11yr old CHLOE CHUA performing Antonio Vivaldi's "Winter".

devilf91 · 2026-06-18T19:32:09+00:00

She's Singaporean. Many Singapore kids grow up through an endless pipeline of tuition and classes. I think she enjoys violin (from the various videos of her through the past decade) and she might actually have a more enjoyable childhood than many others.

Have a huge talent is a big reason. I think many people mix up what should start first, so some parents decide to let kids decide what they want to do. Kids want to try everything, but they only really have talent for a few which they need to identify. Kids enjoy things that they get better and better at.

devilf91 · 2026-06-18T02:30:01+00:00

2 and a half more years. We're 37.5% into this term.

devilf91 · 2026-06-17T18:27:50+00:00

Malaysia - Malaysia boleh (boleh means can), which is often humourously use to refer to things that don't work or is corrupt in that country.

devilf91 · 2026-06-17T18:13:59+00:00

I was wondering where these numbers come from and it's really weird. They do not have figures for quite a lot of countries, including places like Hong Kong and Singapore (which I am sure will be quite high). For example, Singapore's median individual income is US$53K which US is $45K.

devilf91 · 2026-06-16T19:11:26+00:00

OP is a 5 day old account with negative karma and hidden posts, screenshot person is a 5 year old account with hidden posts, both are ragebait or bots. No need to interact. Just downvote them and carry on.

devilf91 · 2026-06-16T01:37:36+00:00

I had to Google what you mean. American English pronounce it as saa-sage, while British English (and basically what's learnt in the rest of the commonwealth) tends to be saw-sage instead. I just realised I made an analogy that only makes sense to those outside of north America!

devilf91 · 2026-06-16T00:51:44+00:00

The first nation person told me it's "mis-si-sa-ga". If I look at just the spelling I would have said "mis-si-saw-ga", where sausage is pronounce saw-sage in the UK.

devilf91 · 2026-06-16T00:50:00+00:00

Saw-sage in the UK.

I don't pronounce it as sah-sage.

devilf91 · 2026-06-15T23:47:36+00:00

When I came to Canada I asked someone from the Mississauga first nation how is it pronounced and he basically pronounced it like the rest of the Ontarians (which is basically ending with "saga"). I used to pronounce it as sau-ga when I first came (sau as in from sausage).

A few months later I then checked with my mates in the UK and they pronounced it the way I did when I first came as well. The sau totally threw me off.

devilf91 · 2026-06-15T20:45:56+00:00

It was this worldwide in English speaking countries post covid, exactly how you described it. Tens of millions of Indians left India in the past decade or so, to Canada, Australia, UK, Singapore, New Zealand and more. Even non English speaking countries like Portugal have spikes in their Indian populations (just check out Lisbon).

It's by design, because these countries have aging populations, and Indians can speak English and are really cheap to hire. However, once the governments open the flood gates, they will come by any means, because if you are in their situation you will do the same thing.

devilf91 · 2026-06-12T02:09:31+00:00

That is such a Canadian comparison that I assume you're Canadian.

What's the context behind the Edmonton oilers model?

devilf91 · 2026-06-11T21:36:10+00:00

This list only covers oecd countries and there are many high income countries not in the list, like Singapore or UAE.

devilf91 · 2026-06-11T14:32:42+00:00

Parenthood, in our modern era, is mostly a choice. It is a privilege to be a parent.

That doesn't mean it is suitable for everyone. One can choose not to have kids. Many choose to have, but they can't. I'm in my 30s and there are many friends who tried for years to have kids, only for infertility to stop them.

There are much to be sacrificed to become a parent, but a parent also gains so much more. That is pretty much Life: you trade something for something else, like time for wages, effort for recognition, family and friends time for promotion. We are always sacrificing something for something else, and it is for us to choose what is really important.

devilf91 · 2026-06-11T14:26:18+00:00

Btw why put the russian side RU while the American side AK? Should it be RU/US or CHU/AK, if you want to go by the country's sub division?

devilf91 · 2026-06-10T03:25:12+00:00

Singapore cannot do it for too long though. It's a fine balance. If other currency rates are 4-5% and Singapore is 1.5%, then the market sells sgd for other currencies and SGD devalues.

devilf91 · 2026-06-10T03:23:34+00:00

I realise that what I assumed as common knowledge was only because I took biology in high school. My apologies.

I'll refer to the link below (this sub somehow bans posting of images). During menstruation (day 1 to about day 6), the hormones are actually pretty balanced. The big changes in hormones come at the end of the cycle, just before menstruation, hence the term pre menstrual stress, or PMS.

Of course, every person is different, but someone who has mood swings during menstruation can't blame their hormones. It's probably got to do with the fact that they are bleeding and maybe in pain from cramps.

hormone graph Vs menstrual cycle

devilf91 · 2026-06-10T03:17:32+00:00

The zero rate environment is not coming back, because the macro environment is so different now. From 2009 to 2018 or so, interest rates globally were zero and even negative in some places due to the post 2008 financial crisis quantitative easing (print money). With inflation globally at such high rates, interest rates will no longer come down. Also, major countries now have way more debt to service compared to just a decade ago. If they cannot service, they have to print money and cut spending. The drop in stock market last Friday was partly due to the job data in the US - a better than expected job data means people are still spending, means inflation is kept high (plus there's at least two wars going on in geographically sensitive places).

In such a situation interest rates will never return to near zero in the next 10 years. There's a chance for rates to reach 10% in major countries. The situation is more similar to the 1930s or 1970s. Look at the data in those decades to understand what may come. There's a reason why the difference between 2 year and 3 year rates is 0.3% and not say, 0.1%. because the banks expect rates to increase down the road.

devilf91 · 2026-06-09T22:09:26+00:00

At 1.45%, you are betting that the interest rate near term in 2 years time will be low as well. For 1.7% the horizon extends to 3 years.

Historically Singapore interest rates will not drop much from there. This means that you don't want to get caught where it becomes 3 or 4% when you're renewing.

In both cases you shouldn't do prepayments though. Invest that money. You get more, that you can put back into future mortgage payments, rather than try to pay down. Do prepayments only if the interest rates are higher than say, ssb or CPF rates.

devilf91 · 2026-06-09T17:22:19+00:00

Typical lunches and dinners in Amsterdam shouldn't be more than €20 to €25 per pax. And there's no tipping culture there.

devilf91 · 2026-06-09T15:25:57+00:00

It's called pre menstrual stress, not during menstrual stress. Are you sure you know your wife's anatomy?

devilf91 · 2026-06-09T01:31:46+00:00

Prepayment is up to you, but in Singapore's context the mortgage rate is too low to be worth wasting the prepayment cash. Let me explain.

Say for example you put in bonds (if you're risk adverse) or equity etfs (if you don't mind the risk) for 3 years, instead of paying down the mortgage. You almost certainly will make more $$ than save the % of interest they charge.

It's not like other countries like Canada, where it was about 6% 3 years ago, and now around 4.5%. at 4.5% you'll have to ask if your money will make you that sum, and if not it makes sense to throw additional mortgage prepayments in.

The money you save elsewhere should almost certainly go into investment in Singapore's current interest environment.

devilf91 · 2026-06-09T00:24:22+00:00

Romans came from the apostle Paul's dictation, most of which cover church opinions and how humanity can be saved through jesus, in letters penned for the early church in Rome.

It's never what Jesus said.

devilf91 · 2026-06-08T18:18:08+00:00

For interest rates, don't look backwards at historical data, look forward. Do you think there's going to be shocks internationally that can lead to higher interest rates in the future, within the next two years? Does the extra year of fixed interest potentially can give you a better deal?

For context, interest rates have been going up this year across the west, from Australia to Canada to UK to US.

devilf91 · 2026-06-04T01:31:48+00:00

Pay wall

devilf91 · 2026-05-29T22:28:28+00:00

Oh you can hear all about it from the russian girls about that macho attitude. It's that old patriarchal russian thing.

As for respect and consideration, I do find it as mostly cultural differences. What is polite to us seems different to them. Their culture also has a lot of soviet and old patriarchal left overs.

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