right, true and don't you think that it changes the whole you know in singapore working from home is still a very new thing to singaporeans we are not used to exactly and because


of COVID we are all force to be able to work from home I mean regardless whether you are a, employee or the boss or the or the business owner you are forced to do it and it really it really force all of us into that mode and for people who who have no discipline to work from home I mean that's what the bosses are usually afraid of


they are all forced to do it in a way or another right so exactly so I think when when humans are just being force with that situation then we just have to make it happen lah and that's something that I feel that, we all have it in us is whether we have to we just have to do it you know ya


right


yup but even the hawkers are now they are all I don't know like dashing to go digitize now and I think that's such a good thing for them as well you know when they were used to be so resistant but now they are forced to as well which is I think it's good for them


ya so in a way but is there anything that , during the CV that I I mean you know there are so many people who has become chef and who has become like baker's okay I know, me and you are not not those people okay


, seriously what did your mum do what did your mum do, she bake so much amazing oh !wow!, what does she bake like she bake the chinese traditional kind or she bakes


oh yeah, your nephew her grandchild her grandchild loves it


right right


yes yes yes who taught her


cool cool, me too I thought my mom how to make a a whatsapp video call so that she can call my aunt so that they can ya so it was very tiring but it was such an achievement ya so she was so excited


uh not not not at first try not at first try every single time she she just couldn't make it but but because we are home all the times so someone's there to help her by when she knows then, ya now now she's a lot more confident and she knows how to work the smart TV already because it's smart TV right so so so we can actually plays certain things from your phone and all so we we are trying to teach her also


yes yeah because exactly exactly exactly


yeah, but, but you know I don't err I don't know how often you celebrate your like your uncles and your aunties birthdays okay about throughout this whole CB I mean I usually I generally don't, unless my cousins throw a party for my uncles or aunties is it their seventieth birthday or their seventy fifth birthday ya unless they throw parties and then I would attend but other than that because my my mom side has like


eight siblings, I don't really remembers their birthday, right I I generally don't I I'm a terrible terrible niece okay so, so but because of CB because we have so much time right so they will say to eh you know it's actually my mom's birthday cause usually generally they just spend time like having a meal a very singaporean way


of having a meal together but because they are not able to have a meal so you know we we would we will talk about it in in the chat and then we will say okay okay all of us will dial in so that at least you know her mom will see her you know and her mum would see all of us and and her mum would see my mom


you know stuff like that and it's actually quite it's actually quite nice, ya, and ya, and and especially for the old folks is they they will be so amazed by it and then they are so excited when they see their siblings like on the telephone screen


ya so and and I thought that's very heartwarming and and because of the first one and then we started we started a group chat telling all my cousins whoever aunts or their parents are having their birthday we will all do the same thing for each and every one of them


and I thought that was something that I hope we can still continue even though, when life goes back to I mean we may not really have, err I'm not sure whether we can have like a physical party anytime soon you know but you know but at least


at least I think the old folks actually do enjoy it at least from my pass three birthdays four birthdays that I had with them, the online online gathering birthday I think I think the older folks were even more excited than than than my cousins and myself but uh we were all very excited actually to do it


right, yes yes the malls are quiet to the malls are really quiet except for NTUC and and like you know the supermarkets and all


, ya


ya and true true true, every time I walk to the mall uh I try to avoid the crowds when I have to go out to get groceries, and it's so different from a usual morning where you see like people exercising the old folks sitting around the students are people rushing to work you know because I have to pass through the the train station right to get to my mall


but all of sudden when I have to cut through this park generally everyday when I when I go to the mall to get my stuff right then it's so peaceful it's so so so peaceful you can hear like, like the birds you can you can see like even the grass you were saying even the flowers are prettier usually every time when the flowers bloom at the korean church and then it's it's all gone because everyone plucks them away


you know the blue pea flowers, yeah, , , I know I know so it's always gone and it's it's the first time I see the entire wall filled with the blue pea flowers it's so pretty uh should have taken the picture for you next time


oh yeah yeah maybe it's gone now oh dear maybe it's gone it's so pretty yeah I never knew it, it looks so pretty when you have the whole world covered with blue pea flower okay it's because usually you don't see that you will see like err like less than ten you can count them with your fingers you know ya true true true true


I think mother earth is the, happiest , yes ya


that you you you achieved or you have a change do you have ya ya something that you are you are quite proud of


ya I tell you my life while you think , because I was just thinking about that as I do I have yeah yeah I was going to tell you I have, yes I have, but it's like so I have


learn, it's like to enjoy my yoga practices at home something which I thought I'll never be able to do, , no what you mean how like err in the beginning right in the beginning I really I couldn't I really couldn't practice my yoga at home I find it so difficult because I'm so


not that I'm discipline but I feel that I'm more motivated in the studio on the mat because at, exactly but because at home right I get distracted so easily by my phones by the calls that come the whatsapp messages then by the food because everyone is at home


then you also right because everyone would have like different things that's going on in their lives and then ya ya the moment I put my mat down I get distracted by if I see a strand of hair on the floor you know and and I will have to start to go and like I I decide to like clean up first or halfway through my practice I decided


oh man it's so difficult like it's so I'm so lazy you know it's so easy it's so easy to give up at home rather than in the studio cause everyone is not giving up you feel bad about not about giving up you know, ya but you don't want that right but at home


I just couldn't and I just give up very easily it doesn't matter if I follow a youtube or I followed the live classes that the studio have ya but, but as the as CB goes by and as we get more used to it


and I and I and I do do kind of, glad that it happen because I think I could do it at any point whenever I'm available whenever I feel like it so I set aside certain time like I want to do it whenever I want and not not be limited by the the time or the class schedule that the studios have and


ya, and still be able do my practice I mean I don't know I don't know, err I mean I still miss the time that I have on the mat, but, err in the studios but I think now I'm I have begin


to like my own interval individual practices at home as well, no I don't but I tell you what I said I've had I set certain poses that I hope that I can able to achieve I can achieve after the CB things like that


ya so when I can achieve it then I will feel like an achievement lah because I don't know how long it will take me in the studios but because it's at home you can just keep practicing and practicing non-stop, a certain post then you will feel eh don't ask me such question so embarrassing


!wow! you're not stopping no what about you what new hair, what do you like you know some people like they learn to bake right like my cousins you just eat your mom's cooking ah do you do a lot more housework at home


oh but then again it depends it depends


yes yes it it does I I also think that it cuts both ways, no no because you are really good at it you are really really good at it


(ppl), (ppl)


financial related topics


uh I think the main advice that I'll give to myself is you're never too young to invest so because uh investing is like a compounding compounding like method to earn money so the earlier you start


the more advantage you have in the future basically


I see I see uh so, how do you manage your cashflow


oh I see, uh so like , uh I save the money that I get from uh, from NS and some of the money goes into uh bank into my bank and savings and


and depending on the month and like the price of the shares that month I will see, my like what shares to buy and if there is like nothing that catches my eye or if none of the shares hit my target price I I I will save I will save like almost everything except those on like uh food transport all these like


necessities ya and I'll save the rest ah, I see I see


uh so, so uh what can you do to earn extra income now because like you know our pay is damn little


[orh] so like those side hustle type ah , I see I see


uh so initially uh I'm I initially like in my in secondary school I didn't have a habit of saving I would use my money to spend it on food and games or entertainment and like I would hardly ever I I hardly knew the the value of money


but uh when I went to JC and so on I realised the importance of money and I realised the value of saving uh and the importance of saving ah and that saving is actually a really good habit and


nothing nothing wrong can come out of saving uh so like, how I meet my saving goals is firstly I DBS has like this really good feature where like you can track where your all the payments from your cards and like ya all the different cards they have from the bank it tracks all your payments and


also notes down how much cash you withdraw from the ATM and uh at the same time so you can always like, you can always have a, a good understanding of where your money goes to every month just by viewing the the app


and like I ensure like I meet my saving targets by not overspending on a certain product or like going out too often or, or buying like, luxury luxury goods ah which I actually don't really need now and mostly spend more on necessities and investment products


oh I see so how, like what advice can you give to someone on buying like a big ticket item like uh like a car or something that's, like way like way way expensive


oh I see, so like let's say it's your first car and it's like uh thirty K how will you like intend to pay for it


I see I see


uh yeah I think that's that's like what most people do also ah because like by right you're supposed to have at least uh six months of saving in your bank account as like a safety net in case uh you lose your job or like


somehow you're you're having like a financial crisis uh yeah you at least you've something to fall back on ah and if you're buying like a car or a house and you don't have that amount of money in hand taking a loan is also a good option but need to make sure that you're not overpaying your interest rates


and you you have cash to cover yourself basically for the next few years and not to spend all your savings and income into financing the loan, and these big ticket items ah


I see, uh so last time I used to eat out quite often with my family and friends but with COVID and circuit breaker uh all these things have been uh prohibited at so we've been ordering in or cooking ourselves so I think


uh most of uh the money gone into eating outside food like restaurants uh have been gone to have been put to better use in terms of like cooking our own food buying ingredients from NTUC or the wet market and cooking ourselves


and because of like all the entertainment venues that have been closed like cinemas uh and all the theme parks like universal studios and uh, zoos I think like a lot of money has has been saved lah by by not going to these these places


it's a good idea, uh I think CPF contribution is like a double edged sword honestly because a fraction of your income will be put into CPF and you only draw a certain amount every month from the from your actual income so this income can only be taken out at


uh fifty two years over no fifty five years old fifty five years old sorry one at one one draw at fifty five and another draw at sixty two years old so they basically like you can there's a lot of options to take out this cash also in terms of like uh a lump sum


yeah you can take out a monthly like so you can have like an a monthly income or you can have uh one one lump sum ah which I think is not that good because most people with lump sum they will spend it they will just immediately spend it uh all on like, on whatever they want but I think uh getting the monthly the monthly payouts are better because it helps to control your amount of spending and expenditure


uh but a lot of people are against CPF because uh they don't know where what their money is being uh used on by the government and they also believe that by the time they hit fifty five some of the people may not even be alive if like


COVID nineteen all these new strains of virus and things maybe people will cut short their lifespan, so it's a really a double edged sword lah yeah so what do you think


ya CPF has like medisave and all those


I see uh so


so like how how do you invest your money to accumulate wealth and plan for your retirement


I see uh so there's a lot of different ways that I invest the main source of, investiture for me is like in shares but there are also things like fixed deposits where uh my parents actually like put a lump sum for me in the bank when I was really young and twenty years later then you can draw it out at


uh at a certain at a at a gain lah basically so I think it's about about five per cent or something like that so it's better than letting your money rot in bank basically, because like


yeah, but planning for your retirement is a totally different thing ah because you also won't really know how much money you're going to use in your retirement whether you want to be a , like an extravagant lifestyle or have a chill lifestyle where you laze at home everyday so if you you want to have like a more luxurious retirement life I think you should be more aggressive in like your investment ah and especially when you're young because you have no commitments and no obligations to anyone


ya it's it's a double edged sword so like you either choose you want you just choose between having cash for uh your uni life or you choose having cash in the future ah like ten years down the road


I see I see but forex actually is quite complicated in and if your capital is you need a lot of capital to go in, to see some gain ah and for the inexperienced people it mostly ends up in a loss


I err I think insurance is actually a really good idea because uh, uh some people think that buying an insurance is a waste of money because they are just spending that lump sum and they will never ever draw that uh they will never draw out that sum after that set amount of years lah yeah you can sell the policy but


but it it reduces yeah like it reduces in price every year ah


, reduce my income tax uh there's a lot of ways to reduce your income tax uh I think one of the the main one is having children I think you have like a child that's not working or under a certain age you can get some tax relief and another way to get tax relief is uh


through your grandparents, ya from your grandparents, uh living with your parents and I think also


tax relief I think if your if your son is serving NS your parents should get tax relief ah if I'm not wrong


okay uh so, how would you make a financial plan for your future children or your family next time


ya for for you like what financial plans do you have for your children or your family next time ah to ensure that they won't be having financial difficulty when they grow up


oh okay I think like uh when children are young I think you should set up a fixed deposit for them or like a trust fund so uh this fund cannot be touched and cannot be drawn out


and will only be allowed to be taken out by your your children in the future like after they reach an age of maturity, uh


uh yeah that's why you you you have a fixed deposit so FDs uh give you better interest than, uh than the average bank rate especially POSB which I think gives like zero point zero one per cent per annum, yeah


few cents ya correct and uh I think another way to help them to to invest is like give them advice on what on what mistakes that we made when we were this young like some investment mistakes or like, or advice like uh where to start and how to start I think this will like


[orh] yeah those high risk one, so you go for like the low risk low reward type lah for your children ah


[orh] okay I see I see, uh, ya I think that's the same thing I will do for for my children lah because high risk high reward uh even though the the prospects seem really good but you may lose everything in overnight and whatever all the hard work that you put into


to invest in your children can can easily disappear, ya just like the Lehman brothers, ya especially uh in this type of like financial crisis like COVID nineteen ya I think it's important to to educate children lah on how to invest properly


negative experiences


so the last loss that I had that was a family member was actually when I was really young I think when I was a three years old and that was my great grandmother so


at three years old my emotions weren't completely developed and even my maturity so I couldn't really understand the situation going around but all I knew it was many all I knew was that uh many people were really sad and I would say that


having a loss even though I didn't really understand the emotions my my emotions at that time I could sense the emotions around me especially like my grandparents and my parents and uh, ya so by sensing their emotions I could I noticed like there was a huge amount of like sadness and a depressed feeling around the air so


uh I chose to be really quiet during the all the funeral processions and everything and, uh ya I believe that that was it how how about you


I see I see uh so #zheng han# what makes you stressed


oh so so not finishing a task is what makes you stressed


I see, so for me last time in school would also be exams exams is the the main cause of stress in in school but I think there's another cause of uh stress in school which is actually not doing well for your exam because when you don't do well for exam


you you face the decision of like whether you want to tell your friends or your parents your grades and it also makes you uh it also makes you pretty stressed because you wonder to yourself like how are you ever going to catch up and


to your other friends who did so much better than you and how are you going to face your your teachers and your parents when you get home , uh especially in major exams so , uh in NS as in NS I feel what makes me stressed the most is also uh incompetencies of people and myself so in NS most things are done in a team so everybody plays a part


in whatever we do so once one guy, screws up basically the entire team screws up as well and in NS there are really severe consequences to to not completing a task either you get confinement which means your weekends get burnt or


you get charged which is basically you you either pay pay money to them like I think it ranges from hundred fifty to hundred all the way to what three five hundred hundred to five hundred , ya depends and the worst case scenario is you go to detention barracks which is basically jail for for NS so ya every single task that you carry out in the army has to be done really meticulously and really carefully like especially uh cleaning


cleaning uh the weapons or like , uh after every exercise will be a count for items if there are any missing items uh it's basically game over for your entire for your entire section so ya I feel in NS incompetencies and people that overlook things


not just other people but me for myself as well ya I feel that's what makes me the most stressed


uh hurtful words okay so , I think in NS it it brings out the worst of us especially when we are tired uh when we are tired we don't think we we just straightaway uh we scold and we berate the person that is nearest to us without giving them any chance to explain


so I think one of the worst experience that I had was uh during one of my field camp in uh specialist cadet school where we went for field camp and my buddy was lagging behind and he caused the whole section to to be punished


uh, I I think it was he he didn't he forgot to bring one of his equipment for field camp and because of that the entire section had to, the entire section had to be in charge of uh cleaning the latrine point uh and setting up the latrine point during the field camp so I I think I said really mean words to him uh not just me but my entire section basically


berated him and scolded him didn't even have a chance give him a chance to explain himself or why he forgot and we were just so overwhelmed by emotions that uh I think many hurtful words were were thrown to him not just about him but uh to his about his parents about his entire ancestry basically


so ya I think, , uh, uh and through that exchange I think many of us were being scolded we will we started scolding each other and then many hurtful words were thrown to me and many of my section mates so it was just a was it was basically pandemonium in in during the field camp


and ya so I wish to forget that incident and it really brings out the worst of us during that that period so how about how about you,


I see I see uh


, uh yes actually uh there are a lot of times where that has happened I think when you reach a point where you feel that you've plateaued like in terms of your your grades academic wise or


, in terms of like even gymming, uh I think the point when progression doesn't set in anymore and when improving isn't as easy I think you feel that whatever you've been doing isn't good enough and


it makes you feel sad lah and sometimes uh it also happens when, uh when I study really hard for a test and somehow I still receive uh worse grades than my friends who've put in less effort than me ya so I feel that's that really the point where nothing


that I've done, is is good enough and I feel that there's nothing more that I could have done during that situation uh physically but I think now as I mature more I feel that mentally there are many things that have been that could have been done


by remaining calm not stressing out about a situation reviewing my mistakes properly and just uh basically not giving up at that point and try and continue to persevere ya


I see uh so what's the saddest scene you have ever witnessed


endgame


uh so I don't really watch much uh sad movies uh but I think one of the saddest scene that I have witnessed in a show actually came from an anime uh called Naruto


uh for those of you that don't know Naruto is like a japanese anime where like they're ninjas and they often engage in battle and one the saddest scenes in that movie was when uh #naruto#'s mentor, whose name is Jiraiya uh had to fight an enemy to gain intel about them and ended up dying in the process so at that point in time I was pretty young I was uh I think I was


a in secondary one when that happened, uh so when I was watching that scene uh #naruto#'s mentor who is always been in almost all the episodes uh and you've grown you've got a really good connection with uh the mentor his mentor because like there's


there's so much character development and you see him like uh you see how the character has grown in the show and to see uh his mentor die during that scene uh was really sad because


uh once once his eyes closed you knew that that was going to be the last time you ever going to see #naruto#'s mentor again and he won't ever appear in the the series anymore , so ya I feel that's one of the saddest scenes I think as long the scene involves sacrifice and as long as you have a really uh as long as the character has really good character development and you've got a connection with the character I feel the scene will


it will always be sad when you watch it, ya


ya so uh what is the biggest thing holding back from your goal


I see, uh so right now I would also say NS I mean uh to be honest NS is is essential but I don't think it needs to be


in I don't think that it needs to be like two years long because two years is a really long time especially in your youth and in your youth you can accomplish so many more things most of the uh current CEOs in the US firms in like the big firms have actually like


had their ideas when they were in their youth and because they they were young they had the tenacity and they were able to take big risk but because of ya ya for us for for guys in singapore I mean if you're not considering a future in the the the force


uh NS would just be two years of your time uh gone and even if you decide to drop out of school halfway you will be much older than the rest of the people and you won't even have a you won't even have advantage on people


over people ya and I think uh last time the most uh the thing holding me back from my goals was procrastination because I'm like a quite a big procrastinator I will always wait until the last minute to do things and I think if I


did things earlier with more proper planning I I feel that I could achieve my goals


positive experiences uh so Zhenghan so what's the best birthday present you've ever received


I see so time is the best birthday present, uh actually I feel the best birthday present to me was a guitar that I got from my parents even though it is a material item but I feel that that guitar uh propelled my interest for music and


allowed me to to enjoy playing more music and it was a decision that uh I I didn't really it's because I didn't really want to wasn't really into music at that point but after getting the guitar it made me really interested and helped me find


a passion for for playing the guitar basically


I see uh, uh so what is your favourite comfort food and the food that when you eat it it will always make you it will always put a smile on your face so what what is that food


I see !wah!


!wah!, okay, uh so I'm I'm a food lover and I enjoy eating all sorts of good food uh I'm those type of people that uh live to eat instead of eat to live if you know what I mean uh


ya so uh one of my favourite comfort food is actually sushi, uh I feel there is no such thing as a bad sushi because all sushi tastes uh amazing and the most and my favourite uh sushi is the Tamago and uh


uh Toro which is uh salmon belly, and tuna belly yeah uh I feel it's the taste is just uh undescribable it's it's, the food has a class of its own basically and I feel that whenever I eat it it never fails to put a smile on my face ah even on the worst in my most depressing days I feel eating sushi will cheer me up instantly


yeah , yeah I feel all japanese food is like all japanese food there's no such thing as bad japanese food like


ya it's like Ramen Omurice yeah I can I can live on japanese food basically


yeah I think it's like land of the rising sun land of like happiness ah basically


uh this is a really hard question because when I was a kid I actually loved like almost all sorts of food uh but I think one thing that I hated most as a kid was broccoli I because uh I hated vegetables in general when I was a child and I think that was the reason why I was like mildly obese


so uh but as I grow older and I realize the importance of health and after like training for two years I've realised that broccoli is actually a really good food and I've grown to enjoy eating it and by going to youtube and searching all those uh


recipes especially the ones with binging with Babish uh I think I know how to make myself a really nice bowl of broccolis to eat and with actual taste and yeah it's , I've grown to love it as an adult lah basically how how about you


uh so like as a kid I also hated studying I would dread going to school every morning uh especially chinese uh especially if that day had chinese lesson I I really don't I will try my best to to feign illness so that I can go to the doctor and get an MC


so that I don't need to won't need to go to school to have the chinese lesson uh but as an adult after going through like NS as well like I realised the importance of and the importance and like the happiness that I derived from going to school and and studying also


uh cause in NS even though we don't have to study but, we do more hands on things but the stuff that we do has more consequences and, uh you need to need to be wary of all your actions and


I mean NS is also a working environment so of course there's going to be politics around uh your working environment where people would try to get an advantage over you and there will they will always try to to step over you if they have the chance to but whereas in in school


your your friends are you can always count on your friends and I feel that this type of uh politics doesn't exist in school especially in, uh in secondary and JC yeah so yeah I would say my my perception of studying and going to school has also changed because I I really I really miss it ah and I realised the importance of


of of studying and and going to school


ya I think there's guys who just who just laugh it off right like even though the exam is so bad we just like oh we just laugh at each other and then we're like eh uh , like we just call it a day ah basically


yeah, oh one of my more memorable travel experiences was uh to to


to cambodia yeah , because even though cambodia may sound like a really run down city and there's not much to do at cambodia but uh my mum told told us to go to cambodia because I think at that time the #angkor wat# was going to be


under construction and restoration for a while so we went to cambodia specifically the #siem reap# region where #angkor wat# was and, we could witness a seven one of the seven wonders of the world before it completely uh


before it get completely like gets like dilapidated and destroyed by the natural uh environment so when I went there uh the #angkor wat# had already was sort of destroyed like many temples had fallen and a lot of the stairs up the temples were


were missing so some of the temples were inaccessible but, it was good that I I had the experience to to witness it in my lifetime before it completely disappears, yeah and uh food in cambodia is also surprisingly good uh even though it's not as cheap as you would expect but it's a totally different type of delicacy and think it's a once in a lifetime experience ah to to be able to go to cambodia so what's your favourite


what's your most uh memorable travel experience


I see


I see, uh so who who in your life do you look up to most and why


uh so one of the


the one of the people that I look up to is actually uh elon musk because uh he's a coder uh he's a really he's a really good and experienced coder and he's also like a CEO of like some of the largest companies in the world tesla SpaceX the boring company


yeah and because like my future course in uni is going to be computer science so he's really one of the main inspirations in the computer science world where he he learned coding by himself when he was really young and he managed he he's a visionary so he saw


he saw what the future needed and he he and his brother actually like uh started their own company at first which was I think it was called ziptwo and they it was like uh the beta version of paypal and they actually sold the company to ebay for


a few hundreds of millions at that time and during that time hundreds like a hundred million or even a million dollars was a insane amount so I really look up to him because he's a man with a vision and he's also he also put in a lot of hard work and


he didn't mind that when he and his brother had their idea they didn't mind failing uh it was a gamble and I really admire him for his risk his risk taking uh strategy because like uh he's not afraid to take risks and


uh yeah basically that's about it


ya it was all like big risk that may or may not have worked but somehow it managed to work and he's now like


ya it is actually quite insane lah that what he's done so I really look up to him because of all these ideas that he had and hopefully one day I can also like become a person like him ah


uh so I think as a as a student your main source of your main work is studying and that's the only I feel that's the main main piece of work that you have to do and


uh by doing by putting effort in your homework and like your studies I feel that uh yeah so so by putting in effort in my studies and uh my homework and listening in class


uh I think the people that appreciate, my hard work the most is my parents because obviously they won't be disappointed and I feel it's the teachers that you also don't want to disappoint because they've put in so much effort to to educate and guide you so when you receive your


good results they'll be I believe that they'll be one of the most happy people and some of the other times where hard work was appreciated is uh during my CCA which is my co curricular activity which was dragon boat relay in uh junior college so dragon boat is a team sport


and everyone there's no space for , there's no space for any slackers in in the CCA so everyone needs to put in their hard work and uh if one guy if one guy doesn't uh match up to the entire team the whole boat will basically won't go on a straight path anymore and there'll be one guy pulling the entire team down so


uh everyone in my team appreciates the hard work that we've put in especially our coach and, I believe that , ya hard work really pays off because uh we managed to win during we managed to win during the A divisions in JC and yeah it was


one of the times where we could really see the fruits of our labour and our hard work ah so how about how about you


ya, I feel hard work will always be appreciated as long as you're not uh doing work in the wrong places like as long your work amounts to something I feel it will always be appreciated regardless of whether it's yourself or anyone else ah I think just by seeing


the hard work being put in already puts a smile on most people's faces


ya that's why so the in the end there's no there's no bad work (uh) it's I think hard work is always good work [lah] ya


part one financial related topic uh so uh gavin what's one financial advice that you would give yourself like give to the you five years ago


okay ah I think I also agree with you I also I'm also like doing the same thing investing in like different companies and different like shares ah


for me ah I just earn my money from my daily jobs and then I try to save like as much as I can preferably like minimum like minimally twenty per cent I I think that's a good amount


then I just try to invest whatever that I save so that it won't like, so that my the value of the money won't reduce ah due to the inflation and things like that so what about you


oh same ah I just invest in like different banks and then just get money from the dividend then reinvest the money into different shares to then can widen the portfolio so okay you go lah


!wah! honestly I feel that everyone should have like dual source of income ah because it's actually quite important to have a lot of money I think I we should do like uh two jobs maybe moonlight a bit okay or just do those like


commission jobs like help people draw stuff it's a good way to like earn side cash ah, yeah, maybe like, uh but then again I think investment is still like the easiest one out of the many many jobs out there


so do you have a habit of saving or do you just spend


oh


oh same ah I also do about the same thing but I try to like set the limit on the cash outflow from my like credit card so that I won't like spend it spontaneously or like on spontaneous like decisions


okay uh so personally for me if I were to buy like a big ticket item for like a car or luxury item I would like consider my saving first ah, oh I mean not consider saving first I'll consider if it's a need or a want if it's a need then I will just see if I got enough spare cash to purchase it but if it's a want then I will just like not buy it


then again if if you really really want it uh it's best to see if you can like buy like the item two times or three times so that you know that it won't deplete your savings


if I don't have like thirty K straight up then the considering a loan would be good but you must think about it lah if it's a really a need you can actually like forego it take public transport then just don't buy the car


ya I find this like especially true for university students taking up like student loan, because like most of them may not be able to like secure jobs after they graduate so considering like the interest and stuff will be good for them also so in a post COVID world what changes are you


making in terms of your spending or saving habits


yeah I also agree lah the restriction on like on many entertainments also allowed me to save like much more money than usual, so uh what are your thoughts on CPF contribution do you think that it's a good like


what's it called do you think like it's good lah for the future


six sixty five yeah, you can get it out monthly too one shot


yeah I feel that I feel that having a CPF saving is good like it's to help people like with poor financial planning plan for their future so some people may, do not like think before they spend so the government implemented this policy to help them to put like portions of their salary or income into this saving account which they can use


for their health their future purchases for perhaps their HDB flats so it's a good way to, uh save like, plan for the future like if you do not know how to plan but many people like have the misconception that the government are actually like taking away the money but in in actual fact it's not true ah it's just to help you with the future just in case you fall sick you can use like


the funds from your medishield there's also it's also to like help other people maybe like because the money they use is invested by Temasek holdings ah just in case you didn't know


as of now I'm just like uh buying shares whenever I've enough money and also making sure that I don't like spend all of it because it is because I need I still need some like money to


eat and stuff, but with that being said uh I try to get the dividends every like half year or annual dividends then after that I just reinvest so in the future with like capital gain and the company growing this will allow my assets to perhaps double and based on like some


research and findings most of the assets will double like in seven years so that's a good way lah if you need some quick cash you can just sell off your shares and just get the lump sum so what about you


ya same ah that's the whole idea of investing the money is to prevent your money losing your money to inflation


then again we won't have any income like in the few years to come because of uh our studies so investing now is actually not a I feel that it's not a really good idea because we don't actually have a source of income for the next four to five years unless we have a side hustle


unless you can go for those like quick investment like pray for like forex trading ah


so you just buy a some uh some of their currency and then just sell it off for some lump sum if you're lucky or if you understand how how it works


yeah, then what do you think of the common misconception on like buying insurance to earn money in the future do you think that it's feasible


but you can sell the policy in the future to earn earn back the to get back the money, yeah so I also don't think it's a I don't think it's a very good idea lah just in my opinion I feel that there's other ways you can better place your money or use it use your money


so do you think you can reduce your income tax in the future like what are the some of the advice you can give, yeah


taking care of your parents or grandparents


actually I'm not too sure about that but I feel that if you have like a source of income that's actually not a income like dividends you don't actually have to pay tax so if you invested enough money since young, then you're getting your monthly income through dividends it's like you can't actually declare that as a salary and you don't actually have to pay tax for it so it's like a good thing to do lah if you have enough like capital and assets in in it


uh for me


!wah! this is a very tough question because like we're still young we still don't even have like a degree or a job but thinking about it it actually like, like just securing a good job and then making sure you don't uh spend extravagantly is a good way to start planning then getting


then again putting money into investment is also one way to like increase your capital and assets ah just for the future so what about you


but don't you think that the inflation rate will be higher than the interest rate for these kind of like


ya it's about there lah every month I get like I don't know few cents


I will I will just say that the easiest way to start is like buying like simple companies that just do like a simple business ah like banks instead of those more complicated companies, that may have risk like oil companies or those that do that sell products those are more risky ah so or just these are the few advice I would give to them


it's not really low risk ah it's just low risk and good rewards instead of like high risk and high high reward


things can go downhill ah just like the the Lehman'S the incident


okay [ah] so that's it [lah]


negative experiences, so have you gone through any loss in your life if you have just describe your emotions at that point of time and how you dealt with the loss


oh so I in terms of family I lost my grandpa when he when last like last year so I was serving army then I was in camp and then our the guy in charge of us released us late lah I was supposed to go visit my grandpa in the hospital but


because he released us late I wasn't able to visit him as the visiting hours were closed so the next day I woke up to get the news of him passing on ah then at that point of time I was like


I didn't know what to feel because in the past I used to tell myself like if like anyone passed away I'll I won't really feel sad because I know that they've they they were happy lah to have lived, but then the me last year was just like in shock ah I didn't know what to feel then I just uh I was feeling a bit angry also because


I was released late like the day before which actually deprived me of the time to go visit my grandpa so I was, experiencing like both uh anger and like sadness at the same time and in the coming days like many people like came down for the funeral procession and then after that uh they many people just cried lah and felt really sad there was like a very like


uh very ominous like atmosphere around everyone everyone wasn't like in the correct mood lah but naturally like things have to carry on life has to go on so people just like talked about the good things that


my grandpa did when he was younger and before he passed on so it was like one way to deal with like the sadness and the loss just by remembering the things that, he did all the good things, uh that he did lah and what a good person he was so that's how we dealt with it lah


stress ah last time back in when we were studying I would say exams were the main, like point of like the main reason why we were stressed ah because like most of us tend to procrastinate and we we were too lazy to study so seeing exams like coming in a week or perhaps in a few days were like the reasons we I I was stressed


but now in now that I'm like working uh I would say that having like incompetent uh teammates or like people in the office are like what makes me stressed ah because you don't really trust them with the work


that don't really trust them with the work then we have to work with them also and things may not be done if we things may not be done well things may not be done right and these are like why I I would stress lah because


having these incompetent people around me just won't get things done won't uh you won't get things right ah, ya something like that so what about you what makes you stressed


a hundred to it depends on the depends lah


so what are some of the hurtful words that someone said to you or you said to someone that you wish to forget, do you have any


okay so for me I was, I was the one doing the scolding lah uh back in one of my orientation camps we had to do these do a series of like games or activities then like the one that completes it the fastest will get


like a prize of some sort so there was this guy the task was just a simple task like going through a hula hoop without touching the hula hoop and then there was this guy in my class he couldn't get through the hula hoop lah he he delayed the entire like


group for a good five to ten minutes so I was really angry and I was me being immature at that point I started exchanging like some really mean stuff with him, like I insulted his family tree and things like that and then I made him cry ah cry ah and he went off to like complain to other people like the teachers and his parents


so looking back I feel that this is like one of the moments I wish to forget because I could have like said to him nicely and like make, made the made him happier lah uh in a way and like motivated to do the task


uh properly instead of like scolding him and uh saying mean things to him and perhaps if I said like uh better things to him he would like be a good friend or a good like companion in school


so ya that's one of the moments I wish to forget, so do you have uh a time where you feel that nothing you do is good enough


okay I see so for me I used to be a sprinter back in primary school I used to do track and field and back then I won like many medals ah I used to get like, I I got a gold medal for like hundreds then for like two hundred three hundred events three hundred meter event I got like silver and gold too but as I got into like as I got like older in secondary school like my best timing I couldn't like improve my best timing ah and


eventually I wasn't like selected and things like that so it was no matter like how no matter how hard I trained, my timing wouldn't improve so like it's I really feel that I there's nothing I can do ah and couldn't like improve myself but as I grew older and then having having like done more research


maybe it was the technique or like the training different type of trainings that can training session that can be improved ah so, it was then ah when I was young and immature


saddest scene I wouldn't say the scene come from like my, uh actual life but a scene in the movie I would say is from avengers the part where the especially the the latest


ya endgame where tony stark also known as iron man had to like sacrifice his life, for the fate of the world so I feel that the scene was really sad lah it really like brought out the best in his character because from in all the movies he was just that arrogant guy thinking he's the best


and you never expect someone like him to give up his life to save the world but he still did it in the end so I really uh it was really a sad scene lah it was one of the saddest scene I have witnessed so what about you


oh for me I also watched Naruto then and I also felt that there was like a few sad scenes in the movie ah especially the part where


it involves a parent's love especially the and it is the part where #naruto#'s parents had to sacrifice their lives to protect him, so by having uh watched like like multiple episodes and catching up with the movie every week and like gaining a like a connection with the series it felt really sad because


you see that the main character's parents had to sacrifice their lives just to protect the child it and it just makes you feel sad uh because it's just a something that a normal parent would do giving up everything for their child like giving up even their even giving up their lives


so ya it was also one of the saddest scenes I have witnessed, right now I would say it's my age and this obligation called national service because national service takes up like two years of your life even though many people say


said that you can like learn to be a better person or like gain many life experience I feel that it's one of the things that's holding me back I have like many ambitions perhaps uh and it has to do with like study like pursuing my


studying and also the my career in computer related topics so I feel that because of NS it really hindered the process and I could've used the time better by doing coding and learning how to do programming but because of NS it delayed this


uh this by two years lah so that's the biggest thing that's holding me back right now what about you


ya like steve jobs who dropped out and then went went to pursue his career


okay I see


part two positive experiences, !wah! best birthday present ever received for this is I wouldn't say it's a material good but something that's like non material


uh having the best birthday present uh would be the time where like all my friends instead of like buying something good for me just like uh go out with me, uh just like have a good time chatting outside eating ah I feel that having this kind of like non material feeling things is like better


so that was, ya time and happiness is time happiness and like the good company is like the best birthday present you can receive, so what about you what was your best birthday present


oh yeah talking about guitars I also uh now that you mention it it's also one of like my better birthday presents that I received ah, allowing me to like get a get a new hobby and gain a new life skill that guitar was also one of a one of the better birthday presents I received so ya you ask first ah


oh this is a hard question but because there's like many different food that I like but if I have to choose one specifically I would say steak I really enjoy steak because like


it's more one of the more premium food out there and uh it allows one to like feel like uh feel rich ah when you eat it uh furthermore like the taste of uh beef is like especially good compared to other food


okay perhaps a little maybe like truffle related food or things like Uni yeah so this kind of like high class food, is like something that I really enjoy what about you


yes if you want to uh feel Bougie when you eat


talking about sushi the best sushi is like one of the best comfort food especially in my secondary school days where I would buy the sushi from the japanese store and enjoy it whenever I feel sad especially after like doing an exam or test knowing that, I won't do well I'll just go down buy myself a hand roll or sushi then I'll indulge in it and really it makes me feel better


so sushi is really good, japanese food just hits like differently


I think we should go to japan first it's like even though it's stressful for them I think it's uh non stressful place for like tourists


so what did you used to hate as a child but now when you now that you love as an adult or young adult I would say


oh for me I I wouldn't I would say broccoli is something that I loved uh since I was a child but something that I hate as a child but now I love would be studying ah, when I was studying I used to like dread it because I have to go home every day then ah instead of like playing my favourite games or going uh for a game of like football or basketball I'll have to


stay home and revise for a test like which are like next week or next month those kind but as I grew older responsibilities started kicking in especially in like national service like all the time in the jungle and all the


nonsense that we have to do is really even more dreadful than taking an exam and I really appreciated studying because, it's like less stressful and you don't have any like commitments or any responsibilities as compared to the working world so as right now I really wish I can study again but that will only happen in like


a year's time so what do you think about hating exam I mean like enjoying studying


looking back I also really like miss school and really enjoy the times and stress free moments ah even though exams were like stressful but most of the times we just like go around like happy go lucky doing your own things just like enjoying, yeah we just


we just like just move on ah and just study another day lah, so okay describe one of your more memorable travel experiences


okay I also at first when I thought about it I


wanted to say it was like places like japan or korea where we had like those delicacies amazing like uh shopping areas and things like that but actually it's not it's the time when I visited like a rural part of thailand or like a


not really a guided tour but more of a solo trip kind where I just walked around and just take a look at the places and interacted with the locals there and also, so it's like a really eye opening experience ah having uh having to see the other side of the world where having lived in singapore which is a developed country then moving on to a developing country like thailand and looking at all their


uh village villages and knowing the situation that they are going through so it's like a really eye opening experience lah, it's more it's really like stress free there compared to like the hustle and bustle of singapore where you have to work every day people all the kids there just enjoy their lives


running like enjoy their time lah running around playing like doing simple things playing with their friends instead of going home to the computer or studying every day and they do more physical things like farming et cetera as compared to all the computer work that we do


so ya it's really the eye opening experience that made me enjoy this like the trip to thailand


for me I really look up to, uh two people, I look up to cristiano ronaldo the footballer because uh to he showed he proved to the world that if hard work is like


more important than talent because if you put put in enough work you get to you can be the best and you can be like the best version of yourself, so if you put your heart and soul into the things that you love you would definitely get better in it and the second guy that I really look up to would be warren buffet because he's a


guy with like foresight he knows what to do he's very wise then he taught me how to not really taught me ah, I read his books and gained inspiration from him on how to manage better manage my wealth better manage my money and how to like look for better like investment uh better companies to invest so what about you


who who are your idols


the boring company


okay I also feel the same lah for him but he's really a he's really a risk taker especially starting up things like the space X project, and also into uh starting up the first like major electric car company like tesla


it really worked it really worked out especially for tesla it became like a hit one of the biggest hits and then now he's going on with the cyber truck and his like space X mission which is ongoing


so do you get like appreciated for your hard work you want to like talk about it or describe a moment about it


okay uh so I feel that the one that will appreciate it the most would be like the future me because right now we are all students or perhaps just serving NS and waiting for our studies to resume so in the future if


the future me will like really appreciate it if like appreciate all the hard work I put in now to like get into a better university or get into a better course and also secure a, good paying job and then all those times that uh that I spent like on studying and


doing all the nonsensical things would also be like appreciated by the future me ah because it created all the memories and also it allowed me to develop many like life skills, or also skills that will help to help me to be a better person and like manage my time and manage my like decision making abilities ah so for me it'll be my future self


like even though you don't have any like progress but as long you put in the work people will just appreciate it normally, so it's just like human nature ah to appreciate people that are helping you or helping yourself


okay


okay so uh boy like uh what is one financial advice that you would give to yourself uh from five years ago


ya I think I think for me right like cause like okay so this question is just hypothetically speaking so if it's like go back to five years ago right I I would say, I would tell myself to buy uh, uh bitcoins lah like as uh as you know ah the bitcoin is like from five years ago until now there's a lot of difference I can earn a lot of money from that and that brings me to another point which is to achieve financial independence early


okay as like I try to, so right now I'm like, uh so right now I'm still I'm studying so like one thing I feel that there's a big problem is that is money so basically like staying in school right like uh staying on campus basically uh requires a lot of money


you need you need to you need money for supper you need money for for food basically like one day one week seven days if I'm staying in school for six five five six days I need money like every day lah basically, not that I don't need money at home but like in school a little bit more since I'm covering like my two meals lunch and supper after that


and then also like like, in in school you will see a lot of like seniors and all those, that do like freelance job outside and like some some of them have like investment and all those right so basically like you know like they they have this financial freedom and independence


that I don't really see in a lot of people lah like it so it so just my seniors ya so basically I just I see them then they just can they can spend whatever they want, but at the same time they also have a lot of money coming uh also have a lot of money coming through so like ya so it's I'm quite jealous of them and


ya so basically, like ya so basically if I have to tell myself from five years ago is to invest in bitcoins because if I've invest in bitcoins five years ago right now I probably can live off a quite comfort quite a comfortable life I I would say, ya so I don't have to worry about my tuition fees I won't have to worry about my uh my hostel fees and all those basically ya so so basically in term of financial independence I think that


I think it's a try it's a, it's a it's a goal that all of us should strive towards to uh like when especially when we are young, cause like you know like, sometimes you know like err like sometimes you just not from a very rich family just a from a average family lah basically like most of us are


so like, I think for me, is to mainly think about how to, not be, yeah like for me personally I want to be, be like not really like average family like some I have like I want to be like I want to reach that kind of financial independence whereby I can uh I can splurge every single week ya on something that I that I really want to get


I mean it's not that I don't have it, now but like I want to do it like with on my own without spending like my family's money lah basically so it's, ya ya ya ya so like you know last time I been I've been saying like like


the I think the, the best financial freedom you can get right is you see something on the street, inside a shop like anything, ah and then you see you it like it right you just buy it without worrying how much money you have, like so you for example if I, just walk past this like uh rolex shop like, like like for example okay like extreme example so basically I walk past this rolex shop I see the watch eh this really nice then I ask the guy eh like so like uh tell me about this blah blah blah and then I really like it


I just buy it, then I don't even care about whatever that's in my account, because I know I can afford, it and I know that it, even if I buy this, it wouldn't burden me anyway possible, so that's the kind of financial financial freedom and like that I'm looking to achieve lah, and also like err


like if I uh can, achieve that kind of financial freedom right like hopefully like maybe before like forty uh ya I'm thinking I will also like want to retire early like, it's actually one of my plans in the near future is to like uh retire early


because I feel like, if I work my ass off for like maybe like ten years two twenty years maybe then like can get like side incomes and all those so I can build up like a small fortune, I don't really, feel like I should be wasting my time in the same thing unless I really like to do it lah so like retiring early is really very good so I can enjoy my life I guess


like in a way that I couldn't enjoy it like right now especially now during COVID right then I can't travel all those right then like ya I want to travel in the future to make up for this period of time when I can't travel and all those like just go anywhere I want ya so like and also like and also ya


ya I, actually I feel like you should like I should have started like very longer than this like you know like a lot of people right like they already have like a an a direction of like where to like work towards to if you know what I mean


like so for example like some people like think that some people have like this this this plans and then like they're already using their university or like maybe even before that like NS right as a platform to, try and like, achieve those goals lah so basically I've heard a lot of people already like like with like different sets of skills can already already earning a lot of money like like tens and tens of thousands at the age of like what nineteen eighteens twenty like that ya I mean


as early as possible lah, ya, ya


actually right like I, saw this article online right like it it doesn't say like uh how much but it just says save like thirty percent or something, if I'm not, I actually I don't know like, that's why basically like you know like sometimes you when you are like on telegram then you reading all those then I was like reading NUS whispers all those right and like there's a lot of people right that say like ya so you take out a portion for your parents you take out a portion for your savings I mean not your savings


ya ya you take out a portion for your, savings and your your your portion should be quite big lah like some people save like thirty percent some people save like twenty five some people save more lah basically like depending on how much they earn, then after that then, the rest right then they split split split then the rest become disposable income


okay like I think I think investment is a good idea ya, investment is a good idea I think like uh ya so like you know all those like high risk high reward one right like it's not really like it's not really good lah like so what so like when you are like just into just like getting the hang of investment right you should do the


the low risk low reward the kind of bank and all those uh all those like low risk investment lah basically that can like like basically like you can just generate like passive incomes like uh like not that not very much but like it's it's still extra money lah basically


and also like if you don't have anyone to spend on like for example if you have like a girlfriend to spend on right then like it's still like a lot of money lah basically so like you need to control how much you spend uh for yourself and


I'm not really a investment expert lah I only pick up from investment from my senior like like I think like last last year, like okay uh and then I then I I haven't actually technically invest much yet ya I only I, like he recommended me a a singapore based stock ah basically it's it's quite cheap one so I spend like I spend like uh six hundred five hundred plus buying buying that


and then after the COVID, situation came right like I think starting before that lah I I I was already losing money, then after the then after the COVID situation, came right I started losing even more, money okay lah but but it's it's, it's like a few hundred but like but it's quite pain, so basically I tell my senior


we are like okay you know what like, like I cannot I cannot invest then he said he lose he lost even more money lah, so basically I think you have, to like I think you have to like know the the type of like the kind of like situation you are in I guess so that like you don't actually like lose a lot of money or you don't like ya


okay, okay technically right from my perspective right like actually gambling is like is like investment like investment like quote unquote investment because like


it's like the high risk high reward kind of thing and if you like if you actually, good at it right like I I don't know you can earn quite a lot overnight lah but ya it's just a uh ya it's just food for thought ya


actually I'm thinking of taking, like a like business uh business modules lah maybe ya so like can uh like I can I can learn from like the business people inside like not really the module that is the that is gonna help me but the but the people like you know some people just have like ways around it lah all those


ya ya it you know like you know like when you earn money right you don't earn on your own but you earn with your friends ya hopefully hopefully the business people is like is like those people lah like get to get to share the earning with me tell me the tell me how to show my the ropes you know ya


ya ya but but I think okay lah investment got different kind lah but like I think the like I think right now when you are when you don't have a lot of money right when you don't have a lot of disposable income right you should just uh put it in bank or something like trust fund all those I don't know if it's a thing ya so so you get the you get the low returns right but then you get you get you but then it's like it's like saved so so like right now


for example you need like two hundred bucks to to to invest right like you don't lose all two hundred lah like if two hundred is a lot to you then you don't lose all two hundred if you put it if you put it uh ya something like that lah like you don't have to like don't have to put everything


like don't put all your egg egg in one basket [loh] you know split around so you can earn money from everywhere ya it's like ya uh I


ya but I I don't want to say it here like uh okay so like what I'm trying like so so basically like if you, save right you can you can just you can you can get what you want lah basically but then you, don't want to just like have like be like above the surface you want to fly right you need to have


you you want to be you want to reach the stage where where you don't want to just like have, have enough money but you won't have more than enough to do different things, okay so like you just walk past this shop you want to buy the whole shop also can like that's why, that's why if you just earn money and save right like it's hard lah it's hard okay you have to try


like to to be rich right to be successful and like financially capable and dominated and dominate the finance right you need to you need to you need to do passive income place basically the best way is to invest


negative experiences, okay lah so uh boy uh what is that, what is that one time where things turn out didn't meet your expectations


ya, okay lah uh I think for me


I have a lot of things that didn't turn out that turned out to not meet my expectations lah there's a couple of them, but I will take the I'll take the one that I can draw any uh can draw some learning point from so like uh like last time in JC also basically like like at first I thought like


I can uh so basically this one is about OGL selection so basically I thought I was going to be a OGL like uh not trying to brag but I feel like I'm the one of the most uh I'm the one of the most capable guys out there and most suited to be the OGL


and after that right like I thought I thought everyone was gonna be okay lah basically then after all the after the promos and all those then they call us inside the LT and release who's the OGL then I see my and I was looking for my name then I realise my name not there then I was like oh my gosh


like okay so at at at the at the exact moment I feel like okay like what is wrong then after that I realised eh actually like as my as I think about it more and more right then it it just got like very I just feel like very very sad then


uh and like I would say angry kind of like why would you not like choose a guy who can actually be OGL instead of like choosing a choosing people who are like who are like boring, and down and not really interested but then they just apply but and then they got it because their result is like better like so I was like just feeling like angry and all those then after that I


after that like I got over it lah basically like it I a bit salty sometimes but I got over it and but like okay so from thee experience right like I kind of like like one there's one thing that I can there's one thing that I was like that I learned from it and I'm still like I I'm still like upholding it I guess like until now is that you can't you can't be too sure about something


like sometimes right you can be the best guy in the world right like and then there are still gonna be things that doesn't happen according to how you want it because like there are a lot of things that are like beyond our control, like for example this OGL thing right like like I I can say that I'm like probably like the top ten most suited but then I I just don't get it because like this result and all those right is really not like what I


what I like what they uh are what they were expecting ah so from this right like like and then like because of this incident lah technically like after that right I just learned how I just learned that like you can't be too sure about something sometimes you just very sure that you're able to get it but you just can't be too sure because if you are really like


if you are like super certain and all those right your disappointment will be will be so huge right that it is like very hard to bear so always like so after that then I just I just I just tell myself even that you are like even though there's like it seems like


there's no competition and all those right but you just don't be hundred percent certain that you're going to get it because what if ya so then after that I uh went through a couple of things and I had I'm lucky enough to get some of them I'm lucky enough to get what I want


and some of them I don't like my like my like when I'm choosing university my course I didn't get my first course my first choice course and uh, ya like I didn't get my first choice school technically I wanted to go NTU instead of NUS but then I realise that like ya so there's a reason for it lah and I I don't regret like not going NTU because I think NUS is better in terms of like the holistic and like student health


mental health kind of make me just make me feel happier overall ya so after that like ya so I would say like now like I'm more accepting towards things because, that time I was destroyed by the OGL selection which is actually quite a small thing now I think about it but I don't know why like last time when you are student you just feel like is some just all these small things it just feels like the world to you


ya, so


ya, I think, I think for me like the biggest things that's holding me back from my goal okay okay how about I start off with my goal so I think I think I think for me right like like short I have a long term goal and a short term goal my short term goal is like it's basically what I can


it's basically what I want to achieve in the foreseeable future lah so something that I can control uh I can I can I can kind of say like I can I achieve a I already achieve some of my short term goals like from last time but then there are certain things that are holding me back it's just that I would say it's my mentality


like really sometimes you know like you want to like you you you know that you want to grow higher and you can grow higher but sometimes you just a bit like very lazy just you know the feeling when you want to you want to hit like the higher target right but


that's why it's just your own mentality that's holding you back like you can just keep telling yourself like may maybe next time maybe I'm too tired like how about like let's take a break so it's not really just for like you know just not really just for like your your your grades lah so basically you tell yourself tomorrow study all those it's not really just for your grades it's basically for your


for your overall like like my it's like my my whole life also like sometimes you know like even though I like I want to like if I want to like hit at like a higher right higher target I would say but it's just like sometimes you know like I just tell myself like okay maybe what you know what maybe next time


like uh very tired this time like let me take a break ya it's just this kind of mentality that's holding me back from my short term goals lah basically it's to get good results and also uh be a be a be a decent student leader I guess ya so as for my long term goal right I think I said it in my in my in my part one


is to achieve financial independence and I really think of that as like my long term goal lah because I think I think for myself I I really don't like to work in a very constrained environment, like basically following a schedule nine five in the in the in the office you where you have to like listen to people talk to you scold you or you have to participate in the all those office politics and all those it's really I cannot I cannot bring myself to do it like like years and years and years of it like it's just it's it's too boring


for me I I I really want a I really want something that can like that that that gives me like new challenges all those so right now I feel like staying in school is good because like school presents you a lot of like opportunity to like to technically like challenge yourself all those


so like in the long term in the long run right like like to achieve all these kind of like level of like financial independence all those it's that it's it's ya like I say ya it's still it's still my mentality lah I would say cause like you know like to reach this right you need to have like


decent results I would say like even though like results might not be everything but it certainly helps lah so it's like first of all it's my results then not really it's uh ya and then secondly I would say it's like uh what the mentality do right is that is to give me the greed


is to help me is to help me force myself through certain obstacles that I didn't think I can go through ya so basically that's the two things ya so so the biggest thing technically is my mentality need to be more firm like better mind ya


so like what about a like do you have a time when like you think like people doesn't care about you


ya there are lah but ya like like I say lah like there are sometimes I just don't really like don't really have the effort to, like don't don't really want to like spend the time and effort to like to give a damn like cause like sometimes you know like especially like uh like when you are when you have like different roles and all those right like you just very busy like you so you don't want to like you don't really want to spend like take the effort to like


to like you know like care about them because if you actually bother about it if you actually get bothered about by it right then you can't really like move on and all those so especially when you are like trying to like, when you have like different responsibilities lah you are going to get affected by it right then a lot of the people who like like low key depends on you uh ya they will they will get they will get affected by it as well lah so sometimes like


sometimes when you are like when you are alone and all those then you don't then you just like that you have to tell yourself like okay you know what like, I'm sad but but no one cares so uh let's just move on ya so like you have you have to have to accept the fact that like you you have to be sad but but really there are a lot of people who who just don't really care about you as


much as you think they do [lah] so ya so after that I move on already ya so I don't really I don't really care, ya


ya, ya


okay uh positive experiences, okay I think my most memorable travel experiences right uh is the time when I went japan okay


so okay so like okay like I'm going to say something like quite funny maybe not very funny but like okay I I you know like I watch a lot of anime all those right, so basically what my friends say always like to say right it's like I'm a weeaboo even though I'm not like it's not nice okay so like ya so like as a as a quote unquote weeaboo right you know like one of the things


that you like to do the most right is is to go to see japan K before I first went to japan right I mean obviously like before I first went to japan I never go japan before lah so my first time is to japan is also just so happen right to be my first time travelling with friends only


ya so that was like when I was in J one like a couple of years ago ya so I went japan with my friends like Jio my friends so we stay at this Airbnb right like basically, we we first went to we first went to kyoto eh no ya we first went to kyoto so we stay in this air b n b like the Airbnb very small uh and it's a it's


ya it's very small and neat so it's basically like what you will expect from a japanese house lah it's like small you know like if you got watch doraemon when you young before right ya it's like it's something like that but like even smaller so basically like it's ya so it's so it's that small then after that


uh uh my first time to that that time to japan right it's also like I also tried like filming a vlog lah you know so the first time I went inside the kyoto house it was I went in then I go and film uh then I take my my phone then I film so like I go and do


vlog here and there vlog here and there then after that I went out then all those so that's like like it's quite fun ya but the catch is right like throughout the whole japan right I think the most fun part was the part when I went to like all of us went inside the arcade


so most of the so like now looking back right like most of the part in japan right that we went to right I can't really remember much lah but I remember that the one thing I remember right is that we spent a lot of money in the arcades, like you know like we went to we went to tokyo right okay don't don't don't question why I would do this but like we went to tokyo and then there's this like this this big ass


uh arcade store then we just like okay you know what let's go in and try okay let's go so we went in there it was like I think that was like our first day in tokyo so basically we went in there then we were playing that then we were playing all the arcade machines and claw machines, then we started winning a lot and then we were like oh my god dude this is like free free figurines and shit okay so it's like oh my god so fun then after that we realised right like we spent a lot of money in that one day compared to the previous days


so before we went to tokyo right we were we were at kyoto and all those so we went to all the all the tourist attractions we went to nara park and all those but even though all like before we go before we went to tokyo there was like five four four five days ah , but we never actually spend as much money as we did right in the arcade because the arcade right cause every time you play right it's a it's a hundred yen which is like a dollar plus then it then it just it just keeps getting better as as you like when you keep playing it just you just can't stop


so it's like a form of addiction lah kind of so we technically like after that right after the first day in tokyo right then the second day we never go but then the third day right we went we went inside again and we spent another like few hundred dollars inside like it's it's quite crazy ya so, that was one of the quite funny part about my tokyo experience then moving on to the nara right like so basically uh when we went to we went okay nara is also like in my part of my japan trip so there's like the most famous thing about nara is the deer park okay so


like in like at the deer park right then they will sell all those like deer biscuits and all those so basically like all the deer like to eat the biscuit so basically I bought like I bought one right I think it's about a thousand yen or something I bought one, then I was like I was carrying it with me then all the deer right suddenly like come and come and come and like charge into me and then try to beg for food then I was like okay I feel I give a few already then I realise right like like the thing quite thick ah


but then after a few right then the thing become damn damn thin already then I'm like no no no no no I'm only at the entrance like cannot give any more of your this biscuit already then I then I sort of I put I put the biscuit in my pocket like at the front pocket lah so it's like a hoodie, then the deer right go and bite my hoodie right then it bit on my stomach then it was so pain and like it was (ppc) feel it so pain then I was like oh my god what the hell then I just then I just like run run away from him like from it


ya then it was just like there like just looking at me with that face it's like it's like bruh like ya it was quite funny so overall right then okay lah I I also like vlog everything, like it's my virgin vlog experience so I tried I tried editing it then I put it on youtube uh there was a there's a there's a few there's a there's like hundred plus views all those ya


ya, uh ya it's my it's like it's my first time travelling with friends lah so that's that's most memorable ya


so so is that the happiest moment in your life


I hope so uh, no okay my perfect day right is okay I haven't have a perfect day yet but uh hopefully right like okay so my perfect day right will be like uh will be when I'm like home alone


uh like maybe in my dream home okay I'm okay like uh you know that kind of house right where you have a attic or something, so basically it's like two storey then there's a half a storey right up there right so like this attic thing then I I I put I can put this uh so basically there's this window then there's a there's a there's a there's a platform next to the window where I can just like


uh lie down there like not really lie down there like like lean down there and then I read a book right when outside it's raining then then so basically in the morning right I wake up around ten then the whole day I just don't feel like doing anything no work no nothing it's just inside my dream house, then I just go there take out like read my favourite book like leaning down there read my favourite book when there's a rain outside so it's the ambiance noise then after that right around like in the afternoon right around three or four PM right when the rain stop right then got this little bit of ray of sun coming in that was when that that's when I know


it's time to go out for a for a bit of like things so I will drive my I will drive my dream car go for a spin and come back then that is like my that is like my perfect day like honestly like I don't know like I think I think I think the best thing about being a perfect day right is the


is is like is it it touch your heart okay it's simple but then it make you feel like it make you feel that your your whole day is like your whole day is complete ya so haven't had that perfect day yet but hopefully I will have it, but so far


ya whole day to myself lah whole day to myself ya cause you know you know like you know like right now right actually like it's hard to have the whole day to yourself like regardless right like even you want it even like during the CB period right all those right


it's very hard to have like a day when you don't need to talk to anyone and all those then you just like do everything on your own, minding like no business like at all ya


ya it's this kind of simple things that make you feel like eh it's it's really good to be alive, you mean my comfort food lah


ya so okay like last time right last I would say I would say last time right like last time I would say last time right like lah, I don't really have a favourite food like comfort food per se but like right now right especially when you are in hall right your comfort food right will be when you are when you are like having supper you know supper so you order from like you order all those like


late night muslim food where it's like super oily super fattening but it's just it's just comfort food cause you know right after eat that right like you you share your food with your friend and all those right it's just gonna be it's just gonna be awesome


like actually weird like so basically like you know like when you are in hall right when you come to school right and then you join hall like at night right you are comfortable to have those one of those supper sessions right, and then you go to order all those like all those uh supper food basically like muslim food lah so basically you have all those like fried rice lah all those Roti john lah all those Prata lah


and that that that one right you eat it at okay so it just hits you it it just hits different right when when you eat it like let's say like now right at three PM versus when you eating it at like I don't know like twelve one PM one AM and then ya it just hits different okay it make it make it it kind of like make you feel like all your day's effort right is worth it


ya ya ya


okay so honestly honestly actually it's only this year ya recently I found out that actually actually I've been I haven't been saving much because since primary school I basically just spend all my money on eating you know all the


canteen food and all the fast food outside and spend all my all the money I available on my hobbies lah like I buy soccer ball soccer shoe all this so so it's only recently that I found out that because that day I was asking all my peers like how much


money they have their bank account when I have like when I have like maybe less than a thousand dollars then I found out that actually most of them have more than ten K you know like one of them had fifteen K then the other guy have had eighteen K in their bank account so both of them


so I was asking them how they managed to save so have so much money in their bank account so they were like they they hasn't been spending much uh so the only thing they do every month is just to have buy their basic necessities uh and just to have minimum


luxurious spending such as like buying clothes or watching move movie and hanging out with friends and stuff so then basically their life is totally opposite from mine lah mine is just every every week I will go out then every then I when I have that money I will just want to spend


so so I straight away I I feel that it's very I couldn't match up to them it's like the the difference is so big and all of both of them are like they were trying to save for uni their uni time because you know your uni time they you might be busy and we couldn't


and we could we couldn't really do a lot do like part time jobs outside during busy time and and they were already planning to be dependent on themselves uh like they wasn't planning to ask like extra you know some pocket money from their parents and stuff


then this make me really worried so so because uh that time when I know about this I was still in back I was still in NS ya because I extended my service I was still in NS and, and and every month my NS money is only like one K so even if I want to save I couldn't save much and I need to pay for all my own expenses also like you know like travelling fee eating fee all the expenses I spend in army


so now thinking about it if I want to give my uh financial advice to me five years ago right I think the most important thing is just to tell myself , that you know I've have to start start saving I have to start saving last time because uh back then my living my standard of living I mean it's not standard of living


the amount of money I need to spend is not really a lot because you know like even travelling like we have our student EZ link card you know like it's travelling fee are cheap all the school food are also cheap then we don't really even when we go out the the our


we can also just have the minimum spending like missing K missing karaoke is only like five dollars per person so so actually back then in school it was the best time to save money for future , and I didn't realise that until until recently so I hope that I really wish that uh the me five years ago could have understood this and


and actually spend most of my pocket money for my parents and instead of just spending whatever I can on my friends on myself on my eating and all my the luxurious items and I also


ya then how about you


oh so so you want to have the amount of amount of wealth that when you really want to buy something you have the you have the ability to get it


so so so let's say you want to retire early now so so at which age do you think we should you should start start working, you should start to plan your early retirement


okay you know you know you know for now now I have a problem that I don't know how much you know (ugh) okay okay okay you know recently I, came out from NS and also I recently then started saving so for now I don't really have a like the fixed plan on how am I going to educate my


you know my savings because every month now I'm just working doing part time and working as like tuition teacher and stuff so so do you think my now my my savings education is okay or not so so I tell you first so every month I have around one around two K of income


and then two K of income do you think it's how much should I save should I save five hundred or should I save one thousand


thirty percent


but actually for now because I'm I'm in the middle of nowhere like I'm not in uni I'm also not in army so so now actually that means that means I can actually save more since my daily expenses is not, I don't really spend a lot on like all the all the essential things like you are in uni now right then you have all the programmes all the CCAs and all the hall stuff to manage so definitely need can save so definitely you can can uh so so you need to spend more but then for me


for me I the only thing I spend on is like travelling and buying myself meals so so cause I think the rest should I just save it or should I , should I just save all or should I put like maybe thirty forty percent in


investment or insurance, what, investment


how many also by the way which which , what kind of companies do you invest in because because last time I used to invest in a lot of the US companies but then but but then I actually took all the money out because I I don't really trust the situation in US now so so what's what are what are the other companies do you think I should I should invest in


ya eh last time back in school I had this friend basically what happened was he was at he he put all his money like like all his savings plus his scholarship it's this like four K USD uh no like SGD he he throw into this app to like invest in this company


then then actually over the over the weeks right the money actually grew quite fast like the company was pretty good so so his money grew from four K actually to twenty K USD so so he was being greedy and he didn't uh take any money out so he continue investing


and he lost everything in one night, so so I maybe high risk investment right is is I don't think it's it's that, that's why I won't advise my friend to go for high risk lah just


but for always for us if we really want to invest if we really want to like depend on investment right actually we need to spend like we need to study a lot we need to study the the the entire investment, trends a lot like uh I have this friend who take two business like he's now investing so what he do is that he has been investing since a few years ago so so he uh he will so whenever the day he's going to invest he going to look back five days before that to see the entire trend


then he will study oh okay let's say US then at this timing the the stock will go up at this timing the stock will fall so usually he invest at night then at night he don't sleep and he just invest whole night then he will he will earn quite a lot and, and before and at the same time he's also reading a lot of a lot of investment books because investment his job it's not just about uh anyhow you know just try your luck okay this one looks good then you just invest you actually need a lot of studies and knowledge about this entire investment thing


so so so to so for now I think what we should do is just to because uh you are in uni then you are in uni right so you won't have that that much time to actually learn about all these things especially your


your course is not even related to, business module


or just to learn the basic so that you can have your own personal, side income


so, so you just like split the split all the investment in different


I think uh I think if for investment what's because investment eventually is still a very risky thing to do and because the money is is not in your hand all the time I think you should you should still actually still


keep most of the money as our savings for our future expenses because actually we are now quite both quite old already, both quite old already so we should like we should save start to save money for our you know like cars or houses actually recently actually I I heard I I have one friend he he already he really he he have been together with his girlfriend very long so he has


for very long already so so he has been he has been so he has been uh saving saving money since quite long ago with his together with his girlfriend and both of them actually already applied for HDB that means that means just actually just with savings right we can actually already


can afford manage to afford all these big tickets item


okay ya so in the end then the most important thing is still that our fixed incomes must still be you must still have the proper fixed income, okay


okay for the actually I have many experiences about it because actually actually for me things usually just turns out not as expected but then and then the, the the most


the thing I couldn't forget is just that you know it it it's like when I was in JC and my it it it was about my my chemistry you know cause I took chemistry in JC and and what happened was in JC was that okay so basically


firstly I'm the I'm a person that I'm I'm a person that that really that really like love sciences like like chem physics bio I all I all love it and and I personally believe that right as long as I work hard right I'm I'm able to you know I'm able to achieve achieve the result that I want


ya because it's not like geography or history the human that I really hate you know those are subjects that I love so so I I so I thought that okay I I definitely could do well for like my chemistry lah so so what happened was that uh at the start of J one at the start of J one everything was


fine and the topics were rather easy and and and and for my mid ear in J one I actually got a C which is which is actually like one of the better ones among the whole cohort, but what (ugh) so so so after I've gotten a C right I I was actually like quite motivated to study


because, because I because at that point I still believe that okay as long as I work hard I'm able to I'm able to get the get a good result and and just and can just like you know pursue something in chemistry in in the in the future


so, but things didn't turn out well because like, when I study harder, okay, the harder I study the worse my result


the worse my result got it's like it's like my chemistry started with a C and and and it just keep on dropping to a D to a E to a S S then U


so for my, so for my prelim prelim exam before my chemistry uh no no before my A levels I actually only got thirty two percent for my prelim exam


and that was like one month before the actual A level so so so basically at that point of time I was like really


I was like really disappointed at myself because because before ya because before before prelim exam I I actually you know just sit there and and and do like ten hour of chem a day, just to keep on practising the question but in the end I just couldn't score inside in my chem exam for my for my school's prelim uh so so at that point of time I already felt like just just giving up and just you know study for


study for exam, and just study for like other subjects and just ignore my chem totally and the worst thing is that because after because after my prelim exam my my school actually uh uh give us banding according to our result and I was in the lowest tier so my first lesson in the lowest tier class


and the teacher said that okay, so so in the past nobody that came in nobody that came into this class has has ever achieved a A a A in o eh no A in A level so even if you didn't get a good result is okay


so although she's trying to you know comfort us but then but then it uh but then it just make me feel worse on myself because at the start of JC I really thought that I will actually


ace my chemistry with the amount of effort and time I put in but in uh but in end but in the end it just turn out turns out just, it just turns out uh really really bad just get worse and worse and worse