I would repeat the same question to you uh how would how would you look forward yourself by you know uh saving for your future family, I mean as in uh for how would you segregate your savings for your future family after you get married


that's a very good way to actually do a savings lah, true true my mother always too


ya yes my mother always told me gold is a very good investment because let's say in the time of such crisis were to happen you know now I'm not trying to say that you should pawn all your golds but


but it came it it it's a lifesaver actually you you know, and , , lately as I told you you know I I was actually going out


spend lately okay after the circuit breaker uh, actually uh I would say nah compared to the uh circuit break breaker right now I'm spending more than what I was during the circuit breaker and I was actually spending on because you know now all the shops have reopened right I mean


I don't have a particular thing that I have spent on but after the circuit breaker when everything got opened up all the shops got opened up, you tend to like go to the shop and oh okay now I I I was you know during the circuit breaker I wanted to buy this I wanted to buy that okay I want to buy this now


so those kind of, , ya


exactly, yes


ya yes stay home stay safe, , okay this one it's quite


okay if coming out from the debt, please do not go for unlicensed moneylenders because, yes unlicensed money lenders it's , it's a difficult situation because I know you know it


you know when you tend to go and tell them this right they will be like oh you do not know our pain you're not standing in our shoes to think and we're going through a lot and everything, I understand but the thing is then, that doesn't make any just going to make your life more miserable so first I would advise that to not even approached them and if you did and if you are going through any problems whereby you know abuses or any sort of them please please approach


professional help (ppc) sorry professional help, for example going up to the police for assistance don't try to handle it on your own


yes true very true, yes I think we have spoken a lot about finance and (ppc) you know, how it would I think we started from finance then after that somehow you know drop to how people can uh prevent themselves from becoming debtors ya


on and on, yes


(mmhmm) very true very true, (mmhmm)


there should be a difference between I I ya I just feel that there should be a difference and they should understand the difference between needs and wants, that would solve a lot of issues


exactly


definitely, yes very true, (mm)


part three negative experience


always, (mmhmm), okay, when I just feel neglected you know when you know


there is a point of time where you know when you actually trying to speak about something and , I hate it when people actually , you know they they try to compress their issues into our issues I think you have ah overwrite us


so that's it's actually quite hurtful because the thing is then, we have actually approached them thinking that you know they will actually give us a solution okay I mean nobody can give anybody solution for their problems lah, but like when we actually come up to someone and we actually speak about our problems and


it shouldn't be the way that oh what what are the problems that you actually going through you know I went through much hurtful and worse problems than you then they will start talking about their problems that is not the point of you know talking to someone when you actually speak to someone regarding their problems


you actually care need to that comes to the question back lah you have to need you need to show your care and concern and, first of all you need to be a listening ear to them because, that's when you know if you don't do that then there's no point of you know


the person having the trust on you that's what I personally feel, (mmhmm) how about your most heartbreaking moment in life


(mmhmm), yes I hear you, oh there was quite a few but I think I can remember wonders this particular friend of mine which happened quite recently


, okay for him he always feels that you know his family's actually neglecting him not showing him care concern love and all that, because just because you know , the family prioritises his siblings more than him


so , that's when I actually so he tends to you know hang out a lot he thinks uh he lies at home and he comes out so that you know he can actually spend time outside, rather than being alone at home but he doesn't understand that being at home actually makes him feel actually he's more safer and then would actually


allow, that would actually allow him to actually , ya that that would actually allow him , allow his family members to actually have more trust on him but he doesn't understand that so that's when I actually screamed at him and


I screamed at him and that actually leaped to another problem whereby oh you are actually you know telling me you don't understand my problems you don't understand where I'm coming from but you actually you know , uh ya he just basically said I don't understand him when I'm actually talking for his own good ah


so that's when I actually felt that I was hurting his feelings but, I end of the day I just felt, that you know I was doing the correct thing because the thing is then if I don't hurt his feelings because you can tell something to someone you know your nicely if they were to listen and they are in the mentality to listen if they don't I felt that that was the best way to actually you know


yes, so uh describe a time when you actually felt betrayed


hello


oh my, obviously the the recent uh you know the incident that you were mentioning you know during the the start, I believe that


person so much because the thing is that , she was very convincing you know that she has actually , became a person who that you know because she has left our life once then she came back then after that eventually you know she portrayed herself as a very angelic person who you know came back with a lot of positivity but


in the end you know she came to me and she told me something then she came to you and she told something, double headed snake so that's when you know things started to get very very nasty when you know she actually I heard that you know she has you know scolded you you and all


and that's when I actually approached you and once we had a heart to heart conversation that's when we actually realised that a there were a lot of mismatch to the things that she actually told and and that was very very you know


uh heartbreaking because the thing is that I have never even like imagine that you know she would go to this extent of , actually into going telling all these things when she was so angelic to us


(mmhmm)


(mmhmm) my god, you mean the current trend anything like that also


(mmhmm) popular trend, I think between you know the ones that who will actually come into our lives as as friends friends, so they actually tend to


you know , how do I put this so when they come in right this a current trend whereby they actually come in to as you what you told they receive information then after that they passed onto someone else but they will add their own sugar spices and everything nice


and then they will pass it to someone else and then they the person that it's passed to they will pass to another person and they will add their own spices to it so then is I I just feel that it's a current trend you know I mean it has it has been happening before, but I would say thanks to social media also now playing a very good part I think it's happening more rapidly


which I hate


very true very true the part where you actually mentioned about being neutral, oh my goodness when someone tells me oh I'm I'm very neutral person I would be like you're not neutral you are someone, if where where there's two groups you won't have anything uh feeling because you have to be closer to someone


compared to another person because the thing is that you cannot be a okay so , that's what I call being double headed snake if you are being neutral because the thing is that uh I mean that's just my point of view for people who say that you know they are neutral because the thing is that when A says something


and you are B when A says something and you go to C and C say some uh sorry let's say you're B and A says something to you about C and you go to C and C says something about A, and then uh you know you are actually listening to both


so that's not going to be the point at all that, , so (mmhmm) (MM), oh


probably , that I witness and I have never uh kept and I kept, oh why not


(mmhmm) okay okay understand, okay then uh how about , describe a moment where you actually felt you would that you were you know treated unfairly, I'll come back to your question don't worry


(mmhmm), okay now I'll come back to your question whereby you know you actually asked me , you know what I actually witness then I kept quiet about there was this point of time during my primary school same I mean it's somewhat it's leads to bullying again


there was this friend of mine who was uh that was around primary five to primary six, so that's when you know the puberty starts to set in slowly so that's when my friend he's quite he has a feminine build so they use that to bully him as an you know they took that as an advantage and they are bullied him which is very very


you know it's it's something that , we shouldn't be actually saying at that point of time, so that's when uh I actually felt that you know, schools should should actually you know they should bring up this yes there is you know sex education and all that but I I just feel that you know if there are students who are like that I just feel that they should you know


uh stress on this being , , (mmhmm) (hmm) very true very true


okay then what problems or issues that you know is there any problems or issues that keep you awake at night


(mmhmm), probably you know things like obviously thinking about future you know what am I going to do in life you know where am I getting to and how am I going to


you know achieve my goals and , sometimes you know , especially when you know when our friends you know we do have you know some differences between us which is being discussed at night, and after that you know uh you know that that sleep gets disturbed so that's when I tend to like you know sit down and think about it and because no matter how long we're going to sit all night we are not going to get a solution


but, but somehow you know we will hope you know ah, we will just hope that you know any solution is just going to drop from the sky but we're just just sitting there thinking about it but the thing is that you know there's a lot of things that this is called you know when my when I told tell this to my friends including you


uh you know I think you have told me about this also and you know they tend to label it as over thinking but the thing is that, uh yes we do over think but the thing is that , you know


like you know uh they they need to , express it out more lah so that we need to talk to each other more so that we can simmer down the issue and you know can have a


nightmare, is it I mean as in technically a dream right a a dream nightmare


oh okay uh one thing was that , when my mum actually


slapped me and my sis okay lah not even mum I think my when my uh sister slapped me because my sister is someone that I always looked up to, and she has never ever laid hand on me my mother has you know you know when when mothers actually you know you know they are trying to uh instill that you know discipline they actually tend to be a bit violent but


but my sister always has safeguarded me and all that but I think when I was nineteen when uh I did something very bad very very disappointing, she just looked at me and she just slapped me I was like oh


I was just like, what you just slapped me then she was like ya then you know, I that shows how disappointed she was and uh but trust me after that I was very very very disappointed eh no not disappointed I was very very hurt


that you know, that I have hurt my sister to the extent that she has actually laid hands on me and I have never ever repeated that mistake again


(mmhmm)


(mmhmm), (mm) true true very true


part two positive experience


okay, okay as a child I was interested in arts dancing there was a lot because you know when you are young you do not know what you are good at you know you just want to try everything


so , that's when you know I actually did dancing I tried to sing , I tried then uh eventually you know art as well I mean as in I tried as well but I think more predominantly I was interested in dancing lah how as for you


dancing dancing


(mmhmm), you know being , a happy go lucky kind of life you know because, like we do not need to care about absolutely anything except


like we just need had to care about our results exams that's all but other than that you know our play time then you know we had our own play time we had our own time to go down and play with our friends and we have ah no other commitments apart from that


it was just study hard play hard study hard play hard, ya it was totally care, so okay now coming back to our current uh current you know so at this age what was the best thing that you have done for yourself


ya that you have done for yourself


that's quite nice to hear because , same because uh when I was young I mean obviously when we were young we tend to make a lot of mistakes and to say that you know we are not dumb oh okay never mind I have dropped out so I got nothing to do after this and all that


but when you grow older that's when you actually feel that you know you do have a lot of priorities in life and you have to improve on yourself in life and all that, so that's what you know actually made me and motivated me to actually


go forward and currently I'm just , working and also I'm saving up money to actually , uh pursue my education in teaching because I I have a very good


uh I won't say I have better very good knowledge but, okay I got a quite a good knowledge in tamil so I want to use that and also at the current situation when I see younger kids actually you know speaking weak tamil, that really really pisses me off so I


yes I hope and I wish


(mmhmm) family and friends, family because I don't usually see okay I mean as in I tend to call my friends there's this group there's this


bunch of friends of mine including you in that group whom I actually, ya whom I actually call uh my second family because uh there's a lot of things that you know I couldn't share to my own biological family members that I actually shared to


my , you know my friends so that really , that's how I actually see them


!aww! that's a sweet okay, yes thank you and uh okay


I don't know as you know I only listen to tamil songs, so uh, there's this particular lyrics whereby uh, uh the song is about friendship itself you know because , it is just a quite a recent I think the uh song came uh recently uh in a movie so I actually love that song because it speaks about family bond and how we should overcome together as a family you know it there's something that you know


there's an obstruction or anyone who is actually going to throw , bad comments at you how you actually overcoming that that as a family together that I think it was well portrayed in that song so there's this particular lyrics whereby


uh <tamil>sundar pandam</tamil> okay I'll I'll tell it in tamil okay uh <tamil>sundar pandam</tamil> okay basically it means that , uh all these relations are important in life and, happiness and sadness are you know it's always together it's not always separate you won't be always having a you know bed of roses that you are actually walking on you will have your hard times as well so you have to overcome that as a


(mmhmm), yup so okay since you have actually mentioned about us too share a funny inside joke that you and our group of friends still laugh until today


not only inside joke lah maybe you know uh maybe a an epic fall or something


(mmhmm) oh my,


oh yes because it's you you, oh my god I still remember that okay


as for me my funniest inside joke, what am I going to mention about okay uh there was this point of time where, no no no no no not that okay maybe I'll mention about that okay what happened was I think you all were sitting on the bed and you know the bed moved and you all almost fell yes


, my goodness y=the the times that we spend you know are one of the you know beautiful moments of my life and I think it's the same for everyone as well


biggest blessing in disguise, (hmm)


I would say, in disguise is it , in disguise uh then , okay why don't you start this time, that means you know


you don't see it but you feel that it's a blessing it's a blessing


okay , actually same goes for me as well because the thing is then ya, because yes I do adore my uh my biological family because they are everything to me without them I'm not here today I won't be here today but there are a lot of things in life that I couldn't share with them that I actually shared with my friends


because not to say that you know your family won't understand you your bio biological family won't understand I'm not trying to say that but , it's just that you feel more comfortable because you know you can relate with them, since you know you you both will actually have a very same mentality and as for both of us I think we also had that kind of a mentality over these years and as you mentioned we have fought so much we have gone through so much go so much of you know


I know other people actually you know disgracing us and talking behind our backs backstabbing us but that didn't actually and there were times where you know we were not talking to each other for about a period of time but with still found hope with each other


uh so that you know it's something that the bond that we share and you know after hitting twenty four and you hit twenty five, I think there I don't find any reason why you know I should be actually getting very agitated of what people are actually talking about us because the thing is that we have cross this far


and you know just being the reason where oh he actually spoke about us he doesn't know about us that's all, he's not in our shoes to actually think of why we actually do not give up on each other no matter how


things get uh thing serious you know it becomes


you know as per what our friends uh our one of our friend always say please do not get married , ya so if let's say if anything were like that to happen let's say if anything you know were to happen like that I would actually get a house and you know we will have the highlight you know together


, ya


same oh my god


know what goes around comes around we we help someone today we we help someone and someone helps us back in future that's all, luckiest was


this okay this one I have to give it up to my family because I have done a lot of nonsense in life, a lot of you know mistakes in life but still you know there are uh there there are a lot of periods of where my mother actually almost she was like oh I'm just going to chase you out of the house but the thing is that


I feel the luckiest that I feel is that you know my family still has not gave gave up on me and they are actually still you know uh going with the flow and , they still believe in me because no matter what till today my mum actually tells me that there will be a day where actually you will you know you will rise again you will come back and


yes so that's how I feel my my family being the luckiest to me how about yourself


I remember that moment actually, , blessed really really blessed


(ppc)


part one finance, okay in my case right it's basically uh I invest my monies in uh


two ways one is definitely purchasing gold, and the other is uh definitely putting it in my bank, so like you know and I try to keep it in a way that I do not withdraw my cash most of the time like you know if let's say if it's a emergency purposes that's where I actually withdraw my money and not always


like not for you know I tend to keep a certain amount of money in my wallet and then the balance I actually keep them in my bank so that I do not have the mindset to withdraw money or spend overspend my money, what about yourself


, spending


I see so what strategies would you recommend to someone planning for their big ticket expenditures like you know family buying a car a house


definitely,


keep it in a saving saving scheme is it


I see interesting interesting, ya I mean that is for my case also it's the true because saving is very important it starts when you are young, because like you mentioned in our CPF isn't just going to be something I mean CPF is C CPF CPF is not something which you going to see in cash


you know in other CPF is just going to be there for you if you're going to purchase a house or something but but you know you have more things to want with like you would you would desire to buy a car or you know start up a family so CPF is not going help in that position you see in that part so


you whatever savings you have at hand it's definitely comes a lot in that that that place actually you see ya, yes


basically I tend to save a lot because uh during uh before circuit breaker period right I actually clubbed my whole life with my friends spent money on alcohol basically partying my life and everything but now I tend to be a much reserved person because I'm just focused on school


home meals for myself and just the thought of taking care of myself so I don't want to have any expenses like you know it's it the it it stops there it doesn't goes on and on like I've got this I've got that I've got to go out no like there's no family functions now there's nothing happening so it's just me


it's like I'm just bothered about myself and I tend to save a lot of money at this point of time, yes, , exactly and then the #ang pows#


a bomb yes


(mmhmm), ya true true very true I mean like it's not just us but many people could relate to this you know


so how do you manage your financial commitments before and after marriage


definitely, yes yes


(mmhmm) ya you'll be starting up with kids and everybody yes, yes


I see interesting soon going to be a family man then Dinesh, nice, so what advice would you give to someone in order to reduce their income tax,


I think, that's not really an advice right it's like how people work on, how do you manage your cash flow actually like how much of your income is allocated to savings and expenses such as like insurance investment


definitely yes definitely definitely


nice nice ya I mean that is true also even in my case also right like I would actually you know uh allocate my savings for family, and then like as you mentioned like uh me and you being spiritually inclined person like spiritual matters as well as you know


not much on alcohol basically and gatherings but ya you know just to just you know enjoy a moment sometimes lah ya that's true that's true


no if you going to ask me the question no N O what about yourself, okay, exactly I wanted to say my reasons after you say your answer yes exactly I, am someone who do not believe in myself I cannot control myself when it comes expenditure I tend to buy everything which is you know attractive so a no from me for a credit card definitely no because I don't want to be you know sticking with uh debts at the end no


yes so, exactly exactly exactly so what would you make a financial plan or investment portfolio for your family or so would you


yes, yes yes definitely definitely


I see and another dying question that I want to ask you what's one financial advice that you would give to the you five years ago


enjoy life, yes yes, I mean as we grow up you know responsibilities actually hits hard on our face despite knowing that we're getting older


nice nice I mean it's always the same like being youngsters we tend to make a lot of mistakes you see and you know it's it's saddening when you know take time to think back about how screwed up we were back then actually yes


yes come on sure did not


(mmhmm), , come again sorry I didn't get you


(ppc )I mean definitely if I'm going to have kids my kids comes first, so whatever I'm going to say if it's definitely going to my kids first then my wife I mean definitely my wife is going to work also I'm not going to stop her from working and even if she says that she doesn't wants to work I'll like chasing her to go to work you know I mean we need finance in in in in current crises and you know we do not know how is it going to be in various time as well


so it's very important that you know we go to work earn money and bring it back for the family and all those thing so, in that case ah I would actually say that my savings would just go for my kids first and I will try to be keeping it in a fixed deposit maybe


so like you know not touch it yes, ya and as also mentioned earlier gold like I have the you know tendency of buying a lot of gold so you know like passing over the belt, you know we indians believe in you know passing over the wealth in gold forms right ya so gold is kind of like a saving now for me like I wish that you know with my kids in the future I could simply say nah here you go this is all what your dad wore you know


he flexed it yes, definitely, ya definitely


exactly exactly correct, what have you been spending too much on lately


no lately like after the the yes


ya like you know we tend to be like you know we were like waiting during circuit breaker I think we even spoke about it also like we were waiting when is this going to end I am craving for this I want to buy this I want you know all these things but eventually when the shops open we usually went, mad like you know mad


especially food I missed a lot of good food even till now it's like every sad that you know we cannot go out as group of friends and you know have good meals and all these thing I mean it's sad but , it's for the safety so let it be then


what advice would you give to someone to get him or her out of her a debt


definitely this is one point that actually which is right in my mind as well


(ppc), very true like in my case I also would say you know soccer betting and all these things should actually come to an end like you know people should not be easily trusting you know lately right I'm not sure whether


if you have faced it but lately there's this , this kind of like a group of people who are actually uh messaging people via whatsapp saying that you know you want to pick up loans you want to you know do all these things but they do not they do not seem to be like a licensed person because the way of communicating and the way of the command of the english is like


it's so obvious you know no companies would do that you know like you know stress you like call you and ask you to you know take money from them so, I think this is something that everyone should really really really you know uh look into from that as well as also the other part about like not even just licensed moneylenders or non licensed moneylenders like when it comes to debt right my


main advice that I would give is, try to settle it slowly, even if it's a little amount of money you are actually settling it that is very important do not make someone you know chase you or scold you or do not create a bond like let's say you know sometimes you borrow money from friends but you don't return them the bond becomes salty you see so


it it shouldn't be that way it should never be that way maybe you try to return a little bit of amount when you will have it in your hands and not just like you know some people have the tendency of you know just going MIA just missing in action like they, will never message they will never reply and you know ya and trying not to also borrow money or lend money from someone it's it's it's not really a good thing


you know unless it's an emergency matter like it's a medical issue or something like I'm sure we also had friends who actually borrowed money from us for alcohol clubbing and all these which is totally, you know it's it's it's it's unreasonable and all ya


ya correct I mean finance is a topic like it just goes on and on it starts from one and then ends at somewhere else you see like we tend to learn a lot of for that like sometime people tend to do not, uh they don't like to speak about finance because it's either it's going to affect them or what but for me I feel like money is everything so you need to speak about it


ya money's everything like in in in you know money is the first thing which comes to mind, living when you're living you need money although there's a saying that you know money can't buy work but no it's not that way money is everything now


ya we work for it so savings is very important, and how you live your life at the end is also very important you know sometime people tend to save a lot of money but what they do is they spend their money on friends people people whom they like people whom they meet but those people with no gratitude they just move away from you know there's no point on them


, yes correct correct, yes correct


like , fighting your own wars when it comes to finance also so it's like very sad thing you know like going through and seeing a lot of people like you know we have the, we have the privilege of saying you know like you and me like we were talking we have the privilege of saying that you know we had this we went there we went here we had friends but just imagine you know like we are here so comfortably sitting in front of our macbooks and talking about finance and yet there are people out there who


cannot even afford bread so today's savings right really matters tomorrow it's not just for ourself but you know we were speaking about this earlier like family it's definitely going to help our family also yup


(ppc) part three negative experiences


so Dinesh we have came to a part that you know we actually hated talking about the most you know on a hot day but we're here so describe a time where you felt that nobody actually cares about you


overwrite you


very true


(ppc) yes very true very true, my most heartbreaking moment in my life was definitely I would say two incidents one was trusting the wrong person


trusting the wrong person I mean you have with me for several years and you should know that I easily trust people, but what lately happen was something that I could not accept totally was trusting the extreme closest person


like I treated this person like a very good brother of mine but the person actually is a very active person that he's actually speaking a lot of, negative stuff about me which has never even happen to my own group of friends and trying to separate them so, this is one thing it's truly heartbreaking I'm still not over it yet as well as the other heartbreaking moment was when I came to know that you know my grandma is dead


exactly, describe a time where you actually hurt someone's feelings eh you you has there been any situation where you have hurt someone very badly


(ppc), siblings


Dinesh, Dinesh are you there I couldn't hear you, ya I could hear you


stating your points break up (mmhmm)


Dinesh your connection is pretty bad, Dinesh


hello, Dinesh connection is pretty bad I could not hear you


ya you're back I can hear you now, yes, (mmhmm)


betrayed !wow! beautiful not once not twice not thrice like a lot of times that I felt betrayed by my own friends friends who I am actually currently not close to


for actually you know making use of me, and then for also you know gaining information from me and you know by telling me that oh I'm not going to spread about this anyway I'm not going to talk about this anywhere but eventually what they do was actually they actually talking to me just to gain information they just want to know what is happening so and then they went out


they liked went to people and they were like oh , you know Navin is this Navin is that he's doing this he's doing that, I think it's just a wastrel he's just a he's just a boring kind of a person he got no life you know everybody hates me hates hates him and they started spreading uh unwanted rumours and betrayed me despite knowing information about me which is very valuable for me


so that was one thing that you know it's really very hurting lah I I I I I'm still not in contact with the person and I don't wish to even see the person who actually betrayed me very badly, so what was the time describe a time that you felt betrayed also


yes yes I I mean I I know who she is and is this is one thing which I would never forget, also basically betrayed friendships trust there was no there is no longer room for trust with this person


like we know who the person is there's no longer room for the trust with this person because, it's not once it's not twice this person actually left us for a time being and then she came back and then she left again and then she's back then she came back and she


portrayed herself as a you know beautifully sculpted statue but when you know her true side came up came to light right we came to know that she was actually a one sided carved statue and the side is just flat she's just totally bullshit, so now she's just good at betraying you know gaining information from you and spreading it wrongly to you and getting information from you and passing it wrongly to me what's the point I mean you know ya this is very true correct


so okay this is a question that I'll always asked not just you but to other friends of mine also what is a popular trend that you dislike a trend that you dislike now


what is a popular trend that that you dislike,


(ppc) yes


, yes I mean I could agree with that also it's like uh it's it's being like a trend


you know in if if that question was for me right one thing that I dislike is actually like what you mention also nowadays we have people who actually go from friendship to friendship they just hop around you know they just continuously hop, they hop from you know one place they okay they are suddenly friends with us so they gain some good knowledge they gain information and then they hop to another group


and share what we have actually been doing in our group of circle let it be you know socially or whatsoever you know then they tend to spread, so like there's no uh rule models there's there's no fixed uh friendship of theirs so it's like a trend now they just want to have uh they just want to be friends with everybody and they use this term called neutral which is something that I would never believe there's no such thing as


neutralism for me like I do not believe in that term at all it's either you're you're friends with a and you do not you don't talk ill about them, or if you be with friends with b and you didn't talk you don't talk ill about them so it's it's that way it works for me like that ya


ya, man that doesn't happens


you are just willingly gaining informations ya, exactly exactly, anyway one another question Dinesh sounds very interesting what's the worst thing you have witnessed and kept quiet about


or shall I go first with that question if you asked me


okay I would say I I just wanted some I just wanted to speak about this bullying, bullying was one thing okay back then right I actually, I've seen this friend of mine getting bullied thoroughly like very badly in school days and like I was helpless reason being I was the next victim of getting bullied by those people who were bullying my friends


so every time when I see him getting bullied okay he was bullied in a very bad way that actually you know he had to leave school he had to quit school, so bullying is something that I have always hated and I don't want it to continue I didn't wanted to see anywhere like I didn't wanted to see young kids or you know people who are younger in age getting bullied so bullying actually was one of the thing


uh treated unfairly , basically this was uh I should not okay, this this moment where for me okay I would say among my cousins actually my dad side don't want to talk about uh mum's side so like cousins whereby you know I was actually just because I went into I did not do well in my N levels and I went in


into a a a school which is not so, you know whereby you know institute where it's not so recognised I was actually spoke ill, like I was not really say spoke ill I was like actually treated unfairly when it came to family functions and family gatherings that was something quite hard on me like uh I didn't expected that I was like I mean I didn't thought that you know doing like that or being like that in life is actually you know


so unfair but that was kind of affecting me actually ya


(mmhmm)


yes, (mmhmm), oh


ya I mean basically respecting every gender and sex is very important actually uh this is something that you know everyone should be aware of also, yes


definitely uh uh issues that actually keep me awake at night is uh me thinking about would I achieve in life or me would I do good in life, this fear has not been just there for a very short time it has been there for very very very long time that you know


as I mentioned earlier on I am a person who actually lack of self confidence like I do not you know I tend to like look down on myself a lot so every night when I'm sleepless right I tend to think a lot like think a lot meaning that, I actually think about uh am I going to pass my school am I going to pass my exams am I going to do well am I going to graduate uh


the house my future gonna be am I going to work in the place which I wanted to am I gonna face ah, face uh am I going to face difficulties even if I do so so this fear has been there since added this fear has been there for very long time actually, ya


what about yourself do you know have issues which keep you awake at night


yes, yes


exactly exactly true true true, it stops you from sleeping right ya, yes


yes yes true, so Dinesh what is the one thing I mean sorry what is the what is the worst nightmare that you hope will never happen in real life for you


nightmare ya but happen in real life that you hope will never happen in real life


yes correct


oh my god no not that way shit


afraid I see, my story would be the same as you actually Dinesh you like what is my worst nightmare if you ask me it's my dad lay hands on me


because right my dad has only laid hands on me twice in my life when I was in primary one, and there was once that we were heading out me my mum and my dad I actually scolded my mum so my dad actually stop the car in the middle of the highway and he just slapped me that's all my dad has only slapped me and he has never done anything more than that but


I always had a fear and also a fear that my dad will lay hands on me because my dad is a very bigger in build person and when my dad right he hits someone the person like, just goes blackout you know you know it's just gone already so that fear there I just don't want to get whacked by my dad so that is one of the biggest nightmare actually that I do not want it to happen in real life you know yes


part two positive experiences, so Dinesh what is a hobby or activity that you felt happiest doing as a child and I know that you know this is something that I was waiting for


!wow! beautiful


interested in what sorry I didn't get the last part dancing nice nice okay for me right since my childhood days I loved art I loved drawing, painting which is what I'm still doing which is what I'm still doing but then I also had an uh liking for dancing as well as well as singing so I went for like singing classes and


successfully I'm a singer now actually but not a dancer I'm a very bad dancer I'm not flexible at all I tried dancing and like bad commands so I stopped at there yes so what were the best parts of your childhood


yes I know


exactly like everything was just


we had no commitments basically yes, nobody's going to sign bond with us or you know like uh fix an appointment with us actually, carefree days basically yes


what do you mean the best thing in done, in this age of mine, the best thing okay was to actually pursue my education and do my diplomas because I was basically a person who hated studying I once I'm done with ITE I just wanted to like you know and stop the education and just move on but


currently I'm like you know putting up my guts and everything and I'm like doing back my diplomas and thinking of you know achieving something higher and also after my diploma I want actually do my degree programme so this is one thing that I'm actually


so proud of myself which I'm actually giving it to myself like I'm I'm giving an an an and like how to say I'm giving myself a platform for the future yes, what about yourself what is the best thing that you've done for yourself


(ppc), nice nice I mean like we have even spoke about it beforehand so so like both of us actually wanted to share career like you know you have the interest of teaching tamil and I've been working uh my journey of becoming an art teacher so


all the best that we're going to go to the same school as a teacher, yes, so who are the people you most cherished in your life and why do you cherish them definitely you should have handful of people right like why and who


exactly


nice nice if that same question was to come to me right like , who are the people you cherish who are the people I cherish in my life and why is it it's definitely god


god and family as in my mum and dad and my cousins who actually always back up me and support me and give me good advices and followed by definitely you guys like you all play a part in my life like


I wouldn't be where I am without you guys also like you all were there for me during my hard times and uh good times and you all really like you know cared about me so definitely you guys play very important part of my life and my family yeah


thank you it's supposed to be that way right, so what is the best song lyrics that you ever heard knowing about you who loves to listen all kinds of songs, and correct me when I go wrong with my lyrics so what is your what is the best song lyric you've ever heard


(mmhmm)


(ppc)


!wow!, it's a very very deep meaning for that song it's you know it's very nice


, share a funny inside joker ah that you and your group of friends still laugh about until this day


okay as we all know that we have we use used to have this character, I'm not going to mention her name as a friend of us and then like you know she actually drifted apart she left us for something better I guess


and everything which she did or spoke used to be a joke for us like she has she has short tongue we know that and then the way she speaks the way she portrays herself, like the only person in this group right it's only you who can mimic her and that is of a comedy like you know we whatever we do if it's like a


if it's a friends gathering if it's like we are just going out if it's like a prayers or something we just talk about her and you know our mood just enlightens, we tend to disturb each and everyone in our own circle using that person's name I'm very sure you should know who the person is like I mean you are there


and that is something that has never changed it's not going to change also because it's been happening for years you know like years, ya but at the end the bottom part bottom part of my heart I feel that you know she should be happy wherever she is just do not step on my tail and be fine


yes I still remember like you know we had this uh indian joke just few days just last week about vomiting , and we flipped her name with the name vomit in tamil so it was like a rhyming thing and we're laughing bad about it the whole group then started laughing yes


, please do not say auntie


and we fell inside it yes that was another funny incident also


ya definitely so what do you think is your biggest blessing in disguise


disguise in what meaning you mean, basically right my blessing in disguise is actually my friends because blessing in the term blessing in my life is definitely my parents but blessing in disguise actually my friends reason being right


you are one of them Dinesh like we fight, we have arguments we tend to have like you know a lot of uh misconception but at the end of the day we have never given up hope on each other we stood by each other we it's not just you alone but you know we our other friends in our group as well like we stood up for them


whatever issues they had like I mean you know what kind of issues I had in just in this year itself like, you were there for me you shut many mouths who spoke ill about me despite my situation at the same point of time I also stood up for rights which offended you and your relationship and your family as well as also friends who we know actually stood up for us when we were in need when we were in danger


so I would definitely say a blessing disguise is friends friends are very close to me not all friends actually uh friends who were very close to me my very small group of friends who actually from the young ones to the old ones like I tend to learn something from them every single day


they educate me as well as how I educate them they also educating me like every day is a learning lesson for me, and in times of in times of help in terms of how like my friends were there for me, so definitely say friends they are my blessing in disguise actually so back to you


we could relate lah I mean ya, (ppc)


definitely ,


, definitely, (ppc)


exactly exactly, exactly Dinesh that's very true, I'm mean in that case also I would like to highlight that the part that you know we were actually once


with uh our ex group of friends who actually uh tried to be our friends but actually polluted each other in the in in our friendship, I mean that has actually taught me that no one's easily supposed to be trusted you know that has really brought me to a point that if there's going to be any arguments and misconception we speak it face to face and not you know through someone else because people are actually manipulating issues


we do not know whether they want us to be together to be happy as friends and all these things you see ya, so come back to the next part, how would your life be like if you were a millionaire


eh I could relate to that like ya


yes yes definitely ya I mean if that question was for me also I would definitely buy a landed property which is like you know three storey and then like you know just party there like every day's a sunny day for me you know like everyday I'm just going to enjoy my life


I'm definitely going to give a lot of donations to elderly homes because I love okay ever since my grandmother has left me right I, actually adore my grandmum a lot so definitely old age homes and I'm I'm definitely going to like you know spend money on all those grandmums over there and and spend time with them you know uh


miss being loved by elderly person as well as also dog shelter I'm like going to adopt a lot of dogs and you know, yes have them running around my you know backyard and, ya that's how I could see myself as a millionaire basically apart from you know having a very overly posh life like expensive cars yes definitely I would want to own a very big house but


definitely donations and , caring and sharing is also something that I would actually look forward to, exactly I believe in karma good karma you see, yes so describe the moment where you felt the luckiest


, definitely


yes I know that , yes yes


!wow! that is something that every parent should tell their kids actually yes that's very nice that's very, definitely I would say the times where I felt the luckiest was actually achieving


goals in life like I've always wanted to yes apart from family my family was my main support but apart from there I'm a person who actually lacks of self confidence I do not believe in my work but, the moment where my artworks get selected to go into showcases and and


art platforms right I felt so lucky I felt so lucky and blessed because there was so much people uh so much of other students actually doing artworks just beside me in front of me but, when my work was selected I felt so lucky so blessed uh despite knowing that you know a person who has no self confidence like I always like on my own artwork like nah my artwork is just boring my artwork is just boring but


for society and for people for other one for other people who have seen it they actually tend to like !wow! your artwork is you know very nice I felt very lucky at that point of time especially when one of my recent artworks actually went up to a very good showcase, last year december (ppc) yes


ya I mean you was one of them there taking pictures with my art work I mean a very good day it was a very good moment that I will never forget till now actually, yes


part one finance


okay so, what do you what are your what are your uh what is your investment strategy like


what do you what, uh and property is what sort of uh properties are you looking at are you looking at overseas properties are you looking at industrial properties uh so would be interested to hear what you you know what type of property investments you are keen to keen on


okay how about hedge funds what are your thoughts on hedge funds, ya


so your buying strategy is basically looking at, uh , looking at mid to long term , but at the same time the set up , has got to be there for the short term


so , you know gives me options of uh getting out , as and when I need the funds for you know in the short term but the same time I want to you know keep it so I'm trying to be as as Kiasu as possible , and you know uh buy a shares that I find uh


uh I mean the strategy is long term basically but I like to buy shares that will also rise in the short term so that's that's the short, that's the short answer I guess a long answer to a short question , yeah but uh you know keep keeping in mind basically I find that the shares the US uh tend to be more there is more potential is more


I'd say the whole world is looking at the US so which means there is more volume in the US and so prices tend to go uh move higher or lower but higher whereas singapore it's it's really you know it it


it hardly moves very , and and I also find that in uh the US I find that the market there is very transparent whereas in in singapore I find that there's a lot of even before announcement goes out


uh share prices move up or down, and so I believe that's a lot of insider trading, but it doesn't come out , in the open so uh I I I find that that's you know whereas in the US this is a big crime uh if you were to go and shell shares you know


or insider trading but over in singapore it it seems to happen quite often and I find that the this is where you know the gap between the rich and the the poor , uh is the rich gets richer because they got in access to information like this and the poor don't know anything and get caught in between so I I my preference is basically for US shares


ya


uh yeah I'm not I'm not really uh I don't think much about , uh I I don't, I find that dollar cost I there's no point putting dollar cost averaging in a in a in a a stock that you think is good but actually isn't so I I if you want to dollar cost averaging you can but uh


I I think that it's just good to buy a stock uh at the lowest price that you think is possible and then look at other stocks because there's so many stocks out there uh but, uh although it's a lot limited in singapore in terms of number of stocks but in the US there is such a wide variety of stocks to look at it constantly bombarded by you know uh possible


possible uh shares to buy , so much opportunity out there such you know whereas over here it's so lackluster it is uh it is you know other than it it and certain thing certain shares like DBS uh are okay are good to buy but I think you could do better in terms of


movement of in terms of volume in terms of price increase , in the US, so that uh so I think that's why that probably explained why , our share market isn't going up very much I find because there's just lack of volume


I agree yes I agree I think that that exactly that's the same thing for my stocks I think that if you will do your research and invest in in companies that have long term, growth potential uh have wide moat economic moat you know which makes it less uh you know uh things that are


so which means they've got less uh competition to worry about I think those are you know long history of providing healthy dividends and healthy profits I definitely think that


if one million dollars sing or US doesn't matter lah it's still one million but ya ya so let's say one million US I would go into the US market without a hard without hesitation I think that right now with the US market with the prices dropping


uh I would go and buy N vidia , you know and and and maybe we just wait look at it to stabilise, but catch it and and and invested it and we we could potentially look at hundred you know hundred dollars per share


where as soon as it goes up so I look at that uh I mean a few ideas but ya that that's example of uh what I mean N vidia is on the example I'm looking at I'm staring my laptop and there's N vidia, G force which is the chip being used in my laptop right now so yeah they everywhere


to ya so, I I think that that it's uh uh would slightly I mean the


prices would probably go down to maybe something like, what it was err pre just before uh COVID what it I mean COVID meaning like you know after COVID it went up crazy but it will go back to where it was when COVID first came out


like in in march and then it will come up again, so ya I think I look at prices around when the you know the lowest it hit for most stocks and I look that as the buying point


ya , ya I mean donald trump has been good to the stock market I feel so long for whatever he is done and said it's been


uh you know he's been quite stock friendly ah I would say so I'm pretty pleased on on uh I I don't I don't I don't dislike him that much high for what he's done for stock market, uh


absolutely it is nowhere that prices have increased double you know in a such short space of time, singapore will never be able to do that in it'll take probably what ten ten ten fifteen years for you double anything even DBS for example I don't see that going up very much doubling in the next what ten years ya


so definitely uh something to look at uh you know uh REITS uh what are your thoughts on REITS


okay


what I mean given the with COVID nineteen a lot the tenants, have uh moved out there's such low footfall in many of the malls you know like suntec city you know just just generally people are not going to shops or didn't go to shops for few last few months so rentals would have been affected although the government did support


but that's only a certain amount they can afford uh do you still think that


, definitely definitely


what you're preferred so who you're preferred I mean do you ascendas uh who who do you prefer ascendas I mean assuming okay so you got commercial you got industrial , so you know who do you kep land you know what who do you look at for say commercial who do you look at for towards industrial every data centres as well


ya I think mapletree is good I think it's uh something I'm quite uh comfortable with because of its got less exposure to commercial, you know it is uh meaning retail so I'm quite ya


uh cap uh cap


(mmhmm) yeah, okay okay REIT


(mmhmm),


ya yeah


invest, exactly, yes okay


absolutely you know with COVID nineteen being err with COVID nineteen uh in a stock market the US stock market has actually yeah it did see a dip but it's gone up, uh you know it like as though it never really happened the the the COVID nineteen saga whereas people are you know in in unemployment lines per losing jobs you know obviously uh


you know uh so that they they just trying to get you know government benefits but uh you know mortgage people are struggling to pay their mortgages uh but uh you know the stock market is not but what uh I've heard is the stock market is


uh you know about six months ahead uh of the economy the actual economy I don't know how far that's true , but I think uh stock market looks like as though they're planning for, recovery you know it planning ya it is like uh given that there is a a vaccine on its way and it is like they just waiting so I I


I'm waiting to just pounce so I I I really you know even stocks like boeing, the airlines you know united uh south west they're not flying very much they are flying but not very much internationally at least uh they you know their prices are have taken some banging but not that much


uh, you you know singapore airline seems to be more singapore stocks seems to be more in line with, what's happened in economy whereas US stocks don't seem to be, so affected by the economy


for a reason the company themselves are affected but the stocks don't seem be affected that that's that's funny but


exactly , , exactly exactly they want to make money so that's why they move out makes perfect sense yes yes yes so I totally agree , ya but uh but you always say the US stock markets is a different animal the singapore stock market uh it's such a different animal I'm sure it is the same for many other countries uh I think it's just the population and the population that buys and sells and there's really not many people in singapore that buys and sells sort of volumes


are affected so ya, uh, so what are your thoughts on having a financial advisor, , or investing on your own


okay good I agree I agree and


[eh] yup (uh) absolutely going to financial advisors (ppb) I think it (uh) varies as well, I think it (ppo) it varies from (uh) yeah (uh) sorry we've done okay stop


part three negative experience


so , did you uh you know what popular foods that you dislike and why


foods ah that ya that you dislike and why it's uh for for me I mean maybe I'll give you an idea I think I've got one then I will answer that then we can go on to next so for me I think one food that I dislike is this dish in japanese restaurants called Chawanmushi


which is like an egg custard but I I dislike it but , it seems to be very popular amongst , uh my female colleagues, previously my previous companies and I I don't know why it it's so it's thick it it's smells and tastes so eggy but it seems to be very popular with my my colleagues and I find that most of the female seem to like it whereas the males you know just like me don't seem to like it very much


so uh that's something that I ya I you know I dislike how, err


yes yeah uh I don't really like fanta orange I find it also the least , the least err, appealing for all the fanta I mean the I find fanta grape nice fanta strawberry nice but fanta orange it's probably my least favorite I tend prefer F&N orange actually if you talk about orange flavoured drinks


uh but anyway all that is no more I mean we as we don't should be drinking soda anymore anyway uh so uh, who


the tough question , I've never really thought about it uh for the the many things that would change uh you know our example you know I mean going into the I mean related to the first part discussion about I mean I could go and about we we talk about stocks okay eh and making stupid decisions I mean that's that's something that in a way that I've done but never will be able to change it


right ya so I would that that's one thing but other than that I think I've learned to live with , the mistakes that I've made and I think the , the I guess the thing about me is I I tend to be I tend to forget it is a bit short term memory uh and I tend to forget uh the the things quite quickly that have happen to me in the past uh or negative things happen to me in the past


but I mean there there's so many things like uh I I can't really remember but I'm sure there's a lot that that's happened I mean unpleasant experience I can think of is actually uh an accident that I had uh and you know twelve years ago with a car accident , you know I wasn't even my fault but was uh if I had known that this person was going to


drive like a reckless maniac uh then I would have not been you know there I would have stayed away or you know if I had known could change if I could you know but the power of hind that side the thing what they as they say the you know the hindsight is uh


you know it's perfect in six six out of six but yeah no point talking about the past or things you can't change


ya, yeah oh oh yeah, what about what kind of person do you hate the most who's uh the most ya


yeah I yeah for me I dislike people who are , hypocrites that's one there're many people I hate but uh I have many kind of people I hate but hypocrites are uh you know one of the people that I would type of people that I hate so I hate uh I you know they they say tell you one thing and they they don't follow up with with you know they tell you


one thing when they themselves don't follow their own you know follow the rules that's one thing I I dislike people who are mean, to other people to women children animals I I dislike people like that who to me they're quite evil I I dislike people


who are ya who are you know , who don't take care of the planet who don't uh irresponsible uh I I dislike people who , who drive like maniacs who are very have have no road sense no road manners you know very bad road roadhogs road bullies you know people who are irresponsible on the road not realising they share the road with other people selfish people don't indicate


ya , what what do I often worry about for me it's, uh my my kids what I worry about especially my children I I worry about their future I have I worry about them being able to


to to have their own families I worry about them being able to stand on their own two feet uh you know find a home put a roof over their head feed, themselves uh hold themselves and eventally settle down but you know doing well of course being a being a responsible member of society


you know being a good human being uh you know I mean they generally that should be okay good human being but I think the rest there you know it's a lot of external factors uh and that's what I'm concerned about is about my children's future


err uh how about you


yeah yeah, uh sorry what I believe in but not anymore so, ya you can start ya


exactly so that's related to what uh I'm going to talk about because when I was younger I had a lot of what I thought were friends uh some, you know quite uh popular had a lot of friends uh what I thought were friends uh so that having more friends was good so I mean still is good but that I think once you start getting older


things get busy you sort of lose touch and then you keep yourself to uh you know you sort of keep a certain number of friends who you can depend on the rest become acquaintances , so I I find that uh you know if you're not able to keep up with your friends or keep in touch with all your friends who you had when you are younger


they stop becoming your friends uh and but they become they just merely acquaintances and they just hi and bye when you see them again but you don't you don't have the time or you don't have the energy to go back and get reconnected


yeah I mean that's for me maybe I'm you know a bit busy or what but I haven't got the energy anymore to kinda get reconnected , you know uh we we we start off of the meeting then take the phone number down you know !wow! after reconnecting right we we meet bump them somewhere yeah !hey! let me give you the number you know let let's let's catch up but we never do or I never do so uh


that's something which I think comes with , unfortunately it's experience uh you know with with, uh being too busy or everyone is being busy and it's just gets quite quite difficult to to stay in touch and so your your the circle of friends


uh gets less and less and smaller and smaller so I think that's a bit sad but uh that's the way it is , unfortunately yeah believes change , I


what brings what the tears sorrows to I I think with a lot of , , you know whatsapp videos and , I mean people sending stupid things


you you know things that part evil people do you know I won't go into detail here but there's a lot of nonsense that goes on in the world a lot of bad things I know the good things as well which I'm grateful for but there's so much bad things that happen


in the world that, you know sometime and then they capture it on video you know uh kids being immature and taking at being doing stupid things on tiktok, example uh and and they do thing and people get injured and hurt you know uh it's just ridiculous I see


you know the papers you see young children being taken advantage of uh you know uh people kids like with my kids' age , sometimes I put myself in the father's shoes and I feel so sad that these things actually happen to kids out there


even in singapore you'll be surprised I mean you know things that happen and then not to mention you know don't talk about other places in it like the crazy places like in india , you know you know and just uh or in africa you know it just just madness uh what people can do to even children ya


uh ,


yeah yup , yup everyone get revenge


yes I mean there've been times when I wanted to get revenge I mean it could be a simple, err you know they, I mean revenge is little revenge okay little little I mean nothing nothing major but uh example is some guy cuts in in front of me while driving


you know and then sometimes I feel like (hmm) maybe if uh I would try and you know I would I think of doing the same thing back to him and and and and


so that uh it's more so and and and to what why should and then you of course you start thinking why should I do that you know putting my family and myself at risk you know no need but basically it's over something stupid like that which really you know it uh but when you're angry


you know you you tend to , think of stupid things and you know but you know when you sit outside you read about this and you see yourself from outside and you see some you know just doesn't make sense it is so childish


but yeah those are that's type of uh thing that I want to get you know revenge something something that happens on a daily basis so I want to get revenge everyday almost on the roads but you know it's it


yes , yup yeah


yup I agree


so the many sacrifices that I make for my loved ones and I'm definitely not appreciate for it you know examples would, be , you know driving I mean simple things but they're important you know I mean I what I think of big things that I take you know putting food on the table you know dropping them at at at at school you know picking them up


you know getting them whatever you know they they like , you know but you know helping them with their whatever they need it could be printing it could be just being there for them uh in a when and when they want something with done I'm there for them doing that for them


but uh you know it it I have got to insist on them saying thank you yeah they don't so I I I find that that's something that uh I I I I feel that I do a lot, but it's definitely not appreciated I mean or they don't know or they take it for granted and and I think that's


basically it, ya we did so many things I just so so many things mentioned but you know making sure they get up in the morning I wake them up you know uh, yes yup


part two positive experience


, so what were the most memorable experiences or uh moments uh positive experiences from your younger days


ah I see, for me also is a beach related also but uh, it was uh again with the extended family uh Changi beach so that was very unique because Changi beach in in those days


was uh not like now where it's been reclaimed and dug you know it's very uh deep so Changi beach those days would be uh you could walk, and during low tide you could walk very far for about hundred meters and will only be you know uh


it will be only be ankle deep , uh during low tide and you go catch fish you could see all kinds of creatures shells uh jellyfish you know, uh crabs it was so cool, so this is obviously a long time ago but again that was uh something which I love to do


and (oo) of course this was also a big family picnic with uh with uncles and uh my parent's my mum's cousins and uh my cousins so it was uh really fun and of course we need to have


sardine sandwiches which is uh tasted extra special extra tasty when you have it by the beach , ya ya ya so that was uh those were uh memorable and that was really fun fun times and of course the sea was a lot cleaner back then


compared to now but uh was really fun and of course we also got bitten by uh what you call sand flies but I remember that was quite painful , but ah was nice uh and and of course now we don't you can't do that at Changi beach anymore so yeah and


I'd like dream and goals , I like to uh, live uh when is retire uh in in malaysia Penang


that's where I hope to uh like but I like to have my kids all settled in and be okay uh I'd like to be able to I like Penang because it's similar to singapore it reminds me of singapore back in the , you know the seventies uh and I've always love Penang I think Penang is my favourite place in in peninsular Malaysia


uh and and because it reminds me so much of singapore , uh great food, you know things generally work around there it's an island you never too far away from the sea and I've always got this thing about the sea so you you know and it's well connected back to singapore as well have a good international airport so I I'd like to retire


in Penang uh at a nice seaside you know rent a seaside apartment so that's something that I err uh plan to do uh when I get older , but goals I , I'd like to be comfortable I mean I'm not too far from well I got a you know couple of decades more if I retire but I'd like to be able to


carry on working if possible uh for as long as I can I'd like to keep uh my mind active body active uh and and and keep going on it's not the money so much but it's about keeping your yourself active because I've seen people who


who go downhill once they stop working and I don't want to be there uh you know where you start losing your your mental capacity and your physical your your your muscle mass , uh and so on so I'd like to do that but of course e I like to travel as well to take some time off travel and places I'd like to go to uh you know be of course uh


Perth uh you know that's although with this cause it's where very fond memories of, and uh like to of course uh take the kids on a trip to new zealand and europe as well and most of other like


the UK you know uh the south of of germany , you know from uh Munich and then see austria and then of course portugal and then uh the rest of spain so ya those that ya that's that's my plan


that's NOL neptune orient lines is is container ship anywhere uh princess princess cruises ah carnival, ah alright ya


oh okay okay, uh okay, okay


ya , yeah I mean I I like for that to happen as well so we don't maybe we could start something uh and make the world a better place uh I think there's uh you know start looking at, you know ESG sustainability uh there's so much the world ah sometimes I feel I look at the news I look at what's happenning with the planet I see uh and the ice you know


ya ice melting the polar caps uh I, I I I really uh you know it it's quite distressing actually to see all this happening you know


animals being killed uh unnecessarily people being killed I mean there's uh people being taken advantages of, , you know slavery the the refugees (ppc) Rohingya uh you know what's happening in africa the middle east people are trying to run away from syria libya there's so much


uh, you know I mean uh sometimes negativity in the world I wish that we could help somehow


skill I believe proud have so I believe that again it is uh, , it it's it it's it is secret because I'm not really I haven't really told anyone but I I feel that I'm generally quite good at good good quite good at


sports it it's sort of uh , you know pretty decent hand you know a a sort of a coordination generally quite fast


so I I'm generally quite uh good in uh sports that I I try out at, so that's something that I I I believe I I quite strong in, err you know in terms of


err, a skill I I think I I have a unique thing of getting the job done that,


that that ya, that that's good I mean it's something really good and unique uh that you've got, uh you know, sorry what's the what sorry


uh I think the the nicest things anyone told me is uh my wife who told me that she loves me I think that's the the best thing then told me and I think she keeps telling me that so I'm quite happy, yes yes how about you


what's the nicest thing anyone has said to you, yes they need to do that what's the


what what do you love about life and what's the, yeah yes


what do you what's, ya what do you like about life yes what do you love, yeah


I I feel the same way for me life is uh about, you know your your family exactly like what you said spot on I'm grateful I mean I guess it's about uh being grateful as well so I'm I'm very grateful for uh things that I have


you know the peace things that we take the you know the five senses that I have you know you know I'm talking about, basic things like being able to taste eat drink uh you know and and and see and and smell and you know and being able to smell of something that's really uh uh I I you know it's good especially during the COVID nineteen period


uh so I am grateful for simple things like the simple pleasures in life uh being able to walk you know having food on the table , so uh it doesn't really so I I am really grateful for that uh you know like and like you said having the family around you uh it's also great especially during these tough times


ya , so my comfort food oh gosh there's so much in singapore there's so much comfort food that always can rely to cheer me up there's so much I just don't know where to start


okay uh there is one time when I thought of if I were to invest okay one day a week , okay I call invest because it's yeah it it it's it's really it's great lah , because so many things to eat so if one day a week you were to just choose a dish alright so basically it means you've got fifty two weeks in a year right so I I won't be able to finish the year without having to eat the same dish again so imagine if I start with let's say #wanton mee#


alright in basically I think I can eat #wanton mee# again in the next because there's a dish every week , uh you know next day could be the next week could be chicken rice, uh the next week could be uh you know uh you know Biryani you know you know what I mean every week you have one dish but and before you eat uh your first dish is #wanton mee# again


there'll be more than a year so be more than fifty two dishes basically and I would if I were to choose I don't know where to start so I I think it could be ya unless you go by by uh, type of food okay so it was thai it'd be oh okay let's start with local food so if it was you know indian it'd be uh banana leaf stuff you know your your macho mutton your you know your your your minced #chicken masala# fish cutlet


or Sambal prawns uh then if you go to indian muslim food it could be indian Rojak, Mee you know mee #mee hoon# Goreng , and then you know and then you got chinese it would be, what's yours what's yours


really okay,


ya mars bar ya, good bar of chocolates always , ya problem is I agree with you I also love that but it makes you feel guilty ah that's the problem,


but I think it is okay you share, yeah or mini mini I I think the mic ya you carry the mic forward I think on I think that would help because I think I've I lose you


I can't really hear so if you yeah yeah much better yup , so uh you know mars bar the bite size mars bars I tend to prefer snickers uh because I find it less sweet mars bar I mean I like mars bar but snickers tends to be more peanuts isn't it and so it absorbs and makes it less sweet


yup but uh excellent uh mars bar, do you know what a mars bar is called in america, you don't have mars bar in yes correct correct milky way ya ya yes yes I don't mind bounty bounty's got coconut in it it's also quite nice


err ya so uh ya mars bar definitely what's your what was your best birthday present, (mmhmm)


(mmhmm), (mmhmm)


, yeah (uh huh) yeah


it is one is yeah , yes


(mmhmm), yes yeah it's , me uh truth be told I I had for only one birthday gift which I really remember it was my grandma


probably my sixth or seventh birthday so she bought, me and my sister because we tend to fight so my sister was you know uh two a couple years younger so she bought us machine guns and that was absolutely exciting machine guns meaning that make noise of course


and that was (uh) yeah (um) (uh) what do you call a general purpose machine gun (ppb) (uh) ya so it was really fun ya (ppb) so that was (um) yeah, okay


part one finance


oh uh investment strategy is basically long term and it's a mix of portfolio but more heavy on uh


property investment heavily and then shares, and some portions of cash and that's about it mainly at the moment, but


ah okay so property investment mainly because we are living in singapore so uh, is mainly singapore because there is no uh capital gains tax and , there's a lot of tax efficiency in singapore , but having said that uh because of all those new rules that have come up it's also important to actually look outside of singapore say for example australia or UK


for investment opportunities and where countries where it is uh english law and yeah the legal documents are easy to understand , and there's good tax efficiency as well , so this is mainly the property strategy for the shares part I think uh yeah singapore and US shares look most comfortable to us that we know of


err err, not something that I'm comfortable to invest just uh good knowledge at this stage uh I think the private equity or


or hedge fund's not something I will be very much uh interested what about your uh timing for markets for the US what is your preference how do you go about uh, doing the timing basically like


I know how do you what's your buying strategy and selling strategy


okay


okay , so ya maybe what about the automating investment uh like you know like for example dollar cost averaging automating more higher mutual funds also is that another option to share trading


ya


so as yup for me I ya so as for me I think uh dollar cost averaging basically mutual funds I think the fees are quite high and if you, have the good understanding of the market and uh have the time to do the reading up and can do your diversification is not necessary to do the dollar cost average you may self just invest on your own and select a diversified portfolio


so that that will be uh yeah do you agree ya


, eh I have one interesting question for you if you have a windfall of one millions say you strike lottery will you invest your money and uh what kind of investment will you do if if today you get one million


doesn't matter ya whichever way


ya , so what do you think of the reason uh stock market in the US you think uh there's potential to go down or go up or


ya I think after uh


the presidential election in the US probably the market will go up shoot up again,


ya , ya I think as long as we hold on to the shares uh in the long term is a good quality companies properly they will all definitely should go up it's a it's a


ya I think rates is good for especially , people who are closer to retirement age and uh maybe uh late forties to fifties you know to actually channel more of their


cash to REITS because maybe they're hitting retirement age and they need kind of regular income so basically they have to anyway ninety percent of the , profits has to be redistributed anyway uh DPU distribution per unit so you can actually invest that in that and you kind of get passive uh income and also is pretty safe actually in singapore the REITS market because it's very well supported they give a lot of tax benefits to REITS


and also it's kind of control because that leverage cannot be more than sixty five percent and it's backed by assets real assets , uh the properties so it's very hard to crash so it's pretty safe for older people and I think is about time for us to put some channel some


for longer term regular income as we get into more retirement age


ya REITS ah actually there are all kinds of REITS right basically you can have uh REITS which are industrial which industrial they suddenly cannot pull off all their warehouse uh you know items and all that so it's that's quite stable the returns are pretty good there and then uh maybe commercial uh REITS err


may not be the best but as the COVID uh , situation improves and people start coming out maybe all the rentals will still start picking up again so for longer term it's still not too bad and also it is very important to do the REITS which are global or regional in nature not just only on singapore


so there are REITS which covers student housing for example data centres data centres cannot go out of fashion as well as uh E commerce and everything goes on and the technology centres opened up they still need the data centres and also student housing I mean students university students still need to study so


a diversified portfolio of REITS is still I think very durable and the good thing for , REITS uh is the interest rate environment the interest rate is low right now so they are benefiting from that, as well so overall still doable I think as long as they can give four percent to uh five percent yield is way better than uh putting your money in the in the bank which gives you now like what less than one percent correct so and


ya so that's my thought on the REITS is still a good,


oh I like uh mapletree I feel that mapletree is been quite consistent they got the worldwide variety of different types of uh REITS so they're not too bad as well so I was quite good uh yeah I'll just uh for now if you ask me to do I will still keep to more of uh


diversified REIT portfolio and and more for global REIT portfolio rather than a local singapore uh portfolio not so much only on the returns but for the growth and depth, in the future as well


ya, ya but capitaland ah I mean they had the commercial REITS uh in china mainly and then china's seem to have come out of the COVID situation faster than everybody else and so I mean if the malls are gonna be open that something


that's not uh not gonna be so severely affected the next one year or so maybe immediately affected but maybe twenty twenty two , onwards it's should be quite good so if you buy they they're a little lower price right now since it should, come down for the longer term still not too bad idea I think


so what can I uh for example uh how do you recommend a student or let's say like someone like <P2>vikram</P2> with little cash to plan for the investment first of all not to spend uh money unnecessarily on bubble tea, and starbucks and mcdonald's and deliveroo if they cut all of this and they realised that if they keep the cash they can build up on the cash and even if they can save up to even about five hundred dollars or three hundred dollars


we I can uh we can actually help them to get into a small little portion of the US shares because US shares they sell in smaller uh quantum , so that's a good way to get started and in the few years time they will have more and more money and they can do a lot more things so that's what I will recommend first cut expenses then save that and then put it into the


ya invest into the US market which had needs a minimum uh doesn't need to be big amount of money to get started and then if they get hooked to it it compounds it gets higher and and that will be interesting for them


ya so stock market is not the economy so that's not seem to be uh seem to be quite true for the US market what are your thoughts on that, ya


ya ya


, , that's because one of the reason is the institution investors are not really coming in basically institution investors are moving their money to the US because there's a lot more value value to buy so why would they need to come into the singapore stock market to buy right so so we our market the liquidity is coming mainly from


yeah


I would rather prefer to invest on my own because I understand this uh what I need most than a financial advisor so I don't really need one


yeah, unless your situation is not so good then it's better to go and get this fixed with the financial advisor but if you are decent your uh portfolio you can do it yourself


time's up, part three negative experience


what popular food is it foods you dislike uh what popular


oh


so so for me basically uh is uh fanta fanta orange actually so basically what happens is when I was younger I uh drank fanta orange and I actually vomited and I felt sick for


three days after that but some other issues probably maybe food poisoning or whatever but all I vomited I remember is uh orange so you know like orange everywhere for two three days I was so sick so I have such a aversion for fanta orange I I


can't really take it very much like I can't I I don't want to touch it I'm I associated with my three days of vomiting


so I can ask you a question err is there one thing you wish you could change but will never be able to, maybe I can start first


ya, so for me for for me basically uh if there's one thing I could change is basically my dad used to come on saturdays to uh have lunch with us every saturday


and then whenever he comes , the house will be so chaotic the children will be rush uh with like uh not eating properly or not getting ready or we are rushing to do tuition , and I'm bringing them to tuition so basically when he comes it's like I'm just rushing kids and uh rushing through the lunch and hardly spending time to talk to him actually very difficult


and then next thing around running off to go and drop the kids off at the class , everything so I just feel like he came all the way actually just to spend some time with me because I'm working for five days and wanted to have lunch with me but such a rush life that I didn't really have a lot of time talking to talk to him and now he's no more so


that's something that I cannot change so I feel sad that I could have spend I mean not not be so rushed in life and really taken that time with him and thought about it that he's come after one week just to see me actually


, so ya that's something that I will never be able to change I wish I could have changed, for me eh yeah and ,


oh I hate betrayal I mean I cannot uh stand people who uh betray and uh to me someone your word is your honour basically and uh uh I I think it's better to be a human being that uh just be yourself be truthful


be transparent I would rather have someone who just tells me straight on than actually kind of uh betrays, and backstabs so that's something that I I hate most in people that makes me really scared of people as well


how about you


ya , so I have another question for you what do you often worry about, ya


stand on their own feet ya that's the same for me


, ya


yeah pretty much err ya if there's anything that I worry about which I try now nowadays not to worry about because I'd rather live in the moment but uh generally, yes I worry about my , kids and my kid's uh future


and whether they can fend for themself and uh be healthy and happy that's something I think about but I try not to worry too much because I think living in the moment and enjoying them at the moment is more important


what what did you believe in in when you were younger but not anymore, ya, maybe I can start so when uh when I was younger I always thought that money is the most important if you have no money people will not respect you if you no money you have to go and borrow from people is so humiliating


if you have no money you will not be able to retire and you'll end up picking up uh uh you know uh becoming the so called cardboard auntie you know picking up uh uh, uh I card, boards or keeping up plastics and because you don't know how long you live for right and uh singapore cost of living is so high so I used to think that


oh money is the most important but then as I get older, I think that now I think that maybe uh maybe maybe financially I'll feel a little bit more secure or so but then money doesn't seem to be the most important for me because I feel like , there's many ways to live life and you can actually live a simple life but the most important right now I feel is actually health


health is most important and good relationship with people is important so if you have good relationship even if it's only just five people as long as they respect you they respect you and they care for you is is enough and and if you can live your life simply


uh there the the air in the beach is free and is so much so enjoyable so you don't really need to spend lots of money like right now in COVID even with how much money you have you cannot travel how much money you have you cannot uh go and really everyday or other day go and enjoy the finest restaurant or do things so


basically this kind of a lifestyle where your health is good you can actually enjoy good things in your home good things in simply just uh having fresh air , just going cycling a lot of very low cost things that makes you actually very satisfied so I feel that most of all if you have health you can actually enjoy your life and you just need about handful of people who who are you consider as friends and family so it's changed


ya , ya, what what always brings uh what always brings tears of sorrow to your eyes


okay then maybe I can share something as well ah ya what brings uh tears to of sorrow to my eyes basically , uh the two months that my father kind of was hospitalised and struggling and suffering before he passed away so all those suffering and struggles that he went through and I was there in the hospital watching


him and how miserable he was and how much, how many things was done to him to uh in the hospital you know , so painful to uh yeah if I think about it and how miserable he was in the hospital and wanting to so badly want to go home and be able to walk can be mobile and


but uh just everyday which is going downhill and the number of treatments and number of treatments and uh put to him that kind of just, like kind of made him, uh get worse and worse by the day makes uh yeah brings uh sorrow to my eyes basically


so ya, have you ever wanted to get revenge ya have you ever wanted to get revenge


(mmhmm) so personally for me I ya for me personally I never, come to a stage where I feel like getting revenge on anybody uh yeah I mean there is something , somebody does wrong I just feel that okay ah maybe there will be something uh retribution for them and I'm not going to get myself worked up for uh for that so I just think that okay at some point they'll have a retribution


so karma will come back again to them so I don't really uh I mean uh being angry is under my control so I try not try to force myself not to be angry because I'm only destroying myself but uh I just uh


ya I just think that uh I just think that !hey! they will face uh the , uh their own hardship in some way or other for doing wrong things to people especially if they had not done anything wrong to them, so that's how I feel about it so not really wanting to like really go out there and take revenge also I just think that something will happen on its own the cost of actions


what sacrifice have you made for your loved one that but but not appreciated for it


, ya


yup time is up yeah (mm)


part two positive experience, from


oh uh for me I was living in Siglap to be specific and it was just walking distance to the #east coast# beach , so and then we used to live in a neighborhood where there were lots of kids and a lot of them are relatives and I came from my extended family as well so I have cousins and the next door neighborhood neighbour is also related so the whole bunch of us will be taken by one of the grandmothers


to uh so maybe like maybe ten kids or so will line up in one line and we will all cross the road together with my grandma being the lead and we walk to the beach, and uh ya we'll all be each carrying one one thing basically which was done in the morning by all the other grandmas and aunties for picnic and so that will be the the happiest time on my life uh when I was a kid


err we go there and then we will swimming in the beach until midday, midday grandma won't allow anymore already because the sun is too hot so and then we will eat all our sardine sandwiches #mee goreng# chicken wing everything will come out so hungry after a nice swim so many people to


play with we play game dog and the bone and then uh what fight in the water fight uh, and all that kind of thing so uh so much of fun, such good memories how about you


ya get over that too , oh yeah


okay


so what dreams and goals that you wish to achieve before you die


so for me for me basically uh one of my dreams yeah I like to also travel a lot uh travel as, many places as possible there are many things that I would like to do like Alaska cruise, the the the the uh what do you call that neptune is it neptune orient no what's that uh that uh


, err no that's not it what's uh what's the one that the the trip and the train no the train uh that uh , orient express yes that's one I was talking about yes okay I want to do that and uh these two uh one of two things that I would like to do and a few more countries that I haven't visited like to travel and like I like like you I like to retire in Penang and then uh have malls


slow pace and quiet time and also be able to at that time travel for longer periods like maybe you go to Perth, say one whole month rather than rushing for one week so those are kind of my uh goals and I also have a dream I want to do a PHD and be called doctor


that keeps me going for uh being close to education and learning and reading forever , till the end of my days and they are also my biggest dream of course my life is always centered on my, children I would my biggest dream is to see my two kids uh get into very good uh universities and set themself up to working in very good organisation or set up something good on their own ya those are my dreams


ya


yeah !hey! I have one more question for you I haven't maybe two more questions for you ah just to move on a little bit more to talk about something else uh what is the skill or ability that you are secretly proud of having


that's why I want to know


that's good ya then myself I think I'm a little bit more of uh I one of my skill that I'm secretly proud of is that I'm a little, and more like a entrepreneur I have this entrepreneurial in tuition or instinct gave me and uh yeah so I tend to look for opportunities always and I always believe that opportunities don't comes


second time when we need to take action immediately so these are my some of the skills that I am I am proud of actually and ya, err


yeah what's the nicest thing someone has ever told you, what's the nicest thing someone has ever told you,


, that's great, you have any questions !huh!, what's the nicest thing my uh kids if they tell me that I'm the best mummy that's make


me very happy because I've done a lot of sacrifice for them so anything that they say good about me makes me very happy,


you may want to move back a little bit but it kind of cracking up so ya your voice so ya anyway what what do I love about life is it ah what do I love about life what do I love about life is it so ya basically I I


love life as it is now basically I I have I have my family and everything else is a bonus to me so my family is intact and and my family's healthy and we are altogether


that's the best gift for me that's anything else is bonus so if we have all all of us my two kids and you together everything else is bonus to me


yes , so what comfort food do you you can always rely on to cheer you up


, yeah


you know you know what's mine you know what's mine you know what's mine mine's really a mars bar a mars bar it's always been from from from a kid from my childhood my my cheer up comfort food is mars bar


and used to be much bigger much bigger and became smaller and smaller over the years but even now even when my dad used to buy for me mars bar, ya particularly mars bar mars bar makes me feel like a lift up


ya , so I associate it with my dad being dad buying me a mars bar always, yup and


oh okay ya ya, uh


oh, yeah , milky way is it err , milky way ya ya I think so I remember that ya


uh ya


oh my best birthday present oh my gosh my best birthday present is when I was maybe around five or six years one I remember my dad had bought two bicycles for us and he kept it in the boot of his car , and it's still had the ribbons and everything brand new ones and he just gave me the key and he said that go open the boot and carry some stuff for me back


so I'm like usual you know see my dad came back home so happy to see him in the first place then I can you know always excited to do something for him anyway he comes back so late and he works so hard, run behind to go open the boot , and I saw two bicycles there brand new with the ribbons still intact and so beautiful bicycles and I ran back in I never I didn't want to say anything I ran back in two bicycles two bicycles whose whose two bicycles


I thought maybe want he wanted to he buy for somebody else something as keeping it then he's like uh for you and your sister and I'm like my god I just picked it up and I, was so excited it was a four wheel on top of that and cycle and cycle removed the two wheels after that !wow! my god I can never forget


that birthday gift uh not birthday gift actually really I mean it was just a gift I don't think it was a birthday gift actually so it was just my dad doesn't believe in all this birthday gifts and present something like that it's just suddenly he feels like buying he will buy something


but not very regularly it's very rare so very rarely but I think so but if he buys then he doesn't make a big deal out of it so like a birthday gift or something just he felt like was necessary and then he buys, yeah how about you


oh, okay I think we're good


finance okay


okay so so far I haven't plan for my retirement but uh my current


investment is mainly just keep like savings and keeping the, uh savings in the banks which earns interest so uh it will be in terms of having a main bank account and also one student one because I one of the student plans they offer a higher interest so


the main bank account I sort of uh withdraw money but from the student one which gains more interest I try not to withdraw any money, ya how about you, (mmhmm)