the minimum sum because you have to pledged properly the number of all the other nonsense thing over there ah but over a certain amount you can actually withdraw so but the thing is that, say again


but is a small minimum small amount lah, ya, ya so anyway you look into it ah no no can't talk about it today but the thing is that all you know is that over fifty-five years old we are allowed to withdraw money


so how much you want to withdraw will determine how much is left and then how much can compound lah so when you reach sixty-five you don't have to withdraw at sixty-five actually can still withdraw as long as you don't, most of money from your retirement account uh because it comes fifty fifty-five ah, at fifty-five your retirement account is there but if you don't move your money from retirement account


to CPF life, you can still withdraw, once you move to CPF life that means your retirement account is zero you can't withdraw anything anymore, so there's still a chance for you to withdraw so think about that lah something you know


if you ya if you need the cash then then better don't don't try try at it [lah] [hor] ya I know


part three negative experiences


I I think this nonsensical Q COVID is at I think is blown out of proportion honestly speaking, ya there there, talking about the infection rate are fair enough lah because infection the death rate is affected by the the the infection rate but the death rate is now all over the place you know I it's the same virus all around the world


how can singapore have zero point zero, it the same that come what it was in some countries is as high as twelve per cent, this is nonsense uh I'm telling you this this biggest , I don't know what is going on lah I I I just cannot accept that the same virus kills people you know that's varied that's discriminating you know maybe chinese they don't kill so much you know maybe eh then they thought


I think the low death rate also in the midwest in the US there's hardly any cases over there


there's no death rate over there it's so, low so I think something is being blown out of proportion I don't know what is going on when I I was I was talking to my cousins you know because their work they are doctors and I was asking them how, they actually measure infection rate and how they actually measure a death relate a COVID-related death


and they can't tell me, and then with could coming out of the US there's, you know the US saying oh their their doctors err they going on social media online saying that they are told to record every death, as a COVID-related death


their doctors were saying that this person as long as is a death within a hospital that has got COVID patients is a COVID-related death and then, then not then and though WHO has not come out with a proper guideline to tell all the countries this is what you need to record as long as I


so uh fair enough lah I can't ask people in the US right so I gotta ask my cousins and even then for them they're not not uh infectious disease they are one in geriatrics and another one in uh in uh in uh hormonal side and, because of the resources that they pumped


into to looking after the COVID, patients they themselves are so short-handed, and the patients do not come in to go and see them uh, so they're just wondering what's happening uh do they stop falling sick or did not going to the hotel uh not hotels sorry not going to the hospital, are they just sick at home so that's terrible I don't know what is going on you know


this this all, [orh] I saw all over the place uh this is one nonsensical virus I guess


ya the more you test the more you get right , the more you test the more you get, no it's true even in singapore the same case, that's why I said before the election why did they if they're smart ah they will slow down the testing but of course they did the right thing but not being smart lah I mean because the more you test the more the infection rates goes up


for amount the the the the the the the the the my my foreign foreign migrant workers


cannot have hundred percent screen lah my my son was just telling me his co-worker, he say that his co-worker say he's going for a swab, because he's going back to malaysia in two weeks time I say why do you swab now even my son can understand he's only sixteen years old lah he said cannot be what my my my co-worker told me he's going to get a swab and then what if he gets caught in two days time so I said I'm sure there's


another reason I think he didn't ask properly so


oh god goodness gracious just nonsense leh, ya that's what he told me but you also added in the two weeks source gross he was scratching his head I was scratching my head my others


my family is scratching the head


okay lah fair enough lah it's a one one once one overlooked case you know I can still give it, you know they are not I mean that one I can still give to them but you know what's that that the thing that's not that's not talked about, you see ah this this virus uh this disease what you call it uh


has got two week incubation period, right, among the foreign domestic workers uh uh foreign work uh migrant workers uh, they have been, confined isolated for two weeks three weeks four weeks one month two months three months


what on earth is going on how are they isolating the thing how can they ha why ah, the cases still here when they because they first at first they say they're maybe they want to uh they want to infect themselves so they go don't need to go to work but the thing is that they've already isolated them how is this still spreading among those that's not isolated and they're swabbing them like crazy


this I nobody's asking that question you know, no they got locations that's been they put up in in uh


uh sports centres they put up in expo so those who are swabbed infected are moved over there those who remain in the dorm aren't supposed to be not having anymore virus so, why is it that they are still there and they are still having, two hundred three hundred cases uh now about two hundred cases now lah is back down but is still there you know after four months


this nonsense uh what type of isolation is this


[ho] exactly, so right now I'm looking at this uh they have they're they still continuing at their daily briefings and those, reporters the journalists or whatever they're doing they're not doing their job okay, these are the simple basic things that needs to addressed any tom dick and harry can ask right if it's two weeks three weeks four weeks I understand lah for goodness sake you know four months


US crazy lah they all on the rise all over the place uh [aiya] it's just like ours lah you know that's tell you ah


of all the stupid thing go and have a encourage gathering uh having by having a election, so this is I think just they are just not focusing on the right things lah


no lah I just maybe I'll send you an article lah I just read it uh just cause we were delayed right so during in the meantime I was reading another, no so you're saying that right now it is look okay we're never gonna have herd immunity already is not possible to have herd immunity, right even though you take the vaccine vaccine may may require a booster shot and everything so right now it's just that if we accept


the point that you know of course right now we know the death rate lah right we know the what is the death rate we just, live lah don't uh don't, live out of fear we just live beknowing that we are trying to do our best we don't do something stupid you know otherwise ah right now I think the problem right now around the world


especially the US uh they are so fearful they don't dare to live, whereas in singapore I think singapore is not so bad lah people here uh just live lah have or not for me I've I I'm not one of those that's you know my parents are scared okay I'm scared for my parents so fair enough but then for you and me and we're not that old I don't think we're sick you know so just live as per normal lah !aiya!


and then the mask oh my goodness gracious I think I've a big head lah I don't know about you whether you have a big head or not you know hor my earlobes ah, the the the the the the mask it cuts into my ear you know, ya even even the loose ones uh not the the the dispose the reusable the disposable ones uh


it cuts lah just wear for five hours uh !wah! everyday I gotta I'm just dying, strip it away from my face, you know it's just terrible uh, ya lor us , they're forced to go online you know to do all these Zoom nonsense ya you know !aiya!


but this is , I think is it, beaten to death and then yet people are still scared for me I I just waiting for it to blow over lah


my dad was saying that it is not the dorms infection rate, that worries him it is community infection rate so I ask my dad the community infection rate been going down down down now it's in single digits right it was double digits now single digits up and down up and down a little bit ask him that do you know uh for that for the for the for the


community non-dorm uh non-dorm situation, it is up to the person, to go and see the doctor, in order to determine whether he's infected or not do you know how many people are walking around infected and no one knows, so given that scenario I tell my dad


do you think it is really as serious as it is, and maybe among the old folks I understand because right now I look at the statistics uh in the US uh not the US uh I think is in singapore I think there was something statistics uh among the people who are seventy, years and above okay in fact once you get infected death rate is twenty per cent okay fine


right but then the thing is that if you are not infected or you don't show you infected there very very few people that actually going to see the doctor, right, it cannot be you know migrant workers are still so high and outside it there's nothing and yet around the world they say infection rates are all over the place


no you can't do a one-time thing as well cause do a one-time thing you get infected next day


ya and then they say they can pass screen four thousand a day right, so you say you can now they can push the stats out four thousand a day or eight thousand a day and the priority is going to given to the the the foreign workers' dorm, so I say well if is four thousand eight thousand shouldn't it have finish screening by now


how many months already you know , ya that's supposed to be eight thousand I thought I just a just a number I I I read the last time round


no they says it's only three hundred in the dorms right six hundred thousand they are not what, uh overall lah foreigners lah the three hundred thousand ya


fifty thousand ten days, right, so I don't know lah it's, I mean my my pet peeve was this you know like that I was telling people I was here at serangoon gardens, when the uh when george Yeo and #lim hwee hua# was here


right and err and they wanted to have a foreign workers' dorm built in serangoon gardens, so the thing is that after that time you know that's when I joined union pass lah that's why I left I did social work what right, so then this issue has been brushed aside pushed aside for so many donkey years so when this thing started


then uh miss Teo over there ah I don't know what on earth is going on and then Huat ah just, damn upset about this because we've been going, have been around for twelve years uh, eleven years twelve years uh, and it was and yet you know they they've not properly addressed it uh


(hmm) ya, the low and the poor sanitary areas lah probably everything all there what


I think it's really unnecessary lah honestly speaking uh, you know let's say we have been trying for years to to drive productivity uh but yet to drive productivity ya we have been bringing in low-cost workers is this they use low-cost workers ah that's why I say ah I've been to australia ah I know uh australia there's no


mean no low-cost workers my my landlord uh, he's actually a, construction worker, okay and he owns houses so over there they got apprenticeship like germany uh they build up and train people like ITE lah you know but unfortunately ITE is not really apprenticeship over there they really give them apprenticeship they credit them they give them


certification and everything uh so they become professionals you know so the plumbers in australia is they charge so much more than the plumbers in singapore for examples same thing for the construction industry over there you can, he owns a house you know he rents them out and then he goes to construction work every day


you know, so over here I think we are just so I then I was arguing with some friends and they were saying [orh] is the is uh the the the is the government is trying their best I say trying my best my my my my my sorry I don't want to say that uh but you know nonsense uh they are not trying their best lah if they're they'll probably at some uh higher cut-off you know and then encourage


people to go and do more hands-on work and even bring the economy around right now we've driven driving, ourselves to the lowest cost possible you know, so it's a overall labour labour issue uh is a labour policy issue is uh is not just a foreign workers issue


MIT Stanford, you know the interesting thing is that uh I was just telling my my second son


I'm reading this book called this is what inequality looks like have you read it before, okay it's written by this professor in NTU he has been around for about three four years uh cannot borrow the book from the library because everybody has it on reserve, so I said for me I stepped away from corporate bank corporate life and went into social service and I thought I'm more of an enlightened ones already


but when I read this book, my goodness he talks about inequality in singapore and he's so clever and right now I'm telling him ah I'm slapping myself because I'm so blind I'm still so blind about these inequalities in singapore go and check it out lah I send you the book when you want to read ya


part two positive experiences


I have only had one occasion where I was offered the opportunity to bump up, and it was from, business to, first ah is it, so I said don't want, it was coming back from hong kong to singapore


so I said don't want I put me into economy and then they give me the cash instead so I think I collected the cash uh, I can't remember but uh ah all my other travels uh which is not as much as yours lah, ya and I have always travel in economy and maybe business class ah


but that's uh those are long time ago man, I've not I've not flown in a plane uh I've not flown in one since, two thousand nine, two thousand nine that's uh eleven years ago


ya I've only flown to I think I only flown to Penang only if I'm not wrong Penang


ya that's true


but anyway but anyway that I'll look at it at around there are there are the only good time was that, when I went australia and back, the company put my whole family on on business so they all really have a nice time other than uh my my family has never travelled business I've always put them on economy


and now is all budget lah, but uh but that was but even then then after the initial experience of uh, of travelling business uh of course business must be SQ and something better !wah! Quantas is terrible Quantas business is like shit uh so ya


and I'll say that you know uh that that that business is not awe lah if you tell me that really the one that that experience that gave me the real first awe it was when I went to err err US in, in the eighties mid eighties uh mid eight ya I think eighty-six or


eighty-seven can't remember the date so I went there said okay we're going to the grand canyon, so okay lah we stop and then we have been driving on a coach coach coach coach coach I think we stop at california so we drove in lah, so we driving we're in arizona I think we went in via


can't remember I towards, can't remember which one lah when we are can't remember already, so I say where is the blooming grand canyon I've seen them in the pictures uh I know it's a big place you know where is it where is it so there we are travelling on the coach and then


as we were nearing the canyon the whole sky opened up, I was like what, god the canyon is underground ya because when you look at the pictures the canyon the canyon is like is pasted in the sky right right when reach there the canyon is underground and is


so huge I was standing there I say, ya I was like oh my goodness gracious how big the grand canyon is, it's like they're so far away from the other end, and, and it's like never ending from the left to the right just goes on forever and I was felt I felt gosh uh this how old was I uh I was twenty


twenty-one uh ya twenty-one, !wah! that was a eye-opener uh I've I then never knew it can be things can be so, magnificent uh awesome let's put it that way


didn't get a chance to go there


!hey! if you've been have you been to uh talking about yellowstone uh have you been to new zealand, the waterloo and all those all those err geysers hot spring, no ah


ya because what happen uh I'm thinking of going I mean I've not been back, to the US uh for holidays since we finish our postgrad uh, so yellowstone is one place I haven't been to but for new zealand I've been there twice before on holiday I've been to all those hot spring uh geysers uh whatever nonsense lah


so I was told yellowstone is very nice so I'm just saying that if you know you you know if they are comparable then maybe I can give it a miss lah I don't have to go back if I don't want to


no no no no I'm talking about their I'm talking about the hot springs the geysers the the the volcanic areas in new zealand not the not the mountains and the


yellow orange


ya we had the same experience in uh in uh new zealand the second time I I went think first time was in err, was in the eighties lah second time I went was just before I left australia to come back to singapore that was in uh, two thousand seven I think two thousand, so went with the family so we went to all those uh err the the volcanic area you know with the hot springs and everything lah so we decided to go for a midnight I I wouldn't say is midnight date lah the evening date so we at eight o'clock


we walked to the we're in a uh because we drove a campervan right, so we parked the campervan we stayed there and then we decided to go for, ya this , this, this bathroom uh is like hot bath, it was cold okay cause new zealand right new zealand that time was when uh it was just after


it was in err october uh so winter coming to spring ah so ya so so winter is in, in uh in june right so it was about october so coming to spring oh, !wow! we ran all the way to the, hot spring and then jumped inside and then we were just cooking there lah you know we were steaming uh


basically you know we steam there for about half an hour forty-five minutes together with many other families lah then after we jumped out and eh but interestingly uh when we got out, of the of the of the the the hot hot bath lah, we could walk back to the room and we were not cold you know, because we were so hot inside and we just walk


in the night night night night night air uh we got to the room and then of course we have to rinse lah you know that's when we felt the cold again because the room was know there though heater in the room was no where as uh hot as hot bath


oh so you're in the campground I thought you were in the car


do you know ah talk I think all these, when you listening to all these ah ya I do realise that I don't know about you lah by it seems that all, these wonderful, travelling experiences uh, all occurred when we were younger even when nowadays I still travel with the family but it's no longer fun I still remember you know !wow! driving out from illinois uh


driving all the way to las vegas and driving all the way back going skiing and just having a wonderful time as young man I guess you know and uh of course that time married already uh and I can still remember, you know !wow! going to a lot of


places you know but interestingly, when I went from, business and this not say business lah company trip lah uh so sometimes is uh Citibank sends us to philippines you see, so was in the philippines when they say !hey! after the training was a full training so after the training say let's go


travelling lah, so that's when I joined my friends for the first time err in the you know after marriage lah ha after marriage, so after I joined my friends and then I realised that, I wasn't enjoying myself uh, I really hated the travel uh even though I was seeing new things in the philippines


then I realised that darn, joanna wasn't with me, and I couldn't enjoy without her you know, so from then onwards all my business trips uh, for all almost all the business trips with the all the other companies after that uh, I stayed mostly in the hotel room


I go out lah okay is for Makan for client meetings for client calls but otherwise I'll stay in the room and you know watch TV, maybe that's about it and maybe just go and do a little bit of shopping but I've never gone sight-seeing once


I see well done


ya she's with HSBC, that's my last contact with her I forgot she was in hong kong she send me err was it this year or can't remember when it was lah, she send me err I think were, was it christmas or err chinese new year or new year I don't know so I said where are you now


then she kept quiet then I say Sei how come ah she's almost a half a day, whole day never respond to me then I go and check the previous messages then I realise she said she was, in hong kong I even joked with her about hong kong you know oh no this was last year when she sent me the message, uh before the the hong kong


riots you know protests and all those things so !aiya!, ya ya


for all the nonsensical stuff lah it was , I mean there's nothing exciting over there but it's a very I mean I'm glad I got married before I went there you know so you know at least for me and joanna we got a lot of nice memories you know


oh my god january, oh man that was , what


that's why she was she was driving a ford my my honda do not no problem with my honda I can start it with how stupid ford couldn't start


ya ya I know I know ya, check, dennis car lah nothing with the fuel lines lah


do you know uh I'm still talking about that day to my because now and with KM uh we I we go and teach right I still tell my students the story of the coldest day in a hundred years you know, about the my car about how I, bathe and forgot dry my hair about you know the wind chill factors my goodness


minus sixty something uh, fifty or sixty my goodness gracious we're so cold, !wah! that was that was memorable, !alamak!


told to stop you know shucks carry on or not terrible such an enjoyable time, think must unplug I'm going to protest (ppl)


uh okay uh again again uh three two one


financial related topic, uh have you bought any shares or bonds recently


uh personally I have not bought anything yet uh I'm actually waiting for the stock market to crash again, so as you know I think in march, it crashed one time right, that was the lowest point, , uh ah during the COVID nineteen period


so uh I'm waiting for it to fall again so I'm looking at DBS and hoping the share price drop to around twenty dollars each, ya, I heards I read somewhere that uh


wish to to have a good habit in trading shares we should, by only on mondays and sell only on fridays what do you think of this habit


so you're not looking at the lowest lowest price it can go


I see thanks for sharing, eh how about, ya how about unit trust, like did you you, have you bought any unit trust recently cause unit trust seems quite attractive a lot of people have been recommending it but I don't really


I'm not really keen in, uh buying through financial advisers


actually it's the singapore savings bond is very attractive, in in terms of uh the coupons but the, interest the coupon rate now is not very attractive I think is below one percent so if I would have a choice


uh I would rather put my, money into fixed deposits instead, uh the last check bank of china is offering the highest fixed deposit rate at one point one per cent, so I think that is more attractive than singapore savings bond currently


I think now is not a good time to put your money into the singapore savings bond because, it uh the interest rates are quite low


yes I I created already I I created DBS vickers, but I'm also looking into tiger, because tiger has err the lowest commission I think, I think is at zero point zero eight per cent, in fact but


tiger is not CDP, I think for long term I will go for CDP account


but for short term trading, perhaps speculative trading, I will go for tiger brokerage tiger trading account because the break even price would be lower, and there is no minimum purchase


then I'm also looking into robo trading, like for StashAway, , I think it charges zero point eight per cent commission, but I do not know, what this zero point eight percent is charged on is it like


the average daily balance or is it, uh the amount of withdrawal and I also don't really know how robo trading works, like do they actually, realise, your losses and gains


or do they just put there and, let, the balance fluctuate with the market do you know how it works


ya I think I should go and find out more, plus robo advisory right they don't, it seems like they don't have a minimum sum but they have a minimum balance but they don't have a minimum commission charge on each transaction


so it it it seems to attract young investors that do not have much cash, and don't mind paying, uh, slightly higher percentage of commercial fees, because for DBS vickers to break even the twenty five dollars commission actually


it's quite quite a large sum to put in around, five to eight k I think is it


I think five thousand still will not break even the twenty five dollars right


that ya ya I would I think I'll be using that option when I make my first purchase


okay do you think you'll be exploring robo trading anytime soon


uh do you know about the the dow jones right every time the US market will trade at night and then I what I realise is that , singapore market actually follows the trend of dow jones which means like if friday dow jones market drop


then, on monday singapore market will likely drop, do you use dow jones as a indicator


the biggest stock exchange


so so why Lendlease and not, over Mapletree


so lots of qualitative analysis in fact I saw uh City Development but the price drop was not really attractive, cause City Development back in the days when I was doing simulation trading uh actually trade that quite a few time yes quite a popular stock


uh I wanted to get your opinion on cryptocurrency do you think cryptocurrency is here to stay like there are so many cryptocurrency and recently there is news that Bitcoin uh Mastercard is is considering partnering with Bitcoin


so do you think uh cryptocurrency like Bitcoin will become a viable option in future


ya close to twenty thousand


(mmhmm) I think I may invest if it drop back to five thousand because there is this trend where it fluctuates a lot so it looks like uh is a good uh investment, that's a good


that there are highs and lows ah for for me to, there's there's leeway for profit in that sense, ya, but I think whether is here to stay or not depends on how many people adopt it because I saw a video on yes theory on Facebook uh


they actually tried to live off bitcoin for a day and a lot of restaurants do not, accept bitcoin even though there is the bitcoin hype during that time so, uh I think whether


whether it's successful or not depends on how many people adopt it for example in singapore now a lot of people are adopting uh, GrabPay and other forms of payment, uh I think that, that makes Grab a successful payment platform


so someone has to push for Bitcoin to be successful and and probably Mastercard would be the way [ah]


negative experiences, uh do you have any negative experiences to share


like maybe in your workplace or


so it kind of resolve itself ah


yes definitely uh for negative experience uh recently I have been uh participating in focus group discussion, so uh when I get notification from, that oh there's this focus group discussion session uh


I do share with my friends, so uh I I share with one friend and then uh coincidentally both of us got in the same focus group session, and then uh, and then uh after the focus group session we realised that there is this referral programme


so I felt okay it's a bit unfair because I I referred him, and then uh both of us came in the same session, and uh I did not uh received the referral credit, but but it's okay I mean it's it's kind of like weird lah but I mean this is how I do it lah if there's good things then I just share immediately


so uh kind of unfair but uh I think that's how it is, ya, then also like negative experience I think in the past few, past few months there's been uh there has been lots of talks for starting is uh now how we treat migrant workers


and then, uh follow by black live matters movement, so all all these are correct, uh, all these will evoke, uh emotions in uh most people


and and what I read about the migrant workers some of the post say that, uh all singaporeans treat migrant workers fairly but I I felt like, oh this this is such a misunderstanding


that time I usually I'm the first few to collect the goodie bag but that day I was very busy so I only came at three PM and then, I saw two cartons of


uh old milk so I I just carried the two cartons of old milk back to my hall and then uh I will I will distribute it to the hall staff and the migrant workers working beside my hall so I thought like making that statement is quite unfair you know


so uh ya we have to be watchful of, uh the, the kind of remarks that we make lah


in terms of singapore stand right I think I think we cannot deny that there are racial tensions between different, racial groups, we I think this is very normal for a human being because we associate ourself with like looks et cetera uh


but for singapore we emphasise racial tolerance and we craft our policies, around uh, maximising the interactions between different racial groups, so singapore is okay because the enforcement wise uh we are small country we are able to enforce well for US we look at US as a country but a lot of their police departments are actually I think I would say decentralised ah which means that they


work based on each state each state have their own police department, so some states may perform better than other states, so I I think that uh US right just like a big cooperation right like uh when when a cooperation becomes bigger uh yes you have more economies of scale but it may also have more ineffectiveness


so I think US is also facing these issue where is unable to enforce, the strict rules, enforce the laws, to protect the citizen I I think right when I see police ah I won't say oh police should be friendly or what you know I think uh naturally it is okay to feel scared of police


but not that you would run away, or or run for your life uh when you see them lah you know like they you know they are not going to hurt you lah, so so I think, I think you the situation in


US is quite unfortunate but they have to sort it out themself ah, uh, the the rights I think the first amendment rights thing is is really flawed so a lot of people are are pushing everything is oh their right to do this their right to do that


like they even have like the rights to not wear masks you know because it's the air that they are breathing is their own body so this really cause a lot of, uh, people do not comply to the rules because they think is their rights you know but they don't see as a us they don't see themselves as a society


so I think singapore approach uh because singapore approach is to build a better society for everyone uh even though we may have uh even though it's not a best for individual, it may be better for society just like increasing GST


so I think, I hope singapore will be able to keep up, uh keep up with the the more correct policies, ya, even in in hong kong right, hong kong is really quite similar to singapore but I also watched a video uh that states that without the rule of law


without order, there is no democracy so if so the conclusion for that video is that, if hong kong really wants democracy then they have to maintain order orderliness they have to restore order


that that is the first step to take, but as you can see the protest are, are the reverse of creating orderliness ah, so I think that's unfortunate and and hope uh the people there are able to to realise it lah


ya like my my entire uni life is so hard


, especially year three ah the the, the year three content were so heavy and so hard to grasp I think need a lot of time to practice practice and ah I think for


for my university the professors, do not have the habit of giving, solutions so it's very hard for a student to practise, because what because


correct because ah for, for students right last time we see we we do and then we compare those solutions we check what's wrong and then we we do again, until is correct


to the solution, or the fast method would be to study the solution and that's actually what they are doing in machine learning what, they are feeding the solutions into the machine for, the machine to learn the patterns


and and that's how the AI become stronger so solutions are needed, but uh apparently uh university because of copyright issue or or they want us students to be more independent instead of uh copying from answers so they do not release the solutions I think uh that really quite


inhibit our ability to learn ah


I think maintaining our expectations is something, it is is kind of a skill lah, so uh, if we maintain our expectations well we can uh we can reduce the impact of disappointment but ya it's it's really quite annoying to to feel disappointed and I think it's part of life as well


uh actually now that you mention it uh I also feel, like giving up a bit, cause I have this uh, uh I have many things in my room so I take pictures of them and post it on Carousell I've been using for Carousell for


for I think five years plus already, so quite quite long ya and I saw the so I'm I'm able to see the development of the app so now Carousell has been moving towards uh


I mean I mean I think you know that Carousell is able to detect duplicate posts because they do not want their they do not want people to keep on relisting their listings, uh it will flood the marketplace


so so uh now, Carousell is moving towards uh image detection, last time they actually detected by the solely by text like maybe your your listing title and description but now they even


move towards uh detecting the picture, so if your picture looks similar in terms of like colour pixels all these they are able to identify and I think that's quite scary lah, uh, uh that's very high tech what but it's also very scary and annoying to me


because what I do last time is uh I just post a empty listing with the correct pictures, and then I will edit it and I will fill up with the correct listing again, so so uh the first post


they are I'm able to skip the duplicate detection part and then for the editing part, they do not uh check the duplicate posts again however now, they check, the duplicate post during the editing part as well


and I I suspect it during the editing part and, for the pictures as well so uh I don't I don't I'm running out of options how to relist my listings maybe I will just pay Carousell to bump


kind of give up lah because technology becoming so smart


oh my insomnia I don't know I think uh I think there are many things to do, like uh, like my my posting of Carousell I got so many listings to post haven't post yet, really have a lot of things to sell ah so I I hope I can declutter my house before I start work


but really sometimes too tired yet the brain the body is too tired but the brain is still awake so that keeps me at night (ppl)


positive experience, uh when was the last time you help someone in


uh in, in your time of need cause now like COVID nineteen period right especially during circuit breaker a lot of people actually need help, and there are a lot of volunteer opportunities around so have you participated in any


actually uh I also have not been volunteering uh I don't like to go out so I don't really help physically, but on in terms of money I do donate, to charitable organisations and also


ya, there are two ways one is like, uh to donate for the, tax deduction, tax tax exemption tax deduction uh, the second is like really just to help the people


how how about uh any nice food you have eaten so far cause phase two has opened already so have you eaten anything


I think have to be careful about raw fish ah cause like in china they say the, uh COVID spread through the raw fish, and also raw fish has some parasites


ya so have to be careful but uh ya I think it's okay I also ate a few sashimi recently, , is really very nice uh, think, I think for meals I'll I really crave for the burger the Hammee burgers at commonwealth


that one is one of the best value and nicest burger in, singapore then the second one that I crave for is I'm kim barbecue but then that one is also, raw food lah, so perhaps without a bit


or or it's like you take raw food and then you go and grill it, I'm kim barbecue ya so so still raw lah, ya , so uh just hope uh looking forward to trying those


, but and and my home I my mum bought a, entire salmon so we have been cooking salmon for meals uh just like salmon fillet and then add some salt and pepper and then we put in the oven so I think that's really quite refreshing as well


you you also know how it's handled right not like left there for how many days already so, so much much better , ya, then I also I also cook uh porridge which was a disaster my porridge almost turn into claypot rice cause it was


too dry I was trying to make the the creamy kind of congee but I kind of burn the pot, uh I I read somewhere that need need to uh you cannot use rice cooker ah right, uh you need to boil the rice so that the rice will


uh fly up and hit the sides and then they will break apart and that's how you create the creamy texture is not, it it cannot be done by rice cooker kind of method, so I so I tried that and then, and then uh but I did not stir it enough ah so it stick to the bottom and then uh it almost turn to claypot rice ya and then and and and it's and it's also very bland with the starchy starchy dry kind of


uh flavour so so not really pleasant ah, ya, I I really wonder how I can improve on the cooking eh


then my family also don't really like to eat rice so, !wah! clearing is tough ah have to eat it ah, so have you have you cook anything uh in your free time


actually on on the issue of appreciation right, uh I really I'm really thankful that singapore has a, a stable source of clean water, this is this is really, this is really a a a blessing ah because water food all these ah all essential items


to to survive and singapore is able to secure it, so I'm really thankful for this, uh personally circuit breaker has uh with all these stable source of food and water uh circuit breaker has not really affected my life I still stay home everyday become a COVID nineteen fighting warrior at home


so so not really, not really much affected but I'm just thankful for this clean supply of water, ya then uh , I for food right cause I start cooking some meals now like uh


like I was saying porridge and then I also tried roasted pork is really hard to get the texture and consistency right so, I also appreciate our hawker centres, that uh they are able make


uh they are able to cook, cook so so much ah, they they have perfected the skill already, and some of their roasted pork seriously they sell three dollar three fifty is also very nice the fats ah will melt in your mouth one


ya mine is just too salty I don't know how they do it, and I also I also realise right that, food is quite expensive uh is not say you you it's not say that if you cook at home it will definitely be very cheap


sometimes we go out the #thai fan#, uh the rice veggie uh the economical rice is really really much cheaper than what we cook at home, and uh the price of food the cost


that we cook at home really depends on the freshness of the ingredients, so overall uh I'm really appreciative of like, uh singapore having clean water supply and also cheap cooked food


uh for us to just buy outside so convenient


(mmhmm) ya certainly the Zoom conversations cannot really uh replace the face to face interactions, but I guess we have to just tolerate lah, uh in the meantime, ya


but I'm I'm really uh, it it really, makes makes me happy to see that the case numbers are not increasing increasing too much for the case communities, because I thought oh there will be a second wave


uh right let's say let's say ya, correct correct correct but the the case numbers are still quite low so I thought maybe singapore made a right decision uh in terms of like balancing the reopening of economy and managing the case numbers


ya ya have to ah have to be careful


so so what makes you persevere in your work ah, like what what drives you every day what makes you wake up


so uh for me actually I don't have much drive in myself I I think I'll just uh, uh go, try try uh just start off in a company and then try to find my way in which to find out which industry I am more keen in


and I'll try discover my interest then, not so much about early retirement, ya, but I think all these really depends on, your partner, so like for myself I still haven't found a partner


so uh, need need to see, uh when after I find a partner what are our plans together then we can also decide how we manage our finances, are we going to marry late or are we gonna marry early think a lot of it


depends on that and I also think, from what you say work life balance, which also means that, I think our work should, uh accommodate to our family so perhaps next time when we have kids I may want to downsize


to a lower rank maybe, or a smaller company so that I have more freedom, uh for my time more flexibility my time


soon but uh personal growth, uh not, not really sure about personal growth, but I always have the, the drive to learn new things, and uh recently for example computer game uh during the COVID nineteen period the circuit breaker period I I started playing computer games and uh I think I think I addicted to it


uh so I I play I play counter strike which is to shoot the enemy one and I I just, and it's not about , solely about reaction time it's also about strategy


and like you should, uh must be able to, uh learn how to read the map so you like let's say if you see your your your teammate die over there then marked with an X then you should know okay maybe uh enemy is somewhere at that area then you don't go into the area or something


so a lot of strategy planning, ya, on top of the fast reaction then uh other games I play is flight simulator so I I already bought the jawstick joystick


uh to be able to control the plane better, so I I think that will be interesting on top of that right I also I'm also learning driving so I hope I can pass my driving test before I start work


ya and and and with all this learning right that certainly there is this learning curve ah which, is kind of, annoying cause, you you uh I do things very very inefficiently but I think that's part of learning ah


uh with experience we will certainly be better but it's it's just annoying ah, right, and that's the challenge ya


ya you cannot cannot put down your guard right once you put down your guard then you forgot to check something then a car bang you already


on top of the technical on top of the technical skills you also learn a lot of soft skills right


financial related topic, oh ya actually actually I I've been buying shares and bonds for the past four years I started since twenty sixteen uh actually actually end of twenty fifteen


so recently some shares that I bought would be landlease is uh it's a real estate investment trust that has properties in italy some office buildings as well as, uh it also owns, three one three somerset so


the reason why I bought it is that because as we all know the COVID crisis has hit us quite severely during this time so there was quite a huge sell off in the, in the financial markets so I thought that lendlease was a good buy I bought it at fifty two cents and uh the reason was that because it's a real estate investment trust so


it primarily holds a lot of uh property so as a as mentioned above the the property is three one three somerset and some office buildings in italy so I felt that the sell off was not justified because the price dropped by about fifty percent


so I thought that was a good time uh to step in and buy so that is one of my most recent purchases ah with a share, what about uh what about you jenny


oh I I I I personally don't don't agree with that because I I think I think at uh for me when I choose to buy a share like for example like explain to you previously about lendlease I, I look at it and I think that the price is not justify at the moment then I will buy based on that so I will not consider factor such as timing or for some reason like on monday might be a better time to buy or friday might be a better time to buy so


the correct the for me the best timing to buy will be when when I think that the the share price is lower than where it's supposed to be so instead of a particular day ah


uh ya I believe that I believe that it's not really very possible to to be able to time the market so so what I do is that I just form an opinion based on the stock and if the price goes below that then I will, consider if that's the price that I am comfortable with going in then that's that's the price I'll be going in lah


personally personally I I prefer to do my own investments I do not like to rely on others because the the reason is not that other people are not savvy with investment products it's just that they might be better but the fact is that they will charge a commission or certain fees which will make the


uh overall returns lower than if you would invest by yourself at least that's my personal opinion so I don't really invest in unit trust so I just buy my own shares and bond, oh ya then uh jeremy actually I wanted to ask you, uh what are your thoughts on the singapore savings bonds while waiting for the


because this is a relatively liquid uh bond you are able to redeem it every month so you don't have to wait for a prolonged period of time so would that be something that will be considering while waiting for your, while waiting for the stock market to crash again


actually have you created your brokerage account


oh that's actually quite good what, is is that is that a CD sorry, I see okay so so is a custodial account so, so so if you had a choice between a CDP account or custodial account which one would you choose


because of the transaction price right, ya, ya okay I think I think that's a that's a reasonable thing to do because for long term investments it might be safer to have it in uh CP so you do not have to rely on the


uh on the stability of the of the custodian like you wouldn't need to worry about whether a custodian goes bankrupt or whatnot


uh I'm not really sure how it works but, uh the what I I don't know is that instead of uh human it's actually a uh, a machine over there with a preset amount of rules so they will just based on, those rules to to


help you make financial decision for example maybe, I don't know maybe like buy shares of a certain dividend you or maybe like to fit certain criteria for example PE ratio that is below twelve that kind of thing but in depth I'm not very sure like, those that you mention whether the charges are on the total amount or or withdrawals or whatnot that that one I not really sure so ya I can't can't can't speak about that


uh no it depends on how much you how much you make right so when I first started out I put in about three thousand but now but now my transaction amounts are about five thousand


no as in as in you will need to make, for example for for twenty five dollars or five thousand will be zero point five percent so your shares will need to grow zero point five percent lah but if you for example if you put in put in ten K into one one purchase than it will be just zero point two five percent so your shares let's say it will go up by zero point two five percent for you to make money


but, so so that's that but actually Vickers has this option where you you only need to pay ten dollars if you, if you how do I put it if you'll have the money available ya


ya so so so I thought that was a that was uh main draw for me because of the the fact that DBS is connected to my bank account so it's very easy for me to transfer money in and out and also that, uh the transaction fees across and also on top of that it's also linked to my CDP so


as far as I know these might only be the this but this is the only brokerage I know that fulfills all these criteria to have uh cheap commission and, uh CDP and and it's also it's also connected to my bank account so it's very fast for me to transfer money in and out


at the moment not really like, I I'm


I I I quite comfortable with with just selecting my own own shares and bonds actually so ya it's it's it's quite uh I am I I comfortable with it ah so so so I'll just continue doing it


uh somewhat but because my time horizon is not so short so for those people whose time horizon is short like they want to predict oh maybe the prices would change the next five days then they will put more weight on that definitely because uh like you mention singapore does follow the the US


the the the the US market trend so what, what uh what will happen is that is that for example because I mean US is the is the uh, how how how do I put it, ya and then uh of course any impact from in america will impact the rest of the world right so so it would it would impact it would impact singapore so so they they do affect but the thing is


uh, like like warren buffett said right in in the in the short run is uh, it ah I can't remember lah exact quote but in in the in the long run the the the stock market is a weighing machine so it so it uh you'll you will whatever you whatever you you pick


if you pick well in the long run it would you would you would do well so but in the short run it might it might not be true but a long run it will be so I I focus more on the long run so for for a short run it's very hard for to me it's very hard for me to predict like what is going to happen in in the US markets especially now


uh maybe the next day the uh vaccine will come out or maybe the next day another lock-down happens you you you never really know so is but what you can, do, more possibly is predict maybe in one year's time, things will go back to become more normal so your


you can based on that and form certain conclusions that some for instance like to go back to a lendlease example again the, the property prices drop by fifty percent but in, which may continue in the coming one year but I think in future years the price would gradually go back to


close to where it is or maybe take a hit but not as much as fifty percent so that's how I make my decisions and, it has paid off lah some somewhat it has it has kinda bit since then


uh as in every every share has a price that I'll be comfortable with going in so, for instance some of them do not drop as much because for obvious reasons Mapletree has a very strong brand name so and yes it has done very well for many investors over the years so


many people would pay attention to it and if a lot of people are paying attention to a stock they, is very difficult for you to take advantage of any such situations for instance I mention their share price did not drop by, almost fifty percent probably twenty or thirty percent I I can't really recall but lendlease dropped significantly and that's when you'll think that oh maybe there's an opportunity for you to buy here but at the same time you have to be confident and not uh


and be careful because sometimes the, the share price can drop for the reasons for example I think there was a similar one eagle hospitality trust so this one was a company facing certain financial problems and the share price drop was based on that so


and they drop even further I believe, they they have dropped to maybe about ten percent of what they what the original price was I I can't really recall that the the declined started way before COVID happened so I think it was around one dollar but it turn around like twelve cents


so so that's that's that's something to be careful when prices drop by a lot anything but because I'm as I mention I'm quite confident that these are company with, uh, of course we are not as familiar with office buildings in italy but from what I know is similar to our central business district so I feel that this


would, office buildings will continue to exist and and they'll continue paying rent for instance like even if this work from home situation many companies are continuing to have office space ah so I, think that there's not much issue there especially for such prime land in that area there should always be people that tenants that are willing to to pick up the the the to to to to rent the place if


the current tenant decides to to to terminate the contract and as for singapore the three oh three somerset uh everyone knows where is this it's just right right uh right outside the somerset station so I believe that similar then there will always be retail tenants that will be willing to pick up even in the event that certain


tenants go bust or decide that they don't know what continue the business anymore so all of these makes me think that, a fifty percent drop usually not justified so I mean I could accept possibly twenty percent thirty percent so so I mean everyone gets hit during this COVID crisis but fifty percent seems a bit


uh uh large so so I thought there was an opportunity there that's why which wasn't available for Mapletree maybe


I think they might already be a viable, uh option now but it's uh again it's not something that I really research a lot on so I I, I, I don't know I mean I I know ah that it's just another currency right but is it it's online it's supposed to be secure and et cetera so uh I I I I don't think is here to stay probably but whether it's going to be like widespread


and such you will have to wait and see ah that one ya of course there are people that are early adopters and they are make a lot of money as, as the past few years have shown that I think Bitcoin went up to twenty thousand or something but ya but it's but


ya but it's something that I'm not, I uh I I didn't read enough into it lah, although I I uh I I I I I'm not very sure ya I I I I mean I would, invest in it not because not because it's not good or anything it's just that I do not know enough about it to


be comfortable investing in it [lah]


negative experiences


uh workplace ah okay uh like just now actually I mention that I start there was some situations when I'm caught in the middle for example uh, I am part of the fixed income team in uh


in in my company and there is uh, their interactions with various other, other departments in in in in my company so, over a course of internship you'll get to become friends with with them so you you you do uh so it so once in a while you get caught in a uncomfortable position for instance


uh in this time, there are some things that are able to be done in the office but it's not so easy to be done in at home for instance some of the machines are licences are shared over maybe two people or three people so this is fine in the office because


we do what we just have dedicated machines over there for people to use as and when they need however when it switches over to being at home you, it becomes a bit trickier because people will have to share so when one person logs in the other person is unable to log in this


it's not really a situation that you would face in the office because I mention it's just a dedicated machine anyone that needs you just go over there and check it out so, because of this, there will be problem because people will fight over the licences and and the allocation of the licenses so recently there was a case where one of the departments actually took back one of the licenses that was allocated to my department


and and that, led to a lot of tension between the two departments so, ya so I think that was a difficult situation and, as mention because for me when you know both parties and you know where both parties are coming from is quite difficult and you are caught in between because you you are


told to do something by your department like which is which you can see their point of view because uh now that you do not have the licence or whatsoever you are not able to support this functionality anymore but at the same time you, you are also aware that this will affect their department and so you will have to uh try and balance and so for me for me it was very difficult because it directly affected my work but at the same time uh


ya you you I I had to I had to go and uh so I I try to think of solutions to, make it, uh better for everyone so, thankfully the situation was resolved uh recently I think over the past week where they managed to come up with a


uh a better schedule not not better schedule like a better uh allocation of the of your licences so even though everyone is affected it's, not, it's not uh it's not, as bad as before so so so so it was is is better is better now ya so so so that's about me then then what about you


uh ya like as in at the start I have to explain to their department like oh you know like some of the things it uh you all might need to take it back and and whatnot so for that of course some of things are still ironing out the process but right now with the resources that we have we are still able to support so it's uh


it's, is uh so the situation is kind of uh not so serious now lah ya, but but it was it was it was uncomfortable situation maybe about two weeks back, ya so so that was a negative experience for me but what about you


oh okay


but what are the injustices of the world that that you think make you feel angry like I mean just now you mentioned about black live matter and whatever, okay maybe I should start first lah ya lah I think I think that racial discrimination really sometimes makes me feel unhappy like for example when you look at the


, when you look at when you look at the the situation in in in america where some people have, uh some people are treated badly just because of the colour of the skin and you see that even now there are cases of, police are behaving badly like for instance uh that there are many recordings that show that they