when you feel this betrayal coming from your friends and family that kind of circle right, because these people actually matter a lot to you and uh like what you say you felt uh betrayed by your friends you know that her is uh similar to uh mine as well you know when I get betrayed by my friends it's just that the scenario is different but


the hurt is still the same I believe, like uh if you were to ask me right uh in a nutshell uh would I always believe in this uh saying what doesn't uh what doesn't uh kill you


you know like uh they say you know what doesn't break you make uh makes you, okay so it's like uh everything even like uh even those kid this kind of negative things that is happening in our life and all these right all these is actually making it to make us a better person and there is always a lesson to be learned from every negative thing that is happening in our life and uh


I believe that we always have to, pick up from these negative things and do not always keep ourself dwelling in this negative uh experiences because whenever we keep ourselves dwelling in the negative experience right, we tend to fall into depression and uh a lot of negative things actually happen in our life when we keep thinking about all these kind of negative stuff


so uh the best way to recover is to move on and to put yourself in a better environment a positive environment get uh yourself to do something better and uh from there you will actually be able to


move on we should never let all these negative stuffs to break us down Lakshen so what do you think about this Lakshen


okay I do understand that like me like uh I mean like not everybody who actually mixes around has got an agenda but this being a dog eat dog world I mean like you all almost everyone has got an agenda for being nice to you, so if we want to uh save ourselves from all this kind of hurt I think we should uh


be just be prepared for everything, yup okay


yup, positive experience


okay Lakshen so uh you know travelling is a I think you would really definitely know that traveling is uh one of my most favorite uh hobbies that I have and uh what about you uh Lakshen do you like to travel


okay certainly because like travelling right actually not only uh


helps us to relax and uh get over things or you know to enjoy the new environment it also actually what do you call uh, gives us a very deep knowledge about the different customs around the world and all that


so if you were to ask me about my positive experience in life right ya about travelling related to travelling uh and uh one of the biggest travel experience that left me you know all was actually uh my trip to


india okay, okay in fact both my uh if you I mean like I have travelled a quite fair bit alright uh around asia and all however like uh if you were to ask me right the why I'm actually so awed by this uh india trip was actually it was a two week solid trip


and uh Lakshen you are also in uh in that trip along with us remember, and uh and uh during this during this period of time right it made me, uh have a lot of a positive as well as both negative experiences there as well alright and uh if I were to talk about uh


the positive uh uh what do you call a, positive thing that uh a something that really have, happy that happened was I got to spend a lot of time in during that uh holiday uh or the travel period with my family and uh we actually explored a lot of new places over there in india


and uh there's one particular place in india it's called the Thanjavur okay and in that place right the I had always had uh this uh liking for architecture alright I'd like to explore the architectures and all that so this temple was actually built in uh like about


so many centuries back you know hundreds of centuries it was like uh it was in the eighteenth hundred century or sixteenth hundred century you know this temple was actually built but it was actually that, architectural aspect of this uh building right it's so beautiful that no matter where the sun shines right


the uh what do you call uh the the shadow of that main building right will never could be casted on the floor, so because because like I really can't think of any other place in the world where a building or a thing that doesn't cast a uh a shadow on the floor


correct so everytime there is a there's a sun there's shining on us or sun shining on uh some of the uh buildings there's the shadow is definitely is to be casted and it'll definitely will fall on the floor, but in this particular building it doesn't uh do that and I was like simply awed you know by that uh specific uh uh architectural uh aspect and that the whole building is like uh it is like mythically believed that it was built by


uh the celestial build uh celestial beings as such all those like uh the steps, and uh every uh statues over there are all like giant-sized uh statues, okay and each step can be as high as your knee level so you really have to climb up you know so it was something more like uh another #angkor wat# kind of stuff but it's just that uh you know it was not uh in the ruins lah it is still being maintained everytime ya so what is the thing that


awed you uh Lakshen


okay


clark uh


ya I remember the lavender farm as well you know just up uh it just above the strawberry farm where you know it really felt like uh it was out of uh malaysia out of asia kind of effect, uh Lakshen do you remember the colmar tropicale where this place ya you know it was really unbelievable to find such a french kind of a


uh place in uh malaysia and until we saw the malaysian flag we were we did not believe that uh you know we could uh could not believe that that was actually malaysia we really thought it was a part of france remember


but okay uh apart from this right uh Lakshen like from travelling you know with with we feel, we feel good and all that so what is the biggest reward you have ever received that you think you know like uh after doing an awesome good deed like you know we I'm I'm sure you are a good guy you know ya I'm sure you have done a lot of good deeds


there's many that which I can remember but which do you think which was the most rewarding for you


ya, ya of course we always have


okay talking about that you know like you said about giving up your seat in the uh MRT and all that so is there anything that you know where your faith in mankind was actually renewed


no is there any situation where you know like uh you feel that humanity was like so good, and then you felt that you know eh this this world is not going to go anywhere but then this particular incident you know like uh made you feel eh there's still people you know with humanity mankind still thrives you know that kind of uh situation or any kind uh such a


(mmhmm), ya talking about that ya Lakshen there was a situation in my life you as well I'm sure you know you know like uh uncle Geja when he passed on right I was at the hospital then I was really broken down I really didn't know what to do and I was at the corridor of the hospital crying


and uh just a stranger you know I really don't even know who that, person is and the person just came and embrace me and then uh gave me a tissue and then uh you know say you know you got to be strong okay nothing else is like uh, uh nothing is going to break you you have to be strong you have to uh you know and they consoled me you know it things will be better and I until now you know to this date I can't even recall the person's face okay but


that moment and that particular incident right uh made me feel you know there's humanity around you know people always like uh, uh there are not people don't always shy away from uh such situations there are people who actually come forward to help


and then like uh from that day onwards you know usually I use to shy away people when I see people like uh crying or whatever you know they are in trouble I used to shy away you know, but then like after that particular incident right it really opened me up and there was another incident which I felt that it was very rewarding for me because like it was very satisfied ya it I was really very satisfied and uh


it felt like uh paying forward you know like uh paying uh paying back to the society kind of stuff I was actually going on a trip to Phuket, and uh with my friend and uh this this particular friend of mine she actually came in late to check in you see so when she actually came in late our we actually couldn't take the flight which we were supposed to take which was at about three PM


so the next available flight to Phuket was at about uh eight PM, and we were on the waiting list so since we already at the airport right so we didn't want to like uh go back and come so what we were doing like you know we just uh checked in all our luggage and then like uh we were like taking the sky train back and forth and back and forth you know playing that kind of stuff you know


and then uh there uh in the sky train right there was this one uh european lady she was sitting down and then she was like crying you know she was alone and then she was crying and I felt very bad and then like uh my friend was telling me eh just leave it lah you know you don't Kaypoh can or not the person crying just let it be


but then uh what I did was like you know I really felt that you know like uh maybe I she doesn't have to share what's her problem with me all I needed to do was like you know just offer her the tissue and then like you know I told her you know don't worry you know everything will be fine and all that


and you know what when we alighted from the sky train right she called me and say excuse me, I said uh yes she said you didn't even ask me what is the problem but you said it everything is going to be all right I really hope that everything will be fine uh but can I just have a hug I say sure sure certainly and I she was a total stranger to me you know and I just do gave her a hug


and and then she say that she actually lost her travel I mean like she misplaced her travel documents and she was in a rush to get to the airport, because there was a medical emergency in her family, and her friend is actually trying to retrieve the documents uh from the embassy and all that for her travel so she's at the airport waiting endlessly for the documents to come so that you know she can go


go back home in time to see her departing uh family member and I felt very touched and I felt very satisfied because I could actually make another person's day better


so okay I mean like uh enough of uh those kind of like a very heart-wrenching kind of stories so tell me what do you what is your favourite activity, uh to unwind and relax or you can tell me what is your best surprise


(mmhmm)


ya that's true


I mean like uh since we spoke about uh, all the zen stuff you know like relaxing by the beach and all this stuff right and now as you know right because of the COVID and uh the global uncertainty that is uh actually happening around the world and everything


what makes you think that you know uh what makes you what actually encourages you to be optimistic about the future that the future will be actually much more a better place and uh more better and all this stuff


okay alright, okay for me like uh I feel very optimistic about the future everytime I see, uh my baby okay my baby Genisha whenever I see her because like uh from kids right you can actually see like they do not uh have uh any worries about what is going to happen tomorrow


they are just uh concentrated on this present moment, and I feel that you know that is uh actually a very good thing to do because like uh with with this kind of uh global uncertainty right we do not know what is going to happen tomorrow


so I would uh like I would rather take it like you know day to day embrace today uh leave it with love and then like uh and apart from all these also we can see that there's still a lot of love around us that is still going around


and this makes us feel more optimistic about the future [lah], alright so ya I think that's the end of it


part one finance, okay so uh <P2>dillon</P2> what's your investment strategy I've heard that you've recently got more into investing


ah I see


right and how long do you plan to keep it for or do you plan to quickly like day trade stocks or, ah !wow!, uh and what what stocks do you or unit trust do you have that you know you are willing to share


(hmm), right I see , me oh err well my investment strategy is kind of the same I take my reference from <P2>benjamin graham</P2> the intelligent investor


personally uh pretty much almost the same thing as you were I wouldn't call myself conservative per se I call myself more along the lines of an aggressive or enterprising investor where I take more time and effort than the defensive investor to


uh look into companies and make sure that they have some business plans ah with regard to how I choose my investments I would say that I do so through uh looking through their financial statements, uh and when if I think that they are not overpriced I think that means that price to earnings ratio of less than think twenty-five


of uh less than twenty-five and then uh you know and I think that they have good growth than I would buy it lah so that's my that's generally my strategy ah, with regard to investment portfolio so far because uh and ah both of us well we're still young and uh we have a monthly income coming in from our national service so that's almost like a bond to us so I I spent I use almost all of it in common stocks and


I think I might have, ten percent in gold but that's about it I ninety percent or even ninety-five percent might be ah in common stocks as for my investment horizon, ya so it's about the same as yours I think it's about ten to fifteen years I actually it's not I wouldn't even go so so far as these ten to fifteen years I think it's much longer I plan to just hold it and let it grow you know just to to tide over my retirement so


well depends what you mean by trading because uh well if you uh base on what uh <P2>benjamin graham</P2> says the difference between trading and investment is that investment is simply buying stocks uh in anticipation for their value to increase and


uh you hold them ah you hold them for a long period of time, because you'll trust in the growth of the company whereas trading is uh basically trying to make a quick buck where you try to profit as quickly as possible things like day-trading futures where you've tried or shorting that's a ah that's more let that is what uh <P2>graham</P2> considers trading ah


so ya so if if you say that I do trading uh no that wouldn't be true I'd say I do investing ah more than trading, , ya


, right well I mean at the end of the day I I don't judge people who trade I mean it's just a different


it's a matter of whether you want a quick buck or you know or people would wanna, I mean wall street bankers are the sort that really like to do this ah where they try to make a quick buck and you know try get profit for profit sake ah I mean I wouldn't do it but you know I don't judge those who do


so ya , options yeah I've I've heard of options I mean to me I have not uh done much research into it but from what I understand options are correct me if I'm wrong they are, basically stocks with a certain guarantee like for example you won't lose more than maybe ninety percent oh sorry not ninety ten percent of your values something like that it's almost like insurance to holding stocks is that true


, right then


ya so


ah I see so it's almost like err paying a premium for reservation ah


right right I see okay, yah I mean ya so would you call yourself someone who has an appetite for risk I mean uh you know it's I I don't know if you're trader or not not really right you you you're more like an investor I see


right, I see I see I mean I mean it's nah I wouldn't call that [loh] if you had, actually I think risk allocation for investors is more along the lines of uh what your asset allocations are so if you put almost hundred percent it stops there would be quote unquote high risk high risk appetite because you have such a long time horizon and stocks are historically very volatile whereas if


you you know you use if you are low risk if you've truly have low risk appetite you'd be at seller you'd be have everything in bonds and you know uh essentially low returns ah low return government or even bank bonds which are very, uh very safe because if the bank collapses you know there's a one one a once in a lifetime thing ah so ya I


ah I see, oh why not I mean the the US stock market has much has much better growth prospects if you look at the


, well I mean what what do you mean by overseas stocks like do you mean internationally in general or do you mean , ah


right I mean well personally I I think I I I would have to, I disagree with you there because I if you look at uh if you oh yes internationally


there's a lot of very suspect countries like no I don't think anyone in the right mind would be putting money into the zimbabwe stock exchange but if you look at if you speak about internationally in the sense that beyond singapore the look at the growth of the DJI the dow jones industrial average


you see ah you see an almost gradually upward trend whereas the singapore stock market if you look at the STI it's almost it's almost like a heartbeat is very little , uh you know net growth over a period of time so actually I think I would disagree with you that I put more of my stocks in uh in american stocks more than anything else lah


right right yah so ya make sense ah I mean to each his own right


ah yes it's uh it's also one of uh graham's uh techniques which he does uh which I am also a proponent of because it's I think it makes a lot of sense err do you have have you do you use dollar cost averaging


right, ah okay that , right you make sense make sense I okay I I guess that you that is a form of


dollar-cost averaging in uh when you buy ETFs ah but uh well I mean for me what I think dollar-cost averaging it's it's because if you look at uh let's say any given party ah I know a good example now will be tesla if let's say


you were an investor in tesla you'd be I mean yeah now you'll be very happy due to, the sharp spike in its prices but the reason why you want to use dollar-cost averaging is to prevent yourself from buying in at a time when the price is high so if let's say, I wanted to own stocks in tesla and I would allocate let's say ten percent of my income sixty dollars every month because I'm a lowly paid NSF to uh to buy tesla stock so


uh in let's say january and february I maybe get one even two stocks it I can't remember what's the price of tesla but now in uh february march I mean and then going up till today I get less than one stock each uh one stock for the for the price of sixty dollars I maybe get


it will be what less than one percent of a stock because I think it went up all the way from four hundred dollars a share to I think one thousand eight hundred dollars a share so yeah it's uh I think that is the purpose of dollar cost averaging we seems to be what your trust and unit trusts is doing for you ah but


essentially ah I mean I think it's quite impossible to time the market ah, it's, just out of curiosity your your you the trust that you invest in with POSB do they ah are they what is the portfolio of this trust do they have uh bonds or is it only stocks or


right and ah what index, R index right right okay ah so it's most


it's right I see


I mean I I I think it's a good idea because well as ah investors with low income we you know we have such low exposure to the market it makes sense for us to buy a index funds to diversify our uh diversify and prevent ourselves from putting all our eggs in one basket


it's a lot of sense, ah yes I do have a CDP account ah


I mean I I'm not entirely sure about the custodian way of doing it because maybe you can tell me about this because I personally what I do is I get my stocks from ah an online broker called interactive brokers and then err ah then this requires me to have a CDP account and you know I've I've took


from what I understand I physically do own I do own the physical stocks ah but do do you have a custodian account I'm not sure how does that work, right I see


ah so so well I I mean just to summarize here I mean realistically speaking that's not much of a difference is there


(hmm) ya, well I'm gonna I'm gonna have to look into that right right yup


okay so anyways uh yeah well I'd I'd think maybe then I would be ah under a custodian account if I if I am uh if that's what interactive brokers uh provides me with maybe maybe I'm wrong here but yeah alright then err well


would you say that if let's say one of us one day made a million dollars how would you allocate your assets for investment will you even invest it, yup, right


right, (hmm) I think I might have to disagree with you there if I if I got a million dollars because I don't see recessions as said, (ppc) a time when stocks are not stable or volatile and therefore it's not good for the market I see


more as a trend of stocks have become cheaper and more affordable to the average investors so, (hmm) well I guess it depends on how much risk appetite you have so personally what I would do is actually , uh to use that to get more that million dollars you get more exposures to the market


buy more stocks which I feel are sound and then you know own pieces of companies because you know they're selling at such a low price now eventually COVID will end so at end of the day I still have a time horizon of maybe twenty ah no not even twenty fifty years or so and I won't be retiring anytime soon so for I know these stocks could grow substantially by


the time I retire so I think I think that is the most on approach but again to each his own lah


ya correct, actually I think that there are, we will have to do it at some point because I , I think a financial invent ah advisors very important for uh working people who do not have the time to look into stocks themselves so while both of us are in doing our national service now I supposed whenever we have free time we can go and you know look at uh financial statements talk to or


uh the people we work with about whether they think it sound and you will evaluate business strategies for ourselves but when you're working men especially if you have a family you have kids to tend to, working from nine to five every day and you know doing all the stuff that our parents are doing now I think it's highly advisable to get a a a financial invested so that ah sorry a financial advisor so that you don't pick the wrong stocks and you know


you are you don't pick the wrong stocks because I think, this was one of the reasons why uh hyflux went the way it did apparently what I heard was that a lot of people , uh well I mean those were not so financially savvy to get an adviser simply sought thought that it looked like a good stock and then uh on the on its face value it didn't look into the financials


it must simply because they didn't have time they were they were parents grandparents who had little , little time they're working looking after their kids so as a result they all got uh you know they had their wool pull over their eyes and you know they invested in the company that was bound to fail if you look past page one of their financial and investment ah financial statements ah so ya so


definitely definitely I I think it's not it's not something difficult to do as long as you have the right expectations because I , don't expect to beat the market because I mean there's no really no need to beat the market with such a long time horizon I think it's far wiser to


uh tell your investor that you know you just want to have enough to retire with and then you know you'll be completely fine that you don't have to try to beat the market tell them oh my portfolio make thirty percent while the the market only went up ten percent this year and you look like you're some smart investor I mean yes it's boring but it's sensible more sensible in my opinion


yup, so ya I think that's a good, so anyways ya err, sorry time's up right


[ah] twenty thirty (ppb)


part three negative experience in your life, okay so <P2>dylan</P2> what what keeps you awake at night


right


what what what stops you from making a decision why why are you uncertain about things


, ah I see , I think what keeps me awake at night is a fear of nothingness because I mean if if one thinks about it critically if I mean it depends whether you are religious or not but even if you are religious if there is no afterlife than you know what happens after we die


because you must I've come to realize that if there is no afterlife and we die and there really is nothing, then you know what exactly is nothing ah it's a place where we don't perceive we don't err there there is no concept of us in nothingness nothingness is not say


an absence of anything like how you know like for example if we were alone traveling through deep space with nothing on there's nothingness is simply not being able to perceive anything at all was where, you know that there is no you there if that makes sense where there is no, there is no observer there is no there is nothing at all so I mean uh this idea was brought brought up to me by during my storeman course by one of my buddies you know and we had a very nice discussion about you know what happens if there is nothing so to come to grapple


and we came to the conclusion that you know it is ultimately almost impossible to grapple with that this idea because perception observation and and it's so fundamental and you know so , so much a part of human life that it is it is difficult to remove oneself from the whole concept of perceiving something like even when we go to sleep


there is some we still in a way perceive that's why we can you know wake up if there's a loud noise we still perceive in the sense that we see our dreams and, no uh at some point we we the faith that we will wake up ah but what happens if you just don't and you what happen like what what comes afterwards so where exactly is nothingness really think that's a


that's something that I was I recently had to grapple with I think I wouldn't say it's a something scary I mean it does keep me awake at night in a sense that not so much scared by it but I'm just intrigued by, intrigued by that concept


uh there's everything it the only thing certain in life is death and taxes so I've kind of you know came to the conclusion well I mean I wouldn't worry about it I would think about it but no I mean there's no point making myself unhappy over such an abstract concept ah


but ya that's I mean that's something that has been that had plagued my thoughts for a period of time you know thinking about what exactly that meant what nothingness was so yeah I you know actually if we are if I may bring up some uh philosophy here I think that was what


what uh <P2>nietzsche</P2> meant when he said god is dead what he meant was that uh that you know when as men advanced and became more scientifically literate and more knew more about the world , it became more and more difficult for the reasonable men to believe in uh god ah because you know I mean not to say that what there may one day be proof of a god who knows right we can't and you can't you cannot


uh proof that something does not exist , but, correct and so you cannot attribute past unexplainable phenomena like uh like earthquakes or floods to an almighty being so because of that you know with quote unquote as we witnesseth the death of god came the death of


the death of uh the concept of an afterlife so as a result you know we had to man had to grapple with the idea of nothingness what if there was really nothing after death, you know I think that was what <P2>nietzche</P2> meant when he said god is dead and heart when he mentioned you know how shall we comfort ourselves the murderers of all mothers I think that was what he meant it's an interesting thing to think about ah I mean I it's certainly not something I would say it's uh good


ya it's intriguing something that makes you think right at night or something that keeps you awake at night so ya, I I I just thought it was something interesting that does keep me awake at night so ya


right uh why don't you go ahead first and tell me what are the injustices of the world that you would, so you oh you go ahead you tell me about the injustices you see because I have uh quite a different perspective of what we see a lot on social media nowadays


by hunger and famine ah essentially,


(hmm) I see yeah I I guess that make that does make sense but well I mean it's great that we have the resources to be able to grow food and you know it, you know in some case even in excess food uh food is grown in excess you know resulting in obesity problems we see in countries like such as US but ah well I think you are right ah but that civil war and strife has basically caused many of these less developed countries to be unable to produce food in yemen's case in


I think well in most of these countries where famine is war will follow ah where people fight over the scarce resources they have , is there but do you see a way to solve it though because I mean these are such uh you know like what do you think is the key to solving these issue with min


, right, but


, right because they they've geopolitical interests on, right


profiteering off war essentially ya I mean , I would say that I think uh I do I would agree with you there that sometimes they are there there are definitely players in place want the war in yemen to be sustained and


you are right in the sense that the cause of uh poverty hunger and famine in or let's just use yemen as an example in Yemen is due to the civil war and strife but requiring external intervention is a very very it's a term not to be taken lightly because I mean having


ya because if I mean , okay if you mean external a like uh food being given, and of money being lend first of all in in many cases there is a corrupt government there in power who will not who will not use these funds properly they're not going to feed their citizens they'd rather arm their armies or feed their armies instead


secondly I think if you true if you go for intervention you do need you do need the you need the backing of the UN if not you're basically waging a war of aggression and you are invading the territory , so and even if you do get it as we've learnt from the vietnam wars and now the american american publics uh uh how to say what's the word for it


repulsion towards their involvement in the middle east I think many people are sick of, of bigger players coming in and acting as uh and trying you know to intervene in wars that uh and put taxpayer dollars in wars there are you know thousands of miles away it's politically unpopular you know


so I think there's a bit we're in a bit of a catch twenty-two situation with regard to that, ya ya every


I've ya I've I would say it's a bit of you are right ah not in the sense that it is futile but it's just never-ending so it's much better for as cruel as it sounds for these countries to sort it out themselves and that, you know come either you know sort it out themselves either come to live under a democracy by the people's free will free will or come to to live under a dictatorship of some sort because I mean


I I know it sounds bad because uh it's I won't say it's politically incorrect to let peoples live under dictatorship but if it's at the cost of, human lives that you forcefully install democracy as we've seen in places like Nicaragua as opposed to letting you know the people


decide for themselves and live under an authoritarian regime as we've seen in iran I think the people in iran would much rather live under authoritarian regime than to see their loved ones killed in some war where foreign powers are in play ah so yeah I think it it's there is no easy solution if there was


anything that two of us would come up with we would have long been past ah, ah finish I what's it would long solved these problems I think, yeah, , ya my grievances it's the whole lot I mean I was I wouldn't call myself anti-black lives matter but I think it's the perversion of the movement because while the movement did have noble intentions now ah at the start


now it's been perverted by people who simply want to loot simply want to riot simply want to kill those who are, who have opposing uh political views the movement has been hijacked and I think it is err it has become to a point where it's lost its original purpose of trying to advocate for police reform and stopping police brutality granted granted


I I'm not saying that there is no such thing as police brutality or there is no need for police reform it's simply that the, the the noble movement has been hijacked by you know uh quite notably anti the anti-fascist uh association for their own nefarious purposes that's the first the other thing I found that is that


uh this this movement has begun more or less defending people who are should be indefensible for example, in okay <P2>george floyd</P2> 's killing was you know that no no one can agree with that it's definitely you know not standard police practice it's poor police practice no one will disagree with you there but with regard to <P2>jacob blake</P2> which is the latest police shoot


not only that he was a rapist he was the a domestic abuse and , prior to him getting shot seven times in the back by the police officers he had tried he assaulted one of them was tased got up presumably under the influence of drugs was trying to get into his car with kids who may not even be his inside the car


and you know and it was later found that he had a knife in the car and was going for the knife so, I think that and now we have we have all the superstar millionaires in for example the NBA who who went on strike for I think two days to, oh what's the word for it to honour his to to call for a stop to police brutality I I think I mean you gotta pick your battles correctly it's it in this case the police were


justified in the use of force because you know did it pose a danger to the police they pose a danger to their children in the car therefore they could, because you ya because you were shot by the police that's it you are you it's a it's a poor it's a poor to have uh I would say so there's that ah and also you know and I think in that's


I think that's why I feel is the quote unquote injustice lah because where you you know where instead of fighting for true injustices like for example <P2>george floyd</P2> 's killing or any of the other many other legitimate cases of police brutality , uh you end up defending rapists and murderers as well as instigating people to riot and uh to riot and burn so this actually you know polarizes two sides and mix


and makes people lose sight of the original objective of the movement ah which I find to be a very big injustice that makes me pretty sad and angry ah so ya, then okay, so uh (hmm)


was there any time that you err let's see, oh what dreams of yours die a little with each passing day <P2>dylan</P2>


is that really a dream though, right


I see, right I see, are you sure I I wouldn't say that that's not something that


yup it's evolutionarily advantages yup, (hmm)


ya but ah don't you don't you feel that true true goodness and altruism still exists in the world I mean, (ppc) ah


right for me you what dreams die ah with each passing day I suppose my dream would be like I would say ah okay this is a rather silly dream I would say a dream of mine was once to be a chef or somebody in the uh basically someone working in the food industry except not as a waiter of the food side


but I know because I quite simply I like to cook and I think it's an exciting job or be but the only thing that the reason why it dies every day it's because you know as I grow closer to you know going into university to study law I you know I grow further from being able to do that lah I mean


I think it's a cool profession but but the long you know as I come to realize more about it as I talk to people you know I realize it's hard and over they're overwork and underpaid I don't think I will be suitable for it and you know I'm more suited towards a career in law which I'm already working towards so you know


it I think it has to be relegated to a hobby ah I I would say it was quite silly of me to even dream of becoming a chef but you know I think it was a cool cool dream to have at one point in time but as you slowly with the mature the maturity that's gained through experience in life


you end up you know giving up on that dream slowly and realizing that it and ah as you sink more and more cost into an alternative career path then you realize how how what's it called impractical that dream is ah so yeah I think that's the


that's a dream of mine that dies a little with each passing day but I'm just happy that at least I can still pursue it as a hobby ah so ya, ya, ya since I think you ya I understand that ah basically


ya statistically you are unlikely to be, ya you you know statistically you're very unlikely to be the next beethoven or mozart or uh you know so ya I think that's and so that's why I think it's better to go into a normal


profession anyways [lah] that's why our dreams have not died okay [ah] so, twenty thirty


part two positive experiences


!wow! okay so <P2>dylan</P2> what's the best meal you ever had, !ow! !wow! !wow! that's nice


!wow! that that !ow! how many people were there in the restaurant ah that they could, oh I mean that it's is a small restaurant but yeah it makes sense,


!wow! that's nice that's great , right basically it's different from what you get at the coffee shop ah where you know


, right for me well the best meal I ever had I would I think the my graduation trip to uh to osaka we met up with another group of friends, there uh that I wouldn't say we're not so close to but it's basically another


ah another group of friends from another class whom we know through various ways either mutual friends or through playing sports together so, well so I consider this the best meal of my life firstly because I think it's a very good deal in terms of the money we paid and think about twenty-five singapore dollars for all you can eat and all you can drink japanese food at some some bar so uh


we got, ah no they actually it's a I wouldn't call it is a Izakaya because Izakaya is different in the sense that you go there to drink and you pay for each small uh small items you get granted it's still nice but not as value for money as this, it's more like in a bar as a restaurant kind of setting where uh they had this thing called Nomihodai uh where you drank until until you are happy or as much as you want so it was great because uh well


I mean we were young and adventurous free alcohol or free flow of alcohol we had everything from high bolt to plum wine to beer so it was great and there were so many people, you know and we had very good conversation the food was good as well granted uh it would, and they can't be serving expensive food we can't be getting things like sashimi because you know it's all you can eat but it was still good japanese food they had uh really good Gyoza Karaage uh they'd


buttered corn was really great as well so I well if we ever get a chance to travel again and we should I would bring I would bring anyone who goes to japan there but that was the first part of the experience second part was because of the drinks uh one of my one of my friends actually got blackout drunk and


simply from I I don't know what he was thinking but he probably wanted to make his money's worth and then he drank, he drank the crappy uh whisky that they gave there to mix which you are supposed to mix in the high bolt which is understandable why it's crappy but not supposed to drink it drink it all and so so he did that he downed like two glasses blacked out


out cold and then at the end of the meal he woke up and vomited all over the place for me of, to one of my friend's jackets and all that so I mean I mean it's I wouldn't I wouldn't want to call it sheer freud but it's pretty funny when you when I think about it in retrospect you know


the experience of having to clean up after him apologising to the owner and at the end of the night and you're ah squid cussing him out for for vomiting on one of one of my friend's jackets and trying to get a taxi in the middle of a deserted osaka well I mean if you've ever been to osaka then you would know that


not not not only that I don't know why on a sunday night the the central entertainment district wasn't here like no taxis at all so we had to try and find a, taxi as well for him to get back to his get back to his uh into his BNB and then after that I think because the taxi could only fit four people at there were six of them and by that time the trains had gone the other two of them were simply unable to find a taxi and walked the whole six KM back to their BNB so


I think for them it was a really funny experience and I have funny experience so it was for me ah so I would call that the best meal I ever had I mean it's simply because the experience was you know once one of a kind ah or maybe perhaps when we grew up will see more of this in the future ah so ya


ya can see right uh see my friends you know get blackout drunk and puke again well, so ya


surprise ya I think there was once where uh my friends and I were just heading out for a normal supper


you know we just went to get a Prata at night and then , all of a sudden I think because they had forgotten my birthday the previous year three months late, one of my friends came up with a bottle of uh expensive macallan whisky and gave it to me for as a very late birthday present he knows I was pleasantly surprised by that but yeah he forked out a hundred and ten dollars of his own money to give me a bottle of macallan whiskey three months late so


yeah I mean it it's I mean it's one of the few surprise gifts I've ever had but it's it's the most memorable for what I got you what about you, a'ah


right


session , uh


right, oh that's nice ya that's cool


ya I guess what that's what makes it memorable what about what I call it actually well when you come to think of all these positive experiences I think now because of COVID the COVID pandemic, you know it's not really possible but if and when the pandemic ends what do you look forward to doing most


right having a big group of friends together at my place, ya, (hmm)


ya oh, ya especially if you get caught by the SDA !wow! s that will be one hour one hell of a pain


, well I mean I I've gotten caught by an SDA before well they they don't have the power to issue fines I think it was because I was playing basketball with a group of six instead of five


so they you know they just came to us because of that we couldn't use the court anymore and then we're like okay then we just moved to a different court and continued breaking the rules there, , no ah because uh they were patrolling the bishan area and we went to like ang-mo-kio if I remember correctly so ya I mean eh


not really I mean we took I think it was maybe what three bus stops down, so ya I mean nah it's okay ah this I mean they're just they're just doing their job and you know we're just trying to play basketball so we come to a compromise ah , well I mean for me what I look forward to in when it comes to uh


the end of COVID I think would be traveling again you know being able to go overseas and experience different, cultures don't go to you know different places lah, uh I mean so many things to do I well I I don't want to be too overly critical of singapore but there's not many things to do especially when you're stuck here for six months err sorry or more I think more than a year there


well I mean you can take your leaves to to go oversea so you know we don't have we don't we're not such a large country we don't have , we don't have a big we don't have mountain ranges we can go and climb that we can't there is no domestic tourism because you know I mean I I couldn't really you know go to jurong and stay there as as if you have some attract a cultural attractions there that


well I mean you could always go to ah you'll stay in a hotel that ya, so expensive here anyway so yup, so I think that's what I would look forward to most I mean yeah it means because singapore there's frankly a lack of uh exciting engaging activities you can do here as compared to other countries ah can't really do domestic tourism ah


but it is sad but well you know let's just call a spade a spade


!wow! ya I remember you are what twenty-eight days in is it thirty !wow!, right !wow! it's


right , uh not not really I think if anything the pandemic has had a positive impact on my army life I knew I was part of the batch that had too much taken off their


of their BMT because of uh the pandemic our BMT was shortened from nine weeks to six weeks a lot of we didn't have to do a lot of things over that I mean that was definitely a big bonus because I I'm frankly not, I'm not the most on or chose or person so yeah as well along with that a lot of things in my life were shortened up


a lot of the act army activities in my life was shortened for example, my storeman course was reduced all the way down to eight days which was fantastic instead being five weeks , when I was posted to my unit uh I had [ah} okay the way my unit was is that it's a supply base so you have to err you'll be posted to a central location before being deployed to another camp so what happened was that I waited almost three weeks without anything to do in the


uh in the supply bit sorry at home because the supply supply base couldn't find a camp to post me to so that was great as well , uh you know having time at home to do whatever I wanted and it was great because I could actually use that time to settle all my uh UK university applications along with that uh when I was finally posted to a unit I'd then discovered that they have alternate workday working arrangements that means that I only come in either thrice or twice a week so


it's you know it's a fantastic arrangement for me ah during this circuit breaker didn't, I I would say it it it's uh it wasn't testing me at all in fact I think I see it more as a blessing as perverse as as it sounds lah of course I mean, it's sad that we have a pandemic going around but I can't I cannot deny the fact that this benefited me and many other people in my position greatly ah


ya I mean ah !wah! I mean you're almost going to ORD so , , ah well I mean I have a place in NUS law but I mean I hopefully I would


get accepted into uh cambridge ah cambridge law because funny funnily enough I've just submitted my UKAS application to the ESOL you know hopefully I get through the interview successfully and I get a chance to study there ah think will be a


looking forward what you mean uh looking forward to I mean I will, , right I think for one the better quality of education but number two perhaps the opportunity to be free and uh did have to do everything for myself so where I'm in charge my own studying my own time my own meals so I think that would definitely be a much uh better experience


honestly much better but it'll be a new experience for me which I hope I am looking forward to what about you what about your university uh prospects when, right so what about your university do you know where do you plan to study


right so , what is what is your NUS sport again what is yours what is your NU your sport at NUS, right I see that's good


right I see, , that's great that's great so yeah well I I'm a little bit confused though I I thought NUS didn't allow you to hold two places at once you had to make a


ah when is the deadline when is the the, ah okay well you have lots of time so yup how is the err what what you said you got into the faculty of arts and social sciences is there any particular social science that you are specialising in


I see, the common core curriculum ah essentially right I see I see okay


ah it's oversubscribed lah, (hmm)


(hmm) I I wonder why it's so I I I didn't know that, well I I understand I understand that but I I figured it would be, (hmm) I I didn't know that we had such a good uh such a popular uh psychology faculty in singapore I thought


right ,


I see I see right, what what about your friends where are they going to like dude, !huh! who who who who's that


right a a any scholarships or any scholars among them, !wow! I see, do you plan to take the NUS merit scholarship or the global merit scholarship


oh does your NUS have their own version of it


one or the other a'ah I see I see !whoa! okay


okay good good good sure twenty thirty


part one finance


ah ya okay ah frankly speaking my investing strategy is still fairly I would say conservative and amateurish because I really haven't done much research and I just started investing a few months ago my primary


ah investment portfolio as of now is composed of uh comprised of ETS a couple of unit trusts and a few bank stocks what about you


oh no like I said I'm a fairly conservative in terms of my uh portfolio I intend to hold these for about five to ten maybe even fifteen years I'm quite far ya


ah currently the biggest uh percentage of my portfolio happens to be in uh ETFs for REITS and, okay I suppose a REITS isn't a ETF uh in a sort sense it's a different kind of stock but because ETFs uh ETFs would be the POSB invest saver


so that would probably be uh units so ETFs are following and tracking the straits times index and the nikkei index uh how how about you, yeah


oh


a'ah, ah I see I see so it appears that you've been doing a bit of trading lah since we managed we've turned legal age now that we've turned the legal age to be able to buy stocks


ah I see I see, ah I see I see, because I suppose that's fair that's pretty much what I do as as well I have considered dabbling in the idea of trading for a while in a few more of them in the more risky stocks so to speak where I have no idea why but there was once a period of time when I contemplated trading penny stocks I am glad I did not put any money into that volatile


, option to say the least, ah yes of course


I see I see err have you heard about options by the way


err to my knowledge something like that basic from what I've heard uh options are basically the rights to own or !oops! sorry not not sorry to say more of obligations yes you own the obligation to trade away, or to purchase a certain item or sell a certain item so you don't actually hold the uh you don't financially own the stock or the option to buy ourselves something but you are basically given err


near guaranteed uh non non-financially binding guarantee that you can buy or sell the stock that you have an option for so when you


so err when you, when you purchase the option and err you agree with the option seller you basically err you basically remove the stock from the market for the time being so uh as an example if let's say you wanted to buy a plot of land but you did not have the capital


to develop this plot of land yet you could, technically buy an option from the landowner to say alright I will buy the I'll buy option, of of buying the land if that doesn't sound that confusing for maybe five hundred sorry fifty thousand dollars when the land is actually valued at two million so while you pay this for paying this fifty thousand dollar option you basically removed


the plot of land from the market so you are almost guaranteed to purchase the land, but you can also have the option of not purchasing the land at the end of the option when it expires, yes yes something like that, but unfortunately uh as you can tell from my rather uh for my my hesitancy I haven't actually researched uh much more on these options and what they do so I don't really trade in them


definitely not yes okay frankly speaking my risk appetite is extremely low even for somebody in my age group frankly speaking ya


yes yes yes


(mmhmm) alright no about on that uh on that note like frankly speaking even for like you said putting a hundred percent of my cash in stocks I don't even put fifty percent of my NS income into stock trading I and of that fifty percent or less than fifty percent I put in most of it actually just goes to ETFs and unit trusts


yes and ah frankly speaking ah almost all my actually ya my whole entire portfolio is basically based in singapore I do not have the slightest intention to dabble in the international stock market because frankly speaking


it has much better growth prospects but unfortunately I am simply not confident in the stability or liquidity of these overseas stocks so majority of my trading, yes internationally in general I don't I try not to put any cash I I actually I I just found out flat out do not buy stocks or invest and even ETFs in overseas err


uh countries yeah yes yes I know


ya yes and the S and P five hundred


ya okay ya that sounds I may consider in the future but as of now my risk appetite is frankly speaking too low to venture be about


oh yes uh on that note have you heard of the dollar-cost averaging strategy


okay frankly speaking uh I'm of the belief that when you purchase an ETF and you


it is sort of dollar-cost averaging in a in a sense where, uh you basically purchase, uh how to say it okay oh sorry no I refer when I say ETF ah sorry I'm referring to the POSB invest saver so this ETF allows you to put in uh invest or invest in it


using a fixed amount of cash that you can determine per month so in that sense where you can actually you can actually buy the ETF over a period of time using a fixed amount of cash yes


uh, ya basically you don't time the market you just invest every month to get an average ya


ya I mean for the most part the stock market is fairly volatile, (hmm)


it's predominantly uh equity stocks since it's trace it's following and tracking the STI and the nikkei index, ya the nikkai uh the japanese one the nikkei index yes ya but predominant


predominates equity with uh like I think under twenty percent eh maybe even under ten percent portfolio in bonds, so fairly like I wouldn't say it's competitive but it's it mean it tracks the indexes lah so it's an ETF what what do you expect


yeah, ya


alright uh regards to investing in err the singapore stock market or ya or list I list in singapore stock market do you use the CDP account


oh okay, no uh to my knowledge custodians mainly just uh help you hold the stocks instead of you holding them directly through the CDP account so in that sense the CDP account is a custodian but because it's err basically integrated into


all of I think most if not all of the stocks that are, purchasable in the singapore stock market, so everyone does treats it as you owing the stocks directly rather than the CDP being a custodian itself lah ya


ya there's not much of a difference for the local market but uh with regards to the international market I'm fairly certain that you have to have custodian account unless you use an app, or some other form of platform to basically have a portfolio in international stocks


oh if I get a million dollars ah okay first of first of all I would try to overcome the urge to basically just throw it all on the bank because mental accounting is a thing but if let's


say I was uh rational enough to invest the cash since this million dollars technically speaking is fairly fungible and I shouldn't be held back with the idea of like putting a set amount of it into an the bank I'll probably will put a bit more of the


uh money invest a bit more of their money into bank stocks right now because given the current COVID pandemic and the not so optimistic outlook of the economy I probably put the cash into something which is relatively stable right now and I know still has the potential to grow how about you


oh ya ya that sounds like a pretty ambitious and frankly speaking it's not it's it's a very sound idea to invest now I mean after all one of the fundamental fundamentals of investing is buy low and sell high, so on that note would you trust err or would you like commit yourself to getting a financial advisor should you somehow decide to invest with this one million dollar


oh they over invested, a'ah


I see I see, so we would you would rely on the expertise of somebody who actually actively makes it their duty to research the market and buy the stocks


, yes yes yes is more sensible than trying to be financially independent at thirty


twenty twenty-seven (ppo)


part three negative experience in your life all right {ppb}


a'ah what keeps me awake at night ah frankly speaking it's uncertainty ah like I said like I said in the you might have remembered a few conversations we had that, I'm still very uncertain on what I wanna do with my life from the next five to ten years it's like I can't even decide what university course I want to go through concretely and that alone puts a lot of anxiety and uncertainty into


my outlook on life as you know I mean it's singapore where it's you need to have a solid plan on what you want to do in life in order to, basically get the degree you'll need that's relevant for the relevant job and even beyond that like what do you want to do in your free time what's what passions do you have all of these cause create a lot of


anxiety and uncertainty for me at night actually not just at night like every time if my mind is left to wander it does make me feel pretty


right now it's probably just a lack of thinking honestly for the past like past for the past year when I was in NS was a relatively hectic period of my life so I didn't have much time to think


beyond just fulfilling my operational duties and training yes what about you do you have any negative, what


we need something tangible


ya (mmhmm)


there's ya I would have a sense of dread if I would have a sense of dread if I thought that the sense


fairness, ya sure go ahead


but the mysteries of life become increasingly less mysterious as you become more and more rational, was


ya, it is a fairly heavy topic but it is intriguing nonetheless yes


what are the do you have do you see any I mean okay the world right now as we know is is suffering not just thru a pandemic but there are still injustices in the world that really still exists when my I personally feel this rightfully shouldn't and that just quite made me that does make me feel


a little sad and even angry so ya, right okay


I see definitely different okay ah one of the injustices that still I do feel rather upset about that still exists is starvation and


ya okay I know how starvation in when I refer to starvation I refer to some of the countries in the world where like yemen, yes hunger and famine and poverty so countries like yemen countries like the democratic republic of congo these countries have widespread poverty and famine and the people there are just suffering and the most annoying thing to me is that


these countries suffer not because did not because of technology or , ya not because of technology despite mean humanities has advanced so much since the industrial revolution we have diverse supply chains we have the means of cultivating and feeding the world but we'd simply don't because of political and economic


factors that are largely beyond our control it could reflect in yemen's case the civil war between the two rivalling factions is literally too I personally feel the only reason why the country is still suffering from poverty and ya famine


a'ah you right that's yeah that's another aspect that that's another part of the solution to me is also gives me a little sadness considering that I personally feel that


the best way to solve this issue would technically speaking to will come from intervention from bigger playing nation-states because from the way it is right now it looks like the two civil the groups that are responsible for the strife and the poverty and the


conflict in these kind of countries right they don't seem to be able to resolve the conflict without external aid however despite that premise of requiring external aid to help them, I do have reason to believe that there are externals players that are actually causing this conflict to be sustained longer than it should have naturally


geopolitical interests it could even be corporate interests but frankly speaking like to me these these external players are literally causing, ya profiting off war or just trying to force down their agenda onto other uh


yes it's a heavy handed approach which I don't accept


definitely yes


right okay kay lah thinking thinking a bit farther I suppose it is the futility of the or the ya the lack of effectiveness of the intervention efforts that really makes me, that makes me feel rather pessimistic on life sometimes


yes yes, definitely ya


ya does that's my grievances against the world do you have any grievances


as an excuse to basically


ah yes


ya I I thought he was a rapist !hais!


but they all but they still idolising just because by virtue of the color of his skin, ya


ya, oh my god !wah! I guess my optimism


in the intrinsic good in people ya I mean that's I mean , like okay ah a lot of my past dreams were like to help people and, and stuff I wanted to become a doctor when I was a small kid because I thought like I'd save people and make everybody happy but


like I suppose those kind of those kind of dreams died off slowly not because of a lack of interest in, helping people but I was primarily because of basically me my outlook on the world like, changing to view everything as not everybody acts with the best of intentions and now nobody does something purely from the goodness of their hearts


like uh, I mean a lot a good number okay yes I mean ya a lot the human the human mind is genetically engineered to basically cooperate and help each other because we evolved over time to realise that collaborating with others was beneficial to our survival however I think


like over a period of time people had different ideas of what collaborating meant and often times they weren't afraid to arrange collaborations and cooperations in a way which benefited them, much much more disproportionately to others ah to the point where the other side was actually getting hurt so like I've seen it too many times somebody where people just


true goodness and altruition still exist but it's I don't know I guess I've been finding it increasingly hard to like see it rather obviously enough or see it more often than other people just trying to one up and take control of a situation for their own benefit and yeah that


ya, ya fair enough ya I guess I also had a dream in I uh did dream of being a musician for period of time but ya like similar to you I did feel that


everyday underpaid lot not skilled probably gonna be defeated by some other upstart talent who miraculously learn how to play much better or put in much more effort that you didn't realize, ya ya ya


ya, fair enough fair enough


part two positive experience in your life


oh my god how I decide err okay I suppose I mean I am a huge fan of japanese food so probably one of the best one of the best meal and actually, one of the best experiences I had, was eating at a local japanese restaurant in okinawa when I went there for holiday a couple years ago so they served us this very unique


uh food item which basically in translated to english was sea grapes so it looked like, caviar but when you bit into it was basically just seaweed in in in a, form of tiny caviar pearls and yeah the taste sensation from that was really intense and it was really great and in addition that the meal itself as if the meal itself wasn't good enough already the uh owner of the restaurant was extremely friendly kept


topping up our drinks without so much as a wave and, and yeah and the overall experience was quite jovial, ah here that's the best part there were like fifteen to twenty people and yet there were only like two or three waiters, and the two to three waiters, yes but the two to three waiters literally just zoomed all around the restaurant like effortless effortlesly effortlesly effortlessly just clearing tables serving food and all the while just like


yelling at each other, across the restaurant and yet when they yelled it was somehow it didn't feel pressurizing or negative lah like they didn't sound aggressive, or err angry ah yes definitely what about you what's your best meal


ah ha


oh you went to an Izakaya


!oof!


, (oo) (ugh) I see


oh my god, ya it can get very dark after like a certain period of time


jeez ,


I'm sure that was something that he will look forward to uh when this COVID pandemic ends and we can finally travel overseas again,


err ya or on the other side not beyond just having uh the best meal or the best experience you've ever had have you ever gotten like a surprise gift that someone's given you that you really is unforgettable to you,


damn,


ah for me okay I can never forget so this was ironically the best gift I ever got was also a late birthday present so I think it was some time around september and ah I played this japanese card game called uh cardfight in vanguard so back then uh this is uh think three-four years ago uh during that period there was this


new release of cards but the place set was extremely expensive so I was thinking to myself all right that's it as much as I like the unique play style that this uh new expansion or gifts and offers I'm probably not going to buy it, and yet and suddenly I received the whatsapp text from one of my friends in !hey! can we meet up this sunday and I thought okay and I just bought my old stuff there thinking ah it's gonna be another routine


session card session and then suddenly out of nowhere they just blindfold me and pushed me to the ground and I go what the heck are you guys doing and then they go , yes would you like to see what we got for you and ah the whole time I was I was literally on the floor blindfolded and I had no idea why there were doing this and ya when they took off the blindfold like oh my god is that the new expansion that I wanted and like yes then why the heck did you blindfold me


and I oh ya err we just thought it was funny and I'm like why, ya I mean looking back that was probably extremely immature and it didn't make much sense but, ya that gift coupled with the strange experience of uh the strange trial of their acquiring it really was quite enjoyable made the gift even more enjoyable


definitely going out with like all my former secondary and, JC classmates and actually socializing with them yes without having to worry about sticking to groups of five and like keeping one metre distance and just trying your damnedest just not to let all the people around you know that you're from the same functional group it's really funny when like


the five of you talking together in a group and then suddenly across the other side of the restaurant or the hawker center there's like another five people there and you're like whatsapping and communicating to each other in sign language or like just shouting over the table yelling, eh today is an extremely good day ah the food is so nice


and then the other table goes oh yeah totally and then like you just see all the uh passers-by and strangers just looking at these two tables several of them going what-the-heck, okay ya I've been very fortunate not to bump into any but I pray that nobody has to suffer the unfortunate uh


instance of a fine, oh is it, a'ah


and they didn't catch you afterwards, ah okay !wah! isn't that quite a distance to travelled, ah okay okay


, ah yes definitely


stuck here for two years as you are serving the glory of the republic


ya I I mean and not to mention air BNBs who're largely closed for basically the entirety of circuit breaker, (mmhmm)


alright uh on that side notes you, definitely like this pandemic has really tested all of us like not just mentally but also socially as we tried to grapple with the fact that we can't see your friends anymore the circuit breaker period in particular was extremely for me was extremely tough because I had to spent a good portion of it in camp so I could not yes


ah thirty unofficially was twenty-eight but they basically made it thirty, and ya that was really quite a tribulation to stay in but ah somehow I don't know how but I guess like just having some time to myself in camp to just plan out what I wanted to do and


and trying to make set a clear goal for what I wanted to do for the next three to six months of my life, yeah I guess that clarity gave me some comfort and uh, basically determination to persevere on so how about you did the pandemic like in particular make you feel the need to change something radically


oh


!wow!


(hmm), I see I see


oh !wow!


nah it's between to each his own right


!wah! that's nice to hear , ah fair enough fair enough alright uh regards to ORD-ing you mentioned uh which university are you going to again when you finish with serving when you finished serving the nation


ah okay


anything you are looking forward to if you somehow got the uh spot in the UK and you have to travel there, like any aspect of uni life in the UK that you are particularly looking forward to


they are definitely unique, well I've currently got is, yeah ah well I'm


currently got a spot in err NUS and yale-NUS trying to decide between the two both of them are here locally of course but they both do offer some uh degree of, immersion and enrichment trips by which I mean there's literally just a overseas exchange program on overseas trip to another country to gain some exposure yale-NUS definitely offers more


sorry, oh a faculty of arts and social sciences but I also managed to get in a spot into the university scholars programme yes so the U it's mainly through the USP that there's a few more exchange programmes with different uh universities I think waseda was one of them and err what was his name uh


think was le pen or something it was a it was a france, it was a french uh university that also offered a exchange program so both of these are exchange programmes I'm just trying to decide right now between NUS or yale-NUS because both offer overseas exchange programmes which I am looking forward to


or I have at least expressed interest in applying for it I'm hopefully I can get a spot in either of these but yeah I'm hoping for the best


they don't which is why I still have to decide right now on which university, I want to accept err it's going a couple of months yes yes ya, (mmhmm)


political science because, honestly speaking political science although I am open I mean one of the benefits of FASS is that you spend your first year learning, but they call them multiple disciplinary opposed but it's basically just going through all the modules yes the common curriculum so at the end of that I can probably choose definitely not psychology that's all I can say not because I don't see any interest in psychology I mean psychology does intrigued me but I definitely will not see myself trying to compete with


the other ah basically I mean, psychology in NUS is like an over saturated course where everybody yes it's oversubscribed a lot of people apply to FAAS just to get into psychology and according to my seniors and some of the alumni that I had spoken to there


it's really messy to even apply to enter that university, psychology is a growing uh psychology is a growing uh discipline and I think like mental health is becoming increasingly prevalent issue in society


yup yeah I was just surprised as well in NTU the problem is not as bad as they actually uh require you to


it's at explicitly indicate if you want to join the psychology course in the first uh year of university as opposed to going through the common curriculum but yeah it's still very competitive from what I've heard SMU psychology I'm not too sure I think SMU their business course it's still probably more competitive


given how its SMU business but ya, most of them are applying for NUS business or uh one form of chemical engineering or the other so the, you mean the courses themselves are quite competitive and but they do know what they want to study when they go


ya of course I've got one that's actually uh signed on with the navy and he's currently studying chemical engineer sorry no electrical engineering yes electrical engineering in the national university of singapore


ya okay that's another can of worms considering that both that scholarship requires me to actually be a student of NUS and not yale-NUS for some reason ya for some reason, they have their own versions of the scholarships and grants but ah it's exclusive to the college so basically the NUS merit scholarship and the yale-NUS scholarships are mutually exclusive I have to join


the school like I have to join one of the school or the other in order to get one or the other of the scholarships ya but I mean overall, I'm it's good that I like I said like I said earlier it's good enough a few months to decide as that would, give me uh ample time to finally settle and decide uh which course I want to take up to study for


the next three to four years of my life and what degree I want to hold when I enter the working world


part one finance


the question is what is the investment how do you plan your investment portfolio how long is your, oh dear , uh what is your investment strategy, do we have


mine is I mean currently I got no investment strategy lah because I'm just currently is still you know planning onto


save more stuff I think right now investment I think right now the focus will be more of buy house anything I'm not sure , because I for me I haven't get delve into the idea of uh investment yet but I think in the future comes in a time I think I will be investing in trying to learn more of investment strategies I understand what is it about


okay (hmm) what is okay what is a risk appetite when it comes to investing and trading (hmm)


I think I am not very risky I think I'm pretty safe I think because I'm I'm currently haven't get any knowledge on it and how to actually test with the market like I don't have like a person to actually guide me through you see so I will not be very


currently I'm very setback I'm like very reserved I will not be very risky at it unless I get some kind of information like get a good perspective about uh investment then maybe my risk appetite may increase but for currently it's very very low


(uh huh)


(hmm) okay okay, not I mean in the near future I guess because when there's, wait when I release a person who actually I hope can guide me and how to actually invest on it and make he makes more sense for me to do it rather than just go do it aimlessly


then my money just goes down the drain which I which would end up everybody wants that you see, so I want to make sure I have a person who I can look up to and you know has a better understanding on how to invest on the market


yes of course definitely who someone who is expert in their field rather than just you know


(mmhmm) (mmhmm), yup


(uh huh), true true how about trading, (uh huh)


okay me too I also have no idea of, trading I mean if they even if they ask me a strategy right now I won't be able to give it because I have have no idea what is I mean from what I know trading is more of like getting stuff around but the thing is that I think there's more deeper meaning to it which I need to dwells in it to actually have a understand better understanding of what is trading strategy


so anyway (uh huh) ya go ahead go ahead


(uh huh) uh, (uh huh), uh (uh huh)


I mean I I mean at a very young age when you start doing all this trading investing and anything at the young age I feel like you supposed to enjoy your life rather than just seeing how to save money I feel I I I honestly feel like a person has to enjoy to a certain level I think after a certain age I mean


comes in the trading and everything it makes more sense I mean yes people would say lah I wish I learned earlier, but ultimately you're not losing out a lot it's just that it's it's the feeling of all I could earn more money but then I think that monetary value cannot be compared with what you experience in your life


there's something I'm a firm believer in, so I I think it I doing trading anything at any age is is welcome it is just that you need to have the right person to do it so you can actually gains something out of it rather than just you know


(uh huh) ya ya


, I mean currently the insurance is basically more of uh I mean hospitalisation in the insurance that kind of I think the basic needs for all the every singaporeans lah I mean I'm I'm I'm I'm have all I mean have the basic necessity insurance for that


to cover their health because I think in singapore health insurance is a is a very vital thing and I think it's one of the one of the basic insurance we all have need to have


(uh huh), yup (mmhmm) (mmhmm) (mmhmm) (mmhmm) (mmhmm) (mmhmm)


(uh huh), (uh huh)


(uh huh), the rider fee right


(mmhmm), yup, hospital bill right (uh huh)


(uh huh) yup yup (uh huh) (uh huh) , but they use the old plan as a loop oh lah there was one of the issue that was addressed that's why they had to change the


the new system which is the five percent rider fee because people were actually hampering with that old plan and they trying to actually stay in because I mean one if I'm not wrong the old plan has a rebate where when you can receive they will pay you whereas in the hospital so people actually tend to stay longer purposely


even though they are actually fully fine, so because of that there was this loophole so I think that's what caused the a a huge a problem and the insurance claim was very high in the few years, so that was one of the reason I guess one of the reason I know is why they change the whole uh insurance system to the five percent rider


(uh huh) that's right


(mmhmm) (mmhmm), (uh huh), (uh huh)


(uh huh), (mmhmm), (uh huh)


understand (mmhmm) yep yep, (mmhmm) I mean it'll be is their making it more stringent I guess I mean because of the whole claiming where they just uh for a small portion they just keep claiming


and that's right so they right now I think what they're trying to do is to narrow down their each each individual, illness and to his according to his stages level so from there only they will actually proceed on to actually doing the claiming cause I guess ah each disease has his owns different kind of section in stages to it and they want to really dissect it


to make it even more uh , even more clearer and under have a better understanding of what what is the process of this illness going through, (mmhmm)


(uh huh)


(mmhmm), (uh huh), (mmhmm), (mmhmm), (uh huh)


I mean (hmm)


I mean (hmm), yup yup I mean is the problem is the premium lah is the premium that have to pay and the older like you like you said the older you are the higher the premium and , true to be told that and after a certain age I mean people would not the old age people would not be working


and the only thing they only thing they want to do is right now is just stay at home and just you know relax you know enjoy their retirement and everything but if they want to be covered by the health insurance and critical illness that's where the problem comes in for them because budget will be very very tight on them


and and because of this ya, so because of this I think it will like cause, a bit more hard it'll be a bit more tiresome on them especially you know in their planning retired but they are technically are not able to retire fully cause they have to work so they can pay off their


insurance uh premiums so it has its plus points and its negative points but the ultimate setting is I feel bad is you know in the end they are still have to, work, so that they can actually you know pay off their insurance premiums


so so called so they can be covered for the rest next, for the next few years , (uh huh) uh (uh huh)


(mmhmm) yup, (uh huh), (mmhmm)


(mmhmm)


(mmhmm), I mean ah it's just weird it's very saddening to hear but then , that the thing is like everybody say it's I is your life worth the price


I mean if your life is priceless than you have to take care of it and everything I mean especially the sandwich class they are really been squeezed out in paying premiums house loans and and and any other loans it's it's it's a very difficult thing to do but


I think in with the proper financing tools and proper understanding of the market like what we share in the starting of it which is the investment strategy I mean if you if they have a bad good investment strategies and all trading strategies I think they're able to bring up more capital


and because of that they able to pay their premium much better and they actually afford they can afford whatever they want to buy, I mean ultimately really really boils down to how we are able to have a how it is able to actually do investment well and right


(ugh), (mmhmm), yup yup (mmhmm)


true true true


insurance and things right (mmhmm), I mean I feel like whenever we tried to shun those insurance agents who are doing the walking products right that I think the biggest problem what we are facing is because they do they do all this walking during after work


so I feel like people will be too exhausted to even listen properly, and to dedicate their time because like I say since we are actually rushing for time to actually go back home because we have so much errands to do the last thing you want to do is you know listen to somewhere and talk about insurance


I mean ah ya I'm not being I mean I'm not against them or anything it's just that timing is, like I say timing is golden like if you if you if your timings is very nice very nicely prepared I think it's possible to achieve near a beach but if you do it in a timing where people is are actually not in the mood to listen and they're just in the main goal is just to I want to go home and just to take a nap or something


it is along that line I think people will not listen, so it's not saying that they don't feel like insurance a taboo thing and they know about it but just that they don't have the time and dedication to actually sit down and listen to it and they give them like a proper discussion of it because they are too tired actually


that I think that that's one of the problems I think almost the singaporeans are facing that's why most of us we shun all those insurance agent not because we don't like them I think it's just that we are we want to do something else right we're not we're not planning to actually sit down and talk to you right now, ya that I I think that's one of the problems I feel most insurance agents are actually going through


(mmhmm), (mmhmm) ah okay


I think the first person who actually have to relay those messages are your parents I feel the parents because ah they are the one who first taking the insurance we have a few right so I feel they can actually uh, talk to us about insurance first and from there they can actually you know bring their agents out there or anything or like ask us you know go and explore if any insurance agent approached you be feel free to actually listen to them and get a proper a proper plan from them lah


ya, okay that was great, twenty minutes and thirty four


part three negative experience, alright


recalled a situation where you were forced to change your plan against your will, become I mean I've will not have I mean if I were to talk about something sad


is I think you'd be about my my it was my journey with my akido itself I feel , cause uh I mean uh been training for akido for many years ago oh my god for around fifteen years one five ya it I mean ever since young it it all started because of uh me watching


uh matrix years yup watching matrix like I I look at my dad I was like dad I want to learn much I mean I want to learn how to fight like him , and the only way to learn it was martial art so uh he brought me to a he brought me to err


the martial I I mean the CC, and sign me up to learn martial art so me thinking like everybody was take taekwondo class you know because taekwondo was was the very like very high demand I mean supply for uh teaching especially for kids and everything


so I thought I went into taekwondo, but then three months later I realised I'm actually learning akido, so I was learning aikido but then, I fell in love with the art it's just that not a lot of people actually my friends actually did martial arts so it was something that a lot of people couldn't appreciate it


but then I actually fight through it like you know learn for at least some, like continue training , diligently and everything then there was a point where, when I got my black belt was one of my goals to actually get a belt where because I think all martial artists feels like okay a day I need to get my black belt


black belt is like showing that you have reached that that optimum level I mean to the higher ranking level saying that okay I think you know your stuff, but then when I was when I was older the, black belt I was already was actually teaching people especially kids so I was actually like basically climbing up the ranks lah but me knowing that I actually teaching people and everything


then ah during that process err my Sensei will had an issue with the current club he broke off he built his own company and which I actually followed him and you know uh and I was under his wing lah I was one of his lead I mean one of his instructors to teach kids


so I think after that just nice uh NS came and I wasn't able to fully trained you know due to NS, but then uh with my camp coming in and everything else I had a lot of flexible hours , so uh after black belt I mean there's called the first degree your first degree basically showing that you are actually reached the next level where you are actually with the first degree actually helps you to actually get a


recognition in around japan or around the world anything that's under that particular dojo, uh under that Dojo organisation, because the that Dojo organisation has been around like spread out in everywhere so err when I was able to when I was given the opportunity to actually go for the show then I was like okay why not give it a shot you know it's something that I also wanted to do that was one of my goals also just ah then I was I was really training vigorously


trying to log in as much sessions I can, and in between that years in between that years, uh my friend actually created a club and he was actually teaching kids and I was also part I was also his partner also more of helping him out actually to increases his clubs uh presence and you know help basically just being a helping hand lah


but then the day came and a student came and uh I was really excited because I've been training this for the past fifteen years , and when I got it I was like okay time to you know, bring it up and everything, so once I did it uh I did the I did the training it went well it was so awesome I was really like one one huge ya looking forward it was a huge burden off because I've already done it


so so after that I wasn't able to go back for training to collect my certificate due to err army and and and and other I was doing my license also so I was really cramped up so I took a break I'm saying that okay I've been training so harsh now so let's take a break you know then come back and just collect it


then in during that two months time me uh my friend and my center had a huge a, a huge fight, but I wasn't actually informed about it, so uh then after two months later uh I went back uh, I went back to the Dojo lah I actually message when send this thing I'm coming over I I I like can you pass me the cert and everything


then he was like okay uh then uh when I went it or when I went to the class I was actually very very excited I was like okay, I think because I were I were cause I already knew the results ah I knew I've got my shoulder it's just that the it was my dream to actually it was an honour for me to actually get it from my Sensei because in uh in all Akidoka whenever you get a new rank you actually being uh you'll you'll be done it in a belt presentation manner where they actually presenting in front of everybody


to so call like through that you actually have a, reached a new level new height your ranking , so I was really looking forward to actually get the received the rank from my Sensei because he had been training between within the past fifteen years and he's like a father figure to me


and I was really really like you know looking forward to it but then uh, things didn't go according to plan , uh when I went to my Sensei and me generally being very excited you know getting from him you know , uh when I asked him about the certificate he all he did was like he just took out a certificate from his bag and he were just like he just passed it to me and was like nah


ah just like err what what's happening, I was just like ha, he just like gave the certificate the this uh gave certificate like this, I was like ya ya I was like ha what's I I don't understand like why would you even give the certificate like this but I couldn't see it because I was really really shocked


so I was like, why why are you giving me the certificate like this isn't it supposed to be I mean I couldn't say all these in front of him but all this word in my head I was quite devastated actually I was like !wow! I was like all I wanted is to you to present it in front of my like in my classmates


but then you just gave to me like this like, like I was like a beggar who's asking for a rank and sure gave it to me like this, I was really heartbroken because it was, for fifteen years I've been training under him and it was one of my goals to actually you know get it from him presented by the class but it really gave me ya it's really gave me a psychological scar on how I view things especially on martial art


because I know that people actually buy ranks in martial arts but they're actually not trained to but I know my deep down myself I really trained my ass off to really push, you know to get this rank and when I say I ass off I really trained hard and then you know there were I put very high standards on my


on myself and I really make sure that I delivered it but, even though after all this you know I still just got, given a certificate just like this which I don't even feel I deserve, so I mean that's why it's


is something that I will never forget is uh is even if I look at my certificate sometime I really wonder that, do I do I even deserve this certificate right currently cause , (mmhmm), but I mean it's devastating lah because even though I know like I deserve the certificate or anything it's just that the thought of it is just really haunting me every day whenever I see the cert


because, ya maybe maybe, I mean I feel like, if I got the certificate where when they're happy and or joyous occasion, I'll be really really happy looking at the cert cause I know it's a sense of accomplishment


but then when I look at the cert it's more of like I'm like torn between like, what has happen like, because of there's that issue my whole fifteen year ordeal just goes down the drain, ya, what about you what do you what is one of your saddest or something you can think of makes you feel very you know


(mmhmm) (mmhmm)


I mean I I mean that I think it's everybody has their own of sadness I mean for me my negative was my aikido I mean aikido was one of them I mean, I was so closed off like you know like passing my my A level by one point I wasn't able to go anywhere I want it was really like heartbreaking


I mean because on one point I'm not able to go I cannot go anywhere, it really makes it very it's very sad lah I mean like it is, that one point causes you to actually hold on to one year again to repeat it doesn't make sense at times but I but I understand is also to be fair but ya I I don't know I mean I'm felt like it's not fair lah like to me


it's just that one point can do something about it rather than there you know, but in that (mmhmm)


my loved one last word ah I mean I to me honestly I I will just say that forgive and forget


you know try not to you, I mean to me I'll just tell them that if I, if I did something wrong in my in my current years or anything I'm really sorry about it , and just please forgive me for my for my other, for all the mistakes I've done


I mean even if his unintentional intentional I really at that point of time I I feel like people at that point of time when people think could be very different , but if it hurt you and I think I really sorry for it, and after they still


, be happy of what they have, try to be, mean uh be appreciative of life don't take it for granted and treat people around people equally, you know even if you're angry with the person try not to show anger at them


because, uh I mean what like it what people say like if whenever you spew words which is very uh painful and piercing you know it leaves the scar and once the scar is there then it's a problem, so I don't I feel like you should actually make sure that you know if you know you try not to spew words or anything try to have a way constructive argument try not to spill words


be patient uh be humble, don't explode I mean I understand why you explode but do not explode and start whamming on people listen most important listen, because people see things people let people listen and hear things differently like they can hear story A but they will say story C because their understanding capacity is very different


so make sure that you know you sit down you analyse like whatever you're saying you have a better understanding and so forth


honestly speaking the dream of me actually leading a class, and teaching uh aikido for my kids , because I feel like I had a, a a different goal with my friend even though my friend my my goal are actually quite inclined


it's just that , whatever I wanted to do with my kids and he wanted do with the kids were actually a bit different, but then because we have a better understanding we actually come together as one but, I feel like everyday you know when I'm teaching the kids and I think I feel like the the standards I want to put for my kids and the standard he want to put for the kids


it differs a lot, and that's when my, that my vision for the school and his vision for the school started to change and it happened ya and plus he wanted to infuse so much things where to me is, I am not actually really like train to that level yet and I want to be sure that you know


that I need to have the proper guidance but, in the end it was, not going according to plan and ultimately I'm not the main stakeholders so he is the main guy so I didn't I didn't want to buzzing and say nope this is cannot be done even though you say it's okay but


uh, when you know that there is no, don't have the sense of belonging after awhile you know you won't bother, so that's why I told myself I would do it until I came out for that I'll just make a move, because, it's it's also my dream but ya I feel like if my dream is not gonna come through then


and it's going to be hindered with so many things don't bother go into it because it's not worth it in the ultimate end, when you know this this thing will go it will go one big round which is not, for it's a bit pointless, I was telling to myself this one of the dreams like it was one of my a dream that I'm very sad for cause I wanted to create like a a different kind of school and methods but


uh it was tough because we no enough helpers and it had struggling with helpers and they're still they're too young to actually I have a understanding capability and capacity , they still how to teach kids and everything and it really takes a toll


so to me that was one of the dream that's always fading away every day but , it is sad but I have to actually face the realistic which is, is is a dream I is a dream lah I only can dream about it but if I want to make it a reality I have to really really like think like another way to actually make it happen


yup yup


understand (mmhmm), I mean they I understand how it feels also lah it's very tiring but, can't blame you uh, how are they have a time where you felt betrayed


who what happened please, (uh huh)


(uh huh), (uh huh)


(mmhmm), (mmhmm), (uh huh)


okay okay, (uh huh)


(uh huh)


I mean at the similar I'm not the same same as you but I felt betrayed when when I was actually helping a friend, and next thing you know he just like he literally genuinely asked me for advices and I actually talk to him about it you know he was like okay like you know like explaining like I was explaining to him and everything


but, things started to change when he got the girl, and he started to like you know stopped talking to me and everything and then I was just like what's the issue, did I did something wrong so apparently I was cramping his style like you know him knowing I was his friend he felt like a like it's like degrading him in any some kind of way I guess so I was just like ha


but I was like really thinking like !wow! you guys actually goes for that kind of thing where oh I shouldn't be friend with this even though he helped me a lot , ya ya then I was like !wow! actually people are out there really interesting ya


twenty one and seven second


two positive experience, alright


my most favorite meal ever, I think is the I think is the meal I think I have most mostly I have the best part of meals whenever I'm with my girlfriend


which is you I mean, I mean whenever like we have we go on a ride especially like travel very far from like from the east to the west or the west to the east , I especially I ya as you know I'm a burger fanatic if you love me I love burgers and there was a point where we actually travel to #pasir ris# at Burgernomics


and was like it was one one of uh like I think there was one of the best burgers for the budget I I feel for the budget (mmhmm) for the price point I felt (mmhmm) it was very good I mean it was, it was something we travels for very long and when we ate it it was actually really really good and I was actually generally surprise


and it was it's really quite like really worth it cause like you know sometimes we have, issues where we we travel from one so far of east and the food like really was very bad, and also it was so sad and depressing, so I think one of the thing I will always remember is to my heart I think it's Burgernomics cause it was price point it was fantastic food tastes wise was good and travelling there


it gives you the sense of accomplishment lah cause you travel so far to get eat a good meal and you actually get it, which I'm really really really happy