I see but uh I think this expenditure is justified so uh for me , for me I think I spent a lot of money on skincare makeup and clothes like every other girl ya of course I'm


I'm a shopaholic I just keep buying non-stop so if you ask me if my expenditure is justified for basic stuff, skincare I think it's is is justify because I really need it ya but for clothes wise maybe it's not very justifiable I do have many


repeated clothes and I admit that I already spent too much on it but I am trying to cut, yeah so what strategy would you recommend on someone planning on their big ticket expenditure, like starting a a family buying a car or house


I see okay so uh to rank starting a family buying a car or a house


I think as a very typical young couple singaporean most people will start with buying a house first then start a family, then buy a car that's that's what I feel and what I will be doing lah so for buying a house I think singapore government did very well


to help us all have CPF contribution so we can just we we do not really need to fork out a lot of cash to be deal a house actually, so I will recommend uh someone to start working from young back to the


back to the first thing lah that I I mention so just start working from young you can start building your CPF, for fresh grads don't take year gap don't play for one year two year thinking that like you should have the time of your life after that you will regret if you start


working early even though like you feel that you do not have much savings in your bank account but actually your CPF is growing a lot, when it is the time that you are going to BTO your house then you log in and see your CPF and like !whoa! actually I have so much money I can buy a house then like you will be shocked


so as compared as comparing a a male and a female like at a same age if you go and BTO together the guy don't have much money the bank account because , they start working later so that's already shows that just by working uh two more years


just doing a basis normal job it will help you accumulate your CPF contribution then it will help you to buy a house so, ya uh you you can at least buy a house then use your own savings save more and start a family then look into buying a car


uh buying a car is not something necessary at the moment lah I feel in singapore transportation is very, uh convenient so ya we we we should try to like buy a house near MRT I think is more viable


so ya, okay (uh) what ya is it done


part three negative experiences


so similarly I feel that uh it is definitely very sad at the moment


so the emotions that I feel at that point of time will be sadness and just more sadness , how to deal with the loss there isn't much you can to deal with the loss


and you just have to let time pass by and I think time is the best medicine to help you heal your heart, ya so just try to keep yourself busy and


occupied with something else so uh time will pass faster and you will not, remember it like every moment then try to think less and keep yourself busy


ya that's, ,


stress is something that uh follows me throughout my life so


when I'm a student I'm stressed over examinations, stressed over results when I am working I stress over colleagues I stress over my boss I stress over my KPI, so as a as a daughter I stress over uh my parents be


be a nice girl for my parents then as a girlfriend I also stress to treat my boyfriend better then, I also have to stress about life to earn more money to follow the society to buy house


to give birth and have kid and all then when you have kid you will continue be stressed about your kid, thinking whether your kid can do well or your kid is going to rebel and become


naughty so ya stress is something uh that will follow us throughout the life and I think it is very important for us to know how to manage our stress well, and keep ourself uh happy and emotionally stable


I think err it is very common for young kids to have , many accidents and it did happen to me too , it was middle of the night and I woke up so I just sit up on my bed


for a while then I I wanted to lie down back to my bed but I ended up hitting my head on the kerb, of the bed and it started bleeding a lot ya so it was very traumatic I had to


my parents had to rush me to the clinic ya to then I actually stitched my head like, five stitches and I was quite young and just casually sleeping


something like this happened so it was shocking for me and traumatic at that moment


oh I see for me err I did not experience something like that, let me share with you a time when things turn out not meeting my expectations


so I am very hard working , and I will always work hard and study before my exams so that was a time where , err I did not get my expected results that I actually thought I will get


ya so I worked hard for my projects but end up I did not get a distinction so I was very disappointed, did you have such experience


okay, so, err something sad that I have ever witnessed, it will be to witness a car accident err it was not someone that I know


but I just passed by and I actually witnessed uh motorbike , crashing and falling downing on the floor in the highway and


err it it was raining so everything was very blur , and the vision is not very good so cars did not even realised that that that an accident actually happened


so they just continued driving and the car actually just uh drove pass and over the human and , crashed him I think this is the saddest scene that I ever witness what about you


okay, okay so err let me share with you some hurtful words that someone had said to me and I wish


that I can forget I think uh it will be, saying that I am very fat and ugly I feel very hurt and very sad, that uh someone actually said that I am very fat so I will uh to make up for it I decided to


exercise more and lose weight so that I will not be, said as a fat girl, by someone any more ya I motivate myself to work better to become a better person


how about you


uh, you are very positive


so is there, is there a time that you feel very helpless


okay there is an incident recently that I felt very helpless


ya uh as you know now it is very bad economy, due to COVID nineteen so I have a friend that came to tell me that she was retrenched


and I feel very sad and helpless I know that uh the economy is not very good now and it is, hard to look for a job but I don't think I can do anything much to help her at my end ya so what I did


was just to do what I can I went to search for uh different grants that , retrenched worker can get from the government and try to help her to get some grants to


tide over this financial crisis I do hope that my friend can, find a job as soon as possible and ya


so is there a time that you feel that nothing you do is good enough


how about me is there a time that I feel nothing is good enough uh I think


okay ya there was once that I was doing a part-time job so there is two part-timer in the shop , one is me and one is uh another girl so this girl is actually the owner's daughter so


the owner really dote on her a lot so no matter how many products I sell how good my sales is I will never be good enough, and the boss will never praise me for my hard work and good job because err


the other girl is his daughter so, I felt that no matter what I do is, never good enough and I will never be the , best salesperson in the shop because there is some biasness


part two positive experiences


uh my best birthday present will be my twenty-first birthday celebration


cause I feel that uh it was a very meaningful event with many of my friends and, families coming together to celebrate with me uh I feel very, loved and I feel very happy on that day so that was my biggest uh best birthday present so far


ya so amos what is your biggest blessing in disguise


so for me I would say it will be my internship that uh I did few years ago, so when I was offered uh this internship the salary was , very very low like way lower than market rate so the consideration is


to take up this internship with the lower pay or take up another internship with a higher pay , but this is something that uh I mean the one that I took up is something that I feel I'm more interested in so , I went ahead to pursue the the internship that I am very keen in


but the salary is uh way lower than like the market rate lah at the end I, found that I really liked the job a lot and uh it did help me to find, like what kind of job do I want to do in future and ya I think is a blessing in disguise


what is uh comfort food that you can always rely on to cheer you up, I think it's chicken rice


ya you're right I don't eat spicy food so for me uh to cheer me up I think I, I I will like to eat dessert something sweet ya so for me I will go for ice cream


err sweet bubble tea and all kinds of , sweet food desserts ya amos what do you love most about yourself


cool nice so what do I love about myself I, like that I am very resourceful and I I can, search for like the best deals around so my friends will always


look for me if they want to buy something they will just ask me like eh where can I get this for the cheapest price , ya then I can give them the answers so I think I am quite resourceful and, I can I I'm quite knowledgeable my friends like to ask me


like uh where to go what to eat and all ya so this is something that I love, about myself being a resourceful person , so who in your life do you look up to most why


okay okay so err for me is similar to you I will say my parents, is someone that I look up to the most because I think that they are very successful they are able to earn a lot


of money and bringing up their kids and we get to like live comfortably , uh there isn't much issues so ya I I have a good childhood and we have good food to eat ya so I think my parents are


are good parents and that's why I look up to them , amos can you describe a time when you got appreciated for your hard work


okay, so for me I like to cook I think that err


I feel very appreciated when the stuff that I cook for my family they like to eat and they say is very nice very yummy , ya so uh even though I have to spend like two hours cooking I feel very appreciated


for my hard work so I think uh I'm very happy ya, amos can you describe your perfect day


oh I see so weather is very important for you it plays a big part in your perfect day


ya so, so for me I will say my perfect day is a day that I have something to look forward to , ya it can be to look forward to go out for a date


to look forward to go out for a meal or just uh to look forward to go for a trip, to look forward to like meeting someone ya so uh I like to look forward to things so ya if it's


a day that uh I'm going to get something I will think it is my perfect day, can you describe a moment when things turn up better than you expected


oh life is so good for you everything turns out quite well so uh some something, somethings small that uh turn out better than expected for me is just uh being


upgraded ya so uh when I went overseas uh we actually booked the, cheapest car to rent so when we uh reached there the, car agency actually upgraded us to a bigger and better car so uh we are all very happy things turn out better than expected


ya very nice day what is the nice thing someone ever told you


oh okay err the nicest thing that someone ever told, me is err someone actually praised my recommendations and said that !wow! this is so good , so I actually recommended my friends to uh go


go and eat in this restaurant and after that my friends told me that this is a very good recommendation , very nice food so I was very happy and it's the nicest thing that someone ever told me, so amos what is the happiest moment in your life


I see ya anything else , uh okay the happiest moment in my life is to finish my examinations


ya be in it uh my poly exams or uni exams the day that I finish my exams will be the happiest moment in my life, do you agree , yes so can you uh describe to me one of your memorable travel experiences


uh uh my most memorable travel experience will be a trip to china last year , ya so I actually did all the planning myself so I feel that uh it's very memorable I get to plan everything that I want


what I want to eat where I want to go and all it's fully panned by me and the trip was very memorable , ya because we we didn't have like high expectations of it but end up it's better and the weather is very good


people is very nice food is very nice so it is very memorable for me , uh what is the most unique compliment you have ever received


, no


no unique compliment actually I also I also don't think I have any unique compliment , all the compliments are quite uh mainstream so uh, think there isn't any so what do you hate


used to hate as a kid but now love as an adult


ya so I think taste buds really do change as we age because it is the same for me


when I was a kid uh I didn't like to eat veggie ya and I seldom touch, anything green but uh now as an adult I like to eat veggies a lot and I will always uh order


like veggies in all of my meal so I think it is something that I hate as a kid , but now I actually quite like it and I will make sure that err, I have like fruits and vegetables in my meals in every meal lah when I'm young my parents have to force me to eat


but I think it's different now ya


, part one financial related topic, alright so hi shana


so , just thinking back I think five years ago , if I were able to go back to the me five years ago, I'll think that I'll ask the younger me to start saving when I when I am younger


because , savings in the sense every, every drop counts ya so I think it's very important that we start saving from young, cause this accumulated savings can actually bring you more security when as as we grow older


so right now if I compare to five years ago I understand the importance of savings , so ya , I'll tell myself five years ago that I should save more


how about you


, alright , ya so actually if you think about it do you actually , do the savings yourself or do you trust a financial adviser to plan for your finances


cause personally for myself , I do the savings myself but I feel like sometimes, there's a need to have a balance between the both like it's good to have someone to actually advise you on


some savings uh strategy or some plans that you can actually come up with , and instead of working for the money let the money work for you , so on and on the set note you don't have to throw everything into the


plans that the financial advisers actually recommend to you so, I think for myself I would say at least maybe about twenty percent of my


twenty percent of the amount I earn goes into uh financial advisers, advise to a savings plan or just a insurance for myself, yup how about you


(hmm) I agree on what you said ya so , I think for me luckily I have met friends they're who are financial adviser


and to that they actually kind of taught me how to actually manage my cash flow , so I think only recently I started to do a proper savings whereby , , I'm drawing a general salary income but I've never really thought about how much is amount


how much this amount would actually , amount to, overtime so sitting down with a financial adviser it actually, gives you a future prospect to it and also uh it actually makes me understand like


how much should I be saving and how much I'm realistically spending on the day to day basis , so with all these different segments , technically I think for myself I put


fifty percent into savings and, the other fifty percent will be split between expenditure and my investments so , I'll take the other fifty percent eh I'll split the other fifty percent into uh thirty twenty


which is thirty percent on expenditure cause cost of living in singapore is, not exactly very cheap and twenty percent into investment, cause this twenty percent can actually bring you further in the long run


yup how about you shana


, nice that's a very interesting thing to hear , (hmm) so , apart from that I think, like as much as we wanted we always look for alternative source of income as well


so for me personally how do I get extra income sometimes , on the weekends I do some ad-hoc jobs to earn the additional income , and apart from that


definitely I would say I like to let my money work for me so I do have uh, plans to actually invest my money that I have uh to gain


a certain amount of gain overtime so an example would be investing in , uh blue chips stocks so uh as much as we know the market is generally going an upwards trend


so it doesn't matter when you go in or not, so for my idea is if you keep it for the long run, in the long run you generally get an increase more than the , more than just leaving in the bank so I'll say my investment


risk factor would be towards , not towards the lowest side will be more towards the low mid range , cause I wouldn't just put it in the bank and try to, increase my capital but I'll try to look at uh investment stocks


err just another way to get more gain out of the money that I have, rather than just leaving there so that's how I'll actually gain extra income, ya


I think uh when it comes to savings that's one thing that I don't do so well because , I think since young I never had the habit of saving until recently that I realised how important saving is


and that's why I did mention that if I were able to go five years eh go back to five year ago I'll definitely tell the younger me to, have a better habit of saving rather than just


earning whatever that you eh spending whatever that you earn so right now uh, how do I actually start to have the habit of saving I just ensure that


let's say uh weekly I make sure that I do not overspend by this certain amount, cause ultimately expenditure is one of the biggest part of my uh of what's burning my


income so, for that I think, how do I ensure that I can meet my saving goals would be to actually limit, that amount on the weekly basis so for example let's say if uh


I have, six hundred dollars to spend in a month I'll limit to hundred and fifty a week and if I tend to, go over the amount the next week I'll have to cut down on my expenditure , so that is a habit that I have to cultivate over time and then I'll be better able to manage my


, expenditure which eventually will lead to the habit of saving ya,


I think I spend my money mostly on food that's one big uh , one big cost that is always there because every day we have to eat right , and I think that's one of the things that I spend a lot on


especially in singapore when we talk about eating out I mean it's been a long time since we eat out, like generally for everyone uh but ya if let's say on the weekend if we eat out very often


and just that itself is actually a huge amount that I think I, which ends up to the bound of my spending ya


, (mmhmm)


!wow!, okay uh I think there is a really huge question which actually boils down to my whole idea of like , we have to start saving when we're young cause we talk about this big ticket expenditures it's gonna exhaust a huge hole in our savings


and with that basically I think uh, all this requires a huge bulk of saving so when we talk about starting a family buying a car or house , we have to think and prioritise which is the necessities and which is uh just the wants so necessity will be definitely


a roof to stay so I would say house is of key importance and , one would be uh buying a car cause to be honest in singapore everything is so interconnected , so if we talk about buying a car it might be more of a want than a need


so maybe we could avoid that big ticket expenditure and listed from my point of view , and ya house would be your utmost importance and definitely saving it up to start a family, that's my take on this big take care of expenditures how about you


(um)


okay can we do it again, together or just mine, okay , part three negative experiences


alright to begin with , I have actually gone through a loss in my life, and that was when I was probably when I was primary five


a very young boy back at that time, still pretty unaware of the surroundings , and when they happen so quickly, and I see the people that uh around me close to me


their emotions and their feelings, err they kind of influence me as well although I did not know what happen exactly at that time, because I was too young to actually understand what was going on but definitely seeing the people around me that I care for


uh so emotional at that point in time uh I felt the emotions flow in me as well, and, ya that was really tough time especially for the ones close to me


and, it's uh, it's a thing that with time I think people generally do get over but from time to time when this stuff or this lose in life mention again


uh the emotions tend to search back and it heals us for that moment , ya so that's that's how I feel about a loss in my life


(hmm), I think, I agree to what you said time time definitely heals all wounds, , when it comes to events that make me stress would be the entire


society norm as it is of how we should actually , settle down when we younger and (hmm) kind of, get a stable job do not do something that you like these are things that uh generally make me really stress because (hmm)


especially when you are not just your own person you have to think of, how you are together as a, another person with your other half and, from there you can't just think of what you want but what is good for the both of you so


these are things that stresses me out but definitely things that you have to cope and overcome with, ya


(hmm) definitely agree to that err ya stress is gonna follow us throughout the entire life, and I think how you cope with it will determine how much of err, stress dealer you are so ya I think stress handling is one of the more important things that we have to manage in our lives


, the most traumatic accident incident that have happen or I have experience in my life


would be I think when I was young, and I woke up in the middle of the night no being able to, breathe properly I mean I was super young so


it's more of like a traumatic incident for my mum not really for me , cause she woke up in the middle of the night and seeing how I was gasping for air , and as she describe uh my face turned blue, so it was really a


intense situation at the point in time and back then (hmm), the hospital wasn't like a stone throw away like a fifteen minutes drive, it was from one side of the island to like the central area so


err instead of calling the ambulance she, uh she took me but, err took me into her arms, drove the car all the way down the highway and uh


exceeding the speed limit (hmm) at the same time trying to calm me down telling me (hmm), every things is gonna be okay and when reach the hospital, every thing went well but I'm pretty sure that will have been the most traumatic incident that she had experience in her life


so it applies to me because I'm the little boy that was embraced in her arms


(hmm) that that that that was interesting, , okay following that I frequent proverb, the child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth feel the warmth


err, that has been a time in life err that I have came close to starting the fire I mean I wouldn't say it was a little fire but it was more of


how I just wanted to cut myself away from the whole environment that I was in, and it was a very negative environment, where err


there was a constant pressure from people around me , the the teachers in school they they were not like super good they were kind of like poor educators


err and I think at that point in time, err ya like I say is not starting a little fire but err it's more of just err how you just want err


ignore everyone around you and just cut yourself away from everyone ya, so I did experience something like that when I was younger


, (hmm), no actually (hmm) have been doing things up to my expectation err, things that I work hard for generally I get the result err and things that I tend to not work hard for


err is expected that I don't do so well for it lah ya so (hmm), generally I know that err, you reap what you sow it so if you only put in that amount of effort


that's the result you gonna get if you put in more effort you definitely gonna get somethings out of it, but that's saying uh my experience I am pretty sure like what we mentioned happens to, many other people as well as err sometimes when you do (hmm) group discussion or work


you tend to get the, shorter end of the stick at time so that's just something that we have to face in the society as well, ya


(hmm), sad scene that I've ever witnessed generally I think in real life I've never, err came across something as such


but I do, know of some sad situation that happens, err but it's all, it's all normal and


it's just something that, as you see you have to learn from your mistakes eh as a not my not your mistakes but the , people's mistake so when you tend to see an accident


like that the lesson learnt would be to actually, you know don't take it for granted when you drive in the road definitely do need to check the blind spots so that you do not cause an accident like this


it's more of like the learning lessons that you gain out of it, ya, so ya


(mmhmm), ya that's that's not nice that's really mean uh, but it's good that I guess it was err, motivation for you so


it's a good thing after all , let's see, words no no body has ever said me hurtful things I think it's more of like I I might be a bit too


oblivious of hurtful words because , , yes I am and uh, maybe that was


maybe, yes uh I was about to say that , not not really a time that I felt helpless okay can say so especially when


my friends come and, tell me sad things, that happened to them, and sometimes you know is beyond your control and you can't really help them


it can only empathise with them over time so I think this are times that as uh, close friend that is being confined to , uh you tend to feel like how can you do


more how can you do more to actually make them feel better but times like that sometimes it's like, you just feel helpless with the person and


like uh mentioned earlier time will heal all wounds so , stuff like this happens


, I think that that that was the most you could do or to be honest the situation hasn't been so good, so it's nice that you actually felt this way and, tried to do something for her


ya,


!wow! , how about you is there is there a time, ,


(um) that shows how society is, ya


, part two positive experiences, alright so , my best birthday present


would be a homemade card, because, I like things that are made with heart and cake and I think it's more


meaningful than anything that you ever get so I love getting a card for my birthday, (mmhmm) how about you


!wow! uh I would say getting into a polytechnic instead of a JC because


back then I think everyone wanted to get the JC whereas for me uh likewise I tried my best to get the JC , however I was rejected and gone to poly but it turns up that the polytechnic


environment was more suitable for me I was able to have a balance of uh , studies and fun at the same time where I meet a lot of good friends , and at the same I'm able to do well to get me where I am today


so I think that would be the biggest blessing in disguise that I had had , yeah how about you


(hmm) , being a big lover of food I would say , almost , no I tell you almost anything can make me cheer up so I suggest, I think comfort food if focus your comfort food I'll say a very nice


big double macspicy with cheese cause one thing about spicy food is, it actually makes you happy when you eat it I know you don't eat spicy food but ya, actually spicy food actually helps to de-stress so if I'm feeling down and maybe a bit stressed up


I tend to eat more spicy food like mac spicy <mandarin>麻辣香锅:ma la xiang guo</mandarin> ya which is like spicy hot pot ya how about you


bubble tea, , , uh , I'll say


I love that I'm, generally friendly, and people tend to trust me, and confine in me so I I feel like there is not something that can be gained from practice it's more of like uh character that


you have to have, and people have to see it, and generally they will be able to see that beauty and ya that's why I love most about myself the people are able to


trust me in the sense which is the hardest thing to ever do and get can't be achieved, how about you


(mmhmm)


, , this is indeed a tough question to answer but that's because uh so many role models in my life


can be my sister it can be my brother it can be , as what I think most people would actually say uh parents and specifically to my mother


because , she has been the role model in my life since young , and why is that so because of a parent thing , she's never someone that follows the norm


like you know how every asian's parent wants their kids to dos super well in school , academically and pursue something that some stable and all , but my mother does not do that instead she always cheers me on and tells me


as long as you try your best uh and you don't, uh disappoint yourself and that's what most important so, I think I take uh her as a role model because that's how I would like to be a parent as well


to not give pressure to my kids and of course I think that's the most ideal way of, bring a child up, ya, how about you


, (hmm) , i will say yes that was this time that I actually like you know I mention about how I


like my ideal present to be something that's super homemade and , should a lot of effort and love so one of my hard work was to actually do a card, for a special someone but it's just it's just not any card but it's more of like uh


very complex handicraft which took me almost I think close to half a year of hard work, to actually do from the step of getting the materials to


doing the handicraft by itself step by step printing the photos, writing and just making the whole thing work , uh and at the end of it when , i give that present to the special someone


all this hard work was actually worth it and there was one the best feelings that I had in my life, ya


perfect day definitely a day that there is no work, , sunny day I guess not that kind of scorching sunny day more of like uh kind of


day that is more like , gentle sun cool breeze, where we can actually just sit down have a nice drink and just


chill for the whole entire day, ya, again


(hmm) , no not really, I do not have uh not that I have high expectations or anything but , generally


things are pretty expected, and it doesn't go beyond the idea of better than expected for me so uh, but generally I'm happy with how things turn out generally


ya, (mmhmm), it does it does


(mmhmm), (hmm), nicest thing, there's so many nice things that people has


always been telling me I would say , I would say the nicest thing that someone has ever told me or be told actually, tell me that hey, in my marriage uh he's gonna be my best man


and that is when you know you are, important in somebody's life, and ya, i think that is one of the nicest things someone has ever told me


I would say, every moment in my life after two zero one four


cause that's when I got attached, ya so happiest moment in my life starting from two zero one four and it has been pretty happy all the while , a little bit up and down here and there but


generally, it it has been a life-changing experience, and, ya how about you,


definitely , ,


ok definitely gonna be my exchange experience cause technically I was four and a half month away from, my home country not that I don't like it but just uh four and a half is such a long time and


it actually gave me uh an eye opener to, a whole experience of living with your friends abroad meeting new people around and experiencing


are different cultures altogether, so definitely one of my memorable travel experiences would be , to go for the exchange which I've never regretted in my life, and for you


(mmhmm), you need compliment, (huh), i think you would be


no actually no I I can't think of I can't think of unique compliment I've ever, how about you


ya it's


!wow! so many things , okay we are back to food so that's the first thing that I think of cause when I was a kid I hated to eat like , bitter gourd uh brinjal what else lady's fingers and then like


those kind of uh herbal tea, that I used to hate as when I was a kid, or rather I seldom drink it but now as an adult when I drink it it's kind of like , or when I eat orders food that I just mentioned it has a special bitter sweet taste to it ya


and you


(mmhmm), alright very nice


financial related topic


, I I might actually go for okay whichever loan that would provide because as a self employed I think my CPF is not a lot so I don't know whether HDB loan actually will loan


most of it actually so I might actually have to go for bank loan but if I've to go for bank loan then I would go for, the floating rate interest package because sometimes can be higher sometimes can be lower right I think like like UOB is always


having like promotions about the home home bank loan so maybe that's something that's that's interesting ah I've never bought or sold a house before, but I do know that other fees occurred in in a transaction will include like stamp fees I don't know do loans cover that


oh okay


oh ya, ya, I I know of a friend who's a mortgage , like like a mortgage consultant kind of thing and then most of the time they always advice like going for they most of time they will advise going for fixed so that you don't the the SIBOR fluctuation not so bad


but ya but then I mean I I guess different people will have different perception [bah] and I think floating I don't know it just sounds like when it's floating I feel a bit more at least I have a choice I guess but can I change from floating to fixed


oh ya ya, ya


oh true true ya did you have to be locked down for fixed period ya that, ya agree okay, I, I would say if I mean if if we then okay they also talk about loan from the bank when renovating your house I I I might not do that


ya I think whatever that is I I rather just pay cash rather than taking loan I don't really like to take a loan if possible, then we just do the floor only or we don't have a floor


ya,


I think I think bank loans like I always see there are always having renovation loans like everytime met the POSB or the maybank counter then they will always talk about renovation loans, ya so I I I mean I guess I guess if it okay no actually if if it I think as long as if I don't need it I won't get it regardless of the interest risk


so I think that's that's my take would you buy a property for investment uh yes I would buy property for investment, even though there's buyer's stamp duty, and, additional buyer's stamp duty doesn't really deter me from investing in properties I think actually I think that's a good way of doing investment


ya me also I last time I used to get advice that I last time used to have like my my my dad always share me that as long as there's extra even with the ABSD still worth it to do investment for properties ya I mean


no I mean to him is always to him property is safe mah, , ya


and and finance products I mean then will just leave it to our financial advisor but, ya I'm I'm for me I'm very bad at finances so so I I I rather just leave it to a financial advisor to take care of everything cause so is so like troublesome to look at all the portfolios and all the stuff that I have right


and so lazy ya, and I think the good thing about the financial advisor is he takes care of all matters like he's not just only focusing on one


, oh no


okay,


oh


ya I I didn't know you can't claim twice you then does that mean so then why do some advisors actually advice you to buy like similar products if you can't claim twice, oh okay


recently because of uh instagram also I also saw another one where they talk about like uh financial investments and savings so actually wanted to hear different opinion so I made I I made a appointment right with the


agent and they were sharing about long term savings whereby you just put in a sum of money and then over you put in a sum of money and then over time that sum of money will grow so so is actually meant to for you to plan like your retirement package


but the interest rate is not very high but they can guarantee that you will at least get back your capital that you have placed in and additional four percent so it's actually by prudential, and then I also went to ask my financial advisor right like like so what do you think he says like it's a very safe thing it's almost the same as if you are putting it into CPF but the difference is that this one you can draw down anytime whereas in CPF you can't until you reach a certain age right


ya and I I guess is like I don't know I I for me is that I want I prefer more high risk kind of investments if I were to do it so I am still talking I mean I'm still exploring to see if there's other things that


can be done but like, ya he's he says that everybody is going for it right now because of the current situation but ya I think it's a bit too conservative for for my preference ah, what


don't have so you decide even you can decide how much per month you want to, put aside so let's say it is like if you talk about you are saving it right then you might as well let it grow so he say if you want if you are saving hundred two hundred dollars a month then you just put it there then just let it grow


so minimally you will get four percent so it can be even more and so you you do the investment for twenty years and then you don't have to pay anymore after that then they will use your sum to grow and grow and grow ah


but any time you can take out your money any time, ya every year


you can terminate anytime you want, , so is I mean now I think these days especially because of the unstable situation right everyone's all either going at like insurance or investments but ya me I'm I'm I was looking at allocating more to investments also during this period of time lah


so I was just trying to see what else can what else can be done to also earn extra income so I was also exploring like some of the investments that that uh one of my friend who is currently doing like fast trading fast investments ah


so like stock trading and stuff but he's not he's not exactly the most qualified and then I think he's too afraid to also help me out with it, so so he just so he just took a very small sum and just helping me to do investments ah ya well maybe should explore going back to the financial advisor ya sorry I cut you


ya, , ya should go explore and then can see and then can try like get extra also cause anyway rather than need sitting in the bank right


the last time you did one that was one year right, oh it was two years old,


to go and check, the, uh the different banks and what they are offering also and at the same time I think like


okay how I spent my money how did you spend your money, did I think most of my money is on food


, so the bad thing about this circuit breaker is that I think I spent too much money online like I like if it's outside I don't don't really do shopping but then I don't know why like at back at home then suddenly like you just feel like need to buy stuff that is unnecessary


, , ya I, agree I I don't I I but I, think some of my things are not justifiable I mean it's like things that I buy I used for like few minutes because I'm just interested and then I dump it aside


ya ya ya, so, ya so my expenditure also is low price but is like you know if you buy many low price is like is still a big expense ya so I think is like ya so so I'm very glad it's over so that we can resume a bit


more normal ya not completely I also don't know but but hopefully not until I I spend all my money online


I thought you want to say the government give you payout to go and shop online , oh ya and I think, I don't know at what strategies will you recommend to someone I don't really have strategies to recommend


ah I, ya, ya and I think that's that's that's the main thing that most like all adults give us right it's just save actually I must say last time people are quite conservative ya everything is just save and save so no one really is like planning anything no one is like getting insurance as our investments


, , no you uh you got your financial advisor to help you sort it out oh ya actually actually if you are planning to look at the what do you call that the fixed D right why not why not speak to why not speak to your financial advisor


exactly cause he would be the one to do everything ya and and he might be able to get you something even better, ya then at the same time can just see whether is there anything you can like change the portfolio at least he manages it for you and he watches it for you which you don't


no ask him to get you one that you can terminate anytime


no not not true fixed D you cannot touch what can touch meh, oh true I think there are others there are others where at least while he is working on it if you ever need it urgently you can always take it back and it could be better than the fixed D


he goes so he will does it according to your risk your risk appetite, !huh! he works for manulife I don't think so and we just said his company in this chat so I think he won't run away


(ppl) okay


part three negative experiences,


I think mine is uh similar and it's the same is the loss of my cousin I think that's the biggest lost in my life, I'd also says I would also say is one of the most traumatic incident that I've ever experienced I think I think going through her loss in like the loss of her was


it really was really shocking mean is like I've been told she has cancer and for two years she was like still up and about and she looks fine she don't looks she didn't really looks sick she went through period of like vomiting and stuff but she would always be okay


and I think that you know I think her death came as like very sudden especially is and and it still hits, and it still hits me till today because like I will always remember that week before she died I was supposed to go to her house


and all because I was being petty and I was being annoyed by my auntie so I didn't want to go and yet because I didn't go I didn't have that last chance to talk to her, and I felt like it was and I mean like I felt a bit childish lah if if things were to change from now to then I think


if anything is I I I wouldn't be so, like petty and I would overlook a lot of things but at that time I didn't, so to know that when she went to hospital and for five days she was just there and I think looking at her being stuck to the tube and everything was just


plain horrible and ya I think like after like losing her and even till today is like and anything that that reminds me of her would really bring out, it really takes a lot and on the emotional wise it's just been


like got ups and downs more more so down whenever is with her although I know that we should be thinking about the good memory but at the same time is like I think I always feel like is like like this sense of guilt


that, I never get to talk to her that I never ever get to show my care and concern and I think I feel like, I was old I should have been old enough to know and give and also offer like a lot more caring on my part but I didn't


so ya but I I have a very good friend that I frequently talk to and I would say like two of them have really helped me with it and uh they've always helped me to like talk it through like


end of the day I think I think I always I mean end of the day I mean, at the same time is like praying uh praying helps me a lot , but, ya I think it really I I I feel that it is really something that is really something that I don't know how long it's going to last and I hope that it would actually like it would actually get better through time


I think six years is quite long, but, ya but I think at this stage is still is still quite raw like it still feels very , but I still I still feel like it's very


uh like is very uh, how do you how do you say like I like I still ya and it's like and it's like it's still very I don't know I just feel like you know a lot of times a lot of times I just feel like it didn't happen


feels like a very bad dream, but ya, so that's and and and it's I guess it's pretty traumatic because I guess ah when I look at her especially in hospital is just like I don't know I've never seen any of my loved ones at a hospital in this kind of state before so to know like as she was brain dead and stuff like that it's really quite like


uh I really feel quite painful seeing what I have saw what I saw and till these days is like I can still see is as if it happened yesterday ah, , so ya so I guess it also leads to like


like if anything I I think like I don't really like, some of the things my auntie likes to say or even other people so, , I would say like you know they tend to say weird and


and and things that that that are, like quite, hurtful lah so it's like I think one of one of her most hurtful things I've ever heard uh, anyone say is which is actually came from my dad because I guess if it's not so close is not so I don't know to me


only closer people can say like hurtful stuff right so one of the most hurtful things I think I've ever heard him says is that is that he he wished he he wished that if my mum didn't die then then maybe we will all turn out better but


I mean is like, okay at that time we're going through a very very rough period in our life so, we were teenagers and then of course my brother and I were just going through our our rebellious period right so I think ya when he said that and and all that and it made me feel like a bit ungrateful to him for what he has done all these years ah


ya so that's me, ya what's the most traumatic incident you've ever experienced,


ya,


I think the biggest thing that hold me back is people, I find that like it comes down to what makes me stressed right I think like, , working with people which is of course inevitable but, I think


what how, people react and how people actually, like, deal with things that are very, different from how I deal with things and especially with clients and, with like


with like other kind of like business associates, they tend to , they tend to do or rather make a molehill out of nothing or they tend to, to, just really see the entire deal in a very different perspective and


or they tend to have or they tend to, go through like you know their own negativity in their own head and then eventually if they come in and everything like like I deal, in a very uh highly stress, environment when it comes to one of my businesses which is to do with commodities and I think


the most stressful part about it is the fact that people are they don't understand the normal, or rather they they they think that because it is it is in a certain, because of a certain industry so everything needs to be done fast but


the expectations that they have are far, different from like normal normal kind of, trading which I don't understand why and I think a lot of them tend to tend to talk about things or not do things that are related to it or or like you know if they can't fix it then they will find someone else to do it and at most of the time it will tend to come


down to like it would keep passing on in the chain and I think, and I and I guess it's like, the stressful part is that it's it's as if all these people like don't need to work they just know how to call and call and call and I think ya so, so really is like if anything I


and it and it I feel like it makes me feel lazy lah I don't want to work because I don't want to deal with them, ya so, so I just feel that that you know I think if anything, I I feel that they are the ones that


ya, I mean they're like really eh I I mean I must say, people there are all sorts of different people right but ya so I guess it's just a, ya it's just different perspective and ya but sadly ya sadly they make me stress ah


(mmhmm) ya


ya, ya


I agree ya is like on when it comes to their turn they can take their time but when it comes to ours is like we always have to do it faster


cheaper better so ya so expectation is really like ya, I think that saddest scene I've ever witness was uh last year when my friend lost her husband, and seeing her I have never seen her so weak and seen her so


so down and so sad before so, and and having that one year old kid just crawling beside her but the fact that she is but uh the fact that she was really really down and and she was literally on the floor and melting down I think that was really one of the saddest scene I've ever witness in my life


ya


(mmhmm) , and describing a time when you feel that nothing is good enough uh I don't really have such a time but I think you would with your mum


ya , I think I did I I must say I think what frustrates me is people's perception and people's way of living I think I think it's like you know everyone would have their own way of living and everyone will have their own way of doing things


you know we'll have our own own ideal world and I think the frustrating part is when they impose that ideal world on me on on me, ya like whether it's my brother and how things have to be as neat as how he wants things to be or how it's


like ya or like you know whether is like like my dad who thinks that you know things should be done fast so I think that like that really frustrates me ah,


I haven't seen a movie that made me too angry to watch but I've seen a lot of short clips especially like maids abusing children, ya or like you know all those like especially if it's kids any abuse with kids are just you just find it a bit very like !wah! is really very hard and it makes you so annoyed like why would you do that to the child ya so


ya and, ya there there are a lot of such clips out there which is really really quite can be quite annoying, ah I don't think there was a time where uh I was unable help someone in need


do you, they are sick,


(mm)


part two positive experiences,


I can hear some tapping on the keyboard


I I likewise also have a very short term memory and I I don't really remember much of my presents but I remember my experiences so I wouldn't say I wouldn't be sure my best birthday present but probably which like


like, I think what I really love about my birthday is who I'm spending it with and the times that the person is taking time out to spend it with me, and all the good food that everybody is always cooking for me on my birthday I mean of course is they still cook for me on normal days but on my birthday I really do get all my favourite food and


ya so in terms of birthday presents I don't really remember but I I must share it's about like my biggest blessing in disguise is is how , how when I was doing business and I was doing business with a very good friend and then we came upon a time where we had a very tough


uh we had a very tough journey throughout the entire business and I think one thing that really came as a blessing in disguise is the fact that we could sell our business at a really good price and that industry uh if we were to look at COVID time now then it would have been


we would have totally crashed to the ground so, I I would say that's that's one of the biggest blessing in disguise that that I I I really am thankful for, ya, and and ya and because of that I mean it's like eh I I guess it's it's really is


is really quite good lah and and there were so many more actually I got many, is like like like last year we were supposed to start a business and we were trying so hard to find a place but then we couldn't and it was like at that point you feel so dejected as I uh why cannot why cannot find the perfect place why cannot find a cheap place but if you think about it


had we start that business like today I I think I might I might not be able to be sitting here to do this interview I'll just faint really long time ago, ya especially the one that was supposed to happen in sentosa so I think that is really like !wah! that's really one of the biggest blessing in disguise


you


ya, ya that true that's why that's why you should always have


comfort food which is food like let me guess for you is it potato chips french fries and everything fried, oh ya ya ya


true I think my comfort food is, ya I think I I don't know I I I because I think when I was young that was always something that I I grew up eating


and and it's like it always makes me I mean I grew up, I grow up with our mum right so I guess other people also like my where my family they are in order to like just pamper me a bit more and chinese being chinese we will pamper you with food right


yeah so it's always my my favourite which is one of which is is sweet and sour pork so everytime I eat that I feel very good like it reminds me of my childhood, which was a very fun time and it was like the best time when you don't have to think about the worries you don't have to think of anything you're just like you know just like just being a kid ya


so I I think that's that really is, comfort food to me and and it's because I mean if anything I think I guess is because of like all these all the the love I got during that time and all the comfort food I think one of the the people I meet


although it doesn't look like it but I do look up to my dad because he single handedly raised both of us, which was quite amazing considering at that time he really didn't have much I mean he had help from his sisters yes but not a lot of help


like if I were to look at like today and and some of the people who have gone through what he's going through right I think my dad also don't I mean you the, friends also not say much so I think to to do everything by himself and even brought us to university and brought us to where we were today I think it's really quite quite amazing lah


so that's who I look up to most in life do you look up to your daddy, , ya


okay


ya, okay


you mean he is the mother of a family , ya he does,


ya, agree I agree I think he is really one of the most energetic old man I've ever seen in my life


okay , (ppc), ya and everything he do is not what I will do in my perfect day he would go out and help everybody but on my perfect day I just want to like


binge watch either like a lot of dramas and TV shows, and and like and and recently you you you introduce netflix dramas to me so like a perfect day is to just watch TV eat and then sleep sounds like a pig


, oh okay accompany by fried potatoes


ya exactly, yes and not wash up ah after anything okay I agree, yes, and have japanese food served too


ya that's really that's really quite true and I think , ya I guess the happiest moment in my life like is always not in singapore, , I I mean I I mean I love my country and I love singapore I think it's really amazing but really I really have my happiest moments in when I'm travelling so uh it's either japan or australia and actually I really love the time when we were in europe


I think europe was one of the best trip ever and and, I think it's really one of the most memorable one because ya when we were in europe we really did a lot of things that I've never seen like like it's so different from asia right so there are a lot of things that are very very different and you never seen before and you try a lot of different food and try a lot of different like


experiences and I think just backpacking and just like just just figuring out our way was really like how brave were we, , no but I think but I but I I I think it was really fun and and and the culture is so rich right and you they have so many


different things that you will never ever see in asia like the Catacomb, and the church which that was that was decorated with all the skeleton and it's so weird and but it's so weird but yet so


like, I don't know you just feel this like !wow! I can't like I like I always see on TV and I can't believe I'm like there, ya so I think that was that was really one of the coolest experience so I think in europe


was a long time ago but was really very memorable,


agree,


ya , ya


ya ya, ya ya


and that time when we went to the the place where the toilet is so cold, , ya the Ryokan my goodness I mean it's like it's very funny I think I think it like the experience was it was like new but yet it was funny at the same time


soon I thought you say germany I we can go germany without having being quarantined


but you can go to the christmas markets, ya and and ya I must say ah I I can talk about travelling all day ya and I think I think is


is really like like I I like japan or even australia and went to stay at a farm, ya and you could milk the cows and like feed the chickens and literally walked among the cows I think that was really like


ya and everyone kept saying ya everyone kept saying like all these places are very expensive but actually is like is not too bad, , ya agree and ya I think


and and I think if wanting, I I used to hate vegetables as a kid but when I go to like japan or like all the other countries where the where they know how to make good vegetables ya I think ya so that's something I used to hate as a kid and then I love as an adult


so that's ya so so vegetable is really one thing that I I know is is the difference that I have, ya,


, ya


ya,


agree bless you I must say that I think what what makes me optimistic is the the fact that we've been through down times before and and every time after a downtime it will all go up so, I I I mean I believe that it is like


very for each time anything goes down it will surely come up and I think also the good thing is that this this this entire period has taught a lot of people to be a lot more hygienic, and I think that like like you say like the children of today they're they


also having been through know this entire time they are so they have really learn a lot of things on how to firstly is like how we're such a united country, they also learnt how to help others how to share how to help and and you see a lot of like you know good samaritans where they are taking you know and where they are really just sharing like during this period of time I think not everybody is doing well


but those that are, that that are and they can afford are helping those that aren't and they're really putting together and and going out there and you know to giving out food to the uncles and aunties and the poor, and helping all the like you know whether is helping monetarily or like teaching the kids tuition or donating computers for the kids to have school I think


I think that's really something that I I I must say is really a learning journey for for them I'm really very thankful because I think our country is really quite I like our fellow citizens are very like helpful and they're very caring very generous so I think


ya so I really think our future is, going to be pretty I I think is is I think we're gonna be okay it takes some time but I think we're gonna be all right


ya, , ya


yup, ya me too okay cool


part one financial related topic ya HDB loan or bank loan


I think I would consider uh an HDB loan when I'm purchasing HDB flat because I heard that the HDB loan interest rates are lower so it's more beneficial I suppose in the long run uh when when trying to service the loan


, ya I've I've never bought a HDB before so I'm not sure what the process is but my friends who have purchased HDB loan before I think they all took a took out a HDB loan as opposed to a bank loan


ya how about you


I actually have no idea but for the I know friends who have who have gone for the floating interest rates that's the SIBOR right, so they revise it every three months but I'm not sure whether in the long run with it's fluctuations is actually beneficial lah I suppose it may just even out but the stamp fees and the I haven't I'm not sure whether the stamp fees are included


uh during the uh for for the for the loan, I don't think so too I think it's part of the upfront payment and uh ya and and the other fees there are there are incurred during the transaction I think will be like the lawyer fees what else I ah the lawyer fees and I don't remember I think that I think that's about it I'm not sure


oh is it


I think you can but there's like a lock down period I think I actually I don't know right they they lock you down for a couple of years and then after that you can choose to like refinance and all so I don't know whether during that time you can, opt for fixed, I'm not sure ya


ya ya may, maybe after the lock lock lock in not lock down after the lock in period maybe you can ah, ya ya and


, that's if you have enough in this if you have enough cash to service the renovation ah


, ya I I think I think it depends on the on the interest rate and, depends on the terms if it is a small amount and you know if I'm able to service it and within a short period of time then I'm not opposed to getting a reno loan but it cannot be exorbitant ah


so I think it really depends on the offerings uh by the bank I've never done renovations before so I'm not familiar with actually what are the terms uh for for the banks and so on and so forth but, uh I'm open to getting a reno loan from a bank


ya, ,


, ya


I think the additional buyer's stamp duty is extremely hefty so it would because then I mean I suppose you can consider purchasing other kind of investment products uh for the same kind of uh


investment that you gonna put into a property cause I think it's quite expensive especially if it's like two the second or third or fourth then you pay extremely a lot and it just only goes to the you know the stamp duty and not even the price of the property so I think that's that's that would be a deterrence for


me ya and , ya ya but I would invest in property if I am able to lah,


oh is it but what if you can't make back you know that that amount or whatever


, maybe in singapore it's a it's a lot safer than other countries lah I think being said is also like quite expensive to purchase also but ya I think are more familiar with like property investment than other forms of investment like stocks and shares and I don't know what else other finance products


ya ya


ya and, and insurance as well right ya


ya so so recently I came across the I think I can't remember which company it was that they were giving, free like if you register they give you insurance for dengue I think did you see that ya it's an advertisement I can't remember which company I should go and check so I I asked my financial advisor actually I just signed up lah I just registered for it cause I think it gives you like a thousand dollars if you get hospitalised from dengue or something


and I asked him if it's okay to sign up for that after I signed up for it so then he replied and then he said that, for hospitalisation you cannot double claim so my package already has that


for hospitalisation so you can't claim twice anyway so then I ask like how what what's my coverage and all that and then he said that I have the documents and I should go and refer to it lah so I haven't done that but if you come across something like that uh


uh you can see if which is which has a better coverage because I think you you can't claim twice which is reasonable lah, , ya cause it's just too


I have no idea maybe it covers for other things ya so I suppose what he's saying is you can sign up for this free because nowadays there's a lot right like COVID protection and whatever that covers you to a certain amount


so I think you can sign up for it but when it comes to actually claiming then you will want to go and see which one offers you a better one because your own you know insurance package if you have would already covered up to some amount, ya, ya


, that means is is there a minimum sum to to to put into this prudential thing,


so it protects your principal and you get four percent additional on whatever sum and is paid out per year or


okay, , okay so so so the four percent


will will be like how can you, like you know take out the four percent like it will be credited every every year if you want to take it out okay but you can leave the principal sum in or you can just take out the principal sum that means can terminate anytime you want to


okay , ya,


ya, (mmhmm)


yup, ya


I ya ya, no no no no I was just gonna say that I prefer low risk to no, risk products uh but of course is no no risk lah everything has a risk but the only thing that I'm probably familiar with and it's the most straightforward for me is fixed D so I then I just put a sum there and then I can just take out or almost anytime I want with some kind of penalty lah so if you take take it out the you know


before the maturity then you have to pay back your interests pro rated actually I don't know is it pro rated it probably is pro rated right, ya so ya I should I should go back and and see if there's any such uh products that I can commit to during this time also ya so I should I should do that ya


, ya but there's no short term mean they're all long term lah right, there's no


I think it was two years I think it was two years ya but I haven't checked out the rates because the rates the during those times that I checked out was rather low, so then I just like just put in savings and just forgot all about it so maybe things have changed I should go and ask him


ya ya ya ya will done that in a while


how do I spend my money what do you mean like I just I just spend it and, food and essentials lah like I also don't know


insurance and like miscellaneous stuff groceries stuff like that nothing very extravagant food transport ya just the regular stuff then I will just like dump the rest into savings whatever that's left of it


shopping ya after that ya lor like that I don't plan I don't have a financial strategy,


ya, I do I do too I think is to like I don't know mitigate our sense of sense of like loss of control so ya I've been I've been online shopping more than usual, ya, but not I I wouldn't say it's very unnecessary things lah or maybe I'm justifying it I'm just ya


ya, ya, ya ya, ya, for me there are very low very low price products it's just for fun eh it's very very low ya


ya, which is which is very very bad it's very mindless expenditure, correct ya ya I agree


uh not completely how long will how how long will this period last, ya, but it's good that the government is giving like pay us to try and mitigate


the the effects of this of this period I suppose, no lah mitigate the lack of lack of income from the stop of work yes


uh I'm the last person that would recommend strategy I think I'm in need of a strategy just save I suppose the only thing I know is like just try and save whatever you can


but yup


ya and and I only learnt about like like in the need to invest ah not about investing the need to invest to mitigate like the inflation rate across ten twenty years right I only just, knew that like later found later on when I was I started working but that is very critical cause you you just saving you actually losing the true value of the money right in like twenty thirty forty years and it compounds to quite a lot so


ya while I understand that it's important ah I'm not really doing anything about it which is really bad , ya ya ya I should really speak to him ya


ya then I don't need to go and compare right cause he would know is it oh that's true, oh ya hor okay okay maybe maybe I should go and meet him okay cool cool


that's true , ya I don't but then I don't know like how long this period will last and it's like so uncertain so I don't know whether it's like better to just hold cash or not or to do like lock it up in these products you know


ya just sounds like a fixed D lor right or maybe there are others !huh!, I mean if I want to I can just take it out and then just pay back the interest lah, ya


okay ya make sense, but is it like reliable cause I'm extremely risk adverse and I have no knowledge no interest on this, what if he runs away with the money


, okay , ya


part three negative experiences, okay I'll start I have gone through loss in my life that was some time ago


and the greatest loss there're two that I can remember that was that's quite significant in my life the first one is the death of my dog so he


he died very unexpectedly of a of an of a of an illness and uh we actually thought he was getting better but actually I think the vet didn't do a very good job so he just died unexpectedly in the middle of the night in my arms which we were not prepared for


so that was really it was uh it was very traumatic lah to to watch him you know just slide into oblivion and actually taking his last breath in my arms so, uh but but


the the the good thing is that I had friends around who could identify and and we went through the same thing because they were equally you know close to him as well so how I dealt with it I don't think I dealt with it very well I think I just stayed at home slept a lot


during that time I was in uni so I did go to school but I did not , I did not fulfil the full day lah I just uh you know just went through the motions but during those first couple of months it was really just very very gloomy I had I had very extremely negative thoughts I had thoughts of hurting myself


uh it may be strange because just a dog but he was really a family member to me, so that that was one the other one was my mentor at work it was my first job and she was uh she was a mentor to me because I was extremely new and and you know to the workforce


and she was there as a somebody that I could talk to could mentor me uh not only in work but in life as well and she also passed away from an illness, of cancer and ya she she actually passed away after I left the job


uh but we kept in touch I did see her I went to her funeral as well so uh that that was also a very significant time of loss in my life because uh it was also premature she wasn't very old but the the the illness took her very swiftly ya and


uh I dealt with it by talking about it to my friends and my ex colleagues who also knew her ya


unresolved,


ya, , traumatic incident I think I think


have to have my dog die in my arms was rather traumatic I couldn't hold any dog for a while after that so I've never had someone die like you know while, holding them so that was that was traumatic to me I was still pretty young then and and and that also made me not want to have a dog for the rest of my life I think that's too much


but we'll see we'll see how that pans out uh the biggest, thing that I think holds me back from my goals are the negative voices that I have in my head that tells me that you know it's not going to make a difference uh or you know your your your


not you are not good enough so I think it's it's more than negative voices that I hear that stops me from actually taking the first step or taking the next step, so ya I think I need to find more inspiration or more motivation in moving forward into you know doing doing the things that I want do


uh and finishing the journey lah so so but , ya so for now uh I'm still working on it to to validate myself that every small step is a step forward anyway and and to just keep putting one foot in front of the other and ya and and and not feel like so


so unmotivated or demotivated ya,


ya,


ya what makes me stress is also the same thing more of, people's expectations society's expectations they expect you to you know act a certain way do a certain thing to be acceptable or to to have to be right like I mean to be to be good and


successful and all that you need to do a certain thing lah and and it's like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole cause everybody is different right we all have different journeys we all have different interests we all have different I don't know way you want to live your life but


I think when people impose these on you it it's there's a tension between who you wanna be what you wanna do and you know what other people think is right especially if they are you know your authority or somebody you respect or society at large


then you feel like okay I've got to be this way if not then I'm not accepted and I'm not good enough and I cannot make it so, then I think it's I think it is, same as yours which is people's expectations they expect things fast you know but it just doesn't work that way but there's always this tension right so I think is this expectation things generally that that that stresses you


out ya ya same ya, ya, ya so


, the saddest scene that I've witnessed in my life are usually associated with like illness and death also you know sometimes to see the, people uh you know just wasting away


like without anymore ability for medical intervention to make them feel better and they just waiting out the days you know looking like nothing like a shadow of their past self, where they're full of vigour and all that I think I think that is something that you know will also make me feel very helpless and very trapped because you know there's nothing more that we can do for them and you know like like what can you do other than just sitting by their side and and just being there


but usually we always try and like you know do better like you make them feel better and all that try and solve their problems but this is really something that, I will feel very helpless because there's really nothing I can do there's nothing even though doctors can do so usually like the saddest scenes are those lah and when people are mourning for the dead like you know at at funerals or cremation when people are just wailing


when the body is to be is gonna be pushed in to be cremated I think that really evokes kind of emotion in you that you don't really want to feel and ya even just witnessing somebody else's pain right it's to me it's a very sad time


ya, ya I think which which which brings me back to the expectations and what makes me feel stressed


uh which is like she expects that you know to be to do well in life or or to to live a good life is to, is to have kids and to be married and and that's just a value that she holds which I understand because she's from a different era and you know having said that often enough then it makes me feel that


you know to not be married and do not have kids in spite of everything else that you have done right is is not good enough lah so to be enough to be to live a good life is to those are the benchmarks and and, and you have to tick off that checklist which I have not so sometimes I feel like okay then you know I'm not I'm not there yet because I haven't done that ya so that's just something that I'll have to manage and live with I suppose


, a scene from a movie that that made me really angry I I dislike scenes that abuse the to abuse children


into uh and abusing people who are you know unable fend for themselves like people with disabilities and who are mentally more incapable than a regular person so , and and and just plain abuse lah like domestic violence so that makes me really angry because they


are abusing the power uh you know over somebody who is, completely defenceless women children and the disabled so ya and and netflix has a ton of those scenes which uh uh it's it's not it's not very it's not very comfortable for me to watch I don't think that is right so ya I get angry watching that


ya just like uh what I mentioned before lor if they're sick and you know there's nothing you can do to help them feel better, sometimes we just have to just be there and just walk with them I suppose until until they they eventually either do feel better or you know they've moved on into the next life


so ya that that's that that makes me feel helpless


positive experience what was the best birthday present okay I've a very short memory so my best birthday present I can remember is probably within the last like one or two years or a couple of months so the one that I remember


actually there are there are two lah I can share so one is the kindle cause I really really wanted to read and I really wanted the, kindle so that I didn't have to drag all my books all over the place so I I got the kindle and I was pleasantly surprised with


uh I can hear the typing, ya so that was the that was one of the very pleasant surprise because I didn't expect, I didn't expect it so I was really happy to get the kindle uh so that I can you know read and and it really helps me so that was


one the other one was a visit to the to the museum it was a behind the scenes visit to the museum and then we had to a walk, through tour with the guides so I I like that because I just like this kind of uh


experiences uh especially like behind the scenes experience and it was interesting to learn more lah about the about the singapore museum cause we usually just see like the front end, uh but to actually have a peek into the back end into some you know passages that are closed to the public I think that was very interesting and and they shared a lot of like history and like stories and anecdotes about the museum so


that was uh that that was very nice, ya


, ya


ya, I think for me it's hard to say right but I, suppose I I'm very appreciative of


it's strange but it I'm quite appreciative of the fact that, there were times recently in recent years where you know as as a self employed person I I've absolutely no job uh I'm not talking about COVID it was like maybe last year or would in the in the last two years there wasn't really many jobs coming through


and you know is it is just it was quite a, bleak time lah and and so but now looking back I think, I would say that that was a blessing in disguise it was very well disguised because those two years were bleak and you know you kind of couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel but looking back I think that helped me be more appreciative of you know the jobs that I have now even during COVID


and it just I don't know it's it's more like a , it's more like an enlightenment that you know some rejections are are or closed doors are eventually gonna work out for good lah so it makes me a lot more appreciative because if I hadn't gone through that period of time


I'll just be like you know uh I wouldn't have this heart of gratitude I suppose like now if if I'm getting busy I probably be complaining about how, busy I am I supposed to as opposed to being thankful that you know I even have job because there were days previously that you know I just sitting around like okay what am I going to do today cause there are no emails to reply there's no there's no


work to do ya so I think for me those dry years were very well disguised blessings ya,


yes it is and and fries like basically anything ya anything I think it's just fried potatoes like hash brown fried potatoes ya


okay ya because,


ya


I look up, to ya it's strange to say but I suppose I look up to him he is a very upright man and ya he's he's a very very upright man and he's he's always like


you know serving others like even though sometimes they are very difficult I think it's in his blood that you know he he serves others he serves members of the family he serves, further members of the family and he also serves like his country very well even to his own detriment he does that so ya


ya so I I look up to him and and I think he's rather positive even through very trying times which is uh strange I look up to people who are positive I think because I'm not naturally so so


ya I think that's a quality that I can adopt or at least try to uh nurture more of, uh to to to you know always look on the bright side so ya I think my dad has taught us a lot in terms of


like how to treat people and he doesn't just say it I think he lives it out more than more than saying it so ya and he's he's the breadwinner of the family in terms of like uh you know feeding the family but he, also is like the housewife of the family he does a lot at home he is very extremely involved


uh so so ya I suppose I I I do look up to him as as a person and as a dad ya he's like the father and the mother I don't know how he, does he has a lot of energy he has a lot of energy even though he's so old today and ya which is good it keeps him active and keeps him positive so


uh ya ya I I do look up to him, , ya and ya he loves to talk and entertain okay that I don't look up to lah I think that's a bit much ya but uh I think he has a lot of qualities that that are very admirable


ya ya


yes , that that is a perfect day I suppose I don't mind like taking a walk


and like you know in the evenings getting out and taking a walk and then eating macs that that will be a perfect day ya so staying home when is uh yes staying home when it's hot and then getting out for a walk when it's not, ya


and not needing to cook or do any house housework, ya that that for me would be a perfect day ya ya,


that's so sad,


ya I don't know it borders on stupidity but ya,


yup yup


ya, yup agree ya I think I think for me as well like if I really think back to


like the times where I really enjoyed myself and you know like had happy memories is always when I was travelling lah but I think that's the case for a lot of people because you actually get to leave, work behind you know nobody's like calling you and making demands on you so I think it's it's less about the place and it's more about the state of mind because you know you can like literally just detach yourself right from from


from all all the kind of responsibilities that you have here lah, so ya for me I think it would be japan that I mean every destination has its certain moments that I remember you know but I think generally if I were to say I think it will be japan that is the most happy for me


uh firstly because of the food like everywhere I turn you know is all happy food and all comfort food and plus the people there and the culture there they're very you know they're just generally polite, and like the weather there is better and the the scenes and the sites are


like the city is interesting lah I like cities I don't like scenery and all that but, the one time that I went to Odawara where it was also rather quiet in this like hotel resort that was that was really really lovely as well so and and to explore and I think the japanese way of life their culture is very interesting so to eat their kind of food their kind of like breakfast feast and


just generally everything about, japan I think I I really really really enjoy ya, the Ryokan ya ya ya


ya ya ya so that was ya so most of the my happy memories are actually when I was travelling which is sad that we can't get out now but I hope


eventually ya, ya but I'm not really high on going to germany , ya maybe but we'll see we'll see


ya I know right, ya ya ya


ya ya and drive the tractor that was really nice, I think it depends on how you want to live but there are options for living cheaper lah definitely


ya , (mmhmm)


, I don't I don't remember hating hating anything as a kid actually


uh love now as an adult I don't really remember hating anything as a kid I shall move onto the next question , okay despite the ongoing global uncertainty what makes you optimistic about the future


I think I am optimistic that the generation that is coming up like the millennials like the twenty plus right they are very passionate about like climate change and you know making a, difference for like say the marginalised and all that and I and I do see them taking action and leveraging on technology which is like kind of their age kind of thing right


so I I do see a lot of them being very passionate about these things and they are actually taking action to reverse some of the things which, are probably not right but have been saw the past generations, so I mean we are in a in a very uncertain time economically and you know I know medically and all that but I think them coming together and and building this this this passion and and kind of power over the technology that they have access to


I think they can do great things okay lah we together can do great things for the future so that makes me you know optimistic about the future I don't think it's all gloom and doom I think uh while while we have abused some of the technology and all that that that we have disposal to I think


that they can use it well to to make a difference, excuse me


, ya I think this during this this COVID period is when I really see, a lot of examples where you know my face in mankind is really restored lah because you would think that during this time people are like going to be extremely selfish and


you know just watch out for themselves but actually like you mention right a lot of initiatives have come up uh you know ground up and they're not profitable people are just spending time and resources to really help those who are in need and left behind, so I think that that really is is something that makes me optimistic about the future and restores my faith in in mankind and especially singaporeans


part one, financial related topic, hi uh I'm Haziq what's one financial advice that I would give to myself five years ago would be to read up more and understand what's necessary uh for me in the future and to meet my short term and long term goals how about you #wong peng#


uh


personally I'd rather take matters into my own hands and I rather DIY it myself because I find that the financial advisor might be a little biased even though it's against the nature of their job uh that's my personal opinion but I think it's important that you take charge of your life


and you should know what you want and what you need so that you that you'll be clearer lah so in when let's say you're and if, the in the scenario that things turn south right at least you wouldn't be blaming another person you know


alright uh then how do you manage your cash flow like how much of your income is allocated to savings expenses and maybe insurance or investment


uh personally I don't invest or have any insurance so it's just mainly my savings and expenses but the way I divide it is fifty thirty twenty so fifty is to my main savings account


twenty percent contributes to my let's say short term goals like if I want to buy something or go for a short holiday then thirty percent will be for my expenses ya, then what do you do to earn extra income or to improve your income level


ya I do budgeting as well ya for uh on a week to week basis to make sure I have more disposable income uh like yourself I also do, uh part time jobs at the side and sometimes I try to look up uh alternative streams of income to get in more money ya


uh I use apps cause some apps have like features especially now the banking apps it's more it's more interactive lah so that they let you set goals for you to meet like you know do you do you know any of those


(mmhmm), uh then how do you spend your money at which expenditure is justified and what have you been spending too much on


uh for myself it would be food and online shopping lah especially the recent situation right ya I would say the food wise it can be cut down like things like


starbucks and whatever I do drink starbucks to drink coffee you know what I mean but for things like online shopping that's definitely not justified lah, that's just bored but I'm trying to work that habit away okay so what what strategies would you recommend for someone to plan for their big ticket expenditures like let's say if they want to go buy a house or buy a car


uh actually for myself I would do the same as you I would think about how much I would need by that time that I want to make that purchase uh personally I would, I would use after that calculation then I would back track and see how much cash I need to input now and along the way cause I would rather invest my money and like let's say I try to pay in full lah rather than by then I take out uh a debt you know what I mean


ya so I'd rather like, invest but for the those who uh let's say for those who are less disciplined I would say they can opt for like high savings account to put in separate funds or if they're lazy they can just go find a financial advisor and do an endowment plan I mean that's compulsory to pay for them lah


!wah! this one okay uh


I think it's important that you have to have a solid understanding of your financial position yourself first before entering into marriage lah ya cause marriage is a two two party thing so you guys have to work together so it's important that


both of you know, how you guys are like spending wise saving wise and everything so that when you all come together it'd be better, and I think after marriage that you all can set aside a combined savings account to work towards uh goals


together lah let's say children's education children's insurance uh house holiday there this kind of thing you all can save together lah, ya, ya (hmm)


(hmm)


uh okay I go first uh, in light of the current situation right I think, what it made us realise is the changes that that's happening all over the all over the world right now is, it's just accelerated and it's not just due to COVID things are happening ya so things were bound to turn out this way eventually and this thing just this pandemic just brought us here faster lah


ya and I think what it will change my uh habits will to be to, I will use more like apps and like online tracking devices, to keep track ya I recently during this COVID period I've actually relooked my finances and think about oh like where can I cut back my spending on or like what cards can I use instead etcetera how about yourself


correct


uh actually uh recently I I've been reading up a lot of on that also so a lot of people are aiming for to retire early lah as what the statement says, uh in a nutshell the most common way to do it is investing in uh index funds or ETFs ya and like setting aside what what people do is they set aside at least fifty percent of their income monthly into this uh investment so annually it will grow on average is about seventy eight percent


so if you are disciplined and you have a decent income people get to retire under fifteen years and by then they have a million dollars, so from once they hit that first million they would then invest in like a fixed income or dividends or they slowly take take out money from that to live off so let's say a million right then let's say they invest in bonds


uh four percent they will get about forty K for that year to live off ya and people will like move on to like southeast asian countries like let's say thailand or vietnam where cost of living is much cheaper so they can survive off that forty K lah what do you think of that


uh currently I'm not investing but once I start working I would be setting aside uh money into ETFs lah that's my goal


uh I I don't believe in index funds because ultimately it's all speculation and I would just want to do as the market does and not try to out perform the market, so I'll just put in I uh ya modest returns about seven to eight percent annually and that's enough for me how about yourself


oh I've read a interesting book about this by <P2>dave ramsey</P2> it's called total money makeover I'm not sure if you heard of it before but uh


uh what he suggested was to make up a list a long list of all your debts from biggest to smallest and then you tackle the biggest one first because the interest that's accumulated would be the hardest, ya so what you would do is you clear the eh sorry you clear the smallest debt first ya so you clear the smallest debt uh then you work up the list and then slowly just clear the those that are getting bigger and bigger


ya, (hmm)


personally yes I find that we've been uh wrongly educated about credit cards they say that it's bad and you shouldn't money you shouldn't spend money that you don't have but, I believe that owning a credit card you will actually have a better understanding of how you can manage your finances


ya and there's always perks like a accumulating miles or like earning cashback or like earning points these kind of things if you actually discipline and you actually put in effort to understand it you will stand to benefit from it actually ya what do you think


start planning early lah I think that's the key thing do you agree, (hmm)


I think it's good lah CPF contribution it forces everyone to set aside money for retirement uh because not everyone has the same level of financial literacy, ya and not not everyone has the same amount of time or effort to understand it lah so like with the government force forcing us to retire eh forcing us to save to retire I think that's a good effort


but singaporeans should still put in effort to understand how the scheme works how they can put what's set in place to benefit them to reach their goals, and all that lah do you agree what do you think


ya, ya (ppc)


uh personally I'm not working so I don't really I'm not really involved in my CPF and the allocation but from what I understand twenty percent of our salary goes to that and on top of that the employer will contribute seventeen percent so technically a total of thirty seven percent of your pay will


go into your O into your CPF it's then distributed to your OA your ordinary account your special account and then your medisave, ya uh, for retirement uh recently there's been quite a buzz so they've been they've been talking about retiring early with one million in your CPF ya so how one achieve that is to actually avoid paying your house using your CPF


ya so completely don't pay uh pay off your house by cash and then you top up your OA your ordinary account because uh what happens is you your money you put inside your ordinary account before it goes to your special account so ya so the maximum amount in your ordinary account is twenty K


so once you hit twenty K right every year the rest of your money will be inside a special account and from there you can invest in financial products like investing where you can earn higher returns, if not you can earn like a stable four per cent and from that you can hit a million lah by fifty by thirty depends


alright thank you


part three negative experiences (ppc), so #wen peng# have you gone through any loss in your life if you have describe what you felt at that point and like how did you end up dealing with it


uh I think it's a bit similar to yours like for mine it will be my grandfather as well but it's a bit different because I wasn't close to him at`, all ya like due to some family friction uh etcetera etcetera then I wasn't really close with my grandfather and like towards the end of his life he was living in a foster home


so like we actually paid uh regular visits to see him ya and like seeing him on the bed cause he had uh old people they tend to get alzheimer's, ya and he had like diabetes as well so it's like seeing him, at the fragile state where he was it was quite sad lah and I still remember it was back in JC I was supposed to take my NAFA test my IPPT test on the weekend in morning then like all of a sudden my mum woke me up to bring me the news then I was just shook lah it was like (ppc)


this man who I never had any positive experiences with that I wasn't even intimate with, but like it the loss still like impacted me lah I guess I wish that I was a bit closer with him and like from that experience uh it just it just reminds me lah that like life is short and like the cliche lah right


you like you should you live your day like it's your last so that you appreciate your loved ones more lah, now and how I dealt with the loss was actually reflecting, ya like reflecting on like how I can live my life better how I can express love for my loved ones and how I can like improve the lives of the people around me lah ya then what makes you stressed


uh I understand where you're coming from lah like being unable to adapt to your surroundings that actually plays a big part in actually fitting in with other people lah, and I see your concern from that but, personally uh


the things that makes me stress the most is not meeting expectations ya and I think it's made even worse when I don't meet my own expectations ya uh so I sometimes I would say I would sometimes get performance anxiety


ya so like let's say I I worked very hard to study for something say I work like a few months (ppc) but then like when it comes to the paper itself I get very stressed very worked up before the paper and like I can get very like I can blank out


ya and it's just it's things like that ah ya performance anxiety then what do you think is the most traumatic incident you've experienced in your life


(ppc) uh I think uh I share your experience like personally, uh I was bullied in primary school for being fat ya so like when I entered secondary school it was the same thing uh I wasn't bullied but like I was just conscious you know


like cause l if I was bullied in one environment what makes me not a target when I enter this new environment so I was very cautious I was very scared I still remember like I would say a few kids picked on me like a few seniors but they didn't really bully me and it's such a small thing I remember it's it's such a silly thing


they were pointing this laser pointer at my food ya but I was eating alone during this recess time I had no one around me but then like the seniors just like a group of seniors sat beside me and they just pointed to like disturb me and they were laughing and laughing, then I remember from that I actually cried it sounds ridiculous but like at that point of time it really overwhelmed me with emotions lah


it's like reliving being bullied again for something that I was so young to I couldn't really control it you know what I mean ya but I wouldn't say that's my most traumatic actual experience and that's actually quite sad for me, I'll say the most traumatic moment would be actually right before I met eh ya right actually last year it was mid last year I was in Krabi we were taking scooters and it was on a mountain ya so what I did was like


mind you this was this was like less than one hour when we took out the rental vehicle so it was a scooter and I I was riding the bike and my friend was pillioning me, so we took the bike we took the scooter up the mountain to like test drive, then it started raining and drizzling so it got slippery so when we actually went down right uh I I used to brake a lot lah