generic skills like CCA dance, and it's like I know maybe I could think well and like problem solving but I don't have like, like you know when you go to what's it called when you go for like camps and stuff then they ask you what what is the secret talent that you can show people then some people do magic some people I don't know they can like drink a bottle of water in like two minutes I mean like very fast then you're like ah ah I'm very boring sorry


(uh huh), , is that what you're doing right now with me


(uh huh), ya ya ya you're just zoning out, ya, (mmhmm) ya ya


(uh huh), talking to you


oh my god what kind of eventful life dude I was just sleeping before this


why did you go to get your nails done at ten in the morning, oh okay okay, , ya maybe she does that with all her clients


, just just ya sure,


like wait maybe I can come back to this question later if I think about it okay I can't think of anything right now when did you blush though, dude I don't even know how you can tell someone's blushing if they have a bit darker skin cause it's like you can't tell unless they unless they show in their face that they're feeling shy but like I don't know when I'm blushing you know


when did I blush probably like, , maybe it's like you know when you go on stage like to perform or something and if they if this if they call out your name or something then if in a good way not in a bad way when they call it on a good way then you'll like oh my god everyone's looking at me you know like that kind of thing


you you can and ya I guess that's the blush part of it like like because when I was in school I did like the modeling CCA kind of thing and then like when you are onstage and then if, if like the moment you walk out if if everyone is like (oo) I was wonder look at me looking at me ya ya some people some people would scream like your friends and stuff they want to embarrass you so they'll scream then you are like oh my god don't please


oh ya I guess that's like the blushing ah I don't want to think about it, yes uh


, ya ah you turned turned them on ya, why sad music, or is it like slow music


not even, okay , cause I have I have two playlist I have sad slow song then I have happier slow song happy slow song is like I am so happy to be alive and that the sad one is like my girlfriend broke up with me or something so I don't listen to the sad ones but I have a happy slow songs playlist


another one is like my favourite thing to do to unwind it's like it's like twelve AM and like all the lights outside are off and like your room is also dark you just put the songs like those happy kind of songs and then you just stay outside and then like there's cold fresh air, you know it's damn nice dude it's damn nice


like that is so like only if the wind blows if the wind is not blowing then you okay just stay outside nice lah but if the wind is blowing it's damn nice or it's like I think I'm trying to simulate like you know when you go to the beach and like the wind blows in your face like the cool wind ya


like but right now cannot go outside right so the closest I'm gonna get is stick my head outside the window and like hope for the same experience but when I going to the beach when it's dark and like you can still see the water and the moon is like glistening and stuff, because I used to I used to live quite close to the beach like it was just like two bus stops away or something so my


or we could drive very easily I was very young so my friends always take us to the beach and get ice cream over there and things like that so like I remember that as like being very nice to unwind and relax but now cannot go beach anymore right so just sit at home put my head outside the window, ya oh ya oh my gosh and it's cold


and then I fall asleep , uh, describe a time when you made a comeback that shut everyone up


it takes some time then you like eh I have something to say and then you say it and everyone's like you're a bit late, okay this is the thing I'm pretty sure I have come up with stuff but I can't remember it now I don't remember this stuff I don't go like oh my gosh remember that time was really cool


like I don't I don't remember it like that, sorry I can't think of anything right now, (mmhmm) what did I say , can't remember it just like in the moment kind of stuff you know you hear something and then you you you mainly make a joke back it's like I don't know when but like I know it happened


I know it happened ya, you, is that how is that how I was build my impression with you now just bully other people okay


nice to know my brain can think okay, what is your best surprise as in like when I meet people what what shocks me like what shocks them about me like what was is the best surprise I've planned, what is oh ah


okay best surprise I received was once my it was like my birthday and uh my friends just wished me on tele and like though then like happy birthday then I was like okay cool because I didn't expect them to like do anything, so my mum was like oh we're gonna go shoe shopping then I was like that's new but I was like my god my mum finally be like she she wants to spend time with me I'm not an idiot so like okay whatever we went outside


then she kept checking her phone and I just thought it was my dad being annoying like oh what time we are going to come back uh I'm hungry and let's make lunch or something like that, so like she kept checking her phone then when we went back home she opened the front door and all my friends were there and they were like happy birthday and then they were like holding balloon the I was like what the


like you know I was so I the I zero expected it and then I was walking into my house I was shaking dude like I was, actually shaking because I was so like shook and blow blown away by and then they like decorated my whole room and the only thing I was thinking I hope they didn't find anything embarrassing in my room


so ya they like they put up like streamers and stuff and I was like thank god they didn't open any of the cupboards cause I don't like I don't hold my stuff neatly it was just like I just throw stuff in there so I was like uh thank god they didn't open anything so ya I was just shaking, I think I was fourteen fifteen I was fifteen ya I'm sorry I didn't expect to count and then uh for my seventeenth birthday I fell for it again because like like one friend was like let's go out I was like oh it's just me and this friend and then we go there and everyone's there and I'm like


goddammit I fell for it again, ya ya ya ya, I was like I can't believe I fell for it again you know like I didn't even I didn't even like think that like more people would be there in such a public place where everyone can come stupid but like ya


so ya that was like my best surprise that I received, no eh oh ya I'm trying to think


it's a it's always birthday parties, when people surprise you ya,


dude I ask for presents shamelessly like I make a list of things I want and then I just wait for one of my friends to ask me cause I know they know that I make the list, so I wait for them to ask me then one of them would be like what do you want ah then I just send the list then they just send it among their own birthday planning group that's one because I don't want them to buy


I don't want them to buy something that's a waste of money if I'm going to use it I want it to be practical so I just make a list and I even put like, where I want it from like I want teddy bear but I don't want any teddy bear I want like ikea teddy bear so I put ikea and I put the price also sometimes if I'm damn if I'm damn Kiasu I put the price


so then like ya they can ya, like that's why I straight up, I like whenever I think of something I write it down in like an excel sheet it's just things that I want then I just put it there and then from there I choose like which ones are affordable list or which ones I like


you know people can actually get I can't just put a car and then expect people to buy me a car you know so it's like ya I put like normal stuff that, so ya then I ya then I send the list to other people then some people think oh weird but some people say it's very smart and then somebody said I wish I had the balls to do that


so ya, (mmhmm), ya, oh I remember that ya we were we were gossiping over that


, ya


ya that was that was wild , wait I think we talked too much about this let me see next question despite ongoing global uncertainty what makes you optimistic about the future, I think this one is similar to the first question the what makes you want to be alive


ya cause it's like after this is all done there's always going to be some exciting stuff coming up like maybe you can go on exchange maybe you kind of like kind of new friends like you you you I know maybe some like beach party happens and then you go have fun there like you never know what's going to happen right so like I think that


helps keep me optimistic but it's also like I'm not going to be super like optimistic oh climate change is going be solved like it's like the small stuff because the big stuff you really can't control them ya,


, ya that's quite nice


where is it oh the second last is it proudest moment of my life, uh I, (uh huh)


(mmhmm), a prop ya, (mmhmm), did you have to kick it up a stage (mmhmm)


ya ya ya, were you going to step on it ah okay okay, oh okay okay okay, dancing ya ya so you saved up


(mmhmm), ya ya ya, ya ya to to travel and deal with it


sort of, (uh huh),


, (mmhmm) ah ya ya uh, ya ya then she wouldn't see it ya ya, dude that stuff stresses me out so much you know some some performances you wear earrings and then the earring


is like it has a stick at the back like some earrings have the stick those are the I feel like those are the hardest to deal with because when you can't see them they really small too they so painful so I always praying, after dance performances no there's no earrings onstage or like you know there's no safety pins onstage but I think okay now that you mention this I remembered like


a performance related proudest moment which was like uh once when I was in secondary school CCA then we had to wear a Sari for performance, and like the Sari is like you tie tie tie and then you put the safety pin at the end to make sure it doesn't fall out I forgot the safety pin and then I was doing a a very energetic kind of dance I was right in the centre


and then I was the the move was sort of like you have to open your legs, so then I opened then the Sari started to slip up so that I caught it with one hand and then I couldn't run off the stage because you the performance was only one minute it was like an open house thing, and then uh I was also right in the centre so if I ran it would look damn like bad and dam obvious so I just held it with one hand and continued dancing and then and then I


when I was on stage I could see the the front row of parents and kids going and I was like, I was so stressed ah, I think like secondary three or four somewhere there, so ya I felt I felt I felt damn big then I I caught it I managed to cover myself I wasn't like


you know exposed and I was wearing shorts inside but, still you know it's like open house everyone is seeing so I was like ya I I felt damn big when I did that so that was really I talked about it to everyone I talk to my juniors I talk to my seniors, I would have told my friends I came home into my parents and then the video came out I was like oh my gosh look at at one minute thirty seconds that happens I was so Onz about that dude I was so proud about that


ya okay okay two minutes you just do the last question what amazes you, no you know I recently watched this uh discovery channel camera with this like song or something, oh it's a it's they take videos from all over the world so it's like it's like a volcano in one place or like a a cultural event in another place and like the ice caps melting then they put it all together and then it will put like emo music at the back they when you see all those like uh


how to say like all the cool things around the world it's like sometimes you you would think about like like earth and life and you're like uh everything is dying and like I'm so stressed out about everything, but then like you see that video and you're like !wah! there's so many cool things on the planet you know so like I thought that was that was pretty I'll send you the video later it's damn cool ya


help me turn the light on okay no I just turned the light on


(mmhmm) ya, what ya but say


oh ya ya ya your you're I get I get what you mean I know you're amazed as to how they got that logic and sometimes , some people don't have a logic to get them and some people have really intense to logic where they're like this this this therefore that than than even how why know I love it I think I think your is reminding me of this


ya dude it's crazy, you are just in shock when you talk to them


this is your positive experience, no this is about positive experience then you're like oh I hate I love it when people don't know what they're talking about


(ppl) yes do we pause it


negative experiences, okay


(mmhmm), (mmhmm), oh


(mmhmm), like being irresponsible is it, (mmhmm)


(mmhmm), okay for me uh, it's being I think being rude for sure cause I saw this video like during the circuit breaker you know when they firstly when they said that if you're doing a strenuous exercises you can uh the you can remove your mask ya then I saw this video on twitter is basically like is is is


a middle aged uncle and then he was he was walking but he wasn't wearing a mask like he you can see that his it's tiring for him cause he's quite old also you know that he's panting but he wasn't wearing a mask okay and then he was walking and then this, man he just came up like he was holding a phone and he was recording so I it's a it's a recording from that man's perspective and then he's literally screaming at that that uncle to


ya why aren't you wearing a mask and it's you could it's it's something you could have said it very politely like you know it's it's a reminder that you should just wear your mask or, ya I think that frustrated me so cause it was really really, really rude when you could have dealt with the whole situation much more


like in a more positive way and then also you're posting that on social media that you humiliating the uncle ya it really there's there's no point of it you know it's just, it it just wasn't nice to see it was really ya it really sucked ya


ya, (mmhmm) ya


it's like you can really just tell the person I think also you know it's stomp, I remember when I was in secondary school that I mean I still follow that page like the stomp facebook page and then I remember secondary school my biggest fear was getting on stomp because like people


people come on stomp for the really really stupidest reasons like they can just be talking to a group of friends and they'll be stomped you know, just ya something like that ya like trivial things, it ya that one really annoyed me


ya they really makes you you get so conscious of yourself in public so I think that one really really annoyed me I feel like my whole secondary school experience was very , like I had to think a lot of, think a lot while travelling somewhere


ya is someone recording me you know, ya ya, okay, ya it isn't isn't it's definitely reduced


oh (uh huh), uh (uh huh)


okay for me uh, ya I okay, mean I'm not sure if it's considered sensitive topic but okay if I if I say like just without really sensitive it's just basically someone commented about


how like I remember I was just you know Mustafa, like there's basically it's it's just a railing there and I was just leaning on it okay so basically I was like sitting on it you know how when you go to bus interchange you just sit on the the railing ya so I was I was just literally sitting


and then this this uncle came I I have no idea who he is literally zero clue who he is you know when you're fat, what do you do like if you see someone fat you do this and uncle literally did that to me and then I felt, so like conscious like wait hold up I don't even know who you are like why you calling me like fat then I think I was so


stunned that I couldn't say anything back you know I was just like wait it's you know processing cause no one has ever done that to you before like no one has ever, I never thought someone would ever do that like you know straight up call you fat ya lah I was that you really and I was so upset that I didn't say anything back to him cause I was just so taken it back


ya, ya they don't know when to, shut up they they like this is the line and you just crossed it they they don't know boundaries ya


this was last year this was last year, ya this is like !whoa! okay okay, you know what, I'm just going to not think about it but it was so annoying, ya, I think there was I hated being quiet about it like I wasn't upset that he called me that but I was upset that I didn't call him out on that


like for being rude ya , okay recall a scene from a movie that made you too angry, (mmhmm)


uh


oh oh, like you know everything can be done handled better but that they're just oh okay


uh ya


especially if you see indian dramas they would they will literally stretch it for like, episodes if you're watching like TV show oh my god they really stretch it, (mmhmm) for me


okay I don't okay it's not a movie scene but it's a documentary like basically it was there were it was a documentary about it's called india's daughter if I'm not wrong, I it's basically, uh no it's about the you know the Delhi bus the bus rape thing ya basically it's about that and then they interviewed the


prosecutor ya they interviewed the prosecutor so basically he was, eh is it prosecutor no no no basically the guy is defending sorry defending the rapists ya he's he's defending the rapists then he said a analogy basically about how, he compared girls to a gem okay but he said that if you leave a uh ya like a jewel or gem something like that uh he said that if you leave a jewel or gem in the middle of the street a a dog someone is bound to take it like something like that so basically like how


it's our fault ya it's basically our fault that stuff happen to us because of that I think that one definitely made me, super duper angry because it's like, ya ya


it makes you so disgusted that you actually live in the same world as these people and they actually think that, you know they don't they don't, like how do you defend those type of people and that that whole case wasn't even it was such a painful, thing that happen to her you know


so it was just so frustrating to, to even hear someone taking up their case and defending those people and it took I think it took almost five or six years to actually hang them in the end, like super duper long I think that whole situation maybe really really pissed


ya okay


(mmhmm) , (mmhmm)


(mmhmm), ya, ah


(mmhmm) (mmhmm), ya, ya ya ya, like you feel helpless is it


ah ya,


ya ya ya, okay I think like like just one hour or two hours ago about I saw this instagram post about how this kid needed a liver ya that one made me so sad because even the blood and everything was suitable for me the everything like I'm


you know the blood type everything was compatible but then it's just, I I how do I do it you know it's like I want to do it, ya


they wouldn't they wouldn't they would be like why should it be you you know the ya then I think they won't meet me instead, it was a one year old kid also, super young ya uh, ya that one made me feel damn bad


(mmhmm), ya, (mmhmm)


cause it's like it might not be short term effects it might be like really long term effects, ya ya


I feel like it's for me is I don't know okay I mean other than it's just the guts you don't have the guts to do it, ya, (mmhmm) (mmhmm)


ya, ya ya, ya they will never show that in a video also


ya ya, okay uh what's your greatest fear


so it's like a mid life crisis sort of thing is it


ya ya okay my greatest fear I, I I think is like just, change I don't know like I don't how to explain changes it's basically


sudden changes in life like, , okay let's say your your family okay then, okay I think for me will be losing kids like losing my kids I think that's my greatest fear, ya I cannot I would I would never I don't know it's it's just something that you can never get through ya ya can never recover I think losing losing my kid or losing any family or losing someone close to you you know when you don't expect it like you know let's say


they they're suffering from a long time ya that one is a different thing cause in your mind you're already prepared yourself for it, ya but then suddenly losing someone super close to you but that one is that one is my greatest fear what I can I don't know how how to handle that, you know ya


okay uh a series of unfortunate, uh really cannot I cannot remember no let's


(uh huh), [orh], oh ya they reject your card sometimes


oh my, ya ya, ya


ya you're supposed to feel like composed before an interview, ya, uh I a series of unfortunate okay I, it is very is very very like less important than yours I was supposed to meet my friends but I messed up the


what's that it's like it's the same restaurant, but it's different branches, get it so, I went to the wrong one it's supposed to be at , orchard there like clarke quay that area but I went to the one in Clementi so I was there I was like okay guys where are you all then eh we are here I was like !huh! like I'm I'm here also then I was supposed to leave early too I was supposed to leave in like one two hours


like that was the max I literally had squeezed in time to meet them you know because I hadn't seen them in a long time then I was just like oh I'm here then the dude you're in the wrong branch I was like oh my goodness and I really really wanted to meet them because there's no point of me going back home also cause I already , gotten ready and everything then I decided to take a cab


but then the cab also took like fifteen minutes to come I got rejected twice, and then I took the cab and then there was traffic cause it was during peak hour time so I reach there and uh I had to leave I made it but then I was so silly to be for like uh like to go there just say hi and I'm supposed to leave already


but then I mean I called my parents, and they were like okay I was like please please please please allow me then I mean they only give me extension of like twenty minutes and then I had to come back so I actually traveled for properly one hour to stay there for twenty minutes and then you count the coming back to one hour so I travelled two hours


just for a twenty minutes meet up and I was so upset I was so upset I was so upset didn't even feel fulfilled, ya just felt like I wasted my whole outfit and my whole energy you know in getting ready to go out, you know you put in effort to dress and everything then you just I felt like everything was a waste


ya waste of money also I paid for freaking cab, oh my oh no I know another unfortunate event okay you know some it okay basically also I told my parents I was going somewhere but I wasn't going there you get it I was supposed to go to my friend's house, but then I told them I'm going school concidence my dad was like okay you know why don't I follow you to school since I'm going the same route so he took the bus with me and then I couldn't get out in the middle so to go to my friend's place like my friend's place is ten minutes away from my house


then I ended up going to school I ended up going all the way to school which is forty like SMU like literally like forty-five minutes away from my house I went all the way there with my dad I got down I called my friends I was like eh uh I actually ended up coming to school because I couldn't tell my dad I wasn't going to your place like I was going to your place


and then my friends literally booked a cab for me and I came back all the way near my house and then my dad decided to video, call me cause I ask him to buy something for me and he video called me to check like whether this the product I want, and then he video called, and then I was at the house right then I actually ran into the room and I picked up the call and even the ceiling and everything and it was like why looks like you're in the someone's house and I was like


no no no no I'm actually at the lecture theatre and you really need to rush then I just hurry hurry hurry and then ya I didn't get caught but he was definitely suspicious like why am I rushing so much, then I think after that like two or three times I had to take photos of, where I am to prove that I am right there like where that I said I was


ya ya ya okay now is better but [oh] my god for the next two three months is quite bad


okay okay, positive experiences, okay


it's a very deep question okay I thought about it I feel like the main reason is, family I don't know like when I think about, like I know that, they depend on me, so that for be it like material things or non material things like happiness ya everything they depend on me so I think that makes me want to be alive like everything I do I want to do it for them so I have something to work towards


ya


so you think of life as an as an adventure there's always something to do, so okay , ya, oh okay


ya, I think that's what makes life I no ya okay ya, , ya, like it's my own family and also knowing that in the future I'll have a family of my own I don't know I just love that idea


like, ya ya and you know you have a a little world of your own I'm so excited for that, okay next question what's


oh my I'm not proud of any I don't even know any skills I have , oh ya


oh ya I never had , uh, you know I don't I don't have any secret that okay I think once okay if might sound very sad but if someone else is talking right I can act like until I'm super interested in it even though nothing's going into my head I see I can really fake it very well


no no no no no now I'm completely I'm listening but sometimes you know you your social energy just drained it it's just like really really drains out but you don't want to be rude, ya but you don't want to, be like you you can see they're so interested to talk to you so you don't want them to you don't want them to feel sad so you just so I have a very


I'm pretty good at acting like oh I'm totally interested in the conversation like just now when I went to like just now when I was out right I was uh I went to do my nails and then the lady was really talking, a lot like for continuously two hours just talking but then I didn't know like a lot


stuff is I didn't know how to reply cause it was very, like is a very weird stuff like trusting about how the world is actually flat like you know those type of things like gravity doesn't exist like those sort of things so I,


, it's very curious so I was just I really couldn't listen because it was early in the morning it was like ten AM and I wake up at like one PM usually so so early in the morning, because she wasn't free later on so I had to go early then I was just then I was just asking questions even though I didn't I wasn't because I knew she was trying to influence me to think the same way as her


like for sure, ya ya so I didn't want to I just I was like okay you know what if I want to get the nice nails done I don't act like I'm against her so yes I completely agree with what she say and acting like also mind blown, all the theories she was coming up


I loved it ya, okay when did you blush the most


uh (uh huh), I know I blush but I do I can't remember a particular experience you get like it's just when you're flushed


oh ya ya ya, (mmhmm) , oh ya you can you can really feel the heat you know, ya


(mmhmm), oh and you hear your name also do you hear your name


oh ya ya ya , ya, ya I think that's the most I I don't remember any other blushing incidents, okay describe your favourite activity to unwind and relax


I think mine would be it's just it sounds damn sad but I think this is the best way to make me relax you know you you just lie down on the bed and I have like fairy lights on top so I just switch it on yes turn it on I just lie down and listen to really sad music like, I am happy I'm no I'm completely happy


no it's actually slow and sad like it's slow music for sure but it's about sad stuff but I it's just it's just the best way, to I don't know I don't I don't end up feeling sad after that where it's just a very nice relaxing thing which I really love doing just listening to music you know


I think that's for me, ah,


(uh huh), ah oh yes, sounds good sounds good


(mmhmm) oh the sound of the water is the best


ya ya ya


oh, , I think your bonus is when it's raining


and then oh my god that's the best feeling, like sad songs and shout like it raining I love it, uh ya ya , okay the next one


ya I've never ever come come like came up with it immediately you know after that you think right oh, oh no , ya that's honestly my level oh no I should have said it at that point of time why didn't I think of that then you regret it so much


like I can't remember a good comeback, I think maybe maybe during the dance in remember the practice sessions we had


like especially like when Raj was just, very annoying I think you would have made a comeback but I really cannot remember any comeback, ya, ya ya ya ya


ya I know you you always have come up with a really oh I, no okay you've come up with really savage ones but trying to think of when, have I kind of but I know you have come up because uh I remember you did that once and I was like oh my god this girl is so cool


but it's nice like is is not bully you know it's just like !wow! savage let's go, , okay what's your best surprise


I I think what's the best surprise that you've received is it, that's what I thought, I mean you can talk about both, (mmhmm)


(uh huh),


(mmhmm), (mmhmm) (mmhmm)


wait how old were you, ah ah, oh


is it the one in the park, the the where like all of those girls except Pranav, ah ah okay okay


okay then what what do you think if people meet what surprises people about you, my my best surprise also a birthday party it's also like is also the scene ya it's always birthday there's usually nothing else like no other occasions where they


can surprise you you know, ya, man I love it lah like I love that I love the whole attention of the birthday thing I love it , it's like one day where you can ask for attention shamelessly and no one will judge you for it


(uh huh) (uh huh), no honestly that's smart, that's really smart, ya ya exactly ya


(mmhmm) (mmhmm) ya, that that that's very that's very honestly that's smart honestly that's smart I would do that but I cannot think


oh , ya ya ya


ya I no do you remember I was like you know we have a senior in not senior she's our age only but she also made a wishlist for her birthday but her wishes was very, like, ya it was like three hundred bucks for a for a necklace then I was just okay if you know someone you send someone your wishlist like obviously will think okay


I need to take into consideration financial consideration like three hundred bucks is an insane amount of money and that's when I was like okay nope like I really judged her so much for it I remember I was okay doesn't feel the same anymore with the whole friendship doesn't feel the same, ya


uh one ya ya ya


yup, ya ya (mmhmm) the little things, I think mine is also like literally the same you know I always think about okay like there's always something I look forward to in the future okay me going overseas for my masters or me having a family later on or me making new friends later on it's always something look forward to so that one is definitely


ya okay, maybe you can skip the question do you want to answer what was the proudest moment of your life, ya, okay I feel like this is a very big exaggeration calling proudest but I was very proud of my quick thinking skills like okay it's a dance performance okay then the before that particular dance performance was there was a drama on that happened onstage like a acting thing


and then what happened was they left like a prop on stage ya so they left like a broomstick and it was right in the middle of the stage then then you know our we were dancing and all then one I didn't realise it, ya I had to kick it off the stage it's like I remember it's right in front of me and it's already one minute to the dance I didn't even notice it like five seconds before that I noticed that


oh no there's a broomstick in front of me and I have to go through that you know I wasn't going to step on it but I knew my friend was going to step on it and she was it was her first time ever dancing on stage so it's like in my head it's a competition also so I don't want to mess it up, and also I don't want her to get stressed cause she's the type of person who get stressed super easily so remember we I was I was just walking like you know


this is it's it's a you make up a step on spot sort of thing and then I just had to kick it out, ya and then I kicked it and then I remember like I didn't realise like people you know like reacting to it but then when I saw the video I could hear people like


laughing and and like you know cheering and I was just oh no this is actually quite embarrassing but I was quite proud of myself because I'm, like hundred percent like if you continue watching the video right if the broomstick was there my friend would have stepped on it and it wasn't like, it was because it was like a rotating you have to turn turn turn and then go to that position so she definitely would have tripped on it ya and she definitely would have panicked so like that's the proudest moment lah


ya and you're in front, oh then they fall, oh, ya


oh


(uh huh), obvious (uh huh) , when was this


oh no, ya (uh huh) ya ya ya, !whoa!


okay what amazes you


(mmhmm)


ya ya (mmhmm), okay okay okay I want to see it amazes me, I I okay this mine is I feel, uh talking to different like you know okay okay like you know there's some issues that is very like right or wrong


okay, there are like some issues that I like talking like you know there's some issues that's very, like clearly is right or wrong there's no grey matter in those issues but it's, it's it's a right or wrong issue okay amazes is aamazes amazes is a bad word choice lah but it's more like


how do you even think that because it's a very right or wrong thing then I'm like wait how do you think that way, ya, ya ya ya ya


(mmhmm) (mmhmm) ya, and it's clearly flawed, , like it's clearly flawed you know but like the confidence they tell people with it really amazes me that did you know they're really like ya I I'm completely right in this sense then I'm just like


!wow! ya yea literally like you're dumbfounded like !whoa! okay there are actually people like this in the world, it's like my nail thing, I'm, no I I think it makes me like


okay I'm not that bad like I don't know


part one financial related topic, okay , so Isti what's your financial advice that you would give to yourself five years ago


okay


for myself what I would say it's like I would have ya same as Isti , I would be I should have saved five years ago so that I it will be easier for me as a student to pay my, uh school fees


uh university school fees, that's so expensive, yes


ya it's something that we don't we both don't actually like study enough about, but ya yes and then uh, should you DIY or get a financial adviser to plan for your finances


ya , oh as for myself I do have like my own financial adviser because I took out the AIA savings


plan I think, I I think that is what it's called, so the saving having them, like to be with me it it helps me because they are more knowledgeable than me and they know more about all these finance issues and all


and, when I came to them, to when I came to reach out to them they did explain like how to save and then because I'm still young it's better that I start, now rather than I start later, which is what that we we as like our age we don't know all these we won't know when to start saving unless like this kind of people like approach to us and talk


and ask like how do you save , your money like how you ya for the future and all ya, okay how do you manage your cash flow how much of your income is allocated to savings expenses insurance or investments


(hmm)


(hmm) okay , for myself I think, because I have like the savings plan, so I don't really like know how to manage well, for every time I have like money


so my target is like for example if I save like in my bank account, I would leave like a certain amount so like if, I get like uh if I work part time and then if I get, money, then I will make sure that for example like out of the six hundred I will use up this certain amount of money to spend


so that certain amount of money to spend will be like , my daily expenses like my food, my transport, but other than that , savings I will just like make sure I divide it equally lah for my, like part time salary


ya for insurance my, ya I think my parents will be the one handling that I only like, have the plan uh savings plan only like last year, so yes


ya investments not too smart enough to know about investments I think I should actually start, to like research on investments and I think it's a good for the future actually


especially when we are getting older and we are getting married or like, ya , so ya, what can you do to earn extra income or to improve your income level


for myself, uh because I'm like I have I'm, the second oldest so I have like three younger, siblings so I'm I have like a lot of responsibilities with me and I'm also like having taking my degree


so I need to have, a lot of like income like I need to like from different areas and for me I have like, , two part time jobs, uh I work as a retail, assistant at


a local brand in singapore and it's a fashion brand, and also in the hotel industry but because of the COVID then they stop which is why it's lucky that I have like different channels to like get my income so if the hotel never


like call me up to work then at least I have like another , job to go to and get income and then as for myself I also, , I improve my income level by selling my pre-loved clothes like starting about a online business


online instagram like business where I sell, all my pre-loved clothes, and maybe get curated pieces uh for cheap prices and and selling it to gain profits and, , ya and I mean when I sell my pre-loved clothes I can reach up to like


two hundred dollars per sale which is, actually a very good way to get, extra income, just to help me pay my school fees, so ya , so do you have the habit of saving saving and how do you ensure you meet your savings goals


as for me I think I a bit like more of a, spendthrift but because recently I because of the COVID situation makes me realise that I really need to start saving more


, because ya when my uh my when my hotel stopped calling me for like jobs, for part time jobs that's when I realised like oh I really need to start saving because


if I save like earlier there's no way there's I mean I won't be stressed when they stop calling me to go to work and I won't be like thinking like oh my god I have no money, because they never call me for work, and


I'm also lucky because I have another job with but then because the pay, is different so it stresses me out but, I don't really have a habit of saving, but I'm starting to


ya and then how do I, ensure to meet my saving goals because, uh for me I have a target I challenge with someone, so that for example uh the challenge was between, the two of us and, uh if you reach for example like


extra uh if we save like two K by the end of the year, then the loser will, have, to treat the other person, a dinner or like lunch so it's like, a challenging game that makes us like makes me want to like save more and hit the target or maybe like


if we hit the target then it would be better if we can like , increase the target to like four K by the end of the year so, ya that makes me like okay it's challenging me to save more, so ya


yes yes, , no because the loser, will, yes that's bad, so ya okay so, next one is how do you spend your money


like which expenditure is justified and what have you been spending too much on


, oh yes so my, expense when I spend a lot of clothes because ever since I started to work under uh work with, the fashion industry like fashion line makes me like because


either of my colleagues will come to work looking so good and they have like different kinds of fashion and all makes me uh they make me feel like challenged to be, the same level as them, so ya and because I'm working at a fashion line


I feel like I have to dress up and like, get more clothes which is bad, because, you spend a lot more on clothes, but, it make it makes me feel good, to actually go to work and having all my customers to ask like oh where do you get your clothes from even though is not from the shop but it get if it makes you feel good that you have fashion a good fashion sense


but ya other than shopping on clothes I do spend quite a lot of money on treatments, like , like hair treatments or like skincare treatments, so ya


that's a lot quite a lot of money, to just maintain a healthy skin and hair, so ya that's for me, and then, uh what strategies would you recommend, recommend to someone, planning for their big ticket expenditures


setting a family or buying a car how about you Isti, for myself maybe from you to me,


true true, ya as for myself to you, (hmm), I think it's probably the same as whatever you said lah I mean it's better to start earlier I mean even though if you are


like single it's good to just like start a savings plan or maybe like like me like you should take up like a, savings plan with like an insurance company for example like for me I was I'm under AIA so it's quite good to actually start early


and then , ya and then date for my plan is like you have to start saving so it's like a monthly payment you make a monthly payment and it's not as high as like hundred dollars or like two hundred dollars , you can start up as low as like fifty dollars and then it was I think it was like a twenty year twenty five year plan


I think those that so fifty dollars for like a month until the twenty fifth year and that's when you can actually like start to yes, which is a good thing lah, lah, so for example like


I think so but it's just like a savings plan so ya ya, and as I mean like in twenty five years I'm pretty sure that you have like a family so that's when you can just


uh, take out the money and then maybe spend a bit of the money and put aside for like, for your kids or like for emergencies especially like hospital bills in the future would probably be much more expensive than


what we have today so ya I think it's a , good way that we start, right now early ya okay uh, how do you manage your financial commitments before and after marriage


uh I think it's through like I mean, in future will probably much be much more expensive right now like for example housing housing is so, like, it can reach up to half a million or like a million for a very small house which is ya


quite expensive and it's better for us like before we start, before we getting married is better if we like, start, planning I mean be stable first then, we get married so that we won't like have to suffer later okay


in a post COVID world what changes are you making in terms of your spending or saving habits


ya I think same, because the COVID like really it it, affects the economy so badly for example because I'm my, degree that I'm taking is related to hotel and I mean hospitality and tourism industry so


I think I'm a bit affected, when it comes to, okay, uh so it's, sorry


ya so it's affecting myself because I'm graduating soon and then uh having the economy so badly right now with like, how they stop like tourists to come into singapore, so it's very hard for the hotel I mean for me as a person to go out and like find a job


but that's why I, start to have savings but it's hard to (ppo) not spend thirteen dollars a day because you have like to pay for your transport and then if you go to work you have to like


part three negative experiences, okay uh, maybe let's start with have you gone through any loss in your life


if you have describe your emotions that point of time and how do you deal with the loss


ya I think ya my one is not any of my parents I'm so sorry to hear that though Isti, but ya it will be my late grandmum, that passed away I think five five years ago it was our


first eh I mean it was the first time I had lost someone that is very very close to me, because my grandmum, uh it's, the place where I usually like find she's like one of the first person if I have like maybe like a slight I mean like small quarrel with my parents


then she will be the first one I will call, and then, every time when I feel sad, uh she were the first, uh, her house is like the like my safe, like, safe space for me to be in it makes me happy because every time I come over she will


cook for me cook for me my favourite food and, she's a very very good cook, and then it makes me when she, left, uh it was hard it was really hard because it was my first


day in poly when I went into my poly, ya it was the first day, that I went into poly she got admitted that on the first day, and I missed a lot of classes for a good one week because I keep


uh going, rushing in and out of the hospital just to visit her, and it was even though I skipped like, the lessons I mean it it did affected my GPA that time, but


it means nothing because I lost, someone that means so much to me and the fact that it it only, how to say , it happened too fast it's something that I didn't expect because she's such a healthy person, and she's always the happy person she's someone that I always go to whenever


sad and all and the fact that she went in on the monday, and on the fifth day on friday she passed and that was like only five days, that I get to actually see her like touch her so ya


describe my emotions ya it was, really sad because we actually saw the how to say, the, the line thing I don't know what is it really called, the, ya how to say the heartbeat is it ya the heartbeat yes


and then so ya it's really sad and then uh, sometimes like I feel I forgot, like she I mean I didn't really let, the, loss affect me but there are really some days where you you tend to be alone and then because she cooks good food and they are there will


be that one day that you will actually suddenly crave for her food and you'll be like my god I miss her cooking but I can't do anything, because she's already gone so ya, that's my loss


okay


that's oh, the hurtful words, that, uh people calling me, a wooden block in malay it's like papan so


ya I mean it is I mean when I first heard about it, it's a joke to them it's a joke I mean, when I because it was it happened when I was in secondary school at first it's like okay I even find it funny and all but as you grow old it makes you feel like oh my god am I am I that skinny that people think that


I look like a wooden block like, it was I mean it only I only realise that it's a hurtful word, after like, I like I don't know I just felt like because it's from a group of guys if it's a girl like a from a group of girls okay I feel I mean okay it's a joke between us


but coming from a group of guys who always passed by me and always like say and like shout oh uh Shasha papan and all so it's really, quite hurtful but I really don't care when I like get older and then when I sometimes so I happened to see their instagram I'm like


look where you are at now and where I am and I still also remember because I have one classmate, because I'm from uh, when in secondary school I was in the last class of the express


ya express uh class last ya and then I remember one of my classmates because I'm in I was I have clique of, group of girlfriends and, these two uh guys who always be like uh you guys always like uh Lepak Lepak uh you guys confirm will never pass diploma confirm you go ITE one that kind


ya, and then really hurt me and it really challenged me to actually do, so well for my , I mean for O levels yes ya , and then when the results came out


I was , very happy that I actually passed, like with a good, point and, ya and the fact that I passed and I got like a very good mark and the and the two guys like actually


failed their O level so it was like a , I mean it's I feel it's not good to laugh but makes me feel like I've accomplished something that people think that I couldn't make it, so ya that's the hurtful words that I will wish to forget lah but I mean sometimes I don't really care about them anymore because I've overgrown whatever they said


how about you


ya


ya,


ya, ya, think all these things really I mean as a child I mean when we are, during the teenage years we feel so affected about it but as we grow old we just tend to forget whatever they said and then sometimes makes us feel so good about ourselves and look at how and where we are right now


and whatever I mean and they are like I don't know what they're doing also in their lives, so ya so, Isti what makes you stressed like make makes you so stress I mean like now or like , what usually makes you stressed


you get used to it right, ya ya for me , well as a person myself I am that person who, actually gets stressed very easily


and I think that's one of the cause that actually lost a lot of hair and it's actually a very bad thing, and sometimes because I get, ya I think I really get stress very easily for example, even though thinking about my hair makes me stressed so


ya and then it doesn't like, I mean I can't avoid that sometimes it just like, you look at other people and then like oh my god you have healthy hair but because, uh, and because I'm used to be anaemic, and that's where I used to


, uh that's why I lost a lot of hair like I'm lack of, uh red blood cells, and then sometimes you get jealous but it's something that is , inherit from my mum so it's something I can't avoid, and then that's when I slowly start to like accept the fact but


again every time I see other girls with very nice hair very nice flowy hair it makes me jealous ya and it makes me stressed, and then not only that sometimes when I go to because I'm a part time worker, so uh at work sometimes my boss treats me as a full time


and then the fact that sometimes they even disturb your, , because uh I work in an office timing also and my job is like five hours, so sometimes I have to rush a lot of things in five hours makes me so stressed because I'm the kind of person who likes to


do everything, uh good and well I mean, and like I give all I have into that job but, when I make mistakes, uh like one or two mistakes, uh the boss will make me feel like I'm never good enough you know that kind of thing like


uh like, my help is not needed like ya and that makes me stressed, and then also, uh not only that because I have like to have to pay my school fees, that, is so so expensive


makes me stressed sometimes and then with this COVID situation, it makes me extra stress because I can't it's very hard for me to get, like , income to actually save up money and


pay for my school fees so ya I'm very I'm a easy, to stress kind of person and I know that I'm, get stressed easily because I go for hair treatments and then they all say that my scalp is like, red and then, ya so that's why


ya that's very bad also, so ya, uh let's see


oh I have I have, uh because right now is the COVID situation, and I'm actually taking my degree right like I said so I, have only one and a half years so I was planning like, now I'm having my holidays so actually uh I mean it was a it's a two month holiday


two months plus holiday, and actually during this time it's a time where I actually go out to find a job and, actually because my goal is to be a stewardess an air stewardess, uh, be it in emirates or SIA, , so


I during this holiday was the time I supposed to go out uh go for interview, and uh try to get a, stewardess uh what you call it, job, in any airline actually, but I mean like, because be emirates or SQ


but, because of this COVID situation, uh it's very very very sad that I cannot actually reach my goal, uh I mean I can but because I'm getting like I'm getting older


I don't want to actually spend, my , uh a lot of time working in an air stewardess because I don't want to have, to be, a stewardess still when I get, married I want to actually stop being a stewardess when I get married so I can actually focus in having a family because I know that


being a stewardess makes you uh stops you from having a, very like happy like, relationship I mean especially if you have kids and then you have to fly and be far away from your kids is and you don't see your kids grow also so it's very sad so ya the COVID situation


is really stopping me from reaching my goal because they are not even hiring people if not I would have actually applied for the job so ya how about you Isti


I see


ya, ya ya


ya I mean I my goal is to be a stewardess but, a small goal would actually like right now in this situation is actually to get to secure myself a job, uh by the time I graduate you know, and like a lot of people theY graduate and then they can't find a job because of the COVID situation so that's


part two positive experiences, okay, so Isti tell me, what was your best birthday present and why


oh for myself my best birthday present would be, my twenty first biggest legal birthday, which is , my mum I mean


I actually suggested to go on a trip, for my birthday at, to vietnam and she agreed to it and she plan everything, and, I went to vietnam with my mum and my two brothers to


go to uh how to say, a school which is for the less fortunate kids and it's called maison chance, so ya I actually went there like last two years with my with Isti


yes , and then it's uh we did a volunteer volunteering, uh trip to uh humanitarian trip to vietnam as our our graduation trip because we graduated from diploma and then


we, actually signed up to go on a humanitarian trip for ten days and we spent that ten days with the, kids in vietnam spending time with them like, planning games and teaching them simple maths


uh which is very fun, because the kids are very, , bubbly and very happy, which is why I decided to like make a return trip to vietnam on my twenty first birthday, , and celebrating with them and it was like the best


birthday ever where I got to actually spend time with the kids and, make them happy see them smile and get the small little goodie bags that I made from them, and get like , they call it like soft toys because I bought like two luggages of soft toys just for them to be to like give them


and even though it was just like a one day visit it makes me happy that they are happy so ya, so that's my best birthday present


oh my god what do I hate as a kid, uh, I'm hate as a kid what do I hate,


okay maybe fruits, last time I used to hate fruits like really hate hate fruits and like vegetables is just very hard for me because, last time when I was a child I, spent a most of my time at my grandma's place and at my grandma's place is like the only place where I can actually eat junk food because


my mum my parents don't allow it, ya my parents just disagrees when I eat like even though it's just like those Ribena vitamin gummies they say that it's candy but when it comes to my late grandma she will always say that it's vitamins because it's vitamin Cs


but ya, I hated vegetables like I'm very picky when it comes to vegetables but as I grew up and because I start to have breakouts, and like pimples and I also have like I'm actually and lik


lack of , vitamins that's when I start to realise that oh okay I have to eat vegetables just for my own sake, and like to have like, better skin like and clearer skin and also like whatever you eat actually affects your whole like


, like your scalp issues also because, ya I realise that as I grow old like I have like a lot of hairfall I mean like hairfall and all so it makes me like, oh okay I need to have to, force myself to eat


like fruits and vegetable and there was like one time where I, broke out so badly that my mom told me ya that's why you have these breakouts because you don't eat vegetables fruits and vegetables, so that's why uh that's when I really started to eat fruits every single day without fail just to clear my skin it did happen I mean it did clear my skin but it


ya so how about you


, ya


ya I think I agree with you like as I grow old also I just feel like, alone ya alone time is where you can actually start to realise things that you don't realise when you're with your friends or when you are with a group of people


so it makes you like notice and know whether what's good and what's bad and if this group of friends is good and if this group of friends are bad , ya it makes you realise a lot of things, and, makes you start to love yourself is like okay, ya ya so Isti


I want to know what's your biggest blessing in disguise


, biggest blessing in disguise, I think uh my boyfriend , it may sound as cliche as possible, but yes


having like my boyfriend, it's a really blessing in disguise where, makes me realise that , whatever I had in the past is like I'm not alone he makes me feel like, and


even though when uh there are times that I feel like I'm not as perfect he makes me feel that, I'm good enough, and you know there are some days where because we are girls, so there are some days where you just feel so low about yourself and then


uh you feel like you're not good enough for your friend or anyone around you he's like the pillar of strength I mean my mum is the first but he's like, uh second person that I look forward I mean like


to when I'm like sad or like I feel, the lowest and he makes me, ya makes me happy so he's a blessing that I never expect ya


ya I think that's what a lot of people actually don't notice, about like, feeling good enough of the little things that, we don't actually, like notice ya ya ya true


uh


my name , I get a lot of like compliment, to me it's weird because it's a name but, uh because I work under the, like I work part time at the hotel industry and I do serve guests and I meet them every single day


so there are some times where I start to converse, start to talk to my guests and then, when they ask my name it's like Shasha, my name is Shasha and then they'll be like your name is really Shasha


I say yes like why, and then they will say like oh that's a very beautiful name and that's like oh, thank you and then that's when and some some guests will think is that your real name or is that your nickname


and that's what I get not only from my guests but from people that I've never met before, and ya I think that's uh I don't know, if that's a compliment I mean, some people say it's nice but some people are shocked because


a lot of people use Shasha as their nickname not their real name, so sometimes I get, I mean like I don't know some people makes fun of it and also ya I think that's that's just


the compliment that I receive which is my name, how about you Isti, ya


, ya


ya I think my one also the same as you I have like one guest who thought who asked are you from cambodia, ya I'm like, cambodia of all places cambodia I mean it's it's normal when, people ask if I'm chinese because of my fair skin tone


and then and then sometimes they approach me and talk in chinese but that one guest really made me like, like, lah ya like, like what cambodia, and the person I think I remember the guest was like


, an uh american, then after that I was like !wow!, I never have thought that I would actually look like a cambodian so ya that's pretty odd, , okay so


how about your, favourite comfort food, every time when you feel so low like what do you look for when ya you are like feeling low what makes you happy what food


oh okay I think that's weird , what , ya uh but for me I would, anything sweet, like really anything sweet


but, ya especially when it comes to like PMS, you know it and then you you feel so low the first thing I will start to crave will be something that is sweet something, maybe, something that I'd will actually look for would be beard papa


this is the cream puffs , ya, it's something that I really really love and maybe Koi oh my god Koi bubble tea would instantly especially when I'm like down, and then , starbucks like those coffees all like fraps Frappuccino so ya just all the kind sweet stuff that would actually bring I mean it's actually bad for your skin when you like


like consume a lot of sweet stuff but it's it really makes a difference in my , ya , ya once in a month,


okay, !wow! this is easy , , so my favourite and most memorable travel experiences would be


my three trips to US, that's like the most memorable one, I mean I sometimes people ask me is like why why US three times like not other country


at first the first time I went was with my because I have do have five siblings so the first I went is with my with me my parents and my two brothers, that was like when I was like how six six seven years old ya


that was with the first trip when my two younger sisters wasn't born yet, , so that was the first trip and, ya we stayed in a motel, and then, ya even though is just a simple motel is not like a big like hotel where they have like full breakfast kind of like


buffet it's a small like you have a small breakfast place and then they have like donuts and cereals and waffles is just a simple simple breakfast, and then the, what made it memorable was the trip to disneyland


disneyland was the reason why we actually returned there three times so the third second time is with my fourth and fifth sister, so it's like the whole family and then the last trip is also like when I was in secondary three that was when I was fifteen and it was like my last return trip


and then, after that we stopped maybe because we, like, felt that it's already boring to go US, but I would return there how about yourself Isti


the trip


was worth


oh my god that's so cold oh my god


oh that's nice I mean for myself I think I wouldn't, I mean when I went to US it's cold, and I mean there are like the second trip I went was summer but when it, when the last trip that I went was winter I didn't like it because it's too cold


so negative twenty four it's, a no no for me I would prefer summer, better even though summer is very hot but I can survive


part one financial related topic


uh I will tell myself to save more money, so that I can be prepared, for days like this like this COVID, thing ya


(mmhmm), ya I think I also would want to have learn more about, investments so that you know if if five years ago I would have known about investments then,


right now I would have gained, like the profits from it so ya which is good lah, ya, not a lot of knowledge on it lah


(mmhmm), uh actually in my opinion I feel that you should because a financial adviser uh would be able to explain to you everything about


the finance issues that you don't know of like for example the CPF medisave all these uh, , all these uh things that you can actually use, because if you don't actually have a financial adviser you wouldn't know what is the usage of all these uh things but


, but I myself don't have a financial adviser lah so I am I I mean I just , plan my finance myself like just by saving money, ya how about you


correct


, okay so for my case I will usually split


my like, my monthly income with twenty percent to save and then another forty percent, on expenses and then the rest is like emergency funds kind of thing


or for or I'll place it for holiday purposes lah so ya but then for insurance my mum is the one settling my insurance not myself so ya but for investment wise


I did an investment like three years ago, but , ya it's something that will not mature that fast lah so, ya, how about you


, (mmhmm)


(mmhmm)


yes correct, correct correct, I mean to improve your income level I feel like you


should have been should have started saving since like a long time ago so that your income will be in a stable place that you don't have to be, , uh worried like financially stable lah but then for to earn extra income probably doing part time jobs like you can also do home based businesses or as for myself I teach tuition so I get a little bit of income from there


and ya how about you


(mmhmm), , I do have a habit of saving ah but this is more of like when I'm working and then I just save the twenty percent and make sure that I have enough


emergency emergency funds for myself but, how do I ensure that I meet my saving goals is more of like I have to tell myself what I want to achieve at the end of like for example at the end of six months or


if I am planning to go on a holiday I will tell myself to make sure that I have, this amount to be able to pay for the flights and accommodation and so forth so that's how I manage my


cash flow so that I don't, overspend and I have extra, uh, to spare for like my holidays and stuff like that, but, ya I do have a habit of saving, how about you Shasha


makes makes you more motivated to save right, ya but shouldn't the winner be the one, , didn't manage to save is it, okay alright


(uh huh), I don't spend my money on clothes but I spend my money a lot on


K-pop merch which I should stop ya but , I have uh increasingly stopped the purchases so I'm quite happy for myself but ya my justified expenditures would usually be on uh holiday trips ah that's what I feel like I use my money a lot for


so, yes Shasha you go shopping right


uh, oh my recommendations for you maybe you want to start, a joint account with, with the with your partner and then you know


, put a goal so that you can achieve it, and you know can use that money for honeymoon or like for your wedding preparations and all that but as of right now because you're still focusing on school , like you just have to make sure you you know separate the money properly so that you have enough for both to maintain


both lah for for your plans in the future to get married and also for, uh paying up the student loans, ya, ya so


, take out the money, is that your investment


ya, saving saving investments plan lah


(mmhmm), I feel like before marriage you should, I mean you should obviously set a goal on how much you want to save and all that but


maybe you can you know over time so that you can use the spare money to, you know to use it and, I mean you can prepare for the weddings and stuff like that but after marriage is more on like when you have kids and all that kind of thing so ya must have two must make sure that you actually save properly for the future


(mmhmm), oh I mean for myself I would really make sure that I don't spend on things that


is unnecessary I saw somewhere, that if you spend, thirteen dollars a day, in a year you will have spent five thousand dollars so you actually have to make sure that you


(uh) start saving or like as of right now (ppb) I also started the investment plan so that (ppb) by the time this post COVID, will happens, I'm actually prepared and ready


part three negative experiences


uh I actually have gone through a loss uh my, my dad passed away five years ago so I guess that was the huge loss in my life, and, emotions probably I I I don't know how to explain my emotions it's just sad like I it was just very devastating at a point of time so


I guess I, tried to overcome it, but, sometimes you feel like okay after a while it gets better but it surely doesn't so like if, if sometimes like you just seat in solitude you just think of it and then you just you know cry so how I dealt with it was uh thankfully I have really great friends


so they were really there for me when my father passed on so I managed to share, my uh, not share but I've managed to, you know tell them express my sadness to them and then at least there is somebody that could listen to me and like give me advices and stuff so uh ya that was how I deal with it but


ya this was it's it's something that I'm still recovering with like I try, to, get over it but I don't think it will, be, done anytime soon so ya it's a it's a process I guess for me how about yourself


understand understand understand ya , okay so, , maybe what are some of the hurtful words that people have said to you that you want to forget


O levels


, ya, uh mine is during secondary school as well like ,


I was from normal academic, then I did well enough to go uh to express, but, I actually didn't want to because I know how the express people are so I really declined with my teacher but my teacher really convinced convinced me really well for me to join express so I did and on the first malay lesson


in, my express stream there was this girl that asked the teacher why is this normal acad student doing here and that was like super hurtful to me I feel like like because she bullied me once in secondary school


and, I mean once in sec one and then when I was in sec two she said that to me so I felt like, why am I not good enough to be here ya but but my teacher really


uh, sided me my teacher said like uh because she did well than you that's why she's here so that that kind of like shut her for a while so I mean I was in the same malay class as her for two years


and but she's still hated me so I cannot do anything but ya and then another one would be uh you know they call you wooden plank wooden block and they called then like some people call me, elephant, before ya because like probably I was one of the bigger kids in secondary school like everybody so small so tiny and I'm just there so ya but then it's something that


I have ya overgrown and I'm just like that's all just , just something very petty it's just a joke to them ah so ya


(mmhmm), correct


makes me stressed I feel like uh, since everybody is at home in my household doing home based learning I feel like the things that make me stressed will be like


my mum, screaming and shouting asking me to get things done because I'm the one that is not having classes, so ya is because like I feel cleaning up or doing laundry and stuff like that is something that I should do willingly but when the moment like nagging starts I I just feel like (ugh)


why so ya sometimes I just like like I said I prefer peace like if nobody said anything I would have done it willingly and the day would have been well but you know she will keep nagging and then like the the nagging doesn't stop there she will


bring up, things in the past that I've did that I'd done before so, ya I feel like that that something that makes me really stressed out, but I, I have not learned to cope with it but it's something that happens quite often so I feel like


ya I got used to it sadly, how about yourself


(mmhmm)


it is the the cause of it is from stress lah, okay, , what is the biggest thing that


uh holding you back from your goal, do you have any


okay, ya same but like I guess the biggest thing as of right now that is holding back from my goal also be COVID it's a, like I've I actually I mean I wanted to


you know go for a lot of interviews and get proper job so that you know I can actually fly to spain this year but everything just deteriorated after march and like , uh, I've went to like a lot of interviews but


I've uh I've also went to, singapore airlines interview for customer service and I actually got the job, but they, but the moment that I was about to sign the contract COVID started


and a lot of singapore airline flights, cannot even leave singapore so, I didn't even manage to start the job properly so that was really something , that uh, made me really sad because the interview was really difficult and the fact that I managed to


pull through, like they managed to call me and say that I was actually selected, uh that would that would really make me happy but when they I mean they last minute like they have to put things on hold for me because of this COVID issue it was really very very saddening I feel so ya I've


this I really hope all this will go away soon so that we all can achieve our goals in life like not even big goals like small goals like you know, being able to go to JB I guess that's a goal as well you know like


ya so, I feel like COVID nineteen has been a, it's something that is really holding me back from not not just me I think everybody in the world that is stopping us from doing whatever we like lah in a sense


positive experiences


uh my best birthday present would probably be my eighteenth birthday because I actually managed to go to korea with my friends, my poly friends so ya that was a very very meaningful uh meaningful birthday present to me because I managed to celebrate with my friends and in another country


ya how about yourself


humanitarian trip


(mmhmm), (mmhmm), okay uh Shasha what is something that you used to hate as a kid but right now you really love it


(mmhmm), (mmhmm), I used to hate quiet places like I don't fancy being alone


that kind of thing like for example if I go out with my parents and then they just leave me in the living room or somebody's houses I'll get like super stressed out because I'm alone, and you know I feel like


I feel like someone is watching me lah actually but then now as an as an adult I actually really like my alone time I can do anything with with it like I can read books and not be disturbed and ya I guess it's just something


like just paranoid last time lah when you know you were younger but now I really really appreciate, uh, alone time with myself, like some days I will just reflect on whatever I did or like or on things that I haven't done that I want to do and I'll just pick up from there ya


is better to have


(mmhmm), ya correct I totally agree to that


ya, biggest blessings in disguise, I'm not quite sure do you have an answer to that


, uh ya I guess for my case it's something along those lines but it's more of like , like just my family in general because sometimes you tend to forget this kind of things and you're just like more of like the world


and you forget that actually some people don't even have families and you know like when we went to maison chance you know the some of the kids uh like their, parents have already passed on or like uh their parents are sick and cannot take care of them so it's something that


, a lot of people take granted for so I really think like having a family with me like, a functional family and then having a roof on top of me is really a blessing lah, ya


yes correct, appreciate yes correct correct I, okay what is something unique or odd that uh like a compliment that you have ever received


(ppc) surprisingly mine is my name as well because I feel like my name is quite unique is not something that a lot of people hear so, , ya so like my name, uh, it's an arabic name so the meaning of it is consistency but


so whenever people cause I call myself Isti and everybody will ask me is that your name just four letters and I will always say my name is actually longer than this do you want to know and I'll say up my name and they like oh I cannot pronounce that so ya then I have to


like spell out uh each word, and then like say my name Istiqomah then like they'd be like oh cool like uh really interesting I've never heard of this before ya ya and also I guess an odd


compliment was that when I was working in hotel somebody asked me if I was a filipino so I think that was a very odd what I'm like ya, I mean I'm not taking it


uh as a, bad thing I'm taking it as a compliment like maybe she he was saying that my my skin tone is nice or something like that so ya well that was really shocked I've never heard of that before, mostly people will say like oh I look like I'm chinese that one I can understand lah but filipino that was that was the first so I guess that was a


odd, but about like unique is probably uh my name lah, ya


question yourself


ya


(hmm) actually it's cereal , , like you know normal people eat cereal in the morning, I am the one that eat cereal when I'm sad or it's either cereal or durian lah in between see what whichever is available in my house


but it it's obviously it's more on cereal so ya I will like you know like at two or three AM if I feel sad I'll just like on youtube and watch videos while I just chug on milk and cereal


ya how about yourself, , usually people will say ice cream, I feel, but ya,


this once ya, once in a once in a while so it's okay I guess, (mmhmm) (uh huh) ya literally , okay uh what describe one of your most memorable travel experiences


(mmhmm)


uh I think my most memorable travel would be when I went to europe for the first time that's two years ago I went to london scotland and switzerland that was a really, uh a really memorable trip because it was like uh another graduation trip apart from my vietnam trip and it was a trip that I actually paid with my own money so I really felt like oh this trip is just real it's using my money


ya uh, yes it was worth it so ya because like I've never went, across like to to the extent with such a huge time difference and all that so it was really interesting and I I especially like switzerland because I managed


to go up to the, mountains and see snow and see snow like snowfall and like switzerland was, a very scenic view like is really just I feel like it's just


down and I can just take in everything I don't think if I sit down there for one day I can, it's enough for me to take in everything it's just really really beautiful and yes I would actually want to go back again but probably in autumn not in winter because in winter is like negative twenty four


up, on the mountain ya if it's a if it's autumn it will still be snowing at the mountain but it will be less cold of course, so ya that was a very very interesting and memorable travel experience that I have


so ya


[oh] (ppl)


okay financial related topic, oh alright let's start


so we're start supposed to start on uh let's talk about saving account, my first saving account was with POSB I think all of us has it since we were young from when we were in school I still remember that was in a book


but so I have that same account up to now can you imagine


(mmhmm),


ah I think you are talking about the high yield uh saving account, oh normal saving account uh is it I thought I was I was looking at uh trying to have a little bit more interest on mine uh the money that I have in your bank and uh I was informed by one of our friends about high yield saving account so things like


they are OCBC three six zero or the uh DBS multiplier or UOB uh the one account uh these are similar to what you have just mentioned they were talking about like you, uh must have salary credited into that particular account and then they you have to like


bank certain amount on your credit card so it vary so thought you were talking about that, and, then you have a credit card attached to it, right ya


, (mmhmm), yes precisely , I also found that it doesn't work for me as well because I I do not I'm a freelancer so I do not have regular salary credited into my account and as a result even though I open the uh I change my UOB I I can't remember what


account and into the UOB one account just to find out that oh dear me I do not have, salary credited into my account so with that particular account, I ended up only saving uh the two dollars uh on a normal current account so it was like so pathetic going through all the trouble of uh changing my account going through renewing my GRIO payment at the end of the day I don't get any benefit at all


so it was like a total wasted effort for me this high yield savings account, ya,


(mmhmm) , !wow! , ah okay


ah


(mmhmm) , , , ah so I guess all these kind of high yield uh savings account just don't work for us because we're all freelancer


ya but lately I just found out that, there could be those uh single premium endowment uh short term one that we can consider uh because this will give us some like maybe uh almost two percent interest uh with a lock in period of one to three years uh so it's a short term


kind of like better than fixed deposit kind of rates the only trouble is you have to keep it in there before that duration that you sign up for and then if you surrender early then we might, face loss of capital similar to those endowment plan out there but it just give us slightly better interest than those uh fixed deposit


one time I were just considering fixed deposit and then you know you just run all over the banks to find out which, uh banks give you the best interest and then there was one period where I think even right now they are practising it, uh you you you cannot use your existing fund like once your FD mature you cannot start another new FD with the same bank


right you need to bring the money from one bank to another so is like they're forcing you to take your money out of the bank and then go to another bank to me it was like so silly you know and then you just give you more work to do you have to just run around all the banks to find out which bank gives you the best interest did you experience that


(uh huh),


, uh ya,


, ya it's true I guess we don't really have a lot of choices for a freelancer like us at one time uh one sister was telling about this, uh, singapore savings bonds uh because at at the beginning it was giving very good interest rate I think it was almost two point over percent ya so at that point in time if I have gone in I think my money would have made


better interest for me but now with the COVID it is really so pathetic I heard it was like down to just one quarter of what it was uh it was offered previously so it is even though ya you can go in any time and you can take out your money anytime


err unlike the FD and unlike like the those uh premium I mean those uh endowment plan where early uh withdrawal will hurt your principal, this one you can just take out anytime and you just pay uh a small amount and your money is almost as safe as that new trouble is that the interest is so low now so what do you think where can we go and put our money


FD but FD now ya but it doesn't give you a lot I I remember it only give you one point over percent whereas if you go for those single premium endowment plan the short term one, uh you can go as high as two over percent depend of course which house that we go to uh just need to do a bit more shopping just like FD we just need to go shop around and say we try and gave us the best


plan and best yield, you know if not , , but if , but then


but then every year you have to go take out the money from one bank and then go to another bank you know it's , it's very troublesome time consuming as well uh so I I personally I think at this point in time I'm more in favour of the those short term single premium endowment plan


I just put your money there for two to three years you don't have to worry about it you know and then at the end of the day you just gain those interest which is, eh if you can get it for two percent or above two percent I think in the current situation it is not too bad


FD I think with this COVID nineteen situation not turning any better, I think the rates is going to go lower and lower uh is not going to give you a lot of money, (hmm)


of course, , ya ya ya so you cannot auto renew


yes that's why they just want you to go, ya that's why I mentioned earlier that it is very troublesome you have to keep tab on when your FD matures and then you have to make time to go down you have to go shopping around for the rate and then go and take your money from one bank and then go to another bank imagine the queue even though COVID nineteen some banks might not have that


long queue but you never know you know at the end of it if if the rules are, uh further released then more people will come out from their house and then the banks will be crowded again then you have to wait a long time before you are served, uh, and then you have to see sorry


ah and then you have to see the financial consultant to talk about it and then after that you have to queue up again at the teller just to put in your money !hais! just so troublesome so time consuming just for that miserable, oh one one percent one point over percent interest


precisely and for freelancer like us right you don't work for half a day a one whole day we have no income, at all !aiya!


I think it depends on which uh insurer I remember seeing some that you only need to put in like five hundred, ya or just a thousand so it depends on which house you go to, I think NTUC one is not too bad


I mean the amount the amount, but I, can't remember cause I think look at too too many options ready you tend to uh jumbled up together then I might not be doing justice to the other insurance houses so must do some more uh research I think this single premium endowment plan might work


for you and me if we uh if we can if we have some money where we can set aside for two to three years uh it might better


uh yes but uh you know jean since we are freelancer right and being freelancer we do not have, a regular income neither do we have those uh uh what uh, uh medical benefits from our because we don't have employer you know so we might really need to look at what we can do in our position as freelancer to protect ourself so


do you know that uh for freelancer, uh you have to like uh I can't remember if you earn a certain amount of money in a year you are supposed to put in definitely put in some amount of money in your medisave


account and you might also have to contribute to your CPF, but that's if you make a lot of money lah, I don't (hmm)


ya that is uh voluntary, ya but I think the it's good to have the medisave, or if not if you have some money can put into the, retirement account how about you are not you are not yet time to draw money from your bank right you are still very young


, oh you do oh okay, then you can't you can only put money into the retirement account I think the retirement account in CPF gives us much better interest rate than than what we have discussed earlier you know even the the single premium uh endowment plan the only thing is if I'm not wrong I think you can only put in seven thousand a year


into the I mean to qualify for tax uh exemption uh into the, uh retirement account but I think there is something that worth uh considering because it really gives you a lot more interest at least more than two percent and when you roll over right I think the uh the amount can be quite substantial


you know and one thing I enjoy or, look forward to receiving is the annual statement from CPF like when you see !wow! the interest roll over is for a freelancer like me lah not having regular income !wow! quite substantial so quite happy to look at it


but you are still young so you you keep it in the in the CPF account it will it will give you even more money,


ah okay, when do you intend to start at sixty five I think sixty five is the year that you can start drawing out from the retirement account is that when you plan to start


actually I was, ah,


, ya I agree


it's true but looking at my family history I think I'm going to live quite number of years so that's why my, thought is I will try to delay as long as possible uh so that it can


uh, uh because as you grow older the money become smaller in value so I'm not sure if the same amount we get on average I think retirement account gets you about thousand, around Thousandish uh dollars how how long that's going to last you when I become very old I don't even know whether that amount will will will be sufficient for me so it's a bit difficult


but, it's true but then on the other hand uh if if you're healthy then ya you don't need uh


the medical cost but then accident can happen just like my mum she's so healthy but because of the few falls then each time you go to hospital you know even if you stay in C class you have to spend uh for a six day or one week stay it cost you thousand over dollars


uh, give or take you know so everytime you go in the hospital you cost you money so you're not just when we are old uh like your friends got not much energy to go uh travelling but when you're old also you got no energy to do a lot of things like recently


I went to supermarket to buy stuff when I dragged back I was too ambitious I got a lot more things than I could, !wah! the trip walking home was a real torture because the trolley were just so heavy and I told myself that I must


get a four wheeler instead the two wheel uh trolley to pull around so at the end of the day I guess we need to really plan our, our finances very well lah uh cannot just have a saving account like what we said earlier savings account gives you so little money so you must really maybe we should really seriously consider the


endowment plan uh jean,


, , yes yes agree


actually now you do not need a current account at all we have all these paynow lah and then you can do bank transfer having a chequebook is so like outdated kind of like thing you know it's just like not happening anymore it's if you want to pay someone is just paynow or you just do transfer so much easier


ah


okay I think I I mess it up so I can only click submit


negative experiences, uh


I okay uh not frustration but uh, uh scary stuff, I remember when I was young I live in the Kampung town and then that time we don't have TV yet ah I mean the TV is not like in every household


so, so I remember watching uh Pontianak movie uh at the CC and then this was the show like the , uh err the the woman whose head turn into snake !wah! I tell you that ah haunted me for so many years


you know I was so scared that just the picture of a snake I will throw the whole thing away you know like even if I flip a storybook uh any uh, uh, textbook any newspaper I see a snake only I would throw the whole damn thing away because I was that scared


so you know watching watching movie we have to be careful because if not ah all these were just this bad memories will just haunt you and also I remember that time when I watch those horror movie like omen omen you know the head will turn


the the the the that that naughty person ah the head will turn three and sixty degree, is it sixty or hundred and eighty degree that was so scary you know and then and then I remember the movie also they have and the bed will move you know uh it will it will jump here and jump there and I dare not even sleep on my bed at night so all these uh are really very very bad it haunted me


for so long so long you know so, it's we we really must be very careful about what we watch and uh because they really can have a very negative impact on our life I think that kind of like make me very uh a bit of what I am now lor sometimes I'm just a bit quiet


about, same things because just so scared you know those kind of negative things I I it took me a long long time just to get over this snake and the woman thing


oh dear , , ,


ah yes ya, , uh yes


, !ee! ,


ya, precisely pay your hard earned money just to scare yourself right ya so I I also make it a point not to watch these kind of horrible movie actually I I tend to think that those people who watched this kind of movie ah


uh not very sound why would anybody want to pay their money just to make themselves turn so negatively in in that area I, just cannot cannot understand it cannot understand it ya I think we have enough uh


unhappy happenings in our life already to add this kind of thing to do it I remember when I had this occasion of working in an organisation and on that day uh, uh we invited the president of singapore


because he became the patron of the organization I was working for, and he agreed to be the patron and then he was invited to my organization, uh to grace with his grace the organisation with his presence lah and then we were organising some event


and silly me I I make some mistakes so as a result, uh, uh the report was supposed to come out, uh a little earlier, threatened to come out one day earlier uh than it was supposed to be and I tell you that whole night ah I just couldn't sleep you know I just didn't sleep at all like so worried that the next morning when I come when I wake up and then I see the news in the


paper and then that's it you are fired #hang noi#, from your job !wah! I tell you uh it was really those kind of, nights uh sleepless nights are very very taxing on your life it really really zap you zap your energy just set everything but even though thank god uh it it turned out that uh it didn't happen


the way I feared that it it would have happened uh really thank god for seeing me through that particular incident it was really like oh my goodness the president of singapore where am I going to hide my face you know it's like you know you can't even dig a hole in the ground to hide yourself


but really thank god lah it turned out alright, it was really terrible, ,


!wow!


, , ya ya I dare I can identify with you totally totally


ya but, !aiya! sometimes , ya lah this kind of misfortune uh happen here and there and sometimes by our own ignorance as well like recently you know I change a helper right, err


apparently err there was one time that we, err the helper wanted to to leave us apparently quite a while ago she just never did share her feelings with me lah uh I guess I can understand because helper sometimes they won't really share with their employer I I heard it from my friend that it was something that I said that


I heard, her feeling and I have I have absolutely no idea so I think are coming from two different culture sometimes the cultural understanding is very important also because of some maybe one to me it was not uh I don't think I have such


thought to want to hurt her feeling you know uh I was told that it was just one comment that I make that uh because we went to a hawker centre to eat and then uh the dish that she ordered was more expensive than what we have ordered and I just commented that eh yours is uh more expensive than ours and she got hurt


and after that she she just she just couldn't get it out to me it was just like I just make a comment eh I, I didn't mean that how can you spend more than me you know it wasn't my intention it just that I just kind of say oh this dish ah sound quite nice it's more expensive than ours uh and then she took it to heart and even though subsequently I did apologize to her


not directly but just to tell her that if I've hurt you please forgive me you know err ya but, but, err I guess it did not appease her and uh late recently when my mum was hospitalised and then err needed someone who could


err, uh really handle the uh transferring from wheelchair to bed bed to wheelchair that kind of thing and this helper hurt herself in a process of doing it and in the end I think all these added up together , uh she feel that she could not work anymore so she then again never told me the truth at first told me that she wanted to go home so I told her during this uh circuit breaker time you have to give me time to find a new helper and


then subsequently then she told me actually she didn't want to go home she wanted to change employer, !hais! so we have to then uh anyway I told her if you want to change employer I have no problem you know my basic thing is still that I need time to make sure that you have to give me time to get a replacement so but thank god lah it just


happened that I managed to find one and then so she also managed to find another employer so, thankfully that one kind of like negative become something I don't know whether it's positive but at least neutralise at this point in time so hopefully she's not too hurt by what I said I would I really didn't mean to hurt her that way


ya ya, I think so too because in the end I also managed to get a helper uh who is


younger still got more strength I don't know why people think that, err to to do wheelchair transfer you need someone who is younger uh older people no strength, anyway uh this younger girl thirty one years old uh !whoa! I I see the way she carry my mum a lot of strength


so maybe it's true lah !huh! like what you say just now your friend uh older so no strength to uh no energy to go travelling as much ya so maybe as we age ah we don't really have that much energy


to uh do what we think we want to do so better do now what we want to do than wait till later, so this COVID nineteen also give us some space to go and think of uh what are some of the negative experience that we had in life and then try to overcome that


ah and let's look forward to, something that we can did positively together maybe we can revisit our original planned trip to go Hokkaido uh hopefully ya that day dorothy was showing me the her passport


ah she actually had it make when we book it you know when we book her trip so, she went to make it and then she showed me then was I I forgot all about it and I ask her eh why you're going away ah we cannot really travel yet and then you are planning to go away is it then that's where she reminded me of our cancelled trip ya


ya it's a pity ya lor,


yes and and with them opening up err with more countries hopefully we, can travel ya soon (uh huh) and we will not be cooped up in singapore, uh earlier today I was talking to a couple uh more elderly couple they were just saying that they are so bored staying at home uh because of the COVID time even right now we are older people are encouraged not to go out


you know some some people also forbid their elderly from going out, uh just to be safe lah on the safer side I think it's it's, it uh better to be safe than sorry ya because you never know,


ya it's true


, ya,


, ah, uh we have been doing that with my mum every morning we're gonna go downstairs for walk for thirty minutes to forty minutes walk ya then we come back


, , ya


, (mmhmm)


, , oh


uh,


yes, you lose control,


so it's good to know you have overcome that ah, overcome the fear of water, it's okay you go,


, ya ya that's what we should do what start small first and then go bigger and bigger don't don't start with a leap such a big leap first ya we can start small ya it's good to do that


it's good to do that ya,


ah, ,


, yes yes I can identify with that, really, it's true


so have you overcome already or you still have not overcome, , ,


oh I I have no fear of this cockroach I will just take the newspaper and whack them take, so that they won't come now I'm more fearful of ants, the ants coming into your house ah then uh I remember my