negative experiences, okay , have you gone through any loss in your life and if you have can you like share more about it and how you deal with it


(mmhmm)


, for me definitely , , similarly grandparents, , for grandfather wise both sides


err they both went off, one went off when I wasn't even, err born, the other when I was already but I was very young so there's not much I can talk about that, for grandmother wise, err, one also went off when I was in primary school so I just remember that everyone was very sad


like you mention and, parents my parents are crying so, but that was still when I was very young so, I don't recall that much, but I guess the latest one the latest grandmother which I recall that was when I was in I think your first or second year of my NS period


and it the day of her passing was a few days before, my twenty first birthday and, and, at the same time that period was also the period where, as part of an NS I had to go through NDP rehearsal which means no friday book outs sometimes I had to extend into weekend


and my grandmother pass on the day I still remember think was a friday I was preparing to, head out for duty it was it was a book out day for everyone but, I had to carry out my err, NS duty to prepare for NDP


so for me it was just like I guess was a very bad period, where I couldn't even be there I had to I had to


fulfill my NS roles and at the same time, my twenty first birthday, didn't celebrated as well and I spent my twenty first birthday, in the jungle as well, and so, everything was just like a


people usually remember their twenty first birthday, as positive or something nice but for me, I just remembered my twenty first birthday as something where I experienced a lot during that year yeah, and how


I dealt with it well I didn't I didn't really had, I didn't really I wasn't really offered any options of dealing with it I just have to move on with life because it was very hectic back then there were a lot of err things especially NS that was a very busy period I didn't have time to actually pause and think about it I just had to carry on with my life


and carry on with my duties that's it, and life carry on, ya so


definitely wasn't the saddest moment of my life because in the first place in the past how how to put it like in the last few years didn't have much interaction with my grandmother anymore because she start to, to, forget about things and she was actually based in nursing home


so I guess the relationship it was already on a decline because of like reduce interaction but it was just, as like, I just felt that I wasn't able to, err


too much lah that there wasn't really much I could do lah I just had to follow, , whatever life has offer just carry on lah, I can't, my uncle had to come and pick up me, just to, head out on a normal


err NS day and then I have to book in that same night so, like, oh because there was a wake like a five days a wake or something and my twenty first falls in the wake and I also have NS duties during that week so what I had to do was I had to do my NS duties I don't book out for a few hours


come back in at, night and and repeat that for a few days so it was more like I was very tired, I had I didn't really had err the capacity to think about anything else, yeah


, I think saddest moment,


I can't really think of sadness as in like I don't I don't link it to a loss of people but to me saddest moment would be in a sense I look back, and err, my past especially the times where for example the times where I was in secondary school and times when I was in poly all the times that I get to spend with


my friends and do things that I enjoy like to me sad means that I'm not able to experience those things anymore because those become a memory and a past ya those maybe positive memories but it's sad because


I'm not able to go back there I I want to experience those things again I want to be there at that point in time but I'm not I'm only able to, look back and just recall about it, and that's it because we all have our responsibilities right now we all have to deal with life


right now, and for me that's sad lah ya what about you, , yes the environment is different and when I'm talking about past personally I refer more to let's say


like for myself for example being able to stay in hall for two years you can't replicate the entire experience as well as let's say because I play badminton so I've gone through competitions with my you can call it comrades so


I'm not sure if everyone could understand but that emotions that you have during a competition how you shout and and yell to cheer your friends and the losses that you the emotions that you feel when you lose or win, those things cannot be replicated those things can only be experience during that period of time so these are the times were once removed past this


we can't go back we can only think about it and feel sad that you know I wish I could do it again but ya, what about you


(uh huh), so like it's it's like a time where nobody really cares about you or, nobody actually, cares about what you do ya you are just like you


, then why do you not , seek help or went out to your sister's err I mean I can understand if you say your mother because maybe due to generation gap or something they may not buy


such stories did it be not be they may may they may cast it aside as something insignificant right err, but, your sisters maybe they might be able to help


that's true then do you still worry about it now or like, what do you worry about now compared to then if changed


well personally I guess since I first started work err real gradually start to take over, uh bills and our expenses may increase because we will start to eat out some of people might eat in CBD which might be more costly but whatever cases your expenses will definitely increase ah


because you will take over bills take over insurance so I guess what's my main concern is definitely financial that's number one ah will I be able to, to err cope, both physically as well as mentally with the increase in expenses and mentally as will I be able to cope with like accepting that your expenses will increase so that whenever I see an increase in expenditure it doesn't create anxiety


uh effect on myself because in the past I I can used to be able save a lot I only spend a small amount every month so suddenly stepping into the working world having more expenses seeing the numbers jump it kind of it creates anxiety and it it sucks because you will want to


to err, reverse the effect in a sense whereby you want to be able to do something somewhere else so that you can make up for the, increase in expenses for example you might want to eat lesser or not say eat lesser but you might want to cut down on desserts ice cream or pleasures which


in the past you might just not think that much about and you just go ahead and get it, and I guess another part I worry about is just expectations because in the working world expectations of your superior can either be good or bad good is good lah but if it's bad it will affect your motivation


and , err, to work and it will, affect you in the long run as well as I guess expectations of the people in your family or parents, your partners and when those because everyone have different expectations everyone's different every individual is different there will definitely be a conflict of expectations and that's where argument comes about so I guess I just hope that I'm able to


resolve those expectations amicably and yeah, carry on with life normally [lor]


positive experiences, okay what was your best birthday present and why is that your best birthday present


okay err, err for me ah , I'm actually never a fan of birthdays because I just


I personally don't enjoy I found it awkward and I don't really like the environment when people is like singing birthday song for you and celebrating for you so personally while if you talking about the best birthday present I don't really recall because I don't really celebrate its mostly just


eating out so I guess it's just, , the fact that maybe the number of people who remembered instead of the present like every year you know different people will remember different people would wish you so I guess it's just the small little things people wishing you that is like


good enough for me I don't really need a celebration I don't really need a present things like that, ya (mmhmm), then


what's the biggest blessing in disguise in your life if you have one


hello can anyone hear me


okay I think you should connect to your hotspot because it's quite choppy ya, okay so anyway right , ya anyway is there any comfort food that you like


to cheer yourself up especially you know err like as especially when it when you are girl you know like I know you always have your time of the month so like you all will like to eat food right so for yourself


what do you think are the kind of food that you personally go to


I think for myself I'm generally I'm more towards okay let's say for example if I were to choose a waffle for example I'm the kind of person who go more towards chocolate or


vanilla it's okay maybe you don't have vanilla in waffle but I okay let's say ice cream I'm more towards like chocolate vanilla those kind of err flavors I personally don't like to go for those kind of weird ones which I think it's like sesame or


basically not the main kind of flavours I guess yeah and other than that, err I think I'm kind of and you say you can carry on you can carry on


(mmhmm)


true, I guess for me it's just a very safe option like you can't go wrong with, the basics whereas for , the earl grey and all that it it it how to how to put it right


yeah


what memorable experience ah, I okay I personally don't travel too much but I guess one of the few most memorable travel experience would be to taiwan probably because personally taiwan is a place where


like it's not foreign like korean or japanese where we can't understand that language it is a place where I can read and I can understand quite easily so I don't have that language barrier so that's comfortable and comfort is all the things I I need when I'm travelling


if I feel very foreign or weird in the country I I won't be feeling good, and I guess I enjoy the fact that, taiwan has a lot of street food, bubble tea the asian foods lah in general and it's like they have streets like called #xi men ding# that that's very catered to people of I would say younger generation ya so


I guess if I were to say one I guess I believe it will be taiwan for now ya what about you


yeah,


more than the sceneries lah , for one, you mean like #jiu fen# #shi fen# that one


yeah, !aiya!, !aiya! I forget already ya so, so what, did you use to hear as a kid but love now as an adult


(hmm)


, we'll see, (oo)


I, I guess as a kid I, hated, that you know


one day I hated the fact that I know one day we all have to grow up and not be able to live the life of a kid anymore being able to live the kind of like err trouble free life able to play game every now and then, and but now as an adult I actually don't want to be like a kid


that that thinks like that anymore because , , partially we're already at where we are right now so definitely we do not want to go back in time to become a kid again because of like all we have accomplished how much you have came into our life and stuff


so, I'm appreciating the present I guess, like whatever we have right now, as well as , the freedom and ability to make more choices decisions


err because of, the fact that we are an adult lah, ya, ya I guess that's what I love as an adult now, yeah, which I didn't had as a kid


I mean (mmhmm)


I mean handling life there's there's, I mean handling life there's there's no right or wrong about it lah I believe everyone just have to experience learn from it and move on lah there will no one's perfect lah so we will always make mistakes and we will always do something wrong lor it's okay lah just


suck it up and move on lah , yeah,


, I guess one good thing is being able to go out in groups of five as compared to


two to three two was it two or three I can't remember but ya five at least you are able to meet now its five five at least you are able to meet maybe more family members relatives or able to meet more friends ya two is just two or three is just like


very pathetic you you can barely meet anyone of substantial size, ya,


I guess oh yes definitely one thing I just remember because personally I am err I play sports so , how how did so because of COVID sports has been affected so like for myself I play badminton we used to be able to go into the courts play come out take turns and switch like anyone can go in anyone can come out


doesn't have to be fixed or whatsoever but because of COVID right last time I went post which is recently they actually fixed the four people who enter this court, has to stick to this court you can only play among these four people you can't change and you have to play for the entire one to two hour that you booked so that is extremely ridiculous because coming from a sports perspective people don't first of all it's very boring second of all it's too


tiring and and exhausting to constantly play and only have minimal rest in between, so I'm definitely looking forward to a time where sports can go back to normal where you know people can cross interact you can switch players and you can rest as long as you want because you're not gonna leave cause there's only four people now if you don't play there's only three and they can't play a game with there's only three


ya so because of that I actually decided not to go back until things get better , yeah, what about you


yeah


so what makes you persevere until that time comes especially when err in terms of work or in terms of personal life


(mmhmm)


, make sense, for myself I guess, err in general is just like, looking forward to , the goals that I have in the future like in terms of work lah like cause I just started


work and, like I guess having goals having motivation as well as having people around you, that, motivates you or pushes you to work will help us persevere


okay okay hello err, okay maybe today we can talk a bit more about insurance cause I think we're all reaching the age where


like, I already started working, and, I think you just started working so ya it will be good to speak a bit more, about insurance


ya err okay err, err so I think generally for me what I have now is more or, err, savings type of insurance ah not really the health kind because that's like managed by my parents


ya, so for me I think, , I will miss step into this, on the advice of my mum, err, err so she actually brought me down to the bank to sign up for


the savings plan they call it so that's what I have and I think the it's very typical duration cause it's, , you pay ten years and then you kind of cash out, after fifteen years


ya so every year I I pay a yearly fee lah so for me I think it is quite good to have this kind of insurance because I'm not just letting my my cash, ah lie in the bank and


you know earn the minimal interest and it also allows me to it kinds of forces me to save, ya to a certain extend ya, then other than that I have another plan, ah it is they call it an endowment plan but it's not


the, higher risk kind so it's it's, ten it's like ten years but then I only need to pay five years so I only have these two plans, ya for now, ya yup okay


but I think usually people don't really withdraw cause I heard that it's like if you withdraw the value is not as high or something or it affects something, that's my understanding


ya, ya so, I think it's best not to, err, cash out earlier, ya


and ya so I think for me it's basically, I think that, I think the I'm not really sure about my own like life and health insurance cause my mum only briefly spoke to me about it but I think in terms of


how much premium I have to pay it will probably add up to quite a lot in the future so I think for, my my pay my pay now, ah


I'm not sure, if in the future and when everything adds up how much I have to pay ah so currently I am only managing my own my both two of my savings plan and I'm hoping that ah by the time those two is done I'll be able


to handle all of my insurance portfolio, ya then I think other than that I feel like in the future, insurance is, quite necessary for other aspects of life like for example when I travel now I do get


insurance but it is cheaper if like, I think thirty, dollars or something, so I think travel insurance is quite important because I have I know people who lose their luggage, and or their flight gets cancelled or they need to reschedule they are late to their flight so having travel insurance is important and I guess when you get


a house you need fire insurance so that that is just the few things that I hear from people and like when I have kids I want they to get insurance for them, so I feel like insurance is essential but it's also very expensive because you are


ah, kind of, paying for something that you don't even know will happen to you or not , ya, ya ya


it should cover their whole life , ya ya ya ya


yeah that's the savings kind of plan more, ya, ya


break ya, ya ya, I think the bad thing is that like how to say ah, , you know especially with the COVID situation I feel like I can expect things


to either get pricier like the premium gets pricier or the policies change or let say in terms of let's say my my endowment plan the returns is definitely not gonna be good, you know but at the same time I feel that it was a right decision for me to buy it because now even the bank's interest like for example multiplier all those that uh like they always advertised as okay you can get up to a certain percentage like a very high percentage


you know it it's all decreasing so I feel like, ya my returns may not be as great but it's better than you know parking it in the bank and depending on let's say the multipliers


interest rate for example, ya, yeah but yeah and then I think for myself like you said you have a financial, planner financial consultant yeah so


I'm not sure if like your financial consultant is for one company or it's you know those kind where , that they are form err a group or some, then but then they manage different like they are able to connect you and advise the best plan for you from different insurance companies so actually my my company's corporate insurance change recently and


I don't know why for some reason they they the person uh, reach out to us and asked if we're interested in learning more about, financial planning for example so she's actually the kind where she she's not from for example AIA or great eastern but she's from this


I I guess financial consultant company and she actually advises you which plan to take which is the best plan for you to take from which company, so now she's actually, , advising me to open an account and allow her to help me to like


this thing called unit trust, ya so, I think after researching I don't feel like I'm comfortable doing it because, , I'm not knowledgeable enough on this and it is a bit uncomfortable that I guess it's moving quite fast


but I also feel bad rejecting her because she's my corporate insurance, so I have that the dilemma yeah I think I don't I don't have a dedicated financial planner like you mention ah for me my two of my


insurance the, financial one is actually from a bank so OCBC and then they work with great eastern so the person that I speak to is usually those that, are, sitting at the counter and they will give me their name cards but I never contact them again and


they're two different people I don't even know if if they're still there, so I think it's good to have your own financial planner cause at least you know that they they understand, like, your capacity to get another plan they understand all your plans you know and your risk


and it's just like one point of contact, ya, ya ya ya


ya exactly ya, ya, and I feel like a lot of them can be a bit pushy to a certain extent like they treat you very well and then you feel like oh okay I can get along with them but then I feel like the next thing is okay so for the next appointment I will


ah advice on how to open the account or something like that and then I get a bit taken aback cause I find it a bit pushy yeah, ya, ya ya cause if like you have your own one at least you know that they won't probably won't be too pushy because they know that they need to maintain the long term relationship with you but I feel like for new insurance agents they always


like okay I need to make as many new appointments as I can and for each new appointment I will try to get them to buy a plan for me from me, you know, yeah and I've heard stories like if you don't know the insurance agent like it's just any one from a roadshow for example when you they will be very helpful when you haven't sign up or when you initially sign up but then the moment you run into issues right they are nowhere to be found or they they push


the issues away the questions away so I don't want to get into that kind of situation, ya


I think financial planning one the financial one is important and the health one because as you get older the premiums get more and more expensive so it's good to buy now, ya


yeah I think those for me is mainly the more important ones, ya cause I can't think of anything else unless you have a house a family then that's another story ah but ah generally if you are talking about personal definitely the financial planning one eh ya


and health you know, because as you are nearing like thirty your health issues starts to show up, for example or like for example now with like COVID or or, I think as as the the world progresses and gets more and more advanced there's like more newer newer illnesses and more you know more opportunities for us to get sick


ya ya


I think cause now they know everyone is getting sick easily so if they put a very comprehensive list everyone is gonna like claim, there's more chances for them to claim I feel especially with, , I guess advancement


you know, ya ya and and stuff, ya


I think, I think generally you should save at least twenty to thirty, percent of your salary like that's purely savings and then I guess in terms of expenditure, I feel like err


if you are talking about on a whole maybe, thirty to forty percent to be spent on insurance because some insurance you pay by year some insurance you pay by months so, I, I feel like in general about thirty forty per cent as a whole


ya, ya so you should set aside that some, for insurance, ya ya ya yup yup


I think cause I'm just generalising it because I mean I don't know how, much is my premium but I've heard some people's premiums can go up to like a few thousand so I'm just generalizing that using that as a general figure but I mean I will I I feel like okay maybe when I


have control over all my insurance then I would be able give a proper figure (ppl) to you so (err), ya maybe we can, talk about that next time


negative experiences, okay


in terms of , losses like I I think for me I I did lose my both, like my grandparents like the maternal and paternal side when I was quite quite young but the thing is I was very very young so I did not really have a lot of


, you know memories about them or experiences with them so the bond was not very strong, , but I definitely remember that ah, my entire family was was very upset like they were crying and I up to this day I feel a bit bad because I think I was very I was a lost kid I was only like five years old and I remember I just let my mum crying I was thinking like like oh she's crying a lot like I've never seen her cry cry so much


and I think I asked them where is like my my #ah ma# ah because she passed away in our house, ah, my my old my previous house, , I remember they said like she's like sleeping and she will


go up to heaven some something like that and I remember that I, I I, I had I have a very vague like memory about what happened on that day , , I think a part of me did feel sad because to me I understood that okay she's never coming back and I did have some experiences with her


are not all happy ones and I think, usually negative experiences tend to stick in your mind more than the positive ones I forget the positive ones, uh quicker than the negative ones so I guess to me it's also like oh I wish I remembered the positive experiences with her more compared to the the the negative ones


ya so I think how I dealt with it was I just understood ya that she wasn't coming back and I think about it it's also because I was very young at that time ah, ya but other than that I think in, terms of loss


, not yet thankfully that you know it has impacted me lah but I'm sure that if it does, come, like that yah I'll be quite devastated ya in terms of that but I guess in terms of other losses definitely like pets like goldfish


right , I think for goldfish I just felt very bad cause I felt I didn't take good care of them, ya , and then I think other than that is definitely the usual you know relationships like when you go through like breakups and stuff you you do lose somebody and a lot of people kind of liken that process to


like you are losing that person forever so it's it's the same kind of grieving process, err, and I think like when I had my first few relationship the process will very difficult for me because I was very new into the whole relationship situation


err, it was definitely very bad err I think I just cried for very very long time and like you know you pine and you kind of, stalk the person, in the way I dealing with it and how I I actually got over it was definitely time and cutting myself off completely from that person


ah and also like not mentioning about that person, ya, but I think time heals all wounds, ya what about you, ya ya ya yup yup


so so do you think at that point of time you felt like a bit like helpless trap you know or was it like the saddest moment of your life, yup yup


too much be there, ya, ya oh yup ya


ya I see, so what would you described as the saddest moment in your life then, yup ya


I mean but you can recreate it like like with your colleagues, or something like that but the environment is different, ya okay okay


I think for me the saddest moment of my life would be like when I feel very suffocated or very helpless, like, and a bit lost I would say so I think last time like you had very positive secondary school or poly experiences but for me they were very negative they on the other spectrum I think mainly because


it it could be the people there ah, but, I think they were quite mean and , I did get picked on quite a bit so I think at that point of time I was very, I I didn't know how you get out of it because I didn't have the proper support system I didn't really have anyone I can call like friends and and with my parents is like there's the age gap so they can never understand and their idea is I will just tell your teacher like but at that point of time it would have made things worse I feel ah


, ya because my teacher did notice but they did not even like try to help stand up for me when they saw what they could only do was actually pulled me aside, privately and tell me to go speak to somebody about it


so I feel like to me that that was really like a turning point where I felt like oh okay actually there was nobody who give who really cared oh or nobody who could really helped me because even the teachers who had like the authority will had the power to a certain extent


they don't even want to like you know stand up for me when they witness it but they had to wait until the situation is over pull me aside just to tell me oh you need to maybe you can speak to someone you know I can I can with I can bring you, to talk to like the school counselor you know but it did not solved


the issue you know I've and I feel like looking back maybe what I should have done was actually really it could have been like because I was younger so I really didn't think so much and I allowed them to like pick on me but I feel like maybe looking back I should have just like persevered through it


and or change schools like a change of environment you know err suddenly, deal with them anymore ah ya so I feel like the saddest moment my life is really where I just felt like okay I, I'm, I'm like super alone here


there's no way out and like I am just very lost cause I don't know where to go from here, you know ya ya


ya I feel like people, ya, I feel like people do care like there are people who care like I wouldn't say they completely don't care like I mean my parents cared right I'm sure if I spoke about it too, to like my siblings or my parents they would stepped in they would they would care but it's just


I feel like I was, like nobody cared in the sense in terms of, my so called friends or like my my teachers like they didn't really care like the people that were the source of the problem did not care or the people that could have made a difference in a problem who saw the problem first hand they did not care enough to do something about it


ya, like no one actually ask me or how are you doing or they never even give me any like advise they just told me that, it's just a phase like my my I think like my mum notice and all she did was just force me to go back to school because to her you know education you need to study you need to go to school but she didn't really take into account the emotional aspects of it


ya I feel, ya


I feel, like they never really encountered these issues before and they are also a way older than me so I could not really link, like connect with them and I think at that point of time my relationship with them was not very good partly because I was going through this so I was very disconnected from my family like I did not want to interact with people at all because I just wanted to stay in my room


, yeah and so my my relationship with them soured and they did they thought that I feel like they assumed I did it on purpose because ah yeah, they didn't know what I was going through, so I feel like they thought that I purposely did not want to


uh bond with the family or I purposely like don't like them you know when when in reality all I wanted was time to myself because I couldn't deal with what was going on at at that point of time and I feel like also I guess at that point of time a lot of the mindset is you know you just need to


not care about those that pick on you you just need to do what you are constantly doing, ah, ah and not care about them yeah and to me that was not a solution at all, cause it's definitely I mean I can try not to care I can act like I don't care but


I knew when it comes down to it if if someone punch you in the face for example how can you not care right it is very difficult lah when when everything is like too in your face for example someone punch you in the face someone


mock in your face you can't just not care right but if they're doing it behind your back ya lah you cannot care, ya


I think now what I worry about is more like my future like how do I handle my life in the future how do I deal with all the commitments I have or the things I want to do the goals that I have yah how do I set time aside


to actually do that and also I guess I worry about I guess financials and and my parents because they're old, ya and also work related things, ya like what do I actually want to do


ya, things like that yeah what about you since you just started work


positive experiences, okay err okay !wah! my best


best birthday present, I feel like, in terms of birthday presents because I've had so many birthdays, I can't remember each and every , present but I think to me right


the best one would definitely be revolving around, , having a good meal or or something that I I feel like I need in my life to enhance my life like like for example


, maybe I I want to get started on on on fitness or, or something and, I remember ah previously I got a pair of dumbbells so I think those are good because it's actually useful to me and


ah, you know it allows me to okay you know I have a pair of dumbbells now so I need to use it yeah and in terms of food I think being ah having a very nice buffet dinner for example ah, is one of the best present for me cause I


previously had, , someone treat me to buffet ya and it's #hai di lao# so something that I have, , never really had before in my life, ya


I think for me that is, what, is the best birthday present for me, yup, yup how about you


okay ya ya yup yup yup yup okay


I think for me I, I don't know I feel like I've taken that not a lot of people will remember my birthday so , ya yup ya


yup, okay I can hear you better, oh so err ya just now I, I lost a bit of I connected to my hotspot instead cause I think it's better


yeah I connected to my hotspot instead so it's better, yeah yeah I decided to use my hotspot instead sorry , err


yup, I feel like ah for me it will change in terms of comfort food like cravings and everything but I will usually go back to either


ah dessert japanese or korean, , food like those three are probably my comfort food, , so it's most likely like, Sushi ah, you know


Sushi, ice ice cream, ya ice cream err, like that that is my comfort, what food and err, I think one another weird comfort food is also bread like I like


, those bakery style bread like the different flavours like that's my my comfort food, but, out of these right uh which one I would choose is very dependent on my cravings for that time lah, ya ya


oh oh I feel like I'm the type (uh huh)


oh sorry I was saying I feel like I'm the kind I will go for non conventional flavors like if there's like a bubble gum flavour or like a earl grey flavour, err I will choose those instead of like plain chocolate or vanilla yeah


ya yup, yup what about ya so what about, (mmhmm)


it's not safe twice and you never know it will go wrong, it could go wrong ya ya, ah, I feel like I will try because I I don't know it's just me, yup


what about one of your most memorable travel experiences, oh ya


(uh huh) I think for me ah, it would probably I I went to taiwan before I went to like europe, err and US and like hong kong


ah before I think one of my most memorable one is probably one of the asian country so I think it's either taiwan or hong kong but with hong kong the, the language barrier I don't speak cantonese so I only speak ah chinese and


err english ya, so ya so I I think I would choose taiwan because firstly its, I think cheap, compared to singapore for the food and, I speak Hokkien so I feel like oh okay at least I know their other language right


, and then, I also like like the food like then the night markets , ya I think I had a very good, , what do you call it like fresh Taro shake, there ah previously and yeah I I really really like


the Taro shake and also their sweet potato balls is very nice so I will go back there just to eat this again and yeah I mean their fried chicken also is is not, bad , and I think their their beef cubes


and stuff is not bad yup but, the sweet potato and the yam is very good, ya so, that that is err my most memorable, ones, because the food is is very nice I feel like when I travel I want to eat like their food their culture experience their culture


ya more than the sceneries I I went to the what do you call it the one where you take the train, I can't even remember the name, ah ya ya the numbers one ya ya I went there I did the the whole lantern thing but I didn't have enough time to enjoy


the food at each stop because of the train timings so I ah ya so I if I could go back there I will I will really take the time to enjoy each stations different food, ya


but but it was still a very good trip lah, yup yup ya what I used to hate as a kid but I love now as an adult ah I think as a kid I didn't


I didn't really, like to stay at home yeah I think I like to go out I like to, ah, go hang out with people that I didn't want to stay at home too much


err ya, err I didn't really want to you know, listen to like my siblings and things like that like I I yeah I just prefered my friends and stuff like that, , but I think now I prefer to stay home more


because, it's quite draining to go out I don't know is it like the population increase of what but I just feel like last time there's so much more, space when you go out like it's not crowded not as crowd like like I don't know how to say like you have your own space when you walk


but now it's it's just it's just super crowded, and ya I prefer to to stay home now ah, and enjoy and watch my show and sit and watch my show ya last time when I was a kid I didn't like to enjoy watching TV


ya ya what about you, yup yup okay yup


ah okay I feel like, I prefer to be a kid I I feel like now is the phase where it's very difficult it's either I'm a kid or I am super older super old than, I have I have I I I can handle my life


ya but, now with the COVID right, ya you were saying, no I just gonna ask another question ya yup


yeah so anyway now with the COVID right err, a lot of things closed down ah they stopped at operation so what is what the things that you actually look forward to when the pandemic ends like even though it's phase two now there are still a lot of restrictions


ya, (oo), now now it's five, yup yup ya yup


so so when the whole COVID is over right what what what are some of the things you feel like oh you will be very excited the go out and do, yup yup


okay I see I see ya, I think a lot of gyms they also make people wear masks when they're working out, , I think for me one of the, the main things would definitely be not wearing the mask because I feel like okay I'm getting used to it and it's it's a good thing also because everywhere you see right people are wearing blue you don't really you can't really see their face


ah so that that's a good thing ah so people can't really see like my face , or or something but, it's quite annoying to have to wear the mask or else you know I get a fine or and or people start looking at me weird when I don't have the mask on


but I think another thing is err is definitely, err, more things being opened again ah for example, buffets like I think now buffets are, still close dand actually the buffet place near my house closed down entirely err I suspect because of COVID so that's quite ya


ya so I I am looking forward to that being open and also err businesses being able to resume normal operations cause now they only they have to do the one metre apart so so the waiting time when you go to restaurants is is much longer


you know and for example if you are early for an appointment you have to wait outside you can't see inside yah so I I am definitely looking, forward to, err when the whole thing is over and things go back to normal


ya, yup


I think I am just looking on the brighter side of things like for example for work they implement work from home ah so I am glad about that cause I don't need to squeeze with people in the train, err yeah and, I don't need to wake up or reach a certain timing like the deadline of of arriving at a certain timing and being afraid to be late right is is gone ah I don't need to be afraid to be late because I know that I won't be late ya my office is in my house


err so that that makes me persevere err and also I guess it just adjusting to the new normal which is wearing masks when you go out you know , and another thing that makes me persevere is I feel like it's a very good break


honestly ah so I'm I'm actually raveling in the break I I know a lot of people are like I can't wait for this to be gone I can't wait for this to be over, but I feel like they need to kind of tweak it a bit and kind of think of it as like a this happens probably once in their lifetime right and since it's already happening why not you make the most out of it by enjoying it in a sense of okay it's a break for my normal hectic life I should just


you know take what comes, and go with the flow, ya yup what about


err actually I don't know lah but I mean we can just randomly talk about anything right, err okay then then for me err if I were to I mean, in terms of err financial issues wise err if I were to look for an uh insurance agent for me to get my policies


uh I would usually uh what do you call it prefer somebody who is actually err referred to me err by my friends by my relatives, err somebody who has got uh, a track record of helping my


you know my other customers to to uh gain profits you know to help them to plan their, uh financial planning as well uh somebody who is actually uh pretty financial savvy in terms of uh knowing what's err ya what's good around the market what is you know in terms of certain uh markets what are the different err


what do you call it like different bonds equities to to choose from lah ya I mean that's for my end lor yup


ya so for myself I also have got various err types of insurance like uh personal insurance personal accident err what ah


uh property car err


how much coverage you know uh you you have for each type of plans and uh what kind of riders you choose to to tap onto a certain uh policies, err ya, so I also feel that


buying insurance is actually err, err necessary err in our in our current, I mean I mean for me lah I think is necessary because uh you you you won't know what will happen to you you know uh err


err so for me in terms of getting, err my insurance err what do you call it insurance products I have uh I I don't I'm not only have one lah so I think I have, I think two two to three I think two uh two two agents uh whom I actually get my uh plans from err but of course besides the two agents uh some of the other


uh investment products I get them from like like you know banks and all that lah so those are the ones which is I guess , ya you just keep it there for for for uh a longer term lah because I I guess in terms of getting from banks uh in terms of the agents wise they're not so


what do you call it they're not so responsive to you in that sense so uh many a times err it's only when you want to maybe change like certain err you know change your portfolio or or or you know want to know how much your investment value is is you know is worth then you will actually call them or you actually login


to your policy lah to to find out otherwise uh I'll usually get them from I mean physical lah like humans lah in terms in in for me lah yup


okay then the other thing maybe uh we could talk about is the err the the CPF, insurance coverage err I've in terms of the


ya I mean medisave medishield and like you know eldershield I think I think in singapore ya I think med medishield it's compulsory uh in the sense that I think they the government, will actually wants uh or or rather expects everybody to be insured so they will actually insure everybody uh in singapore to a certain err amount certain coverage and then I guess if you want to top up


you can always err you know have additional coverage to to top up for additional err, features lah so but then I I feel that in terms of that err I guess the government shouldn't make this compulsory because I guess for our own I mean personally you know we can have our own protection and coverage you know on our own with our own agent so


I think they shouldn't make it compulsory lah in that sense you know to have everybody uh pay a certain amount , every year I think for for the err medishield and the uh eldershield ya yup


err uh okay so so for me if I receive a big err windfall what would I do with this err, money would be of course I would you know err save the money I would err


spend it on on you know travelling err buying properties buying cars, invest you know use this err money, to to get additional money lah so basically is to invest lah, and


in terms of paying for my goods and services uh for me err of course I'll prefer to go err cashless uh because more convenient you know you don't have to to to worry about not having enough you know, uh money in your wallet or you know so it's like wherever you go because for for for me I bring my phone I mean I I guess everywhere I go so even for now I think in terms of singapore wise they are actually


moving towards that direction where everybody tries to go uh cashless so even when you go supermarkets and all you don't even have to use cash to pay you can just you know use your mobile to tap, and then you can uh you know the the payment is from there, so ya so for me I would prefer to go cashless but just that I guess in terms of the you know when you go maybe hawker centres they are still


ya actually hawker centres some of them they also have this uh QR code for you to go uh cashless but for me I seldom use err, cashless mode lah when I go hawker centres so I I usually just bring cash and I maybe just


pay for them lah pay for my food or uh pay for my drinks err yup so that's for the windfall part or uh the cash part ya


I guess in I guess in singapore err, I mean in in relation to to you know the dreams uh you know I guess in relation to I mean I guess in singapore err with each passing day you know having previously when when we just you know when


we are younger when we are kids when we just graduated you know we always have a lot of big dreams you know like uh you wanna stay in a big house err you want to you know get married to a rich man or you want to you know err buy a nice car you know to drive


err but as it progresses as we we you know after graduation we get into the workforce and we start working for I mean even like for now after working for so many years uh you realise that that dream you know of yours is not err


I mean like ya it's not really going to to, come true so easily especially you know in today's environment where , it there remember there are also like you know the government policies and the government plans you know, that they implemented as well so uh you realise that you know in singapore you have got to you know in order for you to have a home in order for you to to have a


car a transport I mean I mean car you've got to to work right previously you know may maybe you will think about retire retiring early you know you you earn enough money you can retire early, err you don't have to work you can go and do whatever you want right you can go and enjoy your hobbies do charity work and all that but I guess in in singapore especially in singapore it's very difficult because of that our our


our what do you call it our living err cost of living it's always getting higher every day right so even now right retirement seems very far from, at least for me ah because if you want to have a home and a house I mean a home and a car uh you need to continue working right if you stop working


err when you got no income right then you can't finance your property or your your you know your car so I guess in terms of that, right err ya lor I mean is is is more difficult to to achieve that dream which you have previously when you have just graduated ya so err yup that's for that's for and


ya which is why I guess sometimes when you when you've got so many I mean when things are not may maybe going


you know right or going uh ya going right in your your life you know be it your personal life or your your work right you start to I guess have to have a lot a lot of thoughts in your mind right be it positive or negative thoughts like you know, what's your next step that you gonna do what can you do and all that so sometimes when you start thinking you know a lot uh and your mind gets very active right so I guess that's what also


keeps you awake or rather okay I don't know about everybody but it keeps me awake at night because uh usually I don't know usually at night my mind will be very active thinking about a lot of other things lah so, which is why sometimes I got insomnia uh because you know sometimes your mind just wander right although you you you you don't uh you don't want it you don't want it to wander but sometimes naturally it does


so ya which is why sometimes I don't sleep very well at night because you you sleep I mean for me I sleep late and sometimes I've got to get up early as well so I think that's not a very healthy err healthy thing lah for for for me yup ya


err yup useful, and then the other thing I guess in terms of


something that is not very uh positive would be I guess in this current err situation that you know everybody is facing right now, and every day you know there are just news about the the you know the number of cases of people infected with COVID or you know certain businesses you know that they're not doing well and they've got to close down


so I guess all this is also very it puts us in a very negative thoughts because uh you know that the economy is not doing well we are currently undergoing a a technical recession at this moment so I guess


it kind of like uh inflicts the the fear right in all of us because we don't know err you know currently those that that that still has a job we don't know maybe when the company will need to retrench you because you know the companies are not doing well


it's a it's a psychological is a what do you call it err uh chicken and egg you know uh chicken and egg err, scenario lah right companies not doing well business not doing well, and then us we you know us being affected in terms of either getting a pay cut


or you know you you you need to be retrenched so I guess everyday you know we've got certain we hear of people like okay undergoing pay cuts you heard of people like uh undergoing retrenchment and then you hear of like businesses you know even the big names like they are like closing now


all the outlets you know in the world or or certain parts of the countries so I guess it it it's quite worrying lah in that sense because you don't know and then currently because there's no vaccine being invented as yet you don't know when is this whole thing going to end uh because everywhere even if


like for the overseas countries like hong kong and all that they have reopened, right they have uh I think reopened phase three but because everybody starts to roam outside everybody starts to get infected again then they've got uh they're like undergoing


I mean they are considering uh you know the lock down again so, uh I guess this gets very worrying because much as we want to uh go out right much as the government also wants everybody to go out to have their own you know uh uh normal lifestyle but if this happens then you know the whole country is gonna be locked down again then


uh it's gonna be badly affected lah for for uh individuals and for the businesses as well yup


ya because although I think even , the government is actually giving you know us err certain uh what do you call it they've they've got a lot of uh funds lah you know different fundings uh different uh you know for for be it you being retrenched or your you know your your uh your conservancy charges and all that even though the government is actually


giving us certain you know err help outs every month uh not sorry not every month or you know whoever that qualifies for it but, I don't think at the you know at the at the end of the day I still don't think is sufficient lah right uh it's just the government of course is doing whatever they can to help us out


but uh on our end I don't think is sufficient to help out you know individually or even for the families you know especially if you've got a family so and then the other thing is you know with every, announcements of the you know the reserves you know err


being err taken out you know our, I think our reserves has gone down significantly as well so you will also worry you know about you know with this huge amount of reserves being uh depleted right from from from the government side uh you know let's say in future moving on if something else uh major or pandemic happens again


what's going to happen right is is the government going to have enough funds to help us out or uh are we right going to have enough uh uh uh financially to to help ourselves out as well so that's something which


we also have got to worry about you know uh at this point in time lah on on moving on ya on moving on yup


I think err for for for, okay I get I get I guess in terms of this COVID thingy err now that you know this err COVID is has been around uh it's still around and I think would


still be around for quite awhile till the vaccine is being found uh I think err, what we do take for granted you know previously when COVID was not around was actually you know the the the space that we have or rather


the uh freedom you know to to to roam around previously cause when uh COVID was not around previously we could just like you know gather meet up, ya go for you know go for your uh


I mean you can have a huge group meeting up lah you know you can just gather but I guess uh after this COVID happened it just tells us that you know previously a lot of things I guess err we took for granted lah you know in terms of you know uh our freedom


or in terms of the the fresh air that we have you know the environment err ya so I guess that is something that we should be err more appreciative of you know currently uh since now that you know wherever we go, you know when we go out we got to wear a mask so err


ya I mean previously when we just go out we could just you know as and when go out there's no curfew there's no you know don't have to uh have social distancings and all that so uh because of this, COVID, err you know virus has been happening so a lot of uh


us, has got to change uh I guess the way we uh behave or change the way we think lah in terms of , you know how how we how we are when we go out lor ya right, yup


err ya for myself the same thing , things that I'll look forward to uh when this whole thing is over uh yes of course is travelling err ya because actually for me I actually booked


a trip to Phuket end of this year but I guess uh because of this you know pandemic I've got to cancel it, because err I don't think even you know by the end of this year it's safe to travel yet so I guess most probably that trip has got to be postponed and right and hopefully I can still get back you know the the full refund you know from from the the agent


ya so err ya so that that's one thing that I look forward to in terms of uh you know this whole thing is over travelling err also you know just going out to to I mean just going out without wearing mask, like you know just going out without wearing masks


going out without having to err, think that you you can only meet your four other friends because currently if we do go out the the most people can only gather five people at one time so for us is some or sometimes certain groups that I have has got more than five people so uh even during uh previously when we met up you've got to


you know separate ourselves between uh two tables you know for for our for our meals so I thought, err that was quite uh inconvenient because we cannot actually you know chit chat you cannot if you know you cannot err you know, do it as a group lah you know we've got to you know have like certain groups within certain tables and then even when when we want to take


photographs we also have got to limit a number of people as well so, uh that is actually something that I look forward to when this whole thing uh you know is is over err and then also I guess so the other thing is perhaps like


uh things like your what else maybe your marathons because currently we can't ya we can't like you know they can't conduct marathons the KTVs are not open as yet right uh I mean even if they are open


err I'm not sure if is still safe you know not sure at this moment, time safe to go so I guess these are the things that I look forward to when this whole thing it's over lor, ya right err yup


ya also I I I think the other thing to add on is uh also looking forward to you know because currently uh most


drinking places pubs and all that they close early right because of this err pandemic so many a times after ten-thirty or even before ten-thirty right those uh F&B outlets that serves uh alcohol err


usually by nine-thirty or ten o'clock you know they ask for your last order, and then it it it's like uh you know the because usually it seems like your your day is shorter because you know usually after work when you go for dinner is already like seven plus eight o'clock you know and then


the next thing you just eat for awhile chit-chat for awhile and you know the the waitress has got to chase uh so called not ask you to you know ask for your last order to finish up you know whatever you've got to finish and and, uh go back ah even for actually even for those restaurants that you know that don't really serve alcohol I think they also err ask you I mean they've got to close


early as well lah like ten-thirty they've got to close as well already instead of the usual I mean twelve AM or one AM so ya that's something which uh uh uh I'll I'll look forward to lah when you know when, uh this whole thing is over I guess uh more people will be dining out uh and then there will also be so called like saving more F&B outlets uh businesses as well


ya even even like uh now if you want to go like you know movies they also actually the capacity is actually reduced by more than half lah so uh even if you wanna go to the


movies you need to like book way beforehand you know or you'll definitely got to book because err in terms of the whole you know the whole hall they, just ya because of the social distancing they only limited to like half half of it uh as well so that is something which


ya lor and then the other thing is uh I guess most of the err blockbusters or the productions they also have got to stop stop filming as well because of this pandemic which is why I guess during this period they are less uh lesser, err you know blockbusters or lesser movies good movies coming out because most of them cannot complete their filming over at you know in the US or overseas so ya so there's lesser movies who catch lah I guess during this period yup


ya which is why I think previously when the government actually ask for err you know swab, testers to to to to err, I mean uh they uh when they actually ask for swab testers and I guess


the pay was quite high so I guess some of I think the amount was you know higher than what the the nurses were uh getting so a lot of I guess that which is why a lot of nurses they actually make complaints ah because you know it's like they've been working


uh I mean they're in the frontline they've working so hard but yet when the government offers the job as a swab tester I think the amount was much higher, than what uh uh uh you know look the new the those who just graduated nurses gets and I think eventually err I guess the government I think they lowered the the salary for for those positions ya


okay the we are talking about number three what do you look out, for in the insurance agent, what questions will you ask about your insurance agent when getting an insurance policy


okay for me I feel that, in order for me to to to convince me uh to buy the insurance right I think the person needs to be knowledgeable during his presentation and he also needs to be responsive


like after the meet up if there's any questions I want to know he will be quick to respond and reply because the least I want is after getting my, investment and in future if I need to, attend to any claims or any queries right and I need to take like know take ages for me to reach out to him


so I feel that knowledgeable and responsiveness is very important for me of course if let's say is someone that I know or being referred would be a better options but is not necessary essential criteria for me, because even if I know that somebody or somebody referred that with refer him or her to me right doesn't mean that this agent is good


and I know that usually, agents at times they also give referral fees so it could because of their own benefits so I I feel that, personally is like it it it's more about the chemistry uh between me and the agent during the meet up


yup so err of course when we buy a car, is by law we need to have a insurance so that one definitely I have to buy the insurance and for getting a property the property insurance I think is also important especially like fire insurance and stuff like that when I go travelling I also would


look into buy insurance unless is only like drive to JB kind of of things err if I know in a ahead like okay for the coming year I'm going to travel quite often then I would actually uh look out for the annual premium


so as to cut costs, and also at a lot of times right those insurance agencies they will actually have uh more attractive gifts when, when we buy when we purchase their annual insurance uh


yup actually in fact buying insurance I think is essential is actually, already considered an essential not in our maybe know still back in the in our parents day whereby it's a like a tab taboo kind of thing and they always brushed it off and and keep on thinking that it's not it's not important its not essential but


coming to our generation now I feel that it is really essential especially when, our lifespan is becoming you know we we we live longer and uh as we as as we age right definitely we have more illnesses


and the least we want is to burden our family because everybody knows how expensive our singapore medical healthcare is even if we ward ourselves in restructured hospital but, we we never know lah you know like how long the treatment is going to take and the sum can be accumulated into huge amount of money and to be very frank I think most of


the average singaporean wouldn't have enough, saving to, get by the treatment lah, okay because we have a lot of other liabilities like properties then even like family, err our lifestyle as well so I feel that


having a critical care, insurance premium is very important, ya I just feel that we shouldn't burden our family if not you know uh, a lot of times they quarrel family members they quarrel over it like who should pay more and and and stuff like that


and the, err how should I put it, some some of them even have to you know mortgage their, their flat, just because they were they need to raise the treatment money for the for the for one of their ill uh family members so I think definitely having ourselves


err protected is


ya as I had actually earlier I shared I feel that buying insurance is a very personal and is a long term kind of uh relationship, unless you are buying only like investment like you know the those kind of term investment okay maybe five years or ten years then you'll know you are not you no need to go and contact the agent anymore if you're talking even like about


life insurance or you know all these critical illnesses uh insurance you never know right when you will be hit so , ideally will be someone that you you have some personal relationship already before


uh but if the situation doesn't allowed me to buy the insurance from someone that I really close with then I think, I would make it a point to you know


constantly uh not not constantly lah maybe every now and then I will you know just contact my agent for any updates, to show that you know to remind him that eh uh I'm still your client I'm still around and and stuff like that lah and in the event if they resigned from that particular agency right they were can also refer you to the right one to approach to in future when you need any assistance


so for because nowadays, I feel that I will also prefer to buy, insurance from those agents that, uh not only restricted in only one particular agency meaning that you know they represent


they represent err financial institute that they can also promote various policies from different agencies , I would I would like to believe lah they are actually well more well equipped because you know they they compare the different


agencies policies and they can advise, accordingly to each and individual client's needs, and, and uh requirements


definitely that is that is something, that we can further explore in a way that, it's not enough ah I don't think that that itself is enough I mean uh of course I also hope that I wouldn't need to touch on that but


if any illness should come I don't think that premiums should be enough that's why we should always, have a rider, to to actually increase the our coverage ah in the event of any unfortunate eve uh you know un uh fortunate


illnesses that hit us or even our family members so I think I'm pretty fortunate in the sense that my parents, they already, my my my dad especially he, he's actually very he's it


even more worried about his own personal health coverage so uh I'll where he was in his like maybe in his when he was younger he already got himself covered lah so I guess over the years so after so many years he should


already that he's he's had already plan, out uh wherever, later part of his life lah that if he really need the amount of


you want us to show this one is it


oh okay you mean windfall, okay if I really win if I really you know strike the toto you know receive a windfall I I would definitely go for cash, because I want to be in control


yup I will prefer cash I will prefer to receive cash and decide what I want to do with the cash be it


I travel the world be it I invest in properties or you know invest in the business or even, donate to the charity but I want to have full control I wouldn't want you know like, why should, it be cashless and pay for goods and services


yup, so I will prefer cash


ya my only concern about storing all the credit cards information in the phone is that I saw so many videos that, those uh scammers uh they can easily just extract our information out by just walking actually in fact is they don't even need to be very near us you know then they they have a device uh they can extract out all the information from our handphone so I find that that's actually quite dangerous


ya I mean maybe in singapore it's still not so rampant yet but in other parts of the world it is I I I basically I saw too many videos of that, so , so at the current juncture I'm still not using samsung pay but of course cashless in terms of like transferring you know err funds between paylah paynow to my friends and also using credit card using NETS right I'll definitely I'm into that


because of the uh advantages like that you know the credit cards they can in store uh points yup, you


okay, negative experiences


ya okay, I guess, for myself, like know for pointer four what dreams of mine would die a little with each passing day okay previously when I was younger and I always


have this idea that okay I want to you know at work uh I want to lead a big team you know I want to be highly recognised and, I'll think it the


this this idea came when I was, err when I actually previously I joined an advertising company, so the sales the sales force was err was huge, and, err they have this very big whiteboard


in the in the office and literally they will, they will indicate like okay who, what's the sales revenue for each and each and everyone of us on the whiteboard, every day so you know the secretary of department will update our result on the board so it's very transparent and


what will will greet them and, so it makes it makes


it makes the whole, uh culture in the in that particular company , like very competitive, so uh if you are the high achiever of course you will enjoy the the glamour and also the recognition but if you happen to be one of the low achiever right you really feel very sucky


so I that's that's the reason why I feel that I want to prove myself and I want to be one of the high achiever that leads, leads a err a huge team and to be know to be very well to be uh highly regarded lah in the organisation but err as


as I continue in the corporate world I feel that actually in fact first of all in order for anyone to be able to lead a big team right the amount of time and the amount of effort that you have to, put in would be


would be very immense uh and I feel that a lot of times right it may not even be worth it because, no point is like okay I of course I want to earn uh I want to earn, earn err big amount of money uh but I feel that I can if let's say I put in my time and effort on my own personal growth and doing my own things right I rather than you know trying to


to to, just to prove that okay I can I can I can I can lead a team and and stuff like that right and you will add on to your own stress level and it may also affect your health and you will also have to compromise on your own personal uh social life


which I also you know I seen before that they have to work, err usually they have to stay in the office till very late in the night and and stuff like that, so I think this dream of mine over time is kind of, err you know err


die a little lah with each of the passing day ya


okay so for myself err, I will say that I, in my whole life right I maybe I only suffer insomnia like maybe ten percent of my life lah ya


so , fortunate in a sense that, I can really get into sleep, pretty quick, err the rare few occasions that I couldn't get to sleep would be like times I always suspect that is due to my maybe my my own hormone hormone change maybe during


uh certain you know certain certain part of the month or whatever the hormone just surge or whatever so I really just can't get to sleep at all and it wasn't I know myself very well is like it's not because I have a lot of things on my mind and and stuff like that , err another thing that will actually keeps me awake at night would be excitement like you know okay I know I'm going to catch a very early flight to somewhere for holiday and and stuff like that so it's more of about like the kind of excitement


and I know that I need to be up very early the next day so somehow I I just can't get to sleep, uh during these two occasions, yup, if not even when I'm out you know even if I'm not at home sleeping on err I'm lying down on a new bed right I I can still get to sleep pretty easy


I I I think now because err the whole world err receive more negative news definitely more than the positive news like every day is all about the you know, global recession and we also already received we read official articles uh that in singapore


err you know we we singaporean has already been foretold that the recession is, is real and is coming , and, so I I feel that, it this is something that


we we definitely we, we didn't foresee, and the thing is that because most of us we already gotten our own fair share of commitment financial commitment so


it will be like you know now that our commitment, are fixed, is already a fixed cost, and if let's say our, earning will be affected right so what are the we have to quickly think of other ways lah to fill up the hole or if we really cannot find ways to fill up the hole then we have to really cut down on the spending


so a lot of times I would say the majority of us right when we talk about, cut sorry cutting our spending it means compromising on our lifestyles and nobody likes to compromise on their lifestyles


so it makes people feel, uh more negative, towards, their uh overall well-being and and stuff like, err of course fortunately I'm still single I don't have kids to worry so I can understand


the worries of of family parents whereby they still have to ensure that the kids get their proper share of uh education especially like tuition, those additional tuitions actually cost a lot of money


but would, if so if if let's say the, judgement day comes along and they need to decide you know if they have they need to you know just, forgo the tuition lessons for the kids because they just cannot afford anymore but they uh on the other hand they will also know that it will affects the result of the kids


so at least for myself, I'm being spared lah by all this, coming coming worries


I feel that err like you know especially now in this situation, they shouldn't raise the GST they shouldn't even announce that by when they want to raise they want to increase the GST it will actually further dampen


the morale the sorry the I would say that the overall, general be, being of, singaporean because , why would you even want to discuss about increasing the GST during this period


you know is like even if let's say okay is not now but why do you want to you know set a deadline and say that okay by maybe two O two one we are going to increase the GST, GST increase will affect all aspect in our life you know


uh we don't talk about dining in the restaurants but every single thing that we buy right if the GST is going to increase, it's as good as increasing our cost of living and just by giving us that few hundred dollars of uh rebates is not going to help us because GST once raised there's no way it will be coming down


positive experiences


okay I think this COVID thing what I what I now appreciate more would be you know the pre-COVID convenience that we gotten like example before this COVID thing happen right we wouldn't need to


scan the safe entry in and out uh and we like you know even like like now because of the COVID every mall they have this safe entry in an out QR code that we need to scan, and a lot of times right we even have to make a detour you know previously is like every single entrance and exit


we as the consumer we can move in and out freely but now is that they only restrict oh perhaps like uh they only operate one one entrance is for entry the the other one would be the exit so you have to, make a long detour in order to reach your destination so all these actually add to the add


on to the inconvenience ah err uh of course, what I will feel thankful of during this COVID thing is that I think, in general most of us singaporeans we are very cooperative in a way that we


we still you know we we still wear masks and we also I I believe majority of us we are socially responsible because we understand the fact that if this, pandemic is going to escalate further is also not going to do any good for any one of us in terms of our job security


our lifestyle our the ability to earn more and and stuff like that so so far there's only a few you know only a handful who tried to, be difference ah be different and funny but I will think that most of us we we we are still law-abiding and you know we we do what is essential to keep ourselves and our family safe ya


err okay so for what are the things that you look forward to when the pandemic ends uh definitely is, to be able to travel


yup because, I think, everyone most of us among our group right we all, like to travel be it know just our neighbour #johor bahru# you know we we still wants to travel and we enjoy


the good food the all the new experiences whenever we travel and, because of this pandemic right we cannot go anywhere we have to stay in singapore , so in fact


of course for myself right the most look forward to when the pandemic ends would be to travel out, and to, really enjoy the nature, ya so I'm thinking like


the first place that I will like to visit when the pandemic ends will be somewhere that I can be near to the nature


ya actually in fact because of this pandemic I believe a lot of uh events and concerts, they are, actually being postponed or it cancelled and for myself


someone who really want to experience a new experiences so be it like going to concert a play or even an outdoor event so now because of this pandemic right being so call


my my activities becomes very restrictive very restricted, a a lot of times right I can only err like I mean now is phase two so now the only the only places I can go will be like only restaurants


or visiting my friend, in in their house, for for like gathering and stuff, err for the, ya so in fact right I think it's going to be another


at least till end of the year before, we are even allowed to attend any concert be it big or scale one or or small scale concert, and, so is is actually in fact


something, that I miss as well, ya, or even some like uh event like what trina earlier mentioned, marathon is one of the outdoor event, or you know a lot of times we also organise


events like hiking and stuff like that so now we have to carefully plan and restrict that in a group that's only five of us, yup


I think for myself the only benefit I gotten, because of this restriction is that I save more money in fact because especially like during phase one err where we are not even like know all no restaurants are open


and actually in fact right I I feel that I really save money because then I will just eat at the coffeeshop and even when I order like grabfood all these right usually I will also just order, is not those like very


kind of like err those, high-end restaurants that I will usually order because for me right usually when I dine when I spend on expensive meals I will also take into consideration the


environment the whole the whole mood altogether so if let's say I need to eat at home right I wouldn't have the mood to like order from let's say for example like you know you go and order from some high-end steak bar or like those


err flashy chinese restaurant and stuff like that so because it's just that I don't have the mood to enjoy such premium food at home so usually then I will tell myself okay lah I just order something simple from my neighbourhood and so in this aspect I think I save money instead of you know keep on thinking


uh where I would I want to go and stuff like that, because there's nowhere to go


but I think of course overall, we only experience, certain degree of uh inconvenience lah I would say, but I still must, uh I mean I mean we are of course our inconvenience is nothing compared to those frontliners especially those who are working in the hospital lah uh I myself I'm working in I mean I'm in the healthcare industry so


previously I, I talked to, know doctors and nurses so I I can fully understand their, their stress point their pain point during this pandemic, is like for us we only


we already get so frustrated because of the inconveniences but for them, right they have a lot more to worry, and err the fact that, especially for nurses the fact that they can you know during this period they they can choose to resign


you know but uh they they still they still continue and they press on, I I think it is really something that our government have to reward them greatly in terms of maybe


bonuses or recognition, it is true that the, nurses in singapore they they are underpaid lah, ya, so and the fact is that they are all very qualified they they are actually as good as uh being a professional


they also need to obtain a degree in nursing in order for them to be a full-fledged err, nurse, to serve us in the hospital so I don't see a need why their pay is, so so much lower as compared to


many other uh degree holders out in the job market, ya, it is it is definitely more than, the pay that the nurses err, get, I mean you know it is not about the pay I feel that a lot of times right is really the the passion that they want to be a nurse to to help


the sick that's why they chose the career as a nurse, if it's all about money right nobody will want to be, I, think myself I don't think I have the kind of passion to be a nurse as well so I've but we we really need this kind of people in singapore especially ya so and ya lah so I think


we, hopefully the government can do something about it


so basically and I also I also feel that, uh in general, patients don't have the same respect for doctors to the nurses which is at times is , is sad because you know I


I visited so so many, err friends and relatives in the hospital a lot of times right is, is the nurses who will they need to constantly come and check on the patients the doctors they only do their rounds you know


as per scheduled lah so, nurses actually are the ones who are more into know ensuring that the patients are feeling, well err everything is in good order and even have to attend to them to the toilet to help them to clear all the you know like their


their , what whatever that you know unpleasant from the the patients uh and a lot of times right the doctors are not there at all so


financial related topic


hi mister Firdaus I'm good, , ya so I personally have some personal insurance uh but mainly I only have viva life from income


that is a actually a life plan that I that I bought over from a friend uh about five years ago so it covers quite a bit of things actually it covers critical illness it is a part of a life insurance as well


it covers accidents and I think it's also part of a endowment plan, that allows you to do savings, and covers uh in terms of of accidents or demise as well but at the end of I think when I'm sixty plus or seventy years old I can surrender this plan and I can have


a lump sum payout to me if I survive that long so this is the the main life insurance that I have, how about you mister Firdaus


uh total total permanent disability, (mmhmm)


yeah actually I have uh something like the enhanced rider shield, it's also from income, yeah so it's a hospitalisation plan so in case I get hospitalised I get some a little bit of payouts and it also helps me with some of the bills but the main thing for income


or rather most of the hospital rider shields now right is that there is the component of co payment, so it means that there must the bill must hit above a certain level a certain amount before they will start paying up so in a case of uh the enhanced riders shield that I have with with income it's


I think three point five K so the bill has to hit above three point five K before they will start subsidising the the amount and the payout then they will uh reduce the bill for you yeah


enhanced riders shield ah,


yeah correct, yes correct


no ya so so have you uh video removed your vivo life or are you still continuing your vivo life,


so even, so even when you were staying in the highest class what it was still fully subsidised so your hospitalisation accident plan was how much is it actually how much do you pay for that uh per month or something if you don't mind sharing


a rough gauge, okay ah


uh GIRO is from your bank account I think so you are still paying it from your your savings not from medishield, I see, !wah!


so it's it's interesting how you mention about financial advices says right so I I met one last year and I he was looking at my financial uh status lah and then he also mentioned to advice to give for me to give up my vivo life as well


so I was telling him because my vivo life is going to be paid in uh finished to be finished in fifteen years, so every year I pay quite a big amount for that vivo life, so he advised for me to give it up and just like what you said get something that is more worth it lah in his in his uh suggestions and advice he


suggested for me to get term life plans which is cheaper but they don't have the savings uh savings uh component so he suggested for me to use the extra savings from term plan, to invest myself and then I was asking him about uh oh because it has been like five or six years since I got the plan and I've paid quite a large amount for it already lah so it's like I paid twenty K for this plan already


then I say then wouldn't this twenty K be wasted so he says it's is a it's is an sunk cost, it's like you have already paid for it and since you cannot take it back then you just forget about it but you can just go ahead and if you give it up then you can invest in an earlier uh cheaper term plan and invest the extra amount


in higher yielding investments which eventually may cover the twenty K that I lost lah, so actually I'm because I'm a little bit risk averse so I did not take up this offer so I did not take up this offer and I decided to just carry on lah because ultimately which I still have about


maybe eight nine years, before I finished paying so I didn't take up his offer lah so because you were yeah you were mentioning about uh some of the advices, asking you to give up the vivo life as well


so you just led me to this point


guaranteed returns ah, , surrender value, so I


mine is fifteen years so I decided to pay in a shorter amount of time so that each each each time like eventually the fifteen years payment that I pay is lower than the twenty five years total paid amount that I pay that I'll be paying yeah


ah yup ya


okay so term plan is uh do when you were in army do you have this AVIVA term plan or something so it's, correct so it's the amount that you pay right is very very low but the insured sum that you'll get is very high so for example AVIVA right is you pay maybe like twelve dollars per month or something to insure you for one million dollars in in events of death


but for vivo life and all this endowment plans right ya what I'm paying now is about let's say a few hundred dollars a month but my insured sum in case of death is only for mine is two hundred K if I'm not wrong


so the trade off is very very different but the thing for term plan is when you pay what you pay right you won't get it back you will never get it back so you are just paying for the service, yeah so you are paying for the service the the main thing is there's no surrender value for term plans


yeah


correct, there's no cash value at all for term plan, if I'm not wrong


ILP I think, work up


correct,


ya


so for now you are still holding on to all your all your policies that you have gotten right from the start so your vivo life your ILP or accident and hospital plans and everything, so in total how many do you have, yeah


okay, alright great (ppl)


part three negative experiences, K Fi you can


wing com wing oh yeah


service service learning term, service term, yup


uh yeah, for me actually, what I wanted to share is about my most traumatic incident which also happened in in army lah during OCS so like you say uh we didn't have a turnout in the first three weeks so that was a a blessing actually


but we had a turn out when we were outfield, so , the night before we ask our commanders so what time were we supposed to wake up in the morning, so the commanders were like there's no wake up timing we'll wake you up when the when the time is right to move out or something lah so we just oh okay lah then we just uh just went to bed and I think nobody was was on standby or anything we just slept


ah peacefully so I got we all got woken up when there was thunder flashes uh all over the our our sleeping area and then we heard someone shouting eh where's my gas regulator or my rifle where is my rifle that kind of thing


so it turned out uh that my commanders while we were sleeping they were stunning lah they were they were taking all the some of the regulators away they were taking the rifles away for those who did not take care of it properly and then the worst thing was that they woke us up with all the thunder flashes and shouting and everything


so besides that right uh we were all in a shock already so we were all like, panicking and packing everything into our field pack and and trying to figure out what was happening lah for those without their rifles even more scary what, so after that they started punishing us lor because we were not uh we were not


uh on standby or alert enough, and they made us crawl leopard crawl everywhere up and down the slope uh everything in everything out on the field pack, camo on camo off push ups jumping jacks and everything on the slope and everything so it came to a point where one of my platoon mates was uh hyperventilating


and was having asthmatic attack if I'm not wrong and he was panting and in the words of my commander his eyes was rolling upwards meaning that he was losing consciousness lah, so but back back then we didn't know so he went up to this friend who was losing consciousness consciousness he gave him a slap on the face so we all stunned wet wet we just took it as it is lah so after everything I think it felt like


like one hour of torture but I probably was like fifteen to thirty minutes max then uh it was it was over then when they when they, talk to us it was oh getting us to be on our toes oh being alert to everything and stuff and it makes sense to me lah back then


but it was really traumatic it was like waking up to a war zone kind of scene and until now I still cannot forget waking up to that scene that I was looking at and people shouting uh where's my rifle and everything so it was a traumatic incident for me


, ya it is it is


!wow!


scorpion is it, ah yeah


I didn't, yes


just now you mentioned uh stressful stressful uh incidences make brings out the worst of people, I saw you reminded me of one, one person uh in my OCS batch as well so he's he's just doesn't click with me lah so everything he said he was it was very clear that he was quite against me


so we were together in the brunei brunei uh exercise and he was in my same area for the for the, you know, no I he was the same as me for the whole thing lah but exercise voyager do you remember where we had to live on our own for one day two days and one night so we have to build the shelter and everything


so he was in my same he was in my same area so by right the three of us right are supposed to help out each other lah, so he was just very nasty lor I cut myself quite badly on my finger and then he was the one who had first aid first aid kit lah so I went to him then I say eh I cut my finger what should I do then he's like just take the first aid box and


bandage yourself up lah so that was very it was quite a bad experience already and then throughout the whole navigation he was eating the the rations like, like it's free lah so he just kept eating then we were telling him eh if you were doing this you the ration wouldn't last through the whole nine days lah then he's like what to do I just eat a lot lah I just need to eat then too bad lor then towards the end then he was begging people for food like he was asking people eh


your ration pack right the one that you finish just give it to me lah then I open up and lick it that kind of thing lah so it was quite, it was quite bad but what's the worst thing that uh about him was that uh when when we had the RNR after brunei then he was telling we were hanging out in a group and he was telling the other friends that oh you know


about how some people just doesn't click with you or first group you know cannot be your friend kind uh #ben hong# is that kind of person to me lor so you know how how I'm a how I'm a Bunga what right, like I I have quite a lower self ego and I and I cherish friendship a lot and I cherish relationships a lot or how others view me uh quite quite importantly lah and when he said that it was just very hurting to my ego and hurting to my my self esteem


it it happened twenty O twenty ten until now I still will always remember when he said it it was a very hurtful words to me lah because it it hits my values it hits my what I hold closest to me which is to be a good friend to my my friends lah


so when he said that it was just very sad for me


, two face ah two face


yeah because, because I'm been teaching in JC now right so I come to realise that actually the students they are in a way they are a bit more timid ah so they don't dare to say it in your face so when they're in your face right they will be a bit


more uh, more pleasable ah like, they are they are trying to be friends with you but if they are not they are not pleased with you right then they will just talk about you behind your back lah but they don't have the courage to say in front of your face especially with students where I confront that's how I think about JC students ah from the experience I had recently


(ppl)


part two positive experiences


yes, uh perhaps I'll share the biggest blessing in disguise, so when I first entered army I was a bit skeptical about army so I wanted to just serve the two years and leave after that


so , I was quite easy going I didn't really push for a lot of things I didn't really like oh I want to go command school I didn't really force it upon my peers that or make it very, well known that I'm going for command school what not so but I made it through BMT and perhaps it was because of this


like easy goingness or not forcing upon other people that I was selected to go for uh OCS lah which is a a good thing, so but during the the, post BMT break I fractured my metatarsal


uh so that that one was a big quite a big injury for me lah and then it ended up that I, couldn't go to my batch of OCS because of this injury because I had uh three months attend C three months of MC and


I was doing a lot of admin work during that during that uh injury break so I went back to army camp means I was shredding paper I was typing document and I just felt like it was a total waste of time lah if I were to serve for two years in this kind of capacity it was really quite a big waste of time for me


so it really reinforced my thinking that I wanted to make the most of this army army stint lah and then when they gave me the opportunity to go back to OCS I took it up, and uh I I felt that because of this injury it made me more driven in terms of army and it made me more determined in a sense during army which made me


at least allowed me to pass through the the whole course lor so I thought it was a blessing in disguise lah, what about you do you have any blessing in disguise


yeah, Lepak, , yup


uh, ten weeks ten weeks, , yup


oh


(mmhmm)


oh, , okay then how about any other things from that list that you wanted to share about that is positive in your life,


that, that that is so heartwarming to hear, but uh, from what I understand right your wife is actually quite young right so when she was on the dating app she was very young right as in not not quite not very lah


oh, oh


I see, , that's why you propose within like what three months ah, ah I see


okay uh, actually so I only I have, two two girlfriends in my life so far, but uh perhaps I'll share it's it ties in a little bit with my my best birthday present lah in a way so I'll talk about my first one so that one was in JC


so it was uh when I first went to JC then there's this girl that you know those JC when we were younger then it's about oh crush crush eye candy eye candy kind of thing right so she was the first eye candy that I had in JC lah, then nothing happened until in J two close to A levels


then, uh started to get close closer to each other because we stay around the same area so we will come up together and study with a few other friends lah, so uh started to get a bit closer and then my birthday was in october which is close to uh the A levels and then she just planned a celebration in my class lah


so it was a very, , memorable uh surprise for me and it was kind of uh first, first my first experience in in love lah or or those kind of puppy love so it was quite a memorable experience but then okay lah that time we are still a bit too young so it didn't work out in the end unfortunately so I'm I'm currently with my second one uh


took me a while to get over the first one so I only got together with my current one maybe like five years ago so we are still together but financially it's a bit hard for me to consider next step lah so we'll see how things go from here


yeah , no concrete plans yet leh especially with COVID as well so, a lot of things yeah a lot of things are uncertain so just wait for a while lah although I'm not that young anymore


, but I think can afford a little bit of time lah, oh


correct so so when I first got uh news that I'm going to OCS right it was I was very I was quite, I was at best fifty fifty meaning I'm fifty percent towards going fifty percent towards not going, and then uh I was I was dreading the three weeks confinement a lot a lot I really hated this three weeks confinement and I was thinking whether I could survive it or not so my I was in the april batch so my OCS supposed to be in june


my original plan ah, so because of my injury I ended up being in the december batch with uh the poly batch and because december right so we started in we started in twenty second december, and then three days later we have christmas holiday and we get to book out


and the week after we got to book out in january for new year's day as well so that is one blessing in a sense that the three weeks confinement was essentially not non, uh a non factor lah because you got to book out like twice in that three weeks


then the second blessing was that uh if I had gone through to OCS immediately after my BMT without any accident right then I was not sure how my mentality would be like I maybe a little bit more


uh I may give up, more easily lah in a sense that oh since I got this without even trying much then it's not like is I need to cherish it too much lah because I then I just drop out lor if I don't feel like it then I just drop out but after the six months of being in the army camp and doing admin work


and I just realise it really's a waste of time if I just go and do this kind of uh uh admin stuff lah not that it's useless but it's just that it's very mundane and it's very boring, so I I when I went to OCS eventually I it really reinforced my thinking that I want to make it through


so even though uh some of the exit uh some of the exercises I had a little bit of uh recurrence of my injury or my metatarsal so it hurt quite badly during one of the outfield exercises but I decided to push through lah


which if, if it was before my injury I may not have pushed through already so I thought that was a blessing lah it really gave me more motivation and determination to to commission in my peers,


so it was very uncertain like I was resigned to doing admin work for the rest of my two years but then because I was in SAFTI MI so it was the OCS admin clerk so suddenly one day they were telling me eh you are supposed to go back eh you are not uh out of course person you are just a


on admin you're on MC so you are supposed to go and restart, then the good thing was that my injury happened before I even went into OCS so I, I didn't waste any time lah so imagine if I had gone through three months of OCS and I had injury that I may have to restart the whole thing again so I wasted three months


so it was I think the timing was very good lah, and, I felt that OCS really had gave me a lot of experiences that I wouldn't have gotten otherwise like physical physically is about uh taking all these uh super puma rides


or boat rides or, ya, all these we wouldn't have gotten it if we were in other vocations and mentally really pushed me beyond what I thought I could handle lah in I was in hotel wing, and then we did one thousand sit ups together