and also, I feel like to retire comfortably they should not have any loans or debts remained unpaid, so when they're retired they can spend money for their own leisure time instead of paying off all these loans and debts


working hard does not bring you far working smart will bring you far, and then uh I feel like you covered points on how to earn extra income or to improve your income level, and, maybe like those entrepreneurs they could cover more business deals by working smart


by using some connections of, other companies that they know of, instead of trying to find, resources themselves like if they're doing a retail , business, they need sources right they need materials raw materials for production to make the products so if they're going to waste time and find it like source for all these materials themselves it's going to take more than a year


and if they are able to work smart by using connections like word of mouth, they would able to secure more business deals in a shorter span of time and that would be a smarter move


I also feel like startups will give you a opportunity to, uh give , how do I say this they give you a opportunity to explore new skills like you said but I also feel like they will hire different,


types of people in a sense like, uh like you mention those uh computer engineers all those accountants all those lawyers because a startup will need essentially, all these people, to function as a company


so I feel like they will increase the percentage of employment in the economy essentially, so they'll, so they'll contribute to the growth of the economy and the GDP of the country


so I feel like startups are a key part of the economic sector


okay (ppl) (ppb)


negative experience, okay let's see, maybe I have more knowledge in this, , uh okay so many uh let me think what to say


okay I'll send you bubble tea once since uh that's a hint, I would say that okay, it's more of the drink per se instead of like the service, err, for the drink right there's this uh passion fruit bubble tea or something


mango passion fruit, bubble tea I guess that my friend ordered, and then we both shared it was, too sweet it was marketed as a product that was like a balance of sweet and savoury okay not savoury but sweet and


a bit tangy I guess but then it was too sweet I think there's too much syrup used, so when the person was making it they add like they poured more syrup than needed, and then uh it was uh and my friend bought I think like a large size, so it was not even a medium or small so like we couldn't finish it in a sense like we only drank like two sips


so it's like this big right, and then , I think we went back to our house and then we tried to diluted it and it was, still sweet, so I think she eventually added more water to dilute and then to drink it but you see it's so much effort, you know


so like when they market the product, you shouldn't say it's a good mix of sweet and whatever it's you should say it it may be suited to your taste or it may not you can try it you know if you say like that then people be like okay I want to try it if it's not good it's it's fine but if you market in a way like oh it's only going to be like really good you should try it's the best


and then you try it's not you feel like, you can't trust them anymore so when you want to try another drink you think twice you be like what if it's too sweet or too bitter too sour, I won't like it I'm going to waste money so I don't think I want to buy so like you won't want to give sales to the shop anymore


you know cause one negative experience affect your, sales for like the others the other shops, do you have any similar experiences


oh


okay before I share about a service experience I will share about a product experience, so like you know I like these online delivery apps like Shopee and uh EZbuy right, this reminded me there's one time uh I was looking for you know the alcohol swabs


so like to clean your phone screen you know anything, so I was looking for a box of them a small box, and then right I saw one website I mean like one seller and then they say like oh okay we're selling this but uh you can order as many as you want so I just ordered one so I thought it will be one box they didn't say like


properly in the description that is going to be just one like , packet, ya so instead of one box , I ended up ordering one packet so in the in the mail , it was it was this big right


like the packaging, and then there's so much bubble wrap so I was like, okay I thought was a box but it's a bit weird and then I take out the bubble wrap I'm taking out the bubble wrap then I just see one, small packet then I'm just like I spend ten cents for this


so okay lah, that's a bit uh you know ridiculous, but other than that, going back to your question of service, I would say, there were like


staff that were rude to me, like uh okay so I went to uh I think, uh I can't remember, I I went to this skincare shop basically, and then uh, I was looking through like the toner and moisturizer right then after that I think this this


few staff were there but they're chatting among themselves instead of like helping me cause, usually like when you enter the shop they'll greet you it will be a like a regular thing right they'll greet you then be like hi they approach you then like uh what do you want to see what do you want to buy or do you need any help


and then like they'll just leave you be if you say you don't want their help right so I was just looking and then they're like I ask them for help then, they were like talking then they just stare at me and then one of them uh they they were like discussing whether they should go and approach me I'm just like, how is this a discussion


a customer, is here just approach right but to discuss who to go, ridiculous so what they were discussing who to approach me then suddenly like I think they Sabo each other then one came and then she was like uh staring at me then I was like uh hi can you help me with this like what's the difference between this toner this toner right and then instead of saying the difference between toner A and toner B she was like oh ya


this toner is actually good ya it's good for your skin what type of skin do you have uh combi skin oh it's good, so what what does that mean I don't, do you understand anything no right, like I ask the difference between like toner A and toner B which is more suited for my skin what is the like good reviews uh how does it work does it clear up my skin is it suited for like acne


blah blah blah right, she didn't explain anything like no details she was just like oh yes it's good you should buy this you should buy that and she's like you can buy both toners also, uh, I'm just like you know what this is not going to make it I just walk out already


personally as I worked in the F&B sector or like, my experience as a customer


let me think, when I went to, I think when I went to eat at mcdonald's


there was one time like me and my friends we're just going to order and then it's really crowded so when it's peak period obviously they will make mistakes here and there and then you hear like shouting in the kitchen saying like why do you give the wrong order it's normal right in a way so


I think when it was our turn to order there was no one at the counter, even though it's peak period and then we were really hungry and then there were other people behind us starting to like, voice out their opinions like why is it taking so long we are hungry and it's peak period, where's the you know


the person serving and then, after that I think like it took them five minutes to just come up the kitchen and I think they were taking a break so like, the like, how to say, like if someone took the break and then there will be another one to replace them right so the person to the replacement person didn't show up


so like uh it just make things worse for the, service side mcdonald's, and then uh it became like a huge commotion, customers are getting angsty and then there are other servers that were like is trying to serve like ten people at once


so, we didn't know the situation at first so we all also like getting irritated like wait why isn't no one serving and so many people in the kitchen what's going on and then when someone came to explain that's when we understood so like I feel, , if like rather than I mean I understand like mishaps like this will happen


but I feel like if someone is there to explain the situation to the customers then there'll be more understanding and then there'll be less chaos because there's really chaotic at that point of time, because people are thinking like they're purposely delaying and making the service worse


ya wasted time


reminds me of experience like when I was calling up uh an institution to, ask about like uh the academic structure and general questions around that, and then this person picked up, from this particular institution and then she was uh


kind of rude from the start she she didn't greet anything she was like hello, just so rude like you're not talking on the phone right this is essentially like a professional kind of setting like a formal setting and then she was really rude in a sense like, she her tone of her tonation like


the voice was, the tone of her voice is really of innocence like she was like demanding, and , she was like expecting me to be, uh like, well versed with


whatever knowledge of the school beforehand which is kind of weird because like I'm calling to ask about it right because I don't have much knowledge that's why I like to clarify and to learn about the academic structure I'm calling right but she's expecting me to already know about it beforehand which is kind of


weird, and then she was talking to me in a rude way most of the time and I I was just like it it's affecting my reputation or image of the school because if the staff itself is rude then I'll think like oh maybe the general population also like that you know


so in the end it's a good thing I didn't go to the institution basically


right okay


this reminds me of our experience with the airline service, so when we took a flight to , I think, it's a transit flight to Dubai, and and then we were behind time, and then we were


because we couldn't flat we couldn't find the uh what do you call it the terminal is it, yeah we couldn't, is it the boarding area, ya ya the boarding gate so we couldn't find the boarding gate so we were like going around the circles right and then that wasted time because we only had like ten minutes to transit right to get to our boarding gate to another flight so and we were kids right


and then we were like rushing from one end of the airport to uh the other, and then when we finally reach the flight we were the last like people to board right and then I remember that we were getting scolded by the flight attendants because we were like delaying the flight in a sense that you were supposed to


board already but they're waiting for us, but I feel like, we were just kids with our parents they should like give us certain leeways right and that when we explained our situation to them, that we were at the other end of the airport because we thought it was the other gate


and they didn't , like listen to it and then they were just scolding us mindlessly saying like oh we're behind schedule we're getting delay was supposed to fly now I feel, like, okay in a sense that customers always come first like customer is always right that mindset even though I feel like at times is


it's a bit like, wishful thinking but at this time, they should listen to us right because it's a situation that we couldn't help, so I feel like they should be more open minded yeah


positive experience, so for me, a positive experience I had, as a customer, uh I would say firstly the first


experience that comes to my mind is I went to Sephora to buy a new makeup product which is, uh a foundation and then, I was totally clueless as to like what brand or what shade to buy and then this salesperson she just approached me she was very friendly then she was like


hi how are you she greeted me and and she was like so what are you looking for do you need any help and then she's very attentive to what I was saying and then she recommended a brand called Fenty and then uh she help me pick my shade and she was super accurate in picking my shade in a sense that


she picked it, exactly to match my skin tone which is quite shocking to be honest, and then I was quite impressed with her because usually when I go to other outlets, of Sephora or like, other makeup shops


they are very off in a sense in picking my shade range and it's very difficult for me because, , choosing my foundation is something that, uh is not easy, and I was very taken aback


at the past, store experiences but, and Sephora has really really happy with my customer service


the thing is no one no one judges there, they are just there to explore buy the things and get out


so how does it smell like, I had a similar experience in a sense that I recently went to buy a Dior perfume


because I heard from you from your experience I wanted to try because I was also looking for perfume that last longer than ten seconds, so, I went to Sephora at uh, Jurong east outlet at jem


and then I just entered and then I found the perfume section so I was just there browsing trying to look at what, perfume I should try and then this is another guy that approach me and he's, like hi so do you want to try I can help, few spray in the backroom and and give it to you because like COVID so you can't test it on your own right


and then , like in the backroom there's testers in the backroom, so he goes there and then sprays on that you know that , ya the the paper and then he'll give it to me, so he I have made him go back and forth for like eight times I think around there because I was trying to find the like the scent that suits me I was looking for like a light airy and sweet smell


but then the scent, that he was showing me was musky and some are like, strong in a sense I didn't really like it, and then he was showing me, some brands like uh, Chloe I think


he said that that was one of the best sellers which is essentially one of the perfumes that I went to choose first, but I didn't really like it but in the end right the last perfume that he recommended was the perfume that I bought I think is is the Sior perfume but I bought the smaller size which is still expensive can you guess how much


okay this one is okay I got it ninety three right for Dior perfume at ninety three I think it's a good price, ya it's a steal so


that's perfume, it smells more fresh like you know when you're washing your face with a cleanser, smell something like that and it's sweet also and the thing I like is is not musky is quite light, so uh I think that was a good experience like I should say that he was willing to listen


to my feedback and then he was willing to go back and forth to go spray find the perfumes and even though he wasn't on spot like the lady that, chose the perfume for you, uh I feel like he did put in effort and he was very patient with me so I think that's a really good


uh salesperson like, other people should learn from him, cause I've had, bad experiences as well, so like, I went to buy a piece of clothing from J cube


and then the sales lady at first she approached me to like hi what are you looking at and I was looking at a pair of shorts, and then she was like so what color you are looking for then I was just asking her like is this uh does this have a safety net inside things like that and then she was like saying oh you can buy the safety shorts and then I said oh it's okay I have the safety shorts and then I think she didn't like that I had it because she just


know I was holding the shorts in my hands right and then she just put it on the right and then she went away, I'm just like, !huh! what's going on, I just say I had the article will convince she didn't like it, so I was like, I was a bit taken aback you know like the service does affect your sales


level right so like I didn't, I was already like taken aback then I was like I don't think I should, gave sales to her you know cause she's rude, like who who wants to go back so like I just too ignored it then I, was like okay I need a pair of shorts because I'm playing sports right so I need shorts and then I was looking at other articles of clothing then I was like


still affected by the previous you know, encounter with her so I just ignored her I now still browsing through then I was like, you know what I don't think I want to buy so I just left, , so do you have any negative experiences


well shopping or dining, oh it's actually positive


dining experience, uh let me think, I can't really remember much now since uh COVID and then we are just ordering in, or going to hawker centres


but uh restaurants I would say , that time when we went to a mexican restaurant to eat, as a family uh I feel, the I think one of the managers were attentive to us in a sense like when we're eating they ask so how's the food is everything okay do you need anything else like they're checking up on us


which I find like in many other restaurants they don't check up on the customers at all you don't ask for feedback or how they're doing or they want to order more they're just like oh yeah yeah what do you want to order that's it, like they don't care so long you pay the money and go


so like I feel that was a good dining experience like checking up on your customers, so it makes you feel like uh they're attentive to you and then you feel like you want to visit them again even though the food was so so


so what food they order, like what type of dish


speak in french or, oh okay okay so they greet you in english right


okay, so you do you do you need like, knowledge of french language to


so the level of comfortability


do you remember some of that


I think for me it'll be, as simple as a hawker centre, like, aunties uncle selling food to you or drinks so usually like if you go to any hawker centre there will be this person walking around asking whether you want to order a drink right


so they were actually very kind you know be like seeing you eating they'll be like oh is it spicy do you need a drink they're very caring so they'll ask you like, it's okay I'll bring it to you don't have to walk all the way you can pass me the money also so they're very caring in a sense that they see you stuffing your face with food and then you're going to choke then they'll be like do you need water do you need a drink


, if like you go and order like let's say some soup, based dish and then they will ask you so do you want add chili do you want to add the milk or condense milk or do you want to add this ingredient that ingredient so I feel like they are very attentive in a sense that they want you to enjoy the food as well as they want you


to have a good experience eating as well, so I think that's a good, like positive dining experience I would say


but the food is good


this one actually reminds me of grab, services, or go jack services so like, uh the ride hailing industry which is growing in singapore, uh I feel like if you certain Grab drivers will engage you in conversations and I've engaged in like


a political conversations or, life experiences even about army even though I have no experience army we have been talking about all that or some, Grab drivers will just listen to you talk and they'll be like so do you know how to


drive what are you doing in life are you happy so I feel like, rather than just greet like treating me as a regular passenger, they take the time while driving to check in on us, and they're really nice in a sense that if you're having a bad day and you talk to them about it they make sure that you leave with a positive mindset


out of the Grab car and then, even though you give them five star reviews you still have that experience etched in your mind and then you always think back to the advices they have shared even though they are stranger, so I feel like, the level of comfortability you have with them is something that you can never get from other experiences


in a sense yeah, yes


okay okay,


okay that's good


part one finance, uh okay so Danastri what's one financial advice that you will give to you five years ago


uh one financial advice I would give myself five years ago so you know ah five years ago !wow! it's it's as a longtime uh five years ago probably what I would have done is I would have told myself to work


more part time jobs uh more uh uh jobs or a, probably doing more side hustles because what I realized this I uh like you said when you uh grow up and you tend to realise that you need to buy more insurance or more financial products for yourself


uh like and now I'm thinking now the problem is uh sometimes I don't have enough capital to buy insurance or investment plan so if I started saving five years ago, it will be very uh helpful for me right now but I ended up uh I'd I delayed my side hustles and working part time quite a bit


and I, I did not save enough so ya another advice would be I did not save enough, but uh I think we should just focus on one financial advice since the question said one, uh but yeah uh I think can you can ask me another question


uh yes now I do have the habit of savings so for example uh I keep like a rough budget it's not a very uh systematic or like a very strict budget but I keep a very rough budget for example this month


I try not to spend within uh let's say five hundred dollars for example this a rough estimate so that I don't overspend and with the COVID situation, uh it's a little easier to track expenses because uh now we don't travel as much


we don't go out as much so it's uh, it's more uh easy to save during the period uh, but I think uh I can definitely work on the savings uh goals I have, so uh for yourself are you saving more now


so like uh talking about spending and money like where uh where exactly do you spend your money and uh what have you been spending too much on


income tax uh !wow! this is a very good question uh I think I was talking about this with a friend uh he's a financial advisor and I think uh one very important point here is that you cannot


you cannot prevent paying income tax because that's illegal but you can reduce income tax so that's something we have to make it very clear uh, to reduce income tax I think there are couple of ways but I can't remember, the exact terminology he used but what I rememeber


is for example, if you uh go to the CPF website, are , I I think there's some like uh what do you call that like uh some it's a there's some insurance policies or investments where you can invest in a seep using your CPF money


so what you can do is like for example you have hundred thousand dollars you can take half of it and put into your CPF and use that money to invest and that money is not uh taxed by the government because it's in your CPF, or what you can do is like uh for example uh to reduce the income tax another way is to donate to charities


but you have to make sure that the charities are registered and if they're not registered uh you might have problems filing for income tax, eh other ways to reduce your income taxes for example if you're married you have children uh you can file under the parental reliefs fee uh if you are living with your grandparents uh you can file under your grandparents' tax


but unfortunately for us we can't file it yet because we are not working full time but I think in the future we can uh start filing uh income tax like this and very important uh if you are working or travelling I mean if you are working overseas you don't pay any income tax to singapore


I think uh the yes so uh if you earn within a certain bracket of income they will tax you accordingly so for example uh I can't remember exactly but I remember like there's different levels so let's say the first ten thousand


no no uh it's not like that it doesn't segregate by working class middle class it segregates by the amount of money you earn, so for example if you have ten thousand dollars if if you earn ten thousand per year


they tax you according to that according to that if you earn more than that let's say you earn thirty thousand so the first ten thousand is taxed according to a certain uh rules or I meant certain regulation or certain method uh certain uh matrix and then the second the next twenty thousand will be taxed uh calculated by another matrix


so it's not like if you are middle class with uh uh working class you have tax differently, correct yes the income bracket because uh I think it's not fair to like categorize people to working class middle class and then people might get upset correct by the income bracket so uh yes uh where it is a very interesting question uh


so like a follow-up on that and uh what advice would you give to someone in order to retire comfortably,


, uh I think you raise some good points about how we should not have debts


going to retirement age because imagine yourself uh being at a bit being at the age and then uh you want to travel or you want to do something uh nice with family and friends and the last thing in your mind is I mean it last thing you want in your mind is oh I have to pay off that DBS loan I got a few years ago or something


I would say my advice uh, if I were to give someone on how to retire comfortably is have a side hustle or work an uh additional job uh to get at at least a secondary source of income so that


uh you can use your income to invest or reinvest in this uh in the stocks of financial securities, they they're different uh I would say that different uh assets, to invest in right now and there's so much information online and also a side hustle will help uh because in this current uh situation many people losing their jobs are rescaling


at the side hustle for the additional uh, age when it comes to applying for jobs uh because I've seen it myself uh because uh in the company that I work for I've seen how it's a software company I've seen how people are going beyond by learning different skills


uh and software to something called front-end and back-end development so the back-end developers are learning front-end and the front-end developers are leading back-end so they become full stack engineer so they have both skillsets and they are more valuable or as time progresses


and all and also is not just about working I'll also to take it as a very , as a fun learning process so uh there'll be definitely times, where uh, where things may not go right in the financial planning stage and you might always think okay I need to hit a one million amount amount amount of one million to retire comfortably uh but I would say always have a backup it's okay you know you always learning


it's a learning process so I'll say start now start the learning process now to retire comfortably so what's your goal if your goal is to get uh five hundred thousand dollars by the by your retirement age so how are you going to achieve that goal so take a slow step


and along the way you might not might not achieve it hundred percent or you might not you might over achieve it so it's fine, but just understand that uh it's going to be a rough goal it might change in the future, so just each each time we look at a goal just make sure that you are


allowing room to improve and room to make mistakes because I I've seen I've seen people because I uh I had some experience working in in the in the insurance industry as well where uh just because a particular investment does not work


for certain year and uh they pull out in due to , their emotions or due to other reasons they pull out from investments and only for the investment to rise again in in a later period of time which is really sad because you invested so much money and you pulled it out even before you've seen the fruits of your labour


so I would say uh yeah that's small small things like this where you don't have to, , where you where you learn not to be emotional and you learn how to control your emotions better when investing so it's uh like uh like if it's a it's a short short explanation but you can see how much there is to learn how much


this is a process so uh many people at what what I don't like nowadays is many people are saying ah you know what I'm I can retire uh by sixty and uh all I have to do is just work hard, uh but you need to know how to work hard


it's not just grinding twenty four seven twenty years and there is a process to it so uh what what are your thoughts on this


very interesting point you brought up because uh being entrepreneur is is definitely not easy routes uh even though uh many people the media kind of uh portrays it as a very uh exciting and hyped feel but I think people need to know that there's a lot of hard work that goes behind the scenes


uh because as a entrepreneur myself I I've I've I I really understand and sympathize with other entrepreneurs on uh how how it takes to make it, and uh like you said you know to source for other deals and to to connect with other companies I do agree with that but however one issue is


it's not everyone will be open to give you a deal not everyone will be open to connect with you in the first place because imagine let's say a big bank like DBS and I'm a fintech startup I'll give you I have a solution which helps you to


for example make your investments more safe let's say I have a algorithm or I figured out an algorithm to make uh more, safe investments but with higher returns this is something and most people wants as as most investors or most clients are risk adverse so


I approach the company but the thing is I don't have enough traction I don't have enough uh, I let say my startup is only for a year I don't have enough history I don't have enough traction I don't have enough uh feedback on market uh market presence and so the company DBS will be wondering okay if I work with you will you be alive the next year


even the next months, because you never know when a startup will cease to exist and as you know the percentage of startups are being to survive beyond the first year it's like, it's a very high uh it's a very small percentage I would say and and that's why it's very is a high stress job as well because uh you are leaving your full time careers of stable career toward embark on something that you hope


that can uh make some money out of it at uh but I do agree with your point you know it's it's it's a essential skill like how to sell so for example, uh if I approach a client I need to know how to sell myself uh not just about closing the deal because uh I need to know what a client wants so the DBS company for example going back to the same example how can I sell myself in such a way that


the the DBS bank will hire me instantly or hire me immediately without, much talk because, if I collaborate with them they too need to earn and have some kind of a, trust or they need to feel secure that okay I I feel confident with this startup I know that they are backed up by reputable people so again I need to uh source for reputable people to vouch for me to and also I need to make sure that I work the credentials well


, but ya I do agree startup is uh I mean get creating a startup is one way to generate additional income and it's a very good way to uh, to really learn uh more about yourself or even to pick up new skills so even if the startup fails at least you are more valuable than before


you learn how to sell this out better you learn how to market you learn different rules that you need to do uh you even learn technical skills for example you might learn how to you might learn programming because maybe someone in the company it's not able to fill in the role and you might have to take over the role


oh yes definitely definitely that's a very good point you brought up


that's true like uh not only do startups I meant uh I meant there is a risk involves because you you hire people but you may not, know if you can hide the person for a long period of time for the short term yes I do agree with that uh and it makes singapore uh for in our context a more attractive country for investors for people who set up their businesses as well


cause uh not only do we attract uh singaporeans to be entrepreneurs we attract other people from other countries which is really great like expats for example but expats I think it's it's more like for uh people who work in companies employed in singapore


but uh I'm not sure if the term is used for entrepreneurs but okay uh that's up to debate later or what ya, I guess that's a very interesting point and do you have any final thoughts on, uh okay I think the time is up it's okay


negative experience, err alrights so you should go first, , yes


yeah


correct, uh for products let me think uh for products wise


err negative experiences for products okay this will be really hard for services yes for products , oh maybe uh


okay maybe it's because it's a because of my personal preference I'm not sure if, if I can say this uh because uh but okay but uh still negative for me so I guess is relevant to the topic so I tried ramen it uh recently and I tried scallop ramen I wanted to try how scallop taste like and I never tasted scallop before


but I really did no it does not taste good like I did not like it's just alright for me, but I still finish the ramen because uh you know like okay I could it's bearable for me but uh I did not like the taste and the soup base wasn't nice uh the service staff were really nice you know like they were very friendly and they were very accommodating to the order


uh but the dish itself wasn't great uh maybe because I've tried I've experienced ramen from michelin star restaurants and uh for me to eat and ramen from that restaurant probably probably the standard is uh


uh the differences in standard is too much for me I guess uh, but uh I I think and a more relevant for me uh negative experience for me to talk about is uh it's in a government organizations so I ask the question, uh regarding travel and uh unfortunately the lady was really uh


cold like she was very rude she was uh she was talking very fast and very loud and I couldn't understand what she was saying and I all I just ask her a very simple question you know travelling during the COVID period because I some, issues uh with the the travel so I I felt she was very rude and uh it wasn't very a very nice conversation I was very angry about it


, and I would say are more negative experiences with service staff rather than uh products because uh products wise I don't really have any negative experiences but people the service people yes oh I have a a few stories to talk about but uh let you to share and assert negative service you experienced


it, okay, yeah


ah ya yes


one packet okay ,


okay


yeah that's good at at least you walked out uh I would ya so for me like this to add on on that you've reminded me of another uh negative experience I guess for me it's like err


I was it's it's a negative experience while working as a retail staff I used to work as a retail assistant as you know of a winter clothing company and uh it was a very


it was it was a rude customer I would say it was a very uh so uh the product was fine there's nothing wrong with the product but the customer came in with his wife and , he wanted to look at the male section so I referred him to the male section I was like okay you can look at the products here if uh if you need any help let me know I'll just be there and then he just became very rude all of a sudden he was like why aren't there many variations for male products


so I just kindly explained to him that you know uh female tend to buy more from this shop there're more products available uh to females but guys don't really buy as much so there's not much uh variations for guys and it doesn't uh and all that isn't much uh sense to make


more for the guys as well so uh this explained to him and he was like no I don't get it you know this is a clothing store you should have, more varieties for guys and he just started becoming angry and he said I don't like this store uh can you err I'm going to find a better store I was like fine I mean it's your choice if you want to go


shop here you can shop here if not you can you can go so there's nothing with the I don't think there's anything wrong with the product maybe it's a little bit biased because I was working there, but uh like from a neutral point of view I don't see how why he was angry and his wife was really nice he and she was like okay uh sorry about what happen over there but thank you so much for being uh


patient and understanding uh if we are interested we'll come just come back again and I really like that uh how she ended off the conversation so I respected that, , but uh for me it it was just very weird you know seeing how customers themselves can be rude not only the salespeople but how customers ourselves can be rude uh which is which is really an eye opener for me


uh and yeah I guess uh you I don't like , working I've worked at service line for quite awhile so I have experienced many different things like this, uh but for I would say uh


I can't think of other products but more of like service or maybe do you have any other stories about, that can share


it could be either that or just uh maybe as as a experience working as a, oh oh that's just one okay okay sure


oh uh this reminds me of uh a pizza the report ah I don't I'm not sure I remember about uh it's from one of the pizza outlets in singapore of course


no no it's not domino's basically, I think so I think is canadian so canadian pizza the the stuff we I think there's a reason why does it said always deliver from them not walk in uh we went to the store and uh I think we took like half an hour we waited for half an hour to forty minutes just for pizza


and the guy offered to refund us for waiting so long I think we are accepted it in the end like it was really nice really nice gesture for you know instead uh uh taking the, money he the guy refund us money and give us a pizza in the end which is good uh


but you know it's very bad because we waited for thirty to forty minutes we can do uh we could've done other things we could've went went home and uh done our uh other work uh which we don't need to sit there for thirty to forty minutes and waste our time over there, and that that was really bad and but it was it the guy made it up in the end by refunding us the full price of the pizza so I am not I wouldn't say it's a totally negative experience but it was very bad experience waiting


endlessly uh but I'm not sure if any experiences like that you know we're we're just waiting endlessly


interesting, uh !wow! okay it's interesting that uh you got a negative experience with my educational institute uh, for me it uh I don't I don't have any like negative experiences from my uh educational institute maybe a bank


err, and now you reminds me of a bank I'm not sure which bank it was but I just called in to ask, for some clarity , my card my debit card and uh


the staff I think similar to your case the staff was really rude he was like why don't you know you should have known before you signed up I was like, I read the terms and conditions it's not like I didn't I I signed it blindly I just want to clarify why the certain charges here and there and then he was like oh uh why don't you know you should have known I was like that's why I'm calling right like


I'm not calling just to waste your time I'm calling because I have a question and I think that you might be able to help me with it, and uh because I suspect I suspect us uh uh there's some fraudulent transactions going on so I just wanted to check, and for that he had to make a big fuss about it and uh take so long just to help me with it so I really did not like the experience because as a bank I mean it's normal for people to be worried about the uh cash flows or transactions when it suspicious


and and nowadays with many uh spam calls or like a, cases of uh fraudulent transactions going on I think it's more important to to to uh to just double check and clarified with bank in case, uh but this customer service officer decided to uh vent his frustration on me instead of trying to help which I really did not like and uh so I ended up becoming like the customer service officer


so I was the patient when I was like I was like okay I understand but can you just help me with this so I ended up taking like the the the role of the customer service officer instead of him so I should be pitied uh but , which is kind of weird it was like a very weird situation like


but I guess these kind of experiences teaches you how to handle people better just give them more open mind of like how people can be and how you need to stand yours and stand your ground in certain situations like this uh


alright, alright


, #jia min# or where oh the yeah, the gates boarding gates I think yeah


positive experience


uh funny enough uh I was thinking about uh what should I talk about and so again Sephora came to my mind uh not because I bought a makeup product uh but I I I think it was my first time to go to Sephora to buy uh a perfume with friends


so my friends and I recently we wanted to like okay how can we dress better how can we have better style and fashion, uh and we're like okay why not let's drop by sephora uh I believe there's something for guys as well so initial is very awkward like you know being a guy and I see a lot of girls around I'm like okay am I in the right place while some girl look at me and like


uh yeah and uh it's very funny cause , ya it's it is it's strange like no one no one like uh no one bothers you know I'm just walking around, correct correct


so uh funny enough uh I was just I I saw I was like okay I was just walking straight and my friends and I walking straight and then we saw the perfume section and one sales guy was like !hey! okay man section is here there's like oh okay this is the man section


ah and then I went there and err it's it's very funny because I was wearing a, a I bought about a shirt in the philippines and it says E-locos, uh and the filipino guy was like ah E-locos so you went to the philippines then I was like yes and so he's very friendly uh the sales guy was very friendly and he and I had a filipino friend with me as well so we started talking


and uh, I'm not sure if it's because of that by it was this, he was recommending a lot of products and giving a lot of advice so how he started off was he , he gave us some samples of the perfume to smell and he gave us some advise like for example if you uh use the Hugo Boss of a certain uh variation you can use it for parties or for dates or for going to school so on and so forth work


blah blah blah and then just keep trying different uh I mean I just kept smelling not try we can't try perfumes but it smell so I'll keep try I smelling rather smelling different types of perfume and , my friend bought one one because he was really good at selling he was like okay you know what uh I know what you want I think you I think like this style he like he like in how in your example their sales lady got a very


she she knew your shade well this guy knew what our tastes were like what our perfume taste were well but unfortunately I did not buy from him because uh I didn't feel comfortable with the smell or the the price range cause it was, first time buying a perfume another lady came I think it was around like hundred and sixty dollars and another lady came and then she knew what I wanted more like so the sales guy targeted had a very nice presence but he didn't know exactly what I want and the sales lady knew


exactly what I wanted so uh and then I ended up buying Abercrombie and Fitch perfume so uh it's really sweet it's like a it has a very sweet take uh aroma to it sweet smell ya not taste sweet smell ya


so okay ya, okay okay yes


what do you mean spray on the back rope, oh oh okay okay oh the paper thing okay


, I think it's like at least hundred like a hundred dollars


ya it's a steal I think


uh oh okay


okay well I thought we were supposed to talk about positive experience here though, yeah yeah ya ya ya but it's okay it's okay


ah, I I think we can just moved another positive experience like uh maybe I can ask you like I think something more, how about like you have any like uh positive dining experience I know you like to eat out a lot you like to


ah yes


uh for myself I would say it's uh recently I went to a french restaurant with a friend, it was little uh I think it was around closing time so uh I do uh I initially expected that the staff will be a little rude or cold


but uh little did I know they're very welcoming they're like okay it's fine I know I understand it's closing time but uh you guys can still come in ah just let me know your orders and , you just just to let you know the kitchen will close at a certain period of time so you can't order after that and I really like that he was very clear with the uh what they can do at that point of time uh instead of pushing us and saying no it's closed most most places would just say sorry we are close or you only can order this


that's it but he gave us the option to order to still order from the menu and uh he gave up he gave us some time to think as well and he gave some recommendations as well like uh there're certain breads but I can't remember exactly , but uh I really like the fact that uh he was telling us !hey! you know what you can order the special today if you like


we still have the special of the day and uh he did he was you know when we ask questions even though we're still closing time yes he took the time patiently say ya the plate will be this size uh this is spicy not spicy for example can I add uh can add the ingredients for you


or the bread for example I think the bread was a little cold so my friend asked for olive oil so he gave olive oil or, generously for us , whether that's healthy or not again that's for debate uh discussion altogether but uh I think I was just there for the experience and the food was really good uh


and also we know it was closing time I was expecting the quality or the food not did not taste well but I think the chefs took their time to cook uh for my friend and I which is really great, and it was a really positive dining experience uh being in a french restaurant I'm not sure because of their ambience or like it because is a french restaurant it kind of give me that perspective like ah it's is a nice cuisine of gastronomy but


I guess uh I I've I've also I've seen how well or that guy had extended of how how uh, server should be in a restaurant for example, that's really great uh for me


oh I can't remember some called I think it's called ya cod fish as a filet cod fillet ah but I forgot the french name because the menu was in french uh so so to clarify of the staff uh what what does this mean or they did not have much english


text to give an idea of the dish uh, no no no the staff was singaporean like uh it's a singaporean staff but he he works at a french restaurant, no no no he uh he's a singaporean he's a singaporean staff


ya, ya it's all in english all in english it's just the food the menu is in french, so I meant the food is french


err bare I would say ya a bit but my friend can speak some french so it's fine it's not so bad but the waiter again ah just to emphasize that the the waiter or the server was really helpful uh in answering the questions even thought it's uh closing time


and uh is is really nice experience it felt as if I was having lunch in the restaurant, like because usually lunchtime is the best time where you have the best experience from the service but I I felt that experience uh from the server as well uh just really nice


and uh another point I would like to talk about is going shopping for washing machine so , I was shopping for washing machine in Mustafa and a sales lady approached me


and it was a very uh again you know it was a very a little rushed at the point of time uh, and she was very patient very kind with me she was like okay sir she even call me sir which is like okay !wow!, uh she went on the extra mile to really make me feel uh comfortable in the surrounding and uh


she really took the time and she would say something like okay I don't want it to walk too much how about I bring you to this section first she even thought about the small small details like that where she doesn't want a customer to walk too much the customer to, correct correct so uh and I really liked how she was very patient with me


uh and , for the washer she was explaining to me okay what was the benefits between a front load and a top load washer what is the maintenance like what kind of clothes can you wash if you're if you have male I mean if you have female and male's, in the the household washing clothes together what kind of what things do you have to do to avoid the the clothes from uh at at like I guess uh damaging each other out and stuff like that so she gave very detailed


uh yeah I think she said for uh like a like essentials or like uh delicates to, put in a separate uh washing back so it doesn't interfere with other clothes and the delicate up stay are uh would will stay protected


and also how there are different detergents as well now this is something I don't really think of uh there are different detergents for different type of washes, so just very interesting because usually we don't really think about the washing powder or the washing liquid which is we just buy and pour it into the machine but however we have to be more careful because uh if you use the top load detergent for front load it may not work as well


and if you look and vice versa so that's something I really learned from her as well so do you have any positive experience from other salespeople or from other people sell different kind of products and services


(hmm) (hmm) (hmm) (mmhmm)


ya we we cannot forget about hawkers in singapore like even though uh dinner may not be as elegance or posh as the restaurants


yes, food and sometimes the like I said the hawker aunties and uncles are really nice people even to the extent of you know having some chitchat or side conversation with you err even you know while waiting for her food or even after our even while eating your food uh that's really nice


okay


it's so funny like the Grab driver are like our personal therapists for the ride, like uh ah why ya I get it like you know because they do want to make sure that you you feel comfortable and safe with them especially with the uh news about you know certain bad Grab drivers doing certain things but it's great that uh you have a positive experience


uh I I feel like you shouldn't get the shouldn't let the negative reviews of one person effect all of this uh good drivers who who are just doing a job and who just want to earn a living uh, ya which is great uh I think uh for me as well I think ironically for me it would be a female Grab driver she was really nice


like uh she has a very nice you know uh very she even call me sir as well I'm not sure why but she was very uh very polite very uh, she even asked okay should I go by this way you prefer me to go buy AYE or another expressway uh would you like me to uh stop little further or nearer and uh like similar to your experience I guess that she was very open with core talking as well


part one finance


so edrick do you like have a savings account, I'm sure some people do


(hmm), you're right right, anyways how many savings accounts do you have


I have two one will be more for like savings that I'm putting it aside and the other one will be more for uh expenses you know the that that gives like salary crediting account and whatever payments that needs to go out it goes out from that particular account and like savings will be a different account


two accounts yeah


yeah, ya but, one so which means you do not have a like a joint account with your partner


by why would you want to have a joint account , , right


okay, I know personally for me I do I don't really want to have a joint account or maybe ya you know which means that I'll end up having three different accounts so a certain amount I'll put in the joint account and my my partner can put the same account as well and make sure we are paying for the same thing you know not like I'm overspending his money or


something like that so it has to be very disciplined like I said


ya you just have to make sure that you know like what he said you know the other person is not happily spending away the money and then when you go and check your joint account, I mean I have known of scenarios where they have joint accounts and the other person just puts in the money puts in the money and then the other person just spend the money just spend the money at the end of the day when they really needed the money and the person went to the bank account and check they're like shit there's no more money and and then they realised that [orh] the partner actually utilised all the all the cash so I guess


ya so that's something , ya one has to be mindful of as well yeah, , , let's just say been there done that I had credit cards before and you know it's it's definitely not an asset it's a liability right so if you don't handle it well you're going to end up in debts and uh so that's something that I really don't I I used to have credit cards and


then right now I don't and I'm really happy about it what about you, (mmhmm)


how do you manage ten


you see at the end of the day it still comes back to discipline


I agree I agree you see that's the disadvantage uh so one thing about credit cards that I've learned definitely through experience also is that even if let's say you had a bad credit and you've settled everything you know you have to I think go past another five years before you're allowed to uh apply for a credit card again so


that's that's the challenge sometime so even though if let's say you're working well you know you're earning well you've you've the money and everything you cannot apply because of the bad credit credit rating yes, yes I agree too so ya I mean people definitely they grow I mean they they grow you earn more and everything so there are times that people are also down so sometimes like I think they need to do reviews they have to make exceptions and not be so rigid about it


it's definitely not I am I don't want to mention the bank name but there was one bank that I had a credit card with with uh some bad credit and even though it's all been settled now and everything and when I wanted to apply for a personal account because I had a bad credit rating for the credit card account I was not allowed to apply for a personal account


[orh] so partner's account right so that does it mean you have any fixed deposit, okay


kay that's a little rigid if you ask me


is there's been a bit of a hassle actually


the layman ya that's that's because you see that's the thing they have the term called millionaires you see that's why millionaires yeah, ya overnight ya that's true well this this can be debated and debated and debated and still we won't win so that's the sad thing


ya so that is something that I think they really really really really should look into


I'm out of it and not only that because recently when I bought a house also I couldn't get a bank loan because of, ya the rating so uh it was a little tough so but because thank god I had savings and of course like you know friends who who were willing to help me out a lot uh a lot so because of that okay fine I could manage but if imagine if I couldn't take the HDB loan or if I could I didn't have friends to help me or whatever


I can't get a bank loan it's it's really a challenge it's really a challenge so ya so I guess it


that sounds a little tough but that is a hard reality right uh harsh hard and ya but if if let's say you have a kid, at what age would you give him a ATM card , it's a ATM card not a credit card what are you talking about


, it's his money like like yeah, Deepavali time they get #ang pow# money you know


uh if I don't intend to have kids but if I had I would say sixteen you know when they are more little more mature secondary , no sixteen because you know at young nowadays kids right I just feel that there's too many things to buy to purchase and all that and you can't actually control their expenses so just don't give them the ATM card if they want money uh they can still come to you and ask


credit card ah !wah! twenty one lah eh actually ah even not if, more than twenty one I'm sorry I'm wrong to say that I will say that once they work, then they should get a credit card


yeah that's the thing


banks to get miles and all yeah, uh


I have I have colleagues who are like that you know they'll go and check check check check check check and then they got to [orh] this one has this one so honestly I wasn't I didn't really pay attention before I was like you know what just apply and see if I get it it was at that point it was like that if I can apply if I can get it fine but later I learned from my friends that you know a lot of credit cards have a lot of like it what you said advantages like the miles and all that you know for you to be able to accrue and for your mile so


it's definitely a good thing to research before getting just jumping into a credit card cause some also if I'm not wrong the interest rates are higher , I think there's different different clause and all that right so yes definitely I will go for a card that's got more


okay ya so uh we were talking about, credit cards and uh the miles and all that they offer right so ya so I guess it's always good to do some comparison before applying for a credit card but at my end uh right now I don't think I want a credit cards cause


having a credit card is a lot of responsibility and I feel right now without it I'm free ah so because the money that I spent I know that is coming from my bank account directly


uh ah ya I was like that, I was like that too yeah, but I guess nowadays there's a lot of perks you know just because they want people to sign up right like what you say cashback vouchers, yeah a lot of attractive things is available out there which actually appeals to people right and even if you don't need a credit card looking at all these perks you're like you know what why don't we just apply and keep it but at the end of the day right you you don't realise that you know you still have to pay the yearly premiums and all that and then when you get hit with it you're like oh my how come suddenly I've to pay so much


like the premium I think that's like two hundred over dollars you have to pay even though you didn't use the card


yes I've I've I've heard my colleague doing that before but there are instances where they're also very rigid and say no but there are times when they say you know what ya because they want you to hold on to the card right so they say ya ya we'll waive it off for you for another year and and things like that but there are instances where they also say no sorry cannot so then you just proceed to cancel the card


ya, so I guess again it depends on which bank it is also maybe the the ones with more the higher ends one they don't care if you cancel the card you know so they rather just charge you and let you go I guess that's where customer service comes along lah if they want to keep you the the the how they're going to retain their uh the customers


nah, that's the thing right the banks always will call you and say !hey! we're going to offer you money or we're going to offer you insurance and all that but I've never taken it up because one thing is because they always will call you during office hours where you have no time to talk okay and then you tell them call me back after office hours and then they never call you or when they do it's just that


you know you'd you would feel that you already have your own insurance so I don't uh for me I feel like you know I'm done I'm okay I don't need another insurance what about you


but wait why doesn't your ya kay this is a little off topic but doesn't your company cover dental , ya that's true that's true that's true ya but it's just the other thing right I feel the other challenge that sometimes all different banks will call you and then you going to okay fine let's sign up let's sign up and you sometimes you you'll forget you know


exactly


but you see at the end of the day if you actually accumulate all these different amounts that you're paying these different different banks imagine how much money, exactly, yeah, and you know and sometimes I I think there was once also a bank called me up regarding one insurance and they're like [orh] you know you have this but if you take this


uh you get better premium and we can help you cancel the other one you know they will say they will liaise with the other company to to cancel so that you can you know that kind of thing also they have all these marketing gimmicks, there was there was once I remember , it was a bank if I'm not wrong was it a bank ya ya ya it was a bank but ya


you know sometimes they will they'll they will stand outside the bank then they will have the posters and all that then they'll tell you [orh] you know you can, do this also and then sometimes you were just ignorant and you just think [orh] this is going to be better it's like a abrogate okay fine let's just do it so yeah anyways but with the banks I I don't have anything


the housing insurance right ya I I got it separately also recently because of the house ya


yes yes !huh! bank ah (hmm), (hmm), I used a little amount but I can't remember whether it was with a bank or not, ya the insurance but I know I did some investment ya oh I think there was once with with ah this one I felt a little upset was because I think there was once with this company uh a bank they say [orh] you you have to contribute this amount uh every month and then we will save it for you and then at the end of the year or like five years you get something


but there was a little bit of a miscommunication cause initially they said that [orh] you know you can actually withdraw the money as and when you want to but after that only I realised that only after five years you can withdraw the money out , I don't know whether it's endowment or something


ya where you cannot touch the money and you know and there was a little bit of a so sometimes you know when you speak to them also you have to be very careful about what you are signing up for because sometimes just because they want to gain a client they might say a lot of things and if you don't perceive it right then you might be at the losing end


ya but have you taken any bank loans before, okay, was it easy like did you have to go through a lot of documentation and stuff


sometimes they also call you and offer you cash loan right they will just call and say !hey! do you want to you know


yup, so basically just roll it around


so when will it ever clear , yeah, so I guess it's a good and bad


HDB it was solely from HDB so the HDB there wasn't the issue right uh only the banks I I did I did still attempt try to apply for from the bank I think three different banks and all of them said no that's the thing so yeah


has and it's very low right, yeah, ya that's the thing right


I guess that's when investment comes in you know you have to invest your money if you want to see more money because all this interest ya, ya (hmm) okay


I guess so well ya but I guess we just have to be very uh careful about you know applying for credit cards and just know of the commitment I guess


I'm sorry we can't hear you


you're kind of cutting up actually ya you're like ya now we can't see I can't see you , stop button for the AMR thing right ya okay stop


negative experience, !wow! eh that itself is such a negative thing to say you know stop being like this eh but the truth is yes I'm sure we all have negative experiences I've have negative experiences


oh my god tell me about it I'll never forget I remember because you know we have lunch meetings in the office right and then we'll always have to order food in advance so that people can eat because we are we are having the meeting in the office itself right so I remember there was once I am not going to mention the name of the pizza company but it was a pizza company and I complete the order like two hours in advance kay


and then uh what happened was that uh I think it was, can you can you hear me guys, yes so we were having a lunch meeting and then during the lunch meeting uh so of course we have to order food for the people attending the the lunch meeting right so uh I ordered food like two hours in advance and it was eleven thirty it was supposed to be delivered uh delivered because I wanted it to be served by twelve O'clock eleven thirty no sign okay eleven thirty there was nothing eleven forty five there was nothing


and I was trying to call the the restaurant the restaurant said [orh] it's on the way it's on the way it's on the way okay but the food didn't come until one, PM and , like forever you get what I mean and in the end I'd so so but in the end what actually happened was when I was talking because you know when you talk to different customer service also you see that's the other thing not one person will liaise with you a lot of other peoples will liaise with you so eventually when I actually liaise with another one the guy was like [orh] sorry ma'am the food was still in the restaurant


and I was like but the other guy said they was already on the way and you know in the end I've to, no it wasn't don't be a racist but anyway so in the end I'd to write in a complain and everything and then of course they give us some free pizzas and all but we don't want that because what we needed was food for during lunchtime I feel their service recovery sometimes is very bad


what about your side


oh no ya ya ya


, and you know what's funny you are someone who will eat for you is like you know what nevermind just eat lah but for you to complain means it must have been really bad


, ah that's frustrating that's really frustrating


sometimes I just wonder whether these people actually taste the food before they serve or not, they [orh] they are not allowed but then no you are allowed I've seen masterchef they say always serve taste your food before you serve it


well obviously you know this is not but yeah


okay yeah so that's the food part ya but I I also remember uh talking about it to everybody I don't know whether it's the same place actually just this happened uh two weeks ago and you were there right uh the place was what #samar zamar# ya no we were hungry


we were really hungry and then the guy was like [orh] ya okay he took all the orders and he went off and we waited for like half an hour maybe for the food, it was ridiculous I know uh like lex was like so angry and yeah


and, he didn't get the order right my order was wrong


like a composition I remember he wrote so much but you see what really frustrated me he got it wrong, no but what was bad was uh after he took the order right he took the order he went out and he didn't come back to actually check like you did he get the order right he just kind of disappeared so that really got to me and you know what was more frustrating when we went to pay the money right I told the lady I said look the food was tasteless


I said the food was and she didn't even say anything she was just like ah okay there wasn't like okay we'll take a feedback or is it uh like what went wrong nothing nothing


yeah


thirty hours we would have died


, true but you see at least like this one was like in person kind of thing I remember that experience with a telco actually because I think you know how recently we've been having all these rebates from the government and all that right and then uh I think it was not reflected in my bill and I called the customer service officer and I said can you check and call me back


so for me especially when I say can you check and call me back it's very important I remember the person didn't call me back and then I call back and said look I spoke to this person can you help me check to another person ah this is another person, and then I said can you check and call me back and the person say okay fine we'll check and call you back and the best part was nobody ever checked and call me back and the third time when I receive a bill with saying that reminder because you've not paid your bill and all that I was so frustrated ah cause you know


first of all you can't get through the lines easily you've to wait easily half an hour to almost an hour sometimes just to get to a customer service officer, and after you get to them you've to repeat the whole story all over again it's because it's possible that the previous CSO did not put in the notes it's very very frustrating because it first of all you're wasting time already it's your working hours it's cause after office hours they don't open right so you've to call them during office hours so


in the end it was such a bad experience I think three different customer service I've to talk to and none of them could give me the answer until one uh guy he I told him you know what you must call me back it was like an ultimatum already I told him you must call me back and eventually he did and even when he did also he was giving me a wrong information I have to correct him and then I got my problem resolved


ya but you do know that you can wash hands by uh wash clothes by hands right , ya I know what you mean it's very frustrating


true very true but you know this is uh within singapore but I remember I'd a very bad experience in uh when I was in amsterdam okay so amsterdam was uh myself


with uh three four other adults and one two year old kid, so we booked the place uh like a hotel and we realised that in the end it wasn't really a hotel it was more like a AirBnB and there was you know you're in a foreign country when we went there there was no customer service number that we could call we were stranded it was raining you know we was this little alley we have to go through and


it was bad you know we have to go up like four or five storeys and you know over there is all spiral, you know spiral spiral spiral and imagine if let's say if the kid was with us how many times have to go up and down just to get a particular place you see and then when we tried to contact the people via the website the travel website and all we couldn't get anybody nobody is responding


so we were just left stranded like for like almost two hours you know we're just so tired when we were so tempted just to go to a different hotel altogether but luckily eventually we managed to find a little keyhole where the key was hidden and eventually we had to carry all our luggages up I think it was if I'm not wrong it was a fifth storey okay we have to go all the way up


at the end of the day you know the whole trip that was supposed to be exciting was it became like a damper because of the fact that, no proper instructions was given no proper instruction was told like given to us like how we can get the keys and access up to the fifth uh fifth floor or even they didn't even tell us that you have to climb up


five storeys to go up to the to the particular hotel that we want to stay, so you see so again sometimes if, no proper information is given ya I guess like this again goes back to customer service


it's bigger than superior is it , [orh] queen queen queen right ah , okay


they joined it is it, okay


, , uh hello stop with this woman thingy but anyway yes


ya especially if you're a couple I mean yeah that's true, it, , correct ya I mean that's you see that's for for you you had issues with the bed I remember she my best friend so she smokes the husband smokes both of them smoke right so obviously when she she wants to book a hotel room she would want one with the smoking room


okay this is a must so I remember recently when she wanted to book a room she wanted to book a bigger book a bigger room but because of the fact that they were not allowed to smoke she booked a different room, okay so compared to the initial one she booked a different one that was smaller and she even called the hotel to check that say this is a smoking room or not and they said yes but the moment they went to check in and then they realised that eh it's uh no smoking and then she's like no but I actually have called and I spoke ah of course at that point she didn't have the notebook with her where she wrote the name so


she said eh they said that it was a smoking room but then the person at the counter said no it is not a smoking room and uh moreover we also have stopped with the smoking rooms in the hotel, but just a week prior to that my best friend called and she said that you know uh she wanted a smoking room so she was very disappointed because otherwise we would have just gotten the bigger room that she wanted you know with the private pool and whatever


but because she wanted a smoking room she opted for the smaller one and in the end they couldn't they couldn't address the issue right because they are like [orh] anyway it's all ya so but the thing is at the end end of the day if we knew that it was not a a smoking room then we wouldn't even have booked the hotel in the first place we'd have gone somewhere else


exactly, yes ah that is another thing sometimes it's very frustrating I I feel that information is either not disseminated properly or people are just not, paying attention so as a customer we get disappointed right cause when it's not cheap it is expensive as well you know to to book a hotel in uh singapore and and stuff I mean uh again depending on where you're going and then to be not given what you wanted


is annoying, it's annoying ya and so now the latest news is that you know she's like ah I'm going to boycott this place so you see just like that you've lost a customer already, ya because of like


because like for skincare products it's a little subjective right because it's like it do again it depends on your skin if it works it works it doesn't it doesn't so people can sometimes people will say [orh] this confirm guarantee Chop will work but it may not because of your skin conditions but in terms of products at this point I mean especially now recently we've been doing a lot of online shopping right I have to like say that


I haven't really had a a bad experience because my point is that I always make sure I read the reviews, you know if I read a review and sometimes people will say [orh] don't buy from this person this person the product came broken and he didn't fix it so when I read such reviews then I make sure I don't buy


so maybe because of that I've, managed to avoid having such a situation what about you, minus your washing machine that came broken,


ah facial cream


even on the skin but it the thing is sometimes also I feel customer like you when especially when you walk down the the shops and all them someone who just pops up with the cream and say [orh] you should use this cream it's very good, and for them is that they just want to sell the products so they don't care what kind of skin you have they will say anything and everything just to sell their product but sometimes when you go back home like what yous you mentioned right when you apply it you realised that your skin starts to peel or there was no difference at all


okay ya so that is a little disappointment ya that is definitely disappointing it does eh [orh] actually you know what even like body lotions and all that


uh they will ask you [orh] do you have oily skin do you have dry skin then you should use this but in the end when you end up using the product your skin just becomes more oilier, if there's such a word, so yes uh in that sense I've been disappointed yes


ya especially you know which product, hair oil if you go I'm not going to mention this name but it's a very uh well known shops so it is it's in a lot of neighborhoods so you go there, because you know it's against animal testing and everything so they tell you [orh] you should use this product for your hair and then when you say [orh] but you've got oily hair they're like ya ya ya this one will help don't worry it will work and everything but when you go back home and you realised that your hair becomes even more oily and and I hate that feeling so that


kind of stuff yes it's very disappointing because obviously these kind of products you can't bring it back to the shop and exchange right because once you buy it it's, you've used it you can't exchange it


understand ya


positive experience, so edrick when was the last time you had a good dining experience man, since you've been going out all the time


ya eh that's not a bad thing what singapore has got a lot of food but yes anyway , true true agree


oh so it was really in singapore that your [orh] okay fine right okay , okay


right


ah it's been a while because of the COVID and everything but I think the last one that I went, to which I can vaguely remember would be some place in Punggol [orh] sorry uh saint george's george's bay or something, the view and all was really good you know the location of the place was really good and like in terms of food wise I would say the food was yummy it was tasty uh even the presentation was good but the only sad thing was that you know when it gets crowded and you ask them for things right they'll forget


and I remember there was once is I just wanted chili sauce you know just chili sauce I wanted and I had to ask four times and I didn't get it , you see and it ya so it was it was kind of sad uh so in the end I I actually have to get up to the counter to take it I mean sometimes you understand that it's crowded and all that but you know at the end of the day customer service does play a part


right so that was that was a little disappointing for me but otherwise there was another cafe that I went to recently that my friend opened up uh which of course we both went right to that cafe uh what do you call that by the moss


ya by the moss I really like the ambience I think it was good it was very chill it's a very chill atmosphere you know you can just go and hang out with your friends ya you didn't like again you don't have to be dressed up you can just be very casually dressed , they did have a variety of food presentation was good I would say presentation was good


the only thing I thought that was not enough for me was cause I don't drink beer right even though they have variation of beer they didn't have much cocktails, so if they'd more cocktails then I would say that you know it would be a perfect place for me to go a perfect joint


no , , nah you you know what's funny you want to remove the rubber I feel that the rod should remain I think what ya I guess


, I'd I thought I I heard you ,


what I thought that was uh should be done was the door sticker should be lower so that people can see remember the door the black sticker right the the so that we, , I don't know


uh for me I'm uh mixed experience


[orh], yummy or not that's the question


, but you see the thing that's the thing right about singapore I feel that there are a lot of places have a lot of food


and one thing I'm always proud about and uh I can always tell this cause you know we like to travel right and I like to tell people from overseas is that singapore anytime we can get food, you know compared to like for if you went to australia you know after like maybe five six O'clock it's so hard to get food you know to get food but in singapore you just wake up you say I'm hungry anywhere you go you can get food see that's the


but yet that's true but I, I have to say about the service in australia that I really like is like even if you be it the hotel or be it the restaurants right they are always very polite they always greet this it's always a hi how are you before they even ask you what's your order it's always a greeting first so I love their customer service there


deft ya


no I would say hi back I'm one of the friendly ones you know you cannot say everybody's the same I mean in singapore I feel that okay but to be fair and to be honest right I feel that here uh even in terms of customer service, the younger generation are also like that they are friendly they are more outspoken they want to talk to you


you know they do ask you !hey! how was your day today you know they do make little conversations with you and you know it's not like a eh what do you want to have you know is it coffee or something you know but they do have little conversations as well and I think if I'm not wrong recently when I went to this restaurant near uh fullerton it's a mexican place which I really cannot recall the name


the food was amazing it was really good it's just below kinki's actually I can't remember the, name of the restaurant so the food presentation was good it was so many of us you know because it was like a women's day or something I can't remember what was it but they served it on time you know we were not waiting for food and they made sure that we got their got our orders right and then women right we have a lot of like don't want this don't want that you know and they catered to everything and


not once I saw that they were like you know sometimes you can just see in the face if someone is annoyed but no they held their smiles so I felt that that is very important and it will encourage you to want to go back to that restaurant again unfortunately I can't remember the name of the place it's below kinki's it's at near fullerton it was really the food was really good


, what uh [orh] I I did go there too and I have to say the drinks was good and so was it I like the deejay over there because he's very, he's very accommodative I mean the ambience is definitely good because it overlooks you know the marina bay sands and stuff right so it's really nice you know you the view is really good


drink what , yeah , oh my god but but our pass also mentioned about food, sometimes you go to restaurants what also hawker centres ah even though sometimes you know it how uncles ah they'll are very like uncle you know like eh what you want to eat ah and all that but sometimes the food there is just amazing and


you really feel like it's heartfelt when they cook for you you know, you know the food like you know for example downstairs my house the #char kway teow# there is awesome there's long queues and everything yes now I feel like eating that too but you see that's the thing right so sometimes it's like in restaurants is one thing but sometimes in a open environment also even though it's like crowded it's messed up it's it's hot you enjoy it because the food is good


right yeah, but what was I going to say, I don't know but I what about about your experiences with kay this is about restaurants right what about with telcos


who are you with


yeah


definitely definitely I mean I I have to mention this also because I'm with M one and I remember I was with on this price plan for a very long time and I was like paying uh maybe hundred and thirty every month


and and stuff and then someone actually called me up to say !hey! why don't you switch to a different plan and what I like about the customer service part was that not only did he tell me which plan I should go to he even calculated the differences how much I'll be saving every month all the minute details he told me


ya it's it's very important right and in the end you know after that I was eh you know cause I was really thinking cause I I was on this contract for two years I didn't change and then when this guy called me and then he got and uh when uh even when he called me the first time I was at work and I said you know can you please call me back and he did so follow up was there so for me all this kind of customer service is very important right cause I was from the customer service line before


so the follow up is very important even if you have nothing to say you should just call and tell them !hey! we are looking into it because it makes a customer feel like !hey! you know what I'm important, follow up is very important so this guy he called me up he actually told me okay this is what you going to do what you going to do and then I asked him okay which phone should I get then he even explained to me okay this phone this phone this phone this is the benefits this is going to be big you know he really went through the effort to explain to me


and in the end I did switch and I realised that every month now I'm saving about say sixty seventy dollars because of the switch that I did and I get a higher like higher talktime higher data, and I got a phone too and with by that he also got another customer for another two years because I signed on a contract


you see if he, yes that's one thing but of course again having said that right okay that's it's two ways right one thing is yes if you get a client then of course you get some I don't know maybe


like a , bonus or whatever but on top of that right it's also a satisfaction at their end for your job, isn't it positive and I always believe that if someone has created a positive impression send them a feedback drop them an email


so which is what I always do I always make sure that I get their names and I'll drop them an email to say because I think it's also very encouraging and motivating for them to do want to do better and that's what keeps a person going right , ya correct and uh


true and uh so for me again because I was from that line before I know how important that means to a person you know you can make a terrible day positive when uh uh when a customer has something encouraging or nice to say, about a service that was offered


yeah but ya but I uh did you have any good positive , okay


right they're okay but, have you been in a situation where you know you actually didn't want to buy something but you ended up buying it because the person spoke so well and you just like you know what I should just buy it


like you know there's no need for the product but you'll buy it but the customer service is so good you have no heart to say no you'll end up buying, ya,


I think all of us have done that before you know because sometimes you just feel like oh my god they're like so nice and they are so like and and you don't know you have no heart to say no


you know you have no heart to say no ya, and actually, exactly and you know like now it there's a lot of mediums of people promoting their stuff like you know Carousell be it Carousell Facebook


or even Instagram people are selling stuff so I remember there was one cream that I really wanted to try uh it was called this to to whiten the face or something uh uh more for my dark dark circles and there was so many people but I decided to ask this person so there was two person I contacted so one of them was like, wasn't really very responsive but the other one uh took time to call me to ask me what was my skin condition


uh you know okay this is how you should do it ya she was really good and then she asked me to take pictures and monitor and you know to share that so you see two different person I asked and one was very abrupt very didn't really bother, telling me so but this one took the time to call me and I ended up purchasing from her like for three months now


this cream which I feel that is effective so again it's because of the customer service then I decided to go with that person ya and so, yeah I I I guess customer service in singapore is is is quite, on the okay side


ya, that is true, what about [orh] yes actually [orh] sorry sorry for to interrupt you here because I just remembered we had a staycation right at uh W hotel


and I thought that their service there was also quite okay


he was really cool lah he didn't eh ya he didn't show anything, just said [orh] okay fine is this a booking fine let me go and check for you he he check the difference for us, maybe


ya , but not only that even the concierge when we went down we wanted to go to Palawan beach right to bikini bar remember that guy took out the map then he show us [orh] this is how you should he gave us the exact point where you should take the bus from you remember I can even remember bus B


it, no he showed he still showed us the right away because there was two different ways of going so there's this way and that way so it's up to remember I told you , no , Nah I'd if you ask me I thought he was going he actually even stepped out of the hotel the concierge area


ya he did it he did it, see because of people like you ah you complain for every single thing until people are not appreciated but no he was good


ya because the women are doing everything what, [orh] well ya kind of actually even even after that when we went to what was it called the bar rock bar rock cafe right remember we had the ciders and all that even the indian guy who was serving us he was also very good he was very like you know he asked us how are you what kind of drinks we wanted he served us you know I thought all this really plays a part


you know, , ,


ya Sawadeeka of course lah that's why you happy ya, they are very service oriented they are


ah I beg to differ in singapore people do again people do smile, , eh you don't forget ah you are paying for services you know it's not free of course lah they smile,


ya I think in the uh uh over here also eh I I still have to speak for my country okay no I think every country right has their, own individual like negative and positive sides


okay and for me I still feel that you know as much as we've gone to europe and australia I I still love australia because I feel that they are very friendly and they are very positive and they are very cheery and I'm sure even in singapore people are like that, you know it's just maybe you know sometimes we also wake up on the wrong side of the bed right maybe you met that person at that time lah for otherwise I think singapore is very smiley and very good service orientation


part one finance


everyone should have a saving account then where do you want to put the money put in your at home which is not safe, ya our mums and dads will do that but not us I mean that's old fashion they'll put it in the rice bowl so I guess no


that is too traditional so everyone should have uh a normal account uh at the moment I only have one, I used to have two but now is only one my and it's my salary account so I don't have uh any other accounts beside just one saving account what about you


, (mmhmm)


I think that is good uh because why then uh it's a good habit to do that to have two accounts ya honestly speaking because uh sometimes, ya two accounts ya it's good because why you can you know one like it like what you do is you put one for savings and one for your daily expenses right so you you but then you have to be very disciplined as in some of us are not as disciplined as some people may be


right so for for me it's it's quite difficult that's why I just stick to one account , at the moment nope not yet maybe soon so maybe if I were


so there's someone to control me right, so I don't I know that I kind I'm kind of spendthrift you see so at least there's someone to watch over me and seeing uh how much I spend on a daily basis or monthly so ya


revert from where you you pay your bills you know your daily expenses for both of you guys so you keep track both of you guys can get keep track on the account and the expenditure


yes, agree agree totally agree on that, yeah, what what about credit cards what do you think about credit cards or how many should one person have


[orh] same boat as you I'm in the same boat I used to have debts up to hundred K, at one point of time credit cards I had ten credit cards in total, so ya, ya I have to work my ass off to pay it


you see so uh there's good and bad lah, if you if you are you are if you are disciplined then it works in a good way the credit card works in a good way if you are not disciplined


ya it's can't speak when there's only but then everyone should have at least one what in case emergency you know you break your leg on the spot you don't have cash right to admit yourself


correct I agree with that that is if I think is uh which is so unfair


correct you know being in singapore and they and they and they what they call uh, uh and they were call champion about uh giving second chances, but then I don't see it happening you see


ya same same go same here because I used to have some insurance with the with the bank and then now they don't allow me to have uh internet banking and uh ATM card that's why I have to go to their bank each time I need to withdraw money so what I do is I just withdraw one lump sum


then I just keep it uh I bank it into my partner's account, so whenever I need to withdraw , no no no I use I basically uh I just dump into her account so whenever I need cash I just ask her


because I don't have an ATM card I don't have an ATM card they not allowed they're not giving me an ATM card they're not giving me a internet banking access nothing, just because some issues that, just because we uh I had issues with the banks you know it it went


towards you know it's uh involvements of other parties as well, so they they are like okay we can't give you this access and everything, so I'm like okay uh no issues I I will live with it, but uh ya at least I have my partner to help me out


yes yes that's the thing that's why uh uh that's why I'm saying uh they talk about giving second chance in every aspect, aspect but then uh I don't see it happen ah I mean it might be uh uh uh uh, okay for instance why don't they go they don't go after millionaires who


owe millions of money but then they go to they go after uh regular people like you and me just for few thousand dollars, ya it's just that billionaires can can lose everything as well


right, ya ya so, ya exactly so it's more of I mean, I would say the bank they judge people by their credits kind of thing lah their past also ah yes


ya ya I know but for instance for you you have been like five years free out of it right, ah there you go


ya exactly exactly I mean, half place to be yes, especially in singapore when you don't have any financial support you basically going to more, burn in hell


until he turns eighteen no ATM card, [orh] ya actually ya I'm being too harsh alright I'll give , what his money where is he getting allowance from from us


okay that is theirs alright so maybe at age of twelve maybe they got to go in go in go in to secondary school


ah I thought you going to beep with something better earlier than me what I said sixteen what


you actually thought of giving the your kid at twenty, , you are not supposed to spoil them with all the stakes they have to earned it so ya so


when you when you have okay since you don't have a credit card but uh when you used to have a credit card when you choose a credit card normally like you go for those who those that gives you the cashback points miles kind of thing because you know sometime SIA they they tie up with certain


uh banks right yeah, so are you like when when you used to have it are you like very, choosy in and getting which bank and what is the cashback what is there because I have friends who do that you know they go for these special all these special cards that give them all this cashback and all these things yeah


correct


[orh] ya ya yes yes it's me it's me, ya hold on a second, okay hold on ah hold on ah


okay uh whereas me when I used to apply when I used to have cards I don't really see who gives good points or cashback or miles or whatever for me is like having a credit card is a privilege so if I get


if I get a card I'm like [orh] okay at least I get one but I'm not into like really uh, go into and search you know which are the better ones which are low in interest all those stuff


ya that's the thing there's a trick there's a trick put to it you see in case you like okay you don't have much usage on the card any outstanding and then they charge you the uh


the uh yearly fees we can just uh uh what do you call uh play a trick on them you just say okay I'm going to cancel the card why did you charge you me on on on on uh yearly fees when I don't have any outstanding and blah blah blah and they will definitely you know waive it off you know a lot of people have done that


so besides beside the credit cards do you have any other products have you purchased before from the bank like insurance fixed deposit


ya actually most of my most of my insurance are with the banks actually I have my personal ones, but then maybe just one or two but most of them are with the banks you know like those dental care hospitalisation accident and all these the so just uh tiny little ones not life not life life is I think it's with the an insurance company but all these banks they offer you these these small little ones


company covers as well but you're not going to be with the company all the time , so it's better to have


I just keep purchasing and I forget about it because touch wood, touch wood I've not been admitted touch wood uh, I've not been hospitalisation I've not got into serious illness or serious accident touch wood so that's why I don't give a shit about it


, there you are paying uh a a lot of amount yes you are paying a lot if you accumulate everything yes exactly , so ya so (hmm)


I don't can they do that they can't do it right


but for instance now you have a house do you have a insurance who uh what how's your insurance work do you purchase separately or, or how how does it work, okay so before you bought the house your CPF did you do any investment through the bank or did you


ya your CPF investment did it did you use the money for investment before you bought that house


uh uh I think it's call endowment ah, they have a they, they have a minimum period


so you have to be very careful on what you purchase, [orh] [orh] personal loan there is I have no housing loans I have personal loan


very easy not very difficult lah for personal loan is not very difficult I don't know about the housing loan or car loan but personal loan is not that difficult to get you know with your income documents and your income tax and all that that's about it your CPF contribution that's about it so it's


ya there's those they call it those balance transfer or what I can't remember I think that's the one that they call it, so yup there is there's like six months free interest you clear that amount within six months you don't have to pay interest so a lot of people use that as a the as a as a way to clear off their other banks' loans so they get their six months free interest right