because I think if for for US actually you eh US you can actually a lot of opportunity especially in in the line that I'm in I think I I can seek more opportunities and uh get more experiences but safety is an issue there


and err racism was also something that I'm concerned so that is why I still think at the end of the day singapore is still the best place for me to


that's true but , for me if I were to go the developing country like for example malaysia, I think we uh I I will only be within the capital its the best where I can seek employment opportunities by within the other aspects of the of malaysia you really cannot find any other opportunities


and it's like more or less if I can if I seek employment opportunities in in in their capital is it the same as as seeking employment in singapore's singapore also maybe the only difference is like I will be treated as an expatriate there and then maybe my uh remuneration package would be that will be better


that's true I think it it because we are already so comfortable and and to I mean you can see that singapore is not a bad place to live and that's why we are comfortable as compared to our neighbouring countries actually living in singapore is not that bad it's just that singapore comes with its baggage and the baggage is really just stress


ya which is which is what fuels all this stress, and this why we we want to we want to leave the country, so if this if this issues are addressed I think singapore will be a good place to to stay in


so either way they are like singapore also because the country is so expensive they had to seek other alternatives to find groceries to to to to pump their petrol


but I think when you think of the cost and benefit and when you do your own cost and benefit analysis like I think in you in switzerland itself uh coke itself can cost you maybe ten dollars, I mean when you convert back to to to singapore dollar, so when they do their own cost and benefit like okay


a financial related topic, uh okay uh so daniel what do you think about insurance and do you have like any insurance right now currently


I see like for the for for me as well but like when so I've been in my job for almost, about one year and I think when I turned twenty one the government automatically already put me under the the dependent life scheme that means that annually I pay a few dollars and then obviously my if I


were to pass away my uh my relatives and my family will be protected and they would get like a payout uh do you have the same thing as well, no you haven't opt in because currently you're student


I see I see but like uh I I understand you're working part time so uh uh do you have anything that you will probably opt in for in terms of like government uh public insurance, nope, actually what do you think about insurance like honestly


I understand I understand I think insurance probably gets like a very bad rep considering that , a lot of times they are soliciting things that we don't actually want like we don't and go look for insurance I think we are at a age right cause we are very young err we haven't like for me I've got my first job but this obviously isn't something I want to pursue full time right all the for like the next five years in my life I don't think that insurance right now is a necessity


ya I think you are very healthy and that's why we don't think that insurance is something important that we need plus I think, you you're right that insurance is quite costly but what about like


and how do you normally claim this policy and what was the policy that you opt in for thru the airline do you remember


I see I see so normally when uh when you opting for it you pay for it right and then let's say you don't claim anything do you get the deposit back or something or how does it work


I see okay I think let's talk about in the next five ten years right when you obviously at the age where you have disposable income and you want to purchase uh insurance do you think that right now the government public like the CPF insurance coverage is enough for you and what are your thoughts about it


I mean I think we are all very sensible people like when it comes to like claiming insurance or like claiming medisave the the thing is government


only covers you to a certain extent right in terms of like your ward like maybe, B one or like C I don't think we're that kind of people who, want to go to an A ward I think people who of often always go for, private insurance they they mostly take because of the premiums and the coverage they get that the government don't already give right


and I think when we make that choice we think whether is the we made a cost benefit analysis whether it's worth, it I think for our current lifestyle I don't think it's something that is worth it when the government already like gives the very basic need I think for because continue


I know that our dad purchased uh in uh insurance policy for savings right and obviously now it has helped him because now with the pandemic he needs to cash out all this insurance because he needs the cash right but then the thing is to what extent does it actually help like you save it for ten fifteen years


you get maybe a payout of only twenty five to thirty K right how long does it how long is it going to last you right and when he tells me about all these savings insurance then he tells me okay I put this at the minimum amount , I don't think that interest rate is that high, compared to like uh during investments outside right I know our older brother he does stashaway


and the interest rates there for twelve months he getting is actually quite, is much more I find it much more err something that I would


I want to opt for because it's the same as going to banks right you have to put in a fixed amount of rate and I think for us young people we like the flexibility where we can put any amount when we would just in case touch wood ah


ya


ya and I also think that the the the sum that they're giving you at the end of the tenure period right maybe ten to twenty five years I think you, could save more money and I think it's, we've already seen it's been done before with our brother he's able to save a lot of money in just like twelve months


than what the insurance company can give you and I think that's why we don't think as something very important right, ya ya definitely


discipline , but I think it's the same for insurance know like if you put eh like let's say for example you put five hundred dollars every month to the insurance company what if that that month you're unable to because you are you have to pay bills then what happens right


at least with the your second bank account you actually have the flexibility and you can actually cash out when you need , for your insurance uh your insurance uh plans I don't think you are able to do that right , there's one thing I wanted to talk about uh


okay let's move away from savings and everything right uh why do you uh I know when you look, for savings account right saving your savings account you put it in the high interest uh high interest bank and how do you look, for banks like that cause I know you go you go


for a uh the super saver student plan with Standard Chartered bank how do you compare other banks who have something similar


that's true DBS has really bad rates


ya definitely definitely and uh have you decided whether you want to move to like stashaway


I see because I think banks generally have very uh bad interest rates, especially when it comes to savings and also uh I also think sometimes they worked similar to insurance companies in terms of the lock, down period because I know DBS has one of the uh multiplier uh DBS multiplier and you are also locked down to a minimum amount that you have to put in and I think that was something that I wanted to go for but when I spoke to the uh the the agent for it uh I told them okay what if


anything happens to me and I'm not able to fork out and then they just said just put like what you're comfortable with you know what if what if I'm comfortable with, is uh like five hundred dollars but when I lose my job then what's going to happen they can't answer me you know so I think a lot of times all these uh company is they need to do talk they need to think about like fail measures just in case their the the customer the client is unable to make these payouts like what is going to happen you know I don't I feel like


we I think something that I would want to buy for insurance is a redundancy policy where for example if I lose my job, I have like a safety net you know in the event that I lose my job that is something but I don't know


ya so like when I recently went to hospital right uh so our mother purchased for me a NTUC rider that I didn't even know so I only found out when I got the bill but because our dad


uh he use his medisave right to pay for my bill uh so the NTUC riders said eh you are unable to claim the bill because you don't meet, the minimum amount, because like our dad paid for using medisave so I was like


that true I think you're right it's very hard to claim depending


it's about making money it's a gimmick one


uh so if you want to buy insurance you don't want to go look for an agent, uh


if I have friends who are insurance agents I would probably ask them for information


it's like I'm also salesperson so I feel like at when you're at the last month and you're trying to hit your target you may not tell the consumer or the customer uh other, insurance policy that may actually suit them you know but you may ask them to pay higher just so you could hit your target so I think that's also something that's also a problem you know


has very bad rep insurance is very bad rep


but actually right did you know that uh our medishield life actually covers for like cancer and chronic diseases so our government already covers on major illnesses already you know


do you know that ya, cause this insurance is good


ya no I think it also really depends on the kind of agent that you get and I think more than more often than not uh a lot of agents are not very trustworthy lah I think it's very rare that you get like a good few


and I think because we don't have a lot of information how the insurance, industry works we just know okay of these are the kind of insurance we have and these are the kind of insurance that you need to purchase so for example if you own a car right you have to buy insurance definitely


uh no I don't uh thank god university I I think especially


but do you know why because like because like young people like us, because the thing is all the older people already have insurance so it's up it's only young people like us who don't have insurance so we're like a new market for them to sell to


you know that's why they a lot of young insurance agents are around our age because we are the peer group that they are targeting, no because you have no money cause you have no money I understand understand okay


should we pause now okay stop


negative experiences okay I think you should start this you should start, first


oh my goodness okay, I think it's very sensitive content , , I don't I think a lot of things that makes us angry right and all the injustice, is that we face is really has to do with discrimination and it has to do with all kinds of discrimination like sexual discrimination


racism uh this is what all very big important things that we're facing in both the world and in a local context , I think racism is in singapore, not as bad as other countries but


the way that we we facing is through micro aggression right and micro aggression is when they tell you that they they say something and then they they don't think that it's, offensive because it's funny, and because it's funny it shouldn't be a big deal but a lot of times it's always minorities that have to deal with this whereas when we do it to them it's not funny so I think that's


one of the problems but two is also the fact that, where we live uh we are considered minorities right so certain, things we may not, have


and I think that's problematic and I think because you are malays you cans understand why a lot of times malays are very content with what they have but also because we have relatives


that are like that we also know that they are suffering in terms of financial means


and I think one maybe we're not doing enough to target their demographic or two there's just something wrong that we're not that we're doing that and we should address that and I think that's


one of the injustices that we are facing in the minority because we can say it because we're part of it what about you


no you know what's the strange thing because I I saw one advertisement and I honestly don't know if this is legal it says that chinese preferred to speak with chinese nationals, that that was a advertisement I saw on uh indeed and I was like


like, firstly, why do we have to speak chinese to uh chinese nationals and I thought we only like uh hiring singaporeans until you have the quota to uh to get foreign workers right and foreign workers are only supposed to be a supplement not your main force, so I uh I thought that was weird and I also a


agree with you that I've been seeing a lot of chinese preferred not chinese preferred uh chinese speakers preferred but and I also see japanese speakers preferred but japanese I get it because uh the, company is a japanese company and they deal with japanese client so it it really is based on the on the company needs right but I don't think all companies need chinese speakers


and onto that, I've actually did a internship with uh our dad's former company and when I went to the company I was very surprised because I came from a, predominate english speaking school and I thought work for like the workforce would be something that would echo the same thing but when I went to his company they don't speak english eh


ya they spoke predominately uh chinese malay, so I found that very interesting cause I told myself like !wow! I probably cannot work in this industry or I apparently cannot work in this workforce because how am I going to communicate and to me it was also like a very unprofessional


uh scene, and then when our dad told us was like oh because uh most of my colleagues are not singaporean, so they don't generally speak english as a first language so we have to seek other avenues to communicate with them why do you think that's the case and why are why are companies tolerating that


no but like


really no but like eh I don't see other singaporean chinese you know that's the interesting , probably lah like err because like our dad is singaporean right so he was their bosses so I ask him like why


like uh why are you hiring like foreigners you know like this is actually very interesting like why why do you hire he said cause they are much cheaper he also said because they're easier to exploit, ya, and honestly I don't know if a lot of the things that these companies are doing are actually legal you know because when I ask them like uh


especially my colleagues like is this legal and they said no it's not legal but like we cannot do anything because if you complain we're gonna lose our jobs, you know so when I think about this I'm also like !whoa! if these foreign workers are easy to exploit in singapore what does that mean that I'll be safe in another country when I work for you know like this is


we don't want to be exploited we want fair wages we want uh equality and I think that's one of the injustices which actually is inequality


local context racism lah no I think the one thing that we need to address is I don't face racism because of the color of my skin right but if my friends were darker I mean my my friends are darker they would face racism because a lot of people mistake me for chinese


that's true and they always assume that I'm chinese and then sometimes right when they speak chinese to me I will just I will just like respond like and see how far it can go, and it goes quite far it goes quite far you know


ya I think no because the thing is people don't assume I'm malay right and with, ya but not only just in singapore you know even in germany like I cause most of my friends are ya most of my friends are minorities they are syrian korean and indonesian and they


almost every time we go out they will get racial slurs but I never faced, any of any of that and they would always because err my boyfriend he speaks german right they would they would never like face him and speak german they would speak german to me


because of that I'm also very thankful why I don't face it lah but at the same time I also feel like I don't I'm not a person where I can talk about injustices or racism because I personally don't face it on that kind but when it comes to resume right where you cannot where it's blind


once they see your name there's the kind of racism I face, ya ya


no but it could be like but it could be a good and a bad, thing right because one your industry doesn't have a lot of malays so it could be like a good thing where they need a lot of uh people of your ethnicity to talk to malaysian or indonesian clients or work in like islamic banking for example you know this could be something that's also good if it's us I mean it's a double edged sword lah


, ya I mean and this is very shocking right that it's happening in singapore


like the US for example where you actually see policemen killing, uh black people you know but you don't see that in singapore because the the the kind of racism is we see it's actually a little bit more complex


no I think it's because like for us right we feel like oh because we are already facing it it's


very normal we just move on and let's go to the next one it mean if if this company can reject me based on the color of my skin its probably not a good company to work with lah right you also see it as a red flag


no but then uh what do you get the evidence how did you get the evidence but then how did you get the, evidence but how did you get the evidence you know


that because she hired me I'm a malay right and actually my branches fondly, hires malay people , and I told her that is actually malay it's not that malay people don't last , uh I don't think it's a risk thing I told her that a lot of times in other branches its actually really abuse of power and bullying


that they don't want to stay you know because it's like if, why why should I tolerate all of these things I said it has nothing to do with race everything is about the working environment and if the working environment is bad I don't see why anyone would stay and I told her because you are a good manager your people are staying if if they're leaving its not because


you are an inadequate manager is because the pay is just not good and people have families and then she said ya she understands and the HR department even had to step in and told the managers that you


no no no this is not uh so the HR departments interviews them and then they send the applicant to err to the branch managers for interview so the the branch manager already met them in person


no but like at the same time right I don't think it's just about like calling up for interview that's also problematic I also feel like it's the


at the interview stage you know what if they don't like what they see not based on how your interview went you know they could also, be another cause of like oh because you are of a certain, same colour and I know your people and I'm saying your people uh are not people


okay so the thing is like I've been in debate community alright and the debate community I think it's pretty liberal and, there are like equity violations equity violations means if you make like a joke like that you could get banned from the circuit, easily so I think I live in a very eh when I was in a debate community it was a very safe community


in that sense that we could not like what what you can say could get you, into trouble you know but like at the same


you know or the skin color or because because we are from a certain institution like your institutional capital and your cultural capital like really matters a lot in a debate circuit and I think that's why the asian circuit with hike along this equity violations to protect everyone and it's just echoing from what we've hike


perpetrators at d day and they're still living like a good life like you can see it right now and I think it also echoes about how university deals with a lot of these issues I know you're in university how does your university deal with issues like this


cases yet


no I think because of school is pretty young you know right and I think


because there's no authority ya there's no disciplinary ya ya I, definitely if we but I was abroad it was same thing as well right and mine was uh even uh harder to, swallow because alcohol was involved you know and when you mix alcohol with like like children its not gonna end well ya okay


positive experiences, okay so you start first ya, ya


out of, for me okay okay so right what so


circuit breaker is spa like just like going for like body massages and that's relieving stress I think


that is something like I really appreciate and that's something I really want to do and always and I always go to, Batam to have it cause it's very affordable I think spas in singapore is very expensive uh thank god I have like discounts for it but uh that's something that I really want to pursue and then just


I think now you can already go out in phase two but like it's still quite limited in what you can do, and singapore is very small there's not much so travelling is something that I really want to do what about you


, ya and also like wearing a mask has been really hard on my skin like are you getting breakouts cause I'm getting break outs


, why because you don't want to talk to them is it you just like oh I don't know I just show the Sien face


ya that's true I mean like even when I have like very rude customers coming to where I work uh sometimes I just pretend like I didn't hear them because I am wearing they're wearing a mask right and then they had to repeat twice I mean ya but like and that's something I really thankful of lah like we didn't have to wear a mask before and like


I think what I'm also looking forward to is a more open economy also ya, err, I think now there's there's a lack of jobs and I have a lot of like my colleagues who want to jump ship


that's something I'm thankful for I'm also thankful for all the benefits that the government has given us, uh it has really helped uh in terms of like bills and utilities, what about you, ya ya but sometimes I feel like uh


it would have been better if we have something like this already as like a very basic minimal you know


but like if you think about it we are already paying like high tax in different ways you know, do you exercise in the open is it you exercise in the open I didn't know that


I see uh I know that you've had like personal struggle in your life can you like tell me about like how this, you like persevere and how you like experience like very I know you in you in in uni is very hard, right and like poly it was like


it's a different ball game altogether and like that jump and especially because you went from a different course right uh how was, that like I know uni is just a very I know people especially in singapore are like uni is hard compared to other countries uni is hard


I I see no but like actually what were you expecting considering this was not a course that you would actually had you know experience in at all


uh do you think


no but I like do you think like I mean personally I feel like what you're pursuing is something in terms of job prospect is, good I think that is not going to be something that is going to be deemed redundant and I think in the future it's something that I think it's a good security blanket for you the the degree that you are pursuing I think the risk is something that's


I think it's good to take no like it's worth it


no I mean like okay cause I'm in the workforce, I, I didn't have uh a university education right but I want to, pursue a university education and then now now you're telling me of all these things like it's very challenging and hard but I think work life is also hard in the sense that you know


and I think that I think when you have a university degree at least you have more job opportunities compared to me so


do you think that you're going to like uh do you I mean do you see yourself in singapore, err, err


singapore is safe singapore is very safe ya


what is a singapore culture actually, ya that's the thing right ya I think, like because we grew up in singapore right so for for for locals like us it's not


mugging we always mug when it comes to academics right academics drill folk


I think for me right , no but you know one thing I think uh you don't know is that singapore has one of the highest uh percentage of people owning a passport you know that and I


think uh because of that I think singaporean culture also says because we also have high disposable income right before uh pandemic before the pandemic I always see a lot of singaporeans travelling, you know and I think travelling is essential like they always say oh where are you going uh this summer holiday they're like oh I'm going to Bali I'm going to thailand you know


I mean if you have leave right


I think also because we also have leave that we want to claim and you don't want to spend it in singapore singapore is small and I don't want to go to sentosa sentosa is expensive its much easier for me to purchase a ticket


to indonesia or like thailand than just spend a staycation in singapore actually if you realized because during uh the COVID right this is before the circuit breaker I actually wanted to go for a staycation


uh was it good it was okay but like I could save money and stay at my house you know


I, you know I also think that we're also very lucky to be located in an area where a lot of our neighbouring countries are places where a lot of people wanna go to and it's considered like a paradise right


privilege life but actually is because we're living in close proximity to a lot of these countries and we're very lucky because we don't have to pay the high costs, compared to (uh people living in europe or in america coming to thailand but then again right if you have like other options I don't know why they want to go to thailand lah it's so expensive for them there's something similar like going


okay so I've had this uh conversation with my friends before and it's really a pro and con thing and it's really depends on what happens in the future right for me I think job security and job opportunities is much better abroad compared to singapore because I think singapore is a very small island


you are competing with a lot of people , for jobs and in terms of security its not that safe uh in terms of job security is not that safe but in terms of personal safety, I think that that is something that I cannot argue with I feel much safer in singapore than in countries abroad and I think that is something that I would put high on my list


you know , that's one two cost of living also cost of living in abroad was much cheaper everything was less than like five euros


is very different is it a place where I want to raise my kids you know I don't want to I wouldn't want them to have like identity problems or identity issues because they're living in a foreign country and


that's not something that I can help with because I have an identity I have a culture because I live in a country where I was born and citizens of and my parents are also born in the same country right so that is something I will possibly look into lah but because the person I'm with, is foreign as well I also have to see where is he also comfortable living with


and I don't think that uh, we're going to live abroad I think we gonna live in singapore for at least the next couple of years and then we will see our options in terms of like jobs and schooling education and like our children future children ya that's for me I take what I take into consideration but


ya I think if singapore is able to work on the cost of living issue and able to provide more jobs and like maybe branch of f where we're not the only resource like , resources I think singapore will be somewhere I would


possibly live, forever lah and would raise my kids here what about you knowing that I've after I told you all of this


why would you do that though


ya and you look you also look very similar to ya , what about your neighbouring countries though like malaysia indonesia you know these are all developing economies there are a lot of opportunities to go and a lot of potential


ya but I think one thing I realized is that when you're an expat in an in a foreign country right uh if anything happens at the COVID because I think we saw a lot of people uh in singapore getting like retrenched especially uh expats they were the


first to go right it also serves as like a reminder that you're not, that is something that we also to consider lah like we were quite well taken care of in singapore because we are citizens but like if I


I because I, I have friends who are expats you know and I see, them like they have like a hard time, pay rent they also have a hard time uh uh I mean they couldn't go back because once one they were on lock down right and two they


the reason why they are in singapore is because they cannot find jobs there all like good jobs so I think that singapore is still I think sometimes we also very comfortable lah here that's why we're staying all these years


no I think our cost of living is damn high like I actually never realize this ya like you know


ya and I think it just like because fix like cost of living all like like err raise our wages you know then I think I think that singapore is really a good place because if the cost of living is higher wages are lower then it's obviously going to be very difficult you know but if our wages are high cost of living is high then obviously we could live at switzerland if you wanted to


ya but then also like because I lived in abroad I also know that the swiss people always come into germany to pump petrol and go to france to buy groceries so then exactly exactly, ya


ya but the weird thing is uh the euro currency is much higher than the swiss currency though actually lose money you know when you go to europe, ya


that's true (ppb) that's true that's true it's it's very expensive, (mm) okay


part one financial related topic


okay so uh maybe I could start first uh how do you invest your money to accumulate wealth, and or planning for your retirement leh yes I am


, uh for me I I actually agree a lot with what you had to say because you know ever since a very long time ago a very wise ah person told me that if


you have less than hundred thousand dollars to your name you should not even be thinking about investing because in order to accumulate wealth with investing you need to be able to invest a lot more a lot


than what you think you have to you know when you are it when you are ah starting to think about it when you're younger ah in order to accumulate even a little bit of profit so when you have less than a hundred thousand dollars to your name your best bet to accumulate wealth would be to save exactly what you just said


yes yes I have uh I actually had a meeting with a friend of mine who is also a insurance agent to you know do it up for me I'm supposed to receive uh you know a a quotation of some sort uh in the coming days


buying a house uh, well the rule of thumb I try to stick with and uh you know for my day to day would be if


this particular item that I'm trying to purchase is more than ten percent of all the money that I have ah I would tell the person not to but if it comes to starting a family buying a ah starting a family or buying a house that I think can be uh you know


discussed again I would ask that person you know what, ah have they done their research on the different loan packages (ugh) available in the market ah how many options have they explored already et cetera and as for buying a car in singapore my stand is always uh no unless it is for work


ya ya I totally agree ah


and oh ya you you go, right now we are still in uh we're still in the middle of COVID uh and now that I am in in the middle of COVID right I realise that I am saving a lot of money ah


you know by not doing certain things because uh we have most of us are working from home now so that takes away some expenditure, of transport, ah food outside uh you know uh leisure activities outside at least lesser nowadays and I think in a post COVID world


I will do my best to you know stick with some of these uh practices like not going out as much not eating out as much because I am starting to see, the amount of money I uh you know we are able to save by just by not doing such takes how about you


ya, (hmm) okay moving forward uh what do you think, of FIRE uh with F standing for financial independence uh retire oh of financial uh F standing for financial I standing for independence


R standing for retire and then E uh standing for early, ya do you how do you think one uh, uh uh individual in singapore can achieve such financial independence what are the yeah what are some of the steps that they can take


no how can one person achieve financial independence it it it really does sound like what you'd hear from you know those seminars that people are promoting on youtube ads or google ads ya


ya for sure for sure ah I mean for me eh my view is


quite similar to yours but just a little bit different instead of just you know being able to look at a item on a menu when you are in a restaurant and then you know it is not the same from me lah like I just being able


to afford, ah all the items on the menu and not having to think about how much it costs uh it's not ah financial independence for me ah for me it is more towards uh , in a broader term having passive income ah you know having enough of it such that ah I will be able to you know go on my daily life without much compromise without working and


having passive income is not the easiest thing to do uh especially in singapore , as like I said earlier unless you have more than a hundred thousand dollars in your bank account to invest you shouldn't be investing at all you should be saving so I think one way to do that would be to start yourself on a


ah savings plan very early on in life it's a good thing that both of us are still know rather young ah at twenty six only, so we should be planning ahead that uh you know a few a few years ago


if if at all possible and then having a reliable financial consultant is also very important because uh I have heard a lot of horror stories about how, you know financial consultant signing on a deal signing on a client but then realizing that oh maybe ah being a financial consultant is not their life's calling


their policies then pass on to someone, else and then that someone else because they're not getting any commission of that client they get like almost next to nothing in terms of servicing


yes I'm sorry could you uh repeat that


the advice not so much as advice first but more of understanding what is that person spending habits in order for her or him


to get into debt the the first place so before you start giving them advice ah which you know might, benefit them or you know worsen their situation understand what their situation is first and if, that person has a credit card and can't control their spending habits uh for luxury goods then advise the person to simply cancel the credit card because is the source of all his uh or her problems


well yeah uh I kind of agree uh but it is a bit more subjective because it depends what kind of debt that person have like if it is


a housing debt than I think most of us will get into that at some point of our lives is called mortgage if it's for student loans then ya it it's uh the person is being responsible for their own education I think that is, uh that's okay and having a uh


and if that person is into uh a lot of luxury goods then simply take away their credit card because you, have you will have debt only because you have a credit card and if you are if you don't have one and you're paying everything out of pocket from your debit card or from your bank account you won't be able to owe you know people money


I would think so yes having own uh a few credit cards myself I can see the benefits of having one


ah not for the purpose of splurging and spending on things that I clearly cannot afford but more towards , you know curating a sort of ah rewards kind of structure uh be it in the form of cashbacks or ah you know gathering points which I then can spend on something else you know absolutely of you know ah


no out of pocket for me so I think these are some of, oh another another way to use a credit card would be to service your insurance which is a amazing way to get cashback


yeah


yes I totally agree I totally agree okay moving on uh what are your thoughts on CPF contribution do you think are we contributing too much are we contributing too little


understand understand


I kind I I do agree as well (um)


okay part three negative experiences


okay uh I will start, uh let's start with this question what do you often worry about


you do


!huh! !wah! the ah I I didn't know that part about you lah for me I often worry about uh sales because you know I'm uh in the sales line or in a sales function


so at at least for the for these few months right, uh I'm a little bit more worried because you know of COVID I'm in the I'm in the digital space so most people would think that oh if you are in the digital space you you are already in a very good position because you know uh events uh budget would be going to you instead but then


but is not the case lah because my clients would need to you know see some ROI by working with me ah uh as well but if, through working with me and then they won't be able to get the ROI you know uh I won't be able to renew you know the the sale again next quarter so I'm always worrying about yeah being the one-hit wonder I don't want to just do one ya a good thing that I'm proud of


or or you know achieve something at work and then and that being the only achievement I get from uh out of my career ya so I'm I'm I'm always worrying about that


ah I mean it ah whether being able to sell is one thing but your clients being able to buy (ah) that's another thing ah not that I'm doubting myself I'm I'm doubting my


ah, but no lah you you guys don't ever you know you guys are never interested in my job, no because you guys don't want to hear about it and until now I I doubt you even know what I do


uh okay uh my next question to you is what it is the biggest thing holding you back from your goal


understand understand I mean feel free to talk to us about this anytime you need lah


ya I I know what you mean I know what you mean ya but is more towards uh you know getting suggestions or you know not not getting solutions but getting suggestions, from different people and what not lah ah like like for example there was a period of time I asked you whether you wanted to uh you know do part time over at the fish shop or not ah had that didn't pan out lah but I was pretty sure you will have a liking of it lor but eh it's okay


ya lah ya lah I know lah, (uh huh)


one thing I wish I could change, eh, I would, wish to tell my younger self to do a lot of things


a lot better put in a lot more effort especially when it came to, studies ah you know (oo) something uh somewhere along that line right (ppc) and see where I will be where I will land lah in life so


I would wanted I would have wanted to see how it was like to live through tertiary life in a polytechnic I don't think I would I I would be able to make it to JC, even if I tried back then but ya lah I want I would have wanted to experience the uh poly life tertiary life I would have wanted to experience you know ah because I'm a guy right I have to go to army right


I would have wanted to experience uh the Tekong life instead of the #ang mo ke# life uh in mono intake and uh I went I went to Tekong for nine days which it was a it was hell it was a it was a very miserable nine days


for outfield, the thing is ah ya lah you wouldn't know about this lah but then , mono intake right I was the last intake of uh for mono intake which means to to put things quite bluntly is for people who won't be able to go into OCS who won't be able to go into ah you know any sergeant courses or whatever they will be a man


ah for the whole a duration of the uh national service so ya there'll and then ah the people who are station there in mono intake they are a little bit, sadistic also, ya uh it it was a terrible time I spent over there lah so ya so I really do wish that I could the future me now could will be able to tell the younger me to you know put in a little bit more effort and you know stop caring about


you know whatever girlfriend I was chasing back then and letting it to have affect my studies now I'm seeing how you know studies could have made my life a lot better


oh yeah, I would I I I actually would I think that I would have had a very good time over there you know


uh meeting a lot of different people but instead I couldn't have and I went to a private diploma course in kaplan which was uh what I I would think it might have been one of the larger mistakes I've made in life


because uh I should have I opted for a full time course uh uh for you know the diploma I was taking back then ah but it being a full time right it was still like maybe three days of going to school every week at at very weird timings


so to the point where you know is taking up just enough of your time just so that you won't be able to hold a job elsewhere, ah so I was like stuck doing that you know going to school and then you know going to work at I still have to go to work lah but at like very awkward timings and then you got uh you know had can can only do like waiter jobs lor at restaurants ya


okay my turn to to ask you something, ah negative, describe the saddest scene you ever uh witness it can be in real life it can be in a movie


it can be a TV series


uh !wow! why why would you ask me back the same question after


there are but you take ah if you remember right when I was asking you that question describe the saddest scene you ever witness it can be a movie or can be a TV show I I specified those two things in particular


I'd ah ya okay fine if you had stuck with I mean I kind of knew where you were going with it lah and I were I was avoiding the questions which will prompt you to talk about your mum


ah of course is okay to talk about her but you know no need to, poke at the saddest thing that has ever happen lah ya can talk about the good things ah okay so if you were to ask me you know the saddest scene I've seen in TV show or movie I would say is I am legend when I can't really remember his name lah but basically where it was when


will smith had to kill his dog samantha, ah because the dog was bitten by the zombies and then uh the dog was you know becoming a dog zombie lah and then he Bopian had to


ya and then for the saddest real life experience , I mean is I uh these two things are bit on par but one would be at my grand dad's uh funeral because uh due to some issues at the immigrant immigration office right like


ah what happen oh ya I apparently had to go and take my oath, before ah to to, ascertain my citizenship ah for a uh to be a singaporean right before they could renew my passport because my granddad was uh living in macau and then he passed away already and then I still was stuck in singapore because my passport couldn't be renewed and then I didn't get any form of notification


uh from the immigration and then you know, I only found out once I went over there to ask personally like why is this taking so long and then they told me ah that oh I I actually I had to take my oath, ah et cetera and then I told them I didn't get any notification they checked yes they expect they didn't send any notification as well so ah they renewed the my passport for me on the spot and then you know I flew over the macau the next day and the saddest scene was seeing my granddad already


you know inside the coffin in uh in the funeral and then me not and then me thinking to myself I wasn't able to say goodbye


then uh another another scene would be ya yes uh it's death uh related but not my family ya so if you remember I was seeing this girl called <P2>cheryl</P2> right ah so


I used to spend a lot of time with with her family and she has this uncle who has down uh down syndrome who was already closing into sixty-years-old, ya eh uh


who was already close to sixty-years-old he had a lot of health issues and then I've seen him a few times in you know during family gatherings which I happen to be part of as well you know he was still very youth uh full you know he likes to high five people and


you know he had diabetes uh high blood pressure all everything in one package everything that you do not want , and then uh you know after some uh some interactions with him he I found out that he know he likes to travel but then he can't travel because his health doesn't let him take a plane like he he physically cannot step into a plane


like uh yes uh yeah his doctor don't allow him, ya so is that bad so he's never flew before he's never travelled before and then uh I wasn't I I I was only together with uh <P2>cheryl</P2> for a year or so


and I met him less than five times but ah a few months while we're dating know I heard that he passed away, when we were in the middle of you know ah contributing to a wedding in the same family as well so it uh we had to deal with the news that uh the uncle has passed away and then at the same time


ah keep it from the bride and the groom, ya so you uh I mean I was still a outsider I just had to you know listen to their instructions lah like to keep it from the bride and groom and then uh let them know only after a few days after the wedding has passed so


ah I was there at the funeral and then uh for some reason I cried as if I was like part of the family yeah because you know I was thinking of all the things that he couldn't have he couldn't do before he passed, yeah no problem


positive experiences okay


describe the ah ha okay this actually it wasn't that long ago it actually happen two days ago, ah it was when I was having a uh one to one with my boss you know our weekly one to one


and then uh he has been telling me about pushing me up for promotion uh and for a few months already and then you know because it has been a few months I kind of stop expecting anything and then, ah ya so two days ago I got a ah email from uh my company management team and they said congratulations you have been promoted to XXX title which I will still which wasn't anything I was expecting at all uh so yeah that was one thing that you know


uh that was one happy thing that happened to me , like this week and then I ya I feel appreciated but no no pay increment though, but you know just need to look at just have to look at life more with more optimism lah ah thank you thank you no one knows about it ah by the way only <P2>mel</P2> knows ah ya


, okay what did you use to hate, as a kid but now love as an adult


didn't I didn't expect you to like share a recipe of you know what good meat is lah but okay glad that you shared , (uh huh)


one of my most memorable travel experiences it would have to be, my trip to taiwan three years ago three years ago reason why is because uh I was seeing this girl back then uh we met online through this app


called uh CMB coffee meets bagels uh we've been talking for months and then ah you know where this story is going lah, so we've been you know video chatting we've been uh you know whatsapp calling each other for a few months and then we decided oh it's uh I think it's time that we meet in real life ah and then throughout the whole journey right I I I was thinking to myself


oh my god what am I doing I can't believe I'm actually travelling to taiwan ah you know that that the other person is from #hong kong# I can't believe I'm travelling to this foreign country alone to meet someone I've never seen in real life before and


ya I know right I know right and uh yeah I arrived in taiwan we met for the first time ah it wasn't awkward it wasn't awkward but then, you know we both were a little bit confused about how we should be behaving now that we're seeing each other in real life and yup uh everything worked out for the best and we are we have been together ever since


, oh let me see ah


describe eh you know what no uh describe one of your most memorable travel experiences, because we have traveled together before I and I and I hope our Bali trip together is one of them


but uh by the way we we I didn't go on the Phuket trip ah so


you ya Bali !wah! you like, I didn't go to Phuket I've never been to Phuket before in my life it terrible ah


okay ah I would like to ask you the next question is what is your biggest blessing in disguise


sure I can I I even have a visual representation of what is a blessing in my life now


really ah


I mean that in in the beginning of COVID yes lah like a lot of people do that lah and then post up on instagram or like uh facebook or whatever, but nowadays you still meh still have ah, !wah!


what


ya, yes we are


I, I would say, my initial my initial answer was different a little bit different from yours but now that I've heard your explanation I feel like COVID, it is a form of blessing in disguise for me as well because you know I've been spending a lot more time at at home


in the beginning of COVID I had a terrible sleep cycle I was waking up at you know one PM I was sleeping at four AM and then basically I was spending a lot of time at home and then, during this time spends at home you know I bonded a lot more with my family and through that bonding


we came to this agreement that you know our family is probably ready for a dog, and you you were there for the journey and eventually we did get a dog and then basically what happen the the most obvious thing that happen to everyone of us since then is that uh all of our body clocks are


like reset to a normal persons so the dog wakes wakes us up at seven thirty everyday it's supposed to be a good thing she she doesn't bark or whatever but she just like if your if your hand or your feet is out of the bed in any way right she will go and lick it


yeah yeah yeah uh we remove the crate already ah but ah, not hundred percent yet like like this morning right when I was uh washing up and then I went to the toilet ah then I saw her walking the other direction because she usually sits outside the toilet wait to wait for me one


but but for some reason today ah she walk in in the other direction and then I was thinking okay I think I know what this means she is on her way to pee but then I kind of had a bad feeling that she peed somewhere she's not supposed to and turns out ya she did lah


she peed in my in my dad's bedroom, we are like, some something like that something like that but it's more towards the


like direct impacts that she has had in my in our lives so that like there's a lot more laughter like all our our body clocks are reset now previously I was we were so unhealthy and, ya she might had been very expensive you know exactly what the price was but I think she's worth to uh every cent


I would say fried chicken, ya you didn't know that meh I don't


not all fried chicken is nice yes ah I don't like the wing in particular because like very hard to eat ah, and uh I don't have it as often because uh I'm a pretty positive person so I don't need so much comfort food if you know what I mean ah so I like the ones from KFC super heaty guarantee to give to give me a pimple you know the next day but I still love it


but but two pieces is really my max lah like it's ah I I I'm not sure whether is it too greasy or too it uh in cantonese you call it #hit hey# but after two pieces I just feel you know quite sick and then ya, uh I will need to drink a lot of water lah but ya chicken uh fried chicken is my comfort food yours


it's not a food


!aiyo! okay such a such a girly girl thing to say , okay so this is for me to ask you ah we only have two and a half minutes more for this eh


who describe your perfect day


ah okay, but it still but but based on your description is still sounds like a work day leh like you you're waking up to work because you want to but not because you have to


ya uh okay okay I ha I think your previous like, I think your definition of work is a bit uh quite Lepak to begin with lah but okay for me my perfect day would be a saturday I don't like sundays because the because the next day is monday so saturday is my


favourite day of the week my perfect day would be where I don't have to go to the fish shop to help out , I can have some friends over you know but within the limit of five visitors that's during COVID anyway lah then uh those five people they could either bring their dogs over to have a play date with bubbles uh or we could just you know have drinks ah


together order in some pizza or food any kind of food delivery and then we watched a horror movie together that would be my perfect day


part one financial related topic you are asking me


okay so, so I think the very basis of investing money, to accumulate wealth, before you do that you need to learn how to, save your money so people who who just people who are working full time and


spend all their money would not be able to do this so the very first step is to, save, money in your bank so that you can, for me personally I would do a regular monthly saving thing sort of and I think planning for retirement is sort of the


like they have they probably have the same kind of, packages where they allow you to put money into, the retirement account every month, but, currently I'm not doing that yet because I'm still studying, studying part time ya


so for me it's more of, accumulating wealth into savings plans, what about you


okay so have you done any retirement planning, okay


so let's go to the next question, what strategies would you recommend to someone planning for their big tickets expenditures, for example buying a house,


I I agree with the car part about how, given the kind of public transport we have here and (ugh) and how convenient it is to get from, place to place is not necessary to buy a car so my strategy would also be not recommending someone to buy a car unless they really need it for work


so with regards to starting a family or a house I would, think that someone should start saving for it even before they, find a partner or, or get married so they should start to, save and plan for it way beforehand not like


oh next year do you you you plan to buy a house next year and then you start saving for it now and it wouldn't, you won't be able to save or prepare much for it so, sort of like long term savings for them I guess, that would be my strategy for these part


and, I think a lot of times, you also need to consider like, what location, will your house be at how big of a house do you want if you want a smaller house then you, probably, can spend lesser on it I guess, so yup okay so third question in a post


in the post COVID ya okay in the post COVID world what changes are you making in terms of your spending or saving habits,


I think it's quite similar to yours so there are a lot of , , things that I feel like me and a lot of other people in general spend on like in, pre COVID world we, spent on like dining out going for entertainments watching movies and stuff like that but


because of the current situation, all almost all the entertainment stop for a period of time and, and instead of going out to spend money on food and stuff people learn to cook at home we pick up new skills at home so so in terms of that I feel like I've been eating at home a lot more


which means I spend less, as compared to eating outside with other people, but I I would think I would think that it's still necessary to go out once in a while I feel like it's a social social


kind of , I don't know social interaction with other people it's necessary and usually you meet people outside for that to happen so, that's for me yup okay what do I think of that


so what what defines what defines financial independence sort of, ok


(mmhmm) (mmhmm) okay so maybe I can give my own personal definition of financial independence, cause I feel like everyone have a different, perspective on that so for me financial independence is being able to


spend on anything you need or want without, worrying that you don't have enough for it, so, before you buy something you don't have to consider oh if I buy this would I have enough to afford, something else or, that that sort of thing, so financial independence to someone can be just


buying buying food without worrying for for the cost of food or like, being able to afford many different kind of, luxurious items like houses apartments, credit cards


handbags and stuff like that so, so I think, having financial independence it's something that everyone should aim for because then we don't rely on our parents we don't rely on taking loans from banks or loan sharks or we don't


we don't rely on having enough money in our CPF or the government in case something happens to us of or we fall sick and, we worry that we won't be able to pay it off so, so I think having financial independence and retiring early


it's something everyone can work, towards achieving but I don't, personally I feel that it is not something that, can be very easily achieved, yup


so it's sort of like, the little little things that contributes to financial independence also include things like having a good financial adviser who will be there to, give you proper advice and support throughout the years not just be there to


get you to sign on package and then dissappear afterwards right, ya, what advice would you give to someone to get him or her out of debt, what advice would you give someone to get him or her out of debt


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


okay I I agree with that but to add on I also believe there are some people who don't own any credit cards but, simply spend and splurge on anything they see that they like so, for these kind of people it could be


you know the same products that you, for the same type of products you can have many many different brands simply because you were attracted to purchase them so for these people I would think that it's sort of, there is a need for them to change their


mindset and if you, it would be difficult to simply just give them advice for them to get off debt instead they need to change their mindset to not buy things that they don't need since they already have so many of the same kind of things, so so


perhaps on some level , being in a debt could be some kind of psychological, issue as well okay that's true do you think


one should own a credit card


yup that's, I think cashback and like getting , points for you to fly or to get free air tickets it's one of the benefits of having a credit card


I also think that credit card can be useful when you need to buy, , items that are very expensive such as home furnitures or, electronic devices that go up to a few thousand dollars something that you can't


something that if you use a debit card to pay you either have to pay with multiple debit cards or like, make a big transfer on your card which causes inconvenience when you're at the shop, so but I I believe that


there are people who are not suitable to own credit cards people who don't have self control and people who don't, who don't know what they should use the credit card for and just spend it on, things that will get them into unnecessary debt like I've


I've heard of people who, use credit card to buy, the latest television or the latest game stations and just to have this recurring debt that they need to pay off every month for like, one or two years and and


in that sense it's not worth it because they don't need those items and , everytime a new device come out they just get the latest device so, not everybody should own a credit, card


my personal opinion is I think the amount is quite all right, so, I don't I don't think we should, maybe because for the so many years that I've been working and it, becomes a very normal thing that every month twenty percent of your income goes to CPF savings and so so it becomes like a very normal thing that I've


come to accept so I don't feel like, oh why are we always why why do we always need to deposit money into a CPF without our without, an option because, the government wants us to do that but instead I look


at it as uh helping us to save for people who don't know how to save and this money can eventually help you to pay for things like school fees housing loans and stuff like that which and medical as well medical expenses when you're older which I think it's really useful for people who are


who especially do not know how to save at least you still have these twenty percent to support you in case of any like see if someone is in debt and, their, let's say they are in debt and they they got hospitalized they still have this CPF saving to help them support some of the


amount that they need to spend on their health, so I think it's not bad to have CPF contribution , whether the amount is sufficient or not I think it varies from person to person yup stop


negative experiences, (mmhmm)


what do I often worry about, okay so , I think, nobody can go through life without, not worrying about anything like that there will definitely be times where you worry about thing so there's something that I always always worry about it's


my health, because I have scoliosis means there's a curve in the backbone and, I do so time to time I do feel backache it can happen , what do you call it spontaneously so I can have it for like this five minutes and I I don't have it for the next few days uh I'm halfway through my sleep and I suddenly feel pain so


so even as I look into the mirror I can see where the curves are like I can see how my shoulders or my hips are not balance and, especially when I do exercises because you wear tight fitting clothing and so so I often worry about it becoming worse when I'm


older because if I don't if if the pain is always going to be there whenever I carry heavy things or when I, uh don't sit properly like I can just slouch one whole day and then the next day it it can start to hurt or feel


very uncomfortable somewhere so sometimes, I I worry about it because I know there's nothing I can do like even surgical treatment for scoliosis like you know doctors actually slice you up and fix your spine, even those treatment could be very risky for the spine because of all the nerves that we have over there like I wouldn't even consider that because I don't think it


it's helpful to do any surgery for that, but I'm, ya so I'm worried about it and I try to, do more exercises to, strengthen my core muscles so that, my spine don't feel so strain


yup, so for you what do you often worry about, (mmhmm) (mmhmm) (mmhmm)


it it it really doesn't show because you never really talk to us about this it's like you don't talk about you not having sale like people always assume oh you're you're hired by someone you are working , as long as you're working you're getting paid and that's fine and people don't see that there might be concerns you could be worried about and and to us you're a pretty good salesman so I didn't think you'd be worry about that


, doubting the client okay okay that's that's better that's better okay


you don't talk about work, you wouldn't you don't talk about your work, I don't know I don't I only know you you have an office somewhere at we works or something that's all I know


okay (mmhmm), the biggest thing holding me back from my goal is not knowing what my goal is, so I've I've


I've always wanted to you know find out something that , I am really passionate about and work towards that and I, always like I don't want to be in the job just for the sake of it but I want it to be something meaningful and something that I really enjoy doing but many people I've met have told me that


some people practically think it's not possible to do work and enjoy it but I I believe it's possible because like my previous experience, , previous experience in a primary school children setting has


has actually brought me a lot of joy and there were many days that I, look forward to going to work but it's still not what I would love to do for life so , currently I'm still trying to figure out what I really want to do even though, even though I'm


trying to even though I'm getting a degree I have a job but it's those things are not what I really want to eventually do so, I guess I need to take more time to, figure out, what this goal is because I feel like it's holding everything I have back like


I don't I'm not giving my hundred percent when I do all these jobs because I mean I'm giving my hundred percent at the job that I'm required to do but I feel like my heart is not there if, if my heart is not there then even if it's hundred percent physical work it's not hundred percent from the heart


so so I feel like it's, it's holding me back from something and I haven't figured that out yet, , yea ya but as in that that's not


is holding back but I feel like nobody can, like finding out what you really want to do with life is not something that, can be found out through, I think the only way to do it is to keep trying different things so I know what I like and what I don't like instead of just


(ugh) yeah I don't know I don't know how it goes , ya


(mmhmm) (mmhmm) ya I remember, I I probably would have enjoyed but uh, for fun for fun not for career, I guess ya, ya okay


my turn to ask you a question, okay is there one thing, you wish you could change but will never be able to, (mmhmm)


wait you never been to Tekong, so it also wouldn't it be worse if you like okay okay never mind I don't know but I'm me


okay


(mmhmm), (mmhmm), but is always how , you know like we're when we were young there will be so many people who are much older asking us to study better and do better and we will never listen what it we will it we will never listen until we have been through the same


thing and we agree that that that should how that is how we should do things, so without without that experience you wouldn't be, where you are today also I guess, would you go back to poly if you can now


like at twenty six, (mmhmm) (mmhmm) (mmhmm) because


and not working , okay okay okay okay okay


uh okay I will I will share my personal experience, I think the saddest scene I've ever witness for was , when, when my mom passed away, the saddest scene is not okay it sad that she passed away but the saddest scene is actually watching


seeing that my dad is crying for her, so so like for my whole life I've never seen my dad cried before and then , when she did passed away and he cried and is the first time I saw him cry like really cried until the whole face, whole face red with a lot of tears that kind of thing so so I felt very


to to have that kind of feeling that you see your own, parent crying for another person you love I felt felt like that was quite sad like, if it was anything else like people getting injured or getting hospitalised or parents getting separated from


the children like it like in some cases, people who come from abusive or neglectful families those are, those are quite sad also, but I felt like, from a personal experience point of view I it it was very


impactful to watch how hurtful he he was like the expressions that my dad could have and you know traditionally, guys usually don't show so much emotions so for my dad's generation it's it's


it's something that you were really never see and I could see how much he loved my mum by, by his expression and it also kind of reminds me of how I should, continue to love him so ya


for me personally that's the saddest scene, I'm going to ask you back the same question it can be real life and it can be from shows described the saddest scene you have ever witness,


I want I want to I want to, I don't know I'll, maybe there's a really very sad scene from like movies also,


I prefer to share a personal experience cause TV shows there were many shows that make me cry but I cannot remember any of them, (mmhmm) (mmhmm) (mmhmm)


which is okay it's okay to talk about her, (mmhmm) okay (mmhmm) will smith ya oh


what what happen then ah, I forgot the show kill his dog (mmhmm) (mmhmm) (mmhmn) (mmhmm) mm


like like you could have been there before he left but, because of this, ridiculous immigration thing you couldn't, couldn't be there in time lah ya (mmhmm) (mmhmm) (mmhmm) (mmhmm) (mmhmm) (mmhmm) he is not allowed to okay (mmhmm)


like don't even let them know that he passed on thanks for sharing


part, two positive experience, okay so shall I start


I'll pick a topic that I think you will be able to answer, , describe a time when you got appreciated for your hard work


[mm] (mmhmm) (mmhmm) (mmhmm) (mmhmm) (mmhmm)


that you feel appreciated, (mmhmm), just a title , still congratulations, okay


I'm I'm not going to say I'll I'll wait for you to announce , , okay your turn to ask me a question,


okay maybe I don't, say love but I say like, so when I was a kid I hated eating meat so much, I don't I reject any kind of meat from fish chicken to beef and pork


like I just don't enjoy any of it and I feel like, they don't smell or taste good but eventually as, I start to grow older , I guess partly because I realized the importance of having a balanced diet so I can't be eating vegetables all the time and I need to get some meat need to get some protein in my system so


initially I just started to force myself to eat a bit, here and there and then, I don't know when did it start that I start to maybe I start to eat, high quality meat like I I got to taste good beef or pork like or like those from steamboats that are


fresh and I start to enjoy eating meat a lot more than I used to and I I, guess I sort of realise that as long as the meat is fresh and and, the person or the way you marinate the the food, it is in a professional or in a good manner then I'll probably enjoy eating meat a lot more so I feel like that was a big change for me like eat if I eat if I had started eating meat when I was a kid maybe I'll be fatter now or something


ya yup okay, , okay okay my turn for you


describe one of the one of your most memorable travel experiences, (mmhmm) (mmhmm) (mmhmm)


feels like a drama ,


I I can hear this speech, on your wedding day , I can hear this as vow to speech okay anyway, okay your turn to ask me a question


oh okay okay, (mmhmm) (mmhmm) okay so, I would say most of my travel experiences are memorable,


like I've been to I've been to school trips with poly classmates to #tian jing# that was memorable I've been I went to Phuket with you guys that was memorable also but I think the most memorable travel experiences so far is


my trip to perth because I I actually went to perth twice, and the reason why I kept going back I guess it's because I , I never realised that I actually enjoy being in the nature so much like when you went there is completely different from singapore you don't


if you really go to hike there it's really whatever you see is just forest, grass everything in the nature and if you were to drive outskirt of the city , uh


what captivated me was like how how close you are to the sea and you can just see the waves crashing into the rocks like, something that I (ugh) that I've never seen and will never see if I just continue to stay in singapore and it was only after the first experience in Perth that I realised I want to be more exposed to nature and


it kind of pushes me to you know aim for other countries to go to like, you know I don't know if you have seen pictures of like green lands in switzerland and stuff like that and, and whatever I see on the picture of other people's travel blogs makes me just want to travel there


so it's pretty memorable yup, not oh is bali ah ya ya ya okay phuket and bali, both Phuket and Bali are memorable


yeah, you you you you should go with us next time too many people already lah okay, okay, okay bring it


my biggest blessing in disguise, , biggest blessing in disguise can I ask you back the same question later it's quite tough


okay okay, I I don't want to make it sound like it's a very good thing but I felt like, okay I wouldn't call it the biggest blessing but I felt like COVID has been a blessing in disguise


for a lot of situations so from the very beginning when when that COVID thing became more serious in singapore , people start to work from home and honestly it was when I first started my contract job so I was I felt like I was very lucky to have that job at that point in time because if I went to interview one or two weeks later I wouldn't be able to get a job and I would probably be jobless for like


the past few months until now is it five months ya for five months so, so because of that because I was in that job and this thing happen I got to meet different people at work because because of COVID we split into teams and I became a lot more bonded with


some of the colleagues at work we work more closely together and, I had to be assigned to different centres because we don't have enough manpower due to the age group like people above sixty were not allowed to go to different centres because of


safety concerns so because of that I was deployed to different centres and because of this I got to meet a lot more people, and then also during COVID I got to find out that, how I actually there are so many things at home that I own or I have but I didn't have time to


to try out so for example I used to do, knitting and crocheting at home but I haven't touched on them for so long so during the stay at home period I dig out so many things that I can do I even take I even dig out the like


the baking equipments from like don't know how many years ago to like, bake brownies and stuff and, you get to I also got to see how , because previously I have a sewing machine and I know how to sew a bit but I stop and during the circuit breaker period I also saw how my sister


got, is not courage got the motivation to just, do sewing on her own and find things to do so like, because previously she is very lazy every time she come home she just , sit down there and use phone but then, now it's like she feels more motivated to try out different things and I also see a lot more people meeting each other online to do exercises together which makes me feel happy also so


even though, (hmm) yeah yeah I really see really see people doing that like, religiously like every week, so like (mmhmm)


now still have eh still have yeah my and my sister is still doing it also like everyday she will just wake up at eight fifteen and then I can hear her friend shouting through the zoom and then exercising together, ya so it, so I feel like like a lot of people are complaining like uh because of COVID they don't get to travel they don't get to go out and meet people I


I feel like at this phase that we are at we are actually quite fortunate that we are able to go to shopping malls and still be able to meet our friends, still be able to go to people's houses and, and just gather but in small groups so I feel like it's already a blessing to us even though everyone can't wait for these to be over and travel again


ya we are a lot more fortunate than people in other country, okay your turn to say your biggest blessing in disguise, (mmhmm)


yup ,


oh okay so she's like it she is she's ready to roam around your bedroom now, (mmhmm) okay, at, (mmhmm) and she's potty trained, (mmhmm) (mmhmm) oh okay


oh again so so sort of is because of COVID then you guys got the dog like if COVID didn't happen you won't even think about it, I'm glad


I'm glad it turned out that way, okay let me ask you another question, , what is a comfort food that you can always rely on to cheer you up


fried chicken, I didn't know what kind like the drum, the drumstick or the wings or what


which part, some fried chicken are not nice,


okay,


that's interesting I expected you to say like beer or something, it's kind kind of a food I guess, comfort food that I can always rely on to cheer me up I think I'm a very craving based person means like I could


like, uh anything I crave and I get to eat that is considered a comfort food, so it can be anything from like chocolate to ice cream to candies, or potato chips anything that is unhealthy,


there are there are times where where I eat healthy food and I enjoy it but it's not it's not comfort food but I feel like , I'm not that kind of person who eats when, when I'm upset or I eat too cheer myself up, so I think


food can help but more of sharing, sharing something that troubles me with other people helps to cheer me up also yup, ,


, okay next question, okay my perfect day


I think a perfect day consists of a lot of things so it will be waking up, feeling like you have enough rest feeling like you slept well without, feeling tired or headache, and then


being able to do your routine slowly without rushing because you're not late for anything so mean you means like maybe you wake up early and you prepare in advance, and the perfect day would be not having to work because you have to work but work because you want to work


and then, after working productively you would spend time with your loved ones like friends families or pets, and having a good meal and netflix to end the day, that's how I think a perfect day is quite simple


yup what about you ah ya, I wouldn't want to have a a day where I don't need to work like if I have to not work every day


I wouldn't be able to do that like I will be so bored, so I'm okay with working but okay so in the perfect day the working hours is maybe like five hours, yup yup okay (mmhmm) (mmhmm) (mmhmm) (mmhmm) (mmhmm) (mmhmm)


horror movie (ppl) okay (ppb) okay


part one financial related topic, okay so do you have any personal insurance


I have a personal insurance, under great eastern uh it's called uh total shield, that one is for hospitalisation and surgical, ya, you have any personal insurance


oh, do you believe in endowment plan ah do you have any endowment plan cause I never buy any endowment plan , I think


oh


I have I have uh I I I have a term term term, but I don't have a whole life insurance because ya I think term insurance


it depends on depends on how much, we are willing to pay , for insurance lah the whole life insurance is quite expensive eh and I I think it's quite rigid lah do you have any of these ah


ya, correct, but I think also the life whole life insurance right it is very dependent on whether anyone else is


dependent on you solely, if and if you are the probably if you are the only sole breadwinner right and you can earn enough to, to comfortable enough to pay for a whole life insurance maybe that one will be better, over and on top if everybody else is dependent on you lah


for term insurance is I think more flexible lah, because every every after ten years twenty years you can you can review your insurance plan, right right ya , so but I also don't have whole life insurance I only have term insurance


oh ya it's very high


uh do you do , the ILP ah the investment linked policies as well, last time I used to have I used to have one but it's it's only because I just want to spread my insurance policies in my one basket


ya but nowadays I see the market situation now doesn't seem to make sense, the life the the investment linked policies, ya


for kids ah, oh but ILP ILP also includes ILP portfolio includes all those investment in say like example the asian country how they are doing depending on what countries you, the policy has right


so why is it for kids ah I thought for kids will be more like those endowment plans, which uh they can get the benefits at the end of the day


ya yes yes yes the ILP is, pretty high


ya I I also agree on that insurance is for protection and and you know in case anything happens to you , your dependents get to gain from benefit from it lah, or for yourself as well then investment I also think should be should be differently treated investment will be just focusing on investment itself lah wealth management


ya,


correct, yes yes yes there that's what I did for my kids also so I don't do endowment plan if I want to do savings I will do with the investment companies or the banks


for either, their savings unit trust or, along the along those lines with the bank not an insurance company


ya ya ya, so do you do you do you do you get from more than one insurance agent ah cause I only got


one from I got all my policies from only a single source yes yes I got from GE everything from GE, because the government one ah is not enough leh , those CPF ya ya ya it's not enough


but MediSave they only allow you if you're hospitalised I think twenty to twenty five percent, to to use twenty to twenty five percent only then even MediShield life right, I think MediShield life can only be used


uh for public public hospital ah, public hospital and not all wards eh


ya very very minimal cannot cover lah, whereas the person the the the private insurance ah I think they covered both right, depending on the the policy you buy oh so far I think the ones I bought they cover everything


, ah ya correct correct correct


yes, ElderShield uh ElderShield is, useful uh in the only the first maybe


I can't remember first five or six years lah, they only give you like a a basic amount only you know maybe six or eight hundred dollars I don't know how much four hundred only, ah four hundred


ya correct correct four hundred so you got to prove lor you it's very hard to get this money lah because to prove ah you got to go to a doctor doctor has to fill in the the the these three confirmed that


so the doctor has to vouch that you can't do three or four of those items that they listed there then there's a lot of documentation involved ah after you submit then you can get the money start to roll


but anyway the ElderShield or the enhanced ElderShield it also it helps but, not a lot lah if you if you get a stroke ah and you are dependent on diapers alone I don't think can cover already , per month oh just ask yes it's not enough


so I think uh private insurance is still required to a certain extent lah, no


oh but you pay by what you pay by, oh okay so started already ah this scheme


woman so, woman pays higher than man, for this new new policy


hopefully it can improve until we don't have to buy private insurance lor


uh the quality of life, ya but you you you you haven't die yet mah so you still have to carry on with the daily expenses ah somebody has to pay help you pay for it otherwise, it can be quite substantial right especially if you have to go in and out of the hospital time so there must be a mix lah there must be a mix lah


if the government is going to use the CPF to help us right then then, the mix has got to be there lor, so I've I've been toward hospital c ward and all it's like, super duper crowded kind


so even if you are willing to go to those B four and c ward ah just to enjoy all these CPF benefits right you may not even get a place to go, you have to probably wait for a few nights before you can end up with one so if you're not careful ah they ask you if you want to go to uh better ward right then all these becomes


you cannot revert back and then use all these uh insurance, to your advantage lah, ya, so you have an insurance agent or not, oh you go oh girl you pick and choose ah


yes yes yes yes true true true, depends lah I think it depends on the insurance agent lah if the insurance agent is a very, sincere and honest person right the person will probably let you know that what you first of all they the fellow has to look at your background your budget


if the person is sincere enough lah the person will know that you need, may not be may not be something that their insurance company offers as a comprehensive package lah then, then if the person is good and sincere and honest then they will recommend you there's certain things you could go with their company and certain things you go with another so


only only when you have an agent that is like that I think it's worth getting an a financial planner lah, ya otherwise if the financial planner is very into earning their own keeps then then it's a different story lah


ya, ah correct correct ya


ya, but ya ya correct ya end of the year correct we will still have to see what they offer in the package, so the thing about government government uh insurance policy I I think the


it it looks good and comprehensive lah but the usually the criteria to be able to apply right uh differs quite a bit oh, so they will have like if you if you want this package right you have to be eligible blah blah blah blah blah one two three four five then you can get this money


so all these uh, I hope they will loosen the eligibility criteria so that it makes it easier for, for anyone to just uh be able to claim, when they need it lah cause it's really not easy to claim uh


there's there's really a lot of paperwork involved, when you have to claim uh government insurance like that, hopefully uh they can loosen the the paperwork in when when you need to claim them


everything, malaysia is auto lah, correct correct ya


!huh! the enhanced ElderShield oh, it's been, it's been a while already, oh I think you better do lah with the you know we are not getting younger anymore


earlier we do the better , before they change plans also so the enhanced one has, has I think a wider coverage than the existing ElderShield one


the the payout also more, I can't remember, but but their their no lah like for example the ElderShield they give you say just now you say four hundred dollars right this one maybe


ah this one maybe another extra few hundred more lor, and then they cover more more uh illnesses, and probably uh an ex uh a longer extended period also so instead of the ElderShield six


how many years ah six years right I think they extend that one longer the details I can't remember, so the enhanced uh ElderShield is better than the ElderShield


ah ya ya ya then it's so confusing ah I just hope that somebody from this uh CPF insurance ah, can come out and help singaporeans individually to go and map out what they have what they need, according to their health status and their age group uh earning earning power


a lot of elderly ah no need a lot lah I think a lot of people do get so confused about all these, so so too many too complicated already


ya that's why you you talk about uh generation before us lah they don't know Facebook they don't know all these things, and they only probably can watch TV for these insurance uh, information I don't think and my I don't even think my mother knows even my same age group one knows most likely they may not even know about this


what Medicare ah (PPL), ElderShield, opted out from ElderShield ah do you know why ah


maybe he has (uh) (uh) another even better insurance coverage somewhere


part three negative experiences


negative experiences ah my only major negative experiences is when my father had a stroke


that was the most I guess devastating, phase in my life ya, and uh that was also the time when, uh a lot of things


were forced to come to a standstill, and not only was it a standstill but , uh something that you realised that you have to suddenly grow up, and uh pick up


a lot of uh uhuh uh, responsibilities because it is not about you anymore , it's not about uh it's it's also not about just uh you and your kids anymore it's also about you


taking care of whoever that's left behind as well as the person who has just had stroke and are struggling, with his life , ya so ya that that is probably the the the the worst that I have encountered


from there onwards and there after ya because uh since then , the, the phase in life changed the outlook in life changed uh


because you suddenly not only realise but, you fully understand how life treads uh on a very thin line, uh yeah it is very easy to to say I understand it's very easy to say I know life is short uh live every day you know but when it hits right in front of your face


ya then, then it's it's a different kind of feeling and then you are you are sort of like being , so you you go through that that that kind of uh curve where you you you know you couldn't believe it and then you you, you live with it and then you take care of it


uh ya so totally changed my life lah I think, (hmm) from from somebody who's happy go lucky to somebody who is more responsible, and uh


uh have a better outlook in life lah that that when you say ah when you say life is short ah you, mean you mean it you mean it really uh, uh really very much because if you look at the lifespan of us right we all you and I we have been around for how long you know


as friends I think very long hor, can't even remember when how much how how long were the day twenty five years ya, ya now how old are we you go and count ah how much more do we have


not much more so so when something actually happened like that uh it sort of makes you feel and think that, it's not, not that long a a a balance leftlah


ya, correct, ya so how do you want to make use of, the rest of your life here with the people you know because next life or if there's any next life ah probably you won't meet the same person ever again lah


correct correct yes so


I think I think the most important thing is just to be there lor for her, just see what she needs and then just give it to her, as within your ability ah, because everyday is like a everyday is like a time bomb mah


you don't know the next day and the next day


, and and, oh ya ya it is very sad


it is very sad but I I I felt ya I felt if the person is uh very young right then never mind lah nothing much to lose lah , whereas ah whereas ah if it is uh


somebody who is in their you know , in their teens going forward they have a longer road to walk lah those maybe the babies or the I feel less, but it's it is more for those that uh in teens and


it has got so much more to life than just that, that uh, then then just go like that uh I don't know, I I don't know every ya every time I ask myself right if I'm lying there I'm going to die the next day or I I know that I'm going to die right


what would I do ah, if I have I'm given like at least three weeks ah maybe I can still run to the bank and do what I need to do last minute, I will do whatever last minute's stuff lah you need to do do lah because you I don't know later you know you lie in a coffin then people fighting over what you have you know


and what you want to do alice so, so better settle all this, before you know before before you step into the coffin lah


ya must pre plan leh, , so what would you say to your your family ah if you are going to go the next day, ya


ya


true I ever saw a YouTube right, about this mother she had uh terminal cancer, and uh, the family the husband and the children ah were crying and crying nonstop


and this is what she said to them, also also the husband the husband was uh full of emotion he was actually n not only sad but, fear because uh he has never been without his wife for the longest time


he has kids to take care of if the if the the mother or uh the wife is to go right then he what's what's going to happen to the kids what's going to happen, you know how am I going to live alone you know, so this is what the dying uh mother or the dying wife said to them


I don't understand why you all are crying I don't understand why you are so sad why you are so afraid the person that should be afraid and scared is me because I'm walking this journey myself, you all have each other when when I passed on you know, you you you're still with you know you are still with so and so you're still with the kids you are still with you know this and that but I'm the one that is walking this path myself


I I should be the one that's sad because I I'm the one leaving you all not you all leaving you know so I I , I'm taking this path ah to uh an unknown place, I don't even know what's going on so I should be the one who's sad and and should be more fearful than you all so so actually


I don't know about this I I I saw that video I just thought that eh ya lah so for those people who who who, who has family members who has passed on I think , more so for the person that is that knows that he or she is going to die has more impact than the people who are


feeling the sadness lah so around, better to make the person as comfortable and as happy as reassuring as you can lah


true, anyone ya talk


but they will heal lah time will heal lah


it's easier I think it is easier that way if the person goes then if the person is to, suffer in front of you and you you can't do much lah, so that is like a closure mah, then you can move on mah


correct [lor[


do you have a time when you feel like giving up ah, ya actually


ya I I for me right I think, one of the worst, uh, that I felt was, when


sometime ago when I was doing volunteering work at the cheshire home, and the people in there are actually uh people who doesn't have a place to go they are handicapped lah so at that time voluntary work is like a


when I got time I go and do thing lah, you know so I don't I don't I, when I started it I was pretty free so I do it I go there like maybe three times a week, so we are we are given a particular subject to be with lah or a particular person lah


so I was attached to this guy who's on wheelchair with multiple uh problems lah medical problems and , as uh as I started working and all work gets the better of me I I'm unable to go like three eh obviously can't go any more three times a week ya


so uh one time a week became even, harder to reach lah especially if you are uh you got boyfriend already lah that time you know, so I I remembered when from three times a week to twice a week to once a week to alternate week then I go uh that guy ah


the handicapped handicapped guy started to tell me eh why you nowadays you come so you know I want to talk to you also cannot find you that kind of stuff you know and then I was like oh okay okay so what me a lot of empty promises, then one day when I when I finally went back ah he passed away eh


!aiyo! I was like !aiyo! I felt really really really really bad, that it was that time ah I tell myself ah don't go and do voluntary work lah when you don't even have the, you when you you are not committed to ah, if you are committed to ah don't give it up lah


that you know you got to keep doing it lah because it was really a very deep regret eh that, that you know you when you are when you you are close to somebody uh you you you go and be close to that person ah and the person , put his everything onto you to talk to you ah with like


confide in you and everything then you start to disappear ah after a while because of your own , timetable and and commitment ah not even commitments lah then the person doesn't ah, okay so it was quite


quite a horrible experiences experience up until today lah, so instead of, it it's a very horrible and awful feeling lah because instead of uh offering, help right actually not doing the person really very good because you gave the person light actually you know you give him light you gave him a lot of things


ya, but then after that ah just before the person pass away ah you just you just took it away unknowingly lah of course so in anyway a lesson ya in anyway a lesson learnt


ya ya, ya, correct


depressed they they will be depressed


ya ya


ya mine is still running, so is that a dream !huh! ya why, what


I'm just trying to see is there a dream that of yours that dies a little with each passing day, there's no dreams


ya it's a balance mah


oh really ah, ya how ah ya correct ya correct correct , ya you may need to review again the whole, you need to review the whole business model again oh


ya, true true ya


I don't have leh don't have leh, ya ya sure ya true , sometimes worried lah especially now ah with the situation now ah I I sometimes also wonder ah whether whether have any problems stepping back into the society you know


I don't know how bad it is you know because everybody it's saying it's bad it's bad lah, but I still see people buying things like nobody's business leh , but I also hear people get retrenched eh, so I'm not quite sure yet how bad the bad is ah


!ee! your side how [ah]


part two positive experiences


okay, oh ya I I do have uh when I move house from, Sengkang to uh Serangoon, I had a friend who came by to help uh


uh shift the furniture as well as uh put them back into the rooms , and it's really a time of need lah because my husband happened to have fever on that night , so he was down and the all the furniture and everything was all over the place so


I had this friend that actually stayed uh the whole night, and the entire of the next day uh to help me settle down, ya yourself


I think it's also the people inside lah not the you know stat board also have good people lah ,


I see, ya ya ya ya


I see I see, so what's the best meal you ever had ah


!wah! , oh I I my best meals uh my best meal are all buffets buffets here buffets there buffet singapore buffet JB


but you see the amount of food available ah and then you see your growing kids eat ah !wah! the the the amount that they eat ah !wah!, and it's like the food


it's so good ah even if you cannot down the food ah doesn't matter you see them eat ah !wah!, looks like the food is so delicious ah like the best meal ever buffets, ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya that one !wah! so many varieties spoilt for your choice


oh ya of course that one never beat eating a a a cultured meal ah from another country ah, cause every time is a different experience


taiwan, taiwan no good food eh only street food leh , what where, we keep eating the street market we keep eating the street market one what


so many different, I actually cannot remember the restaurants eh only remember the night markets, oh, very good those those those food are nice what


the whole thing was nice because the weather was nice, then the Sotong and the the everything !wah!


no blood blood pig's blood is the block of pig's blood , that's not exactly a best meal you know that's like oh gosh I know what is that


ya I uh still uh uhuh I don't miss that lah , totally disgusting