manage as we go along, ya that's why I can sleep very well , there's only one thing that I cannot control sometimes if I don't get it I cannot sleep


okay, what dreams of oh what !huh! what dreams of yours die a little with each passing day !wah! sad eh oh this one sounds very sad K let's talk about that


ya eleven ya, okay I think I I'm I would say I'm pretty


homely so to me a nice home, where where I spend most of the time in is is important lah then I've always wanted to have a home with a nice


sea view or you know view sea view or a view, ya, so I think uh that comes with a price especially in Singapore and uh


at least something that I I mean relying on myself to achieve I think you know as each day pass I don't think, can make it already so, unless I shift that expectation to the kids my my kids which I I shouldn't lah so I think this is one thing that


ya, ya


but remember what what that dragon boat lady told you the the the the oldest participant was seventy years old, ya


Hai ah but okay then it's uh uh you know it's about adjusting the expectation lah


okay


okay I thought you don't let the past affect your future, me ah


I think I've shared this before, not sure whether I want to share it here okay


sure please


how about to your girls what would you say to them, !huh! no mah your last words to your loved ones so your loved ones could be


more people, ya some so would you what would you say to your girls, same thing ah okay


I I also realise uh, why do you need to apologise when you are about to die


actually sometimes if you think about it right that's why if you think about it right the one that is gonna stay on is the one that might I mean your loved ones will suffer with your departure, ya so


I don't know I I always have this thing about dying people apologise trying to apologise, I no as in like I'm not sure whether is it necessary, ya


do it lah before you die ya


me, okay I think I I will I will I think I will I will thank you more than


feeling sorry as in like I will thank you for all that you have done for me when I'm alive and uh I believe you'll continue, to be a better person even if I'm not around


ya so besides all the lovely dovey stuff lah, the key thing is to stay strong because I think the the one that you leave behind so they they will struggle for a while so how do


we ensure uh they don't worry too much and, ya and life goes on ah, yup then of course any what


not really ya


oh I think that part the , you know especially when someone is on diet and then they have cravings right, so instead of instead of like trying to stop them , in uh make making sure they continue to do the right things right sometimes you you tend to give in ah okay lah never mind lah you know cheat day


or K <mandarin>明天才开始减肥:ming tian cai kai shi jian fei</mandarin> you know I think, ya ya, small thing lah ya it's not not not really awful awful lah it's just


unless it's something that links to a bad addiction, sorry


I guess I always feel that you know those people that are super hardworking and, really uh down to earth people , eventually they still get struck with be it illnesses or something something bad lah to me uh life is so unfair


ya so that's why we we spoke about like even if we want to stay employed or we want to continue working retire later but is it possible


even ya so the uncertainty ahead [lah] with with this pandemic, okay


okay, positive experiences I don't see in my life


you smart ah read question I answer , okay maybe something recent one is uh you know


I know you know uh since you already talked about that uh ya I I guess it's my recent decision to leave my job, and ya I think it's a good rest for my mental health although


at some stage every I mean some people will say why do you want to do this now blah blah blah right, so I think what turned out better than expected ya I feel is this decision and uh although still no firm opportunity but it just seems like there's hope lah there's positivity


and uh I think the garden leave was uh really an unexpected thing I I I you know I was expected to work till the end ya


ya definitely yes in fact it was you know that message from my girl that gave me the courage to do it ya


but you're saying you don't really have much expectation lah so how do you define exceed expectation


okay so that's that's neh that's, the answer that already , K let's talk about


too many is it


moment not moments, so have to be specific ya , when they're born, ya I think that the I I recall the


the moment when you hold ya, I think especially firstborn ah firstborn the the moment where you hold your firstborn for me ah as a mum ya and after cesarean when I'm still awake so ya it's just like amazing [orh] this little thing is inside


me (uh huh), ya


really the first moment I don't think so what I'm not so soon ah I mean it'll happen later when you get home for me , ya I was preoccupied


with the breastfeeding what's next ya okay I think number, no no no I wanna talk about number six what are you thankful for ya I think it's important to be


thankful for me , touch wood ah I I think health for myself and my girls, so far so good and I think we need to really maintain to make sure we stay healthy


and of course with the, ya have to grow old healthily, with the family and yup


but then of course having said that with pandemic and everything else that is not within our control so this is the aspect lah that's a bit challenging to manage


okay


okay okay uh that's nice, hate as a kid and now okay sounds like vegetables chilli


not all not all kind not all kind


except cut chillies except cut chillies


okay so you're saucier now, saucy more saucy now


so there's nothing specifically I I didn't I don't really hate anything


hate ah no I think hate is a very strong word lor so I don't hate anything as a kid I I suppose, ya, maybe dislike ah dislike also nothing specific eh


your digest your digestive system, [orh] <mandarin>老师喂你吃辣椒:lao shi wei ni chi la jiao</mandarin>


oh my god !walao! this can't happen anymore yes, then you never tell your mum and then she didn't go and complain


for sure what traumatised how can they do that what red chilli ah, ya lah red chilli ah


comfort food you should talk about your comfort food what is the comfort food that you can always rely on to cheer you up, K guess what is mine


!huh! fish soup lah, #yong tau foo# lor ah


can speak singlish right, K, ya, ya


can you take #bak kut teh# every day I don't think so you'll feel guilty, you mean the soupy #bak kut teh# or the including the #te kah# the the pork


oh my god, K so what's for lunch , I can't wait, six more minutes positive experience mah talk about food right ya


don't cannot cannot


time when you get appreciated for your hard work


it sounds very familiar you know it's like one of the question in the thirty two questions remember


I guess somebody that's been with I mean it was with been with me the longest time and always there is probably my mum ya I think I always feel that she's very very strong


and you know uh how how nowadays, <mandarin>什么啊:shen me a</mandarin> what's the term ah, it will really really take care of your hubby one lah so she's


she's those that really committed lah to the marriage and of course as a mum so even at this age ah ya even at this age to them we are still the kid so you remember there was once I told you right she actually stayed up and waited for me when I went out went out


clubbing and I was like already forty years old then, ya she she she actually waited for me till two three AM I felt so guilty , and uh and and how they are always there but because of their era right


they are not so outspoken so they don't really talk to you much but you know they're always there, ya when you need them ya


they will have to come back to you ya good or bad ya


I know yes


!wah!


ya okay


ya I think it's it's !huh! , I guess it's you know always something that's simple and from your loved ones so, !huh! ya especially you know when the kids are young you know it's like the the the every you know the sweetest thing that they can do lor like even a simple note and how they deliver it


so to me ya it's a, Hai lor, okay done


ashley have you fallen asleep (ppl)


done, financial related topics


right so the discussion let's get going how do you invest your money to accumulate wealth and planning for your retirement so jenny, what do you have to say on that


true true


fine that's the background work but looking at the question so how do you invest your money, ya so what you're talking about earlier on


okay


correct, I am in full agreement I reduce my liabilities in in general I increase my assets and reduce my liabilities but of course there are loans which are good loans for example


I uh in Singapore the loan for let's say a car is is really one of the lowest in the world so that in itself is a very good kind of loan, uh to use of course provided every month you are able to sustain that payment uh owning a car in Singapore with a loan uh is really not that insurmountable in any case coming back the point I'm trying to make is


uh to coming back to the question investing the money to accumulate wealth so I invest in assets and of course I don't do uh in my case I don't do stock market investments uh I do


I don't do trading per se I do buy into blue-chip stocks in order to gain dividends and that will give me stability it's not very so I don't buy it to to do trading and uh uh a lot of


buy-sell I I buy the stocks to I invest in them to, to keep so that's uh in terms of and that of course gives liquidity as well ya that's for uh


my portion is actually quite low so I apportion about say twenty percent thirty percent, and most of my entire budget for retirement planning uh for for stocks and assets uh for stocks financial instruments rather in but for most of it


is actually investing in in asset which in, my case is a property so to answer that question very straightforward and to the point I invest my money in property and use that uh as


yes I have uh I've I've not done any uh research into them I do understand REITs uh the the it's also very stable uh instrument I eventually looked into things like


ETS as well right exchange traded funds and REITs I think these two are good long term investments which will which will guard against inflation right


really, okay


ya, correct correct REITs are actually very good the the main thing is that you need to understand the spread of property that the REIT manager uh have


you know because, exactly exactly so if that is the case you'll find that it's not gonna help in this kind of situation that we have now which is COVID nineteen which is COVID nineteen whereas there are REITs that


it comes later because not to uh it it it happens later because if the retail scene were to suffer then you'll find that rental rates will be affected ya okay occupancy rate will be affected so then the price of the REIT will be later


on the other hand, uh that's one thing you start with the spread of properties I know for a fact that there are some REITs, uh which are more on industrial usage properties for example warehouses right and then they what do the warehouses cater to then they cater to a spread of industries from pharmaceuticals to


to your machinery heavy industry whichever the case and that's actually a very good spread and and that gives you protection so no one industry will , drop in any industry rather will affect the price of the REIT because it has good spread of uh clients and all that but be that as it may the point is to be educated on uh what are the fundamentals of the REIT


right so I think REIT and ETFs are good ya ETFs to me is very good it's quite stable and I've tracked the long term, uh performance of ETF and I believe they are quite strong stable stable really for for


I beg your pardon buying what, ya these are blue-chip stocks these are blue-chip stocks right so it's that's different from ETFs, ya blue-chip stocks are the ones that are


that that that uh that tracks the, sorry


right, okay so we'll see uh, in order to retire comfortably


I believe, the advice I would give really is to, is to get them to first understand


how what what retirement means to them and what is comfortably in that sense you know, the thing is a lot of people would expect that uh during or rather during retirement yes during retirement you your source of income will be different or maybe even zero or whichever the case right


so do you then say that oh I would uh I would want to maintain my current lifestyle, which is based on X amount of income that you have now but realistic realistically speaking is that, achievable during your retirement age uh if that is then you might as well do that now then you effectively retire but in any case coming back so the advice is first understand what you want first then work backwards


as an example if I now, uh every month I have a twenty K income, do I then still expect that during retirement or do I then am realistic to say that oh I don't expect that I only expect a quarter of that okay then fine work


at a quarter how do you then maintain that for as long as possible during your retirement age and then you have to do the sums and work backwards so it's the techniques and the tools and the instruments to me they're all there for us to to


uh to learn understand and then to execute but it's really more our own appetite and our own lifestyle that we want to maintain, so to me advice, for retirement is not towards the tools but it's more towards the knowing yourself what do you want to do during your retirement what can you do what can you uh ya


exactly exactly


ya of course you don't you don't try to spend future money


ya, yes yes yes so, in any case coming back what advice, I would believe uh there is always short term and and long term short term as I always say always always keep a check on your on your


liabilities and increase your assets, and and understand and learn all kinds of financial instruments that you can to manage your own finances remember the other day we were talking about managing our own finances is just like managing just like how when when working when working we had we're managing the the P and L of the company


right it's just that now we apply it to ourselves and when we do it for a company we can be more objective but many times when we do it for ourselves, we tend to be emotional because oh I wanna buy this I wanna buy that get this


so on and so forth right but when you manage it for a company if you're you're way more objective because you want to know that how does that contribute to the bottom line or the top line so on so if we if only we can apply that same set of mentality to managing our own finances I think a lot of us would do a much better job


ya, oh of course


the the ya of course it's more finite it's the same I I relate it actually accordingly by looking by so called fighting against other business units right it's in if I if I relate it to to personal finance it's more like, oh do I do I buy this dress do I buy that shirt do I you know so I'm fighting with between different needs and wants within myself ya so that's like a business unit but the point I'm trying to make is that we need to be also objective with our own personal finance


otherwise we'll just end up spending whatever we have now or even worse accumulating credit card debts and spending the money spending future money ya


versus five years ago it's still the same because I embarked on my current financial planning quite sometime back, true having said that because my assets are stable so I have relied on that and your you have a point that uh it should evolve it should become better as with times


and so uh unfortunately it has not changed for me for the past five years since five years ago, so I need to do a better job or interestingly I find this question uh question number six what can you do to earn extra income or improve your income level


what do you think


you so so you effectively


of course of course, so your so to answer the question you earn extra income by uh I would say rolling your


current uh cash on hand so is that how you do it, so use your money to work hard ah right right okay


of course okay


of course I think we do and in any case we're coming down to four and a half minutes so I'm sure we can talk a little bit more, should I DIY, or get a financial advisor to plan my finances


I think it's a combination, yes absolutely absolutely absolutely correct


yes yes yes yes yes no in in uh okay first of all to answer that question I believe it's a combination it's a combination, okay uh first of course if you just take a whole bunch of if you take a certain amount and dump it to an financial advisor and leave it to them then uh you expect certain kind of returns without uh uh supervision then that's a bit naive


so we have to ya well of course you can then you can give them carte blanche you know, ya uh I mean the point is that you you you you give them carte blanche, then they they just do whatever they wanna do so that's a bit you know not not gonna happen in this day and age so that's what but on the other hand if you were to do it yourself entirely then you find that you have to spend a lot of time and effort to learn and to because we're not financially trained in that sense you know so


so I believe a combination is always good ya, and uh and and, they do that is their line of business that is how they, that is their their profession so turning to them I think it's good uh and I totally agree with you depending on the fees involved if we were to go in directly ourselves and then there is some kind of minimal management fees I believe that's okay


but on the other hand if they say that oh for every example for every transaction so and so we will charge charge a certain amount then that's a bit uh, ya because we're not high net worth individuals right we're not throwing around a million or two million every day ya so so every cent counts


ya so do you get a financial advisor do you have a financial advisor


okay, it it's okay, ya ya ya ya advisor K, you then what happen what what did it become use to


is it


ya ya correct correct, right financial final question final financial advice you will give to yourself five years ago


uh no the question ya ya you go ahead go ahead


yes yes I totally agree savings and expenses ya


okay, okay okay in any case I am I agree with you which is uh savings and and and and managing expenses


alright we'll stop pressing stop now


negative experiences in your life, okay, okay


describe a type okay I'm just gonna jump in I'm just gonna jump in number seven describe a time when you felt like giving up okay the first time that ever happened to me was, when I failed my polytechnic


exams when I was uh I think I was nineteen, so and it was quite bad, uh because after I've finished secondary school O levels uh I had the option of going to junior college or polytechnic which I then took


the polytechnic uh track, and because I was so involved in my, extracurricular activities then I didn't I didn't study and I ended failing the exam and


subsequently also fail the the uh repeat exam I I forgot the term they have for it , and I got kicked out of polytechnic, and uh and at nineteen years old with no


goal in life, and no certificate to safeguard me for the road ahead I felt really really lost, and my parents couldn't help me because they they they are not educated in that sense no formal education rather so they couldn't help me they were disappointed in me


because they they've always thought that I could do well in, my studies and and at that moment in time I was really really uh down and out and in fact to be candid thoughts of suicide even floated through my mind


and uh thank goodness I called the samaritans of uh good samaritans of Singapore SOS and , it it was a fleeting thought, but, uh the fact that it came into my mind you can imagine how how down I felt how lost and how ya


how big a hit it was to me, ya so just to share that with you


okay moving forward, which uh, the the which one is that oh okay number ten


go ahead, ya , ya


I think I think worrying about, life, you know because worried about my job, or the lack of it, worried about expenses


worried about , time spent with my family, or or not enough time spent with my family, ya sometimes it's uh sometimes it's a bit overwhelming and then and then that keeps me up


okay


right


right K


ya, the good thing about that is that's good


I see I see okay I I I know what you mean correct alright , describe


what dreams ah, so what dream of yours die every day die a little every day anything comes to mind


okay, a nice what, right


of course of course, right


right right well I've always been an active person, uh physically so my dream that dies a little every day actually involves the physicality of life for example I run two marathons which I


as an example I ran two marathons before that was one of my dreams and I did that before I turn forty I did wanna do things like a ironman, or even skydiving or


or all these physical activities you know or even recently remember dragon boating I think every day it it it it it seems a little bit further away


every day, it it becomes a bit more harder ya even during this COVID nineteen trying to stay fit


yes of course of course that that that that's not the point the point is able to perform at a certain level, ya, no it to me that's why the dream dies every day because I have to adjust the expectation having been


uh the national athlete before my own expectations are tremendously it it it is very different from from somebody who has not so, I still want to there are other sports


that I can still, physical sports that I can still represent or rather be at a high level at but every day it dies a little every day it's a bit harder every day it's harder to get up every day it's harder to do that one more rep in the gym that push-up that pull-up every day it dies a little


and and that that actually gives us as a reminder for our mortality, you know and uh ya, but of course I'm thankful that I don't have


you know sickness and diseases so so I try to look at that from the flip side anyway describe a time when you were heartbroken, I I I'll share something with you which I don't think I've shared before when I was much younger I had a girlfriend whom I had thoughts of uh while at that age you know I believe I was


twenty two or something like that or twenty three , had thoughts of uh going all the way with then of course things uh soured and and the date was approaching valentine's day I was hoping to wow her with uh something


and sort of , get the relationship back, but you know what on valentine's day itself, she then uh the the relationship had been


on a little bit of on on the rocks for a while so that was my sort of uh move you know to to, to uh lift it up ya, but then on in the end on valentine's day she uh uh she broke up with me on valentine's day so so that was one of my earlier relationships and I was totally heartbroken at the time I don't feel that bad now but I do recall the incident


so uh so that was a you know, you know how valentine's day is right it's all like you know chocolate and flowers and everything right and lovey dovey stuff but to me it's you know the breakup and and that's why I've never been a I guess that's why I never been a you know that big on valentine's day


ya what about you, but what we are we are creatures of the past


yes, if you are gonna die tomorrow what are your last words to your loved ones can I answer that first, three things one I'm sorry I'm sorry for all the things that I could have done that I didn't do and all the things that I did wrong that I could have done better two thank you


thank you for loving me thank you for letting me love you and last I will always love you, always always and always


my loved ones are my girls and you lor, what I just said, it's the same thing to all of you


we always hindsight is always twenty twenty and


sometimes we can just, looking back uh I I don't know about you okay


yup, what thing


okay well for me I think it is because I think looking back, even now there's so many things I could have done better there's so many things I could have done better right


of course knowing that now then moving forward I, don't repeat the same don't repeat the same mistakes I I guess it's always it it's always gonna be there for as far as I'm concerned


ya, yup, you


correct, yes of course ya


any, any other of these you wanna answer or ask or whatever


none of them embarrassing moments that make you cringe you feel awful after helping someone


right there's always tomorrow right


no lah I think that's that's not so serious per se, ya that's quite, fairly trivial


what are the injustices of the world what are the injustices of the world that make you angry, or what is your most embarrassing moment


ya ya, true true just like you know in the post COVID world after COVID you know some of the things that I'm worried about also of course is you know whether the economy


will be as it was before you know what will change ya I think those are very real, concerns right and whether


the economy in general will take to people who are a little bit more senior like us, right ya, even though we are we we we


we improve ourselves we learn new things but sometimes you know, exactly exactly ya the uncertainties


alright stop and submit


positive experience in your life, that's right positive experiences in your life let's start with uh first and easy describe a moment when things turn out better than expected


jenny , ya and ladies first


okay


ah okay, yes


that's good


I think having uh I think having the support of your friends and family around you for this kind of decision I think that's also their their support lah sort of helps in that sense as well, am I right


ya that's all that's sweet right that is so sweet, ya that's nice okay, well for me is , many times I I go through uh a lot of things


on a daily basis I don't have a lot of expectations, I'm generally an optimistic person uh but I do take into consideration that things don't turn out as as expected and uh but when things do turn out as per normal as expected


I'm already quite happy I'm already quite happy so when it turn out turns out better, as in I I I always live by this motto which is uh hope for the best but plan for the worst ya so so I I always hope for the best ya but I'm I'm


but we're realist we're pragmatic you know singaporeans are generally pragmatic so so when I see describe a moment when things turn out better than expected I think , uh to me


one of the okay okay fine to to me a uh uh one of the things that really turned out better expected is my relationship and uh not to be too specific but uh I think it really turned out much better because


through the drifts this relationship with my partner I found that uh I've learnt even at this age you know I've learnt new things about myself, and and and she makes me a better person she makes me want to be a better person I think that's that's quite amazing


even at our age right not that we're very old but we do have a certain uh, certain time that we've spent uh in our life experience so it it's not like we're we're still uh finding ourselves you know we're we're way past that and in that sense


so when things happen that sort of prompts us and, makes me I mean personally makes me want to reexamine and want to so the key is want to not not that is being forced is want to reexamine and then relook at myself again in a in a positive way and also to share that I think that's always a


I think that's better than expected so I'm really happy for them ya uh so what's the nicest thing someone has ever told you, oh I see !wow! fantastic okay well


okay , what about me what's the nicest thing someone has ever told you , I honestly cannot recall okay, ya it's just too so much oh my goodness you know


uh I I I the compliments are just over overwhelming anyway more more like no zero don't have but okay anyway ya so


happiest moment in your life okay I'll I'm gonna jump the gun and say that first I think the happiest moment in my life is, is anything that involves my two daughters that's the happiest moment in my life ya I it can be so


okay, I think there's so many I know I can't I can't define that it's like it's it's almost like not fair you know, ya there's no


ya, say again, ya ya


I I want to share with you to me I agree holding the firstborn right when when she is born ya but to me it's a mix you know the moment she is born and I can see and hold her in my arms it's like you know she's so beautiful she is part of me and so on and so forth


then the immediately it's like a it's like a mirror it just keeps reflecting back immediately it says, okay the expenses the hospital bill the all the vaccines all the crying all the sleepless nights they are coming your way oh but she's so beautiful and she's so lovely and she's everything


so it hits me all at the same time whenever I look at her I I remember very clearly during the, oh no trust trust me it it it it hit me during the at the birthing ward at the birthing ward ya so anyway


okay, alright alright uh most memorable travel experiences ah oh number six okay


okay go ahead, it is


absolutely, yes yes quality of life right we spoke about that, (ppc) excuse me


K well for me what am I thankful for I think a lot of a lot a lot of things even clean water that's out of the tap


Singapore is only one of two asian nations that have, that has portable water out of the tap so I'm already for that I'm thankful alright uh but let's not get carried away so I'm I agree with you health I'm totally thankful for that you know there's no even small little things like


like flu or or a lot of us have gout or so on and so forth all these small little things that just, makes you uh uh affects you I I'm thankful that I don't have those things you know and of course I'm thankful for our general environment right in Singapore safe clean so on and so forth and then I'm thankful for the people around me I'm thankful for you


and I'm thankful for what you bring into my life, ya, I think with you it makes it enhances my life, you know with you I'm sort of without you I'm seeing a a sort of very palish colour but the moment I have you I see all the vibrancy in front of me


ya right, I I I want to answer the next one what did you use to hate as a kid but now love as an adult chilli, chilli


uh vegetables is fine I don't love it per se but I I used to, eat plain plain really plain food I could eat, two packs of rice uh two packs of rice two packs of french fries


just plain just like that without any sauce or whatever, right now if you just ask me to take the few sticks of french fries without any sauce I'm like oh my gosh I can't, I can't do that right and I and I put chili in almost every anything and everything I eat now


I I just say again, well you can't have everything right so but anyway the point is so I love it as a kid uh I hate it as a kid but I love it as a child say that again


uh isn't that you uh okay anyway oh you are sassy oh ah okay okay never mind I'm thinking about other things, anyway so what are what what did you use to hate as a kid but love now


that's not the point that's not the point so you you hate being a good kid is it is it you hate being a good kid you should be that you're you're now you want to be a bad, like ya


okay, !hey! you know what I just recall, why I didn't like why what might have caused my uh dislike for chilli


so when we were in kindergarten childcare, no no no no when we were in childcare I remember that because I I was a talkative, talkative child right, so the the teacher ya the teacher would cut


cut chilli and rub it on our teeth and our lips you know yes exactly of course now it's considered abuse exactly now it's considered abuse but but you know forty years ago, I I think I did I'm not sure but then I think I I I may might have been affected by that I think


ya I I think I might have ya ya exactly, no it it's raw cut chilli maybe that's why I don't I never take ya that's why maybe that's why I don't take red chilli at all, okay


what what other things you wanna talk about, my comfort food is #bak kut teh# #bak kut teh# , yours is


I believe vegetable related, speak in english please


ya I know, ya no it's fine go ahead so that's your comfort food okay ya I know I know fish soup, ya just like how I can take #bak kut teh# every day you can take fish soup every day


right absolutely ya no I can, if it's if not because of health concerns I literally can take #bak kut teh# every day


ya including the #te kah# lor including the pig trotters ya, the trotters, make a guess okay I wanna I wanna go straight to the last


I want, I wanna go straight to the last uh item describe your perfect day, oh cannot ah too explicit is it okay then we'll skip that alright okay


I I'll just say I'll just say I'll just say to to to that statement ah, I think any day with you is is a perfect day for me, ya I I I mean that I mean that ya


okay , who in your life do you look up to most and why I I don't think I've asked you this before, so who do you look up to in life and why


I don't know please don't tell me like you know nelson mandela or something like that leh ya, so who in your life do you look up to most and why


I think their generation their generation is like that, ya exactly


ya , yes, ya ya correct correct correct


exactly they they they become like an anchor for you right in life and I and I think parents should endeavour to be that to be an anchor for our children you know doesn't matter where the kids are what they do


and that the moment they have that sense of security that anything and anywhere, uh they may be, they can always come back home ya they can always come back home you know ya and I and I'm I'm I'm with you on that you know I I look up to my mum as well and I think I've shared this with you before right she to me she is the embodiment embodiment of


of uh Singapore government's motto you know which is keep improving yourself because she started off as a half, uh illiterate village girl from Malaysia and then she got married she moved to the city she she learn the skill uh sewing and then she she


rose through the ranks became a sort of a supervisor and then she started her own factory all, without finishing primary school education, and and started her own factory then in the late eighties early nineties when China was opening up she was one of the few to go to China and to open a factory over there and she was so welcome by the mayor of uh Guangzhou


and the you know he would, send a car to receive her uh ya exactly a a sort of those old school mercedes you know ya that's how well-received she was and uh and in the end she come home to Singapore she will still be cooking dinner for me for the family rather


and and ya and still be the loving and and like you said you know the anchor and and the, still be there she won't press me she won't, she would show by example she's a true blue role model to me you know she did what needs to be done nothing was insurmountable and yet she will had the love and kindness that she has for me and for her


let me count seven other siblings uh who are all my aunts and and uncle you know and they all uh hold her in the high esteem right and uh and, and ya so she's the person that as as I've told you before many times that I look up to


right correct ya, uh very quickly what was your best birthday present and why, do you remember oh so many birthdays oh !oops! did I say that loud okay


my last year my twenty first birthday [orh] no no sorry , anything from your loved ones lah


yes yes yes yes, yes correct correct, uh for me it's just a thank you love you card from my girls that says I love you daddy that's the best


okay, hi britney


part one financial related topic


and and there is also a I mean looking at whether you know what are the benefits in terms of uh credit cards I think it really depends on, an individuals or what you are looking out for if you are looking to accumulate your miles you'll want to go for you know credit cards that are that give you great benefits for accumulating miles if you are looking for cashback if you are someone who spends it it really depends right depending on your spending habits whether you spend


say five hundred minimum eight hundred minimum then there are different tiers of cashback so I think, for myself when you know as a fresh graduate I have also been looking around for different types of credit cards and I think those that particularly might interest me based on


what I'm looking out for will be firstly miles as well as cashback and the reason why I say that is because uh I've heard a lot of friends saying how they can chalk up the miles based on their transport expenses based on what they what they have uh accumulated in


other spendings as well as let's say if you look at cashback these are your everyday expenses and it's quite easy to say get like uh two to I mean a decent one point eight percent I think that's good and we also have credit cards that are giving uh up to


four percent for uh your daily purchases, ya so I think, in terms of credit card I think uh I've seen a few ones which are quite attractive and those that I'm looking out for uh city


uh miles card as well as this uh standard chartered unlimited, saver I think that's the one, yup so in terms yup


ya, ya I guess the ultimate point for people in terms of you know looking for high savings yield looking for you know cashback and this kind of uh, rewards the the reason for it is people actually want to get a bigger bang for their buck and they want to save more they want to capitalise on their savings so in light of what is you know happening in the current environment where we have you know low interest rates and everything so what are your views on you know savings account and whether


you know what saving accounts are you looking out for and what benefits they offer


yup, I totally agree and I think the options that you have considered are pretty much the ones that I've been looking at and I've been invested as well but I think what is interesting now is you know despite I mean even with banks you know having their yields and interest rates


at historically low levels, I think what we are looking at right now is also a lot of other financial institutions are also stepping up against you you look at uh robo-advisors we look at other, sort of companies you know even we have uh stashaway simple so this robo-advisors which actually


allows people to earn one point nine percent per annum, with no minimum investment no lockdown so what you do is you just park your money in this app and, you know they they help you manage as part of their cash investment process and part of uh their liquidity liquidity management process so I think that is something interesting that people are looking at as well and for me personally you know it's it's


challenging I would say it's challenging to invest and to actively look for opportunities in this kind of environment because you have to manage your risk and your exposure as well so I will be looking at all these, what I would, categorise as alternative investments or maybe cash investments as well to kind of diversify whatever that I have yup


uh I have I think I have uh, two to three debit cards but the one that which I really love and I've been using it for years is the the most basic one I think it's uh DBS visa debit which actually gives you three


I if I'm not wrong I think is it's three percent uh cashback on your purchases with a minimum spending of, three four to five hundred and you know max withdrawals of cash withdrawals of three so I I think that is very good because


for myself I mean my expenses are just kept to a minimum given that you know I'm I'm just a student back then and now as a graduate uh I I don't really spend that much still so so that is something that I've been looking at how about you


oh yes that that that is a good one


ya I think so too so I think , that there are a lot of I mean people are looking at you know different credit cards different you know savings high yield account but that's just particularly for people who who want to probably manage you know a little bit more of cash


and we're seeing a lot of risk sentiment in the market so what what is your personal experience of uh purchasing investment products and


what are the things or thematic investment themes that you are looking out for


I think, what I'm generally looking at right now and based on my experience in the just investing in the markets there are few things that I'm looking out for I think firstly we can't deny the run up in you know tech sector and tech rally even though the you know the recovery in terms of rebound is not


uh I would say is not, seen across the broad different industries and sectors I think tech still has a, has a has a leg to run up and, I think people are generally concerned about the valuations that they are that we are seeing right now at in particularly pertaining to tech and a lot of all these


your stay at home technology stocks like your zoom your facebook your microsoft all these have been uh recovering quite a fair bit but I I do still think that given very sound fundamentals if you are able to make logical decisions


with, quantitative analysis looking at their financial statements with, uh balanced with a qualitative approach as well why do you think the business will stay for let's say the next few decades I still think that, the tech space offers huge opportunities for investors to actually diversify and that is one uh main theme that I'm looking at I think secondly is apart from dividend investing which is something that I also agree to


the only thing that I'm concerned about investing in Singapore you know landscape particularly for REITs, is I mean we also see cyclical REITs getting hit by COVID right and that that is something that uh I I think investors should pay attention to we see retail REITs we see uh commercial REITs actually suffering at least a thirty percent drop in their uh recent DPU and that is something that


I will continue to tune my exposure and uh to to kind of manage on their front I think lastly something that is uh at least attractive to me is looking at, emerging markets and particularly in China I do think that there is a huge potential there and that's because of decoupling and a lot of technology technological developments big names that we have seen there GDP growth


and you know the divergence between US and China I still think that there there are a lot, of , things to look at in China and that is how I position myself, to, ride the rally in terms of uh buying ETFs, the the chinese market in general yup


that is very interesting


I I think you brought up a very good point and uh, something that really caught my attention lately is you know with COVID nineteen presenting such an unprecedented crisis you know across the globe it's not just in Singapore I think, central banks are stepping up


their stimulus and we we're gonna see a lot of money printing which makes I mean inflation in longer term, that that is something that we have to address and it's definitely going to, you know, push alternative assets like you know we have seen uh the rally in uh gold as well as silver over the past few days past few sessions after we have a major approval of stimulus in Europe and I think that


the trend is going to continue because people just want to diversify their investments people want to look at alternatives even just yesterday there was a news that came out which says that, that there has been a, you know regulation that is approved on the cryptocurrency front to to actually allow the coin to actually allow this kind of uh currencies to be able to operate financially


and , probably just become as if, as if one of the things that we might potentially use in the future when it comes to buying and selling so I I, do think that, we are still at a very early stage of development in the crypto space and the fact


that it is, gathering a lot of interest it it does it does really presents the kind of opportunity for people to look at in terms of diversifying their exposure, and like what can you what you said I think it's a, it's it's a fair


investment opportunity as well looking at it from managing your FX exposure say if you want to be exposed to an alternative currency apart from your home currency so say US dollars, so you could you can purchase different coins on the this kind of exchanges and you also mentioned about the downside risk which is counterparty and


I do think that there, have been a lot of developments on this front particularly by different exchanges we see that they are increasingly stepping up, their standards in terms of getting approvals for, different coins to be stored in the data to to be stored in the exchange and allow people to actually facilitate their buying and selling so I think that is a major a major step in uh milestone in the crypto currencies base and is definitely something that you know if you don't mind


the risk you you you can actually (uh) allocate (uh), a certain amount of exposure


part three negative experiences, so I guess we have been talking about you know positive experiences our lives our goals and aspiration so here's a twist though how about sharing something that you know


uh, some some time or maybe one of your, an experience which involves one of the unfortunate events that you you have to face in your life, or maybe you know sometimes when you go through the most difficult time in your life or something that you didn't anticipate


and, something that you anticipate going well and suddenly uh it it just didn't work the way that you planned


ah okay


I think for me is looking at, a set of circumstances and looking at you know


what I have to potentially bear in terms of financial cost when it comes to you know going going university taking a loan of twenty five thousand and you know possibly having to empty my parent's CPF and, and possibility of not securing a good enough job that is able to help me to pay this off I think that accumulated to the burden of me wanting to


really succeed very badly in terms of career so there was this period in uh I think in university year two when I went for I think it was like uh at least fifteen internship interviews from uh top banks institutions whatever


roles that I can find so after applying for almost uh more than twenty over


it could actually be so difficult for people to really really just get one you know internship opportunity at one of the places that compensate fairly well, and secondly is also thinking about you know how competitive it is because if you don't get in in this current environment if you don't get like a good enough internship or what people deem as good enough you you don't have uh I mean to to be very honest you don't have a good enough pay to start with and then how are you gonna service


the cost when it comes to, you know paying down your university fees uh accounting for your all your future expenses and we're talking about inflation we're talking about uh the cost of living I mean getting higher and higher and


I think for me that was one of the uh I I would say one of the most challenging periods because having to deal with that, and uh thinking about that from the financial perspective it it gave me tremendous amount of uh pressure to succeed, and, but but I guess those those experiences also kind of shaped uh who I am today because


after going through this series of failures and failures then you you get to learn from them and you and again you you get to know what you should have done in order to steer yourself towards the right direction so I I think I I as a graduate I think that I'm at a very comfortable place but that doesn't mean I've stopped learning but


uh it it is more of learning from the past experiences that, and particularly a very challenging period that allowed me to really learn and progress, yeah and I I think in this current environment there there are a lot of uncertainties especially for graduates who are starting their work and uh you know in in in the midst of a pandemic which is not even uh which is not even been resolved so maybe


what are maybe you can could you share with us what are some of your you know your worries and anxieties in a post COVID world and how how would that actually impact you in you know career aspect financial aspects


I think uh, looking at it yeah I I do agree that you know there there's been a lot of discussion in terms of how COVID has impacted our lives and will continue to change our lives moving forward I I think one of the greatest concern that I


have is, I mean looking at the employment front we are just starting our jobs and of course job uncertainty instability is definitely something that uh I think is reasonable for for graduates to to actually ponder about uh what I worry it's really more on


the progression front given that you're starting in uh the midst of the pandemic given that the opportunities like it or not is is going to be limited to a certain extent given that the progression, and, development opportunities that you could have in MNCs in SMEs in whatever place that you want with it there is no single industry no single company that is probably not


at the the very least impacted by COVID I think I think I that that that is my approach and that I mean that is that is my viewpoint so I I I think, career really worries me and , but, I would say uh this this is something that is really beyond your control so this is something that you you can only deal with it as it comes so


uh I ya


eh there's there are a lot of things okay there are a lot of things , I mean looking at you know societal from the societal level I think something that I've seen recently is uh, uh I think that's the the topic that people have been looking at, recently uh I I saw this video clip online we saw uh an animal abuse so so there was this guy uh punching and you know just using very uncalled for and uh excessive force on on on pets


and for me as a pet lover and, I love cats and dogs and seeing them go through that kind of , torture it is something that really frustrates me and, I I think looking at the broader picture from a national perspective from you know societal perspective I I I don't know


much about the you know the crime rates and how they have been evolving but it seems that with the advent of social media and, with people sharing more about what what's happening around the world we we do see a lot of all these kind of incidences you know even when we we talk about child abuse you know pet abuse


basically cyberbullying or all these kind of, I would say all this kind of, incidences just get portrayed on the media more and I think for someone like me looking at those I I I just feel I just feel sad for the people sad for the people who are doing those because I I don't know what's probably going on in their mind and what really makes them


in in into someone like this and also I think a feeling of helplessness as well because when when you're looking at things from a social media perspective I think a lot of it has has got to do with the pent-up feelings of you know you feel angry you feel frustrated that someone has to go through something like this but then


from a very personal level you you you're then asking yourself you know what could I have done or what what can I actually do to improve the situation and if you realise that more more often than not there there's nothing much you can do to help the person in trouble you the the thing that you can do is of course to spread awareness and of course


to make sure that you know we we we are constantly living with the right principles the right values and continue to spread that, and and I think that is the very least that you can do so ya I think it's a very tricky I mean it it is something that is very personal it's something that is also uh ya very very different for very different people I would say subjective so so what about you what what really uh frustrates you


uh looking at you know current society


ya I do agree with you


that that is an interesting question what have I witnessed and kept quiet about , okay uh let me just talk about something that is more uh I would I would say from a societal standpoint that it it's it's something that I think I'm not ready to actually look at it from


from from a personal perspective maybe because I don't have the expertise I don't have the experience as of yet so we do know that recently I mean of course the general elections, have been concluded and I think one of the major points that were being uh discussed was uh the income disparity especially in Singapore right and that is that that that is a profound issue I mean we we see political leaders we see different parties talking about how they want to address this


so I I think it's challenging for a developed world I think we can look at a lot of developed economies and how that income gap is just, inevitably growing and inevitably making the poor or the more disadvantaged


more pressured and of course you know having a system that is is probably gonna make the richer flourish right in terms of answering to your question what is something that I've witnessed and kept quiet about I think looking at this kind of videos I I I


feel I feel the need to help I I mean I feel a need to make an impact and to contribute but at the same time , it it comes with a lot of experience and expertise when when when you want to deal with this kind of different experiences so it, it it has come to a point where I am analysing and I'm I'm just thinking from a I mean from you know managing a country standpoint say if you want to


reduce the income gap then what are the cost and what are the benefits that come about it if you are really bridging the income gap then you have to raise taxes you have to fund this cause you have to fund , unemployment benefits you have to fund different kinds of programs through different measures which then you have to


look at, your existing budget look at your existing you know balance sheet and whatever and and try and try to to come up with solid plan in regards to addressing this kind of different challenges so I think from my personal standpoint it it is really looking at it and just feeling


uh oh it's just feeling like I need to contribute into something but at the same time knowing that I don't really have the experience and expertise then that that that really uh made me stay on the sidelines honestly yup so so so what about yourself


ya so, so just looking at I mean just ride riding on this question and ya I do agree that it it's something that uh I think the society needs to work on it so is it is it also is there is this an issue that you know you you feel that


the society and the in fact the world should actually work on it and if if so yes and if so uh how do you think they could, possibly address instances like this like people you know just not having enough respect, and


for people of supposedly different class


part two positive experiences


yes I actually I'm actually someone who really loves travelling and that's because you know exploring sights sceneries and getting in touch with different culture is it's just something that is so amazing and it is just something that I constantly look forward to I mean given that you know COVID has happened actually I wanted to take a trip but


I I think one of the biggest reward or one of the you know best experience that I had travelling was uh my solo trip to Australia, and, I went to Melbourne and Sydney and that was that was really one of the most fulfilling trips because


going for a trip alone it it's just different from travelling with your family members travelling with your friends because, you get to experience things at a different magnitude and different scale and for me it was interesting because I was there for two weeks I I I met different people I was in touch with different cultures


I've seen different things I've explored you know just different experiences that I never would have tried if I were travelling together with other people you know that that is one of you know my most enjoyable trip so how about you


it's ya


that's nice ya yup


so, I I think some people for instance me I I really do regard, travelling, exploring as one of the bigger life purposes and it really dictates why why why why is there a purpose in life so what about you what


what makes you truly feel alive or you know truly defining the purpose of, yes, or what what amazes you and and keeps you keeps your adrenaline rushing you know


so could you share one of your, ya, one specific goal ya, okay


I I think for myself I actually do have two to three things that I wish to accomplish first is of course travelling and I think secondly is more of looking at the society at large and looking at the people around me the things that are around me and asking myself how how how can I actually you know


just, in in my own very own perspective how can I actually help to improve others' life I think that's been something that I I want to work, , at least I want to achieve in say like the next ten to twenty years so I think it can just vary from very very small things like you know even if you give tuition like for myself I'm a part-time tutor sometimes I give extra lesson sometimes I go beyond what's required in the curriculum to share with them more about


what you can expect at a later stage of life I I think that that is important to me because my my students enjoy hearing that and they they they just want to have an alternative perspective from someone who has probably been through a little bit more than them and you know the


uh sometimes I would say that, the reward that you get from helping people, whether when you're doing volunteering or when you're doing teaching is actually more than the monetary reward that that you are actually receiving and that is something that I I think it is very intangible it's very intrinsic as well you you can't measure it you can't be like okay you know ten apples make me happy it's just not like this it it's that kind of feeling


and that is something that I want to look forward to, uh so I've been looking at you know probably, engaging myself more in volunteering experiences I I think that that's that's good and lastly and of of course to also achieve a certain degree of financial freedom because uh like it or not


the extent of financial freedom will give you the choices and will give you the resources to complete whatever you want to achieve say you want to travel you want to help people you need money you need resources so putting it all together I think I think it's just like three different things


so uh I think you also shared with me recently that you have been uh volunteering and helping out uh elderly people by distributing food pack so, what what really drives you to to to want to you know you know perform


or even engage yourself in this kind of uh experiences that are not really I would say not really not what majority of uh young singaporeans are actually doing what what what do you think


ya I, I, yes I think that is very important and I think you touched very I would say a a very meaningful point particularly on principles and values and what you look out for in life what you want to achieve in life and how that aligns with


our motivation our principles and attitudes so, for myself yes looking at volunteering and I I think I'm also uh I've been always looking at uh different things as well but uh one thing that really motivates me in terms of achieving my goals is a a role model and the person whom I always look up to and


I think someone who is also you know in this phase helping people being a philanthropist someone whom I truly look up to is uh jack Ma, and uh he's he's he's been you know off of his business already part of his life purpose is you know philanthropy helping people inspiring communities and and I think I draw some of these motivations and I draw some of my life lessons from him and that somehow motivated me to want to do what I want to do in the future


so ya so what about yourself who who who in your life do you actually look up to are there any particular person who actually motivated you to look at life from you know this kind of perspective and inspire you to have this kind of goals that you want to achieve in the future


ya, I I, yup I I do think they are they are all very inspirational and like what you said I think adversity adversity really molds and


it just pushes people into different versions of themself and you know different versions of success so I I think we we are also seeing you know similar patterns of very successful leaders all over the world like what you said about your idol I think


we see in bill gates we see warren buffett we see , michael bloomberg jack Ma they all have a similar purpose and it is almost as if that their life journey is is there about you know working very very hard having a business that, is incredibly successful having attained the financial resources which then ties back to


what do we actually resonated with wanting to achieve that kind of financial freedom because that would empower you and that would, you know just propel you to be able to finish other purpose that you have in life and secondly then moving on to look at the societal at large so I I I think that is something that is very meaningful and it's something that you know global leaders should also look up to and should also continue to proliferate because


if these leaders don't actually take care of you know the society at large or maybe just consider a little bit more of their interests we we're gonna have a lot of people suffering, and uh we're just going to have uh, greater disparity in terms of


you know looking at wealth and looking at what's successful and what's not, and I I I think ya like what you have mentioned that those those leaders are really very inspirational and it it makes me feel good and it it makes me feel positive that there there are people out there who are willing to help others despite having to you know having achieved so much despite you know probably


just they they don't have to but but they're doing that so so I think that is something that is uh very inspirational ya


I think one of the most notable experiences and I think everyone will have a this kind of uh you know vivid experience of what happened in their life I think for me was more on the career perspective so I I think for us fresh graduates you know, people tend to look out for internship experiences they are difficult they are challenging because you know the job market economy it it it


you know you you just got to fight to survive right and it's competitive so for me it was more of you know trying to adapt and trying to struggle in the initial phase and you know making a few mistakes and making a rather major mistake in in my in in my workplace during one of the internship and then you know worrying about it and thinking that you know


I might not be able to do it or I might not be able to actually , envision myself as the way I want to but then I I think what's important is looking back at uh whatever mistakes that you have done for myself uh particularly from that experience which I made quite a major mistake I actually looked at it and see you know how could I have avoided that


how could I have how could I then move forward without thinking about that and try to make sure that I prove myself the next time so for me I think the defining moment was uh during one of the final days of one of this important internship that I had


where I managed to uh perform quite a good job in terms of uh presentation and delivery of uh a project, which actually gathered the support from a previous boss who uh, previously saw the mistakes


that I made so I I think that was something that uh really inspired me and that was something that also reminded me that it is okay to make mistakes it is okay to actually you know just, not be perfect but you have to realise that you need to look at these different things and improve yourself and to make sure that you don't do the same thing again it it it's just life so so what about yourself was there a time that made you


ya


(mmhmm) okay


so it's like a blessing in disguise


(mm) agree, (ppo) talk too much


part one financial related topic


so the first question is on uh cashback, points or miles so which type of credit cards do you think people should be using, so I think personally in terms of credit cards I guess that there's a wide range of credit cards out there right and each one has its own users in terms of like whether is it cashbacks or food or you know like miles you want to accumulate uh to redeem certain


travel related stuff so I think for me because I just graduated from university so I I don't have a credit card yet, but I guess in terms of what type I think how I'm gonna approach it is more of understand what is the benefits of each credit card and then sign up accordingly as to whether I think there's a need for it because I'm quite aware that it's very easy to chalk up unnecessary


debt by using credit cards so I don't want that to happen so I just wanna make sure that I know exactly what is the purpose of each card before I sign up for it


ya so I I I guess cashback is, something that I'll be looking out for if I have to choose between you know cashback points or miles I think some I'm someone who would prefer an upfront cashback rather than points cause I guess sometimes points is you have to accumulate it and then it is part of the merchant's strategy to get you to redeem these points by spending on things


by the merchant again so sometimes it it might not be very flexible and miles wise also I guess it's more for like travel related so personally ah if I were to go for certain type of credit card I would use a cashback one uh more than the other three uh the other two ya


ya I think that's a good point I mean a good question because, right now we all know that uh with COVID and how globally central banks have cut rates to stimulate and cushion the blow we are seeing uh yields are are falling around the globe and even savings accounts have not been spent so I think this uh has prompted a lot of savers like us to actually


try to find the greatest bang for buck so in terms of savings account I would say there are three that, are probably the hottest in the market now so the first one is definitely your singlife account while it is not, say a savings account per se it it is disguised more of like an insurance product but the benefits and sort of like the function that it gives is pretty much like a high-yield savings account so it comes in at about two point five percent per annum it's not guaranteed but I think it's pretty decent


uh the second one that I have is actually by etiqa so again it's similar to singlife it's uh disguised and designed, as an insurance product but again the function is exactly like a savings account so that one offers one point eight percent per annum and then the final one is by uh singtel dash uh it's called singtel dash EasyEarn so that one is uh


it's more of like a lock-in period uh I think there are some restrictions to it but first year they're giving about five two per cent which is also pretty decent so these are the savings accounts that I have currently and I keep them there to ensure that I have sufficient liquidity as part of my total net worth


but I don't over put in too much cash cause I know that the the opportunity cost is high ya so what about you what are your thoughts


right so the speaking of savings accounts I think some of them do offer uh debit and credit cards also right so just wondering whether do you have a credit or debit card you know like uh and then if so you know which one do you choose and and why


right


yup, ya so I think similarly most of the cards that I have are all debit cards and you know speaking about the savings account earlier I talked about singlife right so singlife actually issued a debit card also which you can actually just use to spend directly from the account


ya so that is something that I have but I haven't actually used it because I'm trying to just keep the funds there uh for for liquidity and like emergency needs so I'm not using that so in terms of debit card uses, it's either the uh standard chartered jumpstart account which I use as a debit card or the DBS one which we talked about ya so why why I've chosen to stick to credit uh debit cards is actually because


I have been a student all this while so I haven't been able to apply for credit card but I guess once you start working I would consider getting maybe one or two credit cards again tying to our earlier point on whether is it going to be cashback related or miles related


that's something that I'll take into consideration but I think I'll definitely try to get at least one or two credit cards I mean after all if you can pay within I think fifty days or so it's interest-free so if you are able to manage your cash flows wisely and take advantage of this interest-free free period I think it'll be quite attractive


right ya so I think definitely uh how I allocated it is you know I have a portion in in uh these savings accounts so that is more of my cash portion and then the remaining will be split across, equities as well as uh cash equivalent so when I talk about equities it's basically stocks right and typically I split it into two portfolios the Singapore portfolio as well as the US portfolio so


to answer your question in terms of thematic place I think that is my approach for the US portfolio because, I view certain key trends such as you know payments cloud computing, renewable energy so these to me are key themes that are likely to be here to stay and I would try to gear or orientate my US portfolio towards these exposures to ride it in the longer term so that is my focus for investing in US equities


as for my Singapore equities my focus there is really more on the income side so looking at dividends from REITs from banks so so the idea is to have a stable stream of income from the income portfolio and then at the same time taking taking advantage of thematic place from the growth portfolio so that is how I've approached


my investments so far and it is how I think would uh do so moving forward also what what about yourself


right ya I totally agree with what you said and I guess to to wrap it all up I mean really whether would you save your money in a bank or invest it elsewhere I think it's very much dependent on the individual right whether what are your investment objectives what is your risk appetite I think


there's really no one size fits all approach and there's no like right or wrong I mean some people might argue that oh holding too much cash in the bank is unattractive cash is trash so you should invest it but then again on the other hand, a person who is more risk averse might feel that you know keeping cash is good because cash is king cash gives you liquidity and in the event of a sell off you're able to take advantage of the opportunity so I think there's really no right or wrong approach it's more of understanding your personal uh preference and then knowing how you can best


employ a strategy that fits your your risk appetite and I think one more thing that I want to highlight is, apart from investing in stocks you know equities or fixed income I think one last thing that we can consider which you mentioned alternative investments, is actually cryptocurrency so I mean when you talk about cryptocurrency


ya because when you talk about cryptocurrency you could be investing in the coin itself right hoping for capital appreciation or there's also another group where you could be investing in like stable coins and then you lend you deposit these coins and you earn an interest so that is actually something that, that I am also doing now which is to actually invest in a basket of stable coins


I deposit there and I collect the interest on it so the yield is a lot higher it's around eight point five percent per annum but that's also because you are taking on two key sources of risks, the first is your FX risk because all these coins are denominated in the dollar and the second one is your counterparty uh credit risk right your your your exchange could close down anytime so I think given the risks as well as you know the potential returns on it I find it quite attractive so that is something that I've also invested


my money in so I mean would you consider such an investment


part three negative experiences


unfortunate events


so I I guess it's probably , me and my scholarship so it's more of like a ya so I initially I had a scholarship and then after that, uh it was more of like a change in interest and and me wanting to try something different because it was a scholarship that was bonded so I needed to go back to the organisation so I guess that was something that I didn't expect you know given a change in interest and me wanting to try something new I guess that sort of


make me realise that I needed to think more about what I wanted to do and I guess it was something that, uh was a it was a very difficult decision also to choose between having to stay on the scholarship or you know taking the risk to pursue something else which might or might not bear


a similar result so that was something that, I felt was quite difficult and probably one of the more scarier incidents in my life because I had to convince my parents ya they they were asking you know why are you giving up a scholarship, which had a stable job you know especially so when back then it was like twenty nineteen so uh people were talking like oh you know given the trade war given how all these


uh growth is slowing it's very likely that a recession will be coming soon and so are you really making the the right decision so I think that was something that probably was a bit more negative in my life what what about yourself


ya I guess this is a very apt question because , at least for myself and you know the marked our peers in our cohort I guess the the greatest worry is we are disadvantaged because of COVID right I think there's a lot of talk that you know we're graduating at the wrong time we have to accept


lower starting salaries so the question is you know would this hinder our career opportunities and growth moving forward right so I think that is probably one of the the main worries and anxieties that I have uh with regards to this post COVID world because let's face it moving forward


the way businesses are going to operate, particularly those that are very uh client facing it's going to be affected and and so the question is how do you adapt accordingly and, and try to you know go around this so that you don't be affected by it so but it's definitely something that I worry about so I just hope that things will get better and and but I guess to answer your question as to


you know how I will go about tackling such a negative event or experience is you know just keep learning just keep staying open and you know don't be afraid to embrace change right I think as long as you are willing to change to try something new it should be fine so that that is more of my concerns what what about yourself


and I think it's not just about us also right but rather imagine all those less educated older workers who whose jobs are a lot more easily replaced by, automation or or you know whatever right I think those guys are the ones that I really worry for because


they probably are old they probably don't earn as much and they probably are very dependent on that monthly income that they receive and so in a post COVID world the question is whether will employers, redesign jobs to retain them or will they just


restructure downsized and as a result these workers will lose their job so I think that is something that that I'm really worried about because I mean tying in to earlier when I talked about you know distributing old food to the elderly and stuff you know it's quite evident that (ppc) a lot of these elderly they live alone


they don't have much and you can tell that they are really impacted by COVID because they do all these, odd jobs you know contract jobs which, more often than not are the ones that are the easiest to be replaced or the easiest to be cut in a crisis right so


I I really do hope that (ppc) more thought is put into this side of things (ppc) ya but I guess you know besides that I on on a personal level you know what what are certain things you know that frustrates you or or you know that makes you disgusted


ya I think what frustrates me is I guess I'll talk about it from a more like personal level right it's more of like just having to, work with people who who have like


character disconnects you know like because one thing that I really believe in is to always treat others the way you want to be treated right so I think having to work with people who, want to be treated in in one way but yet treat other people in another way that is something that really frustrates me because it it feels very unfair right like


why is it that you you should be treated in this manner but then when you treat other people it's in another manner so it's like that that shouldn't be the case right regardless of your background regardless of the qualifications regardless of how much money you have, everyone is equal right everyone is should have a basic level of respect and decency and so it doesn't make you different from anyone else so (ppc) that is something that


really frustrates me and I find it very disgusting whenever I see people who have, these disconnects you know like these uh ya these character differences like it's something that I really do not like so ya I mean that is something and I guess know riding on this point so what is the worst thing that it affects witnessed and kept quiet about


(ppc) ya I guess this , income disparity thing right is something that is difficult but for myself I think one thing that I've witnessed is more of like uh people being very disrespectful to, lower wage workers right like say for example cleaners bus drivers you know and you know I've seen it many times where


uh they just treat these people with a level of respect that is lower than what the average person should receive and more often than not you know I always ask myself, should I step up but then again I usually kept quiet because I don't want to get into unnecessary trouble but so I guess these are things these are incidents where I I get very frustrated about which I witnessed but yet I've kept quiet about because


there are just so many people out there with such a mindset and such a stigma that you know just because you are earning less you are an administrator you are a cleaner you are a bus driver you are a landscaper you should be, of a lower class and because you are of a lower class it means that you should be treated with less respect which to me is just nonsense right I mean regardless of who you are what you earn we are all humans and we all deserve that same level of basic respect treat others the way you want to be treated so I guess this is something that


I see a lot that I'm always very negatively affected by but then again it requires a shift in societal mindset to tackle such a situation which is not going to be easy it's likely to take uh quite a while but hopefully as people get more educated they start to realise that


this is how uh this is an issue and that they should work uh work on that ya so


to be honest I think this is a very difficult task to address right it's gonna be very very challenging because number one it stems from values and upbringing so, more often than not if you are brought up in a very well protected sheltered environment you have a lot of privileges in life chances are you would think that


that is how it is and if for someone who is earning lower than you you would naturally have that you know a a little condescending approach toward the person and so I think, there is an upbringing is something that makes it very difficult to change and if you really want to tackle such a such a situation I think you really need to start young right inculcate cultivate the right values in these people to tell them that even though you are slightly more privileged you are slightly more well-off


it doesn't make you different from someone who is earning less than you right at the end of the day treat others with respect everyone deserves the same level of courtesy and and politeness so I think that is something that is is there and and, honestly how I view this situation is even though it's difficult I mean it is difficult to address


I also foresee it getting worse moving forward because, as you know we talked about rising affluence you talk about people starting to earn more we talked about youngsters these days starting to feel more entitled I think these are only going to funnel into the situation and make it worse so I hope this answers your question because it's going be quite difficult uh to address in the near term


part two positive experiences


so now in terms of you know we are talking about credit cards and and you know miles and all those so have you travelled lately you know how how was your experience like uh when you travelled


ya I think well actually I was I'm the total opposite of you like uh I used to think that travelling was a waste of money cause you know it's like you spend and then it's not cheap and uh once you come back that's it right the money is gone but then


after taking a trip to Europe that was when I actually realised that, travelling as much as it is expensive, you you benefit from your intangibles right like having a a bigger perspective of how life is like beyond Singapore you know exposing yourself to different cultures so that really changed my perspective towards traveling so I really enjoyed it so I took a short trip to Europe uh went from


Greece to Italy and then eventually ended off at the UK side so it's very nice and uh it was also my first time taking such a long trip, uh with a partner to to that part of the world so it was it was very very nice definitely and and in fact I was looking forward to go back again


uh if not for COVID so uh plans have changed but hopefully you know in the future we will be able to go back to Europe again and I think comparing Europe and the US I would very much like to visit every single part of uh Europe because I think as much as it is part of the EU


each has its own unique culture right it's it's very different like if you are in Poland versus if you're in Rome or or Greece you know it's very different versus if you are in there states then every state feels like it is part of, uh uh US so it's you don't get that vibrancy in terms of experience so ya then that is pretty much my travel experience uh most recently


like my purpose in life is it this a good question, ya I mean I think for me right what what lets me progress on in life is


to know that I've set goals and then I work towards those goals because it's very easy to get caught up with you know like the present moment it's very easy to get lost in, the noise around you right and then before you know it you're probably reaching uh you're probably halfway through your entire journey so that that is why you know I've come to realise that


at each point in your life be it you know when you have graduated or if you have worked for five years or ten years you need to set goals by setting goals, they they serve to act as milestones which keep you in check right to know whether are you progressing on with life do you have to pivot uh do you have to do something different you know that that that to me is very important so to really answer your question you know what


keeps my adrenaline going is knowing that I've set a certain goal to know what the end is in to know what the end in mind is and then after that knowing that I'm making progress towards that goal bit by bit you know be it for example


my goals ya so one of my goals is, uh financial freedom right so as much as we're talking about personal finance earlier financial freedom to me is very very important being able to achieve sufficient passive income that is able to offset your expenses so that in the event that you don't want to work


you can right so it's all about buying yourself time so that is definitely one of my goals that I'm working towards and I'm hoping to achieve that in the next ten or fifteen years so that really keeps me going and knowing that bit by bit you know I'm building up my portfolio building up my passive income


I think it it gives me the adrenaline to keep going what about yourself


ya I think the reason why I did that was you know one I have a lot of time now right because though we have graduated I'm waiting for work to start and , you know there's COVID so you you can't really go about doing things as before so I thought you know why not make use of my time uh in in a useful manner to help people who generally need help and so that was when I started and that that actually taught me that you know there are a lot of people in Singapore that


have fallen through the cracks right as much as Singapore is a, vibrant metropolis you know we have so many expats here it looks very modern and glam but, truth is there are people who have fallen through the cracks especially the elderly and I I believe that these people have been kept out of sight because we we have a tendency to be so caught up in our daily tasks that we forget that there are people who are suffering so


I think that the me taking this step to volunteer and help out is really to to just contribute in whatever way I can and at the same time, to remind myself to stay grounded to stay rooted to know that you know things don't come easy so it's always good to be appreciative because this is something that I've uh seen in at least people in our generation I don't know about your circle but for mine I see a lot of people you know not


they they just don't seem to be, taking they they seem to be taking things for granted you know like they think that oh you know if you eat at a restaurant it's for granted oh if you get allowance from your parents oh you know it's a given but truth be told a lot of these are actually


privilege right it's not an entitlement so I think doing all these CIP really reminds me of all of this and I would strongly recommend people to continue doing this also because it really teach opens your mind to a different perspective and to bring


it reminds you to be grateful ya so what about yourself you know what what have you been doing such stuff also


ya I think similar to your case you know like uh jack Ma rags to riches story right so I think for me one guy that I look up to quite a fair bit or at least it that I uh would like to know or at least, his values I do see eye to eye with is actually this guy called #chatri sityodtong# so I don't know whether have you heard of him he's a thai guy he's basically the founder and CEO of one championship so he so one championship is actually the Asia version of UFC so UFC is in the US where


they they host you know like MMA fights and stuff so one championship is the asian version so it's started by this guy called Chatri so, why I really look up to him is because he actually came from a very very poor family and, he he grew up in Thailand was very poor his father left him so it was just him and his mum but he worked very hard he he studied overseas abroad he got a masters from harvard started working in a hedge fund uh worked for about ten years and then after that he left


to start one championship so I think and then now he's actually giving back a lot of his time to charity like what you talked about uh in the case of jack Ma so I think these are people that really remind me that regardless of the situation that you are in regardless of the cards that you have been dealt with


by life uh it doesn't matter right as long as you make the best out of it and you play the cards to your advantage and so that is something that, uh really inspires me because if these guys came from such a poor uh foundation but yet look at where they are today then what excuse do we have


given that we are so privileged to have been able to grow up in Singapore so that is something that really motivates me to make the best out of what I have and, ya then I hope that answers your question cause he's really someone that I look up to I mean there are a lot of other people that I look up to right like people like obama I think he's also someone who is a great leader


yeah correct so but then how about like from a personal perspective you know like uh is there a was there a time when you know you made a comeback that you know proved people wrong right that that you were capable of doing something which they didn't think you were you know was there such a time


(ppc) ya I I totally agree with you I think all these you know like comeback periods is like pivots in your life like where you really, feel very depressed but then you channel the energy into something productive and I think that is fantastic so for myself I guess


one of such moments was during national service so I enlisted into uh NS right and then , what happened was uh I was on track to getting my uh officer but then I dropped out of the course because I was injured so then like


it I could see that my batch mates and I you know they were they they could see that you know there there was this disconnect me because I didn't make it so they felt that oh you know they were at a slightly uh superior level above where I was you know and then like some of them felt that oh you know I


I was I wasn't genuinely injured I just wanted to drop out so that I had a bit more time but you know whatever it is I I really didn't care because, at the end of the day I told myself that even if I don't complete my course I will make the best of the time that I had in national service to accomplish something that it's that would put me in a head start above my peers and so I think


through that period I managed to you know like pick up investing applied for a scholarship and got it and and stuff like that so I think, ya ya you're right so in a sense it was like a blessing in disguise because , as much as I didn't want it to happen but given what happened I tried to make the best out of it and I think it was really somewhat like a comeback because


at least my peers didn't expect me to be able to get these things, uh despite dropping out of course right so I guess life really uh can take unpredictable twists and turns here and there so it's really about you know making the best of of your situation so ya to me that was definitely one of the the pivot points and and it's it's quite nice that now that when you look back you realise that


uh these defining moments in your life do shape your perspective and set you on a course to something even greater right and it's very hard to, to say all these when you are there but once you have been through it you look back you connect the dots then you realise oh everything happens for a reason and why you're here today is because of those defining moments so it's quite quite interesting ya


[eh] sorry sorry I


part one financial related topic


do we have to introduce ourself again, no need right, okay, no I'm actually working as a planner


maybe you want to talk about the first discuss your first question financial related topic, right


but he never post anything what, yeah yeah, so basically if you talk about this topic


uh they captures a lot of stuff, there is the wealth accumulation aspect and there is the wealth protection aspect if you want to talk about protecting your wealth you talk about having things like insurance


yeah maybe we answer the questions shown first lah, yeah so first question ask whether we have savings account, do you have any uh I I share first lah I have a StanChart saving account, and I originally had a


OCBC saving account I have these two account and the reason why I have a StanChart account because previously they have a two percent interest rate, that is the reason why I I decided to put my money in the high yield saving account


so no feature lah just you just have it cause since young your parents have DBS for you then just, okay then do you have a credit or debit card personally I don't I think I have a debit card because of the banks


cause they also give a free debit card mah, right then, I don't have a credit cards cause companies I mean banks don't allow us we don't have a active income


then experience wise I think normal lah, nothing different nothing useful just use it to pay online stuff that's all


oh you have ah, can get a rebate right, third question


what are your thoughts


so, nope


can, so rather rather than putting money in a, bank you will just put it elsewhere so that you can grow the money lah


[orh] so hard correct [orh], yeah I totally agree for me I would put, certain amount of money in my bank for the liquidity in the event that I need the money I can just take out very quickly then the rest of the money that I don't need right then I'll just put it in other instruments that can grow money like what you mentioned talk about investing


ya lor, I would say there is no, it's not putting all my eggs in the bank or all my eggs in investment it's like like what you mentioned lah half half or some form of ratio totally agree


what is your experience of getting a loan, !wah! Shiok that is very good


right, so for me I have a tuition fee loan the school loan the process itself I think quite smooth you just go to


the bank, fill up the form they cause they already know this kind of they already have a several encounters for this kind of student loan so process is very smooth, print out the form we just sign then have a guarantor then that's it


name and feature of the loan ah it's a student loan from OCBC and then afterwards dust the details if you don't zero interest rate during when I'm still schooling after I graduate within six months if I don't pay then they will start charging around four point five percent


yeah so you best is after I graduate I clear off within the six months so basically it's a free, free money lah as in free free loan lah


so as in now my parents my family has been start, starting to save lah I also start saving mah, so just nice four years later then pay up everything lor


I if you yeah if you don't plan well right like some of my friends who have graduated our females female friends, when I spoke to some of them they were saying that how they are trying to use the income that they're getting from work right to pay off their school fees


ya lor, can do you think couples should combine your finances and open a joint account if you have a joint account with your partner share your [orh] we don't have that so do you think, couples should combine finances open a joint account eventually


like like you're already married already


so will you still have your individual account, so how's the how's the split is it equal equal she put in two K I put in two K


right yeah I agree also, I agree also


yeah gambler ah, yeah, agree agree yes I think


not yet lah, I think eventually the money, so eventually the money inside can be used to fund for


common goals like holiday housing renovation this kind of stuff then easier to plan also if need more money right then we put in more percentage et cetera, can


at what age should a child be given a ATM


!wow!, how old is he


!wah! this is a good life eh


yes, oh my god


!wow!, how young is he, !wah!


cannot be too young ah, !wow!


cannot too young ah, I think, it depends on our own upbringing, maybe maybe I would say


if they were to go to either after secondary school go poly or JC, cause I I foresee ah if they go out then they no money then like <mandarin>不好意思:bu hao yi si</mandarin> eh like like I mean uh a bit embarrassing, like eh you need money but you got no ATM then eh then you go borrow from a friend


yeah, yeah correct I think, for me after secondary school around the age of


seventeen, would be the time lah for me, I feel, then for you is around eighteen lah like your bro


surrounding right


yeah, naturally you will spend more


yes can eh, yeah mine also around that age lah, didn't really do much also


can maybe we talk about, do you have a high yield bank account or a fixed deposit, you mentioned previously don't have anything right


maybe I share more about, my, high yield bank account, usually as in I I read online summary also lah like they were saying how normal banks like yourself OC OC PO I mean POSB DBS OCBC right uh the banks that we usually have gives us an interest rate of zero point zero something percent


bank interest rate generally are very low but the good thing is that it allows a lot of liquidity in between if really need money can just take out, and then I think it was in november last year standard chartered introduced this jumpstart account gives us two percent


two percent interest rate per annum as compared to your OCBC DBS zero point zero something, so to me that is considered a high yield high yield saving account lah so that is when I go apply lor apply two percent but because of the whole situation


they cut the interest rate to one percent but but it's still a very good place for us to put our money why because the closest competitor ah is at zero point something percent eh so that is why I uh have this account then my experience is I think experience is quite smooth because to sign up for the account


it only takes around ten to fifteen minutes they now you don't even need to go down you know I was shocked also as I go and see now they uses your singpass, so with the government's system everything ah everything is very smooth you just need to answer a few questions then afterwards your application is complete


few weeks later than you will receive your ATM card then all the letters start coming in then you have your account then you transfer money in uh good lor, that's all but with that being said right I still put some of my I still leave some of my money in my OCBC account I don't know why lah but